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India’s ’90s kids grew up in an offline world and graduated to one that’s hyperconnected. Their psyche is riddled with qualms about identity, politics, capitalism, technology, relationships, selfhood, and what it means to live authentically. In this debut work, the author strikes at the heart of their confusion as she seeks answers to questions such as ‘Who Am I? Or, What are the Norms?’, ‘Science, Arts or Commerce’, ‘Your Body or Mine?’ ‘God: Must I Believe in They/Them?’…

When an old earthen vessel in the storeroom of her house transports Pauloma Chattopadhyay, a middle-aged housewife living in Kolkata, to different worlds, the rules of time and space are suspended, puncturing the mundanity of routine. She is whisked to Germany where she becomes Aurora Miller, Egypt where she lives as Princess Rabiya Abdi, and Gujarat where she transforms into the fiery Monghi. The stories of the three women become entwined with Pauloma’s, who loses her grip over reality.

Decades of conflict have turned Myanmar into a social and economic wreck. In this book, the author tries to explain the enigma of military power in Myanmar and to provide a better understanding of the many other issues which have led to today’s sad state of affairs. For the first time since the 1970s, armed resistance is not confined to traditionally strife-torn frontier areas; it has spread to the majority-Burmese heartland. This is a war that neither side can win. Caught in the middle, and bound to suffer most, are civilians.