Your weekend reading list

Here's what Draftfcb Ulka's Nagesh Alai had to say on what he'd recommend for your weekend reading time:

"As an avid enthusiast of the Indian history, one of the best researched books on the Moghul Dynasty that I have come across and have had the pleasure of reading is the tome, 'The  Last Spring: The Lives and Times of the Great Moghuls' written by Abraham Eraly. Eraly has done a phenomenal job of capturing those hoary times and the mindsets of the rulers and their families in vivid details. The grandeur, the violence and gore in the name of empire expansion,
ruthlessness of killing siblings to attain the throne, the obscene wealth, the status of harem and women, the richness of art and architecture, the rulers’ penchant to equate themselves with god, the public durbars,  study of religion et al have been meticulously portrayed.  The book captures the rule of the most important Moghul rulers – from the founder Babur to Aurangazeb, the last of the famed ones and their interludes and interface with the Lodi empire, the Rajputs and the renowned Maratha king, Shivaji. Sadly, the key drawback of the book is that there are no pictures at all. Nevertheless, go for it, if you are a history aficionado. Unputdownable!

India is known for its rich history, heritage and legacy, as one of the oldest civilizations.  To the cognoscenti, the political stratagem and acumen of Chanakya, who was the architect of the success of Chandragupta Maurya’s rule in Magadh, needs no introduction. So I was enthused and intrigued when I saw the book, “Chanakya’s Chant', written by Ashwin Sanghi and published by ISBN. I have just started reading it and if I have to judge the book by its first few chapters, wow……it is going to be one interesting and engaging read. The author has been novel in interweaving Chanakya’s expertise in the science of politics and polity with a modern day version in a character called Gangasagar Mishra from modern day UP grooming someone lowly through the maze of the India polity of today. The plot is unraveling and is keeping me riveted.  A different book, I should say, a cut away from the ordinary."