The Taliban Cricket Club

Author: Timeri N. Murari
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062091271
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 270

Book Description
“A moving, splendidly realized story of courage and grit in modern-day Kabul.” —Vikas Swarup, author of Slumdog Millionaire A harrowing yet tender novel—Bend It Like Beckham in a burka—The Taliban Cricket Club is a moving and unforgettable tale of one woman’s courage and guile in the face of terror and tyranny. Set in war-torn Kabul, Afghanistan, this extraordinary new fiction by Timeri N. Murari, acclaimed author of the international bestseller, Taj, is a sweeping story of love, family, resilience, and survival, featuring an unforgettable heroine determined to help her loved ones win their freedom with a bat and a ball.

The Taliban Cricket Club

Author: Timeri Murari
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 1443410667
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Book Description
A harrowing yet tender novel—Bend It Like Beckham in a burka—The Taliban Cricket Club is a moving and unforgettable tale of one woman’s courage and guile in the face of terror and tyranny Rukhsana is a spirited young journalist working for The Kabul Times in Afghanistan. She takes care of her ill, widowed mother and her younger brother Jahan. But with the arrival of a summons for Rukhsana to appear before the infamous Ministry to Promote Virtue and Punish Vice, their quiet and tenuous way of life is shattered. The minister, Zorak Wahidi, has two things in mind: to threaten anti-Taliban news reporters and to announce the Taliban’s intention to hold a cricket tournament. The winner will represent Afghanistan in the International Cricket Club in London, finally proving to the world that Afghanistan deserves to be treated with the respect granted other nations. Rukhsana knows this is a deeply ludicrous idea—the Taliban will fail to embrace a game rooted in civility, fairness and equality. There is no tolerance for violence or cheating. And no one in Afghanistan even plays cricket. Except Rukhsana. This could be a way to get her cousins and her brother out of Afganistan for good, but before practice can even begin, Wahidi demands her hand in marriage. The union would be her death sentence, stripping away what few freedoms she has left under Taliban rule and forcing her away from her family and under Wahidi’s complete control. Her family rallies around her, willing to do anything to protect her, even if it means their own imprisonment, or worse. But Rukhsana realizes that Wahidi may have given her a way out, too. With the help of her loyal, beloved cousins, she forms her own cricket team and sets about teaching them how to win them their freedom—with a bat and a ball. In this soaring novel of resilience, Rukhsana’s strength, hope and tenderness reveal how no tyranny is ever absolute in the face of love.

The Automobile Club of Egypt

Author: Alaa Al Aswany
Publisher: Random House India
ISBN: 8184007310
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 531

Book Description
A rollicking, exuberant and powerfully moving story of a family swept up by social unrest in post–World War II Cairo Abd el-Aziz Gaafar, formerly a well-respected landowner now in the grip of penury, moves his family to Cairo and takes on menial work at the Automobile Club—a place of refuge and luxury for its European members, but one where Egyptians may appear only as servants. Alku, the lifelong Nubian servant of Egypt’s corrupt king, runs the show in all but name. The servants, a squabbling, humorous, and deeply human group, live in a perpetual state of fear: beaten for their mistakes, their wages dependent on Alku’s whims. When Abd el-Aziz’s pride gets the better of him and he stands up for himself, his death—as much from shame as from his injuries after Alku has him beaten—leaves his widow further impoverished and two of his sons obliged to work in the Club. As the family is drawn into the turbulent politics of Egypt—public and private—both servants and masters are subsumed by the country’s social upheaval. Soon, the Egyptians of the Automobile Club face a stark choice: to live safely but without dignity as servants, or to fight for their rights and risk everything.

The Arrangements of Love

Author: Timeri Murari
Publisher: Penguin Books, Limited (UK)
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 318

Book Description
A Rollicking Exploration Of Love In Its Many Guises Smoking A Joint In The Attic Of His Westchester Home, Seventeen-Year-Old Nikhil Figgis Finds A Tattered Copy Of A Novel Called Georgetown Among The Folds Of A Red Silk Sari In A Long-Forgotten Suitcase. Eleven Years On, He Has Arrived In India Armed With A Stage Adaptation Of The Novel To Look For Its Author, Who Is Also The Father He Has Never Known. But In India, As Nikhil Discovers, Destiny Is Master, And Within A Few Short Hours He Is Sucked Into A Whirlwind Of Events That Leaves Him Bewildered And Breathless. He Misplaces The Suitcase Containing His Precious Script, The Police Mistake Him For A Terrorist, A Baby Crocodile Turns Up In His Bathtub, And When He Finally Tracks His Father Down With The Help Of The Attractive And Spunky Detective Apu, The Temperamental And Reclusive Man Refuses To Acknowledge Nikhil As His Son. But Nikhil Has Made Up His Mind He Will Take In His Stride All The Mayhem India Has To Offer, For He Must Help His Father Remember Again What It Feels Like To Love And Trust. Besides, He Is Irresistibly Drawn To Apu, Whose Own Scars Need Healing . . . Skilfully Interweaving Drama, Romance And Comedy, And Packed With Quirky, Unforgettable Characters, The Arrangements Of Love Is A Wonderful Novel About Family And Home And The Intricacies Of Ordinary Human Relationships.

The Swallows of Kabul

Author: Yasmina Khadra
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0307429423
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Book Description
Set in Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul, this extraordinary novel "puts a human face on the suffering inflicted by the Taliban" (San Francisco Chronicle), taking readers into the seemingly divergent lives of two couples—and depicting with compassion and exquisite details the mentality of Islamic fundamentalists and the complexities of the Muslim world. Mohsen comes from a family of wealthy shopkeepers whom the Taliban has destroyed; Zunaira, his wife, exceedingly beautiful, was once a brilliant teacher and is now no longer allowed to leave her home without an escort or covering her face. Intersecting their world is Atiq, a prison keeper, a man who has sincerely adopted the Taliban ideology and struggles to keep his faith, and his wife, Musarrat, who once rescued Atiq and is now dying of sickness and despair. Desperate, exhausted Mohsen wanders through Kabul when he is surrounded by a crowd about to stone an adulterous woman. Numbed by the hysterical atmosphere and drawn into their rage, he too throws stones at the face of the condemned woman buried up to her waist. With this gesture the lives of all four protagonists move toward their destinies. Yasmina Khadra brings readers into the hot, dusty streets of Kabul and offers them an unflinching but compassionate insight into a society that violence and hypocrisy have brought to the edge of despair.

Wounded Tiger

Author: Peter Oborne
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 184983248X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 624

Book Description
THE WISDEN BOOK OF THE YEAR and THE CROSS SPORTS BOOK AWARDS CRICKET BOOK OF THE YEAR. 'The most complete, best researched, roses-and-thorns history of cricket in Pakistan' Independent 'As good as it's likely to get' Guardian The nation of Pakistan was born out of the trauma of Partition from India in 1947. Its cricket team evolved in the chaotic aftermath. Initially unrecognised, underfunded and weak, Pakistan's team grew to become a major force in world cricket. Since the early days of the Raj, cricket has been entwined with national identity and Pakistan's successes helped to define its status in the world. Defiant in defence, irresistible in attack, players such as A.H.Kardar, Fazal Mahmood, Wasim Akram and Imran Khan awed their contemporaries and inspired their successors. The story of Pakistan cricket is filled with triumph and tragedy. In recent years, it has been threatened by the same problems affecting Pakistan itself: fallout from the 'war on terror', sectarian violence, corruption, crises in health and education, and a shortage of effective leaders. For twenty years, Pakistan cricket has been stained by the scandalous behaviour of the players involved in match-fixing. After 2009, the fear of violence drove Pakistan's international cricket into exile. But Peter Oborne's narrative is also full of hope. For all its troubles, cricket gives all Pakistanis a chance to excel and express themselves, a sense of identity and a cause for pride in their country. Packed with first-hand recollections, and digging deep into political, social and cultural history, Wounded Tiger is a major study of sport and nationhood.

Chanakya Returns

Author: Timeri Murari
Publisher: Rupa Publications
ISBN: 9789383064021
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
An unputdownable political thriller from best-selling author Timeri Murari. Chanakya Returns covers a vast canvas of power, love, history, politics, betrayals, sex and more. It is narrated by Chanakya (370-282 BC), reincarnated in the contemporary world as the adviser to Avanti, the daughter of the head of a nameless state in India. In the course of the novel, Chanakya poses an eternal question: What shapes our lives - The Power of Love or the Love of Power? His protégée, Avanti, has to choose between love and power. The choice Avanti makes has all sorts of implications not just for herself and her dysfunctional family, but for the people of the state her family has ruled for years. In his previous existence, the historical Chanakya was exiled from his homeland and took his revenge on the king who was the cause of his misfortune by defeating him in a war. He was then responsible for anointing Chandragupta as ruler of the Mauryan Empire and advising him on every aspect of statecraft. In the novel, Chanakya provides the same services to Avanti. He manoeuvres the awkward young daughter of a charismatic, powerful politician across the chessboard of power to becoming a brilliant successful politician and leader in her own right. Key Features: It is a racy, fast-paced political thriller that tells the story of Chanakya reincarnated in the 21st century. The book will appeal to all readers of fiction and literary non-fiction. The author's previous books include the critically acclaimed The Taliban Cricket Club and Taj: A Mughal Story, which was translated into two dozen languages. There will be a sequel to this book, so readers have something to look forward to.

TAJ

Author: Timeri N. Murari
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789382277347
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
When his queen, Arjumand Banu - Mumtaz-i-Mahal, the Chosen One of the Palace - died, Shah Jahan wanted to build a monument that was the image of his perfect love for her. For twenty-two years, twenty thousand men laboured day and night to fulfil the emperors obsession. The result was the Taj Mahal, a marble mausoleum lined with gold, silver and precious jewels. This powerful novel narrates the story of the Taj on two parallel levels. The first one tells the passionate love story of Shah Jahan and Arjumand till her death through the voices of three main characters - Arjumand, Shah Jahan and Isa, Arjumands favourite eunuch. The second recounts the later years of Shah Jahans reign, the building of the Taj Mahal and the bloody pursuit of the fabled Peacock Throne by his sons. Intertwined with the narrative about the building of the Taj is the story of Murthi, the Hindu craftsman sent as a gift to the emperor to carve the famous marble jali around Arjumands sarcophagus. In this complex and fascinating book, Murari has written much more than a historical romance. He has skillfully recreated the period against which the story is set: the opulence of the palace and the grinding poverty of seventeenth-century India, the vicissitudes of Shah Jahans reign and the often bitter conflict between men of different faiths

The Taliban Cricket Club

Author: Timeri Murari
Publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia
ISBN: 9781742378848
Category : Afghanistan
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
Set in war-torn Kabul, a harrowing yet tender novel--think "Bend It Like Beckham" in a burka--about one woman's courage and guile in the face of terror and tyranny.

The Outpost

Author: Jake Tapper
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316215856
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 789

Book Description
The basis of the film starring Orlando Bloom and Scott Eastwood, The Outpost is the heartbreaking and inspiring story of one of America's deadliest battles during the war in Afghanistan, acclaimed by critics everywhere as a classic. At 5:58 AM on October 3rd, 2009, Combat Outpost Keating, located in frighteningly vulnerable terrain in Afghanistan just 14 miles from the Pakistani border, was viciously attacked. Though the 53 Americans there prevailed against nearly 400 Taliban fighters, their casualties made it the deadliest fight of the war for the U.S. that year. Four months after the battle, a Pentagon review revealed that there was no reason for the troops at Keating to have been there in the first place. In The Outpost, Jake Tapper gives us the powerful saga of COP Keating, from its establishment to eventual destruction, introducing us to an unforgettable cast of soldiers and their families, and to a place and war that has remained profoundly distant to most Americans. A runaway bestseller, it makes a savage war real, and American courage manifest. "The Outpost is a mind-boggling, all-too-true story of heroism, hubris, failed strategy, and heartbreaking sacrifice. If you want to understand how the war in Afghanistan went off the rails, you need to read this book." -- Jon Krakauer