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Stories by: penguinindia
64 stories
The Break of Dawn
It is the searing month of June. The rebellion against the British has just begun and Awadh is up in flames. Hindus and Muslims have joined hands to overthrow the foreign rulers and set India free. Some Indian rulers have started to enter into alliances to fight the firangis, while others have thrown in their lot with the foreigners. Amid all this, Riyaz Khan, a young solider from the army of the Raja of Mahmudabad, saves a group of Britishers from fellow 'mutineers' and escorts them to the safety of Lucknow. In this group is Alice, who falls in love with Riyaz and eventually becomes an informer for the rebels.The Break of Dawn, originally published in Urdu under the title Aghaaz-e-Sahr, is a thrilling page-turner and a reminder of a time when Indians of all classes and creeds came together to fight for the honour and freedom of their homeland.
The Cousins
Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story are cousins, but they barely know each another, and they've never even met their grandmother. Rich and reclusive, she disinherited their parents before they were born. So when they each receive a letter inviting them to work at her island resort for the summer, they're surprised . . . and curious.Their parents are all clear on one point--not going is not an option. This could be the opportunity to get back into Grandmother's good graces. But when the cousins arrive on the island, it's immediately clear that she has different plans for them. And the longer they stay, the more they realize how mysterious--and dark--their family's past is.The entire Story family has secrets. Whatever pulled them apart years ago isn't over--and this summer, the cousins will learn everything.
You Only Live Once
What if you ran away from your life today?Twenty years later, three people are looking for you.One is dying to meet you again.The other wishes you had never met them.The third wishes they could have met you at least once.You are one person. Aren't you? But you are not the same person to each of them.Find the answers about your own life in this story about searching for love and discovering yourself. Join a broken but rising YouTube star Alara, a struggling but hopeful stand-up comedian Aarav, and a zany but zen beach shack owner Ricky. Together, take the journey to seek the truth behind the famous singer Elisha's disappearance somewhere by the deep sea in Goa.Will you be able to find Elisha? Or will you end up finding yourself?
Can't Quarantine Our Love
True love-we all long for it, only a few ever really find it and even fewer live with it forever.Avni, however, believes true love is a myth. Unlike her gregarious Punjabi parents, she prefers to live in her own little world and wants nothing more than to be left alone with her books for company.When she comes across her new neighbour Sidharth, she is irked by his behaviour. A fun and outgoing Gujju boy, Sidharth is everything Avni detests. As fate would have it, he is instantly drawn to her on their first meeting. But Avni wants nothing to do with the boy who seems to be ruining her chances of securing the top position in college.A series of miscommunications makes Avni believe the worst of Sidharth, further ruining his hopes of ever having a chance at love.Can't Quarantine Our Love is an epic love story of two neighbours with a twist of fate that puts everything they know to a heartbreaking test.
Only The Good Die Young
Sometimes when you're desperate to leave the past behind, the past is eager to catch up!Anuradha leaves Gurgaon when Dhruv chooses his family over her. She thinks that chapter of her life has ended, and starts afresh in Mumbai. But strangely, it seems her past is trying to catch up. Dhruv suddenly comes back into her life. Even as they try to figure out their relationship, horrible things start happening to people they know. Together, Anuradha and Dhruv need to find out who it is that cannot bear to see them together. Who is carrying out these shocking crimes? Are they really soulmates cursed to stay apart, or is there some karmic debt they have to repay? Taut and thrilling, ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG is unputdownable.
I Am No Messiah
Sometimes, a little nudge from the universe pushes one to find his raison d'etre in life. If actor Sonu Sood had given in to the celebrity syndrome of sitting in his ivory tower and expressing his generosity by remote control, he would have never come face to face with the trauma of India's migrant labourers or understood that a food packet was a woefully inadequate substitute for a ride back home. During the nationwide lockdown, imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a wave of poverty-stricken migrants set out on foot to make their arduous journey back home, the value of seva, service to mankind, instilled in him by his parents, spurred Sonu Sood into action. From taking to the streets and reaching out to the stranded, to setting up a dedicated team and making arrangements for national and international transport, Sonu managed to help thousands of helpless and needy workers. Thus, began his 'Ghar Bhejo' programme, carried out like a humanitarian mission. Chartered flights, buses and trains were sanitized and paid for. Distress calls from all over the world were answered. Soon, the movement snowballed into a campaign for providing jobs, medical facilities and educational aid to workers. The silver-screen villain transitioned into a real-life superhero. In his memoir, I Am No Messiah, Sonu Sood combines the extraordinary experiences of his journey from Moga to Mumbai with the writing skills of veteran journalist and author Meena K. Iyer. Honest, inspirational and heart-warming, this is the story of Sonu Sood and of the people whose lives he continues to transform.
Cross Your Heart, Take My Name
Garv Roy Gill and Yahvi Kothari meet at an airport lounge by chance. Six months later they find themselves consumed by the proverbial once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. Bored with their mundane daily routine, their adventurous streak makes them decide, one day, to escape the present and begin a new reality somewhere far, far away. Just that the day they are supposed to meet and escape, Yahvi doesn't turn up. Then she doesn't respond to Garv's phone calls or messages. And mysteriously Yahvi vanishes altogether.Days later, as a grieving Garv stumbles upon her Instagram profile, which he didn't know existed, he is shocked to realize that her every post is probably a clue to the truth behind her disappearance. Except, the more he unearths the meandering truth, the more he learns about a certain side of Yahvi which changes the way he saw her. And the way he understood love.
Final Cut
Blackwood Bay. An ordinary place, home to ordinary people.It used to be a buzzing seaside destination. But now, ravaged by the effects of dwindling tourism and economic downturn, it's a ghost town - and the perfect place for film-maker Alex to shoot her new documentary.But the community is deeply suspicious of her intentions. After all, nothing exciting ever happens in Blackwood Bay - or does it?
The Cowherd Prince
Govinda Shauri always has a plan.Govinda, son of Nanda-one of the many cowherds in the verdant kingdom of Surasena, in Aryavarta-was content with his tough but wonderful life. That was until the king's men came looking for him and his brother, Balabadra, spewing death and destruction in their wake.Forced to leave behind those they love in order to save them, the brothers are now on the run-all the while being hunted by the tyrant king, Kans, and his bloodthirsty adviser, Chanuran, who will stop at nothing to kill them.Even as their journey reveals Govinda's true identity as a prince and the rightful heir to the Surasena crown, it pulls them deeper into the murky secrets surrounding the throne-and its bloody legacy.What will it take for an ordinary cowherd boy to grow into a master strategist who will always have a plan?
You Are All I Need
Whether it is a distant lover or someone you see every day but can't confess to; whether it is a love that grows silently or a love that's not acceptable by society; whether it is a love that will never be yours or a love that is pure and untainted by jealousy-love will always finds a way to survive, to make life more beautiful, more liveable. That's why we say, 'Love makes the world go round!'You Are All I Need is a collection of touching stories selected by Ravinder Singh to bring to the readers the myriad facets of love. This book will make you laugh, cry, think and feel, all at the same time. It is an eclectic collection of love stories that will warm the cockles of your heart.
The Magic of Friendships
Do you have numerous friends on social media, but hardly any in real life?Do you find that your relationships don't last?These and similar questions have now become the part and parcel of our lives. Today, more than ever, friendship has become more important than any other relationship. The warmth and companionship that a good friend can provide is unmatched and each one of us craves for that special friend to whom we can unburden our heart or seek help from in troubled times. But not all of us are that lucky!In his book, Shubha Vilas discusses, in a simple and straight-forward manner, what is missing in our friendships today and the various scenarios that prevent people from making and maintaining good friends.
The Star of India
Hollywood, 1946. When Nancy Valentine meets the dashing crown prince of Cooch Behar, sparks fly almost instantly. Sporty-as she lovingly nicknames him-is like nobody the beautiful young actress has ever met before. She is swept away to Sporty's kingdom in India just as the country is caught up in a tumultuous freedom struggle. And before she knows it, Nancy is entangled in a whirlwind of intrigue, espionage and attempted murder.From the glitz of Hollywood to the lush chambers of Indian royalty, The Star of India weaves a spirited tale of a strong-willed woman whose fate was deeply entwined with the momentous birth of modern India.
A Song of India
Sixteen-year-old Ruskin, after having finally finished his school, is living with his stepfather and mother at the Old Station Canteen in Dehradun. Struggling to begin his writing journey, he tries to make a passage to England to chase his true calling. But as he prepares for his long voyage, the prospect of saying goodbye to the warm, sunny shores of India looms large.Brought straight from his past, Ruskin Bond recalls the longing for familiarity, the joys of receiving his first money order, publishing his stories and finding new friends.Following the trail of Looking for the Rainbow, Till the Clouds Roll By and Coming Round the Mountain, A Song of India is another year from the life of a fiery teenager as he embarks on a journey to an unfamiliar land.
To You, With Love
Right from their childhood, Sahil and Arya have been very different from each other. While Sahil is careless, carefree, 'new money' and 'the brat', Arya is too sensitive, reserved, shy and not easy to talk to. And that is probably what attracts Sahil to her. Slowly and very delicately their story progresses, and in comes love and things begin to take on a golden hue.However, soon their life begins to unravel. Sahil learns why Arya is so private when the most damning truth about her life is revealed. And as soon as they cross that bridge and move on, another cruel blow threatens to tear them apart.It's now about a life beyond life, and about a love somewhere among the stars . . .
Rising Heat
Young Selvan's life is no longer the same. His family's ancestral land has been sold in order to make way for the construction of a housing colony. Now the verdant landscape of his childhood has been denuded, while Selvan and his family are compelled to move to much smaller lodgings. In the ensuing years, as the pressures of their situation simmer to a boil, Selvan observes his family undergo dramatic shifts in their fortunes as greed and jealousy threaten to overshadow their lives.Murugan's first novel, which launched a splendid literary career, is a tour de force. Now translated for the first time, it poses powerful questions about the human cost of relentless urbanization in the name of progress.
A Burning
This is an electrifying debut novel about three unforgettable characters who find their lives entangled in the wake of a catastrophe. They seek to rise-to the middle class, to political power, to fame in the movies. One is Jivan, a Muslim girl from the slums accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment on Facebook. The second is PT Sir, an opportunistic gym teacher who hitches his aspirations to a right-wing political party, only to find his own ascent linked to Jivan's fall. And the third is Lovely, an irresistible outcast who has an alibi that can set Jivan free-but at the cost of everything she holds dear.
Hunted by the Sky
GUL HAS SPENT HER LIFE RUNNING. She has a star-shaped birthmark on her arm, and in the kingdom of Ambar, girls with such birthmarks have been disappearing for years. In fact, it is this very mark that caused her parents' murder at the hand of King Lohar's ruthless soldiers and forced her into hiding in order to protect her own life. So when a group of rebel women called the 'Sisters of the Golden Lotus' rescue her, take her in, and train her in warrior magic, Gul wants only one thing: revenge. Cavas lives in the tenements, and he's just about ready to sign his life over to the king's army. His father is terminally ill but Cavas will do anything to save him. Sparks fly when he meets a mysterious girl-Gul-in the capital's bazaar. As the chemistry between them grows undeniably, he becomes entangled in a mission of vengeance and discovers a magic he never expected to find.
The End of October
A race-against-time thriller, as one man must find the origin and cure for a new killer virus that has brought the world to its knees.At an internment camp in Indonesia, forty-seven people are pronounced dead with a mysterious fever. When Dr Henry Parsons - microbiologist and epidemiologist - travels there on behalf of the World Health Organization to investigate, what he finds will soon have staggering repercussions across the globe: an infected man is on his way to join the millions of worshippers in the annual Hajj to Mecca.
The Coronavirus Book
On the eve of 31 December 2019, as the world celebrated the start of a new decade, the province of Wuhan alerted the World Health Organization of several 'flu-like' cases. Less than a week later, a novel coronavirus, was identified. In February, the disease it caused was named COVID-19. Even now, as the global infection rate crosses 1,00,000 and the death toll surpasses 3000, we are yet to understand the threat posed by this new coronavirus. There is no vaccination to prevent it, and no antiviral to cure the sick. While high numbers are being reported daily, agencies may still be unaware of many cases.The Coronavirus is a timely must-read for everyone keen on understanding its impact and fallout.
The Crown of Seven Stars
Aum is under attack. The enemies are not external; rather, they are within the kingdom, each obsessed with the Crown of Seven Stars. Early one morning, Destiny rolls her dice. General Saahas, heir to the throne, becomes a hunted man and Aum plunges into chaos, submitting meekly to the tyranny of the self-appointed Raja Shunen and the wily Queen Manmaani.Turned into a fugitive, Saahas is forced to submit to the power of the saade saati--the dreaded seven and a half years befalling every person at least once in their lifetime. Bitter and full of despair, he vows to vanquish his biggest foe, Destiny.
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line
Nine-year-old Jai drools outside sweet shops, watches too many reality police shows and considers himself to be smarter than his friends Pari and Faiz. When a classmate goes missing, Jai decides to use the crime-solving skills he has picked up from TV to find him. He asks Pari and Faiz to be his assistants, and together they draw up lists of people to interview and places to visit.But what begins as a game turns sinister as other children start disappearing from their neighbourhood. Jai, Pari and Faiz have to confront terrified parents, an indifferent police force and rumours of soul-snatching djinns. As the disappearances edge ever closer to home, the lives of Jai and his friends will never be the same again.
The World Between Us
When Amal finds out that her disastrous Tinder match is now going to be her boss, she can't be more annoyed. Qais Ahmed is everything she never wants to be: narcissistic, manipulative and arrogant.However, despite her relentless efforts, she is unable to resist his charm and wit and is drawn to him once she gets to know the real him.She soon discovers that he isn't just a part of her professional life but has a deep connection to a past she is trying to forget.Will this disturbing secret tear them apart or bind them together forever?
