A dysfunctional family struggles to keep itself together even while some members seem to be drifting away on personal agendas. The senior members of the clan seem powerless as their traditional ways face challenges from new ideas and practices. Meanwhile a shrewd Outsider who marries into the clan uses clever ways to acquire status in the hierarchy to be able to inherit privilege and position for herself and her protege. The grandees settled in their assured positions do not pick up on these clever moves. So, could fate or nature step in to play a significant role in the Singh Saga? The...

'Petals and Pebbles' uses facts and stories to talk about situations people face every day. The Author, Elias Dias, uses his pastoral experience and his counselling skills to offer advice to the average reader looking for guideposts in life. The friendly style of the book, together with the glossary and the references, makes it a book that can be read in the comfort of one's home, or for more serious study, or perhaps while commuting to work. The short chapters and the subtitles offer even the casual reader the possibility of browsing or reading just the chapters or sections that need to be...

Charles Stephenson had to cope with a difficult childhood. It was quite a problem for his parents to try to control his boyhood exuberance. They imagined that school would sort him out but moving him from one school to another proved unproductive. Perhaps he lacked motivation, or maybe he was not meant for serious or methodical academic work. These were reasons enough for the education systems of the time to single him out for the rough treatment that they meted out to rebellious or failing children in Burma. His father too believed that only corporal punishment was the answer to poor...

Two travellers -a man and a lady-chance to sit side by side on a long-haul flight from East Africa to Bangkok (Thailand). After formal introductions, starting at the served-meal, the two soon get interested in each other's work, and then in each other's lives. One things leads to another and, before they realize it, the flight from Nairobi to Bangkok has an emergency stopover in a tiny island in the Indian Ocean, Male. Constraints in accommodation compel the airline to use pair-seating arrangements on the plane to slot into double-rooms in the hotels. The man (Justin) and the lady (Alice)...