Sonali Kumar

Short stories from the celebrated author of The Outsider

You will find plenty of books on Kashmir by politicians, journalists, army officers, Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits narrating their experiences. BUT you will never find-an outsider IAS officer's perspective. ** The Print version in India is also called "Unmasking Kashmir: A Bureaucrat reveals." Sonali Kumar, a starry-eyed young woman, joined the IAS in 1979 to make a difference to India. She was allotted the state of Jammu & Kashmir where she spent 37 years trying to understand the people of Kashmir, solve their problems and focus on development. What she found was disturbing-an apartheid regime exists in Kashmir where the humanity is divided between insiders and outsiders; where outsiders nearly become second class citizens. She tried to make the administrative system "people friendly" but soon became a victim herself. Little did she know that her quest for development in Kashmir will become a fight against corruption, nepotism, communalism and anti-nationalism-all mixed together. She doesn't realise that the vested interests she had hurt, will soon hit back. And may even cost her career, house, perks and happiness. Will she succeed? Or will she fail? Sonali Kumar, as an outsider, brings a fresh perspective to the Kashmir problem NEVER TOLD BEFORE. The book is worth reading for anyone even remotely interested in the Kashmir problem.

70 JIFFY Ways to Prepare Delicious Desserts from Everything-Rice, Wheat, Paneer, Khoya, Yoghurt, and Hold Your Breath, Lentils and Veggies As Only Indians Can. From the author of "Cooking In A Jiffy" series of cookbooks, comes a mind-boggling tribute to sweets, puddings and desserts, the way Indians cook them in their homes even today. There are eight great Indian desserts that use rice, twelve outstanding ways to turn wheat in to delicious puddings, six protein-filled desserts that use lentils, seven puddings Indians love to make from veggies, a dozen outstanding classics that use Paneer, eleven dessert recipes that are made from Khoya, and six recipes that use yoghurt. There are also seven recipes that are inspired by the British Raj and are still served in many Indian clubs and messes of the Armed Forces. Most recipes are low-calorie, don't use eggs, and permit the use of sugar-substitutes. They also can be made in a JIFFY, without special equipment or moulds, without pre-heating ovens, without waiting for hours for your stuff to bake, and so on.

101 Tastiest Ways to Cook Veggies as Snacks, Soups, Curries, Full Meals and hold your breath, Desserts As only Indians can. From the author of # 1 Best seller "Cooking In A Jiffy" series of cookbooks, comes a tribute to vegetables, the way Indians cook them in their homes. So forget your boring boiled and broiled and baked ways to make veggie dishes and let this new book open your eyes to the wonderful possibilities of cooking vegetables the way northern, southern, eastern and western Indians do." The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Vegetables the Indian Way" lets you savour, in this background, as many as twenty-six most popular "Home Style" curries, 24 dry recipes, 10 recipes for cooking veggies with rice or breads, and 19 kinds of snacks and accompaniments. Most recipes are low-calorie and with OPTIONAL use of chillies. For the spice-challenged or nostalgia ridden folks, there are 14 dishes from the days of the British Raj that do use cheese and involve baking, if you were missing that Finally there are 8 desserts Indians love to make from veggies. And the bottom line is that you master these and you can handle any Indian vegetable dish from any part of India, we promise.