| 22 Years: A Kashmir Story 22 Years: A Kashmir Story as A nominee "best story award" by the NY Literary Magazine My first book, 22 Years, is a memoir and a Kashmir story. I see Kashmir as the geographical head of India, as well as an ancient seat of spirituality. A peaceful and progressive India is crucial for a peaceful and progressive Kashmir, and vice versa. The book tells an inspiring true story about a Kashmiri boy, Billu, whose life journey has been an absolute rollercoaster. He virtually rose from the ashes, not once but several times in his life. He got uprooted from Kashmir in December 1989, due to an unprecedented politico-religious upheaval, when he was just about 27 year old. About five lakh members of his Pandit community also left the valley after a month of his departure. Over years, Billu’s state of his mind changed from extreme anxiety, fear and depression during the months leading to the mass exodus of his community from Kashmir; back to utter despondency and extreme anger in the period immediately following the mass exodus; to anxiety and continued struggle in life for achieving some dignity and stability in life; and finally back to love, compassion and empathy. ISBN: 9789386473141 Binding: PB Price: 295 Rs. |
| ISSUES WHITE-ANTING INDIA As an NRI sees it Do Indians really care about India? questions Bill Koul, the author, an NRI who lives in Australia. With a rapidly increasing population, pollution, and irresponsible depletion of natural resources, India may potentially choke itself in the next couple of decades or so. He feels Mother India is struggling and cannot breastfeed any more people. Markets are flooded with adulterated fruits, vegetables and dairy products; fake and spurious medicines. The Indian tendency to show off their wealth with wasteful expenditure at weddings is fuelling consumerism and corruption, in the process eroding traditional human values and sincerity in social interactions. At the political level, he holds the current Kashmiri leaders responsible for compromising the lives of their future generations by inciting young children to pelt stones at the security forces in the name of religion. He feels history may never forgive them. All these issues seem to act as termites or white ants, potentially undermining the foundations of the country. The Mainu Ki (why should I bother?) attitude of the average Indian must be replaced by a direct approachtimely, prudent, sincere and fearlessto tackle these issues. The author has in this book highlighted all the problems and listed out possible solutions for them. ISBN: 9789386473134 Binding: PB Price: 250 Rs |
| My Life Does Not Have To Be Unhappy Humans are living longer and becoming more intelligent. A sharp rise in the rates of mental illness, e.g. depression, and incidences of suicide, indicate we don’t seem to be becoming happier, or any wiser, with time. Many young intelligent people, in their pursuit of knowing everything, lose the core objective of living the life itself. Alarmingly, many fall in love with artificial intelligence and live in a virtual world. Thanks to the internet and the social media, the actual face-to-face inter-human interaction is dwindling at a considerable rate. This book is about life and particularly targeted towards young adults, who: • Suffer from unhappiness; are disposed to mental depression, or have suicidal tendencies; • Believe in atheism or scientism, and challenge the existence of God and religions; • Are addicted to, or are suffering from the ill-effects of over-reliance on the artificial intelligence, internet and social media; or • Are trying to seek answers to the age-old core questions, such as, “What is this world all about? Why I am here? What is the purpose of my life?” This book is based on scientific studies and thoughts from various philosophers. It also presents the author’s views on the God concept, the validity of religions and the myth of love. It gives useful tips on how parents can harden up and desensitise young people against stress so they can face life’s challenges without buckling under; importance of socialisation and how to socialise; why one must be unselfish and live to a greater purpose of one’s choice for being happy; and the benefits of meditation and physical exercise for one’s mental health. "ISBN: 9789386473097 Binding: PB Price: 250 Rs. | |
I am an engineering consultant, editor and author. I live in Perth, Western Australia, where I work as a Principal with a geotechnical consulting firm, 4DGeotechnics Pty Ltd. My interests include philosophy, spirituality, nature, music, cricket and long distance running. On a professional front, I am a current Fellow and Chartered Professional Engineer (Engineers Australia), with APEC Engineer’s accreditation, and over 33 years of international experience in civil / geotechnical engineering consulting industry. I have worked on numerous projects in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, PNG, China, Mongolia, South and South-East Asia, West Africa and South America. As a geotechnical engineering consultant, I have undertaken numerous geotechnical investigations and foundation designs works associated with roads, bridges, railways, power plants, civil infrastructure, slope stability assessments, high rise structures, forensic engineering, ground improvement and construction monitoring works related to earthworks. My work experience also includes mentoring personnel and undertaking technical and contract management. I have the necessary technical interpersonal skills to understand the technical and personnel issues and provide reasonable and effective timely solutions. I have authored three books. All books have been published by Vitasta Publishing Pty Ltd, New Delhi. The books were launched initially in Perth, Western Australia, in August 2017. Subsequently, I had book launches across India, in seven different cities Aurangabad, Bhopal, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, New Delhi and Jammu Tawi between September and December 2017. On the surface, the three book topics may look diverse, but with a deeper view, all three books are about India and her people, and the issues created and caused by the people. My forthcoming book is titled, Art & Philosophy of Engineering for Civil Engineers. I am also committed to writing books for children for raising their awareness and educating them about environmental and civil responsibility, ethics and aesthetics. I am also planning to write a novel on human relationships. I have edited two books for Vitasta Publishing Pvt Ltd The School on the Hill and Khushwant Singh in Wisdom and in Jest.. |