Do we need God?
When love of God awakens within us, it naturally manifests as compassion towards all beings, transforming greed into generosity, arrogance into humility, vengeance into forgiveness, sectarianism into appreciation of others, hate into love, envy into compassion; it is this transformation that comes through a god-conscious life.

Does God live in rituals?
A ritual is like an envelope that is meant to send a message. Religious rituals are ways of expressing the inner intention of our hearts. God sees our intention, our sincerity.

Is there a dummies’ guide to getting
the right guru?
The Vedas teach that a seeker needs to understand the science of finding a Guru. Guru speaks what is in the
scriptures, lives by those principles and continues the tradition of saints who exhibited the universal spiritual principles that we have been speaking of.

What is the relationship with God one
should aspire for?
We are naturally attracted to God (or Krishna) when the heart is cleansed of the pollution of egoism. On the path of bhakti we aspire to enter into relationship with God in the spirit of unconditional, unmotivated love.

The Journey Home: Autobiography
of an American Swami
Radhanath Swami
Mandala $16.95

he Bitch Switch,
Omarosa, Jaico, Rs 250

Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth made
her unforgettable entry into the national
spotlight as the villain viewers came
to either love or hate on The Apprentice.
She has embraced this on-screen identity
and turned it into a genuinely
insightful self-help guide for women,
who should know how to turn their
bitch mode on and off, so that they can
strengthen themselves. A bitingly practical
book, with lots of personal tips for addressing those self-esteem issues and for those aspiring for success in all sorts of relationships.

The Death of Bunny Munro,
Nick Cave, Random House, Rs 195

Nick Cave’s music was loved by many,
and chances are so will his second
book be. Bunny Munro is struggling to
get a grip on reality and deal with guilt
after his wife’s suicide by taking his son
on a road trip. The middle-aged doorto-
door salesman gives moisturisers
and quickies to housewives, trying to
escape his own grief. It might
be sleazy, but when sleaziness is art
in written words, and when the grimy
and depressed novel leads on to
reflection, you know it is bound to be a
sure-shot hit.

Kama Kahani series,
Random House, Rs 150 each

Why should we read Mills & Boon
with their western-settings, when the
same is available in an Indian background,
replete with zamindars, nawabs, Indian princes and princesses in tales of seduction and purdah-jharoka romances? The first three books in this series are set in the 18th and early
19th centuries in Rajasthan, Lucknow
and Bengal respectively. It’s a formula
plot with clichéd characters, but if you
are a romance fan, do give this a shot.

The Angel’s Game,
Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Hachette India, Rs 495

Crime reporter in a local newspaper,
David Martin progresses to writing
cheap crime thrillers under a pen
name. He lives and works in a derelict
mansion, where reality begins to
reflect his imagined fiction. Andreas
Corelli, a mysterious French publisher,
makes David a fabulous offer to write a path breaking book. As David begins to write, he is gradually drawn into the darkest depths of the human soul.