Jo and Jahnavi

Jo moved to Bangalore last week. twistntales will miss her presence. Jo came in last October and has been a real joy to work with. Jo got back grace and graciousness back to tnt, which was slightly lacking after Geetanjali's exit. With the added corporate background, she added a lot of value to tnt operations.

But its her singing, the whistling of old Hindi film songs that we are going to miss Jyothi most. Faristha will play on World Space for Sonali and me alone ! Jo, we are going to miss you and your joyous walk in - mostly in the evenings, your calling for various things that tnt is known for - right from sambhar podi stuff to directions to reach bibwewadi ! Will look forward to your visits to Pune. Good luck and all the best to you and Vin for all the things that you have set out to do !

Jahnavi joined us last year as a teenager ..... and promptly came under tia's wings! But the year and right through various events has scored time and again with her meticulousness and thoroughness. She did to Anushree what tia did to her and got her inducted into tnt way and living and sense of values .... She imbibed well. We will miss you Jahnavi and your chocolate brownies.

Shama and Kawstuv run the Store now. As i see each person come in, take a few months to settle, stabilise and then move on to the next challenge of life, i can see that they also ensure that tnt is left in good hands.

Reshma joins us back on 8th of Jan. For more madness for the next 5 months, tune in to twistntales!

We wish you a merry christmas !

Thankyou for making the Sassoon Christmas party a really rocking show.

Thanks Sonali, for the wonderful weaving of story webs, and building in Amol's role in it.

Thankyou Amol for making the world see positives.

Thankyou children, Nandini, Yamini, Vinathi, Siddarth, Avi and Kittu for adding to our joy, song and mirth.

Thankyou Tripuri, Amit, Annie and Manmeet for giving time and energy.

Thankyou Nirmala. You turned out to be a complete surprise package. Agle saal stage hilaa denge !

Thankyou, Ravi and Vishnu - for helping us do this year after year.

Thankyou Saira for letting us make this happen year after year. We missed Nalini this year.

Thankyou Resh. Only you could pull off what you did.

Folks we missed this year : Mrs. Uma Sarathchandran, Geetanjali and Vernen.

Thank you volunteers, Nikita, Neil, Padmini and others.

Thankyou Sumi and other friends who showed up.

And thankyou Santa. Year after year, you bring cheer to these children, walking into the ICU and bringing hope to desperate mothers clinging to their babies with faith, and touching them like the Lord himself would have.... And sad, desperate parents look you imploringly in the eye... Being Santa in Sassoon Peadiatric is not an easy job.... but you do it well. thanks Shrikant. And this year, you played real Santa as well, immediately after your role play was over. God bless.

Practising hard at home - getting ready

Sonali starts with Pied Piper

A Section of the audience

Blankets Distribution

Nandini, Yamini and Vinathi with Rudolf, the red nosed reindeer

Tripuri, Amit, Annie singing Silent Night w. nan, yam and vin

Santa blaming Mrs.Claus for his untrimmed beard

Pied Piper, Peter Pan, Elf Resh getting ready

Nirmala in full flow

what's this again ? Now we know !

Christmas @ Sassoon again !

Message sent to twistntales@yahoogroups.com on 19th Dec'07.

Create the Christmas Magic with Santa!

Hi all,

Thank you everybody for your wonderful response to our Annual Sale - we really do hope that our selection of books for the Sale this year did live up to your expectations. Of course, as always, the early bird gets the worm - so too for those who came in early got the best of the best!

Thank you also for your mails appreciating our "WoW" rack! Its responses like yours, which enthuses us to think differently. Being a service oriented bookstore in Aundh keeps us on our toes and our discerning customers constantly challenge us..... It keeps us smart and going! We do hope that we are in a position to constantly innovate and keep delighting you!

It's December and our X'mas event is round the corner. As usual our X'mas event is scheduled for 23rd Dec, Sun 2.30pm at the Pediatric Ward at Sassoon Hospital.

A word here for all those who have joined the yahoo groups in recent times. At twistntales, like all festivals, Christmas is celebrated with lots of give rather than gusto. While earlier, Santa created his magic at the Store, for the past 2 years, the party happens at the Pediatric Ward of Sassoon Hospital. The poorest of poor of Pune and neighbouring areas come to Sassoon for treatment. In the Pediatric Ward are kids up to 14 years of age. Santa and our team & families visit Sassoon; cheer up with song, dance and story telling sessions for the children.

All of you are welcome to join in as well, with your children, but do kindly let us know in advance how many of you, as the Hospital has to make arrangements (latest by 22nd Dec, Sat morning). If you are joining us, kindly make arrangements to reach Sassoon Hospital (near Pune railway station) directly. The programme will last for an hour and half and we should be done latest by 4pm.

The Pediatric Ward has a core volunteer group (initially supported by CRY), which keeps activities rolling right through the year. The hospital has recognised their efforts and allotted a room to them (the Sunshine room) to carry on various activities. Both Nalini and Saira work tirelessly towards these efforts and help co-ordinate the twistntales X'mas party too. We also carry a lot of donations in Santa's Goodie bag!

List of things that Sunshine needs:
1. Hindi / Marathi story books
2. Hindi/ Marathi audio cassettes/ cds
3. Colouring books, craft, paper folding, other activity books
4. Crayons, colours, craft kits etc.
5. Old audio players (particularly CD player in working condition)6. Toys (can be "used", but not broken), but no Soft toys please, for fear of infection.
7. Clothing/ Woolens for children (New or good as new - jackets, sweaters, caps, booties etc)8. Playground equipment (particularly slide needs replacement)
twistntales will keep a box outside the Store to collect whatever you wish to donate. Kindly ensure that all items are packed and labeled for contents and age appropriateness. Cheques can be made in the name of SOFOSH (Society of Friends of Sassoon Hospital) and receipt with IT exemption under 80 G (from SOFOSH) will be given.

twistntales will therefore be closed on Sun, 23rd Dec, in the afternoon between 1.30 to 5pm. So, make the effort and be there with us on Sun, 23rd December afternoon.We haven't been able to review books for you this fortnight, but we have a list of new coffee table books. We also have Sonja Chandrachud's debut novel from Puffin, "A Potion of Eternity" - a new series of hilarious hauntings. Most of you in the neighbourhood know Sonja, and is also a familiar face at twistntales, closely associated with many of our reading sessions for children. Make sure you pick a copy and grill Sonja on the various twists and turns of her novel.

List of Coffee Table books that make lovely New Year Gifts:

"501 Must Read Books" @ Rs.795 (544 pages)
"PUNE Queen of the Deccan" by Jaymala Diddee and Samita Gupta @ Rs. 1,500 (304 pages)
"JRD Tata: Letters and Keynotes @ Rs. 999 (504 and 213 pages) The Keynote book has excerpts from his speeches and Chairman’s statements to shareholders.
"INDIAN MINIATURE PAINTING by Dr. Daljeet & Prof. P.C.Jain @ Rs.2500/-(288 pages) Manifestation of a creative mind
"The Classic Watch – by Michael Balfour @ Rs.1495/- (191 pages) The great watches and their makers from the first wristwatch to the present day
"Himalayas Dawn To Dark" by Ashok Dilwali @ Rs.2500/- (179 pages)
"History - The Definitive Visual Guide" @ Rs.995/- (612 pages) From the dawn of civilization to the present day
"The Encyclopedia of World Geography" @ Rs.1195/- (512pages) A Country by Country Guide –Environment-Culture-Economy-Politics
"Raghu Rai’s India @ Rs.5995/- (166 pages) Special Price Rs.5000/- Reflections in Black & White
"Wonders of the World" by Sandra Forty @ Rs.1495/- (158 pages & poster included)
"Art of India" by Frederick M.Asher @ Rs.1295/- (501 pages) Prehistory to the Present
"Threads of Identity" by Judy Frater @ Rs.2500/- (213 pages) special price Rs.2000/-Embroidery and Adornment of the Nomadic Rabaris
"History of the Motorbike" @ Rs.450/- (192 pages) From the first motorized bicycles to the powerful and sophisticated super bikes of today
"Costume, Textiles and Jewellery of India" by Vandana Bhandari @2750/- (207 pgs) Traditions in Rajasthan
"Memory, Metaphor, Mutations" by Yashodhara Dalmia and Salima Hashmi @ Rs. 2950/- (226 pgs) Contemporary Art of India and Pakistan
"Images of India" by Sophie Baker @ Rs. 499/- (144 pgs)
"Chetan Anand: The Poetics of Film" by Uma Anand and Ketan Anand @ Rs. 895/- (147 pgs)
"Encyclopedia of World History" @ Rs. 395/- (251 pgs) An Illustrated Collection of Historical Events
"Sky watching" by David H. Levy @Rs. 450/- (288 pgs) The Best-selling Guide to Understanding the Night Sky
"The 9 Emotions of Indian Cinema Hoardings" by V. Geetha, Sirish Rao and M.P.Dhakkhna @ Rs. 1200/-

Interiors

"Living with Kids" by Eugenia Santiesteban @ Rs. 495/- (142 pgs) Ideas and Solutions for Family- Friendly Interiors
"The Smart Approach to The Organized Home" by Leslie Plummer Clagett @ Rs. 699/- (207 pgs)
"Front Yard Idea Book" by Jeni Webber @ Rs. 495/- (186 pgs)
"Build A Kids’ Play Yard" by Jeff Beneke @ Rs. 399/- (138 pgs)
"Wallpaper" @ Rs. 595/- (255 pgs) Dreams of Colour for the Home
"Ultimate Guide to Kitchens" @ Rs. 795/- (271 pgs) 70 Projects Over 700 Photos and Illustrations
"Fine Wood Working Design Book Seven" @ Rs. 495/- (185 pgs) 360 Photographs of the Best Work in Wood
"The Gaia Natural House Book" by David Pearson @ Rs. 795/- (304 pgs) Creating A Healthy and Ecologically Sound Home

Drop in and have a look at the books in the Store. And do remember your date with Santa and the children on 23rd December, Sunday.

from the team at,
twistntales

Rekha..

A new connection made

and honoured

with everything you have...

The beginning of forever.

Congratulations!

Who's this ?

What's this ?

Message sent to twistntales@yahoogroups.com on 3rd December, 2007


Hi all,

Welcome to another round of new and exciting books. But before we get on to that, just a few announcements!

We have introduced a new rack called "WoW". Yes, it consists of some absolutely wow books, which in a small store like ours may not get noticed! The books in this rack are not necessarily best-selling, but are quirky, unusual, sometimes rare or a complete masterpiece. These books are a joy to own and are completely wow. In our selection rounds this time around, we have spotted quite a few of these "wow" books. When you drop in to twistntales the next time, do check out "WoW", we hope you do a "wow" with every book that you see in this rack.

Now, to our Annual Sale - as usual in December. We start on Sat, 8th Dec., 2007 and go on till Sun, 16th Dec, 2007. Again we have got for you a fabulous collection of books in a variety of topics and are also offering a fabulous discount on them. In kids, story books and workbooks, there is an amazing variety and there are special deals for schools and other institutions - both librarians/ teachers and School Principals are invited to visit.

And now on to new books:

“The Penguin Non- Fiction Collection – Volumes 1, 2 and 3” @ Rs.395/- each

To celebrate 20yrs of publishing in India, Penguin has brought out this collection of non-fiction essays in 3 volumes. Each volume contains excerpts from a wide variety of books whose authors range from politicians to business tycoons to historians amongst others. The first volume includes the works of authors such as Shahid Amin, Subroto Bagchi, Kanti Bajpa, Mahesh Bhatt, James Cameron, HH the Dalai Lama, Gurucharan Das, Ruskin Bond, Iftikar Gilani and Abraham Eraly. It consists of 459 pages. Baby Halder, Pico Iyer, Krishna Kumar, Suketu Mehta, Bimal Jalan, Sudha Murthy, Osho, and Alyque Padamsee are just some of the authors included in the 487 pages of the second volume. Vir Sangvi, Jerry Pinto, A.K Ramanujan, Satyajit Ray, Vikram Seth, Sanjay Suri, Fareed Zakari, Pinki Virani and John Wright are included in volume 3 which has 450 pages. The source of each excerpt is mentioned along with a line describing the authors’ background.

“Secrets of the World’s Most Inspirational Women” by Zerbanoo Gifford @ Rs. 295/- (407 pgs)

Inspiring, this book is about women who have taken the world on and made things happen; women who have captivating beauty and strength of personality; women who embrace life in all its endless variety; women who have transformed their own lives and the lives of others by their hard work, courage and acts of compassion. This is a remarkable collection of stories of women not just from India but all parts of the world, working as mothers, lawyers, wives, CEOs, nurturers, daughters, gurus, scholars and more. In this book they share secrets from how to advance in the workplace, to how to nurture loving relationships.
Zerbanoo Gifford is an author, a human rights campaigner and founder of the ASHA Foundation. She holds the International Woman of the Year Award for 2006, for her humanitarian work.

“The Guru of Joy: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar; The Art of Living” by Francois Gautier @ Rs.295/- (236 pgs)

From Bangalore to Bosnia, from Tamil Nadu to Trinidad, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has traveled all over the world, transforming numerous lives. He has addressed the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, students at Harvard University, carrying the message of love and compassion. This book takes a look into Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s childhood, adolescence, formative years, and his subsequent growth that catapulted him onto the international stage. He talks in detail of his foundation, his work which gives him immense joy and how he strives to spread his simple philosophy.

“On Leadership: Practical Wisdom from the People who know” by Allan Leighton @ Rs. 515/- (308 pgs)

Allan Leighton, currently chairman of Royal Mail Group and deputy chairman of Selfridges and Co. among other companies, talked to Britain’s top businessmen and women for just twenty minutes about their views on leadership. He spoke to the established giants such as Rupert Murdoch, the new generation leaders such as Justin King at Sainsbury, entrepreneurs like Martha Lane Fox. He has also interviewed financial journalists, the moneymen and politicians, all of whom have the power to make a company thrive or falter. This book offers analysis and ideas, Allan Leighton’s own pithy observations of what it takes to be a global leader.

“In The Shadow of the Taj: A Portrait of Agra” by Royina Grewal @ Rs. 295/- (267 pgs)

Agra has been mentioned in Hindu scriptures; it was of strategic importance, which attracted the attention of empire- builders from the Lodhis to the Mughals to the British. However, today Agra is no longer the city it once was. Every year, the number of tourists visiting the Taj Mahal is almost three times its population. In this book, the author goes behind the façade of the Taj, talking to varied citizens of multi- cultural Agra, connecting the past with the present to explain why the home of the world’s best- known monument has been allowed to disintegrate, and why the once mighty Yamuna is merely a stream of sludge.

“The Rough Guide to Goa” @ Rs. 495/- (399 pgs)

The Rough Guide to Goa is an excellent companion for any travelers visit to Goa. Broadly divided into North Goa, South Goa and Panjim and Central Goa, it lists every corner of the state. It also includes areas around Goa and Mumbai. All with maps to plan your route. The contexts section fills you in on history, religion, environmental issues, wildlife, music, dance and books, while individual colour sections introduce Goa’s beach life and Portuguese legacy, and language gives you an menu reader and enough Konkani to get by. The Rough Guides are good to read and practical, making it easy for any kind of traveler to plan his trip.

Fiction:

“The Arctic Event” by Robert Ludlum @ Rs. 260/- (390 pgs)

A scientific expedition photographs the wreckage of a bomber on a mountain glacier on an island in the Canadian Arctic. It’s dismissed as a relic from the Cold War. But very few know the truth- that it’s a Soviet Air Force biological warfare platform, still armed with two tons of active anthrax in the form of weapons. Covert- One’s Lt. Col. Jon Smith is assigned to lead a team to secure the site. But soon a traitor within the ranks betrays them and they find themselves cut off from outside aid, struggling against the betrayal and the harsh Polar environment. And soon they come to know of a secret that has the potential to start off the Third World War.

“Stone Cold” by David Baldacci @ Rs. 515/- (388 pgs)

Annabelle Conroy conned Jerry Bagger out of millions of dollars at his casino and now Bagger is hunting her. And now Stone and his colleagues Reuben, Milton and Caleb marshal all their resources towards protecting Annabelle. In the meantime Stone is the latest target of a deadly man- Harry Finn. He may seem to be a normal family man but he has already killed three men. When Finn sets his bulls eye on Stone it comes as a shock, but the reason why is the greatest shock of all. Explosive and intricately plotted, this is an excellent thriller from David Baldacci.

“After Dark” by Haruki Murakami @ Rs. 515/- (201 pgs)

Mari is sitting at an all-night diner reading a book and sipping her coffee a little before midnight when a young musician enters the diner, intruding her solitude. Both have missed the last train home and both are content to sit secluded till dawn but they realize that they’ve been acquainted through Mari’s sister Eri. The young man leaves, promising to return before dawn, but shortly after he leaves a girl asks Mari for help on behalf of a Chinese prostitute who’s been hurt by a client. In the meanwhile Eri is at home, sleeping a deep sleep with her pulse and respiration at the lowest required level. She has been in this soporific state for two months- a classic sleeping beauty.
From the author of Norwegian Woods this is another stunning novel where the familiar can become unfamiliar, even to those who thrive in the small hours.

These and a lot more at the Store ….. do drop in and don’t miss the Sale !!From the team at,