Audiobooks narrated by Richa Sayal

The Last Courtesan: Writing My Mother's Memoir

"The 1993 Bow Bazaar bomb blast in Calcutta brought an end to the kothas in the busy commercial district. Over the next few years, as dance bars and disco music replaced the old-world charm of mujras, kathak and thumri, the tawaifs began to abandon the profession. Rekhabai, a courtesan, found herself at a crossroads, facing an uncertain future. Where should she go? What should she do next? Originally from the Kanjarbhat tribe, Rekhabai was sold and trained as a tawaif while she was still a child. In the 1980s, when kothas were no longer recognized as centres for aesthetics, and society disapproved of the tawaif's art, as they felt it was sex work in the guise of adakari (performance), Rekhabai made a name for herself in Calcutta and Bombay as a singing-dancing star. It was an era when she had to dodge guns, goons and Ghalib's ghazals to carve out her own destiny, provide for her large family and raise her son in an English-medium boarding school. In this poignant memoir, she narrates the unbelievable story of her survival to her son with candour, grace and humour, never missing a beat and always full of heart."

Manish Gaekwad (Author), Ranjit Madgavkar, Richa Sayal (Narrator)

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Rethink Ageing: Lessons in Ageing from the Older and Bolder Generation

"Veena Iyer, aged sixty-six, got a degree in dance movement therapy. She is training to upgrade her skill and now runs various workshops.B.R. Janardan, aged eighty-seven, started running after sixty and has sixteen full marathons under his belt.These important stories illustrate the shifting narrative for ageing in India. They battle the ageism that is deep-rooted in Indian culture with fixed notions of 'approved' behaviour. Grandchildren? Yes. Pilgrimage? Yes. But companionship? Gasp! A second career? Why the need?India will have over 300 million senior citizens by 2050. 'Active ageing' has become a popular topic of conversation in urban India and is the process of developing and maintaining functional activities as one gets older. Therefore, it is no longer uncommon to meet people like Janardan or Iyer in our fast-evolving society. We have an ageing society that is living longer and adapting to nuclear families, faraway kids and amorphous social support. Urban Indians are navigating health challenges, isolation and shifting social barometers to practise active ageing, the best form of preventive healthcare. This book takes a deep dive into understanding ageing, its impact on society, and how to overcome certain 'hurdles'. Biological age no longer defines and limits us. After all, why should age prevent us from living the lives we want to?"

Nidhi Chawla, Reshmi Chakraborty (Author), Richa Sayal (Narrator)

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The Dolphin and the Shark: Stories on Entrepreneurship: Stories on Entrepreneurship

"The Dolphin and the Shark is born out of Namita Thapar’s experiences of being a judge on Shark Tank India and running the India business of the pharma company Emcure as well as her own entrepreneurship academy. The book emphasizes how leaders of today need to strike a balance between being a shark (aggressive leader) and a dolphin (empathetic leader).It is divided into fifteen chapters which focus on various business mantras. The author shares personal stories, anecdotes about Emcure’s evolution over the years as well as learnings from entrepreneurs who have inspired her. The Dolphin and the Shark also includes references to pitches from Shark Tank India‘s Season 1. Straight from the heart, candid and authentic, this book will inspire and motivate every reader to push their limits."

Namita Thapar (Author), Richa Sayal (Narrator)

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Don’t Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight

"Don’t Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight has revolutionized the way Indians think about food and their eating habits. Funny, easy to read and full of great advice, it argues that we should return to our traditional eating roots (yes, ghee is good for you), nutrients are more important than calories (cheese over biscuits) and, most importantly, the only way to lose weight is to keep eating. In the ten-year anniversary edition of this classic, read about the simple steps you can take towards maintaining a healthy and proper diet and understanding your body and its nutritional requirements."

Rujuta Diwekar (Author), Richa Sayal (Narrator)

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Safed Libaas Wali Ladki (Girl in White Cotton)

"SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2020, AND PUBLISHED IN THE UK AS BURNT SUGAR Utterly compelling, complex, unflinching realism - sometimes emotionally wrenching but also cathartic, written with poignancy and memorability. - The Booker Prize Judges 2020 Avni Doshi is a writer of surgical precision and sharp intelligence. This novel of mother-and-daughter resentments and the deep, intimate cuts of ancient family history gleams like a blade - both dangerous and beautiful. I loved it. - Elizabeth Gilbert, bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love Taut and unsettling, a dark, ferocious novel. - Fatima Bhutto, author of The Runaways Antara has never understood her mother Tara's decisions - walking out on her marriage to follow a guru, living on the streets like a beggar, shacking up with an unknown artist, rebelling against society's expectations ... But when Tara starts losing her memory, Antara searches for a way to make peace with their shared past, a past that haunts them both. As she relives her childhood in Pune in the eighties, the time she spent at a Catholic boarding school in the hills of Maharashtra, and her years as a young artist in Bombay, Antara comes up against her own fears and neuroses, realizing she might not be so different from Tara after all. Safed Libaas Wali Ladki, the Hindi translation of Girl in White Cotton, is a journey into shifting memories, altering identities, and the subjective nature of truth. Tracing the fragile line between familial devotion and deception, Avni Doshi's mesmerizing first novel will surprise and unsettle you."

Avni Doshi, Shuchita Mital (Author), Richa Sayal (Narrator)

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Selected Poems of Christina Rossetti

"Christina Rossetti was an English poet, born in London in 1830. She is best known for her ballads and her mystic religious lyrics. And her poetry is marked by symbolism and intense feelings. Her collection Goblin Market and Other Poems, published in 1862, established her as a significant voice in Victorian poetry. She died due to a terminal illness in 1892, after which her brother mainly edited her collected works."

Christina Rossetti (Author), Richa Sayal (Narrator)

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Selected Poems of Emma Lazarus

"Emma Lazarus was born in 1849 in the city of New York. She began writing and translating poetry as a teenager. In 1866, her father privately printed her first work in and the next year saw her first collection, Poems and Translations published by a commercial press. Lazarus was one of the first successful and highly visible Jewish American authors. She wrote the sonnet 'The New Colossus' in 1883. It's lines were engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in 1903."

Emma Lazarus (Author), Richa Sayal (Narrator)

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Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson

"Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet, born on December 10th, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd. She experimented with expression, in order to free it from conventional restraints, and crafted a new type of persona for the first person. She breathed her last in 1886."

Emily Dickinson (Author), Richa Sayal (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Richa Sayal

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