This is a short story told from the perspective of Babas, the cutest toy poodle in the world. Babas loves his owner, seven-year-old Mika, but just like every child, Mika isn’t perfect. After suffering an accident, Babas has a peculiar dream in which he learns his true purpose: to teach Mika, his one true love, seven important lessons. When Babas awakens, he finds himself able to speak to Mika! As Mika experiences childhood and makes the mistakes we all do, Babas is there every step of the way to support her and teach her these seven important lessons about how to become a better person.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ONE OF ESSENCE’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS In this iconic memoir of his early days, Barack Obama “guides us straight to the intersection of the most serious questions of identity, class, and race” (The Washington Post Book World). “Quite extraordinary.”—Toni Morrison In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father—a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man—has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey—first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance. Praise for Dreams from My Father “Beautifully crafted . . . moving and candid . . . This book belongs on the shelf beside works like James McBride’s The Color of Water and Gregory Howard Williams’s Life on the Color Line as a tale of living astride America’s racial categories.”—Scott Turow “Provocative . . . Persuasively describes the phenomenon of belonging to two different worlds, and thus belonging to neither.”—The New York Times Book Review “Obama’s writing is incisive yet forgiving. This is a book worth savoring.”—Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here “One of the most powerful books of self-discovery I’ve ever read, all the more so for its illuminating insights into the problems not only of race, class, and color, but of culture and ethnicity. It is also beautifully written, skillfully layered, and paced like a good novel.”—Charlayne Hunter-Gault, author of In My Place “Dreams from My Father is an exquisite, sensitive study of this wonderful young author’s journey into adulthood, his search for community and his place in it, his quest for an understanding of his roots, and his discovery of the poetry of human life. Perceptive and wise, this book will tell you something about yourself whether you are black or white.”—Marian Wright Edelman
"I packed a blue Samsonite suitcase with my belongings -- a couple of pairs of jeans and shirts, UB40 tapes, the Swiss army knife I had stolen from my mother, my Tibetan prayer book, and a red plastic Camay soap dish I bought in Dharamsala that had become a good luck charm for me." With these, all his worldly possessions at the age of seventeen, Daja Wangchuk Meston caught an airliner to America, the unfamiliar land of which he was a citizen, and began his arduous personal journey to discover and mend his long-severed ties to his family, his country, and, in a very real sense, his own identity. In this moving memoir, the author tells the incredible story of a young man who used his Buddhist upbringing and the love of a good woman -- his young wife -- to learn that forgiving others can play a critical role in healing a damaged soul. Daja had much to forgive. In the early 1970s, at the age of three, he was taken by his hippie American parents to Nepal and left in the care of a Tibetan family. The Tibetans in turn placed him in a Buddhist monastery where, at the age of six, he was ordained to be a monk. There, in scenes reminiscent of the novels of Charles Dickens, he was ostracized by the other boy monks, who taunted him for his Caucasian physical traits, left so hungry he stole scraps of bread, and slept on a flea-infested straw mat. He was an outsider in an insular monastic world, unable to understand what had befallen him and longing for the warmth of his mother's embrace. His mother became a Buddhist nun, and caring for a child, she thought, would impede her spiritual journey. Her occasional and brief visits with young Daja became increasingly rare. As he grew up, there were often years without a single maternal visit. His father, unbeknownst to the boy, had suffered a mental breakdown and returned, helpless, to Los Angeles. The story of Daja's self-generated ouster from the monastery as an adolescent (he pretended to have slept with a prostitute), his eventual migration to his homeland, his lifelong attempt to understand and reconnect with his parents, and his eventual and dangerous work on behalf of Tibetan rights under Chinese oppression make for a compelling reading experience. But more than that, the story of Daja Meston reminds us of the universal human need for roots and family bonds. It is ultimately an unforgettable story of love, hope, and forgiveness and of a gentle man with an enormous capacity for all three.
Owing to family pressure from village, Akhigbe, a Nigerian Railway Corporation retiree relocates from Lagos to his remote village against his wife's approval. She refused to relocate with him because she dreaded the hard life in the village and the fear of the unknown. Following his brother's advice, Akhigbe married a young village girl called Odueki to keep body and soul together. He eventually won a huge amount of money from the Baba Ijebu Jackpot. But will he live to enjoy the money? As his young village wife nurtured a separate plan to organize with his secret lover to steal the money. She planned to travel to Italy with the proceeds. Tragedy struck at last as things went terribly wrong from both ends. Baba Ijebu is a voyage around modern realities in our social life. Watch out for this stormy page turner story and more at the forthcoming Historic: Ewu Book Fair Mid-Nov 2018 @ Kings Star Hotel, Ewu Edo State.
Dream Star is a little star who is sad because his light doesn't shine as brightly as all the other stars. Join him as he finds out why and learns the power of his purpose in the heavens.
From William Muldoon to Brock Lesnar, this history covers those who have divided themselves as tough guys on the professional wrestling circuit and legitimate confrontations. From catch wrestling master Billy Robinson to the Japanese professional wrestler who gave birth to the global phenomenon that is modern mixed martial arts (MMA), this investigation travels from the shadowy carnival tent and the dingy training hall to the bright lights of the squared circle and the Las Vegas glitz of the octagon. Billy Riley's legendary Wigan Snake Pit and the rigorous UWF Dojo in Tokyo are explored, revealing the secret history of both professional wrestling and the rising sport of MMA. Squared circle icons Strangler Lewis and Lou Thesz and Olympic heroes Danny Hodge and Kurt Angle are also featured.
Baba (father or revered elder)– a common honorific in India for saints and holy men. Baba– a faceless name for the Masters of the Tradition who have shepherded and guided humanity since Eternity. Baba – the unique colours diffracted from one Consciousness - Mahavatar Babaji, Shirdi Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Baba, Bade Baba, Neem Karoli Baba, Meher Baba, amongst countless others. Baba– the promise of the Tradition that never leaves a true seeker’s hand transcending oceans of existence to be with them. Baba– the compassion incarnates who travel the seven worlds and seven seas to find and rescue a pure soul. Baba– the grand collaboration that ensures the continued preservation of dharma (righteousness) in the Universe. This book is about the myriad interactions, experiences and associations of Mohanji with various Masters of the Tradition. Mohanji's journey from a seeker to a Guide and his continuing work in the world provides a unique window into how the Tradition orchestrates one of its projections. From the fleeting to the profoundly engaging, each connection reveals a facet of the Grand Tradition that operates selflessly unseen behind the shadows. A rare glimpse into the inner workings of the Masters of the Tradition who, though diverse in expressions, operate in extreme unity and purposefulness, burning like candles to give light and purity to the world.
Today there is no end to the books on Shirdi Sai Baba. But this book Shirdi Sai Baba: The Divine Healer, is different. Its uniqueness lies in the treatment of the subject. It is a systematic, thematic presentation of facts in a simple and lucid manner. It gives fascinating glimpses into Baba’s miracles, His omniscience, His omnipotence and His omnipresence. It further expounds on how Baba brought happiness into the lives of issueless couples craving for children. But the main focus has been on Baba’s divine healing prowess and the devices He used to achieve His mission i.e. happiness of the people who surrounded Him in a simple and systematic manner. Raj Chopra, a retired principal, was born in Multan (now in Pakistan) and brought up and educated in Delhi. She did her MA (English) and BEd from the Delhi University and worked as a senior teacher for two decades. Then onward she got promotions and worked as the head of the institution. The author made her first visit to Shirdi a decade ago. She was so much fascinated by the atmosphere over there that she started visiting the place thrice a year. She has been researching on Sai Baba since then. Though this is her first book, more are likely to follow soon. Her only son with his wife and two daughters is settled in America. His entire family is very much devoted to Sai Baba, and visits Shirdi every time they come to India.
Swami came into my life on Valentine's Day 1993 at Brindavan, Whitefield He gave me a yogic glance Got the Infosys ESOP on His birthday in 1994, a Wednesday, and could retire in 2006
