In his long and eventful career, Pran Nevile has donned several hats - journalist, researcher, diplomat, Soviet bloc expert, United Nations adviser, and writer. The story of his multifaceted life begins in pre-Partition Lahore and gives us glimpses of imperial New Delhi and journeys through Japan, Poland, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, the Soviet Union and the US as it follows his diplomatic postings. He turns author with an ode to the city of his birth, while his interest in performing arts leads him to spend years researching in the libraries of England and the US to produce a sumptuously illustrated masterpiece, followed by a number of books on art. Finally, his love for music drives him to celebrate the work of eminent singers, composers and poet-lyricists of yesteryear. A pilgrimage to the past, Carefree Days is an inspiring account of a life well lived - of several lifetimes lived in one. More info →

Lahore, first published in 1993, is Pran Nevile's tribute to the land of his birth. Grounded in memory and redolent with nostalgia, Nevile's reminiscences transport the reader into the heart of Lahore as it was in the 1930s and 40s a city bustling with activity where people coexisted harmoniously, unfettered by considerations of religion, region or caste. From the riotous seasonal festivities of kite-flying to clandestine love-affairs upon rooftops, from matinee shows at the cinema to twilight hours spent amongst the bejewelled dancing girls of Hira Mandi, Lahore emerges as a city of mesmerizing contradictions and chaotic splendour. The author underscores the contrast between pre- and post-Partition Lahore, and the sense of pain, loss and longing for one's homeland experienced by the displaced millions in India and Pakistan is palpable. Evocative and informative, Lahore is at once social commentary, historical documentation and memoir. More info →

The Nautch girl as entertainer of men belonged to a unique class of courtesans who played a significant role in social and cultural life of India in the late 18th and 19th centuries. This book traces her emergence in the Mughal era when she reached the zenith of her glory, her popularity among the English Sahibs and the Indian aristocracy during the Raj and finally her decline and demise at the hands of misguided zealtos. Sumptously illustrated with fine paintings and drawings from collections around the worlds. More info →

Hailed as shahenshah-e-mausiqi (emperor of music) and acclaimed as the ghazal king, K.L. Saigal became a phenomenon in his own lifetime. Idolized for his distinctive style by the first generation of Bollywood playback singers, he is now also the subject of study by several scholars. With no formal training, Saigal recorded 185 songs, including the immortal Diya jalao jagmag jagmag, Rumjhum rumjhum chaal tihari, Baag laga doon sajani and Jab dil hi toot gaya. He also acted in thirty-six feature films, including Tansen, Street Singer and Shahjehan. His popularity, however, skyrocketed with Devdas in which he played the doomed lover to perfection, a portrayal which would influence every actor playing a tragic hero thereafter. This book, interspersed with archival photographs and appended with a filmography and selected songs, provides a fascinating account of one of Hindi cinema s greatest legends. More info →

STEP BACK TO GLIMPSE A BYGONE TIME… Mahlee, dhobie, cook, horsekeeper, Each were to the chokee sent, Last of all the wretched sweeper- Still the Colonel's liquor went. 'Devlish odd this!' said the Colonel 'What a land to soldier in! Aboo, this is most infernal - Who the blazes drinks my gin?' Sahib's India's is a panaromic look at the lives of the British in colonial India. Culled from Raj literature , it reveals little-known aspects of their lives and their dealings with their Indian subjects. Drawing from contemporary journals, plays and poems, the author provides wonderful descriptions of British homes and servants , their tastes and fashions, cultural idiosyncrasies, profligacy, sports, hunts and shoots, giving us, with the relaxed familiarity of the after -dinner raconteur, a flavour of the period. The book is peppered with a host of characters- astrologers, jugglers, magicians, grass widows, the 'fishing fleet', missionaries, nautch girls, mavericks and eccentrics- who made India their home as the British turned from traders to empire- builders, and is interspersed with period photographs, paintings and sketches. Thsi is a delightful evocation of a vanished world. More info →

The British came to India in search of wealth and power. But it was a man's world and women, especially English women, were few. An English bride for long remained an expensive proposition, costing a small fortune to bring to Calcutta, and was quite out of the reach of young career-minded officers and civil servants. Driven by loneliness, lust or just plain longing, many looked foe companionship among Indian women, or where the more rakish among them were concerned, the bored wives of fellow officers. But man, reduced to cringing submission by his native housekeeper-mistress fled across the country to board ship for home, pursued all the way in a palanquin by the furious maid. More info →

There was a time when India was proclaimed to be the land of enchantments - the golden Orient, glittering in the best brilliance of sun and song - land of promise, and hope! Devoted to the life and times of common people, both Sahibs and natives, this book seeeks to amuse the readers with some tales of wine, women and song. This narrative covers some of the untold aspects of the Raj which are not usually dealt with in history books. This book takes one into the lives of Sahibs and Memsahibs, and offers an array of entertaining tales about their interests and lifestyles - from the Sahibs' enthusiasm for nautch parties and pig-sticking, to the First Imperial Durbar in Deli, to intriguing stories about Brahmin astrologers, and fascinating accounts of jugglers adept at the great Indian rope trick. Nevile's prose has the relaxed, easy familiarity of a veteran dinner-table raconteur, and the narrative, interspersed with period paintings and photographs, transports the reader to another era - the Raj, its set of cultural idiosyncrasies, and a colorful casts of mavericks and their eccentricities. More info →

In this well-researched book to look 'beyond the veil' of Indian women, the author has delineated the beauty of Indian woman in such a sensitive manner that you can almost feel her delicate charm and be mesmerised by her electrifying presence. This is a careful study of 18-19th century English paintings with detailed analysis and background. Lavish production with several illustrations. More info →

A study of the forgotten Indian artists who produced remarkable paintings for their British patrons. Defined as the 'Company School' art, these beautiful pictures reveal a lively fusion of eastern warmth with western objectivity. The author highlights how western ideas and artistic techniques were absorbed in the Indian tradition by these artists without losing the essential Indianness. More info →

The magnificent paintings showcase subjects ranging wide from festivals and shikar jaunts to the luxurious lifestyle of the nabobs and exquisite portraits of Indian women. More info →

The journals, diaries and memoirs of the British traveller, scholars and official provide an insight into the social and cultural scene in India during the Raj. They tell us about the British day-to-day life in the country and their impressions of the Indian people, their way of life, customs and manners etc. Professional and amateur artists, some of whom were also notable writers, added to the chronicles of the times with their illustrated journals. In the present work, the author, who has been described as a "Raj freak", reconstructs this period of Indian history from various aspects. Extensive research of documents available in museums, private collections and archives in USA, England and India, and the reproduction of rare paintings and drawings that enliven this text, together produce and entertaining glimpse of a fascinating, if now extinct, way of life in British India. More info →

The book presents a rare collection of writings on India of the early twetieth century, which witnessed an upsurge in American consciousness of India. Culled from ASIA - the American Magazine On The Orient, (1901-46) the articles cover a wide range of subjects from the nautch girls, snake charmers, caste and class, faith and folk lore, Christianity and Hinduism to the British Raj, Mahatma Gandhi and his strategies of non-violence and civil disobedience for the freedom struggle and the personality of Tata, the industrial genius. First time brought in print these writings of great historical value, now titled India Through American Eyes provide an insight into India of bygone era. More info →