We present you with a concise list of most popular titles in India, one of which will make a perfect gift for your family or friends.

Some top non-fiction bestsellers currently are:

Little Green Book Of Getting Your Way by Jeffrey Gitomer
India’s Unending Journey by Mark Tully
The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown

Among the top fiction bestsellers currently are:

The Children Of Hurin by J R R Tolkien
The Missing by Chris Mooney
The Witch Of Portobello by Paulo Coelho
The Accident Man by Tom Cain

The Crossword’s bestsellers list includes:

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Age of Shiva by Manil Suri
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Age Of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan
We are Like That Only by Rama Bijapurkar

Incidentally, the leading British publication ‘The Mirror’ has reported that Pride and Prejudice is the book the UK relishes reading the most.  Classic works dominated the rest of the top 10 chart, as is evident from the list below:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Bible
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
1984 by George Orwell
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

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The World Book and Copyright Day has become established as the biggest global event aimed at promoting the pure joy of books and habit of reading. The day has been designated by UNESCO as a celebration of knowledge sharing through books. It’s marked in over 100 countries.

The celebrations are launched in March, with Britain stealing a march, literally over other countries. The origins of the day, celebrated in the UK & Ireland owe their origin to Catalonia, where books and roses were given as gifts on St. George’s Day to loved ones. In Catalonia, on 23 April (Saint George’s Day), for each book sold a rose is traditionally given as a gift. Most other countries hold World Book and Copyright Day on 23rd April every year.

Indeed, giving books as a gift can be a real meaningful gesture. According to a recent survey on gifting patterns conducted by Nielsen India, books were mentioned as their preferred gifting item by 49 per cent people. But the choice was found to be more popular with the mature group aged 45 and above.

To cater to them, many leading bookstore brands in India have opened spacious shops in leading metros of the country where book lovers can discover the pleasure of buying books. They can hang around for as much time as they wish to. One can see even youths leafing through books of their choice, lolling in comfy sofas with their favorite author or genre for company at these bookstores, which indeed is an encouraging sign.

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While April is International Stress-Free Month, April 7 is World Health Day. Sitting in an air-conditioned office safe from the heat and dust and pollution of the outdoors, you might think your health is better off but actually, there are other potential health hazards you have to look into. Most of us do not lead very exciting lives. Our days are governed by the wall clock in office and we are sitting for the better part of the day. Here are some great gifts that will make anybody’s day much better –

Muscles – From a small foot massage machine or a high-backed massage chair, these great stress-busters are available in many shapes and sizes. As a boss, you could buy one for the department or your special core team to use as and when they please. They make great gifts for a potential partner too. As employees, you could pool in and buy one for the boss.

Eyes – Eyes undergo the most stress as they are forced to stare into computer screens most of the times. Other than basic eye exercises which you can learn about from an optician, eye-masks are easily available nowadays. Best when chilled, these masks cool your eyes down and reduce puffiness. As a boss, ensuring a regular supply to your team will enable them to work better. Studies have proven that occasional breaks are great for the working mind. And peppermint or cucumber eye masks are great for the eyes.

Skin – You may not realise it but the skin gets very dehydrated in an air-conditioned environment. While as a boss it might be great to switch the AC on for regulated periods of time in the day, it’s not good for the machines. Bottled skin sprays are great to rejuvenate one’s sense of being. Preferably choose moisturising ones from a reputed brand or a mineral spray like Evian bottled mountain spring water. They’re not as costly as they sound and well worth their price. Certain brands also have facial wipes enriched with Vitamin E that are great for the skin and lend one a pretty, subtle fragrance too.

These little objects go a long way to protecting your health while your fingers click-clack away on the keyboards. They’re simple but take care of essentials that you probably don’t have time to look into at a gym or through home-cooked meals. So remember these pointers on this special day of this month.

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A friendly atmosphere pervades most offices these days. In fact, most professional organisations understand the importance of making a newcomer feel right at home and everyone from the departmental heads to seniors consider it part of their job to help the new guy or gal learn his or her way around the office and feel a part of the team. The most common way to make a person feel home is with this question, ‘When are you treating us?’ This one treat can smooth the way to a great camaraderie at the workplace, enabling you to not only meet everyone you will work with but also generate goodwill from the word go.
No one expects a lot from this ‘treat‘. The word itself is so vague that it can mean anything from individual pen-holders to a box of mithai being passed around to a cake to a post-office hours drinking session. It is totally up to you. However, there are some rules-of-thumb that anyone should keep in mind when he wants to start off on the right foot.

Decide your budget?

Even when it comes to a box of mithai you must be sure of how much you are willing to spend, and then pick your mithai accordingly. Do you want to give this treat to the entire office or just your department? Must you keep some extra for second helpings or stick to a strict number? Will you be buying a Rs.300/kg sweet or a Rs.100/kg sweet? If you’re taking your colleagues out are you taking them out for drinks or just a simple meal or to that flashy new restaurant that has opened around the corner? The bigger the number of people the more it makes sense to make your gift as economical as possible. With a smaller team you can afford to be more generous and perhaps even give individual gifts.

Food

Distributing mithai is alright, but if you want your new colleagues to remember this treat more than the others, then gift them a jar of olive tapenade each or an imported cheese dip. Bring along a big box of crackers and you can all dig in together during a break. Some of your colleagues might find it unusual but at least it would stand apart from their long line-up of ‘treat memories’.

Office Stationery

No one can have enough of these and they can be very boring actually, but with a little thought and time on your hands you can get something sweet. Make a note of everyone’s names and get pen-holders or coffee mugs with their initials on them – they’re pretty inexpensive. Or pick them out in odd shapes and colours (April is International Frog Month so you could pick out some funny frog designs too). Pens are really very passé – you can never make them interesting, honestly! And steer clear of notepads – they’re of the use and throw variety so even if you hunt down some novelty notepads like ones with animal-print covers and funky add-in decorations, they will eventually be thrown away or maybe perhaps not even appreciated by your colleagues. Other interesting office stationery could be funny desk calendars or ornate paper cutters that stand apart from the usual that one sees in workplaces.

Non-Office Stationery Gifts

If you want to give them anything other than office stationery then re-think that decision for the moment. These are people you are not familiar with and more than likely you will be going wrong with your choice. So stick to something that would be useful for the office when you are thinking of giving individual gifts.

A newcomer who skips this treat usually finds himself to be a bit of an outsider of the team. So be sure to get it right. Your gift should not be ostentatious and try and pick something humorous or dead practical. Mithai is so common that people will take it for granted and forget about it. Making your gift unusual is a great way to ensure that your colleagues feel special right from the start.

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Corporate gifting

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India’s most shopping chains, stores and malls have attractive Gift Voucher plans. Visiting these shopping hubs is not about self-indulgence; it’s an experience that you can share with your beloved ones thanks to Gift Vouchers. You can wish your friends and relatives on special occasions and days like Gudi Padwa by giving them Gift Vouchers. Apart from celebrating birthday, wedding Anniversary, they make a perfect Festival Gifting.

Let’s check some of the Gift Voucher plans on offer. Shopper’s Stop Gift Vouchers ‘symbolize the joy of living.’ A corporate house can employ their Gift Vouchers for rewarding employees, distributors/dealers; gifting Clients; redemption from Loyalty Programs; Redemption from Loyalty Programs; Sales / Marketing Promotions; Uniform Allowances, and Festival Offers like Gudhi Padwa.

GiftMate from Futurebazaar.com is an innovative M-voucher that can be used to pay for online purchases without divulging credit card details. All a user needs to do is enter the mobile number on the screen and authorize the payment with a 4-digit Pin, which he or she gets at the time of buying the voucher.

GiftMate is a perfect method of pampering the individuals who mean much to you. It gives them the power to pick & choose from a wide array of buying options, including apparels, tele-shopping, electronics, flight/movie tickets, restaurants. They just need to redeem the gift voucher at any of the PayMate merchants. They can shop what they wish to and just pay via GiftMate when you check-out. GiftMate Voucher stays secured in the mobile; it can be accessed with a PIN secured SMS. So there are no hassles of handling & carrying physical voucher. A user need not use it in one purchase. The flexibility of this product allows using it in varying denominations and on multiple visits at any of PayMate’s online merchants.

One of India’s biggest hypermarkets Big Bazaar, which guarantees bigger value for your money, also has on offer Gift Vouchers. With them a buyer can address a wider range of product lines backed by excellent service and good ambience that makes shopping a memorable experience. Big Bazaar has on offer a wide range of apparel & accessories, cosmetics, grocery, crockery, dress material, baby accessories, suiting & shirting, footwear, household appliances, toys, luggage, home textiles and much more! The Gift Voucher is redeemable against products and accessories purchased at any of the Big Bazzar outlets in India.

Mostly, Gift Vouchers are available in variable denominations – from Rs 500 to Rs 10000. You can make your choice keeping in mind your budget and the person whom you wish to gift. Gift Vouchers add to the festive spirit and provide a receiver with the best possible choice, value and convenience.

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Gudi Padwa is a festival of special significance in Hindu mythology. It’s celebrated as the first day of the Hindu year. On this significant day a ‘gudi’ (auspicious pole) is erected in front of the house.

The day is celebrated with great enthusiasm and fervor in almost all states of India, but more so in Maharashtra, as well as Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in south India, where it’s is called ‘Ugadi‘.

Like all religions, Hinduism also celebrates the first day to welcome and inaugurate the end of the old and the beginning of a New Year. The Hindu year begins on “Shuddha Pratipada” the first day of the month of Chaitra.

A brand new sacred cloth is tied on the gudhi, and a metal vessel is put on it, which is then hung with a garland. The significance of this ritual is unique, as it is a sign of celebration.

Padwa is simply another name for ‘pratipada’, the first day of the lunar month. The day is significant to all Hindus. With this day starts the new season – spring. On this day people offer rituals, prayers, prasad of neem leaves, gram pulse and jagerry (gud). The ritual is a ritual steadfastly followed by most Hindus on this day. It’s also considered auspicious for building or entering a new house, putting a child to school, or starting a business. People also buy new clothes on this day.

Celebrate this auspicious occasion by exchanging nice gifts to make it even more memorable!

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The day symbolizes the victory of Rama over Vali, a demon King. As a legend goes, Rama and Laxman, in their endeavor to bring Sita back home and vanquish demojn Ravana, happened to meet Sugreeva. At that time, Hanuman was hiding in the forests fearing Vali, his demonic King brother.
After a bloody battle with Vali, Sugreeva assumed the demon was dead, as there was no response from the inside of the cave where they fought. He covered the mouth of the cave with a big stone and returned to Kishkindha, the capital, to occupy his brother’s vacant throne. But then, Vali reappeared.

Rama and Sugreeva decided that the former would assist Sugreeva defeat Vali, and in return he would help Rama in rescuing Sita from Ravana. Enthused by this, Sugreeva was confident and ready to face Vali for the third time. While Vail and Sugreeva were engaged in an intense battle, and Sugreeva was on the verge of defeat, Rama, hiding behind a tree, shot an arrow at Vali, who fell mortally wounded.

It is believed Lord Brahma created the world on this day, according to the scripture of Bramhand Purana. As the official tourism site of Mahrashtra Tourism notes, the festival is the most significant for it marks the start of the New Year dedicated to Sahaliwan, the son of a humble potter who overthrew the reigning Guptas of Malwa to become an important monarch guiding the fortunes of a new dynasty.

Families erect a gudhi or bamboo, with a colored silk cloth and a bright garlanded goblet is hung on top of it, which symbolizes victory or achievement. In a modern city like Mumbai where business is conducted as much through modern technology as ancient wisdom, the advice of astrologers on this day is highly sought. You can give an appropriate gift on this day to your friends and relatives to mark the occasion!

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