A futuristic satire on the trade in live organs from the Third World to the West. Om, a young man is driven by unemployment to sell his body parts for cash. Guards arrive to make his home into a germ-free zone. When his brother Jeetu returns unexpectedly, he is taken away as the donor. Om can’t accept this. Java, his wife, is left alone. Will she too be seduced into selling her body for use by the rich westerners? Harvest won first prize in the first Onassis Cultural Competition for Theatre and was premiered in Greek at the Teatro Texnis, Athens. It has also been performed by a youth theatre in the UK, broadcast by the BBC World Service and made into a feature film, directed by Govind Nihalani, titled Body, which was screened at the Regus London Film Festival. The play is also studied by many colleges and universities to explain how globalisation works. Manjula Padmanbhan Born in Delhi to a diplomat family in 1953, she went to boarding school in her teenage years. After college, her determination to make her own way in life led to works in publishing and media-related fields. She won the Greek Onassis Award for her play Harvest. An award-winning film Deham was made by Govind Nihalani based on the play. She has written one more powerful play, Lights Out! (1984), Hidden Fires is a series of monologues. The Artist's Model (1995) and Sextet are her other works.(1996). She has also authored a collection of short stories, called Kleptomania. Her most recent book, published in 2008, is Escape. Apart from writing newspaper columns she created comic strips. She created Suki, an Indian comic character, which was serialized as a strip in the Sunday Observer.Before 1997 (the year her play Harvest was staged) she was better known as a cartoonist and had a daily cartoon strip in The Pioneer newspaper. As playwright 1984 - "Lights Out" 2003. Harvest. London: Aurora Metro Press. As Author and Illustrator 2013. Three Virgins and Other Stories New Delhi, India: Zubaan Books. 2015. Island of Lost Girls. Hachette. 2011. I am different! Can you find me? Watertown, Mass: Charlesbridge Pub. 2008. Escape. Hachette. 2005. Unprincess! New Delhi: Puffin Books. 1986. A Visit to the City Market New Delhi: National Book Trust 2003. Mouse Attack As Illustrator Baig, Tara Ali, and Manjula Padmanabhan. 1979. Indrani and the enchanted jungle. New Delhi: Thomson Press (India) Ltd. Maithily Jagannathan and Manjula Padmanabhan. 1984. Droopy dragon. New Delhi: Thomson Press. Comic Strips 2005. Double talk. New Delhi: Penguin Books.

A neighbourhood that turns a blind eye to a recurring gruesome crime. A game show that puts the lives of its contestants on the line. An insidious tableau that pits three artists against each other. A world where organs of the poor are commercially harvested for the rich. Collected Plays brings together, in a much-anticipated series, the dramatic works of Onassis Prize-winning playwright and author Manjula Padmanabhan. Blood and Laughter, the first volume, presents within its covers Padmanabhan’s full-length plays – including the three-times cinematized Lights Out, the previously unpublished Mating Game Show and Artist’s Model, and the award-winning Harvest – all known for their masterful portrayal of the dilemmas of morality, relationships and the idea of justice. Horror, anticipation and chilling realism mark each of these works, drawing readers and audiences alike to the edge of their seats. With new introductions to the works that affirm the relevance of the themes of the plays, this collection showcases the playwright’s mastery of her art and reconfirms her standing among the leading dramatists of our time.

Conjoined triplets on a blind date. A lesson in human reproduction by a manic-prudish teacher. A heart-stopping game of cards. An instrument that tunes in to the music of our bodies’ organs. Collected Plays brings together, in a much-anticipated series, the dramatic works of Onassis prize-winning playwright and author Manjula Padmanabhan. Laughter and Blood, the second volume, presents within its covers Padmanabhan’s short performance pieces. From The Sextet and Ladies’ Night to Hidden Fires and Blind Date, these wildly inventive, subversive and often chilling plays introduce readers to the intrigues of inverted power structures, tantalizingly suggestive interactions and powerful voices from the fringe. With new introductions to the works that affirm the relevance of the themes of the plays, this collection showcases the playwright’s mastery of her art and reconfirms her standing among the leading dramatists of our time.

Could you use a good laugh? This definitive guide by the founder of the worldwide laughter yoga movement will show you how to giggle your way to good health! Bring laughter into your life at any time of day--no special equipment needed, no new wardrobe, no expensive classes, not even a sense of humor! Laughter yoga is all about voluntary laughter--how you can learn to laugh even in the absence of humorous stimuli, and reap the extraordinary, scientifically proven benefits, which include stress reduction, pain relief, weight loss, heightened immunity, and, especially, enhanced mood: If you act happy, you'll become happy--your body can't tell the difference! Children laugh more than 300 times a day, adults fewer than fifteen. But it's easy to start laughing again. The exercises in this book combine voluntary laughter with yogic breathing to give you a full body-mind workout. And it turns out that laughter is the fastest way to reduce stress and the best kind of cardio: Ten minutes of hearty laughter is equal to thirty minutes on the rowing machine. With Laughter Yoga, join the growing worldwide movement and discover how laughter really is the best medicine. A PENGUIN LIFE TITLE

Drawing on the author's experience in Brazil, this text provides a portrait of everyday life among the women of the favelas - a portrait that challenges much of what we think we know about the 'culture of poverty'. It helps us understand the nature of joking and laughter in the shantytown.

The recommended daily dose of laughter is 15 minutes a day. I WANT TO LAUGH gives you the health benefits of laughter. For example, laughter lowers Blood Pressure, promotes better sleep, increases natural killer cells (to attack cancers and tumors), improves respiration, and much much more. In addition, there are hundreds and hundreds of jokes, quips, and quotations for almost every occasion. That's right this book will provide the quotes and jokes you need to get your day or night going with excitement. After reading only a few pages, readers will find themselves emailing these side-splitting jokes to friends, family members, and co-workers.

Dr. Brian King is a psychologist and stand-up comedian whose humor therapy seminars are attended by more than ten thousand people each year. In The Laughing Cure, King combines wit with medical research to reveal the benefits of laughter and humor on physical and emotional health. King’s language is humorous and uplifting, and his advice is backed in science. The Laughing Cure features clinical studies and interviews with some of the nation’s top doctors that prove that laughter lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, boosts immune systems, and triggers endorphins. It’s been shown to relieve depression, to produce a general sense of wellbeing, even to make us more productive, loving, and kind. The Laughing Cure presents step-by-step guidance and proven techniques to embrace laughter as both medicine for current conditions and preventative medicine. This highly unique and enjoyable read explains why much-talked about, but little understood methods of therapy like those embraced by acclaimed humor doctor Patch Adams—played by Robyn Williams in a 1998 film—and laughter yoga actually work. Growing up, King wanted to be a stand-up comic; his PhD. was his backup plan. Little did he know, the impact his unique situation would put him in, the way it would allow him to help others. Very few doctors have the ability to heal the way that King does; his method is cheap, easy, chemical-free—even fun. With The Laughing Cure, readers will learn how—and why—laughter saves lives.

The story of a recovery from a crippling disease and the physician patient partnership that beat the odds by using the patient's own capabilities.

Bill Barich burst onto the literary scene more than twenty-five years ago with this remarkable account of racetrack life. Holed up in a cheap motel in Albany, California, only a few miles from Golden Gate Fields, he looked to the track to help him make sense of his life during a dark peiod of loss and challenge. With rare sensitivity, he captured the gritty world of the backstretch, and also its poetry, as few other writers have done. Laughing in the Hills, which was first serialized in the New Yorker, has become a classic of sporting literature and a must for anyone who loves horses and the world they create. “It is a lovely, valuable book, introspective without being self-servingly so, affectionate but never saccharine in its evocation of racetrack life, witty and perceptive throughout.” —Jonathan Yardley, Sports Illustrated Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. In addition to books on popular team sports, we also publish books for a wide variety of athletes and sports enthusiasts, including books on running, cycling, horseback riding, swimming, tennis, martial arts, golf, camping, hiking, aviation, boating, and so much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Diseases of older age take root decades before symptoms appear. For a longer, happier life, we need to plan ahead - but what exactly should we do? For five years, Annabel Streets and Susan Saunders immersed themselves in the latest science of longevity, radically overhauling their lives and documenting their findings on their popular blog. After reading hundreds of studies and talking to numerous experts, Annabel and Susan have compiled almost 100 short cuts to health in mid and later life, including: how, when and what to eat; the supplements worth taking; when, where and how to exercise; the most useful medical tests; how to avoid health-threatening chemicals; the best methods for keeping the brain sharp; and how to sleep better.