From the silent strength of a state-wide revolution in skills to the hidden struggles behind your smartphone screen, from a forgotten king who changed India’s destiny to the traits that will define us in an AI-powered world—these four books offer rare insight, deep empathy, and a stirring call to rethink how we see progress, history, and ourselves.

1. The Day the Chariot Moved by Subroto Bagchi

Not every revolution makes noise. In this rare and deeply personal account, Subroto Bagchi reveals how Odisha’s quiet skill movement gave its people more than just jobs—it gave them pride and purpose. What if ‘Skilled in Odisha’ came to stand as tall as ‘Made in Germany’?

This is not a story of policy or politics, but of real lives being transformed: loco pilots, store managers, young men and women discovering dignity and confidence. Drawing from his journey as both entrepreneur and nation-builder, Bagchi reminds us that real change is built not on ambition alone, but on patience, purpose, and belief in ordinary people.

2. OTP Please: Online Buyers, Sellers and Gig Workers in South Asia by Vandana Vasudevan

A cab in five. Biryani in twenty. Groceries in ten. But who really pays the price for this convenience?

In OTP Please, Vandana Vasudevan takes us inside South Asia’s fast-growing app economy—across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal—to explore the often invisible, precarious lives of gig workers and small digital sellers. From workers racing against time to platforms that rule without responsibility, this is a rigorously reported, empathetically told, and disturbingly familiar account of the cost behind digital ease. A must-read before your next tap on ‘Order Now’.

3. God’s Own Empire: The Extraordinary Life of Marthanda Varma of Travancore by Raghu Palat & Pushpa Palat

History celebrates the Mughals, the Marathas, the British—but it forgot Marthanda Varma, the king who changed the fate of southern India.

When he rose to power, Travancore was disunited and in decline. Marthanda Varma crushed the Dutch East India Company, dismantled feudal corruption, and forged a powerful, modern state. Then, at the peak of his power, he did the unimaginable—he dedicated his entire kingdom to a deity and ruled as its humble servant. Told with rare depth and care, this is more than a biography—it’s a forgotten epic of ambition, faith, and transformation.

4. Human Edge in the AI Age: Eight Timeless Mantras for Success by Nitin Seth

When machines can think faster, create better, and even feel more—what makes us truly human?

In this bold and timely guide, Nitin Seth explores how we can thrive in an AI-dominated world not by competing with machines, but by embracing what makes us irreplaceably human. Drawing on timeless wisdom and leadership insights, he outlines eight enduring traits—our “human edge”—that no machine can replicate. This is your roadmap to not just surviving, but succeeding in a machine-made future.