Shilpa Gupta

'I took the test and prayed for the colour of the lines on the strip to stay as they were. But they did not. The test was positive. I felt my entire world come crashing down around me.' Meet Ananya Sharma, not your regular, teenage girl-next-door. Sure, she loves hanging out with her friends and engaging in whispered confidences at sleepovers, but when it comes to boys, she has competition on her mind rather than romance. At school, she is passionate about math and the sciences, and completely focussed on cracking the IIT entrance exams. But when distraction enters her life in the form of the handsome and charming Rohit, Ananya discovers love, longing and betrayal, all at once. Finding herself pregnant at the age of seventeen, she learns that the world is a very different place once you are on its wrong side. The discovery of the fault lines in her parents' relationship-which until then had seemed perfect to her-further breaks her. Will Ananya be able to reverse the downward spiral that her life has plunged into and find meaning once again? In this wonderfully stark and honest portrayal of a teenager's life, Ananya: A Bittersweet Journey has managed to encapsulate an entire generation's struggle of growing up in today's often troubled times.

Artivities encourage exploration of both personal experiences and broader world perspectives through the engaging power of art. It is based on the artist Shilpa Gupta’s original “artivity” sheets and her inflatable sculpture Untitled (2023). This new iteration has been developed collaboratively by Shilpa Gupta and therapist Rosie McGowan. The following illustrated pages invite young minds to interact and navigate through complex emotions and reactions to conflict and other challenges. Thoughtfully designed, they engage children, parents, caregivers and teachers in a shared exploration of creativity, empathy and understanding.

Shilpa Gupta, a pioneering intermedia artist from South Asia and an iconoclast is interested in the threshold and liminal spaces, where distinctions are complicated. Refusing to be restricted to any identity, style or medium, Gupta has constantly probed and expanded the notions of borders, those on paper and within art practice. In the book 'Drawing in the Dark', we deep dive into her series on the Bengal Borderlands where she traces clandestine routes and flows that persist, despite the near completion of the world’s longest border fence between India and Bangladesh. Through interviews, photographs, records with incisions, smuggled everyday objects and drawings made from prohibited cough syrup and marijuana, Gupta’s incisive and poetic works unravel stories of desire, mobility, and ethics in the face of laws and censorship.

Racy, realistic and fast paced, Double or Quits traces Jyotsna Singh's story against the backdrop of the treacherous stock markets. Losing her father at the age of 12 and brought up under frugal circumstances, Jyotsna grows up too soon. Nervy and edgy by nature, she morphs into a confident and charming young woman with a successful career in Investment Banking. Enter Aryan Sahani, rising corporate star and billionaire who wraps Jyotsna in his charms, but has plans of his own. Driven by her loyalty to the firm, a desire to break out of her lower middle class moorings and misplaced love, Jyotsna overreaches. She is soon faced with the dark side of the stock markets - a world where ambition, greed and fear rule and reputations are lost a lot faster than they are built. Will Jyotsna be able to resurrect her life? Will she find the true love she has been craving? Double or Quits is a tale of love, betrayal and courage. It is a tale about falling down, but not staying down. Shilpa Gupta is a graduate of IIT Roorkee and IIM Ahmedabad. After 13 successful years in Investment Banking, she now pursues her passion for writing, painting and travelling. Double or Quits is Shilpa's second novel.