Westland to publish a book on Nouf Marwaai, first certified Yoga teacher in Saudi Arabia, in April-May 2019

Westland to publish a book on Nouf Marwaai, first certified Yoga teacher in Saudi Arabia, in April-May 2019

 

Westland Publications Pvt. Ltd. (an Amazon company) today announced the acquisition of an authorized biography of Nouf Marwaai, the first certified Yogacharini in Saudi Arabia. The book is tentatively titled, Nouf: Yogi Who Made Saudi Arabia Fall in Love with an Ancient Indian Science.

The biography is written by well-known film historian and writer Gautam Chintamani, who’s also a jury member of National Film Awards for Best Writing on Cinema.

Nouf Marwaai was instrumental in making Yoga legal and get official recognition for it in Saudi Arabia. She was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour, by the Indian government in 2018.

The book will cover her life, her battles with autoimmune diseases, third-degree burns and cancer, and narrate how yoga helped her survive them. Nouf conducted the first ever International Day of Yoga in 2015 in Saudi Arabia; her journey of discovering both physical and inner well-being through yoga is a motivation for others to look for alternative methods of therapy.

Commenting on the book Gautam Chintamani said, “I’m excited that this book is being published by Westland. For writers, just telling a story is not enough as the story is only complete when it reaches the reader. Given Amazon’s global presence, the reach of this inspiring tale of fighting the greatest of odds and emerging victorious would increase exponentially.”

Debasri Rakshit, Managing Editor, Westland said, ““We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with Gautam Chintamani. The journey of Nouf Marwaai highlights the importance of making peace with and healing one’s inner self. It is an inspiration for women across cultures to take a stand on what they believe in.’’

About the author: Gautam Chintamani is a film historian and the author of Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna (2014), Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak: The Film That Revived Hindi Cinema (2016) and Pink – The inside Story (2017). His writing has appeared in leading national and international publications and he has also contributed original essays for the British Film Institute. He is on the National Film Awards jury for Best Writing on Cinema since 2016.  Gautam is the great-grandson of literarian Sir C.Y. Chintamani and the grandchild of Telugu poet laureate Arudra and writer K. Ramalakshmi. His notable television credits include Siddhanth, a law series, which garnered an Emmy Nomination in the International Drama category, a first for an Indian TV show.

About Westland Publications Pvt Ltd: Founded in 1962, Westland is one of the largest English-language trade publishers in India. Westland’s bestselling authors include Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi, Ashwin Sanghi, Devdutt Pattanaik, Ashok Banker, Rujuta Diwekar, Rashmi Bansal, Savi Sharma, Anita and Harsha Bhogle, and Preeti Shenoy, among others. It has recently launched a new imprint ‘Context’, which publishes literary fiction and non-fiction by some of the finest Indian writers, graphic novelists and chroniclers of our times. Westland publishes print books, e-books as well as short reads in genres ranging from popular and literary fiction to business, politics, biography, spirituality, health and cookery. Westland was acquired by Amazon in 2017. Westland brings Amazon Publishing’s bestselling international books to the Indian market available in over 1000 outlets.

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