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HarperCollins presents MARIA, JUST MARIA by Sandhya Mary

Translated from Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil

Published by Harper Perennial

Paperback | Fiction | 244 pp | INR 499

Releasing 10 January 2024

NEW DELHI, Jan. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — An insightful and humorous take on ideas like normalabnormal, naturalhuman, lovehate, etc. that define contemporary society, and the exuberant and moving story of a woman trying to find her place in this world.

“A rare novel.” — S. Hareesh, author of Moustache, winner of the 2020 JCB Prize for Literature

“A must-read!” — Daisy Rockwell, translator of Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, winner of the 2022 International Booker Prize

About the Book

Following the death of her grandfather, Maria has stopped speaking — not because she can’t, but because she doesn’t want to. 

Now in a psychiatric hospital, as she begins the process of ‘reconnecting with reality’, Maria recalls her journey of being ‘just Maria’ — a girl born into a Syrian Christian family in Kerala, whose companions were a grandfather who took her along to wander around the village and its toddy shops; a great-aunt with dementia who challenged Maria’s position as the youngest in the family; a dog with a penchant for philosophy; and various long-dead family members, including a great-grandmother with a knack for prophecies, a patron saint who insisted on interfering in people’s affairs, and Karthav Eesho Mishiha with whom Maria has regular conversations.

Sandhya Mary’s novel Maria, Just Maria — masterfully translated by the award-winning Jayasree Kalathil — is an insightful and humorous take on ideas like normalabnormal, naturalhuman, lovehate, etc. that define contemporary society, and the exuberant and moving story of a woman trying to find her place in this world.

Author Sandhya Mary says, “For me the process of writing Maria, Just Maria was a celebration of everything ‘not normal’! It was a process so full of craziness, humour and creativity!”

Jayasree Kalathil, translator of Maria, Just Maria, and award-winning author, says, Maria, Just Maria, is, in my opinion, unique in Malayalam literature. Maria’s story is not the universally shared story of women everywhere, and yet, in her, we will find a piece of ourselves. Sandhya Mary’s telling of this story is humorous and poignant at the same time. The moment I finished reading the original, I had no doubt that I wanted to translate it.”

Rahul Soni, Associate Publisher – Literary, HarperCollins India, says, “This is a surprising, joyous, tender and moving work about subjects that are often, stereotypically and almost by default, meted out sombre and grave treatment. I’m ever so grateful to Jayasree for having introduced us to Sandhya Mary’s work — and for so unerringly translating it, that readers of English, such as myself, can savour it. And I hope this is only the first of many works in Sandhya’s unique voice that we will have the pleasure of reading.”

Praise for Maria, Just Maria

“Will there be anything left if madness is taken away from life and from art? Madness is creativity as well as an effort to escape from the shackles of society, even as the mad person remains ‘just’ another human being. A self-inquiry steeped in materiality makes Sandhya Mary’s debut, Maria, Just Maria, a rare novel and Maria, a literary character with a difference. Jayasree Kalathil’s brilliant translation adds to its richness.” — S. Hareesh

Jayasree Kalathil brings her expert ear to this flawless and confident translation of the complex voice of a mad woman. A must-read!” — Daisy Rockwell

About the Author and the Translator

Sandhya Mary is a writer and media professional. Her first book, published in 2011, was a collection of short stories titled Chittikkaran Yudas Bhoothavarthamana Kalangalkkidayil (Chittikkaran Yudas, in Between Past and Present). Maria Verum Maria (2018) is her debut novel. The book, currently in its third edition, established her as a storyteller who engages with serious, topical issues in a light-hearted and humanistic voice. As a media professional, Sandhya’s writings on contemporary social and political issues have been published in various forums, including TruecopyThink and Mathrubhumi weekend supplement. After receiving her master’s degree in communication and journalism, she worked with Indiavision, Kerala’s first 24/7 news channel. Currently, she is a producer with Mathrubhumi Club FM. Sandhya grew up in a predominantly Christian village in Ernakulam district in Kerala and currently lives in Kochi. She loves to cook, eat, and wander around.

Jayasree Kalathil is the author of The Sackclothman, a children’s book that has been translated into Malayalam, Hindi, and Telugu. She shared the JCB Prize for Literature in 2020 with S. Hareesh for her translation of his novel, Moustache. She is a recipient of the Crossword Book Award for Indian Language Translation and the V. Abdulla Memorial Translation Prize. Her translation of Sheela Tomy’s Valli (2022) was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature, the American Literary Translators Association’s National Translation Award in Prose, and the Atta Galatta–Bangalore Literature Festival Book of the Year Award. Originally from Kottakkal in Malappuram district, Kerala, Jayasree currently lives in a small village in the New Forest in England.

About HarperCollins India

HarperCollins is celebrating its 31st anniversary this year, having begun publishing in India in 1992. HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live! Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Harvard University Press, Gallup Press, Oneworld, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet. HarperCollins India has won the Publisher of the Year Award four times at Tata Literature Live! in 2022, 2021, 2018 and 2016, and at Publishing Next in 2021 and 2015. HarperCollins India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers.

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Tyger Capital and Credgenics join hands to redefine collections management with innovative tech solutions

  • Leverage Machine Learning insights backed communications approach
  • Facilitate digital enablement of field team and offer integrated payments

NEW DELHI, April 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Tyger Capital, India’s leading non-banking financial company (NBFC), has joined hands with Credgenics, the leading provider of SaaS-based collections and debt resolution technology solutions worldwide. This technology collaboration marks a significant stride towards reshaping the debt collections landscape, leveraging Credgenics’ comprehensive suite of solutions to streamline and optimize Tyger Capital’s loan collections management process.

At Tyger Capital, Credgenics’ AI powered SaaS based platform will help adopt a data-insights backed personalized approach for communications with borrowers across multiple digital channels including WhatsApp, SMS, and emails. With Credgenics CG Collect, the mobile app for field collection teams, the last mile operations will be digitized to unlock higher productivity and operational efficiency.

Commenting on the partnership, Rajaram Manian B, Chief Risk Officer of Tyger Capital, said, We are excited to leverage Credgenics technology solutions in collections as we are committed to deliver unparalleled financial services powered by cutting-edge technologies and customer-centric approaches. This collaboration aligns with our mantra ‘Customer first’ and our focus on providing exceptional service to our customers while optimizing our operations through innovation and digital transformation.”

Credgenics technology platform will optimize field team operations, enable seamless collection transaction reconciliations, provide digitized customer visit management, and provide real-time tracking capabilities. Credgenics Billzy payments platform will facilitate borrowers to make digital loan payments swiftly, securely, and conveniently. Adoption of cutting-edge solutions from Credgenics promises higher response rates, accelerated debt resolutions, and reduced operational costs, positioning Tyger Capital at the forefront of customer service excellence.

Rishabh Goel, Co-Founder and CEO of Credgenics, said, “Our engagement with Tyger Capital is an extremely valuable addition to our customer base from the NBFC segment. We are confident that Credgenics’ comprehensive solutions will tremendously enhance the collection management process at Tyger Capital. With our focus on continual innovation, enhanced customer experience and strict adherence to regulatory compliance, we aim to deliver significant business value at Tyger Capital.”

The collaboration between Credgenics and Tyger Capital is set to drive a transformative shift in collection management and debt resolution by leveraging cutting-edge technologies. This strategic partnership will enable both companies to deliver enhanced value to their customers while driving sustainable growth and profitability.

About Credgenics

Credgenics is the leading provider of Loan Collections and Debt Resolution technology platforms to Banks, Non-banking finance companies, FinTechs, and ARCs worldwide. The AI-powered SaaS-based platform has been recognized as the #1 Best Selling Loan Collections Platform in India by IBS Intelligence in their Annual Sales League Table for three years consecutively. Credgenics caters to the end-to-end collection lifecycle for retail and SME / MSME debt and works with over 150 customers. It handled more than 98 million retail loan accounts worth over USD 250 Billion in FY24 for collections and has sent over 1.7 billion omni-channel communications. With Credgenics, lenders have increased resolution rates by 20%, improved collections by 25%, reduced collections costs by 40%, reduced collections time by 30%, and improved legal process efficiencies by 60%. https://www.credgenics.com/ 

About Tyger Capital

Tyger Capital Private Limited is a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Established in 2016, the company commenced lending operations in April 2017 with a mission to support entrepreneurship by providing financial solutions tailored for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and rural development. Tyger Capital is dedicated to be the most “economical” and “convenient” lender – Instant disbursement to underserved communities and small businesses. The company’s vision is to be a trusted financial partner that educates, guides, and supports customers, fostering active participation in the financial ecosystem. Tyger Capital has a robust presence with a network of 250 branches across nine states: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh. This extensive reach enables the company to effectively serve a diverse clientele. Tyger Capital is committed to empowering entrepreneurs and fostering economic growth through its comprehensive financial solutions and customer-centric approach. https://tygercapital.in/

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Herbalife India Launches New Podcast Series – Live Your Best Life, Unscripted

The debut episode explores holistic wellness, mental resilience, and performance strategies with renowned sports scientist and high-performance coach Shayamal Vallabhjee.

BENGALURU, India, April 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — In a world where wellness conversations are often reduced to diet fads and fitness trends, Herbalife India, a premier health and wellness company, community and platform is bringing a refreshing change with the launch of its brand-new podcast series — ‘Live Your Best Life, Unscripted’.

Designed as an honest, inspiring, and insightful platform, the podcast brings together experts, athletes, and thought leaders to share their journeys, insights, and lessons on holistic well-being — not just physical fitness, but also mental resilience and emotional balance.

The series is hosted by Ajay Khanna, Managing Director of Herbalife India, who leads engaging conversations with personalities known for their contributions to health, wellness, and performance.

Kicking off the series is an insightful episode featuring Shayamal Vallabhjee — a celebrated sports scientist, high-performance coach, and author. With over two decades of experience working with elite athletes and teams worldwide, Shayamal offers a fresh perspective on what it really means to live a balanced life.

From his experiences growing up in South Africa to living as a monk, Shayamal shares how discipline, mental strength, and spirituality shape both performance and overall well-being. The conversation also explores the role of technology, the importance of gut health, mindful eating, and perhaps most importantly — self-compassion.

Speaking on the launch of the podcast, Ajay Khanna, Managing Director, Herbalife India, said:

“At Herbalife, we believe wellness is a lifelong journey—one that goes beyond counting calories or tracking fitness goals. Live Your Best Life, Unscripted is our way of fostering real, thought-provoking conversations that inspire people to embrace a more holistic approach to health. Through this podcast, we hope to empower listeners with insights from experts and changemakers, encouraging them to prioritize not just physical well-being, but also mental resilience and emotional balance.”

The podcast is available in both video and audio formats — making it easy for viewers to tune in from anywhere.

Watch the Full Episode on Herbalife’s YouTube Channel

https://youtu.be/4FejO3wdSRI

Prefer Audio? Listen to the Podcast here: Apple Podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-your-best-life-unscripted/id1808386057

Spotify Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5dn8QAS0Ods24TVLxyeYsS?si=oeD3ZkONQFqzzs4aeU1w6A

Amazon Music:

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a53233b6-84b5-43ce-a34a-5230c769168b/episodes/e153ee13-3174-456b-923a-98ed191c21c5/live-your-best-life-unscripted-the-science-of-wellness-with-shayamal-vallabhjee-live-your-best-life-unscripted

This is just the beginning. New episodes of Live Your Best Life, Unscripted will continue to feature inspiring voices from the world of sports, nutrition, and wellness.

Herbalife

(NYSE: HLF) is a premier health and wellness company, community and platform that has been changing people’s lives with great nutrition products and a business opportunity for its independent distributors since 1980. The Company offers science-backed food products to consumers in more than 90 markets through entrepreneurial distributors who provide one-on-one coaching and a supportive community that inspires their customers to embrace a healthier, more active lifestyle to live their best life.

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Mitsubishi Heavy Industries joins Infosys-led JV in Japan, HIPUS

JV to accelerate business process transformation for enterprises leveraging digital procurement platforms

BENGALURU, India and TOKYO, April 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today announced Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has invested in the Infosys-led Joint Venture HIPUS, enhancing Infosys’ presence in Japan. MHI is one of the world’s leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense, and has established corporations like Hitachi Ltd., Panasonic Corporation and Pasona.

Infosys_Logo

HIPUS, in which Infosys owns a majority stake, was set up in 2019, to drive high-quality, end-to-end procurement processes along with sourcing and category expertise, leveraging next-generation digital platforms for Japanese corporations.

MHI has been a longstanding customer of HIPUS and has now expanded the collaboration by acquiring a 2 percent stake from Infosys. Through this investment MHI aims to further explore new business opportunities in the region.

Anantha Radhakrishnan, CEO and MD, Infosys BPM, and Chairperson, HIPUS Board said, “Japan continues to be a strategic market for Infosys and HIPUS and we have consistently expanded our footprint in the region. This collaboration with MHI reinforces Infosys’ commitment towards building trusted collaboration with customers in Japan and accelerating their digital business process transformation journey. Infosys is excited to welcome Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to HIPUS.”

Isao Miyake, Head, Value Chain Headquarters, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, said, “In our company’s ongoing efforts to upgrade procurement activities through a data-driven strategy, we expect HIPUS advanced analytics and support to significantly improve procurement operations, enable well informed decision making, and generate greater value across the organization.”

Kiyoshi Asami, CEO and Representative Director, HIPUS, said, “MHI has become an important client for HIPUS receiving a wide range of services. HIPUS is also executing MHI services beyond Japan, leveraging Infosys’ global presence as well as its strong sourcing and procurement services. We are extremely delighted that MHI has decided to invest in HIPUS and we look forward to an impactful collaboration.”

The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 (i.e. quarter ending June 30, 2025), subject to customary closing conditions.

About Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world’s leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com

About HiPUS

HIPUS Co., Ltd. promotes business process transformation and provide total procurement solutions with the procurement know-how cultivated over many years in the Hitachi Group as our business core. Since April 2019, Infosys has become our parent company, and we provide new, cutting-edge services that combine global knowledge and domestic skills in procurement processes, consulting, analytics, Gen AI, and other digital technology services. For more information, please visit https://www.hipus.com.

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. Over 300,000 of our people work to amplify human potential and create the next opportunity for people, businesses and communities. We enable clients in more than 56 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer clients, as they navigate their digital transformation powered by cloud and AI. We enable them with an AI-first core, empower the business with agile digital at scale and drive continuous improvement with always-on learning through the transfer of digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. We are deeply committed to being a well-governed, environmentally sustainable organization where diverse talent thrives in an inclusive workplace.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, or our future financial or operating performance, are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the ‘safe harbor’ under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding the execution of our business strategy, increased competition for talent, our ability to attract and retain personnel, increase in wages, investments to reskill our employees, our ability to effectively implement a hybrid work model, economic uncertainties and geo-political situations, technological disruptions and innovations such as Generative AI, the complex and evolving regulatory landscape including immigration regulation changes, our ESG vision, our capital allocation policy and expectations concerning our market position, future operations, margins, profitability, liquidity, capital resources, our corporate actions including acquisitions, and cybersecurity matters. Important factors that may cause actual results or outcomes to differ from those implied by the forward-looking statements are discussed in more detail in our US Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.

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