Manu S Pillai’s take on history in his third book, The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin (Context/Westland) is fascinating. “I am increasingly toying with the idea of becoming a full-time author and am all set for this calculated risk,” says the 29-year-old author at the launch in Bengaluru. The book is a collection of anecdotes meticulously selected from Indian history, detailing the lives of courtesans, kings, begums, saints, and soldiers, with amusing profiles of historic personalities. Manu launched the book with Priya Kurien who has illustrated 61 essays in the book. Also present were Lakshmi Pratury, curator of INKtalks, novelist Anita Nair and Gitanjali Maini, founder of the Sandeep & Gitanjali Maini Foundation.