Book excerpt: 'Fresh, attractive, humorous and witty, Tiya is easy to read because it wears its learning lightly.'-Upamanyu Chatterjee The perky parrot Tiya's secure world is shattered when he hears an unknown voice urging him to leave his home, the old banyan tree. As he launches into an adventure-filled journey through strange lands, meeting fantastic creatures along the way, Tiya comes to terms with his strengths and weaknesses. He discovers that no one in this universe is ordinary, and that life is a series of experiences that ultimately unshackle you from your own narrow existence. It is up to you to take on this adventure and come out of it as a free spirit. This delightful fable is irreverent and inspiring at the same time. Written by a monk with several years of learning and experience as a teacher, it is an imaginative rendering of Vedantic and Yoga philosophy. Yet you will find no sermons-only the story of a simple parrot and his formless mentor Hans.