Tales of Old and New Madras - S. Muthiah - Book Review

Tales of Old and New Madras by S. Muthiah

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Landing upon this book was a pure chance. I was randomly browsing through the Amazon's monthly kindle deals and ended up purchasing this gem for a cheap price. The book is authored by S. Muthiah the famous Madras writer and the man behind the organization of Madras Day celebrations in the recent years. This is not a book written in a single flow, but is a collection of 38 articles written by the author in various instance at various lengths. Strewn together, the book brings the stories of Madras from its founding days to the recent fiasco of the new Assembly building.

The first chapter starts with how Francis day got the land for Fort St. George by combining two villages back in 1639. To placate the Village headman Madarasen and the ruler Chennapa Nayak, he decided to name the fort as Madarasapatnam and the surrounding colony as Chennapatnam - the names of which has created controversies in the later years. After this interesting chapter, the book enters into a few articles on how rules were established in the settlement based on first reported Murder, a Rape Accusation and how Sheriffs were setup in the settlement. These chapters appear extended and creates a lull in the book, given the disconnect with the modern day.

After this comes the articles of late 18th and early 19th centuries, which are interesting. They cover pieces of famine relief (Cyclical rains seems to have been a eternal worry for the state), a few historical buildings, the Club House and the beginning of Engineering institute in the city. The author seems to have a critical remark of how the College of Engineering, Guindy has been let down off late, given how great it was an institute in the early days.

Then comes the tales of late 19th century which is the most interesting part of the book given that the city has attained a remarkable shape in this part and most of them remain intact today. These parts covers the tales of the Indo Sarcenic architecture of the old buildings, the formation of the Marina Promenade, construction of the Madras Harbor, the formation of Theosophical society and my most favorite part of the book - the Chepauk Cricket Stadium. It is indeed sad that the local cricket administrators have ignored the history of the ground completely in the name of modernization. How great it would have been to have an antique cricket museum or hall in the ground reflecting the long tenure of cricket here.

The book deals with various firsts in the city - Telephone Exchange, Bank, Movie Theaters, Studios, Newspaper, Magazine and looks into the history of how a few failed, while a few went on to become household names like Ananda Vikatan or The Hindu. The book then looks into the life of few famous personalities to have come from the city - the math genius Ramanujam and how prodiogious and unfortunate he was (he died when he was just 33), Kalakshethra founder Rukmani and how she found discovered and made Bharata Natyam popular, the Woodlands hotel founder K. Krishna Rao and how he setup the entire business, Thiru. Vi. Kalyanasundaram and his tryst with Labour Unions.

In the final part, the author briefly touches upon the major political events of the recent times - the death of CM Annadurai and MGR - their rise to power and in the process he covers the history of Justice Party, Dravida Kazhagam, DMK and ADMK. It is certainly indulging to read about the party in 1940s and 1950s and how they came to the current state.

The flipside of the book is that the author has just compiled the articles he has written at various points of time. This drives the lack of continuation at certain points of time and also lack of depth in some articles. The other effect is that certain portions keep getting repeated like there are lot of instances where the establishment of Justice party is meted out.

The book gives lots of interesting anecdotes all along. An entire chapter is dedicated to the rise of Indian English and how even the the Britishers had established a dictionary for that. The author keeps lamenting the fact that we have forgotten the Englishmen who established various institutions and facilities in the city. He is also critical of the modern day governments for not preserving the history. The author also brings the fact a lot of rules that forms the core of our country were actually established in this city in the founding days.

There is so much of history in Chennai, but so little a current generation Chennaite would know. This is a must read book for any History buff from this part of the country.

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The Ocean of Churn - Sanjeev Sanyal - Book Review

The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History by Sanjeev Sanyal

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading 'The Land of Seven Rivers', I was fascinated when I read that Sanjeev Sanyal has written a book focusing on Indian Ocean, a key geography oft missed out in the history books.

The author has a very interesting pattern of writing books - he knows the drawbacks of contemporary history books. History has often been looked at from a linear and singular perspective. We say that the British invaded India and ruled us for 200 years, but often miss out on other countries fighting in our territory and the Indian kings who helped the British and other happening of those times. Second, history often glorifies the victors and suppresses the losers. So, we have heroes and villains when most of them were actually people with shades of grey. Third, the western world believes only in written piece of evidence. The author believes that Oral verses continuing over centuries can't be ignored. The same stories have been spread across different countries and cultures. They might have shades of fiction, but they do have a tinge of reality as to what happened really in those times.

The book covers the happenings of events around Indian Ocean from the early human settlements to the recent world wars. He covers both sides of India as to how the western part of the country traded with the likes of the Romans, Arabs and how the eastern part traded with the likes of Indonesia or Malaysia. The trade has had a long cultural impact in many countries. Particularly the South East Asian countries still have a lot of cultural similarity with the South Indian states. There are a lot of temples spread across these countries. Temples played a key role in the trade as they acted as banks of those days.

In the later part, there is a lot of focus on Europeans as to how they started trading for Spices like Pepper and Nutmeg with the eastern countries and went on to colonize them and fight violently for territorial disputes. A very interesting aspect here is that the Europeans have often collaborated with the local kingdoms and hired mercenaries to fight the battles. So, all the while when we imagine that it was British fighting India, it was the Indians on behalf of British fighting the Indians.

The author also touches upon Religion and the way Religion helped kingdoms and tribes across history. It is little wonder that Religion still fires up people and unites them to fight for something or the other. Still lot of the Asian countries have statues of Hindu gods and they peaceful worship them before worshiping Lord Buddha or they attribute them as Pagan Gods. The trade also had a wide impact on Language. Most of the South East Asian countries have languages originating from the Brahmi Script.

The final part focuses on the World Wars and how the east Asian countries widely affected don't get mentioned anywhere in the war related documents. Many Indian soldiers fought on behalf of the British and similarly many Asian soldiers were involved and countries affected by war including the likes of Malaysia and Singapore. It is also interesting that the Indian Naval officers strike was a key reason for British to exit India as the Indian Soldiers played a key role in enabling British administer India.

It is interesting that certain landscapes got shifted from One hand to another hand during the colonial rule. In 1667, the Dutch forced the British to hand them an Island in the Indonesian Archipelago which grew Nutmegs in exchange for a big Island in North America. It was considered a big victory. The big Island turns to be Manhattan. Looks like Real Estate investments have remained tricky over centuries.

Books like this are very rare for they cover a very wide spectrum of things and gives you a very new perspective to History. If you are a history buff, get in, get immersed and come out with a refreshing view.

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Gods, Kings & Slaves: The Siege of Madurai - R. Venkatesh - Book Review

Gods, Kings & Slaves: The Siege of Madurai by R. Venketesh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The key reason for me to touch upon this book was 'Madurai'. Historically Madurai has been associated with Sangam Literature, Meenakshi Amman Temple and the Pandian Dynasty. And this book is about the downfall of the Pandyan dynasty which once had its wings spread across the entire Southern India and Sri Lanka.

The timeline of the story is late 13th and early 14th century. There are two parallel story lines. One revolves around Veera who is the illegitimate son of the ruling Pandian king Kulasekharan Pandian. The story deals with Veera's fight for power with his brother Sundar who is the legitimate son of the king. On the other side, we are taken through the Gujarat Region where an young boy Chand Ram is born with the prediction that he would become the ruler of Hindustan. Chand Ram is castrated when he tries to elope with a slave girl from the king's Harem and later he becomes slave to a Arab tradesman, where he is named Malik. Further he becomes the slave of Allaudin Khilji and later the general of the great ruler.

Malik becomes a great strategist and becomes the key for Khilji to acquire the wealth of temples from South India. Veera becomes king and doesn't expect the sudden strike from Malik along with his brother Sundar. Madurai has been left unprotected as no one expects a strike. Thus ends the mighty Pandyan dynasty.

What impressed me in the book was the vivid writing. Right from the childhood of the princes, the childhood fights, politics of crowning the princes, the strategies of Veera's war in Lanka or Malik's war in Warangal, the deception all make it a great reading. The Human emotions and psychology have been captured wonderfully. When Veera is afraid in the last war, the author portrays how the administrative nature of King's work has depleted the warrior in him. Even at the end when the entire city is destroyed, the brothers would be fighting for the rule which reflects the ego and rivalry they had in them. Similarly in Delhi, Khilji would have become a very timid person afraid of the great strategist Malik and would suffer a very bad end.

A great book to read if you are interested in History and wish to know about what happened in India in the 1300s.

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Quiet - Susan Cain - Book Review

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was randomly browsing through YouTube and came across the TED Talk of Susan Cain on Introverts. I became so impressed and got this book 'Quiet'. And this is one of the most amazing books I have ever read.

Susan Cain, an introvert herself has done a splendid job of researching through numerous articles, research papers, places, cultures, people and has presented a wonderful book that is in support of Introverts, who are viewed down upon in this world. As the title of the book says it portrays 'The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking'

The author has divided the book into four parts. The first part talks about how Extroverts became the model people due to Urbanization and how various advertisements and people like Dale Carnegie at the start of 20th century were examples of that. She presents examples of lot of CEOs who were introverts and how leaders are not necessarily extroverted as they donot need to talk to masses. With the help of Steve Wozniak she describes how Group Think kills creativity.

The next part deals with the Biological part of Introversion and Extroversion and how these two people behave. Highly reactive infants tend to become Introverts (they are more cautious, alert and avoid strangers). Lowly reactive infants tend to become Entroverts (they are carefree, social and enjoy new company). The author gives the example of how Eleanor Roosevelt was behind the good deeds on Franklin Roosevelt and why Introversion helps. In Financial World, Introverts tend to do well than Extroverts (eg: Warren Buffett)since they think more before taking decisions. Introverts tend to be Threat Oriented and Extroverts tend to be Reward Oriented, which is why many M&A deals fail.

In the third part, the author talks about Soft Power and the impact of cultures of the Ideal. Western world has always given importance to being vocal, whereas the eastern world has given importance to being silent. Talking is important in western classes, whereas listening takes a step above in the eastern world.

The fourth part is how to be in the practical world and I would say this is the most spectacular part of the book. The author talks about 'Free Trait Theory' and 'Free Trait Agreement' where an introvert behaves like an extrovert for the love of his/her job. This consumes lot of energy for them, but they accept it for their profession. The same applies to extroverts when they have to turn introverts. She also points out the differences that could arise between an Introvert-Extrovert Couple and how it can be solved. Finally, she gives a few guidelines to parents of Quiet Kids and how to rise them in the vocal world.

Right from the start of the book, Susan Cain gives lot of examples and case studies to make things clear. Providing examples of Introvert-Extrovert Pairs like Rosa Parks - Martin Luther King, Steve Wozniak - Steve Jobs, Eleanor - Franklin Roosevelt and how they made use of each other, she provides clear examples of how none is below the other. Also examples like Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Steven Spielberg, JK Rowling, Susan Cain clearly depicts that the world needs introverts. Insights of class participation in Harvard Business School and how some CEOs or Founders are completely opposite of being vocal, Susan Cain questions the authority of the Ideal Leader depicted by the school.

This is a book that questions the Extrovert Ideal that is blooming in the world and makes Introverts feel inferior. This book does not undermine the extroverts, but says that the world needs Introverts as much as they need Extroverts.

I would say this is a must read book to people who want to understand Introverts, who are interested in Psychology or who feel Introverts can't survive in this world.

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Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman - Book Review

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Are Human Beings rational? Most of us know that we are not. Daniel Kahneman has collated his detailed research work into a single book and describes how our mind works. Daniel Kahneman won Nobel Prize for Economics in 2002 for his works in Behavioural Economics.

The book starts with an introduction to our thinking and how we work. Daniel Kahneman speaks about two systems inside our mind, namely System 1 and 2. System 1 is the fast thinking system that works based on intuition. System 2 is the slow thinking system that takes decisions rationally. More often, we take decisions based on System 1. System 1 is so powerful that it overrides System 2 in most of the cases.

The author has divided the book into five parts. The first part is about the two systems and how our mind works. He gives us many famous perceptions and concludes that no matter, how much our mind knows that the perception is false, System 1 will make us believe that it is true. More often than not, we are shown two lines which are of similar size, but appears unequal in appearance. By now, our mind should have understood that they are equal. But, we continue to perceive that they are unequal. This famous Muller Lyer Experiment is a result of our System Conflict.

The second part is on Heuristics and Biases. In this part, the author says how we are susceptible to biases and how our mind plays with it. For example, car accidents result in more deaths than flight accidents. Still, the nature of flight accidents make us fear flight travel. Similarly, rare disasters make us fear about those events rather than normal events. He also says how statistics can turn if wrong base is used and how often we use statistics wrongly to make it comply with our intuition.

The third part is on Overconfidence. Here, the author writes about various illusions. He says that our mind fits in patterns to the success stories and make us think that we need to repeat them in order to be successful. But, more often than not, it doesn't result in a success. He also writes about how intuitions are more often wrong and how we continue to believe them. But, he also writes about when intuitions can be correct sometimes.

The next part is on choices. This is a part where he has written about most of his significant research works in the field of Economics. He says how Utility theory has some errors and how Prospect theory aims to correct them. He writes about the difference between Economists and Human Beings. Reference point is important to find impact and we don't use it very often. Getting rich by $10 is different for a millionaire and a poor guy.

In the final part, he concludes by writing about two type of selves - Experiencing self and Remembering Self. He says that more often, people do works based on Remembering self, though it might be more painful for experiencing self.

He uses the term 'Loss Aversion' in the book often. Human Mind is oriented towards avoiding losses, rather than seeking gains. Gains must outnumber losses in the ratio of 2.5: 1 for us to accept the gamble. He refers this to the evolution of mankind. In order to survive, organisms have been trained to avoid losses and this has been imprinted in our mind.

Overall, the book is a good one for people who want to know about Psychology. The author is very humble and associates all those people who were present with him during that approach. He also writes about the limitations of his theories and says that he might be bound by some the theories and may not be right. The author has understood very well about human mind works and he has presented the book with a lot of examples and practical approaches. The book is a must read, if you are interested in knowing how you make decisions.

So if we read this book, will we think differently? Well, this is what Daniel Kahneman has to say,

It's not a case of: 'Read this book and then you'll think differently. I've written this book, and I don't think differently'

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The Elephant Catchers - Subroto Bagchi - Book Review

The Elephant Catchers: Key Lessons for Breakthrough Growth by Subroto Bagchi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hunting a Rabbit is easy, but catching an Elephant is difficult. It requires expertise planning. This is the theme of the book. Subroto Bagchi, one of the cofounders of Mindtree has used this phrase as an analogy to the growth of a firm. There are lot of startups. Many of them fail immediately. But among the startups that cross the initial struggle, a few survive the phase of Scaling. Based on his experience of scaling up Mindtree, Subroto Bagchi has outlined all the strategies that would be required by startups that succeed.

The book is full of analogies and examples. The author takes four chapters to explain what 'Scale' is and how people often misinterpret scale. He wonderfully depicts how 'Elephant Catchers' function and how how they are important for any organization. He has divided the book into five parts apart from a separate part on introduction. The five parts deal with Scaling the Business, Intellect, Reputation, People and Scaling against Adversity.

In the first part, the author writes widely on how emotions work, how it is important to identify proper salesmen and the dangers of Joint Ventures and Mergers & Acquisitions. He then says how important Equity is and how many people make the mistake of selling Equity for unnecessary spendings. He shares an event where a Newspaper approached him to give Equity and in return they would promote the company and also avoid publishing negative news (It pulled down my already poor views on Media. It looks like we have to take into account the relationship of Media with the company before accepting).

After that, Subroto Bagchi writes on how to deal with Consultants in order to get good results. He also writes about the importance of dealing with Media, where one careless sentence in an hour interview can be made as the headline. He also writes a bit about CSR and the way companies exploit society and give donations back and say they are for the society. He says firms should inculcate CSR in the way they function.

In the next part about people, the author writes about Hiring and firing people. He says often times firms forget about the culture of the firm their new executive is from. He says most times firing is not done on time and it creates problems. He also says the founder cannot be behind everything. Trusting the respective people is important and they are specialists in their zone. He also compares the Hindu mythology of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva as to how each role should be taken by specialist and not by the same person.

In the end he looks back into 9/11 events and says how Mindtree survived the phase. He writes, 'When Extraordinary events overtake us. It is time to do the ordinary things extraordinarily well'

The book was very short and crisp. With all the examples and analogies, the contents register in the minds of a reader easily. It is a must read book for any person who wish to become an Enreprenur or a person who has started a small firm.

Buy this book from Amazon - The Elephant Catchers: Key Lessons for Breakthrough Growth

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Shooting for a Century - Stephen Philip Cohen - Book Review

Hi Guys,

As a new experiment, I have tried embedding my review from Goodreads.

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Shooting for a Century: The India-Pakistan Conundrum by Stephen Philip Cohen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

India - Pakistan. These two words are enough to spark many debates and fights in both the countries. Both the countries view each other as hard core enemies. What is it to do with both the countries? How did the problem turn out to be such a grave issue? Stephen P. Cohen looks into this issue in his recent book. As per the author, there are only 5% of the conflicts in the world that are not resolvable and India - Pakistan is one of them.

The author starts the book looking at the context of how these two became separate countries. The partition was done by a Britisher who never had any idea of the area, civilization and people leading to a poor border. Kashmir, an area with majority Muslims, but ruled by a Hindu Ruler was taken by India and it has become a big issue right from the partition. Result is that the South Asia region has only 5% intra regional trade which is very bad.

The author moves on to the conflicts between the states and how there are three types of issues that are mainly contributing to the conflicts. One is the visual disputes such as Kashmir, River Waters, etc. Other is the identity crisis in which the way people perceive about each other has caused lot of problems. India is considered as a giant which takes advantage and is considered to be a dominant Hindu oriented nation, while Pakistan is looked upon extreme Islamist. The strategic location of the nations has been exploited by external countries for their strategic advantage.

The author next moves into chapters dealing with the perspectives of how Indians and Pakistanis think about each other. They have always viewed each other as negative and has always taken all the chances to impose the same in their people's mindsets. The education system of both the countries are altered in such a way that History is never taught properly. He looks at the various sects of people in both the nations and how they consider the problem widely.

Nuclearization has not done major changes, but it has been a factor that has made responsible acts from both the Governments. There is always a chance of some irrational behaviour that would lead to nuclear war, though it is very low. The changing geopolitics such as Soviet Union collapse, rise of China, Afghan Terrorism has changed the way the external nations look at Pakistan and India. They have always played a crucial part in extending the issue and never tried to help the nations bridge the gap.

Pakistan is no longer a big threat to India with growing China and Pakistan doesn't look the same way with decreased Army dominance and increased terrorism in the western regions.

Finally the author considers the prospects of the countries coming together. Though he says normalization may not come true, increased trade and mutual acceptance might come due to the increase in communication through Social Media and the changing views of the countries. He also wishes that USA plays a crucial role in helping the nations come together.

Overall, it is a well researched book that explains the problem in all angles and from everyone's eyes. The book doesn't say what would happen in the future, but gives a clear picture of what are different possibilities and how things might turn up. It is a must read book, if you are interested in Geopolitics or if you are interested in knowing about how India Pakistan problem shaped up or would turn out in the future.

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If you are interested in reading the book click the link below,

Happy Reading!

P.S: Thanks to Harper Collins and Indiblogger, who gave me this book as part of their Review Program.

Jack: Straight from the Gut - Jack Welch - Book Review

Hi Guys,

I have always found it difficult to start an Autobiography and even more difficult to finish it. For the first time, I found an autobiography interesting and finished it very quickly. It all started with a case study for Strategic Management class. I was very impressed, borrowed the book from library and finished it in 3 days in my term break.

The book is more than a history of personal life. It provides a larger view on General Electric and how Jack Welch transformed GE with his leadership. He goes deep into many events and how he acted upon them and how he enabled people to perform better.

The book starts from his younger age and how his mother was his role model. He says his mother taught him an important lesson that if you can’t lose, you can’t win. Then he goes on into this education and how he joined GE in its Chemical Department in 1960s. The interesting fact is that Jack disliked GE and wanted to get out of it due to the bureaucracy. But, he stayed on selling himself to go into higher positions and went into the corporate office pretty soon.

He gives the full account of how the race to CEO was and how difficult it was for the candidates and how he made it. After becoming the CEO, he wants to move GE from the position of a ‘Giant Tank’ to ‘Agile Speed boat’. He describes about his Neutron Jack years, where he sacked many employees, sold many businesses and acquired many.

Then he moves on to how he improved the people side of the firm with Crotonville centre, stock options and so on. He moves on to describe how he continued to learn and introduced ‘Boundaryless’ term in the firm that enabled ideas to flow across. He continues to describe the main strategies that GE took in his years – Globalization, Services, Six Sigma and E-business. He says as a firm they have only 4 major transformation in the 20 years.

He says that it was people who did things, not strategy or machines. He writes, ‘In Manufacturing, we try to stamp out variance. With people, variance is everything’ He writes how he made good people stay back and poor people get out before worsening the system.

From the book, we know that Jack Welch is a guy who you won’t come across very often. He knew what he was doing. He didn’t wait, plan and do. He acted swiftly and he says that in the end he felt he waited a lot before getting into it. He understood business, he understood people and he enabled them. He is a great inspiration to all those people who want to run companies.

Many of the people focus on improving processes, reducing costs, building brands. But Jack says that it is people who matters most and it is an important lesson to all the young management grads. He writes in the end, ‘Great people, not great strategies, are what made it all work’

Happy Reading!

The Big Short - Michael Lewis - Book Review

Hi Guys,

‘The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow- witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.’

-Leo Tolstoy

Michael Lewis starts the book ‘The Big Short’ with the above quotes. The author traces a few people who had good knowledge on the Financial sector of USA and predicted the collapse of US Financial sector. The book is more of a compilation of different stories over the time frame of 2005-2008. The author conveys the story of how these people understood that the financial sector is too unstable and they can make big money out of it.

The book starts with the quote to depict the fact that many big players and intelligent investors failed to realize the risk of collapse. They were too happy with the money they were making and thought the business could sustain.

Across the book, you come to know how the whole fiasco was created with the help of detailed explanations. Banks lent their money to people who were insecure. The 2001 crisis led to lower interest rates and this made interests low. The investors were looking for better returns. The subprime mortgages were converted into Credit Debt Obligations (CDOs) and they were rated. These CDOs were bought by investors and the risk was passed on. The final risk was bore by either the investment banks or insurers. The hosuing rates increased and hence banks started chasing people to buy more houses. In 2006-2007, when the interest rates were increased the people who got loans started to default. Slowly, the crisis started.

The book traces the stories of some traders or hedge fund managers like Steve Eisman, Greg Lippmann, Michael Burry and others who predicted the collapse around 2005 and gathered funds to invest against the CDOs (or short the CDOs). The book goes on to say how these people were being treated when nothing happened as the investors were angry. After the crisis happened and the people got the money, no one cared to thank them. They were forgotten.  No one recognized them.

One of the most captivating pieces of the book is the role of Rating Agencies in the crisis. The Rating Agencies worked along with the banks to make the CDOs that were not even worth BBB ratings as AAA ratings. The author says how the whole rating system is flawed and how it helped these people making money. For instance if a person with low income applied and he hadn’t taken a loan before he was given a higher rating despite the fact that there is no clear picture.

He also identifies a flaw in the whole system. The whole investment banking industry works on the Rating provided. So, the rating agencies must be the one with higher status. But, in reality people prefer to work for investment banks. Investment bankers get more packages and the rating of the bonds is considered as a boring job. The author says it must be the other way round.

In the end, the author says how the big names escaped with Government funding and how none of them got affected. The common man was affected, but who cared.

Though I knew the basics of the crisis, this book was a big revelation to me. All the big names that were behind the scenes escaped without action. Even today these firms are rated very highly and are chased after by MBAs.

Most importantly, if someone comes and say you complex terms in Economics and say this is the reason for what is happening, don’t believe blindly. Mostly, it can be explained in plain English terms.

This is must read book If you are interested in Finance or Economics.

Happy Reading!!!

Till the Last Breath - Durjoy Dutta - Book Review

Hi Guys,

It has been a long time. For once, I thought this May would be the first time I am going to miss my blog. But, May has always been a special month for me and I didn’t want to miss my blog. This is a book review of ‘Till the Last Breath’ by Durjoy Dutta.

I was searching for books to order and many of the online sites have turned expensive with no free shipping until the order is more than Rs. 500. Finally I found that Landmark was offering free delivery and good offers. I wanted to order the book ‘The Glass Palace’ by Amitav Ghosh. After ordering, I was somehow trapped into ordering this less expensive book (Till the Last Breath) as I thought it would be a good time.

I had already read ‘If it’s not forever, It’s not Love’ a book coauthored by him (My Reviewof that book). I got this book of 237 pages on Monday evening and by night I had finished the book to my own surprise (It has been a long time, but my reading speed remains quite intact!!)

Leaving all things apart let me come to the book. The book was surprisingly good (though I read good reviews online, I didn’t believe). It was much of a change compared to the previous book I read.

The book is all about two patients in a hospital room, two doctors trying to save them and the emotions between them.

There are four main characters in the book. Dushyant – a young guy who has wasted his life due to the habit of consuming innumerous amount of drugs. A guy whose organs are failing and is on the way to death. Pihu – a young first year medical student who has got a rare disease that will make her lose senses one by one on her way to death.

Arman – a young doctor who is considered to be a genius, but is hated by everyone for his stern character. He hates Dushyant and feels he doesn’t deserve to live. He falls for Pihu. Zarah – Arman’s junior doctor who is fighting her own demons. She hates every male, but somehow Dushyant attracts her.

It is a story of what a beautiful girl with positive vibes can do to others, even when she is on her death bed. It is a story of doctors falling in love with their patients and the emotions that takes a toll out of them.

It is a story that has been spun in a beautiful web which makes you stick throughout the story. With each of the chapter describing about different characters and the way life has turned them, it is an interesting tale. The last few chapters turn out to be emotional in nature and the readers get a sense of sadness.

It is an interesting book that you can read in a few hours of time and some people could be emotionally drained by the story.

Happy Reading!!!

Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell - Book Review

Hi Guys,

After reading Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘The Tipping Point’, I decided to read his other famous book ‘Outliers: The Story of Success’

Malcolm Gladwell has written this book with the aim of finding out what separates the successful people from the rest of the group. What is it that takes them to the highest level?

Generally we associate Success with Intelligence, Talent and Ambition. Gladwell argues that there is something apart from these factors that make some people successful. By taking real life examples and statistics, Gladwell has done a good job of finding out the factors.

The book is divided into two parts namely Opportunity and Legacy. In the first part he argues that how much ever talented a person is if he doesn’t get the opportunity he won’t succeed. He takes the case of Canadian Hockey Players and finds out how majority of the players are born in the early months of a year. Just because that the cut off date is December 31, the children born in January have a head start, they get more training, more opportunity and this small difference at the starting accumulates further. Similar things happen in the school life too where elder children always have an upper hand.

After this he comes to birth year and finds out how certain phases are brightest phases and how there are so many successful people from that phase. For example, he says all the Computer companies founders like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell were born around 1955 and how it helped them to catch up with computer when they were in their 20s. He also finds out how excess opportunities helped them in the way.

Further he says that 10000 hours of practice is required to excel in any field and takes example from Bill Gates, The Beatles and associate with earlier examples. He argues that people with higher IQs can’t become Einsteins if they don’t get opportunity.

In the second part ‘Legacy’ he finds out how culture and history are important contributors to Success. He finds out how children from richer background are smarter than children from poor background, but have an inherent advantage due to the time their parents are able to spend with them. Further he analyzes the power distance relationship and finds out how certain countries perform in a different manner.

He then moves into an interesting topic of why Asians are good in maths. The main factor he says is the legacy of working in paddy fields which requires both hard and smart work. He compares different lifestyles and figure out the inherent advantage the Asian kids have (Asians as in Chinese, Japanese, etc as per the book. But I thought that most of the parameters he said are true with Indians too).

Finally he presents a case study of a school in USA, where the children are put into hard work so that they outperform others. It is interesting that he has concluded the book with his own history of how he became what he is, because of things that happened generations back.

This is what I interpreted from the book – Talent is required to be successful. But it is not enough. You need to work hard. You need to get the right opportunities. Your culture would have shaped you in a particular manner. If it is not suitable, you need to work hard to change that. Beyond that there are lot of uncontrollable things that can be called as Luck.

Some features in the book seem quite exaggerated or too simplistic. But it is an interesting book that would kindle your mind to think in new dimensions that you had never thought before.

Happy Reading!!!

The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell - Book Review

Hi Guys,

I read the book ‘The Tipping Point’ written by Malcolm Gladwell a few days ago. After reading some very good reviews about the book, I started reading the book. The book is one of the best books I have read. The book revolves around the theme of spreading a Social Epidemic. The theme of the book is ‘How little things can make a big difference’

How does an epidemic start? A person is first affected by a virus or some other microbe. If the environmental factors suit the disease to spread, the epidemic is all set to grow. Similarly we often see many social incidences spreading in a very quick span of time. The recent example is the starting of Confessions page by college students across India.

Malcolm Gladwell analyzes the factors that contribute to the Social Epidemics with lot of examples from various fields. He defines ‘Three Rules of Epidemics’ to explain the mysterious behaviour.

The first one is the Law of the Few, where he says there are a few people who contribute to the spread of news. He gives them a name – Connectors. They are people who have contact with a large group of people and can convince people. There are also other people like Mavens, who know all the information around and Persuaders. With the insightful examples given, we are able to relate from our day to day life.

The next rule is the Stickiness factor, where he says that after the news is spread, you need something sticky for the Epidemic to remain sustainable. He gives example with the help of two Children programs in USA and how they were very successful for a long period.

The third one is the Power of Context, where he says that Environment is very important. He brings in example from New York about how Urban Crime was reduced. He says about the famous Broken Window theory which says that a small broken window paves way for more people to break bigger parts. Next he goes into a magical number principle where he says there is something very powerful with 150 and brings in examples from various places of how managing a group within 150 is very efficient.

After this chapter, he gives two case studies analyzing the various factors that were discussed earlier.

This is a very good book if you are interested in knowing about Human Behaviour, Psychology or how mind works. It is a very good book for marketing people to know more about marketing a product to a mass segment. The intuitive examples make the book a very interesting read.

The author has also written two other books – ‘Blink’ and ‘The Outliers’. Both the books are said to be as good as The Tipping Point or even better. I hope to read them soon.

Happy Reading!!!

Inspite of the Gods - Edward Luce - Book Review

Hi Guys,

I rarely read Non Fiction books. After being recommended by a few professors, I decided to read the book ‘Inspite of the Gods’ – The Strange Rise of Modern India written by Edward Luce. A superb book written by Edward Luce that has in-depth research on India and its growth story.

As the title suggests, the book deals with how India grew despite the Gods being against the country. At many places in the book you will seriously feel ‘God Save the Country’. Already many of us know much about the politicians in our country. If you want a more detailed knowledge or the naked face, this is a much read book for you.

The book starts with how India grew after its Independence and how India has grown from the past. After that he writes about the Bureaucrats of the country whom he calls ‘The Burra Sahibs’ (Big Bosses). He speaks of how bribe, corruption and bureaucracy have stalled the growth of the country. Then he writes about the issues of the Lower Castes in the country and the history of how it came into existence and how various political parties play with the castes. In this chapter Luce has described his interviews with Lalu Prasad Yadav and Amar Singh.

Then he moves into the Hindu nationalism that has been a constant threat to the Country’s Secularism. He goes deep into the Gujarat Riots and the various other movements of the Hindu Nationalistic groups and how are no different from the others.

Then he goes to the Congress party. He researches about the Nehru – Gandhi Dynasty and how the Congress party can’t survive without them. In this chapter, the story of Arun Jaitley and his Delhi Cricket Association Secretary days are exposed. Luce concludes that in this country, ‘If you are rich and important, you rarely pay. If you poor, you usually pay through the nose. And there is no guarantee that you will get what you paid for’

Next he moves into the Muslim people of this country and analyze the problems of Kashmir and Pakistan. He says that the people of Kashmir are exhausted and they want to live. They don’t care which country they belong to. He further goes on to say that though it is said that they are separate from the society, Indian Muslims have all the complexities of the society. He concludes that they are no separate entity and they are better than their counterparts in other parts of the world.

In the next chapter, he discusses the triangular relationship between India, China and USA. He analyzes how US was with China and Pakistan in the early days and how they have come close to India now. He also says that USA is backing India mainly for the reason that India is the only country that is atleast capable enough of tackling China. He also depicts the importance of relationship between India and China and the increasing trade between the countries.

In the final chapter, he discusses the multilayered dimensions of modern Indian Economy. He portrays how life is different for some and how it remains the same for many. He says despite modernity, how the roots remain and how it continues to trouble the country.

Finally he concludes saying ‘Hers to Lose’. He writes that despite having many differences the country moves in One Direction. It might take time, but the way India moves is like an Elephant – Slow yet Strong.

It was a different experience reading this book. A very insightful book that had many factual data and in depth research. If you have interest in knowing how India performs and the various nuances in the country, it is a must read for you.

Happy Reading!!!

The World is Flat - when read after six years of publication!

Hi Guys,

I thought I would be writing a review of the book when I started reading it yesterday. But then after reading some 50 pages, I knew I was not going to read further. It was then I realized the timing of reading a Non Fiction book is very important. In the fast moving world, a lag of 2 years would mean much.

The book I started reading was ‘The World is Flat’ by Thomas L. Friedman. A journalist by profession, he has written about how the world has become more and more flat in the 21st century. The book was released in 2006 and the book is a much acclaimed book and has received many awards. My college library decided to buy a huge bunch of these books and I happened to see them. Just because of the reason that there was a huge bunch of these books and the cover was interesting, I wanted to read the book.

After starting to read the book, I realized that the book would have been a good read in 2006, but not anymore. The author says about the different incidences and technologies that helped the world to become a global village. All the recent growth stories of IT companies in India and manufacturing companies in China, we know many of the facts told in the book.

When I started reading the book, I thought 2006 is just 6 years back and it is a comparatively new book. But I didn’t realize many things and in particular the growth of technology over the years. When my brother joined an IT organization back in 2005, not many people knew about the Organization. We had to explain about the company to people. But, today the phenomenal growth has made many people aware about the industry. In 2006, not many of knew about the Social networking sites or Skype. The concept of Outsourcing was there, but again not many of us knew.

I am still not sure of how many people know about the technologies for our mind has a tendency to believe that everyone knows what we know and everyone doesn’t know what we don’t know. But, I am pretty sure that the book is written for people in Corporate Organizations and everyone in the organizations must be aware of these concepts now, which makes the book an outdated one.

The other thing is the book has no detailed analysis and is just like an extended magazine article. So, when the facts are known you don’t have much use.

All this makes me realize that when I start reading a Non Fiction book next time, I need to be sure of the context of the book, the time of publication and its relevance to today’s world.

Happy Reading!!!

P.S: The above thoughts are my personal opinion. Many of you can find the book interesting and know more from reading the book. 

If its not Forever, its not Love - Durjoy Datta and Nikita Singh

Hi Guys,

A short Book Review for a Small book. The small book is ‘If it’s not forever, it’s not Love’ by Durjoy Datta and Nikita Singh. If you want to read a story book just for time pass and want to finish it within a day (or even shorter), then it’s a perfect book for you.

What will happen if you get stuck in a bomb blast on your way to office? For most of us, Bomb Blasts are just news of what happens some hundreds of kilometres away. The author has tried to relate to what happens to the people in the scene. The basic plot reminded me of the Tamil Movie Engeyum Eppothum, which dealt with the lives of people getting stuck in a bus accident.

Deb is the main character and one fine morning when he goes to office, a bomb blasts and he gets stuck. Though nothing happens to him, he gets disturbed by the scenes around him. After some days of shock, he tries to recover. He goes to the blast site and finds a diary at the site of a blast.

He reads the story and gets engrossed with the story of the dead man and his romantic life. The diary is burnt at the ends and hence the ending is not known. So, he sets out to find the story along with his girlfriend, friend and his crazy girlfriend.

The journey makes them travel all across India and in the process, they learn a lot about Human Characteristics and Behaviour. What they find about the so called dead man and his life forms the rest of the story.

The writing style appeared to be very crazy in nature. All the characters were portrayed as crazy beings who never cared about life and the only thing they wanted was enjoyment. There were a bit of serious thoughts among them now and then. It was like, they were not completely crazy, but had some insight.

I think the author was so engrossed with the word ‘Indirect Expenses’ from his MBA and so he kept using that one throughout. The story plot was good. A bit of more serious characterization would have made the story much better.

A good time pass, provided you don’t have any other works.

Happy Reading!!!

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - Movie Review

Hi Guys,

A movie review after a very long time. And that too a review of a newly released movie after a very very long time. I generally don’t risk reviewing a new movie as I’m not a very good reviewer. Let me try something this time.

Christopher Nolan – My most favourite director. He designs his movies very intricately. After the amazing success of The Dark Knight and the Inception, I was wondering how he is going to meet with the expectations. But he has made the movie in such a way that our expectations increase further for his future movies.

The Dark Knight Rises – the concluding part of the Batman Trilogy. The setting is perfect. Batman is considered to be a criminal in Gotham. The Joker is dead and Harvey Dent is celebrated as hero. So, we are pretty clear that the movie can’t continue without new characters and Nolan has filled the space with some interesting characters.

A new masked man enters the scene. He is Bane (Tom Hardy). His main aim is to destroy the city with his aides. Meanwhile, there is this Cat Woman (Anne Hathaway) who is a small time burglar. She helps Bane by taking Wayne’s fingerprint and demolishing his wealth.

There is also Blake (Joesph Gordon-Lewitt) who is a patrol officer and deep believer of Batman. He discovers that Batman is Wayne. He grew up by means of orphanage funded by Wayne (Christian Bale). Meanwhile Comissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) is unable to reveal the truth of Batman and Harvey Dent.

Wayne locks himself in his house and after all the years, when Bane comes to the city, the city needs him. Gordon is shot down by Bane and is in hospital. He promotes Blake to Detective. Wayne is not as strong as he was. He loses his power in the company. He makes sure that the nuclear power is not used for the wrong purpose, but Bane attains control. Meanwhile, Fox designs a new flying vehicle for Batman.

Wayne meets Bane due to the tricky works of Cat Woman. The Cat Woman realises her mistake by then. He takes Batman to a prison from which escape is nearly impossible. Bane plans to destroy the city soon. He brings out Gordon’s secret notes and hands over power to prisoners, whom he calls the people of Gotham.

How Batman comes back strong? Who is Bane? Why does he want to destroy the city? How does Batman prevent that? Watch the movie!

You can find lot of Nolan’s signatures in the movie. There is one scene is the concluding part where good becomes bad and bad becomes good and the motive is explained. Nolan likes have his previous cast members in the new movie. Tom Hardy and Marion Cotillard are also main actors in Inception. Needless to say, most of the crew is same as The Dark Knight. There are many other signatures which Nolan fans would recognize.

Background Score is one the biggest advantages of the movie. Hans Zimmer is splendid with the background as usual.

The first two series were mostly filmed in Chicago. In order to avoid repetitions, this time they moved to Pittsburgh. Some of the scenes have been taken in Jodhpur (easy to find out).

Chris Nolan wasn’t interested in doing this part and he accepted to do this only after some hesitation. And he has created yet another Masterpiece.

This makes me wonder how Nolan will bear all the pressure to produce a similar movie next time. As far as now, sit back and enjoy the movie.

Happy Reading!!!

The Immortals of Meluha - Amish

Hi Guys,

It’s very difficult to write a fiction story based on religious characters. A little slip would mean that the book will be criticized for ever. A little high on reverence would stamp the book as a religious book and number of people reading would decrease.

Amish has done a marvelous job writing ‘The Immortals of Meluha’ The novel is the first part of the Shiva Trilogy. The second part is ‘The Secret of the Nagas’ which has already released and third part ‘The Oath of Vayuputras’ is yet to release.

The outline of the story is just simple – The Story of the Man, whom legend turned into a God.

The year is 1900 BC. The story begins with Shiva in Mount Kailash, nearby Lake Mansarover. He is the leader of a group of people. He is aided by Bhadra. They face frequent attack from enemies as the enemies want to acquire Lake Mansarover. At the same time, Nandi a captain from the Meluha kingdom (which spreads over the western parts of India and current Pakistan) approaches Shiva and asks their people to come to Meluha for their safe being.

Shiva decides to go and once they reach Meluha, they are astonished by the development and discipline at Meluha. The Meluha kingdom is ruled by King Daksha. The Meluhans are Suryavanshis (people who follows solar calendar). They were once ruled by Lord Ram who devised all the rules and hence he is worshipped as a God.

The Meluhans are facing lot of troubles. The Saraswati River is on the brink of extinction. They face terrorist attack headed by Chandravanshis who have allied with the evil Nagas. The legend says a hero will emerge and he will be the savior.

When Shiva reaches Meluha, the people are offered a drink that is said to cure diseases. When Shiva drinks it, something amazing happens and the people start to believe that Shiva is the hero they were waiting for. They believe Shiva will cure all their problems. Shiva is dumbstruck to know the immense belief people have on him.

He also falls in love with Sati who is Dakhsa’s daughter and he also finds out that the Meluhans live long. Sati keeps avoiding him saying she is not supposed to marry. Meanwhile they face frequent attacks from the enemies whose main purpose seems to be kidnapping the princess.

So, why do Meluhans live long? Who are Nagas? Are Chandravansis evil? Why is Lord Ram spoken so high of? Why do people have immense belief on Lord Shiva? Why do they need the waters of River Saraswati?


To all this, read the book. The book is definitely a page turner. I started and finished it off in the same day. Amish has penned a wonderful story taking all the characters of Hindu Mythology as extraordinary people whom history has turned into God.


See the official trailer for the book here.

Click here to buy 'Immortals of Meluha' from Flipkart

Buy The Immortals of Meluha from Flipkart.com

Click the image below to buy the set of 2 books - The Immortals of Meluha and The Secret of Nagas from Flipkart

Happy Reading!!!

Five Little Pigs - Agatha Christie

Hi Guys,

Wishing the readers of my blog and all book lovers a Happy World Books Day.

A few days back, I read the book ‘Five Little Pigs’ written by Agatha Christie in 1943. This is the fourth book of Agatha Christie I’m reading and it is the second time I’m reading a book with Hercule M. Poirot as the protagonist. The other one was ‘Elephants can Remember’ and I am of the opinion that both these stories have some common strings.

A young beautiful girl named Carla Lemarchant meets M. Poirot. She says that her real name is Caroline Crale, the same as that of her mother’s and she wants to unravel a mystery. Her mother was framed for poisoning her husband Amyas Crale, who was a painter and before dying Caroline had written a letter stating that she was innocent. This happened 16 years back when the little girl was 5.

Knowing her mother, Carla says that her mother must be innocent and someone else must have done the murder. There are 5 people who were closely associated with Amyas and suddenly Poirot remembers the rhyme ‘Five Little Pigs’. There are Philip Blake, Amyas’ close friend and his brother Meredith Blake, whose hobby is researching on chemicals and incidentally the poison was stolen from his lab.

Then, there is Elsa Greer, a young girl who had seduced Amyas when he was painting her. Generally it was believed that Amyas was going to marry Elsa and this led to heated arguments between the couple and Caroline lost her temper. Then there is little Angela Warren, who was Caroline’s half sister and Caroline had thrown a paperweight on her when she was a baby permanently damaging her face and this also stood testimony that Caroline could lose temper. Then there is the old Cecilla Williams, who was Angela’s governess.

Poirot first visits the judges, the advocates and the police superintend and hear their opinions. Everyone believes that Caroline was the murderess. Then he visits the five little pigs one by one. They also strongly believe that Caroline was the murderess despite some having good opinions on her. Then he asks for their written accounts.

In the second book (part), we are treated with the written records of the five persons one by one. Thinking about, it is amazing how Agatha Christie has written them. A same incident interpreted in five different ways by different persons.

Then Poirot interprets the five accounts and reasons out the contradictions by asking one question to the five persons. Then finally he uncovers the murderer.

It is hard to predict the antagonist in a detective story and I try to find it out each time and fail. This time also I did the same. For a while I thought that I had found out the actual murderer. But then it was again a trap laid by Agatha Christie to fool the readers. The story ended in a completely unpredictable fashion.

A great book to read if you like detective stories. I finished the book in a single – started in the morning and ended it by night.

If you are interested to buy this book, you can use the link below to get it from Flipkart.

Happy Reading!!!

Things that Crossed my Way!

Hi Guys,

It is so good to be blogging again after a long time. For some time, I was not involved in any of my usual hobbies and was fully immersed in lot of activities. Soon, I realized how bad it is turning out be and started to do my usual activities again. In the past 1 week, I have seen a really good movie (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), 1 really good thriller novel (The Hunger Games), took some interesting photographs and finally I am sitting down to blog.

The Hunger Games – a Fiction Thriller

As usual I was checking for the box office collections of recently released Hollywood movies and was amazed to find that The Hunger Games had collected $153 mn in the first week end. It is a very big number, that only a selected few movies grasp. The rating was good and learnt that it is based on a young adult novel by Suzanne Collins. I searched for the novel and found it to have good ratings. I checked the price online and found that Indiaplaza was offering 40% discount. 15 minutes back I had no idea on the novel and now I had ordered the novel. The novel came in two days and it took me one day to finish it off. I was not in a very good mood when I started reading, but then I was pulled into the story.

The story happens in the future North America. The country is called Panem and it has a Capitol and twelve districts. Each year a boy and girl from each district are chosen as tributes and the tributes are sent into a camp for fighting till death. This is called the Hunger games and the lone survivor wins. The story begins at District 12, where Katniss spends her time hunting and saving her family. On the day of reaping (the day when tributes are chosen), her sister’s name springs out. Katniss volunteers in order to save her sister. This leads her to a set of actions that she has never seen or imagined before. After facing lot of surprises and troubles, does she wins form the rest of the novel.

Cockroach – Red Light Theory

Recently I had seen a big cockroach in my home. It went away soon, but then this interesting theory came to my mind. My mother says that cockroaches are afraid of red light. That’s why my mom keeps a red light (15W) in our kitchen and she says that’s why cockroaches don’t visit often. I searched sources in the internet to find if its true. There was no proof. It is generally said that cockroaches are used to dark, but they are not afraid of light. They get used to light. I think there is no open source for cockroaches to come to the kitchen and that’s why they stay out.

Meanwhile, I found an interesting fact. If cockroaches are crushed and applied to wounds, they can help to ease the sting. If anyone is interested, try out!!!

Fools Day

Fools day used to be a fun during school days. Usually it will come amidst exams and usually friends used to fool us by saying something. Sometimes you will realize it as soon as it is said, but sometimes students used to believe and spread the issue to a whole bunch, before someone makes him realize that he was fooled. Those were good memorable days. For the past few years, it has not been as good as before. The reasons maybe either we are matured enough to know that we are being fooled or that the other person is matured enough not to play.

That’s it for now. I sign off after posting a few photographs I took in the previous days.

A Grasshopper sitting on my gate

Bunch of buds ready to bloom

A close up view of a bud

Patterns formed by the cloud

Happy Reading!!!