Books – 922

What books have changed your life?

One simple question.
What books have changed your life? What books have made you think, made you give a hard look at your life, your choices, your decisions and everything that you stand for?

Thing is, starting Monday, I am hoping to not touch an electronic device. And for someone like me who literally lives on the Internet, this is going to be one of the toughest things I’ve ever done.

While I am on this digital detox, I am hoping to feed myself healthier things, including books! So, I am trying to gather a selection of books that I could read when I dont have technology around me.

Some of the books that I plan to read in this break.

Which one would you recommend? Some books that I am considering are…

Factfulness, Hand Rosling
Bad blood (not too keen but Bill Gates has recommended this and thus)
Measure What Matters
Deep Nutrition
Headstrong
Principles, Ray Dalio
Walden (old but I’ve been meaning to read this forever)
Seneca’a Letters from a Stoic
Autobiography of a Yogi
21 Ideas for 21st century, Yuval Harari

What else? I dont want to read fiction. And I dont want to read books that are centred around one idea (say, Tipping Point). I would rather read biographies, health books, narratives et al.

I know am being ambitious that I will be able to read these many books in 10 days. But I think with zero access to tech, I think I’ll just read and do nothing else! And thus, I am hopeful. And even if I cant read al the books, I will have a list of supertexts that I can eventually read!

Help!!

At IMS

Highlight of the day has to be the session that I took at IMS. They wanted someone to work with MBA aspirants and make them understand the nuances of things that happen during the GD phase of the selection process.

This was after a while I was doing something like that. And I came home with a few things. Here’s a list. In no order, as always…

A. Realisation that I suck at public speaking. I would want to believe that I am good at it. But I am not. I do have a speech impediment – I stutter, speak fast, gobble up words, have a nasal voice. Thankfully, all these can be worked on.

The things that are tougher to work on, confidence, presence, ability to structure thoughts – I have those. So, nothing to worry about. Need practise. Thats about it!

B. The “proud” and “popular” decision that I took to NOT read newspapers and consume just the online pieces, its backfiring.

Why? Because when I was reading newspapers, I was getting something in my head (howsoever crappy, biased, inaccurate it were). On the other hand, when I consume stuff online, I often get lost in the forest full of trees of knowledge. And the way I consume new information, I tend to look at just the highlights and not the details. I am doing what Feynman says is knowing the name of something. And honestly, I dont know how to fix this.

While reading online is great, I can choose what I want to read on. So, most of what I know tends to be from one of my favorite buckets – startups, decision making, evolution, human behaviour, business, investing, cultures etc. Now as a social animal, I need lot more than these disciplines. And thus, more.

Also, lately I have been thinking about reading. When I say reading, there is books, there’s blogs, there is newspapers and there is reading for business – industry reports, opinions etc.

Lemme talk of books first. There are three distinct ways in which I hope to read to learn from books.

First, I am becoming convinced that reading entire books (for learning) may not be the most efficient method. Like Naval said in a recent podcast, most books have one or two points to make and then they use 300 pages to drive home that one point. I can do better by reading book summaries and other such things. Bastardised form of learning but I am ok with it. So, books like Blink, Influence etc. would fall under this category. In fact thanks to platforms like TED, Youtube and podcasts, you can watch a 18-min video and you would have consumed the entire book. Or you download a 30-min podcast on your phone and as you reach your office, you would know about a new thing!
Second, when you read about lives of great people – thats something I ought to continue doing. When you read a biography, you are not just learning from the lives they lives, you are also living their lives with them, seeing what decisions they made and how they made those decisions. The best part? You have the advantage of the hindsight!
Third, there are few exceptional non-fictional books that pack more points than one. Case in point? The one that I am reading right now – Sapiens. The other such book that I immensely enjoyed is Tools of Titans. Its essentially a “listicle” 2.0 book (list of lists), it had lists of things, daily habits and other such things from some of the most successful people. Such books ought to be read cover to cover.

Keyword, read to learn. This does not include fiction. Books that I read for recreation. Like John Grisham. Or Lee Child. I am planning to pick Simenon. Let’s see how that goes.

Blogs – well, I follow some 400 odd blogs – I dont read them all. I skim (and skim fast) and I am happy with the approach. Unless while skimming, something catches my fancy. I then sort of deep dive into it. I read arguments in favour and against. I try to read more opinions. I try to think (not too deeply though) and once I am convinced, I try and take a stand. This piece about reading is one such example. Everyone says that you ought to read. I know. I agree. But then there’s so much to read and the speed at which I read, how do I ensure that I read a wide range of things? The way I have just explained!

Newspapers – I ought to start reading. The thing that I am not happy about with newspapers? What they consider news, I consider them non-events. Things like Virat Kohli buying a 100-crore apartment is not news. But since that is what sells, that is what they write. I dont blame them for this. Look at me. I am so used to the idea of free things, I would not pay any money for high-quality journalism / writing! So, for newspapers, I ought to pick and choose what I read.

Business – thankfully, my day job is not analysing businesses (which people like WEB do). As a result, I dont have to read things like annual reports where they apparently “hide” things in plain sight and you have to be very diligent to be able to sift wheat from chaff. I reckon that it would be a very time consuming process and since I do not hope to be a master of one particular discipline, I can get away with it.

I’d rather know about a lot of different things, make connections and let serendipity and happy accidents guide me home.

C. Retention. While I was taking the session today I realised that I dont retain much from what I read. I had the same realisation the last night when I was at a friends place and we were talking about impact of technology on traditional walled-gardens like banking. I have read about the subject in detail but I could not recall specifics. And its not a cool thing.

In fact I’ve spotted this trend lately. Little signs that I am growing old. It’s exactly like they said it would be. Creeping over slowly, imperceptibly as I am busy with my day to day life.

So, I need to work harder onto undo-ing these things. One way is to write. Because, I have noticed that I tend to retain things that I write. Ok, digressing. And not to forget, other things that old age inflict upon us.

D. Handwriting. My handwriting sucks so bad its not funny. While taking the session at IMS, I made notes and when I had to give feedback, I could not read what I had written! Poor students.

But then, its something that I am sure I dont want to work on. Let the handwriting go down the drain for all I care. While I love the feel of pen on paper and on whiteboards, I continue to be a fan of typing (on an Apple keyboard ofcourse), unless they come up with a new way to capture thoughts.

E. In the end, I loved spending time with students. I was in the zone.

I would love to do it lot more – with other MBA aspirants. And students in general. I am not sure if I have a lot to contribute but I do have a lot to learn. About myself. About the world. And the ideas that these young ones have.

Need to figure out a way to do so. May be pick 5 students, work with them through the year and prepare them for this? Seth Godin did something similar. He calls it the altMBA. Lemme think more. Will be back on this.

So yeah! This is it for the day. Thanks Ojas for asking me if I am free to take these sessions up!

Book Review. God is a Gamer.

I recently read God is a Gamer. The latest by Ravi Subhramanian. Got the book as part of the book review program by Blogadda.com.

Please note that this is NOT a paid a review. I do NOT make any money from this.

Before I launch in a full-blown review, let me get some numbers out of the way. I mean the ratings.

Readability: 3.5 on 5
Suspense: 3 on 5
Storyline / Plot: 3 on 5
Overall: 3.5 on 5

One line verdict
God is a Gamer is an attempt at writing a chase through myriad locations, characters and situations, all of it culminating in one destination. A pot-boiler for sure.

Full review
I read the book a few days back but never found the time to write a review. Here I am, on a Sunday morning. Trying to wrap my head about what I read a few days back. Whatever I write will come from my head and I would not have the advantage of flipping through the pages to write the review.

So, the plot is slightly difficult to talk about in few words. I’d still try. A few seemingly unrelated crimes happen in New York, Washington and Mumbai. In US, a high-ranking government servant / official is murdered and the great police departments, the FBI, the CIA and all other three-letter agencies can’t seem to figure out the intent or MO. In Mumbai, a banker is killed and the police is forced to cast a net so wide that the Finance Minister himself becomes a suspect. Meanwhile in Mumbai, a BPO handling transactions for the large financial institutions in US gets hacked and it results in

At time the books reads like a corporate espionage, a political thriller, a murder mystery, a chase and of course, a love story! Love the way Ravi got all these themes together in one place! I wish I could do the same with my books!

Of course I could get into more details but then I would have to unravel the suspense. Nah, I won’t do that. The book has to be read. It’s definitely a one time read. And a racy one at that.

Coming to the good bits…

Short chapters. Each chapter is about 2 slides of the page. Brilliant strategy. The book becomes a page turner. I think that’s a new trend. Last book I reviewed, Private India was similar.
A brilliant way to teach the basics of financial industry, especially a peer to peer currency like Bitcoin. Reminds me of Goldratt’s Goal. I think Ravi needs to look at that genre closely. Can he make the boring things like finance into interesting plots and stories like God is a Gamer?

There were a few things that I did not like. I call them not-so-good bits…

Too many characters for my liking. Unless the book is a Godfather that requires me to think of motives and actions of men (that are guided by long standing traditions rather than moments of insanity), I dont want to burden myself with too many characters or too many side plots. May be its Ravi’s style.
The Bitcoin misnomer. The book has hardly anything to do with Bitcoin. Agreed that crimes happen because the Bitcoins are at the heart of the issue but again, I won’t call it The Bitcoin Thriller.
Hollywood-ization. There are elements in the book that probably are best suited for a spy thriller (spoiler alert: hidden rings etc) based in the US of A. As an Indian reader, I just can not relate to these things. May be other evolved readers can. But I cant. So it could be my limitation, as compared to the book. You decide.

That’s it I guess in form of a review.

In the end

Definitely a one-time read if nothing else. Do read it. At times the book is unputdownable. I could finish the book in two sittings. That’s it.

Thanks!
SG

Notes

1. This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

2. Since I am an author as well now, I take these reviews even more seriously.

3. If you want to review my first book, The Nidhi Kapoor Story, please write into me (or leave a comment) and I would be in touch.

10 books that have stayed with me over the years

First posted on #tnks blog.

There is this thing going around FB where people are listing their top 10 books. I refuse to not be a part of any fad. And thus, here is my list (in no particular order).

1. The Godfather. By Mario Puzo. As someone said, it is the dictionary of crime. It was the first time when I thought reading books could be fun. I loved reading it. I love love it. The characters have stayed with me for years. I can still recall the plots. I know the dialogues by heart and so on and so forth. If there is one book that you out to read before you die, its this one. Or may be its English, August.

2. English, August. By Upamanyu Chatterjee. Its like my biography. Just that Ogu is little less lost, far more focused and younger than I. I can totally relate to everything that Ogu did while he was posted in Madna. I’ve went through every emotion that August lived through while he wrote the book. If there is one book that I wish I had written, it would be this. Here is a post I wrote about English, August.

3. The Count of Monte Cristo. By Alexandre Dumas. Its a work of pure genius. Its revenge. Served cold. This is what inspired me to work on The Nidhi Kapoor Story. If there was no Monte Cristo, there wouldn’t be any Nidhi Kapoor. I wrote about the strange dreams that I started having when I read the The Count.

4. Rich Dad. Poor Dad. By Robert Kiyosaki. Yes. Self-help. And yes, I am aware of all the controversy and debate around it. But, eat my shorts, as Bart would say. I read this recently and since then it has changed the way I look at things. I wish I had read this one sooner. May be just before I entered the business school.

5. Eat, Pray, Love. By Elizabeth Gilbert. Because I am as depressed as Groceries is. And her travel helped me get over some bit of my depression. I am serious. Just that I dont know if its a true story or a fictional one. I did goto Bali this year and vaguely tried to search for Ketut but could not find him.

6. On Writing. Stephan King. Of course. I don’t have to say anything anymore. It has inspired www.onWriting.in.

7. To Kill a Mockingbird. By Harper Lee. I instantly fell in love with Scout. I wish I had a girlfriend like her! Too bad Harper Lee wrote just one book. As an aspiring writer and a voracious reader, I see a good bit and a bad bit. Good, that she has made enough money from one that she does not have to rely on the mercy of readers / reviewers for sales of the next ones. Bad, that as a reader, I couldnt read more from her.

8. Jack Reacher (series) by Lee Child. This is what unadulterated, indulgence is. You are so enthralled by the man, Jack Reacher, that you dont want his fables to ever come to an end. I have read 13 / 14 books and when I realized that I had read almost all his books, I did not want it to come to an end. And I cant wait for the next one to come. Whenever it does. Someday, I aspire to write about a man like him. Or may be a woman.

9. Shantaram. By Gregory Davids Roberts. I did not like the way it ended but the way he has romanced Mumbai with his “brother” on bikes, uff! They must’ve been one hell of a time. If there is someone who has been able to do justice to Mumbai and its charm, its Shantaram. Read this one purely for his narration on Mumbai. And infectious smile of one Prabhakar.

10. The Mahabharata. By I dont know who. Surprise surprise. Not a modern fiction but a story none the less. I must have read this one a thousand times. Excluding the Geeta bits. The book is about righteousness, fairness, fair play, good, bad, evil, life, revenge, greed, love, jealousy and all such passions that a human being is capable of experiencing. Love the complex plots and epic connections and relationships. While writing, the notes would have ran into millions of pages. I know I’d never be able to, but I would give an arm and a leg to peek into the notes. Any ideas how?

And here is a bonus.

11. Warren Buffet letters. Again, technically not a book but it’s a collection of annual letters he writes to shareholders of Berkshire. Love his sense of humor, his candour and the simplicity with which he writes. He doles about advice on life and investing in the garb of these letters. Its one of those things I wish I had read sooner.

Thanks Internet for this meme. Thanks Radhika for the prompt. What is your list of 10 books that have stayed with you over the years?

P.S.: Too lazy to include links to these books. Easy enough to find I guess, if you want to read them.

Book Review: Private India

I recently read Private India. The latest by Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson. Got the book as part of the book review program by Blogadda.com.

Private India. James Patterson and Ashwin Sanghi.

Before I launch in a full-blown review, let me get some numbers out of the way. I mean the ratings.

Readability: 3.5 on 5
Suspense: 2 on 5 (I could guess the killer moment the character was first introduced)
Storyline / Plot: 4 on 5
Overall: 3.5 on 5

One line verdict: A good one-time read. However the story, the characters, the plots won’t really stay with you after you’ve read the book.

Full Review
Before the review, lets try to make a recipe for a bestseller in the crime / thriller category.

Step 1. Take one potion underdog hero who is battling with his personal demons and alcohol (or drug) addiction.
Step 2. Throw in a bunch of loyalists who would stand by the hero through the thick or thin.
Step 3. Add atleast two people who think that the hero is a bag full of shit and is better cornered into a remand home or something.
Step 4. Finally, create a villain who has a personal vendetta against someone really really famous. Step 5. And then let the villain plan, plot, execute, run from the hero, to eventually get caught by the hero, only to turn tables in the climax, before tables turn one more time to give the hero the upper edge.
Step 6. Of course, once the dish is ready, as per the taste, sprinkle some steamy scenes, sidekicks (for the hero, the heroine and the villain) and personal histories of all characters.

Private India follows this recipe down to a T. Except the steamy love scenes. Wonder why did they leave it out.

Anyhow, coming to the story, the lovely city of Mumbai is rocked by a series of murders. Each victim is a famous personality with a vague connection to the Bollywood. On each crime site, a series of clues is left alongside each victim and its upto our righteous, know-it-all Private Detective to solve the mystery of the clues. And prevent the serial killer from going on a spree. And ofcourse catch the killer.

There are a couple of side plots as well. Purely to distract us, the readers, from the main story. And to give the book a larger theme per se. But I’d say, the side plot is so weak that they could’ve totally left it out.

So, while the unknown assailant is merrily killing people, the hero is trying to catch up with the killer and the side-plot is trying to confuse us, lessons in history happen and we suddenly reach the end of the story! That ways, the story flows smooth. Very smooth. I wish I could write like that.

Coming to the good bits.

Each chapter is less than 1000 words. Some are even less than 500. So it makes for a very very easy read.
The story has been penned really nicely. Its very readable. Clearly the book has been written for people who probably are new readers.
One of those fast, pacy reads where story doesn’t drag at all. The kinds that you can read in one sitting if you are on a beach or on a holiday.

And the not-so-good bits
Despite both of them being very very popular authors, this is the first James Patterson or Ashwin Sanghi that I am reading. And honestly, I expected better. From whatever I have heard, Ashwin Sanghi’s strength is digging up history (or mythology etc) and coming up with interesting takes and twists on those. At least my friends have made me believe so. Private India is nothing like that.

And James Patterson is like the grand-daddy of writing (and thrillers) and each his book is expected to be a page-turner and unputdownable. As a struggling author, its one of my dreams to be able to write as well as him. This one, however, is not really up there.

May be its a case of over-promise and under-delivery?

In the end
Like I said, its a good one-time read. Perfect for a holiday or a vacation. Reading Private India is like watching one of those mindless action flicks where you sit through the film and you enjoy the violence, without applying your brain. And when the movie over, even though you don’t recall what or why, but you know that you had a good time watching it.

Notes
P.S.: This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

P.P.S.: This is the first time I am doing a post as a part of some review program. I would tag all subsequent review posts as #aff. And no, I don’t make any money from these reviews / posts.

P.P.P.S.: My book is coming out in Oct. If you like reading and you would want to review my book, please leave your details in this form.

On The Road

Thanks to Prateek, he got me this book, I have stumbled onto apparently one of the most important non-fiction books of our time. On the Road by Jack Kerouac. I started reading it today and I am stuck on page 7. I cant seem to go beyond it. There is this piece of text on that page that I cant get over with. It reads…

Image Credits: MWW

In plain text it reads,

I shambled after as usual as I’ve been doing all my life after people that interest me, because the only people that interest me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”

This piece of text, sounds fancy but is brilliant. The easiest thing to say would be that I am the maddest person I know of (I want everything, I dont say commonplace things etc) but I am not. I have lately realized that I am not mad or out of ordinary. I think as I am growing older I have sort of reached a compromise with myself. I will not shine like Steve did or all the other mad people I know of are on the verge of. No time for sob story, this is an exciting book and I am glad to have got a copy. Thanks once again pattice.

I then thought, if I am not mad, do I know some mad people? Are there people who inspire me and I “shamble” after? Are these the kinds that make you go “Awww”? Surprisingly the answer was not one but many. In fact most people I tend to make friends with are the kinds to have the mad trait. A small list would have Killa, my boss, Ashu, piyush, meghna, Solo from my workplace (wow! so many mad people there) and otherwise, Suds, RR, Huz, #sgMS, the other SG, Radhika, Nikita, Vijesh, Ankit, Agony Aunt in it. Ofcourse I have tons of non-mad people who are special to me, the guy who tolerates me more than anyone else, the guy I share my place with, the woman I have a recent crush on, they’re all comparatively sober. What I need to do however, is transform all these people into mad ;P

Anyways, coming back, I am really looking forward to reading the book. I can easily relate the state the country is in right now to the things Jack talks about. May be I shall write the Indian version of On The Road someday. I dunno. But for the time being, I am going over the Page 7 over and over again.

Launch of The Karachi Deception

The Karachi Deception

Yesterday, was the official launch of a good friend, Shatrujeet Nath’s maiden work of fiction, The Karachi Deception. This book is a fictional story about the most wanted man in India and events around him.

Thats it. Thats the plot, the story and the narrative. The book take you behind the scenes into what it takes to plan a covert mission that needs to be executed on a foreign soil. Its one of those stories that is really detailed. While reading it, the text is so real that you think you are watching a movie.

This is his first book and though I havent read the final version but I have read the first drafts. And I could not put it down. I am told that the final draft is far better than the first one. Looking forward to reading it.

If you want to buy it, its on infibeam (for Rs. 162, as on 14 Feb 2013). And no, this is not the book review.

The Count of Monte Cristo

For the last week of so, I have been having strange dreams. One day I woke up trying to console Mercedes that Edward will come back, sooner than later and all would be well. The other day, I thought I was in the grotto at the island of Monte Cristo. And yesterday, I thought I saw the confrontation between Mercedes and Edward where Mercedes pleads to Edward to spare Albert’s life.

I mean I have read The Count of Monte Cristo atleast twice before this reading but I dont recall seeing the characters and incidents in my dreams. May be this time, while I am reading it, I am mature enough to comprehend the meaning and I actually understand what is it to be in love. I also understand the true meaning of longing. Ofcourse I dont really have any enemies that would have hastened the process of my separation with my love but I feel what the Count must have felt (had he been a real guy). The way Count plans his revenge on his enemies and the way its executed, I get goosebumps at the mastery. There are times when I actually want to believe in the existence of God and providence!

Coming back, its been more than a week that I have been reading it (I am reading the unabridged version) and its on my mind all the damn time. I have wished, countless times during the reading that there was a time machine and I could actually go back and speak with the Count and learn from him. Alexandar Dumas must have been God himself to have created such an epic body of work. Every character, every part of the story, every incident is just perfect. There is nothing that I would want to take away from the narrative and there is nothing I could add to make it better. Its no secret that I want to be a writer (the blog is an endeavor in that direction) and the day I think I can create something as complex and as interesting as the Count of Monte Cristo, I would have justified my existence.

And just in case you are not yet mesmerized by the Count, check out this character relationship map!

The Lost Story

Suds, my classmate from MDI, has done it again. He did something that I have always wanted to do. Write AND publish a book.

He wrote a book and its gonna be out in a few weeks! Called The Lost Story, he has co-authored it with yet another MDI dude, Amit Goyal. I dont really know Amit that well but if Suds has put his name on the book, it has to be awesome.

I have read a couple of chapters and its gripping to say the least. I have done everything in my powers to get Suds to send me the rest of the chapters but so far he hasn’t shown any inclination. Its like grass. You have some and then you are going to keep having it over and over and over again. You wont stop. You wouldn’t want it to end!

It is different. Not just for the sake of saying it, it actually is. To start with, its not a love story. And its not a boy chasing kites. And its not about those mushy love letters that a lot of people (including me) write. And its not about two college kids with dreams and ideas about changing the world! For the want of better language skills, this is what the back cover says…

Sandy, an aspiring young writer gets an incredible opportunity to work
with his idol – the celebrated and reclusive author Saleem Afzal – who
hasn’t written a new book in 23 years.

In a novel idea, each
writer writes one half of the story, leaving it for the other to finish.
Together, they imagine an epic battle between balance and chaos, a tale
of a haunted house, a simple journey home that turns into a man’s
greatest nightmare, and even the end of the world.

As the
stories take shape, Sandy gets curious about Saleem’s past and the
several unanswered questions that he encounters… Why did Saleem stop
writing? Why can he no longer finish stories? What is behind the locked
door in his house? And… what is The Lost Story?

Written like the
premise, the stories in this book have each been done in two halves.
One part by one author, and the second by the other, never discussing
the story in between.

Of course, you have to read it. Here are the links for easy access. Pre oder on Flipkart and the Facebook fan page.

Please show some love by preodering it on Flipkart. And no I am not being paid for this. I may get an autographed copy for posting this but knowing how popular Mr. Gupta is, I am not sure if I can get dates from him!

Wait, here is a deal. If you actually read this and preorder it, I can ask Suds and Amit to give you guys a signed copy and a poster of the book cover. Just let me know. Not kidding. Suds can you please endorse this claim?

3M: Of Shoes, Books and Travel

Starting this week, I shall try and post something or the other every Monday. I shall call it Monday Morning Musings. Or 3M in short. Why would I do this? I dont know. I just want to. When would I stop doing this? I dont know.

Anyways, so this week I shall talk about places and things where I spend most of my money on.

To start with, I ~~spend~~ ~~waste~~ invest heavily in shoes. The paradox is that I hate to wear shoes but then I love to buy shoes. I have about 12 pairs right now and I think in terms of brands, I have more Puma than Nike than Converse that Reebok than Adidas. And yes most of these are sports shoes. I do have a pair for those odd occasions when I am made to wear formal trousers. So attached here is the latest addition to my collection! And believe it or not, I bought these from Patiala.

Then, once am done with all shoes, I buy books. I buy books about anything and everything. And more often than not, I use flipkart.com‘s wonderful COD. If I ever wanted a job, I would want to work for flipkart. Their execution of things is impeccable. If Amazon.com ever thinks about entering India, they should start by acquiring flpkart.com. Jeff, are you listening?

And then after all the shoes (that I buy and do not wear) and books (that I buy and do not read), if I am left with money, I buy air tickets. Between Delhi and Mumbai. I have that frequently that the counter girl at GoAir now knows me my face and moment I show up, she volunteers to give me my favorite seat on an aircraft – second last row, aisle seat.

Wondering what are three things that you buy most with your money? Anyone?

Anyways, until the next 3M, adieu!

Where have you been?

Been some time since I last updated this blog. Last time I wrote, I wrote a rather longish post. So what all have I been upto? Not much actually but still, a blog is a blog and I have to write.

So I have been shuttling between Delhi and Haryana. I do like 100 kms daily and more than anything else, its taking a toll on my car. My dad’s car actually. And this also means that I dont have time for sgElectra (web, twitter).

A friend, after lot of cajoling (read 4000 phone calls) finally ordered a copy of Way To Go for me. For the uninitiated, way to go is the latest book by Upamanyu Chaterjee (of the English, August fame). The sad part is that since I am reading The Nudist on the Late Shift (by Po Branson) and Complete Letters of Bhagat Singh, I cant start with way to go. But then I am totally enjoying the two books that I am reading and

I still hate Samsung Corby. Its the most idiotic phone ever. Please do NOT buy it, if you ask for my opinion. I have decided that I am not going to buy any phone but Nokia. For a smart phone, I might choose some other brand but a basic phone has to be a Nokia. Come what may.

Apart from this, a very good friend got hitched. To a namesake. Personal life started moving again but as I write this, I think its going to come a halt.

Anyways, to end this, I got this email from CitiBank that I never subscribed for. I sent them a email requesting removal from their mailing lists and they sent me this as a reply …

The copy reads

…

This is with reference to your e-mail dated March 11, 2010.

We understand from your mail that you wish to unsubscribe SPAM.

We inform you that the SPAM mail is sent to all Citibank employees by the Ready Cash Department.

…

Welcome to customer care 😀

Books, Walk, Photographs, India Gate

Been tied up for last few days. So much so that I dint have time for myself. Please don’t ask what I was doing. So when Radhika invited me to her birthday picnic (yes, a picnic, with a picnic basket, sandwiches, a bed spread to sit on et al), I accepted immediately. Her idea was to meet at India Gate, spend some time there and head to some place for lunch. Sounded interesting. And since it was a Sunday, I decided I shall goto Darya Ganj before the picnic, buy few books, click some pictures and then meet the gang for the picnic.

And since I dint have an camera, borrowed Kunal’s Nikon D40.

I took the Metro and a bus to reach Red Fort. I wanted to go inside and revisit the museum. I dont even remember when was the last time I went inside. May be some other Sunday. I walked from Red Fort till Ramlila Ground. Google maps tell me that it was about 3 KMs but it seemed longer. Took me well over couple of hours to do the entire routine – walk, stop, bargain, buy, click, walk, stop, walk.

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I passed through the Sunday market opposite Red Fort. Apart from regular paraphernalia, shoes – Nike, Converse even Vans were being sold for 300 bucks apiece. I mean imagine a Vans pair in India for 300. I wanted to click pictures, talk to the hawkers about it but the crowd was maddening. I was not moving, I was being literally pushed in the direction of the crowd. With prices so cheap and so genuine fakes, who would not want to buy those shoes?

Reached Asaf Ali Road somehow and then starting clicking. More than clicking pictures, I was interested in books. Thing with Darya Ganj is that you dont know what is on sale. And you dont know if you are going to get what you are looking for. You have to be in the exploratory mode. You need to sift through mountains and rows of books. You need to be patient and you should be willing to come back disappointed. This time I was lucky. I ended up buying some 9 books for all of 350 bucks. Most of them are cheap fictions. The kinds that you read in one sitting and get over with. The ones that help you keep boredom away. And the funny bit is that I bought most of the books for their interesting covers and titles.

Am thinking if someone could create a small barcode scan device, make an inventory of all the books on the Darya Ganj market, put them on a website, make it searchable, you would be solving such a huge problem. Of course this needs to be fleshed out. But this is an opportunity begging for attention.

There is something about printed word. I have no clue how Kindles and iPads are going to replace books. Need some technology that integrates the feel of a book and benefits of Kindle/iPad.

Anyways once I was done with the books, nagging, talking, buying I moved to India Gate. I took an auto. Met with friends. Had good food. Did the picnic bit (finding a clean enough spot, discovering whats inside the picnic basket, had that mandatory sandwich, played some football and freezebee etc.), clicked tons of pictures (here) and drove home. Damn I love driving. Wish I could become a driver ;P

Need to talk about India Gate before I wrap this. India Gate was erected in honour of the soldiers who died in the First World War. Its very very grand. Everytime I go there, I am proud. At times, its depressing. That on one hand there are people who have done so much for the country. And on the other, there is me.

Anyways, the strange thing is that the lawns were filthy. Wonder why/how. The cops, security men around it dint allow anyone to touch the monument and yet they were fine with all those hawkers and sellers and people to leave all the trash in the lawns. Even the grass was cut uneven and the waters were stinking. Guys this is India Gate. Delhi’s most famous landmark. Someone needs to talk to the agency that manages India Gate. Too preachy?

All in all one of the rare days when I dint think much. Indulged in random acts and thoroughly enjoyed. Wish there were more such days. Gave me another idea. Weekend Wanderings. Next post!