This book is a collection of short stories that deal with the trials and tribulations faced by people of this century. It deals with the lifestyle and ideals that the modern Indians choose to live by. The focus is mostly on the relationships that are thriving or breaking up around us as a result of these choices. Nine short stories dealing with different relationships with few characters interconnecting each other.

First things first and for me characters always take the center stage as it is their life and their story that is played out through the stories. Each story had a strong character that dominated the story. They need not be the physical strength or the most vocal person in the story – yet they left their mark. For instance, Sneha & Shweta seemed to be dominated by their partners in the story – yet at the end it was them who made their presence felt through their ‘absence’. There were a few characters who managed to appear in each other’s stories. However, overall I felt that it was women in the stories who through their strength, gave the stories their shape and for that I must congratulate the author. It couldn’t have been easy for Mr.Rituraj Verma to have written a woman’s perspective on a relationship in the most natural way. He has certainly hit a bull’s eye in most cases where, I as a woman felt that I would have probably thought and reacted in the same way as the characters.

Now, let me get the ‘not so good part’ out of the way. I received an ARC copy which had a few mistakes in form of missing words. It is nothing major. If you are one of those readers who read a sentence as a whole at a glance instead of reading it word by word, then you will probably miss them. The other thing that annoyed me more was the typical Indian fixation of IIT/IIM education and Sex. Apparently, the only way to give ‘weightage’ to a character in an Indian story is to give them an IIT/IIM certificate. And, what can I say about the fixation on sex. I have actually reduced reading modern & young Indian literature exactly because of this reason. Every other book talks about female body statistics, their bra sizes, illicit relationship, extra marital affairs… Really, is that all we care about? If this is today’s reality then I think I’d rather remain a spinster locked up in my room with a bunch of dogs (could say the old cat crazy lady – only I am not that old or that cat crazy!) than go out and interact with any such maniac!

Well, my rant is over. So, if you ignore the sex and the sexual innuendos, the stories also offer different angles on the many pursuits of human species – Love (yes, the emotion), Happiness and Peace. At the end of the day, we all look for these three in our lives. How we perceive it and approach is as different as the individuality in each and every one of us. They stories also cover the many aspects of our society – such as the caste system, the religious barriers, corruption, social pressure and general indifference of people. They still exist in this twenty-first century and the author has handled the topics as a matter of fact, which resulted in shifting some focus on such issues. Yes, once you look into stories, they have such depth in it that if you catch on to it, you will surely spare sometime to wonder.

Now, what struck me the most is the idea of alternate endings. As is the case with short stories, readers are often left wondering – what happens next or what would have happened if… But in this case, if you do not like the ending of a story, you can visit the author’s website for alternate endings. And if you are still not satisfied – well, write your ending and submit it on the said website. This serves the book with two purpose. First, I think the idea of alternate endings are perfect for readers like me who like to ‘wonder’ about a story way after it is over. Secondly, I also think that this is a brilliant marketing plan as well.

By,

DDS @ b00k r3vi3ws

Wise and Otherwise was a book which i picked up looking at its title and then when i came to know it’s by Sudha Murthy, my interest in it deepened. Though i have not met her in personal life, when i read about her work and i developed a sort of respect towards her.

Wise and Otherwise is a collection of 50 really short stories in which Sudha Mam has brought about the various traits,colors of different individuals, has put on the table harsh and shocking realities of life. Her language is very simple and the stories are about two-three pages at the max. Her stories are mostly her experiences with people she met during her social work, or professionally or may just her friends.

They are about how people just tried to take undue advantage of her dedication towards social work and expected her to donate money to come out of their silly problems, so much that in one of the incidents a lady threatens to end her life if Sudha does not help. Also there are a couple of heart touching tales where a father is left behind by his own son in an old age home, and the son then disguises himself to have found the old man on the road, and he also shamelessly turns up to get some money when his father dies. Such stories bring tears to your eyes.

The best part of these stories are they all have something to teach us. So it’s up to the reader if he really wants to takeaway a few of them.

About the Author: Sudha Murty is an Indian social worker and author. Mrs. Murthy began her professional career as a computer scientist and engineer, currently she is the chairperson of the Infosys Foundation and member of public healthcare initiative of the Gates Foundation.[1][2] In addition, she has established several orphanages, participated in rural development efforts, and supported the movement to provide all government schools in Karnataka with state-of-the-art computer and library facilities.[3][4] Mrs. Murthy also teaches computer science and composes fiction

Kudos Sudha Mam.

Image Courtesy:Google.

About the Author:Wikipedia

Best and Safest Deal for the book:

http://www.flipkart.com/wise-otherwise-0143062220/p/itmczyrpsxngdgzw?pid=9780143062226&_l=gWxQa0snNjHUHKJhnj_y0w–&_r=yxl9k274u4dahutCuIrIdg–&ref=a465517c-9d02-4f97-a434-2ad7a56bc249

The Asocial Networking by Dhiraj Kumar is nothing but a BIG over-reaction on the impact of social networking (specifically Facebook) on our lives. It does make some pertinent points about the facade people put by showing an alternate ‘online’ life to others but goes overboard in the analysis and infuses a spirit of outlandishness that in the end harms the book far more you can think off.

It is interesting and ironical to see ourselves socializing with the help of gadgets when we could actually step forward and socialize with the person standing next to us. For the benefit of those who exhibit their social lives online, this book offers little tricks of the trade to master the art of networking and garner tangible gains in the real world. On the other hand, the author discusses our vulnerabilities and weaknesses, which are often reflected in the way we socialize on the web.

However, the extreme or negative side of the social networking is written with heavy-hand and does not presents a balanced approach to counter the positives. For instance, the author constantly harps about the fact that putting a status message of ‘DND’ on Gtalk reeks of hypocrisy and double standards. Because if you are so busy, why would you be online? But at the same time, author does not take into account that being online have also to do with professional work or an emergency issue.

I was particularly offended at various points in the book where the author judges people around him with disdain and contempt. At one point in the narrative, he even classify bisexuals as extreme perverts and voyeurs who venture out in night on social networking and prey on people. Such kind of factually incorrect, close-thinking and morally reprehensible thoughts should have been censored in the first place if there was a good editor working on this book.

Even the extremely implausible clause of Facebook getting extinct or less exciting in few years in nothing but a statement made without any solid evidence. Anyone who follows these social networking websites knows that these companies earn revenues through advertising and marketing of various companies, brands and products. To view them mere as dating or sex-mating sites is doing a grave injustice to their whole existence and as a tool of usefulness in our daily lives.

Having said that, the author does make some key observations about Facebook in our existence – people wasting time playing Zynga games, low productivity and less concentration at workplaces, too many diversions in the name of updating status and answering wall posts and my personal favourite – sexual discrimination against men on these websites. These are well thought off points which shows depth with which things are researched. I particularly liked the concept about FIPRA – Facebook International People Rating Agency, something which you may think in the future coming into action to compare people. The clause of displaying your Facebook profile at the time of an interview for a psychoanalysis assessment is a possibility which may not be far off.

In the end, the book is articulated with some well-researched points and keenly observed thoughts. I just wished it was more balanced to enjoy it even further. If you can deal or be comfortable reading ONLY negative impact of Facebook, this book may be a treat for you.

I blog at Love is always new..

A job cannot be mistaken for one’s life purpose. A purpose is something you would do even if you didn’t get paid for it. A job is a necessity. A purpose is your own drive for contribution. A job is something you do, even if you do not want to do it. A Purpose is something which you do because you want to do it.

Above lines from Priya Kumar’s ‘The Perfect World’ encapsulates briefly how one should view job and purpose of your life, in turn distinguishing between personal and professional life but still making most of both of them. This is the story of Niki Sanders, who while still struggling to find meaning and purpose in life, is approached with an offer to be part of a planet called ‘The Perfect world’.

She is living an ordinary life laden with fear-loaded dreams, demanding relationships, a dissatisfying job, a bitter attitude and ever eluding aspirations. In a desperate attempt to seek clarity, courage and confidence, she unwittingly leads herself into meeting with two evolved souls from across the universe. These superior souls belong to “The Perfect World” and with them Niki embarks on the most thrilling adventure of her life; an adventure into infinite possibilities and self discovery.

This part self-help book, part magic realism fiction takes you on a journey into the universe but also on a parallel journey within. Sprinkled with wisdom, the story urges you towards choices of power, passion and purpose in your daily actions leading towards spiritual awareness and spiritual greatness. The writing was crisp, editing tight and even though it is over 300 pages old, it rarely drags on.

I am not a great fan of self-help literature but once in a while comes a book which makes you change your outlook towards this genre. It provides nuanced writing, is interspersed with magic realism to keep the narrative interesting with anecdotes. Read it when you feel low in life and you will enjoy it even more!

I blog at Love is always new…

The Suicide Banker is the story of a young banker whose employers believe in the motto of turning conventional wisdom upside down. Against the backdrop of financial boom and subsequent meltdown during the first decade of this century. Sumit becomes an unfortunate witness, active participant and ill-fated victim in the affairs of Ind-Credit Bank. Over the course of life-altering events, the once blue-eyed boy is slowly but surely sucked into the dark abyss of financial world his dreams collapsing one by one in a heap, taking a heavy toll on his personal and professional life. Will he be able to survive?

Same in the spirit as Ravi Subramanian’s Banking trilogy, the book moves at a brisk pace and we are introduced to a range of characters from all the hierarchical levels in the bank. The mystery seems interesting to start with and you genuinely feel sympathetic towards the rigmarole of Sumit’s life. The language is crisp and there are quirky one-liners thrown in within the finance context. Even in personal relationships, there is a sincerity in Sumit’s relationship with a junior colleague but at some point in the narrative, that plot-point is conveniently side-tracked and loses momentum. Such kind of road-blocks make this book a difficult read after the initial momentum.

Problem is, there are very little nuances here, everything is sanitized and things get extremely preachy in the narrative. The author writes with a heavy hand, underlining every single point it makes while telling this story, leaving almost nothing to subtlety. As a result, the book is too long and rambles on and on when clearly a reader has run out of patience. If you’re unfamiliar with finance jargon, much of this book is going to sound like Greek to you. It could have been gritty and realistic, but it goes for a more populist tone instead. The conflict seems too simplistic in the end, and you’re pretty much bored for much of the second half. The personal life description of the main protagonist is too detailed specially including those scenes where his wife is hosting a TV show and invoking responses from audience. Almost 10 pages could have been simply edited out because it hardly makes a difference to the main narrative.

I am going with 2.5/5 for Puneet Gupta’s ‘The Suicide Banker’. It is not a bad book by any means; it is just too long, too preachy and too many characters sounding similar in the end analysis. A little restraint and light hand would have done this book a lot of good. Read it if you are from finance background, you may feel different about it.

I blog at Love is always new…

Unusual people are ordinary people who strive hard to do extraordinary things. They are sensitive to nuances, look to provide lateral solutions, dare to think out of the box, and often end up changing the rules of the game. The book mixes both the traditional and modern outlook for bringing changes in our lives by providing a sharp, concise way of dealing with tough situations.

T.G.C. Prasad presents the views and experiences of sixty-five individuals, from well-known names like Mike Lawrie, Azim Premji and Mother Teresa to a chef, a masseuse and a service boy, with whom he has had meaningful interactions and who have inspired him. He includes people from a broad professional spectrum; CEOs, doctors, the director general of police, realtors, an attorney, a chartered accountant; a consultant and a sports coach are among those who make his list. Singling out a dominant factor from each person’s story, he outlines the journeys these people undertook and the behaviours they exhibited, and shows how these links up to the results they achieved.

The book has been divided into six themes all dealing with lessons that one must learn from the business world. The author has given a number of examples in each of themes as each chapter talks about one of the individuals he met or worked with. The stories that have been jotted down are interesting and the book provides the dos and the don’ts while in it or planning to go in it!

The author does not fall into the trap where most non-fiction authors generally delve into; telling long boring corporate stories. Instead, the length of each chapter is kept to a minimum, crisply edited and does not hammer a view on the readers to the point of boredom. Essentially entrepreneurial in nature, the narrative even enjoys showing the human side of a few individuals. I particularly enjoyed the stories from the lower strata of society, they somehow makes more impact and are deftly dealt by the author.

Unusual People Do Things Differently is full of pithy everyday management lessons and offers valuable insights to everyone who aspires to grow manage and lead. Read the book in short bursts, looking for that kick-start to be inspired in your own field. Go for it!

I blog at Love is always new…

The Incredible Banker is a story set in ‘Greater Boston Global Bank’ (GB2), an American Bank struggling to grow in India. It’s business is usual – until one day the CEO for the bank, Ronald McCain is quickly summoned out of his morning meeting to the RBI headquarters to meet the Governor. On his arrival, the Governor reprimanded Ronald McCain catching him totally off guard. How could something as catastrophic transpire in an organization considered to be the ultimate in banking? Ronald has no answers and numerous questions to answer.

On an another plot point, when the CBI lands up at Deepak Sarups doors trailing the scent of a the same scandal, Ronald decides to distance the bank leaving Deepak, a senior executive, to fight his own battles. Will Karan, Deepak’s one time adversary and now a Journo, bail him out? Will Savitha, his girlfriend, stand by him? And will his family; the CBI and more importantly the country believe what he says? With the media and CBI in hot pursuit, Ronald can’t help but wonder what his fate has in store for him an intriguing tale of love, politics, unbridled aggression and money laundering.

The story in itself is intrigue and complex, and with a brisk pace it provides a worthy weekend reading. The attention to detail about the banking operations is commendable and the author brings in interesting plot points ranging from Naxalities of Chattisgarh to the top management predicament about retail operations of the bank in Singapore. There are characters introduced in every 20-30 pages which introduces to an array of diverse personalities from the hierarchy of retail banking. I particularly liked the character of the CEO, Ronald who is probably etched with utmost sincerity and provides bouts of anxiety, success and anguish throughout the book. Some of the characters are under-developed (For instance the wife of a corporate head in the bank totally unaware of an extra-marital affair of his husband ); but still things move at such a hefty pace, you won’t probably notice these things. The language is simple and even though banking jargon are used abundantly, you won’t feel like suffocated in a boring corporate strategy meeting.

The only glitch i found in the book was the length, which could have been shorter by around 40 odd pages. There are long portions of back stabbing and corporate politics, reoccurring so many times in the book that it takes sucks away from the fun you are having while reading the main story. Ultimately, the author paints all the characters in broad strokes with grey shades, giving readers very little chance to feel sympathetic towards any of the them. No doubt, there are ample incidents of served imaginings telling us how cut-throat the competition is in banks where you are as good as the last target you have achieved. But how much of these corrupt measures you can take in one single book? It goes overboard while portraying the office politics and at times, stalls momentum of an other otherwise brisk narrative.

I am going with 3/5 for Ravi Subramanian’s ‘The Incredible Banker’. I quite disliked the author’s only non-fiction attempt, ‘I bought the Monk’s Ferrari’. In an email conversation, he was candid enough to admit that he want to stick to fiction genre for a while even when his only non-fiction book had sold 60k+ copies. I believe every author should try different, but ultimately find his forte. Ravi, with his latest attempt takes a right step in that direction. For all other readers out there, go ahead and get engrossed in the world of banking and politics therein.

I blog at Love is always new…