Author: Sidin Vadukut
Publisher: Penguin Books
Price: 199/-
Pages: 240
I had reviewed Sidin’s first book Dork some time back, if you haven’t read about it you can read it here. I have been following Sidin on his blog (which he hardly updated these days) and twitter (which is a frequently updated medium) since a long time. In his writing, Sidin has a very distinct sarcastic style humor which clearly, is his forte and he has succeeded to bring out some of the best of his humor in “God Save The Dork”.
This book is a sequel to Dork, which was the story of Robin Einstein Varghese, a dumb consultant who makes it huge on sheer luck and coincidence in a consulting firm. The sequel is based out of London where Robert is on secondment for a consulting assignment for a global bank. The story keeps taking interesting turns with every disaster Robin faces starting from exploring the British culture to presentations over wireless microphones, fraud executives and SEC investigation.
The book again takes a hard jibe on the management consulting industry and the practices it follows, the story is interesting filled with unpredictable events and disasters which keep our protagonist on his toes. The book is a light read with humor generously spread across the evenly paced story, there is no intense track which would force you to think but then the jokes and tragedies on Robin Einstein Varghese would ensure you never have a dull moment while reading the book.
Summary: A great light hearted humor book which one could enjoy laughing over those highly paid management consultant and their ways. A must read if you have been related to the management consulting industry.
Rating: 4/5
Author: Neeraj Chhibba
Publisher: Rupa
Price: 140/-
Pages: 257
I had reviewed Neeraj’s first book Zero Percentile around two years back. I liked that book and thought it was a really good attempt at the story telling. When I saw his second book I knew that I had to read it and hence I got my hands on Zero Percentile 2.0 Missed IIT Kissed Gurgaon. This is the sequel to his first book and takes off from where the first book got over. Pankaj is back from Russia and Motu, Priya, and Nitin are out of college, moving to the next phase of life.
The story is woven around entrepreneurship where all the friends come together to start a software consulting company. The story is woven across the professional conflicts and personal relationships where marriages and friendships are compromised on the altar of ambition and values. The story focuses on a multiple socially relevant issues like, ethics & values in corporate India, AIDS, treatment of special children in our society, and failing marriages due to over ambition; despite all the issues in picture the author maintains the track which is a delight for the reader.
The characterization in the book is good and since Neeraj has maintained the uniformity from the last books the characters are more realistic and create a direct connect with the reader. The pace of the story is something which works very well for the book, the continuous chain of events happening one after the other keeps the reader glued throughout the story. Corporate espionage, cyber attacks and a hostile takeover, if one likes corporate thrillers this would definitely be of interest. Compared to his earlier book this one has a lot of depth and improvisation not only in the plot but also in the method of storytelling. The skewed time frame he has used between the chapters keep the reader informed and aware despite being a bit confusing.
Though the book is an individual and there is no compulsion to read it as a sequel, but there are a few references of the story from the first book which the new readers might miss; given that the sequel is coming after two years it is a bit difficult to recollect the details.
Summary: Overall a great book set up in the emerging entrepreneurs’ corporate; a fast paced and entertaining read.
Rating: 3.5/5
The cellular phone has been a part of my life since year 2003, and life with the cell phone has never been so irritating as it is now. Firstly I don’t know how and why but my cell phone number is available with everybody in the world starting from my bank to the random people calling me to sell cars, insurance, potency enhancement creams and even children. As a matter of fact I got a call from UNICEF offering me to “Buy a child scheme” where I was supposed to pay some money which would go towards a child; my telling them “No one in my family eats children” supposedly didn’t go too well with them and I haven’t heard from them since. All this when I am already registered for DND which I think in this country means “Dial & Disturb”.
So lately my share of irritation has not only been the telemarketers but also a set of people who have been testing me to my wits end; and here I categorize these tele-irritants:
1- Lockers- Actually they are the folks who miss the “C” part of the Clock and don’t mind locking your number in their cellphone Big B style at any time of the day night. Apparently they don’t have anything significant to talk, and they might have just called to ask if you would wake up next morning. Answer to which is ‘No’ as they would ruin your sleep, so the question of waking up is irrelevant as its answer.
2- G-Pee-Yes-ers- These are the folks who would give you a call to find out where are you. There is no response which can satisfy their urge of tracking your location. Even if you tell them that you would reach a certain place in next fifteen minutes, they would call you back after five to ask “Till where have you reached?”
3- Abhor-Ringers- They are the ones who do not understand the meaning when your phone goes on call waiting or is disconnected, they would keep on dialing back again and again until you reach your wits end and pick their call. Once you pick up they won’t even let you complete “I’m busy” but would say whatever they have to say like someone dumping the crap out after three weeks of constipation.
4- Boomers- These are the ones who have their phones setup at the loudest level of ringtones to match the big boom boxes, irrespective of the fact that they are in office, meeting, hospital, or library. Also they would be the ones who would have funny, loud and irritating ringtones, so if you have a ringtone like this probably you belong to this category.
On second thoughts if you have this as your ringtone then perhaps you don’t deserve to keep a cell phone.
5- Chew-Talkers- These are the ones who would be eating something and would suddenly have an uncontrollable urge to talk to you. They would simply call you in the middle of the meals and will talk while making chewing sounds on the phone, indifferent of how irritated you are with that sound or you can actually decipher what they are trying to say.
6- Mid-leavers- These are the people who are having a serious discussion or a casual talk with you, and suddenly they would abscond when they get a call. Without even indicating or telling you if it would take time, or if you should wait. They leave all that on you to figure out.
So these are a few species of cell phone users which irritate me to my wits ends; I am sure there would be some more which I might have missed. So how do people with cell phone irritate you?
It is strange that how some people can impact your lives, minds and philosophy without even meeting you. It has been a sad month for me, two legends, Jagjit Singh and Steve Jobs, who had a great impact on me during my growing years, passed away this month.
I have always looked up to Steve Jobs for inspiration based on whatever I read about him. To be honest I became a fan of Steve Jobs only after listening reading the transcript of his famous commencement address in Stanford, and who wouldn’t after hearing the awe inspiring stories of connecting the dots and staying hungry and staying foolish. I think I have tweeted this before but if you haven’t heard or read this address you are missing something in life. You can read the address here or watch it here.
Some of my favourtie quotes from Steve Jobs which would I have inspired me time and again -
“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” – Inc. Magazine
“Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?”
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
“And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.”
“Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
“I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year…. It’s very character-building.”
“Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.” – Fortune, Nov. 9, 1998
“If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it’s worth — and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago.”
The influence of Jagjit Singhji started very early in my life, I guess I was 13 years old. That was the first time I was introduced to the Ghazal Maestro and the music genre called Ghazal. Since that day Ghazals and Jagjit SInghji’s voice owned a part of my soul. A lot of Ghazals sung by him defined my idea of life, love and sacrifices at a very early stage. They also made me experience extreme emotional situations through his ghazals without actually facing them in life. I truly believe that Jagjit Singh and his songs made me a matured and sensible person which I am.
Signing out with lyrics of my favorite Ghazal by Jagjit Singh-
“Baazeecha-ae-atfaal hai duniyaa mere aage, Hota hai shab-e-roz tamaashaa mere aage
Hotaa hai niha gard mein seharaa mere hote, Ghisataa hai jabi Khaak pe dariyaa mere aage
Mat poochh ki kyaa haal hai meraa tere pichhe, Tu dekh ke kyaa rang hai tera mere aage
Imaan mujhe roke hai jo khinche hai mujhe kufr, Kaabaa mere piichhe hai kalisa mere aage
Go haath ko jumbish nahin aankhon mein to dam hai, Rahane do abhi saagar-o-meena mere aage”
RIP Jagjit Singh ji & Steve Jobs, the world will miss both of you legends
Author: Jug Suraiya
Publisher: Tranquebar
Price: 495/-
Pages: 350
Anyone who has grown up in the 80s and 90s is not unfamiliar with the name of Jug Suraiya especially with his columns in The Times of India. His columns like Jugular Vein and Dubyaman have been a part and parcel of like of thousands of people like me who would consume and cherish his humorous writing with utmost delight. When he wrote an autobiography without a doubt it was supposed to raise a lot of curiosity. So I got my hands on the cleverly titled book “JS & The Times of My Life: A Worm’s Eye View of Indian Journalism.” Now where the title seems to be extremely heavy and serious in its tone and length the book is absolutely not. It is a delight for the minds which enjoy a light, riveting yet fun read.
The book starts with Jug as his fans call him narrating his dilemma on choosing a career after passing from the college and how life coincidentally turned him towards journalism. The book draws his times of hard work and struggle during The Junior Statesman (JS) days and how he developed as a writer, columnist. The book traverse through his personal and professional life while narrating the story of the change and evolution of Indian journalism in the backdrop. Jug Sauraiya maintains his usual brand of self deprecating humor and utilizes it fully well to take the readers to the times when the Junior Statesman was still alive; the times when The Times of India was transforming; the times when the journalism and the country itself were going through a metamorphoses. And he does it in brilliant literary style, avoiding exaggeration maintaining the matter of fact version of events but still weaving them as studded amulets in his own tale.
The best part is the narrative by Jug, which is appropriately detailed to give you the view of the Journalism world, his life at the same time brief enough to retain the interest. Over the length of the book the reader becomes a part of Jug’s life and celebrates small moments which were important and saddened by events which left him dry. The book not only brings out the humorous side of Jug Suraiya which the readers of TOI and the JS have known since ages but also the hidden story teller side of him which a lot of people including me were never aware of.
The pace of the books is pretty fast with evenly spluttered with small or large events capturing the imagination of the readers. Mentions and excerpts of his edits from the old days also help creating the nostalgic feeling of the bygone era with the book. The book might be a source of inspiration to a lot of aspiring journalists, editors and authors however it fails to highlight the details of becoming one as author maintains the Journalism happened to him by chance.
Summary: A nice autobiography quite realistic yet entertaining and funny to read. A must read for those who enjoy Jug’s columns in TOI or JS.
Rating: 4 / 5
This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!
Recent Flavors