Something to Remember..

I have to read a Jeffery Archer novel after the end term even if it means i have to read it during the summer placement week. Hope to find something in the library. Plus I think I can use this unused space to write about all the faltu financial analysis I do.


P.S. This new way of making notes to yourself is really cool.

New Library in LIFE

This is the first time in my life that I am actually blogging real time from a library. Yes, I am at IMT and the library has Wi-fi connectivity. I had "Great Expectations" about this college before joining but I must say having connectivity in library exceeded my expectations by a huge margin.

As always, I have been a big fan of libraries and this one is no exception. The sheer number of books available and the ability to just pick them up as you like is truly librating. All I have to do is to go around and choose what I want to read and get started. It is as simple as that. I am so surprised that why don't all the libraries function in the same manner. The number of volumes is pretty decent though I would prefer if they add more. After all, when it comes to books you just can't have enough of them.

On a more personal note, my reading is not going anywhere these days. I have been reading "Tess of the Urbervillies" for so long that I am actually ashamed to mention the time for which I have been trying to read it. But, it is not all my fault. First, the flight delays then the office exit formalities and then just when I thought it would be a bit easier "PDP" strikes. It ended and then the committee interviews followed. Now I have stop expecting an end to it. May be this is what being in a B school is all about. Overall, I just love the library and I really don't care about the other obstructions which try hard to keep me away from it.

And I just remembered that my jumbo review on "Atlas Shrugged" is pending.

Next blog is coming....

Lost reading appetite..

Not reading much these day. Actually not reading at all. It's not that I don't have time for it but lets put in this way "Wi-Fi room is not exactly the best thing to have if you plan to study." Far from the Madding Crowd has been sitting on my side tables from the day I came here and still remains unopened. I have not even touched it.

In the last month I have bought like 6 books and all together have 10 books which have not been read yet. They are all good books, mostly classics...yet I have lost the desire to read them. I am usually not in a mood to read anything these days.

On the other hand having wifi on your room does great things to the your blog. Since you can now blog sitting on your couch or lying on your bed, it makes blogging a lot more fun compared to the tradition way. By that I mean sitting on you PC and doing all the typing. Plus I have stopped prewriting all my blogs on in Microsoft word as it blocks the flow. It also results in a lot of unfinished post which you never review to make it good enough for posting. What the heck!! my blog sucks anyway then why put so much effort in the first place.

Seriously want my reading desire back. I just love books :)

Mortal Fear

Oh my god! What have I done? I was always a fan of Robin Cook. His medical mysteries were always interesting (probably because you don't get much of the medical terms). But after reading Mortal Fear, I don't think the next time I will be as excited as I was when I saw this book on Lavanya's desk. I read in 2 hours to make sure I can return it to her. What a waste of time!!

I would have never been so interested in reading that book has I have not been reading so many classics books lately. Thought it would be nice change but not to be. The book is boring from the start and you can tell the end miles before you finish. It was like Australia – India world cup match of 2003. By the time Australia finished the batting everyone knew there is no chance.

As for the book, it is about a normal; dedicated to his work and good will doctor who works in a medical insurance company (how many times the same person will be the hero with a different name?). The patients are dying weeks after there all clear medicals. Our hero is decided to solve this mystery even though he is not directly affected; others give up but he stands against all. Finally, he solves the mystery and everyone is surprised. Except, obviously the reader.

Probably there is nothing wrong with the book. It's just that I have grown out of these second grade thriller/mysteries. They are ok to read when you don't want to apply your mind but when you finish you suddenly realize that you have learned nothing new. After all reading adds character. Such books don't and hence you feel cheated after wasting hours of your life on it. May be I should renounce reading such book in future.

SynchroDestiny by Deepak Chopra

Wow!! Posting a blog using MS word 2007 for the very first time. It finally brings me back to blogging. Though I have been reading quite a lot these days but it’s still a different picture when it comes to blogging. Anyway, better late than never.

Just finished reading SynchroDestiny by Deepak Chopra with the tag line “Would you recognize a miracle if you see one?” To be very frank I am not exactly a big fan of self help books and Deepak Chopra is no exception. But I was pleasantly surprised after I started reading the book.

The book is about coincidences and how they shape out life. As per the book, coincidences are always meaningful and are a way by which the nature keeps in touch with you. To start the book he has taken the example of quantum mechanics and has correlated it beautifully. This is the simplest way in which you can learn what quantum mechanics is all about. All the famous scientists who were involved with quantum mechanics were also great thinkers. There are also some examples about synchronicity in nature. Like all the birds returning to home taking a turn at the same moment; People who are able to feel the distress of their closed ones even when they are far-far away. The author also gives several examples from his life in which he noticed some coincidences and how they changed and shaped in life.

SynchroDestiny is an interesting read in the first half. The example drawn are simple and yet fascinating. You somehow start realizing that so many things happen around you for which you have no explanation and yet we don’t notice or question it at all. In the second half the author has tried giving up a formula by which you can tune your senses to recognize such coincidences. He claims that by doing this you will be able to achieve everything that you desire. This is where I started losing interest in the book. He has given seven principles for achieving it which are nothing but few Sanskrit sentences. As soon as you reach this junction the book is dull boring and makes you feel sleepy. But if you still continue to read it by defeating the desire of sleeping, you will be left irritated thinking why did you waste your time. Books like “You Can Win” and “7 habits of highly successful people” are grossly appealing in comparison to this. But if you like these book in the first place then you will be able to come out alive reading it.

The only interesting part in the whole book was one exercise which I will mention here:

“Find two people you like the most and two whom you abhor. Write down 10 good qualities for the person you like as soon as you can without thinking. Similarly, write down 10 bad qualities about the person you hate. Now write down the three qualities that you hate about the 1 st person and vice versa for 2^nd. Read over each quality and and circle each quality that you think you have in yourself. Put a checkmark in front of those which are completely inapplicable to you. Finally identify the top three qualities from the circled and checkmark list.

Read all the six qualities as these are the qualities which are present in you whether you accept it or not. Your life will attract people who have thease qualities – the extremely positive ones because you may not feel that you deserve them and the extremely negative ones because you refuse to acknowledge their presence in your life.”

A sin of color

I have been reading Indian authors a lot these days because my father’s library only has either them or H. G. Wells. Written by Sunetra Gupta this novel is a story spanning three generation of a family living a Calcutta. I must say the best part of this novel is the unique and fresh way of writing. I have never seen a book with such attention-grabbing style in hundred plus books I have read. There are no dialogues written in quotes. Not just that the author changes the narrative character from chapter to chapter and sometimes in the middle of the character without baffling you. Every chapter is assigned with a color name from crimson to saffron. Paragraphs are written brilliantly and the only way you realize that the anchor of the story has changed when you follow the passage to find out. In the same manner the story moves back and forth effortlessly.

For the story it does not offer anything new or drastic. It deals with three generations of a family in which a member of each generation is unhappy with his/her life. The mother is dejected as she was not able to complete her studies even though that was all she wanted; the son is in love with his elder brother’s wife who he can not have; and the niece is love with an unattainable married man. They all try to cope with there failed ambitions in a way they find suitable.

The only bad thing about the book is its trite ending. I was able to predict it with 5 pages to go (though you can also say that I had no clue of ending before that). And it was not just the predictability but I don’t think the ending was appropriate. Whatever may be the up and down’s the book is good. Read it to believe it!

Blink- the art of thinking without thinking

I must say that the my brother's taste in books is rather interesting. Given a choice to pick up a book I would probably never choose any of the books bought by him. The topic ranges from autobiography, reincarnation, psychology, or human brain. To tell you the truth I am more of a fiction person who reads books mostly for entertainment purpose then acquiring knowledge.

Since I have lots of free time these days and have no longer access to the college library I decided to read some of his books. I started Blink with a tag line "Don't think just Blink". I must say reading it was a special experience for me but overall it doesnt quite fulfill the claims made by it on the back of its cover.

The books shows us the power of thin slicing. The way our brain scans our surrounding so that you can concentrate on whats truly important. It shows how our sub concious mind works in the background and we are completly unaware of it. The examples taken are able to convey the messege and some even surprize you. For example, the launch and failure of new coke, some soap opera which intially got bad reviews and then became big hit and so on. It shows that how we are totally unaware of what we think.

The negetive point of the book if that it makes a promise to teach you the rt of thin slicing and fails. After reading the book you find that the only way to acheive Blink power is to practice? Phew!! Still overall a good read but I will rather prefer the good old classic over it.