Summer in Ibaraki

Moss & Pines

A dragonfly takes a break

Bee

The 7:20PM Spider

Carp

"Hanabi" by the Mito River

Mt. Tsukuba on an overcast day

Luna Moth

A turtle in the Tsuchiura Palace moat

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Cicada's, Starling's, Summer!

With the rise in summer temperature, Tsukuba seems to be teeming with life!

The first time I noticed it was on my way to the municipal swimming pool, under the trees overlooking the bus-stop at Tsukuba Centre. The first sign was noise that sounded like a busy construction site and it turned out to be just a major convention of birds!

From where did they suddenly appear? Why were they all converging only a certain type of tree - was it for food? But there was no sign of seeds or fruits on the trees...My Japanese Sensei, who happened to be passing by, said that the birds are called Mugidori. I looked this up and it turns out that the common name is "Grey Starling".

And then, the Cicadas. In the woods surrounding Ichinoya they make such a huge racket in the evening that your ears begin to hurt unless you move away from the trees.

At the central library, there are instruments monitoring the disturbance caused by construction activity, and the the occasional crash of building material the noise level goes up to 75dB. Just outside the library, the cicadas are creating nearly double that sound by just by just rubbing their legs against abdominal plates (120 dB)!

If Cicadas and Starlings are congregating on the trees, another group of birds had taken over the skies in the evening. Just as the setting sun was turning the clouds into various hues of pink and while airplanes glinted high above the clouds, massive swarms of birds whirled in the skies. Numbering in thousands, these birds swoop & dive, separate & converge on such a scale that from afar, they look like massive amoebic forms in the skies...

What is the advantage of moving in this way? Is it to feed on insects flying high above? But then why would insects want to fly at that height? Is it some kind of ritual for selecting mates?

..................................................................................................

Music & Murakami

Sometime back, when I was reading Haruki Murakami's "Norwegian Wood", I could not bear the thought that I had never heard a lot of the music mentioned in the book. I did make a note of them but never got around to listening to the pieces. 

 Now, having just finished reading his book, "South of the Border, West of the Sun", I thought there would be somebody out there who has already listed out the URL's. Since nothing has turned up on Google, here is my bit for those who seek Murakami's music - 

* Sinatra South of the Border As Time Goes By 

* Nat King Cole Pretend (Song) Pretend - Lyrics Embracable You (Song) Embracable You - Lyrics

* Schubert - Winterreise Winterreise - 1. Gute Nacht - Quasthoff, Barenboim (Translation of the German lyrics) 

* Corvocado Piano Trio Song (Sarah Vaughan) Lyrics 

* Rossini William Tell Overture (Note: the book does not mention any overture) 

* Peer Gynt Suite Grieg 'Peer Gynt' Suite No. 1, Op. 46 - 'Morning' More info on Wiki 

* Star Crossed Lovers (Ellington) The Star-Crossed Lovers" - adapted from Billy Strayhorn's ballad "Pretty Girl." There seem to be multiple versions going around - here are a couple of them. Instrumental - New York Trio Song Lyrics - (Romeo & Juliet) Lyrics 

* Talking Heads - Bringing Down the House (or is it Burning Down the House?) Song Lyrics 

* Handel - Organ Concerto Beethoven: Symphony No. 9; Handel: Organ Concerto ( 1 hour 26 mts!) 

MUSIC FROM THE BOOK - "THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE" Rossini - Theiving Magpie variations by Claudio Abbodio ('youthful, fluid, contemporary') and Toscanini ('blood curdling intensity') Tara's Theme (From 'Gone With the Wind') Herb Alpert A Summer Palace Andy Williams Hawaiian Wedding Song Canadian Sunset J.S. Bach Musical Offering (2-7) Sergio Mendez Bert Kaemfert 101 Strings Orchestra Hard Driving Jazz Albert Ayler Don Cherry Cecil Taylor Johnny Angel Water Springs at Kawai, Hawai Robert Maxwell Ebb Tide - On the piano (instead of Harp) Beatles Eight Days A Week Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings Schumann Forest Scenes Birds as Prophet Keith Jarret- piano solo's Mozart Magic Flute Handel Concerto Grosso Bari Manilow Air Supply Waterloo Bridge in the mist, Auld Lang Syne, Robert Taylor, Vivien Leigh

A Few Tanka Verses

Some interesting Tanka verses from the book, A Hundred Verses from Old Japan (Hyaku nin ishiu - translated by William Porter)

1. The first one to catch my attention was a verse written more than a thousand years ago about the beauty of Mt. Tsukuba and its surrounding areas. It was composed by the retired Emperor, Yozei In (AD 877-884).

Tsukuba ne no
Mine yori otsuru
Mina no gawa
Koi zo tsumoirite
Fuchi to nari nuru

The Mina stream comes tumbling down
From Mount Tsukuba's height;
Strong as my love, it leaps into
A pool as black as night
With overwhelming might


2.

The mountain village solitude
In winter time I dread;
It seems as if, when friends are gone,
And trees their leaves have shed,
All men and plants are dead.

- The Minister, Muneyuki Minamoto

Poet was grandson of Emperor Kwoko and a part of the Minamoto family which ruled Japan between 856-877, and produced many famous men including Yorimoto, the great founder of the Shogunate.

The Taira famly and the Minamotos were the Yorks and Lancasters of medieval Japan. After Yorimoto defeated the Tairas at the battle of Dan-no-ura, in the straits of Shimonoseki, the entire Taira family was exterminated, including women and children.The Manamoto's themselves became extinct in 1219, when Sanetomo was murdered at Kamakura.


3.

Ariake no
Tsurenaku mieshi
Wakare yori
Akatsuki bakari
Uki-mono was nashi

I hate the cold unfriendly moon,
That shines at early morn;
And nothing seems so sad and grey,
When I am left forlorn,
As day's returning dawn.

-Mibu no Tadamine (AD 900)


4.

Hito wa iza
Kokoro mo shirazu
Furu sato wa
Hana so mukashi no
Ka ni nioi keru.

The village of my youth is gone,
New faces meet my gaze;
But still the blossoms at thy gate,
Whose perfume scents the ways,
Recall my childhood days.

- Ki no Tsurayuki

5.
Shira tsuyu ni
Kaze no fukishiku
Aki no no wa
Tsuranuki-tomenu
Tama zo chiri keru.

This lovely morn the dewdrops flash
Like diamonds on the grass -
A blaze of sparkling jewels! But
The autumn wind, alas!
Scatters them as I pass.


6.

Morotomo ni
Aware to omoe
Yama zakura
Hana yori hoka ni
Shiruu hito mo nashi.

In solitude i dwell,
No human faces I see;
And so we two must sympathise,
Oh mountain cherry tree;
I have no friend but thee.

This was composed by Daisojo Gyoson aka Archbishop Gyoson , who died in AD 890, at the age of 70, from being buried, at his own wish, in a small tomb covered with soil, with only a small pipe leading from his mouth to the open air; he remained thus, until hunger and exhaustion put and end to his life.

English Words in Conversational Malayalam

This is related to a previous post `Malayalam Words of Foreign Origin`.

Over here I'm just trying to list Mallu-English words, without which it would be nearly impossible to follow a conversation (or movie dialogues), in Kerala today -

* "Felt" - used to describe the impact of a perceived slight. Eg. അവന്‍ ഒത്തിരി ഫെല്റ്റ് അടിച്ചു! - Avan otthiri "felt" adicchu - (He felt really bad..)

* "Sugar" - Used as an adjective, a substitute for the word "Diabetic". Eg. ചായക്ക് മതിരം വേണ്ട...അവനു  ഷുഗര്‍ ആ...- Chaayakku mathiram venda - avanu sugar'aa - (Don't sweeten his tea - he's diabetic)

* "Get-up" - to describe aesthetics of a building / home. Eg. പെയിന്റിംഗ് കഴിജപ്പം വീടിനു നല്ല ഗെട്ടുപു ആ.. - Painting kazhinjappam veedinu nalla gettupp'aai -  (The house looks chic after it got painted)

* `Over` - anything excessive, especially when a person is too confident/smart/arrogant/drunk/indulgent; pronounced `wouver`. Eg. അവന്‍ കൊറച്ചു ഓവര്‍ ആഇടുന്ദെ - Avan koracchu wouver aaitunde -  (for somebody who may have exceeded his brief)

* `Shine` -  reserved for disparaging somebody who is trying to stand out from the crowd; or trying to get fresh. Eg. കൂടുതല്‍ ഷൈന്‍ ചെയ്യല്ലേ! - Kooduthal shine cheiyelle!  - (don`t act too smart!)


Suggestions & contributions are most welcome!     8-)

Doing Serious Work Playfully

(Rough notes from a guest lecture)

In a guest lecture organised at Tsukuba University, Prof. Edson Kenji Kondo (Harvard Univ.) made some interesting points about the factors that encourage and sabotage the process of creative, imaginative thinking in a society. The topic of the lecture was "Educational Policy in Brazil and selected efforts to innovate and build a better society", but what is true for Brazil is perhaps just as valid for any other developing country.

Education in most countries is based on a three-tier structure - elementary, middle and high schools - and is usually conducted under a pattern called "Industrial Schooling" (according to Ollich) or Bank Schooling (according to Freire). The system is benchmarked on a "tried and tested" framework adapted from industrialised (read OECD) countries.

Unfortunately, results of PISA tests conducted by OECD countries have been affecting the self-image of many countries like Brazil. They have now shifted emphasis towards reading skills, science and math (left brain activity) in order to obtain better scores for their students in the tests. This is a knee-jerk reaction because education is not just about left-brain thinking. It is also about creativity (right brain thinking) and the fact the Brazil is doing well among nations showing high growth rate in number of scientific articles in the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) indexed journals proves that ultimately, the system is on the right track in Brazil.

So the first point was that it is necessary to be sekptical about data coming from industrial society -- they are usually tailored to enhance their own self-image.

Future societies have to make creative solutions without conflict, and this can arise only from unconventional, "Out of the Box" thinking. Some instances of such a thinking process --

1. Hiroshi Naruse's company, which manufacturers washing equipment for greasy
suto-parts, which seems to the antithesis of the Japanese Kaisha -- employees
are encouraged to utilize their complete leave without affecting productivity --
choosing humanity over efficiency; humans over machines; trust over control;
distributing over hoarding.
2. Dee Hock's - Creator of Visa Cards: -- making structures infinitely flexible, yet durable. Making property ownership as the 'right to participate'
3. Ricardo Smeler -- flexible seating, no hierarchy, work on what you want policy
4. Daniel Pink - "Right brain apptitudes necessary for the conceptual age" -- not just fuction but also DESIGN, not just argument but also STORY; not just logic but also EMPATHY; not just focus but also SYMPHONY; not just seriousness but also PLAY; not just accumulating but also MEANING.

Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain researcher who researched her own brain functions whilea tumour destroyed her leftbrain. She discovered that as she lost control over her faculty for logical thinking, her notions of "self" weakened and she saw herself as one with the world around - "information from all sensory systems poured in like energy streams and exploded into an enoumous collage where we are all energy beings connected through conciousness of the right hemisphere as one family"

Jill Bolte Taylor's Stroke of Insight: http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

Socialism and capitalism are both left-brained activity...only in the market econmy do you find the flexibility of right brained decision-making but it too has evolves into an oligopolistic model where few people exercise control over common resources.

Research that has an immediate impact on people - this can be measured by:

- No of publishers who are eager to publish your reseach dissertation

- Application of games of strategy
- Serious work done playfully - a nun in Costa Rica who got her PhD thesis linking Orgasm to prayer (!)

kondo@post.harvard.edu

Interesting Article - Century of Forgetting

Excerpts from an interesting article that appeared in the Indian Express Op-Eds -

Century of forgetting - Bhanu Pratap Mehta, Indian Express, 16 Jun. 2009

...1909 was the year in which the first near complete text of Kautilya’s Arthashastra was published. Four years earlier, Rudrapatnam Shamashastry had discovered the palm leaf manuscript that would define his legacy. But while he recognised the significance of the text, even he could not have anticipated the revolution in Indian self-image his discovery would bring about.

The text became a focal point with which to contest every cliché that had been used to define India. A society that allegedly never had a rational state suddenly acquired one; a society defined by a dreamy moralism suddenly acquired a narrative of steely realism; a society without a history of political thought acquired a master text in political theory; a society without sophisticated economic thinking acquired insight into the foundations of wealth; a society without a strategic culture acquired a veritable theory of international relations; a nation with ostensibly no political identity acquired a prehistory of political unity.

The more serious threat to a broad humanities culture does not come from the market. It comes internally, when scholars no longer believe that the purpose of education is to distinguish the truly valuable from the merely fashionable, the purely instrumental from the genuinely elevating thought. Classicism was not about glorifying the past or scholastic pedantry, it was a fundamental resource to be deployed, reworked, deconstructed, and sometimes even lampooned in the process of a deeper understanding of the Self.

Tsukuba University - The First Month

Its 'Golden Week' in Japan right now and finally we have a breather from the hectic schedule here.

How things have changed in the past few weeks! It was a chilly, sunny day when we arrived Tsukuba Centre in a bus from Narita airport. We had been told that an unexpected surge in the cold weather had delayed the onset of Hanami (the much awaited Cherry blossom viewing) season.

By the time we move from the 'Foreign Scholar's Residence' at Amakubo to Ichinoya Dorms, the trees had gradually started putting out their buds. And within the next couple of days, we had the pleasure of seeing a complete transformation of Tsukuba. Ordinary looking trees would suddenly burst forth flowers that lingered like clouds which had forgotten to float away.


My first surprise here were the "tutors". Each of us had been assigned a tutor and from the title, I had got the impression that these were faculty members who had been assigned as guides. Actually those are called "Academic Advisors" and we got to see the professors only a week after landing here.

The tutor's role was more to do with logistics and administration - 'to assist newly arrived international students with their academic and daily life' - as the guidebook says. Most of them were undergraduates from other departments, who were getting paid by the university about Yen 40,000 for the 90 hours/year job.

They received us when our bus arrived Tsukuba Centre, bundled our luggage into the available cars and took us to the campus, to the Foreign Scholar's Residence and then helped move us to Ichinoya Dormitories; they helped fill up the assorted forms for the numerous cards that followed (Univ Id, Library, ATM, Health Insurance, Alien Registration) and to the right places for buying food, clothes, bicycles and second-hand stuff.


The SOP's triggered by the forms we filled also resulted in each of us being given the keys to a study room, computer lab (both 24-hr access) at the College of International Studies (Building 3K), a photocopy card (2000 copies) and a TWINS card for online registration of the courses & electives.

We were told that the goal of the program was to 'guide' us towards a Master's Thesis that was worthy of the university and that we were required to earn at least 30 credits. We were encouraged to seek half the credits from courses offered by any other department/school in the university, so as to 'foster cross-functional exchange of ideas'.

What did they mean by any other school? Well, Tsukuba University has over 15,000 students in 9 schools and 23 colleges, studying subjects ranging from medicine and engineering sciences to humanities and sports. So, at least theoretically, I should be able to get a couple of credits by learning Judo, even though my specialization is International Public Policy!

When I got the photocopy card, I wondered what I would do with 2000 copies. The answer came as soon as the academic sessions started. The courses during the first trimester fall into three broad categories - the 'Introductory Courses', Seminars and Lectures. The intros include - Mathematics for Economics, Statistics, Econometrics, Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. You get no credits for the introductory courses but if you don't clear them, you're out of the program. The rules can't be simpler, I guess.

The lectures and seminars cover interesting subjects like 'International Relations', 'Politics of the Developing World', 'Culture & Development'. Preparations for each session requires downloading, copying and printing of so many discussion notes & papers that suddenly, within just one month, the photocopy quota looks grossly inadequate! (I'm already down to 1400)



The sessions are hugely interesting though. It is a great mix of quant and non-quant subjects and its a completely new experience to be studying in a class where almost everybody is from a different corner of the world. The Prof's themselves are reflect this plurality - of the eight courses I'm taking right now, only two are taught by Japanese professors (Econometrics & MicroEcon); for the others we have a colorful Spaniard (MacroE), a Brazilian (Math-Econ + Stats), a German (Intl Relations), a Dutch-Philippino (Politics), and a Canadian (Development).


For most of the professors, its a bit of a strain to be teaching basic stuff to mid-career professionals, many of whom (like me) have forgotten all about differential calculus and linear algebra a decade ago. In any case there are so many topics to cover that it is left to the Teaching Assistants (TA's) to hold Recitations that try to make up for the 'overhead transmissions'.

When we arrived a month ago, the university was ablaze with flowers and bright sunshine. A couple of minor earthquakes also added to the excitement of being in Japan.

Now it rains all day and life moves from one assignment deadline to another...

The Ichinoya Sakura

Close to the Ichinoya dormitories at the University of Tsukuba is a Cherry tree that is a celebrity for two weeks, every year.

It stands in splendid isolation, next to a little pond called Hyotaro Ike, far away from the avenues lined with blooming Sakura's.

Few can resist the temptation of stopping by, touching the flowers and branches as petals flutter down with each passing breeze...

The Red Fort & 1857

Last week, I took a day off work, went to the Red Fort and sat there from 10:00AM to 4:00PM, reading a book.

Nothing unusual about reading a book all day but I just could not imagine a better setting for William Dalrymple's "The Last Mughal". I sat on one of the green benches lined up for the Sound & Light shows at the Diwan-e-Khas, and as the crowds tricked into the open space to enjoy the cool winter breeze and warm sunshine and as squirrels darted about my feet looking for bits of chocolate, I flipped the pages and my mind wandered away to the summer of 1857.

What a mess this place would have been! An old, weak, vacillating 'Emperor of Hindustan' roamed these marble quarters worrying about a his orchards and Urdu couplets; whining about thousands of Hindu and Muslim soldiers who had poured into the city expecting decisive leadership; tossing away initiative and valuable time while an army of Brits with their freshly recruited hordes of Punjabi and Pathan mercenaries bombarded the city day & night.


Over the last decade, I've visited the Red Fort and the streets of Old Delhi innumerable times - mostly for the second-hand books at Daryaganj, followed by the mandatory meal at Karim's or Jelebi-Kachori's at Chandni Chowk. All this while I had assumed that the predominantly Baniya flavor of the walled city was an aftermath of the Partition.

Little did I know that until the spring of 1857, this was the largest and most cosmopolitan city between Istanbul and Peking, priding itself as a center of learning and urban refinement. And that soon after the - entirely avoidable and pathetic - fall of the city, its entire population of over 200,000 was looted, slaughtered, hanged, raped or driven out; that Muslims were turned into scapegoats for the rebellion and not allowed back into the city without special permission; that large section of the city and the fort were demolished to make way for a drab cantonment-town.

No doubt the Mughals, and other dynasties before them, had done much the same thing to numerous cities while consolidating their rule in India. So the observation of Maulvi Mohd. Baqar's son, Azad (who escaped imminent execution by swimming across the Yamuna), seems rather timeless:

"The important thing is that the glory of the winner's ascendant fortune gives everything of theirs - even their dress, their gait, their conversation - a radiance that makes them desirable. And people do not merely adopt them but they are proud to adopt them."

I guess the survivors of Quila Rai Pithora thought the same about the Sultanates, as did the armies that were routed on the battlefields of Panipat. Sanskrit was shoved aside by Farsi and Urdu, which in turn was knocked out by English. And now, more than 60 years after independence, we continue to seek our bearings from lighthouses in the West. I guess it takes time to wash away assumed notions of self-respect.

How many Dalrymple's will it take before we start thinking for ourselves?
----------------------------------------------------

Buying A Laptop In Delhi

I've been hunting around for the "right" laptop for the past few weeks.

I need a sturdy, general-purpose machine for a forthcoming two-year sabbatical in Japan. It is going to be a lifeline of sorts and is meant to help me keep in touch with folks back home; for my photographs, music and movie DVD's and for helping me improve my Japanese.

Considering how laptops have evolved over the past few years, my requirements were quite basic. The desktop I use now has a rather obsolete configuration - Intel Pentium4, 632 MB RAM and 100 GB HDD running a tolerable XP Professional-2002. At home I borrow my wife's laptop (HP 520 - Core L2Duo T2500, 0.99 GB RAM, XP Pro) for checking my mail and for some occasional blogging.

This was the first time I was buying a laptop with my own money. So apart from the budget-limit of Rs.50k, my VFM priorities were -

• Sturdiness: I would be traveling around quite a bit.
• Weight: not too heavy but I would prefer a cheaper-sturdier-heavier machine to a costlier-delicate-lighter one.
• Service & warranty coverage in Japan
• Ease of use: I could not handle cramped keyboards and tiny screens.
• Battery life: Normal - about 3-4 hours. I did not expect to wander too far from a plug-point.
• No Frills: I could manage without a fingerprint reader and face-recognition software.

After three weeks of trawling the internet and harassing showroom executives, I have finally decided to buy a Dell Studio-14 online.

Why did I choose this brand & model? How did the other brands compare? Here are my thoughts for those who may walk down this path later -

SONY VAIO (Sony showroom, Rajkot)
I started my search with Sony-VAIO's at a showroom in Rajkot and I loved the look and feel of this series. I also liked the open WYSIWYG sales approach - a detailed brochure with a useful comparison-table and a common no-discount policy across India. However, the models I really liked (Z series) were way beyond my budget and the affordable ones, on second thoughts, looked like chunky slabs of gleaming plastic.

TOSHIBA (X-cite, Select Citywalk Mall, Saket - Delhi)
If I could give a prize to the best salesman it would go to .Tauseef at Xcite. He patiently explained the features of a beautiful black model M800 D3310 (C2D T5550 1.83GHz, 2GB RAM, 250 GB HDD, 13.3" TFT, Vista Home Premium, 1.9kg) at Rs.50,990. I almost decided to buy this one until the guys at Dell pitched in.

LENOVO (Landmark Infonet PL, Regal Bldg, CP - Delhi)
A halfhearted salesman pointed to some laptops lined on a shelf and handed me a photocopy titled "3000 Y & G Series". These machines looked unexeptional but a friend working with Lenovo (USA) enthusiastically recommended the X and T series but neither could be located in the showrooms here.

HP (Asian Infotec, 18 Palika Parking, New Delhi)
These guys knew what they were talking about. They suggested that I go for a HP-Pavilion DV 2910TX (3GB RAM, 320 HDD, 14.1 TFT, 2.4kg) at Rs.50,800. My questions did not lead to blank looks -- Why did HP laptops continue to have VGA cameras? Because images from VGA's transmit images faster than MegaPixels; Why did the screens have that glazed mirror finish? once the machine is on, they give sharper images...etc., The Presario's also came with a "Free Home Theatre system worth Rs.10,500" if you paid them "just Rs. 1500 extra for the shipping charges". However, there was no option for international warranty.

SAHARA- Multibrand Store
The salesmen here were completely clueless on product features. The laptops looked equally uninspiring, with assembled-without-much-care look about them. I guess these were targeted people who were seeing a laptop for the first time.

so, finally...

DELL - Telephonic / Online
This was an interesting experience from the outset. To begin with, it was great to deal with people who knew their stuff rather than putting up with blank-faced showroom salesmen. Kartheek Kondapalli responded to my email enquiry with a quick telephone call. He asked me the why's and what's of my requirements and sent me quotation for Studio-14. In terms of VLM, the specs were superior to anything I had seen so far - C2D T6400 2GHz, 3GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, 14.1" TFT, built-in 2MP camera, Vista HomeP, 5 color options, free blutooth mouse, free noise-cancelling earbuds...all this for Rs.43.8k!

The laptop weighed 2.66kg which was heavier than competition (Toshiba M800 and HP Pavilion 2910) but this was easily explained ("Dell machines are built tough"). So, ultimately there was only one fly in the ointment - Vista - and I did not want it.

I tried my best to persuade them to give me the same specs with an XP Pro. But no, everything was flexible (RAM, HDD, screen-size) but not the operating system. They just could not put XP into a Studio 14 -- Microsoft had apparantly signed some deal with them to push their much reviled RAM-hogger.

There was another hitch - I had never seen this machine before. So today morning I went over to the 'DELL Exclusive Store' at Nehru Place for a dekko. The showroom was crowded and the colorful Studio 14's seemed to be the centre of attraction. It lacked the finish of a HP Pavilion (especially the front speaker/button panel) and, yet again, the uniformed salesguys tried to brazen it through basic questions like, 'why does this laptop have a CD/DVD slot instead of a tray?' (Ans. - "Aise hi aata hai" - translation - 'well, thats the way it is'). The price? - Rs.46,500 for the same machine! :O

Luckily, two people from DELL tech-support - Priyanka and Somnath - happened to overhear my questions and volunteered to help. They were not working at this store and had just dropped to see the crowds. Between the two of them I got pretty solid answers to all my technical questions. If I needed any more convincing about the Studio-14, it came from their own conviction and enthusiasm about the product.

So, as soon as I got back home, I sent an email to DELL confirming my order. The delivery is expected within seven working days.

One thing is clear - I would have never purchased a Dell machine based on a showroom experience. And it makes a lot of sense to have a laptop tailor made (well, almost) to your requirements, at a competitive price, rather than pick something fancy off the shelf, with snazzy features you are not going to be using anyway.

----------------------------------------------------------------
SOUR NOTES - 18 Feb., 2009

It is nearly two weeks since I ordered my Dell Laptop and I'm already disappointed. At first they said it would be delivered within 7 working days, by 18 Feb.. Then came an automated email from them saying that the delivery would be by 19 Feb..

Eager to get my hands on the machine ASAP, I kept checking their - much vaunted - 'delivery status' webpage but even as of now it shows that my order is still "under production". Since there was no feedback or update from the customer-service office in India, I sent an email to Dell-India. The response - the usual, vague auto replies (Investigation in progress). Then I called up Kartheek and he said, "I checked our internal system today morning and you'll definitely get your machine, latest by 20 Feb."

So it came as a big surprise when I got a call today morning from a CS lady who tells me that the machine has just left the production line today! Why? Because there was a shortage of some parts. Did they realise this one day before the promised delivery date?? Well, um...we're sorry but.. So when will the machine reach me? Maybe on 25 Feb..

This is so frustrating!

Maybe I should have just picked that Toshiba or HP Pavilion off the shelf.

:(

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VERY SOUR NOTES - 27 Feb., 2009

My Dell experience has turned out to be a complete disaster!

The courier finally arrived on Saturday, 21 Feb.. Dell had told me to inspect the contents before accepting the package but the courier (BlueDart) insisted that I could open the package only after accepting it! Chicken & Egg story...and as soon as I signed the acceptance, the courier promptly disappeared.

Anyway, I opened the carton ("Yours Is Here"), laid out the contents, read the user's manual (a tiny booklet) and plugged in my brand new laptop. After a few minutes, Vista came alive on the screen, and then I discovered that the cursor-arrow was frozen in the middle of the screen - the touchpad just would not work.

I tried restarting the machine using Alt+Tab buttons and noticed that the DOS screen momentarily flashed a message - "Error 8602 - Auxiliary Device Failure" (??). I called up the Dell Helpline but a recorded message informed me that they work only Mondays to Fridays. I guess nobody has problems with Dell machines during weekends.

I then tried to activate the Bluetooth Mouse hoping that at least this could circumvent the problem. This too was a dud. By now it was amply clear that Dell had sent me a machine without even bothering to check if everything was in order.

On Monday morning, I called up Kartheek. He sounded genuinely distraught at the way production & QC guys had screwed it up ("only 1% of Dell customers face such problems"). I was promptly put in touch with TechSupport but after running me through a series of tests, and even after re-installing the Driver's and rebooting several times, the cursor remained frozen. The problems was "escalated" and another techie from Delhi called up to resolve case no. TQ181008045 / 10556380 / Journal ID 090524WB9F for Service Tag 97MX2BS.

No luck.

By now I was at the end of my tether. I just didn't have the time to sit at home all day breaking my head over a faulty machine. And when a Customer Service exec told me nonchalantly that they could replace the laptop in "maybe three weeks", I screamed that I was through with Dell, and that I wanted a full refund ASAP!!

Enough time had been wasted already, so I went to Nehru Place today morning and picked up a Toshiba Satellite-M300 for Rs.40,500. Compared to the Dell Studio-14, the config is modest (Intel-Centrino C2D T-5550, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD) but it comes with international warranty, it is cheaper, lighter (2.34kg), has better speakers (harman/kardon) and the best part of it all is that the cursor actually works! :)

BTW, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed on the full refund from Dell. I hope they don't goof-up on this as well.

Deciphering Laptop Specs

Planning to buy a new laptop?

Here is an attempt to see what all those acronyms and terms actually mean -


Base Systems:

Base systems refer to the heart of the machine - the processors. This area is dominated by Intel, with AMD having a small but growing share of the market. At Intel the evolution of processors started with the four-bit, single chip 'Intel 4004', and has now moved to Itanium - Xeon - Celeron - Pentium - Dual Core - Core2 Duo - Core2 Quad - Core2 Extreme - Core i7. Within each family, processor numbers are not a measurement of performance. They are merely to differentiate product features.

For instance 'Core2 Duo T6400' offered with the laptop Dell Studio-14 is just one of the 58 in the Core2 Duo family. And this is not even listed among the list of 'All Core2 Duo Processors' at the Intel website! Neither is T5800 used by many Sony-Vaio models.

Comparison of Intel Processors
All Core2 Duor Processors
Core-2 Duo T6400

xGHz = Refers to the Clock Speed of the processors

Operating Systems:

This is where you meet the arm-twisters from Microsoft. These days they are pushing the Vista series so its every difficult to find laptops that give you the option of picking tried & tested systems like the XP, compared to which the Vista sits like a overweight gorilla on your RAM.
If you can't afford a mimimum of 2GB RAM, stay away from Vista (if you can).

Display:

Usually described as something like "14.1 Widescreen WXVGA CCFL (1280x800)". 14.1 refers to the diagonal length of screen.

WXGA = Wide eXtended Graphics Array. Evolved from a display standard (1024x786 pixels) used by IBM in the 1990's. In laptop machines the density of pixels is extended to 1280x800 making the images 27% wider and sharper.

Wiki - WXGA

CCFL = Cold Cathode Fluroscent Lamps. Used for Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) backlighting.

TFT Display = Thin Film Transistor Display. A type of LCD in which each pixel is controlled with its own transistor switch. This not only prevents voltage from leaking away but also results in better control of contrast and color.

Memory - RAM:

Random Access Memory (RAM) is usually described as something like "3GB (1x1 GB + 1x2GB) DDR2 SDRAM".

GB = Giga Byte or 1000,000,000 bytes. In binary terms this is bigger than on billion bites becasue it is calculated in multiples of 1024 Bytes. So 1GB is actually 1024x1024x1024 = 1.073 billion Bytes.

DDR SDRAM = Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory. An integrated circuit that achieves double the bandwidth of SDRAM without taking extra time. DDR2 achieves double the speed of DDR by improved bus signalling and by operating the memory cells at double the speed.

Hard Drives: -

"320GB SATA Hard Drive"
SATA = Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. AT Attachments are interface standards for connecting storage devices that were first introduced with the IBM PC/AT in 1984. Earlier the connections used to be with Parallel (P-ATA), ribbon like cables encasing parallel wires terminating in 40-pin connectors. Since its introduction in 2003, S-ATA has been preferred for its higher bandwidth and transfer speeds.

Glimpses of Rajkot & Morvi

Jignesh Computers - "We Need You Because You Need Knowledge"

Outside Watson's Museum Rajkot. The main building is a an imposing structure, located right next to the school where M.K. Gandhi once studied. It houses the artifacts collected by the then British agent in Saurashtra, Sir Watson, in the late 1800's. Like all state-run museums in the country, this too is a picture of callous neglect. Poor lighting and displays, missing labels, ancient sculpture dabbed with pink plastic paint, and a pathetic section on natural history.
Entry to the museum costs Rs.2/head, and there is a special sarkari form through which you have to declare and pay Rs.2 for each photo taken within the museum premises!

'The queen is wearing enough for the both of us': - A grumpy Victoria in her tin-pot crown and toy globe, at the rear end of Watson's Museum, Rajkot

Perhaps the only 10th century sculpture without broken appendages.



Masala-chai Katiawari ishtyle. Every roadside teashop in Rajkot uses mechanical bellows.


A close shave: Aftermath of an accident on Gondal Rd.. A truck ploughed through four cars before smashing into this electric pole. Amazingly, nobody was injured!


Outside College St., at 7:30AM, these guys serve the best Sev Khamni and Dokla in town. The best place for a Gujrati Thali is Bhaba Dining Hall near the Panchnath temple.


90% of ceramic and vitreous products manufactured in India comes from the industrial cluster around Morbi (~60km from Rajkot). Tiles, bathroom fittings, pipes, etc.. This new factory is all set to produce large-size floor tiles. The production line has eight kilns and is 106m long; the drying line is 86m long and the whole operation is run by 50 workers/shift!


The spectacular Darbargadh Palace or "Mani Mahal"at Morvi built in the 1880's by Thakur Sahib Waghaji. It was damaged in the 2001 earthquake. Wonder why the enterprising Gujrati's don't see it worthwhile to turn it into a heritage hotel , a museum or any other money-spinner to save it from falling apart...

Books 2009-2025

2025     ...................................................

Cohen, Andres (2021): The Universe, 

Dazai, Osamu (1947): The Setting Sun (斜陽, Shayō)

Greene, Graham (1951): The End of an Affair

Hillers, Marta (1954): A Woman in Berlin 

Murata, Sayaka (2016): Convenience Store Woman (コンビニ人間 - Conbini Ningen)

Yasigawa, Satoshi(2010): Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (森崎書店の日々, Morisaki Shoten no Hibi)

2024     ...................................................

Murakami, Haruki (2013): Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Dey, Monidipa (2022): Himachal Temples & The Bengal Connection - Why Temples of Mandi, Kullu resemble their Bengal Counterparts (Garuda Prakashan)

Karunatilaka, Shehan (2022): Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

Khyentse, Dzongsar Jamyang (2016): The Guru Drinks Bourbon 

Kundera, Milan (1984): The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Pandit, Narayan (~10c CE) : Hitopadesha  (/ Haksar, Aditya Narayana Dharyasheel (1998 translation from Sanskrit)

Pollock, Sheldon (2006): The Language of the Gods in the World of Men , UCPress

2023     ...................................................

Flaubert, Gustav (1857): Madame Bovary (eBook)

Pamuk, Orhan (2002): The New Life, eBook (Translated by Guneli Gun)

Ganatra, Ami (2021): Mahabharata Unravelled - Lesser-Known Facets of a Well-Known Story, Bloomsbury

Brown, Percy (1959): Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu), D B Taraporewala Sons & Co. PL

Rinpoche, Sogyal (2017): The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying

Murakami, Haruki (2017): Killing Commendatore, eBook

2022     ...................................................

Calasso, Roberto (1996): KA - Stories of the Mind and Gods of India, eBook

Sōseki, Natsume (1914): KOKORO (Japanese - Translated Edwin McClellan), eBook

Winfrey, Oprah and Bruce D Perry (2021): WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? - Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing, eBook

Pullman, Philip (2005): NORTHERN LIGHTS (Volume 1: His Dark Materials), Scholastic

Jaishankar, S (2021): THE INDIA WAY - Strategies for an Uncertain World, Harper Collins India

Kanisetti, Anirudh (2022): LORDS OF THE DECCAN - Southern India from the Chalukyas to the Cholas, eBook

Ishmael, Beah (2008): A LONG WAY GONE - Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, eBook (The most translated book from Sierra Leone - 30+ languages - Preply)

Ghosh, Amitav (2021): THE NUTMEG'S CURSE: Parables for a Planet in Crisis, eBook

Singh, Upinder (2009): ANCIENT INDIA: From Stone Age to the 12th Century, Pearson

2021     ...................................................

Murakami, Haruki (2016): Absolutely on Music: Conversations , eBook

Lawrence, DH (1913): Sons and Lovers, Penguin Classice

Damodaran, Harish (2021): Broke to Breakthrough: Rise of India's Largest Private Sector Dairy Company, Penguin India

Murakami, Haruki (2001): Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, eBook

Iyer, Pico (2014): THE ART OF STILLNESS: Adventures in Going Nowhere, TED Books

Süskind, Patrick (1985): PERFUME: The Story of a Murderer, (translated from German - Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders ), eBook (The most translated book from Germany - 49+ languages - Preply)

Hesse, Hermann (2009): CUENTOS MARAVILLOSOS, eBook     (Español)

Sri M (2017): JOURNEY CONTINUES - A Sequel to Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master, eBook

Ramanujan, A K (1997): A FLOWERING TREE and Other Oral Tales from India, Penguin India 

Gokhale, Vijay (2021): THE LONG GAME - How the Chinese Negotiate with India, Penguin Randomhouse, 2021

Albom, Mitch (1998): TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE - An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson

Paternostro, Silvana (2014): SOLITUDE AND COMPANY - Life of Gabriel García Márquez Told with Help from His Friends, Family, Fans, Arguers, Fellow Pranksters, Drunks, and a Few Respectable Souls

Reyes, Reyes (2015): LOS AÑOS DE ALLENDE, Hueders     (Español)

Saco, Joe (2010): FOOTNOTES IN GAZA, Jonathan Cape, London

Raghavan, Srinath (2018): THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE - A History of the United States in South Asia, Allen Lane 2018

Quiroga, Horacio (2001): CUENTOS DE LA SELVA, Pehuén 2001.  (Español)

Kahneman, Daniel (2011): THINKING, FAST AND SLOW, 

Murakami, Haruki (2017): MEN WITHOUT WOMEN, Knopf 2017

Obama, Barack (2020): A PROMISED LAND, Penguin / Audible 2020

Torres, Mara (2012): LA VIDA IMAGINARIA, eBook - Planeta 2012   (Español)

Abulafia, David (2020): THE BOUNDLESS SEA: A Human History of the Oceans, eBook

Coll, Steve (2018): DIRECTORATE S: The CIA and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, eBook

2020     ...................................................

Ogawa, Yoko (2009): THE HOUSEKEEPER AND THE PROFESSOR, eBook

George, Susan (1976): HOW THE OTHER HALF DIES, eBook

Frankl, Viktor (1946): MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING, ebook

Tumbe, Chinmay (2018): INDIA MOVING - A History of Migration, Penguin-Viking

Yousaf, Mohammad, Mark Adkin (2002): AFGHANISTAN, THE BEAR TRAP - The Defeat of a Superpower, eBook

Stanley, Amy (2020): STRANGER IN THE SHOGUN'S CITY - A Japanese Woman and Her World, eBook

Junger, Steven (2009): WAR, eBook

Zamzar (20xx): SPANISH SHORT STORIES FOR BEGINNERS, eBook

McPhee, John (1998): ANNALS OF THE FORMER WORLD, Lib Genesis

Jerome K Jerome (1889): THREE MEN IN A BOAT (To Say Nothing of the Dog), Library Genesis 

Halan, Monica (2018): LET'S TALK MONEY, Harper Business 2018

Dalrymple, William (2018): THE ANARCHY - The East India Company, Corporate Violence and the Pillage of an Empire


Harari, Yuval Noah (2018): 21 LESSONS FOR THE 21st CENTURY, Penguin Random House 2018


Singh, Sarbpreet (2019): THE CAMEL MERCHANT OF PHILADELPHIA - Stories from the Court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Tranquebar / Westland Publications PL, 2019


Patil, Vishwas (1988/2019): PANIPAT - Translated from Marathi by Nadeem Khan, Eka / Westland Publications 2019


Tharoor, Shashi (2019): THE HINDU WAY - An Introduction to Hinduism


Hariri, Yuval Novah (2015): SAPIENS - A Brief History of Humankind, Vintage Books London

2019     ...................................................

De Rohit (2018): A PEOPLE'S CONSTITUTION - Everyday Life of Law in the Indian Republic, Princeton University Press


Bryson, Bill (1997): A WALK IN THE WOODS, Black Swan 1998


Joseph, Tony (2018): EARLY INDIANS - The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From, Juggernaut


Taseer, Aatish (2018): THE TWICE BORN - Life and Death Along the Ganges, Fourth Estate India


Morton-Jack, George (2018): THE INDIAN EMPIRE AT WAR - From Jihad to Victory - The Untold Story of the Indian Army in the First World War
- Blogpost here


Schipper, Mineke (2017): NAKED or COVERED - A History of Dressing or Undressing Around the World, Speaking Tiger



Hosseini, Khaled (2018): SEA PRAYER, Penguin RH


Ramakrishnan, Venki (2018): GENE MACHINE - The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome, Harper Collins India, 2018


Jacobson, Howard (2010): THE FINKLER QUESTION (audiobook)


Das, Gurcharan (2018): KAMA - THE RIDDLE OF DESIRE


Iyengar, Sheena (2010): THE ART OF CHOOSING, Little Brown, London 2010


Pillai, Manu S (2018): REBEL SULTANS - The Deccan from Khilji to Shivaji, Juggernaut

2018     ...................................................

Raghavan, Srinath (2018): THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE - A History of the United States in South Asia, Pelican Allen-Lane (Random House)


Devadas, David (2018): THE GENERATION OF RAGE IN KASHMIR, Oxford University Press

Peretti, Jacques (2017): DONE: The Secret Deals that are Changing our World, Hodder & Stoughton


Bagchi, Subroto (2009): THE PROFESSIONAL, Penguin Portfolio 2009


Lal, Ankit (2017): INDIA SOCIAL: How Social Media is Leading the Charge and Changing the Country, Hachette India 2017



Tully, Mark (2017): UP COUNTRY TALES - Once Upon a Time in the Heart of India, Speaking Tiger 2017


Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr (1963): ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH, Penguin Books


Paz, Octavio (1995): IN LIGHT Of INDIA - Translated from Spanish by Eliot Weinberger, The Harville Press, London


Murakami, Haruki (2009-11): 1Q84 - Book I, II and III 


Poonam, Snigdha (2018): DREAMERS - How Young Indians are Changing Their World, Penguin-India


Vittal, N (2018): MODI'S MIRACLE - Shift to Right, Sage


Erum, Nazia (2017): MOTHERING A MUSLIM - The Dark Secrets in Our Schools and Playgrounds, Juggernaut



Livio, Mario (2014): BRILLIANT BLUNDERS - From Darwin to Einstein, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2014


Haskar, Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel (1998 translation): SIMHASANA DVATRIMSIKA - Thirty-Two Tales of the Throne of Vikramaditya 


Shafak, Elif (2010): THE FORTY RULES OF LOVE -- Never knew that the the man behind the genius of Rumi was a dervish called the Shams of Tabriz...and of similarities with Vedanta.

2017     ...................................................

Bar-Zohar, Michael and Nissim Mishal (2015): COMMANDO - The Death Defying Missions of the Israeli Special Forces, JAICO -- makes you wonder how so many SF guys ended up as prime ministers in Israel...


Farivar, Masood (2009): CONFESSIONS OF A MULLAH WARRIOR, Atlantic Books London -- answers the question - 'How exactly are zealots created?'


Higashino, Keigo (2012): THE SALVATION OF A SAINT, Abacus Publishing - a whodonit with the finer points of making coffee.


Rajan Raghuram G (2017): I DO WHAT I DO, Harper Business, 2017 - mostly a collection of old lectures. Denser than expected.


Bhattacharjee, Kalol (2017): THE GREAT GAME IN AFGHANISTAN - Rajiv Gandhi, General Zia and the Unending War, Harper Collins India, 2017


Aroor, Shiv and Rahul Singh (2017): INDIA'S MOST FEARLESS - True Stories of Modern Military Heroes, Penguin Books


Pamuk, Orhan (2017): THE RED HAIRED WOMAN, Penguin Random House India (This time it's Rustom and Sohrab, from Shahnama, the Persian classic...but how come Mr. Cek's lawyer failed to include the son's pic in his detective report? :/  )


Bagchi, Subroto (2017): SELL - The Art, the Science, the Witchcraft, Hachette India (A quick, easy read, with some nuggets strewn along the way)


Doniger,Wendy (2017): THE RING OF TRUTH: And Other Myths of Sex and Jewelry (Dense - in an academic kind of way)


Mairowitz, David Zane (1990): KAFKA FOR BEGINNERS (Graphic Novel - brilliant illustrations and narrative)


Mukherjee, Neel (2017): A STATE OF FREEDOM, Penguin


Singh, Kushwant (2017): EXTRAORDINARY INDIANS - A Book of Profiles


Higashino, Keigo (2014): MALICE, LittleBrown UK (Wheels within wheels that gets a bit tiresome towards the end - despite detective Kaga)


Dalrymple, William (2013): RETURN OF A KING: The Battle for Afghanistan, Bloomsbury Publishing (Another brilliant piece of scholarly story-telling!)


Dalrymple, William and Anita Anand (2016): KOHINOOR - Story of the World's Most Infamous Diamond, Juggernaut Books


Dubey, Amit (2017): RETURN OF THE TROJAN HORSE, Platinum Press, Time Group Books, 2017



Sapru, Abhay Narayan (2017): THE BECKONING ISLE - The Real Special Forces Story, Wisdom Tree / Chlorophyll Fiction


Bar-Zohar, Michael and Nissim Mishal (2016): MOSSAD - The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service, JaiCo Publishing House, New Delhi


Barker, Eric (2017): BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong


Allen, Charles (2003): A MOUNTAIN IN TIBET: The Search for Mount Kailas and the Source of the Great Rivers of Asia, Abacus 2017



Nilekani, Nandan and Viral Shah (2015): REBOOTING INDIA: Realizing a Billion Aspirations, Allen Lane-Penguin India


Thompson, Craig (2011): HABIBI (Graphic Novel)


Clydesdale, Greg (2016): WAVES OF PROSPERITY - India, China and the West: How Global Trade Transformed the World


Kalidasa (circa 170 BCE - 634 CE): RAGHUVAMSAM  - The Line of Raghu

Surendran, C.P (2015): HADAL (ISRO Spy Scandal repackaged)

Kshemendra (990-1070 CE): THE COURTESAN'S KEEPER (Samaya Maatrika) - Tanslated from Sanskrit by A.N.D. Haskar, Penguin Classics  (What a brilliant piece of work! - makes you see Sanskrit language in a new light :) )

Brittlebank, Kate (2016): TIGER - The Life of Tipu Sultan, Juggernaut-Delhi

2016     ...................................................

Tharoor, Shashi (2016): AN ERA OF DARKNESS - The British Empire in India, Aleph-India, 2016

Aiyar, Pallavi (2013): PUNJABI PARMESAN - Dispatches from a Europe in Crisis, Hamish Hamilton / Penguin 2013

Haskar, A.N.D (2014): JATAKAMALA - Stories from Buddha's Previous Births, Harper Collins India

Sanyal, Sanjeev (2016): OCEAN OF CHURN - How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History, Penguin Random House 2016

Orwell, George (1945): ANIMAL FARM 

Greene, Graham (1969): COLLECTED ESSAYS, The Bodney Head Ltd.

Banville, John (2005): THE SEA

Sharma, Ruchir (2016): THE RISE AND FALL OF NATIONS - Ten Rules of Change in the Post-Crisis World, Allen Lane India

Pillai, Manu (2015): THE IVORY THRONE - Chronicles of the House of Travancore, Harper Collins India

Mukherjee, Siddhartha (2016): THE GENE: An Intimate History, Allen Lane / Penguin; NYT Review

Hemingway, Ernest (1926): THE SUN ALSO RISES, AudioBooks

Davidar, David (2014): A CLUTCH OF INDIAN MASTERPIECES - Extraordinary Stories from the 19th Century to the Present, Aleph, 2014

Raghavan, Srinath (2016): INDIA'S WAR - The Making of Modern South Asia 1939-1945, Penguin

Fosryth, Frederick (2010): THE COBRA, GPutnam & Sons (Kindle)

Rinpoche, Sogyal (2012): TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING, HarperOne

Fosryth, Frederic (2015): THE OUTSIDER: My Life in Intrigue, GPutnam & Sons

Levi, Scott (2015): CARAVANS: Indian Merchants on the Silk Road

Ninan T.N (2015): THE TURN OF THE TORTOISE - The Challenge and Promise of India's Future, Penguin India

Bryson, Bill (2015): THE ROAD TO LITTLE DRIBBING - More Notes from a Small Island

Yamamatsu, Yukichi (2015): STUPID GUY GOES to INDIA (Indo e Baka ga Yattekita) , Translated by Kumar Sivasubramanan, Nihonbun Geisha Tokyo / Blaft Publications PL, Chennai
- Review in the Hindu

Karnad, Raghu (2015): FARTHEST FIELD: An Indian Story of the Second World War, Random House India


2015     ...................................................


Rajdou, Navi and Jaideep Prabhu (2015): FRUGAL INNOVATION - How to Do Better With Less, The Economist, 2015

Gawande, Atul (2009): THE CHECKLIST MANIFESTO: How to Get Things Right, Penguin Viking 2009

Pamuk, Orhan (2004): ISTANBUL : Memories and the City, Vintage Intl, 2006

Radjou, Navi, Jaideep Prabhu & Simone Ahuja (2013): JUGAAD INNOVATION, Random House India

Kaplan, Robert D (2012): THE REVENGE OF GEOGRAPHY: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate, Random House, NY

Tripathy, Salil (2014): THE COLONEL WHO WOULD NOT REPENT - The Bangladesh War and its Unquiet Legacy,

Bagchi, Subroto (2013): ZEN GARDEN - Conversations with Pathmakers. Portfolio/Penguin, 2013

Doniger, Wendy (2009): THE HINDUS - An Alternative History , Penguin / Viking 2009

Sharma, Robin (2008): THE GREATNESS GUIDE 2

Singh, VK, Maj.Gen. (2007): INDIA'S EXTERNAL INTELLIGENCE - Secrets of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Manas Publications, New Delhi, 2007

Kumar, Rajeev (2014): INTRAPRENEURS @ MJUNCTION - The making of an e-commerce giant, Rupa India 2014

Hemmingway, Ernest (1932): DEATH IN THE AFTERNOON

Morrison, Tony (2008): A MERCY

Murakami, Haruki (2006): BLIND WILLOW, SLEEPING WOMAN

Mehta, Vinod (2014): EDITOR UNPLUGGED: Media, Magnates, Netas and Me

Mukherjee, Siddhartha (2010): EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES

Singh, Daman (2014): STRICTLY PERSONAL - Manmohan & Gursharan, Harper Collins India

Rushdie, Salman (2001): FURY 

Johnson, Faith (2013): FOUR MILES TO FREEDOM - Escape from a Pakistani POW Camp, Random House, New Delhi-- Surprising to know that Chuck Yeager was going around in full USAF uniform, interrogating IAF POWs!

Hesse, Hermann (1930): NARCISSUS AND GOLDMUND -- Into the mind of a compulsive wanderer in the middle ages... the portrayal of the great plague is haunting.

Rushdie, Salman (2005): SHALIMAR THE CLOWN -- Like a patchwork quilt with some outstanding bits here and there, but, on the whole not quite Rushdie enough..

Morris, Ian (2014): WAR - What is it Good For? , Profile Books, London, 2014

Gawande, Atul (2014): BEING MORTAL - Medicine  and What Matters in the End, Penguin, 2014

2014     ...................................................

Guha, Ramachandra (2014): MAKERS OF MODERN ASIA - I was keen to know more about leaders like Ho Chi Minh but this was more about political context than personalities. Disappointed. Here is a  review from the Economist

Bellow, Saul (1953): ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH - A wonderful 'bildungsroman' - coming-of-age story set in the depression years of Chicago.

Atwood, Margaret (2000): THE BLIND ASSASSIN - Two sister's coping with a family business that has run aground..

Guha, Ramachandra (2012): PATRIOTS & PARTISANS, Allen Lane, 2014

Krishnamurthy V (2014): AT THE HELM - A Memoir, Collins Business, 2014 - A common thread runs through BHEL, Maruti-Suzuki and SAIL...

Ashtavakra Gita: Discourse by Swami Nirmalananda Giri

Sanyal, Sanjeev (2012): LAND OF SEVEN RIVERS - A Brief History of India's Geography, Penguin Global, 2012

Hemingway, Ernest (1961): SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO and Other Short Stories -- I liked the last one the best - "The Short Life of Francis Macomber" (is there a better description of a lion-hunt?)

Mantel, Hilary (2009): WOLF HALL - The gory life and times of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII

Orwell, George (1938): HOMAGE TO CATALONIA -- Franco's Spain, and the Civil War unveiled.

Murakami, Haruki (1982): WILD SHEEP CHASE - All the essential Murakami ingredients are there - cats, music, food, surreal experiences.... plus an odd sheep, a blood clot and a girlfriend with exquisite ears.

Grass, Gunter (): PEELING THE ONION - My first peek into life during war-time Germany... great narrative but it still leaves you with the impression that Grass is not being entirely truthful..

Philip Roth (1959): GOODBYE, COLUMBUS: A mixed bag..."Defender of the Faith" left an impression..

Deepa & Raja Kodikal (2000): LIFE OF BHAGAWAN NITYANANDA, Kohinoor Printers, Mumbai

Philip Roth (1997): AMERICAN PASTORAL: A neat little window into the world of leather workers (esp. glove mfrs), cattle breeding, Jewish middleclass, anti-Vietnam War protests, and, surprisingly, Jainism!

Chatwin, Bruce (1977): IN PATAGONNIA, AudioBook

Achebe, Chinua (1958): THINGS FALL APART, AudioBook -- very evocative use of language -- a book about Okonkwo and the white man's "Pacification of primitive tribes of the Lower Niger"...

Satrapi, Marjane (2006): EMBROIDERIES, eBook -- chai & granny's gossip in Tehran

Brookner, Anita (1984): HOTEL DU LAC, AudioBook

Pattanaik, Devdutt (2013): BUSINESS SUTRA -  A Very Indian Approach to Management, Aleph Book Company

Murakami, Haruki (1988): DANCE DANCE DANCE, AudioBook

Naipaul, V.S (1979): A BEND IN THE RIVER, AudioBook -- brilliant narrative

Gladwell, Malcom (2013): DAVID AND GOLIATH - Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, Little Brown

Mahfouz, Naguib (1981) : ARABIAN DAYS AND NIGHTS: A Novel, AudioBook

Ramo, Hoshua Cooper (2009): THE AGE OF THE UNTHINKABLE, Little, Brown & Co.

Allen, Charles (2012): ASHOKA: India's Lost Emperor, Little Brown & Co.

Singh, Natwar K (2012): WALKING WITH LIONS: Tales from a Diplomatic Past, Harper-Collins India

Boo, Katherine (2012): BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS - Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, Hamilton-Penguin, India

Manto, Saadat Hasan(): BITTER FRUIT - The Very Best of Saadat Hasan Manto - Edited & Translated by Khalid Hasan, Penguin, 2008

Raman, B (2007): THE KAOBOYS OF R&AW, Lancer Publishers, 2007 - eBook here - http://getebook.org/?p=112368

Sapru, Abhay Narayan (2013): IN THE VALLEY OF SHADOWS, Chlorophyll -- Good to see the Para's telling their stories..

Levy, Adrian and Cathy Scott-Clark (2013): THE SIEGE - The Attack on the Taj, Penguin -- blogpost here.

Dawkins, Richard (2009): THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH - The Evidence for Evolution, Bantam Press, 2009

Churchill, Winston (): BLOOD, TOIL, TEARS & SWEAT - Collected Speeches, Penguin

Sharma, Ruchir (2010): BREAKOUT NATIONS - In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles, Penguin India


2013     ...................................................

Pattanaik, Devdutt Dr.,  (2006): MYTH = MITHYA: A Handbook of Indian Mythology, Penguin India 2006

Joseph, Mathai (2013): DIGITAL REPUBLIC - India's Rise to IT Power, Power Publisher's Kolkata

Aurelius, Marcus (CE 121-180): MEDITATIONS

Khan, Mumtaz Ali (Sri.M): APPRENTICED TO A HIMALAYAN MASTER, Magenta Press (2010)

Suzuki, Shunryu (1970): Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, e-Book narrated by Peter Coyote

Naipaul, Vidiadhar Surajprasad (1961): A HOUSE FOR Mr. BISWAS, Kindle-Ed

Munshi, Porus (2009): MAKING BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATION HAPPEN, Collins Business, 2009

Rushdie, Salman (1995): EAST, WEST, Vintage, 1995

Perkins, John (): THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE, Dutton

Wei, Zhang (2008): THE ANCIENT SHIP, Harper Perennial Modern Chinese Classics, 2008

Gladwell, Malcom (2008): OUTLIERS, Kindle



2012     ...................................................

Faulks, Sabastien (1993): BIRDSONG (Kindle Ed.)

Okakura, Kakuzo (1912): THE BOOK OF TEA (Kindle Ed.)

Gopinath, G.R, Capt., (2010): SIMPLY FLY, Harper Collins India, 2010

Devadoss, Manohar (2007): MULTIPLE FACETS OF MY MADURAI, 

Ropp, Paul S. (2010): CHINA IN WORLD HISTORY, Oxford University Press, 2010

Tully, Mark (2007): INDIA'S UNENDING JOURNEY, Random House India, 2007


Hoover, Thomas (1988): THE SAMURAI STRATEGY (Fiction/Thriller), Kindle Edition 


Hazarika, Sanjoy (1994): STRANGERS IN THE MIST - Tales of Watr and Peace from India's North-East, Viking-Penguin India


Verghese, BG (1990): WATERS OF HOPE: Himalaya-Ganga Cooperation for a Billion People, Oxford-IBH, Delhi, 1990. 

Corbett, Jim (1944): MAN-EATER'S OF KUMAON, Oxford University Press, New Delhi --- Full Text from Internet Archives 

Stepan, Alfred, Juan J. Linz and Yogendra Yadav: CRAFTING STATE NATIONS - India and Other Multinational Democracies, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2011

Austin, Granville (1999): WORKING A DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION, OUP, Oxford India Paperbacks

Twain, Mark (Samuel L. Clemens): WHAT IS MAN? AND OTHER ESSAYS, Kindle E-books

Hanif, Mohammad (2008): A CASE OF EXPLODING MANGOES, Random House -- This was a let-down...I wonder what the reviewers found so funny in this book. Also, is Maj.Kiyani now Gen. Kayani? 

Hoover, Thomas (1980): THE ZEN EXPERIENCE, Kindle Edition -- Quite an eye-opener - especially the portion on 

Jalan, Bimal (2007): INDIA'S POLITICS - A View From the Back-Bench, Penguin Global (Note at Jalan's website)

Scoones, Ian (2005): SCIENCE, AGRICULTURE AND THE POLITICS OF POLICY: THE CASE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN INDIA, Orient Longman India, 2005

2011     ...................................................

Bhagat, Dhiren (1990): The Contemporary Conservative, Viking/Penguin Books India, 1990

Galbraith, John Kenneth (1975): Money - Whence It Came, Where It Went, Bantam Books, New York, 1975

Hemmingway, Ernest (1952): The Old Man and the Sea - Another book that improves with age :)

Gonick, Larry (2009): Cartoon History of the Modern World, Part-I - Brilliant! Can't wait to get my hands on Part-II and the rest.

Ananth, Sashikala (1999): Vaastu - The Classical Indian Science of Architecture and Design, Penguin-India, 1999

Haskar, Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel (2000): Shuka Saptati - Seventy Tales of the Parrot, Harper Collins, India, 2000

McDonald, Hamish (2010): Ambani & Sons - The Making of the World's Richest Brothers and their Feud (Formerly titled as The Polyster Prince), Lotus-Roli, 2010

"Kazuma Tateisi: The Story of OMRON & Ninety Years of Driving Innovation"

Nilekani, Nandan (2008): Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century,  Penguin India / Allen Lane

Stein, Burton (2005): The New Cambridge History of India - Vijayanagara,  Cambridge, 2005

Ahamed, Liaquat (2009): Lords of Finance. Windmill Books

O'Hare, Mick (2006): Why Don't Penguin's Feet Freeze?, New Scientist / Profile Books (Collection of Q&A from the "Last Word")

Ghosh, Amitav (2010): River of Smoke (Ibis Trilogy - II), Wiki article

Diyanni, Robert (2008): One Hundred Great Essays (Third Edition)

Talbott, Strobe (2004): Engaging India - Diplomacy, Democracy and the Bomb

Gaarder, Jostein (1995): Sophie's World

Tolstoy, Leo (1877): Anna Karenina

Bowles, Paul (1949). The Sheltering Sky

Shourie, Arun (2010).We Must Have No Price: National Security, Reforms, Political Reconstruction

Yoro, Takeshi (2003). Baka no Kabe - The Wall of Fools.
(Is it the translation that makes Japanese scholars appear to be so full of themselves? or is it just the way they are? This is the sort of book that makes you wonder about `bestsellers` in Japan... Yoro`s book does have some gems though - tucked away under loads of drivel.)

Ellul, Jacques (1965). Propaganda - The Formation of Men`s Attitudes. Vintage Books, NY
Excerpt - here.

Diamond, Jared (1997). Guns, Germs and Steel - the Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton & Co. New York.
Wiki-page - here; Google videos - Part 1/3.

Daviron, Beniot and Ponte, Stefano (2005). The Coffee Paradox - Global Markets, Commodity Trade and the Elusive Promise of Development.

Easterly, William (2001). The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economist's Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics.

Spiegelman, Art (1986). Maus -I: A Survivor`s Tale - My Father Bleeds History
Spiegelman, Art (1991). Maus -II: A Survivor`s Tale - And Here My Troubles Began


Weston, Anthony  Hackett(2009). A Rulebook For Arguments, 4th ed

Mauss, Marcel/translated by W.D. Halls/foreword by Mary Douglas. Norton(1990). The Gift : The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies


2010     ...................................................

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor (1880). The Brothers Karamazov  - my first book on a Kindle (what a boon for those who want to read bulky classics! :) )

Davis CB, Wilburn KE Jr., Robinson RE (1991), Railway Imperialism, Greenwood Press, New York, 1991


Odagiri Hiroyuki and Goto Akira (1996), Technology and Industrial Development in Japan - Building Capabilities by Learning Innovation and Public Policy, OUP-New York Press, 1996


Murakami, Haruki (2007), What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, 

Drea, Edward J (2009), Japan's Imperial Army - Its Rise and Fall (1853-1945), University of Kansas, 2009

Frank, Andre Gunder (1998), ReOrient - Global Economy in the Asian Age, University of California Press, 1998

Mokyr, Joel (1990), The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity & Economic Progress, Oxford University Press, 1990

An Artist of the Floating World - Kazuo Ishiguro
Story of Masuji Ono, former artist of the floating world (pleasure quarters), who becomes a member of the Cultural Committee of the Interior Department in pre-war Japan. Also Official Adviser to the `Committee of Unpatriotic Activities`...

2009     ...................................................

December 2009

Exploring Japanese Literature (Murray, Kondansha)
Short-stories by Yasunari Kawabata, Yukio Mishima and Juichiro Tanizaki


In A Free State (V.S. Naipaul)
Loved the story `One Out Of Many` and `The Circus at Luxor`.




November 2009
Persepolis - The Story of A Childhood (Marjane Satrapi)
This is one graphic-novel I wanted to borrow for a long time now. Recently I got to know that it was available online, for free! It was a quick, good read. Now I want to know more about 'dialectic materialism' (Marx, Descartes), Ashraf Darvishian (Iranian Dickens), Iron Maiden and Kim Wilde, and, of course, the neo-colonial games (1935-1979) that led to the 'Islamic revolution' in Iran.

After the Quake (Haruki Murakami)
A couple of months ago I had sworn not to pick up another Murakami. But as Oscar Wilde said, "The best way to resist temptation is to yield". This was a collection of stories distantly related to the Kobe earthquake. A quick read - the last two stories were the best.


My Brother, Ant (Betsy Byars, illustrated by Marc Simont)
A wonderful little bed-time storybook for kids!

October 2009

The Pianist (Wladyslaw Szpilman)
Story of a man's survival in Warsaw (1939-45), saved, in part, by Chopin's Nocturne in C Sharp Minor. A one-day read after a long time - thanks to Typhoon 18/Melor, which hit Tsukuba today morning (8 Oct 2009)!
Lost Japan (Alex Kerr)
Lots of interesting insights on the transformation of Japan during the past 40 years. See this post for details.

September 2009

The Canon - A Wirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science (Natalie Angier)

August 2009

South of the Border, West of the Sun (Haruki Murakami)
Please see this post.

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (Haruki Murakami)
This must be the most surreal, other-worldly book I've read this year. Totu Okada is taking a break from being a salary-man, and lives a sedate life with his wife Kumiko. Trouble starts when their cat disappears. Desperate to find the cat (named Noboru Wataya, after Kumiko’s obnoxious brother), a sorority of clairvoyants come into the picture (Creta & Malta Kano), followed by a mother & son pair (Nutmeg & Cinnamon Asakasa) with similar talents, and a precocious teenager in the neighborhood - May Kasahara.If anything stands out in this book, it is the link with the Russia-Japan wars in the Mongolian border areas - especially the intelligence foray across the Khalka River in Outer Mongolia by Corporal Honda, Sergeant Hamano, Lieutenant Mamiya and Yamamoto, the intelligence officer. I am still haunted by the description of Yamamoto being skinned alive by Boris Gromov's 'specialist'...
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami

Murakami's are now beginning to feel like one of those Bollywood formula movies. The main characters love western classical music; somebody loves cats, cars and the right way of killing with bayonets. This story was an overdose of surreal metaphors and incestuous teenagers.
Kafka Tamura runs away from home, ends up in a private library. Mr. Nakata talks to cats and goes about looking for an 'entrance stone' with a truck-driver named Hoshino. Fatelines cross in the last few pages...long-winded and disappointing.
Little Book of Famous Insults (Edited by Betty Jo Ramsey; Illustrations - Fitz Kredel)
My favourites -
"Do not insult the mother alligator until after you have crossed the river." -- Haitian Proverb
Iphicrates, the Athenian general, was the son of a shoemaker. When a descendant of a Harmodius reproached the general for his ignoble birth, Iphicrates replied, "The nobility of my family begins with me; that of yours ends with you."
"Canning in office is like a fly in amber. Nobody cares about the fly: the only quesion is, 'How the devil did he get there?'" -- Rev Sydney Smith

A Stream of Windows - Jagdish Bhagwati
July 2009

A Hundred Verses from Old Japan (Hyaku-nin-isshu)
Please see A Few Tanka Verses.

Short-Stories by Ryonosuke Akutagawa

May 2009

Fooled by Randomness (Nassim Nicholas Taleb):

My first book from the Tsukuba University library... a good thing to read when you're exasperated by all those probability assignments on continuous random variables.

April 2009
Anil's Ghost (Michael Ondaatje):

Disappointing... I'd expected something better after 'The English Patient'
March 2009
Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez):

Florentino Ariza, in the evening of his life, finally wins the confidence of his childhood sweetheart, Fermina Daza (widow of Dr. Juvenal Urbino). To think there may actually be people out there who are so compulsively obsessed with winning a woman's love, across a span of 50 years maybe be romantic to some. To me the very idea is disconcerting. But what a story!

February 2009
The Last Mughal (William Dalrymple):

Please see this post.

January 2009

Where The Rain Is Born - writings about Kerala (edited by Anita Nair) :
What a wonderful collection of articles! Some of them were quite thought-provoking -

• Charlis & I - Shashi Tharoor - The amazing social transformation in Kerala over the past 50 years, seen through the eyes of ST and his childhood friend, M.C. Thekkote, IAS.
• Fool's Paradise - Ammu Joseph - setting the record straight on the freedom allegedly enjoyed by the women of Kerala.
• കര്കിടകം (Karkitakam) - M.T Vasudevan Nair - Dignity, self-respect and one day in the life of a hungry schoolboy. Wish I could read / listen to the original in Malayalam!

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LINK to BOOKS 2008 - http://dinakarr.blogspot.com/search?q=books+2008
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