Book Summary- The Professional by Subroto Bagchi

The Professional

By

Subroto Bagchi

(Portfolio/Penguin, New Delhi, 2009, 217 pages)

The world is increasingly getting professional.  But, the author states that the term, “Professional”, is not merely a means of “earning a livelihood, just another way to get ahead in life, build and seek further material comfort to eventually enjoy retired life”, but actually “nothing short of a religion”, while, the capacity to serve was “a blessing of life”.

Book Summary- The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox

Publication Details:

“The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox; Productivity and Quality Publishing Private Limited, Madras; Special Edition, 2013 (First Published 1984); Rs. 495; 342 pages (299 pages of the novel per se).

Introduction:

          “The Goal” is a physicist- turned- management guru’s explanation of his Theory of Constraints (TOC) in the physical transformation process of manufacturing, through the medium of a business novel. This book also inaugurated a trend for his subsequent novels, which applied and extended this theory. It doesn’t need an intellectual to read and understand this book- it is written for the layman, and therein lies its biggest advantage. This eight million copy best seller is said to be widely used as a case study in Operations Management, and in helping students grasp the importance of strategic capacity planning and constraint management.

BOOK SUMMARY-The Underachiever’s Manifesto by Ray Bennett

The Underachiever’s Manifesto

The Guide to accomplishing little and feeling great

            By Ray Bennett, M.D., 2006, Chronicle Books 96pp. (85 pp. effective), $9.95(Rs.539 by Homeshop18)

            Underachiever? What does this writer want me to do? Does he want me to be a loser then? If that’s not the case, am I to be a pretender by feeling great without achieving greatness? If I had come across this book by myself, some of these reflections would have definitely crossed my mind. Thankfully, I have been spared of this natural thought process this time round, since the recommendation came from one of the serious readers of this page, Nanda. Thank you, Nanda, for the book suggestion.

Book Review - NITYASUMANGALI : DEVADASI TRADITION IN SOUTH INDIA by SASKIA. C. KERSENBOOM

NITYASUMANGALI :  DEVADASI TRADITION IN SOUTH INDIA 

by  

SASKIA. C.  KERSENBOOM

[Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Delhi, 1998 Reprint, pp. 226,  price: Rs 295]

This was a book reviewed by me ages ago. 

INTRODUCTION

Who was the Nityasumangali (ever-auspicious woman) the author was dealing with?  The Devadasi.  How can the devadasi, one of the most despised women, be an ever-auspicious person? Is it just another foreigner’s attempt to love Indian culture so much as to admire the seemingly anachronistic tradition?  Does she justify it?  These are the questions which strike any reader’s mind when she comes across this book and this reviewer is no exception.  A study of the book answers them.

Book Review- Candide by Voltaire (First published 1759)

(Details of Publication: First Published: 1759. E- reprint: 1998, Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project, http://www.esp.org. 98 pp, available free for scholarly and educational purposes, subject to statement of copyright (reproduced in the screenshot below)).

                Candide is considered to be the magnum opus of Francois- Marie Aruoet, a.k.a. Voltaire (1694-1778), a French writer, historian and philosopher of the Enlightenment Era. This novel is said to be the most taught piece of French literature.

            The introduction of the author itself is an indication of what to expect of his book. Yes, the reader can expect attacks on the established arbitrariness of that age. An add- on is a feel of the society of that time. The means by which this task of injecting modern and progressive ideas into the minds of the people is done classifies this book as one to be chewed and digested, despite the chill it sends down the spine of the reader.

Book Summary – Waiting for the Mahatma by R.K. Narayan

Book Summary – Waiting for the Mahatma

by R.K. Narayan

Indian Thought Publications, Chennai

27^th Reprint 2012, 256 pp, Rs. 125/-

          This is not one of wait to see the emancipation of one’s lot, rather it is of how a selfish individual waits for the Mahatma’s clearance to get married to the girl of his choice.

         

          The protagonist, Sriram, is an insipid person who can be easily influenced by anyone.  He grows up under the loving care of his grandmother, after the early death of his parents.

          When he is twenty, his grandmother hands over the fat sum of money she had been saving in his name.  His irresponsibility  is known immediately, when he wants to withdraw a huge sum of Rs. 250/-, but his watchful grandma restricts it to a decent Rs. 50/-.

Book Summary – The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes

The Sense of An Ending

by

Julian Barnes

Winner of the Man Booker Prize, 2011. 

Vintage 2012, Paperback, 150 pp, Rs. 299/-

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            The book narrates the revisit of the past in an old person’s life, which throws up a few surprises.

Book Summary – Dollar Bahu by Sudha Murty

  Dollar Bahu

                              by

                   Sudha Murty

Penguin Books India, 2007, 142 pp, Rs. 175/-

          My reading of Sudha Murty was intermittent.  It all changed when a friend ‘flipkart’ed a copy of her latest book, ‘The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk’.  I ordered all her available books and read them, but will summarize only three novels.  This is the first one.

Book Summary- One and a half wife by Meghna Pant

One and a half wife

By

Meghna Pant, Westland Ltd. 2012, 296 pp, Rs. 250/-

          Meghna Pant’s debut novel is interesting and deals with social and marital issues that the middle class face, but shy away from.  It traces the story of Amara Malhotra, who arrives in US and tries to live her mother’s version of American dream (posh and polished lifestyle yet Indian in values).  Her efforts to impress others by living someone else’s life always meet with failure, and her ‘Indianness’ makes her the bride of an ivy-educated millionaire, being his mother’s choice.  Then follows a life of Jekyll & Hyde – trying to be her Indian self from within and seeming to lead the husband-friendly lifestyle from without.  She forces herself to compromise on her likes and dislikes and tries to adjust to her husband.  She ends up with a double whammy – failing to rise up to his expectations as well as being herself.  All her efforts to ‘save’ the marriage prove futile, because her husband never wanted her in first place.  The truth of the failed marriage is something she has to come to terms with and at the same time, face the adversity of her parents and the ostracism of the Indian American community.