Gaurav's Blog

My Bookshelf in 2012

 

 

So, here's how my bookshelf looked in the year gone by:

Land of Naked People- Encounters with Stone Age Islanders

This book on Andaman Islands completely changed my thinking what 'development' on the island should mean. Madhusree Mukherjee has done a commendable job (she has also authored another book called Churchill's secret war). Corruption amongst this Union territories administration was an eye-opener. I still believe responsible tourism in some parts of the Islands can co-exist with saving the tribal population on them but the means to get to this end is something that must see a radical shift. Mass tourism of the sort at say Phuket, which is close by, is not for the Andamans. Instead Maldives could be a role model for its development. The Airport at Port Blair (interestingly built by the invading Japanese during the Second World War) must be built up further and made into an International one.

The Racist guide to South Africa

This is apparently quite a popular book in South Africa, only I did not know about it until a friend urged me to read it and even provided a copy. Stereotypes versions of each race are explored and the book is just a delight to go through. Surprisingly, it is such an excellent guide for a foreigner to understand South Africans and their prejudices (and pride), much better than reading the politically correct 'Culture shock' guides. I even made a personal note to someday attempt a similar racist guide to India- one thing is for sure, it won't short of material.  

The Checklist Manifesto

Atul Gawande is a well known surgeon in the US and he writes as well. The year before this, when my daughter was born, I read through his first book: Better- a Surgeon's notes on Performance. I didn't need to read it to value checklists, but it just enhances one's belief in what systematic functioning could achieve. It is a good book to give to youngsters and I did give it to a young interning doctor at the hospital where my daughter was being operated, which is not to say it is only meant for medicos. It is equally useful for others.

The Real Heroes

This book is an offshoot of the TV program of the same name aired on CNN-IBN. It tells you of the life of ordinary Indians who, against insurmountable odds are something to make a difference to change status quo. Again, a hugely inspiring book and this is where I first learnt about Mary Kom, the boxer. Also about another 23 remarkable people, who inspire to act, to do something to change status quo and not just passively accept it. And those who think Indians don't love sport, read it to believe to what extent some of us have sacrificed.  Only for want of better resources these efforts haven't yet produced world champions.

The Tiger that Isn't- Seeing through the world of numbers

This is a fantastic book and the authors also had a popular BBC show. A good read for Journos who have make sense of number and do so in as little a space as possible. One sample: 'Average does not mean middle'.  

Adapt

Tim Harford is back. While this book disappointed me, I stuck through it. Worth a read.

The Great Arc- the dramatic tale of how India was mapped and Everest was named

This is John Keay's classic that I looked for 5 years before I found a copy in a seconds' bookshop, as the book was out of print. Imagine creating a GPS like system by physically measuring the Earth's surface in an age where they were no computers and all records were physically kept. This was such a remarkable feat and the effort it took was so humongous that it took decades to complete. Ironically, the man who started it all was not only forgotten, even his grave was remained unknown until the author discovered it. What a pity. The other thing that caught my attention while reading this book is the story of Radhanath Sikdar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radhanath_Sikdar), a Calcutta based mathematician who is much lesser known than Ramanujan for example, perhaps because he never stepped out of India. But he was known as the Computer in the Trigonometry survey of India program and he was the first one to calculate the height of Mount Everest. In an independent India, Mount Everest may well have been Mt. Sikdar. But George Everest, the one after whom the peak is named and was by far a more well known personality having stuck through the progress of the survey for years.     

Sway

This is a book on why sometimes, even the best trained amongst us, act in irrational ways. It is a remarkable book in the genre of the recent books on psychology.

What the Dog Saw

Malcolm Gladwell is by now a celebrated writer. This is his first book that I read- there are great chapters describing various things- of which how dogs interpret body language and hence the title. Definitely recommended reading for those uninitiated on Gladwell.

The Great Indian Middle Class

This is an old best seller by Pavan K. Verma that I picked up once again despite having read it before. It is still too early to say whether Middle class is changing its political behavior as to bring about real change in the Indian society, but we can definitely see churnings even as I write this. This book provides a great understanding of the Middle Class in the political sense and someone who expects to follow Indian politics must read it. For me, what was compelling was the parallels I could draw with whats happening in the South African society today and how the Black Middle Class here, although it does yet realize this, much less exercise it, has the power to change the politics of this country.

Butter Chicken in Ludhiana

This too was a bestseller released in 1995 and Pankaj Sharma's first book, he has gone on a long way, but this book, luckily for him, coincided with the time India was seeing its first real consumer culture. He managed to capture what this had done to the towns and cities across India in a very real way- in other words this is just a UAI (Usage, Attitude, and Image) study minus the marketing speak. If you want to understand the psychology behind the consumer in small town India, this is the book to read.  

Lucknow Boy

Journalism has boomed in India – there are 100's of me too TV channels as there are print magazines, so I thought it will be a good idea to read about the media. There is a lot of gossip, which has no purpose except keeping the reader hooked and but there is also a good sense one gets of how a publication functions and the balancing act its editor must perform despite pressures.  

That was it. It was a surprise to go through this list myself- not one of these books were on my planned reading list for 2012, but then I never let my plans overtake my instincts.