Hi all,
Even as board exams begin, and the season for paying taxes is on us, we at twistntales have reasons to celebrate!
As small independent booksellers, we have hiccupped, struggled, and slowly but surely taken a foothold in the reader’s mind in our neighbourhood. This has been largely due to our now numerous friends in this area and around. Most of you have started as first time walk – ins, liked us, stayed on to chat …. And now we have this large circle of well wishers, who in times of recession gently enquire if we are doing ok ….
This is amazing and touching. A big "thankyou" comes your way. We complete seven years in March’09 and if there’s a itch (7 years!), it is only to spur us on to do better. As mentioned in one of our earlier mails, we are almost done in the process of computerising our stocks, and we hope to start our billing system in April this year.
This will enable us to offer you twistntales on the net, for you – all our numerous friends who have either moved out of Pune or work long hours and are unable to visit us frequently. That’s our project for the following year, helping us reach out better and service your requirements better and faster.
But in the meantime, we have delighted in the process of searching, finding and sometimes chancing upon some absolutely "wow" books. Sharing this joy with you has been absolutely special for me and all of us who have been part of twistntales since we started. Many of us write on the twistntales blog (www.twistntales.blogspot.com) and we ask you to also share this exciting journey with us. If any of you will like to write on books, authors, styles, service deficiencies (yes!) service delights (yes, definitely), we will love to hear from you!
As part of our celebrations, we are happy to announce our Seventh Anniversary Sale starting on the 5th of March through till 15th March ‘09. Do make time and drop in to pick out from a vast selection and take advantage of the discounts that we are happy to give to all of you
As usual, we are looking for summer trainees, requirements for which have also been posted on the blog. Please check it out if you think your kids (min. Xth class) will be interested.
A few reviews have been done below – but a larger set of new and newer books have been listed – and many more to come! While Grisham’s new book (The Associate) is already in the racks, next week will see new Jeffrey Archer, Robin Cook, Wilbur Smith titles – True joy comes in pocket sized original versions, help us fight piracy. Join us, buy originals only!
New books
"The Silver Donkey" by Sonya Hartnett @ Rs. 195/-
Can ever a ‘Donkey’ could be anybody’s ‘Good – Luck Charm.? But yes, the soldier, Lieutenant Shepard, believes so …! The soldier is found, blinded by war, by the two sisters. They help him to reach home. In return, the soldier tells them the tales of bravery, loyalty and sacrifice perfectly connected to his keepsake – the tiny Silver Donkey! As the time passes, the sisters too learn the truth behind the object – it’s the symbol of honesty, loyalty and courage…! This is an excellent and marvellous novel for all ages.
"The Woman who thought she was a planet and other stories" by Vandana Singh @ Rs. 275/-
"I have had a revelation. I am a planet", she said with great dignity. Vandana Singh, brings various stories of fantasy and her unique imagination. In one story the woman thinks she’s a planet and that she is inhabited by small alien creatures.In another, a girl comes across a mysterious tetrahedron: is it a spaceship? Or, a secret weapon? Each story in this fabulous collection takes the reader on the hilarious and horrifying journey of both outer and inner space.
"The Summer Of Cool" by Suchitra Krishnamoorthi @ Rs.199/-
The Summer of Cool is a hip, funny story about friends, family and finding true love. Aimed at 13+ aged readers, the stories within a bustling apartment complex, in the course of school summer holidays – the various characters etched by the author are those that we can all recognise in our own neighbourhood and apartment complexes.
"China : A history" by John Keay @ Rs. 395/- (pgs566)
History has never been more fascinating than when story tellers recreate the stories of the past in a contemporary voice. John Keay has presented another masterpiece. China, our fascinating neighbour and the world’s largest nation merits the grand treatment. Early Chinese history still awaits a convincing re-write. But John Keay has done justice to his ambitious venture. Informed by the latest research, enlivened by anecdote and enriched by provocative comparisons, China : A History spans 3000 years of stop-start integration and extraordinary achievement !
"The Canon- A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science" by Natalie Angier @ Rs 399/-
"Science – Ugh! That’s why I took commerce! Haven’t we heard this before?" Here’s a book that gets you and your family really engrossed in the beauty that is science. Natalie Angier argues rightly so for an appreciation of the essentials of science just as much as Shakespeare or Beethovan. Written with remarkable wit and charm, it is a must read for science-phobes and science-philes alike! The Canon is an inspiring and imaginative tour through the basics of science, from astronomy to biology and beyond!
"A Mathematical mosaic – patterns and problem solving" by Ravi Vakil @ Rs. 250/-
Ravi Vakil is the winner of Canadian & American Olympiad. "Mathematical Mosaic" is really a mosaic containing math wonders and interconnected patterns, biographies of three greatest mathematician’s ever-Galois, Gauss, and Archimedes, portraits of young achievers of the past who had won the Mathematical Olympiads. It presents tiny tricks which help to solve big problems. It is a book to be read bit by bit and doesn’t require the perfect mathematical background.
"The 24X7 Marriage – smart strategies for good beginnings" by Vijay Nagaswami @ Rs. 250/-
Vijay Nagaswami, a psychiatrist, who has worked closely on Relations, writes on the ‘Smart Strategies’ of Marriages. In this book, he skilfully and humorously talks about some popular posed questions. He explains "Four Golden Rules" of clarifying expectations. In his opinion – "Marriage", as with any other field of endeavour, the trick is ‘Smart Work’, and not ‘Hard Work’. So whether you fall in love and get married or whether love comes to you after the wedding, it is the way you work on your marriage that determines how successful it will be…!
"The New Paradigm for Financial Markets – the credit crisis of 2008 and what it means" by George Soros @ Rs. 695/-
"This is the worst crisis since the Great Depression" writes Soros of the scale of the current financial distress. Moving from prevailing paradigms for financial markets and exploring a new conceptual framework of how markets really work, Soros makes an invaluable contribution in this concise essay. Soros is the founder of a global network of foundations dedicated to supporting open societies
"The Return of Depression Economics and the crisis of 2008" by Paul Krugman @ Rs. 399/-
Winner of the Nobel prize in Economics – Krugman shows why he can rightly be regarded as a true heir to Keynes. Lucidly describing the sequence of events in the money flows in the Asian crisis in 1990, this is a wake-up call for economically challenged policy makers. Brilliantly combining wit and clarity this is macro economics at its best. Taking on specific examples of countries, politics, speculators and currencies – Krugman writes an eminently readable and rattling good read.
"The Great Crash 1929" by John Kenneth Galbraith @ Rs. 399/-
Lending perspective to the daily headlines in the business pages is this book by Galbraith first published in 1954. Many of the companies on Obama’s bailout list have also starred in the earlier crash of 1929. This book is a remarkable account of those times, in turn lending perspective to recent events. Production, Unemployment, Money Supply and Currency are such strong market indicators and for those trying to understand what’s happening now in the current economic scenario, this book will serve as an excellent starter.
"Woodwinds of change – The authorized biography of Hariprasad Chaurasia" by Surjit Singh @ Rs. 600/-
One of the greatest and most important musicians of our times tells it as it was – and is- to long-time fan and music aficionado, Surjit Singh in this remarkable book, his only authorized biography. Eminently readable and brimming with anecdotes and memories, the book traces the long journey from wrestler’s son to music maestro, from AIR staff artiste to film studio sessions-man to music director to international guru. An invaluable document of music history from the man who turned the simple bansuri into a classical concert instrument par excellence.
"The Leadership Code: Five rules to lead by" by Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, Kate Sweetman @ Rs.1380/- (Pgs. 190).
Another winner from Dave Ulrich. Published by Harvard Business Press, the authors have tried to synthesize large numbers of frameworks, tools, processes and studies of leadership to identify the essential rules that govern what all great leaders do. Through the process, they have discovered and validated the five essential rules that all excellent leaders must follow through a framework of knowledge, skills and values common to all effective leaders. Illustrated with various assessment methods, a strategic toolkit for leadership and for building tomorrow’s leaders, The Leadership Code is a valuable addition to the current leadership literature.
"Brands Under Fire" by Ivan Arthur & Kurien Mathews @ Rs.499/- (Pgs. 214)
Big brands, big companies, big budgets and yet things can go wrong. Major brand and marketing gurus from India come together in this Sumantra Ghosal foundation supported book. Case studies from the recent past including Coke, Cadbury’s have been discussed and deliberated upon. Contributions and fresh insights on brands of the 21st century come from Rama Bijapurkar, Pranesh Mishra, Shiv Visvanathan and other stalwarts.
Lots of new additions to our collection. Some listed below:
Fiction:
"Tandoor Cinders" by Vilas Sarang @ Rs. 199/-
"Twilight" by Azhar Abidi @ Rs. 399/-
"Me and Kaminski" by Daniel Kehlmann and translated by Carol Brown Janeway @ Rs 425/-
"The Charlemagne Pursuit" by Steve Berry @ Rs 295/-
"The marriage bureau of rich people" by Farahad Zama @ 295/-
"Private Eye Anonymous – A graphic novel" by Tejas Modak @ Rs. 250/-
"The Wind from the Hills" by Sethu (trs. Prema Jayakumar) @ Rs. 250/-
"Countries of the Body" by Tishani Doshi @ Rs. 150/-
"I am a Special girl" by Amitava Banerjee @ Rs. 195/-
"Divine Justice" by David Baldacci @ Rs. 460/-
"Superstar Babes" by Narinder Dhami @ Rs. 150/-
"Bhangra Babes" by Narinder Dhami @ Rs. 150/-
"The Wedding Gift" by Poonam Rau @ Rs.150/-
"One Dozen Stories" by Satyajit Ray @ Rs. 199/-
"The Associate" by John Grisham @ Rs. 230/-
"Family Values" by Abha Dawesar @ Rs. 325/-
"Next Door: Stories" by Jahnavi Barua @ Rs. 250/-
"First Proof 4" @ Rs. 250/-
"Thanks For The Memories" by Cecelia Ahern @ Rs. 250/-
"Divya" by Yashpal @ Rs. 299/-
"Heroes Of The Valley" by Jonathan Stroud @ Rs. 450/-
"Fugitive Histories" by Githa Hariharan @ Rs. 450/-HB
"The Watchmaker" by Nanak Singh @ Rs. 250/-
"The Storyteller’s Tale" by Omair Ahmad @ Rs. 225/-
"Fated To Love" by Qaisra Shahraz @ Rs. 299/-
"Love’s Fury" by Qaisra Shahraz @ Rs. 299/-
"A Silence Of Desire" by Kamala Markandaya @ Rs. 250/-
"Chinnery’s Hotel" by Jaysinh Birjepatil @ Rs. 325/-
"The Lost Flamingoes Of Bombay" By Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghavi @ Rs. 499/-
""The Story Of My Assassins" By Tarun J. Tejpal @ Rs. 495/-
"Inkdeath" by Cornelia Funke @ Rs. 395/-
"Nose uncle" by Jaspar Utley @ Rs. 200/-
"the Imperial Agent" by Timeri Murari @ Rs. 399/-
"In the country of gold digging ants" by Anu Kumar @ Rs. 225/-
"Cappuccino Dusk" by Kankana Basu @ Rs. 295/-
"The portrait of a lady" by Khuswant singh @ Rs. 350/-
"Nothing is Blue" by Biman Nath @ Rs. 295/-
Management:
"Marketing Through Minefields" by Harvard Business Review Case Studies @ Rs. 670/-
"Leadership In The Era Of Economic Uncertainty: The New Rules For Getting The Right Things Done In Difficult Times" by Ram Charan @ Rs. 375/-
"Employment Personality Tests Decoded" by Anne Hart With George Sheldon @ Rs. 199/-
"Meatball Sundae – How new marketing is transforming the business world" by Seth Godin @ Rs. 295/-
"Enough – Breaking free from the world of excess" By John Naish @ Rs. 350/-
"Damodaran On Valuation – Security Analysis for Investment And Corporate Finance" By Aswath Damodaran @ Rs. 499/-
"Andy Grove: Intel, Leadership and Life" by Richard S. Tedlow @ Rs. 399/-
New titles from Wiley India :
"Overcoming The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team: A Field Guide For Leaders, Managers And Facilitators" by Patrick Lencioni @ Rs. 249/-
"Play To Your Strengths: Stacking The Deck To Achieve Spectacular Results For Yourself And Others" by Andrea Sigetich And Carol Leavitt @ Rs. 249/-
"Strategic Interviewing: How To Hire Good People" by Richaurd Camp, Mary E. Vielhaber And Jack L. Simonetti @ Rs. 329/-
"Kellogg On Integrated Marketing" by Dawn Iacobucci And Bobby Calder @ Rs. 399/-
"Seven Secrets Of Inspired Leaders" by Phil Dourado And Dr. Phil Blackburn @ Rs. 299/-
"The Portable MBA In Entrepreneurship" by William D. Bygrave And Andrew Zacharakis @ Rs. 429/-
"Energize Your Workplace: How To Create And Sustain High-Quality Connections At Work" by Jane E. Dutton @ Rs. 329/-
"Marketing Insights From A To Z: 80 Concepts Every Manager Needs To Know" by Phil Kotler @ Rs. 349/-
"Performance Driven C R M" by Stanley A. Brown & Moosha Gulycz @ Rs. 329/-
"Finance For Strategic Decision Making: What Non-Financial Managers Need To Know" by M. P. Narayanan And Vikram K. Nanda @ Rs. 329/-
"The Leadership Pipeline: How To Build The Leadership-Powered Company" by Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter And James Noel @ Rs. 399/-
"Executive Stamina: How To Optimize Time, Energy And Productivity To Achieve Peak Performance" by Marty Seldman And Joshua Seldman @ Rs. 349/-
Others:
"Say it like Obama – The power of speaking with a purpose and vision" by Shel Leanne @ Rs 375/-
"Girl ology – A girl’s guide to stuff that matters" by Melisa Holmes & Trish Hutchison @ 295/-
"The Book of Moinuddin Chishti" by Mehru Jaffer @ Rs. 250/-
"Delhi: Adventures in a megacity" by Sam Miller @ Rs.499/-
"Eicher Pune Road Map" @ Rs. 75/-
"Whistling in the Dark – Twenty-One Queer Interviews" by R. Raj Rao & Bibyajyoti Sarma @Rs. 375/-
"Nationalism" by Rabindranath Tagore @ Rs. 199/-
"A Time Of Transition: Rajiv Gandhi To The 21st Century" by Mani Shankar Aiyar @ Rs. 599/-
"Character Development : Beyond Academic Achievement" by Stephen Curtis @ Rs. 250/-
"Oneness With All Life (Treasury Edition) – Inspirational Selections From A New Earth" By Eckhart Tolle @ Rs. 450/-
"Goodbye To Gandhi? Travels In The New India" by Bernard Imhasly @ Rs. 425/-
"Michelle Obama: First Lady Of Hope" By Elizabeth Lightfoot @ Rs. 295/-
"Monster" by Allan Hall @ Rs. 225/-
"Rogue Agent" by Nandita Haskar @ Rs. 299/-
"Speaking for Myself – An anthology of Asian Women’s writing" Ed. By Sukrita Paul Kumar @ Rs. 650/-
"The Rice Cookbook" by Anuradha Ravindranath @ Rs. 250/-
"Binu and the great wall" by Su Tong @ Rs 325/-
"Fear and Forgiveness: The Aftermath of Massacre" by Harsh Mander @ Rs. 299/-
"My family’s favourites" by Marie Noelle (Chotti) D’Souza @ Rs. 600/-
Phew! And there’s more that’s not even listed! Do visit us and check it out for yourself!
Thanking you once again,
Janaki and the big happy team at,
twistntales
Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Series of (un) fortunate events - 2
Some are not posting stories... but they are coming on mail ....
so i shall have to do it for them !
"Hey Boss...whats up??
The whole documenting stories idea is very cool but I think we may have a problem.
Firstly, there are those stories where I have messed up...hehehe ...those I would obviously not mention.
Then there are so many controversial stories, how are we going to pick???
Like we could mention the "you must be joking" story but then, what if Tia was joking???...We can never be too sure right?
Then we could write about the whole HK story..but there are so many of those..and I may be unnecessarily dragged in..also I dont think we'll ever see either of them around..hmm ;-)
or we can mention how Billo sneaks out during work to meet her friends near the corner bench ...but then..Billo is going to beat us up sooo badly...not a good idea
can we mention Akash dancing?...isnt that supposed to be top secret..our marketing strategy??...
Tripuri and Neha danced in the store also..but I think they chased away the customers
And Twisty..how he helped us get customers...We cant tell them that can we??
I wonder if Anushree would always want to be known as the Colin girl..maybe she'll become famous like the liril add..hehehe
Ohhh..and the customer (Kuldip Joshi??..I think) who thinks there's some magic in the store cuz we recognize him when he asks for ordered books..we cant tell him our secret
Ah Ha!!! I've finally got it.We do have stories we can tell.
We can tell people how our staple diet is chips and naturals. Then maybe they'll drop by with some food.
And the coolest story...My hair on the bus stop.Boss, you do realise that was the only thing that made people look at the hoarding....See i can use my head sometimes.
Bye
tc
Shama"
so i shall have to do it for them !
"Hey Boss...whats up??
The whole documenting stories idea is very cool but I think we may have a problem.
Firstly, there are those stories where I have messed up...hehehe ...those I would obviously not mention.
Then there are so many controversial stories, how are we going to pick???
Like we could mention the "you must be joking" story but then, what if Tia was joking???...We can never be too sure right?
Then we could write about the whole HK story..but there are so many of those..and I may be unnecessarily dragged in..also I dont think we'll ever see either of them around..hmm ;-)
or we can mention how Billo sneaks out during work to meet her friends near the corner bench ...but then..Billo is going to beat us up sooo badly...not a good idea
can we mention Akash dancing?...isnt that supposed to be top secret..our marketing strategy??...
Tripuri and Neha danced in the store also..but I think they chased away the customers
And Twisty..how he helped us get customers...We cant tell them that can we??
I wonder if Anushree would always want to be known as the Colin girl..maybe she'll become famous like the liril add..hehehe
Ohhh..and the customer (Kuldip Joshi??..I think) who thinks there's some magic in the store cuz we recognize him when he asks for ordered books..we cant tell him our secret
Ah Ha!!! I've finally got it.We do have stories we can tell.
We can tell people how our staple diet is chips and naturals. Then maybe they'll drop by with some food.
And the coolest story...My hair on the bus stop.Boss, you do realise that was the only thing that made people look at the hoarding....See i can use my head sometimes.
Bye
tc
Shama"
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Series of (Un?)Fortunate Events
First Story of this Series is titled: Shama and the card machine
Shama had been working for quite a while at the store when this incident occurred. She had been working at the till, was used to the card machine and was struggling to remember Team tnt members.
One evening it was just Shama and me at the store when one such Team tnt member walks in. As usual, he selected a huge stack of books and plonked them down on the counter. Shama made the bill and was thrilled that she remembered his name and wrote it on the bill with a flourish. He gave his card to swipe, and Shama was so thrilled that she remembered his name that she forgot the policy!
After that there was complete mayhem for the next 15 seconds when she realised what had happened. What I remember is her jabbing at the red Cancel button on the card machine, saying "Oh shit! Cancel! Cancel! Cancel!!s"
Of course I shouldn't be one to say anything. Apparently when I started and Tia taught me how to work the card machine, I asked if I should swipe the other side as well.
Shama had been working for quite a while at the store when this incident occurred. She had been working at the till, was used to the card machine and was struggling to remember Team tnt members.
One evening it was just Shama and me at the store when one such Team tnt member walks in. As usual, he selected a huge stack of books and plonked them down on the counter. Shama made the bill and was thrilled that she remembered his name and wrote it on the bill with a flourish. He gave his card to swipe, and Shama was so thrilled that she remembered his name that she forgot the policy!
After that there was complete mayhem for the next 15 seconds when she realised what had happened. What I remember is her jabbing at the red Cancel button on the card machine, saying "Oh shit! Cancel! Cancel! Cancel!!s"
Of course I shouldn't be one to say anything. Apparently when I started and Tia taught me how to work the card machine, I asked if I should swipe the other side as well.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Looking for Summer Trainees !
Every year we have had smart students who have interned with us in the summer break. Apart from gaining a little pocket money (and to think of it, most of it gets spent in the Store itself), it gives them tremendous confidence, a sense of discipline and an understanding of the business process.
We have had Samar, Jharna, Neena (twice), Sharmista, Anushree, Apoorva and a few others.
We are looking now for Summer of 2009.
"Posts : two or three
Morning : 10 am to 2 pm (all days except mondays)
Evening : 4.30 pm to 9pm ( - do -)
Duration : April, May, June
Minimum Xth std (for morning slot) and XIIth std (for evening slot).
Good Spoken and Written English Language skills, PC skills, should love books and enjoy interaction with people.
If you are interested, please write a note on who you are, what you want to do and where we can reach you (adds./ ph.nos) and drop it off at the Store !
We have had Samar, Jharna, Neena (twice), Sharmista, Anushree, Apoorva and a few others.
We are looking now for Summer of 2009.
"Posts : two or three
Morning : 10 am to 2 pm (all days except mondays)
Evening : 4.30 pm to 9pm ( - do -)
Duration : April, May, June
Minimum Xth std (for morning slot) and XIIth std (for evening slot).
Good Spoken and Written English Language skills, PC skills, should love books and enjoy interaction with people.
If you are interested, please write a note on who you are, what you want to do and where we can reach you (adds./ ph.nos) and drop it off at the Store !
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
"Where's your book ?" they say....
Often i have been asked this.... when are you going to write a book .... on the "twisted tales" of tnt ! Of course, i have a standard answer. Most author profiles describe the authors living in a house tucked away in the hills.... or beach houses living a tranquil life writing a few hours a day...
Sigh ! Till i have a house in the hills and a Ramu Kaka to look after my chai needs.... well, my book can wait. But my stories can't ! We have many stories here @ tnt and most of them worth re-telling. Almost prompting me to steal the line from another famous store - "We are not a store, we are a story!"
Since tnt staff is scatterred all over and each one of them know a few stories of their time - i ask you all to help ! please write the stories here - in this blog ... so we can start documenting them. I think i know many, but i also realise that i do not know many ! which i'm discovering !
To start with, i started putting a sequence to - who worked when, what shift @ the store, and realised that i was starting to get dates/ years/ months wrong ! So, please help !
We started with Tejal and Mridula, both part-time, plus Dhiraj and Sanjay and Nirmala. Tejal and Mridula started in Mar 2002, Dhiraj (weekends), Sanjay (thrice a week). Nirmala started in May 2002. Through that year we had Rina, Nandana, Shefali and Shradha - correct ? Shradha - u and tejal need to confirm this.
2003 saw Ashok, Nisha, Samar, Jharna, Saroj and Sameer. Nisha was our first full time employee - joined us in Apr 2003 ? Saroj with Samar and then with Sameer worked on for a year till June 2004 ?
2004 saw Shefali (2nd stint), Rekha, Aarti and Geetanjali.
then i'm little lost. Tia - July 2005 to Mar 2007 ? Now fit the others - Alisha, Akash, Shrikant, Rahul, Sharmista ? the 2 physics boys - friends of shrikant - the 2 Ashishs ?
Now i'm truly lost - Samar, tia, weed, anushree- please put a sequence to this !
Sigh ! Till i have a house in the hills and a Ramu Kaka to look after my chai needs.... well, my book can wait. But my stories can't ! We have many stories here @ tnt and most of them worth re-telling. Almost prompting me to steal the line from another famous store - "We are not a store, we are a story!"
Since tnt staff is scatterred all over and each one of them know a few stories of their time - i ask you all to help ! please write the stories here - in this blog ... so we can start documenting them. I think i know many, but i also realise that i do not know many ! which i'm discovering !
To start with, i started putting a sequence to - who worked when, what shift @ the store, and realised that i was starting to get dates/ years/ months wrong ! So, please help !
We started with Tejal and Mridula, both part-time, plus Dhiraj and Sanjay and Nirmala. Tejal and Mridula started in Mar 2002, Dhiraj (weekends), Sanjay (thrice a week). Nirmala started in May 2002. Through that year we had Rina, Nandana, Shefali and Shradha - correct ? Shradha - u and tejal need to confirm this.
2003 saw Ashok, Nisha, Samar, Jharna, Saroj and Sameer. Nisha was our first full time employee - joined us in Apr 2003 ? Saroj with Samar and then with Sameer worked on for a year till June 2004 ?
2004 saw Shefali (2nd stint), Rekha, Aarti and Geetanjali.
then i'm little lost. Tia - July 2005 to Mar 2007 ? Now fit the others - Alisha, Akash, Shrikant, Rahul, Sharmista ? the 2 physics boys - friends of shrikant - the 2 Ashishs ?
Now i'm truly lost - Samar, tia, weed, anushree- please put a sequence to this !
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Mail sent today to yahoogroups.
Message sent to twistntales@yahoogroups.com on 21st Jan, 2009
Hi,
Welcome to another round of some really wonderful books and do stock up for the long weekend ahead. Lots of new releases happening again, and we let you know of them as soon as it happens. The latest from Grisham releasing early next week …. And many many more!
“Outliers – The story of success” by Malcolm Gladwell @ Rs. 399/- (pgs 309)
A new offering by best-selling author of “The Tipping Point” and “Blink”, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on a behind the scenes tour of success, breaking it down through statistical analyses. Environment, where one comes from, affords advantages and disadvantages that determine a flourishing future. Through chapters that uses a wide range of examples such as exceptional hockey players, virtuoso musicians, computer programming whizzes, top corporate lawyers and many more, Gladwell makes it plain that its culture, not genius that maketh a successful man.
“Chasing the rabbit – How market leaders outdistance the competition and how great companies can catch up and win” by Steven J. Spear @ Rs 695/- (404 pgs)
High velocity organizations, always leading the race, apply their magic in the fields of cost, speed, service and innovation. “Chasing the rabbit” details self improvement techniques aimed at weeding out problems and inconsistencies, attacking to solve those problems, learning from the solving process and constantly aiming at innovation. Not merely a book on business theory, aimed at organizations, it is a sound source of practical advice for anyone looking to better themselves.
“Panic” edited by Michael Lewis @ Rs. 250/-
With the help of articles, interviews, commentaries and insights from financial gurus such as Jeffery Sachs, Noble prize winning economist Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz and many of his own writings, trader Lewis of Liar’s Poker fame portrays the bipolar nature of the world’s markets. The frenzied, manic phase before a market disaster and the deep depression after, chronicled with opinions from the horses’ mouths.
“The Accidental Theorist and other despatches from the dismal science” by Paul Krugman @ Rs 500/- (pgs 204)
A collection of essays, devoid of economic jargon, math and graphs, and presented in comprehensive English, to appear as non-threatening as possible to the reader. It is aimed at eliminating fallacious depictions of economics as it has often been portrayed. Noble prize winner Krugman wishes to help the layman grasp the beauty and complexity behind economics and to put to rest the propagated erroneous and simplistic beliefs that pervade in popular culture’s portrayal of economics.
“Blood and rage – A cultural history of terrorism” by Michael Burleigh @ Rs 495/- (545 pgs)
A thoroughly complete examination of terrorism, tracing the phenomenon from it’s infancy to its current stage, helping one grasp the answers to the questions “How?”, “When?”, “Why?” Terrorism had its beginnings in the Irish Republican Brotherhood who created for their ends a cult of Fenians, the first terrorists. With support, asylum and funding from benign foreign hosts, a feature it still retains today, terrorism was inaugurated and carried forward by red Russian Nihilists. Burleigh follows the conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine, before and after its partition into Israel and the current jihadi dominated nature of terrorism. Entering the terrorist psyche, Burleigh goes through convoluted modern history with a fine tooth comb, weeding out the events and repercussions that fuelled terrorism, gave it character and led to its growth and spread.
“India with Sanjeev Bhaskar” @ Rs. 295/- (pgs 277)
In this volume Bhaskar, one of the chief propagators of British Asian humour in the UK, comes to terms with an India that has consistently baffled him. Travelling through Bombay, Pune, Calcutta, Rishikesh, pens his individualistically poignant yet hilarious observations on India. A rich heritage, but a mostly poor poverty stricken population, mixing Bollywood masala and traditional fervor with equal zest. A recently partitioned, post Independence India, hurtling into a software boom but where cows still walk (most of) the streets. Here is India from the point of view of a Punjabi NRI, born and brought up in working class London, by a family that fondly remembered a pre- partitioned India, where fish and chips reigned over his heart as opposed to the okra, mangoes and spicy curries of his motherland.
“Memories Gold- Writings on Calcutta” @ Rs. 699/- (pgs 538)
“Memories Gold” is a lovely compilation of poetry, prose, essays and stories that capture the thriving complexities of a pulsating, vibrant city. Each piece in this collection portrays a special facet of the multi-dimensional metropolis humming with so much culture, passion so many people and so much rich history. Gurudeb Rabindranath Tagore’s childhood smritis intermingle with Jug Suriya, Amitav Ghosh, Moti Nandi football, Marxists and Durga Poojo. A gold tome the size of two ingots and filled with treasures on that civilization called Calcutta.
“The Business traveller’s guide to the World” @ Rs. 399/- (527 pgs)
A concise checklist of things to do, items and documents you need while travelling to any corner of the globe. The inner cover of the book is a map of the world that indicates what’s to follow. Whether you’re in a quandary regarding the languages spoken in Cambodia or whether you’re wondering if you need a yellow fever vaccination certificate to visit Paraguay this is the book to consult! Histories, geography, sex ratio, GDP, lists of time zones, Internet codes and ISD codes, currencies, capitals (and anything else that’s even remotely relevant to business travel) all packed into one rather wonderful 500 paged volume (that will fit into any carry all or pocketbook!)
Indian Writing
“Slumdog millionaire” by Vikas Swarup @ Rs 270/- (382 pgs)
An elaborately descriptive book that recalls the writing manner of Arvind Adiga in his “White Tiger”, Slumdog Millionaire is narrated by a Dharavi dwelling waiter who has ostensibly hit the jackpot by winning a reality quiz show. Life in Dharavi is always bizarre but his miraculous win ejects the eponymous Ram Mohammad Thomas into an unprecedented realm of the uncanny. Recounting in ascending order, how he knew the answer to each of the twelve questions we infiltrate the heart of Mumbai and bear witness to a one time tiffinboy’s foray into numerous professions and his brushes with Bollywood glitz, brothels, orphanages and finally the police as he is jailed on suspicion of cheating the show.
“Escape” by Manjula Padmanbhan @ Rs 295/- (419 pgs)
In a futuristic era where women have been all but wiped out, one young girl feels the stirrings of adulthood within herself. Initially considered frozen in childhood, she is now seen as dangerously vulnerable in the General controlled world and turns fugitive with her Youngest uncle. On this premise does Onassis award winner Padmanbhan base her richly textured, philosophy-laced metaphorical examination of the coming of age of a young girl. Beautifully written and intensely gripping with lovely manipulation of the language “Escape” is an out of the ordinary read.
“Indian memsahib” by Suchita Malik @ Rs 195/- (195 pgs)
First offering by Dr Suchita Mehta, “Indian memsahib” opens a window into the world of Indian bureaucracy seen through the inexperienced and naïve eyes of a bureaucrat’s wife. Suchita Malik captures the innocence of a wife so obviously yoked to her husband’s livelihood yet longing to make something of herself, with simple language and everyday incidents that give us both an insight into the complex realm of babudom as well the mind of an introspective woman.
“Indian by choice” by Amit Dasgupta @ Rs 395/- (93 pgs)
Endearing illustrations and a story that will strike a chord with many, this is the story of Mandy coming to terms with his identity as an essentially Indian Mandeep, and Indian by choice. Taking the graphic novel approach to the ABCD (American Born Confused Desi) syndrome that hits many of our NRI cousins “Indian by choice” combines story and satire in a fun way. A rapid read with a moral at the end, it retains a gentle irony and a sense of fun all the while!
“Daughters of Shame” by Jasvinder Sanghere @ Rs 295/- (304 pgs)
“Death before dishonor” being the family motto of most Asian families, even in Britain, they fail to acknowledge that many of their daughters would rather choose death than be married of to strangers and give up the right to choose their suitors. Exposing the torturous domestic hardships experienced by numerous Asian women across Britain, Jasvinder Sanghere pens their silent and hitherto secret sufferings hoping to create a wave of change in their deplorable conditions. Forced into a marriage, she escaped and started a life of her own but not before being disowned by her own mother for wanting to be free. Each of these stories will bring a greater understanding of the value of freedom and the value of empowering our womenfolk.
Nature
“Rumbling Island – true stories from the forests of India” by Zai Whitaker @ Rs. 175/- (pgs 111)
Every writer muses, observes, and has beliefs and morals. What sets the contributions in this assortment apart is that they are all the musings, observations, beliefs and morals of fervent naturalists. Mention must be made about the striking cover art depicting a variety of gorgeous fauna. Zai Whitaker (author of “The Boastful Centipede”) compiled and contributed to this collection, which is as diverse and rich as the Indian wildlife it portrays. From a conservationist wanting to discover the social habits of tigers to another following the survival games played by otters, langurs and tiger cubs this book covers everything from reptiles, amphibians big and small birds, mammals and of course the ever present homo sapiens!
“Wild City – Nature wonders next door” – by Ranjit Lal @ Rs. 275/-(pgs 282)
Wild City penetrates the steel girders of our concrete jungle towns to take a closer look at the urban wild life. We city dwellers too share out space with much undomesticated animal life. From the raptors soaring predatorily overhead to pigeons nesting in our AC ducts to survival tactics of cunning urban monkeys and insects galore, Ranjit Lal profiles each and portrays them as spirited individuals, perhaps as human as you or I.
Young Adults:
“Rigmarole and Other Plays” by Sai Paranjpye @ Rs.199/- (pgs 172)Padma Bhushan awardee, director and writer Sai Paranjpye comes out with a collection of three idiosyncratic and delightful plays each with underlying nuances. The Emperor of the United Kingdom of Feathered Friends decrees a poetry competition but to what end? A bug in the Royal throne? Impossible! Suitable for ages 10+ to read, enjoy and perform !
“The Cosmic Detective – exploring the mysteries of our universe” by Dr Mani Bhaumik @ Rs. 199/-(pgs 92)
Dr Mani Bhaumik enlists the sleuthing skills of his young readers to find solutions to cosmic mysteries. How is it that the area around a black hole is very bright even though not even light can escape its gravitational pull? How many mythological characters populate our skies and why do they reside there? Using gorgeous photos and simple descriptions Dr Bhaumik illuminates the often abstract aspects of space and its wondrous wonders.
New books:
“The Untold Charminar – Writings on Hyderabad” edited by Syeda Imam @ Rs 399/-
“America America” by Ethan Canin @Rs. 875/-
“Breaking Dawn” by Stephanie Meyer @Rs. 550/-
“China : A history” by John Keay @ Rs. 395/-
“The Silver Donkey” by Sonya Hartnett @ Rs. 195/-
“Tandoor Cinders” by Vilas Sarang @ Rs. 199/-
“The Woman who thought she was a planet and other stories” by Vandana Singh @ Rs. 275/-
“Twilight” by Azhar Abidi @ Rs. 399/-
“Me and Kaminski” by Daniel Kehlmann and translated by Carol Brown Janeway @ Rs 425/-
“The Canon- the beautiful basics of science” by Natalie Angier @ Rs 399/-
“The Charlemange pursuit” by Steve Berry @ Rs 295/-
“The marriage bureau of rich people” by Farahad Zama @ 295/-
“The Gaudi Key–Unlock the secret of the century” by Esteban Martin &Andreu Carranza @ Rs 195/-
“Say it like Obama – The power of speaking with a purpose and vision” by Shel Leanne @ Rs 375/-
“Girl ology – A girl’s guide to stuff that matters” by Melisa Holmes & Trish Hutchison @ 295/-
“The 24X7 Marriage – smart strategies for good beginnings” by Vijay Nagaswami @ Rs. 250/-
“(Un)settled: Notes from a shifting life” by Kamini Karlekar @ Rs. 295/-
“Private Eye Anonymous – A graphic novel” by Tejas Modak @ Rs. 250/-
“The Wind from the Hills” by Sethu (trs. Prema Jayakumar) @ Rs. 250/-
“The New Paradigm for Financial Markets – the credit crisis of 2008 and what it means” by George Soros @ Rs. 695/-
“Countries of the Body” by Tishani Doshi @ Rs. 150/-
“My family’s favourites” by Marie Noelle (Chotti) D’Souza @ Rs. 600/-
“I am a Special girl” by Amitava Banerjee @ Rs. 195/-
“Divine Justice” by David Baldacci @ Rs. 460/-
“A Mathematical mosaic – patterns and problem solving” by Ravi Vakil @ Rs. 250/-
“Woodwinds of change – The authorized biography of Hariprasad Chaurasia” by Surjit Singh @ Rs. 600/-
“Superstar Babes” by Narinder Dhami @ Rs. 150/-
Bhangra Babes” by Narinder Dhami @ Rs. 150/-
“The return of Depression Economics and the crisis of 2008” by Paul Krugman @ Rs. 399/-
“The Book of Moinuddin Chishti” by Mehru Jaffer @ Rs. 250/-
“The Great Crash 1929” by John Kenneth Galbraith @ Rs. 399/-
That’s a long list of books that have already arrived in the last couple of days …. Do rush in and pick your favourites. See you at the Store,
From the team at,
twistntales
Hi,
Welcome to another round of some really wonderful books and do stock up for the long weekend ahead. Lots of new releases happening again, and we let you know of them as soon as it happens. The latest from Grisham releasing early next week …. And many many more!
“Outliers – The story of success” by Malcolm Gladwell @ Rs. 399/- (pgs 309)
A new offering by best-selling author of “The Tipping Point” and “Blink”, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on a behind the scenes tour of success, breaking it down through statistical analyses. Environment, where one comes from, affords advantages and disadvantages that determine a flourishing future. Through chapters that uses a wide range of examples such as exceptional hockey players, virtuoso musicians, computer programming whizzes, top corporate lawyers and many more, Gladwell makes it plain that its culture, not genius that maketh a successful man.
“Chasing the rabbit – How market leaders outdistance the competition and how great companies can catch up and win” by Steven J. Spear @ Rs 695/- (404 pgs)
High velocity organizations, always leading the race, apply their magic in the fields of cost, speed, service and innovation. “Chasing the rabbit” details self improvement techniques aimed at weeding out problems and inconsistencies, attacking to solve those problems, learning from the solving process and constantly aiming at innovation. Not merely a book on business theory, aimed at organizations, it is a sound source of practical advice for anyone looking to better themselves.
“Panic” edited by Michael Lewis @ Rs. 250/-
With the help of articles, interviews, commentaries and insights from financial gurus such as Jeffery Sachs, Noble prize winning economist Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz and many of his own writings, trader Lewis of Liar’s Poker fame portrays the bipolar nature of the world’s markets. The frenzied, manic phase before a market disaster and the deep depression after, chronicled with opinions from the horses’ mouths.
“The Accidental Theorist and other despatches from the dismal science” by Paul Krugman @ Rs 500/- (pgs 204)
A collection of essays, devoid of economic jargon, math and graphs, and presented in comprehensive English, to appear as non-threatening as possible to the reader. It is aimed at eliminating fallacious depictions of economics as it has often been portrayed. Noble prize winner Krugman wishes to help the layman grasp the beauty and complexity behind economics and to put to rest the propagated erroneous and simplistic beliefs that pervade in popular culture’s portrayal of economics.
“Blood and rage – A cultural history of terrorism” by Michael Burleigh @ Rs 495/- (545 pgs)
A thoroughly complete examination of terrorism, tracing the phenomenon from it’s infancy to its current stage, helping one grasp the answers to the questions “How?”, “When?”, “Why?” Terrorism had its beginnings in the Irish Republican Brotherhood who created for their ends a cult of Fenians, the first terrorists. With support, asylum and funding from benign foreign hosts, a feature it still retains today, terrorism was inaugurated and carried forward by red Russian Nihilists. Burleigh follows the conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine, before and after its partition into Israel and the current jihadi dominated nature of terrorism. Entering the terrorist psyche, Burleigh goes through convoluted modern history with a fine tooth comb, weeding out the events and repercussions that fuelled terrorism, gave it character and led to its growth and spread.
“India with Sanjeev Bhaskar” @ Rs. 295/- (pgs 277)
In this volume Bhaskar, one of the chief propagators of British Asian humour in the UK, comes to terms with an India that has consistently baffled him. Travelling through Bombay, Pune, Calcutta, Rishikesh, pens his individualistically poignant yet hilarious observations on India. A rich heritage, but a mostly poor poverty stricken population, mixing Bollywood masala and traditional fervor with equal zest. A recently partitioned, post Independence India, hurtling into a software boom but where cows still walk (most of) the streets. Here is India from the point of view of a Punjabi NRI, born and brought up in working class London, by a family that fondly remembered a pre- partitioned India, where fish and chips reigned over his heart as opposed to the okra, mangoes and spicy curries of his motherland.
“Memories Gold- Writings on Calcutta” @ Rs. 699/- (pgs 538)
“Memories Gold” is a lovely compilation of poetry, prose, essays and stories that capture the thriving complexities of a pulsating, vibrant city. Each piece in this collection portrays a special facet of the multi-dimensional metropolis humming with so much culture, passion so many people and so much rich history. Gurudeb Rabindranath Tagore’s childhood smritis intermingle with Jug Suriya, Amitav Ghosh, Moti Nandi football, Marxists and Durga Poojo. A gold tome the size of two ingots and filled with treasures on that civilization called Calcutta.
“The Business traveller’s guide to the World” @ Rs. 399/- (527 pgs)
A concise checklist of things to do, items and documents you need while travelling to any corner of the globe. The inner cover of the book is a map of the world that indicates what’s to follow. Whether you’re in a quandary regarding the languages spoken in Cambodia or whether you’re wondering if you need a yellow fever vaccination certificate to visit Paraguay this is the book to consult! Histories, geography, sex ratio, GDP, lists of time zones, Internet codes and ISD codes, currencies, capitals (and anything else that’s even remotely relevant to business travel) all packed into one rather wonderful 500 paged volume (that will fit into any carry all or pocketbook!)
Indian Writing
“Slumdog millionaire” by Vikas Swarup @ Rs 270/- (382 pgs)
An elaborately descriptive book that recalls the writing manner of Arvind Adiga in his “White Tiger”, Slumdog Millionaire is narrated by a Dharavi dwelling waiter who has ostensibly hit the jackpot by winning a reality quiz show. Life in Dharavi is always bizarre but his miraculous win ejects the eponymous Ram Mohammad Thomas into an unprecedented realm of the uncanny. Recounting in ascending order, how he knew the answer to each of the twelve questions we infiltrate the heart of Mumbai and bear witness to a one time tiffinboy’s foray into numerous professions and his brushes with Bollywood glitz, brothels, orphanages and finally the police as he is jailed on suspicion of cheating the show.
“Escape” by Manjula Padmanbhan @ Rs 295/- (419 pgs)
In a futuristic era where women have been all but wiped out, one young girl feels the stirrings of adulthood within herself. Initially considered frozen in childhood, she is now seen as dangerously vulnerable in the General controlled world and turns fugitive with her Youngest uncle. On this premise does Onassis award winner Padmanbhan base her richly textured, philosophy-laced metaphorical examination of the coming of age of a young girl. Beautifully written and intensely gripping with lovely manipulation of the language “Escape” is an out of the ordinary read.
“Indian memsahib” by Suchita Malik @ Rs 195/- (195 pgs)
First offering by Dr Suchita Mehta, “Indian memsahib” opens a window into the world of Indian bureaucracy seen through the inexperienced and naïve eyes of a bureaucrat’s wife. Suchita Malik captures the innocence of a wife so obviously yoked to her husband’s livelihood yet longing to make something of herself, with simple language and everyday incidents that give us both an insight into the complex realm of babudom as well the mind of an introspective woman.
“Indian by choice” by Amit Dasgupta @ Rs 395/- (93 pgs)
Endearing illustrations and a story that will strike a chord with many, this is the story of Mandy coming to terms with his identity as an essentially Indian Mandeep, and Indian by choice. Taking the graphic novel approach to the ABCD (American Born Confused Desi) syndrome that hits many of our NRI cousins “Indian by choice” combines story and satire in a fun way. A rapid read with a moral at the end, it retains a gentle irony and a sense of fun all the while!
“Daughters of Shame” by Jasvinder Sanghere @ Rs 295/- (304 pgs)
“Death before dishonor” being the family motto of most Asian families, even in Britain, they fail to acknowledge that many of their daughters would rather choose death than be married of to strangers and give up the right to choose their suitors. Exposing the torturous domestic hardships experienced by numerous Asian women across Britain, Jasvinder Sanghere pens their silent and hitherto secret sufferings hoping to create a wave of change in their deplorable conditions. Forced into a marriage, she escaped and started a life of her own but not before being disowned by her own mother for wanting to be free. Each of these stories will bring a greater understanding of the value of freedom and the value of empowering our womenfolk.
Nature
“Rumbling Island – true stories from the forests of India” by Zai Whitaker @ Rs. 175/- (pgs 111)
Every writer muses, observes, and has beliefs and morals. What sets the contributions in this assortment apart is that they are all the musings, observations, beliefs and morals of fervent naturalists. Mention must be made about the striking cover art depicting a variety of gorgeous fauna. Zai Whitaker (author of “The Boastful Centipede”) compiled and contributed to this collection, which is as diverse and rich as the Indian wildlife it portrays. From a conservationist wanting to discover the social habits of tigers to another following the survival games played by otters, langurs and tiger cubs this book covers everything from reptiles, amphibians big and small birds, mammals and of course the ever present homo sapiens!
“Wild City – Nature wonders next door” – by Ranjit Lal @ Rs. 275/-(pgs 282)
Wild City penetrates the steel girders of our concrete jungle towns to take a closer look at the urban wild life. We city dwellers too share out space with much undomesticated animal life. From the raptors soaring predatorily overhead to pigeons nesting in our AC ducts to survival tactics of cunning urban monkeys and insects galore, Ranjit Lal profiles each and portrays them as spirited individuals, perhaps as human as you or I.
Young Adults:
“Rigmarole and Other Plays” by Sai Paranjpye @ Rs.199/- (pgs 172)Padma Bhushan awardee, director and writer Sai Paranjpye comes out with a collection of three idiosyncratic and delightful plays each with underlying nuances. The Emperor of the United Kingdom of Feathered Friends decrees a poetry competition but to what end? A bug in the Royal throne? Impossible! Suitable for ages 10+ to read, enjoy and perform !
“The Cosmic Detective – exploring the mysteries of our universe” by Dr Mani Bhaumik @ Rs. 199/-(pgs 92)
Dr Mani Bhaumik enlists the sleuthing skills of his young readers to find solutions to cosmic mysteries. How is it that the area around a black hole is very bright even though not even light can escape its gravitational pull? How many mythological characters populate our skies and why do they reside there? Using gorgeous photos and simple descriptions Dr Bhaumik illuminates the often abstract aspects of space and its wondrous wonders.
New books:
“The Untold Charminar – Writings on Hyderabad” edited by Syeda Imam @ Rs 399/-
“America America” by Ethan Canin @Rs. 875/-
“Breaking Dawn” by Stephanie Meyer @Rs. 550/-
“China : A history” by John Keay @ Rs. 395/-
“The Silver Donkey” by Sonya Hartnett @ Rs. 195/-
“Tandoor Cinders” by Vilas Sarang @ Rs. 199/-
“The Woman who thought she was a planet and other stories” by Vandana Singh @ Rs. 275/-
“Twilight” by Azhar Abidi @ Rs. 399/-
“Me and Kaminski” by Daniel Kehlmann and translated by Carol Brown Janeway @ Rs 425/-
“The Canon- the beautiful basics of science” by Natalie Angier @ Rs 399/-
“The Charlemange pursuit” by Steve Berry @ Rs 295/-
“The marriage bureau of rich people” by Farahad Zama @ 295/-
“The Gaudi Key–Unlock the secret of the century” by Esteban Martin &Andreu Carranza @ Rs 195/-
“Say it like Obama – The power of speaking with a purpose and vision” by Shel Leanne @ Rs 375/-
“Girl ology – A girl’s guide to stuff that matters” by Melisa Holmes & Trish Hutchison @ 295/-
“The 24X7 Marriage – smart strategies for good beginnings” by Vijay Nagaswami @ Rs. 250/-
“(Un)settled: Notes from a shifting life” by Kamini Karlekar @ Rs. 295/-
“Private Eye Anonymous – A graphic novel” by Tejas Modak @ Rs. 250/-
“The Wind from the Hills” by Sethu (trs. Prema Jayakumar) @ Rs. 250/-
“The New Paradigm for Financial Markets – the credit crisis of 2008 and what it means” by George Soros @ Rs. 695/-
“Countries of the Body” by Tishani Doshi @ Rs. 150/-
“My family’s favourites” by Marie Noelle (Chotti) D’Souza @ Rs. 600/-
“I am a Special girl” by Amitava Banerjee @ Rs. 195/-
“Divine Justice” by David Baldacci @ Rs. 460/-
“A Mathematical mosaic – patterns and problem solving” by Ravi Vakil @ Rs. 250/-
“Woodwinds of change – The authorized biography of Hariprasad Chaurasia” by Surjit Singh @ Rs. 600/-
“Superstar Babes” by Narinder Dhami @ Rs. 150/-
Bhangra Babes” by Narinder Dhami @ Rs. 150/-
“The return of Depression Economics and the crisis of 2008” by Paul Krugman @ Rs. 399/-
“The Book of Moinuddin Chishti” by Mehru Jaffer @ Rs. 250/-
“The Great Crash 1929” by John Kenneth Galbraith @ Rs. 399/-
That’s a long list of books that have already arrived in the last couple of days …. Do rush in and pick your favourites. See you at the Store,
From the team at,
twistntales
Congratulations !
Aakash - our "yin"ful guy and Sneha have tied the knot ! and are happy to be a weekend couple :-)) Congratulations Aakash and Sneha, as you set up home over many weekends .... in the meantime, home is always @ tnt !
Monday, January 19, 2009
A few online petitions that seem like just causes - forwarded by friends
Petition 2 :
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/sue4000/petition.html
Please open the above and sign petition against mining in Goa while also adding a strong comment. Please also pass this around to your friends in Goa and elsewhere. It would be nice if we could get about 4000 signatures. Maybe that will make the Chief Minister and the goons in the mining industry sit up and take note! To know more about just what mining is doing in Goa
please also visit http://mandgoa.blogspot.com/ You could also visit http://www.savegoa.com/ You may also like watching the film on mining in Goa made late last year by Kurush Canteenwalla at http://infochangeindia.org/Infochange-documentary.html
Thanks and kind regards, Hartman
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/sue4000/petition.html
Please open the above and sign petition against mining in Goa while also adding a strong comment. Please also pass this around to your friends in Goa and elsewhere. It would be nice if we could get about 4000 signatures. Maybe that will make the Chief Minister and the goons in the mining industry sit up and take note! To know more about just what mining is doing in Goa
please also visit http://mandgoa.blogspot.com/ You could also visit http://www.savegoa.com/ You may also like watching the film on mining in Goa made late last year by Kurush Canteenwalla at http://infochangeindia.org/Infochange-documentary.html
Thanks and kind regards, Hartman
Thankyou Saira !
Dear Janaki
Wish you and the family and all at Twist n Tales a very happy New Year. Thank you for a lovely afternoon at Sassoon. The kids enjoyed the program as usual and so did we. Please convey a special thank you to Santa and to Sonali, Geetanjali and Riaz for the story-telling. And Santa's little reindeer for the carol singing. To Kimi for her song and the CD player, blackboard and to all who helped in yet another memorable event.
With love,
Nalini and Saira
Wish you and the family and all at Twist n Tales a very happy New Year. Thank you for a lovely afternoon at Sassoon. The kids enjoyed the program as usual and so did we. Please convey a special thank you to Santa and to Sonali, Geetanjali and Riaz for the story-telling. And Santa's little reindeer for the carol singing. To Kimi for her song and the CD player, blackboard and to all who helped in yet another memorable event.
With love,
Nalini and Saira
A few online petitions that seem like just causes forwarded by friends
Petition 1
Some days ago NCP inducted a person with a criminal record into its party as someone who was considered reformed because of a good track record for the past one year. A reaction from the public forced them to withdraw his name. Read the front page article in the DNA dated Jan 14...
FACED BY MEDIA, PUBLIC CRITICISM, BODKE QUITS NCP.
WE MUST SPEAK UP!!!
Friends
Here's a sharp response to the Tata/Airtel/Reliance Telecom Chairmen's endorsement of Narendra Modi as a future PM of India. I would urge you to read and endorse the statement. While we may have objections to some aspects of the letter, the significant part is it may just work to show India Inc that they cannot take everyone's complicity for granted.
The kernel of this protest is: All those who sign this petition will switch off their Tata Indicomm, Airtel and Reliance cellular phone and broadband connections from midnight (00:00 hours) of January 30th 2009 for 24 hours to observe Gandhiji's assassination anniversary as Cellular Silence Day. This will show up as a gap in billings in the accounts of the brand owners.
A powerful gesture, spread it to all you know!
Dear Friend
The collective amnesia of the captains of Indian industry, Messrs.Tata, Mittal and Ambani embracing Narendra Modi and endorsing his candidature as future PM of India, disturbed me immensely.
This petition is my humble effort to engage the conscience of corporate India and make it known to them that the Indian citizen is not to be trifled with.Just as we can vote for or against the poitician, we can pinch the corporate bottom-line in order to engage their attention to mend their ways.
It is not an easy task for us to keep our cell phones and Blackberries switched off for an entire day on January 30th,- the 61st anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.
However, it ought to be sufficient to get the message across to corporate India that we will not tolerate the endorsement of fascists as future Prime Ministers.
May I request you visit the link below to sign and thereafter circulate the petition below, if you feel as strongly about this matter
The petition title is: Cellular Silence Day_30th January 2009.
The petition URL is:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/30JAN09/petition.html
The petition is directed to: India Inc.
The start date is: ..January 15th, 2009
The end date is: ..January 30th, 2009
The petition statement says:
Dear Messrs, Ratan Tata, Sunil Mittal and Anil Ambani
I am one of a billion Indian citizens.
I am somewhere in the middle of that pyramid that you wish to give voice - from bottom to top - through wealth creation.
I am proud of the brands you represent that have made India proud.
I am one of the burgeoning Indian middle-class that share your aspirations of mutating India from indolent elephant to thundering tiger.
It ends there...
I have hitherto been accused of being indifferent and apathetic, simply because I am overawed and felt overwhelmed in a system replete with Goliaths.
But when I saw you embrace the fascist mastermind of state sponsored genocide as a future Prime Minister and endorse the Modi-fication of India, it was disappointingly apparent that the brands that aspire
to make India rich shall continue to languish in ethical poverty.
While I am filled with revulsion at your endorsement of Narendra Modi, I must respect your right to do so as a fellow citizen. In writing this petition I am a mere David amongst the mightiest corporate Goliaths but I feel empowered to address your collective amnesia - through recollection of the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 by the true Goliath among Gujaratis in particular and Indians in general -
Mohandas Gandhi.
All those who sign this petition will switch off their Tata Indicomm, Airtel and Reliance cellular phone and broadband connections from midnight on January 30th 2009.
It is eminently possible that I might be the one voice in a billion who will observe the 61st death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on as Cellular Silence Day.
Then again, there might be close to a billion who could join me on
January 30th, 2009 expressing their solidarity and silently insisting that the captains of India Inc adopt an ethical, compassionate path to wealth creation rather than the single-minded pursuit of the bottom-line.
We shall know that by the end of 30th January, 2009.
Some days ago NCP inducted a person with a criminal record into its party as someone who was considered reformed because of a good track record for the past one year. A reaction from the public forced them to withdraw his name. Read the front page article in the DNA dated Jan 14...
FACED BY MEDIA, PUBLIC CRITICISM, BODKE QUITS NCP.
WE MUST SPEAK UP!!!
Friends
Here's a sharp response to the Tata/Airtel/Reliance Telecom Chairmen's endorsement of Narendra Modi as a future PM of India. I would urge you to read and endorse the statement. While we may have objections to some aspects of the letter, the significant part is it may just work to show India Inc that they cannot take everyone's complicity for granted.
The kernel of this protest is: All those who sign this petition will switch off their Tata Indicomm, Airtel and Reliance cellular phone and broadband connections from midnight (00:00 hours) of January 30th 2009 for 24 hours to observe Gandhiji's assassination anniversary as Cellular Silence Day. This will show up as a gap in billings in the accounts of the brand owners.
A powerful gesture, spread it to all you know!
Dear Friend
The collective amnesia of the captains of Indian industry, Messrs.Tata, Mittal and Ambani embracing Narendra Modi and endorsing his candidature as future PM of India, disturbed me immensely.
This petition is my humble effort to engage the conscience of corporate India and make it known to them that the Indian citizen is not to be trifled with.Just as we can vote for or against the poitician, we can pinch the corporate bottom-line in order to engage their attention to mend their ways.
It is not an easy task for us to keep our cell phones and Blackberries switched off for an entire day on January 30th,- the 61st anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.
However, it ought to be sufficient to get the message across to corporate India that we will not tolerate the endorsement of fascists as future Prime Ministers.
May I request you visit the link below to sign and thereafter circulate the petition below, if you feel as strongly about this matter
The petition title is: Cellular Silence Day_30th January 2009.
The petition URL is:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/30JAN09/petition.html
The petition is directed to: India Inc.
The start date is: ..January 15th, 2009
The end date is: ..January 30th, 2009
The petition statement says:
Dear Messrs, Ratan Tata, Sunil Mittal and Anil Ambani
I am one of a billion Indian citizens.
I am somewhere in the middle of that pyramid that you wish to give voice - from bottom to top - through wealth creation.
I am proud of the brands you represent that have made India proud.
I am one of the burgeoning Indian middle-class that share your aspirations of mutating India from indolent elephant to thundering tiger.
It ends there...
I have hitherto been accused of being indifferent and apathetic, simply because I am overawed and felt overwhelmed in a system replete with Goliaths.
But when I saw you embrace the fascist mastermind of state sponsored genocide as a future Prime Minister and endorse the Modi-fication of India, it was disappointingly apparent that the brands that aspire
to make India rich shall continue to languish in ethical poverty.
While I am filled with revulsion at your endorsement of Narendra Modi, I must respect your right to do so as a fellow citizen. In writing this petition I am a mere David amongst the mightiest corporate Goliaths but I feel empowered to address your collective amnesia - through recollection of the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 by the true Goliath among Gujaratis in particular and Indians in general -
Mohandas Gandhi.
All those who sign this petition will switch off their Tata Indicomm, Airtel and Reliance cellular phone and broadband connections from midnight on January 30th 2009.
It is eminently possible that I might be the one voice in a billion who will observe the 61st death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on as Cellular Silence Day.
Then again, there might be close to a billion who could join me on
January 30th, 2009 expressing their solidarity and silently insisting that the captains of India Inc adopt an ethical, compassionate path to wealth creation rather than the single-minded pursuit of the bottom-line.
We shall know that by the end of 30th January, 2009.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
For Shibani
...and when she landed, she was out of breath, and everything around her was different. Strange, bittersweet and filled with joy so sharp it was almost frightening.
Dear Shibani,
Some of us tnt-ians are fiercely possesive of our bathrooms and for fear of having to share them, decide never to get married. We are so glad you found The Man who makes even this fear seem trifling.
Sending you all our love and the warmest of wishes...
Friday, January 2, 2009
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Message sent on 24/12/2008 to the twistntales@yahoogroups.com
Hi all,
Thanks all of you for turning up for our X’mas event in Sassoon Hospital … the kids had a great time, so did we! The snaps taken will shortly be put up in www.twistntales.blogspot.com.
The year’s drawing to a close with a host of uncertainties on the National front…and the electoral scene looming large. Looks like 2009 will turn out to be landmark year! We hope and pray that you and your family and friends have a wonderful Christmas and a very safe and joyous 2009. And fill up your heart with abundance with all the lovely books that we have at twistntales!
Lots of new books, some reviewed, some listed:
New Arrivals:
"Imagining India" by Nandan Nilekani @ Rs 699/- (530 pgs)
Internationally lauded entrepreneur and co-founder of Infosys, Nandan Nilekani astutely, eloquently and accurately captures the whole gamut of India from, as he puts it, "the point of view of an avid amateur”; Examining the ideas that give India strength and the ones that inhibit it, how it’s multitudinous people arm it with great potential power, how legislative history created snarls in productivity and arguments on topics many and varied (reservations, rapid urbanization, the environment and even sustainable energy resources) it is an indelible and evocative read.
"Inside Ducker’s brain" by Jeffrey A Kames Rs @ 1025/- (274 pgs)
The inventor and quintessential guru of management Peter Drucker has penned over thirty books in a span of sixty years, each detailing a different one of his management tenets and business philosophies. "Inside Ducker’s Brain" collects the crucial essence of all his works and compiles them in one powerful and comprehensive volume. Business principles that could very well be mottos such as “opportunity favors the prepared mind”, the upholding of the Jeffersonian ideal of equality, the defining role of the leader, a short course on innovation are only some of the basic rules outlined in this chronicle that was polished by Drucker, himself!
“Understanding our Mind” by Thich Nath Hanh @ Rs 295/- (251 pgs)
”Understanding our Mind” was a finalist for the 2001 Nautilus Award and not for any small reason. The book delves into the nature of consciousness and rewards the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the subject. Thich Nath Hanh, Martin Luther King’s nominee for a Nobel Peace Prize, uses the metaphor of a careful gardening throughout this book; our mind is a field, seeds are of all kinds (joy, suffering, love, self delusion etc), flower and garbage etc. Though his teachings stem from the Buddhist school of thought their simple wisdom is all encompassing and universal. An inspirational book describing a valuable philosophy.
"Khairlanji- A strange and bitter crop" by Anand Teltumbde @ Rs 190/- (211 pgs)
"Khairlanji” is a book in the Holocaust series that, through the example of the massacre of a Dalit family at Khairlanji, captures the reality behind India’s veneer of development and progress. How has India’s modernist, republic encouraged inter-caste bitterness? Did the elitist mass media fail in its purported goal of objectivity and purposely portray the murderous mob sympathetically? A powerful treatise about the ongoing oppression and suppression of Dalits in a modern India.
"Our Bodies, Ourselves" by The Boston Women's Health Book Collective @ Rs 450/- (830 pgs)
Covering not just a woman’s bodily but psychological and emotional well being "Our Bodies, Ourselves” begins with a chapter on body image and continues to highlight various, crucial areas of women’s health; chapters on sexuality, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, eating well, mood altering drugs, abuse, relationships etc it covers the whole gamut of women’s issues with a bent towards South Asian women, providing not only a comprehensive guide but the tools for self help and resources for further reading as well.
"The Private Patient" by P. D. James @ Rs.695/- (395 pgs)
Here’s another Adam Dalglish mystery from the pen of P.D James (author of international bestseller “The Lighthouse”). The beautiful Dorset country comes to life as James weaves a psychologically stimulating plot around Mr. Chandler Powell’s private clinic where infamous investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn’s convalescence is rudely interrupted when she is murdered. James’ beloved creation Dalglish investigates when a second killing raises more complications than clues. A twisting and absorbing mystery that draws one in with its air of being so convincingly real, both in portrayal of people and places, James retains her masterful skill!
"You've been warned" by James Patterson and Howard Roughan @ Rs. 295/- (435 pgs)
Ambitious, neurotic (maybe psychotic?) Kristin Burns is a wannabe celebrity fashion photographer trying to make it big while working as a nanny for the children of a Manhattan based family and carrying on an affair with her boss’s husband. A bloody, recurring nightmare (that feels like it’s coming true), a long dead dad (isn’t he?), a loving boyfriend (doesn’t he?), receives collect calls and her paranoia starts to lead her mind astray. This collaboration between Patterson and Roughan produces a fast-paced page-turner that promises a quick, suspenseful and tumultuous read.
"Tales of Beedle the bard" by J.K. Rowling @ Rs 599/- (108 pgs)
A hopping cauldron, a foolish, power hungry king, a proud and prejudiced pure-blood wizard, princesses on a shared quest and, finally, the deathly hallows, "The tales of Beedle the Bard" is a collection of five 'fairy' tales popular among children in J.K. Rowling's wizarding world. Beedle was a progressive thinking fifteenth century Bard and this 'edition' of moral stories was translated from ancient runes by Hermionie Granger published with Albus Dumbledore's original footnotes intact. This inventive device allows Rowling to analyze and comment upon her own fables using Dumbledore's voice and wit. Typical Rowling but taking a leaf or two out of the books of Blyton and the brothers Grimm, it is an exceedingly delightful read!
"Story of Astronomy" by Uday Patil @ Rs 80/- (50 pgs)
Whacky artwork adds zing to an already fun script, though it makes no claims to covering every known aspect of astronomy. A select history of the subject is portrayed in the style of a comic book and prominent controversies steered clear of. A slim volume that promises a quick, zany and illuminating read, it has been both written and illustrated by Pune's own Uday Patil.
“The ghost of the mountains” by Sujatha Padmanabhan @ Rs 100/-
A simply told tale of a small Ladakhi village’s encounter with a feral snow leopard, and one boy’s determination to save the majestic creature from the villager’s wrath. A beautiful book, with lovely illustrations and nuggets of interesting facts about nature, a smattering of Ladakhi words gives it additional touches of warmth. Short, sweet and conveying the message of conservation, this is a one of a kind find.
New books:
"For Crying Out Loud! - The World According to Clarkson" by Jeremy Clarkson @ Rs 395/-
"Success Is Not An Accident - Change Your Choices, Change Your Life" by Tommy Newberry @ Rs 295/-
"You Only Think Twice - The Definitive Guide To Better Thinking Skills For Indian Executives" by K.Ravi @ Rs 195/-
“The Untold Charminar – Writings on Hyderabad” edited by Syeda Imam @ Rs 399/-
“The World Almanac and book of facts 2009” @ Rs. 595/- by Reader’s Digest
“Working with Earth Energies” by David Furlong @Rs. 595/-
“Rigmarole and Other Plays” by Sai Paranjpye @ Rs.199/-
“America America” by Ethan Canin @Rs. 875/-
“Breaking Dawn” by Stephanie Meyer @Rs. 550/-
“India- One man’s personal journey round the subcontinent” by Sanjeev Bhaskar @ Rs 295/-
“The Rumbling Island – True stories from the forests of India” edited by Zai Whitaker @ Rs.175/-“China: A history” by John Keay @ Rs 395/-
”The Power of Story – change your story, change your destiny in business and in life” by Jim Loehr @ Rs 685/-
“Wild City” by Ranjit Lal @ Rs 275/-
“Footprint India handbook 2009” by Annie Dare and David Stott @ Rs 875/-
“Branson” by Tom Bower @ Rs 495/-
“Destination moon” by Pallava Bagla and Subhadra Menon @ Rs 195/-
“The accidental theorist – and other dispatches from the dismal science” by Paul Krugman @ Rs. 500/-
“Outliers – The story of success” by Malcolm Gladwell @ Rs. 399/-
“The Business traveller’s guide to the World” @ Rs. 399/-
“Panic” by Michael Lewis @ Rs. 250/-
“Courting destiny” by Shanti Bhushan @ Rs. 650/-
“The Silver Donkey” by Sonya Hartnett @ Rs. 195/-
“The Cosmic Dectective – Explaining the mysteries of our universe” by Mani Bhaumik @ Rs. 199/-
“Tandoor Cinders” by Vilas Sarang @ Rs. 199/-
“The Woman who thought she was a planet and other stories” by Vandana Singh @ Rs. 275/-
“Twilight” by Azhar Abidi @ Rs. 399/-
Happy reading, enjoy your books, savour the pleasure of reading and re-reading a good book! Have a wonderful Christmas and a lovely 2009,
From all of us here at,
twistntales
Thanks all of you for turning up for our X’mas event in Sassoon Hospital … the kids had a great time, so did we! The snaps taken will shortly be put up in www.twistntales.blogspot.com.
The year’s drawing to a close with a host of uncertainties on the National front…and the electoral scene looming large. Looks like 2009 will turn out to be landmark year! We hope and pray that you and your family and friends have a wonderful Christmas and a very safe and joyous 2009. And fill up your heart with abundance with all the lovely books that we have at twistntales!
Lots of new books, some reviewed, some listed:
New Arrivals:
"Imagining India" by Nandan Nilekani @ Rs 699/- (530 pgs)
Internationally lauded entrepreneur and co-founder of Infosys, Nandan Nilekani astutely, eloquently and accurately captures the whole gamut of India from, as he puts it, "the point of view of an avid amateur”; Examining the ideas that give India strength and the ones that inhibit it, how it’s multitudinous people arm it with great potential power, how legislative history created snarls in productivity and arguments on topics many and varied (reservations, rapid urbanization, the environment and even sustainable energy resources) it is an indelible and evocative read.
"Inside Ducker’s brain" by Jeffrey A Kames Rs @ 1025/- (274 pgs)
The inventor and quintessential guru of management Peter Drucker has penned over thirty books in a span of sixty years, each detailing a different one of his management tenets and business philosophies. "Inside Ducker’s Brain" collects the crucial essence of all his works and compiles them in one powerful and comprehensive volume. Business principles that could very well be mottos such as “opportunity favors the prepared mind”, the upholding of the Jeffersonian ideal of equality, the defining role of the leader, a short course on innovation are only some of the basic rules outlined in this chronicle that was polished by Drucker, himself!
“Understanding our Mind” by Thich Nath Hanh @ Rs 295/- (251 pgs)
”Understanding our Mind” was a finalist for the 2001 Nautilus Award and not for any small reason. The book delves into the nature of consciousness and rewards the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the subject. Thich Nath Hanh, Martin Luther King’s nominee for a Nobel Peace Prize, uses the metaphor of a careful gardening throughout this book; our mind is a field, seeds are of all kinds (joy, suffering, love, self delusion etc), flower and garbage etc. Though his teachings stem from the Buddhist school of thought their simple wisdom is all encompassing and universal. An inspirational book describing a valuable philosophy.
"Khairlanji- A strange and bitter crop" by Anand Teltumbde @ Rs 190/- (211 pgs)
"Khairlanji” is a book in the Holocaust series that, through the example of the massacre of a Dalit family at Khairlanji, captures the reality behind India’s veneer of development and progress. How has India’s modernist, republic encouraged inter-caste bitterness? Did the elitist mass media fail in its purported goal of objectivity and purposely portray the murderous mob sympathetically? A powerful treatise about the ongoing oppression and suppression of Dalits in a modern India.
"Our Bodies, Ourselves" by The Boston Women's Health Book Collective @ Rs 450/- (830 pgs)
Covering not just a woman’s bodily but psychological and emotional well being "Our Bodies, Ourselves” begins with a chapter on body image and continues to highlight various, crucial areas of women’s health; chapters on sexuality, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, eating well, mood altering drugs, abuse, relationships etc it covers the whole gamut of women’s issues with a bent towards South Asian women, providing not only a comprehensive guide but the tools for self help and resources for further reading as well.
"The Private Patient" by P. D. James @ Rs.695/- (395 pgs)
Here’s another Adam Dalglish mystery from the pen of P.D James (author of international bestseller “The Lighthouse”). The beautiful Dorset country comes to life as James weaves a psychologically stimulating plot around Mr. Chandler Powell’s private clinic where infamous investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn’s convalescence is rudely interrupted when she is murdered. James’ beloved creation Dalglish investigates when a second killing raises more complications than clues. A twisting and absorbing mystery that draws one in with its air of being so convincingly real, both in portrayal of people and places, James retains her masterful skill!
"You've been warned" by James Patterson and Howard Roughan @ Rs. 295/- (435 pgs)
Ambitious, neurotic (maybe psychotic?) Kristin Burns is a wannabe celebrity fashion photographer trying to make it big while working as a nanny for the children of a Manhattan based family and carrying on an affair with her boss’s husband. A bloody, recurring nightmare (that feels like it’s coming true), a long dead dad (isn’t he?), a loving boyfriend (doesn’t he?), receives collect calls and her paranoia starts to lead her mind astray. This collaboration between Patterson and Roughan produces a fast-paced page-turner that promises a quick, suspenseful and tumultuous read.
"Tales of Beedle the bard" by J.K. Rowling @ Rs 599/- (108 pgs)
A hopping cauldron, a foolish, power hungry king, a proud and prejudiced pure-blood wizard, princesses on a shared quest and, finally, the deathly hallows, "The tales of Beedle the Bard" is a collection of five 'fairy' tales popular among children in J.K. Rowling's wizarding world. Beedle was a progressive thinking fifteenth century Bard and this 'edition' of moral stories was translated from ancient runes by Hermionie Granger published with Albus Dumbledore's original footnotes intact. This inventive device allows Rowling to analyze and comment upon her own fables using Dumbledore's voice and wit. Typical Rowling but taking a leaf or two out of the books of Blyton and the brothers Grimm, it is an exceedingly delightful read!
"Story of Astronomy" by Uday Patil @ Rs 80/- (50 pgs)
Whacky artwork adds zing to an already fun script, though it makes no claims to covering every known aspect of astronomy. A select history of the subject is portrayed in the style of a comic book and prominent controversies steered clear of. A slim volume that promises a quick, zany and illuminating read, it has been both written and illustrated by Pune's own Uday Patil.
“The ghost of the mountains” by Sujatha Padmanabhan @ Rs 100/-
A simply told tale of a small Ladakhi village’s encounter with a feral snow leopard, and one boy’s determination to save the majestic creature from the villager’s wrath. A beautiful book, with lovely illustrations and nuggets of interesting facts about nature, a smattering of Ladakhi words gives it additional touches of warmth. Short, sweet and conveying the message of conservation, this is a one of a kind find.
New books:
"For Crying Out Loud! - The World According to Clarkson" by Jeremy Clarkson @ Rs 395/-
"Success Is Not An Accident - Change Your Choices, Change Your Life" by Tommy Newberry @ Rs 295/-
"You Only Think Twice - The Definitive Guide To Better Thinking Skills For Indian Executives" by K.Ravi @ Rs 195/-
“The Untold Charminar – Writings on Hyderabad” edited by Syeda Imam @ Rs 399/-
“The World Almanac and book of facts 2009” @ Rs. 595/- by Reader’s Digest
“Working with Earth Energies” by David Furlong @Rs. 595/-
“Rigmarole and Other Plays” by Sai Paranjpye @ Rs.199/-
“America America” by Ethan Canin @Rs. 875/-
“Breaking Dawn” by Stephanie Meyer @Rs. 550/-
“India- One man’s personal journey round the subcontinent” by Sanjeev Bhaskar @ Rs 295/-
“The Rumbling Island – True stories from the forests of India” edited by Zai Whitaker @ Rs.175/-“China: A history” by John Keay @ Rs 395/-
”The Power of Story – change your story, change your destiny in business and in life” by Jim Loehr @ Rs 685/-
“Wild City” by Ranjit Lal @ Rs 275/-
“Footprint India handbook 2009” by Annie Dare and David Stott @ Rs 875/-
“Branson” by Tom Bower @ Rs 495/-
“Destination moon” by Pallava Bagla and Subhadra Menon @ Rs 195/-
“The accidental theorist – and other dispatches from the dismal science” by Paul Krugman @ Rs. 500/-
“Outliers – The story of success” by Malcolm Gladwell @ Rs. 399/-
“The Business traveller’s guide to the World” @ Rs. 399/-
“Panic” by Michael Lewis @ Rs. 250/-
“Courting destiny” by Shanti Bhushan @ Rs. 650/-
“The Silver Donkey” by Sonya Hartnett @ Rs. 195/-
“The Cosmic Dectective – Explaining the mysteries of our universe” by Mani Bhaumik @ Rs. 199/-
“Tandoor Cinders” by Vilas Sarang @ Rs. 199/-
“The Woman who thought she was a planet and other stories” by Vandana Singh @ Rs. 275/-
“Twilight” by Azhar Abidi @ Rs. 399/-
Happy reading, enjoy your books, savour the pleasure of reading and re-reading a good book! Have a wonderful Christmas and a lovely 2009,
From all of us here at,
twistntales
Monday, December 8, 2008
Recession - so learn new habits ? why can't we do so otherwise ?
Cost Cutting & Redeployment Measures By Wipro, TCS, Infy
Wipro has asked the recruits hired for the tech services arm to join the BPO arm instead to avoid a delay in joining dates. Currently, this is being offered in Kolkata and it could be replicated in Orissa and Hyderabad as well. This will be a time bound offer that could extend between 12 to 18 months after which they will be able to join tech services again. Also, there won’t be any change in salary structure for such employees. On the other hand, Infosys has urged its employees to save $10 each by cutting operation cost and controlling expenditure. The company has also set up a portal for employees to send in cost cutting measures and suggesting bigger business ideas. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is planning a an austerity plan under which all capital expenditure will be re-examined.
Source: 03-12-08 www.ibnlive.com & Hindustan Times Business Compiled by www.naukri.com
This is a tragedy. When companies have to "tell" employees to save $ 10 by controlling exps. Why ? Becoz it is recession ? why not otherwise ? Because client is paying ? Now that clients are asking for 30% cuts, suddenly everybody is waking up.
Don't we need clean working habits always ? why can't we use both sides of A4s ? So much of printing stationery is wasted. So many cars - from the same organisation go from Pune to Sahar everyday. Can't we pool ?
Sometimes, you feel good about a recession ... its the only way we begin to value what we have.
At twistntales, we try to run our business with the economics of a marwari store, but at the same time give customers, the ambience of a Landmark. (we are not that big, but soon we'll get there !) Right from using re-cycled newspaper bags for our books. And when many of our customers return our bags to us, we accept them happily - to use them again.
All our telephone pads are made from one side used stationery. No Post-its in tnt, only for special occasions. We need to be this way always. Remember, we are in the books business ? We don't make too much money ?
But wasteful expenditure hurts. Anywhere and everywhere. In whichever form. Sometimes, midlle class virtues of saving every penny - and making sure each paisa goes a long way is best.
Wipro has asked the recruits hired for the tech services arm to join the BPO arm instead to avoid a delay in joining dates. Currently, this is being offered in Kolkata and it could be replicated in Orissa and Hyderabad as well. This will be a time bound offer that could extend between 12 to 18 months after which they will be able to join tech services again. Also, there won’t be any change in salary structure for such employees. On the other hand, Infosys has urged its employees to save $10 each by cutting operation cost and controlling expenditure. The company has also set up a portal for employees to send in cost cutting measures and suggesting bigger business ideas. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is planning a an austerity plan under which all capital expenditure will be re-examined.
Source: 03-12-08 www.ibnlive.com & Hindustan Times Business Compiled by www.naukri.com
This is a tragedy. When companies have to "tell" employees to save $ 10 by controlling exps. Why ? Becoz it is recession ? why not otherwise ? Because client is paying ? Now that clients are asking for 30% cuts, suddenly everybody is waking up.
Don't we need clean working habits always ? why can't we use both sides of A4s ? So much of printing stationery is wasted. So many cars - from the same organisation go from Pune to Sahar everyday. Can't we pool ?
Sometimes, you feel good about a recession ... its the only way we begin to value what we have.
At twistntales, we try to run our business with the economics of a marwari store, but at the same time give customers, the ambience of a Landmark. (we are not that big, but soon we'll get there !) Right from using re-cycled newspaper bags for our books. And when many of our customers return our bags to us, we accept them happily - to use them again.
All our telephone pads are made from one side used stationery. No Post-its in tnt, only for special occasions. We need to be this way always. Remember, we are in the books business ? We don't make too much money ?
But wasteful expenditure hurts. Anywhere and everywhere. In whichever form. Sometimes, midlle class virtues of saving every penny - and making sure each paisa goes a long way is best.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Message sent to twistntales@yahoogroups on 3rd Dec
Hi all,
While our hearts and minds grieve for tragic events that our country is needlessly going through, our hope lies in “the thousand mutinies” (as Naipaul put it) that are happening across the Nation right now. While the TRPs go up on the Mumbai story, another 177 lives have been lost on the east coast of India due to a cyclone. We need to get more sensitive – not just when it affects people like us – and we can go a long way in making ourselves a Nation. While we seek answers, we need to do our bit as concerned citizens – we can start with making sure that our names are on the electoral rolls and go out to vote on D day.
J.K.Rowling can be credited with a lot of new desirable behaviour … getting kids back to reading, for example. And getting us to send this mail to you, after almost a 2 month gap!!! No wonder she is rich! She goads folks to action!
Yes, the “Tales of Beedle the Bard” will be available tomorrow (Thurs, 4th Dec), first thing in the morning. So, wake up early all you Rowling fans … as usual, twistntales decides to keep you awake!
And yes, thankyou for all your queries re. our welfare in these recessionary times… yes, we are doing fine, thanks again. We are using this opportunity to create some back office systems, computerize our records, stocks and inventory. We hope to be implementing our billing software shortly. All in all, we hope to bring you a better shopping experience at our Store.
Before we get on to new books, our Christmas party at Sassoon Pediatric Ward is scheduled for Sat, 20th Dec, 2 pm. For those of you who are new to this, we celebrate Christmas with Santa, Story telling, music and dance at Sassoon Hospital in the Pediatric Ward. A few volunteers like Saira Sikand and Nalini Ramachandran have been working there for many years and have created “Sunshine” for the kids. Every year twistntales carries goodies to Sunshine, sponsored by our customers. The requirement list for Sunshine will be put up at the Store in a couple of days.
Lots of new books have released in the past few weeks, few reviewed below and the others listed below!
New Arrivals:
"The parrot who wouldn't talk and other stories" by Ruskin Bond @ Rs. 125/- (106 pgs)
A fresh compilation of works by well beloved, Mussoorie-dwelling Bond, comprising fourteen short tales, both newly written and old favourites. Adventures and misadventures abound as young Ruskin, his grandmother, grandfather (constantly involved in fun-filled trickery), bumbling Uncle Ken and miscellaneous eccentric acquaintances and relatives go about their lives. Among other things they capture a ghost, have an encounter with a hungry tiger, listen to, tell and are part of many stories. Each is a small but wholesome nugget, nourishing with nostalgia, humour and charm in that style which is so inimitably Ruskin Bond.
"Same-sex love in India: A literary history" Edited by Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai @ Rs. 450/- (479 pgs)
The aptly titled compilation not only chronicles homoerotic writings but in fact begins by explicating the significance of friendship in the Vedic tradition. Classified neatly into ancient/ medieval/modern Indian materials (Sanskrit and Perso-Urdu) it attempts to do away with the illusion that same sex love is a recent phenomenon in human history. It is not limited to homosexuality but explores all same sex love finally inclining toward the romantic and the sexual. Extracts from modern writers such as Ismat Chughtai, Bipen Khakhar, Vikram Seth juxtapose with stories from the Panchantantra, Kama Sutra , Bhagvad, Shiva, Padma Puranas, Amir Khusro and even the Baburnama. Varied flavours and shades of the subject are exposed for a time and given breathing room.
"AIDS sutra" by Various (Edited by Negar Akhavi with a foreword by Amartya Sen) @ Rs. 395/- (334 pgs)
Collected writings from eminent pens all exploring HIV/AIDS in some form or the other. Aspects of the disease from how it touches sex workers, how hijras in India deal with the increasing threat to how injecting drug users risk it every time they use are explored. Salman Rushdie, Kiran Desai, William Darlymple, Shobhaa De, Vikram Seth, Sunil Gangopadhyay and more contribute unique stories elucidating the suffering (mental, physical and social) the AIDS afflicted go through. Each piece casts a bit of light stilling a separate hue of the disease on paper.
"Moving out of the box" by Jana M. Kemp @ Rs. 255/- (168 pgs)
Brainstorming sessions often lead to very little action. Moving Out Of The Box details tools that will help management teams forgo futile arguing and ensure constructive thinking. This book provides methods essentially the "ChoiceMarks" way to enforce decisions. ChoiceMarks starts with AntiSurvival, Boxed-In, Neutral, Engaged Enthusiasm, and Extreme Excitement - all different stages of team decision making. A good process to follow to have result oriented meetings.
"Buy.ology: How everything we believe about why we buy is wrong" by Martin Lindstrom @ Rs. 525/- (240 pgs)
"Buy.ology" opens a new window into the consumer mind and serves us a fresh cross-section of what drives a consumer. An anti smoking law will unwittingly induce the opposite. Subliminal advertising ; banned but still everywhere. The reasons as to what advertisments appeal to us are as varied as religious beliefs, childhood memories, even our sense of smell. Prepare to have your established beliefs on consumer psychology skewered.
"The Tao of personal leadership - The ancient way to success" by Diane Dreher @ Rs. 195/- (288 pgs)
Tao, the ancient Chinese belief system accepts change and attempts to create harmony in concert with change. "The Tao of Personal Leadership" blends the ancient wisdom of Tao with recent successes in the world of leadership. With examples, questions and exercises Diane Dreher illustrates and then reinforces age old strategies to succeed in being a leader to yourself as well as challenging those surrounding you to reach their zenith.
"Belonging" by Sameem Ali @ Rs. 350/- (281 pgs)
This is the true story of Sameem Ali. Unwanted as a baby she was sent to a children's home where she grew into adolescence. When she was taken back by her family she was hurriedly married off at thirteen and quickly became a mother at fourteen. This simply recounted tale recalls Sameem Ali's struggle with abuse in both her own family and her husband's as she forges a way to a happier future.
"100 essential things you didn't know you didn't know" by John D. Barrow @ Rs. 525/- (284 pgs)
Brace yourselves for some flabbergasting mathemagic! A spectacular compilation of practical yet thoroughly fun mathematical applications shedding light on the six degrees of separation, why the other queue always seems to move faster, whether an army of randomly typing monkeys can produce the entire works of Shakespeare (yes!), how long things survive, chaos, infinity and everything in between. "100 Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know" proves undeniably that, yes! Maths is in fact very interesting!
"A girl like me" by Swati Kaushal @ Rs. 250/- (338 pgs)
An,Anisha,Ani ; This American born Indian adolescent, recently relocated from the U.S. to Gurgaon with her mum, and memories of a dear departed dad, is your typical tomboy turned bombshell but still too deep in denial to understand why the gorgeous guys are chasing her sometimes shorts clad, sometimes skirt clad derriere. Candidly chronicling her clueless confusion between Kedar, Kunal, quirky classmates, killer kisses, A Girl Like Me is choc-a-block with confessions of this confounded teen drama queen.
"The book of Ram" by Devdutt Pattanaik @ Rs. 250/- (215pgs)
In Hindu culture the love for Lord Ram is unanimous. Eka-vachani,Eka-bani,Eka-patni. He is the King who always keeps his word, the eternally devoted husband, brother, son, pupil, perfectly dutiful in every way. Through The Book Of Ram Devdutt Pattanaik examines Lord Ram and his relationships with various mythological greats; Dashratha, Valmiki, Sita, Lakshamana and more, to the end of asserting his relevance in the modern era.
"Girls of Riyadh" by Rajaa Alsanea @ Rs. 430/- (300 pgs)
The stories of four Saudi girls facing the usual trials and tribulations experiencing the very heartbreaks and heart's desires that are universal to modern young women all over the world. Told via email to a vast online audience, Girls Of Riyadh disillusions those among us who felt the cultural divide to be very great and reveals that under their Abayas - girls,even 'Girls of Riyadh' just wanna have fun!
"A director's mind" by Ujjal Chakraborty @ Rs. 995/- (351 pgs)
True to title "A Director's Mind" explores the methods and thought process of cinematic legends Chaplin, Ray, Kurosawa, Hitchcock (to name a few) Breathtakingly illustrated with stills from cinematic chef d'oeuvres it delves into the genius behind great works of cinema and literature (Graham Greene, Bertrand Russell, Leo Tolstoy, Shakespeare) grooming one in the directorial mindset.
"The partnership - A history of Goldman Sachs" by Charles D. Ellis @ Rs. 995/- (729 pgs)
Goldman and Sachs has weathered every financial crisis right from the Great Depression of the 1927 on. From creative entrepreneurial decisions to disciplined risk taking, intensive recruitment and those colourful individuals (a junior high drop out, powerhouse Gus Levy, two secretaries of the treasure to current CEO Lloyd Blankfein) who add spice to the variety, "The Partnership" lays out a comprehensive history of the firm's rise through time, cementing our admiration and understanding of how it scaled Wall Street to reach its peak.
"Ocean of wisdom - Guideline For Living" by The Dalai Lama @ Rs. 195/- (132 pgs)
Pearls of good, sound advice for all, from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Everyday matters as well as threats to modern world such as impending nuclear warfare and global warming are commented upon. Exceedingly humble and peaceful yet in complete awareness of the need of the hour, each page holds a wealth of wisdom applicable to anyone even those not inclined toward religion or worship.
"Mahatma vs Gandhi" by Dinkar Joshi @ Rs. 250/- (279 pgs)
A novelization of the life of Harilal Gandhi. Eldest of four Gandhi sons, Harilal was the black sheep of this family, with the media often reporting his drunken misbehaviour at the height of Gandhiji's quest for Swaraj. The struggle between the man and the Mahatma, unveiling an unprecedented aspect of Gandhiji as a struggling family man is what "Mahatma vs Gandhi" is about.
"Chandrakanta" by Devakinandan Khatri @ Rs. 199/- (252 pgs)
About a hundred years prior to the conception of Harry Potter, the world of Hindi literature was being vividly painted with the adventures of Chandrakanta. Puffin has now unearthed this treasure and translated it into English for a new generation of readers to enjoy. The love of princess Chandrakanta and prince Virendra Singh is fraught not just with political intrigue but by obstacles of a magical nature. Mustachioed Krur Singh, vying for the affections of the princess, employs the services of spies well versed in the dark arts and masters of disguise to thwart Virendra. Labrynths, mystery, murder and plot, Puffin sees no reason that "Chandrakanta" should ever be forgot!
"ABCs of parenting" by Gouri Dange @ Rs. 175/- (123 pgs)
A guide through an A to Z of phases and techniques of parenting. Gouri Dange uses her experience as a family counsellor to lay out some fundamental concepts that will help parents understand and better communicate with their kids. For parenting there is no short cut, no ABraCaDabra...it is once again a process of starting from the A B Cs.
List of other new books
"Looking Through Glass" by Mukul Kesavan @ Rs. 325/- (378 pgs)
"The Private Patient" by P. D. James @ Rs.695/- (395 pgs)
"The Snowball" by Alice Schroeder @ Rs. 995/- (960 pgs)
"You've Been Warned" by James Patterson and Howard Roughan @ Rs. 295/- (435 pgs)
"The Heretic's Daughter" by Kathleen Kent @ Rs. 520/- (332 pgs)
"Finding Keeper's: The Monster Guide To Hiring and Holding the World's Best Employees" by Steve Pogorzelski & Jesse Harriott with Doug Hardy
"Looking Beyond" by Hugh and Colleen Gantzer @ Rs. 295 (276 pgs)
"Netherland" by Joseph O'Neill @ Rs 295 (247 pgs)
"The First Patient" by Michael Palmer @ Rs 280 (450 pgs)
"Amazing Grace" by Danielle Steele @ Rs 240 (523 pgs)
"Broken Soup" by Jenny Valentine @ Rs 195 (249 pgs)
"Fireflies in the Mist" by Qurratulain Hyder @ Rs 350 (378 pgs)
"Khairlanji- A Strange and Bitter Crop" by Anand Teltumbde @ Rs 190 (211 pgs)
"Our Bodies,Ourselves" by The Boston Women's Health Book Collective @ Rs 450 (832 pgs)
"Inside Druker's Brain" by Jeffrey A Krames Rs @ 1025 (274 pgs)
"By Royal Command" by Charlie Higson @ Rs 350 (354 pgs)
"How Toyota Became # 1" by David Magee @ Rs 499 (236 pgs)
"Sex and Power - Defining History, Shaping Societies" by Rita Banerji @ Rs 450 (415 pgs)
"Closing the Innovation Gap" by Judy Estrin @ Rs 595 (252pgs)
"Performance Leadership - The Next Practices to Motivate Your People, Align Stakeholders and Lead Your Industry" by Frank Buytendijk @ Rs 595 ( 302 pgs)
"For Crying Out Loud! - The World According to Clarkson" by Jeremy Clarkson @ Rs. 395 (288 pgs)
"Success Is Not An Accident - Change Your Choices,Change Your Life" by Tommy Newberry @ Rs 295 (230 pgs)
“You Only Think Twice - The Definitive Guide To Better Thinking Skills For Indian Executives" @ Rs 195 (185 pgs)
"Not Springtime Yet" by Priya Sarukkai Chabria @ Rs 350 (129 pgs)
"Designing dynamic organizations" by Jay Galbraith, Diane Downey and Amy Kates @ Rs 450 (286 pgs)
"Story of astronomy" by Uday Patil @ Rs 80/- (50 pgs)
New Tulika books :
"High in the sky - A Korean folktale" retold by Cathy Spagnoli @ Rs 125/-
"The Tamarind tree" by Lata Mani @ Rs 100/-
"Crocodile tears" by Sandhya Rao @ Rs 125/-
Lots of new books in our Nature/ Wildlife section :
"Tiger and other game" by Colonel A E Stewart @ Rs 450 (308 pgs)
"Tiger! The story of the Indian tiger" by Kailash Sankhala @ Rs 450 (220 pgs)
"Maneaters and memories" by J.E. Carrington Turner @ Rs 350 (190 pgs)
"Jungle trails in Northern India" by John Hewett @ Rs 495 (278 pgs)
"Maneaters and marauders" by John Taylor @ Rs 395 (200 pgs)
"Jungle by-ways in India" by E.P. Stebbing @ Rs 450 ( 306 pgs)
"Mauled by a tiger - Encounters in the Indian jungle" by Arthur W. Strachan @ Rs 495 (279 pgs)
."Ten thousand miles on elephants" by Olive Smythies @ 395 (220 pgs)
We have added all CNBC titles to our Investment section:
1."Invest the happionaire way" by Yogesh Chabria @ Rs 499 (86 pgs)
2."Invest the happionaire way" (Hindi) by Yogesh Chabria @ Rs 299 (113 pgs)
3."The A-list of B schools" - Your definitive guide to the best in management education edited by Dirgha Sampat
4."What your financial agent will tell you and why you shouldn't listen" by Deepa Venkatraghvan @ Rs 499 (218 pgs)
5."Everything you wanted to know about investing" - The encyclopedia of investment and wealth creating intelligence by Kotak and CNBC - TV18
Lots of new books! Take time off and take your pick!
From the team at,
twistntales
While our hearts and minds grieve for tragic events that our country is needlessly going through, our hope lies in “the thousand mutinies” (as Naipaul put it) that are happening across the Nation right now. While the TRPs go up on the Mumbai story, another 177 lives have been lost on the east coast of India due to a cyclone. We need to get more sensitive – not just when it affects people like us – and we can go a long way in making ourselves a Nation. While we seek answers, we need to do our bit as concerned citizens – we can start with making sure that our names are on the electoral rolls and go out to vote on D day.
J.K.Rowling can be credited with a lot of new desirable behaviour … getting kids back to reading, for example. And getting us to send this mail to you, after almost a 2 month gap!!! No wonder she is rich! She goads folks to action!
Yes, the “Tales of Beedle the Bard” will be available tomorrow (Thurs, 4th Dec), first thing in the morning. So, wake up early all you Rowling fans … as usual, twistntales decides to keep you awake!
And yes, thankyou for all your queries re. our welfare in these recessionary times… yes, we are doing fine, thanks again. We are using this opportunity to create some back office systems, computerize our records, stocks and inventory. We hope to be implementing our billing software shortly. All in all, we hope to bring you a better shopping experience at our Store.
Before we get on to new books, our Christmas party at Sassoon Pediatric Ward is scheduled for Sat, 20th Dec, 2 pm. For those of you who are new to this, we celebrate Christmas with Santa, Story telling, music and dance at Sassoon Hospital in the Pediatric Ward. A few volunteers like Saira Sikand and Nalini Ramachandran have been working there for many years and have created “Sunshine” for the kids. Every year twistntales carries goodies to Sunshine, sponsored by our customers. The requirement list for Sunshine will be put up at the Store in a couple of days.
Lots of new books have released in the past few weeks, few reviewed below and the others listed below!
New Arrivals:
"The parrot who wouldn't talk and other stories" by Ruskin Bond @ Rs. 125/- (106 pgs)
A fresh compilation of works by well beloved, Mussoorie-dwelling Bond, comprising fourteen short tales, both newly written and old favourites. Adventures and misadventures abound as young Ruskin, his grandmother, grandfather (constantly involved in fun-filled trickery), bumbling Uncle Ken and miscellaneous eccentric acquaintances and relatives go about their lives. Among other things they capture a ghost, have an encounter with a hungry tiger, listen to, tell and are part of many stories. Each is a small but wholesome nugget, nourishing with nostalgia, humour and charm in that style which is so inimitably Ruskin Bond.
"Same-sex love in India: A literary history" Edited by Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai @ Rs. 450/- (479 pgs)
The aptly titled compilation not only chronicles homoerotic writings but in fact begins by explicating the significance of friendship in the Vedic tradition. Classified neatly into ancient/ medieval/modern Indian materials (Sanskrit and Perso-Urdu) it attempts to do away with the illusion that same sex love is a recent phenomenon in human history. It is not limited to homosexuality but explores all same sex love finally inclining toward the romantic and the sexual. Extracts from modern writers such as Ismat Chughtai, Bipen Khakhar, Vikram Seth juxtapose with stories from the Panchantantra, Kama Sutra , Bhagvad, Shiva, Padma Puranas, Amir Khusro and even the Baburnama. Varied flavours and shades of the subject are exposed for a time and given breathing room.
"AIDS sutra" by Various (Edited by Negar Akhavi with a foreword by Amartya Sen) @ Rs. 395/- (334 pgs)
Collected writings from eminent pens all exploring HIV/AIDS in some form or the other. Aspects of the disease from how it touches sex workers, how hijras in India deal with the increasing threat to how injecting drug users risk it every time they use are explored. Salman Rushdie, Kiran Desai, William Darlymple, Shobhaa De, Vikram Seth, Sunil Gangopadhyay and more contribute unique stories elucidating the suffering (mental, physical and social) the AIDS afflicted go through. Each piece casts a bit of light stilling a separate hue of the disease on paper.
"Moving out of the box" by Jana M. Kemp @ Rs. 255/- (168 pgs)
Brainstorming sessions often lead to very little action. Moving Out Of The Box details tools that will help management teams forgo futile arguing and ensure constructive thinking. This book provides methods essentially the "ChoiceMarks" way to enforce decisions. ChoiceMarks starts with AntiSurvival, Boxed-In, Neutral, Engaged Enthusiasm, and Extreme Excitement - all different stages of team decision making. A good process to follow to have result oriented meetings.
"Buy.ology: How everything we believe about why we buy is wrong" by Martin Lindstrom @ Rs. 525/- (240 pgs)
"Buy.ology" opens a new window into the consumer mind and serves us a fresh cross-section of what drives a consumer. An anti smoking law will unwittingly induce the opposite. Subliminal advertising ; banned but still everywhere. The reasons as to what advertisments appeal to us are as varied as religious beliefs, childhood memories, even our sense of smell. Prepare to have your established beliefs on consumer psychology skewered.
"The Tao of personal leadership - The ancient way to success" by Diane Dreher @ Rs. 195/- (288 pgs)
Tao, the ancient Chinese belief system accepts change and attempts to create harmony in concert with change. "The Tao of Personal Leadership" blends the ancient wisdom of Tao with recent successes in the world of leadership. With examples, questions and exercises Diane Dreher illustrates and then reinforces age old strategies to succeed in being a leader to yourself as well as challenging those surrounding you to reach their zenith.
"Belonging" by Sameem Ali @ Rs. 350/- (281 pgs)
This is the true story of Sameem Ali. Unwanted as a baby she was sent to a children's home where she grew into adolescence. When she was taken back by her family she was hurriedly married off at thirteen and quickly became a mother at fourteen. This simply recounted tale recalls Sameem Ali's struggle with abuse in both her own family and her husband's as she forges a way to a happier future.
"100 essential things you didn't know you didn't know" by John D. Barrow @ Rs. 525/- (284 pgs)
Brace yourselves for some flabbergasting mathemagic! A spectacular compilation of practical yet thoroughly fun mathematical applications shedding light on the six degrees of separation, why the other queue always seems to move faster, whether an army of randomly typing monkeys can produce the entire works of Shakespeare (yes!), how long things survive, chaos, infinity and everything in between. "100 Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know" proves undeniably that, yes! Maths is in fact very interesting!
"A girl like me" by Swati Kaushal @ Rs. 250/- (338 pgs)
An,Anisha,Ani ; This American born Indian adolescent, recently relocated from the U.S. to Gurgaon with her mum, and memories of a dear departed dad, is your typical tomboy turned bombshell but still too deep in denial to understand why the gorgeous guys are chasing her sometimes shorts clad, sometimes skirt clad derriere. Candidly chronicling her clueless confusion between Kedar, Kunal, quirky classmates, killer kisses, A Girl Like Me is choc-a-block with confessions of this confounded teen drama queen.
"The book of Ram" by Devdutt Pattanaik @ Rs. 250/- (215pgs)
In Hindu culture the love for Lord Ram is unanimous. Eka-vachani,Eka-bani,Eka-patni. He is the King who always keeps his word, the eternally devoted husband, brother, son, pupil, perfectly dutiful in every way. Through The Book Of Ram Devdutt Pattanaik examines Lord Ram and his relationships with various mythological greats; Dashratha, Valmiki, Sita, Lakshamana and more, to the end of asserting his relevance in the modern era.
"Girls of Riyadh" by Rajaa Alsanea @ Rs. 430/- (300 pgs)
The stories of four Saudi girls facing the usual trials and tribulations experiencing the very heartbreaks and heart's desires that are universal to modern young women all over the world. Told via email to a vast online audience, Girls Of Riyadh disillusions those among us who felt the cultural divide to be very great and reveals that under their Abayas - girls,even 'Girls of Riyadh' just wanna have fun!
"A director's mind" by Ujjal Chakraborty @ Rs. 995/- (351 pgs)
True to title "A Director's Mind" explores the methods and thought process of cinematic legends Chaplin, Ray, Kurosawa, Hitchcock (to name a few) Breathtakingly illustrated with stills from cinematic chef d'oeuvres it delves into the genius behind great works of cinema and literature (Graham Greene, Bertrand Russell, Leo Tolstoy, Shakespeare) grooming one in the directorial mindset.
"The partnership - A history of Goldman Sachs" by Charles D. Ellis @ Rs. 995/- (729 pgs)
Goldman and Sachs has weathered every financial crisis right from the Great Depression of the 1927 on. From creative entrepreneurial decisions to disciplined risk taking, intensive recruitment and those colourful individuals (a junior high drop out, powerhouse Gus Levy, two secretaries of the treasure to current CEO Lloyd Blankfein) who add spice to the variety, "The Partnership" lays out a comprehensive history of the firm's rise through time, cementing our admiration and understanding of how it scaled Wall Street to reach its peak.
"Ocean of wisdom - Guideline For Living" by The Dalai Lama @ Rs. 195/- (132 pgs)
Pearls of good, sound advice for all, from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Everyday matters as well as threats to modern world such as impending nuclear warfare and global warming are commented upon. Exceedingly humble and peaceful yet in complete awareness of the need of the hour, each page holds a wealth of wisdom applicable to anyone even those not inclined toward religion or worship.
"Mahatma vs Gandhi" by Dinkar Joshi @ Rs. 250/- (279 pgs)
A novelization of the life of Harilal Gandhi. Eldest of four Gandhi sons, Harilal was the black sheep of this family, with the media often reporting his drunken misbehaviour at the height of Gandhiji's quest for Swaraj. The struggle between the man and the Mahatma, unveiling an unprecedented aspect of Gandhiji as a struggling family man is what "Mahatma vs Gandhi" is about.
"Chandrakanta" by Devakinandan Khatri @ Rs. 199/- (252 pgs)
About a hundred years prior to the conception of Harry Potter, the world of Hindi literature was being vividly painted with the adventures of Chandrakanta. Puffin has now unearthed this treasure and translated it into English for a new generation of readers to enjoy. The love of princess Chandrakanta and prince Virendra Singh is fraught not just with political intrigue but by obstacles of a magical nature. Mustachioed Krur Singh, vying for the affections of the princess, employs the services of spies well versed in the dark arts and masters of disguise to thwart Virendra. Labrynths, mystery, murder and plot, Puffin sees no reason that "Chandrakanta" should ever be forgot!
"ABCs of parenting" by Gouri Dange @ Rs. 175/- (123 pgs)
A guide through an A to Z of phases and techniques of parenting. Gouri Dange uses her experience as a family counsellor to lay out some fundamental concepts that will help parents understand and better communicate with their kids. For parenting there is no short cut, no ABraCaDabra...it is once again a process of starting from the A B Cs.
List of other new books
"Looking Through Glass" by Mukul Kesavan @ Rs. 325/- (378 pgs)
"The Private Patient" by P. D. James @ Rs.695/- (395 pgs)
"The Snowball" by Alice Schroeder @ Rs. 995/- (960 pgs)
"You've Been Warned" by James Patterson and Howard Roughan @ Rs. 295/- (435 pgs)
"The Heretic's Daughter" by Kathleen Kent @ Rs. 520/- (332 pgs)
"Finding Keeper's: The Monster Guide To Hiring and Holding the World's Best Employees" by Steve Pogorzelski & Jesse Harriott with Doug Hardy
"Looking Beyond" by Hugh and Colleen Gantzer @ Rs. 295 (276 pgs)
"Netherland" by Joseph O'Neill @ Rs 295 (247 pgs)
"The First Patient" by Michael Palmer @ Rs 280 (450 pgs)
"Amazing Grace" by Danielle Steele @ Rs 240 (523 pgs)
"Broken Soup" by Jenny Valentine @ Rs 195 (249 pgs)
"Fireflies in the Mist" by Qurratulain Hyder @ Rs 350 (378 pgs)
"Khairlanji- A Strange and Bitter Crop" by Anand Teltumbde @ Rs 190 (211 pgs)
"Our Bodies,Ourselves" by The Boston Women's Health Book Collective @ Rs 450 (832 pgs)
"Inside Druker's Brain" by Jeffrey A Krames Rs @ 1025 (274 pgs)
"By Royal Command" by Charlie Higson @ Rs 350 (354 pgs)
"How Toyota Became # 1" by David Magee @ Rs 499 (236 pgs)
"Sex and Power - Defining History, Shaping Societies" by Rita Banerji @ Rs 450 (415 pgs)
"Closing the Innovation Gap" by Judy Estrin @ Rs 595 (252pgs)
"Performance Leadership - The Next Practices to Motivate Your People, Align Stakeholders and Lead Your Industry" by Frank Buytendijk @ Rs 595 ( 302 pgs)
"For Crying Out Loud! - The World According to Clarkson" by Jeremy Clarkson @ Rs. 395 (288 pgs)
"Success Is Not An Accident - Change Your Choices,Change Your Life" by Tommy Newberry @ Rs 295 (230 pgs)
“You Only Think Twice - The Definitive Guide To Better Thinking Skills For Indian Executives" @ Rs 195 (185 pgs)
"Not Springtime Yet" by Priya Sarukkai Chabria @ Rs 350 (129 pgs)
"Designing dynamic organizations" by Jay Galbraith, Diane Downey and Amy Kates @ Rs 450 (286 pgs)
"Story of astronomy" by Uday Patil @ Rs 80/- (50 pgs)
New Tulika books :
"High in the sky - A Korean folktale" retold by Cathy Spagnoli @ Rs 125/-
"The Tamarind tree" by Lata Mani @ Rs 100/-
"Crocodile tears" by Sandhya Rao @ Rs 125/-
Lots of new books in our Nature/ Wildlife section :
"Tiger and other game" by Colonel A E Stewart @ Rs 450 (308 pgs)
"Tiger! The story of the Indian tiger" by Kailash Sankhala @ Rs 450 (220 pgs)
"Maneaters and memories" by J.E. Carrington Turner @ Rs 350 (190 pgs)
"Jungle trails in Northern India" by John Hewett @ Rs 495 (278 pgs)
"Maneaters and marauders" by John Taylor @ Rs 395 (200 pgs)
"Jungle by-ways in India" by E.P. Stebbing @ Rs 450 ( 306 pgs)
"Mauled by a tiger - Encounters in the Indian jungle" by Arthur W. Strachan @ Rs 495 (279 pgs)
."Ten thousand miles on elephants" by Olive Smythies @ 395 (220 pgs)
We have added all CNBC titles to our Investment section:
1."Invest the happionaire way" by Yogesh Chabria @ Rs 499 (86 pgs)
2."Invest the happionaire way" (Hindi) by Yogesh Chabria @ Rs 299 (113 pgs)
3."The A-list of B schools" - Your definitive guide to the best in management education edited by Dirgha Sampat
4."What your financial agent will tell you and why you shouldn't listen" by Deepa Venkatraghvan @ Rs 499 (218 pgs)
5."Everything you wanted to know about investing" - The encyclopedia of investment and wealth creating intelligence by Kotak and CNBC - TV18
Lots of new books! Take time off and take your pick!
From the team at,
twistntales
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Maximum city minimised by non-liberals
At the outset, i am hurt deeply. I come from Bombay, not mumbai - sorry that place i dont know.
My Bombay is that of Johnny Walker singing "yeh bombay meri jaan"
Bombay has been systematically ruined. I read Black Friday when it was released. I was not in Bombay in 1993. I had moved out 2 years before. But i wept when i read the book. The blasts affected most of us directly. A classmate and a few colleagues at work. I was then at Bank of Oman, with its office in Air India building. Almost the entire Bombay branch wiped out. I was at the Head Office in Dubai.
This was Deja vu. I don't like half baked pseudo mumbaites posing as Bombayites. Bombay was truly a liberal, extremely professional most happening place to be. "Dhanda" was its motto. I miss Bombay. It still miss it when i visit Mumbai.
My Bombay is that of Johnny Walker singing "yeh bombay meri jaan"
Bombay has been systematically ruined. I read Black Friday when it was released. I was not in Bombay in 1993. I had moved out 2 years before. But i wept when i read the book. The blasts affected most of us directly. A classmate and a few colleagues at work. I was then at Bank of Oman, with its office in Air India building. Almost the entire Bombay branch wiped out. I was at the Head Office in Dubai.
This was Deja vu. I don't like half baked pseudo mumbaites posing as Bombayites. Bombay was truly a liberal, extremely professional most happening place to be. "Dhanda" was its motto. I miss Bombay. It still miss it when i visit Mumbai.
Monday, December 1, 2008
twistntales - in the future ?
Books and bookstores are supposed to be dying. But despite the internet and the dire economy, new bookstores have just opened in Plano and Oak Cliff. KERA's Jerome Weeks says that the new shops are not your typical booksellers. Not in North Texas.
For one thing, Legacy Books in Plano is big. Located at Legacy Road and the Dallas North Tollway, it has 24,000 square feet, and it stocks some 110,000 book titles. That's the size of a Borders or Barnes & Noble superstore. But Legacy isn't a chain store. It's independently owned. And most independents aren't that big. Elsewhere in the country, major independents are considered some of the best bookstores around - places like Elliot Bay in Seattle or Book People in Austin. But in North Texas, Legacy is the first (therefore, only) major independent.
The store in the Shops at Legacy is the brainchild of Teri Tanner. She practically grew up in retail. She worked for both Barnes & Noble and Borders most recently as the regional director of sales for Borders.
TANNER: "I've been building this store in my head for 25 years - because you listen to a bookseller or a cashier or the cleaning crew that says, "I just wish this" or "I just wish that" - and that's what we've tried to do here."
Construction continues because although Legacy Books is open, the official grand opening is November 7. Deanne Teeter led the Legacy design team for the firm, Morrison Seifert Murphy. She points out the store's demonstration kitchen as one of Tanner's innovations.
TEETER: "She really wanted to have chefs that are signing their books, that they can actually cook. So this was a real design challenge and an opportunity for the space. There's a camera over there, and it displays over the cooking section on the TV, and it can be back there on the TV. So if you can't actually get into this space to see it, you can see it here as well.
Other highlights are a caf that serves beer and wine and a third-floor gallery that displays books on photography and architecture as if they were artworks. Speaking of artworks, sculptures and paintings are on display by area artists Tamara White, Elizabeth McDonald and Seth Schwaiger.
But what distinguishes successful independents is their book selection and customer service. With the right mix and the right diligence, an independent can become a favorite, local cultural institution like a museum or library. Meg Smith is marketing director for the American Booksellers Association.
SMITH: "What people look to an independent bookstore for is a sense of real personalization - in selling, in choices of reading material. And it really takes on the identity of the people that shop there. And very naturally, independent bookstores have been a center for a lot of community activity."
One survey has found that the top two kinds of stores that people hope will open near them are bookshops and bakeries. That's good news for Jorge Alvarez and Gilbert Barrola. They've just opened Dicho's in the Bishop Arts District (It's at the corner of Seventh and Bishop the former home of the Naughty Dog coffeeshop.) In the back of the bookstore is a caf run by Cretia's, the bakery on McKinney Avenue. At only 1300 square feet, Dicho's is cozy and smells of cookies.
Dichos is Spanish for "old sayings" and the store features both English and Spanish-language books. (Alvarez explains that the odd apostrophe, which suggests there's someone named Dicho involved with the store, came about because the word, dichos, was trademarked in California.) Alvarez started a bookstore in Pomona, California six years ago with his partner, and then opened a Dicho's in Gainesville, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, that the pair still run. They commute to Dallas.
ALVAREZ: "One of our goals is to make our store feel comfortable and home-like. In California, we were in an art colony, so we were surrounded by art galleries and culture. When we came to Bishop Arts, we felt we were at home again."
In Plano, Legacy Books aims to be a destination store, a shrine for booklovers all over Texas and beyond. Dicho's aim is much smaller. There isn't a single Borders or Barnes & Noble anywhere near Oak Cliff.
ALVAREZ: "There's no general bookstore that services the community. So we definitely found a niche where we feel that people are eager to have a bookstore."
Many people believe that bookstores are doomed because of online sellers like Amazon.com, even though Amazon sells less than 10 percent of all books. Actually, a much bigger threat is posed by big-box stores like Wal-Mart or Target, which skim off the bestsellers.
Yet if anyone understands the risks and the low-profit margin nature of bookselling, it's Tanner or Alvarez. And they remain optimistic.
TANNER: "I have to tell you, in some of the cities that I've been in with Barnes & Noble and with Borders, if you can do what they do in some of these locations, it's impossible for me to believe that we will not be successful."
For one thing, Legacy Books in Plano is big. Located at Legacy Road and the Dallas North Tollway, it has 24,000 square feet, and it stocks some 110,000 book titles. That's the size of a Borders or Barnes & Noble superstore. But Legacy isn't a chain store. It's independently owned. And most independents aren't that big. Elsewhere in the country, major independents are considered some of the best bookstores around - places like Elliot Bay in Seattle or Book People in Austin. But in North Texas, Legacy is the first (therefore, only) major independent.
The store in the Shops at Legacy is the brainchild of Teri Tanner. She practically grew up in retail. She worked for both Barnes & Noble and Borders most recently as the regional director of sales for Borders.
TANNER: "I've been building this store in my head for 25 years - because you listen to a bookseller or a cashier or the cleaning crew that says, "I just wish this" or "I just wish that" - and that's what we've tried to do here."
Construction continues because although Legacy Books is open, the official grand opening is November 7. Deanne Teeter led the Legacy design team for the firm, Morrison Seifert Murphy. She points out the store's demonstration kitchen as one of Tanner's innovations.
TEETER: "She really wanted to have chefs that are signing their books, that they can actually cook. So this was a real design challenge and an opportunity for the space. There's a camera over there, and it displays over the cooking section on the TV, and it can be back there on the TV. So if you can't actually get into this space to see it, you can see it here as well.
Other highlights are a caf that serves beer and wine and a third-floor gallery that displays books on photography and architecture as if they were artworks. Speaking of artworks, sculptures and paintings are on display by area artists Tamara White, Elizabeth McDonald and Seth Schwaiger.
But what distinguishes successful independents is their book selection and customer service. With the right mix and the right diligence, an independent can become a favorite, local cultural institution like a museum or library. Meg Smith is marketing director for the American Booksellers Association.
SMITH: "What people look to an independent bookstore for is a sense of real personalization - in selling, in choices of reading material. And it really takes on the identity of the people that shop there. And very naturally, independent bookstores have been a center for a lot of community activity."
One survey has found that the top two kinds of stores that people hope will open near them are bookshops and bakeries. That's good news for Jorge Alvarez and Gilbert Barrola. They've just opened Dicho's in the Bishop Arts District (It's at the corner of Seventh and Bishop the former home of the Naughty Dog coffeeshop.) In the back of the bookstore is a caf run by Cretia's, the bakery on McKinney Avenue. At only 1300 square feet, Dicho's is cozy and smells of cookies.
Dichos is Spanish for "old sayings" and the store features both English and Spanish-language books. (Alvarez explains that the odd apostrophe, which suggests there's someone named Dicho involved with the store, came about because the word, dichos, was trademarked in California.) Alvarez started a bookstore in Pomona, California six years ago with his partner, and then opened a Dicho's in Gainesville, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, that the pair still run. They commute to Dallas.
ALVAREZ: "One of our goals is to make our store feel comfortable and home-like. In California, we were in an art colony, so we were surrounded by art galleries and culture. When we came to Bishop Arts, we felt we were at home again."
In Plano, Legacy Books aims to be a destination store, a shrine for booklovers all over Texas and beyond. Dicho's aim is much smaller. There isn't a single Borders or Barnes & Noble anywhere near Oak Cliff.
ALVAREZ: "There's no general bookstore that services the community. So we definitely found a niche where we feel that people are eager to have a bookstore."
Many people believe that bookstores are doomed because of online sellers like Amazon.com, even though Amazon sells less than 10 percent of all books. Actually, a much bigger threat is posed by big-box stores like Wal-Mart or Target, which skim off the bestsellers.
Yet if anyone understands the risks and the low-profit margin nature of bookselling, it's Tanner or Alvarez. And they remain optimistic.
TANNER: "I have to tell you, in some of the cities that I've been in with Barnes & Noble and with Borders, if you can do what they do in some of these locations, it's impossible for me to believe that we will not be successful."
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Am proud of you, Divya
Put your hands together for the winner of Promax Asia Silver Award Winner!
The Promax Asia 2008 awards were announced in Singapore yesterday and Divya has won the Silver award for her promo film for Channel V in the category of BEST IN HOUSE STATION IMAGE PROMO. This category awards those promo films that have been made for promotion of the channel as a whole as against a particular show.
Her promo film was selected and entered into the competition by her company. Each category has at least 10 entries from all over Asia, vying for the top two prizes - Gold and Silver.
You can see the entire list of winners here (her promo film is on the top of the list):
http://www.promaxasia.tv/overview.html
The Promax Asia 2008 awards were announced in Singapore yesterday and Divya has won the Silver award for her promo film for Channel V in the category of BEST IN HOUSE STATION IMAGE PROMO. This category awards those promo films that have been made for promotion of the channel as a whole as against a particular show.
Her promo film was selected and entered into the competition by her company. Each category has at least 10 entries from all over Asia, vying for the top two prizes - Gold and Silver.
You can see the entire list of winners here (her promo film is on the top of the list):
http://www.promaxasia.tv/overview.html
Monday, October 13, 2008
Bankruptcy explained
Once there was a little island country. The land of this country was
the tiny island itself. The total money in circulation was 2 dollars
as there were only two pieces of 1 dollar coins circulating around.
1) There were 3 citizens living on this island country. A owned the
land. B and C each owned 1 dollar.
2) B decided to purchase the land from A for 1 dollar. So, now A and
C own 1 dollar each while B owned a piece of land that is worth 1
dollar.
* The net asset of the country now = 3 dollars.
3) Now C thought that since there is only one piece of land in the
country, and land is non producible asset, its value must definitely
go up. So, he borrowed 1 dollar from A, and together with his own 1
dollar, he bought the land from B for 2 dollars.
*A has a loan to C of 1 dollar, so his net asset is 1 dollar.
* B sold his land and got 2 dollars, so his net asset is 2 dollars.
* C owned the piece of land worth 2 dollars but with his 1 dollar
debt to A, his net residual asset is 1 dollar.
* Thus, the net asset of the country = 4 dollars.
4) A saw that the land he once owned has risen in value. He regretted
having sold it. Luckily, he has a 1 dollar loan to C. He then
borrowed 2 dollars from B and acquired the land back from C for 3
dollars. The payment is by 2 dollars cash (which he borrowed) and
cancellation of the 1 dollar loan to C. As a result, A now owned a
piece of land that is worth 3 dollars. But since he owed B 2 dollars,
his net asset is 1 dollar.
* B loaned 2 dollars to A. So his net asset is 2 dollars.
* C now has the 2 coins. His net asset is also 2 dollars.
* The net asset of the country = 5 dollars. A bubble is building up.
(5) B saw that the value of land kept rising. He also wanted to own
the land. So he bought the land from A for 4 dollars. The payment is
by borrowing 2 dollars from C, and cancellation of his 2 dollars loan
to A.
* As a result, A has got his debt cleared and he got the 2 coins. His
net asset is 2 dollars.
* B owned a piece of land that is worth 4 dollars, but since he has a
debt of 2 dollars with C, his net Asset is 2 dollars.
* C loaned 2 dollars to B, so his net asset is 2 dollars.
* The net asset of the country = 6 dollars; even though, the country
has only one piece of land and 2 Dollars in circulation.
(6) Everybody has made money and everybody felt happy and prosperous.
(7) One day an evil wind blew, and an evil thought came to C's
mind. "Hey, what if the land price stop going up, how could B repay
my loan. There is only 2 dollars in circulation, and, I think after
all the land that B owns is worth at most only 1 dollar, and no
more."
(8) A also thought the same way.
(9) Nobody wanted to buy land anymore.
* So, in the end, A owns the 2 dollar coins, his net asset is 2
dollars.
* B owed C 2 dollars and the land he owned which he thought worth 4
dollars is now 1 dollar. So his net asset is only 1 dollar.
* C has a loan of 2 dollars to B. But it is a bad debt. Although his
net asset is still 2 dollars, his Heart is palpitating.
* The net asset of the country = 3 dollars again.
(10) So, who has stolen the 3 dollars from the country? Of course,
before the bubble burst B thought his land was worth 4 dollars.
Actually, right before the collapse, the net asset of the country was
6 dollars on paper. B's net asset is still 2 dollars, his heart is
palpitating.
(11) B had no choice but to declare bankruptcy. C as to relinquish
his 2 dollars bad debt to B, but in return he acquired the land which
is worth 1 dollar now.
* A owns the 2 coins; his net asset is 2 dollars.
* B is bankrupt; his net asset is 0 dollar. (He lost everything)
* C got no choice but end up with a land worth only 1 dollar
* the net asset of the country = 3 dollars.
End of the story; BUT …
There is however a redistribution of wealth.
A is the winner, B is the loser, C is lucky that he is spared.
A few points worth noting -
(1) when a bubble is building up, the debt of individuals to one
another in a country is also building up.
(2) This story of the island is a closed system whereby there is no
other country and hence no foreign debt. The worth of the asset can
only be calculated using the island's own currency. Hence, there is
no net loss.
(3) An over-damped system is assumed when the bubble burst, meaning
the land's value did not go down to below 1 dollar.
(4) When the bubble burst, the fellow with cash is the winner. The
fellows having the land or extending loan to others are the losers.
The asset could shrink or in worst case, they go bankrupt.
(5) If there is another citizen D either holding a dollar or another
piece of land but refrains from taking part in the game, he will
neither win nor lose. But he will see the value of his money or land
goes up and down like a see saw.
(6) When the bubble was in the growing phase, everybody made money.
(7) If you are smart and know that you are living in a growing
bubble, it is worthwhile to borrow money (like A) and take part in
the game. But you must know when you should change everything back to
cash.
(8) As in the case of land, the above phenomenon applies to stocks as
well.
(9) The actual worth of land or stocks depends largely on psychology
(or speculation) .
Thanks, Bhu.
the tiny island itself. The total money in circulation was 2 dollars
as there were only two pieces of 1 dollar coins circulating around.
1) There were 3 citizens living on this island country. A owned the
land. B and C each owned 1 dollar.
2) B decided to purchase the land from A for 1 dollar. So, now A and
C own 1 dollar each while B owned a piece of land that is worth 1
dollar.
* The net asset of the country now = 3 dollars.
3) Now C thought that since there is only one piece of land in the
country, and land is non producible asset, its value must definitely
go up. So, he borrowed 1 dollar from A, and together with his own 1
dollar, he bought the land from B for 2 dollars.
*A has a loan to C of 1 dollar, so his net asset is 1 dollar.
* B sold his land and got 2 dollars, so his net asset is 2 dollars.
* C owned the piece of land worth 2 dollars but with his 1 dollar
debt to A, his net residual asset is 1 dollar.
* Thus, the net asset of the country = 4 dollars.
4) A saw that the land he once owned has risen in value. He regretted
having sold it. Luckily, he has a 1 dollar loan to C. He then
borrowed 2 dollars from B and acquired the land back from C for 3
dollars. The payment is by 2 dollars cash (which he borrowed) and
cancellation of the 1 dollar loan to C. As a result, A now owned a
piece of land that is worth 3 dollars. But since he owed B 2 dollars,
his net asset is 1 dollar.
* B loaned 2 dollars to A. So his net asset is 2 dollars.
* C now has the 2 coins. His net asset is also 2 dollars.
* The net asset of the country = 5 dollars. A bubble is building up.
(5) B saw that the value of land kept rising. He also wanted to own
the land. So he bought the land from A for 4 dollars. The payment is
by borrowing 2 dollars from C, and cancellation of his 2 dollars loan
to A.
* As a result, A has got his debt cleared and he got the 2 coins. His
net asset is 2 dollars.
* B owned a piece of land that is worth 4 dollars, but since he has a
debt of 2 dollars with C, his net Asset is 2 dollars.
* C loaned 2 dollars to B, so his net asset is 2 dollars.
* The net asset of the country = 6 dollars; even though, the country
has only one piece of land and 2 Dollars in circulation.
(6) Everybody has made money and everybody felt happy and prosperous.
(7) One day an evil wind blew, and an evil thought came to C's
mind. "Hey, what if the land price stop going up, how could B repay
my loan. There is only 2 dollars in circulation, and, I think after
all the land that B owns is worth at most only 1 dollar, and no
more."
(8) A also thought the same way.
(9) Nobody wanted to buy land anymore.
* So, in the end, A owns the 2 dollar coins, his net asset is 2
dollars.
* B owed C 2 dollars and the land he owned which he thought worth 4
dollars is now 1 dollar. So his net asset is only 1 dollar.
* C has a loan of 2 dollars to B. But it is a bad debt. Although his
net asset is still 2 dollars, his Heart is palpitating.
* The net asset of the country = 3 dollars again.
(10) So, who has stolen the 3 dollars from the country? Of course,
before the bubble burst B thought his land was worth 4 dollars.
Actually, right before the collapse, the net asset of the country was
6 dollars on paper. B's net asset is still 2 dollars, his heart is
palpitating.
(11) B had no choice but to declare bankruptcy. C as to relinquish
his 2 dollars bad debt to B, but in return he acquired the land which
is worth 1 dollar now.
* A owns the 2 coins; his net asset is 2 dollars.
* B is bankrupt; his net asset is 0 dollar. (He lost everything)
* C got no choice but end up with a land worth only 1 dollar
* the net asset of the country = 3 dollars.
End of the story; BUT …
There is however a redistribution of wealth.
A is the winner, B is the loser, C is lucky that he is spared.
A few points worth noting -
(1) when a bubble is building up, the debt of individuals to one
another in a country is also building up.
(2) This story of the island is a closed system whereby there is no
other country and hence no foreign debt. The worth of the asset can
only be calculated using the island's own currency. Hence, there is
no net loss.
(3) An over-damped system is assumed when the bubble burst, meaning
the land's value did not go down to below 1 dollar.
(4) When the bubble burst, the fellow with cash is the winner. The
fellows having the land or extending loan to others are the losers.
The asset could shrink or in worst case, they go bankrupt.
(5) If there is another citizen D either holding a dollar or another
piece of land but refrains from taking part in the game, he will
neither win nor lose. But he will see the value of his money or land
goes up and down like a see saw.
(6) When the bubble was in the growing phase, everybody made money.
(7) If you are smart and know that you are living in a growing
bubble, it is worthwhile to borrow money (like A) and take part in
the game. But you must know when you should change everything back to
cash.
(8) As in the case of land, the above phenomenon applies to stocks as
well.
(9) The actual worth of land or stocks depends largely on psychology
(or speculation) .
Thanks, Bhu.
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