It's a common saying which goes like 'Marriages are made in Heaven'; but we all know that the couple should still lead their lives on (beautiful yet complicated) Earth!! All of us want and yearn for a happy, peaceful, fun filled and satisfying married life and a partner who would support, defend, and handhold us in this journey. But very rarely do we come across couples who have achieved this stature. This book 'Row, Row, Row your Boat' is a book written by couple therapists, Sophia and Roopak(a couple themselves!!), who turned around their married life which was on the verge of collapse with therapy's help. This is a short but insightful read on little things that couples could do 'together' to reach their vision of becoming a made-for-each-other couple, which apparently was their original vow when they got married but may have fizzled out as years passed by. 

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Let's assume this situation. You are working in a reputed organization and your appraisal is underway. You have high hopes of getting a sizeable increment with a promotion to a leadership role. All of a sudden, your manager invites you into his room and asks you to poach some information to a competitor firm for some illegal commission. Would you be okay doing this so that your appraisal sails through, which will also keep you in your manager's good books or would you back off as you would be hurting the organization for illegal short term again. This is just an example of one of plethora of daily dilemmas that life throws at you with varying complexities. This book by Hardayal Singh, a civil service Officer, attempts to highlight through fictional and real stories of common men, that choosing and walking along the righteous path with an unwavering mind is possible but acknowledges that it is extremely difficult. 

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Gen Z feels that the 80's generation (the Millenials) is out dated and always complaining and 80's generation felt the same about the Gen X. The striking reality is that this cycle repeats itself. While lot has been discussed about parenting techniques and lessons on coping with children, not much public engagement happens in understanding the mentality of aged men/women who have crossed their prime age, the loneliness they deal with and the inner struggles they go through in adapting themselves to the dynamically changing world.  A man called Ove by Frederick Blackmann is an attempt at journaling the life of a sexagenerian named Ove and how he sees today's world. 

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All of us aspire to become rich but few of us get there. I used to wonder why that’s the case and I started figuring it out as I started paying attention to the financial habits of people and began reading about investing. These two dramatically changed my understanding about the steps to getting rich. Let’s talk money by Monika Halan is a rich knowledge resource that would help a working individual, especially the salaried class, to understand the importance of sound financial planning, specifically suited to Indian context.  ...[Continue Reading...]

Have you ever bought a product based on the claim that it is 99.99% effective and it is proven by some renowned research lab, only to find that life was better before you bought this product? This book “How to lie with statistics” is for you as Darrell Huff, its author gives a heads-up to the readers on the ways and means through which one is tricked by the statistics and how to ward oneself off from these fraudulent attacks. ...[Continue Reading...]

If I asked you- what’s the most important thing I should do if I want to make sure my site or app is easy to use, what would be your answer? ‘Consistency’, ‘Easy navigation’ etc., right?! But, Steve Krug, the renowned usability expert has one simple answer- ‘Don’t make me think’. And that’s the title of his book, too, which is from a very common sensical standpoint as it reflects people’s natural inclination to expend less effort in using anything. With first edition of this book published almost two decades ago, the concepts are still relevant today as much of how humans think and behave have largely remained the same since time immemorial. 

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Most of us know or atleast would have a broad idea as to how Indian courts function. Undue delays, huge costs, multiple adjournments and resulting frustrations are some of the characteristics that define our Judiciary. While we accord great respect and look up to courts, are they living up to the expectations? Are they delivering the right judgements and more importantly, are they monitoring the adherence to such orders issued by them? Arun Shourie raises more such relevant and valid concerns in his book “Anita Gets Bail- What are our Courts doing and What should we do about them.“

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As all of us are diligently washing our hands using soap to ward ourselves off the preying Corona virus, let me share some secret with you!! Our body houses almost 1 trillion bacteria gleefully dangling and swimming inside our body. You may exclaim “Gosh!” but a fact is a fact. There is much more that Bill Bryson, the author of ‘A short history of nearly everything’, throws light on from formation of universe, discovery of elements, to evolution of humans. Game for a fact-filled ride?

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