Tag: Bookstrapping

Bookstrapping: A tribute to a Nobel Laureate

‘Dear Life’, another collection released in 2012, was intended to be her last. Her stories are everyday stories of everyday people- those whom we don’t expect to encounter in books, writes Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. (Image source: Britannica)

As per the review of Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, the compilation, ‘Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage’, which was released in 2001 cannot be missed. A story from this compilation, ‘The Bear Came over the Mountain’, which spoke of Alzheimer’s disease, was made into a film titled ‘Away From Her’ in 2006.

Bookstrapping – The Trading Game: A Confession by Gary Stevenson

As per Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta's review, "Gary Stevenson gets really funny as well. While the constant refrain in every brokers' ‘sad and mad’ life remains, ‘will I get paid?’ and ‘can I leave?’, Gary tells you that about a curious Japanese belief- they mistake Santa Claus for the KFC guy!" (Image source: Amazon)

The author talks about himself as a character in the book. Gary reveals that while in school, he got expelled for drugs, realised that good grades alone don’t lead to great jobs, won a poker-like trading competition, made it to Citibank and then made out of it too, reviews Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta.

Bookstrapping: Eden Abandoned – The story of Lilith by Shinie Antony

The evocation of feminism, is dealt with in the most fascinating manner. The author brings Lilith alive in the most irreverent way, for she believes that it was Adam’s ‘contempt for himself that interfered with his joy in her!", reviews Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. (Image source: Amazon)

The book puts an entirely new spin on the very idea of worship and dignity. With chapters numbered in reverse, from thirteen to zero and unnamed, the reader can make their imagination go wild, reviews Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta.

Bookstrapping: The Dirty Dozen by N Sundaresha Subramanian

The author’s track record as a hard-hitting journalist with award winning coverage in corporate and regulatory affairs, sets the tone foe the merciless, diligent number crunching in the book. (Image source: Amazon)

The chapter titled ‘Companies Cry but Owners Party,’ speaks about the nexus between the establishment and a category of defaulters. Subramanian also highlights the misuse of the ‘corporate debt restructuring (CDR)’ scheme by big organisations. Later, the book refers to how the the CDR cell shutdown overnight, after faithfully serving Indian lenders and letters for 17 years, writes Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta.

Bookstrapping: Letters to Hira by H.T. Parekh, founder, HDFC

The book stands testimony to what old timers at HDFC know- an intrinsically humble person, H. T. Parekh never consciously set out to create a business empire but by dint of hard work and a visionary mind, he went on to become a formidable force in Indian business, writes Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. (Image source: Shri Modh Vanik Seva Samaj)

In the letters, H. T. Parekh offers information about life in London, where he was studying at the London School of Economics. The language of the letters is purposeful and detailed; its almost as if HT Parekh wanted to share every moment of his life, again with Hira, reviews Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta.

Bookstrapping: Ashoka – Portrait of a Philosopher King

Ashoka’s upbringing was multicultural- both Chandragupta Maurya and Bindusara had Greek wives. Naturally, Ashoka was a ‘universalist’ with an expansive vision, connections and influence all over the world. (Image source: Amazon)

Ashoka’s conquests were as bloody a those of his father and grandfather. The difference is that Ashoka acknowledged it and apologised for it. Ashoka speaks of an ‘offence’ committed by the state of Kalinga, because of which he ‘had to’ attack! And yet, he regretted it. He was a King with a conscience and that is why, we cannot get over him fully, reviews Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta.

Bookstrapping: Your songs, my songs and the pleasure of poetry

Poetry transcends every celebration there ever has been and ever can be, writes Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. (Image source: Amazon)

In this week’s Bookstrapping, our reviewer Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta reviews Arundhathi Subramaniam’s ‘Wild Women’, Harish Bhat’s ‘Restless Lives’ and ‘The Days of a Small Book and Other Poems’, by film director Seenu Ramasamy.

Bookstrapping: The Great Flap Of 1942 by Mukund Padmanabhan

The British seemed to be preparing for a great Japanese threat. They referred to this as the The Great Flap of 1942. This threat, however never came through, even though at one point, the Japanese attempted to enter India’s mainland via the north-east from their base in Burma. (Image source: Amazon)

The question the book leaves the reader with is this- ‘how much did the Japanese threat change political attitudes and influence the national movement in 1942?’ How did it change British attitudes towards India? And how does war time threat alter the social fabric?, highlights Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta.

Bookstrapping: Same as Ever by Morgan Housel

According to Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, one's role models, folks who think about the world in unique ways (you like these), also think about the world in other unique ways (you don’t like these). Unique minds therefore have to be accepted as a complete package. (Image source: Amazon)

One of the insights in ‘Same as Ever’ is recognising the fact that some things never change. And that helps to appreciate the fact that some of the biggest and most consequential changes in history happened because of a random, unforeseeable, thoughtless encounter or decision that led to magic or mayhem. Not because of great planning.

Bookstrapping: Marginlands – Indian Landscapes on the Brink by Arati Kumar-Rao

The book captures the tumultuous lives – both human and non-human – of those who inhabit the margins of the subcontinent. And the author includes unusual suspects like Bombay too!, states Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. (Image source: Amazon)

Because Marginlands is not about geography alone; it is about the people, the microhabitats and any aspect of a place that we don’t pay attention to. Something that is on the margins of our attention; a place and people that are endangered and on the brink; even though we don’t see it clearly, writes Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta.