The Paris Architect

Author: Charles Belfoure


Charles Belfoure's debut novel is set in Nazi occupied Paris in the early 1940s. Lucien Bernard is a brilliant architect who is desperately looking for work, when an interesting proposition comes his way. A rich Parisian,  Manet, offers him a regular architectural gig, in return for his help in designing a hiding space for Jews. Lucien is loath to take this on, but his desperate situation tips the balance and the rest is history, albeit fictional. The book is a true thriller with lots of architectural detail thrown in. The description of the Nazi brutality has been repeated so often that you feel that you have read it before. Nevertheless, the book is a page-turner and builds up to a nice climax.

Going clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief

Author: Lawrence Wright


I picked up this book at the Boston Airport, to entertain me on my long flight back to San Francisco. Going into the book, the only thing I knew was that Scientology was a religion of Hollywood movie stars. However, on reading this book, I was shocked and amazed to learn its gory inner workings. 

Lawrence describes Ron Hubbard's early years and how he got started into things that potentially influenced the Scientology religion. The book can be characterized as an exposé and I found it hard to digest that in this day and age people could be brainwashed and forced to a life of hardship in the name of religion. Maybe this quote sum’s up the reason: "Religion supplies a commodity that is always in demand: salvation. "

Floating city : A Rogue Sociologist Lost and Found in New York's Underground Economy

Author: Sudhir Venkatesh


More than the book, I am fascinated by the author Sudhir Venkatesh. He seems equally at ease with scholarly professors, high society, drug dealers, prostitutes, porn video store owners, etc. On reading this book, I wanted to befriend Sudhir as I am sure that he has a treasure trove of interesting stories and experiences that he can entertain with. This book will open your eyes and debunk any pre-conceived notions that you might have of drug-dealers and prostitutes. 

The Lowland

Author: Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri tells the tale of two brothers, Subhash and Udayan who grow up in Tollygunge, Calcutta in a middle-class family during the second half of the twentieth century. She provides a overview of the historical events that were centered around West Bengal in the late sixties and early seventies.

The book moves really fast and there is constantly a new turn of events that will make it hard for you to put down the novel once you start reading it. I found it hard to identify with any of the characters as they seemed rather aloof. Overall this is another book that will surely be picked up by a lot of Jhumpa Lahiri fans. However, I found the story rather unsatisfying and hesitate to recommend this.

Gnostic Gospels

Author: Elaine Pagels


At a recent social gathering one of my friends mentioned the Gnostic Gospels and a potential link to Indian religions. I was reading Reza Aslan's "Zealot" at the time and was intrigued with this possibility. I scoured the internet to find a book that would enlighten me on this prospect and Elaine Pagel's book was highly acclaimed. I have to confess that I had high expectations when I started reading this book and was quickly disappointed as much of this was covered in Reza's highly readable book. Elaine writes a scholarly treatise on the gospels that were unearthed in Nag Hammadi. It offers clear proof that early Christianity -- if you may even call it that -- was not a united religion. There were folks with divergent views. The Gnostics emphasized self-knowledge above worship of divine powers and bears much similarity with some Asian religions. I was hoping to find out more about who influenced whom, and that is not clear from this book.  Read this only if you are a religious scholar, or wanna-be.

Beautiful Ruins

Author: Jess Walter


The "beautiful" in the title can be equally applied to this book. The location is the Cinque Terre islands in the beautiful Italian Riviera. The characters are beautiful Hollywood actors. The writing is beautiful and sprinkled with many pithy Italian quotes. The pace is rapid and the many twists will keep you turning the pages.

This is a great book to read on the beach in the summer.

The Testament of Mary

Author: Colm Toibin


At 81 pages,  this book is short and to the point. It presents a novel way to present the life and death of Jesus, as seen through the eyes of his mother Mary.  I expected the author to have attempted to recreate the environment that was prevalent at the time, and there are a few vignettes, but not much you can hang your hat on. Most of the events seem to have been lifted from the regular Gospels in the New Testament and there wasn't much originality in their presentation. Nevertheless, I found it it hard to escape the realism of the crucifixion.  

Since this book does not require much investment of your time, I recommend you read it and form your own opinion.

Zealot : The life and times of Jesus of Nazareth

Author: Reza Aslan


This book is about trying to rationalize the things you have learnt about Jesus Christ from the New Testament.  I am sure that this area has been researched to death and there have been numerous books written about it. Before I go further into this review, I must disclose that I am a novice in this subject and my knowledge is mostly from the Christian Scriptures like the New Testament.  I cannot vouch for the authenticity of what Reza writes  nor his credibility as an expert in the history of the region in biblical times. I did some poking around on the internet and found that there were many folks questioning his education, research credentials and even his religion.  Notwithstanding all that, I did find the book to be an enjoyable read and it speaks volumes for Reza's skill in the writing department and UC Riverside should be proud of the output from a member of its Creative Writing faculty.

Reza weaves a good story and paints a plausible picture of the life of Jesus and the environment in which he lived in. He leans heavily on the Jewish historian of the time, Josephus. Strangely Josephus' views are quoted as "Gospel Truth" while the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are often readily dismissed as stories made up to further the cause of Christianity. This is quite plausible, and Reza does not make any attempt to educate the reader on the tons of research that he must have sifted through to arrive at this conclusion. This is done as an afterthought in the Bibliography and is not directly linked to lines in the text as is more commonly done in non-fiction books today.  The best way to read this book would be to read a chapter and then reflect on it again by reading the Bibliography right after.

I liked the book and have no hesitation in recommending it. However, be warned that the conclusions in here are not "Gospel Truth".

& Sons

Author: David Gilbert


This book was named one of the best books of the year in 2013. This is a novel within a novel and explores the father-son relationship where the father is a very successful novelist. There’s plenty of lessons on writing and hence this was acclaimed as a book for novelists and serious critics. Given that I am neither, I was not too impressed. Nevertheless, it is a good read if you are looking for something literary to pass the time with.

The Great Tamasha: Cricket, Corruption and the Turbulent Rise of Modern India

Author: James Astill


I was traveling to India and wanted to catch up on 25 years of cricket while sitting on a plane. This seemed like the perfect book for this. It started out with some of the early cricketing pioneers of India and it was interesting to see how it gained popularity despite the fact that the British did nothing to encourage it when they ruled India. The book quickly progresses to more modern times and the author has done his homework well in terms of distilling the essence of the key players of the Indian Cricket Team through the second half of the twentieth century. His descriptions of Gavaskar, Vishwanath, Bedi, Chandra, Prasanna and Venkat were precise and brought on a wave of nostalgia as I read through those sections. Finally, the part that I really needed an education was the events leading up to the IPL. The author is clearly not impressed with the quality of the cricket there and expresses his doubts on whether it is beneficial to the cricket game as a whole. 

Overall, I would not recommend this book unless you are looking to get educated on the Indian Cricket scene.

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Authors: Chip Heath and Dan Heath


This book is a must read for any leader who wants to make sure that he gets the message across and it sticks. The book is filled with several  great anecdotes that underscore the valuable lessons that are imparted. 

The US Space program was put in high gear by a catchy vision from President Kennedy, who said "we must get a man to the moon and back in a decade”. This is much more powerful and sticky than saying we must invest in our space program and explore different planets in the solar system. Another nugget of information that I derived from this book is the way newspaper articles are written. I have been reading newspapers for the last four decades but never considered the complexity of editing all the stories so that they fit neatly on the pages of the paper. It turns out that there’s a way to simplify the editors job without losing the story. Newspaper articles are written with the important stuff first and the background material later. That serves two purposes: If you skim the article you get the gist very quickly; also the editor can trim the end of the story, without losing the important points.

Chip and Dan Heath emphasize the power of stories in not only delivering your message, but also making it stick. In the authors' words, "Stories have the amazing dual power to stimulate and inspire. And most of the time we don't even have to use much creativity to harness these powers - we just need to be ready to spot the good ones that life generates everyday"

The other valuable advice is to appeal to the emotional side of people.  Mother Theresa said “If I look at the one I will act”.  Alternatively, you can also appeal to their self-interest and answer the WIIFY ( what's in it for you) as part of your pitch. 

There are several other great points in the book and I am listing them down here so I remember:

• The Curse of Knowledge; experiment of tappers and listeners. 
• When you say 3 things you say nothing. When your remote has 50 buttons you can't change the channel. 
• How to command attention: say something that breaks a pattern. 
• To hold people's attention "a little bit of mystery goes a long way”. 
• Simple messages that are core and compact are easier to remember
• It is much easier to make a concrete idea stick in people's minds. In the words of the authors,  "Concrete language helps people, especially novices, understand new concepts. Abstraction is the luxury of the expert”. 

In summary, this book is one that I would like to read again and again, until all the points stick!

A Naked Singularity

Author: Sergio De La Pava


Sergio De La Pava is definitely a persuasive dude. Whether it is describing the law enforcement in New York, or the various trial arguments I couldn't help but be impressed with the power of the intellect behind this book.

This book is 700 plus pages long and fairly dense, both in print as well as in content. However the author tells a very lucid and clear tale. To be precise, he tells multiple tales, some of which could have been safely omitted without taking anything away from the story. Sergio has an awesome ability to tell stories and you can't avoid being swept up by the authenticity of the narrator. 

Casi is a public defender in New York city and is master of his game. The book provides a good flavor of what transpires in the bowels of a New York courthouse. You can tell that the author knows his legal s#@% especially in the State of New York. There's a great explanation of how the Miranda Law (Reading of your rights before questioning) came into being. I am sure Serge could bestow a lot more wisdom on similar legal practices and I would have appreciated if he had included more of these in the book. The author also offers up his cynicism on the effectiveness of the legal system in New York

In addition to the legal drama, there are several philosophical musings that will definitely challenge your intellect. I liked the logical treatment of the various possibilities of what happens after death. There are several different things going on in the book, and when you are reading this book, you should expect to be consumed with  "the fear of being drawn into bizarre and ultimately irrelevant conversations". Strangely the quote is from the book and it aptly summarizes my feelings towards it. 

Despite all the above criticism, I repeat, this is one heck of a book. Read it an you will be impressed.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Author: Karen Joy Fowler

Karen Joy Fowler has written books of every genre including science fiction, fantasy and even literary fiction. However, this tale defies classification as it is somewhere between fiction and non-fiction and tells a story of family that has adopted a chimpanzee and the psychological impact it has on the children as they grow up.  The story is told by the daughter Rosemary Cooke and is written in a very collegiate, contemporary style. Sentences like "I went into the kitchen, phoned the airport, where my call was very important to them, and left a message" remind you of some of the madness of our times. You will chuckle at many of these as you read through this book.

The author tries desperately to compare our thoughts and feelings to those of a chimpanzee living amidst a family. Not only is this hard to identify with, but it is also hard to get past the absurdity of the comparison. Nevertheless you do get to learn something about the social behavior of chimpanzees. You also learn about the behavior of young kids and maybe there isn't that much difference at some level.

One of the nice quotes in the book that I am sure I will find an opportunity to use is, "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself". Overall, a good read that entertains and educates. 

We are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Author: Karen J. Fowler

Karen Joy Fowler has written books of every genre including science fiction, fantasy and even literary fiction. However, this tale defies classification as it is somewhere between fiction and non-fiction and tells a story of family that has adopted a chimpanzee and the psychological impact it has on the children as they grow up.  The story is told by the daughter Rosemary Cooke and is written in a very collegiate, contemporary style. Sentences like "I went into the kitchen, phoned the airport, where my call was very important to them, and left a message" remind you of some of the madness of our times. You will chuckle at many of these as you read through this book.

The author tries desperately to compare our thoughts and feelings to those of a chimpanzee living amidst a family. Not only is this hard to identify with, but it is also hard to get past the absurdity of the comparison. Nevertheless you do get to learn something about the social behavior of chimpanzees. You also learn about the behavior of young kids and maybe there isn't that much difference at some level.

One of the nice quotes in the book that I am sure I will find an opportunity to use is, "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself". Overall, a good read that entertains and educates.

The silent wife

Author: A.S.A. Harrison


Another thriller in the genre of “Gone Girl”. This is a story of a marriage gone bad, really, really bad. It is well written and as you read it you will be turning the pages to see how things can possibly get worse. And worse they do get. The book will probably leave you a little disturbed, but isn’t that what good books are for ?

Devil in the Grove

Author: Gilbert King


On opening this book you find yourself smack dab in the middle of the segregation and abuse of African Americans in Florida in the late nineteen forties. While the main storyline is around the trial and retrial of the four blacks who were accused of raping a seventeen year old white girl, in Groveland FL, the book is interspersed with the details of the rising influence of Thurgood Marshall in the NAACP and the country as a whole.

At a higher level the book makes you wonder about how difficult it must have been for a black man to get a fair hearing in the mid twentieth century United States. A subtle point to note is that the judicial system was not inherently broken. There was a judge and jury before which the trial was held. However, the judge and jury were too biased and prejudiced in their view of Black people. Also the racially charged atmosphere of 1950s Florida, dominated by the Ku Klux Klan, made it virtually impossible for white people to come out and testify for the defense, lest they be branded "nigger-lovers".

While reading this book, I was reminded of my first encounter with reality TV as I witnessed the OJ Simpson trial in all its glory. This was another case that was split along racial lines. But this time the pendulum swung the other way. Most black folk felt that OJ was not guilty, while most white folks were convinced that he was the murderer. Regardless of the preponderance of incriminating evidence, the predominantly black jury acquitted OJ Simpson.

It got me thinking of what it takes to make the judicial system fair. Maybe we ought to ensure that for cases where race or other prevailing prejudices are a huge influencing factor, the jury should be comprised of foreigners ;-)

Whether, or not, you are intrigued by the US judicial system, the book makes a compelling read as you flip the pages trying to figure out whether any of the defendants survive the racially charged atmosphere that was prevalent during that time across the Southern United States. I could not put the book down till I reached the end and then went on to research the internet to see what happened after that trial.

Overall, this is a great book that everyone in the United States should read to understand how lucky we are to have survived those dark times in the history of the United States.

How to Love Wine: A Memoir and Manifesto

Author: Eric Asimov


In the late nineties, before the widespread popularity of the internet and social rating sites like Yelp, we had to rely on the food critic in the local newspaper to help us discover interesting new restaurants. Eric Asimov's $25 and under column in the New York Times fit the bill and was perfect for our just-graduated-from-college budget. So when I was browsing the new books at my local library, I instinctively picked up this book and started thumbing through the pages.

I stumbled on the pages where he makes fun of the flowery language that serious wine critics use in their "tasting notes". To make his point he compares the tasting notes of three reputable wine critics for the same wine bottle. Not surprisingly they all detect "hints" of different fruits in their notes and it is hard to reconcile how they can all be right. Eric also holds firm with his opinion that the enjoyment of wine has little to do with the ability to detect these nuances. This is precisely how I feel and so felt that it is worth exploring what the New York Times Chief Wine Critic had to say about this.

The book is written well and Eric's experience in editing shows in the well crafted prose that is to the point and crisp. Unfortunately, apart from the critique of the value of the "tasting notes", Eric does not have much to offer in terms of content. He tries hard to be balanced in his views and goes out of his way to be nonjudgmental about an individual's taste in wine. However, it comes across as trite and after a while the analogies to fast food restaurants and the like are more likely to elicit a yawn than offer any value. The best part of the book is that it can be read in a couple of hours. Avoid, unless you have an afternoon to kill.

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science

Author: Atul Gawande


Atul Gawande has been in the news a lot recently, whether it is for his bestselling books, incisive articles in New Yorker and Slate Magazine or his involvement in Public Policy in the US. His most recent book "Checklist Manifesto" didn't seem an interesting enough topic to fill a whole book with, and so I picked an earlier book of his "Complications" to get a peek into what Atul is all about.

I expected a technical book about surgery, written in clinical prose and was happy that it was only around 200 pages of well spaced large font type. But boy, was I in for a surprise. Atul's command over the English language is phenomenal and his descriptions of medical conditions and surgical procedures is so realistic that I could visualize them happening right in front of me. What was even more amazing was his humility and honesty in describing his own capabilities as a resident surgeon and engaging in an open discussion on how fallible doctors are in general. Given the litigious society that we live in, especially in the medical profession, it was a breath of fresh air to read and learn from Atul. He takes on some of the often neglected medical challenges like pain, nausea, blushing, etc. and is able to bring out a well researched topic in a highly readable format.

He is precise in his description and is able to express his thoughts and ideas in a few sentences. Here's an excellent example of how he describes humankind's challenge with obesity: "We are a species that has evolved to survive starvation, not to resist abundance". Overall, I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone who is curious about the medical profession.

The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage

Author: Cliff Stoll


One of my colleagues at work handed me this book and I could tell from his swagger that he was real confident that I would enjoy this book. I was reading another book at the time and it took me a couple of weeks to get to the Cuckoo's egg, but once I started reading it, I understood that his confidence was well founded.

Cliff Stoll is an astronomer turned systems administrator and this book is about his chasing an intruder into his system, and a whole bunch of military computers. Cliff tells the story with an authenticity that draws you into the story. Despite his lack of formal schooling in Computer Science he is a whiz at hooking up terminals to tap into the intruders connection and observe his every move. Cliff's meticulous notes, analysis and perseverance with the CIA, FBI, NSA, etc. result in his ultimately nailing the hacker. The book reads like a thriller and I am as sure as my colleague was when he handed me the book that you will not be disappointed.

The Billionaire's Apprentice: The Rise of The Indian-American Elite and The Fall of The Galleon Hedge Fund

Author: Anitha Raghavan


Anitha has written a well researched book that explores the successes and failures of the South Asian diaspora. One of the main characters is Rajat Gupta who is one of the millions of "twice blessed" Indians who immigrated to the US and rose to great heights ultimately taking the helm at McKinsey and Co. Rajat's first "blessing" was being born after India acquired Independence from the British in 1947 allowing him access to some of the best higher education in the country. Rajat's second blessing was the passing of the Hart-Cellar Act in 1965 that removed the tight restrictions on the number of immigrants that were allowed into the US from India.

Despite the fact that the characters and material are not particularly colorful, Anitha has done a stellar job researching their history and breathing life into them. Given that I am of Indian descent, I felt the descriptions were very accurate and conjured up images in my mind that seemed spot on. I eagerly lapped up the many little details that Anitha has dribbled throughout the book and I have to confess that it makes for a very entertaining read.

Even if you are not particularly interested in the story about the rise and fall of the Galleon Hedge fund or the success and failure of some of the most prominent Indians in the US, the book does make you think about the fine line that divides a casual chat over drinks into an insider trading charge. I highly recommend this book to anyone curious about Raj, Rajat, Galleon or insider trading in general.

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

Author: Niall Ferguson


In this book, Niall Ferguson takes a look at world history through the lens of finance. The first traces of money in most civilizations is the coin and the earliest form dates back to 600 BC in what is now Turkey. Ferguson spends very little time on physical money and quickly moves on to the concept of money lending and how loans got their official start. Banks soon appear in the narrative and no story about them would be complete without paying homage to the Medici family and the vast political clout they commanded through their banking system. From here on Ferguson attributes most major world events like wars and political reigns to the prevailing financial conditions. Given the importance of money and capital it is not inconceivable that finance has played a big part in the success and ruin of many countries around the world.

The second half of the book is devoted to more modern financial instruments like stocks, bonds, insurance and derivatives. The book was completed in 2008, so Ferguson wasn't able to shed too much light on the most recent financial meltdown caused sub-prime loans and securitization of mortgages.

I didn't find any new or thought provoking ideas in the book. However, I definitely learnt a thing or two about finance.

Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us

Author: Michael Moss


This is a well-written book that takes a look inside the packages of processed foods that America has been consuming for the last several decades. I am sure it is no surprise to anyone reading this book that we have an abundance of "Salt, Sugar and Fat" in everything we consume today. What may not be so evident is why exactly does the food industry continue to put vast amounts of these basic ingredients despite the widespread awareness that they are bad for our health.

Michael Moss has interviewed several scientists and executives from the food industry and what surprised me most was how many of them acknowledged that they were aware of the consequences of the products that they were selling. However, it is clear from reading the book that it was not the consumer's health, but rather the consumer's wallet that the food industry is after. This is to be expected as the primary role of a company is to maximize the return to its shareholders and most people will not buy something that does not taste good even if it promised to be more healthy than the alternatives.

When you read this book you will identify with several trends and marketing campaigns that the food giants have been plying us with. One interesting one for me was how Kraft effectively incorporated cheese into the everyday diet of americans with products like "macaroni and cheese", "toppings on pizza" and others. Cheese is loaded with fat, and it is certainly not good for us in large quantities, but there hasn't been any major campaign to restrict the cheese in our diets.

Another eye-opener for me was discovering the reason why a lot of processed food is high in salt. Apparently when meat is cooked and refrigerated it develops a "warmed over flavor" that is evident when it is subsequently reheated. This flavor is "cardboard" and even "damp dog hair" and is the bane of the processed food industry. While some preservatives may inhibit the chemical process that results in this flavor, a high dose of salt effectively masks it in many cases.

This is a great book that provides a balanced view of the food industry and their battles with three of the most basic ingredients in prepared foods.

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

Author: Mary Roach


If you have ever wondered what happens to the food you eat after you gulp it down, this book is for you. Mary traces the path of the food through your alimentary canal and out. She seems to have a predilection for "gross" topics and you will find much of the book devoted to subjects like "gas" and the other wonders of the lower intestine. You will learn about the power of saliva in killing bacteria that debunks the common misconception that sipping a drink from someone else's glass can result in their germs being transmitted to you. More interesting is the whole section on the bacteria that thrives in our large intestine and the role it plays in keeping us healthy.

Overall, if you can stomach the gross stuff, this book will entertain and educate you.

The hundred year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared

Author: Jonas Jonasson


This is a cute little story of a 100 year old man who had a lot more living to do than just celebrate his 100th birthday at a senior center. It is translated from the swedish and that is probably the reason why the style is rather repetitive and awkward to read in English. You will see sentences like, "he ate what he ate and drank what he drank … " Nevertheless the humor does come through and the book is a wild romp. Not surprisingly this is a very popular book across the world and has been translated into 30 languages already. If you are looking for some light entertaining fare, this is perfect.

Why Growth Matters: How Economic Growth in India Reduced Poverty and the Lessons for Other Developing Countries

Author: Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya


Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagriya are well respected professors of Economics at Columbia University. They make a strong case for emerging countries to make growth their #1 priority. They conduct a detailed analysis of India’s past economic policies and conclude that the growth agenda of the 90s is what transformed India and built the strong economy that is in place today.

In the years following India’s independence, Nehru adopted some aspects of socialism. However, it became a lot more prominent under Indira Gandhi's reign (1966 - 1977). She nationalized insurance, oil companies, coal mines and reduced foreign investment to 40% or less in individual firms. She limited the size of urban land holdings and extended government control over imports and exports of all major products. The result of all these measures was that the economy took a nosedive and per capita income rose 0.3 % annually during her tenure.  As recent as 1991, India’s fiscal deficit was close to 8.5% of the GDP and its foreign reserves were barely $1 Billion, which would only pay for a few weeks of imports.

In 1991, P. V. Narasimha Rao became the ninth Prime Minister of independent India and appointed Manmohan Singh, a renowned economist as the Finance Minister.  Together,  they got rid of import licensing and opened up the country to foreign investment. Tariffs were streamlined and reduced. Private entry into airlines, telecom, banking, automobiles, etc were allowed. Reservation of large number of products for exclusive manufacturing in India was eliminated. In other words, they implemented policies to open up the economy and converted India from a socialistic economy into a capitalistic one.

The book has plenty of anecdotes that underscore the author’s points, but is not very engaging. The book has loads of useful stats on India:

• As of March 2013 India has 28 states and 9 union territories
• 25% of India's pop is SC/ST
• Between 2010 and 2025, India will add 131 million people between ages 20 - 49
• India is 1/4 of China’s per capita consumption of electricity. Even Vietnam has overtaken it by 60%
• 80% of the land holdings are less than 2 hectares and 60% are less than 1 hectare. In case you are wondering what the heck is a hectare, it is 2.47 acres. 
• All farm output is first sold to government and then redistributed. 
• There are 200+ labor laws between central and state governments. 
• To open a medical college in India you need the approval of the IMC (Indian medical council ). 
• Maharashtra and the 4 southern states have 57% of medical seats and 54% of the colleges. 
• Bihar has one seat for 157000 people, Karnataka has 1 for 10800. 

In summary, this book provides a comprehensive treatment of the post-indepence Indian Economy and should be ready by anyone wishing to learn more about the economic experiments that took place in India over the last 50+ years.

The Selfish Gene

Author: Richard Dawkins


I read a dog-eared copy of this book and it has a little sign on it that says it is the 30th Anniversary edition. It is amazing how widely this has been read and yet, I found the treatise both novel and fascinating. I was expecting a lecture on Darwin's "Survival of the Fittest" theory, but was pleasantly surprised to see this recast and retold from the viewpoint of our "selfish" genes.

Richard starts his story from the time the earth was a primordial soup of simple molecules that randomly combined with one another and stumbled upon a way to replicate themselves. Thence were born the "replicators" that are the heroes in this story. These evolved into the DNA strands and all their varied incarnations that we have today. According to Richard our bodies are mere "vehicles" for these replicators to propagate. The replicators have a singular purpose which is to multiply and carry forth through time, and the fittest and most numerous of them survive and take over. Occasionally they undergo mutation and result in better or worse replicators. The worse ones die out and the better ones preferentially survive hence creating a new breed of replicators, one that is by definition better that their parents.

The book also goes into more complex discussions on whether genes are the only kind of replicators we know, or could there be others. Furthermore, are these replicators most effective in a single organism, or could there be some kind of group selection that is possible as well. With the exception of a colony of bees or ants, most of the genes that share a common replication channel, tend to be in a single organism like the human body. Another interesting question is do the genes only manipulate the body they are in, or can they have effects on other organisms as well. Richard elucidates several examples where one species makes use of another to propagate its genes (cuckoos, ants, etc.)

Overall, this is an awesome book that is a must read for anyone interested in the origin of our species. Although Richard avoids any scientific notation and does not require any background in biology, the book makes its case with some rigorous logical arguments that will take some focus and attention.

Lean In

Author: Sheryl Sandberg


Very easy to read book that provides a balanced perspective of what both men and women can do to increase the number of women in the workplace. The general fact that we have too few women in the workplace is well understood. In this book, Sheryl provides an insightful look at some of our society's behavior towards the fairer sex right from when they are little girls playing in a playground. We have some deep-rooted gender biases that Sheryl brings out quite clearly in her book and it has already started a healthy discussion and debate. This is a must-read for both men and women so we can tap into the 50% of the population that we are under-utilizing in our workforce today!

The City of Devi

Author: Manil Suri


The backdrop for the book is that India and Pakistan are at war and are threatening to annhilate each other. There's a looming threat of nuclear bombs being dropped on Mumbai and the city is in a state of chaos. The basic premise of a post apocalyptic India does not appeal to me and the first 100 pages of the book are dark and desolate. I did not care for the gory and brutal descriptions of the terror and mayhem in Mumbai.

The book opens with Sarita looking for her husband, Karun who has disappeared amidst all the chaos that surrounds her. Sarita tells the story of how she met Karun and eventually married him. The general theme is one of a typical Indian woman who reveres and almost worships her husband regardless of the state of her marriage. There is some mystery about their relationship, but otherwise the first 100 pages or so are not much to write home about.

The second part of the book picks up the pace and is narrated by a interesting character, Ijaz, who prefers to be called Jaz. His style of narration is much more lively and entertaining. I don't want to reveal more of the plot and will stop here. Rest assured that the book is much more than the war between India and Pakistan. Pick up the book and read it and I am sure it will leave an impression on you.

The Age of Shiva

Author: Manil Suri


Before I write about the book, I have to disclose how fascinated I am with the fact that Manil Suri is a professor of Mathematics in University of Maryland Baltimore County. For someone whose primary occupation is teaching Mathematics and who probably didn't have the luxury of a very strong early education in English Writing and Literature, he tells really good stories remarkably well. This book is no exception and is set against the backdrop of India's Independence from the British and the partition with Pakistan. The tales are poignant and heartrending and what is most troublesome is that they ring true and there are probably some very real stories out there that are similar if not worse.

The story that Suri spins is the life and times of Meera Sawhney who is born into an upper class Hindu family in New Delhi. Her father is a well to do publisher with very liberal views. The book nicely contrasts this with the life of a poor Hindu boy, Dev Arora into whose family Meera marries. Suri very vividly describes what is fairly common in Indian tradition. After marriage a bride leaves everything behind and starts life afresh with her groom's family. In this case, her husband's family is poor and very orthodox in their Hindu traditions and Meera  has to learn new customs and traditions and is literally at their mercy. What amazes me is the stoic nature of Meera and her sister-in-law in accepting their fate and bravely enduring all that is thrown at them.

There are many twists and turns along the way and Suri also describes the political climate at the time which may be lost on someone who is not familiar with this history of India. Overall, the book is a breeze to read and should while away a few hours very pleasantly.

Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder

Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb


Taleb has made quite a name for himself with "The Black Swan" and the very public fights that he has had with the establishment in Finance and Economics. This book was released with a lot of fanfare and opened to mixed reviews. Michiko Kakutani from the New York Times, conceded that many of "Taleb's observations can be thought provoking", but also added that in many instances they "are no more than personal opinions".  Given the hard time I had reading "Black Swan" I was not very inclined to suffer with another one of Taleb's maniacal rants on the establishment. Then I happened to stumble upon Taleb's talk at Google and was intrigued by his definition of "Antifragility" and wanted to learn more about it.

Let's first start with the word "Fragile". It conjures up images of glass or porcelain. Things that will shatter and be destroyed if they are manhandled. "Antifragility" on the other hand, is used to describe something that gets better with rough handling. Evolution is anti-fragile. A marathon runner's training regimen, where he/she alternates between long runs and short runs and hills and flat terrain is another example of anti-fragility. Taleb postulates that many natural systems are anti-fragile. He argues about the general notion that there is order and benefit to systems in chaos. In contrast, something that is regular is likely to have a large negative impact if it were to get off the rails.

Taleb takes aim at many folks who have made a name for themselves in fields of finance, economics, education, journalism and medicine. There's a large section on the iatrogenics of the medical profession. The whole discussion can be summarized in a couple of sentences. Taleb strongly recommends medical intervention only for serious conditions. He believes that the harmful side effects of medication are likely to be more problematic than the direct benefits you expect.

Taleb is too obsessed with his own perfection, whether it is his eating regimen, his workout, or his lifestyle. A little humility would have gone a long way in making the book more appealing to the reader. What he doesn't realize is that his book reads like a commentary; something he derides in the book. If he truly followed his own advice, he would have written the book with more skin in the game and described his life and ways in which he is following this own philosophy. It would have certainly been more authentic - a quality he regards very highly.

He does have a general sense of mathematical theory. However the book falls far short of any rigorous treatment or development of concepts. As on page 416 in the Chapter on Ethics of Fragility and Antifragility, Taleb loves to say "This is a bit technical, so the reader can skip this section with no loss". There's hardly anything rigorous in these sections. All it means is that there is more speculation, but  with the gratuitous use of the word "convexity", "non-linearity" or "fat tails" with some numbers and graphs thrown in for good measure.

Notwithstanding all the above, the book does have some very interesting examples and will make you examine many of your everyday actions with the lens of anti-fragility.

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty

Authors: Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson


I heard about this book in the most unlikely of places. I was at a party in Bangalore, India and got talking to an old friend about books in general. He told me about this great book that outlined a criteria for what makes nations succeed or fail and then went on to evaluate all the major countries in the world and discuss their prospects. He said that the authors were from M.I.T and Harvard, thereby getting instant credibility and added that the U.S. did not fare that well. I was hooked, and had to figure out what the top minds in world economics had in store for me and my adopted country.

For a rather academic treatise, the book is very well written and has numerous examples that bolster the authors' thesis which is as follows: For nations to succeed they need political institutions that are "inclusive" and allow the entire population to have the opportunity to be part of. Nations fail, when power is confined to a few select individuals who "extract" economic benefits from the rest of the population. The authors argue repeatedly that the latter is not sustainable and eventually collapses.

The examples are spread all over history and it is quite insightful to read all of these through the lens of "extractive" politics. The authors contrast the fact that the Spanish colonization of South America was not sustainable and quickly collapsed, versus the early American settlers who went on to build a nation that is the economic powerhouse that it is today. The authors argue that the spanish conquerors were interested in "extracting" all the economic benefits from the region at the expense of the local serfs. Whereas the early American pioneers were more focused on defining "inclusive" political institutions that guaranteed stability and formed the underpinning for "inclusive" economic growth. They evaluate China which has made huge economic gains in the recent years and credit the entrepreneur-friendly, "inclusive" economic policies that they have adopted. However, their political system is closed and in the authors opinion not something that can be sustained in the long run. There's a similar analysis for Russia and the political upheaval that followed when their top-down economic policies ultimately failed.

A book of this stature has received a lot of scrutiny from many smart people all over the world, and it is quite entertaining to read the long missives of love and hate floating in the blogosphere. I read a few reviews from economists who complained that the book was rather simplistic. Folks from Latin America were miffed that the book drubbed their economies a failure. There were historians who felt that the historical treatment lacked accuracy. Thomas Friedman, wrote in the New York Times, that he found the book fascinating, especially the "warning flares the authors put up about both America and China". One very high profile criticism was the scathing review from Bill Gates in his GatesNotes blog. Bill disagrees with the authors dim view on the prospects for China and criticism for Carlos Slim, one of the richest men in the world.  Apparently, this review got a lot of publicity and prompted the authors to respond with "Did the Microsoft Founder even read our book before he criticized it?" In an article in the Foreign Policy Magazine, they tear apart Bill's review including his gratuitous remark that the book "refers to me in a positive light". The authors clarify that they do no such thing and maybe Bill didn't understand what they had to say. In their words "sadly there are few heroes in the book. Bill Gates was not one of them".

Overall, I enjoyed the book and do find the thesis quite compelling. It will provide endless hours of debate and discussion on the age-old question of why some countries are successful while many others struggle.

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

Author: Joshua Foer


Before you read this book it is important to understand what it is about, or more importantly, what it is not. I read reviews from many a disappointed reader complaining about the lack of rigorous scientific treatment on how the brain "memorizes" details. There were also many rants about the lack of  a "how to" on improving your memory. After reading the book, it is clear to me that the book is all about Memory  championships and the memory athletes that compete in them. The interesting twist is that the author decides to take up the challenge of entering the US Memory Championship, himself, and the book details his training and the interesting characters he befriends along the way.

The book can be characterized as a memoir, but with a rather narrow scope of a couple of years when Josh trained for the US memory championship. Josh also dabbles with some detail on the history of memory and how it was a proxy for intelligence in the bygone eras. However he is quickly back to reality in observing "what was once a cornerstone of western culture is now at best a curiosity".

Towards the middle of the book, Josh includes a brief summary of some biological aspects of memory. He explains "The brain is a costly organ. Though it accounts for only 2 percent of the body's mass, it uses up a fifth of all the oxygen we breathe, and its where a quarter of all our glucose gets burned."

While the book is well written and easy to read, it is not quite fulfilling. Josh is fairly humble of his success, and you are left with a feeling that all of these techniques are not of much use in our everyday life.

Gone Girl

Author: Gillian Flynn


Every once in a while there's a book that tells a compelling story and is very hard to put down. This is one of those and Ms. Flynn has made it all the more interesting as the story is told by the husband and wife, Nick and Amy in alternating chapters. If you put down the book in the middle of a chapter you are likely to lose the thread of the story when you pick back up from where you left off.

The book starts out as a whodunit but somewhere around the halfway point, it transforms into a legal thriller. The first part is slow and confusing as the timelines for Nick and Amy's story are not synchronized. The pace picks up in the second half and this book is simply a joy to read. I don't want to spoil any of the suspense by revealing more about the book. So, just pick it up and read it. You won't be disappointed.

Wild

Author: Cheryl Strayed


This is my second book of the year (2012)  that is centered around the main character going on a long hike with little (Wild) or no preparation (An unlikely pilgrimage). One of the big attractions of a long hike is that there is lots of time for soul-searching and reminiscing about the past and Cheryl does plenty of that in this book, as she tells her tail of a poor and neglected childhood and early adult years.

Cheryl grew up in rural Minnesota and was brought up by her mother Bobbi, who had a great influence on her. When her mother died of lung cancer at an early age of 45, Cheryl was devastated. She lost all purpose in life, experimented with drugs, had no qualms in having affairs and eventually separated from her husband. During this time she chanced upon a guidebook for hiking the Pacific Crest Trail that spans all of the Western States in the US and before long she was saving up and planning for this hike of a lifetime. It involved hiking 1100 miles in the wilderness, carrying all the supplies she would need for the journey on her back. Add to this the fact that Cheryl had never hiked anything significant before it is an understatement to say that she was ill-prepared for the trip. To make matters worse, she was a young attractive girl, traveling alone and far far away from any civilization.

As with most things in life, her lack of knowing the dangers and hardships of the journey, helped her in achieving what most of us can only read about. It's a great book about the indomitable human spirit and the courage that propels us forward against all odds. It is great to see how Cheryl was not only successful in her quest, but how it also changed her perspective on life and allowed her to raise a nice family of her own.

The books is well written, is a pleasure to to read and comes across as honest and straight from the heart. My one complaint is that there is no detail on her life after the hike, and we are left to connect the dots in concluding that it changed her life for the better,