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I am not sure how came across this book, but I am extremely glad I did. The book is “Delivering Happiness” by Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh. When I bought the AudioBook from Audible.com I knew very little about Zappos other than having heard about their legendary Product Videos in their site and that they were bought by Amazon in 2009 (which implied they should be super smart on e-commerce & warehousing).
The book starts with Tony Hsieh (pronounced as shay) talking about his childhood and teenage misadventures and business ventures. Tony’s narrative style, especially listening to as Audio grabbed my interest. I was reminded of similar incidents in my own school & college days and it motivated me to immediately make a list of events of interest in my own growing years, thank you Tony. Then Tony talks about his founding days of LinkExchange, I remembered I was one of the early users of the service and loved it for generating traffic to EasyTools.com in those early days (~1998). He then goes on to sell LinkExchange in two years of founding to Microsoft for $265 Million after realizing the culture of the company deteriorating so badly that he couldn’t get himself up from bed to work one morning. Many entrepreneurs won’t have the luxury that Tony got of selling it and starting new – so it is important to listen to the second part of his story of how he build a fun & energetic culture in Zappos.
It was news to me that Tony didn’t start Zappos, instead it was by a young first time entrepreneur Nick Swinmurn. Tony Hsieh got involved in Zappos initially as an investor through his venture fund “Venture frogs” which had invested on Zappos, then after the Dotcom burst Tony became more hands-on and then to risk his entire LinkExchange fortune on Zappos – fascinating indeed. Many entrepreneurs including myself can easily relate to the struggles the company has gone through in early days from 2000 to 2003, but the growth story from 2003 to 2009 (when they hit a Billion Dollars) was like a fantasy come true. Tt would have been great to learn about those years had Tony chronicled them in detail (in preface of the book he did say this is not a Biography of Zappos, but I wish it was). Tony wants us to believe it was all due to the Culture he created in Zappos. May be it was the culture primarily, but I feel it got to have been helped greatly by other factors as well – their technology, marketing, warehousing capability and so on.
The book then focuses on what is happiness (sounded to me like a PR creation and retro-fitted in later years, though nothing wrong about it), what Tony has learned on the subject from research he read, Employees talking in their own voice on how Zappos culture impacted their happiness & well-being. Some of the things about Zappos stands out clearly & uniquely and those are certainly inspiring. They have something called as a culture book – you can see videos of it online and can even request a free copy of it (they ship anywhere outside USA to international as well). Their risky move from the “hip” San Francisco to Las Vegas (of all places on earth). The ability of Zappos to maintain their independence even after their sale to Amazon. Their willingness to share their ideas on Culture & Delivering happiness to rest of the world – through tours of their offices as part of Zappos Insights, through this book and now they even got a bus tour as well.
After listening to the AudioBook I have bought few copies of the paper-back from FlipKart.com to gift it to my colleagues for them to enjoy and learn. A great management book that is fun to read, which can bring happiness to employees around the globe if only every CEO under the sun reads it.
I am not big into fiction reading and so I haven’t read any of the popular Science Fiction books. Recently while listening to famous Technology Podcast (which I love and listen every week while driving) “This week in Tech” by Leo Laporte in few episodes had Jerry Pournelle participate. I learned that Pournelle has written many Science Fiction novels and “The Mote in God’s Eye” which he co-authored with Larry Niven is a classic. So I got curious and picked up this book to read.
For initial few pages I was not sure whether I will like the book and continue till end to complete the 592 pages. It turned the book was so interesting, it captivated my interest & imagination that I finished it over few days last week and two long nights (well into 2AM) this week.
The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle’s CoDominium universe, and charts the first contact between humankind and an alien species. Though the main scientific inventions in the book – Alderson Drive (which helps to jump instantly between two star systems) and Langston Field (protecting against attacks and heat from a star) are literary inventions the authors have taken care to use established scientific knowledge in other places. Reading in 2011, for a story that’s happening in 3017 you will expect phenomenal technology advancements with regards to Computers but the book has only references to things like Pocket Computers (which were no doubt futuristic). Here it is worth noting the book was written 37 years back in 1974 and that is quite surprising!
With regards to the story, the aliens (Moties) are shown to be very different from Humans in their bodies, minds and their society; but they are shown to have exactly similar things to human societies – cities, museums, ships, farm lands, zoos, subway, trucks, castles, roads, pavements and so on. This I found to be a little odd – a completely different species evolved in a very different environment over millions of years is likely to be behaving very differently to 20th century Human kind. Even this I guess was made to make the story easily explainable and palatable to readers. Otherwise a classic science fiction not to be missed.
I like “30 Rock” TV Show and because of that Tina Fey. So when the book by Tina Fey “BossyPants” came out I wanted to buy it immediately. I read the initial description and figured out I will be too lazy to go through reading the book and decided to go for the AudioBook instead, that was a wise decision I made. The Audiobook set me back by $21.95 from iTunes. I did the entire 5 Hour listening over 2 weeks during my drives and at many places the book kept me entertained.
The book is not really her Autobiography, though it is easy to conclude that way from the description and the initial chapters. She talks in length about her childhood, teenage, her first job in YMCA, her acting training days in Chicago to such great detail that at times a bit boring. In her acting days description she talks about how she likes Impromptu acting on stage, that resonated with me as I have had few similar impromptu experiences on stage – which for me was certainly not on acting but on presentations & talks. She says that in Impromptu sessions it is important to always say “Yes” to whatever the other actors throw at you, keep the flow/story going and don’t take it to a dead-end – these are certainly a tell-tale of experienced live performer.
Then the book suddenly jumps into her TV job in NBC Saturday Night Live (SNL) and then full-throttles into 30 Rock days. Her limited description of 30 Rock work days sounds surprisingly similar to seeing a 30 Rock episode – which is planned I guess. She rants in length about Womanhood & Working Women in America – though she tries hard to make them sound comedy, it comes out pale and rhetoric.
Overall, if you like Tina Fey & 30 Rock, have $21.95 to spare and 5 Hours of listening time you can give this Audiobook a try, but don’t blame me!
After two extensions from the library, I finished this book today “The Collaborator”. This is a novel by first time writer Mirza Waheed, who was born in Srinagar, Kashmir and now works as an editor for BBC Urdu in London. The novel “The Collaborator” is about a story narrated by a young teenage boy living in an isolated village of Nowgam (near Poshpur) close to LoC in Kashmir happening in early 1990s when insurgency affects nook and corner of Kashmir.
What I liked about the novel apart from being a candid story on Kashmir was it is from the eyes of ordinary people. There is no glorifying the Azadi movement or tip-toing the official Indian line of all is well in Kashmir. Of course, you can never write a story of a conflict and be accepted by both sides. The story doesn’t have any heroic scenes or twists, as in real life those are very rare and they discolour the true life of people. It also peeks into thinking of Indian Army deployed in the valley.
Mirza paints in front of our eyes a real remote Kashmir in the foothill of mountains with every day characters of a village headman, a corner shop keeper, a local Pharmacist (semi-doctor) who doubles as an electrician, a mosque and so on. He also brings in the charm of Kashmir’s beauty in the scenes where he talks of the five teenage boys playing in river, hiking and so on. A good novel to read over the weekend.
All freedom loving people outside Afghanistan and around the world hoped for a new free vibrant democracy in Afghanistan after the US led NATO invasion in 2001.This book “Raising my Voice” by Malalai Joya, who is the youngest and famous MP in Afghanistan shows a different reality on what’s happening in Afghanistan due to the continued power of Warlords there. Malalai Joya should certainly be appreciated for speaking out bold and fearless against the warlords.
While reading the book I felt it to be repetitive in many places, beyond the first few chapters where Joya has already made her point I had to literally force myself to get through the entire book. Joya’s description of her first speech in Loya Jirga & in parliament felt just rhetoric made by an amateur with no diplomacy, speaking fearlessly alone doesn’t achieve anything. This could be because of her inexperience and lack of support systems in Afghanistan for training on politics and democracy. In the book Joya doesn’t show the reader any substantive evidence for the crimes committed by the warlords and the present government headed by President Hamid Karzai is equally guilty of crimes. To some extend in the last four chapters where she quotes international & UN data points & reports she has addressed this deficiency.
In her speeches she makes far reaching comments on how the Government & Religion should be kept separate, how Religion should be respected/followed/treated as an individual personal right & choice. While narrating her story she uses a coined last name (Joya), doesn’t reveal her father or mother’s name, not even her husband name for protecting their identity and safety. Not to sound demeaning but I found it strange on how she expects to conceal these facts when for example her marriage was attended by thousands of her supporters from many parts of the province (Farah) and so on.
She ends the book by saying real peace & freedom to women & children in Afghanistan will come only with the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan, but she doesn’t say how it will come and through whom. In these aspects the book could have benefited immensely by having a better editor to polish the scripts and chronicle them better. The book closes with a fine paragraph “But if I should die, and you choose to carry on my work, you are welcome to visit my grave. Pour some water on it and shout three times, I want to hear your voice”
I am not much into reading Fiction but this book caught my attention and so I picked it up. The story was so captivating that I finished the book over this weekend easily. It is surprising that “Invitation” is the first novel for the author Shehryar Fazli and as the back cover reads he has kicked it off in high style.
The story is about Shahbaz, who is a young Pakistani from Paris who returns to his home city in Karachi, West Pakistan, to settle a family property dispute. He arrives in a 1970s Karachi preparing for democracy, seething with political machination, corruption and class tensions – and, above all, facing the prospect of a changing power balance between the dominant West Pakistani establishment and the Bengalis of East Pakistan. The property dispute pits Shahbaz against his father’s older sister, Mona Phuppi, a strong-willed woman with deep knowledge of Karachi and, unlike Shahbaz, certain of her place in it. More than defeating his aunt, Shahbaz wants to reclaim a place in a Karachi aristocracy he was once entitled to.
As an Indian I am used to the world around me which singularizes everything about Pakistan to Politics (Conflict & Terrorism). Reading this book gave me a small window to the true Pakistan, its people & their struggles. Overall, the novel was informative and enjoyable as well.
Recently while on a trip abroad I bought this book “In Xanadu : A Quest” by William Dalrymple in Chennai Airport. Generally I don’t buy books in Chennai Airport as I will have to carry the weight with me all through rest of the journey, instead I note down the name and buy on return from Amazon.com or Flipkart.com. But I bought this book instantly for two reasons, one I was so impressed with the Author’s recent book "Nine Lives" which I read some time back and the second was the description of the book "Retracing the path of Marco Polo" sounded very interesting.
This book which is the first one (surprising considering how well it is written) for William Dalrymple was written during his summer break of studies at Cambridge University in the year 1989. The Author chooses to retrace the steps of the great traveller Marco Polo on the old Silk Route from Israel to Xanadu, the summer capital of the great Mongol Emperor "Kublai Khan". This he does by travelling 12,000 miles on land (road/train) through Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan & China. It is amazing he had the courage to undertake such a journey through a region at its worst time of conflicts: Iran-Iraq War had just got over a year before, Afghanistan was under Soviet occupation, China very much closed to outside world and foreign travellers and with Palestine-Israel conflict at one of its worst period.
Though it is a travel book, Dalrymple interrupts it briefly with pieces from History including Christian Crusaders, Mongolian Emperors in 12th Century and so on. In the past I have read little about Crusaders and European History in Medieval period, so these were new learning to me. Dalrymple does justice as a travel book as well by covering in detail about the landscape, architecture and people of the places he goes through. Most of the places he visits are small towns or villages, which increases readers curiosity. Overall the book reads like a fiction by keeping us on the edges to know what happens to him when he enters Iran and encounters the Revolutionary Guards, when he gets caught by Chinese Police when he enters the protected region on the borders with India where China was testing their Nuclear facilities, when he travels with his Lady friend in a bus full of Afghan tribesmen in Iran and in the last few pages he comes to a city in China called "Duluon" which is just 30 Miles to Xanadu but reaches a dead-end on finding/reaching Xanadu.
Throughout the book Dalrymple mentions about lot of interesting facts. Like Chini-Bagh (Chinese Garden in Uygur) which was the Kashgar residence of George Macartney, Britain’s consul-general and his wife, Lady Catherine Macartney, for 28 years is now a Travellers Inn.
Overall, I will highly recommend this book to any serious reader.
Reference: A good review of the book I found here
கடந்த 50 ஆண்டுகளாய் தமிழகத்தில் ஒரு முக்கிய அரசியல் மாற்றத்தை உருவாக்கி, பல ஆண்டுகள் ஆட்சி அதிகாரத்திலுள்ள ஒரு சக்தி தி.மு.க.. 70களில் பிறந்த என் தலைமுறைக்கு தி.மு.க.வை அட்சியாளர்களாகவும் ஒரு அரசியல் கட்சியுமாகத் தான் தெரியும். ஒரு சமுக இயக்கமான திராவிட கழகத்தில் இருந்து அது எப்படி ஒருவானது என்று ஆழமாகத் தெரியாது.
சென்றாண்டு சென்னை புத்தகக் கண்காட்சியில் வாங்கிய புத்தகம் மலர்மன்னன் எழுதிய “தி.மு.க உருவானது ஏன்?” அதைச் சுறுக்கமாக (159 பக்கங்கள்) விளக்குகிறது. இந்தாண்டு சென்னை புத்தகக் கண்காட்சியில் கிழக்குக் கடையில் இதைப் பார்த்ததும் நினைவுவந்து கடந்தச் சில நாட்களில் படித்து முடித்தேன். பல விசயங்களை எழுதாமல் தலைப்பில் உள்ள ஒரு கேள்வி ”தி.மு.க உருவானது ஏன்?” அதற்கு ஆசிரியர் சொல்லவரும் மூன்று காரணங்களை மட்டுமே எழுதியுள்ளார், அதற்கு பாராட்டுக்கள். அந்த மூன்று காரணங்கள் – கருப்புச் சட்டை அணிவது, ஆகஸ்டு 15ஐ கொண்டாடுவது, மணியம்மை திருமணம்.
இரா.முருகனின் அரசூர் வம்சம்
இரா.முருகனின் இரண்டு புத்தகங்களையும் (மூன்று விரல், லண்டன் டயரி) படித்து, அவர் வசனம் எழுதியத் திரைப்படத்தையும் (உன்னைப் போல் ஒருவன்) பார்த்து அவரின் எழுதிற்கு நான் ஒரு ரசிகனாகிவிட்டேன். அதனால் தேடி வாங்கிய அவரின் முந்தைய நாவல் தான் இந்த ”அரசூர் வம்சம்”. இந்த நாவல் திண்ணை இணையத்தளத்தில் தொடராக வந்தது என்று அறிகிறேன்.
சுமார் நூறு/நூற்றியம்பது ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன் அரசூர் என்ற சிறு ஊரில் நடக்கும் கற்பனைக் கதை. அந்த ஊரில் உள்ள புகையிலை விற்கும் சுப்பிரமணிய அய்யரின் விட்டையும், அருகில் இருக்கும் செல்வாக்கிழந்த ஜமின்தார் அரண்மனையும் சுற்றி வரும் கதை. இதை தவிர மலையாளத் தேசத்தில் அம்பலப்புழையில் உள்ள கரண்டி பிடிக்கும் குடும்பம், சென்னைப்பட்டினத்தில் வைத்தி சார் விடு இவர்களையும் சேர்த்துக் கொண்டுச் செல்கிறது கதை. இதற்கு நடுவில் சுப்பம்மாள் கிழவி, அடிக்கடி வந்து போகும் மூத்தக்குடிப் பெண்கள், இறந்தும் ராஜாவைப் படுத்தும் புஸ்தி மீசைக் கிழவன், பின் காலத்திலிருந்து மனத்தில் நினைத்தமாத்திரத்தில் ஆஸ்டின் காரில் வந்துப் போகும் பனியன் சகோதரர்கள் அவர்கள் கொண்டு வரும் ஒப்பாரி பாடல்கள் பாடும் பழுக்காத்தட்டு பாட்டுப் பெட்டி என்று ஆழமான கதாப்பாத்திரங்கள் . இவர்களைத் தவிர பல்லாங்குழிப் பலகையில் சோழிகளை உருட்டி யந்திரம் செய்துக் கொடுக்கும் அரண்மனை ஜோசியர் அண்ணாசாமி அய்யங்கார், சாவக்காட்டு கிறிஸ்தியானி பிராமண கிழவன், அவர்களின் நீள அங்கி அணிந்த தோமையன், கொட்டக்குடித் தாசி, தஸ்தகீர் ராவுத்தரின் பையன் சுலைமான், பிஷாரடி வைத்தியர் என்று பலப்பல நபர்கள் வந்துப் போனாலும் ஆசிரியரின் தெளிவான காட்சியமைப்பால் எல்லோரையும் நம் கண்முன் நிறுத்துகிறார். பல ஊர்கள், நான்கைந்து கலாச்சாரங்கள், இரண்டு மூன்று தலைமுறைகாரர்கள் என்று கதைச் சென்றாலும் கொஞ்சம் கூடத் தொய்வில்லை.
என்னைப் பொருத்தவரை இந்த நாவலின் சிறப்பே அதன் ஆழமான கதாப்பாத்திரங்களும், தெளிவான காட்சிகளும் தான், அதனால் ஒரு வரிக்கூட விடாமல் படிக்க வேண்டி இருந்தது. சில பக்கங்களை நான் இரண்டு/மூன்று முறைக்கூடப் படித்தேன், அப்படி படித்து உள்வாங்கிக் கொள்ளவில்லை என்றால் நாம் எதையோ விட்டுவிடுவதுப் போல் தோன்றுகிறது. ஆசிரியர் நிஜமாகவே எல்லா இடத்திலும் இருந்துக் கேட்டு எழுதியதுப் போல உள்ளது வசனங்கள் – அது பிரமாணர்களின் தமிழ் ஆகட்டும், மலையாளம் ஆகட்டும், முன்னோர்கள் சொல்லும் சமஸ்கிரத பாடல்கள் ஆகட்டும், கப்பலில் வரும் அமொரிக்கர் பேசும் ஆங்கிலமாகட்டும், கிறிஸ்தியானிகள் பேச்சாகட்டும் ஒருவரால் எப்படி இவ்வளவு நடைகளைச் சுலபமாக எழுதமுடிகிறது?.
470 பக்கங்கள் கொண்ட ஒரு நாவலைப் படிக்க பிடிக்கும் என்றால் படிக்க வேண்டிய புத்தகம். தமிழில் இது ஒரு நல்ல முயற்சி. பாராட்டுக்கள்.
இணையத்தில் தேடியதில் இந்த நாவலை பற்றிய வேறு சிலரின் வலைப்பதிவுகள் – நினைவுத்தடங்கள், யுவகிருஷ்ணா
நண்பர் ஒருவரோடு இன்று எழுதாளர் திரு.சா.கந்தசாமி அவர்களைச் சந்தித்துவிட்டு அண்ணா நூற்றாண்டு நூலகம் சென்றேன். திறந்து இரண்டு மாதங்களே ஆன இந்த நூலகம் தமிழகத்தின்/இந்தியாவின் பெருமை என்றே தோன்றுகிறது. முழுவதும் குளிர்சாதன வசதி, வாகனங்களை நிறுத்த நிறைய இடம், பல நூறு மக்கள் அமர்ந்து படிக்க பல மேஜைகள்/நாற்காலிகள், சுறுச்சுறுப்பான தனியார் காவலர்கள், நட்பான தேர்ந்த பணியாளர்கள், அழகான/அமைதியான குழந்தைகள் பகுதி என சொல்லிக் கொண்டே போகலாம். முக்கியமாக ஒவ்வொரு தளத்திலும் திறந்திருக்கும் தண்ணீர் வருகின்ற சுத்தமான உயர்தர கழிப்புறைகள். இன்னொரு சிறப்பு அம்சம் உங்கள் சொந்தப் புத்தகங்களைலும் இங்கே எடுத்துச் சென்று அமைதியான சுழலில் படிக்கலாம்.
என் கவலை எல்லாம், இந்த நூலகத்தை இப்படியே (சுத்தமாக) பராமரிப்பார்களா என்பது தான். அதைச் செய்வார்கள் என்று எனக்கு ஒருத்துளிக்கூட நம்பிக்கையில்லை! . இவ்வளவு வசதிகள் இருப்பதால் பராமரிப்பு செலவு அதிகம் இருக்கும், அரசு கஜானாவை மட்டும் நம்புவதைவிடுத்து உறுப்பினர் அல்லாதவர்களுக்கு ஒரு பத்து ரூபாய் அனுமதி கட்டணம் வசூலிக்கலாம்.
நூலகத்தைச் சுற்றிப்பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருந்தப் போது ஒருவர் என்னிடம் வந்து தன்னை அறிமுகம் செய்து அவர் என் வலைப்பூவின் நீண்ட நாள் வாசகர் என்றும் நான் நன்றாக எழுதுகிறேன் என்றும் சொன்னார் – எனக்கு மிக ஆச்சரியம். அந்த வாசகருக்கு என் நன்றி!
நூலகத்தின் இரண்டு மாடிகள் மக்களுக்காக திறந்து இருக்கிறார்கள், மீதம் வேலைகள் நடந்துக்கொண்டு இருக்கிறது. சென்னைவாசிகள் அனைவரும் அடிக்கடிச் செல்லவேண்டிய ஒரு இடமிது.
Today I went to visit the newly opened Anna Centenary Library in Kotturpuram (Opp. Birla Planetarium), Chennai. The library is in an area of 3.75 lakh Sq. Feet and a capacity to have over 1.2 Million books and thousands of E-Books & E-Journals. It is certainly a pride for TamilNadu (even for whole of India). I found the library to be fully air-conditioned, ample car parking facility, hundreds of tables and chairs to read comfortably, professional security guards and well trained & friendly staff (a rarity in Public Libraries in India) . One of the floors has a beautiful tree in centre – it is the Children section, today I could see good number of parents with their children enjoying their favourite books here. The ground floor has a huge well-equipped conference room and mini-theatres (for showing education videos, not yet open). Above all, open for access & clean modern Rest Rooms with running water in each floor!. One advantage in this library is that you can take your own books and read it in a special section earmarked for that purpose.
My worry is that with all these expenses made on public cost, will it be maintained like this – Sadly, I am not hopeful on that front. Without depending on Government grand alone, it will be wiser to charge say Rs.10 for every visit to non-members, it will be worth every paise.
Two surprises during my visit. While I was going through the Tamil section, a gentleman walked up to me, introduced himself as a regular reader of my blog and that he finds it interesting. My thanks to that reader. Second, I noticed a reader in the Library sitting with his feet on a fine leather sofa and reading – a staff walked promptly up to him told to have his feet down and to learn on how to behave in public places.
There are many Computers with content loaded in the Children Section and few other places. I am not sure during this digital age, whether you need such a big place to store books in physical format (or) it could have been all digital with plenty of Amazon Kindle like devices everywhere (of course chained) for people to access and read any of the books they want. May be, you need to approach this in stages and that might be the plan of the librarians here.
Two floors of this multi-storey library is completed, rest of the floors work is happening. Every Citizen of Chennai should come here regularly.
Update 19/Dec/2010: Today I went to the library with my son. Being a Sunday I was expecting lot of crowd, but surprisingly though it had good number of visitors it was definitely not crowded and was very comfortable. After a long time I enjoyed some peace & quietness while reading, realized the importance of a library atmosphere for enjoying books.
An elder has to be along with the kids in the Children’s section. So while he was enjoying story books, I spent the two hours reading a nice children book on “Religions in the world” by Chris Wright from OXFORD press. The book covers the reasoning behind Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity & Sikhism in a way kids can understand it.
(Preview of the book from Google Books)
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