Author: Vivek

First impressions of CAT 2006

For your information: CAT or Common Admission Test is one of the largest MBA entrance exams conducted in India, anually. Indian Institute of Management (IIMs), the premier business-schools of the country (and counted among the best in the world) conduct this test for selecting potential students for the next round of admission process (comprising of… Continue reading First impressions of CAT 2006

The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox (Book Review 009)

ISBN: 8185984131 Tagline: A process of ongoing improvement. The Goal was not on my reading list. However, it was lying around in the house and I decided to go ahead with it. The size of this book was very uninviting and from all the text on the covers and in the intro pages, I thought… Continue reading The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox (Book Review 009)

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Book Review 008)

ISBN 0349114463 Tagline: How little things can make a big difference I was looking forward to reading books by Malcolm Gladwell and finally got my hands on The Tipping Point. It is not a very big book and I managed to finish it in three days, reading only in my free time. Most of you… Continue reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Book Review 008)

The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman (Book Review 007)

ISBN: 0141022728 Tagline: The Globalized world in the Twenty-First century Hanging around for almost a month with The World is Flat, I finally completed it despite all the time constraints I was under. I have never read such a thick book back-to-back in my life until this one and this book is very special not… Continue reading The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman (Book Review 007)

Mushroom Rice: A novel view on international relations by M.J. Akbar

I came across this article Mushroom Rice by M.J. Akbar in Sunday (October 15th, 2006) issue of the newspaper Deccan Chronicle, under his famous editorial series Byline.

With the recent nuclear tests by North Korea and America’s ire over Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme, the international scenario has reached a potential dew point. Fuelling this is the widespread outcry (in U.S and U.K.) against the Iraq war, the recent Israel – Lebanon crisis, the statements about religious revolution in America (by Mr. Bush) and Pope’s accusations against Islam (for which he apologized later after the damage had already been done). So we have the superpowers riled up in the war act which has weakened them and various events which point to a further deterioration of world order.

But who stands to gain amidst all this? M.J. Akbar points to China. It is a new view to the world foreign-relations scenario for me. Interested? Read on…

Anne Frank: The Diary of a young girl (Book Review 006)

ISBN: 0553296981 I had finished reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a young girl a few days ago. This book is the most popular war documentary of the Second World War and perhaps of all times. It was published in 1947 and since then it has been translated into more than thirty languages and adapted… Continue reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a young girl (Book Review 006)

Freakonomics by Levitt & Dubner (Book Review 005)

ISBN: 006073132X Tagline: A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything. I had completed reading Freakonomics over a month ago and was pretty much glued to it then. However, now that I have decided to pick up The world is flat and a few Malcolm Gladwell’s books, I thought that I should finish this… Continue reading Freakonomics by Levitt & Dubner (Book Review 005)

Biological Weapons: Issues and Threats by Chari & Rajain (Book Review 004)

ISBN: 9812104046 This book published by the Indian Research press, has been edited by P.R. Chari and Arpit Rajain. Before I move on to the book, I would like to mention a few words about the editors as given in the book. P.R. Chari is a former member of Indian Administrative Services and has also… Continue reading Biological Weapons: Issues and Threats by Chari & Rajain (Book Review 004)

Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho (Book Review 003)

ISBN: 0060589280 Paulo Coelho is a popular author who shot to fame with his best-selling book The Alchemist. He has also written other books like the pilgrimage, the Valkyries, the fifth mountain, the Zahir (being his latest) and many others. Eleven Minutes is very different from his other works for it is based on an… Continue reading Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho (Book Review 003)

India: Agenda 2020 for economic development

India: Agenda 2020 is one of the best research projects I have undertaken till date. I had done this project in 2004 as a part of my assignment for the qualifying round of a management festival called Vistas organized every year by PES BBM (People’s Education Society, Bangalore). The event I had participated in was… Continue reading India: Agenda 2020 for economic development

Wings of Fire by Arun Tiwari and APJ Abdul Kalam (Book Review 001)

ISBN: 8173711461 Tagline: An autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam with Arun Tiwari Wings of fire was perhaps the first book which I had read completely and which was not a part of my school or college syllabus :-). I had read this book in 2003 i.e. after Dr. Kalam was appointed the President of India.… Continue reading Wings of Fire by Arun Tiwari and APJ Abdul Kalam (Book Review 001)

Fantastic ancients

Just yesterday I was watching this serial “Prithvi Raj Chauhan” on TV. In the programme, Prithvi raj (a young student) enters the forbidden portion of his teacher’s library and picks up a book on “shabd-bheydi band kala” (i.e. voice-piercing arrow craft). The moment he read out the name of the book, I experienced goose-flesh and… Continue reading Fantastic ancients