Book Review: Leadership Agility

Once in a while, you read a book that you know would not have made sense a few years ago, but makes sense now. Whenever this happens, it always makes me feel good. It implies, I am living up to one of my commandments.

Leadership Agility is one such book. It is about sustainable leadership. It has changed the way I view success for myself. Thanks, Sandy, for recommending this book.

F = dp/dt

I don't remember when it was that I first learnt Newton's three laws of motion. It was a long time ago. It was love at first sight with the second law. I spent many a night, wondering why Newton chose to make it the second law. Did it not deserve to the be the first law? Or, maybe, the last, like that unexpected ending in a Saki story?

I then started reading any popular science book I could lay my hands on. I was romancing physics. Many books introduced me to newer concepts from Tao to Big Bang - but there was only one that seemed to illustrate the beauty that first drew me to Physics: Physics For The Inquiring Mind by Eric. M. Rogers.

We all find simplicity beautiful. The clean purposeful lines in a building, the no-nonsense attitude in a person, the concept of recursion in programming, are all beautiful. With every simplification, it feels like I am clearing out a part of my brain, storing what I need in a shelf, and making space for more. It was the simplicity of the law, the ability to explain the whole world in a nugget that was my undoing.

The second law explains that Force or Impulse is the same as the rate of change in momentum. Momentum, is   thus constant if there is no Force. This is inertia. A ball drops to the floors, rolls away, and even stops exactly as described in the second law.

Some day, when my kids grow to be teenagers, I hope they will discover simplicity, and fall in love too.

Then again, my husband was a quizzer. His was in love with trivia and lots of unrelated facts. Maybe they will take after him.

Reading Aloud

When I had my first born, I read often-and-everywhere, that children should be read to. Even babies. "Pff!" I thought.

Voracious reader I was, but I had never read aloud. The art was foreign, and the purpose all foggy. So, I decided I would read when she was old enough to understand what I read. Time passed, and I started reading board books, and then picture books, and then longer books, and then poems, and then nonsense books.

Soon, I was reading aloud everything I could lay hands on. And what do you know, I enjoyed it (sometimes more than they did, and often more than reading to myself). I am not sure if it is the joy in listener's eyes, the joy of sharing something you love, or just the joy of listening to the words and sounds yourself. It is probably a bit of all.

Now, I wish I never have to stop reading aloud. And I understand, how it can be a wonderful experience to read to a month old baby. After all, reading is a bit like singing - one does not always have to understand the words.

No Onions Nor Garlic: Book Review

Complex, long, sentences; simple plot; over-the-top; and absolutely hilarious.

Srividya Natarajan is obviously a papaan. Rombha nalla ponnu. Verry nice girl. How else would she know the pure glorious heart residing in the body of papaans?

The only negative is: I am not sure if all will get the full significance of her revelations. As I mention in my previous blog "Conforming to Society", some lessons must necessarily be appreciated as a follow on to other lessons. Srividya Natarajan can probably only be appreciated after full initiation to papaan-dom.

Punjabi Baroque

Gautam Bhatia has written a book by that name. It is a hilarious book about Indian homes and the Indian people who architected them.

However, the book is written in the days of "swanky red marutis" and "safari suits". What the book needs is a chapter about the NRI village.

The resident of the NRI village is yours truly, who loves India (except for the traffic and pollution), and it was never a question if she would return or not. Of course, dearest patidev makes staying in India easy with trips to the US on business, so she can replenish her stock of ziploc bags, plastic dabbas, and safety pins from WalMart, and diapers from Costco. The NRI village is starkly different from the rest of India in that roads are called avenues, houses have wooden flooring and sloped roofs, kitchens are modular, and all rooms have air conditioning to protect one from the sweltering heat of Bangalore winters.

The NRI village is by definition anything but a village. It is a theme park. Once you enter, you see buildings reminscent of Manhattan skyscrapers to the Texas ranches, depending on the chosen theme. The fertile Bangalore soil is common to all themes, and thick cover of coconut trees, ferns, bougainvilleas, and water lilies surround the Texan Ranch. There is in addition, a thick cover of secruti to add variety to the vista, and to protect one from illegal Mexican (oops! non-NRI) infiltrators.

The NRI village is also by definition away from the city, and not connected by a proper road. However, since all NRIs own SUVs, the road is not a consideration in planning. Also, instead of depending on hydro-electric power supply from the city, it is better to build generators that run on petrol. After all, the NRIs constitute the people most concerned about pollution (except when it comes to burning fuel to run the AC that protects them from hot Bangalore winters). Since, water supplied by the municipality cannot be trusted, it is better to get Kinley water, 'manufactured' by the familiar Coca Cola company. Hence, water supply is again not a consideration in picking the plot for the village.

In addition, the distance from the city gives the following advantages: higher prices, more social prestige, proximity to international schools, and lesser chances of patidev being involved in house hold decisions.

Yours truly would like to hire Gautam Bhatia to build her a dream NRI village. If you know how he can be contacted, please drop a line in the comments section of this blog.