1. Our review policy and moderation process.

A general rule of thumb in moderating reviews is:

a) If a review consists only of a product review (Positive or negative): Approve
b) If a review consists only of a service feedback (Positive or negative): Reject.
c) If it’s a positive service feedback, mail back the customer thanking for his testimonial. If it’s negative, forward it to Customer Support (and follow up).
d) If a review consists of both product and service feedback: Given sufficient depth in product reviewed, with a mention about our service (positive or negative), Approve. Else, reject.

Refer to this for the complete guidelines.

2. What do we look for in Product Reviews?

Longevity & Product Focus.

Any review that contains transient information—details which won’t be relevant to users in the near-to-far future—gets rejected. These could be about price (which is subject to change over a period of time), or delivery times (which can vary from 2-3 business days to 8-10 business days at different times), and service reviews.

The most helpful product reviews list some context, both pros and cons of the product, and alternative product choices (if any).

Title: Smooth, Compact and Quality product

At first I was a bit confused coz from the image it seemed so large, but when I got it, it was so small and cute. The retractible cable works pretty well. Pull it to expand and pull again, it shrinks.

A good peice to carry around in laptop bag.

About durability.. its seems it will last long, lets see.. I just got mine day before yesterday.

Its pretty smooth and clicks are also good. I played 5 hours of Counter Strike countinuosly on the firstday itself.

There are others in this price range which is even small but won’t last long. So be cautious
Hope this one won’t give up soon.

http://www.flipkart.com/computers/mice/itmczbnkmgh8fptf?pid=acccyvmewre2w7hf#read-reviews

The same product also has a positive service reviews that we are yet to moderate:

Title: Brilliant product and superb Shipping

Ordered this product on 26th oct(Wed)and thought it would be delivered on Monday due to Diwali and Sunday. But surprisingly product delivered on Saturday. Even packing was so good and even product is nice with bill and totally nice piece Sealed Packed no doubt on its originality. Hope this work always goes on this way.

Title: GREAT SERVICE!
i am very happy to recieve my product on time and and such a sturdy packing….first i hesitated to buy this item….as i was making my first online purchase…i specially and will always prefer flipkart for further online purchases,also FLIPKART has won my trust in online shopping!…the product was perfectly delivered to my home.the mouse is as imagined but it was what i wanted(love the retractable thing in it!…:D

In all fairness, these two reviews (however genuine), add little or no information about the product that might be helpful to a potential customer.

3. Rejecting reviews that have Service Feedback / Delivery Concerns

The primary reason why we reject service reviews is because they are specific occurrences, and can be solved with troubleshooting at our end. Even in the case of positive experiences, this may deteriorate over time. Certain products as well as Cash-on-Delivery as a service may be available only in certain geographies, and is thus representative only of a subset of users. Hence, both positive and negative service reviews can be misinterpreted/misleading across our entire user base.

In all such cases where negative feedback is received, not only do we make it a point to communicate to the reviewer about the deletion, but also mention having escalated the issue to our Customer Support personnel for us to take corrective action. We in all instances aim for a resolution, and for the loop to be closed.

In most cases, users typically do both; email support as well as write a review. Subsequently, a lot of our users also want to amend service reviews (from negative to positive, and vice versa). Given the transient nature of such instances, it is in everyones best interests that we decide not to publish service reviews, neither positive nor negative.

Along similar lines, a significant number of our users have also expressed the need to demarcate product reviews from service ones. The majority of them refer to the reviews section to make an informed decision on the product … not as much the service. There are of course other forums where users are free to share their experiences, our Facebook reviews page and MouthShut being two examples.

4. Moderation: A Work In Progress

Of the ~65,000 reviews we have, 30% are yet to be moderated — and given the manual moderation process — there will be instances of reviews which aren’t ideal for at least some more time, perhaps a month or so. This includes reviews both positive and negative, like examples mentioned above.

There is inherent natural bias towards positive reviews, given that most people have positive experiences with us, and are thus more inclined to review our product/service. This is the kind of review for where we thank customers, but nonetheless delete:

Subj: Impeccable and Impressive Service

I ordered the card on 24th evening and recieved on 25th october afternoon. Just one word. Impressive.
Amazing..Impeccable service. A genuine product nonetheless. I am very happy dealing with Flipkart.
Amazing products with competetive rates.

5 Stars all together.

All the same, people with bad experiences need to vent their frustration … across avenues. Some recent negative reviews yet to be moderated:

Non-Delivery by Flipkart
Flipkart has failed to deliver within the timeline mentioned on their website. Take extreme care while placing order especially if you are transacting with your credit card…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

http://www.flipkart.com/cameras/canon/itmczcqbhdhwhtd7?pid=camcvydjvzghzkp9#read-reviews

Please Do NOT Buy from here
felt cheated with the pricing of this headset after seeing the same stuff priced in the market at a much cheaper price.

http://www.flipkart.com/review/mobiles/bluetooth-headsets/itmczcrqtgxgfmwf?pid=acccz8de4vxuzak8

To add an air of neutrality, and for a moment look at things in a lighter vein, this same page also has “test review” by one of our developers. The test review hasn’t yet been deleted, and it has been close to 2 weeks.

5. The Steps Ahead: What tools will we provide (apart from reviews) to discuss about Flipkart?

As rightly mentioned, we are selling an online experience. Some plans that are in the works to facilitate discussion and neutrality:

1. A “Verified Purchase” badge, to add credibility to reviewers/reviews.
2. A Q-&-A section, for doubts users may have with regards to products, policies and service.
3. An independent Forum, moderated equally by employees as well as users.

Whether positive or negative, we need to create a space for people to voice their opinions. Most things at Flipkart are far from being perfect and our intent is to work towards improving & making things better. We need to take feedback & constantly improve.

It happens to some extent but needs to be better.

In Pic: Amitav Ghosh

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart, Amitav Ghosh talks about his need to write and print on good paper, the inspirations for his diverse range of characters, his interest in the opium trade of the 19th century and his latest in the Ibis Trilogy - ‘River of Smoke’…

Would you say growing up in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is part of the explanation for your lush descriptions of settings and your multicultural character driven writing?
The experience of living in many different places has certainly had an impact on the way I look at the world. And you may well be right in attributing it to my interest in cultural differences and exchanges. I also travel a great deal so that I can have a proper sense of the places I’m writing about: Mauritius, China, Singapore etc.

Based on your writings, you have a deep bond with the Far East and its cultural connection with India, where does this interest come from?
It may be because I am from eastern India – countries such as Burma, Cambodia and Indonesia have particularly close connections with Orissa and Bengal.

From Sea of Poppies, where is the reader taken with River of Smoke? Who are the new characters and who will we be reacquainted with?
River of Smoke heads in a new direction: towards southern China – the city of Canton (now known as Guangzhou) in particular. Its principal protagonist is Bahram Modi, the father of Ah Fatt, the half-Chinese convict in Sea of Poppies.

The Ibis Trilogy focuses on the Indian diaspora and the migration of laborers; what fascinated you about this time in India’s history?
Sea of Poppies began as a book of departures. I have myself traveled a great deal but oddly enough I have become more interested in departures than in arrivals. I wanted to understand what it was like for deeply-rooted people from India’s heartland to travel across the seas (which they thought of as the ‘Kalapani’). It took a great deal of courage to undertake such a journey – this is one of the reasons why I am fascinated by the migration of laborers.

What is it about the opium trade of the 19th century that made you decide to base a trilogy of novels around it and why a ship as the central symbol?
Opium played a decisive role in the history of 19th and early 20th century Asia. It was one of the financial pillars of the British Raj and it had catastrophic consequences for Chinese society. No other commodity (except perhaps oil in the 20th century) has had such a decisive impact on history. In terms of the Ibis as a central symbol, I have always been interested in boats and ships – this must have something to do with being from a part of the country where rivers are of prime importance.

Your books are filled with rich, colourful characters, do you find yourself basing them on real people from past and present?
Some of my characters are indeed based upon real people. Neel Haldar (who figures in ‘Sea of Poppies’ as well as ‘River of Smoke’) was based upon a character I came across in the Calcutta judicial records of the 1820s – a rich zamindar who was convicted of forgery and sent into exile.

Do you have any quirky habits when it comes to your writing process?
I do most of my writing by hand and I am quite obsessive about paper, ink, pens and so on. It is very hard to write at length with a fountain pen if it does not have a good nib, so I pay a lot of attention to that. But at a certain stage I do move to the computer, but even then, I like to have good paper (of at least 100 GSM) when I am printing out. For some reason it is often quite difficult to get 100 GSM paper in Goa, so I often have to get it from Mumbai or Kolkata. Friends who come to visit are sometimes astonished to be asked to bring paper.

What advice would you give to budding writers looking to get published?
The most important thing is to write a good book.

What book are you currently reading?
Peter Robb: A Death in Brazil

~

River of Smoke (2011)

After a three year wait, master storyteller Amitav Ghosh is back with his second book in the epic Ibis Trilogy, River of Smoke, the sequel to Sea of Poppies. Rooted during the eve of the Opium Wars and following a kaleidescope of characters traveling through trade routes between India and China, Amitav Ghosh’s opus is shaping up to be a historical, cultural and literary marvel.

After taking you on a dramatic voyage through the Ganges and the Indian Ocean in ‘Sea of Poppies’, we now dock in the hustle and bustle of the Chinese port-city Canton in ‘River of Smoke’. Centered around the Parsi opium trader, Bahram Modi, his estranged half-Chinese son, Ah Fatt and the orphan botanist Paulette - the book, much like it’s predecessor, is set around engaging characters in a colonial backdrop, many of whom are trying to make sense of (and profit from) the volatile opium trade.

Settings drenched with lush descriptions of the British Raj seeping into the Orient, a melting-pot of characters driven by romance and riches, and entertaining dialogue thriving on colloquial wordplay - ‘River of Smoke’ is a mesmerizing re-telling of history combined with a captivating plot. It is a rich addition to a thoroughly entertaining trilogy showcasing an everyman outlook on the Opium Wars of the 19th century.

~

Buy Amitav Ghosh’s latest novel ‘River of Smoke’ on Flipkart

Browse through the published works of Amitav Ghosh

Check out Amitav Ghosh’s official website

In Pic: Ashwin Sanghi

An author who thrives on the amalgamation of history and fiction - Ashwin Sanghi (AKA Shawn Haigins) knows just the right formula to write an addictive thriller that keeps you at the edge but also provides you with juicy nuggets of historical factoids. In his first book The Rozabal Line, he puts forth the possibility that Jesus could have spent his latter years in India; at the same time, tying in a story of jihadis with similarities to the 12 apostles. In his latest book Chanakya’s Chant, Sanghi explores a fascinating personality from India’s history - the wily, genius, political strategist Chanakya and in parallel, ties it in with the story of Gangasagar Mishra, Chanakya’s fictional contemporary moniker.

With an abundance of research under his belt, Ashwin Sanghi is an inquisitive writer, who can flawlessly bound a fast paced plot structure with the rich factual background of his real life characters. His books are essential for a reader who enjoys modern thrillers, just as much as they enjoy a well written piece of history. It’s easy reading with a fine balance of entertainment and knowledge.

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart - acclaimed author Ashwin Sanghi talks about his inspirations, ‘fiction that sounds like fact’, his two historical thrillers - The Rozabal Line and Chanakya’s Chant, the similarities between Machiavelli and the great Chanakya, his pseudonym pen-name Shawn Haigins and much more!

Who is Ashwin Sanghi and what makes him tick?
The person in question suffers from multiple personality disorder. One of his personalities is Ashwin Sanghi, who is a Mumbai-born businessman with an MBA from Yale. That is his boring avatar. At night, however, Ashwin Sanghi morphs into Shawn Haigins, his alter ego. A peg of whiskey and a notebook computer rule his world each night for several hours. What makes the author in him tick? It’s probably the whiskey!

An entrepreneur by profession, who or what has inspired you to become a writer?
My passion for reading was ignited when my maternal grandfather would bombard me with books that were far ahead of my time. He would insist that after reading every book I must write a letter detailing what I liked and what I didn’t. In the beginning, it was a tedious process but my imagination and knowledge increased over the years. It’s precisely for this reason that I believe in the blessings of my ancestors moving my pen.

In a nutshell, how would you describe yourself as a writer?
The things that fascinate me are usually rooted in history, mythology, politics and religion. I’m assuming that this fundamental DNA would not change in my future novels. Although these topics pique my interest, I do not see myself as someone who can simply write historical or mythological fiction unless the subject has some relevance to the present day. Even though The Rozabal Line explored the possibility that Jesus Christ may have survived the crucifixion and may have traveled to India, the story was propelled forward by the modern-day story of a group of Islamic terrorists who are funded by the Illuminati. Similarly, with Chanakya’s Chant, it’s not the simple retelling of a historical tale but the linking of that ancient historical tale to present-day Indian politics that excites me.

You talk about ‘fiction that sounds like fact‘ — sounds like a genre on its own, can you elaborate?
Think about it. You switch on the TV to watch the evening news. Which news channel are you most likely to see? Provided that you do not have a pre-determined channel affinity, you are probably going to see the channel that happens to be breaking sensational news. Increasingly, we want to hear fact that sounds like fiction, which is precisely why stories like the Jessica Lall murder case, the Nithari serial killings, or the Arushi Talwar double murder interest us. They all sound like the plot of an Ian Rankin murder mystery. The converse is also true. Not only are we more interested in fact that sounds like fiction, we relate better to fiction that sounds like fact. So, if I have to create a plot in the present-day, it should be as close to the sort of story that you would read with your morning cuppa.

How does history play an integral role in your brand of fiction?
In the eighteenth century, it was Edmund Burke who famously said, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” I find that when I observe current events around me, I instinctively correlate these with events that happened in the past. When I read about modern-day conflicts between Islam and the western world, I can’t help thinking of the religious Crusades that were fought for most of the three hundred years following the eleventh century. When I read about the Nithari serial killings, I begin to mull over the terror that Jack the Ripper caused in England in 1888. When I watch the IPL allegations on TV and the consequent damage that it may have done to the reputation of cricket, I think about the Black Sox scandal that almost ruined baseball in 1919. When I hear about scams like those of the CWG or telecom, I correlate them to the Railroad Bubble. History inevitably repeats itself, one simply needs to observe the patterns. This pattern is what interests me most and this is what is central to my fiction.

On The Rozabal Line

What is The Rozabal Line about?
In 1999 I read Holy Blood Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. It was through this book that the notion that Jesus may have left behind a bloodline first came to my attention. A couple of years later, I read Holger Kersten’s Jesus Lived in India and was fascinated with the idea that Jesus could have been inspired by Buddhism and that he may have drawn much of his spiritual learning from India. I began to wonder whether I could marry the two theories i.e. that he survived the crucifixion and traveled to India and that he left behind a bloodline. In a nutshell, that’s the core of The Rozabal Line.

Why did you pick Jesus Christ as a central character for your first novel?
I don’t think that I picked the topic, as much as the topic picked me. After visiting the Rozabal shrine in Srinagar, I spent the next two years reading each and every book that I could acquire on this particular topic and related material viz. the possibility of Jesus having spent his missing years as a youth studying in India, the theory that Jesus did not die on the cross and that he was whisked away to safety, and the notion that Jesus traveled to India to reunite with the lost tribes of Israel who had settled in Kashmir. In all, I read around forty books during this time besides scouring the Internet for any information that I could possibly find. By the time that I was done with my reading, I did not have any alternative but to find a way to present all the disparate threads of information via a single book. I started writing The Rozabal Line in 2005 and finished it eighteen months later.

Was there a specific message you were trying to convey with this book?
I’m not a religious person. I’m spiritual in the sense that I believe in the essence of “do no harm” as well as the theory of karmic debt, but that does not translate into being someone who prostrates himself daily inside a temple. I am equally comfortable inside a church or dargah as I am inside a temple. In fact, it is this openness that allows me to explore the question “Where did this idea emerge from?” Thus, The Rozabal Line is not a story about Jesus Christ surviving the crucifixion and traveling to Kashmir; it is a story about how human beliefs and ideas have been freely absorbed and assimilated down the ages, and how such inter-faith borrowing has shaped our ideas and beliefs in the present day. This was the primary message of the book. Unfortunately it ended up being seen as a desi Da Vinci Code by some.

Are you of the belief that Jesus moved to India after the crucifixion?
My personal belief is that it is irrelevant whether Rozabal is indeed the actual tomb of Jesus or not. For me, personally, Rozabal represents an “alternative story”. It is representative of the possibility that the story contained in the four canonical gospels may be the truth but not necessarily the whole truth. It is also symbolic of many facets of the Christian faith that have been obliterated down the ages. The fact that the lost tribes of Israel certainly had a connection with India, the fact that early Christianity drew inspiration from other faiths such as Buddhism, the fact that Jesus may have been one the greatest men that walked on earth, but a man nonetheless. As a writer of fiction, I find the notion that Jesus traveled to India extremely exciting — even romantic. Having read virtually every book on the subject I can freely admit that there are enough arguments favouring both sides of the debate and hence what you conclude from the book is usually a matter of personal faith.

What has the reaction for the novel been like? For some it could make for a fascinating story, for others it could be considered grossly blasphemous…
I am now quite used to being blessed and damned, praised and criticized, believed and disbelieved, all within the span of a single day. I could never have imagined that my novel would be so successful when I wrote it. When I completed it in 2005, I spent a year trying to find a publisher. I was unsuccessful in my quest and out of sheer frustration decided to self-publish the novel so that it would become available on international book retail sites. I had never imagined that this particular self-published book would fall into the hands of Gautam Padmanabhan and Hemu Ramiah at Westland and that they would love it. Even when Westland decided to publish the book in 2008, I could not have imagined that it would become a bestseller. The Rozabal Line is a book that you will either love or hate, depending upon your own beliefs and values; love it or hate it, you cannot ignore it.

On Chanakya’s Chant

Tell us about Chanakya’s Chant’s plot?
There are two parallel stories that are narrated in Chanakya’s Chant. The first is the story of Chanakya, 2300 years ago. It is a fictional retelling of the political machinations that brought Chandragupta Maurya to the throne. The second is a modern-day tale of a Brahmin from Uttar Pradesh—Gangasagar Mishra—who decides that a poor girl from a Kanpur slum is the ideal candidate to be made Prime Minister of India. The contemporary tale describes the strategies employed by Gangasagar to bring his dream to fruition.

For those who might not know, give us a little history on your main character—Chanakya. What was it about his character that you found fascinating?
Chanakya is often called India’s Machiavelli, although my personal view would be that Niccolò Machiavelli was Europe’s Chanakya. Chanakya was probably the greatest political strategist that ever lived and was credited with having engineered the downfall of the Nanda dynasty and the installation of Chandragupta Maurya to the throne of Magadha around 320 BC. As a writer of fiction, I find Chanakya’s personality and character extremely interesting. Here’s someone who penned reams of statements on government policy, statecraft, strategy and diplomacy almost 1800 years before Machiavelli! Just as a photographer searches for the perfect picture, I find myself searching for complex characters… preferably characters that are multi-hued and thus difficult to characterize as good or bad. Chanakya was efficient yet ruthless, principled yet amoral, intelligent yet devious, magnanimous yet vengeful. In short, the ideal complex character for a novel!

How did you go about developing Chanakya’s contemporary moniker - Gangasagar Mishra.
That was easy! All one had to do was to study some of the political strategies that have been adopted in the past twenty-five years and coalesce them into the strategies of a single character. Gangasagar Mishra is a product that has been derived by melting the personalities, character traits and behavior of many real life politicians down the ages into a single unifying character.

The story has been written in parallel time lines - how have you connected the modern with the medieval?
The ancient story ends with a riddle and a mantra — a chant. That chant holds the power to actualize a leader in the present. It’s the chant that connects the past and the present, hence the title— Chanakya’s Chant.

In 140 characters - what can the reader expect from Chanakya’s Chant?
“It’s a fast-paced page turner. A political thriller inspired by the machinations of Chanakya. Masala fiction with a splash of history.”

General

Tell us the story behind your pseudonym, Shawn Haigins. Why did you choose to use one and how did you come about choosing the name? Has it made a commercial difference?
As you know, I am not a writer by profession. I was born and brought up in a business environment. I started working when I was 16 and completed my MBA when I was 22. By the time that I completed writing my debut novel, The Rozabal Line, in 2006, I had already been in business for over 20 years. The decision to use a pen name was nothing more than a desire to compartmentalize my life so that my entrepreneurial dimension would remain distinct and separate from my literary one. However, I had not thought about an appropriate pseudonym to use until I actually completed the novel.

As you know, there’s an abundance of anagrams in my novel and the idea struck me: why not use an anagram of my real name as a pseudonym? Hence my first novel was written under the name “Shawn Haigins”, an anagram of my real name “Ashwin Sanghi”. When Tata-Westland decided to publish the novel in India they insisted that it had to be published under my real name given the fact that the novel in question involved a sensitive subject. As it turns out, that wasn’t such a bad idea. My publishers now joke that I was originally a businessman who was also an author and that now I’m an author who is also a businessman. I continue to use the pseudonym “Shawn Haigins” on my Facebook page but my books are marketed under my real name only.

How is one able to blend nonfiction with fiction convincingly for the readers?
What makes a good Martini? Is it the vodka or the dry vermouth? I like to think that the fiction in my books is the vodka and that the nonfiction is the vermouth. In a Martini, if you add too much vermouth, it won’t be dry enough; add too little and the Martini won’t be as smooth. The key lies in introducing the vermouth in perfectly calibrated amounts. In like fashion one needs to pepper fiction with nonfiction just to the extent that it makes the fiction sounds plausible. Overdo one or the other, and you’ve killed the story… and that’s the truth, the whole truth and nothing but vermouth!

What kind of research went behind your two books, essentially the backbone is history…
The research involved in writing The Rozabal Line was much more exhaustive than that of Chanakya’s Chant. This was simply due to the fact that one had to tread very carefully when writing fiction that touched upon someone’s faith. I had less concerns when it came to writing about the political confabulations of Chanakya.

With The Rozabal Line, I found that there was a wealth of information that I could dip into. Some of this information was available in excellent books that had covered various issues such as the Jesus in India hypothesis, the historical Jesus, and the interplay of mythologies and religious beliefs in the evolution of the character of Jesus. Books such as Jesus Lived in India by Holger Kersten, Jesus in Kashmir: The Lost Tomb by Suzanne Olsson, The Fifth Gospel by Fida Hassnain, The Unknown Life of Jesus by Nicolas Notovich and The Lost Years of Jesus by Elizabeth Clare Prophet were very important in building the framework of the story. Other books such as The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold by S. Acharya and The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviours by Kersey Graves were important from the angle of building the “alternative hypothesis” around the canonical Jesus. I spent most of 2003 and 2004 reading every book that I could lay my hands on (around 40+). These books are listed at the back of my novel. I only started writing in 2005 after I had completed reading these books.

With Chanakya’s Chant, the research was at two levels because, as you know, there are two parallel stories in this book. The first one traces the rise of Chanakya 2300 years ago and ends with him having succeeded in installing Chandragupta Maurya to the throne. The second traces the life of Gangasagar Mishra a Brahmin teacher from Uttar Pradesh who makes it his life’s purpose to make a girl from a slum into the country’s prime minister. The ancient story required historical reading, including the Arthashastra as well as several other books penned on Chanakya. I also read an English translation of the Mudrarakshasa — a historical play in Sanskrit by Vishakhadatta who lived in the 4th century. The modern-day story simply involved lots of newspaper reading. The drama of politics is enacted before us each day in the front pages… one doesn’t need to stray any further!

Advice to people who would like to start pursuing writing as a secondary career?
My advice is as follows: (A) Choose the right time in your life to pursue writing as a secondary career. It’s impractical to do it if you are financially insecure or are at the very beginning of a career graph. There’s not much to be earned financially as a writer, especially in the early days, and hence this is an option better pursued when one is better settled in life.
(B) Having chosen to pursue a parallel career in writing, do not allow either of your professions to eat into the time of the other. Both are equally important and it does not make sense to allow your literary pursuits to creep into your daytime job or vice-versa.
(C) Be clear on which job feeds your stomach and which one feeds your soul. Without that clarity in place you are more likely to end up dissatisfied with both careers.

Do you have any quirky habits when it comes to getting down to writing?
If I write in the morning, I light an incense stick for a minute of prayer, brew a mug of coffee and then sit down to write. If I write late at night, I light a Hoyo de Monterrey cigar to start the contemplative process, pour myself a finger of whiskey and then sit down to write! Notice the pattern?

Three books that changed your life and why?
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren: It was the one that got me interested in politics.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: It taught me about wine, women and song—and God!
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov: It made me realize that there isn’t much difference between sex and politics!

What are you currently reading?
The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

~

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In Pic: Jeffrey Archer

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart, world renowned author Jeffrey Archer talks about his latest bestseller - Only Time Will Tell, his books which have been adapted for TV, traveling in India, favorite Indian authors, a Cricket WC prediction and much more!

An introduction with Jeffrey Archer

What makes Jeffrey Archer tick?
Immense energy and a fascination with life.

Was there a particular person who inspired you to become a writer?
Alan Quilter, to whom Only Time Will Tell is dedicated – he was my English teacher at school.

As an author, how would you describe yourself?
I am quite simply, a story-teller.

Do you find that non-fiction/history tends to seep into the fiction you write?
Yes, it’s inevitable.

Any habits when it comes to getting down to writing? I notice you’re writing your latest work in Majorca…
I always go to my home in Majorca to write, because it’s quiet and there are no distractions there.  I have a writing room that I use which overlooks the sea, and I write in two-hour blocks every day, from 6-8am, 10-12noon, 2-4pm, 6-8pm with a break in between each two hour session to eat or go for a walk.

After over three decades in publishing - what kind of audience do you have?
My audience is 60% women/40% men and ranges in ages from 7 to 107!

The books of Jeffrey Archer

If there was one of your books you could recommend to a new reader, what would it be and why?
Start with the first book I ever wrote, Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less.

Kane & Abel marked a monumental step up in your career as a writer…
My life changed completely after the publication of Kane & Abel, which is now on its 84th reprint and has been read by 50 million people in India alone.

The Gospel According To Judas was an extremely unique, some would argue controversial book - what gave you the idea to write this?
I found it fascinating that Jesus chose 12 disciples and one of them could have been a bad man, so I tried to see the events in the Gospels through Judas’ eyes.

Your first set of non-fiction books were based on your experience in prison - can you tell us what the Prison Diaries are about and what message you were trying to convey?
There is no message, the Prison Diaries simply convey what life is like in a British prison.

Have you been happy with the TV-movie adaptations of your books? As an author whose book is being made into a movie and being put in the hands of a director, what is that like?
Three of my books have been adapted for television: First Among Equals, Not A Penny, and Kane & Abel.  I was very disappointed with the BBC’s adaptation of Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less, but ITV won several awards for First Among Equals, and Kane & Abel was watched by 17 million people when it was first televised, mind you, there were only 3 TV stations in those days; the original series has also just been released for the first time on DVD.

You have written solid collections of short stories over the years. Do you make a concerted effort that all the stories are connected in some way?
I enjoy writing short stories, although they have no connection with each other.  I come up with stories inspired by people I meet, something that’s happened, or even from a passing comment someone has told me.  I have learnt a great deal from your own distinguished storyteller, R K Narayan.

In your latest book of short stories, And Thereby Hangs a Tale, you’ve written about India and Indian characters, what was the inspiration behind this?
My Indian story, Caste-Off, is a true story inspired by two friends of mine, which made it all the more interesting to write.

Tell us about your upcoming project the ‘Clifton Chronicles’ and its first volume Only Time Will Tell.
The Clifton Chronicles is a five book saga of which ‘Only Time Will Tell’ is the first volume. They story will span the years from 1920 to 2020, and follow the hero, Harry Clifton, and his life from his birth in the backs streets of Bristol, through his time at Oxford University and to the outbreak of war.

Misc.

Tell us about your experience as a PE teacher in your early days.
I’ve always enjoyed physical activity – athletics, rugby, and cricket – and there was a short period of time during which I took a PE teaching job.

Advice to young writers who would like to start pursuing it as a career?
I would suggest starting with a short story before attempting a novel.  I didn’t write my first book until I was 34.

A staunch cricket fan - any predictions for the World Cup, can you comment on India’s chances?
I think the final will be between India and South Africa, and I predict India will win.

You’ve visited India on numerous occasions - what has the overall experience been like and what are the glaring changes you notice with each visit?
I always enjoy coming to India where the people are welcoming and friendly. I notice with each visit that while the rest of the world is staying still, India is one of those countries that is clearly progressing.

Are there any Indian authors you pay close attention to?
R K Narayan, Vikram Seth, V S Naipaul.

Three movies you can watch over and over again?
A Man for All Seasons, Twelve Angry Men, Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Three books that changed your life?
The Count of Monte Cristo, A Tale of Two Cities and any of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short stories.

What are you currently reading?
The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal.

~

Buy Jeffrey Archer’s latest book - Only Time Will Tell on Flipkart

Check out the published works of Jeffrey Archer on Flipkart

Visit Jeffrey Archer’s official website

Hush (2010)

After taking India’s inaugural Comic Con by storm - Manta Ray are coming along in a big way. Besides creating a proper buzz for the publication, it was great to see their debut release, Hush, sell out at the convention. We did a preview of ‘Hush’ in our Alternative Graphic Novels list and interestingly, it garnered the most attention from our readers. ‘Hush’ is a dark and intricate novella, that doesn’t rely on words (at all). Purely through its beautifully ambiguous art, it’s the reader who naturally formulates the comic’s message (instead of having it spelled out for you). The subjectivity of Hush’s art and the themes conveyed resonates powerfully from within and this makes for an intensely deep debut release from Manta Ray.

Going through this interview you really feel true passion for the comic medium pouring out of Manta Ray’s founder, Pratheek Thomas. With Hush and Manta Ray, it feels like we’re ushering in a new era in graphic novels here in India… and this is worth discussing.

In Pic: Manta Ray's Pratheek Thomas

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart - Pratheek Thomas talks about his new publication house Manta Ray, his debut graphic novel novella Hush and its artist Rajiv Eipe, graphic novels in India, the recent Comic Con held in Delhi and much more…

In a nutshell, who is Pratheek Thomas and what makes him tick?
Pratheek Thomas is an aspiring storyteller. I’ve just started telling my stories to a real audience and there is a lot of learning to do along the way. By education, I’m a mechanical engineer who moved on to Product Design at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad… who since then, had been primarily been employed as a storyteller. The first few years after college, I conceptualized rides and attractions in a theme park project. Then did some writing (stories and animation scripts) for children and finally, started Manta Ray with Dileep Cherian.

What makes me tick? Hmm… Stories, for sure. It’s the one thing that connects us all! From early man, to the last humans who will walk this planet, that’s one thing we’ll never stop doing… telling stories. And people. We come in so many different shapes and sizes and colours, with varied aspirations and beliefs and desires and we’re all living our own stories, one day at a time, that is really fascinating. You put these two together - telling stories and people - it’s such a potent mix! To create stories about people, to tell new stories and also re-tell old stories, the entire act of creation, that’s exhilarating!

Who and what inspired you to become a writer?
There probably isn’t any one person (or incident) who inspired me to become a writer. I guess it’s the stories I’ve read, the movies I’ve seen, that inspired me and still do. What amazes me is the power of a story or a movie (or any other form of storytelling, for that matter) to transport the reader, the audience into a whole new world. If it’s a good story or movie, you’re almost living in that world for the length of that story. That in itself, is a huge inspiration.

I’ve always been writing since my childhood, mostly in spurts, so it took me some time to realize that storytelling is what I wanted to do. When I look back now, I can see how most of the choices I made led me to this point… kind of like, connecting the dots, in hindsight.

What’s the story behind setting up your publishing house - Manta Ray?
Manta Ray happened after Hush, actually. Vivek (my brother) had shared this story idea he had for a short film and I told him that I’d like to adapt it into a comic, which he could then show around if he was looking at producers for funding his short. So once Rajiv (we studied together at NID) came on board, I started writing Hush. At that point, I’d thought of doing it in a mini-comic way - take xerox copies of the book and put it out in local bookstores, where people could pick up a copy. All I was looking for at that point was feedback about the story, art etc.

As I was writing the script, I told Dileep (who’s a very close friend from my engineering days) what I was doing. We started discussing the comics scenario in India (I’d already done my research on what was happening here) and decided to come together and start Manta Ray.

Can you give us some insight on the kind of work that goes into setting up an indie publishing house?
I’d always wanted to do something with books - maybe a small, intimate bookshop, or a library where people could just walk in and sit there and read a book. As early as 2007, I’d toyed with the idea of starting a publishing house, but didn’t think it would be possible.

Neways.

The most important thing is that you should want to do this. You should love books and you should have your own voice - there are so many publishers out there, so what is it that makes your voice unique? These are very important questions. Especially today, when people are prophesying the end of the printed book and even reading. Also, publishing is not a way to make a quick buck. It takes (at least) a few years to really get established and steady. You have to be ready for that journey. During that time, with everything you bring out, your voice should be seen and heard and make an impact.

With a comic book publishing house, it’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, there are very few publishers in India who are focusing exclusively on comics. On the other hand, this is also because the comic book reading community in India is small today. So, you need to find ways to go beyond this small community. Also, you need to find good writers, good artists, good letterers - comics are all about team work, so you need to build and nurture such teams to create an environment for this.

And of course, tell ‘good stories’.

What is your vision for Manta Ray and who is Manta Ray’s target audience?
We want to tell good stories. I know ‘good’ is a very subjective term but I guess what I’m trying to say is that Dileep and I want to tell stories that we ourselves like to read and are excited about. Only then, will we believe in these stories and do our 200% to bring them out in the best possible way. We also want to be a platform for creators to tell their stories. From my NID years, I know that there is immense talent in India and many of them are never even heard or seen. We’d like to change that. At least for the creators who want to tell stories in comics or illustrated mediums.

Anyone and everyone who likes a good story - that is our target audience. I think, in India, people tend to see comics in three broad categories: mythology, superhero or kids. So a lot of people, a lot of readers, ignore comics completely. We’d like to show readers that you can tell stories outside of these categories. You can tell engaging, interesting, exciting, moving stories in comics too. We’d like them to discover - through Manta Ray’s books - that comics can also tell good stories, stories they would like to read, even if they’ve never read a comic book before.

On “Hush”

It was a brave move releasing Manta Ray’s first graphic novel novella with no words - what was the reasoning behind this?
Hush is, in our eyes, a graphic short story or a graphic novella, but not a novel. The difference being that novels usually imply a large number of pages of story and Hush is not that. We’ve tried to make that clear in all our communication so far, but sometimes, it is still called a graphic novel, so I just wanted to clarify that.

The decision to go silent was a very conscious one. The story demanded that it be told with no words. It was clear from the moment I started working on it and with Rajiv at the helm, it was the right decision.

Tell us about the artist Rajiv Eipe - how would you describe his style and work?

In Pic: Rajiv Eipe

Rajiv is one of the most versatile artists I have met and he’s also one of the most generous, down-to-earth people I know. He’s got this ability to connect with the story deeply… he engages with the story and characters completely and that shows in everything he does. His dedication to a project is unfaltering, his work ethic is one that is very rarely seen in most people.

On Hush for example, being our first book and my first story, we had many rounds of discussions and were constantly tweaking small details here and there, to make sure that it communicated everything we wanted to say. When we were ready to bring the book out, Rajiv also created 3 fantastic videos trailers…

He’s one of the reasons I’m writing comics. Just the chance to collaborate with him and create something, that’s the reward in itself.

Without giving away anything - what are the central themes of Hush? What was the message you and Rajiv were trying to convey?
I wonder if I’m able to talk about Hush without giving it away! Let me try… Hush is about a shooting in a high school. It’s not a Columbine like massacre, it’s not even inspired by any of that. The shooting is a storyteller’s device. We haven’t had anything like this in India, so far… though there have been instances where students have shot a classmate or friend of theirs because of a grudge or argument.

But the story isn’t really about the shooting. It’s why this girl takes a gun and decides to do it. That’s the question. I’ll be the first one to say that the answer to this question is not something that will surprise us as readers… it’s something all of us know about, BUT, what’s more important is that we do not talk about it. We pretend that it doesn’t exist, we maintain our silence about it, we ‘hush’ it up.

Hush’s imagery is reminiscent of all the school shootings from America that we only read about, how do you think it’s relevant to bring this to an Indian audience?
The only connection Hush has to the school shootings that we’ve read/ heard about, is that a student (Maya, in this case) takes a gun and kills someone in her school. The similarities end there. In recent years, I’ve been reading about stray incidents where students in India are shooting, even killing a classmate because they had an argument or fight. So, I think it’s not so unimaginable that Maya, pushed to the extent that she is, surrounded by the climate of denial and silence, would choose to do something as extreme as take a gun, at least to protect her loved ones.

But, like I was saying, more than the act of shooting, the act that drives her to this extreme… I think it’s relevant to speak about that and that is why Hush exists.

A month on since the release - what has the feedback and overall reaction been for Hush?
I’m really happy to say that the feedback has been very positive… be it from friends, newspapers that have featured the book, readers. From our point of view - especially as a small, indie publisher - Hush is doing well.

The art has been universally praised and I’m very very happy for that… Rajiv’s illustrations in Hush are just beautiful. I don’t know if anyone else could have rendered this story with all its impact - without any words to support it. Rajiv is the real star of Hush, we just gave him a story and a platform where he could really shine.

And, of course, with bouquets come the brickbats too…

The story is not new - this is something that’s being said and like I said earlier, I’ll be the first one to say that. But some things NEED to be talked about, whether you already know of it or not. It’s a story that as a writer, I wanted to tell. As a publisher, Hush was a story that Manta Ray wanted to showcase.

There have also been some comments on the pricing, which some people say is very high for a short story that Hush is. And I’d like to use this question as a platform to elaborate on this.  If one were to factor in only the printing cost and the discounts of distributors/retailers, the price point of Rs.195/- barely covers it. I’d like to be very honest here… Manta Ray makes nothing from the sales of Hush. So, Hush is not a money-making book for us and this is not why we did this book.

Hush is a story that we believed in and as our debut book, we wanted to make it special. So, it is a short story and we decided to bring it out in a limited edition print, because, we feel that Hush is a book for keeping. If you look at it, Hush is a high production value book, it’s printed on premium paper and at the best printers in India… all of these, definitely contribute to how the story come to life on the pages of the book.

It has to be said the entire package of Hush is very classy - thick paper, vibrant print, extensive commentary from the artist, writer, editors - can we expect this format for all Manta Ray releases?
Thank you, Sailen! Yes, we put a LOT of effort and time to craft it into this premium format. I’d say that our readers can expect a very high standard of quality in all Manta Ray releases - it may not be in this same format or the same paper… but our stories will be brought to life by artists with immense talent and potential. There will definitely be commentaries by the creators, sometimes even extensive coverage of how certain stories were created. We aim to bring out really good comics and we are committed to that goal.

General

Producing graphic novels is still in its budding phase here in India - is there a reason India is a bit late on the bandwagon, even though there is massive readership in this country for the stuff that comes from the West?
In 2009, someone (in the publishing business) once told me that, “Everyone knows that the graphic novel is a very powerful beast… just that no one wants to take the risk or riding it”.

If you look at it, many of the creators, upcoming publishers in the field today are young adults - who are in their late 20s, early 30s - and it’s quite possible that this is the same generation that had the access all this stuff from the West when they were growing up. Now, they’re at that stage in life where they want to tell their own stories. They’re more entrepreneurial in spirit and are willing to follow their dream and ready to take the risk of riding the beast.

Tell us about your experience at Comic Con?  What were Manta Ray up to?
Comic Con was a BLAST! For one, the convention itself was organized quite well… I must congratulate Twenty Onwards on this. To organize something like this, for the first time, it was really good. I think the venue was also very well chosen - there were a lot of people who’d come to Dilli Haat who weren’t aware of the Comic Con, they got to see a lot of comics and I guess, they picked up some too.

Most of the comic book publishers had a stall at the event, but we’d decided not to have a stall, as we had only one title. We went to the convention with the intention of ‘looking and learning’ - to prepare for the next convention, when we’re hoping to have a lot more titles to showcase. We did stock the books at the Comic Con stall and we also brought some merchandise with us - Manta Ray t-shirts and Hush badges.

I think from the word go, we were off to a great start - within the first hour of the convention, we were told (by the retail stalls) that Hush was flying off the shelves. In fact, Hush was completely sold out on both the days and honestly, this was unexpected and we were completely floored… didn’t really expect that!

We also had a session with the audience, where we talked about Manta Ray’s origins, Hush and the future… we officially kicked off our ‘The Answer is Here’ contest which is going to run for about a month and has some cool prizes to be won. But, I think one of the most enjoyable experiences for the team was the sketching sessions. The guest artists on Hush - Prabha and Manu (who paid us a surprise visit) were awesome… they just sketched their hearts out! It was wonderful to see readers and passers by connect with their spontaneous creations.

On the whole, we simply had loads of fun. It was a fantastic experience!

With Comic Con, has the graphic novel world reached a next-level in India?
I think we still have some way to go. The Comic Con is a small event, it needs to spread to other cities, like the metros and Bangalore. We need to see more vernacular content. We need to see more original creators. We need to see more reader-creator interaction and exchanges. It has to grow beyond the comic-reading audience and reach out to the book-loving audience. That’s when the medium will truly come of age.

From our experience there, I think we can say that, if you can tell a good story, with good art and produce it well, then there will be takers for it. In our estimate, a majority of the people who got Hush at the convention hadn’t heard about the book or Manta Ray before they came to the con. It goes to show how events like these are important, and also, how even a small, indie publisher or even a self-published creator can make an impact with audiences.

Are there any Indian graphic novels you would recommend?
I liked Amruta Patil’s Kari… Kashmir Pending (from Phantomville) was also quite good. And, though it’s not a typical graphic “novel”, Our Toxic World used the medium of comics to talk about the world we live in and create awareness.

Three movies you can watch over and over again?
Tough one!

Heima: A documentary film about Sigur Ros, an Icelandic band. I guess it’s their ethereal music that makes it so repeatedly watchable and inter cut with the conversations with the artists, it creates a nice balance… even if one were to just listen to it.

The Motorcycle Diaries: Walter Salles’ masterpiece. It’s the incredible true story of the man who would become Che portrayed by a terrific cast and Santaolalla’s music.

Before Sunrise/ Before Sunset: That’s two movies, but it’s really one movie too, in a way. A guy and a girl just walking and talking and talking and walking. It’s as simple and beautiful as that.

Three books that changed your life and why?
To Kill A Mockingbird: I think it’s the best book written, ever. I’ve always looked up to Atticus Finch - his integrity, compassion, inner quiet & sense of fairness & justice… you aspire for those virtues and qualities in your own life… in that sense, I’d say it changes you…

Endless Nights: This was the first Sandman collection I’d picked up. Until then I had only heard about the series and had no clue what it was about. I was traveling from Chennai to Ahmedabad and read it on the train… many times over. Up to this point, I’d only read the regular superhero stuff (Batman, Daredevil, Ronin)… but from here on, I started discovering the real stuff that comics can do. This book changed everything that I’d known about comics until then… and started me off on a whole new journey into comics.

Blue Pills: Not a lot of people know about this gem of a comic, I think. It’s by Frederik Peeters, and reading this was a life altering experience. It’s also the one graphic novel I’ve read the most number of times, I can just pick it up and read it whenever I want. It’s changed the way I look at people, at what ‘love’ really means, at what it means to be in a relationship with someone. It’s just… life altering… at least, it was for me.

What are you currently reading?
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and Y: The Last Man, Vol 4 (I never really figured what the big deal is about this series, and someone recently told me that the story picks up after the first few volumes, so I’m giving it another shot again)

What’s next for Manta Ray?
We’re coming out with a limited edition, b&w series… it’s a set of stories that have a common theme connecting them, but with no recurring characters. So you can read issue 4 without knowing 1, 2, 3 or having to read 5. It’s like a set of mini graphic-novels… only they’re under one banner. This should be out very soon, starting April, I think.

Then, hopefully, one (or maybe even two) more limited series (these are in colour). It’s too early to say anything about these, though. And maybe, a full-length graphic novel next year. We’d like to take things slow, build up on our strengths and put out books we believe in completely… so, let’s see

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Flipkart Logo v.1

Flipkart Logo v.2 (BETA)

The Flipkart Logo (2011)

It’s been exciting times at the Flipkart office. Watching the company come of age, step by step, in the direction of e-commerce domination *insert evil laugh*, has been keeping all of us on our toes. Change has very much been the name of the game and we’ve rolled out quite a few over the past two months: a new logo, a new look, new product categories, a spanking new homepage, a new content partner and much more in the works.

Having started the company selling books, the intention for Flipkart has always been to become a website where you can find anything and everything, at a competitive price, easily delivered, brought together by a valuable, trustworthy customer experience. The launches of Mobiles, Games (consoles), Computers and Cameras are part of Flipkart’s ongoing process by which we strive to provide our customers with an entirely wholesome shopping experience, where everything under the sun is available at our customer’s fingertips… so hold your breath, there is much more to come.  Do browse through our new categories, if you feel there is anything missing, point it out to us, after all, with change must come improvement.

In terms of design, we bid farewell to the beloved orange and welcome in a sharp, some say more professional, yellow and blue motif along with a spiffy new logo - shopping kart, speedy delivery et al. We’re no longer just a book store, but an everything store (constant work in progress), which is why we also now have a homepage, highlighting the big sellers in our various categories and the depth of Flipkart’s online shopping experience. Feed back on the revamp is welcomed and will be embraced for the future.

The Original Flipkart Home Page

The Flipkart Home Page Revamped

It was just a month back where Tapas and Sachin were telling me about the early days, where it was literally five people running the Flipkart show. Reminiscing about the times where it was our CEOs packing products to be shipped and personally taking customer care calls in the middle of the night - one can’t help but feel a sense of pride to be part of something that has grown organically and convincingly. Flipkart is expanding at a rapid pace and we’ve come a long way. With this array of change, we’d like to assure you, our approach hasn’t – we will continue to strive for excellence in the e-commerce domain and what you’ve loved about us over the years, will stay constant.

And with that, I leave you with a quote:
When you are through changing, you are through. ~ Bruce Barton

In Pic: HOMP's Mayur Sharma and Rocky Singh

On TV they’ve taken you on their travels across India, truly immersing themselves into the cultures of the various unique states that make up the country. They focus their energy on an array of landmark dhabas, restaurants, bakeries, street vendors - introducing you to staple local delicacies, many of which are signature food symbols of the regions. More to the point, they do  it with chemistry, humour and knowledge. Even though they might look like twins, Rocky and Mayur represent a sort of yin and yang in their delivery; Rocky the outgoing describer, Mayur the subtle observer - it works for a brilliant combination on television.

~

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart, Highway On My Plate’s Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma talk about their immensely popular TV show, their debut food guide, traveling tips for a foodie and much more!

Who are Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma and what makes them tick?
Just two buddies who’ve lived down the road from each other since 1976. Food is definitely what keeps them ticking - travel, people, open spaces and wind in your hair - all good for the ticker.

What’s the story behind Highway On My Plate, how was the show conceptualized and developed?
It was conceptualized as a 13 parter for the GT road. It evolved into what it is today, due to the cult following it picked up and became a regular feature on the channel. We started simple, bit by bit, and it has become what it is today.

As travelers, food critics, TV presenters and now, writers - how are you different?
Here’s how we differ:
1. Rocky is a scuba dive master with over 400 dives. Mayur is a climber, mountaineer and has climbed several peaks including Kilimanjaro!
2. Mayur loves wine and subtle flavors. Rocky loves hugely spicy food and enjoys whiskey.
3. As TV presenters, you decide…
4. As for writers, our first book is info heavy with a huge amount of detail on roadside eating in India. We hope to write more and truly express our writing styles. Try and catch our writings in magazines and journals from time to time…

What drives your passion for food and travel?
We’ve been taking road trips since 1984 and it’s never slowed down from there on. We share a mutual love for the outdoors, forests, cultures and people - but it’s the amazing food on the streets of India that really drives it all.

Rocky a die-hard meat eater, Mayur a self-proclaimed veggie - has this ever been a cause of friction? Mayur, have you ever given-in and had a taste of the dark-side (non-veg)?
On the contrary, it’s a great relief to not be fighting over food! We have opposite tastes in most things, thankfully, cause last time we beat each other up, Mayur had a broken collar bone and Rocky had a couple of snapped ribs.

And no, Mayur does not eat meat! We must add here that Rocky avoids anything except meat as much as he can…

Tell us about the format of the book and how it’s different from the plethora of Indian food guides available; what makes Highway On My Plate (the book) unique?
There isn’t a single book in India that gives you the range, insights and information on so much food, so many eating places and such a huge insight into Indian street food as “HOMP - The Indian Guide to Roadside Eating”. The format is simple and usable and it packs a serious amount of information. Remember we have traveled over 65,000 km in 4 years and eaten more than a single meal at any place. Do the math, rest assured, there isn’t another book like it.

Was there a certain criteria you followed when it came to picking the different eateries that are profiled in the book?
The book covers only those eateries that we have covered on the show. These are the most famous, most popular and sometimes just randomly selected places.

Are the restaurants/dhabas featured in this book all good, or have you also named and shamed?
Our research team and both of us spend a lot of time finding the best places to eat in with great pains. These are the most famous eateries on the road and they get there by being very good always. But, we have also been to a few places that have been disastrous - the lowest rating on food on the show is 1 out of 10 given by me. Our ratings are brutally honest and straightforward.

What exactly do you mean by the ‘underlying philosophy behind a good meal’?
Food is about passion. It’s about the love put into its preparation, the effort put into its making, it’s about the places where tastes have the power to take you and about that satiated smile at the end of a good meal. Food has the power to affect us deeply. There is no greater love than the love of food - how’s that for an underlying philosophy?

It’s peculiar there is only one restaurant dedicated to Goa in the book!
The book is about episodes 1 to 100, Goa was only in one episode and it shared that episode with two other locations. We’ve rectified that problem in the show and dedicated one whole show to Goa. We will rectify it in part two of the book, hopefully on episodes 101-200, “HOMP, An Indian Guide to Roadside Eating Part II”.

Nominate one truly underrated state in India for its food and one truly overrated state, and tell us why.
Assam is truly underrated, as not enough people go there or know so much about its food. Assamese cuisine is rich, varied, vast and unique. It deserves a lot more recognition. As for overrated, there isn’t one. The food of India, in its famous ‘food’ states is incredible. Get out there and eat as much of it as you can!

Having finished your travels for the international edition of the show, is it fair to say Indian street food still ranks on top for the two of you?
Undoubtedly. There is no comparison. We ate in Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore. It’s amazing to see how much of an Indian influence is there in the cuisine of these countries. So yes, it’s still Indian food that’s number one!

What’s been your wackiest most unusual experience while you’ve been on the road?
Meeting a whole bunch of foreigners from all over the world who live in an ashram in Kullu and follow HOMP on a routine basis. They have all devoted their lives to their ashram and taken Indian names. Most of them are food lovers and one has even written a book on Indian food. But most of all, the have Indian sensibilities and the love, warmth and ‘apnapan’ we received, made it a truly unique experience. If you watched the Kullu show you will know what I mean.

This might be an unfair question, but if there was one roadside meal that defined India - what would it be?
Chowmein! hahaha just kidding… India’s unity lies in its diversity and so does India’s food. The parantha is available across this country but we’re too big and too much of a food powerhouse to be defined by one meal, or even one cuisine!

Advice to all foodie-travelers who are looking to be India’s Anthony Bourdain?
Anthony Bourdain would die if he ate on Indian streets for a week… So please, don’t go down that path. No foreign palette is capable of eating the spices, the sweets and the street-side snacks of India. This taste is totally out of their range. So please, get into Indian food. Learn all you can about it. Understand its eccentricities and peculiarities and blaze your own trail. We did and it’s not so bad to be doing it - hit the road and bring your plate.

5 essential traveling tips for a foodie.
1. Carry your own water.
2. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different foods/ingredients etc.
3. It’s about the journey and not the destination.
4. Go to crowded eateries, so many people can’t be wrong.
5. Don’t be too quick to judge - give everything a chance before making a decision.

Three books that changed your life and why?
1. Highway On My Plate – The Indian Guide to Roadside Eating: It’s our book and we learnt so much more about Indian food writing this book.
2. Jonathan Livingston – Seagull: Beyond all boundaries lies freedom. Claim it and go where no one has gone before.
3. Wilbur Smith - When the Lion Feeds: Life is large, live it large. Don’t compromise your ideals, be honest, be brave, don’t conform, don’t be afraid to blaze your own trail and to hell with all consequences!

What are you currently reading?
Conn Iggulden / Brian Lumley

Any hopes of a DVD release of all your shows on NDTV?
Our fingers are crossed too, hopefully NDTV will release the DVDs soon!

What’s next for Rocky and Mayur?
‘Jai Hind’, our show with the Indian armed forces which is very close to our hearts and ‘India’s most Haunted’ our first departure from food. Hope you like them both.

We’re also working on our movies which starts in 2012 …fultoos Bollywood fillum. Mark it and must watch it!

~

Highway On My Plate: The Indian Guide to Roadside Eating (2010)

In Highway On My Plate, the book, Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma give us an in-depth guide of all the eateries they’ve featured on their TV show. Spanning across every nook and cranny of the country, this is a quintessential food guide for those who love the road and like to do their share of backpacking. A robust collection of reviews, which are down to earth, practical with absolutely no pretensions, and all together delicious - it’s fresh as much as it’s authentic.

Each chapter is separated by state, and within, it covers a plethora of cities and towns, much of hinterland India.The book keeps you informed on the specialties of the iconic restaurants, Mayur/Rocky give you a personalized verdict, and they also rate each place by Taste, Ambiance, Service and Value for Money. There’s a personal touch to all the reviews in this book and the two always give you a little extra on the information side, with unique facts and things you can do on the side if you find yourself dining at the places.

Want to know where you can get the yummiest kachoras in Rajasthan, or the most heavenly thalis from Assam, or even the finest dosas in Bangalore? Then get your nose into Highway On My Plate - an absolute must for all foodies who love to explore all the diverse foods this country has to offer.

Buy “Highway On My Plate - The Indian Guide to Roadside Eating” on Flipkart

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]]> http://blog.flipkart.com/interview-homp-rocky-singh-mayur-sharma-highway-on-my-plate/feed http://blog.flipkart.com/movie-review-toy-story-3-how-old-is-too-old-pixar-disney http://blog.flipkart.com/movie-review-toy-story-3-how-old-is-too-old-pixar-disney#comments Wed, 09 Feb 2011 08:30:26 +0000 Sailen http://blog.flipkart.com/?p=3634

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Bringing myself to watch ‘Part 3′ of anything, let alone an animation, tends to take a concerted effort - whatever happened to Neo from the Matrix Trilogy? Watched Shrek Forever After and wished I hadn’t wasted my time… felt like it was made purely as a money making move, with absolutely no focus on quality (particularly the screenplay) or entertainment. Having said that, 2010 has been a great year for animations, Despicable Me, How To Train Your Dragon and Megamind, all spring to mind as stellar, highly enjoyable releases.

When I noticed Toy Story was releasing its third installment, I was slightly confused, should this be embraced or not? Toy Story was Pixar’s first ever release, it was a first of its kind, it took the genre of animation to a whole new level and it was a monumental success in the box office - there are a lot of great memories I hold with this movie (even its sequel). So, were they going to ruin a perfectly good franchise like they did with our favourite green ogre?

The answer is a whole hearted no. Toy Story 3 is simply brilliant - a formidable, nostalgic addition to a stellar trilogy (though I suspect you can expect Part 4 in the next 5 years). With the first part you’re introduced to all the characters and it sets up the rivalry between the cowboy leader Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) and the mad-in-the-face space ranger Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen). With Part 2 you’re given a quirky look inside the world of toy collecting, never shying away from the adventure aspect of the story. In the latest, the story takes a sentimental, almost philosophical turn, where you’re confronted with the theme of ‘coming of age’ and you inevitably ask yourself, how old is too old when it comes to the toys of your past?

In Toy Story 3 - Andy, the owner of all the wacky toys we’ve grown up with in the franchise, is on his way to freshman year of college. As with many of us at this age, one’s imagination becomes limited and the fascination with GI Joes, Transformers and Thundercats, in a flash moves on to girls, cars and well, cell phones. So what happens to all your favourite toys, that have kept you company over the years? Lock them up in an attic and pass them on to the next generation of children? Donate them to charity, so they can provide the same joy they had you? Or do you hold on to them for sentimental value, and keep them around as token memories of your childhood?

The screenplay of Toy Story 3 cleverly brings this theme to life by putting us in Andy’s shoes. Maintaining the wild-adventure plot structure, the movie is a fun-loving combination of entertainment, laughs and pure nostalgia. It touches on an era before Nintendos, Play Stations and Xboxes - reminding you of a time where acrylic toys, a beautiful imagination and a world of your own, comes together to define the relationship between childhood and toys. I honestly wasn’t expecting much from Toy Story 3 - but anything that can get me a little chokey as the credits roll up, has without a doubt delivered in a big way.

Winning the Golden Globe for Best Animation this year and being nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars was deserved… and if that’s not enough to gain your interest, the special edition DVD release comes with a whole lot of goodies - from stickers, book marks as well as a scrapbook - got to admit, even as an adult, I was thoroughly impressed with the entire Toy Story 3 package.

This is a wholesome family movie, intricate animation and a very intelligent script, full of toy references from our past (Barbie and Ken will have you in splits). Chances are, it’ll have you scouring through your basement or attic, just so you can find that magical box of toys, you once locked away as you grew up.

~

Buy Pixar’s Toy Story 3 on Flipkart

Buy Pixar’s Toy Story & Toy Story 2 (Combo DVD Pack) on Flipkart

Women & The Weight Loss Tamasha by Rujuta Diwekar

I’m probably the last person you’d talk to about dieting, weight loss and staying healthy in general… also, even though some of my friends might disagree, I’m not a woman. Having said that, it was interesting to go through this book, because everything I hate about the term dieting and weight loss has been put into words here.

In Rujuta Diwekar’s “Weight Loss Tamasha” there’s no starving, there’s no canceling out your favourite foods, there are no half baked myths that lead you to lose weight but inevitably deters your health as a consequence - essentially it’s tips on better living and better understanding of your body!

It would be grossly unfair to say this is a diet book, in fact, one would argue it’s against dieting… here there is focus on the mind and soul’s connection with the body. It is filled with sassy commentary discussing various Indian perceptions (and stereotypes) and a great deal of focus on squashing the obsession with being thin. There are detailed discussions on how the female body develops through the ages, and also discusses the general perception women have of beauty.

The book helps you understand what it means to live life better and healthier, which makes it unique and definitely worth reading. Sure, it has been written with women in mind but there are a few pointers men can take from this as well, if not for their own health, at least to better understand the bodies of the women in their lives. Plus, who better to light the way than Bollywood’s favourite fitness trainer and nutritionist, Rujuta Diwekar? Without sounding crass, what the stars pay for in large sums, you can get by simply buying this book. *wink*

In Pic: Rujuta Diwekar

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart, Rujuta Diwekar discusses her profession as a nutritionist and trainer, her latest book and the message it conveys to women, her relationship with Bollywood siren Kareen Kapoor, dieting myths and much more!

Who is Rujuta Diwekar and what makes her tick?
Now I could give you a very philosophical answer for that… For now I will stick to my describing myself as a nutritionist and author of “Don’t Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight” and “Women & The Weight Loss Tamasha“.

My readers and their generosity when it comes to buying my books is what makes me tick.

A fitness trainer for many of the A-list Bollywood stars - what has the experience been like working in an industry, where looks and size mean everything?
As a fitness and nutrition expert you get complete insight into your client’s life, there’s almost nothing hidden or private. It’s a huge learning experience working with the best of the Hindi film industry. Contrary to the popular belief that film stars are obsessed or narcissists, they are rather simple and uncomplicated people, at least I can safely say that for all the ones I have worked with. They want to eat right and train regularly to get healthier, be more productive, look better and feel beautiful. I think it’s this clarity that motivates them. I have never had a film star tell me, “Make me lose weight for New Years!”, or ask me, “Can I lose 10 kgs in 1 month?” They seem to be far more intelligent with their bodies than the rest of us.

What has the response been like for your first book, “Don’t Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight”?
The readers have been generous with their praise and affection for the book. Almost everybody who emails/writes on my FB wall/meets me, seem to have bought more than one copy. Thanks to this, the book is still on the bestseller list 100 weeks after its release.

Who exactly are your target audience?
That’s too intelligent a question! I hope “I don’t know” doesn’t sound too dumb an answer. My music teacher taught me to sing only for myself, I apply that to writing to. When I am writing, I write what I would like to read, laugh and think about. I write what resonates with every cell in my body, I write dil khol ke. This time my editor, Deepthi Talwar, had to ask me to stop and promised they would offer me another book before I agreed to wrap up “Tamasha”.

What has been your inspiration to write a book dealing with the ‘Weight Loss Tamasha’?
Every morning I pick up my newspaper and at least three pamphlets drop out of it, one of them is asking me to pay 7000/- to lose 5 kgs, another one wants me to tuck my arms and tummy and the third one wants me to plant more hair on my scalp - when I stop at traffic signals, hoardings scream the same exact things! Haven’t we made a tamasha out of our body? We are plagued with the disease of feeling inadequate and are so insecure about our looks that there is a multi-million dollar weight loss industry out there thriving on our inadequacies and fears.

We have moved away from our native and intrinsic wisdom of eating seasonal, fresh foods and in quantities that can be easily digested, absorbed, assimilated and excreted. Kareena in her note in “Tamasha” says every woman is inherently beautiful, the book is an appeal to women to use their buddhi and start celebrating their bodies instead of contorting or hiding it. The body is the temple of the soul, it’s not an object of shame. If you don’t already feel beautiful no amount of weight loss, starvation, skin package, tummy tuck or anything at all is going to make you feel that.

The book has an introduction by Kareena Kapoor and is even dedicated to her… what role has she played in the publication of the book?
Her contribution to every aspect of the book is huge, be it the title, writing a foreword or a personal note, launching it or supporting it whole heartedly on every possible platform. She literally lives the book! To me she is much more than a client, actor, celebrity or friend; she is my sounding board, staunchest supporter and my biggest inspiration. Honestly, I don’t have words to express what I feel for her but it’s only natural for me to dedicate both my books to her. I am truly touched by her dedication to eat right… in my opinion she has urged the nation to take to eating and that too simple, fresh , local food as a means of losing weight. The least I could do is dedicate the book to her.

There are many health books on weight loss - how is “The Weight Loss Tamasha” unique compared to all the others?
For one it thrives on your inner wisdom, beauty and urges its readers to love, accept and acknowledge the selfless work our body does for us all through life. So it’s not a weight loss book, it’s a ‘get real’ book. It doesn’t tell you how to lose weight, it tells you to throw the weighing scales and measure success or results depending on whether you have learned to listen to your stomach and eat according to your innate wisdom, versus measuring food or consuming low calorie food.

This book is a much needed educational tool about our body, hormones, organs and food, it’s not a weight loss book at all! Also not too many books seem to value the fact that our culture, tradition, family values and sadly gender discrimination plays up in our relationship with food. As Indian women we take on and do much more and that too silently. Our contribution to family, society, community and the world at large is invisible, mostly to ourselves. Because we don’t really value ourselves much, our motivation to eat is rather low if not totally absent. The book makes an effort to cover all these aspects that affect our health and well being, instead of just doling out dos & don’ts about weight loss.

Can describe the format of the book?
The book covers the four stages of a woman’s life, starting from teenage and the time she gets her first period, to the whole ‘thin, fair, tall’ phenomenon surrounding marriage, to the draining pre and post pregnancy and finally the much misunderstood menopause. The book talks extensively about the lifestyle ‘curses’ of Hypothyroidism and PCOS/ PCOD. I feel the only curse associated with these conditions is the rampart misinformation and fear (about hormones).

The crux of the book are the four strategies of well being - nutrition, exercise, sleep and relationships. For women ‘weight loss/ body image’ go beyond food and hence these strategies. For each stage and lifestyle disorder there are specific strategies apart from the comprehensive chapters on them. I am also very excited about the appendices as they include some very interesting information, e.g Comparison of traditional Indian breakfasts with the cereal-milk option, effects of nutrition deficiencies on various parts of our body, foods considered healthy and why they are not…

“Please eat or you are not going to lose weight…” - essentially, this is the overall mantra of the book, what exactly is the message trying to convey?
To think of food beyond calories and for its nourishing, therapeutic and feel good value. A well nourished body burns fat and under-nourished body burns muscle and loses weight.

The book isn’t really just a health book, but a commentary on society and its affect on women… can you expand?
Food is the most intimate relationship we will ever have. The way society treats us, influences the relationship we have with our food and therefore our body. Our body is a straight outcome of what we eat, it’s known as the annamayakosha in the Yogic tradition, the food body. We feed people we love, respect, value - sadly as Indian women we don’t really love, respect or value ourselves enough and hence the whole tamasha with weight loss. That I must be of a certain shape, size, weight to be ‘beautiful’ is nothing but regressive mentality. We find matrimonial ads for ‘tall, thin, fair’ funny, but by desperately trying to become that formula or to fit that mold is not funny, not at all. I am yet to see an ad which says “Wanted! Tall, six pack, sporting, lean looking hunk’ for a groom…

You’ve shared four strategies for living healthy: Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep and Relationships. Can you elaborate on the Sleep and Relationships part?
My elaboration will be long enough to get converted into a book, so just read the “Tamasha” instead. Having said that I do believe that lack of recovery is the biggest contributor to gaining fat and losing muscle and bone tissue - eg. accelerated aging is the exact opposite of what you want. Also women who understand their body, hormones, organs are able to celebrate womanhood versus treating it with contempt. After all, shy and ashamed are two different things.

Three myths in dieting that really annoy you?
1. Avoid rice in the night to lose weight
2. Avoid eating bananas, mango , potato, chickoo, seetaphal, grapes to lose weight
3. Avoid ghee to lose weight
I could go on..

Share some of your crucial tips for better eating and better living.
1. Think of food as nourishment and not punishment
2. Exercise is not for those who are out of shape, it’s a way of life
3. Don’t sleep all you want (wisdom borrowed from H.H. Dalai Lama)
4. In relationships, forgive, forget and forward (wisdom borrowed from Muniji Parmarth ashram)
5. Know that the biggest diet guru is your stomach - not the latest no.1 diet book on the best seller list!

Professional advice for those who want to enter the ‘Sports Science and Nutrition’ field…
Jump in and do it right away, it makes for a very meaningful career. Keep yourself updated with the latest in nutrition and exercise science and don’t overlook the ancient Indian wisdom related to eating, our local tradition of seasonal food, our diverse cooking cultures and most importantly the vedantic teachings of keeping the body fit enough to be the temple of the soul.

Three books that changed your life and why?
Sorry Flipkart, I am not much of a reader. I thoroughly enjoy text books on exercise physiology, nutrition science, in fact I enjoy journals related to this topic and Swami Rama is one of my favourite authors, specially his Art of Joyful Living. The only books which changed my life are the books I’ve written. God! I’m not much of a reader, I’m a  self obsessed author!

What are you currently reading?
Feedback for “Women & The Weight Loss Tamasha”!

~

Buy Rujuta Diwekar’s “Women & The Weight Loss Tamasha” on Flipkart

Follow Rujuta Diwekar on Twitter!

By The Water Cooler by Parul Sharma (2010)

For many of us, there has been a time where we have made the career decision to jump into the big-bad world of corporate MNCs; as a means for more growth, more money, more glory. More often than not, this decision comes to slap you hard in the face, albeit, brimming with opportunity. From dealing with an overbearing boss, to a self-involved manager insecure about losing the title, to a team leader who couldn’t care less about a team that doesn’t know better; the corporate world is usually a stringent test in politicking and people skills.

In Parul Sharma’s follow-up novel, By The Water Cooler, the reader is immersed into this world with the hilarious female duo Mini and Tanya. While Mini is the grounded, ambitious one looking to make it, Tanya is offbeat and more concerned with her upcoming marriage than working at all. Together they take you on a whirlwind ride through corporate hell, office romance all the way to do-or-die projects. The running theme, you will soon realize is, “Corporate bitches are made, not born.”

Without sounding like a complete sexist, it’s a sort of chick-flick in book form; a hint of Devil Wears Prada and a dash of Bridget Jones’ Diary, of course, in a distinctly Indian setting with distinctly Indian corporate nuances. In it, you’re introduced to an array of colourful characters; those who will frustrate you, those who will make you laugh, those who will keep you on your toes; the common trait they share is the reader has worked with these personalities at some point or the other. This is where the book is a pleasure to read. It’s easy to relate, it’s easy to empathize.

With By The Water Cooler, you will reminisce about your wacky colleagues from past and present, and you won’t know whether to grimace or laugh out loud at some of the corporate experiences described. The characterizations and scenarios in the book are spot on and there is no doubt you will tell yourself, “I know her!” or “Been there, done that” or even “OMG! I’m living this!”

~

In Pic: Parul Sharma

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart, Parul Sharma talks about her inspirations, her two books - ‘Bringing up Vasu’ and ‘By The Water Cooler’, advice on writing, favourite rock bands, movies and books and much more.

Introduction

In a nutshell, who is Parul Sharma?
Mum to two, forever trying to make the time to write. Sometimes succeeding.

Who and what inspired you to become a writer and how would you describe yourself as one - style, process, themes?
My story is unusual in a usual kind of way. For many years, I spent the better half of my day in cubicles, peddled Microsoft Office for a living and dreamt of a life that involved writing through the day. Finally as the thirtieth birthday approached, I took the plunge and said goodbye to corporate life and the monthly pay cheque and said hello to hours alternately spent writing and struggling with self-doubt.

For me, now, writing is like any other job, albeit one that I love. That’s how I approach it. There are good days and bad, sometimes words flow and sometimes they don’t but my task is to land up at the writing desk without fail and I do. There is only one way to be a writer and that is by writing. There is no divine inspiration. There is no crack of lightening or cloudbursts to signal the arrival of the muse. It’s plain and simple hard work and I think I am up for it. One word at a time, the books emerge.

It’s early days in my writing career and so I am still writing about themes that I am familiar with, parenting, life in a metropolis, careers, relationships. As I gain some confidence I hope to experiment with completely new territories. In fact, that’s one of my goals.

Tell us about your blog, Radio Parul. How old is it and what kind of content can we find on there?
Radio Parul was formerly ‘Bringing Up Adi’. It was started as a parenting blog but became a lot more fickle along the way. It is aimed at giving me writing practice and it rises to that purpose admirably. It covers very, very serious things – conversations overheard in salons, things my cook says, my abiding love for Pierce Brosnan, my complete inability to navigate any city in the world, my futile attempts at influencing the ways of my children and so on. Yes, very serious things.

Do you have any quirky habits when you get down to writing?
You mean like sprinkling salt over the shoulder and so on? Unfortunately I don’t have the luxury of time to do such things. Perhaps at some time when my children are older and I am not struggling to make the time for my word-quota for the day, I plan to have these charming eccentricities. I live in hope, I do.

Bringing Up Vasu & By The Water Cooler

Would it be fair to say your books target audience are primarily women?
They were not written with a pre-defined audience in mind. I don’t know why they ended up being read more by women. I would imagine that my kind of writing would go down well with anyone who enjoys a good laugh and likes taking a light-hearted view of things. I am willing to be read by men and women, dogs and cats and anyone else who’s game for it.

In 140 characters, describe your latest novel ‘By the Water Cooler’?
Mini and Tanya join a new office looking for corporate nirvana and find an office full of eccentric and quirky characters instead. Fun read!

Motherhood is the main theme in ‘Bringing Up Vasu’ and life in the corporate world is integral in ‘By The Water Cooler’. How much of your own personal experiences translate into your novels?
I am at the point in my writing life where I am still exploring themes that I am familiar with. I am hoping that with experience, I will be able to navigate other themes, other worlds that are completely removed from my present reality. It would be a very welcome way to escape from things as they are. I consider that to be one of the primary perks of being a fiction writer.

Was there a particular reason you decided to go with two protagonists in ‘By The Water Cooler’ and can you tell us the differences in traits between Mini and Tanya?
Well, no, it was not a conscious decision. Perhaps initially Mini was to be the chief protagonist. Tanya surprised me by making more space for herself and ended up being co-protagonist if you will. As for differences, obviously Tanya is the quirkier of the two, the perfect foil to the more grounded Mini. Tanya makes Mini look sane by comparison, which is saying a lot. They have many similarities but perhaps Tanya has had a richer, more fun past while Mini has lived with expectations of straight A’s, b-schools and traditional choices.

Would you agree with Mini and Tanya’s decision to leave their more intimate ad agency to join the cut-throat corporate world to further their careers? What are your thoughts when individuals make this drastic switch in work environment and essentially ethic?
Well, of course I don’t consider what they did to be wrong in any way. We all need to do what we think is right, for us, for our careers. You cannot judge people basis your own ethic. A lot of people leave agencies to work with large corporates and some of them find a fit and some of them don’t. Look at me, I did not find a fit in either an agency or in a corporate and had to work on my own to finally be happy.

Tyrannical CEO and a negative influence boss; two characters in ‘By The Water Cooler’ who leave a bad taste in the reader’s mouth, were these characters based on anyone in particular (we’ve all had our fair share) and what advice would you give when it comes to dealing with them in a professional environment?
Over the course of a career lasting years and years, one is bound to meet different kinds of people. And thank goodness for that! It would be appallingly boring if one were to not run into such quirks and eccentricities. I have had my fair share and maybe all of them merge into each character that I write about. Of course a large part of it is also the product of an imagination that enjoys exaggeration.

As for handling the not-so-nice aspects of boss-people, the only advice that I can give is (and let me remind you that I have not had too much experience and quit while I was ahead) that even if you are trapped in a bad place, don’t get bullied. Yes, that’s pretty much my only philosophy.

The corporate world has become the setting of choice for the new generation of Indian authors - why do you think this fascinates the Indian readership?
I think part of it is due to the Write-What-You-Know-About syndrome on the part of the writers. There is a bunch of us who have gone down the traditional route to begin with (a major in economics or commerce followed by MBA and then into the world of FMCG or what-have-you) and have then listened to the little voice in the head that just doesn’t quit and insists that you write. The result is debut novels that explore themes that are closest to the writer. With time, these same writers will expand their repertoire and write about diverse themes. If written well, the office space offers a lot of scope for humorous novels and that is indicated in the readers’ reaction too.

General (Misc.)

From blogger to novelist - any advice for youngsters who would like to evolve as writers?
Read Stephen King’s On Writing. It’s the most sensible advice that you can get.

Write and read as much as you possibly can and then some more. Read the classics, the pulp, the magazines, the shampoo labels, read, read, read. Write all the time, everyday. Don’t worry if your voice does not seem real at first. It will evolve at some point and that some point will probably come after you have made your way through thousands of words. Treat writing like work. It is not something you do when you feel the divine flow making its merry way through your veins. It’s just what you do, everyday, all the time. Don’t spend too much time talking about writing, write instead.

You’re a self-proclaimed rocker - who are some of the bands you feel are truly timeless and why?
Ah, nice question. Well, I love Metallica. One of my dreams was to watch them in concert and it seemed unlikely that it would ever happen in India. So in 2008, my family and I trudged all the way to Bologna in Italy so that I could catch them live. I also love all the usual suspects, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Doors, Janis Joplin, The Beatles, CCR. I am sort of stuck in a time warp as you can see. New rock music doesn’t stick very well to me.

Three movies you can watch over and over again?
The Godfather, Lost in Translation, ChungKing Express.

What have been some of the books that have changed your life and why?
I think everything by PG Wodehouse inspires me to keep at it, to keep the humour going, to try to create an escape capsule for the reader (and for myself) where everything is funny and the biggest problem is someone putting a needle through your hot water bottle. My favourites are Pigs Have Wings, The Mating Season and Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen. Sunlit perfection, as Stephen Fry described him.

What are you currently reading?
I try to alternate classics with new releases. Just finished Grapes of Wrath and am about to knock off Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain. Next up, Leela by Jerry Pinto and Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K Jerome. The reading list is inexhaustible and full of wonderful, delicious books and for that I am eternally in gratitude!

~

Buy Parul Sharma’s “By The Water Cooler” (Limited Quantity Autographed Copies) on Flipkart

Graphic novels tend to get a lot of attention when super-heroes are in the picture. Your Supermans, your Batmans, your Watchmen, your Marvel comics, your DC comics… but what about the real world, with real people, real problems, real life-issues?

Here’s a list of graphic novels that are focused on real people, with an offbeat edge. Some of these titles are cult, some are obscure, some are even considered literary classics… what binds them together? They all tell the story of you and me. There’s commentary on love, hate, sexuality, society, religion, counter culture, war, music, the various decades and their peculiar characteristics. Essentially, here you get a taste of human, rather than superhuman, and trust me, it’s a lot easier to relate.

I should say, most of these titles are recommended for mature readers. Alan Moore’s Lost Girls is recommended for 18 and over. Just covering my bases.

~

1. The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Omnibus by Gilbert Shelton

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Omnibus by Gilbert Shelton

This one is for all the stoner-hippies, brought to you by underground icon Gilbert Shelton. This classic comic was published from 1971 up to 1992 and appeared in prolific magazines such as Playboy and High Times. Adopting a ‘Three Stooges’ format with an intense counterculture backdrop, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers follow the misadventures of Fat Freddy, Freewheelin’ Franklin and Phineas Freakears.

The three are warped in their own unique way; the idiot, the street-smart and the nerd, but they maintain common traits such as a love for consuming copious amounts of mind-altering drugs (though, they turn their noses up at heroin), chasing loose hippie chicks, as well as scoffing at the idea of working a 9-5 job… take that back, scoffing at the idea of working at all. The comic thrives on old school slapstick humour and also makes for very trippy artwork. As drugged out as they are, the Freak Brother are truly lovable characters. You’ll also enjoy the strips of Fat Freddy’s Cat - an even more sarcastic, cynical, bad-ass version of Garfield.

2. The Bradleys by Peter Bagge

The Bradleys by Peter Bagge

Imagine if The Simpsons was a tad bit more realistic, violent and profane, add some crack and that’s The Bradleys in a nutshell. The Bradleys embody the term dysfunctional family; the slacker teenage son - Buddy, his infantile younger brother who clearly suffers from ADD - Butch, the easily annoyed older sister - Babs, the aggro ‘Pops’ and a mother who is in severe denial she belongs to a family of nut jobs. It will have you in splits and more often than not you will also relate. Hilarious tales of a family who are constantly at each other’s throats (but ultimately love each other) and filled with humorous pop references from the 80s, this comic is the blueprint for shows such as Family Guy and King of the Hill.

This can be considered Peter Bagge’s prologue to his immensely popular Hate series (see the next entry). Discovered by the legendary Robert Crumb of MAD magazine fame, Bagge has gained cult-like status as underground comic’s premiere artist.

3. Hate (Buddy Does Seattle, 1990-1994) by Peter Bagge

Hate (Buddy Does Seattle) by Peter Bagge

This quote from Seattle Weekly sums up the Hate series perfectly, “20 years from now, when people wonder what it was like to be young in 1990’s Seattle, the only record we’ll have is Peter Bagge’s Hate.” Picking up from The Bradleys (which is set in New Jersey), the Hate series follows anti-hero slacker Buddy Bradley and his life in Seattle as an adult. Set in a time where Gen X ruled the world and where grunge subculture was a way of life just as much as it was revolutionizing the music scene - the Hate series is the very definition of the 90s and is very much Peter Bagge’s opus.

From dealing with an uber-nerdy roommate (and one absolutely demented one) to meeting his girlfriend’s eccentric parents to managing a rock band of buffoons - Buddy’s adventures in Seattle takes you back to a time when many of us were at the cusp of adulthood and responsibility. Just like The Bradleys, the comic is filled with pop references from the 90s and it’s brutally cynical, yet remarkably amusing.

If you love what you read in this first volume, you’ll love the second collection of the Hate series: Buddy Does Jersey (Hate, 1994-1998), where Buddy decides to move back in with his parents in New Jersey. To avoid confusion, the complete “Buddy does…” volumes are printed in black and white, but if you buy the original collections of the Hate ‘New Jersey’ series, the artwork is in colour (Buddy Does Seattle was always printed in black and white, Bagge said he switched over to colour when Buddy moves back to New Jersey to avoid being depressing)… it ends up being a little more expensive purchasing the separate collections versus buying them all in one volume.

4. Persepolis I & II by Marjane Satrapi

Presepolis by Marjane Satrapi

This quintessential coming of age graphic novel is a must read for everyone, but is especially relevant for women the world over. Presepolis is an autobiographical work by Iranian artist Marjane Satrapi and chronicles life in pre-revolution Iran and what follows after the ‘fall of the Shah’. It highlights a world which is initially liberal especially in treatment of women, yet drastically changes to an ultra conservative state much to the horror and bewilderment of the main character. Soon enough Satrapi’s family force her to move to Europe where she begins life as an Iranian immigrant back in a liberal world. The story takes an interesting turn in which themes of zealous religious strife are balanced with themes of growing up, love and heartbreak.

The artwork is dense and intricate while the writing is lyrical and makes for a very entertaining read. There are a variety of tones that play through in this, very humorous in its sarcasm just as much in its naivety. The book is culturally relevant and is a beautiful story of courage in a society where women were dropped in and out of extreme ways of life. Keep a look out for the animation movie which was released a couple of years back…

5. Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie

Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie

This book is a combination of alternative, fantasy and well, pure erotica. If you remember Alan Moore from such classics as Watchmen and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, you’ll know he isn’t your run-of-the-mill comic writer. His work is usually controversial and completely audacious; stories which are filled with profound adult themes. Lost Girls is Moore’s attempt at giving the genre of sex an identity within the graphic novels spectrum. It follows the main characters we’ve learned to love as children: Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Alice from Alice in Wonderland and Wendy from Peter Pan - of course with a little twist… the book dives head first into all the sexual exploits of these characters.

This collection is a rather meaty publication (pun intended) and it has to be said, it’s extremely explicit… this is in-your-face adult content. Moore himself has quipped that the book should be considered pornography. The twisted stories of pedophilia, incest and drug use, based around the beloved characters from your childhood will leave you in shock. Without spoiling anything, you’ll be awestruck at the direction Moore has taken with them. It has to be said, Melinda Gebbie’s artwork in this book is dazzling. If you order the edition available in this post, the entire package is beautiful and that includes the paper it’s been printed on.

6. The Scott Pilgrim Series by Bryan Lee O’Malley

The Scott Pilgrim Series by Bryan Lee O'Malley

What if Archie comics were contemporary, sported a little more attitude and ingested a few hallucinogens? This is essentially what the Scott Pilgrim series is. Scott Pilgrim has been finding its place in graphic novels lists all over the place, from Rolling Stone India to Empire Online and while I’m not really a fan, it seems appropriate to have this in the Flipkart list. Bryan Lee O’Malley has a distinct manga style both in the art, as well as in dialogue, the big eyes, exaggerated expression, cute girls - Scott Pilgrim is very much influenced by Japan, of course with a Canadian backdrop.

This collection of six volumes follows the story of young-adult slacker Scott Pilgrim, who is part of a rock band and is also dating a high schooler - much to the surprise of his gay roommate, friends and family. When he dreams about roller blading messenger, Ramona, who he eventually bumps into, Pilgrim falls in love or gets ridiculously obsessed - you decide. Soon enough you learn Ramona has a club of ex-boyfriends, seven to be exact, who take it upon themselves to battle Pilgrim, ‘beat em up’ video game style. Now you could say it’s like Street Fighter 2 meets Archie. The series is fun, sassy, sarcastic and perhaps mildly juvenile… but it has its moments, and if you’re a fan of mangas, then it’s worth getting your hands on. Watch out for the movie release with Michael Cera in the lead.

7. Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth by Chris Ware

Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth by Chris Ware

This is a rather bleak, depressing, heavy, yet ultimately endearing graphic novel. Told in parallel story telling, jumping from modern to antiquated time periods, focusing on different generations of Corrigan men and their palpable everyday problems… Jimmy Corrigan is the story of your ‘Average Joe’ placed in a post-modern world, where life, just as it is in reality, is not necessarily hunky-dory. At aged 36, Jimmy is stuck at a dead-end job, is dominated by his overbearing mother and the man is lonely, with absolutely no signs of romance. Soon enough he’s given an opportunity to meet the father who abandoned him and the story begins to turn… albeit still submerged in melancholy. This is a classic with good reason and one that many of us can empathize with.

8. Ghost World by Daniel Clowes

Ghost World by Daniel Clowes

A cult classic in the world of graphic novels, that was adapted into a movie as well… Ghost World is essentially the story of cookie-cutter, dreary suburbia and its introduction to bourgeois franchises and corporations. Drenched with witty, sarcastic social commentary by the lead characters Enid and Rebecca, just like the Hate series, the 90s are very much distinguished in this comic and it pokes fun at numerous pop-culture references from the time. At the heart of it all, this is a coming of age story, with a heavy theme of sorority, along with soul-searching, but more than anything else, seeking the meaning of existence. Dubbed as The Catcher In The Rye for girls, there is a lot of dark humour in this and sometimes it can even be flat out depressing, but all the same very powerful in it’s commentary and its portrayal of human relationships.

9. Maus by Art Spiegelman

Maus by Art Spiegelman

Admittedly, this is the only graphic novel on this list, I haven’t really read thoroughly. After discussing with comic book aficionados, the general consensus was, this was a title I had to add. The autobiographical/biographical story of the artist and his father, told in allegorical style is extremely similar to Orwell’s Animal Farm, where characters/nationalities are represented by animals. The story is set between Nazi Germany (with heavy focus on the Holocaust) and New York (with heavy focus on being a Jewish Holocaust survivor in America) and told in parallel time-lines. I’m yet to come across anyone who has read this and given me a negative review. As I finish typing this up, I’m finally placing my order.

10. Hush by Pratheek Thomas and Rajiv Epie

Hush by Pratheek Thomas and Rajiv Epie

This list would be incomplete if we hadn’t added an alternative graphic novel made in our own India. Sadly, they’re hard to come by, as this form of publication is still in its budding stage in the country. Much to my surprise, just as I was putting this list together, homegrown Manta Ray comics launched their debut graphic novel, of alternative nature, Hush. Had been keeping an eye on them for the past couple of months, with their quirky teasers and samples of the artwork and was thoroughly impressed, even more so after going through the entire package. Besides being the only Indian publication in this list, Hush is slightly peculiar compared to the other graphic novels - there are no words.

Huge fan of any art that is ambiguous and Hush is ambiguity in its purest form, thanks to the brave choice of using no words, but also because the art potentially tells you everything. Edgy, powerful and distinctly Indian; telling the story of Maya’s penultimate day at school and what seems to be a Columbine-esque theme, Hush is deeply moving and towards the end, downright depressing. A very brave piece of work, that’s worth our attention and a deserving spot in this list. As with all graphic novels I can’t get enough of, I will say it could have been longer.

Makers of Modern India by Ramachandra Guha (2010)

Historian, columnist, biographer, environmentalist, Ramachandra Guha continues to have a monumental impact on India’s publishing world. It’s evident he is at the forefront of writers telling India’s story, in its various social-economic-political manifestations, always maintaining a deep focus on India’s overall human condition. With his clear, concise writing ability and his genuinely unbiased perspective, the readers are always given a refreshing panorama of the largest, perhaps most diverse, democracy in the world.

In “Makers of Modern India”, Ramachandra Guha has compiled a list of 19 crucial personalities who have played defining roles in India’s evolution into modernity; profiling and discussing their pertinence on a nation in its development stage. He has  anthologized priceless, rare writings and speeches in context of the times they were written, providing the reader with in-depth analysis on the relevance of their unique, yet timeless dogmas. There are also active descriptions of how these personalities challenged each other in principle, how they worked on consensus, how they shared a common goal in developing India into a country that matched global standards.

From Gandhi’s yearning for a united India through passive resistance, to Ambedkar’s call for equality and abolishment of the caste system, to Tagore stressing the importance of truth in its various forms, to Nehru urging for Hindu-Muslim harmony and disdain for communal organizations - Guha has profiled the Indian luminaries we have come to hold up with high esteem and has presented their ideologies in their own words, ensuring everything is in context. He has also added, discussed and anthologized, those you could perhaps consider the forgotten heroes of India’s past, such as Rammohan Roy, one of India’s first modernists, who championed the rights of women and emphasized the importance of education as the pillar of social reform.

With “Makers of Modern India” you’re taken on a journey through the nation’s advancement, with comprehensive commentary by eminent leaders who have shaped this country, of course, with premiere historian, Ramachandra Guha, guiding you through it all. The book works in a funny way, what you read has been presented objectively, yet the affect it will have on you is subjective - many of you will relate with Gandhi, Ambedkar and Tagore, some will relate with Nehru, some even with Jinnah. Through your own unique insight into the diverse ideologies presented in this, you will realize how thought provoking and decisive these personalities were. More than anything else, you will realize how truly complex and rich India is as a nation.

In Pic: Ramachandra Guha

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart, Ramachandra Guha talks about his latest book “Makers of Modern India”, his criteria for choosing the personalities in “Makers of Modern India”, his childhood ambition of becoming a cricketer, advice to young writers on earning success, why he refuses to write fiction and much more!

Introduction

Who is Ramachandra Guha and what makes him tick?
I do a job like anyone else. Just as a software engineer writes code, a doctor examines patients, a lawyer takes briefs, a teacher lectures students - I’m a scholar who does research and writes books. Mine is a vocation like any other; more in the public eye but probably of less public consequence than the vocation of a doctor, teacher, lawyer, or entrepreneur.

Would you say your childhood was integral in shaping you as a writer?
Not really. I became a writer by accident. I had a very happy childhood and grew up in a very beautiful part of India and studied in a well-wooded campus.

I became a writer much later in life. Nothing prepared me for this. In fact my childhood ambition was to play cricket for India. I played for my school and college elevens, but in my early twenties I realized that I wasn’t good enough even to play for a Ranji Trophy team. So I took the scholarly route and did a PhD. Unlike many other writers, it was quite late in my life I realized this would be my calling.

Who and what were your inspirations to become a writer?
Well, I did a PhD, which meant I had to train to do rigorous, deep and thorough research. My thesis took me four and a half years and was on the social history of the relations between peasants and forests in the Himalaya, from the 19th century right up to the Chipko movement. I enjoyed the rigour of research. I enjoyed battling with complex ideas and studying patterns of social change in all their variety and diversity.

Slowly I realized that the kinds of things I was working on needed to be communicated to a wider audience, so I started writing more accessible prose, and also began contributing to newspapers. Becoming a full-time writer was a gradual process. It wasn’t a eureka moment where I read a wonderful book and said, “I’ve read this book by George Orwell, I must also become a writer!” It happened slowly, over a period of time.

What is it about history that fascinates you?
Well, I think it’s this country that fascinates me, the modern history of this country. I argue in “Makers of Modern India” and also my last book “India After Gandhi”, that we’re living in an extraordinary, interesting time in Indian  history. This is a country, which is very large, very diverse, very divided, and undergoing these five simultaneous revolutions: the national, democratic, urban, industrial and social. This churning has produced social conflict, social emancipation, great leaders, corrupt leaders. Some parts of India are marked by peace, prosperity, and tranquility, while other parts of India are marked by poverty, disparity, and violence.

At no other time in human history have social conflicts been so richly articulated and expressed. So for anyone dealing with words or images it is a privilege to be in India.  Why are Indian films so robust and diverse? Why is Indian fiction so vigorous and creative? India is a difficult country to be a citizen, but if you’re a historian, a playwright, a novelist, a filmmaker, a journalist, then India is the place to be.

On Makers of Modern India

“Makers of Modern India” is different to “India After Gandhi”, could you describe the format of the book?
It’s an anthology. I’ve done other anthologies in the past, of writings on cricket and the environment, but this one is more important. It’s an orchestra of 19 brilliant individuals and I’m the conductor; putting their thoughts in a particular order, setting one idea or thinker against another, exploring their tensions and arguments.

This book evolved over a period of time. It could not have been done by a younger person. I’ve been reading people like Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore and Ambedkar for 15-20 years. As I worked on “India after Gandhi” and various other projects, I realized there was a very rich and robust tradition of political debate and argument in modern India, starting with Rammohan Roy and continuing on with the Marathi social reformers, through Gandhi and Nehru and their critics right up to the 1970s. I first thought I’d write a book about it in my own words, selectively quoting from these people, as a sort of history of debates on democracy.

Yet, as I started working on the project, I realized the writings themselves were so powerful, so vivid, so evocative, that they should be presented in their own words, with this kind of orchestration placing them in some sort of context for the reader. Especially younger readers, who might not know some of these individuals, so they get a sense of who they were, where they were coming from, what they were trying to say, what they were trying to do, and hence this book emerged.

What kind of research went behind this book and how long did you take to complete it?
It may have been about five years ago when I decided to edit, introduce and compile this book. In 2005-6 I had a debate with Amartya Sen on intellectual traditions in India and this book is in a sense an outcome of that debate. But as I said, somewhere subconsciously it’s been evolving in me for a very long time. Had I not been grappling with these thinkers and their legacies for so long, I could not have done this.

What are the common traits of the personalities featured in the book, was there a specific criteria you employed when you were choosing who to profile?
The criteria I employed were, the people who featured in this book had to be both thinkers and activists. Not pure intellectuals. Radhakrishnan, for example, was a very important figure in the middle decades of the 20th century, but he was an academic philosopher, not a political activist. Of course he was later President of India but that was more a symbolic, ceremonial role.

So they had to be thinkers and activists. On the other hand where you have intellectuals like Radhakrishnan who are not actors, you have actors like Subhas Chandra Bose, Indira Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel, who are very important in shaping the history of our nation - but they did not leave behind a corpus of written work. They were out and out doers, they were not thinker-activists in the way in which Gandhi and Ambedkar and the others in this book were.

The second criteria was that their writing had to be of a certain quality and relevance. They had to be speaking of important social and political issues. Not inward, psychological, spiritual writings, but reflections on caste and gender inequality, on religion and politics, on India’s attitude to the world.

The third criteria for inclusion was that the prose had to travel across the generations. You read Rammohan Roy writing in 1820 and he’s still fresh and alive today! Whereas some other thinkers, who I won’t name, wrote a very stiff, formal and archaic prose. There are some 19th century political activists whose prose is incomprehensible to the younger reader.

These were the three defining criteria. They had to be thinkers and activists. They had to be writing about important social and political issues. And their writings had to be clear, accessible and timeless with the ability to communicate across generations.

Can you comment on the timelessness of the ideas presented in the book?
This book reflects the sheer size, diversity and unique nature of the Indian political experiment. We’re trying to create a united country out of so many diverse parts that we’re trying to run democratically. This social churning has thrown up some very interesting and original thinkers.

These writers speak about freedom of the press, the plight of the farmers, the position of women, about the need for Hindu-Muslim harmony. However, this book is not a manifesto or work of advocacy. I’m not telling the reader what to make of its contents. I’m presenting this extraordinary richness and diversity of our political tradition through 19 representative figures. I’m telling the reader of today that if you’ll acquaint yourself with the history of India of the last 150 years through reading this book, you’ll get a sense of the sophistication of thought, of argument, of the real personality of these people. Now what is fresh about them, what is relevant about them, I’ll leave for each reader to decide.

It seems peculiar that you’ve included Jinnah as a “Maker of Modern India”.
Jinnah is a controversial inclusion, but I had to include him because he shaped the history of our country - for good or for bad. Through the two-nation theory, the politics of the 20s and 30s evolved in a particular direction. Because Pakistan was created the politics of the 50s and 60s evolved in a certain way. You could say he is a negative influence but he is an influence all the same.

Nehru would not have so vigorously promoted Hindu-Muslim harmony had it not been for Jinnah. He certainly shaped the history of our country in a very profound way and his writings are very eloquent and direct. The case of Pakistan is made with such clarity and force; you have to contend with it. Including Jinnah (or even Golwalkar), doesn’t mean I endorse what they did or what they stand for. It’s simply that as a historian I’ve recognized the profound impact they had on the history of our country.

On contemporary politicians versus The Makers of Modern India
We should not expect contemporary politicians to be thinkers because there are very few original thinkers amongst politicians anywhere in the world. Sarkozy is not a well read or articulate man. David Cameron gets someone else to write his speeches for him. The only thinking politician of today is probably Obama.

What we should be worried about is that politicians of today are so ignorant of the legacies they claim to represent. Mayawati hasn’t read Ambedkar’s speeches to the Constituent Assembly, Rahul Gandhi does not appear to know about Nehru’s letters to Chief Ministers. That’s what we should be worried about. Even someone like George W Bush, who is as anti-intellectual as any President can get, would know the legacy of the founders of his country - he would know what Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln stood for. You don’t expect Rahul Gandhi to have the original ideas of a Nehru, but he should be more aware of his tradition and legacy.

Politicians who are also original thinkers are not common in any country or time period. A Nehru comes once in a generation, an Ambedkar comes once in a century, a Gandhi appears perhaps once in millennia - we were just fortunate they came together in 20th century India.

General (Miscellaneous)

As an avid cricket fan who has written a few books on the subject, what are your predictions for the upcoming World Cup?
I don’t normally predict and I should also say I’ve more or less stopped writing on cricket after Twenty20. I’m not a fan of Twenty20 at all. It’s a vulgar debasement of the game. ODIs are slightly better but Test cricket is the real cricket for me. Two months ago when India played Australia in a Test match in Bangalore, I was there for all five days. In that sense, I’m a purist, a romantic, an old-fashioned guy who likes Test cricket.

The other thing about me which is slightly peculiar, is that I’m not a cricketing jingoist. I like good cricket, I’m not really desperate for India to win. I appreciate good cricketers and I grew up admiring the West Indians. I’ve admired the Australians, the Pakistanis - Wasim Akram is one of my all time favourite cricketers. I want to see good cricket. Of course, I’d like India to win, but it’s not a top priority for me, it’s not something I’m obsessed about.

You’ve been a teacher who has taught all over the world, what has the experience been like?
I enjoy teaching. I enjoy working with young people. Teaching is very important. For someone like me it’s a constant source of nourishment and creativity to be in contact with young people. It’s hugely enjoyable.

A historian who thrives on and embraces archives of information on politics, what are your views on the WikiLeaks saga?
I have not thought it through seriously. Obviously at one level there are some shocking revelations that were uncovered. Yet on another level, diplomacy can only succeed if it’s done in private. I don’t think diplomacy can be conducted against the full glare of public opinion.  You’ve had a tradition in most governments where only after 30 years are the documents of the period made open to the public and to scholars.

I don’t think you should be leaking all this and damaging relationships between countries. These are private communications. At a suitable time, say after 30 years, when the present controversies have died out, historians should have access to them so that they can assess why the issues arose in the first place. On balance I don’t think it’s a good idea to encourage this kind of rampant leaking of diplomatic information. At the same time I think the persecution of the WikiLeaks founder is unfortunate.

Advice to young writers who would like to start pursuing it as a career?
It’s very hard work. The first piece of advice is, reject the idea that you have to be inspired to write - that today I’m not in a mood to write but then tomorrow suddenly the creative juices flow! That’s rubbish. Writing is hard work. It’s like a factory worker at his lathe from 10-6. You have to go to your desk and write. If you are a historian or biographer, you have to go to the archives and look at dozens of files a day to find new or relevant material. If you’re a traveler or someone who bases his writing on real life experience - then go out into the countryside, go to different parts of India, talk to people from different backgrounds, if need be live in difficult circumstances. Consistency and hard work are most important. Creativity and imagination are secondary. That’s the first thing.

The second thing is you must read very widely. Don’t get stereotyped, don’t just read one kind of writer. Don’t read only one political tendency. If you’re a left-wing kind of person, read as much right-wing literature as possible. You must know what the other side thinks. In fact read more right-wing literature than left-wing literature, because then you can hone and refine your arguments and ideas.

Don’t be dogmatic in your approach, travel widely and work very hard. For the writer, there are no weekdays or weekends. Sachin Tendulkar is so good not just because of his natural gifts. At 37 he practices as hard in the nets as when he was 18. Hard work, discipline and rigour are the most important qualities.

Unless you are willing to be in it for the long haul and be patient, you can never really be a good writer.

Is there a particular reason you avoid writing fiction?
I have so much diversity in what I do; I write history, biographies, political commentary, cricket, different kinds of books, that confront different kinds of challenges. I’ve never had the desire to write fiction. Fiction has to come from within you.

Recently, at my  book release in Bangalore, someone asked me, “You’ve written this big tome on history, but why don’t you now give us some saucy fiction?” I answered, with complete sincerity, “One of the reasons I don’t write fiction, is that there are various writers I’ve admired in the past, the British historian EP Thompson, the American cultural critic Lewis Mumford who wrote on ecology and town planning, the  Caribbean writer CLR James who wrote the finest book on cricket, “Beyond a Boundary”, the Indian naturalist M. Krishnan, and I think, and what is common to these people? If I look at these people whom I admire, what’s common to them is that each of them wrote one novel and it was a bad novel.” So it’s a caution to me to never write a novel. I’m a historian, biographer and political commentator, that’s my calling.

Books that have changed your life?
That’s a complex question, but there are a few. Not changed my life, but the way I look at the world, there were books that changed my worldview. One book is George Orwell’s “Homage to Catalonia”, which I had bought in a pavement in Dehradun. I was in my early 20s and very attracted by Marxism. While reading this book, which is a wonderful and moving account of how the communist party destroyed the Spanish democratic movement in the 1930s, I realized how callous, instrumental and brutal the communist ideology would be in practice. In theory it was all about equality and liberty for all, but in reality it was totalitarian, anti-human and barbaric.

Another book that changed the way I looked at the world was a wonderful book published by a Gandhian publisher in Ahmedabad. It was called “Truth Called Them Differently”. It’s a reproduction of the letters between Tagore and Gandhi over a period of time. It’s about many things: India’s place in the world, the role of the English language, whether Indians should live simply or live as they choose – the debate is very rich and very productive. It also shows you the quality of the men as they argue with each other and are willing to change their position. You learn a lot about the Indian national movement, Indian culture and political traditions, but you also learn about the ability to adapt and change, when circumstances compel you to change.

There were other books too for example, a work by the great French historian Marc Bloch entitled “French Rural History”. This is a combination of environmental, social, economic and political history – a total history as the French call it. I read this book when I was starting my career as a historian and it impressed me greatly.

What are you currently reading?
It’s normally a mix. I might have a novel, a book on Indian history, a book about some other part of the world.

I just finished Ian McEwan’s “Solar”, which is a novel about a once brilliant scientist gone to seed. It’s not McEwan’s best work, still, it’s an acute psychological portrait of intellectual and moral corruption.

I’m now reading a wonderful book on the history of Paris called “Parisians” by Graham Robb, who is a very distinguished British writer on French affairs. It’s slices of the history of Paris through individuals. He starts with Napoleon’s first visit to Paris as a 19-year-old lieutenant. It goes on to follow various people who lived in Paris, the great novelist Zola’s wife for example. Then Robb writes of Hitler’s only visit to Paris during the war. It’s a marvelous book.

I’m also reading a memoir of a Sindhi woman writer, who grew up in Karachi and Hyderabad before partition and then had to flee into India. The book is very revealing about the impact of Partition on Sindhi Hindus.

What’s next for Ramachandra Guha?
For the long term, I have been working on (for several years) a multi-volume project on Gandhi. Each book will be self contained; a book on Gandhi’s years in South Africa, a book on Gandhi’s years in India, a book on the global impact of Gandhi - there will be at least three volumes and possibly a fourth, a kind of multi-volume series on Gandhi, with standalone books that are part of a larger series. Before that, I might come out with a collection of my political essays.

~

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Mind Blogs 1.0 (2010)

Back in the day writers would sit in coffee shops, discussing new styles, themes and subject matter - this was an old school phenomenon that enhanced modern literary movements as monumental as the Beat Generation… Today we facebook, we tweet, we g-talk, we blog, and while this maybe fast track communication, one can’t help but ask, where has the intimacy disappeared?

When I came across Mind Blogs 1.0, I thought hmmm and had a few doubts… it seemed to me that perhaps the concept was corrupting the print form with content that’s meant to be read on the internet. Yet, after reading the book and doing a little research on the background - I was pleasantly surprised. For starters, thought it was incredibly evocative how the book was conceptualized. The image of a trio of writers, sitting in Bangalore’s oldest and most celebrated coffee house discussing writing and publishing was an image I found to be classic. Gone are the days where we discuss literature over a hot cup of coffee, but with Mind Blogs, the back-story was truly reminiscent of a bygone era.

Mind Blogs 1.0 is made up of a collection of blog posts (surprise!), with a variety of topics that comment on professional and life experiences, the good, bad and ugly of society, anecdotes on the power of media, as well as reliving and recollecting childhood memories. The three authors, Christina, Nirmala and Zahid definitely have something special going for them. Special because they utilize all the strengths of post-modern writing and at the same time maintain a retro vibe in their approach, and this gives the book a refreshing balance.

Each segment is short and sweet just as blog posts are meant to be. Sometimes the subject matter is biting, sometimes with bursts of humour, sometimes purely nostalgic. There are twists and turns and didactic conclusions, essentially there’s a bit of everything in the Mind Blogs collection. What makes the book distinct, we have three unique voices ranting, raving, reminiscing - it’s very personal and equally charming. The stories are Bangalore-centric, yet at the same time, what is discussed and the messages delivered are universal. Being Indian, you can’t help but relate to the various tales.

You will bashfully connect with Zahid when he talks about chasing skirt through traffic, you will empathize with Christina when she discusses job interviews from hell and you won’t know whether to laugh or cry when you read Nirmala’s take on fairness creams… Dubbed as a ‘pioneering new art form - from blog to book’, Mind Blogs 1.0 is intimate and entertaining. It hits the nail on the head in convincing us that there are blogs which deserve to see print, and it seems clear that a new movement in publication has been formed…

In Pic: Nirmala Govindarajan, Zahid H Javali and Christina Daniels

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart, Christina Daniels, Nirmala Govindarajan and Zahid Javali talk about their book Mind Blogs 1.0, how they differ as writers, their love for Bangalore city and more…

How did the three of you get together and how was the Mind Blogs concept developed?
Nirmala: So, I was sitting in Koshy’s one evening, and talking of how, I must bring out a book of these random writings that I’d like Gen Now to read. So I asked Christina, and then Zahid whether they’d like to be part of the mission – and they got hooked on!

Can you tell us about your writing backgrounds?
Zahid: I am a reporter-turned-editor-cum-writer, and in the business of bringing out tabloids, magazines and newspapers since 1996. My last post was as City Editor of MiD DAY in Bangalore. Today, I am consulting editor/writer for publications in US, Singapore and India, besides running my own custom publishing firm, Write Wing Media that also brought out this book.
Christina: I would describe myself as a Communications professional. As a writer, I have worked over the last 10 years in different fields like Corporate Communication, Training, New Media, E-learning, Print Journalism, Developmental Communication and Research. I currently work on Marketing Communications for a US-based multinational corporation. My first novel Ginger Soda Lemon Pop was published in 2007 by Dronequill Publications.
Nirmala: Both Zahid and Christina are bloggers, while I’m hardly online! Most of my writings in the book have been passed around as emails to friends, and published as first personal articles and middles. Poetry comes easiest to me… and in whatever, I write, like with all the other things I do, I’d like to reach out to people and the society.

As writers and the views presented in this book, how do you differ and how are you similar?
Zahid: I differ in the sense that I am the only male voice in the book who brings his no-nonsense, cut-to-the-chase kind of approach, which readers find to be almost thriller-like. Essentially, I love to tell a good story. Since much of the story happens to be true, the story becomes more relatable.
Christina: We are similar in that we all writers and Bangaloreans. I differ from the other two writers as the only non-journalistic voice in the book. My concerns are that of the average ‘thirty-something’ professional who lives and works in IT City Bangalore or possibly any of India’s big cities.
Nirmala: Christina is a very introspective writer and Zahid is on-the-go — a journo in every sense of the word. I’m a journo, but more a writer – a creature of the societal web, the cross-sections don’t matter.

With three authors - what exactly is the format of this book?
Nirmala: It’s a coming together of three minds, with diverse experience, but a common goal to ask Gen Now to stand up at look at all those small things that make life so beautiful!
Christina: The book is a series of contemporary conversations that takes the format of a blog.
Zahid: The book is a series of essays and anecdotes about things happening around us and within ourselves. The book speaks to Gen Now as much as it does to those who are way past their salad days.

What is it about Bangalore city that makes it unique and special compared to the other metros in India and why the focus in your book?
Zahid: The book might be about people living in Bangalore. That we are all Bangalore writers is incidental. The real thrust is that the stories are universal in their appeal. I talk about how I was made a bakra (fool) on MTV. Now that could happen to anybody anywhere in the world. Similarly, Nirmala talks about her home deity. Now many cultures have such a system in the world. In much the same vein, Christina talks about the different kinds of species she meets during job interviews. So what’s special about the book is that it talks about human experiences.
Nirmala: It’s versatile. The people make it so. It’s large, yet a cozy nook in the midst of south India. It’s an island in an ocean… where every traveller would like to stop by and make it his/her home some day.

What are some of the topics that are addressed in Mind Blogs 1.0?
Zahid: Oh, just about anything under the sun… from chasing skirts and earlobes to seeking eyeballs, child labour, saffronisation of Indian television, school life, racial discrimination, impressionism, regional angst, communal riots, Bollywood, professional assassins, love, loneliness, job interviews, god, and Valentine’s Day, among others. So you see that the subjects are diverse, but each story carries a certain resonance that will remain with the readers long after they’ve read the book.
Nirmala: It talks of child labour, scooters, kula devathas, respect for elders, school teachers, building bridges – to last, watching out for the girl in red, experimenting with earlobes and exploring love.

Blogging over the past decade has exploded into a phenomenon in which everybody can take up ‘the mighty pen’ - what has blogging come to represent for the three of you?
Zahid: I have been blogging for the last five years on Bollywood, technology, people, places, things… So blogging is all about free expression and limitless transmission. Anybody can read it anywhere in the world and react to what I say about a certain event, person, place or thing. It’s the most democratic form of literary expression you could ever ask for.
Christina: Blogging for me is a fun activity and a great stress buster. Over the last five years, my blog functions as an online journal that I use to collaborate with other fellow writers.
Nirmala: Does not apply to me because I am not an avid blogger like the other two.

Mind Blogs 1.0 is described as ‘pioneering new art form - from blog to book’ - you have started a new trend, at the same time, shouldn’t blog content essentially be a free source of content?
Zahid: Agreed, but blogs do generate revenue through paid posts and online advertising. We can’t replicate that model to print. So we are only asking our readers to pay for the costs involved and nothing more, so we can keep it non-commercial.
Nirmala: What we have here are Mind Blogs… they may or may not have been online earlier! Paying for thoughts that’ll make you think is like bride price – you learn to value the bride!

One of the most important aspects of blogging is the ability to directly interact with your readers, obviously with a book it works a little different. How have you guys innovated the marketing and accessibility of the book so that you are directly in touch with your readers?
Zahid: Good question. We have a page in the book that asks our readers to post their blogs to us, so we can put it up on our book blog. If we like them a lot, they could even go into the sequel of the book as guest bloggers. The blog tells the reader everything there is to know about the book, about the authors and how they can buy the book and be part of the next. To have the book delivered to their door, you can buy the book online through Flipkart.com. If you prefer an Ebook, you could download it off Pothi.com in India or Amazon.com if it’s on your Kindle.
Christina: In addition to the blog that we are running along with the book, we also have a Facebook group where readers could communicate with other readers and the authors of the book.
Nirmala: We’d like to take it to as many colleges as possible to interact with Gen Now.

The book has been published through your own publishing house - Write Wing Media; the pros and cons of being your own publisher?
Zahid: That’s just me. I am the publisher. It’s just that I have co-authored with Christina and Nirmala who have no stake in the company. I am merely bringing out a book for them as part of my custom publishing firm. I will bring out books of anyone who I feel is good enough to get published.

What kind of other work and writers can we expect from Write Wing Media - (great name by the way!)?
Zahid: Thank you. You will see many more books coming out of my stable. It could be reprints of popular books and newcomers. It could be more books from the three of us.
Nirmala: Short stories, novels perhaps, an encyclopaedia of nonsense rhymes to start a bright day… perhaps!

Preparing for Mind Blogs 2.0 - you guys are looking for guest bloggers to feature in the sequel, can you tell us more about this initiative?
Nirmala: The forum is open, people can write in… and before we decide to publish 2.0, we’ll select the best three.

Three books that have changed your life and why?
Zahid: Practicing The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle - it gives you the blueprint to live life, king size without the frills associated with kingship. Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4th by Sue Townsend - love the grown-up humour emanating from a child; it’s insightful, at times laugh-out-loud funny and memorable. Mind Magic by Betty Shine - it exposed me to a whole new world - the human mind - and how each of us can heal our life if we want to.
Christina: As a teenager, Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl was a book that impacted me with its desire to make the world a better place. As a young adult, Hugh Prather’s ‘Notes to Myself’ was a book that changed my approach to life. In more recent times, Herman Hesse’s ‘Narcissus and Goldmund’ caused me to question many of the assumptions that I had lived with for the last 30 years.
Nirmala: Alice in Wonderland – life is so much larger than me! PG Wodehouse – laugh it off, it’s all that matters! Shakespeare – what’s life without words? Ruskin Bond’s writings – it’s all in the small things. Peter Colaco’s ‘Bangalore’ – a Bangalore dimension to Ruskin.

What are some of the blogs that you regularly check out for its quality content?
Zahid: Digital-photography-school.com - it gives a layman’s guide to photography and also a great way to know other photographers. Quickonlinetips.com - it gives you handy tips on blogging, computers and how-to tips on technology. Alootechie.com - it keeps me updated on everything happening online.
Christina: I find the blogs of fellow writers to be most inspiring. Two blogs that I have followed with some dedication over time have been The Twins & I and I Think… Therefore I am.
Nirmala: Ahem…

What books are you currently reading?
Zahid: Mind Maps by Tony Buzan, Byline by MJ Akbar, The Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang, Complete Original Short Stories by Guy de Maupassant and The Sherlock Holmes Collection.
Christina: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Nirmala: Footsteps by Katherine McMohan, Politically Correct Holiday Stories by James Finn Garner and No Full Stops in India by Mark Tully.

~

Buy Mind Blogs 1.0 by Christina Daniels, Nirmala Govindarajan and Zahid Javali on Flipkart (Limited Quantity Autographed Copies)

Wall and Piece (2005)

About a month back I watched a hilariously ironic documentary (or rather mockumentary?) called ‘Exit Through The Gift Shop’. The film centers around street-art culture and profiles the infamous and ingenious graffiti artists of our time, brought to you by none other than British enigma (love him or hate him), Banksy. The DVD is being released mid-December in the States and I’m not exactly sure if it’s getting a world-wide release but given Bansky’s character, doubt he’ll have a problem with you downloading it. This is after all the same guy, who after selling his art for a total of about half a million dollars, went on his website and posted an image of people running into an art auction house with the message - “I Can’t Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Sh*t.”

As mentioned in the film, it was initially meant to be focused around Banksy himself, along with profiling graffiti’s biggest stars, including a certain Shepard Fairey, the artist who designed the inspirational Obama ‘Hope’ posters… but Banksy (as humble as he is!) began to feel that perhaps the star of the documentary should be the bat-sh*t crazy cameraman who followed and filmed all these artists over the years. What transpires is an extremely funny, deeply ironic film that pokes fun at not only street-art culture but also the hipsters who seem to be obsessed with the ‘next big thing’, without any focus on the actual quality of work. Don’t really want to spoil anything, so will leave it at that and urge you to give it a watch.

After watching ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’, I was inspired to review Banksy’s book for the FlipkartBlog, ‘Wall and Piece’, which was released in 2005. I notice on Twitter we consistently get a lot of requests for recommendations on books for design and while admittedly this isn’t your conventional ‘design/art’ book, it’s a title that deserves to be in the collection of all artists and graphic designers.

Banksy in 'Exit Through The Gift Shop'

Banksy is truly one of a kind. His stencil-based art is thought provoking, eye catching and genuinely revolutionary. The ‘balls’ of his artistry is symbolized by the medium in which he chooses to display his work - hijacking crass billboard adverts, not intimidated to deface popular landmarks, hitting up tall corporate buildings (for ultimate visibility), even tagging farm animals in the rural areas. The book is filled with pretty much all of Banksy’s exploits pre-2005; highlighting his prolific work in Palestine on the ‘Segregation Wall’ as well as pictures of him adding his own spoof artwork in the Louvre and various other world renowned museums - particularly his piece of the Mona Lisa with a smiley face.

Banksy's work on Palestine's 'Segregation Wall'

His fascination with monkeys and rats is also shown as there is an extensive collection of these works in the book - baboons holding placards with various anarchist messages and a variety of ghetto fabulous rodents holding boom-boxes and such. One particular project of his which was especially incisive was when he printed out a batch of counterfeit 10 pound notes (they’re selling on ebay for about $400 now) - replacing the Queen’s head with Lady Diana and replacing the word ‘Bank’ with ‘Banksy’… turns out he went to a music festival and flung them in the crowd!

The Banksy Tenner

There is deep significance in all of Banksy’s work and the bottom line is all of it is ridiculously cool. The book also features write ups by the mystery man, which are fun to read and filled with social themes. Find it funny that when he adds his graffiti/artwork to buildings or houses, the artwork more often than not are worth more than the buildings themselves. If you want a basic understanding of the kind of artist he is and the themes he likes working in, check out his intro segment for The Simpsons from this year… it caused quite a stir! He’s without a doubt the most visionary artist of our generation and you gotta respect the fact that he still remains anonymous.

Buy Banksy’s ‘Wall and Piece’ on Flipkart

Beautiful Thing (2010)

As much as it was part of India’s entertainment industry, if you search our collection of books, there is a high chance you won’t find even one discussing the brassy dance bar subculture in our country. Until now. Journalist Sonia Faleiro has written a nonfiction narrative study about this all but forgotten world in which women may have been brazenly objectified, yet at the same time were given an opportunity to find financial sustenance, glamor, friendships and intimacy on their own terms.

A project which took 5 years to complete; three in research and two writing - Faleiro dives deep into every single facet of what dance bars embodied during its hey days - the sassy dancers, the surrogate manager, simpleton dependent family members, corrupt police officers, violent gangsters and the gaudy bars. The much maligned world is humanized through Faleiro’s friend and central character, Leela; a vivacious dance bar girl, who when studied, you would never guess is only 19 years old. This is a woman who was coerced to ‘grow up’  (by the hands of her abusive father turned abusive pimp) and escaped the clutches of sexual slavery to forge her own destiny in the big city as an adolescent.

The book is objective and descriptive; Sonia Faleiro has put herself in the role of keen observer rather than judge-y commentator - saving us from sanctimonious exposition. At the same time, she is not disconnected or unaffecting; constantly posing sharp questions to her subjects on behalf of her readers. The colloquial language combined with the matter-of-fact composition thrusts you into a world which is as much abrasive as it is tenacious. Much of what is discussed is tough to digest yet this book is awfully tough to put down because through all the murk and exploitation, these women are colourful, funny, adventurous, dauntless and tragic. ‘Beautiful Thing’ maintains a peculiar balance; one that is inquisitive in its descriptions yet remarkably courageous in its characterizations.

It’s been nearly five years since the ban on dance bars was implemented and it would seem these vibrant women have now been consigned to oblivion. The irony is, through the ban it is flagrantly obvious that many of them have now been forced into outright prostitution… ironically, one of the insubstantial reasons dance bars were banned was because it was said to lead to prostitution (a term described as ‘galat kaam’ by Leela and friends in the industry). These girls’ ‘own terms’ have been stripped away and forget the consequences, we couldn’t careless where they stand now - with ‘Beautiful Thing’, we’re given a face and soul to these women, we’re reminded they exist and this is where Faleiro’s book is as special as it is one of a kind.

In Pic: Sonia Faleiro

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart - Sonia Faleiro talks about her book ‘Beautiful Thing’, how she built trust with her muse Leela, the dangers (or not) of being a researcher who is immersed in the murky world of dance bars and more…

An introduction with Sonia Faleiro

How would you describe the kind of writer you are?
I like writing nonfiction. I decided many years ago that is what my career would consist of. I choose to write narrative non-fiction because it’s a style that suits me in terms of what I think is relevant. Living in a country like India, all we talk about is numbers and the politics of the matter; we tend to forget people, the intimate stories of people that lend humanity to a situation, that makes events and incidents memorable - that’s essentially what narrative nonfiction is about. It’s talking about weighty subjects but doing so with the simplicity of a story with intimacy and detail.

How do you choose your subject matter?
It’s clear from my past work that I’m interested in marginalized communities and subcultures. The people who make up these worlds are just so fascinating to me. It delivers a personal pleasure to me to be a part of lives like that. But also at a larger level, I feel these people are a majority not a minority and it’s almost an act of willful stupidity for us to not understand how the greater half lives. We have to understand them if we want to know who we are, what India is and most importantly, critically, if you want to know where we’re going. As much as we admire someone like an Ambani or a Tata, the future of India is the future of its majority.

Why a book on the dance bar culture of India?
It’s one of many fascinating subcultures that truly embodies the spirit, soul and heart of Bombay. To understand Bombay, it’s important to understand what happens on Carmichael Road and Warden Road, but it’s as important to understand how people who profit on and off these streets live. The people who do so, are the people who inhabit what we think of as the margins, but actually are very vibrant and unique cultures of their own. On the one hand they demonstrate the best ideals of what Bombay represents; the freedom, the ability to make the best out of the worst situation, the ability to make tons of money, to find glamor in the grit. On the other hand it also epitomizes the worst of Bombay which is the abuse of women, the violence and the sale of people.

I started my research on dance bars in January of 2005 with the idea of introducing readers to this fascinating subculture… but when the ban took place, which essentially shut down 1500 dance bars across Maharashtra and threw 75000 women out of work, it seemed to me that this was a story that had to be told in greater depth, because you can choose to see the ban as a political act or you can choose to see the ban as an act of violence because it destroyed the lives of young women, of a current generation of young people and I don’t think we’re in a position to do that. It had to be spoken about.

On ‘Beautiful Thing’ and its main character - Leela

What was the symbolic reference in the title of your book? Particularly the use of the word ‘thing’.
I wish it was something I could put into words. Certainly you can tell from the writing in this book, it wasn’t an objectification of women, it wasn’t how I viewed the women and it isn’t even a comment on how other people viewed the women. I guess it’s just something that came into my mind during a particular experience with Leela and her friends.

In this line of work, people do get judged on their appearance, but the beauty of Leela was obviously not her appearance - I think it was just Leela’s incredibly animated personality, her great charm, her ability to push aside bitterness and accept and be optimistic of whatever joys she had. So really, there’s nothing specific, it’s just a phrase that came to my mind spending time with the girls.

What was special about Leela that made her your book’s central character?
I’m always drawn as a reporter to people who exhibit qualities that I sorely lack. Leela was just so loud, so intimidatingly charming, she had such a bright, joyful personality… it was just a pleasure being around her. A lot of women tend to feel diminished in the company of the beautiful, but with Leela, one just felt she had all the qualities Leela displayed. One suddenly felt very good looking, very charming, very funny and always up for a party. I’m a much quieter person, I’m very introverted, but she lit up a room and that’s obviously a cliché, but she truly did. It was like you enter the room and suddenly the disco ball lights up. She was clearly a very unique personality who deserved attention, time and her story to be told.

How was the trust built between you and Leela?
I’m very upfront with people I report about. Leela always knew that she and the people she introduced me to would be written about and she was happy with that. She wanted to tell her story and a rapport was created between us. These things can’t be explained, one is either at ease in somebody’s company or one isn’t and I was in ease in her company as she was in mine. She took me at my word because I was honest with her. She also knew I didn’t judge her; I believe adults should be allowed to make their own choices and they deserve to be respected for whatever those choices are.

Discussing the dance bar subculture and the response of the book…

You dive into a murky world head first; can you tell us about the more dangerous moments you faced during your research period?
I do look after myself. Not because I’m interviewing a certain kind of person, but because I’m a woman in a society which is frankly unsafe for women and takes advantage of the vulnerability of women. Yes I do carry pepper spray, but that’s not a comment on the people I interview, it’s a comment on the society we live in.

Having said that, I must comment on the city of Bombay and that I never felt unsafe. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel unsafe in that I wasn’t aware of the possibility of danger, it was simply that Bombay takes better care of their women. Now obviously these are matters of decree and perhaps matters of chance as well. But more importantly than that, because Leela treated me a certain way, her friends followed suit and I was never inconvenienced, never worried for my safety.

Dance Bar culture is extremely exploitative, at the same time it represents a warped form of empowerment for these women… what are your views?
You know it’s both. Yes, dance bars did exploit young women, but then at the same time we have to understand that somebody like Leela was able to find refuge in the dance bar. She was able to make money, she was able to find a flat for herself, she had a job to go to, she found friends, she found a man with whom she could have some form of a loving relationship. The dance bar took her away from an incredibly abusive family, it saved her from being pimped out by her father to the local cops! It put her in a situation where she could decide for herself if she wanted to be in a relationship with somebody or not.

It gave her a huge degree of independence: independence of her financial situation, independence of choice and at the same time while releasing her from the bonds she was born into, it tied her into further knots, because once she was identified with the dance bar, her reputation was destroyed and became that much harder for her to enter into the mainstream, which is what she eventually wanted.

One cannot grow old in the dance bar; the life of a bar dancer is very limited. At the end of that professional life either you marry or you have the smarts to secure your future financially or you remain in the dance bar in some tragic capacity. Yes it’s both exploitative and yet empowering, but I think it’s always, primarily and in the first instance a place of refuge, whatever it may become later on.

These women are products of a brutally chauvinistic male dominated society. On a larger scale, is India truly devoid of any respectable male figures?
Obviously education has a lot to do with how one gets to live one’s life. Far more than education though, it’s class. Class is something only a great amount of money can buy you out of, and even that in very limited ways. We’re still a society where your destiny is determined by the caste or class you are born into. Beyond a point for the majority of us, born into certain situations particularly of marginalization or poverty, away from urban areas where you know progressive ideas with regards to equality haven’t reached. In situations like that, you are what you are born into.

I do think gender plays a huge role and we should stop pretending that it’s just about marginalized women. Eventually, you can read this book as a book about a bar dancer or as a metaphor for women in India, because I certainly don’t see the kind of equality in terms of the opportunity, in terms of the small everyday choices we’re allowed to make. I just don’t see that equality between men and women.

As an Indian reader one is weathered to the murk and grit in ‘The Beautiful Thing’, living in San Francisco , what was the western response like?
I’ll be really honest with you, to me the only valid response is the Indian response. My agent is American and they appreciated it in the same way people appreciated it here. But if you are an Indian writing about India, the only response should be from Indians. If your story doesn’t strike true with Indians, if Indians read the book and cannot say, ‘This is who we are,’ then you have failed in every possible way. For someone like you to say, ‘You know this is valid,’ then that’s only what matters.

Favourite books and inspirations

Three books that have changed your life and why.
Philip Gourevitch’s book on Rwanda ‘We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families’ - it’s just an incredible piece of reportage on the genocide in Rwanda. It combines personal reportage with work that was already done and in part also a memoir. Just a great balance and ideal example of how one must write about great acts of violence. I’ve learned so much from that book, I re-read it constantly.

Adrian Nicole LeBlanc’s book on sex, drugs and destitution in the Bronx. It’s a book called ‘Random Family’ and it took about 10 years to research. It discusses big subjects and yet it reads like a film script. It’s so masterfully crafted - you dive in and you never want to get out and that’s astonishing considering the subjects she touches on. That is a book I’m almost embarrassed to say I have two copies of because I’m so paranoid about losing one of them.

I didn’t read these two books while writing ‘Beautiful Thing’ because I’m very worried that I’ll be too influenced by the people I admire, so I tend to change my reading habits while I’m writing.

The third would be a book of photographs. Dayanita Singh’s ‘Myself Mona Ahmed’. It captures her friendship with an aging hijira in Delhi who happens to create her own family, her own bonds of love with a little child she adopts who is later taken away from her. It was the first book I had ever read on the subject and it made it ok for me to be interested in the people I’m interested in. It really is a book that I treasure. It’s a classic that shows you how to deal with marginalized communities. You write about these people or photograph them only if you respect who they are and where they come from. You have to be very clear about what you’re writing about and why.

Any plans to start writing fiction?
I don’t think I’ll write fiction again - maybe in some short form. I like the idea of long-term projects and the research very much. I like the idea of a book being an experience in the research of it. I see ‘Beautiful Thing’ and certainly I’m pleased about how it turned out, but the value of writing this book is not the finished product, the value is in the research and life experience. I am working on a new book of narrative nonfiction and continues my interest in the lives of other people. All my work is pretty simple actually, it answers the very basic question of, ‘How do you live?’ My next book will attempt to answer that question but in a different context.

What are you currently reading?
I just finished ‘Day Scholar’ by Siddharth Chowdhury and I enjoyed that very much. I love any sort of noir writing. Before I left San Francisco, I finished ‘The Passage’ by Justin Cronin… that was so much fun. The book that I’ve just started is called, ‘The Warmth of Other Suns’… again a book of narrative nonfiction, it’s about the great migration of African Americans from the south to the east coast. It’s written by a Pulitzer Prize winner called Isabele Wilkerson. That’s what I’m tackling at the moment.

~

Buy Sonia Faleiro’s ‘Beautiful Thing’ on Flipkart

The Accidental Billionaires (2009)

Watched The Social Network (2010) over the weekend… more excited that it was the new David Fincher (psst - Fincher will be directing “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” which is slated for release next year) movie, than a movie about Facebook, and even more excited to know that Aaron Sorkin, the creator of The West Wing, had written the screenplay. The movie follows the story of the beginnings and subsequent blow-up of Internet phenomenon, social networking site - Facebook and is based on the controversial ‘nonfiction’ novel, The Accidental Billionaires by author Ben Mezrich. You might remember a god-awful borderline teen-flick called 21 (2005) telling the true story of a group of MIT students who found a loophole in Las Vegas’ black-jack tables and went on to take the casinos for over $3 million. The movie was based on Mezrich’s novel, ‘Bringing Down The House’ and while the movie isn’t really worth talking about, the book found almost cult like status, as the story of MIT geniuses taking down Vegas had become an almost urban myth.

Mezrich obviously has a great deal of experience writing about college geniuses who have gone on to earn themselves millions and millions and it seems appropriate that it was his book that was used as the inspiration for Fincher’s The Social Network. The Accidental Billionaires focuses on Mark Zuckerberg’s stint at Harvard and the proceeding law suits that followed. A sharp and witty narrative shedding light on the time in which he conceptualized Facebook, or rather TheFacebook and how he was eventually scrutinized from every corner due to its immense popularity and possibly because his practices were a tad bit unethical.

Both the book and movie dive deep into a pivotal and ultimately bumpy relationship between Zuckerberg and his former best friend and FB co-founder Eduardo Saverin. It narrates how Zuckerberg, an extremely socially awkward personality, may have lost his one true friend as he made millions of online buddies through his website. It was Saverin who had approached Mezrich and provided the author with the ‘inside-scoop’ after being shafted by Zuckerberg and his new investors from his original stake in the company. The moment a settlement was reached, Saverin immediately cut all ties with the author. The book and the movie also focuses heavily on the possibility that Facebook might have been a stolen idea, originally conceptualized by three Harvard students who had approached Zuckerberg for help, but were eventually left stranded as Zuckerberg modified their idea with a more mass appeal and better usability.

In interviews, Mezrich is extremely candid when he says Zuckerberg and his team had absolutely nothing to do with the book, yet he maintains what’s presented is factual with hints of author inference in terms of making it a more fun read. The book (and movie) is supported by multiple points of views by people who played an integral role in the start of Facebook. While Zuckerberg and Saverin are the central characters, the collection of personalities such as the Winklevoss twins (the Harvard jocks who to this day claim Facebook was originally their idea), Sean Parker (Napster co-founder, who took but a second to jump on the Facebook bandwagon) and few others in the form of groupies and lawyers, all add to the allure of the Facebook story. At the heart of it, this really isn’t a story about a website, it’s more a story of a misunderstood genius who quite literally revolutionized the use of the Internet.

It’s been about a month since the release of the movie, a year since the release of the book… just this week Zuckerberg launched his new mail services (Google, watch out!),  last month he donated $100 million to the educational system of New Jersey - some say in response to the negative image portrayed in the movie, but I highly doubt that. Facebook is now a marketing tool, a way to stay connected with friends - old and new, a mode of expression, it’s not just a website, it’s almost become a way of life. It seems important to know the story, because I have no doubt, in time, The Accidental Billionaires and The Social Network will be considered a piece of history…

Buy David Fincher’s The Social Network (DVD) on Flipkart

Buy Ben Mezrich’s “Bringing Down The House - How Six Students Took Vegas For Millions” on Flipkart

Buy Ben Mezrich’s “The Accidental Billionaires” on Flipkart

Admittedly, I was a little daunted before reading Jerry Rao’s collection of conservative columns. The series of writings have been published in Indian Express over the past five years and portrays a unique point of view that we aren’t usually exposed to. Being young and somewhat idealistic, I tend to scoff at the term conservative… yet as I read through his book, I found myself agreeing with a lot of the concepts he developed. The writing is straightforward, pragmatic and refreshingly distinctive in that much of the opinions presented are not tediously predictable, which tends to happen when you’re reading liberal writing.

He covers a wide range of topics; politics, economics, the environment, terrorism, literature and the book is dense with a variety of historical, spiritual and literary examples. Having pioneered consumer banking in India through the 80s and 90s, then going on to found Mphasis at the turn of the century, his deep and prolific professional experience makes him an intellectual with a true belief in what he has practised rather than just theorized. It also must be said, that Jerry Rao may be an opinionated writer, but he’s certainly not a stubborn writer and this is what shines through in this highly accessible collection of columns.

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart, Jerry Rao discusses his book ‘Notes From An Indian Conservative’ and what the term ‘Indian Conservative’ has come to mean…

An Introduction with Jerry Rao

Who is Jerry Rao and what makes him tick?
That’s an existential question, you can’t spring it on me without warning! Just a post-independence, South Indian male with a heavy influence from English literature and British history. That might explain my intellectual origins.

From India’s leading banker, to pioneering India’s IT sector, all the way to becoming an acclaimed columnist and author - how has your professional experience defined who you are as a writer?
The professional experience has been key. I tend to be a practical writer, I don’t write theoretical stuff. I look for empiricism, I look for what works, why somethings work, rather than what should be… If I had not had a distinct profession, particularly in the business field; banking - IT, I would have been more idealistic in my positions. Now I’m very much empirical. In that sense, it also goes back to the Scottish Enlightenment influence - David Hume and Adam Smith’s influence of empiricism.

The two have come together because I’ve done practical things. I’ve actually met customers, done business, made profits - these are very practical real things. You don’t get into a theoretical, idealistic frame work once you’ve had that experience in life.

“Notes from an Indian Conservative” is a compilation of your columns written for the Indian Express over the past 5 years - can you tell us how this partnership was born?
Shekhar Gupta, the editor of Indian Express, has over the years been a good friend and a great inspiration. If you look at it, Express is one of the few papers which has solid intellectual content in its columns.

One day I was giving him a hard time, saying there aren’t enough right wing conservative columnists in the Indian scene and you people are falling into this trap that all intellectualism is leftist. So he just threw me a challenge and said, “If you feel so strongly, why don’t you write?”

Who exactly is your target audience and describe the kind of response you get from your readership?
My target audience is primarily like yourself; modern Indians whether they live in India or abroad, who are familiar with the English language, who are interested in contemporary issues - be it the environment, be it economics, issues of Indian poverty or Indian foreign policy or literature. Those who have some knowledge and interest in the historical evolution of modern Indian consciousness. English speaking consciousness if I’m being candid.

The responses have been interesting, a lot of have been; “We never thought about it that way. Thank you for showing us that new point of view!” But there are also some people who get vitriolic. There is a certain group of cultural nativists in India who get very upset when anyone praises British rule or praises English literature, or praises the influence of the English on modern Indian thought - they say all kinds of nasty things.

On ‘Notes With An Indian Conservative’ - From the environment to India as an IT superpower

You have labeled yourself an ‘Indian Conservative’ - with the ideology presented in your writing, can you define what the Indian Conservative believes in?
What we do believe is, that a minimalist state is not only ideologically correct, but it’s also suited to the Indian genius. Indians tend to be entrepreneurial people and to have a highly intrusive state is not good for us. We’re not a regimented people, which is why we should have a minimalist state.

Having said that, we’re also very opposed to radical, quick changes. We want constitutional change, we’re constitutionalists in that sense. If you think about it, we’ve taken positions which are very much in keeping with the constitution. We’re not saying there should be no change… of course there has to be change in human history, but the change has to be gradual and well thought out, not jettisoning good things with the past, simply because you want change. It’s a point of view which got lost out in the late 50s, 60s and throughout the 70s, as state interventionist leftist point of view took over. Leftist rhetoric dominates now and I think it’s time to bring balance with an alternative tradition.

‘Dealing with the Environment’ is extremely enlightening in your book, tell us about the topics you discuss in this section.
The environment has been usurped by leftists as their cause, I think this is a big mistake. We all have a stake in the environment. The first thing to look at it is; what are we doing stupidly to destroy the environment? When you subsidize diesel, electricity, fertilizer, pesticides, you’re actually creating environmental damage. My point is, why are we doing this?

The second thing is, basically the political class of India, especially the Delhi based political class, has lost touch with the reality of India’s environment. Loving India means not just loving ten streets in Delhi, the pomp and the pleasures of office… this is a gorgeous country, you have to be able to love every river, every lake, every mountain. There is no kind of mystic bond anymore. The last Indian leader who had this mystic bond with all our other faults was Indira Gandhi… she at least had some kind of relationship with the country.

In your section ‘Of Terrorists and Cops’,  there definitely seems to be a sense sympathy towards the policemen of India and their effort against terrorism.
The most important thing is not terrorism, but our response to it. I think we have over the last 60 years inadequately funded our police, treated them badly, not given them the tools, not given them the computer systems, the processes, the motivation to deal with this. This is sad, because we can so easily do it! To this day in every police station complaints are handwritten, there is no exchange system. You can commit a crime in one police precinct and move to another and they wouldn’t know!

These things can be fixed in 6 months; we have the money, we have the talent, the ability. Why aren’t we providing the police with the tools they need? Look at those guys wearing primitive bullet proof vests, when we have access to much more modern equipment! We don’t adequately equip them and then we beat up on them. That to my mind is idiotic, because that will demoralize them and through that we will surely lose the war against terrorists. That’s why I keep plugging in for the police because I think they are a much maligned unit, nobody talks about how terrible their lives are, how badly they are treated, how bad their working conditions are; instead of dealing with that, we say, “Hey, they’ve done a bad job.” We like to find individual scapegoats for every problem, rather than looking at the system and seeing how we can change it. We really need to avoid using individual scapegoats.

What is your view of India being an IT superpower? You keep using this reference in your writings, but with a twist.
I think India is not an IT superpower. We’re a pretend IT superpower. Indian companies are able to solve problems of their customer’s in America and Europe quite easily, but our own problems, especially our problems of governance, we’re not able to make any impact. I always say that tongue-in-cheek, this is a pretend IT superpower.

If we were an IT superpower why wouldn’t we have a networked police station system where you have files moving from one to another virtually… why are we still in paper based documentation? Why don’t we have GPS? These are all trivial things to be done and the Indian private sector routinely does it, so why can’t the state sector do it? We get very euphoric and happy, “Oh, we’re a great IT country.” Rubbish! If we are, then why don’t we make an impact on the citizenry and the environment of the country using those tools? I keep questioning this and it’s a deliberate tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic reference I keep making all the time.

On writing, books and favourite authors…

Your advice to CEO/industry leaders who aren’t writers by profession but would like to start?
A good way to start is to force yourself to a deadline and word limit. That way you get started. After that you can go to other places.

Name a few authors who have inspired you to get into writing and publishing?
Among Indian writers who I’m particularly fond of; Naipaul, Rushdie, RK Narayan, Ruskin Bond, Dom Moraes.

Your fascination with John Le Carré?
Le Carré I think is someone who spans the moral universe of the late 20th century using a genre which is usually not meant to do that. A spy novel is meant to give you quick thrills, like Ian Fleming. Le Carré holds an extraordinary mirror, a mirror of distortions, that shows up our own inner selves within the context of the secret service and espionage. Again, he’s an absolutely brilliant prose stylist. It’s rare to see somebody who writes prose as well as Le Carré does and I’ve found that when you re-read him you pick up even more of the nuances. I strongly recommend you re-read as many Le Carré books as possible.

Three books that have changed your life?
Camus’ ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’, TS Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’ and Naipul’s ‘India - A Million Mutinies Now’.

What are you currently reading?
I’m reading ‘The Secret Life of Plants‘, a fascinating book on botany and everything else. Also a biography of Hamilton and re-reading Sir Dennis Kincaid’s biography of Shivaji.

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Earth (The Book) - A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race (2010)

Jon Stewart can be listed as many things - comedian, television host, political satirist, author - just recently he was voted the most influential man of 2010 trumping Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs.  Some of you might be acquainted with his immensely popular satire show on the US TV channel Comedy Central (he does a weekly international edition that usually features in India) - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart… where he and his team blend both ‘fake news’ with current affairs, more often than not convincing you these are issues which need to be addressed. His show also does brilliantly in critiquing various news channels; that get their facts wrong, are overtly one sided in their reporting, and with his own bias, he is extremely cutting towards the right wing conservatives of America. Thanks to his harsh yet hilarious criticism of certain news shows, he’s actually had a few canceled on various networks, including CNN!

Stewart has released his latest book - ‘Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race‘, which has been written in the style of a ‘mock high school textbook’,  similar to his second published work ‘America: A Citizen’s Guide To Democracy Inaction‘. Unlike the latter title, ‘Earth’ has a more international feel to it, with focus on the world, rather than just a country. As bizarre as this sounds, Stewart and the Daily Show team have put together a guide to the planet for possible aliens that might visit (FAQs = Future Alien Questions) post-apocalypse (predicted that it’s most likely by our own hands)  - yes, aliens are the book’s target audience.

‘Earth’ addresses everything under the sun about what it means/meant to be a human living on this planet - Earth, Life, Man, The Life Cycle, Society, Commerce, Religion, Science, Culture are the chapters addressed, with funny text book style commentary, accompanied with an array of pictures, statistics and such. Now if I’m being fair, this is quite balmy, yet at the same time truth runs through the book and also has you laughing out loud perpetually. For instance, there is a segment on ‘Empires’ - in it, they show a picture of a cricket bat with this blurb; “You can safely assume that any place you find a cricket bat was once part of the British Empire. Ex-colonies took their revenge by humiliating their former master at this dishwater-dull sport.” There is a sharp yet extremely witty understanding of human history and even with the sarcasm and satire, the book makes complete sense.

Just this week Stewart bagged his first interview with Barack Obama, a milestone for his show; he’s also currently setting up a rally (to a huge response) at the end of the month to urge Americans to get voting… In my opinion it would be great if India could produce a TV show personality who covers the same issues that Stewart does with the same influence, obviously with Indian subject matter. Someone who is brave enough to poke fun and criticize the politicians running the country (he would’ve had a field day if he covered the CWG in Delhi!), someone who is candid enough to point out the hypocrisy and short comings of our media, primarily our news channels. Few might call it mindless satire, if you ask me, I call it media revolution. Pick up Jon Stewart’s text book with an attitude, through all the humour and banter, you will soon realize it’s cunningly intellectual as well (much like his show). Still trying to figure out if this makes for a funny coffee table book or something that’s great company in the toilet, whichever it is, there is no doubt it will have you laughing.

Buy ‘Earth (The Book) - A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race’ on Flipkart

‘Classic’ is obviously a strong word to use and out of fear that movie buffs might not agree with some of the titles on here, we will say we did maintain one criteria consistently - the ten movies listed are over a decade old. More than anything else, we’ve also looked at the influence these movies have had on the genre and can safely say all of them have played a significant role as much as they have scared the jeepers out of us. Serial killers, demon-children, man-eating sharks, diabolical witches and hunky vampires (thankfully, Twilight is not a classic just yet!) are the central characters of the movies on here, brought to you by the very best directors in film history; Polanksi, De Palma, Spielberg and Kubrick to name just a few.

If that’s not enough, Flipkart are offering a featured deal with a limited time only 20% discount on the ten movie titles in this list (a Halloween sale, if you will)… Trick or treat!

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1. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) - Director: Roman Polanski  Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Based on the book of the same name by Ira Levin, Rosemary’s Baby was released only a year after the book was published. Directed by Hollywood’s exiled maestro, Roman Polanski, the movie stars a young and beautiful Mia Farrow in the lead role of Rosemary, with Ruth Gordon in a creepy supporting role which saw her win an Oscar.

The movie is set in Manhattan and tells the story of Rosemary Woodhouse, a young housewife married to a struggling actor. The couple move into a Gothic apartment and there is something peculiar about their over-friendly borderline invasive neighbors. What plays out for the rest of movie, is a frightening turn of events for Rosemary, as she finds out all those who are around her are not who they seem to be, including her husband. When she becomes pregnant and develops cravings for raw meat among other odd symptoms, it becomes clear something is terribly wrong. Farrow’s physical transformation in this is especially horrifying as she soon resembles a malnourished child in a third world country (even though she’s pregnant?).

Rosemary’s Baby is heavily influenced by Satanism and it’s tragically ironic that only a year after the movie was released Polanksi’s pregnant wife Sharon Tate was murdered by Charles Manson’s devil worshiping cult at the couple’s house. It certainly adds a sinister dimension when you are viewing this movie. This is Polanski at his best and when you have critic Roger Ebert stating; “Polanski has taken a most difficult situation and made it believable, right up to the end. In this sense, he even outdoes Hitchcock“, you know this is a masterpiece, with powerful performances by all actors.

2. Psycho (1960) - Director: Alfred Hitchcock  Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh

Psycho (1960)

A true classic by a pioneer in the horror movie genre; many consider Psycho to be Alfred Hitchcock’s ultimate masterpiece. The movie is inspired by the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, which is based on a real-life serial killer who had a knack for collecting and wearing his victim’s body parts and at the same time was obsessed with his deceased mother.

The movie is one of the first to depict a schizophrenic serial killer and is a timeless and chilling study of people who suffer from multiple personality disorder. Besides the disturbing psychological themes of Psycho, Hitchcock’s second-to-none filming technique and eerie use of sound makes this movie a tour-de-force in suspense horror. Deranged motel owner Norman Bates played by Anthony Perkins, is now a cult-figure in the horror genre and the famous ’shower scene’ is considered classic for its use of sound, the shrilling scream and the unique first person perspective camera use. Psycho has been considered a blue print for contemporary slasher movies for decades. There have been sequels and remakes of this, but nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the original.

3. The Exorcist (1973) - Director: William Friedkin Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max Von Sydow

The Exorcist (1973)

Based on the novel by William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist is constantly scary because the book itself was based on true events. Dealing with demonic possession and subsequent exorcism, the movie follows a single mother Chris MacNeil, played by Ellen Burstyn, who soon discovers her 12 year old daughter, Reegan, is behaving drastically aggressive, violent and profane. With no scientific and psychological explanations from doctors and her daughter’s condition worsening rapidly, Chris turns to a priest for help. Soon enough, it becomes obvious that a supernatural force has a hand in Reegan’s condition as she begins to levitate, develop telekinetic powers and at the same time becomes overtly blasphemous and increasingly violent.

The movie was nominated for ten Oscars and went on to win for Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay. Both Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair, who plays the possessed Reegan, were nominated for Best Actress and Supporting Actress respectively. To add to the movie’s freaky nature, it’s been rumored that it was cursed - with an actor dying of the flu during filming, the set for the house in which the MacNeil family lives burned down (except for Reegan’s room) and the two lead actresses were hurt badly during the scenes in which Reegan behaves vicious and maniacal. All said and done, the image of a scarred and green Reegan at the peak of her possession, screaming and abusing in the devil’s voice will most probably be an image that will stick with you for a long long time.

4. Carrie (1976) - Director: Brian De Palma  Starring: Sisy Spacek, Piper Laurie

Carrie (1976)

A horror movie list is not complete without a shout out to the master himself, Stephen King. Directed by Brian De Palma and based on King’s book of the same name - Carrie at the start can be perceived as an angst ridden teen flick, in which the title character is shown to go through all the nonsense we tend to associate with high school; teasing, bulling, meaningless infantile politics. To add to her problems, Carrie’s mother is a staunch born-again Christian who habitually punishes her for the most absurd reasons. As the movie progresses, you soon realize that Carrie is special and quite clearly has telekinetic powers, spurred when she’s feeling deep seeded frustration.

By the time the epic prom scene takes place at the beginning of the end, things get extremely messy/bloody for all the characters. The scariest part of the movie takes place after the prom scene, when Carrie is confronted by her over zealous mother, who is convinced her daughter is now possessed by the devil. Sissy Spacek who plays Carrie and Piper Laurie who plays Carrie’s mother were nominated for Oscars for both their roles and there is a rather mischievous cameo made by John Travolta as well. Piper Laurie is amazing in this, her character is ridiculously creepy - she might be a hardcore Christian, but more often than not, you really feel she is a mother from hell.

5. The Shining (1980) - Director: Stanley Kubrick  Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelly Duvall

The Shining (1980)

One of many masterpieces by Stanley Kubrick, based on one of many classic horror novels by Stephen King; The Shining is a blend of a psychological thriller added with supernatural terror, with none other than Jack Nicholson playing the lead role of Jack Torrance. In an attempt to revitalize his writing career, Torrance takes his wife Wendy and his son Danny (who is clearly special) to a remote, snowbound, seemingly haunted hotel in which Torrance assumes the role of caretaker as the hotel shuts down for winter.

As time passes by, Jack becomes more and more peculiar, prone to extremely strange behavior and regularly encountering ghostly figures of the hotel’s past. At the same time his son Danny, who is able to read minds, claims to have been beaten by a ‘crazy woman’ in one of the rooms of the hotel, though Wendy suspects its her progressively deranged husband. Within no time, Jack falls over into the depths of insanity (“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy…”) as his wife and child are perilously left to fend for themselves against their now psychotic husband and father.

As expected with the late Stanley Kubrick, this is a movie of epic proportions in terms of its influence on the horror genre. Supported by a powerful performance by Jack Nicholson, The Shining will leave you in as much terror as Wendy and Danny experience, and the iconic “Here’s Johnny!” scene at the peak of the movie, will keep playing in your mind for many years to come…

6. Jaws (1975) - Director: Steven Spielberg  Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw

Jaws (1975)

Got to have one Steven Spielberg movie in this list, though you might not consider him a classic horror movie filmmaker; that being said, Jaws is consistently listed as an iconic movie in the genre. There is no serial killer, no demon child, no supernatural monsters - there is however an extremely blood-thirsty man-eating shark. Based on the novel of the same name, Jaws is set in a quaint seaside town where everything seems bright and chirpy, until a girl goes missing and her remains (clearly been devoured) wash up on the beach. Not taking caution, the town continue to frolic by the sea, as  officials refuse to confirm (for fear that tourist season might be ruined) there is in fact a rather terrifying and hungry shark trolling the waters. Predictably, a boy swimming in the sea is mauled and killed in broad daylight and within no time the entire town take it upon themselves to catch the murderous shark…

Jaws might not be in your face scary, some would argue the National Geographic channel can prove to be more chilling - nonetheless, put this movie on, get through it and I can guarantee next time you’re on the beach and you’re contemplating a swim in the sea, you will think twice. This was the movie that essentially put Spielberg on the map; nominated for numerous categories and going on to win three Oscars. The production and shooting was especially grueling with a ton of setbacks, but it went on to be a box office record setter at the time - made for $12 million and going on to earn $470 million. We’ll say the sequels were truly horrid (not in a scary way), but the original is definitely a classic that will keep you on your toes and probably lead to a life-long phobia of beaches.

7. The Omen (1976) - Director: Richard Donner  Starring: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick

The Omen (1976)

Yet another demon-child movie, The Omen tells the story of the childhood of the Antichrist, or as we’ve come to know him, Damien. When Robert Thorn makes the decision to secretly replace his miscarried baby with a new-born from an Italian orphanage, little does he realize the danger he has put his family in - unknowingly he has adopted the son of the devil. As the child grows up, the affluent Thorn couple continue to face a string of gruesome and bizarre events - their nanny commits suicide, they miscarry another child, the priest who warns them of their evil son  is mysteriously killed and so on… Damien is a peculiar child who isn’t as innocent as he appears to be. Will Robert Thorn realize in time to stop the son he has spent over 5 years bringing up?

The Omen movies are one of few series where the sequel is as powerful as the original - Damien: Omen II is definitely worth a watch and if you found the first part enthralling and terrifying (he’s the Antichrist for God sake!), this is equally effective. Killing a child on screen in Hollywood has always been a big no-no (for various reasons), but for the first time ever, you will find yourself rooting for this in The Omen…

8. Interview with the Vampire (1994) - Director: Neil Jordan  Starring: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst

Interview with the Vampire (1994)

So many vampire movies to pick from and while this is may not be considered primarily ‘horror’, Interview with the Vampire can definitely be labeled one of the best in the vampire genre. Inspired by the same titled book by the legendary vampire writer Ann Rice, this movie is an intense combination of drama, love and horror, much like all vampire movies.

Brad Pitt’s breaking out movie, Tom Cruise nailing a villainous role, Christian Slater as a third leg, Kirsten Dunst playing the adolescent femme fatale and a feisty cameo by Antonio Banderas. With its brilliant casting and classic plot line, Interview with a Vampire is a mesmerizing tale with an array of colourful characters, that strays away from the conventional Dracula theme. A flawless movie that tells the story of blood suckers like no other.

9. Evil Dead (1981) Director: Sam Raimi  Starring: Bruce Campbell

Evil Dead (1981)

Long before Sam Raimi was taking care of the Spiderman franchise, he was a champion of the zombie genre with his ultra gruesome ‘Evil Dead’ trilogy… influenced by George Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’, Raimi has taken zombies to a whole new level in this. While the movie is extremely scary and ridiculously violent, Raimi also adds hints of dark humor through it, sometimes the violence is so exaggerated, you can’t help but laugh at some of the situations (not taking away how truly terrifying it is). The movie was banned in Germany and also saw limited release and yet it is still considered a cult classic among horror buffs.

10. The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Director: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Only a decade old and I can hear all the purists muttering to themselves, how is this classic? Blair Witch might not exactly be an old school movie, but its influence on the horror genre over the years has been greatly significant. A part of me wants to tell you the movie is based on true events (remember how effective the marketing campaign was?), but this has been disputed. Described (at the start of the movie) as discovered footage of three young filmmakers who disappear while shooting a documentary about a forest haunted by a diabolical witch, the entire movie is shot on hand-held cameras, giving it an amateur yet realistic and gritty feel. Despite being warned by locals, the filmmakers continue to explore the  woods of Burkittsville, encountering voodoo dolls and weird symbols engraved in trees, in what seems to be a desolate area - without spoiling anything, things just get creepier and creepier.

Whether Blair Witch is a true story or not, it’s an extremely scary movie, that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout. When I first watched it in boarding school, surrounded by trees and forests, I will admit that I screamed like a little girl on numerous occasions. Unlike most movies, you really are put in the shoes of the characters thanks to its unique style… and the way the tension builds through each day and night is as clever as it is terrifying. We wouldn’t have movies like Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield if it wasn’t for this - the first of its kind, Blair Witch is a masterpiece.  That being said, avoid the sequels like an innocent child fleeing a deathly witch spirit.

The Death Instinct (2010)

In 2006, Jed Rubenfeld, a member of Yale Law School’s faculty, released The Interpretation of Murder - telling the story of world renowned psychologist, Sigmund Freud’s first and only visit to the United States in 1909. The book is a murder mystery thriller set in New York at the turn of the century, and is unique in it’s story telling process as it merges both fact with fiction. It is written in first person through the eyes of the main (fictional) protagonist - Stratham Younger, a Freud disciple who is given the responsibility to host the psychoanalyst on his first trip to America. Right from the get-go Freud along with his then protégé Carl Jung are put in the roles of detectives along with Younger, as they go in search to find a diabolical killer who has a knack for brutalizing and mutilating his female victims.

The book is extremely clever, because as you are taken on a roller coaster ride of mystery and suspense, you’re also given segments of brilliant dialogue between Freud and his real life counterparts as they analyze the human condition through their search for the murderer.  Much of the dialogue has been based on real life transcripts, antidotes and writings, which Rubenfeld has cleverly incorporated into the story. Throughout his life, Freud had felt a disdain towards Americans, often referring to them as ’savages’ - in this book, we’re given a fictional explanation as to why Freud might have developed this perception.

This year Rubenfeld has released the sequel to The Interpretation of Murder with The Death Instinct… following the characters we loved from the first part in a post WWI setting. The Death Instinct brings back Stratham Younger and Jim Littlemore in the roles of detectives, and to a certain extent they can be considered the Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (respectively) of both stories. Again Rubenfeld does brilliantly in blending fact with fiction as the book centers around the real-life event of The Wall Street Bombing of 1920 (a mystery that is yet to be solved), associating it with Freud’s famous ‘Death Instinct’ theory as the recurring theme. Here Rubenfeld explores a more political backdrop compared to The Interpretation, and there is heavy focus on war, terror and greed through the story.

Both books are highly entertaining and equally explosive; they should be read in sequence and are for those who enjoy a good mystery. More than anything else, they are a must for all fans of Sigmund Freud…

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In Pic: Jed Rubenfeld

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart, Jed Rubenfeld discusses his fascination with Sigmund Freud, the sequel to The Interpretation of Murder, ‘the Death Instinct’ theory and his unique ability to convincingly merge fact with fiction in his novels.

For someone whose career is immersed in teaching law, is there a particular reason your novels are focused on psychology?
The really good lawyers are all psychologists.  To win a case, whether it’s with a jury or judge, you have to tell a story: what exactly happened and why did the people make the decisions they made?  Lawyers, psychologists, novelists — it’s all story-telling.

Tell us about your fascination with Sigmund Freud and why you have based both your novels around him?
Freud may be out of fashion, but he’s one of the most influential thinkers of the modern era.  We live and breathe his ideas.  We take them so for granted we don’t even realize we’re his heirs.  For example, everyone today understands that we have unconscious fears and desires.  Most people today think sexuality is a central part of identity.  These are Freud’s central ideas, and we often forget how revolutionary they were in their own time and place.  In The Death Instinct, I explore the least-known but perhaps most relevant of all Freud’s major ideas — that we are all in some strange but powerful way attracted to death.  For Freud this meant that people not only had an instinctive desire to kill but also a desire to be close to death.  (We see this in the thrill of roller coasters, the appetite for violent movies — and the popularity of murder novels!)  In our age, we see this desire all around us.

As a writer who is famous for blending fact with fiction, what has been your step by step process to complete both your novels and what are the main challenges you face as a fictional writer who roots his writing in extensive factual research?
My process: research, research, research.  I read as much as I can to make sure the world I present to my readers is historically accurate down to the smallest details.  A lot of my research is drawn from newspaper archives. You can’t necessarily rely on newspaper stories to get the facts right. But they are windows onto the world as the people of the time saw it — they let you know what people at a given time were thinking about; what was pre-occupying them; what they believed; what events they considered to be “headlines.”

In Interpretation, we’re given literary psychological explanations for the act of murder; in the Death Instinct, we’re given literary psychological explanations for the act of terrorism centred around the Wall Street Bombing of 1920 and Freud’s ‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle.’ In your own words, could you describe Freud’s ‘Death Instinct’ theory and how it’s the running theme in your latest novel?
This isn’t a literary explanation.  And it’s as much political as it is psychological.  People are attracted to death: they like to kill; they are drawn to images and stories and experiences that bring them close to death; they kill in the name of their religion — and invent all sorts of other reasons for it as well.  This was Freud’s theory of the “death instinct,” which he announced in 1920 — the same year the Wall Street Bombing took place.  But alongside this death instinct, Freud believed we also have an instinct for life and love.  And these two drives are locked in perpetual conflict, working themselves out in our wars, our cultures, our hearts.  When people live, as we do today and as they did in 1920, in a world riddled with terror and  war and hatred, it’s important to acknowledge the mysterious and powerful pull of death, but also to recall the other part of our soul that struggles against this darkness.

The Interpretation of Murder deals with Freud’s first and only visit to the United States where he’s literally put into the role of detective, but what role does the famous psychoanalyst play in The Death Instinct?
The Death Instinct, as its title indicates, takes as its theme Freud’s belief in the darker instincts of death and aggression.  But in its plot, Freud also has a role — although it’s smaller. Younger and Colette, who are in love with each other, but can’t find their way to each other, bring Colette’s little brother to Vienna to be treated by Freud.  Colette’s brother does not talk; the reason may be that he experienced or saw something during the war that has caused him to be mute.

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In Pic: Subroto Bagchi

An innovator in India’s IT industry with a wealth of experience, ranging from 10 years developing Wipro as a global force, to becoming the Vice-Chairman and Gardener at India’s leading software firm, MindTree - Subroto Bagchi’s three books are a testament of his vast knowledge in the professional sphere. The Bagchi collection has a brilliant knack of seeking inspiration and knowledge from unusual sources rather than the stale examples we constantly read about.

There is a personal touch in all his books that gives them an empathetic feel and at the same time never strays away from its priceless didactic influence. He describes himself as an ordinary man looking to achieve extraordinary things, and one can say this is the underlining theme of all his books. Essentially they are ‘tool kits’ for individuals striving to create extraordinary businesses and who strive to be extraordinary professionals. These are three books for people who inspire to not just be good, but rather to be the best in what they look to achieve - both professionally and personally.

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart - MindTree Vice Chairman and Gardener Subroto Bagchi talks about his three books…

Who is Subroto Bagchi and what makes him tick?
To begin with, I’m a person with an ordinary background and I’m very conscious of my beginnings. The Subroto Bagchi I know, is of ordinary birth and with help from other people like him, is trying to build something extraordinary. My whole life is a quest for that. What makes me tick? Being around with people makes me tick, the idea of building a sense of legacy makes me tick, the concept of making an impact which is larger than one’s self, which is disproportionate to one’s current capacity makes me tick.

Can you tell us what exactly your three books are about and how they differ from each other in style and topic?

On The High Performance Entrepreneur
My first book is ‘The High Performance Entrepreneur’. It was written at the behest of Penguin and it was written for would-be entrepreneurs. Penguin wanted the book to be written in an informal, conversational, narrative style, because they were quite taken by my columns in Business World at the time. They liked the style; where, in a very informal, personal way I used to raise various issues and talk about learning from unusual sources. They were wondering if I would agree to write a book as somebody who is a practitioner, somebody who is not done yet; because many times books get written about companies when they are already successful. The second category of entrepreneurship books you’ll find are written by people who are not entrepreneurs. They wanted an entrepreneur speaking in an informal narrative style, kind of giving the formula away.

On Go Kiss The World
The second book was ‘Go Kiss The World’. While I wrote ‘The High Performance Entrepreneur’, it occurred to me that everybody is not meant to be an entrepreneur. For every great enterprise, you need thousands of professionals, young people who make these organizations succeed. Now where are these people going to come from? Invariably, these people come from hinterland India. The real India is not the metro India. The real India is the India I come from. I was born and brought up in a remote part of Orissa, and I was raised in the tribal districts around Orissa. Even today when I go to hotels, hospitals, banks, any place, you find thousands of young people who had a less than privileged life, who have left everything behind them and come to the big city to work. I believe that sometimes when these people come from their modest background, they kind of stand outside the circle, sometimes they feel they’re missing something. They don’t feel adequate enough. I wanted them to know my personal story, so that they understand when you come from an ordinary background it is an asset - because it gives you simplicity and the power of simplicity is second to none.

The second thing it gives you is innocence. In today’s rapidly changing world, it’s a very important characteristic. If you’re innocent,  you are curious, non-judgmental, then you are able to receive. I wanted these people to be reassured that they can do unusual things if they do it right. So for them, I wrote ‘Go Kiss the World’, trying to look at the life of a professional in the 20s, 30s and 40s.

The 20s are the time when you want to be someone, in your 30s you are that someone and 40s see the journey from who you are to who you are meant to be. So in different phases of your professional life, different professional and personal challenges unfold and this journey has to be handled with a long view of time. Life is precious and everything is connected, though we don’t often realize how small things lead to big things. When you look at the complex web that life is, you need to treat your life with gentleness and with care, you need to understand that you are a means to an end. So, keeping that in mind, ‘Go Kiss the World’ was written; very personal as the title itself is something my mother told me on her deathbed.

On The Professional
With ‘The Professional’, it occurred to me that there is a larger need  for a toolkit that young professionals must carry. This is something that was brimming in my mind, even before my first book was written. As I started to see the world through my own eyes, I realized there is a vast difference between professionals in this country and their counterparts anywhere in  the  developed countries. Not to say the counterparts there are better than them, what I’m saying is if you’re a first rate professional, you’re first rate anywhere in the world. But the average in our country is way below their average. And it’s not because of your mettle, but because no one told you how to be better than who you are.

So, I essentially drew lessons by looking around different sectors and put together a toolkit on how to be world-class as a professional. How to actually understand the difference between professional qualification and what it means to be a true professional.

Differences in style:
I think the books are more symbiotic than vastly different. One is about enterprise building, the other is about looking at your own life as an enterprise, and the third book ‘The Professional’ is something that entrepreneurs and young professionals would like to read. At the same time, I think there is bound to be a subtle difference, because I think I have matured as a writer as the books have been published over 5 years. Maybe I’ve matured, maybe I’ve not, but those subtle differences, I think, is for the critics to tap.

There are a plethora of management books regularly published from industry leaders all over the world - how are your books different from the rest and why should we read them?
I think it’s very difficult for me to tell you what the x-factor is in my books. It’s, first of all, a great thing that a lot of practitioners are writing books in India. It started with Kishore Biyani and myself, then Nandan, of course. His book isn’t about business. It is much larger as you’re talking about imagining India which is a much larger canvas. How are my books different? I tried to build a book which has a toolkit of sorts, which is more than just raising an issue or a problem… The learner, practitioner, young manager is probably the wrong word, the young working person, that is the individual I write for. I wouldn’t say my books are profound. I think I’m trying to write books which are very usable, a book that you will read and say, “Oh, this looks like a situation I’ve personally gone through and maybe next time I’ll do it a little differently.”

Similarly, I want young people to say, “Wow! So, I’m not alone. I’m not the only person who currently feels this contradiction, feels disconcerted, feels trapped, feels exuberant, sometimes in a situation that will change the course of my life. What Subroto says here looks familiar.” I want to evoke this feeling.

Primarily, who have been your target audience for your three books?
I essentially write for people who are in the age range of 20-40 and for those who come from the B-towns, the people who come from hinterland India.

In your first book The High Performance Entrepreneur you have laid out the groundwork to build a thriving and successful business - in your opinion what would be the three golden rules to achieve this?
The three imperative things to build a sustainable business - you must have a long view of time. Organization building takes a long time. We’ve been building MindTree for the past 11 years and we’re not half done, not that there is anytime when you can say ‘I’m done.’ But honestly, it takes far longer than many of us would think.

The second very important thing is, to understand And this is where most people have struggled, that an idea is not an enterprise. If  you’ve figured out how to build a particular gizmo, it means you’re an inventor, not necessarily an enterprise builder. The two are vastly different. When I meet young people, , they’re obsessed with the idea of creating a portal or building a gizmo, but if you look at companies like Intel, Apple, Infosys, MindTree or Wipro, they’re not built like that. The entrepreneur is obsessed with the idea of business - the business of business, as I call it, and not just one idea. If you’ve got a great idea, go sell it to someone and move on to your next idea. You should be able to see a family of ideas; you should know that you’re committed to creating something sustainable even if one idea fails.

The third important thing is to have a good set of people to work with. The initial core set of people. Many times a venture capitalist will tell you that he or she rather back an A-team with a B idea, rather than B-team with an A idea. If you’ve got an A-team with a B idea, they will figure it out and fix it. As  I told you, it’s not the idea that makes the enterprise, it’s the people who make the enterprise.

That said, I must tell you, these kinds of questions tend to oversimplify the issue; it isn’t really right to say these are the only answers, everything is situational.

Recession has opened up the opportunity to set up new businesses for young entrepreneurs  - was this something that prompted you to write your first book?
Writing a book is like delivering a baby, though these days it’s fashionable to time your baby to a particular event, but generally your baby comes when your baby comes, so it wasn’t planned that way. Typically, I take a year to write a book, and it just so happens that Penguin came to me at a certain time and at MindTree, we were at that point where we could say there is enough information, enough data, enough conclusion, enough learning to be able to now package it and hold it for the young would-be entrepreneurs out there. It so happened ‘The High Performance Entrepreneur’ got released and the world went into a recession, it was nice because it’s  during times of recession that great enterprises get built.

Again, to build a good company, you have to have a long view of time, so periodic ups and periodic downs should not bother someone. Ashok Soota, chairman and co-Founder of MindTree always says, “The interesting thing is that neither good times, nor bad times last forever and in good times instead of getting carried away one needs to prepare for the bad times. And in bad times one needs to build preparedness for the good times to come back.”

Go Kiss The World is a beautiful name for a title, there is a touching story behind it… can you tell us how you came about naming your second book?
Funnily, it wasn’t I who decided to use the title - when ‘The High Performance Entrepreneur’ was sent to Press; my editor took me by complete surprise and asked “What’s the next book?” I was thinking to myself “Will my first book sell?” At that time my editor, Krishan Chopra, said, “First of all, you have to write the next book for Penguin and it’s time you started now. But irrespective of what is written in the book, the title has to be ‘Go Kiss The World’.”

The story behind that story is that I was invited by IIM in 2004 to deliver the commencement talk, and I was telling myself all these kids are in the self-congratulatory mode and one more boring corporate guy comes and talks about globalisation, the importance of taking your work seriously and making your impact - will these kids even listen to me? So then I thought, why don’t I turn the whole thing on its head and talk to them in the first person and talk to them about my life lessons and life lessons not learned in a MBA school, but life lessons from people who have given me life. So I talked about the lessons I learned from my father and mother and the title of that speech was ‘Go Kiss the World’. Even today, I think, it is one of the most spammed content on the Internet, if you Google it, you’ll find multiple versions of that speech listed - for six years it’s amazing how it’s been kept alive. It developed a life of its own, in India and outside of it, people asked for reprint rights, used for the school curriculum; it went into hundreds  of in-house magazines and was published in full in many major newspapers. So Krishan said, “Write what you want to write, but the title has to be Go Kiss the World.”

In Go Kiss The World - there are several depictions of your experiences with nasty bosses, tell us about one of these experiences and could you tell us how one is able to deal with such a situation?
A lot of young people get overwhelmed very early in their career when they’re put in a tough professional situation, where the situation is perpetrated by someone who is larger than you at that moment and you think this is make or break. One such incident happened in my life where I wanted to quit. A very senior person called me and told me this very fascinating thing, he said, “You know when a little seed sprouts from under a big rock, between the sapling and the rock, the power rests with the rock; at that moment if the sapling tries to push the rock back, it’s not going to happen. The sapling typically grows by circumventing the rock and 15 years after when the sapling has become a full grown tree, where is the rock? The rock is at the feet of the tree.” It’s very important to keep that perspective, but doesn’t mean you should put up with abusive behavior, it doesn’t mean you should live even a moment of issues bordering on harassment and I deal with some of that in The Professional. But on issues which are non-threatening in a personal sense, when you get overwhelmed, think of, are you looking at the rock as the end of the road or should you be focused on growing up.

You did a 10 year stint at Wipro through the late 80s well into the 90s, tell us about your relationship with your then boss - Azim Premji?
He’s a great man; he’s built a business which he inherited from his father. Wipro was started in 1947, so we’re talking about a company which is 60+ years old. Wipro is a company that is globally recognized today. Yes, I worked directly under him; a very charismatic and principled leader, one of a kind. We had our moments of agreements and moments of severe disagreements. But when I look back, I’m proud to say he is one of the handful of people from whom I’ve directly learnt how to deal with contradictions and how to come to a decision when you are dealing with difficult human and corporate situations. How do you choose between the right and the expedient? It was great working with Wipro, because I look at myself as an organization builder and in those 10 years Wipro was growing up from being a domestically focused company to an international brand. I was lucky to have very interesting assignments there.

In your introduction for The Professional you clearly tell the reader exactly how the book is meant to be read - urging the reader to not skip and jump, but rather to read it in the order it is presented; is there a particular reason you felt the need to tell this to your readers?
What happens is that many of us read books, typically management books, a little bit from here and some portions from there; sometimes starting from the back to see the conclusion. ‘The Professional’ is set in a particular way, first it says: Who is a professional? What are the three most critical elements of being a professional? Once that is established, we move into another higher body of knowledge, which is about self-awareness. A professional must be self aware. Then I move on to say what kind of key issues you will face through your 20s, 30s and 40s. How do you move from being an individual professional contributor to a person who can lead and manage, because the complexities become vastly different.  The success factors of a professional in her 20s and 30s are different from those she may need in her 40s. Then the book deals with the imperatives for a new world.

For the last 50-60 years we have created professionals in many different disciplines in India, but the biggest difference between that time and the next 20 years is that Indian professionals would have to play a global game - the world has vastly changed, Internet and free trade has changed the world. So there are certain new world imperatives which must be understood, appreciated and practiced - so the book  goes into that body of knowledge. Finally, the books talk about some of the most unprofessional things that people do, not to create a huge laundry list, but to make people step back for a moment and say, these are stuff that I need to stay away from. Now unless you read the book in that sequence, it is not likely to give you the complete perspective.

In The Professional - you highlight the difference between the true professional versus one who is professionally qualified, what exactly is the difference?
The fundamental difference is that professional qualification and professional experience can make you very competent. Let’s say you are a first rate nephrologist and you do a surgical procedure brilliantly, but you know what? You’re in the kidney racket. So, are you professionally qualified? Of course, you are. Are you being a professional? No, you’re not. The book deals with a situation where Supreme Court lawyers in the  ‘BMW Case’, a famous hit and run case in Delhi, were involved. Where the prosecution lawyer and  defense lawyers colluded. The matter went all the way to the Supreme Court of India and these lawyers, who were representing opposite sides and colluding, were crossing the basic ethical boundary which is taught as Legal 101. If I’m a prosecution lawyer, I can’t be colluding with a defense lawyer. If I’m a defense lawyer, I can’t be doing something which is against the interest of my client. These are people who have represented Prime Ministers of the country. Were they professionally qualified? Absolutely stellar professional qualifications! But were they being professional?

One of the unusual professionals epitomized in your book, is Mr. Mahadeva (a man who has earned respect and recognition for burying unclaimed corpses through his lifetime). How did you go about choosing and researching the true professionals in your book?
Interestingly, unlike many of the management books that come out, which are aided by research teams, I’m my one man research team. What I do continuously, every morning is to look around; observe and absorb.I’m very curious about what’s going on in the world. How did I get to know about Mahadeva? I read about Mahadeva probably 15 years back, reading a small piece somewhere, I filed it in the back of my mind, and I said some day I must find this individual. At that time I was not even contemplating a book, at that time I was  thinking here is a source of profound learning from an unusual source. I believe that the greatest learning in life you’ll get by looking at unusual sources. The usual sources have either been exhausted or everybody will go to the usual sources.

So you go to a Mahadeva or the Cucumber Seller of Chennai. One of my best read columns in Business World was on this man, who sells cucumbers by the roadside - a half naked man who gave me a couple of lessons in professionalism and humility. I’m continuously looking at people from all directions, unusual sources. Once you up your antenna, you’ll find that the sources present themselves and then all I’m doing is I’m filing them up because I’m saying I’m not just a consumer of this information, but I’m a repository. I’m being given this knowledge to go and tell this story. Of course, you can’t be like a camera where I’m insensitive about what I’m filming. That’s where the human being is different from the machine. My intellect, my knowledge, is no good unless I have empathy, inclusion, where I’m saying, “What is it like to be in this person’s shoes?”

With three acclaimed management books to your name, what have you got lined up for your fourth book? Does the thought of writing fiction ever cross your mind?

Absolutely not! I think it’s very important for a person to know his limitations. Just because my books sell, tomorrow I’ll say why don’t I compete with Arundhati Roy, Jhumpa Lahiri or Amitav Ghosh - it’s not going to happen. I think these are higher life-forms. My wife, Susmita Bagchi, is a fiction writer; her first English novel has been released. It’s a book called Children of a Better God. She has written 13 books in her mother tongue - Oriya. We have very clear marked lines in the house, for less intelligent, mundane stuff and non-fiction, I’m the departmental head. Fiction she writes and we don’t cross each other’s boundaries.

Currently, what are you reading?

At this time I’m reading Raghav Bahl’s book; Superpower? : The Amazing Race Between China’s Hare And India’s Tortoise. It’s an interesting read that talks about the race between India and China. It talks about the possibilities and the inherent challenges of both these countries. Raghav Bahl is an entrepreneur I admire – he’s the man who founded TV 18 and has channels like CNN IBN and CNBC in India and also publishes for Forbes India. He’s got very interesting perspectives in this book.

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Buy Subroto Bagchi’s The High Performance Entrepreneur (Limited Quantity Autographed Copies) on Flipkart

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Martin Scorsese - The Greatest Living American Filmmaker

Hands down, Martin Scorsese is the greatest American filmmaker alive, some would argue the greatest film historian alive, as well. A member of the elite ‘movie brats’ of Hollywood in the 70s, Scorsese is credited with pioneering modern film-making along with the likes of Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg and De Palma. It’s actually hard to believe he hadn’t won an Oscar for over thirty years! If you look at his filmography, with each decade Scorsese has produced at least one truly classic movie. In the 70s it was Taxi Driver, in the 80s it was Raging Bull, in the 90s it was Goodfellas and in the 00’s it was The Departed.

Adding to his genius, this isn’t a filmmaker who typecasts himself, particularly in violent gangster flicks - he has an array of diverse films under his belt; quintessential documentaries on musicians, lush period films that work just as well as a dense book of literature and biopics that shed light on real life personalities like no other. Sharp technique in all facets of film-making with genius story telling and a knack to work on quality scripts with meaty subject matter - Scorsese is your complete movie director. You don’t just watch one of his movies, you watch all his movies.

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1. Taxi Driver (1976): Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel

Taxi Driver (1976)

Taxi Driver is considered to be Scorsese’s first classic hit… following the success of Mean Streets, Taxi Driver marked the first Scorsese movie that was both critically acclaimed and a success in the box office - with a production cost of just over a  million, Taxi Driver pulled in nearly $30 million in profits. It also won Scorsese a Palm D’or at the Cannes Film Festival. Following the story of insomniac Travis Bickle, a slightly deranged (though, with a big heart) Vietnam War veteran who is a night-shift cabbie, the movie works as a social commentary on a number of dark subjects; street crime, prostitution, pedophilia, corruption - all set in a decaying New York City. Taxi Driver boasts a gritty realistic style that reflects on the subject matter, and Robert De Niro, as in all Scorsese movies is on top of his game.

Whether he’s a true vigilante or a complete nutter, Travis Bickle is a cult hero and even though he may terrify with his unpredictable nature, you will find yourself sympathizing with him at the end of it. Let it be said, the ending of this movie is ultra violent and at the same time, nothing short of epic. This is the movie that put both De Niro and Scorsese on the superstar map and is without a doubt, a must watch.

2. Raging Bull (1980): Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty

Raging Bull (1980)

Based on the autobiography by Jake LaMotta, Raging Bull proved to be Scorsese’s second masterpiece. Spurred by his go-to actor Robert De Niro to pick up the project, Raging Bull is the violent and tragic biopic of the legendary boxer and former middleweight champion, Jake LaMotta. The movie documents LaMotta’s murky rise as a fighter (a boxer who was able to endure severe beatings from his opponents and still stay on his feet), but also his rapid descent into borderline insanity driven by jealousy and his sadomasochistic temperament that eventually saw him lose his title, his family and his friends in the process.

The movie is shot in black and white, which gives it an authentic feel and the scenes of the fights are brilliantly done with unique first person perspective from right inside the ring. Robert De Niro is at his intense best, not only did he go through vigorous training by LaMotta himself, the actor also put on 30 kgs to portray an aging LaMotta post his boxing days. As a result, De Niro won an Oscar for Best Actor. Raging Bull is a piece of boxing history thanks to its no-holds-barred depiction of LaMotta (which stays extremely true to the original autobiography) - if you’re a big fan of boxing as much as you are a fan of the old school De Niro-Scorsese combination, then don’t miss out on this.

3. Goodfellas (1990): Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta

GoodFellas (1990)

Adapted from ‘Wiseguy’ by Nicholas Pileggi (who also worked on the script with Scorsese), Goodfellas is Martin Scorsese’s epic gangster flick based on real life events, starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci. Hard hitting and brutally violent, this was Scorsese’s first mafia movie and in many ways marked his ‘coming of age’ as one of America’s finest filmmakers. The movie centers around former wise-guy turned FBI informant Henry Hill and his exploits with an established mafia family of New York City. The movie spans through three decades of mob life, where murder, theft and extortion are just a few of the examples of how the anti-heroes make a living for themselves. It also shows how the drug trade led to the downfall of several gangsters of the time.

Goodfellas has proved to be a blue print for TV shows such as The Sopranos and is considered a cultural masterpiece in its depiction of the American mafia. From a film-making perspective, this is without a doubt one of Scorsese’s finest, showcasing an array of techniques that pioneered modern film-making. There is one ‘long shot’ in particular, where Henry Hill takes his soon-to-be wife on their first date which is especially breathtaking. It’s hard to believe this didn’t win the Oscar for ‘Best Picture’ (losing out to Costner’s Dances with Wolves). It did however win the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ category, for Joe Pesci’s performance as Tommy Devito, based on real-life mobster Thomas DeSimone. Pesci is absolutely first class in this, every time he’s on screen you’ll be hit with a wave of tension and at the same time you’ll find yourself being remotely amused. Good luck stomaching the murder of the character Billy Batts… a classic mafia scene.

4. The Age of Innocence (1993): Daniel Day Lewis, Michelle Pheiffer, Winona Ryder

The Age of Innocence (1993)

One usually connects early Scorsese movies with; gangsters, mafia, ultra-violence, profanity and murder etc. Age of Innocence would be the complete anti-thesis of what you would expect from the man. The movie is Scorsese’s epic love-triangle story based on the 1920 novel of the same name by Edith Wharton - this one is for the ladies, Scorsese’s ‘chick flick’, if you will. Set in 19th century New York, the movie tells the story of love and marriage in high society New York through the life of protagonist Newland Archer, played by the swarthy Daniel Day Lewis. Archer’s soon to be wife - the idyllic May Wellan is played by Winona Ryder, while Michelle Pheiffer plays the role of Archer’s vivacious could-be lover, Ellen Olenska. As with most Scorsese period movies - the production in this is immense and equally gorgeous. The acting is as intense as any of Scorsese’s movies and the three main characters in this shine with great chemistry.

5. Casino (1995): Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone

Casino (1995)

This was the second collaboration between Nicholas Pileggi (Wise Guy/Goodfellas) and Martin Scorsese. Based on real life casino man Frank Rosenthal (Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein), Casino tells the story of how the mafia controlled Las Vegas through the 60s all the way up to the 80s. Just like Goodfellas, the movie is based on true events, though the characters have been renamed. There is also the same brilliant combination of actors with Robert De Niro in the lead and Joe Pesci supporting as a crazy mafioso, along with Scorsese newbie Sharon Stone playing the role of the beautiful yet detestable Ginger Rothstein (De Niro’s onscreen drug addled wife). Stone gives a robust performance in this and as a result was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars for this role. The movie is virile and extremely violent but might not be Scorsese’s best, that being said, from a technical film making perspective, it’s spot on and the plot is enthralling as you’re given an inside look at the workings of old school casinos. If you like Goodfellas, this definitely has the same feel to it. If you’re a big gambler, then Casino is a must.

6. Kundun (1997): Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, Sonam Phuntsok, Robert Lin

Kundun (1997)

A radiant biopic, Kundun tells the story of the 14th Dalai Lama’s rise as the leader of the Tibetan people, as well as a leader in true spirituality. The movie gives deep focus into his humble childhood, the Chinese invasion of Tibet and his subsequent exile out of Tibet into India as he escaped the murderous hands of the Chinese. Sadly Kundun went completely under the radar for two reasons; Brad Pitt’s ‘Seven Years In Tibet’ was released at the same time and also because the Chinese government did all that it could to prevent its distribution. Nevertheless, the cinematography in this is stunning, depicting the picturesque Tibetan Himalayas beautifully, and is supported with an equally brilliant soundtrack by Phillip Glass. Celebrated movie critic, Roger Ebert was quoted saying: “The film’s visuals and music are rich and inspiring, and like a mass by Bach or a Renaissance church painting, it exists as an aid to worship: It wants to enhance, not question.”

7. The Aviator (2004): Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Alex Baldwin

The Aviator (2004)

Based on the life of the remarkable yet aloof maverick - Howard Hughes, The Aviator is one of Scorsese’s most expensive movies. The production in this is simply breathtaking, from the monumental planes to the brilliant costumes and period settings, and one shouldn’t be surprised to know this movie cost over $100 million to be made. Spanning through a career which saw Hughes as a controversial filmmaker, test pilot for quick planes, and finally becoming an owner of an airlines (among other things), The Aviator as a movie is larger than life just like its subject, Howard Hughes. Comic icon Stan Lee summed up the man best when said; “Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies’ man and finally a nutcase.” This works as a brilliant synopsis for both the movie and the character.

This vivid portrayal of Hughes gives the viewer deep insight into his genius and at the same time depicts his obsessive compulsive disorder extensively. The Aviator also marked DiCaprio’s second movie with Scorsese, and cemented his position as the director’s go-to actor since Robert De Niro. There is also a stand out performance by Cate Blanchett - who plays one of Hughes’ many lovers - the stunning Audrey Hephburn.

9. No Direction Home (2005): Documentary

No Direction Home (2005)

The quintessential documentary/film on Bob Dylan, which sees his rise to fame as the music industry’s leading lyricist and folk singer. No Direction Home chronicles Dylan’s arrival in New York in the early sixties up to the point where he gives up touring following his life threatening motorcycle accident in 1966. There is also heavy focus on Dylan’s controversial switch from acoustic to electric - a time in his career where he was reinventing himself as a rock star, but as a result faced a lot of abuse from folk purists.

No Direction Home as a project took nearly a decade to put together - it is filled with never before seen footage through Dylan’s career, great interviews from a wide variety personalities including Ginsburg and Dylan’s girlfriend during the 60s (the same girl who is famously clutching his arm in The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan album cover) and also includes scenes from his infamous Manchester concert where a fan screamed out “Judas!” as Dylan was about to get into an electric version of ‘Like a Rolling Stone.’

8. The Departed (2006): Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg

The Departed (2006)

After over three decades in Hollywood, it was this movie that finally won Scorsese a long deserved Oscar… The Departed swept the Academy Awards in 2006; with Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Screenplay. Some will argue that Scorsese’s earlier films; Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and Raging Bull were more deserving, but it has to be said The Departed was worthy of all the accolades. Sporting an all star cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen - the movie is a remake of the classic Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs. Following the plot of two moles, one from the police department infiltrating the mafia and vice versa - The Departed gives you a unique look at the Irish mafia in Boston with a tense cat and mouse theme.

Fast paced, action packed, twists and turns, ridiculous amounts of tension and a stellar performance from all the actors, it’s no surprise The Departed ranks amongst the best in the contemporary crime thriller genre. Stand out performances from DiCaprio, Nicholson and Damon makes this a must watch.

10. Shutter Island (2010): Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley

Shutter Island (2010)

Based on the psychological thriller novel by Dennis Lehane, Scorsese’s Shutter Island has the customary lead role played by Leonardo DiCaprio, with stand out supporting roles from Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley. In Shutter Island, we have the best of everything that is Scorsese with a little twist, he isn’t telling us how great he is, he’s telling us how great Alfred Hitchcock was - as this movie is quite clearly an homage the to late great master of psychological thrillers.

This movie has all components of a classic Scorsese movie, intelligent yet quirky editing techniques, a keen eye for lush rich cinematography matched with a sharp understanding of imagery and colour contrasts. Add a plot line that deals with very dark yet classic themes ranging from the holocaust, infanticide, dementia, treatment of the insane, and you have a true culmination of Hitchcock-Scorsese cinema.

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For the hardcore Scorsese fans who just can’t get enough of his movies, there is a book that you might want to have a look at - Scorsese on Scorsese… a definitive study of Scorsese by himself; “recounting the many battles to get his movies made, his supreme passion for the medium of film itself, and the roots of his long-time creative partnership with actor Robert De Niro.“

It seems appropriate to guide you to his latest television project on HBO - Boardwalk Empire, yet another mafia based series, following the prohibition period of the 1920s in Atlantic City. It’s still airing but if you can get your hands on the episodes, they are well worth a watch. There are also murmurs that he will be joining De Niro on a new movie project in the future and he also has a biopic on Frank Sinatra and a documentary on the late Beatles guitarist George Harrison in the works.

Simply Fly by Captain Gopinath - The remarkable story of India's truest entrepreneur

Born in a remote village in Karnataka, a prominent officer in the army, an ecologically sharp farmer, India’s leading entrepreneur, independent politician, acclaimed author – this is the man who revolutionized air travel, making it affordable and accessible to everyone in India. To say Captain Gopinath is the whole package would simply be an understatement.

‘Simply Fly’ is a fairly self-explanatory title for a book documenting the birth of India’s first low cost airline, Air Deccan. It’s also the remarkable story of the visionary behind this venture, Captain Gopinath, a pioneer who has given 200% and more in whatever he looks to accomplish. The difference between ‘Simply Fly’ and the rest of your CEO written autobiographies, this isn’t your run of the mill ‘management’ books that lights the way to a quick buck. Instead, this is an inspiring tale of someone who truly believes in making the impossible, possible, with the future of India and it’s development always a driving force. To quote the Captain himself – ‘Simply Fly’ is “the story of new India, the story of possibility, the story of opportunity.”

In Pic: Captain Gopinath

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart – Captain Gopinath talks about his humble beginnings as an army officer and farmer, why he choose to pen down his life, the story of Air Deccan, the need for all of us to find our ‘inner light,’ his relationship with Vijay Mallya, his favourite authors and three books that changed his life…

What makes Captain Gopinath tick?
It’s my love of life and a passion for living intensely. To not lose myself in despair but lose myself in action all the time. Enthusiasm in whatever I do and I plunge into venture head long when it grabs my heart more than my mind.

Who or what gave you the idea to write ‘Simply Fly’?
I use to constantly be giving talks in schools, colleges – IITs, IIMs, convocations, some of the foreign colleges like Wharton.  I would never give a management lecture - I would just tell them what I did, tell them how to be involved with life and how to be passionate about whatever things you do. At the end of it, people would always ask: “Captain, why don’t you write it? So that it encourages people to pursue their dreams and not to give up.” This call became persistent, especially during my senior management lectures in the larger companies. One day I thought instead of just writing a management book with answers, I thought I must write about the joy of entrepreneurship. The joy of building and creating, to help people pursue their dreams. I thought it was important and I had to get it off my chest.

Can you describe what one can learn when they read your book ‘Simply Fly’?
Not to do what I did, but to pursue your own dreams. To forge your own trail, to live life to the hilt and to do things in a manner in which you leave the world a  better place. My book is my story, the story of Air Deccan, the story of new India, the story of possibility, it is the story of opportunity, because there’s no real security in this world and there’s only opportunity. In India today, for anyone who can dream and put his shoulder to the floor, India is all opportunities.  In spite of all the depressing aspects of our politics, bureaucracy and our corruption, in spite of that, my book shows it’s possible to hope, to build, to create and move forward. The way for any of us, young and old is not to be cynical. It is to build in the midst of the desert and to find joy in it.

Air Deccan prided itself in being India’s first low cost carrier offering affordable prices for everyone to fly. Can you tell us why you made it a mission to ensure this was a service available to everyone around the country.
I always felt passionate when I shared my life and my work with the farmers… I felt that there is a great joy in creating and building, especially for the other India.  I’ve never stopped being amazed at the  the zest the farmers have, in spite of all the odds and tragedies they face. Most of them are very stoic and courageous, they’re part of the earth. That’s why I felt we need to create jobs, we need to create businesses where people can get jobs in other India. I felt that today, there is a need for us to make the other India participate in this economic growth. Somehow they’ve been left behind. For me, this gives me an adrenaline rush, to do something in the small towns and villages. That’s when I felt I must link all the unconnected parts of India to the main metros and give a chance to everybody to fly.

What are your personal favourite segments in the book? What did you enjoy writing?
The early days in my village with my father, my days in the army, in that order. And of course, my life on the farm, when I built a farm from a barren piece of land.

Who is your target audience for the book?
Largely the new youth of India. One section of them are fortunate, but have become cynical and critical and spend most of their time in pubs and clubs. They need to be pushed to participate in creating and building. The idle of the rich is the biggest crime. On the other hand, there is also the other section of the youth who are unemployed and uneducated from rural India, who are becoming increasingly resentful and feel justified sometimes in taking up to violence and joining Maoism and Naxalism. To tell them, in spite of all the problems of poverty, there is much to admire about our country.  To not sit back in hatred, but it’s possible to break the shackles, break the kind of oppressive circumstances one is put in and it’s in your hands. Money isn’t everything, it’s energy and enthusiasm that matters most in life. I’m aware that a large segment of this group cannot even read my book, which is why the book has just been signed to be published in various regional languages – Hindi, Tamil, Kannada. I’m also hoping someone makes a movie out of it!

What are some of the important life lessons young readers can take from the book?
Indefatigable energy, inextinguishable optimism, unrelenting enthusiasm.  Throughout my book, you’ll see it was my blind optimism which made me do things – belief in friendship, belief in the goodness of people. It’s because of optimism I rushed headlong into venture after venture. So it’s all about optimism, all about energy and not giving up under any circumstances.  I think persistence is more important than talent, and that’s more important than capital. So the book doesn’t give you specific answers as to how to market, or how to build a company, or how to make money, or how to time the stock market, but it only tells you all the time that you must follow your heart, follow your dreams, build businesses as though you’re going to build forever.

The aviation business is famous for being an industry in which massive losses are incurred and has a reputation for being more of a status symbol than a cash cow for powerful businessmen… what are your thoughts on this perception?
Yeah, I think a lot of people get into the aviation business for the glamor of it. But of course for my case, I took the non-glamorous route of building a low cost airline, going to small towns to hire my employees. We had 500 air hostesses who had all come from regionals and villages. We deliberately relied on these smalls towns to link the other India and give connectivity. For me it was more a kind of religion and I was driven by an evangelical zeal with a clear idea of building a company which can create wealth for everybody who were associated with it and at the same time create a new customer value. It was all about expanding the customer base. I think for anybody who gets into businesses today, you have a great opportunity to build for the other India.

Through your own personal experiences and from the eventual Deccan-Kingfisher buyout, how would you describe your relationship with business tycoon Vijay Mallya? The passage in which you describe your first encounter in ‘Simply Fly,’ was humorous and to the point.
On a personal level, we’re good friends, good family friends. I like him – he’s a very charming man, a very endearing man. But on the business front, we’re poles apart and much to my dismay I discovered it was a wrong marriage.

Your message to young, up and coming entrepreneurs looking to start their own business?
You should not analyze too much… If you have to overcome all obstacles before you start a venture, I don’t think there would be any venture in the world. There’s a point beyond which analysis cannot go. It was Tagore who famously said: “Mind or logic is like a knife or blade, it breeds the hand that uses it.”  There’s only up to a point you can have analysis, after that you must rely on your intuition, that inner light that shines to you alone. Only you know the power of that when you try it. There’s a unique power in each individual. There’s a unique light that shines to each of us and we have to learn to listen to that and follow that inner light. Follow your heart, follow what prompts you.

Advice to CEOs or industry leaders who aren’t writers by profession, but still feel the urge to tell their story?
If you’re writing yourself, I don’t think you should write a preachy book as to how to build a company. Rather you should write in the style of Richard Branson or Sam Walton, where they just wrote what they did. With all the pimples and warts and mistakes, you must write honestly, rather than at the end of every chapter giving lessons on the art of business. You tell the story as truthfully as you can, in a personalized manner, in a story format, where you weave it with your personal life, your childhood, people who inspired you and let people take what they want out of it. Rather than writing a management book as a businessmen if you’re the subject, because this is very subjective and one tends to be partial to their own mistakes. Somebody else must write about your business, it’s better a third party write the analysis of your business strengths and weaknesses, about how good or bad a business you built, or all the mistakes. As far as you’re concerned you just write about what you did and be as honest as you can about your story.

You’ve immersed yourself into many roles over you life – army officer, farmer, entrepreneur and politician – what has been your favourite guise?
I think being a farmer – oh, I loved that. I went through hell and saw heaven in the process. Got into debt like all farmers but got out of it. It was a great part of my life being one with the land.  Also building and creating something out of nothing, creating a new market, creating a new business, it gives me a great adrenaline rush.

Do you have any intentions of writing more – maybe a dive into some fiction? When and what can we expect in your second book?
Maybe a second book will come out on the few things I’ve done that isn’t covered in ‘Simply Fly’.  Right now I’m immersed in my new venture, my Deccan Charter company. Where we’ve just launched three flights a day. Similarly, I’m totally involved in my new logistics venture in which Reliance is invested. I also have a couple of business ideas incubating in my mind to create budget hotels and resorts. Maybe a year down down the line something will come up.

What has the response for ‘Simply Fly’ been like?
It’s overwhelming. Everyday I get emails, letters, phone calls, people who drop into my house wanting to meet me. I get three kinds of letters. One is people who just want to congratulate me and then want me to come and give a talk. There are others who see themselves in me and write saying they’re going through a great problem as an entrepreneur, can they come and discuss solutions with me because they’re in trouble. Third, people come over all the time with a great idea and want me to invest.

Of course there are people who are moved… Recently somebody came home, a very uneducated entrepreneur who owns a biryani hotel… he was selling a plate of biryani for Rs. 1 and on TV was quoted saying “Captain Gopi was my inspiration.” He came home with a painting of mine, flowers and touched my feet and said “You inspired me to be an entrepreneur.” These are very touching stories, but I always tell them, in India today we’re fortunate because in my younger days everybody went to America… Today we’re fortunate to be in a country where there are opportunities everywhere.

Which authors have inspired you to become a writer?
I admire a variety of authors, but largely Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, John Steinbeck, Albert Camus. I’ve always liked the great writers of the past. In terms of Indian authors, RK Narayan has always been a favourite.

Three books that have changed your life and why?
On the business side – the book by Sam Walton on Wal Mart - where he started with a single mom and pop store and went on to build the greatest business in the planet - one man in 50 years. Someone asked him what’s the secret of his success and he said “If you know where you want to go, then keep at it and you’ll get there.” Of course he doesn’t tell you how to build a business, that’s not the idea, you have to discover it yourself… the point is that it’s the single minded passion and dedication, the ’shuradha’ in him. So yeah, Sam Walton’s “Made In America” - it’s a great story of entrepreneurship where he built an empire without having to spend any money himself.

Gandhi’s “The Story Of My Experiments With Truth”, it’s a great book where you realize that it is not your money, your physical strength or duty, but it’s your indomitable will which helps you face life with courage and optimism.

The third would be “The Myth Of Sisyphus” by Albert Camus where you learn that despite all the nihilism and despair of the world, you can find the conviction of will to live with honour, dignity and passion.

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Buy Captain Gopinath’s ‘Simply Fly’(Limited Quantity Autographed Copies) on Flipkart

Read an excerpt from ‘Simply Fly’

The Led Zeppelin saga is one that is riddled with myth and legend, as well as its fair share of rumors and fabrication. Led Zeppelin formed when the Beatles and The Rolling Stones were in decline, the freewheelin’ 60s had come to an end and the music industry in the West was ushering in a revolutionary era of sounds and bands influenced by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton’s Cream. As the 70s rolled on, Led Zeppelin found themselves at the forefront of this revolution of rock music - blues driven, heavier, louder and with mass appeal. They came, they saw and they conquered through an entire decade, pioneering bigger and better live performances that would change lives and releasing a classic discography of essential rock listening that is now a staple within the genre. Led Zeppelin are also responsible for redefining the rocker’s image with a new standard of excess and groupie love, amplifying ’sex, drugs and rock and roll’ to a whole new level, an image that would come to define an entire era of bad ass hair metal bands.

Ever since the tragic death of drummer John Bonham in 1980 and the ‘break up’ of the band that followed, there have been several attempts at biographies documenting the story of the world’s biggest, baddest rock band. Many written by veteran music journalists who have considered the members of the band their friends and one particular bio written by the band’s crooked road manager, Richard Cole - a character who has played a lead role in all the Led Zep myths that have left readers in as much shock as awe. Led Zeppelin biographies must be read with a pinch of salt, because if you were to ask any of the remaining band members if any of these books are accurate, they will vehemently criticize both the authors and the contents of the books. There is yet to be a Led Zeppelin bio that has been fully endorsed by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones. Yet, there are two which have been published that seem to do well in drawing a picture of the band and their decade long journey as pioneers of rock and roll.

Hammer of the Gods by Stephen Davis

Hammer of the Gods - The Led Zeppelin Saga by Stephen Davis
Stephen Davis is considered to be a premier biographer of modern bands and musicians. He has documented the lives of Fleetwood Mac, Jim Morrison, Bob Marley, Guns N’ Roses and more, his writings have also featured in Rolling Stone and The New York Times. ‘Hammer of The Gods - The Led Zeppelin Saga’ (the title borrowed from Zep’s ‘Immigrant Song’ - a tune that many consider the first in heavy metal) was probably his most defining moment as a writer. Not only was it the first to shed light on the band (released only 5 years after drummer John Bonham’s death), but also because of its impact on music literature and the industry itself. Love it or hate it, Hammer of the Gods is a definitive rock classic because of the influence it had on a new age of music journalists but also for numerous bands and rock listeners who felt that the Led Zep aura was an epitome of what rock and roll represented.

The book follows a factual, cut and dry depiction of Led Zeppelin and is supported mainly by the recollections of Richard Cole, the band’s long term road manager. This is probably where the book lacks, as a lot of the stories aren’t really supported by the band members directly. If you’re to read about Cole’s character, you will soon realize that he isn’t very reliable and he was at that time quite bitter at the fact that he was ostracized by the band and their legendary manager Peter Grant for being a heroin addict. The band’s lead singer Robert Plant was quoted telling Spin Magazine: “The guy who wrote that book knew nothing about the band. I think he’d hung around us once. He got all his information from a guy  who had a heroin problem who happened to be associated with us.” That being said, Stephen Davis obviously realizes this and while he’s quick to quote Cole as much as he can, he does well to explain that perhaps Cole isn’t the most trustworthy source. Much of the content and quotes from and about the band have been pulled out of extensive research and various readings of interviews from publications during the time Led Zep were at their height - which is great, but Davis would have had a tad bit more credibility if he actually worked closer with the remaining band members.

The highlight of this book is its in depth descriptions of Led Zeppellin’s discography. While the storytelling process behind the band, their formation and exploits is weak, the explanation of their music and how each album was developed is extremely strong. Each of the Zep albums have a story behind it and are brilliantly described in Hammer of the Gods; the band’s spiritual and musical influences, their obsession to not be predictable or classified, Jimmy Page’s unwavering dedication in the studio along with sharp studies of the guitarist’s unique and pioneering production techniques, as well as a sharp study of John Bonham’s uncanny ability behind the drums.

It also highlights Led Zeppelin’s knack to borrow (some would argue steal) from other artist’s music and does well to explain the reasoning behind all the plagiarism accusations the band faced. The book is so detailed in its description of Led Zeppelin’s music, it also tells you the story behind all the albums’ artwork and packaging. For example you learn why the band and their manager insisted Led Zeppelin IV (or as its commonly referred to as ‘the man with sticks’ or ‘ZoSo’) wasn’t given a title, nor did the band’s name appear on it. The irony? It was Led Zep’s best selling album. There is also the reasoning behind their refusal to release singles, much rather having their fans buy their albums, because of their self-belief in their music.

Stephen Davis’ knowledge of Zep’s music is without a doubt expert and just like his descriptions of the albums, his descriptions of their live performances and their legendary tours of America are amazing. Without exaggerating there are times you really do feel like you’re right there watching Jimmy Page shred his guitar and the rest of band doing their thing. Led Zeppelin made a name for themselves on their concerts and their extensive yearly touring of America… it’s where the band would come alive - both in their music and their sordid exploits. It has to be said that to truly understand the Zeppelin story, you must know exactly the impact their live performances had on Americans during the 70s. This book does extremely well in explaining the Led Zep phenomenon in the US among other things.

When Giants Walked The Earth by Mick Wall

When Giants Walked The Earth by Mick Wall
Mick Wall is a veteran British rock journalist who has worked with magazines such as Mojo and Classic Rock. Wall boasts of close friendships with the remaining band members and the book does well in the quotes department, as the author has obviously interviewed all of them extensively. Where ‘Hammer of the Gods’ is lacking in terms of credible sources, this biography blossoms. Here there is also a more focused creative step in the story telling and we’re given all the funny and shocking anecdotes the band had become infamous for - from the sordid ‘red snapper’ incident, to Bonham’s extensive thrashing of the hotels and bars, all the way up to the band’s bust up at the 1977 festival at the Oakland Coliseum.

Some might also appreciate Wall’s second-person story telling segments that work as flashbacks for all the colorful characters in the Led Zeppelin saga. I personally think it’s a bit cheesy and presumptuous, but it does make for fun reading. There is a merging of creativity and fact in these parts which adds to the history of the band, and it’s highly doubtful that Wall had written it without doing his fair share of research. The sections on the music and touring are also quite good, but definitely not as detailed as Hammer of the Gods. Where this book does shine is in its post-Zeppelin content on the band member’s lives after the breakup.

The parts describing Jimmy Page’s constant yearning for a reunion versus Robert Plant’s rejection of this idea is telling of exactly why Zeppelin never do comeback tours. I especially loved the section where Led Zeppelin’s famous one-off concert at O2 in 2007 is described, in such detailed behind-the-scenes manner… don’t think there are too many books or articles that tell you exactly what and how it happened in regards to legendary 2007 gig in London. Wall is also ridiculously scathing towards Jimmy Page at the end of the book, and while it does make for juicy reading, it seems a little out of place, considering this is the man who is responsible for 99% of the music Led Zeppelin played. A negative of the book, there is far too much focus on Jimmy Page’s fascination with the occult, while some might think this forms the backbone of who Jimmy Page is and what his music represented, I do believe this has been grossly exaggerated in the writings about Led Zep and ‘When Giants Walked the Earth’ falls victim to this.

Gotta say, love the artwork and pictorials in this and I appreciate that there is a sense of familiarity in Wall’s writing.

Flipkart says:
Having read both these books in the same year, it’s tough to say which one is better. I do think Stephen Davis’ ‘Hammer of the Gods’ would probably be my choice, only because of its relevance to rock writing, but also because of its acute detailing of Led Zep’s music. Mick Wall does amazingly well in describing the lives of the band members post the break up following John Bonham’s tragic death and there is definitely a creative flair in the story telling. Plus you have to appreciate the fact that Wall has interviewed all the members quite extensively… though it has to be said, the book probably did cost him his relationship with Jimmy Page.

Both the books give significant focus to the late great Led Zep manager, Peter Grant. Peter Grant was just as much a part of Led Zeppelin as any of the band members. He was the man responsible for bringing them together but also for setting up a new standard in the music industry where he ensured his band was given complete artistic freedom from their label Atlantic. It’s extremely interesting to read about Grant and how he single handedly revolutionized the music industry through his band Led Zeppelin.

It’s also quite funny to read Page’s view on both these biographies; for ‘Hammer of the Gods’ he was quoted saying, “I think I opened [the book] up in the middle somewhere and started to read it, and I just threw it out the window. I was living by a river then, so it actually found its way to the bottom of the sea.” For ‘When the Giants Walked The Earth’ he was quoted saying, “Wall’s just writing a book designed to cash in on something he didn’t have anything to do with. He wasn’t a creative force in Led Zep. I’m at something of a disadvantage because I haven’t chosen to read that book, but I hear it’s totally distorted from people who do know about Led Zeppelin.” Recently, Jimmy Page released an extremely high-end photo autobiography… it’s selling for $700 and unfortunately no, Flipkart doesn’t provide this title.

Personally, it be great to know what are some of the better coffee table books on Led Zeppelin. Do post your recommendations in the comment section, I’ve recently purchased Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin, and am waiting for delivery.

If you’ve been a fan of the music and you love rock journalism - then I would say, definitely purchase both the biographies reviewed in this post… I highly doubt you’ll be disappointed. Also if you feel the need to have their music playing while you do your reading make sure you have these quintessential albums jamming out:

Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won

Led Zeppelin - How the West Was Won - A compilation of Led Zeppelin’s legendary live performances from 1972 in California… it has been described (by Jimmy Page) as Led Zeppelin at their peak and is a far superior alternative to the Song Remains The Same. It’s a must buy for all Zeppelin fans, especially those who want a taste of what their music was like when they performed live. For those who have never experienced a live Led Zep concert, this could be the closest thing to it. The back story behind this, Page’s young lover Lori Maddox (someone you’ll be deeply acquainted with if you read the biographies!) was in attendance during these concerts, and Page was at his best because he was trying to impress her. For all Zeppelin fans, this is sublime to say the least.

Led Zeppelin - Mothership

Led Zeppelin - Mothership - A newly remastered Led Zeppelin greatest hits double CD album. Might not carry the same weight as having all the albums in their full form, but works amazingly well for someone who enjoys all the classic, more popular Zeppelin tunes.  The sound quality is absolutely brilliant, remastered by the man himself, Jimmy Page. There is an import version of this that contains a DVD of their greatest performances… might be better looking out for that copy.

Led Zeppelin - BBC Sessions

Led Zeppelin: The BBC Sessions - One of my favourite Led Zeppelin albums… recorded when they were young and hungry for success. Disc One contains recordings from various sessions in 1969 (less than a year since the band first formed) and Disc Two contains recordings from their live performance at the Paris Theatre, London, 1971. Besides containing an absolutely mind blowing 18 mins version of ‘Dazed and Confused’, BBC Sessions also has one of Led Zeppelin’s first ever live performances of ‘Stairway to Heaven’… without exaggerating, this is music history in a CD. Well, a double CD.

Codemasters' International Cricket 2010

How many times have you watched Team India in a cricket match and thought, “I can do better than this.” Has there been a time where you’ve questioned Dhoni’s tactics that have invariably led to a massive loss? Well, right here is the perfect opportunity to give cricket fans the chance to step into the skipper’s shoes, albeit on the Playstation 3. Some will remember Codemasters’ Ashes Cricket from last year, boy did it do well in giving us a more playable and more interactive alternative to the extremely weak PC driven EA cricket games we remember from back in the day. A few months back Codemasters released the second edition, and for someone who is longing for a meaty cricket game, it is definitely a must buy.

International Cricket 2010 comes with a lot of interesting updates that makes the cricket gaming experience even more entertaining and definitely more realistic. Wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s more difficult (though the ‘hard’ level is significantly tougher than the same in the Ashes game), but there are a few changes in the game play of the 2010 edition that requires the player to be more assertive compared to its predecessor. Just like Ashes - you’re given a wide variety of stadiums (from Eden Gardens, Lords, the MCG etc), as well as choosing the conditions and state of the pitch. Also, yes, you have all formats of the game - Test, T20 and One Day, along with a variety of tournament choices. There is a marked improvement in the graphics as well, though the commentary aspect of the game is still very basic and extremely repetitive.

Test Cricket on International Cricket 2010

A highlight in International Cricket 2010 (compared to Ashes) is the variety of camera angles you can pick during play. Besides the standard panoramic view that covers the pitch and the inner circle, you also have a very cool 1st person ‘action cam’ that puts you right behind either the bowler or batsman. The ‘action cam’ is innovative and extremely fun to use - being able to scope the field as a batsman and the ability to pan across the field to see where exactly the ball is while running between wickets. There is also more control on where and with how much power you hit a shot using the ‘action cam’. However, it is also a tad bit more complicated - timing is different compared to the 3rd person view and it’s tougher to make out where the ball is being pitched - both as a batsman and a bowler. Also as a batsman, you can’t really tell how long the bowler’s run up is… which again effects timing.

Batting as viewed through the 'Action Cam'

From a game play perspective - as a batsman you have a lot more control of your shots, where now not only do you have the option to defend, attack and loft on the front, back foot and stepping out of the crease - but you also have the ability to determine exactly how much power you use through the analog thumb stick. This is clever because now you can tap the ball for quick singles and of course, the less power you use, the better timing you have along with less chances of losing your wicket. There are a new range of shots added and the graphics on the highlight reel when you hit a boundary are new and improved. Running between wickets is also quite easy - with simple one touch buttons to call for the second or cancel a run… you can also sprint (when things get tight - though you’re compromising energy in return) and diving and sliding the bat in also works a charm.

Bowling has also been modified with game-play being a little tougher in terms of how you pitch the ball in the perfect spot. You’re given the same options of bowling swing, cuts, reverse swing for the pacers, top spin, arm bowls, leg/off spin (with a doosra option when confidence is high) for the spinners. Speed, accuracy and no balls are determined the same way as in the Ashes edition - with the player hitting the button at just the right time as shown in the power meter, the skill and confidence of the bowler determining how quickly the meter moves. One can’t forget the bugs that were prevalent in spin bowling in the Ashes edition, this has been cleared up and there aren’t any ‘cheap’ chances to get easy wickets. That being said if you execute the yorker perfectly with a quick bowler, it can prove to be quite devastating.

Bowling as viewed through the 'Action Cam'

Fielding and catching is exactly the same as the Ashes edition and we would argue that Codemasters could have made this a little more hands on - differentiating a catch in the slips versus an outfield catch and simple things like the ability to dive to stop a boundary. A serious bug in the game are the cheeky singles batsmen can take when they defend the ball - it would seem the wicketkeeper’s AI is awful, more often than not he’d rather stand behind the wickets and wait for either the bowler or the fielder to throw him the ball versus getting to the ball himself and running out the batsmen. Also, for some reason, it’s virtually impossible to run out the computer… played the game for over a week and I’m yet to get a wicket via a run out.

Now before you ask - there are only original players from England and Australia. That being said, the rest of the teams (just like the Ashes edition) do have all the players with similar names matched with fitting attributes and skills… Tendulkar is Tenhukar (he’s the best batsman in the game, can spin the ball and rarely drops catches), the captain Dhoni is Dhabi (solid middle order batsman with a lot of power), while Yuvraj is Yusuf Sinha (lots of power and great timing, but lacks consistency) - you get the drift. If you’re anal though, there’s a nifty player editor that allows you to change the facial features, skills and names of all the players. So technically, if you have the time, you can change Tenhukar to Tendulkar and even give Bhajji a turban while you’re at it. Another cool aspect of the player editor option, as you complete more trophy challenges, you are given an abundance of options to change the player’s kit (bats, pads, helmet etc). You’re given a wide range of classic cricketing brands such as Gray Nicolls, Kookaburra, Newbury and more to choose from.

Highlights on International Cricket 2010

The Flipkart Verdict
All in all this is a brilliant cricket game and absolutely nothing in the market compares. Game-play is spot on, highly entertaining and quite competitive. There have also been seriously marked improvements from all the chinks and bugs in the Ashes edition of the game. Honestly the fact that you don’t have all the official players is not really a negative, because you have an option to change the names and skills of everyone. For those who are IPL obsessed, there is also a T20 League option and again while the teams and players may not be named accurately, they are all based on the IPL teams. The Bangalore Royal Challengers go by the Aces, while the Mumbai Indians go by the Thunders - all the players might not be named correctly, but the ‘fake’ players are all related to the real players that are part of the particular IPL team - Sachin, Duminy, Pollard, Bravo are all available in the Thunders.

Simple things that you don’t usually think about, such as hawk eye, third umpire replays, wagon wheels for batsmen who cross every 25 runs as well as bowling length reviews between overs are all part of International Cricket 2010. Being a country of cricket loving fanatics, who do nothing but judge for every win and loss - here’s your chance to feel exactly what it’s like to be a cricket player rather than just a spectator, in the highest form of the game, of course in the comfort of your couch. It will certainly make you think twice about hurtling abuse at the Indian cricket team when their batting line up collapses in real life. We did have our reservations about Stuart Broad gracing the cover of the game… but that made smacking him for six sixes in an over even sweeter.

Buy Codemasters’ International Cricket 2010 for the PS3 on Flipkart

Watch the International Cricket 2010 Trailer on YOUTUBE

'Hush' artist Jim Lee's Batman

Here we go, Batman graphic novels. Without tooting my own horn, pretty much got them all (because Flipkart provides all the titles and a hole in the wallet as a result). This isn’t just a hobby, it’s an obsession. Batman, unlike many other super heroes such as Spidey and Superman, is human. He wasn’t bitten by some atomic spider, nor is he an alien from out of space, he’s a man, just like you and me. This is what sets him apart from the other heroes and why many of us can relate to him.

Compared to most super hero graphic novels, I would argue it’s the Batman titles that well and truly sit on top. Drenched in dark themes stemming from Bruce Wayne’s parents being murdered right in front of him, his yearning to turnover a city immersed in crime, conflict shrouded in mystery derived from a capable group of psychotic villains and Batman’s own remarkable detective skills and resiliency to never give up… the Batman graphic novel, to say the least is always a treat. Plus, just like in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight, I can never get enough of appearances made by his diabolical adversary, the Joker. He truly is the ultimate villain and a consummate rival for the Dark Knight.

We’ve put together a list of the Top 10 Greatest Batman Graphic Novels… even if you’re not familiar with the character, but enjoy an intense read with great art, this collection is a good place to start.

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1. Batman: Year One

Batman’s origin story and the main source of inspiration behind Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. Written by the legendary Frank Miller of Sin City/300 fame, in my opinion, this is the Batman story you must start with. It follows the birth of Bruce Wayne’s career as Batman, as well as, Jim Gordon’s humble beginnings as a member of Gotham City’s Police Department - told in unique parallel story telling from both characters. David Mazzucchelli’s artwork is subtle and retro, while Frank Miller’s storytelling is realistic and gritty and considering this was released in 1987 - much like all of Frank Miller’s work, it’s way ahead of its time. A definite classic.

2. Batman: The Long Halloween

This is one of the longest Batman graphic novels available - a proper opus from the all star combination of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale and is nothing short of brilliant. Jeph is a veteran writer for DC comics and Marvel who worked heavily on the TV show Heroes, while you’ll remember Tim Sale’s artwork also from Heroes. I would go out on a limb and say Tim Sale is one of the best Batman illustrators I’ve come across. In terms of continuity, this is the follow up to Batman: Year One. Set very early in Batman’s career, The Long Halloween explores the relationship between the Dark Knight and Harvey Dent, Gotham’s District Attorney who goes on to become Batman’s dreaded enemy Two Face in the same story.

One could say this is very much an origin story for Harvey Dent/Two Face - add a mysterious plot line based around a serial killer with a panache for picking his victims on holidays, set with a mafioso backdrop and what you have is a very entertaining, very complete Batman graphic novel.

Note: I’ve been forced to purchase this twice, both the collectors set and just a regular copy, due to the fact the copy that comes with the Collector Set hasn’t been bound properly and the pages keep falling out. That being said - the Collector Set comes with two very cool action figures of Batman and the Joker designed by Tim Sale - if that’s a reason to go for a horribly bound copy. It might be a better option going with the more expensive library binding edition of The Long Halloween.

3. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Considered to be THE greatest Batman graphic novel, this was Frank Miller’s first go at the Batman story way back in 1986. Brought in by DC to give Batman a darker edge (especially compared to the campy Batman TV series we remember from the 60s); Miller explores an older, weathered Bruce Wayne who has voluntarily retired as the world’s greatest detective for over a decade, only to make a come back in a time when vigilantism is strongly frowned upon by society and media. Everything you love about the Batman story and the characters driven from it is prevalent in The Dark Knight Returns. Personal highlights would be the ‘final’ battle between Batman and Joker, as well as the portrayal of a very complex relationship between Batman and Superman.

What I find amazing is that even though this is 20 years old, it’s still extremely fresh, which is why it’s no surprise this is consistently considered a classic amongst all comic book lovers. This makes for an excellent Batman epilogue and exceptional conclusion to the Dark Knight’s tale.

Note: Avoid Miller’s 2001 sequel that followed, The Dark Knight Strikes Again. For the love of me, I still don’t understand what it’s about. If you’re OCD about having a complete collection though, it does look pretty on the bookshelf and the artwork is stunning.

4. Batman: The Killing Joke

Written by Alan Moore (Watchmen, From Hell anyone?) and illustrated by Brian Bolland, brutal would be the only way to describe this Batman story. Take that back, The Killing Joke isn’t a Batman story, it’s actually all about the Joker. Violent, twisted and in many ways quite tragic; if you’re looking for the ultimate Batman vs Joker story, this might be it. In fact it has been labeled as the ‘greatest Joker story ever told’ by many a critic. The basic premise from the Joker’s point of view - everyone has a tendency to tip over into an oblivion of madness due to circumstances beyond our control - in this case, this proves to be the backbone for Joker’s origin and his sordid plan running through the story. We’re also given a savage explanation as to why Commissioner Gordon’s daughter Barbara becomes a paraplegic and is forced to retire her alter ego, Batgirl. Masterful dialogue from the legendary Moore, matched by Bolland’s vibrant artwork, a rare glimpse on the Joker’s origin and it’s no surprise why this is considered one of the greatest graphic novels available.

My only gripe? It’s just not long enough.

5. Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth

This one is for all the readers who enjoy quality artwork… the ones who rate graphic above the novel. Dave McKean’s illustrations are vivid, breathtaking and unreal. You’re not going to see Batman and his various counterparts depicted in such surreal and creative fashion anywhere else.  Grant Morrison’s story is macabre, psychological and anarchic much like the artwork. Here, Batman not only faces a number of his enemies (in their purest most psychotic form) but also faces his own inner demons. Isn’t a vigilante who dresses in a bat outfit and is obsessed with fighting crime just as insane as his counterparts? Besides the underlining plot structure of Arkham Asylum being taken over by the inmates led by the Joker; there are also flashbacks of Arkham Asylum’s history and how it becomes Gotham’s loony bin for the criminally insane - these segments in particular are ridiculously creepy.

If a Batman graphic novel could translate into a ‘grade A’ psychological horror movie, then A Serious House on Serious Earth would be the closest thing to it. Recommended for mature readers and with good reason.

6. Batman: Hush Vol. 1 & 2

Brought to you by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, in terms of DC getting a legendary writer and equally legendary artist to work together - this really is a match made in heaven. The story is modern and the artwork is a testament to this. Without any exaggeration, Jim Lee has completely outdone himself in Hush. The plot has got a bit of everything; flashbacks of Bruce Wayne’s childhood, the love tangle between Batman and Catwoman, the manner in which Bruce Wayne is perceived by Clark Kent and Lois Lane, a colourful collection of villains drawn to mesmerizing contemporary perfection, twists and turns driven from a constantly plotting mystery villain with extensive knowledge of Batman’s identity and past… in Hush, for once it’s not the Joker who is the center of all attention.

Here we have a modern take and a new villain, this is one of the few Batman graphic novels from the turn of the century that is worth reading both for the art and for the story.

Note: Would recommend you buy the complete edition with both Vol 1 and Vol 2 in one package, versus buying them separately.

7. JLA: Tower of Babel

Very much against superhero team ups and prefer to read about them in their individual form, which is why I was a little hesitant about JLA: Tower of Babel. But this ambiguous study of the Dark Knight is quite a telling tale of his character. Fueled by paranoia, Batman has developed a dossier that spells out his JLA teammate’s Achilles’ heals (out of fear that maybe one of them might turn evil). When Ra’s Al Ghul manages to get his hands on the documents, sh** well and truly hits the fan. Wouldn’t go as far as saying this plot line is genius or the art is ‘mind blowing,’ but it’s certainly entertaining. The climax especially, where the JLA are deciding whether Batman can remain a member or not.

Essentially, this tells us exactly how Batman might handle a situation where he finds himself fighting against his peers. Judging by the events in Tower of Babel, it certainly isn’t pretty, even for the mighty Superman.

8. Batman: Knightfall Pt. 1 & Batman: Knightfall Pt. 2

This series is epic. What happens when you pit Batman against a villain who is genuinely stronger than him and extremely clinical (unlike the Joker) in his planning of the Caped Crusader’s downfall? The central villain of Knightfall, Bane, might seem to be all brawn - no brains, but he actually proves to be one of Batman’s most formidable foes. Without spoiling anything, you also have the introduction of Jean Paul Valley, who takes over the cape from Bruce Wayne, as a far more violent, far less forgiving Batman. Gotta say, JPV’s modified Batman suit is very cool as well. This graphic novel is action packed and filled with tragedy, but there is also redemption. For the first time Bruce Wayne as Batman is quite literally broken and for the most part defeated.

9. Batman: The Man Who Laughs

The Man Who Laughs tells the story of Batman’s first encounter with the Joker (before he was even referred to as the Joker) and while admittedly this doesn’t really compare with Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke, it’s definitely a must read, especially if you’re a big fan of the perpetually grinning monster. Gruesome artwork depicting all the cardinal components we relate to the Clown Prince are presented in this; his weapon of choice - the toxic gas which kills, mutilates and adds an eerie smile to his victims (the opening pages are really quite scary), the notion that he never really has a concrete plan but rather has an uncanny ability to thrive in chaos, his inclination to convey his maniacal threats to Gotham via TV broadcasts, his utter disregard for human life and more than anything else the thorough ecstasy he feels when he finds himself head to head with Batman.

However, like the Killing Joke, I would argue that this graphic novel just isn’t long enough, but it would seem DC recognize this and have added a Batman Detective story as a filler for the latest edition.

10. Batman: A Death in the Family

A Death in the Family made it on this list for two reasons - the first being, this was the first Batman story where the readers determined a character’s outcome with a rather crass dial-in your verdict a la American Idol. In this case, the character in question is (or rather, was) Jason Todd, the second Robin, who had a reputation for being a brat amongst the hardcore Batman fans. The events in A Death in a Family effect Batman significantly and it becomes a running conflict for the hero in the graphic novels that follow. Essentially, this is the turning point in Batman’s relationship with the Joker, where Batman will no longer hesitate to kill his arch enemy versus repeatedly giving him the beating of his life and dumping him into Arkham.

The second reason, Joker really is in full effect here - crazy vicious with a truly diabolical plan that sees him become the UN Ambassador of Iran while being a nuclear weapon smuggler at the same time. A Death in the Family is a real political roller coaster and given when it was published, a fairly accurate sign of the times. If not to see a bad attitude Robin get his ass beat, it’s also fun to see Superman doing all that he can to stop Batman from killing his worst enemy.

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It’s a bit presumptuous to label this the ‘10 Greatest,’ I do understand all of us have different tastes. Which is why, if you feel I’m missing out on any classic Batman tales, please be sure to plug them in the comment section… would love to get a couple of Batman recommendations from you!

I will take the safe route and say this wasn’t compiled in order of preference, but rather a recommendation in which order one could read these novels without getting overtly confused with back stories and such. I will say that Year One, The Long Halloween, The Dark Knight Returns, Hush and The Killing Joke are my personal favorites.

Also, I feel compelled to add a wild card entry at the end of this… The sequel to The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory, again written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Tim Sale is just as brilliant as any of the novels mentioned in this list. If you really like The Long Halloween, chances are you’ll love Dark Victory. It works in the introduction of Dick Grayson and the beginnings of the first Robin. Works really well for the OCD collector, because it really is entertaining and isn’t just a book that will sit there unread.

Cantona - The Rebel Who Would Be King by Philippe Auclair

The ‘10-’11 English Premier League season is in full swing and we thought it would be a good idea to recommend football based reading. Who better to start with, than the King himself, cult hero Eric Cantona. Yes, there is a bit of Manchester United partiality, but we’d argue this a book for football fans in general, particularly the ones who enjoy English football.

‘Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King’ takes you back to a time before Cristiano Ronaldo’s overdone step overs and even before Beckham could bend it, a time before Russian tycoons and Saudi sheiks bought out teams and transformed them into crass money-spending powerhouses. Here’s the story of a man who single handedly transformed the Premier League, along with his team Manchester United, purely by playing the game with sheer class and conviction, granted with a fiery temper.

Cantona’s story is a remarkable one, but rarely told accurately - a player who was has been infamous for many things (particularly a certain kung fu kick at an abusing fan), and at the same time a player who has had monumental impact on the game. Described as a temperamental gypsy genius during his years in the French league, jumping from one club to the other for a variety of reasons - including to be closer to the love of his life during his early years as a professional, it goes without saying Cantona was a football player full of character. The story becomes even more fascinating when he eventually finds a stable home in Manchester United, a perfect hunting ground in Old Trafford and a father figure in long standing Red Devil coach Alex Ferguson. More than anything else, it’s a rarity to read about a Frenchman commanding so much respect from Englishmen - as one learns in the book, in the EPL it’s not race that matters, but rather, how well you are able to dominate on the football pitch and Eric Cantona dominated.

Taking you on a wonderful journey where you’re given deep insight into Cantona’s highs and lows through his career as a footballer - the talisman of Manchester United could be regarded as an enigma. There aren’t too many books that depict his life as accurately as this one does. Relationships with his numerous coaches and the teams he played for are supported by various tell-all interviews conducted by the author through the years, there are colourful descriptions of pretty much every goal he’s scored as Auclair has done his fair share of research by watching pretty much every game Cantona has played. The reader is also treated to rare insight behind his exclusion from the French national side during the peak of his career, something which has been a recurring question in the football fan’s mind. It’s been well over a decade since Cantona retired from football and yet he is far from forgotten - he’s a footballer who has left us with many memories.

‘The Rebel Who Would Be King’ is an in depth look into the life of football’s greatest and perhaps most misunderstood player. Sports writing tends be very objective, especially when it isn’t an autobiography… but Philippe Auclair’s biography on Eric Cantona is extremely well researched and also beautiful written. From kung fu kicks to Premier League glory - the long awaited Cantona story is here!

Excerpt from ‘Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King’: Just inside Sunderland’s half, harnessed by Ord and Ball, he (Cantona) set himself free with a stupendous double feint, somehow found McClair, who instantly returned the ball to him, which, still running, he chipped from 18 yards over the head of his former Nimes teammate Lionel Perez. What is extraordinary is that Eric found a way to stop without stopping, slowing down imperceptibly to compose himself and brush the underside of the ball with his bootlaces, sending it to the only spot where the rushing ‘keeper couldn’t reach it. The celebration was almost as memorable as the goal. Eric, affecting a haughty inscrutability, did nothing but straighten his back and puff out his chest, a Roman impersonator savouring his triumph: all that was missing was David Beckham holding the laurels above his shaved head. Then Cantona broke into a beautiful smile, as if to say: ‘Did you see that one? Did you see?’ How could you not love such a player?

Watch the Cantona goal described in the excerpt from the Rebel Who Would Be King

Buy ‘Cantona - The Rebel Who Would Be King’ on Flipkart

Call Me Dan by Anish Trivedi - A novel about a non-hero in modern India

Recently chosen by the Hindu as a ‘PrintPick’ in fiction - Anish Trivedi’s debut novel ‘Call Me Dan’ is causing a stir amongst readers and critics alike. Wry, cynical, funny - it tells the tale of modern India through the eyes of call centre employee and seemingly doomed Casanova, Gautam Joshi or as he likes to go by, Daniel - the suave alter ego that he’s able to live vicariously through.

‘Call Me Dan’ is a no-frills portrait of India’s confused Generation Y - where it would seem the age of 30 is now the new 21, and matters of love and success always seem to be up in the air. Gautam Joshi is misanthropic protagonist who mirrors a  generation of young Indian men who lap up professional (and sexual) opportunities that were once not available to their fathers and yet scoff at the fact they’re still living in their father’s home. It is the story of the average Indian Joe coming to terms with the fact that most of us are not cut out to be super stars, but rather, destined to a life of inadequacy.

In the words of the author; “Gautam Joshi is not a wizard, nor a great warrior. But then no one is. Not anymore. He is just a funny man, with funny thoughts, and were he to look at it closely enough for a moment, a funny life. That is who we are. Men and women with flaws, faults and failures. And it is these stories that tell the world about the world in which we live.”* The novel roots itself in a burgeoning lower middle class who welcome the influx of western influence and at the same time grapple with the traditional Indian values they’ve been brought up on.  It’s the new age Indian dichotomy, where a girl is labeled a ‘half naked bar girl’ by her mother because she wears a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and yet, she is also a professional with a respectable job and stable income, who doesn’t rely on an arranged marriage as a future investment prospect.

‘Call Me Dan’ is so authentic in its nuances you can literally smell the thick Bombay air. The choppy dialogue is drenched in sarcasm coupled with hilarious first person commentary, emphasizing racy themes of a modern India flipping the bird at a bygone era and all the people who come from it. Far from pretentious, Trivedi’s style is a class above the run of the mill popcorn literature coming out of India… there probably won’t be a snazzy Bollywood movie adaptation of this, but the book is refreshing because of its conventional subjects and works for perfect easy reading.

Anish Trivedi might not light a path of inspiration or even urge the reader to find ‘true’ love, but he will have you laughing and more importantly empathizing, because in someway or the other, we’ve all been in Gautam’s shoes (maybe not so much his sexcapades as his life in general). And it’s not just Gautam; it’s his sister, his girlfriend, his parents, his drinking buddies, his co workers… these are characters we can well and truly connect with. Stripped down, these characters are essentially us, you and me.

In Pic: Anish Trivedi at Call Me Dan's Mumbai launch

*Excerpt taken from Anish Trivedi’s column “The Everyman” in the August 2010 issue of Elle Magazine

In an exclusive interview with Flipkart - Anish Trivedi discusses his diverse professional background, the emergence of a new India, the western effect on traditional Indian values, three reasons why we should read ‘Call Me Dan,’ the key to finding true love (or not), his decision to write fiction instead of nonfiction and much more…

Wall Street suit, radio jock, TV anchor, media guru - you’re someone with a lot of things to say with a wide variety of experience, but for those who aren’t familiar with you, who is Anish Trivedi?
I guess Anish Trivedi is now someone who does what he enjoys. The experience, whether it was as a partner at a Wall Street investment bank, or as a VJ, has helped in fostering my somewhat jaundiced view of the world. I’m cynical, I’m suspicious, I’m convinced there is no goodness in human nature. But I like being a chronicler of life around me. The characters in my plays, and my novel, ‘Call Me Dan,’ lead lives that are no fantasy, they are as real as the ones we all have, hoping in this slightly imperfect world to find some moments of joy. I guess I am too.

From investment banking to every facet of media - now an acclaimed writer, is there a reason you are constantly reinventing your career path?
Finishing university in the 80’s meant following a career path that was pretty narrow. With degrees in economics and international relations, I went down the banking route, ending up 15 years later as a partner at Oppenheimer on Wall Street. Fortunately there was enough madness in me that let me say, after those 15 years, that I was going to make a hobby a profession. I love radio, always have, so from hosting one of the most listened-to shows on the air at the time, to running a business with my partner, Dipika Roy, that programmes and runs radio stations around the world, I keep that part of me constant. Television was a natural extension, but apart from a stint as a VJ on Channel V’s Mangta Hai, most of the work I’ve done there has been anchoring business shows for CNBC, CNN and PBS.  And of course there’s the writing, whether it’s the columns and articles in publications, or the plays, or now a novel. If it seems like it’ll be fun and it seems like I’ll do it reasonably well, I’ll try it. Of course, since I’m no longer an investment banker, my father thinks I’m unemployed.

Who or what gave you the final push to publish your first novel?
The fact that I bound myself to a contractual obligation and cashed a cheque for an advance! Penguin took a huge bet in commissioning me to write a book without a word being put on paper. I think I started writing a novel 12 years ago, but never got past the first paragraph. Fortunately. Had I actually written that, it would have languished unpublished all these years, and I’d never have sat down to write ‘Call Me Dan’. This time, my editor Prita Maitra, who was then at Penguin, convinced me it was time to try again. She got me to agree, got me to sign a contract, and then waited patiently for a year until I finally started writing.

Three reasons why we should pick up ‘Call Me Dan’ and give it a read.
First, it’s a novel about India today, about a generation that will fuel this country going forward. It’s set in Mumbai, but the story is true of any city. It’s urban life, urban love, in today’s world. And we’re all looking for life and love no matter where we live. Second, it’s a funny book. I didn’t start off trying to write a funny story, I didn’t see this in the humour genre, but it just happens that the protagonist is a funny guy in a funny world, even though at times it seems like it’s falling apart. Third, this is us, you and me. These are people we know, people we like, people we sometimes want to be, sometimes wish we weren’t.

In a nutshell - could you tell us the basic premise of ‘Call Me Dan’?
In a nutshell? Young man looks for love, happiness and a better life in a changing world, a changing society. Just as India is going through a shift economically, culturally and socially, the lives of an entire generation are caught in flux. On the one hand there is the tradition in which we are steeped which still shapes our lives, particularly in our homes and with our families; on the other there is the economic independence that India’s youth now have, something that was never available to their parents, something that empowers them in ways that were never possible; and then there is the change in society around us, where it is socially acceptable for a couple to hold hands and kiss in a crowded bar in the presence of their friends, but not at home in front of their families. Gautam is growing up in this world, and he’s hoping to make the most of it while coping with the change around him.

How much of Gautam’s/Dan’s experiences can you personally relate to… was there someone in particular you had in mind when you developed his character?
I know it’s not supposed to happen in a first novel, that I should have delved into my life to come up with characters and situations, but there is nothing autobiographical in ‘Call Me Dan’. The people, the things they do, the things that happen to them, they’re entirely fictitious. Isn’t that what a novelist is supposed to have? Imagination? Otherwise we’d just push out those first novels that chronicle our lives, and then find we’ve run out things to say.

Call centres have become the setting of choice for the new generation of Indian authors - why do you think this industry continues to fascinate the Indian readership?
‘Call Me Dan’ really has very little to do with the call centre industry. The protagonist works in one, which allows me to give him the duality in some parts of his life, but I think that would have been equally possible had he worked at a bank. It’s about life, not life in a call centre.

One of the main themes in ‘Call Me Dan’ is the amalgamation of western culture in India and the conflict it poses on traditional Indian values - what’s your personal perception of this and it’s effect on the urban Indian? Should we be welcoming of the fact that the new generation would much rather eat a Maharaja Mac in McDonalds over a vada pav from a local street vendor?
I think we give the new generation too little credit for knowing what they want. I think they’re as comfortable eating at a street cart as they are drinking in a bar or having coffee at Costa. The fact that they have both the vada pav and the Maharaja Mac available to them says more for the economic change that we’re witnessing in the country than a social one. The conflict that remains in their lives is the one Gautam faces in ‘Call Me Dan’; of a dichotomy in values in his world. His life is one that includes the occasional one night stand, but his sister should be considering an arranged marriage. His Catholic girlfriend has to contend with constant reminders that her family is most displeased about her dating a Gujarati man. They both are slightly uncomfortable with pre-marital sex, but see nothing wrong in letting their friends know they’re sleeping together. The change that we face is cultural, not commercial.

The arranged marriage vs the one night stand - two very different means to find true love, and another inner conflict (if you will) posed in your book, what’s your personal opinion on the state of finding true love in India. Is it as easy as mommy and daddy finding us the perfect match? Do you think there is a little more to it?
Oh, hell, I’m a firm believer in true love, in love at first sight, in the durability of a commitment made. But then I’m a closet romantic under the cynicism. I think we all look for that one person who is going to make our lives complete, and sometimes life surprises us and actually lets us find her or him. An arranged marriage may well lead to love, certainly some level of affection, but that’s a benefit that isn’t uppermost in most couples’ minds when they enter matrimony because their parents found them a match. And I somehow suspect that the one night stand is more a means to slaking lust than finding true love, unless men and women have changed drastically since I was last anywhere close to that situation. I think love is an absolute. If you find it, it is all you need, all you want. And I think it’s the one thing we should never stop seeking.

Unlike many CEOs and industry leaders who feel the need to pen down their own life stories, or their own philosophies - why did you take the plunge into fiction instead of nonfiction?
I have no illusion that my life is of any interest to a reading public. Nor are my personal philosophies. For me writing about those would be self-indulgence. I’d rather write a book that people want to start, and finish, reading because they get pleasure from it.

Every writer has their own process - what are your quirky habits when you sit down and get writing?
None that you’d consider too quirky. I go for walks while constructing the pages ahead in my mind, then I sit down to write them. But I do like a cigar while I’m writing. It helps me think.

What have been some of the books that have changed your life and why?
When I was young enough to be impressionable, I had a tutor who said to me, “Don’t read good books. Life is too short. Read the best.” Good advice. If you’ve chosen well, every book changes your life in some way.

Which authors have inspired you to become a published writer?
None that I can name, in that sense. There are always words that I will read and wish that I had written them. But if I am to give credit for my writing, it’s not to another author, but to my partner Dipika Roy. She goaded me into writing my first play, worked with me until it worth putting on stage, and then agreed to act in it. She did the same with the next play. And then convinced Prita that I was a good writer and one that Penguin should consider adding to their catalogue.

Are there any Indian authors in particular you think are special?
There are a number of Indian authors whose work I like. But special? I think special is a word you use when you talk about Shakespeare and Steinbeck. I’m a big fan of authors from another age.

Is there any advice you would give budding writers looking to get their story out?
It’s probably a bit early for me to be giving advice, as a first time novelist myself. But I will say this: write for yourself. I began writing weekly columns in newspapers, and found I enjoyed writing, and that I could find a style that appealed to me and to my readers. That led to the plays, and finally to Call Me Dan. None of my writing is thought through with an audience in mind. If it does find readers, that’s terrific. If it finds readers that enjoy it, that’s even better. But you have to love your own work. Unless you do, you’re never going to be any good at it.

~~

Buy ‘Call Me Dan’ on Flipkart

Mumbai Boss’ review of ‘Call Me Dan’ by Deepanjana Pal

Anish Trivedi on Twitter

Visit Anish Trivedi’s official website

Thought it would be appropriate to talk about my first experience with Flipkart. I’ve been a comic book/graphic novel collector for about 15 years now (wow, I’m getting old). While availability is decent in India, there have been a fair few titles I had been hounding for, which I was convinced I could only get my hands on from abroad. Around a year back, I noticed a friend raving about the services of Flipkart on Facebook… status message and all. So I thought, let’s give it a try, after all it’s only a click away (versus the hour drive to various bookstores).

Now this might seem a little biased considering I’m now an employee, but the website had me up all night. I kept thinking of as many obscure titles that I could. Graphic novels and books which I would bet my life on I couldn’t find. But what do you know, I found, I found and I found on Flipkart. Batman: The Killing Joke, a title I had been looking for in India for a good three years was officially my first Flipkart purchase. Much to my surprise, they said two weeks and it was at my doorstep bang on time, maybe even earlier. Not a long wait, by all means, considering I’d been looking for it for years. Believe it or not, this was also my first on line purchase in over 5 years, my first in India. So yes, my expectations were low, but wow did they deliver on all fronts. Kept thinking to myself, how do they make money? Big discounts and free shipping - what’s the catch? Essentially, this is a company that has got the formula right.  My few experiences have always been spot on and positive… which is why I was hungry to join the company. This is a service I truly believe in.

While we’ve been busy getting our house in order to accommodate for Movies, Music, Mobiles and Games, The ET Now Technoholik crew have been doing some recce of their own. Someone Ms. Sneha Johari decided to review a few online bookstores in the great Battle of the Online Book Stores in India:

Round One: Design and Usability
Key Takeaway: “We are an awesomely organized excel sheet!” #best-backhand-ever!

Round Two: Collection of Books
Key Takeaway: “Aldous Huxley came through for us. Support Soma.”

Round Three: Transaction & Payment
Key Takeaway: “Cash on delivery!”

Round Four: Packaging & Delivery
Key Takeaway: “72 hour turn-around-time.”

This probably aired sometime last week, and also last evening (possible it was a rerun), because I got a bunch of mails about it. Here are a couple (edited for brevity):

Dear Tapas,

I was watching “Technoholik” on ETNow now. I was very happy to see Flipkart scoring on all fronts as compared to all other related websites. Congratulations on this success.

The first time I happened to see your website, I was in love for it. Today when I heard the anchor use the same words, I somehow felt very proud of myself.

Great once again. Nice to be associated with this website emotionally.

- Milind Agrawal

–X–

This week, ET Now, a business TV channel, conducted a comparision study of three online book stores in India. Flipkart was one of them. I waited with baited breath as I had not even heard of the other two, much less make use of their services. Also, the other online bookstore that I have looked at is *******.com, which did not feature in this TV program.

You must have been thrilled to have been voted No.1. My experience with you certainly makes me agree wholeheartedly. The recent changes you have made on your website in the “Book Details” section, including displaying the Revision Number of the book if it is a textbook, are also very welcome. I was eagerly awaiting those changes and was very pleasantly surprised.

Congratulations, once again. Remain customer-focused, and you’ll reach greater heights.

K.K. Subramanian

Raising a toast to Ms. Sneha Johari and others who contributed in bringing this together, on #technoholik.

And review or otherwise, I salute everyone who makes any of this possible. Every single day.

After all the requests over the past 2 years, we now have Music, Movies & Games available on Flipkart. At first look, things seem a little — bare. After having made the books platform as robust as it is, the media section seems like we’re starting from square one all over again.

With books, we went in with a “shoot first, ask questions later” attitude.

Flipkart was Sachin and Binny starting a startup, and getting into the minutiae at that stage wouldn’t have got them anywhere. I was the 5th person to join the fledgling team, and the day I joined we shipped 39 books. In the period of 24 hours. Just 39.. We didn’t know where the orders came from and how anyone found out about us — and frankly — we didn’t bother to find out.

And then the other one, Mobiles.

Feedback After The Mobile Launch

We’re 3 years young. And we’ve only just started “expanding horizons”.

What do you think?

From: Binny Bansal
Date: 7 June 2010 19:43
Subject: Wii is ready

I’ve got the adaptor for Wii and you all can play. There are more remotes in my bottommost drawer.

Have Fun !!

—
Binny Bansal
www.flipkart.com

… yeah, the hyperlink’s mine.

As another May winds to a close, just a little peep before the big one.

In the old days, if a stranger walked into the office we’d assume he/she was a customer. If a stranger walks in today, we assume first that it’s an employee. Loads of hiring on and off campuses these past few months … welcome aboard, lads!

Or as Sujeet puts it, “Our company now has so many heads, hum to Ravan ban gae hain.” Coming from the VP - Operations, I’ll take his word for it.

I’m not much of an authority on Human Capital Asset Management, but what I can tell you is that we now have more than one employee sharing the same first name. Sure, there’s nothing extraordinary about it — but for a startup that’s scaling up it — it still takes a bit of getting used to. Sachin the CEO or Sachin the intern? Ashish CMS or Ashish Order Management or Ashish Payments or Ashish Inventory Manager? Pankaj developer or PankajK developer? Sujeet VP or Sujit Ops?

I have so far been spared. Yet, it’s only a matter of time before we set up operations in Kolkata, which is also when my luck will run out.

And above all, there is just one Flipkart. Hook up with us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter (yeah, we did move from @flipkartdotcom).

Oh, and Flipkart will be launching CDs and DVDs shortly. Huzzah!

Here’s the second feature, following up on the earlier post about enabling Cash-on-Delivery.

Refined Search: It eats with a fork & spoon.

Our search (one that’s long been a pain point for all) is now more robust. It returns relevant results, in much quicker time … but there’s more. It also spel chex Did you mean: Spell checks ?

Naa, it doesn’t mean we know which of our users are bad spellers. But that isn’t all.

The sidebar now has a few additional filters as well.

Apart from Title and Author, you can now further refine your query by Price / Shipping Time / Binding. Of course, we’re still in the initial stages … but I must say all looks well.

And for those who want to know, it’s Solr.

Young Prarabdh Awasthi has toiled long and hard at taming this beast, and the results are plain to see. Good on you Prarabdh. A lot of us have a lot to Thank You for!

Give it a spin, tell us what you think!

Cash-on-Delivery (C-o-D)

So finally, it’s out! We have now enabled Cash-on-Delivery in multiple cities (I’ll come to the list in a bit). We’ve got a lot of mails from students and so on, who don’t necessarily have the means to pay online. C-o-D to the rescue.

You’ll find the C-o-D icon on the top right, for books that are “Cash-on-Delivery Enabled”. You add them to cart as you normally would, and when finally checking out, select “Pay By Cash-on-Delivery” from the Payment Options.

The following couple of steps are to verify your phone number and address, which is critical. Once done, we ship your books to you and you pay at the time of delivery. That’s pretty much it!

C-o-D is supported in the following cities:

• Bangalore
• Mumbai
• New Delhi-NCR
• Chennai
• Kolkata
• Ahmedabad
• Bhopal
• Bhubaneshwar
• Chandigarh
• Cochin
• Coimbatore
• Goa
• Guwahati
• Hyderabad
• Indore
• Kanpur
• Nasik
• Nagpur
• Pondicherry
• Pune
• Rajkot
• Surat
• Taloja
• Vadodara (Baroda)

We’ll see what we can do about other cities (those not on this list).

Baby steps!

The second feature? Glad you asked!

Search Improvements

We are (were?) a startup, and there’s always work to be done. We’re a 24X7X365 online store, which means we have people placing orders all the time, around the clock. The office may be closed on Sunday, but we’re always open for business.

And there’s also free high-speed internet.

I strolled into office in shorts today, but didn’t expect to find 174 people sitting around. Off-campus recruitment, turns out. And not just in Bangalore either. I think we wrapped up Pune and Hyderabad this past week.

I see Mekin and Vidya leading the charge here. Big Boss Binny made a couple of guest appearances. Ashwin and Pradeep and Vallies and Ashish providing able and capable backup. Delhi is happening simultaneously as well. Big Boss Sachin and Anuradha, backed up by Alok and Vishal and Anshul.

Game Faces on, everyone. And all the best to all applicants.

Or as we used to say at Disney, “bang bang.”

Flipkart at the IPL

2009 - one year to the day, Sujeet and Binny kick-started things in Delhi (our first office outside Bengaluru). On the eve of the anniversary, our gang found itself going IPL crazy … not in the colours of the home team but in those of Flipkart. Sachin was surprised they went in all black sweatshirts … wasn’t it 40° in the shade???

Monday morning, and festivities continued in the office.

Finger In The Pie

The Big Bosses

We Told Mona The Cake Was Low Fat

The Gang

Again

And now with all books shipped, the party will go on into the night. Party On, Delhi!

I started the interview by saying “I don’t like interviewing” and I didn’t once congratulate him on his new book.

Nonetheless, we forged ahead and found references to Amores Perros and “Sex & Cash”. McDonalds and the low price of Rs. 95. VK Karthika and Neelini Sarkar. And working at Flipkart. In some places, the question is longer than the answer.

The very candid and articulate Mr. Bajaj swatted my haphazard volley of questions, with impunity. Here’s it all, in raw, unstructured, uncensored form:

On “Johnny Gone Down”

“Johnny Gone Down” … why the name?
At its core, the novel is about the bizarre, almost surreal series of events that transform an Ivy League NASA scientist into first a genocide survivor, then a Buddhist monk, a drug lord, a homeless accountant, a software mogul and a deadly game fighter over a period of twenty years. In the protagonist’s view, it’s a downward journey (although I don’t quite agree with him).

How many countries does one travel through in “Johnny Gone Down”? Highlights?
His twenty year journey takes him from India to the US to Cambodia to Thailand to Brazil to the Silicon Valley back to India, among other places. The whole journey is a highlight!

Is the narrative linear/non-linear (you mention Amores Perros, hence), or does each chapter have a different protagonist?
There is just one protagonist. Except the prologue, the novel is a linear narrative though it tells as non-linear a story as you can imagine. I mention Amores Perros because the rough, dark and gritty mood of the film heavily influenced my writing of the South American part of the character’s journey.

If there is one line/page/chapter, which would it be? Why?
I quote from the synopsis: “Is there any greater win than living a life that knows no limits, a world that has seen no boundaries?”

It summarizes the main thought of the novel. Maybe Johnny hasn’t really gone down after all.

On Marketing

If I were to ask you to run a Demographical SEC-A/B of who you think would be the target audience of your book, could you?
I do enough segmentation and target audience definition in my Brand Management job to not concern myself about it in my writing! I have written the novel from my heart without worrying about market forces. I just hope it touches a few chords in folks, no matter which segment they are from.

The book is priced lower than “Keep Off The Grass”. Thoughts?
Pricing is the publisher’s decision with the author having little to no input in it. But I’m pleasantly surprised. Paradoxically, as the quality of my writing improves, the price keeps going down. At this rate, my next novel may just be available for free.

If it’s made into a movie, what contemporary actors do you think will fit the role(s)?
I’m indifferent to both film deals and choice of actors etc. as I have no desire to be involved in the film-making process. I just hope a filmmaker with some level of empathy buys the rights so they can transfer the broader emotional/philosophical thoughts in the novel into film versus just make it a fast-paced, racy intercontinental adventure that the novel automatically lends itself to.

On Writing

“Writers write for other writers” … agree/disagree?
Disagree, at least in my case. Predominantly, I think they write for themselves and hope to find enough of an audience out there who can understand their emotions and expression.

How do you see the relationship between the Writer and the Editor?
I’ve been very lucky to work with Harper Collins, who I think has the finest set of editors in India. Beyond just the basics of editing, great editors raise profound, thought-provoking questions on your plot that help you delve deeper and deeper into the psyche of your characters. In my case, I think I understood my protagonist and his motivations much better as I worked with outstanding editors like VK Karthika and Neelini Sarkar from Harper.

“McDonaldisation of ‘Indian’ Writing” … is there any truth to it?
Of course! Look at all the books which are crowding Indian bookstores today. Most plots are stripped of all complexity, contradictions & nuance and served up in easy to digest, small portions that allow you to consume without thinking. Quite like Mcdonald’s. On the other hand, you do still have the Upamanyu Chatterjees of the world concocting complex, interesting stories that reveal new flavors in every bite akin to savoring a rich seven course meal.

I hope Johnny Gone Down is somewhere in the middle. Neither a Bukhara, nor a Mcdonald, perhaps a Karim’s—very accessible yet not completely stripped of all nuance!

“The Sex and Cash Theory” … does that apply to Writing / Marketing? Do you see them as two “jobs”? Do you see it as Right Brain/Left Brain? Is one job any more creative than the other?
Not really. The theory would have applied if I were a banker or an accountant or something. I’m very lucky that I’m in a very fulfilling line of work which actually infuses my life with a lot of energy versus sap it out of me. My day job, Brand Management requires a lot of leadership, teamwork and creativity and you work with a lot of diverse, interesting folks—advertising agencies, Public Relations firms, designers and such—which always keeps things interesting. At the end of the work day, I’m more charged-up and creative than at the beginning which feeds well into my writing.

I also feel that having a steady, well-paying career makes me a better writer. I can choose to write what I want to and compose from the heart because I don’t have to cater to the latest publishing trends or specialize in the genre I’ve written in before or lobby for author awards or worry about networking for film deals. I don’t really need the money from writing, nor is writing my only source of self-worth.

Is “Travel Writing” somewhere on the horizon?
Very unlikely. My passion for travel is an essential component of my writing as you can see in Johnny Gone Down. But I really dig the huge leaps of fancy that fiction allows me to take, which is not possible in a real-life travel account.

Etc.

If you weren’t into Marketing or Writing, what other possible field of work would you be in?
The sales department at Flipkart. Are you taking résumés?

If that didn’t Beach-Your-Boat, I don’t know what will! Show’s over for all of us, but you can always head on over to the souvenir stand down below:

Johnny Gone Down
Author: Karan Bajaj
Price: Rs. 69 (After a 30% Discount)
ISBN:8172237863
ISBN-13:9788172237868
Binding: Paperback
Publishing Date: April 2010
Publisher: Harper Collins
Number of Pages: 324
Language: English

Cheers Karan, here’s wishing you well.

Sankarshan's Right

Apart from the above, we have now introduced SMS confirmations for all orders and despatched shipments.

We realised that a lot of people may not necessarily access emails very often, or perhaps our mail ends up in spam every once in a while. A lot of you are also at work but use your personal ID on Flipkart. The long and short of it, you’ll get confirmation alerts on your phone from now on (unless you opt out).

The flow when placing the order stays the same, and just before you head to your PG for payment is the order page. Just below your total is this little message with a checkbox:

Real Time Confirmation Alerts

• The cellphone number’s pre-filled, if you have a default mobile number saved in My Account details.
• Else, the number you saved with your address is what is selected.
• You can uncheck the box to opt out of receiving alerts.

Once your order’s placed, you’ll get an SMS confirming your order. Again, once we ship your book (s), you’ll get messages informing you of the same. That’s all there is to it.

Pradeep is sitting on the edge of his seat. Let us know how it turns out!

Watch!

Mention the Kumbh Mela and most Indians (South Asian, not West or American) born in the 80s and before will recall images not so much of a Hindu Pilgrimage site or of Naga Sadhus, but of TWINS. Twins who are separated soon after birth, in early infancy. In spite of being well aware that history repeats itself (especially at the Kumbh), parents insist on taking their offspring to the famed mela, where one of the siblings will soon get lost in the crowd and be separated from his kith and kin.

Many years later, serendipity or divine intervention guarantees these twins meeting again … to compare birthmarks and moles.

Similarly, the www is a perpetual mela. Thousands dive in every minute, in ways big and small. It should come as no surprise that some are bound to get lost and separated, only to reunite. It hence gives me great pleasure to introduce the splitting image of Flipkart:

ELFYkart.com

Hear me out, hear me out.

I would ordinarily have done nothing about it, but a kind Professor emailed Sachin today. The Professor received a mailer from the Elfy guys and found it all a bit suspicious. “Fraudulent and misleading” were two of the many words he used, and thought it was best to bring it to our notice. He was hoping we could shed some light as to who these people are.

To move on then:

They’ve got the whole liquid layout thing going, which is kind of neat. Needs a bit of work, but still. Oh, wait …

That Greatbong Book Box on the bottom right looks awfully familiar. Even the words within, seems so much like something I might have hastily edited for Flipkart over a month ago. Hmm…

And these friendly boxes just below it look annoyingly familiar too.

Can’t say I blame the Professor for suspecting something. He felt it imperative that we do something about the “phishing” website, if it does turn out to be one.

For a fact, we have absolutely nothing to do with ELFYkart.com. I’m sure they had their reasons and inspirations and so on and so forth, for now we’ll leave it at that. You are free to go ahead and transact with them, but Flipkart will not be held responsible. I don’t speak Legalese too well, but I’m sure my point’s clear.

I will place an order though and see how it goes.

Besides, someone or the other will probably read this sometime or the other and let the Elfy guys know as well. Only wish them and us had that one other person in common, the one who would lead to our meeting.

I wonder who that might be?

Aah! Glad Elfy has one fans. Will check in with him.

Just hope he doesn’t turn out to be someone like me. What do you think?

When most people at Flipkart turn up at work, they expect the usual processing-packing-posting routine. Some yelling also. What they don’t expect is to trip over a tripod.

Until now.

So turns out, CNBC wanted to shoot a bit with Flipkart’s CEO Sachin and COO Binny, for their “Young Turks” property. For those not into CNBC (or their website), here’s the content I’ve lifted off:

Young Turks

This series focuses on today’s young achievers who are poised to become tomorrow’s leaders, by unraveling their past experiences, the challenges they faced and their vision for the future. Hosted by Shereen Bhan, it brings out the best in the young leaders of tomorrow in an informal discussion with them.

Yeah, works for us.

Sachin & Binny did their bits diligently (their coats would make you think it’s a period film). Our lads went about self consciously (some hammed up the heavy lifting, but that’s because the camera adds 10 pounds). Sujeet went around laying the recruiting pitch (rumour has it he offered the CNBC crew jobs). I was well behaved, by staying out of everyone’s way (some may say I was hunting for Ms. Shereen Bhan).

All in all, a great day. Well deserved for the Bansals & Co. Pats on backs.

Here’s when it airs:

• Thursday, 18th March — 6:30 pm
• Saturday, 20th March — 11 am (Repeat Telecast)
• Sunday, 21st March — 12 noon (Repeat Telecast)

I don’t think it’ll clash with the IPL, so do switch over for a bit. A behind-the-scenes under-the-hood peek into how Flipkart functions, all uncensored!! Worth 10 minutes, don’t you think?

Thank you all, for making this happen.

UPDATE: … and after all of you requested, here’s the YouTube Video!

A Wholly Biased Outlook (if I do say so myself)

Silence on this blog usually means, lots is afoot.

For those who came in late (me included), the jingbang was over at Pluggd.in’s Unpluggd gig. Some hearts were set aflutter because Flipkart sells more than a book/minute. The first day this happened, a couple of us looked at each other, hoping against hope that one of these books doesn’t turn out to be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back”. We’ve been coping pretty well, but loads of room for improvement. Volume and scale changes things completely.

And we’re stuck somewhere between Agile and Fragile.

Swaroop CH and his nifty book price comparison engine has also come along, I wonder what the Iglooo guys think of it (or of themselves, in comparison). With so much said and written about the Indian Consumer and His/Her psyche, we are all still led to believe that Price Is Everything.

I’m not so sure.

Yes, price matters. What about service and availability though? I have personally got mails with people saying “I want you to know it was cheaper elsewhere, but I’d rather buy from you.” I’ve even mailed a couple of people back saying “But we’ve messed up a couple of your earlier orders!”, and they’ve mailed back saying “I know. But you’ve admitted and rectified what you’ve messed up. That’s reason enough for me to persist.” Also other factors like delivery time and so on. Are people okay if price is inversely proportional to delivery duration? Is there anyone tracking these tangible intangibles? Can it be tracked?

If I had the talent or skill, I’d probably jump the curve and come up with a “Comparison Engine” comparison engine.

I heard your collective sighs. Fine, I won’t. Your loss.

My blathering aside, we are of course serious about books.

We had our first outing at the Bengaluru Book Fair, 2009, then a second bigger one at the World Book Fair, 2010. Flipkart is now all set to cross lands & lakes, to set foot at the London Book Fair, 2010.

Maybe I could have saved us all a lot of time by just saying, “No News Is Good News”.

All of us at some point or the other have been asked — “Flipkart, what does it mean?”

For a fact, it means nothing — looking it up in the dictionary will testify just as much. A simple explanation is this;

• We needed a unique word (or sound), that meant nothing and hence had no generic connotations to it
• It would have to have something with the idea of shopping, or a shopping cart (or sound like it)
• And not have the word “book” in it. (what if we start selling CDs and DVDs tomorrow? Or Pendrives? Or Cellphones?)
• Have an available .com TLD

I may have missed something, but that’s pretty much it.

PS: And though Binny and Sachin share the same last name, they aren’t brothers. (In the family ties sense. What makes the COO and the CEO brothers is out of the scope of this post. I might leave that up to Seth Godin or Guy Kawasaki)

The “Customer”

Head on over to Mr. Rajgopaul’s post first.

If you came back to this post, that’s good news right off the bat! But more to the point; We erred.

• We do not have a standard policy of addressing people
• In this case, Mr. Rajgopaul had specifically asked to be addressed formally
• In spite of which, he was addressed informally in the second round of correspondence

We have no excuses to proffer. NONE.

What is not evident in any of this is that the conversation I had with Mr. Rajgopaul on the phone was indeed a pleasant one (I will admit I was surprised, and also that I was naïve — which is what led to me being surprised). Not any more, I understand him perfectly. As I expressed in my conversation as well, this was the first time I had personally come across an issue of this sort — but there could possible have been other cases as well. It’s just that others might not have been as articluate, cogent or vocal about it as Mr. Rajgopaul.

If push comes to shove, something like this might be in the offing … eventually.

How Would You Like To Be Addressed?

Or let’s take baby steps first, shall we? Here is Your Account section on Flipkart. If you could spare me a minute and fill in just the basic details (First Name, Last Name, Mobile Number, Gender), it’ll hold us in good stead.

• Oye
• Hey
• Hi
• Hello
• Sir
• Ma’am
• Namaskar Saheb
• Namaste Ji
• Namaskara Devaru

I have personally used all of the above in correspondences.

Some have even suggested I have a Colonial Hangover when referring to them as Sir and Ma’am. If I need to, why not use “Namaste” (and derivatives thereof)? My preferred interpretation of Namaste is “the God in me acknowledges the God in you”. Nothing to do with age, caste or sex.

Others have chided me, referring to the Dharma/Karma dichotomy. Actions, not words.

To cap it up, I referred to Hetal in the feminine, and he stepped in soon enough to correct me. Still not sure if he’s started signing off as Mr. Hetal, though. But I don’t need to be told twice.

The most irreverent of the lot seems to be this Naked Indian Fakir. There’s a lot on there to see and listen to, so I’m getting in on the action as well..

i’m a Gandhian. i’m a Churchillian. i’m even a
Nehruvian. and a Lincolnist. i’m a Freudian. and
a Jungian. a Darwinian. and a Satanist. i’m old
fashioned. i’m a post modernist. a cubist. a
dadaist. a democrat. and a quasi fascist. a
liberal. and a leftist. i’m Hindu because i find the
gods funky. i’m Muslim because then god isn’t
clay, stone, plastic or metal. i’m Christian just
because. and i’m an atheist. i’m Lynchian.
Hitchcockian. a Kieslowskist. and a Ghatakist.
i’m vegan. and a carnivore. a naturalist. and a
mall rat. i’m a philatelist. and a postman. i’m an
activist. and a lethargist. i’m actually Green
Lantern, when i’m not the Phantom. i’m whatever
the f*** you want me to be. and then i’m NOT.
underneath my clothes i’m naked. i’m Sindhi,
reared partly in the land of Bengali, and partly in
the land of Kannada, making a living in the land
of Marathi, all in one big confused nation. so i’m
indian. i tried for ‘f***er’ but that url was taken.
fakir was the next best thing. anyone with any
objections should try to Quit India now. its never
too late. thank you.

i’m also – as you can see – a touch pretentious.

And on why he refers to himself as the Naked Indian Fakir

because it’s the ultimate under-estimation. its what churchill called gandhi when the latter was on a fast at the beginning of the quit india movement. evidently the cigar puffing englishman never imagined what the loin-cloth clad near-naked indian fakir would be capable of.

similarly, i like being underestimated. then there’s no pressure to deliver a knockout punch. almost anything you do thereon is above expectation because expectations were so low to begin with. and if you do clear the vault by over a foot then the applause resounds that much louder because no one knew you could. and even if they thought you might, they’d have liked to believe you couldn’t. its not their fault. we’re conditioned to being hard on others. i do it too. i underestimate. and when i’m wrong about someone i hate having to eat my words. which is why i love to watch others eat theirs.

naked.

indian.

fakir.

i wonder what churchill looked like when he ate these.

Amen, or Ameen!

Jayantika (I’m hoping you don’t mind the first person reference) had mailed a while back, and there were some things about her that had been committed to memory. And this happens often. A lot of the early customers have been committed to memory, for largely two reasons:

• The customer pool was fairly small
• Our backend was 3 computers with no power backup

Work would come to a halt when the power went out. Unless.

Unless we could carry on with work without the systems up. The only way to do this was to remember all Customers’ Names, Addresses, Contact Details and Order History. Soon enough, we knew well enough whose book was to be shipped where, irrespective of the systems being up or not. And we knew most of them by voice (no caller ID necessary). So if any of you called in 2007-2008 about something, well, chances are every third call you made had us telling you things from memory.

We just hit keystrokes on the keyboard to make it seem like we were “looking up” stuff.

What doesn’t surprise us is this — 90% of these people continue to place orders with us. They’ve seen the ugly, then the bad, now maybe the good. That’s loyalty that can never be put into words.

And even if they stop, we’ll still be friends. “Dosti hum se karo, hamare dhande se nahin.”

The Designation

It’s the first day of a new Regional Manager here in Bangalore, which meant I had to be up at 9. We met and greeted, and the gentleman whipped out a diary and fired questions rapidly at me. Who? What? Where? CEO, COO, VP-OPS, Tech Lead, Head HR — abbreviated acronyms were slowly turning out into an Org-Chart, right before my eyes. Ordinarily, it would worry me … but I’ve learned from experience. There is one question that will usually pop up that makes all pens run dry. And it came, on cue:

“So Tapas, what do you do, your designation?”

You could hear the pen screech all the way till 3rd Block, Koramangala. But this Regional Manager had done his research and he played his cards well. “You’re Techno-Functional. You do some of the operations and some of the technical. Techno-Functional.” I’m sticking with it too.

Techno Functional.

I had to do my bit to show him a bit of appreciation as well, and I did.

He is right now on the assembly line. Mr. Pat*l, the Bangalore Regional Manager is on the assembly line.

Oh, it’s not a big deal. The Founders have done it too.

Attributions: OpenspaceIndia.org / Possibly “Nitin Das” [Edited in good faith based on below comment by Hemant Kathuria]

Championing the cause: Pratham Books and Tulika Books.

Head on over.

The iPad Has Messed Everyone Up

For those of you wondering what Preorder is, it’s the equivalent of Advance Booking. Which just means you won’t have to stand in line staring at a House Full Board (or in this case, Out-of-Stock), because demand > supply and people will run out of copies by the time you decide what and where to buy it from.

So click here to Prebook Your Copy of the Greatbong’s Book.

In other news, Greatbong has an online contest around for a while. To save you a bit of trouble, here are the hoops you need to jump through.

1. On your blog, provide a link to this page. (http://greatbong.net/book). Embedding the above picture in your blog would be nice but not needed.

2. Then write down your top 10 Hindi movie lines or top 10 English movie lines (You can do both if you want. Only one set is required for the contest).If you cannot think of top 10, make it top 5. Cannot think of even 5? Make it top 3. No problem. Only Restriction: No two lines from same movie. This done to make it fair for other movies so that they dont get swamped by Gunda or Loha or Sholay.

3. Tag five friends to do the same.

4. Come over to the comment-space of this post and post your blog’s link so Greatbong can go and read it.

Remember:Before starting the tag, paste points 1 and 4 on your blog so that the rules are available to anyone who wishes to pick the tag up from your blog.

What if you dont have a blog? Put your “Top list” in the comments section of this post and tweet the link to your friends (No need to tag specific people). Please use #MIHYAP so that Greatbong can pick it up. No twitter? Link to your comment from Facebook/Orkut status message and add Greatbong as a friend @Facebook or at @Orkut so he can see the message. [Prefer Facebook if you have accounts in both places]

Prizes: Two prizes will be given. One prize will be the post Greatbong likes the most. The other prize will be a random drawing among everyone who picks up the tag. Note a blog entry will be considered valid only if a link to http://greatbong.net/book is provided AND 5 people are tagged [They do not need to pick the tag up for your entry to count though], a “comments-in-RTDM” entry will be considered valid only if the link is tweeted with #MIHYAP tag or posted as status message on FB that Greatbong can see.

And what’s the prize? No it is not an iPod, iPad or [insert fictitious prize item here]. Prizes will consist of a copy of Greatbong’s book “May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss” which will be sent to the winner once it is published and released.

Note: Very important. The prizes will be delivered by the Publisher ONLY to addresses within India. If you are outside India, you would need to provide them with an Indian address.

And yes this is a shameless promotion stunt. Greatbong has a book to sell. Flipkart has Greatbong’s book to sell. We need to pimp it a bit.

Did I just copy this entire list from Greatbong.net’s Contest Page? Yes.
Did I just change “me” and “I” to Greatbong/he/him ? Yes.

And yes, there is a thin line between “plagiarise” and “paraphrase”, and I’m walking it.

May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss
Author: Arnab Ray aka. Greatbong
ISBN: 8172239378
ISBN-13: 9788172239374
Binding: Paperback
Publishing Date: March 2010
Publisher: HarperCollins India
Number of Pages: 225
Language: English

Lights, Camera, ... erm, Next!

It’s been one of those days.

Just to say a quick Thank You to all those who’ve taken the time and trouble to come find us at the 19th New Delhi World Book Fair. TV and Print, sorry about the geeky bytes…

Humbled.

Terrible signage. Absolutely.

You have no idea where you are, and where you need to go and how you need to get there with reference to where you are. Don’t give me the “You are not a man, men can read a maps” crap. Au contraire, Men don’t ask for directions, but this place forced my hand.

The polite lady at the Information / Help Desk was patient and precise. I have since then troubled her about other Halls, about where Parking is, where the nearest tea guy is, where I can buy Fevikwik. God bless her. Tomorrow, I plan to stun her with this:

“Ma’am, may I know your name?”

The Flipkart stall (No. 62 - No. 65) is just as you walk in through one of two entrances to Hall 4, right next to IBH. The one with a lot of computers and says “Flipkart.com”. And if you buy a book, they may even let you check mail.

I got there straight from the airport last evening, and sadly just missed Ahalya of the Literary Angels. We had briefly corresponded a while back and I was of course pleasantly surprised she’d dropped by and left a card behind, “For Tapas from the Blog”. Ahalya, if you’re reading this, hope you had a pleasant journey back. Will buzz once in Bangalore. {If any of you competitors A, B, C even so much as pretend spam him, I swear … }

Strolled around a bit, got a few bearings. Met some “industry people” hello-shelloed … the usual. One of them said, “We should catch up sometime, discuss work. I’ll have my people call you.”

NOTE TO SELF:
a> Get a real designation. Blog guy won’t last long.
b> Get some people of my own. It’s about time I had people.

Before I knew it, the guards were Tweeting. WHISTLES (that’s what Tweet meant, back in my day). So I Tweeted as well (Twitter, this time).

Today was my first complete day, of course. It kick-started with a seminar of sorts, with Publishers and Distributors from around India. We had a little talk explaining who we are and what we do. All that was fine and well, including the Q & A where a lot of ambiguities were no longer uncertain. Lots of regional language guys as well.

If you are a Publisher/Distributor and want to come on board with us, I can summarise the entire Seminar thus. In the words of Sujeet:

“Price according to your terms, service according to our terms”

Not to worry, we have two other presentation slots lined up: 4th Feb and 5th Feb. Do make us an offer we can’t refuse.

Hetal sent me a mail and he mentioned the “Why Flipkart Works” write-up on the Chaupaati.in Blog, one thing led to another … a few Tweets and ReTweets … and Kashyap Deorah got dragged into it.

(If you’re wondering who Kashyap is, read the post. If you’ve read the post and are still wondering who he is, I’m afraid I can’t help much. If you’re wondering who Hetal is, I won’t tell. Because you’ll go spam him.)

So Kashyap and me are just getting into a Phone-pe-Deal discussion and how Flipkart isn’t into it yet and how and when and why, and I mention Dial A Book, and possibly this chap’s got something to do with it.

I type in “this chap’s” name and just then a couple of random guys stroll in to the stall looking for me. I say “Hello …” and he says, “We’ve mailed each other a long time ago, etc. etc., I’m” and I point at the screen and say “Look, I just typed out your name!”

How would you react if you’re meeting somebody for the first time, someone you’d exchanged mails with a long time ago. You don’t have a plan and he doesn’t know you’re coming to see him. You may not even know for sure whether he’s there or not, but you drop in anyway. You introduce yourself, and he points at the screen and says “I was just telling Chaupaati Kashyap about you.”

Exactly. Yes, exactly. That’s how that chap reacted too.

NOTE TO SELF:
a> I have special powers. I don’t need people.
b> I have special powers, I don’t need b>

The chap then buggered off to probably run some GA on me. He did — to his credit — leave me Abhishek of the Shack for company, and we shot the breeze about roasting coffee, ecofarming, clowns, manual SLRs, smoking pipes, cuisine of the malabar coast, discovering Bangalore, plates of idli (Quantity 3) that cost not much (Rs. 5).

You know, the usual.

We ended the day by distributing snacks amongst the guards that lock up the Delhi World Book Fair every evening at 8, only to re-open the next morning at 10:30.

See you there.

Identities Have Been Masked, But You Can Always Google Him. Oh, wait ...

I like the attention to detail, SEO and otherwise.

Domain Name:
A .com TLD {CHECK}
A .in (unverified), but I’m sure it’s a 301 redirect
Product name in domain “gola” {CHECK}
Country name in domain “India” (compensates for the .in as well) {CHECK}
Brand recall call-to-action “Go” Gola {CHECK}

Trademark Registration: BONUS {CHECK}

Title Tag: The World’s Cleanest Gola {CHECK}

Anchor Text:
No Dirty Handling {CHECK}
No Synthetic Syrups {CHECK}
Mineral Water Ice {CHECK}

#Colour Key Mapping:
Kalakhatta in Kalakhatta Colour {CHECK}
Masala Kokam in Masala Kokam Colour {CHECK}

(Heuristics is the next level of SEO, I’ll have you know)

H1 Tags:
Mineral Water Ice {CHECK}
Natural Fruit Flavours {CHECK}
Hygienic Handling {CHECK}

Toolbar/Widget/Firefox Addon: BONUS “Yummy Search” {CHECK}

Page Size/Weight: < 20kb {CHECK}

Optimization For 800X600 and iPhone: Judging by the W x H {CHECK}

Flower Power: Garland 2.0 {CHECK}

“New and Improved, For The Indian Market.”
- Quote from PR person, seen in background.

Jai Hind!

A good one week after we kickstarted operations in Mumbai, I can now safely say “We’ve arrived.”

On account of writers’ block, I will plagiarise a conversation I earlier had. Please do expect things out-of-context.

It’s the city I grew up in, feels odd to be living in a hotel. Postpartum depression, is what I think it can be called. But my biological clock has trained to get me off the train, etc. A model didn’t stab me, but I did juggle lipsticks for one. Her makeup guy was freaking out. I was, am, territorial though. Intense arguments with two other non-Bombayites about why things are the way they are, Order and chaos.

“Every city has a sex and an age which have nothing to do with demography. Rome is feminine. So is Odessa. London is a teenager, an urchin, and, in this, hasn’t changed since the time of Dickens. Paris, I believe, is a man in his twenties in love with an older woman.” - John Berger

Bombay is the manwhore. Will do anything with anyone for any sum. It’s 39 years old. An age where it’s hard to accept that you’re no longer young, and an age no one considers as old. A midlife crisis of sorts. It is in fact 33 years old, but looks 39 because of the lifestyle it leads.

“Too old for rock n’ roll, too young to die.”

@rohan_kini from the fantastically cool Bums On The Saddle Bicycle Store (especially for Trek & Firefox bikes) in Bangalore had paid us a visit not too long ago. They’ve been getting requests from all over India for Bikes and Accessories and was wondering if they should notch it up a bit.

Then — on bended knee — he popped the question: “What do you think about the payment gateways?”

He got a couple of pieces of my mind, but Anshul in Barriers To e-Commerce In India has already got most of this down, so I won’t repeat myself or himself.

Flipkart has been online for a couple of years. Things have been great so far — and I’m not going to complain for the sake of complaining — but, the more things change the more they stay the same. And that just won’t cut it.

For the record, we use ccAvenue and EBS. As I had earlier mentioned, they are safe, no doubt. If you’ve bought a book from us, chances are you used either one of these.

And if you couldn’t buy a book from us, chances are you used one of these.

This right here is my gripe.

They do their job, and they do it well — we’ve become what we have and no small credit to the PGs. The roadblock is when it comes to scaling up, which is when things fall apart.

It isn’t just the code base or the integration mechanism or the documentation. It’s in small parts the multi-stage interaction, node hops and packet drops, data speeds and bandwidth, banks and much more.

I’m oversimplifying the issue here, for more reasons than one — mostly because the causes are more than one. And none of the above means anything for the end user. An API is just an acronym for him when all he wants to know is “Have you got my money or not?” and better still “You stole my money and I’m off to consumer court!”.

I empathize completely.

Where it hurts us as a merchant is here:

EBS

Alexa EBS Clickstream

ccAvenue

Alexa ccAvenue Clickstream

We send across not a small number of users to both gateways.

Plenty of users complain when Companies and Services do not fulfill their end of the bargain. I know a lot of you do when Flipkart does a boo-boo. But how come not many businesses do, when payment gateways aren’t up to par? If the answer to that is “because we are wholly dependent on them.”, then I’m afraid sooner or later, e-commerce companies will start building their own gateways.

Where are all the e-commerce merchants? And how about all you users who equally bear the brunt of it?

More than a few kind people chimed in with thoughts and suggestions, as is evident in the comments. We were of course short-staffed and went on a recruiting spree (and as someone once joked, “Looking at Flipkart, one would never guess that you’re a startup, or that there’s a recession on!’). We got a great many people on board, and a lot of the work that’s got done in the past 6 months has been more backend, than frontend. (And between you and me, I don’t trust the ERP guys at all. Especially that Vishal character.)

It’s mostly around continuous deployment, and progressive enhancement, backend to front.

But till we get good at the above, we’ll take baby steps. Like all things at Flipkart, the baby steps start by listening to users.

NEW RELEASES & REVIEWS

Shankar Ganesh had a couple of points. We have now moved the reviews onto their own page, with just the top 2 or 3 most recent ones shown on the product page. We took a small step in order to nip spam (albeit after it blossomed), and we now require people to Login/Signup to write a review.

The Yes/No helpful review bit, that based on ratings will push reviews up or down. You can click as many times as you want, we’ll thank you every time, but just one vote will be logged, your first (presumably).

And of course the “report abusive” bit. I find the messaging hilarious! But at least this little bit’s done.

HOMEPAGE & WISHLIST

Swaroop C H added his bits. I’m afraid the front page is still as noisy, but optimistic we’ll devote more space to new releases — something Shankar Ganesh also hinted at. Don’t be surprised when I say I’m on board with all of you about this, Vasant Salian included - the goddamn tag clouds are getting a little old.

We’ll have to re-engineer that bit.

The Wishlist was always around, but thanks to a bit of crowdsourcing and good ol’ Vallies, it first came out to sit on the header (top left) and then went on to become “Public” some 72 hours ago. It was (as best as I know) first brought up on Sankarshan’s Blog and seconded and thirded in the comments. It took 9 months for it to come into fruition, but not without its kinks.

You won’t find the “Make Public” where you expect to (No, not in the Wishlist, which would be effortless. We need proof that you really love us, so you’ll have to scramble around a bit.)

For now, go to My Account and scroll down to the bottom. You can modify the default ID, so you can make it /wishlist/tapas, for example.

Actually, while you’re there, can you please fill in your name and phone number? We’d rather refer to you by your given name than your given email ID — when we send you order confirmations and whatnot. Keying in your cellphone number will help us Text order confirmation and shipment confirmation by SMS.

C’mon, it’ll only take a minute! Click here —> Your Account.

Needs a bit of work, but I’m glad it’s out.

LOYALTY PROGRAM

This is something we’ve thought long and hard over, and I have briefly flirted with a few points. Rahul had mailed us not too long ago, and here’s part of what I wrote to him, in reply:

We work on very slim margins, across the board. This is solely because we do actually give the best possible discount we can afford to, leaving us no room. A loyalty scheme would have worked for us if we’d gone in with the plan to have a web discount (which gave us healthy margins) and then introduced a loyalty scheme that gave select customers additional discounts (leaving us with thin margins, in those specific cases). This was the fork we found ourselves at very early into Flipkart, and we chose the former.

I’m personally all for a Loyalty Program, but it will have to be one that isn’t based on “higher discount”. All suggestions welcome (but I make no guarantees if and when it will get implemented).

SEARCH, RECOMMENDATION ENGINE & WEREAD INTEGRATION

Richard has my sympathies, as far as the (non-existent) recommendation engine/similar books/also bought is concerned. But to be fair, we haven’t yet sunk our teeth into it, yet. There will surely be improvements by the next change of season.

Search was always a challenge — and now with regional language books getting added — the task is absolutely monumental. Auto-suggest will have to wait a while, Swaroop.

We thought he was done, but he came back with “WeRead Integration”.

To that end, we asked a man who knows more about WeRead than you and me put together — Mekin Maheshwari — to a dance with Flipkart, and he accepted. Not necessarily the kind of integration Swaroop might have had in mind, but nonetheless.

TWITTER ACCOUNT & FACEBOOK

Much before Sankarshan, Vasu had first suggested — and quite adamantly — that we get on Twitter. For one, we hadn’t because no one was “free” enough to manage the stream. For Two, someone who had 2 minutes to spare (which we clearly didn’t) went ahead and gobbled up @flipkart. With that slap to our face and so many of you pinging @flipkart, something had to give.

From this was born, @flipkartdotcom @flipkart. What’s with the long name? Because we like to put more effort into things.

Yes, we could have filed this-that-and-the-other and got ourselves @Flipkart, but at the end of the day, we’re peace loving people who only pick fights with courier companies because they messed up delivery. So @flipkart, if you’re reading this and feeling sorry or guilty about the prank that went all wrong, send me a mail at MYNAME[at]flipkart.com … and all will be forgiven and we’ll go out for a beer.

PS: Yes, we did get @flipkart, eventually!

Girija suggested Flipkart get on Facebook! Fast!!

GIFT WRAPPING

A long long time ago, A Zen Approach to Giftwrapping was mentioned by me. It is now up on the UI.

Add books like you normally would, checkout like you normally would and before you hit pay, you should see a summary of your order items and at the bottom is a “Gift Wrap” and “Add Note” check box. Check it, type out your note … well, that’s pretty much it.

Oh yeah, there’s no charge.

Flightless Avian? No clue.

In light of all the emails I’ve received, calls we’ve got and Tweets out there on the interweb, I’m here to report that Flipkart is indeed selling the book on Pre-Order.

But a lot of you already knew that.

Dork: The Incredible Adventures Of Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese
Author: Sidin Vadukut
ISBN: 0143067117
ISBN-13: 9780143067115
Binding: Paperback
Publishing Date: February 2010
Publisher: Penguin Books India
Number of Pages: 240
Language: English

Endangered Species?

via @blinkandmiss Re:Paranormal activity on flipkart.com

We tried plugging the dam, but damn, too many leaks too few fingers. To all you people who called and mailed and tweeted, Kudos for keeping us on our toes.

Pankaj coder to the rescue!!!

It’s been over a month since the last blog post and I of course feel very guilty for disappointing all the regular Flipkart Blog readers. Yes, all 27 of you. Yes, especially the 7 of you who do not work at Flipkart. Ok, fine … you too, MOM. But a lot has happened. For one, the promo code BBF09 has expired and it’s good to know that a lot of you got your money’s worth from it (literally!). Hang on, I’ll just bullet it out:

(in no particular order of importance)

a> The discount coupon code BBF09 has expired, and a lot of you have been requesting for something new to start off the year. I did bring it up with one of the top brass, who in his melodramatic mood said “Let them eat cake!”. (I just made that up. I’m sorry …).

Officially, no coupon code as yet. If we do let one out the bag, you’ll be the first to know.

b> The team has expanded. And I mean, EXPANDED. I can bluff my way through, but all of you new guys … I’m sorry, I really can’t seem to retain your names. I think we’re close to a 100 people now …. oh wait, I know who knows …

c>HR Lady Mugdha! … and when she first came in, someone took me aside and said, “You know who she is? Your worst nightmare.” We’ll see about that.

Yes, we now have a motley crew of Headhunters, Recruiters and HR people. If you’d love to work with us, here’s a handy little Careers Page with all the Current Job Openings At Flipkart. Flipkart salary? No, that’s not on that page.

And Omniprasan doesn’t know anything about it either.
.
.
.
.

I told you, didn’t I?

d> We’ve got a Cappuccino-Espresso machine at the office. Yes, I am as disappointed as Anna (the tea guy), but what can you do — we are turning into Web 2.0

e> We’ve also gathered loads of Fans on Facebook and 550 odd Followers on Twitter. You’re missing the party? Join in!

We don’t spam. Never.

Some minor under-the-hood tweaks are also underway:

f> The monumental search task has begun, so no more embarrassing results when you search for Douglas Adams On Flipkart.

If you’re wondering what was embarrassing, head right over to the comment on Ankur’s Blog and step this way to buy the book that is sure to have you hooked.

g> We have also managed to sneak in a Flipkart Affiliate Program.

If you were thinking of starting your own biggest Indian online bookstore in India to buy books online in India, maybe you can put that on the back-burner and start a blog with our Affiliate Program instead? No overheads and bigger margins too!

Give it a thought.

h> Oh yeah, we are also almost done with the Flipkart Gift Certificate / Voucher. Just a bit of nip and tuck, and that should be out too. You can now gift the Flipkart voucher to any random person at all, maybe even yourself!

i> Plus we’ve added a few new sources from overseas and a whole lot of regional language books. Hindi, Kannada and Tamil, mostly. Once we’re done cataloguing and figuring out what all those squiggly characters mean, they should be up on the site.

j> Some of us have also Been Busy Busting Butts in Bombay. Flipkart Mumbai should be open for business by the time you read this, so that’s one more notch on our bedpost.

k> I usually prefer not to mix my Professional from my Personal, but seeing as how it’s 4:30am and I’m sitting in my shorts in the office, what the hey.

l> Running out of things to say here, but since you’ve read all the way down to l>, I can’t disappoint you.

“The unmarried Flipkart founder is getting married anytime now, and the married Flipkart founder just had a baby boy!”

lmL.

Rock on.

Subject: Shipping
Message: Do ya’ll ship books to prisons in texas?

Howdy Billy Bob, It shore do look a purty opportunity.

Unwinding one evening were Sujeet and me, at Café Mondegar (just down the street is Leopold Café, where we’ve spent other evenings). Anyone from Mumbai will tell you, “You can’t spend an evening here without seeing or being seen by someone you know.”

We were almost running out of luck as we stepped out on to the pavement. Looked like this was to be the day when we’d meet no one … and just then an old friend of mine from LINTAS spots me. And I him.

We discuss how we’re glad we ran into each other, it saved the day. He asks why I’m there. I mumble Flipkart something something. “Slipkraft what?” he says.

But then his friend nails it.

“Oh, you’re with Flipkart? I know you guys. Didn’t you just close your first round? It’s news.” (etc.)

Damn, I love this city. Good to be back. (Ravi, Purple, Fakir … shall make time and mail you guys)

Case in point: Courier Indésirable. You know what we call that in English? SPAM.

The reason I bring this up is because, in the past week, a few different customers have emailed me saying

“What is wrong with Online Bookstore A, B, C? No matter when or where I mention Flipkart, this Online Bookstore A, B, C pops up and adds its 2 cents about how I should try their bookstore. What makes them think that by annoying me— your customer — they’ll get converts? Whoever their marketing/sales person is, he/she deserves to be fired.”

The little snippet on top has been paraphrased and condensed by me, just to TONE IT DOWN. You may think I’m making this up, because I need to spew bile and didn’t find a better place. NOT. I spew enough bile everyday on my Flipkart co-workers; ask them. I am always annoyed about something or the other; once everyday, twice on Sunday.

And if I’m annoyed, well, you should go have a chat with these people who mailed me. People on Twitter and Bloggers.

Again, I am not an authority on an issue such as this, so feel free to correct me or contradict me. All I ask is for you to approach this with an open mind.

There are primarily 2 ways to acquire customers:

1> Find those who have never before tried a product/service such as yours, and get them on your side.
2> Target those who try a product/service similar to yours and get them to switch to your side, because you have the “better mousetrap”.

The way you are going about your No. 2 (pun unintended) is what is annoying people.

If someone was using Vodabone and you advertised that your Fairtel was cheaper, hence getting Vodabone customers to switch to you, that is acceptable. However, when you find Vodabone customers and plaster their house walls with Fairtel marketese (blogs), or their scooter and car with Fairtel bumper stickers (Twitter), then it annoys them.

Maybe it was a bad analogy, but you know what I’m getting at.

No one said marketing and customer acquisition was easy, and for the most part it’s an all’s-fair-no-holds-barred-gloves-off-fight-to-the-death contest. There are a lot of things both you and me do, and we both know we do it, and we both let it slide. It’s my left hook for your jab. We both understand the rules. We don’t cry foul, until of course, now.

Knowing where to draw the line — or spotting a line already drawn, so as not to overstep it — that should have been mentioned by Al Ries & Jack Trout.

If overstepping was bad news, allow me to break the worse bit to you: These people are complaining to US about YOU.

a> These same customers are telling us about you. They were under no obligation to do so, neither do we send probing emails out to people. They volunteered to give me that information.
b> And if it has annoyed them so much that they’ve taken the trouble to tell us, I will hazard a guess that they’ve already told all their friends.
c> You’ve succeeded in losing customers you didn’t even have.

British Airways did a similar thing with Virgin Atlantic and we all know how that story ended. I know, you are not BA and we’re not VA.

There is this term — will be familiar to those who read Clausewitz / Art of War, or are into gaming — “Fog-of-War”. It is used to describe uncertainty, dark areas, the unknown etc. If Indian e-commerce was a battlefield in a MMORPG, you would see a few little fireflies on a canvas covered in Fog-of-War.

Those little fireflies are us. You and me. We.

My advice to you, kindly rethink your strategy. I’m saying this not as a competitor, but as one of the people involved in making Indian e-Commerce a bigger better happier place.

Lest you forget, we are all on the same page.

PS: My apologies if I took too much of your time or sounded too preachy. Now if you will excuse me, I have bags to pack and a flight to catch.

It was just reported to us by Ance in Customer Support that the order placed by Sachin Bansal, THE Sachin Bansal (Co-Founder and CEO of Flipkart.com) has not yet been delivered. The package was shipped through a reputed courier service (we will not mention names but it rhymes with FlewDart), and the above screenshot slipped under our door 5 minutes ago, further corroborates the claim.

This is further proof that e-Commerce in India — particularly those portals focusing on physical goods — faces many struggles, but is very much alive and kicking. This article in TechCrunch about MakeMyTrip.com (also mentioning Flipkart.com) sheds further light on the issue.

Back to the main story, however. The delivery of the said article will be delayed. Although Flipkart CEO Mr. Sachin Bansal was unavailable for comment, we did manage to contact the other Flipkart Co-Founder CEO Mr. Binny Bansal, who had some stern comments to make and did not mince words. Here is what he had to say:

“No Comments”.

EOM.

Flipkart’s an online bookstore, and the basic premise of which includes being online almost all the time (not unlike other jobs.) We’re also big proponents of FOSS, and all of us tote around laptops running Ubuntu 8 or so.

Except me.

I tote around two Ubuntu 9.10 laptops, with a third backup. Why do I need to carry around so many laptops. Because I’m an important man and I need to seem unnecessarily busy while looking like a Trader with my LIBOR on one screen and the Hang Seng Index on the other. There is of course a simpler explanation.

One fine evening — without as much as a warning — my Dell died on me. It went blank, and then refused to boot up. As the saying goes “the blue lights all kept blinking, but there was no one home.” Something had to be done. So I rushed over to the nearest desktop and contacted Dell over their Chat … and soon enough a friendly Ethel_Silo came on and got started on the diagnosis.

We tried a few things, all of which went nowhere. Still, the process of elimination is a critical aspect of anything — Flipkart could have started off selling everything under the sun, but I’m not sure we would have made much headway were we to start that way. By the process of elimination, we narrowed down to books and that has I think held us in good stead. We can now start to explore other categories perhaps…

But I digress.

So by a process of elimination, we realised what the problems weren’t. Now all that was left was to figure out what the problem was — and then it happened. The power went out, and the PC I was on was not sufficiently high up in the desktop food-chain to deserve temporary backup. My desktop gave up the ghost, and with it went Ethel_Silo (whose hand I was convinced I would ask in marriage, were she to fix my Dell).

I resigned to being counted as a Laptop Widower and thought I should grieve, but there was no time. I had to move on pretty quickly.

It was going to be a long night and I needed discomfort food. Domino’s took my call and said they’d be there in 30 minutes. I hung up and realised a few minutes later I had forgotten to order the dip. I called Domino’s back and requested them to send the dip along as well, if their guy hadn’t left yet. They said sure.

Out from the cupboard came the spare Lenovo ThinkPad and I went about installing and upgrading and transferring and salvaging all that I could. So there I was under a dim light — The deceased Dell to my left asking me to be brave, the Thinkpad to my right being loaded and wondering if I will ever love it as much as I did the Dell, and my trusty old Compaq in the middle finishing the artwork so that I could make the Printo deadline.

Domino’s guy came around and handed me my Pizza and Garlic Bread and Fanta. I asked about the dip, he had no idea. I said fine, no problem, paid him and went back to my troika of screens.

From Here On Is Where All The Customer Support Kicked In

20 mins later, another Domino’s guy turns up. Bells went off in my head — it can’t be. But sure enough, there he was— 20 minutes after the order was delivered and 5 mins after I had finished off licking the crumbs from my keyboards — with a tiny container of Dip.

Now ,

a> I’m not necessarily a longtime or loyal customer of Domino’s (though I would like to believe I am)
b> It was my oversight, I was the one who had forgotten to order the dip
c> I did not threaten anyone with dire consequences or swear I would go to Consumer Court

Yet,

There he was, making the solitary trip only so that I got the dip I had forgotten to order. When he saw I had finished the Pizza, he said “Oh well, i don’t think you need this dip anymore!”. I insisted I’d pay for it, it was the least I could do. He smiled and asked me not to worry about it, got back on his bike and rode off.

I have a feeling he did this on his own initiative. Not because of company rules or protocol or getting stars on his shirt; because he thought he should do what he felt should be done. Given a choice between doing things right and doing the right thing, he chose the latter.

After a long night of installations, upgraded and reboots, I woke up late the next morning. Walked into the office and someone handed over a phone message left for me. Dell had called, they were wondering if all was fine because I abruptly went offline. I smiled, but I had too many other things to do.

Sometime the same evening, someone came up to me saying there was call from “one of my foreigner friends”. That struck me as odd, but I didn’t know the half of it. It was Dell again, saying I had abruptly logged off and they had left a message for me but I hadn’t called. Was all well?

I apologised, said all was well but that I was a little tied up to get back on chat support. I would probably get back online later in the week. We hung up.

2 days later, I got a mail from Dell. “Is everything Ok? They would really like to have my problem resolved, but I was always unavailable. When would it be convenient for me to get back in touch with their Tech Support?”

There’s this one line I’m very fond of: “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem”. Looks like with Dell, that line applied to me. They really wanted to help me, but I wasn’t co-operating!

Like it happens with most people who know me long enough and well enough, they soon realise they will have to take unilateral action and I will just go along with it. I think Dell did just that, with a Voodoo doll.

Someone from the office was fiddling around with the deceased Dell, and it booted up. IT CAME BACK TO LIFE, ONE WEEK LATER. So Ms. Ethel_Silo, if you’re reading this, my problem has been resolved, with no intervention from you and even less from me. It has self-healed. I will get in touch with you soon.

To everyone at Domino’s and Dell, I salute you.

PS: This blog post is currently being written on the very same Dell, now with the added flavour of Ubuntu Karmic Koala. Karmic, how appropriate.

We’re at Stalls #183 and #184, just down the lane from Blossoms and opposite ICFAI.

As best as I know, Flipkart probably the only Indian Online Bookstore to participate at any such event. Also, as best as I know, we’re probably the only one to have ABSOLUTELY NO BOOKS in our stall. Moreover, as best as I know, we’re probably the only ones to have a 102cm Big and Widescreen TV in the stall, with 5 computers to boot.

It’s looks like a Sports Bar and a Library Bar had an offspring that was decidedly a cyber café. Now if we can only get the interior decorating right …

The idea is for us to not only meet and greet other Publishers, Distributors and Retailers … but also for curious customers to have an up-close-and-personal look at Flipkart. Maybe even have a “Live Tweet From BBF09″ (not sure what that will be like thought, probably like running commentary at a Chess Tournament showcasing the Nimzo-Indian Defence). Looking forward to it!

Spent a lot of time generating order from chaos, so didn’t actually get to see the complete list of all participants. As Jaya mentioned on the Pothi Blog, they will of course be there, Stall 288. My only interaction with Jaya/Pothi has been in ping-pong sessions between them, authors and us. Sure hope we get to see them and get some ball rolling.

What was heartening to see was a lot of Kannada literature on display. Regional languages (in my opinion) don’t get as much exposure as they ought to — or maybe I’m wrong and they do — in which case I’d like Flipkart to have something to do with them getting better exposure.

Looking forward to bumping into you there!

Hi Tapas,

In your blog can you please write about the security standards which you follow if anyone orders the book using credit/debit card from your site. I am telling you because today I wanted to buy some book and I was browsing through your site [...] and one of my friends asked me not to do that because he suspected that once I give the card number it might be misused. Many people might have inhibitions like that and you can clear it either telling something on the site or on your blog.

Regards,
Rakesh

A very valid concern. One of our main challenges was to get Payment Gateway integration, but that was a cakewalk compared to the challenge of finding customers and getting them to pay online. Hope this helps:

Flipkart.com does not store/save any of your information

When you click on the Pay By Credit Card / Debit Card / Netbanking link, you are redirected to a Payment Gateway like www.ebs.in or www.ccavenue.com. All your details are processed through them and the only thing we receive is a transaction ID against your Order, as confirmation that payment has been received.

All your details get processed and verified by the Payment Gateway and your Credit Card Company / Bank.

As far as how secure the Payment Gateways are, here are some details:

• Payment Gateways are PCI DSS 1.1 Standards Compliant
• They are registered and authenticated by Verisign, and use 128 bit SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
• They also implement the Verified By Visa and the MasterCard Secure Code Protocols

EBS uses seven server architecture model which helps in better encryption of data which protects the clients information. All credit card authorization is done using the high-tech Axis, HDFC and Citibank’s secure servers and the same is encrypted before it is transmitted over the Internet to the Acquiring Banks. Additionally EBS servers are behind security firewalls to ensure maximum protection of our customer’s information. This guarantees that your information is inaccessible to any third party. EBS uses the best industry-standard Verisign Technology, which ensures the security of the data

CCAvenue uses secure servers throughout and adopts stringent security measures to ensure that sensitive information such as customers’ personal details is protected. Customers enter all their personal information and Credit Card details on ICICI’s E-Payments(Payseal) and Citibank’s secure servers and the same is encrypted before it is transmitted over the Internet to the Acquiring Banks. Additionally CCAvenue’s server is behind security firewalls to ensure maximum protection of your customer’s information.

Modes of Payment - Distribution

This should allay all fears of paying online. Most of our customers do in fact pay online (as opposed to Cheque / DD / Money Order) and in the past two years that we’ve been up, we have had not one instance of fraud or misuse of details.

Online payment is safe. Payment gateways are secure.

The troops just came home — Shivku and Binny and Mekin and Abhishek and Vishal and Ashwin and Vijay.

For those not in the know, they spent this morning at NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore for a Startup Saturday Showcase. Given that “Online Retail” was the agenda, the presentation time was shared between Flipkart.com and Picsquare.com (an Infibeam umbrella brand).

The panel members were a Who’s Who of Indian online retail; Mr. Vaitheeswaran (Indiaplaza.in, turned out to be a no-show though) and Mr. Subramanian (Infibeam.com). Flipkart, Indiaplaza and Infibeam all on the same stage, if that’s not a great party I don’t know what is!

(On a more serious note) For those of you who were present, how did it turn out? What were the hits and the misses?

Was it worth you while?

Do chime in.

a> It’s been there since the first time we had offers through some campaign or the other, co-branded ones, usually. Some of those codes are still valid, which is why we haven’t “disabled” the promo code box.
b> We also have other social initiatives on, where certain NGOs we’ve tied up with get additional discounts.

We also know for a fact that people have managed to get hold of these codes — the same codes that were meant for donations to these NGOs — and ordered books using them, but not for donations to the NGO but for personal use.

So for the record —

i> There is no Flipkart Promotional Code that any of the employees or the customer support have
ii> When we do send out the Promo Code, it is usually as part of a co-branded campaign (with a Cellular Service Network Provider, for example) or …
iii> … as part of our CSR initiatives with certain institutions and NGOs (meant essentially for people who donate to these very causes).

On a related note, we get asked very often about discounts mentioned on Flipkart vis-à-vis that of other online retailers.

First off, competition’s great! I’m not saying that because it’s the politically correct thing to say. It’s just part of any organism’s genetic code — survival of the fittest and dog eat dog and all that. You should either be chasing someone or running away from someone, else you will atrophy.

So all things being equal, here’s how we decide on discounts (this was part of an email I sent someone):

We essentially price discounts based on what we think is the best possible we can offer, while keeping margins for ourselves.

This is also why we don’t have loyalty schemes and so on … because we believe that service should eventually set us apart, and that quality (coupled with price and everything else) should be at par for all users. Whether you are 4 books old or 40 books old, you shouldn’t be treated any different … the quality and price offered to the first timer should be the same to someone who’s been with us for a few months.

Now of course there are exceptions and edge cases and bulk orders and whatever else (like this reflection of a bystander). All said and done though, the above pretty much encapsulates it.

We’re bigger than we used to be, but we’re still a small Indian startup in the grand scheme of things. It’s great when people refer to us as the “Amazon of India”, the flip-side to which is that we are expected to give Amazon like discounts! We cannot, for a couple of reasons:

*Amazon has been around for over a decade and is a monolith. Their relationships with Publishers and Distributors allow them to do what they do at the price points at which they do. Flipkart doesn’t have that kind of clout — not yet.

*Amazon also happens to be in the same country as a variety of US publishers. Flipkart on the other hand happens to be on the other side of the world. We need to bear a lot of the import costs and things that go along with, which is why we cannot offer the same discounts as Amazon — not yet.

In closing, we do not explicitly have any Promotional Codes or Flipkart Promo Coupons laying around spare. We’re doing the best we can at offering as much of a discount to you as possible. It may seem counter-intuitive, but the only way you can help us give higher discounts is by buying from us!

Help us become the Amazon of India (although if you ask me, I’d rather they be called the Flipkart of the US!).

I’ll leave you with the tables turned:

Ramayana by R. K. Narayan on Flipkart — Rs. 190 ($4)

Ramayana by R. K. Narayan on Amazon — $ 15 (Rs. 760)

Have a good one.

Recursion

via Varsha181

From Arun:

You know honey, you owe me some money,
i want to see it, each and every penny,
we all like flipku, why dont you like us,
please take the book वापुस, Where art thou Tapas?

From Me:

It is truly fecund, we’ve reproduced the refund
My beloved, as you remember - on the 5th of September
It’s not a case of fright, or complete BS
I’ll check again with FirstFlight and then with goddamn EBS

We’re a poet and we don’t know it.

In my skewed worldview, here’s why I think startups are like rockbands.

They both essentially start of with one unit (could be one founder, two founders with a single goal etc.) I see this as a lone singer, either singing acapella or singing with an acoustic guitar/piano or just a solo instrumentalist.

This single unit then goes on to put up an online presence. In the case of most startups, that is of course a website that is hacked together fairly quickly. In case of that lonesome singer we spoke of, it means populating myspace, a profile on facebook, uploading videos on Youtube.

A small fan following begins, family and friends mostly.

Then suggestions and requests start pouring in. In case of the singer, songs to cover, gear, recording techniques, ways to advertise and the like. In case of the startup, features to have on the website, expansion of catalog, coding and usability, and of course ways to advertise and market yourself.

Both the startup and the singer realise they need more help. A singer looks for additional members. A startup looks for additional developers.

This is where most of the hit and miss happens — When you need to get a whole bunch of competent people together fairly quickly. The singer realises that the guitarist can’t tune a string. The startup realises that the developer cannot reverse a string. That two Grade Two pianists don’t make a Grade 4 pianist. That two Level 2 Developers do not make a Level 4 developer.

Some more chopping and changing happens. The lucky find their sweet spot sooner, rather than later.

Then comes the backend. While the rockband can wait a while before it gets its roadies, the startup needs its roadies fairly quickly. Especially if its a physical business like Flipkart is in.

But the rough edges get ironed out. The rockband gets a few gigs, more people hear them, they get a few more gigs. The startup starts expanding its customer base. People say good things about them and they get more users and customers.

Soon the rockband is touring around the country. Soon the startup is shipping books around the country.

(Hopefully) Eventually:

The singer has his hair gelled. The website has its UI slick.
The guitarist plays blistering arpeggios. The website is blisteringly AJAXIfied.
The piano player is absolutely fluid. The layout is absolutely liquid.
The drummer is precise at keeping time. The backend is precise in its loadtime.
The roadies setup and pack like clockwork. The supply chain packs and ships like clockwork.
The rockband gets its groupies. The startup gets its VCs.

The only question on everyone’s mind: “Where’s the bassist?”

Here I am, and I’m starting a Flipkart band.

We’re calling ourselves, “The Bookmarks”!

You read it here first, ladies and gentlemen.

Of all the things that have caught my attention, this one ranks right up there. While it had Shivku jumping up and down, I’m still trying to work it out.

All things point to this entrepreneurial gentleman here. Even more fascinating, he seems to have something also to do with Tempostand.com, an Indian startup that promotes Independent Indie Indian Bands and Musicians.

We need more of these, for sure. Would love to lend a hand.

What makes me an authority on such matters. Well, I’ll have you know that I was once the Bass-Whore of Bombay. (What, it’s an honest profession! … and I didn’t do it for the money, just so you know. )

Shall now send off a mail to him, and one of two things will happen:

a>My stalking will pay off and I’ll be jumping like Shivku was
b>My stalking won’t pay off and I’ll be hauled off by the cops

Bets open at 5:3 odds. Any takers?

Grace Under Fire, Grace Under Pressure

This is essentially what a “stress test” looks to calibrate. Your ability to keep your head when others are losing theirs; your ability to keep your cool when the heat’s turned up; your ability to think on your toes … you get the picture. More often than not though, stress tests are fairly ’scripted’ — inasmuch as you can script a show like Whose Line Is It Anyway.

Apart from you, everyone in the room knows what to say, how to say and what to do. The good cop / bad cop routines are fairly set. All the interview panel has to do is play it by ear, depending on the candidates responses and based on kinesic feedback. They then go on collate all that information, have discussions about your Type ‘A’ Type ‘B’ personality, map out your comfort zone, look through your Johari Window and hopefully at the end of it all, they come to an informed decision.

I’m right now on our front porch enjoying the pleasant centrally aircon Bengaluru weather. We’re down a leafy Koramangala bylane, the birds are chirping, a dog’s barking … and there’s very little or no traffic sounds at all.

Sitting a few feet away from me on another one of those cheap plastic chairs (give us good chairs, Flipkart!) is someone who’s applying for one of the open positions at Flipkart … and the candidate is filling out a form of some sort with the paper awkwardly positioned on the lap. Not two minutes later, candidate got called in, while someone else from the team came out. He then went on to call another candidate over the phone and have the initial “breaking the ice” conversation.

Barking dogs can become annoying at this point. As can the occasional auto rickshaw that barrels down the dead end road, hell for leather. Of course, none of this is intentional. We have started realising though, that inadvertently, our non-screening stress test has become what it’s not.

It partly also has to do with preconceptions of 2 things, largely — the idea of an Office and the idea of a Startup.

Offices are meant to look and be a certain way, with a degree of formality, with receptionists and with cubicles. When you’re sitting on the porch and you see the CEO dressed in jeans and a T-shirt sitting on the floor trying to get faulty generator fixed … it shakes the confidence of some people. Which brings me to this …

… Startups are cool. Ok, sure they are … but people are all the same slogging their asses off. And with most startups like Flipkart (that are bootstrapped), you are slogging your ass off in conditions that would be considered “developing” anywhere else. (Aside: “Let My Dataset Change Your Mindset” is worth a watch.)

Startups are fueled by hard work, and in the case of Flipkart, fueled by both hard work and hard physical labour. We are as much a physical business as we are a .com — books are physical, tangible, need to stocked, shelved, packed. And Sachin and Binny have done it the hard way; the only way, really. Back in the beginning, they used to schlepp around books from all over Bangalore back to their house, sit and pack, bill and label, and carry the packed books out to the courier office.

Even today if one of us complains that a book can’t be packed a certain way, they’ll gladly sit down and show you how it can. This is more or less the case with most of us who’ve been here in 2007 and 2008. We have all sat on the packing floor and packed books, stuck labels, carried cartons up and down floors … you name it. Not like we’re through with it either. If ever we find ourselves short staffed (people on leave), we jump in and find a spot on the assembly line. What matters is that the books get packed.

Fortunately or unfortunately, with some people - this isn’t the “cool” they expected to find in a startup. We weren’t wearing chinos and sipping ginseng tea or using “Web 2.0″ as punctuation (although, I use “HTML 5.0″ whenever I get a chance).

We’ve had to shoo dogs from the staircase because we knew a developer candidate was coming over. We’ve worked in candle light in the days before we could afford a power backup. We continue to work in the sauna that is our Delhi office.

Don’t be fooled. The Flipkart interview is the easiest part.

It’s the work that’s a stress test.

5> Flipkart funds food

It’s true, and not in the Sodexo Coupon way. Flipkart pays for most of the meals of most of the employees. Breakfast, Tea, Lunch, Tea, Evening Snacks, Tea. Flipkart also caters to the discerning tastebuds; adrak chai, badam milk, turmeric milk, black coffee, con leche, sans lait, food without roots and tubers, fast food, food from Kareem in Delhi, kulchas from the guy across the street. It’s like a wedding every day. Almost.

4> Flipkart provides funding for my shelter

I’m a leech. I have slept in Flipkart’s old office, I’ve slept in Flipkart’s new office, I’ve even slept in Flipkart founder Binny Bansal’s house. I now sleep in Flipkart’s guest accommodation suite. And I’ve been a guest for a year now, so that should give you a good idea.

3> Flipkart is funding telecommunications

I don’t use a cellphone. So they bought me a cellphone. I then went on to lose the cellphone (in Binny Bansal’s house, oddly). Now they are after me to get a phone. Here’s my plan: If I delay it long enough, they will be forced to get me a phone.

Meanwhile, Nandu the office boy had his phone stolen. The other Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal gave him his own cellphone.

Nandu then had his cycle stolen, which brings me to the next point …

2> Flipkart is funding transportation

A few SELECT employees get travel allowance. Fuel allowance. People like Nandu also get a cycle. Which then unfortunately gets stolen, again.

But the most important thing Flipkart is funding is

1> HOPE

Hope to all those who never had access to books they needed, and though not necessarily cheap, making it affordable to these same people.

Hope to all those independent authors who can never go through traditional channels, by making it less cumbersome and by getting them to their audience.

Hope to International authors, by giving them access to Indian markets which they would never have had before.

Hope to other Startups and would-bes, by being an example. It’s not easy and the hurdles are immense. But a lot can be done by two people whose sum capital investment is the price of a Hyundai Santro.

Flipkart Review On Amazon

While Robert Langdon was probably running around finding clues where none existed (all over the course of 12 hours), we were doing more or less the same - packing the 600 or so backorders as fast as we could! That’s 50 books an hour, no matter how you slice it.

Not to mention all the other orders that needed to be processed.

Dan Brown Bounty

I wonder how some people found time to pose? Oh yeah, I forced them to.

Sachin Bansal (Flipkart Co-Founder) for Scale

Sachin’s in a conservative fatherly / elder brotherly arm around. He’s probably thinking “All of you Lost Symbols will be shipped to all parts of India by the end of today … I wish you all the best in your new homes.” Very Father-of-the-Bride like.

Mekin For Scale

Contrastingly, Mekin’s is a long-lost friend / cousin approach. “My my, look how fat you’ve become! Too many pizzas and beer, this is what happens.” Even Nandu on the left corner of the frame looks more than a little concerned with Mekin’s unorthodox approach.

Shivku's Head For Scale

Here’s my favouritest of them all, a decapitated Shivku. If I had a buck for every time I imagined a floating Shivku head …

But we got them ready and out in time, some in gift wraps, some with notes. Almost all of you will have received them now, and if you haven’t yet bought one and plan to - here’s a good online bookstore to buy Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol in India.

I’ve heard they can ship it out in 24 hours.

What?? Shameless plug, of course.

Turns out, you can now download Flipkart on Rapidshare … I could never have guessed!

I’m mostly misinformed about such things like iPods and xBoxes and Guitar hero and … I don’t have an account with these people either. If anyone out there does, could you please do me a favour and download this, only to let me know what it was. Much appreciate.

As for me, well, live and learn …

But of course you knew this. Good luck to all Indians searching for Playboy, Savita Bhabhi and other assorted pron.

PS: No, Flipkart still cannot send all you lovely people books in your email id(sic) or have PDFs available for free download - just because Google can.

UPDATE: Google Brought To Book Over Digital Library

Ask any Tabloidish newspaper journalist about how much Editors hound them for “witty, attention, eyeball grabbing headlines”. Most of them get churned out like the one above.

PPS: See, here’s why we can’t offer you free books in your inbox no matter how much you plead.

May I call you Sam? Please allow me to introduce my good self. Myself Tapas R. I know what you might be thinking, “What is this R.?” You see Sir, I am from a South Indian family where it is customary to add a lot of initials either preceding or following one’s name. It is also possible this is so because our names are impossible to spell in the Roman script (even the best approximates do not capture the pronunciation and inflections of the said name). What can I say, we R. like this only. (I apologise for the silly pun, Mr. Sam Miller Sir.)

I sell books for an online bookstore in India called Flipkart.com, whereupon I chanced upon your marvellous tome, Delhi: Adventures In A Megacity. At once, it was as if the Gods were communicating with me - I had this intense feeling that this book of your esteemed authorship might be of adventures in a megacity, perhaps even Delhi. Throwing caution to the wind, I picked it up then and there for my personal perusal.

You see Mr. Sam Miller Sir, I don’t think it was mere coincidence. I had only just come to Delhi from our offices in Bangalore, a city which also happens to be my birthplace (although I left it no sooner than had I turned 3 months old). “How wonderful!”, I said out aloud … this book shall guide me, a stranger in a strange land.

I must interrupt my own train of thought here, if you will kindly permit. You see Mr. Sam Miller Sir, I have a colleague here who has been chauffeuring me in his Maruti 800 even since I got to Delhi, so I have not really had the time to discover the city on my own. What further coincidence then, when the day I picked up your book - mere happenstance - was the day this said colleague had other appointments to uphold faithfully, thus leaving it wholly upon me to traverse a considerable distance in this new city, all by my lonesome.

Shutting our premises, I gingerly made my way out the bylanes of Ansari Road - effectively my starting point - heading due west for Karol Bagh, my temporary domicile. I planned to seat myself comfortably in a rickshaw and imagined 7-8 kilometres passing by, just like a fleeting sneeze. This was (un)fortunately not to be. The sums the auto-fellows quoted would have bought one the Kingdom of Travancore, I kid you not. “120 rupiahs, 130 rupiahs”, they said! “Daylight robbery”, I said! One of the auto-fellows kindly pointed out it was past daylight, the time being 8 o’ clock pm.

I thanked him for the semantic correction, and asked him to kindly show me the direction. I would walk it if I had to, but not pay these thugs and lumpen louts a single naya paisa. “Thataway”, he pointed. And I walked.

As I faded in and out of the umbras and penumbras of dim-lit street lamps, I could not help and notice peoples’ stares. Now you might be guessing Mr. Sam Miller Sir, that a South Indian in Delhi would stand out like an Englishman amongst the Irish, but please allow me to correct your misconceptions. It was nothing of the sort. It was not because I was South Indian that people stared - it was more because I was a South Indian with long hair and a goatee and tattoos. That you must admit, is a little, how should I say, a little “left of the middle”.

I also had a burdensome laptop and large noise canceling headphones crouched on my neck. The combination of this put my Innate Indianness in ambiguity.

My coping mechanism is such situations always has been to make like the ostrich. I promptly pulled out your tome from my holdall and immersed my nose into it. And wonder of wonders, you advocated walking in Delhi! By the time I reached home, I had read half your manuscripture!

Admittedly, the 7-8 kilometers whizzed by less like a sneeze and more like whooping cough, but I am not one to split hairs. I enjoyed myself immensely, which is when I first decided to write you a letter. But providence had more in store for me, praise the heavens. I was kept delayed by a lot of petty tasks that ate into much of my time.

This same colleague who has continued to chauffeur me has left unexpectedly for Bangalore on work, leaving me to fend for myself once again. I am now a veteran of the streets … I have I imagine started looking less like a South Indian and more like a Sikh who has just returned from England. So much so, I have even given directions to strangers, strangers who are inhabitants of Delhi I might add. Their license plates betray them.

I was determined to send you this letter by the Monday after the Independence Day weekend … so Monday the 17th I woke bright and early, bathed twice, put on freshly washed and ironed clothes and decided to get to work early, so that I may find some time to compose this letter to your esteemed self.

Stepping out onto the footpath of Karol Bagh, I searched eagerly for the autos that circle like vultures over carrion. Strangely, not one was to be found. I stepped out of the bylanes and onto the main road … still none. I briefly contemplated taking the metro, but abandoned the idea for reasons now clear to me.

I searched further … still not one to be seen. I passed Karol Bagh and inched closer to Jhandewalan. Then further down to Ramakrishna Ashram Marg … no auto yet. I continued heading further east, approached CP where the metroline plunges underground, made a left … still no Auto.

I was getting frantic. Where are all the autos who chase me like boys chasing girls?

Went on down below Minto Bridge (which is still in the process of being widened) and walked up to the “thulla” at the intersection. “Where can I find autos today?” I politely asked. He laughed in my face. “Where have you been?? Don’t you read the papers … there’s an auto strike called, today and tomorrow. No auto!”

Aah, the tubelight went off in my head. In my haste to leave home so that I can catch an auto, I had ignored the newspapers that would have informed me that no amount of haste would get me an auto.

So I walked on down, passed a couple of roundabouts, reached the Delhi Gate across from the Kotla … went further down still and made a right at the “Lohe Ka Pul”, and I was at last at work. 90 mins after scheduled.

Post 7 o’ clock pm, I assured myself, I would indeed get time to write to you. Not to be! The workload from the 3 day weekend had caught up, and I was tied up till 10 o’ clock pm. It was ten past ten by the time I locked the office up. Even the watchman was visibly upset; “You people disturb my sleep when you leave so late” said the watchman. A sleeping watchman. I missed the irony at that time, because I had other things to look forward to. Like my 8km walk back home.

You see Mr. Sam Miller Sir, the metro counter shuts by 22:22 (so I am informed), and by the time I’d get to Pragati Maidan, the barn doors would have been locked with the horses long bolted.

So with a smile on my face, I retraced my steps … not entirely so, because I’m used to the route my car takes. Although I fully understand that one-ways don’t apply to humans, I am bound to comply by them.

It is half past 11 when I get home. No one is worried (mostly because I live alone). A cold shower and a hot dinner later, I finally sit down … to write you this letter.

Alas, it’s 2am Tuesday. I have missed my deadline, Sam. I hope you will understand and forgive me accordingly.

Till Then I Remain,

Yours Faithfully,

Tapas R.

Title : Delhi: Adventures In A Megacity
Author : Sam Miller
Published by : Penguin Books India
Published : January 2009;
Imprint : Viking
Special Price : Rs 424.00
Cover Price : Rs 499.00
ISBN13 : 9780670082315
Edition : Paperback
Extent : 304 pp
Classification : Non Fiction

For the record, I haven’t participated. Inherent bias or some such thing. How much would I pay to peek at the results though, that’s the question.

In the spirit of all things Caesarian: Mean; Median; Mode!

Some meet in cafés and camps

We just come to work.

With my assurances that our quality of work far surpasses the quality of the above Haiku, have a good one.

I have just transplanted myself from Flipkart Bangalore to Flipkart Delhi, and I wasn’t the least bit prepared!

I joined Flipkart when we had but one office, the one in Bangalore … it was also the office Flipkart had relocated to from its earlier home, a room in the house of first one Bansal, then the other. Since then, we relocated again to another part of Bangalore … and also went on to set up an ancillary center in Delhi.

We are in the heart of the Indian Publishing Industry, on the main artery which is Ansari Road. I had often heard the fairytales from others; Oppressive heat and books as far as the eye can see. Finding myself there now … I see the earlier comment as an understatement. The heat is not oppressive, it’s crippling. As for the books, well, you can shut your eyes and throw a stone on Ansari Road, you’ll hit a book. You walk into a random office on Ansari Road, 10-1 it’ll be stuffed with books. You trip on Ansari Road … it’ll be because a book stubbed your toe … and it’ll be books again that’ll cushion your fall.

I was unprepared on all counts: the scale of Ansari Road, the Delhi heat, and one crucial factor … the address of Flipkart Delhi!

Now I don’t use a cellphone (but I’m not a Luddite either) and had no contact details of anyone … apart from the Customer Service number. And it was past 6pm, around when customer service shuts shop.

So I found myself at an STD booth soaked through, calling CS, hoping they were around. They were, but are one persistent bunch! They kept insisting it was pointless going to our warehouse in Delhi - we don’t really have an over-the-counter section. All orders are placed online and get processed so.

I follow, completely. But I persisted … I have come all the way from Bombay (which I had, I did a Bangalore-Pune-Bombay-Delhi route), I’m sweating here in Delhi’s Darya Ganj, and I really need to get to the Flipkart office.

Customer Support was sympathetic, but didn’t let up. We don’t sell books at our warehouse. Period.

Fair enough. I’m glad they stuck to their guns … but as a Flipkart employee traveling to Delhi on work, I HAD TO GET TO THE OFFICE. I’m glad they finally realised it was me! I was promptly given the number of someone here, who I called next.

He was in splits when I told him what happened … and he asked me where I was. I searched for a suitable landmark, which turned out the be a huge board of one of the biggest Publishers around. A second round of laughter at the other end of the phone … “Why didn’t you just walk in to their office and ask for where Flipkart is, they’d tell you!”

Ha!

10 minutes later I finally found myself in Flipkart. Which is where I find myself now.

And the phrase “Same Difference” comes to mind.

What is truly amazing is that the “Flipkart Culture” has taken root here is well. Phenomenal, really! It’s hard to explain, but If you worked at Flipkart, you’d know exactly what I was talking about.

What has also followed is the damned power cuts! Someone* just sent me a link that he thought I should take a look at.

*Is there a better word to replace “someone”? Essentially, a customer who is now less of a customer and more of a friend. Or I could just call him Ravi.

Bezos is talking about Amazon in a nutshell, and later a bit about Zappos. Some of the anecdotes he recounts are common ones (if you follow stuff like this). What brought a smile to my face was the bit at the beginning where he talks of setting up Amazon in a room with a bunch of computers and a tangle of wires - and power surges and cuts if you tried connecting a vacuum cleaner.

It was exactly the same in our old office! I have a feeling Sachin and Binny researched this and took notes: “We must start small just like Bezos and must have enough computers and not enough power. We will then rule the world!” For Bezos and Amazon, it was a hurdle. For Bansals and Flipkart, it was reality. We are in India, and power cuts are common.

… and about the UPS, I can’t explain it better than Fly, You Fools and the UPS Power Supply

Here’s the whole video:

We started cracking down on comments left from this here earlier post on remodeling Flipkart from the bottom up and soon realised there were more skeletons in our system that we first thought. We called in this Yahoo! called Shivku - wasn’t enough. We need more young Turks.

We are looking for people like you to work with us on an array of computer science problems. If you are a designer, UED, architect, frontend Engineer, Backend developer, Database administrator, Hacker, Builder and if you are great at it, we ask you to work with us.

We are small, but we plan to offer all that big companies do - Competitive salaries and perks.

Honestly, we want to get money out of your head so that you can concentrate on your free will and creativity.

We distribute goodies every now and then. For starters, we give free books to our employees. We also jam on our front porch with guitars and juggle through our hallways.

Right up your alley? Mail in a quick one to careers@flipkart.com - you won’t regret it.

PS: Feel free also to Tweet/Retweet about this.

Shankar Ganesh Twittering About The New Look

There is more on the way, our developers have a lot on their plate! Any thoughts so far?

PS: Yes, yes, we know…!

One of the Twurls (Truncated Twitter Urls) pointed at us the other day was by this epicurean blogger. The post is self explanatory, Oneofagrind’s 30 Day No Sugar Challenge. The carrots at the end of the tunnel happened to be Small Batch Baking and Molecular Gastronomy.

I thought out loud - “We should sponsor this thing” - and Sachin (Flipkart co-founder), who was sitting next to me remarked “What?” ( … and then got a call and was occupied elsewhere). Don’t know about you, but that’s a green-light in my book! I sent the young lady an email … and that was it. The pundits call it guerilla marketing, I call it a whim.

Evidently, there’s no “T and C” or fine-print. Once I publish this, the Bansals are going to have a word or two with me, I presume. Laissez-faire and this is what happens.

They will admonish: “What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander!”
I will plead: “Is there any use crying over spilt milk?”
They will slander: “You are a bad egg, a bad apple”

Have I flown from the frying pan into the fire? Is my goose cooked?

That’s not the point. Wish the young lady luck!

Image:Calvin and Hobbes Strip ©Universal Press Syndicate (Artist: Bill Watterson)

I just placed the first order for Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys To Creativity.

For those not in the know, you can buy Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys To Creativity by Hugh MacLeod on Flipkart

My shameless pimping notwithstanding, here’s a cross-sell: You might also like Seth Godin’s The Dip.

Studies show that cool quotient increases by 50 basis points if both books are bought together.*

*CAVEAT EMPTOR: STUDIES MAY BE FICTITIOUS AND HAVE NO GROUNDING IN REALITY.

I’m bloody excited!

I don’t get excited often because there are not a lot of things that excite me…but this genuinely has me BLOODY EXCITED!

Gaping Void is just one of those things. It’s like Beavis and Butthead. You either get it or you don’t. Either you get it and get hooked or you lose the plot and with a pregnant pause smile politely - perhaps add a “that’s witty” or “how cute” - mostly because the person who introduced you to Gaping Void has his/her hand on the mouse.

It’s probably a good 4 years or so that I’ve been following GapingVoid.com. The best way to time-stamp the beginnings of my infatuation are by the “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards” I used as desktop wallpaper. I still have all those wallpapers. It was about the time that this one first came online:

"I'm not scared of commitment, I'm scared of you"

This is also one of the very few I can upload … the rest are mostly PG-18. About bloggers and pie-charts and alcohol and love and the one that says “I’m in advertising - aren’t we all”. Also about conversations being forgotten by the time your head hits the pillow. Incidentally, the initial 10 odd commandments also went up on GapingVoid at around the same time.

If you now happen to be smirking, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Go buy Hugh MacLeod’s Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys To Creativity in a week’s time.

If you still aren’t convinced, here are a couple more links:

The 12 step Program to Ignoring Everybody (It’s the same as the “10 odd commandments” link above, but just in case you missed that one)

2 Sample Chapters from “Ignore Everybody”(PDF)

Those with a thing for Moleskines (I know you have it) or Art, here’s Hugh MacLeod’s Moleskine Artwork Archives

“There’s Peters and Drucker and Senge … there’s Kotler and Bernbach and Ogilvy … there’s also one Von Oech … and there’s Adams (Scott) and Godin (Seth) and MacLeod (Hugh)”

Oh, you agree?! Glad to have you on my side!

Now go buy Hugh MacLeod’s Ignore Everybody.

Hugh MacLeod's Ingnore Everybody

Book: Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys To Creativity
Author: Hugh MacLeod
ISBN: 159184259X
ISBN-13: 9781591842590
Binding: Hardcover
Publishing Date: 11th June, 2009
Publisher: Portfolio
Number of Pages: 176
Language: English

PS: I can’t be the only one in India who wants to buy “Ignore Everybody”! What about this lady artist here and this other lady artist here, both with GapingVoid widgets?

Image: Hägar the Horrible Comic Strip
©King Feature Syndicate, Inc. (Artist: Chris Browne)

Question: “Why does the same book show up with different prices. What’s the difference?”

The Fairly Short Answer: There are many reasons for price differences, but primarily it is owing to the following:

1> Different Publishers: The same book can be and is printed by different Publishing houses with each publisher setting his own price. So Random House may price the book at INR750 (Execution) while Crown may choose to have a list price of INR1460 (Execution).

2> Different Editions: One might be an Indian edition printed in India, while the other is the International Edition printed in the US/UK.

3> Format: This essentially refers to the binding - Hardcover/Library Binding/Prebound/Paperback/Trade Paperback/Mass market Paperback - and so on. Each style of binding indicates a certain degree of quality, and accordingly influences the list price of the book.

The Fairly Long Answer: For the purpose of illustration, let’s take another title - “Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco - and compare 2 of the results side-by-side.

The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco

The Name of The Rose - Umberto Eco

Rs. 405 -: PRICE :- Rs. 847
9780749397050 -: ISBN-13 :- 9780156001311
Paperback -: Binding :- Paperback
2004 -: Publishing Date :- 1994
Random House -: Publisher :- Houghton Mifflin
512 -: Number of Pages :- 552
English -: Language :- English

A few things become immediately obvious. Although both books are in English and are both Paperback Editions, the similarity ends here. The covers of the two books are different and the one on the right is priced at more than twice as the one on the left. Here’s why:

Books are over the years printed by various Publishers in various formats and bindings, each one having a fairly unique price.

ISBN13: The International Standard Book Number is a number assigned to every edition of a book and is unique to that particular edition. This 13 digit number is used for cataloguing and identification purposes, pretty much like humans and finger prints. By and large, a 13 digit number will belong to just one particular edition of a book (although some Publishers are notorious for recycling ISBNs!)

Since the edition on the left is different from that on the right, each of them have a different ‘unique’ ISBN number. The two editions are also printed 10 years apart (One in 2004 - the other in 1994) by two different publishers - Random House and Houghton Mifflin.

There is also a 40 page difference in the two books, although the content in both books is the same (for all practical purposes). This page difference is mostly dependant on the size and typeface used. Think of it as font and font size. Different typesettings and formatting styles mean different ‘lengths’. The 2004 will also have a forward or a preface that the earlier edition did not contain, and all of this adds up.

The edition on the left is an Indian Edition while the one on the right is an Imported Edition.

All these factors and everything else combined eventually adds up to different prices. In most cases and for all practical purposes, the content is the same. Except of course, when, let’s say:

* One is abridged while the other unabridged
* One is a pocket book while the other is not
* One is a newer updated edition while the other is the older one

That’s pretty much it. I’ll post updates as and when other things strike me. You guys are equally free to post comments and corrections.

Now we don’t yet have it up on the UI officially, but we do gift-wrap books as and when the occasion calls for it. Sometimes even when it isn’t specifically asked for. We get a mail saying “this book is a gift, so please make sure no bill goes along with it” and we comply as best as we can, throw in the gift-wrapping as well. Dressing up a box in fancy shiny paper is the domain of one man, Nandu Biswas. The modifier “territorial” applies here.

In the midst of all the chaos, Nandu creates a space of serenity for himself.

He sizes up the book, the box and the destination. If it’s Tripura, he will need to reinforce both the wrapping paper and the cello-tape holding it, he calculates. Will the gift wrapping paper match the colour of the book, he wonders, or should he choose another colour…?

He will then do the mental maths necessary … FSI, carpet-area, built-up … just as architects might. There are times we get requests at the last minute and realise we don’t have sufficient wrapping paper, but we apparently know nothing about it - if you ask Nandu his opinion.

That thing about craftsmen - look at a block of stone and chisel away everything that isn’t a sculpture - well, Nandu is a master at Tangram then. If you aren’t familiar with Tangram, here is an illustration. The Tangram bookshelves on the right are courtesy Italian Design Studio Lago / Daniele Lago

Imagine the 7 triangles to be 7 scraps of gift wrapping paper and he will still try and create something near as elegant. There’s no such thing as “almost well-done” with Nandu. 90% done isn’t well done at all. 100% is.

All things have to be done, all things have to done well … and all things have to be done well consistently. The Zen of Gift-wrapping is a lesson we witness every other day, but seldom learn.

The rest of us at Flipkart can only stand back and appreciate.

Budding musicians want to know which guitar books are best for beginners, parents to be want to know what to expect when they’re expecting and those focused on career want to know about the BSNL TTO and JTO.

Not only does this mean you have to be clued in to what’s around and available, it also helps you broaden your horizons. You get calls and mails, each one with a specific area of interest in mind. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, and then something like this pops up.

here’s email 1:

On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 1:09 AM, V——- <***********@gmail.com> wrote:

-v—–

Now I’ve got to know V—— fairly well over the days. He dropped by one evening and we had a long chat, mostly about cool bikes and a fantastic bike store in Bangalore, one he’s closely associated with. We also discussed Jeffrey Deaver and some of his books, about online identity impersonation and theft and about how someone knows where you are and what you’re doing at any given point if you Twitter often, can shadow your blog and know your likes and dislikes - can even enter your circle of “friends” through Facebook.

If this chap happens to serial kill for a living, victims are easy pickings.

V to me doesn’t seem like a serial killer. For one, he rides around on a Lightweight Road Bike and looks like an eco-friendly James Bond meets Batman. His utility belt includes a metal chain which tethers his bike to immovable objects, a face mask to beat pollution and a motley collection of tools, including Allen keys. Oh wait …

He wanted books on crime and kinesics. Sure, why not. (Perhaps he wanted to commit a crime and alter his body language at the same time?)

I naïvely did what I could - here’s email 2:

Hi V—–,

Tapas

I thought I had covered things well, until: email 3

Oh gosh!! you didnt realise the joke!! ??

-V—–

Riiiiiight … so I’m an ass.

He leaves me no choice.

I see him on Twitter and know where he is on Saturday afternoons. I just have to figure out how to get him to add me as a “friend” on Facebook….

Hmm, conflict of interest.

So we decided to take a stroll around and try hunting it down. We passed a couple of streetside sellers, none of them with anything as eclectic as an LP Korea - well, one guy did have a second-hand Lonely Planet South India in French - which made us stop for a bit. Turned out he also had a bunch of books in foreign languages, all at the going rate of INR25 per book / 5 for 99 . . . here’s the five I picked:

FRENCH

Les Annees Saddam

Les Années Saddam - Saman Abdul Majid

The author, Saman Abdul Majid was Saddam Hussain’s personal translator (English and French) for over 15 years. He was thus privy to most conversations Saddam had with Diplomats and reporters alike. In “The Saddam Years”, names like Jean-Marie Le Pen and Dan Rather get dropped with reckless abandon. The dust having settled, Mr. Majid is now with Al-Jazeera Qatar.

Shameless Plug 1: Flipkart has one in Spanish - El Verdadero Sadam, and I’m not sure if it’s the same one. The book’s also out of stock, which means I’ll never find out.

L'obsession anti-americaine

L’Obsession Anti-Americaine - Jean-François Revel

“To measure and explain the gap between vision and reality is the objective of this book”.

Even in my weak French wouldn’t I doubt this objective one bit. Having briefly flirted with Jean-François Revel’s Ni Marx Ni Jésus - Without Marx or Jesus (she was deep - I was shallow and way out of my league), this would definitely be a better approach. Given that French Fries were renamed Freedom Fries in the name of patriotism, who better to shed light onto The Anti-American Obsession than a Frenchman.

Shameless Plug 2: Flipkart has Anti-Americanism (English Edition)

ITALIAN

Il partigiano Johnny

Il partigiano Johnny - Beppe Fenoglio

I barely speak or understand any Italian, and Johnny The Partisan will keep me occupied for the better part of the next two years. At a 500 odd pages, these are odds I just can’t beat. I plan to read just a page a day, make annotations, slowly grasp words and conjugations and hopefully things will sail smooth once I touch page 251. How hard can it be, I did once sing Bella Ciao with this fine troupe of performing artists.

Or maybe I can just try renting the movie and pretend I read the book. We’ll see.

SPANISH

Libro de Buen Amor

[El] Libro de Buen Amor - Juan Ruiz

An autobiographical book about the sexcapades escapades of an Archpriest, moreover one that was written in the early 14th Century? I’ll be damned (maybe I’ll get to meet Juan then). My Spanish can barely stand, even when it gets support from French … I’ll probably end up gifting it to someone Spanish I know. And to think she was suggesting I read Poet In New York / Poeta En Nueva York. Federico Garcia Lorca doesn’t stand a chance.

Shameless Plug 3: Flipkart has The Book of Good Love, but for an English Translation, why is the description in Spanish??

POLISH

Dziennik Bridget Jones

Dziennik Bridget Jones - Helen Fielding

This one’s a bit of a wild card, for:

1> The only diary I recall having read is that of Anne Franke.
2> My Polish is limited to one word - Dziennik - meaning “diary (of)”.

To be fair, a Polish friend of mine from Bielsko-Biała once tried to give me a crash course in Polish so that I could better appreciate what everyone in Poland has been splitting their sides over. If you must know, it involves a YouTube video of Polish President Lech Kaczyński. Now the video is a montage of their President to the soundtrack of Rammstein’s “Ich will” with Polish subtitles.

Hmm, learn Polish through German in 3:58.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who found this challenging. So along came the YouTube video of Polish President Lech Kaczyński with English Subtitles! Bet you didn’t see that coming…

All you have to do now is compare the Polish subtitles to the English ones. Heil, mein Führer!

If you’ve made it this far and are still wondering “Whatever happened to the damn Lonely Planet Korea??”, well, didn’t find one. If anyone has a copy that you no longer need, kindly send it across to the below address:

Flipkart.com, 1st Floor,
No. 447/C, 1st A Cross,
12th Main, 4th Block,
Opp. BSNL Telephone Exchange,
Koramangala,
Bangalore - 560034
Karnataka, India.

Any Polish language teachers are also free to drop by at the above address. Unless you are a supporter of President Kaczyński. In which case I’d rather you called first.

Till then, as they say in Seoul - Kombei!

Even with my Flipkart perks (whatever they may be) I couldn’t get hold of one till the 15th. Our pre-order stocks had already been spoken for and I had to wait my turn. Once I did have it though, I was hoping to:

i> Read it through the night, so I’d be more clued in when
ii> I met him Saturday at the meet-and-greet in Bangalore.

Only one of the above two materialised.

Caveat Emptor: As clichés go, no one gives a damn about anyone - until the point where someone attains some degree of fame - which is when long lost friends and relative unknowns begin to surface from the woodwork. I am about to do not just that.

Back when I was a Mumbaikar, I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of a certain Shindig. Sure, Shindig has a regular name (like an Anand or a Mangesh) - certainly one that is more common than say a ‘ Jamie’ or a ‘Sambit’ - but Shindig has a nice ring to it. Shindig started of as a reporter for one of the noon-dailies in Mumbai and primarily covered local sports. He then moved on to bigger and better things, which eventually led to him introducing me to Amit.

Some audio had to be recorded, edited and podcasted . . . Amit was the voice, which means Shindig and me were the ensemble of Producer/Sound Engineer/Audio Technician. That was almost 3 years ago, to the day. And we did a splendid job too.

If I remember correctly, the three ponytails probably painted a pretty picture. Per se.

Having read “My Friend Sancho”, here’s one of the things I realised: In a parallel universe, Shindig could very well have been the person that we now know as Abir Ganguly.

These are more or less the sum of all languages spoken at Flipkart. Well, not so much ’spoken between us’ - more like ‘one of us possesses some degree of fluency in’. Almost everyone speaks at least 2 languages and understands at least 3; seems like utter chaos to the everyday outsider, mostly because only we possess the blueprint to the method behind the madness.

For one, communication is never a problem. Whether on the phone with customers or dealing with day to day operations, the person most fluent in the language takes charge. Admittedly, there are times when it turns into a game of Chinese Whispers and Connect The Dots, but by now I think, we’re all very familiar with the rules.

Presenting Some of the Players:

The Bansals: English, Hindi, Punjabi
Sujeet: English, Hindi, Haryanvi
Iyyappa: English, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, garnishes of Hindi
Nandu (Our Man Friday): Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, smattering of English
Yours Truly: English, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, French

I can’t wait for the day we get into the regional language publications market!

Taking a leap of faith online is not as hard as it looks but is much harder than you think. Our brains are hardwired for the senses - see; smell; feel; touch; taste. The main challenge of a Click-’n-Mortar store is bringing credibility to anonymity. We certainly didn’t have that way-back-when, which is why we owe a lot to quite a few people - one of them being Mr. Chandra.

Mr. Chandra is the FIRST EVER customer that Flipkart had (the rest were mostly family, friends, friends of family and families of friends) and also subsequently went on to interview Flipkart. There is no way we can quantify what that post did for us - nay - continues to do for us. At the most basic level, it validated the feedback trust loop that Sachin and Binny had put all their hopes on. Here is a guy who having logged on to Flipkart has:

a> Found what he wanted
b> Taken out his card
c> Made an online payment on a site no one knew of
d> And waited for his book to be delivered

Here is a good time for me to make a declaration: I had not yet joined Flipkart. True, I have no idea what any of them were thinking at the time or what the motivations were that lead to this momentous “first real sale”. Of one other thing I can be fairly certain - the Bansals thinking “We have a customer afterall, let’s not make a mess now!!”

It’s been over a year since that day, a lot has changed and we’re making fewer mistakes now. Many more trust us, and of large number of those that do stay very loyal. We probably do let some of them down, and not just the first timers either - I just hope that these isolated incidents do not reinforce the mental blocks people have with e-commerce in India.

If there’s one takeaway I can garner, it’s this: Be grateful to the VVK Chandras in your life - and every once in a while - try being one yourself.

It’s been a while Flipkart.com has been online (a year and a half), and we should probably have jumped onto the blog bandwagon much sooner. To be more precise - The ‘official blog’ bandwagon.

As it turns out, we have infact had a blog on wordpress all along, since the 6th of November. Hmm. Might imitation be the sincerest form of flattery… and does it equally matter who the imitator is? You be the judge. Let me go on record and say the blog.flipkart.com* is the only official Flipkart blog.

And hopefully, we’ll have slightly more interesting content as well…watch this space!

*contains no fruit juice or pulp. contains added flavour.