It was with a great surge of anticipation that my trusted friend Bushan and I landed up at this quaint home stay in Ipoh. Located at Pasir Puteh the setting sure looked serene and tranquil from the outside. When we were ushered into our designated room by the ever helpful and always smiling caretaker, Anil … Continue reading Where Anticipation meets Ant Infestation
Month: July 2018
The Company of Queers
PROLOGUE “Anjali was right when she said we was queer”, bemoaned Veronica. The lament was unabashed, the disgust undisguised and the resignation plain. Her gaze was disturbingly fixed on a small but perfectly circular hole which just a few minutes ago was the undisturbed part of a shining bald pate. As the orifice slowly began … Continue reading The Company of Queers
Baptised by Starbucks!
Howard Schultz's iconic creation is not just famous, (or infamous, whichever way you deem to tune your perspective) for putting in place esoteric corporate structures to avoid paying it's rightful share of taxes, but also for mutilating the names of it's avowed brand patrons. Your's truly is no exception to this latter rule. Since the … Continue reading Baptised by Starbucks!
FULLY CONNECTED – JULIA HOBSBAWM
A finalist for the 2018 Business Book Awards, “Fully Connected” (“the book”) by the Honorary Visiting Professor at Cass Business School and at the University of Suffolk, Ms. Julia Hobsbawm, “Fully Connected” lends a desperately needed perspective to a world immersed, enmeshed and entangled in a plethora of networks. As Ms. Hobsbawm painstakingly, albeit eruditely … Continue reading FULLY CONNECTED – JULIA HOBSBAWM
The Elephant’s Journey – Jose Saramago
This fascinating piece of fiction from the Portuguese master has to, in my humble opinion, rank amongst the top of the pile of his ingenious and enviable works. This poignant, persuasive and almost polemic narrative describes the journey of an endearing Solomon a pachyderm, who after being anointed as a wedding gift for the archduke … Continue reading The Elephant’s Journey – Jose Saramago
The Heart of a Dog – Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhail Bulgakov proves in a searing and stark manner that more creativity is repressed and stifled, the more it will unshackle itself to transform into a medium that is powerful and picturesque. “The Heart of a Dog”, penned by the Russian author-cum morphine addicted doctor, bears ample testimony to this fact. Full of rambunctious nonsense … Continue reading The Heart of a Dog – Mikhail Bulgakov
Darkness At Noon – Arthur Koestler
Along with Yevgeny Zamyatin’s “We”; Aldous Huxley’s “A Brave New World” and George Orwell’s “1984”, Arthur Koestler’s “Darkness at Noon”, has to be one of the most dystopian of novels ever penned in the history of literature. Artfully cynical, lastingly bleak and thoroughly provocative, this book has rightly been described as “one of the few books … Continue reading Darkness At Noon – Arthur Koestler
Bhiwani Junction – Shamya Dasgupta
In a country where the faint stirrings, resounding echoes and silent consternations involving sport have been the dominant, if not exclusive preserve of cricket, an unlikely sport staked a claim for recognition and a clamour for reverence in the year 2008. When a young Adonis punched, jabbed and jived his way to a bronze medal … Continue reading Bhiwani Junction – Shamya Dasgupta
Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout – Philip Connors
Aldo Leopold, the American ecologist, forester, scientist and environmentalist once remarked thus: “nothing could be more salutary at this stage than a little healthy contempt for a plethora of material blessings”. Philip Connors in his occupation as a ‘fire look out’ in the serene wilderness of the Gila mountains experienced first hand the splendid and … Continue reading Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout – Philip Connors
Herbert Sutcliffe: Cricket Maestro by Alan Hill
Orphaned at a ridiculously tender age, Herbert Sutcliffe progression from an inveterate cricketer at his home town of Pudsey, to England and Yorkshire's immortal stalwart puts many a fairy tale to shame. Alan Hill in his unique and extremely readable style, breathes beautiful life to this tale in his inspiring biography. Immaculate in attire, implacable … Continue reading Herbert Sutcliffe: Cricket Maestro by Alan Hill