JustBooks Connect - April 2011 newsletter

Volume 2 Issue 2
www.justbooksclc.com
blog.justbooksclc.com CONNECT April 2011
For limited circulation
A JustBooks Publication

Our Story, Our People Pg 7
Ravi Kumar Quiz

J
ustBooksclc is a brand name of Strata
Retail Technology Services Private
Limited.
The concept behind Justbooks

Pg 11
is to provide a platform that connects
books with readers, on a community
wide basis.
Infact, the 'clc' in the brand name stands Just
for 'Community Library Chain'. The goal
of JustBooksclc to connect readers is Kids
encapsulated in our mission statement
which states "Enabling every reader to find
his or her book and every book to find a read-
er."
JustBooks was started in 2009 in
Bangalore by professionals with a back- the book inventory of JustBooks is reach-
ground in software technology and retail ing the 300,000 mark.
experience. The concept found favour
with the N.S Raghavan Center for
In this article, we are pleased to intro-
duce Lavanya to you, dear reader, who
Pg 12
Enterpreneurship Learning (NSRCEL) runs our Kalyan Nagar franchise in
based out of IIM-Bangalore and Strata Bangalore.
Author
Retail was chosen as an incubatee. The Kalyan Nagar has just completed one Profile
association with NSRCEL allowed the year of its operations and services the
brand to migrate from a start-up to a reading requirements of more than thou-
small business, diversify its reach and sand members. Lavanya is a B.Com grad,
improve its membership and service level having worked with Motorola in their
offerings. HR dept. for two yrs. She's also lived in
Over the past two years, JustBooks has In the Franchise Fair in Bangalore in the
Germany for 10 years and on moving
grown into a library network using the year 2009.
back to India in April 2008, decided to
franchisee model of expansion. venture out on her own. JustBooks was
Currently, we cover four cities What made you take the plunge with a
right up her street! Apart from books &
Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad & Pune. JustBooks franchise?
reading, Lavanya loves to travel the
In all there are 30 libraries servicing world, conjure up some sizzling dishes
JustBooks' growing membership. Seemed like a good, clean investment
and watch movies. In fact, she nurtures a
The USP of JustBooks is that it has opportunity. Besides, we always wanted
fond hope to direct one herself!
leveraged RFID (Radio Frequency to build a library.
We decided to shoot her some ques-
Identification Device) technology to issue tions on how, when and why on running
and return books from a kiosk by mem- Describe the initial feeling of starting
a JustBooks Franchise.
bers without assistance from front office your own business.
staff. Once signed up, readers automati- When and how did you come across the
cally become members of other branches We were quite positive about it. Luckily
concept of JustBooks?
and can transact anywhere. Currently, contd on pg 2...

2 JustBooks Connect - April 2011
contd from pg 1...
From the Editor’s
How much time do
Desk you spend at the
JustBooks outlet per-

T
o franchise or not, was the philo- sonally? How reward-
sophical question we struggled ing is the experience
with in the early days of of interacting with
JustBooks. We liked the fact that in our your members?
interpretation of JustBooks as a plat-
form that connects books and readers, Initially, we were there
there was a lot of scope for shared own- almost every day.
ership. We reasoned that, a platform Now we try to be there
that is not owned in its entirety by any regularly, but perhaps
one entity but is owned in parts by mul- not every day. It is
tiple participants tends to get stronger good to be personally
and more stable with time. Today it present because it adds
gives us great satisfaction that, in a new dimension to
Bangalore, all our branches are owned interactions with the
and operated by our entrepreneurial we found a suitable place to rent with- customers.
franchise owners. out looking too hard. It was also good
So, what does it take for someone to to have an architect, Ujwal, who had What kind of books do you read per-
become a business owner or more done other branches, so we did not sonally? Who are your favourite
specifically a JustBooks franchise have to make too many decisions. authors?
owner? Love for books? Business acu-
men? Entrepreneurial background? How has been the customer response Self-help books, Novels, Economics,
Money? Well, a little bit of all the above to JustBooks as a concept & your Current Affairs. Malcolm Gladwell,
does not hurt! But, more than anything library, in particular? Amitabh Ghosh, Bill Bryson, John
else, it often turns out to be a very per- Grisham and many more.
sonal connection with the concept for For people who read, this is a very
reasons that cannot be or need not be attractive option to keep reading new We then talked to a couple of
explained to anyone. Many of our cur- books. Most book lovers have compli- JustBooks' members from Kalyan
rent franchise owners have been mented us saying, "this is what was Nagar and this is what they have to
JustBooks members and having liked missing in our neighbourhood". For peo- say:
the experience chose to setup something ple who read books only occasionally, "I have been a member of the Kalyan
on their own. If you want to know more regular subscription is perhaps not Nagar centre since its inception and
about what it means to become a fran- such a good option. have been extremely happy with the
chise owner, write to us at experience. The range of books is exten-
manager@justbooksclc.com. Have their expectations been met sive and the library has been main-
As the vacation season sets in, there through our offerings? tained very well. We have been partic-
are many holiday service providers ularly happy with the response to
beginning to get in touch with us want- Mostly. But since we have set great requests made for books that were
ing to distribute their packages through expectations (e.g. any book you request unavailable. It has always been
our outlets. Holidays, with the associat- will be given) sometimes it is difficult prompt. Kudos to you all! Keep it up!"
ed planning, booking and execution to meet those. May be we should set ---Sujaya
seems an experience that most families lower expectations and exceed them.
now attach a lot of importance to. We 'Justbooks, Kalyan nagar is one of
are evaluating options around partner- What do you think will be a great the better libraries to belong to in the
ing with the holiday service providers addition in terms of value to your city. It's a well-lit, well maintained
to offer community validated exclusive existing members? library & all sections & shelves are
packages to our members. Watch this neatly marked & stacked. My daugh-
space for more news in the future. Don't know about new additions. We ters, who are 10 & 8 years old, are
As we scale, we realize that we have should keep our current promises bet- always excited about their trip to the
lot of work yet to be done on revamping ter. library and happy to borrow from a
our website to make it more friendly wide selection of books. They are truly
and complete and also work more on What's your take on Justbooks as a spoilt for choice.
our classification and shelving concept from the conventional The staff is helpful and Lavanya
approaches. The good news is that we library? always ensures that any book that is
are as committed to growing the read- not available with her is brought in as
ing experience through our libraries, as Well, in a sense it is a conventional soon as possible. The library's location
we were at the start of this venture and library. But what sets it apart is the col- is great, being on the way from the chil-
with continued support from you-the lection of recent books, the ability to dren's school. It would be great to see
readers-we are confident of making provide latest books to readers and the this Kalyan Nagar branch becoming
JustBooks the default means to access ambience in the branches. Many also the most sought after library in the
books. like the RFID technology which allows area. I wish Lavanya and her team all
As always happy reading!  even small children to check-in and the best for the second year."
check-out books. ---- Minal Rajan 

JustBooks Connect - April 2011 3

Why We Don't Talk Women & The Weight Loss Tamasha
Shinie Anthony Rujuta Diwekar
Rupa Westland

Geetanjali Singh Chanda Aradhana Janga

T A
his collection of short stories takes its title crash diet can only do so much and
from the final story by Shinie Anthony. At then actually not much. A diet is
first glance, though, the unifying theme of something that you should be able to
the collection is not clear. The foreword by stay with for your life, not a month or two,
Shashi Deshpande also does not shed any light insists Diwekar. And women, especially
on the stories themselves but is a wonderful Indian women with everything and more that
expose on the short story genre. She raises sever- goes on in their daily lives need to get a better
al issues about why the short story is thus handle on their diets and lifestyles, from teens
labeled - is the shortness of the tale a mere dis- to marriage to menopause and after. Overall
missive diminutive implying its low importance? Is this form the book turns out to be a much needed guide
particularly appealing to women writers and if so why? The for the Indian woman to start feeling a little bit better about her
one common feature in all the stories though is their style. Each own self. So read the book, understand what your body is all
one is a gem of beautiful writing and an unusual plot - particu- about, stop feeling guilty about enjoying some pleasures. But
larly the twist at the end.  mostly use your common sense. 

Mahabalipuram Strengths Finder 2.0
R. Nagaswamy Tom Rath
Oxford India Gallup press

Dr. Rajeshwari Ghose Manjula Sundharam

T W
he Oxford India Paperbacks is publish- e are made to believe that with hard
ing a monograph on each of the twenty work we can be anything we want to
three UNESCO World Heritage cultural be. Can we actually be anything we
sites in India. want to be, just by trying hard enough?
Well known scholars in the field of Indology Strengths Finder 2.0 talks about discovering
have been invited to write short, easy to read inherent strengths and using those strengths to
monographs outlining the important facets of excel.
history, archaeology and Art that have partic- With the backing of Gallop's research data,
ular relevance to the site under study. Published under the author Tom Rath challenges this common belief and says "you
name Monumental Legacy series, it has already published ten cannot be anything you want to be-but you can be a lot more of who
booklets. This booklet has a few good photographs, which you already are". The book would get readers to pay attention to
hints at the supreme elegance of the Pallava structures and the their strengths as well as the strengths of people they live and
delicate and restrained aesthetics of its bas reliefs. Despite its work with. It is a refreshing read for those working on team
size it is a dense work and is a "must read" for a serious student building. 
of history. 

One Day What I Talk About When I Talk About
David Nicholls Running
Hodder, UK Haruki Murakami Translated by Philip Gabriel
Vintage

Reshmi Chakraborty Pushpa Achanta

O O
ne Day by David Nicholls is essentially ne of the two works of non-fiction by
a love story, told over a time span of well known Japanese short story
twenty years. What makes this romance writer, novelist and translator, Haruki
different is that the protagonists actually don't Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk
get together, despite being the best of friends About Running is a recollection of his experi-
and meeting each other on and off for twenty ences while preparing for and participating in
long years. marathons and triathlons. Created in his char-
Cool and confidant Dexter Mayhew and arty acteristic straightforward and enjoyable style,
girl Emma Morley meet for the first time on 15th the memoir reveals a side of the writer that many might not be
July 1988, the night of their graduation before going their ways. aware of. You may plan to try the critically acclaimed and
The rest of the book is the story of their lives on this same day award winning writings of Haruki Murakami or running, bicy-
for the next twenty years. The book is a wonderfully funny and cling or swimming. Or maybe all of them! Either way, this book
moving read.  is worth a read, certainly. 

For detailed reviews check out justbooksclc.com


Book Review

The Many Faces of Home
After that, it was all down-
The Brief Wondrous Life of hill. He became dorky and
Oscar Wao shy, used big words and
developed a love for Genres
or genre fiction. He became
Junot Diaz a ghetto nerd. School was
Faber & Faber tortuous, college not much
better. The most important
thing is that Oscar yearns to
love; no girl will let him get
Anindita Sengupta near them. And the occa-
sional muchacha who does,
eventually defeats him with
the friendship line.

T T
wo quotations introduce Junot he book spirals back-
Diaz's Pulitzer Prize-winning ward in time.
novel. One is a line from the Interspersed with Oscar's
Fantastic Four: "Of what import are brief,
story is his sister Lola's, and
nameless lives…to Galactus?". The other is
before that, their mother
a poem by Derek Walcott which ends Beli's tragic years in Santa
with "and either I'm nobody or I'm a Domingo during the infa-
nation." Brief, nameless nobodies and the
mous dictator Rafael
nation-at this point of intersection Trujillo's reign over the
between the grand and the little lies The
Dominican Republic. We're
Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. drawn into the perils of
Spanning four decades and three genera-
those times. An orphaned
tions of a Dominican family, the book has
childhood, a teenage spent
the sweep of the epic and the intimacy of much about finding a place to belong as it
trying to fit and a dangerous, doomed
the personal story. At its heart is the fat, is about sex. For Beli whose childhood is
love affair with a thug called "The
nerdy, sci-fi obsessed Oscar, a Dominican marked by orphanhood, by being shunt-
Gangster"-Beli's life in Santa Domingo
who is not Dominican enough, a boy who ed out of places, and by abuse, is also
was uncheery extremes. The fact that the
ain't macho enough, a die-hard romantic looking for a place to roost, a safe har-
Gangster is married (and I won't say to
who can't find anyone to love. His tale is bour. This search for a safe harbour at the
whom) is disaster itself. As Beli's story
being told by Yunior who in many ways personal level also leads to the hunt for it
unravels, the nature of fuku becomes
is the antithesis--tough-talking, many- at a larger level when Beli has to flee
clearer, terrifyingly so. Her encounter
masked and proficient at finding girls to Santa Domingo for the bright, white
with Trujillo's minions is one of the most
love, then not knowing what to do with lights of Nueva York.
harrowing passages I've read in recent
them. Yunior is Oscar's roommate in col-
times. By now, Oscar's nerdery and gen-
lege and sort of in love with his elder sis-
eral unwantedness looks like the good
B ut Diaz writes the big issues in a fresh
way. The book is grounded in history
from the word go. The language is whim-
ter, the uberfiery Lola. The story starts
life. But wait, in the next section, there is
with a fuku, "the Curse or the Doom of the sical and puckish at times, outright funny
Beli's father and with earnest, scholarly
New World", a Dominican belief that was at others. (The title is a play on Oscar
Abelard, Diaz takes it to a whole other
born with Columbus's coming to the Wilde and Hemingway's short story The
level of fuku-ness. This deliberate hiking
islands. Dominicans believe that the fuku Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.)
of intensity is something he does so
plagues certain families forever. Oscar's This is one of the things that keeps the
expertly that you can't escape it, you don't
family is one of those. Why this is so is book from flattening under the weight of
want to escape it. The heat of the narra-
something that will be revealed over the its lofty concerns. The other is its plot,
tive is engulfing and addictive.
next 300 pages or so. Wait for it. which is deceptively simple. I say that
This novel is all those big things: the
Oscar represents average teenage angst, because what starts off being a ghetto
diasporic novel, the political novel etc.
and then some, because his outsiderness nerd's coming of age has so much else to
Like Beli's headlong descent into a love
exists at such multiple levels. There is the it, so many stories in there, that the book's
that is maddening and disastrous but is as
fact that he is Dominican in New York. pace is speedy and gripping. This is not a
There is also the fact that he is not slow explication of moments. This is a
Dominican enough. He belongs “This is a careening through careening through entire lives and
nowhere. The white kids exclude him entire lives and zooming into the zooming into the most interesting, the
for his afro and dark skin. "The kids of most important, the most gut-wrench-
color, upon hearing him speak and seeing most interesting, the most impor- ing bits in those lives. The things that
him move his body, shook their heads. tant, the most gut-wrenching bits matter.
You're not Dominican." The last time he in those lives. The things that This is one of those rare books that can
managed to be a "normal" Dominican be read in one go, and read multiple
boy was back when he was seven. matter” times. Applause is due. 


Book Review

A Looking Back
ghar ka vatavaran vitiated ho gaya tha kya?" ant Dr. Mukherjee has committed suicide
Way To Go One is easily taken by the tough balance and nothing seems bleaker to Jamun than
that Chatterjee strikes: one between ease living in the house which Lobesh Monga,
Upamanyu Chatterjee and deliberation. the builder, wants to buy out. Chatterjee
Hamish Hamilton, Penguin His prose has the quality of effortless- insulates Jamun with a sort of unforgiv-
ness, but every sentence is a result of ing alienation that doesn't let up in Way
careful consideration and choice of To Go. Its also this bleakness and loneli-
words. But what Way to Go achieves is ness with which Jamun is treated that fas-
Deepika Arwind far more than just elegant prose. cinates and saddens the reader -- both at
As Anjum Hasan describes in her essay once.
"The Outsider" (The Caravan, June 2010) Jamun is riddled with anxiety; he wants
Shyamanand back at home,

T
he books opens with a sad, but out of a sense of responsibility
hilarious first chapter, much like and habit.
Chatterjee's debut English, Despite the uneasy relation-
August. The police station is described ship with his father, Jamun's
with a sense of futility and dejection that strange bond with him over
are perhaps part of Jamun's disposition death-that "thing' in the book
by now. that is everywhere-and his
It is from within this chapter itself that loneliness, long for familiarity.
one is able to tell that Chatterjee's gift is in How can someone who cannot
his "leisurely prose" as described by walk without his walking stick
many critics, and his ability to care for disappear?
detail even at the cost of an unashamed
slowness. Chatterjee, in this chapter, also I n a sense, Shayamanand
grants himself and his two
sons a sort of freedom. This
manages a humour that is aware of its
location in a tragedy; it allows the reader deep tragedy is never bereft of
to tread that liminal zone so rare in fic- a certain lightness and scato-
tion. logical obsessions, that makes
In the conversation that Jamun has with Way To Go an interesting
the police officer, there is a revelation of read, but perhaps also
both the absolute hopelessness of a sys- exhausting for those who have
tem, and the hilarity associated with this been reading Chatterjee's
hopelessness. work and come to expect
Referred to as "Missing Person" in the something spectacular from
opening chapter, Shyamanand's life is Way To Go.
probed thoroughly by a police officer. Critics have for long appre-
The brilliance of this interaction lies also ciated the fact that Chatterjee,
in the fact that it understands itself as a doesn't desperately try to
translated conversation, but doesn't in Way To Go is less of "less a sequel ... than a chronicle events or a time he thinks
anyway sound compromised for its rich- looking back". important; he doesn't tend to make pro-
ness.
"Any financial stringency in the house- I t is in the continuing obsession with the
"middle-class moment" that Way To
Go dwells upon, but it is mostly for the
found sociological observations nor is he
interested in a literary masterpiece that
will allow itself into the grand folds of
hold? Did Missing Person thrash you or you
him because of violent disagreements and ten- brilliance of the character Jamun, for history. It is perhaps for this reason that a
sions over your or his vices or addictions? which we must read the book. Here he is, novel like Way To Go works for some
Was the atmosphere of the house vitiated as a he has returned to his parents' home to readers and against itself for many oth-
consequence? "Vitiated" was in English - look after his paralysed father; their ten- ers. 


Reader’s Reader’s Contribution
Voice Dev Anand, Vyjayanthimala have lever-
aged on the splendid opportunity
G Venkatesh
offered by publishers to pen down their

F
memoirs. Of course, the moolah is diffi-
or the past few years now I've been cult to resist. Shahrukh and Amitabh

I
absolutely in love with books, ndian writing in English has indeed have already published theirs.
book worm I'm called at home. come a long way. Thirty years ago, I am still searching for Gulzar's biog-
Very soon I had chewed my way with few authors and fewer channels raphy by his daughter. Leela Naidu's
through all the books available at home available for publishing, promoting the biography was simply superb and hilar-
and started looking for libraries to bor- books, the scenario was much different. ious most of the time when she narrates
row books from. But today the number of writers has the experiences of working in a movie
I think that from all the libraries I've swelled to a great extent. It is gratifying (Trikal, 1985) with Shyam Benegal.
been to JustBooks has been the best. to note that JustBooks has a plethora of However, Kishwar Desai's biography of
None of the others ever bothered giving books by Indian authors. The remark- Nargis Dutt
you bookmarks! The books there are in able ease with which some of the writ- was disap-
really good condition too. ers have carved a niche for themselves pointing.
In some of the other libraries, I've even in their maiden attempts needs to Pinky Virani's
been to the books have been dusty, yel- be commended. The advent of Internet real life account
low and so old you're scared to turn the and mobile telephony has increased the
pages for fear of damaging the book. I opportunities manifold for the budding
have never found something as putting writers and marketing the books using
off as trying to read a book with really the Internet has become an easier affair.
small cramped print and missing pages. Well designed promotions contribute
For the past one year now I've been an to the success in marketing a book.
avid reader member in the JP Nagar Some promotions do depend on cheap
branch and have absolutely exploited publicity to generate greater inter-
their awesome services, right from the est in the book.
home delivery system to the no fixed But, frankly, I feel content is
return date ( this one being extremely what matters a lot to ensure sus-
convenient when you want to mull over tainability of the book in the mar-
a book). But the thing I like the best ket in the long run. Making the
about JustBooks is how you can request reader part of the narrative is a
for a transfer of a book from another skill.
branch, which is one of the most innova- Sometimes I do wonder if the
tive ideas for a library. surfeit of writing talent
I have always found the books that I has somewhat diluted the of a Konkani Nurse
wanted there. They have everything standards of Indian writ- Aruna Shanbhag in
from Agatha Christie to Calvin and ing in English. Today's her book Aruna's
Hobbes to books on various hobbies. generation is discovering Story left a deep
Thanks a lot JustBooks for doing what R K Narayan, Raja Rao, impact long after I had fin-
you're doing. Manohar Mulgaonkar ished the book. Pinky had put
and other celebrated her heart and soul into the
Janani Eshwar, Student, authors of the past much tragic story and it showed in
JP Nagar  after their demise. the results.
However, one has to The way Aruna spoke, her
admit that some of the relationship with her cousins,
works by the newcomers the Mumbai in the period from
is definitely brilliant. Arundhati Roy 1966 to 1973, the gory assault on her by
brought Indian writing in English the a maniacal ward boy etc. Credit goes to
required visibility by winning the Pinky for bringing Aruna alive in front
Booker Prize for The God of Small of us. Hope to see more of such biogra-
Things. Aravind Adiga and Kiran Desai phies and autobiographies.
followed.
I found that presently, biographies
and auto-biographies have been the G Venkatesh lives in HAL stage III
flavour of the season. From law makers and works for a private firm in Indira
(Fali S. Nariman's Before Memory Nagar. He is a voracious reader and
Fades: An Autobiography) to business an amateur writer. Essentially a
men (Captain Gopinath's Simply Fly) to Mumbaikar, he has shifted to
movie stars (Leela Naidu's Leela: A Bangalore a year ago. Music,
Patchwork Life ). Gardening and Reading are his hob-
Some of the veteran movie stars like bies. 


1. JustBooksclc was started by: 4. JustBooks has how many books across different genres?
JustBooks Private Ltd. 300,000
Strata Retail and Technology 150,000
IIMB 100,000
5. What other services does
JustBooksclc offer?
Order book(s) and get it
delivered home.
Pay per book and not
2. JustBooksclc has how many main every month.
branches in Bangalore? All of the above.
15
8
10

3. You will find JustBooksclc in this city
too:
Mangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
1. Strata Retail and Technology 2. 15 3. Hyderabad 4. 300,000 5. All of the above

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Maladies by Siddhartha
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Musings

Fear of failure
tion of beginning of the end. tle, and play around with variables like
Subhash Bhushan Here are some points, I believe, can help pressure, environment, stress etc. and
us conquer our fear of failure: weaknesses will start showing up. During
intense times, we discover what our

N E
o matter how many self-help mbrace failure: Understand that fail- weaknesses are and become more aware
books we read, how many semi- ures are good. They convey what is of our own constraints and how to work
nars we attend or how much we working and what is not. Sometimes, around them.
discuss or whine or complain about it. things have to fall apart before they are
Every new problem will bring
forth new challenges, set in a
rebuilt again. Old foundations and tradi-
C ompete with the best: The
fear we move through
when we go to the edge of our
novel situation, with a different
set of stakeholders. We will limits actually causes our lim-
always struggle to read a new its to expand. As Neitzsche
situation or make the right deci- said, "What doesn't kill you
sion. So, it's natural that all of us, makes you stronger". When we
being human, err once in a consistently move towards
while. what we are resisting, we will
We no longer have a sense of end up becoming more confi-
security in this modern ever- dent and powerful in how we
changing world. We are not sure approach a problem. To test
about our jobs, our relation- our limits, we need to consis-
ships, our likes, even our identi- tently compete and look upto
ty! Whatever security existed people who are better than us.
earlier in being a sheep in a herd, And aim to become the best at
no longer exists. what we do.
Indeed, trying to stay in our
comfort zone will only put us in
a highly unsafe and dangerous A dapt and innovate con-
tinuously: Nothing lasts
forever. Not people, not
place. The world calls upon us to
become individuals-recognizable, distin- tional structures have to collapse, and processes, not achievements, nothing.
guishable, self-sustaining and talented make way for the new better ones. Whenever variables or terrains change-
individuals. Breakdowns lead to breakthroughs. and it sure will-we have to adapt. The
Achieving our potential is not a path techniques that worked earlier may not
paved in concrete either. Each one of us
has our own unique way of getting to our K eep getting up: Failure is a state of
mind; it is not an event. We
encounter setbacks on our path, but never
be relevant or applicable anymore.
Change is a way to survive. Why not
make it a habit?
goal. We can concentrate on our goals,
but we cannot control the path we take to failures. We let failures happen to us, by
achieve them. We will constantly be hit
by self-doubt, setbacks and obstacles. But
not getting back up on our feet quickly.
As the Japanese say, "Fall seven times, but
get up eight times". It's all about getting up
I nvest in hardwork: According to a
Harvard Business Review article, for a
person to become an expert at anything
mostly, we ourselves are the primary hin-
drance to achieving success. again and again, as quickly as possible, worthwhile, he or she has to spend about
Often, obstacles or setbacks that we no matter how many times we fall. ten thousand hours of intense effort on it.
encounter are temporary. It is what our That's radically different from the world
mind understands of these setbacks that
is troublesome. Setbacks tend to manifest R ecognize weaknesses: Failures help
us spot our deficiencies. Almost any-
body can appear like a superstar on an
of instant gratification we have created
around us. Remember that patience and
perseverance are the two cornerstones of
themselves as fears of the future within
us. And this fear of future failure gains easy turf. Change the circumstances a lit- all great achievements. 
strength and importance, and starts hin-
dering progress.
The fear of failure is the single most
important thing that restricts us from get-
ting back up and changing the situation.
It coaxes us to lie low and procrastinate,
not do anything radical and get away
from the way of anything important.
Conquering this fear of failure is tanta-
mount to realizing our own potential. We
have to actively move forward, even
when everything around us screams of
danger. Becoming stagnant is the ulti-
mate death trap for our ambitions. When
we stop struggling, it's usually an indica-


On a mathematical adventure
prime numbers' and how they help
How to Guard an Art Gallery us in solving both these problems
and Other Discrete using a simple 'staircase' in a table.
Mathematical Adventures The chapter 'Measuring Water
with a Vengeance' describes how a
famous Hollywood movie "Die
T.S. Michael hard: With a Vengeance' is based
Johns Hopkins University Press on a version of what is known as
the 'Water Measuring Problem'.
One of the methods uses a funny
Dr. Rajagopalan billiard table 'Skew Billiard Table'
for a visual proof.
Then there are puzzles with

W
hat is the minimum number of stamps and Sylver coins (yes,
guards required to guard a 'Sylver'). Arguments of symmetry
given art gallery? Can I com- and spin are brought into service to
pute the area of an orchard by counting find elegant solutions.
the trees in it? How do I draw a straight- The only chapter I found a bit
line on a computer monitor? This book dry is the last one on primes,
uses such simple questions as gateways squares and quadratic residues. But
to take us on mathematical adventures. the trouble is worth it. For, we
It builds a genuine interest in discovery. learn the logic and usefulness of
Multiple approaches for solving a stated 'holes'. How many guards are required the otherwise mysterious 'modular
puzzle goads us into complex thinking - to guarantee that all walls are in the line arithmetic'.
revealing hidden connections and results
which hold more generally.
of sight of at least one guard? What if I
want each guard to be in the line of sight Q uadratic residues are at the heart of
designing communication protocols
in a spy network or space probes or
What is the maximum number of of another guard to take care of mug-
pieces I can make from a pizza with 3 ging? What if the guards are substituted online bank transactions.
straight cuts? N-cuts? This triggers a with security cameras? Without even Why don't we give these wonderful
journey. Among the multiple methods, realizing it, we learn what it takes to opportunities in our formal educational
there is one proof without words! If you write an algorithm and what computa- systems? Is it the rat race to perform or
can do that on a pizza, we can easily tional complexity is. perish? Is it the 'centralized' and top

I
generalize it to 3-dimensional cake or a n a dramatic insight, the problem of down syllabus which stifles local initia-
fruit. guarding a gallery against attacks from tives? Is it lack of capable teachers? Or, is
There is a charming 'Pizza Envy inside is shown to be the mirror image of it the fault of mere lip-service by parents
Theorem' which says that more the cuts, guarding a fortress from outside attacks. who think throwing money at a problem
more will be the difference in the sizes of A prison has to guard against attacks will solve it?
various pieces. In the process, we will from both within and outside. I see a lot of ferment on how to teach
learn the recurrence method, table of dif- Then we learn that the problem of mathematics in a lively way and in a
ferences and visual proofs. Like Alice, drawing a line on a computer screen and realistic context. For example, is there
we are transported to a Wonderland of the problem faced by our ancestors in mathematics of symmetry? What are the
4-dimensional fruits! deciding on how to place leap years in simple patterns in well-known marvels
Georg Alexander Pick is the guy who our calendar are one and the same! in architecture and painting? Is a beehive
got Einstein his first job and died in a We discover the beauty of pairs of 'co- an example of superior coordination or
Nazi camp. He found a simple method simply a result of fighting for maximum
of computing the area by counting space for one self while having to hang
points. Isn't it crazy? Area is a 'contin- Is a beehive an example of supe- together? Why does the so-called 'gold-
uous' quantity whereas the number of en ratio' deserve that name?
rior coordination or simply a
points is an integer. The formula still How did the African tribes build
works. result of fighting for maximum communities following 'fractal geome-
This problem is related to the prob- space for one self while having to try', formally discovered only in the
lem of 'How many ways are there for 1980s? Why is the 'Mobius strip' such a
hang together? Why does the so-
changing a rupee in terms of 25 paise, curio? Still, how did it lead to better
10 paise and 5 paise coins?' called 'golden ratio' deserve that industrial conveyor and baggage han-
You want to design an art gallery? name? How did the African tribes dling belts?
Unlike in a house, we want to maxi- Imagine what all kids can do, if tick-
build communities following
mize wall space rather than floor led by such questions and mentored
space! Therefore galleries come in very 'fractal geometry', formally dis- towards discovering their own solu-
odd shapes- sunflowers, waves, covered only in the 1980s? tions! Why not start with our own chil-
crowns, sunrise, and galleries with dren? We will also learn, with them. 


The Tinkle Artist
A
bhijeet Kini is a celebrated, pro- Tinkle in 2004, I interacted with him a Khyrunnisa, who is based in Kerala.
fessional artist who works on lot more. He was a nice person. After Butterfingers, I illustrated two
the ongoing series of other ongoing series Defective
Butterfingers, Sea Diaries, and Where do you get inspiration to keep Detectives and Sea Diaries.
Defective Detectives in the Tinkle mag- drawing for the same Butterfingers
azine. comic? Don't you get bored? Is it difficult, converting a story into a
The stories drive the adventures to a comic strip?
JustBooks' young member Ms. Nitya level. If the story isn't as interesting, the Depends. In Tinkle, a story is converted
Gundu ( 13 years) of Nerul library met illustrations need to have that extra to script first, by the editors and sub edi-
him at a comic workshop held in NRI push, to make the read interesting. This tors. The script is then converted to art-
Complex, Nerul, Navi Mumbai and is not the case just with Butterfingers, work by artists. But for comics that I
took his interview. make, outside Tinkle, it
doesn't get difficult to
Since when did your interest in art and make comics out of stories
drawing begin and how did you devel- and ideas. An illustrator
op it? would always see anything
I remember drawing cartoons ever since in life as a visual. That's
I can remember, early childhood days, I how our minds work!
guess. I used to scribble on any paper
surface possible. Are you planning on cre-
ating a separate stand
In school, they teach us to draw alone comic on the lines
humans robotically, but your illustra- of Superman and
tions are so funny, where did you get Spiderman?
the idea? I already am working on
I owe my inspiration to comics. I have some comic ideas inde-
always been a comics fan, right from my pendently. A series that I
nursery days. So I guess that worked for had made (written and
me. It is always fun to look at things in illustrated and ideated),
an exaggerated way. called Julius and Bork, ran
for two episodes in Tinkle
Which was your first illustration and some years ago.
where did it get published? I also have some adult
My first printed work was for a book themed comics, which are
written by an ex-bank manager, about for a mature audience,
the various types of bank managers that which are very grim and
exist. This was in 1998 or so. It was my sometimes violent. The
10th grade vacation time. style is very different than
what I do for Butterfingers
When did you join Tinkle as a free- but with any comic character. Also, since or any of these.
lancer? these characters have a lot of supporting
Dec 2004. characters in the stories, and each You are an illustrator, animator, writer,
episode deals with something new, it photographer and a rock guitarist.
How is it like illustrating for a comic avoids any monotony from setting in. Which profession, hobby did you like
with comparison to drawing for a So, it doesn't get boring illustrating. You the most?
newspaper or a general interest maga- need to imagine yourself in that situa- Well, I am happy I could convert one
zine? tion as an illustrator, to get the expres- hobby of mine into a career, which is
Comics give you a lot of freedom to sions right, and that itself is the best part illustrating.
experiment and narrate the story in of it all. Besides that I love music, so I rate play-
many panels. You can go crazy doing ing guitar as my most favourite hobby,
that. But in magazines, the entire story Did you draw anything for Tinkle and photography comes a close third.
should be shown through a single illus- before Butterfingers? If yes, which
tration. And each magazine has style- characters did you illustrate? Since I want to publish this in my
rules. It's a lot more complex. Yes, lots of stories. The first school magazine, do you have any
Butterfingers story I drew was pub- advice for students who love drawing
Did you meet Uncle Pai often? What lished in 2006 or so. I have been illustrat- and doodling?
was he like? ing with Tinkle since late 2004. There Everything around you is a visual story,
I had met Uncle Pai when I was in the were a lot of animal stories, folk tales so keep a pencil and a piece of paper
10th grade. I had shown him my work, and jokes that I worked on. handy. As you see something interest-
and he said that I was too young to be Butterfingers was my first ongoing ing, sketch it out! Read comics. And
on board. When I started illustrating for series for Tinkle. It is written by think comics. 


Just Kids
The Hunger Games tal desert, an island out at sea, a dense tenders" in the games as well - the most
marsh, a forest filled with dangers or on noteworthy are the "Career tributes",
the hostile landscape of a mountain. who have trained for the games their
Suzanne Collins Only one "tribute" can come out alive whole lives. Also, there are still a few
each time. other 'tributes' from the other districts,
Age group: 12-17 yrs This arena is where most of the story who aren't ready to give up without a
Pages: 374 unfolds - it all starts when 17 year old fight .
Scholastic Katniss Everdeen steps in to take her sis- The Hunger Games was written and
ter's place when she is picked for the published in October 2008. It is succeed-
games. Katniss hails from District 12, the ed by Catching Fire and Mocking Jay.
Jayanthi Harsha most backward and poorest district and The author, Suzanne Collins has also
whose every 'tribute' has died. written other book series, The
Underland Chronicles is the most note-
worthy one, besides The Hunger Games

E
arth, as we know it has been trilogy.
affected by an apocalyptic disas- By far, The Hunger Games is one of
ter, and has changed forever. the best examples of how true fiction is
A massive country, Panem, based in supposed to be written. The first one is
what was once the North America has the arena-the very fabric of the story
emerged. In the center of this country rotates about this feature. The sheer cru-
lies the capitol, surrounded with 12 dis- elness of it all is overwhelming-of chil-
tricts - there used to be 13, but one was dren being sent to fight to their death
exterminated in a brutal war. The capi- every year in harsh and brutal fashion.
tol is terribly brutal, leaving no stone Also, there is a good technological
unturned to ensure its rule stays strong. involvement, but not too much to make
Not many of the normal luxuries that it some sort of futuristic tale, where
we are used to these days like phones, everything is utterly advanced. Here,
TV shows are available. What's more, most of the things are explained in a
the districts are made to operate as timely fashion, so there are no "dead" or
water-tight containers with people from confusing points present in the story.
each district having no knowledge of the The heroine gives out interesting facts
others. and keeps the reader interested. As the
As a result of all this, the people games process, its various odd and
rebelled, lost and paid the price in a hor- So, Katniss leaves for the capitol, sure interesting features are revealed keeping
rible way - the capitol made each of the that she won't return. But, Katniss has the readers constantly interested in how
12 remaining districts send a girl and a survived against all odds before. To the games were held.
boy between the ages of 12 - 18 every everyone's surprise, she and her fellow The author puts into force all these
year to take part in a televised competi- tribute, Peeta Mellrak make a major features with outmost care to not overdo
tion, known as The Hunger games. mark in the opening ceremonies and anything, and planned everything with
Every participant is drafted into a dead- grabs everyone's attention. When the care - the result is a true masterpiece,
ly death match, which takes place in games begin, without intending it, one of the very few books to earn a 5-
various arenas, each having different Katniss becomes a major contender. star rating. The young reader's world
terrains, which can be anything - a bru- However, there are other "major con- needs more such innovative books 

JustBooks Picks for Young Readers
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam Birdywood Buzz: The Vulture Returns Living Next Door to Alise by Anita
McBratney by Ashok Rajagopalan Nair

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch Sweet And Salty by Sandhya Rao The Riddle Of The Lustr Sapphires
by Roopa Pai
Annual Haircut Day by Noni Eyes On The Peacock's Tail by Vayu
Naidu The Golden Compass: Northern
Lights by Philip Pullman


Author in focus

AK Ramanujan Locations
AECS Layout
spaces" to a place of temple i 65470141
Anindita Sengupta employees and sacred cows. He Now tidy your house, Bellandur

A
sinks to the "seabed in a barrel", dust especially your living 25740710, 42118813
ttipat Krishnaswami in escape, in forgetfulness, in room Frazer Town
Ramanujan wore a longing for elsewhere. This abili- and do not forget to name 41644449
dizzying array of hats. all your children. HSR Layout
He wrote in both ii 22587430, 7259974251
English and Watch your step. Indira Nagar
Kannada, and was a Sight may strike you 65831547, 42044157
poet, translator, play- blind in unexpected Jayanagar 5th Block
wright, folklorist and places. 9740894014, 42068676
a scholar of five lan-
JP Nagar-Dollar's
guages: Tamil, The immediacy and Colony
Kannada, Telugu, intimacy of the poem 42003087
Sanskrit, and English. are enhanced with an JP Nagar
According to Bruce objective, almost wry, 42351761
King, Ramanujan tone. Kalyan Nagar
was also along with This is a poet who 42084394, 9986072204
two other transcul- knows the pitfalls Koramangala
tural poets, one of of blinding sight 40982460
the "Indo-Anglian har- but not a poet who Malleshwaram
bingers of literary mod- will gnash his teeth 41280649
ernism" . about them. Rajarajeshwari Nagar
Ramanujan wrote Instead, the house 9535854732
in the spare, specific must be tidied, the RMV II Stage
style of modernism children must be 23410800
and his poetry named. Sahakar Nagar
encompassed a mul- The ordinary 41713931
titude of concerns duties of living Sarjapur Road
without being heavy- must be fulfilled. 42129279
handed. Elsewhere, in poems like 'A Vijaya Bank Layout
A master of the short, River', he looked at other types 41645690
lyrical form, he honed of suffering and the passing of Vijaynagar
in on the specific time. 42117539
moment, place or per- The new poets still quoted Whitefield
son in his poems with ty to step back and forth the old poets, but no one spoke 42053027, 32999406
great skill like an insect buzzing between multiple worlds, multi- in verse Mysore
in on its prey and used that to ple influences and multiple cul- of the pregnant woman 9742264738
illumine universal truths. The tures lends his poems a rich and drowned, with perhaps twins in Nerul Mumbai
commonplace incident or person interesting texture. her, 02227729788,
is as much part of his poetry as As a translator, he worked kicking at blank walls 09004819059
mystic presence or myth. intensively with Kannada even before birth. Dombivli
"I have known that measly-look- vachanas of the four medieval The poor and disenfranchised 02516505544
ing man, not very likeable, going to Saiva poets and the work of the often found space in Pune - Aundh
the bank" he says in 'Which Tamil Cankam (Sangam) poets. Ramanujan's poetry. The flood- 02025896016
Reminds Me' and indeed, he Both traditions affected him affected, lepers, migrants. Pune-Viman Nagar
has. deeply and he carried some of Despite his diasporic existence, 7709158791
There is a throw-away quality this into his poems which he the physical and spiritual loca- Pune-Magarpatta
to some of his poems, as if they always wrote in English. tion of many poems remained City
are by-the-way conversations Ramanujan spent all his life in India. In turns witty and dark, 7709158791
that one might start with a rick- the US and naturally this playful and grave, his poems Hyderabad
shaw-driver. But they contain informed his work. display a dazzling range of 04030560660
kernels of insight that tend to In a poem like 'Chicago Zen', moods and emotions. They also
haunt one. he tackled the diasporic experi- manage to be elegant and earthy For
In other poems, the common- ence long before the word had at the same time. No reader of
place becomes the mythic as in
franchise
achieved common currency sta- poetry can afford to miss out on
'Smalltown, South India' where tus. the wealth contained in them. 
inquiries contact:
the poet returns from "wide, open manager@
justbooks
Advertise with us, contact (080)-6001-5285 or editor@justbooksclc.com clc.com

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