Three books, late 2013

I bought three books recently. Two from the internet, and one from attending the program where the book was launched. It is too early to write Review of the books as I have not read them completely, but this is only an introduction.

1. Indian Economy (For Civil Services Examinations) by Ramesh Singh.

This was recommended by a friend who is appearing Civil Services Examination. I have sounded to him my interested to learn some basic economics and he recommended this. I have just read a couple of Chapters. The language is very simple and the concepts are made easy to understand, good for someone who is not from Economics background. In an economy, there are certain 'public goods' or 'social goods' which should not be 'marketized'. These are Education, healthcare, sanitation, water, nutrition, etc. Another interesting concept is that the Indian Economy jumped from Agrarian Economy to Service Economy, skipping the stage of Industrial Economy which was experienced in stages of Economy transition in the West. This may be nothing for the Economics major students, but it is interesting for a public health student who is trying to make sense of the society even in a small State like Nagaland.

2. Status Anxiety by Alain De Botton

I have for long wanted to get hold of this book. The price came down and I took the chance. It was always somewhere around Rs. 700 but have come down to less than 500 recently. www.amazon.in is competing with other online stores like flipkart, infibeam, homeshop18, etc. It is giving good discounts. I usually go to www.indiabookstore.net which compare book prices from several online stores. 'We all worry about what others think of us. We all long to succeed and fear failure. We all suffer - to a greater or lesser degree, usually privately and with embarrassment - from status anxiety'. What are the causes? The Content says they are (these are the names of the chapters):

i. Lovelessness

ii. Snoberry

iii. Expectation

iv. Meritocracy

v. Dependence

The solutions that he offers (again these are the names of the chapters):

i. Philosophy

ii. Art

iii. Politics

iv. Christianity

v. Bohemia.

Again I have not read enough to give any critique, but I hope the above list is enough to stimulate thinking or make you reach for your credit/debit card to buy the book.

3. Four Shades

This is the first book by Penthrill Publication House, Kohima. I attended the program where the publication house was inaugurated and this book launched. It is a collection of 60 poems written by Vishii Rita Krocha (owner of the publication house), Robert Seiboi, Aboli Chishi, and Temjenrenba Anichar. The book is priced at Rs. 150. They are mostly modern poems, easy to read, and are about life, love and simple thoughts. Rita read out a poem during the program which is found in the last page. It is my favorite from the book. It is called 'Simple things'. 'The feel of sun dried clothes and clean sheats, The kindness of a stranger; just like finding a friend in the crowd'. It talks of the simple things in life which we may take for granted, but on closer look they are things that make life sweet and worth living/carrying on. Like 'sitting by the fireside eating roasted corn on a cold rainy day'; Rita says these simple things in life 'come with double pleasures'. How true.