Our planet isn’t doing that great. We know that. We hear it, read about it and even talk about it. But what really is the problem? Who is responsible, why is it happening and most importantly, what can we do?
The first step in the direction of change is awareness – understanding the problem and what steps we can take as individuals. And so, Penguin Random House India would like to share a list of some of the books that will help you get started on this journey.
Conflicts of Interest
India’s foremost environmentalist, Sunita Narain, gives a personal account of her battles as part of the country’s green movement. While outlining the enormous environmental challenges that India faces today, Narain talks about how corporate lobbies and political interests often scuttle their effective resolution. Conflicts of Interest also includes an ‘environmental manifesto’, a blueprint for the direction India must take if it is to deal with the exigencies of climate change and environmental degradation.
Environmentalism
In this book Ramachandra Guha, an acclaimed historian of the environment, draws on many years of research in three continents. He details the major trends, ideas, campaigns and thinkers within the environmental movement worldwide.
Massive in scope but pointed in analysis, written with passion and verve, this book presents a comprehensive account of a significant social movement of our times and will be of wide interest both within and outside the academy.
Thirsty Nation
Presented in the book are innovative, cutting edge ways to combat the water crisis and ways of investing in the right projects. The roles of technology, finance, and a general view of domestic and foreign investment in water are explored by the authors and practical and lucrative financial advice is offered making it an important book in the present ecological and financial environment.
The Vanishing
The Vanishing takes an unflinching look at the unacknowledged crisis that India’s wildlife faces, bringing to fore the ecocide that the country’s growth story is leaving in its wake—laying to waste its forests, endangering its wildlife, even tigers whose increasing numbers shield the real story of how development projects are tearing their habitat to shreds. It tells us why extinction matters, linking the fate of wildlife to ours.
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet’s slide toward certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal.
Most people usually invest in the same four to five assets: real estate, gold, mutual funds, fixed deposits and stock markets. All they end up making is a measly 8 to 12 per cent per annum. Those who are exceptionally unfortunate get stuck in the middle of a crash and end up losing a lot of money. But what if there was another way? In the book, Coffee Can Investing, Saurabh Mukherjea along with Pranab Uniyal and Rakshit Ranjan show us how to make low-risk investments that generate great returns. Here are 10 tips from the book to help you invest better. ————–
In Deepak Dalal’s new book, The Snow Leopard Adventure, Vikram and Aditya are back in magnificent Ladakh. Having finally freed their young friend Tsering from the hands of dangerous men, they’ve set themselves up for an even greater challenge: to track down the grey ghost of the Himalayas, the snow leopard.
But things don’t always go according to the plan during their trek. Here is an excerpt from the book that highlights one of the more challenging events of the trek.
The Snow Leopard Adventure||Deepak Dalal
I didn’t see exactly what happened because I was looking down at the gravel-strewn track as I ran. I heard a scream, and when I looked up, I saw a pair of hands grabbing desperately at the edge of the outcrop. I wasn’t far behind Caroline and scarcely a few seconds must have elapsed between her falling and my flinging myself to the ground and locking my fingers around her wrists. I had barely grasped them when her scrabbling fingers slipped, and her entire weight was transferred on to me. I was dragged forward and my chest hit the rock at the edge of the cliff with a thud.
We were both stuck, Caroline dangling from my hands and I pressed against the cliff edge, pinned down by her weight. Caroline is three inches taller than my 5 feet 7 inches and also heavier than me (sixty-five kilos to my sixty, she told me later). I could feel myself being pulled towards the edge. Disaster appeared to be a certainty, but Tsering intervened, saving us by clinging to my thighs and adding his weight to mine.
Now, on reflection, I don’t think any of us would have died if we had gone over. The cliff we clung to was not a large one. The fall was only a few metres. But the area at the base of the cliff was not flat, it sloped downwards at an alarming angle. Our injuries could have been serious. We would have broken several bones, but we would have survived.
My breath came in rapid gulps and sweat must have flowed from my every pore. Yet, even though I was terrified, a part of my mind admired the vista that spread before me. I could see the river valley below and the mountain slopes opposite. I spotted flecks of colour in the distance—our camp mates. I wondered if they could see us.
I am ashamed to admit that I lost control of myself up there. My hands shook and my chest hurt terribly. My heart kicked and pummelled my chest, and my senses swam about me. I kept assuring myself that there was no reason to panic and that nobody would go over.
I had no idea then that I was speaking my thoughts aloud (Caroline and Tsering informed me later). I told myself that we only had to wait it out. Somebody would come . . . Tina and Kathy would return and untangle us.
Luckily, a heaven-sent determination infused Caroline as she dangled in the sparse Ladakh air. While I was rambling, she spotted fissures and cracks on the rock face she was suspended against. She willed her legs to grope beneath her and she found secure anchors in the stony crevices. Her fingers and palms gripped rock at the cliff edge. With me still holding on to her wrists, she pulled herself up a few inches.
I heard her breathing. She was gasping and panting far louder than I was. Soon her face was level with mine and our eyes met. Hers glittered with cold determination. There was a vacant expression in mine, she told me later. She was probably right, because she had to shout several times before I paid attention to what she was saying. She wanted me to release her wrists, which I did mechanically. Now sure of herself, Caroline dragged herself up and without further incident she flopped beside me. We lay inert on the rock, Tsering looking down on us.
After a long time we continued our walk to the crest. The rest of the morning was a blur. None of us were in any state to look for bharal or search for leopards. Kathy, Tina and Yuan turned up, exhausted, after an hour. They had found more sign of the leopard they were following but had not been able to locate it. We turned back for camp shortly thereafter. Caroline had extracted a promise from
Tsering and me not to speak about the morning’s drama to anybody. She smiled gratefully when it became clear that we were not going to say a word, and she turned distinctly friendly when we maintained our silence at camp too.
Aditya was aghast when he learnt that I had not pursued the leopard with the others. ‘How could you let such an opportunity go?’ he wanted to know. ‘You were so close to the leopard!’
Does Aditya eventually see the Snow Leopard? Grab your copy for Snow Leopard Adventure to find out!
Robert T. Kiyosaki grew up with two dads. His own, and his best friends’. Both men, he tells us, were successful in their careers, working hard all their lives. Both earned substantial incomes. Yet one always struggled financially. The other would become one of the richest men in Hawaii.
Both men were strong, charismatic, and influencial. Both men offered Robert advice, but they did not advice the same things.
Which dad’s advice would you like us to share with you today?
Rich Dad? Well, we thought so.
Here are seven pieces of advice that Robert got from Rich Dad:
“A job is only a short-term solution to a long-term problem. Most people have only one problem in mind, and it’s short-term. It’s the bills at the end of the month, the Tar Baby. Money controls their lives, or should I say the fear and ignorance about money controls it. So they do as their parents did. They get up every day and go to work for money, not taking the time to ask the question, ‘Is there another way?’ Their emotions now control their thinking, not their heads.”
~
“The Rich know that money is an illusion, truly like the carrot for the donkey. It’s only out of fear and greed that the illusion of money is held together by billions of people who believe that money is real. It’s not. Money is really made up. It is only because of the illusion of confidence and the ignorance of the masses that this house of cards stands.”
~
“Illiteracy, both in words and numbers, is the foundation of financial struggle. If people are having difficulties financially, there is something that they don’t understand, either in words or numbers. The rich are rich because they are more literate in different areas then people who struggle financially. So if you want to be rich and maintain your wealth, it’s important to be financially literate, in words as well as numbers.”
~
“Start minding your business. Keep your daytime job, but start buying really assets, not liabilities.”
~
“An important distinction is that rich people buy luxuries last, while the poor and middle class often buy luxuries first… The old-money people, the long-term rich, build their asset column first. Then the income generated from the asset column buys their luxuries.”
~
“Great opportunities are not seen with your eyes. They are seen with your mind. Most people will never get wealthy because they are not trained financially to recognize opportunities right in front of them.”
~
“Fear inspires winners. And failure defeats losers. It is the biggest secret of winners. It’s the secret losers don’t know. The greatest secret of winners is that failure inspires winning; thus, they’re not afraid of losing.”
Enriched by Kiyosaki’s personal experience and the teachings he received from his rich dad and poor dad, Rich Dad Poor Dad highlights different attitudes towards money, work and life.
With April comes the spring! Unfortunately, with the current state of the world, it’s advised you spend more time indoors – for your own safety and that of others.
Make the most of this time spent at home, dear reader. Here is a list of new releases from Penguin Random House India coming your way. We’re sure you’ll find something to keep yourself busy, informed and entertained!
All Drama, No Queen
All Drama, No Queen || Andaleeb Wajid
Farida’s parents passed away in an accident when she was twelve. And for years, she’s had to fend off Reshma Phuppu, a distant relative plotting to gain control of her parents’ house in Bangalore. When all the drama gets too much, she runs away to stay with her best friend, Priya. Farida deeply feels the absence of a family, and only has memories of her distant cousin, Irshad. She’s had a crush on him since she was a twelve-year-old, but they lost contact when her parents died. Nearly two decades later, Priya’s boyfriend, Ajay, serendipitously finds Irshad….
*
That Night
That Night || Nidhi Upadhyay
Natasha, Riya, Anjali and Katherine were best friends in college – each different from the other yet inseparable – until that night that began with a bottle of whisky and a game of Ouija but ended with the death of Sania, their unlikeable hostel mate. The friends vowed never to discuss that fateful night.
But now, someone has begun to mess with them, threatening to reveal the truth that only Sania knew. Is it a hacker playing on their guilt or has Sania’s ghost really returned to avenge her death?
That Night is a dark, twisted tale of friendship and betrayal that draws you in and confounds you at every turn.
*
The Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Good News
The Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Good News || Meghna Pant
Thirty-four-year-old Ladoo, a simple middle-class divorcée from Rishikesh, wants only one thing from life–a baby. She eats gondh halwa, drinks badam milk, and takes folic acid, to stop her ticking biological clock and become the world’s most fertile woman.
Along the way, Ladoo must figure out whether motherhood means marriage, whether being a single mother means loneliness, whether ‘my body, my rules’ applies to women, and whether doing something scandalous is outrageous or courageous.
*
The Power Of Purity
The Power of Purity || Mohanji
Power of Purity is a compilation of Mohanji’s spontaneous answers to questions posed during various satsangs (spiritual discourses) and interactions across the world. With razor-sharp clarity and wit, Mohanji provides the reader with deep, subtle, yet easy-to-understand insights into the varied aspects of human existence, uniting the seemingly contrasting goals of spiritual mastery and worldly success. Many can use this book as a guide to finding solutions to life’s myriad problems by randomly turning to one of its pages.
An intimate peek into the life of the soldier-turned-lyricist Anand Bakshi, from his formative years in undivided Punjab to eventually moving to Bombay and landing his first film Bhala Aadmi in 1958. Along the way, he lost his mother, his place of birth, and his home and wealth, but his zeal to stand up and walk after every stumble and his desire to become a film artist never abated. He eventually rose to become one of the most revered and sought-after lyricists in Hindi cinema, writing nearly 3300 songs in about 630 films over the next five decades. Written by his son, this is an inspiring story of faith, dreams, success and, above all, human values.
*
Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny
Karma || Sadhguru
Through this book, not only does Sadhguru explain what Karma is and how we can use its concepts to enhance our lives, he also tells us about the Sutras, a step-by-step guide to navigating our way in this challenging world. In the process, we get a deeper, richer understanding of life and the power to craft our destinies.
*
Redesign the World
Redesign the World || Sam Pitroda
Redesigning The World is not about looking at it from the point of view of liberal or conservative; left or right; capitalism or socialism; public or private; democracy, dictatorship or monarchy; open or closed systems; rich or poor; urban or rural; east or west; white, brown, black or yellow. This proposed redesign of the world has the planet and its people at the centre; it is built on the foundations of sustainability, inclusion, equality, equity and justice so that everyone on earth can enjoy peace and prosperity. It is not an idealist or utopian vision, but one with humanity at its core.
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A Functioning Anarchy
A Functioning Anarchy || Ramachandra Guha
In a long and versatile career spanning thirty-five years, Ramachandra Guha has produced a vast body of work. In each of these, Guha has broken new ground: his pioneering environmental histories of India and his still relevant work (with Madhav Gadgil) on ecology and equity; his social histories of Indian cricket; his monumental history of the Indian republic; his biographies of Verrier Elwin and Gandhi; his anthologies of ecological, social and political thought in India; and his collection of biographical and political essays.
A Functioning Anarchy is a collection of essays by world-renowned historians, lawyers, scientists and journalists sparked by Guha’s work.
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India’s Power Elite
India’s Power Elite || Sanjaya Baru
How the post-Covid world will be reshaped by class conflicts and caste prejudices remains to be seen. India’s Power Elite, though, is about pre-Covid India. Itis an examination of the nature of power and elitism in the economic and political context of India. The morphology of the Indian power elite presents a complex structure, which is what Baru aims to deconstruct—whether it is the civil services, landed gentry or the remnants of the feudal elite. Aimed at the socially engaged reader, this book will also interest students and those who wield power.
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India and Asian Geopolitics
India and Asian Geopolitics || Shivshankar Menon
Documenting the changes in India’s foreign policy: from Independence to the Modi era, Shivshankar Menon addresses the many questions, which perplex India as the nation seeks to find its way in the increasingly complex world of Asian geopolitics. From its leading role in the ‘nonaligned’ movement during the Cold War to its current status as a perceived counterweight to China, India often has been an after-thought for global leaders-until they realize how much they needed it.
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Whereabouts
Whereabouts || Jhumpa Lahiri
Exuberance and dread, attachment and estrangement: in this novel, Jhumpa Lahiri stretches her themes to the limit. The woman at the center wavers between stasis and movement, between the need to belong and the refusal to form lasting ties. The city she calls home, an engaging backdrop to her days, acts as a confidant: the sidewalks around her house, parks, bridges, piazzas, streets, stores, coffee bars. We follow her to the pool she frequents and to the train station that sometimes leads her to her mother, mired in a desperate solitude after her father’s untimely death. In addition to colleagues at work, where she never quite feels at ease, she has girl friends, guy friends, and “him,” a shadow who both consoles and unsettles her.
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The Art of Resilience
The Art of Resilience || Gauranga Das
In this first volume of Yoga Stories, Gauranga Das takes you on an inner journey to explore your inner self, beyond the hills of expectation, through the valleys of disapprovals and beneath the layers of self-deception. Thus, bringing you closer to the home of your heart, enabling you to open the door and introduce yourself, to finally meet, the real you.
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Makers of Modern Dalit History
Makers of Modern Dalit History || Sudarshan Ramabadran, Guru Prakash Paswan
Featuring several inspiring accounts of individuals who tirelessly battled divisive forces all their lives, this book seeks to enhance present-day India’s imagination and shape its perception of the Dalit community. Makers of Modern Dalit History will be a significant addition to the Dalit discourse. This definitive volume on some of the foremost Dalit thinkers, both past and present, promises to initiate a much-needed conversation around Dalit identity, history and politics.
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Now That We’re Here
Now That We’re Here || Akshat Tyagi, Akshay Tyagi
The hyperconnected world that once seemed futuristic is now here. And now that we’re here, it’s time for us to educate ourselves for sweeping and endless possibilities. One way to do that is to blur the lines between technology, democracy, design, economics and data, and reconfigure our approach to learning altogether. This book is a giant leap in that direction. By harnessing the wisdom of thought leaders and intellectuals throughout history, by blending business and humanity, industry and society, and by covering cross-disciplinary themes, authors Akshay Tyagi and Akshat Tyagi give us a groundbreaking, genre-defying and utterly mind-bending collection of essays that will help us prepare for the here and now.
In this world full of plastic and chemical waste, how can you help save the planet?
Did you know that there will be more plastic than fish in our seas by 2050? Did you know that it takes 20,000 litres of water to make a pair of jeans? Did you know that we have a massive food wastage problem, and yet millions die of hunger each day?
Sahar Mansoor founder and CEO of Bare Necessities, a zero-waste social enterprise and Tim de Ridder present Bare Necessities-How to Live A Zero Waste Life is your one-stop guide on how to move towards a more sustainable lifestyle in India. Filled with activities, insights, recipes, tips and how-to guides, it is a must-read for anyone wanting to make a positive change in their life and to our environment.
Read on for five easy-to make recipes that will drastically improve both your own health and that of the environment, while also producing absolutely no waste!
Sustainable behaviour begins with your very first activity of the day-brushing your teeth! This recipe ensures your pearly whites are treated to only clean ingredients, while making sure there are no squeezed out plastic tubes of toothpaste ending up in the landfill.
Peppermint Party Toothpaste
You will need:
1 part baking soda,
1 part coconut oil,
A few drops of peppermint essential oil.
All you need to do to get naturally clean teeth is to mix it all together in a bowl until it becomes a paste and then place it in a reusable container for the next time you brush your teeth. While this may taste and appear to be different from the toothpaste you’re used to, it is worth trying out.
To use the Peppermint Party Toothpaste:
Scoop a tiny dollop with a teaspoon on to your toothbrush (you could start using this and a bamboo toothbrush at the same time) before every use.
Your muscles need to be thoroughly rejuvenated when you begin your day crusading for the environment, Ditch the pricey and plastic packaged bath salts for a simple recipe that is even more effective.
Lemongrass Bath Salt
You will need:
1 part rock salt/Epsom salt/pink Himalayan salt (or a combination of all),
A small drizzle of coconut oil,
A few drops of lemongrass essential oil,
Rose petals.
For a naturally rejuvenating bath, follow this method:
Gradually mix each of these ingredients in a bowl in chronological order,
Place it into a reusable container for use when you bathe next.
Busy days means sometimes your hair needs and extra kick without an extra hour of shampooing. But store-bought dry shampoos are often aerosol based, which contribute to air pollution and often have chemicals that can damage your hair in the long run. This dry shampoo recipe is safe for both cake and your hair!
Dessert Dry Shampoo
You will need:
1 part cornflour,
1 part cocoa powder,
All you need to do is put the cocoa powder into a bowl, followed by the cornflour. This one is really easy to make, with no complications involved:
Stir the two ingredients with a spoon until there are no distinct ingredients, that is, you can no longer see any white from the cornflour. The mix should be light brown in colour.
Place this in a container for you to use when you need it.
There’s nothing more infuriating or exhausting to handle than a clogged drain whether in the bath or in the kitchen! While you might be tempted to pour plastic sachets of commercial drain cleaner down the pipes, do the water bodies in your area a favour and stop pollution at its source with our much more environmentally friendly concoction.
Pipe Cleanse-Unclog Your Drain
You will need:
1⁄2 cup baking soda,
1⁄2 cup white vinegar,
A wet cloth,
Hot water.
Unclog your drain by:
Pouring the baking soda down the drain,
Follow with white vinegar,
Cover the opening with the wet cloth
Let it sit for 5–20 minutes (based on how clogged your drain is),
Pour some hot water down the drain.
This trick will work wonders for mild clogs!
After a long day of saving the environment one small step at a time, unwind and pamper yourself with this nourishing facemask.
FaceTime (as nature intended) Facemask
You will need:
1 tablespoon rice flour,
A pinch of turmeric,
1 teaspoon honey,
1 tablespoon of mashed banana, tomato, orange, papaya or pineapple.
All you have to do is:
Blend the dry ingredients together,
Drizzle some honey to form a paste-like consistency,
Finish off by adding your preferred fruit in.
Use it like any other face mask. It is a great natural alternative that will provide you with supple, hydrated skin. However, make sure you only use this mask once a week.
So the stage is set, the curtain about to rise. Tomorrow, Sarasavi Bookshop at One Galle Face will be launching my first book in 5 years. I don’t know really know why, but there’s something of a feeding frenzy going on. Old aunties in kaftans and dangling earrings are jostling for pole position, rising from their covid-stricken beds, throwing caution and turmeric to the winds. I have explained to everyone that there’s a pandemic on, and please, they mustn’t feel the need to humour me by turning up.
‘How could we not?’ they say in incredulous tones. ‘We simply HAVE to be there for you!’
And who am I to spurn such loyalty? Though it’s something of a toss-up whether they’re there for me, or because they’re fed up having sat at home socially isolated all year. Or perhaps they’re coming for the bubbly that’s going to be served, in plastic cups. (Never spoil an Auntie, has always been my motto.)
In the middle of all this chaos, Colombo Fashion Week rings up.
‘Is it true you’re launching your book on the last night of fashion week?’ they ask sternly. Obviously I have committed some grave social faux pas, though I do not know quite what. (In the normal way of things, Ashok Ferrey knows as much about fashion as Mother Theresa does about disco dancing.)
‘Yes,’ I reply tremulously. ‘But it’s an early show, 4.30 – 6 pm.’
‘So that’s OK then,’ they reply. ‘Because we’ll be requiring you on stage to recite the opening poem. At 7.30 sharp.’
‘But I’ll be tired,’ I bleat.
The Unmarriageable Man || Ashok Ferrey
‘You? Tired?’ They curl their upper lip. (Colombo Fashion Week does a very good curled upper lip.)
‘Don’t be late. Wardrobe will be in touch to let you know which designer you’re wearing.’
It seems that I have to recite the alternate lines of a song, with the amazing Julius Mitchell singing, and on keyboards.
I think to myself: It’s a good thing Ashok Ferrey isn’t going to be the one singing. Otherwise it really will be the last night of Colombo Fashion Week. Forever.
Management consulting is seen as a glamorous profession. But behind the mystique are the consultants who put in extraordinary effort, cultivate great problem-solving skills and display fine personal attributes to capture the attention and respect of their clients.
The Mind of a Consultant opens up that world to the readers through the story of Samantha Thomas, a character modelled on many excellent consultants, who gives us a glimpse of what goes on inside the mind of a consultant.
Here is an excerpt from when Samanta is an intern and learns the three critical rules of working as a consultant.
‘Is the presentation ready?’ Hamid was unapologetic in his question.
It was 2 a.m. Samanta had been working for more than eighteen hours straight on the presentation for the client leadership team that was to be presented the next day. She was expected to be part of the presenting team alongside Hamid, the project manager and partner who owned the account. Hamid was six years her senior and from the same institute she was attending. He was highly respected by his colleagues and the project team members looked to him for guidance.
She thought back over the past few weeks, remembering the first day she had arrived at Pinnacle for her internship. It was like a dream come true. Her first official day as an intern at Pinnacle. She, along with thirty-five fellow interns from some of the best management institutes in the world, had been participating in the internship orientation. Two of the senior partners and a few engagement managers who could make it were part of the two-day programme.
While partners spoke about the culture and the attributes of great consultants, the engagement managers were more operational. They spoke about the tools and the support that were available to interns. They shared Pinnacle’s knowledge base, along with templates for ppts and Excel sheets, which were life-savers for the interns when they started out.
At the end of the second day, the interns were provided with laptops and their project assignments. Samanta was assigned to a large organization-transformation project in the retail industry. The organization was exploring strategies to enhance growth and increase efficiency amid changing industry dynamics. Her project manager for the assignment was Hamid. At the time, Hamid was participating in more than half a dozen similar assignments worldwide. He was always up to date on the latest happenings in the industry and often considered an expert in the field.
The first time Samanta and Raghav, a fellow intern, met Hamid to work on the project, he came across as passionate and knowledgeable. It was obvious that he was an accomplished consultant.
‘I want you guys to challenge me,’ he told them. ‘it’s important that you get a head start and not waste time doing things that don’t matter to this project.’
He gave them presentations and materials to read, a brief on the client requirements and the names of some resources in the firm that he thought could be helpful.
‘Get ready to fly out tomorrow to meet the client,’ he said. ‘We’re having meetings with some of the key management team members before doing a few store visits to understand their set-up. You need to be up to speed on everything that we know about the client by then.’
One thing Samanta learnt from Day One was that consulting constantly needed one to learn and travel. That was the best part about being at Pinnacle. It treated its team members as star talent, and believed that its people could figure out a way to deliver on even the toughest assignments.
Samanta and Raghav spent their time leading up to their trip reading more on the retail industry in general and the company in particular. Pinnacle had some wonderful case studies and industry knowledge available that they found helpful. There were different terminology and business metrics that Samanta and Raghav had never encountered before, but Hamid encouraged them to learn all of it, and learn it well.
‘You don’t want to be seen as novices. You should be able to ask and understand questions in areas that are relevant even to the CEO.’
The following day, Samanta, Raghav and Hamid started on their trip to see the client. Samanta had been told that she was lucky to be doing her first project with Hamid, so she took advantage of the uninterrupted cab drive to ask him questions. there was one in particular she couldn’t help asking.
‘How did you earn so much respect from your peers?’
Hamid raised his eyebrow at her, a smile on his face. Samanta shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She was probably the first intern to ever ask him that.
Hamid gave a short laugh at her discomfort before answering. ‘How do you think, Sammy? And you too, Raghav.’ Samanta thought for a moment. There were several possible reasons, or, more likely, a combination of several of them.
Raghav chimed in first. ‘Maybe hard work? or domain knowledge?’
Samanta nodded. She had been thinking along the same lines. She added her own thoughts. ‘I would think project-management expertise would have something to do with it. Is that part of the reason?’
Hamid nodded and smiled. ‘All of those are correct, but there are three main rules I live by in this firm.’ he held up his fingers as he counted them off.
‘Rule 1: strive for knowledge.
‘Rule 2: build your best coalition.
‘Rule 3: Always be ahead of the client.
‘Each of these is critical when working as a consultant.’
—
The Mind of a Consultant hands you all the tools necessary to build a successful professional career in an easy-to-understand manner.
What happens when two distinct regal cultures come together in the hands of a lady who is both a wonderful conversationalist and a wonderful cook?
The Rana name has been synonymous with the history and culture of Nepal for centuries. The beautiful palaces of Nepal were known not only for their glamour and architecture but also for their royal feasts. The recipes of the food served were closely guarded by the cooks of the palaces and a lucky few who inherited them from earlier generations. Rohini Rana has collected and documented the recipes precious to each Rana prime minister’s family.
Showcasing magnificent food from the palaces, this luxurious and beautifully illustrated cookbook attempts to preserve these recipes for future generations, and posterity, while also giving quaint snippets of the history and unique cultural practices that shaped the creation and ingestion of this delightful cuisine. Read on for some of these very interesting gastronomic glimpses.
1-Fascinating and often contradictory customs existed side side by side especially when it came to non-vegetarian food
Certain meats were totally taboo and never crossed the thresholds of the bhanchas (kitchens) of the Bajais’ dominated realms. Pork was considered unhealthy and not partaken of inside the palace kitchens or dining hall. However, the wild boar held a prestigious position in all joyous occasions.
The interesting overlap of military and culinary history is evinced in the unlikely influence of Awadhi cuisine brought about by Nepalese help granted to the British during the 1857 War of Independence.
The local cuisine was influenced to a certain extent by the khansamas (cooks) brought in from Mughal India after the loot of Lucknow during Jung Bahadur’s time. Since then the Khansamas and the Nepalese Bajaes and ‘Bajais’ (Bhramin men and women worked in tandem, though in separate kitchens, perfecting a style of fusion cuisine that has become famous being unique in its Rana flavor.
An oft-overlooked description from the Ramayana became the basis for the tradition of a truly grand feast of 84 dishes which is the mainstay of most Rana ceremonies even today
The main ceremony, which totally involves and rotates around food is the Chaurasi Byanjan. This ceremony is still a must during Pasni (rice feeding of a child), Bartamand (sacred thread Ritual) and Biyah (wedding). This tradition goes back to the epical story of the Ramayan and the wedding celebration of Sita’s marriage to Ram where King Janak is supposed to have served 84 Chaurasi (varieties of food) at the banquet.
This strange (but strangely reasonable) taboo on what is probably one of the most commonly eaten poultry.
The only bird that did not reach their ornate platters was the common chicken, because it pecked at dirt and droppings so was not considered hygienic. With the waning of shikar trips and shikaris the chicken finally found its way to the cooking pot, although in a separate kitchen.
Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day around the world, but the Ranas certainly bucked tradition in this regard.
Coming to the meal patterns of the Rana households, breakfast was not common if taken at all. Lunch was the main meal usually had at 10 am in the traditional ‘junar ko bhancha’ or room adjoining the kitchen.
Despite the Ranas’ progressive social reforms in many ways, caste rigidity dominated the culinary department.
The Ranas were extremely orthodox in their eating habits and never partook of rice cooked by any other than a Brahmin or someone of the same caste as themselves. There are many interesting stories of Jung Bahadur creating quite a few faux pas at Queen Victoria’s dining table because of his fastidiousness.}
Rice seemed to have a very special role even amidst the plethora of Rana dishes considering it had to be eaten in a specified room!
Dinner was usually at 6 or 7 pm served in the rooms upstairs with a variety of rotis, cheura meat and vegetables. If rice was being served, it had to be partaken of in the junar ko bhancha again
It all started with a big cosmic blast. Or did it? Refresh your facts with this excerpt from Shruthi Rao’s How We Know What We Know and immerse yourself in a world of fun facts about the world, its origins and all the awe-inspiring details of how everything works.
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What is the Big Bang? The sound you hear when you burst a big balloon?
Umm, no. The Big Bang Theory is an attempt to explain what happened at the beginning of our universe.
Wait. Our universe had a beginning? Didn’t it always exist?
That’s what scientists thought too, till a few decades ago. But research and studies suggest that there was indeed a beginning. A point. Before that point, there was nothing. And after that point, the universe came into existence.
Scientists think that the universe came out of a singularity—an infinitely small, infinitely dense, infinitely hot point. What exactly is this, though? If the universe was born from this singularity, where did the singularity come from? Why did it appear?
We don’t know that. Yet.
But how do we know that this is what happened?
The story began about a 100 years ago, with Georges Lemaître of Belgium. Though he was an officer of the church, he was fascinated by physics and he studied Albert Einstein’s theories of space and time and gravitation. He concluded that if Einstein’s theories were right, it meant that the galaxies in the universe are moving away from each other. Lemaître said this proved that the universe is not just static and unmoving, as everybody previously thought. It was expanding.
How We Know What We Know||Shruthi Rao
It was a theory, and though Lemaître had come up with it on the basis of an established theory, scientists needed other proof before they could accept it. But Lemaître didn’t have any data to support this idea.
Meanwhile, American astronomer Henrietta Leavitt came up with a way to calculate how far away stars are from Earth. Using her work, astronomer Edwin Hubble looked through his telescope and calculated the distances of various stars from Earth. He concluded that things in the universe were moving away from Earth. Not just that, things that were farther away from Earth were moving away faster than things close to Earth. This could only mean one thing. The universe is indeed expanding. Georges Lemaître was right.
Okay. The universe is expanding. But how does that prove there was a Big Bang?
If the universe is expanding, it must have expanded from some point. Think of the expanding universe as a movie. The galaxies are moving outwards, away from each other. Now run that movie backwards. You can imagine it as the galaxies rushing towards each other. So then, all the galaxies must meet at some point. At this point, all the matter of the universe must have been contained in a very small space, that is, the singularity.
The moment at which this singularity started expanding is the Big Bang.
But where was the proof?
Decades later, in 1965, two scientists, Arno Allan Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson, were trying to measure radio signals in the empty space between galaxies. They used a giant horn-shaped antenna, called the Holmdel Horn Antenna, in their observatory at Bell Labs in New Jersey, USA. But as they tried to take measurements, an annoying noise kept interfering, like static on a radio.
Where was this noise coming from?
They pointed the antenna towards New York City. No, it wasn’t city noise.
They took measurements of the noise all through the year. No, it didn’t change with the seasons.
Could the noise be from a nuclear test that had taken place a while ago? It couldn’t be. If it was, the noise should have decreased year by year.
Then what was it?
Perhaps it was just the pigeons roosting in the antenna? They chased away the pigeons, and scooped up and cleaned the droppings. But the noise still remained.
Then they learnt about the scientist Robert Dicke, a professor at Princeton University. Dicke had been thinking about the Big Bang. His opinion was that if the Big Bang was true, there should be some kind of matter remaining from the explosion. And most probably, he said, this would be a kind of low-level background radiation throughout the universe.
Dicke wanted to try and find it. But it turned out that it was exactly what Penzias and Wilson had already found! The hum they had encountered was this very radiation resulting from the Big Bang!
Penzias and Wilson got the Nobel Prize for this discovery, because it proved that the Big Bang Theory was true.
Researchers all over the world are still taking better measurements of this noise, and are finding more things to think about.
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Exciting trivia awaits you in How We Know What We Know.
