What Should I do with my life?
Po Bronson

The Book doesn't answer the question in its title, It can't , actually no book can. Life would be so much simpler, if answers to eternal questions like these were found in paper back novels.

The best any book can do in this regard is just to provide a few pointers or some encouragement, or maybe a prod here, a nudge there. This book does the same through examples, Examples in the form of short stories detailing incidents in people's lives when a significant change took place. Some incidents that made them think of the big questions in life?
Click here to read 10 stories in this book, very generous of Po to make 20 % of the book available free to the public on his website.

The people described in the stories are not the ones who have necessarily found their answer to the question, nor is everyone unique or what one would call or extraordinarily successful in whatever it is that they do. But everyone has in some point of time or the other saw the meaninglessness in living life and tried to find an answer to the Big question.

The book is not as much a "how to guide" but is more like a chronicle of how different people tackled this question, the difficulties they faced and the experience in general. Of course the book can't give you an answer to find your calling in life, but all it can do is to tell you that you are not alone in this quest to find out , " What should you do with your life? "

For me it just gave an idea of different experiences people have had, and he does this

He has a very interesting Blog where he writes about family, society, marriage, bringing up kids and other similar issues. Po also writes on Time.com and has an large loyal reader base who follow his blog and other writings. Marriage, divorce , and bringing up kids are topics of deep interest to him and he writes very authoritatively and interestingly on these things.

As for the book and its question. I am yet to find my answer, after all its one's own responsibility to find the answer.

PS: I like Po Bronson, for he bothered to reply to my email when I sent him a note of thanks and invited him over to Australia. Here is his reply:

Hi Hari,
You know, my UK publisher hasn't sent me to Australia to promote my books since the paperback of my first novel, in maybe 1996. I've had a few other invitations to come, but family needs have always intervened. My cousin, with whom I am very close, lives in Melbourne, and I'm working on coming sometime this coming year. His family and mine usually take a trip each year. So if that works out, my publisher has said they'll arrange a lot of publicity and events. (At least they say so). So, the end result of all this is ... maybe. Maybe I'm coming to Australia this year.
thanks,

Po

Book Of Questions
by Gregory Stock.

I saw this book for sale for 10 Rs(less than 30 cents Australian) on a footpath junk store in Mumbai. One of my favorite places in those cash poor times to buy books dirt cheap. Rummaging through other old books, outdated catalogues , medical journals and Mills & Boon novels, I saw this pocket sized book with an odd title which was in surprisingly good condition . A sort of a misfit among other books there, on a whim I bought this and walked on to meet another friend who was to see me in a little while.

As I flipped through its pages filled with one line questions, I knew I had picked a gem. That day on the train back home and later that night I and my friend discussed and debated the questions in this book till early hours of the morning with sleep nowhere in sight. The same pattern was to be repeated over all these years that I have had the book. It sparked so many intellectually stimulating conversations that for a long time I used to always carry it around in my backpack to read in public places, and then use the questions in it to strike up conversations with strangers.

The book as the title claims is made up of questions. Questions that will bring you closer to yourself, your ideas, thoughts, feelings, morals and opinions. This is another excellent review of the book. You can also browse through a few questions here. Have a look here to see how many people consider this book an excellent conversation starter.

I sat with an acquaintance one evening with this book and some snacks and by late night and we were friends by the time we finished the book. The same guy would then go on to borrow this book and use it to know more and get close to his potential girlfriends. I myself would eventually use this book to know more about my life partner. I have had countless exciting conversations with family members, roommates, friends, friends to be, strangers, co travelers on trains, waiting halls and in short anybody who would talk to me, all because of the book.

If there is such a thing called "ENDURING VALUE" for a book, this book has plenty of it. Of all the over 300 books that I have at my place in India this is one of the few that I chose to bring with me when I came to Australia. My only regret is that the a couple of weeks after this book I had a chance to buy "The Book of Questions: Love and Sex," again by Gregory Stock, and I didn't buy it as I was a little short of cash, and I have regretted it ever since.

Gregory Stock, If you ever read this page, Thanks for writing the Book of questions.

Piercing : a modern anthology
by Housk Randall

What is the first picture that comes to your mind when you hear Piercing , a pierced earlobe ? nose ? ear rim? navel ?

Well there's more to it than I ever thought, there are piercings for the penis, its head(Yes right a hole through the head of the penis) , foreskin, Labia, clitoris, nipples , scrotum , lips, tongue, chin, eyebrows, testicles and practically anywhere ever else on the skin.

This book is a pictorial , meaning it is full of excellent photos of people with the strangest of piercings imaginable accompanying with their own description of how they got initiated into piercing. How it eventually became an addiction in these people so much so that they wouldn't feel complete with these accessories.

What struck me the most in this , and partly the reason why I picked this book is the kinds of people and the reasons why they do piercings. I mean there were a fair share of goths, and maniacs with crazy spikey hair. But many were typically mainstream whom you would never ever doubt, for example the 55ish looking accountant , buttoned up in a 3 piece suit. You would wonder what he is doing in a book like this until you look further down to see his zip open and see him proudly displaying his pierced pecker. Or the pretty Pakistani born Designer in London, who started piercings from the bottom up (meaning starting with the clitoris, Navel , and went on to pierce her lip and nose).

There were people whom you wouldn't ever doubt of doing something this naughty unless you see them here, obviously in delight with the thrill of hiding a secret, of being a vixen in sheep's clothing. This is what drives so many mainstream people into piercing. Nowadays of course it is so common that piercing is loosing its edge as a point that made people stand out. As one of the people in the book said. "These days everybody and their mother has their nipples pierced"
Looking at all the reasons why people did piercings and subjected themselves to so much pain, the only common reason I could conclude was they wanted a feeling of difference from the normal, trying to be and do something different. As for the book, it is pretty graphic not the sort of the book you would want lying on the coffe table with kids around, but definitely worth a look at other times.

Tuesdays With Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson

Mitch Albom

This is one of those few books that I have read more than 50 times now in the past 2 years, and every time I read and re read it it makes me think. It makes me enjoy the little things in life so much better, I feel when I am reading or thinking of it , I take time to look around and marvel at everyday sights around me. Life becomes slightly more enjoyable, I feel grateful that I have a healthy body and for all the little things that I don't notice normally.

I remember the last time I was reading this book at a bus stop early in the morning peak hours. For some reason there was a delay in buses and we were waiting at the stop for more than 25 minutes without a bus in sight. I was so engrossed in reading the book that I didn't notice the delay. And after a brief gap when I looked up the delay showed on the commuters faces, Everyone was alternatively looking at the road and back at their watches. It was not the perfect way to start a day 25 minutes late, and it showed on people's faces.

Me, Oh I was just glad it gave me more time to read this book the fiftieth time, and think about bigger things, not just sweat about mundane things like bus delays and work meetings. I was perhaps the only guy with a smile on his face in the bus that day, and all because I picked the right book that morning.

When I get lost in the mid numbing rat race of work-eat-sleep-work, this is the book to put things back into perspective, to keep track and bring back focus into the things that matter most. It becomes a lot easier to accept your own mere troubles when you read about a man whose body is freezing from the foot up but who still faces death with a smile on his face.


The books draws a very vivid image of the Morrie's personality as to how different and interesting he was. Here is a man who enjoys dancing, friends, conversations, teaching, relationships and who couldn't care enough about what are today established social norms and lived life by his heart. The Book is filled with his discussions with his student (the author Mitch Albom) when they talk about a wide range of topics like family, love forgiving, culture etc.

One particular example demonstrating Morrie's character struck me hard and I remember it distinctly and will reproduce it here as it gives an idea of what kind of a person he was.

Morrie goes to a local College's Basket ball game and is enjoying the game as it gets increasingly competitive. A group of students sitting in the stands supporting one team start shouting " We are number ONE! We are Number ONE!" and slowly with the game the shouting gets louder.
Morrie who is watching all this sitting near the kids is a bit ruffled by all this, Suddenly in between the chanting of "We are number ONE! " Morrie gets up and shouts "What's wrong in being number two ?"
Suddenly giving his question a little thought and having no answer to him everyone becomes silent, and Morrie sits down triumphantly, smiling .

The book is full of instances (like his funeral held before his death, the way in which he teaches classes, his interactions with patients in mental asylum, etc) and others like these which create a personality that you can't stop liking, and feel sorry for as you know here is a man who can see literally see and his life draining out of his body like sand passing through an hourglass. The Disease ALS, kills the patient bit by little bit starting from the feet going upwards, first cutting off motion / lower bods and then slowly progressing upwards as one by one the body is rendered useless from bottom up. The end comes when the disease reaches the lungs making each breath an ordeal till finally when the the person gives away. In spite of all this the way in which Morrie faces the situation should teach us all something about facing adversity.

In general its a very emotionally moving and well written book. I personally bought it 2 - 3 years ago and have recommended it time and again to friends. Best part of this for non readers is that this is a relatively short book i.e. less than 200 small size pages.

Also the very fact that I have read it more than 50 times tells something to you about it doesn't it ? read it I am sure you will come back and thank me ! Try this for a good preview and summary, but if you have read so far, do yourself a favor buy this book.

Blink By Malcolm Gladwell

"Blink" as per the Webster's dictionary means ": A reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly" It is in what happens in this fleeting glance and a fraction of a second is what this book is all about.

For a moment close your eyes and imagine if you are in an interview, you go in and shake the hands of the interviewers and take your seat with the panel introducing themselves. Have you ever felt the vibe of a positive feeling that this meeting is really going to go well. Or conversely you might have felt Oooopps something is wrong. I have had this happen to me time and again, when I give an interview I am pretty sure in the first few seconds / minutes if I will be called for the next round / further discussions or when I have screwed up I know there is no point following up for feedback. Maybe its some little nuances of their facial expressions / the general tone of questions or something in the general pulse of the conversation.

This book is about all those times when you sub consciously assessed the situation in a very short time , call it gut feel, intuition, thin slicing, or any other fancy names. Blink is filled with anecdotes which are sometimes contradictory but nevertheless making a very good read about the varied applications of the subconscious process that goes on in the back of your mind.

Malcolm Gladwell the author has a really active and an informative website, he is a writer for the Newyorker and his website features all his old articles which has a fair bit of overlap with blink. To get an idea of what to expect in blink read this. Its an experiment conducted on the interview example that I explained earlier. The conclusion being that, the interviewers judge whether to accept or reject the applicant in the first 5 seconds and the rest of the half an hour is just a facade to justify the decision made in their subconscious mind.

Firstly I really appreciate the author for having opened up his blog for discussion on his various writings. He goes to great length to discuss his ideas and counter other opinions on his blog, in fact the comments section of his blog is perhaps one of the most intellectually stimulating conversations I have come across in a long time. Here is a very interesting debate about racism and an example used by Gladwell in his book. Please note that here is an author who takes time out to respond to the comments and discuss an issue till its end. and for me personally, he has taken the time out to respond to my mail as well so again he is as good and responsive as an author can get.

He has received fair bit of criticism and this is one of the most critical reviews Blink has received, though having read the book I don't quite agree with what Judge Posner (the reviewer) has to say this review might give you a different perspective. Overall this is a very good read , and I have bought a copy of my own.