"Waves" is a collection of short-stories written in Tamil by Sundara Ramaswamy (Su.Ra) and translated by Lakshmi Holmstrom.

These breezy stories are mostly set in a middle-class Tamil Brahmin households some time in the 1960-70s.

A study asked kids under the age of 12 from an impoverished African country to name their favourite logo. McDonald's ended up very high on that list. This in a country that didn't have a single McDonald store! That's branding for you.

"No Logo" dissects brands for you but not …

George Smiley has retired but the events that brought about his abrupt retirement still plague him. He runs into a former colleague with information that he suspected for long, the existence of a mole amongst the intelligence sleuths. Smiley is requested to investigate this discreetly and expose the spy.

After …

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of food? Maybe well garnished food at a fancy restaurant or maybe something yum cooked by you mom or spouse? But food has a history and a story to tell. Paul Roberts documents it's story in "The End …

Babur invades India after he is chased out of his homeland. His arrival in India triggers a war with the Lodhis who are routed in the first war of Panipat. With this, Babur plants the seed to the Mughal dynasty in India.

"Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The saga of …

Betty Mahmoody, an American citizen is tricked by her husband, an Iranian national into accompanying him along with their little daughter for a vacation to Iran. A few days into her stay, she realizes that this is a one-way trip and her husband has no plans of returning. She frantically …

Have you ever been uncontrollably in love with a person even after learning of their flaws? "The Magician" by Somerset Maugham is the story of Margaret who breaks off her engagement with Arthur, a successful doctor a few days ahead of the engagement. She falls in love with an ugly …

William Dalrymple and his wife are on a long visit to Delhi, the city of djinns. The book is a tribute to the city and is filled with stories of interesting characters he meets here like his Sikh landlady, the loud-mouthed taxi driver, house keeping staff etc.

While the back …

"Micro" by Michael Crichton (author of "Jurassic Park") is the story of a group of research students who get miniaturized by a company when they get interested in a murder's leads. Does the team survive the world where even insects appear like giants and against time when their bodies succumb …

What image would the word 'sailor' invoke for you? For me it would be Haddock from Tintin, an alcoholic captain who mouths expletives when sober but a damn good seafarer. But after reading the "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, it has changed to Charles Marlow.

Set in the early …