What does being in one's 'element' mean? How does one get to that state of mind? Before answering these questions, I saw Ken Robinson's TED talk on "Do schools kill creativity?" and resolved to read atleast one book by him to learn more about his ideas.

Now to the question …

This was my first VS Naipaul novel and I picked it up with a lot of reluctance especially over his chauvinistic views. But boy, this book lived up to it's expectations as a super comedy.

This book describes the first election at Trinidad. The electorate is multi-cultural with Hindus, Muslims …

Can innovation be successfully instilled and nurtured within a company? Scott Anthony pulls out quite a few case studies from his career as an "Innovation Expert" and analyzes them for the reader.

This is a book from the HBR stable and is a passable read. The main reason for this …

Another classic Frederick Forsyth novel that is set during the First Persian Gulf war. A British secret agent is sent into Iraq to locate and destroy a nuclear weapon codenamed "The Fist of God".

He needs to contact an Iraqi insider who is willing to provide this top-secret information for …

Siddhartha is a contemporary of Gautama Buddha and the protagonist of the German novel by the same name written by Herman Hess. Siddhartha renounces familial life to achieve enlightenment. He is accompanied on this journey by his friend, Govinda. They hear of Buddha's teachings and approach him with answers to …

I picked up this novel thinking it would be in the same genre as "Don Quixote" but boy was I mistaken! The Prince by Machiavelli is analogous to Chanakya's Arthashastra. Machiavelli documents the political situation in Italy in the 1600s and writes about the various initiatives that a prince must …

I have read a few novels of Frederick Forsyth and love them but writing short stories is a different ball game altogether. With "No Comebacks", Frederick Forsyth has delivered 10 amazing short stories. Most stories concerning crime and they will blow away your mind. If you are a fan of …

Kafkaesque is the term used to describe something irrational. Metamorphosis does full justice to that word. Gregor Samsa, a hard working and on the road salesman, wakes up one day to find out that he has turned into a "monstrous verminous bug". His parents and sister are horrified by his …

"Don't Panic" reads the sticker on the cover of the book. Earth gets destroyed by an alien race and Arthur Dent, a human has lost his home and planet and is now travelling in space with Ford, an alien. Arthur is in a state of panic and doesn't have an …

You sneak into a house under an assumed identity to meet your lover but the problem is that many occupants of the house know your identity. How to extricate oneself from such a situation? Generally, a PG Wodehouse book would reveal the answer to the question but not in this …