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One of the most acknowledged authors of thriller fiction, Dan Brown wrote some of the best-selling novels of all time. Best known for the The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, and Inferno, Dan Brown’s novels have been the subject of intellectual debate among readers and scholars.
His novel Origin is the new installment in Brown’s oeuvre.
Here are 5 quotes from his book.
Do you have a favourite?
Get your copy of Dan Brown’s latest book Origin here.
MG Vassanji transcends the boundary of his geography when he writes. A prolific author of seven novels, two collections of short stories, and memoirs, Vassanji has won many awards for his immense contribution to the literary world. Vassanji’s work has traveled beyond countries and has been translated to Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, to name a few. In June 2015, MG Vassanji was awarded the Canada Council Molson Prize for the Arts.
Here are a few facts about the prolific author.
Aren’t these facts amazing?
Life of an Army official as we know is one of hardship, and their turbulent affair with unknown danger and hazards is something not unheard of. Rachna Bisht Rawat’s Shoot.Dive.Fly presents a multidimensional picture of Army officials and their life. She debunks the myth that an Army officer is a man with a gun who lives on the borders of the country, cut off from the rest of civilization, and waiting for war to begin. What we don’t know is that life can be amazing for an Army official too.
Here are 5 reasons which elaborate why Army is amazing
When you get to fly around
Motivation and encouragement all the way
Lieutenant Mohammad Haseeb Khan’s message to those considering a career in the Army
The recognition that Army offered her
Army Life offers you to defy gender norms and touch the sky
Get to know more about the Army life and its thrilling experience in Rachna Bisht Rawat’s book Shoot Dive Fly
Twinkle Khanna’s Mrs Funnybones has successfully sent readers into laughing fits ever since it first hit bookshelves. A hilarious, yet critical look into our lives and everyday world, Mrs Funnybones often shows us how even a celebrity faces the same dilemmas and woes like all of us do!
Here are 6 instances from Twinkle Khanna’s best-seller which are sure to strike a chord with every Indian woman!
The holy triumvirate in every Punjabi home
A woman’s everyday struggle with all kinds of stains
Because naps are the secret to a happy life
The ‘karwa’ truth?
It’s not a tug-of-war, but a constant war inside one’s head!
The piece of advice one gets without fail but absolutely does not need
Are you having major deja-vu yet?
Sandeep Krishnan is an adjunct professor at IIM Bangalore. His book ‘Making of a CEO’ found its genesis in a popular course he taught at IIM Bangalore, where the students interviewed and analyzed twenty CEOs to learn how they charted a clear path to the top. The book explores nuances of leading in different contexts like start-ups, large corporations, family businesses, educational institutions, not-for-profits, public sector and the government.
Here’s an excerpt from the book.
The chief executive officer (CEO) epitomizes the organization. The organization’s existence and its future are defined by the role the CEO plays. The CEO is the ultimate decision maker and can often be defined as a combination of a chief operations, marketing, finance, people and communications officer apart from the other key roles. The success or failure of the organization is often directly attributed to the CEO. At one level, the CEO is also the chief decision officer.
Great CEOs leave their footprints behind. They have the ability to transform businesses and even change the way society operates. Bill Gates changed the way the world works with Microsoft. Steve Jobs changed the way the world designs gadgets with Apple. N.R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys paved the way and showed how corporations can share their wealth with employees in India. Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of Reliance, showed how an entrepreneur can start from scratch to create an empire. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google, changed the way the world searches for information. It is amply clear that every CEO has a unique opportunity to leave behind an enduring legacy.
In this book, the word CEO is sometimes used synonymously with positions such as managing director and chairman if the incumbent is also, in many ways, handling the operating role of running the company. Research shows that the role of a CEO is becoming more significant and often has a more direct impact on the company’s performance. With the environment of organizations becoming more dynamic and competitive, it is the top management’s strategy led by the CEO that can steer the company towards sustained growth. A CEO also shapes the culture of the organization—either sustaining or changing it. An interesting example of this would be of the ex-chairman of IBM, Louis V. Gerstner, who is credited for its turnaround. Gerstner revived the ailing IBM by pulling the levers of its culture, changing the attitude towards teamwork, providing solution to the customers, integrating different business units, changing the measurement of results, and improving communication with external and internal stakeholders. In the end, it is a well-known fact that Gerstner got IBM to dance!
There are leaders in corporates, NGOs, government and public sectors who have made a tremendous impact. There are great examples of public servants heading government enterprises and making a lasting impact on society. In India, E. Sreedharan illustrated how a government servant can influence society by high levels of effectiveness. He is credited with the successful execution of key projects that helped the Indian public. This includes the Konkan Railway, a 741-kilometre line that connected Mumbai to Mangaluru. As per Wikipedia, ‘With a total number of over 2,000 bridges and 91 tunnels to be built through this mountainous terrain containing many rivers, it was the biggest and perhaps the most difficult railway engineering project in the Indian subcontinent at the time.’ He was then entrusted with another key project: to develop the metro lines for urban transport in the National Capital Region (NCR), called the Delhi Metro. The success of the project gave E. Sreedharan a new name: ‘Metro Man’. The ability to lead and make a difference in the society has made E. Sreedharan one of the most successful CEOs that India has seen in the recent past.
Verghese Kurien, known as the Father of the White Revolution, made a tremendous mark on the cooperative movement in the country. He is credited with establishing Amul and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). Kurien was able to bring dairy farmers into the fold, changing the dairy supply chain of the country. His ability to organize the cooperative movement, first in Gujarat through Amul and then later to replicate the experiment across the country through NDDB, points to a leader who could articulate a vision and execute it to make a large-scale institution.
Motivation and determination drove Messi and Neymar to achieve what the world bestowed. Their accomplishment on the pitch is well known to lovers of football. The contribution made by them transcends the boundary of the pitch – and reaches people who require them the most. The football idols have contributed tremendously to those who are deprived of basic needs and wants.
Here are a few contributions they have made off the field.
Know these footballers more in Luca Caioli’s biographies of Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr.
Remember the last time you stood and quietly watched the rain patter on the empty streets? Remember the last time you watched a snail lazily drag itself across the grass?
It is hard to find time to appreciate the smaller things in life, and that is precisely where Ruskin Bond’s book Words From the Hills helps us. In the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives, the words from this specially designed journal come as a breath of fresh air, bringing with them the philosophy and legacy of the wonderful author.
Here are 5 quotes from Ruskin Bond we all must have thought of writing in our journals.
Which quote are you going to write in your journal?
Sandeep K. Krishnan crafts a way for aspiring youth to become a CEO in his book Making of a CEO. The book explores nuances of leading in different contexts like start-ups, large corporations, family businesses, educational institutions, not-for-profits, public sector and the government.
Making of a CEO is an illuminating culmination of interviews and analysis of top-level CEOs across various sectors.
Here are a few tips you can employ to climb the professional ladder.
Inspiring, isn’t it?
In Three Hundred Verses, Bhartrihari, one of the greatest Sanskrit poets of all time, brilliantly pieces poems on loving, longing and leaving. The poems in the collection cover a wide range of themes from the first stirrings of young love to the challenges of accepting life’s transience-these verses are sure to resonate with contemporary readers.
Here are five verses from Bhartrihari that prove he belongs to modern times:
Aren’t these verses enigmatic?
Perumal Murugan’s body of work boasts of several novels, short story collections and poetry anthologies. An author and scholar, Murugan write in Tamil. His bibliography has also been translated into many languages over the years.
His new book Songs of a Coward : Poems of Exile weave an exquisite tapestry of rich images and turbulent emotions.
Here are 10 poems which will stir your emotions.
Evocative and mesmerising lines which will leave an imprint on your heart.
