Viewing 1 to 3 of 3 posts.

Read-A-Book-A-Week: Freakonomics starts it off
Sunday, October 29, 2006   [Interests]

Most people have little time for most things today - as I've written
earlier. And one of the casualties of this is reading. How much are we
actually enhancing and exercising our brain's muscle power? Reading
habits have come crashing!

Is reading the paper enough? I don't think so. But it never hit me
until I saw the stack of books that was accumulating in my room - that
I had bought and never read! So over the Diwali break, I decided that
I was going to improve my reading habits (which have really become
atrocious of late!) and try to READ-A-BOOK-A-WEEK!

For the Diwali break, my family decided to make a trip to Egypt. And
in that time, I promised myself that I'd read atleast one book. And 10
minutes before the plane touched down in Bombay, I finished the last
book of "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

Its a very interesting read and I highly recommend anyone with some
time for light reading and a little bit of thinking to read it. Its
not a very big book. Just about 200 pages in paperback form.

To simplify the theme of the book, which in itself would be doing it a
gross injustice - Steven Leviitt, a brilliant young economist shows
that with the right data, you can find links to everything which you
never thought had any links! To do this, he uses streams of data,
separates it, dissects it, and goes through it again and shows that
what we think is the reason for something to happen actually isn't the
reason and how what you do can affect things.

To make you a little inquisitive - What is the reason for decline of
crime in the US in the 90's? Whats the similarity between the Klu Klux
Klan and your Real estate agent, or Sumo wrestlers and School
Teachers? What makes a perfect parent? Why do Drug dealers live with
their moms?

Think about it and if you come up with a theory and want to see the
REAL reasons - pick up Freakonomics. The answers will startle you!

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A captivating painting... bought!
Saturday, October 07, 2006   [Interests]

I love art. I'm not much a art buff who keeps up with the 'latest' artists etc but I enjoy a good painting, or sculpture or piece of artistic work. I see a painting or work that I like and that for me is enough, not who the artist is. Of course, affording it is another story altogether!

My aunt, Tarana Khubchandani opened a lovely art gallery Art & Soul in Mumbai in 2003. I have been fortunate enough to have liked and bought art from her! The first was a Sanjay Bhattacharya painting which I bought for my sister Sravanya way back in 2003. The next were two beautiful original lithograph stones of Raja Ravi Varma, the famous Indian artist.

Yesterday, I went to my friend Penny Patel's art gallery opening - Indian Fine Art and was fortunate again to have bought a lovely painting that I liked. In fact, I was impressed by her collection as they were all very different and very interesting. This one particular one that caught my eye was by an artist called Mrityunjay Mondal, who I had honestly not heard of until I saw this Untitled work. But I couldn't take my eyes off this painting. I decided that I should see if I could afford to buy it and fortunately, I could! So I thought I'd share my recent purchase here. Feel free to leave your comments on the painting and to drop into Penny Patel's gallery (Indian Fine Art, Film Centre, Tardeo) or Tarana Khubchandani's gallery (Art & Soul, Madhuli, Worli):

"Untitled" by Mrityunjay Mondal
Size: 24" x 36"
Year: 2006
Medium: Acrylic on canvas

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Top Gear - Jeremy Clarkson & Simon Cowell
Friday, June 09, 2006   [Interests]

Most boys love cars. And if you love cars, then you must be a lover of the show Top Gear, hosted by Jeremy Clarkson on BBC World.

One of the best clips I've seen of Top Gear is one that didn't involve a car but had Jeremy and Simon Cowell from American Idol and the Idol series talking about cars. Check it out here courtesy of Youtube.com and Axxl86!

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