Eats, Reads, and Tender Leaves

Tender Leaves is a new book rental service in Pune. This being the post-Netflix Age, the service not only delivers books to your homes and offices for free, but also does away with annoying late-fee penalties and lets you read a book at your own pace, rather than insisting you return it within a fixed time-period. Of course, if you (like me) polish off books at an alarming get-a-life rate, they will replenish stocks when you ask them to, based on your wishlist.

To those familiar with the business, though these kind of services in India are relatively new, they are no longer unique. There are a couple of other book rental services that also have sprung up in Pune, so then what's special about Tender Leaves? Before I try answering that, I should state an important disclaimer.

Both founders of the service (Sudarshan and Harish) are former colleagues, quizzing cohorts, and good friends of mine; so I'm quite likely to be biased about Tender Leaves. But the association also helps me understand why they are well-placed to offer this service. For instance, both are very passionate about the world of books. Sud knows a lot more about books than most in my circle (no mean feat, given the many quizzers and readers in that social radius). His tastes are wide-ranging (and sometimes off the charts): he is as comfortable talking serious Nabokov as he is discussing riveting Hadley Chase. He writes about and reviews books, and has even translated into English from the original Hindi, a couple of books by popular genre writer Surendra Mohan Pathak. Harish has relatively more plebian tastes, but 'even he' has his authoritative niches: politics and sports , in particular.

Most importantly, both of them love being around books.

Back to the main thread. So why Tender Leaves?

Good Selections
I already have a membership at a reputed city library, and also have access to my company's library. I occasionally buy books, but physical space and costs are always at odds with the temptation of owning a book, so I only spend on the ones I 'must absolutely have'. Tender Leaves' catalogue seems well-stocked, especially in the areas of my interest (which are General Fiction, Comics, Non-Fiction, Humour, Biographies, Innovation etc.). I also occasionally venture into Sports and Indian Politics. TL's collection allows me to extend my reading range. Some of the TL books that I've issued (it's been about 3 months since I joined):

"A Case of Exploding Mangoes", several Asterix books, a graphic novel based on Terry Pratchett's first two books, a book on Indian cricket in the 60s and 70s by Raju Bharatan, "Scoop!" by Kuldip Nayyar, Amit Varma's "My Friend Sancho", a collection of Jerry Seinfelds's material, and "SWITCH" (a book on making change happen).

Among my three current books is Ruskin Bond's "When Darkness Falls" (I took Sud's advice!)

Great Recommendations
Which brings me to the next and perhaps most significant point. Even if you have access to a great library, how do you choose what to read? There are some who are incredibly well-informed about books, and know all about the classics right down to the latest bestsellers. But most of us are not like them. At best, we have our areas of interest, and we stick to them. But how do you venture beyond them?

TL has something known as Must-Read Lists - recommendations on various themes by people who can claim a certain authority or years of interest in that area. Want to read something about cinema? Writer and reviewer Jai Arjun Singh has a list. Planning a journey from your armchair? Shamanth's got a fabulous list of books to take you around the world. There's Business, Humour, and even Swedish Crime! I expect that, as the service grows, TL will invite more readers to contribute these kinds of lists (I hope I will have one soon ;-) )

Or you can ignore these know-it-alls and make your own pick ;-)

(Incidentally, TL has been setting up drop-boxes around the city; thanks to these, I came to know of two new eating places that they recommend. Which explains the first part of this post's heading.)

"More than just a library"
That's what TL wants to be, and they've got it in bold letters as their tag-line. They have already begun proving this. Last year, they began working with a Pune school in the Teach for India campaign. They have promised book readings and quizzes. I look forward to these and a lot more.

I didn't talk much about the actual delivery service, the pricing plans, and the other commercial aspects. The service is just as you'd expect (and would demand), the prices are for you to consider (you could even write to TL and see if there are any special offers available), and the website is still evolving. But a new venture is like a little plant and needs a lot of "tender loving care". The service comes from two passionate creators, and you can see that in what they've done so far.

By the time I come around to considering a renewal of my subscription, I will be looking at my choices purely from the value it gives me, and for the price it does so. But for now, I have no qualms in whole-heartedly recommending Tender Leaves. Voracious reader or occasional book-flirt, give it a shot, I say!

On the WWW, Tender Leaves is here. Here on Facebook, and here on Twitter.

May, it be

* This blog finished seven years this month. Clearly, in the cyclical nature of things, the frequency of updates on this blog hit an all-time low in the last 12 months. In honour of all the silence, there's no annual strange post unlike these efforts in preceding years. Perhaps next year.

* Gems in the Backyard is a lovely article by Sudarshan, fresh after the release of his first book (a translation of a Hindi bestseller, which you should definitely give a shot if you're a 'pulp' fan).

* Attending A.R.Rahman's first performance in Pune later today. Trouble is: I've got a cold that promises to rival Idi Amin in its unpredictable nastiness. Will it rain on the parade? (hopefully not literally - seat neighbours had better bring an umbrella).

* May is the month of sporting finales & quizzing galas.

All that glitters and some free gifts

It's been quite a year for A.R.Rahman (and with two weeks to go, there still seems to be more left!). 7 film albums released this year (Jodhaa-Akbar, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, the already forgotten Ada, Sakarakatti, Yuvvraaj, the much feted Slumdog Millionaire and Ghajini) and now Connections, his latest non-film album.

Not to mention awards: the LA Critics Association chose him for their pick for Best Score (the Slumdog again), and he has just been nominated for his first ever Golden Globe, in the august company of Hans Zimmer, James Howard, Alexandre Desplat, and (surprise!) Clint Eastwood. That's a trivia question prediction (until perhaps the Oscars list :-)). The Oscar march has truly begun.

Back to Connections. Karthik on his Milliblog points out how anyone not buying a Nokia phone with a certain kind of music service will just have to wait a while to hear the songs (in the legal way, at least). For now, you can check out the video for Jiya Se Jiya on Rahman's official site (warning: all flash content).

Which is where our friend Arnold, a.ka. Hugger-the-(not-so)-Horrible, should take note: the song features the concept of "Free Hugs" (read Arnold's first (zeroth?) hand report on the same). I wonder if I actually saw him in the video?

news courtesy the arrahmanfans yahoogroup

Lovingly Smelly Phrases

Not sure if it is the lack of rain or something, but many of us are reporting Unusually Funny Objects. George picks up two instances from two classes of people genetically hardwired to generating vacuous material, film stars and politicians. Salil found Jack and the Item.

I, for my part, found this outside the IIT Souvenir Shop yesterday (it was the first day for a new batch) (quoting verbatim):

ATTENTION FRESHENERS!
Free Gift for you at Souvenir Shop!*
*condition apply

I'm a Twit

Ok, don't laugh, but I'm "twittering" here. The answer to the why (if there is such a question) is that I wanted to try it, Harish seems to like it, and I realise I do want to micro-blog, but not clutter this blog with the excruciating minutiae of everyday life, which Twittering seems to massively entail.

Let's see.

The dividing line

On the same day that Vcat sent out a link about Americans trying to see the positive sides to indigestible gas prices, Ajay blogged about how life around him seems to be changing: neighbourhoods show a tendency to shrink (to walkable sizes) as are per capita home sizes.

As yet, we don't quite seem to be hearing such stories here. Based on anecdotal evidence around me, if at all, the problem seems to be worsening: lots of cars, cars, cars (diesel is still subsidised, but is no longer exclusively a poor man's fuel), relative affordability of 4-wheelers, lots of executive-level people use their cars (along) instead of taking company buses out to the IT parks, roads aren't wide enough or smooth enough to allow cyclists a real chance in the traffic ecosystem. I can't see any larger signs that our culture-specific habits are changing in any way in response to the environment or the prices.

Incidentally, several Pune roads now have dedicated cycle tracks marked out on the fringes. In some cases, these are demarcated using an outer fencing, rather than just a paint marking or those tiled paths that are becoming so common. This is a welcome arrangement, but there are a few gaping holes, sometimes literally. For instance, in Model Colony, some of the tracks are punctuated by intersecting lanes that allow vehicles to abruptly enter the road - the cyclist has to, every 5 minutes, watch out for these. In other places, there are no cycling lanes at all, so using cycle tracks is safe only in very limited areas. Add to this, the manic jungle-like look in the eyes of most motorists, and you're scared to pull the old velocipede out during the day.

Baner Road, perennially under siege, seems to be nearing the end of this current stage of repair. It now is concretised and wider. But there is no divider. Crossing the road, whether on foot or on pedal, is like wading through croc-infested water while the critters set out "Welcome!" mats alongside their gleaming canines. How can you build such a big road, invite everyone to race at what seems to be a minimum of 50 kph, and forget the bloody divider?

Hugga-baai!

Apparently, it's International Free Hugs Day today (I'd say it's probably more catchy than Bug Busting Day). Arnold is the nearest we have to a Rasta-quizzer that I know of (I mean it as a compliment), so it's not such a surprise that he has decided to do something about the comparative lack of free hugs in contemporary Puneri society.

As clearly described in a front page article in today's Pune Mirror (don't think it's available online), Arnold will be providing "free hugs" on M.G.Road from 6 pm until "boredom, tiredness, or hunger" intervene. (I was particularly happy to see that it was only under duress that he revealed he works in IT - bravo!). Since, unfortunately, I can't be there to watch and report, I thought I'd at least give him a little blog plug - so if any of you is reading this today, stop, and get out to Camp, somewhere near Wonderland.

(I must admit that it's a tough Saturday for Punekars: JM Road is almost off-limits thanks to a function involving the President of India, and on M.G.Road, you risk being accosted a strange man offering hugs for no compensation in these inflationary times.)

Still, all the best to the newest Chipko. This is exactly the kind of thing that the much vaunted (but ultimately colourless, IMO) Walking Plaze could have done with more of (ironically, the Plaza has just been suspended because of the monsoon). Hopefully, Arnold has perfected his technique and may even demonstrate a range of moves (an illustrative list here). He may even come up with an Arnold-ian varation of a new kind. Hold tight and don't let the bed bugs bite!

Spinning a Yarn

Amit Varma was kind enough to pick up some fragments of mine for an interesting article on quizzing. Serious quizzing still remains very niche, a masonic sub-culture of sorts, but it takes a quiz-geek to know there are three ways of looking at every intersection, even if it only seems to be a straight road.

Anyway, as Amit mentions in the end of his post, check out Niranjan's primers (1, 2, 3.) on setting quizzes (to which I've made a small contribution). Perhaps they need a little touching-up, but they're perennially relevant.

A tribute to weirds

In my defence, I must say my hand has been forced. This post by Abhishek asks of me what I think of Avnish's recent crusade against words.

But before that, a correction. The e-steamed Abhishek repeatedly insinuates that self and colleague are computational linguists. Charmed as I am by the honour, I must hasten to add that this is far from the truth: we are not such men of such wordly (sic) pleasures. At best, we are word-counters, miners in hard hats, wading through the lovely mess that is text. XKCD rants are slings at some of the contributors here, while we 49ers sit by the quarry and watch such warfare, wiping stems and lemmas from our brow.

Returning to Mr. Dhondge and his disgust for "lexeme", I must hasten to the defence of that poor token. For "lexeme" was never meant for the popular vocal stage. It serves a very well-defined (as Avnish's gloss amply illustrates) purpose in an academic field. One might as well poke fun at (perhaps these words resonate with Avnish's own chosen field) "thermocouple" or "autocollimator", or think poorly of "Pneumonoultramicro...". It must be said that at least, 'lexeme' - a meta-word, to give it its due - is at least worthy of appearing in a Word of the Day newsletter that seems to cause him so much distress!

Avnish may feel he has struck a blow (or at least a blog) against verbigeration, thus ushering in a golden age of brachylogy. However, isn't more the merrier? And don't forget, we always seem to need more words, and are willing to go as far as Liff to get them. You don't need a dyslexic to spell out that every word is special (except for words like 'leverage' which have been corrupted by an increasingly dissolute society).

With a "St. Pedanticaya Namah", I rest my piece in (lower) case and sign off with Word's funkiest message to creation:

You see, the whole system of the country is juxtapositioned by the haemoglobin in the atmosphere because you are a sophisticated rhetorician intoxicated by the exuberance of your own verbosity!
:: Anthony Gonsalves

or alternately:

iske ##differential## me.n lafaDaa hai! gaaDii nahii.n chale.Ngaa.
:: James D'Costa

Do I speak South Indian?

Do I speak South Indian?

Venkat sent out a link about more examples of the dumb insular American being more than a mere stereotype. With the Hindi version of "Are you smarter than a fifth-grader" around the corner, we can (and we will!) show the amreekans that we can be as good (or bad) as them. Partly because, the popularity of the show will depend on showing that people aren't as smart as a fifth-standard kid (I've noticed many people say "grade" for "standard". Sigh.)

Well, if the only proof of incompetence needed is that of geographical ignorance, then I would like to send in a candidate of my own. This, a well-educated person, who has spent all his life within India, asked me: "So, you must speak South Indian, right?"

I almost gagged there, not out of horror or something, but since there were so many alternative answers to give there, L'esprit_de_l'escalier prevailed. But the sad thought that the education system seems to have utterly failed this chap did cross by. Now, putting on the self-critical hat, I'll readily admit there are several Indian languages I wouldn't be able to identify. But just as I wouldn't ask anyone if they spoke Maharashtrian or Pakistani or Madhya Pradeshi, all I ask is to be extended the same courtesy.

Some links about writing

Some links about writing

Sudarshan asks and examines: why don't some of the western literary genres appear in Indian writing? Perhaps they have no resonance in the lives of readers here? Nice post and I broadly agree. Who knows, perhaps we will have a genre called "beigepunk" that marries IT and sci-fi :-). Computer Science has been easily yoked, but does the more mundane world of deliveries and outsourcing have stories hidden in it? Scary.

Khaled Hosseini trivia: Each day, he gets up at 4 am and writes for a couple of hours. I didn't know he was also a practicing internist. Also, I have not yet read any of his books.

Neil Gaiman and a bunch of other writers are helping Patry Francis promote her book by blogging about it. She can't do it herself because she is ill with cancer. Fine gesture.

Oscars nominees 2008

Oscars nominees 2008

The shortlist has been announced. Unlike last year, I have hardly seen any of these films, so have no idea about the favourites. I can only root for sentimental favourites, such as Laura Linney and Cate Blanchett (both regulars at the Oscars, from among this wonderful generation of Hollywood actresses) or the Coens. Perhaps Johnny Depp will be this year's Martin Scorcese.

Hopefully, Hirak or George will have a more detailed post on these nominations.

Thanks Sourav and Rahul - take a rest

Thanks Sourav and Rahul - take a rest

I agree with Harish: "even I" don't understand the brouhaha. This is one of those rare occasions when a decision seems to have been taken after some analysis and giving a captain the team he wants.

Idiots like Sidhu, who challenged Vengsarkar to an open debate and promised to get off NDTV if he (Sidhu) couldn't be convinced, have naturally been blowing hot air everywhere. I wish the Colonel would do so and help us get rid of the man with a mouth the size of Bournemouth - though convincing Sidhu of anything is as difficult as balancing a cycle stand on your bum (others can do "it" too, O' sherry-punjab). However, friends like Aniket have lamented the omission of Ganguly (who are these Dravid fans who went on a rampage - I'm impressed steady ol' Rahul evokes such emotions!), so would like to draw their attention to the following fact. In the recently concluded Test, Sourav Ganguly was clearly the weakest Indian fielder on the ground, and his spate of illnesses have not helped at all. The "fielding" issue is an extremely valid one on these large Australian grounds, and if the ODI captain does not feel he could use these two batsmen, then there is no point in including them.

In fact, the day Tendulkar's strong arm gives way, I'll call for his omission too. Right now, he still remains an order above the other veterans in terms of ability and intent when it comes to fielding in the deep and scampering between the wickets.

Meanwhile, the whole issue has spurred Harish to humour - this is the kind of effect this landmark tour is having on people!

Sue Mott on monkeys and men

Sue Mott on monkeys and men

One of the few writers to see the wood for the trees, Sue Mott writes a wonderful article on the sledging-Aussie-India-Singh-Symonds affair. I'm sure we can expect a similarly balanced point of view from our simian friends, who surely must be more sane than any cricket follower right now.

Link thanks to Harish

Bucknor and Federer

Bucknor and Federer

Now that Bucknor ain't going to Perth, Harish imagines a visit to Melbourne where he umpires a Federer match. Heh heh.

"A Study in Emerald" - Neil Gaiman

"A Study in Emerald" - Neil Gaiman

George, bless him, pointed out this story (A Study in Emerald) by Neil Gaiman in a comment about my previous post about Gaiman.

Now, I used to think of Gaiman as a niche fantasy writer whose exploits were limited to graphic novels that some seem to be great fans of. Indeed, what I know of him has mainly come from Sud and Kunal S, who brought their love for the likes of Gaiman and Pratchett to the BC.

But reading "The Day the Saucers Came" and "A Study in Emerald" has completely changed all that. So bowled over I was by the Holmes pastiche that I re-read the story 3-4 times and was mesmerised by the effort. I have read a little bit of the Sandman series, but this definitely merits a much more careful study of the man's work.

Watching Vishal Bhardwaj - a Blog

Watching Vishal Bhardwaj - a Blog

I suppose "start a blog" is a reaction to many problems. For the last couple of years, I have become aware of how difficult it is to follow the movies and music of Vishal Bhardwaj, given that he has no website or media channel to go visit. Assuming there are others who feel the same way, I've gone and started a blog to collect links about forthcoming Vishal ventures. Additionally, it should also serve as a place to write some more about Vishal achievements of the past - let's see.

George has been closely (and commendably) following the man in the news, as readers of his blog would know. He should be joining me on the Vishal blog too.

The blog can be visited at this link.

A journeyman speaks

A journeyman speaks

One of the Headingley 2002 heroes, Sanjay Bangar, has a nice little post on playing for traveling on the Indian Railways. (link courtesy: friend Arun K.) I hope he won't mind me calling him a 'journeyman'.

If you like train journeys, read these accounts by Shamanth and Salil.

The long tail

The long tail

In addition to recording that he finds one-day cricket boring (and I agree wholeheartedly), Harish also wonders which channel to watch for the old and almost forgotten movies.

I think the situation is still not as bad as the music scene where sadly, most TV and radio presenters and producers cannot see beyond the late great R.D.Burman (mostly, I think, due to their own ignorance). I'm still impressed with the catholicism of Zee Cinema. If you can get past the never-ending ad breaks, you can enjoy films from a range of genres and themes. Mithun and "Mixed Doubles", Raj Kumar Kohli and "Makdee", "shanivaar ki raat amitabh ke saath" to "somvar ki raat something ki laat" (the Rajnikant dubbed movie fest - anyone know the actual name of the series?). The only problem is the timings - you never know when you'll stumble on a good one.

Then there are the likes of Filmy and Sahara One and the really, really bhuule-bisre movies channel. Between them, they do a decent job. Just keep surfing.

Exceedingly Dumb or Exceedingly Clever

Exceedingly Dumb or Exceedingly Clever

There's an ad playing the airwaves advertising a test ride for the Zen Estilo which apparently guarantees the crash dummy a prize of some sort. The ad keeps hammering the "no hidden small print, no catches, all hunky-dory saar with a cherry on top" theme. At the end, it signs off with "conditions apply". Eh?

Update: Dhammo has been subjected to it too.