Nike, Facebook & Pakistan - Interesting Books reviewed

Shoe Dog ~ A Memoir by the creator of Nike by Phil Knight is really a well written autobiography. There is no co-author or a ghost writer involved, so the emotions you go through as a reader are real and raw. Phil actually took writing classes to write this book. And that effort shows! It is one the best autobiographies / biographies I have read. Shoe Dog is not just Phil's or Nike's story. It is that too. But it goes beyond. Both inside and outside. The book delves deep inside into an entrepreneur's mind. It looks outwards towards the history of the era when Phil was building Nike. So the book doesn't just feel like an autobiography. It reads like a parable, sounds like a lore and can be understood as a metaphor for life. The book is also paced like a thriller.

As an author, Phil displays his sense of humor throughout. Especially hilarious are his accounts of some of his early colleagues and his travels to Japan and China. But there are undercurrents of his personal tragedies. Also Phil chose not to narrate much that happened after 1980. I was surprised by this choice but I understood the reasons behind it. So you won't get the story behind "Just Do It" or several such campaigns post 1980.

Phil fleshes out each character in the story of his life with love and empathy. He owns his mistakes and is painfully aware of his shortcomings. But he loves his journey.  Phil brings his struggles as a sportsperson and as an entrepreneur to the paper without inhibitions. He also talks about his relationships with his father and his sons without holding anything back.

Some of the questions which I wanted the book to answer also get answered with flourish. You get to know the story behind the name "Nike". You get the story behind its logo. You get reasons for Nike's success. But the book goes beyond the obvious. It gives insights into history of the time. It showcases how people come together and stick together despite differences. It talks about irreversible sacrifices. It defines successes and failures in a humane way.

As a marketer, one is always struggling to define the story of one's brand, its spirit and purpose. This memoir does it so well for Nike. There are several books that have inspired me in the past - with a new idea or with a better perspective on things. But this  book inspired me in a different way. It made me feel for Nike. I felt like working for Nike, especially during its early years. The years when I wasn't even born. And that's a great achievement for a book. 

the Facebook effect by David Kirkpatrick is a book which I have read few years late. The book was published in 2010 and it chronicles the early years of Facebook. By now, we all know the basic beats of Facebook story and its early milestones, through the folklore and the movie 'The Social Network'. Also in 9 years since then, Facebook has become a very different animal, with lesser personal connections active on it. It has since then made a journey from being cool to somewhat evil. I would personally love to read a sequel to this book to know what changed and also understand Mark Zuckerberg's opinion on Cambridge Analytica data breach.

Coming back to this book, I was surprised to notice few grammar as well as spelling errors. Otherwise, the book is pretty fast paced. The book provides a balanced view on Facebook's highs and lows. Unlike Videocracy by Kevin Allocca, a book about YouTube, which I reviewed earlier this year, this book looks into issues like antitrust, privacy, data ownership and ethics in a far more incisive way.

Also, I liked the portions, where we got to know about the logic behind every change and feature on Facebook. These portions make the book an interesting read from change management and product development point of view.

But if there is a more recent book on Facebook, which is equally well written, I suggest you can give this one a miss. 

Tinderbox ~ The Past and Future of Pakistan by M.J. Akbar, presents a very interesting slice of world history of Indian sub-continent, especially chronicling the circumstances around formation of Pakistan. It delves deep into epic conflict between Hindu and Muslim cultures and its impact on the entire region. 

It is a tough book to read, because it spans across centuries, and too much is happening. There are way too many characters and sub-plots. In fact each chapter in this book can become a source for a new book. So don't feel too overwhelmed while reading it, if you are able to connect key threads of this narrative.  By the time I finished the book, I forgot many specifics - names, dates etc. But overarching themes and patterns emerged. 

1. If religious identity overpowers regional or national identity, there will always be strife. Pakistan will never be at peace given the circumstances of its birth. Also my limited understanding, that democracy can bring change,  was questioned throughout the book. 

2. Another interesting aspect on which author spends a lot of time is wherein he explains how Pakistan governments have been distorting history that is taught in their schools. He explains, how school children are conditioned right from the childhood to consider India as its enemy. He goes further to explain how plunderers from pre-independent India are treated as heroes because of their religious identity. But as I read chapters on Indian freedom struggle in the book, especially about Gandhi's failures, I realized how our history books were also whitewashed. I learned how Mahatma was more of a politically useful religious moniker than a testimony to Gandhi's greatness. So while Pakistan's history is a hogwash, ours is also pretty much whitewashed in school books. 

3. How Pakistan played world's superpowers using its geo-political advantage is also a recurring theme in the book. 

And the questions which were left in my mind by the time I finished reading this book were - Has Pakistan played all its cards? Are we on a path to nuclear catastrophe?

I needed few lighter books after this. 

A book in Punjabi and a book on Parenting - Book Reviews

What happens when one meets or talks to one's mother after a long, a really long gap?

The warmth, comfort and the familiarity of the relationship is there, but it isn't easy to explain the neglect on one's part.

At the start of the year, when I was finalizing my reading goals, I had also decided that I will read at least one book in Punjabi (my mother tongue) this year. And it is a sheer coincidence that my mother gifted me two Punjabi books, few months back. While reading the Punjabi book, it felt like my vocabulary has shrunk. I hadn't read in Punjabi since school. So it took some time getting used to reading a book in the language of my childhood dreams. 

Before I share my views on Raseedi Ticket (The Revenue Stamp) by Amrita Pritam, here is an interesting anecdote about the title of the book, which I had read online, much before I got the book in my hands.

"Khushwant Singh (an eminent Indian author) once told Amrita Pritam that the story of her life was so inconsequential and tiny that it could be written at the back of a revenue stamp. Keeping this joke in mind, Amrita Pritam penned her autobiography and titled it 'Raseedi Ticket', or The Revenue Stamp."

Amrita Pritam is an intense writer, whose writing is seeped in the world history, tragedy, unrequited love and deep philosophy. So expecting a conventional autobiography from her is foolish. Yes! She gives the reader some key details of her life and some milestones etched in the years which she truly lived. But it is her work and craft; her muses and inspirations; her dreams and concerns that she talks about in extraordinary detail. She also shares several extracts of her work and reproduce several poems & short stories, in the book which helped me as a reader to understand her state of mind at different stages of her life. Her world-view will tug at your heart. 

A very small anecdote, very early in the book, about religious segregation at her childhood home (separate utensils for people from a particular community) and her love affair with some one from that community when she grew up, sets the tone for this autobiography. Irony is one of the dominant themes in her life it seems. 

Another place in the book, where she narrates her visit to Sahir Ludhianvi's (an Indian poet) home in Mumbai, in the form of a short story about the roads that never meet, I found her depth as an author really amazing. 

She has also included her travel diaries from places across the world. These stories are interesting not because of the countries she visited, but because of her ability to connect with like minded people there through her work. Also interesting in these travel diaries is her deep understanding of the history of those places and how she is able to link that with the present situations. As one reaches the end of the book, she also talks about her Rajya Sabha (upper house in Indian Parliament) stint, but largely about the questions she asked on the floor of the house. It seems that as a person she was highly organized as she had documented almost every aspect of her life.

There is a section where she briefly touches upon her relationship with Imroz (artist & writer; Amrita's partner) and his personality. In this section also, she avoids conventional and mundane details. She compares Imroz to a saint in folklore and talks about his malleability and his unflinching devotion towards her.

There is another section in the book which talks about 'documentation of history'. This section is based on her time and work with Osho. An interesting perspective emerges. Western civilization was better in documenting history because Indians considered 'History' a useless fact. Our documents or Puranas focused on the 'True Meaning'.  The book ends with her last poem - Main Tenu Pher Milangi (I will meet you again). You might have heard it in the film Manmarziyan (The Heart's Wish). The poem captures her pathos and the essence of her free spirit. And I think that is the essence of her life and this book too. 

The Parent's Tao Te Ching ~A New Interpretation ~ Ancient Advice for Modern Parents by William Martin is a book I re-read this year. As I became a first time parent few years back, someone recommended this book to me. It is a fresh interpretation of Tao Te Ching / Tao seen through the prism of parenting. The book is easy to read (with simple, micro-sized chapters, that are written in free verse) but demands reader's time to reflect on each and every line one reads. There are just 140 pages, across 81 chapters that talk about parenting. But I must warn you, it is not an assured guide towards parenting. It is not a self-help book. It doesn't provide you tips or cheat codes. It is not a book which you read once and then it goes on to your bookshelf.

The book is about the way of life, the way of parenting. It talks about the philosophy, which should guide the way we live or the way we approach parenting or do anything else in our lives. It is a book which I will go back to every time I have doubts. Every time one reads it , one is bound to reflect on one's actions and may be discover something new. My words will never be good enough to capture the essence of this book and hence I am reproducing a quote from the book below. May be it will encourage you to read this one.

“Believe this difficult truth. Showing respect in the face of disrespect, love in the face of hate, trust in the face of betrayal, and serenity in the face of turmoil, will teach your children more than all the moral lectures by all the preachers since the dawn of time.”

Books of March - Book Reviews

After reading 3 non-fiction books in January and February (reviews here and here), the month of March was all about fiction and people who create fiction. March was a really hectic month at office and I was busy with A-Z daily blogging challenge in April. Finally, I found time today to share my views on the books I read in March. So here we go!

Contagion by Robin Cook had been lying on my book-shelf, unread, for the longest time ever. I fail to understand that why I never read it. When I picked it up in March, earlier this year, and opened it, I was gobsmacked. There was a small note written inside it that read, "CONGRATS! For being the best student of XII". Then it dawned upon me that I have had this back with me since 1999. I had got it as a prize at my last annual function in school. For two decades, this book has traveled with me to different cities. If this book had a voice, it would have narrated a story of its neglect that lasted 20 years. 

Naturally, my expectations from the book sky-rocketed. Also Cook is well known for his medical thrillers. This one is about a medical examiner, who is investigating the origin of several deadly viruses and infections, that have surfaced in quick succession. These infections have led to deaths of many people associated with a particular hospital. His own life comes under threat because of this investigation.

The book is a decent thriller and if you get comfortable with the medical jargon fast, it is quite a page turner. The set-up is great and piques the reader's curiosity. The build up of key characters is excellent and you really want the lead protagonist to succeed. But the antagonists turn out to be too stupid in the end. They are not as menacing as the build up makes you believe. Thus as a reader, I found the book underwhelming. 

Pyjamas are Forgiving by Twinkle Khanna, is her worst book ever. And she has written only 3 books so far. There is nothing new in the basic story line. It is as old as hills. The novel is about a middle-aged woman, meeting her ex-husband, at a spa retreat in Kerala. This simple tale seems to go nowhere after that meeting. As a short story, this might have worked. But as a 200 page novel, it is simply not engaging enough. 

The author checks all the boxes needed to make it sound like a new age and inclusive book. There is a token gay couple at the retreat. Their characters are not fleshed out properly. I didn't understand why their presence was important to the story. The author describes the ashram, where only rich people go, in detail. These descriptions sound superficial as they don't add anything to the mood of the novel. There is an incident of sexual assault thrown in. The characters involved in it are nonchalant about it and are again not important for the core story to move forward. And the author uses lot of big words, when they were not needed. Yes, there is trademark wit and humor that Khanna sees in mundane, but overall it is not a compelling work. 

An Unsuitable Boy by Karan Johar with Poonam Saxena is Johar's autobiography that is written a decade too soon. While reading it, I felt, that as a film director and as a story teller (the aspects I strongly associate with him) his body of work is very limited. Clearly, I was expecting him to talk more about his profession in this book. I expected him to give the readers an insight into his craft and his inspiration. Thus, I liked the chapters on Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (a 1995 film in which Johar was one of the assistant directors, part-time costume designer and an actor) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (a 1998 film which was Johar's directorial debut).  In these chapters, he gives us a sneak peek into his creative mind and writing process. 

The book doesn't feel like an autobiography. It feels more like an extended, but written version, of his TV chat show, Koffee with Karan. This is because the entire book sounds like a free-wheeling interview without a structure of a biopic. In the chapter where he talks about his anxieties and depression or the one in which he talks about soul-less Bollywood of today, I connected with him. I wish he had waited few more years to write this autobiography. And I wish he directs more often.

In April I read two books, one of which was a classic. Reviews will be up soon on the blog. Keep watching this space.