Govinda's, Chowpatty: Restaurant Review

I arrived here for luncheon on Sunday after watching The Jungle Book with my friend in tow. We aren't Jains but we still managed to enjoy the predominantly Indian vegetarian fare sans onion and garlic (a fact I wasn't privy to until I was seated at my table).

Ambience

I wasn't expecting a great ambience given the price point but I was pleasantly surprised by the cosy interiors - a quintessential family restaurant. The tables and chairs are comfortable, the walls well decorated and maintained and the lighting in the style of fine dining restaurants. Frankly, you should have nothing to complain about.

Rating: 5/5

Service

The waiters are excellently trained - polite, knowledgeable and non-intrusive. Sure, the service is a bit slow but you can't blame them when the place is packed to the hilt. Upstairs, it tends to be quieter and that's where we sat. I recommend a corner table upstairs for a pleasant meal. You also enjoy a tranquil view of Iskcon temple from this table.

Rating: 5/5

Food
 

Overall, I'd say the food is decent. Some of the items are par excellence while others are a tad disappointing. So be careful what you order. Or order several items so you'll end up with some winners at least! Here's what I tasted:

1. Pizza Margherita

What I liked were the generous toppings and the desirable tang to the cheese. Those who enjoy tomatoes will be very pleased with the plentiful slices and tomato sauce. However, the crust was a disappointment. It was overdone and too hard. It tasted like whole wheat crust though it wasn't. The pizza is why I haven't given Govinda's a 5/5 rating. Compared to some of the other items on the menu, this one loses its sheen. We had the 8 incher and it was very filling for two people. It's not bland but not too spicy either - tastes best drizzled with the condiments and ketchup.

Rating: 3/5

2. Paneer chatpata and roti

It was brilliant. I'm a great connoisseur of paneer and this dish is a dream. It's a refreshing change from the staple paneer makhanwala and paneer tikka masala. The gravy is quite different from both of the abovementioned dishes. I don't know what exactly they put into it but it's tasty and faintly spicy and you never sense the absence of onions or garlic. In one serving, there were five large chunks of paneer and copious masala. The quantity's good enough for three people - we had to pack the extra. I had it with roti while my friend had the butter naan.

Rating: 5/5

3. Khichiya masala papad

I have not tasted a better masala papad in my life. Khichiya is the Marwari style of papad, made with rice flour and thicker than the conventional urad papad. The one we were served for gloriously perfect and the toppings included chopped tomatoes, cucumber in lieu of onion, coriander and chaat masala. We couldn't get enough of this. The papad is large and the chunky nature makes it very satisfying.

Rating: 5/5

Pricing

We had absolutely no room for dessert after working our way through all these dishes and the tab came to just 700 rupees.

Rating: 5/5

The variety of dishes on their menu is inspiring but from my experience, I'd say sticking with the Indian would be a good culinary decision.

Final rating: 4/5

Bar Stock Exchange, Colaba: Restaurant review

Paneer pizza and Signature with coke

I would have given this place 5 stars but for the humble ambience. However, when you consider the dirt cheap alcohol and the surprisingly delicious food, that doesn't matter so much. After two visits, BSE Colaba has become my favourite casual hangout and it easily trumps the nearby Alps Beer Bar and Gokul for its sheer variety of spirits.

The first time, I had a Bacardi Limon at just Rs 55. Being asked for age proof at my age didn't hurt either! Of course, soft drinks as mixers are charged extra but it's a meagre Rs 25 and soda is just Rs 2. I used to think that the whole stock exchange concept was a gimmick but it obviously isn't. Go in the afternoon and everything is available at rock bottom prices - even premium spirits.

On my second visit, I had whisky (Antiquity Blue and Signature) both at just Rs 40 per drink (small). But the surprise performer was their huge and scrumptious paneer pizza which was just loaded with huge chunks of succulent paneer on every slice. The seasoning, crust (neither too thick nor too thin), accompanying vegetables, spiciness - nothing left anything to be desired. And the pricing was quite good - around Rs 300 sans taxes.

Of course, these days when the final bill arrives, your heart is bound to sink, irrespective of how affordable the restaurant. So the bill came to around Rs 800 but it was still a steal. The only thing that goes against this outlet is the dark and uninspiring interiors. And I've heard that the original outlet at Andheri is quite swanky in comparison. But do you really care about that?

P.S.: Do install the TBSE app on your phone before going - it makes things a lot easier although the waiters are quite obliging with queries and there is a large screen to watch the movement of the prices.

There is a medium size screen to watch matches but the positioning isn't very strategic. Go early if you're going to catch a match so you can find the best seat for viewing.

Rating: 4/5

Khar Social: Restaurant Review

Kiran's Big Apple breakfast

Oh what's not to love? The food, ambience, the food, the service, the music, the food - you get the drill. We came here for lunch - my friend and I but ended up having breakfast trays instead. I suggest you do the same. They are simply awesome. I had Kiran's Big Apple breakfast which came with:

2 eggs any style: I had them scrambled and they were perfectly done - soft, a little milky and full of flavour. Perfect with toast or just like that.

Blueberry pancakes: Very yummy and large. Two pancakes in each tray and hefty chunks of blueberry in between. They are served with maple syrup - divine!

Bacon: I'm not a fan but they were nice - like chips.

Home fries: Much better than the French fries you get at other places and drizzled with nice spices. A huge quantity of them - perfect to share.

Toast with butter and preserves: I almost missed the toast because it was lying unobtrusively on one corner but I had a bite at the end. I was too full by then to eat more.

Oreo cookies: They give you a whole packet and I pocketed it for later. But they would have been great with the creamy coffee.

Choice of tea or coffee: I had cappuccino and it was soo good. We found it a bit lukewarm and the server was kind enough to heat it up for us.

The quantities are such that you could actually share a tray if you're going at breakfast time and don't have ginormous appetites. But feel free to hog like I did. The place is lovely of course and there is upstairs seating as well. The spaciousness was a relief after a luncheon at the cramped Colaba Social.

Rating: 5/5 

Colaba Social: Restaurant review

I have deducted one star for the lack of space and the eternal wait. On my second visit here, we managed to get a table for two. I wished I could sit on the swing seat but that was only for larger groups.

The interiors are nice though on the darker side. And you feel so lucky to have acquired a table, you don't really care. There are kitschy elements all around - glasses inscribed with #paani in keeping with the "social" theme, alcohol bottles hanging from the ceiling.

So here's what we ordered (and the place is easy on the pocket too!)

Let Us Wrap (veg)

This is a social sharing plate but the quantity is not very large. There was lots of lettuce (more than we anticipated) with delicious dips, pickled cucumber (I love those), bean sprouts (healthy but not filling) and tasty paneer satay. I wouldn't recommend this very highly because it does little to sate your hunger although it's light and tasty.

Chili paneer black pepper China Box

This was so, so yummy. The best tossed up Chinese noodles with chunks of paneer with flavourful black pepper sauce and bird eye chili. We were afraid that it would be too fiery but it was just right and made for a delicious meal. One box can be shared between two people but you can have just that on your own and you'll not need anything else.

The Ramesh and Suresh

For dessert, we had fried fruit and nut five star bars with hot chocolate sauce and vanilla ice-cream. It was sinful and perfect and tasted a lot better than it looked. And trust me, it was completely different from eating a chocolate bar by itself. Social turned it into quite a dessert.

I was satisfied by then but my friend felt she needed more and went and ordered the famous poutine - thick french fries with decadent cheese sauce. It was HUGE. I suppose it might be perfect with drinks but she could barely finish it. With that, our damages came to Rs 700 per head but without that, it would have been a perfect Rs 500 per head which has become a rarity in Mumbai now.

Restaurant rating: 4/5

38 Bangkok Street: Restaurant review

The thing about Thai food is I know it pretty well, having been to the country. And that knowledge may have spoilt this place a bit for me. I wouldn't say the food is not authentic (though the nearby Thai Baan does a far better job of authenticity) but it's too simplified, Indianised and a lot of other things. That said, it's a nice place for the low cost and convenient location. And of course, there isn't any other vegetarian Thai restaurant in Mumbai.

Given that vegetarian Thai dishes can be challenging, I'd say the chefs here haven't done a bad job. I went with my colleagues for lunch and we had high expectations. I've had scrumptious Thai curry and soup at high-end restaurants and according to the waiters, the curry here is excellent as well. But we had other things in mind:

Starters (very good)

Cottage cheese naam prik (Paneer in tomato chili sauce)

 This was very good - the paneer texture and the sauce were both excellent. The dish came with lots of spring onions and bell peppers and the quantity was fantastic.

Potato wedges
Normally, they are served with mushroom sauce but since one colleague did not want mushrooms, they made it differently and the result was quite delicious.

Main course (not so good)

Pad Thai noodles

This was were we went wrong. I had fantastic pad thai in Thailand several times and was keen on reliving the taste. But the version served here is a bit too bland and sweet. They need to up the spices and make it more zesty. I suggest you go for the Thai curry and rice - a safer combination that's hard to mess with.

Dessert (decent)

Klau kaek (crispy banana fritters with honey)

I'd had these in Thailand as well and the version here is absolutely authentic. However, they are fried bananas rather than fritters and though we enjoyed it, I prefer my baked and chocolatey desserts any day. I loved the tiny pakoda-type fried bananas in a small town near Bangkok - perhaps they should try replicating that.

Drink (excellent)

The chocolate martini

This one's an absolute winner and a must order. The quantity is great - we could have two martinis between three people. The martini is chocolatey and creamy and THE perfect cooler with a Thai meal.

The complimentary fortune cookie at the end was a really sweet touch and guess what, my prediction actually came true the very same day!

 

Restaurant rating: 3.5/5

Woman unfettered.

Courtesy: Pixabay

To all those who would dictate what a woman should wear.

Who am I?
Jeans-clad harlot
Or sari-draped angel?
I am human flesh
Governed by mind, soul and a feisty nameless thing
Clothe me how you will
Call me what you wish
I will be
Woman unfettered.
Human expressed
In my every breath.

Micro fiction and poetry

Courtesy: Pixabay

1

A #quest for knowledge
Took me across the world
Yet I learnt the most at home
For in my son's innocent eyes
Were all the answers of the wise.

2

I fished for dreams
In a crowd full of sleeping children
And I found more than I could fit
Within the seams of my charity
- A philanthropist

3

So it's like this -
Sometimes the world doesn't move
At the same pace as you
Sometimes it's faster
Leaving you grounded
Stoic
As the clock spins
Winds blow
And you remain
Suspended in time.

And sometimes it's slower
Pulling at you
With languorous claws
Even as you struggle past
And run into the sunrise
Pursuant
Of a future that you know is yours.

4

I look at pristine pictures
And finely worded memories
And I feel a distinct ache
For distant shores.

I feel a distinct ache
For a different time
When the sun was more sublime
And the winds spoke a language
Quite removed from those in my clime.

5

When the first cracks appeared,
I should've known.
But I stayed on
And #crumbled with the edifice of our failed love.

6

Come dawn, the sun outshines the moon
Come dusk, the tables turn
Eternal rivalry.

Wish fulfilment with HP’s Star Wars Notebook

Courtesy: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/10/hockey-star-wars-jerseys-toledo-walleye-kalamazoo

The snow falls hard and fast outside young Vivaan’s window. His pale eyes watch the outside world wistfully. A poorly-timed viral fever attack has left him unable to watch the all new installment in his favourite franchise – Star Wars. Worse still, his eleventh birthday is only a day away. Could this Mussoorie winter be any bleaker?

The door opens and Vivaan looks up eagerly, hoping it’s Luke Skywalker, come to rescue him from his misery with his Jedi powers. Alas, it’s daddy, bearing a tray of hot chocolate and Oreo cookies – Vivaan’s favourite things in the world, next to Star Wars of course. “How is my champion doing today?” dad asks brightly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “All right I guess,” Vivaan mumbles, his head turned away. Dad strokes his hair softly.

“Don’t worry Vaan, we’ll go watch the film as soon as the force awakens in you again!” 

Courtesy: Lucasfilm / Via lifeisaglitch.tumblr.com

But Vivaan doesn’t smile. “This is Mussoorie, dad. The movie will be out of the theatres by then.” Dad sighs. “Then I’ll get the DVD for you and we’ll watch it at home.” “That’s not the same thing! This is the worst birthday of my life!” Vivaan cries with all the energy he can muster, and buries himself under the covers.

Shailesh shuts the door behind him, aware that anything he says will only make his son angrier. Sometimes, Vivaan doesn’t realise how difficult it has been, raising him all alone. He retires to his room, where a sparkling new HP Pavilion 15-an003TX Notebook sits on the table, intended as a birthday gift for Vivaan, who is fast outgrowing his tablet. The second Shailesh laid his eyes on this notebook packed with special Star Wars software, he knew he had to get it.

Courtesy: http://hpshopping.in/starwars

Shailesh smiles, recalling the time when they had first seen a Star Wars film together. It had been the third episode of the series, titled ‘Revenge of the Sith’ and had served as an unlikely ice-breaker between father and son. Eight year old Vivaan unfairly blamed his father for allowing his mother to die in a bungee jumping accident. 

But somewhere between Chewbacca’s lovable gibberish and Yoda’s obscure wisdom, they had developed a bond that had stood strong until now. 

Courtesy: Lucasfilms / Via thenostalgicworld.tumblr.com

Pouring himself a cup of coffee from the flask by his bedside, Shailesh replays the weeks before Vivaan’s sudden bout of sickness. After three years of devouring Star Wars movies, shows and cartoons on TV, Vivaan had been beside himself with excitement at the prospect of finally seeing his favourite characters on the big screen. But now it’s all ruined – unless Shailesh’s plan works.

Vivaan struggles to stay awake until the clock strikes twelve, but the inviting warmth of his quilt and the weakness induced by his fever, pull him into the deep throes of sleep. Eventually, the steady rhythm of his breathing mirrors the tick-tock of his bedside clock. And then suddenly, an increasingly louder familiar music jolts him awake. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Vivaan sits up to see the Star Wars logo forming on a large screen before his bed, resplendent in the darkness and accompanied by the crystal-clear iconic Star Wars theme music.

His mouth wide open, Vivaan wonders if he’s dreaming. Then, the screen stills on a frame of the much-loved Galactic landscape and an otherworldly blue light floods part of his room. From the shadows, a figure walks into the light and lifts up a glimmering lightsaber. “Luke Skywalker!” Vivaan gasps, almost leaping up in his excitement.

Courtesy: leiaorganaa.tumblr.com

Luke walks over and shakes his hand. “Happy birthday, my boy. May the force be strong in you.” 

 The voice is undoubtedly that of his hero’s. Vivaan is too stunned to respond. “I thought you’d like to have this.” Luke turns to fiddle with something in the darkness and miraculously, a comic book page appears on the screen in front of Vivaan. He scans the images eagerly and exclaims, “It’s the first comic of the Star Wars series! Can I really have it?” Luke ruffles his hair. “Of course you can. I’ve also arranged for you to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens if you aren’t too sleepy.” Vivaan’s eyes turn as round as saucers. “What, now? Really?” The Jedi knight nods, his expression as intense as the music surrounding the room. “Let’s watch it!” Vivaan grins and wonder of wonders, the movie that had released just two days ago, unfolds on the screen.

Created using http://gifcreator.me/

The riveting events in the film compel Vivaan to stay awake despite the late hour. But he never realises when the end credits begin and his head falls back on the pillow. When he wakes up the next morning, Luke Skywalker is gone.

“Happy birthday!” dad crows, entering the room with a large wrapped package in his hands. Vivaan turns to him with shining eyes. “Dad! You’ll never guess what happened last night!” “Oh you can tell me all about it at leisure. But first, don’t you want to see your birthday present?” Dad looks tired, despite his cheery tone. Vivaan grins. “Of course I do!” He eagerly unwraps the bright green packaging and pries open the box with a pocket knife. Lo and behold, encased in bubble wrap is a shiny new laptop in stone grey, proudly emblazoned with a Star Wars poster and the box proclaiming ‘Star Wars Special Edition Notebook’. 

Courtesy: http://hpshopping.in/starwars

Vivaan gasps. Could this really be a coincidence? And then it dawns on him. “You were Luke Skywalker!” he points at his father accusingly. And then he smiles wide. “How did you do it?” Shailesh grins back and wraps his son in a tight hug. “With the help of this beauty of course.” He proceeds to explain how he had sneaked into Vivaan’s room at night and placed the HP Pavilion 15-an003TX Notebook on the table, switched on and ready for use. Unknown to Vivaan, he had already installed a projector-operated screen in front of his bed, that could be rolled down with the push of a button, along with a special blue light.

He had connected the notebook to the projector and delved into its array of special Star Wars software to create the visual effects and play the theme music. Dressed in pre-purchased gear, he had then stepped into the light as Luke Skywalker. 

“But where did the Marvel comic book come from?” Vivaan wants to know. “It’s part of the Star Wars goodies in the notebook. There are e-book excerpts, Star Wars movie trailers, concept art, storyboards, themes and wallpapers as well,” his father says. Vivaan wonders how his birthday has turned out to be so incredibly wonderful all of a sudden. 

Overcome by emotion, he throws his arms around his father and cries into his chest, “Thank you dad! This is the best birthday ever.” 

Pics courtesy: https://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=189

And then a thought strikes him. “But how did you get your hands on the film so soon, dad?” Shailesh winks and says, “I just tapped into some movie world contacts I have. They managed to get me a screening copy on the condition that I wouldn’t duplicate it or share it with anyone apart from you, until they had officially released the DVD.” “You’re a genius, dad!” Vivaan whispers in awe. His dad laughs and hugs him tightly – this boy that he loves more than anything else in the world.

The Star Wars Special Edition HP Pavilion 15-an003TX Notebook is priced at Rs 69,990 and comes with a 6^th Generation Intel Core i5 Processor, Windows 10 Home, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, 2GB Graphics, 8x Supermulti DVD writer and 2GB NVIDIA GeForce 940M Graphics. How will you use these features to #AwakenYourForce? Leave a comment and let me know.

When I went cafe-hopping

Roman figurines grace the backs of the wrought iron chairs at Gaylord Cafe

I'm sitting on a corner table at Gaylord Cafe and having kona coffee! (Kona is corner in Hindi) Other people go bar-hopping. Here, I am cafe hopping with Murakami and fresh muffins for company. It's strange but I never before noticed the Roman figures carved into the backs of the wrought iron chairs here. Then again, it's not that strange. Sometimes, I suspect that I 'unsee' more things than I do see. What a terrible tragedy. Most often, our gazes are turned inwards, enraptured by the sea of endless sights and sounds that our minds churn up. Now and then, some froth will rise to the fore and from it, a pearl of an idea will emerge. But that pearl is like a drop in the ocean. So I must remind myself to see without, more often.

At a crossing near Churchgate station, I realised that among the things I love most is the tendency of decisions to be formed all on their own. At Kitab Khana's Food for Soul, I simply couldn't choose between three flavours of cupcakes. Yet, when the waiter arrived, my lips formed the words with clear certainty - oreo cupcake. And what a good decision it turned out to be! A better example would be the way my feet continued to move, from Fort to Churchgate, and onwards, charting a course whose destination was unknown to me. I used to think I was a little insane for the pleasure I derive out of aimless wanderings, until I came across several Murakami and Orhan Pamuk characters who did the same. Or maybe, that's just further proof of my insanity. Some day, I would like to temporarily relinquish my bipedal status and view the world from a different vantage point.

A little unrest, a little poignancy - is like that essential pinch of salt in any good work of art - be it a composition or a poem. And like sunflowers reaching out to the sun, some knot within our soul unties itself and gravitates towards the song/poem.

It is funny how the music fades out the second the words in one's novel start sinking in. Only when the waiter began humming a few lines did I realise that the cafe was playing the instrumental version of the Hindi oldie 'tumse milke'. Oddly enough, the music went with the story I was reading - the protagonist had just begun to read a letter written by his beloved. But it wasn't a love letter - at least not in the conventional sense.

A Murakami reflection

Unknown music

Unknown music from unseen quarters
Invades the rusty silence
Of jaded hearts.

Certain chords sound a familiar melody
Perhaps echoes
From lives past.

It's a song a seamstress wove
From the looms of un-spun dreams

And what it seems
Are keys 

From a broken piano.

It's a song I once heard

In a dream I never remembered

I know now,
I bore this song all this while

The only key to a secret file
I once slipped into the gaps between time.

Time-bound Energy

I have

No sense of self

Only a sense

Of messed up thoughts

And fiery aspiration.

Hopes and dreams and dust and jewels and

Love

Things and feelings

Places and beings

Parts of me

Parts of them

In me.

A sense

of Time-bound Energy

Mine to direct

Until I am me.

A life lived in technicolour

And memories prone to routine theft

And a spirit that rises to the fore

(Like in Kundera's Teresa)

Only when the sun shines

From a particularly pretty point

In a cloudy sky

A life lived trying to live a life

Failing

Instead making

Magical written history

I have

No sense of self

Only a sense

Of a story I wove

A story I told

The world.

And a compelling one it was.

Drift

People drift
Equations shift
Like tectonic plates.

Modern hieroglyphs grow

In the spaces where

Words should have been.

And silent moss

Takes over

By time, unseen.

Turbocharge your phone with 4G

Source: www.indiblogger.in

Slow Internet has been one of my biggest grouses with this country. Whenever you step out of the country, you find super fast Internet and more WiFi zones than you've ever seen in your life. India is at the forefront of so many innovations - why not the digital innovation as well?

Perhaps Airtel asked themselves this very same question and that's when they decided to surprise the nation with 4G Internet. We were just getting used to 3G and now they're springing 4G on us! Good or bad? Well it's definitely a win-win situation because the 4G plans cost exactly the same as the 3G plans. Take a look at all the plans here. In fact, in some cases they cost a little less. I'm currently on a monthly 1 GB 3G plan for which I forked out Rs 293. Under Airtel's promotional offer, I can get 1GB 3G at Rs 250. So essentially, you can get a free 4G upgrade.

Source: http://www.airtel.in/4g/index

But there are several conditions to this attractive offer:

1. You need to be in a 4G city. This one's easy because Airtel has rolled out the plan in 296 cities across India. The chances are pretty high that you live in one of them.
2. You need to be on a 3G plan. This is not a requirement but if you're on a 2G plan, you will find the 4G rates to be too steep.
3. You need to have a 4G device. Now this one's tricky. Not all handsets are 4G enabled. Mine isn't for instance and I own a Micromax A102. You can check whether your handset is 4G compatible by entering your phone number here: http://www.airtel.in/4g/index.

Is it still a good offer? I'd say yes but by the time all handsets become 4G enabled, I'm pretty sure the cost of the plans would have risen as well. But if you're one of the lucky ones to have a 4G compatible handset, try the 4G magic by all means. Of course, you'd need to have an Airtel number. Did I tell you that with mobile number portability, you can easily shift from one service provider to another? But there are certain costs involved in that too. My friend has an Airtel connection and he shifted from the Maharashtra circle to the Mumbai circle last month. He had to pay for a new SIM and also undergo hassles with regards to accessing the Mumbai plan rates. But if you're a heavy user of mobile Internet, these minor issues should not deter you from exploring the possibilities of 4G.

I am not certain if this promotional offer is available on tablets or not but I would love to watch videos or do some shopping on a 4G enabled tablet. Folks at Airtel, are you listening?

Book review: The Connected Age

Courtesy: www.theconnectedage.org

I’ve always been a diehard optimist, believing that the world has hope for redemption, in spite of the destructed path that it is hurtling along. Sudhakar Ram, CEO and co-founder, Mastek, not only echoes my views but also provides a master plan for the reinvention of the world and its future in his expertly crafted book ‘The Connected Age’.

There is no dearth of armchair philosophers but when a philosopher comes armed with a solid plan for the execution of his ideals, the world has to sit up and take notice. The Connected Age suggests steps that organisations, governments, societies and individuals can take to create a more sustainable world. By the end of the book, the author almost has you convinced that you can be the change you wish to see in the world.

According to Sudhakar, the world’s continued existence depends on its inhabitants realising one irrefutable truth – we are all co-dependent on each other. And ‘we’ doesn’t allude to humans alone; it includes all the animate and inanimate dwellers of this planet. As long as man continues to consider himself as ‘master of everything on the planet’, we will never achieve peaceful and productive co-existence. In Sudhakar’s words, ‘We all need to connect, collaborate, and co-create the world we intend to leave behind.’ Anyone who is even remotely interested in making a positive impact on the world must read this book and apply the principles that they identify with.

The only problem with Sudhakar’s vision is the assumption that mankind is indeed motivated to achieve such a noble goal. What about the selfish exploiters who don’t care whether they hew a tree or kill a tiger in their pursuit for transient personal wealth? What about the average apathetic citizen who will not lift a finger to extend the lifespan of the planet? The answer according to my own reflections is that even if one individual out of a thousand aspires to take proactive action to improve the state of the world and if that individual has access to this book, then perhaps the author’s job is done.

At first glance, the book may appear to be too cerebral for the average reader but I assure you that it’s immensely readable and gripping. Once you move past the initial chapters, you will be extremely intrigued and eager to arrive at the part where you get to do something about the degeneration of our societal and economic set-ups. If nothing else, the book makes you think about the way you lead your life and leaves you with an abundance of positive energy.

It’s all very well when thinkers utter wise words for the benefit of the intellectuals. But when entrepreneurs and professionals engaged in the regular nitty-gritty of life decide to present their wisdom to the world, it transforms Utopia into an achievable ideal. Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline writes in a foreword to the book, ‘This is one reason I find this book so interesting – a book about transforming Industrial Age thinking and practices over the coming decades, written by a manager working to do just that amidst the day-to-day pressures of managing a successful company.’

Sudhakar says that our lives are ruled by seven constructs that drive our attitudes and actions. These are success, learning, work, consumption, wellness, governance and globalisation. The Connected Age deals with new mindsets and structural constructs that will remedy the existing ones. Sudhakar cites relatable examples from his own daughter’s life to familiarise the reader with these concepts. 

According to him, the three enablers of a connected age are subsidiarity, free market mechanisms and optimal governance. I found the concept of subsidiarity to be extremely logical and interesting; the principle advocates performing as many functions as possible at local levels and having a central authority intervene only when a certain task can be better executed at a higher level. Thus, while decentralisation assumes that power is focused at the top and must be distributed to the bottom, subsidiarity assumes that power is focused at the bottom and must be devolved to the top when required.

An idea that I’ve come across earlier in a training workshop as well is the need to wield personal power and focus on what we can control (circle of influence) over what we cannot (circle of concern). Why do we assume that it Is only the people in influential positions who possess power? In fact, their power is not their own; it can be taken away at any time, along with their positions. Personal power on the other hand, is ours to use and control and we wield it through the choices we make and the decisions we take.

Lifelong learning, following one’s true calling and responsible consumption are other ideas that are discussed at length in the book. Most interestingly, Sudhakar advises even organisations to find and follow their true purpose. One observation that I’m not entirely convinced about is his belief that the future belongs to small organisations with the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. In my opinion, if growth is possible, it will definitely occur. And no organisation with the potential to grow will remain small forever.

A significant recommendation made in the book is to replace income tax with property tax, based on Henry George’s idea of ‘land value tax’ propounded in his book Progress and Poverty. I hope a copy of this book finds its way to our Finance Minister’s desk. Sudhakar also advocates the concept of a ‘global earth tax’, which should serve as a sufficient deterrent to elements of society that are hastening the depletion of our natural reserves. The suggestion for a world currency also sounds highly rational to me and it would be interesting to have finance experts debate on these ideas.

Incidentally, the book is a product of Sudhakar’s widely successful collaborative blog ‘The New Constructs’. Sign up for their newsletter to get daily articles on improving your life and career in your inbox.

Outside the airplane

Clouds like ghosts or fairies

Swooping past gracefully

In the distance, another aircraft

Floating merrily through a Godly canvas

And here, aerial snow like bony fingers

A skeletal mass

Remains of the spectre lurking above

Mutating clouds

Their forms as varied

As the expression on the cherub

Seated next to me

Her dimples a thing of magic

Like the painting outside my window.

Hearts like latticed gates

Hearts like latticed gates

The beauty within 

Enhanced by the barriers without. 

Feeling

I'll keep it inside of me
This inappropriate feeling
And let it grow inward
Feeding on me
A parasite I cannot kill
Without extinguishing myself.