JustBooks - December 2011 newsletter

Pushpa Achanta finds out theresponse to English books that werepublished in 2011 and penned bywriters from South Asia.

Amitav Ghosh's River of Smoke(Viking/Penguin, 528 pages) gener-ated much interest in the literary

world this year. Ghosh won the BlueMetropolis International Literary GrandPrix earlier this year at an annual literaryfestival of the same name being organ-ized in Montreal, Canada since 1999.According to the festival website, thisprize "is awarded annually to a writer ofinternational stature and accomplishment asa celebration of a lifetime of literary achieve-ment".

Some foreign newspapers opined thatGhosh was probably been conferred theaward as the focus of the 2011 edition ofthe festival was on India. Although theauthor's great reputation indicates that hedeserves it.

Another book of 2011, set in India andPakistan that got plenty of worldwide

attention is the semi-autobiographical novel Noon (Faber and Faber, 304 pages) byAatish Taseer. It has won praise fromreaders and reviewers alike. Taseer's firstfictional work The Temple Goers(Viking, 304 pages) was nominated for theCosta First Novel Award (formerly calledthe Whitbread Award) in 2010.

Approached for her opinion on whichSouth Asian English books or authorswere a hit in 2011, Annie Zaidi, a journal-ist, blogger, poet and author shared, "Ihave not read most of the hundreds of SouthAsian books written in English this year. Butone of the books that I remember as a definitehit is A Free Man (Random House, 240pages) by Aman Sethi, journalist and writer."

Incidentally, Zaidi and her friend SmritiRavindra, a columnist, short story writerand teacher of creative writing fromNepal co-authored the book The BadBoy’s Guide To The Good Indian Girl orThe Good Indian Girl's Guide ToLoving, Living And Having Fun(Zubaan, 224 pages).

This book reportedly attracted youngmen to its launches in a few Indian citiesearlier this year. Manu Joseph's SeriousMen (John Murray, 310 pages) is worthmentioning here as it was the winner ofthe PEN Open Book Award in 2011.

In the non-fiction category, the realistic

and insightful book titled The Emperorof All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer(Scribner, 592 pages) by SiddharthaMukherjee stands out. It brought itswriter (an oncologist or cancer physician)into the limelight when he was conferredthe Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfictionthis year.

A debut novel of this Rhodes Scholar, italso won the PEN/E.O. Wilson LiteraryScience Writing Award for 2011 and wasone of those works that were nominatedfor the National Book Critics CircleAward this year.

"A book that I read and liked is The Book

CONNECT2011: A year for books Pg 10

Quiz

Pg 11AuthorProfile

Pg 12JustKids

Volume 2 Issue 10www.justbooksclc.comblog.justbooksclc.com

December 2011 For limited circulation

A JustBooks Publication

contd on pg 2...

Pushpa Achanta

2 JustBooks Connect - December 2011

From the Editor’sDesk

Did you read our new maga-zine INK, a magazine foryou, dear book lovers? If

not, then look in your library'smagazine section for it. We hopeyou will like our inaugural issue.We have a long way to go but withyour support and encouragement,we are sure we will evolve INK intoa true magazine about our bookindustry. Don't forget to send yourfeedback and suggestions to oureditor.

The last two months of this yearsaw many interesting literary festi-vals and fairs being hosted acrossIndia. The Hay Festival inThiruvananthapuram, BookarooChildren Literature Festival inDelhi, the Bangalore Book Fair, theJust Write Workshop and theStrand Book Festival. And lest weforget, Year 2012 will be welcomedby the biggest literary festival ofIndia- the Jaipur Literary festival!

Some exciting developments arehappening at JustBooks, too. Wehave opened more than 40 branch-es, have spread to seven citiesacross India and now provideaccess to four Lakh books. Youmust have seen or read aboutJustBooks in different Medias.Many branches are conductingJustBooks Events that includes sto-rytelling, essay writing, book read-ing. All this to be better connectedwith its members.

At JustBooks we are happy thatwe are on our way to realise ourvision of - Get every book a reader andget every reader his or her book. Andto achieve our vision we needactive participation from all booklovers.

We call all our members to con-tribute regularly, and especiallyour young readers to send in theirstories, poems, book reviews or anyother interesting article for our JustKids pages.

In this last edition of Year 2011JustBooks Connect, let's find outfrom some literary figures whatbooks of 2011 they liked or did notlike. And also look into someunique titles.

Tell us what you think of this edi-tion and write in your thoughts andcontributions to [email protected].

of Memory (Penguin, 318pages) by psychoanalyst andwriter Sudhir Kakar. The other books I read thisyear were all released muchearlier than 2011", saidcolumnist and novelist C KMeena, when asked toname South Asian Englishbooks or authors (pub-lished this year) that sheenjoyed reading in 2011.

Annie Zaidi picked JaaneBhi Do Yaaro - SeriouslyFunny Since 1983 byJaiarjun Singh (HarperCollins, 300 pages) amongthe non-fiction works thatdelighted her.

Misses andControversies of 2011On the subject of books of

2011 that were "misses"Annie Zaidi remarked,"How do you judge whomissed what, and who knowswhat it was aiming for any-way?"

Rheaa Mukherjee, co-founder and editor ofUrban Confustions, a jour-nal of art and literature,added, “It's hard for me tochoose books that were misses.I think that the relationship areader has with a piece of text is substantiat-ed and validated through a personal experi-ence."

It is pertinent to state that despite thelarge number of English books beingreleased in this country, many of themhave done well either in terms of com-merce or critical response or both. Smallwonder as India is amongst the top tennations in the world in publishing.

Mukherjee opined about a distastefulliterary incident in 2011, "I thought itfunny that V S Naipaul said that women'swriting is different, partly because of their

sentimentality and narrowworld view. I was also amusedto see so many women writersup in arms about it.

I think I am far too confidentas a writer, as are many otherwomen writers in this, to evengive his statements a crediblethought.

I mention this controversybecause I hope women writersin the future can roll their eyesand laugh at things like thisinstead of validating such opin-ions through anger."

Some unique books of2011

Retired Pakistani civil ser-vant Jamil Ahmad made aliterary debut at the age of78 with The WanderingFalcon (Penguin, 192 pages),which is set in Pakistanand Afghanistan.

Oluguti Toluguti: IndianRhymes to Read and Recite(Tulika) by Radhika Menon,Sandhya Rao has 54 Indianpoems in 18 languages inthe original tongue, Englishtranslations and Englishand Hindi transliterations.

Rakshanda Jalil's short fic-tion anthology Release andOther Stories (Harper

Collins India) is probably the first one fea-turing Indian middle class muslim char-acters.

I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Ded(Penguin, 328 pages) - verses of the epony-mous 14th century Kashmiri womanmystic also known as Lalleshwari, ren-dered in English by Ranjit Hoskote.

Narayan's Kocharethi, The ArayarWoman (Oxford University Press, 264pages) translated by CatherineThankamma is perhaps the first work bya tribal man from Kerala.

Let's see now what 2012 will bring!

contd from pg 1...

Writing substantive poetrydoes not come easily to all.Understanding what the

poet is trying to convey may takemore than one reading. More so, inthe case of translated verses. But notso, when one is reading the leg-endary poet Pablo Neruda.

Pablo Neruda (the pen name ofNeftali Reyes) started writing verseswhen he was around ten and his firstcollection was published when hewas about sixteen years old under

the nom de plume that he chose for himself.One of the few poets who won the Nobel Prize for

Literature, Neruda wrote many verses in Spanish that haddepth amidst simplicity. The sea, women, love, death, ships,factory workers and cities and countries that he visitedinspired him to pen lines that reflected his feelings aboutthem. Selected Poems consists of some of Neruda's poeticexpressions that were translated into English.

The presence of the Spanish and English versions on adja-cent pages of this collection may be distracting to some read-ers irrespective of the languages they know.

However, anyone who enjoys poetry should definitelyread this master.

Manjula Sundharam

Maverick: The Success Story Behind TheWorld's Most Unusual WorkplaceRicardo SemlerRandom House

Will India regain its pre-renais-sance position in global sci-ence and technology? Why

did it not live it up to its promise sinceindependence? Is it because of thestranglehold of its traditions and super-stitions? Or is it because of pennypinching in funding R&D? Did the ITboom raise India's profile in the globalmarkets while ironically diverting itstop talent into mindless coding? Whatare some of the valiant and significantR&D happening in India?

The author defines 'Geekiness' as one's 'passion about an intel-lectual pursuit'. Indian civilization was once arguably wayahead of the western world in science and technology.European renaissance helped the western world make rapid sci-entific and technological progress. Colonialism fueled westerncapitalism with cheap raw materials, captive markets and mili-tary might. Was the decline in Indian science and technology anatural consequence? If so, how come India failed to regain its('rightful'?) place, even after six decades of independence? Thisbook explores this failure of post-independence India, from theperspective of an U.K born Indian.

Geek NationAngela SainiHodder & Stoughton

Reshmi Chakraborty

Stealing KarmaAneesha CapurHarper Collins

Ricardo Semler narrates hischange management story as aleader at one of Latin

America's fastest growing companies.He describes how his unconventionalleadership changed the environmentin the company from autocratic toparticipative and made it the mostpreferred workplace in Brazil.

If employees are asked to blindlyfollow instructions without question-ing, how can they be encouraged tothink, innovate and act as human

beings?Following this thought Semler allowed his employees at the

manufacturing plant to dress as they please, enter the work-place at a time they thought was reasonable for themselves andtheir teams, pick a task that excited them, and choose a salarythat they thought they deserved. Fixed working hours, rigidorganizational charts, and policy manuals strip away freedomand give a false feeling of discipline. By allowing employees tospeak their minds and letting them determine their own wayof achieving goals, Semler persuaded his employees to work asresponsible adults and increased productivity at the workplace.

Dr. Rajagopalan

Aneesha Capur's Stealing Karmais based in Nairobi where MiraSharma lives a luxurious but dis-

contented life with her husband anddaughter. History fogs up the present asMira keeps slipping into bouts of depres-sion despite her determination to be abetter wife and mother. When things gowrong, Mira has to survive for the sakeof her daughter.

Together with their African house-keeper, mother and daughter form anunusual family as Mira tries to battle her

demons and her daughter Shanti tries to get through to a moth-er lost in the stupor of memories.

This is a novel that piques curiosity if only for the unusualKarmic angle to the mother-daughter saga. It is moving andpoignant despite the problems in its plot.

Capur is a gifted writer and creates some truly touchingmoments out of simple situations.

The book works on many levels and addresses several issuesincluding familial relations and racial prejudice but despite itsflaws, Stealing Karma is a novel that piques curiosity if only forthe unusual Karmic angle to the mother-daughter saga.

Written beautifully, Stealing Karma, is assured and sharp fora debut novel.

Pushpa Achanta

Selected PoemsPablo NerudaPenguin Books

JustBooks Connect - December 2011 3

For the full reviews check out justbooksclc.com


Sleuthing Bengali StyleThe abcd of Bengali detectives

This debut novel is an ethno-detec-tive thriller, and as much a medita-tion on retirement and

Bengaliness as it is a 'whodunit'. Butoften the tension of a thriller loosesout to wonderful snippets andfoibles of the Bengalis ranging fromruminations on the adda culture,pet names like Poltu, Bhombol orKaltu that can ruin the amorousadvances of many a roadsideRomeo, to delicious snippets ofwhy the simple gulab jamun iscalled ledikeni in Bangla.

The four retirees "with recedinghairlines and protruding bellies" arehardly detective material but thenthey also feel too young to opt outof life as such. They gather in thepark, ostensibly to exercise, butmainly to participate in the particu-larly Bengali pastime of adda.

For the non-initiates, an adda is agathering (mainly of men), whomeet to chat. The topics range fromthe price of fish, to local gossip topolitics to comparisons between thefilmic genius of Satyajit Ray andJean-Luc Godard, to Marxist philos-ophy. The latest to join the group ofsenior citizens is Akhil Bannerjee, arecently retired judge, who com-pletes the ABCD series of - Akhil,Bibhuti, Chandan and Debdas.

One day, unexpectedly, they all receivean invitation to dinner from a rather aloofMr. Agarwal who lives in the sameneighbourhood. They spend a convivialevening together but the next day theyare in for a shock when they discoverthat Mr. Agarwal's prize collector'sitem, a diamond, the size of a pigeon’segg, has gone missing. They had seenthe exquisite jewel just that evening andare horrified at how it could have disap-peared from under their collectivenoses. Immediately the first suspects arethe servants and then the various otherswho could have had access to the jewel

- including the guests, Agarwal's secre-tary and an itinerant seller of collectibleswho had come to show Agarwal hiswares. The 'not ready for retirement' stal-warts - ABCD, who are also miffed atbeing forced to take a back seat in thelocal organization of the Puja pandal by ayounger gang of the para or neighbour-hood youth, take up the challenge of solv-ing the crime.

The retired judge is definitely the'brains' of the group and orchestrates theothers. But each one plays their part intracking down suspects and applyingtheir sleuthing skills. One of the four is a

potential suspect himself as not only washe the last to see the diamond but he is

also worried about the marriage of hisdaughter and how he will pay for that.

One of the sub-plots is the search for agroom for this daughter Pia. Andalthough this is the major preoccupationof the mother, the father aside fromsleuthing, also gets involved in the inter-actions. Pia goes through the habitual teaand "seeing" of the girl but does not hesi-tate to speak her mind and swiftly dis-misses each suitor with her outspoken-ness. Pia is possibly the only female char-acter with guts in this novel. For the rest,all four wives are non-differentiable fromeach other and presented as stereotypical

Bengali wives whose livesrevolve around the kitchen,procuring the right fish for theday, nagging their husbandsand finding suitable matchesfor their daughters.

As the plot evolves, the chasefor the criminal results in vari-ous red herrings and unexpect-ed twists. Finally it is theretired judge who calls a meet-ing at Mr. Agarwal's house andunravels the various threads toreveal who actually stole thepriceless diamond that may nothave been so priceless after all.

The author, SuparnaChatterjee was born andbrought up in Calcutta but nowlives in Bangalore. This proba-bly accounts for the nostalgiathat imbues this first novel. Theloving descriptions of thingsBengali are one of the rarecharms of the book.

There is even a fascinatinghistorical anecdote that attrib-utes the change of Durga Pujafrom a spring festival to anautumnal one back to the battleof Plassey in 1757. (I cannot

account for the veracity of the story butwhy not?) There is also a hilarious

description of the competition amongvarious paras for the best Durga Pujapandals.

Chatterjee acknowledges her debt to"Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie and SatyajitRay - three writers who planted in me aburning desire to become a sleuth" but herreal talent is not so much in weaving adetective story, which is almost inci-dental here, but in recounting andtransporting one into a fun and ethno-graphic account of Bengalis. This is justthe book for a long plane journey.

The All Bengali Crime Detectives

Suparna ChatterjeeRupa and Co

Geetanjali Singh Chanda

The loving descriptions of thingsBengali are one of the rare charmsof the book. There is even a fasci-nating historical anecdote thatattributes the change of DurgaPuja from a spring festival to anautumnal one back to the battle ofPlassey in 1757.


The Gandhi way

Like Ananthamurthy's earlier novelSamskara, this novel too, was orig-inally written in Kannada. We are

fortunate to have English transla-tions of at least these two of hismajor works.

The central character in thisnovel, Jagannath is a person withwhom it is easy for a candid mod-ern Indian reader, to identify. Hefeels like many of us, impotentwith rage at the appalling treat-ment of the underdogs of society,in this case, specifically the pari-ahs.

Even more important, he seeshimself as a non-person, some-how inauthentic, if he does noth-ing to change the social orderwhich he confronts all aroundhim in his mofussil temple townof Bharathipura. He can smell itsstench and see its dark alleys,both in a literal and metaphoricsense. The revolutionary in himwants to get rid of the "age oldsuperstitions" and substitute itwith the "scientific temper", andthereby extricate the inhabitantsof the town from the "womb ofManjunatha", the local all encom-passing deity.

He works out a simple prioriti-zation for his revolutionary agen-da. If the central ideology of thetown—its faith in a pure temple,unpolluted by the entry ofuntouchables can be shaken—andif the collective of "untouchables"can be made "touchable" a rational socio-economic order will inevitably follow.

The book was first published in 1973and was written when temple entry wasstill a social issue, especially in SouthIndia. Though the specific issue may bedated, the social realities still persistmuch in the same mangled fashion.

Jagannath's complex but naïve faith ismoving. He believes that his iconoclasti-cism will somehow free the spirit of thetown towards a new creative impulse. Tohim, the image of the deity Manjunatha,is a symbol of an ignorant, superstitious,apathetic society, with its unjust valuesystem. By breaking the superstitionssurrounding its "purity" and theentrenched fears which stop the untouch-ables from entering its divine precincts,he hopes to free the townspeople fromthe constrictions of the womb space.

Breaking iconic sanctity is an age oldhistorical phenomenon-the images are

either reinvested with a new garb ofsacredness or are replaced by other icons.What exactly is to replace Manjunatha?Will the creative impulse automaticallyfollow the destruction? The famousRussian anarchist and iconoclast Bakuninbelieved that destruction itself was a

form of creation, but our hero does notsee himself as an anarchist but one with avision of a dynamic modernBharathipura. He does not have a clearidea of what kind of a practical changethis notion of modernity would shapeitself into.

What he does have are a number ofquestions reeling in his head.

Inactivity, to him is no option. He mustact or he must die. The stance is dramat-ic. He is young; western educated and isfull of anxiety of the existentialist, atrendy school of thought in his studentdays. His rather quaint friend Adiga, the

temple priest, warns himthat it could be his ego thatis playing up. Could it?Our hero has no sureanswers. His friend Rayaruwarns him that sustainingidealism in the real worldis only for the very brave.His own Gandhian idealshave left him a pauper andat odds with his wife andfamily in a world that idol-izes Gandhi but nourishesunbridled greed and cor-ruption.

When Jagannath finallyaccomplishes what he setsout to do and makes theuntouchables touch thesacred Saligrama, in hisown domestic shrine, andbreaks the taboo of theuntouchable entering thetemple, he feels he hasfinally acted. But where isthe creative impulse thatthis act of destruction wassupposed to unleash?

The untouchables areideological and mentalconstructs for Jagannath;they are not real individu-als whom he knows. Is thatwhat leads to the ratheroutlandish ending of thetale? He observes that it isonly those we can change

that we can love. Was he trying to changethe pariahs into images of himself withtheir clean shirts and white dhothis? Wassuch a transformation possible or evendesirable? The novel, to quoteA.K.Ramanujan, in another context, endsbut does not conclude.

Dr. Rajeshwari Ghose

Bharathipura

UR AnanthamurthyTranslated from Kannada bySusheela PunithaOxford University Press

Of idealism and loving those we change

One of the refrains heard often fromparents these daysis that their chil-

dren do not have time toread or are not interestedin anything beyond theircourse work and syllabus.This is true to a certainextent. The demands onthe present youngsters aremore and the time avail-able to pursue interestsother than their studies isless. And when one con-siders the range of optionsthat children have, to uti-lize their spare time rang-ing from outdoor physicalactivity to video gamesand browsing the internet,to make them read isindeed a challenging task.

However, before takingthem to task for their lack ofinterest in reading, it is worth-while to introspect aboutwhether as parents, we havemade efforts to inculcate thereading habit in them. Howmany of us as parents have actu-ally taken the trouble to intro-duce their wards to the joys andpleasures of reading?

These are some observations onthe changing trends in ourlifestyle that have occurred overthe last couple of decades. Whenwe were growing up, the onlyalternative to outdoor activityand reading was Doordarshan.Now, with the entire gamut ofhundreds of channels and theinternet along with gaming con-soles vying for the children'sattention, reading has taken abackseat.

An exception is the runaway success ofthe Harry Potter Phenomenon which hasgiven some hope. It has re-introduced thegeneration of today to the pleasure ofreading. I call it a phenomenon as nothingcomes close to the impact that the HarryPotter series has had on young minds andhearts and the way in which theythronged the bookstores at dawn on therelease day. It was indeed heart-warmingfor a Gen X booklover like me. Books likethese could be a starting point in letting

your children discover the pleasures ofreading. Making the books meant forchildren into movies is yet another goodnews.

Like the Tintin series —on which manyof us grew up on—and the release of themovie by Steven Spielberg. Comics areany day a good enough reason for chil-dren to get out of bed and hence thesedevelopments must be welcomed.

Young minds love interestingly illus-trated good stories. And fortunately

publishers like Tulika, Tara Books, YoungZubaan, NBT, CBT and Scholastic Indiaare coming out with such books foryoung readers. Old favourites like AmarChitra Katha, Tinkle, Chandamama andChampak, which held children in sway

for decades, are being made attractiveand relevant to the times that we live in.Overall there is no shortage of goodbooks.

Now books are becomingavailable in the electronic

format, so children can beencouraged to read the eBooksand utilize the time spentbrowsing in a productive man-ner. Instead of using the internetas a medium to just downloadmusic and movies, the addedpleasure of making them readwould be akin to getting a dou-ble Sundae for them. Reading isa wholesome entertainer and thesheer volumes of titles availablein the market for children mustsurely be an incentive for theparents to take their kids onweekends to bookstores wherethey can get good bargains onchildren's books. Taking kids tobooks stores or library, asking

them to pick their ownbooks, helps in expos-ing kids to the world ofbooks and ignites theircuriosity. Reading willfollow from this curios-ity.

Talking about makingchildren read remindsme of the grandmothertales that we used listenas bedtime stories. Italways helps if parentscan set aside some timeeveryday to tell storiesor read to their childrenand make them realizethat there is a worldbeyond TV and theInternet. As the clichégoes, if you do not havethe time, you must cre-ate time. Bedtime read-

ing for young children and discussingbooks with your teenagers and adoles-cents might be what is needed for yourchildren to get hooked on to books. All inall, making reading a family affair willprovide the necessary impetus for yourkids to become full-fledged readers.

Catch them young and watch themgrow. This must be the motto in all mat-ters and with reading as well. Once youhave the basics in place, rest assuredeverything would follow. A good placeto start would be your local library and agood time to start is now.


The art of making children readRam Mohan Susarla

In conversation


We have consistently underes-timated the power of scienceto revolutionalize society.

We get enamored by the achievementsof entrepreneurs, inventors and enter-tainers and ignore the importance offundamental contributions of scientists.In reality, it is only when we learnt to har-ness a new force of nature - gravity, elec-tromagnetism, the weak nuclear force orthe strong nuclear force- human societyunderwent significant transformations.What are such fundamental break-throughs in the pipeline? How will theyimpact our lives?

In contrast to the rapid advances inhumanity's scientific and technologicalknowledge, Kaku claims that our wants,dreams, personalities and desires haven'tchanged much in the last 100,000 years.Like our cavemen ancestors, we stilldemand 'proof of the kill'. This 'cavemanprinciple' will continue to tilt the balancein favour of high-touch over the panaceaoffered by high-tech.

Just to get an idea, let us look at some ofthe predictions for medicine. Biology willbecome information science. We can get

our own genome sequence on a CD for aslittle as $100. Tissue engineering andgrowing of organs from our own cells forreplacement in human body shop,cloning, gene therapy, genetic enhance-ments etc., will become common place.

There are similar predictions in otherareas. In IT, quantum computing mightbe the in-thing. While robots performingroutine tasks will be common place,humans will still man tasks requiring pat-tern recognition and common sense.Computer chips will become so embed-ded into gadgets that we will no longerbe aware of them. Superconductors atroom temperatures will enable trans-portation using magnetism.

While these predictions may or may notcome true, Kaku points out that these arenevertheless based on current scientificwork. One cannot help noticing the liber-al dose of optimism of the author, espe-

cially on predicted developments inexploring space and space travel. Theauthor counters this by pointing out howsome of the common place technologiesof today sounded like science fiction evenas recently as 1900s.

The author zones in on the problem ofadequate energy sources and their effi-cient use as the most crucial questions.He hopes that a combination of nuclearfusion and solar energy will prove ade-quate. Nanotechnology, superconductivi-ty at normal temperatures and other suchdevelopments will vastly improve effi-ciency. There is in fact a possibility thathumanity will say goodbye to the era ofscarcity.

However, his effort at incorporating theimplications of social, economic andpolitical factors on technological devel-opments and its deployment is at bestspotty. For example, he does not considerthe impact of expanding wants in project-

ing an end to the era of scarcity. Nor doeshe explore the 'problem of the plenty',though he rightly points out that the realbottleneck in the future will not be tech-nological hardware but the availability ofmanual labour intensive software.

It would have been very instructive ifthe author had taken the further step ofexplicating the implications of the per-sistence or otherwise of the so-calledcaveman principle. For example, how isit that the author claims that we will

become a 'planetary civilization'but still will behave like cavemen?After all, a planetary civilization issupposed to be symbolized by thegrowing integration wrought bythe internet, English language,globalized economy, universal cul-ture, a common environment,sports, tourism and even globalpandemics.

Another major blind spot of thebook is the absence of any discus-sion on what would happen to ourflora and fauna in the light of suchdramatic projections on scientificdevelopments and their impacts.

Then, the book would have beenmuch more interesting, even if at

the cost of leaving out predictions regard-ing the far future. As it is, such predic-tions of the far future sound more iffyand like flights of imagination.

But nature can throw many surprises.Just recently, scientists have been puz-zled about some sub-atomic particleswhich apparently travel at speeds fasterthan light! They are frantically setting upexperiments at enormous costs to verifythis claim. If this claim holds, how canone distinguish the past, present andfuture? How will we define cause-effectrelationships?

One interesting aspect of the book is thecolorful characters working on the cut-ting edge of science. In contrast to popu-lar notions, these scientists sound morelike excited children, devoting entirecareers chasing a dream which maynever materialize in their life time. Whatdrives them to do this?

Is the Future Already Here?The Physics Formula

Physics of the Future

Michio KakuAllen Pane

Dr. Rajagopalan

Kaku claims that ourwants, dreams, personalitiesand desires haven't changedmuch in the last 100,000 years.Like our cavemen ancestors, westill demand 'proof of the kill'.

In the colossal chaos that is Karachiwhat chances does the junior nurseSister Alice Bhatti, a Catholic from

the untouchable 'choohra' communityhave for protecting her body, her dignityand her dream.

Alice's experiences in life have madeher bold and defiant, wise and cautiousand yet 'givens' of the social set up aresuch that she is extremely vulnerable atthe same time. "Every step forward in lifeis preceded by a ritual humiliation. Every lit-tle happiness asks for a down payment."

Will Alice rise above her circum-stances, amid her past in Borstal jail, herhome in the squalor of French Colony,the filth of Sacred Heart Hospital and hermarriage to a police tout?

The bleak drama of Alice Bhatti's life isplayed out against the backdrop of cer-tain motifs.

First, vibrant presence of mindless vio-lence embodied in guns of variousdescriptions- Kalashnikovs, Mausers,toysize pistols all find uses in settlingscores, declaring love and possibly, get-ting rid of boredom.

Second, lusting and leering menabound, men who look upon women as'loose change in a street deal' or 'slavesthey bought in a clearance sale', menwho have no qualms about intimidatingwomen into sexual acts and then cuttingthem up.

Third, class hierarchy, caste prejudice,clan clout and cold crass calculationplay their game to the finish with a bru-tality and brazenness. Add to that theignorance, gullibility and impulsiveness

of the people, top it up with the police,underworld, and the tragic set of eventsis set into motion.

A sizzling satire in a crisp tight knitnarrative; brings into focus the vices thatgrip the society in Karachi. Hanif haspenned it in brilliantly evocative prosewith wry humour and sparkling wit. Thestory crackles all the way through withsharp and cutting irony. The novel enter-tains and depresses too. It is a sordid talewith no character in chaotic Karachioffering any hint or hope of redemption.


Things that have changedsince I joined JustBooks

Along year has passed by since Itook a membership at JustBooks.The books here are really inter-

esting and come in a huge variety. Thishas increased my appetite for readingmore and more.

I have started exploring books writtenby new authors that I never knewbefore; this is giving me a great viewabout the world around me and has alsoimproved my language. This obsessionof reading books is pretty infectious.

Whenever I have guests staying overat home, I get them to come to JustBookswith me and it so happens that theyalways step out with a book which turnsout to be a very enjoyable read.

All in all, JustBooks has added thatextra bit of spice to my life by offeringbooks that just pushes my imagination!

Ananth Kamath, MalleshwaramBangalore

Reader’sVoice

Sulekha Kumar

Reader’s contribution

Sulekha Kumar, a member of JustBooksRMV II Stage, is a freelance writer whohas published short stories in Hindi andEnglish. A gold medalist in EnglishLiterature and Russian from BhopalUniversity, she taught at MLB Collegebefore joining (and assisting) her husbandin his diplomatic assignments. Duringtheir home postings, she held many edito-rial positions, of which she particularlyenjoyed her stint at the Children's BookTrust.

The down payment for happiness

Our Lady of Alice Bhatti

Mohammed HanifJonathan Cape

We all agree that writing is a cre-ative process. Most of the storywriters are able to visualize

something beyond the ordinary and penit in an eloquent form, and that results ina work of fiction. Some of which cancause controversies.

Amongst the Indian literature, Tamilliterature has one of the richest legaciescreated by its writers. But many of thesewriters have also faced a lot of flak forwriting the unthinkable that the conser-vative Tamil society found difficult todigest. While some writers struggledwith legal wrangles and court cases overcredits, delayed payments and copyrightissues.

Writer K Jayalakshmi, it appears, wasfighting a court case with producer-director K.S. Gopalakrishnan, for half ofher life time. She had written a shortstory about an impoverished familywhere the daughter gets married to anaffluent man.

Her brother goes to her house on aninvitation for a birthday party for hisnephew and is outraged atthe treatment given to him.While he leaves his sister'splace, his sister hurriedlythrusts a bag in his hand.

After returning home, thebrother, incensed at hismother and wife for forcinghim to attend the birthdayparty without a formal invi-tation, throws the bag. Fromthe bag that was given byhis sister, rupee notes and aletter hurl out. Allegedly,the director lifted this storyand made it into a moviethat enraged the writerbecause there were no cred-its given to her in the movie.

Needless to add, the pay-ment came to her only aftershe filed a case in the court.

In one other Tamil movie, thereis a silently suffering woman (Revathi)from a very poor and downtrodden fam-ily, who marries a municipality worker(Pandian). The torture of the poorwoman begins right after marriage withthe drunkard husband bringing in astreetwalker into the house.

Unable to bear the torture, the wife setsherself on fire and stealthily clutchesonto her husband tightly and has hersilent revenge. Writer AnuradhaRamanan alleged that this movie wasbased on a story written by her.

Maharishi's Bhadrakali was anothernovel that ended up in a controversy butof a different kind.

The 1975 movie, also titled Bhadrakaliand based on the novel was about thetravails of an impoverished TamilBrahmin family where the marrieddaughter ends up with mental sicknessafter she witnesses a horrific rape andmurder.

Deserted by her husband after sheends up killing herown child in ademented state, thewoman kills the vil-lain in the end afterdonning the avatarof 'Bhadrakali'.

The actress playingthe lead role unfortu-nately died in aplane crash evenbefore the movie wasreleased and sceptics

said that she had not followed properreligious norms during her portrayal of'Bhadrakali' and so she paid the price forit.

Thus, Tamil stories and controversieshave always been Siamese twins. TheBrahmin community burnt copies of the

magazine that carried the controver-sial story 'Chirai' by AnuradhaRamanan. The story evidently wassemi-autobiographical; like the hero-ine in the story, Anuradha wasdeserted by her husband, though thesimilarity ends there.

With dwindling writing talent, thecontroversies have also slowly dieddown. But it is a comforting fact thatcreativity in Tamil writing has beenof the highest order.


Tamil stories and their controversiesG Venkatesh

Reader’s contribution

G Venkatesh lives in HAL stageIII and works for a private firm inIndira Nagar. He is a voraciousreader and an amateur writer.Essentially a Mumbaikar, he hasshifted to Bangalore more than ayear ago. Music, Gardening andReading are his other hobbies.

Tamil stories and controver-sies have always been Siamesetwins. The Brahmin communityburnt copies of the magazinethat carried the controversialstory 'Chirai' by AnuradhaRamanan. The story evidentlywas semi-autobiographical; likethe heroine in the story,Anuradha was deserted by herhusband, though the similarityends there.

A still from the movie Bhadrakali

1. Cricket writer RahulBhattacharya bagged this awardrecently:Castrol Awards for CricketingExcellenceThe Hindu Literary Prize Man Booker Prize

2. Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize of 2011 was given to:The Wandering FalconThe CollaboratorChinaman

3. Which volume ofthe Ibis trilogy is'River of Smoke'?FirstLastSecond

4. This is the first novel written by an Indian adivasi:Kocharethi Oluguti TolugutiChemmeen

5. 'Controversially Yours' is penned by:Herschelle Herman GibbsShoaib AkhtarVinod Kambli

Our newest library - JustBooks Mangalore - opened yesterdayto an ecstatic welcome by the reading community and citi-zens . It went on to create a record within the JustBook fran-

chisee community for the most memberships on the opening day!It was an electrifying, exciting, fun filled and deeply satisfying

day. To us, the one picture that really epitomizes the arrival ofJustBooks in the community of book lovers is this:

Seeing this picture, we are reminded of the quote from KatherinePatterson: "It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have togive them something worth reading.

Something that will stretch their imaginations-something that will helpthem make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out towardpeople whose lives are quite different from their own."

Cheers!


JUSTBOOKSJUSTBOOKSTOP 5TOP 5

NNEWEW AARRIVALSRRIVALS1. 1Q84 by HarukiMurakami2. The Litigators by JohnGrisham3. The Affair by Lee child4. Lucknow Boy: A Memoirby Vinod Mehta5. A Shot at History by AbhinavBindra

RRECOMMENDEDECOMMENDED1. Pigeon English by StephenKelman 2. The Storyteller OfMarrakesh By Joydeep-RoyBhattacharya3. The Sari Shop by RupaBajwa4. Chasing The Monsoon byAlexander Frater5. Does He Know A Mother’s Heart?by Arun Shourie

RRENTALSENTALS1. Revolution 2020 by ChetanBhagat2. The Secret Of The Nagas byAmish Tripathi3. The Kane Chronicles (Book2) by Rick Riordan4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Book3) by Jeff Kinney5. Percy Jackson and theOlympians(Book 2) by Rick Riordan

The Hindu Literary Prize, The Wandering Falcon, Second, Kocharethi, Shoaib Akhtar

Justbooks arrives in Mangalore

From JustBooks blog - http://blog.justbooksclc.com


Iris Murdoch

There are novelists whom everyoneagrees about and there are otherswho incite such dissenting views

that a room might contain both ardentfans and desperate denouncers. Of thetwo categories, Jean Iris Murdochbelonged to the latter. A section havedismissed her as nothing better than aromance novelist, speedy and sensation-al.

But for her legions of fans, Murdoch isa novelist who exercised immense con-trol over plot, character and situation, awriter with great psychological insight,stylistic beauty and wit, and a strongmoral core.

It is certainly worth remembering thatdespite being considered one of theprominent writers in the ethical litera-ture movement, she maintained a finebalance, an integrity within her novels,that prevented them from becomingdidactic or preachy. Murdoch dislikedthe label of "philosophical novelist" andpreferred to see herself in the traditionof the nineteenth-century masters-SirWalter Scott, Jane Austen, Lev Tolstoy-whom she found "to a staggering degreebetter than the most praised of contemporarynovelists."

For Murdoch, the task of the novelwas concerned above all else with love,that is, our "indefinitely extended capacityto imagine the being of others." Her charac-ters are often deeply flawed, even

unsympathetic and she does notspare us an unflinching view of theinner workings of their minds. TakeCharles Arrowby from The Sea, theSea, one of her most famous works.He starts off sounding eccentric,even amusing, but quickly testspatience with a host of inexplicablyself-centred actions. Murdoch offerselaborate insight into how hearrives at his destructive decisions.Yet, there is a dark thread runningthrough the book that leaves nodoubt that these actions cannot bejustified.

Some critics complain that thephilosopher sometimes triumphsover the novelist, reducing charac-ters to puppets thrown into situa-tions to make a point. The kinderway of looking at this is that whatpowers one forward through theunsavoury actions of characters isthe coiled spring of dramatic ten-sion. Murdoch believed that it wasimportant to "invent characters andconvey something dramatic, which atthe same time has deep spiritual signifi-cance (The Paris Review)."

This dramatic momentum wascrucial in gliding over the strange,bizarre and uncanny happenings inthe characters' lives. Despite denselanguage in many places and rumi-nations on a variety of human andmetaphysical elements, Murdoch'snovels are eminently readable.They're in her own words "jollygood yarns". Murdoch wanted peo-

ple to enjoy reading her booksand this is evident in the tightgrip she maintains on plot andcharacters, both elements workingseamlessly to propel the novelforward. Her novels are hugelyenjoyable and often have the sus-pense and thrills one associateswith crime fiction. She deftly bal-ances the slower, more mundanedetails of a character's life--so nec-essary and revealing--with drasticevents. There is a sense of the ter-rible. Dreams, intense visions andillusions play an important partin heightening this sense. Herplots are intricately patterned andthere are symmetries withinthem. Reading Murdoch is thatrare experience-enlightening aswell as entertaining.

Author Profile

Anindita Sengupta IN A NUTSHELL

Born On: July 15, 1919.

Born In: Dublin, Ireland.

Parents: British of Irish origin; father worked in the

civil service.

Education: Studied philosophy at Oxfordand Cambridge.

Married To: John Bayley, professor of English and nov-

elist.

Selected Bibliography:Under the Net (1954) The Bell (1958)A Severed Head (1961)The Unicorn (1963)The Italian Girl (1964)The Red and the Green (1965)The Time of the Angels (1966)The Nice and the Good (1968)Bruno's Dream (1969)A Fairly Honourable Defeat (1970)An Accidental Man (1971)The Black Prince (1973), winner of the

James Tait Black Memorial PrizeThe Sacred and Profane Love Machine

(1974), winner of the Whitbread LiteraryAward for Fiction

A Word Child (1975)Henry and Cato (1976)The Sea, the Sea (1978), winner of the

Booker PrizeNuns and Soldiers (1980)The Philosopher's Pupil (1983)The Good Apprentice (1985)The Book and the Brotherhood (1987)The Message to the Planet (1989)The Green Knight (1993)Jackson's Dilemma (1995)

Day Job: Civil servant, lecturer at Oxford University.

Influences: Simon Weil, Plato, Sartre, Wittgenstein,

Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, George Eliot, MarcelProust, William Shakespeare.

Awards: Dame Commander of the Order of the

British Empire; on the 2008 Times list of "The50 greatest British writers since 1945".

One of the greatest and most terri-bly powerful things in the worldis love. Love is the reason why

humanity is in harmony and not inchaos today. Certain types of love, likemother's love for her children are thestrongest. But, the purest type of lovehas no barriers, encompassing thewhole of civilization itself.Unfortunately, we all are too busy withour own personal survival, success andglory, that we forget that there are oth-ers around us, apart from our own fami-ly members to be loved as well.Understanding this fact fully will takeus further on the path towards perfec-tion, rather than things like immortalityor great wealth.

"Neypo shong gna? Is there room forme?"

This book showcases one such exam-ples of true love. An old woman liveswith a dog, cock and a cat in a cottageby the hills. She lives simply, enjoyinglife without festivity or glamour. Oneday, when night has fallen, some travel-ers seek refuge in the tiny cottage.Without hesitation, the old womanaccepts them all. As the night passes,more strangers come along and are

accepted cheerfully into the cottage bythe old woman. She manages to feedthem all and give them space and shel-ter for the night. Finally, when it is timeto leave, the strangers begin to under-stand the true essence of the oldwoman's kindness to them.

The most important thing about thestory, apart from the moral itself is itssimplicity, which is just as simple as theold woman herself. The author does notneed to invoke complicated happeningslike magic or even natural elements likestorms to head the story to its final con-clusion. The pictures painted in watercolors help to bring the characters to life,in the progress bringing the story closer-to the reader. The words - "Neypo shonggna? "and the response the old womangives every time become quite symbolic.

They represent hospitality in its purestform from which it later evolved to theforms we see everywhere round us. Thewriter carefully weaves the storytowards the conclusion, which is neatlyand beautifully conveyed, taking in thereader along with the vistors them-selves.

The book, despite its few pages, man-ages to convey a lot of meaning to thereader. Young children understand notjust the true meaning of welcomingstrangers, but caring and respectingthem as well. The children will also likethe story for its simple language and itscolorful descriptions. The paintings helpto convey the various traits of theBhutanese people in the form of the visi-tors to the old woman's cottage.

Just Kids12 JustBooks Connect - December 2011

Folk tales from Bhutan:Room in your Heart

Kunzang ChodenPema Tshering (Illustrator)Age group: 6 - 11 yearsPages: 36

JustBooks Picks for Young ReadersMall Mania by Stuart J. Murphy

Percy And The Rabbit by NickButterworth

The Shining Stones by Shanti Pappu

In The Country Of Gold-digging Antsby Anu Kumar

Diary Of A Soccer Star by Shamini Flint

How To Save A Dragon by AnnieDalton

The Adventures Of The New CutGang by Philip Pullman

Trouble At The Taj by SonjaChandrachud

Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim

Jayanthi Harsha


Just Kids

Young Readers can send their contribution to [email protected]

My Parents

You have always been there for usYou have taught us right from wrong

You have taught us Gods wordsYou have taught us his song

Everyday you teach usGoodness, Compassionate and CharityYou believe in the people of the worldAnd, with kindness, what it could be

I would like to thank GodBecause we have been truly blessedThere is no other way of putting it

As both of you are the best

You give me educationAnd don't let me bore

As you both are the only oneAfter you there is nothing more

Janishjit Singh Bedi, Class V, Vibgyor HighSchool , Mumbai

Janishjit is an avid reader especially ofBONES from Justbooks Hiranandani,Powai, Mumbai. He loves to play tennisand keyboard. During his free time he cre-ates cartoon characters and games. He is aperson who is always ready to help whensomeone needs him.

To enjoy this book fully, it isadvisable to read the first eightbooks in the Alex Rider series.

After undergoing a variety of victori-ous adventures, Alex Rider begins hislife as a normalboy whose liferevolves aroundschool and home-work.

The clashes withcriminals andencounters withassassins whowant to kill himare far from hismind. Alex startsbelieving that hewill ultimatelybecome a normalboy from a superspy, but that doesnot happen.

Very soon thecriminal organisa-tion "Scorpia" —tofind out moreabout Scorpia readthe fifth book—strikes a businessdeal with an extremely wealthy manfrom Greece named Yannis AristonXenopolos.

The deal is to bring back the exqui-site Elgin marbles from London toGreece. Since the British governmenthad refused to return the Elgin marblesback to its rightful owners-the Greeks,Ariston who loves his country and itsheritage beyond limits decides to takeit by force.

Ariston arranges for a secret meetingwith Zeljan Kurst, who is the currenthead of Scorpia to hatch an immaculateplan to restore the heritage of theGreeks. Zeljan Kurst entrusts thisresponsibility of formulating the plan

on behalf of Scorpia to another mem-ber, Abdul Aziz al-Razim.

Since Alex Rider has had victoriousclashes with Scorpia which led to thedownfall of its prestige and deaths ofvery crucial members of Scorpia —readfifth and seventh book— Razimdecides to use Alex Rider as a weaponagainst the British government. Scorpiakills one of its founding members, LeviKroll and dumps his body in the riverThames in London.

A message is found in his coat pock-et which leads MI6 to Cairo in Egypt.Once MI6 has taken the bait, it sends

Alex Riderundercover asa student toCairo wheresomething bigis going tohappen.

Once AlexRider reachesCairo, Scorpiaexecutes thefinal phase ofits plan. Tomake thismore interest-ing Scorpiabrings an oldenemy of AlexRider backinto his life. InCairo it allcomes to anend as Scorpiais pulling thestrings andMI6 is just

dancing to their tune. The language in the book is very sim-

ple and transports the reader to theworld of Alex Rider. It is definitely anirresistible book. To find out more readthe book.

Rahul Rajpal, Class VIII, St. Joseph'sCentral School, Mysore

Rahul is a member of JustBooks KDRoad, Mysore. He is a voracious readerand loves mimicry. He also likes toswim and play badminton.He wants to become an actor when he

grows up.

Alex Rider - Scorpia Rising

Anthony HorowitzAge Group: 12-18 years, Pages: 431Publisher: Walker India

Riding the mystery wave


Venturing out

JustBooks Jayanagar is run by threeenterprising people KamalaSeshadri, Shyamsundar Seshadri andNatraj Thangavelu. Let's find outwhat got them into the JustBooks'family.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.Shyam: We are a family of three settled inBangalore. Kamala, my wife, is currentlyemployed with Strata and I am pursuingmy management consulting practice aftermore than two decades of corporateexperience in the U.S and India. BothKamala and I have a background in engi-neering and management education. Ourdaughter Divya has just enrolled in amedical degree program.Natraj: I live in Chennai with my family.My wife Dr. Sasikala is a doctor and cur-rently practices Assisted Reproduction.We have two school going kids,Siddharth and Maanasa. I am a qualifiedengineer and an alumnus of IIM-A. I aminvolved in a couple of initiatives cur-rently. Along with my partner Shyam, inBangalore I started 'Masterminds' a part-nership firm with the objective of offer-ing consulting, training in Education andLearning space and part of that initiativeis the JustBooks Jayanagar franchise. Ialso assist SMB's in South India in formu-lating Go To Market strategies, expansionto new markets, creating new revenuestreams and in building high perform-ance teams. And with my wife, I haverecently floated a firm called "CreaConceptions" which is an AssistedReproduction Lab that focuses on embry-ology as a speciality.

What were you doing before joiningJustBooks as an employee?Kamala: I have worked as a SystemsAnalyst in Pune and performed the rolesof a Project Manager, Team Leader andTest Engineer for a software develop-ment company and an IndustrialProducts company in the U.S. Then Itook a six year break from my profession-al work primarily to spend more timewith my school going daughter. It wasalso necessary since we were movingaround a bit after our return to Indiafrom the U.S and Shyam used to travelconsiderably.

Why and how did this franchise optionhappen?Shyam: We were visiting the Franchiseexhibition in Chennai where we had ourfirst brush with JustBooks. Earlier too, wewere weighing entrepreneurial optionsthat would leverage our experience.Education, Training and Coaching werethe expected areas of exploration in ourentrepreneurial journey. Books were an

intrinsic part of our psyche and themoment we saw an option like JustBooks,we signed up. From the time we started,it was Kamala who took overall charge ofthe business and streamlined the opera-tions.

Tell us about your experience on work-ing fulltime and taking care of the fran-chise.Kamala: I took up full-time employmentwith Strata, a year after startingJustBooks Jayanagar branch. Most of the

processes were in place by then and nowI focus on ensuring that we deliver andexecute to the satisfaction of our cus-tomers in a consistent manner. In addi-tion to spending time personally in thelibrary during weekends, I am alwaysmonitoring key activities in the branchand providing suggestions to the frontoffice staff via telephone. With the sup-port of my husband Shyam and dedicat-

ed front office staff members likeMahalakshmi, Rajesh and Raghu, Ibelieve we are quite successful in pro-viding a satisfying experience to ourvalued customers. My daughter Divyaalso chips in at times.

How has been the customer responseto JustBooks as a concept & yourlibrary, in particular?

Natraj: Customers have generallybeen thrilled upon becoming aware ofJustBooks in their neighbourhood andin experiencing the variety of readingand browsing options it has to offer.Many parents have said that it hasresuscitated the reading habit amongsttheir children and that now there is ahealthy and stimulating pastime formany families. Many of our membershave stopped stocking books at homeand Jayanagar being a prime location,customers find it very convenient tovisit the library often. Our front officestaff receives frequent appreciations fortheir helpful and caring service andmany of our customers enjoy interact-ing with our anchor lady Mahalakshmi.

What do you think will be a greataddition in terms of value to yourexisting members?Shyam: Online renting and eBookscould be a huge value-add. Activitiesaround education and learning for the9-16 years age group will also help.

What is your advice to book lovers whowould like to turn entrepreneursthrough JustBooks?Natraj: We have spoken to many peopleabout JustBooks and counseled a fewwho have turned up at our premises. Oneof them recently became a JustBooksfranchisee!

For a budding entrepreneur with greatinterest in books, JustBooks is a greatopportunity to be a part of. And over aperiod of time this can be financiallyrewarding too.

Sapana Rawat

The Masterminds

Divya, Kamala and Shyam

Mahalakshmi and Kamala

Natraj and Family

If you saunter into the 3rd BlockKoramangla JustBooks center on aweekend morning, you'll see children

huddled in a cozy corner, cheerfullyimmersed in a colorful computer screen,eagerly awaiting applause and chimesfor their endeavors. Could you guesswhat they might be doing?

They are working on Maths. "Maths?"you might ask. They are working on XyoComputerized Maths, a revolutionaryproduct that gently and systematicallytrains the child for Math/CyberOlympiad, the CBSE/ICSE curriculum,and IIT-JEE concepts.

Xyo recognizes that mathematical skillis to be developed step-by-step, with thechild attaining competence in one topicbefore moving on to the next. In Xyo, thepath from one-digit numbers to Std XMaths is all laid out in baby-steps. Thetechnology enables the child to attempt atopic as many times as needed to masterit. Xyokids have realised that the scienceof rocket building doesn't need to be

intimidating; all it needs is to beapproached systematically.

The teacher uses the software to pre-cisely identify each child's strengths andareas for improvement, selects questionsfor the child to work on, and is availableto help with his or her math.

To ensure a gentle approach to a rigor-ous subject matter, Xyo makes each childwork individually. Each kid is usuallyahead of or at pace with his class in vari-ous topics. Recognizing that each child is

different, Xyo caters to the individual'srequirement. Xyo also ensures that thereis no comparison between children. Thisapproach builds an intellectual confi-dence in children that they carry withthem through their lives.


Time for some Math

Sheloney is a veteran of the embeddedsystems industry with over 10 yrs experi-ence in GUI design and embedded sys-tems. She is married to Dr.Shankar Monithe founder and CEO of this venture.

For many of us Sundays are meantto be spent lazing around. But notso for the children of Jayanagar,

Bangalore. A group of enthusiastic chil-dren, accompanied by their even moreenthusiastic parents, gathered atJustBooks Jayanagar on a Sunday. Theoccasion? A storytelling session by theduo - Malini and Hetal. Little did thechildren know what was in store forthem, but it wasn't too long before theygot hooked.

The session was an hour long and hadthree different stories interwoven arounda main theme, which was Children'sDay. The main theme, one of the inti-

mate encounters of Chacha Nehru with agroup of children, was brought alive bymeans of a 'part fact, part fiction' narra-tion. Imagine Chacha Nehru narratingstories. The histrionics displayed by theduo gave life to the characters. While thechildren empathized with the poor baby

monkey who lost his mom in the forest,they joined the other naughty tail-lessmonkey in celebrating the joy over hisnewly acquired toy. How the childrenwished they had a Robot like Mini whocould do everything for them!

The end of the session witnessed manyparents coming up to the story tellersand giving them a warm hug, expressingtheir appreciation. The session hadcaught the fancy of the parents and chil-dren alike. A lot of them started enquir-ing if there were more sessions lined up.This is what we said. "Wait and watch!There is more in store!"

Children’s Day

Kamala is the franchise owner ofJustBooks Jayanagar. With a back-ground in engineering and management,she now enjoys heading the HR depart-ment of Strata Retail.

JustBooks Vidyaranyapura does itagain with a book introduction toreading event at Air Force School,

Jalahalli recently. At the school assembly time, Mr. Vittal

Hedge, JustBooks Vidyaranyapuraowner, was given a platform to address

the 1300 students of the school follow-ing which an interactive session washeld with the students. Questions posedrevealed that 70% children mentionedabout their love for reading and over95% of the students raised their handswhen asked, if they LOVE general read-ing including story books, fairy tales,comics, science fictions, wisdom series,history etc.

Force of Reading

Sheloney

Kamala Seshadri

JustBooks Events

Reading books enhances a per-son's vocabulary making himmore confident in his thought

presentation. It also enhances hiswriting skills.

A person who writes well andspeaks well is always admired.Schools play a vital role in exposingchildren to the world of booksthrough a school library that catersto the needs of all age groups.

Creative writing is the culmina-tion of thoughts acquired eitherthrough books or experience.

From time to time children needto be given exposures to build inthemselves a level of confidence towrite something beautiful on theirown.

They can write on topics varyingfrom simple to something very chal-lenging depending on their agegroup.

JustBooks Vidyaranyapura recent-ly conducted an essay writing com-

petition at our school Deva Matha Central School,Vidyaranyapura, Bangalore. 127students from 5th to 10th standardparticipated in it.

Middle school students wereasked to write on their “FavouriteComic Character” or “My WorstNightmare” or “Favourite Dream”and High School students on “MyReal World Hero” or “India In TheYear 2020”.

The school staff and teachers pro-vided an excellent support in con-ducting the essay contest.

The students were given a penand a notebook by JustBooks as atoken of appreciation.

We are highly grateful toJustBooks for organizing and givingour students a strong platform topresent their thoughts.

We are sure by working togetherwe can definitely make a differencein the lives of our young students.


AECS Layout65470141

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Electronic City 41105922, 9945421900

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HSR Layout22587430, 7259974251

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Jayanagar 5th Block9740894014, 42068676

JP Nagar-Dollar's Colony42228168

JP Nagar42106418

Kalyan Nagar42084394, 9986072204

Kanakapura 8867501033

Koramangala40982460

Koramangala 8th Block25702799

Langford Road9845171670

Malleshwaram41280649

Prestige Shantiniketan,Whitefield43364183

Rajarajeshwari Nagar28607751, 9535854732

RMV II Stage23410800

Sahakar Nagar 41713941

Sarjapur Road42129279

Vidyaranyapura23644501, 8095854950

Vijaya Bank Layout41645690

Vijaynagar42117539

Whitefield41260396, 32999406

Whitefield (Sat) 65970953, 28543405

Yelahanka42138080

Hyderabad - ECIL 04030226209

Hyderabad - Karkhana04040189957, 9849024415

Hyderabad - Kondapur9032490978

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Kochi - PanampillyNagar

04844015949

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08214241181

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For franchise inquiries contact: [email protected]

Reading is fun!JustBooks Events

Kavitha teachesEnglish at DevaMatha CentralSchool,Vidyaranyapurasa.Her aim is to makereading and writingan enjoyable activityfor her students.