Reflections

I picked up this book just out of curiosity during the last visit to the library. I did have some doubts about the relevance as the story seemed to be set in the 1950s. However after reading the book, I feel Devan's style of writing is still very relevant. The way he describes each character and paints the Madras of the 1950s and the day to day problems faced by a middle class family man, links small happenings and builds a story is remarkable. I really liked the subtle humour in Devan's portrayal. One can easily identify with the main character Sudharsanam's want to move up in life but the inability to do so with a paltry pay, the frustrations of being exploited by a supervisor who extracts every bit of work from him but doesn't give any visibility to the management. What all this makes him do and how he ends up from a clerk to a respectable position is presented very nicely and with subtle humour by Devan.  After reading this book, I feel that Devan is one of the gre...

I am back to the habit of reading books. Not just one or two, I have been doing that regularly for years. I am now reading book after book, sometimes several books in parallel! I owe this to eclectic collection of books in English county libraries apart from the fact that I have managed to find a lot of time at my disposal for this reinvented pastime. I am just back from a visit to the Blandings castle . If you have read P.G.Wodehouse you might not find this odd but otherwise you will be a bit surprised to know that I have been rolling with laughter while reading the book, bursting suddenly into loud laughter, that too quite frequently only to find surprised faces staring at me doubting my sanity. One of the interesting aspects of the Wodehouse way of narrating stories is the detail that goes into describing the different characters and their actions. The author simply paints carciatures in the mind of the reader with his words. "Full moon" is a typical P.G.Wodehouse book a...

I came across a book called " Dealing with difficult People" by Roy Lilley in the county library. I have been dealing with a handful of difficult people in my work life in recent times, so no wonder I picked it up. I finished reading the book yesterday. It didn't tell me something totally different from what I knew in terms of approaching such people but I liked one thing in particular about the book. This book gives a positive outlook to dealing with difficult people by saying that they are predictable. Don't know about you but this is something which had not struck me earlier. Quoting from the book itself " Remember this: Difficult people are preditable people. That simple fact makes your life much easier.They are difficult not only to you. They are into themselves and are difficult to everyone. Predictable is easy. You can prepare for difficult people, you can plan for them, you can plot, scheme and collude against them. They are stuck in their ways. All you h...