The Hindu Business Line : Get up one more time and pull yourself together

WHETHER your age is 20, 40 or 70, "you have the ability at any moment to review your life and make choices and changes to achieve the quality of life that you want," assures Seymour Rifkind in, 21st Century Samurai, from Pearson Power (www.pearsoned.co.in). Knowing yourself thus is only the first of the dozen secrets the author discusses in his book. The second secret is to focus on the good things that happen to you. And the third is, resilience, that is, `to get up one more time and pull yourself together', using three factors, viz. "locus of control, protective influences, and support networks." Internal locus means you are pro-active; the opposite is to be reactive. How do you respond to slow traffic, for instance? "Someone with an internal locus of control might listen to audio books or self-help tapes. A person who lets the environment get to him may be irritated at slow traffic," explains Rifkind. Useful read where you'd also find `five steps Olympians and multi-millionaires use', tips to `overcome bad habits or soft addictions' and also inputs on `cost/benefit ratio' of our choices.

An irritation of mobile phones

EXTENSIVELY researched, eccentrically compiled and irresponsibly written. That's how the dust-jacket describes A. Parody's, Shite's Unoriginal Miscellany, from Michael O'Mara Books (www.mombooks.com). Thus, in a section on `truly stupid signs' is this entry: "Would the person who took the step ladder yesterday bring it back, or further steps will be taken." And this: "Customers who find our waiting staff rude should try the manager." A `test for masculinity' is laid out as follows: "One person sits with forefingers touching. The other seizes the wrists and tries to draw the fingertips apart. It looks very easy to effect the separation; but try it." That `nastic movement' is `a plant response caused by an external stimulus' is an entry in `some things you (probably) didn't know about plants'. A collection of `contemporary collective nouns' includes: "A leaning of left-wingers. An anorexia of supermodels. A press of journalists. An attitude of teenagers. A crash of computers. And an irritation of mobile phones." Superb entertainment!

Wise owl and clever fox

X-AXIS has `psychological game-playing' on the far left, and `integrity' on the right. The vertical axis is labelled `politically unaware' at the bottom, and `politically aware' at the top. In each quadrant is a different animal: Inept donkey, clever fox, wise owl, and innocent sheep. This is from the model developed by Kim James and Simon Baddeley, discussed in, HR — The Business Partner: Shaping a New Direction, by Barbara Kenton and Jane Yarnall, from Elsevier (epis@elsevier.com). "By sticking to the rules and acting on principles, the innocent sheep is at risk of being attacked or gobbled up by the fox!" cautions the book. The inept donkey is `emotionally illiterate', and so uses `unprincipled and unethical interventions to get noticed', such as `disclosing unhelpful gossip in an inappropriate environment'. The clever fox can `read the organisational politics' and turn it to one's own advantage. Beware, "there is a charming veneer which disguises the intention." The wise owl behaviour is about "understanding the political terrain and acting with integrity," explain the authors. HR, I'd say, that is, helpful read!

Chennai cogitations

A NEW tribe of middle-aged grandmothers is multiplying in Chennai, one learns from N. Meera Rao's, Madras Mosaic, Parity Paperbacks (parityp@yahoo.co.in). It seems some of them have formed an association called GHAAC, which is short for `Glorified Honorary Ayahs Association of Chennai.' Rao asks, "What happens if these `mothers' fall ill or tire themselves out with overwork, ageing at a faster pace?" Another chapter, in this compilation of eminently readable short essays, is titled `Forbidden Fruit', and begins thus: "Live-in and extra-marital relationships, which were once spoken of in hush-hush tones by gossips, are becoming public knowledge these days, and permissiveness does not seem to be taboo any longer. Does this mean middle class morality is under threat, giving place to consumerism?" Then, there is `the Singles Club', on divorcees and women who are not willing to relocate to their husbands' place of work. "Outside the concert halls are people just waiting to make a beeline to the canteens attached to all the sabhas," writes Rao in `Eternal Madras', chronicling the music festival... Lively literature!

Change starts subtly

LEARN to be powerful players in shifting sands, writes Ken Blanchard in his foreword to Pat McLagan's, Change is Everybody's Business, from Tata McGraw-Hill (www.tatamcgrawhill.com). "Life is both stability and change," says McLagan. "Each of us must be both a particle (something stable) and a wave (something changing)." Fundamental changes start long before we are aware that a new direction will actually become the mainstream, she writes. "Change starts subtly. Your task is to become more aware... Pay attention to shifts in the environment, changes in how things work, deviations from old patterns." One of the beliefs that the book introduces to is commitment. "It sustains action during the difficult and dark times." Educative book, with `powerful action' diktats too.

Silent talks

HOW can Arjuna get involved with listening to the 18 cantos of the Gita just before the start of the battle? Thus reads a question in Osho's, War and Peace, from Rebel (www.osho.com). The dialogue was `a profoundly inner one,' explains Osho. "That is why it is also possible that those who initially wrote the Mahabharata did not include the Gita in it," he postulates. "Mahavira's talks have been called silent talks," because "he spoke inwardly to someone and that person expressed it outwardly". Timescale is different too, as during dream and moments of happiness or misery. "Even while you are awake the timescale is not always identical. It is continuously changing, flickering." So too, "something that may take an hour and a half to write down can be communicated in a moment through telepathy." Right fit for contemplative moments.

Tailpiece

"There were more deaths... "

"Oh!"

"During the relief operations!"

ReadingRoom@TheHindu.co.in

D. Murali