'CHAPA', EXHIBITION OF PRINTS SAPNA SHARMA'S EXHIBITION, CHAITHANYA ART GALLERY, NETTEPADAM ROAD FROM 11 AM TO 6.30 PM, TILL 27 JANUARY Kochi, Wednesday, 18 January, 2012 2 | Books by Shevlin Sebastian O ne morning, on his way to work, in Bangalore, entre- preneur and best-selling author Subroto Bagchi had stopped at a red traffic light. Suddenly, he noticed that a cart had overturned and the tomatoes were strewn all across the road. Soon, the light turned green. Before the agonised eyes of the vendor, the tomatoes were squashed. “Within seconds, his day's work was gone,” says Bagchi. “I immediately realised that he was a micro- credit guy. He had taken a micro loan, bought the to- matoes and after selling the produce, he would repay the loan, and make a tiny profit. Now, his inventory was gone. He cannot repay his princi- pal amount. So what was his next step?” Bagchi felt that the man would have to take a loan again and be back the next day on the streets. “Meanwhile, here were hun- dreds of people in their cars, who are worrying about their jobs, promotions, incre- ments, about being laid off, the need to have one more car or house,” he says. “We are so anxious about our future, but here was a guy whose future is now.” This incident, published in a column, in a leading newspaper, became his most-read article. And it is these pithy observations that have made him a best-selling author. Bagchi's most well- known book is 'Go Kiss The World - Life Lessons for the Young Professional', an au- tobiographical book about growing up in small towns in Orissa. Asked to explain its suc- cess, he says, “The book resonated a lot with small- town people. India remains a small-town country. It is the story of an ordinary person who came from nowhere and made a mark.” Interestingly, the title of the book is the last sentence his blind mother spoke to Bagchi before she passed away. Bagchi has written other best-selling books like, 'The High-Performance Entrepreneur' and 'The Professional'. And he is Vice-Chairman, and Gardener of the highly re- garded MindTree, an IT company that he founded. “As Gardener I am person- ally responsible for the Top 100 people in the company, in terms of expanding their individual leadership abili- ties, apart from other re- sponsibilities,” he says. Bagchi had come to give a reading at the new Penguin Book store in Kochi. Eventually, it was his daugh- ter, Niti, a Latin scholar at Colombia University, who did the reading. But Bagchi impressed with his lucid thoughts and verbal skills. “I felt very welcome,” he said, as he analysed the Kochi audience the next morning, while enjoying an early breakfast in the garden of the Vivanta By Taj. “But I also felt that there was an undercurrent of two genera- tions. The older people were worried about what would happen to their children. There were questions like, 'Do you think that the value system would be intact? Do you think that our and the children's future is safe?' On the other hand, the youth were asking questions about integrity and the potential of business.” Bagchi himself is worried about the state of the country. “We are a nation in decline,” he says. “When you look at what goes on in Parliament, you realise it is a huge lost opportunity. Because this life will go away. In another ten years, the people who are shouting and scream- ing, getting in and out of jail, they will all be dead or dying. Then they might ask, 'What did I do with my life?' It is the job of a generation to create a legacy. Instead, they are leaving behind greed, and a self-obsessed idea of power.” Unlike the politicians, Bagchi has always embod- ied integrity and leadership qualities. Asked about the qualities needed for suc- cess, he says, “You require a vision which is larger than your own self-interests. I once asked the Dalai Lama about his idea of power, and he said, 'Your purpose deter- mines your power.' When you have a great purpose, it will start pulling you and the power will come from the universe.” But Bagchi says that the moment you have estab- lished a vision, there is a lot of hard work and commit- ment that is needed. “Many people are afraid of success,” he says. “It is about respon- sibility. It is about sustain- ability. When you are up there, in the spotlight, there is no crawling back to your mother's womb. You have to face the heat. The biggest challenge is to live up to your own expectations.” by Sandhya Iyer L iza Of Lambeth (1897) is perhaps Somerset Maugham's most chill- ingly tragic novels. It isn't as if his other worksare all light and sunshine. Maugham always had a great eye for human tragedy and took up themes about the impossibil- ity of love and the doomed nature of marriages. Almost every single of his novels has a grim death, but the graphic violence and the extreme misfortune of the lead char- acter in 'Liza...'evoke a deep sense of horror and pathos. The book was written by Maugham when he was 23. It was his first at- tempt at writing a novel, and this he did while prac- tising as a doctor. His work took him to the doorsteps of the poor and needy in the slums of Lambeth, and it is his experience here that gave him the material for the book. To his own surprise, the novel was well-received when it was published. The novel is Maugham’s shortest, and also most unlike his other works. 'Liza of Lambeth' ap- pears distinct because it is so removed from the world the author generally sets his stories in ie upper class London. Here, in a ghetto, where the labour class re- sides, the mood and tenor are vastly altered. Also, a large part of the book com- prises of conversations in local slang, which makes it that much tougher to read. Yet, the story is engaging, and in the end, fans of the author will recognise many things in the novel that only Maugham could have writ- ten. Liza Kemp is one of the prettiest girls in Lambeth, a veritable lotus in the muck. Her life is not easy though, as she works as a labour girl in a local factory and then comes home to a sick, nag- ging mother. Tom is a young, honest man, madly in love with Liza. She, however, only looks at him as a friend. Her good friend Sally is excited about going on a boat fair with her boyfriend and urges Liza to accom- pany them. Tom is willing to pay for her, but Liza doesn’t think it ap- propriate that she should take favours f r o m someone she has no in- tention of marrying. Tom reassures her that he’s fine even if Liza is not interest- ed in him for the moment. That instantly cheers Liza, who joins everyone else hoping to have a great time. Another reason for her hap- piness is the presence of Jim Blackeston, a handsome man who has recently come to stay in her neighbourhood. Jim is married with three children. Liza feels an instant attraction towards him, and the feeling is reciprocated. Ignoring Tom, Liza tries her best to be around Jim. This angers Tom, while Jim’s wife, probably preoccupied in domestic thoughts doesn’t notice much. The attraction grows into a full-fledged af- fair and slowly tongues start wagging. The situation starts to get messy as the women- folk refuse to take kindly to the affair. They naturally sympathise with the wife and see Liza as a callous hus- band stealer. When Jim’s wife senses that her husband might be leaving her for good, she unleashes her anger on Liza, giving her a fa- tal beating in full public view. The scene is grotesque, but it is just the kind of violence one would expect in such a place. Jim Blackeston is pained by Liza’s death, and in anger beats up his wife. But there is every indication that he would go back to his same shoddy life and forget about the episode over time. Liza’s mother is more concerned that she would have no one to look after her henceforth. Liza is a picture of such youthful exuberance and op- timism that the reader feels an intense sadness at her life being snuffed out with such brutality. For its striking differenc- es with Maugham’s other work, the novel still has all of his favourite themes - the mundane pattern into which marriages invariably slip into, and the all - consuming power of passion that makes individuals blind to a lover's short-comings. sandhya@newindianex- press.com KISSING THE WORLD Entrepreneur and best-selling author Subroto Bagchi, who was in the city last week, talks about what ails the country and the qualities required for success in life I once asked the Dalai Lama about his idea of power, and he said, 'Your purpose determines your power.' When you have a great purpose, it will start pulling you and the power will come from the universe Maugham always had a great eye for tragedy, and took up themes about the impossibility of love and the doomed nature of marriages PAST PERFECT BOOK REVIEW Death of A Flower LIZA OF LAMBETH
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'CHAPA', EXHIBITION OF PRINTS SAPNA SHARMA'S EXHIBITION,
CHAITHANYA ART GALLERY, NETTEPADAM ROAD FROM 11 AM TO 6.30 PM, TILL 27 JANUARY Kochi, Wednesday, 18 January, 20122|Books
by Shevlin Sebastian
One morning, on his way to work, in Bangalore, entre-
preneur and best-selling author Subroto Bagchi had stopped at a red traffic light. Suddenly, he noticed that a cart had overturned and the tomatoes were strewn all across the road. Soon, the light turned green. Before the agonised eyes of the vendor, the tomatoes were squashed. “Within seconds, his day's work was gone,” says Bagchi. “I immediately realised that he was a micro-credit guy. He had taken a micro loan, bought the to-matoes and after selling the produce, he would repay the loan, and make a tiny profit. Now, his inventory was gone. He cannot repay his princi-pal amount. So what was his next step?”
Bagchi felt that the man
would have to take a loan again and be back the next day on the streets. “Meanwhile, here were hun-dreds of people in their cars, who are worrying about their jobs, promotions, incre-ments, about being laid off, the need to have one more car or house,” he says. “We are so anxious about our future, but here was a guy whose future is now.”
This incident, published in a column, in a leading newspaper, became his most-read article. And it is these pithy observations that have made him a best-selling author. Bagchi's most well-known book is 'Go Kiss The World - Life Lessons for the Young Professional', an au-tobiographical book about growing up in small towns in Orissa.
Asked to explain its suc-cess, he says, “The book resonated a lot with small-
town people. India remains a small-town country. It is the story of an ordinary person who came from nowhere and made a mark.” Interestingly, the title of the book is the last sentence his blind mother spoke to Bagchi before she passed away.
Bagchi has written other best-selling books like, 'The High-Performance
Entrepreneur' and 'The Professional' . And he is Vice-Chairman, and Gardener of the highly re-garded MindTree, an IT company that he founded. “As Gardener I am person-ally responsible for the Top 100 people in the company, in terms of expanding their individual leadership abili-ties, apart from other re-sponsibilities,” he says.
Bagchi had come to give a reading at the new Penguin Book store in Kochi. Eventually, it was his daugh-
ter, Niti, a Latin scholar at Colombia University, who did the reading. But Bagchi impressed with his lucid thoughts and verbal skills.
“I felt very welcome,” he said, as he analysed the Kochi audience the next morning, while enjoying an early breakfast in the garden of the Vivanta By Taj. “But I also felt that there was an undercurrent of two genera-tions. The older people were worried about what would happen to their children. There were questions like, 'Do you think that the value system would be intact? Do you think that our and the children's future is safe?' On the other hand, the youth were asking questions about integrity and the potential of business.”
Bagchi himself is worried about the state of the country. “We are a nation in decline,” he says. “When you look at
what goes on in Parliament, you realise it is a huge lost opportunity. Because this life will go away. In another ten years, the people who are shouting and scream-ing, getting in and out of jail, they will all be dead or dying. Then they might ask, 'What did I do with my life?' It is the job of a generation to create a legacy. Instead, they are leaving behind greed, and a self-obsessed idea of power.”
Unlike the politicians, Bagchi has always embod-
ied integrity and leadership qualities. Asked about the qualities needed for suc-cess, he says, “You require a vision which is larger than your own self-interests. I once asked the Dalai Lama about his idea of power, and he said, 'Your purpose deter-mines your power.' When you have a great purpose, it will start pulling you and the power will come from the universe.”
But Bagchi says that the moment you have estab-lished a vision, there is a lot of hard work and commit-ment that is needed. “Many people are afraid of success,” he says. “It is about respon-sibility. It is about sustain-ability. When you are up there, in the spotlight, there is no crawling back to your mother's womb. You have to face the heat. The biggest challenge is to live up to your own expectations.”
by Sandhya Iyer
Liza Of Lambeth (1897) is perhaps Somerset Maugham's most chill-
ingly tragic novels. It isn't as if his other worksare all light and sunshine. Maugham always had a great eye for human tragedy and took up themes about the impossibil-ity of love and the doomed nature of marriages. Almost every single of his novels has a grim death, but the graphic violence and the extreme misfortune of the lead char-acter in 'Liza...'evoke a deep sense of horror and pathos.The book was written by Maugham when he was 23. It was his first at-tempt at writing a novel, and this he did while prac-tising as a doctor. His work took him to the doorsteps of the poor and needy in the slums of Lambeth, and it is his experience here that gave him the material for the book. To his own surprise, the novel was well-received when it was published. The novel is Maugham’s shortest, and also most unlike his other works. 'Liza of Lambeth' ap-pears distinct because it is so removed from the world the author generally sets his stories in ie upper class London. Here, in a ghetto, where the labour class re-sides, the mood and tenor are vastly altered. Also, a large part of the book com-prises of conversations in local slang, which makes it that much tougher to read. Yet, the story is engaging, and in the end, fans of the author will recognise many things in the novel that only Maugham could have writ-ten. Liza Kemp is one of the prettiest girls in Lambeth, a
veritable lotus in the muck. Her life is not easy though, as she works as a labour girl in a local factory and then comes home to a sick, nag-ging mother. Tom is a young, honest man, madly in love with Liza. She, however, only looks at him as a friend. Her good friend Sally is excited about going on a boat fair with her boyfriend and urges Liza to accom-pany them. Tom is willing to pay for her, but Liza doesn’t think it ap-propriate that she should take favours
f r o m someone she has no in-
tention of marrying. Tom reassures her that he’s fine even if Liza is not interest-ed in him for the moment. That instantly cheers Liza, who joins everyone else hoping to have a great time. Another reason for her hap-piness is the presence of Jim Blackeston, a handsome man who has recently come to stay in her neighbourhood.
Jim is married with three children. Liza feels an instant attraction towards him, and the feeling is reciprocated. Ignoring Tom, Liza tries her best to be around Jim. This angers Tom, while Jim’s wife, probably preoccupied
in domestic thoughts doesn’t notice much. The attraction grows into a full-fledged af-fair and slowly tongues start wagging. The situation starts to get messy as the women-folk refuse to take kindly to the affair. They naturally sympathise with the wife and
see Liza as a callous hus-band stealer. When
Jim’s wife senses that her husband might be leaving her for good, she unleashes her anger on Liza, giving her a fa-
tal beating in full
public view. The scene is grotesque, but it is just the kind of violence one would expect in such a place. Jim Blackeston is pained by Liza’s death, and in anger beats up his wife. But there is every indication that he would go back to his same shoddy life and forget about the episode over time. Liza’s mother is more concerned that she would have no one to look after her henceforth. Liza is a picture of such youthful exuberance and op-timism that the reader feels an intense sadness at her life being snuffed out with such brutality.
For its striking differenc-es with Maugham’s other work, the novel still has all of his favourite themes - the mundane pattern into which marriages invariably slip into, and the all - consuming power of passion that makes individuals blind to a lover's [email protected]
KISSING THE WORLDEntrepreneur and best-selling author Subroto Bagchi, who was in the city last week,
talks about what ails the country and the qualities required for success in life
I once asked the Dalai Lama about his idea of power, and he said, 'Your purpose determines your power.' When you have a great purpose, it will start pulling you and the power will come from the universe
Maugham always had a great eye for tragedy, and took up themes about the impossibility of love and the doomed nature of marriages
PAST PERFECT
about going on a boat fair with her boyfriend and
band stealer. When
BOOK REVIEW
Death of A Flower
LIZA OF LAMBETH
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