Books for an Annoyed Mother

So, if you're here, you must be looking for how to get your child some 'early learning', some essential 'children books', the likes. I know times have changed, but I'm pretty sure we are some time away from the prospect of a 4-year old looking on Google for 'which books should children read'. Hopefully. Besides - wait a second. I just got a request for a reading list. From my 6-year old cousin.

Bad jokes aside, when in the vicinity of children nowadays, you must have noticed a type of 'intensive learning', with parents asking their kids to say ABCD, getting them to repeat spellings and recite tables. This while they are In the middle of the market, while they are crossing the road, and in between dinner. There are all sorts of classes for them, all sorts of activities they can get into. All in all, definitely a more aggressive approach than what our childhood witnessed.

Irrespective of the type of parent you see yourself becoming, it is something that keep nagging at you: what activities should my child do, at what age should they be done, and where can you, the parent, help? Let us help. In brief: when children are growing up, teaching them new things will be simply awesome for them. Parent beware though: rote learning is something that can be done at any age, but this time of their lives is a magical period. Think about it; if someone hears a fairytale at say, your age, will it have the same impact as it did when you heard it in your childhood? Will space create the same mystery, and sea, the same wonder, in middle age as it did in childhood?

There is no point putting up questions if we do not have the answers to them. Here we go.
Read out loud

The world has actually expanded far beyond Aesop and Panchatantra and Arabian Nights, and so should your library. What to pick up? Category-wise:

Nature
In a world where we are getting further and further away from nature, a glimpse of what the world was could leave an impression on your child, one that could make them cherish life, and maybe, even motivate them to save our blue-and-green world! How about introducing you child to the Earth ? The visuals can make for a picture book too!

Fantasy

 
Just because your ideal fantasy is Game of Thrones, doesn't mean that your kids should have the same taste; just like Sansa, they deserve to know a world where chivalry, honor and honesty exist. There are the usual suspects: Winnie the Pooh  and Cinderella  Apart from that? How about someone called Harry Potter. 

Space

Infinity! How on earth do you make space appealing? Again, literature to the rescue! The Little Prince  is about a space traveler who roams around the universe before coming to the universe and then visits the earth. There are some subtle meanings hidden, but this one is sure to fire up your little someone's imagination! 

Sea

 
The ocean is that part of our world which is still a mystery to most of us. Imagine what it would seem like to a child. The whales, the coral reefs, the massive ice sheets, and the innumerable variety of creatures living beneath those blue, blue waters. Your child would thank you for an introduction to the sea .

Diverse Voices

 
One of the best things about living in our times is that people demand representation of their communities in movies and stories and comics, and speak up against stereotypical versions of the same. Why don't you do the same? Seeing characters lead normal lives (or becoming the heroine / hero) who do not have the Fair-&-Lovely-skin color can be a subtle message that everyone is equal. And while we are here, how about including LGBT characters? One criticism I have heard is that it is too early for kids to know about sexuality, but doesn't every other story we have end up depicting a man with a woman? Knowledge can only enlighten, not make her/him into a fanatic homosexual.

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The Readers Starting Kit (Volume 2)

The concluding part on all the books you need to begin reading. Love/hate our suggestions? Let us know!
Religious & Spiritual
18 Days: Volume 1, by Grant Morrison

18 Days: The Mahabharata Volume -I

There has always been a belief (which has gained prominence in the last 3 years) that during Vedic times, we Indians were the masters of science; plastic surgery, nuclear sciences, aeroplanes, everything. Whether that idea should be ridiculed or considered, that is your personal opinion, but here, Grant Morrison takes the idea of advanced technology during the Mahabharata and runs away with it; it is like a hyper-stylized version of the epic, but hey, this is what we asked for. For all the others who wondered how Mahabharata would look in Baahubali-style, wonder no more.

Romance
Emma, by Jane Austen

Romance has always had some of the most enduring stories; after all, that language of finding the one, waiting for the time you get to spend with them, that feeling of longing when you cannot, and the elation of finally being together, this language can be understood by every living soul. Jane Austen’s works are famous enough, with her Pride & Prejudice’s hero being the last generation’s Christian Grey; however here, it is indisputably Emma who occupies centre stage. Even normal lives can be very interesting when narrated by the right voice, and Emma & Jane Austen are perfectly matched.
HorrorThe Dark Tower series, by Stephen King

Dark Towers Boxed Set

Horror doesn’t have to be limited to creaking doors and dangerous monsters. It can also be more subtle, like a world dying because of what its people did; it could be unconventional, like a supersonic train which promises to take you to your death unless you come up with an unanswerable riddle. The entire series is filled with horrors like that, and more. It can be a bit morbid at times, but the payoff when you complete it and turn to the (hopefully awesome) coming-soon movie adaptation is just way too good. Plus, this is written by STEPHEN KING!

(again, OUT OF STOCK. But a movie based on it is coming soon, and two other movies based on the author’s works are also coming in this year. Do stock them)

Action & Adventure
Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum
Action & Adventure
Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum

 

 

Before the glut of recent action movies, there was Bourne, Jason Bourne. In many ways, the stories are the predecessors of today’s action movies; the breakneck pace, moving from one country to the other, shadow organizations, and incredible action set pieces. And hey, Jason Bourne has jumped, kicked and outsmarted people on the big screen too!

Suspense & Thriller
The Complete Short Stories of Sherlock Holmes,  by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

 

 

From the frenetic pace of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock to Elementary’s female Watson, everything around Sherlock Holmes (and the man himself) has been tinkered with, and still people are willing to watch. The timelessness of the detective and his companion, as they labor to solve unexplainable cases, does not require explanation. Reading the original work, however, can only make you appreciate it more.

Travel Writing
Barcelona, Lonely Planet
 

When it comes to most of us, travelling to our dream destinations is only possible through second hand experiences. But before Facebook albums and Snapchat filters, there was (and still is) one travel guidebook which could tell you everything you needed to know about the city/country you wanted to visit and virtually transport you there; the detailed descriptions, the rich images, the maps…this is among the best in modern travel writing.  It doesn’t hurt either that Lonely Planet can find all of the awe-striking destinations in the world. 

Essays
Broken Republic, by Arundhati Roy

For someone who won the Booker Prize with her debut fiction attempt, Arundhati Roy doesn’t seem to have a lot of fans in her home country. Courtesy her opinions on the politics played with the poor in our country, she has often been the target of hate online. But what really are her opinions? Among the many non-fiction works she has penned, this is a good place to start; what is Arundhati Roy saying, and is it really relevant? You be the judge. But please, judge only after reading.
IMPORTANT: 

 

 
This book has got its author wrong. The author is Roland Smith/ Roly Smith, not Bill Bryson

National Parks of Britain

 

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The Readers Starting Kit (Volume 1)

So many things to read and so less time to…so where to begin with? Do we read by authors, or should we read by genres? And do we need to read plays and poetry? Do they even count in serious reading if-
Ok, ok. We have attempted to compile a list, each entry different  from the other, but all of them together being enough to induct you into the world of literature. Or are they? Read and let us know!

Literature & Fiction

A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens  

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
Easily one of the most memorable openers for a novel. Set in a historical context, it does not have the ability to be translated into universal & local adaptations (as was for Fitoor vis-à-vis Great Expectations). But as with all works by Charles Dickens, this is literature that has to be read to be appreciated and understood. Besides, it is very rare that the last line of a fiction work is as memorable as its first:

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

Great Expectations  

Classic Fiction
The Tempest, by Shakespeare

Is Shakespeare overrated? Thing is, even if he was, for his stories to be adapted across various cultures and countries, and that too a wide number of stories, speaks a lot about what he has left behind. For a storyteller, when her/his stories can be told and retold  while they change characters, settings, even their time periods, and still retain the same weight as the original; that, my dear friends, is the mark of a brilliant and everlasting work. While any of the Bard’s works will do, this one is regarded as his last work. All the more important, I say.

Science & Fiction
1984, by George Orwell

Never before was the promise of a worse world than today lapped up with so much enthusiasm. Written by George Orwell, this work imagined a world set in the then-future of 1984, where society was no place for independent thinking; it was also the first to predict a world where ‘Big Brother’ would be watching us everywhere (Aadhar cards, anyone?). In the times we live in now, it is important to read works like these; when someone’s imagination of the worst version of our future shows even a little similarity to our present, it is time to get off our bottoms and do something.

Fantasy
Game Of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin 

Ya, ya, ya. We and our parents and our extended family, all of us know about this. BUT, if all that you know about GOT is from the TV series, then I beg you, I plead you to read the books. The character development, the different settings, and the sheer brilliance of seeing a world be created through words… in making readers lose themselves in fantasy worlds, there are not many better than George R R Martin.

Poetry
A Collection of Indian Poems: Gitanjali, by Rabindranath Tagore

Poetry has often been found to succeed where prose has failed. While the West has all its esteemed poets, we in India suffer from ignorance of the gems we have. We will appreciate Rumi, talk about Gibran and gush about W B Yeats, but are mostly at a loss when it comes to Indian poets. These poems, if I may remind you, where the ones which brought Tagore to the world’s attention and got him the Nobel Prize in Literature. What do they need to do to get your attention?

Short Stories
Best of O’ Henry,  by O’ Henry 

My first experience with serious literature was through O’ Henry’s short stories, and as first times go, I could not have asked for better. His endings, it will be fair to say, are Christopher Nolan-ish and the stories themselves can be found in B. A. textbooks throughout India. Should be good enough reason to read them!

Drama & Plays
Plays , by Anton Chekhov

Apart from Shakespeare, there are other colossuses in English literature as well; one of them is Anton Chekhov. One of his famous quotes (and one which will give you an idea of his style) is:

If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there.

All of his works follow this philosophy, which is the best education for any budding playwright. Even if you aren’t, and are interested purely in the drama, Chekhov’s Russia and his sketches of the people there are amazing. You simply have to read his works, at least once.

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I Want a Job at SBI!

The State Bank of India (SBI) is the biggest Indian bank, of that there has been no doubt. But with the merger of five 'State Bank Of-' with the SBI itself (yes, they were always separate banks), the combined value of this entity (Rs 37 trillion in assets) makes it the 45th largest bank in the world.  

We have already talked about the benefits of a bank job and how to get it. But what are the jobs available in the SBI? Let's have a look. 

Probationary Officer (PO) 

Most banks put out notices about job opportunities through notifications in print; as most of us miss out on these when they originally appear, this means being on constant lookout on the large number of online job forums. Some trusted print mediums like the Hindu and the NDTV have also begun publishing details on the job vacancies available; just keep your eyes open.  

As we mentioned last time, the Probationary Officer posts are the ones with the most number of vacancies; for an illustration, in 2016, SBI held its PO exam for 2200 posts, while the 2017 edition was for 2313 vacancies. This year, the last date of applying for the exams (on the SBI website. Obviously) was March 5; the exam itself was held on April 29, 30 and May 6, 7. 

Special Management Executive 

Among the many career options related to finance, if you are a CA/MBA (Finance)/ Cost Accountant/ Company Secretary/ Post graduate in Finance, this is an opening for you. This year, SBI has 554 vacancies for this post; applications for the same are on till 18 May. 

Specialist Officer (SO) 

Remember what we said about SOs? Their recruitment for all these different posts however takes place at once; applications for the post of 262 wealth manager officer posts closed on April 10 of this year; similarly, May 12 will witness the closing of applications for the posts of business analysts and digital system architects (IT people) and chief accountants (cost accountants).  

Clerk 

Now they are not called that, but this is the SBI Clerical Recruitment; 10726 posts for Junior Associate (Customer Support & Sales; graduates in any discipline) and 3008 posts for Junior Agricultural Associate (graduates in Agriculture/ Allied activities)were available earlier this year, with the last date for the application submission being April 17.  

Not that this means much, but SBI announced, back in 2015, that they were also considering campus recruitments for contract jobs. Bottom line being, the jobs are all at SBI!

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What exactly is a Banking Job?

What is it about having a banking job? 

For some reason, the common public is enchanted with the idea of someone they know being a bank employee. They might be rich themselves, but a bank employee...well, 'she/he is set, no?' Demonetisation didn't help matters; the people might have fought and bad-mouthed all the bank personnel, but there was a grudging respect for those people on the other side of the counter.  

Moving forwards, banking jobs are only going to increase in importance and numbers; for all the talk of digital banking, the rural hinterlands will prefer being able to get their transactions done through a physical presence. Besides, it is not as if being a bank employee involves sitting in front of a screen from 9-5; while that is one part of the job, you can also be part of the bank as a lawyer or as a computer expert or a marketing executive. Why, even engineers are in the queue for a banking job! 

So, if you're interested in a banking job, then the first question is: just exactly what types of banking jobs are available?   

Probationary Officer (PO) 

The one which all banking aspirants start with. The big one is the IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) held exam, the scores of which can help you land up in public sector banks; these include SBI, IDBI Bank, even the Karnataka-headquartered Syndicate Bank, and many others.  While the IBPS scores are used to get these jobs, it is also not a binding requirement; Lakshmi Vilas Bank (Private) recently closed applications for the online examination for the PO post. It did not require IBPS scores from the applicants. Similarly, Dena Bank (Government-owned) also closed applications for POs recently; it required applicants to give an exam, and based on their scores, were selected for a 12 month course at the end of which they would be offered the PO posts in the bank. It also did not require IBPS scores. Earlier this year, Bank of India called postgraduates to apply for filling 670 vacancies of Credit Officer and Manager; it too-you guessed it right-did not require IBPS scores. 

Specialist Officer (SO)

The thing about specialist officers is just that; there are many different types of 'specialist' jobs available. Also, while it will be advertised as, say, 1039 Specialist Officers, the bank may be looking for only 4 Economists. It works that way. So, the fine print has to be read a bit in detail. However, this indeed is one of the best backdoor entries to a bank job. For instance, Bank of Baroda indeed needed 1039 specialist officers. Among the fields they are looking for experts in, range from Agriculture Products Specialist to Law, from Data Analyst to Civil Engineers, from Marketing to Chartered Accountants. You can do the same job which you studied for, with the added positive of you being a bank employee. 

Customer Relationship Executive 

One of the most recent additions to the types of banking jobs, this can be one of the most-despised or the most-attractive banking job for you, depending on where you stand. You will be expected to interact with normal bank customers, make them aware of other products from the bank which can be of use of them, and eventually, make them buy into your pitch & product.  It is obviously not easy; at some banks, you will be able to sit in the confines of the office while at others, you will have to go out and talk to the client at their offices or factories. No matter which one you land up with, an ability to talk to people and befriend them is going to be the most important quality required. 

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Law Books

The law of our country is the Constitutional law of our country. All our rights, all our freedoms and all the security that we have is all within the Constitutional law of our country. Pen mightier than the sword? Definitely.

The most important part about our Constitution is that it is subject to changes. After all, our Constitutional law has to change with the times too. This also means that sometimes some citizens demand a change while some resist. Which provisions of our Constitutional law have provoked passions and dominated debates? Here are some of them:

Article 370

Whenever the conversation turns to Jammu & Kashmir, this Article from our Constitution always pops up. Why? Under Constitutional law, J&K is treated as an unique case, with the State Assembly of J&K deciding whether the provisions of the Constitutional law apply to the state. Except for Finance & Communications, Defence, Foreign Affairs, the state has the final say in the others. Over time however, laws and acts have been applied to the state in many respects, ranging from recovery of loans to inheritance of property by daughters. As of now, the most noteworthy aspect about it is the difficulty for non J&K citizens to buy property and settle there. 

Article 355

Under Article 355, our Constitutional law protects the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. Acording to this Act, when a specific state/ union territory is deemed to be 'disturbed' by the Governor of the said place, the Central government can send in armed forces there. Under AFSPA, the forces are empowered to arrest in the absence of warrants, shoot and kill after a mere warning,  and most importantly are provided with legal immunity for their actions. Present in Manipur and J&K, the law has been accused of being 'draconian' and of being abused.

Article 371A

Our Constitutional law has a special entry for Nagaland. Under this article, no law may apply to Nagaland if it interferes with religious & social practices, as well as customary law of the Nagas, and also with respect to ownership and sale of land in the state. This has also meant that the traditional practice of keeping women away from the decision making bodies has been maintained; the recent protests in the state were related with, among other factors, to the proposal of 33% reservation of seats for women in the muncipal bodies.

Article 356

President's Rule? This is that article from our Constitutional law which is responsible for it. Of course, while successive governments at the Centre have nudged here & there and helped to bring about change in the ruling government in a state, the courts have also acted to mak sure that this Constitutional law is not abused.

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History Books

History. The name itself evokes boredom. Lists of dates and of long-dead people, what good are they for the present day? Alright, maybe history does warn us about the mistakes we have already committed, but how on earth is anyone to read and remember all those lists of dates and long dead people, that too from every part of the globe? How interesting can it be to read about an aspiring Afghan chief who invited members of his family for dinner, excused himself in between and blew up all of his cousins (and rivals for becoming chief) through the hidden sacks of the gunpowder they were sitting on? Or about a certain king in Bukhara who threw a couple of English envoys into a pit full of all sorts of insects, kept them there for more than a year, and then finally killed them?

Nah. Boring History

Thing is, there are countless similar stories in history, all of them more boring than the other. Reading these stories? It's your life after all; so if you're even interested in reading history, you can 'do whatever you want to do'.

India has never been more united than it is now; that's a fact. For almost all of its human history, India has been composed of way too many diverse and divided people; all of these people have such different tales to tell that it's criminal to not know them. Start with this, and get an overview of the different lands of India in almost every main point of history.

Sometimes, the best account of what is happening can be understood from a complete stranger's eyes; this is especially relevant when it comes to history. It is only a person who has never seen the sights before who can give the most detailed description of that specific time in history. Based on this, the book here is a record of what the earliest tourists to India saw. 

I know what you are thinking; why would anyone want to read anymore about an event and about a man, both of whom have been a part of every history textbook we have opened? But what IF the event in question is being narrated by someone who experienced all of it, first-hand? And what IF the narrator went on to become the first ever President of India? This is as good as a slice of history in your hands. Have a look.

Even now, history is being created. Be it Trump or the Manipur elections, all of it will leave behind its records and be remembered, for better or worse. Something like that was what happened in Ayodhya. The narratives vary depending on who you ask, but the day it happened, these people created history. In today's times, where the familiar war of religion vs religion is being seen, this might be a refresher on what happens when both sides lose logic.

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