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Bookshelf
Welcome to the latest section of Alma Matters “Bookshelf” - a platform where people can share their comments, feelings and thoughts about various books they read. From business and economics to SCI-FI, thriller and comedy…please feel free to contribute to this section by writing to us at alumni_relations@isb.edu
Recommended Readings by Rajiv Bhargava
Col. Rajiv Bhargava is from the PGP Class of 2011 and is working as an Associate Director with Munjal Institute for Global Manufacturing at ISB, Mohali Campus. He has served for over two decades in the Indian Army in the Corps of Army Air Defence.
‘Thinking Fast and Slow’ by Daniel Kahneman
This is a once in a lifetime read that will change the way we think about everyday matters. The author, a Nobel Prize winner, has deep insights into the way the human mind works and deals with everyday situations. The real life examples that he brings in the book will identify immediately with you and make you feel, “Does this happens to others too”?! In his reader friendly narration, the author describes our intuitive thinking and systematic thinking by using the metaphor of two agents; System 1 and System 2. As he describes them in the book, a picture of two individuals emerges who work in collaboration to handle all issues that a human can face. It is a great book, with a continuous flow in narration and strongly recommended for all.
‘Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think’ by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, Kenneth Cukier
In a brilliantly written work, the authors take us through the profound impact of big data on humankind as we know today! Imagine a society in which big data enables the police to reach out every time to the crime scene before the crime is committed and thereafter ponder if they can lawfully arrest the thief to be ! Or how a particular colour can tell us which used car would be the best maintained! The authors bring out as to how the era of big data challenges the way we live and interact with the world. They emphasize that society will need to shed some of its obsession for causality in exchange for simple correlations: not knowing why but only what! They not only comprehensively deal with the benefits of big data, but also bring out the drawbacks such as the loss of individual privacy, and provide suggestions to deal with the problems that arise out of this new technology. Overall, an engaging read.
‘The Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins
This is the first book in the immensely popular trilogy that has even been converted to a movie. The conditions are entirely fictitious, with the story revolving around the Kingdom of Panem, a powerful Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol keeps a tight rein on the districts often through sheer terror and has forced upon them the annual Hunger Games in which two boys/ girls from each district (between the age of 12 and 18) are forced to compete in a fight to death on live television. The author cleverly brings the reader on the side of young sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen, the main character of the novel. Her indomitable will and spirit to survive keeps the reader spellbound as she skillfully overcomes the challenge of 23 other competitors to emerge as a survivor. The story has elements of romance, love, sacrifice and duty; all blended together masterfully to keep the reader glued to the book. A recommended read.