ramadocblog

Language is gold!

The first thing I normally ask most of my patients especially elderly and those who talk hesitatingly is; “what language you speak at home?”

This reminds me of several stories but the first comes to mind of one told by my room mate;
While on a ward round, they saw a patient awaiting surgery slowly moaning; “Oh my god, why this suffering! So much pain!” This was when they knew that the pain was not much; then when the actual pain started she screamed, “entamme! (That means my mother in malayalam!)”

Of course no one including my friend here was belittling the patient; it was just then we understood that you get your true emotions especially the vocal ones usually in your mother tongue!

Another such incident was in my early practice when I was treating an elderly patient for ear pain to no relief! Even when I had tried most pain killers safe for her. Only to see her next day with the same complain. Exasperated I told my sister to give her an injection for the pain since that would at least give her some comfort. The sister came back soon after asking me why I was giving her injection when she was complaining of tinnitus! Apparently the term in Tamil for tinnitus is “errichhcal” and my rustic multi lingual brain which was initially casual in many languages but not adept in many thought she meant “eri Chal” which means burning or burning pain! Unfortunately though there was not much I could not for tinnitus also since there is not instant injection for that!

Once during a medical camp in the tribal area of Wayanad we were distributing medications as prescribed by our seniors and this one old guy had so many problems that the medication list and quantity was a bundle! In my broken Malayalam I explained to him which tablet has to be taken in the morning or night or which has to be taken with or after or before food. He patiently listened to my discourse and took the medication in his hands. Then he went to the door, asked for a glass of water and put all the medicine in one single gulp! In all probability he will outlive me!

Of course just because you are making an attempt at learning a new language does not mean that the person who is the recipient of your language volley has to be good to you! He or she may not think that “wow, someone is learning my language so lets be nice to him or her!”
It is then when even a person who may be ignorant in many things will suddenly become a pundit in front of you since he knows the language!

Once during my Calicut days I suddenly decided that I have learnt Malayalam after one month and said, “enakku verkunnu, poi bhakshanam Kaikyam!”
I was feeling happy that I told a complex word like Bhakshanam for food but everyone started laughing saying that its not “Verkunnu” which actually means sweating or feeling hot but “Veshakunnu!”. I pushed my language learning goals for one more month!
But I was used to it since I have been that South Indian or “Madrasi” for my North Indian friends and they have told me so many times on how inspire of being a “Madrasi” I speak good Hindi though that only rare (the compliments that is!); mostly they would correct me and I would restart my endeavour with renewed vigour!
Once it was half a day and I informed our school driver that he must come at “Sade ek!” Feeling again proud that I told “half’ or ‘Sade” well! Only to hear the whole bunch of drivers laughing at me!
“It is not Sade ek but Dedh baje!” He informed me! Of course I asked him ‘what is dedh baje?’ To which he replied its “Sade ek only! But we don’t say that!” Apparently Sade ek and Sade do or half past one and half past two are ‘dedh and dhai’ respectively! A true Hindi speaker would know of course!

That was of course when I was a kid but once during my residency days I asked a man in Kannada, “belaggeda Uta Aayita?” Which means “did you have food in the morning?”
The man was surprised telling me, “belagge yaru oota Maad taare Saar? Belagge navu thindi madodu!”
Apparently the breakfast is called thindi and what’s thindi you ask, well its the food you eat in the morning but you apparently do not eat food in the morning but you eat thindi which is of course breakfast! Hope you get the drift!

One language which I really tried hard to learn was Bengali since we see many Bengali patients!
A patient once I treated for headache when he used to say “sarpar” though I later realised that he was saying ‘taarpaar’ which roughly means ‘afterwards!’
Also ‘Cho’ is mouth while ‘choktha’ is eye and it many times depends on your speed and expression rather that the actual word on what you are trying to say!
The reason why I try to make so much effort among many other things is that it is really important to get the message across especially after a surgery! But many times I would tell the same thing in his or her language and the interpreter would also tell the very same thing verbatim but the patient would understand much to my amazement and chagrin!
We also have an elaborate ritual for an ear surgery patient where I tell them to take a cotton and dip in coconut oil and squeeze it and place it in the entrance of the ear so that water will not go!
One of my follow patient who assured me that he knew English was having wet ear and it simply did not dry! So I asked him, “what he was doing?”
He told me, “exactly what you said sir, but that coconut is very costly buying everyday!”
I asked him, “why do you have to buy coconut oil everyday? Can’t you use one bottle for at least a month?”
He looked at me alarmed, “oil?!!”

Apparently he though that he was to put the cotton in coconut water! So much for my language super power!

Over the years though I had mastered the local languages including Telugu and most of the time the patient is really happy that I have made an effort to try to understand him or her! I make it a point to elaborate that it is not my native language but it is purely my effort to learn his or her language so that he or she may feel better or make me understand better!
It really helps me many times especially when this time I went to Dubai and met so many who either spoke in Malayalam or Hindi! And at once there was a level of comfort and it was easy for us! So much so that My wife asked me to bargain to the gold seller in Malayalam hoping we get a better deal! Though I draw a line there! Super power comes with responsibility you see!

So remember that it is easy to criticise someone who is trying something new and you may think that you are being frank but you must also try to FRANKLY appreciate the effort he or she is taking so that you will feel nice!
Next stop, “learning Marathi!”

The third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond

Book review

Audiobook

No spoilers

Listening time – over 17 hours

Rating- for non fiction fan 4.5/5 only because I am comparing it to his absolute thriller of a book called Guns, Germs and  Steel which is incomparable of course and the author does mention the same directly or indirectly.

He starts with introduction and premise on how the Homo sapien is very closely related to the chimp and only differs from it by less than 2 percent! He also mentions how in the classification, human will be called the third chimpanzee and hence the heading!

Then he goes on to explain the sexual behaviour of many animals chiefly humans going into details over genitalia and ovulation and menopause which apparently is only limited to humans. He also goes into the differences between apes and gorillas and chimps and how they differ from humans. He also goes on to say how in some animal during the period of ovulation there occurs a colour change and it is not a secret like how it is in humans! In fact he goes on with a hypothetical example on how if humans had visible signs of ovulation and how if the woman consummates with every other human like an animal the complications which would arise! Of course he also states how the size of genitalia or even the existence of similar appendages in many animals offers no evolutionary advantage! Later on though he does a type one error and concluded how it does offer an advantage using different species for example.

The section is described in such details that at one point it feels a lot and that’s when the rating dropped by half a point! I guess the author understood that and he has now written an entire book on this!

He then moves on to world conquest and back on track!
He mentions about about first contact and this is a very important matter especially between either two animals species and between humans and other humans and animals. It is here he introduces the terms of Germs and guns and this acts as a prelude to his next book Guns, germs and steel which unfortunately I read before and inadvertently raised my expectations on this one!
He mentions several examples on these contacts using examples of war and conquest and also linguistic differences. These are one of the best sections of the book where he explains the chief distinction of Homo Sapien; intelligent speech! He also mentions several examples in the animal kingdom of birds and monkeys who have different sounds or grunt to indicate speech!
He also mentions different language where you have difference in vowels and also in pitch! An extension of his could be the very famous book The horse the wheel and the language by David W Anthony which incidentally is my current read!
He also mentions about art and how many animals also practice art though they do not do it for pleasure or fame unlike humans!
The section on how a type of monkey cheats other monkeys makes us realise how we are not that different!

The last section of the book is how mankind is directly linked to destruction! He gives several examples on whenever there is a resurgence of mankind there follows destruction and many times extinction! He tells even though there are examples even in animal kind of killing and  rape, it is so rare and so unique only to the Homo sapien!
In between the whole book he mentions tit bits about his kids (twin boys!) and it is understood that he is in a fatherly mode and he wants a safe and mostly intact earth for his children! He tells about how humans are alone in the vast galaxy and he also talks about development of radio as being the focus of evolution in any planet which means that the species of that planet has reached to that level of evolution!

In a gloomy way he told of the ways we are destroying our climate in a pace which can never be halted even if we start now. He also compares how what the current human is doing is more worse than even the even which wiped out the dinosaurs and other living beings in the planet at the time.
We have reached a level of destruction that is irrecoverable so lets act as soon as possible!
Although having realised the melancholy he does hold back the negativity and gives some home though it is clear that the time for earth is running out and we have to act fast!

The final chapter is a summary of the events of the homo development and in in fact the summary of the next book!

Please listen or read this one before Guns, germs and Steel though it will still stimulate your intellect if you are a history buff and a fan of environment!

Have fun!

Book review

Rating 2/5

Reading an e-book after three months! Ever since I am hooked into audio books, it’s strange going back to reading! But can’t imagine listening to an Audiobook of Chetan Bhagat book!

No spoilers here! So you can continue without fear!

Now there are two types of Indian book readers, one who admit that they do read Chetan Bhagat; you can guess the second! If you are in India then somehow Chetan Bhagat gets one trend right! Or at least it may be a future script of a movie!
This one though in current style is more of a web series! Some saas bahu masala, then a lonely wife, a young defective; err I mean detective! A no good husband, one missing girl and some suspense!

Like I mentioned above about Chetan getting one trend right; in revolution 2020 it was how accurately he described the whole Kota coaching situation including Bansals!
In half girl friend he depicted the language problems of a Bihari in a university campus. In one night he told the problems of deadline and irritating boss! And so on…

He also tries to get either his IIT or IIM educated on the lead protagonist and somehow the lead will be based on him. Maybe that is the reason why the lead bends twists and turns all rules of his so called detective agency to finally sleep with the client one way or the other! If the description of the client or any character in the novel is done with more than three lines then rest assured the lead will eventually get some!

With lots of loopholes we are presented with a kidnapping and a mother who resembles the Disha Patani of Baghi 2 with her missing baby and only one person who helps her! Of course Keshav is no Tiger Shroff and here he supposedly uses his bad timing and his great interaction ability with kids specially not his! To get information and solve the case! The one clue which hits you in the face takes so many pages to reach!

Chetan started as a college student and struggling professionals but this detective agency in this day and age makes not sense when you know that Keshav is neither clever nor technically capable (most computer stuff is being done by his partner!). Every hundred page we are reminded by one of the two that he is a detective! Like in Big Bang Sheldon says, “If you have to ask, you are Robin and not Batman!”

The language is a breeze and there are very few characters so that you will not get confused and the final twist is unexpected which is good in such mysteries! But all the time from getting the case you just want to skip to the end! And just like revolution 2020, here also the hero apparently sacrifices the dessert after having eaten the same (pardon the puns! It’s not to insult or belittle anyone but its the only way to make the point without any spoilers!).

Also I am sure that Chetan would have gone for a tour of Kerala and those cuisines and places are added in the story without any need! In the days of Chetan is still in the saas bahu era and deliberately makes the mother in law as cruel as possible which was not necessary since the daughter in law actually turned out to do everything the mother in law feared! Some dirt about DNA test thrown around for good measure! Of course the result came against mother in law but I wonder what the result would be now! Maybe the sequel those 10 days in Kochi may throw some light!

Read it since eventually you would just want to get it over with! With a good speed you can finish it in a day and move on!

Book review

Audio book

Self help non fiction book genre

Rating- on its own 4/5; as a follow up to power of habits 3/5 (that is also the issue with expectations)

The book begins by describing a Surgeon which instantly got my attention since bird of a feather!
The author talks how this surgeon was a multi talented and extremely adept at handling multiple things at the same time!

Charles was so amazed by this surgeon that he mailed him asking for few minutes of his time so that he could give inputs on his own life! On how he manages to juggle between so many things! The doctor replies initially that he may not have time for him that day which leads our Charles to conclude that even he has limits! But he had actually misunderstood him! That week apparently the doctor was on a vacation with his kids that week but he was free the next!

So the management of time and better habit is what started the book!
Charles previous book on the power of Habit is like the prequel of what’s to come and this one also follows that same pattern!

The book follows some inspiring stories and then makes us look into the chief reasons why someone or something is a success!

The books first story was of a couple who in their seventies in the middle of a very successful personal and professional life went on a vacation and the husband Robert suffers a stroke especially of the basal ganglia region which leads to personality changes! He narrates how he immediately loses all resolve to do any work. He basically becomes unemotional and that makes a huge impact to his life. The author also narrates several such cases of people who had similar brain injury and that made them unemotional and lethargic to start any activity.

Further to this he describes a research using an fMRI machine where the fact that when one has a control of action then that’s the way people would like to go or are happy! Or when you feel you are in control of the decision then you are more happy as demonstrated by the scan!

One story was of a poor student called ERIC QUINTANILLA and basically a misfit who finally joins the marine corps and excels in the training since he has nothing else to do in life! This was the only thing he can do! And how the training was inspired by an officer who in real life wanted the marines to not only follow orders but when the time and stress is high, must also be able to make decisions on their own! The story of the training has been narrated rather well and is a must read!

In a completion of sorts the author also spoke about the struggles of Viola Philippe the wife of Robert who overcame that and much more!

Then the author talks about Julia and how her team in a project where everyone’s idea is welcome and everyone is involved is very effective! That how many companies like the Google also makes sure that everyone in the team is allowed a chance to contribute and every idea is encouraged no matter how small! This was apparently secondary to a project called the project Oxygen; this section is an interesting read indeed which essentially distinguished good managers from everyone else and how they can improve!

Then Charles discusses about Edmondson and how they conducted survey on team work and error rates! They found that strong teams made more mistakes paradoxically which in fact actually means that the team members feel open enough and courageous enough to accept and admit the mistakes in the first place!

The importance of team work is further elaborated in a extensive discipline which was followed during the filming and production of the very popular show Saturday night live in spit of the infighting, ego tussle, romantic liaisons and what not!

Then later the extended project Aristotle by Google is described and some key points are enumerated like how a team must feel that their work is important, meaningful, team needs clear goals and defined roles and dependence to each other and finally most important was psychological safety!

The author then talks about cognitive tunneling which is like a freeze response in tense situation and the importance of team work is enumerated in two separate incidents of plane crash, one which happened because of team failure and one which was averted! The narration of both was epic and tense! In between he also tells about automation which has made our brain lethargic and slow to act!
He also spoke about those who were calm during emergencies like a nurse who picked up a good call!

He then narrated how one single leaders biased opinion in Israel’s military almost bought them to a loss and the loss did happen in form of war which was predicted and in front of them but the general Eli Zeira just could not see the obvious since at this time they wanted concrete evidence and not speculation.

He talks about cognitive closure which for many is a big advantage while for many it is a big disadvantage!

Then comes a very interesting story of General Electric and Toyota and the andon cord! This is one of the best stories for me and you must read the book just for his one!

Thea author in between his stories adds many technical terms and analysis which juice up the narration and this is a very interesting way to learn though sometimes there is an interruption of flow and you just can’t wait to get back to the story!
One thing added were how goals can be specific, or measurable or achievable and if you make them like this then any habit can be formed by being realistic and making a timeline!

He tells then about the goal setting flow chart which is essentially a plan to make a habit work! It is really interesting so to speak!

Then he introduced a kidnapping and the hero is introduced which is a program called the Sentinel which again goes into a sub story how FBI after several such loss making incomplete program got a specialist on team work and made this very successful program which of course saved the day so to speak!

He also talks about star culture, engineering culture, bureaucratic culture and autocratic culture which are the forms of work culture which every management person is familiar with and finally they speak about the best culture for the success of a team or company; the commitment culture!
He then talks about a poker player and how she took care of her nerves by doing what she is good at and which makes her calm! In this case legitimate poker as a champion! He sub goals into how to predict different future and then make a decision!

A vey interesting story is how the story of the popular movie FROZEN had this particular story line and how the music was made and for people who really liked the movie this is a very interesting trivia! You must go through this to realise the effort which goes to make a movie like frozen! He also talks about how a slight change in authority or homeostasis so to speak can make you see the trees from the forest! The same was narrated in the very popular West Side Story where a modification of a familiar pattern gave rise to big dividends making it one of the most successful shows ever!

He then talks about the schooling system and how a plan and goal analysis and careful interoperation of data can make a huge difference! Since there is so much data it leads to cognitive blindness and
Once it is analysed and broken down then you have great result!

He then tells about the golden rule of the engineering design process of defining the Delian, collect data, brainstorming solution, debating approach and experimentation!

As the first book, here also the author tells how he applied the principles of the chapter in his own life and how he managed his time! The best way to demonstrate is self!

All in all a good book to listen!

Hopefully you may learn a thing or two!

Book review

Audiobook

Listening time approximately 11 hours

Self help motivational book

No spoilers but note, if you are planning to skip the book then the review is a summary and  if you do plan to read in the future then it’s a preview of what’s in store for you! Either ways you will not be disappointed…

Rating- 5/5 for the attempt but depends on your mood

It starts with the description of Habit loop and the Craving brain and the golden rule of habit change. But finally the whole book gives examples from the life and episodes of people from all all walks of life and this is probably the best part of the book!

If you want to hear inspiring stories then this is the book for you but having read the heading and you want to change your habit then you can just jump to the end of the book or move on to the next book in the series on how to change your habit to make a difference!

The atomic habits book by James Clear is also like an unofficial sequel to this book so you might want to read that after this and see how the habits are used to make changes! That book takes the whole methodology one step forward with the whole loop and reward.

The book starts with the story of Lisa Allen who now fit and trim was previously an addict and obese individual. He then introduces a term called the keystone habit.

The book is apparently divided into three parts, the first deals with how habits emerge within individuals life, the second deals with habits of successful companies and organisations and finally the third part deals with the habits of society!

The book draws the information from hundreds of academic studies, interviews with more than three hundred scientists and executives and research conducted at dozens of companies.

Then he narrates an interesting story (which is plenty in the book!) of how an officer stopped or prevented a riot in Iraq by simply moving the food carts!

Then he moves on to the this person called EP and how after an encephalitis episode loses his sense but then his habit takes over and here the author gives introduction about Basal Ganglia.

Then he gives an amazing account of how the successful ad campaigner Claude C Hopkins made toothpaste a national and international phenomenon! How the after taste is like the reward in the habit loop of cue, routine and reward!

He then moves on to the story of Febreze and how it finally became a worldwide phenomenon with habit modification!

He also mentions about the golden rule of habit exchange! Where you must replace one habit with another!

He then explains about basic behaviour habit loop developed by the coach Dungy and how that leads finally to great victory!

The same with programs such as Alcoholic anonymous and their apparent consistent success! They also talk about Mandy and her compulsive nail biting! How the basic habit routine and modification and plan gets the work done!

A big part of the book was about Paul O Neill , the new CEO of Alcoa and how his adhrence to safety made a domino effect! One thing lead to another and profits soared much to the amazement of everyone! How he takes responsibilities, makes everyone embolden enough to come to him or their superiors with ideas!

He also talks about the tough childhood faced by Michael Phelps and how he made his challenges his strength and how he has a habit and how it always helps him especially once when his goggles malfunctioned but his habit made him create a world record even if he was not able to see!

Another success story is narrated of a worker and owner of Starbucks and how their training program is one of the best in the world!
These success stories are consistent and finally relegated to habit modification!

The next two episodes were of a hospital in Rhode Island and an underground rail network where every department were under water shed lines and how it gets better when changes are implemented.
He also mentions about how companies like Target and others monitor your buying habits and make a profile of you rather accurately!
So accurate that it’s scary!
The next part of the book is how they made a song famous by inserting in better recall worthy songs!

The next story is about Saddleback Church and the habits designed by the clergy which the author equates to Rosa Parks famous bus boycott incident and Martin Luther King’s rise to fame!
How movements happen by habit changes!

The author then narrates two cases where one husband kills his wife due to automatism and one wife loses control of her gambling addiction.

Finally the book tells how to change your habit from undesirable to good!
This is like an extension of the Atomic habit loop.
You must first identify the routine, then experiment with rewards, isolate the cue and have a plan!

With the advent of audio books, these non fiction books are a breeze! The stories are so real and of course in between it does get repetitive but then once you get used to the flow, it is really nice!

The next book in the series is also by Charles and my optimistic guess is that it is the step two! Lets get back to that in another 10 hours of listening time! Till then try this!

As they say habit, a bit always remains!

Atomic habits by James Clear

Book Review

Non fiction self help book genre

No spoilers

Audible version

Rating- 5/5 for the beginning, 3/5 for dragging in the middle and 5/5 for the nice summary in the endo of each chapter

The book starts with a similar tone as the book Predictably irrational by Dan Ariely which I had reviewed earlier. Like that the book starts with a personal tragedy faced by the author in which he met with a sports accident and was in coma with little hope for some days. Even after recovery he had to undergo multiple sessions of surgery and Physiotherapy and could not play for a while and when he did join it was as a junior. But he made some changes to his life and later on went on to become an ace player and etched a name in the sports!

With that personal victory of sorts the book starts with a good propulsion of sorts! He was also a good student!
The reason for his success he attributes to small or atomic changes he made on his day to day activity and life which in addition and persistence made for huge changes and success!

The whole book is then a summary of these atomic habits!

The first chapter is on making the habits obvious! One of the first things to do is to make a score card on your current habits and classify them as good, bad or neutral! All these terms are of course self explanatory!

The reason why I gave 3/5 for the middle is the fact that the whole book the author narrates his website for further information such as charts, media or even more examples! Of course you cannot put everything in a book but this repeated telling of the website address felt as if the book is only a preview of the Website and not the complete package! So I have a nagging feeling that maybe some points are missing in the book and if that’s the important point then I felt cheated!

So anyway he has told to set your goal and do not think only of the goal but think about your system since when the goal is too far and the success is delayed then you may lose interest in maintaining your goal. Like if you want to run a marathon then start small but think of yourself as a marathon runner in the beginning itself and that will make you achieve your goal easier.

Then some things are useful as calling out your goal and then making sure you stick to it like if you are planning to reduce weight then when you see a cookie then call out that you are trying to lose weight and then maybe you may not be tempted to eat the cookie!

That is a form of negative reinforcement and you can give yourself small wins as positive reinforcements so that you do not feel that you are not wining or near your goal!

He has also mentioned that even the people with the strongest will power can only stick to their goals when they do not have any distractions so the environment plays a major part in your achievements! Like if you are again trying to lose weight and your office is usually full of tasty treats then you must stay away from the office meal room! He also mentioned how addicts become sober when the stimulation and stress which made them take to smoking is removed!

Many books especially self help ones give examples of either Thinking fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman or Guns, germs and Steel by Jared Diamond! It is as if you must read these books first to move on to books like this one! Here James talks about Jared Diamond’s observation how the way continents are shaped influenced the farming again giving emphasis on environment and ease of access!

So if a bad habit say watching TV is a simple task then you can make it difficult or a task which will reduce your craving for the habit! Like how the author’s assistant used to change his Netflix password on weekdays and mail him on weekend!

One of the endearing things about these self help books is that the authors aren’t that different or perfect! They have just made minor good modifications in their behaviour and stuck to it!

Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity was one of the comments! He also states that don’t be bogged by the slow pace of improvement! Go slow but don’t go back!
He also speaks about two minutes rule as how good habits must take less then two minutes to follow like keeping the dress ready before a walk! Or the Goldilocks rule where you will do task which is just enough to challenge you but not too easy or too hard!

There are four basic effect and response to any habit and if you want to change your habit then you must modify those. The first is Craving which makes the habit attractive so try to make the habit unattractive! Second is when the habit is obvious so your cue is to make it hidden, the third is that bad habits are easy to learn or get so try to make it difficult! Finally bad habits arer satisfying and rewarding so you can try to make them unsatisfying or unrewarding! How is left to you though many such examples are given in the book!
Another thing is place for a habit! Like bedroom is for reading and stuff so no cross over! If you demarcate zones for habit then they become automatic!

He also mentions how genes matter to a certain extent and most importantly consistency is the key!

The best part of the book is the summary at the end of the book which is like a refresher course of the whole chapter!

Any self help book is like that key which is looking for that particular lock of the person who is looking for a particular type of key to open his or her mind! Some work, some don’t but like how James tells, don’t look back!

One of the first books recommended by the author is the 7 habits of highly effective people which incidentally was the book I finished before this!

So with just 4 hours or so, this is a smooth audible ride! Give it a go at least in a small way! Maybe Atomic!?

Book review

Audio Book version listened via Storytel

Average running time around 4-5 hours

Book rating-5/5 depending on your state of mind to 3/5!

Accompanying ebook is helpful to understand the exercises given in the end

Book genre is Self help book on long life

There is this island in Japan where the average life span is highest in the world! So the authors got together to investigate this and other similar places to understand why and how they live so long!

So what does Ikigai mean? It is apparently a Japanese concept which roughly translates into the happiness of being busy!

It essentially means that once you find your Ikigai then you will always live and live long! So the aim of everyone in life is to find his or her Ikigai and follow it!

The first thing what the author tells you is that you must never retire! You must not stop doing things you love! The authors give lots of examples of people who love what they do and keep doing it for as long as they can and in true sense of work, never retire!

Now Okinawa holds the first place in the Blue zone or place where the lifespan of people is the longest! The other places are Okinawa as described most in the book, Sardinia in Italy, Loma Linda in California, The Nicosia Peninsula of Costa Rica and Ikaria in Greece!

Subsequently the authors examine all the above places and in special concentration to Okinawa to try to unearth the secret of living long!

They further go on to give examples of people like the famous Japanese director who used to write and direct movies in the old style even when he retired! They also mention about the author Murakami how he has close ties only with few people and other times he is fully immersed with his work! That may bring up so much of issues but then that is their opinion!

The major part of the novel is of course the experiences of visiting the long life village!
The very plain village is presented in such a way that you can imagine people getting up and just being busy! Like how an old grandpa more than 100 years old gets up in the morning and goes to his kitchen garden and after one hour of gardening takes his own vegetable and makes breakfast and basically keeps himself busy! Playing game or doing karaoke or dancing and celebrating 100 years birthday like a teenage kid!

After telling about regular things like diet which must include fresh vegetables and fruits and natural ones, they of course tell you to work out in one way or other!
One important thing they mentioned is how to eat till you are 80 percent full and stop! That essentially means you avoid desserts! It also means that you must take small portions in small plates which is the traditional Japanese way of serving food!

Then the author gives some steps on the famous styles of ancient exercise starting with Radio taiso including giving the essential steps which is in the accompanying ebook, then they tell you about Yoga and give steps of Surya Namaskaram, then tai chi and different styles of tai chi enumerating the basic steps and principles, then they tell about qigong or chi Kung which has some special benefits which are again enumerated including improved cardiac function and lower BP! Finally they describe Shiatsu. All these requires the ebook for better understanding but it is one of the best summarisation of these practices I have ever seen!
They also talk about resilience and meditation!

It is understood that the novel is not a one time read but a reference book which you may have to grab when you feel low or heavy so to speak!
The final end points are to stop snacking between meals, eat sweets only once a week, gradually pay of all debts, avoid spending time with toxic people!, do things you enjoy!

In essence the authors are telling you keep yourself surrounded with good friends and thoughts! Eat good food, work or work out, have no stress and try to live as close to nature as possible!

Happy long life!…I mean read!

The slow narration though put me to sleep many times! Not intended to listen while driving after a meal!

Read by the author himself and produced by Harper Audio

Book Review

Rating- 5/5 for the concept 4/5 for the execution 3/5 for the abrupt conclusion

Genre- Non fiction possibly self help

Dan Ariely begins with the end in mind! The author is a self made man and possibly a devout catholic with the way he holds on to Bible and the Ten Commandments! Though he mentions he is an Israeli! I am a big fan of the Israeli Novelist Yuval Noah Harari and this can explain my bias to another one of the same country!

This book was referred to me by my senior and now mentor in audio book, Dr Vinod Nadig ; a big thanks to him!

Dan was a survivor of a burns injury and he begins by describing his ordeal and survival and how the very fact that his dressing change made him think about whether the removal of dressing fast and rapid is the way to go or to remove it slowly! When he presented this finding to the nursing staff, they told him that it was a painful experience to them also! That very fact actually escaped his mind! Though he still felt that his way was better! Personally being a doctor, I would have been more happy if he had given more compliments to them for having treated him rather than blaming them in every possible way in subsequent chapters! But of course this was in 2008 and I am hopeful that after COVID his opinion would have rationally changed!

Having got that out of my mind lets dive into the book!

He begins by stating how people often select irrationally or make irrational choices when it comes to making decision of money! How many times the choices are there as a decoy! He begins with an example of a subscription package of a paper where he is presented with three choices, one online for 60 or so dollars, one only print for 125 dollars and final for both combined at 120 or so dollars! He was tempted like all of us for the one with combined one since that was middle ground! Then he understood that the extreme option was a decoy!

Like many authors even he mentions Daniel Kahneman and his works in these area and also mentions a similar finding! At this point I was glad that I read Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking fast and slow which seems to be the final reference point for many!

Then he mentions how when you are offered some extreme offers you tend to go for the middle ground! How when you see the most costly item in the menu you go for the second costliest patting yourself for a decision well made when in fact that was the decision which was thrust upon you!

He then debunks the myth of supply and demand giving examples of Tahitian Black Pearl and Starbucks coffee on how once the anchor price point is set then you accept them in a higher price bracket when they may not be so!

He then moves on my favourite topic! The free or zero concept! You must understand that nothing in the world is free! If it is free then you are the product! He states that the word free gives us a big emotional charge and clouds our judgement so much that we end up making bad choices just to get something which we really do not want for free!
He illustrates this with an experiment of chocolates and that’s a very interesting experiment!

He then moves on to the social and friendly factor; on how many things which you may not do by getting paid, you may do for free because that is a part of social norm! How some work gets negative impact if you get paid for it! He states by telling a thanksgiving party story on how the son in law makes a payment for the mother in law on her excellent meal! Here he introduces the concept of social norms and market norms giving clear examples on how to keep them apart!

Then he moves on to how emotions play a big role in decision making which is eerily similar to what Daniel Kahneman mentions in his book! His next chapter on procrastination and self control is an extension of that very concept though he calls it cool and hot state! A similar analogy was used by Mark Manson in his book Subtle art!

He then tells us about this interesting phenomenon called the endowment effect! How a partial ownership of a product makes us do anything and everything to keep it to ourself! How we value our things higher than the buyer! He illustrates this with an example of Game ticket! He also mentions how we bid in an auction and get partial ownership which makes us keep the product as if it belongs to us! It’s how we get to try a product or a subscription free for few days and then we get ownership and subsequently it’s difficult to let go! This is a very interesting and true phenomenon!

He then tells us about the effect of expectation that shapes stereotypes and how prior information affects our decision!
The next chapter is my favourite in which he describes the power of placebo and he dives into the medical world with gusto giving examples to support his viewpoints though I felt this was biased and one sided! He also mentions how costlier medication and medications which have a Pre determined notion are more effective! This is of course true to a point but I can personally assure Mr Ariely that when you buy Generic drugs in India, the amount of active salt will be less! So take it at your own risk!

He of course gives very good examples of the placebo effect and the effect of prior knowledge and how many times you can get better with placebo!
In the end like many authors though Dan does gets his own opinion in between and that tends to dilute the sanctity of a non fiction book! He tells how people are honest and dishonest to a limit and how cash makes people more honest and how when the mode of consult is not cash then people tend to get more dishonest!

The selling point of the book was how he stated that a 5 cent aspirin is less effective than 5 dollar aspirin which gets to the catchphrase of the book on how people are Predictably Irrational!
His experiments are real nice and the way he used to tell he results made us wait with held breath! In the end he also invites people to be a part of his experiments! Somehow though I cannot but feel that his experiments are limited and Biased to begin with! Human mind is a complex mixture of an array of emotions and the only thing rational about human brain is it’s unpredictable nature! Of course that only my own predictably rational view!

The audio book is a breeze to listen and in less than five hours which is just three days of drive you can complete this one!

Check it out if you are a non fiction listener! Or if you are unpredictable then check it out anyway!

Book Review

Genre- Non Fiction self help book

Rating- The rating of any self help book depends on the mood of the reader! When he or she is in need of help then its 5/5 and when he or she feels that he or she does not need any help then its much less!
Since my mood was fluctuating the rating remains average though this particular book does not need any rating! This along with the book called How to win friends are the Bible for management gurus and studies all over! Motivational speakers all over the world especially in English would have read it over and over!

This book has sold more than 25 million copies and the Audio book is the first non fiction book to sell more than a million copies!
The book begins with a introduction on how it was written ages ago but the principles is still valid today and maybe forever!
He starts with the famous Goose that laid the golden egg stories goes to explain a theory of effectiveness called the P vs PC ratio. In that P is the preferred result and PC is the caring which gets the result.

The first three habits are told in such a way that they are dependent to each other and this is a real eye opener! The first habit is to be proactive or in better words taking control of your life and the second is an extension of this which urge you to begin with the end in mind! When you get these habits in place then you can get to choose which is first!

This third habit is familiar to many of us who have seen it in some management seminar or the board of a motivational speaker! This involves the classification of the work in a table! The first table is work which is both urgent and important which you must do as early as possible! The second is work which is important but not urgent which you must plan to do as soon as possible! The third is work which is urgent but not important which you must delegate without delay! While the last is work which is not urgent and neither important! This must be eliminated as soon as possible!

The first three habits are like things which you must develop within while the other habits are in your interaction with others!
Which brings us to the fourth habit called the Win win! This implies that you must always try to have a win win deal with others which is the only effective way to deal! That is the only situation where everyone is happy!

Of course to do this you must go to the next habit which is to understand others! See the point of view of others! Then you will be in a position to make your point put across so that the other person can understand you! This is apparently greatly emphasised in the Greek Philosophy as Ethos, Pathos and Logos! In short you must be empathetic!

Once you master the above then you can go for the next habit which is Synergize! Which is of course a cool term for team work! And finally you have the habit of Sharpen the saw or continuous growth!

In between all these Covey gives amazing narration from his own experience on how he delegated the lawn cleaning work to his son and how it faltered at first but then picked up! How his attention to his younger son gets a surprising response from his elder son! How many of his participants interact with him! How he demonstrated the win win situation! How he had a very healthy relationship of trust and open talk with his wife!

He also gives importance in one of the habits on the importance of physical exercise and how at least one hour a day must be reserved for that! Then he also gives us examples of many great thinkers and of stories which he comes across while doing his presentation much like the book how to win friends! You can understand that the author is a laid back teacher like god fearing person and this is a sermon of sorts but for the modern times!

It is a good read and as audio book a great book to listen to especially during the long drives of Bengaluru traffic! This 16 hours mammoth finished so fast that like a good movie which you want to end but when it does you miss it!

Give it a go if you have not read or listened to it especially while you are doing some other work and the soothing voice of the narrator will be helpful without a doubt!

Happy reading or listening!!

Book Review

No spoilers

Audible version! 17 hours running time!

Rating- 4.5/5 for this summary of history of the world!

Jared is a Pulitzer Prize winner and this book is one of TIME’s best non-fiction books of all time!

Just how Daniel Kahneman had mention of Amos in his very famous book Thinking, Fast and Slow; Jared here speaks about a politician called Yali whose question is the one which made him set on a voyage of writing this novel!

Even Jared himself states that though this is a short history of everybody for the last 13000 years, even if the book is a mammoth 450 pages edition with small print; it can still narrate only a part of the beast that is history!

Of course Jared gets this own take on how the three important things Guns, Germs and Steel in different combination and in different places had a big influence on the human civilisation!

This is not a bedtime story for kids! Though if you do read it in the night you can be sure to sleep like a baby due to its very slow pace and content! The first time I got the paper back edition I stopped after thirty pages! Then I got the e book version and stopped after fifty pages! That was three years back!

Finally got the audible edition and then finally I finished it and how! I cannot state more times that audio books are the next thing! I used to love the feel of books and that’s how I used to read them! Then Sony ebook reader and later on Kindle made me realise that ebook were better and easier with some compromise!
Now audio books and Bangalore traffic are like two negatives which has become a big positive for me! Two months and I have already finished more than five long books! This particular book is 17 hours long which is typically five day trip to work and back in Bangalore traffic!

Now coming to the book proper;

Jared mentions about the Homo Sapiens and other ancient species like Erectus and others and then goes to describe a battle between two tribes called the MORIORI and MAORI of New Zealand and how one tribe dominated another.

Most of his findings do go close to New Guinea and Australia and New Zealand where he has spend considerable time is my first guess!
What I was impressed even in the ebook was the battle of CAJAMARCA! The way he described it was so surreal. This example will be repeated in the book in different concept. In this case it was how steel made them win the war and in another how germ won the battle! Most of the time Jared gives excellent examples how Germ or Gun or Steel (meaning weapon) are one of the three most definitive determinants of which civilisation will thrive!

This is not a book where you remember things like a story but a reference manual which your will go back to refer!
So you have reference to how animals became domesticated and how many animals such as giraffe or zebra or cheetah cannot be domesticated or tamed!
The same with the plants which were actually wild to begin with and then they were domesticated with lots of interesting titbits in between! Such as how bitter almonds are actually toxic and poisonous and how they have been domesticated to be able to be eaten finally!

The same with mushroom and other vegetables!

He also mentions things like how big animals are difficult to domesticate not because their meat is not good where he adds that even lion meat is good by his own experience (that was a bit off for e though!). He did mention rare example of big animals getting tamed but that is rare and not perfectly tame in such as that they can become wild anytime!

He then traces many tribes who by virtue of germs, steel or gun got the upper hand and lived behind to write the history so to speak! Sometimes distance between two tribes does not make a difference while many times the distance is the only limiting factor!

He gives us glances of the Fertile Crescent and china and Africa and other places which were initially fertile and ripe so to speak before being converted to barren land of today! Then he also states how the unity of a country may sometimes impede development while sometimes it may help.

He talks about the Bantu tribes and their conquest and then about Japanese with other country coming in between as guest appearances!

The diction in Audio book is very pleasant and you will have no difficulty in understanding finally why this book is a big deal!
I am just happy that I could finish this behemoth and now I can take more!
Have fun…Listening!