Abhijit Bhaduri’s Blog
I write about careers, skills and the world of work. The cartoons and sketches are mine.
20 Sep 08 6pm @ CROSSWORD, Select Citywalk, Saket, New Delhi
The book is being launched for the media to give them a sneak peak ahead of the others. It is going to be a small event. So I just thought of inviting all of you to join me on this very very special moment. Besides the media it is important to have some friends to share the special moment. Right?
Interview: The Asian Age 6 Sep 08
Pramita Bose of The Asian Age asked me about my favorite books. That's a tough question. It is a bit like asking which one is your favorite movie or favorite city to live in. The answer to most of these questions changes or gets updated frequently. The latest book that one falls in love with often features in a list like this. Some books remain eternal favorites. They linger on. They haunt me. On a lonely evening those phrases and dilemmas set me thinking. Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning is one such awesome book. Spike Milligan certainly remains a benchmark when it comes to writing humor. Here is Pramita's take on the dicussion...
Married But Available - The Cover Story
Don't judge a book by its cover. When a book lies among a hundred others on the shelf, it is the cover that first catches the eye. Thereafter the seduction of the reader is unabashed. through great graphics or visuals, maybe through an interesting title or through a controversial quote or a celeb author's photo or endorsement, the cover tries to get you to cough up the money and take the book home.
Sept Date for Biz Book Sequel
Antara Bose of The Telegraph says, "XLRI alumnus Abhijit Bhaduri is ready with his second book that will hit the stores sometime in September. Abhijit’s first book Mediocre But Arrogant (2005) was a bestseller and he may hit the jackpot again with Married But Available (2008)."
Management Compass: The Interview
Q: What is it about the B-schools that makes it a good backdrop for a story?A: An author must write about things that have a ring of authenticity. I went to a B-School and the story is therefore set in a surrounding that I am familiar with. The dilemmas of B School life make for an interesting combination for B-Schools.
Married But Available - The Synopsis
Married But Available follows the life of the protagonist Abbey through the first ten years of his life as a Human Resources professional. The first ten years are arguably the most action packed years of one's life when most people get raises, get their promotions or change jobs, some get married, have kids, get divorced, fall in love and out of it and confront existential dilemmas. This novel looks at the first ten years of Abbey's professional life after his MBA.
Ask Abhijit
Is this story autobiographical? Is there someone called Rascal Rusty? Did you actually live in the Railway Colony of SP Marg, New Delhi? Why did you choose Jamshedpur as the city in which to base the Business School in? Who does Abbey love - is it Keya, Priya or Ayesha? If you want to ask some more questions, just go ahead and add them to the comment section below and I will answer them. - Abhijit Bhaduri
The Hindu's List of Bestsellers
Sometimes one stumbles across an old review or list while surfing. Here's what I saw from The Hindu newspaper. This is really 27th August 2005. So pretty much just after the launch of Mediocre But Arrogant, it featured in The Hindu newspaper's bestseller list. This is precious.
HarperCollins to Print MARRIED BUT AVAILABLE
It is official. I am going with HarperCollins. The publishing giant HarperCollins, one of the largest English-language publishers in the world, is a subsidiary of News Corporation. Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing groups around the world. In India they have been in business since 2002 as a joint venture with the India Today group.
Hindi Translation of Mediocre But Arrogant
I have often been asked if there is a Hindi Translation of Mediocre But Arrogant around the corner. I am looking for someone who can translate the story into Hindi or other Indian languages. Google has this cool feature of transliteration. A little painful at times, but certainly workable. Here is my attempt at translating the first two paras of the book. Tell me what you think of it.
David Rasquinha's Review of Mediocre But Arrogant on Amazon.com
David Rasquinha is an avid reader and reviewer of books. Starting off with his first review dated 14 Dec 1999 when he wrote about A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin, since then has written 118 book reviews and 1463 votes who find his reviews useful.
About him - as disclosed on the Amazon profile:
"I am from India, temporarily based in the USA. A banker by profession, I am fond of classical music and reading, amateur astronomy. I suppose my grounding in hard nosed economics and banking made me gravitate to science fiction and fantasy. I love reading about different worlds and more importantly, different world-views, seeing how characters interact. To me the most fascinating part of sci-fi is not the bells and whistles of technology but rather the effects of this technological change on society and human psychology."
Here is his take on M-B-A. Full disclosure: David Rasquinha and I were batchmates at XLRI, Jamshedpur, India. Over to you David.
Analysis of the Genre from Sid's Blog
"I had first encountered the likes of ‘Anything For You, Ma’am’ in the insanely phenomenal best seller ‘Five Point someone [FPS] ’ and had followed it up with my current favorite ‘Mediocre But Arrogant [MBA]’. I now feel I’ve got an intuitive awareness to the spot many common threads binding such kind of novellas.-->The first being, ALL the above-mentioned books are set in the premier institutions of our country. FPS, AFYM – IIT DELHI, MBA- XLRI.
Let's Write the Sequel Together
I was talking to Gautam Ghosh - my blogger friend, the other day and he suggested I try the experiment of building the sequel to Mediocre But Arrogant online with you.
Jai Arjun Singh writes in Man's World (January 2007 )
Is "lad lit" a genre? Does writing for the mass market mean that you are not fit to be considered for winning a literary award? If someone sells one book and is happy does that make such a writer a better to be? In short... many gut wrenching questions on Indians Writing in English (would that make it the I -WE league?)
Extracts from Mediocre But Arrogant from the NDTV Site
It was a cold November morning in 1981. Delhi University was just coming to life as U-Specials were doing their rounds dumping sleepy students in front of the College gates. Most of them, like me, got off the bus and headed straight for the canteen, except of course for the Scephanians. They didn't have a plebian canteen, they called theirs a Cafe.I am not a morning person. I find it tough to get my engines started in the morning. When the alarm rang, I would break out in cold sweat thinking I had become blind overnight until would I realize that I had not yet opened my eyes! It was the same every morning — stress, relief and then disgust- Stress at having to get out of bed, relief that I was not blind and disgust at the thought of going to college. I was not what one may call a motivated student. Rather, a lawyer representing me would say that I WAS indeed motivated to go to college but not the classroom
