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D. Murali

YOU already know that before entering into a contract, you have to be a major, enjoy sound mind, and so on. That's fine, but B. S. Ramaswamy would tell you how to manage contracts in Contracts and Their Management, from LexisNexis Butterworths (www.lexisnexis.co.in). His book deals, therefore, not only with concepts but also explains the clauses in a commercial context, highlights the "pitfalls to be avoided while negotiating a contract and implementing it."

Thus, Ramaswamy advises you to obtain break-up of price, especially when the supplier offers to give something free along with the main product. Remember, in a commercial world, "there can be nothing which is free." The chapter on `price variation' lets you into the secret of how the World Bank manages contracts.

Similarly, you'd know how banks manage the risk arising from guarantees they furnish, why you shouldn't leave open-ended a clause on tests and trials as part of inspection and acceptance, and the nuances of dispute resolution.

Deceptively concise if you're looking for a weightlifting tome, but essential read.

Fine art of unconscious competence

MURLI Menon is the head of `phenoMenon Consultants'. While that is an amusing `menon-isation', what I have on hand is his book ZeNLP, from Response Books (www.indiasage.com). On `the power to succeed', as the subtitle explains, and if the title looks perplexing, know that it is `Neuro Linguistic Programming with a touch of Zen meditation.'

Menon traces the technology to ancient Indian lore that spoke of the mind-body connection, though the West has contributed to our knowledge terms such as psycho neuro immunology (PNI) and designer human engineering (DHE). Well, how does ZeNLP work? It employs "the fine art of unconscious competence," says Menon.

"All you need to do is to programme your unconscious mind through creative visualisation, auto-suggestion and meditation". Soon, you will be led to events and coincidences which propel you towards a goal, he assures.

Give it a try!

Do we need G-strings on B-schools?

JOSHI made much news, not long ago, with his arrows aimed at IIMs, and everybody was worried about the G-strings on B-schools. I'm sure he would have benefited from Dharni P. Sinha's insights on `perspectives and challenges' of Management Education in India, a book from ICFAI University Press (www.icfai.org).

"As the Chairman of All India Board of Management, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), for over three years, I had a ringside view of government policy and perspectives on management education," notes the preface. "I often crossed swords with the government on indiscriminate expansion of B-schools and misplaced emphasis on their priorities."

The author is critical that most B-schools are not responsive to the changing environment, "unable to bring the world of reality to the classroom" or aligning the curriculum to industry needs. Management is `a new profession', extols a chapter, and it is not going to go out of fashion.

Educative, if you can manage to read.

It was the Good Samaritan who gained

KERRY would have won if he had the charisma of Ronald Reagan whom Dick Wirthlin admires as The Greatest Communicator. In the book, from Wiley (www.wiley.com), Dick, who worked as Reagan's Chief Political Strategist, reminisces fondly about the "man of tremendous vision, strong moral character, and unwavering patriotism". This was a man who didn't love policies, but people, reminds the blurb.

There is an interesting `final story' in the epilogue: "Once, Reagan and I were visiting in the Oval Office when he brought up the parable of the Good Samaritan. He said, `You know, it is often overlooked that the person who really gained the most was the Good Samaritan who rendered service, not the person who received it. I think the real lesson of the parable is that we benefit most when we help a neighbour in need.'" Reagan was a great actor, concedes Dick. "But as any great actor will attest, the best actors don't act, they become."

Read this before switching your job

SO, you want to know `the simple truth about getting along with friends and foes at work'? Bob Wall has the answer in Working Relationships, from Magna Publishing Co Ltd (www.magnamags.com). "All it takes to ruin a great job is one bad relationship," cautions the book. "For most working people, there is someone at work who makes life miserable — a particular individual, a few co-workers, or, worse, the boss." I can see you nodding, already.

"When things finally become intolerable, you start putting your resume together and scanning the want ads, but how many times can you do that?" Instead, I suggest you read what Wall has to advise on how to converse at work, `build open and effective professional relationships', and depersonalise conflict by getting beyond your feelings. You are not the magician to make the workplace perfect, Wall reminds.

"But you can take appropriate action to make it more pleasant, constructive, and satisfying."

A quiz to call boredom quits

UNDER whose captaincy did Narendra Hirwani make his record-breaking debut, taking 16 wickets for 136 runs? Which German biochemist introduced the term `nucleic acid' in 1889? What does the `G' stand for in G-suit, the special garment worn by astronauts and fighter pilots? According to Greek mythology, in which river did Achilles' mother dip him to make him invulnerable? What is the common term for animals having a spinal column?

Which computer manufacturing company's slogan was `Think'? How many humps does a Bactrian camel have? What wage, at double the standard pay, did Ford offer in 1913 to attract the best workers?

In which Mani Ratnam film did Arvind Swamy play a journalist? What is the currency of New Zealand? Which peak in Nepal has a name that means `white mountain' in Sanskrit? And one last question: Name the book in my hand.

Answer, for the last one: Siddhartha Basu's Mastermind India 5 from Penguin (www.penguinbooksindia.com).

Tailpiece

Patient: "Doc, I have this problem of forgetting everything."

Doctor: "In which case, I shouldn't forget to collect my fee in advance!"

ReadingRoom@TheHindu.co.in

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