PG My Man

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If you propose to speak

“If you propose to speak, always ask yourself, is it true, is it necessary, is it kind” –Buddha

“Is It True? Is It Necessary? Is It Kind?

Oh! Stay, dear child, one moment stay,

Before a word you speak,

That can do harm in any way

To the poor, or to the weak;

And never say of any one

What you’d not have said of you,

Ere you ask yourself the question,

“Is the accusation true?”

And if ’tis true, for I suppose

You would not tell a lie;

Before the failings you expose

Of friend or enemy:

Yet even then be careful, very;

Pause and your words well weigh,

And ask it it be necessary,

What you’re about to say.

And should it necessary be,

At least you deem it so,

Yet speak not unadvisedly

Of friend or even foe,

Till in your secret soul you seek

For some excuse to find;

And ere the thoughtless word you speak,

Ask yourself, “Is it kind?”

When you have ask’d these questions three—

True,—Necessary,—Kind,—

Ask’d them in all sincerity,

I think that you will find,

It is not hardship to obey

The command of our Blessed Lord,—

No ill of any man to say;

No, not a single word.

Poem by - Mary Ann Pietzker

9 books that stayed with me - part 2

5. 5 point someone - Chetan Bhagat


Yes! A book by Chetan Bhagat is on my list! I am saying this guilt free that I loved this book and that is why I kept reading all his next books - until 3 mistakes of my life - after that I gave up. But anyway, this book opened a new avenue of books for me - English books written by Indian writers, I had never read any books by Indian writers, not even anything by R.K. Laxman, before reading 5 point someone. Then I read books by Jhumpa Lahiri, Aarvind Aadiga, Amitav Ghosh, Abraham Verghese, Salman Rushdie, Sudha Murthy, Deepak Chopra, Anurag Mathur (I love his book the inscrutable americans). I was blown away by ‘Palace of illusion’ - the rendition of Mahabharata from a female perspective. ‘Palace of illusion’ emphasized the prominence of how every story is multidimensional and every one’s point of view is equally valid and interesting, it remains amongst the top five books that I have ever read.

6. Who moved my cheese - Spencer Johnson

This was the first book that I read in self help book category. I was then at a perfect age to read self-help books, earlier would have helped too. When I look back at myself in my teens, I don’t resemble that person even a bit, I have grown up to be so different, part of it definitely is life experiences, people I met and the self-help books that I read.

Self-help books give you different perspectives on the world around you and how you interact with people, your environment and yourself. It is pretty much a blueprint for a bigger project. Remember that most of the time, these books are a life's accumulation of knowledge by some pretty brilliant people. But don't take everything in the self help books to be an ultimate truth. It is just another point of view, way of thinking. You sure learn things from books , but use the perspective you gain cumulatively along with your real life experiences and experiences of others to shape your core values. Its those core values that will help you be a better person. Books are just one of the various tools, and an important one, in that process. Always stay open and keep learning. If you are an avid reader of self help books balance your reading across different topics. E.g read about money but also read about soul, read about productivity but also read about mindfulness. This will help you gain more from each book.

Some of my favorite self help books are - the power of your subconscious mind, power of positive thinking, who moved my cheese, seven habits of highly effective people, grow younger live longer, rich dad poor dad, tough times never last but tough people do, I am okay you are okay, eat that frog, how to win friends and influence people, the four agreements, grit: the power of passion and perseverance, count your chickens before they hatch.

7. The Inimitable Jeeves

My father had the entire set of P.G. Wodehouse books, he would read them non stop, I was too curious to read P.G. but had doubts if I will understand it, considering it is british comedy. Sometimes without even trying something we unnecessarily feel that we won’t be able to do it. So anyway, before reading P.G. I watched the TV show ‘Jeeves and Wooster’ - it gave me an idea of the mannerism, style, lifestyle that the British at that time had. Once I understood that I started reading P.G. and now I am a complete fan. He has written 100+ books and I have read hardly 12, I will definitely be reading them ALL. P.G. has filled my life with humor, I read at least five pages of P.G. before going to bed, it relaxes my mind before sleeping. Life is so playful, silly, light and fun if we look at that side of it. If I ever write a book then my style would be largely influenced by P.G. and Pu. La. Deshpande.

8. Confessions of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella


Before I read this book I had never read the genre called chick lit - The genre often addresses issues of modern womanhood – from romantic relationships to female friendships to matters in the workplace – in humorous and lighthearted ways. Chick lits became my guilty pleasure, however I haven’t found a better writer in this genre than Sophie Kinsella. Sometime I do hate the women characters in her books - who by chance meet millionaire bachelors and end up becoming rich and whatnot, I still read all her books. Finding Audrey is one of my favorite.

Some avid readers say they read anything and everything, well I don’t. Life is too short to read anything and everything also once we start reading and appreciating quality stuff like Ayn Rand and Richard Dawkins it is hard to read anything and everything.

9. The Martian - Andy Weir


I had an aversion towards Sci Fi books, I had read a few like ‘a wrinkle in time’, ‘ender’s game’, ‘Hitch Hiker’s guide to the galaxy’, ‘1984’ - all of these are well known books, however I did not enjoy reading them. I picked up ‘The Martian’ with reluctance and I absolutely loved it, I realized I do enjoy Sci Fi after all, only if chosen wisely :). I am now open to reading sci fi and the ones that really liked are - Replay, The Martian and dark matter. Please do recommend if you have read and liked any sci fi books.



I had a fun time writing this series, hope you enjoyed reading it too and I hope you enjoy reading those books too. Ciao.