Dork by Sidin Vadukut – Book Review

Dork by Sidin Vadukut is a book about Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese, an MBA from WIMWI (IIM-A). The book is about his experiences at Dufresne Partners, a consulting firm where he was placed at Day Zero.

It’s a hilarious first person account of his drunken misadventures at Dufresne, the race to get promoted to Associate and the quest for love (lust, actually). Sidin Vadukut has a superb writing style and the humor (mostly self-effacing) is the type that most internet geeks are used to and will most probably like (littered with expletives), much better than the typical Chetan Bhagat stuff. Excellent read, especially for the aspiring Engineer-MBA hybrids like me.

Rating: 7.5/10

Get Dork – Sidin Vadukut from Flipkart

Official Link: www.tatanano.com

How to book a Tata Nano?

To book a Tata Nano online, visit http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com/tatamotors/

Tata has entered into some sort of agreement with the State bank of India (SBI). The Tata Nano can be booked by submitting an application form from April 9 to April 25. The application forms will be available at all Tata Motor outlets, State Bank of India branches, Tata Indicom stores, Croma, Westside branches and some other outlets. The application forms will be available for Rs. 300.

The first 1,00,000 lucky recipients will be chosen within 60 days – before June 25, by a random selection process – a lucky draw. The first 1,00,000 Tata Nano’s will be available at Rs. 1,00,000 + registration, insurance costs etc.

Payment Options:

You can either pay the whole amount upfront or avail of a loan from 15 banks including State Bank of India, Tata Motor Finance, State Bank of Patiala, ICICI Bank , State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Mysore , State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Indore, Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank , Federal Bank , Corporation Bank , Indian Bank and the Central Bank of India.

If you are not lucky enough to get a Nano in the first allocation phase, you can retain the booking amount with Tata and earn interest of 8.5% on the total amount. You will then automatically be queued for the second allocation phase.

For more details, visit http://www.tatanano.com

I am surely booking my Tata Nano. Let’s hope it’s fortunate enough to be my first car. More details will be updated soon. Post any queries you have about the booking process below.

Book: Freakonomics – A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Authors: Steven Levitt, Stephen Dubner

Type: Non Fiction

Year: 2005

What is it about?

It covers a wide range of seemingly weird topics – cheating school teachers, the similarities between the Ku Klux Klan and real estate agents, why most drug dealers are still poor, how the legalization of abortion radically led to the reduction in crime rates, whether sumo wrestlers cheat, whether parenting does really matter that much and how the name of a person can affect his social and economic prospects.

How is it?

It offers a refreshingly new and different way to look at daily situations and assess the underlying logic. It urges you to ask the questions – Why? and How? a lot. It applies the principles of economic analysis and probability to unearth some conclusions about everyday situations and forces you to think about it in a way you wouldn’t have thought of. It changes the way you would view economics and offers an interesting way to apply it to practical situations.

The writing style is great and keeps you interested throughout. If you are a newbie economist or are just plain interested in economics like me, this book should be a must read.

If you liked the book, the blog will also definitely appeal to you.
Freakonomics Blog: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

My Rating: 4/5.