How to save time?

Book Reading is a habit that I 've been carrying out over the past 8-9 months. I started blogging in 2007, with one single objective: Improve my knowledge on the world's most prominent language: English. And I later realized that only with good reading comes better writing skills. I decided to make it a habit to read books. I succeeded to some extent but I always found myself left with little or no time to turn pages. Read one interesting blog entry today. It goes like this.

So, How to get time for reading books?

If you’re watching TV two to three hour per day and if you reduce your TV watching time one hour per day and you’ll save your 365 hours per year. If you divide that by forty hours work week, you’ll see that you’ll have added about nine half additional week of productivity to your life. That likes getting two additional months every year! Use this additional one hour to read the books in the field of motivation, psychology, education, training and self esteem. We assure you that it will make a profound difference in your life.

If you’re not ok with one hour for daily reading, then just keep aside 15 minutes a day. In fact, you can read a book a month-that’s 12 books a year-by reading only 15 minutes every day. Here’s how:

The average high school graduate reads 250 words a minute. But we all stop to re-read a sentence from time to time…or pause to think about a new idea. So it’s fair to say that the average reading rate for the most of adults is 200 words per minute.

There are 400 or so words on an average book page, which means the average reader, can easily read this (400 word page) in two minutes. At that rate, you could read seven of such pages in a 15 –minute’s period.

Suppose there are 210 pages on an average book. So by reading 15 minutes a day-that’s seven pages every day, you could read this book in 30 days. It may take you more than a month to read some longer books, but by and large, if you’ll read 15 minutes a day, you’ll be able to finish a book a month.

By the end of the year, you’ll have read at least 12 books. By the end of 10 years, that will add up to 120 books! Just think, by setting aside just 15 minutes a day, you could easily read 120 books that could help you grow richer in all areas of your life. By doubling your daily reading time to just half an hour, you could read 25 books a year-that’s 250 books in 10 years.

That’s why one should not be sympathetic with people who say they don’t have the time to read and grow rich. That’s nonsense. They have the time. They’re just choosing to use their time doing something they value more than reading!

[Book] One Night @ the Call Center

The second book of Chetan is as fun-filled as his first, but there are some serious trepidations i noticed during my way to the 276th page. Here are my observations.

• Still wondering why the author left a request to note down certain things @ the beginning ? It doesn't ring a bell to me !
• Surprised to see the author providing a prologue on the reason behind writing the book. There is always a special reason/moment that inspires every author to embark upon the subject. It's interesting to see that he got a story of a night in a night ! I mean the story of One night at a call center in one night's train journey !
• Beguiled by the Author's humorousness. There are umpteen sentences that stimulated a smile. Well done Chetan, your articulations are awesome & aspiring ;-)
• And congrats to the author for making an attempt to articulate one single night in 275 pages ! Slightly boring, when compared to FPS, but worth reading once !
  
• Shocked to see the Author's blatancy in assailing Americans. How can someone so publicly boo a countrymen ? How can he say they are stupids ? How Americans will feel when they read this book ? Is there an equivalent book by an American that writes Indians are insane?
• Heart-broken when i realized that the Majority of Indian Youth's talent are wasted by dumping them into designations that aren't  worth devoting time. Youth are our real strength. How can we waste their potential for just answering phone calls ? That too, for another country ?
• Molestation of Modeling aspirants - heard about it. But reading about it for the first time. This is inhumanity at it's insane best. I feel downhearted for those women.
• Are such morons really exist by the name of Managers ? I feel like this Manager character looks hyperbolical to me. All the 7 Managers i have worked under during my career are Gem of a Gentlemen. I guess i am lucky and gifted !
• His management jargons really rolled me over the floor. Those Strategic Variables...Rightsizing....Apples-to-Oranges....Pertinent Insights....They are all fun...especially when 'VRoom' responds/reacts to it. I liked his character than the lead roles...reminded me more of the Ryan character (in the Author's previous book - FPS).
• I cannot accept the 'God-on-the-Phone' philosophy. Just couldn't digest it. It's a Book. A Story. I accept everything but still, that part could been handled better !
• Obscenity is all over the book. Probably, the author decided that his readers are 18-24 type and choose such an articulation style. Anyway, it's a Fun-to-read book and i enjoyed reading it ;-)

[Book] Sachin Tendulkar: A Definitive Biography

I finally read a book ;-) Personal achievement. Those Bookworms out there, completing one book a day might feel it ODD but yes, i did take more than two months to complete it.

This memoir of the Master Blaster has every minute detail of Sachin's scintillating Career. Starting from his childhood days to the moment the book was published, 2008 i guess. Though we all know about Sachin's acheivements and have witnessed most of them Live, the author Vaibhav Purandare still unveiled some unforeseen incidents about the Country's only Son !Isn't it suprising? Someone so Young identified for the center stage so early? That too, for a Tour to Pakistan? The Author has discussed in depth - the sequence of events in his carrer that took him to the international Arena, so early at 16 !
I liked this Quote cited at a particular chapter when sachin was compared with Sir Donald Bradman. It goes as follows.

Stripped to the truth, he was a solitary man with a solitary aim.
-RC.Robertson-Glasgow on Sir Don Bradman
He bats just the way i did.
-Sir Don Bradman on Sachin Tendulkar

Sir Bradman once told his Wife that Sachin bats just like him but he did not say why he felt that way. It remained a mystery after he permanently shifted to heaven later. The Author, in dedicated chapters, compares the legends to find out the reason behind Don's thoughts. Apart from that, there are a lot more you can find out. Few of them are,

• How his nose bled in his first ever test series in Pakistan
• How he made his mark against the greats of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan & Waquar Younis
• How the fielders around did their best to hurt him psychologically
• How he stayed put and smashed the next ball for Four
• How he smashed Abdul Quadir - the best Leg-spenner on the day - repeatedly into the stands without losing his cool
• How he saved a Test in England with a superb Debut hundred
• How he registered a Fighting hundred on the world's fastest track in Perth when his entire team was crubling down
• How he become the team's top scorer of the 92' World cup at the age of just 18
• How vital his contributions are against the Pakistan game in the same tournament
• How he turned the Hero Cup finals upside down with his BOWLING when he snatched the ball from the hesitant Kapil Dev & bowled a brilliant Last over
• How he smashed the ball all over the park after volunteering to open the batting for the FIRST TIME against New Zealand on their own soil in 1994
• How he countered the Australian Quickies in 96' World Cup that even moved Sir Don Bradman himself
• How he smashed Shane Warne all over the country in 1998
• How he unleashed a storm against the Aussie attack in Sharjah
• How he took the team to the brink of Victory against Pakistan in Chennai at 1999 inspite of his intense pain?
• How he scored a brilliant hundred, putting aside all the pain when his father died during the world cup
• How he played one of the Focussed innings of his carrer in a local game when the whole world is immersed in Match-Fixing scandals
• How crucial his performance is during the home series against Australia in 2001
• How he handled Nasser Hussian's team despite Provocation
• How he survived and faced the Ball-Tampering controversy?
• How sleepless he went for 12 nights before the 2003 World cup game against Pakistan
• How he pummelled the pakistan attack with one of the finest ODI knock of 98 in the same game
• How he got 241 not out against Australia in Sydney WITHOUT PLAYING EVEN ONE SINGLE COVER DRIVE?
• How he failed in batting but took a match-winning catch of Inzamam-Ul-Haq at deep long on?
• How he fought injuries in 2005 & 2006 and put up a remarkable performance in 2007?

There are a lot, lot and lot more said there. This book is a must read for any Sachin Fan ;-)
Last but not least, the little Master himself feels it's good.

"Vaibhav Purandare has done extensive research and conducted several interviews to put together this in-depth and engaging biography. I have enjoyed this book on me."
– Sachin Tendulkar