Writer and academic Jay Parini&rsquo;s latest effort is a delightful assortment of books that, he believes, capture the essence of American society and history. Some of Parini&rsquo;s choices may seem eccentric, but none of the 13 books in this collection can be called lightweight against the rather tough standards by which the author measures them.

Paperback America

Business Standard

British textile designer Graham Hollick is in India to train artisans in Kutch, for a new project of the NGO SEWA, called Crafts University. He offers Abhilasha Ojha a preview of his ideas.

Fashion from the roots

Artist Anki Khurana's canvas turns into a 300-acre eco-friendly resort community she has designed.

No horn, please

The BMW 650i is the perfect mood elevator.

Here comes the sun!

Honda gets active once more with its best-seller.

Activa Redux

We have a Suzuki Wagon R that has done about 75,000 km over the last six years. We would like to upgrade to a bigger car, maybe a three-box sedan, though a boot is not that important. The driving we do is about 1,000 km a month. Of that, the city driving is only about 10-15 km a day, while the rest is to different towns on the outskirts of Mumbai on work. Do you think we should go for a diesel car? We are a family of four, with two small children. Our budget is around Rs 7 lakh maximum.

Moving upwards

Gurdeep Singh's canvases brood with energy - alternately menacing and playful.

Beyond logic

Bengaluru artist Ranjani Shettar is making major waves in the West. Last month, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art ran a solo show with the artist, on the heels of similar shows in Fort Worth and Boston. Her work will now also be included in a sculpture garden opening alongside stalwarts like Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Ellsworth Kelly and others in San Francisco. But that&rsquo;s later in May.

India on show

Social gaming is fast becoming a rage among Indian networking users.

Gaming 2.0 picks up steam

Affordable and customised gifting options, provided by Snapfish, Kodak Easy Share, iTasveer and Photoswift are finding millions of buyers even in a tough economy.

Lifestyle photo products : Fast forward

Dushyant Bhatia, 23, gave up his job at JP Morgan to venture out on his own &mdash; a decision that raised eyebrows at home. Bhatia, an accounts graduate, along with Darshan Gusani, a Drexel University pass-out, pooled in resources to start Blogertize last year.

Banker for bloggers

Portable hard drives are ideal for business travellers who need efficient data backups on the road.

Backup on the go

Maruti 800 revolutionised motoring in India even though it never got a proper name. As it prepares to ride into the sunset, here is a look into the rear-view mirror.

The long ride of a nameless car

New services will bring the IPL to mobile phone screens.

Telcos look to join the league

The CLIO Awards, an international advertising and design competition honouring creative excellence and innovation, will present Dan Wieden, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wieden+Kennedy (W+K), with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 50th Anniversary CLIO Awards in May. The award recognises the contribution of an individual who takes the industry forward. Suvi Dogra and Sapna Agarwal caught up with Wieden at the Goa Ad Fest.

&#39;We are practical and don&#39;t worry about competition&#39;

    Sitting at his home office in the Indian subcontinent, he used a Kaypro computer and a modem to communicate with his contact in Los Angeles while working on a movie script in the mid-80s. Name him.

Answers to last week's quiz (#092)

How MTV revamped itself, gained viewership and made money.

Reality remix

Nirmalya Kumar is professor of marketing and co-director of the Aditya Birla India Centre at the London Business School.

'Wealth may be down, but acquisitions won&#39;t stop'

Indian tea connoisseurs, used to their cup of Darjeeling or Classic Assam, had no taste for green tea till recently. The issue was availability. It could be had either in expensive hotels or in select outlets and was mostly of the imported variety. It was too niche a market to excite the entrenched tea companies.

Green to Gold

BUSINESS OBJECTS XI: THE COMPLETE REFERENCE
Author: Cindi Howson
Price: Rs 3,996
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
ISBN: 0072262656.
CONCEPT OF THE CORPORATION
Author: Peter F Drucker
Price: Rs 1,397
Publisher: Transaction Publishing
ISBN: 1560006250.
GROWING GREAT EMPLOYEES
Author: Erica Andersen
Price: Rs 796
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1591841909.
GUERRILLA MARKETING FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM
Author: Jay Conrad Levinson
Price: Rs 746
Publisher: Lightning Source
ISBN:

The top 10 business bestsellers

THE NUMBER OF Internet users in India is close to 60 million or about 5 per cent of the population.

KIT: Internet for leisure

- Find Specials News, Features, Analysis and more at Business Standard. Full coverage of Goafest 2014

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