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Bookbuzz

Dr. M.S. SWAMINATHAN

The books that have left an impact: Several. These days, books on science and spirituality interest me. The teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Ramana Maharishi are relevant even today. I refer to Mahatma Gandhi's "Autobiography", Nehru's "Letters From A Father To His Daughter" and "The Collected Works of the Mahatma", edited by my uncle K. Swaminathan, often. Then there are "What Remains To be Discovered" by John Maddox and all the works of E. O. Wilson.

Favourite authors: Besides the above-mentioned, Jeffrey Sachs, especially his "The End of Poverty" and C. K. Prahalad (his "The Fortune At The Bottom Of The Pyramid" is a favourite). I enjoy the writings of Ramachandra Guha.

Current read: I just finished reading Amartya Sen's "An Argumentative Indian." I have a lot of journals to look through and just received a new lot of books. I am yet to zero in on one.

Books I recommend to my grandchildren: Konrad Lorenz's "King Solomon's Ring." He's a great thinker who wrote about animal behaviour. Also Jim Corbett makes for great reading. "What is Life" by Nobel winner Erwin Schrodinger is a wonderful book. All these books talk of values which are eternal.

If you could have dinner with one writer: Most definitely R.K. Narayan. He was a remarkable man. I was fortunate to meet him a couple of times but somehow it was not enough.

(THE SCIENTIST SPOKE TO SAVITHA GAUTAM)

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