Provoked by thought

Moninder Jain, director (South Asia), Logitech, swears by his devotion to books on modern philosophy and his admiration for author Robin Sharma is very evident, "Modern-day philosophy and self improvement books make complete sense to me," he says.

The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson takes the number one position among Jain's best reads till date and that is "because Blanchard shows how specificity can get great results and help define expectations from your employees with the help of simple practices like one minute praise, one minute reprimand or one minute goal setting."

While he could never read pulp fiction, Jain has carefully built his library that comprises over 1,000 books and comics that have been so lovingly preserved that even today they'd pass off as brand new. "I am a huge fan of Asterix and Tintin, and am proud of the complete collection I own of these comics," he gushes and is fast to add that he "does not like people who fold books or turn the page corners while reading".

Unlike many, Jain likes to judge his book by its cover and title and most often finds it a compelling reason to pick up a book. "A lacklustre cover with an equally unimaginative title is sure to be never included in my personal library," he grins. Robin Sharma, who is Jain's current favourite, apparently scores very high for the kind of literature he propagates. "Who Will Die After You Cry and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari were credible enough for me to decide that Robin Sharma can comfortably be my current favourite Indian-American author," he concludes.