Finally, an E-Book Reader which works in India

I am not a big fan of Kindle or E-Books for reasons we'll know later, but over the last three days, I am smitten by this reading device called "Pi"  - India's first reading device with a battery life of 30 hours, which can download over a lakh books in pdf format. Ordered for just Rs.10,000, Pi is light and eminently readable, with USB port for importing files with even .jpeg, .doc, .txt extension as well as mp3 files (with earphones). As I begun downloading files and started my first E-Book experience, my Geek brother promptly pinpointed the gaps in Pi which a technologically-challenged person like me couldn't notice - no back-light, night-light, only B & W colors, were some of the drawbacks. But for now, this is just fine - the memory card also has 1 GB+ capacity. So, now I am one of the few (or am I the first) Hyderabadis to have an E-Book Reader. More later as I explore further...Right now, its E-books and in a few hours whether Oscars night belongs to Avatar movie or not.

Book Review: Tales From the Bench and the Bar by Vicaji J.Taraporevala

There are over 47,000 pending cases in Supreme Court, over 3.7 million in High Court and around 26.3 million in subordinate judiciary. Amidst all this insurmountable volume of work, black dress, uniform, countless PILs (Public Interest Litigation)  being filed every day, and cases for bringing lawyers' assets to book under Right To Information Act, one wonders whether a lawyer's life is all about serious stuff! Not so, according to the book - Tales from the Bench and the Bar by Vicaji J Taraporevala. Its a delightful insider's account of life on the Bench and the Bar giving some refreshingly light moments that liven up the often stern and forbidding proceedings in our courts. The author himself is a senior advocate in the Bombay High Court and has been practising for sixty two years. He gives some glimpses of sharp wit and humor, of legendary lawyers like Nani Palkhivala, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, M R Jayakar. The book is a good read and I have been distributing to a few lawyer friends and wannabe lawyers since.

Here's a sample: "A member of the Bar carrying a number of law books was greeted in court by his client with the words. "I thought you lawyers knew all the law." "Yes, we do", said the lawyer. After a pause, he continued: "Oh, these books  - they are for the judges."