WHAT IS BREAD - Wit and Humor

WIT AND HUMOUR

WHAT IS BREAD
An Apocryphal Mulla Nasrudin Story
By
VIKRAM KARVE

All the seven ministers of the King accused the court jester and wise man Mulla Nasrudin of talking nonsense under the guise of imparting wisdom.

So the King summoned Mulla Nasrudin to the Darbar and asked for an explanation.
“Your Excellency,” Nasrudin pleaded before the King, “Please permit me to ask just one question to your seven wise ministers. I want them to write the answer on a piece of paper and then give it to you.”

“Have paper and pens brought,” said the King.

Paper and pens were brought and distributed to the seven ministers.

Mulla Nasrudin looked at the seven ministers and said:

“O wise men, each of you please write the answer to this simple question on the paper and give it to the king: 

 “WHAT IS BREAD ?”



The seven ministers all wrote their answers and the papers were handed to the King.

The king read out the answers one by one:

The first wrote: Bread is Food

The second said: Bread is a combination of flour and water exposed to the heat of a fire

The third wrote: Bread is a gift from God

The fourth wrote: A punishment food served in prisons with water like bread and water

The fifth wrote: There are so many kinds of bread. Which one do you mean?

The sixth wrote: Bread is a Nutritious Staple Food

The seventh minister wrote: Full of calories, bread is bad for health and best not eaten

On hearing these answers Mulla Nasrudin submitted to the king, “Your Majesty, how can you trust these men? Is it not laughable that they cannot make sense of something they eat every day, yet they are unanimous that I talk nonsense…!”

Dear Reader, now I am confused. 

Please tell me your definition of BREAD.

What is the moral of this story?

You tell me.

I will give you a hint: “What is a house?” - a home, a shelter, a place to live in, an investment, a status symbol, an aesthetic structure, a thing of beauty ... a house is so many things to so many people,

It is the same with other things, tangible (like say a car), or even intangible, like marriage - a marriage may mean different things to different people - for some marriage may mean happiness, companionship, security and for some marriage may be a traumatic relationship and for others marriage may be a business proposition.

The actual entity in ground reality may be the same, but each of us have different paradigms in our mind of the way in which we view that entity through the lenses of our mental filters.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2013
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. 
© vikram karve., all rights reserved. 

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2013 all rights reserved

Did you like reading this story?

I am sure you will like all the 27 stories in my book  COCKTAIL an anthology of Short Fiction.
To order your COCKTAIL please click any of the links below:
http://www.flipkart.com/cocktail-vikram-karve-short-stories-book-8191091844?affid=nme
http://www.indiaplaza.in/cocktail-vikram-karve/books/9788191091847.htm
http://www.apkpublishers.com/books/short-stories/cocktail-by-vikram-karve.html
COCKTAIL ebook
If you prefer reading ebooks on Kindle or your ebook reader, please order Cocktail E-book by clicking the links below:
AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGERZ6
SMASHWORDS
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87925

Foodie Book:  Appetite for a Stroll
If your are a Foodie you will like my book of Food Adventures APPETITE FOR A STROLL. Do order a copy from FLIPKART:
http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer and blogger. Educated at IIT Delhi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and an anthology of short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional  and academic research papers in journals and edited in-house journals and magazines for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing and blogging. Vikram Karve lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramwamankarve@gmail.com

Twitter: @vikramkarve

      

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

  

HOW TO MAKE DECISIONS - SHOR PARADIGM - A MODEL FOR DECISION MAKING IN INTERESTING TIMES

HOW TO MAKE DECISIONS IN UNCERTAINTY

SHOR PARADIGM

A MODEL FOR DECISION MAKING IN INTERESTING TIMES

By

VIKRAM KARVE

MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES

The phrase May You Live in Interesting Times while purporting to be a blessing, may actually be a curse, since the couched meaning is perhaps that may you experience much upheaval and trouble in your life, the clear implication being that uninteresting times of peace and tranquility are much better and far more life-enhancing. 

In present day interesting yet uncertain times we need an effective technique for making good decisions in situations of uncertainty. The SHOR paradigm is one such apt model.

Before we discuss the SHOR Model, let me tell you an apocryphal teaching story:

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers.

While they were travelling, they happened to pass a lake.

They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am feeling thirsty. Please get me some water from that lake.” 

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that some people were washing clothes in the water, and right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake.  As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. 

The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink...?”

So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”   

After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink.   

The disciple obediently went back to the lake.   

This time he found that the lake had absolutely clear water in it.  The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be consumed.  So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.   

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be. And the mud settled down on its own – and you got clear water. Your mind is also like that! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”

This story from the life of Buddha that highlights the fact that a calm mind leads to better decisions.

But in actual life, is it possible to remain calm when confronted with making decisions? Especially making decisions in situations of uncertainty. 

If a single most important characteristic is crucial to a decision-maker in any field, it is the ability to make optimal decisions in conditions of uncertainty.

A unique ability that sets humans apart from animals is self-awareness and the ability to choose how we respond to any stimulus. Animals do not have this independent will. They respond to a stimulus in a pre-programmed manner. If there is a threat stimulus the response is either fight or flight. We human beings too sometimes instantly follow the stimulus-response model.

It may be apt to remember that whenever we are confronted with any decision making situation, between Stimulus and Response there lies a space, a timeline, and in that space lies our freedom to choose a course of action, and in that choice lies our sagacity.

Hence, when confronted with a stimulus, instead of instantly responding, we must calm our minds, be self-aware, dispassionately analyse and evaluate the situation, draw up options and then choose the most suitable option as the response. 

(Remember the Story narrated above from the Life of Buddha)

When there is peace inside you, that peace permeates to the outside.  

This inner peace soon spreads around you and percolates into the environment and helps you make better decisions. 

Conversely, you could be in very peaceful surroundings, where everything is wonderfully beautiful, but if your inside is disturbed, then that beauty is of no use to you. 

For you to be peaceful, peace has to be generated from deep within you - from your being to the mind, and from the mind to the environment. 

For example, even if you have the best music system, you cannot truly enjoy music if you are mentally disturbed. 

In fact, it is more important to be in a sublime state of inner peace and to be in harmony with oneself in order to relish the finer things of life.

One of the factors that disturb your inner peace is uncertainty – many times uncertainty elicits sub-optimal responses if we use the Stimulus-Response (SR) Paradigm of decision making and hence there is need for a better model like the SHOR Paradigm, which is described below.

TYPES OF UNCERTAINTY

Decision-making is so pervasive that everyone, professionally or personally, is involved with making a variety of decisions. 

In today’s fast-moving world, the timing of a decision is of paramount importance in many decision-making situations.

In real life even the “perfect” decision may not be optimal if it is made too late.  

Information is a vital resource in decision-making.

One of the most important characteristics of successful managers is the ability to make the correct decision when confronted with imperfect or insufficient information (i.e.) Decision-making under conditions of uncertainty.

In the context of decision-processing, two realms or domains of uncertainty are:

1. Information Input Uncertainty which creates the need for hypothesis generation and evaluation.

2. Consequence-of-Action Uncertainty which creates the need for option generation and evaluation.

SHOR PARADIGM

 

A decision taxonomy: The Stimulus – Hypothesis – Option – Response (SHOR) Paradigm decision making model is useful in such decision situations.

The SHOR paradigm represents a qualitative, descriptive, model as distinct from a quantitative, predictive model, and comprises the following primary decision-making task elements:

S: Stimulus Input Data Processing

H: Hypothesis Generation, Hypothesis Evaluation, Information Processing (What is?)

O: Option Generation, Option Evaluation, Decision-Making (What if?)

R: Response Output Action 

The SHOR paradigm is basically an extension of the classical Stimulus – Response (SR) Paradigm of behaviorist psychology.

The SHOR paradigm provides explicitly for the necessity to deal with information input uncertainty and consequence-of-action uncertainty, and helps us understand some of the peculiar human factors that affect the quality of the decision-making and answering questions such as:

What makes some decision-makers perform better than others, especially in placing high-value assets at risk, in business?

What are the sources and dimensions of “poor” performance?

HUMAN ERRORS IN DECISION-MAKING

Based on the SHOR Model, human errors in decision-making appear to lie in four domains:

 

(S) Stimulus: “I did not know…”

(H) Hypothesis: “I did not understand…”

(O) Option: “I did not consider…”

(R) Response: “I did not act…”

Stimulus based errors of the type “I did not know…” result from lack or inadequacy of information, the true inability to obtain information.

“I did not understand…” is the fundamental result of information input uncertainty, while “I did not consider…” is the product of consequence-of-action uncertainty. 

It is possible to have accessed all significant information, to have developed the correct hypothesis and to have selected the best option and yet fail to take appropriate action.

The two possible reasons for the “I did not act…” type of response error are:

1. Paralysis: This is a complete failure to act, the pathological ‘observation of an inevitable course’ without intervention. It is caused by an over-riding emotional struggle in which some internal factor is being placed in conflict with the course of action selected by the decision-maker. The final scene in the evergreen classic film The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) exemplifies such a situation.

2. Misjudgement: The decision-maker correctly decides what to do but errs in either or both of the two dimensions – how [the specifics of the action] or when [the timing of the action].

Prediction of the critical consequences of inaction may be of some help in dealing with paralysis whilst the ability to perform sensitivity analyses may assist in alleviating misjudgment.  

Any Decision-Maker (and designers of decision processors and aids) must address the four cardinal types of errors epitomized by the SHOR paradigm: “I did not know…”, “I did not understand…”, “I did not consider…” and “I did not act…”

DECISION-MAKING IN UNCERTAINTY

In the context of decision-making in uncertainty, the conflict theory paradigm developed by Janis and Mann may be apt.

This paradigm postulates five patterns of coping behaviour which tends to occur in such situations:

1. Unconflicted Adherence in which the uncertain, or risk, information is ignored and the decision-maker complacently decides to continue whatever he has been doing.

2. Unconflicted Change to a new course of action, where the decision-maker uncritically adopts whichever new course of action is most salient, obvious or strongly recommended.

3. Defensive Avoidance in which the decision-maker evades conflict by procrastinating, shifting responsibility to someone else, or constructing wishful rationalizations and remaining selectively inattentive to corrective information.

4. Hyper-vigilance wherein the decision-maker searches frantically for a way out of the dilemma and impulsively seizes upon a hastily contrived solution that seems to promise immediate relief, overlooking the full range of consequences of his choice because of emotional excitement, repetitive thinking and cognitive constriction. In its most extreme form hyper-vigilance is referred to as “panic”.

5. Concerned Vigilance in which the decision-maker optimally processes pertinent information and then generates and evaluates hypotheses and options before selecting a response as characterized by the SHOR paradigm.

In many real-life situations a decision-maker cannot always keep waiting until the entire information-input and consequence-of-action conditions are known a priori with certainty.

In most cases there is no such thing as “perfect” certainty.

If a single most important characteristic is crucial to a decision-maker in any field, it is the ability to make optimal decisions in conditions of uncertainty.

Qualitative Descriptive Models like the SHOR Paradigm may prove useful in such situations.

CONCLUSION

As we discussed in the beginning, the phrase May You Live in Interesting Times while purporting to be a blessing, may actually be a curse, since the couched meaning is perhaps that may you experience much upheaval and trouble in your life, the clear implication being that uninteresting times of peace and tranquility are much better and far more life-enhancing. 

In these interesting yet uncertain times, recent events have demonstrated the failure of the Stimulus-Response (SR) Model of decision-making and underlined the need for expertise for making good decisions in situations of uncertainty. 

We have witnessed many of the concepts mentioned in the article above. First there was Information Input Uncertainty followed by Consequence of Action Uncertainty which caused Human Errors in decision-making and leading to Misjudgment and finally a state of Paralysis in Decision Making.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2012

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. 

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Did you like reading this article? 
I am sure you will like all the 27 stories in my recently published book of short stories COCKTAIL
To order your COCKTAIL please click any of the links below:
http://www.flipkart.com/cocktail-vikram-karve-short-stories-book-8191091844?affid=nme
http://www.indiaplaza.in/cocktail-vikram-karve/books/9788191091847.htm
http://www.apkpublishers.com/books/short-stories/cocktail-by-vikram-karve.html
COCKTAIL ebook
If you prefer reading ebooks on Kindle or your ebook reader, please order Cocktail E-book by clicking the links below:
AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGERZ6
SMASHWORDS
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87925

Foodie Book:  Appetite for a Stroll
http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer and blogger. Educated at IIT Delhi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a large number of fiction short stories, creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional research papers in journals and edited in-house journals and magazines for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing and blogging. Vikram Karve lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramwamankarve@gmail.com

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

 

PARADIGM SHIFT - A Teaching Story

PARADIGM SHIFT - A Teaching Story

THE HONEST SMUGGLER

A Mulla Nasrudin Story

By

VIKRAM KARVE

  

Whenever I am overwhelmed and confused by jargon I seek guidance in the teaching stories of the wise Sufi philosopher Mulla Nasrudin.

 

Here is one my favourite Mulla Nasrudin jargon buster stories which exemplifies the concept of Paradigm Shift.

Nasrudin the smuggler was leading a donkey loaded with bundles of straw on its back.

An experienced customs inspector newly posted on that border check-post spotted Nasrudin and his donkey crossing the border.

“Halt,” the customs inspector said, “Who are you? What is your business here?”

“I am an honest smuggler!” replied Nasrudin.

“Oh, really?” said the customs inspector, “Well, let me search those straw bundles. If I find something in them, then you will have to pay customs duty.”

“Do as you wish, “Nasrudin replied, “but you will not find anything in those bundles.”

The inspector intensively searched and took apart the bundles, but could not find a single thing in them. He had no choice but to say embarrassingly to Nasrudin, “You may pass the border.” 

Nasrudin crossed the border with his donkey while the curious and annoyed customs inspector looked on.

The very next day, Nasrudin once again came to the border with a straw-carrying donkey.

The inspector saw Nasrudin coming and thought, “I’ll catch him for sure this time.” 

He checked the bundles of straw again, and then searched through Nasrudin’s clothing, and even went through the donkey’s harness. But once again he came up empty handed and had to let Nasrudin pass. 

This same pattern continued every day for several years, and every day Nasrudin wore more and more extravagant clothing and jewellery that indicated he was getting wealthier.

Eventually, the customs inspector retired from his job after several years of service, but even in retirement he still wondered about the man with the straw-carrying donkey. 

“I should have checked that donkey’s mouth more extensively,” he thought to himself, “Or maybe he hid something in the donkey’s rectum.”

Then one day he spotted Nasrudin’s face in a crowd. “Hey,” the inspector said, “I know you! You are that man who came to my border check-post everyday for all those years with a straw-carrying donkey. Please, sir, I must talk to you.”

Nasrudin came towards him and the retired customs inspector continued talking. “My friend, I always wondered what you were smuggling past my border everyday. Just between you and me, you must tell me. I am retired now but I must know just to satisfy my curiosity. Please tell me what you smuggling were for all those years under my very nose?”

“Donkeys,” Nasrudin said triumphantly, “I was smuggling donkeys!”

Moral of the Story:

Paradigm is the way you see the world.

Paradigm Shift will enable you to view the world in a different way, from a different Point of View. Sometimes, changing your focus to see a new perspective may enable you to analyse a situation much better

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2012

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. 

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Did you like this story?

I am sure you will like the 27 short stories from my recently published anthology of Short Fiction COCKTAIL
To order your COCKTAIL please click any of the links below:
http://www.flipkart.com/cocktail-vikram-karve-short-stories-book-8191091844?affid=nme
http://www.indiaplaza.in/cocktail-vikram-karve/books/9788191091847.htm
http://www.apkpublishers.com/books/short-stories/cocktail-by-vikram-karve.html

COCKTAIL ebook

If you prefer reading ebooks on Kindle or your ebook reader, please order Cocktail E-book by clicking the links below:
AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGERZ6
SMASHWORDS
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87925

Foodie Book:  Appetite for a Stroll
If your are a Foodie you will like my book of Food Adventures APPETITE FOR A STROLL. Do order a copy from FLIPKART:
http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional research papers in journals and edited in-house journals for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramkarve@sify.com      

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

PARADIGM SHIFT - The Key

PARADIGM SHIFT - The Key

A Mulla Nasrudin Story

By

VIKRAM KARVE

Sometimes our thinking is coloured by our “mental maps” (paradigms) and “cognitive biases”. 

But if we look at things differently, with a paradigm shift everything becomes clear. 

Simply stated, a paradigm is the way we look at the world.

That’s the “key” isn’t it...? To look at things differently, shifting our paradigms...

The very mention of the word “key” brings to my mind this famous Mulla Nasrudin story on a similar theme:

 

One blistering afternoon, under the blazing sun, people saw Mulla Nasrudin crawling on his knees in the middle of a road in broad daylight frantically searching for something. 

The crowd observed him curiously for some time and then an inquisitive man asked him, “What are you searching for, Mulla?”

“I’ve lost my key” replied Mulla Nasrudin.

Being of a helping nature the man joined Mulla Nasrudin in searching for the lost key and soon there were a large number of people on all fours searching for the elusive key. 

An extensive search was carried out but the key was not found, so someone in the crowd asked Nasrudin, “Mulla, do you remember where you lost the key?” 

“I lost the key in basement of my house,” replied Mulla Nasrudin matter-of-factly.

“What? You lost the key in the basement of your house?” the astonished crowd asked, “Then why are you searching for the key here in the middle of the road?” 

“Because there is more light here,” replied the wise Mulla Nasrudin. 

This Mulla Nasrudin teaching story is symbolic.

Everybody is looking for the key. The key to happiness, the key to bliss, the key to freedom, the key to God, the key to peace, the key to success...everyone is searching for some elusive "key" in the wrong place... 

Most of us look for the key outside. 

The key is sought in power, in success, in relationships, in wealth, in others. 

"Much light" seems outside. 

Very few look for the key within. The key was lost within and so has to be searched within.  

We need a paradigm shift and seek solutions to our problems by looking inwards instead of outwards.

The concept of teaching stories is embodied in the tales of the inimitable Mulla Nasrudin narrated by Sufis to illustrate aspects of human behaviour which are relevant to both our personal and professional lives. 

The first step to self-growth is to try to identify yourself in these stories and to acknowledge that you too could be as foolish or as lacking in discernment as the characters in these classic tales. And then it will be easy for you to imbibe the wisdom in these tales. 

Wishing you Unbiased Cognition, the ability to Paradigm Shift, and Enlightenment... 

May you discover your “keys”.

Have a Happy Sunday.

VIKRAM KARVE 

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2012
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Did you like this story?
I am sure you will like the 27 fiction short stories from my recently published anthology of Short Fiction COCKTAIL 
To order your COCKTAIL please click any of the links below:
http://www.flipkart.com/cocktail-vikram-karve-short-stories-book-8191091844?affid=nme
http://www.indiaplaza.in/cocktail-vikram-karve/books/9788191091847.htm
http://www.apkpublishers.com/books/short-stories/cocktail-by-vikram-karve.html

COCKTAIL ebook
If you prefer reading ebooks on Kindle or your ebook reader, please order Cocktail E-book by clicking the links below:
AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGERZ6
SMASHWORDS
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87925

Foodie Book:  Appetite for a Stroll
If your are a Foodie you will like my book of Food Adventures APPETITE FOR A STROLL. Do order a copy from FLIPKART:
http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional research papers in journals and edited in-house journals for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramkarve@sify.com

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.