HYDERABAD: Tanmay Jaswal is the founder of Founder and Director of Chkfake, an online platform that allows anyone to check for authenticity of any major global currency. Besides being immersed in the corporate world, he is also an avid reader, Tanmay shares his reading lists that inspire him every day.
Your favourite book and quote?
One book that I keep returning to is Kahlil Gibran’s ‘The Prophet’. It is a book of amazing insight into human emotions and relationships. Whenever I need some guidance or perspective in my life, I can be sure to find it there. “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you…” is my favourite quote.
Your 5 top recent books?
I did enjoy reading Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s ‘Hit Refresh’ (2017). It was amazing to get some insights into how he thinks and how much emphasis he places on empathy in the workplace. Rise of the Robots (2015) by Martin Ford, my friend Rickie Khosla’s debut novel, ‘Pretty Vile Girl’ released in 2018 are great reads. I am looking forward to read Hidden Figures (2016) by Margot Lee Shetterly and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (2017) by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
One book you would want a first edition of and why?
Without a doubt, it has to be JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit. I love the book for the fact that it was a thoroughly engrossing story but it was written with such affection and lightness as well.
Author you’d like to meet and why?
I will cheat slightly here and choose Mahatma Gandhi. I am fascinated with his life and his thoughts, which he has shared extensively in his writings. I would like to understand what he thought about the adulation he received in his lifetime.
Advice to a favourite author? Suggestion for writers?
There are of course times when I have felt that a book could have been written a bit differently. For example, I have always wondered why despite Jeeves being the nominal hero of so many of Wodehouse’s novels, we know very little about his life and his loves. I would definitely have asked Wodehouse why he went that way. I urge aspiring authors to read good books.
Which books would you take with you on a solo holiday?
I remember reading Scott Peck’s “The Road Less Travelled” on a holiday. I am usually a fast reader, but I thoroughly savoured every page of that book, stopping to think about what the author said in almost
every paragraph.
One fictional character you go to often?
It will have to be Lord Krishna if you would consider him a fictional character that is. He will be the wisest of counsels when it is that I would need. When I would be in a sticky spot, who would be better to bail me out with his valour, smarts and resourcefulness.
One thing you cannot tolerate while reading?
If I am deep inside a book, I hate to be interrupted because it breaks the flow. I also don’t have much tolerance for those who deface books by writing on them or treating them with anything less than respect.
Your favourite reading nook?
On my bed. I love the feeling of being totally relaxed and just absorbed in the book I am in.