Literature to the rescue: Sujoy Ghosh says reading helped him stay strong during lockdown, loves the smell of a fresh book

Sujoy Ghosh, Co-founder and CTO of Datacultr, is using the lockdown to focus on his favourite thing - reading.

The platform-as-a-service (PaaS) company boss told ET Panache, "I am currently reading ‘The Heartfulness Way’ by Kamlesh D. Patel and Joshua Pollock. The book is about heart-based meditations for spiritual transformation. The most important learning from the book is that knowledge is very valuable, but on its own, it really can’t change any one of us at the very core."

Before it, Ghosh read Tom Clancy’s ‘Enemy Contact’ and ‘Portfolios of the Poor’. "I think it’s best to read books or articles that make us dwell on gratitude, focus, and becoming mentally strong for what resides on the other side of the lockdown," he said.


Five books one must have on their must-read list according to Ghosh are Plato and a ‘Platypus Walk into a Bar’, ‘Shantaram’, ‘Freakonomics’, ‘Orwell's Revenge’ and ‘Art of War’.

The ‘Feluda Series’ by Satyajit Ray is his guilty pleasure read. "My strangest encounter with a book has been Dominique Lapierre’s ‘City of Joy’. I kept coming across this title many times without reading it ever. It even was part of my course curriculum and I managed to get away without reading it. However, finally, a few years back, I decided to get hold of a copy and finished it. Strangely, post that, the book has rarely popped up again in front of me," Ghosh shared.

The boss, who is balancing work at home with his love for reading, prefers physical books.

"The Kindle comes a close second. For most people, old school print on paper still wins. Though digital media has disrupted other industries, people still love to own physical books. It has a different appeal and the smell of a fresh book is something that triggers good memories for me," he ended.