Hello all,

I joined this group yesterday - after accidentally coming across it
while looking for online reviews of a Holmes-related book. I am
introducing myself to all of you.

About me: Native of Calicut/Kerala, educated in Mumbai, worked in
Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, currently in Kolkata but home base is
Chennai (that is, somewhat familiar with all these cities). Also have
lived outside India for 3 years (Canada and Europe). Professional
information is available at http://www.linkedin.com/in/binand.

Association with Holmes: Started with my grand-uncle's battered copy
of a 1950s edition of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" in the late
eighties, when I was in my early teens (and was also discovering other
authors like Agatha Christie and Erle Stanley Gardner). Had read the
entire canon by 1989. Today I like to think of myself has a
connoisseur of detective fiction - have (translated) anthologies from
across the world and settings that span several centuries. Current
favourites are police procedurals by Ian Rankin, Henning Mankell and
Michael Connelly.

Holmes Related: I own the entire canon (of course!), and a few other
bits and pieces (some are at the moment in long-term storage). These
are (maybe not exhaustive):

1. The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mandala-Sherlock-Holmes-Missing-Years/dp/0719556457/
2. The Curious Case of 221B -
http://www.flipkart.com/curious-case-221b-partha-basu/8172237898-yv23f518lb
(the most recent addition; the one whose review I was looking for when
I encountered this group)

3. The Chess Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chess-Mysteries-Sherlock-Holmes-Tantalizing/dp/081292389\
8/
- non-detective stories, this book is an introduction to a class of
chess problems called Retrograde Analysis

4. Right Through the Pack -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Right-Through-Pack-Robert-Darvas/dp/0910791694/
- One chapter in this book of bridge problems has a Holmes/Watson
connection

5.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sherlock-Holmes-Complete-Collection-DVD/dp/B001CWLFH2/
- DVD set
6. http://www.amazon.co.uk/BBC-Sherlock-Holmes-Collection-DVD/dp/B000EZ7VFI/
- Another DVD set

7. Similar books (detective with chronicler): Entire collection of
Feluda, a sampling of Byomkesh Bakshi (Indian), one of Solar Pons, few
of Dupin, entire Agatha Christie collection (both book and DVD) etc.
etc.

Currently reading The Curious Case of 221B.

Binand