Arun Jain CMD, Polaris

A good book is something that can rejuvenate me instantly. In a city like Chennai which has a strong tradition of reading, getting a good book is no problem. The Landmark bookshop in the city is worthy of being a landmark. Air-conditioned, well-designed bookstores offering a mix of products have caught on everywhere today, but I believe Landmark is the trendsetter. The store has a great range of books on all subjects and I have managed to lay my hands on some old classics that are hard to get. Here, there is no hurry to leave, no pushy salesmen trying to hardsell something. I buy a lot of books on management, history and philosophy. Recently, I picked up an inspiring book called Maverick by Ricardo Semler. It's a highly stimulating and amusing book about how Semler transformed his authoritarian family business into a more participative one.

Vikram Singh Mehta Chairman, Shell Group of Companies (India)

Work requires me to travel almost incessantly between Delhi and Mumbai, and often overseas. But no matter where I am, I devote two hours every evening to my books, with some western classical music playing in the background. That's my way of getting away from the rigours of business. Oxford and Strand Bookshop in Mumbai and Bahri in Delhi's Khan Market are some of my favourite haunts in India but I'm not the kind who'll spend a lot of time at the bookstores browsing through titles.

I have a fairly sizeable collection of books both in Delhi and Mumbai. Political biographies and books on political economy interest me a lot. I'm currently reading Burmese Days by George Orwell and a book called Infidels on the conflict between Christianity and Islam.

Anand Sudarshan CEO, NetKraft

Frequent travelling can be an occupational hazard if you are a senior exec. But I look forward to my trips out of Bangalore because that gives me a chance to make another one of my routine visits to Sankars bookshop at the Bangalore airport. It's small but has a very eclectic collection of books. Last week, I picked up a remarkable book called The Biography Of Zero. Another bookshop that I love to visit often is Landmark in Chennai. I have been a regular there for more than 15 years now and I've seen it grow over the years. It is probably the biggest and the best bookshop in the country.

The way the shop is laid out and the hassle-free manner in which you can browse is fantastic.

Apart from the books that help me to stay alive in the business, I love to read books on science, mathematics and engineering.