Christian for my own good

Disclaimer: This is a post in jest listing the things that I, as a Christian am accustomed to. It is neither to promote a particular faith nor to condemn another. Now since we are clear I shall now kiss my bride :).

Non-veg on certain days, veg on the other

My non-Christians friends, Hindu’s in particular, follow a regimen where they are vegetarians on most days of the week and non-vegetarians on the unlucky few that are left. While I understand that it’s done in honour of a particular God among the 33 crore Gods, who have among themselves amicably settled for a day of the week each, it’s a challenge to plan a meal together as not only the restaurant and time matter, the day of the week does too. It also means that weekend plans involving chicken do not work. Wednesday, whether one likes it or not, is the best day to be a carnivore. 

Even during festivals the logic is different. For Christians, festivals are a time to celebrate and feast on the fattened calf. But the common trend in non-Christian families is the opposite. While we indulge in the best of meat and seafood, my non-Christian friends are strictly vegans.

Making Every Penny A Pound

In 2002, a few days before the FIFA World Cup and the football frenzy could reach its peak in my tiny little state of Goa, my father, frustrated by the picture quality of the TV at home set his mind on purchasing a brand new one. Very impressed by the advertisement on a local tabloid of a LG make which was shaped like a football, he sought details and thought of how he could fit it in our budgeted monthly expenditure. He had a plan in mind but only needed a plan to execute the plan.

Still undecided, we broke for rosary, our daily prayers.

In 2014, a few days before the FIFA World Cup and the football frenzy could reach its peak in my tiny little state of Goa, my father, frustrated by the picture quality of the TV at home set his mind on purchasing a brand new one. Very impressed by the advertisement on a local tabloid of the latest line of Sony Bravia LED TV’s, asked me to procure the details. After pondering over the information I furnished him with, he thought of how he could fit it in our budgeted monthly expenditure. He had a plan in mind but only needed a plan to execute the plan.

Still undecided, we broke for rosary, our daily prayers.

Our country needs to wake up, not just get up every morning!

The 8 Monkeys

(This is reportedly based on an actual experiment conducted in the U.K.)

Put eight monkeys in a room. In the middle of the room is a ladder, leading to a bunch of bananas hanging from a hook on the ceiling.

Each time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, all the monkeys are sprayed with ice water, which makes them miserable. Soon enough, whenever a monkey attempts to climb the ladder, all of the other monkeys, not wanting to be sprayed, set upon him and beat him up. Soon, none of the eight monkeys ever attempts to climb the ladder.

Remembering Mai Mai (My Mother’s Mother)

My grandmother visited me yesterday. Having passed away nine years ago she chose to pay me a visit in my dreams. Her visits, being few and far in between are always pleasant. Even though I knew her to a far lesser degree compared to my siblings, there was something about her that always caught my attention and has ever since stayed with me.

Relationship advice from my column on Cosmopolitan

1. We're having great sex but it seems that every time we see each other, we're naked. Have I just become this physical thing for him?

Depends. Making love is great but only making out is not. If along it with you spend quality time talking about everything under the sky then it’s not bad at all. No place can be better than being in the arms of your loved one. But do make it a point to indulge in other activities as well. Limiting yourself to only one thing makes it boring. 

It's time for congratulations and celebrations

It's time for congratulations and celebrations. State of the Heart is now available on every major eBook in the world including Barnes & Noble, Apple, Amazon, Page Foundry, Baker & Taylor, Oyster & Scribd. For all those in India, we're coming soon to Flipkart as well.

Book Review: The Hunt For Kohinoor by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar

The joys of reading a book are manifold. The fact that language could be used in such a variety of ways to describe the same old mundane thing is refreshing. This is the feeling I got while reviewing The Hunt For Kohinoor by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar, an opportunity I was given by Westland Publishers.

The Hunt For Kohinoor is a book that revolves around its main character – art historian and fresco specialist Mehrunisa Khosa. The half Sikh half Muslim girl, who played a pivotal role in cracking the first book of this series, The Taj Conspiracy, is pushed into war ravaged and ever hostile plains and places on the AfPak border where war can break out just at the fall of a match, to crack a case that hardly has got anything to do with her trade. 

Reconciling with the disappearance of her father, who she later realizes is a an Indian Intelligence agent, while she was just five, she comes face to face with him after sixteen years as he is being treated for injuries from a blast that killed the President of Pakistan just as he was to seal a treaty of peace with India by sharing the Kohinoor - confidential information abiut the location of a 26/11 type attack in India by the Taliban within the next 96 hours. Unable to send in his most trusted spy – Mehrunisa’s father, commonly referred as Snow Leopard, Harinder Singh Khosa or Harry, Jag Mishra – The Chanakya of the Indian Intelligence Pakistan Desk sends in his daughter as the bait to get Harry back into the field in no time. It’s the same Chanakya that Mehrunisa learns who kept her father away from her while he suffered a memory loss in one of the operations.

While Mehrunisa goes from pillar to post trying to decode the clues she finds on the way she finds herself in the constant battle with herself over the sudden disappearance and appearance of her lost and found father. But the case doesn’t give her luxury to ponder further as she and her close aides encounter ghastly attacks carried out both by the enemy and from within. Constantly fighting and losing accomplices on the way, she is kidnapped by the infamous Babur Khan, an American soldier who switched to the other side to connect to his roots. Well versed in American tactics he galvanises the Pathan’s and Taliban of the region, imposes strict Islamic laws where girls are buried alive if they speak to any unknown males, and becomes their supreme commander. 

If you haven’t read a book in a long time, then this book is a good place to develop the lost reading habit. Its language is good and keeps you in the midst of what’s happening. At some places you will find pearls of wisdom just thrown in which could make for a collector’s edition.

"Peace is a bloody business, wherein the seeds of war are sowed; terror is then reaped in abundance."

"Trust no one, not even mirrors."

“What the mullahs forget is that when a woman wears a burqa, it hides her looks, not her brain.”

“The only time a snow leopard might become aggressive if its cubs are threatened or it is.”

“The Americans have a chronic weakness: they believe they are the centre of the world.”

“The biggest enemy of this country were its leaders”

"With love you could persuade a Pathan to go to hell, but by force you couln’t even take him to heaven."

“Because Naxals wore police uniforms.”

However, it would have been better if the title was changed to something more appropriate. Half way through the book the Kohinoor has been hunted, which is sort of disappointing if you have a Da Vinci code at the back of your mind. What’s left is averting the attack on India and rescuing Mehrunisa from the clutches of Babur Khan hidden in the lawless and rugged area of North West Afghanistan. Certain parts could have been done with to make the book shorter. However certain parts could have been extended to give a more gripping feel. I couldn’t focus at the climax, more so because I lost interest by the time I reached there.

The Love Letter

“Even if someone wishes to forget this day, he will never be able to”, I said to myself as I glanced through the various pages of the newspaper which were covered with advertisements of the oncoming Valentine’s Day. Special gifts, offers, discounts and related news made the task easier for people who either had run out of ideas or time to mark the day. Love articles and some news write-ups of a few cultural groups protesting against the day of love filled the remaining space. Though the newspaper resembled an advertiser’s paradise, it helped by giving a break from the ‘Sauna Belt’ and ‘Height Plus’ advertisements that featured on other days. Also love stories made for a far better read than articles on murder, theft and this country going nowhere. 

Husbands would be happier if reminders of their anniversaries could also be flashed in the newspapers. Not necessarily to celebrate the love that existed between them and their spouses (if there was any left) but more importantly to avoid the All India Radio-type sermons and uncalled for expense on gifts which had to be bought as damage control in case they forgot, I wondered. 

Personally speaking, I hated Valentine’s Day. Not because of any other reason but because to celebrate it you had to be in a relationship and have the prerequisite – a Valentine. I was single and wasn’t in one. And because I wasn’t, the heartburn was more. I would love to be in one but thanks to my work schedule I hardly had time for myself, having time for another was way out of the question. I was happy being single but not on Valentine’s Day. Seeing so many couples around sharing warm moments together, the heart, as irritating it can get, cites a need for someone. The heartache then transcends into something way bigger that’s easier felt than explained. Hence, all these years I locked myself up in a room with no access to the internet, TV, radio, newspapers or any other modes of communication so the day just passed by without my heart knowing about it.

My thoughts were broken when I saw my train chug into the station, that too when there were still two minutes for the train to arrive as per the display. Caught off guard and not having much time left, I folded the newspaper and rolled it up. To keep it safe, I held it between my thumb and index finger as I reached for the door beating a few hundred passengers who expressed greater interest in catching the same already crowded local as me. Irrespective of  the capacity, ‘find a place and fill it’ has always been the mantra in India. We never shy of it and live by example. We can proudly claim that we can fill any mode of transport to at least three times its capacity with ease. On some days, we beat our own record. In addition to carrying people way beyond capacity, the local trains in Bombay have this special state-of-the-art system for picking up and alighting passengers. The beauty of this system is it works best during peak hours. All you need to do is position yourself near the door. The rest is taken care of, all thanks to the system made up of the ever-in-a-hurry people who will do anything to get in or off the train.

As I made another successful entry into the train and continued a dream run so as to say I chose to head to the seats on my right instead of the left. Activating my mental radar, I began the search for a seat to sit. But along with the seats I observed my fellow passengers as well. 

Man is a complex animal. No matter how much you study him, it’s never enough. In fact, he will continue to throw surprises. The more you study him the more amazed you shall be. As a pastime, I’ve always enjoyed observing people - the way they think, behave, act, and talk. Animals learn a lot merely by observing. That’s so correct in the case of humans too.

A trio of college boys were around who seemed more interested in their virtual mobile world than the real one they lived in. They kept passing around a BlackBerry phone each taking a turn at chatting with someone over BBM. “Ask her what her name is” one of them said. The other nodded in confirmation and started punching the keys on the device. After hitting ‘Send’ the three of them waited anxiously for a reply. The cheer that broke out and hi-fi’s exchanged was a sign that a reply had been received. “Hemal Solanki” “Does that mean she’s a Gujrati?” one of them asked. “Na, Marwari” the other answered. “Hmm”, the three of them thought.

This is something we always do. After finding out the name and the community a person comes from, we draw a mental personality sketch of the person – his/her looks, likes, dislikes, nature, perception, vegetarian, non-vegetarian, etc. Even if we may be entirely wrong, we never refrain from doing it. Doing this helps us take things forward or not at all.

“What are you waiting for? Ask her which college, stream, year, phone number” his friends coaxed. “Also ask her what she’s doing on Valentine’s Day. She can join us if she likes” the third friend said with a wink, listening to which the other two started laughing. “Yes why not? Should I also ask her “Would you marry me?” The laughter changed into a roar so much so that even I broke into a smile. 

There’s something special about college life. Probably because it’s the only phase where we aren’t serious about the most important things and we choose not to be serious about life. Love too is not spared. Unfortunately the maturity that love asks for and responsibilities it brings along is only understood when it’s too late and you’re heart broken. Till then all is perfect in that cocoon world.

The question and answer session on the Blackberry continued till the trio got off at their station. With them gone, I shifted my attention to the others. A few people were catching up on the world through newspapers and magazines while a few were trying to relieve themselves of the day’s stress by either playing some games on their phones and tablets or listening to some music. Some, taking advantage of the pillars meant for support, decided to catch a wink. The pro’s at this act slept without any support and provided entertainment for the onlookers by their near miss-falls while they dozed off to glory. There were a few who just sat to themselves or spoke to their fellow passengers or over their phones. Rest seemed more interested in what others did than themselves and stared at the people and what they did around them. Probably they too followed the same principle as me but took it to another level of staring and not observing. Everything seemed mundane, until something caught my attention and never let it waver. 

The letter was carefully folded and slid into the shirt pocket. The moment the letter went in, a tear drop came rolling out. It’s said that crying silently requires great strength; after all it’s a trait of the strong. That too crying in public, that too in a relatively crowded compartment of a Bombay local where most people don’t have any other work to do than staring at each other is something. 

Very easy to miss the obvious, a young man was sitting right opposite me next to the window while I sat on the space left after three passengers took their share each. He was looking outside the window as if hoping that the wind blowing in his face would dry away his tears but they just kept rolling down. The tears with nothing to stop them rolled along and fell on his shirt and began wetting it. If the tears didn’t stop or weren’t stopped soon the shirt would be uncomfortable to wear. Time and again he kept removing the letter out of his shirt pocket, read it and put it back in again. It was as if he wasn’t done with it. There was something that made him read it again and then put the letter away. What could be so appealing and disturbing at the same time? Nothing seemed to be wrong with my co-passenger. Somewhere in his early-thirties, dressed as though working for a corporate that ran late into the night, he seemed perfectly sane. It was just that he was not living in the present but lost in thought. His eyes spoke it all. The tears bore witness.

Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to unearth the reason that caused my fellow passenger to weep. The detective in me took up the case and started analysing the man and the situation. My first clue was the letter. My challenge was to get hold of it to read its contents. It was a plain simple letter and not a medical report. If it had been the latter, the reason would have been obvious. He or someone dear was going through a serious illness. The news of a limited time to live or requirement of large amount of money for an operation or a cure could be the reason. But that was not the case. It was a plain simple handwritten letter with its contents unknown but disturbing. What did the letter contain? What could be so bad around Valentine’s Day when everyone is interested in the exchange of cards, gifts and chocolates? A time when love is in the air? Was his wife or fiancé leaving him? Was his proposal rejected? What could it be?

As the destinations of everyone travelling in a train are different, my time to solve the case was unknown but was quickly running out. The letter was the only thing that could solve this mystery for me. Asking the man directly what was troubling him was not a good idea looking at the state he was in. I knew that if I didn’t solve the mystery, I wouldn’t be at rest for the next few days and probably be in the same state as the man. I couldn’t let that happen to me. The pain of Valentine’s Day was more than enough to bear. Any more would lead to near death. 

How should I read the letter? If I stand would I get a glimpse? I ruled that option out. I tried straining my eyes to read the letter from the back but the low lighting and pendulum-type movement of the train made that impossible. The writing too had hardly an imprint on the back of the page. But what I could make of it, it contained only a few lines. “A crisp and clear rejection?” I thought to myself. “What have we come to?” With only the stars above to help me, I looked up to the skies for some divine intervention. Though all I could see was the ceiling fan and not the stars I hoped for a miracle. Luckily for me, the passenger seated right next to him got up. This was my moment, my only chance. Without a moment’s delay I sprang into action and got off my feet and made a dash for the just vacated seat.

After occupying it, I took a deep breath. “Just in the nick of time” I thought as I watched the dismayed faces of other passengers as they failed to occupy the seat. In spite of my heroics, my fellow passenger was oblivious to my shift in position.. Now in the direction of the wind, I could feel the chill. Valentine’s Day was indeed going to be very cosy this year I thought as the warmth of love would be really felt by those in love. To me it would be just another day. Hopefully next year I would have someone. Without losing a moment I took position. Time was ticking by and my station was fast approaching. This one was going down to the wire. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the letter to come out again, that too before I got off. If it didn’t, it would be a case of ‘So close yet so far’. What made matters worse was the thought that what if he got off before me? That would signal the end even before the beginning. What was in that letter? What was disturbing him? What could make a grown up man cry? Who had left him? What had he done? What had someone done to him? The questions in my mind kept multiplying. I was getting impatient. Anxiety was taking its toll. I needed to have the answer now or I would never have it. Come on, just once more. “Please!!!!” was the prayer on my lips. 

To my good luck, the letter came out again. Without wasting a moment and leaving nothing to chance, I made most of my position. Moving myself closer, I slightly bent over to be able to read its contents. The letter was slowly unfolded and the mystery that held me captive for so long finally unravelled itself.

Dear Papa,

Thank you for being my very dear friend and my support. Every night before going to sleep I pray that God takes special care of you. You are the best Papa in the world. I love you very much. Would you be my Valentine?

Your loving daughter,

Anjali.

The words of the letter left me spell bound and hit me hard like a bolt from the blue. Was I living a dream or was it reality? Was I living at all? After reading the letter I too was lost in thought. I have always known Valentine’s Day to be a day of love. In fact I hated its existence, just for not having someone to love. But this letter changed all that. This girl did not have anyone to be called a Valentine. She was probably too young to understand life. But she definitely understood love. And she understood it very well.

In one day, I had seen three perceptions of love. A love where you needed to be in love as in my case, a love filled with casualness as in the case of the college students, and a very mature love as in the case of the little girl. I, all my life perceived love as something you needed another to share with. But I was wrong. Love needn’t be that. I had forgotten that love had so many dimensions and forms. To celebrate Valentine’s Day you needn’t be in love. You can celebrate it with your family, friends, God and also with yourself. Love is all about being happy and contented with yourself and surroundings. If there is no love, there is no acceptance of positives and negatives, there’s no space for understanding and care. If there is no love there is nothing. Where there’s love there's everything.

The tears of the man now made complete sense. No one had left him, neither had he left anyone. No one had done anything against him and neither did he. Yes, he was hale and hearty too. He had not lost anything, but had gained the most precious gift in this entire world – Love, a gift that no offer could claim, no money could buy, no discount could apply and no tips and tricks could help. He had received love from the most unexpected quarter - a person whom the he loved the most. When your child asks for more love in return of her sweet love all you can express is in tears. 

As I got off my seat and made a move towards the exit I looked at that man. He was still lost in the letter. The difference was now I knew what was bothering him. In fact, nothing was. He was just too thankful to God for his child and the abundant love he had received. The man would surely be the best Valentine his daughter could ever have. 

In the last half an hour of my travel, my life like the train had gone from one point to another. The journey had transformed me and taught me to see things bigger and better.

This Valentine’s Day was indeed going to be special, going to be warm and memorable - both for my fellow passenger and for me. He had received love from the one who loved him and he loved the most, while I received enlightenment. And then I too shed a tear.

To read more stories or purchase the book visit Amazon

Book Review: Business Sutra - Devdutt Pattanaik

I long to be an entrepreneur and hence when BlogAdda presented with this opportunity I took it with both hands. After constant rescheduling the delivery I finally got my hands on it. I must say, its least than what I expected. 

In the world of Kamasutra and Aam Sutra, Business Sutra leaves no stone unturned in simply following suit. A voluminous 460 odd pages filled with illustrations on every second page you have to be ready to take on this one. But if you're there for the taking then this book won't disappoint. If you're bored there are illustrations, if you're into business and ideologies theres lots of it and if you're hard for time there are little grey boxes which cut the details and give you the gist. 

The book is divided into 3 sections - Introduction, which is more kind of a launchpad to understanding the book and the author's life and the need for something like this. 'Goal To Gaze', where Western, Chinese and Indian beliefs are mixed and matched and tried to make sense of and lastly Business Sutra, the mantra for success where the author challenges the reader to achieve the impossible.

The downside of this book is that it kind of gets too much to take in atleast in the initial two sections. Also, me having very less idea about Indian mythology (I'm not into that too) it becomes difficult for me to relate to the traits, strengths and weaknesses of Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna, Brahma, Indra, Ganesha and other gods in the Indian pantheon. The last section is the only place where I felt "Ok, here we go."

What I liked about the language was that it was simple and crisp. Also the understanding by the writer that we Indians are a specie apart. We love our chaos and do not believe there exists only one way to success. Also we are more comfortable when business and wealth generation can be carried out in a family relationship manner with everyone involved becoming elder brothers and sister-in-laws rather than in a very professional dealing.

For the Indian mythology fanatics and those into management or soon to be this book is THE book for you. You will definitely learn a thing or two.

About The Author:
Devdutt Pattanaik has written over twenty-five books and 400 articles on Indian mythology for everyone from adults to children. Since 2007, he has been explaining the relationship between mythology and management through his column in the Economic Times; the talk he gave at the TED India conference in 2009; and the show Business Sutra which ran successfully on CNBC-TV18 in 2010, besides numerous other lectures at Indian universities and management institutes.

Trained to be a doctor, he spent fifteen years in the healthcare (Apollo Health Street) and pharmaceutical (Sanofi Aventis) industries and worked briefly with Ernst & Young as a business adviser before he turned his passion into a vocation and joined the think tank of the Future Group as its Chief Belief Officer.


Publisher : Aleph Book Company
Genre : Non-Fiction
ISBN : 987-81-923280-7-2

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News in Just A Minute

English: Sanjay dutt at Musafir press meet at IIFA, Singapore (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I feel India is the only country that:

1. Cares more about people in another country than its own.

Thousands of Tamilians in Tamil Nadu are homeless and starving. Yet the Tamil Nadu government is more interested in Sri Lankan nationality Tamilians in Sri Lanka.

2. Mixes sports with politics.

Have a disagreement with Sri Lanka and you have no matches in Madras. Thankfully neither Italy plays cricket nor we are a big footballing nation or we would have stopped playing with them too.

If I were in the BCCI, seeing the government's apathy towards Sri Lankan players who have nothing got to do with the ongoing issue, I would have cancelled Madras as a venue for this year's IPL. Sporting tournaments should be taken sportingly and not as a platform to hold a nation or its people at ransom.

3. Singling out people to prevent justice being done.

Sanjay Dutt, by acting in Munnabhai series of movies has not done a good deed or the nation a favour. He is an actor and acting is his job. His sister Priya Dutt's comment that he has been suffering for the last 20 years and hence should be set free somehow never ceases to amaze me. The other co-accused too have undergone a similar fate. Why not pardon them as well.

Sanjay Dutt, please cut the crap and serve your sentence. Atleast, financially you’re in a much better state than most of your co-accused. And as you proclaim in your Lage Raho Munnabhai movie, all great people including Gandhi went to jail. 

Book Review: Chanakya's New Manifesto

Book:  CHANAKYA’S  NEW MANIFESTO 
 

Author:  Pavan K. Varma 
 

ISBN:  978-93-82277-09-5 
 

Genre:  Non Fiction

Price:  295 ( I got it from Blogadda in a book review program) 
 

Pages:  248 
 

Publisher:  ALEPH BOOK COMPANY 

 Introduction:

Whatever state we are in at present has a direct incentive of our past performance, our present actions based on the correlative implication of our past and present and our future implementation and execution of goals considering all the three timelines taken into prospective.  This isn’t a book to read in a single sitting and grasp everything out of it. It’s meted out of sincere efforts put up to bring out the real scenario of the country with summoned realistic counsels to overcome from rather deplorable condition the country is facing today. This book is laid on connoting the thoughts and preachings of one of the greatest scholar world has ever known Chanakya along with the beliefs and teachings of our father of the nation Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, encompassing the present scenario.  Author's vitalizing feat can also be sensed from the 65 references which he made to make a stronghold case of his treatise.

         An eye opener for all the Indians who aren’t awake yet

Cover Page:

Black hole is of prime importance as it devours everything else. How would you represent a black hole in terms of color? Black isn’t it? Yes this color has significance in the cover page of this book as it encompasses everything India needs to do to envision itself as “Sarvagun Sampoorna” (To bring out the best in terms of completeness).  If an adequate action isn’t taken now we would drown our self to a pitiful grave which is looking more promising similar to engulfing in a black hole.

About the Author:

Pavan K. Varma,studied history at St. Stephen College, New delhi and took a degree in law from Delhi  University.He has been press secretary to the president of India, official spokesman of the Foreign Office, director general of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and India's ambassador to Bhutan. Having taken premature retirement from the Indian Foreign Service, he now seeks to be actively involved in public life.

Pavan K. Varma has authored several acclaimed and bestselling books, among them, Ghalib: The Man, The Times; Krishna: The Playful Divine; The Great Indian Middle Class; Being Indian: The truth about why the 21st century will be India's; Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity and When Loss is Gain. He has also translated into English the poetry of Gulzar, Kaifi Azmi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Compostional Report:

Prologue of this book covers the bases or the roots from which a theme is derived and later matured into a fully fledged blueprint for a change.  Starting with Chanakya's preachings from Arthashastra , an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy  written by the great scholar dating back 2300 years BC Era, captivating  to our present day scenario which needs an immediate alteration.

Author of this book Pavan K. Varma has succinctly exploited the prowess of demarcation to mark 5 significant areas which requires a prominent stance in terms of actual implementations. This book covers an equitably devised areas of concern viz. Governance, Democracy, Corruption, Security and the creation of an Inclusive society with a prior liaison with our immediate Past, since our Independence in 1947 highlighting all the pros and the cons linked with each and every decision taken by our fore founders of the country.

This book covers all the 5 eminent lurking dangers with detailed analysis of each with the basic knowledge of what is the current situation, why are we in such a state and what is the probable outcome if we continue to progress or rather regress with such a rate and the most importantly what needs to be done to overcome our stricken state and be amongst the fortified nations. This book has sought 354 lines of immediate action points covering all the cornerstones along with the detailed reasoning of each and every point stated (57-Democracy, 87-governance, 111-corruption, 58-security and 41-creation of inclusive society)

The best part according to me was the presentation of the real India to its mass and detailed action plan mention to root out the all the evils from our country. This is not a novel for a literate person but a bible to an educated citizen, perhaps this is the best and the worst thing which it contains.

Worst- let us take an example mentioned in this book
“5 years ago shortage of coal was 43 million tones and now it is 140 million tones. India being a 4^th largest in cola reserve this is something unbelievable.”
 What will a common person understand with 43 million tones and 140 million tones except that it has further decreased?

Best- As I said this has nothing to do with a literate mind but means a lot to an educated citizen. The reason being the exponential decrease of coal reserves in spite of all the planned (unplanned) strategies that let to shrinkage of reserves, policies of the government (governance), Use of resources ( democracy),Coalgate scam(corruption), Proper utilization and growth of available resources along with its security (Security) and harnessing resources for a sustainable progress(creating an inclusive society). This book covers everything and that’s why I recommend it to all educated minds, a must read as I always believe a knowledgeable citizen is much better than an ignorant one when it comes to tackling a situation at hand.

I agree with the author “it’s time to change and if we fail, India may never succeed. Our future is at stake.” I would rate this book 4.5 out of 5.

Life Adjudication ofthe book:

This is a book to awake our sleeping brains and start acting towards our cumulative goal to progress



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Love is all,you ever need...!!!

There’s nothing wrong in having a coldhearted feeling for someone. You won’t be called fraudulent for rejecting someone, who loves you whole heartedly. But have you ever thought why, We the human beings who crave for a little love and a glimpse of affection from everybody around at times run away from people who genuinely care?
We tend to regard them as smitten and ignore them. We strain to endure with someone whom we think is suitable for us or those we feel we are compatible with. But my question is what’s wrong with the person whom you rejected?  Can Love be the reason of being neglected?
There may be various reasons for you to reject someone. I would request the readers to be ready with their analytical glasses by the time I end up with this story.
Anisha was talking to her best friend Sobha about her indifferent past.
Sobha: Gosh! He loved you…didn’t you feel for him anytime?
Anisha: You know he was a good guy…but far too much sentimental to my liking…I feared he might do something…you never know anything about these emotional guys.
Sobha: Why what happened?
Anisha: You know I liked him but I felt he was too much possessive, would often say I would do anything for you and would die for you if need arises and such craps like that.
Sobha:  That’s a speech every Romeo in town has, on their lips…but you were in contact with him for more than 2 years. Did you feel about his possessiveness during that period?

Anisha: No! He was actually a nice guy; helpful and friendly nothing of that sort…didn’t even look or stare at girls.
Sobha: Then why do you think he was possessive?
Anisha: I think long distance was hurting him and he would often say…if I won’t marry you I will die…he would often speak about death…I felt it won’t be good to stick with someone who is so rueful about life…sometimes I felt he’s gone crazy and would do anything.
Sobha: Any such instance?
Anisha: You know out of a bloom he came up to my city once and called me to meet…I denied, thinking he might throw acid on me as I had told him I have a boy friend and I don’t love him anymore.
Sobha: Ok… what did he do then?
Anisha: He said he would come up to my house and speak up to my parents.
Sobha: What did you do then?
Anisha: I was afraid as I didn’t want him to meet my parents and I had my medical exams on board… I told if he really loves me and wants me to be happy…he should go away.
Sobha: What did he do then?
Anisha:  He went away…without disturbing me any further.
Sobha: So he didn’t try to contact again?
Anisha: Yes he did.
Sobha: What did you speak to him?
Anisha: I told him to forget me as I was happy without having any contact with him. I told him I have an important person in my life and I don’t want him to disturb my happy life.
Sobha:  What did he do then?
Anisha:  You won’t believe what he actually did…he contacted the person I liked and asked him to keep good care of me and then he never came between us.
Sobha: So he never tried to contact you?
Anisha: You know, I knew him since school and therefore there were many common friends whom he would ask about me.
Sobha: So what did you do?
Anisha: In my last conversation with him I told him frankly I don’t like him contacting my friends regarding me and because of him I couldn’t keep in touch with my friends.
Sobha: So what did he do?
Anisha: He stopped contacting my friends.
Sobha: That’s the end right?
Anisha: Yes.
Sobha: Do you think he might still have the same feelings for you?
Anisha: I don’t know.
Sobha: Do you really believe that there’s a person in this world whom god has sent for you and he would do everything just to be with you?
Anisha: Might be…but I haven’t met any such person till date.
Sobha: How do you know?
Anisha: I never felt like spending my life with any person.
Sobha: Ok…I understood everything…who is the most important person in your life?
Anisha: How is it related to the topic? Anyways the answer is my Parents.
Sobha: Suppose for some reason…i hope it never occurs in your life….your parents want to break all their contacts with you…say for your decision for marrying someone whom they don’t like…what will you do?  
Anisha: First of all I will never go against my parents decision…so no question of getting into such a phase. Sobha: I am only talking of an incidence just for an imagination what would you do…to have you parents in your life?
Anisha: Ok….i would talk to them…would discuss about in details and would make them realize the importance that’s it’s my life and I should be happy with the person whom I choose to marry.
Sobha: Suppose your parents don’t agree…and you have failed in each and every attempt to convince them…what will be your final talk? You cannot leave either the person you love or your parents.
Anisha:  I will ask my parents to divide me into two halves one to keep with themselves and the other with the person I love.
Sobha: Did you realize what you spoke just now? Not only you…it is applicable to each and every person in this world…when you want someone in your life desperately you try your best to be with that person…you try to convince them as much as you can…if you couldn’t, you try to take advantage by being emotional…if it also fails …the last thing available for you is to speak about your life/death. And by far what I heard he did the same thing.
Anisha: Whatever you are saying may be true he may have genuine feelings for me but you know I don’t feel anything for him. I told him about it and if he couldn’t take it as I intended what can I do for it?
Sobha: It’s not that you told him this in the first instance…you have even accepted his proposal…if I am not mistaken.
Anisha: I was just checking him out…I had no feelings…I thought if I speak those 3 words to him I may feel the love for him…but I didn’t.
Sobha: If you don’t have any feelings for him…you did the right thing…but what about him…I don’t know whether you believe or not but Love happens only once and there are few people who give their heart and soul to it. He kept on your vows and gladly accepted each and every term you kept against him without a question. He went away from you, your life and your friends because you wanted him to be out of your life.
 
Anisha: But where is my fault?
Sobha: It’s not about finding faults…it’s about a person’s life. You did whatever you wanted you wanted from your life. You were not ready for a relationship and frankly speaking the way I feel you felt yourself burdened or chained to go into a relation…you wanted to enjoy life, be free like a bird as you didn’t want to get serious about love.
Anisha: Yes…that’s what I believed all my life.
Sobha: But did you realize what imprints you left on his heart? Do you think he would lead a normal life?  

Anisha:  What can I do about it?
Sobha: I am not asking you to do anything, just for a moment think… if you were in his place what will you do? How would you feel…how would you react? What if, he still loves you? You never know he might still be waiting for you.
Anisha: I don’t want to get into this awkward situation…please.
Sobha: I know it’s better to keep oneself at a safe distance from any undue troubles but did he actually harm you in anyway?
Anisha: Why are you asking this?
Sobha: The way I see it…earlier you ignored him because he was sentimental about you, after a while you kept him away from your life feeling he might harm you for rejecting him and now I believe you are not ready to even find out whether he still loves you or not because you are egoistic. You don’t want to fall before your ego.
Anisha: No…it’s nothing like that.
Sobha: Then what stops you from trying to contact him and see if he actually has the same feeling for you.  

Anisha: Why would I do that?
Sobha:  Don’t you think there was something incomplete about your story? Don’t you think there’s something missing? Don’t you think your inner soul have a grudge upon you? Don’t you think you were too stubborn? Do you really feel a person who loved you so much deserves this negligence? Don’t you feel a love story can never end like this?
Anisha: Why are you speaking all these things?
Sobha: You are a very good friend of mine and therefore I believe…you should try to contact him once. You are pretty and am sure many people might have proposed you but have you ever seen or even heard any person reacting the way he did?
Anisha: I told you he doesn’t seem to be normal.
Sobha: When you love someone whole heartedly…you can never be like a normal person.
Anisha: what do you mean?
Sobha: loving someone doesn’t mean you are bowing to someone. You never fall for letting go your gut feeling and accepting the one who loves you. Love is not bounded by anybody’s ego.  Love is serene like the wind which likes to flow uninterrupted and the way you disrupted its flow I am sure you will feel suffocated if not now than certainly in the very near future.  
Anisha: you and your love philosophies…are impeccable.
Sobha: Anisha think about the entire discussion I had with you today and am telling for your sake only…at least once think from your heart and decide what you have to do with your life. You know love is all you need to live and be happy for your entire life and there are very few lucky people for whom their love waits for them till eternity…!!!


When I was writing about this article I had youth in my mind and India’s 35-40 % population lies in the age group of 18-35. Do you know, what’s the biggest worry for these age group people?  No, career or jobs aren’t their primary stress. They are tensed about their relations. The process of being a couple is the foremost threat to their personal life. When I was thinking about Personal life most of them suffer from the heart ache of a broken relationship or they try to find ways to lament their relations. There are many such examples where a person is at loss just because of their views towards a relationship. I always believe after a person gains a bit maturity he/she does realizes Love is all that they need. And therefore this story is on a person who couldn’t decide upon her life and messed up with the question –“what she really needs.”

Enjoy the poem I wrote specially for this article…Love is all, you ever need
 
Love isn’t a frail to come by,
it’s not a rigid tail to hang by,
it’s like a holy grail to standby,
love Never fails to hail nearby.

Love’s like a dreamy tale to hearsay,
It’s like a rainfall in withered may,
it’s not basking blindfold all the way,
it’s like a Braille as observant say,

Love’s all about hope in dismay,
It’s full of fragrance bestowed in zesty,
It doesn’t believe in hatred or betray,
Love’s eternal and endures all the way.

Love’s an entire soul growing in a seed,
Don’t dethrone it like a petty weed,
Don’t haste love in forbearance greed,
As love is all, you ever need…!!!

Book Review: Spicy Bites of Biryani

Book : Spicy Bites of Biryani
Author : Ashwina Garg
ISBN : 978-93-80349-84-8
Genre : Fiction/Romantic
Price : 150 (I got it from Author herself)
Pages : 225
Publisher : Srishti Publishers & Distribution
 






Introduction:
Sometimes in life when everything is set up, everything seems full and serene suddenly a whip sound crackles through your ear which forces you to step back and face the rather somber realistic music which is far from the dreamy world you were dreaming…realists would say, welcome to the factious reality. There are two moments in a person’s life when one feels he/she has everything in life but yet something is missing, it’s the time when one wakes up from a beautiful dream and the other when one tries to cover the lacunas of love life crossing vehemently a blistering career, suddenly finds oneself at the wrong foot as far as age and youth is concerned. This story is about the second phase

And this light hearted romantic fiction will let you know about everything which a rich, single and prior senescence youth can bring forth and yes it goes with the quote-“The hardest thing about having the perfect life is keeping it that way”

Cover Page:
The nonchalant and blithesome story is very well depicted from the carefree outlook of the cover page. A car parked near a beach and a couple having a casual talk. By the looks you can call it a stress buster while you go through the book clichés may take up the toll and you may be subdued by the plain mockery of things .you may recall the taste buds partly tangy partly spicy while devouring a Biryani.
 
About the Author:
Ashwina Garg lives in Hyderabad with her husband and two kids. She studied accountancy and has worked as an entrepreneur, a German translator and a technical writer. Spicy bites of Biryani is her Debut Novel.
 
Compositional Report:
Spicy Bites of Biryani is all about the hiccups of life and the main two characters of the story Aditi Patil and Sanjay Bolisetti are certainly not any exception.
Aditi Patil, Writer by profession has written 2 best sellers but is struggling to find words for her 3^rd book for more than a year. She is facing a writer’s block as people may say but there are no blockages of moving over to one boyfriend after the other. She lives life on her own terms, doesn’t want to give any heed to what others think or feel about her. An obedient student of Anti marriage syndrome and her blogs are the sole realistic link to her rather oblivious lifestyle.  It’s only after she meets Sanjay Bolisetti that she felt of changing up with her modus Vivendi.
 
Sanjay Bolisetti, An US returned Telugu speaking tall, nerdy, rich guy with middle class roots in his mid 30’s came up to India after getting betrayed, selling off his company in a view to get settled in India after marrying a suitable alliance. Aditi made her views crystal clear from the first day itself that she is no mood to get married but Sanjay like a tyrant lost in a battle came back to her after all his relatives and friends failed in their attempt of match making. This story is a journey Sanjay forged to tame the wild tigress which will remind you of rather entertaining and tiresome journey.
 
Mayank Arora and Jayashree Arora are two important characters of the story.
Mayank belonged from a typical Punjabi family who married Jayashree Sastri from a conservative Tamilian culture while they were both working in US along with Sanjay. Back in India Mayank and Jayashree was compliance of Aditi. Though their roles were of minuscule importance as far as the main theme is concerned and were only efficacious when Sanjay and Aditi needed a social grouping as both Mayank and Jayashree were too occupied with their office deadlines, conservative families and their own problem of having a child.
As far as the shortcomings is concerned which I felt is very ominous is abbreviating the roles of Mayank and Jayashree while it concentrated mainly on Sanjay and Aditi leaving the other two characters almost aloof. Though the tone was set on Aditi and Sanjay…yet at times it seemed as they ceased to flow and the final climax seemed incomplete as it wasn’t shown what was inevitable and the attempt of unnecessary twist of kidnapping Aditi flunked somewhat as it proved to be rather numb and vague ending. A bit more humor would have given an ideal touch.  

The main throbbing points would be the justification done with the role of Aditi and her unwillingness to marry and Sanjay’s overwhelming response of mingling his high class status with that of his middle class roots.  The minor subplots were held firm and it added wings to main storyline. Author though a first timer held a grip on the storyline through a typical chick lit sensation throughout. Over all, an eminent
story, gracious characters and felicitous theme, this is a typical stress buster and 3.5 star rating makes it meriting read.

 


Life Adjudication of thestory:
A book to read at time of bed before going off to buzz. This story has enough to relax your mind at the same time stimulate your energies back after a stressful day.

Book Review: RIP

Book:- RIP

Author:- Mukul Deva

ISBN:- 978-93-82618-19-5

Genre:- Fiction/Thriller

Price:- 200 (I got this book from Blogadda in a  book review program)

Pages:- 286

Publisher:- Westland ltd

Introduction:-

Have you ever given a thought on this statement-“Whoever we are at present be it our mentality, our thinking or what we do has a reflection of our past and a slimmer of ray what we ought to be in the future.” Thou art of fiction this book endeavors the present state of our country and an individual if glanced at large and would easily be conceived as one of those resurgent response of a group of suffering Indians in a hope of a better tomorrow. Had it not been the disclaimer it would have been difficult to trace the fictional part; as the plot, the storyline even the characters resemble with the natives of real India. That’s the charisma of the writer, fiction looks real. I bet you can’t get off with this thriller until you have gone through to the final climax of the story. 

Cover Page:

 Those who have read novels of Mukul Deva, can actually make a smart guess of the backdrop by looking at the Cover page itself. A commando standing facing the bright sunlight as if rearing to face each and everything, an Injection injecting the venom into the Author (Author’s name), the title RIP with a bullet symbol and the image of 10 Janpath with Indian national Flag at the rear tells a lot for the story itself.

About the Author:

An alumnus of La Martiniere College, Lucknow, the National Defence Academy, Pune and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Mukul Deva was commissioned in December 1981 into the Sikh Light Infantry of the Indian Army. He took early retirement from the army after fifteen years of service, including a decade of combat operations in India and overseas. Now settled in Singapore, he is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker and an executive, business and creativity coach. He is also a Mentor on the United Nations Institute of Training and Research Afghanistan Fellowship. He is known as one of the finest fiction writer for military thriller, with “Lashkar” one of the bestsellers following the suite.

Compositional Report:

This Story revolves around a Para Military Retired Colonel. Krishna Athawale and his group of 5 other apt members (Karan Singh, Kevin David, Kashif Nadeem, Kamlesh Saikia & Kulwant Singh) forming a K-Team. In a view to upsurge the shape of Indian Political system at large and a hope of envisioning corruption free India, K-Team followed the route of bloodshed assassinating the culprits revealing their fortifying agony against the corrupt Politicians and Bureaucrats. 

A score mystifying story with a blend of professional and personal life of Col.K Athawale which is pertinent to the reason why he quit Para Commando in spite of being a super hero, risking his life every moment after his brother in law’s demise in an Air-plane crash, a result of spurious parts supplied to the Air force by arms dealer (Afzal Hasan) in collusion with a politician (Anduvetti Rajappan) who walked away scot-free. The rage was piling upon as numerous others perpetrators of scams and scandals such as Bofors, 2G, Commonwealth games were set free. 

Another Important Chunk of this intimidating story lies in its inclination towards the private life of Col.K Athawale which deals with his son (Sachin), Sister (Payal) and Payal’s Co-worker at NDTV news channel (Reena Bhagat) . Though being a sub plot within the main theme, it’s the outcome of the Love triangle between Col.K Athawale, Reena and Reena’s Separated Husband cashiered Captain Raghav Bhagat which ended the story on Col.K Athawale’s favour. More so because of Raghav’s wrong doings against her wife, the society and the country each taken into its rightful prospective.

The role of  Raghav Bhagat in conjuncture to the story’s end was more prominent as he was hired by Home minister (DM Karunakaran) to destabilize the K-Team from its roots and finish them unofficially before Karunakaran’s appointed member headed by director Vinod bedi of CBI could lay their hands on K-Team catching them alive. Since the K-Team was targeting the corrupt, Karunakaran tried to double cross them by hiring Raghav as K-Team’s arrest would throw tantrums on his own wrong doings. Home Minister’s throw of two dice backfired on his own back at the end.

 

Featured details would be encompassing blackwash of those high class criminals one after the other, after intimidating it to the public much before and aftereffects that lay ahead. The penchant use of technology both in writing and description, the detailing of the incidences one after the other with special reference of an Aura of Army backdrop and a crackerjack end gave the story a thrilling finish. Only thing which kept me bugging was its semblance with coincidences like how come Reena, Raghav, Col.K Athawale and Vinod travel at the same time in the same plane without knowing the other’s routine furthermore none from K-Team or Raghav’s or Vinod’s squad were present? How come Both Raghav and Vinod forgot to inform even a soul while tempting to cover up the monumental assassin attempt alone in addition to Kulwant not informing Col.K Athawale that he was struck at the basement? Over looking these Coincidences this is a phenomenal story almost a glitch free. A must read for all those people who love to read thrillers and a thriller relating to Military and resemblance to one’s own country’s problem and supplementary Romance is indeed rare. The entire story will make you feel like that of the movie ‘Rang de Basanti’ with an exception an exemplary happy ending.

Over all it’s a master piece of a military thriller. I would give it a score of 4.5 out of 5

Life Adjudication of the story:

An Eye opener best read at this very time when our country is falling to cope up with similar termites who are eating our country from within. It’s a story for the national upbringing.

 

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