Book review: The Calling

Details

Title: The Calling

Author: Priya Kumar (Motivational Speaker, Author)

Genre: Philosophy

Web site: http://priya-kumar.com/

Background

While I was busy with dodging numerous issues in corporate about a month ago, I was approached by the author to review this book. While Indian authors by far did not play a very convincing game, this book was the turning point in my perception of Indian authors after I have reviewed a 2 books by Ravi Subramanian(which was the entry point and which convinced me to a great extent).

Plot:

Arjun is a corporate employee who is trapped in a vortex of confusions in personal and professional life. Due to the imbalance he creates for better growth in corporate, he was on the brink of a divorce with his wife who was hardworking and smart. Arjun came accross as a person who had common traits like jealousy, pulling others down for one's own growth in his workplace which did make him successful there but always kept the greed  unsatiated and craving for even more. This greed led him to do a lot of unjust things at home and office costing his relationships dearly.

To get out of this confusion and trouble, Arjun took a trip into the heart of Himalayas, on insistence of a Sadhu who predicted that the journey up to Hemkund Sahib would align him to his purpose and change his life forever.

The plot is all about how Arjun realises his true purpose of his life. The way the mysterious sadhu whom he encounters in his journey plays a vital role by making him self-realise by his own actions.

My verdict:

     "Real sophistication lies in utmost simplicity".

 While reading the whole book;the above quote struck my mind regularly. The language and vocabulary is balanced and a smooth read.  The author has conveyed the message so lucidly while managing to keep the reader engrossed in the plot. While going to Himalaya's has now become the talk of IT-town, there wasn't much of a exciting experience I was looking forward to. This lack of excitement can be attributed to my inability to go there and experience the beauty of those mountains. My perspective hence changed after reading this book as I was beginning to relate to everything written there.
  

Some points and quotes have been wonderfully put down:

You respond to your name and therefore you limit your responsibility(on being nameless and not limiting responsibility according to name/title)
If  you dont know the people in your world, they will be a liability in your purpose(on knowing the purpose of each person in life so that their relationship is not a load to carry on your shoulders)

We need to ponder on the above lines; in this hustle bustle we have actually forgotten the basics or rather kept our mind shut to these thoughts.The second quote is regarding a person who the protagonist(Arjun) thinks just as a guide and never discovers his strengths and looks him down for his profession.

The description of the two tests given by the sadhu is really commendable and reflects the human tendency to copy himself/herself others if the situations are similar. Arjun fails in the first test and after knowing the way to pass it, tries to copy the same strategy in the second one. Will the same strategy give him success?(I was remembering my University exams where there were repeat questions which helped us somehow pass but never score a distinction).
Through the tests, the author primarily wanted to highlight that we humans yield under pressure and fail to perform as per expectations. The only thing in Arjun's mind during the sadhu's test was avoiding sitting on the rock which Sadhu was seated on for Sadhana. This fear never really got the best of him but finally he got the message loud and clear.


Suggestion:

I only felt that the mess Arjun was in could have been elaborated a bit more on as it was something which most of us in corporate experience. If his problems could have had a greater mention, it would have been much of a read knowing the exact background.

Final word:

I would give it a 4.5/5 as it has broadened my perspectives while not being too boring to read.
Keep up the good work Priya (Paulo Coelho of India I would say), the positivity in the book just cannot be ignored!

Equality:a state of mind

The recent events of shameless rape incidents in a few parts of the country have disturbed me. Time and again I feel I have highlighted that women should be stopped being considered as objects of pleasure and sex should be stopped being considered as an act comprising of only pleasure.

I recently heard that a 6 year old girl was raped and was so shaken by this activity. I really could not understand what transpired in the mind of that beast to have committed this atrocity that too with a child. Today when I speak of equality, I am confronted on two fronts and both are extremes. On one hand we have a few men shameless and dastardly committing this sinful act of raping minor girls and on the other hand I find a few women who misuse the power given to them. This puts me in a quandary as to which side is correct and can there ever be an agreement in one aspect. The argument is always stuck in a never ending deadlock where I and the women activists are stuck eternally with the above points which rightly prove each others point but not leading to a consensus.

On a larger note, what actions can we take apart from brutally punishing such guys? Will the problem of rape will ever be resolved merely by punishing the person after he has indulged himself in this sinful activity? How will we change first the patriarchal mindset of a few men? The answer is with education and iconoclasts rising in the society, such belief's will be eradicated but not so early. Any change in the mindset of a billion people takes years to form with generations being under the umbrella of change.

It is said that there was a time when men dominated the society by imposing restrictions on women. I might never understand their pain having absolved them of pursuing their desires. I sincerely feel now that times have changed and that women thinking the same about today's men especially generalising would be a grave fault. I find today's men to be compensating, pure at heart and also no control freaks(with exceptions as they exist both sides). India is such a huge country and men and women living in much developed cities and under developed villages are having diametrically different lifestyles. Devising gender specific laws leads to mass misuse in cities where people are excessively aware of them while hardly used by those who should be using it(rural areas). My point is devising laws defeats the true purpose for what they were devised for in some cases.

The only solution apart from devising laws is to educate both the genders and induce an attitude of progressive thought in the minds of people. Rather than having gender specific reservations, we can as well ignore the gender of the person seated for an interview and judge him/her purely on the basis of merit.I sincerely believe that respect and equality should come from our heart rather than being imposed by someone/some organisation. Hence I say, equality is a state of mind and let it gradually seep in rather than enforcing it on us.

To all those women/men who believe that men are at fault in every case, here is a video by a Deepika Bharadwaj you should watch:

So, will imposition of principles really lead to equality and justice?

Boxicular life!

                          So finally after a long vacation, I am resuming blogging. The 'vacation' I am referring to is not as rosy as sitting in an island and looking at the stars in peace/enjoying water sports in a resort. This vacation involved living in a box and being totally drenched in that environment which almost isolated me from all of my other activities. It was obviously unpleasant and involved tons of monotonous moments even though the work wasn't the same over time.

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                           One of the major observations in my IT life has been regarding the innovation expectations from their end. IT industry expects us to be innovative by themselves restricting us in a box. What they fail to understand that being innovative involves opening up the shackles of mind which cannot happen in an enclosed building. Wherever you see is the same monotonous color of the walls around; how can you then expect people to be innovative at all.  Innovation isn't a trait which can be thought of and come up with; it involves rigorous observation of one's surroundings and its phenomenon. Observing a slow paced snail teaches you to be silent and work constantly if you have sufficient time to complete your work. On the other hand, you need to be like a cheetah who is quick and unforgiving when it comes to deliver in tight timelines. There are Lions who want to be the king of the jungle and want submissive associates.Then there foxes, cunning in behavior with two faces to show; one to the Lion and one to his associates/coworkers. So basically, every situation and behavior can be deciphered by keen observation of the environment.
                          More than the kind of work we are involved in, its living in a box that is tiring and energy-sapping. Even though there are so many things which are not so pleasant, leaving this life becomes equally difficult as it creates a comfort zone which one doesn't want to leave. Hefty pay packages, an inherent feeling of'settled life' and some ability of buying what you want. This additionally makes us materialistic and leads to a creation of a false status quo. This is such a negative cycle which one gets trapped in that even the best talent in town is blinded and trapped. He/she then crushes his/her innovative capabilities to lead a cozy but unfruitful life. For intelligent people, the work becomes very easy and leaving hence becomes difficult. For others who are just managing hold the rope somehow by creating false relationships/attachments

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                     The frustration arising out of all the above is vented out by living a non-social and isolationist life, troubled emotions coming out on unrelated people and under unwarranted circumstances. It's no so uncommon these days to see short tempered parents scolding their children for very small mistakes they do. Its also not uncommon to see we criticising each and every situation around even though it might not need our attention. If you have traveled in a local train first class in Mumbai, you will find a bunch of intolerant people who start ranting at the slightest discomfort in an overcrowded train. Our emotions, ambition and probably even our own values are at times sacrificed for the apparent success this life offers. People tend to flatter other people even though they might not like him/her(fox and lion above). Well, life in this mirage obviously doesn't seem really good.
                      So, the million dollar question: Is this boxicular life really worth it?

GOOD DAY TO ALL!

                     
                          

Time: An Enigma

         I have been recently pondering on the mysterious nature of time. All of you might have come across the quotes, "Life is too short", "Have patience, only patience will yield results". I find contradictions in these adages by the same people who quote both according to circumstances. Really, time has an enigmatic nature.
       One of the pillar of success is patience. I feel patience is a relative concept which implies that there is no defined measure or benchmark. Sometimes, people carelessly say that just wait for a year more as if it were just a  seconds time. So many things can happen over a span of a year. How can people so carelessly dismiss one year in a scale of a few minutes? The one year wait which people so carelessly degrade in comparison then becomes a painful wait for the associated endeavor to bear fruit. When I was in my third year of undergraduate college, people often told me just one more year dear and everything concludes. Only I knew how I felt each day of that one year. So a request to people not not inappropriately scale time. Time becomes a manacle during such times
     On the other hand we get to hear that life is short. If life is so short dear friends how come then living for one year becomes such a task. We are asked to forget the grudges and strike truce with everyone. Does holding grudges prolong life? Does it make each moment count as if it required tremendous efforts to breathe with the load of grudge we carry inside? All these factors seem so intertwined and complicated that only experience can unveil its veracity to each individual.
  I write this article with great heaviness. With paradoxical and contradictory thoughts, time is the most tantalizing enigma to decode. Let time only decode time!

GOOD DAY TO ALL on that note!

Fury

               

               Fury can do wonders, fury can change one's life, fury can make a person go up to his maximum limit of tolerance, fury can bring about the best in a person, fury can destroy a person. The fury I am talking about is following something in such extreme passion that it may lead to success or even failure but at least not keep you hanging in the middle.It will drag you to a phenomenal level of activity/dedication that you maybe extremely focused.
               What is this fury all about after all? It is a driving force, a force which drives your lethargy away and pumps in the energy which compels you to achieve something. I sternly believe that a stoic person is incapable of achieving anything because his reaction to all things is the same.In this regard, it is strongly advised to have an opinion on things which one has to achieve. This approach may often lead to criticism from people who will pull you down from the ladder stating prejudiced opinions/goals.Fury provides you a protective shield which actually blinds you in a way from external resistance. It is dangerous as it may blind you to realities and may lead to failures as well. I must say that once upon a time travelling to a Mars was deemed impossible but today its as possible as it might have got.Failures(a branch of fury) are those milestones in life which will make one realize the true taste of success and will drive one to work harder and harder.The worst fear I have encountered till date is to not be afraid of failures. When you feel that you are no longer afraid of any failures either of the two things maybe true in this case: You have overcome that fear or you no longer care about the outcome because there isn't enough motivation. The latter case is a benign feeling which is actually poisonous for one professionally/personally in which he/she may not even realize the gains/losses. This again makes me reminisce the point that we need to be passionate about something and that passion must be unique; you cannot love everything at the same time or be passionate equally for all activities.It is equivalent to stating that one cannot love everyone equally.
          So guys, it's time we have our preferences/choices very clear and feel for it strongly as only "Fury" coupled with hard work will help you accomplish your goal.I do not advocate hatred/anger in any way but one must have his preferences/choices in certain things especially professionally. The shield which "Fury" provides will provide resistance from all the negativity and 'impossibility barbs' which people throw at you.Embrace this fury for all the right reasons to take yourself and this world to a next level altogether.

Harsha Bhogle's video adds a new dimension to my argument i.e presence of talent in this endeavour.

Talent without passion is best described by the state of dormancy.

Be passionate(another word for Fury) to adjectivize your name as excellent!
         
GOOD DAY TO ALL ON THE ABOVE TWO QUOTES!

Book Review: The Bestseller She Wrote

         
Well, I wont divide this review into logical divisions as done earlier for a change. To give you all a background, I was reading 'The Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand which is quite deep and a heavy read and I was desperately looking forward to read a thriller/suspense to lighten things up. Through Blogadda, I caught hold of this review copy which kept me enthralled for hours.

       Getting to the storyline, it all starts with projecting Aditya as a successful author coming to IIM as an alumni speaker.He is married to Maya, an elegant woman with all the ideal qualities a man might desire in his wife. While promoting his book, he crosses horns with a girl named Shreya who raises objection at him calling a book as a 'product' to be sold. It never started well with them; but Shreya, who was an opportunist wanted to be an successful author and Aditya was the bridge. An inchoate relationship which once began on unfavorable conditions and terms develops into something murky, transactional and later on complicated with emotions.To make it more interesting, the character of Sanjay, who is Aditya's close friend doles out a lot of surprises at the end.

     Ravi has given all the ingredients required for a book to be a bestseller in the book through the fictional character Aditya and it seemed to be too realistic for it to be classified as fiction. The overall story seems to be quite predictable after reading the prologue but still the suspense quotient is retained owing to the characters. Mention of known characters such as Anurag Kashyap, Nirav Sanghvi takes it further towards reality and away from fiction.However, the fact of Aditya not reading books but still able to write lucidly and be able to become a stellar author is something strange as I feel for effective and powerful writing, reading is a must.

     A very good attempt made at description of erotic scenes. This makes it murkier. Each encounter Aditya and Shreya had, I felt was backed by guilt, discomfort all overshadowed by pleasure nevertheless. It was like any other transaction of debit and credit until it got too personal. I couldnt really get if Shreya really loved Aditya or was it just his fame she wanted to inherit, it was really confusing till the end when the truth was out! In fact I still couldnt believe the genuity of emotions at the end!This part of the book, I felt was a bit puzzling as the love seemed to be only because of Aditya's stature and emotions couldn't have been genuine in any case.

   The roles played by Sanjay and Diana, I felt could have been elaborated a bit more. Sanjay did have a history to throw in the whole story.This history could have been elaborated a bit more as a separate chapter keeping him anonymous in that chapter. This would have added suspense and kept the reader wondering on the culprit half way through the book.A short trail would have been better.

  What a wonderful masterpiece, Ravi Subramanian, this is by far the best novel you have come up with. Throughout the book I was wondering if you have been through this situation/have seen a close person in this situation which you put Aditya in. For me, I could only imagine you in Aditya's place whilst playing the story in my mind like a movie. All in all, it is a perfect blend of suspense with quite a bit of romance.
The book briefly quotes its own review from my angle. Here it goes:

I loved it because  a)it is a great story  b) it's brilliantly paced  c) it ends very well d) the language is simple and easy and e) the characters are relatable"

- The bestseller She Wrote, page 117

I am reviewing ‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ by Ravi Subramanian as a part of the biggest Book Review Program forIndian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Forced Interest

            Do you love the job you are doing? "Ohh yes, why not, I mean I don't understand how I pass time when I am seated in office", says my colleague. He is drenched in the screen of the computer and is reluctant to even talk to me when I try to broach a conversation with him. What makes him interested or is it forced? yes guys, you read it right, there is a new trend going on whereby people force upon interests on themselves so as to at least try to love what they are doing.
       It is generally said that one must not sustain much in their current field if that is not what they want to become in life.Expressions to convey this feeling of boredom used to be in the form of nonchalance,disinterest. Nowadays, its even more dangerous, false enthusiasm and a shallow sense of contentment. People are tied in their own manacles, in a real prison they have their own false mirage which tells them this is what they always wanted. it is very evident in the companies which do not let you choose their stream and force it upon you after your engineering under-graduation studies. I have seen scores of people who were always interested in Java but got some area like Testing and today they are happily working there thinking the pickle served to them as a sweet delicacy.
    Such behaviour of being in a false mirage should be avoided. I would never suggest one looses his/her passion in the quest of helping someone else make money. If there are any financial implications, do work in your current place but make sure that you do not stray from your life's ambition. The world is working in half of its efficiency because we ask a fish to walk on land and a man to breathe in water. Each one of us have different roles and I believe one must be courageous enough to pursue his/her dreams at some point in life.
   There is another category of people who are not interested and are rotting in the job they do. These people are lively and they enjoy the most but out of office. They act as an inspiration to the people but they compromise in professional life. They forget that apart from enjoying they have come here to enhance their professional lives as well. These category of people also seriously compromise in their goals. The problem with us is that we are actually seem to be forgetting the line between personal satisfaction and professional one. When we are satisfied personally, we feel we are doing a job of our passion and when we are only satisfied professionally, we feel that we are personally content as well.
For others who are actually aware of their interest realise how valuable their interest was and then make plans to switch. It is not so uncommon to see people waiting to leave their jobs for an MBA or Masters in a field different from their profession. This is a sorry state of affairs and shows our inability to match our talent with appropriate jobs. This is the reason we experience brain drain. The quality of our so called "innovative" companies promising balance between work and personal life and those equating work and play is not so good. India has one more demand and a threat to cater to; it has to generate jobs, invest in research and make it a suitable destination for "reverse brain drain now". It's high time we stop speaking big and start doing big.
I wish to appeal to all my readers to define a set of objectives, define boundaries and keep your focus.
Good luck!

P.S: Salute to those people who have managed to choose their profession according to their interests

Eyes..

            She had pitched her eyes on him right from the time he entered the hall. What was in her mind?was it admiration or infatuation or was it just an exchange of expressions? probably only she could answer.......
  It was a rainy day outside and Sagar was to attend a public gathering for bloggers. It was probably an event he was looking forward to, meeting people with the same passion. The mundaneness of the world had probably bogged him down to a great extent. Work-Home-Work was a perpetual train which could never seem to end for him. It all started after his engineering where he got trapped in a larger net than he thought of. He was a wanderer in the world of his own creations which kept the reality from bay. He always felt work was all about the fancy concepts one studies in engineering but the truth was far from that. Work was all about delivering somehow even if one knows nothing(here lies the true art of survival).
     Love had now ramified into two branches for him 'love' and 'corporate love'. The relationships forged in corporate were generally shallow. Guys there were attracted to the plaster women put up on their face. Amidst all these things, he was looking towards something refreshing.
As he entered the hall, a Five star plush hotel in the finest areas of Mumbai, he could see people with diverse interests.Some wrote about delicacies, some shared about the experiences of travelling(wander-lusts) while others took blogging professionally.

Decipher my emotions

  An elegant woman with short and curly hair, eyes as dark as a black cat and skin as white as snow was accompanied by solitude. Her eyes contracted the moment their eyes locked, in reaction he upped his eyebrows.        
 She responded by dilating her eyes while he gently blinked an eye at her. She later displayed stress by narrowing her eyebrows once again and he was still relaxed. She wanted him to respond but he did not as his expression was the same throughout. In the rage of disappointment, she just left the place and disappeared into the crowd.



She had pitched her eyes on him right from the time he entered the hall. What was in her mind?was it admiration or infatuation or was it just an exchange of expressions? probably only she could answer.......

Its all in your intentions!

'A content Life' is a thing to wonder on, a thing which differs from person to person. So what is it that brings you contentment? Is it having your coffers filled with money or is it making someone stand on their own feet because of your assistance. A bounty in your coffers will do very little to make your life successful. However, all you be successful in is boosting your ego, which will only fade away with your body after death.

The greatest irony of this world is that people whose definition of content life is correct are clipped by monetary constraints and some of those who have their coffers filled do not play their part. Even if they do, is it intentional so as to increase their popularity or does it come straight from the heart. These are the questions I encounter myriad times when I think of these stalwarts who get into the business of philanthropy.If one looks for boosting ones ego and public image here as well, little will their inner self be ever happy. Karma only when done with the pure heart will bear real fruits. "Short term gains" and instant fame are the motivating factors behind the people who actually are in the lookout for image-boost. Better to leave such shallowness behind which serves no good.

It's Rakshabandhan here in India, a festival where a brother reinstates his duty to protect his sister(s). Lets take a pure and unintentional(one expecting nothing in return)oath to protect not only one's sisters but every woman on the road from the devilish atrocities committed by a few of us. On a lighter note, sisters, don't expect a lot of gifts coming your way because pure intentions is the greatest gift you can get :p
Have a good day guys!

This Rakshabandhan, I am supporting ‪#‎BhojanSurakshaBandhan‬


P.S: I really hope that no-one falls in the image booster category and that I am proved wrong by all means.

The Best Tribute

Hello Guys, it has been a long time since I posted. Got a bit busy with numerous tasks. One thing I observed in this long break is that I cannot distance myself much from writing. Having lost my dear grandpa and Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam with not much gap between the two events, I am feeling extremely heavy from inside.

My Grandpa and Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam were two stalwarts in their respective fields. One was the missile man of the country and the other one was the missile man of our family. Both have set an ideal example of how life is to be lived. Both have undergone inevitable pain, sailed through most difficult turfs in their lives and sometimes I feel that only selectively looking at their successes would be a mistake.

Back then at that time, both my grandpa and Dr A.P.J have been victims of "budding age and unbudding country". This categorically means they had desires and ambitions as high as the sky but resources were extremely as scarce as they could get. In a country just managing to free its clutches from colonisation, even basic necessities such as electricity was a challenge keep aside other amenities. In such adverse circumstances, they managed to study and get themselves a job which today has got a lot easier as compared to those times. I so wonder as to how Dr APJ Kalam had garnered so much of knowledge as to build missiles. Today, even after the prolific relevance of internet, no "Missile Man" of India has arisen. I think his dedication is unmatched and he never had to prove himself and his position w.r.t the country. I am not able to find any other missile man today,why?

My Grandpa, on the other hand had always been a "missile man"of our family. He had a widespread relevance and was known to even the most remote relatives. He was intransigent when it came to breaking rules for ones own benefits. Life had presented him with many opportunites to desert people and leave them struggling for themselves but he, undauntingly faced the hardships of supporting everyone and ensured even they are settled in life.I call him missile man because he ensured the launch of independent individuals(missiles).

Obviously, they both have seen terrible flipsides of life, facing resistance from people, criticisms and those things cannot be described because words cannot match up to those feelings at any point of time. The best tribute we can pay to these esteemed souls is by following their principles rather than admiring them for a day or two and going back to worthless mundaneness. I would like to end this blog by dedicating a short writeup(eulogy) for both:

Dearest Grandpa, it is said that the true value of people is realised only when we have lost them. In this hustle-bustle, I really feel that I had forgotten  to cater to the innocent emotions which you had for me. I really curse the debilitating Alzeimers which  snatched you away from my life.You had to go, as every mortal has to shed his/her body. I consider your body only a medium to forge ties between our souls and I sincerely wish that an esteemed soul like yours comes back and broaches up a coversation with me. I still remember the times when you went to the pedagogic state explaining me basic principles of life which I must follow. It is indeed those values which have let the undying spirit in me never fade and loose its sheen come what may. You have helped innumerable souls out there and what more could a person have asked for, when all he gets is goodwill from scores of people even after his death for the grand benevolence he portrayed when he was alive.

I would consider myself as blessed if I could even follow a percent of ethics you have always followed in life.

There were surely many things to learn for me from your life and I shall always have you in my heart for all that you have given me till date, including my pet name which many still utter.

 With Loads of Love from your grandson.     

A.P.J Abdul Kalam Sir, the best and the only tribute we can pay you is by engendering the creation of another diligent,selfless,grounded and a good hearted missile man of India.(Am I asking for too much?)