Reflections

This is one of the most difficult books to pen a review on, a book that is almost limitless in its reservoir of knowledge and wisdom, a book that provides a veritable treasure trove of fables and learnings, a book that is to be treasured, a path of discovery to be undertaken, an experience to be savoured... a book that will leave you richer for the experience, and wiser for the titbits of knowledge; a book that will stay with you for a very long time... a book that will provide each reader with at least one powerful takeaway For this review, I am adopting a different style altogether; the reason is that the book is so wide and comprehensive, that I freely sumbit that I cannot do justice to the entire content in a review - at least, not in a fashion that will hold the readers'' interest. That would require in-depth knowledge - and I have only read the book one-and-a-half times. Further, it is also a fact that this is a book that is experience-based, so let me quote

THE RIGHT CHOICE The most important decision of our lives - the career choice - is frequently the one which gets the least serious in-depth thinking and analysis. There is a tendency among youngsters to follow the trend; or do something because everyone is doing it. This includes the MBA degree, Medicine - or whichever field you can think of. Even after you have completed your professional education, little thought is given to which organisation, or which specific work-field to go into. Yes, some people do give it deep thought and choose something they are passionate about, or talented at, or which suits them. But quite a few dont. This article is meant for those who dont.  First, in my 14 years work experience, I have noticed something - and that is the unfortunate fact that earning money has little provable relation to doing something of your choice, or having a career that you are happy at. Innumerable employee satisfaction surveys have proven that most people are unhappy a

Thank you Uncle Sam... thank you for confirming that our blood is different in colour. I dont think Indian blood is red... perhaps I should nick myself with a needle just to check whether my blood is yellow or perhaps green in colour...  Surprised at my anger? If you are an Indian, you should be angry, too... read the following articles:  New York Times:  Origins of C.I.A.’s Not-So-Secret Drone War in Pakistan Indian Express:  US made secret deal with Pak on drone strikes: report Times Of India:  US made secret deal with Pak on drone strikes: Report Economic Times:  US made secret deal with Pakistan on drone strikes: Report One India:  US made secret deal with Pak on drone strikes: report The Voice Of Russia:  Pakistan allowed US drone attacks in a secret deal with CIA There is realisation in the West that Pakistan is using its ISI to undermine the Afghan situation; this is an open admission. Even the BBC has openly stated in an article (I dont agree with the contents st

Poverty is a reality that continues to haunt our India, and is showing only very slow signs of alleviation. This is not a question of economics - whether capitalist or socialist; or of systems - whether open or authoritarian. The question is one of morality - and the answer to that is, regardless of economic realities and governmental systems - no, it is not morally conscionable for us to allow over 200 - 300 Million people to live in extreme poverty.  It is easy to shrug it off and say "we worked hard for growth, we deserve it". It is equally easy for the detractors to say "what growth? this growth has come from exploitation". Neither view is in itself a problem; the problem is, now that you have been made aware of it, what do you intend to do about it? I am not talking socialism; I am not stating capitalism. I am talking about being human.  Put up or shut up is what I say. What can you as a person do about it? What can your society do about it comes much,

Disclaimer: I am almost a layman; I have not been delving too deeply into the trade negotiations; just reading the news. The views are my personal views, and readers are free to give a decent comment if I am wrong...   "Acquisition of stocks of foodstuffs by developing country members with the objective of supporting low-income or resource-poor producers shall not be required to be accounted for in the AMS (Aggregate Measurement of Support)." In simple terms, the USA is not agreeing to allow the smaller farmers access to subsidy in the form of administered purchase prices. If USA has its way, all such subsidies shall be a part of the Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS). AMS  explained here: Agriculture - explanation of the agreement - domestic support And the reason is a real classic, and I quote: "The US feels any agreement on this issue will give unprecedented flexibilities to China, which gives much more subsidies as compared to India in numbers;

It is an oft repeated complaint of the USA that we were from the Russian block, which is the reason for the distance in our relationship. I had not thought that this issue will still hold relevance in the modern day; but an interaction on my previous post  http://reflectionsvvk.blogspot.in/2013/03/the-eternal-love-triangle-india.html  has caused me to pause for a moment, and think... if the common man on the ground in the USA still blames India for the block in Indo-US relations, then it is a sad comment on us - and our ability to put forth our point of view. It is not the fault of this person, or indeed the US citizens - this is what they have been taught: it is in part our fault for not putting forth our point of view. Hence, I am attempting to analyse why we went to the Russians in the first place... "I thought India was pretty jammed with poor people and cows round streets, witch doctors and people sitting on hot coals and bathing in the Ganges... but I did not think any

This is the sixth article in the culture series The penetration of the English Language is undoubtedly increasing with each passing day; this is driven by the fact that English is the language of international of commerce & science. It is also the language with the widest spread; and is thus the link language between cultures. That is undisputed, and this will only increase at least in our lifetime.  The spread of languages is governed by culture and politics both; consider Latin - which was in its heyday enjoying a vast following till socio-politico-cultural changes in the European continent changed that, Or Sanskrut - which was the link language for the entire Indian Subcontinent and some areas in the immediate east: the rise of various politico-cultural changes made first Prakrut, (in simple terms, a spoken version of Sanskrut) and then its various offshoots (the modern Indian languages - esp Hindi predominant). Similar is the case of English; it enjoys the status of