Reflections

THE MAHABHARAT QUEST : THE ALEXANDER SECRET By Christopher C.  Doye About the Author :  Before he finally embarked on the journey of achieving his childhood dreams, Christopher pursued a career in the corporate world, graduating from St. Stephens College, Delhi with a degree in Economics and studying business management at IIM Calcutta. Over the course of his corporate career, he has worked with leading multinational organizations like Coats Viyella, Hilton Hotels, IBM and The Economist Group, before setting up Dynamic Results India, a strategic consultancy in India in partnership with Dynamic Results LLC which is based in the US. He can be found on  http://www.christophercdoyle.com/ THE PLOT As the title itself hints, this is a book that is based on two totally unconnected historical events in India : The Mahabharat, and Alexander's invasion. The plot interleaves two parallel stories - that of ancient Greece, and the modern-day story ru

The modern Indian - regardless of political dispensation {IMHO}, has a rather disturbing propensity to blame Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for a variety of errors of omission and commission. A simple glance at a normal Facebook page, newspaper coverage, political utterances by a select few politicians etc all convey this rather sad fact; sad because this is done on the basis of incomplete facts.  It is not my position that Panditji did not make mistakes; he was human, and was thus prone to error. But what were those errors? Under what situation were those erroneous decisions taken? And is every "error" that is blamed on him an error? Was he the one who actually committed that error, or are we in error in blaming him?  In this series, I shall attempt to examine a few of his more popular errors, and attempt to present a more complete picture, basis the more than several books I have studied and reviewed on my blog. Further, this is not a political comment on any political p

Life... Volumes have been written on this topic, and by far more qualified and knowledgeable writers than myself. I dont profess to understand or explain life; this post is more a mirror of my mind, and an attempt to come to terms with the range of conflicting emotions that rage through my mind every so often; an attempt to understand myself... with the fervent hope that others who are going through the same thoughts can draw some inspiration and learnings This chain of thoughts was triggered on my Father's funeral pyre, on the 29th of September 2007. As Dad was consigned to the flames, in between the tears and the memories, the one thought that crashed through my mind that all we had left were his memories; in that moment, his plot of land, his money and his worldly possessions meant nothing to me. His achievements, considerable though they were; were of no importance. This realisation, this experience {I cant call it anything else} hit me hard; it flashed through my mind li

GOD IS A GAMER BY RAVI BUBRAMANIAN The king of the financial thriller is back... in full strength. Ravi Subramanian is an MBA from IIM by Education, and a banker by profession with nearly 2 decades of work experience in the field of Finance spanning some top financial houses. Ravi uses his extensive experience in the financial world to create some scary scenarios and plots, which seem very very real...  The current book is yet another in the same lines, with its focus on the hot topic of the day - the elusive and indefinable world of bitcoins THE PLOT God Is A Gamer is based on four or five hot topics in the current times : Bitcoins, Shady side of ECommerce, Outsourcing & BPOs, Hacking & Security Concerns, Online Gaming, and ATM Frauds. He has very skillfully woven all of these into the basic storyline, and created a novel of sheer class. Given his banking expertise, the story is flawless; I have worked in financial field {albeit at a much l

This book review is dedicated to the Indian Armed Forces, and its brave personnel, who sacrifice their all for our nation... THE GARUD STRIKES BY MAJOR MUKUL DEVA {Retd.} The True Story Of The Officers and Men of The 4 Guards And Its Indomitable Commanding Officer - Lt Col Himmat Singh {later, Lt Gen Himmat Singh PVSM Retd}. The 4 Guards were among the first units to enter Dhaka during the 1971 war. This is their true story and history - told by the people who created the aforesaid history! Lt Col Himmat Singh Major V Uppal Major Chandra Kant Major S.P. Marwah Major I. P. Kharbanda Major A. S. Chouhan Major V. K. Dewan Captain Surinder Singh 2nd Lieutenant B. B. Midha Guardsman Nahar Singh And many others...  This is their story... embellished, teased out and filled out by the skill of Mukul Deva, himself an ex-Army Major... The narrative is controlled by Major Mukul Deva {Retd}, and is a deeply moving and brutal account of the war as seen throug