Reflections

A BOOK LONG OVERDUE India’s Most Fearless is a book that has been long overdue – a book dealing with the stories of some of India’s decorated Armed Forces Personnel. We are a nation that for some reason lacks the literary habit of documenting the exploits of the heroes who defend our borders and our people; not only that, we lack a habit of covering the stories of these heroes, these brave soldiers once the immediate relevancy of the situation fades, and the passage of time brings fresh memories to the fore. Therefore, it is great to see a rising tendency of documenting these heroes; the current book is the second book in that genre, with the first being The Brave -Paramvir Chakra Stories , the story of our Paramvir Chakra vijetas. THE AIR FORCE AND THE NAVY The other great part of this book is the equal prominence it gives to the three arms of the Forces : The Army, The Air Force, and The Navy. It is this which makes this book a must read, and not just for aficionado...

THE BEES COME TO ME… I count myself lucky that I had a massive beehive right outside my living room window, on the window concrete sun-shade slab. For several months, the two of us- the harmful and dangerous human being, and those harmless gentle honey bees – co-existed without any trouble to each other. They didn’t bother me, and I didn’t bother them. But this period have me insights both into Honeybees as well as human behavioral aspects, insights that I shall carry with me my entire life. The images of this honey-beehive are given below, which can highlight its closeness to my habitat. I first noticed them when a few came inside from the open window; I was at a loss as to what to do, till I figured out they were attracted by the light. Only then did I spot the Beehive, and nearly panicked & spoke to the society incharge for immediate redressal of this “grave” threat to my habitat and existence. The bees – they didn’t care too much for me, ignoring me as irrelevant, unimp...

Ravinder Singh Gill is back; and he is back with a bang! I, of course, refer to the character Ravinder Singh Gill from the Mukul Deva stable of fiction – the latest book under review is Assassins, a Ravinder Singh Gill Novel authored by the king of action thrillers himself – Mukul Deva. And, though I am frankly tired of saying so now, yet again – the novel is c.o.m.p.l.e.t.e.l.y different from the others; each novel of Mr Deva is different unique – and this is no exception. The story, the plot, the flow and the narrative are different yet again; only the pace is the same – again, a Mukul Deva signature. THE PLOT, The plot essentially carries on from its predecessor – “ The Dust Will Never Settle ” { Reviewed on my blog here }. The main protagonist – Ravinder Singh Gill has now retired, and is in effect convalescing after the personally shattering events of that mission. Unfortunately, intelligence is received on a forthcoming attack on the Pakistani ex-dictator as well ...

India – Priorities For The Future is a book that can be best described as being at the cross-roads of politics and Economics, which makes it quite unique. It is a very thought provoking and deep analysis of this intersection of these two vital aspects of our nation, concerning itself with the Economy of the country, its performance through the years in numbers as well as Macro Factors; and the political aspects of this, that is – the decisions, involved decision makers, systemic weaknesses and plus points as they exist and what needs to be done. As can be seen from the short preamble above, this is quite wide a scope, and seems daunting. The best part is that the entire scope has been dealt with remarkable aplomb and sufficient depth, while at the same time not exceeding too many pages. This is a very short, {well – relatively short anyways, considering the topic and the scope – 180-odd pages} book, and all the arguments are presented in a superbly logical and yet delightfu...

This is not a book for everyone – and these aren’t just my words; this is what the author has also opined in the course of this very thought-provoking book. This is for ambitious; hard working people; people willing to sacrifice; and people with a dream – and the willingness, courage and mental strength to continuously follow that dream for the elusive sweet smell and taste of success . This isn’t a book meant only for the corporate chap; anyone who has all the above – even one less wont do – can learn a lot from both, what has been mentioned in book, as well as what hasn’t been mentioned. Add caption Any book has both positives as well as negatives; in fact – anything in life has both aspects to it. This book is no different; rather than call them negatives, I will them them things the author has missed – for silence on an issue is not the same as disagreeing. There aren’t many of them, to be honest; but nonetheless, I would be being less than fair if I did not mention t...

The enclosed article {Biblio. 1} by Mihir S Sharma, one of the few straight talking Economists on Indian Media, does raise some excellent questions. It is a superb analysis of the shoddy economic management – and also raises the fact that something is indeed broken. The economy requires deep seated reforms at core levels-  not vacant sloganeering grandiose plans. Quite correctly, the need of the hour is attending to the real issues that confront on the Business, Trade and Economic Front; as well as a straightforward analysis of what is wrong, devoid of Jumlaas and vacuous statements.     MACROECONOMIC BACKGROUND - OVERALL All Macro-Economic Parameters are in the doldrums, as should be evident to all but the most devoted Bhakt; the time is now ripe for us to rise above narrow parochial statements, and try and get to the root of what ails our nation on an economic front. High NPAs, Low Credit Offtake, Slowing growth for 6 straight quarters, slow export growth a...

Startups are the in-thing in India, indeed – in the world nowadays; thus, when I spotted a book on the Startups in India and lessons to be drawn from them, I not just picked it up immediately, but also placed it at the head of all other to-read books; I normally have a stack of 4-5 new books which I routinely pick up on my surfing and touring. This book was of so current & important and so relevant a topic, that it moved to the top of the pile on the strength of its premise alone – being titled “ Flight Of The Unicorns: Lessons From India’s Startup Bubble .” The book is a look at the start-up scenario in India, divided into two parts : Rise and Fall of the Startup Ecosystem , and Trends and New Rules of the Game being the second section. The first section is way too short, concluding in all of 54 pages, around 25% of the book; this is too short a space and time devotion to this rather vital aspect, as it tries to cover too wide a scope in short, summary format. There...