Classic Ruskin Bond: Complete & Unabridged;my thoughts......my review

Classic Ruskin Bond: Complete & Unabridged by Ruskin Bond
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have always loved Short stories and Ruskin Bond has been one of my favorites since childhood. This one had 6 stories. The first 2 : 'Room on the Roof' and 'Vagrants in the Valley' were classic and highly enjoyable. 'Delhi is not far' is also captivating....set in the Sepoy Mutiny era but the rest of the stories were so la la. Frankly, I had to do some soul searching before choosing to rate the book not to leave a wrong impression.


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Winners Dream, my review, my thoughts

Winners Dream: A Journey from Corner Store to Corner Office by Bill McDermott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. This was the autobiography I read after Richard Branson's "Loosing my Virginity". Two totally different lives, both searching and realizing their dreams. I loved the style to start every chapter with a favorite quote. Tweeted many of them. At times, the sequence of events almost felt like a dream unfolding- not all details possibly can be put on paper; everyone has his or her own battles. And it is always better to focus on the positives in life.
It's a motivating read for dreamers..to go out and get their dreams but keeping in mind...it is never going to be a "cake walk". I love his leadership style - with the team, believing in "getting there together" and not "top down"- be it when he was a sales team lead or the CEO. And he never forgot people who gave him his chance or even those who believed in him.
Last and the most remarkable- his love for his family, the coach- his father..and the foundation, his "Mother". Hats off and a recommended read about leadership, passion, dreams....and being "Human" #Winnersdream #leadership


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The book runner's conscience

Well the actual name is the "The Kite Runner". A marvelous fiction written by Khalid Hosseini.I finished the book in 3 days flat including attending office and doing other chores like getting food, attending french class and the like. After a long time, I have lost sleep over a book. I had stopped doing everything that was not absolute necessary.I guess I am moving back to my school days.When I had to make great efforts like hiding the book under my school book to finish off the hardy boys, the case files, the Sydney Sheldons and the Jeffrey Archers. These days I read a lot. Atleast by my standards. Since I am trying essay type books, books on management theories and practice other than the classics and the fictions and I get pretty bogged by the material, I have started a new strategy. To read some 4-5 books at the same time. This allows me not only to switch but also test my memory. And let me tell you this, I am not so bad in remembering. Currently I handling a book on Peter Drucker's management practice written by Robert Heller,Pankaj Gehmawat's "Redefining Global Strategy", The Elephant, the tiger and the Cellphone by Shashi Tharoor, Managing Performance by Wayne Eckerson and last but not the least "The Kite Runner". The last one I just finished. I just ravaged through. It was intriguing and had held me captive.It has been quite sometime since I read such a book. Even " the 3 mistakes of my life" by Chetan Bhagat could not hold my breath so much; or may be I had other interesting things to indulge in then. No worries...whatever happens, happens for good. So for the next few days, I am going to devour some more books. As Goddess Saraswati visits her devotees along with Durga Ma and the family, while Kolkata blooms to light and fervour, while I miss the festive mood this time round, I would gift myself with knowledge and the joy of reading.
The book "the Kite Runner" has left scars in my heart. It has expose yet again to the world of hypocrites that we live in. Everything is justified when the people with money and power do it. Alls well we the ruler does it. Never question when the man with the stick does it. Be it the Talibans in Afghanistan or the politicians in India or even the shadows we meet every day of our lives. All have double standards and they all blame it on logistics and practical problems. We just know how to make others suffer,or atleast see others suffer and yet have no guts to change it. We burn people alive, drop bombs to annihilate people in masses, riot and kill people
all in the name of God. We call Him by different names to justify different actions. It is a cycle that never ends. And till it ends, how much ever we prosper we shall not be able to hold to it. Look at our country now, it is ravaged in every part, be it the north east Assam, The North - Kashmir, The east, Bengal,Bihar and Orissa or down south. We need to realize our mistake and deal with others with an iron hand. No on,I say it again no one in this world has the rights to hurt another person or take away his rights to lead his life in a respectful manner. If that is not true what is the difference between the savages and us.

bidhir bidhan kobhu khandaiyete naari

Class 10 and it was my Bengali poetry book, a part of curriculum where I had found the line.The name of the poem was "Raavan badh", "the annihilation of demon Raavan" by Lord Ram as in Hindu Mythology. Quite a number literary pieces of art has been written by various poets time immemorial and they have been part of different curriculums in different contexts. I have read quite a few and even heard a few as told by my loving grandma in the night story sessions. I particularly remember this poem theme especially because of the quoted line that forms the title of my passage- "bidhir bidhan kobhu khandaiyete naari". It translates to "one cannot change fate" not even the most powerful man or woman. They say even God is bound by fate as decided at the birth of an individual.Everything is pre-decided and we just follow the path towards it.
Not only Indian mythology, even in the hollywood blockbuster "Matrix" the "Oracle" who is potrayed as a character who can predict anything, tells the character "Neo", "you have already made the choice, you are just trying to reason it now". A direct interpretation of the saying. History has time again proved it. Every rise of a nation or an individual was timed and so was his or her fall.Life has time again proved it to me too.
Successes allure us,failures deter us, happiness enthuses us while sorrow brings us to ask the question "Why did this happen to me? What have I done to deserve such pain". Every human asks this question once or more times in their life; a theist asks God, an agonist asks silence while the atheist asks his or her ego. But rarely do we get an answer that satisfies our heart and mind. Parents say "All that happpened was for good", well wishers say "God is testing you", the protagonist says "It will make you stronger" while still others say nothing but sympathize; I believe "even if we do not like it, we have to bear it, it's written". In the poem the scene that unfolds is that it was decided that Ram would kill Raavan and so was he; all his great powers, the blessings of his prayers to God could not change the moment that was fixed for his death.
I have time and often asked this question when I lost something I loved most or when I was betrayed or when I met failure when I needed success the most. There was no answer; there is no answer but yes these situations and circumstances are what frames ones character and strengths; to shape an iron you have to put in alternate red heat to melt it and then in cold water to mould it; so to shape a person, life has to make him or her pass through crests of happiness and the troughs of sorrow to mould the individual, fate had decided to fulfill the purpose of his or her birth. So everything happens for a purpose, a purpose already pre-decided and pre-determined........life shows you the path but you have to walk it, there lies the pain,the excitement, the happiness, the failures, the choices.....as the legendary character Morpheus tells Neo in Matrix - "There is a difference between showing the path and walking the path". So accept life in all positivity and walk the path shown ahead to find and fulfil the purpose for which you were sent in this life, make better and positive use of every turns,speed breakers and potholes that the path has to define yourself; find something to achieve larger than life.

Chaak De India!!!!

I think this is the 3rd movie of Sharukh other than DDLJ and Swades that I liked. Nothing personal but I hate his emotional over reaction. Though he managed to do it again in Chaak de, in the last scene after winning the match, the overall movie was cute with the new actors coming up well. I watched it in Canada and the people were quite excited about Mr Khan, and I am sure there must have been girls falling and screaming when he enters the scene in the movie theatre back in India, though all those and many more makes no sense. Well, the main point, off late we have seen quite a number of Bollywood movies sans the emotional tear-shake but nationalism sans the hatred and blame game for other members. We have moved out of the community feelings and local feelings of the erstwhile Bollywood movies. Rang De Basanti,Chaak De,Nayak,Khakee,Gangajal are best fits of this genre.
If we watch these movies very carefully, we will notice that the theme is not about problems with a community,religion,country or region. It is a problem with the system and we represent that system. The system that rules us, that we blame, has been made by us and we are responsible to maintain it.We are responsible to change it. We cannot call it gutter and take refuge in just blaming the system. We cannot be a Babu and yet criticize the system. We must practice what we preach and atleast make some effort to solve that problem. I think these movies should leave the viewers with the thought as to what we are, where we stand and what is our contribution to the system be it at whatever micro level possible.
The feeling should be pan India, pan Asia and more.......the world wants the 3 Ps- Peace, Progress and Prosperity then why limit it with our trivial feelings; however it has to start somewhere at the grass root level- a top down approach will not work. So what do we call it -Do we call it Global Nationalism?