It's All About Books!!!

Tuesday, 10 March 2020

The Deception of the Meek by Sunny Heerekar (Book Review: 3*/5) !!!

6^th Book of 2020!

So, my Holi was celebrated in a corner of my bed in my sweet little bedroom reading a 270-pages book and luckily, completing it on the same day itself as there was complete silence at home as everyone was out to play Holi. Yes, there was some disturbance of DJs playing around in mine and neighbourhood society but for a reader, reading is meditation and nothing else matters when there’s a book in hand. The book “The Deception of the Meek” written by Sunny Heerekar is the book on the life of a character who has great interest in Cricket and manages to get into the School Cricket team but lands up in a controversy which is what all this book is all about- and that is where the book has got its title too.

This self-published book seems to be an ambitious project of the author the way it has been written which seems to be quite influenced and rest of it creatively shaped to form a fiction story that should entertain the readers. I loved beginning of the book where author is shaping his characters which are going to stay throughout the story. I liked the backdrop and set-up chosen by Sunny which makes you imagine each and every scene. How a boy from slums get an opportunity to continue his junior college and further studies in an esteemed school is a good start and then the way whole section of the protagonist meeting each character and growing his friendship with them keeps the story moving. Also, the characterizations are wonderfully crafted where you can understand each person’s character very well such as Jayesh, Ramakanth, Atul, Vikram, Rohit, Suhas, Tanaji etc.

The book is very slow in the first half and finally picks up the pace in the 2^nd half. But most of the 2^nd half is again filled with description of the matches played in the tournament between different school teams. I liked how author has described each and every match in the interval of 5 overs which makes it easy for you to imagine it as one of the spectators yourself. Anyone who is new into reading and has great interest in Cricket will love to read those sections. Another thing I would appreciate is the way author kept things practical and not heroic where the protagonist is making his team win every game and things like that. I also liked the way character moves back to academics and outperforms even there.

Now, coming to the drawbacks- I must say that the book has unwanted detailing in many sections which could have been easily avoided. Also, the 2^nd half is too much about matches which could have been given good short-cut. The book could have been edited such that it could have easily been 80-100 pages less. Yes! Also, there are few grammatical errors here and there which becomes disappointing if you are a regular reader. I liked the climax which is quite different than what I had predicted but just that one twist didn’t do justice to the title of the book completely. There should have been many such instances throughout the Cricket matches segment. As the book is based in college, a little touch of a love story could also have been added to add excitement to the young readers. The cover page has been given green background may be depicting the Cricket ground but it is quite dull which shall make it very tough for the readers to choose out of many books on the shelf.

Overall, the book is an average read which I can rate around 3 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

WRITING BUDDHA

Friday, 6 March 2020

The Winning Sixer: Leadership Lessons to Master by W. V. Raman (Book Review: 3*/5) !!!

5th Book of 2020!

It doesn’t take time for me to select certain types of books due to the way they are presented. I recently picked up the book named “The Winning Sixer” written by the former Indian cricketer, Mr. W. V. Raman. No, the book is not about MS Dhoni’s final six in the World Cup Finale which gave us our 2^nd World Cup but about the Leadership lessons given by Mr. Cricketer to all class of people. This book is not written in a manner which impresses only the business or top-management class of people but which shall provide inputs to almost everyone- a student, a salesman, a fresher, a new joinee, a manager, a CEO or even a person who is never going to lead any kind of team. Mr. Sachin Tendulkar’s testimonial on the cover page is enough for any reader to trust and pick this book.

This book published by Rupa Publications and published in about 175 pages consists of ten different chapters where each chapter speaks about one aspect of leadership which is then described briefly by the author- who with his experience in playing sport of Cricket and also serving as a Coach- mixes both of them and provides us real life examples to explain his points.

The book is written in Robin Sharma’s style where an individual is asking questions related to the topic of leadership whereas the person in charge is giving all the answers to the same and ensuring it is explained so swiftly that the reader reading it should feel that it is being communicated directly to him/her considering his/her current situation in work or life. The book is narrated in a very interactive manner and gives you various insights. I like Sports and therefore, I enjoyed reading about real examples used by the author of the sport personalities such as Saina Nehwal, P. Gopichand, Sania Mirza, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, Rahul Dravid, Jeev Milkha Singh etc.

I liked how author along with giving the traditional way of 5 Cs and 5 Ts and several such pointers on Leadership combined it with great sense of humor that makes you smile and even laugh at times. The chemistry between both the main characters in the book is portrayed wonderfully with the nature of pulling each other’s leg through the conversations. It makes the narration interesting.

The book is very informative. It is a guide to learn and understand the integrities of leadership which shall help you improve your way and style of working- even if you are not working on a leading designation. In case you are a leader, this book is going to serve you nicely.

Talking about the drawbacks- I can only say that this book has nothing new to offer in terms of pointers. If you remove the real-life incidents of sportspersons mentioned in this book, it has nothing for which I can refer you this one.

Overall, I give this book 3 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

WRITING BUDDHA

Wednesday, 12 February 2020

Believe to Succeed like Azim Premji by Rajiv Agarwal (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

I have been regularly in touch with the book series initiative by Rupa Publications which is called as “Management Lessons From The Masters” where the author discusses about one of the most celebrated and authentic personality who is popular for his management and leadership skills. This time, I got my hands on the latest book, “Management Lessons From The Masters: Believe to Succeed Like Azim Premji”. Now who among us in India or even in world is not aware of this phenomenon known as Azim Premji! He has been one of my greatest inspirations and hence reading about him was a different experience altogether as much about him is not available in the online and offline world. Author discusses the same concern in the beginning of the book but still the way author has been able to write around 114 pages on him, his management and leadership skills is commendable.

The book is divided into 10 different chapters where each of them speaks about his characteristics and what made him what he is today. Each chapter begins with some testimonial spoken by some renowned personality or closest one of Azim Premji and then speaks about the topic in discussion and then ends with the Learning section where author discusses what he learnt from the actions of Mr. Azim Premji discussed in that particular chapter.

There are many great things to learn from this book as Premji’s attitude towards work has been very definitive and disruptive. From his family business being into vegetable oil and how it is totally transformed into an IT company where Wipro is identified as one of the major IT companies of India tells us about the challenges and risks Mr. Premji took. His frugality is widely discussed as to how he liked living as a minimalistic and took updates even of tissue papers in his organization. How he took actions against his employees in case people tried to manipulate expenditures and submitted vouchers with incorrect amount even if he/she was allowed to spend the amount mentioned in it. He believed in having a rule generalized for everyone as if 100 bucks are avoided in a junior-most position then a person at Top level shall make goof-ups of 10,00,000 bucks without any guilt.

Similarly, his philanthropic activities are shared with us which tells us how big-heart Mr. Azim Premji carries with him. He pledged to donate more than 50% of the revenues for charity purposes and right from the start of his career, he believed in sharing with the section of the society who were really needy of it. Along with this, I also loved how Azim Premji was the man of character where he didn’t allow his son to stay in the company’s guest-house when he went abroad to study as he believed that he wasn’t the employee of Wipro and hence didn’t have rights to use the Company’s guest-house.

There are many such incidents in the book which shall make you introspect on your behaviour and the organization you are working for and how you can bring the change being at whatever position you are. I really liked this short book which speaks volume and is definitely inspiring and motivating. I give this book 4.5* out of 5. Please do read if you are working in a Corporate structure or even in a Start-up. Recommended!

Thanks.

WRITING BUDDHA

Tuesday, 11 February 2020

The Chronicler by Jvalant Nalin Sampat (Book Review: 4*/5) !!!

3^rd Book of 2020!

There are very few Indian authors who write thrillers in a way that makes you feel excited throughout your reading experience and therefore, someone like me, who loves reading Indian authors, find it very difficult to choose good thriller-genre books written by an Indian. But sometimes taking risk capitalizes which is what happened with me on my decision of buying “The Chronicler” from Amazon. The book is written by the second-time author- Jvalant Nalin Sampat in around 150 pages.

To start with, I will say a very wonderfully designed cover page which goes so perfectly with the theme of the story that after completing the book, I feel that I could have guessed the 40% of the story just through its cover graphics itself. Now talking about the author, I must say Jvalant is a very capable writer who knows what he is writing on and how much depth should he go in - in order to ensure the interest of a reader stays high rather than making him confused with the small detailing on the subjects. Jvalant keeps it very simple with this book regarding the concepts and geo-political scenario that he keeps discussing in the form of fiction. It becomes very easy to read the novel even when its subject allows complete liberty to the author to make it complicated and too intellectual to not be understood.

The way the current state of International relationships and politics is used as a base to create a fiction around it and how a Chronicler becomes a catalyst in ensuring that everything goes well for the innocent people makes the book interesting. The multiple characters in the book does make it difficult to read in pieces hence I completed It in two sittings itself which ensured that I am with the pace of the novel without getting riddled in the name of the characters. But still, the way author has handled multiple locations and sets/scenes running simultaneously to each other which keeps us thrilled is commendable. The last few pages are really a very good closure to this great fast-paced book.

Now talking about the drawbacks, I feel author should have used less characters in the book or given their references initially in a page itself for the readers to remember them. Secondly, though the book is fast paced but in the middle of the story, the things get slowed down which makes you wonder why things are not moving ahead. Author could have explored few scenes more which I believe in order to keep the story crisp, author kept it to the point rather than dragging it. I wished this book was 100 more pages with more stuffs happening among countries for power.

Overall, this is a good read and I give this book 4* out of 5.

Thanks.

WRITING BUDDHA

Sunday, 9 February 2020

Age of the Imperfect Leader by Pawan Verma (4.25*/5) !!!

2^nd Book of 2020!

There are many books that are published on the nature of leadership and what can be done at an individual level to become a successful leader. Most of these books talk about the pointers or diagrammatic representation of the specified points where it is expected for all of us to follow the same rule. This becomes quite boring to read- one and the same thing repeatedly as no one is able to offer anything different than what is already discussed in our management books. Thankfully, I got my hands on a book which talks little differently than other books on leadership named “Age of the Imperfect Leader” written by the author, Pawan Verma. The book also carries the tagline which says “Leading from strength”.

The book is written in a very simple language which can be read by anyone in industry or even in college as along with leadership, the messages it conveys can be implemented in any work that you do and not only if you are a leader. In around 240 pages, the book is nicely sectioned into different categories and chapters within the same. I liked how author speaks practicality in each and every sentence. I am in an IT industry in a mid-managerial designation where I get a chance to observe the new guys stepping into the industry expecting things to be customized as per them rather than having a generalized rule for everyone. And this is exactly with what author starts talking about leadership in the book which grabbed my attention.

Author talks about how we should keep utilizing our strength to ensure that our leadership benefits everyone with it rather than us struggling with empowering our weaknesses- a state in which a leader is himself in a confused state post which any positive result can’t be expected out from him. This is a little non-conventional idea as everyone talks about working on your weaknesses but it is something which shall really be beneficial as I have myself tested it since sometime. Author also talks about how imperfect leaders have been able to conquer their vision even with their imperfections only by using their strengths and skills they were good in. Majorly, author discusses what successful leaders have actually done rather than what ideally a leader is supposed to be for achieving success.

I liked how author talks about the benefits on collaborating and co-creating along with the concept of agile jugglers. How having a diversity in your workplace can bring perspective to the goal towards which your organization is working is also very nicely explained. The word “inclusion” is generally used in the books based on spirituality but it’s great to find how author talks about including the people of our community who are not as much blessed as us and grab their specializations too as they have the same skill sets or even better than the people we assume to be the best. I liked how lastly, in the last 2-3 chapters author gives great hope on leadership with new people.

I enjoyed reading the real-life examples that author has given. There are even excerpts and directly statements taken from the speeches or statements from the leaders whom we know due to their popularity but author helps us in understanding their style of leadership deeply. There could be controversies on few perceptions author gave on popular leaders but still, author went ahead and talked about it which I loved experiencing.

Overall, the book is a great-read specially if you are in higher studies or in a job profile. I give this book 4.25* out of 5.

Thanks.

WRITING BUDDHA

Tuesday, 28 January 2020

The Smart Balance by Ankita Aurora (Book Review: 4.25*/5)

1^st Book of 2020!

There is one thing for sure that awareness does make some impact if not much. I have read many books and articles on various topics where the author/writer has spoken many things on why to do something or not to do something. After some time, I, obviously, don’t remember all that they had said but atleast something from their book or article which stays with me and keeps on enforcing me to do right things. One such topics in recent times on which awareness is necessary is reducing the usage of the digital mediums that we use for our entertainment and I am glad many authors are writing books on the same. One such book which I just completed reading which is also the 1^st book of this year for me is Ankita Aurora’s “The Smart Balance” which is published by BlueRose Publishers in around 225 pages.

Speaking about this book, I am very glad that this book has new offerings than the other books which also speaks on the same topic of teaching readers to ensure that they are not getting too slaved by the digital devices around them but are also trying to be with people and nature around them. Generally, all the books only talk about Social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram etc. whereas this book covers all kinds of digital medium which takes away our attention and ends up making us either mentally or physically unhealthy.

Author talks about how obviously social media are taking many of us towards depression considering people projecting themselves as happier than they are and the people consuming these contents feeling that they have nothing around to rejoice. I liked this whole section with which author started the book as author talks about many factors which are so true when we access Social media accounts. Post this, the whole video gaming fantasy has been discussed which made me understand the impact of it. This chapter made me realize that the book is speaking more than just Social media and Mobile phones.

Author also talks about how smart learning through technology is a great thing but how gradual the growing process of children has begun as they are directly given things on plate rather than them searching for the same and learning many other things in the process. Author also talks about the role of technology and its impact in our workplaces and from this chapter, I understood the kind of impact just reading and writing emails can have on us and our breathing. I am in a profile where I only have to scan mails and reply to them regularly and this chapter proved beneficial for me as I understood what I am losing by doing this basic task itself.

The book also talks about the diseases and health issues that we are ending up having just because of our unwanted extreme association with digital world – along with this we also get to know the new diseases that have got introduced in the medical field due to this. It is really scary to know about the consequences of being tech-savvy. And in the end, author talks about how we can balance the technology with our life and ensure that we are not impacting our life due to the inclusion of the same and I really found the section as a great solution provider of this major and dangerous concern. I liked the term “Digital Detox” and found the tools mentioned in this section which really seems easy to follow and you can sense its benefits. The last few pages tells us about the sources which helped author to draft this book.

Overall, this book is a knowledgeable piece of advice which all of us should take for ourselves and our next generation. I give this book 4.25* out of 5.

Thanks.

WRITING BUDDHA

Tuesday, 21 January 2020

Sanchita Ganguly: "Gender Neutrality is as much about men as about women" (Interview)

So, when I read the book named “We-Men@Work”, I was very surprised to know how an author can write about the two genders and about the neutrality that is supposed to be there between them without demeaning any of them. Sachita Ganguly, the author of this book, had conveyed her message very well through her debut book itself which made me think of interviewing her which you can enjoy below…

Hi Sanchita, tell us something about your first book- We-Men@Work.

Hey Abhilash! We-Men@Work is a non-fiction book that is intended to act as a conversation trigger around Gender Neutrality at work places. It travels through my experiences of around fifteen years in agencies and corporate offices to curate instances that look harmless when looked at individually but tell a different story when put together. Though the examples given in the book are of Indian workplaces, the implications are true irrespective of any geography.

The topic is extremely close to my heart and my perspective on it has changed as I have grown in the system. Today I firmly believe that a “with” approach will usher in an era of equal opportunities faster than a “vs”. Although for that to happen we need many open and honest conversations around it and this book is one such catalyst.

Gender Neutrality is as much about men as about women. Biologically the two genders are different, not better or worse, just different – and accepting that makes the race to “Equality” futile. Thus “Neutrality” is the language correction required in our vocab to re-align our actions in the right direction I feel.

Since how long did you want to write books or it is just that the topic discussed in this book made you write your first book?

I do not think I have ever thought of writing a book as an adult and I have definitely never thought of writing a non-fiction book. I actually started off by writing the “About this page” for FB, three years back. I had intended to start a forum on the topic back then on Face Book. I was and am extremely passionate about the topic and just wanted to bring it out in open to discuss and learn together. The “About” section kept running into pages and at the same time many colleagues opined that no one would want to talk about these things openly. That’s when I decided to pivot the conversation on a book instead. With a two years old kid (then, now five years) and couple of job switches it took me three years to finally complete the book and launch it.

I just want to play my part in ensuring freedom of choice (for all genders) to usher in a thriving working environment for all the genders without threatening each other’s progress. Deep seated biases shouldn’t guide our actions and detrimental shortcuts, that undermines merit, shouldn’t lure us. This desire was enough to drive me to pen this book

How did you research for this book as it talks about many concerns when it comes to Gender Neutrality?

To be extremely honest, there was no active research involved. I love to read and a lot of facts and theories that you read somewhere remain with you since they touch you somewhere deeper, so such facts have been reproduced in the book. But more importantly all the instances discussed in it are first hand and fourteen years plus is a long- long time to face gender related concerns in person if you are a working woman. Besides going through life-phases like marriage and maternity, gave dimensions to my experiences of gender issues at workplaces.

So most of the content of the book is pure experience and the inferences are mine which I believe were easy to derive given that the topic is so close to my heart.

How did you ensure that you don’t end up demeaning men while talking about uplifting women in society? How difficult it was?

It wasn’t difficult at all. I believe language is an extremely powerful tool. It plays a critical role in expressing our intent, which in turn drives all the action. I firmly believe that Neutrality is the answer to expedite a word of equal opportunities (which BTW the World Economic Forum has predicted will take another 208 years for USA).

It was very obvious to me that in the universe of workforce, where majority is of men, one cannot ignore them. We need to look at things from their perspective as well since the context of society has changed for both men and women. More importantly being an optimist, I am almost always sure that everyone wants a better life quality so the question to be answered was “how”.

Lastly, my experience tells me that gender biases are gender un-biased so irrespective of we being men or women or any other gender, need to fight those deep seated biases is common. The fact is everyone can prosper together. Unlike the law of energy, good quality of work life is not an either-or game. This belief gives a lot of freedom to act in the right direction.

How did such unique title come to your mind for this book?

Like I said, I love to read. I believe my thoughts have been shaped by the various books I have read from my childhood. The passion to read gave birth to my extreme love for word-play. I love to dissect words and make up stories about how they would have been derived from the sub-words. I know it sounds crazy but I look for stories everywhere.

We-Men@Work name came to my mind three years back, long before the first chapter was written. It was supposed to be the name of my FB forumJ. I always found “Women” an intriguing word since it includes “men” in it. So what better to pitch an inclusive plan of action that this word itself with minor tweaks that brings out the message loud and clear!

What was your state of mind when the Me Too movement was on its high in our country considering it speaks about men-women relationship in our corporate structure?

Sexual abuses are more common than they are talked about. Right from home to crowded stations, it is a disgusting reality we are living with. The corporate structure is not an exception. The fact that POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) was introduced in 2013 (way before Me Too movement) acknowledges this reality. The policy became gender neutral recently though.

So Me Too did not shock me at all. I have been witness to few POSH cases and I know how it can be played both ways. It did frustrate me though. In the more controlled environment of office, it becomes a power game along with a gender game. Someone at a higher hierarchy generally dares to abuse people with an assumed confidence of the victim not reporting it or worse he/she will not face any consequences even if the act is reported.

It is disgusting and it is all around us. Like any other crime, I do not see even this getting eliminated but the perspective of looking at victims in this crime is convoluted. So if by policies, social media support and lifting taboos from subjects that are anyway known to everyone there is hope to make it as shameful a crime as any other for the perpetrator ( and not the victim)

How was your experience in searching the publisher for your book after completing your book?

Once I finished the book and started to figure out things I felt like writing the book was the easier part. It was in my control. I had no clue that there is a full-fledged industry out there related to book publishing. There is editing, book designing, cover designing and tons of other things involved. I was lucky that a dear friend offered to design the book for me so I did not have to explore much on that bit.

Coming to publishers, I had sent the first draft to few publishers early last year but did not hear back from them. Patience is one virtue that I lack. Once the book was completed (editing, design), I reasoned that the topic is non-fiction and controversial , additionally it was my debut work and my designation still doesn’t fall in the CXO category so I skipped approaching publishers and decided to self-publish. Reading that publishers did not take up “Immortals of Meluha” and Amish had to self-publish initially further convinced me to go for self-publishing rather than trying again. I was in a hurry to bring the topic out. I chose to self-publish on Notion Press (hard copy) and Amazon (E-copy). I have not taken any additional packages so far so publishing was zero cost for me.

Even through existing self-publishing platform one hardly earns anything but Amazon can change this game like they did for e-books. I am really happy with Amazon KDP and I wish they soon extend their services for hard copy books. That will make life a lot easier for new writers like me.

What would you like to tell your readers why should they pick this book of yours?

If someone is planning to enter the professional world or are in the professional world (at any level) , this book is for them. Secondly it is for all the parents who are crafting the society of tomorrow because like everything else practicing gender neutrality starts from home.

This book will take 4-5 hrs of your time but what I can promise them is that it will definitely open up avenues for them to talk about or act so that they can be the catalyst in turning the workplace into an equal opportunities playfield. Practicing mindful behaviour is easy, if only one knows what can hurt whom.

As parents don’t we try our best to ensure a better quality of living for our next generation then why not extrapolate that mentality at workplaces?

They might agree or disagree with me but that will trigger conversations. I believe change will be brought in one conversation at a time, one instance at a time and we all need to work together for the same

What is the next book that you are writing upon? Can we get a sneak peek on the same?

It’s just been a little more than a month that We-Men@Work is released so currently I want to focus on this book and more importantly on the cause. I am writing articles on the topic at various digital platforms, speaking to colleges to arrange for a talk to sensitize young minds on Gender Neutrality and running the LinkedIn forum on the topic https://lnkd.in/fNcpZvS to spread the word and trigger as many conversations as possible.

Having said that, I had a fiction book in mind next when I was approaching the end of authoring this book. I wanted to write short stories of few women loosely based on people I know and their experiences. But once We-Men@Work was released, I got messages from a lot of people expressing that though the instances in the book are all personal, they would love a sequel where the span of book spreads wider and covers multiple related experiences of other people. So frankly I am undecided yet about my next book.