It's All About Books!!!

Thursday, 19 March 2020

Chanakya Neeti by Radhakrishnan Pillai (Book Review: 4.25*/5) !!!

8th Book of 2020!

Since childhood, I have always been given reference of Chanakya and the words he has spoken on several topics to convey a message to me. I don’t know how many of them were even said by Chanakya or the elders just wanted to convey what was in their heart in the name of Chanakya. Haha! When I first got to know about the author, Radhakrishnan Pillai, and his specialty of using the verses or words spoken by Chanakya and then moulding it in his own way to deliver its relation with today’s lifestyle- I just wanted to read all the books written by him but could only read two till date and I have just finished the 3^rd and his latest book today which is named “Chanakya Neeti” itself and I believe is his deepest book on Chanakya until now.

The book published in around 325 pages by Jaico Publishers is one of the great books which everyone must go through at least once. The commendable part about this book is that it is relevant for individuals belonging in every age group and of any class. There is something for everyone in this book. Author, Radhakrishnan Pillai, has very beautifully designed the whole book which makes it easier for you as a reader to read it. You can directly open any page and read that one section and that shall make you learn something new. The book, though, mentions in the beginning that every verse is written in a series but I believe you can read any page as per your convenience and still enjoy the same.

Each section initially mentions the verse written by Chanakya which is not in a very reader-friendly language but is then summarized by the author and then broken into parts and explained to us. Author has taken extra efforts here to sometimes explain the same to us in relevance to today’s nature of society. This is one of the few books where you just can’t highlight one or two sentences in a page but every word and sentence has deep meaning and insights which can change your outlook towards things. As I have read many such books, not everything was new for me, but still there are few things which I do in life considering them moral as per me but when I read Chanakya warning against doing that and through the explanations, I kept realizing the kind of mistake I have been committing. Many verses in the book were like an eye-opener for me.

Now, talking about the drawbacks of the book- I must say that author should have skipped the verses or modified them extensively which are subjected only to women as - as already mentioned by author himself that Chanakya belonged to an era where women were treated as 2^nd to men hence reading those verses and their explanation infuriated me some times. Secondly, the book could have been edited for one more round as I found many grammatical and spelling errors which are skipped. Also, there are few verses which are contradictory with one another where I felt author should have given little more explanation as to why it is so which has been skipped thoughtlessly.

Overall, this book is empowering and gives you different insights than any other self-help or self-improvement books. I give this one 4.25 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

WRITING BUDDHA

Tuesday, 17 March 2020

Irrationally Passionate by Jason Kothari (Book Review: 3.75*/5) !!!

7th Book of 2020!

Reading books of autobiographical accounts of entrepreneurs and successful people in the Hardcover format is the ideal moment for me as a bibliophile. I have always found such books where I didn’t know the man writing his story and after reading the book, I understood what kind of success stories run in our country and world which we have not even touched yet which can transform your life altogether just by reading their life challenges. One such book that I finished today sitting at home in the wake of Coronavirus is named “Irrationally Passionate” written by Mr. Jason Kothari. It is his own story of his turnaround from being a rebel to becoming an entrepreneur and then heading several companies as CEO and turning them towards success.

In this 230-pages of autobiographical account, you get to learn a lot from the life of Mr. Jason Kothari as he starts the story right from one of his childhood events where he is able to negotiate with a seller and get the chessboard at just Rs. 30 which makes him realize that he has the quality of negotiating and turning things in his favour which makes him get into the entrepreneurship space at just the age of 19 where he is raising funds to save the company named Valiant which he followed since his childhood. How he is able to go through the whole phase whereas his peers were getting great job tells how dedicated and passionate he was towards his passion of being an entrepreneur and doing what he believes in.

Similarly, how he saved Housing.com by taking tough decisions such as closing the renting module to concentrate on buying-selling module where people in the organization believed that the renting module was The Thing. How he had to take tough call of laying off employees is also an essential read to grasp the kind of toughness one needs to go through this. How he had to keep a security agency look after him as people in India went ahead and involved a local politician tells us how difficult it is to do business in India and take calls where employees can lose their job.

The author then spends his time in explaining as to how he got involved in Snapdeal and Freecharge with no prior interest of such industry and still managing to understand which all sector to sell to ensure that the company is not losing money on things not necessary to the core business. Between all this, author also discusses how girls ditched him for marriage which made him weak yet made him learn his lessons. Also, he talks about spirituality in the end how it helped him control emotions and lead.

Author’s writing style is very simple considering him to be one of the top league players which tells about his intent of spreading as much positivity to youth as possible. The book is not stretchy anywhere which makes it an easy read otherwise this could have also been stretched for some 400 pages and more.

Talking about the drawbacks- I felt that author didn’t go in much details in each of his adventures discussed in the book which doesn’t give you complete picture as to how he fought against small issues in organization which can create big impacts. He only discussed things on strategical basis. I was keen to know how he dealt with petty issues of organization etc. Also, at many places, how the profit started initializing is not mentioned which doesn’t give much clarity. Due to these few factors, it felt as if we have read the book by fast-forwarding it even when you have ensured that you are reading in between lines.

Overall, this is a great book if you wish to be an entrepreneur or stay in Top-managerial position in the hierarchy. I give this book 3.75* out of 5.

Thanks.

WRITING BUDDHA

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