9 August 2018 | By: Writing Buddha

54 Reasons Why Parents Suck And Phew! by Swati Lodha/Swaraa Lodha (Book Review- 3.75*/5)!!!

1684th BLOG POST -->>


There are very less non-fiction books which are gutsy and picks up such topics that makes you uncomfortable in discussing it with people. I landed up picking up a book which had such a title that it made reading it in Mumbai Local Trains a moment of getting weird looks in return whosoever got a glance of its cover page: “54 Reasons Why Parents Suck and Phew!”. The people above the age of 40 years looked at me as if I am a criminal and I am the reason why our generation is not improving and doing everything against parent’s will. And the irony is that this book is written majorly by a mother- Dr. Swati Lodha about the emotions her 17-year-old daughter has about her parents named Swaraa Lodha. This book also shows that there are few parents who are willing to investigate the mindset of children and understand them and their expectations with parents.

Indian parents, in general, always have expectations from their children but they never think about certain expectations that even their children have from them. They believe themselves as demigod and thus believe that they never do any mistake in parenting. This book is for such parents who do not understand the perspective of their child and keep on continuing with their way of parenting irrespective of noticing that their child is gradually getting far away from them and in few cases, even started hating them. The authoress has written 54 chapters each detailing a reason why children are fed up of their parents. Each reason is justified so well that you will enjoy reading them as they are built up with all- seriousness, humour, fun, weirdness, discomfort, issues, sadness, maturity, immaturity and everything you know.

The book is written in a very interesting language which keeps the readers hooked up. Talking about the drawbacks of the book, I felt that in most of the chapters, author has spoken in the same tone itself which makes the reading very monotonous which might bore you after some time if you are completing the book in a one single-sitting itself. Secondly, in many of the chapters, author talks about similar point itself just giving it a different packaging, so it starts sounding repetitive. Thirdly, the book is too stretched. It could have easily been completed in 200 pages with everything which is already spoken in more than 250 pages. I rate this book 3.75* out of 5. Kudos to authors for such a unique and most-wanted topic.


Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 



7 August 2018 | By: Writing Buddha

THAT ONE PERSON!!!

1683rd BLOG POST -->>


What happens when you start respecting yourself more than anything and everything of this world? A human being is full of ego even when he does not deserve a single right to have this big of an ego but he has. And the accumulation of this ego happens when you start respecting yourself a lot. This respect that comes for us is because of the life that we currently live. It is always a dream for anyone to be admitted at No.1 college of your city, to be the star performer of your organization, to have best looking person as your partner etc. And when a person finds himself either living this shit or almost near to this, he starts idolizing himself and does not find anyone even close to him. He is a legend in himself. He walks in style. He talks in style. He sleeps in style. He combs in style. He even wants to die in style because he believes he is a legendary stuff.

It becomes very scary when we reach such spot in our life where we become an admiring person in our own vision. This is the time when we should fuck up with our situation. There is always THAT ONE PERSON who can kill all the ego, respect and confidence that we have accommodated so safely in our personality. That one person can bring you back to your original aukaat and pull you so down that you can realize how vulnerable and risky your life and its successes are. If there is something today that makes you feel big, there is someone who can show you anytime in life how small and stupid you are. If you can stand in a conference room among the most inspiring and smart working team members and put a point that no one had thought about and feel yourself smarter, then this person can make you feel the weakest and dumbest person existing on this planet.

If this one had been a motivational post, my obvious suggestion would have been to ignore such person. But because this is a bloody emotional post, I declare that we should meet this one person and get screwed up and pulled down in life. This one person will never acknowledge your love, affection, emotions towards them. When you become enough stronger in yourself to never go back to this person to prove your feelings again, this person will come back to you. Rather than promising yourself thousands of times in all these days, months, years that you will never go back begging to this person ever to consider your emotions, as soon as you find them near yourself, you end up being a beggar again asking for acceptance. This time you are sure that you will be accepted as it is the person who has come up to you and not you. Also this time you are not that wrong decision-making failure young confused mind but a matured person altogether- personally and professionally. But what happens again takes away all the respect you have for yourself.

This person again rejects you asking to stay in your confines. It ends there. They warn you to not contact them again. Now you want to tell them that you are not that sucking teenager who wants that emo thing happening every morning and evening but you are that smart guy who is referred as the most sorted person among his friend circle and colleagues. But what’s the use when you have already shown this person how vulnerable you are. You have ended in that particular moment itself. And this part of being a human is worst that we want to go back time and again to THAT ONE PERSON to tell them about our current stature and again beg them to accept our emotions and feelings. But do we have any other option if not doing this? Our life will still stay unaccomplished even if we do not beg. It is anyway unaccomplished after begging.

But we still want to try THAT LAST TIME in hope of owning that person. We forget that money, stature and your respect in society can still not buy everything for you. Even after having everything of this world, you will still fall down because of THAT ONE PERSON. You can never avoid them. So it’s better to get yourself snubbed, humiliated and insulted by this person and get back to your old days when you were nothing but a lost soul without any ego, attitude and self-respect. Become that periodically to ensure that you do not lose the real person inside you which was the truest version of itself who never shied away from telling someone about their feeling and getting ignored and avoided for rest of their lives for this small disclosure. So in case you believe that you have come quite ahead in your life, go back to THAT ONE PERSON and start your journey again from the start. Let’s run a human race rather than trying to become God. There’s a daily revelation in being human than being GOD. Thanks to THAT ONE PERSON for reminding me who I am once again after years.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!
6 August 2018 | By: Writing Buddha

Review: Veere Di Wedding: A timepass stuff & nothing more! **½

1682nd BLOG POST -->>

From a long time, Veere Di Wedding has been in news because of its amazing starcast having Kareena Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor as its lead actors. I believed it to be a wonderful movie since beginning but only when I got to see its trailer that I realized it’s another movie trying to prove feminism in each and every scene. Since then my opinion about the movie changed but still after watching it now that it has been released in HD print, I must say the movie is an average attempt but enables you to pass your time. So in case you ever have two hours of leisure, just play this movie and enjoy the casualness of the characters and multiple problems they are facing in their respective lives but nothing affects their Friendship which is also the flavor of the movie.

Shashanka Ghosh has made a typical big-banner Bollywood movie based on youth, 21st century concepts, feminism and girls. It involves everything:- sex, abuses, drugs, smoking, laughter, cries, break-ups, hook-ups, one-night stand, gay couple, disagreeing parents, judgmental society etc. The story revolves around the four girl-friends who are together since their school times and meet each other after a long time for one of their friend’s marriage. Each one of them are going through their respective personal problems and the way they handle the same and how they break things among their three friends is what keeps the story of this movie moving.

Frankly speaking, there isn’t much substance in the movie rather than makers continuously focusing on that cliche concept of accepting whosoever the way they are. But saying this, the movie has some amazing dialogues and scenes which keeps you entertained. Talking about the performances, Kareena Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor plays their character with enough maturity which makes it relatable. Swara Bhaskar’s character is too loud but even she entertains with her annoying moodstyles in most sections of the conversational part. Shikha Talsania has also given her moderate character a better project with the help of her acting. Sumeet Vyas is okay in his role. Talking about songs, there isn’t any which you will remember after watching the movie except “Aa Jaao Na”. Overall, a fine movie which can be watched just to pass time. I give it 2.5 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!
5 August 2018 | By: Writing Buddha

Review: Parmanu: One of the best made patriotic movies! ****

1681st BLOG POST -->>

Frankly speaking, I had not given a damn to the trailer of "Parmanu" when it was launched on Youtube because of John Abraham as it has already been enough that he has been given opportunities but each time, his acting has only disappointed us, the audience. But after the movie released and people started talking about it, I thought of finally watching it. The film has recently completed its 50 days in theaters which is a very big accomplishment in this era of cinema where movies give up on Monday itself. Parmanu is produced by none other than the man himself- John Abraham. 

Parmanu is the movie about the 3 nuclear tests India underwent by fooling Americans with the help of its experts. The film is high on emotions and makes it sure that you are totally engaged with it. The first 10 minutes of the movie itself blows you with its picture perfect scenes and dialogues. The John Abraham's committed look in each scene tells you that the movie and actor- both are going to impress you for sure. As the story progresses, it becomes little stretched and slow in the middle sections of the first half of the movie but the moment character of John Abraham gets the task of taking the mission of testing nuclear projects in the land of Pokhran along with his team, the movie takes a wonderful launch which lands only after the last end credits roll out.

The movie is very simply made without throwing patriotic dialogues every now and then. It also does not say anything against Pakistan throughout the movie. It is not loud but still speaks volume considering there are not clapworthy dialogues in the movie. Talking about the locations and the star cast, nothing is big yet the movie keeps you interested in its spectacular show. The CGI is very well used in the scenes of explosion etc. Talking about the performances, John Abraham has executed his part very well and impresses with his tough expressions and the last scene makes you weep with the performance that he delivers in that particular segment. Boman Irani has also played his part to the T and keeps you hooked to your seat. All the other supporting performances are also worth-watching. Overall, a very good movie keeping the suspense rising with each minute. I give the movie 4 stars out of 5 for sure. It has repeat value too. Yes!

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Review: Raazi: One of the well made Bollywood thriller! ****

1680th BLOG POST -->>

Bollywood is not very good in making thrillers is what I hear from people who are big movie buffs and watch movies across all languages and industries. As I am a desi person and not seen much movies outside Bollywood, I still feel that very few movies are able to excite you with its twists, turns and suspense. I recently watched “Raazi”, the latest release of one of the most youngest and yet extremely talented actresses of our time on Amazon Prime and I must say, it is definitely one of the well-made movies of 2018. And it’s already proven as the movie is in 100-crore club despite having no big star in it. Raazi is directed by Meghna Gulzar which is based on a novel written by Mr. Sikka belonging to Indian Navy.

When you hear that someone like Meghna Gulzar is making movie on such a serious subject, your expectations already rise for it and any goof-up can make you very critical about the whole project but fortunately, Gulzar has stood tall in this movie with her extremely wonderful screenplay which makes it interesting for the audience to sit and watch this movie and enjoy every detailing. The first half of the film is more about Alia’s character to get trained for the risky task she has agreed to undertake. The second half of the movie is where the excitement and suspense starts building up with Alia’s character, Sehmat, taking big risks to assure that all the information she gets from her in-laws is passed successfully to India. Though few of the scenes where she is able to get away with her doings are silly but yet, keeps you holding.

The movie is overall, a very well-executed project for which the whole team of Raazi should be praised. Alia Bhatt gives yet another stellar performance as Sehmat and speaks with her expressions most of the time. Vicky Kaushal player her husband is pitch-perfect and makes you fall in love with him. Ahlawat, playing Sehmat’s trainer, is another performance that stands out. All the other supporting performances including Soni Razdan’s give the movie a perfect casting which was needed to make the story look effective on the big screen. I wished only if the pre-climax was more catchy like the whole movie. I give this one 4 stars out of 5. Totally recommended for the spy-thriller genre lovers.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!

When your Friends are near but yet so far..

1679th BLOG POST -->>

India is celebrating its Friendship Day today, the concept that has been adopted from Western culture but I believe it should be there since I have started working in this Corporate lifestyle where you work so hard throughout the day that you end up directly sleeping after reaching at home giving no times to your friend. If there would not have been these inventions of Whatsapp and Facebook, I can’t even imagine the kind of communication gap that would have got generated between friends. These days people are not having time for that too and they end up sharing just morning and night wishes by directly broadcasting a message to all. When a day for Friendship is celebrated on a Sunday, it is quite obvious that at least out of guilt even those who do not believe in these days will get out of their home and meet their friends for celebrating their Friendship. We will have to stop saying now that everyday is Friendship Day and now just one. It is not! You know it rightly.

Those are college days when you spend morning to evening with your friends only laughing like a crazy mad-man on stupid jokes which has no meaning whatsoever. Your energy in college does not get consumed until and unless it’s a Viva day or assignment-submission day. Hence, you have enough ecstasy to sit with your friends, hang-out with them and create long-lasting memories which are going to stay with you till your last breath. But the moment college ends and you land up in the real world full of responsibilities and tasks assigned to you with a deadline, you do not have energies left to give time to your relationships. The inflation is rising and your focus remains on only earning money to be able to beat this inflation and be in line with the MEHENGAAYI! And after getting married, the family responsibilities are enough for both- you and your friend to give yourselves third priority now after job and family.

Having Friends is necessary in life and they should be respected for whatever time they give you. Everyone in this busy life has lots of responsibility either at work or home and number of people to meet whom they have not seen in a long time. Even after all of this, if they have chosen to meet you out of everyone else, you should acknowledge their efforts too. I had never given such importance to friendship while I was studying but now when I sit lonely on that office desk trying to prove myself in every second that I stay there, I miss my friends who wanted to spend time with me when I didn’t for my personal goals. I would like to take a moment on this Friendship Day to apologize to all of my friends who wanted to spend time with me but I didn’t give them time which they expected from me. Today when I want to meet them, they are so busy with their life that they don’t give me time. Yes, karma returns. But I would again like to gain something from this Friendship Day and so I request my friends to take some time and meet me. Your friend is shy and does not tell you that he wants to meet you. But please do understand my unspoken words.

Thanks. I love you all.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!

Dr Dhurandhar's Fat-loss Diet by Dr Nikhil Dhurandhar (Book Review- 3.25*/5) !!!

1678th BLOG POST -->>

Who is not aware about the mind-blowing transformation Aamir Khan went through for his movie Dangal where he gained huge weight and then followed rigorous diet and exercising to get back into a wrestler’s shape! All of us wish to get in touch with their personal trainers and experience the same transformation as these inspirations. Fortunately, the nutritionist who helped Aamir Khan in this difficult task has written a book finally named “Fat-Loss Diet”. Nikhil Dhurandhar is very well read and educated persona in this field of nutrition and weight management and his insights are truly encouraging and breaks a lot of myth.

The way he has explained the simple concept of intake and burning out of calories is commendable. All of us have heard about keeping our calories intake in check but never got to know how to calculate the same. Mr. Nikhil Dhurandhar has given easy formulas with examples to calculate the same and given diets for each range in which your parameter gets categorized into. He has not only given a static diet chart for each classification of body type as per the weight and height range on the individual but also given substitute for each dietary element that he is asking you to consume to ensure that you do not get bored of eating the same things everyday.

The first half is basically the revelation of the diet that you need to follow to ensure that you lose fats and gain muscles along with it. The second half is more about how to go ahead with the diet irrespective of all the external factors that come in between to stop you from achieving your goal of staying tough on your diet plan. The suggestions given by the author is wonderful and something that will help you immensely in ensuring that you do not end up becoming a crazy diet follower and irritate people around you for being a stupid different. Author has also described the importance of different types of exercises which needs to be followed along with the dieting to ensure that the effect is maximum. He also gives tips on how to stay focused in case you stop seeing the kind of results you achieved in your initial aggressive days of following this healthy lifestyle.

Talking about the drawbacks of the book, I must say that the first 30-50 pages are spent by the author is a defensive mode where he is only proving why he should be considered seriously and how he does not belong in the group of those nutritionists who give false advises and lands their customer in a big trouble. He wants the readers to understand where he comes from and how much research he has gone through to reach at this stage of writing this book. He should have understood that when a person has already picked up your book, it is with some level of trust and the foreword by Aamir Khan is enough for the readers to take you seriously. Another problem that I faced was that the charts and their description/explanations were not aligned correctly on the same page. This made me turn the pages again and again to refer the table while reading its detailed derivation by the author. Another thing is that author has not talked about many options of healthy food but stayed focused only on those which he has in his limited diet plan. Author also has not added any case studies of different individuals etc. which could have made book more powerful in terms of content and references.

Overall, this book is thin with only 200 pages which you can end up reading in 4 hours with complete concentration. I will give this book 3.25 stars out of 5.


Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!
4 August 2018 | By: Writing Buddha

My 3rd Job Anniversary!!!

1677th BLOG POST -->>

Yesterday, I completed 3 years of my work experience and I am very glad that I have been able to sustain myself to this theory of working incessantly without getting demotivated with all the external factors which pops up as hurdles in between of this journey. Working for any organization is a journey you begin which has no destination and final goal but still you have to keep moving on daily basis. There is no one who will appreciate you for your good moves but you will surely be pulled down even for one single mistake you commit in a long time. And seeing many young crowd around me of my age or below my age losing their patience and leaving the organization in between of their commitment tells a lot about how uneasy and uncomfortable this path is. But earning money is necessity for survival and because the less gifted and skilled people like me do not have anything to do on their own, we have to commit ourselves in working for someone else in exchange of that definite amount we get at the end of the month. What can be a bigger motivator than money to do anything? Bloody nothing I tell you. Haha!

For these 1st 3 years of my job, I have been with my first employer itself and I have identified it that you need to give some time to an organization to understand how it works and why it does certain things in a manner which we feel is weird. It is only after the right time do we understand the important of all those decisions taken. We are naive and our vision can never be as forecasted as of that entrepreneur or founder who has been running his organization against all odds from all these years producing so many things out of nothing. You should consider this space as your own world and that particular person as the Supreme and consider all the rules created by him as your own rules. And then, only then, are you able to forget all that is happening outside your organization and your focus would be only on your organization and basically, on the skills that you need to build up regularly to bring it up on the table as a team member. When you focus on this particular aspect, it’s not only the growth of the organization but yours too. So if not for organization, do it at least for your own good and selfishness.

Another thing that I have learnt in the job is that never tell the person on their face if they are right or wrong. Let them pass their statement, consider themselves as the victor, leave the meeting room and let all your actions and project’s success speak for itself. Most of the time that people waste in their 8 hours of job life is in bitching about this or that colleague rather than regularly building themselves as an asset for the organization and the project. Be a fruitful employee. Understand that there is some cost incurred by the organization in having you in their set of people and you need to stand true to your potential. Any impression that the company makes of you in the interview room, you should leave with at least 2x of that impression whenever you think of moving on to the next employer. So stop thinking much about how you were been contradicted or pulled down in the meeting room or how the other person went away with all the credit of the success. Remember, your work should be enough strong for anyone else to take away even an iota of your creation. Today, no one can deny that Virat Kohli is the reason for multiple victories that our team experiences every now and then. This is the place you need to be in your project team. Yes!

Doing mistake is not a mistake. Repeating a mistake again is a mistake. If you are not improving yourself daily and it’s the same fault that takes place repeatedly, your performance and inclusion in the team is gradually becoming a liability for the organization. Would you like any liability in your life? It’s worst, isn’t it? More worse than that is being a liability yourself for someone else. Stop being that and start changing your process and modus operandi of work so that the mistake(s) happening by you stops in the future and you are able to make new mistakes which makes you learn more new things.

And the last lesson that I would like to share with you is:- “Do things before you are asked to do”. Many employees in an organization are able to create something which no one else is. Everyone comes with their unique skill sets. But still rather than keeping their thing on the table before anyone else, they wait until someone asks them to do because their philosophy of work is “Itne paise mein itnaich milega” which is the worst thing that you will regret in your late 30s when others below your age would be getting those bigger promotions while you would be crawling for that mid-managerial position. The things that you are capable of, keep identifying the same, and giving the organization or your project before you are even asked for. That makes you a Go-to man and people will start considering you as their mentor irrespective of your age or designation. And when that happens, you become more responsible for the things that you do in your 8 hours of job and thus, you start becoming the zenith people always wanted to have around.

There are many more lessons I have learnt in just 3 years and I am hopeful that the professional life will give me enough experiences to end up having the state of mind which I have never been in. When your job speaks without making sound, it is the best meditation and people around you can also feel that the enlightened one is around them. This spreads the positive vibes across the whole team. That’s the power of just focusing on yourself rather than the non-performers around you. Yes, your work might get stuck because of some dependencies on these non-performers but that’s the time when you can move on doing something else which is still free of anyone’s inferiority. Your job is to keep moving and not get stagnant for no matter what happens around you. Appraisals, promotions etc. will come your way either today or tomorrow, with this employer or next, but the lost time in which you did not learn or did something above your potential will never come back which will hurt you till your retirement. This has already been understood in 3 years. That’s what a powerful job does to you. :-) On this occasion, I thank my employers and my team members for helping me evolve from a fresher and trainee to a contributor in the team. Let’s go to make the 4th year another exciting year of this experience.

Bye! Thanks!

ABHILASH RUHELA

The Kaafir's Love by Abhisar Sharma (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

1676th BLOG POST -->>


There are few books which give you positive vibes the moment you view them for the first time. And these are also the book which ends up disappointing you a lot in case they do even a small mistake in impressing you. Fortunately, this has not been the case with the 38th book of this year which I completed reading named “The Kaafir’s Love” by the famous journalist, Abhisar Sharma. Being a journalist himself and knowing about the communal issues in India, Abhisar has very intellectually used the concept in plotting his fiction story based on a love story between a Hindu boy and a Muslim girl.

The book is promoted as a romantic story but it has a thrilling effect to it which makes it a special read throughout. Right from the first page to the last, the book is a perfect page-turner where it speaks about many relationships like lovers, friends, mother-son, father-son etc. and treats each one of them with full justice. The thrilling moment which are the turning points of the story are described very beautifully that you get so engrossed in the book you can picturize the whole scene happening in front of your eyes. The political angle attached with the story is a secondary plot in the first half of the book and the way it becomes the primary thing in the 2nd half, takes this book to another level itself.

The number of secrets that are revealed in the 2nd half of the book tells a lot about the writer Abhisar Sharma has in him. He has lots of potential which can be observed through his narration itself. Writing a book with multiple characters and yet treating each one of them justifyingly that you can connect with one of them tells a lot about his writing skills. The book also becomes nostalgic at many times in the way it describes the love angle of the protagonists, the backdrop of the small town, the local politicians, the relationships etc. The climax of the book is very well-handled which was extremely necessary to end this book on a higher note after such a magnetic and strong plot running throughout the story. The story completely justifies its title “The Kaafir’s Love”. I am looking forward to read more books by the writer. I give this book no less than 4.5* out of 5. Recommended!


Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!
3 August 2018 | By: Writing Buddha

Netaji: Living Dangerously by Kingshuk Nag (Book Review: 3.25*/5) !!!

1675th BLOG POST -->>

One of the great leaders who are considered as a pioneer in making the independence possible for India is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. But the upset is that rather than talking about his contribution, people are more interested in discussing his death which is very unfortunate for a leader of his class and calibre. There are many articles and documentaries created on this concept to clarify Netaji’s death and give the final conclusion but still the topic continues to haunt Indians every now and then. The recent declassification of his files by NDA government has again raised several questions about his death. In such times, Kingshuk Nag has again released a book as per the contemporary conditions on this death mystery itself named “Netaji: Living Dangerously”.

Kingshuk Nag has always released his book at the perfect time when it is most needed. And this time, his book is not just another book which will be lost in shelves but people will have to pick it up and read as he has discussed almost all the theories running about Netaji’s mysterious death and has assured that he does not leave even a single of them. The book is divided in 10 different chapters with each giving its own theory. The book is written in a very professional manner as an editorial article which makes it boring at times and you want to skip lines and move ahead as quickly as possible. Another problem that I have with the publication is the small font size used to print this book which makes it very inconvenient to read the book.

The book is very well-researched and author’s efforts are evidently visible right from the first page. It is very difficult to write on such a serious topic without giving a single statement which can raise controversy and Kingshuk has been able to assure this safety to himself. The book is interesting in terms of knowing so many theories that had been discussed during Netaji’s sudden disappearance. The quotes from the family members in between the chapters come as refreshment and ensures that you get to relate with the plight of the Netaji’s family members what they had to go through in all these years.

The biggest problem with the book is a little bias the author has shown towards his belief on a particular theory and he keeps on claiming its worthiness in every chapter between the lines while discussing other theories. Right from the start of the book, the author has tried to prove his point of view incessantly which makes it hard for the reader to trust the justice made to other theories. This is the only thing which stops from making this book one of the most recommended ones in the genre. I give this book 3.25 stars out of 5. Do read it if you are really interested in knowing about Netaji’s death mystery in detail.


Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!