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

1832nd BLOG POST -->>

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 

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

1831st BLOG POST -->>

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 

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

1830th BLOG POST -->>

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