The #1 Bestseller – blares out a line on top of the title.
So thought of giving this book a try. And well, it wasn’t worth the trouble. The best part of the book – it is short. It is a story of two protagonists and two support cast. They each have their ambitions and plans. Yet there is hardly much fleshed out about them. There are cliched twists in the tale. But nothing really engaging.
Amazon is certainly pulling in all stops to sell the book, but the product is not worth the hype. Overall, a book which can be easily given a miss.
The book describes one year in the life of an UPSC aspirant. From missing out in UPSC prelims to breaking through in the next year. Along the way it’s a journey of friendships, experiences and a love story. There is also an attempt to align with the events of 2010-11 including the ODI Cricket World Cup and the Anna Hazare movement.
This is a light, breezy read which also throws light on the IAS entrance examinations, the types of candidates, their struggles, their support system and the business of coaching centres. The plot is straightforward with no real dramatic twists.
And there is also an analogy to MS Dhoni thrown in at the end.
“READ ONLY IF YOU’RE PREPAED TO HAVE YOUR FEELINGS HURT”
“INSANELY PRACTICAL IDEAS TO FREE YOUR MIND FROM ALL BULLSHIT”
These are the lines which scream out from the cover of the book. The book has ideas but are they practical? And can one really change just after reading a book? Also isn’t it all about making tiny tweaks rather than a complete overhaul for any change to even start? But before that following are some of the thoughts which I found interesting and bookmarked,
Older people are children who have aged. Stop attaching maturity, wisdom, enlightenment to ageing. He is old, hence he must be wise is one of the stupidest notions we take for granted - I agree.
Learning how to think vs what to think? - I guess what we need is a balance of both. Can't start from a blank slate always
Whatever I do, I do it for myself, because I want to prove to myself I can do it - A great attitude to have but we are also living in a real world!
Specialness becomes a collection of skills, and feeling special is the sensation felt on upgrading in life after having mastered a skill - I liked this idea
Those who are able to find out what they want to do in life chase after greatness to prove to themselves that they are great at what they do. With time, they realise they don’t need anybody’s approval, as doing what they want to do gives them purpose, and fulfilling that purpose gives them satisfaction and a meaningful life. Also this takes time!
Once you reach a conclusion derived from your thinking, it is called a realisation. And once you realise something, your perception changes about it once and for all. And that perception remains locked down until another realisation impacts it—that’s the process of learning and growing – The more I learn, the more I realise that like Jon Snow I know nothing
Wanting to do something vs having to do something- It's this choice which matters most
Taking ownership of failures - Very important
Time passes, people leave, and you are the one who stays with yourself. Knowing yourself is single-handedly the greatest superpower any person can have. - The truth
You are a fan of their extraordinary acts and the products of their talents, not their lives. Learn to differentiate. There is no person on this planet from whom you cannot learn something new. - Following others
Separate data from the narrative - Especially true in the social media age where your stand on an issue depends on who is arguing rather than the argument itself.
These were some of the thoughts I would like to take from this book. Coming back to the questions – Is this the rudest book ever? I does make one think a bit but just because 4-letter words are randomly strewn all over the text doesn’t make it rude! And did the feelings get hurt? No, why take any random piece of text personally 😊
The book has ideas, but they go all over the place. Could have easily been streamlined. Seemed more like an attempt to convert a TEDx Talk into a book.
Autobiography of a Yogi is the autobiography of Mukunda Lal Ghosh and how he became Paramhansa Yogananda. It describes his various spiritual encounters and experiences in various places in both India and abroad. And its not just his story, it is also the story of his influences, Lahiri Mahasya, Sri Yukteswar and Babaji.
What I liked most about the book is that it is not preaching but just narrating experiences of the spiritual nature which the Yogi had in his lifetime. And yet there were times in the narration which also rose the sceptic in me to question the events if they had happened at all. Which I guess is the most important objective of the book. To introduce Kriya Yoga to the reader and make them understand on their own!
“God is simple. Everything else is complex” – what a simple and powerful line. I guess this line sums up the book.
In the book, we also encounter famous historical figures of the times – Gandhiji, CV Raman, Tagore. Even Sherlock Holmes makes an appearance! We also read a lot of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and how Science proves God. Scientists do a better job at proving God’s existence than most godmen!
No wonder this has been one of the most influential books of India abroad.
What a terrible year it was. Thought 2020 was bad, but it was nothing compared to the collective trauma of 2021. We thought we had ridden over the Covid wave, with cases on the decline and vaccines rolling out. And then we got hit hard by the variants. Suffering yourself, seeing your loved ones laid low, hearing news almost daily of classmates, colleagues and acquaintances passing away. Meanwhile social media was full of cries for help. Amidst the doom scrolling, wanting to help while simultaneously feeling totally helpless yourself. Times couldn’t have been grimmer.
Yet how quickly life threw us back into our usual routines. The Work From Home experiment continued, and travel was limited. The entertainment means continued to be limited. Reading, a bit of blogging, some OTT content – in short, more and more screen time! Personally, watched one genre more than others – kids TV. My personal recommendation - Masha and the Bear, with Dora the Explorer taking the second place.
That was 2021 - a year of survival. And now entering 2022 with another wave of the virus arriving and cases escalating. Praying that this one’s impact is minimal.
Maroon 5’s Memories (from 2019) really summed up the over-riding emotions of 2021
Let’s hope that we stop living in these “unprecedented” times soon and get back to the “old normal” in 2022. Wishing all readers, a Very Happy, Healthy and Safe 2022!
As the Year 2021 AD draws to a close, here is looking back at events (and non-events) to remember the year gone by. Some will be remembered, others just forgotten. But then that is the fun of making these lists. And
1. Covid continues
We thought 2020 was bad. With the arrival of vaccines, 2021 was going to be better. Well, vaccines arrived but so did the deadlier variants as well as deadlier side-effects. Whenever we thought we had ridden a wave, another bigger wave came along. Can never forget the collective trauma of April-May which we in India went through. Hopefully with increasing vaccine coverage and better understanding of the disease we might be able to get a semblance of normalcy.
2. Ever Given
If ever there was a metaphor for humanity's fight against the virus, it was the image of a tiny excavator trying to move the stuck container ship. One ship (albeit a very large one) disrupted the whole global supply chain.
3. 87.58m
The distance that javelin flew. And just like that India had an Olympic Gold in Athletics! The crowning glory of our most successful Games ever. Thank You Neeraj Chopra!
4. US Capitol siege
The seat of most powerful nation seiged by people who looked like they were in a fancy-dress parade. Amongst other things they walked off with the House Speaker’s podium. Surreal doesn’t even begin to describe the scene
5. The Ultimate Fight
Every action movie director imagines that single shot of perfection – a perfectly choreographed fight scene going all over the place with protagonists moving in and out of the shot, all in a single take. This great Chaat fight of Baghpat had it all. (YouTube Link)
6. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Monkeys avenging one infant’s death by killing off 250 puppies. They have even gone started attacking humans who attempted to protect the dogs. (Link)
7. Cred Ads
They are funny, but what exactly is the product? To be honest, seem to be celeb funny videos pretending to be a product ad. Rahul Dravid & Neeraj Chopra’s were the best ones.
8. Reddit vs Wall Street
When reddit forum decided to take on Wall Street. And from nowhere the Game Stop’s share price zoomed up and stayed up destroying a couple of hedge funds. Lets not underestinate the power of the collective mob!
9. Zoom Mishaps
Work From Home, online classes and virtual meeting are continuing. So are the additions to the zoom mishaps (or MS teams & Google Meet, platform doesn’t matter). It has become a video category in itself. Special mention – where a lawyer turned up with a cat filter on. He reiterates, “I am not a cat”.
10. The Perfect Work Background Noise
A recording of a meeting of the Finance & Corporate Committee of Waipa District Council, New Zealand suddenly gained popularity as people started using it as background noise to show that they themselves are in a meeting and to not get disturbed (YouTube Link)
That was the Year 2021. Lets hope that we stop living in these “unprecedented” times soon and get back to the “old normal” in 2022.
Wishing all readers, a Very Happy, Healthy and Safe 2022!
Another year draws to a close. And as is becoming a habit, made a list of some interesting (at least to me) learnings from this year. Although given the year that 2021 was, avoiding references to covid related learnings (and there were lots of them) in my list.
Percussive Maintenance – a malfunctioning machine can be fixed by smacking it a few times. Remember all the radios and TV remotes. (Wiktionary) This definitely works!
Challenger Deep in Mariana Trench is named after a ship the HMS Challenger which explored the world. (BBC) This was literally uncharted territory
Zeigarnik Effect - Completion of a task can lead to it being forgotten. While you are more likely to remember things which are incomplete or where you have been interrupted. (Psychologist World). Certainly true in Candy Crush where you don't recall any of the levels you breezed through in the first attempt.
Harrowing – literally means breaking up big clumps of soil into smaller ones. (Wikipedia) No better word to describe the year that is going by.
Pasqua Rosee – founded the first coffee shop in London – the pioneer of Starbucks and other Baristas! (BBC).
Smell-o-Vision – a system where odour would also be provided along with the action on screen! Unfortunately (or fortunately), never really took off. (Wikipedia)
First known transaction in bitcoins was in 2010 – 10,000 bitcoins for 2 Papa Johns pizza! (in Jan 2021 this would have been worth $300 Million) (Guardian) There is no competition now for the costliest food item ever!
First online order (bread, margarine & eggs) was made through a “TV” (BBC)
Pareidolia – a tendency to find patterns and images in random places (YouTube) (Merriam Webster)
Svetlana & Misha Zilberman – mother-son duo who have been Israel’s mixed doubles badminton champions (Scroll)
Hibakusha – people who survived the Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings (Wikipedia)
K A Auty Cup – the oldest international sporting Trophy – for cricket series between Canada & USA. Although given the many change in formats and big gaps, it has not been a regular feature (Wikipedia)
Seiryu-Miharashi – railway station in Japan with no other access except by train. Only for people to have a good view. (Link)
Richard Norris Williams – survived the Titanic sinking and later that year won US Open. (Link)
The US Air Force accidentally dropped an atomic bomb within its territory. Fortunately no human casualties! (How Stuff Works)
Mandela effect – a case of collective hallucination where a large group of people remember things differently from how it actually happened! (Healthline)
Pakistan’s high commissioner to India, Mohammad Ismail, wished to remain an Indian citizen (to protect his properties in UP) while being accredited to New Delhi as an envoy!
Cryptomnesia - term for when a forgotten memory is repackaged as your own idea. You fail to remember who told you something, or where you read it, so you think it’s your own. (BBC). This is a different level of plagiarism!
Peltzman Effect – People are more likely to engage in risky behaviour when security measures have been mandated. Safety perception increases risk appetite (Link). became a popular term during the covid second wave. Couldn't avoid the reference
Taco Bell “borrowed” the idea of tacos from a Mexican restaurant “Mitla Café”. Amazingly both are still functioning – one as a fast food chain, other still in its standalone avatar (BBC)
Pedestrianism – who moves the most over 6 days! The sport has evolved into endurance racing, iron man triathalons and 24 hours of Le Mans (BBC)
Israel’s national anthem has been ripped off in Hindi film music. Well, at least it was a patriotic song! Thanks to the Olympics! (Hindustan Times)
Wright’s Law – states that for every cumulative doubling of units produced, costs will fall by a constant percentage. (ARK Invest)
Zeolites were used for water filtration by the Mayan civilization (BBC)
Slacktivism defined as the self-deluded idea that by liking, sharing, or retweeting something you are helping out. Although there are recent studies which say that that is not necessarily the case. (Urban Dictionary) (BBC)
The Great Hedge of India – built by British as a barrier along the customs line for taxing salt. Quite a costly affair to patrol and also a system of oppression of the natives (BBC)
Nipper – the dog on HMV’s label, listening to the voice of his late master Mark Barraud. (Firstpost)
Dactylonomy - counting on hands – the very basics of counting! (BBC)
Phoebus Cartel – major lightbulb manufacturers including GE, Phillips, Osram decided to fix lightbulbs life at 1,000 hours instead of 2,500 hours. Longer life bulbs were not commercially viable! Started the planned obsolescence (Spectrum)
Pascal’s Triangle – every number is the sum of the two numbers directly above (Mathigon)
Well, 2021 was certainly a harrowing year. But we can always keep learning! Let’s see what new variants (in learnings) that 2022 brings.
The book is a collection of notes from Bhagat Singh’s jail term from September, 1929 to just the day before his martyrdom in March, 1931. The jail diaries are a series of notes kept by Bhagat Singh from his readings. In modern times it would have been a blog or a podcast. The notes cover a variety of subjects including history, civic society, the many hypocrisies of the British rule, economics, law etc. There are quotes from various authors and extracts from poems kept for his records. The notes also present Bhagat Singh’s views on a variety of subjects like marriage, charity, slavery, inequality in distribution of wealth, conducting a revolution etc.
We have been reading about Bhagat Singh since childhood. His image has been of an action figure, but he certainly was much more than that. Just look at the variety of subjects he covers in his notes and the clarity of the thoughts. Also, he was just 23. Certainly someone much more mature beyond their age. The biggest tragedy is that such a life got cut short so early.
And inspired by his writings, here is me taking notes from his notes. These are the lines which stood out to me.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Their’s not to make reply, Their’s not to reason why; Their’s but to do and die
Don’t ask for rights. Take them. And don’t let anyone give them to you.
Great are great because we are on knees.
So long as the laws are made by the ruling class and the courts are presided over by members of the class; so long as lawyers are private practitioners who sell their skill to the highest bidder, and litigation is technical and costly, so long will the nominal equality before the law be a hollow mockery.
For reform, a threat of revolution is necessary
Neither the machine nor the machine owner may rule the human race.
In politics as in war, tactics means the art of conducting isolated operations; strategy means the art of victory, that is the actual seizure of power.
Teach him to live rather than to avoid death! Life is not breath, but action! Life consists less in length of days than in keen sense of living.
The end of Law is not to abolish or restrain but to preserve or enlarge freedom.
A revolution is justifiable when the government ceases to fulfil its part of contract — the protection of personal rights.
No one should be rich enough to buy another nor poor enough to be forced to sell himself. Great inequalities pave the way for tyranny.
The first man who, having enclosed a piece of land, thought of saying ‘that is mine’, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the true founder of Civil Society.
An insurrection is an equation with very indefinite magnitudes, the value of which may change every day.
Remember that plague and cholera may attack you tomorrow, and is it not better for you to die as heroes? - Can't beat this logic for motivating more people to join the revolution
Siddhartha is the story of the journey of self-discovery of a man who is a contemporary of the Buddha. Siddhartha seeks knowledge and his search leads him to renouncing his home, meditating, then coming back to the world, and stepping away again. He also meets the Buddha but doesn't become a follower. In this journey his paths with those he left behind crosses again completing the circle of life.
My favorite line from the book - "Knowledge can be conveyed but not wisdom". This line is the essence of the tale. Siddhartha finds his own way and learns through his own experiences and not just by becoming a follower.
I had been under the impression that the book is the story of Gautam Buddha. Turns out its a parallel to the Buddha.
Going back to the Classics era – The Picture of Dorian Gray is a comment on the debauched lifestyle of the elite classes. A man commits all possible sins and nothing leaves a mark on him, while a portrait of his bears all the signs, getting progressively older and uglier with each sin. The central characters all live, not so ideal lifestyles and finally do end up paying for it, but not till quite some time has passed. Overall, quite a lesson in morals, although must not have been taken in good humor by the “classes” of the time.
There are a few lines which stood out.
"All art is quite useless" – Yet look at the monetary value which people are willing to pay for “art”
"Experience is the name men have to their mistakes" – A nice euphemism
"To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable" – Also true for everyone who wishes to start going to the gym from tomorrow.
