Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts

Saturday, March 18, 2023

False Impression - Jeffrey Archer


 


I happened to falsely pick this book to read on an over night journey. The plot is about an art piece from Van Gogh - Self portrait with bandaged ear. The detail of art is plenty. There is a protagonist - Anna Petrescu that is praised by everyone for no heroic reason. There is a villain who loots the art collections of royal families by over lending them money and making them bankrupt. Anna and her friend - Tina are on mission to hand over this villain to the cops and they succeed. 

The other details are too many and too irrelevant. For eg: Anna wears a certain dress on a certain day. The reader is awaiting to have a connection of this fact somewhere in the plot. But there is no mention. Most of the book is like this. 

Personally I tried hard to finish the pages. Plot is weak and the characters lack motive for their actions. Well.. why would someone take  mountainous effort to cross borders and reach out to someone to just alert of an impending danger when she herself is stuck in 9/11 WTC building collapse?.  Jack - who had always been investigating the Fenston drama has no good inputs in the whole tale. What is he meant for?. 

Wrong pick really. Sorry for the bad review and its really my view. 


Thursday, March 9, 2023

Holcroft covenant - Robert Ludlum


The Holcroft Covenant is a thriller novel written by Robert Ludlum. The story revolves around a man named Noel Holcroft, who discovers that his father, a high-ranking Nazi official, has left him a mysterious legacy. In order to claim the inheritance, Noel must fulfill a covenant, which involves using the money to compensate the victims of the Holocaust.





However, Noel soon discovers that he is not the only one searching for the inheritance. A group of former Nazis, known as the "Fourth Reich," are also seeking the money to fund their resurgence. With the help of a woman named Helden von Tiebolt, Noel must race against time to fulfill the covenant and prevent the Fourth Reich from carrying out their plans.

The novel is filled with suspense, action, and intrigue, and explores themes of guilt, redemption, and the legacy of the Holocaust. Personally it felt like a marathon I am running during the time I read the book. Usual to the Robert Ludlum theme, the protogonist is always on the run and have someone always following him. An enjoyable ride if you love fast paced story line and Robert Ludlum. 

Saturday, February 4, 2023

ಅರಮನೆ ಗುಡ್ಡದ ಕರಾಳ ರಾತ್ರಿಗಳು - ಗಿರಿಮನೆ ಶಾಮರಾವ್


I cant be sure if this is one of the worst books I've read. The story is an adventurous expedition by a set of 2 newly wed couples to one of the treacherous mountains in western ghats. They set out from Bangalore and check in to a hotel in Sakleshpur. Without even having a destination in mind, they dare to go see a hill top. From there, they see another hill top which appears to be close by and they decide to hike on that hill top. On the way, they cross a stream and lose valuable goodies like torch. After spending enormous time hiking, they realise the hill top is nowhere nearby and decide to return.

Now they lose track and lose the sight of the stream as they realise it all looks the same deep in the forest. They encounter some wild animals. They take shelter under a cave during the night and next day, find some jackfruits and mushrooms to eat. They are still unable to retrace and their phones dont work. Their folks from Bangalore are trying to contact them but in vein. 

Then they come across a temple and reside for the night. It rains on and off. One of them hold a gun. They want to kill some wild animals so they can eat them. In this attempt, they get attacked by a pack of wild dogs and one of the persons seem missing. They assume that the dogs ate him. There is no evidence of dogs eating the man but still they assume he is dead. His wife is in fits. She goes out frantically looking for him. The rest of them assume she is also dead. Then arrives the rescue team from the land. They give the 2 food and go out to look for 2 missing people. They realise that both are not dead and by chance of God survived the attacks. 

Review - My opinion is personal and should not bias the reader of this review. Its a very laborious book with repetition of same text for almost 50%. The author seems to cling to some sentences and keep them repeating almost of the pages. The thought process and perspectives of the characters seem to be same and repeat without progression. Still I finished the book to know what would happen to them. The story could be told in a short essay and if adopted for a film, it be over in 20 minutes but its a 180+ pages book. The author intends to educate the dangers of mountains to a non mountaineer. But that intent is lost. I could not imagine why someone wants to dare the nature without a single ounce of knowledge about mountains. 

Sunday, October 30, 2022

Pregnant King - Devdutt Pattanaik




Its a book about a king accidentally become the mother of a child. Written by Devdutt Pattanaik, its a tale of maternal adoration and love by a male species as opposed to a woman. It a beautiful tale of a king and his 3 wives trying to conceive a prince for which the king's grand father is awaiting to go live on vaana prasta. The pitrus are waiting to be reborn but there is no conception of the child. When the king decides to call 2 siddhis - Yaja and Upajaya who perform extravagant ritual to create a potion meant to be given to the queens, the king accidentally drinks it. He eventually becomes pregnant and gives birth to happy healthy boy. The 9 months of pregnancy and the child birth is kept secret. 

When the child is born, the only wish of the king is to be called mother by his child. The child refuses. The longing of the king continues till his breath. He keeps wondering "What sounds sweetest, being called Mother or being called Father"

He tries to seek answers from all possible avenues. He is entangled in this dilemma and desperate to find answers. He speaks to Arjuna to whom the king believes Bhishma narrated the story of a man who became a man and then a woman. Arjuna brushes off the query saying he does not remember any such story being told to him. 

The king also bears another child through his second wife. So he wonders "I am not sure that I am a man…I have created life outside me as men do. But I have also created life inside me, as women do. What does that make me? Will a body such as mine fetter or free me?"

The king who is supposed to be the upholder of dharma and embodiment of manhood is in deep confusion whether he is a man or a woman. 

The book is a good narration of king's wild mind and how he sees the world with a definite distinction between man and woman and at the same time he being a man and woman in himself. There are references to Shiva and Shakti both having different forms and how king relates to Illeswar - The patron God of Vallabhi who is God on full moon days and Goddess on new moon days.  

Monday, August 15, 2022

Leap of Faith - Danielle Steel


Not a  great story line and not a great set of characters. The whole thing would've been over in a 20 min clip on a web series. Lol. But definitely I could read the book head to toe without hassle. That is because you dont need to remember anything from the book. Wherever you start or end, you can almost certainly predict what would happen in next few pages. It was a good experience when I read this book during my son's bed time story time and he read his own books without troubling me. 

The story is about a 11 year girl who gets orphaned when her parents and brother die in a terrible accident. She is moved from France to America to live with her great aunt. Aunt treats her badly but there is a very close friend with whom she finds happy times in her distress. She is left with a huge inheritance by her father. She is suddenly millionaire rich. She goes back to Chateau in France where she lived with parents. She meets a very amicable friend who marries her and she becomes mother of his children within a short time. The story from here becomes very predictable and even with the most open ended mind, one prejudices over her stupidity. 

Back in my college days, Danielle Steel's books were entertaining. This book may be looked like the worst of Steel. 


Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Murder in the vicarage - Agatha Christie




Life has been busy for the last few months. I wanted to read something thats not mind boggling and a simple thriller. This book was the first in a shelf in an abandoned library. So I picked up to amuse myself in a subtle way. 

About 20 years ago, I used to read a lot of Agatha Christie novels. Thats something that helped me with getting along with reading. The general theme is to find the murderer. So, it used to be thrilling. 

The plot is about an extra martial affair and a murder associated with it. There is an old lady character called Miss Marple - is over intrigued with general business of everyone in the village. She proves to be resourceful in solving the murder mystery. 

Most beautiful thing about the book is narration. Its like watching a movie fathom itself. Also there are no crazy twists and turns which you will have to remember. Good book to keep you entertained for a bus/train journey.  

Tuesday, November 16, 2021


 ಓಂ ಶ್ರೀ ಪರಮಾತ್ಮನೇ ನಮಃ

ಅಧ್ಯಾಯ ೯

ಶ್ಲೋಕ ೪

"ಮಯಾ ತತಮಿದಂ ಸರ್ವಂ ಜಗದವ್ಯಕ್ತಮೂರ್ತಿನಾ ।

ಮತ್ ಸ್ಥಾನಿ ಸರ್ವಭೂತಾನಿ ನಚಾಹಂ ತೇಷ್ವವಸ್ಥಿತಃ" ॥೪॥

ಅರ್ಥ

ಮಯಾ- ನನ್ನಿಂದ; ತತಂ-  ವ್ಯಾಪ್ತವಾಗಿದೆ; ಇದಂ- ಈ; ಸರ್ವಂ- ಎಲ್ಲ; ಜಗತ್- ವಿಶ್ವ ಅಭಿವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯು; ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ಮೂರ್ತಿನಾ- ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ರೂಪದಿಂದ; ಮತ್ ಸ್ಥಾನಿ- ನನ್ನಲ್ಲಿ; ಸರ್ವ ಭೂತಾನಿ- ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಜೀವಿಗಳು; ನ- ಇಲ್ಲ; ಚ- ಕೂಡ; ಅಹಂ- ನಾನು; ತೇಷು- ಅವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ; ಅವಸ್ಥಿತಃ- ನೆಲೆಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ.

ಅನುವಾದ

"ನನ್ನ ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ಸ್ವರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನು ಇಡೀ ವಿಶ್ವವನ್ನು ವ್ಯಾಪಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಜೀವಿಗಳೂ ನನ್ನಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ನಾನು ಅವರಲ್ಲಿ ಇಲ್ಲ"

(ಈ ಎಲ್ಲ ಜಗತ್ತು ಮೈದೋರದ ನನ್ನಿಂದ ತುಂಬಿದೆ.ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವವೆಲ್ಲ ನನ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಲೆಸಿವೆ. ನಾನು ಅವುಗಳ ನೆರವಿನಲ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ)

ಭಾಷ್ಯ

ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾನೆ - “ನಾನು ಇಡೀ ಜಗತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ತುಂಬಿರುವ ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತಮೂರ್ತಿ” ಎಂದು. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬಳಸಿರುವ ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತಮೂರ್ತಿ ಎನ್ನುವ ಪದದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ಮತ್ತು ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಎನ್ನುವುದು ಪರಸ್ಪರ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಪದಗಳು. ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ಎಂದರೆ ಕಾಣದ್ದು, ಆಕಾರವಿಲ್ಲದ್ದು. ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಎಂದರೆ ಆಕೃತಿ ಮತ್ತು ರೂಪ. ಭಗವಂತ ಆಕಾಶದಂತೆ ಎಲ್ಲೆಡೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಿಸಿರುವ ಅವ್ಯಕ್ತ ಆದರೆ ಆತ ಜ್ಞಾನಾನಂದಮಯನಾಗಿ ಎಲ್ಲರೊಳಗೆ ತುಂಬಿರುವ ಮೂರ್ತಿ. ಒಂದೊಂದು ವಸ್ತುವಿನಲ್ಲೂ ಒಂದೊಂದು ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ತುಂಬಿರುವ ಅನಂತ ರೂಪಗಳುಳ್ಳವ ಆ ಭಗವಂತ. ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾನೆ “ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಂದು ವಸ್ತುವಿಗೂ ನಾನು ಆಧಾರ, ಈ ಇಡೀ ಪ್ರಪಂಚ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಅವಲಂಬಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ನಾನು ನಿರಾಲಂಬನಾಗಿ ಎಲ್ಲೆಡೆ ತುಂಬಿದ್ದೇನೆ”. ಎಂದು.

ಭಾಷ್ಯ ಕೃಪೆ

||ದಿ|| ಶ್ರೀ ಬನ್ನಂಜೆ ಗೋವಿಂದಾಚಾರ್ಯರು

Translation

"This  entire  universe  is  pervaded  by  Me,  in  an  unmanifest  form.  All  beings  abide  in  Me,  but I do not abide in them"

Commentary

This  entire  universe  —  composed  of  both  sentient  and  insentient  beings,  is  pervaded  by  Me — the  inner  controller  whose  essential  nature  is  unmanifest.  The  meaning  is  that  all  this universe  is  pervaded  by  Krishna  the  Principal  (śeṣi)  so  that  He  may  sustain  and  manage  it. This  [doctrine  of]  universal  pervasion  by  an  inner  controller,  who  is  invisible  to  all  beings, is  taught  in  the  Antaryāmi- Brāhmaṇa. So  also  Krishna’s  primacy  over  everything  is  taught.

Commentary by Shree Rāmānujāchārya

Monday, June 14, 2021

Ponniyin Selvan

Today I put down this massive and magnificent art of eminence by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Its massive because it comes in 2000+ pages in 4 volumes. Each page is a sheer joy of witnessing the grandeur of Chozha kingdom. 




Vallavarayan Vandiyatheevan walks in the lanes and palaces of Thanjavur, Kanchi, Kadamboor, Kodumbalur, Madurai, strolls in the forests of western and southern Karnataka underneath the Kaveri river, rows in the Indian ocean between Rameswaram and Ilankai, fight wars, truces, take part in secret conspiracies, scandalises affirmations from kings, corners death threats, with luck escapes from precarious people and situations, laments the loss of a friend, craves for Kundavai yet, survives the trust placed on him. - Is he the Hero? No. 

Arulmozhivarman or Ponniyin Selvan is the hero. He is believed to be saved by mother Kaveri herself when he was placed in the river and thats how he gets the name Ponniyin Selva. He is in Ilankai(Srilanka) waging war and is only 19. He is the second son of the most handsome king of Chola dynasty - Sundara Chola. His siblings are Aditya Karikalan and Kunduvai. Kunduvai is a lady protagonist sharing much of the spot light along with Vandiyatheevan. 




The plot is eventful with many twists but the storyline is predictable though there are great many people involved. All conspires to one war and that war has to be waged. 

The summary of the plot and the family tree and whos who is well reported in the wikipedia

I lived through the eyes of Vandiyatheevan all along with his vulnerabilities, love, sheepishness, shallowness, trickery, maturity and his hope for seeing good things. The books took me through those lanes and palaces that he walked by in a visual experience. I read the english version translated by Pavithra Srinivasan though I so much wanted to read the original script written in Tamil by Kalki (due to my illiteracy in Tamil).  



Tuesday, November 24, 2020

iCon - Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business

 This is an unauthorized biography of the greatest - Steve Jobs. i in the title of the book specified in small is a representation of many apple products. It also has a "I am con" kind of representation. This book is about the second innings of Steve Jobs at Apple once he was thrown out by the board of directors in 1985. 

PC: https://www.gottabemobile.com/iphone-6-iphone-5s-designs-reportedly-jobs-influenced/

Steve Jobs, born in San Francisco was adopted by Paul Jobs - a mechanic in American coast guard and his wife Clara Jobs. Jobs family moved to Mountain View California where Steve met many friends having curiosity in electronics. He enrolled in to Reed college in Oregon but soon dropped out and took interest in calligraphy. He started working at Atari Inc. where he worked on circuit boards for games. He took help from his long time friend Steve Wozniak and submitted boards that shook Atari's product owners. With Wozniak on his side, Jobs persuaded him to demo the partially built Apple 1 computer at HomeBrew computer club. This proved to be a life changing event for Jobs and Wozniak. The Apple Inc. as its known today was first conceptualized in Job's garage. The first investor Mike Markkula who was a retired Intel product marketing manager quoted saying he is investing not in the idea of Apple but in the incredible man behind it ie Steve Jobs. 

Steve Jobs took the role of CEO of Apple and was very successful at it. He was even the youngest to make it to the Forbes list of richest people in USA. He brought in the chief marketing manager Scully from Pepsico to Apple in 1983 as CEO. Jobs released ads for the Macintosh in 1984 stating the machine is something that no one ever has imagined to exist. This was largely seen as marketing hype and Macintosh did not receive the response Jobs was expecting. There were differences between Scully and Jobs. Macintosh failed to outperform IBMs personal computer. Jobs controlled the Macintosh division and the CEO Scully controlled the Apple 2 division and these two divisions worked like 2 different companies though Apple 2 generated the most of the revenue. In 1985 Jan, during the annual meeting, Apple 2 was not mentioned at all and this brought more bitterness among the early employees of Apple 2. Most of them left. Scully planned to reorganize the Apple board of directors in response to which Jobs also developed a plan to eliminate Scully. But Jobs plan was leaked and he later resigned from Apple. 

Jobs in 1985 founded NeXT Inc. which sold workstations for education use. He also founded Pixar- a computer animation studio which later produced movies like Toy Story and Incredibles etc. 

In 1996, when Apple announced it would buy NeXT for 427 million dollars. With this Jobs became the interim chief executive. Much of the NeXT products found their way in to Apple technologies. Under the guidance of Jobs, Apple increased sales significantly with the introduction of iMac and other new products. Jobs introduced iPod, iTunes and iTunes Store. In 2007, Apple entered the Phone business with the introduction of iPhone. 

The book is a narration of how Jobs built back the Apple empire and launched breakthrough products like iPod and iPhone. He has been criticized for his salesman and persuasion skills all through and at the same time he is perceived as a jerk more and less of a genius when it comes to technology. 

Friday, November 6, 2020

ಧರ್ಮ ಎಂದರೇನು? - Part 2

ಧರ್ಮವನ್ನು ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ನಾಲ್ಕು ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಎಂದು ವಿಂಗಡಿಸಬಹುದು

  • ಸಾಧಾರಣ ಧರ್ಮ ಅಥವಾ ನಿತ್ಯ ಧರ್ಮ
  • ವಿಶೇಷ ಧರ್ಮ
  • ನೈಮಿತ್ತಿಕ ಧರ್ಮ
  • ಆಪದ್ಧರ್ಮ
ಸಾಧಾರಣ ಧರ್ಮ ಅಥವಾ ನಿತ್ಯ ಧರ್ಮ
ಮನುಗಳ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಸಾಧಾರಣ ಧರ್ಮ ಅಥವಾ ನಿತ್ಯಧರ್ಮದ ಲಕ್ಷಣಗಳು ಹೀಗಿವೆ
  • ದೃಢತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಧೈರ್ಯ 
  • ಕ್ಷಮೆ
  • ದಮ 
  • ಅಸ್ತೆಯ
  • ಶೌಚ
  • ಇಂದ್ರಿಯಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ಹತೋಟಿ
  • ಬುದ್ಧಿ ವ್ಯವಸಾಯ
  • ತತ್ವ ವಿದ್ಯೆ
  • ಸತ್ಯ ಶೀಲತೆ
  • ಸೌಮ್ಯ ಶಾಂತಿಗಳು
ಈ ಹತ್ತು ಧರ್ಮದ ಗುರುತುಗಳು. ಇವು ದೇಶ ಭೇದ, ಕಾಲಭೇದಗಳಿoದ ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸವಾಗದೆ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮನುಷ್ಯರಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಯಾವಾಗಲೂ ಇರಬೇಕಾದ ನೀತಿಗುಣಗಳು.

PC: https://bradstevenstattoo.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/young-krishna/


ವಿಶೇಷ ಧರ್ಮ
ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡು ವಿಧ
೧. ಜಾತಿ ಧರ್ಮ
ಚಾತುರ್ವರ್ಣ್ಯಕ್ಕು, ನಾನಾ ಕುಲಗಳಿಗೂ ನಾನಾ ಪ್ರದೇಶಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟಿದ್ದು.
೨. ಆಶ್ರಮಧರ್ಮ
ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿ, ಗೃಹಸ್ಥ, ವಾನಪ್ರಸ್ಥ, ಸನ್ಯಾಸಿ -  ಈ ನಾನ ಆಶ್ರಮಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟ ದೀಕ್ಷೆ - ವ್ರತ - ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರ.

ನೈಮಿತ್ತಿಕ ಧರ್ಮ
ಇದು ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ಕೊಂಚ ಕಾಲದ ಉದ್ದೇಶಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ನಡೆಯತಕ್ಕದ್ದು 
ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡು ಬಗೆ
ಕಾಮ್ಯ, ಎಂದರೆ ತಮತಮಗೆ ಇರುವ ಬೇಡಿಕೆಗಳು ನೆರವೇರುವುದುಕ್ಕೋಸ್ಕರ ಮಾಡುವ ಪೂಜೆ, ಯಜ್ಞ  ಮೊದಲಾದವು
ಶುದ್ಧಿಕ್ರಿಯೆ, ಎಂದರೆ ದೋಷ ಪ್ರಾಯಶ್ಚಿತ್ತ ರೂಪವಾಗಿಯು ಅಶೌಚನಿವೃತ್ತಿ ರೂಪವಾಗಿಯೂ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಕ್ರಿಯೆಗಳು

ಆಪದ್ಧರ್ಮ
ರೋಗ ಅರಾಜಕ ಮೊದಲಾದ ಕಾರಣಗಳಿಂದ ಮೇಲೆ ಹೇಳಿರುವ ಧರ್ಮಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವುದನ್ನಾದರೂ ಸಾಂಗವಾಗಿ ನಡೆಸಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗದೇ ಹೋದಾಗ ಒಂದು ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮ ಲಾಂಛನವನ್ನು ಮಾತ್ರವಾದರೂ ಉಳಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಮಾಡುವ ಆಚರಣೆಗಳು


Thursday, November 5, 2020

ಧರ್ಮ ಎಂದರೇನು?

The most important question anyone will ask during a lifetime is "What is Dharma?" Here is some notes I made from Bhagavathgeete through the book - "Jeevandharma yoga" 


ಧರ್ಮ ಎಂದರೆ ಧರಿಸಬಲ್ಲದ್ದು.

ಧರ್ಮದ ಮೂರು ವಿಧಗಳು
  • ನೈಜ
  • ನ್ಯಾಯ
  • ಮೈತ್ರಿ




ನೈಜವೆಂದರೆ ಸಹಜ ಲಕ್ಷಣ. ಯಾವ ಒಂದು ಗುಣದಿಂದ ಅಥವಾ ಶಕ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಒಂದು ಪದಾರ್ಥ ಪದಾರ್ಥ ಆಗಿದೆಯೋ ಆ ಲಕ್ಷಣದ ವಿಕಾಸವೇ ಧರ್ಮ. ಸುಡುವುದು ಬೆಂಕಿಯ ಧರ್ಮ, ಬೀಸುವುದು ಗಾಳಿಯ ಧರ್ಮ, ಹಾರುವುದು ಪಕ್ಷಿಯ ಧರ್ಮ, ಬಿಸಿಯನ್ನು ಹೋಗಲಾಡಿ ಸಿ ತನುವಾಗಿಸುವುದು ನೀರಿನ ಧರ್ಮ, ಮೈ ಮುದಿಯಾಗುವುದು ದೇಹ ಧರ್ಮ. ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ವಯೋಧರ್ಮ, ಋತು ಧರ್ಮಗಳು. ಮನುಷ್ಯ ಯಾವ ತನ್ನ ಗುಣದಿಂದ ಅಥವಾ ಬಲದಿಂದ ಇತರ ಜನರ ಪ್ರಯೋಜನಕ್ಕೆ ಒದಗಬಹುದು ಆ ಗುಣವಿಶೇಷ ಅವನ ಧರ್ಮ. ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಇದನ್ನು ವ್ಯಾಲ್ಯೂ ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಯಾವ ಒಂದು ಗುಣದಿಂದ ಅಥವಾ  ಶಕ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಒಂದು ಪದಾರ್ಥಕ್ಕೆ ಬೆಲೆ ಬರುತ್ತದೆ ಆ ಗುಣ ಅಥವಾ ಶಕ್ತಿ ಅದರ ಧರ್ಮ. ಹೀಗೆ ನೈಜ ದ ಪರಿಪಾಲನೆ ಧರ್ಮ.

ನ್ಯಾಯವೆಂದರೆ ಒಂದು ವಸ್ತುವಿನ ಅಥವಾ ಪ್ರಾಣಿಯ ನೈಜಾಭೀವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಇನ್ನೊಂದುರ ನೈಜಕ್ಕೆ ಹಾನಿಯಾಗದಂತೆ ಒಂದು ಸಮೂಹದ ನಾನಾ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳ ವಿಕಾಸನ ಗಳನ್ನು ಹದ್ದಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಇರಿಸುವ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ.

ಮೈತ್ರಿ ಎಂದರೆ ಇತರರಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರೀತಿ. ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯು ತನ್ನ ನೈಜ ದಿಂದ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಪ್ರಯೋಜನವಾಗುವಂತೆ ಸ್ವ ಜೀವನವನ್ನು ವಿಸ್ತಾರ ಪಡಿಸುವುದು. ಅದೇ ಆತ್ಮವಿಕಾಸ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಧಕ ವಾದದ್ದು ಲೋಕಸ್ನೇಹ. ಅದೇ ಧರ್ಮ.

ಶಂಕರಾಚಾರ್ಯರು ಧರ್ಮದ ಅರ್ಥ ಹೀಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ
ಯಾವ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯೂ ಯಾವ ಚರ್ಚೆಯೂ ಲೋಕದ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಗೆ ಸಾಧಕವಾಗಿ, ಜೀವಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಇಹದಲ್ಲಿ ಯೋಗಕ್ಷೇಮವನ್ನು, ಪರರಲ್ಲಿ ಸದ್ಗತಿಯನ್ನು ಸಂಪಾದಿಸಿ ಕೊಡಬಲ್ಲದೋ ಅದು ಧರ್ಮ. 

ಧರ್ಮವು ಜೀವವನ್ನು ಜಗತ್ತನ್ನು ಸಹ ಧರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಜೀವಕ್ಕೂ ಜಗತ್ತಿಗೂ ಸಂಬಂಧ ತಪ್ಪಿದ್ದಲ್ಲ. ಹಾಗಿರುವಲ್ಲಿ

೧. ಜೀವಿಯ ನೈಜ ಗುಣಗಳು ಜಗತ್ತಿನ ಸಂಪರ್ಕದಿಂದ ಕೆಡದೆ ಉತ್ತಮ ಪಡುತ್ತ ಜಗತ್ತಿಗೆ ಉಪಕಾರ ವಾಗುವಂತೆ ಯು
೨. ಜಗತ್ತು ಜೀವ ಸಂಪರ್ಕದಿಂದ ಕೆಡದೆ ಉತ್ತಮ ಪಡುತ್ತಾ ಜೀವಿಗೆ ಉಪಕಾರಕ ವಾಗುವಂತೆ ಯು

ಯಾವ ಯಾವ ಚರ್ಯೆಗಳು ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳು ನಿಯಮಗಳು ನೀತಿಗಳು ಮನುಷ್ಯನಿಗೆ ಯುಕ್ತ ವಾಗುತ್ತವೆ ಅವುಗಳ ಒಟ್ಟು ಧರ್ಮ.

ಆತ್ಮ ಲಾಭಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಮೇಲ್ ಆದದ್ದು ಯಾವುದು ಇಲ್ಲ ಅದೇ ಹಿತ ಗಳಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲ ಪರಮ ಹಿತ. ಆತ್ಮದ ಸ್ವರೂಪವನ್ನು ಕಂಡುಕೊಂಡು ಅನುಭವಿಸುವುದೇ ಮೋಕ್ಷ.

ಜೀವವು ಜಗತ್ ಪ್ರಕೃತಿ ಬೀಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಮಾಯಜಾಲ ದೊಳಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿಕೊಂಡು ತನ್ನೊಳಗಿರುವ ಪರಮಾತ್ಮ ವಸ್ತುವನ್ನು, ಪರಮೇಶ್ವರನನ್ನು ಮರೆತು, ತದಿತರ ವಾದದ್ದನ್ನು ಸುಖವೆಂದು ನಂಬಿಕೊಂಡು, ಆ ಸುಖ ಸಾಮಗ್ರಿ ಗಾಗಿ ಪರದಾಡುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಈ ಪರಿಭ್ರಮಣೆ ಸಂಸಾರ. ಜಗತ್ ವ್ಯಾಮೋಹದಿಂದ ಬ್ರಾಂತಿ. ಈ ಭ್ರಾಂತಿ ಪ್ರಮಾದಗಳನ್ನು ನೀಗಿ ಆತ್ಮ ಸ್ವರೂಪವನ್ನು, ಭಗವತ್ ಸ್ವರೂಪವನ್ನು ಕಂಡುಕೊಂಡು ಅನುಭವಿಸುವುದು ಹೊರಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕುವ ಸುಖಗಳಿಗಿಂತ ಮಹತ್ತರವಾದ ಸುಖ. ಈ ಉತ್ತಮೋತ್ತಮ ಲಾಭಕ್ಕೆ ಜೀವವನ್ನು ಅನುಗೊಳಿಸುವ ಗುಣ ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರ ವರ್ತನೆಗಳು ಧರ್ಮ. 

ಧರ್ಮದಿಂದ ಆಗುವ ಪ್ರಯೋಜನಗಳು ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಮೂರು
  • ಲೋಕ ಸಂಸ್ಥಿ ತಿ
  • ಜೀವಕ್ಕೆ ಸುಖ ಸಂಪಾದನೆ
  • ಜೀವಕ್ಕೆ ಹಿತಸಾಧನೆ

ಸತ್ಯವೆಂದರೆ ಯಥಾರ್ಥ - ಸಂದರ್ಭ ವಾಸ್ತವವಾಗಿ ಹೇಗಿದೆಯೋ ಅದು. ತತ್ವವೆಂದರೆ ಅದೇ. ಪ್ರಸಕ್ತ ವಾಗಿರುವ ವಿಷಯದ ನಿಜಸ್ಥಿತಿಯೇ ತತ್ವ.  ನಮಗೆ ಇರುವ ಸಂದರ್ಭದ ತತ್ವವನ್ನು - ಯಥಾರ್ಥವನ್ನು ಗ್ರಹಿಸಿ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ನಮ್ಮ ನಡುವಳಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ಧರ್ಮ

ಒಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಮನುಷ್ಯನು ಸ್ವ ಸುಖವನ್ನು ಸಾಧಿಸಿ ಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದರಲ್ಲಿ ಜೀವದ ಸದ್ಗತಿಯನ್ನು ಮರೆಯದೆ , ಇತರ ಜನದ ಸುಖ ಸಾಧನೆಗೆ ಅಡ್ಡಿ ತಾರದೆಯು, ಇತರ ಜನಕ್ಕೆ ತನ್ನ ನೈಜದಿಂದ ಸಹಾಯವಾಗುವಂತೆಯು ನಡೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕೆಂಬ ನಿಬಂಧನೆಯೇ ಧರ್ಮ.

ಒಂದೊಂದು ಜೀವದ ಸ್ವಾಭಾವ ರಚನೆಯು ಸಂದರ್ಭ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶವು ಒಂದೊಂದು ರೀತಿ ಬೇರೆಬೇರೆಯಾಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಒಂದೊಂದರ ಧರ್ಮವು ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆಯಾಗುತ್ತದೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬನಿಗೂ ಅವನ ಸ್ವ-ಧರ್ಮ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ.

ಧರ್ಮ ಪ್ರಯುಕ್ತ ವಾದ ಯುದ್ಧದಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂತು ಹೋರುವುದು ಕ್ಷತ್ರಿಯನಿಗೆ ಸ್ವಧರ್ಮ. ಅದು ಅರ್ಜುನನಿಗೆ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯ ;ವ್ಯಾಸರಿಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಪಂಚಪತಿ ಸ್ವೀಕಾರ ದ್ರೌಪತಿಗೆ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯವಾಯಿತು; ಸ್ತ್ರೀ ಲೋಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಇನ್ಯಾರಿಗೂ ಹಾಗಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ; ಭಾವನಿಂದ ಮಕ್ಕಳನ್ನು ಪಡೆಯುವುದು ಅಂಬಿಕೆ ಅಂಬಾಲಿಕೆ ಯರಿಗೆ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯವಾಯಿತು; ಮಿಕ್ಕಾ ಸ್ತ್ರೀಯರಿಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಹೀಗೆ ಧರ್ಮ ತತ್ವವು ಜಾತಿಯನ್ನು ಅನುಸರಿಸಿ, ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯ ಶಕ್ತಿ-ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯಗಳು ಅನುಸಾರವಾಗಿ, ಸಮಾಜ ಸಂದರ್ಭ ವಶದಿಂದ ರೂಪ ತಾಳುತ್ತದೆ.


Picture credit - 
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/the-photo-blog/janmashtami-these-10-cute-little-krishnas-will-melt-your-heart/








Monday, August 3, 2020

ಭಗವದವತಾರಗಳು

The most empowering thing I read today are 7th and 8th verse of chapter 4 of Bhagavat geeta. The lines are as below 

ಯದಾ ಯದಾ ಹಿ ಧರ್ಮಸ್ಯ ಗ್ಲಾನಿರ್ಭವತಿ ಭಾರತ ।
ಅಭ್ಯುತ್ಥಾನಮಧರ್ಮಸ್ಯ ತದಾತ್ಮಾನಂ ಸೃಜಾಮ್ಯಹಮ್ 
ಪರಿತ್ರಾಣಾಯ ಸಾಧೂನಾಂ ವಿನಾಶಾಯ ಚ ದುಷ್ಕ್ರತಾಮ್ ।
ಧರ್ಮಸಂಸ್ಥಾಪನಾರ್ಥಾಯ ಸಂಭವಾಮಿ ಯುಗೇ ಯುಗೇ 



Context: 

ಭಗವದವತಾರಗಳು :

ಅರ್ಜುನ, ನೀನು  ನಾನು ಇಂದಿನವರಲ್ಲ ; ಮೊದಲಿನಿಂದಲೂ ಇರುವವರೇ. ನಿನಗೂ ನನಗು ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸ ಎರಡು ಸಂಗತಿಗಳ್ಲಲಿ ; ಮೊದಲೆನೆಯದಾಗಿ ನಿನ್ನ ಪೂರ್ವಜನ್ಮಗಳನ್ನು ನಿನಗೆ ಮರೆತುಹೋಗಿವೆ ; ನನ್ನ ಪೂರ್ವಜನ್ಮಗಳ ವೃತ್ತಾ oತ ನನಗೆ ಜ್ಞಾಪಕದಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ಎರಡನೆಯದಾಗಿ ನಿನ್ನ ಪೂರ್ವಜನ್ಮಗಳು ನಿನ್ನ ಪುಣ್ಯಪಾಪಗಳ ಕಾರಣದಿಂದ ಆದವು ; ನನ್ನ ಅವತಾರಗಳು ಧರ್ಮಸಂರಕ್ಷಣೆಗಾಗಿ ಆದವು . ಸಜ್ಜನರನು ಕಾಪಾಡುವುದಕ್ಕೆ, ದುಷ್ಟರನ್ನು ಸಂಹಾರಮಾಡುವುದಕ್ಕೆ, ಧರ್ಮ ಸಂಸ್ಥಾಪನೆಗಾಗಿ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಯ ಮೊದಲಿಂದ ಯುಗಯುಗಗಳಲ್ಲೂ ನಾನು ಅವತಾರ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಲೇ ಇದ್ದೇನೆ.  

Friday, July 17, 2020

Becoming - Michelle Obama

This is the autobiography of one of the most powerful women - Michelle Obama. Her life is an account to send the message that one needs to be deliberately happy and have positive outlook on life. 



Michelle Obama spent her child hood in a racially mixed middle class neighborhood. She was thriving since the very beginning. She learnt the different perspectives on life from her great family. Her aunt thought her the sense of devotion through piano lessons and cheerful grand father taught her to cheer regardless of the circumstances. Her father always showed her the brighter side to life helping her to learn the long lasting habit of blocking bad/negative news. Her mother helped her build confidence and courage to make decisions. Her brother Craig was one she admired most for his ease and flexibility of relating to everyone. 

She went to Whitney High school which was 90 minutes away commuting in 2 different city bus routes. She overcame her fears of the new school and built her confidence back. She managed to avoid her doubts and gradually grew fearless. She realized it was safe to be smart. She never relented in standing up to anyone who tried to oppress her. 

As she completed studying law in Harvard law school, she learnt to care less of what people think of her and started focusing on building cordial relationship with her colleagues at work. She met Barack Obama in the law firm - "Sidley and Austin". She was impressed by his poise self assuredness, warm demeanor, unconventional and weirdly elegant aura. 



Later she realized that being a lawyer is not her passion even though she topped in her work. She married Barack Obama and took an offer in job at the city hall in Chicago. Michelle supported Barack through his political career. After Barack's tenure as president, Michelle stated that they were ordinary people who found themselves in extraordinary journey due to their constant drive to succeed. 

Michelle imbibed the spirit of being better than who she was yesterday, worked on her goals, all through enjoyed the journey with no fear of past, present or future. 

Sunday, July 12, 2020

Me - Elton John

"Me" is a book on how never giving up on self can help one and all despite the situations and circumstances. Its the autobiography of Elton John - the don of rock and roll music. 



Elton John grew up in an emotionally draining and hostile environment which had long term effects on his adulthood. He was heavily influenced by the behaviors and nuances of those he grew up around - his father, mother and siblings. His father was a member of RAF and mother was a milkmaid during WW2. Elton grew up with his father hardly being around and when he was around, he was known to impose hars and stringent laws that would end up alienating Elton. Mother was borderline psychotic and enjoyed tormenting Elton as a boy. When both his parents were around, it was war - full frontal assault and cold deafening silence. Elton though had a friendly relationship with his grand mother. He lacked the feeling of family which had huge impact on his adulthood family life. No real guidance, no real affection or care, he simply floated in and out of fantasies that kept him grounded and hopeful for a better life leaving him detached from reality. 

A big amount of adults find themselves stuck, unsure of their worth and questioning their place in the world they've prepared whole lives to be part of. This emptiness, ever present and ever growing is a result f a longing for an identity that they've been robbed of growing up. Elton was no exception. 
He would find himself trapped in the cycle of  addiction and self loathing. Elton saw a sudden raise in the fame and eventually sought solace in cocaine, alcohol and extravagant parties. He was soothing an ache only he understood. He thought he was successful and famous and he won the battle but fame only brought him more loneliness and emptiness. 



Also, there was this glaring revelation about his sexuality. When Elton was growing up, he never realized he was gay. He married a woman without this knowledge and later divorced causing much pain to both the partners. He was clinically depressed and had suicidal tendencies several times. He questioned every bit of his existence and his achievements. He suffered from impostor syndrome too sometimes. 

Later he found his support group with people who saw him struggle and offered to help. Hugh Williams - his boyfriend also checked in to the same rehab as was Elton. Years later, Elton fought through the moment of darkness and came out the other end the massive success he is today. Bernie Taupin a friend with whom Elton wrote music influenced him. He finally stopped listening to voices in his head and started listening to the voices outside. 

Now reading the biography and knowing more about Elton, his songs sound a different tune to me. 

Friday, July 3, 2020

My journey with Bhagavat Geeta - Chapter 1 - Arjunavishaadayogah (Praakruthakaarunyayoga)



I started my journey of self discovery and non duality over the last few months by going through the book - ಜೀವನಧರ್ಮಯೋಗ by DVG which is the ಭಾಗವಥಗೀತ ತಾತ್ಪರ್ಯ . I've tried to document my experience here. 


(Prerequisite to learn Geeta- One needs to know the Whos who of Mahabharatha - Not just whats available in the popular culture but also the hidden and lesser known relationships between characters, who strikes what kind of chord to whom, the events, the triggers for the events and the aftermath and the impact of the events performed by certain people. One needs to unlearn the sequence of Mahabharatha and take one page at a time and explore all the varieties of possibilities. One needs to be open minded and apply practicality and see the events in today's realistic terms. 

If we understand bits and pieces of The great Upanishads and Veda, the experience can be more fulfilling. Also there are several references to other great epics of Indian mythology like Ramayana, Garuda Purana, Vishnu Purana,  Shiva charita etc.. If we know general ideologies of these, the meaning of Bhagavath Geeta becomes profound) 

The first chapter is mostly about Arjuna being a cry baby on why should he wage war and kill his loved ones.

The verses start with Drutaraastra asking Sanjaya as to what is happening on the battlefield. 

Sanjaya explains the battlefield scene as 
1. Duryodhana is saying to Bheeshma that our army is not comparable to the army that's under Bheema's leadership and that everyone in Kaurava side should guard Bheeshma. 
2. Duryodhana thinks that Bheeshma is old and cannot perform the duties of leading the kaurava army as he also has favoritism towards the pandu putras. Hence he seeks the favor of Dronacharya. 
3. Both armies start the sounds of conchshells, drums, bugles, trumpets and horns. 
4. Arjuna seeks Krishna to take him to the center of the battlefield to examine who all he is up against

Arjuna asks questions like 

1. Why do I have to wage the war and kill my most loved uncles, grand fathers, great grand fathers, family and friends?
2. What joy or pride I get by killing them?
3. What is a life or power when they do not exist to witness it?
4. Why should there be so much of bloodshed of not just my family and friends but the innocent soldiers and people of kingdoms when they dont even understand whose side they are standing - dharma or adharma?
5. If I kill so many innocent people, will I be not sinned? 

Key takeaways - 

Breaking the status quo. 
The above questions are also the questions for us to understand why should we break the status quo, why should the moment of rest(or comfort zone) be broken down to bring in action? Why cannot we just live the way we are living right now? What does Dharma seek of us? 

What is empathy?
Like anger, Love and empathy are also kinds of manovikaara - the simple variations of mind(which oftentimes can be a good variation in certain situations). That being the case, embracing empathy towards the loved ones is simply trying to entertain the mind with variety. 
ವಿಚಾರವಿಲ್ಲದ ಕರುಣೆ ವ್ಯಾಮೋಹ ; ಅದೇ ಪಕ್ಷಪಾತ ; ಅದೇ ಬ್ರಾಂತಿದೃಷ್ಟಿ ; ಅದೇ ಕಂಟಕ 

About the impulsive responses. 
ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ moment of impulse ಇರಬಾರದು. ಅದು ನಂಬಿಕೆಗೆ ಸಾಲದು. ಅದರ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ವಿಷಯ ವಿಮರ್ಶನೆ ಸೇರಿ ಅದರಲ್ಲಿಯ ಅಶುದ್ಧತೆಗಳನ್ನು ಕಳೆಯಬೇಕು. ಹಾಗೆ ವಿವೇಕಸಿದ್ಧವಾದ ಮನಃಪ್ರಚಲನೆ ಕಾರ್ಯರ್ಹವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. 




 

Monday, March 16, 2020

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

The last few weeks have been awkwardly slow, eventless and tiring. I picked up this book to get lost in my own self. It only made my grief bigger.

Its the book about Elinor and Marianne - Two Dashwood sisters - left to save their vanity after their father's death. Its set in 17th century in England. The book is a great deal of "conduct lessons" for young women and mankind if not less.

Elinor is full of sense - wisdom, good judgement and realistic thinking. Marianne is full of sensibility - emotional, sensible and living in goodwill dreamland. The book is a depiction of behavioural paradigm of these two characters. One has everything concealed and the other has nothing to conceal.



The story of the book is about how the Elinor and Marianne deal with situations when they become destitute by their father's death, finding a place to live when they are asked to leave the Norland farm, finding love in Edward Ferrars and John Willoughby respectively and dealing with Brandon, heart breaks, Edward Ferrars secret engagement to Lucy Steele, Lucy affinity to Robert Ferrars, Fanny's contentious treatment, avarice sense of John Dashwood, Willoughby's deception, London visit, Edward's apologies, being ill to the state of death, the recovery from death bed, Brandon's love for Marianne and finally making up the decision to marry.

The journey is drastic and dramatic with each twist having a twitch in the readers tummy. The sense and sensibilities of the characters is life inspiring and a clearly defines what to do and what not to do. Thats why I think it stayed as the "Conduct lessons" for so many years in the history. The journey is also the depiction of socio economic conditions in the evolution time period of mankind where "Family" hood was at epitome. All through what is professed is that its not about woman or man - one has to uphold the respect for self.

The language was a bit strange to me at first but you get accustomed to it after say 50 pages. It took more than 4 weeks to read. But after those four weeks I felt like a different person altogether. Some of the best quotes in the book are -

“She was stronger alone…”
“Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience- or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope.”
“To wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect…”
“Sometimes one is guided by what they say of themselves, and very frequently by what other people say of them, without giving oneself time to deliberate and judge.”
“Life could do nothing for her, beyond giving time for a better preparation for death.”
“It is not what we think or feel that makes us who we are. It is what we do. Or fail to do.”
“A man who has nothing to do with his own time has no conscience in his intrusion on that of others.”
“I never wish to offend, but I am so foolishly shy, that I often seem negligent, when I am only kept back by my natural awkwardness. [...] Shyness is only the effect of a sense of inferiority in some way or other. If I could persuade myself that my manners were perfectly easy and graceful, I should not be shy.”
“She was without any power, because she was without any desire of command over herself.”

“Marianne Dashwood was born to an extraordinary fate. She was born to discover the falsehood of her own opinions, and to counteract, by her conduct, her most favourite maxims.”
“I can feel no sentiment of approbation inferior to love.”
“Mine is a misery which nothing can do away.”
“Sometimes I have kept my feelings to myself, because I could find no language to describe them in but what was worn and hackneyed out of all sense and meaning.”

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Hidden Files - Prof. Triveni Singh and Amit Dubey

On LinkedIn I am friends with India's first and super cyber cop Prof. Triveni Singh Sir. He is an IPS officer who is known for cracking cyber crimes. He along with Amit Dubey who is a cyber crime investigator and cyber security speaker have teamed up to author this book by name "Hidden files". It is inspired by the real crimes they solved.



The book is a collection of short(mini tales) stories each one more thrilling than the previous one. I bought it through Kindle unlimited which is free of cost. Took about 2 nights to read them all.

One mini tale titled "Cats Murder" gave me shrills in the spine literally. Its about a small boy who plays video games and does nasty things at home. The sensational stories of SMS scams, fake job offerers, video game that detects wifi signals and determines the position of the person speaking on phone, game that captures pics of surroundings, Lover boy capturing nudity of girlfriends, marriage proposal scams are all horrifying and blood curdling.

Reading this book, one can discern the vulnerabilities we are exposed to just by connecting to internet(and otherwise). The stories are short and I assure you there is no glorification of the crime. I get to read about real life cases the professor solves on daily basis on linkedin. A man on a mission to solve every bit the cyber crime is the definition of Prof. Triveni Singh, IPS, MBA, PhD, CEH. He is an inspiration to cyber cops and to many like me. 

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Midnight in Chernobyl

A while ago, when I was touring around my parents in law's home, I went to a deserted village called Borkatte near karkala. It was nearly barren with fallen tress and broken houses. At the same time I was reading this book called Midnight in Chernobyl. I could relate to the state of village of Pripyat being deserted due to nuclear blast.



The book - Midnight in Chernobyl is a documentary of events that led to the largest nuclear outage on the face of earth on April 25th 1986. That was around the time I was born and my father kept telling me stories about what happened in Chernobyl nuclear blast. Since I knew only what my father had told me, I was intrigued to fill myself with details and so I read this book.

Soviet Union assumes answers to most of the energy problems in nuclear energy. They decide the place to be Pripyat which is a small village near the regional capital Chernobyl. Victor Brukhanov a nuclear scientist is assigned to the project to build first ever atomic power plant in Ukraine from scratch. The project would cost 400 million rubles. Victor painstakingly goes through every stage of facility building to dealing with authorities and labourers.

The shape of the plant is dependent on functionality in the most economical ways the stations designers can conceive. The plant commission makes several important recommendations to develop safety regulations to protect reactors in the event of coolant loss. Recommendations to devise a faster acting emergency protection system are also made. Despite the apparent urgency, the reactor designers fail to act on any of the recommendations. Instead the Soviet Govt orders more of the reactors to be built. In the years that follow, there would be even more serious accidents in the nuclear reactors else where in the Soviet union and all of them would be covered up for the fear that it would tarnish the ostensibly spotless record of the peaceful reactor.

The key safety system of the reactor # 4 is ascertained to protect it during a blackout. The designers develop a run down unit which is the crucial safety feature of the reactor #4 and must be tested before it was approved for use in 1983. In 1986, the tests were overdue for more than 3 years and the first scheduled maintenances for the reactor #4 gave the opportunity to conduct trial in the real world conditions. From here, the things start to fall. During the test, the reactor shuts down and destroys itself. There would be a loud noise of the explosion and a mushroom like cloud blossoming in to the sky. The highest levels of emergency alerts are summoned. It is a  terrifying and apocalyptic sight and the worst is yet to come. The damaged reactor is running low on water coolant. Extinguishing fire with water is counterproductive as it burned more savagely. The blast released explosive hydrogen and radio active steam. The levels of emitting radiation was such that a man would absorb a lethal dose in less than 4 minutes.



The need for secrecy lead to the false report that the accident was something that could've been controlled and contained. The people's lives were kept at risk. After elaborate investigations, the failure of the reactor was blamed on the incompetence of the operators. There was a thick long block of wall constructed to contain the radiations as an aftermath. Its called sarcophagus. The people and directors who were penalised for the disaster were released in 1990.

25 years after the incident, the Ukrainian government decided to build a tourist center around the exclusion zone in Chernobyl. It is considered safe for short visits.

The book is a horrifying documentation of the events. I was so moved by the events that I watched the Chernobyl documentary on Netflix. The stories of Dyatlov, Victor, Alexander Yuvchenko and Nikolai Formin are heart rendering. 

Monday, February 3, 2020

The moment of lift by Melinda Gates

Melinda Gates grew up as a child in Catholic home, raised by aerospace engineer father and stay at home mother. She witnessed a number of space launches which inspired her to find the moment of lift in the human beings. Its the story of a passionate public feminist advocate who shares her experiences of travel and working with underprivileged women.



In the story, she tells about how she met Bill Gates when she was working at Microsoft. After the birth of her first child, she along with Bill establish a foundation meant to fight social inequalities. It was not Melinda's plans to work on gender issues but after realising that empowering women is the key to reduce and increase access to health care, the foundation becomes more poised in solving gender issues.

She writes that "Poverty is the most disempowering force on earth" and hence works on resolving world poverty. She then talks on working on unplanned pregnancies which is the no.1 cause of death for girls aged 14 and 21. She works on child marriages, woman working on unpaid work, gender barriers, religion biases etc in the book.

I was in the impression this is a self help book. But it is more of a autobiography. There are good advices all over the place though. The last conclusive advice goes as below.

Speak up when and where you can. This will not only help you find a safe place in your voice, but it will also improve your sense of self. Always remember you have a responsibility to yourself to speak up against every form of unfairness. Also be nice to everyone you come across as love is the ultimate bridge of life. 

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Kite Runner

A very long time ago I read this book. Later I watched the movie too. Both have been classics in their own terms. This is the book that lead me to Khaled Hosseini and I read all his works back to back and now I await for the next ones.



This one is about a boy named Amir who lives with his father "baba" in Kabul, Afghanistan. He has a servant by name Ali. Ali has a son called Hassan. There is a friend of baba - Rahim Khan.  Ali and Hassan belong to hazaara which is a ethnic minority. Baba loves Hassan more than Amir or thats what Amir thinks as. There is a kite fighting festival where the boys cover their kite strings in glass and battle to sever the string of opposing kites. When a kite loses, boys chase and retrieve it. This is called kite running. When Amir wins the kite challenge, Hassan sets off to run the losing kite. Hassan is trapped in an alley with his pants down and being raped by rowdy boys named Aseef, Wali and Kamal. Amir looks on as all this happen without letting out his effort to guard Hassan. Once Hassan is out Amir looks as if he doesn't know a thing. Amir is full of guilt and wants Hassan out of his house. He stuffs money and a watch under Hassan's bed and tells baba that Hassan stole them. When baba confronts Hasaan, he admits it though he has not done a thing. Ali and Hassan move away from Amir's house.

During the war times, Afghanistan is occupied by Soviets and Amir and baba escape to California. Amir goes to college and marries a girl by name Soraya. Baba dies due to lung cancer and one day Amir gets a call from Rahim Khan to see him in Pakistan. When Amir meets him he has a favor to ask. He tells about Hassan being the natural son of baba, about his house in Kabul which was demolished by Talibans, death of Hassan and his wife, about their orphaned child Sohrab. Rahim wants Amir to pick Sohrab from orphanage in Kabul. Amir sets off to Kabul to find that there is no orphanage and Sohrab is living with Aseef where he is sexually abused. Amir and Sohrab fight Aseef and escape. Amir and Soraya find trouble in legally adopting Sohrab but eventually they do. Sohrab is shaken and do not talk to anyone. He will have problems with getting along with the new family. Once there will be a kit festival in Fremont and Amir and Soraya take him there. They fly the kite together and Sohrab smiles for the first time. 

When Sohrab smiles for the first time is when the readers also let out a tear of happiness. Its a book of great love, guilt, loyalty and submission. There is war also in the backdrop to add to the sadness of the book but its the one with profound emotion and feeling.

I read this book around 10 years back and I still remember the characters and the story and more so the emotion associated with each scene. One has to read it to understand the depth and meaning of the fact that love and guilt combined together becomes such a powerful force.