Synopsis 9: The Winner Stands Alone

    ‘The Winner Stands Alone’ by Paulho Cohelo describes a story which basically revolves around three main characters namely-Igor who is a Russian business tycoon, Ewa who is Igor’s wife and Hamid Hussein who is a fashion designer from Middle East.

    Igor is into Telecom business and he is quite engrossed in it. He loves his wife Ewa very much but could not spend time with her because of his busy schedule and business commitments. As time goes Ewa’s discontent grows and finally decides to give Igor divorce. At the same time Ewa comes in contact with Hamid Hussein who is a big name in fashion industry and they get married.

    However, Igor still loves his wife and desperately wants her back in his life. To win her back he makes a journey to Cannes where his former wife and Hamid Hussein are also there. He is even prepared to kill people to win back his love. He thinks that killing for love is justified. There are other characters in the story like Gabriella, Jasmine,Maureen,etc.who come in the scene as the story progresses. All these characters are directly involved in fashion or film industry.

    On his way of winning back his ex-wife he goes on killing one person after the other. Gradually he develops a feeling of hatred towards his ex-wife and at the end kills Ewa and Hamid Hussein. Quite a depressing end,isn’t it?

   The story lacks thrill which can keep a reader from getting bored. There are a lot of unnecessary details given in this book about the Cannes film festival and the film and fashion industry which is quite boring. Still a good book to read on a weekend.

Synopsis 8: The Monk who sold his Ferrari

          ‘The Monk who sold his Ferrari’ by Robin Sharma is one of the most inspiring books that I have come across. This book speaks about changing your lifestyle in order to attain your goals and objectives in life. The author has presented his ideas about leading a simple and balanced life in the form of a fable. The presentation of the fable is immaculate and it had a mesmerizing effect on me when I was reading this book.

          This book presents a story about a highly successful lawyer Julian Mantle who visits India in search of spirituality. In the process he gives up his legal profession. On his odyssey to India he comes across Monks residing in a village named Sivana in the foothills of Himalayas.  From the Monks he learns time tested method regarding time management, discipline, developing a strong will power, personal introspection and overcoming fear. The Monks teach all this ageless principles and in return expect Julian to return back to his native country and teach the same principles to all the ones who require it the most. Julian Mantle then returns to his native place and meets his friend and fellow lawyer John and teaches him all the ageless principles and this is how the story goes.

             I liked the manner in which the various ideas are presented in this book. This book has left a permanent impression on my mind.

Following are some of my favourite lines from the book:

“I am more than I appear to be , all the world’s strength and power rests inside me.”

“We are all here for some special reason. Stop being a prisoner of the past. Become a architect of the future.”

India's way to World Cup glory !

Wining the World Cup Trophy is what every Indian Cricket fan dreams about. Finally, the dream of a billion people came true when India trounced Sri Lanka in the World Cup final to lift the coveted trophy after 28 years of long wait. The glorious moment will be cherished by all the fans of Indian Cricket team for a long time to come. This World Cup win is also significant as it has ended 12 years of domination by the Australian Cricket team over World Cricket.


Indian Cricket team went through various ups and downs throughout the World Cup and has emerged victorious on most of the occasions. Team India was dubbed as a weak bowling and fielding unit before and during the tournament, but the team has proved its detractors wrong. Indian team lifted it's bowling and fielding remarkably during the knockout stage of the tournament and looked a formidable side with their lethal batting line up.

India's victory over the defending champions Australia and arch rivals Pakistan were the highlights of the tournament. India also did well against the West Indies, Netherlands, Ireland and Bangladesh in the league stage to book a place in the knockout stage. India's only defeat in the World Cup came in the hands of South Africa (who later chocked out in the knockout stage). Most importantly Indian team learnt the important lessons from the defeat and lifted their game remarkably well.

This was the last World Cup for legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Muttiah Muralitharan. Sachin played last World Cup of his career and couldn't have asked for a better farewell than winning the Cup for the nation.

At the end of the day Indian Cricket team is now the new guardian of the World Cup trophy. Bleed Blue !!!!

India as Republic in present context

      India celebrated its 62nd Republic Day with great pomp and show and displayed its military might to the world. And I take this occasion to to raise several unanswered questions with which my fellow countrymen are grappling. There are questions related to corruption, price rise, terrorism , accountability and good governance which the so called popularly elected government needs to answer. I have used the words 'so called popularly elected government' , because this is the government which has been elected by less than half the population of the country.

      On Economic front, the government needs to answer when and how price rise and inflation be brought under control. What steps have been taken by the government to ensure food security.We Indians demand answers from the government whether the black money stashed in foreign banks be ever brought back to the country.

       The government also needs to answer questions about the widespread corruption on social front. On billion Indians are still baffling with the question whether the government officials and the ministers involved in 2G scam, CWG scam, food scam and Adarsh scam escape unpunished?

       Another important question that needs to be answered on Political front is whether patriotism is prohibited in our country. Whether we Indian have the right to hoist our National Flag or not? If yes, then why have the Jammu ans Kashmir government and the Central government prohibited members and leaders of the main opposition party from hoisting the National Flag in Srinagar. Is the government afraid of the separatists and the hostile neighbors?

        Coming back to good governance which I have mentioned in the first paragraph. What steps have the government taken to curb Naxalism? What steps have the government taken to eliminate poverty and backwardness in tribal regions which is the root cause of naxalism?

       It should be noted that I am not against the government or any particular individual. But I am definitely against the policies of the government.

जय हिंद !! 
वन्दे मातरम !!

My voice on corruption echoed by majority of Indians

      In my previous blog dated November 29, I tried to highlight how corruption has crippled bureaucracy and social structure of our country. And now my views have been echoed by majority of Indians according to the survey published by Times of India on December 11.

      According to the survey, the most talked-about topic this year among the Indians was 'Corruption'. About a third of Indians reportedly talked about corruptions with friends, co-workers and family. And, no prize for guessing what Indians thought was the most serious global problem-corruption again.

     This shows the gravity of problem that corruption poses.

Corruption-A Curse to the Nation

        Corruption has now become a buzzword. Everyday we can see the newspapers and news channels feeding us with the news related to corruption. Corruption has now shaken the very foundation of bureaucracy. Corruption has crippled our top politicians, top bureaucrats, police officials and employees of various organizations. The popular saying,'Corruption of the best is the worst' ; has now become self evident. Time has now come to deal with this menace with iron hands.

        Our great nation has recently witnessed a series of corruption related scams. Strating with the CommonWealth Games scam and gradually followed by 2G scam and the Adarsh Society scam has brought disrepute to the nation.More and more skeletons are coming out of the cupboard, the latest example being the Karnataka land scam. Many committees have been formed to look after this scams but in vain. Even the country's premiere investigating agency, C.B.I., seems to have become the puppets in the hands of Central Government and is protecting a few elite and influential persons involved in the scams.

        We the free citizens of India must denounce corruption in all forms.Government on other hand must show some will power and bring stricter laws punishing the corrupt. We the citizens of India must realize that the ultimate power of government resides in our hands. We must vote for only those candidates who have a clean record and we must show the corrupt politicians the exit door. The people of the poorest state i.e. Bihar have shown us the way by voting out Lalu-Rabri in the Assemble elections of 2010. We must learn from the people of Bihar and vote out this blood sucking CORRUPT POLITICIANS.

Synopsis 7- Trust me

       This novel portrays the best of western culture and the worst of Indian culture. On one hand it tries to portray the dignity of woman through the main character Parvati (Paro), on the other hand it deals a severe blow to the dignity of woman by  citing examples of actresses and other artists who are willing to act as prostitutes in order to get work. The main character of this novel Parvati on one hand believes in the tradition of trust and marriage, on the other hand she has been portrayed as an ultra modern woman smoking and drinking and having affair to come out of the trauma that she suffered earlier. This is completely preposterous.All the male characters in the novel have been depicted as craving for lust and exploiting woman. This is completely ridiculous.

      In the earlier part of the review I have written that it depicts the worst of Indian culture and I have reasons to say so. This novel on many times described pre-marital sex which is against the Indian culture and values and an adoption of western culture. It has also depicted woman as over ambitious, leaving their native places and freaking out. Woman with high ambitions are good for the society and country but the rebellious manner in which has been depicted is highly objectionable. It also depicts woman as drinkers and smokers.

      Now, coming to the main story. The character of Parvati (Paro) has a pre-marital affair with a man named Karan. Paro gets pregnant and she has to undergo abortion. Her boyfriend Karan ditches her. Taking advantage of the situation her boss at an Ad agency tries to exploit her but in vain. All these incidents make her loose all respect and trust for man. In the course of time a struggling actor Rahul Kapoor enter her life. This Rahul guy falls in love with Paro but she wouldn't trust him because of her previous experiences. Honestly, the character of Rahul is very unmanly. Everything that Paro does is acceptable to him. On many occasions Paro insults him but still he is after Paro.(Even a dog which is known for its faithfulness will run away after receiving so much of whacking....just joking !! ) And at the last Paro agrees to marry him and that is the only positive thing in the entire book. And that's it !!

     A very ordinary story with no real twists and turns and thrill. Not a completely romantic novel as well. Thumbs down from my side !!

Book Details:
Title: Trust Me
Author: Rajashree
Publisher: Rupa Publications
My Rating: 1.5/5

A hero has risen -Somdev Devvarman

       Tennis is not a very popular game in India and traditionally India has not done well either. But this is all changing now. Changing because India has now got a new sporting hero in the form of Somdev Devvarman. He has in it to be a role model for all the Indians who wish to pursue Tennis as a career. And he has rightly dedicated his success to 'every child with a dream'.

       Somdev has achieved some astonishing success in recent past. He won a gold medal in Delhi Common Wealth Games and now has won a gold medal at the Asian Games in Guanzhou in the singles event. He has also won a gold medal in doubles event as well. Thus he has won a hatrick of gold medals in two months and  becoming the only Indian player ever to achieve this feat.

   We are proud of you Somdev !!

   

Synopsis 6- Ignited Minds

        Mesmerizing and inspiring !! These are the words that come to my mind while describing this book. Dr. Kalam has certainly evaluated the pulse of the nation. It will certainly inspire the younger generation of India to strive for converting India into a developed nation.

        Dr. Kalam has discussed the power of dreams and the importance of converting dreams into thoughts and thoughts into action. He has also discussed the role of teachers and parents in nation building.

        Dr. Kalam has identified 5 fields for obtaining sustainable economic growth for the nation. The 5 fields are agriculture and food processing, power, education and health care, information technology and strategic sector which includes space, defense, nuclear industry, etc. Dr. Kalam also underlines the fact that a developed India won't just consist of developed cities but a chain of developed villages interconnected with each other.

         I am of the view that this book should be introduced in the curriculum of every school. If it happens then it will inspire tens of thousands of young Indians to strive for nation's progress.

         Hats off to Dr. Kalam !!
Book Details:
Title: Ignited Minds
Author: Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
Publisher: Penguin Books
My Rating: 4/5

Synopsis 5- Tuesdays with Morrie

    Tuesdays with Morrie is basically a memoir giving accounts about the lives of the writer (Mitch Albom) and his beloved professor Morrie Schwartz. Over the years the writer lost the track of his old professor who taught him nearly twenty years before.The writer gets to meet his old professor again only to find his professor dying due to a neurological disorder called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Both of them decide to meet on Tuesdays to discuss various issues related to life.

   Both the professor and the writer met on consecutive Tuesdays till the death of the old professor. They discussed topics which makes an average person wary. They discussed topics like regrets in life, death, family, emotions, money, marriage, fear of aging, culture, forgiveness and a host of similar related topics. 

      There are several books in the market which teaches you how to be successful. But this is one book which teaches you humanity. This book fills you with optimism. A must read book for one and all.

 Book Details:
Title: Tuesdays with Morrie
Author: Mitch Albom
Publisher: Sphere
My Rating: 3.5/5