All Posts in BlogAdda

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

There are tons of self-help books by Indian as well as International authors, but many of them dish out gyaan leaving the reader confused about the application of the tips mentioned in the book. I am sure you could easily co-relate to that ‘Never judge a book by its cover‘ scenario where the book cover looked interesting but the contents of the book were not so engaging leading to less takeaway from it 🙁

As a 90’s kid I really enjoyed the mythological series of Ramayana and Mahabharata though it was only meant for entertainment purpose. My thoughts towards Ramayana & application of learnings from it changed after I read [as well as reviewed] Shubha Vilas’s book Ramayana : The Game of Life: Shattered Dreams and Ramayana : The Game of Life: Rise of the Sun Prince. The books had stories on Ramayana with learnings that can be applied in today’s life!

Today we review another book Open-Eyed Meditations by the noted author Subha Vilas. The tag line of the book is ‘Practical Wisdom for everyday life‘

About the Author

Shubha Vilas holds a degree in engineering and law with specialization in patent law. But in essence, he is an author, a motivational speaker, lifestyle coach, and a storyteller par excellence. You can find more about him here

Detailed Review

Open-eyed Meditations is a beautiful compilation of thoughts wherein each meditation takes you on a journey to the past, bringing a secret herb to heal a problem of the present. Similar to the previous books penned by Shubha Vilas, this book also uses the wisdom of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata to solve your everyday problems!

Considering that there is so much stress in everyone’s life, one option to find peace and solace is mediation. As it is known that meditation should be done with your eyes closed but this book spells the other side of meditation that can be practiced with ‘open eyes’ and ‘open mind’. The book comprises of 64 chapters and each chapter follows a unique approach to help us address questions and issues that we have in our life, through the aid of short snippets quoting examples and behaviors from the Ramayana & Mahabharata.

Though the book comprises of 64 chapters, every chapter is kept short [keeping the crux intact] and language used for narration is simple. The reader need not be aware of the characters in the mythological series and this where lies the beauty of the book! Whether you are facing issues at your workplace, going through a turmoil in your relationship, facing problems with decision making or want to enhance your leadership skills; this book offers valuable nuggets of wisdom and action point resources to deal with it all. An ideal way to read the book is to look the Contents/Index and select a chapter that might be able to potentially address your concern.

Shubha Vilas retains his traditional writing style where he ends each chapter with a summary [or helpful tips to be more precise] that can be used in our day-to-day lives. The book is written in a very simplistic and contemporary manner, which keeps the interest alive!

Key Takeaways

Each and every page has some learning in it and that is the key highlight of the book. Below are some of the chapters that we enjoyed reading the most [Note : Choices might vary from reader to reader]

  • Chapter 3 – Do all problems have quick fix solutions?
  • Chapter 4 – Why don’t I make the right decisions in life?
  • Chapter 5 – Spirituality @ Workplace
  • Chapter 10 – Can your talent be your enemy?
  • Chapter 12 – A formula to re-brand your mind
  • Chapter 14 – Who controls my opinions and decisions
  • Chapter 17 – Are you programmed to be someone else?
  • Chapter 18 – From Information to transformation
  • Chapter 21 – Is lack of focus a disease or a choice
  • Chapter 22 – An idea to prevent hacking of ideas
  • Chapter 27 – The investment that returns hearts
  • Chapter 29 – Can your success be your failure?
  • Chapter 37 – The science of how to let go
  • Chapter 40 – A compliant against complaining
  • Chapter 42 – Art of leading leaders
  • Chapter 43 – Seven secrets of innovation
  • Chapter 45 – Indivisible leadership
  • Chapter 50 – Do ‘Likes’ make my life?
  • Chapter 53 – Leading through mistakes
  • Chapter 54 – Leading without a title
  • Chapter 55 – Making leadership last
  • Chapter 59 – X factor influencing success
  • Chapter 62 – Constructive thoughts about team building

Some of the notable excerpts from the book are mentioned below

Competition : Compete with yourself not others. Competition with self improves performance and causes no heartburn either. Further comparing yourself with others undermines your uniqueness. Gratitude for our individuality can reduce self-destructive habit of comparison. Unlike flattery, appreciation requires skills and comes from the heart.

People : People want to deal with others’ strengths and not weakness; their abilities and not idiosyncrasies. Rather than rejecting a person due to this bad side, the need is to provide emphatic assistance in dealing with the shortcomings.

Being positive : Talented people with negative attitudes are unable to cope with the ups and downs of life. Right attitude helps to move on in life. Relationships too wither away without the right attitude

Re-brand your mind : Human mind, thoughts, beliefs, values, culture, all operate through symbolism. We have bandwidth to upgrade our symbols and climb up a higher rung of the value system. We could also end up downgrading our symbols to an abyss of negativeness and anxieties.

We can choose a symbol that inspires or choose one that revives bad memories and creates self destruction.

Embrace my embarrassments : We all have embarrassments that we want to run away from. One perspective is to look at them as God’s way of keeping us grounded amid success. The secret is to handle embarrassments with dignity and humility, which is also how we should handle success.

Art of leading Leaders : The first step in leadership training is to find and hone potential leaders at the earliest. Then, shortlist them based on their ability to deal with sticky situations and take personal interest in guiding and developing young leaders, to focus their efforts on upgrading what they have.

Leadership training model can resemble Kangaroo-type, that gives protection in safe havens, or Bird-type, which gives strength to find wings.

Leading though mistakes : Leaders make mistakes too. After the mistake is made, ineffective leaders look for a scapegoat to put the blame on. By taking responsibility, a leader allows himself that scope of error.

A thinking leader considers mistakes as an opportunity. To lament for one’s mistake is important, but far more important is to learn from that mistake.

Leading without a Title : A leader wanting the support of a heavy title is bound to fail. The title can be used either to inspire or terrorize, depending on whether he wants to control his followers or make his followers achievers.

Leaders, who heavily depend on titles, bask in glory during the happy times and hide themselves during hostile times. Title-less leaders come out during challenging times and hide themselves during happy times. For a title-less leader what is more important is performance. A position is only a decoration and when push comes to shove what matters is performance.

Closing Thoughts

Open-Eyed Meditations is a book for all moods and all seasons. 64 chapters are covered over 280 pages and this is where lies the beauty of the book i.e. learnings are conveyed in a short yet effective manner.

It is a book that can be read again and again since it reveals many profound thoughts that can nurture a different aspect of your life. As mentioned by Shubha Vilas in the introduction section of Open-Eyed Meditations

Read this book the way a cow eats grass while ruminating. Chew on every word carefully till you have milky lucidity that nourishes every aspect of your life. This book will help you learn the art of meditating with your eyes wide open as you keenly observe the world around you and allow it to enlighten you.

It definitely stands by that promise since each chapter delivers a powerful learning. In a nutshell, Open-eyed meditations is a book of thoughtful sutras that can become life sutras.

You can purchase Open-Eyed Meditations by Shubha Vilas by clicking on the link below

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 2 Comments

In the past, we have done many Book Reviews, thanks to the BlogAdda Book Review Program. Some of the past reviews are – Review : Best Seller she Wrote, Review : Business Sutra, Review : Shades of Life, Review: Ramayana – Game of Life and Review : Private India and we have thoroughly enjoyed reading those books 🙂 For readers who are not familiar with BlogAdda, it is a platform for bloggers to connect with each other, showcase their blogs and participate in interesting activities. The Adda has given writers various avenues to introduce their blogs to a large audience and interact with their readers [More here]. Today we review Six Degrees-Game of Blogs which is not a regular book but it is a piece of publishing history.

Six Degrees Game of Blogs : Collaboration meets Creativity

Six Degrees is a product of the first collaborative blogging effort in India. Yes, you read it right.. It is a novel that is co-authored by many writers [precisely bloggers :)] who are winners of the #CelebrateBlogging initiative by BlogAdda [that ran the first edition of Game Of Blogs in September 2014]. The objective was to write a fictional story revolving around five characters. Bloggers from across India came together as teams and after three rounds filled with it’s own set of twists & turns, three stories were adjudged winners by coveted panel of Judges.

Hence, Six Degrees is not an ordinary effort but the result of “Collaboration + Creativity” 🙂 The most fascinating thing about this book is that – Five characters are same and have the same characteristics in three stories narrated in the book.

Six Degrees Game of Blogs : Characters, Stories & more insights

As mentioned earlier, the book has three different stories with five characters (that remain same across stories). All the stories are set in Mumbai & Delhi. What we particularly liked about the book is that the language used in the stories is simple and authors (three teams of bloggers across India) have made a great effort to make the stories more engaging and keeping the readers hooked on to their seats !!

The Lead characters around which stories have been plotted are below:

  • Shekhar Dutta – A freelance writer and also a stay at home father
  • Tara Dutta – Wife of Shekhar and also a Media Professional
  • Roohi Duta – Their nine year old daughter. All the three stay as a close-knit family in Mumbai
  • Jennifer Joseph – Kochi based photographer
  • Cyrus Daruwala – Law student staying in Delhi

Three Stories that have been written by three different teams are below:

The Awakening

Team of bloggers who have worked on ‘The Awakening’ are the following-

Authors - The Awakening
Authors – The Awakening

The Awakening – Backdrop

The Awakening is about Tara Dutta, Shekhar Dutta and their nine year old daughter Roohi. They are a close knit family who stay in Mumbai. It is a science fiction story with interesting twists and turns. Thy are leading a normal life until the arrival of a surprise guest – Jennifer [Cyrus and Shekhar’s friend] after which their lives become topsy-turvy. Every day, there are new revelations and incidents that threaten to tear the happy family apart.

Just like a Hollywood sci-fi flick, you can visualize the scenes and the good part about the story is that the scenes change at a very rapid pace. This keeps the readers glued to the story. The graphical representations of the aliens and the powers they possess adds more Masala to the entire story.

Would the ‘Once upon a time- Happy Family’ succeed to find out who are the strangers that have entered their lives ? What is the secret that holds the key to their happiness ? Would they be able to defeat the super-powers and save our earth ? These are the answers that lie in ‘The Awakening’, read it to believe it 🙂

Entangled Lives

Team of bloggers who have worked on ‘Entangled Lives’ are the following-

Team - Entangled Lives
Team – Entangled Lives

Entangled Lives – Backdrop

In Entangled Lives, a small seemingly happy family is thrown into turmoil with the arrival of strangers in the house. Tara and Shekhar Dutta have similar job profiles. Cyrus is an illegitimate child of Shekhar Dutta. She studies Law. Jennifer Joseph is an over-ambitious wild-life photographer. It is an intriguing story about an out of work writer, a power-hungry media head, a wild life photographer, 9 year old child and MURDER. The mystery that needs to be solved is who has murdered the maid of the Dutta household.

There is no direct evidence to link the murder to the crime though there is an eye-witness that will help in solving the mystery. For me, it was an edge of the seat thriller and a complete page-turner. Just like a Bollywood flick, this story has all the ingredients to make a great story – Relationships, Lies, Secrets, Betrayal and Revenge. We won’t be surprised if some Bollywood Director expresses interest in making a feature film on this story 🙂

Missing – A Journey within

Team of bloggers who have worked on ‘Missing’ are the following-

Team - Missing
Team – Missing

Missing – Backdrop

As the title rightly suggests, this story is about a Missing person. Roohi, daughter of Shekhar Dutta goes missing from school. Roohi was accidentally clicked by Jennifer [photographer] when she was clicking pictures to complete her assignments. She recognizes Roohi since her parents have circulated her pictures on Social Media. So, who was Roohi last seen with ?

Missing traces the journey of love, hope, care and affection right into hatred, ego, prejudice and negativity. It beautifully etches the pain that a family has to go through since there is a fear of loosing Roohi forever. Just when hope to find Roohi starts to dwindle, journey takes a fascinating turn.

Would the family manage to find Roohi or they would loose her forever, Missing holds all the answers !!!

Six Degrees Game of Blogs : Closing Thoughts

The overall effort put by the BlogAdda team to identify and shortlist writers is commendable. Coming to the book, the stories are very captivating, we particularly liked ‘Entangled Lives’ though opinions might differ based on reader’s interest.

The thing which we really liked about the book is that same characters were given to all the teams and they came out with well-knit stories. If you like to read about different perspectives in life, love drama, suspense; than Six Degrees is the book for you 🙂

Final Verdict – 4/5

Where to buy the book

The book is available on Amazon [Affiliate link below].

Six Degrees-Game of Blogs definitely proves the point that each blogger is different, their views are different and the way they visualize things are different !!! We highly recommend BlogAdda to come up or plan with the next edition of #Celebrate Blogging so that more bloggers can embark their journey to become authors.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

|In: Books|Last Updated:

I am sure that most us would have watched [if not read] the Ramayana that used to be tele-casted on Doordarshan. Few months back, we had reviewed the book Ramayana : The Game of Life : Rise of the Sun Prince which was aptly written to convey the messages from the Ramayana to the urban audience.

Today we review the second installment of the book titled – Ramayana : The Game of Life: Shattered Dreams.

About the Author

Shubha Vilas is a motivational speaker, spiritual seeker with B.E in “Electronics & Telecommunications” and L.L.B specializing in Patent Law. You can find more about him here

Detailed Review

Just like the previous book, here also the author tries to connect the learning from each instance [of the Ramayana] with real-life [through footnotes]. The book starts off with the dilemma that King Dasratha faces in deciding who should succeed him. It showcases the life of Ram while in exile. The author has beautifully taken the famous Ramayana and given it his own touch. It teaches us that “Despite all odds, how both Rama & Sita shared a very beautiful & understanding relationship with each other”.

20150309_072835-1

The author helps us visualize the beauty of “being self-less” through the actions of Lakshmana & Bharata. Through Manthara’s character, it beautifully portray’s “How poisonous instincts of one person can lead to the disaster of an entire nation [Ayodhya]”.

The author had to make sure that the reader finds the story interesting [and can co-relate to it] else it would have been “Me-Too” book on the epic. There are learnings on Leadership, Mentoring, Giving-up etc. from each chapter [or I can say from each page :)] which readers can easily co-relate to day to day life.

The Ramayana is narrated in a very crisp & simplistic manner ensuring that the epic gives out more learnings to it’s readers !!!

There are interesting lessons on Management which we would like to share in this article.

Management Mantras

Lord Rama revealed five key management concepts a good leader has to adhere to. These five tenets form the most important limbs of a leader’s portfolio.

Respect Management

The foundation of any leadership rests on respect management. A leader who respects his superiors, allows the flow of energy to descend into his life. With that in mind, Rama’s question to Bharata were:

  • Are you treating your preceptors respectfully ?
  • Are you making sure mother Kaushalya & Sumitra are happy ?
  • Is the venerable Keikeyi rejoicing ?
  • Do you honor Sayujna, the son of Vasistha ?
  • Are you respectful toward, brahmanas, teachers and ministers ?
  • Are women respected & taken care of ? Respect toward them is the root of all the good that happens in society & dis-respect toward them is the root of all evil in the society.

Decision Management

Decision-making with discernment becomes an ornament that brings respect & appreciation from followers. Rama gave Baratha some crucial pointers:

  • Do not deliberate either alone or with too many men.
  • Your decisions should not be made public before being carried out.
  • Neighboring kings should not understand your undertakings before execution.
  • Your decisions should have maximum benefit at minimum cost.
  • Do not delay decision-making.
  • Do not falsely accuse, kill or punish a noble man without appropriate inquiry. Remember that tears of victims falsely accused actually destroy justice givers.
  • Do not release a thief for greed of wealth.
  • Encourage your ministers to be impartial to both the rich and the poor.

Reputation Management

Reputation is like a glass ball. It has to be clean, but before that, it has to be in your grip. People see before they hear; they judge a leader on the basis of his actions before they get inspired by the words. The reputation of the leader imbibes confidence in the follower. Rama’s suggestions to Bharatha were:

  • Do not fall prey to excessive sleep & wake-up at an appropriate hour.
  • Contemplate about the adroitness of your action in the second half of the night.
  • Dress royally. The regal appearance of a king gives confidence to the subjects.
  • Make yourself available to hear your subject’s grievances. First hand interaction with the leader gives hope to the subjects.
  • Do not over-indulge in wealth, religion or delights of the senses. Over-indulgence or indulgence at the wrong time or place creates doubts in subjects.
  • Do not eat without sharing. Not sharing makes one hardhearted & others jealous.
  • Avoid incurring the wrath of Brahmanas by falling into wrong habits.
  • Ensure that servants are not dis-respectful toward you nor should they hasten away in fear on seeing you. Disrespect & fear are two extremes indicating barriers in connections between the leader and his subjects.

Team Management

Team management is to a leader what life management is to a doctor. When a team is managed with grace, the subjects are filled with gratefulness; the team becomes the solution to all problems a leader faces. Rama revealed these pearls of wisdom:

  • One wise man is better than thousand stupid ones; one good minister can ensure the prosperity of a kingdom.
  • Assign tasks according to the level of intelligence, ability, skill, position & status of the employee.
  • Surround yourself with ministers who are not only corruptible & full of integrity but also born and raised in a family that imbibes Vedic values & culture.
  • Train your ministers to avoid flexible decisions that makes subjects fearful.
  • The army chief should be cheerful, wise, courageous, well-behaved, loved by his subordinates, efficient, born & raised in a family that imbibes Vedic values & culture.
  • Honor courageous warriors in public.
  • The army should be paid their salary & daily provisions on time. A delay in wages & maintenance causes servants to be corrupt and infuriated with their master.
  • Select an ambassador who is knowledgeable, wise & skillful, has a presence of mind and knows how to speak to the point.
  • Though three spies, unacquainted with one another, collect all information about your important officers as well as those of your enemies. Do not place your trust on one spy.
  • Do not spy on your own ministers, your guru & the princes. Monitor their actions.
  • Do not house a physician who is an expert at aggravating a disease, a servant intent on bringing disgrace and a valiant warrior seeking kingly power. They can be the cause of your destruction.

Character Management

A leader should religiously avoid these 14 sins. By carefully avoiding these, the leader can suitably manage his character.

  • Giving the material world as much importance as the spiritual world.
  • Carelessness.
  • Procrastination.
  • Lack of appreciation of righteous people.
  • Autocracy in decision making.
  • Avoiding decisions already made.
  • Dishonesty.
  • Revealing confidential information.
  • Indulging in discussions with people of adverse opinions and thus wasting valuable time.
  • Invading enemies from all directions.
  • Respecting bad people.

Closing Thoughts

“Ramayana : The Game of Life: Shattered Dreams” is a breezy read & keeps the reader’s hooked with the learnings [documented in the footnotes]. Overall the book is a must read for all Epic lovers, Management gurus & Aspirants to get the story from an entirely different angle knitting it well with the modern era.

Thanks to Mr Shubha Vilas for sending us the review copy of this book 🙂

|In: BlogAdda|Last Updated:

What happens when two authors from different genre’s & from different parts of the world team-up & come up with a book ? Well, the result would be an interesting mix of their individual strengths, story-telling would definitely be a “treat to the readers” !!!

“Private India” by Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson is one such book. James Patterson is the best-selling author behind the critically acclaimed & best selling “Private” Series [Private L.A, Private Berlin etc. to name a few].

PrivateIndia

About the Author

Ashwin Sanghi is counted among India’s highest-selling English fiction authors. He is best known for this bestsellers – The Rozabal Line, Chanakya’s Rant & The Krishna Key. All his books have been based on historical, theological and mythological themes.[1] He is one of India’s best-selling conspiracy fiction writers and is an author of the new era of retelling Indian history or mythology in a contemporary context [More about Ashwin Sanghi here]

James Patterson is an American author who is largely known for his novels about fictional psychologist Alex Cross, the protagonist of the Alex Cross series. He has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels & stand-alone thrillers [More about James Patterson here]

Detailed Review

The story starts off with a sequence of murders in Mumbai [none of them are related to each other] with unfortunate local bombings. A murder happens in a resort which is managed by a private agency named “Private India”. Private India is headed by an ex-cop, Santosh Wagh who is the director of the private agency.

Santosh Wagh’s team comprises of a bunch of “officers” who have the capability to crack any case; no matter how complex that case may be !!! There are a series of murders & in each murder, an evidence is left at the crime scene [whether it help’s Santosh Wagh and this team to crack the case is revealed in due course…. mystery is definitely kept intact :)] 

The number of murder’s keep increasing & there are other issues like God-men, Politics, Corruption etc. are also coupled with the murders [doesn’t this remind us of Singham Returns :)]. Some aspects of Indian mythology have also been clubbed with the murder scenes; especially sacred feminine. Just like any other Bollywood masala movie, this book packs all of it. At every point, the reader can visualize the murder & this is the main plus of the story since, it keep’s the reader thinking.

Closing Thoughts

The book provides an “Edge Of the Seat” thriller experience & the “Plot” creates this experience !!! This is the first time we reviewed a book of this genre on our blog & we really enjoyed the “murderous” journey 🙂 At around 450 pages, “Private India” is a breezy read, the credit goes to the big font-size used in the book &  “effective story-telling”.

Final Verdict : 3/5

Buy “Private India” from Flipkart by clicking the below link

Thanks to Blogadda for sending us the review copy of this book :) This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books !!!

|In: BlogAdda|Last Updated:

I am sure that most us would have watched [if not read] the Ramayana that used to be tele-casted on Doordarshan. I used to thoroughly enjoy it but for some reason I could not strike a cord with mythology as it was not my cup of tea !!! So how can someone re-tell the age-old Ramayana in a tone that co-relates to the modern era & still does not dilute it’s core i.e. learning’s we get from the great epic  ??

The book “Ramayana : The Game of Life: Rise of the Sun Prince” by Shubha Vilas is one such commendable attempt to re-tell the Ramayana for Modern Audiences.

Ramayana : The Game of Life: Rise of the Sun Prince

About the Author

Shubha Vilas is a motivational speaker, spiritual seeker with B.E in “Electronics & Telecommunications” and L.L.B specializing in Patent Law. You can find more about him here

Detailed Review

This is the first part [Bala Kanda] of the six book series that Shubha Vilas has come up with & takes us through the divine story of Lord Rama from his birth up-to his marriage. The narrative closely follows Valmiki’s Ramayana, gently weaving in the folk tales as well as the beautiful analogies of the Kamba Ramayana.

The narrative throws fresh perspective on how Valimiki came up with the Ramayana, insights into Ayodhya, Lord Rama’s life, His relation with Sita, tales of Dasaratha‘s leadership, Dasaratha’s 353 wives, Vishwamitra‘s quest for power, origination of the island Lanka, Life of Ravana & intriguing story of a little-known stone maiden. Well, the list goes on, as the book details into each & every aspect of the Ramayana.

The author had to make sure that the reader finds the story interesting [and can co-relate to it] else it would have been “Me-Too” book on the epic. Shubha Vilas has succeeded in that task where each page is followed with foot-notes where he connects the content [from Ramayana] with real-life traits i.e. Leadership, Mentorship, Greed, Spirituality etc.

Honestly, for readers [including myself] who have less idea about the Ramayana, the footnotes added as “catalyst” that generated interest & gave us handy-tips on how we can apply the age-old principles of Ramayana in our day-to-day lives !!!

Key Takeaways

As mentioned earlier, each page has some “key” learning from it & that in our opinion is the highlight of the book. Some of the interesting excerpts from the book are mentioned below:

Mentorship, Failing & Learning

An advisor is like an able doctor who does not prescribe before diagnosing the disease. To lament from one’s mistakes is important, but far more important is to learn from that mistake. To make mistakes does not imply lack of intelligence but a lack of foresight. Not repeating mistakes is a sign of intelligence.

Building an Effective System

King Dasaratha’s brilliance & foresight could be gauged from the way he made systematic arrangements to make the kingdom self-sufficient. Ayodhya had two type’s of water-storage systems – Devamatraka i.e. entirely dependent on rains sent by demigods & other nadimatraka i.e. dependent on effective water storage systems. Ayodhya depended on nadimatraka system which facilitated rain water harvesting to ensure abundant water supply. Today’s society adopts the nadimatraka system of irrigation which is heavily dependent on rains.

Leadership Traits

Foresight is the hallmark of a leader; it enables a leader to build effective systems. The leader’s quality lies not just in building such systems but also in ensuring effective functioning of those systems. An interesting type of leadership is “servant leadership”, where the leader feels that being anointed leader is a gift to serve more people. Such a leader finds every opportunity to serve as God sent. Dasaratha had created a flawless system but when it was not as effective as anticipated, he considered it as his responsibility to rectify it at any cost, even at the cost of his life !!!

For a leader, four things are essential – physical strength, intellectual strength, emotional strength & spiritual strength. Physical strength is acquired by having a powerful army; intellectual strength by studying the scriptures and being guided by a wise counsel; emotional strength by being kind, generous and sensitive towards the weaker; and spiritual strength by taking some time off from the worldly pursuits to pursue one’s goal in life and taking refuge in higher powers.

A good leader knows the “Art Of Delegation“; in addition he delegates himself the most demanding role, that of being an inspiration.

Teamwork

Dasaratha’s leadership model

Dasaratha’s strength was his Big M – a council of ministers [mantri’s or mentors] carefully chosen by him. He had eight ministers – Drishti, Jayantha, Vijaya, Suraashtra, Raashtravardhana, Akopa, Dharmapaala & Sumantra. These eight ministers were men of pure mind & great integrity.

Their love for their country and it’s people, along with their loyalty to the kind, encouraged them to use their foresight in devising policies and plans to help their country progress. Their words completed their actions.

Tangible & Intangible assets

Success is to follow a leader if he can create tangible as well as intangible assets. Tangible assets are essentially his abundant treasury and an unconquerable army. Intangible assets include the confidence of people in the leader’s power and ability.

It is the intangible asset that is the soul of leadership, which leads to loyalty and unquestioned co-operation. To capitalize on the tangible and intangible assets effectively, the leader has to depend on a third type of asset, known as “Big M” [Ministers, Mentors & Mantri’s of the king]

Be in “Better than yourself” company

However great an individual may be, it is impossible to achieve any kind of success alone. Those who do not believe in a team are afflicted by the disease of Insecurity. Deep insecurity about working with those stronger than themselves stems from the fear of being over-shadowed. Such people surround themselves with weaker people. When one dreams of a big goal, the team one chooses must be bigger then the dreams envisioned. Else, it would only remain a dream. Surely, you could co-relate this to the “Art of Recruiting” by Guy Kawasaki 🙂

Law of “Dependence”

Rather than being engaged in one-upmanship, one should focus on how combined strength can enhance individual capabilities. When one engages in competition, it results in destruction of the other & one becomes oblivious to the pain of the other.

Capitalizing on mutual strengths leads to success. The law of dependence states that one’s real strength lies in realizing the strength of another. Dependence releases one from the burden of being an exclusive controller & leads to the freedom of accepting higher powers to realize one’s goal.

Taking shelter in one’s own strength leads to taking pride in being the controller. By being amiable enough to depend on others strength, one can focus on achieving the goal. Vishvamitra realized that for so long he had exclusively depended on his own strength. He learnt his law of dependence from his mother Kaushalya.

Guided intelligence leads to the right direction. Personal choices have to be sacrificed at the altar for the good of the whole.

Closing Thoughts

Rise of the Sun Prince is very interesting take on the Ramayana. At 252 pages, it is an good read & definitely there are learnings in it for everyone i.e. be it leader, mentor, entrepreneur, teacher or any other individual…

We complete this review with the following thoughts from the author Shubha Vilas

Rise of the Sun Prince reveals to us the range of principles that underline the healthy relationships in our lives – between parents & children, between husband & wife, between brothers, between a leader & his followers, between a teacher and his/her students.

The Ramayana is not a book; it a way of life !!!

Thanks to Blogadda for sending us the review copy of this book 🙂 This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books !!!

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

Each one of us would agree that Indian Mythology is very rich & there are tons of things that can be learnt from it.  If we look back at our day to day life, everything that we do has someway or the other got some mythological angle to it !! It would be interesting if the two dots namely “Mythology” & “Business” are connected & this is what forms gist of the book – “Business Sutra” by Devdutt Pattanaik.

About the author

Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik is an Indian physician turned leadership consultant, mythologist and author whose works focus largely on the areas of myth, mythology & management. He is the Chief Belief Officer,CBO of “Future Group” bringing the wisdom of Indian mythology into Indian business, especially in human resource management [Source – Wikipedia]

Detailed Review

Business Sutra uses stories from Indian [particularly Hindu, Buddhist & Jain] mythology & shows how it’s learning’s can be used to run a small/medium sized business or in our day to day work in a large corporation [MNC]. Diagrammatic representation of the mythological characters makes the book an interesting read, without which the reader would have do lot of research to understand the connections !!!

Some of the important key take away’s from the book are given below [excerpts taken from the book]:

3B Framework

It briefly describes the the connection between “Belief” & “Business” & calls it the 3B Framework – Belief, Behavior & Business. The author says “Belief plays a key role in business: it determines choices and propels the decisions of buyers & sellers, regulators and shareholders, investors & entrepreneurs, employers & employees, vendors & customers. It determines how we do business and what ultimately gets done.” As is Belief, so is Behavior, so is Business i.e. Business is a direct outcome of our Behavior, which in turn is influenced by our belief.

Food for Yagna [Exchange]

Lakshmi – Wealth, Durga – Power that grants security & authority, Saraswati – Human Imagination & Knowledge. Only a person who understands that philosophy is the seed of all economic & political decisions can understand that every human being has a different philosophy & only the wise are able to accommodate everybody’s philosophy. Entrepreneurs & risk- taking investors are the best examples of this category !!!

Being a “Sattva”

Each person has different Guna [personality] & they are broadly classified into three categories – Tamas, Rajas, Sattvas. A person with “Tamas” guna will agree with what majority says. He of  “Rajas” guna will see Lakshmi [wealth] as the end target. He of  “Sattva” guna will see Lakshmi as an indicator of personal growth. In most societies, people with “Tamas” guna form the majority pack which is directed by the minority pack of “Sattva” guna.

Business Sutras

  1. Every Devata seeks a high Return On Investment [ROI].
  2. We have to make room for others.
  3. He who takes the call is a Karta & everyone is a potential Karta.
  4. A Karta who allows & enables others to take a call is called a “Yajaman”.
  5. Size of the contribution does not matter.
  6. Not everyone can handle the burden of “Uncertainty”
  7. Decisions are contextual. If the decisions are good, the Yajaman is beneficiary & if they are bad, the Yajaman alone is responsible.
  8. Regeneration ensures sustainable wealth.
  9. He who satisfies hunger becomes “desirable”.
  10. Strategy is the force than tactic is the counter-force.
  11. If Ambition is the force than Contentment is the counter-force.
  12. If Creativity is the force than Process is the counter-force.
  13. Upstream forces need to be balanced by Downstream forces.
  14. Balance is the key to avoid tug of war.
  15. Impact of an organizational decision varies depending on the source.

Closing Thoughts

“Business Sutra” makes a very interesting read & it brings a fresh and whole new dimension to Business & Mythology. It’s definitely not a breezy read & the reader might need to get into the “mythological” groove to get the best “Sutra(s)” of “Business Sutra” !!!

The book is available on Flipkart here [though the status indicates “Back in Stock Soon” which itself speaks for the awesome work done by Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik :)]

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books !

|In: Android|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

There is no dearth of chat cum audio/video applications namely Nimbuzz, TalkBox, WhatsApp with WhatsApp being the most popular [at least in India :)], today we review an interesting app named WeChat. WeChat is a robust, fast-performing, 100% free mobile voice, video and text messaging application with the strength of over 200 million users worldwide. For doing the review, we downloaded the app for Android from here. In the review, we look into the features of WeChat & compare with it’s close competitor WhatsApp.

Gist of “WeChat”

As mentioned above, WeChat is a free voice, video & text messaging application. Among the many features that this app has, the friend-discovery location based social features and shared streaming photo feeds from friends’ personal photo albums are something which is very unique to this. The user has the option to add contacts who are using WeChat or invite/connect with users using a unique id called QQ ID

Key Features of “WeChat”

Some interesting features of the app are:

  1. Video/Voice Calling, Text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, broadcast (one-to-many) messaging, photo/video sharing, location sharing, and contact information exchange.
  2. Offers engaging one-on-one and group chat sessions with an extensive range of animated and custom emoticon and emoji art. The user can beautify the chat’s with customizable backgrounds.
  3. Supports social networking via shared streaming content feeds and location-based social plug-ins [Shake & Look Around] to chat with and befriend local and international WeChat users.
  4. Shake: Exchange ‘contact information exchange’ with nearby WeChat users, or connect with WeChat users worldwide who are eager to make new friends. I tried the “Shake” feature & could find couple of users from Korea who were shaking their device at the same time. Don’t know how useful this feature this unless you have a handful number of known people using this feature simultaneously.
  5. Look Around: Connect with nearby WeChat community members who are also looking around. This feature is quite interesting since I could find couple of my “NearBy” friends who were using WeChat.

[nggallery id=2]

WeChat vis-a-vis WhatsApp

When I used WeChat, the obvious comparison that came to mind is WhatsApp. There are couple of features in WeChat which are interesting when compared to WhatsApp namely – Drift Bottle : Write a message or talk, put the message in a bottle, and throw it to the virtual sea. Soon or later a random person will take the bottle with your message & (s)he could reply to you or add you in his/her contact list. Though this feature looks interesting but just like the “Shake”  feature we could not find it usable !!!

Walkie-Talkie Feature : WeChat offers the “Walkie Talkie” feature where a person can easily talk by pressing the “Tap to Talk” button. Also, if the audio is not clear; the user has the option delete that particular chat transcript.

Contact Backup : With WeChat, user can also Backup the address book to QQ ID Website
[nggallery id=3]

One simple yet effective feature in WhatsApp is “Double Tick” which indicates that the other person has received the message or not & might be a good feature that can be taken by WeChat 🙂 In India, WhatsApp has a wider adoption compared to WeChat & Reliance Communications offers unlimited access for GSM subscribers Apart from features, WeChat would need to focus on partnering with Telecom operators to increase it’s user base. There is already a shift happening to WeChat & we need to wait who wins the “Chat” race 🙂

This review is a part of the Sponsored Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com.

|In: Books|Last Updated:

We have done lot of book review’s in the past [few of them here] most of them were on Business, Startups & Entrepreneurship but this time we digress a bit & touch upon an emotional journey penned by Vasundhara Ramanujan in her book Shades of Life

Why ME !!!

We live a peaceful, happy and a healthy life. We never appreciate much what we have, everything is taken for granted but when there is sudden twist that is when our life gets a new meaning. A very recent example to prove this point is “Yuvraj Singh” & his latest advertisement explains it all !!!

Detailed Review

The author “Vasundhara Ramanujan” takes us through the turbulent journey of her fifteen year son, Adtitya who is diagnosed with kidney failure & how he fights his way through the disease with the continuous support from his mother and his family.

Aditya, just like any other teenager is enjoying his life to the fullest when suddenly in the winter of 1996 things begin to change. His mother takes him to the doctor when there are frequent complaints of severe headache; only to realize that his kidney’s are on the verge of complete failure.

The books reflects the unconditional love of a mother towards her son who suffers through the most of his life and the courage of the child who faces the truma of the disease for nearly thirteen years of his life. The mother not only helped her son cope with the disease but also motivated and inspired him to continue his education. The mother-son duo live through this disease with the help of their supporting family.

The book takes us through the endless doctor visits, numerous tests, long dialysis days and the hunt for a tissue match for the kidney transplant. It was impressing to see that the mother who herself had just fought breast cancer offers her kidney for the transplant. Unfortunately for some reason Aditya’s body rejects his mothers kidney this is when his elder brother Dhananjay donates his kidney to Aditya. Now, Aditya is not only hail & hearty but has achieved his Post-Doctorate in Physics.

Final Thoughts

The book is a quick read, around 150 pages & story is not only well written but also arouses “Emotional Quotient” in the reader. It conveys an important lesson – “Nothing is impossible if right action is taken at the right time”

Where to buy the book

The book is available on Flipkart here If you have read the book please share your thoughts in the comments section…

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!!!