All Posts in BookReview

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

There is one thing which is common between startups such as Housing, Snapdeal, and FreeCharge. Jason Kothari, referred as business turnaround leader was the former CEO of Housing & FreeCharge and former CSIO [Chief Strategy and Investment Officer] of Snapdeal. He started his career as the co-founder and CEO of Valiant Entertainment, a US based superhero entertainment company.

Image Source

Majority of us know about the founders of these startups but not many might know that Jason Kothari played a pivotal role in the turnaround of these companies when they were facing the the most turbulent times. He is also the Executive Producer of the Bloodshot [Sony Pictures] starring Vin Diesel.

We had the opportunity to read the book Irrationally Passionate: My Turnaround from Rebel to Entrepreneur by Jason Kothari. The book reveals the inside story of how a rebel, train-wreck kid transformed himself into a successful young entrepreneur and business leader who became one of the top ten paid executives in India while in his 30s. Irrationally Passionate is a highly personal, authentic, open, and complete account of a young entrepreneur’s life.

About the Author

Jason Kothari went on to transform distressed internet icons Housing, FreeCharge, and Snapdeal, helping them save billions of dollars in value. He is also served as the advisor for giants like Softbank and real-estate developer Emaar which has invested billions of dollars in India. You can find more about Jason Kothari from his LinkedIn profile.

Detailed Review

Before I start off with the detailed review, one thing which I have to admit is that this book was in my bucket list since this blog has been a small [yet a crucial role] by interacting with startup founders about their startups. Coming back to the review, the book starts with Jason recollecting his childhood events where he tried his negotiation skills with a seller and managed to get a chess board for Rs. 30. This is what made Jason realize that he had the persistence and gut to turn things around in his favor.

He gets the first taste of entrepreneurship at the age of 19 where he is raising funds for a company named Valiant Entertainment which he has followed since his early years. The author also touches upon his childhood life in Hong Kong and later in the US.  There are interesting learnings from the game of baseball and how Jason went on the learn the sport, inspite of facing several hurdles. As mentioned, Functioning as a unit made him realize the importance of being a selfless player and putting the team first.

It also touches upon the passion that Jason Kothari had for entrepreneurship and how he hung on to his passion. He also talks about the importance of making mistakes and not repeating the same by taking valuable lessons from those mistakes. Te most interesting part of the book is the section where he talks about the turnaround of Valiant Entertainment from bankruptcy and bringing it back to life. This is when he was the college student at Wharton and arranged funds from family & friends. Few years later, he transformed Valiant entertainment into world’s third largest superhero entertainment company which was later sold for $1oo million.

We particularly liked the chapter titled Not every seed is meant to bloom a forest which talks about the transformation of Snapdeal to Snapdeal 2.0, the turn-around of events, interaction with Snapdeal investors, transformation of FreeCharge, and more. It is a must-read for anyone who is slightly interested in entrepreneurship and startups.

Few excerpts from the book:

Sometimes, the most important decision an entrepreneur makes is knowing when to pull the plug. You have to understand what a sunk cost is and not throw good money after bad. These decisions are often among the most agonizing the entrepreneur encounters. As a battle-hardened business-people, we have conditioned ourselves to never quit, never accept defeat.

That’s what so deceiving about disinvestments or the closing of business lines or geographies – what on the surface may appear to be a ‘loss’ may actually be the key that unlocks the door to strategic wins.

There is emphasis on the sale of FreeCharge for shaping up Snapdeal 2.0. There are chapters that highlight about his role in Housing.com where he took over as the CEO at a very rocky time. He cites the importance of focusing on important features when building a product and why entrepreneurs [and key executives] should take right product decisions when building a startup. He also speaks about the series of events and interactions that led to the closure of renting module in Housing so that there is concentrated focus on the buying-selling module. He took the decision even when employees and other executives were of the firm belief that renting module was key to the company.

We liked the writing style and the usage of simple language throughout the book. It is around 230 pages long and consists of 11 chapters in total. We specifically liked the sections where he talks about his career as a turn-around specialist in prominent Indian startups. As entrepreneurship is hard, he also talks about the importance of meditation in controlling emotions and reducing stress & anxiety.

Closing Thoughts

It would have been better if more details were added about how Jason Kothari dealt with decision differences with other leaders within the company, internal politics being played, and more. This would have been an icing on the cake for this otherwise wonderful read!

You can purchase Irrationally Passionate: My Turnaround from Rebel to Entrepreneur by Jason Kothari by clicking on the link below:

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Technology and businesses are changing at a rapid pace and enterprises have to be more agile in accepting changes and challenges. Companies like Nokia and Kodak that were once considered torch-bearers in their respective businesses were outpaced by their competitors since they showed resistance in adapting to change. The same thinking is also applicable to managers, leaders, as well as employees in an organization. This is where ‘agile thinking’ or an ‘agile mindset’ can make a huge impact on the growth of any business/organization. One of the biggest challenges that enterprises are facing today is how to deal with disruptions arising from fast-paced change. This change is largely driven by technological innovation to the extent that it is forcing enterprises in every sector to put technology to the core [Tech@Core] of their business.

Image Source

The change is so disruptive and fast that no enterprise regardless of its age/size can take its survival for granted. Hence, enterprises modeled after ‘mechanistic systems’ will struggle to deal with fast-paced change. ‘Enterprise Agility’ is the solution that will enable enterprises to deal with the fast-changing environment, but more importantly, to leverage change for competitive advantage and customer delight. This is the basic premise of Sunil Mundra’s book ‘Enterprise Agility – Being Agile in a Changing World‘ that shows how an enterprise can address the above mentioned problems and thrive in a dynamic business environment. We earlier had a detailed interaction about Agile, his insights into Enterprise Agility, etc.; you can find more details here.

About the Author

Sunil Mundra is a Principal Consultant at ThoughtWorks with decades of consulting experience, working with some of the world’s largest enterprises. He has helped organizations tackle their most urgent business challenges and has worked with senior executives to shape and execute their roadmap for change. You can learn more about Sunil through his LinkedIn profile.

Enterprise Agility- Detailed Review

Before we deep-dive into the details of the book. It is very important to have a look at the sentiment of agility as mentioned in the Agile Manifesto – Agility is the ability to both create and respond to change in order to profit in a turbulent business environment. In order to understand agility, we can have a look at a scenario where ‘Your car is sent for servicing and neither Uber/Ola is available. Your end-goal is to reach the office‘. You either take the approach of car-pooling or use an altogether different transport system like the Bangalore metro to beat the traffic. This is where ‘Agile Thought-Process’ kicks in, where you have to come up with options, evaluate their pros and cons, and shortlist the best possible transport option [taking into account parameters like travel time, distance, cost, etc.]. This is a simple example of how an individual can deal with uncertainty, and the impact of ‘Agile Thinking’ becomes multiplied when organizations have to deal with change. This is where ‘Enterprise Agility’ by Sunil Mundra provides a step-by-step guide to facing and accepting uncertainty head-on. There are a lot of subtle comparisons in the book to drive interest and engagement. One such example is the comparison of ‘agility’ or ‘enterprise agility’ to the human body. Below is an excerpt from the book where the author draws that comparison

The approach of enterprise agility must be based on treating the enterprise like a living system, say a human body, rather than treating it like a machine, such as a car. When the machine slows down or breaks, the relevant part of the machine can be fixed or even replaced. However, if the overall health of a human being is not good, it can rarely be cured by just fixing a specific part or parts of the body.

Similar to the example mentioned above, the book talks about mechanisms to achieve optimal agility at the enterprise level, taking the key stakeholders – people, processes, organization structure, governance, technology, customers into consideration and how they can be enabled/leveraged to achieve enterprise agility. The book is partitioned into different sections as mentioned below

Let’s have a detailed look at each of these sections

Part 1 – This section examines the challenges of fast-paced change both from an opportunity and threat perspective. It also showcases how the capabilities underlying agility can help the enterprise to leverage change to its advantage.

Part 2 – This section examines the three foundation blocks of enterprise agility namely; modeling the enterprise of a living system, mindset, and culture and leadership. This section provides a lot of insights on how to migrate from a close-ended system to becoming a living system. It also sheds light on how leaders in an enterprise can maneuver the mindset and promote a culture of agility in the organization.

Part 3 – This section examines the critical components of an enterprise – organization, structure, process, people, technology, governance, customer, and patterns on how to unlock and enhance the agility of these components.

Part 4 – This section is helpful for managers and leaders who manage distributed teams and technology partners. It also shares insights on how to leverage them for enhancing enterprise agility.

Part 5 – The concluding part of the book provides a framework/action plan on how the learning can be implemented in the specific context of an enterprise.

The overall organization of the chapters in the book is uniform since it follows a common structure – Significance, Inhibitors to agility, Enablers of agility, and further references. The book provides detailed insights into Complex Adaptive Systems [CAS]

Complex Adaptive Systems are complex in that they are dynamic networks of interactions, and their relationships are not aggregations of the individual static entities, that is, the behavior of the ensemble is not predicted by the behavior of the components. They are adaptive in that the individual and collective behavior mutate and self-organize corresponding to the change-initiating micro-event or collection of events.

Some of the key characteristics of CAS are

  • Continuous evolution
  • Autonomous and self-organizing agents
  • Agent’s interactions influence system behavior
  • Agent’s behavior is driven by purpose
  • Variety as a source of strength

Agents are the change-makers in the CAS and CAS behavior is driven by inter-relationships, interaction, and inter-connectivity of the agents within a system and between a system and its environment. The table below highlights the summary of the implications for businesses, which are derived from the characteristics of a Complex Adaptive System [CAS]

Some of the key-takeaways from Sunil Mundra’s book ‘Enterprise Agility’ are

  • Drive agility-oriented change across the enterprise.
  • Understand why agility matters [more than ever] to modern enterprises.
  • Adopt and influence an Agile mindset in your teams and in your organization.
  • Understand the concept of a CAS and how to model enterprise and leadership behaviors on CAS characteristics to enhance enterprise agility.
  • Understand and convey the differences between Agile and True enterprise agility.
  • Create an enterprise-specific action plan to enhance agility.
  • Become a champion for enterprise agility.
  • Recognize the advantages and challenges of distributed teams, and how Agile ways of working can remedy the rough spots.
  • Enable and motivate your IT partners to adopt Agile ways of working.

Unlike other books on Agile and Agile Methodologies, Enterprise Agility by Sunil Mundra deep dives into the concepts of organizational agility with apt examples and well-developed framework for leaders. The author illustrates how to transition from Agile to agility at scale and sustain it to delight customers. The most interesting part about the book is that author Sunil Mundra has come up with learnings and examples based on his experience in delivery and consulting.

Target Audience

The book is apt for C-level executives, delivery managers, enterprise and leadership coaches, or any person who has influence in enabling change within an organization. The learnings from the book can be used by executives, irrespective of the size and scale of the organization.

You can buy ‘Enterprise Agility: Being Agile in a Changing World’ by Sunil Mundra from here.

Have you read ‘Enterprise Agility’?, please leave your key-learnings in the comments section…

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

There are a lot of sayings about the awesome feeling called ‘Love’. Many say that marriages are made in heaven and there is only one happiness in this life – ‘to love and to be loved‘. This concept has been depicted in many Indian movies and it also brings a feel-good factor in the audience present in the theater. Many novels have also been written on the same theme and surprisingly, most of them portray frustrated love and the upheavals it causes in life. If you ask any of your friends or colleagues about their ideal life-partner, the first quality that most of them look in their partner is ‘loving & caring attitude’. Many times, that feeling of everlasting love dies with time and the reason should be introspected by ‘the couple who was once madly in love with each other’.

The point to ponder over here is ‘If love is such an overwhelming emotion in human society, then why it does not last?’. Why is humanity losing faith in the existence of true love? Why are people losing faith in the institution of marriage? These are some of the important questions that would come to your mind when you hear the word ‘True Love’.

As mentioned earlier, there are plenty of books that preach about love or showcase ‘rosy things’ about that amazing feeling, but sadly you cannot employ their learnings in real life since situations are completely different in reality. This is what prompted noted author Shubha Vilas to come up with a book that explores the idea of eternal love, love that withstands the test of time. Unlike other books in a similar genre that only depict fictional love stories, his book ‘Perfect Love: 5.5 Ways to a Lasting Relationship’ is a thought-provoking narrative that presents six attributes of relationships that can make your love story a phenomenon that lasts a lifetime.

Today we review the book Perfect Love: 5.5 Ways to a Lasting Relationship by the noted author Shubha Vilas. We have reviewed earlier books by Shubha Vilas namely Open Eyed Meditations, Ramayana: The Game of Life (Shattered Dreams), and Ramayana: The Game of Life (The rise of Sun Prince).

About the Author

Shubha Vilas holds a degree in engineering and law with a 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

Since childhood, many of us have been listening to mythological stories like the Ramayana, Mahabharatha, etc. and characters & learnings are in someway etched in our minds. There are many characters in each of these series that are ‘ideal portrayal’ of real love. Like Shubha Vilas’ previous books where he utilized the medium of ‘mythology’ to come up with stories & learnings that can still be implemented in today’s era, the stories in this book is primarily derived from the Mahabharatha,  the Srimad Bhagavat, and the Kathasaritsagara. The book comprises of selected six stories that have nail-biting twists and turns with edge-of-the-chair adventures. These are the tales of adventure and intense love, love that tests the limits of patience in lovers who find their faith in unconditional trust, compassion, and forgiveness.

Nala and Damayanti, Krishna and Rukmini, Shakuntala and Dushyanta, Udayana and Vasavadatta, Satyavan and Savitri, Draupadi and the five Pandava brothers – these are the accounts we may have heard many a time but not had an opportunity to understand in such depth and detail, and with such empathy. These stories are narrated in a beautiful manner, which keeps the readers engaged & connected, even if you have no prior knowledge about mythology or the central characters mentioned in the book. The stories are written in a simple, yet artistic manner so that it strikes a chord with the audience. In case you already have prior knowledge about these mythological characters, the book would add a fresh perspective to your understanding. Each chapter/story in the book ends with a crisp write-up about the learnings from the same. This is a similar format followed in his other books and we are glad that Shubha Vilas has stuck to the same format 🙂

The title mentions 5.5 ways and not 6; the primary reason is that the sixth way is a half-truth, which can be twisted either way. Below is the list of chapters in the book

  1. Wheel of Fortune
  2. The Golden Letter
  3. A Silent Voice
  4. The Other before Oneself
  5. The Woman who Chose
  6. A Condition about Conditions

There are many one-liners in each chapter and each word in the one-liner conveys a lot of meaning that makes you ponder about love, life, and yourself. Some of the notable one-liners are below:

  • Just like birthmarks on your body reveal your identity, your values are birthmarks on the soul that reveal your character.
  • When you jump to conclusions, you land in the quicksand of confusion. Ask rather than bask in conclusions.
  • Love is planted by active care, rooted in trust, watered by words, nourished by struggles together, protected by commitment, decorated with fond memories and made to blossom with reciprocation.
  • When you don’t make choices, life will not give you options.
  • To accept reality one needs dignity and humility. Dignity to stand after a fall and humility to say, ‘I tried’.
  • Attachment and detachment are twins that look alike but have completely different natures.
  • The cost of love can only be paid by the currency of sacrifice.
  • A disturbed person is looking for hope, not advice.
  • The only thing that is predictable about the future is that it’s unpredictable.
  • Just as one ant in the ear of a huge elephant throws it off completely, sometimes a tiny defect in a human being, amongst oodles of good qualities, messes up his life completely.

It is these small factors that add a lot of punch in each story and this is what makes the book ‘Perfect Love: 5.5 Ways to a Lasting Relationship’ a read whose learnings can be incorporated in real-life. You can refer to these learnings when you are at a crucial & critical juncture of your love-life!

Closing Thoughts

Perfect Love: 5.5 Ways to a Lasting Relationship 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. This is one thing that is true for any book written by Shubha Vilas.

You may ask that in an era when the institution of marriage itself is being questioned, does it make sense to read a book that talks about love stories of stable marriages from an ancient age? You can find out the reason by delving deep into this book. Combing powerful story-telling with deep philosophical truths, ‘Perfect Love: 5.5 Ways to a Lasting Relationship’ is a treasure trove of scriptural wisdom for the modern age.

You can purchase Perfect Love: 5.5 Ways to a Lasting Relationship by Shubha Vilas by clicking on the link below

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Each one of us would have encountered situations that would have acted as a complete life-changer. Some of them would have brought the best out of you, whereas some could have shattered your life. The impact of the incident or situation would be of higher magnitude in case it involves the family members.

However, what happens if you come to know about some of the mysteries surrounded in your life. Well, your life would go completely topsy-turvy once you realize the same. ‘I Owed You One‘ by Doctor Madhu Vajpayee is one such novel that involves various emotions that a person has to go through when he is put under testing circumstances.

Today we review the book ‘I Owed You One’, a heartwarming story of love, duty, and courage.

I Owed You One: Trailer

Dev Khanna has it all before a mysterious letter shakes the very foundation he has built his life on. With beliefs challenged, he decides to close the chapter once for all. I Owed You One is the story of promises, triumphs, defeat, and of holding on and letting go.

About the Author: Dr. Madhu Vajpayee

Dr. Madhu Vajpayee studied her MBBS from KGMU, Lucknow and MD from AIIMS, New Delhi. The writer in her was born somewhere in those hospital corridors where she spent the last two decades of her life. After writing several scientific papers and chapters in books, I Owed You One is her second journey in the literary world, the first being Seeking Redemption. When not creating stories, she enjoys traveling and reading.

I Owed You One: Detailed Review

The central character of the novel is Dev Khanna, a chemical engineer based out of Australia. Dev is happily married to his wife Radhika and has an adorable son named Neel. He is very well to do and his life is progressing at a steady pace when suddenly he receives a mysterious letter from his hometown in India. What is inside the letter and how this small piece of paper changes so many lives is what is answered in the novel I Owed You One. The letter results in a series events of self-realization which form the crux of the story.

Though Dev is very well to do, he has attained this stature by facing a lot of difficulties. He had a troubled childhood where his father used to constantly ignore his mother and did not have any emotional bonding with her. Due to such bad behavior, Dev Khanna never shared a good rapport with his father. Such events leave a mark in his mind and would never leave him even when he leaves India for settling in Australia. The passing away of his mother has a deep-rooted impact on him since she had always been his pillar of support.

After fighting so many odds, Dev still does well on the professional front but these haunting personal memories never left him. The mysterious letter from India just acts as a trigger and this is where the story goes into flashback. He goes back to India and this is where starts a journey filled with emotions, anger, anxiety, etc.

All the characters namely Dev Khanna, his wife Radhika, son Neel, including the supporting cast of Mr. Goyal who is Dev’s host in India, driver Shahid have been etched with perfection. The story is written in a subtle manner and each character plays a pivotal role in the novel. As the story progresses, you can feel for Dev Khanna and start realizing his feelings. There are a lot of interesting quotes or one-liners about Dev’s bonding with his mother, his love for India, friendship, etc. The best quote in the book is

Even Phenomenal amount of wealth doesn’t guarantee any security against unhappiness

The storytelling by Dr. Madhu is spot-on with characters entering and exiting scenes at the right time. At around 258 pages long, I Owed You One is a fascinating read and sends a very important message that irrespective of the amount of wealth a person owns, he cannot buy true happiness!

Closing Thoughts

I Owed You One is a must-read novel if you looking for an interesting story with path-defining characters. The story is etched in a very beautiful manner where relationships are given primary importance.

Overall Rating – 4.5/5

You can purchase I Owed You One by Dr. Madhu Vajpayee by clicking on the link below

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

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

One common trait that you would find in any working professional is the urge to do something different in life. It is a general human tendency that you would never be completely satisfied with what you own and there is always craving for something more. In order to chase materialistic dreams, most of them over-work without realizing their interests and what they intend to do for the rest of their lives. Only after joining the corporate bandwagon, they realize their interests due to which you might come across many of them leaving the corporate world to pursue their dreams. It takes a lot of guts to leave a stable paying job to take up film-making, stand-up comedy, blogging, etc. since it involves a lot of risks but the entire journey would be memorable.

Image Source – The Big Switch

Unlike the older generation, youngsters have different career options and it is only a matter of doing a self-realization on how you can convert those dreams into reality. The millennial generation does not maintain work-life balance due to which you would see rising cases of stress, anxiety, insomnia as well as depression. They need to find that sweet spot in order to lead a happy life.

These are some of the topics that would connect with the current generation and forms the basic premise of The Big Switch: It’s never too late by John Thomas. The story revolves around Keith, a 24-year-old man who works in an MNC but his life is at crossroads as he needs to make important decisions in order to find true happiness.

The Big Switch: It’s never too late: Trailer

The central character of the book Keith is a 24-year-old software engineer working in an MNC named H&G, India. Life is going smoothly for him since he has a stable well-paying job, a loving girlfriend Maya but yet he has lost mojo in life. He is not happy and in the quest to find true happiness, a series events occur that completely change his life.

So, would Keith be able to restore the lost mojo and what happens to his personal life, would he be able to handle the stress that is associated with the change? These are some of the things that form the crux of the story in The Big Switch: It’s never too late

The Big Switch: It’s never too late: Detailed Review

The central character of the novel is Keith, a 24-year-old engineer who is leading a normal life and has a stable job in an MNC named H&G. He is talented, hardworking and ambitious by nature. He also has a beautiful girlfriend named Maya with whom he shares a very beautiful relation. But as it happens with each one of us, you have to go through some rough patches and the same thing happens with Keith as well. Also, there is a purpose that each one us needs to accomplish and many times, we shift the focus from our purpose, ambitions & join the rat-race.  Keith also goes through a similar dilemma since he is not truly happy, though he has all the things that a 24-year-old would aspire for.

You only learn when you fall and this is what happens with Keith as well. Due to some circumstances, his longtime girlfriend Maya breaks-up with him and his life enters into a lean phase. Keith is shaken and heart-broken but he takes up this challenge positively and tries to find his long-lost ‘happiness’. So, does he quit his well-paying job to pursue his dreams and makes the big switch or he continues living a mundane life. These are some of the important questions that are answered in his hard-hitting novel.

Any youngster would have to go through such phase where he needs to take important life decisions and this is why readers of the Big Switch can co-relate with the male protagonist. In life, you have to take calculated risks since there is no gain without pain. Along with the right career choices, you also need to make the right personal choices.

While reading the story, you can easily visualize the characters and the story is etched in your minds since it is told in a very subtle manner. The story-telling is simple yet hard-hitting since it makes readers reflect about their lives. Apart from Keith, Maya, there is one more female character who eventually becomes Keith’s lady luck since she truly loves and supports him. The editing is also good and narration is also very good. At around 300 pages long, ‘The Big Switch: It’s never too late’ is a breezy read and its learnings would be etched in your mind forever.

Closing Thoughts

The Big Switch: It’s never too late is a must-read novel especially for the youngsters who are always in dilemma on what they want to do with their lives. The central character Keith showcases all the right traits and fights hard to lead a happy life. There are a number of novels where the plot loses charm once more characters are introduced in the story but that is the case with John Thomas’s novel. The plot is gripping and as the story progresses, you learn life lessons from the situations that Keith faces. The novel is highly recommended!!

Overall Rating – 4.5/5

You can purchase The Big Switch: It’s never too late by John Thomas from here

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

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Be it movies or books; crime, detective, murder and suspense category can give anyone goosebumps and an edge of the seat experience. However, what if we were to say that you encounter such things in the year 2250, where an investigation is in progress for the murder of a crew member who was a part of Europa [Jupiter’s moon] which was a space expedition mission.

Image Source – Mystery

There are a lot of thoughts that start flowing into your minds – What would the world be like in 2250, How advanced would be the technology, Whether there would be cars flying in the air, Whether there would be human beings staying on the moon, etc. You would definitely enter a futuristic world when you read Europa by Hywel Richard Pinto which is a sci-fi thriller that unfolds through the eyes of a varied group of characters. Each character has his/her own agenda – one taking a life-risking search, rescue and research trip, to Jupiter’s moon, Europa; the second, through the rivalry between an American businessman and an Indian power hungry politician; whilst the third is the contest between hired guns of both the factions.

In a thriller, characters play a very crucial role and Europa being a sci-fi thriller, the author had to blend suspense with imagination & technology and it was a job done well!

About the Author

Hywel Richard Pinto, born and raised in in Mumbai works full time in a Media agency as a Sr. Director – Media Planning. In addition to this book, he has also written a murder mystery set in Mumbai by the name of ‘The Monday Murder’ which was shortlisted in the top 20 manuscripts from nearly 300 entries by DNA-Hachette India in January 2013 during their Hunt For The Next Indian Bestseller contest. You can read more about Hywel Pinto here 

Europa – A Sci-Fi Adventure Of Galactical Proportions : Trailer

The year is 2250 and we are witness to a historical trial of the Silver Fleet’s youngest and most promising captains – Captain Richard Sparks, who has been accused of murdering a fellow crew member during the Silver Star’s lengthy trip to the Jupiter’s moon – Europa. But the crew are divided as to whether the Captain is to be blamed for the fiasco or whether there was a bigger conspiracy on board? Can another murder on board the Silver Star be attributed to the unusual mission that the ship is on? Does someone want the crew of the Silver Star to fail in their mission to locate one of her sister ships, reportedly lost near Europa? And just how many of the crew can Captain Richard Sparks trust, if he is to be believed as being innocent?

Meanwhile, a shadow organization back on Earth contends with a dangerous, corrupt and ambitious politician, with the Europa mission being used as the counterweight. Will this affect the crew on board the Silver Star?

All trials are not as simple as they seem – not when the accused has a story to tell and some people will go to great lengths to protect what actually happened on Europa.

Who is the real culprit and what are the turn of events that would lead to the closure of the case forms the crux of Europa. Mystery, Murder, Politics along with Sci-Fi are keywords that make Europa an intriguing read !!

Europa – A Sci-Fi Adventure Of Galactical Proportions : Detailed Review

As mentioned earlier, the central character is Captain Richard Sparks, who was the commander-in-charge of Silver Star to Europa where the central task was to rescue the crew of missing scientists who had been to Europa before them. The entire crew was there in Europa for close to 408 days and as you would expect, the entire expedition is filled with innumerable twists and turns. The important question to ask is ‘Are the crew members still alive’?

A German scientist who had the samples from Europa was found murdered in Captain Spark’s ship. There is a high possibility of foul play where some crew members might have been involved in this murder. The murder happens just before the ship reaches the destination. All these situations make Europa an edge of a seat thriller.

Be it movies or books, for the ‘murder mystery’ genre, supporting actors also need to play an interesting role to keep the readers/viewers engaged and Europa does not disappoint on this front. Along with Captain Sparks who is the main protagonist, another major character in Europa is his best friend and fellow colleague, Duncan. They share a very good bonding and the have a lingering question in their minds ‘What could be the major reason for promoting a rookie captain like Sparks, that too before a critical mission’. They did feel that something is fishy and the promotion was a part of a major conspiracy planned against Captain Sparks.

Since it is a sci-fi thriller, aliens are also a part of this interesting story. The author has managed to keep the interest alive by introducing different characters at strategic parts of the story. There is also an angle of politics in the story since an Indian politician named Pramod has some vested interests and could also have been a part of the overall conspiracy. Other characters like Draco, Mario, Jewel, Robbie also play crucial roles in this sci-fi thriller.

While the story progresses at a good pace in most parts, it does seem stretched in some cases. However, as per our understanding, this could be because the author wanted to build more suspense and curiosity rather than introducing new characters in a hurry.

While reading the story, you can easily visualize the characters and the story is etched in your minds since it is told in a very subtle manner. The cover photo is well designed and sends the message that Europa has something to do with sci-fi.

The font-size could have been a bit bigger and there was some scope for improvement in the editing department. We could also find some spelling mistakes in the book but even with these minor improvements, Hywel Pinto’s story-telling impressed us!

Rating 3.5/5

Closing Thoughts

Europa – A Sci-Fi Adventure Of Galactical Proportions by Hywel Richard Pinto is an interesting sci-fi thriller where each character is crafted to perfection. As a reader, you feel involved in the story. As you progress through the story, you might feel an adrenaline rush and anxiety about ‘What next’ 🙂 Considering that there are a good number of characters in the story, with each one having a good role to play, a feature film can be made on Europa. If you love reading sci-fi thrillers, you should definitely not miss this one.

You can purchase Europa – A Sci-Fi Adventure Of Galactical Proportions by clicking on the link below

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

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 2 Comments

One of the primary reasons book addicts prefer biographies, diaries, etc. is the vast amount of learnings embedded in the biography. You can learn on how the personality [on whom the biography is based] dealt with ups & downs, his personal life, how he made his important career decisions, etc. In almost all the cases, biographies are based on lives of the rich & famous e.g. Steve Jobs, Dhirubhai Ambani, Elon Musk, etc. Contrast to biographies, people who pen down their own autobiographies have an interesting story to tell about their lives, learnings, etc. Many times, authors who write their autobiography might not be that rich & famous but they have encountered ample amount of learnings that can definitely be of help to the readers!

Mr.Bhadani with Jimmy Wales [Source]

One such autobiography is that of Mr. Gangadhar Bhadani who was once described by Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, as the most prolific Indian Wikipedian. He was in the top ten worldwide contributors for months. He is around 65 years old and has lived in 17 places & 24 dwellings across India. He is a retired bank officer but unlike other bank officers, his life is full of interesting happenings 🙂 At a tender age of 55, he started contributing to Wikipedia and his book Choice in Chaos: A Wikipedian’s Autobiography is the first attempt by an English Wikipedian to share his life story.

About the Author

Mr. Gangadhar Bhadani is a retired bank officer and a prolific Wikipedian. In ‘Choice in Chaos’, he shares his life story, a tale spanning six decades of his life so far. Post-retirement [i.e. at the age of 55], he started contributing actively to the English version of Wikipedia and this according to him has been a life changing moment. You can connect with him on Facebook here.

Choice in Chaos: A Wikipedian’s Autobiography – Detailed Review

Since Mr. Bhadani has lived in seventeen different places across India, the book takes us back in time and a young Indian of this era can paint a picture of India along the way. Being an autobiography, in Choice in Chaos, Mr. Bhadani has touched upon various aspects of his life – Childhood, multi-dimensional adulthood, life as a banker and his experience as an active Wikipedian where he is passionately contributing since 2005.

The book starts off with the post-independence era in the chapter – Arrah Zila Ghar Ba. In this chapter, he recollects all his childhood memories of celebrating independence with fervor in the Arrah city that belongs to Bhojpur district. We loved the overall references that he has brought out throughout the book, example below

A human being is a creature encapsulated in his past. Despite all attempts, one does not forget many things and probably every incident, every word, every scene, sight, and smell continues to reside, consciously and sub-consciously, like granite granules inside one’s psyche not to be destroyed despite all efforts.

There is a lot of reference to Hindi words since Mr. Bhadani has mainly stayed in the northern regions of India [a couple of years were spent in Chennai when he was employed with Chennai Zonal Office]. Each chapter [Chapter 1~ Chapter 17] has a collection of memories, learnings, etc. where these chapters document his life in 17 different places in India e.g. Chapter 1: Arrah, Chapter 2: Tatanagar, Chapter 3: Muzaffarpur…. In the initial chapters, he has focused on his childhood, how living in a different set of conditions [and with a variety of people] shaped his thinking and adulthood. He has beautifully documented different facets of relations, be it with his parents, his elder brother, his daughters, etc.

Though each of these chapters has a beautiful connect where he walks us through his childhood, adolescence, multidimensional adulthood; the fascinating chapter of his life starts when he starts contributing actively to English Wikipedia. Mr. Bhadani recounts the moment when he was awestruck as soon as he started exploring Wikipedia while he was posted in Chennai. That Aha! moment is recounted in Chapter 21: Armenian Street to Mount Road where he mentions how he felt rejuvenated and blissful in the company of English Wikipedia.

Within a period of few weeks, Mr. Bhadani had already created many new pages and his edits caught the attention of other members of the Wikipedia Community. Some of the articles that were initiated by him are Chennai Central, Chennai Port, EID Party, Guindy National Park, etc. According to him, Armenians in India is the most significant article created by him. Subsequent chapters describe his interesting journey as a Wikipedian and how he networked & learnt from fellow contributors.

He even recounts his encounter with Kiruba Shankar, social media entrepreneur from Chennai where Mr. Bhadani was invited to participate and guide participants in an event named the Wikipedia Academy. There are references to Wiki Conference, the flagship conference of Wikimedians held in association with the Wikimedia Foundation. The autobiography closes with a chapter on Jharkhand where Mr. Bhadani currently resides and spends his time on different assignments.

Closing Thoughts

Choice in Chaos – A Wikipedian’s Autobiography is an interesting book that has many learnings from each one of us. The key takeaway is ‘Passion can be followed at any age since age is just a number’. At 24 Chapters and 284 pages long, it is definitely a good read where you can experience/feel the various phases of life in various parts of India!

You can purchase Choice in Chaos – A Wikipedian’s Biography by Gangadhar Bhadani by clicking on the link below

Thank you Mr. Gangadhar Bhadani for sending us the review copy of Choice in Chaos, we enjoyed reading the book …

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

Indian cinema has seen a major shift with movies like Gangs of Wasseypur, Gangs of Wasseypur-II, Ugly, Shahid, Udta Punjab, etc. They also proved that good script backed by awesome performance can win audience’s hearts as well as garner appreciation by critics [and be a box office phenomenon]. When was the last time when you read a book and got an adrenaline rush as you encountered when you watched these movies. Most of the movies in this genre clicked with the audience since the story was told with panache ensuring that the local flavor, be it language, clothes, etc. of the characters were retained in order to make it look authentic!

The Jeera Packer by Prashant Yadav, a first-time author and entrepreneur narrates a story that sticks well with the audience since it is a story of each one of us, at some point in our lives. So, let’s go ahead and review The Jeera Packer. The publisher is Fingerprint! Publishing.

About the Author

Prashant Yadav is an entrepreneur and founder of BodhiSutra. He graduated from IIT Kharagpur, IIM Ahmedabad and Stockholm school of Economics. For more information, please visit his LinkedIn Profile.

The Jeera Packer – Trailer

As mentioned earlier, The Jeera Packer is Prashant Yadav’s debut novel. It is a story of a former dreaded gangster who once changed the history of Uttar Pradesh with a gun and a finger. However, this was around thirty years ago. He now packs jeera in a basement. His life takes a sudden twist when one of his former companion reaches out of him with a task to assassinate the Chief Minister (CM) of UP. What happens next? Will he take up the assignment, will he be caught, whether he would be successful in assassinating the CM? You would find answers to all these hindering questions in The Jeera Packer.

Politics, UP and Crime are three keywords that makes The Jeera Packer an intriguing read !!

The Jeera Packer – Detailed Review

The Jeera Packer is a fiction with politics as its backdrop. Of late, politics has become very interesting with social media adding some more flavor to it 🙂 Politics in Uttar Pradesh [UP] has always been closely watched & followed even by non-UP residents, recently concluded UP elections proves that point!

In order to weave a very good story centered around crime and politics in UP, the author has chosen a Jeera Packer. The main protagonist was once the best sharpshooter in the state. Fast-forward thirty years, he now lives a normal happy, stable life with his wife and a college going son. He now runs a small kirana shop in Ghaziabad. His wife manages the daily operations of the store and he packs jeera in the basement. He is going through a mid-life crisis and is not happy leading a common man’s life. Due to these problems, he is now loosing confidence as well as self-esteem. He comes to the conclusion that in order to be happy he needs to take control of his life.

As they say fortune favors the brave, a chance encounter with his older acquaintance could turn to be a stepping stone for him. He is handed the task of assassinating the Chief Minister who is himself a notorious man and has committed many crimes. For the Jeera Packer it is not only the question of regaining his self-confidence but also the question of doing something good for the people of UP. So, would he be able to pull off this one last act? Will he able to brush away the jeera dust and rediscover himself or has the sharp-shooter already left his soul ? The remaining 320+ pages of the book answers these questions in a very effective manner.

Though the central protagonist of the book is a dreaded gangster, he manages to leave a mark on the readers. The writing is very lucid and Hindi is used at appropriate places. As a reader you can easily co-relate to the instances with the drama that normally unfolds in UP politics. Other than the Jeera Packer, other characters are politicians namely Lal Mani, Nawab Sahib, Nanhe Samrat. Every character is crafted with detailed perfection and the suspense keeps the readers hooked on to The Jeera Packer. The plus point of the story is that these characters can be easily visualized especially in UP politics.

The ‘Suspense Element’ reaches a new height when it is revealed when not only the Jeera Packer, there are others also who plan to kill the Chief Minister and it is a matter of self-respect as to ‘Who will kill the Chief Minister first’. The book also sheds light on the corrupt political system and how power-hungry politicians can ruin the entire state/country.

Closing Thoughts

The Jeera Packer is a well-etched political crime thriller where each character is crafted to perfection. Being a thriller, it was very important that there are few characters in order to stick to the story-line and Prashant Yadav has managed to deliver the same with The Jeera Packer.

The book comprises of 41 chapters and each chapter deliveries the story with a punch. Through the last few chapters, the story becomes a bit predicable but it manages to recover the lost mojo quickly. Each one of us do a self-introspection to assess ourselves in life and hence you can easily co-relate to the central character of the book.

If you have liked loved Bollywood movies like Gangs of Wasseypur, Udta Punjab, NH10, etc. then you would love reading The Jeera Packer. Barring aside a few shortcomings, The Jeera Packer has the perfect ingredients for hit Bollywood movie 🙂

You can purchase The Jeera Packer by Prashant Yadav by clicking on the link below

Thanks Prashant for sending us the review copy of The Jeera Packer, we enjoyed reading the book…