Book Review: Confessions of an Economic Hitman, John Perkins

Economic Hitman is a book that lays bare the secret manipulation and abuse of power by United States on its way towards World Domination…

Title: Confessions of an Economic Hitman
Author: John Perkins
Published: 2005
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler/Ebury Press
Pages: 250
My Rating & Recommendation: 5/5, Must Read

Overview

Confessions of an Economic Hitman: Every page of this book was a revelation to me. Captured in its pages, is the naked truth about greed, exploitation and abuse of power by the most powerful country on the planet, “The United States of America”. Economic Hitman (EHMs) are America’s unconventional soldiers. They use economics as a weapon to destabilize a target country and whirl it into a cycle of never ending dependence on the United States.

Perkins, a former economic hitman for the United States chronicles his journey in this role. He shares shocking details about how the United States strategically manipulated the governments in countries like Indonesia, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Columbia, Venezuela and Ecuador to serve its selfish interests. Selfish Interests? Primarily, to take control of Oil and other resources, to influence political decisions, to earn windfall profits for American conglomerates or just plain Bullying!

Through its pages, the book brings to life another world where murder of innocent citizens, blatant assassinations of political dissidents by CIA and horrendous nexus of wealthy families like Bush-Laden is a cruel everyday reality. Accordingly, the economic hitman receive systematic training and support from the US government. The government in turn is replete with business czars and former top US military officers.

Consequently, The United States accumulates Oil, Wealth and Power at the cost of destruction of indigenous cultures, healthy lifestyles and the environmental ecosystem in the target countries. Ironically, even scores of Americans pay for this with their lives. 9/11 attack and wars in Iraq are the sordid examples of that.

Final Word

The content of this book is gripping, the writing style is narrative and the events unfold at a rapid pace. As a reader, I was hooked and found most of the narration plausible. Albeit, the only aspect I didn’t find convincing was the Perkin’s constant portrayal of himself as a guilt ridden man who always wanted to confess and transform into a noble man. After confessing to years of operations in the role of an economic hitman, certainly gaining trust ain’t that easy after all.

Overall, a book that will help you understand the world a little better, a must read. Happy Reading!

The Versatilist, is a space where you can find posts on travel, book reviews and poetry. To follow versatilistaqua on Insta, Click here to follow Versatilistaqua on Insta

Have You Lived Enough Yet?

A take on Life, teasing, enticing and pleasing, all at once. Been there yet?

It’s #WordPlay, the slower you read, more sense it will make!

Life is not a bed of roses,
It doesn’t always give you joy,
It gives you moments, the moments,
Which make you jump up in the air,
And then, those which pull you down,

Life, is not always exciting,
It’s boring, dragging and squeezing,
And when it turns around,
It’s fun, adventure and pleasing,

Life throws challenges at you,
It forces you to take a stand,
It makes you feel helpless at times,
But it also lets you taste the success,

Life, gives you moments, the moments,
To live and experience,
Every single thing that you always wanted,
To face your fears and conquer them,

I don’t claim to know life,
It just passes me by every now and then,
It’s not something to be captured in words,
Neither to be understood, nor analysed,

Life is a choice, you live it everyday,
The way you choose it to be,
Make a choice to be free,
Every single day you breathe,
Because, surely, You haven’t lived it enough yet,
Have You?

Book Review: The Richest Man in Babylon, George S Clason

A collection of stories based in the ancient city Babylon. The stories offer simple yet powerful principles of managing finances.

Author: George S Clason
Published: 1988
Publisher: Signet, Penguin Group
Pages: 194
My Rating & Recommendation: 4/5, I strongly Recommend this book

This books, The Richest Man in Babylon, talks about money, savings, financial prudence and the road to riches. Bored already? Hold on!

Content Summary

Although the topics discussed in the book are based on managing finances, it is far from being boring and complicated. In fact, this is a story book. The stories that are based out of the ancient city of Babylon. A city that flourished some 8000 years ago, and was admired for the wealth and prosperity of its people.

The books cites some very logical methods and common sense ways of handling one’s income and expenses. For instance, a story suggests that every person should consistently save 1/10th of what he or she earns. Another story cautions against investing in avenues/prospects about which one is not well aware, despite the lure of good returns. Similarly, there are a host of other good principles embedded neatly into wonderful stories. I found these seemingly simple pieces of advice very powerful. I could also relate to a few instances where I made some stupid mistakes in handling my hard earned money.

Recommendation

This book will not sweep you off your feet, and I am sure a mere reading will not make you  wealthy either (I secretly wished that though). For me, the beauty of this book lies in its simplicity, the strength of the content and most importantly its relevance in the today’s world, some 8000 years later! Happy Reading.

The Versatilist, is a space where you can find posts on travel, book reviews and poetry. To follow versatilistaqua on Insta, Click here to follow Versatilistaqua on Insta

Book Review: The Race of My Life, Milkha Singh

A gripping story of a man of no means who ran his way to glory. He is fondly known as the The Flying Sikh, India’s greatest athlete ever!

Author: Milkha Singh with Sonia Sanwalka
Published: 2013
Publisher: Rupa Publications
Pages: 150
My Rating & Recommendation: 4/5, I strongly Recommend this book

Usually, I run three rounds around the park but today I ran one extra round. At the end of it, I was huffing, sweating, breathing heavily, and felt completely jaded. That made me wonder in awe about the mettle of Milkha Singh, the man who ran like a machine.

‘Flying Sikh’, as he is better known, is the greatest Indian athlete ever. He ran 80 international races and won 77 of them. He lost an Olympic bronze medal in 1960 Rome Olympics by 1/100th of a second. Need I say more? Fortunately, we have a book which captures his story. Milkha Singh lived a life of glory, likewise, this book is an equally compelling spectacle.

Content Summary

The description of Milkha Singh’s scarred childhood is heart wrenching. He was devastated when he witnessed his family getting slaughtered in the riots that ensued India’s partition in 1947. Thereafter, he became a delinquent adolescent who was saved just in time by the Indian Army. Mr. Singh articulates his journey beautifully. From an unruly, recalcitrant lad who started running for an extra glass of milk in diet, to the champion runner whose passion knew no boundaries. The lucid description of Milkha’s feeling about his life and relationships, his training sessions and races etc. made me feel captivated to the book.

The book also presents some highlights from Milkha’s post retirement life. His contributions to the sports in India and the struggle with the politics in sports helps readers get a unique perspective. Overall, a gripping story of a man without any means, and yet, who ran his way to unmatchable glory. Happy Reading!

PS: In 2013, a Bollywood movie ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ on the life on Milkha Singh released. Expectedly, the movie was a huge success. 

The Versatilist, is a space where you can find posts on travel, book reviews and poetry. To follow versatilistaqua on Insta, Click here to follow Versatilistaqua on Insta

Book Review: Eleven Minutes, Paulo Coelho

A story of a young, ambitious girl from Brazil who treads discrete paths to fulfill her dreams and find Love which has hitherto eluded her..

Published: 2003
Pages: 275
Publisher: Harper Collins

The last Paulo Coelho book that I read was ‘The Alchemist’, way back in 2007. Although, the book Eleven Minutes is based on an entirely different subject, I felt that even with this book Paulo has attempted to keep philosophy as an overarching theme.

Eleven Minutes is about Maria’s life. A girl from a small town in the interiors of Brazil. She is beautiful, ambitious, wants to find the ever elusive love and needs money to fulfil her dreams. Her quest takes her to a distant land and discrete paths. After months of conscientious efforts, she reaches a point where she has to no other way to earn money than to become a prostitute.

From there on, the story becomes a little predictable (Bollywood Style). Maria feels ambivalent about her newly acquired profession. She is both intrigued and nonchalant, and keeps preparing for her return back home. The author describes Maria’s sexual encounters in detail and also treads into BDSM arena for a while but hardly does justice (in reference to standards set by 50 shades of Gray). In between all this, the naïve girl in Maria is still dissatisfied and keeps longing for love. Fortunately, she finds a ‘special client’ who is willing to love her beyond the initial physical desires. Maria resists for a while but eventually gives in, and they live happily ever after, hopefully!

Recommendation

Overall, I think this book is a combination of a love story, a story of a woman’s struggle, or an erotica with a philosophy as a central theme. It could be all of it, or none, depending on how liberally you are willing to look at it. Happy Reading!

Like reading Book Reviews, Poetry and Travel Stories? Versatilistaqua is your space for interesting content in these areas of your interest. Follow VersatilistAqua on Instagram here.

For more book reviews of interesting top sellers, check out this section here.

My 2016: A Step Forward!

Inspired by the legendary book ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, this article is the story of my transition from an indolent dreamer to a disciplined practitioner.

The year 2016 was a very exciting year for me. I got married. Period. Jokes apart, last year was exciting simply because I did all things that I wanted to do. It was the third successive year in which I had set goals and invested time in the execution. For most the year, I felt I was in control of my life. The foundation for this was laid in 2014 when for the first time, I pursued all my goals well beyond the initial excitement of initial few days. As is true for many others, ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, a master piece on personal effectiveness by Mr. Covey was the bedrock of this productive start.

2014 ended on a satisfactory note as 1) I had maintained the zeal till the year end (the most important) 2) developed my own format to track my weekly and monthly progress, and 3) got fairly comfortable working at Level 1 and 2 of time management. 2015 was an attempt to move to the next level. My goals guided my daily routine, tracking of progress improved, consistency kicked in and there was a move from anxious ‘Oh I have to do this that‘ to ‘I have a goal, a plan, and i need to focus on execution‘. The results at the end of the year were encouraging. I can’t say I say achieved my goals completely, but I had read more books, traveled more and got better at maintaining relationships.

2016 was sweet both in terms of both planning and execution. My goal setting had become smarter. I created a few overarching categories from where the quarterly, monthly and weekly activities were derived. A model akin to the “4 Disciplines of Execution” (A very powerful concept). I also gave myself the leverage to re-calibrate my goals at the end of 6 months to accommodate for the changes in environment, opportunities and new developments. I attempted to develop a couple of habits (Level 5 time management) by executing particular actions consistently. All of this cumulatively worked well. My execution ability has improved considerably. Many goals were achieved or exceeded, performance in incomplete targets was better than previous years. Most importantly, my confidence and belief in this approach for self development strengthened further.

2017 has already started on a good note. For each category and goal this year, I have clearly articulated an underlying ‘Why’. I have also tried a sneak peek into next 5 years of my life and have formulated a long term plan. That will be my guide post. I feel excited and upbeat for this year. If plans get executed perfectly, then my writings next year will have more than a few words of French. “Pour l’instant, Au Revoir”.

Book Review: Love Story, Erich Segal

A lighthearted humorous beginning slowly develops into a passionate and heart warming love affair only to end in an abrupt and unfortunate manner. A must read.

Published: 1970
Publisher: Hodder And Stoughton
Pages: 216

This book hardly needs a recommendation. In fact, I think I have been very late to lay my hands on this one. An uncomplicated story of two lovers, Oliver Barrett IV, a law student in Harvard and Jenny Cavilleri, a student of music in Radcliffe. Oliver is a man of rich lineage with a very affluent and celebrated family. But, Oliver hates his father. Jenny is a witty, charming and carefree girl from a modest background. They meet, fall in love, and decide to get married. Oliver’s family disapproves, Oliver leaves home and the lovers start a life on their own. The plot progresses, Jenny has a terminal disease and Oliver can’t save her. Heart breaks all around. Very typical, ain’t it?

The beauty of the book does not lie in the strength of the plot, but purely in the author’s ability to captivate the reader with his gift of story telling. A lighthearted humorous beginning slowly develops into a passionate and heart warming love affair only to end in an abrupt and unfortunate manner.

The lead characters have been crafted with finesse as each one of them has a strong independent personality. They come together for only a while to create a magnificent saga of love. These varied emotions consumed me and I felt as if I was a part of their happiness and pain.

Recommendation

Overall, it’s a classic and a must read book. It will pinch your heart a little but not before it makes you feel the beauty of love. Happy Reading!

Thank you for reading this book review.

Like reading Book Reviews, Poetry and Travel Stories? Versatilistaqua is your space for interesting content in these areas of your interest. Follow VersatilistAqua on Instagram here.

For more book review of interesting top sellers, check out this section here.

Book Review: English August, Upamanyu Chatterjee

Twenty Three year old Agastya gets posted to a remote location Madna for IAS Training. He expertly shares his ambivalence and experiences with a tinge of humour.

Author: Upamanyu Chatterjee
Published: 1988
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 288

I smirked and laughed my way through this book. English August is an excellent read!

My bias!

I may be a little biased in my liking for this book. It is because the plot of this book is almost a perfect projection of my life at present. But still I feel the uncanny, witty and satirical writing style is in perfect harmony with the plot and the characters in the book.

I am currently working for a Public Sector Enterprise: posted at a factory location at Vijaipur, Madhya Pradesh. Undeniably, this place is remote, very remote. Before coming here, I have been in major cities for almost 26 years. I have spent majority of my life in one of the best cities in India, “The City Beautiful’, Chandigarh. Its blend of modernity and traditional fervor is unmatched across the country. Evidently, I love Chandigarh. So, Vijaipur is a massive transition for me. So it was, for Agastya.

Content Summary

Roll back a few years to 1970s and you will meet Agastya Sen or August or Ogu, the son of the Governor of Bengal and the central character of this book. He is brought up and educated in Kolkata and Delhi (Metropolitan Cities). At 23, after clearing the Indian Civil service examination, he gets posted to ‘Madna’ for a year-long training as an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) Officer. Now, Madna is a modern day Vijaipur. Well, to be fair to August, the description renders it way ‘remoter’ than Vijaipur.

The author presents August as an Anglicized Indian given his westernized outlook and lack of finesse in speaking Bengali. August vividly narrates his deepest feelings and jumbled emotions about his job as ‘IAS sahib’ and fascinatingly details his impressions about Madna and the people he meets as a part of his job. The language and thought process presented is so natural that I couldn’t help thinking about my ‘Anglicized’ Bengali friends.

August’s family (Dad and Uncle) and friends, both in Delhi and Madna find a promising supporting role in his story (Friends for soft drugs and Uncle as a critic). In order to survive in a subdued location, August uses distinct strategies to avoid work and explores unique excuses for not being in office. In one of the hilarious parts, August steals his superior’s car keys to make him scowl and shout at his servants. Why? Just to break the monotony of the events happening around him.

Recommendation

Overall, August’s struggle to accept his rather enviable situation and a candid firsthand account of his survival tactics is very engaging. Equally compelling is his final decision and the way he reaches the decision while he thinks, overthinks, gets intoxicated and stoned, with flair. Happy Reading!

Additional Info:

The author of English August, Mr. Upamanyu Chatterjee is a 1983 batch IAS officer who is currently serving as a Joint Secretory on the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board. This book has been adapted into a movie ‘English August’, directed by Dev Benegal and Rahul Bose features in the lead role. Of course, the movie is rated 7.1 on IMDB.

Like reading Book Reviews, Poetry and Travel Stories? Versatilistaqua is your space for interesting content in these areas of interest. Follow VersatilistAqua on Instagram here.

For more book reviews of interesting top sellers, check out this section here.

You Haven’t What

Quite simply, a list of my acts of omission which brings out most surprised and shocked reactions from the ones who learn about these!

“You haven’t watched Friends?” cried out my friend with disappointment and shock. But that was not how the conversation started. It was a usual coffee table discussion over unimportant matters that reminded him of a situation similar to some episode in the TV series FRIENDS. That’s when he figured out what I didn’t intend to share otherwise. I haven’t watched even a single episode of FRIENDS, well that’s that. This was not the first time I got such a reaction; it will not be the last either. However, it made me think about my other acts of commission and omission; which are rather uncharacteristic of a young adult in this era of digital media and internet. This post is a confession, more of an acceptance of my being. It could easily be repentance too, if not for the continued inertia. I have no incentive to lie, you have to trust me on this. The revelations that follow might shock you, if you one of ‘Those’. But if you are able to relate to me, even remotely, please give me a shout out! Here is a list of my omissions:

FRIENDS; Not even a single episode. I do know the names of the characters. Joe, Phoebe, Jennifer Aniston, and, yes, you can take it from there.

PRISON BREAK; my brother kept telling me that if I start watching this, I wouldn’t be able to stop without finishing it. That did it for me! I never got started on it.

GAME OF THRONES; I have never watched it. I still know John Snow. He was dead, he is alive now; might be dead again. He could get a clone perhaps.

SHAKTIMAN (Indian Superhero who could swirl and fly); I haven’t watched Shaktiman. I remember choosing not to watch it. I was a CAPTAIN VYOM fan, TIPU SULTAN and CHANDRAKANTA too.

HARRY POTTER; I swear to God I haven’t so far as even touched any of the Harry Potter books; I watched the first movie, the ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’ as a part of a school trip when I was in grade 8th or 9th, and that was 15 years ago.

POKEMONGO; who is Pokémon? Where is it going, and why is it going anywhere at all? I used to watch Popeye the Sailor Man, if that counts.

CANDY CRUSH; I played this game for 2 hours because my mom wasn’t able to complete that level. I don’t remember if I did complete it or not. But my mom has completed well beyond 500 levels now.

Farmville; no

HayDay; no

PRISMA; I am not sure how twisted it could make me look, why take a chance?

This list is based on quantum of surprising reactions that I get when I admit my non- performance of almost ‘Must Absorb’ digital multimedia content. It could easily contain many other things; I’ll keep adding, as soon as I discover those things. Or you could ask me.

I haven’t been on the other side to nurture some vague sense of distinction. I just didn’t feel the need, or maybe indolence gets the better of me. I also understand the basis of the others’ reactions. When we feel too attached, happy, excited or intrigued after an experience, we wish that others too should experience the thrill albeit it’s not too difficult to achieve. It’s like, for the greater good of the world or something similar. It could be purely contextual as well, to each his own. Like for me, if you are an Indian and you haven’t watched the movie ‘Sholay’, I would say, “You haven’t What?!’

Book Review: The FIRM, Duff McDonald

McKinsey is touted as the greatest Management consulting firm on the planet. This book gives an engaging insight into the history and success of this firm.

Author: Duff McDonald
Published: 2013
Publisher: Vintage Books
Pages: 336

This book is about McKinsey & Company, touted as the greatest consulting organization on the planet! ‘The Firm’ is what the employees at McKinsey like to call it; ‘employees’ themselves are known as ‘Partners’ who never negotiate anything, but only ‘make arrangements’. This word play is symbolic of the ‘Consulting Profession’ which the Firm ‘created’ back in 1926 and commercialized thereafter.

The author commendably illustrates the history of McKinsey. Starting from the foundation by James McKinsey in 1926 to the era of Dominic Barton, the current CEO of the Firm (2009-18). It also highlights the reigns of 11 Managing Directors and how each leader impacted the Firm’s strategy, expansion, growth and value system. More importantly, the book provides a compelling description of the Firm’s powerful and visible impact on the World’s business; albeit, not all of which is worthy of applause.

McKinsey’s Clout

The restructuring of the American and European industries in the post WWII era and propagation of the M (Matrix) form of organizational structure can be safely attributed to The Firm. The clout of the Firm is underlined by the fact that it has not only consulted close to 90% of the Fortune 500 companies, but also the elected governments in the United States and Britain. ‘Organizing’ the White House can easily be considered as an assignment that shaped the world.

On the flip side, readers also get an insight into some of the biggest corporate failures. For instance, the factors that led to the collapse of ‘Enron’ in 2001. Enron was Firm’s long term client with Ex-McKinsey ‘Jeff Skilling’ as a president leading up to that period.

  • The decline of Swissair & AllState, long term clients of the firm.
  • The conviction of Rajat Gupta in 2012, Firm’s MD (1994-2003) on charges of insider trading;
  • Firm’s lackluster work with the BBC and many other unsuccessful high profile projects.

Surprisingly, the Firm invariably came out unscathed from these forceful downturns and continued its reign as a superlative management consulting powerhouse in the world.

Recommendation

Overall, the book gives some revealing insights about the Firm. The author has made an earnest attempt to present an unbiased ‘personality’ of the Firm. One doesn’t need to be a consultant to be able to make sense of this book. It’s for anyone with some inclination towards the business world will really enjoy it.

I will highly recommend this book if you want to know why a ‘McKinsey’ on your resume gives you an unparalleled Launchpad for reaching the highest echelons of the business world. Don’t believe me? Ask Sundar Pichai, Sheryl Sandberg, Tom Peters, Lou Gerstner, Bobby Jindal, James Gorman or Chelsea Clinton! Happy Reading.

Like reading Book Reviews, Poetry and Travel Stories? Versatilistaqua is your space for interesting content in these areas of interest. Follow VersatilistAqua on Instagram here.

For more book reviews of interesting top sellers, check out this section here.

Exit mobile version
%%footer%%