Category: Book Review

Book Review: A Shot At History, Abhinav Bindra

A fantastic tale of fears, fights and the top of the podium finish of India’s lone individual Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra.

Author: Abhinav Bindra with Rohit Brijnath

Published: 2011

Publisher: Harper Sport

Pages: 215

My Rating & Recommendation: 5/5, Must Read

Undoubtedly, India’s tryst with the Olympics has been a one with sporadic highs. Successes have been far and few in an otherwise long haul of despairs and failed dreams. If sending a satellite into space could qualify for Olympics, we could hit the podium more often I believe.

A country of more than a billion has laid hands on only one individual Olympic Gold medal since forever till now. And the man to give our country that honor is Abhinav Bindra. He was the Gold Medalist in 10m Air Rifle Shooting at Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Content Summary

A shot at history is a story of this man, Abhinav Bindra. A dive into the carefully crafted journey towards perfection which finally shot dead the demons of the past failures, for our sportsmen and a billion otherwise. In this book, Abhinav takes you through the details of his life as a string of smoothly connected chapters. A transformation from a young boy practicing alone under a mango tree in India to a competitor polishing his art in the biggest shooting ranges across Germany and USA has been neatly and intriguingly captured into word streams.

The best part of the book is Abhinav’s candor in admission of his frailties, moments of weakness, competitive pressure and emotional breakdowns during his journey. He boldly shares his feelings about being a sportsman in India (It is very different) and recounts several tales about how he slowly learnt to craft his way through the maze of media criticisms, bureaucratic apathy and general lack of traction and facilities for shooting as a sport in India.

Abhinav Bindra’s passion, quest for perfection and knowledge about his sport rubbed off on me. I came out much more informed about shooting, it’s rules, facilities around the world, the make and makers of guns and pellets, the technique, posture of the shooter and the various prestigious competitions that happen around the world. Fascinating!

Recommendation

Overall, this book is a straightforward account of Abhinav’s journey, much like him and his sport, Load. Aim. Shoot. Reload. Aim. Shoot… He has titled one of the chapters as ‘Mr Indian Official: Thanks for Nothing’, Straight as a bullet!

Additionally, the book is like a passive mentor for any young aspiring sportsperson, playing any sport. It doesn’t really prescribe but informs and guides. That’s why, I have labeled it as a must read. I liked it for its content, style, sheer originality and for the inspiring impact that it left on me. 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: my GITA, Devdutt Pattanaik

Making a bold attempt at reorganizing the Bhagwad Gita, Devdutt presents a captivating and hugely informative adaptation of the Gita.

Author: Devdutt Pattanaik
Published: 2015
Publisher: Rupa Publications
Pages: 246
My Rating & Recommendation: 4/5, I Strongly Recommend

my GITA is one of the numerous adaptations of the ‘The Bhagwad Gita’. The book which has influenced the way of life of people across the world. To really make sense of a review for the book my GITA, it is necessary to know about the Bhagwad Gita.

Background

The ‘Bhagwad Gita‘, along with The ‘Ramayana‘ is the sacred book of the Hindu religion.

Across the world, The Bhagwad Gita is widely acknowledged and accepted as the book which transcends a particular religion and has the power to influence and transform the way of life of any individual seeking spiritual evolution and meaning in daily existence. 

The text of the Bhagwad Gita is basically a discourse given by Lord Shri Krishna (Hindu God) to Arjuna (a celebrated Pandava archer) before the start of a mega war (Mahabharat). The war between the two grand armies of Kauravas and Pandavas. Interestingly, Kauravas and Pandavas are cousins. The cause of their dispute is the accession of the kingdom of ‘Hastinapur’ to Pandavas. As agreed but later denied, by Kauravas. Just before the war is about to begin, Arjuna starts to feel guilt and remorse. The prospect of fighting and killing his own family, and the gurus from whom he has learnt his skills makes him perturbed. That’s when Shri Krishna, who is Arjuna’s charioteer during the war, gives a discourse answering Arjuna’s questions and addressing his apprehensions.

Lord Krishna through his discourse presents the Vedic philosophy that governs life and talks about important issues such as ‘Dharma‘, the underlying value system that governs life , the power and meaning of the supreme being ‘Paramatma’, the existence of an individual beyond his body in the form of an ever transforming ‘Atma‘ and the divine purpose to connect “Atma to Paramatma” by performing Karma, Actions without Expectations of results.

Originally, the Bhagwad Gita was written in Sanskrit language. It has 18 chapters and a total of 700 shlokas (verses).

Content Summary my Gita

In my GITA, the author starts with giving an excellent overview of the history of Hinduism that encompasses evolution of religious texts through time and how the superiority of the Gita came into being. Thereafter, Mr. Pattanaik has made a lot of bold attempts in presenting the original book. For one, this book is a very concise translated version of the original. Additionally, the sequence of the book has been altered. The author deliberately and meticulously bunched the shlokas spread across chapters to into concepts/themes which can be easily understood by the reader.

Most importantly, the author has attempted to contextualize the interpretations of the various shlokas which appeal to contemporary way of thinking. I really liked the parts where the conflicting views or impressions about the book have been tackled in a logical and rational manner. For instance, there are notions that the Gita is the book of war or why did Lord Krishna allow the war at all? I felt the author acknowledged the thought process and gently introduced an alternate way of thinking and explained how needless judgement inhibits the understanding of the underlying philosophy.

To his credit, Mr. Pattanaik amply indicates the acceptance of the fact that his interpretation is not the only correct interpretation. Though I personally felt he was spot on most of times as his approach appears rational and grounded in logic.

Recommendation

Overall, the book is a treasure trove of useful information and interesting perspectives about intriguing concepts such as Deha, Dehi, Niravana, Yoga (its various forms) and Brahmand (Universe). A lot of diagrams and pictures have been included which really helped me to understand the complex maze of the Vedic system, its evolution through eras and significantly, the wisdom of the Gita. This book is almost a perfect introduction for someone looking to start the journey of spiritual evolution, consciously or subconsciously. In short, reading this book might well be the first ‘Nishkaam Karma‘ (desire less action) is that direction. 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: Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora?

This book is about the mass rape of 30 odd women in one night in the two small villages of Kashmir. The young authors detail their story of demand for justice!

Title: Do you remember Kunan Poshpora
Author: Essar, Ifrah, Samreena, Munaza, Natasha
Published: 2013
Publisher: Zubaan
Pages: 222
My Rating & Recommendation: 3/5, I Recommend

Overview

This book, Do you remember Kunan Poshpora is about blatant Human Rights abuse and crimes against women. Specifically, it details the alleged incident of mass rape of Kashmiri women by the personnel of the Indian Armed Forces.

In the year 1991, on a cold February night, more than 30 odd women in the age group of 12 to 70 years, in the two small villages of Kunan and Poshpora in Kashmir (J&K), India were brutally raped by the personnel of the Indian Armed forces during a supposedly routine cordon and search operation.

The cluster of authors (Five young Kashmiri women) present an account of the Kunan Poshpora incident, its shocking impact on the lives of the villagers and the orchestrated delay in delivering justice to the victims of this tragedy. The authors lament the supposed impunity enjoyed by the Armed Forces which has ensured that incident is plagued by botched up preliminary police investigation, biased reports by special committees and judicial indifference. As a result, 26 years later, the case still warrants a thorough investigation.

Backed with thorough research, meetings with the villagers and victims, study of case documents, supporting artefacts and interviews of other people closely associated with the incident, the authors present a strong case against the deliberate cover up by the government and the Army. Additionally, in the seven chapters, a reader also gets a glimpse of life in Kashmir (most militarised zone in the world), and the constant undercurrent of mistrust between Kashmiri people and the authorities. The journey of a courageous group of young women (authors and 45 others) that is creating awareness about this incident and pioneering the demand for justice for the victims of Kunan Poshpora is well articulated. This group filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in 2013, seeking re-investigation of the incident. The case is still sub judice.

Final Word

The writing is a little lengthy and repetitive in portions. The core issue is emphasized very strongly. Overall, this book is a good informative read. Though some details of the incident startled me, largely the content is non disturbing but provoking for sure. The book has helped me to understand the perspective and thought process of my fellow Kashmiri citizens, who, to my utter dismay, unfortunately lack the sense of belonging to our country India. I recommend this book for the awareness it brought along. May Peace prevail. 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: Mossad, Michael Bar-Zohar & Nissim Mishal

This book will open a new window to the world for you. That view from there is not entirely encouraging, but fascinating for sure…

Author: Michael Bar-Zohar & Nissim Mishal
Published: 2012
Publisher: Jaico Publishing House
Pages: 338
My Rating & Recommendation: 5/5, Must Read

Overview

I got to know about this book last year from a Facebook status on a friend’s timeline. First things first, my gratitude to him for posting that status. This book is easily one of best that I have read till date. It’s shocking, thought provoking, deeply engaging and a little unsettling too. The Confessions of an Economic Hitman introduced me to a world where USA used economic warfare to manipulate and dominate the world. Similarly, this book presents a world where Israel, through its intelligence services agency, Mossad, persistently thwarts the dangers to its existence and eliminates the Nazi criminals from the time of World War II and, other terrorists from the Arab world.

Fascinating Missions by Mossad

Altogether, this book highlights many important missions of Mossad like

a) capture of Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann from Buenos Aires in Argentina,

b) search for a kid named Yoselle to save Israel from a religious war,

c) heist of a MIG 21 plane from Iraq,

d) the systematic elimination of members of Palestinian group Black September – the outfit that carried out an attack on Jews in 1972 Summer Olympic (Munich, the movie),

e) the war of 1973 against Egypt and Syria and

f) the wiping out of an under construction secret nuclear facility at Iran.

The details of these missions have everything from forged passports, undercover agents, secret locations, smuggling of weapons, deadly chemicals, insane amount of money, booby traps and exhilarating successes to doomed failures for the agency. Reading details about planning and execution of these missions was mind-boggling!

Final Word

This book has made a big impact on me. At the very  least, for some days, I grew suspect & unsure of my own surroundings and often looked at strangers with an investigative point of view. It also made me realise the enormity of chaos that erupts when two dearly held opposing beliefs clash against each other as it destroys so many human lives and other resources. (Arab/Israel conflict is akin to India/Pakistan, may be better or worse off). Slowly but surely though, I fell back into the routine of my life and felt reassured that thankfully my world is very different from the one in which Mossad agents thrive and carry out their operations. I felt lucky, safe and free, at the same time, I also felt more aware and informed.

For all the people at Mossad, whatever fuels their fire; patriotism, security, necessity or any other motive, a big salute for just being brilliant at what they do, and a big thumbs up to the book that brought it all out to the world. 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: 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

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.

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.

Exit mobile version
%%footer%%