COMPLETED A DECADE OF BLOGGING!

1780th BLOG POST

It gives me immense satisfaction and happiness to share with all of you that my Blogging journey has completed its 10^th Year today. On this completion of a decade and 10^th anniversary of this beautiful journey that has not only been just another thing for me in life but almost life itself. I know the dimensions of life is very vast and cannot be defined with just one factor of it with what I do with my Blog and writing but this makes my life feel purposeful. When I had joined my Graduation after completing my 12^th standard, I was aware of the leisure time I would be having as we generally study only when exams are near. I wanted to do something which could give me a pleasure of utilizing both- my time and skills for something better which shall make me proud someday. This thought gave birth to this platform you know as WRITING BUDDHA which has almost 1800 posts now.

When I write here, I write for myself and as soon as my heart says whatever I wished to speak has been scribbled and I go for the round of editing, it is when I think of all my people who follow this portal and like knowing my perspective on things, books, movies, products etc. It all comes from heart. Many people say that Bloggers are just for earning through their influencing platforms but let me tell you my friends, this was started with no knowledge on monetization and even if you shall go through this website, there are no advertisements except few Amazon banners of the books that I have reviewed so that it’s easy for the readers to go and purchase it from there easily. With time I got little bit of opportunities to connect and collaborate with few brands, authors and publishers but it has never been out and out advertisements but posts full of content talking about both- good and bad about the stuff I considered for the write-up. Hence, I have always written it for myself, first, but keeping in mind people who follow this medium religiously.

You would think why I am going on a defensive mode all of a sudden to clarify all of the above. Well, I understand that when your work is not just your work anymore but becomes a part of everyone’s life as I know people who seriously wait for my posts and even ping and abuse me when I am off my blog it becomes the responsibility to make people know the purpose behind this medium. And what good occasion can I get then this- 10^th Bloggaversary! I am always thankful to all of you for staying by even when you know that I am not getting time for my personal opinions and life to be shared with all of you and what comes out is just the Book and Movie reviews that too on an average of once a week. I have promised many a times in my previous such festive posts about my seriousness towards giving lots of personal posts but failed due to tough job life and other things I am associated with. So, this time I won’t be promising anything but still I say, I’ll try to fulfil everyone’s wish by trying to speak my personal thoughts as much as I review books.

On this occasion, I would like to talk about the hobbies and passion that you have. Yes, YOU! Why should this post be only about me and Writing Buddha when it has been possible to stand tall even after 10 years because of YOU, isn’t it? I would request everyone reading this post to not waste much time on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Whatsapp, Instagram and other digital platforms but concentrate upon how you can create something of your own of which intellectual property rights shall be with you and no one can take away from you. I feel very sad for people these days as I find them only investing time in following stuffs others are creating but not creating something from their piece of life as I believe everyone has an artist or skilful bone in themselves. Hence kindly identify if you have not already and rock with your stuffs and show people what you are capable of rather than only liking and sharing stuffs created by others. Definitely do that because you shall get inspiration from there but surely do something of yourself. Enough for you. Bas! Haha!

Before ending this post, I would like to inform all of you that I have finally managed to create a Youtube channel for this platform with the same name- Writing Buddha. I have embedded the first two videos below which I have published as of now. This is something which I wanted to do from last 4 years but the confidence was something that held me back. I finally picked up my DSLR, recorded the video, edited it using a video editor I had never even heard in my life and published it on Youtube. The feedback has been fine and hopefully, this Youtube channel shall not only have book reviews but I shall be discussing and talking on many other topics and my views upon things I have strong opinions on. I want you to please subscribe the channel and comment your views and let me know whenever I go wrong so that I can improve myself and get better with each video.

With this, I wish the nature to allow more positivity to be around me so that I can generate more contents and stuffs and share with all of you and hope this blog shall stay for many more decades. Please keep supporting.

Your Support is my Success!

WRITING BUDDHA 

Nutrazee's Testosterone Booster (Product Preview)!!!

1779th BLOG POST-->>

View this post on Instagram

If you don't travel by car regularly and the usual mode for #travelling is nothing but through public transport- either by auto, train or bus, it becomes very hard to keep up with the energy after the day ends. . As I am someone who takes his #hobbies seriously and ensures there is time for the same too, but, sometimes, even after reaching home early from office, I am unable to complete my personal tasks related to my #blogging and reading activities because of tiredness and fatigue. . I was very doubtful about the product by @Nutrazee named #TestosteroneBooster when a friend had suggested me initially as I believed it could be used only for the reason of increasing the sperms count. Haha! . But after I read about the product and its reviews, I understood it could be a booster for me to retain my #energy until I am not in bed to sleep. . It has been 3 weeks since I am having it and I can say it has helped me immensely with my #stamina. Now when I reach home, I am quite fresh to continue working and giving myself deadly timelines to accomplish. . Similarly, as I do normal #workout but I walk a lot which gets considered as #cardio, I used to find that I would get little lazy for next 3-4 hours post-exercizing. . But #Nutrazee 's Testosterone Booster helped me boost my vitality by melting away little bit of my #bellyfat in 3 weeks and helped create more lean and #healthymuscles. . These capsules are #GMPCertified, #NonGMO, 100% #Vegan, #Glutenfree with no fillers, preservatives, binders or harmful ingredients. . It is perfect for male audience and I would recommend it to everyone as it contains five natural herbs:- #Shilajit #SafedMusli Extract #Ashwagandha Extract #KaunchBeej Extract #Akarkara Extract . #Ayurvedic #AvurvedicSupplement #HealthSupplement #EnergySupplement #Supplement #MuscleGrowth

A post shared by Abhilash Ruhela (@writingbuddha) on Jul 30, 2019 at 10:36am PDT

If you don't travel by car regularly and the usual mode for travelling is nothing but through public transport- either by auto, train or bus, it becomes very hard to keep up with the energy after the day ends.

As I am someone who takes his hobbies seriously and ensures there is time for the same too, but, sometimes, even after reaching home early from office, I am unable to complete my personal tasks related to my blogging and reading activities because of tiredness and fatigue.

I was very doubtful about the product by Nutrazee named TestosteroneBooster when a friend had suggested me initially as I believed it could be used only for the reason of increasing the sperms count. Haha!

But after I read about the product and its reviews, I understood it could be a booster for me to retain my energy until I am not in bed to sleep.

It has been 3 weeks since I am having it and I can say it has helped me immensely with my stamina. Now when I reach home, I am quite fresh to continue working and giving myself deadly timelines to accomplish.

Similarly, as I do normal #workout but I walk a lot which gets considered as cardio, I used to find that I would get little lazy for next 3-4 hours post-exercizing.

But Nutrazee's Testosterone Booster helped me boost my vitality by melting away little bit of my belly fat in 3 weeks and helped create more lean and healthy muscles.

These capsules are GMP Certified, Non-GMO, 100% Vegan, Gluten-free with no fillers, preservatives, binders or harmful ingredients.

It is perfect for male audience and I would recommend it to everyone as it contains five natural herbs:-

Shilajit

Safed Musli Extract

Ashwagandha Extract

Kaunch Beej Extract

Akarkara Extract

Buy the product by clicking on the Banner below:-

The Last Love Letter by Kulpreet Yadav (Book Review: 3.5*/5) !!!)

1778th BLOG POST -->>

There are some authors who already have a fan-base but yet couldn’t become quite famous but whoever gets touched by their work remembers and respects them always; case similar to actors like Konkana Sen or Rajkumar Rao. One such author, I believe, is Kulpreet Yadav who has already written more than 6 books. I have read his latest release named “The Last Love Letter” which is my first attempt of the author’s work. The book is around 240 pages and published by Rupa Publications. There are very few books which can manage to keep you excited with their storyline keeping everything simple and yet entertaining and emotional. This book gives you the same experience.

TLLL is a light read but still talks about many things which matters to the lifestyle of a normal human being. We shall discuss it later in the review. This book belongs in the genre of Love, Romance and Relationships. Any book that belongs to this genre is scary to me because in last decade, I have read so many college romances that I just wish to stay away from any book talking about love affair between two people. It is generally all cliché and nothing else. But then comes a book like this one which doesn’t talk only about the conversations that the two characters have in love but much more than that. It talks about the dilemma, past experiences in life, belief and prejudice one has for love, other things that stops a person from falling in another relationship, memories etc.

This book speaks about characters which are very well portrayed by the author that you are able to understand their mindset where they are coming from. We have Akash who has just lost his wife and is single parenting his daughter and considering his responsibilities towards her and his true love which still exists strongly for his wife, he is questionable about falling in love with Subah. On the other side, Subah has been betrayed in love so horribly that she has started hating every man for the same reason and doesn’t want to get involved even in conversation with any man leave falling in love. But then she meets Akash and his daughter and comes to know about the tragic death of his wife and knowing his concern towards responsibilities he has for his family, she is questionable about falling in love with Akash. On the other hand, we have character of Rohit who gets attracted towards Subah before Akash and wishes to date her but when he realizes his friend and her coming closer, he steps back. There are many such characters who contribute to the love story of these two opposite characters and speaks on how they get together.

I like how author has given version of both the characters about each incident and scenario which makes you feel connected with both the characters as it seems both of them are thinking aloud to ensure you know what they are going through. The book is very well written and its narration is very powerful. Even though it’s a simple story it wants you to know what happens next with these characters and how are they going to cope up with their conditions.

Talking about the drawbacks of the book, the storyline is very predictable and I wished if author could have played more with suspense effects at few places and made the story little more interesting. And even if author wished to keep the storyline simple, at least the story could have been completed in 190-200 pages just as Anuj Tiwari does. Overall, the book is a light read as I said above and it could be a good filler between the big and thrilling novels that you must be reading. I give this book 3.5* out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA 

I Keep Thinking I’m You by Thomas George Santhinagar (Book Review: 1.5*/5) !!!

1777th BLOG POST -->>

I am always skeptic before picking a collection of short stories or a book by an author I have never heard about. This time I picked up a book which had both these factors named “I Keep Thinking I’m You” written by Thomas George Santhinagar. The book is around 125 pages and published by Rupa Publications. The book is based on the concept of all the following keywords I am going to write next:- black humour, irony, satire, sarcasm, spirituality, allegory etc. The book is a collection of 22 short stories which tries doing justice to the blurb of the book.

I won’t say that all the stories are fascinating or mind-boggling but some of them surely are. What I found special was which I have never read in my reading experience is how Jesus is being used as a concept in some of the stories. It was very new for me. Some stories definitely have those black humour, satire and irony elements in them which makes you smile cunningly at the portrayal of few characters associated with it which makes the chapters interesting. Few chapters are kept emotional which also connect with you in terms of story but not in terms of deep emotions that it wants to touch you with.

I would like to mention few stories out here- The main chapter which is titled same as book is the story on relationship between grandpa-grandson and how a shadow brings change in his parents is the best read in the book. In another story, how fire keeps on disturbing a soul is narrated and its quite chilling to read its climax. The story of Rachel on how she is controlled by a Satan gives good insight on this concept. The chapter named “Robbery” is quite entertaining as it has a touch of Robinhood in its concept. Mesmeric Advertisement- is a nice satirical comment on the modern society. Bindi is one amazing chapter with emotional touch to it. “Quite Near, Yet Quite Far” is the best write-up by the author and with a thrilling ending does justice to the story in the climax. Choosing “Under a Vow” as the closing chapter of the book is a nice decision.

Author has used simple and easy language with good vocabulary to narrate his stories but I would say, many of these stories are not understandable and I couldn’t understand the thought process behind those chapters. Similarly, few chapters are so nicely written but their climax is so cold that you don’t connect with the author. The spiritual chapters doesn’t feel like its genre at all. The biggest problem with this book is that it could not connect with you. May be because author has chosen the concepts which are not so regular with us hence we are unable to comprehend what it being tried to be spoken but overall, the book is very under whelming and confusing at times. I will give this book 1.5 stars out of 5 only.

Thanks.

WRITING BUDDHA 

Movie Review: Mard ko Dard Nahi Hota: Funny but not great! **

1776th BLOG POST -->>

I remember watching an interview of Radhika Madan and had thought I would never watch her movie because I found her being too bubbly for no reasons. But when I heard about the movie, Mard ko dard nahi hota, from so many people on social media I thought of watching it on the digital platform. Surprisingly, the movie is also the 1^st movie for Bhagyasree’s son, Abhimanyu Dassani. The movie has a feel of Hollywood flick, Deadpool, throughout as it carries the same logic where the protagonist of the movie does stuffs by thinking aloud and regularly sharing with you rather than being as if he is meant to do all these superlative stunts.

The story is about this boy who has a disease where he can’t feel physical pain. With this his childhood is portrayed in most of the first half of the movie. It is very interesting to watch those segments as the chemistry of him with his father and grandfather is amazing. His father wants him to behave normal whereas his grandfather wants him to behave special and do things he feels like doing. He watches a lot of movie in his childhood and becomes fan of Mani (played by Gulshan Devaiah) who his specialist in martial arts. Growing up, he sees dream of becoming one like him and as soon as he gets chance, mostly in the 2^nd half of the movie, he does too many things in some of which he wins whereas in some of which he falls flat and gets himself and his childhood crush, Supri along with his grandfather (played by Mahesh Manjrekar) trapped.

Frankly speaking, there is not much in the plot of the movie but basically thrives and survives on the references it regularly gives of other classical movies and those thinking-aloud slow-motion stunts and action segments of the protagonist. These scenes are even a tribute to those movies but also a sarcasm and parody of those cliché storylines. I felt that the movie is too ambitious because of which writer /director- Vasan Bala has ended up delivering a not-so-very-good edited movie. There are many segments which are unnecessary and mainly just after interval, you actually start getting bored. Talking about performances, everyone has done well but no one except Radhika Madan and Gulshan Devaiah could enter my heart.

I also believe that a very powerful storyline with a great purpose to the theme could have turned fortunes for this movie but alas, except critics, it is sure that audiences didn’t love it as much as makers and critics must have wanted. Even the concept of not feeling pain is not encashed properly. The climax is amazing and makes you smile while getting out of the movie but doesn’t stay with you for a long time. Overall, I found this movie bit below average and I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted. I give this one 2* out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA 

Shine Bright by Rashmi Bansal (Book Review- 4.75*/5) !!!

1775th BLOG POST -->>

There are few authors who are not writing books just for the sake of their interest or earning royalty but their will to spread motivation and leadership among the old and new generations is something which is doing a very great job for the nation and the world. These authors are equivalent to renowned teachers. One such author whose books I always look forward is Rashmi Bansal since I read her first one- Stay Hungry Stay Foolish. I am just done reading her latest release named “Shine Bright” published by Westland Publishers. The cover page of the book is very distinct as even though the title of the book contains words like “Shine” and “Bright”, the theme of the cover page is dark black with a shining diamond in between.

The book is not about the entrepreneurs who are leading a start-up or a Corporate brand, generally, about whom Rashmi writes, but, about intrapreneurs- the one who is an employee by designation but a CEO by the stature of the work they have done for their organization. I liked this concept and with the stories that Rashmi has selected for the book to share with us are different from each other and inspires you like anything. I, being in the managerial side of things in my organization, could feel how I can change the world around me without considering that it’s my CEO, Director or MD’s job.

The book is divided into three different segments with story of two-three intrapreneurs in each segment:- Srishti- stories where the intrapreneurs are such that they are no less than co-Creators, Drishti- where the Organization was old and stable and then comes an intrapreneur who show the people how the change and transform can be brought and the last segment, Sewa- the intrapreneurs from Governmental departments where bringing any kind of change individually is considered impossible.

I liked the kind of personalities that Rashmi Bansal has considered in the book known-unknown but belonging to leading Corporates/Organizations who discovered their own potential with time and did something which led to the Introduction of new product/vertical in the company or in a case or two- launch of a new company in the country itself. I will talk about the personalities who motivated me through this book- Pawan Goenka- how he with multiple challenges including his cancer-stricken wife ended up giving Mahindra Auto a success like Scorpio, even the small piece on how his wife, Mamta Goenka, fought against cancer is mind-blowing; Manu Jain- how he from being an Entrepreneur shifted to being an intrapreneur in a company which didn’t even have an imprint in India and now, Xiaomi, is leading Smartphone sales in India; Vineet Gautam- how he kept on changing his jobs and interests to finally landing up in a space through which his brands are our favorites now- Vero Moda, Jacks & Jones etc.; the formula of A>>R defined by Nitin Paranjpe through which he was able to open 5,00,000 outlets of HUL within an year when the organization generally did 10-15,000 per year. His service to Taj staff post 26/11 is another great piece in the book; Chitra Gupta- The last chapter is about her and what a way to end the book- so emotional and inspiring, how she being just a normal teacher ended up being some phenomena is- well, I am speechless now.

Rashmi Bansal uses very easy language to narrate these stories to us. I liked how she keeps the format static for all the stories. Her writing style is quite perfect for biographies and even through these small stories of 40-50 pages on each personality, she manages to engage her readers. Her narration is so perfect that it feels we are listening to a fiction story and sometimes it’s only in the end when you realize this was a true account. I liked the words directly from these personalities’ mouth in the end of each short biography. It was great knowing their advice to the young managers like me.

Now talking about the drawback, yes, the book has One- author has talked majorly about the work done by these personalities and not how these personalities prepared for it, their schedule or what they believe in etc. Major part in the book goes in explaining the success of the brand that they worked for rather than the small stuffs that we like reading about these personalities. Except this one thing, the book is a masterpiece and something that needs to be read about everyone getting into the world of job and corporate and who are already working and believe that nothing can be changed until Top Management asks for. I give this book 4.75* out of 5. Yes, indeed recommended!

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA 

Lead with Purpose Like Anand Mahindra by Rajiv Agarwal (Book Review: 4.25*/5) !!!

1774th BLOG POST -->>

Constantly reviewing books makes you aware even about the strategies that the Publishers implement and believe it or not, that impacts the reading experience for good actually. Rupa Publications have initiated a new series named “Management Lessons From The Masters” in which they talk about personalities who have built their brand with their management skills. The first one was on the management lessons by Kumar Mangalam Birla whereas the 2^nd book that I have just finished is based on Anand Mahindra, one of my favorite entrepreneurs too. The book is titled “Lead With Purpose Like Anand Mahindra” and written by the same author, Rajiv Agarwal, who is a family business consultant.

The book has around 17 beautiful chapters across 153 pages where each one of them provides us wonderful insight on specific management lessons inspired from the corporate life of Anand Mahindra. I work in an IT company where Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd. is one of our clients and therefore even before reading this book, I was quite aware about Anand Mahindra and his achievements. The book describes his humility along with the successes that he has achieved. How he has enabled the strength in the employees of his company-either at the board level or just a young candidate who has joined in is narrated with examples and results which is really something that one can learn from.

The way Mr. Anand used to hear out his employees’ ideas and boost them take it up without interfering in the project is an amazing read as it really tells about his personality and the reason why Mahindra is so big today. Also, the equation of Anand with Ratan Tata is an entertaining read and how in one of the instances, Anand treated a comment by Tata as a pat on back by elder brother is beautifully highlighted by the author. It teaches a lot. Similarly, for every merger and acquisition, the treatment with the other party by Anand is also mentioned which tells his dynamics and decision-making capabilities.

Along with such instances which are generally common in all the entrepreneurs, the new things that we get to learn is what makes this book a recommendable option for the readers such as how Mahindra encouraged innovation through the concept of Mavericks and Skunkworks. Similarly, the concept of Blue chip conferences, Annual War Room, Roadshow and shadow boards is afresh and something that can really motivate other leaders to follow to understand everyone’s point of view. How Anand Mahindra went against the theory of core competencies and followed Value Chain Theory describes how he manages risks and competencies. Along with the successful points of Mr. Anand Mahindra, author has also discussed how he has also failed in some decisions, mostly in the automobile department. I liked how author has covered many aspects of this personality which I can surely not cover in this short review but reading this book makes you a little better professional, I certainly believe this. The book is also summarized beautifully in the end which serves the purpose of keeping the reader focused towards self-motivation and improvement.

Now, talking about couple of drawbacks: - In the first half of the book, many points are repeated quite some time which bores you as the same point are later on, covered up in a specific chapter based on it. Also, in the initial chapters, as big numbers are continuously discussed, it gives a negative impression that you might dislike the book due to too much technical stuff being discussed. But thankfully, later, nothing as such is faced. Except these few points, I didn’t find any such lacking points in the book which should be pointed out specifically. I give this one 4.25 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA