Right Under Your Nose by R. Giridharan (Book Review: 3.5*/5) !!!

2076th BLOG POST

23^rd Book of 2023

I wanted to read a short crime thriller and found another lost book in my bookshelf named “Right Under Your Nose” by R. Giridharan. This 234-pages book is published by Rupa Publications in 2020. The book starts with narration of few murders in the initial few pages itself. Thereafter, it is all about how the police gets involved with the same and starts cracking down one murder after another by targeting few people and finally, finding the main culprit. I liked how author has narrated the events which keeps you on toes while reading. The book is fast-paced which helped me finish it within 4 hours itself.

 

The research work of author is evident from the fact that the story consists of characters from different professions like scientists, magician, snake-catcher, teacher, godmother, ministers, pharma etc. It is similar to the web-series that we watch these days where initial few episodes are about one event after the another which aren’t linked with each other but the 2^nd half of the show brings all of them together in a chain and explains how the events are inter-linked with each other.

 

The narration is powerful as author doesn’t get involved in useless description of unwanted or unrelated scenes. The writing is crisp which makes the book a perfect page-turner as every sentence takes the story forward. The book does get boring in between when the two police officers and a journalist is discussed more than the plot but still, author is able to bring it back in focus. The characterizations are nicely worked upon even in such plot-based story as we are able to relate with characters of Vijay, Padmini and Dalvi very easily. The chemistry between Vijay and Padmini is nicely mentioned in the first half of the book. Similarly, the camaraderie of Vijay and Dalvi is also articulated well which helps you understand how police professionals interact with each other.

 

Author does justice to the city of Nagpur as it has been mentioned specifically wherever necessary to help readers understand the locale of the city. Author has also spoken about the plight of men about how they are being charged for dowry cases which makes them hide until their bail application isn’t accepted. This is one thing about which India rarely talks where men are falsely charged because of gender-biased laws.

 

Talking about the drawbacks, I must say that the main culprit is recognized far too early in the book. Author doesn’t even try to confuse readers by making them think among 3-4 suspects but directly pinpoints at one obvious individual who even turns out to be the real culprit in the end. This was quite disappointing. Similarly, the way Vijay is able to crack the finale sounds unrealistic in terms of how he tracked and reached something which was completely out of zone throughout the narration.

 

Overall, this is a fine short read if you love thrillers with Indian setup of policemen and investigation. I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

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WRITING BUDDHA

Sugar: The Silent Killer by Damayanti Datta (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

2075th BLOG POST

22^nd Book of 2023

Well, in the series of reading books that are sitting in my shelf since a long time, I picked up another such book named “Sugar: The Silent Killer”. It is written by Damayanti Datta in around 200-pages. I remember it was around 2019 when I thought of getting a full medical check-up done for my family and I. The report showed a completely different picture about what I assumed about my health. It had many parameters which weren’t in the healthy range. After few years, the report showed that I even reached a stage where I can be termed as pre-diabetic. My mother is already a diabetic patient since a long time. Hence, I was quite curious to read this book and know how has author dedicated a whole book on this food-item which we consume abundantly without thinking of its consequences.

 

There are many health and diet related books in the market out of which I have read couple of them. They are quite straight-forward in terms of what foods are healthy and unhealthy for our body. The USP of this book is that author doesn’t directly start speaking about ill-effects of sugar and creating a panic about it among ourselves. She has tried to go back into the history and understand how the diet and eating preferences of human beings changed over the time.

 

She starts with discussion around how humans found their love for sweetness for the 1^st time when honey was generated with the help of bees. Over-the-time, humans progressed and found sugarcane as another source which helped them fulfill their sweet-cravings. Gradually, sugar production began but along with time, commercialization came into the picture which gave birth to the refined white sugar – something that has been a source of worry since its effects have been identified.

 

Damayanti discusses the book written by Dr. Yudkin around 50 years back where he highlights the danger that sugar brings with itself. Unfortunately, everyone started protesting him which resulted in the book ban. But decades later, when diabetes started becoming a common factor in the regular patients, people acknowledged the words of Dr. Yudkin. Datta discusses many of his theories in the initial chapters which helps us understand how he studied sugar and what were his findings about it.

 

Authoress, then, further progresses and talks about how the human body functions. She explains how dopamine is generated not only through the activities we love doing but also through consumption of sugar which makes us eat more of it. Similarly, she talks about all the other chemicals that gets generated in the process which makes our addiction with sugar stronger and inseparable. She gives glimpses about the role of insulin and glucagon in terms of maintaining sugar-levels in our body.

 

Her research is quite evident in the way she explains about how sugar-levels can be identified and measured in our body through different parameters. Similarly, she has dived deeper into other factors such as what amount of sugar is needed in our body and if there’s an excess, along with diabetes, what kind of different diseases get associated with us such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, heart diseases etc. She helps us understand how sugar is named differently in the ingredients list of the packaged products which we purchase without even thinking of the amount of sugar we are supplied.

 

In the last few chapters, Damayanti emphasizes on the various methodologies and substitutes that can help us control our sugar levels. She speaks about the ketone-diet and intermittent fasting which can help us achieve our goals. She also discusses how carbohydrates are being excluded from our diets whereas why it is as much necessary for our system as much as proteins. She then takes a very interesting turn and starts quoting from our religious texts regarding what it suggested thousands of years ago and how its relevant even today regarding our eating lifestyle. Similarly, she talks about the kind of prasad which has been associated with major temples and shrines which doesn’t include sugar but still helps us with our quest of sweetness. It tells us about how health-focused they were/are in their conduct.

 

Overall, this book is not a piece of work which will scare you right from the first page. It doesn’t talk about the facts that you already read regularly but gives you completely new insights about sugar. It gives you a very balanced perspective of how diabetes is becoming cruel and why we need to take it seriously. The book is also not written like a dieting guide but as a finding of a very long experiment and analysis of sugar and its impact. It is recommended for everyone to read as most of us have already fallen into the trap of sugar-love and we need to come out of it as sooner as possible. I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE

 

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WRITING BUDDHA

Does Life really ever challenge us?

 2074th BLOG POST

Well, the only work you have when you fall sick is to think about your past or future. I am currently suffering with cold which made me take a day-off from work yesterday. While I was not able to get out of my bed due to weakness, I was thinking of the job change that I have made recently and everything felt so scary - managing the new work, new stakeholders, new team members, new environment blah blah blah! It made me think of all the uncomfortable times I have lived in past. While thinking of all such times when I was in comfort or panic, I realized that the cycle continued in every few years or months in my life. Not only mine, but while I was also thinking about my parents’ life which I have closely observed, I could understand the challenges that even they have to go through- either financially, physically or mentally.

 

I am at an age where I have already lived half of my life. I am just going to live around the same years- or maybe even less. It makes me realize how time has passed in a flick. It makes me go through all the great and foolish decisions I have taken to reach where I am. I remember when I was in school, how traumatic it was to see the kind of pressure everyone had built around 10^th board exam. I knew that I won’t score much because I felt everything was above my IQ level. Because I had decided this initially itself, I couldn’t manage to score even what I deserved to achieve.

 

My junior college days were one of the terrible years of my life. Going through extremely tough times where I was both- mentally and physically ill due to major incidents in my life which changed me forever. It was just 4 months remaining for the board exams when I decided to give my best shot and score whatever I can even if I fail. I did everything I could- ignored mobile phone, friends, television and all sorts of entertainment. With the grace of God, I passed the exam with marks more than I had expected.

 

After passing 12^th, it seemed that I can’t do great in graduation. It felt that I would not even get admission. I ended up getting admitted in one of the popular colleges in my city. In the last year, it again seemed that the Common Entrance Test was out of my zone and I won’t be able to do post-graduation easily. Once again, I got admission in the very first round. Finally, when I took up my first job which again seemed like a herculean task to get, I got to know that the projects are being developed for India’s leading Insurance brokers. I didn’t know anything about Insurance. I thought I won’t be able to make through the probation period. I got 3 promotions in less than 5 years in that organization.

 

Similarly, when I left the organization and found another job in Work-from-home model, I had given up on the fact that I could understand the project sitting at home by just talking with someone on call. Once again, I made through and got a promotion which gave me the tag of Manager- something I had not even aspired for. Now, as I had mentioned in the very first paragraph, I have left even this job recently and joined a new one- a subsidiary of one of the biggest entities of India. I knew that the new domain will be tough to grasp which I am currently struggling with. Once again, I am out of my comfort zone. Once again, I am at a place where it seems my ship is sinking. Once again, I feel vulnerable. Once again, I feel I might disappoint myself.

 

But when the body gave up to this seasonal change and I got to lie quietly and think of all such moments in my life when I had given up but still got up to give whatever I could to not only survive but try to carve my identity in a new environment, I was able to achieve the tough target. I know I am at a job which is not satisfactory at a moment but I realize that I could make it one if I don’t think too much about failure but only success. When we put all our efforts and strive for bettering ourselves, we prove ourselves time and again that we can win anything that comes our way. I know we also lose few races in this journey but all leads to one place in the end if we are committed and true to ourselves- VICTORY.

 

No matter what, if there’s a belief that there’s a lot more potential within us which we have still not capitalized, we try to unlock our inner strength and bring it into play. Once we are in the gaming zone, we know that our job is to just keep hitting bullets without worrying about multiple of them coming towards us from multiple directions. It helps us understand that we are made for bigger things because that’s how the nature functions. The world has come from stone-age era to this present world where technology has become a key to survive. This has happened only because the human beings at every stage gave their best to fight against the status quo and achieved something better. We have to just do what billions and trillions of people have kept doing this since millions of years on this planet. That’s our default settings. There’s no new task assigned to us – at any phase in our lives. It’s as normal as breathing which we do without even thinking about it.

 

I am writing this because I want to believe in this phenomenon once again when I conquer the current challenge. I want to read this again after I am done with hiking this mountain to understand how life plays the same game repeatedly making us believe that it’s a new and difficult one this time. Let’s see 😊

 

Thanks!

 

WRITING BUDDHA

Living Spirituality by Meetu Bisht (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

2073rd BLOG POST

21^st Book of 2023

I don’t know why is this a phenomenon that few good books keep sitting in your shelf for months until you pick it up. This has been happening with me since last few years. One such instance is with the book named “Living Spirituality” written by Meetu Bisht. I had got it right when it released but due to some or the other reason, I always kept it aside to be read slowly at the right time in my life. I don’t know if this is it or not, but I have finally completed reading it within 4 short reading cycles of 1.5 hours each. This is a short book written in 200-pages and published by Hay House publication.

 

The book tries to defy some myth regarding spirituality which has become quite a confusing topic these days because in the age of Internet, we have ended up following multiple spiritual and yoga gurus online. Meetu tries to make us understand how simple being spiritual is. She tries to explain that there’s nothing that we need to do beyond our limits to call ourselves spiritual. She has divided the book in 28 different chapters where each of them tries to speak on one perspective of Spiritualism. There are instances where we get to know about the new perspective whereas there are moments when you completely disagree with the author’s point of view. The goodness in her writing style is that you still don’t hate the book and continue reading it with the same charm and curiosity.

 

Meetu’s intent is very clear that she wants human to understand that they just have to be their natural inner-self rather than trying to do something extreme in order to be called spiritual. She has been focused on the title of the book and I am amazed how she could talk about it without failing or dwindling even once in 200 pages. Her writing style is very simple which will help even beginners to understand what she is talking about – something which is very difficult for beginners to grasp when they read books on spirituality or philosophies.

 

Because this book tries to give a new concept of spirituality, it becomes quite difficult to accept few of Meetu’s point of view but I am sure author knew about it while writing. Like, for example, I still don’t agree with her point that meditation doesn’t lead us towards spirituality. I believe it helps us lot in understanding silence and calmness which eventually changes a lot of things within us. Meetu tries to explain us how spirituality is all about our inner-self which already exists. We just need to maintain a lifestyle which helps us understand our core. She emphasizes that no external activity or achievements are needed to unlock spirituality in our life.

 

Author gives a nice insight upon why we have certain relationships in our life because we have certain Karma to be dealt with. Hence, escaping to some spiritual recourse in a different place does not serve the spiritual purpose as the Karma does not get settled because we don't engage in these karmic transactions. Similarly, she gives a very meaningful aspect of why we need to keep working like a regular person and earn for our bread-and-butter rather than thinking of being at a safe place like mountains etc. She explains how we can be spiritual even while pursuing our regular life.

 

Author also talks about the fact that until we don't learn from our mistakes, there are certain patterns that will keep repeating in our life and we’ll keep on suffering difficult situations until we don’t learn from it and complete the karmic cycle. By the end of the first half of the book, I was little frustrated regarding author continuously trying to tell us what living spiritually is but not telling us how but the way author has documented her second half of the book – took away all my complaints in a moment. She gives us insight into the detailing of how we can become spiritual by sharing elements like essentials when seeking spiritual growth, hurdles to self-awareness, A-Z of self-transformation, 99 traits of a spiritual person etc. I wished highlighting all the sentences written in these chapters. The 2^nd half of the book definitely has repeat-value and everyone should go through it periodically to check if we have improved lately or not.

 

Overall, this is a light book but with intense capabilities of bringing change within us. I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5. I recommend it to everyone. Meetu Bisht has done a phenomenal job.

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WRITING BUDDHA

The Power of Humility by PV Ramana Murthy (Book Review: 5*/5) !!!

2072nd BLOG POST

20^th Book of 2023

There are few non-fiction books which are written with pure heart and intent that by the time you finish reading the last sentence, you can sense the same emotions which you feel after reading a good fiction book where you end up falling in love with its characters. I have read multiple non-fiction books so much that all of them sounds similar to me now. I feel they speak the same thing. I rarely find books which bring something new out of the same topic. Luckily, I picked up one such book written by PV Ramana Murthy named “The Power of Humility” which also has a tagline- How Humble High Achievers are Rewriting the Rules of Leadership. This 225-pages book published by HarperCollins will help you understand the topic of leadership with a very new approach and mindset.

 

Generally, I have always found books on Leadership mentioning humility in just one odd-chapter. I was quite surprised to read the synopsis of this book where author has committed the whole book on this one specific trait of Leadership. Author has tried explaining the relationship and dynamics between the role of a Leader and the trait of Humility. How a Leader can completely transform his/her role by being as humble as possible without misusing the power of their title.

 

Murthy has provided two solid frameworks- namely, APPLE and IMAGE. APPLE stands for Appreciative Mindset, Positive possibilities, Path-showing, Lightheartedness and Evolution whereas IMAGE stands for Intensity, Mindful excellence, Ahead of one’s time, Gratitude and Emotional connect. Author has illustrated these frameworks very nicely in a circular diagram which will help us in being reminded of how to execute the different ideas provided by the author. Author deeps dive into each of these 10 pointers and provides definitions and ideas which are practical and implementable.

 

Murthy has spoken with around 30 leaders and personalities who are at a position which enables them to lead people in their own leadership style. He, then, tries analyzing their perspective on the pointers he emphasizes upon which needs to be considered in order to become a 360-degree humble leader. He explains how Humility is perceived different in different cultures where few of them even consider it as weakness. In the initial part of the book, Murthy has given a very long description before starting the main chapters. Kudos to him on ensuring that the readers have complete perspective before picking up the main topic in sight.

 

There are few pointers that I would like to mention below out of many that I rejoiced while reading the book:

Author gives great examples for how to find opportunities in adversity; something that our current Prime Minister Narendra Modi also insisted during Covid times.

Author talks well about tapping potential of other employees which helps everyone in growing together in the organization.

Evolution chapter gives the perspective on how leaders always want to learn something new. They know that the room for improvement exist and hence, they don't compare or compete with others but themselves.

Paranjpe’s decision of opening 5 lakh outlets against their normal 30000 outlets in a year is a very nice case-study on intense leadership. Author tries to explain clearly on how intensity is not about being aggressive through body language but in a way where their commitment towards their goal can be seen through their kind words.

The learning attitude is rightly highlighted wherein a PhD holder is sitting with MBA students whom he generally leads and studies MBA with them because he has never attended a business college before.

Trust is explained through a case where a superior approves a critical file mentioning that there are two modifications suggested by trusting upon the junior that it will be done and hence, he need not recheck it at all.

Murthy addresses mindfulness in this book of leadership and explains how leaders develop focus and relational engagement - and not just transactional. This helped them see future with clarity.

I got to know about attribution errors through this book – a term I never heard before.

Command-and-empower leadership style is promoted over command-and-control style.

Author clears that any leader who has negative layers of heroism, hubris, the propensity to hype and harass can never be called a complete humble leader.

 

Overall, this book is a very unique attempt and speaks of some very new fundamentals which has never been discussed before by any authors whom I have read. The book has great potential in ensuring that any leader can change their style and groom into a humble leader by adopting the frameworks mentioned here. In last few chapters, author has given a great counselling session to all of us in order to identify what is wrong with us and gradually, improve it. I am extremely impressed with this book. Author’s research is evident in every sentence. It seems that a Research Paper has been rewritten in an easy language for laymen like us. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to everyone above the age of 17 to the oldest person alive on the planet. Yes!

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE

 

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WRITING BUDDHA

 

What happens when you turn-off your Mobile Notifications?

2071st BLOG POST

We often see memes these days about how we are excited about our weekends but end up spending the whole time at our home without doing anything at all. The main reason of this has been people becoming so lazy and procrastinating that even for our own fun, we feel tired to even stand up, get ready and move out of our home. Someone like me don’t even pick up the phone and call the people I love talking to. Most of us find it very convenient in just scrolling short videos one after another and finding our comfort and peace in it. Unfortunately, people have started calling such indulgent moments as Me-time. Disappointingly, this isn’t me-time at all as we aren’t giving ourselves any kind of time by busying our brain in watching small acts or monologues of someone we don’t even know.

 

I remember when the real disruption happened with Mobile in our hands when WhatsApp was launched around 2010. This was the day since we started getting crazy about the Notification feature which further got bettered when Android phones started coming into the market. But did we realize during this point of time that this is turning into a bad addiction? And the generation which were born after the mobile became a regular thing will never be able to live a simpler life due to the Notification feature?

 

Now, we install more than 100+ applications in our mobile most of which keep on sending Notifications to us even when there’s actually nothing to notify us. We are addicted so much to it that if there’s no notification for 5 minutes, we end up checking our Mobile if everything is fine. And because we start feeling ignored, we end up watching short videos or just give our reaction to someone’s short-time status/story purposely so that they’ll reply back and we will get some notification soon. How cheesy, isn’t it?

 

Since last few years, we have started getting an instant option in the Notification itself to turn it off forever. Clicking that option makes us feel that our world will fall apart and we might miss something very important. We just don’t wish to click it and we never even do that. Recently, I was going through some crazy times when I was feeling every external noise as irritation. Well, I am still going through this phase. I thought of giving a chance to this and finally turned off Notification for all the Apps. I just turned it on for important Emails and Whatsapp- where, anyway, no one talks to me anymore.

 

I must tell you that the number of things that have got balanced and nuanced in my life and routine after this is inspiring. First of all, my mobile has stopped blinking every now and then which has gradually shifted my focus away from it. Secondly, even if I pick it up to check something, there’s no useless notifications which could end up prompting me to click them and get diluted in the world of senseless and endless content. Thirdly, I have stopped getting attracted towards products or things I never wanted to purchase just because the Notification screamed about some limited deal or offer. There are no impulsive purchases anymore.

 

Now, whenever my mobile blinks or vibrates, I know that there’s actually something which needs my attention. I wanted to better this experience hence I removed all the Social Media applications from my Home screen to stop feeding my mind that the mobile is meant only for accessing them. Now, I have all the Utility, e-learning and Professional apps which are either meant to help us (Maps, Mumbai local time-table, Dictionary, Calculator, Calendar, To-Do lists, Reminders, Notes etc.) or teach us to grow personally/professionally (Udemy, Linkedin Learning, Goodreads, Kindle). Even the Music app is not on the screen. I know that I listen music only when I start my day while getting ready for office and just before sleeping to avoid overthinking on any topic. Let’s not create a pattern where we feel listening to music whenever we pick up the phone.

 

Now that I have finally created a pattern for my mind which no more needs any attention from Mobile phone, I have started seeking it from better things. I am running ahead with my book reading target. I am doing Courses online and achieving Certificates week after week. I am able to learn many skills otherwise by going through important useful videos and other online articles. I am able to meditate and exercise daily. I am able to read the whole newspaper and few pages of Bhagavad Geeta before sleeping. Please realize that all of these are happening along with a full-time job which requires 3.5 to 4 hours of traveling every day. Now, I charge my mobile once and it supports me for more than 1.5 days.

 

This has also been one of the reasons why I never purchased a Smart-watch because I know how much distracting it can be to keep getting notified not only on the phone but on your watch too. I still believe in possessing a simple watch which tells time. Similarly, I have started using mobile for what it is made for- making or receiving calls from someone during emergencies or essential co-ordinations. My friends know from more than a decade that I don’t always pick up the calls because I don’t wish getting distracted if I am already indulged in something. I always ask everyone to send me a WhatsApp message before calling so that I can let them know when we can have a good conversation. Everyone knows that I love chatting as I have communicated that in case of any urgent responses, rather than calling me, please send me a text to which I will reply as soon as I check my mobile even if I am at my workplace or between something.

 

Well, the reason for this post was not to show-off about how important I consider myself to be. It was to make everyone of you know about my experience that we lose nothing after switching off all the notifications from our phone and scheduling few Apps to send us notifications only in case of urgent events. You will start loving yourself more after finding yourself away from the clutches of this useless device called Mobile. The world was running even before it’s invention and your world can run even after this. Your phone is a Smartphone only if you use it smartly otherwise as televisions are called as Idiot-box, mobiles are nothing but Dumb-box. Yes, it is making you one. Time to wake up and start living with yourself even in idleness rather than picking it up and getting lost in it for hours. Try it!

 

Thanks..

 

WRITING BUDDHA

Bridges Across Humanity by Akhil Gupta (Book Review: 5*/5) !!!

2070th BLOG POST

19^th Book of 2023

I remember the days when I stayed in hostel with around 99.99% Muslim population. Naturally, I had mixed experiences staying in such an imbalanced environment. As it is said that you always learn something out of every phase in your life, I never knew how importantly few people take their religion until I stayed there. When I saw Muslims commit themselves towards praying their God 5 times a day regularly, I couldn’t believe it. In lockdown, I started reading my religion and learnt so much about Hinduism. When I would see the commonalities in practices followed by both the religions, I always wanted to speak about it. Surprisingly, I found this book named “Bridges Across Humanity” written by the author, Akhil Gupta. This 425-pages book published by Rupa Publications also has a tagline: “Different Religions, Similar Teachings” exactly something that this book speaks about.

 

Author, Akhil Gupta, deeps dive into 5-6 widely-followed religions in the world and tries to find out what exactly are they trying to speak. He then discusses how these different religions formed during different phases and era speaks almost about the same goal-end. Author goes on discussing that despite having multiple similarities and same destination, people shed blood on the name of religion just to prove that the one they’re following is the righteous whereas the Holy book talks only about inclusion, acceptance and forgiveness.

 

Akhil has displayed immense maturity in writing on this topic as there’s a very thin line difference - crossing which could result in public outroar but his intent is crystal-clear that he wants to preach a purpose rather than gain any kind of unwanted publicity. The book is divided into 55 different chapters where each of them is based upon a topic and what different religions opine about the same. Author, then, gets into detailing about how the same context is being spoken or explained in holy books in distinct manners. It is really refreshing and exciting to know about the fact that even the smallest detailing pertaining to a philosophy across diverse religions is so similar.

 

Author also tries to explore a possibility through his theories that there may be a fact in all of these being just a mythology without any God or Prophet ever walked upon the Earth. He feels that most of the tales spoken in the religious texts may be metaphorical without having any reality attached to it. E.g. He says that he is very sure that Lord Krishna never spoke the whole Bhagavad Gita but the religious knowledge has been imparted by different human beings who walked upon the Earth for several years and kept on adding their inputs in the text. Similarly, he feels the same has happened with all the other religions too. That is also one of the reasons why there’s almost similar theories in all the religion as there must be an era when all humanity was together and started getting divided but said the same thing in different manners.

 

I was astonished by one of the chapters where author talks about the reference of shepherd being given as an example or story in almost every religion. Similarly, the birth or death of many prophets walked upon the Earth has the similar story attached to it. Gupta explains about the fact that every religion mentions about non-violence, peace, humanity, oneness, love, minimalism etc. yet the society ends up thinking that a religion promotes violence whereas people from the very same religion also thinks the same because they are being preached by distorting the facts. Author has purposefully quoted those texts from the Holy book and provided clarity upon this controversial topic. He has emphasized on how no religion promotes anything that can disrupt nature and peace.

 

Generally, I make comments whenever I find any book above 300 pages whereas this book crosses even 425 pages but I must say, it’s very engaging and keeps you interested as the intent of the author reaches the reader’s heart. The book is a perfect page-turner despite being a hardcore non-fiction. In fact, I wished if author could have covered many more aspects. I would love to read 2^nd part of this book. Author’s research work screams through every word, sentence, page and chapter. I just couldn’t fathom the amount of work author must have put in bringing this compilation out to us. It’s tough to even go through one religion completely and he ended up studying multiple diverse religions in such a short span.

 

Towards the ending, Akhil speaks about how society ends up adding their belief systems upon us which corrupts our original version of humanity. He insists upon us to be authentic without losing our character rather than following the societal rules. The last chapter speaks about what does the whole book teaches us in particular which we should take away with us as key points. The chapter is really effective and the right manner in which the book needed a full stop. It motivates you to see the world and people differently. It helps us realize that the whole world has 99.9% of the DNA similar with just that one bit of difference which makes us all part of one big space with our own unique identities. Author highlights that we need to come together, bring the specialties, similarities and differences of our religion and create something spectacular than fighting over the minute differences for no beneficial reason.

 

Talking about the drawbacks, there’s actually isn’t much. I just wished if book also covered the aspects such as veg vs non-veg debates etc. which could help people understand what’s the theory behind certain religions promoting vegetarian lifestyle whereas some promoting killing animals as well. Similarly, I wanted to know about the wedding rituals of different religions and why certain things are followed particularly. There are many such popular topics that I was hoping for the book to cover but no complaints at all. Author has already covered enough and adding more would have made this book thicker than all the Holy books brought together. Haha!

 

Overall, this book is a necessity in today’s world where we are reaching different planets and accessing heights of scientific evolution but yet fighting on peculiar and minute topics which doesn’t even need our attention. I give this book 5 stars out of 5. Yes! Recommended for each and everyone.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE

 

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WRITING BUDDHA

 

 

Does Life really change at the age of 33?

2069th BLOG POST

We know how digital marketing works these days. It understands everything about you and shows you contents/advertisements and everything crafted for you. Somehow, the Internet knows my age and I remember finding many videos in my timeline telling how life changes at the age of 33. I am 33 now. I got excited and watched couple of them. Well, they were more from a spiritual perspective where it told how things happen within us- which - if we acknowledge can help us grow spiritually better. Well, that’s good but I think there’s many other things that are happening with me at this age. I am struggling with 1000 of emotions occurring every second within me. It makes me feel restless, hopeless, confused and what not. I think this is what people call as mid-life crisis. Well, that’s a different story that these days even college pass-out students have started feeling the same due to multiple things their peers are doing whereas they are struggling to understand what they actually need to do in their life/career.

 

I am someone who has always felt proud of the fact that I don’t feel loneliness. Actually, I don’t. That’s in my personality. That’s how my core system functions. It is at its best whenever it finds itself alone. The moment my sensors identify that my space and personal life is getting tampered, it starts giving me red signals. In the modern language, red flags. I just start waiting for the time when I would be back alone to do stuffs I like doing or just sit in peace and think about various aspects – write down my journal, diary or just scribble a shayari/poetry and share it with my folks on social media and go to sleep listening to an audio/music helping me generate positive thoughts. But lately, I have started getting frustrated with my own company. I just feel running away from myself. I don’t know what is it and I am finding it hard to manage.

 

I am hating myself so much that I don’t like anything I do or even, achieve. I was in a Job which I was enjoying. Suddenly, I started getting frustrated for something which otherwise I love – traveling. I got a new job – first time I am working in a corporate structure with one of the biggest institutions of India. I thought that I would feel satisfactory here. It has been a month and I still don’t feel at ease. There’s a sense of incompleteness. I got a pay-package I was aspiring since long – an amount that all of us crave for since we start working. I got my first salary. Even that didn’t excite me. This is so bloody unlike me. I am not like this at all. I am someone who celebrates even the smallest of things.

 

Earlier, when I read books, I felt great. Now, when I read books, I feel like watching a Podcast. The moment I start watching it, I feel like watching a series. When I watching that, I feel I should be working on a Certification course. When I am doing it, I feel like I should be spending time with people. When I do that, I feel I should be alone and work upon my Me-stuffs. When I do that, I feel why am I alone. I don’t know if this is a form of a stress or depression but whatever this is, it is not a happy feeling at all. I am crying and worrying for no reasons. There’s nothing wrong in my life but still.

 

Similarly, all the people I love are the same people I am not wanting to express my love anymore. I know they are my people and I need to be loving them. I try doing it but a voice within me asks me to wait and see how much love do I get from them before giving. And the problem with any kind of relationship is that the moment you start calculating the transactions to know how much you got in return, it starts getting ruined. I have stopped expressing my love at all. The people I shared virtual hugs or kisses have completely stopped. The people I would give gifts have stopped. The people I wanted to meet have stopped. I don’t find reasons to ask my friends out. I even don’t talk much at home. I have stopped calling people on their birthdays. I have even stopped picking lot of phones. How is this happening? Why is this happening? Why is my EGO over-powering me?

 

And as we know life is funny, from the moment I have started feeling this, even people are not leaving a single mark in disappointing me and making me believe more – that - it’s better not to gel with anyone. Someone is not making efforts in meeting me. Someone is not calling me at all knowing how much I like talking to them. Someone I am giving hints to see me once is not understanding it. Someone is blaming me for something I have not done intentionally. Someone is hiding about their life’s important events with me knowing how much I like getting involved in such processes. Someone who promised would meet me is traveling my city and going back without even letting me know once. How can all of this happen at once- my system holding me back and – simultaneously - people assuring that they don’t make efforts in maintaining relationship with me?

 

I am unsure if this happens at 33 or not. Hating others is okay for once (Haha!) but having the same feeling for myself is really worrying me because this has never happened earlier. I am unable to make decisions. I have to buy a phone but even with offers in place, I am not able to proceed ahead. I want to give best at my work but I am just spending time and leave. I am wanting to create videos but I don’t wish to make any efforts. I wish to explore my city after office hours but I am directly driving back to home. I am in doubt if this is because of loneliness. But how can that be possible? It has been my only weapon to handle everything till now. How can it become my weakness all of a sudden? I don’t trust in the institution of marriage anymore. My process knows that – but - a thought creeps in that it must be happening with everyone after 30 which is why people marry and have someone with whom they can share all- good and bad moments – and such vulnerable moments too. Thankfully, this occurs as a momentary thought but leaves as soon as I read what’s happening with boys in India in terms of false cases.

 

Something needs to work but nothing is working. Even meditation and spirituality are not giving any pleasures. This should be one of the most satisfying days for me as I had good traveling week recently. I visited some great places. Clicked good photos. Got great family and individual pictures too. Got a great job with expected package. Made new buddies. Parents are doing well in their lives. It’s just that my thoughts are not stable. I am ending up ruining my peace as well as relationships. Reason why I have stopped chatting or talking with my favorite people. I don’t know till when it will continue. I just hope it happens only up till I am 33. Haha! That’s the only wish. Maybe, I will write more blog posts in this vulnerable situation so that anyone of you going through the same may know that you are not alone. And also, when I get better, I know what I went through so that if it happens again, I know that I got over this in past. Hmmm…

 

Thanks!

 

WRITING BUDDHA 

Sometimes Losing is more essential than Winning!

2068th BLOG POST

Well, it is after a long time when I am writing something too personal which I don’t know if it’s even required or not. But there’s a bug in my heart which is getting frustrated until I don’t end up writing it here. Since 2020, I got a bit more religious than I ever was. I started understanding few concepts and logics that Sanatan Dharm wishes to tell us. I started admiring the tales of Lord Ram and Krishn as they were really inspiring and taught about the depth of life than anything else. While reading a lot more, I got to know about fortnight fasting known as Ekadashi and I started keeping it since 2020 itself. It has become a great ritual for me which I love following and I even share the updates about it with my folks so that everyone can refrain themselves from any wrong or bad practices.

 

There is one very interesting fast out of all 24-26 Ekadashi fasting which occurs during the season of Summer and is known as Nirjala or Bhimsen Ekadashi. It basically means that you have to refrain from even consuming water for more than 24 hours. Definitely, it’s not easy to refrain myself as I am someone who drinks minimum 3 liters of water every day. Sometimes, the count reaches even beyond 5 liters. Earlier, the 3 Nirjala Ekadashis that I kept were during Work from Home phase when somehow, I managed to accomplish it successfully. This time, it was actually tough because I have started going to office. I was still of the notion that I will survive as I travel by car in A/C, office is completely A/C, my bedroom has an A/C. But no, it didn’t happen as easily as I had believed it would be.

 

I had my induction on the same day and every thing was fine until 4 PM when I started realizing that I am getting a headache. But as I always boost myself, I thought it’s a minor thing happening to me and let’s not focus upon it. Eventually, I started feeling drowsy and it seemed I would fall anytime whenever I tried walking around in office for something. I thought of just sitting at one place. Suddenly, I also started getting vomiting sensation and then I thought there’s something seriously hurting me within and I need to give-up. As soon as the word “GIVE-UP” came as a keyword, all the sensations within me started fighting against it. How can I give up on something that I have continued successfully for last 3 years? I would end up losing the consistency. And I am someone who loves being consistent- at least I try to be.

 

Lastly, I just couldn’t handle myself and I thought of just taking a sip thinking that it would be enough to feel better but it didn’t work. I gave a thought if I should drive myself back home or take a cab but my KEEP GOING attitude made me sit on the driving seat and start the journey back home. I kept feeling blank and drowsy while driving and I thought of taking left and park myself but then, I wasn’t in my senses to move my vehicle looking at all the vehicles, calculating their speed and accordingly move from extreme right to left. I thought of continuing on my lane and trust upon God to make me reach safely at home. Finally, when it was around 4-5 kms away from home, I could feel that I was about to vomit anytime. I was holding it for long but eventually, you can’t win against body’s nature.

 

Sensing the illness, I immediately pulled the cleaning cloth I use to dust my car and put it up on my lap so that I don’t end up messing myself and the car while vomiting. And the real tragedy happened here. Because I hadn’t eaten anything since last 24 hours, my body had nothing to throw out. At last, that one sip of water I managed to drink in office before leaving came out of the system and somehow the vomiting process relaxed. But it caused extreme pain to my chest, ribs, upper stomach and even the muscles of shoulder as it also got strained as it was trying to control steering while the body was struggling. I reached home, lied down on my bed and woke up after 4 hours just before midnight. Ate a bit of something which is allowed in fasting, drank few sips of water and juices before sleeping again after having 2-3 tablets for relaxing my headache and drowsiness.

 

Since then, there is a continuous extreme pain in my chest, ribs, neck, throat and few veins and muscles in left shoulder. I am suffering with short-breathe and what-not. I have learnt a very big lesson from this whole experience. We should give-up wherever necessary without flattering our egos. We need to understand that though we achieved something before doesn’t mean that we will keep achieving it always. There are times when we can fail and we should accept it graciously. Yes, there’s a disappointment that I couldn’t end fasting successfully but it wouldn’t have provided anything good even if I would have managed to complete it.

 

The Supreme Power would never want one of its creations suffer just because of a commitment he has made which is actually not bringing any change to this world. I also understood that our body can sometimes handle tedious tasks even in tough environment whereas it can’t accomplish the easiest of all even after having the most convenient set-up. We shouldn’t punish it for the same but understand it. I am glad that I reached home safely after having the most difficult driving session of my life where I was just praying to reach safely than anything. I wish I get better soon. I have a request from everyone reading this to please not push your body when it’s actually not needed. And Give-up when you know you can’t do it anymore after giving your best. Be cautious while trying any type of dieting, intermittent fasting, exercise or anything similar or otherwise. That’s it!

 

Thanks!

 

WRITING BUDDHA

HAPPINESS IS SUCCESS by AiR/Atman in Ravi (Book Review: 3*/5) !!!

2067th BLOG POST

18^th Book of 2023

Reading spiritual books help me understand a new perspective every time, hence, in the quest to get back into having some new spiritual knowledge, I picked up the book named “Happiness is Success”. This book is written by AiR/Ravi in around 176-pages and published by Rupa Publications. I read the Kindle version of it. Sincerely speaking, the book can be read within one or two sittings but as author has nicely divided it into small chapters, if you are a new reader, it would be great if you go through 4-5 chapters in one sitting which will help you understand the topics and perspectives well. Right from the first go, author’s intention is clear about making the readers understand about the difference between Success and Happiness.

 

Ravi, the author, gets an early success in life and like everyone, even he believed that he’ll feel complete happiness after it. With time, he understood that achieving success doesn’t mean that it can provide you ultimate happiness. Gradually, he became spiritual and understood that happiness is something we should be chasing every moment rather than running behind money and materialistic aspects of life and imagining to be successful after getting the same. There are few chapters which helps you understand the concept well. The quotes in the beginning of every chapter are inspiring and makes you grasp deep logics within few words itself. Similarly, there are some beautiful poems which will directly touch your heart. I wished to note down each of them separately to refer to them whenever I feel down.

 

Ravi discusses about different types of fear that a human being has about losing success. He tells how most of us are scared about this which doesn’t let us live peacefully. Similarly, author discusses about the importance of knowing about our happiness triggers. He also goes into details helping us know how we can know about the activities or experiences which helps us understand what our happiness triggers are.

 

In the latter part of the book, Ravi talks about meditation and how it can change the whole way of realizing about the reality of our being. The emphasis is given on how we are human being and not human doing. Just being ourselves can bring tremendous difference to our mental health. Author gets deep down and explains how we are not the body, mind or ego that we believe we are. He talks about how we aren’t any of these but something beyond this- a spirit/energy/soul. Just knowing this fact can change our perspective.

 

He gets into the details of Karma and how one can settle this account to not get rebirth and get rid of this materialistic human life. There’s another chapter which captured my interest. It speaks of rainbow love and explains how every colour of rainbow signifies different kind of love and we should be aware of it and realize this in every relationship we have. Ravi, then, talks about the main source of all these colours and what does that original form of love means.

 

Overall, this is a good book for any beginner who has not gone through other deep dialogues on the concept of spirituality and happiness. Talking about the drawbacks, I feel that the book just keeps on speaking the same thing repeatedly. After a time, you get bored of the same concept written in different ways. There is nothing new after the first 10 pages. You will get frustrated reading the two words “Success” and “Happiness” in almost every second sentence. I think author should have spoken about different concepts talking about this aspect. Also, the way author talks about success, it seems it is a negative thing to have. Author should have been little matured while writing about it as many youths can get a wrong impression that they don’t need to build career at all or have aspiring goals to reach heights in their life. These are the main concerns because of which I felt the book is less inspiring and impactful. Hence, I will go with an average 3 stars out of 5.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE

 

Thanks!

 

WRITING BUDDHA