End of 2012

2012 has been a tumultuous year for me and sometimes i felt that my end is near and i have corroded myself to the core. The failure to make into the final list of successful Civil Services aspirants has been a crushing shock to me and i am still recuperating from it. I always wanted to be a Civil Service Officer but often struggled to manage the finances of the family. Professional life is in utter chaos although i am surviving with the help of my superiors and peers but still it is too far from the normal. Reading books has been a solace to me and its the only refuge for me after my little family. Looking holistically at 2012, i can only say that it taught me a lot especially about human relationship and mental forces and based on my experience i have come to the conclusion that "Although intelligence and hardwork matter a lot but in the end the mental peace is the deciding factor in man's quest for its destiny". My son is now 14 months old and his lovely face gives me heaven like experience and enough nitroboost. I wish 2013 will be a better year for me, my family and the world. Amen.

Book Review [49] : Not Without My Daughter

I am a great fan of Persian history and culture, and was looking for an "authentic" book on contemporary Iran and thus i found this book. Its a true story based on the personal experience of 'Betty Mahmoody". Its a story of an American woman 'Betty' who marries an Iranian doctor practicing in America. Iranian doctor took her (in 1984 i.e. after the overthrow of Shah regime in 1979) and her daughter 'Mahtab' to Iran on a false promise of returning to US after 2 weeks. In Iran he keeps his family under strict surveillance and confiscates all their legal documents. He scolds and beats his wife and daughter even at the slightest pretext. Under these immense odds, Betty plans her escapes. She receives help from many Iranians and the Swiss embassy in Iran. Finally she was able to escape by cab ride from Tehran to Tabriz and then from Tabriz to the border of Turkey and from there to US embassy in Ankara. She never keeps her daughter away from her and after facing innumerable odds she reaches US after 2 years in 1986. This books also shows how middle class Iranian lives and how official machinery brain wash them and how the cult of Martyrdom is enhanced and sought of. Must read for anyone who is interested in Middle East culture, highly recommended (9/10). Other books that i have read on middle east are: 'From the holy mountain' by William Dalrymple, Among the believers by V S Naipaul etc.

P.S. The Delhi gang-rape victim died today morning in Singapore after fighting for 13 long days and as Indians and as human beings we failed her. Dear sister, i am very sorry.
Highly recommended (8/10)

Book Review [48] : Beyond The Last Blue Mountain

'Beyond the last Blue Mountain' is an amazing biography of one of the greatest Indians of 20th Century J.R.D. Tata (1904-1993), written by R. M. Lala. I have a great fascination for biographies and to my satisfaction i have read a significant number of biographies viz Steve Jobs (iCon), Akio Morita (Made in Japan), Jack Welch (Straight from the gut), Verghese Kurien (I too had a dream), Martin Luther King Junior, Barack Obama (Dreams from my Father), L. K. Advani (My country, my Life), Ghengis Khan, Slobodan Milosevic (A serpent in the bosom), M. K. Gandhi (My Experiments with Truth), Lance Armstrong (Its not about Bike), Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf) etc. This book stands out amid all these biographies in its intense research and anecdotes. 
J.R.D. Tata was the son of the cousin of Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata (Father of Industrial Revolution of India and a great Philanthropist). He was born in Paris to a French mother in 1904 and he became the Chairman of the prestigious Tata Group at the age of 34 in 1938 but before that he had founded Tata Airlines in 1932 and became the first licensed pilot of India. He consolidated and increased the holdings of Tata Group in the utterly socialist era i.e. pre 1980s. He played a key role in Bombay Plan drafted by a group of eminent Industrialists and economists in 1940s. He made Tata Airlines (it was nationalized by Indian govt in 1953) a world brand in those years.
He remained chairman of Air India (Tata Airlines rechristened) until 1977-78 (he was unceremoniously dropped by Prime Minister Morarji Desai) and made Air India one of the best international airlines. He commemorated the inaugural flight of Tata Airline by flying aircraft from Karachi to Bombay in 1982 (at the age of 78). He also played a key role in the establishment of TISS, TIFR etc. Must read biography and i bet this is a better read compared to 'Made in Japan' or 'Straight from the Gut'.
Highly recommended (9/10)

Shame on every human

The brutal rape of 23 year old girl in a moving bus has shaken the very foundation of our society. Rape is one thing and inserting iron rod in one's private part is completely different, nothing can be more brutal than this. Police, political system and the society are to be blamed equally for this shame. The society which is highly unequal, the religion which is highly patriarchal, where women are not allowed to burn the holy pyre, where most of the rituals are to be done by males, where female foeticide is a norm, where sex ratio is deeply screwed, where honour killing is a norm and where women are treated as sex symbols to be violated at will and to be killed at will, rape becomes the logical conclusion. 

Strong laws act as deterrent but the real change comes from within and this change can only be brought by giving respect to women, empowering them and by not treating Sex as a taboo subject. There are numerous films, features etc that  spread immorality, a random scanning of any newsportal will prove this point but it is also said that films etc are the reflection of the current trends of the society although i dont agree completely to it but there is indeed some truth in it. Immorality should be condemned, it should not be encouraged.  A country that worships Goddesses does not feel shame in violating the very sex represented by these Goddesses, this needs to change. 

Last weekend saw the highly successful anti-rape protests of youngsters at Raisana Hills, India Gate etc. I was deeply inspired by these protests and watching this on Times Now, i was cursing my geographical location. The words of  William Wordsworth about French revolution is equally true here "Bliss was in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was very heaven". But the way this protest was violently crushed by Delhi Police is utterly shameful and a stigma on our democratic credential. Democracy  becomes a non-democracy when the ruling elite stops talking to the people and instead of heeding to their legitimate demands, starts calling them hooligans or gundas. When the youth of the country awakes from the long night sleep, the country is destined to rise higher and higher and this energy should not go astray. This is our right as well as responsibility.

May Santa bring life and happiness to that 23 year old girl battling for her life in Delhi hospital and May God give peace to the soul of Policeman Tomar who has succumbed to the injury caused by the violence. Amen.

Book Review [47] : I too had a dream

'I too had a dream' is a great autobiography of a great man, Dr. Verghese Kurien. He lived an incredible life and along with Dr. M S Swaminathan made India a country with food and milk surplus. The country that used to import milk powder became the largest producer of milk in the world and this was made possible by the Milkman of India, Dr. Kurien. This great man was born in 1921 in Kerala in Syrian Christian Family and was nephew of John Mathai (He was the first Finance Minister of India), he had a brilliant academic record (that can shame perhaps all the IITians) but still he devoted his superb talent in the service of dairy farmers of Anand and India. He built an ultra modern dairy in Anand in 1957 that could make milk powder from buffalo milk (at that time almost all dairy experts said that its impossible). He made AMUL as the world finest edible product brand and later fathered White Revolution (1965 onwards). He had to fight politicians, bureaucrats, MNCs but he succeeded in all these and established world class and fully democratic Dairy Industry in India. He even brought mighty NESTLE to its knees when it said in 1950s that Indians are worthless and they can not run dairy industry. He was one of the very few lucky people who had worked with the likes of Sardar Patel, Nehru, Indira, Moraraji Desai etc. Maniben Patel (daughter of Sardar Patel) and Tribhuvandas Patel also played a great role in Dairy co-operatives of Gujarat. A must read and every Indian should read and ponder. "Be the change you want to see" -Mahatma Gandhi. 
Highly Recommended (9/10)

Book Review [46] : Nefertiti

Nefertiti is an amazingly intriguing historic fiction based on the life of Nefertiti of ancient Egypt, much before the era of Ramses and Moses. Its a brilliantly researched work and its very close to the the reality of Bronze age Egypt. This books details the story of the rise of Nefertiti as the Queen of Egypt and her adventures and misadventures, her beauty and her lust for power, her cruelty that even devoured the first son of her dear sister in her womb. The religious revolution that she and her husband (Amunhotep) started ultimately consumed these co-regents clearing the path to the crown open to the son (Tutankhamen) of her arch-rival queen. Its a must read to anyone who is interested in ancient Egypt and who think that Cleopatra is not the end of Egypt. 
Highly Recommended (8/10)

Sometimes i think i am very lucky to live in this era where you can get a book by click of a button at your doorstep, i always dream to see myself busy in the stack of books and that wish is coming to reality in many ways. I have also made a sort of commitment that i will not watch any political news on TV, utter waste of precious minutes, May be i should boycott all the news channel.

BookRreviews [44/45] : 'Target 3 Billion' and 'Turning Points'

 Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is one of the greatest advocates of Inclusive and Sustainable Development. PURA is not a radical concept but the most effective one to develop the underdeveloped rural regions of India where more than 60% of Indian population vegetate. More than 75% of Indian population lives below 2 USD a day while more than 50% lives below  1.25 USD a day, the Planning Commission says that about 30% of Indian population lives below 0.60 USD a day poverty line and this is pathetic in all dimensions.  According to 2011 Census, 68.5% of Indian Population lives in rural areas and their contribution to Indian food security is close to 100% but 90% of these rural people suffer from food shortages of all kind, nothing can be more ironical. Kalam's works endorses the creation of PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) to develop the Indian villages holistically. He gives the examples of Chitrakoot PURA and Periyar PURA. Chitrakoot PURA is the handiwork of great Indian rural reformer and entrepreneur Nanaji Deshmukh, it provides medical facilities to surrounding districts and employment opportunities to the people of the region. Similar is the case of Periyar PURA. 'Target 3 Billion' is a great book and must read for all who are interested in socially inclusive and sustainable development of India.  
Highly Recommended (8/10)


'Turning Points' is a sequel to 'Wings of Fire', it records the time of Kalam as President of India (2002-2007). It's an amazing book written with lot of heart and full of inspiring stories from all corners of this great country of ours. He writes about various initiatives taken or inspired by him, various controversial or non-controversial decisions taken by him during his Presidency. What are we doing to make this world/India a better place than we have inherited from our ancestors? We all can learn a lot of things from Kalam, perhaps Kalam is the last great statesman or preacher of this country. This book is a must read. 
Highly Recommended (8/10)

Book Reviews [42/43] : 'The Indus Intercept' and 'The Shadow Throne'

This week i started marathon of reading fictional books. Read two books 'Shadow Throne' and 'The Indus Intercept' with the main theme of political turmoil in the subcontinent. 

This book is an amazing story of a Baluchi insurgent group of Baluchistan. It exposes very eruditely the game played by various Spy agencies including CIA, ISI and RAW in the Afghan-Pakistan region, How these agencies use these insurgent groups for their own selfish tactical reasons. Amidst all the violence and espionage, this book beautifully portrays the love story of two Baluchi fighters and a reluctant CIA agent. The author has done a great research on the Baluchistan and the geopolitics of the sub-continent. The story hinges around a brave and principled Baluchi warrior who plans to create an insurgency to liberate his homeland Baluchistan from the claws of Pakistan and his exploitations of and by CIA, RAW. The use of Indus Valley Civilization script in this book is very interesting and intriguing. 
Highly recommended book (8/10)

This book was written with an 'anti-India mindset' and it really shocks and shames me that it is written by a person with an Indian name. The theme hinges around a nuclear holocaust plot by the RAW agents who want to see the complete annihilation of Pakistan by triggering Nuclear attack from Pakistan into India. In this book the ISI are the good guys while RAW are the bad guys and there are two Indian heroes. This book invokes Kushana empire and Menander rather naively and the ststrength of the entire plot is based on the legend of a great leader who will create a nation for the Hazaras in Afghan-Pak region. It took 4 hours to read this book completely. Strictly not recommended by me although it might be a time pass while traveling for some.
Not even a Time Pass (3/10)

Both these books can be ordered on Flipkart and they are pretty reasonably priced.

Book Review [41] : Himalayan Blunder

Himalayan Blunder is an incredible book by a man who himself commanded the Indian troops in the famous battle of Thagla Ridge (20th Oct 1962). This book is a must read fir every Indian although this book was banned initially by the government. This book exposes the poor planning, strategy and politicization of Indian Army. Brigadier Dalvi was taken as POW by invading Chinese troops when his entire Brigade disintegrated after giving a tough fight to Chinese in-spite of limited ration and ammunition. India lost the war mainly because of romantic pro-China idealism of Nehru, political interference in the functioning of Indian Army by then Defence Minister Mr. Menon and timidity of Indian Army Chief General Thapar, and escapades of incapable and politically connected General Kaul.

Brigadier Dalvi is spot on when he says that his regiment was used as cannon fodder by political leaders of the country to score public popularity. The poor soldiers of Indian Army did bot have food, boots, warm clothes, ammunition and no artillery support and still they fought for the ashes of their fathers, sanctity of their motherland and honour of their Army. They were massacred but before that they showed the entire world that Indian Rajputs, Gorkhas and Punjabis are the bravest soldiers in world. These soldiers repelled 3 attacks of heavy Chinese infantry supported by heavy artillery but poorly equipped minority force can not win against heavily equipped battle hardened majority force. Our posts on Namka Chu river were destroyed within a single day on 20th Oct 1962 and the disrobing of India's honour was complete.

Indian soldiers defended Ladakh region successfully for many days but they were also forced to retreat but not before destroying huge number of Chinese, specially in the Chushul  region (Battle of Rezang La). After experiencing these reverses India had to plead before UK and USA ( Nehru criticized the same countries in Korean War 1950-53 and Suez War-1956) and credit to these countries that they provided unconditional help to India. General Thapar, General Kaul and Defence Minister Mr. Menon resigned but Indian honour was lost forever.

Lets remember the soldiers who fought in the difficult and impossible conditions 50 years ago when our parents and grand parents were perhaps celebrating Diwali or Eid or both. Let's remember those soldiers for their supreme selfless sacrifice and let's take a vow to take the defence of this country seriously. 
Highly Recommended (8/10)

My date with destiny 25 April 2012

My UPSC interview experience (Rajni Razdan Board), 25th April 2012:

Time around 4:20 PM and I was not very fluent, fumbled in between many times.

[Neeraj] May i come in sir?

[All]        Please

[Neeraj] Good afternoon sir, madam etc

[Rajni] Hi Neeraj, this is you Neeraj {showing my photo to me} and asking my date of birth, roll number

[Neeraj] Yes Mam and gave her my details

There were 6 (or 7) people including Chairperson on the interview Panel

[M1] So Neeraj, you have an interesting hobby Archaeology, why?

[Neeraj] I love visiting historic places, i have seen Qutub Complex, Hampi and Ajanta Ellora, and few sites in England etc. I love the old architectures, stones as these are the material evidences that helps the history in connecting the different joints... They help history to make a theory ...

[M1] Is there any material evidence that can prove the presence of strings used in musical instruments of ancient period?

[Neeraj] I have seen a coin showing Samudragupta playing Veena and that coin is around 1500 years old.

[M1] Is there any other evidence?

[Neeraj] I have no clue sir

[M1] You have also written Cricket as your hobby? So do you play?

[Neeraj] I used to play

[M1] Do you follow cricket? and What do you think of IPL as promoting cricket of causing corruption?

[Neeraj] I follow, i dont think IPL is causing corruption., Match fixing or corruption has nothing to do with any particular format, it can happen in any format. IPL is promoting cricket by popularizing it among the masses.

[M1] Do you follow current trends in Archaeology?

[Neeraj] Yes sir, told him about Brahmi script and its excavations in Adichannloor and a place close to Chennai

[M1] He asked about some titration question

[Neeraj] I dont know sir, i forgot.

[M2] You said you have been to Qutub Complex, what is there?

[Neeraj] Ancient pillars of Hindu temples, Qutub Minar, incomplete Minar and Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque...
[M2] What about the iron pillar? Any thing special about it?

[Neeraj] Yes sir, it never rusts, some professor from IIT Kanpur has proved that some chemical was layered on it (forgot the name of that chemical and professor). That's why it never rusts.

[M2] Do you know about the village reorganized by Anna Hazare?

[Neeraj] Yes sir, Ralegaon Siddhi

[M2] What exactly he has done?

[Neeraj] Sustainable use of natural resources etc..

[M2] Can it be reused and if that is the case then why it has not happened?

[Neeraj] It can be reused but i have no clue why it has not happened

[M3] You are getting an excellent salary in IT and you have an excellent track record, why do you want to go to IAS?

[Neeraj] Sir many reasons, i come from Bundelkhand, a very poor village, social services, poverty reduction etc etc

[M3] Honest reasons authority or social service

[Neeraj] Social service,  do enjoy a bit of authority in my current company so want to do social service

[M4] What are the various techniques to estimate the age of a material?

[Neeraj] C-14 dating, dendro chronology, thermoluminiscence etc

[M4] What is C-14?

[Neeraj] Isotope of Carbon

[M4] What Chola empire has given to India?

[Neeraj] Local self government, talked about rural village assembly plate evidences etc..

[M4] What you will do if posted to some area in Kerala ? and you dont know any thing about that area?

[Neeraj] I will build a team, i will do survey, open forums so that people can talk to me directly, e-governance, frequent tours etc..

[M5] How many cases are pending in courts of India?

[Neeraj] 4 mn sir

[M5] its 4.5 million but you were too close, good

[M5] Do you know about Lok Adalats?

[Neeraj] I gave him the idea about it

[M5] What type of cases it can handle?

[Neeraj] Civil cases sir

[M5] Can it handle divorce cases?

[Neeraj] I said no, some one clarified it can handle

[M5] Do you know about green tea?

[Neeraj] Yes Sir, these days many people are drinking it

[M5] What is anti-oxidant?

[Neeraj] I could not answer that.. my lowest point in the interview.. i was not able to recollect it..

[M6] Name three communicable diseases?

[Neeraj] Polio, Measles, Encephalitis etc..

[Rajni] Thank you Neeraj {She said almost abruptly and that was the end of my interview..

And Interview was over in about 20 odd minutes..

My observations:

I was not very fluent and fumbled many times but managed to give answers with good points.. No idea why Rajni Mam abruptly ended my interview... anyways i am an optimist.. so waiting for  the lucky offer...

Book Review [40] : God is not great

Christopher Hitchens was one of the extremist philosopher of the moder era,  and even the epitabh of an 'Atheist Fundamentalist' does not do any justice to his sharp "intellect". Unfortunately i started reading him after his death so could not question him directly for his critique of religion. 

'God is not great' is called his magnum opus and it indeed raises many questions and makes many observations but the questions and inferences that it raises are not new, the same questions were raised thousands of years back by the 'Shramanas' of India, Socrates of Athens etc etc. I was expecting some thing new and some thing more concrete from Hitchens but looks like he has left that work to the fledgling atheist movement of the 21st century. Every society needs laws for its organic evolution and every great civilization ever lived had its own set of laws and whoever revolted against those laws got a severe punishment, even Socrates had to drink poison. And even in today's world people like Assange have to fight cases to save themselves. Almost all religions that i know have great ideals in them the problem lies in the implementation of those ideals. And not all axioms of religion can be taken at the face value, each and every word of written book or revealed book should be subjected to a severe test of rationalism before accepting or considering it as truth. Everybook has a life span and it will be a real shame if the wisdom of a book be a given more weightage than the Genius of that era. Giving birth to 10 children or not using contraceptives may be a good "constraint" for a scantily populated region of MENA but certainly that can not be applied to the region of Bangladesh or Indonesia although both these regions are Islamic regions. Gotta go now, its 01:01 AM, good night guys.
Highly Recommended (8/10)

Book Reviews [38/39] : Immortals of Meluha and The Secret of the Nagas

Amish Tripathi has done a wonderful service to Indian culture and religion, and in particular to Uncle Pai who regenerated the interests of Indians through his Amar Chitra Katha. The Immortals of Meluha and The Secrets of the Nagas are like a fresh breeze in the sweltering land of modern times. 

'The Immortals of Meluha' starts with the 'Discovery' of Shiva in the region around the Mansarovar Lake and ends with the victory of Suryavanshi Meluhans over Chandravanshi Ayodhyans. Meluhan civilization was nothing but great Indus Valley Civilization and Chandravanshis were "degenerated Aryans". The awareness of Amish with old and odd places and legends, and creation of the characters of Nandi and Bhadra is legendary. Although its a fiction but sometimes it seems pretty real. The character of Sati and the gory details of the practice of Vikarma (i.e. untouchability) is absolutely relevant to the contemporary world. The role of Shiva is strikingly similar to the one played by Suniel Shetty in a Bollywood flick "Mohra". This book is a very good time pass but definitely not worth than 150 Indian Rupees. You can order this book on India Plaza and it comes in just 100 INR.
Highly Recommended (8/10)
 

'The Secret of Nagas' is not that spectacular than the previous book as it is slow and more like propagation of an Ideology. Some times it seems to be a grand failure but in the end Amish successfully regenerates the magic. Its very predictable book and it unfolds the story of Ganesh, Karthik, Kali and Parushram but certainly it lacks the magic of Immortals of Meluha. The character of Daksha, that was shown very weak and gullible becomes completely villainous in the book.  This book definitely does not worth more than 100 Indian Rupees but a nice time pass. I finished the book in less than 7 hours.

Overall these two books are decent books but at many places they become full of cliches and suffer from the consistency of predictability. 
Recommended (7/10)

Book Review [37] : Everybody loves a good drought

P. Sainath has rightly said few months back that "There are two kinds of Journalists, one kind is Journalist and the other is stenographer". 'Everybody loves a good drought' is a magnum opus by P. Sainath. This book documents his reports of his travels to the poorest and 'uncivilized' regions of India, viz Kalahandi, Surguja, Palamau, Malkangiri, Jhabua, Ramanathapuram etc. Malgangiri is a micro cosmos of tribal India, here lives more than few dozens tribes of India. It also has a distinction of being one of the poorest and illiterate districts of the country. To get two diets a day becomes a question of life and death here then how come people can think of hygiene and education. Poors and tribals have paid a great prize to protect and develop India, Central India hosts a lot of dams and power plants still the land is devoid of irrigation and villages of electricity. The electricity we use, the dress we wear and the schools we attend is actually the subsidy given by these poor people to us. What have we done to live a life of such an opulence and what are the things these poor people have done to live a life of such an extreme? May be we are more concerned about our buildings, cars, houses and cooks, if these people get education and wealth then we will lose our labourers, drivers, cooks and cleaners. Its a shame.
A must read books for any Indian, freedom comes with a responsibility to know, learn and fix the problems. 
Highly recommended (9/10).

Book Reviews [35-36] : We The Nation and Middle East Illusions

This year has started well for me and by the grace of God, i got some time to read two very well compiled collections of essays/speeches. Both relate to the tumultuous time of 1960's and 1970's with a pinch of 1990s. 

We the Nation: It is a collection of articles, essays and speeches of the eminent Jurist of India, Nani Palkhiwala. He was a great defender of the fundamental rights and played a key role in the "Basic Structure" concept of Indian constitution. This book renders his thoughts on the political, social, economical and religious spectrum of India after the demise of Nehru. He writes about the fundamentals problems faced by India and their possible solutions. A good read if you want to learn about India's state in 1970s.

Highly Recommended (8/10)

Middle East Illusions by Noam Chomsky is an engrossing book on the Ethno-Religious conflicts between Israel and Palestinians Arabs with a peripheral view on Iraq, Turkey, Egypt and US. The more i read about Jews history the more i get sad but that sadness turns into anger when i read about the pathetic conditions of Palestinians Arabs, who were ironically made refugees in their own land by the European Jews.  This book is bit outdated as most of the articles were written before 1973 war but still relevant.

The best possible solution of Palestine problem (according to me) is the just division of Palestine between Jews and Palestinian Arabs, and the administration of Jerusalem by a UN authority. This was proposed by UN General Assembly Resolution 181 in 1947. That time it was wrong but now its fine, again a cruel irony of time. Gaza Strip Arabs should be settled in West Bank region and corresponding territory should be given to Palestinian Arabs from Israel in a region bordering West Bank. All the Jewish settlements made after 1993 Oslo Accord in West Bank should be dismantled and that territory should be given to Arabs. The Arabs living in Israel should be a given a choice to emigrate to West Bank with all their properties. The equal amount of land should be given to them in a Jewish region bordering West Bank. This will make West Bank a greater West Bank and a practical contiguous Palestinian Arab state bordering the fellow Palestine state of Jordan. This is the best possible solution at this point of time.
Recommended (7/10)