Book Review: Practicing the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

‘Practicing the Power of Now: essential teachings, meditations and exercises from The Power of Now’

By: Eckhart Tolle

Yogi Impressions

ISBN: 81-901059-7-3

Eckhart Tolle is a Canadian (born in Germany as Ulrich Tolle, in 1948) spiritual teacher and bestselling author. He published his first book "The Power of Now" in 1997 which reached the New York Times Best Seller lists (in 2000).

The life story of Eckhart is like a rollercoaster. Eckhart had an unhappy childhood. His parents fought and separated. He suffered all through with depression, anxiety and fear. At age of 22 or so he decided to pursue studying philosophy, psychology, and literature and enrolled in the University of London. After this, he was offered a scholarship to do research at Cambridge University as a postgraduate student. His depressions didn't stop even then. But one night in 1977, at the age of 29, after having suffered from long periods of suicidal depression, Tolle says he experienced an "inner transformation." The next morning, he felt everything was miraculous and deeply peaceful. He practiced long sessions of meditation and reflected on the life and things within and around him. His book "The power of Now" came much later, in 1997. It gradually gained popularity and ultimately deserved the place in the New York Times Best Seller list.

The book starts with a discussion on the eternal, ever present ‘One Life’ beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death; which we call God. The author calls it Being. Now the author’s concept of Being (or God) can be reflected upon in his these sentences:

“Being is not only beyond but also deep within every form as its innermost invisible and indestructible essence. This means that it is accessible to you now as your own deepest self, your true nature. But don’t seek to grasp it with your mind. Don’t try to understand it. You can know it only when the mind is still. When you are present, when your attention is fully and intensely in the Now, Being can be felt, but it can never be understood mentally.” (P20)

I found his concept of God to be similar to the one in Hinduism, or particularly in Advaita Vedanta. His thoughts on freedom can be seen in these sentences:

“The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not the possessing entity – the thinker. Knowing this enables you to observe the entity. The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated.” (P22)

I felt these thoughts were none different than the ones from J. Krishnamurti. The connections don’t end here: read these lines and find how these are different from the teachings of Geeta, when Lord Sri Krishna asked us to do action without bothering for fruits of action:

“Do not be concerned with the fruit of your action: just give attention to the action itself. The fruit will come of its own accord. This is a powerful spiritual practice.” (P48)

The book also covers topics like rising above thoughts, body’s reaction to mind, origin of fear, dissolving unconsciousness, relationship as spiritual practice, acceptance and surrender, etc. His thoughts are powerful. For example, he says on pain and attachment:

“To suddenly see that you are or have been attached to your pain can be quite a shocking realization. The moment you realize this, you have broken the attachment.” (P88)

In the chapter seven, “From addictive to enlightening relationships”, he writes:  

“Unless and until you access the consciousness frequency of presence, all relationships, and particularly intimate relationships, are deeply flawed and ultimately dysfunctional. They may seem perfect for a while, such as when you are “in love”, but invariably that apparent perfection gets disrupted as arguments, conflicts, dissatisfaction, and emotional or even physical violence occur with increasing frequency. It seems that most “love relationships” become love/hate relationships before long.

If in your relationship you experience both “love” and the opposite of “love” – attack, emotional violence, and so on – then it is likely that you are confusing ego attachment and addictive clinging with love. You cannot love your partner one moment and attack him or her the next. True love has no opposite. If your “love” has an opposite, then it is not love but a strange ego-need for a more complete and deeper sense of self, a need that the other person temporarily meets. It is the ego’s substitute for salvation, and for a short time it almost does feel like salvation.

But there comes a time when your partner behaves in ways that fail to meet your needs, or rather those of your ego. The feelings of fear, pain and lack that are an intrinsic part of egoic consciousness but had been covered up by the “love relationship” now resurface.” (P91-92)

After reading this book, I felt a curious connection to philosophies of Hinduism and Vedanta. When I searched about the author, I came to know that Tolle has been quoted as saying, "I feel actually that the work I do is a coming together of the teaching 'stream', if you want to call it that, of J. Krishnamurti and Ramana Maharshi". Tolle himself has mentioned texts such as the Tao Te Ching, the Bhagavad Gita and other Hindu scriptures, the Buddhist scriptures, the Old Testament and the New Testament. And after coming to know of all this, some of my doubts got cleared.

It’s a wonderful book to read. Though I found that the original book “The Power of Now” would be much better to read and this one in the series should be read by those who liked the first one.

© Rahul

Book Review: Getting Rich your Own Way by Brian Tracy

‘Getting Rich Your Own Way’: Achieve all your financial goals faster than you ever thought possible

By: Brian Tracy

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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A lot of books have been written on the topic of financial wisdom. Most of these authors are self-made millionaires (some are even billionaires) and that gives the required confidence to both the authors and readers. Brian Tracy is one coming from such a background (I read that he started working as a laborer and when he became unemployed, he went into sales and the rest as they say is history). 

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This book tells us the ways in which we can work towards our financial goals so as to get them faster. He starts with the psychology of success, and some usual stuff like miracles of compound interests. Then he says “change your thinking, change your life”, telling us ways to become what he calls “money magnet”. At places his methods are conservative, like he puts too much emphasis on saving (different from investing). But then he goes on to investing also and covers it pretty exhaustively. To give an idea, he goes to the extent of suggesting a way to make money like this: buy a house which is in bad shape at cheap price, repair and refurbish it with your own hands, learning carpentry in the weekends and practicing in the evenings, and then sell the house at higher price. The idea is amazing, though the methodology may not be acceptable to all. He also asks us to learn from the best and emulate them.

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I found this book different and unique in the sense that though in the book on financial wisdom, Brian Tracy has actually tried to write a self-help book covering all dimensions of success. After all, if one becomes rich without inculcating the discipline to sustain it, there is no point in achieving it in the first place. I highly recommend this book to all.

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- Rahul 

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P.S.Some Links of interest:

Brian Tracy’s website: http://www.briantracy.com/

Brian Tracy’s blog: http://www.briantracy.com/blog/ 

Book Review: George Soros on Globalization

‘George Soros on Globalization’

By George Soros

Publisher: PublicAffairs New York

George Soros is an American financier, businessman and notable philanthropist focused on supporting liberal ideals. He also appears in Forbes Billionaires at #46 (#18 in United States). His profile at the Forbes website mentions, "He has given away more than $8 billion since 1979 to human rights, public health and education groups. Last year he pledged $100 million to Human Rights Watch, in part to counteract America's loss of the "moral high ground." He's also given away $150 million to Roma Rights. His philanthropic organization, called the Open Society Foundations, supports democracy and human rights in over 70 countries. (Soros is also famous as a strong critic of George W. Bush)

George Soros has written twin-books on his views on Globalization. One is this ‘On Globalization’ and the other is ‘The Bubble of American Supremacy’. In this exhaustive book titled ‘On Globalization’, he expresses his views on topics like international trade, international aid, structural reforms and financial stability. He presents a strong case for Global Open Society and also explains his SDR proposal. He stars with explaining Globalization and its impact, with giving a proper background. He explains how private enterprise is better at wealth creation than the state. But he also presents the negative sides of globalization, especially for the less-developed countries. He says, “Market fundamentalists recognize the benefits of global financial markets but ignore their shortcomings.” He says that economic analyses of the impact of globalization yield mixed results. Yes, in spite of its shortcomings, he says he is a strong supporter of globalization. He says it is mainly because of the ‘freedom’ it offers. He thinks globalization is not a zero-sum game.

In the pages of this book, he analyzes the roles of international institutions like WTP, ILO, IMF, WB, and on agreements like NAFTA, TRIMS, etc. These sections are very exhaustively covered. He asserts his proposal on SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), which is a unit of account for holding countries. At the end of the book he presents a strong case for Global Open Society.

This is a very good book recommended for those interested in international economics and global politics. The book is highly analytical and research based and readability is good.

- Rahul

Book Review: Designing & Managing the Supply Chain

‘Designing & Managing the Supply Chain: Concepts, Strategies and Case Studies’

Second Edition

By David Simchi-Levi, Philip Kaminsky and Edith Simchi-Levi

Tata McGraw Hill

Devid Simchi-Levi is a professor of engineering systems at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Phil Kaminsky is Asst. Professor at University of California, and Edith Mimchi-Levi is co-founder and VP of LogicTools Inc, a supply chain planning Software Company. (LogicTools was acquired by ILOG, which was acquired by IBM ultimately.)

This is a very comprehensive book from the authors. In fact I have myself worked on some strategic tools from the pack and could relate with the theory or logic part of the same, as described in the pages of this book. The topics covered in this book are as follows:

Introduction to SCM, logistics network configuration, inventory management and risk pooling, value of information, supply chain integration, strategic alliances, procurement and outsourcing strategies, international issues on SCM, coordinated product and supply chain design, customer value and SCM, information technology for SCM, decision support systems for SCM.

All chapters start with case studies, and the book even have many computerized games, like a beer game, a risk pool game, and an inventory spreadsheet.

A very good book which I wish I had laid my hands on during my MBA. Recommended for all supply chain practitioners, managers and students of this stream.

- Rahul

Book Review: The Difference Maker by John C. Maxwell

‘The Difference Maker’

By John C. Maxwell

Pearson Power

When I picked up this book, I thought it was “just another book on self-help”. But just flipping over the cover, I found an acknowledgement which made me ponder. I met the first author I have read who dedicated his book to his “assistants”! And the same spirit is reflected all through the pages… It’s a different book offering a fresh take on a popular but ever-green topic. 

The center point of this book deals with our “attitude”. The author says that the attitude is the “difference maker”, which results in two people with the same skills and abilities in the same situation ending up with two totally different outcomes. John. Maxwell, a leadership expert, has done a very good work with it.

The first half of the book deals with the source of our attitude, the limitations of attitude (not to take it as an alternative for skills), the power of attitude and how can we make our attitude our biggest asset. The second half deals with topics like discouragement, change, problems, fear, and failure, which are obstacles for having a positive attitude. I found it a very practical and eye opening book; very refreshing and engaging.  

I highly recommend this book to all.

- Rahul

Book Review: Law of Attraction, by Michael Losier

‘Law of Attraction’

By Michael Losier

Hodder Mobius Publication

If you have read “The Secret” (by Rhonda Byrne), this book becomes evident. Yet it can reveal some things you missed in that book. When I started reading it, I thought it came from the same author, and when I realised it was from another, I wondered why. Because if I start comparing, I see it as a sequel to The Secret and see some problems with authenticity. Leaving that aside, the book contains a powerful belief or theory which tells “like attracts like”. Law of Attraction can be defined as:

“I attract to my life whatever I give my attention, energy, and focus to, whether positive or negative.”

If you fully believe on this philosophy, your life would change completely, as would change the lives of people around you. Then you won’t make negative statements (to put it according to this philosophy, I would say: “Then you would make positive statements”) about the things happening around you. The positive feelings inside you would attract more positive things to you, and you would end up being more positive and getting more of what you want to get (and less of what you want not to). I find this philosophy very powerful and worth our attempt.

Do you meet or hear someone and feel an instant connect? Or do you meet someone and instantly dislike him/her? The author says it is because we either are at the similar level of energy as the other person, or at a different level. So if we meet a person with equal energy level we would feel good, and if we meet a person of lower energy level, s/he may ‘drain us out’ to match his/her own energy levels. This is why we say, “He gives off good vibes”, or “this neighbourhood gives me negative vibes”. Interestingly, even children are comfortable with identifying good and negative vibes.

Another main feature of this book is that it actually tries to teach us a ‘formula for deliberate attraction’. Author’s thoughts are logical and the book is written in a very simple precise manner. It also has exercises and worksheets for us to make use of. It is has near 140 pages and can be finished in a single day of leisure.

A very good book I would recommend to all.

- Rahul

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Book Review: India from Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond

‘India from Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond’

By Shashi Tharoor

Penguin

This is my first read from Shashi Tharoor’s. There are many books written on India, all from different viewpoints and capturing India’s different phases in history or different shades of life, but this book “India: from midnight to the millennium and beyond”, has its own honorable place. It is the story of India’s history, from 15 August 1947 onwards. It tells how Nehru took our nation forward with his socialism which in the end reached us to the verge of near bankruptcy in 1991. It covers policies and autocracy of Indira Gandhi and the terror of Emergency. In a way it covers the whole Nehru-Gandhi dynasty till the time of Sonia Gandhi. Along with the political leadership, the pages cover issues like economy, communalism and secularism (Hindus standpoint Vs Muslim appeasing politics in India), a big chapter on NRIs and expatriation (this chapter is an absolute delight to read), the politics of castes and reservations, and what not. The book is exhaustive and amazing to read. The only downside is that if someone like me has lived in India always, one already knows the nitty-gritty of our political system and national saga. As such Shashi Tharoor’s learned opinion and sharp representation of facts make the book still going through with delight. And for outsiders and foreigners, his sensible explanation really helps. 

I have typewritten some portions from the book. I regret errors if any. Have not given any titles to the paragraphs, but topics are evident. Just some snapshots taken from the first half of the book:  

Successive Indian govts permitted the retention of Muslim Personal Law separate from the country’s civil code and even financed Haj pilgrimages to Mecca. Two of India’s first five Presidents were Muslims, as were innumerable cabinet ministers, ambassadors, generals and supreme court justices. (P xxvi)

To them, an independent India, freed after nearly a thousand years of alien rule (first Muslim, then British), and rid of a sizeable portion of its Muslim population by Partition, had an obligation to assert its own identity, one that would be triumphantly and indigenously Hindu. They are not fundamentalist in any meaningful sense of the term, since Hinduism is uniquely a religion without fundamentals: there is no Hindu Pope, no Hindu Sunday, no single Hindu holy book, and indeed no such thing as Hindu heresy. (P xxvi)

The negative side of the ledger is easily listed: economic exploitation (often undisguised looting of everything from minerals to jewels); stunting of indigenous industry (symbolized by the deliberate barbarity with which, on at least two occasions, the British ordered the thumbs of whole communities of Indian weavers chopped off so that they couldn’t compete with the producers of Lancashire); the creation of a landless peasantry (through archy of Zamindars created by the British to maintain rural order); and general poverty, hunger, and underdevelopment. (P14)

A builder’s daughter from Torino, without a college degree, with no experience of Indian life beyond the rarefied realms of the prime minister’s residence, fiercely protective of her privacy, so reserved and unsmiling in public that she has been unkindly dubbed “the Turin shroud,” leading a billion Indians at the head of the world’s most complex, rambunctious, and violent democracy? (P 26)

Rajiv had barely begun to grow into the role when Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated by the forces of Sikh extremism, forces she had herself primed for narrow partisan purposes. In 1977 the Congress Party had been ousted in Punjab by the Sikh Akali Dal Party, an ally of Janata; Mrs. Gandhi typically decided to undermine them from the quarter they least expected, by opponents even more Sikh than the Akalis. So she encouraged (and reportedly even financed) the extreme fanaticism of a Sikh fundamentalist preacher, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. (P 37)

Above all, as a Hindu, I belong to the only major religion in the world that doesn’t claim to be the only true religion. (P 57)

An uncle of mine put it ironically, “In my parent’s time, during the nationalist movement, they were encouraged by Gandhi and Nehru to reject caste; we dropped our caste-driven surnames and declared caste a social evil. As a result, when I grew up, I was unaware of caste; it was an irrelevance at school, at work, in my social contacts; the last thing I thought about was the caste of someone I met. Now, in my children’s generation, the wheel has come full circle. Caste is suddenly all-important again. Your caste determines your opportunities, your prospects, your promotions. You can’t go forward unless you are a Backward.” (P 111)

The attitude of an expatriate to his homeland is that of the faithless lover who blames the woman he has spurned for not having sufficiently merited his fidelity. (P 143)

A wonderful book which I recommend to all. 

- Rahul

Book Review: Show Business, by Shashi Tharoor

‘Show Business: A Novel’

By Shashi Tharoor

Penguin

‘Show Business’ is the story of life in Mumbai’s film industry, called Bollywood. It’s the story of a young talented man Ashok who went on to become a superstar. On his way, he misses a lot of genuine friends, goes through a lot of corrupting experiences and I think he never realizes when and how he loses his integrity and character. It is a disturbing story as such, of characters losing ‘character’ and leading a life full of miseries, false put-ups, faking expressions and corrupting experiences. But that I guess is part of “show business”! 

Many a time while reading the book, it seemed to me that the author has based Ashok’s character over Amitabh Bachchan. From physical attributes to him marrying another actress who had to leave acting after wedding, many things match. Even Ashok’s entry into politics and a near fatal accident are the same. But if such similarity brings familiarity, it is for the benefit of the reader. Because in a lot of aspects it is a fresh story. The novel runs many parallel stories at the same time. In portions, it also narrates screens from movies; it’s amazing to see how Mr. Tharoor could be a super hit script writer for movies too. The climax of the story is shocking and so twisting that you don’t get it till you finish the last paragraph. 

After reading this book, I am in absolute admiration for Shashi Tharoor’s writing skills and imagination. I always knew he writes well but his fiction is also so touching, sensible and wonderful to read. Just read how sensitive this portion has become: 

“Do you have to go, Ashok?” she asks, as the ayah begins to change the diapers and we move away from the babies.

“You know I do,” I reply reasonably. After all, it is my profession. 

“You spend so little time with the girls,” she says.

What she really means, of course, is that I spend so little time with her. 

“They’ve got you, my love,” I point out. “That is the whole idea, isn’t it? One of us must be with them as much as possible. I have got to go out and earn the daal and chawal.”

“But you don’t need to work so hard any more, Ashok,” she says. “We can afford all the daal and chawal we can possibly want, and more. You told me yourself you didn’t know what to do with all the black money that has been pouring in.”

What she really means is, you don’t have to do so many films with Mehnaz Elahi. She has heard the rumors, like everyone else. But she never asks about it. Never mentions Mehnaz’s name. Proud woman, my wife. I like that about her: her pride. (P 128-129)

I haven’t read many books on life in Bollywood but I feel this novel brings many fresh perspectives, which are solely due to the writer’s own learned points of view. I highly recommend this novel to all. 

- Rahul

Book Review: How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and other Stories

‘How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and other Stories’

By Sudha Murty

Puffin Books

I am a Sudha Murty fan. I have never left a chance to read her books. So far I have read her (1) Gently Falls the Bakula, (2) Dollar Bahu, (3) Mahashweta, (4) Old Man And His God, (5) Wise & Otherwise, and (6) Magic Drum & other Favourite Stories. And now that I got this book from hers, I could not stop till I finished it. This book mentions that it is one for the children, though I find it equally appealing and enjoyable to all readers.

Like many of her other books, this is a collection of real-life stories with some inspiring messages. Most of the stories personally involve her or her work with Infosys Foundation, but there is also one inspiring story of NRN Murty, telling a touching tale of how his father didn’t have money to fund his engineering from an IIT and hence he had to join some nearby college. The title story of how she taught her grandmother to read, and how her grandmother touched her feet saying she was actually touching her teacher’s feet – is a very emotional one. There is one on APJ Abdul Kalam and his humbleness, and there is one where Sudha Murty’s daughter teaches her a lesson, and also one famous story of her experience with JRD Tata. There are stories touching many fabrics of our heart and soul, taking us through irony, faith, discipline, and all along there is a clear passage of a moral sense to the readers. Her language has traits of simplicity and her writing leaves a deep mark on the readers’ hearts and minds, in many cases forever. Many a time I recount her stories when faced with some similar situations in life. Also, her stories invariably give a hope for India’s better tomorrow.

I highly recommend this book to all. I suggest every child and every student in India should definitely read her book.

- Rahul

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How I Taught My Grand Mother to Read: And Other Stories

Book Review: Games Indians Play

Games Indians Play: Why we are the way we are’

By V. Raghunathan

(Forward by N.R. Narayana Murthy)

Penguin Portfolio

Dr. V. Raghunathan is a man of many credits. He has been a professor of finance at IIM Ahmedabad from 1982-2001; then worked as President of ING Vysya Bank and later as MD of GMR Industries. He is author of 9 books, has been on many companies’ boards, and esteemed panels. He is also a popular columnist in newspapers; and is involved in CSR roles as of now. You can check his LinkedIn profile here; or can go to his website. When such a man writes something, readers have better take him seriously. 

The purpose of this book is to analyze and understand why Indians are ‘like this only’. Now what is meant by ‘like this’ has often negative connotations. Dr. Raghunathan says that the root cause is that Indians are one of the most intelligent lots in this world. He says he has visited many places and understood many people – but never has he found such an intelligent population, as we are in India. Yet, he says our intelligence results in us taking rational decisions ‘individually’ in situations, but leading to our ‘collective’ failure. He calls us “Privately smart and publicly dumb”: 

When I jump a queue or a red light, or throw that garbage on the sidewalk, I am taking a rational ‘squeal’ decision, since it seems to get me ahead of others or make life easier for me. Here I am privately smart. But then, as others are no less rational, intelligent and smart, they too start squealing for the same reasons, and before we know it, we have unruly traffic, filthy streets and stinking urinals. So collectively we are all worse off. And then we complain about a dirty country, a polluted city and appalling traffic. In short, publicly we emerge dumb. (P 42)

To show how whatever is in our achievement kitty fails to match up to the best in the world, glance this portion: 

Impressive as the completion of the Konkan Railway or the Delhi Metro Railway have been, they pale in comparison to the Chinese projects, especially where implementation skills and political will are concerned. Consider the statistics. It took seven to ten years to complete the 760 km Konkan Railway. As for the Delhi Metro, between 1950 and 1990, some thirty feasibility studies were carried out by various bodies to evaluate an alternatice transportation system for Delhi. The final go-ahead came in 1990. Delhi Metro Rail Corp Ltd was established in 1995 and first phase of eleven kms was completed in 2004. The eighteen km Calcutta Metro took a good 24 years to complete, from 1971 to 1995. 

China completed the final section of the pan-Himalaya Golmud-Lhasa railway - 1956 kms – at 5072 meters above the sea level. It had 550 km frozen belt, with snow alternately melting and freezing in summer and winter. Workers had to breathe bottled oxygen to cope up with high altitude (no single death due to this though). This stretch of 1142 kms was completed in a mere 4 years. (P13-14)

The best part of the book is the analysis. Dr. Raghunathan uses Game Theory and Behavioral Economics to analyze the situation. Though in the process, he ignores many factors. For example, he discarded the impact of colonization (by foreigners, for a thousand years) on our present behavior, in a one line sentence. Here, I didn’t agree with him. But seeing that history is not his area, and the tools taken up by him for analysis are powerful enough, I didn’t bother much. He explains the Prisoner’s Dilemma in the beginning and by the end he tries to reach a conclusion. Now I found that the Game Theory part could be applied to any case, not only to Indians or India. He worries that in a Prisoner’s dilemma situation, if everyone tries to take best rational decision benefitting oneself, in the end it harms all. So what was the way out? Now this was the most important part. I have typewritten a portion from his last chapters, though this is selective and not exhaustive enough: 

Karmany evadhikaras te ma phalesu kadacana

Ma karma-phala-hetur bur ma te sango‘stv akarmani

(Bhagawat Gita, Chapter II, Verse 47)

Meaning: You have right only to the action and never to the fruit of the action. Fruit of action should not be your motivation, nor should you be driven by attachment to action.

For most of my youth and a little beyond, I always found these words innocuous and naïve. Taking this bit of verse as a random sample of what the Gita is all about, I thought I understood why we weren’t result-driven people. You see, innocence can lead to such quick generalizations.

Meanwhile, a good Samaritan presented me a copy of the Gita, which I did read now and then, though rarely pausing to contemplate seriously on its contents. 

It was only when I started getting interested in game theory and immersed myself in it that the whole import of the Gita hit me like a truck.

In many ways, the Gita, in a quintessential form, lays down what one may call the absolute truth for most aspects of our lives, the dharma. To amplify this statement further: for years, my idea of right and wrong was largely intuitive. Yet somewhere deep down, I could never see any reasonable evidence to believe that there existed absolute truths outside physical sciences which one could ‘measure and prove’.

My argument was: If this is a world of ‘selfish genes’ and therefore selfish people, what makes it ‘wrong’ to shaft somebody, as long as you found it worth your while? Religions may proscribe shafting somebody, pronouncing such action as a sin. But the question is: ‘Why is it a sin?’ Who is to say that a wrong has happened, given that each individual is selfish and each one’s actions are supposed to be in the best interests of oneself? Similarly, the Gita might say that it is wrong to be driven by desires. But why is it wrong? Again, if I see a child begging for alms and risk reinforcing the system, or desist and risk the child going hungry? Which is the lesser evil?

For questions such as these and other social dilemmas, there don’t seem to be answers that are right or wrong. Or so I had believed for a long time. I was enlightened when I found game theory capable of answering many questions such as these unambiguously. But what really captured my imagination was that most answers which a game-theoric situation such as prisoner’s dilemma yielded were consistent with what Krishna had to say to Arjuna in the Bhagawat Gita! I discovered that modern game theory and associated experiments and games seem to validate what Krishna had placed before Arjuna in a nutshell. Clearly, it took thousands of years of management science to validate the Gita (even if unwittingly), much as presend day experiments on the outer reaches of space continue to validate Albert Einstein. 

Consider our simple prisoner’s dilemma situation of Chapter 4. ……. If everyone followed the path of the karmayogi stipulated by the Gita, C-C is the only outcome and that leads to the “highest good”….. 

That is why we must not ‘defect’; that is why those who do not follow the path of dharma ought to be punished; that is why it is one’s dharma to be provoked by the adharmi and retaliate, and yet show compassion and forgiveness in the conduct of one’s actions, just as the Tit for Tat strategy guides us.

This is what game theory tells us, and this is what the Gita tells us as well. It is just that Gita is simplified and made-easy or ready-to-serve version of actions that the game theory plods through to demonstrate. It is interesting that some sage, aeons ago, thought of the right courses of action for humanity at a large in a variety of situations that can stand the test of proof of present-day tools and techniques, including computer simulations. 

My intention in writing this chapter was merely to share my own personal awakening to many aspects of the Gita. What is strange is that we should be witnessing so much of defect-defect behavior in the very land that gave us the Gita. Clearly, while the West, using its cumbersome vehicle of game theory, has covered a lot of ground in collective cooperative behavior, we seem to have made very little headway in that direction, notwithstanding our heritage of the Gita.

(P142-148)

This review won’t be complete if you missed the last two paragraphs in the above quoted text. And any review can’t be replacement for the ultimate joy of reading a book. 

The book is not long, the language used is simple, the scientific inquiry (e.g. game theory) is not too complex to understand, and this book deserves to be read by one and all. I highly recommend it to all my readers. 

- Rahul

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Book Review: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

“The Inheritance of Loss”

By Kiran Desai

Penguin Books

‘The Inheritance of Loss’ is Kiran Desai’s second novel, which had won her ‘Man Booker Prize, 2006’. 

The story is set in a small North East Indian town at the border of Nepal. The characters are a retired judge Jemubhai Patel, his dog Mutt, his cook (and the cook’s son Biju) his orphaned granddaughter, Sai and her maths tutor Gyan. The story flips through the present and then goes back in time when Jemubhai recollects memories from his days spend in England as a young Gujarati man out of a small town. The storyline in the present touches Sai’s love/crush with Gyan. Later on Gyan gets lost in a political movement to get separate country called Gorkhaland for people from Nepali origins. (the novel presents an interesting and learned background to the separatist Gorkhaland movement; also on how the movement had digressed into lootings and robbery). A parallel storyline runs through Baiju’s life (the cook’s son) who had gone to the US to earn some money, but when he returns, he is looted in a tragic manner and left with nothing but in a woman’s attire. 

I think the judge’s character has been developed most. To me he had grown into a loathsome individual, harassing his wife when young, and then exploiting his cook, but at the same time he would do anything in love for his dog Mutt. Biju’s character, though not developed much, shows a stark reality of pitiful trap of poverty. This “political sense” in my opinion/insight is a unique and amazing side of this book and the author. 

Many of the characters in the book appear “helpless” and “weak”, but when we think about the circumstances and political and social environment, the context is saddening. The story is also a pointer of how poverty, extremist movements, political apathy, all these miseries trap our world. 

The literary style of Kiran Desai is unique. Especially in the beginning I was amazed at the minuteness of details that she commented on. Even a body movement was captured in her humorous style. But at times the minute level descriptions became too much for me. What I really loved was the political sense. The story line traversed touching shades of migration, multi-culturist society, separatist movements and terrorism, class differences, poverty, human sensibilities and what not.. Overall, it was an enlightening read and I recommend it to all. 

Some random excerpts from the novel, said by different characters in different situations, type written by me:

Mrs. Sen, “More Muslims in India than in Pakistan. They prefer to multiply here. You know, that Jinnah, he ate bacon and eggs for breakfast every morning and drank whiskey every evening. What sort of Muslim nation they have? And five times a day bums up to God. Mind you, with that Koran, who can be surprised? They have no option but to be two-faced. The reasoning formed a central pillar of Hindu belief and it went like this: so strict was the Koran that its teachings were beyond human capacity. Therefore, Muslims were forced to pretend one thing, do another; they drank, smoked, ate pork, visited prostitutes, and then denied it. Unlike Hindus, who needn’t deny…. Muslims also came from somewhere else, Babar and all… And stayed here to breed. Not that it is the fault of the women – poor things – it is the men – marrying three, four wives – no shame. They have nothing better to do, you know. Without TV and electricity, there will always be this problem-”. (P130)

“Rule of nature: Imagine if we were sitting around saying, “So-and-so-score years ago, Neanderthals came out of the woods, attacked my family with a big dinosaur bone, and now you give back.” (P134)

“Half awed I was by the writing, but half I was bewildered by these Christian ideas of confession and forgiveness – they place the burden of the crime on the victim! If nothing can undo the misdeed, then why should sin be undone? The whole system seemed to favor, in fact, the criminal over the righteous. You could behave badly, say you were sorry, you would get extra fun and be reinstated in the same position as the one who had done nothing, who now had both to suffer the crime and the difficulty of forgiving, with no goodies in addition at all. And of course you would feel freer than ever to sin if you were aware of such a safety net; sorry, sorry, of so so sorry.” (P200)

“Immigration, so often presented as a heroic act, could just as easily be the opposite; that it was cowardice that led many to America; fear marked the journey, not bravery; a cockroachy desire to scuttle to where you never saw poverty, not really, never had to suffer a tug to your conscience; where you never heard the demands of servants, beggars, bankrupt relatives, and where your generosity would never be openly claimed; where by merely looking after your own wife-child-dog-yard you could feel virtuous. Experience the relief of being an unknown transplant to the locals and hide the perspective granted by journey.” (P299)

- Rahul