Exploring the Bookish World

Kartikeya Ladha's latest book,  Life Unknown - A Passage Through India  narrates the tale of the author's journey across the Indian subcontinent. However, this book is not just a travelogue, it is deeply philosophical and spiritual as well. The book begins in Ladakh. The author has brilliantly portrayed the untamed beauty of the Himalayan Mountains. The vivid description of the scenic beauty makes the book all the more interesting to read. The book is divided into three sections - describing the author's journey across various parts of northern as well as southern India.  Life Unknown - A Passage Through India, is not only about the author's journey across different places in India. It is also about the author's spiritual journey. The way he went on a different path, the path which is greater than materialistic possessions which human beings blindly chase. This really makes us think. Life Unknown - A Passage Through India is the author's second book after  Dream...

Chandan Deshmukh's book, 6 Secrets Smart Students Don't Tell You, answers all the questions that are always asked by students and parents alike: 'How to study better and have a successful academic career?', 'How to succeed and crack exams?' and many more.  This book is a compilation of many advices for students that are really helpful. The book describes each and every aspect of detail pointwise. There are diagrams and flowcharts for better understanding as well. It is quite relatable for students as it discusses the problems that they face. The book is based on extensive research by the author and the tips and tricks seem very useful. It is conversational, funny and quite insightful in nature.  The writing style is very simple with the use of lucid language, making this book an easy read. It is indeed a very useful self-help book. It took me a few hours to complete reading the entire book as it is quite a short read. Overall, it was a good a...

Self-help books are really great and extremely informative. Chandan Deshmukh's 7 Dream Jobs and How to Find Them is one such amazing book. The author, in this book, guides the readers and discusses in detail the various opportunities, challenges and turning point of any career. We spend most of our lives working. And it is very essential for us to like our job. If the job makes us unhappy, neither will it be productive, nor will it give us job satisfaction. A study says that 80% of Indians are unhappy in their jobs. This book solves a lot of unanswered questions that young people find while trying to choose a career option. It talks about human personalities, and how they're suited for certain jobs, and most importantly, how to find a job that gives satisfaction. It is a short and engaging read. It took me a few hours to complete reading this book. The book has detailed descriptions on career and the point-wise analysis makes it easier to read and comprehend. Overal...

Legitimacy of Power: The Permanence of Five in the Security Council by Dilip Sinha is an informative and brilliant piece of work. I have always chosen fiction over non-fiction, but recently as I am reading more of the non-fiction genre, I am intrigued and amazed by the brilliance of this genre. As is evident from the title of the book, it talks about the working and operations of the United Nations, more specifically, about one of its most important organ, Security Council. It is a study of international security cooperation and its international law. It has historical details about how the organisation came into being, with UK, USA, Russia, France and China as the Permanent Five members, and how it has been working since. The book is divided into 16 chapters, each chapter describing the various aspects of the UN, from its formation to the modern times. It is extremely informative and contains a detailed description. Legitimacy of Power is a perfect academic text and is suit...

An interesting collection of micro tales, SHE - Screw Silence! by Reecha Agarwal Goyal, will take you on an emotional journey. It will make you think. Recently, I came across a number of books on micro tales, but this one is unique in many different ways. "Why kickboxing?"                                                                                                                "I plan to knock out patriarchy one day."  As the title of the book suggests, SHE - Screw Silence! is all about equality, feminism, women empowerment, the women raising their voices, and smashing the patriarchy. The book might look like a short, and cute book, but the subject is really deep. Each one of the micro tales...

With Ash on Their Faces: Yezidi Women and the Islamic State  by  Cathy Otten  is one of the best books that I have read this year. This book is based on extensive interviews with survivors of the Yezidi population. It is a work of extreme research and analysis. It highlights and brings forward the reality of the war-torn areas of Iraq. ISIS's genocidal attack on the Yezidi population of northern Iraq in the summer of 2014 brought the world's attention to the followers of faith with a long history of persecution. Men were killed, and the Yezidi women were taken to the Islamic state to be sold.  This book narrates the plight of Yezidi women and children.  Who are the Yezidis?  Yazidis are an endogamous and mostly Kurmanji-speaking group of contested ethnic origin, indigenous to Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. The majority of Yazidis remaining in the Middle East today live in Iraq, primarily in the Nineveh and Dohuk governorates. In August 20...

Yoga & Stress Management by Acharya Yatendra is one of the best non-fictions I have read this year. It is a therapeutic guide for those dealing with mental and physical. Not only that, this book can be considered as a reference book for healthy living. As is quite evident from the title of this book, it is a short and easy book on the philosophy of yoga and how to manage stress. Most of us these days suffer from stress and that makes our life very difficult. It feels really great to be able to manage the stress in one's life. And this book has really been helpful in the process of stress reduction in my life. The very first chapter in this book is about 'stress and yoga philosophy'. At the end of this chapter, there is a section called 'rating stress'. It has a chart where the reader can assess how much stress he/she is going through. This, I personally felt, was very helpful. Each reader can assess the amount of stress one is under. That is a great wa...

Turn the Tables is an amazing self-help book by Priya Kumar. It is a very motivating, and really interesting read. 'Turn the Tables' means to change a situation so that you now have an advantage over someone or something that previously had an advantage over you. The book starts with a short story. The author, in this book, speaks in detail about the right attitude to 'turn the tables'. There are twenty-eight chapters in the book, all of which are equally engaging. At the end of each chapter, there are some questions for the readers which help them think and reflect themselves better. Read the book to get an insightful understanding of how to 'turn the tables'! The book is very well written. In fact, this is one of the best self-help books I've read this year. After reading, I felt very optimistic and motivated. Overall, it was a great read and I really liked reading it. About the author:   Priya Kumar is an Internationally Acclaimed Motiva...

Sreedhar Bevara's Moment of Signal is an excellent self-help book which talks in great detail about how being alert to signals can change our lives and make a better leader out of us. This book is one of the best non-fiction books that I have read so far this year. The main concept around which the book Moment of Signal is centred around sensing the correct time in life and bring out the leadership within each one of us. The book is divided into ten chapters, each one focusing on sensing the moment and acting accordingly in order to succeed. For a detailed analysis and understanding, each of the topics is further divided into subtopics. In the Introduction to his book, the author throws light on the importance of Sensing the Moment. He says -  "Today is neither an accident nor a mere occurrence. It is a combination of both past and the present which seeds the future. It is here 'NOW'. Living the moment means being conscious, being aware, and embracing the pr...

The Women Who Ruled India by Archana Garodia Gupta is a book which focuses on the powerful women who are an important part of Indian history. These women were brave, fierce and possessed great leadership qualities. They were great rulers of their times and continue to inspire future generations as well. Their stories of valour and diplomacy, leadership and wit make this book a very informative read. The book features the stories of twenty powerful figures from the archives, offering us a glimpse of their fascinating lives. Each one of them ruled India during different time periods. It is a matter of great pride that such brave and powerful women are a part of India's rich history. From the Bhaumakara Queens, Didda of Kashmir, Raziya Sultan to Nur Jahan, and Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, the women rulers who were often overshadowed by their male counterparts in the patriarchal representation of history; their true accounts are presented in this book. The Women Who Ruled India  i...

One of the most significant personalities, who strived hard to free India from the British Rule, is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. He led the Indian National Army and is one of the most revered freedom fighters of India. It is said that Netaji died in an air crash in Taipei, Taiwan soon after the Second World War came to an end. But a large number of people do not believe this. The sudden disappearance of Netaji has been a subject of great speculation and of great interest to Indians as well as to people all over the World. There are various theories regarding this, but none has been proved to be absolutely authentic.  The question about Netaji's sudden disappearance was considered by three inquiry commissions, the last of which came to the clear conclusion that there was, in fact, no air crash. Each report is carefully dissected by the author, a trained international lawyer and public intellectual. The Introduction to the book is very informative. Although it...

'The Undying Self: Vedic Wisdom in the New Millenium' by Anthony Duart Maclean is a book that talks about the power of Vedantic knowledge in present times and it explores several dimensions of Indian philosophy. The book is divided into three parts. The first part is 'Yoga and The Bliss of Being'. It talks about India's Vedic Civilization, Key Concepts and Principles, India's Perennial Four Paths of Yoga and Vedanta. The second part is 'Manifesto Spiritual'. It discusses in detail about our inner self, identity,  the essence of spirituality, philosophy and leadership. The last and final part is 'The Primacy of Consciousness'. All the topics are extremely insightful and discussed in great detail. This book on spirituality is a great book which invites self-enquiry and also encourages the reader to reflect deeply on peace and inner well-being. In modern times when peace is hard to find, and inner peace is very rare; when most of the ...

'Where Three Empires Meet' by E.F. Knight is a travelogue set in the colonial times, when India was a colony under the British Empire.  It is a very captivating read about a region that still is a focal point of international discourse as a result of its geo-political significance, i.e., the area of Kashmir, Tibet and around. The author, in this book, talks about his year-long journey in the year 1891 into the region in and around Kashmir and Tibet, where the 'three great empires' of that time - the British, the Russian, and the Chinese - came together on the map.  This book presents very interesting details and also vivid descriptions of the local people, their lifestyle, festivals, arts, and tradition. The beautiful photographs and illustrations make the book all the more interesting. This is really an amazing book and I enjoyed reading it. Travelogues have always fascinated me and I was very excited to read this book. The authentic and detailed descript...

'Work, Workers & Workplaces' by Parthajeet Sarma is an excellent book which gives the readers an idea of the radically changing nature of work, workers and workplaces using space as a starting point of innovation. The advancement of technology in the modern times is taking place in leaps and bounds. Everything around us is changing. And so is work, workers and workplaces. Technology has enabled humans to work from coffee shops and from home, reducing the need to go to work. The very meaning of work has changed for modern-day workers where the workplace is no more a physical space. In the modern world, the workplace is an amalgamation of physical and digital. The author has used real-life situations as examples. This has made the book very easy to comprehend and also very interesting. The theme of this book is very relevant. I liked the fact that how the book focuses on the need to have a comfortable working environment. I feel this is indeed absolutely necessary ...

'Dream Big' is an exceptionally well-written self-help book. The book explains in details all the fundamentals of investment and how a person can easily save money. The most complicated topics which people find puzzling to interpret and comprehend are very skillfully described with straight-forward and easy explanations. It is indeed a true fact that our country India lacks financial literacy. Most people are unaware of the fields of health insurance, life insurance and wealth generation. The book covers up almost each and every topic under financial planning. The myths regarding Mutual Funds investments are busted and the actual facts are also well elucidated.  The fact that financial planning should be regarded as an element of utmost importance for leading an untroubled life is clearly indicated. The biggest plus-point of the book is its simplicity in dealing with complex matters. The authors, through their book, have beautifully explained various difficult topic...

“I can’t go on. I’ll go on.”  ― Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air. An English Literature and Human Biology Graduate, Paul Kalanithi went ahead to practice medicine and become a neurosurgeon to find an answer to the question - "Where did Biology, Mortality, Literature and Philosophy intersect?" 'When Breath Becomes Air' is the heartbreaking memoir of Paul Kalanithi . At the age of thirty-six, at the peak of his career as a neurosurgeon, when he with his wife was looking forward to a beautiful future ahead, Dr. Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV of lung cancer. His story shows us how it feels to see death approaching, and shattering all the plans that one had planned for the future. How the deadly disease cut short the life of such a promising neurosurgeon who could have saved the lives of so many people. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. This book made me contemplate the meaning...

Sonu Bhasin through her book, 'The Inheritors' , brings before the readers a  fascinating behind the scenes look into what goes behind prominent Indian brands like Marico, Dabur, Keventers, Berger Paints, Select Group, Max Group and many others. The book is an extremely interesting read and is informative as well. It mainly focuses on the nature and culture of family businesses in India.  The book is divided into nine chapters and each chapter tells the story of a family-owned, well-known business. The author has covered the stories of Amit Burman of Dabur Group and Lite Bite Foods , Harsh Mariwala of Marico , Kuldip Singh Dhingra and Gurbachan Singh Dhingra behind Berger Paints , the founders of Motilal Oswal Group - Motilal Oswal and Raamdeo Aggarwal , young entrepreneur Agastya Dalmiya - who resurrected the Keventers , Tara Singh Vachani of Max Group , the lawyer couple Rishabh and Saloni Shroff of the law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas , Pooja Jain o...

'Immortal India' is the first non-fiction written by the author of bestseller fictions, Amish . His previous books include five bestselling fictions of The Shiva Trilogy and Ramchandra Series. All his works reflect his knowledge of Indian history and mythology as well. As the title of the book suggests, 'Immortal India'  explains the captivating amalgamation of the past and the present of the world's largest democracy. The book is essentially a collection of articles by Amish published on various newspapers, speeches that he made, debates and interviews that he participated in. The book presents before the reader a beautiful picture of the ancient Indian culture from a modern point of view. The book throws light on a wide range of subjects which affect the modern Indian society. The book is split into four sections, namely, 一 Religion & Mythology, Social Issues, History, and Musings. The chapters under 'Religion & Mythology' depicts the de...