I love reading Noam Chomsky till he writes on Kashmir.
He is a voice one must hear, though some, especially the likes of politicians, CIA, NSA etc., will dismiss his views as utopian. Whether his views are idealistic or not, one thing is for sure that he does not mince words when exposing the brutality of imperialism and authoritarianism, espcially American one. This book has been stitched together from a series of interviews he gave on various topics.
It is no wonder that Chomsky never was given too much attention in the mainstream media, unless during thos rare times when he was talking about linguistics.
The book is devoid of any jargons or over the top theories, and brings forth so many diversified examples of imperialism and power-grab that the first time reader of Chomsky might wonder if all of this is actually true (I am not a first time reader of his). But the added dimension is that the reader would be even in more disarray because he/she never read about it in history books. Because history books are not supposed to tell you how Iran’s democratic government was overthrown by U.S. and Britain due to their concerns of oil being nationalized. That India’s armed forces have often resorted to unspeakable violence when dealing terrorism in Kashmir (I told you, I hate Chomsky). However, in cases like Kashmir or Palestine, what Chomsky fails to realize is that just one act of misdirected violence by the forces would result in endless criticism. Whereas the infinite steadfastness of the forces to resist attacking the stone-throwers is never praised. There is no black and white in such cases. Neither side is perfect or imperfect. Grey zone is a reality of life, especially in conflict zones. But still reading Chomsky is a must for most of his critiques are valid and pointed.
However, most of Chomsky’s writings or views do suffer from what is suffered by Roy. There is no solution presented by Chomsky. It is naive to believe that only democracy is the best way to rule over a country. And naive to believe that only American way of democray is the ‘right way’ (Chomsky doesn’t believe this by the way). Wish his critique lead to suggestions and possible solutions too.
My only reason for buying this book was the hype created around Mr Singhania writing about how he was throw out of his own house by his son Gautam Singhania, after the former had signed over everything to the latter. I was waiting for those juicy details which never came. I wanted a sneak peek into the family feuds of billionaires. I got very little of it through this book.
The Singhanias have been an enterprising lot and have made themselves rich and famous since more than half a century. Raymond brand is one fo the strongest and well known brands of India. They have many other business interests as well.
Mr Singhania recalls his childhood and growing up years in the first few chapters, and how the large extended family stuck together, more or less, through tough times which is quite touching for nowadays families have shrunk in size. He also recalls his various affairs he had over the years with various women while still being married to his wife. What a hypocrite!
However his writing is most passionate when he writes about his flying adventures and breaking three world records. He definitely is a braveheart! He does gives few tips in the end on how not to give away everything to children for one may end up on the streets without a penny in pocket.
This book turned out more of a personal story rather than a business book.
Stock Markets have always attracted cunning yet smart ‘characters’ and this was well-portrayed in the web-series ‘Scam 1992’. However this book by Palak Shah is an eye opener in how there are several “operators” in the stock markets, right from the exchanges, to brokers, to algo writers, software firms, and even the occasional “server-men” who switch on or off the servers of the exchanges based on the operating hours, and of course the politicans! The mind-boggling scams, or shady dealings in the least, that are covered in this book will surely make one lose any trust whatsoever one has over the regulators, regulations, or the lack of seriousness in both of them.
The uncanny, widespread web of deceit which the author has uncovered, often via internet sleuthing, archived webpages, screenshots is commendable. However, after reading this book, one is left with more unanswered questions, especially this one: how come all of this has continued unabated for so long? There is no clear answer to this question in the book, but it doesn’t take too much thinking for one to reach a conclusion that if illegal or illicit gains are being made to the tune of thousands and lakhs of crores each year, and with awareness of regulator and even the top honchos of Finance Ministry including various Finance Ministers, especially Chidambaram, then definitely a good portion of these gains are making their way to the pockets of political pundits, king-makers, & coffers of political parties.
There are quite a few typos in the book and some of the points are repeated ad-nauseum. However this book definitely does make for a well-researched book which everyone who is interested in equities should read.
What else can be a better book other than ‘India vs UK’ by Syed Akbaruddin to celebrate India’s 75th Independence Day? Akbaruddin chronicles in vivid detail the ‘fight’ between India and UK (the erstwhile colonisers) in 2017 when both the countries were vying for a seat on the Bench of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). He tells the story of how a change in the Government at the Centre in India led to a push for India to campaign for the seat, albeit at the 11th hour despite of signals being sent from Delhi to New York (where Akbaruddin was) that there is no appetite for it as India was already fighting out the elections for International Law Commission and the International Tribunal on the Law of the Seas.
A an urgent message from the then Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar conveyed to him that Akbaruddin needs to be back to Delhi urgently. He heads to the Foreign Minister’s (Sushma Swaraj) home a few hours after landing at the Delhi airport. And there Sushma Swaraj asks for his support in return for the support which she had extended to him when earlier he had made the case for not running for the ICJ elections.
The book is quite detailed and sometimes too technical to keep the reader engaged. However, it also shows how the inner workings and the intricacies of the international organizations (like UN, WHO, UNHCR, UNICEF, ICJ, ILO etc.) are rarely covered by the mainstream media. It is a must-read book for any Indian to realize how India won this much-deserved, now well-documented, victory over the UK.
There are conspiracy theories, and then there is Josy Joseph. His book Feast of Vultures was rooted in real stories, often backed by personal experience or sometimes even by facts. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about his latest book. Josy seems to have lost the plot when he treats his sources differently when they feed him ‘stories’ which suit his narrative and when they don’t. At the beginning of the book he mentions how the intelligence officers often feed false stories to journalists, and hence he mistrusts them to a great extent. But when these ‘stories’ suit his narrative, Josy readily accepts them and gleefully boasts of having access to ‘insider’ and ‘sinister’ plots which have been conjured up in the minds of the ‘evilest’ top-brass.
He raises questions about how Afzal Guru was an innocent bystander and was a scapegoat after the Parliament attacks of 2001. However, one only has to read Rahul Pandita’s book to get to the truth. Rahul has clearly presented the facts when he presents the links of Afzal Guru with these Islamic terrorists hiding in plain sight in Pakistan. But that’s too much to ask of Josy because he is clearly blinded by the blinkers.
Josy writes about how ‘hindu terror’ or ‘saffron terror’ was unearthed by NIA during UPA regime, and then posits this theory that because this does not suit BJP, all the accused were let go of lightly. Would, say, Sadhvi Pragya be so naive that she would use her own two-wheeler for carrying out attacks? But such simpleton questions would baffle Josy so he does not even bother to ask them.
He mentions in his book the chapter of Kasab and other terrorists attacking Mumbai on 26/11, but comfortably ignores how the stooges of Congress / UPA had released a book after 26/11 which claimed that 26/11 was an RSS plot! Josy, as expected, does not write a word about this. Not even a hint. Of course Josy won’t because when you have an agenda at the back of your mind, incovinient facts are to be ignored and brushed aside.
As per Josy, the two dozen or so intelligence agencies are an evil manifestation of bad State actors, who can’t think of anything else but to create havoc in the state. Josy, as would be apparent to the reader by now, is a typical journalist who sits in his ivory tower and keeps pointing out how the armed forces, police, politicians, intelligenc officers, informants are not only imperfect, but even conniving at each breath on how to fool the public, the journalists, and the world at large. One would infer from Josy’s criticism, that when a terrorist enters Kashmir with a gun, the military should present the law book to the terrorist, outling what the terrorist’s rights and duties are. And in case the terrorist crosses the line, which would be a rare occasion as per Josy, then the military should take recourse in the laws of the land and go through a ‘proper’ process through the judiciary.
I am glad that people like Josy are confined to the journalistic world, having no real-world experience dealing with terrorists, gangsters, anti-nationals etc. Because only the theorists and purists can revel in their own utopian principles of ethics, equality, and kindness. It is because of this parasite called “fourth pillar” that India as a country has been weakened from the inside, like a moth-infested beam. It is not journalism but disguised-journalism that is the real enemy of India. What exactly are these so-called journalists upholding? If India fails to avert a terrorist attack, these journalists gleefully roast the security establishment and political masters of being a failure; but when the security establishment / politicians are able to nip terrorism in the bud, these ‘journalists’ smell a fish and suspect foul-play.
My disgust for journalism and especially the holier-than-thou attitude of those in this ‘establishment’ has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. Noam Chomsky could not make an iota of a difference in this world for a reason. Arundhati Roy likes to go on ‘explorative naxal’ trips and then write books and articles but cannot dent an inch of the government, and that’s like this for a reason. And the reason is that these people and ‘thinkers’ are stuck in their textbooks of ethics and morality. They scored 90% percentage in their written exams and think they can change the world and fight the enemy based on their 90% score! Welcome to the real world, folks!
I would not recommend this book as it is full of hypotheses, fact-less pronouncements, personal disgust, political agenda, and even laughable, if not derisive, conjectures. His first book was way better, but somewhere Josy seems to have lost it. I will wait till he veers back to the track.
I had never heard of the brand called D:FY. Maybe because I was not in India when it was launched. Or maybe because I had no interest in sports shoe brands and running shoes back then. Or, as Prashant himself mentioned, “multi sport” shoes. This was the first time I came across a term called “multi sport”. Whenever I have searched for shoes on Amazon or Google, it is for “sports shoes”, or “running shoes”, or “vegan shoes”, or “football shoes” (just for the looks and not for playing) or “hiking shoes”. I have never searched for “multi sport” shoes. What does it even mean? Can I play football and cricket and tennis and go for running as well in the same shoe? And go for hiking as well? And this is one of the many reasons Prashant lists for the failure of marketing of his brand D:FY on Amazon.
I had never heard of Prashant before I picked up this book. He has accomplished what many of us can’t even think about. He was worked with the likes of Kishore Biyani and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and many others. This is an honest, down-to-earth, no holds barred book about how he rose from an average studen to a nationwide rank holder in multiple accounting exams, and then become a stock picker (amongst other roles) at various firms and finally settled in Mumbai. He made multiple of crores but his hunger for more money led him to launch D:FY sports shoe brand, with the thinking being that there is nothing in India in the range of around 4000/- rupees for the average Indian buyer.
He writes in detail about how he went about pitching it to various people and investors across the board, got shoe designers from US to work for his shoes, got vendors from China, met the marketing agencies, and the Amazon and Flipkart/Myntra heads for a marketing deal, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh S. for a stake, and so on and so forth.
Reading this book, one wonders about the amount of effort and sleepless nights an entrepreneur has to spend working on his business. The unforeseen challenges that seem to attack from all sides, and the checks and balances of luck often deserting you at the wrong time. We mostly hear of entrepreneurs on how they have secured Series A, B, C funding, how their valuations are in billions of dollars, how MAU and DAU metrics are in their favor for a sellout, but never do we hear from an entrepreneur who failed. Because they don’t want to share their sob story.
Prashant has been woefully and delightfully honest (and often brutally so) in this book about his own experiences and his learnings during this entrepreneurial journey. He lost more than 30 crore rupees of his personal wealth during the 2-3 years of D:FY and this book should be read by everyone who only looks at the successes of Zerodha, Nykaa, PayTM, Flipkart and others. For every venture that succeeds, I am sure there are hundreds of others which fail and never take off.
A highly recommended book for all general readers; there is not a single dull moment in this book!
Rahul Pandita is someone you can trust as a journalist. His previous books were on the Maoist insurgency in India (which, essentially, is tribals fighting for their own lands against an usurping State), also called Naxalism.
To call Umar Farooq a “lover boy” is a stretch of imagination: he neither has the looks nor the persona. But appearances belie true colours. This Umar (aka Idrees bhai) was the ‘mastermind’ behind the Pulwama attacks. He already was involved with multiple girls in Kashmir, and hence the monicker “lover boy”.
Pandita’s book is quite detailed in how it deals with history of Kashmir, especially the 80s and 90s, which saw increased cross-border support for terrorism from Pakistan and different groups fighting amongst themsleves in Kashmir for dominance and legitimacy. The book gives a detailed account of how intelligence operatives develop their sources in a troubled region like Kashmir, and what all entails finding clues to solve a case. It’s a cat-and-mouse game.
Pandita also proves another important point, which the blind left-wing bigots have not been able to accept: the link of Afzal Guru with the Parliament attacks.
I would recommend this book for various reasons: the inside sources the author has developed and the information that is presented in the book; the operations of intelligence operatives and how they crack a case; the risks the intelligence community takes to take on these terrorists; the operational details of various counter-attacks and neutralizing operations conducted in Kashmir by Indian forces; the riveting details of the 2019 Pulwama attack and the ‘luck by chance’ that lead to the unearthing the people behind it.
A well written book which focuses on the essentials: the language is not flowery or sophisticated, but who needs these when there is a bearded, fat, ‘lover boy’, eh?
I remember watching Karan Thapar’s Hard Talk and other shows on television and being in awe of him over his command over the English language. Of late, he has been making inroads in digital journalism by conducting interviews for The Wire on Youtube. Though going by the number of views his interviews garner, I wonder if they interviews can be called famous. People need more ‘masala’ nowadays rather than quality journalism. People want entertainment.
Karan’s book is an honest admission of various mistakes he has done in his career: like the Jayalalitha interview and the Modi interview to name a few. The book starts with a short history of his family in India and his schooling days. Then he covers his years in England. However, I wasn’t interested in knowing the personal stories of him. I had bought the book rather to glean over the stories of his interviews and insider scoops with politicians. And his book has many of these. Like his friendship with Benazir Bhutto, his closeness to Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi, his rapport with LK Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The most interesting chapter is the last one where he writes about being boycotted by the BJP ministers and spokespersons at the behest of none other than the Prime Minister Modi himself. He even details how he got multiple reaffirmations of Modi directing people not to appear on Karan’s shows.
The protests against CAA-NRC of BJP government had its strongest point in Shaheen Bagh. Not only did the protesters gain massive coverage in the media, but also internationally it became a symbol of resistance against what the opposition was painting as ‘oppressive policies’ of the right-leaning BJP.
The authors present an idealistic view how the protests of Shaheen Bagh were organic and nature and were self-organized, without any support whatsover from either Left or the Congress. It gives examples of how various farmers from Punjab to nuns from Kerala came to Delhi to show their support. However, the arguments clearly do not answer some very basic questions: where was the money coming from?; so many financially-weak women were giving up on their responsibilities and probably even income from menial jobs without any inducements or at the very least any political backing (!); who were paying these farmers to give up on their farming for days and go to Delhi?; who financed the nuns to fly (or travel by train) from Kerala to Delhi? Without answering these questions, the author cannot claim to represent the complete truth about Shaheen Bagh protests.
Nevertheless, it should be read to have a perspective of what the authors believe was a genuinely, grass-roots protest against the government’s policies. The protests ended only after Covid-19 spread its tentacles in the country.
In 2019, opposition tore into the BJP government on account of its Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 and the National Register of Citizens. The opposition has painted it as not only anti-constitution but also anti-Muslim. This timely book presents both sides of the arguments of the debate around CAA / NRC.
If you do a close reading of the arguments presented by Amit Malviya in favor of CAA / NRC, they make much more sense than those of Salman Khurshid. CAA is neither anti-Muslim and nor is it against the principles of the Constitution of India. The opposition parties have hung on to this aspect to paint BJP as vile and fascist.
A must read book for not only the ill-informed who gets swayed by political rhetoric, but also for the well-informed to have a view of both the sides. In my opinion, the CAA should also include Uighurs of China, Buddhists of Tibet, Tamils of Sri Lanka, and Rohingyas of Burma. This way two strategic objectives can be achieved: first by giving Uighurs and Tibetans a place in India, India can gain a diplomatic victory against the genocidal tendencies of China; and secondly it can gain a decisive victory against those who are opposing CAA / NRC within India like the Congress party or the Left-aligned parties.
What Ails the IAS is a highly practical book with lot of insider stories of how IAS’ wings have been clipped by political corruption in India. In each chapter, it gives a detailed account of how officers at IAS tried to beat the system of corruption and apathy, but often failed.
The author highlights that the maladies affecting IAS leadership are: lack of domain knowledge, constant transfers, fear of punishment postings, redundant posts. He then mentions ‘internal reforms’ which should be undertaken at IAS, namely: civil services accountability, monitoring of absenteeism of government employees, outcome monitoring, rewards based on outcomes, curb inflated reporting, capacity building / training, lateral entry for professionals.
A must-read book for anyone interested in the inner workings of IAS and how indifference, inefficiency, and corruption of the political system has caused massive deficiencies in the administrative capabilities of the State.
The India Way comes at a time when Chinese aggression at the borders has gnawed at Indian security establishment and at the psyche of the common man. Being the Minister of External Affairs, his book carries weight beyond the diplomatic circles. My expectations from the book were very different: I was expecting more of practical foreign policy maneuvers which India can use to upstage ‘enemies’ like Pakistan & China. But what I got was lot of verbose paragraphs in diplomatic and strategic affairs.
I wish the book was more practical in its approach. It is quite theoretical when it keeps bringing up Mahabharata as a game-changer in the current affairs. While equating it to different game-plays of Mahabharata is a good reckoner for showing how India still alludes to tradition, it makes little for winning against aggression of China and Pakistan.
I was hoping to hear a lot more about QUAD and QUAD-Plus, and how the strategic doctrine of India’s foreign policy aims to circumvent Chinese grip by cross-continental alliances. I was hoping how India is going to up its ante in the region of soft power against Chinese ‘incursions’ in Hollywood mainstream. I was hoping to read how India-Russia partnership will counteract communist China’s hardboiled leadership’s ‘One China’ policies.
Whatever I was hoping for from the book wasn’t there. In all honesty, I would suggest to skip this book.
Withered Papyrus 