No Man's Land!

No Man's Land is a tale which might not be racy but nevertheless engrossing. So engrossing even John Abraham recommends it. In his words "This book has all the makings of a page-turner: an interesting setting, strongly-etched characters, thought-provoking writing, and a very compelling storyline". The IIM grad author definitely makes his Alma-mater proud with this fine work.

It progressively involves you in the story. What stands out in this tale is that this is a tale of common people like you and me, having all the shades. There’s no good guy or a bad guy. Each guy has different shades.

In the fast evolving civilization we live in, some generations have to go through sudden shifts because of unforeseen circumstances urbanization poses right on their face. Needless to say, one such swing has transformed a cluster of farmlands, 'Gurgaon', into a greedily sought after gold mine.

“No man’s land” has set the plot on this reality a generation is living through, and has successfully brought alive every character with the true shades of both good and bad, as they are bound to react to the real situations.

The story is spun around five main characters. Ramdev, a simple man with humble origins, who makes his living by selling paints. His son Agastya happens to nurture an extra-marital affair with his neighbour’s daughter ‘Sailja’, eight years older to him. And still he does not hesitate to marry him off to Shubhangi. As if these turmoils are not enough to complicate their lives, the third generation is introduced, ‘Pranay’ and ‘Karan’, the step-brothers.

If you are wondering, what is the land business, yes, the strong plot is driven over a dispute over a 50-acre land that Ramdev had purchased when it was hardly any penny’s worth. The way the protagonists are bring forth their real inside, you would be left biting teeth, as in – Could have I afford to act any different?

At occasions, it is very apparent that the novel has drawn inspiration from the epic “Mahabharata”. The characterization is so strong that you deep inside you will jump with joy and drown in sorrow, as everything falls into a ‘can be you and me’ situation. Ensnared in the drama, but when it’s about the climax, I wish it were kept the same materialistically real.

Nevertheless, the book is worth a dive. See if you can confront the shades of black in you, which even you might be hiding from yourself.

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Signing Off
Nirvaan

E-books vs. print books!

This is a Guest Blog by Aisha Gupta.

What happened in the last two years is that e-books have incredibly (or maybe not) outsold print books, starting an actual revolution for what concerns the publishing industry and reading traditions. The popularity of e-books keeps growing and so does

Image courtesy of adamr / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

the number of sold e-readers.

The reasons why e-books sold more than traditional books are many: first of all,  their weight, which is basically null due to the fact that hundreds of e-books are contained in a single, incredibly light e-book reader or tablet. But also their price, which can be in some cases considerably lower. You can find  e-books for a really low price, many discounts or free downloads on sites like this one. But of course, you can spare some money even if you still prefer print books by buying second hand books. And you don't have to go to markets or books store, since you can find them even on the Internet (here an example of an Indian website with free classifieds). Also, font flexibility allows readers to enlarge what they’re reading, making it easier and more relaxing for the eye, besides choosing the font that stresses the eye less. Last but not least, from an ecological point of view, they save trees, reducing the amount of paper, even though they certainly use more energy to be produced.

But of course, they don’t come without cons. For obvious reasons, you have to charge them and they can run out of battery, where a book doesn’t have this problem, of course. Also, unlike paper, some screens are not that easy to read from and, in general, e-reading stresses the eyes more than a traditional reading.

Moreover, last but not least, there is a whole pro and cons list dedicated to the experience that an e-book can (not) offer in comparison with a traditional book. First of all, books come with a material presence, which can be felt underneath your fingertips, by flicking pages and so on. Also, you can truly own a book and you can land it, allowing you to build relations with people and to feel like the true owner of that copy, which can be charged with spiritual and emotional value, like every other object.

Love at first sight!

First day at job: A mixed bag of feelings excited, nervous with an instilled sense of pride, and very rightly so! After all Hari was the first guy from his district to join such a reputed firm. Having done his graduation from Gangadhar Institute of Technology, he landed up a job in Infosys along with 261 of his batch mates. He was posted in the Mysore campus for training and was spellbound by the kind of amenities available to them. He was slowly getting used to the corporate culture and gradually started trying to mix up with those coming from urban background, who however did not consider him as one of them. He successfully completed his training and in those three months he added about 700 friends on facebook and had changed his display pic about twenty times, if not more! (Well, we all know how addictive these social networking sites can be, so let's not blame poor Hari! Not to mention, he personally knew just about 50 of them) Anyways, he was finally in the city of dreams, Mumbai and unfortunately none of his friends were in his project or in his campus. Initial days were pretty relaxed which gave him time to roam about, explore the campus and check out the lasses in the adjoining BPO. Before he realized he started seeing (literally) a girl on a regular basis. He adjusted his breaks according to her and even started noticing her entry and exit times, and would even follow her up sometimes. Somehow he wasn't able to know the name of that lady and knowing how fickle the testosterone levels can be, he resorted to his new found passion, Facebook! He searched the BPO employees, checked out their friend list but to no avail. What he did after this was a bold step considering his background, but then that justified his action as well. He had heard of this confession pages from his room mate, a Delhi lad who was also his confidant, convinced him that he must resort to posting on that BPO's confession page and if she takes note she will certainly revert. Mustering all the courage he had to do the most adventurous thing in his life he opened the Confession page and posted.
"Does anyone know this girl who was wearing yellow top yesterday and and orange one day before. She's very fair, put's on eyeliner everyday, has cute dimples and is the cutest girl in the campus. She was wearing black jeans and usually ties her hair. I really wanna be friend with you. If you are reading please send me a frnd request and I shall accept it :)or if anybody else knows then plz let me know." (sic)
Feeling like a gladiator he went to sleep and hoped for a friend request as soon as would login next. However what he saw the next morning was just a comment and innumerable lol's!

Comment: Here is the girl. she works for Jabong.com:)

P.S: True Story!(with a tinge of masala)
Signing off
Nirvaan

Beyond the obvious from Suits!

Disclaimer: This is not a review of Suits

Suits, It's not just a court room drama about a law firm. It gives us a lot of insight into the functioning of a modern day corporate firm, and how we can make our lives better by following some simple rules. Some of them, I have listed below, and it goes without saying that this is not exhaustive.

Accept your mistake and fix it: If you do something wrong, instead of  finding someone to blame it on, take the onus on yourself and sort it!

'If you are lying to save someone then it's not a lie'- Bull shit!: Lying at work is a strict no no, you will only delay the inevitable and make matters worse, the truth will certainly come back to bite you later.

'Lying to me doesn’t protect me. It betrays me'-Harvey

Your associates are your responsibility: If your mentee is doing good then you'll be praised, and if he/she screws up, you have to be accountable for the same. On numerous instances we have seen Jessica and Harvey doing the same for Harvey and Mike respectively. Remember Harvey paying up for Mike's Rookie Dinner?
The camaraderie between the boss and his associate is the key!

'When you after Harvey you go after me'-Mike

Try and win big, not lose small: Always aim to win in a big way, only then will you end up winning, as they say 'Aim for the stars, you'll reach the sky'

'You’re never going to win big if you only look to minimize your losses'

Never say never: You are never in a position to not get back. You can always find a way out. As Harvey puts it:

'When your back's against the wall, break the god damn thing down'

Well, Sometimes it's all right to lose small: However, when you are completely taken down and biting the dust, try and get the best out of the situation!

'I'm not a gambler but on this case I can make an exception'

Break Rules, Don't be a pen Pusher: Following the rule books to the last bit is not going to get you anywhere. You are running a business, not a god-damn morality class!

Looks Matter: 'First impression is the last impression'. Let's accept it, we all are in awe of Harvey's and Jessica's style and personality. Imagine what effect it would have on your clients and competitors if you could be as suave and debonair.

Revenge is the best revenge: Gone are the days when forgiveness was the best form of revenge. You got to show them, right then!

Have an appetite for risk: Be bold and take risks, 'No Risk-No Return' As simple as that!

Keep calm and Be confident: For those who have following this season, do I really need to explain? The characters of Harvey and Jessica are an epitome of confidence. It simply oozes out from them. One needs to keep their composure no matter how tough the situation is.

"Jessica: Are you ready?

Harvey: You Kidding, I was born for this"

Pardon me for coming up with this not-so-humorous post, but I guess it's still worth a read ;)

Signing Off, 

Nirvaan

Write, because you want to!

One of those days when you just want to write, you do not know what, but the bug inside you just doesn't let you sleep in peace. Yes, today is one of those days. Though this is a chronic event, but seldom is it acute enough to coax you into taking your pen out and jot down something, (figuratively speaking) however random or absurd it may be. I have noticed that this feeling has been creeping in, more often in the past year or so, and the conversion rate of the 'urge to write' to 'actually penning down' has also taken a nosedive in the same time frame. If my experience is something to go by, it seems that this bug hits you more when you have something inside, something you have not achieved but desperately want to, something that leaves you incomplete; and what takes you away from actually writing is the very urge to focus all your energies to complete that 'something' and gift yourself this amazing feeling of completeness. (I am assuming it's amazing, because that's what it's made out to be be and that's what it better be once I achieve it, unless of course success is over rated). But then, once in a while, you just happen to realize that writing gives you peace, (for some it may be music, painting or any other form of channelizing your energy) which in turn will only make you a happy man and bolster your spirits to get out of the hot spot you currently are in. It remains to be seen if it will eventually help me succeed in achieving what I aspire to, but then it does give me a momentary (or may be a little more) feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, which was long overdue. I have no clue why I am writing this but then, I can certainly resonate with the aforementioned feelings! (at least as of now!)

Damn, I am a waiter!

'You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write - Saul Bellow'

(Please excuse the grammatical mistakes if any. I did not want to review it as I stumbled across the above quote just before composing this post')

Signing Off

Nirvaan