Raiders from the North

In a country that thrives on dynasties - political, business, films and general life - the Moghul dynasty was arguably the first of its kind. From Babur to Aurangazeb, the Moghul dynasty impacted the culture, politics, religion, art and way of life in India. As students we learnt about their reign in our history lessons gleaning tidbits of who they were or rather what they had done in and for the country. But who were these people? Where did they come from? How did they manage to rule over a vast country like India? And why did the Indian population accept their rule? Or did they have a choice at all?

If, like me, some of these questions bother you then Alex Rutherford's 5-part series might be the answer. I like historicals but when written in a fictional novel format. It makes for easy reading and sparks interest in the reader rather than the drab original history format. Of course, historians will vehemently disagree since the historical fiction format takes creative liberty with the actual story introducing new characters where none existed, giving interpretation to the main character's psyche where none is needed. But that's what makes it fun, doesn't it?

Alex Rutherford's 'Raiders from the North' introduces us to Babur, the first Moghul. Spanning Babur's life from a tender age of 13 when he becomes the King of Ferghana due to his father's untimely death to a ripe old age of 36 as a ruler of India with dreams to establish the Moghul dynasty; Babur's life is filled with constant struggle to establish his identity. Living from one battle to the next, Babur rarely experiences a period of tranquility and peace other than towards the end. With a lineage of Genghis Khan and Timurid, Babur believes that he is destined for greatness and strives to achieve it. In his drive for greatness, however, he goes from being a king to a brigand with no kingdom, to a vassal of a lord until he finally finds his path to India.

Supported by a stellar support system of his fiery grandmother, Esan Dawlat - on whom he banks for advice; his loyal commanders Wazir Khan and Baisanghar and his close friend Baburi, he manages to overcome every defeat and hurdle on his way to greatness. Alex Rutherford beautifully captures the emotional journey of Babur from a naive 13 year old to a mature leader who enters India with an open mind and a clear vision to establish his dynasty.

It is interesting to note that Babur was almost a failure as a monarch in his home base of Afghanistan losing his kingdoms within the first 100 days and being reduced to guerrilla warfare. He was constantly hounded by his arch rival Shaibani Khan, the Uzbek and lived under the knowledge that one of them had to die for the other to survive. He lost his beloved sister - Khanzada - to Shaibani Khan and strived the early part of his life to get her back. For a brief moment, Babur lost sight of his destiny when he became a vassal to the powerful Shah of Persia and regained Samarkand although losing his closest companion, Baburi, in the bargain. Rutherford captures Babur's emotional growth as he goes through the rollercoster of experiences in gaining kingdoms but losing the battle for the hearts of his people.

Things only come around for Babur when he understands that he can be the master of his own destiny and when his friend returns to him with weapons - cannons and muskets - which give him the confidence that he can capture Hindustan. As you walk with Rutherford and Babur; you celebrate his victories, feel sad for his defeats, feel dejection for his dire situations, feel the frustration when he realizes his arch rival was killed by someone else, get angry when he loses sight of his destiny, feel happiness when Baburi comes back to him, feel alarmed when he realizes that he can motivate his army through the concept of jihad on India and appreciate his open mind to assimilate the culture in India and establish a good dynasty. In essence the book takes you through a rollercoster of emotions as well.

I learnt new things about the start of the key part of Indian history through the book. Mogul was meant to be an insult to Babur by the Persian king but Babur adopted it as a compliment and decided to call his dynasty The Moghul Dynasty. The 'army' of moguls was in essence a coming together of different tribes and fiefdoms paid for to fight and motivated by the lure of a good loot and winnings at the end of the battle. I wonder if the root of Indian corruption started from there!

Although part fictional in nature he book is based on Baburnama written by Babur himself. While Rutherford does bring out key aspects of Babur, I feel he lost out on the military strategy of the battles to some extent. Also Babur's relationships are to some extent glossed over. Was Baburi a close friend or a gay companion? Inspite of all this the one thing you take away from the book is to believe in your destiny and strive towards it even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

I would suggest you read it to know more and would rate it 3/5 !

Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy

If you've ever read a story that ended with 'Happily Ever After', have you wondered what really happened after that? Did everything work out for the characters? Or did it all fall apart?

As I watched the Star Wars series recently and the last frame rolled by, the same thought stuck me. If you are as big a Star Wars fan as I am you would realise that there was still a lot of work to be done. After all the only thing that had happened was the Emperor and Darth Vader were dead! As in any dictatorship, the real work of getting the country to work begins after the dictator is dead and this was a GALAXY. So I thought it would be great if we knew what happened next. Of course the same thought had crossed many people and the whole expanded Star Wars universe existed out there. But I just didn't know where to start. And that's when a random search on iPad introduced me to the Thrawn Trilogy.

As the dust settels on the demise of the Emperor in 'Return of the Jedi', the new Republic is faced with the onerous task of brining order into the galaxy and setting up a democratic system. Out on the fringes of the galaxy, however, the last few units of the Empire are being brought together by Grand Admiral Thrawn, an alien and the only non-human Grand Admiral. A brilliant military strategist, Thrawn's speciality is that he gleans information about his enemies from their art and culture and is usually spot on. Diametrically opposite from Darth Vader, Thrawn is cool, calculating, rewarding and a strategic thinker. Unlike Vader who ruled with fear and anger, Thrawn commands respect within his ranks with his brilliant strategies and willingness to accept mistakes. All this without the force as he is no Jedi!

On the 'good' side; Luke is the first in the new Jedi order while Han and Leia are expecting twins. Luke has started teaching Leia in the ways of the force and she knows that her twins are strong in its ways. Han is trying to get the 'neutral' smugglers on to the new Republic while Leia is exercising her diplomatic skills to set up the new government.

In all this add the new leader of the smuggler clan - Talon Karrde who does not know if he should side with the new Republic or stay neutral, a rouge maniacal Dark Jedi Joruus C'baoth who is hell bent on setting up a new Jedi order with Luke and Leia's twins, a confused Mara Jade who keeps hearing the Emperor's command to kill Luke and the assasin clans of Noghri and you have a fantastic story of what happens next. Of course our old friends R2D2, C3PO, Lando Clarissian and Chewbacca are there as always.

Timothy Zahn combines all these elements into a series deserving of high praise and a heartfelt Thank You for helping us to continue to live the saga. If you have any doubts whether you would feel the same love and exhilaration as the Star Wars series, then lay those doubts to rest and go pick up these books. A logical extension to the saga, the trilogy helps you live the love again but with new fantastic characters. If Vader fascinated us as kids because of his use of the mysterious force and his presence, Zahn's Thrawn appeals to us adults with his brilliant strategies, leadership and use of resources. Even though Thrawn is the villian of the piece, you are not sure if you want him to fail or succeed. And that's a testament to Zahn's writing.

Zahn resolutely takes forward the story of each of our favotite characters while at the same time introducing new elements that keep us riveted. Mara Jade wants to kill Luke but everytime she ends up helping him or taking his help. Will she kill Luke? What is her destiny? C'boath wants to set up a new Dark Jedi order to rule the galaxy and become the new Emperor and for that he wants Leia's twins. How close does he come to doing that and how is he vanquished? Talon Karrde is the new leader of the smuggler clan, or is he? And the deadly Noghri are an asset to any side in this war. Where will they end up - on the victor side or the vanquished? What is their secret?

If you love Star Wars and always wondered what happened after the Battle of Endor; I suggest you pick up these books immediately and go back to your childhood and get lost in the Jedi, the force, the X-Wings, the fights and the wonder hoping that you were one of these characters.

May the Force be with You!!

Do you matter? How great design will make people love your company.

Citrix, the company where I work, has been organising a Tech Day for the R&D division where we choose one key topic and update the teams around the world building the agenda around the same. This year's key topic was 'Design' and the book was given out to the attendees.

The book encourages you to think about incorporating Design into the very fabric or DNA of the organisation. In most of the organisations, Design is considered as a good-to-have part of the product or service rather than a must-have and the book emphasises that organisations that consider Design to be an integral part of their strategy are the ones that matter to the customers. It was an interesting thought and the authors have done a good job of expounding on the concept.

When we think of what makes us really love a company or a product we don't usually think of the design aspect, rather the thought goes to the people, the processes and the experience. In the book, Robert Brunner and Stewart Emery talk about the fact that it is the design experience that makes us love the company - think of Apple, think of IKEA, think of Samsung, think of GoodGrip products. In the same breath think of the times when you have not had a good experience with an organisation or a product and you realise that its probably because the product was not designed properly or did not meet with your expectations. The most obvious part of the book is the fact that Design is not just about product but about processes as well. As you read the book you will go back to your experiences and start relating the good or bad parts of the experience with the design parameters.

A most obvious choice when you talk about design excellence is Apple. Apple products are loved across the world and have a fan following. It does not make a difference if the product does not have all the cutting-edge features - it still commands a premium and a line-at-midnight. Robert and Stewart take us behind the scenes on some as-yet-unknown aspects of how the design came to be and how that contributes to the immense popularity of the brand. Its interesting to read these nuggets and understand how you relate to these design excellence bits.

The authors have built a great story in the book as it takes you from an understanding of why design is of paramount importance to how do you incorporate it into your DNA. My only grouse against the book is that it only concentrates to a large extent on product companies and does not give insights into how a services company can get Design incorporated into its DNA. While the principles are sound and are all there, it is difficult to take the product design experience and translate that to a services or a software company for excellence. After all product is a tangible thing where the design changes can be touched, felt and sensed while for a services or software company its about experience.

Having said that the book will teach you on how Design as a core factor in your strategy will create a visible impact on your bottom line. In a way the Design aspect shines through in the book itself as it creates a story with enough and more examples along the way to help you understand the concept. From why Design is of paramount importance and is a must-have part of your strategy to How does it make a difference to the customer's perception, from how you can ensure that the entire organisation takes Design seriously to why the product design is a portal to your customer's experience of your company and how that makes a long term impact and finally it gives great insight on how to build a design-driven culture.

The most important chapter of the book is the last one where the authors espouse on the steps to become a Design Oriented company through FLAVOR - Focus, Long-Term, Authentic, Vigilant, Original & Repeatable. Each of these is a great segment on how to start the journey and continue on it. Needless to say, Design is a journey and not a destination!

I would encourage everyone to read this book and try to imbibe aspects of FLAVOR. I would rate the book 3/5 only because it focuses heavily on product rather than services of software!

The Seven Arts of Change

Change is the only constant - How many times have you heard that in life? And how many books have you read about how to deal with change? Plenty, I am sure. So what makes this book different from the rest?

Think back to the times when you have managed to tide over the change, made it a part of your life and changed along with that event. Why did that happen? Probably the main reason was because you internalised the change and accepted it spiritually. When deep down in your heart, in your spirit you accepted the change and realised that its good for you, the journey became simple and easy. But when your spiritual core did not agree to the change initiative, you fought it and probably did not change.

David Shaner's Seven Arts of Change talks about extending this concept across the organisation. Most change initiatives in an organisation fail because they end up being a top-level talk which make no impact on the individuals who are needed for the change. David talks about how it is imperitive that for the change initiative to succeed the organisation's spiritual core has to accept the change - not listen to the talk but walk the talk - and understand how it could be good for the future of the organisation. I know what you are thinking - an organisation's spiritual core? Now that's taking the talk of spirituality to an extreme. But think about it - what makes up the organisation's spiritual core? The people, of course. Make the people understand at their core spiritual level how the change is good for them, for the community, for their family and for their organisation and the change initiative will go through smoothly and will succeed.

David Shaner is well placed to talk about this process given that he has changed his life multiple times. He was the member of the Olympic Valley USA Ski Team where he gives an example of one of the Arts of change. He is a teacher of the art of Ki-Aikido and a seventh degree black belt holder. Plus he has served as a Fulbright scholar in India during Indira Gandhi's time. His credentials are impeccable to espouse on change initiatives and in some manner it does come out in the book.Gleaning from his experience David has come out with Seven Arts of Change which, if applied, can impact the spiritual core of the organisation and make the change initiative succeed.

Any change initiative has to begin with an assessment of the current state of affairs - (1) Art of Preparation followed by getting the message out to the people and making the goal personal - (2) Art of Compassion.

David implies that people have to believe that the final effect of the change can impact their personal lives. Once they believe that they will fall 100% behind the initiative. But to maintain it you need to set goals that can be measured, tracked and reported - (3) Art of Resposibility.

Change is a tough thing to do and to make it consistent the leaders need to show clarity of vision, demonstrate focus and make it visible. During a change initiative there will be negative force - distress and positive force - Eustress. It is critical to ensure that the organisation stays focused on the positive forces through (4) Art of Relaxation.

The key, of course, is execution. It is important that each person understands what their role is in the overall change initiative and knows how their actions contribute to the final goal - (5) Art of Conscious Action.

In any change initiative there are things that you can control and things that you cannot. You must focus on the things that you can impact and adapt to things that you cannot. You must sustain the change initiative but also keep your organisation prepared for future changes that will come. Keep your eye on the horizon and be connected with the world. This can be done through (6) Art of Working Naturally.

Any change initiative will succeed when you put the needs of others before your own need. Think about it from the other person's point of view and practice the other six arts every single day at every moment. When the people do this, any change initiative becomes a simple task. This is (7) Art of Service.

While the book does present interesting concepts and David pepers it with his experiences, it does become repititive and obvious sometimes. There are chapters when you feel that you have read this somewhere else. The Seven Arts of Change offers a few new ways of looking at Change but it is old wine in a new bottle.

I rate this book 3/5.

Secret of the Nagas

'Secret of the Nagas' is the highly anticipated sequel to The Immortals of Meluha. The first book of the Shiva Trilogy established Amish as an author par excellance and introduced us to the concept of Shiva being a man who became a legend and finally a God!

The Immortals of Meluha ended at a very poignant note with Shiva having led the fight of 'Good' Suryavanshis against the 'Bad' Chandravanshis in search for the ultimate 'Evil' Nagas only to realise that the Chandravanshis too believe in the legend of Neelkanth-the saviour and are really just different. While Shiva comes to terms with the fact that there is no black-and-white in Good v/s Evil but shades of grey, he is searching for one particular Naga who killed his brother - Brihaspati.

Writing a sequel to a much loved book is never an easy task. Readers are waiting for the same excitement and expectations are very high all around. Amish Tripathi manages to come out with a cracker of a book that meets your expectations while at the same time extending the story in a logical manner. His explanations of esoteric concepts like the Dashavtars - Narasimha avtar, Masya avtar, Parshuram ; the Vasudevs and how they are connected for service of Mahadev; the naming of cities and places like Kashi & Assi Ghat seem so logical that you learn a lot and understand why writing is an art that comes to a few people. I have learnt a lot from both his books and some concepts have opened my mind to new ways of looking at things. You must admit though that some explanations are naive where he takes poetic license but thats what writers do.

If in the first book Shiva comes to accept his destiny, albeit relunctantly; in the second book Shiva lives his destiny as he tries to find a path to his ultimate goal. In his mind, he becomes Lord Shiva from just Shiva and comes to terms with his destiny of rooting out the ultimate Evil. He understands that as Mahadev his role is to destroy Evil and restore the balance between the two opposing forces giving 'Good' a chance to come up again. He understands that Good and Evil are really cyclical in nature and there has to be a balance between the two forces. But the real question is: What is Evil?

Are the Chandravanshis evil? Or are they just different? Are The Nagas evil? Or are they just misunderstood? How can Neelkanth recognise the true Evil? Is it a person, a tribe, a way of life or a concept? 'Secret of the Nagas' is a story to find an amswer to that question while at the same time dealing with the question of diversity and acceptance.

Like the previous book, Amish introduces new interesting actors and gives them depth and character endearing them to the reader as we turn the pages. Unlike the previous book, this one takes some time to get engrossing. Amish has spent a lot of time in graphic descriptions of locales and places in this book painting a wonderful picture of the locations. However, once the actual story picks up - probably after the first 100 pages - it is 'unputdownable'. The twists and turns in the story keep you engrossed and at times take your breath away. The point where he introduces Ganesha into the storyline made me put the book down, catch my breath and marvel at the sheer brilliance of his story telling.

Amish has intelligently introduced all the mythical elements into his book and given them a possibility of reality - the third eye, the trishul, the blue throat, Ganesha and Karthik & the Naga. The only one remaining now is the river Ganga in his jatayu. Shiva's entourage of people who admire, adore, love and respect him has also grown in this book - Veerabhadra, Krithika, Nandi, Parvateshwar, Ganesh, Bhagirath & Parshuram - who will go to the ends of the world for him. And of course new mysteries have been opened in this book.

At the end, Secret of the Nagas is a worthy sequel to The Immortals of Meluha and establishes Amish as India's foremost mythical novel writer. I am eagerly looking forward to the final book - The Oath of the Vayuputras and the destruction of Evil.

I rate this book 4.5/5 and implore you to read both the parts.

The Difficulty of Being Good

Some books take a long time to finish because they make you think, they make you introspect, they make you link what you know with what you are reading and they make you see things in a new light. Gurcharan Das' book "The Difficulty of Being Good - on the subtle art of Dharma" is one such book.

It was gifted to me by my boss on my birthday. I started reading it with terpidition because I am not a big fan of religious books or books that preach. But the one thing that attracted me to the book was its relationship to our epic - Mahabharata. I have always loved the Mahabharata becuase of its relevance to our daily lives. And I have always been troubled by the epic because good never seems to triumph without a little bit of cheating. So I started reading the book to see if it would help me understand these dichotomies. Did someone else have these thoughts too and try to work out the answers?

Gurcharan Das starts off the book with an explanation of how he took a sabatical from consulting to do a detailed study of The Mahabharata. From that moment on he catches your attention as he tackles and explains the various segments of the epic from the principal character's prespectives - Duryodhana's Envy, Draupadi's Courage, Yudhishthira's Duty, Arjuna's Despair, Bhishma's Selflessness, Karna's Status Anxiety, Krishna's Guile, Ashwatthama's Revenge, Yudhishthira's Remorse and finally summarising it all in Mahabharata's Dharma.

The central theme of the book is, of course, the search for what 'Dharma' really means and how does it apply to today's world? Each chapter of the book analyses and searches for the true meaning of 'Dharma' from each character's perspective. When questioned by Draupadi as to why Yudhishthira accepted exile and did not assemble and army and fight for his right, what use is this when the villians are enjoying the luxuries of the palace while the good ones are sleeping on hard earth, why be good?, Yudhishthira's reply " I act because I must" has the deepest meaning as he tries to explain the that being good in the face of difficulties is the highest dharma. When Darupadi questions all the people in the palace as she is being dragged by her hair and disrobed and as she turns to Bheesma for an answer, his reply that "Dharma is subtle" underlines his inner turmoil on what is right and wrong in the face of dharma. When Arjuna keeps his bow down in battle, Krishna's explanation of different forms of dharma exposes the subtleity of the concept.

Across the book Gurcharan Das' draws an analogy to the various other epic scripts and philosophers and tries to explain how the concept of dharma resonates across epics and different forms. His explanations draw you into an inner realm of thought process as you look at Mahabharata in a new light. You understand and appreciate how the epic challenged the various concepts of the day and brought to the fore the hidden aspects of soceity and forced us to face them - Kunti's pre-marital alliance with Surya and her decision to give up her baby, Dhritarashtra's love for his son that overshadows everything else and leads up to the war, Draupadi's questions in the sabha when a woman was supposed to keep her head down and listen.

But in the end the book helped solve some of my queries in the sense that sometimes good has to take the side of small cheating to attain the bigger good. The overall good oevrshadows the small evils. Although I still question, does it?

In Gurcharan Das' mind the real hero of Mahabharata is Yudhishthira who has all aspects of being a good leader and fulfills all dharma. He accepts the reality and says "I act because I must". Over a period of time he accepts his dharma as a king and kshatriya, tries his level best to garner peace but finally agrees to war while at the same time letting the stakeholders know that the outcome cannot be all good, fights the war while lying for the first time for the greater good, has immense remorse for the outcome of the war and the death, almost gives up his throne after the hard faought war, realises his dharma of being a king, gives up the kingdom after setting things right, refuses to go to heaven when he is not allowed to take the dog that has been following him, refuses to leave hell when he sees his brothers and kin there and in the end shows the right way to lead life.

Yudhishthira shows the highest form of dharma - arnishyamsa - compassion. Can we do that in real life?

The book will make you think and introspect. So if you are ready to spend time with yourself and see Mahabharata in a new light, this book is for you.

I rate it 4/5 and is a book that I will definitely go back to later in life!

Only Time Will Tell

If you are a voracious reader like I am then you've grown up on Jeffrey Archer's books after graduating from Enid Blyton's and Hardy Boys. From his first book - Not a penny more Not a penny less - published in 1976, Lord Jeffrey Archer has enthralled readers with his stories based in England and US.

"Only Time Will Tell" is touted to be his most ambitious work till date spanning 100 years in the life of Harry Clifton from 1920 to 2020, called the Clifton Chronicles. There are five books in the Clifton chronicles, each dealing with 20 years, with "Only Time Will Tell" covering 1920 t0 1940. It introduces us to Harry Clifton in his early years accompanying his uncle Stan to the dockyards. Born to Maisie and Arthur Clifton he is given to understand that his father died in the war. Although he suspects that this might not be the case its only later that he gets to know the horrible truth about the death of his 'father' or was Arthur his father at all? Harry's voice turns out to be the ticket out of the dockyards with the backing of set of people - some obvious, some hidden.

Harry's mother is the epitome of the Bollywood mother - doing everything to make sure that her son gets better education to get a better life, from working as a waitress to a manager in a small restaurant, a manager in a large hotel to heading her own restuarant and finally to being a bar girl. Its a great character that makes you realise what a woman can accomplish and be willing to do for her convictions. Then there are the teachers who work with Harry to ensure that he shines. But the best character of the whole book has to be Old Jack Tarr, an old man who lives in a railway coach in the dockyard who becomes Harry's mentor and a father figure. Its a character that I could just visualise Johny Depp in. And then there are Harry's best friends who stand by him in thick and thin - the rich brat Giles Barrington and Deakins, the scholar. You just know that there is more to come from this friendship in the next few books. The only character and storyline that I was uncomfortable with was the love affair between Harry and Emma Barrington which you will discover when you read the book. I am not sure what Lord Archer is tyring to say with this duo.

Jeffrey Archer adopts the writing style that he first tried in 'As the crow flies' - switching between the different character's point of view with each set being the view of the story from the character's perspective. Each character takes the story forward in their own perception and it makes brilliant reading. It introduces you to the mind of different characters rather than hearing everything from the protagonist's point of view. I love this style and admire Lord Archer for it.

The book is unputdownable when you start. It has enough twists and turns to ensure that you want to read it at one sitting. There are parts where it slows down but then Lord Archer introduces a twist that makes you sit up and turn the pages hurriedly. There are definitely predictable parts to the book that gives you sense of deja-vu if you have read enough of Jeffrey Archer's books. There is the expected rich family, poor family interaction. There are the requisite castles and shanties. There are the shocks and awws. But then this is a Jeffrey Archer book through and through.

It ends at a point where you wish that the second book was in your hand and you could start it. I can't wait for the next one to come out.

I would give it a 4/5 only because of that 'uncomfortable' relationship and for ending it at a point that hurts you because you have to wait for another year or more to read what happens next in the life of Harry Clifton!