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!

The Wake-Up Call

What would you do if you are stuck in a dead beat job with a no forseeable future in an average mid-of-the-road organisation that is not growing, with a thought nibbling at the back of your mind that you can do something better than this? Would you get a wake-up call and do something about it? Or would you succumb to the pressures of daily life and expectations and continue on the same path?

That, in essence, is the core of Saptharishi Suresh's short 89-page book - The Wake Up Call!

CPT Technologies (literally Copy-Paste Technologies) is a run of the mill sweat shop where 'programmers' do copy-paste jobs from one sheet to another for clients. Really? I am sure Suresh could have come up with a better background for a software organisation. Nevertheless, Pandu (our protaganist) is a programmer at CPT getting frustrated with the humdrum copy-paste jobs, the 'incompetent' Project Manager - Prathap, Prathap's Man Friday - Crap and his friend Rocky. The only silver lining is his life seems to be his other room mate - Captain - Rocky being the room mate as well. Things come to such a head in office that Pandu quits his job and returns back to his hometown to contemplate his future. There is, of course, a girl waiting for him there - an ambitious one who sees him as her way out from the small town till she realises that he's quit his job. She sees her dreams crumbling only to be resurrected when he decides to start a business. She helps him get initial capital and encourages him in this new venture.

Suresh's writing style is simple and easy to read although he does need to brush up his English language a bit. There are sentences like "He kited with his grandfather" or "higherly valued product" that seem interesting in their usage. Suresh also uses the present-past style of writing where the chapters shift from present time to flashbacks and back again. It makes engaging reading as it holds the promise of future twists and turns. I am not sure if the length was intended or if Suresh did not give much thought to the characters but they seem undeveloped other than the protaganist Pandu. There are some interesting characters in the story that beg for development especially that of Rocky, his room mate; Aisha, Rocky's girlfriend and Captain, the mentor who puts things in perspective for Pandu.

While the story on the surface seems superflous there are some underlying themes that I would have loved for Suresh to explore and bring out. Suresh's angst against the system is evident in these themes but he shies away from bringing them to the fore. The apparent ease with which the 'backward classes' get seats in the colleges, the bribery and corruption possible to get a certificate to prove that you are from the 'backward class', the 'investment' done to an organisation to get a job, the 'marriage is the only solution' for an educated girl with no job situation, the fear of a father about his son's future, the job legacy aspect of a small town where a son can take over his father's job when he retires. A deep dive into some of these themes would have made the book a great one but Suresh only touches upon them as if afraid to open a box that he cannot explain.

Does Pandu succeed in this new venture? Does he love Nalini and marry her? Is this how he sees himself? Suresh leaves these questions unanswered towards the end but that is what makes you think about your own situation. The book has a great soul and a potential to be a great story but it needs more work. It leaves you wishing for greatness.

I would rate it 2.5/5.

Firstborn

I have a theory or rather an equation - the fabulousness of a book is inversely proportional to the time taken to read it. The lesser the time taken to read the book, the more fabulous it is and vice-versa. I took all of three days to finish 'Firstborn' but then again I am a huge fan of sci-fi and I consider Arthur C Clarke as my guru.

First, an advice - Firstborn is not a standalone book. It is the 'concluding' book of the Time's Eye trilogy from the two authors and to better understand the context of the book, the characters and the places you should read "Time's Eye" & "Sunstorm".

The trilogy revolves around a sentient race of god-like aliens that have taken upon themselves to preserve the life of the universe by ensuring that species do not 'waste' the overall energy of the universe. In effect it means to preserve themselves and wipe out any other species by use of technology that they have mastered over eons of existence.

In "Time's Eye", the Firstborns create an alternate earth - called Mir - in its own parallel universe by patching toghether slices from earth's history much like preserving the best chapters of a book in a different file before destroying the original book. The central character across the series is a UN peacekeeper - Bisesa Dutt - trapped on Mir. She is the one who manages to establish some communication with the Orb-like-Eyes present all over on Mir and who agree to take her back to her time.

In "Sunstorm" the Firstborns launch a major sunstorm that has the potential to sterilise not just earth but even the astronauts on Mars. Rather than sitting back and waiting for the inevitable, Earth bonds together and launches a massive rescue campaign that involves creating a massive sun shield around the earth to deflect the solar flares.

"Firstborn" starts 37 years after Earth has survived sunstorm and rebuilt itself. It is a wary world on a lookout for the next attack from the Firstborns. A species that has diverged into multiple directions - those who stayed back on Earth, Spacers - those who live in spaceships between worlds and Martians - those who have settled on Mars. Each one of these have their own idealogies and don't trust the other while belonging to the same species. As the Firstborn launch their latest weapon - a Q Bomb - against the humans, the species has to come together to fight this latest attack. The Q Bomb is capable of destroying matter by sucking it into a small pocket universe and then expanding rapidly in a Big Rip tearing the planet apart.

Bisesa Dutt is woken up from her hibernation by the govt of Earth as she is only one who 'understands' the Firstborns and could help but she is 'kidnapped' by the Martians to show her an artifact that they have discovered at the pole. This turns out to be the 'Eye', the all-watching artifact of the Firstborns. The human settlement on Mars has been able to tap into Mir in the alternate universe and communicate with Bisesa's phone there. The Eye sends Bisesa to Mir where she is able to activate her AI phone by using the power from her martian suit and decipher that the alternate pocket universe of Mir will rip apart in 500 years. At the other end the fact that the Eye was trapped on Mars gives the indication that the Firstborns can be defeated.

Stephan Baxter and Arthur C Clarke make you push your boundaries of imagination and understanding as they combine regular universes with pocket universes, communication between these two universes and the planets, concepts of a Q Bomb being able to rip apart a palnet from the regular universe and trap it in an alternate universe only to be ripped apart later due to speedy expansion while bringing in sentient races that are hell bent on destroying all civilisations.

Present day Earth communicates with Patchwork Earth (Mir) to put up symbols that are a signal to patchwork Mars. Residents of Mir build giant trenches in the shape of the symbols in frozen Chicago and light the oil in them. The sole resident of patchwork Mars sees the symbols and crushes the Eye that they have trapped. This sends a distress signal to the Q-Bomb in the present day universe which diverts its path from Earth to Mars. Mars, in present universe, is sacrificed to save Earth. Beat that for imagination!

While the trilogy should have ended on this soul stirring note of Mars' sacrifice, the authors extend it further like a Bollywood movie that does not need to. The couple of pages at the end spoil the party and rather than giving you a clean ending set the stage for another set of prequels or sequels of whatever -quels that Stephan Baxter intends to write.

The book raises some pertinent questions about our universe. Do civilisations that reach intelligence first try to control the rise of other civilisations? How often have we done that on our own planet? Do sentient civilisations have the right to decide how other civilisations live?

Being a fan of that fact that sci-fi pushes your imagination and of Arthur C Clarke, I rate the book 3.5/5.

The Flea Palace

Every city has its apartment complexes. And every apartment complex has its stories. Stories of love, hate, worries, compassion, stress, depression, exhiliaration and a gamut of other emotions. And it has its secrets. Secrets that the apartment dwellers harbor from each other and a lot of times from themselves as well.

The Flea Palace by Elif Shafak is a story of one such apartment complex with a known problem which hides so many interesting issues in it. Under the expert hands of Elif Shafak, the angst and psychosis of each of the ten flats are revealed in it we see a slice of life in Turkey. Not from the beautiful postcards that the governemnt would like you to see and believe but from the true eyes of people who live the daily life. And that's what makes this book so interetsting. As you read the story of the 10 apartments in Bonbon Palace plagued by the smell of a garbage dump outside the building, you realise that each one of these could be someone you know from your apartment complex as well.

Could the person in Flat 203 in your apartment complex be actually like the divorced academician in Flat no. 7 of Bonbon Palace who loves to indulge in philosophy and talk big things while unable to deal with the fact that his wife left him but is having an affair with someone in the apartment complex as well as another friend? Could he?

Elif Shafak offers us a varied mix of emotions and issues through the residents of Bonbon Palace. She introduces us to a woman who has been forced to become independent because she perceives her husband to be a wimp, who is pregnant with a second child but is obsessed with protecting the pregnancy and her first child through all sorts of superstitions because she lost her first three pregnancies. The beauty is how Elif Shafak also shows us her son's emotions and how because of the overbearing nature of the mother, he too is going the same route as the father.

There is a student with his dog in one of the flats who is obssesed with death, who has pasted various forms of posters, writings, pages and slips on the ceiling of his flat. Who has no direction in life and would rather be lost in a haze of smoke alone with his dog than be found mingling with people and interacting with them. Twin hairdressers who were seperated at birth and lived in different countries but now together, who have nothing in common but stick together. Their touching story of guilt and redemption. A wife who has lost her identity and is only known by her husband's name, who is an alien in a foreign land and is unable to adjust herself to this new life. A woman who is a mistress to a fat olive merchant but happy in that existence with no expectations from life, who is clear with the academician that they can never be friends or lovers but only sex partners. Her descent into misery and self infliction is especically interesting and left unanswered. A lady with a hygiene OCD whose child gets lice and it turns her world upside down. A woman whose house is forever closed and who does not invite anyone inside. A family living in a fortress of a house with some sort of pet always kept outside. Another family with working parents leaving their three kids with their grandfather who loves to tell scary stories to them.

Bonbon Palace is a smasgosbord of emotions and glimpses into the daily lives of everyday people. The permeating garbage smell is the common link which unites them and seperates them at the same time. It is a treatise of social issues and makes you think as you read through it.

The book does get verbose in some parts as Elif Shafak seems to get carried away with her writing and goes off on a tangent. While there are some brilliant insights into some aspects, there are also some stories that sound redundent in the long run. Some flat residents that would best have been left untold because they have nothing to offer. She does try to link each of the flat residents and their stories with the others but it comes out as forced in some parts and nicely obvious in others. And therein lies the issue of the author. If you read this as her first book, you may miss out on reading her most brilliant book - Forty Rules of Love. But if that's the first one you have read, you will be like me - wanting to read her other books to rediscover the magic of Forty Rules of Love.

This is not a breezy read book. It takes time and sometimes effort to run through the story hoping to find some connection somewhere. Don't read this book expecting a serial fashion of one chapter leading to another with a logical ending. Rather read it as a documentary of daily life with parallel chapters and stories that hope to come together at the end with a logical ending. Do they? Not completely because the twist in the tale is at the very end and believe me it is a wonderful twise that will make you question everything that you read.

I would rate this at 3/5.

The Pilgrimage

So how does one go about writing a review for a book by the great author Paulo Coelho? His novel 'The Alchemist' is a classic and a bible to so many readers around the world. I haven't read any of his books and this one is my first. What intrigued me was the summary that this novel and the journey captured within was the starting point for his now famous book. So what better way to start reading Paulo Coelho than the beginning - The Pilgrimage.

The book makes a very interesting reading and exists in multiple planes. While at one level it is an autobiographical account of the author's journey along the famous Santiago de Compostela, at another level it is an adventure novel while at a completely different level it is a story of self realisation that makes you think about yourself.

The story has it that in 1986 Paulo Coelho was sent by his Master on this pilgirmage, this journey to find his sword that will complete his initiation into the Order. He is assigned a guide along this journey and is instructed to trust and follow his guide blindly with complete faith. The book talks about the author's jouney from being a skeptic and focussed on just completing the journey to find his sowrd to a phase where he forgets all about his outside world and is focussed on learning and living the moment.

Across the pilgrimage Petrus, his guide introduces him to various exercises to make him one with the elements and to bring him in touch with his inner self. These include the Seed exercise, the Speed exercise, the Cruelty exercise, the Messanger ritual, the Water exercise, the Blue Sphere exercise, the Buried Alive exercise, the RAM Breathing exercise, the Shadows exercise, the Listening exercise and the Dancing exercise. These are esoteric exercises that make you think that the pilgrimage might be a work of fiction. But if you scratch the surface you see that each one of these are meant to teach you something - patience, listening, facing fears, banishing bad emotions etc. I leave it to you to discover your teachings when you read the book.

Across the journey the author also has to vanquish a rabid dog to advance. He faces this dog multiple times in the journey. Paulo Coelho does get his sword at the end of the journey but not before realising some simple truths.

The sword stands for what you want in your life - your dream or your inner power. But you can attain that dream or that power only if you know what you intend to do with it. Without having a purpose for that goal, attaining the goal is useless. Along the way you will have to face your deepers fears and you will have to fight these. Either you will have to vanquish your demons and fears or they will ride you for the rest of your life and attaining your goal will loose its purpose. The various exercises prepare you to face your fears, fight the good fight and realise your dream.

Your goal - your sword - might be to have a happy life with a family. Your intention once you attain this could be to pass on this happiness to as many people as you can through your actions but your deepest fear could be commitment. Now think, how can you get your sword and fulfill its purpose without fighting your deepest fear? Either you win over it to get your sword or you let it vanquish you which means that attaining your sword is pointless.

When you read 'The Pilgrimage' keep this in mind. Read it not as an adventure story or as an aotobiographical one or even as the one that inspired Paulo Coelho to write his masterpiece but read it to know something about yourself and to discover some truth about yourself and your life.

Its a 4/5 for me and a book that must be read at different times in your life.

Forty Rules of Love

I got 'introduced' to Elif Shafak through TED Talks. I was surfing the site one day when I came across an interesting video called ' The Politics of Fiction'. Being a prolific reader I was intrigued about why politics was being mixed with fiction and how was it relevant? Elif Shafak impressed me with her talk on perceptions that authors have to face in their own field and from their peers.

It prompted me to want to read her books and so the first one that I laid my hands on was 'Forty Rules of Love'. I'm glad about the co-incidence that got me to TED Talks.

Forty Rules of Love is in part a love story, in part history, in part a representation of life as we know today and in part the transformational power of friendship. The book starts off as a simple story of Ella, a jewish housewife in Massachusetts whose life is going nowhere. Her life revolves around her family and has settled into a mundane existance. Her husband cheats on her, her children don't love or understand her and everyone takes her for granted. Into this boring existance she is delivered a manuscript that she must review.

Through the book 'Sweet Blasphemy' written by a first time author Aziz Zahara, Ella travels to 13th century where she meets a travelling dervish Shams of Tabriz and his travails to meet his destiny with Mawlana Rumi. As she reads the book, Ella starts to understand the reason for her angst against the world and her bleak outlook to life. She starts corresponding with Aziz and unwittingly finds herself falling in love with him and understanding the different forms of love.

The book shifts between the two stories of Shams' and Rumi in 13th Century and Ella and Aziz in present day. Ella's story is written in third person while the other story is in first person from the perspectives of different people in the story. This can sometimes take a little time to understand as to who is narrating the story now.

Rumi and Sham's story is authentic history. Prior to his meeting with Shams-e Tabrizi, Rumi was an accomplished teacher, cleric and a maulana in a mosque. His friendship with Shams' exposes him to the highest degree of love; not in the romantic sappy Valentine form but love in its purest form - love for fellow being, love for God, love for life - and transforms him into an ascetic and a modern purveyor of Sufism. Its a beautiful story

• Of Realisation - Rumi's realisation that life was so empty before Shams)
• Of Dedication and Loyalty - Rumi's dedication to the teachings of Shams' inspite of the world branding him a heretic and ruing his slide into oblivion from the highest office of the mosque
• Of Differing perspectives to the same story - each member of Rumi's family has a different perspective to what is happening to Rumi - from his wife, to each of his sons, to his adopted daughter and to the different people that are exposed to Shams
• Of Heartbreak - Rumi's abject depression when Shams' disappears from his life
• Of Joy and Fear - Rumi's joy to see Shams' back but his fear that he will go away again
• Of Acceptance and Transformation - Rumi's state when Shams' is murdered and his transformation into a poet using the pain of his loss

'Forty Rules of Love' exposes us too to the Forty Rules of life, love and living that Shams' shares with us along his journey.

Just as Shams-e Tabrizi had opened Rumi's eyes to the glorious forms of love and the joy of finding love and keeping it, so does Aziz and his book open Ella's eyes and world to the joys of letting love into one's life. 'Forty Rules of Love' is a book about the transformational power of love and friendship and it will transform you too.

Elif Shafak's writing style is simple and understated. While Ella and Aziz's characters and story is not too fleshed out, 'Forty Rules of Love' is really the story about Rumi and Shams-e Tabrizi. The modern day story seems superimposed to give the book a contemporary feel and make it appeal to a wider audience. The book could have stood alone as the story of Rumi and Shams'. While the 13th century story keeps you engrossed and turning the pages, there are times when Ella's story seems to intrude on the flow and you want it to get over fast. Elif Shafak too seems to have devoted less attention to Ella's story not giving us enough reasons for her angst and transformation.

From the first rule " How we see God is a direct reflection of how we see ourselves. If God brings to mind most fear and blame, it means there is too much fear and blame welled inside us. If we see God as full of love and compassion, so are we" to the fortieth "A life without love is of no account. Dont ask yourself what kind of love you should seek, spiritual or material, divine or mundane, Eastern or Western - Decisions only lead to more divisions. Love has no labels, no definitions. It is what it is, pure and simple. Love is the water of life. And a lover is a soul of fire! The universe turns differently when fire loves water!" the book is filled with nuggets that will open your eyes, make you think and transform you a little bit.

Forty Rules of LOve is a book that must be read again and again at different times of your life. I rate it 5/5.