Books read this year

Its been a while since I wrote a post on the blog. I have been a bit busy, with work, as well as with reading. I want to write about the latter today - books I have read this year. So here they are, in the order I finished reading them:

1. Book: Brida
   Author: Paulo Coelho
   
   Ever wondered how the same person can be in love with two different persons? Read this one, to know more.
   
2. Book: The Chariots Of The Gods
   Author: Erik Van Daniken
   
   What if there are no Gods? What if it were some aliens from a much advanced society from distant planet of the Universe, whom the native treated as Gods because they were superior? What if Humans perpetuated from the Aliens?
   Chariots of the Gods poses and discusses these really intriguing question on God-hood.
   The book has been written answering the questions in affirmative. The theory built around the existence of God is what keeps the mind involved throughout the book.
   
   Spoiler Alert:
   Think on the following lines, and you will start seeing it in better light.
   If we assume Gods happened to be aliens, what about their Gods?
   If we assume aliens were our ancestors, what about their ancestors?
   
3. Book: Chanakya Neeti
   Author: Chanakya
   
   This one was an English translation of the original Sanskrit version. I read it more because of the author. As is the case with most books from those old ages, this one was also originally written in the form of couplets. The english translation is wisdom in multiples of two lines.
   
4. Book: The Secret Adversary
   Author: Agatha Christie
   
   This one happens to be an Agatha Christie novel, so you know what to expect.
   
5. Book: The Motorcycle Diaries
   Author: Ernesto Che Guevera
   
   This one, is once again an English translation, of Che's work. The diary covers the period in the early 1950s, when Che set out  on a motorcycle road trip. I picked it up more so because I wanted to know what kind of thoughts the Cuban revolutionary used to have and how they influenced his future choices. Of course, the contents didn't disappoint, even though I had picked the book by its cover.
   
6. Book: My Experiments With Truth
   Author: Mahatma Gandhi
   
   This one is  a biography, and I am sure most of us know about it.
   Its a very frank account of the life of Gandhi till the early 1920s, given by himself. The one thought from the book that I can never forget, is "How can you appreciate the beauty of another religion, when you don't know the value of yours own."
   Reading the book is a task in itself; I took around 2 months to finish reading it, reading another 7-8 books in the period. But thats my personal opinion; its a biography, and you have to be really inspired to finish one. :)
   
7. Book: Keep The Change
   Author: Nirupama Subrahmaniam
   
   It is a light novel compared to the heavy stuff made up by Mein Kampf and Experiments With Truth, and so I read this one more as a filler. Anyways, the book turned out to be a well written story of Damayanthi, and the issues she faces when she moves to a new city job.
   
8. Book: Love Story2
   Author: Eric Segal
   
   A sequel to Love Story.
   
9. Book: It Happened In India
   Author: Kishore Biyani
   
   Heard of Future Group? Big Bazaar?
   Yup, this is the story of the man behind the group.
   In testing waters, when the ships of Subhiksha, Vishal, and a number of other retailers sank, Future Group not only managed to stay afloat, but also earned decent profits. Some of the insights on how decision making happened initially at the group are really brilliant. A good read for the management junkies, and those otherwise interested.
   
10. Book: Mein Kampf
    Author: Adolf Hitler
    
    This one is an English translation, of the original book in German.
    Anyways, it was a complete pain to read this book. Most of the books tell you what you can let happen. This one tells you what you shouldn't ever let happen. The hate speeches that Hitler delivers are sick - the talk of superior races and what nots just made me sick. That is the chief reason why I took almost four months to read it. That, and the fact that I was reading Experiments with Truth along with it. Hitler and Gandhi did make the worst combo of heavy reading.
    There is not much good in this book, except the parts where Hitler discusses about how to create and run an effective movement and top down bureaucracy.
    All in all, a 'propaganda for the intelligentsia' is what I will call it.
    
11. Book: Ignited Minds
    Author: APJ Abdul Kalam
    
    It is a small book by Kalam, which "contains dynamic and original ideas, examines attitudes afflicting the Indians, and present prescriptions for rapid growth of India to enable the country to emerge as a developed country" (from Wikipedia :P)
    
12. Book: The Polyster Prince.
    Author: Hamish McDonald
    
    This is an unauthorized biography of Dhiru Bhai Ambani. A shocking read, it tells of the malpractices prevalent during the times of Sr. Ambani, and how he raced on the road to success. It sheds light on his professional rivalries as well as well as some of his controversial business practices.
    Politicians and government also receive due words for their role in the rise of Ambani. All in all, a must read for anyone interested in the early 1970's to late 1990's business India.
    
13. Book: Vision 2020
    Author: APJ Abdul Kalam
    
    Once again, a book I chose by its cover, i.e., by seeing the name of the author. However, this is no Wings of Fire, or Ignited Minds. This is the vision document for India, compiled by TIFAC, in around 2002 and contains the vision for the various industries, segments etc for the year 2020. Good for people targeting civil services and those who want to know about policy formulation in general.
    
14. Book: A Better India, A Better World
    Author: N R Narayan Murthy
    
    This book contains speeches by Mr. Murthy, the founder of InfoSys, delivered at different times and locations in the 2000's. The speeches offer an insight into the challenges Murthy faced, with setting up and running of InfoSys. Since a lot of these speeches happened in College addresses, they have a motivating tone to them - they make you aspire to do something just more than money. But of course, reading a speech is not the same as listening to one, and those who have heard Murthy in person can obviously skip it.
    
15. Book: 2 States
    Author: Chetan Bhagat
    
    A love story of a Punjabi boy and a Madrasi girl, this one suits completely to the Indian taste.
    Another Filler Novel.
    
16. Book: The Pale Horse
    Author: Agatha Christie
    
    Every-time I read an Agatha Christie, I try to solve the mystery myself as well. And she manages to to give this one a complete supernatural and sinister touch. Normally, I am able to fix more than half the loose ends, though connecting all the dots has never been possible for me.
    But in this one, I hopelessly completely failed. A good read.
    
17. Book: False Impressions
    Author: Jeffery Archer
    
    Its a novel. I don't want to play a spoiler. :|
    
18. Book: Beyond The White House
    Author: Jimmy Carter
    
    Jimmy Carter is a former US president (1980-84).
    When I had picked this book (once again, by its cover), I had assumed I would be reading something related to White House. Absolutely not.
    This book briefs you, rather, outlines to you the brilliant work that Carter Foundation has done in a number of the third world countries.
    The amount of change that Carter brought is simply immense. From eradicating diseases to hosting free and fair elections to mediating in international crises, in his 25 years after the White House, Carter with his Carter Foundation, makes you redefine the limits of achievement.
    
19. Book: The Tigers, The Elephants and The CellPhones
    Author: Shashi Tharoor
    
    A collection of articles by Mr. Tharoor. Some of the essays on India, its founding fathers, and its secularity are really brilliant. A good read overall.
    
20. Book: Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War
    Author: Ernesto Che Guevera
    
    Once again, a translated version in English, it is a well maintained diary of a Gureilla (Che) - the problems and dilemmas he faces, and life in the jungle.
    
21. Book: Freedom At Midnight
    Authors: Dominique Lapierre, Larry Collins
    
    This book redefines awesomeness. If all textbooks were like this, I would definitely have studied History instead of Maths or Engineering.
    Full of anecdotes, the book is an excellent commentary on the freedom struggle of India. The only thing, I didn't like about this book is that it covers India mainly from 1930 to 1948. :D
    An awesomely must read.
    
22. Books: Geeta; Who Am I
    
    I read the abridged version.
    
23. Book: The Steve Jobs Way
    Author: Jay S Eliot
    
    I read this before Steve Jobs died.
    Anyways, it is good book, which brings out Steve's passionate side, as well as his business side not to forget his field distortion effect. :P
    
24. Book: Diary of a Young Girl
    Author:  Anne Frank
    
    Jealous. That's what I felt while I was reading the book. A girl who was merely two-third my age, and yet who could think at levels at which I still can not.
    Sorry. That's what I felt when I finished reading it. Couldn't stop wondering what would have become of her, if she had survived.
    
25. Book: The White Tiger
    Author: Aravind Adiga
    
    A brilliant book with India and poverty as its background theme. The story of Balram Halwai is simply mesmerizing.
    
26. Book: Catch 22
    Author: Joseph Heller
    
    A must must must read. Absolutely Hilarious.
    It took me a bit long time to read this one, and it was because I couldn't resist laughing for minutes after many of the lines. Yossarian, the central character lets you watch the messy world in a funny light.
    
27. Book: Freedom In Exile
    Author: His Holiness Dalai Lama
    
    A well written book, the thought flow adopted is simply wonderful.
    It taught me a lot about the Tibet problem (considering my initial knowledge was zero).
    His Holiness writes about things with such simplicity, that you can actually visualize the scenery, the people, and the events without any effort.
    
28. Book: Essentials of Hindutva
    Author: Veer Damodar Savarkar
    
    After getting inspired by Gandhi, ("How can you appreciate the beauty of another religion, when you don't know the value of your own."), I read up Geeta. This also followed in the same line.
    This one is written by V.D. Savarkar, who represented the major Hindu Hardline ideology of the 1940's. The arguments he gives, related to Etymology of 'India' are really awesome. The ones related to who India belongs to, was where I stopped following his line of thought.
    A good read anyways.
    
29. Book: Absolute Khushwant
    Author: Khushwant Singh
    
    Khushwant Singh's take on the various aspects of life - His life, religion, secularism and partition. All in all a very good read.
    
30. Book: Animal Farm
    Author: George Orwell
    
    With the anlogy of an Animal Farm, George Orwell brilliantly narrates how changing the people in the System yields no effect, when the system itself is faulty.
    
31. Book: Hind Swaraj
    Author: Mahatma Gandhi
    
    If you ever read somewhere that British believed Gandhi was a Hypocrite, you will find the reason for the same in this book.
    This one sheds the life on the real Mahatma, and the India of his dreams. Some of the ideas might seem like going backwards, but the vision is what makes you truly understand Gandhi, and his principles.
    
32. Book: India Without Humbugs
    Author: Khushwant Singh
    
    This book contains the early articles by Khushwant Singh - those from late 50's and early 60's. A small book, but a good one.
    
33. Book: Five People You Meet In Heaven
    Author: Mitch Albom
    
    This is that one book that blew my mind off. As soon as I read it, I couldn't resist re-reading it.
    The book is based on 5 persons, whose life changed yours in some way - with you knowing some of them, but not all, and you met these 5 persons in Heaven. An interesting take on the meaning of Life, Death and Heaven.
    
34. Book: Tata: The Evolution of a Corporate Brand
    Author: Morgan Witzel
    
    Witzel traces out the whole history, tradition, and life of the Tata Brand in this fantastic book. People talk of Corporate Social Responsibility these days, but did you know that Tata Sons has majority shareholders as Non profit Trusts, that work for Public benefit?
    In fact, this element of Social Responsibility is build into the DNA of the Tata Brand. A must read for the MBA junta.
    
35. Book: The Google Story
    Author: David A Vise
    
    A must read for Google fanatics. Nothing more to say.
    
36. Book: The Press In India
    Author: G S Bhargava
    
    I picked this one by accident. But serendipity is good. Mr. Bhargava happened to be a prominent editor of 80's, and he sketches a beautiful timeline of the press, right from its inception in 1800's, to the modern day 2000's. Add to that the role that press played at various phases of independence struggle and emergency, and the sanctions it faced, and this becomes a real awesome read.
    
37. Book: Profiles In Courage
    Author: John F Kennedy
    
    Once again an accidentally picked book turning out great. Kennedy talks about 8 US senators, from different periods of US history who risked everything - their careers and future, so as to stand by the choices they had to make in tough times, with courage.
    
38. Book: The Finkler Question
    Author: Howard Jacobson
    
    The 'Finkler' here has been used as a reference to Jews. It is a good book, though I didn't enjoy reading it much. It is good because it enriches your knowledge about the Jewa in general. I didn't like it because it felt like an overdose of Jewish culture.
    
39. Book: Train To Pakistan
    Author: Khushwant Singh
    
    A brilliant book by Khushwant Singh. It captures the myriad emotions present among the people of different sections of the then society, with excellence.  The resentment, the fear, the anger - Name an emotion and you will find Singh has done complete justice to it.
    
40. Book: Corporate Atyachar
    Author: Abhay Nagrajan
    
    I read this one as a Filler novel, once again. It contains few humorous moments. But an average read on the whole.
    
41. Book: Nemesis
    Author: Agatha Christie
    
    Another Agatha Christie Classic, from the Miss Marple Series. Enjoyed reading it, as always.
    
42. Book: Tuesdays With Morrie
    Author: Mitch Albom
    
    After reading the 5 People You Meet In Heaven, I couldn't resist laying my hands on this one. It is a good book, and deals very effectively with the question of meaning of life.
    I couldn't enjoy it much though, because I couldn't resist thinking how all books, on meaning of life are written by people associated with someone loosing theirs.
    
    Anyways, I am sure a lot of people will find it reasonably good to read.
43. Book: Imagining India
    Author: Nandan Nilekani
    
    A must read book for guys preparing for Civil Services and people enthusiastic about India.
    Mr. Nilekani, co founder of InfoSys, talks about the India of his dreams, how certain events like the LPG of 1991 affected India, and what issues India needs to address in the 21st century.
    
44. Book: Malgudi Days
    Author: R K Narayan
    
    A collection of short stories from Mr. Narayan.
    
45. Book: Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
    Author: Arthur Conan Doyale
    
    A collection of Short Stories, with Sherlock Holmes as the lead detective.
    
46. Book: To Kill A MockingBird
    Author: Harper Lee
    
    Harper Lee makes you see the world from the eyes of 9 year old girl Scott Finch. A great book that touches brilliantly on the hatred rampant against the blacks in the American Society.
    
47. Book: The Story of My Life
    Author: Helen Keller
    
    One of the best books I read last year, not for a moment will you realize the physical handicaps the writer suffers from until she explicitly mentions them to you. If you have watched the movie Black, or ever heard of it, know that it is based on the life of this woman, and much of its original ideas come from this book.
    
48. Book: Ideas of a Nation
    Author: Bhagat Singh
    
    This book contains the English translation of of transcripts of Bhagat Singh's Correspondence with the British authorities, when he was in jail. It also contains the content of his various pamphlets that he used during the revolution.
    A quote I will never forget - "Zindgi to apne damm par hi jiyi jati hey... dusro k kandhe par tohh sirf janaje uthaye jate hey.”
    
49. Book: 1984
    Author: George Orwell
    
    Written around 1949, George Orwell predicts the doom of socialism in this enthralling book. Though nothing as he had predicted happened in 1984, yet some of the things that he mentions are akin to what is happening these days. (#Internet Censorship). The imagination and lucidity with which the writer narrates the story makes this one commendable.
    
50. Book: Stay Hungry Stay Foolish
    Author: Rashmi Bansal
    
    In this book, Rashmi takes you through the journey of 25 IIM-A graduates, who chose Entrepreneurship as their calling at various stages of their life - how they failed, and then succeeded at it, and the roadblocks they faced.
    
51. Book: It's not about the Bike, My Journey Back To Life
    Author: Lance Armstrong
    
    This book is really inspiring. It narrates the story of Lance, who, after recovering from stage 3 of Testicular Cancer, made a comeback to the Professional Cycling Circuit, and won seven Tour De France races back to back. Armstrong very frankly talks about the events, before his cancer diagnosis, and how his cancer diagnosis affected him.

The Choice is Always Yours...

Don't know whether this is the right place to express myself in this way.., but anyways.., I shall continue....


Sometimes, people are just dumb and plain stupid.
Sometimes, people shout even though they know they are wrong.
Sometimes, people groan because they feel they have been wrongly served, even though deep within they know they are wrong.
Sometimes, I enter into arguments with people. And then I get to hear arguments, whose worth is no more than a dog's bark to me.

And it is times like these, that makes me question: "who do you want to be?".

Do you want to be the dog running after the speeding car?
Just because you can?
Just because you are a dog?
Just because you think every car is at fault?
Just because you think the car is too fast for you?
Even when you know your chase will yield no result?
So as to satisfy your lame ego?

Or do you want to be the one sitting inside the car?
Unmoved by the actions of dogs outside. Probably found in packs of 4 every street.
Speeding away, because thats what you want to do.
Because you know, that stray dogs are notorious for chasing cars stupidly.

I guess, the choice is always yours: You can either be the dog complaining lamely about things, or you can be the calm guy who knows where he is heading...

I wish I never grew up...

Today I went to the room of a psenti-semite (Some one who is in his last sem). The fellow is leaving early 9th morning. His hostel and the adjoining ones were full of other psenti-semites as well, packing their stuff, to end their college journey, and embark on new adventures in life.

On my way back, I just couldn't resist thinking, how those empty rooms and packed baggages symbolised the beginning of the end for me. And the realisation made me emotional. That I have finally grown up. The realisation, that soon, I too will be packing my bags and leaving, to enter the world of corporates. A world, where career becomes your first priority, not friends. Where work becomes your priority, not joy. Where living becomes your priority, not life.


As a kid, I always wished, that I would grow up quickly, to walk in tandem with the adults, to be a more responsible person than the kids around me and to be considered more intelligent from the lot. I idolized the big ones around me.
I wanted to grow up, because I wanted to be independent, enjoy life without worrying about parting with my chocolates. I wanted to grow up quick, so that no one would pester me when I was playing Mario. There were lots of reasons, most of them kiddish, but  I just wanted to grow up.

And then I came to my high school. And all I wanted was to transcend the boundaries of my school. To become a good grown-up man living a good life. The dreams were smaller back then, and the targets of those days seem laughable to me now. But yet, I wanted to grow out of the cocoon of school and fly into the open world. Because I wanted to live life large. Heard that, 'live life king size' phrase?


Then I came to my college. With a Computer Science degree programme pushing its muscle behind me.
And all I wanted was to grow up into an even more successful person.

But, The life at college was different.

Because apart from my head growing up, I turned a lot more mature. Till +2, all I had done was learn from some books. Now I was also learning from people. I was learning about myself, my good and the dark sides, and fighting my way, to become a better grown up.
I learned a lot about the ground realities of this world.
And yet, the will to grow into an even more successful person only got stronger.

I learned about a world beyond my text books. I developped tastes and interests. in things that till not long ago I considered a waste of time. I learned to appreciate the beauty in other people's actions and lives, and came to respect their thoughts. Sometimes, Life would be the game, and me the hunter. At other times, I would be the game, and life would be the hunter.

And I only wanted to grow up more.

But now, as the end becomes imminent, my heart is crying.

And I wish, that I never should have grown up.

I don't know why.

Maybe, its because I still miss my school friends, and am sad because of this race called life separated us. A deja-vu of sorts that I want to avoid.

Maybe, because I have got too much attached to my surroundings, and I just don't want to break those strings right now.

Maybe, because I never gave it a thought, what I would do, if and when I lost contact with all that has been part of my life for last three years.

Maybe, because the very thought of loosing contact makes me sad enough. Already, I drag with me, the memories of my school life, and now, I will have to carry the burden of my college memories as well. Dragging the burden might seem a wrong phrase; These are a burden, because my heart wishes that these days to never be over. And I drag these, because I wish, one day, I could relive them. Because one day in the future, I want to laugh about all that I lost in the process of growing up. 

But now, I don't know, if I still want to keep growing.

People say, all these are phases of life.

Everyone comes across things and events like these in their lives. 

All I can say is, it is easy to say things, and console. But hard to bear the weight right inside your head. I just don't want to be haunted by those cherished memories of friendship, love and bonding.

There were days at my college, when I would think about the moments of my school life. A tree, which was the epitome of my school days. A building, where I spent 14  years of my younger life, making new friends, and learning new things, everyday. A 30 minutes lunch break, when a bunch of friends would just go on making fun of any one from the group. A staff room, where teachers would discuss our pranks. A class room, where we had earlier enacted those pranks. A lunch box, with a dozen odd friends pounding on it to get some food; not because we were hungry, but because it was fun. Stupid gossips about girls and boys. Making fun of the teachers, in every wrong way. Laughing our hearts out, on the silliest of jokes.

There were days in my life, when I would miss the happiness of my past, the smiles of my teachers and the laughter of my friends. And now, there will be more such days.

Once again, People say that these are all phases of life, you learn a lot as you grow old, you get to have new adventures, new experiences and new encounters in life. 

I don't know whats in store for my future, or just how good or bad my future might be.

But I am sure, it won't have the same old friends with the same old laughter in it.

Sure, there will be days of joy, but I don't think I could compare those with the memories of my life.

Because everyone has grown up now.

And now, I just don't want these experiences to die as memories;

I want them to live forever.

Because now, I wish I had never grown up...

Why You Pray

Well, when I started this blog post, I had in my mind certain things that I would have liked to write about. Hot ones amongst them were God and religion, spirituality and existence.

Here, I will quote a wall posting on my room's wall, which I wrote sometime around August last year. It is sort of my answer to the questions, why I pray to a God, and why I should pray to a God, and why I should or should not fear a God. Its been written in second person, because, originally, it was meant for reminding something to myself. And I am quoting this one, because, I just tore it away from the wall. I will be vacating my hostel room soon.



You Pray,
Because you want solace, Because You want peace. Some time, to be with yourself, alone with yourself. Some time, to be yourself, yes, to let you be yourself, and not what the world wants you to be. And so as to think and reflect upon your actions.


You Pray,
To a certain God, Sure of neither his existence, nor the absence of it, Only with the hope, that powers divine, which are otherwise unknown to your conscious self, may manifest into the required force of Will, and guide your inner subconscious.


Forget Not Why,
You pray to a certain god, and cut yourself loose, of any cobwebs that the world tries to trick you into.


Forget Not why,
You wish to pray -- to have your pie of peace, and not to fall prey, to a worldly sense of spiritual habit.


Fear not what, You think or do, in his presence.
But what, You do, in his absence.

The death of Osama

Osama Bin Laden is dead. 

The formal announcement was out some hours ago, and the world (read the Americans and their well-wishers) is celebrating.

I am writing this post, to just analyze the situation, and its effects on the world. I will try to be short and precise, but I am no expert, and hence pardon any of my immature thoughts. To avoid any confusions between Obama(USA Prez.) and Osama (The dead terrorist), I am going to use their complete names henceforth.

It is not feasible for me to write things from all the involved's point of view at the same time, so I might sometimes be repeating things due to overlaps. And, it might be early and all to write this down, still, am preferring it to write down now, so that I can judge later how much of my 'general analysis' held good. :)
Finally, this might qualify to be my longest post till date, so my apologies in advance, for whatever length you read. :)

Well, first, allow me to talk about the effects of this incident on various stakeholders:

• Pakistan
  • Role in hiding Osama Bin Laden
    Well, this is not my creativity. The internet is abuzz, with Pakistan's involvement in hiding Osama Bin Laden.
    P. Chidambaram, our dear Indian Home minister, has gone on record, accusing Pakistan's, and ISI's involvement in hiding Osama Bin Laden.
  • Operation's secrecy from Pak
    To me, its just a pointer to the fact, that Pakistan can not be trusted, and that it is equally hostile, to its enemies, and its perceived allies.
    It also highlights the amount of trust (or the lack of it) the USA places in Pakistan. After all, we are talking of absolute secrecy.
  • Label of terrorist nation?
    Well, if you are a supporter of such terrorists, then you got to be a terrorist yourself. By hiding Osama Bin Laden in its home-soil, Pakistan might rightly attract the title of a terrorist nation.
• India
  • Shouting Pak's guilt
    Watch any Indian News Channel coverage today, and you will have an idea of what we are discussing here.
  • Weightage to claims that Pak is terror heaven
    Well, if you are assissting terrorrists, you've got to be terror heaven.
  • A diversion from Anti corruption headlines?
    Yeah, I agree this one is not on the lines of terror, but am talking of the Indian scenario in general. I am sure a lot of footage will be spend on covering Osama Bin Laden's death. And all this tamasha might last for a week. So should that be enough time for the people to, errr...., forget about the corruption issues? Another case of, 'Out of sight is out of mind', maybe?
• USA: General
  • Victory
    The death of Osama Bin Laden is surely a symbol of USA's win in the war on terror.
  • Possible return of Barack Obama
    Yeah, maybe its too early to speculate, but then, the nation will just love him and his administration for having caught the terrorist who gave the world nightmares.
  • Faster withdrawl of forces from Afghanistan?
    No, I don't think so. Just beacause the head of a terrorist organization died, does not mean that the organization is dead. Though it may help speed things up, still, only time can tell, when the forces be removed.
  • More teeth to war against terror?
    Yeah, for sure. After the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq, the catching and execution of Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden was the only symbol of USA's limited success at the war. And now, that has been eliminated as well. So, surely, this will add more teeths to the current war on terror.
• USA-Pak
  • Relations bound to hit a new low?
    Yups, the relations will hit a new low. From the face of all that has been recently happening (Pakistan's China offer to Afghans, asking USA to lessen its drone attacks, and the Davis episode, USA's decision to operate its drones from Afghanistan, attack on NATO supply convoys, and much more), The relations between USA and Pakistan are bound to hit a new low. The Pakis have now to face a more wary USA, more distrustful situation.
  • Funding to Pak Govt
    Well, if the relations are hitting a low, then obviously, the economics equations will change. Though this incidence is not the lone one  leading to this effect, yet, it is one in the series of many, and hence is bound to have an impact.
• The Taliban and Al Qaeda
  • The morale
    Its hard to predict.
    There might be a vacuum, since their very leader who could manage to hide for some ten years. On the other hand, there may be anger, because of the death of their leader, and hence the world must be prepared for a backlash.
  • Future course
    Like in the point just above, it is hard to predict as well.
    There might be strikes, though I believe them to be separated by some distance in time, since you just don't go on a Rambo mode and destroy everyone in a day in real life.
    There might be bigger strikes, like the 9/11, so as to propulgate more fear among the general masses and give bigger headaches.
    There might be more hostile attacks on the western forces, as well. And there is no reason, why these should be limited to just Afghanistan or Iraq. Every nation, where AlQaeda has links and where the western forces are present, has the chances of such attacks. And that includes Pakistan.
• USA-Afghanistan
  • Taliban's morale
    Its definitely going to be impacted and is already discussed..
  • Afghanistan
    Well, even though Osama Bin Laden is dead, it won't have much impact on Taliban in general. In fact, the Taliban is going to be more hostile in its approach towards the general public of Afghanistans
  • Withdrawl of troops?
    I think the time for withdrawl has further been prolonged. But for the better. There is now a better chance for Afghanistan to survive, and hence, the troops might be maintained for a little longer.
• The world
  • That includes...
    the Americans and their well-wishers, in general, apart from the various European countries who share he nemesis of terrorism with America.
  • Celebrations
    Of course, there will be celebrations going on in many part of the world. And there will be a sigh of relief from most quarters.
  • The repurcussions
    This is what will be worrying the most, since, the genie is officially out of the bottle now. And this genie grants no wishes, it only wreaks havoc. );

Now let me talk about the whole incident itself, minus any aftereffects. A cynic touch here and there, but then, am just speculating. :)
So here it begins:

• Is Osama bin Laden dead?
  • Personally, I don't believe that Osama bin Laden is dead.
  • I think he is inside some secret US jail now, and undergoing a treatment, which was long overdue for him. After all, just killing the devil in the dark is no fun, some guys just deserve the worst.
  • Jokes apart, the reason I believe he should be in a jail is the loads of information he must be carrrying with respect to Taliban and Al-Qaeda, that the USA must be more than willing to lay its hands on.
• Are you sure?
  • Yes I am.
  • Beacause you just don't kill someone, who could be so much reourceful for you. In fact, I believe, all his accomplices inside that mansion, would be alive as well.
  • And I say all this, because the USA had sent in a 'Seals' team. They are both, an extermination unit as well as a recovery unit. The target was premeditated, and so they must would have had the instructions to kill, only if extremely urgent.
• The burial at the sea
  • Well, I am literally impressed with the way they handled the so-called burial of the dead.
    Its so called because am not sure if he is dead :)
    I won't be sure, even if you showed me the dead body :)
  • But anyways, they buried him at the sea, so that no one enshrines him, and so that he doesn't generate a fan following? Wow. Absolutely fantastic. Surely, the USA did out-think us commoners. Love it.
• Some big plot stories?
  • I don't know how this one entered my mind, but Just for the humour's sake, am mentioning it.
  • Maybe, the USA had caught Osama bin Laden a long time back. President Barack Obama was loosing a foot in his ongoing election campaign, so he needed something big to come back in power. And Osama bin Laden wasn't giving anything new, all the juices had already been drained out of him. So maybe the USA planted all this. To happen in Pakistan, so that they could let the world speculate that Pakistan was wrongly involved. After all, the relations haven't been the best, and Pak was actually thinking of switching principle allies.
    Kills 3 birds in one shot.
  • I guess, that would be Pakistan's explanation of how Osama bin Laden was hiding near the capital, why he was caught now only, and why Pakistan is innocent in all this.

PS: Moral of the Story
The story teaches us, that you need to pursue the perpetrators of crime, no matter where they are. Shouldn't Indian leaders learn something?

Also, This whole incidence raises a question on the sovereignty of Pakistan. Is it just another banana republic? Is it even a republic? There are rounds of diplomacy going on, with Pakistan releasing long notes on foreign policy, and USA saying, that "if Pakistan can't wash out the crminals in its home land, we will." In fact, Pakistan had to actually warn India, to not take such a step.

Chariots Of The Gods : Erik Von Daniken

A couple of days ago, I read this e-book, Chariots of the Gods, By Erik Von Daniken.
It presented an interesting idea, of Gods being some aliens who had visited us in the past. And I found the concept really really interesting.

NOTE : To understand the rest of the blog, reading the book is a good idea.
Or at least google/wiki about it.


At First, the idea seems very fascinating and convincing. I mean, just give it a serious thought, once.

• Here is the possible answer to how there are so many religions in the world: Different aliens, thought of as local gods, protected their followers and worshipers
• The possible answer to how there are thousands of Gods in some religions, while just one in others: some aliens were more powerful, hence one sufficed, rest were team workers and believed in team spirit.
• Even a possible window to the construction of some of the most fascinating ancient structures: from the pyramids and the Stonehenge, to strange scientific methods and  weird mathematical calculations.
• A possible explanation for the numerous unreasoned geographical patterns on the earth: some would have signified a landing spot, others were giant billboards giving directions.

On Second thoughts, however, I found the idea flawed, and full of shortcomings. A lot can be questioned and debated in general. It is like outsourcing Gods to some aliens.

This is because, in the general discussion, there are some 6-7 important questions that I find unanswered

• If our gods were some aliens, then who were the aliens' gods ?
• If they too had some other alien gods of same sort visit them in their past, then in this cycle of sorts, who were the Gods of the first such civilization?
• And if at some level, there was a first civilization in Universe, why can't we happen to be the first civilization in Universe? 
• How do we know, that among such, say 1000s of civilizations, which numbered civilization are we? i.e., how technically advanced are we?
  This question reminds me of a Turing Machine Problem: How does the TM know when it is going to stop, or what state it will be in, or will it ever stop, until its execution actually stops? Its like life: You are sure will die one day, since you were born on earth, but when do you think you will die?
• What if the aliens were like, say the spiders?
  Note that the author only considers the aliens as man-like, Because most caves' walls  have human like figures.
  I mean, on earth itself, there are so many species, of which humans are in domination. So why on some other planet also, human like species will have to be in domination?

Finally, There is a third thing in my afterthoughts: Should we pursue alien intelligence as actively as the book advocates?

Suppose, there are 2 alien worlds, say world "A" and "B". Now, in this whole universe, the nearest possible civilizations, unaware of each other's existence could be some 10s or 1000s of light years apart, say "X" light years apart. Further suppose, world A guys start thinking of them as smart, and want to pursue alien intelligence and thus want to communicate to World B guys via some mechanism.

Now neither A knows about presence of B or value of X, nor B knows about presence of A or value of X. In this situation 3 cases are possible:

1. A is technically more advanced :- In this case, world B will simply not possess the technical know-how to decode world A message. In fact, it may never even know that there was actually some message.
2. A and B are on similar levels:- In this case, the 2 can interact like any 2 random species on earth. The mutual relationship could range from coordinative to war-like - it will depend on how like or alike the races are.
3. A is technically less advanced than B :- In this case, any message sent by world A will be easily decoded by world B. Since world B is superior, world A is at risk of attack, subordination, slavery, being expanded upon, annihilation. This case is similar to what happens when a technologically advanced nation meets a backward nation (replace nation with species, tribes, or anything) - exploitation.

For option 2, the existence and growth rate of the 2 worlds should be similar - this has slim chance of happening - since as humans we have progressed into today's technological advances only in the past 500 years or so, while the lifetime of entire universe is estimated at 13 billion years.

For option 1, earth is believed to have come in existence 4 billion years ago, which means there is smaller probability of it happening given age of universe, and hence, option 3 has very high priority of happening.

Thus, pursuing alien intelligence appears more harmful than beneficial, at least in simplistic test. Overall, the book serves as good fodder for the grey cells, and is must read to form your own opinions :)