REVIEW- The Power Of Habit

        This book has to be the most engrossing out of the few non-fiction that I have ever read.The book is so wonderfully crafted that you just can't help but keep your eyes glued to the pages.Who would have ever thought that reading about human habits could be so interesting after all..? Charles Duhigg amazes us by documenting the umpteen ways in which habits influence our lives. Before I read this book- All I knew about  habits was that - at times it would be good and every so often it would be bad. For me, waking up early, regular study and completing assignments on time was reckoned as "good habits". And bad habits included biting your nails, picking your nose in public or sucking your thumb.All my life I couldn't possibly think of any other "habits" let alone the clout they had in our lives.

The author has compiled several enthralling stories and scientific discoveries from lives of ordinary people to to revolting communities, lucrative bureaucrats  and successful companies who have made the most by understanding the power of habits.Scientists have explained the working of habits as a loop- comprising of cue, routine and reward.They have also explained with cutting-edge research on how we can cultivate new habits and change old ones 

The book focuses on the tactics used by thriving companies on utilizing the habits of their customers. You will be amazed to see how they take advantage of us without our knowing.This bestseller is a must read for all entrepreneurs and businessmen. So, dear readers, the next time you get a coupon from your local supermarket with exciting offers on unscented lotions, baby cradles or cribs and diapers, don't shrug it off thinking of it as a mere coincidence, beware, they would have actually known about or predicted the presence of a pregnant lady in your house! (If you have any in the house.Duh!)And soon they will be sending you coupons for things you want before you even know you want them!
The writer also contemplates on the strategies used by various companies like Starbucks, Target,P&G, Pepsodent etc to shop from them more often.

And in the last section of the book, they tell us about the habits of societies and throws light into the incidents relating to the Montgomery bus boycott, which was started by a small action by Rosa Parks and that eventually led the Black people to start the civil rights movement.

And finally, most importantly, the author guides us to apply the idea and use the power of habits to change our lives.This book is a must read and I guarantee that you can bring about a positive change in your life.And guess what? I have changed even before I finished this book. After several unsuccessful attempts, I have triumphed..!!! Thanks to the "Cue-Routine-Reward" technique- I have done it... which is..um..... er... wake up at 7'O clock and do some exercises.But it doesn't end with that, (I hope it doesn't..!) for I have promised myself that I will change for good.

The Perfect World - By Priya Kumar

"The Perfect World is the journey to reclaiming your power to be, do and have anything you want"- It said on the cover of the book...But hey, wait, that looks familiar- I thought.I quickly went up to my bookshelf and found what I was looking for: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.- and that book also claimed the same thing-....."you will come to know how you can have, be, or do anything you want..."   But unfortunately, even after reading both,  I still haven't managed to acquire at least  the power to have more page views on my blog..! (*sigh* my bad, I guess. Must have worked out for others though..!)

The book Perfect World was gifted to me, and I wouldn't have bought the book by seeing the cover itself..!(Oops.. yeah I know.. You Never Judge A Book By Its Cover..!) Sadly, the book wasn't so perfect as the title claimed.. the funny part is , even the "World" which is said to be perfect, turns out to be full of imperfections by the end  of the story.

Here is the deal- Nicki Sanders is leading a really sick life-professionally and personally..A life which she hates a lot- her job, colleagues, her boss her neighbors and even her boyfriend..! One day, she meets two "evolved souls" from a planet called Zedius (The Perfect World)  located two light years away from the blue planet. Seems like the Perfect World is in big trouble because of being too perfect and wanted an imperfect person with skills, preferably self-sabotaging to save their planet. Acrodorf and Bren send signals to earth and it would be intercepted by Thelda, a 200 year old sorceress.They happen to meet Nicki in forest as she was taking an evening stroll and they end up taking her also to their planet. In fact, Acrodof finds Nicki as the most suitable person to solve their problem as she was a very imperfect person and had a natural flair for 'self-sabotage'.The author details their travel in space quite meticulously and the rest of the adventures follow suit.

After Nicki's adventures in outer space and in the ever expanding universe, Nicki becomes a different person with whole new attitude towards life, this journey helps her shed all her cynical thoughts on life and transforms and help her realize the true purpose of life and lead her towards fulfilling her dream of becoming a writer.

If you are looking for a good story, then this is not the book for you. If you are looking for an inspirational or a book for "discovering your soul" then it would be better if you ask somebody who is bored with life and has nothing in particular to do, to make some notes of the various 'inspirational quotes' from the book, leaving out the story part.And then you can read it. That would have been much better. I had to keep reading the book persuading myself by saying that it will get better towards the end. But the truth is, it got worse.But this is just my opinion, maybe I felt so because, I'm not quite into soul, spiritual goodness and stuff. Maybe you could view the book with a different perspective and find it interesting!

What Young India Wants - Review

Every morning, India wakes up to brand new stories of scams, corruption, rape , child deaths and suicide by students or farmers. Over the years, we've grown so used to this kind of news that we've stopped caring, if not demur at the crunch in some kind- especially the youth.

What Young India Wants plunges into some of the main issues  in India with a "youth's eye-view"(which is the reason why Chetan Bhagat appeals to the youngsters..!) and examine the glitches and dishes out some antidotes to the mammoth problems of corruption, poverty, illiteracy and unemployment.

The "solution" offered by Chetan appear to be  revolutionary but are quite far fetched. The reader may not necessarily agree with the author all the time, but sure will find a lot of instances where one can easily relate to ones life in the subcontinent.

The book is a collection of the essays and columns by Chetan Bhagat that he wrote for various newspapers. His work starts with a short, yet gripping autobiography of the writer. The one liners at the start of each essays gives  a satirical and pleasant touch to the theme.

The book focuses mainly on three topics-
 Our Society- It emphasises on the power of the society of the country, no matter how big or small,             urban or rural, educated or uneducated, society is indeed the part and parcel of government, especially a democracy. For any change to happen in the country, the society has to change in terms of its values,its mindset and ethics

Politics- Indian politics has always been a hard nut to crack and it always will be. For any aspiring young Indian or anyone who cares about Indian Politics- the book provides a flavor of what it takes to be  a part of the biggest democracy in the world.The book will just give us just an obscure idea of Indian politics and the solutions offered here seems too far-fetched.

The Youth-My favourite part of the book. As far as India is concerned, the youth of the country is what matters- The author takes an intriguing dig at the problems faced by the 70%of the population- mainly the problem of being under-represented and having little or no say in the governance or national affairs besides having the problem of lack of good colleges and job opportunities.

What Young India Wants may not create ripples in the youth and make them rise up against the corrupt politicians like Anna Hazare's movement .(But, in reality half the people weren't aware of the actual  reason or cause or why they were protesting in the first place.!! ) But this first ever non-fiction by a novelist will inspire the reader and will create a spark in his/her hearts (believe me it has..!)It can bring about a change in their attitude and behaviour and gives substance to their thoughts and opinions.

The least thing that any student must do is to question on whatever you feel inappropriate rather than blindly ignoring it.We have to prove that the present generation is not just a bunch of youngsters who loves fast food , watch movies and IPL, or play video games or party all night.We have to show that we too give a damn about our country and its issues  And more importantly, we should  change our mindsets about India, get over with our cynical thoughts and believe in the power within us- the power of the Youth.

The Sorry Plight Of A 10th Grader

The SSLC results of the schools in Kerala are out, this time, even much earlier than last year.All over the state, lakhs of students and busy finalizing their streams for higher secondary education.

In midst of all this, I wake up everyday, regrettably thinking about the worst mistake of my past 12 years of schooling.....

It was a fine morning before I was on my way to a reputed ICSE school in a nearby city along with my mom. I heard that they had a Humanities batch with a great faculty and it was the school in which my own brother had studied Humanities. Most CBSE schools in our district hardly has the humanities stream. If at all, a school had one, it was only for dull heads ( like me....?) As there is a general notion in the minds of our cynical society that only those who are unfit to study Science or Commerce group opt for this group.

So we went to the school and approached the principal there. I was not quite prepared as it was my first visit to the school to buy an admission form. The first thing the principal asked after learning that I came from a CBSE school was that whether I wrote the Board exam??It seems that there is a latest rule by the ICSE Council that they could admit only those students who wrote the Board exam.

For a moment I felt as though a thousand shots were pounded at me from point- blank.I had no answer, but saying 'NO'.I was spell bound and it took some amount of time for me to regain my spirit and strength to answer her remaining questions.I stared in disbelief at my mom and found that she too was really upset.

I couldn't help thinking what was the extreme pleasure that they derive by seeing the intense pressure and trauma faced by the so-called Board exam writing students! Even I have learned the same syllabus, the same subjects with equal effort if not more!

Till then I was living in a fantasized world , dreaming of attending a new, better school, learning the subjects that I love and yearning for the exposure that I would get.But with just a single question, all my dreams were shattered, and it dawned on me that I couldn't change to a school of another affiliation only because I wrote the school based exam.

After I came out from the principal's office feeling completely dejected, I pondered over what would've gone wrong- I took a flashback.....

All my classmates were in a huge dilemma to choose between the board exam or the school based exam. Besides,our school didn't give much importance to the former. Moreover, our principal told us that from the CBSE Council it was made clear that the final certificate issued would be the same for all. Thus only a few students who were going abroad wrote the Board exams.And like the rest of my class I ended up writing the school exam. 

It was only after my final exams did I consult a career guidance specialist who discovered my flair for Social Studies and convinced my parents to allow me to follow my heart.

I know that I don't have any basis for whining over this matter, for I should have written the board exam to change to a different syllabus. But come on, I am just a confused 15 year old who is bound to make mistakes and change decisions with pressure from teachers and parents.And this mistake could happen to just any other 10th grader (Well, for the record, it has happened to several others!)

This is just a simple request to the ICSE,CBSE, Matriculation or any other educational board in the country- that you admit students to your schools, examining the merit, talents and aptitude of the children, and not blindly rejecting a student's admission just because he/she didn't write the "Board" exam!
After-all, to err is human and to forgive is divine.Well, I admit that I am human, but will the ICSE take the right adjudication to be divine..???


SSLC- Secondary School Leaving Certificate
CBSE-Central Board Of Secondary Education
ICSE- Indian Certificate Of Secondary Education

The Notebook- Book Review.

The notebook is undoubtedly one of the must read classics of our times.It has created a class of its own...Many of us may frown at the idea of reading any easy-going cliche`d love stories, with the usual plot and a few so-called twists and turns and claiming to be "different" than the rest.But in reality, its just the same old wine in a new bottle...!

But the Notebook had proven me wrong, it has made me look at LOVE in new ways. This book just made glued me to its pages..It is painfully inspiring and makes us marvel at the miracles that love can create with just a simple story line and few characters.For me, never has love been portrayed in such a way..

What started as a brief but passionate summer love between Noah and Allie in their teens grows into something so mesmerizing and irrevocable. Noah and Allie are separated by family status and class- with the girl hailing from a rich and influential family and the boy coming from a middle class family (as usual!) Having met at a local fair, the two spends a romantic summer in the country side.Unfortunately, both had to part their ways, spending ages alone, writing dozens of letters without getting any reply (wondering why..? it was Allie's mom!! she hid the letters..!!)   and cherishing the wonderful moments that they shared and longing for each others company..

But after a gap of fourteen years, Allie decides to drop by Noah's house in the country side to tell him about her engagement. But it didn't quite turn out the way that they expected .. it in fact  changed their lives forever..! They both ended up recovering their true love for each other, those emotions long hidden deep down their hearts.

The Notebook holds the secret to long, happy and romantic relationships.Life can be a really tough struggle at times, which you can face and come out successful with the ultimate weapon-LOVE

The Three Mistakes of My Life- Book Review

The Three Mistakes Of My Life
by Chetan Bhagat

This is one of the best books of "the biggest selling  English language novelist in India's history". This one is far more believable (comparing to the call from God in the One Night @ the Call Center..!)with characters whom anybody can just relate to.

The story starts with the usual- an epilogue in which Chetan meets Govind, a young businessman who was saved from attempted suicide and lies in a hospital bed in Ahmedabad, thousands of miles away from Singapore, where Chetan was living when he got the suicide note from Govind.. (Oh Govind ! of all the people on this earth, Chetan Bhagat is the person whom you thought was the right guy to read your suicide note...?!) Chetan gets curious and wants to listen to his story, which of course later comes out as 'The Three Mistakes Of My Life'.

To any ordinary Indian, what shapes their lives is mainly- Politics, Cricket and Bollywood. And in the Three Mistakes of My Life, it revolves around the same- but this time, thankfully, it hasn't got anything to do with Bollywood, instead Religion Comes to the scene. The novel talks about friendship, passion and destiny.
The story is narrated by Govind, underlining the three major mistakes that he committed in his life. Govind is already a small star in his 'pol'- because he excelled in his board exams and has earned the "he is a good boy" impression from his neighbors and aunts and uncles of his locality. He aspires to become a businessman rather than an engineering graduate whom his struggling mother wants him to be. 

Ishaan and Omi are Govind's best friends. Ish is a cricket aficionado who was an ex- district level cricket player and a local cricketing star. He, along with Govind and Omi, puts in great effort to start up a sports shop in their colony- they mainly depend upon Indian Victories in the cricket matches to peak their sales rate. Ish usually mans the shop, and as a marketing strategy, provides free  tips on cricket to their customers. One day, Ish comes across a twelve year old boy- Ali. Ish was devastated by the level in which Ali smashed sixers off every ball that Ish produced. He soon finds out that Ali is the future of Indian Cricket. He takes up the poor muslim boy to give cricket coaching for free. The story unfolds to tell that the three friends pool in their hard earned money into taking Ali to Australia for training.

In the meantime, Govind balances between taking math tuition and running their shop and slowly venturing out to expand their sports shop. Govind also happens to take math tuition to Vidya, who is Ish's sister.
But naughty Vidya, falls in love with her math teacher. Barely gotten into her teens, Vidya shares intimate relationship with her brother's best buddy. Only Omi gets to know about their relationship, and warns Govind about the consequences.In the process, Govind also breaks the unspoken Indian rule- that you never hit upon your best friend's sister!


The story moves on with intense political drama with elections and campaigning  between the two main parties Gujarat at the backdrop. It also showcases the two unforgettable incidents in the history of  Gujarat- The Bhuj earthquake in 2001 and the communal riots which occurred in 2002. These two incidents leave a huge impact in the lives of the trio.








While I was halfway through the book, I came across the trailer of a movie when I was simply lazing around on my couch. At first I couldn't catch the title of the Hindi movie trailer. It had a shocking resemblance to what I was reading at that moment. But only after googling it did I understood that it was the film adaptation of the 'The Three Mistakes Of My Life'. 
'Kai Po Che'-  which literally refers to a triumphant yell in Gujarati is the title of the movie.

 I hope 'Kai Po Che' turns out more like  the blockbuster movie 'Three Idiots' rather than the "lack- lustre" --'Hello' !. The trailer of the movie looks quite promising, lets hope the movie is as exciting as its title sounds. 

Will Abhishek Kapoor be able to yell "KAI PO CHE" once the movie reaches the box-office..??!

The Life Of Pi

The Life Of Pi
"This story has a happy ending"- It says somewhere in the book.Oh it's such a relief to hear that.
The life of Pi by Yann Martel is an epic!

Oh God!, I curse myself for downloading the book for free, because of that I had this constant fear in some obscure corner of my mind that there won't be the complete edition in the e-book that I downloaded. So this book- I just swallowed it in just two days..!

But this 346 pages of irresistible adventure and thrill had to savored bit by bit. It had to be pondered over for it's beautifully crafted sentences. I'm definitely going to read this book again- I'm glad that I was able to finish off this book before I watched the movie(which they say is  a 'must-see' so I just can't wait to see that too!)

This is the story of Piscine Molitor Patel... sounds foreign right ?
But this is the story of an Indian boy- who grew up in Pondicherry. His father is a zoo keeper.So, obviously, the animals of the zoo were his friends. Growing up at the zoo, he learn't quite a lot about animals, how ferocious some of them are and had some idea on how to tame them.
 Piscine grew tired of being called "Pissing" by his friends at school. So, he shortened his name to just Pi Patel. Then on wards, 3.14 was no longer called "Pissing Patel" or even better he got admirers and followers at school by shortening their names to other letters in Greek like Gamma and Alpha etc!

Pi, was born Hindu, but along with that, he practiced Islam and Christianity. It was out of his sheer curiosity that he grew up to attending the regular mass at the church gatherings and never missing the Friday prayers at the mosque. Pi makes this story one that will make you believe in God- well, at least in one! But believing in Allah, Jesus and Krishna- all at the same time is simply pointless!..

So one day, his family, along with the zoo animals, decide to move to Canada.While on the voyage, the ship wrecks! Leaving behind Pi, the lone human survivor with a hyena, a zebra, a female orangutan and Richard Parker on a life boat.

The Zebra gets killed and eaten by the hyena, which also kills the orangutan and at last the hyena will be killed and eaten by Richard Parker. So guess who's (or should I say, what's) Richard Parker- well, what more unlikelier than a 440- pound full grown Bengal Tiger!( Sounds rather comical right..? I got the same opinion from by sister and parents when I first told them the synopsis of the novel  which they found I was gorging down just  like I eat when I'm really hungry!  But believe you me... you won't know it till you read it..!)

Pi is a castaway on a life boat with a terrifying Bengal Tiger to his company (Yes, a tiger!) The story unfolds to tell the life of Pi- all alone, taming the tiger, feeding on raw fish and turtles.It might sound like Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe to you.(which I apparently found so boring and dry.).but THIS is nothing like it.. This has created  a genre of its own..!
It also tells us about survival, friendship and trust. It tells us about Pi's only hope- which is his belief in God- which finally leads him to a Mexican coast after surviving at sea for more than a hundred days...

Once he is ashore; Pi is interrogated by two Japanese officials to get to the bottom of the wrecking of the ship Tsimtsum. But they refuse to believe Pi's story of survival with the animals- and so, Pi narrates a new story with far more "believable" characters...

The Life of Pi is so much fantasized but still so believable that it will make you smile, laugh, wince, cringe and even move you to tears. I believed and still believe that this story was inspired from a real life incident.
Yann Martel has the ability to weave magic with words. It makes us ponder over some of his sentences.The Life of Pi is as irresistible as hot dosa with sambhar, as refreshing as chilled, pure water, as knowledgeable as the Holy Books, as wide as the Pacific and graceful and ferocious as Richard Parker.

Oh I so want to read this again- to savor it word by word.....And by the way, I can't wait to watch the movie..!