M.J. Akbar's Blog - Book Recommendations

BROKE BY GLENN BECK - KEVIN BALFE

2011-01-30T03:26:00.000-08:00

BROKE BY GLENN BECK - KEVIN BALFE
REVIEW BY ILAXI

The Facts - The Future And the Fight to Fix America. The time has come and the Author predicts the empire on the edge of chaos! Financially broken, spirits broken and faith shattered. The Author takes readers on ride to 234 years of history, culminating with the Great Recession and the bipartisan recklessness of Presidents Bush and Obama.

Glenn Beck is an Author of six #1 New York Times bestsellers: An Inconvenient Book, The Christmas Sweater, Glenn Beck’s Common Sense, Arguing with Idiots, the children’s version of The Christmas Sweater, and The Overton Window.
A chock full of reference and with over 400 pages packed to the brim, this book provides a exposure of America's decline and head for big bang for the buck! It's roughly divided into three parts:

Part I - The Ancient history, the foundation of the nation, monetary policy of Hoover, FDR, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II and now Obama.

Part II - Covers the crime of the century, the cover up and "the murder
weapon".

Part III - The Plan. Author's Action call. Response to critics and his understanding of the role religion, government, family etc plays in shaping the American nation.
Broke exposes the truth about what Americans are really facing. Most people have seen pieces of the puzzle, but very few have ever seen the whole picture—and for very good reason, leaders have done everything in their power to hide it. If Americans understood how dire things really are, they would be demanding radical reform right now. Despite the rhetoric, that’s not the kind of change politicians really believe in, says the amazon review. Leaders can no more fool the nation - the citizens.

Packed with stories from History, Resources, citations, teachable pin points, custom illustrations are all a part of the book that highlights concerns and debates. The book is an entertainer and eye opener. Corrupt power and game play with history reeling through the years and politics making a 'fiscal mess' and crisis knocking the door. The author speaks of plans as action call to - Decentralize power and authority, cut spending, stop printing money and create policies that support a sound currency. And finally live your own life so that you are not dependent on the government. A great pick from a bold, argumentative and honestly truthful host of Fox news network who knows all, reveals and guides all. Good pick.

Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan

2011-01-25T02:13:00.000-08:00

Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan
By M J Akbar

New Book by M J Akbar is recently launched in Delhi by HarperCollins India - Find the Books Page and reviews of the Books on M J Akbar's Blog.

Here's a review from Economist Print Edition for quick read:

Future unrosy
Was Partition always going to be violent?
Jan 20th 2011 from PRINT EDITION
The Economist

Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan. By M.J. Akbar.
HarperCollins India; 343 pages; 499 rupees

WHEN India and Pakistan began, in 1947, they shared many of the same peoples and a legal and administrative history going back five centuries. What explains their subsequent divergence, with India now broadly stable and prosperous and Pakistan crisis-ridden? According to M.J. Akbar, an erudite Indian journalist who is a Muslim, “The idea of India is stronger than the Indian; the idea of Pakistan is weaker than the Pakistani.”

India was founded as a secular democracy. Given its great diversity, it is hard to think how it could have been otherwise. Pakistan was created to be a homeland for India’s Muslims, an idea that was weak on two counts. First, because it implied a threat to Muslims, or Islam, in Hindu- majority India that in retrospect appears bogus. India’s 160m Muslims are free and no worse off than Pakistan’s 180m. Second, the Islamic rationale for Pakistan contained an ambiguity about the role of Islam in the new state, which has given rise to extremism. As Mr Akbar writes, “the germ of theocracy lay in Pakistan’s genes.”

No one would have been more appalled by this than Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. A whisky-drinking anglophile, he envisaged Pakistan as an India-style democracy. Yet he also helped begin its descent by playing upon chauvinist Muslim fears for political gain. A stalwart of the independence movement, he had been a late convert to the cause of Pakistan, swayed to it only after the early collaboration between Hindu and Muslim freedom-fighters had broken down.

There were many reasons for this. Indian Muslims had a history of violent opposition to the British that was at odds with Gandhi’s non-violence. Their elite felt superior to Hindus—a hangover from the Mughal empire—and feared losing their residual privileges under Hindu rule. The leaders of the Congress party, including Jawaharlal Nehru, were insensitive to these fears. It also suited India’s British rulers to worsen the schism. Had any of these parties acted differently, the calamity of partition, in which perhaps a million perished, might perhaps have been avoided.

Among many recent books on Pakistan, Mr Akbar’s stands out. Above all, it is a fine and detailed history of Indian Muslim anger and insecurity, spawned by the 18th-century decline of the Mughals, and the way this played out in the freedom struggle. It is a lively read; Mr Akbar is a stylish writer with an excellent eye for a gag. Of the Mughal emperor Babur, he writes, he “was equally adept at writing poetry, art criticism, military strategy and piling rebel skulls in the shape of a pyramid.”

The book’s final chapters, on Pakistan’s recent struggle with militancy and extremism, are less good. That may have to do with Mr Akbar’s nationality. Denied much access to Pakistan, Indian analysts sometimes struggle to keep abreast of it. But that Mr Akbar is Indian, let it be said, is largely immaterial: his book is fair and balanced. So, too, were his opening remarks at its launch, attended by an array of Indian leaders. “If Salmaan Taseer had been an Indian Muslim, he would be alive today,” he said, referring to the Pakistani governor of Punjab, murdered by a fanatic this month. That was provocative; also true.

You can find more reviews from Livemint, msn, india today, etc. If you've read the book, send in your reviews and do post your comments. Thanks.

- ilaxi

Have Pen, Will Travel:Observations of a Globetrotter

2011-01-25T01:56:00.000-08:00

Have Pen, Will Travel:Observations of a Globetrotter
By M J Akbar
Bylines compilations on Author's Journey

An enjoyable travelogue — a compilation of articles describing the author’s journeys to places all over the world. Many of these had originally been published in Akbar’s columns. The author travels the world extensively and, in his inimitable style, proceeds to write about it, giving us a glimpse of places that we may never get to see. Aside from visiting different continents like Africa and America, Akbar also explores the furthest corners of India. His witty observations and keen insight make the book engaging and informative at the same time.

Read more in Books and find the Author's new Book Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan
- ilaxi

Tomorrow's Young Achievers

2010-11-21T02:48:00.000-08:00

TOMORROW'S YOUNG ACHIEVERS BY PUSHPENDRA MEHTA
REVIEW BY : Ilaxi Patel

I confess, I love to read Management Books that inspire younger minds, that delve with the old as well as the ‘New Rules’ which work well with upcoming or established Entrepreneurs. Pushpendra Mehta’s Book ‘Tomorrow’s Young Achievers’ is Highly Recommended. The book is inspiring for young achievers as the Author shares his profound knowledge and experience with his readers.

Tomorrow’s Young Achievers by Pushpendra Mehta is an Enrepreneural package that consist of valuable 31 career defining insights for Generation X. In four Chapters, the Author shares his life experiences and lessons acquired during his Academic journey at Northwestern University, subject matter experts, personal observations, specific classmates and subsequent Professional careers. Travelled across 11 cities/towns within India and Overseas, Pushpendra Mehta is well versed with diverse cultures, is equipped with modern technology tools and gadgets and prepares young minds to be focused to determine their future in 2025 – 15 years from now, facing challenges amidst Learning curves and change, getting ready for Job or Entrepreneurship and even preparing the younger generation for socio-economic, cultural, political, legal, creativity, business, environmental and technical changes.

The Book is really a great entrepreneurial memoir with tons of interesting anecdotes and advise with insights to script own career destiny in an uncertain world. It Emphasize how Entrepreneurs can create a culture of candor that can allow them to grow beyond par to make a niche for themselves. Pushpendra Mehta gives an insight into some unique trials Entrepreneurs face and interestingly pin points key message highlighting illustrations that speak of entrepreneurial traits.

The Author provides informative insights on Entrepreneurship, Marketing, NGO, Communication and Life visioning to dream big and talks of Unconventional risks creating lasting impressions. He draws lessons learnt from the under privileged in slums of Mumbai and Peru and having dealt with NGOs, he speaks of lessons learnt in marketing and striking a chord with customers on the street. How to live and fight risks each day is a challenge indeed for the underprivileged and yet, he observed through their business ventures, there are limitless options to explore as Entrepreneurs.

Summing up the contents, here is a glimpse into some important topics from Four Chapters:

Chapter I: It takes Learning and Change to Tango

The Author advise to facilitate Learning with change by being yourself and building own natural strengths. His interactions with a successful Entrepreneur reveal that Playing safe is one of the biggest risks in 21st century. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Marc Zuckerberg and many others started young and fresh without the burden of the word ‘experience’ and they made it Big. He recommends to experiment out of comfort zone and measuring performance each quarter. He feels the Importance of mentor or coach. ‘Objective, sagacious or experienced coach + smart young You’ to make up duo to brace up to the challenges leading to 2025.

Chapter 2: Script your own Career Destiny in an uncertain world

Learn to wear unlike hats – Job or Entrepreneurship. Developing skills for both. Should a job not work or you face a lay off – be prepared to be an Entrepreneur, advices the author. The chapter provides lessons for the mainstream and non mainstream professional with his month experience with the Underprivileged. He weighs force on mastering the art of negotiations and highlights that Tomorrow’s CEOs will come from HR and PR and get ready to master these skills apart from mastering voice techniques and speech skills. He Focuses on creativity and charting business plans. Updating on International Business, practices, new ventures and unexplored options.

Chapter 3: Life visioning, dreaming Big, Unconventional risks and clut of communicators

Most of the Authors talk of dreams but Pushpendra Mehta talks of life visioning and dreaming big. To start when young and fresh. Big dreams = repeated failures + Reject rejection + Vary Approach – bouncing back with bigger dreams to achieve goals. Rebuffing Pessimism and never give up are some success tips mentioned by the Author.

Chapter 4: Your Choice will determine your Future in 2025

Choices determine destiny, says Pushpendra Mehta. Being Friends and what friends mean is a topic which reflects today’s changing cultural scenario where friends are new family who stand by day to day. At University or job, the most overlooked aspect is ‘Interviewing the Boss’ and this is an interesting thought that the Author pens down. Other highlights of this chapter are asking for help, be caring or self absorbed leader and an amazing tip to go and work for a leader/boss who remains unchanged for years to grab the best experience but a tip more for which you need to read the book! And finally, being Chief Happiness Officer – Be Positive and stay Happy in an Unhappy world.

In an Economy Boom, opportunities have never been better for Entrepreneurs and I feel, Entrepreneurs should read this book as ‘How to stay tuned’ to their own business and even face challenges with competitive companies in their own markets. Pushpendra Mehta’s Academic and Professional journey gives an insight to grab opportunities and strike big with wide ranging resource that offer something for business pioneers of all stripes.

And finally my concluding note: Tomorrow’s Young Achievers – This Book is a Boon and a Blessing. It is Well-written, great Entrepreneurial message, passionate plea, bold and courageous and a great book to reflect on what it means to Achieve and find youself in 2025. A must Read - Must pick, Enjoy.

(Tomorrow's Young Achievers is available at all leading stores and you can even buy on the Author's Website.)

The Author Pushpendra Mehta is an alumnus of Northwestern University (USA) and Sydenham College (Mumbai, India) and CEO of Vcherish.com with Consultancy firm, a new age Marketing, PR and Communications Consultancy Service. Serves as ‘Career Strategist and Mentor’ to Young Minds-Students, Executives and Entrepreneurs. He can be contacted at pushpendramehta@gmail.com

The Dark Side

2009-05-10T03:40:00.000-07:00

The Dark Side By Jane Mayer
Review by : ilaxi

A highly gripping and suspense read by a staff writer of New Yorker, documents the nefarious deeds of George Bush Administration. The 'Then and Now' - well researched and shockingly revealing book for those who stand for the truth. Extraordinary stuff, however disturbing. This book begins by making the case that al Qaeda was not on the Bush Administration's radar screen prior to 9/11. After the attack, Dick Cheney filled a void of leadership with David Addington and greatly exaggerated the terrorist threat to the point of throwing overboard American ideals.

They worked through back channels to push through a legal authorization of military commissions. Then they proceeded to set in motion all the measures that resulted from what they conceived to be a full scale War on Terror. They got the President to sign off on bypassing the Geneva Conventions for al-Qaeda and the Taliban; they set up the legal authority to detain "illegal enemy combatants" indefinitely without habeas corpus rights; and they set the stage for using interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, sensory overload and deprivation, humiliation, sleep deprivation, etc - techniques that were subject to abuse and can only be called torture. Then, they threw aside the fourth amendment to enable spying on Americans. Jane Mayer shows how the administration basically ignored the Geneva Conventions, which the United States helped establish and long championed, to literally beat out false and useless information from terrorists. Water boarding being the most notable example, the book also details other methods used to obtain information and how many times the tricks used by the CIA resulted in incorrect information.

The accounts of torture are very disturbing. Some torture resulted in death from which no one has been held to account. Mayer specifies that some Government Lawyers and Personnel did fight against policies but they generally failed. An example is Alberto Mora, whom she mentions of risking his career in protesting the torture policies and was up against an array of forces.

Jane Mayer refers that Bush administration used the fear of extremists to drive through policies and new laws that served to weaken constitutional rights while at the same time expand policy powers. The Dark Side takes a blow to the Bush Administration and pulls away the loyal Bush supporters as it makes one wonder how a group of people in the White House can wreck havoc as Jane writes, ""For the first time in its history, the United States sanctioned government officials to physically and psychologically torment U.S.-held captives, making torture the official law of the land in all but name."

Can you blame Bush and Blair? Bush administration had been a greater threat to American Constitution than Osama bin Laden. I recommend The Dark Side - a Must Read apart from another 'The Prosecution of George Bush for Murder' - Those who know the Truth, the facts remain true.

Blood Brothers

2006-04-18T06:06:00.000-07:00

Blood Brothers by M J Akbar
Book Launch & Reviews from Main Blog

Blood Brothers is M.J. Akbar’s amazing story of three generations of a Muslim family – based on his own – in Telinipara and how they deal with the fluctuating contours of Hindu-Muslim relations.

Telinipara, a small jute mill town some 30 miles north of Kolkata along the Hooghly, is a complex Rubik's Cube of migrant Bihari workers, Hindus and Muslims; Bengalis, poor and 'bhadralok'; and Sahibs who live in the safe, 'foreign' world of Victoria Jute Mill. Into this scattered inhabitation enters a child on the verge of starvation, Prayaag, who is saved and adopted by a Muslim family, converts to Islam and takes on the name of Rahmatullah. As Rahmatullah knits Telinipara into a community, friendship, love, trust and faith are continually tested by the cancer of riots. Incidents - conversion, circumcision, the arrival of plague or electricity - and a fascinating array of characters - the ultimate Brahmin, Rahmatullah's friend Girija Maharaj, the workers' leader Bauna Sardar, the storyteller Talat Mian, the poet-teacher Syed Ashfaque, the smiling mendicant, Burha Deewana, the sincere Sahib, Simon Hogg, and then the questioning, demanding third generation of the author and his friend Kamala - interlink into a narrative of social history as well as a powerful memoir.

Blood Brothers is a chronicle of its age, its canvas as enchanting as its narrative, a personal journey through change as tensions build, stretching the bonds of a lifetime to breaking point and demanding, in the end, the greatest sacrifice. Its last chapters, written in a bare-bones, unemotional style are the most moving, as the author searches for hope amid raw wounds with a surgeon's scalpel.

Project Management

2005-10-02T06:34:00.000-07:00

Essential Managers : Project Management
By Andy Bruce
Review by ilaxi

This Book is a great 'Guiding Light' - I mention this because Project Management is a wide topic. Any good business needs to begin with a plan to blueprint for operating and building company eg. Establishing, Budget, Targeting market, Competition etc. This book provides check lists with diagrams, graphs and examples that focus on SWOT (Strength, weakness, Opportunities and Threat) analysis of business. There's expert advice on team work, communication and developing Leadership and the authors' co-experience brings to limelight the basics of understanding the Project with topics like:

1. Defining Project
2. Planning Projects
3. Implementing Plans
4. Monitoring Performance

Quickie tips and perfect gem picks, this book from Defining leads to non stop information through monitoring and tracking progress tips, overcoming probs, dealing with change and summarizing assessment on management skills too. Dorling Kindersley's reference books has been a classy pick and gem on book shelf, this book also stands a 'Sure Pick' for lovers of Management field.

Reducing Stress

2005-10-02T06:26:00.000-07:00

Essential Managers: Reducing Stress (Paperback)
by Tim Hindle
"Stress will probably affect all of us at some time in our lives..."
Review by ilaxi

How Stressed Are You? This is the first question arising in today's Tech times. World Health Organization has predicted that by 2020, depression will be the greatest burden of ill health in the developing world and will be the second largest cause of death and disability!!!! One wonders but sure this book has a great in-depth dose of Reducing Stress pills of info with analysis Quiz on Page 16 that actually lets one recognize existence of stress and later reducing it. In Analyzing the causes of Stress, society, the working world and daily life have changed almost beyond recognition in the past 50 years and these changes have contributed to a major increase in stress, says the author. Many factors add fuel to blown minds as we deal coping with daily life. The book has cool tips on Getting Organized in life itself, manage time, check the attitudinal traits, taking out time to relax, understanding personality types, building better relationships and check Health. Emotional despair is a major health disorder and so, before it's late, check those Stress flaws and learn to use mind power through Tim Hindle's book on 'Reducing Stress' - A good pick.

How to Succeed Without Working So Damn Hard!

2005-09-02T05:34:00.000-07:00

How to Succeed in Business Without Working So Damn Hard: Rethinking the Rules, Reinventing the Game by Robert J. Kriegel
Review by: ilaxi

Damn Hard Cash Crunch & Start Living!

It has ever been a race to meet the deadlines, blindly following up the routine work pressures and sacrificing the wee hours of life in order to gain achievement to label n brand it as `success' -This is the major folly of most efficient people at workplace who pay a price missing wider opportunities to enhance better future. The game is all about Working wisely and not Damn Hard as the Author advice cool tips on how to succeed in Business with a sharpened job performance pulling in the effective measures to take charge of total control of time schedules. Robert Kriegel's own experience has inspirational theme to add to productivity with less efforts. He focus on more efficiency reducing stress levels at workplace. With latest technology creeping in day in and out, cell phones, computers, internet demands more Time, money and energy levels to cope up with mounting work pressures. I personally feel, work never has a dead end but life's frustration do! And this is where Robert's insights are really helpful to be a success and re-think over working Damn hard as its endless. There is a time for let-go and just do nothing sometimes to rejuvenate oneself again and Robert's book is a tip on ice-berg `Work wonders, work wise ways' and there you scale higher to achieve in this economy crunch - all gains and no pains. I personally recommend this book for workaholic Businessmen and management leaders.

Who Moved My Cheese?

2005-09-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

Who Moved My Cheese? By Dr. Spencer Johnson
Review by ilaxi

Change with the Change! Yeah, Who moved my Cheese is all about financial resources, Security and Happiness to retain when things go beyond control with waves of Changes spelling alarm at Business, workplace or Life. The control power is 'You' the person and the author conveys the message with a form of fable - four characters, Sniff and Scurry, the mice and two little people mouse size humans hem and Haw. Cheese relates to our living ways, our jobs and career paths. With the sea of changes swapping in, one got to change with the change is the flavor of the Book. Like the cheese runs out, new sources need to be looked for and this is a moral booster bringing in awareness and alertness to find solutions to spoon feed problems. Easy to read with quick glance, the book might provoke thoughts as to dig into lives of people speaking their experiences after the fable is said as they share their ideas and thoughts. However, every individual Business person or CEO at their work levels, face changes n have a scoop of their life, their best sorted principles n ways, the messages in the book serve only as a boost to face Changes. Life is full of obstacles and to deal with them, Dr. Spencer Johnson brings in a theme 'Who moved my cheese' - esp. the best part is the illustrations and the quickie 'quotes' which can be special motivators. No wonder, an upcoming Lecture presented by a reputed newspaper in my town on 'Who moved my cheese' may prove boon to many esp. in times of money crisis. Whatever, All said, its Thinking process to re-charge with renewed faith and this does the trick - Get the Cheese n say 'cheese' - Nice Read!

First, Break All the Rules

2005-09-02T04:27:00.000-07:00

First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently
By Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
Building Better Relationships at Workplace
Review by ilaxi

Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman reveal their inner vision to focus on four keys to become excellent managers. Leaders are sometimes someone who yells, explodes, makes nearly impossible demands and rarely consider feelings of his subordinates in the changing scenario of Business challenges. In fact, Managers need the right feedback and know-how to deal with the employees and select them on the basis of talents & not only on skills and intellects. Managers need to pick the right choice, know the strength of the employee and define right results. Their role is to encourage and motivate the staff and the manager is totally responsible to build a team spirit says the Authors. Buckingham & coffman focus on hiring people on their talents rather than experience. The employee need to be appreciated and rewarded for the job done well. Some Managers zoom on in on the weakness of employee to create embarrassment and humiliation. First Break All the rules indeed Shows the Managers to be different and recognize the potentials in the staff. Any employee who is facing a management flaw is `slogging' in an uneasy environment and the results too lead to a downward fall in longer run. The result is either the staff finds the Boss Crazy or leave the job for a better prospects. This book is a read for all Managers & Leaders who want to retain their Star employees and reward them for their expertise to grow mutually. Bosses who are control freaks, unreasonable and not practical fail to survive. HRD is one main branch of company that is important and this book is just a tip on the iceberg, the right guide to Managers & staff to work in harmony, knowing their respective roles. The employees need opportunity to grow, clear concepts of work assignments, be praised for their achievement, right environment & friendly approach, motivation and their voice be heard as regards to their work level opinions & suggestions. First Break All the Rules: What the world's Greatest Managers Do Differently is my one most lovable book and when I read this book, I feel this is the right choice of Gift to give to any Leader who wish to Break Rules for better interaction and involvement, building better work place relationships for fruitful results. Yep, a gift to Break Rules - self improve and training session of Effective Management for Boss too!

Myth of Excellence

2005-09-02T04:21:00.000-07:00

Myth of Excellence by Fred Crawford and Ryan Mathews
Review by : ilaxi

The success of any company always depend on the discipline of marketing, breaking off the malpractice adopted by and large by many companies. Respect, service, trust, genuine quality are the values to strengthen from the grass root levels. Fred Crawford and Ryan Mathews with a in-depth research of many companies reveals that customer service is the key to success and the customer experience is the prime dedicating factor consideration in time to come. The book is an insight to the companies to offer the best by examining their products and executing them with par excellence to stand by the competitive edge. Myth of Excellence is way of the wizard to gain the confidence of the customers. The idea to give a commission and link to something 'free' is a common notion. The rates pulled up to a 20% and than the discount offered only stems out indecent bargain ethics. Brand name and quality are in demand and customers often resort to the quality and service of the consumer products. Catching promotions do attract but the consumer stays unimpressed if quality, service & trust is not offered. Trust is the key of a merchant's scale to shoot up the success chart. This book is a read for CEOs and Company marketing Dept executives to play their roles and create a brand offering the best of the best to keep the customer list hooked to their line of products. Appreciation of the customers motivates the team for a success. This book is a good read for CEO's of Companies who fall below standards and it stands a handy resource guide to marketers who wish to excel and stand a 'class apart' wading the competition to be on top. I recommend this book as it has the value guidance for Companies who want to reach the 'winning edge'- Whatever be the product!

The Invisible CEO

2005-09-02T03:51:00.000-07:00

The Invisible CEO By Krish
Launch of the book 'The Invisible CEO' with the author A.G. Krishnamurthy on Friday, 8th April 2005 at 6:00 pm at Crossword Ahmedabad.Prof. Atul Tandan (Director, Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad) graced the occasion.

‘The Invisible CEO’ is a repertoire of very deep thoughts and reflections of a person, who till recently led Mudra - one of India’s best advertising agencies

The book includes a critique of brands and advertising and goes well beyond all of that into what touches our lives and living. The core of the book resonates with the following theme: “No matter how different you are, or how much of an ‘odd man out’ you feel, if you believe strongly enough and long enough, it is possible to continue to be who you are and to make a success out of doing what you love.”

A G. Krishnamurthy, founder chairman and managing director of Mudra Communications, began the agency with a start-up capital of Rs.35,000 and one client. In just nine years, Mudra became India’s third and largest Indian advertising agency. Mr Krishnamurthy is currently the chairman of AGK Brand Consulting. The father of four children - three daughters and a son, AGK lives in Hyderabad with his family.

(Krish as we fondly called him, is my first Boss and he was the first person who interviewed me for a job at Shilpi Advertising Ltd. Here's my Blog note on him - ilaxi)

Executive Skills

2005-09-02T03:47:00.000-07:00

Test Your Executive Skills: Assess Your Potential Through 50 Effective Quizzes by Terry Farnsworth
Availability: This item is currently unavailable@Amazon
Book Review by ilaxi:

Know Your Potentiality - Check skills

There are times on Peak that your Career becomes stagnant in spite of efforts. This amazing valuable Book of Terry has always been my favorite. Doing crosswords and word search is fun and so when I got this priced book, it didn't take much for me to grab the copy as the caption itself reads 'Test Your Executive Skills with thoughtful questions:

1. Are you a good leader?
2. Can you manage outstanding people?
3. Can you run effective meetings?
4. Can you handle a crisis?
5. Can you Manage your Time?
6. Can you seal your own ideas?

Inside are 50 Effective quizzes to assess your potentials and check performances and skills at work levels. If you are an Executive, definitely the book provides management for Success. It has highly perceptive analysis and with his experience as Manager of Personnel Development of UK Corporate Training dept., Terry Fansworth along with his four previous books has tremendous Development boosting to possess Executive skills. The Tests helps to see yourself as others see you and recognize the mistakes and makes one improve. Some of the Topics covered up in the book are: [Random selection]

1. Do you Procrastinate? The delay tactics at work levels never brings in results.
2.Are you well organized? Bad working habits only lead to loss of respect from boss/people who work for you.
3. Are you a good speaker?
4. Can you handle Consultants?
5. How good a Politician are you?
6. Are you leading a balanced life?
7. How Tolerant are you?
8. Do you welcome a Change?
9. Are you in the Right Job?
10.Can you Take Tough Decisions?

More Topics with points to ponder over and Choose the answers that suits best, in a light, relaxed style. In today's time, when there are more Seminars conducted, more lectures through on Management skills and mind management, this Book, if you are able to grab the copy, will be tremendously helpful especially to brush up the Executive skills and ponder upon every Quiz Questions. Even if you can't grab a copy of this book, your answers to above questions will reveal your positive/negative traits. That itself makes a Big Difference. It's 'Attitude' that counts after all! Good Read.

-ilaxi

Too Nice for Your Own Good

2005-07-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

Too Nice for Your Own Good : How to Stop Making 9 Self-Sabotaging Mistakes by Duke Robinson
Review by : ilaxi
Buy Here

How oft we create a wave to spell trouble with our own perfections being true and honest with good faith and intentions? We take on too much not saying what we want and that's exactly what the book reveals - the niceness mistakes that 'Damage' us! Unconsciously, we have planted strong messages in the back of our minds and with good intentions by our mentors, follow the moral code of conducts in life. Be good, be nice, be cool, share and care, don't be selfish, be reasonable, don't hurt others, help friends, say yes and so on. In real, trying to reach perfection and taking on too much lead us to exhaustion and sooner or later the ship of our life start sinking. The author gives an insight to the nine unconscious mistakes we often make daily and helps us correct them and pulls a person out of frustration and stress. In not saying what you want and taking on too much, it leads to suppressed anger. Robinson provides healthy tips to express anger to orchestrate a balanced life. Life itself is like riding a bike up and down roads that are bumpy, curvy, hilly while juggling bananas, balloons and bowling balls says Robinson and so this is when you have a fall, life needs balancing back to pedal and steer with too much/too little, too rational/too emotional, to fast/too slow, too cautious/too reckless, too strong/too weak, etc. and remain upright empowering to get what you need and deserve. Irony is, sometimes our niceness betrays us and this book is a key to understanding our mistakes and bring about a 'change' in us. Robinson makes us a nicer person making one realize the mistakes, why we make and how to give up. In doing so, Robinson guides in:
1. Liberating from the bondage of other's expectations
2. Saying no and saving work overloads
3. Telling what we want and analyze what we receive is worth or not
4. Express anger that heal and maintain relationships too.
5. Face irrationality and criticism
6. Tell truth to friends when they fail us
7. Care for others but do no burden own trying to run their lives.
8. In pain and grief, feel competent enough
A change is always welcome even for the nice to be nicer and avoid the mistakes that we keep making out of the blue. Our good intentions turn out to be damn-in-way for others who often misunderstand or shrug off not appreciating your worth as human being. This book is indeed a gem collection for every person who has learned to live being 'Nice' and remain being so without being emotionally hung up sometimes. Good Pick!

Who will Cry when you Die?

2005-07-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

Who will Cry when you Die? By Robin Sharma
Review by : ilaxi
Buy Here

Robin Sharma, the Author says: "When you live your truth, your dreams beat a path toward your doorstep".

A practical solution to create a sound Life and strikingly balance life filling in the gaps with humility. Robin refers to his father's words that a tree that has most fruits is that which bends to the ground. And though there are some exceptions he have found in his own experience that it is true-the people who know the most, who have achieved the most, and have lived the most, are also the people closest to the ground. In a word, they are humble. There is something special about being in the presence of a person who is humble. Robin sharma thinks that practicing humility shows that you respect others and reminds us that there is something for us to learn. It sends a signal to those around you that you are open to receiving the gift of their knowledge and listening to what they have to say. The book is door to exceptional life and live life to the fullest with a purpose and attain peace. The book is indepth wisdom with absolute life changing solutions to cope with life's trials, challenges, frustrations and so on. As Robin Sharma recently visited India in preparation for the production of 'The Monk who sold his Ferrari' as a major motion picture, Robin reminded in his speech that wherever in the world he went, he found human beings struggle with same challenges, same longings. All people are part of one great family with invisible ties. Thus, peace is at your own doorstep and Robin Sharma's books are real 'Gem Picks' - Yeah, sure you can surf his website too and hear his Gem voice too! Good Pick & Great Message.

Ayodhya by C.R.Irani

2005-07-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

The editor-in-chief of the Statesman, Cushrow Russy Irani, died of kidney failure at the Rabindranath Tagore Institute of Cardiac Science in Kolkata on Saturday, 23rd July 2005. He was 75 and is survived by wife Threety Irani and three daughters. Family friends stated that Irani was admitted to the hospital two weeks ago and was suffering from various ailments. He was graduated from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai. Irani spearheaded the growth of the Statesman in the post-Independence era. Known for his defiance during Emergency, he will be remembered as among the few journalists who stood up against the policies of the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.

With the sad news of Dr. Rafiq Zakaria a few days ago, here is once again a Leader who is remembered with fond memories as we pay our respects to Cushrow Russy Irani, Editor in Chief of Statesman & Author of many thoughtful books. Our condolences to his family members. May God rest his soul in peace! - MJ Akbar

Ayodhya - Demolishing a Dream by C.R. Irani
Review by ilaxi:

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Mr. C.R.Irani, the author has commented on national and international affairs with rare frankness and objectivity which has often embarrassed the high and mighty and vested interests.This volume is a collection of nearly 80 selected editorials and ‘Caveats’ written since December 6, 1992, when Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was pulled down by Kar Sewaks. The pieces cover more than a decade marked by changing positions of leaders, who remain unfazed by the contradictions in their statements. The collection begins with C.R.Irani's ‘Caveat’ in the issue of December 7, 1992, a day after the demolition, and after wending its way through the events related to Ayodhya, ends with another ‘Caveat’ in the issue of September 28, 2003,dealing with Murli Manohar Joshi’s resignation after the framing of charges against him and six others by a Rae Bareli court in the demolition case.

Communicate Clearly

2005-06-21T05:37:00.000-07:00

Essential Managers: Communicate Clearly by Robert Heller, Tim Hindle
Review by : ilaxi

Communication is the key to success! Universal truth yet this book gives lessons to better communicating using methods for sure results. Various methods combined together works. The five groups mentioned in this book are:

1. written word
2. spoken word
3. Symbolic gestures
4. Visual Images
5. Multimedia

Interesting is a comment here that Americans like communicating via rallies and slogans with strong use of visuals. (Pg.8) Learning to listen techniques are vital and using Listening skills is well explained in the book with Empathizing, analyzing and synthesizing. Reading, Taking Notes,using phone, writing letters & proposals, using technology, chairing meetings, reaching audience, communicating to sell, etc. are the major parts covered up which makes the book, a thorough handy guide for Key to Success. Sometimes, it is getting ready to Negotiate to win, mastering the techniques and be prepared for 'Talks' - This is exactly we do 'Talk' but when it comes to negotiating and passing the word/message through, we fail most of the time due to lack of many supported things. This book ultimately helps to overcome our weaker traits while communication spells disaster if right techniques aren't mastered properly. A good Pick.

-ilaxi

Treachery by Bill Gertz

2005-05-26T05:35:00.000-07:00

Treachery : How America’s Friends and foes are secretly arming our Enemies.- By Bill Gertz
Review by ilaxi

Bill Gertz uncovers Chilling Facts and exposes the alarming truth unbelievable that the Iraqi insurgents are killing the US soldiers with weapons provided by France, Germany and Russia. Bill Gertz seems to have made exclusive interviews with senior US officials including the Defense Secretary revealing astounding information on how the US leaders have failed. Arms trade proliferation and war on terror – Gertz has explosive revelation on how US security lapses enabled their enemies to target Americans using their own weapons secret technology. The enemies had fool proof plans to fail the US intelligence and defense and the extent to which the rivals were able to buy or steal advanced military technology from the U.S is alarming that freeze any American reader. The Pakistan nuclear proliferation is getting extensive and the US is trying to draw India into its global strategic plans by asking New Delhi to join the missile defence system. At this point, one wonders, do India and Pakistan need any more hi-tech, exorbitantly priced weapons for each other? Aren’t the nuclear bombs and missiles sufficient? Arms Trade is one revealing info by Bill Gertz in this book. Bill Gertz has also extensively reported the CIA reports on Al Qaeda’s track on its enemies and may have nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The Saddam Hussein's 'oil for food' program has a full story covered by Gertz in the book and how Saddam rebuild Iran's weapons and Missile programs. Although I have not read Bill Gertz other books, this book has been a pick from a local book store and been a thrilling read. Due credits go to amazon reviews and new york times Best seller pick which I do not miss out and Treachery By Bill Gertz explodes facts of America's friends and foes arming the enemies.

Developing the Leader Within You

2005-05-26T05:29:00.000-07:00

Developing the Leader Within You by John C.Maxwell
Review by : ilaxi

A leader is always Born and as far as the belief goes 'Leos are Born Leaders' - However, the concept of this Book by John Maxwell is Developing a Leader within. This requires a motivation, a vision and an influence as the writer shares the principles of management through real life anecdotes, charts and graphs. A truly inspiring book that reveals wiz ways to excel and be a Leader. Interesting strips portray Leadership qualities with real life examples and sure, this becomes a quick 'glance read' chirping the zeal in to strife for successive climb. I've always recommended Management Quotes book of Pramod Batra and so is this Book on top of my Charts. Influence always make a big difference and this book implies the influential tricks to scale high to be a leader. Maxwell's techniques prove to be genuine stuff and anyways, the picked topics speak wide :

1. Influence - Defining Leadership qualities
2. Attitude - It really makes a big difference
3. Positive Change - foster integrity and self-discipline
4. Priorities - Defining goals
5. Integrity & People - Developing ties

Becoming a person of Influence is another Book of Maxwell that is thought-provoking and a Leadership technique of 'Influence' pays big dividends in longer run. A worthwhile life lesson to boost up self confidence and keep on high spirits with 'Developing the Leadership qualities' by John Maxwell. A sure fire way to adopt the techniques and surface the best in you.

Manage Your Time

2005-05-26T05:23:00.000-07:00

Manage your Time (INSTANT Managers) by Tim Hindle
Review by : ilaxi

How often we hear people shrugging off casually: 'ugh, time is short, we're busy' I think, we all have 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week, yielding 168 hours per week. Take away the sleep hours and hours engaged in fetching results we desire! Hence, its wise to work 'smarter' than work 'harder' and this requires efficient 'Time Management' Walt Whitman, the poet, said it best, "The most powerful time is when we are alone, thinking about what we are to do." Daily Planning helps us to focus on what is really crucial and important in our day to come and permits us to identify time to use wasted hours more productively. This has been my experience but when I read this book of Tim, it sure is more to Accomplish 'Managing Time' with his neat tips under various categories like :

1. Understanding Time - Changing Attitude
2. Analyzing use of time - Keeping Time logs,
3. Assessing ability - A quick Quiz
4. Planning for success - Analyzing goals, work, prioritizing
5. Using Time Planners
6. Getting Organized
7. Phone Calls - Managing calls
8. Reading & writing - Dos n Dont's
9. Technology skills
10.Meetings & Travel tips
This and more, the Book is thorough self training and changing Attitude. This book has cool tips of dos n don'ts, analyzing quiz, charts and very good presentation and once you shrugg off the wry look to wring for an extra half hour, think of the wonders a human brain can do - a cool book for every student, business guy, tech buffs and especially those bubbly MBAs who seem to lack time! A great Pick - Get Self Trained, Get More Accomplished with your Time.

Groucho Marx

2005-05-04T06:20:00.000-07:00

Groucho : The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx (Vintage)by Stefan Kanfer
Review by: ilaxi

Honestly speaking, I have not read Groucho Marx nor I will! mj picked up this one at an airport and he speaks of the book - On Your Marx

He quips, Groucho Marx is not yet forgotten. He can be found in the back shelves of the modern generation’s favourite intellectual haunt, the DVD library. Julius, using the screen-stage name of Groucho (picked up from a cartoon-spoof on Sherlock Holmes called Sherlocko, the Monk), along with three brothers Chico, Harpo and Gummo, lifted popular comedy from vaudeville and placed it among the classics without losing the ravenous insanity of slapstick. The knockabout was not physical. It was intelligent gymnastics that never made the mistake of becoming intellectual.

As far as I know, Groucho Marx was a depressive clown who mastered the worlds of vaudeville, theater, movies, radio, and television, yet he remained a moody, morose, unfulfilled man. Plagued by nagging financial insecurities, partly realized literary ambitions, and difficult, unsatisfying relations with his wives, lovers, and daughters. He never really had a childhood. This book has been recommended for large public and academic libraries.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

2005-04-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner
Review by ilaxi

Better humans Indeed!

Harold Kushner's book has an insight for a heart touching, warming feeling for those who got to be content with Suffering. Some of the other time in life, we suffer. Why do we have to suffer? Why do Bad things Happen? Why Me? These and many questions surface our minds and that's when our 'Faith' is challenged. Why do we turn to the same God who makes it happen? The author came to see god when he faced the worst trials in his life of having lost his son Aaron when he was fourteen. God weeps with us and would not abandon us and can fill the deepest needs of an anguished heart says Harold. The story of job inspires and builds the strength and courage. Harold provides invaluable reassurances and his words are source of comfort in times of bad things happening just out of the blue. His logic that when bad things happen we dump our anger on others or turn it on ourselves. Sometimes angry on God. Why me? And then referring to Cain killing his brother Abel in a fit of jealousy...all through Harold soothes the mind to relax and be at peace saying 'God can't do everything, but he can do some important things' This ticks the mind Fate, not god, sends us the problem. If we are weak, we get angry, overwhelmed. Its faith strong all the way and God rewards in his own fashion; Knows much better what he has to do. A must book to be read by all people in trouble, no matter what their religios faith. Indeed, When Bad things happen, be positive, What happens, happens for good. Good People turn to be Better.

Believe in Yourself

2005-03-23T03:54:00.000-08:00

Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
Review by : ilaxi

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The Power of 'Believe in Yourself'

Opening words of Norman Vincent Peale in this book says all "Believe in Yourself & Have faith in your Abilities." Millions of people read the book and its a master piece through ages. The Book reflects the positive power of wisdom that defeat is not a root cause for a down trend. It suggests techniques and gives examples which demonstrate that one can have peace of mind, better health and never ceasing flow of energy to face the hardships and tragedies in life with the power of Positive thinking. A mental diet for every human with creative living based on spiritual techniques, Peale's system outlines perfect and amazing method of successful living. Thoughts inflow remake 'You', the very person who is responsible to create his own happiness and this is what Peale explains through various topics. Its time to stop fretting and fuming when things go wrong. It’s time to break the worry habits. Faith is healing and the best prescription for heartache is the Physical activity, says Norman. He elaborates the power technique that there is no point to sit and brood instead Get Set Right with action and be constructive. Norman shows the power to solve personal problems with a belief that there is a solution for every problem, keep calm instead of tension blocking the flow of thought power, trust in the faculty of insight and intuition, seek god's guidance and he would flash illumination into the problem mind. It's expecting the Best to Get Best as Positive Thinking is the road to happiness. Norman's book is simply a practical, direct-action, personal improvement manual and written with sole objective to help readers achieve a happy, satisfying and worthwhile life. A ‘Must Pick’ and a ‘Must Read’ Book

Life Isn't Fair!

2005-03-12T00:11:00.000-08:00

Life's Not Fair But God is Good
Review by: ilaxi

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Each individual lives with hopes - Who give Hopes? Robert Schuller does! Yeah, Life Isn't Fair always as we face a lot of ups and downs and hopes make one survive. It's a faith strong to build within and to read Robert's Books means keep the faith as he instil hope in the minds that Life may not be fair but keep the faith and sure, God Really sees your problems and help comes at the nick of hour. Being a great fan of Robert Schuller, his inspirations leads to a perspective to think Positive. Obstacles come your way but it is upto me, upto us, to face the challenges by keeping the faith in God. In the Religious text of Gita, it is said in hindi language 'Jo hota hai voh accha hi hoga, jo hoga voh accha hi ho raha hai...apna karm karte jao' Meaning to say, What happens is for good, what will happen will happen good, just do your good deeds. So, I believe, Robert also gives a hope and help you to be happy even in time of difficulties as you read the book coz his words in this book reflect a message to Keep the Faith and believe, trust in God. God really is fair, Is he sometimes??? Only he knows! Good console, good book.

Jonathan Livingstone Seagull

2005-02-25T04:36:00.000-08:00

Jonathan Livingstone Seagull
-Review by ilaxi

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A Gem Pick, this book is a prized treasure. Growing up Gracefully is the theme of the Book with very good illustrated pic of Sea Gulls on the cover page. Captivating attention with this classic read, Richard Bach's fable Seagull named Jonathan Livingstone is an example that teaches about 'Flight' and capture the moments of love and kindness. Jonathan had a deep desire to soar high in the skies and hardly cared for eating like other seagulls. The message was to aim higher for a purpose in life even if its against the wishes of own people. Jonathan is courageous and in pursuit of excelling, he almost has to leave his flock and experience learning with wise seagull who taught him perfect speed. It's the art of perfection one develops keeping the spirits alive as one rise up aiming higher in life. A good read and great message for taking Flights to achievement.

The Alchemist

2005-01-28T04:51:00.000-08:00

The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho

In the fable told by Paul Coelho, the character Santiago is a shepherd boy who dreams of treasures in Egyptian pyramids and leaves spain to make his dreams turn true. During his adventure, he learns many lessons on way and experiences the truth 'To listen to own heart' It knows all and explores to fulfil dream desires. Santiago meets many people but among them is a Alchemist who has a wise preach to Santiago. When Santiago confides in the Alchemist what he thinks, the Alchemist says that the fear of suffering is more than to actually 'suffer'. The fable is an inspiration to live upto dreams and live life fulfilling desires. If you do not dream you cannot reach for the stars and so does Paul Coelho has sound advice to make the most of inner aspirations and pick the pearls in life. Paul stress on importance of life and listening to our heart. We travel life's path once and hence, our aim should be higher to grasp and reach the goals to fulfil our dreams desire. A very good message and worth a Read - A great pick!

Paul Coelho's column appears in The Asian Age. Explore!

-ilaxi

Rights of Women in Islam - A book

2005-01-04T04:23:00.000-08:00

Rights of Women in Islam by Ali Asghar Engineer

Ali Asghar Engineer has been conferred the 'Right Livelihood Honorary Award', also known as 'Alternative Nobel Prize' by the Swedish Parliament. The Award was given to him in November for his contribution to maintenance of Communal Harmony and brotherhood. Expressing his disdain at the misuse of the concept of Jihad, Dr. Engineer said that according to the teachings of Prophet Mohammed, "true jihad is to express the truth on the face of evil". He added, "even those are the true mujahideen, who fight against environmental pollution and those who dare to write the truth" He also said, "Jihad is not about using lethal weapons because those who want to establish a better world don't need such weapons".Dr. Engineer had started working towards the promotion of Communal Harmony during the Bhagalpur Riots in 1961, which left a deep effect on him. Ali Asghar Engineer says, "People should abstain from commenting about religion since it either becomes a prejudice for us or it becomes a path for vested interests. The Swedish Communist Leader informed Dr.Engineer that the 'Right Livelihood Honorary Award' is said to be the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' because it denies the pro-establishment stance of the Nobel Prize Committee. He said, the Nobel is conferred on only those who represent the establishment or are in favor.Dr. Ali Asghar Engineer was recently felicitated in Mumbai for his Achievement. Dr. Ali Asghar is a pride of Bohra community Reformist, an Author of over 40 Books with Islam and the 21st Century being the latest release.

The Magic of Thinking Big

2004-12-23T03:32:00.000-08:00

The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr.David Schwartz
Review by: ilaxi

Think Big! Mind is a Thought Factory!

"As one thinketh in his heart, so is he" Think big and you'll live big. You'll live big in happiness. You'll live big in accomplishment. Big in income. Big in Friends. Big in respect.Magic of Thinking Big by Dr. David Schwartz is full of promises to turn dreams true! When one starts dreaming, thoughts create action and this is when one realize 'Thinking power' is more effective than one's intelligence! All one need to make another big Resolution is to eliminate the word `Impossible' which is a failure word. "Won't work", "Can't be done", "It's useless", "It's stupid" and such thoughts should never let a person shrug off helpless but instead "I-can-do-better" attitude makes a big difference. The author says, Some people have a belief "You-can't-get-ahead-so-don't-bother-to try' but this is absolutely a lame excuse and if you `Think Big', there is a sure way that lets you climb a few steps grabbing in the moments of opportunities and experiences that come your way. And believe me, I adopted this Magic - Sure stepped me up 'Thinking Big' Dr. Schwartz cover all factors, to sum up:

1.Be likeable. Practice being the kind of person people like. This wins support and put fuel in their success-building program.
2.Be friendly. Take initiative and introduce yourself to others at every opportunity. Scratch out the negative influence from your records.
3.Accept human differences and limitations. All people cannot be perfect. So, don't anticipate perfection and don't criticize. Each person has a right to be different.
4.Tune into `Good Thought Station' Think Positive.
5.Practice conversation generosity. Act like successful person and you are! Encourage others to talk. Let others talk to you about his views, opinions, and accomplishments. Just Ask! In process, you get your own answers to your questions too.
6.Practice courtesy. This makes others feel better and you feel better too.
7.Don't blame others when you receive a setback. This will lose your own determination to face challenges.

Let this be a 'New Year 2005' Resolution!

- Books @ mjakbar.org

Hoax : Why Americans are Suckered by White House Lies

2004-12-08T01:14:00.000-08:00

HOAX: Why Americans are Suckered by White House Lies
-by Nicholas Von Hoffman
Review by: ilaxi

Satirical and barbed, a distinguished read by the New York Observer columnist and author of several books. Hoax stands out to be a controversial pick as the Author hits on the Bush Administration for its diversionary tactics for invading Iraq.

Nicholas Von Hoffman begins his book with a quote from former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser: "The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves." The Author’s son is currently in Iraq in the United States Army to whom the book is dedicated. Due to his temper tantrums, the author was fired many times by editors and TV Executives and he even lost the Pulitzer prize. Hoax is the hot stepper in the best selling list of post Iraq War Books.

Nicholas Von Hoffman criticizes the Bush Administration and this may hurt the blind patriotic faith of Americans who believes that its government does little wrong than many others. In the beginning chapter ‘The Big Lie’ Von Hoffman speaks of the super rich and power image of America and reveals how the American people have been gulled into cheering for a gigantic hoax by the Bush administration. "It happened because America has manufactured its own reality. A dome has slipped over the country, turning the nation into a unique biosphere, which causes Americans to see, hear, and interpret every event and each happenstance as no other people do. Poisoned by recycled, un-refreshed air, Americans think differently." The Bush Administration invaded Iraq with the terrorism threat hanging on as the world watched over with make belief feel that Saddam is the present ‘Hitler’ and Osama Bin Laden lured in the oblivion. Nicholas confirms Saddam as the butcher of Baghdad and was a ruthless dictator responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iranians, during the Iran-Iraq war, Kurds, and the random butchering of Iraqis whom he suspected as enemies of the Baath regime. Von Hoffman says that America’s mission to curb the Islamic world and bring terrorism to its knees has proven unsuccessful inspite of its so-called victories over Afghanistan and Iraq. The US Government reputation shatters in the eyes of International community and even Tony Blair, the British PM’s political future hangs in the balance. Von Hoffman says, “US coalition is busy converting Iraq into a "free world, "Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda still remain at large” and this is so very true and raise questions to Bush Administration. American vision gets blurred as citizens get trapped into white lies and belief ‘We are right, you are wrong’.

A saying goes ‘you can fool some people some time but you can’t fool all people all the time’ and perfectly this applies to Bush Administration and the US. Blunt, bold and outspoken, Von Hoffman the Author/journalist is well informed and has presented a Book that sure is a great Pick and if you have been reading M.J.Akbar’s Bylines, you will definitely find a similarity to many topics covered up in the Hoax.

-If you've read the Book, Send your Review.

Bias

2004-11-20T03:25:00.000-08:00

BIAS by Bernard Goldberg
Review by

ilaxi

An Emmy Award Winner, CBS Reporter Bernard Goldberg has come forward to expose how liberal Bias pervades the mainstream media. Think! Media are biased? Conservatives have been crying foul for years but here, Bernard reveals bare truths.

Bernard Goldberg, narrates his Liberally biased outbursts of the very secrets of the television network media. Bias is bottomless Intellectual corruption revealed by fearless and courageous reporter. Goldberg has revealed the blunt truth, inside scoop of stories and dared to come forward to portray how liberal Bias infuse bias reporting in network television and trigger hindrance to reporting facts. Issues ranging from homelessness to aids, reporters are going over the misinformation of pressure groups they favor, to the harm of honest reporting. Fairness, balanced and integrity disappeared with changing times in network television. There has been one-sided nature of reporting of the news coverage tilting to the left as Goldberg mentions; which is close minded and journalists honesty have become pawn to liberal opinion. Goldberg tried to voice his say from post to pillar but his critics considered him a disgruntled Reporter and his bitterness with the management made him write the WSJ op-ed story that ruined his career! The television news business is far different from the media print world and far often the primary objective is overlooked with bias reporting in television network. Political correctness in network television creates a sensation ahead of the facts and enthusiasm of the reporters mis-fires the message, often misleading the viewers to create waves over the issue. An example is the Riots of Gujarat, the whole print and television media journalists focused on the one major issue and harp over the incidents to raise the heat of news reporting. Balance reporting fell out of gear and the news that shoot and create waves chart to the top and the biggest scoop story of the time would probably not be heard in the evening news. The bias really affect on how people view to see the world! Goldberg's CBS reporting experience made him opine his voice boldly about the truth that pervade the business and his trials led him to pen down Bias with the opening harsh critics of Dan Rathar who regards criticism of liberal bias as disloyalty and after working in network news for 30 years as CBS reporter Goldberg comes out with Bias with names, quotes, reports n facts. Certainly a pick and a concern for every Journalist in network television or print media, Bias by Bernard Goldberg would turn a new leaf in reporting facts.

Another Great Pick of the same author who lives in Miami, Florida is 'Arrogance' - Rescuing America from Media Elite.

If you've read this book, why not share your review in comments?

Germs

2004-11-17T23:49:00.000-08:00

Germs by Judith Miller
Review by:

ilaxi

Bio Terrorism becomes a Nightmare, Indeed!

A frightening and unforgettable narrative of cutting-edge science and spy craft. In the groundbreaking investigation journalism, Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg, and William Broad of The New York Times uncover the truth about biological weapons and show why bio-warfare and bio-terrorism are fast becoming our worst national nightmare. Germs shows why advances in biology and the spread of germ weapons expertise to such countries as Iran, Iraq, and North Korea could make germs the weapon of the twenty-first century. Germs sprayed in shopping malls, bombs that let scars in battlefields, plague spread in Times Square and all is a common man's hydrogen bombs, hideous weapons of mass destruction that can be made in a simple laboratory.

There are some startling revelations found in the Book Germs and these shows bio-warriors, past and present at their trade. There is the American scientist who devoted his professional life to perfecting biological weapons, and the Nobel laureate who helped pioneer the new biology of genetically modified germs and is now trying to stop its misuse. The Germs focus on former Soviet scientists who made enough plague, smallpox, and anthrax to kill everyone on Earth and whose expertise is now in great demand by terrorists, rogue states, and legitimate research labs alike. Germs shows how a small group of scientists and senior officials persuaded President Bill Clinton to launch a controversial multibillion-dollar program to detect a germ attack on U.S. soil and to aid its victims, a program that, so far, is struggling to provide real protection. Its Terrorism everywhere! The world combats to fight the fury of man man weapons leading to endless destruction and violence.

While America Sleeps

2004-11-17T23:33:00.000-08:00

While America Sleeps by Donald Kagan
Review by:

ilaxi

A Book by Donald Kagan is the perception of self delusion, military weakness and threat to peace today. As said by Wall Street Journal "They have produced a riveting piece of diplomatic history with lessons for the present, but their method harks back to an earlier age, when historians wrote with an ideological purpose.At a time when neither political party seems quite certain about America's role in the world, a case worth taking seriously." While America Sleeps" is an engaging, insightful work of comparative history. Using Great Britain between the wars as a point of comparison for the US today, the authors outline the great dangers faced as a nation. The book refers that US has taken a huge "peace dividend" and gutted it's military since the end of the Cold War. Furthermore, US foreign policy has been consistently erratic, misguided and timid over the same period. It has well known examples like Iraq, North Korea and the Balkans, the authors illustrate how the US has failed to make a strong stand when confronted with aggression. Furthermore, when a stand is made, it is usually ineffective and half-hearted.
Bush administration had many of the right ideas about the role of a lone superpower, but failed to implement them. This was due largely to a failure to educate the public, and a lingering "Vietnam Syndrome" that continues to plague the military. They go on to lambast the Clinton administration for both failing to understand the dynamic of global relations, and for utterly misapplying military force. The book is a thought-provoking treatise on the role of military power in foreign policy and authors' foreshadowing of impending doom, challenge the lack of will in political leaders and controversially disturbing warning against over reliance on air power and technological superiority.

Indian Muslims:Where have they gone Wrong?

2004-11-01T03:59:00.000-08:00

Indian Muslims:Where have they gone Wrong?

The Book sparkles experiences of Indian Muslims-Individually & collectively. He has used the image of a prism for Ghalib and a mirror for Akbar Allahabadi.

"Paamal hain magar hain sabit kadam wafa main
Hum misl-e-sang-e-dar kay is aastaan par hain"
(Through crushed, we are firm in our loyalty;
we are like a rock at the threshold of our country.)

Muslims in the Mughal rule, despite being away from the power centres such as Agra and Delhi, never considered themselves as a minority despite being less in numbers. That was because they were empowered. Indian muslims must redefine their status.Indian Muslims went into despair after 1857 and are yet to come out of it. They must change their attitude and should enter into a struggle for empowerment.

At the launch of the Book in September, Goolam Vahanvati asked Muslims to join the national mainstream. I think, it’s a canard that has been there for too long and we must discard with it. We are mainstream, we are not living outside it!!

Lately, Population statistics, and particularly the alleged "leap" in the Muslim population of India, have entered the public discourse. When I asked Dr.Saheb whether family planning was unIslamic. He said,"There was absolutely no justification for such a claim in either the Holy Quran or in the Hadith (sayings of the Prophet)". He pointed out that every single Muslim country, including Saudi Arabia, had signed the United Nations charter on population control.

- Read More

M.J.Akbar's Books & Reviews: Nehru-The Making of India

2004-10-28T05:25:00.000-07:00

M.J. Akbar's Books & Reviews : Nehru-The Making of India

Amazon Reviewers Say:
Great Book:This is not only a great book about Nehru, but gives an excellent explanation of historical events that shaped Nehru's life. The reasons behind the events are explained very well. A must read, if you are interested in Jawharlal Nehru.

Accurate Portrayal of a Great Freedom Fighter: A refreshing comprehensive biography by one of the formost scholars in India about one of India's great freedom fighters. If one wants to avoid orientalist lies such as Stanley Wolperts biography, then MJ Akbar's book is for you.

Excellent Biography: Akbar's book is one that captures the gist of this great man's life and it is a joy to read.

This books has been published in the centennial year of Jawaharlal Nehru's birth, this massive biography of India's first prime minister Nehru.Critics have charged Nehru with a loss of nerve in 1947, when he rejected Gandhi's stance of "no freedom without unity," It is that Nehru agreed to the partition of India and Pakistan because he was convinced that Muhammad Ali Jinnah, chief Muslim separatist, was capable of setting a torch to the whole subcontinent. Jinnah, pushed for partition in order to further his own political ambitions. The book also reveals glimpses of Churchill's vicious hatred of Indians, his unholy alliance with Jinnah and the famine the British did little to alleviate in the early 1940s. It's the biography of Jawaharlal Nehru with the history of the Indian Independence Movement from 1890 to 1948. It focus on relationships between the British and Jinnah's Muslim League and a read to know the Facts!

M.J. Akbar's Books & Reviews: India:The Siege Within

2004-10-20T04:47:00.000-07:00

M.J. Akbar's Books & Reviews: India: The Siege Within

Traces the history of India since the Partition in 1947, and analyzes the current political situation and India's future : Amazon.com Synopsis

India: The Siege Within is the account of achievements of India’s secular democracy as well as its vulnerability and failures. I've elaborated the origins and nature of the strains on Indian unity which have deep roots in history.

The name India derives from Indus, the great river born in the Himalayas which sweeps down the north-west on its way to the Arabian Sea. ‘Indus’ itself is a variation of the Sanskrit word sindhu, meaning river. The Oxford English Dictionary. pointing out that King Alfred mentioned India in his manuscripts. notes that the name has, from before the birth of Christ, defined ‘a large country or territory of southern Asia, lying east of the river Indus and south of the Himalaya mountains' In 1947. The British left this large country free but divided And the Indus which gave this land its name was now in the new nation of Pakistan.

It took more than five decades of struggle, sacrifice and determination to persuade the British to grant Indians their freedom. It took just seven years to create the country called Pakistan;. Before 1940, even the hard— liners in the Muslim leadership used to stress that all they all wanted was coexistence with honour, not a separate country. The idea that Muslims were a separate nation was dismissed as absurd over kind over again by Muslim leaders of all shades of opinion. In December 1915 the man who presided over the Muslim League session, Mazharul Huq, put it succinctly: We are Indian Muslims. These words, "Indian Muslims’’. convey the ideas of our nationality and of our religion ... When a question concerning the welfare of India and of justice to Indians arises. I am not only an Indian. but an Indian alone. an Indian next and an Indian last, an Indian and an Indian alone The famous Mohammad Ali told the first round-table conference. Where God commands I am a Muslim first, a Muslim second and a Muslim last, and nothing but a Muslim . . . But where India is concerned, where India’s freedom is concerned . I am an Indian first, an Indian second, and an Indian last. 'Or to quote the President of the Muslim league in 1931, Khan Sahib Mohammad Abdulla. addressing the 22nd session which commenced on 26 December: At the outset I must frankly state that we claim to be and are as much Indians as any other community in India and are as keen to see our country achieve freedom .. . Troubles really begin when we are accused of Pan Islamism or for planning Muslim rule in India merely because we demand certain safeguards ... I take this opportunity to assure my Hindu brethren that we the Mussalmans belong to Indian soil and that our outlook is essentially Indian... We must strive in unity to develop a common Indian culture and build a happy and progressive Indian nation, which should be composed of all that is best in the varied cultures that have found their way into India. But so long as one community strives for domination over the other and dreams of Hindu or Moslem Raj . . . there is little hope for speedy realization of our legitimate aspirations to become a great. and tree nation.' Pakistan was the dream of but a handful of commited theocrats.

A strong section of the Muslims remained.In fact,with Gandhi and the nationalist mainstream till the bitter end. The greatest of them was Abul Kalam, whose scholarship in theology enabled him to use the title Maulana and whose spirit was such that he to on the honorific ‘Azad (meaning free). The quintessence of his philosophy was summed up in the moving speech he gave to the Ramgarh session of the Congress it; 1940, where he was elected president of the party in the same week that the Muslim League passed its Pakistan resolution in Lahore: I cannot quarrel with my own convictions: I cannot stifle my own conscience ... I am a Mussalman and am proud of the fact. Islam’s splendid tradition of 1,300 years Is my Inheritance. The spirit of Islam guides and helps me forward. lam proud of being an Indian. I am part of that indivisible unity that is the Indian nationality. I am indispensable to this noble edifice and without me this splendid structure of India is incomplete. I am an essential element which has gone to build India. I can never surrender this claim.

Read the Book & send here your comments!

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M.J.Akbar's Books & Reviews: Kashmir Behind the Vale

2004-10-17T04:38:00.000-07:00

M.J.AKBAR'S BOOKS & REVIEWS: KASHMIR BEHIND THE VALE

This book delves deep into the past for the roots of Kashmiriyat, the identity and culture that has blossomed within the ring of mountains for thousands of years.Kashmir lies at the edge of India’s borders and at the heart of India’s consciousness. It is not geography that is the issue; Kashmir also guards the frontiers of ideology. If there was a glow of hope in the deepening shadows of a bitter partition, then it was Kashmir, whose people consciously rejected the false patriotism of fundamentalism and made common cause with secular India instead of theocratic Pakistan. Kashmir was, as Sheikh Abdullah said and Jawaharlal Nehru believed, a stabilising force for India. Why has that harmony disintegrated? Why has the promise been stained by the blood of rebellion? The Book shows Kashmir’s struggle in the century to first free itself from feudal oppression and then enter the world of modern India in 1947. Placing the mistakes and triumphs of those early, formative years in the perspective of history, the book says how the 1980s have opened the way for Kashmir’s hitherto marginalised secessionists. Both victory and defeat have their lessons; to forget either is to destablise the future. Kashmir and the mother country are inextricably linked. India cannot afford to be defeated in her Kashmir.

M.J. Akbar's Books & Reviews: Riot After Riot

2004-10-15T04:18:00.000-07:00

RIOT AFTER RIOT

Earlier, I visited numerous riot- torn cities , towns and villages -Jamshedpur, Moradabad, Sarthupur, Meerut- to discover what lay behind the outbreaks of communal and caste violence that have taken place in India after Partition . In riot after riot, I pen down my findings that the basic cause for the communal frenzy is the same: poverty , economic deprivation and a history which has been perverted and misused by religious zealots.

Here is a chapter from Riot After Riot:

Have you ever heard the silence of a city? Curfew time is five o’ clock but long before that the silence has been building up. The city stopped roaring on 11 April 1979, but now as the sun enters the last quarter of its daily journey even the half-raised voices of the morning have hushed. The daylight is strong still. A cat drops quickly from a parapet onto Masjid Road and the eye, in reflex, catches the soundless movement for nothing else stirs, nothing else moves, there is no one on the street. Our car moves on, a window quickly shuts, soundlessly. Even the huge, squat, serried factory structures that fill the skyline of Jamshedpur seem afraid of making any noise. Dogs, scampering in the rubble of destruction, do not bark so much as whimper. The one sound that follows us is of the police; they are present at each street corner, neat and deadly guns in their hands, each picket with a plainclothes magistrate, and each picket stopping our car to check our curfew passes : the bold “Press” signs taped on the car are not sufficient proof of our innocence, and rightly so: stranger things are happening here than gun-running by fake journalists. A Muslim was nabbed carrying weapons in a Marwari’s car; traders have no religion, as we have all heard, particularly traders in illegal arms. Chickens, owned by nobody now, are wandering about busily in deserted, broken, burnt and looted homes. Jagged bricks pockmark both sides of the road, bricks which are witnesses, weapons and finally victims of battle. A single slipper lies in the middle of the street. A lone cyclist, a Sikh, passes us, stares at us; he is on his way from work. The street lights are on; they have been on for the last few days as no one, in fear, has gone to switch them off; they become a little more noticeable in the gradually weakening sunlight, as dusk seeps towards this silent city. From the boundary walls of Agrico factory, Rajesh Khanna and Rekha promise Prem Bandhan. A bunch of crows sits on a speedbreaker; as our car nears, the crows trot off together, literally trot off. Now to less deserted streets; or seemingly less deserted — the shops and signs on either side make this street less forlorn. But in the shadows there is movement; beggars, without a home, stuck against the drawn shutters of the shops, wearing black rags, staring at the empty roads. Beggars and guardians of the law and a handful of journalists; that is all that moves in a curfew.

There is curfew too in the narrower lanes of Jugsalai, the business centre of the city, but here there are signs of life. This is where the merchants live and earn, and they are spending these unproductive evenings chatting on the verandahs, looking at the streets. It is getting dark now, and our car winds through lanes and bylanes in search of mood and battlefields. At one turn a loud ‘Halt’ stops us abruptly. Police scamper down from a rooftop. We are on the border of a Muslim area. The officer of the law is sceptical about our verbal assurances. He demands to see our curfew passes, and is not totally convinced by them. S. P. Singh, the editor of Ravivar is in our car. The policeman looks hard at S. P. Singh who wears a beard; ‘Are you S. P. Singh?’ he asks, and his voice has disbelief in every syllable. The editor of Ravivar has to show his identity card with his photograph to prove his point, and then the policeman almost reluctantly gives us back our curfew passes. We are two Muslims and two Hindus (purely by chance) in the car, and the two Hindus both wear beards that would do a Muslim proud. The picket thinks we are carrying arms for the Muslims. And in case we have any doubt that their attentions are only routine, one of them calls out as we depart: ‘I hope there is nothing lethal in the boot’.

Law and order have two enemies: the Full Truth and the Complete Lie. When people realize the truth, they start revolutions. When they are fed lies they begin meaningless riots. Lies are the staple of every communal disturbance. They are spread by people who have a stake in this stupid violence, who have something to gain out of impoverished Hindus and Muslims fighting each other. Businessmen, traders, politicians, goondas, leaders of ‘cultural organizations’(like the Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh —RSS) feed the people with lies, watch these lies become convictions in people’s hearts, watch the passions build up, and then these leaders actually set up the events which will provoke a conflagration. They simply stick a pin into the nerves of people, and it is only a matter of time before the people explode. Then, when the first round of violence is over, when the initial steam has been let oft the lies keep on circulating. The people must not realize that they have been fooled or they will tear down their false heroes. There is fuel already in the murky events that make up communal violence, and upon this more lies are heaped and spread. After all, if the Hindu and Muslim live in peace, how will the RSS find another convert? How will the trader sell arms? How will a shopkeeper have the pleasure of seeing a rival’s shop burn down? How will the goonda loot? How will the communalist kill a fellow human being? Keep the lies floating friends!

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M.J. AKBAR'S BOOKS & REVIEWS-Shade of Swords

2004-10-05T04:44:00.000-07:00

M.J. AKBAR'S BOOKS & REVIEWS

SHADE OF SWORDS BY M.J. AKBAR

Blending world history over 15 centuries
-By Robin Elsham (Reuters)

Once it lands in your book store, spare a moment to leaf through The Shade of Swords: Jihad and the conflict between Islam & Christianity. Despite its unwieldy sub-title, the book has several excellent chapters on the conflict between Muslims and Hindus in South Asia, now a major flashpoint in this complex battle.In the crowded category of works on the historical forces behind September 11, Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, this book stands out. It’s one of the few not written by an instant expert on the conflict, nor, more significantly, by a Westerner.

Its author is M.J. Akbar, who brings two special qualities to the task of explaining the origins of a conflict which started long before September 11, and now threatens to escalate into nuclear war between India and Pakistan.First, Akbar is a Muslim scholar, infusing his account of the ancient origins of jihad - and its convoluted re-emergence - with an understanding of its power over Muslims the world over.
"The power of jihad pervades the mind and soul of Islam," he writes. "The mind is where the current battle will be fought, and this is why it will be a long war.

Secondly, Akbar writes well, turning what in fact is an immense work of scholarship - blending world history over 15 centuries, Islamic theology and a trenchant analysis of current geo-political tensions - into a page turner."The Shade of Swords has done the impossible for this Westerner who, like far too many in Washington, did not know enough about the far too complicated Islamic world, Pulitzer-prize-winning writer Seymour Hersh wrote in a review. "M.J. Akbar has produced an innovative and lucid history of ideology, idolatry, vitriol and violence that is amazingly well written..."Akbar writes with a flair that already has won him acclaim.

Born in Kolkata, at 51, he is one of India’s most distinguished journalists, founder and editor-in-chief of The Asian Age newspaper and author of two previous books.The New York Times called his 1989 book, Nehru: The Making of India, "a brilliant portrait." The Sunday Times praised his other book, India: The Siege Within, as "the best and most accessible explanation of the new Indian crisis."In The Shade of Swords, Akbar blends that trademark scholarship with a novelist’s story-telling power as he analyses the spread of fundamentalist fervour in the Islamic world.The book was chosen as book of the month for June by Blackwells, one of Britain’s largest book store chains.A Dutch edition is in the works, and negotiations for translation into other languages are planned, according to Roli Books, the publisher in India where it was first released. Roli Books Pvt Ltd, the book’s Indian publisher, says 14,000 copies have been sold in India so far, and the book is into its fourth edition.The Shade of Swords charts the evolution of jihad from the very beginning of the Islamic faith in the seventh century, when a group of 300 Muslims defeated a vastly better-equipped army three times its size. The Battle of Badr spawned jihad, a concept of heroic defence of the faith.Jihad "is not an invitation to kill; it is an invitation to die," Akbar writes in the introduction. "Peace is the avowed aim of Islam, but from time to time Islam also demands the blood of the faithful in defence of the faith. This is jihad."In an interview before leaving for the book’s British launch, Akbar said he had decided to write the book more than a decade ago, prompted by the rapid re-emergence of Islam he observed during a Central Asian trip soon after the Soviet Union collapsed.An essay he wrote then is depressingly prophetic now. "The West’s next confrontation is definitely going to come from the Muslim world. It is in the sweep of Islamic nations from the Maghreb to Pakistan that the struggle for a new world order will begin."That passage was quoted by Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington in a 1993 article in the US monthly Foreign Affairs, summarising the ideas he developed in his book, The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order.In The Shade of Swords, Akbar describes the appeal of jihad to Muslims living in countries ruled by inept, corrupt or brutal regimes - often propped up by the United States - or in lands where the suppression of Islamic fundamentalism with political aspirations has fuelled theocratic nationalism."The West’s inability to look beyond friendly dictatorships and despots is becoming the biggest problem for the West" by breeding Islamic radicalism, Akbar said.The defeats suffered by Arabs in three wars with Israel, the humiliation and persecution of the Palestinians, and the economic stagnation of many Islamic nations compound Muslims’ feelings of anger and despair. (Reuters)

'Ink of a Scholar is more holy than the blood of Martyr'
- Blossomsmile ilaxi, Amazon.com Reviewer

Prophet Mohammed's wisdom 'Ink of a Scholar is more holy than the blood of Martyr' is right said! Great Faith, Great Reveleations, Great Concern, Great Efforts and a 'Bold, Outspoken Voice by MJ, the Shade of Swords traces the roots of Jihad - 'It is not an invitation to kill; it is an invitation to die'. Islamic faith demands in a holy war, the blood of faithful in the defense of their faith and this is Jihad. MJ traces the origins of Jihad, a research of hard work that has a fantastic, gripping story journeying across across centuries and continents, written after the fall of Moscow.

M.J. AKBAR'S BOOKS & REVIEWS-Byline

2004-09-18T03:42:00.000-07:00

BYLINE BY M.J. AKBAR

BOOK REVIEWS BY AUTHORS

An Intellectual Among Journalists
- By Sreeram Chaulia (Columnist, Asia Times)
A review of MJ Akbar’s Byline, Chronicle Books, New Delhi, 2003. ISBN: 81-8028-003-9. Price: 450 Indian Rupees / US$ 9.50. 404 Pages

MJ Akbar is a legitimate wearer of several hats. Each hat has plumed feathers that keep accumulating over time. As a scribe, he kick-started the current affairs weekly Sunday in the mid-1970s to launch modern magazine journalism in India. In 1982, his Midas touch was lent to another new venture, the newspaper Telegraph aimed at “those who wanted to change India rather than those who had merely inherited it.” In 1994, he founded India’s first global daily Asian Age and remains its much-toasted editor-in-chief today. As a historian, Akbar’s two books on Jawaharlal Nehru and militancy in Islam and Christianity have received critical acclaim and mass readership. As an astute socio-political commentator, he has authored best-selling books on Kashmir, religious minorities and riots in India. As an intellectual among journalists and one-time Member of India’s Parliament, he has also made outstanding contributions to public life and opinion.

Byline is his sixth full-length book, a collection of short essays and Op-Eds composed over the last decade. Such is the variety and acuity of prose presented here that it is bound to go into many reprints and editions like all MJ Akbar products. So varied is the landscape of themes in Byline that it is impossible to categorise it under one genre. Akbar’s full range of interests, from cinema to limerick to politics to cultural tourism, finds space in this volume.

Journalism has permitted Akbar global travel. His post-September 11 jaunts to the United States capture the many moods of a shaken superpower. Guardians of the West at airports transform into Cassandras seeing Muslim names on passports. Akbar wonders what reaction is apt when his religion is ground for discriminatory treatment. “Glare back? Grovel? Rage? Try the sniffy is-this-the-America-I-once-knew tactic?” (p.5) Speaking in Arabic or wearing a Muslim skullcap is dangerous, an invitation to tough security. “Right now, Americans cannot tell the difference between Islam and Osama bin Laden.” (p.17) Paradoxically, New York seems to have grown into a kinder and gentler place and the “sudden intimacy-wavelength” is back on the streets.

Akbar’s sojourn in Turkey unveils little-known trivia. Biblical Noah’s ark landed on Mount Ararat, making the primeval navigator a “naturalised Turkish citizen.” St.Paul, the missionary, came from Adana in southern Turkey and Paris, the son of Priam in Greek mythology was also a Turk. Even Homer, the balladeer, was a Turk, living most of his life in Izmir (Smyrna). Akbar has an uncanny ability to relate India with whichever part he is visiting through obscure facts. The daughter of the last Ottoman Sultan married into the family of the last Nizam of Hyderabad. The wife of Napoleon’s foreign minister, Talleyrand, was an Indian from Calcutta. The Begum of Awadh sought and received refuge in Kathmandu after defeat and expulsion by the British. Bihari workmen in Mauritius speaking pidgin Bhojpuri-French arouse “volcanic emotions” in his heart. Indians in post-apartheid South Africa are wedging themselves above an emerging African middle class by lapping up posh residences.

In the Arab lands, Akbar dons Islamic historian specs and comments on the “fragrant memory” of Muslim rule over Andalusia that lingers. Spain is “an incessant part of popular consciousness” here, just as the Spanish have constant reminders that Arab Africa is only a few miles of sea away. Nearly 4000 Arabic words have entered Spanish vocabulary and signboards on Spanish highways are written in both Spanish and Arabic, the latter using original phonetics. A parallel influence of the colonised tongue on the former master’s language is Goa, which “continues to live in the Portuguese language.” (p.152)

Japan startles Akbar with its insularity. No foreign mobile phone works there and he sees “invisible Japanese walls to shut off the rest of the world’s economy from their market.” (p.87) Pakistan appears to be sinking in front of the author’s eyes. “When the civilians looted the country, the army served as a bulwark of reassurance. But if the army fails as well…the fundamentalists are waiting with an answer.” (p.120) Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina was, in contrast, empowering women with jobs, credit and housing ownership, but the social reform work has now run into rough weather with an Islamist backlash under Khaleda Zia. Kabul, Afghanistan’s battered capital, wears a transient look after the Taliban’s fall. “The present lives uneasily between yesterday’s and tomorrow’s wars.” (p.130) When the next war will start is anyone’s guess.

France offers mild shocks. In the classroom, café and coiffure, “a second French Revolution is taking place. The French are speaking English.” (p.157) The British may have lost their empire, but their lingo still lords over the world. Scotland is subject to a new invasion from the Bangladeshi restaurant selling Indian food. Down south in England, Indian cuisine is a chart-buster. Akbar adventitiously notes the problem of new confidence among British Asians that translates easily into belligerence and aggression.

Kashmir enthralls Akbar like no other place. In this greenest of valleys, “time becomes a pattern inside a kaleidoscope”, provided Pakistan gives it some respite. Since 1947, the Pakistan army’s strategy has not changed. “Send in troops, call them freedom-fighters and follow this up with a formal war if the ‘freedom-fighters’ fail to bring freedom.” (p.202) Bitterness against India or complaints against Allah will not give Pakistan answers to its profuse internal afflictions.

Moving to India proper, Akbar wonders what economic liberalisation is doing to the poor. “Indifference to public spending has been converted from an embarrassment into an achievement” by World Bank devotees. Change should not come at the expense of the hungry and democracy has to be a “daily business of incremental benefit” and “an economic fact” that travels in a positive direction for all classes in society. Social inequalities in the name of caste are no less degrading. Akbar quotes the heartless lawgiver Manu, “a man of inferior caste is not set free from slavery; for since that is innate in him, who can take it from him?” (p.211) Caste is a relationship loaded with “implicit violence and explicit cruelty.” Gender violence and “our biased and merciless male-centric culture” (p.385) also come in for some stick.

In one delightful exercise of counter-factual history, Akbar speculates that Hindu-Muslim amity could have survived on firmer footing had revolutionary nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose remained in Gandhi’s Congress and led the nation after independence. “Hinduism is synonymous with humanism. That is its essence and great liberating quality.” (p.237) Indian culture is “so open and flexible that it permits every outside influence some space with its cavernous folds.” (p.318) Akbar has stern words for those threatening inclusive India. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi ironically deserves the Nishan-i-Pakistan for trying to destroy the idea of an India where every citizen is equal irrespective of her faith.

On the lighter side, Akbar grieves multiple declines in the gentleman’s game of cricket. If cricket between India and Pakistan is a surrogate for war, Australia uses the sport as an “undeclared part of its struggle for independence from England.” (p.290) English fans continue to taunt Australia as their ‘colony’ populated by ‘rejected felons.’ Money is a germ that is sprouting greed in modern commercial cricket, leading to match fixing and other unimaginable crimes. “Cricket is money, not national pride. If money can work over ground, it can also work underground.” (p.312)

Akbar’s love for “our India” shines through the book, though never the blind ‘my-country-always-right’ sort. It is “destiny’s draw whether you are born into a generation of peace or a generation of horror…millions of us can be Indians. That is a lottery worth winning.” (p.333) Humbugs who delight in putting India down are given short shrift. “The instant assumption that Indians mess it up all the time invites suspicion.” (p.172)

The book’s final pages are dedicated to memories of famous personalities and places that are no more. “The present is a flickering illusion, everything lies in the past, for each fraction of time coverts the previous fraction into the past.” (p.367) Akbar recalls a Calcutta that once understood art, loved music and believed in books. With the angel of death going about her business cruelly, he pays homage to a growing list of personal friends-cum-public figures departing untimely. Every death leaves traces of one’s own mortality and impermanence.

Byline is no-holds-barred, quintessential MJ Akbar. Those who have only read his scholastic works may be startled by his rip-roaring sense of humour and facility with puns. Those who love intellectual journeys along unhindered thought chains must buy a copy straightaway.