This is the next big thing in our lifetime. More than 40 billionaires as quoted in newspapers and media world wide are donating half of their wealth and belongings to charity. Even the "Little Emperor" of facebook plans to give away 6 billion dollars to this charity front. All this under the influence of the "Sage of Omaha" Warren Buffett and the "IT biz wizard" Bill Gates. It all sounds good and perfect, but then again I sit down and think, it takes ages to build this kinda of money and wealth. There are some things that bother me loud and clear.
1. I could digest one or two of them discovering their inner sanctity and follow the path of charity like the "The Monk who sold his Ferrari", but this happening sounds more like a race to occupy their position and place.
2. If the money is being donated to BIll Gates and Melinda Charity foundation, then where is it being used? Logically with this kind of money in place, clear results should be seen in the matter of few years.
3. How come all these shrewd cut throat businessman, talk about the mexican billionaire who recently scored the number one position. All these distinguished gentlemen who spent a good part of their young lives earning all this money. How come all of them they are giving it away so easily.
It's just that sometimes there are events that are very difficult to digest. This is without a doubt one such event. Although I wish that all this is done for the good of mankind.
Deep inside my gut feeling says otherwise. It seems more like saving your moolah for next big global or economical catastrophe.
Bah..I might be wrong, but the truth is that I just can't sink my teeth into this
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Vodka Shot and Beer Mug
One cold winter night, at a corporate reunion party, two old friends Anurag and Kanika are surrounded by ghosts from their not so distant past. A night when they recollect the pain in the eyes of the woman who never cried. They realize the innate fear from the heartfelt anger and anguish of a dejected lover.
They meet the pied piper who was overwhelmed by the results of his own charm. The scorpion - woman who would sting you and blind you to all her deeds, the man whose hunger and lust always dragged him to difficult ends. A man who hung on till the end to ensure he doesn't lose the love of his life.
Does the night end there and they succumb to their worst fears, or do they confront it and live to talk about it?"
"Vodka Shot and Beer Mug" is inspired by the incidents and hearsay of what we have experienced during the last six - seven years of our corporate life.
Our life is no different from any of the average professionals in CSC who live in Delhi with dream of accomplishing big milestones in their career and enjoy spending time with their family and friends. The difference is the people we’ve known. The people with intense shades that never stopped to amaze us even today. Every interaction, every conversation deciphers totally new angle and a different aspect of life and relationship.
We are both friends with each other for about six years, and the one thing we both enjoy is discussing life from our respective gender point of view. The idea for the book generated from the actual arguments between both of us. Whenever we discussed about some of our common friends, we shared a difference in opinion. Most of it had to do with the gender differences. Probably, it’s the way men and women think. We tried to put to life a few examples from our lives and how we share a different thought process pertaining to a similar situation.
And here the idea was born to write the book, the idea of what now we call, “Vodka shot and Beer Mug”.
The novel beautifully depicts the intricacies of relationships in the backdrop of corporate settings today. It shows the culture of MNCs, how some people survive the competition and some use different means to reach the top. The ulterior motives of the advances made by the MNC bosses have been revealed. The novel at the same time shows how people get down to fatal consequences in the race of becoming the ‘happening’ one. The irony of the so called ‘feminine individuality’ has been explored, and all this in an easy language without much ambiguity involved. On one hand, it talks about the misuse of the liberties which you get in the MNCs and on the other hand, it humorously depicts the doings of a nymphomaniac corporate professional whose only aim in life is to get laid. The language of the novel is that used in the corporate world and therefore gives the real feel to the readers.
This is our first stint in writing and first encounter with the publishing world. We must have critically analyzed and characterized a lot of our friends in the process, but that is where we drew our inspirations from. We tried to put on paper what we experienced, without any intention of offending anyone.
So folks, look forward to the latest edition of "Vodka shot and Beer Mug" published by Pustak Mahal under the imprint of Cedar books, soon to be released in the month of May. You may buy it from the nearest book stores or you can also find it on the official website of Pustak Mahal i.e. www.pustakmahal.com in the fiction section.
Grab a copy for yourself and don't forget to email us your feedback. We would be keen to hear back from our CSC counterparts.
Kashish Kalra Amarjit Rajkumar
(kashish.chugh@gmail.com (adam27roswell@gmail.com
They meet the pied piper who was overwhelmed by the results of his own charm. The scorpion - woman who would sting you and blind you to all her deeds, the man whose hunger and lust always dragged him to difficult ends. A man who hung on till the end to ensure he doesn't lose the love of his life.
Does the night end there and they succumb to their worst fears, or do they confront it and live to talk about it?"
"Vodka Shot and Beer Mug" is inspired by the incidents and hearsay of what we have experienced during the last six - seven years of our corporate life.
Our life is no different from any of the average professionals in CSC who live in Delhi with dream of accomplishing big milestones in their career and enjoy spending time with their family and friends. The difference is the people we’ve known. The people with intense shades that never stopped to amaze us even today. Every interaction, every conversation deciphers totally new angle and a different aspect of life and relationship.
We are both friends with each other for about six years, and the one thing we both enjoy is discussing life from our respective gender point of view. The idea for the book generated from the actual arguments between both of us. Whenever we discussed about some of our common friends, we shared a difference in opinion. Most of it had to do with the gender differences. Probably, it’s the way men and women think. We tried to put to life a few examples from our lives and how we share a different thought process pertaining to a similar situation.
And here the idea was born to write the book, the idea of what now we call, “Vodka shot and Beer Mug”.
The novel beautifully depicts the intricacies of relationships in the backdrop of corporate settings today. It shows the culture of MNCs, how some people survive the competition and some use different means to reach the top. The ulterior motives of the advances made by the MNC bosses have been revealed. The novel at the same time shows how people get down to fatal consequences in the race of becoming the ‘happening’ one. The irony of the so called ‘feminine individuality’ has been explored, and all this in an easy language without much ambiguity involved. On one hand, it talks about the misuse of the liberties which you get in the MNCs and on the other hand, it humorously depicts the doings of a nymphomaniac corporate professional whose only aim in life is to get laid. The language of the novel is that used in the corporate world and therefore gives the real feel to the readers.
This is our first stint in writing and first encounter with the publishing world. We must have critically analyzed and characterized a lot of our friends in the process, but that is where we drew our inspirations from. We tried to put on paper what we experienced, without any intention of offending anyone.
So folks, look forward to the latest edition of "Vodka shot and Beer Mug" published by Pustak Mahal under the imprint of Cedar books, soon to be released in the month of May. You may buy it from the nearest book stores or you can also find it on the official website of Pustak Mahal i.e. www.pustakmahal.com in the fiction section.
Grab a copy for yourself and don't forget to email us your feedback. We would be keen to hear back from our CSC counterparts.
Kashish Kalra Amarjit Rajkumar
(kashish.chugh@gmail.com (adam27roswell@gmail.com
Monday, April 19, 2010
The New Perspective for Mahatma
All our lives we have wondered about our culture and heard our elders talking about the deteriorating values. Personally, I believe we are no different from what we were. The only possible difference is that US the next wave indians have the guts to take truth however grotesque and scary on its face value without adulterating it a bit.
I recently read an excerpt from Jad Adams new book "Gandhi : Naked Ambitions".
I wondered should this anger me, should it make me feel like flying down to england, trace him and shoot him.
Instead I was intrigued by what he wrote. It presented "Bapu", in a totally new picture. Since childhood we've heard of this near God like person, who single handedly drove millions to achieve freedom for our proud nation.
But, if I may take the liberty to say that I represent many like me. I could never ever relate to this demi god of righteousness. For me he was either a picture on my principal's wall, a picture from my history books, a face on a 500 rupees note, or could relate his name to a holiday.
This book reveals the man behind the Mahatma, although one might feel insulted and enraged by the mention of his sexual beliefs. But I believe that's a crucial part of being of a man, what we need to look at is that despite his weaknesses , how he stepped up on every pedestial to pursue his goal.
Personally, I believe to achieve something as big as a Nation's Freedom, one has to be a bit eccentric. I don't know of others but I have made up my mind to get hold of this book, because for the first time I can relate to "Gandhi the Man" and not the mythical being. We need to let go off our pseudomoralistic stand and try to embrace the thought of this man withstanding and standing up to his own weaknesses and reinventing revolution .
I believe nothing describes the approach we should take better than this quote from the movie "The American President" .
" Being President of this country is entirely about character. For the record: yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is why aren't you, Bob? Now, this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution? If you can answer that question, folks, then you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a few hours ago. America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free".
"Always was and Always am. Proud to be an Indian"
You can read more about the book at this link: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/thrill-of-the-chaste-the-truth-about-gandhis-sex-life-1937411.html
I recently read an excerpt from Jad Adams new book "Gandhi : Naked Ambitions".
I wondered should this anger me, should it make me feel like flying down to england, trace him and shoot him.
Instead I was intrigued by what he wrote. It presented "Bapu", in a totally new picture. Since childhood we've heard of this near God like person, who single handedly drove millions to achieve freedom for our proud nation.
But, if I may take the liberty to say that I represent many like me. I could never ever relate to this demi god of righteousness. For me he was either a picture on my principal's wall, a picture from my history books, a face on a 500 rupees note, or could relate his name to a holiday.
This book reveals the man behind the Mahatma, although one might feel insulted and enraged by the mention of his sexual beliefs. But I believe that's a crucial part of being of a man, what we need to look at is that despite his weaknesses , how he stepped up on every pedestial to pursue his goal.
Personally, I believe to achieve something as big as a Nation's Freedom, one has to be a bit eccentric. I don't know of others but I have made up my mind to get hold of this book, because for the first time I can relate to "Gandhi the Man" and not the mythical being. We need to let go off our pseudomoralistic stand and try to embrace the thought of this man withstanding and standing up to his own weaknesses and reinventing revolution .
I believe nothing describes the approach we should take better than this quote from the movie "The American President" .
" Being President of this country is entirely about character. For the record: yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is why aren't you, Bob? Now, this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution? If you can answer that question, folks, then you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a few hours ago. America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free".
"Always was and Always am. Proud to be an Indian"
You can read more about the book at this link: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/thrill-of-the-chaste-the-truth-about-gandhis-sex-life-1937411.html
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