The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America by William Kleinknecht

Interesting book about former president Late Ronald Regan and his legacy.

Since American society is now going through a mega transformation, no wonder it is of interest to many people to look at what brought us to this state. It is not necessarily a bad state but one that is making people really wonder if all the prosperity and wealth that we enjoyed over last 20 years was real. Whether it was real or not, how did we get here? What we lost in the process? Were the gains worth it compared to societal decline that we fail to see? Who sowed the seeds of the gradual decay? How did their choices and decision started off the decaying process?

A lot of questions. Witch hunting has to begin somewhere.

This book takes a critical look at Regan and his policies. It tries to make a case for how his policies started the process of general rot in the society. How his policies favored the rich and screwed the poor. How Regan and his cronies manipulated American population. Regan is regarded as the person who deregulated many things and gave more free hand to private enterprises. In that process how he let them make tonnes of money at the expense of common people. How he and his cronies engineered the systematic transfer of wealth from tax payers to some favored rich. It goes on and on.

Makes an interesting read. Regan was the president almost 20 years back. It is hard pin all the blame on him but one thing is sure the era of excesses began during that time. When going was good, everyone was happy. When things turned sour in 2008, no wonder we were left asking how we ever got into this stage. So, from that perspective, it does not hurt to ask tough questions of ourselves and our leaders.

Very well written book. Reads fast. Simple and lucid narration. Good book if you are interested in socio-political history over last 30 years.

Cheers!

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50th year anniversary of Sri Eknath Easwaran's arrival in the US

Recently Blue Mountain Center of Meditation (BMCM) (www.easwaran.org) celebrated 50th anniversary of Easwaran's arrival in the US. It was a very simple program. 150 or so close friends of BMCM gathered at the beautiful 'ashram' of BMCM in Tomales, CA to commemorate the event. Very nice event. I was lucky and fortunate to be considered as one of the friends of BMCM. So, I got to attend. Anyone who chooses to get close those great people at BMCM, is welcomed with open arms. There is nothing more to it. All you need is a friendly attitude and some sort of commitment to Easwaran and his teachings. Rest all follows. Good things.

Sri Easwaran was an accomplished English professor at the university of Nagpur. He was a successful writer, teacher and a radio personality. He was an excellent teacher of English literature. His interests were varied. He read widely and wrote widely.

He had a chance to come to the US in 1959 as Fulbright scholar. He was first allotted University of Minnesota. He dazzled academics there. Since he had come to study about Emerson, people at University of Minnesota recommended him to get transferred to University of California at Berkeley after seeing his prowess in the area of Emerson and his works. So, Easwaran landed at UC, Berkeley. What followed is history.

He was already pretty deep into spirituality. He practiced it very diligently. It did not take much time for people to notice something marvelous in him. A set of very devoted and dedicated people started hanging out with him. He was also looking for similar people. He started teaching them about spirituality and how he saw life. Having excellent command over English helped a lot to convey rich Indian spiritualism to western audience. Thus was born Blue Mountain Center for Meditation.

BMCM, which started in an apartment in Berkeley, later moved to a 250 acre ranch in Tomales where it stands now. Easwaran spent 40 odd years writing several best seller books. He wrote excellent books on Hindu classics such as Bhagvadgita, Upanishads, Dhammapada etc. He did not box himself to one school or the other. He read widely and assimilated best from anywhere and everywhere. So, he went on to write about Christian and Islamic mystics also. He also wrote about people like Gandhi and Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan who had impressed him a lot by their activities during Indian freedom struggle.

BMCM put together a very nice program of selected videos which chronicle the master and his accomplishments after he came to the US. You can view them at http://www.easwaran.org/hope. I hope you will enjoy watching them.

If you are interested, you can pick up a book or two of Easwaran and see if he appeals to you. If you like, you can then attend retreats that BMCM conducts all over the US. Retreats are a great place to get started seriously with your 'sadhana'.

Cheers!

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50th year anniversary of Sri Eknath Easwaran's arrival in the US

Recently Blue Mountain Center of Meditation (BMCM) (www.easwaran.org) celebrated 50th anniversary of Easwaran's arrival in the US. It was a very simple program. 150 or so close friends of BMCM gathered at the beautiful 'ashram' of BMCM in Tomales, CA to commemorate the event. Very nice event. I was lucky and fortunate to be considered as one of the friends of BMCM. So, I got to attend. Anyone who chooses to get close those great people at BMCM, is welcomed with open arms. There is nothing more to it. All you need is a friendly attitude and some sort of commitment to Easwaran and his teachings. Rest all follows. Good things.

Sri Easwaran was an accomplished English professor at the university of Nagpur. He was a successful writer, teacher and a radio personality. He was an excellent teacher of English literature. His interests were varied. He read widely and wrote widely.

He had a chance to come to the US in 1959 as Fulbright scholar. He was first allotted University of Minnesota. He dazzled academics there. Since he had come to study about Emerson, people at University of Minnesota recommended him to get transferred to University of California at Berkeley after seeing his prowess in the area of Emerson and his works. So, Easwaran landed at UC, Berkeley. What followed is history.

He was already pretty deep into spirituality. He practiced it very diligently. It did not take much time for people to notice something marvelous in him. A set of very devoted and dedicated people started hanging out with him. He was also looking for similar people. He started teaching them about spirituality and how he saw life. Having excellent command over English helped a lot to convey rich Indian spiritualism to western audience. Thus was born Blue Mountain Center for Meditation.

BMCM, which started in an apartment in Berkeley, later moved to a 250 acre ranch in Tomales where it stands now. Easwaran spent 40 odd years writing several best seller books. He wrote excellent books on Hindu classics such as Bhagvadgita, Upanishads, Dhammapada etc. He did not box himself to one school or the other. He read widely and assimilated best from anywhere and everywhere. So, he went on to write about Christian and Islamic mystics also. He also wrote about people like Gandhi and Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan who had impressed him a lot by their activities during Indian freedom struggle.

BMCM put together a very nice program of selected videos which chronicle the master and his accomplishments after he came to the US. You can view them at http://www.easwaran.com/hope. I hope you will enjoy watching them.

If you are interested, you can pick up a book or two of Easwaran and see if he appeals to you. If you like, you can then attend retreats that BMCM conducts all over the US. Retreats are a great place to get started seriously with your 'sadhana'.

Cheers!

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Passion & Passionate

"Without passion you can not achieve anything." "Passionate people make all the difference." "Passionate people fire up everyone around them."

We hear a lot of such stuff. Business books and business leaders (such as Jack Welch of GE) go on to say that 'it may not be fair but passionate and energetic people tend to be more successful than genuinely brilliant people.'

I have observed a few things about passion and passionate people.

Some people think they are passionate just because they are attached to their opinion so closely that  their opinions have become their second skin. Do you really call that passion? I doubt it. I call it 'uncalled for stubbornness'. Nothing convinces them to change their opinions. If something other than their opinion is thrust upon them (say from their superiors), they will half heartedly follow it or find every way to sabotage it. Is that passion? I do not think so.

I think real passion is doing whatever it takes to reach the end goal without worrying too much about the means (as long as they are legal and not immoral). That means if you have to put your own opinions aside for the sake of common good and rally behind somebody else's opinion, you just do that. You do that with all energy, enthusiasm giving your very best. That's passion. That's dedication and that's success.

I think it suffices it to say one has to be passionate about his or her goals and not passionate only about his/her opinions. If somebody makes a case to change your way which may help achieve your goals more optimally, you do so. That's passion.

Cheers!

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A case of exploding magoes

A Case of Exploding Mangoes (Vintage) by Mohammed Hanif

Very interesting book. If you are from the Indian sub-continent and if you have any interest in the intriguing political scene of 1980s, you will surely enjoy this book.

What's this book about? It is supposed to be a novel. But, it is based on the real life events that led to the death of dictator Zia Ul Haq who ruled Pakistan from 1977 to 1988.

Except one or two characters, all other characters in this book are real. Zia Ul Haq is real. His ever powerful ISI chief Akthar is real and so are many others. Other two characters may be real too but since they are not known very well, I think they are introduced to make sure the book comes as a novel.

Book reads like fine political thriller. At times it gets comical especially if you know how politics and idiot politicians of the subcontinent operate.

After reading the book, if you still have some lingering doubts, do read more about Haq in Wikipedia at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zia-ul-Haq.

His assassination, conspiracy theories, who may have played part in his killing etc. are very well discussed again in Wikipedia at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theories_about_the_death_of_Zia-ul-Haq

Mohammed Hanif, as the BBC head for Urdu service, I am sure, knows far more than what he could comfortably record in his book. But, it is still a good read.

Language of the book at times gets little tedious and takes away the sensational aspect away. That's one are book could have been better. Thrillers are supposed to be page turners without requiring reader to really 'read'  it.

All in all  a great read.

One thing that comes to mind after I finish reading every one of these political thrillers is, what kind of things go on at the highest levels of our society, who really rules us, what are their motives, how they choose between friends and foes, how they pull off daring conspiracies, is this world full of conspiring people who after each other.

Cheers!

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Kill Khalid

Kill Khalid: The Failed Mossad Assassination of Khalid Mishal and the Rise of Hamas (Hardcover)

by Paul McGeough

This book makes a very interesting reading if you are in anyway fascinated by middle eastern politics, terrorism, Israel-Palestine conflict etc.

You may have heard about 'Hamas'- Palestinian militant revolutionary organization. However, its leader Khalid Mishal (Mashal) is relatively unknown despite his popularity in the region.

In 1997, Mossad - the famed and much feared Israeli intelligence agency - launched an audacious bid on Mishal's life at Amman, the capital of neighboring country Jordan. Israel has been known for its past liquidations of Arab leaders especially Palestinian leaders which Israel found as threat to its security. If you want to know more about past state-sponsored killings of Israel, watch the movie 'Munich'.

Attempt on Khalid Mishal's life did not go as planned. The plan was to spray a secret poison into his ears and make it look like as a fumble between people walking on the road. A group of Mossad agents went to Amman posing as Canadian tourists, tracked Mishal and sprayed the poison when he was about to enter his office. But, the script did not go well. It did not look like an innocent incident like two people dashing to each other on the street. Mishal's body guard noticed something unusual, chased the assassins and caught some of them. Then Jordanian police caught some more. Overall operation was a disaster. For Mossad, it was big humiliation.

What happened after this incident is the main content of this book. It was an earth shattering incident in the middle eastern diplomatic circles. In order to understand the nature of the problem, you have to understand very delicate political details during 1997 between Israel and its neighbors. Jordan was the only country which was trying its best with utmost sincerity to improve its relationship with Israel. Late King Hussain of Jordan had gone out of his way and much against the wishes of the people of the region to renew peace efforts with Israel. While giving an impression of reciprocity from outside, Israel had taken the risk of sabotaging Jordan's goodwill, that too on Jordanian soil.

There was a flurry of diplomatic activities soon after the incident. Mishal had been sprayed with unknown poison which was going to kill him silently in 48 to 72 hours. Mossad agents had been captured. King Hussain was livid and making calls to all political leaders to put pressure on Israel. People like then president of USA Clinton and important people like many US secretaries, politicians, Canadian politicians etc. get involved and situation becomes really explosive and ugly.

King Hussain makes Israel to deliver antidote for the poison lest he walks out of peace process. He also negotiates the release of many important Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails as the condition to return captured Mossad agents and maintain relationship with Israel. USA is very disappointed with Israel for backstabbing the entire peace process which President Clinton personally oversaw. Canada is livid because Mossad agents used forged Canadian passports to arrive in Jordan as Canadian tourists. Israel is embarrassed beyond belief as people in Israel, after being used to eye popping successes of Mossad in previous operations, are baying for the blood of then prime minister Netanyahu, Mossad chief Yotom. King Hussain is in dilemma because he has to extract maximum mileage from this situation while carefully preserving his power base and maintain delicate equation with another Palestinian stalwart late Yasir Arafat and difficult neighbors such as Syria, Iraq and important Arab allies such Egypt, Iran etc.

Great read. The book written on real facts and incidents reads better than spy thriller.

Cheers!

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