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Happy plus rich anyone?

Who is the author Steven Bartlett? He is a successful entrepreneur and the host of UK's No.1 podcast 'The Diary of a CEO’. The reason he writes this book, is that as an 18 year old insecure dropout, he wrote in his diary that by the age of 25 he would like to be a 'happy sexy millionaire.' When he got there he realised that the world had lied to him. This book is about why he thinks so. He dismantles these lies over sixteen chapters, interestingly titled like ‘mum, stop asking me about love' and 'my assistant can't talk to me on Mondays’. Evidently, the book has a very young lingo- the author is just 31 years old.

Here are our five BookStrapping insights.

1 - The more I read books that guide people towards mindful productivity, the more I feel they should be made a mandatory part of high school reading. Can we help minds mature before the point of no return?

2 - Here’s a key idea from the book- ‘‘if you want to avoid making the same mistake twice, make more decisions based on your past memories and less decisions based on the current emotions." Worth thinking about.

3 - The author points out that ‘social media’ has become an ‘arena for status.’ Naturally, this has led to a decrease in meaningful connections with people underestimating the power of journalling but we cannot keep all the thoughts to ourselves writing them down provide the question for venting and a safe space to observe one’s emotions. 

4 - To emphasise the importance of time management, Bartlett quotes Tom Stevenson, when he says "we can work harder or longer to earn more money. We can go to the supermarket to get more grocery. We can buy the latest and greatest gadgets, but no matter how hard we try, we are stuck with an ever diminishing amount of time."

5 - I read this book as a personal manifesto. The author is young, unmarried, has no children and has dedicated his life to the success he promised himself. He built a company from nothing to 200 million from his bedroom in Manchester. He could be seen as role model and therefore, can resonate with a young audience that looks upto him.

Many themes are touched upon in the book; such as loneliness, which is understandable as the author operates in the space of social media - which reinforces the unfortunate fact that people being trained from a young age to determine self work through comparison. The author reminds is that our imperfections are the very things that make us unique. Here’s to being able to handle differences in opinion and celebrating individuality.

Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’

Bookstrapping: Happy Sexy Millionaire by Steven Bartlett

The back cover of the book, 'Madam president', calls it the first ever authentic biography of Droupadi Murmu written by Sandeep Sahu. The accounts in the book are gathered painstakingly from several first person opinions and perspectives. The book itself does well to  examine both the significance and the symbolism of India's first tribal President.

And one cannot miss that the young NCC cadet who could not afford INR60 to travel to represent the state of Odisha for the Republic Day Parade, now presides over it. Such is the power of a democracy.

Here are our five bookstrapping insights:

The nomination of Droupadi Murmu, as the presidential candidate was surprising for those who hadn't heard of her -  on the one hand it led to rival parties ending up on the same side. On the other hand, Murmu was called disparaging things from 'rubber stamp' to representing a 'very evil philosophy' to 'a statue, whose voice has never been heard.' 

The author asks the question whether Murmu's candidature was meant to puncture the narrative that tribals have a distinct religion of their own by suggesting that they're actually Hindus.

The attributes Droupadi Murmu is credited with, include being an expert broom-maker, singer and tunda player. Tunda is  a native musical instrument! There's a lot of colloquial language splattered all over the book which makes for a very authentic narrative.

The book is generously garnished with anecdotes; for instance, on a particularly rainy day during childhood, when floods in Murmu's village took the water up to four feet,  on her path to school, Murmu swam the distance while holding her bag aloft, making sure it did not get wet. Such was her dedication to education, and this continues till date!

Murmu also won hearts as the governor of Jharkhand. Especially when she used her constitutional powers to 'stall' a bill that was anti-tribal and helped to stop a secessionist movement from building up.

She is credited with being the most travelled governor ever! Instead of sitting inside Raj Bhavan, she was out meeting people, listening and empathising with the poor every single day. The book also offers insights into the practical workings of the presidential election through secret ballot as well as other leaders of the state of Odisha. 

Time to get to know your president better; the tribal lady who made the journey from Uparbeda village in Rairangpur to Raisina!

Bookstrapping: Madam President - The Biography of Droupadi Murmu by Sandeep Sahu

Why do we get inked on the left forefinger after voting for the Lok Sabha elections? Because such an order was passed in 1996! Yes, elections are hard work.
 
And once upon a time, the fearsome TN Seshan was the man in-charge. In government service for close to four decades before he became the Central Election Commissioner (CEC), he shares that as an IAS officer, he was answerable to others even though he had reached the top of the ladder of civil service. However as the CEC, he was answerable to none except the Parliament, the laws and the courts. His goal was to abide by the constitution and the laws and pursue the goal of free and fair election. Neat!
 
Here are our BookStrapping insights.

On one occasion in Class 4, Seshan studied all night for an exam but blundered by submitting the question paper instead of the answer paper to the examiner. When he realised this later, he went back to submit the answer paper but the headmaster did not allow it. His mother calmly asked him to give up the habit of studying late into the night so he would be more ‘present’, an advise he followed religiously throughout his life.

There is a twinge of regret when Seshan mentions that the youngest of his sisters Janaki was stopped from going to college after matriculation! This was just after independence; a freedom that wasn't protected!

There are some shocking electoral irregularities listed in the book- capturing candidates and leaving them stranded in the forest or locking them up in rooms so that they could not file nominations on time. This chapter is unputdownable!

There is a proper mention of his famous ‘polished call girl’ controversy in which he referred IAS officers as ‘constantly prostituting their position’. Seshan believes that even though he was quoted out of context, his remarks encouraged good debate.

The book discusses pertinent concerns about the conduct of political parties; do they function in accordance with their own party’s constitution? (the one they submit to the election commission at the time of registration.

Over twenty three tightly written chapters, the reader will get a good glimpse into the minutiae of running elections in a democracy; such as the evolution of the voter id, introduction of postal ballots and permissible election spendings. Also, the regret of knowing that whatever work he had done, could be undone in due course stayed with him. What kept his spirit alive was the faith that people would rise against misuse of authority and corruption!
 
He was India’s own Ramon Magsaysay Award winner whose phone did not stopped ringing till his last day! And he would pick it up himself!

Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’

Bookstrapping: Through the broken glass by TN Seshan

In Supermindful, author Eliza Lay Ryan makes a strong point that 'ignoring what we don't like' is not a mindset that is helpful in every situation. Sometimes it puts us at risk. Far better to learn from what other people are doing. Or better still, 'human beings must think themselves into other people's places' and expand their own range of experiences.

This is echoed in a statement by artist Marcel Duchamp, "I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste." That was a good one. 

Here are our five #BookStrapping insights-:

1- Try this! Smile with your eyes and the corners of your mouth and think 'life is horrible!" You really can't, can you? 

2 - This is where acting "like something else' comes in. A quote by Meryl Streep features in the book, saying "I'm curious about people. That's the essence of my acting."

3 - Applying playfulness to adults, the author reminds us that we have the ability to go beyond ourselves to become more of ourselves and synthesise something new! A new us, perhaps?

4 - Offering a scientific definition of mindfulness, the author quotes Jon Kabat Zinn and says it's about paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally, in the service of self understanding and wisdom! Golly.

5 - The question therefore remains, is it highly possible that what is called 'talented behaviour' is simply a greater capacity for experiencing? From this point of view, does the increase of an individual's capacity to experience, unlock one's full potential.

This book brought to mind, a few interesting conversations on LinkedIn, about how all self help books tend to mostly be the same. And yet, every author finds their own audience and interprets concepts in their own way. There's also a section in the book on '52 ways to wonder' and cultivate super-mindfulness. Neat!

Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’

Bookstrapping: Supermindful by Eliza Lay Ryan

How good a friend are you?
 
When it comes to competitive sports, injuries, heartbreaks and superhuman achievements are all in the mix. Yet, it is those with long careers like Cristiano Ronaldo, Novak Djokovic or MS Dhoni who are remembered. One such hero in rugby, a sport not followed much in India, is Kevin Sinfield. And his story is special.
 
“The extra mile’ makes you spare a thought for those sportspersons who lose their careers to injury or illness? Rugby athlete Rob Burrow is one such person. Do they have to settle for a lifetime of pity parties? Or can there be more?
 
Here are our bookstrapping insights:
 
1. The most important thing to note is that ‘The Extra Mile’ is not a book about rugby. It's a book about humanity, compassion and what you will do for someone who’s not as lucky as you are.

2. What's the premise of the book? Our author, rugby legend Kevin Sinfield and his team-mate Rob Burrow were stars on the international rugby stage. And then, Rob Burrow was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in December 2019. What is MND? Think Stephen Hawking. Normally, a lot of sympathy would be expressed towards Rob and then people would’ve moved on. But Kevin Sinfield did not move on! Then what did he do?

3. The book is a gripping account of how Sinfield stood by his former team-mate. He set himself a series of extraordinary endurance challenges, including running seven ultra marathons in seven days and over 100 miles in a single day, to raise awareness and millions of pounds for the cause of MND.

4. Sinfield has said, “When something like that happens to a friend you want to help, and I have to say a number of that team have gone above and beyond with fundraising attempts in the way we've come together and supported each other.” But how often does this happen?

5. In an interview, Sinfield spoke about the book. "I never wanted to write a book. I don't particularly like running either, but that's the influence Rob has had on me…..I’m quite a private person, but also I didn't want just another sports book out there which was very 'samey' to everything else out there!

There’s nothing ‘samey’ about this book and the world could do with more Kevin Sinfields. He came second behind former lawn tennis world no.1 Andy Murray on the BBC Sports Personality of the year awards in 2022. That's probably also a function of viewership metrics. Here’s to celebrating compassion.


Bookstrapping: The Extra Mile by Kevin Sinfield

All things finite and fleeting


Having perspective requires hard work. This was my learning from the book by Arie Kruglanski; a worldwide expert and authority on human motivation. Titled 'uncertain-how to turn your biggest fear into your greatest power,' the book is written in a very indulgent and supportive tone.


The book is divided into three parts ; escaping uncertainty, closure's consequences and embracing uncertainty. Kruglanski packs a punch with pithy anecdotes, psychological concepts and data embedded in just the right amount within them. 


Here are our five Bookstrapping insights:


1. What can support us during moments of uncertainty? Religion? Maybe; but the author clarifies that religious faith is not a substitute for responsible decision-making.


2. Can we keep hope alive during uncertainty? Victor Frankl managed to do so, during his three years in Nazi concentration camps. How did he find meaning in adversity? 


3. The author makes a case that securely attached adults are more comfortable with certainty. Hence, they explore more freely and are more adventurous. On the other hand, adults with insecure relationships tend to find solace on stereotypes and prejudices. 


4. The author makes an excellent connection between alcohol consumption and impulsive actions. People find it difficult to process information that is different from what they 'froze' upon in their intoxicated state. 


5. Empathy is a crucial ingredient of the human connection. Lack of it can result in an inability to appreciate another person's view and a vilification of them as wrong or unintelligent.


The author hits a home run when he cites findings that experienced meditators don't have to exercise deliberate control over their feelings! It's effortless. The question really is, can YOU cope with the inherent impermanence of all things?


Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On instagram @officialReetaGupta

Bookstrapping: Uncertainty - how to change your biggest fear into your greatest power by Arie Kruglanski

A child born on Christmas day, in pre-independence India in 1924, Atal Bihari Vajpayee is a native of Bateshwar a place described as a second Banaras. When he was just 10 years old, his father was promoted to bethe headmaster of the AVM school in Barnagar near Ujjain. This was a major change in setting at the time!

For a man who eventually earned great acclaim for his oratory, the beginnings of Vajpayee’s speech-making were not particularly memorable!During his school annual day debate, he began to stammer while speaking and this changed his life! He took a pledge that he would never rote learn a speech again and formed his own style.

His youth was marked by trips to the Arya Samaj gatherings in Gwalior, the city where his father was transferred from Ujjain. Fortuitous again as the RSS and its predecessor the Hindu Mahasabha were gathering steam in Gwalior. Eventually, it was in Kanpur, at the DAV college that he eventually completed his Masters.

Here are our BookStrapping insights.

This is the first of a two-part volume.The author clarifies upfront that it is not a tribute and prepares you for a candid account.

As a young udaymaan kavi (fiery poet), Vajpayee had his own curious quirks; he loved his ‘maajum’ (a sweet made of bhaang) and like many at the time, got arrested for anti-government propaganda! It is important to note that he was forming his opinions at a time when thanks to Jinnah and the Muslim League,India’s freedom had come by walking over dead bodies.

The book talks about Atal’s love for Rajkumari Kaul, which blossomed in Gwalior and continued to old Delhi. It makes a reference o their child together Baby Gunnu, later to be named ‘Namita.’ It refers to Rajkumari as devoted to her husband and Birjan Kaul, her husband as stoic about her relationship with Atal.

The book profiles Vajpayee’s early allegiance and later differences with Deendayal Upadhyaya, credited as the founder of the Jan Sangh, to the ultimate puzzle of the latter’s murder, in which Vajpayee himself was considered a suspect

The book talks about how Vajpayee took care of his extended family of nieces and nephews but eventually, he emotionally outgrew these ties and had to live according to his stature as the head of the Janata Party.
When Vajpayee’s Janata Party won the post-emergency elections; the New York Times famously pointed out that all he was interested in was to win recognition in the UN for Hindi language. The British Foreign Office was quick to clarify that his name must be pronounced ‘BadgePie.’

Poet, India’s erstwhile Prime Minister of 13 days, rousing orator, and political maven, Vajpayee’s life is projected as one of ample colour and consequence! The book however, boldly treads unexplored territory and offers a new narrative, away from his ‘moderate, bachelor image’.


Bookstrapping: VAJPAYEE: The ascent of the Hindu right (1924-1977)

The book ‘What I learnt about investing from Darwin’ by Pulak Prasad, the founder of Nalanda Capital starts with a comparison between evolutionary biologists and investors, and wonders why the former get better at their craft and the latter get worse. 

Why has he written this book? “Most investment methods don't work over the long run. Ours has, and hence I’m sharing my thoughts with you,” he says candidly. He explains that Re.1, invested in Nalanda’s first fund, during its inception in 2007, would be worth Re.13.8 in Sept 2022 beating the Sensex, which would've yielded Re. 3.9, and the mid cap index which would've yielded Re. 4.

My curiosity is piqued, as Prasad shares anecdotes about deers, dodos, sea urchins, marmots, bumblebees etc; to make his point. My favourite chapter is ‘The Siberian Solution,’ where he actually tells you how to filter good investments from bad. And yes, there are wolves and dogs in that chapter too!

Our Bookstrapping insights are as follows -

Minimise losses: The book is organised into three sections; avoid big risks, buy high quality at a fair price and don't be lazy, be very lazy. The last one in particular, means ‘just don't do it’, because cutting your own losses is the most important key to long term success.

Reading can change your life: Prasad’s life changed after reading ‘The Selfish Gene’ by Richard Dawkins, referenced by Charlie Munger at one of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meetings.

Every book is made better by a sense of humour: Almost everyone makes mistakes, the author says - but this does not include his wife. Funny! These mistakes happen because we don't do the things we are supposed to and do the things we aren’t. Point taken!

Have a core philosophy: Citing the example of the Indian equity market, the author says that as of 2020, about 70-80 percent of funds had constantly underperformed the market, over a period of three, five and 10 years. He contrasts this with his own philosophy; ‘we want to be permanent owners of high quality businesses. We don't invest unless we think we can own a business forever.’

See through the facade: The book asks you to make a distinction between managements that speak well, and managements that lead well. Ok!

Prasad’s principle of ‘be lazy’ is really something young investors must understand thoroughly. ‘Not buying’ is the key skill for Pulak and he sums it up with ‘ a great investor is a great rejector!’

The multi-disciplinary approach between evolution and investing in the book, is an aid and not a deterrent to reading and the only thing I would request is, ‘can the font size be larger?’ Go make some money!

Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On instagram @officialReetaGupta

Bookstrapping: What I learned about investing from Darwin by Pulak Prasad

A world 'too big to know.'

What's a Meganet? It's a mix of huge numbers of people plus enormous amounts of computational processing power. Think of the Googles, Facebooks, crypto currencies and government systems. Whenever there is an attempt to regulate them, they never seem to really reform. Not because their founders don't want it but because no one is really in control. 

Here are five #Bookstrapping insights from this insightful, conscientious book by David B Aurebach.

1. A Meganet is persistent because its value comes from never being off-line and never being reset. There is no way to restart or pause a meganet without destroying it. 

2. Meganets leave us confused about cause and effect. It becomes difficult to gauge whether a chosen course of action is actually improving things or not.

3. Meganets have made self-determination a myth! Our indicators and habits will be used to sort us from our birth, and we will be constantly subjected to the decisions of algorithms, that cannot be explained or reversed.

4. Meganets often depart from their core function. For eg; when the Singapore government launched an app called TraceTogether, which used Bluetooth to keep a record of which citizens had been in close proximity with each other; it turns out that Singapore police solved a murder investigation using the same app. This is the moral conundrum we face.

5. An important MegaNet discussed is China's social credit system (SCS) which isolates and punishes bad actors by not allowing them to buy property or secure loans or engage in travel. It seeks to create incentives for those citizens who follow a 'sincerity culture.' The author posits that the uses of SCS could be a lot worse. 

From Bitcoin to Facebook, India's Aadhaar to the game of WarCraft, all are meganets. They exercise soft social control over the world, and this is no longer debatable. 

What we must acknowledge is that Meganets evolve faster then we can track them. Their workings are opaque even to their own administrators. Even though they remove human agency and de-individualise people, it is important to evaluate how we can exert human force to tame 'that' which is greater than the human. It's an uphill battle but not one we can avoid. 


Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On Instagram @officialReetaGupta

Bookstrapping: MegaNets by David B Aurebach

Mythology at breakneck speed


Welcome to a new universe. A universe where a trail of murder is afoot. A universe that takes you across all of time- all the epochs enumerated in Hindu mythology. Author Akshat Gupta’s ‘The Hidden Hindu’ trilogy credits its copyright to Dhoni Entertainment, who picked up the OTT rights even before the first book was published.

I read all three books at once, which may have given me an unfair advantage over reviewers who’ve looked at the books individually. Here are our #Bookstrapping insights -

1. Book one introduces you to Prithvi, a young man on a quest for immortality. He’s looking for Om Shastri - a devotee of Lord Shiva- who has lived the life of characters from the time of Ramayana and Mahabharata. He was Shusen, the Vedic doctor who saved Laxmana's life as well as Subhash Chandra Bose. “ I have been an Emperor. I have been a slave,’ he says, about his long innings.

2. Book two further unravels the mystery of Om Shastri’s past. An important question is posed to the reader- how have so many people been able to scale Mount Everest? The contrast is established vis-a-vis the sole Tibetan, Milarepa who managed to climb Mount Kailash, even though it is almost 7000 feet lesser than Everest. In doing so, a flush of fresh characters is introduced and the Taj Mahal turns black. Yes!

3. Book three cryptically reveals that the story is not over yet. This is perhaps the most philosophical part of the trilogy, where Om’s identity is revealed. The book says, ’Every man takes two births in life. The first is when he is born physically and the second occurs when he realises the purpose of his existence.’

4. One cannot miss the tendency for descriptive writing; the scenes are set vividly.The description of Paatal Lok as more beautiful than Swarga Lok in book three, is a case in point.

5. I spoke to a few fiction lovers. It turned out that Akshat Gupta, the author is both admired and not, in equal numbers; which is great because his writing is eliciting a response. What I also realised was that those who remembered (as they were reading) that the book is pure fiction- at every juncture- were enjoying it. Those who wondered how to draw the line between empirical truths and fictionalised religious philosophies, struggled to connect what they knew, to what they were reading.
 
Here’s a writer who attempted suicide after his marriage ended. Six years later,he published the first edition of The Hidden Hindu and re-scripted his life. He’s a bilingual writer, and there are instances where you realise this. The ordering of direct and indirect speech is visibly unique at times; at other times, a verse in Hindi or Sanskrit is not translated for the reader’s benefit.

But full credit to the imagination of the author.

 
Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On Instagram @officialReetaGupta

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