Excellent Book Ever

Month: April 2022

  • Best Books by Sudha Murty For kids :Gopi Diaries: The home coming By Sudha Murty

    Best Books by Sudha Murty For kids :Gopi Diaries: The home coming By Sudha Murty

    Sudha Murty is a known household name. She is a Philanthropist , the first female engineer and a believer in educating the poor.

    Gopi diaries are three books in all. They are about Sudha Murthy’s dog. She loves her dog so much that she has written about him.

    The first book is called coming home.It is about Gopi going to a new. It tells us how he adopts in his new home.

    Gopi is a loveable dog. After reading this book it seems that the dog has the same emotions as a human. Like it was decided to bring another dog home. Gopi gets angry. This can be compared to an older sibling getting angry when a younger sibling comes home.

    There are photos of the dog which are cute. There are funny scenes like the time gopi bangs into a mirror and thinks it is another dog. 

    The cover is attractive and so is the story. Gopi stays with Ajji and Appa. Gopi’s birthday is also celebrated.

    The second book is called Finding Love.

    In this book, gopi is grown up from the small puppy that he was in the first book. In this, the story is after one year.

    Though I am not fond of animals I loved this book.

     Book review of The old man and his god;

    There is a reason why I think this book is for kids. The stories in these books are about Generosity and selfishness. Today if children learn these at a small age it is good. These stories are written by her after experiences in life.

    In one story it is given that Murty had gone to Tibet. One old lady came and thanked her again and again. The lady’s grandson told her that Murty was from land that offered shelter to Dalai Lama. Maybe not all Indians support this policy of the Indian government but never the less the old lady thanked Murty.

    There is a story called the way you look at it. Once Murty had gone to a village in Karnataka. She decided to eat the village head. The food was tasty and many sweets were there. pleased with the food she decided to talk to the cook. The cook came and spoke in a low voice.

    Murty asked the cook if she needed anything.she said she needed toilets for the whole village. She could have asked for something for herself but she didnot. Such generosity is not there today.

    In Horegalla I learnt that just listing to other people’s problems it helps them that there is someone to listen to them. God has given us two ears and one mouth so that we listen more and speak less.

    When I used to run a library people came and told me their problems. Someone children did not listen to them or somebody bhai didnot come. Listing to them helped them.

    Other books by her are 

    Wise and otherwise: These are eye-opening stories from all over India.

    How I taught my grandmother to read and other stories. : Here Murthy who when she was 24 years was asked by her grandmother to teach her to read.

    Dollar Bahu: This book tells of how money corrupts people 

    The day I day stopped drinking milk: Here Murthy talks about the interesting people she has met.

    Books in the English language

    The Mother I Never Knew

    Three Thousand Stitches

    The Man from the Egg

    Here, There, Everywhere

    Magic of the Lost Temple

    How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and other stories

    The Old Man And His God

    Dollar Bahu

    Wise and Otherwise

    Mahashweta

    The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk

    The Serpent’s Revenge

    Gently Falls The Bakula

    House of Cards

    Something Happened on the Way To Heavens

    The Magic Drum and other favorite stories

    The Bird with the Golden Wings

    How The Sea Became Salty

    The Upside Down King

    The Daughter From A Wishing Tree

    Grandma’s Bag of Stories

    Gopi daries

    I am sure you will enjoy her books. They are written in a simple manner.

    sudhamurty#dogstories

  • Rowing between the rooftop : The heroic fisherman of the Kerala floods By Rejimon Kuttappan

    If you thought doctors working in hospitals during Covid are brave men, read about the fishermen of Kerela. In Kerala the fishermen along the coast are known for their bravery. Such bravery was seen when the 2018 floods broke out in Kerala.

    The genre would be courage.It is said we know the true nature of how much courage we have when we face a crisis.

    Rejimon Kuttappann was a journalist when in 2018 the floods broke out. He had interviews with this fisherman. Also, extensive research was done. These fishermen did not care for the heavy downpour. They had to dive deep and did not care about having diseases or sustaining injuries.

    The year was August 2018. The worst floods hit Kerela and the fishermen risked their lives to save the people of Kerela. This book is a tribute to those fishermen

    The first is the case of Annama. She had a 38-year-old physically challenged son, a 71-year-old husband who was a diabetic and a 96-year-old mother in law. Her house was not only full of water but due to the rains water still flooded their house. Her son, mother in law and husband were all washed away since they were too weak and old to hold on to something. Fishermen rescued her. But she did not want to leave the dead bodies behind.

    I was almost in tears when I read the above story .

    Three dead bodies were removed that day. The water according to Annamma was chilling cold. There was a lot of furniture which was wiped away. Despite being hurt fisherman removed the bodies. The boats and the fisherman were from Alappuzha. Annamma still has no answer to a question: Why did these fishermen risk their lives?

    Another story is about Saju. His father was unwell but as soon as he heard about the tragedy he decided to help in the rescue. About 18 boats were arranged. Men from coastal areas always carried a plastic bag which had a toothbrush soap and a change of clothes. This they kept in case they were stranded during a flood,.  But Sanju had no such thing.

    In many areas, the rescuers could not understand which is a road and which is a river. There were over six feet of running water. There was an aged man with an oxygen cylinder. They had to transport him also with the cylinder into the boat in a vertical position.  They managed it despite the boat shaking so much.

    The final chapter of the book is called “A history of Heroism”. This tells of forefathers of these fishermen had allegiance to the rulers Travancore . so I feel it is in the blood of this fisherman to be brave.

    There is also a mention of Vizhinjam. He was in his late fifties. He saved around 500 people. I admire him. When asked why did he rescue people whom he did not know he said “If not who else will do it?

    On 670 boasts 65,000 people were reduced. That is quite a number. It does not matter why the fisherman reduced people but we have to learn that it is humanity at its best.

    Writing is simple. This is a non-fiction book. The cost is 299Rs .

    #rowing#kerela

  • How to grow your wealth:13 steps to bloody good wealth by ASHWIN SANGHI and SUNIL DALAL

    Definition of wealth varies from person to person. People in college think having cola is wealth since they have less pocket money. In India, many people think having 3 meals per day is wealth because many are poor.

    In this, it is shown how one can become Wealthy in a wise way. A word of caution . Since wealth is difficult to handle do read the chapter of this book again and again. It might not be possible to understand all at the first go.

    STEP 1

    The first step is to know what wealth means to you. Than only you will know how much of wealth you want. In college, people have little pocket money But after college the definition of wealth changes.

    STEP 2

    .Most billionaires did not really want to become rich but do something great. You have to know that wealth does not come overnight.Classify your goals. Short time goals or long time goals. Don’t make your long term goals into short term goals otherwise the process of generating wealth becomes difficult.

    STEP 3

    There are two things you have to know at this stage. Growth vs inflation. If your wealth is growing inflation is cutting the wealth. Also, the difference between real and nominal returns is explained in a manner that everyone will understand.

    STEP 4

    Some people think spending less will means they will have more wealth. Others think that if you earn more you will get more wealth. But if you are earning more and spending more you will end up having less money. Pablo Picasso said “I would like to live as a poor man with lots of money”. 

    Few important tips are given here

    Start a sinking fund

    Bonuses from employment, are for saving. Don’t spend them.

    Watch your bank account

    There is the Li Kashing model for allocation for budgeting which is useful for planning the budget.

    Step 5 

    Create multiple sources of income.

    Today it is easy to start a business other than your normal job.When my friend was in India she used to paint as hobby. Now in the USA, she is selling those paintings. What started out as a hobby turned into income generation. Since her husband was earning this was a side income If you write well become a content writer, other than your normal job

    Some side jobs

    Online tutor

    Blogging

    Researcher

    Videographer/youtuber

    Dealing in Forex

    There are lot many more side jobs in the book.

    Side activities can be a stepping stone to an career.

    Step 6

    Money is a great servant but a bad master. It does not matter how much money you earn, it is how much you invest

    Investment ideas:

    Provident fund. After maturity, it helps to get money to live comfortably after retirement.

    The post office have a saving scheme.

    Shares. But remember if you make money you can also lose it when the market is down 

     Look on the net for schemes and then invest wisely.

    Step 7

    Robert Kiyosaki “s Rich dad poor dad says “Rich people acquire assets and the poor and middle class acquire liabilities. An asset puts money into your pocket. A liability takes money from your pocket. So what is a asset? For Naryan Murty his employer is an asset. If you want to  buy an iPhone while you have an android phone is in your phone the iphone cant be your asset but investing in apple stock can be your asset.

    Step 8  

    This talks about world of finance .

    There are three things involved . Risk, return and time. This chapter is most important if you want to understand the investment.

    Risk in investment should be understood. The return would imply if you invested 2rs did you get 4rs or only 2rs. After how much time did you get this investment is to be seen .0ne should try and understand risk. You can do this by looking at investopedia.com.  

    Also, see after how many months you will start using the return.

    Step 9 

    This is about asset allocation.

    Put your money to work in the best place in a mix.

    Usually, the share of equity in your asset allocation should be 100 minus your age but  you need to understand the risk factor.

    Different allocations will have different risks at different levels. 

    Step 10

    In this step the various assets are discussed 

    In liquid assets, we have mutual funds, In Illiquid assets, we have insurance, gold Venture Capital hedge funds.

    I did not know so many assets existed. This is the best chapter in the book. Knowing about so many assets is important.

    Step 11

    This talks about educating oneself to keep track of what is going on in the assets market and read the fine print of the offer document. Stay one step ahead of where to invest. Track and review your investment.

    Step 12

    This takes about debts and how to avoid them.

    Step 13

    How to manage tax and assets are given.

    The best part of the book is the key takeaways that is give  at the end of the chapter. Overall I would say this a good for anyone who knows nothing about wealth and where to invest .

    The quotes are given from the same book.

  • How to overcome obstacle in life: The Obstacle is the way by Ryan Holiday

    How to overcome obstacle in life: The Obstacle is the way by Ryan Holiday

    I am sure we all have faced obstacles in our life. Be it business or life how do we tackle this obstacle ? Many men have tackled this “What stands in the way becomes the way” This book is about all this and more.

    There are three things that help us to overcome obstacles.

    Perception, Action and the will.

    It is how we see things around us that can be a source of weakness or strength. Whereas one person sees crisis, another person sees it as an opportunity.

    When faced with any problem do this

    We all are emotional. Try not to be emotional.

    Try to see the good in any situation.

    Do not  look at what distributes others 

    Try to see how things can be controlled

    I learned all this from the book.

    Sometimes we know how to solve problems. But we fear that the action we take might be risky. We might be getting a chance to invest in shares. But then we think let me wait something else might come. And we end up doing nothing.

    So the first step is to start somewhere. Take the example of Amelia Earhart. She wanted to be able to fly. An offer came up. someone was willing to fund the first female attendant on a flight. She said yes to this. 5 years later she was flying solo non stop flight from the Atlantic.

    Had she not taken a chance she would not have become a pilot. It is those that attack life with the most initiative do succeed. With regard to your goals do something. I like the motto of Nike (shoes). Just do it.

    In trying the wrong way you might discover a new way. This is how innovation works. Thomas Edison tested six thousand different filiations but he did finally make the bulb.

    Once you have decided to attack an obstacle why stop? When people ask about your problem say you are working on it and you will get the solution soon. Take failure as an asset you will succeed. Failure leads to improvement.

    Great entrepreneurs are never wedded to a position,  never afraid to lose a little of investment, never out of the game for long.

    Up to now, we were talking about perception and action. Now we will be talking about will.

    What is the power that is inside you? You alone can influence it. If perception and action were the deception and action were the disciplines of the mind then a disciple of the heart and the soul. Will is the strength to endure.

    In every situation, we can do the following

    Prepare ourselves for more difficult times.

    If you can’t change something learn to accept it.

    Learn to love our fate and what happens to us.

    Donot give in to other people’s views who try to change your inner self

    Try to look at a greater cause. 

    Theoradare Roosevelt suffered from asthma. His father came to him and said “Theoradare you have the mind but have not got the body. I am going to give you the tools to make your body. I think you have the determination to go through it.Theoradare looked at his father and said “I will make my body “.So his father built a gym for him. What followed was what he called “ The strenuous life “.Are you prepared to do that?

    If the answer is yes then prepare for the hard life. Nobody is born with a steel backbone. We have to make it.

    In this book, there are so many examples of how people overcame obstacles. If we follow this we will have dealt with life.

    The quotes have been taken from the book The Obstacle is the way by Ryan Holiday.