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Showing posts from August, 2016

Punk Sunk Love Book Review

A beautiful but heart wrenching story of Sona and Shammi how they diverge only to meet in another form years later. Dhirendra Tiwari has penned down an excellent and gripping story. The title seemed odd at first but as I turned pages I realized it does suit the book very well. If you are fond of rom  stuff, this one is for you. Publisher - Srishti Pages - 232 Price - INR 195 Recieved a copy from the author courtsey of the goodreads giveaway program. 

New Look and Feel for the Blog

Yes, finally I got around to getting a new look and feel for the blog, although some readers think it resembles the old one too much. Also, did I mention that I joined the Instagram bandwagon? Well, it is no Flickr or Picassa but it works okay.  They say, its filters are amazing, I didn't find them as advertised but yes, they made a difference or two to my photos. I can put one here as well.  A photo posted by Tushar Mangl (@tusharmangl) on Aug 27, 2016 at 3:33am PDT On the reading side, I am going through the Jodi Picoult collection. I have put it off as long as I could, knowing how depressing it could be. But she is a gifted and very astute author. The other day I was at his famous book store, going through the best sellers, they had lined up near the door. Suddenly this guy enters with a heavy backpack on his back. The guard, in his politest best, asked him to submit it with him, but the guy with an attitude that would throw a romance novel's alpha

Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult

Brilliant setting but story stretched too long without any reason.Also things have been picked from author's other books too. As in why in every book the defendant has to keep lying to the lawyer ad then both have a fight whether the defendant will testify or not. It seems to have become a recurring theme in all her books. Remember Nineteen Minutes?

Powerless Punjab Politics

Electricity plays a major role in any elections in India. Not surprisingly therefore, when facing prospect of defeat in elections, last time when Congress was in power in Punjab, it decided to offer free electricity to farmers. But the gimmick did not work as expected and the Congress lost the elections. The Akali - BJP combine came into power, promising better power scenario to Punjab populace. Again things never went as per plans. The idea was to make Punjab a power surplus state. A noble idea and the strategy was good too. As power shortage was severe, the government took steps to set up massive thermal power plants with private players in the driving seat. This idea could work as the government itself had little money and power for industries or home use.  Then, the sorry tale of land acquisition started. Villagers refused to part land. Simultaneously the coal scam rocked the nation and rocked the boat for grand power plans of Punjab. Which also envisaged exporting surp

Is this end of an era?

If you look at the M & A activity in the past few months, it seems like an era of independent free internet is slowly coming to an end. Linked In was bought in by Microsoft, Yahoo an iconic brand of the nineties was sold out to Verizon and Monster another survivor of the dot com bust of nineties finally went to hammer. It seems as if the surviving spirit of these and many like them is waning. Look at how Uber, although now a major player but once a struggling start up, conceded defeat in China as players with deep pockets closed ranks to check it in. Indeed it seems as happens in a true capitalist world, the big boys with deep pockets and perpetual line of credit seems to be showing who the boss is, with curbs on smaller different players. Take the case of Go Javas, a logistics firm, which was supposed to be bought by Snapdeal but once talks failed, again supposedly Go Javas lost the e-commerce giant's account. So, where does future lie for upcoming tech firms? Most of

The Pact - Jodi Picoult

An amazing book by a gifted writer. Is it really love what we feel for a person so close to us? Does someone really mean they love you, when they say they do? What do you do when a person says they love you but refuse to share some very important things which are bothering them? Although you share everything and never lie to each other? Does that really belie the very undertaking of love? The claims made, the vows taken? This book leaves so many questions open but very little answers. Perhaps as it is in most cases, the answers lie deep within us. Or the answers really are out in open and we refuse to interpret them, to accept them? The Pact by Jodi Picoult is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that explores the complexities of love, family, and the human psyche. The story centers around the lives of two families, the Golds and the Hartes, who have been friends for over a decade and whose children, Emily and Chris, have grown up together. However, when Emily dies in an apparent s

Have you gifted your organs yet?

Imagine the plight of those people who are in tremendous pain but nothing can be done to reduce it, simply because they need organ transplant. If you look it at common sense level, the solution is so simple. Get people to donate organs when they are no longer alive and hence don't need it. In today's times, one would be shocked to see how many well educated people are so unware about organ donation. And these are the people whom we count on to change the world. After all, if such educated people cant understand the simple fact that you no longer need your organs after death and that they can be used to help others. Gift your Organ is one such organization which is pushing for this much needed awareness. It is co ordinating and enabling pledging of organs through its online portal http://www.giftyourorgan.org/ I mean, why is it so difficult for so many of us to give up something which you wont even feel about when donation is done?