The Book of Ram

                                                             
 

A book of the most celebrity deity of Hindu mythology will have high expectations and is bound to be judged critically. But “The Book of Ram” has passed the acid test with flying colors. I, like many other fellow Indians, love to read about Ramayana in any form. Simpler the better. I had been lingering about the decision to read the series by Patnaik for quite some time now. Though I have read snippets of his many works including his blog, this is my first book which I have read in entirety. And I am not regretting.

Initially I was skeptical that inclusion of analysis between the small stories (or incidents) will disrupt the flow and spoil the storytelling. But the author has done a wonderful job of weaving the legendary story with some enlightening information about characters and justification of events. Though it is The Book of Ram, many characters are explained and analyzed in detail. I particularly liked the way every characters’ importance in Ramayana was brought to light. For instance, Ravana and Kumbhakaran were Vishnu’s gatekeepers cursed to be born as Rakhshasas on Earth who were then released by Vishnu, incarnated as Ram. Many such snippets revolving around the core Ramayana that we know, is the biggest plus point of this book.

Mythology is a tricky subject. It can easily become monotonous and heavy for a naïve reader. Patnaik does a great job of making a legendary story with profound inferences so interesting to read. I know I started late with this series, but happy to have “The Book of Ram” on my book shelf. And looking forward to having the whole Patnaik series here.

My Rating:  

About the Author:- Devdutt Pattanaik is a renowned author, mythologist, and leadership consultant, whose work focuses on deriving management insights from mythology to reveal a very Indian approach to modern business. He has authored over 30 books, many of them best-sellers like Myth = Mithya, Business Sutra, The Pregnant King, and Jaya: An illustrated retelling of the Mahabharata. Many of his books have been translated in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati and Marathi (Courtesy: Devdutt Patnaik’s Blog)

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The Writer-Reader Corollary

I was a reader long before I even thought that I could be a writer. I used to read a lot. I still do.  And I realized that the craving for something to read, which I presumed had already reached unreal levels, has become intense after I started writing.

Future Group & Bharti Retail to Merge Their Retail Business

          The two popular home-grown retailing giants, Future retail and Bharti enterprises have decided to come together for a deal that could re-design the retail industry in the country. Future retail that owns popular brands like Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Home town, e-zone has announced acquisition of Bharti Retail, known for its popular easy-day hypermarket chain. According to the Press Release, the new entities, Future Retail and Future Enterprises, will operate almost 570 stores across 243 cities in the country which is a mighty boost to Future Group’s existing number of 350 retail stores. Future retail, which will handle the retail operations, will get access to 77 new cities where they don’t have a presence as any of the Future Retail outlet. Future Enterprises will be responsible for infrastructure, investments and assets of both the companies

                 Kishore Biyani, who seems to have an amazing insight into Indian customer mindset, has revolutionized the grocery experience for an Indian middle class customer. “As Indians, we like to bumping into people, chat, gossip and eat all while we shop. Shopping is a form of entertainment for us”,says Biyani in It happened in India. The “organized chaos” and the “butt and brush effect” are intentionally created characteristic of the stores.

                 Industry experts are already anticipating the magnitude of scale and reach of this acquisition. This could also induce some optimism in retail industry which has failed to attract any foreign investment in spite of reforms in FDI for multi-brand retail. The consolidation counts on on building scale and benefit from the synergies of common services like sourcing, logistics and infrastructure.

                      We, as customers can look forward to better shopping experience and more products under one roof.  Lower marketing and operational costs could also mean more discounts and offers for us.



Other Related Links:

http://profit.ndtv.com/news/corporates/article-future-groups-retail-business-to-merge-with-bharti-retail-760350

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/kishore-biyanis-future-group-acquires-bharti-retail-in-an-all-stock-deal-valued-at-rs-500-crore/articleshow/47148446.cms