Myth=Mithya a handbook on Hindu mythology handbook review

I have never before read a book on mythology leave alone hindu mythology ,but i do confess i have read Mahabharata which was ages ago.Devdutt patnaik is a medical doctor by profession,however he is a mythologist by choice ,and works as a Chief Belief officer in Future group (owners of Big Bazaar) .We all know that mythologies are not easy to decipher for a ordinary,aam (mango) people .However the book has been a surprise in the manner in which it has expressed the authors views and ideas on characters and the role played by the various gods and goddess in the indian mythology .Patnaik in his own unique way expresses the idea and story so fluidly and subtly that it has the power to let you see ideas in a complete different way as if it has given you a new pair of eyes ,which in turn has given you a complete different viewpoints.

It has challenged or questioned many views held over by many indians rigidly which includes me especially on sex and homosexuality and it has quite lot of relevance pertaining to current generations tug of war over Article 377 in india .The way it has expressed the roles played by the hindu trinity (Brahma as the creator ,vishnu as the sustainer and shiva as the destroyer ) has left me completely in awe of them .I have never seen the better explanation of Gods as given by the patnaik.

This book does not profess or idolize any myth rather gives you a explanation why it is as such . And traces it origins and explains it relevance in Hinduism in present situation.It has touched only a fraction of myths that exist in Hinduism ,but explains them in a manner ,such that after reading it one says "Oh i never saw/thought it from this angle" .

Rather than me going ga-ga over the book ,why dont you have a look ,I would give it 4.5 out of 5.

The last lecture

Randy Pausch Last lecture....Nothing gets better than this

Only time

Who can say

where the road goes

where the day flows

only time

And who can say

if your love grows

as your heart chose

only time

Who can say

why your heart sighs

as your love flies

only time

And who can say

why your heart cries

when your love lies

only time

Who can say

when the roads meet

that love might be

in your heart

And who can say

when the day sleeps

if the night keeps

all your heart

Night keeps all your heart

Who can say

if your love grows

as your heart chose

only time

And who can say

where the road goes

where the day flows

only time

Who knows - only time

Who knows - only time

My take on "Hot flat and crowded"

I believe success of the "the world is flat" has definitely impaled my judgement of the quality of the books that metaphor-mixing friedman writes.I do not know how to classify his new book "Hot flat and crowded",it speaks about how green technology will be the future and how it can reduce the dependence on the worlds oil rich countries in the middle east and russia,which i always believed in ,however the author doesnt need to be so hard on the methods or techniques that are being used to generate energy,they are being used because there were no other alternatives ,friedman you better remember that we are developing nation and we do not disown our share of responsibility for being in the party for the rise of global warming,but it does not absolve america of the charges of being the major contributor either and expecting developing nations to take a larger responsibility in cutting down carbon emissions ,which are similar to that of the developed nation wouldn't be a fair game.The book speaks how renewable sources of energy are the future and how america should be investing in .The author has brought nothing new on the table and had a artistic licence to quote paragraphs or chapters from his earlier book "The world is flat" which shows that he is running short on creative juices needed for this book.He does have notable mention of how scandavian nations are satisfying major needs of their energy through renewable sources of energy and such ideas which are scattered across the book ,which i felt could have been written in more inspiring way rather than in a haphazard manner .If someone tries hard the book can be written sitting at home using only the good ol' internet to do research a better version of the book can be written .The author also speaks about how america has become isolated after the ramp up in security infrastructure to protect its interest across the world ,which have been well written in many other books and there was no need to write about it in this book which could have been more inspiring about we could tackle global warming and our energy needs in future . This book is definitely lacking in inspiring juices as compared to "The world is flat" and is definitely a let down .I wouldn't recommend this book to anybody

Review of "Big Bang"

I never expected a book on the origin of the universe to be so fluid in expressing the intent of the book ,i have previously read stephen hawkings "A brief History of time" which was filled with scientific gibberish ,but Big Bang had none of it ,maybe i might be exaggerating to some extent but Big bang is bang on target on what it really wants to depict . A good read for any one who is fascinated with idea of Universe.