Lost Wisdom of the Swatika - Turiya Tales by Ajay Chaturvedi - It is all about Experiential wisdom !!!

One of the things that I have grappled with over the years is about the trap of the materialistic pursuits which in some ways is quite a bit of a vicious cycle. There is definitely a sense of awareness that these pursuits, whether it is glory, money, power, social standing etc., plunge the human into this rather devious cycle of perpetual craving. Well, some would call the competition or survival of the fittest (or smartest). And while these pursuits definitely give those eclectic highs, it could never be construed as true happiness. But what it definitely has created is a chaotic world replete with hatred, jealousy, pride, greed etc., It is a Gordon Geckoian world where "Greed is Good". In addition, it is a constant struggle to understand the rationale for these mindless pursuits which anyways don't give you the true happiness. Even one of my friends once asked me as to what the hell is this game that Cosmos (or God) is playing out there?

The Indian culture is replete with several idiosyncrasies. We have been caught between the limited understanding of our heritage (which has been significantly eroded in the 2 centuries of colonial rule) and the western capitalist based fast paced drivel which has been peddled as progress. Several of the customs/traditions/rituals have been lost/misinterpreted amidst the adoption of the "supposedly" western rationalized way of life. The recent deluge of information overload in the name of knowledge has just made this even more convoluted. So we have a significant amount of knowledge out there (either hearsay or acquired through reading) but very few of this translates to anything concrete. 

And this is exactly where this book fits in. Deftly weaved in as a work of fiction by Ajay Chaturvedi (Chats to those of us who knew him in BITS Pilani), but is in reality a chronicle of the experiential wisdom of the author as he went about his journey of searching for the ultimate truth - Why/what exactly is the game all about. It answers several questions but most important, re-stresses the need for experiential wisdom. In fact one of the chapters is appropriately titled as "Knowledge is Wisdom's Worst Enemy". Very true and quite profound. 

As somebody who has embarked on a journey of experiential wisdom for the last few years and have seen the miracles unfold, it was a refreshing re-enforcement that I am on the right track. It answered several of the questions that had cropped up during my self journey. In fact at one point, as Zian vents his frustration at the arduous journey of self realization, i could totally identify with him. This is definitely a must-read for those who are willing to "learn" with an open mind. For instance, the comparison between the well known "Maslow's hierarchy of needs" to the Chakra system throws a very refreshing point of view into what is commonly accepted as "Self Actualization". 

As Maharaji says in the book,

"Natural law is in being and experiencing. Not in defining and forcefully naming something". So simple and so profound and so not followed in today's world. 

Thanks Chats. All the best for your continued journey and hopefully some of us will get there someday

Second Lives by Anish Sarkar - Enjoy the ride of this fast paced thriller

There is a book by Jeffrey Archer called "As the Crow Flies". This book had a rather unique way of story telling. Most books have the author as the main story-teller in a third person narrative who takes you through the chapters as the plot unfolds. In this book, however Archer used a combination of the usual manner of story-telling plus having the characters of the story spell out their points of view as the plot unfolds. So you will have a chapter which is written in the usual way. This would be followed by a narrative by a character, say "Charlie Trumper" who then provides a view on how he looks at the world. This would be followed by the usual narrative of the story-teller or it would be another character and so on. 

Second Lives is quite unique in the sense that the entire plot unfolds through the eyes of the different characters. Every chapter is the point of view of one of the characters. And the fast paced plot unfolds through this novel writing technique. In addition, it switches between the past and present of each of the characters in a rather seamless way which is very important for such a fast paced whodunit plot. 

Anish manages to retain the interest all throughout and delivers a winner. This is quite different from his earlier book Benaami which had a more complex plot and which straddled across different centuries and had elements of rebirth, the 1857 Indian mutiny interspersed with life in the 21st century (including mis-use of nuclear technology). Second Lives is much more simpler and has a very intelligent plot which moves at a rather scorching pace and does throw a chill down your spine at frequent intervals. This book offers a staple plot for a Bollywood thriller though the screenplay would require a slightly different way of storytelling.


There are a couple of minor things that could have been fleshed out better. The experience of Roy post his revival from the river (Chapter 68) doesn't have a follow-through. Secondly the climax seems a little too hurried and predictable. Would have actually preferred something that left things quite hazy, thereby leading to potential sequel. However these are relatively minor and don't take away the sheen of the thriller

At INR 49 (for the Kindle version), this book is a steal and is perfect for the bibliophile who likes to get tucked away in a nice thriller plot for the weekend.