Neeraj's Books

When we have something that we value deeply, we tend to protect it at all costs. For people, it's their loved ones; for organisations and businesses, it's their MVPs, and for countries, it's what is known as strategic locations...  A strategic location is of great importance for any country, especially when seen from the perspective of national security. But what happens to the strategic location if it is coveted by two nuclear weapon-wielding nations, in a game both know they can't afford to lose?  Radha Kumar's Paradise at War: A Political History of Kashmir captures the grim realities of the politics of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir (now Union Territories of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh) and the impact of the influences of India and Pakistan. It also sheds light on what the people of the erstwhile state (or present union territories) experienced and aspire about being Kashmiri.  The author first clears the air by showing Kashmir's problems did not sta...

  An ancient secret vital for the very survival of humankind stays guarded in the holy city of Kashi. An evil corporation has to find out this secret to succeed in its centuries-long goal of world domination. A successful, dashing and unsuspecting young businessman meets his grandfather after twenty long years in a matth in Kashi, only to find out that everything he had ever known and believed is not like what they seem...  What is the guarded secret of humanity? Why does the evil corporation want it desperately? How does the young, dashing businessman come in all of this?  These questions and many more await the reader in the scintillating Harappa trilogy by Vineet Bajpai. Spanning across two millennia, the author effortlessly weaves stories that we know with those we don't to create a gripping story that would leave every reader at the edge of their seats. As the story progresses, the lines between fiction and reality blur for the protagonist and the reader.  Vinee...

Year First Published: 2014 Revised Edition: 2019 How to run the biggest festival in the world? The festival called the Indian Elections? An enormous number of hands and minds spearheaded by the Election Commission of India or the ECI, along with the SECs! An Undocumented Wonder by former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi provides an insider's (in fact the top of the ladder) perspective about everything that makes the elections in India a global spectacle. The book covers everything from the grassroots and top-level initiatives, the responses to these initiatives and the controversies and court rulings about the initiatives.  The major plus point of the book is that it addresses all aspects of some of the frequently discussed topics about elections like making the Model Code of Conduct a legal provision, the hiccups in the process and why it's best to leave it as it is. Various people, both heard and unheard are elaborated on their contribution to the election process It ...

  Year of Publication: 2021 What does it take to make India a force to reckon with in the world of badminton? A man with the vision and the drive and a few youngsters hungry for victory!  Abhijeet Kulkarni's The Gopichand Factor: The Rise and Rise of Indian Badminton offers it's readers exhaustive information about how Pullela Gopichand, the 2001 All England winner, ventured into coaching to turn India into a badminton powerhouse like China, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea.  Abhijeet Kulkarni does not restrict the scope of the book to what Gopichand did for Indian badminton. The book also focuses on some well-known and lesser-known predecessors and contemporaries of Gopichand who played an instrumental role in helping India reach where it is in the world of badminton. Kulkarni does a great job by dedicating the first few chapters of the book to the 'unsung heroes' and 'erstwhile rising stars' who had to abandon badminton for various reasons.  The book builds...

Year Published: 2016 Oh no, another Shashi Tharoor book. But what can I say... This guy is unmissable!!!  History books in school have taught us that the British were terrible most of the time while occasionally good. But were they??  Shashi Tharoor's An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India is a thorough dissection of every act of the British in their lives over-two-hundred-year stay in India. He successfully brings out the cons of the pros of British actions in India. He makes the reader doubt whether the British did anything good intentionally for India.  Vivid description and an informative nature is the strength of the book. However, like Tharoor's other books, this book falls short on one ground- flowery language. Tharoor introduces words that an average reader may not be familiar with, forcing them to constantly switch between the book and the dictionary. Though there may be justifications that flowery language is used to convey the correct meaning and right...