Tides of Thoughts

  Cryptocurrency - Many of you might have heard this word in the news or some other financial articles. But, you might recognize it if I say the word BITCOIN , and do you know that a billion-dollar fraud is happening around it? Well, before entering into the details of the fraud, let's look at a brief introduction about it.  So, what is cryptocurrency? In layman's terms, cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency. Unregulated because it is not regulated by any central bank. Digital currency because these cryptocurrencies are not available in physical form.  If it is unregulated by any central bank or not available in physical form, the question that comes to mind is, who created them, and who is operating and controlling them? Your guess is right. The cryptocurrencies (there are around 9000 of them globally) are created, operated, and controlled by private individuals and companies. The first cryptocurrency was BITCOIN introduced in 2009. Though it was introduced ...

 Have you ever heard of the phrase "Ponzi Schemes" ? If you have ever heard these words, you should know about Charles Ponzi , on whose name this phrase was coined.  Who is Charles Ponzi? — The Phoenix (@3011_ajit) December 20, 2022 Charles Ponzi was an Italian by birth. His birth name was Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi. Carlo Ponzi became Charles Ponzi after migrating to the US in 1903. He did some small jobs till 1907 and moved to Montreal, Canada.  He started working with a bank in Montreal, Canada and forged the signatures of customers in the bank. He got caught in 1909 and spent two years in jail. In 1911, after being released from jail he indulged in smuggling illegal Italian immigrants from Canada to the US. He was caught again, this time by the US authorities, and spent another two years in jail.  After his release from jail, he moved to Boston where he got married to an Italian-American in 1918. In Boston, he did several small works and eventu...

War of Lanka by Amish Tripathi My rating: 2 of 5 stars The book is not at par with the previous books of Amish. Creative liberty, especially when you claim to be an Indic author, shouldn't ruin the sanctity of the epic. There are many ghastly deviations from the basic premise of Ramayana. This could have been avoided. At times, the book resembled Devdutt Pattnaik style. If you want to spend some serious time reading Ramayana related books, better avoid this book. If you didn't read the Valmiki Ramayana, I suggest not to make any opinions on any characters based on the narrative in this book. Take this as a pure fiction not related to Ramayana except the names. View all my reviews

I am always fascinated with some specific slokas from our scriptures and epics. They are not only wise from the context of that particular epic situation but also make relevance to our regular lives. Below sloka is one such sloka. सुलभाः पुरुषा राजन्, सततं प्रियवादिनः । अप्रियस्य तु पथ्यस्य, वक्ता श्रोता च दुर्लभः ॥ Transliteration: sulabhaa.h puru.shaa raajan, satata.m priyavaadina.h | apriyasya tu pathyasya, vaktaa "srotaa ca durlabha.h || Meaning: Oh, King (Ravana)! It is easy to find people who speak pleasantly. It is hard to find a speaker or a listener who is unpleasant but honest. सुलभाः पुरुषा राजन्, सततं प्रियवादिनः । अप्रियस्य तु पथ्यस्य, वक्ता श्रोता च दुर्लभः ॥ Who said this to whom? — The Phoenix (@AS_2103) Tweet The above wise words were spoken by Mareecha with Ravana. But why would this wise discussion happen between two vicious people like Ravana and Mareecha? The context is as interesting as the sloka. Ravana wan...

The Idol Thief by S. Vijay Kumar My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book is an eye opener about the scale of art being smuggled from India. The book is about one of the notorious smugglers of Indian art who went rampant looting the Indian heritage and selling it to the western museums and art collectors until he was chased down by a group of art enthusiasts and a stringent law enforcer. As the author noted at the end, many of us are well aware of the financial fraudsters. But the heritage being looted and the money involved in the smuggling of rich and exquisite Indian art is no less than a money laundering racket. View all my reviews

The King Within by Nandini Sengupta My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the first book of "The Gupta Empire Trilogy". It is about a king and his friend's journey through the twists and turns of the destiny. The story goes through three generations, their emotions and aspirations. Though the plot is open and future story is revealed at many points in the book, the gripping narration of the scenes hold us till the end. This gives a fresh perspective as the author focuses not just on the lavish lifestyle of the royal families, but also on the hardships behind the royal alliances and actions. There are a few errors by the editor at places where the names of the characters are changed (for ex, there is a character Vishnu Vardhan which was spelt as Vishnu Varman in few places) and spelling mistakes. Overall, the book gives a good opening for a trilogy that can make readers go for the next parts. View all my reviews

Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire by Alex von Tunzelmann My rating: 4 of 5 stars A very intriguing book. It touches many corners of the last phase of the British Raj in India and the early 3-4 decades of Independent India. It will be a shock for many who look at Nehru or Jinnah from only one perspective. The author though mainly relied on the British Royal Archives for many references didn't miss the keynotes from other sources like the letters between Jinnah, Churchill, Atlee, Mountbatten, Nehru, Edwina, and others, and tried to stay neutral in narration to a larger extent. I feel this is one interesting history book that can be helpful in giving deep insights into where the partition of India went wrong, how the political differences between individuals can result in catastrophic communal clashes, and how leaders are perceived in a revolution. How the perceptions of mobs override the ideological standards of the leaders in a revolution making the leader...