EGO-THE WORST ENEMY AND THE FRIEND - ALEENA K.J- 5059

EGO -THE WORST ENEMY AND THE FRIEND

                                               BY SHAMMI SUKH

The  author of the book Shammi Sukh shatters the misconception, as propagated by many,that all ego is bad;he claims that nurtured properly,the ego prove to be a boon, thereby making life more enjoyable and exciting.This book is a serious attempt to provide an answer to ego problems.This book also helps to change your life for the better because to manage your ego is to conquer the world.
                                      Ego-the worst enemy and friend provides new ideas and visions on managing the ego-our own and others.Ego crisis is the single biggest crisis we human beings have ever faced.There is hardly a family or a person who has remained unaffected by the ego -virus.Ego has scarred numerous relationships and marred many lives.It is the small leak that has sunk many a great ship.Ego management is thus most crucial subject for each one of us,yet this is the most neglected too.The unfortunate part is that most people do not know how to manage others.This book helps in understanding "EGO" and manage it effectively too and enhance your effectiveness in every  relationship .It is equally beneficial for  young and old,males and females,married and unmarried,parents and children and working and non-working persons.By learning  the art of handling the ego,you climb the stairs of success smoothly,apart from leading an emotionally rich,exciting and fulfilling life.
                                 The sole purpose of this book is to help you solve the biggest crisis you face - the ego-crisis - and enable you to lead an emotionally rich, exciting and fulfilling life.This book is a serious attempt to provide an answer to Ego problems.

                                       

HOW TO RAISE YOUR SELF-ESTEEM Anirudhan S : 5070

Nathaniel branden is a practicing psychotherapist in Los Angeles and, in addition, conducts business seminars, workshops, and conferences worldwide on the application of self-esteem principles and technology to the challenges of modern business .In this book Branden focused on the critical need to understand the psychology of self-esteem and its relationship to our daily lives. During his career, Nathaniel Branden wrote nearly 20 books on self-esteem, including such influential works as The Psychology of Self-Esteem, How to Raise Your Self-Esteem, The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem and The Art of Living Consciously.

This book Nathaniel Branden wrote it as a guide. It helps the readers to build their self-esteem. This book is not an extension of the theory of the self-esteem, but an amplification of its practice. Its basic concern is with the actions both mental and physical, that advice self-esteem or undermines it. In this book he describes about various strategies for building our self-esteem.

Self-esteem affects our confidence. Our potential to achieve what we most desire is directly related to our self-esteem. It has two components a feeling of personal competence and a feeling of personal worth. In other words self-esteem is the sum of self confidence and self respect. It affects our behavior and thoughts. It changes how we feel about and value ourselves. To have high self-esteem is to feel confidently appropriate to life. Low self-esteem means that you will have a poor image of yourself and this will result in a loss of confidence. Self esteem will also help you at work. Your confidence and positive attitude will enable you to look and feel your best. The higher our self-esteem, the more likely we are to creative in our work, which means the more successful we are likely to be.

Branden says that self-esteem is the evaluative component of self-concept. Our self -concept is who and what we consciously and sub consciously think we are. Our self-concept shapes our destiny. It influences all our significant choices and decisions and therefore shapes the kind of life we create our selves. According to him the first strategy to raise self- esteem is to live consciously, which means to generate more self-confidence and self-esteem. Living consciously is living responsibly toward reality, living with a respect for facts, knowledge and truth. Branden says that “if the essence of living consciously is respect for facts and reality, then self- acceptance is its ultimate test.” Self- acceptance is a refusal to decay or disown any aspects of the self: our feelings, actions thoughts memories etc… It is the foundation of all growth and change.

The second strategy is liberation from guilt. If we are to protect our self-esteem, we need to know how to assess appropriately our own behavior, and after assessing our own behavior in matters where we feel truly and appropriately guilty we need to take specific steps to resolve the guilt rather than merely suffer passively.

The next strategy to build our self-esteem is living responsibly Branden says that “ Men and women who enjoy high self-esteem have an active orientation rather than a passive one ” They take full responsibility for the attainment of their desires. In order to raise our self-esteem we need to live actively rather than passively, to take responsibility for the fulfillment of our own desires, for our own existence and for our actions and well being. Another strategy to protect our self- esteem is living authentically. Self-confidence and self-respect are sustained by living authentically. This is the courage to be who we are to preserve congruence between our inner self and self we present to the world. Good self-esteem demands congruence which means that the self within and the self manifested in the world we be in accord. He finally says that nurturing the self-esteem of others. Each of us ultimately responsible for our self-esteem. We have the option of supporting or assaulting the self-confidence and self-respect of anyone we deal with, just as others have that option in their interactions with us. In supporting the self-esteem of others we support our own. Thus, self-esteem is served by living benevolently.

By practicing all these strategies mentioned above everyone can live successfully with higher self-esteem. In short this book is more like a workbook or guide and Branden doesn’t let his readers get away with just reading words on a page. He makes them work for their self -esteem 

WISE AND OTHERWISE (A Salute To Life)

           

               WISE AND OTHERWISE

                  (A SALUTE TO LIFE)

                                     -SUDHA MURTHY

             Wise and otherwise (A Salute to life) is a book written by Sudha Murthy, wife of N.R. Narayana Murthy.She is a well known social worker, author and a humanitarian. She is also the chairperson of Infosys. Wise and otherwise is one of her famous works which consists of 51 short stories altogether giving intresting insights about the real India and which are her real life experiences, gathered while traveling across the country.Each story is of three to four pages and makes us introspect about things which come across our daily life and the way in which we see things.

              One of the stories revolves around a man who leaves his father in an old age home. In this story the man introduces his own father as a destitute found on the roads, obtains a place in the Old Age Home, and forgets about him. He returns on the death of the old man whose bag he wants to claim and reveals only then that the old man is his father! The bag contains a passbook showing a balance of over a lakh of rupees. Such stories clearly portrays the present scenario and the reason why, old age homes are day by day increasing in our country. Another story is of a charlatan who barges into the office of Infosys Foundation, and mistakes Sudha for one of the lower level staff member. His aim is to palm off a few substandard books written by him for the libraries assisted by the Foundation. He claims to have known Sudha from childhood and gives a fictional account of how he helped her husband in his career. Imagine his face when he is told that he is talking to the lady herself! Such stories makes us rethink about people and their attitude. Most of the stories says about the real situations of people in different parts of our country like dowry deaths and forced prostitution, changes in personality with passage of time, nostalgic memories about childhood and simple pleasures of life, changing values and morals.

              There are stories that just act as a witness to society, like the discussions between two marriage brokers regarding the impact of the IT sector’s growth has had on their business, a beggar who moves into an area distroyed by an earthquake to take advantage of the aid provided to victims. Most of the stories emphasizes the importance of Moral values and about people’s behavior in different circumstances. The anecdote portrays whole range of human emotions - compassion and greed, jealousy and celebration of others' success, human dignity as well as degradation, charity as well as exploitation.The most intresting fact about the book is that it talks about both good and bad. But one cannot fail to notice that there is more about good than bad as each story with a negative plot ends making us thing about the changes we need to adopt from such stories and creates a positive note to the reader.And one of the most important point which i have noticed about her stories is that whenever we read one, we feel as if we are surrounded by people whom we have already met at some point of our life. This helps us understand more about the real meaning which she tries to portray through her books.

                 The language is quite simple and easily understood by everyone. Rather than a literary masterpiece, give me a Sudha Murty book any day,i would be happy as it makes me think, it makes me introspect, and probably act! The language may be simple, but the message is effective. Sudha murthy is my all time favourite writer and an inspiration to be a good human rather than simply mugging up all what text books and the educational system provides our generation with.

                                          Chanchal A. Nair

                                          2nd Bcom Tax (A)

                                          5040

CONQUERING THE MIND - jewel maria albert (5007)

Conquering the mind (jewel maria albert 5007)

Eknath Easwaran, the teacher of timeless wisdom, shows how training our minds is a glorious challenge, a one that brings joy and purpose to life. Eknath Easwaran was professor of English literature  at the university of Nagpur and during his last 33 years he taught the classics of the world mysticism and the practice of meditation.

                                      We often feel trapped by unwanted thoughts  and emotions, Easwaran  who taught meditation for nearly forty years ,shows a way to break free. In this book he presents the art of training the mind how to respond to life’s challenges, how to take charge of your thoughts and reshape your lives through meditation. Writing as an experienced, friendly coach, Easwaran explains how we can train the mind not just during the meditation but  throughout the day working with difficult colleagues, choosing what to eat, and listening to  child’s needs are all opportunities to try our different, wiser responses. To shed light on the thinking process ,he takes the timeless teachings of the Buddha and other mystics and illustrates them with scenes from contemporary life. He offers practical exercises for taking charge of our thoughts, along with instruction in his own method of passage meditation. He explains how, just as a fitness can create  strong, supple body, spiritual disciplines can shape a secure personality and a resilient, loving mind. When your mind is trained, you can keep this sense of delight and wonder alive always; it will actually grow with the passage of time. This is the greatest wealth a human being can have: relationships that never turn stale or sour but go on growing in depth and beauty.

                                         At the end of the book he have given a very brief summary of the eight point program which he himself have followed wherein you will find instructions in meditation along with an introduction to seven very helpful practices, such as slowing down, which extends the benefits of meditation into daily living. This book without any failure motivates one to conquer his mind  and reshapes his life through the art of meditation.

                         “oppose a negative way of thought with a positive wave of thought”   

-          Buddha 

BOOK REVIEW-"THE MIRACLE OF POSITIVE THINKING" -Aiswarya P.R(5038)

"The Miracle of Positive Thinking" is your prescription for what it takes to be healthy,happy, and terrific in today's world. Consider Dr. Arnold Fox's RX for healthier living through positive thinking as you read this book. Put the ideas into practice and when you finish the book you won't be the same person physically who began it! Be certain to follow the Doctor's orders daily. -Judith williamson, Director,Napoleon Hill World Learning center PRESCRIPTION FOR YOU RX: Wake up! You're Alive Dispense: One Book From: Arnold Fox, M.D. Date: Today sig: * Read Wake up! You're Alive all the way through. * Re-read the book, one chapter every day, over and over again. * Memorize the affirmations in each chapter. * Make them part of your daily routine. * when in trouble, read the chapter relating to your distress. * Do not substitute.

   NEETHU  KRISHNA (5017)

   The   power   of   your   subconscious  mind!!!

                                             -  Joseph  Murphy

International   Bestseller ………………… Over a  million copies  sold…………………

                        

one of the most widely acclaimed self –help books ever written,THE POWER OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND has helped over one million people around the world achieve amazing goals simply by changing the way they think 

“What you write on the inside, you will experience on the outside. You have two sides to your life, objective and subjective, visible and invisible, thought and its manifestation."- The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, page 46

"Success means successful living. When you are peaceful, happy, joyous, and doing what you love to    do, you are successful."- The Power of  Your                                                                                            Subconscious Mind, page 175 

T

he Power of Your Subconscious Mind was written by a leading expert on the subject, Joseph Murphy. From my perspective, this book essentially equates your subconscious mind with God.

This book has been sitting on my shelf for quite a while, and it was actually recommended to me by my class sir, when I was in 10^th standard. Murphy’s book can’t be summarized , it’s a treasure of positive thinking.

However, I’d like to share with you the few things I learned from this book.

Murphy emphasis on the following equations of life,

LIFE = MIND = GOD

Murphy saw the subconscious mind as a dark room in which we develop images that are to be lived out in real life. While the conscious mind sees an event, takes a picture of it and remembers it, the subconscious mind works backwards, ‘seeing’ something before it happens. The subconscious is neutral in a moral sense, so happy to adopt any habit as normal, good or bad. We let negative thoughts drop into the subconscious mind every minute of our lives, and then are surprised when they find expression in day-to-day experiences and relationships.

Knowledge of the subconscious mind means we can control the thoughts and images we feed it. This makes Murphy’s 1963 book, an international bestseller .Understanding your subconscious mind as a photographic mechanism removes the struggle from changing your life; if it is just a matter of replacing existing mental images with new ones, change seems easy.

RELAXED   FAITH = RESULT

When a thought becomes a feeling and imagination desire, it will deliver what you want with speed and abundance. Yet Murphy said it is less important to know how your subconscious works than to develop the faith that it can.

                               BELIEVING   IT   TO BE SO

‘The law of your mind is the law of belief yourself,’ Murphy noted. Whatever you give your subconscious, it will register as fact.

HEALTH   &   PROSPERITY

The subconscious mind’s knowledge of ‘perfect health’ is the prosperity of mind, which is the greatest wealth.

WHY   PRAYERS ARE USUALLY IN VAIN

Murphy said there should be nothing ‘mystical’ about getting answers to our prayers. One who knows the workings of the subconscious mind will learn how to pray ‘scientifically’. Conventional prayer (the pleading, wishing, hoping variety) involves no faith.

In a nutshell: By understanding how the subconscious mind works, you can learn how dreams become reality.

Malayalam Novel 'Aaraachaar' {Submitted by, Devika C S (5060) }

Aarachaar.

Aarachaar (Executioner)  is an award winning malayalam novel which is  written by K. R. Meera  Originally serialised in Madhyamam Weekly in continuous 53 volumes, the novel was published by DC Books in 2012. Later it was translated by J. Devika into English under the title Hangwoman: Everyone Loves a Good Hanging 

It is based on the Indian culture of caste and religion, which sets in Bengal, it tells the story of a family of executioners with a long lineage, beginning in the fourth century BC. The protagonist of the novel, Chetna, is a strong, bold and tenacious woman who struggles to inherit this profession.

According to noted literary critic M. Leelavathy, Aarachaar is one of the best literary works produced in Malayalam and follows the legacy of O. V. Vijayan's classic work Khasakkinte Itihasam. The novel received the 2013 Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award. It was also awarded the prestigious Odakkuzhal Award in 2013 and Vayalar Award in 2014. 

22-year-old Chethna is from the Grddha Mullick clan, a family of ‘Aarachaar’ (hanging people, as per court order) who trace their professional lineage back to 400 BCE, and have been witness to historical incidents over the centuries. The pride they harbour about their profession borders on arrogance. When the next rare opportunity of hanging comes along, her 88-year-old father, a veteran of 451 hangings is considered too old.

Since her brother, whose limbs have been chopped off, cannot take over the profession, the mantle of aaraachaar is thrust upon Chethna’s shoulders.  Anyway Chethna has hanging in her blood – after all, she even came out of her mother’s womb tying a noose with her umbilical cord.

Chethna is hailed as a symbol of strength and self-respect for women, but in reality, she is just a cog in the machinations of the men around her. She is hurled into a whirlpool of media frenzy, amidst which she tries to make sense of her own awakening sexuality, questions her own ability to execute a condemned man, and watches as her family is hit by a series of tragedies.  She flounders at first, but then slowly extricates herself, and takes charge of her own life, which finally leads to a perfectly executed conclusion (pardon the pun.) 

The narration is eccentric and complex. Rich with legends and myths about the Grddha Mullick ancestors, these stories alternate with current events in the novel, and form a wonderfully layered narrative, thick with symbolism. Imagination at its best. The novel also deals with poverty, gender, society, media manipulation, and is a study of the place of a woman in today’s society.

The characters are hauntingly well-etched, and present-day Kolkata is also a tangible character in the story. Death looms in every page, leaving a dark trail through the novel. But even something gruesome and depressing as hanging, and death, and details of the dead – is dealt with elegantly. It shocks, but doesn’t disgust.

Chethana is an empowered woman, who is not loosening her hope for her life, she is highly dignified and one can make her as a model. There are lots of things to study from each character; the entire story has also have relevance in the contemporary society, though it has happened before years.

I sometimes felt I was reading the translation of a novel written by a Bengali author, that many efforts K R Meera has put behind her successive work, she had a deep knowledge on everything happening throughout this novel, and she is taking each one of us to very different realties. Undoubtfully it is best Malayalam novel which I ever read.  

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