Six Thinking Hats - Edward de Bono

About the Book


There are six coloured hats corresponding to the six directions of thinking:
white, red, black, yellow, green, blue

Why did author chose hats as the symbols for the directions of thinking?
There is already a strong association between thinking and 'thinking hats' or 'thinking caps'. The value of a hat as a symbol is that it indicates a role. People are said to be wearing a certain hat. Another advantage is that a hat can be put on or taken off with ease. A hat is also visible to everyone around.

The results of using the Six Hats method are -
(1) Power - 
with the Six Hats method, the intelligence, experience and knowledge of all the members of the group are fully used. Everyone is looking and working in the same direction.
(2) Time Saving -
with parallel thinking, every thinker at every moment is looking in the same direction. The thoughts are laid out in parallel. You do not respond to what the last person has said. You simply add another idea in parallel. In the end, the subject is fully explored quickly. Later on, if it is essential to decide between the two, a decision is made. So there is not argument at every step.
(3) Removal of Ego -
with the Six Hats method you exert your ego by performing well as a thinker under each of the hats.
(4) One Thing at a Time -
with the Six Hats method, we try to do only one thing at a time. There is a time when we look for danger (black hat). There is a time when we seek new ideas (green hat). There is a time when we focus on information (white hat). We do not try to do everything at the same time.

The colour of each hat is also related to its function -

White Hat
White is neutral and objective. The white hat is concerned with objective facts and figures.

Red Hat
Red suggests anger (seeing red), rage and emotions. The red hat gives the emotional view.

Black Hat
Black is sombre and serious. The black hat is cautious and careful. It points out the weaknesses in an idea.

Yellow Hat
Yellow is sunny and positive. The yellow hat is optimistic and covers hope and positive thinking.

Green Hat
Green is grass, vegetation and abundant, fertile growth. The green hat indicates creativity and new ideas.

Blue Hat
Blue is cool, and it is also the colour of the sky, which is above everything else. The blue hat is concerned with control, the organization of the thinking process and the use of the other hats.

The three pairs of hats:
White and red
Black and yellow
Green and blue

Two main purposes to the Six Thinking Hats concept -
(1) To simplify thinking by allowing a thinker to deal with one thing at a time.
(2) To allow a switch in thinking

About the Author


Edward de Bono is widely regarded as the leading authority in the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He originated the concept of lateral thinking and developed formal techniques for deliberate creative thinking. He has written sixty-two books, which have been translated into thirty-seven languages, has made two television series and there are over 4,000,000 references to his work on the Internet.

His instruction in thinking has been sought by some of the leading business corporations in the world such as IBM, DuPont, Shell, Ericsson, McKinsey, Ciba-Geigy, Ford and many others. He has had a planet named after him  by the International Astronomic Union and was named by a group of university professors in South Africa as one of the 250 people in all of history who have contributed most to humanity.

Dr de Bono's key contribution has been his understanding of the brain as a self-organizing system. From this solid base he set out to design practical tools for thinking. His work is in use equally in the boardrooms of some of the world's largest corporations and with four-year-olds in school. His design of the Six Hats method provides, for the first time, Western thinking with a constructive idiom instead of adversarial argument.

The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

About the Book


This instant classic is the story of an intransigent young architect, his violent battle against conventional standards, and his explosive love affair with a beautiful woman who struggles to defeat him.

Here is a novel about a hero - and about those who try to destroy him.

Moral


Do not lead a second-hander life.

"The code of the creator is built on the needs of the reasoning mind which allows man to survive.
The code of the second-hander is built on the needs of a mind incapable of survival."

"The first right on earth is the right of the ego. Man's first duty is to himself. His moral law is never to place his prime goal within the persons of others. His moral obligation is to do what he wishes, provided his wish does not depend primarily upon other men. This includes the whole sphere of his creative faculty, his thinking, his work. But it does not include the sphere of the gangster, the altruist and the dictator."
"A man thinks and works alone. A man cannot rob, exploit or rule - alone. Robbery, exploitation and ruling presuppose victims. They imply dependence. They are the province of the second-hander."


About the Author


Ayn Rand's unique philosophy, Objectivism, has gained a worldwide audience.

The Essentials of Objectivism

My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute. 
- Ayn Rand

Objectivism is an integrated system of thought that defines the abstract principles by which a man must think and act if he is to live the life proper to man.

Ayn Rand first portrayed her philosophy in the form of the heroes of her bestselling novels, The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957). She later expressed her philosophy in nonfiction form.

The List Of Books/Novels Read By Me In The Year 2011

(1) The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand (Modern Classic) - Bestseller for Decades


(2) Six Thinking Hats - Edward de Bono - The International Bestseller

The UPside of the Downturn - Geoff Colvin

The UPside of the Downturn

The Opportunity

10 Management Strategies to prevail in the recession and thrive in the aftermath

Geoff Colvin

About the Book

Never waste A Crisis

The current recession is a turning point into a new economic world, a world full of opportunity for those who understand what's happening, why it's happening, and what it means for them.

Some businesses - and some people - will emerge from this downturn stronger and more dominant than when it started. Others will weaken and fade. It all depends on the critical choices they make right now.

Geoff Colvin, one of the world's most respected business journalists, says even the scariest recession has an upside. The best managers know that conventional thinking won't help them win in these tough times. They're taking smart, practical steps that will not only keep them strong, but will also distance them from the pack for years to come.

The dozens of top-performing leaders Colvin interviewed reject the common view that slashing costs and firing employees are all that matters. They see the recession as a rich opportunity to restructure, reinvent and reimagine their businesses and lay the groundwork for future growth.

Written in Colvin's characteristic reader-friendly style, The Upside of the Downturn shows how anyone - from small business owner to global conglomerate CEO - can benefit from his ten solidly grounded strategies. he shows how to find opportunities that will increase your company's competitiveness and build its long-term value.

For example:

- Reset priorities - Easy to say, harder to do. Pursuing the lofty goals set in good times can be disastrous now.

- Reevaluate people and steal some good ones - Mass layoffs are a tempting way to cut costs, but great companies often find smarter alternatives. And if your competitors are unwise enough to fire their best people, grab them.

- Keep investing in the core - Trim the fat from your budgets but not the muscle. The best companies actually increase some spending in a recession, funding the areas that make them unique and valuable.

- Price with courage - Many companies assume they must - yet the long-term damage often outweighs the short-term boost.

Colvin shows how these strategies really work, using examples of major companies that have applied them with inspiring results and discovered hidden gems of opportunity.

10 Management Strategies to prevail in the recession and thrive in the aftermath

Reset Priorities

The critical first response to a radically new reality

Protect Your Most Valuable Asset

It's your people - yet they're often valued the least

Engage the Outside World

All your relationships are changing - so take control of the process

Reexamine Your Strategy and Business Model

The importance of knowing what you must change - and what you must not

Manage for Value

Most companies don't - an error that can be fatal in this recession

Create New Solutions for Customers' New Problems

You can do it in more ways than you may realize

Price with Courage

Don't assume you have to mark down - it's riskier that you may think

Get Fitter Faster

The right kind of operational discipline pays off powerfully in a recession

Understand All Your Risks

Seize this moment to take a broader view of what might go wrong in your business

Don't Forget to Grow Yourself

Why this downturn is a unique opportunity for self-development

About the Author

Geoff Colvin is Fortune's senior editor-at-large and has written hundreds of articles for the magazine, including its popular column "Value Driven". He lectures widely and is the regular lead moderator for the Fortune Global Forum.

Colvin graduated Harvard cum laude with a B.A. in economics, and received his M.B.A. from New York University's Stern School. His first book, Talent is Overrated, earned global acclaim and was a Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and New York Times business bestseller.

www.GeoffColvin.com

A Brief Outline


The world's largest economy until 1890 was China. That's why the economist Angus Maddison says he expects China to "resume its natural role as the world's largest economy by 2015". America may close out a 125-year run as the world's number one economy. It appears Americans were just arrivistes who managed to elbow their way into the top spot for what seems like an eyeblink in China's four thousand years as a continuous culture.

Face the new reality and reset priorities. Jack Welch was fond of saying, "confront reality- not as you wish it were, and not as it used to be, but as it is."

The most influential factor in the success of any company today is its people - their knowledge, abilities, relationships and development.

Trane, the big maker of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning equipment, reported that rather than cut training in this downturn, it was redirecting it to help sales and marketing people sell more services and cross-sell equipment.

Toyota's policy of keeping employees on staff during recessions and giving them extra training means that when the economy turns up, those employees are in the plant, ready to go, and probably far better prepared than the employees of any competitor.

The managers of a company called Varity Corporation had to make decisions in the recession of 1990-91. They were in the business of manufacturing farm equipment - an awful business even before the recession . It was awful because farms were consolidating and becoming more efficient, so they could squeeze more use out of each piece of equipment, and with farms increasingly owned by large corporations, they brought more buying power to the price negotiation. At the same time, the quality revolution of the 1980s had vastly extended the life of farm equipment - wonderful news for farmers and consumers, but another problem for Varity as it tried to increase sales. Then the recession landed on top of that. The company's whole future was at stake. They abandoned the conventional strategy of managing strictly for cash flow. Instead, they would gauge every activity in the company by tracking how much capital it required, how much that capital cost and whether the activity was earning more or less than the cost of the capital. Traditional income statements and balance sheet do not tell you any of this but the managers found ways to uncover and follow their key metrics.

Price cuts rarely pay for themselves. They may even reduce profit more than holding prices steady would do. The math is simple if you cut prices by 20%, you have to sell 25% more units just to maintain revenue. In most businesses that is asking a lot is your market really full of customers who will buy that much more in response to a price cut, especially during this recession?

If competitions match your price cuts, will it generate any additional sales at all? And remember such a blow out increase in sales would be necessary just to achieve steady revenues; to maintain profits would require and even greater sales jump.

Price cuts can destroy brand equity that took years to build and that may take years to restore – markets of luxury products spend enormous energy and resources creating the perception that they are worth what they cost – that a combination of superior design, quality materials exquisite workmanship, rarity and a carefully crafted aura of desirability. It sort of a magic spell that maintains its power as long as enough people believe in it.

The problem with price cuts that they break the spell.

Price cuts train customers to behave badly – buyers of all kinds have a tendency to remember the lowest price they ever paid for your product or service. In pricing theory that’s known as the “reference price” because customers compare all future prices against it.

Customer hate price increases more than they like price cuts –

This is one of the principal findings of behavioural finance what the researchers call “loss aversion”. When you cut a price from $1000 to $800 i.e. a 20% cut. But when you return the price to $1000 i.e. a 25% increase. You are only getting back to where you started but a 25% increase sounds like a lot. The greater the original discount, the bigger the problem. Recovering a 10% price cut takes only an 11% increase but recovering a 40% discount requires a 67% increase. Recovering a 70% price cut will mean imposing a 23% price increase, and you can imagine how customers will respond to that. Thus in addition to all other problems the price cutting can cause, it also creates a trap that is terribly difficult to escape.

How much Pricing Power do you really have?

On one axis is how differentiated the customer considers the product or service to be, ranging from an undifferentiated commodity at one extreme to an utterly unique offering at the opposite end. On the other axis is how strongly the customer feels a need for the product or service, from considering it must have at one end to seeing it as totally discretionary at the other. Where do various products and services – including yours – land on this matrix?

The best spot is the corner representing a unique necessity; the customer has got to have it and no close substitutes exist.

Consumer packaged goods companies have being able to raise price in this recession. An excellent example of a product in this favoured corner of the matrix is Colgate toothpaste. Few people will stop brushing their teeth, no matter how bad the recession gets, and personal care brand preferences are deeply ingrained, that is why Colgate has been able to raise prices and it is an important part of why the companies profits rose in 2008 and where forecast to increase smartly in 2009.

Many other products sold by Colgate, P&G and Unilever share those traits, they satisfy basic needs, they carry strong brands, they involve personal care and thus connect deeply with the consumer and they perform at least as any competitor. It helps that many of them are not purchased very often; you probably don’t remember the last time you bought toothpaste or what it cost. The combination leads to pricing paradise.

Conversely the worst locale on the matrix is opposite corner, where we find discretionary commodities. One competitor is much like another, and at any given moment most people don’t really need any of them. In this miserable spot sit many major airlines. Much travel can be postponed and customers find little reason to choose one carrier over another on heavily travelled routes. The contrast with the consumer package good company is striking. Both industries raise price in May 2008 as oil rose to $145 barrel. But the Colgate of the world was able to maintain their new price. When oil came down, while airlines, caught in the opposite corner of pricing matrix, had to drop their prices in lockstep. By 2009 they were offering some of the lowest fares seen in years. Its an old story with essentially no pricing power, airlines frequently get into price wars in which everyone loses. That is exactly what happened to them in the last recession and they have done it again this time.

U.S. carmakers occupy the same corner, you can probably use your current car for another year, and if you do decide to buy a new one, the brand strength of the U.S. makers is generally much weaker than the imports.

The other two corners of the matrix represent in-between cases. Must-have commodities are items like lightbulbs and toilet paper; no one will stop buying them, but the brands don’t carry much power. Highly differentiated discretionary purchases are products like a Rolls-Royce; it’s unique, but nobody actually needs one. Neither category commands much pricing power in a recession.

The most important insight into pricing is that smart companies use tools like this matrix not to analyse product and services, but to analyse customers. The matrix is based entirely on customer perceptions, which vary widely, so for any product or service that you sell, you must consider not one matrix but several – one for each of your customer segments. For example, you and I might consider that Rolls-Royce entirely unnecessary, but there may exist a segment of customers who feel they cannot exist without one. Failing to differentiate that segment from others would be missing a giant opportunity. In general knowing where your product or service falls on the matrices of various customer segments – and how its location has changed as a result of the recession – enables you to create different value propositions in which price will play a greater or lesser role. The principle applies to any kind of offering, not just high – end products. Mckinsey reports, for example that a beverage company found price sensitivity varied by a factor of three just across zip codes within Jacksonville, Florida. Offering all of them the same price would not make much sense.

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Building scenarios can help managers see important possible events they would not have imagined, because it's all about thinking through possible sequences. Shell company is one of the examples which follows this. An extensive outline of the firm's current scenarios is available at www.shell.com/scenarios

Another set of deeply developed scenarios that will stimulate your mind comes from the U.S. National Intelligence Council (www.cia.gov/in), picturing five possible futures for 2020.

Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer

About the Book

When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, she has endured a tumultuous year of temptation, loss and strife to reach the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the the dark but seductive world of immortals or pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fate of two tribes hangs.
Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating and unfathomable consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella'slife - first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse - seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed......forever?

The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.

VAMPIRE INDEX
Alphabetically by coven

* vampire possesses a quantifiable supernatural talent
struck deceased before beginning of this novel
— bonded pair (oldest listed first)

The Amazon Coven
Kachiri
Senna
Zafrina*
The Denali Coven
Eleazar* — Carmen
Irina — Laurent
Kate*
Sasha
Tanya
Vasilii

The Egyptian Coven
Amun — Kebi
Benjamin* — Tia
The Irish Coven
Maggie*
Siobhan* — Liam
The Olympic Coven
Carlisle — Esme
Edward* — Bella*
Jasper* — Alice*
Renesmee*
Rosalie — Emmett
The Romanian Coven
Stefan
Vladimir
The Volturi Coven
Aro* — Sulpicia
Caius — Athenodora
Marcus* — Didyme*
The Volturi Guard (partial)
Alec*
Chelsea* — Afton*
Corin*
Demetri*
Felix
Heidi*
Jane*
Renata*
Santiago
The American Nomads (Partial)
Garrett
James* — Victoria*
Mary
Peter — Charlotte
Randall The European Nomads (Partial)
Alistair*
Charles* — Makenna

About the Author

Stephenie Meyer debut novel Twilight and the sequels New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn are international bestsellers. Her official website can be found at www.stepheniemeyer.com

Kautilya's Arthashastra

About The Book

Kautilya, also known as Chanakya, is India's most illustrious political economist of all time. He regarded economic activity as the driving force behind the functioning of any political dispensation. In fact, he went to the extent of saying that revenue should take priority over the army because sustaining the army was possible out of a well-managed revenue system.

Kautilya advocated limiting the taxation power of the State, having low rates of taxation, maintaining a gradual increase in taxation and most importantly devising a tax structure that ensured compliance. He strongly encouraged foreign trade, basing it on the premise that for a successful trade contract to be established, it had to be beneficial to all. He emphasised State control and investment in land, water and mining.

Kautilya was a true statesman who bridged the gap between experience and vision. For Kautilya, good governance was paramount. He suggested built-in checks and balances in systems and procedures for the containment of malpractices. Many postulates of Kautilya's philosophy of political economy are applicable to contemporary times.

A Brief Outline

Kautilya belonged to the Magadh State, which corresponds to present day South Bihar. Magadh was then the biggest state in India. Kautilya studied at one of the world's oldest universities, Takshasila University. He joined Chandragupta Maurya's empire, after a brief stint with the previous Nanda Dynasty. He served as the Mahaamatya, in the Mauryan empire, a post similar to the present day Prime Minister and, thus, possessed rich experience in political administraion and defence matters. Eventually, Kautilya became an intelligent scholar, fearless thinker, capable secretary, and astute politician.

Vishnugupt's (better known as Kautilya, or Chanakya) (c. 350-c. 275 BC) treatise Arthashastra deals extensively with aspects of political, economic, and social management and is the oldest book on management in the world. It was written by Kautilya around 350 BC. When literally translated, it means 'Scripture of Wealth'.

Kautilya was credited with bringing down the Nanda Dynasty and influencing the defeat of Alexander in India when the warrior was on his way to conquer the world. As a political thinker, he was the first to visualise the concept of a 'nation' for the first time in human history. During his time, India was spilt into various kingdoms. He brought all of them together under one 'Central Governance', thus creating a nation called 'Aryavartha', which later became India.

Kautilya's Arthashastra is an important source of knowledge on polity, economy and administration. However, this important document had been forgotten for centuries. Thanks to Syamasastri, who first interpreted Kautilya's economic and political thoughts in a book published in English in 1909, we had insights into the writings of that brilliant mind.

Though the general impression is that Kautilya had not written much about economics, the fact is that Kautilya by taking a holistic and integrated approach to governance, had provided a new dimension to the field of economics, which unfortunately has remained neglected all this time. Economics works well with resource management, efficient administration, a fair judicial system, knowledgeable people with integrity, capable of taking up high positions.

Kautilya's philosophy is based on the principles of "sam, dam, dand, bhed" (persuasion, temptation, punishment, and division) as various, different, and sequential means to achieve an end.

Governance - Role Of Ethics

Kautilya used the word 'dharma' (which in general, means 'duty') and righteousness in personal and social conduct. He described the basic ethical (dharmic) values as, "Duties common to all - ahimsa (abstaining from injury to all living creatures); satyam (truthfulness); cleanliness; freedom from malice; compassion and tolerance."

Interest

Five different kinds of interest were distinguished by Kautilya: compound interest, periodical interest, stipulated interest, daily interest, and the use of a pledged article.

Indeed the idea of expressing interest as a percentage originated in India.

Wages

He recommended that the aggregate wage bill of the State should not exceed one-fourth of its revenue.

Prevention of Unfair Trade Practices

Kautilya's policies, when seen in totality, represent a very pro-merchant and artisan stance, with the State playing the role of facilitator and protector of commercial interests.

Conceptualising Good Governance

The Arthashastra equates political governance with economic governance. The end is economic governance while political governance is the means. But as economic objectives are not realised in the absence of political ones, then political governance becomes an end and economic governance the means. 'The end justifies the means', this is supposed to be the basis of Kautilyan and Machiavellian philosophy. Political power and material wealth according to Kautilya are the means and ends of governance. And good governance - political or economic - depends upon justifying the ends and means as the socio, economic and political conditions.

The three constituents of power are: intellectual power, military might, and enthusiasm and morale.

Principles of Economic Administration

The cardinal principle of economic administration was laid down in Kautilya's Arthshastra in the following words - "The root of wealth is economic activity and lack of it brings material distress. In the absence of fruitful economic activity, both current prosperity and future growth are in danger of destruction. The King shall populate the countryside by creating new villages on virgin lands or reviving abandoned village sites."

Profit Margins

Arthashastra indicated the profit margin allowed to merchants as:

1-5% for locally produced goods, and

2-10% for imported goods

Principles of Taxation

Kautilya's discussion of taxation has several underlying principles - the taxing power of the state should be limited, tax should not be felt to be heavy or excessive, tax hikes should be introduced gradually, tax should be levied in the proper place, time and form, and tax level should be equitable and reasonable.

Ideally, the government should collect taxes like a honeybee that sucks just the right amount of honey from the flower so that both can survive.

Kautilya's scheme of taxation involved the elements of sacrifice by the taxpayer, direct benefit to the taxpayers, redistribution of income (the state took care of the poor), and tax incentives for desired investments.

Winning over Seducible and Non-Seducible parties in enemy territory

There were four types of behaviour that he felt made a man seducible -

anger, fear, greed, and pride.

Many of Kautilya's teachings and policies were influenced by the Vedas, which tell us that a human being is made up of mind, body, and intellect (brain). Of these, the body acts either at the command of the mind or at the insistence of the intellect. Intellect is defined as the capacity to control the mind and this comes from study and reflection. The mind is a collection of our feelings, emotions, thoughts etc. While intellect rationalises, the mind dictates the emotion. Further, the mind is insatiable, it wanders (perhaps even faster than the speed of light), and it gets attached. All these things make one dependent on the world.

A person feels stress when his mind rules over his intellect. This is the state of unfulfilled desires. Whereas when intellect rules over the mind, the desires become aims and ambitions. Unfulfilled desires could lead one to anger (the mind experiences this as an obstruction to what one desires); greed (when the craving or the desire becomes very strong); this leads to arrogance, which with the passage of time becomes envy. Envy leads to fear (losing what one has). The fourth state that the Vedas talk about is Moha (delusion); but Kautilya lays stress on pride in a man that relates to arrogance as the fourth seducible element.

Education

Kautilya's Arthashastra identified the significance of training and learning. It clearly stated that training imparted discipline. Thus, the lessons of discipline could be imparted to those whose intellect had the desire to learn, capacity to listen attentively, power to grasp what was taught, to retain it in memory, discriminate between the important and the unimportant, draw inferences, deliberate and imbibe the truth and not to others.

From hearing (sruti) ensues knowledge; from knowledge, application (yoga) is possible; and from application, self-possession (atmavatta) is possible. This is what is meant by efficiency of learning (vidhyasamarthyam).

Kautilya stated that investment in human capital especially in higher education would have a greater impact on the growth and development of the economy.

Towards Higher Sustainable Economic Growth With People Welfare

Good governance in Kautilya's literature is aimed at fulfilling the welfare of the people. "In the happiness of the King's subjects lies his happiness, in their welfare, his welfare. Whatever pleases him personally, he shall not consider as good, but whatever makes his subjects happy, he shall consider good."

The jargon related to Human Resource Management was not prevalent then, but its essence was widely practised in Kautilya's times. "The King should look to the bodily comforts of his servants by providing such emoluments as can infuse in them the spirit of enthusiasm to work. He should not violate the course of righteousness and wealth. Thus, he shall not only maintain his servants, but also increase their subsistence and wages in consideration of their learning and work."

Kautilya said that good governance and stability go hand in hand. According to him, there is stability if rulers are responsive, responsible, accountable, removable, and recallable, otherwise there would be instability.

Rulers: Duties and Qualities

A ruler who administers justice on the basis of four principles: righteousness, evidence, history of the case, and the prevalent law, shall conquer the earth.

Military Policy

In day time, the crow kills the owl. At night the owl kills the crow (The time of fight is important).

In the fight between the dog and the pig, the ultimate victory is that of the pariah (who gets the meat to eat).

A dog on land drags a crocodile. A crocodile in water drags a dog (the place of fight is important).

Law, Justice, Punishment

When there is a conflict between established tradition and ethical principles, or between evidence and what is right (according to ethical principles) the case shall be decided on the basis of ethical principles.

Where scriptural laws conflict with what is righteous and just, there justice shall be the valid criterion, the written text loses its relevance.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the most important constituent of the economy.

Three principal vocations are recognised as providing men with the means of livelihood namely, krsi (agriculture), pasupalya (cattle rearing) and vanijya (trade). The three together constitute varita (derived vritti,-livelihood).

Where rain, free from wind and unmingled with sunshine, falls so as to render turns of ploughing possible, there the reaping of good harvest is certain.

With respect to taxes on agriculture, avoid extremes of either complete absence of taxes or exorbitant taxation.

Miscellaneous Dicta

Time (opportunity) approaches a man desirous of it only once. And will not come a second time when he wants to do his work.

Society undergoes constant change, leaving behind those who say 'no' to change.

Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer

About The Book

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

Following the international bestsellers Twilight and New Moon, Eclipse is the much-anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's captivating saga of vampire romance.

About the Author

Stephenie Meyer debut novel Twilight and the sequels New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn are international bestsellers. Her official website can be found at www.stepheniemeyer.com

The List Of Books/Novels Read By Me In The Year 2010

(1) Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer (Fiction) - The International Number One Bestseller

(2) Kautilya's Arthashastra - The Way Of Financial Management and Economic Governance - How Kautilya's Arthashastra, written about 2,400 years ago, can solve many of India's current economic and other problems - A Must Read

(3) The UPside of the Downturn - The Opportunity - 10 Management Strategies To Prevail In The Recession And Thrive In The Aftermath - Geoff Colvin - A Must Read

(4) Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer (Fiction) - The International Number One Bestseller

New Moon - Stephenie Meyer

About The Book

For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella could ever have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning...

'Shoot', I muttered when the paper sliced my finger; I pulled it out to examine the damage. A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut. It all happened very quickly then. 'No!' Edward roared...Dazed and disoriented, I looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of my arm - into the fevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires.

Passionate, riveting and deeply moving, New Moon, the compelling sequel to Twilight, irresistibly combines romance and suspense with a supernatural twist.

About the Author

Stephenie Meyer debut novel Twilight and the sequels New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn are international bestsellers. Her official website can be found at www.stepheniemeyer.com

Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

About The Book

When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret.

What Bella doesn't realize is that the closer she gets to him, the more she is putting herself and those around her at risk. And it might be too late to turn back...

About three things Bella was absolutely positive.

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him - and she didn't know how dominant that part might be - that thirsted for her blood.

And third, She was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Deeply seductive and irresistibly compelling, Twilight is an extraordinary love story that will stay with you long after you have turned the final page.

About the Author

Stephenie Meyer debut novel Twilight and the sequels New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn are international bestsellers. Her official website can be found at www.stepheniemeyer.com

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - A fable about fulfilling your dreams and reaching your destiny - Robin Sharma

About the book

Wisdom to create a life of Passion, Purpose, and Peace

This inspiring tale provides a step-by-step approach to living with greater courage, balance, abundance, and joy. A wonderfully crafted fable tells the extraordinary story of Julian Mantle, a lawyer forced to confront the spiritual crisis of his out-of-balance life. On a life-changing odyssey to an ancient culture, he discovers powerful, wise, and practical lessons that teach us to:

- Develop joyful thoughts
- Follow our life's mission and calling
- Cultivate self-discipline and act courageously
- Value time as our most important commodity
- Nourish our relationships, and - live fully, one day at a time

About the Author

Robin Sharma is the globally celebrated author of 10 bestselling books on leadership and personal development. His work has been published in over 50 countries and nearly 70 languages, making him one of the most widely read authors in the world. He shot to fame with The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari which has topped international bestseller lists and sold millions of copies.

Robin is the founder of Sharma Leadership International Inc., a global consultancy that helps people in organizations Lead Without a Title. His clients include Microsoft, Nike, GE, FedEx, NASA and BP.

Robin's website, www.robinsharma.com, offers his blog, video coaching and podcasts.

The best lines or teachings from the book

Every event has a purpose and every setback its lesson. Failure whether of the personal, professional, or even spiritual kind, is essential to personal expansion. It brings inner growth and a whole host of psychic rewards. Never regret your past. Rather, embrace it as the teacher that it is.

There are no mistakes in life, only lessons. There is no such thing as a negative experience, only opportunities to grow, learn and advance along the road of self-mastery. From struggle comes strength. Even pain can be a wonderful teacher.

On an average day, the average person runs about sixty thousand thoughts through his mind and 95% of those thoughts were the same as the ones you thought the day before.

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be.

The secret of happiness is simple: find out what you truly love to do and then direct all of your energy towards doing it. If you study the happiest, healthiest, most satisfied people of our world, you will see that each and every one of them has found their passion in life, and then spent their days pursuing it. This calling is almost always one that, in some way, serves others. Once you are concentrating your mental power and energy on a pursuit that you love, abundance flows into your life, and all your desires are fulfilled with ease and grace.

Stillness is the stepping stone to connecting with the universal source of intelligence that throbs through every living thing.

The Chinese define image in these terms: there are three mirrors that form a person's reflection; the first is how you see yourself, the second is how others see you and the third mirror reflects the truth. Know yourself, Know the truth.

For new behavior to crystallize into a habit, one had to perform the new activity for twenty-one days in a row.

Never do anything because you have to. The only reason to do something is because you want to and because you know it is the right thing for you to do.

Kaizen - Japanese word that means constant and never-ending improvement. It's the personal trademark of every man and woman who is living a soaring, fully awakened existence. Success on the outside begins with success on the inside. If you really want to improve your outer world, whether this means your health, your relationships or your finances, you must first improve your inner world. The most effective way to do this is through the practice of continuous self-improvement. Self-mastery is the DNA of life mastery.

Ten Rituals of Radiant Living

- The Ritual Of Solitude
Ensure that your daily schedule includes a mandatory period of peace. It's purpose is self-renewal and this is accomplished by spending time alone, immersed in the beautiful blanket of silence.

- The Ritual of Physicality
It is based on the principle that says as you care for the body so you care for the mind. As you prepare your body, so you prepare your mind. As you train your body, so you train your mind. Take some time every single day to nourish the temple of your body through vigorous exercise. Get your blood circulationg and your body moving.

- The Ritual of Live Nourishment
As you nourish your body, so you nourish your mind as a poor diet has a pronounced effect on your life. It drains your mental and physical energy. It affects your moods and it hampers the clarity of your mind.

- The Ritual of Abundant Knowledge
It centers on the whole notion of lifelong learning and expanding your knowledge base for the good of yourself and all those around you. It requires that you use what you have learned in the classroom of your existence.

- The Ritual of Personal Reflection
The power of inner contemplation. By taking the time to get to know yourself, you will connect to a dimension of your being that you never knew you had.

- The Ritual of Early Awakening
Rise with the sun and start the day off well

- The Ritual of Music
Music makes you laugh, it makes you dance and it makes you sing. Never forget the power of music. It is one of the finest motivators.

- The Ritual of the Spoken Word
It helps you to be focused, strong and happy. For example, saying mantras, written affirmations. A mantra is nothing more than a collection of words strung together to create a positive effect. In Sanskrit, 'man' means 'mind' and 'tra' means 'freeing'. So a mantra is a phrase that is designed to free the mind.

- The Ritual of a Congruent Character
Take daily, incremental action to build your character.
You sow a thought, you reap an action. Reap an action,you sow a habit. Sow a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character, you reap your destiny.
When all your actions are congruent and aligned with the principles of industry, compassion, humility, patience, honesty and courage, you will feel a deep sense of inner harmony and peace.

- The Ritual of Simplicity
Live a simple life. One must never live in the thick of thin things. Focus only on your priorities, those activities that are truly meaningful. Your life will be uncluttered, rewarding and exceptionally peaceful.

Ancient Rule of Twenty - 80% of the results you achieve in your life come from only 20% of the activities that occupy your time.

When you control your thoughts, you control your mind. When you control your mind, you control your life. And once you reach the stage of being in total control of your life, you become the master of your destiny.

Seven virtues for a life overflowing with inner peace, joy and a wealth of spiritual gifts are contained within a mystical fable. The following fable has the essence of it all. Picture the following scene in your mind's eye-

You are sitting in the middle of a magnificient, lush, green garden. This garden is filled with the most spectacular flowers you have ever seen. The environment is supremely tranquil and silent. Savor the sensual delights of this graden and feel as if you have all the time in the world to enjoy this natural oasis. As you look around you see that in the center of this magical garden stands a towering, red lighthouse, six stories high. Suddenly, the silence of the garden is disturbed by a loud creaking as the door at the base of the lighthouse opens. Japanese sumo wrestler who casually wanders into the center of the garden. [The Japanese sumo wrestler is almost totally naked. He has a pink wire cable covering his private parts]. As this sumo wrestler starts to move around the garden, he finds a shiny gold stopwatch which someone had left behind many years earlier. He slips it on, and falls to the ground with an enormous thud. The sumo wrestler is rendered unconscious and lies there, silent and still. Just when you think he has taken his last breath, the wrestler awakens, perhaps stirred by the fragrance of some fresh yellow roses blooming nearby. Energized, the wrestler jumps swiftly to his feet and intuitively looks to his left. He is startled by what he sees. Through the bushes at the very edge of the garden he observes a long winding path covered by millions of sparkling diamonds. Something seems to instruct the wrestler to take the path, and to his credit, he does. This path leads him dowm the road of everlasting joy and eternal bliss.

The 7 Timeless Virtues of Enlightened Living

Master Your Mind - The Magnificent Garden
Follow Your Purpose - The Towering Lighthouse
Practice Kaizen - The Sumo Wrestler
Live With Discipline - The Pink Wire Cable
Respect Your Time - The Gold Stopwatch
Selflessly Serve Others - The Fragrant Roses
Embrace the Present - The Path of Diamonds

We are all here for some special reason. Stop being a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future.

Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter, C.P.A.

About The Book


Rich Dad Poor Dad will....

-Explore the myth that you need to earn a high income to become rich
-Challenge the belief that your house is an asset
-Show parents why they can't rely on the school system to teach their kids about money
-Define once and for all an asset and a liability
-Teach you what to teach your kids about money for their future financial success


What follows is the story of Robert's two dads, a rich one and a poor one, that expounds on the skills he's developed over a lifetime. The contrast between two dads provides an important perspective.

For any accountants who read this book, suspend your academic book knowledge and open your mind to the theories Robert presents.

Although many of them challenge the very fundamentals of generally accepted accounting principles, they provide a valuable insight into the way true investors analyze their investment decisions.

About The Authors


Robert T. Kiyosaki


"The main reason people struggle financially is because they spent years in school but learned nothing about money. The result is, people learn to work for money...but never learn to have money work for them," says Robert


Born and raised in Hawaii, Robert is fourth-generation Japanese American. His father was the head of education for the state of Hawaii. After high school, Robert was educated in New York and upon graduation, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and went to Vietnam as an officer and a helicopter gunship pilot.


Returning from the war, Robert's business career began. In 1977 he founded a company that brought to the market the first nylon and Velcro "surfer" wallets, which grew into a multimillion-dollar worldwide product.


Leaving the business world, he co-founded, in 1985, an international education company that operated in seven countries, teaching business and investing to tens of thousands of graduates.


Retiring at age 47, Robert does what he enjoys most...investing. Concerned about the growing gap between the haves and have nots, Robert created the board game CASHFLOW, which teaches the game of money, here before only known by the rich.


Although Robert's business is real estate and developing small cap companies, his true love and passion is teaching.


Robert Kiyosaki's message is clear, "Take responsibility for your finances or take orders all your life. You're either a master of money or a slave to it."


Robert has one solid earth-shaking message and that message is - Awaken the Financial Genius that lies within you. Your genius is waiting to come out.


Sharon L. Lechter


CPA, consultant to the toy and publishing industries and business owner, Sharon Lechter has dedicated her professional efforts to the field of education.


She graduated with honors from Florida State University with a degree in accounting. She joined the ranks of what was then one of the big eight accounting firms, and went on to become the CFO of a turnaround company in the computer industry, tax director for a national insurance company and founder and Associate Publisher of the first regional woman's magazine in
Wisconsin, all while maintaining her professional credentials as a CPA.


Her focus quickly changed to education as she watched her own three children grow. It was a struggle to get them to read. They would rather watch TV.


So she was delighted to join forces with the inventor of the first electronic "talking book" and help expand the electronic book industry to a multimillion-dollar international market. Today, she remains a pioneer in developing new technologies to bring the book back into children's lives.


The best lines or teachings from the book


The love of money is the root of all evil OR The lack of money is the root of all evil.


Lesson #1 The Rich Don't Work for Money

Lesson #2 Why Teach Financial Literacy

Lesson #3 Mind Your Own Business

Lesson #4 The History of Taxes and the Power of Corporations

Lesson #5 The Rich Invent Money

Lesson #6 Work to Learn - Don't Work for Money


Money often makes obvious our tragic human flaws. Money often puts a spotlight on what we do not know. That is why, all too often, a person who comes into a sudden windfall of cash - let's say an inheritance, a pay raise or lottery winnings - soon returns to the same financial mess,if not worse than the mess they were in before they received the money. Money only accentuates the cash-flow pattern running in your head. If your pattern is to spend everything you get, most likely an increase in cash will just result in an increase in spending. Thus, the saying, "A fool and his money is one big party."


As an employee who is also a homeowner, your working efforts are generally as follows:

1. You work for someone else. Most people, working for a paycheck, are making the owner, or the shareholders, richer. Your efforts and success will help provide for the owner's success and retirement.

2. You work for the government. The government takes its share from your paycheck before you even see it. By working harder, you simply increase the amount of taxes taken by the government-most people work from January to May just for the government.

3. You work for the bank. After taxes, your next largest expense is usually your mortgage and credit card debt. The problem with simply working harder is that each of these three levels takes a greater share of your increased efforts.


You need to learn how to have your increased efforts benefit you and your family directly.
Once you have decided to concentrate on minding your own business, how do you set your goals?



For most people, they must keep their profession and rely on their wages to fund their acquisition of assets. As their assets grow, how do they measure the extent of their success? When does someone realize that they are rich, that they have wealth?..........



Check the below definition :-


Definition of Wealth borrowed from Buckminster Fuller: Wealth is a person's ability to survive so many number of days forward...or if I stopped working today, how long could I survive?


List of assets to be acquired -

1. Businesses that do not require my presence. I own them, but they are managed or run by other people. If I have to work there, it's not a business. It becomes my job.

2. Stocks

3. Bonds

4. Mutual Funds

5. Income-generating real estate

6. Notes (IOUs)

7. Royalties from intellectual property such as music, scripts, patents

8. And anything else that has value, producers income or appreciates and has a ready market.


"Be smart and you won't be pushed around as much."


Financial IQ is made up of knowledge from four broad areas of expertise

No. 1 is Accounting

No. 2 is Investing

No. 3 is Understanding Markets

No. 4 is the Law


The Rich with Corporations

1. Earn 2. Spend 3. Pay Taxes


People Who Work for corporations

1. Earn 2. Pay Taxes 3. Spend


Excessive fear and self-doubt are the greatest detractors of personal genius.


Financial intelligence is made up of four main technical skills :-

1. Financial literacy - The ability to read numbers

2. Investment strategies - The science of money making money

3. The market - Supply and demand. Alexander Graham Bell gave the market what it wanted. So did Bill Gates. A $75,000 house offered for $60,000 that cost $20,000 was also the result of seizing an opportunity created by the market. Somebody was buying, and someone was selling.

4. The law - The awareness of accounting, corporate, state and national rules and regulations.


Financial Intelligence is a synergy of accounting, investing, marketing and law.

The classic example of a synergy of skills was that young writer for the newspaper. If she diligently learned the skills of sales and marketing, her income would jump dramatically. Take some courses in advertising copywriting as well as sales. Then, instead of working at the newspaper, seek a job at an advertising agency. Even if it were a cut in pay, she would learn how
to communicate in "short cuts" that are used in successful advertising. She also would spend time learning public relations, an important skill. She would learn how to get millions in free publicity. Then, at night and on weekends, she could be writing her great novel. When it was finished, she would be better able to sell her book. Then, in a short while, she could
be a "best-selling author."


"You want to know a little about a lot."


"Job is an acronym for 'Just Over Broke'."


"Workers work hard enough to not be fired, and owners pay just enough so that workers won't quit."


The main management skills needed for success are -

1. The management of cash flow

2. The management of systems (including yourself and time with family)

3. The management of people


The better you are at communicating, negotiating and handling your fear of rejection, the easier life is.


Five main reasons why financially literate people may still not develop abundant asset columns -

1. Fear

2. Cynicism

3. Laziness

4. Bad Habits

5. Arrogance


"Do what you feel in your heart to be right-for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't."


Arrogance is ego plus ignorance.


Getting Started



1. I NEED A REASON GREATER THAN REALITY

The power of spirit. If you ask most people if they would like to be rich or financially free, they would say "yes." But then reality sets in. The road seems too long with too many hills to climb. It's easier to just work for money and hand the excess over to your broker.


2. I CHOOSE DAILY

The power of choice. That is the main reason people want to live in a free country. We want the power to choose.


3. CHOOSE FRIENDS CAREFULLY

The power of association. First of all, do not choose friends by their financial statements. Have friends who have actually taken the vow of poverty as well as friends who earn millions every year. The point is you learn from all of them, and also consciously make the effort to learn from them.

A WARNING: Don't listen to poor or frightened people. They are the "Chicken Littles" of life. When it comes to money, especially investments, "The sky is always falling." They can always tell you why something won't work. The problem is, people listen to them, but people who blindly accept doom-and-gloom information are also "Chicken Littles." As that old
saying goes, "Chickens of a feather agree together."


4. MASTER A FORMULA AND THEN LEARN A NEW ONEThe power of learning quickly. In order to make bread, every baker follows a recipe, even if it's only held in their head.
The same is true for making money. That's why money is often called "dough".


5. PAY YOURSELF FIRSTThe power of self-discipline. If you cannot get control of yourself, do not try to get rich.The Richest Man in Babylon, by George Classen, is where the statement "pay yourself first" comes from.(a) Don't get into large debt positions that you have to pay for. Keep your expenses low. Build up assets first. Then, buy the big house or nice car. Being stuck in the rat race is not intelligent.(b) When you come up short, let the pressure build and don't dip into your savings or investments. Use the pressure to inspire your financial genius to come up with new ways of making more money and then pay your bills. You will have increased
your ability to make more money as well as your financial intelligence.


6. PAY YOUR BROKERS WELL

The power of good advice.


7. BE AN "INDIAN GIVER"

This is the power of getting something for nothing. When the first white settlers came to America, they were taken aback by a cultural practice some American Indians had. For example, if a settler was cold, the Indian would give the person a blanket.
Mistaking it for a gift, the settler was often offended when the Indian asked for it back.
The Indians also got upset when they realized the settlers did not want to give it back. That is where the term "Indian giver" came from. A simple cultural misunderstanding.


8. ASSETS BUY LUXURIES

The power of focus.


9. THE NEED FOR HEROES

The power of myth. When it comes to investing, too many people make it sound hard. Instead find heroes who make it look easy.
Have heroes such as Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch, George Soros and Jim Rogers.


10. TEACH AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE

The power of giving.


ROBERT KIYOSAKI'S EDUMERCIAL

An Educational Commercial


THE THREE INCOMES



In the world of accounting, there are three different types of income. They are -

1. Earned Income

2. Passive Income

3. Portfolio Income


When my real dad said to me, "Go to school, get good grades, and find a safe secure job," he was recommending I work for earned income. When my rich dad said, "The rich don't work for money, they have their money work for them," he was talking about passive income and portfolio income. Passive income, in most cases, is income derived from real estate investments.
Portfolio income is income derived from paper assets...paper assets such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Portfolio income is the income that makes Bill Gates the richest man in the world, not earned income.


Rich dad used to say, "The key to becoming wealthy is the ability to convert earned income into passive income and/or portfolio income as quickly as possible."



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