Lakshmi Priya's Blog

Quotes that I enjoyed

This is one of the recently published books about people’s mindset about money and how to grow your money through long term investing. There are a thousand other books that talk about the importance of investing, money growth etc.
What makes this book different is that the language is very simple. The chapters are precise and very relatable. There are no big financial jargons. So this book can be read and understood by any common man.
Also there are plenty of real life examples for every concept which makes it easier to grasp. There are some simple statistics listed in a few places that we have not heard before and a few times it made me go ‘Wow really!’
It talks more about the psychology of human mind when it comes to money than financial investment concepts to grow your money. I have given the pics of few of the quotes that I enjoyed reading. There are a lot more, but this is just a glimpse to show the essence of the book.

This is a sequel to Jorasanko and mainly talks about the life and times of women who influenced Tagore. Both are part-fictional accounts of life and times of Tagore and the many women who influenced him in the ancestral mansion. As painted by the author, the novel is largely set between the years 1859 and 1902 when a feudal mindset was slowly, reluctantly giving way to a liberal, westernized one.

Tagore, though a Nobel prize winner, is no different from a common man struggling to cope when it comes to dealing with his family. His skill to write world class poems with ease, fills us with admiration, while his struggle to handle simple household matters makes us feel nothing but pity for the poor soul.

My heart bled for Kadambari, one of Robi’s sister in law, whose life turns out to be a pathetic curse. Many characters in the book make a big impact in reader’s minds. But my personal favourite is Jnanadanandhini, eldest sister in law of the household, the dynamo wife of Maharshi Debendranath’s second son Satyendranath Tagore.

Jnanadanandini has been dignified with the title of the “first modern woman” of Bengal when modernism was still in its infancy. She is perhaps one of the strongest influences on Rabindranath.

Read the book in one sitting if you can — the age comes alive and grabs you leaving a lasting impact.

Jorasanko

The Tagore household comes alive in front of our eyes. It opens our eyes about the little known family life of the great poet of India – Rabindranath Tagore, especially his younger years.

It comes as a surprise to know how big the the family tree of the Tagores is, with Robi being the youngest. Little Robi, a poet at heart runs around Jorasanko with a spark in his eyes. The parts where the author explains about the marriage process and the accepted norms in married life during Tagore times is very lively and engaging.

The life of children who start out as daughter in laws in a household, as young as five years, made me appreciate the long way we have come as a nation in women. empowerment.

This is a must read for those interested to have a sneek peak into the Tagore household..

The inheritors

A young man of thirty three marries a seven year old bride. That’s right , a seven year old. How twisted is this? If you think this is bad wait for this – That child becomes a widow for life at sixteen with two babies already…

Bless all those souls who brought in the laws against child marriages! This is what I felt once I turned to the last page of this book.

The story starts somewhere around the end of 18th century in an old village of Majilpur. The orthodox mindset , harsh societal practices, the meaningless traditions, the worthless marriage customs – My god! My god! My god!
The life of women portrayed right from 1870’s till 1940’s is nothing short of a hellish curse. The vivid description about the lifestyle of people by the author, brings the 18th century Kolkata right in front of our eyes.
As time flies by, we are able to witness the gradual reforms and change in mindset creeping in for the better.
It left with me a heavy heart after reading through. I will definitely need a dose of Wodehouse after this!
But overall well written book, with just one minus for me. I had to refer to the family tree at the start of the book, several times, because there are too many characters and it gets hard to keep track of all of them.

Review contest

Rules for the contest:

Purchase the Kindle version of the book – ‘Millennial Kumar gets married at last’Link – https://www.amazon.in/MILLENNIAL-KUMAR-GETS-MARRIED-LAST-ebook/dp/B09LH8L52N/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Email the screenshot of order copy to lakshmipriyasrinivasan42@gmail.com to receive the refund for the book purchase.After reading the book, leave your review on amazon. Email the screenshot of the review to get Rs.30 credited to you.The top 2 reviews will each get Rs.100 worth Amazon voucher.If you have Insta handle, Like and save the post, follow @lakshmipriya1807 and tag at least two friends in the comments.The contest is open till Jan 5th 2022.The winners will be announced on Jan 10th 2022.This contest is for Kindle readers onlyThis contest is for Indian residents only.

Learn and help learn.

Mindset by Dr.Carol.S.Dweck
The author is one of the famous and leading researchers in the fields of personality and psychology. This book mainly talks about how each and every individual perceives and reacts to different scenarios in life. The scenarios are more or less common, but they are seen in various shades by people according to their mindset. Basically the world is divided into two groups of people -People with growth mindset and people with fixed mindset.
Based on her vast experience, the author highlights the results of various real time researches and studies conducted across various groups of people.
Though we all know about most of the stuff written in the book, it serves as a reinforcement when told with statistical evidence.
Various fields like sports, education, parenting, teaching , and leadership is touched upon to explain how a growth mindset makes a huge difference versus a fixed mindset. What makes it more interesting is, the real life examples about famous personalities who fall under both these mindsets. It is thrilling to read how a simple change in mindset can make or break even mammoth businesses.
The case studies about multi-million dollar companies like Enron, Ford, General Electric and General Motors open up your eyes about the long term and sustainable success that growth minded gives versus the short term hype that fixed mindset provides. Also the tidbits about stars like Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth and Tiger woods gives an inspiration to the readers.
As rightly stated by Bill Gates, the value of this book does extend beyond the world of education.
Parents, teachers and coaches – Reading this book, might offer you the right solutions that you are looking for.
To conclude we have to remember that everyone of us has a journey to take.

It starts by accepting that we have both mindsets.Then we learn to learn recognize what triggers the fixed mindset.Understand how it affects us and those around usWe can gradually learn to remain in growth mindset as we educate ourselves.Finally we can help others on their journey too.
Learn and help learn.

Royalty Contest

If you are an influencer with a flair for book reading, you have reached the right place. Find below the details of the competition.

For registration, buy a copy of the book ‘Millennial Kumar gets married at last’ from amazon (Kindle or paperback, whichever suits you) . For influencers with 10000+ followers, we will refund 100% of the book cost after purchase.For influencers with 5000-10000 followers, we will refund 50% of the book cost after purchase.For influencers with 2500-5000 followers, we will refund 25% of the book cost after purchase.IN – https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09M44LX39/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_XCRG4FBXDDVVZWFG2ZQ4US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09LGZV6H3/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_8G9RNMJ09J0QB22WKK2GSend the screenshot of the order and your instagram page handle to lakshmipriyasrinivasan42@gmail.comIf you already own the book, you are eligible to participate. However you have to send the order screenshot and instagram handle to the mail for verification.We will send you an OTP to confirm your registration and verify your identity.You should have a minimum of 1000 followers in instagram to participant in this contest.Once verified, you are officially enrolled in the contest. Read the book and write an honest and amazing review in amazon.Use your influence to make your review as ‘Top Rated’The earlier you register, the more time you will get to promote your review.The contest closes on JAN 20 2022 – 8 P.M I.S.TThe best top rated review will be declared as winner.The winner gets to work with the author to promote the book for the whole of one year. You will receive 5% royalty for every copy sold worldwide for one year (From JAN 24th 2022 to JAN 24th 2023)For any further queries write to lakshmipriyasrinivasan42@gmail.com

For readers interested in historical fiction

The Glass palace

One of the classics of Amitav Ghosh.

The book takes off with a slow start that explains in detail about the lush landscape and the kingdom of the Burmese monarchy run by King Thebaw. How a royal family of Mandalay degrades to live a sub standard life after the invasion of British is portrayed nicely. Rajkumar, the Indian orphaned boy left in Myanmar, captures the heart of the readers. Queen Suplayat remains to be a queen in her heart, even after every aspect of her royal life is shattered after being forced to move to India. She is a perfect example of someone failing to accept the reality.

When I turned to the last page of the novel, I felt as though I have traveled for 100 years on foot through the vast lands of Burma and India. The story runs through three generations taking us through the World War II, India’s struggle for independence, Burma’s fall and its transformation into Myanmar under a military dictatorship, to bring it to a befitting end.

Last Spring has two parts (I & II).

This is not just for the history buffs. As rightly said by ‘William Dalrymple’, these books give us an extensive and interesting introduction to the first six Mughal Emperors of India. Starting from the fearless Babur to determined Aurangzeb, the story of the last golden age of mother India unfolds gradually.
My personal favorite – Akbar.
Akbar, the great, stands true to his title. India flourishes to reach its peak during his reign. Oh the art and architecture marvels! The cultural advancement! It was plain abundance in everything!
And after that comes the descend. Naturally, what goes up has to come down, isn’t it?
If our history teachers at school could have taken us through our country’s history with a narrative like Eraly’s, every student would have become a fan of Indian history.

A must read for everyone to enjoy and relive our history during the Mughal period.