A racing first chapter brings in a smart opening for the book. A superbly narrated story with characters from the great Epic Ramayana. The characters are playing similar roles as Ramayana however with different sequences. Changes in screenplay / narration brings in a new fiction, however the essence of Ramayana neatly twined into the plot which unravels neatly everytime.
Sita is brought out as a strong, courageous, smart, short tempered, skilled & bold woman who has great leadership & quick decision making skills. Strength, courage & skill is narrated in the first chapter when she single handedly fights Lankan soldiers, short temper when she flings the horse sadle on her uncle's feet in anger at a very young age, leadership when she leads Mithilan police to fight Ravanan's army at Mithila and killing 1000 Lankan soldiers with a smart strategy and quick decision making, bold when she blatantly refuses to use Biological weapons against Lankan army though insisted by her Guru Visvamithrar.
Some key concepts in the novel which attracted me immensely
Go for the throat not the head
Consequences will be severe when you attack & kill the leader, backlash will be heavy and brutal, world will notice you. Strategy is to neutralize the leader, your main enemy, by cutting off his support systems, so that consequences are less for you but very effective. Great concept. Twice it is brought out in this book clearly. First when Sita has her Uncle Khushadwaj's right hand man and strategist Prime Minister Sulochan killed, second when she has Manthra's right hand man Dhruhu killed. These two strategies neutralizes her main two detractors and takes them out of her way enabling her to focus on the main task in hand.
Your team is different from you
Sita is fighting the Lankans in Mithila, she has a police force which is outnumbered 3 times by the Lankan army. She need people to fight. She boasts that she will rally her citizens with her and she is confident that they fight even with kitchen knives to protect their mother land. Surprise in store for Sita when her citizens wanted to negotiate peace and not war. They did not want to loose their hard earned wealth and comfort in one war. Sita is disappointed. True, your team need not toe your line, they are different and have a head of their own.
Leadership is about taking charge
Ram leashes the deadly Ashurashtra on the Lankan's neutralizing them and saving Mitila from imminent disaster, paving a way to negotiate peace with Ravanan. Using Biological weapons is a sin, but as a leader if you have to do an act which ensures safety of your team and will lead to good, take charge and do it. Ram takes charge as a leader and then faces consequence for using the weapon but his mission of saving people is done and peace dominated
Missing strategies
Viswhamithra plans to use Ram as a pawn to ensure Sita is declared a Vishnu and he makes Ram leash Ashurashtra. However he misses his strategy clearly, Ram becomes more popular as he has defeated Ravanan. Strategies need to be thought through from multiple angles and brain stormed and not executed in a hurry
Sita is brought out as a strong, courageous, smart, short tempered, skilled & bold woman who has great leadership & quick decision making skills. Strength, courage & skill is narrated in the first chapter when she single handedly fights Lankan soldiers, short temper when she flings the horse sadle on her uncle's feet in anger at a very young age, leadership when she leads Mithilan police to fight Ravanan's army at Mithila and killing 1000 Lankan soldiers with a smart strategy and quick decision making, bold when she blatantly refuses to use Biological weapons against Lankan army though insisted by her Guru Visvamithrar.
Some key concepts in the novel which attracted me immensely
Go for the throat not the head
Consequences will be severe when you attack & kill the leader, backlash will be heavy and brutal, world will notice you. Strategy is to neutralize the leader, your main enemy, by cutting off his support systems, so that consequences are less for you but very effective. Great concept. Twice it is brought out in this book clearly. First when Sita has her Uncle Khushadwaj's right hand man and strategist Prime Minister Sulochan killed, second when she has Manthra's right hand man Dhruhu killed. These two strategies neutralizes her main two detractors and takes them out of her way enabling her to focus on the main task in hand.
Your team is different from you
Sita is fighting the Lankans in Mithila, she has a police force which is outnumbered 3 times by the Lankan army. She need people to fight. She boasts that she will rally her citizens with her and she is confident that they fight even with kitchen knives to protect their mother land. Surprise in store for Sita when her citizens wanted to negotiate peace and not war. They did not want to loose their hard earned wealth and comfort in one war. Sita is disappointed. True, your team need not toe your line, they are different and have a head of their own.
Leadership is about taking charge
Ram leashes the deadly Ashurashtra on the Lankan's neutralizing them and saving Mitila from imminent disaster, paving a way to negotiate peace with Ravanan. Using Biological weapons is a sin, but as a leader if you have to do an act which ensures safety of your team and will lead to good, take charge and do it. Ram takes charge as a leader and then faces consequence for using the weapon but his mission of saving people is done and peace dominated
Missing strategies
Viswhamithra plans to use Ram as a pawn to ensure Sita is declared a Vishnu and he makes Ram leash Ashurashtra. However he misses his strategy clearly, Ram becomes more popular as he has defeated Ravanan. Strategies need to be thought through from multiple angles and brain stormed and not executed in a hurry
Saying & strong No
Ram, Vishvamitrar, Arishtanemi all are surprised by a clear and loud No from Sita on using Biological weapons on Lankans and she preferring to fight though there are little chances of winning. Learning to saying No is an art and that too to your mentor and Guru needs raw courage and strength
Leader Following the rules of law
Lead by example is Ram's principle. He admonishes himself to 14 years of exile into the forest for using the Ashurashtra as per law and refuses to take any comforts though offered to him. This is a sure motivator to the teams
Culture
This book explains the culture prevailing in India examples like Jallikattu & Mumbadevi are a great read.
Overall a fast paced book and a good read. I recommend this book for people who love fiction, war, strategies planned, deceit & quite a lot of beautiful narrations.
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