3 Most Effective Battle Tactics

I have tried to describe most successful military techniques of ancient and medieval period's. And there origins are somehow related to three great warriors Alexander ,Hannibal, Genghis Khan, though they were used  by so many Kings/Generals subsequently.Have a look

Phalanx:
Perfected by Philip II of Macedon, best known as Alexander the Great's dad, the augmented phalanx of massed infantry wielding 17-foot long spears (larissa) dominated the traditional line of battle formations in the warfare of Greek city-states and proved highly effective against much larger heterogeneous formations of the Persian empire:

Like their opponents, the Macedonians relied on the power of the offensive lineman to break the enemy line, after which organized opposition was ended. The innovation was doing so with a standoff weapon.



Movie 300 actually showcases a close knit Phalanx Formation.

Double Envelopment:
The pincer movement, or double envelopment, is a military maneuver in which forces simultaneously attack both flanks (sides) of an enemy formation. The name comes from visualizing the action as the split attacking forces "pinching" the enemy.


The pincer movement typically occurs when opposing forces advance towards the center of an army that responds by moving its outside forces to the enemy's flanks to surround it. At the same time, a second layer of pincers may attack on the more distant flanks to keep reinforcements from the target units.


The most famous example of its use was at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, when Hannibal executed the maneuver against the Romans. Military historians view this as one of the greatest battlefield maneuvers in history, and cite it as the first successful use of the pincer movement that was recorded in detail,by the Greek historian Polybius.

It continued to be used through out the Medieval History even after the advent of Gunpowder.

Babur had used the same technique against Ibrahim Lodhi at Panipat in 1526 and Rana Sanga at Khanwa in 1527. It is said that Babur introduced the guns(toaps/cannons) for the first time in India so he won, but he actually used this technique to good effect in both battles.His center was protected by line of bullock carts tied together with leather rope and  cannons between  the gap of the carts.He attacked the enemy center with cannons and and his cavalry  attacked Lodhi/Sanga from left and right flanks.

German Blitzkrieg during WW-2 was an application of Double Envelopment, where instead of mere infantry  it developed into a complex multi-discipline endeavor that involved fast movement by mechanized armor, artillery barrages, air force bombardment, and effective radio communications.

Feigned retreat:
Another standoff weapon system had great tactical success, the combination of archery and mobility deployed by the Mongol armies

The use of this system was based on hit, retreat, turn, divide and hunt operating with ease over usually winter terrain that infantry was ill adapted to and a logistical system that relied solely on local forage.
Army of Genghis Khan constantly used this technique against their opponents , drawing them in pursuit raining them with arrows. Finally when the enemy lines lost discipline and energy in pursuit, the Mongols used to ambush them. This pursuit could continue for days and the exhausted army was finally defeated easily.
This ability of firing shots while still on horseback is common with all steppe nomads like Mongols,Turks,Huns, Parthinas. In fact this typical shot is called the Parthian Shot.
Parting shot(a hostile remark or gesture delivered while departing) an idiom in English is borrowed from this Parthian Shot.
It is to be noted that Genghis Khan was a Buddhist and not a Muslim. Khan was the surname of Mongol chiefs, which was later on adopted by Muslims.He in fact sacked the city of Baghdad and the Muslim Caliph was rolled into carpet and killed by hoofs of horses.

Conclusion:
Genghis Khan's Feigned Retreat was pitted against Hannibal's Double Envelopment tactic for the X-Factor of Battfield Tactics. The edge was given to Genghis Khan for his tactical ability in luring away and weakening the enemy.

Also the close knit Phalanx does not stand a chance against the elite mongol cavalry.The only way any infantry formation can stand against the cavalry is when they have pikes/long spears and the cavaliers charge at them.


But instead of charging the Mongol Rider/Archer would have always showered arrows from 500 yards and thus could easily harass any Phalanx formation.

It can be safely argued that without Cannons/Guns/Firepower , Feigned Retreat is the best tactics ever.

Economics-101(Source :Balaji Vishwanath,Quora)

1. Economics has two main streams - Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. Micro deals with customer behavior, incentives, pricing, margins, etc. Macro deals with broad economies and larger things such as interest rates, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other  stuff you see in the business column of a newspaper. Micro is more useful for the managers and macro is more used by investors. Except for points 2 & 3, I will cover macroeconomics in other points.
2. Law of Supply & Demand: This is the founding block of economics. Whenever supply of something increases its price decreases and whenever supply decreases price increases. Thus, when you have excess production of corn, food prices decrease and vice versa. Think of this intuitively. You will find its applications in 1000s of places. 
3. Marginal Utility: Whenever you have more of something its use for you diminishes. Thus, a $100 would be more valuable when you earn $1000/month than when you earn $1 million/month. This is widely used in setting up prices. 
   
   
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4. Gross Domestic Product (GDP): This is the fundamental measure of the size of an economy. This is conceptually equal to the sum of incomes of all people in the country or sum of the market value of all goods & services produced in that country. Right now US is the biggest economy in terms of GDP at around $14 trillion. That means, $14 trillion of value is produced in the US every year.
5. Growth rate: The growth of an economy is commonly measured in terms of GDP growth rate. Since GDP is a measure of national income, this growth rate is a rough proxy for how an average person's income grows every year. 
6. Inflation: You already know that the price of most products now are higher than in your grandfather's time. Inflation (measured in percent) is measure of how much a bunch of products have increased in price from last year. In mature economies, annual inflation is around 2% - that means on an average the prices of stuff goes up by 2% every year. The fundamental role of central banks is to manage this rate and keep it to a low positive number. Here are  the 100 year inflation numbers in the US. 
   
   
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7. Interest Rates: When you loan money to somebody, you expect something extra in return. This excess is called the interest. Interest rate is a positive number that measures how much excess you will get. There are bunch of rates here. In the short term, this rate is usually set by the Central Banks. Right now it is close to zero. In the long term, this is set by the market and is dependent on inflation and the long term prospects of the economy. The mechanisms in which the central banks control the short term rates is called monetary policy.
8. Interest Rates vs. Inflation vs. growth: There exists almost an inverse relationship between interest rates & growth and interest rates also can affect inflation directly. Thus, when you increase interest rates inflation tend to come down, along with growth. One is good and other is bad. Thus, the constant tension on setting the interest rates. In the US, Federal Reserve sets the short term rates making it one of the most watched economic news.
9. Fiscal Policy: Government can control the economy in a big way by adjusting its expenditure. The group of mechanisms using expenditure form the fiscal policy. When government spends more it can lead to more demand and that means more price increase. This means both high growth and high inflation. And it works in the reverse too. Thus, governments try to spend more during periods of low growth & low inflation and cut spending during periods of high growth & high inflation.
10. Business cycle: Economies have their periods of booms and bust in cycles of approximately 7 years long. At the start of the cycle it is a boom, then it gets to the top, then there is a contraction leading to a recession (period of negative growth and/or increasing unemployment) and finally followed up with an expansion. 
    
    
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Bonus:
1. Opportunity Cost: When you do an activity, you tend to equate how good the activity is when compared to the alternatives. For instance, when you are working hard a Friday night on a project, you might be thinking "man, I should be doing something else." The alternative (in this case, partying with friends) has a high value, and thus your present project better be attractive. This value of the alternative is termed as an "opportunity cost" - value of what you give up. Thus, if you quit a $120K/year paying job to do a startup, your opportunity cost of doing startup is $120K/year. Your payoff should be higher than what you give up. 

2. Comparative Advantage:  You are running your tech startup and one day a client asks you whether you can build a website for them. Should you offer to build the website for them, or should you pass up the opportunity to a friend? How do you decide? A rational person might calculate how much time they will take to build the website, and whether they can use that time to earn more building their current startup product. Then, he/she might calculate whether the friend might be able to build the site more efficiently. 

If the friend can build it more efficiently and you have a lot in your plate, you will pass up the opportunity. This is called the theory of comparative advantage. Your friend has an advantage here and it makes no sense for you to take up that business. Nations, businesses and people should do only those things they are better at and leave the rest to others. 

Musings of a Saturday Afternoon

You never know what may happen next moment.Started this day as a normal Saturday.Lack of washing machine had been killing me ever since I moved to Bangalore but more so today. All my clothes are now soaked in detergent and I can barely walk or move as my ankle is sprained. While playing cricket this morning I suddenly stumbled upon a rock and fell and could not rise for next 4-5 minutes.Somehow collected my self up.While the game was great and I happily batted/bowled , the shock came when I removed my shoes after the game.I can't recognize my own swollen ankle.Its frightening.Its a bed rest for 10 days or more I think.As I am ordering food for home delivery(as I cant walk to  eat) the thought of clothes soaked in bucket is nagging me.Oh why I did that the first thing in morning,had only I known that I wont be able to walk properly a few hours later.But that's how unpredictable life is. Apart from my my swollen ankle here's what bothers me right now

Defence Preparedness of India

The news of Raffale jet being stuck has really pissed me off. Modi government got the mandate of the people for two basic reasons first being the revival of economy and second being strong measures against China and Pakistan. While market's   are  a game of perception and Modi has created the right noises, the results are also showing.The GDP growth rate now 7.4% is more than China.For the first time in decades India  and China are crossing each other with the latter in some what downward curve.Its great moment for India to reap the advantages of its demography. 
When it comes to defence sector its horrible.According to some reports The govt sanctioned strength of IAF is 42 squadron and we are at an all time low of 34 squadrons. This could mean humiliation at war.Recently Modi was at Bangalore were he stressed that the "largest importer of arms" tag should be shed. India should at least produce 70% of its defence needs.While private players like Reliance have floated companies for defence based contracts, its still in nascent stages.The main doubt being whether the Indian companies will be able to produce "off the shelf" fighter planes , helicopters and tanks.Its a question of life and death  for the army men who are gonna use them .The Tejas fighter delivered after 30 years is just too little late and too late.DRDO has messed up the entire Defence sector. Modi really needs to clear this mess. Like the Green Revolution ,White Revolution etc. India really needs an "Arms Revolution". 

Decline of the Pakistani Cricket Team

1 run for 4 wickets .The score read today morning in Pakistan vs . WI match. While I love the decimation of Pakistan at the hands of India(And this has happened more after 2000's as in 90's India mostly used to be on the receiving end) , the performance of this team against any other team in recent times clearly shows that it is one of the weakest Pakistani team. Their batting is a complete mess and they can hardly put 250 on board.The bowling too has been pedestrian.
As I remember the 90's I didn't fear the great Pakistani fast bowling.In 1999 test series Akram was very slow(I used to hear that he is one of the quickest bowlers around.) .Similarly Waqar was a big name but I could not find his bowling very lethal towards India. Akhtar did have his moment of glory in Kolkata where he bowled Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in two successive deliveries, but that's it for the great Pace trio.It was actually the 3 batsmen in Saeed Anwar, Izaz Ahmed and Inzmam-ul-Haq who batted slowly and used to build partnerships at crucial stages of match that hurt India. Saleem Malik too was good at it. In the end as always it was Moin Khan or Rashid Latif (both Wicket keepers) along with Razzaq  who blasted the opposition.
Saqlain Mushtaq was the only off-spinner at that time to bowl in death overs and he not only controlled runs he used to bag wickets as well.The fall of Indian batting in 1999 Chennai test was engineered by him ,not the pace trio. Similarly for Razzaq who routinely used to get Tendulkar to put India on  back foot.

I used to hate both Saqlain and Glenn McGarth(of Australia) for putting India in all short of trouble.
So much so that I had named a neighborhood dog Saqlain Macgrath the player of Pakastralia. Needless to say the dog faced my vengeance for all the defeats heaped on India by Pakistan and Australia.Retribution for Saqlain came in 2004 ,his nemesis was  Virendra Sehwag.The Sehwag triple century in Multan for the first time made Saqlain appear as a School Kid. Sehwag's 300 came of a six on Saqlain's delivery. That was the end for him.As for McGrath he continued to torment India till 2007.

The joy of this recent World Cup victory is diluted by their repeated poor performances against all the other teams.
They really need a  trio of middle order batsmen, more than anything.
And their bowling lacks Ajmal who was their current Saqlain.


On a lighter note

In Washington, just before people sleep, they say 'Good night my love'
In London they say: 'Sweet dreams my darling'

In Mumbai they say: 'Dudachi pishvi latkavli?'(Did you hang the plastic bag for the milk packets?)

Memorable Moments: ICC World Cup 96,99,03

1996:

Played in the Indian subcontinent this WC saw the rise of cricketing minnows Sri Lanka as the world Champions.100 runs within fist 15 overs was the USP of Sri Lanka's success.

Prabhakar vs JayaSurya:

Prabhakar was a side on ,in swing bowler with pretty accurate line-length and a good clean action. JayaSurya took him to cleaners during league games and he continued to torment India for at least next 2 years. Kumble and Prasad bore his brunt in the years that followed  1996.

Jadeja vs Waqar Younis:

Quarter Finals vs Pakistan was a great game for India.

Javed Miandad also played in this match. Akram was out due to injury. So Waqar was kind of spearhead for the Pakistani attack.Pakistan were the defending champions then.

He was the quickest bowler at that time. Watch Waqar's decimation at the hands of Jadeja and Kumble. His pace being his nemesis as it made easier for the batsmen to hit him on a dead Bangalore wicket.

Prasad Vs Amir Sohail:

The Pakistani chase was brilliant, Anwar and Sohail were a deadly  opening pair. Sohail hit Prasad though covers for a 4 and gestured to fetch the ball from boundary. Prasad rattled his stumps the very next delivery.

Capitulation of India(India vs Sri Lanka Semis):

Story of 90's. Fall of Sachin's wicket almost invariably led to  a collapse.

This match is just one of the famous examples of the above mentioned syndrome. Blistering 65 by Sachin helped India to reach 98,but after his dismissal  there was a dramatic collapse.India lost 8 wickets within 120.

A weeping Kambli walking towards pavilion garnered much sympathy from press and public. But the spectators of Eden were unforgiving.It was provocation on their part which led to match being called off.

Walsh vs Fleming(WI vs AUS Semis):

WI was still a Cricket Powerhouse. Pace battery of WI was intact.This semifinal went to the wires.Lara played  a brilliant Knock. After his fall WI suffered, but kept playing in true Caribbean style.

Richie Richardson the skipper played a terrific innings towards the end and in the final over it was left to Walsh to switch strike with Richardson, but not for nothing Walsh had 32 ducks ducks against his name. Watch out for some great Caribbean bowlers like Ambrose and typical WI pulls/hooks .

                                    

1999:

India was never a favorite in this world cup and in fact they performed very poorly.Only memorable things were victory against Pakistan and 183 by Ganguly against Sri Lanka.

Olanga vs India:

This capitulation I find interesting. Olanga was taken to cleaners by Sachin some time ago. But Zimbabwe were a good team and often matches between India and Zimbabwe were close .I think almost every time.Flower brothers,Heath streak  were some quality players and the Indian side of 90's was one of  the weakest.

Ganguly vs Srilanka(Murli):

More than anything I remember this WC as an Indian fan for Ganguly stepping out to Murli and hitting him for a  six at least 4-5 times in his great knock of 183. A memorable knock.

Wasim vs Australia(league match):

Although the final between Australia and Pakistan was a one-sided affair, this match was pretty close. Australia were just about to rise as a Great Team. 
Australia went on to win 3 consecutive WC after this 99. 03 & 07.
In this close encounter they almost reached the target , just 10 runs behind,when Wasim produced some magnificent bowling.

Steve Waugh vs Gibbs:

After having a bad start Steve Waugh famously said that we only have to win 3 matches to win WC. Great way to look at things. This has always inspired me.At most stages in life we only have to clear one exam , get one job , get one girl etc. It simplifies everything.
Other quality which I admire is his small eyes.Nicknamed ICEMAN for his small,cold eyes he had the benefit, that others could not read his face. With all his anxiety within himself the opponent could never see him in real pressure. He was 100% grit.Not a pretty batsman(his stokes were not very graceful) like his Brother Mark, but very effective.He had proved himself in WI tour of 1995, when he stood up against Ambrose and Co Saibana Park.Chasing 271 as target Australia were reduced to 48-3 when he came on to bat.He countered the SA attack effectively and of score of 56 he flicked a Lance Klusener delivery to midwicket. Gibbs took it, but in his anxiety to celebrate with a skyward hurl, he dropped the ball. Waugh's reaction has gone down in the game's annals."You have dropped the World Cup mate". Waugh went to score 120 of 110 balls and secured an easy win for Australia.

Donald and Klusener:

Klusener was in the form of his life. Remaining unbeaten in last 4-5 innings he had scored close to 50 in each of them at crucial time. SA were in good form (as they always are in any WC) and even Moin Khan had declared that we will play SA in finals. But Australia had other plans. Australia fought hard to defend paltry 213 it put on board. Klusener came to crease at 174-5 in 45th over. He quickly took SA  to 205/9 by 49th over. In last over he hit 2 consecutive fours of Fleming to level the score. The next ball he tried to take a single and Donald, the non striker got confused and there was a run-out. SA lost the match dramatically.

2003:

India had a fabulous journey in this WC until they found Ponting in the finals.A memorable WC for Indian fans.

Sachin vs Pak:

98 of 75 balls which took the wind off the Pakistani sails.A memorable innings for decades to come. icing on the cake was the six of a square cut of Akhatar's delivery.
The quicker he bowled the quicker it went to the boundary lines. Abdul Razzaq dropping Sachin's catch and Wasim telling him "Ye tune kiska catch chor diya" ,is now a part of the cricketing folklore.

                                         

Sachin against Caddick:

I just love this shot and may be I will remember this till the end of my times. Sachin scored a 50 in that match,

Nehra vs England:

One of those days when Nehra bowled really well .Took 7 against England to secure an Indian victory.

Zaheer's 1st over in Finals:

"Well begun is half done" goes an old adage. But the reverse also cuts true.And this over from Zaheer Khan is a testimony to that.Set a perfect background for the belting that India was to receive from Ponting later on that day.

Digital Footprints & Who viewed your FB Profile

Ever since I started with my goal of writing at least on blog each weekend , the biggest question has been "what to write" .Obviously other pain point is how to promote myself (not on FB for sure cause I have seen too many people with their music/videos begging for likes.45 people tagged to a song and just 4 likes.)
I looked at whatever is trending right now on FB/Quora feeds.
An somehow I ended up on a page which showed what India searched most in 2014.
Now this gave a fairly accurate idea of what people want/search on internet.
After some random surfing I was able to know a lot of what google already knew about me.

This link nails it.It simply deciphers your personality.You are actually what you want to be.And google searches definitely don't lie on this count.While FB profile gives away the shows and books we like,this actually provides a very clean break-up of all our online activities and consequently a lot of what we think/want.    

            
 http://www.google.com/settings/ads/

You may delete your search history ,but google keeps a tab on all this and based on our preferences simply shows us the ads which might interest us. I think it is one of most accurate ways to figure out our interests and likes.

Similarly for YouTube search history: https://www.youtube.com/feed/history/search_history
Based on this data , you get videos in your feed.

Who viewed you Facebook Profile:

An interesting question and perhaps everyone would like to know who visited their profile.
Though it is not full-proof but still gives a fair idea of who has been stalking you.
Now go to your Profile and on left corner of do this:

Search for InitialChatFriendsList in that page.

Now just copy the id which is there and append it with www.facebook.com/ without quotes and all in your browser.It will open the profile of that respective id.
Now you may be shouting that this only gives the name of people with whom I recently chatted as the name itself says.But be patient. Facebook gives a score to all who view your profile and that is a combination of recent chats and profile views both.So obviously those who regularly interact with you will figure higher up in the list but as you go down ,means after 10 or may be 15 you will find surprising names(you secret stalkers).People you never had the courage or topic to chat also figure there.

UI Validation:
Two screenshots pasted here are from my profile and shows what happens when the chat is turned off.You can turn off your chat by gear icon in bottom right of your screen.

Chat on:

Chat Off:

Clearly the list when the chat is off is different.This list is actually generated by Facebook an basis of interactions and profile visits.So while the person who chats a lot with you will definitely figure on top many silent stalkers will obviously figure after 10-15  users and they will a surprise. The sequence of offline chat list and the profile  generated by the    InitialChatFriendsList are one and same.     

 I believe this method is fairly accurate.
Even if not , after a marathon profile stalking last night I would suggest you "Start Stalking those who stalked you" and be pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised.  Happy Stalking & don't be surprised to find me.                                                                                                                        

The Greatest Melodrama of Indian History : Life and Times of Prithviraj

A brave King, a fiery love story,a tragic albeit heroic end, story of Prithviraj has all elements of melodrama in it. Born at a very crucial moment in Indian History his position is such that even though King of a small realm, he has continued to live the hearts of Indians even after several centuries. The glorious Kings of yore Maurya's, Gupta's, flag bearer of revolt Rana Pratap or the comeback man Shivaji Raje and Sikh Gurus/Ranjit Singh all have their stories and in many ways are more successful than him, yet it is story of his courage and magnanimity , his fall and tragic end that still enchants the India. Personally I read the stories and lives of all the kings mentioned above in books except Prithviraj .I had heard something like this:

चार बाँस, चौबीस गज, अंगुल अष्ट प्रमाण,
ता उपर सुल्तान है, मत चूको चौहान ।।

Yup many might have heard this couplet.So deeply etched is his story in national narrative of India that we borrow idioms from his story. Addressing a traitor as Jaichand is prime example.Recently Kumar Vishwas of AAP termed Kiran Bedi a Jaichand for joining BJP and thus betraying their cause.

Beginnings:

Prithviraj Chauhan was born at Ajaymeru (Ajmer) in 1149 A.D. His father was Someshwar Chauhan and mother Karpuri Devi, a Kalachuri (Chedi) princess, daughter of Achalaraja of Tripuri.
He sat on the throne at the age of 13 in 1165 AD. According to "PrithviRaj Raso" his original kingdom was located at Sambhar in Rajasthan. Soon he extended his kingdom through ceaseless campaigns and it included most of present day Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, East Punjab and parts of Gujrat.

His fast rise made him enemies with the Chalukyas of Gujrat and the powerful King of Kannuj Jaichand Gahadwal. Jaichand had inherited most of whatever was left of Harsha's Emipre(Ganga Basin-modern day UP/Bihar).
Moreover both Prithviraj and JaiChand were related via the Tomar Clan of Delhi, as their mothers were from this clan.

Svayamvara of Sanyogita
Svayamvara of the daughter of Jaichand was organised and all other Kings/Princes were invited but not Prithviraj. It is said that Prithviraj had heard of the beauty of Sanyogita and she too had seen his portrait and heard of his bravery.Both had met at a temple while Prithiviraj was on his way to fight the Chaluyka ruler of Gujrat BhimDev Solanki. Jaichand came to know about this affair and organised a svayamvara  for her daughter without inviting Prithviraj. Moreover to mock Prithviraj he placed his statue at the door as if he were a doorman.
                                                      To the surprise of all those present in court Sanyogita crossed all the Kings/Princes without acknowledging any one of them and garlanded the statue of Prithviraj.
Prithviraj too was hiding behind the doors in disguise and quickly eloped with Sanyogita on his horse. This event occurred in 1175 AD.It caused further enmity between Prithviraj and Jaichand.

First battle of Taraori (1191 AD)

In the winter of 1190–1191, Mohamad of Ghor came to India with the intent of conquering as much of the northern part of the subcontinent as possible. He quickly captured the fortress town of Bhatinda and established a garrison of 1,200 cavalry under the command of one of his best generals, Qazi Ziya-ud-din. As Bhatinda was in Prithviraj's Kingdom, it was not surprising that Prithviraj immediately responded. The site where the two rivals fought was near Panipat, site of so many battles in Indian history. This particular battlefield has been called variously Tarain, Narain, and Taraori, with the third being slightly more widely used (although Tarain seems the most accepted in the latest accounts). Never had Mohamad’s troops faced such a well-trained foe, and in 1191 (no particular date has been recorded) the Rajputs had the upper hand. No numbers have been recorded either, but all accounts say that the Rajputs outnumbered the Moslem army. Using the standard steppe tactics, Mohamad launched his cavalry at the enemy center to harass it with archery fire, but the Rajputs not only stood firm but responded with flanking movements of their own that repeatedly forced the Moslems to retreat. Believing he needed to perform some personal act of bravery to save the day, Mohamad himself led a charge that was met by Prithvaraja’s brother, Govind Rai, the viceroy of Delhi. Mohamad attacked “and shattered his [Govind Rai’s] teeth with his lance,” but, as he was dying, Govind Rai had pierced Mohamad’s arm with his javelin. This wound was serious, and Mohamad was unhorsed and bleeding profusely. He was rescued by one of his soldiers who, riding double in the saddle, escaped with his commander.

Mohamad rejoined his retreating forces and was placed on a litter, and the army retreated to Ghor. The Rajputs, rather than pursuing, laid siege to Bhatinda. It took 13 months before they were finally able to recapture the town.

Second battle of Taraori(1192 AD)

An year later Mohamad of Ghor returned with an army of 120,000 Afghans, Turks, and Persians.The rematch took place on the same battlefield; again, no exact date is recorded. This time, Mohamad was careful not to allow his troops to close with the Rajputs. Strength of Turks was their mobile archers on horseback  and getting closer to Rajputs meant a hand to hand sword fight which was the strength of Rajputs .He choose to attack at pre-dawn hours which was against the code of conduct followed in India where all wartime activities were stopped from dusk till dawn.He divided his force into five divisions. Four of them he sent to attack the Rajput flanks and, if possible, attack their rear. Anytime the Rajputs pressed them, they were to feign panic and retreat. After fighting for most of the day and failing to break the Rajput ranks, Mohamad began withdrawing his entire force. Again, he feigned panic, and this time the Rajputs took the bait. The fifth division of 12,000 cavalry that he had held in reserve under his own command was still fresh, and they attacked headlong into the fatigued Rajputs who were less than coordinated because of their desire to crush what they presumed was a defeated enemy. This attack broke the Rajput pursuit and sent them fleeing; the remainder of the Moslem force turned and rode the Rajputs down. Seeing his army disintegrating, Prithviraj abandoned his elephant and mounted a horse for a quicker escape, but the momentum of the Moslem charge carried his pursuers quickly to him. He was captured a few miles away and then executed; most of his subordinates died in the battle as well.

Impact:
The result of this victory was the annexation of Ajmir, Hansi, Sirsuti and Delhi,  ruthless slaughter and a general destruction of temples and idols followed.
Province of Bihar fell in 1193 AD and Buddhism was wiped out from India.By 1202 parts of Bengal were captured.

Role of Jaichand
Before the second battle of Taraori Prithviraj tried to put up a confederacy of Rajput states to counter Ghauri, but Jaichand never joined it.He was one of the strongest Kings of North India at that time.Instead it is alleged he instigated Ghauri to attack Prithviraj . After the fall of Prithviraj he himself was defeated and killed by Ghauri in 1193 AD in the battle of Chandanwar.

How Chandbardai ends it and How India remembers it
Chand mentions that after 1st Battle of Taraori Ghauri was captured and presented before Chauhan.
The valiant Chauhan treated him with respect and set him free for a nominal fine. But the next time round when the fortunes were turned Prithviraj was shown no such courtesy.
An excerpt from Prithviraj Raso:
सत्रह बार पराजित रण में करके क्षमा किया था |
जीवनदान दुष्ट गौरी को पृथ्वीराज दिया था |
पर कृतघ्न के रक्त में ही था छल और कपट समाया |
पृथ्वीराज को हरा के उसने बंदी आज बनाया |

नेत्रहीन किया पृथ्वी को और उस नृशंस गौरी ने |
मृत्युदंड घोषित कर फिर डाला कालकोठरी में |
हार न माने पृथ्वीराज पर, युक्ति नई रचाई |
शब्दबेधी की प्रतिभा दिखलाने की बात बताई |

मान गया लालायित गौरी चकित कि यह कैसे हो |
बिना नेत्र के भी लक्ष्य का भेदन आखिर कैसे हो |
पृथ्वीराज सामने प्रस्तुत सम्मुख शत्रु गौरी |
चंदबरदाई बोले दोहा, मृत्यु बुलाया गौरी |

ईश्वर का बस ध्यान लगा के बाण चलाया क्षण में |
हर ले गया प्राण गौरी के बाण वही उसी क्षण में |
अत्याचारी कपटी का तो अंत यही होता है |
सत्य का योद्धा पीड़ित हो, परास्त नहीं होता है |

जब जब भारत को पीड़ित करने गौरी आयेंगे |
पृथ्वीराज हमारे उनके शीश काट लायेंगे |
नहीं झुकेगा माँ का मस्तक पुनः, यही अब प्रण है |
भगवे के गौरव की रक्षा को लड़ना हर रण है |
                               
This brings us the famed archery scene , a couplet related to which I mentioned in the beginning of the post.

Chand provides the location of sultan and Prithviraj shoots an arrow killing Ghauri on spot.
After killing Ghauri, Chand and Prithviraj stab each other and thus embrace martyrdom.
Version of Chand is what India believes. It shows the power of poetry/tale in nation building.
Often times in our lives we too hear to what our heart says and not what our head.A certain idea of romantic past is required for any nation. That after 1192 AD India remained in Muslim clutches till 1707 AD(death of Aurangzeb) made this tale more meaningful and necessary for the Hindu morale.
It helped them to stick to the memories of their wronged King, his bravery and magnanimity.
In short it did what poetry generally does,gave hope when there was none.

An open question- End of Prithviraj & Ghauri?
Even today near the grave of Ghauri in Kabul is the tomb of Prithviraj and afghans throw shoes at it.
Their version is also the same as Chand that Prithviraj killed their Sultan during the game of archery.
But according to historical records it was Gakhar Rajputs loyal to Prithviraj who killed Ghauri in an ambush in 1206 in Jhelum district of Punjab(now Pakistan).
As the Voltaire says "History is the lie we all agree upon" and in such cases of distant past its up to ourselves what we want to  believe  and I choose to believe Chand. What about you?

Knowing is Owning even if.....

it is superficial ( Title of post Borrowed from last episode of Sherlock Season -3).
Years ago, 10-12 years ago I had the unfortunate privilege  of going through lot of legal documents,
as well as meeting a lot of people in courts/kutcherys. While going through the documents and looking at the faces of people who wrote them I was surprised. They were folks of enormous frame , wearing starched dhoti and kurta if a munshi and a white trouser with a black jacket if a lawyer.Also known was  state of "law education" in Bihar. Mostly those who could not study sciences during their Intermediate , used to graduate with psychology, Hindi or History and  enrolled themselves in Law at Post Graduate level. Munshi's were even worse, they simply followed their fathers occupation and took employment at prominent lawyers places.

                              But level of English in those documents betrayed all their antecedents. Have a look at the following:
"whether or not beyond all reasonable doubts it has been proved ....."

"X,Y &Z with a common  criminal intent constituted an illegal mob which assaulted so and so leading to his death the  following day."

"assaulted with sharp pointed weapons,blunt heavy weapons causing grievous injuries to so and so"

I was surprised by the sentence formation and appropriate wordings for each event.Crystal clear.
But the surprise was soon over as I skimmed through many more documents. Almost all of them had the same format. There it was the "legal format". They just knew the proper legal terminology and events and based on that they could convert any incident to clear almost flawless legal format/English. The motive behind this story is to convey you the idea that a proper command of the terminologies of your  work/occupation is a must have.

                          From the IT perspective knowledge of the words related to your project/technology and its generous use is highly recommended. Thus what may be a BRD(Business Requirement Document) may become FRS(Functional Requirement Specification) in a new project.Similarly an Enhancement might become a CR(Change Request).But care must be taken and we should express ourselves with whatever terminology is used in the project. Although wording's are superficial and in the end we need to deliver , but this helps with PROJECTION.
                           
                             A lawyer will finally argue on the points in his case not on the language,but his proper usage of legal terminologies projects his abilities beforehand ,and he literally OWNS THE CLIENT. Similarly you will finally code your way out,but proper terminologies and wordings will make you stand out from the rest.

                        To emphasize on this point of projection I will share a small anecdote. Two years ago I attended a town hall with infamous CEO of Infosys S D Shibulal. Most common question was "Why do we have to wear tie and why do we have to swipe 9.15 daily even if we finish earlier?" He narrated an event where he was at client location along with two of his colleagues. To clients all Indians looked the same and they were confused who the Boss was.
Shibulal after few initial embarrassments decided to end this confusion for once and all.
He purchased a jacket and though not very comfortable in wearing it just placed it on the back of his chair. BAM. Problem solved.Client now knew whom to contact.This is the power of Confident Projection. Thus jacket for a  manager , tie for an associate/SE builds the PROJECTION.

And proper terminologies and wordings build/enhance this projection way better than a tie or a jacket. So go ahead know all the terms/terminologies of your occupation use them generously.

How to be in control of your life

I am neither an entrepreneur nor a dating expert. A normal IT guy with 9 to 5 job. But I feel that I should write for the benefit of people who have a similar profile as mine. Some of the points mentioned are a work in progress area for me as well. I am listing below the 5 points:

1.Body

Taking good care of your body is of paramount importance.
Eat less and exercise daily for about 30-40 mins.
Believe in power of gradual improvements. Once you complete the necessary rituals/steps daily don't fret about the result. Gradually over a period of time you will see the results.

2.Mind

Read as much as you can. Anything books ,blogs,articles.
Ideal target should be 2 books a month.
Caution:Set 30 min time for newspapers and FB daily.
News especially when negative can have  a bearing on your mood.Also the situations you read about will make you feel impotent.You will be angry about so many things going wrong in the world and at the same time you will feel helpless that you can't make an impact on any of those items.
FB long been an instrument of stalking is an equally potent mood and time killer.
Insanely scrolling down all the comments/feeds and stalking all the people mentioned/tagged in the post can make you jealous and shift your focus to what you are not and what not you have achieved.

Write almost daily in your journal about what you feel.This will help you in getting a closure over so many issues.Also writing will help you analyze that whatever you thought was a real scenario or just a made up thought.In short it can help you with introspection.

3.Finance

Save a portion of your salary for the rainy day. Simple. As a rule of sorts
a) Always have 8 months of your expenses in cash in your savings account
b) Avail all the tax exemptions with PPF/Insurance investments.
c)If you have money after this invest in real estate,Mutual Funds.
Having enough cash gives you the freedom and helps you to say "Fuck You" to anybody who pisses you off viz:your boss.landlord etc.

4.Communication

Now I believe in communicating very clearly "like a child". Always spell out what you expect and what all you are going to do. Works as a charm.
A word of caution , I have heard that being very obvious is liability when it comes to dating where innuendos and implied communication take precedence. This is a Work In Progress area for me.
Trust your gut and do what you feel doing but for other areas childish,clear communication works every time.


5.Resourcefulness

Now many of us almost daily come across some news item or some person which/who say that "so and so" is the new 16 year old cricketer with a century on debut or 19 year old software developer getting millions of dollar for his first app. Now I assume for readers of this blog (in their late 20's) this kind of  news unsettles them. While every body can't become  a cricketer or a geeky millionaire but the inability of not becoming what they could really become(by their own conservative estimates)  leaves a hollow sinking feeling inside.
Now this feeling will continue to haunt you until you love your present work and create value for others with your work. Once you start loving your work and make your work useful to others.
This will give you the feeling that you chipped in with something that really mattered and that it of such use to the public/client.
Trust me a click event handled by you/ a pop-up of the website which was developed by you,once out in production will give you this feel. The feeling of being useful, of being worthy.
Love your work and create value for your team/client with your work.

Being Productive

Normally whenever we are in good mood with lots of energy we try too many things at one go and in the end accomplish nothing. Any small activity/task requires persistence. Most of the things in life happen gradually. If we are not a prodigy we need proper schooling and some years into our career that we become good at something and create value for others and ourselves.

For being productive all we need is proper prioritization and persistence.

1. Prioritization 
Choose just one activity from these three areas of life.
a) One action-item from your work.
    eg: a new framework,or some session or certification or simply your goalsheet action items.
b) One target to keep your body in good shape.
     eg; Normal gym, proper food etc.
c) One hobby for your creative pursuits.
      eg: Playing cricket on weekends, or blogging or joining a tennis club.

Just pick on from each of the 3 categories and devote yourself to that. Don't pick more than one in any category as you will not be able to do justice to all of them.

2. Persistence
Maintaining a proper state is necessary for you to follow your goals. Most of the time our body/mind fail to obey the commands we give them.We need to be in high energy state for most part of the day to be able to complete our goals. Prerequisites are simple:
a) Proper food.
b) Enough sleep

Thus having a select few goals and consistently focusing on them with our energies is what will make you productive. 

Pursuit of Happiness

Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well being characterized by pleasant emotions.
It is of such fundamental importance to human condition that "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" were deemed unalienable rights by US Declaration Of Independence.

Pursuit of happiness is a universal quest but it becomes doomed the moment we tie our happiness to particular outcome/result/situation. That there is not much difference between one outcome or another (barring a few scenarios) is comfortably ignored and it has been a cause of misery/agony.

As "Father of Economics" Adam Smith puts it:

“The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life, seems to arise from over-rating the difference between one permanent situation and another. Avarice over-rates the difference between poverty and riches: ambition, that between a private and a public station: vain-glory, that between obscurity and extensive reputation. The person under the influence of any of those extravagant passions, is not only miserable in his actual situation, but is often disposed to disturb the peace of society, in order to arrive at that which he so foolishly admires. The slightest observation, however, might satisfy him, that, in all the ordinary situations of human life, a well-disposed mind may be equally calm, equally cheerful, and equally contented. Some of those situations may, no doubt, deserve to be preferred to others: but none of them can deserve to be pursued with that passionate ardour which drives us to violate the rules either of prudence or of justice; or to corrupt the future tranquillity of our minds, either by shame from the remembrance of our own folly, or by remorse from the horror of our own injustice.”

All this coming from one of  the greatest advocates of  capitalism. My own experiences have been the same.We can be happy in any situation/outcome , its just the conditioning of brain that prevents us.
Fixation with a particular outcome not only robs us of our present happiness and God forbid,if the result is different, the future happiness as well.

Other thing which reduces our happiness is the constant deliberations about the choices we made or gonna make and the actions we have taken. "What if I had chosen/acted differently" has robbed the humanity of all the peace and happiness that was already there at the moment. Anxiety about choices/actions to be taken and Regret about choices made/actions taken have done no person any good. There is a "Divine Joy" in taking a decision and sticking to it ,come hell or high water.

Thus following these points will guarantee that you never have to pursue happiness.
These points will ensure that you will be happy instead of pursuing it.

1.   Our present happiness is not tied to any particular goal/outcome/situation.

2.   There is joy in being stuck with a decision.