ESSAY BOOK

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VOLUME-1
 CONTENTS
S.No. Content Page No.

1 PAX ETHNICA: WHERE AND HOW DIVERSITY 3

SUCCEEDS

2 THE PRINCE 6

3 I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRDS SING 7

4 ARTHASHASTRA 9

5 WINGS OF FIRE 11

6 FUTURE SHOCK 14

7 SAPIENS 16

8. SAPIENS QUOTES 18

8 THE WORLD IS FLAT 21

9 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD 24

10 THE ART OF WAR 26

11 THIRD WAVE 28

12 MODEL ESSAYS 32

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 PAX ETHNICA
-by Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac

Where and How Diversity Succeeds Personal

This book can be quoted when writing essays on Diversity
- about those unsung exceptions, the communities of the
Notes
world where diverse groups live together in harmony. Social
Media - the ethnic conflict and tension along religious and
cultural lines makes for reliable, if dispiriting, headlines
and why don’t the media focus more on what works?

Diversity is a goal in many places, but what can we learn

from multicultural societies where diversity works?
In Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East, and South Asia,
troubled countries have been torn apart by seemingly
intractable struggles among hostile religious, ethnic, and
sectarian groups. In the public imagination, such conflicts
are deeply rooted in “ancient hatreds” or inevitable “clashes
of civilizations.” The pessimistic thesis of Samuel Huntington
in “The Clash of Civilizations,” first published in Foreign
Affairs in 1993, has resonated for two decades, spreading a
mind-numbing presumption of hopelessness about life on a
crowded Earth.
But this presumption invites a challenge, which Karl E. Meyer
and Shareen Blair Brysac have delivered in “Pax Ethnica.”
As veteran scholar-journalists and, it so happens, husband
and wife, Meyer and Brysac journeyed to five ethnically
diverse societies on three continents to discover what works
as antidotes to conflicts among peoples. This book should
inspire wandering spirits to discover ethnically harmonious
cities and regions and spread the word: “reasonable
accommodation” can work, gloriously.
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In this engaging book, two veteran journalists challenge that

popular narrative by examining places around the world where
diverse peoples have found ways to live together peacefully:
from the Indian state of Kerala, where Hindus, Muslims, and
Christians have prospered together; to the Russian republic
of Tatarstan, where the Muslim majority has lived peacefully
with the Orthodox Christian minority; to the borough of
Queens, in New York City, where a dizzying array of ethnic,
religious, and language groups coexist. As Meyer and Brysac
say “For two years we voyaged through four continents in
search of societies that had attained ethnic peace, or its
proximate facsimile.” The book is a sort of travelogue, laced 3
 Personal with local histories and colorful personalities. But it lacks a
unifying argument about why some diverse places thrive and
Notes others erupt in violence. Capable political leadership appears
to help, as does a shared sense of citizenship, complete with
rights and protections. Alas, those insights are only faintly
present in the book.
The last chapter presents guidelines “for promoting civility in
diverse societies.” This is a good title for anyone interested in
successfully living with diversity.
• In trying to devise a formula of co-existence and progress
for groups seemingly destined to compete with each
other, the authors take on a heavy burden. As they
point out, the principle of self-determination and the
negotiation of treaties protecting minority rights have
been imperfect pathways to protecting ethnic diversity.
These political tools nonetheless provide the much-
needed historical context for some of the authors’ case
studies.
• Meyer and Brysac explore life in Flensburg, a town in
the state of Schleswig-Holstein at the northern tip of
Germany, just across the border from Denmark. The
Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, and the Third Reich
long counted Schleswig-Holstein as part of Germany.
The doctrine of self-determination had worked its will
after World War I when the German majority in south
Schleswig voted to remain within Germany.
• But the post-World War II reality has proven far more
nuanced. Denmark magnanimously traded land for
peace with its defeated aggressor neighbor. The Bonn-
Copenhagen Declarations of 1955 established enough
autonomy for Schleswig-Holstein to forge its own
distinctive preservation of Danish culture and recognition
of other minorities. The Danish minority was guaranteed
cultural and civil rights.
• In the Indian state of Kerala, the comity that binds
together Hindus, Muslims and Christians rests upon
an exceptionally high literacy rate, particularly among
women, and a thriving economy fueled by strong
democratic instincts. Everyone’s holidays are celebrated.
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As one local professor proclaims, “In Kerala, there is

no Hindu water and no Muslim water.” Sashi Tharoor,
a worldly former United Nations official representing
Kerela as a parliamentarian in New Delhi, said: “If
America is a melting pot, then to me India is a thali
— a selection of sumptuous dishes in different bowls.
Each taste different, and does not necessarily mix with
the next, but they belong together on the same plate,
and they complement each other in making the meal a
satisfying repast.”
• Meyer and Brysac journey to the Russian republic of
4 Tatarstan to understand how a society populated by
 Sunni Muslims of Tatar origin and Russian Orthodox
Christians, as well as about 70 smaller ethnicities, Personal
exists peacefully. The key was a pact with Moscow that
granted substantial self-rule to Tatarstan. Russia’s then- Notes
President  Boris Yeltsin told Tatarstan’s inhabitants to
“take all the sovereignty you can swallow.” And they have
done so while continuing their tradition of interfaith
marriages.
• In 1990, Tatarstan’s Supreme Soviet unanimously
issued a rights-rich “Declaration of State Sovereignty”
that was approved in a popular referendum. Tatarstan
entered into a bilateral treaty with Russia that granted
the republic some foreign-affairs powers and further
solidified its autonomous character.
• There remains a repressive environment for human
rights and press freedom in Tatarstan, so not all is well
there. Politics is dominated by a ruling elite. But the
republic did not experience the fate of Chechnya, which
declared independence following the collapse of the
Soviet empire and then suffered defeat in a devastating
war with Yeltsin’s army.
• Marseille, a luckily situated seaside metropolis with
mythical and historical traditions, survived France’s
violent autumn of 2005 relatively unscathed. The young
people of the city proudly described themselves as
“Marseillais” above all other identities and joined with
others to project a great sense of optimism. There are at
least 27 ethnic groups in Marseille, but what distinguishes
the city “is that succeeding migrant communities settled
in the city’s central area, so that newcomers have long
been clearly visible near administrative and political
headquarters.” Europeans returning from the Algerian
morass in the early 1960s tested the city’s tolerance and
strengthened it for the future.
• Meyer and Brysac journeyed across the East River to
Queens, N.Y. The mantra “Nobody lives in Queens” is
patently false, and they discovered a metropolis devoid
of a city center but remarkably embracing diversity
in 62 branches of the Queens Public Library, where
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cultural exploration is the norm. Streetwise New Yorkers

find their most engaging home among the 2.3 million
residents of a borough where 138 languages are spoken.
• Meyer and Brysac conclude with a set of guidelines
for ethnically harmonious societies. “Fear not the
persistence of minority tongues.” Someone should
whisper that in the ear of politicians across this incredibly
diverse land as they campaign to preserve E pluribus
unum (out of many, one).

5
 THE PRINCE

Personal Machiavelli declares that every stable state shares the

same foundations, “good laws and good arms.”
Notes Dual-Morality For Prince
In  “The Prince”  Niccolò Machiavelli  shrewdly outlines the
strategies that a ruler must follow to maintain his position
and govern his state. Contradicting conventional morality,
Machiavelli advises wise princes to use violence and cunning
to safeguard their states. The Prince explores the careful
balance between contrasts, comparing virtue and vice,
prowess and fortune, and subjects and rulers. 
Views On Hard Power
Machiavelli declares that every stable state shares the
same foundations, “good laws and good arms.” However,
Machiavelli places an emphasis on good arms, explaining that
good laws “inevitably follow” from military might. Machiavelli
warns rulers to avoid the use of mercenary and auxiliary troops,
on which he blames “the present ruin of Italy” and the earlier
downfall of the Roman Empire. According to Machiavelli, “The
first way to lose your state is to neglect the art of war,” and
he encourages princes to study warfare in peacetime so that
they may “reap the profit in times of adversity.”
Goodwill Among People & Stability Of State
Machiavelli raises the guiding principles of The Prince,
encouraging rulers to cultivate the “goodwill” of the people
and to study the art of warfare. Machiavelli urges princes to
approach political disorders like “a wasting disease,” taking
care to diagnose and treat them quickly and resolutely.
On the question of “whether it is better to be loved than
feared,” Machiavelli asserts that it is preferable to be feared
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if the prince cannot “be both the one and the other.” Above
all else, a prince must “escape being hated” by his people,
which he can accomplish if he does not rob his subjects of
their property. Machiavelli urges rulers to maintain a “flexible
disposition,” mimicking the behavior of the fox and the lion
to secure their position.
Machiavelli advises princes to “take precautions” against
the “malice of fortune,” using prowess to prepare for
unpredictability. Turning to contemporary Italy, Machiavelli
blames the weakness of its states on the political
shortcomings of its rulers.
6
 I KNOW WHY
THE CAGED BIRD
SINGS -by Maya Angelou

This book can be quoted while writing essays on Gender

discrimination, Women Biases, Inequality or even the Personal
racial prejudice and social injustices. It’s a perfect example
of the plight of African Americans and the ways prejudice
Notes
affects individuals.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is a poignant and poetic
account of the author’s life up until the age of 17. Maya
Angelou eloquently explores the struggle to become
liberated from the shackles of racism and misogyny. The
book honestly reveals the cruelty, indignity, and injustice
that confined African Americans in “the cage” during 1930s
and ‘40s. It also celebrates black people’s spirit, humour,
and courage. This autobiographical work is strong, honest,
and beautifully written, but it details some very upsetting
personal incidents, including the rape of a very young girl,
shocking racial prejudice, and gritty urban life.
The caged bird has long been the symbol of humanity’s
struggle against the shackles of oppression. In his 1899
poem, Sympathy, African-American poet Paul Laurence
Dunbar, wrote about how the caged bird feels. How it grieves
for its loss of freedom, and “beats his wings till its blood is
red on the cruel bars.” This image of the caged bird crying
and clamouring for freedom is one that made an indelible
mark on Maya Angelou’s young mind.
In this masterful 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings, (the first volume of a seven-part series), Angelou
herself is the caged bird trying to break out of a world rife
with racism, sexism, and strife. Detailing her early years
to her adolescence, this poignant autobiography shows
us Maya Angelou’s transformation from a withdrawn and
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self-conscious child to a confident trailblazer whose works

would eventually influence, give voice to, and elevate an
entire nation. As you read about the ups and downs of
Angelou’s youth, you also feel the joy, anguish, horror, and
helplessness that she felt as a child.
It is a beautiful and heart-breaking memoir and an
enlightening read. Because beyond giving us her story, Maya
Angelou also gifts us with a potent history lesson. Through
telling us about her childhood, she presents us with the
harsh reality of how it was like to live as Black child during
the time of segregation. She gives voice to the struggles of
an entire group of people—a group judged, punished, and 7
 Personal discriminated against because of the colour of their skin. It is
a painful reminder that despite how far the African-American
Notes community has come in terms of overcoming hundreds
of years of oppression, their fight for equality is one that
continues today.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a slim volume that holds
in its pages both tremendous weight and unsinkable hope.
It is a book that has the power to move its readers, down to
the very marrow of their bones.
A screen play for the movie adaption (1999) was also written
by Angelou.
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8
 ARTHASHASTRA -by Kautilya

This book can be quoted in essays related to Governance,

Problem solving skills in administration, can be used as a Personal
way forward Notes
“Nothing vindicates belief better than reality.”
• A government is good, if it is administered well. Kautilya
suggests that “good governance should avoid extreme
decisions and extreme actions.” Soft actions (Sam,
Dam) and harsh actions (Dand, Bhed) should be taken
accordingly.
• ‘Sovereignty is practicable only with the cooperation of
others and all administrative measures are to be taken
after proper deliberations.’ The King and ministers
were supposed to observe strict discipline.
• Kautilya recommended a strict code of conduct for
himself and his administrators.
• Kautilya believed in the adage “Yatha Raja Thatha Prajah”
(As the King is, so will be the people”). Therefore he laid
down the condition that “an ideal King is one who has
the highest qualities of leadership, intellect, energy and
personal attributes”.
• According to Kautilya, the King had to thoroughly
test the integrity of those whom he had appointed.
Kautilya also cautioned the dangers inherent in King’s
service. Kautilya has seriously considered the problem
of corruption. He has listed, in the Arthashastra, about
forty ways of embezzling government funds.
Contemporary Importance:
• In stark contrast to the emphasis that the Arthashastra
assigns to rural (village) development, agriculture, and
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the textile industry, the status quo in India is that these

spheres have been neglected. In the sphere of economic
administration, India of today has much to learn from
Kautilya’s Arthashastra.
• Kautilya recommends severe penalties on the officials
of public enterprises which incurred losses, and rewards
for those who showed profits. ”Profit” was a “must” in
Kautilya’s scheme of running a country’s administration.
• He recommends that public servants, ‘while engaged
in work, they shall be daily examined; for, men are
naturally fickle-minded and like horses at work exhibit
constant change in their temper. Hence the agency and 9
 Personal tools, which they make use of, the place and time of the
work they are engaged in, as well as the precise form
Notes of the work, the outlay, and the results shall always, be
ascertained.
• The  Arthashastra  is very instructive in the context of
conservation of our water resources. It is unfortunate
that in India, despite five decades of planning - efficient
and equitable water management is still a pipe dream.
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10
 WINGS OF FIRE
by APJ Kalam

APJ Abdul Kalam said “We all are born with a divine fire
in us and through our efforts, we should give wings to Personal
this fire.” Wings of Fire, the autobiography of A P J Abdul
Kalam constitutes an extraordinary reading for all ages.
Notes
It stresses on the point that the youth should not get
disheartened by failures. According to him, source of
hidden knowledge is within us, with whom we should
communicate.
Wings of Fire is an account of a young boy who tries to
achieve his dreams beating all odds. The story of a lad who
sold newspapers to help his brother; the story of a pupil
reared by Sivasubramania Iyer and Iyadurai Solomon; the
story of a student taught by teachers like Pandalai; the story
of an engineer spotted by MGK Menon and groomed by the
legendary Prof. Sarabhai; the story of a scientist tested by
failures and setbacks; the story of a leader supported by a
large team of brilliant and dedicated professionals. This is a
story of a young nation which dreams. For any outsider the
dreams of this nation are beyond its scope and resources.
But its dreamers, with their sheer determination and hard
work, overcome all the hurdles, and fulfil the collective
dream. The dream called India. This is what India stands
for, and it always will!
The story also highlights the role of family, relatives and
friends in shaping a person and help achieve each other’s
goals and turning dreams to reality. A well composed novel
which revolves around the life of Mr. Kalam- the missile man!
Also, it gives an insight into the lives of Hindus and Muslims
of India and their relationships among each other and
among multi religious communities in India.
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Kalam was the first one with a vision that India has great
potential in its space and satellite development of launch
vehicles. SLV’s provide as the foundation for a range of
state-of-the-art missile technology in India’s military. We
have all heard of SLV3, PSLV, Akaash, Naga, Agni, Trishul in
the news and these technological achievements marks the
success of what is now, one of the strongest and determined
aeronautical and space organization of India.
The author through this book and the various chapters builds
a quick rapport with the reader, who is spellbound. It stresses
on the point that the youth should not get disheartened
by failures. According to him, source of hidden knowledge 11
 Personal is within us, with whom we should communicate. It is an
inspirational book for everyone, especially the youth, with
Notes a message not to get bogged down in life, due to personal
tragedies and setbacks in professional life.
• Chapter 1 entitled ‘Orientation’ contains 32 years of his
early life – days as a child, going through adolescence
and getting into rocketry.
• Chapter 2 entitled  ‘Creation’ describing the next
seventeen years till 1980 covers his struggle at ISRO
going from one-engineer-amongst-many to the
successful project director of SLV bringing pride to the
nation through the technological achievement of putting
a satellite in the orbit.
• The next ten years are set out in Chapter 3. These
constitute the outstanding accomplishments at DRDL.
The way he transformed the laboratory from one which
had a weak heart with little confidence to one which felt
a sense of strong self-esteem and could feel proud by
contributing developed missile systems to the services,
is a remarkable saga.
• The last Chapter 4 entitled ‘Contemplation’ contains a
condensation of ideas and thoughts arising out of his
colourful life. Kalam is bestowed upon with series of
awards, his thought and his visions for a proud India. It
is almost impossible not to be inspired by the life of Mr.
Kalam and some messages for the future generation.
This segment along with the conclusion also mentions of
Kalam’s dream for the year 2020.
Importantly, this book is not only about the achievements of
his projects — Nandi, SLV, Prithvi, Agni, etc., but also about
the failures in the same. He does not sugarcoat his failures,
and describes his raw emotions as he felt them. For Kalam
his work was larger than life!
The Irish writer Frank O›Connor told the story in an account
of his own boyhood. He and his friends, when they were
out exploring and came to an orchard wall that seemed too
high  to climb, would toss  their hats over the wall,  so  that
they had no choice but to follow.
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“It is the goal that makes the difference. Do not make rocketry
your profession, your livelihood-make it your religion, your
mission.”
Some important quotes from the book:
• “Adversity always presents opportunities for
introspection.” 
• “He who knows others is learned, but the wise one is the
one who knows himself. Learning without wisdom is of
no use.” 
• “Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is
12 something that does not let you sleep.” 
• “Dreams are not those which comes while we are
sleeping, but dreams are those when u don’t sleep Personal
before fulfilling them.”
• “Your children are not your children. They are the sons
Notes
SAPIENS
-by Yuval Noah Harari
and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come
through you but not from you. You may give them your
love but not your thoughts. For they have their own
thoughts.” 
• “Be active! Take on responsibility! Work for the things
you believe in. If you do not, you are surrendering your
fate to others.” 
• “The sides of the mountain sustain life, not the peak.
This is where things grow, experience is gained, and
technologies are mastered. The importance of the peak
lies only in the fact that it defines the sides.” 
“To succeed in life and achieve results, you must understand
and master three mighty forces— desire, belief, and
expectation.”

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13
 FUTURE SHOCK -by Alvin Toffler

Personal In our time, live changes so fast that we no longer know

how to act; to quote the author: We no longer “feel” life
Notes as men did in the past. And this is the ultimate difference,
the distinction that separates the truly contemporary man
from all other; and again; we have cut ourselves off from
the old ways of thinking, of feeling, of adapting.
Readers will find the time spent reading the book to be
worthwhile. Even through future Shock was first published
in 1970, it is interesting reading and very relevant to
today’s world of rapid technological changes.
This book was written 50 years ago, and Toffler’s predictions
have to a great degree come true. Here Toffler speaks of a
“Future Shock” in which people are not able to adjust to
the quickening pace of society due to technological change.
Massive changes result in stress and disorientation,
especially when these changes take place in a short period
of time. Man must cope with these changes and Toffler’s
point is that there isn’t much known about the mechanisms
for coping and adaptability. There are certain advantages
to technology but are humans capable of keeping up
emotionally, spiritually? He speaks of an increase in bizarre
behavior, susceptibility to disease (an unexplained increase
in cancer), and emotional breakdowns (which appear to be
at epidemic proportions). Toffler attempts to study these
mechanisms in the book.
Toffler’s overall thesis is that although technology has
helped humankind in gaining more choices and freedom,
the acceleration of change is more than the human mind can
tolerate. One of the more interesting elements of the theory
is the direct correlation between dramatic change (moving,
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changing jobs, death of a spouse) and a negative impact on

health.
Book is actually quite pro-technology and pro-change.
Future shock comes because people today are experiencing
too much change too fast. It’s not that change is inherently
bad, he says. Too little change and life is boring. But too
much change, too much stimulation and we have trouble
coping. The result of change is a shortening of the different
relationship with a shift from permanence to impermanence.
Relationships are now characterized by transience. This
causes a change in values and places a greater strain on man
14 to adopt.
Much of what Toffler wrote about related to companies,
the economy, and how we do business.  Here are four of Personal
Toffler’s visions for the future of business that turned out to
be startlingly accurate. Notes
1. THE INTERNET
What he foresaw was a point in time where people could
electronically collaborate across countries using computers,
which is exactly what we do with the internet bringing the
term “information overload” into the popular lexicon, a
reference to the difficulty people have understanding issues
and making decisions because of the overwhelming amounts
of data available. Those people, institutions, and civilizations
that failed to keep up with the pace of new information would
quickly face decline. He predicted the spread of free-flowing
information via personal computers and the internet .
2. THE SHARING ECONOMY
The Tofflers believed we’d live in a society where there was no
reason to own anything. Part of this was dead wrong: Heidi
predicted we’d wear clothes made of paper that were disposed
of after every use. But other aspects of this concept hit the
mark--specifically, the idea that we’d be able to use things as
needed and return them when we’re done. Zipcar and any
of the ride-hailing apps fall under this category, as do Rent
the Runway for wedding garb and Airbnb for apartments. It›s
never been easier to call something your own--for a few days
or a few minutes at a time.
3. TELECOMMUTING
Fewer and fewer jobs today require employees to be
physically present in their office. Toffler predicted this  and
the rise of home offices, writing that homes would one day
resemble “electronic cottages” that would allow people
greater work-life balance and a richer family life. Today,
opinions on telecommuting policies are decidedly mixed, but
there’s no denying their prevalence.
4. BUSINESSES WITHOUT FORMAL STRUCTURE
Toffler popularized the phrase “adhocracy,” a reference
to a company that operates without a formal  hierarchy.
An adhocracy  as defined by Toffler  is flexible and often
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horizontally structured. It allows for creativity and adaptability,

since employees aren’t pigeonholed into certain roles. Many
startups today are adhocracies--offering roles that change
based on needs and  titles that wouldn’t fit anywhere on a
traditional corporate ladder.
Toffler as a futurist, makes you think. ‘Future Shock’ opens
up the questions of what’s possible. Not necessarily what
will be, but what’s possible.”

15
 SAPIENS
-by Yuval Noah Harari

Personal What does it mean to be human? In a sweeping narrative

spanning two and half million years of human evolution,
Notes Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari weaves insights from
science and the humanities together to answer to what it
means to be human.
This book can be quoted when writing essays about those
unsung exceptions, the communities of the world where
diverse groups live together in harmony; the ethnic
conflict and tension along religious and cultural lines.
The narrative of Sapiens is painted with broad brushstrokes
with a speculative interpretation that can be and has been,
criticised. For the science-minded,  Sapiens  may seem too
interpretivist, whilst for historians,  Sapiens  may appear
too  scientised. But for those, working in  human-centric
insight and innovation,  Sapiens  provides a wonderful
framework and lens for guiding and interpreting what we do.
This book tells the story of how these three revolutions have
affected humans and their fellow organisms.
Three important revolutions shaped the course of history:
• The Cognitive Revolution - Sapiens  are myth-makers;
they use imagination and language to create and
communicate new worlds, alternatives and possibilities,
the genetic mutation that allowed the cognitive powers
of speech and imagination & kick-started history about
70,000 years ago.
• The Agricultural Revolution - sped up about 12,000 years
ago. – enabled increased food production and massive
population growth but were enjoyed by a few pampered
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elites, but who were freed up to make history. For Harari,

the Agricultural Revolution was history’s biggest fraud.
• The Scientific Revolution - which got under way only
500 years ago, may well end history and start something
completely different for it has empowered  Sapiens  to
transform their environment and themselves, giving them
superhuman powers and practically limitless energy.
This Revolution has seen mythical stories replaced by
falsifiable theories, certainties replaced by uncertainty,
conservatism replaced by curiosity, and perhaps most
importantly, words replaced by numbers. But are we any
16 happier?
The Future is Trans - The story of Sapiens is coming to an
end (in the next century or so), as the species has outgrown Personal
its hominid self.  Through science and technology they
have the power and intelligence to become gods and Notes
create new artificial life and recreate themselves. Sapiens
are the new gods of ‘Intelligent Design’ – they are Homo
Deus. Their future is not human, it is transhuman as they
transition into something new on destroying themselves
first. The problem with Sapiens is that despite their power,
they do not know what they want. They do not even know
what they want to want. Is there anything more dangerous
than dissatisfied and irresponsible gods who don’t know
what they want?
The myths Sapiens share define who they are and what they
do. Take money, a most powerful shared fiction. that they
have value. Endowed with shared meaning, money becomes
a unit of exchange, peace of mind, and the measure of our
choices. And importantly, it explains behaviour.
He attached the time frame of aeons to the time frame of
punditry—of now, and soon. His narrative of flux, of revolution
after revolution, ended urgently, and perhaps conveniently,
with a cliffhanger. “Sapiens,” while acknowledging that
“history teaches us that what seems to be just around the
corner may never materialise,” suggests that our species is
on the verge of a radical redesign. Thanks to advances in
computing, cyborg engineering, and biological engineering,
“we may be fast approaching a new singularity, when all
the concepts that give meaning to our world—me, you,
men, women, love and hate—will become irrelevant.”

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17
 SAPIENS QUOTES -by Yuval Noah Harar

Personal A few quotes relevant for quoting in your essays:

It’s impossible to do justice to the 443 pages of rich insight
Notes that make up the bestselling Sapiens in just a few lines, but
here are a few quotes relevant for quoting in your essays.
• “How can we distinguish what is biologically determined
from what people merely try to justify through biological
myths? A good rule of thumb is ‘Biology enables, Culture
forbids.’ Biology is willing to tolerate a very wide spectrum
of possibilities. It’s culture that obliges people to realize
some possibilities while forbidding others. Biology
enables women to have children – some cultures oblige
women to realize this possibility. Biology enables men to
enjoy sex with one another – some cultures forbid them
to realize this possibility. Culture tends to argue that it
forbids only that which is unnatural. But from a biological
perspective, nothing is unnatural. Whatever is possible is
by definition also natural. A truly unnatural behavior, one
that goes against the laws of nature, simply cannot exist.”
• “You could never convince a monkey to give you a
banana by promising him limitless bananas after death
in monkey heaven.”
• “One of history’s few iron laws is that luxuries tend to
become necessities and to spawn new obligations.”
• “Consistency is the playground of dull minds.”
• “How many young college graduates have taken
demanding jobs in high-powered firms, vowing that
they will work hard to earn money that will enable them
to retire and pursue their real interests when they are
thirty-five? But by the time they reach that age, they
have large mortgages, children to school, houses in the
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suburbs that necessitate at least two cars per family,

and a sense that life is not worth living without really
good wine and expensive holidays abroad. What are
they supposed to do, go back to digging up roots? No,
they double their efforts and keep slaving away.”
• “History is something that very few people have been
doing while everyone else was ploughing fields and
carrying water buckets.”
• “History is something that very few people have been
doing while everyone else was ploughing fields and
18 carrying water buckets.”
• “The romantic contrast between modern industry that
“destroys nature” and our ancestors who “lived in Personal
harmony with nature” is groundless. Long before the
Industrial Revolution,  Homo sapiens  held the record
Notes
among all organisms for driving the most plant and
animal species to their extinctions. We have the dubious
distinction of being the deadliest species in the annals
of life.”
• “This is the essence of the Agricultural Revolution:
the ability to keep more people alive under worse
conditions.”
• “Money is the most universal and most efficient system
of mutual trust ever devised.” “This is the best reason to
learn history: not in order to predict the future, but to
free yourself of the past and imagine alternative destinies.
Ofcourse this is not total freedom – we cannot avoid being
shaped by the past. But some freedom is better than none.”
“So, monotheism explains order, but is mystified by evil.
Dualism explains evil, but is puzzled by order. There is one
logical way of solving the riddle: to argue that there is a
single omnipotent God who created the entire universe –
and He’s evil. But nobody in history has had the stomach
for such a belief.”
• “Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for
you than answers you cannot question.”
• “As far as we can tell from a purely scientific viewpoint,
human life has absolutely no meaning. Humans are the
outcome of blind evolutionary processes that operate
without goal or purpose. Our actions are not part of some
divine cosmic plan, and if planet earth were to blow up
tomorrow morning, the universe would probably keep
going about its business as usual. As far as we can tell
at this point, human subjectivity would not be missed.
Hence any meaning that people inscribe to their lives is
just a delusion.”
• “Ever since the Cognitive Revolution, Sapiens have thus
been living in a dual reality. On the one hand, the objective
reality of rivers, trees and lions; and on the other hand,
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the imagined reality of gods, nations and corporations.

As time went by, the imagined reality became ever more
powerful, so that today the very survival of rivers, trees
and lions depends on the grace of imagined entities such
as the United States and Google.”
• “We do not become satisfied by leading a peaceful and
prosperous existence. Rather, we become satisfied when
reality matches our expectations. The bad news is that
as conditions improve, expectations balloon.”
• “The most common reaction of the human mind to
achievement is not satisfaction, but craving for more.” 19
 Personal • “Nothing captures the biological argument better than
the famous New Age slogan: ‘Happiness begins within.’
Notes Money, social status, plastic surgery, beautiful houses,
powerful positions – none of these will bring you
happiness. Lasting happiness comes only from serotonin,
dopamine and oxytocin.”
• “People are usually afraid of change because they fear
the unknown. But the single greatest constant of history
is that everything changes.”
• “In 2012 about 56 million people died throughout the
world; 620,000 of them died due to human violence (war
killed 120,000 people, and crime killed another 500,000).
In contrast, 800,000 committed suicide, and 1.5 million
died of diabetes. Sugar is now more dangerous than
gunpowder.”
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20
 THE WORLD
IS FLAT
-by Thomas Friedman

Friedman calls this new globalization

technology  Globalization 3.0, which allowed people to
of
Personal
collaborate and compete in real time. Intellectual work
can now be dissected, distributed, returned, and re-
Notes
assembled in minutes via email. This caused the global
competitive playing field to be levelled or ‘’flattened.’’
Technology is the main reason the world flattened out,
making us all global neighbours.
This book can be quoted when writing on Globalisation
as a travel guide, a kinetic portrait of the wired global
village, which entails, above all, investing in education,
technology, and training.
Friedman believes the  world is flat  in the sense that the
competitive playing field between industrial and emerging
market countries is levelling especially with respect to
jobs. Today, information flows horizontally, producing
competitors and connecting colleagues from around
the world, individual entrepreneurs as well as companies,
both large and small, are becoming part of a large, complex,
global supply chain extending across oceans.
It simply means that there is now a level playing field,
that everything isn’t necessarily controlled from the top
down. America is still the world’s superpower, but the rest
of the  world  is steadily catching up. Many will soon catch
up and quite possibly surpass them economically and
technologically.
Globalization 2.0 (1800 to 2000) shrank the world from a size
medium to a size small and it was spearheaded by companies
globalizing for markets and labour. Globalization 3.0 (which
started around 2000) is shrinking the world from a size small
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to a size tiny and flattening the playing field at the same time.

A distinct  economic effect of the flattened world is that
more economic players are involved. The flattened world is
not one where there is a “first  world” or “third  world”
anymore. It is a setting in which more nations are involved,
and greater economic advances are no longer restricted to
one particular area.
In The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Friedman argued that
technological innovation, foreign investment, capital
flows, and trade were transforming the world - breaking
down national borders, constraining governments, and 21
 Personal triggering grand struggles between nationalism and the
forces of economic integration. Here he argues, in a swirl of
Notes anecdotes about software designers, intrepid entrepreneurs,
globetrotting investors, and the famous telephone call
centres in Bangalore, India -- that globalization has reached
a new stage. Now individuals, rather than governments or
corporations, are the agents of change, empowered by e-mail,
computers, teleconferencing, and production networks, all of
which are drawing more and more people around the world
into competition and cooperation on an equal footing.
But Friedman’s image of a flat earth is profoundly misleading.
Flatness is another way of describing the transnational search
by companies for cheap labour, an image that misses the
pervasiveness of global inequality and the fact that much of
the developing world remains stalled in poverty and misery.
It also misses the importance of the global geopolitical
hierarchy, which guarantees the provision of stability,
property rights, and other international public goods.
Ten Flattening Forces:
Friedman writes extensively about what he calls the  10
Flatteners. He explains that ‘’The world has been flattened by
the convergence of ten major political events, innovations,
and companies.’’ These are:
1. Fall of the Berlin Wall - This event liberated millions of
people and signalled the end of communism. It also shifted
much of the world from centrally planned economies to
democratic free-market oriented governments.
2. The World Wide Web and the Internet - Users can
now save, retrieve, send, and share intellectual content
electronically and instantly. The internet created a
platform for connectivity and the web made information
sharing possible.
3. Workflow Software - People were now able to
collaborate while working remotely. Users were able to
design, display, manage, and collaborate on projects and
share data that was once handled manually and locally.
4. Uploading - Provided free access to community
developed software. Computer applications were no
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longer bought. They could be downloaded for free off

the web.
5. Outsourcing - Specific functions or tasks performed in-
house such as tax preparation, research, or call-center
operations are now performed by another company at a
lower cost.
6. Offshoring - Different from outsourcing, offshoring
moves an entire operation, factory, and function to a
completely different location. All things are equal expect
for labour costs, lower taxes, and subsidized energy. The
22 combined savings creates a lower cost product.
7. Supply Chaining - Collaboration among suppliers,
retailers, and customers to create value during the Personal
production and distribution of a product. Supply chain
methodologies also forces the adoption of common Notes
industrial standards.
8. Insourcing - Small and mid-sized companies are able
to provide services to large supply chains without
prohibitive expense, such as UPS fixing computers for
Toshiba.
9. Informing - Provides universal access to knowledge
information and research. Anyone with an internet
connection can access knowledge from the world’s
libraries.
10. Wireless Connectivity - Wireless access created a mobile
society so work was no longer tethered to a hard-wired
connection. All content could now be digitized, shared
remotely, and reshaped.
Friedman notes that prior Globalizations 1.0 and 2.0 were
marked by countries and companies globalizing respectively.
It’s now software leading the change, not horsepower or
hardware.

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23
 TO KILL A
MOCKINGBIRD -by Harper Lee

Personal This book can be quoted while writing essays on prejudice,

family life and courage, inequality or even the racial
Notes prejudice and social injustices. It’s a perfect example of
different forms of courage, of the moral nature of human
beings—that is, whether people are essentially good or
essentially evil. The most important message it conveys
is that it is possible to live with conscience without
losing hope or becoming cynical. It teaches us what real
friendship, trust, understanding or cruelty, injustice,
racism and anger means.
To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee, has become a
classic of modern American Literature, winning the Pulitzer
Prize. A haunting portrait of race and class, innocence
and injustice, hypocrisy and heroism, tradition and
transformation in the Deep South of the 1930s. This
book  remains as  important  today as it was upon its initial
publication in 1960, during the turbulent years of the
Civil Rights movement. America was in a state of ethical
development as social inequality was - very - gradually being
overcome. Women’s rights and black rights movements
were beginning to emerge and some campaigned through
violence.
To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of the young narrator’s
passage from innocence to experience when her father
confronts the racist justice system of the rural, Depression-
era South. In witnessing the trial of Tom Robinson, a black
man unfairly accused of rape, Scout, the narrator, gains
insight into her town, her family, and herself.
The coexistence of Good and Evil: the novel shows the reader
the transition of Scout and Jem from innocent  children,
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when they assume that all people are good, to a more adult
perspective where they encounter evil, prejudice and hatred.
The book is about Atticus Finch, who appears as an
unconventional hero and role model due to his morality
rather than his physical capabilities. The theme of morals is
apparent throughout the whole novel, especially in relation
to religion and perception of sin.
To Kill a Mockingbird focuses on that gut instinct of right and
wrong, and distinguishes it from just following the law. Even
the titular quote: “Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you
can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” is
24
in itself an allegory for this message.
The beauty of literature and the reason why everyone can
take something out of it, looking for these life lessons has Personal
become a less and less popular exercise as the years have
gone by. A true piece of literature, like To Kill a Mockingbird, Notes
is meaningful in every period and that today, Atticus Finch’s
message should be heard in the midst of all the global
conflicts that we hear of on the news every night.
Atticus would now be defending issues that Harper Lee did
not consider when writing the book, such as gay and lesbian
rights, because what is at the heart of his character is an
acceptance of who people are. Would Atticus Finch condone
this?
Mockingbird is a book with so many layers of meaning that
you can get so much out of it. It’s a book that really has
changed many a life and one finds something new that you
can assimilate into your own code of ethics.
Whatever happens, it will never stop being a good book, and
it will never stop inspiring good !!

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25
 THE ART OF WAR -by SUN TZU

Personal The Art of War is traditionally attributed to a military

general from the late 6th century BC known as “Master
Notes Sun” (Sunzi or Sun-tzu), though its earliest parts probably
date to at least 100 years later.
The conventional view, which is still widely held in China,
was that Sun Wu was a military theorist from the end of the
Spring and Autumn period (776–471 BC) who fled his home
state of Qi to the southeastern kingdom of Wu, where he
is said to have impressed the king with his ability to train
even dainty palace ladies in warfare and to have made Wu’s
armies powerful enough to challenge their western rivals in
the state of Chu.
Summary of Chapters:
• Detail Assessment and Planning: explores the five
fundamental factors (the Way, seasons, terrain,
leadership, and management) and seven elements that
determine the outcomes of military engagements.
By thinking, assessing and comparing these points, a
commander can calculate his chances of victory. Habitual
deviation from these calculations will ensure failure via
improper action. The text stresses that war is a very
grave matter for the state and must not be commenced
without due consideration.
• Waging War: explains how to understand the economy
of warfare and how success requires winning decisive
engagements quickly. This section advises that
successful military campaigns require limiting the cost of
competition and conflict.
• Strategic Attack: defines the source of strength as unity,
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not size, and discusses the five factors that are needed to
succeed in any war. In order of importance, these critical
factors are: Attack, Strategy, Alliances, Army and Cities.
• Disposition of the Army explains the importance of
defending existing positions until a commander is capable
of advancing from those positions in safety. It teaches
commanders the importance of recognizing strategic
opportunities, and teaches not to create opportunities
for the enemy.
• Forces: explains the use of creativity and timing in
26
building an army’s momentum.
• Weaknesses and Strengths: explains how an army’s
opportunities come from the openings in the Personal
environment caused by the relative weakness of the
enemy and how to respond to changes in the fluid Notes
battlefield over a given area.
• Military Maneuvers: explains the dangers of direct
conflict and how to win those confrontations when they
are forced upon the commander.
• Variations and Adaptability focuses on the need for
flexibility in an army’s responses. It explains how to
respond to shifting circumstances successfully.
• Movement and Development of Troops describes the
different situations in which an army finds itself as it
moves through new enemy territories, and how to
respond to these situations. Much of this section focuses
on evaluating the intentions of others.
• Terrain: looks at the three general areas of resistance
(distance, dangers and barriers) and the six types
of ground positions that arise from them. Each of
these six field positions offers certain advantages and
disadvantages.
• The Nine Battlegrounds: describes the nine common
situations (or stages) in a campaign, from scattering to
deadly, and the specific focus that a commander will
need in order to successfully navigate them.
• Attacking with Fire: explains the general use of weapons
and the specific use of the environment as a weapon.
This section examines the five targets for attack, the
five types of environmental attack and the appropriate
responses to such attacks.
• Intelligence and Espionage: focuses on the importance
of developing good information sources, and specifies
the five types of intelligence sources and how to best
manage each of them.
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27
 THE THIRD WAVE -by Alvin Toffler

Personal The Third Wave is a must-read book on futurology, and this

book review is intended to vet the appetite of students
Notes of philosophy, history, management and sociology, who
are planning to play an active part in business under
the dynamic environment of the Information Economy
(As Toffler denoted present time). The book presents a
historical overview of the past two human civilizations,
and projects & measures the third one that is in the
process of coming out as change sweeps across the globe.
Though the book revolves around society, culture, media,
organisations, science and computers, its central premise
is the transition of human history & human psychology,
which has advanced three different types of societies in
sequential order, with each wave pushing the older society
and culture aside. But still each sequential wave is based
on the previous one. The only ruling object of this world is
time, and humanity is supposed to cope with it.
Waves at a glance:
The first wave talks about the agrarian economy that began
some thousand years ago. People used to make products for
their own consumption individually, so there was no trading
between people. People transitioned from hunting and
wandering, to clustering and social culture. The first wave of
change had not exhausted itself by the end of the seventeenth
century.
The second wave talks about explosion of the industrial
revolution colliding with all the institutions of the past and
how it changed the way of life of millions. Mass production
led to the birth of a new form of economy and the adoption
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of new managerial concepts such as economies of scale,

corporations, standardizations, specializations, centralizations
and synchronizations. By the end of the Second World War
the globe started receiving signals of a gathering third wave
based not on muscles but on mind.
The third wave is called the information or the knowledge
age; however, other sociopolitical drivers like individual
rights, freedoms, democracy and globalization of trade and
movements of goods and services cannot be ignored. The
key concepts of The Third wave are demassification and de-
28 centralization and consumerism.
Waves: Salient Features
The First Wave, where agricultural civilization dominated Personal
the planet and seemed destined to do so forever.
• The land was the basis of economy, life, culture, family,
Notes
structure and politics. The economy was decentralized
and life was organised around the village.
• New type of conflicts arose among the farmers- Who
owned which land? Who got to use available water?
They taxed what was valuable, paying a large portion of
their crops to a local strongman.
• Sources of power & energy: First wave civilization drew
their energy from renewable living batteries i.e., human
and animal muscle-power or from sun, wind and water.
• Inventions: First wave societies had relied on necessary
inventions like winches and wedges, catapults,
winepresses, levers and hoists that were chiefly used to
human or animal muscle-power.
• Commerce & Trade: In First Wave societies, goods were
normally made by handcraft methods. Products were
created one at a time on custom basis. Products were
largely distributed through ships and camel caravans.
• Communications: All human groups, from primitive
times to today, depend on face-to-face, peerto-peer
communication.
• Product & Customer market: Until the industrial
revolution, the vast bulk of all the food, goods and services
produced by the producers themselves for their families
or a tiny elite group who managed to scrape off the
surplus for their own use. In most agricultural societies
the great majority of people lived on a subsistence diet,
growing just barely enough to keep their masters happy.
Set up for next waves: First wave was a very long and slow
process, and it took millions of years to reach the stage
it was 300 years back. Gradually it had set up the stage
for future waves. Three major innovations: 1) Accurate
clocks, permitted the coordination of activities to a degree
not possible before. 2) The printing press, permitted large-
scale, accurate duplication and transmission of information
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across space and time. 3) The quest for farm implements

led to new developments in metallurgy, specifically iron
and steel.
The Second Wave, an era of industrial revolution and
another breakthrough. Key attributes of the second wave:
• Standardization of things in all aspects; education,
production, pay scale, lunch hours, holidays, weights
and measures, currency, prices, language and lifestyle.
• Specialization: The old-style workman was removed.
People started specializing in particular things or areas
and the market itself had been demanding specialization 29
 Personal because people were now looking for the change in all
they were used to.
Notes • Synchronization: The close interdependence of labour
and high-cost machinery required a much more refined
synchronization. If one task was not done on time in
a plant then subsequent tasks were to be delayed.
Punctuality was never required in agriculture and now in
the second wave it became a social necessity and clocks
and watched became proliferate.
• Concentration of Energy, Money and Power: Society
became totally dependent on highly concentrated
deposits of fossil fuel. The wave also concentrated
population, stripping the countryside of people and
relocating them in giant urban centres. Energy, money
and power all were concentrated.
• Maximization: The Second Wave became synonymous
with efficiency, and maximization became the key
principle.
• Centralization: To accomplish all the tasks, a new form of
organization based on centralization of information and
command were created. The pressure towards political
centralization were even stronger and industrialization
pushed the political system towards greater centralized,
increasing government power and responsibilities and
monopolizing decision-making.
• Imperialism: In the second wave, rapid and massive
march of imperialism came into picture which exploited
their resources and market and brought wealth to the
European countries. IMF, WORLD BANK and GATT were
three main institutes that stepped up to gain control
over world economy.
• Behavioural change: The belief and thoughts of the new
generation of industrialization was changed and hence
the market developed.
The Third Wave- The new synthesis is the era of post
industrialization and it was started after the Second World
War. Toffler coined many words to define the third wave.
Information Age was one such term. It is powerfully driven
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by information technology and worldwide demand of

freedom and individuality. For this wave, the raw material
was information.
Key characteristics of the third wave:
• New Technologies: Innovations in electronics, computers,
and space science boosted the industries and a new form
of industry came into existence. Things that were once a
myth had started becoming reality.
• Sea-The new road: We now have strong relationships
with seas. Oil reservoirs and world hunger is now being
fulfilled through the sea and man is no more relying on a
30 single resource.
• Genetics: Doubling with rapid speed. Higher production
of food, wool and other natural goods has been possible Personal
through genetic science. Biological alteration has been
possible in the third wave. Notes
• De-massification of media: New media aimed at small
and specific groups of local markets, special interests and
regional markets. People have started paying attention
to only those things which they are related to and which
are beneficial for them.
• A new social memory: Libraries and computers have
been new artificial memory for mankind. People have
started recording activities in the same manner so that
it can be seen and played millions of times.
• Family system: In the first wave, mates were working
together to survive, then in the second wave nuclear
family system was idealized which is now falling apart.
A new civilization is forming but where do we fit into it?
Don’t today’s technological changes and social upheavals
mean the end of friendship, love, commitment, community,
and caring? Won’t tomorrow’s electronic marvels make
human relationships even vacuous and vicarious than they
are today? To create a fulfilling emotional life and a sane
psychosphere for the emerging civilization of tomorrow, we
must recognize three basic requirements of any individual:
the needs for community, structure and meaning. We will
have to consider the reasons for the fall of the first and
second wave, and in accordance to that, we will have to
design our new psychological environment for us, for our
children, for children of the third wave and children of new
Information Age.

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31
 MODEL ESSAYS

S.No. Content Page No.

1 ESSAY TOPICS THROUGH THE YEARS 33

2 MODEL ESSAY 1 JUSTICE WILL NOT BE SERVED 38

UNTIL THOSE WHO ARE UNAFFECTED ARE AS
OUTRAGED AS THOSE WHO ARE

3 MODEL ESSAY 2 IF WE ARE TO PRESERVE CULTURE 47

WE MUST CONTINUE TO CREATE IT
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