SHORT TAKES
Space, selling and sterling qualities
Randeep Wadehra

Issues & Views
by Kiran Bedi
Sterling. Pages: xi+372. Rs 299

Kiran Bedi has consistently displayed such sterling qualities as honesty, bravery, intellectual accomplishments and vision, along with the talent for innovation in tackling specific social and law and order issues. Most notable examples are the jail reforms initiated by her as well as her crusade against drug addiction; she had hit the media headlines as "Crane Bedi" and, at another time, media pictures showed her engaged in a ‘duel’ with an armed Nihang. On various media talk shows, she displays rare candour when it comes to accepting drawbacks among policepersons even while holding the politico-bureaucratic establishment accountable for the mess in which the police forces are languishing.

This book, a collection of her writings that had appeared in various leading publications like The Tribune, only confirms that Bedi has not lost any of her verve and vitality. Her ‘vision’ of Mahatma Gandhi in police uniform is thought provoking, even if it is a bit idealistic (Gandhi’s experiments with policing). However, her analysis of the reasons and remedies for corruption in police needs serious consideration by powers that be (Corruption in Police: five strong measures to stop it). Again, her thesis that drug addiction is more a disease than crime (zero tolerance) cannot be gainsaid. But it is in her article, Civil Servants and Accountability, that Bedi really goes ballistic against the system that gives power without responsibility to bureaucrats. Quoting a General, she poses a very pertinent question: Why is it that not a single Defence Secretary or Home Secretary took even partial blame, let alone resign, whereas assorted politicians and persons in uniform were sacked on such issues as the 1962 war and Mumbai terrorist killings? Answers, please.

You Can Sell
by Shiv Khera
Rupa & Co. Pages: xi+300. Rs. 195

Selling is a potent mix of talent and art with a bit of science thrown in. You have to have talent for selling – be it a product, a service or an idea. Then, you have to be methodical in analysing the strengths and weaknesses of your product and the opportunities that the market at large offers. Finally, you have to skillfully present your product in such a way that it lures in customers in sufficient enough numbers to establish you in the market.

Although the above-mentioned ‘formula’ sounds simple, it is a complex enterprise in practice. The single activity of selling involves efforts on gargantuan scales by raw material suppliers, transporters, manufacturers etc with various governmental and non-governmental agencies coming into play. Finally, every product has to face the stiff test of consumer acceptability, for which expertise in selling is essential. The uncertainties in the market provide opportunities to the likes of Shiv Khera to churn out massive literature that invariably hits the bestsellers’ charts. Khera is a master of this genre and you may benefit from this book.

Outer Space
by Dr. G. S. Sachdeva
KW Publishers. Pages: xvi+341. Rs 580

THE outer space has become the latest strategic dimension to inter-power rivalries on earth. Gone are the days of innocent curiosity and colourful speculation when the stakes involved were limited to making astrological calculations or writing spectacular fiction involving interplanetary or intergalactic wars.

Today, satellites are being positioned in space to facilitate location of natural resources, study the vagaries of weather and globalize telecommunications and entertainment even as various space missions probe planets for commercial purposes. On the flip side, space is being weaponised at a frenetic pace. This book gives India’s perspective on the race for space. It traces the growth of India’s space programme, its current status and future prospects. But, why bring in scriptures, mythology etc?

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