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V. Raghunathan has written book on varied subjects like finance, the behavior and lateral thinking of Indians, and several columns in the economic newspaper. His books are filled with a tinge of humor and sarcasm. After being in the academic field for a long time in IIM Ahmedabad, he plunged into the banking sector as a Banker and has recently gone into the CSR field. This wide range of his experience gives him the benefit of rethinking and writing on some of the very interesting topics. One such interesting book that he has written is Locks, Mathematics and Mahabharata.

'Locks, Mathematics and Mahabharata' is a unique book that is a delightful exercise in lateral thinking. In fact, there is a well established anecdote on Indians that they are the best lateral thinkers in the world. A simple example of this can be seen every day on a busy street/road in India. Whenever we are stuck up in a traffic jam, we try to find a way through all that jam by pushing pulling and maneuvering our vehicles through the narrowest places to get out of it. We are never obstructed by a Cow strolling in the middle of the road; we simply drive through the other side!

This book written by Raghu is also expressing a similar kind of lateral thinking but this time he has done it with Mahabharata in the backdrop. He makes unusual comparisons between locks, mathematics and the great Indian epic Mahabharata. It is entertaining how he has woven the three disparate things together in the form of numerous stories.

One is of Draupadi who is like an answer to all the Pandavas as she is married to each of them. Therefore, she is like a lock to five keys! The author links this with polynomials. In another story Jarasandha resembles split locks and symmetries. That author has written several stories with Mahabharata characters such as Yudhisthira, Shukrayacharya, Kacha, Draupadi and many more. He has linked all of these characters and their life instances with mathematics, an unusual parallel.

Read this book to know and learn a different perspective. Infibeam.com, one of the best online shopping sites for buying books, has this book on their online racks.

http://www.infibeam.com/Books/locks-mahabharata-mathematics-exploration-unexpected-parallels-v-raghunathan/9789350296431.html