The Da Vinci Code - The two different perspectives

Well yes I am a late reader. But I did finish "The Vinci Code" yesterday. I sat up whole night reading the book on my comp. Amazing thriller. The official reviews are here.The Da Vinci Code � Book Reviews � Official Website of Dan Brown

But ofcourse I looked around and as expected the book has been controversial enough. Thankfully it hasn't been banned like some others of similar kind. Book puts some question marks on Christianity as we see it today and no wonder some Christian scholars raised a hue a cry against the following paragraph in Chapter 55 among many others.

…“The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven….The Bible is the product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book.”

The statements are made by the historian character Teabing, answering some questions from the two lead characters about the nature and background of their quest.

Interestingly what made the scholars react against the book was the following text in the prologue of the book
"FACT"
All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate

Read a comprehensible list of the objections of the Christian scholars here . The site mentions itself as Tektonics -The building blocks for Christian faith.

But all said and done, the controversy has helped a book a lot. The book has been on New York Times bestseller list (Fiction of course) for quite some time now. If want my opinion, I loved the book. It builds up amazingly. I couldn't get away from my comp the whole of yesterday night though my eyes were aching. Though its true that the end isn't quite as riveting as the rest of it. But it's still worth it. Even if partially true or fiction, it gives you the story from a different perspective. If you believe being spiritual is different from being religious, and the religions of the world are less than perfect, the book doesn't shake anything inside you. But religion/faith/beliefs are a very personal matter and what might be acceptable to many readers of Dan Brown might also evoke equally opposite reactions from others.

Bharti - The division of functions 

Outsourcing - Indian firms show the way in Telecom

Well the noise about outsourcing causing job losses hasn't died down completely. But here have Bharti Televentures here trying to correct some misgivings. Text books say outsourcing is what companies in developed world do to cut costs right? Outsourcing means that you hive off some off the non core functions of your company.

Wrong! outsourcing could also mean a company from the developing world deciding to give management of its network to the Nokia, Siemens & Erricson. Sunil Bharti Mittal redefined non core again when his decided to outsource his network management and systems functions( these to IBM) . So what is no-core for bharti ? Managing the Airtel brand :) Bharti has gained a lot in the process - It will save huge amounts in Capex over the next few years. The idea is a first nad has its risks. So, the world is watching because if this succeeds we have a number of telcom companies willing to venture because someone here in India has shown them the way.

Read the full story here - The man who gave away his network

Of Corporate Communication and Blogger Support!

As a policy I refrain from using my blog for any kind of endorsements or viral marketing but this one really needed a mention. I have been really missing my blog after it was deleted some two months back. The other day I just shot a mail to blogger support asking if they restore it , without expecting anything to happen actually, but guess what in about 48 hours I have mail saying my blog is back. I love this. Wonder if anyother blog hosting site would have done it.

Coming back to issue of using blogs for endorsements and corporate communication, blogs seem be taken very seriously. For example, Harvard Business Review in its Sep 2003 issue published a narrative case study- 'The Glove Girl' to discuss how bloggers could impact organizations. The case discusses if an online diarist whose opinion seems to be credible to people outside but who can sometimes be indiscreet and incorrect, is a liability or an assest to an organization. What should te organization do about it ? This case study is fictional but harvard making a case for blogging definitely gives the issue a significantly important dimension.