Lonely Planet, one of the world’s leading guide books, has heaped praise on the Maroma Press publication Between Two Fires – Guerrilla war in the Spanish sierras.

In its guide to Spain, it comments: “A few communists and republicans continued their struggle after the Civil War in small guerrilla units in Andalucia’s mountains.

“The book Between Two Fires fascinatingly documents the struggle between the guerrillas and the Guardia Civil around the village of Frigiliana in the 1940s and ’50s.”.

The fruit of years of investigation, Between Two Fires is the only book in English that relates what happened AFTER Spain’s Civil War, when rural communities were torn apart as rebels fought to undermine the Franco dictatorship.

To research what happened in those years when tight censorship sealed off Spain from the rest of the world author Baird interviewed former guerrillas, Civil Guards, villagers and their families.

He checked official files all over Spain and travelled to London and Washington to examine government records relating to American and British intervention in Spain.

After World War Two neither Europeans nor Americans took much interest in what was happening in a Spain, although their secret services were very active in that country. Thus the guerrilla struggle and many other events in Spain went unreported in the rest of the world.

Within Spain political parties were banned and all news was carefully controlled. Only information approved by the regime could be published or broadcast. Finally, after General Franco’s death in 1975, censorship was relaxed and investigators could begin to delve into the country’s recent history.

This ground-breaking books reveals details about the clandestine training of Spanish guerrillas by members of the American secret service and about a brutal crime that was covered up for more than 50 years.

Between Two Fires is on sale at English bookshops in Spain and from Amazon and other online outlets.

Dead Skies over Kenya

(2/2008)

Deep death, encircles the skies over Kenya

Whence even the lightening seems remote;

Here, the cities burn, with burning eyes

Ask now what hand will save the dawn.

#2285 2-23-2008

Note: In recent weeks, there has been much commotion, fighting, and loss of life in Kenya, and it seems, the United States, along with the United Nations, are for once in unison, with concern over this African nation, not like it was back in the early 90s, when the world ran away from the Uganda crisis, and almost a million lives were lost. All Kenyans seem to agree with one thing, change the constitution, that in itself is a problem, the two sides that are in opposition, are talking, it’s about time, and in one way or another, agree with that above statement. The popular demand seems to be, a better democratic governance in their nation, for it all started because of that very reason, if I recall right, over bad elections. So, better late than never, here are two poems on the subject, or issue of Kenya, as I see it. Even Condoleezza Rice, and the former U:N: secretary-general, Kofi Annan are trying to put out fires before they start back up there, as worthless as Annan has been in the past maybe he can do something good for mankind here in the present, if it is in his heart, that is (I hope so). There will be more mass protests in the near future, but let’s hope it remains at that, better than mass graves are dug, and in that part of the world, who can ever tell. Kenya was perhaps the most civilized, and well off country in Africa, until recently that is. So here is a little poem, for a big issue.

Kenyan’s Hope

Memory droops among the Kenyans

for faces ponder a vanished peace;

a dream that wonders in the breeze,

an anger that remains in hidden faces.

#2286 2-23-2008

I have heard that up to one in two Christian males struggle with a pornography addiction and as I am one of those males, I thought I would write a brief article about the struggle I find myself in and the way that I cope living a life with a smile on my face.

The guilt and shame that surrounds the addiction to pornography is horrendous. You have a brief moment of pleasure; you get your quick fix and then comes the guilt like a heavy blanket that weights you down. There has to be a better way than a constant quick fix and then days of shame.

You cannot simply have so much porn that you wear your addiction out. I am sure many of you, one you have fallen from grace have thought to themselves that you may as well sin again and again whilst you have fallen. Many of you like me have thought that you could simply wear yourself out of the addiction and get overfilled. But the addiction is a beast, and all-consuming fire that will take us much as you want to give to it. There is just no upper limit to how much porn that you can watch, there seems to be no limit if you have enough bandwidth on your internet plan.

So we have established that you can’t wear the addiction out- how about quitting cold turkey? That works for some and has worked for me for periods of up to three months at a time, but there always seems for me at least to be some trigger that sends me back to the computer and a closed door. It is terrible and it fills me with remorse and shame.

Being a person that has hundreds of articles on the Internet, and hundreds of videos, posting this article is not so much a wise move in many people’s eyes. Many people would counsel me not to be so frank but this addiction is breaking me in two and I thought I would just connect with all you other males that are struggling and share some heartfelt love.

I came across the grace preaching of Andrew Wommack and Joseph Prince and they have helped me deal with my guilt and shame and help me take some of the condemnation off my shoulders very well. Satan loves to have us in his snare and his shame. And it just takes it’s toll on our relationship with Christ.

How can we be pure in spirit, pure in heart and yet look at naked women acting? How can we walk down the street and look at women the right and wholesome way when so many times we are watching women and girls in not so wholesome ways?

“I am the righteousness of God in Christ!” Joseph Prince has told me to tell myself and one day my body will line up and fulfil what I say. I hope that is so.

A ring is just a tiny piece of metal yet it is one of the most powerful, and successful, symbols used in fantasy writing. Why is a ring so often used as a symbol and what does it really stand for?

In the fantasy series The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the main character (Thomas Covenant) wears a white gold wedding band. He is thrust into a strange world where white gold is a rare ore that possesses extraordinary magical power. But the ring means more than that to him. It also holds the symbolic meaning of a deep love for and commitment to his ex-wife. It is in this internal/external dual nature that the real meaning of the golden ring is shown. But from where did this symbolism derive?

The symbolic meaning of the golden ring is easy to see once we examine the physical process of how a ring is made. It starts with gold, which when taken from the ground is nice, and a bit shiny, yet nothing super special. But if you put it through a forging it comes out of the process as a beautiful and pure metal. If you then shape it into the universal symbol of eternity (the circle) you then have something special. It has gone through the fire (literally) and come out pure and beautiful and it is in the shape that represents forever. So the end result is something that is pure and eternal. Is it no wonder that we use the golden ring as a symbol of marriage?

The leap from the attributes of something from the outside world applied to the inside world of a person is easy to make. The beauty and the purity of the ring become something that a person strives for on the inside. And it is this internal struggle that epic fantasy is at its best.

Few works display this struggle with the internal self more clearly than The Lord of the Rings where the main character Frodo is given a ring of enormous power yet the struggle he has with this power is an internal struggle. Does he have the strength and the will to resist the temptations that it brings? Will he forever maintain his purity?

This struggle with internal desires and the theme of the golden ring as a symbol is not a new theme to fantasy. It appears well over two thousand years ago in Plato’s Republic. In that work we are told the tale tale of The Ring of the Gyges. In it a shepherd named Gyges stumbles into a secret cavern and finds a corpse with a ring on it. When he places this ring on his finger it turns him invisible! So what does Gyges do? He succumbs to the power of the ring and seduces the Queen, murders the King, and does other dreadful things. The ring here symbolizes the thought that if you could be undetected in your deeds what would you do? Would you succumb to the evil side of yourself? Would you lose your purity?

The physical characteristics of purity and eternity in a golden ring have been transformed in the epic fantasy novel as a symbol of man’s striving to achieve these same characteristics within himself. This has been a staple of the genre for more than two thousand years.

Beyond Rock Bottom is a mother-son collaboration about the struggle with addiction and codependence. Learn more about Patty and Grayson and how they overcame their challenges to experience a fuller life, and a more meaningful relationship.

Grayson Smith lives in Salt Lake City, with his dog, Lady, where he works construction. He is attending school and is pursuing a civil engineering degree from the University of Utah. He stays busy climbing, skiing and is active in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

Patty Smith lives in South Carolina with her husband, Buddy Smith. She is involved in Al-Anon and other 12-step groups. Patty embraces holistic health, which emphasizes the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of life. She earned a Master’s Degree in health coaching from International Health Coach University. Her “been there, done that” experience helps clients find their own way to lasting health and wellness.

Welcome Patty and Grayson, and thank you for being with us today! Why don’t you start by telling our readers what Beyond Rock Bottom is all about?

Patty: Beyond Rock Bottom is a story of addiction, codependency and recovery. It is a mother and son writing about their journey through addiction.

Grayson: Beyond Rock Bottom is about my addiction and how I dealt with it. It is also about the struggles of my mother, being codependent and wanting to “fix” a lot of the things that were wrong in our family.

What inspired you to write this story?

Patty: I was compelled to write about my journey as a mother of an addict. I had to write about how I learned to take care of myself and respect my son’s struggle with addiction. I needed to write about how I found peace and joy, regardless of my circumstances.

Grayson: My mother called me one day to ask if she could write about me. I said she could write whatever she wanted. She called back a few minutes later and asked if I wanted to write it with her, and I said sure, not really knowing what a project it would be.

How important was it for you to get your message onto paper and out into to the world?

Patty: It is important to me to share my experience through heartache in order to help others find this same hope for themselves. I want to help others who struggle with their child’s addiction – not knowing if they will ever get better. Sharing how I learned to be okay, when those around me are not okay.

Grayson: It was fun to do and I got a lot of freedom from sharing my story with people. I did not start out with a mission or a goal to get my message out. It is a very similar story to anyone who is a recovering addict. I don’t think the message of the book is especially unique.

What was the hardest part about writing Beyond Rock Bottom?

Patty: For me, the hardest part of writing this book was reading what my son wrote. He shared some stories of his addiction that I did not know about. I did not know the extent of his pain until now and learning of his childhood trauma through writing the book was hard.

Grayson: Picking a title!

It’s a great title! What is it you most hope readers take away from the message in Beyond Rock Bottom?

Patty: My hope for readers is to learn that they are not alone in heartache, and to realize the importance of community. To learn how to be okay, even when those around you are not okay, and how to experience joy and peace, regardless of your circumstances.

Grayson: Anyone can recover from addiction. No one is too far gone.

What kind of feedback have you received so far?

Patty: The feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive. People are so glad we had the courage to write our story. People can relate to our struggle and heartache, and are finding hope for themselves when they read our book.

Grayson: I have had a few comments about the language I use and how graphic some of the details are around drug use. I take that feedback as a compliment. Most of the feedback I have received is that the book offers hope. A lot of people have reached out to me saying that they can relate, either through themselves or a family member.

What are you doing to get the word out about Beyond Rock Bottom and spreading your message?

Patty: We have done a few book signings and speaking engagements. We really want to spread the word of hope to those who still suffer. We did a podcast about family recovery with Bryce Bauer: Raising the Bottom. One treatment center promotes our book, Beyond Rock Bottom, and we’d really like to see make more centers aware of our book.

Grayson: It is hard for me to promote my own book. I often think, “Who really wants to read this, anyway?” My mother is a natural born promoter, handing out our cards to anyone who will take one.

What have you learned/how have you grown or changed from your experience, and what has had the most impact on your life?

Patty: I have learned how to take care of myself and respect the struggle of others. The overwhelming response of others who are struggling with addiction has had the most impact on me. It is an epidemic.

Grayson: The biggest thing I have learned is how powerful sharing our stories with one another is. I think this is the foundation for recovery from anything.

How has your relationship with each other changed since recovery and writing Beyond Rock Bottom?

Patty: My son and I are closer after writing this book together. Through our vulnerability we experience greater connection. Little did we know of the other’s pain. We hang out together and have fun together.

Grayson: That is hard a question for me to answer. There certainly aren’t any more secrets. I think it has brought us closer together, to share in such an accomplishment. It also reaffirms what we each have been through and found a way out. It is very exciting.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received – about recovery or writing or life in general?

Patty: As far as writing – write, write, write. As far as recovery – go to meetings, it’s all about community and surrender.

Grayson: The best piece of writing advice – I’m not sure if I read it somewhere or someone told me, but I remember it very well, “If it doesn’t hurt to write, then you should not publish it”. I thought about this often when I was going back and forth about including painful events. The best recovery advice? Do things for other people.

What advice would you give to people seeking help?

Patty: Reach out for help! It’s all about community and surrender. “Let go and Let God”. Find an AA or Alanon meeting.

Grayson: ASK!

Do you have a website or blog where readers can learn more about you and your book, Beyond Rock Bottom, and connect with you on social media?

Our website is www.beyondrockbottom.com. We also have a Facebook page @beyondrockbottomthebook.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

You’re not alone. There is hope.

Everyone wants to become successful in life but no one wants to fail, but why? Why the people are afraid of failure? Now-a-days, people think that they have to make a big jump like a tiger to reach top level position. According to them, it is very easy to have a successful life. They see other people’s success and feel jealousy. They just see front side of a person’s life but they do not know how much struggle he/she has done to become a successful. How many times he/she has to face failure in life? Did they stop their struggle? Did they become victim of inferiority complex?

Today, I am writing this article only for this purpose to spread awareness among people not to be afraid of your failures. Failures are key points of your life. Without having failure, you cannot get a successful life. It is the golden rule of nature that you have to do struggle for things that you want in your life. Your success is a composition of your determination, hardships and struggle. For this purpose, you have to remain positive and be patience in various steps of your life.

Your positive attitude and determination towards destination are very essential because if you face any failure than you have to take it positively and boost your determination with this courage that you can do better in next try. You have to think like that why I am failed? Have I missed any instruction? What are the reasons in my failure? When you analyze your failure on this pattern, you get the better directions for next try. To remain consistent on your target leads you to success. Just take the example of eagle, his consistency and determination power toward his prey is so high because he knows that he has only one chance to catch his prey. It does not mean that he has caught his prey every time. No, never. Sometimes, he fails but he learns from his mistakes and tries again and again until he succeeds.

Life is just not a name of full leisure and pleasure. Life is full of hardships just to check your patience towards your goal. Ups and downs are part of person’s life but it does not mean that person loses his hope. You just need to tackle these hardships with courage and you just have to keep faith in your Creator. All those people have faced hardships that are successful in their life. But these hardships could not distract them from their goals. Can you imagine the hardships of a poor man? He has to work at a very low salary package just to support his family. Poor man does not want comfort for his life but his foremost duty is to provide comfort to his family. He has to bear harsh behavior of his employer because there is no other resource of income. But, he does not lose hope and face all these hardships by keeping his family in front of his eyes.

Remember one thing; your failures are steps of your success stair. Just take steps like a small baby who cannot run immediately. First of all, he tries to crawl and then tries to stand. While trying to stand, he fails many times but he does not stop his tries. If little child cannot give up then why you give up. Struggle means you are crazy about your dreams, goals and achievements. At any point, if you lose your struggle, you will fall down from the position that you have achieved. Here is a main point; there is no need to struggle for things that other people want, always do struggle for things that you want because your area of interest matters a lot.

At the end, I just want to say that failures cannot stop you from achieving your goals. All failures are lesson for you. If you do not learn from your failures, it is your fault. I repeat it, failures are just inspiration. Do not pay attention what other people say. Just focus on your life and its goal.

A number of key stages can be recognized in any relationship. To solve any relationship problem it is essential to work out which stage you are in. For more details and practical ways to navigate each stage go to my website – see below.

Stage 1 The Honeymoon

The first stage of any romantic relationship is when we fall in love. Our initial attraction to somebody grows rapidly to the point where we feel delicious feelings of connection and love. It seems we have found the love of our life and we will readily believe that this relationship will last forever. The honeymoon stage is a wonderful life experience and shows the potential of the relationship for love and joy.

We may be tempted to make long-term commitments in this stage without really knowing our partner. This in itself is not a problem providing we recognise that more challenging stages of the relationship probably lie ahead and have a willingness to deal with any issues that come up.

To fall in love with somebody is the most beautiful experience in life and one to be enjoyed fully! Be prepared though for more challenging times ahead as the relationship develops. Don’t panic when this happens – stick with your partner and try to work through the issues described in the next two stages. Always remember the feelings you have in this stage – you can always find them again in the future if you commit to building a better relationship.

Stage 2 The Power Struggle

For most relationships the honeymoon stage eventually ends, typically after six months to one year. We begin to see aspects of our partner which make us feel uncomfortable. They may react to situations differently from us, act in ways that we find difficult or begin to lose interest in us. During the honeymoon stage we and our partner deliberately (though subconsciously) hide the negative aspects of our personality and behaviour and focus on giving and receiving love. As we become more familiar and closer to our partner the negative traits are revealed. This can come as a huge disappointment because we realise that they are not as perfect as we thought – worse still they think the same about us! The sense of unease causes each partner to withdraw and this sets up a vicious circle and damaging pattern for the relationship.

Some of us will act out our power struggle through arguments and rows, while some of us will use much more subtle forms of competition such as withdrawal and moodiness. You will know you have entered the power struggle if you are feeling anything less than true love for your partner! We might begin to doubt if our partner really is the right one for us and if this carries on, may choose to end the relationship, or find that our partner leaves us. This is often far too soon to make such a decision. Amazing as it may seem, the very traits that we find so undesirable in our partner are the same ones that we have failed to deal with in our own minds – that is why they annoy or disturb us so much. In the power struggle it is not unusual to see negative personality traits that we associate with our parents appearing in our partner. The bad news is that we also have these traits, but the good news is that with our partners help we can deal with them!

The important thing to realise in the power struggle stage is that both partners are competing to see who will meet the emotional needs of the other. We chose our partner because we believed they would take care of our unmet needs from childhood and now we find that, not only do they fail to do this, but they have exactly the same needs as us. We feel let down and so do they – this is the key to working through the painful power struggle stage. Recognise that it is your shared sense of unmet needs, a feeling of being emotionally incomplete that is causing you to have differences. The power struggle is in fact an opportunity to heal your insecurities and fears and build a better relationship. The power struggle tends to make us draw away from our partner both physically and emotionally. Therefore we must have the courage to move towards them and express our feelings no matter how painful they seem. If this is done with love and sensitivity (ie. talk and own your own feelings – do not impose them on your partner or judge them) your partner will feel safe to express their own emotions. You will soon find that you have re-connected and will begin another honeymoon stage!

Stage 3 The Dead Zone

If we are unable to work through our shared issues that cause power struggles, a relationship can still survive, but at a cost. The relationship will gradually sink towards what has been called the Dead Zone. This is a time when we may become bored with our partner and life in general. They may bury themselves in work or a pastime and take little interest in us. At the heart of the Dead Zone is withdrawal and emotional dissociation.

In the Dead Zone a relationship loses its sense of connection and the feelings of love. Love may remain as an idea rather than a feeling – you will know that you love somebody but the emotion has lost the delicious sensations that you experienced when you first fell in love. We subdue our emotions in this stage because we are afraid to deal with the fears and negative feelings that might come up if we were to communicate our insecurities to our partner. We are afraid that they will not love us, think us bad and even abandon us if we were to be totally honest about how we feel towards the relationship and about our self. Unfortunately we are largely unaware of these feelings as they are hidden in the unconscious mind.

Both the Power Struggle and the Dead Zone that usually follows are caused by a fear of intimacy – one of our greatest repressed fears. We fear that if our partner gets too close to us emotionally, that they will see aspects of our personality that would make them reject us. Paradoxically, our fears and behaviour around this issue make it much more likely that they will leave us. The key to getting out of the dead zone is to commit to your partner to move towards them emotionally so that you can once again begin to feel and share your full spectrum of emotions. It is not feeling emotions that destroys relationships and robs us of life’s joys. Although sharing fears and insecurities in a heartfelt way with a partner, especially after many years together, can be frightening, it will always leads to more honesty and love in a relationship. As your hearts open again you will become much more emotionally aware and healing will automatically occur. You will once again begin to feel those powerful feelings of love that bought you together in the first place.

Stage 4 Partnership & True Love

Partnership is a relationship based on love, communication and trust. If you have ever fallen in love you will already know what partnership feels like. Imagine a long-term relationship feeling like those first heady days! This is not a dream – it can be yours if you are willing to work with your partner on the emotional issues that make you withdraw from each other. By always choosing to move towards your partner with a feeling of love and compassion, even when they are in pain or behaving badly, allows the insecurities and fears that you both have, to rise to the surface for healing. You may have to do this time and again as many layers of pain come up from deep within your mind, but each time you will experience a new honeymoon stage.

Even if you return to the power struggle or dead zone now and again, your growing confidence in working with your partner on your issues and the wonderful sensations that come from re-discovering true intimacy will provide the incentive to keep going. Relationships are rarely fairy tales – we must be willing to continually work at them. If we have the courage to do this, then the rewards are assured. Remember – If you are feeling negative feelings or difficulties in your relationship, always move towards your partner and join with them with feelings of forgiveness, love and compassion – do this with an open heart and it never fails.

Acknowledgment: The stages describe here are an adaptation of the relationship model originally developed by Susan Campbell in her book “The Couple’s Journey” and further develop by Dr. Chuck Spezzano.

Womanhood of India has stood courageously with the warriors, rebellions, and the national army to share the sacrifices and victories of the India’s freedom struggle. Many women including Indira Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Kamla Nehru, Kasturba Gandhi, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, and Madam Cama have martyred their lives to win India complete freedom.

Besides from these women and may others, there are some of the foreign women who have played an influential role in the freedom struggle. These noble souls came to India in search of spirituality and peace but later on, they started venturing into the social issues of the country. They felt the need to keep the civilization, philosophy, culture, and spirituality of the country alive. With this they all actively participated in the independence movement during which they dedicated their lives to the country.

Some of the foreign women who served the country with their lives are:

Sister Nivedita

She was greatly influenced by the philosophical beliefs of Swami Vivekananda and Hindu religion. She was born on October 28, 1867 in Ireland and in 1898 she visited India to get an answer to her search of truth. She became the disciple of Swami Vivekananda who gave her the name Nivedita, which means someone who is dedicated to God.

Dr. Annie Besant

Annie Besant was an Irish lady who strongly supported India for everything. In the year 1902 when she visited London she criticized England for all the bad conditions prevailing in India. She also brought into effect the Home Rule League and in 1914 joined the Indian National Congress. This great leader was born in 1847 in London in an Irish family. Her father died at a very young age and later on her mother failed to bring her up. So her mother decided to persuade her friend Ellen Marryat to care of Annie. Marryat made her learn all the aspects of life and society.

Meera Ben and Sarla Ben

Meera Ben and Sarla Ben are renowned worldwide as Mahatama Gandhi’s two English daughters who showed undying devotion to the country. To support the campaign of Mahatma Gandhi Meera Ben spread the words through press and also undertook the Khadi tour throughout the country. Sarla Ben visited many villages to help families who are in need and those whose men are imprisoned for a noble cause of earning India freedom.

You! Yes, I am talking to you – the person who is considerate and kind. You are halfway through your life and if you look back, you have spent most of your energy on adjusting. Adjusting to other people, their requirements, their preferences, their happiness etc. You think you are doing good to them or yourself. Trust me, you are doing nothing good to them and definitely not to yourself. Let me explain why.

Let us start with them, shall we?

They are in the middle of a struggle. This struggle could be emotional, physical, psychological or whatever. Let’s call this struggle ‘life’. They are living their lives. They put in efforts, they fail and after a series of such fails, they start getting tired. It’s not that they have given up, no matter how much it seems like so. Their struggle is on, for as long as they are alive. You think they need you, ‘you’ in particular. That is exactly where you make a mistake. You are nothing. They might need a different mindset, some kind of spiritual awakening, or just a nice sleep. They don’t necessarily need you. They actually need a change. A change of environment, something to distract them from the negatives of that struggle called life.

When you allow yourself to be the help you think they need, you are in fact becoming that change that they want to get a head-start so that they can deal with life with more positive energy. Are you that positive energy? Oh no, like I said you were just the change, the distraction they needed so badly. Any other distraction might have replaced you if you had not been there. Even a stupid song or TV show, for instance. When you are being that change, you are presenting yourself as something that is replaceable and you will be replaced at a later stage, if not now. It’s better if you stop being that change, stop being that help you think you are because you are, in fact, nothing.

Let’s talk about you now. You think you are helping others and it might make you a better person. How is changing your status from being a fighter in your own life’s struggle to a temporary distraction for someone else makes you a better person? They will find a way to win their fight with or without you. They have all kinds of mythological shit right there with them which are a way better and long-lasting distractions than you are. Don’t believe me; go and ask those die-hard blind followers of those so-called ‘holy’ books or God-men.

Let us try to understand it like this. You used to be golf player; good or bad – doesn’t really matter, but the important thing is you were a golf player and were playing your own game. Then one day, you saw another player struggling with his bag and clubs. You left your game in the middle and ran to become that player’s caddie.

“A caddie is the person who carries a player’s bag and clubs, and gives insightful advice and moral support.” – Wikipedia

So do you want to be a golf player or somebody else’s caddie? Like I said before, a caddie is replaceable and is there only temporarily. It doesn’t matter who becomes that caddie. If you won’t become that caddie, somebody else will and it would make absolutely no difference.

Don’t be a caddie. Don’t be like that. Don’t be the change!

India has a list of successful companies to boast of in the software services space. Despite being the global leader in the IT space, we are nowhere near the global giants in the products segment. Many reasons can be cited including the lack of motivation to substitute R&D activities. However, there are few organizations that walked the road less travelled and also tasted success. Tally Solutions is certainly one of them. The organization is one of those that changed the perception that software systems are meant to be expensive and complex. It made them accessible as well as affordable to all. Tally has nearly become synonymous to accounting. However, the list of praises stops there. With all the promise it exemplified, the company, more than two decade old hasn’t moved much beyond its territories. As per a Tally insider, piracy has hit the company in a big way.

Over the years, what we have seen is a huge loss of value. There are about 40 lakh businesses in India. So far, IT hardware and software vendors have addressed only 50% of it. Tally has about 7 lakh registered users but the fact also looms that most of them use pirated versions. As per a third party research done over few years ago, about 90% of Tally’s usage is through pirated copies. The good news is that it has now come down to close to 70%. Piracy is one of the primary issues that have been bothering everyone. At times it does seem impossible. On the other hand the businesses in mature markets such as the USA that started at the same time as Tally software have now become big buck organizations. This is because the rate of piracy in such countries is at about 25%.

Given the diversity and spread of our client base, it’s physically not possible to trace and stop piracy at the end user side. Unfortunately, business is not growing at the pace it needs to grow and its only growing incrementally. It has the potential to grow at a great extent and can achieve at least 3 times the growth if not more. This isn’t the case with Tally software alone but the entire IT industry. Tally with its entire latest version Tally ERP 9 marks its presence across 54 cities through more than 9,700 partners. The organization has more than 1000 employees operating in 14 cities. With business spreading around the globe the accounting master is expecting that it counters the threat of piracy which looms over it and provides more sophisticated versions in the near future.