Book Review – Fallen Leaves, Will Durant

“There was a time when I…”

“In our days…”

“In my days it used to be better…”

These are some of the utterances through which the elderly people alienate themselves from the others and start appearing like a bore. Nope, I am not talking against their privilege to that common nostalgia. It is how they start harping on about how things were different and better in ‘their days’ that drives people away. But not every old person becomes a bore though. Some of them, through their immense experience and wisdom, gathered through the many long decades, help the younger people get a better perspective on the things around. Like Mr. Durant, who speaks to us through this book, from behind the veils of Death.

In his long life of 96 years, Mr. Durant had seen more than the most of us can even imagine. To put his life span in perspective, he was born on the same year when Louis Pasteur found the first vaccine and breathed his last in 1981, when NASA’s Space Shuttle took its first orbital flight. In this period, he had seen empires peak in glory and plummet to pieces, revolutions in Russia, the reshaping of Europe, two World Wars, man’s glorious landing on the Moon, eradication of smallpox, advent of digital era and so much more. Let that sink in!!!

Not just his age, Mr. Durant was a brilliant, prolific writer too. His books on history and philosophy have become some of the essential works in their respective fields. So, when a man like William James Durant leaves some unpublished manuscripts for posterity to benefit, I couldn’t let go of the opportunity to grab that book.

This book is a gem. It is not philosophy or a chronological listing of events. This is Mr. Durant letting us know his very personal opinions about various aspects of human life – from love to life, from war to democracy, from education to religion. He has delved into all the aspects of human life, from birth to death and all other things in between. Page upon page, one could feel the yearnings of a grand old man who had seen the past and who hopes for a better, improved future, without ever sounding ‘in our days things used to be better…’!

Time flies but Truth stays. All our lives, fancies, dreams, hopes, pains, desires, wars, religions, reasons, ramblings, glorious achievements, crippling pains, fantasies are all but transient, swirling eddies that forever rise and fall in the cosmic deluge. But there are certain truths that stay ever relevant, from the first human to the day of his/her final descendant. Mr. Durant has tried to recall such truths in this book. He was one who had known that history repeats itself, sometimes even after we learn from it. He was also aware that some Truths remain untouched even amidst that flux. This book is his recounting of such truths, so that we, the lesser mortals may learn and benefit from it. 

In his words “in the train of life it is the old who yield their seats to the young”. The grand old man, which such a beautiful understanding of the cycle of Life, has left behind this work of wisdom by ruminating on the past, gleaning all the timeless principles of life and putting them on paper. If you are a history / philosophy aficionado, who isn’t averse to listening to and learning from the old people, this book is for you!

Book Review – The Dark Net, Jamie Bartlett

 

We humans have always fantasized about invisibility. From being defined as one of the eight great powers attained through spiritual practices, to being depicted as the superpower of noble heroes or evil villains in movies, the power of invisibility has always ruled human imagination. Ask anybody as to what they would do if they can be invisible for a day and the answers will range from plain, simple pranking to wicked acts of violence and voyeurism. You will soon realize that it is best for the power of invisibility to remain invisible (pun intended) from us humans for a very long time to come.

But modern technology has given us very many ways to remain anonymous, if not invisible, and we humans are making do with the same to the best of our abilities. From being restricted to sending anonymous parcels or making bogus calls, we humans have gained enhanced abilities through technology. It is nowhere more clearly visible than it is in the world of internet. Using anything apart from our own photos as profile pictures and setting our ‘status’ as offline even while being online, are just two of the innocuous ways in which we remain anonymous. Creating fake profiles, sharing false information both fall on the other end of the anonymity spectrum.

But there are methods more advanced that truly define the term anonymity in today’s social-media obsessed world. And, these are the methods used to access and inhabit that hidden corner of the web, aptly called ‘the dark net’. It is dark not only in terms of hiddenness but also in terms of the emotional/intellectual darkness that prevails there. Just as how people would have answered our question of what they would do if they become invisible, here too people exercise their invisibility to do many things – from playing simple pranks (hacks) to performing vile acts. ‘The Dark Net’ by Jamie Bartlett does a great work in throwing light on everything that happens in that hidden part of internet.

This book is divided into seven chapters, reminding me of the similar number of vices that Christianity warns us against. The first of the vices discussed in the book is trolling. While pranking is for simple people, the anonymity cloak offered by the internet has been a boon to bullies. Today, anybody with a smartphone and internet connection can abuse and confront anyone from any part of the world. While such behavior has spilled over to the visible part of the internet these days, the revolting kind of trolling is prevalent more in the dark web. In fact, from obscene messages to disgusting images, there is nothing revolting for these bullies. These trolls don’t even refrain from making fun of funerals, mind you!

Then, there are racists, staunch nationalists and bitter radicals, who use dark net to plan attacks – at times, even physical – against one another. More often than not, these are people affable and unassuming in real life, but don absolutely contrasting identities on the web, pouring all the world’s hatred and bitterness on you. While these people rely on bitter arguments to bring about political changes, there is another group working on alternative economic controls – the crypto-currencies - like Bitcoin to loosen the financial grip of the governments on their citizens. With secretive transactions and no central control, there is nothing here that the government can keep track of and raise revenues through tax. How possible or even how acceptable are such alternative currencies?! Decide for yourself.

The fourth and fifth vices practiced in the dark net both pertain to the sins of flesh. While anyone with a smart phone and internet connectivity can access pornography freely these days, there are perverted kinds that even fans of porn would shun. Dark web is a place for information and access to such practices. Pedophilia is such a perversion ostracized from the surface web, and the perverts who want to be ‘understood’ (!) and accepted for their pedophilic tendencies have made the dark web their home.

Consuming narcotic substances is a clear no-no, as preached by all the religions. So is the act of stealing. The dark web offers a marketplace for all such forbidden things and more. You can buy anything from drugs to banned books to murderous weapons, all safely hidden from the prying eyes of the government. Strangely, the principles of economy and customer satisfaction seem to apply to these hidden marketplaces as well as they are in real markets.

While gluttony is the last of our seven vices, the act of starving oneself in order to shred every last ounce of flesh from the body seems to be an act of normalcy for some in the dark net. So is the practice of harming one’s own self or even ending one’s life. From motivating people to starve for days together, to mentoring people on harming one’s self, sometimes even egging on people to commit suicide, it all happens in the dark net.

Kudos to the author for handling such a dark subject in a matter-of-fact manner! Without standing on a high-pedestal and looking down on the inhabitants of dark net, deriding them for not following the social mores, the author presents the facts, about how they are simple people like the rest of us, their arguments and reasons that pushed them to that darkness. Reading through the book, one cannot wonder but find one’s own mind straddle the thin line between rights and wrongs, just as all these aspects of dark net are prevalent, to a lesser extent, in the visible web as well. In fact, dark web is not all evil and villains. It is just for people who prefer to carry out their activities anonymously. Sadly, anonymity is preferred more by those who have some not so acceptable agendas.

I picked up this book hoping to get a technical insight into the dark web, about TOR browser, technical configurations and so on. Instead, I ended up wondering about the dark, hidden depths of the human mind, which make possible the presence of the dark web. I have always believed that given enough darkness, we will all unleash our inner demons. ‘The Dark Net’ strengthens that belief. A good read!

Book Review – Life Lessons from Lal Ded (Edited by Shonaleeka Kaul)

‘Ekam Sat Vipra Bahuda Vadanti’ is a Sanskrit saying that every human in our country once learnt and lived by, but has conveniently forgotten now in these hate-filled modern times. Put in plain terms, it means ‘The Truth is one. The learned call it by various names’. This was meant to teach us all that the Supreme Godliness pervades all through the universe, permeating through all beings, animate and inanimate, big and small, young and old alike. Myriad saints and savants that walked this holy land kept reiterating the same, but we humans, the naïve ones that we are, keep forgetting that lesson.

‘Life Lessons’ from Aleph Book Company is a commendable effort to give us an introduction into the lives and realizations of the many holy personas from our glorious past. There are five

books in the series that tell us about the lives and lessons from Adi Shankara, Guru Nanak, Mahavira, Lal Ded and Moinuddin Chishti. This book by Lal Ded is the fourth one in my collection, with only the book of Chishti pending to adorn my shelf yet.

Lal Ded, or Lalleshwari as she was formally known, was a Shaivite saint from the 14th Century Kashmir. Said to have had a simple beginning and a failed marital life, she turned to spirituality to find the root cause of her suffering and seek liberation from it all. After she succeeded in her quest by following the Shaivite method of seeking the truth, she went around, alone, on foot, urging her fellow humans to seek liberation from all the illusions and travails that kept them bound to their mundane lives.

This book contains her ‘vaaks’ (wise sayings) on how we are bound by earthly emotions, how we can see through that all and attain the Supreme Consciousness that is all around us, unnoticed and unsought. A good to have book for those who are open to seeking the various ways that all lead to the single destination – the Supreme God. Will be a good gift for children too, if you want them to grow up understanding that God is only one, and all the bickering around in His (or, is it a Her?!) name is, simply, bollocks!

Book Review – Superhubs, Sandra Navidi

Being the mere mortal that I am, once in a while I too fall prey to the hype created by the well-meaning friends around me, at least when it comes to book recommendation. This year, this is the second such book which was sold to me – not literally though – with a huge hype, but which ended up as just another dull ones.

The book promises to show us how the world’s most powerful financial organizations and their bosses influence our lives by their decisions. I was sitting up eagerly hoping for an adventurous ride, able to get an inside view into the business intricacies of global finance and economy. But the book was filled up with the ostentatious parties and endless conferences that the finance bigwigs get to attend to all through the year. For a while, the book feels like it is trying to teach you the need for a good networking amongst your peers and superiors. Then it feels like a roster of who-is-who of the global finance and the parties they attend and the cabals they are parts of. I couldn’t control letting out an occasional yawn every now and then.

After striving to pay repeated, utter obeisance to the overlords of financial world, especially to people like George Soros and Nouriel Roubini, recalling their names with superior adjectives almost every other time they are mentioned, the author shifts gears at last, just as I was losing interest to even skim through the pages. She started talking about some serious topics like how exclusive and single dimensional these ‘super-hubs’ are, less represented by people of other gender and other races. She also started talking about the muck – corruption, arrogance & indifference to the plight of lesser mortals like us - that is covered up beneath all that veneer of opulence that shimmers on the high profile bankers.

Ironically though, just as the author improved the tempo, letting go of all the bragging and boring obsequiousness, she seemed to have lost interest. This was clearly seen in a bunch of spelling and grammatical errors that mar those pages. Imagine! Just as you start reading something worthwhile on those pages!

The author ends the book with a half-hearted call to reform the global financial network, and restrain the unbridled - often times unethical - pursuit of wealth. But who will bell the cat?! There is no definitive answer or any meaningful discussion.

So, just to sum it up all, it doesn’t contain any meaningful insights about how the global financial systems work or how they influence our lives, if that is what you were trying to learn as I initially did. This book is more about how the behemoths of finance mingle and mesh, with their unimaginable wealth and the relentless pursuit for more, especially when written by an insider who looks at them with a twinkle in her eyes!

Boring! Obsequious!! Boastful!!!

Book Review – Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari

I have read quite a number of books that ended up disappointing me. Some of those were gifted by well-meaning friends. Some of them were books I bought on an impulse. Then there were books that I had waited years to read only to find them unworthy of all those years of patience. But this book by Yuval Noah Harari tops the list. Just imagine reading a book that all your friends were going gaga about, only to find that there is nothing worthwhile in it and wondering whether you are really a good reader at all, now that you don’t even like a book that the whole world around you seems to love!

Let’s clear a few things first, before you think of bashing me up. This is a commendable effort by Mr. Harari to summarize the whole history of mankind and its evolutionary tale. During the initial pages, I too thought that this will be one of the best reads on anthropology. But this book promises a lot only to deceive. We statisticians use the term confirmation bias, which means the tendency to favor and present only those information that are supportive to one’s beliefs. This book is full of them. Harari had decided to present all that is wicked and weak about Homo Sapiens and he has succeeded to a large extent.

Not that I am complaining. I for one have never held the notion that we humans are special beings sitting atop the food chain, placed there by a favorable god who created us all in his (or, is it a ‘her’?) own image. I think of us as a different species of apes that managed to evolve a little quicker than our cousins. Despite our use of advanced languages, costly clothes and snazzy gadgets, internally we remain the beasts that roamed the vast forests once. I see nothing special about being human. This book helped cement that belief in my mind by discussing the idiocies and idiosyncrasies of our species as a whole.

But that’s just about it. This book isn’t ‘a brief history of humankind’, but the opinions of Mr. Harari about the various aspects of human evolution. This isn’t a chronological history in the lines of ‘What on Earth Happened?’ by Christopher Lloyd or ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ by Bill Bryson, both of which I found to be far more informative and interesting than this one. This is both a philosophical take and passing of judgments by Mr. Harari on what he considers to be the vital cogs of human evolution, namely Cognitive Revolution, Agricultural Revolution & Scientific Revolution. There is nothing that you end up learning that you already didn’t learn, especially in case you had read those two aforementioned books.

Sorry, dear friends. I have read much better books. 2.5 stars!

Book Review - The Arts of Seduction, Seema Anand

Sex!

The utterance of the very word has become a sort of taboo in our society. From being the land that gave the world the Kama Sutra and the Khajuraho, we have all become prim and perverted. So much so that even when the word ‘Sex’ is found on an official form, we prefer to term it as ‘gender’ instead of using ‘the other word’. While the reasons for such a drastic shift in sentiments deserve a book on their own, a gentle reminder of our ancient, less prudish past is something that has long been due. This book is one such a positive step in that direction.

What Ms. Seema Anand tries to do in this book is to distill the essence of Kama Sutra and present it in a more practical form. I must say that she succeeds to a large extent. This book is sort of primer to that erotique sans pareil - Kama Sutra. Cutting all those lengthy depictions and stringent syllabi, the author has succeeded to a large extent in keeping the poetic nature of the work alive. Kudos to that!

One glaring error in the whole of the book is, while depicting the weird habit of the Maharaja of Patiala, Ms. Seema mentions Mr. Natwar Singh as the author of ‘Freedom at Midnight’. To my humble knowledge, Mr. Natwar Singh hasn’t written any such book. The subject though could have been a part of his other book ‘The Magnificent Maharaja’. In a book that is written with much meticulous research on ancient manuscripts, this error stands out like a sore thumb. Otherwise a neat job though.

To summarize, Kama Sutra was the work that stripped away (pun intended) the vulgarity and obscenity from sex and presented it for what it is – an act of extreme pleasure when approached aesthetically. This book by Seema Anand is a gentle reminder to that lost treasure which is now only read in secret. A decent read!

Ten Things A Man Learns When Wife Goes Out of Town

1. Whoever feels that husbands have a nice time when their wives are away is either unmarried or a lazy person!
 

2. The stove remains hot for at least half-an-hour after you turn it off. Forgetting this lesson will give you some ‘lasting memories'.
 

3. Sweeping the floor is a good exercise for the lower back. It also explains how the wife is able to discover the lost buttons, coins, and miscellaneous trinkets at ease.
 

4. The t-shirts, no matter how comfortable they feel, are supposed to be changed once in, at least, three days - every day, if it is summer. Not learning this will ‘alienate’ you from the people around.
 

5. Cooking is not just another hobby. At times, it is the difference between going to bed with a tummy stuffed with all the open-market junk and a well - or at least safely - fed tummy.
 

6. There is nothing in the world that a man cannot do which his wife can do. Except when it comes to bashing the neighbor women for 10 minutes straight for a transgression they committed 10 months ago, and still manage the most amicable smile when they meet one another.
 

7. It takes more effort to maintain things as they are than it might take to change them.
 

8. Refrigerator and the wardrobe both serve different purposes.
 

9. It takes as much effort to run the house as it takes to run a small organization, except that there are no designations, no promotions, no increments and definitely no retirement when it comes to being the 'housewife'.
 

and, finally,
 

10. Bricks, steel, concrete, colors, wood, glass and so many other things make a house. But it is only the companionship of a loving person that can turn it into a home!

Book Review – The Adivasi Will Not Dance, Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar

India, as we all know, is a land of diverse cultures, different peoples, customs, languages and lifestyles. Some of us get to experience that diversity through travel, visiting places and finding people as they are, relishing the experiences thus gained. For the rest and most of us, books offer a window into that vastness and one resolution that I had for 2020 is to explore the works by regional authors, be it fiction or otherwise. This book was one such a choice and what a choice it turned out to be!

When it comes to writing works of fiction that represent a particular culture, the authors can choose to depict either a rosy picture, portraying their culture as supremely special or they can present the reality as it is, letting us frame our own opinions about the things thus presented. Needless to say, most of the while, it is the works of latter styles that prove to be impactful. Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, fortunately for us all, has chosen the second style.

This book, a collection of ten short stories, will shock you and leave you with haunting memories. Like a raw wound, unattended and uncovered, this collection of stories will shock you, disgust you, invoke pity and a sense of helpless anger. Strangely, this book will also leave you wanting for more. Some stories, like that of Baso-jhi, a orphaned widow shunned by all and sundry, or that of Shubhashini, trying to reach home to her ailing son, will both invoke a sense of deep pity. Some other stories, like the couple who move across the country to Gujarat only to witness the fateful riots of 2002, or the plea of the ageing Santhal tribal who dared defy the ‘system’, will both stoke sentiments of a political nature. Stories of a prostitute who hopes for a better life or the servant maid whose moods change at the sight of money, both cause a deep sense of disgust. Equally impactful are the other four stories, each one certain to induce strong emotions in their own way.

The language is unpolished and yet unblemished. Though the author could have toned down the depiction of physical intimacy, which almost border on pornography, it certainly doesn’t feel like cheap titillation. One negative though is the frequent use of vernacular with no meaning offered either as a footnote or endnote. Of course, one can interpret the meaning in the course of the stories, but still I would have loved to see the meanings shared separately.

There is an undertone of sadness that grips readers of the great Saadat Hasan Manto. A similar angst is bound to grip you as you finish reading this book and that I believe is the success of Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar. A memorable read!

Book Review – Permanent Record, Edward Snowden

What if I told you that you are a potential criminal, a common thief, a shoplifter? Or, that you are someone capable of causing loss of lives by acts of terrorism? Before you start thinking of ways to bash me, let me tell you this – we are treated like potential criminals in our day to day lives and yet we have all learnt to live through that instead of boiling with indignation. When you enter a departmental store, you handover your bags and take the baskets provided there. When you enter a shopping mall, you are subjected to the waving of the wand – metal detectors. Worst of all is air travel – you have to remove your shoes, belts and jackets. Your luggage is scanned thoroughly and, what is worse, you are made to undergo the ‘waving of the wand’ along with your person being frisked!

Of course, we all understand the reasons behind such security procedures and for the sake of the greater good – public safety – we have learnt to comply with those rules. But, there is supposed to be a line drawn between allowing oneself to basic scrutiny and keeping one’s dignity intact. For example, we are willing to allow our bags to be scanned at shopping malls, metro stations and airports, but will we tolerate the security personnel tailing us all through our presence at these places, watching our every move and marking our every word?

Now, imagine the social media, your chat applications, your blogs and the whole web. What if I told you that there are people who watch your every move and record whatever you click, write, like, repost or simply gaze at for more than a normal amount of time? Will you still feel alright about it or will you feel indignant? Nope, I am not talking just about cookies and trackers that websites like Amazon or Facebook use to track our behaviors and preferences, in order to make money by showing us customized advertisements. I am talking about organized, serious large-scale surveillance. The scale in which your movement is monitored through CCTV cameras, your phone calls are listened to, your chat texts are read, your web browsing history is for the whole world to see, your personal, intimate photos are not really personal and intimate, your banking transactions are scrutinized with more attention than you yourself would pay, and your current location in the world is pinpointed with precision. Even a simple smartphone user will know that these are not impossible imaginations. Would you prefer to subject yourself to such close scrutiny day in and day out?

Edward Snowden is the one who put his life on line to tell the world that this kind of mass surveillance is possible and that his country is actively pursuing it on an unforeseen, global scale. Once a part of some of the most secretive organizations in the word – the CIA & the NSA – he is now being hunted by those very organizations for the ‘crime’ of having leaked ‘top secret’ documents on America’s surveillance practices. He is charged for acts of espionage and branded a ‘traitor’ by many of his own countrymen for whose sake he decided to take the risk. This comprehensive autobiography tells the tale of that brave whistleblower, right from his ordinary childhood to his current exile in Moscow.

Snowden describes his childhood, his ancestry and how his parents had been an influence in his life choices. His growth as a curious but not so pedagogic youngster, his transitioning into a patriotic youngster who unsuccessfully attempted to join the army, his eventually taking up a job at the CIA is all depicted vividly. Through these pages, Snowden gives a glimpse of his formative years – emotional as well as ethical. The book gathers pace from the chapter where Snowden starts recounting his unease at the government’s disrespect for individual privacy and intrusion into common man’s lives in the form of mass surveillance. The last couple of chapters act as worthy climax to a well-written book. Especially the one where Lindsay (his girlfriend who went on to become his wife) recounts her experience in the hands of the government, after Snowden went public with his findings, feels like a Hollywood movie. Well-paced and very well narrated.

These may be the times where we take pleasure in flaunting the details of our personal lives in social media – our meals, our vehicles, our travels, our possessions, our passions or, worst of all, our bodies. But it is still about our volition, about what WE choose to flaunt and not what others want to peek at.

We wouldn’t prefer someone peering into our phone screens or looking over our shoulders at the ATM. We wouldn’t want someone to tail us throughout our daily lives – following us everywhere we go, making a note of where we went, whom we spoke to, how long we spoke, what we wrote and what we got in reply. With governments surreptitiously gearing up for such capabilities, dystopian days are not far ahead. Heroes like Snowden help us fight such unethical governments and corporates, by first making us aware of such possibilities and then by providing us with tools to fight such cyber-slavery.

This is a book that you must read and spread word about!

What’s Your Cocoon?

In insects, cocooning is a process whereby they mature, grow from being soft, vulnerable beings to becoming what they are truly destined to be. In humans though, cocooning is a process whereby the reverse occurs. From being innocent, loving, pure beings to obstinate, paranoid, bitter, self-doubting, hurtful humans, we are transformed by cocoons of our own experiences.

We cocoon ourselves not to grow and evolve, but to protect and distance ourselves from all that we assume to be harmful, bad or simply anything that we are not comfortable with. We weave our cocoons with bitter emotions caused by failures, frustrations and disappointments that stem in one way or the other from love, life, work, business, relationships, society and what not!

Unlike the silky strands of a butterfly’s cocoon, our sheaths are all made of self-doubt, paranoia, hatred, negativity, intolerance, bitterness and enmity, each of which is an unbreakable strand like steel. Few, if ever, break out of their bitter cocoons and be what they are destined to be truly.

Alas, if only we could all become aware of the strands that form our cocoons!

Book Review - The Armenian Champa Tree, Mahasweta Devi

I am surprised that this little gem of a book is categorized as a work for children. No, not because it is in anyway inferior, but because it is too intriguing and intense to be read by children. A precious little work of fiction by one of the celebrated authors of India – Mahasweta Devi, this book will leave you in a poignant state.

Mato is a young kid from the deep rural areas of Bengal. Young and kind, he loves his little goat Arjun a lot. So much so that when a tantric asks the village people to slaughter the goat to appease the goddess or face the risk of extinction by flood, little Mato sets out alone to protect his quadruped friend, seeking the refuge of an old padre.

Though it is touted as a work for children, the passing notes about the British presence, subtle depiction of the wily zamindars and their cruelty, prevalent superstitions and, above all, a mother’s love for her young one will all keep you engrossed throughout. Simple narrative that will captivate elders and young minds alike, this work is bound to leave a deep impression on you.

Worth one hour of your time!

Book Review - The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron

Phew! I have completed this book at last - after three long years of effort.

Whether you are a budding artist struggling with low confidence levels, or an experienced artist suffering from artistic blocks and crippling doubts, this book has got some wonderful wisdom for you all. If only the author had not buried all that goodness beneath the mountain of flowery words and gooey sentences! Couldn't help my concentration falling away after every page or two.

The purpose of this book is good, even noble. But paragraphs are all lengthy and get too tiring on your mind. Read it if you must.

When Will Our Women Be Safe?!

1. 'Bihar shelter home girls alive: CBI to SC.'

2. 'Kochi girl found murdered near Valparai, friend held.'

3. 'Three held in connection with changing room video clip.'

4. 'Gang rape victim commits suicide.'

5. 'Dalit woman raped, murdered in Gujarat.'

Found these five headlines on a single day - in today's newspaper (The Hindu). If these many events get reported by a single newspaper on a single day, how many crimes must be happening against women and how many would have gone unreported?! What is India if not its famed culture and morality, if not its emphasis on values and ethics???

On one side, we are bragging about the greatness of India, while on the other, all the values and morals that defined India are trampled upon every other day. 

I was remembering this shloka with pain -

'Yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra Devata, 

Yatraitaastu na pujyante sarvaastatrafalaah kriyaah'

(Gods find their abode where women are respected, and where the women are disrepected no action bears fruit).

 

Enough of shouting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. Can we first stop molesting and murdering her daughters?! 

Book Review - Notes from the Hinterland, Shashi Tharoor & Others

Reading this book will help you understand why Indian movie makers prefer producing remix songs out of old classics instead of new, original ones - tried and tested product, guaranteed success, easy money. Books like these are published for the same reason - the publisher wants to make some quick money, adding to the count of books published and making hay while the old sun is still shining warm. 

I see no purpose for the existence of this book, except for the publishers' desire to mint some quick and easy money. This book is a collection of 10 already published works by authors from a medley of backgrounds. While RK Narayan, Sainath and Tharoor are all established names, the book carries the works of lesser known authors like Snigdha Poonam as well. But there is no uniformity in the genre of these 10 chapters. The last couple of chapters also reveal - yet again - the anti-BJP agenda of the editor. And that is the only string that ties these beads ogether. 

If you are reading this as a sampling of works by various authors, this book serves a purpose. Else, just ignore this. You are losing nothing by not reading this book. 

3 stars for the quality of the content, none for the usual cheap trick of republishing the already successful  works under a new combination, passing them off as fresh books.

Happy New Year 2020!

Well, it is that time of the year when stationery shops, fitness clubs, pizzerias and fancy pubs do roaring business. It is also that time of the year when the Internet gets choked with people sharing messages and images with one another - part sincere, many mere formality. Yup, I am talking about the 'new year' celebrations. Our lovely little planet has completed one more orbit around the Sun and we are only happy for it.

On this joyous occasion, please allow me to wish you 20 little changes in all sincerity.

1. May you have a year without TV. Trust me. Watching TV with all its 'reality' shows, serials and rabid news anchors is an insult to the common sense that we humans are all blessed with. Shun TV and thank me later for the positive changes you will feel within.

2. May you start focusing on your health. No, I am not asking you to enroll in a gym or bath in gallons of green tea. Just start respecting your body. Monitor the quality of your food intake. Start doing basic exercises. After all we are blessed with just one delicate body to live in.

3. May you start reading books. You need not start reading Nietzsche or Tolstoy right away. You can end up reading just one book in this whole year but please read. In this age of junk forwards, fake news and boring memes, a good book can help you retain sanity.

4. May you stop wasting life on work. Nope. I am not asking you to resign your job and go scuba diving. Just that I am asking you to stop taking in so much stress and pains on your jobs. We work to make a living. Not live to work for some corporate boss to enrich his stock value.

5. May you hug your parents. Kiss your spouse. Hold your children close and play with them. Appreciate your good friends. Life flows lightning fast and things all change rapidly. Appreciate the people when they are around.

6. May you learn a hobby. Pursue a passion. We may not all compose like Mozart. We cannot all paint like Da Vinci. But we can all be better than how we would be if we did not even begin our pursuits. Let loose that creative beast within you. 

7. May you learn about a new religion. In fact, first learn about your own religion to a good extent. Then learn about one more religion apart from yours. What you don't understand always scares you. Understanding about other religions, cultures and races is the only way to stay united in these perverted times. 

8. May you travel. We are all little frogs fond of our own wells - area, culture, food and language. Try visiting a new city, a new state or even a new country. Be a stranger, a foreigner. Spend your time fumbling for words, seeking directions and with a tinge of uncertainty and enthusiasm. Those sort of experiences stay with you forever.

9. May you declutter your homes and decorate them. Buy a nice vase and fill it with flowers. Spread aroma in your rooms. Stock up on comfy cushions. Place works of art around. Richness isn't just about money. It is a way of life. Surprisingly such a lifestyle is easily affordable.

10. May you look up at the night sky more often. All our festivals, calendars, religions depend on the events transpiring up there. On a rational note too, looking up at the night sky fills one's mind with awe and contemplating on the cosmic scale fills one with veneration and humility.

11. May you let go of the fear of 'what others will say'. The others are too busy with their own travails and thoughts to pay you any attention better than they pay to the YouTube commercials. They care either about your grand successes or crippling failures. The rest don't much matter to them. 

12. May you listen to music. All genres of it. Not just the ones composed by your favorite music directors, but also by all those little nondescript names. Listen to Baroque. Listen to Jazz. Listen also to the songs of birds. Nothing else heals and puts you back together like music does. 

13. May you stop postponing your dreams and desires. Sloppy beginnings and slow progress are on any day better than regrets over lost opportunities and bygone times. Start anew now. Start afresh every day.

14. May you take a sabbatical from your smartphones and electronic gadgets every now and then. It helps in detoxifying your mind and in turn your body. Trust me. You need not respond to every cinematic scandal, every stupid political statement and senseless gossip. Sanity is in knowing what to avoid.

15. May you stop trying to save the world. Start doing little acts of kindness. Begin by feeding the animals and birds in your area. Offer a packet of food to the beggar you meet on the road. Plant one tree. Just one in the whole of 365 days. That will do. For now.

16. May you take a sabbatical from the social networks too. Neither are you missing anything great nor are the people there going to miss you big time if you leave. Use it constructively. Use it wisely. And, use it sparingly.

17. May your political party, your religion, your favorite actors all count to nothing. How you behave with your fellow human beings is all that matters in the end of the day. You know nothing about your religion. You don't matter much to your favorite politicians and actors. But how you respond and respect one another is going to make a huge impact on the people you meet in your day-to-day life.  

18. These may be the fast-changing modern times, but certain quaint concepts still hold high value - chivalry, politeness, respect to elders, courteous behavior are all still appreciated by everyone. And, they cost almost nothing. May you be a beacon of all these qualities and more.

19. Aspiring to be richer is basic human tendency. Nothing wrong about it. But practise being content with what you have. May you appreciate all that you have which most others can't even afford. Once in a while, learn to live with the least possible possessions and see how you start feeling richer already, without even buying anything new. Aspire to be poorer every now and then. For a change. 

20. Last but not the least, may you invest in yourself. Your mental health. Your physical health. Your wants. Your needs. Your desires. You may love your family and friends to the moon and back, but let the beginning be the love for your own self. After all, you can't give others what you yourself don't have. Take care.

Stretching ahead are 52 weeks holding 52 new opportunities to become a new, better you. Here is wishing you well to succeed in at least half of those.

Happy New Year 2020!