Book Review — Be More Bonsai, Mark Akins

During my school days a magician visited our school and taught us the art of Origami. Creating lively shapes out of plain notebook papers, he inculcated in us the wisdom of there being beauty in every single object around us, whether we noticed it or not. It was during that session that I also got to learn the word 'Bonsai'. I was intrigued by the concept of diminutive trees and that fascination stayed on but more so the idea of there being beauty and wisdom in even the most 'mundane' of objects around us.

This single piece of wisdom made me relish even the most ordinary of sensory experiences - the tactile bliss of pencil sliding across paper, the touch of newborn child, the fragrance of Neem flowers on a hot summer afternoon, the sight of little dandelions on roadside shrubs, the distant song of a cuckoo, the racing of raindrops of glass panes and so much more. That made me scribble these words in my journal once - 'Would the world continue to feel the same way if our eyes and ears are really opened?'

This book is an answer to that question. What this book does is to take the great Japanese art of Bonsai and teach some of the simplest yet greatest truths of human lives. By the way, don't we all love the Japanese? They have a word for everything, even the most innate of our thoughts and emotions. But I digress.

Mark Akins comes across as a seasoned gardener and a Bonsai enthusiast. What he does in this book is to teach the basics of bonsai and draw parallels to our daily lives. By doing so, he repeats some of the time-tested wise words of self-improvement. This book dwells less on the art bonsai and more on self-improvement concepts. So, keep the expectations of your gardening enthusiast toned down before you pick this book.

A lot to contemplate and practise in your personal life, than in your garden. Liked the wisdom, but loved the book's idea of trying to find peace and purpose in even the seemingly simple task of tending to one's plants and trees. A good read, indeed.

Book Review - The Professional Companion, Subroto Bagchi

I had already read the much acclaimed work of Mr. Bagchi 'Go Kiss the World' before I picked up his book 'The Professional'. At a time when I was aspiring to rise up the corporate ladder, I found that book to be an useful guide, a silent mentor that helped me define and polish my professional behavior.

The book listed down various essential personal qualities that a professional ought to have, like ethics, integrity, self-awareness etc., along with the tools to help one perform one's day to day role to perfection. With many of those timeless concepts explained with easy to understand case studies, that book left a lasting impression on me, so much so that whenever I got a chance to gift my colleagues something, I presented them with that book.

Soon Mr. Bagchi followed up on his wonderful work with a 'companion', a workbook of sorts that elaborated on the principles contained within its predecessor. Each of the 25 chapters are chances to reflect on your own personal / professional mettle, assess your present and professional progress. If used in an honest, sincere manner, this 'workbook ' can be a really worthy tool to improve one's professional standing and personal growth.

It is not necessary that this 'companion' should be read only after 'The Professional', but understanding the core principles upon which this book is structured will make it all the more worthwhile. A worthy tool for any aspiring professional and also for those who have already 'arrived'. 4 stars!

Book Review – After the War, Wendy Doniger

When a decade ago, Wendy Doniger’s book ‘The Hindus’ got pulped, I was among those that raised voice in social media against it and some of my right-wing friends who supported the ban. I am not for all these talks of banning and making controversies about art, no matter how hideous, like those of Tracy Emin or ridiculous, as Maurizio Cattelan duct-taping a banana and selling it for millions of dollars. I am of the belief that the readers or art aficionados or film-enthusiasts are wise enough to discern and discard works that are unworthy. By creating needless controversy about arts and books, we only achieve a reverse effect, by making even ignorant bystanders curious about those exact arts and books we wanted to condemn to obscurity. As someone dear to me once told me, there is nothing called ‘negative publicity’ these days. But after reading this book, I am open to reconsidering my views, for I have never read such a mediocre translation from an ‘acclaimed’ author. 

Mahabharata and Ramayana are not just religious texts but guiding principles for Indians. Irrespective of their religion or caste, majority of Indians have at least a cursory knowledge of these great texts. Those who have read them have always been fortunate to imbibe some wisdom or the other and improve their lives. Indian literary scene is rich with works that translate and elucidate these texts in great length so that even non-scholars can enjoy them. That being the case, the author’s claim that last books (chapters) of the Mahabharata have been ‘neglected’, in her own words sounds naïve and condescending to say the least.

Her ignorance of the book’s cultural and religious importance as well as its standing as a beacon of moral principles is so glaring that most of her words sound ignorant and irreverent. Just to clarify that I am not a narrow-minded right winger and also to explain why I condemn this work, let me quote some glaring errors with my comments in box parantheses.

1.    Because Ambalika closed here eyes when she conceived her son, Vyasa cursed him to be born blind. [Anyone that has ever read the Mahabharata knows that Vyasa did not curse her or her son, but simply stated the condition].

2.     The Levirate (niyoga) is the law by which a brother (or, sometimes, any male in the family) begets legal children on behalf of his dead or impotent brother [Again, another half-baked, hasty equation of two cultural practices that though similar are not the same].

3.    Although there is no archaeological evidence that the city of Dvaraka never existed, from time to time someone tries to find traces of it in the waters off the west coast of India. [The antiquity of Dwaraka may be as questionable as that of the Shroud of Turin, but writing it off as the city never ever existed, is mere naivete].

4.    At the end of the year, Arjuna married Virata’s daughter Uttama, and eventually they had a son, Parikshit. [The most glaring and the most disgusting of all errors from this so-called scholar. Apart from misspelling Uttara’s name as ‘Uttama’ not once but twice, she also states that Arjuna married her, while any reader worth their salt know that it was not Arjuna but his son Abhimanyu that married Uttara and begot Parikshit. It is like saying Sarah was the mother of Abraham.]

5.    Yudhishthira performed a horse sacrifice to atone for the Pandavas’ destruction of their Kaurava cousins. [Even a child studying history in India knows that Ashwamedha Yagna or the ‘horse sacrifice’ is performed not to atone for anything but to establish one’s sovereignty over the surrounding nation-states. But it would be too much to expect such cultural understandings from this so-called scholar.]

Apart from all these glaring errors, her translation does not pass muster. Instead of translating the soul of the text, the author has contented herself with merely translating the words which does nothing to enhance the flow or the reading experience. Maybe this is what happens when people have zero understanding about the cultural context of anything but start considering themselves ‘experts’ and ‘scholars’ based on their limited understanding of few books.

By the time I finished the book, I regretted having bought two of her books together without having experienced her writing first. I also did remove a couple of other books that I had saved on my wish list.

Ignorant, irreverent, mediocre work from someone who sounds less like a scholar and more like an imbecile to me!

Book Review – White on Green, Richard Heller and Peter Oborne

The first time I had an introduction to Pakistan’s cricket team was when my childhood street cricket buddy told me that there is an Indian playing for Pakistan’s cricket team and his name was Ramesh Raja, an obvious misunderstanding about Ramiz Raja. He also told me about the ongoing talks to merge the cricket teams of Indian and Pakistan. I started eagerly watching whatever snippets of cricket I could of that country, mostly from Sharjah and started imitating the bowling actions of greats like Waqar (Younis) and Wasim (Akram), being an ambidextrous player myself. Imagine the batting might of Sachin and Kambli combined with the bowling prowess of those two Ws!

 

But then I grew up and reality dawned. I became aware of the deep hostility prevailing between the two nations and our history. Forget about uniting the teams, they were not even allowed to meet on the field sans unnecessary drama. But my fascination for their bowlers stayed on and I continued trying to imitate their bowling actions.

As the reader in me matured I became interested in learning the history of the world, mainly about our neighbours. Having understood their political history and their policy of fostering hatred as modus vivendi, I moved on to the other aspects like music and religious senses. With religion and music being some other aspects that fascinated me, an understanding of their cricketing history remained elusive for a long time. This book has fulfilled that desire now.

This is not the most elaborate history of cricket in Pakistan, but this is for sure an interesting insight into their many cricketing icons. Like their religion and art, Pakistan’s cricket also owes a lot to India, with many of their early iconic players hailing from India and having moved their during the tragedy of Partition. Starting with Prince Aslam Khan, who was a prince for real and who held on to his cavalier lifestyle both on and off the field and ending with the contemporary greats of Misbah and Younis Khan, the book covers a wide array of personalities that enthralled the crowds and global media both on and off the field. You get to learn how the sport grew in that country and united or divided people. One also gets a sad diminishing of worthy infrastructure and opportunities that once churned out prodigies every now and then. The use of cricket as a pawn in geo-politics as well as the exile of Pakistan from global cricket due to a heinous terror attack have also been well elucidated.

 There are some issues with the book though. Considering the book was written in 2016 I cannot understand omission of greats like Imran Khan or the bowling duo of Waqar or Wasim, people who helped Pakistan shine for many years. Also, I don’t understand the bitterness of the authors whenever they make a reference to India, either in terms of politics or cricket in some places. Considering both the authors are Britishers I can’t mark it as anything other than opportunistic writing catering to the gallery of Pakistan audience.

One thing is for sure. The book is interesting and informative. It once again reaffirms my belief, that despite being divided by language, religion and politics, we are, after all, deep down ordinary humans, sharing the same set of beliefs, hopes, fears and dreams. A nice read if you can keep away your prejudice, unlike the authors and their subjects!

(c) Ashok Krishna