A Digital Garden of Things That Interest Me
I finished Andrew Roberts’ "Napoleon: A Life"and have been constantly thinking about the extraordinary life that he led. If there ever was a person who could be described as ‘self-made’, it must be him. He was born in 1769 in Corsica, an island that had only recently come under French control after centuries of Genoese … Continue reading Napoleon’s Extraordinary Life in 9 Bullets
Periyar was an iconoclast in every sense. The anti-Hindi agitations for which Tamil Nadu is famous even today, the anti-Brahmin polemic in its politics, the quest for caste equality, women’s emancipation and rationality in public discourse are just a few aspects of our sociopolitical life whose roots can be traced, at least in part, to … Continue reading Periyar
Ron Chernow’s Pulitzer winning work - ‘Washington: A Life’ was a detailed biography of arguably the greatest American of all time. Unlike Ben Franklin, Jefferson or Hamilton, he was neither charismatic nor an erudite genius. But his greatness mainly stemmed from the fact that he nonchalantly gave up his role as the Commander-in-Chief of the … Continue reading George Washington
In the 84 years that he lived, from 1706-90, the following is a non-exhaustive list of inventions/experiments/topics that Benjamin Franklin dabbled in: Positive and negative electrical charge terminology Hypothesis that lightning is electricity Kite experiment on atmospheric electricity Lightning rod Lightning-protection systems for buildings Idea of electrical grounding, Concept of capacitors and batteries Observation that … Continue reading Benjamin Franklin
Thanks to being the resident Social Science teacher at home, I got to read the content on Shivaji in the Class VIII NCERT textbook. The chapter made random references to Afzal Khan, Shivaiji’s raid of Surat, his defeat by Jai Singh, the famous escape from Agra, his coronation, Tarabai, Thanjavur etc. The mandatory reference to … Continue reading The Remarkable Shivaji
Erica Jong burst into the literary-feminist scene in 1973 with the publication of her provocative novel Fear of Flying, a work that became emblematic of second-wave feminism. The book is also remembered for popularizing the term “zipless fuck” - a metaphor for a fantasy of a sexual encounter entirely free of emotional complications, power dynamics, … Continue reading Erica Jong on Ted Hughes’ Irresistibility
When we think of Nelson Mandela, we have this statesmanesque vision in our minds. A man who suffered incarceration for 27years and then emerged to lead and heal a country torn by Apartheid is always bound to evoke such imagery. Jonny Steinberg’s ‘Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage’ gave me a reality check of … Continue reading Winnie and Nelson
Queen Elizabeth must be the only person on earth whose daily life was chronicled from the day of her birth until her death in 2023. And as the monarch of Britain, it’s mind boggling to imagine the number of personalities she’s rubbed shoulders with. Craig Brown’s ‘Q: A Voyage Around the Queen’ was a quirky … Continue reading Queen Elizabeth – Quirky, Risqué and Moving Tales
At the height of his fame, Henri Bergson, was not just France’s leading philosopher but also arguably the most popular public intellectual of his age. His lectures were jam-packed and the audience cut across all classes and gender. Bergson, is most known for his concept of time which he called Durée. For Bergson, the qualitative … Continue reading On Henri Bergson
The most dramatic moment in the history of philosophy must be Socrates being forced to drink hemlock. If one is asked to pick another moment that could rank high on drama, my submission would be Spinoza’s excommunication in 1656 by the Jewish community of Amsterdam. Spinoza’s parents landed up in the Netherlands after fleeing Spain … Continue reading Spinoza’s God