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
I was browsing through Michael Pollan’s ‘The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World’ and the first chapter was on the Apple and its introduction to the New World. The apple originated in Central Asia, somewhere in present-day Kazakhstan. In fact, its capital Almaty owes it very name to the fruit – Alma-Ata … Continue reading On Apples
The struggling, misunderstood artist, aloof from the petty insecurities of the middle class and disdainful of wealth, is probably one of the most recognisable and done-to-death tropes in art, literature and popular culture. Such ‘artists’ even have a name – bohemians. David Weir in his 'A Very Short Introduction' to the topic defines them succinctly; … Continue reading Bohemians
Karan Mahajan’s The Complex was disappointing. It started with a bang. Gita, visiting her husband’s family home in Delhi, is raped by her husband’s uncle during a wedding. The narrative then shifts to her guilt, rage and the alienation that American cities are so good at generating. She dabbles in love outside her marriage, only … Continue reading Karan Mahajan’s ‘The Complex’
The Brits have always been dismissive of the French Revolution. Edmund Burke in his classic 'Reflections on the Revolution in France' correctly called out the eventual outcome of the whole revolution playing out across the Channel. He, like a prophet, predicted that the anarchy would eventually end in military rule and violence. In 1989, the … Continue reading Thatcher, Dickens and the French Revolution
I just finished Steinbeck’s ‘East of Eden’. The 850-page book is being adapted for the small screen, and the seven-episode series is dropping on Netflix in October. After reading this, I can confirm that Steinbeck’s best work is definitely ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ which I wrote about earlier. But nevertheless, the book kept me engaged. … Continue reading The Church and the Brothel: Steinbeck’s American West in ‘East of Eden’
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
The Classics bug has taken hold of me and I decided to continue the streak with Dickens. My choice was Great Expectations, based on the feedback from this Reddit thread on Charles Dickens' 'best work'. There’s a special kind of joy in reading Dickens. While he’s never in the league of the great Russian masters, … Continue reading Great Expectations