Norman Rush's 'Mating' was a complex, long read. A nameless female anthropologists razor sharp views on life, love and relationships set in the Kalahari during the Reagan era had some fantastic feminist takes on domesticity and love: I had to realize that the male idea of successful love is to get a woman into a … Continue reading Feminism in Domesticity
Category: Books
Kollur Notes
On hearing that I was visiting Mookambika, a friend wondered if I was on some sort of pilgrimage. The answer to that was no. But here I was, at the Mookambika shrine, deep inside the rainforests of Kollur, a village 130 km north of Mangalore. The Madras Mail from Mahe took four hours to reach … Continue reading Kollur Notes
Best Non Fiction 2024
Some great non-fiction I read this year (in no particular order). The hyperlinks take you to my posts inspired by the book: We Are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt’s Lessons in Love and Disobedience I've been reading up on biographies of philosophers to better understand their ideas. This one on Arendt was great … Continue reading Best Non Fiction 2024
Best Fiction – 2024
I know I should be reading more fiction. But the ones I picked up this year mostly turned out to be great ones. The best that I read this year (in no particular order): PachinkoI'm late to the party with this one. The NYT brought out their Top 100 books of this century and I … Continue reading Best Fiction – 2024
Eliot’s Middlemarch and ChatGPT
The Kindle is great to read huge tomes. The ‘minutes remaining’ indicator for each chapter provides a reference point for the time needed to finish a book. Nothing like it to make slow and steady progress with the classics. I read Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’ over the last two months with no trouble with motivation. Eliot’s philosophical … Continue reading Eliot’s Middlemarch and ChatGPT
The European Influence on Hinduism
The uniqueness of Hinduism lies in its inability to be defined by a singular set of rituals, beliefs, or practices. Are Hindus vegetarians? Do Hindus sacrifice animals? Do all Hindus fast on specific days? Are Hindu prayers always in Sanskrit? Do all Hindus worship sacred groves? Are the Vedas the foundational texts of the religion, … Continue reading The European Influence on Hinduism
The Three Languages of Politics
Arnold Kling’s ‘The Three Languages of Politics’ is a short, succinct and handy toolkit to categorize political communication. For Kling, the three dominant political groups – the Progressives (what we call the Left in India), the Conservatives and the Libertarians communicate along dedicated axes. Liberals view political conflict as Oppressed vs. Oppressor Conservatives view political conflict … Continue reading The Three Languages of Politics
Queen Elizabeth – Quirky, Risqué and Moving Tales
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
On Henri Bergson
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
Question 7
Had it not been for the bombing of Hiroshima, Richard Flanagan would never have been born. The bomb led to Japan’s surrender. His father, a POW, who would never have survived another winter in Japan, was released and years later, Flanagan was born. His reckoning with this absurd fact is the kernel for his genre-defining … Continue reading Question 7
