Jean-Marc Jancovici and Christophe Blain’s 'World Without End' – a comic about Climate Change that outsold Asterix in France in the year of its launch was a sharp, engaging introduction to Energy Sources and Climate Change. The panels that caught my attention were the ones explaining the long-term impacts of Chernobyl and Fukushima. According to … Continue reading The Real Costs of Chernobyl and Fukushima
Zena Hitz in ‘Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life’ offers a fascinating exploration of whether Mary was an intellectual. An ancient Syriac dialogue between Joseph and Mary imagines Joseph rebuking Mary for her apparent unchastity while Mary rebukes him in turn for his inferior knowledge of the scriptures: JOSEPH: You have … Continue reading Was Mary an ‘Intellectual’?
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
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
I lived in Thiruvananthapuram from 2005 to '07 and also spent significant time in the city during the 2018 floods. This December, I found myself back in the city, accompanied by an entourage of 14 family members! As expected, I revisited some of its main attractions. The most shocking development was the overwhelming rush of … Continue reading Thiruvananthapuram Notes
In no particular order: ChallengersZendaya's energy sizzles throughout in this ménage à trois story Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny:I've been watching all the Indiana Jones' movies with the kids. The time travel scene to the Battle of Syracuse and the appearance of Archimedes in the scene was spellbinding. ConclaveWatched this last week and … Continue reading Best Movies/Series – 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
My habit of buying one comic a week was more or less maintained through the year. Some of the standout ones that I encountered: Hakim's Odyssey:This French trilogy tracking the life story of Hakim - a Syrian-French immigrant driven out from Damascus during the 2015 civil war was THE comic of the year for me. … Continue reading Best Comics – 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
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
