u/Glittering_Quote_581

>Premise:

This is a short novel written in the form of 17 letters between a child and his mother. Set in 2011, Vinod is struggling to build a life for himself doing odd jobs, while trying to reconnect with his mother in Naala Sopara, Maharashtra.

🔞Some themes are definitely 18+.

>What I loved:

• One of the most brilliant stories I've read. Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time... I'm not easily moved by emotional stories, but damn... I'm still quite shaken by this one.
• To give you a glimpse of the heartbreaking stuff - There's an orphan who looks into the mirror to see his parents - who he has no knowledge of. In his own reflection he names his parents... his white complexion and beauty must come from his mom he thinks, he consoles himself - "of course I know my parents! I see them everyday in the mirror!".
• The transgender community's lifestyle and perceptions: Struggles of the transgender community are depicted, their alienation, abuse and inhuman treatment. Bimli doesn't like to be grouped with the Kinnar life- Work is Worship for him. He refuses to walk,talk and dress according to society's (and his kinnar group's internalized) prejudices. He questions their defeatist attitude, and seeks some radical reforms (politically and socially).
• The relationship of the letter writer (Vinod) with his mother - extremely heartwarming. The longing to meet her again comes off so beautifully.
• Education, Employment, Empowerment: Or as Dr. Ambedkar said, Educate, Agitate, Organize. Powerfully depicted here too.
• I feel this novel is in itself a letter to the LGBT+ community of India, and whole Indian society as well. A message, a hope, to treat all with Dignity (connects well with FRATERNITY in our Preamble, as explored in TMK's We the People of India. It's been 10 years since the novel was published, and while there's been significant progress on that front, we as a society still have a long ways to go...
• Poonam Joshi 🙌 what a character.
• Arnica 30, Sintex water tank, Egyptian Pyramids...common motifs in Chitra ji's novels? 😆 Idk why, but they were mentioned in Giligadu as well. Might be her cherished memories... IYKYK
• Epilogue: what a brilliant and creative way to end the story! I've seen it used before, but this was equally effective. Excellent stuff.
• Ending: >!Are we to assume that Vinod reached home, received the sad news, and killed himself, or that he was killed by his brothers? Or the underworld as the article suggests? All endings are tragic,!< yet all are possible. Really well done. Which would you prefer?
• Title: I found this great interview of the author on YT, explaining the origin of the title and inspiration behind the story. I'd recommend you to watch it after reading the novel :) "Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do"~ Voltaire's quote haunts me daily. Now this novel will too, as it does the author.

>A Point I'm a bit unsure of:

• >!While Bimli's political attitude towards transgender is understandable, I'm not sure if the discussion is limited to transgenders only now - Gender's a spectrum, so Bimli's call for "being considered an equal male/female and no 'Others' category" is what I'm unsure about. On the one hand, we can say it's only Bimli's perspective, and he got its dissent within the story itself, while on the other hand it could be construed as Chitra ji's opinions on the matter. I may be too naive to think it's a pro-LGBT novel, as the times have definitely changed since the novel came out, so any suggestions or critiques are welcome 🙏 To my mind, Bimli's ideas don't diminish the rightful longing of a transgender in India to be treated with dignity, and to express themselves as they wish to. !< It's a tough issue of course, I'm not qualified to talk about it, but I recognize the need for it to be discussed seriously. Perhaps in some other review I'll try to explore the issue in detail.

>Conclusion:

I give 3 chances to any author whose work I'm approaching for the 1st time - if none of the 3 impress me, I devote my time to other authors. Just my handy rule to navigate the plethora of literature. {Stephen King has failed my test sadly}.

This is Chitra ji's 2nd novel I've read now, and it's even more of a masterpiece than the previous one. I'm truly amazed by the depth of emotions she's able to put to paper, along with subtly discussing contemporary issues of the society, and still be able to make a thrilling story utilizing unusual structures! Giligadu had 13 days POV of an old man, with shaky memory; this one has 17 letters over 6 months tell a tale of mother-child reunion. Chitra ji truly is, a modern writer. Definitely deserving of the Sahitya Akademi Award 2018🙌

>If possible, I'd recommend every Hindi speaker to listen to the audiobook, by Shaily Mudgal: you'll thank me for the eargasm. For my fellow English readers, there's an English translation by Madhu Shrivastav.

>Rating: 17/17. {Each letter being better than the previous one...till the last one}

Probably my favourite novel of the year so far.

P.S.: I've obviously played with the identities and genders of the characters in this review to avoid spoilers. >!I know Binni=Vinod=Bimli!<

>Premise:

• 1945 Aug 6th: 8:15 AM, atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
• 1946: John Hersey's article about the lives of 6 survivors (better known as Hibakusha) brings to light the effects of the bombing - radiation effects, destruction and despite all that, resilience and hope. Tanimoto was one such individual.
• 1947: Tanimoto's memoir written for Hersey, forgotten.
• 2023: Hersey's grandson and movie director Taku Nishimae find that document. This is that memoir.

The document begins... “It was August 6, 1945, at about 8:15 a.m. The world’s first atomic bomb had exploded in the sky above Hiroshima. But not one person knew it was an atomic bomb.”

The cover image shows a broken clock, of the same day.

>What I loved:

1️⃣ Koko's thoughts:

• Foreword by Tanimoto's daughter - Koko. 81 today, she was 8-month old when the bomb dropped.
• "Jesus has crawled out!" Koko as baby Jesus during the Xmas celebration in 1945 by Tanimoto's church, created laughter amidst such circumstances. Truly amazing.
• Koko never wanted to be part of her father's peace campaign. Hated the "monsters" who dropped the bomb. Contrary to her father, she never told anyone about her life for a long time. But eventually grew to understand the bigger picture and focused on positivity. Ironically, she ended up following her father's footsteps. Married a atheist turned Christian, and became a peace activist at 40!

2️⃣ Some of Tanimoto Kiyoshi's thoughts I wanted to share:

• The writing is simple, raw, concise. Quite a short memoir (excluding Intro/Foreword)
• 1909 born in Shikoku. Tanimoto's Christian conversion upset his father, so he took his family on a Buddhist pilgrimage. Tanimoto's mother died sadly during the trip... it cemented his Christian faith. The date was - August 6th, 1928.
• How did he know an atomic bomb was dropped? His friend Dr. Fumio's X-Ray film was exposed in the hospital.
• "These are human beings!". - said the 'rescuing angel' Tanimoto, apologizing to the victims, for not being as badly hurt as others.
• "The atomic bomb was a terrifying weapon, but it was man’s fighting spirit that made the war more terrible. Despite the great blow, unprecedented in all history, which they had suffered, the people of Hiroshima never said a word about giving up. The greater the amount of sacrifice, the stronger they were determined to avenge themselves. Herein lies the delusion of war and the unsolved problem of cruelty. " - Tanimoto
• “Mr. Tanaka, I’ll read from the Bible. These passages which I quote from the Scripture will represent your life. Listen closely.” - Tanimoto comforted a dying man. But could he have known that a few years later, a NBC TV Show would re-present him His Life?! That too in such an unnecessary way?
• NBC studio interview with Ralph Edwards. 😭 This was really disgusting. The surprise guests were some old friends of Tanimoto, then came Enola Gay pilot, Robert Lewis. Koko handled it very well, though a 10 yo girl comparing her evil deeds with that of a bomber was...surprising. An Innocent Empathy.
• "While we were still suffering, the pressure of the Allied Forces had continued without mercy. On August 8, the Russians declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria. The next day, the second atomic bomb had dropped on Nagasaki. Still, we thought only of fighting to the last of our seventy million people or of ending the war with a negotiated peace, not surrender." ~ Tanimoto.
• 15 August 1945: Emperor announces on radio, Japan's surrender. Many Japanese people sad, angry, in disbelief. Their sacrifice was all for what? "Emperor's broadcast had broken out spirit much more than the atomic bomb." - Tanimoto cried in bed that night. But Emperor's peace message was to become Tanimoto's life goal.
• Tanimoto's Argos : "...but my pet dog, Shiro, guided me up the mountain. Shiro was a clever Akita. Although the poor animal had been burned and had narrowly escaped death after the bombing, he had eventually found us."
• "At about 2:00 p.m., a group of POWs came out to see the town of Kotohira. They were walking in formation and were protected by Japanese soldiers. It was the first time I had seen American prisoners. They were all very jolly—perhaps because the Americans had won the war. There must have been chewing gum in the packages dropped to them, because they were now giving gum to children, who were looking at them in fright and curiosity from street corners. A Japanese soldier with them urged the children, “Come on, take it. There’s no poison.” He said this because Japanese children had been taught that the Americans were terrible demons who would drop poisonous chocolates and caramels from planes. With uneasy feelings, these country people took the chewing gum. They did not know how to chew it and swallowed it whole. "
• Tanimoto amazed at how quickly Japanese people purged Emperor's images and devotion - including his father!
• Last few chapters focus on Reconstruction, especially the organizations and sermons of the Churches. Mostly an account of victims, their families, deaths, illnesses, hope, recovery, etc. of different people Tanimoto encountered or changed.
• Tanimoto linked Hiroshima militaristic use historically to the punishment by the atom bomb ... as a collective retribution for Hiroshima's past. "Hiroshima was used as a military communication depot. Later, it was a launching site for military aggression against Korea, Manchuria, and China. On every such occasion, the city gained in prosperity. It became a city of industry and education, but it was doomed to the fate a militaristic city must face. Hiroshima was connected to the mass murders committed by the Japanese Army in Nanking, China (1937), and Manila (1945). It was a cursed city. And here, God had passed down His judgment. The terrible disaster inflicted upon our fellow countrymen on August 6 was a heavy blow that we well deserved. After expressing these thoughts, we declared as follows: “We confess our sins in not being able to prevent the past wars.”
• Tanimoto believed Christianity had a chance now to spread in Japan as he was against against other ideologies...communist/Imperialism. Buddhism and Shintoism were on the decline, and the war defeat, to him, was a sign of Japan's collective failure to acknowledge its own sinful deeds, and a chance to right its wrongs...and so Christianity was the way forward.
• 1951: USA Senate talk by Tanimoto - well, bizarre is one word. He praised USA as greatest country on Earth. In 1955, Tanimoto goes again to USA to raising funds for plastic surgery for hibakusha girls. Created quite a controversy in Japan - "why only girls?"
• The Epilogue: A Carnival of Peace: Tanimoto's views on making the Aug 6th a day of hope, world peace, and celebration of resilience - didn't go down well with many. He maintains his views, and states reasons why the Japanese aren't as angry at USA as they're expected be - "It was wrong to start a reckless unwinnable war in the 1st place + If Japan had the bomb, it'd have done the same + can't critique USA without reflecting on Japan's own atrocities (Korea/China/Philippines) + post-war reconstruction helpful and tolerant attitude of USA"

>Conclusion:

We may be quick to judge Tanimoto's beliefs, but we must recognize where he was coming from - a proud country defeated, its imperial beliefs demolished, and with no readymade ideology to replace it for constructive recovery at hand, I feel Tanimoto's feelings and actions were natural and understandable.

This is his memoir.

He survived a tragedy, performed his duties as a citizen and a pastor, rebuilt his life, his neighborhood, comforted countless families, raised funds for hibakusha, advocated for world peace and anti-nukes... all in the hope that future generations do not forget 8:15 AM of Aug 6th, 1945.

I'd like to end this review by quoting some 8:15 verses from the Bible, in honor of Minister Tanimoto Kiyoshi:

• Ecclesiastes 8:15 – "And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful..."
• Deuteronomy 8:15 – "He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock."
• 2 Samuel 8:15 – "David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people."
• Proverbs 8:15 – "By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just;"
• Matthew 8:15 – "He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him."
• Luke 8:15 – "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."
• John 8:15 – "You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one."
• Romans 8:15 – "The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'"
• 2 Corinthians 8:15 – "as it is written: 'The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.'"

>Some other interesting trivia:

• Einstein wanted 1000 copies of the Hersey article! Banned in Japan till 1949.
• "Human disasters can only be avoided by human memory."
• Dec 20,2017 Nobel Peace Prize Speech by a hibakusha woman - Setsuko Thurlow.
• Hersey had survived 3 plane crashes and 3 shipwrecks before arriving at Japan Was already a Pulitzer prize winning author. Imagine if he hadn't!
• Why injured person shouldn't be given water? I didn't know this.
• Unusual treatment - Moxibustion therapy, worked for Tanimoto! Lowered his fever.

>Rating: 15/15.

How does one even rate such a work!? It's a must read, along with Hersey's Hiroshima.

{15 Aug is a special day in my country, India too - today is our 80th Independence Day. It's said the date was decided by the British Gov. General of India, Lord Mountbatten, due to Japan's surrender on that date in 1945.}

>Premise:

Magsaysay Award winner and Karnatic Musician TM Krishna decodes 5 National Symbols in this book.

Part academic, part reflective, author explores contemporary issues through these symbols.

>What I liked:

• Multiple contemporary issues explored: Here, I'll just list out the themes I could understand from each chapter:

>The Symbols and Themes explored:

1️⃣National Flag: Need for a uniting symbol; controversies; Environmentalism; Racism; Art&amp;War; Saffron's reclamation; Art-Universalist or Elitist? ; Swaraj(Gandhi vs Tagore); Secularism; Role of Women in the freedom struggle; State's abuse of power; Freedom of Expression, Dissent vs Protecting Flag's honor

2️⃣National Emblem: Ashoka to Nehru; 2022 Design; Dharma; caste; Gandhi vs Ambedkar, SNDP; centre-state tensions

3️⃣National Motto: Kashmir ; Minority communites treatment; Death Penalty; Mundaka Upanishad

4️⃣National Anthem & Song: Song as Layers; vaggeyakara; history vs art; communalism vs nationalism; UCC; cow slaughter; refugees; Nehru vs Tagore vs Bose vs Bacchan; "equal status" to VM&amp;JGM; linguistic differences; India vs Sri Lanka

5️⃣Preamble: FRATERNITY; dignity; SC cases - Puttaswamy, Navtej Singh, Vishakha; Black Acts - POSH/TADA/NSA/UAPA; Privacy; Migrant's Mother; COVID; Preventive Detention.

• I've done the above exercise to inform everyone about the nature of this book. I had picked it up after reading TMK's Reshaping Art, and mistakenly thought this was going to be strictly about the details of our national symbols - I was pleasantly surprised! It covered a lot of other themes too. It may not be what you expect, so I thought i should list those themes explicitly.
• Language is easy. Well researched. Sometimes too pedantic, but can't be helped: these symbols were chosen and finalized after a lot of politician-bureaucratic back and forth.
• The Musings, as illustrated from the themes listed above, make for an interesting read. Author jumps seamlessly from one topic to the next - feels to me kind of illustrative of a musical mind!

>What I disliked:

• I wanted to know why 32-spoked wheel on top of the lions wasn't included in the National Emblem, and why 32? Also, why Bull+Horse side was chosen, and not Elephant+Horse? {Lion would be redundant}
• Some pictures could have been helpful.
• Chapter 3 might be too idealistic, less solid than other chapters. Kashmir issue isn't discussed with the necessary depth, even though the author acknowledges it.
• The musical observations - yeah it all went over my head 😭. I don't get raga tala melody etc., but if you have a musical ear, those discussions will elevate the experience for you. I got bored af. It's my shortcoming, not the author's.
• Tbh, I wanted the book to explore all the symbols - India has 17 such symbols, so I wanted to know the story behind choosing them, even if some are quite obvious. It would have made it quite comprehensive. Instead of environmentalism being discussed in chapter 1, it could have been dealt with the National Animal/Bird Symbol.

>Conclusion:

For this Independence Day, I thought I should meditate a bit on our national symbols. I usually read(and post reviews of) Indian books related to her history, culture, psychology, achievements etc. But this time I wanted to delve a bit into the meanings behind our national symbols. I'm glad to have enjoyed these musings of a musician on the most significant political symbols of our country.

In the author's words, "Symbols are ideas abstracted from temporal objects, this imbued with trans-temporal identities."

Highly recommend to give this a try.

>Rating: 1947/2026 {~96% good, ~4% deducted due to reasons stated above}

Jai Hind. Vande Mataram. 🙏

___________________________________________________________________________

>Some new interesting trivia I learnt:

• Pingali Venkayya's Flag book has some interesting designs, and credit to Gandhi's Tricolor+Charkha for being non-communal.
• The "slippery and glittery" of today's society and discourse, perhaps reflected in 2022 modification to the Flag Standard (plastic/digital flags allowed instead of khadi)
• S.African 1996 Constitution has clear provisions for environmentalism. Reminded me of the world's urgent need for Ministry for the Future.
• "Politicians wear white to hide the grime beneath." 🔥 Loving white, hating black - reminds of the Mugabe quote.
• India is sovereign, but it's people are too! For only a sovereign people can give themselves such a constitution ~ M. Ayyangar in the Constituent Assembly
• ⚜️ Gaha Sattasai - what a beautiful depiction of Palash flowers and Buddhist monks : found this amazing blog too!
• Our Flag isn't 3-colour, it's 4-color. A reminder. Blue Charkha-->Chakra.
• Cama, Besant, Nivedita, Tilak's flags -- v.interesting history.
• 1️⃣3️⃣ : a prominent number in history. 13th Rock Edict of Ashoka is about his remorse over Kalinga. 13th Amendment in USA+INDIA+SRI LANKA = All relate to Minority getting rights! {Slavery abolished/Nagaland est./Tamil language offical} Isn't it a cool way to remember?
• Ashoka and Gandhi, both powerful, felt the need to publicly share A LOT of their emotions, but it raises the question - can powerless people do the same?
• Rajasthan HC has Statue of Manu on its premises.
• 'Kuchehri' means court, but also, art performance! 😆
• 4th unseen Lion in the National Emblem = Constitutional Morality. A good interpretation I think.
• Pre-independent Indian kingdoms also had Satyameva Jayate as their motto. (in Gujarat and MP)
• Agony of a death row convict, and the executioner {Guys! there's a very cool manga about this - Innocent by Shinichi Sakamoto - about the real Sanson family, Executioners during the French Revolution}
• ~125 versions of Vande Mataram, only 1 of National Anthem!
• Sri Lanka's flip-flop about status of Tamil language, and the absurd reason to change it's national anthem title from "Nama Namo Matha" to "Sri Lanka Matha"!
• Rwanda's Preamble acknowledges explicitly the Tutsi genocide!
• Indira Jaising's argument regarding Sabrimala Case - "...considering women of age 10-50 impure = untouchability" (culture must evolve, dignity of all comes first)
• "Doubt of faith and Freedom of belief, together create critical thoughts". Reminded me of Albert's quote at the end of the Orb Manga 🙌
• I hadn't ever read the full Jana Gana Mana. I request you all to read it too (see 2nd pic above☝️). The Translation is sketchy, as "Dispenser of India's destiny" should be "Builder of India's Destiny" (Tagore's 1919 vs 1918 translation), and "Sun over Eastern Horizon" should be "over the Eastern Hills" ~ Purva Giri would mean Eastern Hills/Purvanchal.

__________________________________________________________________________

>Premise:

Magsaysay Award winner and Karnatic Musician TM Krishna decodes 5 National Symbols in this book.

Part academic, part reflective, author explores contemporary issues through these symbols.

>What I liked:

• Multiple contemporary issues explored: Here, I'll just list out the themes I could understand from each chapter:

>The Symbols and Themes explored:

1️⃣National Flag: Need for a uniting symbol; controversies; Environmentalism; Racism; Art&amp;War; Saffron's reclamation; Art-Universalist or Elitist? ; Swaraj(Gandhi vs Tagore); Secularism; Role of Women in the freedom struggle; State's abuse of power; Freedom of Expression, Dissent vs Protecting Flag's honor

2️⃣National Emblem: Ashoka to Nehru; 2022 Design; Dharma; caste; Gandhi vs Ambedkar, SNDP; centre-state tensions

3️⃣National Motto: Kashmir ; Minority communites treatment; Death Penalty; Mundaka Upanishad

4️⃣National Anthem & Song: Song as Layers; vaggeyakara; history vs art; communalism vs nationalism; UCC; cow slaughter; refugees; Nehru vs Tagore vs Bose vs Bacchan; "equal status" to VM&amp;JGM; linguistic differences; India vs Sri Lanka

5️⃣Preamble: FRATERNITY; dignity; SC cases - Puttaswamy, Navtej Singh, Vishakha; Black Acts - POSH/TADA/NSA/UAPA; Privacy; Migrant's Mother; COVID; Preventive Detention.

I've done the above exercise to inform everyone about the nature of this book. I had picked it up after reading TMK's Reshaping Art, and mistakenly thought this was going to be strictly about the details of our national symbols - I was pleasantly surprised! It covered a lot of other themes too. It may not be what you expect, so I thought i should list those themes explicitly.

• Language is easy. Well researched. Sometimes too pedantic, but can't be helped: these symbols were chosen and finalized after a lot of politician-bureaucratic back and forth.
• The Musings, as illustrated from the themes listed above, make for an interesting read. Author jumps seamlessly from one topic to the next - feels to me kind of illustrative of a musical mind!

>What I disliked:

• I wanted to know why 32-spoked wheel on top of the lions wasn't included in the National Emblem, and why 32? Also, why Bull+Horse side was chosen, and not Elephant+Horse? {Lion would be redundant}
• Some pictures could have been helpful.
• Chapter 3 might be too idealistic, less solid than other chapters. Kashmir issue isn't discussed with the necessary depth, even though the author acknowledges it.
• The musical observations - yeah it all went over my head 😭. I don't get raga tala melody etc., but if you have a musical ear, those discussions will elevate the experience for you. I got bored af. It's my shortcoming, not the author's.
• Tbh, I wanted the book to explore all the symbols - India has 17 such symbols, so I wanted to know the story behind choosing them, even if some are quite obvious. It would have made it quite comprehensive. Instead of environmentalism being discussed in chapter 1, it could have been dealt with the National Animal/Bird Symbol.

>Conclusion:

For this Independence Day, I thought I should meditate a bit on our national symbols. I usually read(and post reviews of) Indian books related to her history, culture, psychology, achievements etc. But this time I wanted to delve a bit into the meanings behind our national symbols. I'm glad to have enjoyed these musings of a musician on the most significant political symbols of our country.

In the author's words, "Symbols are ideas abstracted from temporal objects, this imbued with trans-temporal identities."

Highly recommend to give this a try.

>Rating: 1947/2026 {~96% good, ~4% deducted due to reasons stated above}

Jai Hind. Vande Mataram. 🙏

___________________________________________________________________________

>Some new interesting trivia I learnt:

• Pingali Venkayya's Flag book has some interesting designs, and credit to Gandhi's Tricolor+Charkha for being non-communal.
• The "slippery and glittery" of today's society and discourse, perhaps reflected in 2022 modification to the Flag Standard (plastic/digital flags allowed instead of khadi)
• S.African 1996 Constitution has clear provisions for environmentalism. Reminded me of the world's urgent need for Ministry for the Future.
• "Politicians wear white to hide the grime beneath." 🔥 Loving white, hating black - reminds of the Mugabe quote.
• India is sovereign, but it's people are too! For only a sovereign people can give themselves such a constitution ~ M. Ayyangar in the Constituent Assembly
• ⚜️ Gaha Sattasai - what a beautiful depiction of Palash flowers and Buddhist monks : found this amazing blog too!
• Our Flag isn't 3-colour, it's 4-color. A reminder. Blue Charkha-->Chakra.
• Cama, Besant, Nivedita, Tilak's flags -- v.interesting history.
• 1️⃣3️⃣ : a prominent number in history. 13th Rock Edict of Ashoka is about his remorse over Kalinga. 13th Amendment in USA+INDIA+SRI LANKA = All relate to Minority getting rights! {Slavery abolished/Nagaland est./Tamil language offical} Isn't it a cool way to remember?
• Ashoka and Gandhi, both powerful, felt the need to publicly share A LOT of their emotions, but it raises the question - can powerless people do the same?
• Rajasthan HC has Statue of Manu on its premises.
• 'Kuchehri' means court, but also, art performance! 😆
• 4th unseen Lion in the National Emblem = Constitutional Morality. A good interpretation I think.
• Pre-independent Indian kingdoms also had Satyameva Jayate as their motto. (in Gujarat and MP)
• Agony of a death row convict, and the executioner {Guys! there's a very cool manga about this - Innocent by Shinichi Sakamoto - about the real Sanson family, Executioners during the French Revolution}
• ~125 versions of Vande Mataram, only 1 of National Anthem!
• Sri Lanka's flip-flop about status of Tamil language, and the absurd reason to change it's national anthem title from "Nama Namo Matha" to "Sri Lanka Matha"!
• Rwanda's Preamble acknowledges explicitly the Tutsi genocide!
• Indira Jaising's argument regarding Sabrimala Case - "...considering women of age 10-50 impure = untouchability" (culture must evolve, dignity of all comes first)
• "Doubt of faith and Freedom of belief, together create critical thoughts". Reminded me of Albert's quote at the end of the Orb Manga 🙌
• I hadn't ever read the full Jana Gana Mana. I request you all to read it too (see 2nd pic above☝️). The Translation is sketchy, as "Dispenser of India's destiny" should be "Builder of India's Destiny" (Tagore's 1919 vs 1918 translation), and "Sun over Eastern Horizon" should be "over the Eastern Hills" ~ Purva Giri would mean Eastern Hills/Purvanchal.

__________________________________________________________________________

>Premise: 

These works explore Yashodhara's turmoil, response and responsibilities after her husband, Siddhartha Gautam leaves her and the kingdom for his spiritual quest.

What is the cost of Buddhahood? And what's Yashodhara's contribution to Gautam's Nirvana? 

>Why I chose these works? 

Just thought it'll be a fun exercise to read about Yashodhara from 2 different authors - Volga(PL Kumari) and Maithilisharan Gupt (MSG). 

Both esteemed authors -  Volga a Sahitya Akademi Award winner, and MSG deemed as Rashtrakavi (Nation's Poet) of India by Gandhi. 

One's in English (translated from Telugu by PSV Prasad), other in Hindi( Khari Boli, too ancient for me😭). 

Here I discuss both the works. 

>What I loved: 

1️⃣Volga's Yashodhara: 

• Devdutt calls Siddhartha "motherless". That pain superceded his physical injuries, and he contemplates his mother's death being his cause. That's how he begins thinking about life, death, suffering. A nice touch I think. 
• Rohini water dispute : Prominent here too, as it was in Ambedkar's book. A nice debate between Siddhartha vs Devamshah: "To enjoy peace, plenty is necessary. The need for plenty won't always be met by peace." Offensive realism! Siddhartha argues that plenty and poverty both ought to be shared equally - that'll prevent wars. The young idealist vs older realist. 
• The Yashodhara-Siddhartha discussions were nice - made for each other, both value equality, the mind, non-violence, anti-war, peace. They joke around, flirt, and discuss tough topics. 
• "Worldly knowledge is necessary, but in the hands of worldly-minded, it can be disastrous." - Siddhartha 
• Yashodhara here stands on her own against her father, against the swayamvar. She's not to be a trophy wife. 
• Yashodhara chooses the pain of potential sanyaas which Siddhartha told her beforehand. It's a willing sacrifice. 
• Yashodhara is already quite wise here. They're both on the spiritual quest together, as equals. She assesses why Siddhartha is so curious- due to his environment, upbringing, conversations with learned men etc. but why yashodhara is herself so wise - its not explicitly told, just implied, due to her own education and observations. 
• Yashodhara argues against yagnas and yagas, faces humiliation by parents. It points out the cost of raising voice in a patriarchal setup. Also, sets up Siddhartha's duty in future to respect women too.
• Yashodhara and Kushala started a female sangha, curing villagers.
• Gotami is made out to be villain...but as I remember, wasn't she the one who started the sangha?! Roles are reversed between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. 
• The Ending: Nicely done. 👌

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2️⃣Maithilisharan Gupt's Yashodhara: 

• The poem begins with Siddhartha contemplating a solution to his questions about mortality, and his decision to leave at night for his spiritual quest, to leave everyone uninformed. 
• Yashodhara's lament is - why Siddhartha left her in the middle of the night, without even telling her... She feels betrayed even, for she would have never stopped her husband's wish anyway. 
• We see these laments from Yashodhara, Siddhartha's parents, Friends, and Rahul. 
• Rahul-Janani or the dialogues between Rahul and Yashodhara were easier to comprehend, and lovely too. MSG preserves the innocence there nicely, amidst the grim laments. 
• The rhyming scheme keeps changing, which was refreshing. It's mostly poetry, but with some prose too. (Somehow I thought it would be uniform throughout, i.e, a poem with a single rhyme scheme)
• It's a masterpiece. So many variations on longing, put beautifully via metaphors, alliterations, similes ... Yes the language was a bit tough for me, but I still understood much of it. 
• I first used Google Translate, then listened to Shubhra Ma'am's explanations which helped a lot. It's only 100 pages long, but took me well over a week to understand it. It was well worth it though. 
• You can find the full poem online here

>Comparison:

• Almost 100 year difference between the 2 versions. MSG wrote it in 1933, Volga in 2019. Written by 2 different individuals, each with their own biases and ideas, for different eras! 
• Volga as a feminist author presents a strong independent minded Yashodhara - one who's on equal footing with Siddhartha. True, great minds seek each other, so it could be that Siddhartha would have fallen for such an intelligent Yashodhara - her journey is her own, she has agency, and she is ready to face the consequences too.  Householder-hermit dichotomy is embraced by both individuals, hence both achieve Buddhahood. Yashodhara heals the sick Bodies, while Buddha funds the way to heal the sick Minds - a perfect union of mind-body. Volga wrote it in prose form.  
• Maithili Sharn Gupta comes from a Hindu background, and from the introduction itself, it's clear he sees Buddha as Vishnu's avatar. "Ram, Ram" is a common phrase throughout the poem, along with references to other Puranic stories. Yashodhara is shown here to be lamenting, grief stricken, and even heartbroken by Siddhartha not informing her before leaving. However she isn't depressed, she picks herself up, decides to wait gracefully, patiently, and has faith in Siddhartha's return. The dichotomy of householder-hermit is shown to be tragic. It's a romantic tragedy. MSG wrote it in poem form. 
• Historically, I guess MSG's Yashodhara is much closer to the Pali canon events. From what I could research, Yashodhara has been seen as quite bold - in the Pali canon she asks Buddha to meet her in her quarters; in Therigatha she leads 100000 nuns; Mahavastu texts of 1st c. CE tell the story of her swayamvara; Lalitvistara text has her questioning the veil custom; a 5th c. text has her mimic Siddhartha's austerities within the palace walls (including shaving her head, eating minimally, mediation etc). 
• That's what I love about retellings or adaptations. Recent controversy about Odyssey/Ramayan movies - I feel lucky to enjoy such variations. {Personally, I wish to see UttaraKand adapted in the movie as well, but I don't think they will}. I got to enjoy a poetic retelling in my mother tongue and a prose retelling in English written by a Telugu writer! 
• Both evoked different emotions in me. Volga's novel is a lot more Sociologically relevant, focusing on equality, feminism, partnership, peace...while MSG's poem is a lyrical masterpiece focusing on the Individual grief, longing, faith, hope of Yashodhara.

 

>Conclusion: 

• I enjoyed both works tremendously. But due to my bias towards my mother tongue, I liked the MSG's poem better - even if the Hindi was tough for me. It's also a tight slap to my ego (I thought I could understand a known plot in such hindi easily 😆).
• Both are feminist in a way, Volga's more so. But I didn't find Yashodhara to be passive or weak in either one of them. I suppose, character-wise, MSG's Yashodhara showed more growth than Volga's Yashodhara.

 

>Rating:  Volga : 8/10; MSG : 9/10. 

{-1 to the poem because it's too tough for me. -2 to the novel because some modern ideas presented in such a historical fiction novel didn't seem believable to me.} 

It's cruel to rate them side by side, but I've done so purely out of subjectivity. I read Volga's book 1st, then spent a lot of time with MSG's work. Had to give extra point to MSG, for the poetry, even though I'm a prose guy!

Have you read any of these works/authors? Would love to know your thoughts or suggestions. Any other work by them I should check out?

>Premise:

A story about 2 old friends - Jaswant Singh from Kanpur, and Colonel Swami from Kerala, set in Noida, told over a span of 13 days.

It explores perils of ageism, rural-urban jarring shift, modern family dynamics, parenting styles, love, loss, and how should one live life?

The title comes from the Malayalam word for "little bird(s) or children". The book is available in English too, titled "Giligadu:The Lost Days".

>What I loved:

• The contrast between the 2 individuals : Through Jaswant Singh, we see themes about the stuggles of old age - health , loneliness, ego, generation gap, memory loss, adjusting to urban life, guilt of being burden to family etc. Colonel Swami on the other hand - retired from army, fit in mind and body, lighthearted, has a loving family - immensely loved by his granddaughters (who he calls his Giligadu). He's just an overall good person. He "Lives like a Sher!"
• Narrative Structure: Brilliant. We dip back and forth into Jaswant Singh's past, as an old man would, in the midst of conversations, or dreams, or hallucinations.
• Great Climax! >!Swami- a fraud. A good fraud. A white liar. Lied to cheer Jaswant up. Very tragic story, beaten up by his own son, daughter-in-law eloped with the dance teacher. I guess that his granddaughters' hostel warden is the one whom he was having an affair with - Anima Das, whose poem Jaswant read at the end. Wasn't expecting such a great twist from this short, heartwarming story! !<
• Lessons: Respect your elders. >!Live your life to the fullest. Death can come anytime. Never judge a person without knowing their circumstances. !< Love, wholeheartedly.

>What I didn't like:

• Some books just match the reader's life perfectly, by accident or by generalized intent...this is one of those. I have no criticism. It's perfect, and too personal.

>Another perspective on old age that I'd read - Cicero's Letter on On Old Age - worth reading along with this.

>Rating: 10/10 {purely subjective, can't look at this objectively. Plot is too close to home (literally too, Noida Sec-26)}

I've also started reading "Post Box#203 Nala Sopara" too, for which the author won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2018. It's already a masterpiece 🙌

Any Chitra Mudgal readers here? What did you think of the story? Any suggestions are most welcome.

>Premise:

Korede, a nurse, has to deal with her younger sister, Ayoola - a femme fatale, after receiving a call from her: She's killed a man. Again.

This is a psychological thriller debut novel from the Nigerian author Oyinkan Braithwaite. I recently saw it being recommended here, was intrigued by the premise, so decided to give it a try.

Also working towards my goal to read more world literature (1 book per country atleast), along with 1 for each Indian State.

>What I liked:

• Nigerian Setting: it is refreshing to learn new names, expressing same universal emotions.
• I listened to this audiobook on Storytel - the narrator has a beautiful Nigerian accent. Maybe that elevated the story for me too, as if Korede herself was talking to me.
• Themes: Sisterly Love, Rivalry, Survival, Sins of the Predecessors, Beauty, Perceptions, Customs, Corruption, Lawless Justice.
• Korede's POV: Author does a brilliant job in depicting her mindset, her feelings, her desires, her disappointments.
• One sister being a diligent nurse, saving lives, other being the killer! Also, the household has only 2 sisters and their mother - somewhat reminded me of the 3 Fates from Greek myths- >!tell me if you thought about it too, at the end.!<
• I googled the meanings of these Nigerian names: Korede: means "goodness/fortune/wealth bringer". Ayoola: means "joy of wealth", which is somewhat apt: one sister brings fortune, other enjoys it 😆 Both names are of Yoruba origin {fun fact:- Yoruba tribe of Africa also believes in reincarnation, just within family : pretty cool parallel with Hinduism, no?}

>What I didn't like:

• The Ending: Bit unsatisfying for me : I was expecting >!some confession or punishment, however given the lawless patriarchal corrupt setting!<, - author chooses a different path.
• Given the ambiguous nature of Ayoola's acts, I think there were other ways to go about the climax - >!somehow the end doesn't seem like a long term solution to me. Either the murders should've been completely justified, or Korede should've listened to Muhtar. Ayoola needed a different kind of help.!<

>Conclusion:

Entertaining for sure. One feels for Korede, who seems to be getting the short end of the stick since Ayoola's birth. But the ending didn't completely satisfy me - the ambiguity needs to be clarified or consistent with the ending.

>Rating: 7/10 {Entertaining, but Unresolved}

[Full review in the links]

1. Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy : A Gory Western Odyssey! This one does live upto the hype. It's based somewhat on real history (Samuel Chamberlain's Diary, experiences of US-Mexico wars), and tells the tale of a Boy and a Judge, surviving a desolate hell, where might is right and violence a necessity. The Judge is truly a terrifying creature... but hard to disagree with sometimes XD 
2. History of India - WILCO A single volume illustrated/comic about Indian History, from Harappa to Hazare. Good intro to Indian History, except some facts (AIT vs AMT for one). Great for children or 1st time Indian History reader.  
3. India: A Wounded Civilization - VS Naipaul : My 1st Naipaul read - it's fantastic, quite relevant still. Written during the Emergency, it tells Naipaul's theory about the problems in India and the repeated refuge to archaic past or adopting borrowed ideas unwisely. 50 years later, the mirror still works well sadly...despite all the progress ( 8th book below is a brilliant answer to Naipaul's critique of that).  
4. Alice in Wonderland + Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll : Hadn't read them in my childhood, still enjoyed them a lot. Read them now because I needed to know the story behind the Real Alice...
5. Alice Behind the Wonderland -Simon Winchester : Simon has become one of my fav Non-fic authors, In this book, he masterfully tells the story of Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), how he discovered his passions - writing, photography... and how it led to the Alice Liddell's controversial photograph and alleged rumors about him. It's a short book, trojan in the sense of containing a history of photography too. Must read for Carroll fans. 
6. Ashadh ka ek din | आषाढ़ का एक दिन - Mohan Rakesh | मोहन राकेश : A historical fiction short play on Kalidasa - absolute masterpiece! Kalidasa leaves his village to become successful - a court poet, a king and yet... he's lost something unrecoverable, back home with Mallika. A book of Empty Pages, is ironically, his best work! 
7. DD KOSAMBI - One Life many Worlds - Ram Ramaswamy : A biography of the Indian Polymath. I wanted more discussion about the ideas than his academic journey... I've mentioned most of the good stuff in the review. The Book is cleverly titled - it's more of a biography of the father-son duo (sharing same initials)
8. 100 Innovations not Jugaad - Dinesh C.Sharma : Innovations in the field of food security, law, public utilities, energy, transport, art, cinema, women's participation etc. that propelled post-independent Indian prosperity. A wonderful book, for every Indian. 
9. The Ten Per Cent Thief - Lavanya Lakshminarayan : A debut Sci-fi dystopian cyberpunk novel set in Bangalore, thoroughly enjoyable: this is about a Meritocratic Technarchy society - where people struggle to be on the better side of the Bell Curve. It's a world of Virtuals vs Analogs. Must read for sci-fi lovers!

 

Any books to your liking? Suggestions are most welcome. 

[Full review in the links]

1. Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy : A Gory Western Odyssey! This one does live upto the hype. It's based somewhat on real history (Samuel Chamberlain's Diary, experiences of US-Mexico wars), and tells the tale of a Boy and a Judge, surviving a desolate hell, where might is right and violence a necessity. The Judge is truly a terrifying creature... but hard to disagree with sometimes XD 
2. History of India - WILCO A single volume illustrated/comic about Indian History, from Harappa to Hazare. Good intro to Indian History, except some facts (AIT vs AMT for one). Great for children or 1st time Indian History reader.  
3. India: A Wounded Civilization - VS Naipaul : My 1st Naipaul read - it's fantastic, quite relevant still. Written during the Emergency, it tells Naipaul's theory about the problems in India and the repeated refuge to archaic past or adopting borrowed ideas unwisely. 50 years later, the mirror still works well sadly...despite all the progress ( 8th book below is a brilliant answer to Naipaul's critique of that).  
4. Alice in Wonderland + Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll : Hadn't read them in my childhood, still enjoyed them a lot. Read them now because I needed to know the story behind the Real Alice...
5. Alice Behind the Wonderland -Simon Winchester : Simon has become one of my fav Non-fic authors, In this book, he masterfully tells the story of Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), how he discovered his passions - writing, photography... and how it led to the Alice Liddell's controversial photograph and alleged rumors about him. It's a short book, trojan in the sense of containing a history of photography too. Must read for Carroll fans. 
6. Ashadh ka ek din | आषाढ़ का एक दिन - Mohan Rakesh | मोहन राकेश : A historical fiction short play on Kalidasa - absolute masterpiece! Kalidasa leaves his village to become successful - a court poet, a king and yet... he's lost something unrecoverable, back home with Mallika. A book of Empty Pages, is ironically, his best work! 
7. DD KOSAMBI - One Life many Worlds - Ram Ramaswamy : A biography of the Indian Polymath. I wanted more discussion about the ideas than his academic journey... I've mentioned most of the good stuff in the review. The Book is cleverly titled - it's more of a biography of the father-son duo (sharing same initials)
8. 100 Innovations not Jugaad - Dinesh C.Sharma : Innovations in the field of food security, law, public utilities, energy, transport, art, cinema, women's participation etc. that propelled post-independent Indian prosperity. A wonderful book, for every Indian. 
9. The Ten Per Cent Thief - Lavanya Lakshminarayan : A debut Sci-fi dystopian cyberpunk novel set in Bangalore, thoroughly enjoyable: this is about a Meritocratic Technarchy society - where people struggle to be on the better side of the Bell Curve. It's a world of Virtuals vs Analogs. Must read for sci-fi lovers!

 

Any books to your liking? Suggestions are most welcome. 

[Full review in the links]

1. Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy : A Gory Western Odyssey! This one does live upto the hype. It's based somewhat on real history (Samuel Chamberlain's Diary, experiences of US-Mexico wars), and tells the tale of a Boy and a Judge, surviving a desolate hell, where might is right and violence a necessity. The Judge is truly a terrifying creature... but hard to disagree with sometimes XD 
2. History of India - WILCO A single volume illustrated/comic about Indian History, from Harappa to Hazare. Good intro to Indian History, except some facts (AIT vs AMT for one). Great for children or 1st time Indian History reader.  
3. India: A Wounded Civilization - VS Naipaul : My 1st Naipaul read - it's fantastic, quite relevant still. Written during the Emergency, it tells Naipaul's theory about the problems in India and the repeated refuge to archaic past or adopting borrowed ideas unwisely. 50 years later, the mirror still works well sadly...despite all the progress ( 8th book below is a brilliant answer to Naipaul's critique of that).  
4. Alice in Wonderland + Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll : Hadn't read them in my childhood, still enjoyed them a lot. Read them now because I needed to know the story behind the Real Alice...
5. Alice Behind the Wonderland -Simon Winchester : Simon has become one of my fav Non-fic authors, In this book, he masterfully tells the story of Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), how he discovered his passions - writing, photography... and how it led to the Alice Liddell's controversial photograph and alleged rumors about him. It's a short book, trojan in the sense of containing a history of photography too. Must read for Carroll fans. 
6. Ashadh ka ek din | आषाढ़ का एक दिन - Mohan Rakesh | मोहन राकेश : A historical fiction short play on Kalidasa - absolute masterpiece! Kalidasa leaves his village to become successful - a court poet, a king and yet... he's lost something unrecoverable, back home with Mallika. A book of Empty Pages, is ironically, his best work! 
7. DD KOSAMBI - One Life many Worlds - Ram Ramaswamy : A biography of the Indian Polymath. I wanted more discussion about the ideas than his academic journey... I've mentioned most of the good stuff in the review. The Book is cleverly titled - it's more of a biography of the father-son duo (sharing same initials)
8. 100 Innovations not Jugaad - Dinesh C.Sharma : Innovations in the field of food security, law, public utilities, energy, transport, art, cinema, women's participation etc. that propelled post-independent Indian prosperity. A wonderful book, for every Indian. 
9. The Ten Per Cent Thief - Lavanya Lakshminarayan : A debut Sci-fi dystopian cyberpunk novel set in Bangalore, thoroughly enjoyable: this is about a Meritocratic Technarchy society - where people struggle to be on the better side of the Bell Curve. It's a world of Virtuals vs Analogs. Must read for sci-fi lovers!

 

Any books to your liking? Suggestions are most welcome. 

>Premise:

This book lists out 100 innovations that helped post-independent India transform the lives of the masses. 

I was looking for this sort of book for a while, got this in 2024, read a few chapters but then DNF'd. I picked it up again during my Naipaul reading, as it kept popping up (as a counterpoint) whenever Naipaul mentioned "intermediate technologies" or lack of indigenous capabilities in India@1975. 

>What I Loved: 

• Structure: Book has 10 Sections with the 100 innovations thematically grouped. The introduction makes it clear it's not a watertight classification, and many innovations had to be skipped; it's of course a subjective list (which is why I'd love for you guys to mention any idea he missed. Will be fun!). 
• Chapters: ~Each chapter has 2 parts - Description and Key Players of the Innovation. I really liked this style. Author is able to provide brief backgrounds, descriptions and impacts of each innovation. 
• Innovation vs Jugaad: In the Introduction itself, author makes it very clear that the word "jugaad" is not the same as innovation. It's a temporary relief measure, often and indicator of underlying deeper issue. Author gives an example by saying "Many people labelled ISRO's recent achievements as Jugaad, to be able to launch such missions at such low cost - that's not Jugaad, that's planned efficiency." I agree with that sentiment. 
• Writing style: very simple, easy to follow. 
• I've posted the index above, so you can go through this list. My favourites (new info/impactful) I've marked with ♥️. {You wouldn't wanna see the notes I made on that index page😆} 
• There's so much to learn about India here, truly. We rarely would see a handpump or a tractor as a huge Innovation, but it truly was.

 

>Some trivia I learnt:

• Horses to Serum Institute! (world's largest vaccine maker) I think author missed an awesome opportunity to connect it to the Ashvins - horse-headed twin Gods who were associated with healing. 🐴  {Horse serum is used to produce many anti-toxins, vital for medical research}
• "Jugaad"- a Punjabi term for the cart with engine we see so often. 
• Simputer- Dvlpd by IISc Bangalore, it was a precursor to the smartphone/Apple iPhone, and many novel features like stylus, apps etc. 
• Maruti was founded by Sanjay Gandhi 
• Sam Pitroda and PN Bhagwati possibly being the most prominent innovators in this book, along with Aruna Roy+Bunker Roy! 
• Some legends worth remembering: Tarabai Modak - Aangadwadi concept; Bindeshwar Pathak - Sulabh Toilets; Dr.Yusuf Hameid - Rev.Engg Drugs; Dr. GV - Aravind Eye Care; Dr. Pramod Sethi - Jaipur Foot; GR Gopinath- Air Deccan; Nandan Nilekani - Aadhaar; Sonam Wangchuk- Ice Stupa; Rajender Singh - Dead Rivers Revival; Pupal Jayakar- Dilli Haat+NID; Ela Bhatt-SEWA; Mashelkar-Haldighati Warrior.
• 19 Birla Mandirs in India, each unique in its artistic motifs
• Playback singing, Geet Mala sections were great.

 

>What I didn't like:

Some innovations mentioned I feel could have been better left out in favor of genuine ones. It's subjective of course, but the ones that I've marked with ❌ in the index above pics 👆- feels like conflating jugaad with innovation. They're either just borrowed ideas from abroad, or quick fixes. {This is still an impressive list - I may disagree with only ~10/100}

>Conclusion: 

According to the author - "...the term ‘innovation’ has been used in the broadest possible sense. It covers technological innovations, novel scientific solutions, new ideas in business and industry, path-breaking government policies and programmes, grassroots innovations, laws and regulations designed to serve a unique purpose, new ways of institution-building, people’s movements and practices".  

Staying true to this, these 100 innovations are very aptly chosen. You'll be able to see how some of them are linked in a causal chain, while others in a feedback loop, and get a richer sense of Indian development too. 

It's quite a hopeful book, every incremental step towards development has to be appreciated, in spite of the immense challenges India throws at India. Author mentions in many chapters the shortcomings of certain ideas too, and how certain schemes' impacts were cut short due to corruption, delays etc. 

Regardless, I'd place this book next to any post-independent book about India. It's going next to Guha's India after Gandhi on my shelf!

Given that the author has compiled a list of ideas from multiple sources, I'm left wondering: Is this book itself an Innovation or Jugaad?! 😆

>Rating: 90/100. Without a doubt. Simple, Informative, Hopeful.

{I really dislike the cover design though, the color, the fonts - just a minor gripe, but also proves that books are not to be judged by their covers!}

Would love to know your thoughts on the book/innovations you think deserve a mention :)

>Premise:

This book lists out 100 innovations that helped post-independent India transform the lives of the masses. 

I was looking for this sort of book for a while, got this in 2024, read a few chapters but then DNF'd. I picked it up again during my Naipaul reading, as it kept popping up (as a counterpoint) whenever Naipaul mentioned "intermediate technologies" or lack of indigenous capabilities in India@1975. 

>What I Loved: 

• Structure: Book has 10 Sections with the 100 innovations thematically grouped. The introduction makes it clear it's not a watertight classification, and many innovations had to be skipped; it's of course a subjective list (which is why I'd love for you guys to mention any idea he missed. Will be fun!). 
• Chapters: ~Each chapter has 2 parts - Description and Key Players of the Innovation. I really liked this style. Author is able to provide brief backgrounds, descriptions and impacts of each innovation. 
• Innovation vs Jugaad: In the Introduction itself, author makes it very clear that the word "jugaad" is not the same as innovation. It's a temporary relief measure, often and indicator of underlying deeper issue. Author gives an example by saying "Many people labelled ISRO's recent achievements as Jugaad, to be able to launch such missions at such low cost - that's not Jugaad, that's planned efficiency." I agree with that sentiment. 
• Writing style: very simple, easy to follow. 
• I've posted the index above, so you can go through this list. My favourites (new info/impactful) I've marked with ♥️. {You wouldn't wanna see the notes I made on that index page😆} 
• There's so much to learn about India here, truly. We rarely would see a handpump or a tractor as a huge Innovation, but it truly was.

 

>Some trivia I learnt:

• Horses to Serum Institute! (world's largest vaccine maker) I think author missed an awesome opportunity to connect it to the Ashvins - horse-headed twin Gods who were associated with healing. 🐴  {Horse serum is used to produce many anti-toxins, vital for medical research}
• "Jugaad"- a Punjabi term for the cart with engine we see so often. 
• Simputer- Dvlpd by IISc Bangalore, it was a precursor to the smartphone/Apple iPhone, and many novel features like stylus, apps etc. 
• Maruti was founded by Sanjay Gandhi 
• Sam Pitroda and PN Bhagwati possibly being the most prominent innovators in this book, along with Aruna Roy+Bunker Roy! 
• Some legends worth remembering: Tarabai Modak - Aangadwadi concept; Bindeshwar Pathak - Sulabh Toilets; Dr.Yusuf Hameid - Rev.Engg Drugs; Dr. GV - Aravind Eye Care; Dr. Pramod Sethi - Jaipur Foot; GR Gopinath- Air Deccan; Nandan Nilekani - Aadhaar; Sonam Wangchuk- Ice Stupa; Rajender Singh - Dead Rivers Revival; Pupal Jayakar- Dilli Haat+NID; Ela Bhatt-SEWA; Mashelkar-Haldighati Warrior.
• 19 Birla Mandirs in India, each unique in its artistic motifs
• Playback singing, Geet Mala sections were great.

 

>What I didn't like:

Some innovations mentioned I feel could have been better left out in favor of genuine ones. It's subjective of course, but the ones that I've marked with ❌ in the index above pics 👆- feels like conflating jugaad with innovation. They're either just borrowed ideas from abroad, or quick fixes. {This is still an impressive list - I may disagree with only ~10/100}

>Conclusion: 

According to the author - "...the term ‘innovation’ has been used in the broadest possible sense. It covers technological innovations, novel scientific solutions, new ideas in business and industry, path-breaking government policies and programmes, grassroots innovations, laws and regulations designed to serve a unique purpose, new ways of institution-building, people’s movements and practices".  

Staying true to this, these 100 innovations are very aptly chosen. You'll be able to see how some of them are linked in a causal chain, while others in a feedback loop, and get a richer sense of Indian development too. 

It's quite a hopeful book, every incremental step towards development has to be appreciated, in spite of the immense challenges India throws at India. Author mentions in many chapters the shortcomings of certain ideas too, and how certain schemes' impacts were cut short due to corruption, delays etc. 

Regardless, I'd place this book next to any post-independent book about India. It's going next to Guha's India after Gandhi on my shelf!

Given that the author has compiled a list of ideas from multiple sources, I'm left wondering: Is this book itself an Innovation or Jugaad?! 😆

>Rating: 90/100. Without a doubt. Simple, Informative, Hopeful.

{I really dislike the cover design though, the color, the fonts - just a minor gripe, but also proves that books are not to be judged by their covers!}

Would love to know your thoughts on the book/innovations you think deserve a mention :)

>Premise:

A dystopian novel set in future Bangalore - renamed Apex City, where the Bell Curve is the foundation of administration, work, discrimination and life.

Society is divided into the Top 20%, Middle 70% {together called Virtuals}, and Bottom 10% called the Analogs.

"Productivity is Power." If you fall behind on the performance in Bell curve, you risk losing privileges, demotion, eventually exiled to the tech-less Analog World.

But the Analogs have a rebellion brewing, led by ... "The 10% Thief".

>What I loved:

• Awesome depiction of a Meritocratic Technarchy - What happens when people are shaped by the Merit Ideal, who outsource themselves to techno-algorithms for it?
• Brilliant social satires and themes like: • Discrimination in Arts • work-life balance • productivity-addiction • digitally surveillance 24x7 • social mobility • social acceptance rituals • overdependence on the algorithm • avoiding face-to-face interactions • laziness vs productivity • Effect of birth on job • Climate Change's impacts on Nation-State workings • Glass ceiling • Pro-life vs pro-choice • Merit vs Access debate • Graphic Communication vs Verbal Communication
• Awesome sci-fi elements - The virtual tours, zoomable windows, genetic modified babies, GMO plants, teleportation, robots, maglev, MIMESIS, Nebula, holographic social media apps....the cyber world is truly rich👌
• Feminism: Issues like the glass ceiling, equal-work-equal wage , pro-life vs pro-choice, patriarchy, meritocracy and equality - how would Feminism function under such a Meritocratic Technarchy?!
• Almost all characters we see are females. Even the ones in the video game! {It's done quite seamlessly, I only noticed it when writing this review!}
• My favourite chapters are Parable from the Sea 👌👌 {a metaphor for resistance, told via geology!}, Avatars {Explores the facades some people work to earn reputation - for some it means everything, for some it's nothing}, BE-Moji {Graphic communication replacing verbal communication) and ofcourse, Nina's story♥️
• Story peaks around the halfway mark ~like the bell curve (I don't know if it was intended...if it was, Lavanya ji is a genius!)
• the story is told in a very interesting episodic way - each chapter focuses on a unique life story, yet it's all pointing towards the climax, all the while explaining the cyberpunk world. {I think it'll translate very well into a TV series}

>What I didn't like:

• Writing style too simplistic at times. Rarely any long paragraphs, it feels like reading a code sometimes (Might've been intentional?!)
• Story is a bit slow, author takes her time to paint the picture of this cyberpunk society, chapter-wise, with some ingenious plots...but the overall story is quite predictable.
• Story does seem to prioritise the Sci-fi elements more than the major plot. Lavanya ji does manage to maintain a SLIM thread going through these episodes...but the climax still wasn't as impactful for me. A case of World-building>>Plot for me.
• A very Local story (only Bangalore), but the BellCorp is a global giant - would have loved to know about other SOCs mentioned too.
• Climax: Little underwhelming. The execution was awesome, but I was left wanting a bit more.

>Conclusion:

• Probably my first Indian sci-fi novel read - and it's an awesome story! For a debut, this is phenomenal, especially the chapter epigraphs 👌
• Truly in the spirit of sci-fi classics - it reminded me of Brave New World, 1984, Handmaid's Tale, Black Mirror...all rolled into a dystopian Bangalore!

I recommended this novel here - but immediately realized I hadn't actually finished it! Had left it at ~30%. Glad to have finished it today.

>Rating: 2σ {>!95% Loved it! !<}

Long review incoming, only to hopefully save your time and money :) 

>Premise: 

DD Kosambi {DDK} was an Indian Polymath, more popularly known as a Marxist historian. I'd seen this name pop up several times, in different contexts (Maths, History, Literary criticism), so I was always curious about who the heck was he?!

I'm not much of a biography reader, but I am in awe of most geniuses - Da Vinci, Einstein, Franklin, Oppenheimer... especially in awe of people who have varied interests. DDK is one of them, probably the only modern Indian Polymath I know about. (Apart from JC Bose, whose bio I have in TBR)

Was lucky to have this biography come out this month - I got my answers, and so much more! 

>Who should read it:

If you're a curious person, interested in all sorts of subjects, this man's life (and works) will be a pleasure to read. 

To give you a glimpse of DDK's mind, he contributed to - Indian History/Historiography, Archaeology, Genetics, Medicine, Numismatics, Statistics, Mathematics, Computing, Indology/Sanskrit studies, Marxism, World Peace Movement, Agriculture, Literary Criticism, Novelist.  

(These all I can remember from the book). 

>What I liked: 

• Kosambi Family Portrait: I mention this as an important heads up - because there are multiple pages where I lost interest, as there is a lot of discussion about DDK's family members. What I liked was DDK's father - Dharmanand's  story: what a legend, truly - a Gaud-Saraswat Brahmin whose arc follows that of the Buddha. Born Brahmin, lived Buddhist, died Jain! 
• Highlighting the Cost of Genius: DDK+Dharmanand's intellectual/spiritual Odyssey had terrible repercussions for the female Kosambis- author deserves full credit to highlight that. 
• To put it briefly - Dharmanand was a self-made man who learned Pali+Buddhism+Gandhianism+Marxism through his various travels away from family, and helped popularise Buddhism globally via his detailed translations. I'm telling you this here because his arc takes up 25% of the book, which by the title, was supposed to be about DDK. 🤷‍♂️
• DDK's personality: All-rounder, sharp, witty, angry, short tempered, pacifist, genius, visionary, healthy, egotist, impatient, thin-skinned, loner, workaholic, idealist, hunter, prankster! 
• Kosambi's ideas that fascinated me:

1. The idea that good economics in a society would produce great literary works, then applying Statistics to Coin Weights and Literary Texts! It reminds me of Asimov's Foundation concept of psychohistory (applying Statistics to World History). 
2. Advocating aerial photography to assess agri yields - now Remote Sensing Tech is used by ICAR.  
3. Advocating solar farms instead of nuclear energy (was ignored back then)
4. Genetic Distance Formula: how he came up with it no one knows, but it's significant. 
5. Integrative/multi-disciplinary approach to History, especially in India where fieldwork was required to compensate poor written records. 
6. His output in non-math fields was ~3X than math stuff. Goes to show he was never boxed in by his educational degree. 
7. DDK wasn't always right in his analysis, but the breadth and depth of his ideas were always admirable. 
8. A polyglot but poor in his own regional language - Marathi! Just another one of those quirks...
9. Last Pseudonym used was of a Dog-Pig: S. Ducray. Wonder why...
10. His definition of science as "cognition of necessity" and freedom as "recognition of necessity". 
11. Dharmanand's Odyssey (see pic👆)
12. SayajiRao Gaekwad III helped Dharmanand and BR Ambedkar 👏👏👏
13. DDK was never there when it mattered most (life, wife, parents' deaths). V.sad really. 
14. Monica Felton - should be mentioned for her role in DDK's Magnum Opus (later edition removed her from the Dedication)
15. Reimann Hypothesis destroyed DDK. Still unsolved. 
16. Took Gerovital for his illness, perhaps too much?! Died early, and too healthy.

 

• Mind-blowing just to know about some of the GOATS that Kosambis met/corresponded with:    Einstein, Oppenheimer, Andre Weil, John von Neumann, Bhandarkar (of BORI) and Sukhantkar (of Mahabharata critical ed.), Homi Bhabha, SayajiRao Gaekwad III, Gandhi, DD Karve, Ambedkar, Nehru, Agyeya, AL Bashum, JBS Haldane, Satish Dhawan, Kumar Shahani, Paul Erdös, Sweezy...among many others.

   

>What I didn't like:

• Structure of the Book: First few chapters focussed heavily on Dharmanand's arc, and many pages were unnecessarily detailing their family dynamics - space which I feel could have been used for discussing briefly DDK's works. I'm not downplaying the struggles of the female members of Kosambi household at all - that's really heartbreaking to read - I'm just pointing out that the structure of the book could've been much better. Author could've dedicated 2-3 chapters under the title of Family Blues, and that wouldn't have detracted me from enjoying the actual contributions of DDK. Instead, it's all over the place - one page I read about some ingenious idea by DDK, next is his poor relations with his wife/peers. Found it quite jarring. 
• Dark Academia - This really makes for a dull reading, author spends so many pages detailing academic correspondences, letters etc about DDK's works, rather than giving us a glimpse into those works. 
• Discussions on DDK's works - Idk what degree the author has, but it boggles me that he doesn't care to describe any of DDK's literary critiques, nor his maths/Stats papers. Instead, for the lone genetics paper, he spends 1-2 pages for a biology primer! The notes at the end are also quite insufficient. The author just mentions a list of DDK'S works at the end - I'd have liked for him to say at least a couple of lines about them instead of delving deep into family dynamics or academic squabbles. (list anyone can just see from the internet).

 

>Supplementary sources you'd enjoy if you liked this :

• Jon Von Neumann biography- Man from the Future by Ananyo Bhattacharya 
• JBS Haldane biography - A Dominant Character by Samanth Subramanian (DNF)
• Oppenheimer by Nolan
• GN Devy's writing on Bhartrhari 
• BR Ambedkar's Buddha and his Dhamma
• Rocket Boys TV series (for Homi Bhabha the GOAT!!)
• Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh (current read)
• Nehru's Discovery of India 
• BORI, Pune - I visited it last year after learning about its significance from Devdutt's articles - to see the only surviving oldest manuscript of Mahabharata. Learned about Bhandarkar and Sukhantkar- their efforts to make a critical edition of Mahabharata, which was later translated into English by Bibek Debroy. 
• Some Works mentioned in this book I plan to read further:

1. Urubhanga (2nd c. CE Bhasa): Duryodhana's last words to his mother. 
2. Avimaraka (Bhasa): Sheep Killer's romance story?! 
3. Kumar Shahani's 1984 Movie Tarang
4. Divine Play on Earth: Sontheimer's Discovery of India (82 min) online 
5. Vidyakara's Subhashitaratnakosha (12th c.) court poetry aphorisms 
6. Dharmanand's distillation of Buddhist text Visuddhimagga --> Samadhimagga. 
7. Shooter of Sound : story by DDK

>Conclusion: 

I will credit my own fascination and curiosity about DDK that I could finish this book - everything good about it is just due to DDK's works, not the author's style. Credit to him for highlighting the struggles that befell the Kosambi household, due to the father-son genius duo. 

Dharmanand's spiritual journey is almost complemented by DDK's intellectual journey: 2 tragic Odysseys that contributed so much to Indian thought. 

I've mentioned the crucial stuff for you all above and in the pics 👆.  Hope it helps, if you decide to buy this. 

>Rating: 7/10 

{Only because of DDK's brilliance, and the cost of genius that has been the theme of July for me - DDK and Nolan's Odysseus both drove home the same message. 

Also, spooky coincidence - I got this book the day I went to see The Odyssey, and upon returning to read it, which book do I see listed 1st in DDK's collection?👆See the last pic}

Long review incoming, only to hopefully save your time and money :) 

>Premise: 

DD Kosambi {DDK} was an Indian Polymath, more popularly known as a Marxist historian. I'd seen this name pop up several times, in different contexts (Maths, History, Literary criticism), so I was always curious about who the heck was he?!

I'm not much of a biography reader, but I am in awe of most geniuses - Da Vinci, Einstein, Franklin, Oppenheimer... especially in awe of people who have varied interests. DDK is one of them, probably the only modern Indian Polymath I know about. (Apart from JC Bose, whose bio I have in TBR)

Was lucky to have this biography come out this month - I got my answers, and so much more! 

>Who should read it:

If you're a curious person, interested in all sorts of subjects, this man's life (and works) will be a pleasure to read. 

To give you a glimpse of DDK's mind, he contributed to - Indian History/Historiography, Archaeology, Genetics, Medicine, Numismatics, Statistics, Mathematics, Computing, Indology/Sanskrit studies, Marxism, World Peace Movement, Agriculture, Literary Criticism, Novelist.  

(These all I can remember from the book). 

>What I liked: 

• Kosambi Family Portrait: I mention this as an important heads up - because there are multiple pages where I lost interest, as there is a lot of discussion about DDK's family members. What I liked was DDK's father - Dharmanand's  story: what a legend, truly - a Gaud-Saraswat Brahmin whose arc follows that of the Buddha. Born Brahmin, lived Buddhist, died Jain! 
• Highlighting the Cost of Genius: DDK+Dharmanand's intellectual/spiritual Odyssey had terrible repercussions for the female Kosambis- author deserves full credit to highlight that. 
• To put it briefly - Dharmanand was a self-made man who learned Pali+Buddhism+Gandhianism+Marxism through his various travels away from family, and helped popularise Buddhism globally via his detailed translations. I'm telling you this here because his arc takes up 25% of the book, which by the title, was supposed to be about DDK. 🤷‍♂️
• DDK's personality: All-rounder, sharp, witty, angry, short tempered, pacifist, genius, visionary, healthy, egotist, impatient, thin-skinned, loner, workaholic, idealist, hunter, prankster! 
• Kosambi's ideas that fascinated me:

1. The idea that good economics in a society would produce great literary works, then applying Statistics to Coin Weights and Literary Texts! It reminds me of Asimov's Foundation concept of psychohistory (applying Statistics to World History). 
2. Advocating aerial photography to assess agri yields - now Remote Sensing Tech is used by ICAR.  
3. Advocating solar farms instead of nuclear energy (was ignored back then)
4. Genetic Distance Formula: how he came up with it no one knows, but it's significant. 
5. Integrative/multi-disciplinary approach to History, especially in India where fieldwork was required to compensate poor written records. 
6. His output in non-math fields was ~3X than math stuff. Goes to show he was never boxed in by his educational degree. 
7. DDK wasn't always right in his analysis, but the breadth and depth of his ideas were always admirable. 
8. A polyglot but poor in his own regional language - Marathi! Just another one of those quirks...
9. Last Pseudonym used was of a Dog-Pig: S. Ducray. Wonder why...
10. His definition of science as "cognition of necessity" and freedom as "recognition of necessity". 
11. Dharmanand's Odyssey (see pic👆)
12. SayajiRao Gaekwad III helped Dharmanand and BR Ambedkar 👏👏👏
13. DDK was never there when it mattered most (life, wife, parents' deaths). V.sad really. 
14. Monica Felton - should be mentioned for her role in DDK's Magnum Opus (later edition removed her from the Dedication)
15. Reimann Hypothesis destroyed DDK. Still unsolved. 
16. Took Gerovital for his illness, perhaps too much?! Died early, and too healthy.

 

• Mind-blowing just to know about some of the GOATS that Kosambis met/corresponded with:    Einstein, Oppenheimer, Andre Weil, John von Neumann, Bhandarkar (of BORI) and Sukhantkar (of Mahabharata critical ed.), Homi Bhabha, SayajiRao Gaekwad III, Gandhi, DD Karve, Ambedkar, Nehru, Agyeya, AL Bashum, JBS Haldane, Satish Dhawan, Kumar Shahani, Paul Erdös, Sweezy...among many others.

   

>What I didn't like:

• Structure of the Book: First few chapters focussed heavily on Dharmanand's arc, and many pages were unnecessarily detailing their family dynamics - space which I feel could have been used for discussing briefly DDK's works. I'm not downplaying the struggles of the female members of Kosambi household at all - that's really heartbreaking to read - I'm just pointing out that the structure of the book could've been much better. Author could've dedicated 2-3 chapters under the title of Family Blues, and that wouldn't have detracted me from enjoying the actual contributions of DDK. Instead, it's all over the place - one page I read about some ingenious idea by DDK, next is his poor relations with his wife/peers. Found it quite jarring. 
• Dark Academia - This really makes for a dull reading, author spends so many pages detailing academic correspondences, letters etc about DDK's works, rather than giving us a glimpse into those works. 
• Discussions on DDK's works - Idk what degree the author has, but it boggles me that he doesn't care to describe any of DDK's literary critiques, nor his maths/Stats papers. Instead, for the lone genetics paper, he spends 1-2 pages for a biology primer! The notes at the end are also quite insufficient. The author just mentions a list of DDK'S works at the end - I'd have liked for him to say at least a couple of lines about them instead of delving deep into family dynamics or academic squabbles. (list anyone can just see from the internet).

 

>Supplementary sources you'd enjoy if you liked this :

• Jon Von Neumann biography- Man from the Future by Ananyo Bhattacharya 
• JBS Haldane biography - A Dominant Character by Samanth Subramanian (DNF)
• Oppenheimer by Nolan
• GN Devy's writing on Bhartrhari 
• BR Ambedkar's Buddha and his Dhamma
• Rocket Boys TV series (for Homi Bhabha the GOAT!!)
• Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh (current read)
• Nehru's Discovery of India 
• BORI, Pune - I visited it last year after learning about its significance from Devdutt's articles - to see the only surviving oldest manuscript of Mahabharata. Learned about Bhandarkar and Sukhantkar- their efforts to make a critical edition of Mahabharata, which was later translated into English by Bibek Debroy. 
• Some Works mentioned in this book I plan to read further:

1. Urubhanga (2nd c. CE Bhasa): Duryodhana's last words to his mother. 
2. Avimaraka (Bhasa): Sheep Killer's romance story?! 
3. Kumar Shahani's 1984 Movie Tarang
4. Divine Play on Earth: Sontheimer's Discovery of India (82 min) online 
5. Vidyakara's Subhashitaratnakosha (12th c.) court poetry aphorisms 
6. Dharmanand's distillation of Buddhist text Visuddhimagga --> Samadhimagga. 
7. Shooter of Sound : story by DDK

>Conclusion: 

I will credit my own fascination and curiosity about DDK that I could finish this book - everything good about it is just due to DDK's works, not the author's style. Credit to him for highlighting the struggles that befell the Kosambi household, due to the father-son genius duo. 

Dharmanand's spiritual journey is almost complemented by DDK's intellectual journey: 2 tragic Odysseys that contributed so much to Indian thought. 

I've mentioned the crucial stuff for you all above and in the pics 👆.  Hope it helps, if you decide to buy this. 

>Rating: 7/10 

{Only because of DDK's brilliance, and the cost of genius that has been the theme of July for me - DDK and Nolan's Odysseus both drove home the same message. 

Also, spooky coincidence - I got this book the day I went to see The Odyssey, and upon returning to read it, which book do I see listed 1st in DDK's collection?👆See the last pic}

Long review incoming, only to hopefully save your time and money :) 

>Premise: 

DD Kosambi {DDK} was an Indian Polymath, more popularly known as a Marxist historian. I'd seen this name pop up several times, in different contexts (Maths, History, Literary criticism), so I was always curious about who the heck was he?!

I'm not much of a biography reader, but I am in awe of most geniuses - Da Vinci, Einstein, Franklin, Oppenheimer... especially in awe of people who have varied interests. DDK is one of them, probably the only modern Indian Polymath I know about. (Apart from JC Bose, whose bio I have in TBR)

Was lucky to have this biography come out this month - I got my answers, and so much more! 

>Who should read it:

If you're a curious person, interested in all sorts of subjects, this man's life (and works) will be a pleasure to read. 

To give you a glimpse of DDK's mind, he contributed to - Indian History/Historiography, Archaeology, Genetics, Medicine, Numismatics, Statistics, Mathematics, Computing, Indology/Sanskrit studies, Marxism, World Peace Movement, Agriculture, Literary Criticism, Novelist.  

(These all I can remember from the book). 

>What I liked: 

• Kosambi Family Portrait: I mention this as an important heads up - because there are multiple pages where I lost interest, as there is a lot of discussion about DDK's family members. What I liked was DDK's father - Dharmanand's  story: what a legend, truly - a Gaud-Saraswat Brahmin whose arc follows that of the Buddha. Born Brahmin, lived Buddhist, died Jain! 
• Highlighting the Cost of Genius: DDK+Dharmanand's intellectual/spiritual Odyssey had terrible repercussions for the female Kosambis- author deserves full credit to highlight that. 
• To put it briefly - Dharmanand was a self-made man who learned Pali+Buddhism+Gandhianism+Marxism through his various travels away from family, and helped popularise Buddhism globally via his detailed translations. I'm telling you this here because his arc takes up 25% of the book, which by the title, was supposed to be about DDK. 🤷‍♂️
• DDK's personality: All-rounder, sharp, witty, angry, short tempered, pacifist, genius, visionary, healthy, egotist, impatient, thin-skinned, loner, workaholic, idealist, hunter, prankster! 
• Kosambi's ideas that fascinated me:

1. The idea that good economics in a society would produce great literary works, then applying Statistics to Coin Weights and Literary Texts! It reminds me of Asimov's Foundation concept of psychohistory (applying Statistics to World History). 
2. Advocating aerial photography to assess agri yields - now Remote Sensing Tech is used by ICAR.  
3. Advocating solar farms instead of nuclear energy (was ignored back then)
4. Genetic Distance Formula: how he came up with it no one knows, but it's significant. 
5. Integrative/multi-disciplinary approach to History, especially in India where fieldwork was required to compensate poor written records. 
6. His output in non-math fields was ~3X than math stuff. Goes to show he was never boxed in by his educational degree. 
7. DDK wasn't always right in his analysis, but the breadth and depth of his ideas were always admirable. 
8. A polyglot but poor in his own regional language - Marathi! Just another one of those quirks...
9. Last Pseudonym used was of a Dog-Pig: S. Ducray. Wonder why...
10. His definition of science as "cognition of necessity" and freedom as "recognition of necessity". 
11. Dharmanand's Odyssey (see pic👆)
12. SayajiRao Gaekwad III helped Dharmanand and BR Ambedkar 👏👏👏
13. DDK was never there when it mattered most (life, wife, parents' deaths). V.sad really. 
14. Monica Felton - should be mentioned for her role in DDK's Magnum Opus (later edition removed her from the Dedication)
15. Reimann Hypothesis destroyed DDK. Still unsolved. 
16. Took Gerovital for his illness, perhaps too much?! Died early, and too healthy.

 

• Mind-blowing just to know about some of the GOATS that Kosambis met/corresponded with:    Einstein, Oppenheimer, Andre Weil, John von Neumann, Bhandarkar (of BORI) and Sukhantkar (of Mahabharata critical ed.), Homi Bhabha, SayajiRao Gaekwad III, Gandhi, DD Karve, Ambedkar, Nehru, Agyeya, AL Bashum, JBS Haldane, Satish Dhawan, Kumar Shahani, Paul Erdös, Sweezy...among many others.

   

>What I didn't like:

• Structure of the Book: First few chapters focussed heavily on Dharmanand's arc, and many pages were unnecessarily detailing their family dynamics - space which I feel could have been used for discussing briefly DDK's works. I'm not downplaying the struggles of the female members of Kosambi household at all - that's really heartbreaking to read - I'm just pointing out that the structure of the book could've been much better. Author could've dedicated 2-3 chapters under the title of Family Blues, and that wouldn't have detracted me from enjoying the actual contributions of DDK. Instead, it's all over the place - one page I read about some ingenious idea by DDK, next is his poor relations with his wife/peers. Found it quite jarring. 
• Dark Academia - This really makes for a dull reading, author spends so many pages detailing academic correspondences, letters etc about DDK's works, rather than giving us a glimpse into those works. 
• Discussions on DDK's works - Idk what degree the author has, but it boggles me that he doesn't care to describe any of DDK's literary critiques, nor his maths/Stats papers. Instead, for the lone genetics paper, he spends 1-2 pages for a biology primer! The notes at the end are also quite insufficient. The author just mentions a list of DDK'S works at the end - I'd have liked for him to say at least a couple of lines about them instead of delving deep into family dynamics or academic squabbles. (list anyone can just see from the internet).

 

>Supplementary sources you'd enjoy if you liked this :

• Jon Von Neumann biography- Man from the Future by Ananyo Bhattacharya 

• JBS Haldane biography - A Dominant Character by Samanth Subramanian (DNF)

• Oppenheimer by Nolan

• GN Devy's writing on Bhartrhari 

• BR Ambedkar's Buddha and his Dhamma

• Rocket Boys TV series (for Homi Bhabha the GOAT!!)

• Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh (current read)

• Nehru's Discovery of India 

• BORI, Pune - I visited it last year after learning about its significance from Devdutt's articles - to see the only surviving oldest manuscript of Mahabharata. Learned about Bhandarkar and Sukhantkar- their efforts to make a critical edition of Mahabharata, which was later translated into English by Bibek Debroy. 

• Some Works mentioned in this book I plan to read further:

1. Urubhanga (2nd c. CE Bhasa): Duryodhana's last words to his mother.  Avimaraka (Bhasa): Sheep Killer's romance story?! 
2. Kumar Shahani's 1984 Movie Tarang
3. Divine Play on Earth: Sontheimer's Discovery of India (82 min) online 
4. Vidyakara's Subhashitaratnakosha (12th c.) court poetry aphorisms 
5. Dharmanand's distillation of Buddhist text Visuddhimagga --> Samadhimagga. 
6. Shooter of Sound : story by DDK

>Conclusion: 

I will credit my own fascination and curiosity about DDK that I could finish this book - everything good about it is just due to DDK's works, not the author's style. Credit to him for highlighting the struggles that befell the Kosambi household, due to the father-son genius duo. 

Dharmanand's spiritual journey is almost complemented by DDK's intellectual journey: 2 tragic Odysseys that contributed so much to Indian thought. 

I've mentioned the crucial stuff for you all above and in the pics 👆.  Hope it helps, if you decide to buy this. 

>Rating: 7/10 

{Only because of DDK's brilliance, and the cost of genius that has been the theme of July for me - DDK and Nolan's Odysseus both drove home the same message. 

Also, spooky coincidence - I got this book the day I went to see The Odyssey, and upon returning to read it, which book do I see listed 1st in DDK's collection?👆See the last pic}

Just arrived. This and Nolan's movie tonight - gonna be fun!

>Premise:

A short historical fiction play about Kalidasa and his tragic love life, his pursuit of poetry and success taking him to palaces away from his rural roots, and his muse - Mallika. Promises break, loneliness endured, and in the end, the rain returns to change lives again.

>Structure:

Play is in 3 Acts:

• Act 1: Kalidasa's Rural Life, Departure.
• Act 2: Time skip: Mallika's Life
• Act 3: The Return.

>What I loved:

• Barring some words, the language (hindi) was pretty easy to follow.
• The Fawn's symbolism: innocence, saved by Kalidasa from the Hunter, but in Act 2, he himself becomes the hunter in a way! He asks for the village's descriptions along with "stones and deer" to be brought to him at Ujjain - away from their homes - a death of a kind. A shift from pure desire to possessive desire, a symptom of trying to carry one's roots far away (all one can get, is a degraded simulacrum, a copy).
• In some sense, it seems Mohan ji wrote this love-separation drama also to reflect the rural-urban tension, when one has to leave home for better opportunities...the sacrifices of those left behind. In that sense, it's quite universal, and modern too.
• So many themes of love, separation, longing, honor, responsibility, perception, integrity, Nature/Rural vs Culture/Palace Lives, Metaphor vs Literal, Duality etc are present here.
• There's a bit of comedy duo too! 2 duos actually. R-S and A-A. A-A and Vilom-Kalidasa, they depict duality/opposition brilliantly. One leads to inaction, other leads to action.
• Time v/s Emotions: Time will always win.
• How can a book with blank pages be a masterpiece? This section in the story blew my mind. I never could have come up with such a beautiful way to look at it! For that section alone, I would implore you all to read this! Kalidasa's epic works isn't Meghadoot or Kumarsambhav or Abhigya-Shakuntala then, it's that Blank Book - That is the source for all his other works! 🤯
• The Ending: >!Kalidasa and Mallika, years apart, separate again, !< on a rainy day.

>Conclusion:

The one who stays behind, is the one who actually moved on, while the one who moved on, got stuck behind! This brilliant paradoxical tragic love story is truly a masterpiece.

So many themes seamlessly woven in <60 pages! (effectively, the book size is small).

>Rating: 10/10

{I'd recco getting this Rajkamal Publication, it has character pics from different adaptations, a glossary of difficult words, and even an Assessment at the end! 👆}

{Review is in English because I wish to share this experience with all here, and English translation of the book is available, along with the adapted play with English subs here}.

>Premise:

A short historical fiction play about Kalidasa and his tragic love life, his pursuit of poetry and success taking him to palaces away from his rural roots, and his muse - Mallika. Promises break, loneliness endured, and in the end, the rain returns to change lives again.

>Structure:

Play is in 3 Acts:

• Act 1: Kalidasa's Rural Life, Departure.
• Act 2: Time skip: Mallika's Life
• Act 3: The Return.

>What I loved:

• Barring some words, the language (hindi) was pretty easy to follow.
• The Fawn's symbolism: innocence, saved by Kalidasa from the Hunter, but in Act 2, he himself becomes the hunter in a way! He asks for the village's descriptions along with "stones and deer" to be brought to him at Ujjain - away from their homes - a death of a kind. A shift from pure desire to possessive desire, a symptom of trying to carry one's roots far away (all one can get, is a degraded simulacrum, a copy).
• In some sense, it seems Mohan ji wrote this love-separation drama also to reflect the rural-urban tension, when one has to leave home for better opportunities...the sacrifices of those left behind. In that sense, it's quite universal, and modern too.
• So many themes of love, separation, longing, honor, responsibility, perception, integrity, Nature/Rural vs Culture/Palace Lives, Metaphor vs Literal, Duality etc are present here.
• There's a bit of comedy duo too! 2 duos actually. R-S and A-A. A-A and Vilom-Kalidasa, they depict duality/opposition brilliantly. One leads to inaction, other leads to action.
• Time v/s Emotions: Time will always win.
• How can a book with blank pages be a masterpiece? This section in the story blew my mind. I never could have come up with such a beautiful way to look at it! For that section alone, I would implore you all to read this! Kalidasa's epic works isn't Meghadoot or Kumarsambhav or Abhigya-Shakuntala then, it's that Blank Book - That is the source for all his other works! 🤯
• The Ending: >!Kalidasa and Mallika, years apart, separate again, !< on a rainy day.

>Conclusion:

The one who stays behind, is the one who actually moved on, while the one who moved on, got stuck behind! This brilliant paradoxical tragic love story is truly a masterpiece.

So many themes seamlessly woven in <60 pages! (effectively, the book size is small).

>Rating: 10/10

{I'd recco getting this Rajkamal Publication, it has character pics from different adaptations, a glossary of difficult words, and even an Assessment at the end! 👆}

{Review is in English because I wish to share this experience with all here, and English translation of the book is available, along with the adapted play with English subs here}.

>Premise:

A short historical fiction play about Kalidasa and his tragic love life, his pursuit of poetry and success taking him to palaces away from his rural roots, and his muse - Mallika. Promises break, loneliness endured, and in the end, the rain returns to change lives again.

>Structure:

Play is in 3 Acts:

• Act 1: Kalidasa's Rural Life, Departure.
• Act 2: Time skip: Mallika's Life
• Act 3: The Return.

>What I loved:

• Barring some words, the language (hindi) was pretty easy to follow.
• The Fawn's symbolism: innocence, saved by Kalidasa from the Hunter, but in Act 2, he himself becomes the hunter in a way! He asks for the village's descriptions along with "stones and deer" to be brought to him at Ujjain - away from their homes - a death of a kind. A shift from pure desire to possessive desire, a symptom of trying to carry one's roots far away (all one can get, is a degraded simulacrum, a copy).
• In some sense, it seems Mohan ji wrote this love-separation drama also to reflect the rural-urban tension, when one has to leave home for better opportunities...the sacrifices of those left behind. In that sense, it's quite universal, and modern too.
• So many themes of love, separation, longing, honor, responsibility, perception, integrity, Nature/Rural vs Culture/Palace Lives, Metaphor vs Literal, Duality etc are present here.
• There's a bit of comedy duo too! 2 duos actually. R-S and A-A. A-A and Vilom-Kalidasa, they depict duality/opposition brilliantly. One leads to inaction, other leads to action.
• Time v/s Emotions: Time will always win.
• How can a book with blank pages be a masterpiece? This section in the story blew my mind. I never could have come up with such a beautiful way to look at it! For that section alone, I would implore you all to read this! Kalidasa's epic works isn't Meghadoot or Kumarsambhav or Abhigya-Shakuntala then, it's that Blank Book - That is the source for all his other works! 🤯
• The Ending: >!Kalidasa and Mallika, years apart, separate again, !< on a rainy day.

>Conclusion:

The one who stays behind, is the one who actually moved on, while the one who moved on, got stuck behind! This brilliant paradoxical tragic love story is truly a masterpiece.

So many themes seamlessly woven in <60 pages! (effectively, the book size is small).

>Rating: 10/10

{I'd recco getting this Rajkamal Publication, it has character pics from different adaptations, a glossary of difficult words, and even an Assessment at the end! 👆}

{Review is in English because I wish to share this experience with all here, and English translation of the book is available, along with the adapted play with English subs here}.