yes, there is a hope...

Peter Theil, a technocrat, figures as one of the lead mentors in Silicon Valley for entrepreneurship. He has also taught at Stanford. Zero  to One :  Notes on start-ups or how to build the future is a book which he has written along with Blake Masters, published by Penguin Random House in 2014.  The book is presented in 14 chapters ranging from compilation of experiences on start-up , culture , entrepreneurship and business world, has a cult following. in this book, he tried to work on some of the concepts for new age business world and suggested new age founders. He writes that this book is about how to build companies that create new things. Technology is miraculous because it allows us to do more with less, ratcheting fundamental capabilities to a higher level. He explains why it is easier to start a new technology in start-ups as he says it’s hard to develop new things in big organisations, and it’s even harder to do it by yourself. Bureaucratic hierarchy is more s...

  Why The Poor Don’t Kill Us  The Psychology of Indians  by Manu Joseph, published by Aleph Book Company in 2025. Before I put my own words in the blog, lets read the author's note which states,  “This book is about how Indians behave, narrowly by a mystery – why is there peace between the classes in one of the most unequal regions on earth?” Manu Joseph ( Here ) is an Indian writer, journalist and editor of Open magazine. Previously, he has written fictions and has long and illustrious literary career. As a reporter, he has covered many stories across the India and world. This book basically sums up his observations on such assignments and othwerwise and its analysis.   The author has divided this book into 18 chapters and in chapter 1, he deals with " Who is Poor ". Basically in India, we cannot have a definition what the world over is accepted and how it is governed by pure pragmatism where he gives some anecdote relating to his experience as reporter wh...

These days, I am reading books related to spirituality, philosophy, yogic practices and Hinduism.                  In the series, recently, I have completed Aadhyatmikta : Explorations into Hindu Spiritual Practices written by Rajarshi Ranjan Nandy. The book has been published by Bluprint in 2023.                   The book is divided into two parts. In part one, the author has discussed the general concepts relating to Sanatan dharma like reforms, sadhana, difference between experience and realisation, Purush and Prakrati. In the  part two, the author has developed into different aspects of this and Devi‘s which are in Sanatan Dharma, which includes some of very famous forms of Shakti like Chinnamasta, Kubjika, Bhairavi. Amongst Devta’s he has discussed Ganesh, Shiv, Hanuman, Garuda which introduces you to their puja padhatti. The glossary contains meaning of the words used in...

"How We Learn” by Stanislas Dehaene published by Penguin Books shakes the old held notions about how learning happens, the basis of our  civilisation. A must read for academicians, practitioners, policy makers in education sector, public policy, the book opens up new perspectives and present insights after considerable research. The book is divided into 3 parts. While the first part deals with what is learning per se, the later part delves into the process of learning which our brain adopts. The concept of hardwired and plasticity is discussed and makes a case for adaptability in learning process. The author states that the learning is a process which is unique to homo sapiens as they can adapt and learn. infact, Pedagogy is a priviledge for us as no other species teaches its offspring, takes time to monitor progress and point out errors. the invention of school has vastly added our capacity and capabilities.  In chapter 2, Why Our brains learns better than current machines:, ...

India : A Sacred Geography Do you remember review of Benaras: The City of Light written by Diana L. Eck? As I read more and more about her books, I am sort of liking her. The depth she had in exploring the Indic religious organisation which is very rare for someone looking from outsiders perspective. This book India : A Sacred Geography, published in 2012 by Random House is next in series for the author wherein she has delved into the vastness of religiosity of India as a country. The book is divided into 10 chapters starting with a detailed note on transliteration and pronunciation. In A Sacred Geography, an imagined landscape, the author identifies tirthas as “crossings”  where one’s prayers are amplified, one’s rites are more efficacious, one’s vows more readily fulfilled. The book indicted that in the ancient shastras not only geographical teerthas but also teerths of heart are referred as “manas teerthas”. These are enumerated as “truth, celibacy, charity, patience, self-contr...

 “आपका बंटी” मन्नू भंडारी के उन बेजोड़ उपन्यासों में है जिनके बिना न बीसवीं सदी के हिंदी उपन्यास की बात की जा सकती है ना स्त्री विमर्श को सही धरातल पर समझा जा सकता है। बच्चों की निगाहों और घायल होती सम्वेदना की निगाहों से देखी गई परिवार की यह कहानी बच्चों की दुनिया को एक भयावह दुस्वप्न बना जाती है। कहना मुश्किल है कि यह कहानी बालक की है या माँ की क्यूँकि सभी तो एक दूसरे में ऐसे उलझे हैं कि एक की त्रासदी सभी की ज़िंदगी में भागी बन जाती है। मन्नू भंडारी हिंदी की प्रसिद्ध लेखिका है जिनका जन्म मध्य प्रदेश में हुआ था। आपके कई उपन्यास प्रसिद्ध हैं जिनमें महाभोज और "आपका बंटी" (राधाकृष्ण प्रकाशन 1971) सबसे प्रमुख हैं। आपका बंटी मुख्यतः पति और पत्नी के बीच मंझधार में फँसे उस अबोध बालक की कहानी है जो माँ और पिता के प्यार को संपूर्ण रूप से ना पा सका। यह एक ऐसी कहानी है जो एक कार्यकारी महिला चुनौती का सामना करती है, कैसे वह समाज के लोगों को और अपने परिवार और बच्चों की देख रेख के बीच में सामंजस्य बैठाने की कोशिश करती है और उसमें अपने स्वयं के अस्तित्व को भूल जाने दिया। उसको ज़िंदा रखने क...

THE LUMUMBA PLOT  The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination  The race of one-upmanship between USA and USSR during the cold war era was heating up. The competing blocks fought for the supremacy in all aspects of life and at any cost. The roles of their agencies CIA and KGB was very crucial and is well documented in the now declassified files.  This book is written by Stuart A Reid who is executive editor of Foreign Affairs magazine and is now associated ith CFR.  It revolves around the Democratic Republic of Congo which was also known as Zaire for some time. The central African country is one of the largest country in the world criss-crossed by River Congo. The country was a  personal estate of King Leopold of Belgium before becoming the  colony of Belgium.  After a brief struggle, the country got its Independence on 30 June 1960 but due to absense of administrative machinery and institutions to support the sudden withdrawal of Belgian...

 A Scholarly Work Guns, Germs and Steel - The Fates of Human Societies written by Jared Diamond and published by Penguin Random House in 1998 is a brief history of evolution of human civilization. Before we delve into the specifics of the book, we must introduce the author Jared Diamond, for he is one of the prolific author writing on evolution, human history. He is professor of Geography at UCLA and won Pulitzer Prize for this book. In order to explore the evolutionary process deeper he studied anthropology, biology, genetics, linguistics, ecology and history. His scholarship leaves an indelible mark which is evident in the book. The book revolves around the quest of the author to find answer as to why human development proceeded at such different rates in different continents and societies. What factors have caused this differential rate of evolution where even nearly placed societies experienced different growth trajectory. He spent 33 years in New Guinea for understanding the s...

Every book for that matter offers others perspective about either fictional, or on worldly matters. Readers may agree or disagree with the content, opinion or even factual matrix presented by the author. Every reviewer over a period of time must have felt that it is difficult to reveiw few books because you become a participant in the writers journey and lose objectivity. Objectivity infact is not necessarily to be imposed on each and every aspect. Few reads are catharactic, few are enlightening and few are to be lived.   One such book which I completed recently is "Blaze : A Son's Trial by Fire" written by Nidhi Poddar and Sushil Poddar.   The book publised in 2021 by Rupa Books and is available in English, Hindi and Marathi edition.  It is worth mentioning that I've known the authors forehand before I've read the book so the book came as a shocker on knowing what they have gone through.  Its intriguing how people hide the emotions, the tumult they undergo and...

  Alexander the Great : The Man who didn't knew where to Stop. The book Alexander the Great written by Jacob Abbott and published by Fineprints Classic is a biography of one of the greatest military general and ruler in the recorded human history. In this book the author has tried to give a chronological introduction of Alexander. The book is written in descriptive style where major life events of Alexander have been touched upon.  Born in BC-356 to the King Philip of Macedon his mother was Olympias and she also belonged to Epirus empire. The uniqueness of the location of macedonia was that it was situated between Asia and Erurope. The Asiatic side was occupied by Persian , Assyrians and the Medes while the Europeans side was dominated by Greek and Romans. Both these sides were completely different in approach and organisations. The Asiatic side was wealthy, luxury driven while Eureopean side was full of energy, genius and force. Persians have huge army, horses, tents, fi...

This book was recommended by one of top oncologist of Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata to me 2016. As it usually happens, someone borrowed the book to never return it again and I too, let it go. I again purchased the book recently and gave a patient reading. Its Phenomenal. You enter into the Paul's world from first page itself and get immersed as you procced further. For someone who is not  a professional writer and whose its a debut book (sadly, his last too), the flow, emotions and words are so much intertwined that its like a music, a poetry. The book is divided formally into 2 parts, first part titled "In Perfect health I Begin" and the second one titled "Cease Not till Death". There is a concluding part written by his wife Dr. Lucy Kalanithi which was added after death of Dr. Kalanithi. As in my previous blogs I have reviewed  Being Mortal by Dr. Atul Gawande which has dealt with the subject of mortality in detail. He has also reviewed this book as " Rat...