Books I read and the courses I did in 2020.

BOOKS I READ IN 2020

1. The Third Pillar (Raghuram Rajan) : A big picture framework to understand how the state, the markets, and the third pillar namely our communities interact. Why things begin to break down, and how we can find our way back to a more secure and stable plane.

2. The Anarchy (William Dalrymple) : How the East India Company took over large swaths of Asia, and the devastating results of the corporation running a country.

3. दो लोग (गुलज़ार) : 1947 के देश, शहर, गाँव, परिवार एवं समाजिक विभाजन की त्रासदी से जुड़ीं घटनाएँ और पात्रों पे आधारित एक लघु उपन्यास

4. Circe (Madeline Miller) : A fictional dramatisation of the story from Greek mythology of Circe, a sorceress and the daughter of Helios, the Sun God, and her exile to an uninhabited island.

5. Snow (Orhan Pamuk) : A story of love and jealousy set in a remote town in Turkey, against the backdrop of conflict between emerging political Islamism and Ataturk's version of secularism.

6. When Nietzsche Wept (Irwin Yalom) : A historical fiction novel, set in nineteenth century Europe, based on dramatised conversations between the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche with the founder of psychotherapy, Josef Breuer.

7. The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco) : Another historical fiction novel, this best selling classic from the 1980s, is set in a remote abbey in 14th century Italy. It is a curious mix of a Holmesian murder mystery and ecclesiastical dissertations in early modern Christianity.

8. Leonardo da Vinci (Walter Isaacson) : This is a biography of the Italian polymath of High Renaissance, who is widely considered one of the most diversely talented individuals ever to have lived. It weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science.

9. Normal People (Sally Rooney) : A light, and for the most part tender, love story of two young friends who alternately drift close and further apart, as they are growing up, first in school and then in college seeking to set a course for their careers.

10. Arguably - Selected Essays (Christopher Hitchens)-Partial : A selection of the prolific writings of the American debater, humanist and journalist Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011), who wrote on politics, current affairs, religion, literature, and a myriad of other topics. While many of his essays have interest only for the American audience and many have time-expired in relevancy, I selected the essays from this compilation for my reading, which had a culturally broader and more permanent appeal.

11. An Instance of the Fingerpost (Iain Pears) : Yet another historical fiction novel in my list. This one is set in the aftermath of the post Cromwell 17th century England, when monarchy had been re-established under Charles II, but suspicions of disloyalty to the Royalist cause abounded. A fellow of New College is found dead. Four characters tell the story of what happened very differently. Only one of them is telling the truth.

12. The Signal and the Noise (Nate Silver) : A serious treatise on forecasting and prediction. Aimed at lay readers, it does so without getting into complex Bayesian mathematics. The examples are polymathic, ranging from success and failures in forecasting weather, results of sporting leagues, elections, epidemics, earthquakes, climate change, terrorism and even poker. From these examples it derives and postulates what are the critical success factors in the art and science of prediction.

COURSES I DID IN 2020

1. An Economic History of the World since 1400 (Prof Donald Harreld of Brigham Young University) : A set of 48 lectures on how economics has influenced (and been influenced by) historical events and trends, including the Black Death, the Age of Exploration, the Industrial Revolution, the European colonization of Africa, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the birth of personal computing. It covers a range of economic concepts and influences including the mercantile system, Adam Smith's 'The Wealth of Nations', Marxist economics, African independence movements, and the formation of economic multilateral arrangements like the European Union, ASEAN, NAFTA etc.

2. Science and Religion (Prof Lawrence Principe of John Hopkins University) : A set of 12 thought provoking lectures, tracing the history of the interaction, clashes, influences and partnerships between Science and Religion (read Christianity). Professor Principe examines ideas about reason and faith, and he follows St. Thomas Aquinas's exploration of miracles, the response of the church to Copernicus's and Galileo's assertion of helio-centricity, the inspiration of Darwin's natural selection. and the religious implications of big bang theory in Christianity.

BOOKS LINED UP ON MY SHELF FOR EARLY 2021

1. Factfulness (Hans Rosling and others) : A book about 'the stress-reducing habit of carrying only opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. As per the book, it turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think.

2. Dreamers and Unicorns (Abhijit Bhaduri) : A book about the rapidly shifting workplace, workskills and work structures and about how leadership, talent and culture are the new growth drivers.

3. अधिकार (नरेंद्र कोहली) : महाभारत की कथा पर आधारित उपन्यासमाला 'महासमर' की दूसरी कड़ी । 'अधिकार' की कहानी हस्तिनापुर में पांडवों के शैशव से आरम्भ हो कर वारणावत के अग्निकांड पर जा कर समाप्त होती है । वस्तुत: यह खंड अधिकारों की व्याख्या, अधिकारों के लिए हस्तिनापुर में निरंतर होने वाले षड्यंत्र, अधिकार को प्राप्त करने की तैयारी तथा संघर्ष की कथा है ।

4. A Promised Land (Barack Obama) : A highly anticipated first volume of the presidential memoirs of Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to becoming the leader of the free world.

The Resume of a Genius

The oldest surviving 'Resume' in history.
Leonardo da Vinci's pitch letter to the Duke of Milan 

The year : 1482

The place : Milan, Italy

A 30 year old Leonardo da Vinci (yes, the Mona Lisa guy), after working for 14 years in Florence, has just shifted to the city. He needs to find work, and so he decides to send a letter directly to the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, to ask for a job at the court. He pulls out his quill and fresh parchment, and starts :  "To My Most Illustrious Lord... ", which, I guess, is just a more elaborate way of saying "Dear Sir". 

This letter is perhaps, the oldest surviving resume in history. We will talk more about this later in this article, but first we need to rewind a bit to set the context.

The year : 1468

The place: Florence. Italy

With hardly any formal schooling, a 14 year Leonardo from the small town of Vinci, finds an apprenticeship in nearby Florence, at the workshop of master painter and goldsmith Andrea Verrochhio. Leonardo is talented, a keen observer, and a quick learner. It's therefore no surprise that, in a few more years, Leonardo is as good, if not better than, his master. From here, to introducing his own distinctive signature styles and innovations in art, are but a few quick steps for him.  Tick those off as done too. (As examples, Google for 'sfumato' or 'chiaroscuro').  The competitive painting scene of early Renaissance, clearly has a new name to contend with.

But Leonardo is not just an artist. He's versatile. He's a scientist, He's an engineer. He’s an architect. He's an innovator. He’s an inventor. He's a seeker of beauty. He seeks beauty in his art, in nature, in his imagination, and in his ideas. His notebooks are quickly filling up, with sketches of human anatomy made while dissecting human cadavers, perspective drawings, studies for his upcoming paintings, geometrical shapes, mechanical drawings of flying machines, quotes from Dante's 'Inferno', a description of the tongue of a woodpecker (no jokes, it's there), and even to-do-lists. All these mixed up together, very often on the same page. For Leonardo, art is connected   to engineering, which is connected to natural sciences. His genius lies in the harmonies and analogies that he finds between these seemingly disparate disciplines, even if such connections lie in the cusp between his imagination and reality. 

From this description, you may think that Leonardo is by now the toast of the culturally virile city of Florence. 

Well not quite. Yes certainly, by now he has produced some great paintings commissioned by wealthy families and by religious establishments, both independently as well as collaboratively with Verrochhio. But he has also left many of his works unfinished or undelivered to clients, to which he occasionally goes back, to improve, embellish or perfect them. This, as you may imagine, does nothing to build his reputation as a reliable artist. There are others, like Botticelli, who are able to develop much better relationships with wealthy patrons, like the Medici family, and are the talk of the town.

Leonardo is different from the crowd in other ways too. He is illegitimate, left handed, vegetarian and at times heretical. He is a homosexual (though to be fair, this isn't very  uncommon in Florence at this time), and is battling accusations of sodomy.  He is also battling his own demons, mental despair and depression. 

Time flies. Before he realises it, Leonardo is in his late twenties. Maybe it's just inertia, but he hangs on to working in Verrocchio's workshop, well after his co-apprentices have left. He finally does leave it to set up his own studio, but that too doesn't go anywhere either.

So he decides to leave the city to try his luck at building a career in Milan, a city three times bigger than Florence. Life in Milan can be expected to be quite different. While art thrives here as well, it's not in the same league as Florence. While Florence was the artistic capital Milan was intellectually diverse. Unlike Florence, which is a republic (though admittedly controlled behind the scenes by the wealthy Medici family), Milan has a hereditary ruler - the Duke. Succession intrigues and assassinations are to be expected. As are wars with other city-states (including Florence). 

Dear readers, this is where we must return back to Leonardo writing the letter to the Duke of Milan asking for work. In other words, his resume. Here I must pause and pose a question to you. 

You have now got some understanding, through my description, of Leonardo, his work so far, his  capabilities and his situation. If you really think about it, it's not a very different situation than what many of us face when we look at a mid career switch. Some of you may also be viewing yourselves as the under recognized or underpaid performers in your organization and are looking for a change. If not, you may face this situation sometime down the road in your careers. 

You may therefore find it relevant and interesting to think about the following :

How would you advise Leonardo to structure his resume? What should he highlight, include, or totally leave out?

1) The work that he produced during the last 14 years?

2) The new painting styles that he developed and adopted?

3) All his skills? His talents? His achievements?

4) Client testimonials/references? 

5)  Ideas scribbled in your diary but which have just remained there? 

Once you have answered this for yourself, you may like to read the English translation of Leonardo's actual letter here  (or see the Annexure below) and compare it with your advice to him. 

Did your thoughts match with that of Leonardo? What do you think are the learnings that you can draw from Leonardo's approach? Do you believe Leonardo was being truthful? What are the pitfalls of this approach? Does/Did your actual mid career resume (if there is one) match your answers here? 

I would love to see your comments here or on the post on LinkedIn.

PS : For those who didn't actually bother reading Leonardo's resume here are the key points.

• Almost the entire resume is about the client and not about his own past achievements. It’s not about how great he is but about how useful he can be. He anticipates needs of the client and describes precise solutions for those needs. Many of these pertain to military equipment and situations. He has obviously researched what they may want.
• Almost the entire resume is about specific ideas which are bound to arouse interest. The ideas are presented directly, clearly and confidently. He even says "if you don't believe me I'll demonstrate them to you" (Actually, at the time of his application, he had only sketchy plans for these solutions).
• His painting skills get only a small mention and that too near the end of the letter. 
• There is no mention about Florence. Possibly Milan didn't care much about Florence.
• The resume is meant only for this client. It is not templatised or generic letter.

Incidentally, he got the job - but as a designer of stage props for pageants. Almost all the ideas in his resume were not tried till much later, and anyway most of them didn't work. 

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Annexure : English Translation of Leonardo's actual letter to the Duke of Milan

My Most Illustrious Lord,

Having now sufficiently seen and considered the achievements of all those who count themselves masters and artificers of instruments of war, and having noted that the invention and performance of the said instruments is in no way different from that in common usage, I shall endeavour, while intending no discredit to anyone else, to make myself understood to Your Excellency for the purpose of unfolding to you my secrets, and thereafter offering them at your complete disposal, and when the time is right bringing into effective operation all those things which are in part briefly listed below:

1. I have plans for very light, strong and easily portable bridges with which to pursue and, on some occasions, flee the enemy, and others, sturdy and indestructible either by fire or in battle, easy and convenient to lift and place in position. Also means of burning and destroying those of the enemy.

2. I know how, in the course of the siege of a terrain, to remove water from the moats and how to make an infinite number of bridges, mantlets and scaling ladders and other instruments necessary to such an enterprise.

3. Also, if one cannot, when besieging a terrain, proceed by bombardment either because of the height of the glacis or the strength of its situation and location, I have methods for destroying every fortress or other stranglehold unless it has been founded upon a rock or so forth.

4. I have also types of cannon, most convenient and easily portable, with which to hurl small stones almost like a hail-storm; and the smoke from the cannon will instil a great fear in the enemy on account of the grave damage and confusion.

5. Also, I have means of arriving at a designated spot through mines and secret winding passages constructed completely without noise, even if it should be necessary to pass underneath moats or any river.

6. Also, I will make covered vehicles, safe and unassailable, which will penetrate the enemy and their artillery, and there is no host of armed men so great that they would not break through it. And behind these the infantry will be able to follow, quite uninjured and unimpeded.

7. Also, should the need arise, I will make cannon, mortar and light ordinance of very beautiful and functional design that are quite out of the ordinary.

8. Where the use of cannon is impracticable, I will assemble catapults, mangonels, trebuckets and other instruments of wonderful efficiency not in general use. In short, as the variety of circumstances dictate, I will make an infinite number of items for attack and defence.

9. And should a sea battle be occasioned, I have examples of many instruments which are highly suitable either in attack or defence, and craft which will resist the fire of all the heaviest cannon and powder and smoke.

10. In time of peace I believe I can give as complete satisfaction as any other in the field of architecture, and the construction of both public and private buildings, and in conducting water from one place to another.

Also I can execute sculpture in marble, bronze and clay. Likewise in painting, I can do everything possible as well as any other, whosoever he may be.

Moreover, work could be undertaken on the bronze horse which will be to the immortal glory and eternal honour of the auspicious memory of His Lordship your father, and of the illustrious house of Sforza.

And if any of the above-mentioned things seem impossible or impracticable to anyone, I am most readily disposed to demonstrate them in your park or in whatsoever place shall please Your Excellency, to whom I commend myself with all possible humility.

The Name of the Rose - by Umberto Eco - Book Review

This 1980s classic is among the bestselling books of all times, having sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. I, however, came to know of it only this month, when a friend mentioned it in a casual WhatsApp chat.  

But for her serendipitous remark, I would have remained nescient to the terrible story of Adso of Melk, a Benedictine novice monk, and his mentor William of Baskerville, a Franciscan Friar, who also happens to be a semiotician (an expert in signs and symbols), their direful travel together in the winter of the year 1327 to a remote, medieval abbey somewhere in Northern Italy, to attend a theosophical disputation between factions of the Christian church, where, upon reaching, William is asked by the abbot, to investigate the mysterious death of a monk the previous day, who as it turns out is only the first of the series of victims who will die before the week is up. 

So, at the first and most explicit level, it is a whodunnit murder mystery novel, where Brother William plays the detective, and he is expected to use his acclaimed, astute observational and syllogistic skills, to find the murderer, his character redolent of Sherlock Holmes - note the deliberate choice of 'Baskerville' in his name, shadowed by Adso, as does Watson to Holmes. The confines of a secluded abbey, characters who have secrets to keep and pasts to hide, illicit love and jealousies, a library which no one is allowed to enter, a labyrinth which is indecipherable, secret entrances to vaults with inestimable riches, deaths which seem to follow a preordained sequence set in the 'John's book of revelations'- are all ingredients which fill the cornucopia from which this nice, juicy, mystery story may be partaken.  

However the author, Umberto Eco, uses the above theme of the story only to keep the reader's interest riveted, and to bind together the next level of his narrative, which centres around theosophical and religious matters. Several chapters are devoted to ecclesiastical discussions between the characters on whether Jesus laughed or not, on the impending arrival of Antichrist, on the 'poverty of Christ' and on what constitutes 'heresy' - topics which were hotly contested in the late medieval era, the heat of such contestations being enough for deep schisms and fragmentation of the Church, distancing the papal clergy (who owned large estates property and riches) from sects like Franciscans, Fraticelli and Dulcinians who believed in renouncing personal possessions and living in poverty, leading to declarations of the 'heresy' against the latter groups, with the heretics convicted at motivated inquisitions being tortured or burnt at the stake. Yeah, this stuff got real, man.  

But at the highest level the book's narrative is really about the varying approaches to 'truth'- in particular the truth defining the infallibility of 'God's word in the scriptures'. It's about 'reasoned doubt' vs 'dogma'.  It's about 'discovering the new vs protecting the ancient'.  It’s about Aristotle vs Aquinas.

Near the end of the book, when it's time for William to ruefully look back at the events in the story, he says to Adso: 

"Fear prophets, Adso, and those prepared to die for the truth, for as a rule they make many others die with them, often before them, at times instead of them."

and then goes on to add

"Perhaps the mission of those who love mankind is to make people laugh at the truth, to make truth laugh, because the only truth lies in learning to free ourselves from insane passion for the truth.”

For us, living in the current century, having been brought up on thoughts based on post-enlightenment science, these appear to be debates of the medieval area which have long been 'settled'. Yet in various forms, shapes, and intensities these issues keep recurring in our societies. So despite the author's own assertion in the preface that "...it is a tale of books, not of everyday worries...", I feel there is a relevance of the story even today.  

This review cannot be complete if I don't mention the narrative style of the book. The metanarrative style used in the book, admits to doubts about the veracity of the events which are described. In the preamble itself, the author explains to the readers that the story he is about to describe, comes from the transcriptions he made while reading the French version of a published memoirs of Adso (which he unfortunately irretrievably loses), but later in further research and discussions with scholars, he is told that no such book was ever published. Thinking that it might have been a forgery, he drops the idea of writing the book, till couple of years later, he finds the same story repeated in a totally unconnected manuscript in South America. Though still beset with doubts, he decides to recount the story as 'The Name of the Rose'. Why does the author describe all this to the reader? There does not seem to be any need to do so. No reason, unless right from the outset he wants to orient the reader's mind on the tension which exists between 'doubt' and 'truth', which the story gravitates towards.

Let truth be told. It's not quite the bedtime story one would like to curl up with on a rainy night. The writing style is very pedantic and the language is verbose at times. But to be fair to the author, he gives early warning signals about what to expect. Not too many pages down from the beginning of the book, when Adso reaches the abbey and enters the church for the first time, and he sees a carved tympanum above the doorway, the author doesn't allow him to go through till he has used him to give the reader a 2152 word description (I counted) of the carving.  If the reader passes this test of patience (and hopefully finds it fascinating) he is primed to digest the lengthy discourses on Christianity and enjoy Adso's description of his bizarre dream which lasts for a full chapter. The sentences are long and concatenated by an endless series of commas, with frequent use of words which lie outside the limits of my vocabulary (a style which I have tried to playfully imitate in this review).

If you are still not one of the 50 million people who have read the book, put it down in your don’t-die-before-reading-it-list.

My rating : 4 Stars.

When Nietzsche Wept - by Irvin Yalom - Book Review

To recommend a book with a heavy sounding title like 'When Nietzsche Wept', is a difficult task. I am sure most of my Indian friends would neither find the title appealing nor relate to it. A more intriguing title would have been : 'Whisky Sour of the Mind'. I'll explain why later in this piece, but for the moment, let’s stick with the original.

Most Indians don't relate to Nietzsche for several reasons, commencing with them having to check the spelling and also the pronunciation of his name (knee-च).  

His anti-religionist, sceptic stance ("God is Dead"),  directed against the Christian concepts of Good and Evil, does not resonate with the Indian psyche brought up on Hindu ambivalence of Dharma. His thoughts like 'Eternal Recurrence' (there is only one life which just goes on recurring ad-infinitum) are antithetical to Hindu belief of many lives which can change as per your karma. 

The shameless misappropriation and deliberate misinterpretation of his thoughts by the Nazis to justify their ideology, is off-putting. This also discouraged the British from planting his seeds in the minds of the English speaking intelligentsia during the Raj. Post independence the liberal intellectuals who drove the awareness of western philosophy in Indian Universities were more comfortable with Marx, Kant and Bentham. So Nietzsche in India, was left to be discovered  only by a few bibliophiles, most of who started and stopped their excursion with "Thus Spake Zarathustra". 

This preamble, in this review was necessary to bring out why I too, like most Indians, know very little of Nietzschean philosophy and yet after reading just this one book can sound intelligent about it. Now onto the book itself.

Irvin Yalom, the author, is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Stanford University and has written several fiction and non-fiction books. Given his academic background he calls this book a 'teaching novel'.  It's a historical fiction novel - a story of historical characters that could very well have happened but didn't.  The bulk of the novel consists of dramatised conversations between Nietzsche with Josef Breuer, another great mind in nineteenth century Europe and a distinguished physician of Vienna, who laid the foundation of psychotherapy ('talking cure'), which was later developed by his protégé Sigmund Freud. 

In the story, Breuer meets an estranged close young friend of Nietzsche, Lou Salome who says that Nietzsche is in mental despair because of his chronic migraine and is contemplating suicide. She wants Breuer to treat his mental condition using the 'talking cure' method that he used recently on another patient called 'Anna O'. She makes a further stipulation that, since Nietzsche will never knowingly accept it, Breuer must treat him without letting on that he is doing so. Persuaded more by the feminine charms of Lou Salome, rather than any conviction in his ability to help Nietzsche, Breur accepts the challenge. Lou then almost entirely retreats from the story. 

What follows is interesting intellectual sparring between Nietzsche and Breuer before they arrive at an understanding. This is where the book really warms up. Saying more would be a spoiler.

The intense conversations between the two protagonists (Nietzsche and Breuer), centre around the human mind - the cusp where philosophy meets psychotherapy. The story provides the stage to explore whether individual psychotherapy can be generalised into a medical science, and can philosophy be turned into an applied discipline, as a cure for mental distress in a given individual case. Despair, loneliness, obsession, death, betrayal, dreams, which lie at the fringes of existential spectrum, are recurrent themes in the book, as are more mundane matters like lust, duplicity and marriage.  

As they get more personal and come on first name terms the doctor-patient relationship between Friedrich and Josef blurs. Who is treating who? The treatment becomes simultaneously a contest and a collaboration. Will they meet their objectives? Can they meet their objectives?  

As a reviewer, my task is to give you an honest and good enough picture of the book so that you are either intrigued enough to read it or decide that it's not for you. Towards this end, I could have echoed the pithy descriptor - 'teaching novel' - as the author himself called it.

But as a novel, I can find several faults with it. Other than the two protagonists no other character is sufficiently developed. The female characters seem very one dimensional. The denouement seemed a bit unrealistic. 

As a teaching aid too it offers only a small window in Nietzschean thought and can't even be called a primer. Psychoanalysis was just getting seeded at that time, and  beyond a point, there isn't scope to logically expound on it. 

But yet I highly recommend it. 

In a Whiskey Sour (a cocktail with Bourbon whiskey, lime, syrup, egg white, and bitters), each ingredient individually isn't appealing when described in the recipe, but when blended in the right proportions by a good bartender it can be delightful. But even for cocktail lovers it is an acquired taste. 

Think of this book as the Whiskey Sour of the Mind. 

------

My rating:  4 stars

 

Snow – A novel by Orham Pamuk, A Book Review

Imagine that you are a writer and you want to write a novel. But you can’t decide what the theme should be. So, you ask your friends for suggestions. The following replies come in:

 

1.     Your best friend from school suggests that you write about the girl you had huge crush on. She married someone else, but he has heard that she is now divorced. This rekindles your desire to somehow reconnect and see how she reacts.

 

It sounds like a safe and workable Mills and Boonish plot. But you doubt if this will get any male readership.

 

2.     The above suggestion is leaked by your friend in your alumni WhatsApp group, and alumni groups being what they are, the guys soon put some masala into the story by reminding you that your old flame had an equally beautiful sister who seemed to be everyone’s heart throb, including that villainous bully who everyone was scared of.  

 

    “Even you, despite your feelings for her sister, were attracted to her. She’ll make a much better heroine”, they tease you.

 

This plot is certainly spicier than the last one and you think that this will appeal to both male and female readers.

 

3.     Your friend from college who fancies himself as a shayar, replies complaining that no one wants to write about poets nowadays. 

      

     “Write a novel about a poet", he suggests, "Only a poet has the ability of injecting beauty and personifying the most commonplace of things. Your poet can write a poem about a snowflake. About its lonely and melancholic life as it descends slowly to the ground. Whilst in the air, despite its loneliness, it seems to dance with capricious spontaneity as it swirls in the breeze; its carefree abandon transfering the happiness it carries within its bosom to a the person watching its descent from his window. Its identity so unique and its crystalline beauty so pure that he can't but help feel elated at the sight. As it touches the ground it abnegates its identity but not its existence. It unites its soul with the souls of all other fallen snowflakes, continuing to bring happiness to a viewer looking at the snow-covered landscape. Isn't that a purposeful life? Wouldn't you want to have such a life? Wouldn't you want to have such a death?"

 

“Hmmm…if I write this about this kind of philosophical stuff will anyone even read it?”, you wonder.

 

4.     A complete antithesis to your poetically inclined friend is his sister. 

 

    “Are you mad? Don’t listen to him”, she says referring to her brother. “There’s no market for such stuff poetic drivel these days. You should write about gender roles in society. Write about how we women are denied individuality in this male dominated society. We are not allowed to wear what we want nor are we allowed to think to think and act independently”

 

“Feminism again?”, you ask, “Hasn’t it been done to death?”

 

“Rapes and murders maybe yes”, she replies, “but a series of feminist suicides certainly not”

 

5.     “Listen bro”, says a garrulous friend tagging you on your WhatsApp group. He’s a radical right-wing conservative and so you kind of guess what’s coming. “It’s time we showed these secular, westernised liberals where they get off”, he continues on expected lines, “A society is built on its traditional values and not on imported ideas.”  

 

      This instantly draws a rebuttal from the rival ideologues. And soon there is a virtual, political war zone on your screen.

 

You think it may be worth writing about political and social conflict. “This topic seems to have great currency, never fails to get attention, and everyone has a view. This would allow scope for throwing in some murders and police high handedness too”

 

6.     Soon another suggestion pops into your inbox. It’s from your ex-colleague who now lives in New Jersey. 

 

    “You can’t be authentic unless you write about something which you have seen and lived yourself”, she says. “Try writing something which you personally relate to. It need not be a biography, but you must see yourself in your characters. They must in some way reflect you. And if, like Sage Vyas in Mahabharata or like Valmiki in Ramayana you can make a cameo appearance somewhere in the story, that'll be even better.”    

7.      “Dada, I just love Gabriel Marquez”, a Bengali friend from Kolkata messages you. "His magic realism is so captivating. Why don’t you write something ‘Marqeuz-esque’ – a bit absurd and dreamlike but written in esoteric, eloquent prose."

 

 

By now you are totally confused. This crowdsourcing of ideas seems to have backfired.

 

So, you now call your Turkish friend Orhan Pamuk for advice. He’s a great writer so he should be able to help. You tell him what you want to do and the suggestions you have received.

“They are all good ideas. Why don’t you write a novel with ALL the above ingredients”, says Orham.

“All of them, Orham? Are you nuts?”, you say incredulously. “I want to write an elegant book which people will like to read, not make a Chinese, tandoori dosa served with tomato ketchup”

 

“No, I’m serious” says Orham, “If you permit, I’ll write it and show you how it can be done.”  

 

“Show me Orham” you say sceptically and put the phone down.

And Orham shows you how it is done. By writing  the novel he called “Snow’. 

"It’s a rapid fire story of love and jealousy and the pursuit of happiness, woven into the tapestry of violent conflicts enveloped in a blanket of snow.". Doesn’t make any sense? It won’t. Till you read the book.

 

No wonder Orham Pamuk got a Nobel Prize and you didn’t.

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My rating : 4 stars

Gulabo Sitabo (Movie-Amazon Prime) - Review

Gulabo Sitabo (Movie-Amazon Prime) - Review - 3.5 stars

As a kid, growing up in Lucknow, I had watched the travelling puppeteers who went from locality to locality entertaining the kids who gathered around. One of the most popular stories enacted was the that of Gulabo and Sitabo. The puppeteer sang a ditty while these two hand-held puppet characters clapped and hit each other with their tiny wooden hands. Each of them, in turn got the upper hand till they both fall down tired in the end. It was a rustic show and quintessentially Lucknavi in character. (See the link below). This puppet show embodies the essence of the story of the movie. Just thinking of this as the title of the movie should earn writer Juhi Chaturvedi and director Shoojit Sircar an extra half star in the review sweepstakes.

The Gulabo-Sitabo in the movie are Mirza, a cranky but lovable, bearded old man somewhere in his late 70s (Amitabh Bachchan) and an uneducated flour grinding shop owner - Baankey (Ayushmann Khurrana). Despite his near penury, Mirza has management control (or more accurately ‘non-management’ control) over a dilapidated and crumbling mansion in old Lucknow - Fatima Mahal - which is actually owned by his reclusive, slightly delusional wife who is 17 years older than even him. Baankey, is his tenant in the mansion and has been living in a small portion of Fatima Mahal, with his mother and sisters, paying a pittance as rent. Despite being alone, his advanced years and stooped back, Mirza has an obsessive desire to gain ownership of Fatima Mahal from his wife by hook or by crook, and throw out Baankey and the few other tenants from the house. He is willing to do whatever he can to achieve that. Baankey is equally determined to stay put where he is, with no increase in rent.

The story revolves around comic acerbic arguments between Mirza and Baankey (conducted in Lucknavi rather than Punjabi French), the duo’s machinations at out-thwarting each other and Mirza’s peccadillos for pocketing a few extra rupees.

If one compares Gulabo-Sitabo to Shoojit Sircar’s earlier successful ventures with the same cast (Piku with Amitabh Bachchan and Vicky Donor with Ayushmann) it falls short, not as much in directorial authenticity but more because this story does not have as much to offer. Nevertheless, the movie is quite entertaining and worth watching. Both Amitabh and Ayushmann excel as expected. Those of you who are from Lucknow will nostalgically relate to the settings, outdoor street shots and the general look and feel of the movie.

The film will also be remembered as the first (?) Bollywood movie to be released during the pandemic directly on an OTT platform (Amazon Prime) without waiting for the theatres to re-open post the lockdown. Link : Watch a : Gulabo-Sitabo Street Puppet show

Who's who on WhatsApp

Friends’ groups, family groups, office groups, alumni groups, society groups. This gang, that team. This batch, that school. Immediate family, extended family. We are all part of this crazy, crosslinked maze of WhatsApp. A world of shares, memes and forwards. Of posts, threads and emojis. Of bitter arguments and random discussions.

In this parallel universe everyone has a persona, a style and a temperament which can be so very different than the one in the physical world. An introvert may transform into a belligerent bully. A serious guy can crack the funniest puns. A close friend suddenly could become a political enemy.

But scant attention has been paid by psychologists to study this behaviour. I sat down to fill in this gap in academic research.

Here is my list of most frequently encountered WhatsApp personality types. As you go through the list I am sure you'll recognise someone on your groups that fits the category.

 
Sanskaari : A la Alok Nath, these denizens of WhatsApp are the epitome of Indian family values. Their spouses love them, they love their mother-in-law who in turn loved her mother-in-law at her time. If it wasn't for their daily inspirational posts our life would be without meaning.

EkHazaari :  These are the relentless forwarders. They won't rest till they touch a thousand. So they send the same post to every one. Most of them are generally harmless but watch out for that evil intentioned spammer or the lech in this category.

Gulzaari :  These sher-o-shayari  fanatics post one or two everyday. Your reaction to them will probably depend on your mood and time of the day. You don't mind them when sitting in a mellow mood with a drink but if you're checking your phone slyly during office meetings they are to be skipped.

Tyohaari : These people normally keep a very low profile but come alive at every festival in the panchang. Expect them to be the first to post animated diya gifs on Diwali. Or splattering colour on your screen on Holi. The more extreme tyohaaris make it a point to greet you on festivals which you don't observe. A sub caste of the Tyohaaris is the Namaskaari. For a Namaskaari  everyday is a new festival. A cheery good morning from them greets you every day. However you will then probably not see them again for the rest of the day.

   

Kaandahaari : They are the terrorists who like to hijack your thread and take the discussions forcibly into unwanted territory. It is best to leave as soon as you spot these aggressive ones enter. If they will let you go, that is.

   

HaHa kaari : The sole objective of these simple, self confessed laugh rioters is elicit a 'Ha Ha' from you. Humour them with a smiley if you're amused or feeling generous. But beware this only encourages them to post more.

Parivaari : 'Hum do, humaare do + dog' is their motto and their world. You will get to hear about the exploits of their kids, their two year old grandchild or their ugly mastiff. But don't expect them to move out of this comfort zone.

TeriMeriYaari : They are the ones who love you as a friend and are not shy to say so. The female of the species will post hearts and hugs five times on every thread.The male of the species keep promising to meet over a drink very soon.

AntiAtyachaari : They are the crusaders against all social and political ills.  Easily outraged they fire their AA guns on their timelines at anything and everything within firing range. Once the issue cools down so does their anger. A sub type of this class is the Paropkari who is constantly in donation collection mode for some cause or the other.

DesiKhaariInEnglishMarie : They are the ubiquitous NRIs who are more desi than the desis. Their annual pilgrimage to India in Dec keeps them more informed about India's problems and how to solve them than the rest of us. As they say, phir bhi dil hai Hindustani.

Roz-Iftaari :  The delectable dishes in the Michelin Star restaurants needs to be captured as jpegs before they are washed down the gutter which is the alimentary canal. And no one does it better and more regularly than the Roz-Iftaaris.  

Did I leave out some categories?

-       Anuj