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.