Inside the Boardroom - How Behavior Trumps Rationality: R Gopalakrishnan and Tulsi Jayakumar

Non-Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

I recently saw R Gopalakrishnan as a speaker at an HR conference in Bangalore where I work. He was an engaging speaker and the book was given out as swag. 

In this book, the authors dig into behavior and how it affects boards, decisions made by those boards, and the impact of certain behaviors on decisions. For someone who doesn't have insight into any boardroom, this was a fascinating peek into how that works. As an HR and Business professional, psychology is an interest of mine. This book was a perfect storm for me.

The authors did strike a rather paternal uncle lecture tone, which is understandable. He's an older gentleman. The book was also a little dry and I felt it could have been expanded out into even more areas than it covered. 

Even with those suggestions, it's still worth the read to educate yourself a bit on boards and mindsets. 

Read it!

~Becky~

Tapestry of Women in Indian Mythology: Meenakshi Mohan

Non-Fiction

Verdict: Cannot Recommend.

This was another newspaper recommendation after an article on Feminism. I was pretty excited to read it. 

I understand that feminism means different things to different people. Especially between generations and cultural groups. India is not known for it's women-friendly environment. It's a downright misogynistic place to this day. I thought anything feminist coming out of India would be a good thing. My flaw was thinking that feminism meant through the lense that I see through. I won't bother you dear reader with a speech on my views of feminism, but let's just come to the conclusion that I was wrong. Dramatically wrong. 

India is a nation of apologists. Accountability and ethics are, well, let's say "flexible". If you look at the religious texts like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata (and I have read both), you find texts with very sticky moral situations and the justifications around what is right and wrong. It's truly challenging to read with an open mind as cultural "rights" and "wrongs" are ingrained in us so deeply from a young age.  I'm getting to the point, I promise.

This text looks at books like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and attempts to translate the lessons of the books into feminist themes. By excusing or ignoring deeply harmful actions, or justifying the cultural correctness of the time. I found it disgusting. I know that's not very understanding of me, but washing the mud off of a pig doesn't make it a donkey. I have said many times that India will probably never change at it's core, and I believe it's because people like having the moral flexibility to do anything and defend it as tradition. Of course, that's trite. But it's correct at the core. 

As we travel through the 21st century, we hope for progress - both in infrastructre and mindset from the entire world. Equality of all people, be it women, LGBTQ+, backward castes, etc should be something we strive for, not just talk about. If people continually defend the actions of the past with no moral judgment relevant to the present, then change is not possible.

Look, practice whatever feminism floats your boat.....but please not this one. Do not be apologetic about equality anywhere. We all know the time past had a different culture, different mores, and different reasoning. That is irrelevant to today where we try to continue evolving in thoughts and deeds. If you rationalize mistreatment of women in the past, you excuse it today. Let's continue growing. Sermon over.

~Becky~

Chasing Dragons Between Dimensions – Matthew Emmanuel Weinberg

 Author's note: This review is my work and has appeared in Online Book Club as well. The link for the OBC review: https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=392967&p=2394217#p2394217

Verdict: A must-read. (Rating 4/5) I have given this rating as the book was well written, well edited, and presented the material in an interesting and accessible manner.

Overview: This is the first book I’ve read by Matthew Emmanuel Weinberg. You’ll understand the title once you read the book, but on a surface level, there are no dragons in this book.

Apart from the very alluring title, this book is about fractals. I could explain what fractals are at this point, but the author does a much better job than I could in a very elegant way. I’ll oversimplify and mention that it’s a math concept. I’m not from a math background. I’m not particularly good at math beyond the basics, and math books are the last thing that I would normally pick up to read. That being said, I’m so glad I did.

The reader would get the most out of this book by giving it a chance and being willing to explore the concept on a large-scale level.

I Enjoyed: While fractals aren’t a difficult concept to explain on a surface level, they wander in the deeper end of math, especially if one wanders out of dimensions that are seen/felt – think 4th and above dimensions. The absolutely glorious thing about this book is that after an easy-to-understand explanation, the author takes the time to encourage the reader to imagine bigger dimensions and explains some very cool practical applications that the reader can loosely identify with. This is how math should be explained! A curious reader would also enjoy taking the time to contemplate how many places they can see fractals displayed in the world and a bit of the math that nature does naturally. Well written and well explained, the author also has an obvious passion for the subject and makes a conscious effort to pull the reader into the subject and give it life.

Suggestions for Improvement: The flow was a little confusing for me. While I very much enjoyed that the author went into history and different areas where fractals are used/displayed, I needed a bit more of a structured story line. I also felt that photos of different fractal patterns would have been helpful while reading – I chose to look them up on Google to enhance my understanding. I also felt that there was a lot of repetition. I am not able to tell if this is just to ensure comprehension, or if the author was trying to create a certain fractal of his own in the work. I suspect both are correct, but it was simply too much repetition for me.

Summary: I think very few people read math books for fun or general knowledge building. I guess this is so because mathematical concept books take a lot of effort and time to read and appreciate. Not only does the author make this approachable, it’s fun and quite amazing when one takes the time to contemplate it. I would highly recommend reading this book.

Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City and Her Greatest Poets - Saif Mahmood

NonFiction

Verdict: Read It (4/5)

Overview:

I picked this up from Bookworm. It is the first work I have read by Saif Mahmood

I have a horrific fascination with Delhi. It's a complex city with an intricate history of amazing and terrible things. Poets are one of the geat things to come out of the city. I especially enjoy reading about Urdu poetry, though it continues to escape my comprehension if not appreciation. 

Saif Mahmood goes on a tour of Delhi and some of her most famous poets. It's a history and cultural lesson neatly wrapped up.

What I Enjoyed:

Saif Mahmood has a gift for bringing to life poets. His insight into them as people and in their time context is excellent for understanding where the poetry they wrote came from. Each section is digestible and while related, it is not necessary to read any other section to understand; you can come and go as you'd like.

What I Disliked:

I wanted more information! To be fair, it's a good-sized book and more information would have been overkill.

Summary:

This is a good read if you're feeling indulgent or romantic. Urdu poetry could bring romance even out of the dead. Understanding the poets and city that produced it helps you appreciate the poetry even more. Read it!

 

~Becky~

Nine Rupees an Hour: Aparna Karthikeyan

 Non Fiction

Verdict: Meh

I don't think I meant to pick up this type of book when I bought this, but such is trying your luck in the book store. I've never heard of the author before this book.

Aparna Karthikeyan brings us through a few traditional livelihoods in her home state of Tamil Nadu in the South of India. I won't mention all of them just for time sake. The book does a wild dance of how traditional and handicraft livelihoods are dying out and cannot support the person who would wish to do these, and how it's a damn shame. 

As I was reading this, I was a bit confused. The author does a fine job of outlining and setting a solid case for her premise - traditional and handicraft livelihoods do not support people. There are weak arguments about technology, people moving to the city, and rising costs. After she has made her case though, you almost can agree comfortably, that yes, it doesn't make sense to go into such jobs. Unfortunately, culture and nostalgia play very little part in what can sustain a person and their family. India in general is susceptible to this romantical, nostalgic mindset about moving back into a simpler time, living with less money, and valuing culture over making money. While one can identify with the yearning, it's a deeply impractical wish. 

One livelihood, which actually is needed and is a whole other white whale to chase, is farming. Unlike the impracticality of the other professions, farming is a very required profession. Unfortunately the deep society and structural challenges aren't likely to resolve soon, if ever. This was the only part of the book that didn't have me looking for patience. 

It's a typical poverty is bad book mixed with nostalgia about professions that are no longer valued. These types of books are a bit sad to read, but mostly because there's a sense of helplessness because of the inherent impracticality that has arisen from such persuits. I can't buy a new veena (I don't even play the veena!) every year to support small artisans even if I think it's an amazing skill to have. 

Read this for perspective. People from the West have a hard time understanding being tied or obligated into a family profession that no longer can support a person's family or is so difficult it takes a physical toll on health. 

~Becky~

Catalyst: Chandramouli Venkatesan

Non Fiction

Verdict: Read it

This book was given to me by a colleague I both enjoy working with and admire professionally. It's always heartening when people give me books because I very very much enjoy them. 

Catalyst I guess could fall into the self help or business advice catagory - the line is a bit grey. I'm not a huge fan of self help types, but that depends on how it's done. This book is a collection of advices on things that people should do to get ahead, and then twisting those decisions/actions slightly to get much more output for what is essentially the same idea. As with most self help/business books, it isn't rocket science. But books like this are valuable becaues they reiterate and re center ideas that you know you should be acting upon but don't for a variety of reasons. The hard part of these advices isn't reading them. You'll probably think yes, of course, that makes sense while reading. Actually implementing them and turning them into habitual behaviors is a lot harder and takes discipline.

For this reason, I'll be reading this book again. There are very few books that I read twice. But continually re-centering valuable ideas helps enact them and remind you about priorities. This book is valuable to anyone in the corporate world - or anyone in any sector looking to get their shit together and maximize the resources and opportunities in front of them. 

Read it!

~Becky~

The Difficulty of Being Good - Gurcharan Das

NonFiction

Read it

Gurcharan Das was an author that was mentioned in a book I read recently on Punjab. Since I like following rabbit holes and building context, I thought I would try him out when I saw this book. Das takes us through the concept of being "Good"  and fulfilling one's Dharma and contrasts that with the definitions of "Good" and "Dharma" in the Mahabarata.

If you've ever read the Mahabarata, you know that both Good and Dharma are relative terms. It's all subjective and arguments can be made for any direction. It's maddeningly twisted. Trying to apply the Mahabarata to real life is a similar exercise. If you cannot define in exact paramaters what "Good" and "Dharma" are, then comparing or applying them to real life is a mind melting exercise. 

I would call this more of an analysis of "Good" and "Dharma" are in the Mahabarata. And Das explores every small twisted alley in depth. Even he still accepts the nonsolidity of the concepts by the end of the book. It's a good book to read if you want to dive into ethics and Indian literature and societal ethos. The minute you try to apply concrete values to any of it, you will feel like bashing your head on the concrete. 

While it was a bit long and drawn out, I'm not sorry I read it. Even if I was ready to be done with the relativism 3/4 through the book. 

Read it.

~Becky~

The Female Gaze - Dr. Shoma A Chatterji

Nonfiction

Read it

As I've mentioned with previous reviews, India has it's own brand of feminism. It ranges from apologist to ineffective firebrand to practical suggestions. Unfotunately, India is still a land where feminism is pared down to a need for security and personal agency. Equality is still a far flung dream for many Indian women. 

This collection of essays has highlighted areas in both home and the outside world where women struggle on many fronts. The essays aren't really a call to action, but they do point out the unvarnished truth of how many women live. It's a tragically frustrating subject to read about, and then undertand how many lives are affected negatively because of tradition and a stranglehold patriarchal society.

To be blunt, essays aren't going to change India. It's a behemouth of a country with issues as long as the day. Undoing the structures that resulted in the current day situation is a concept that I struggle to understand the feasibility of.  But I do believe that continuing to talk about it and make women aware that they are being repressed and that they deserve safety and personal agency is absolutely the only way to keep moving forward. Unfortunately, feminism beyond information is still too scattered in India to be effective.

There's nothing earth shattering in these essays. If you read on this topic and India then nothing said here will surprise you. It will depress you but read it anyways. Look at the ways in your own life (if you are a woman) that you have accepted some of the behaviors that repress you. If you are a man, question some of the assumptions that you've been raised with about your gender role and the role of women in society.

Read it.

~Becky~

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - Robin Sharma

Non-Fiction

Read if you Like Self Help

I'm not a big fan of self help books. Some of course can be helpful, but overall, I find them a waste of time. This book came to me as a gift from some colleagues for my birthday. The gesture was very touching as I didn't know them that well and it was kind of them to think of me.

Robin Sharma goes about telling a story about how a sucessful lawyer learns how to slow down and enjoy his life. He uses the format of story telling with someone else as the main character to impart ideas. Not a new idea, but ok if done right. I personally didn't care for the tone of the book. I felt led on to ideas that could have just been simply laid out. The advice was also just vague enough to make me wonder why there needed to be a book about this. That's about all I have to say about this book. If you like self help books this is one that's high on everyone's reading list so maybe it'll be right for you. I didn't care for it.

~Becky~

Punjab - Amandeep Sandhu

Non-Fiction

Verdict: Read It

I have a rather long-standing fascination with Punjab - many aspects of it. So when I saw this rather large nonfiction book in Book Worm, it very much piqued my interest. I did think twice, becaue as I said, it's not a quick read, but that never bothered me. 

Punjab is written an an almost autobiographical style, with the author obviously a Punjabi or a foreign returned Punjabi - I can't remember at the moment, mixed in with a bit of historical and current events mixed in for education purposes.  One of the things that made this interesting is that there's currently (although it's been going on for quite some time) an issue in Delhi about Farmers. I don't know much about it, so I'm going to refrain from commenting here. Since this book covered agriculture in Punjab, it was easy to tie it to some of the current events happening, which I always appreciate.

You can obviously tell that the author has strong emotional ties to his homeland. He approaches the subjects he raises in a passionate and personal manner. He also is quite comprehensive in his coverage. 

While I did appreciate the comprehensiveness of the book, I found it scattered in many places and needing a bit of organization and flow. The author hopscotches from one topic to another. It's obvious that they're connected, but the lack of a flowing narrative bothered me quite a bit.  I also think that certain subjects that are very near and dear to an author are difficult to write bout well. As a writer, I have found myself struggling to remove emotion and passion and write in an informative or logical way. I hesistate to critisize the author for this, but I think there was room for improvement.

For me, Punjab is a very complicated piece of the Indian puzzle and learning more about it helps me learn about India as a whole. If you have an interest as well, I would suggest that this is not the best place to start. It is, however, a good book to read for someone who already has some context on Punjab and build their understanding. It's definitely not a charicature of Punjab like portrayed in the movies. While that's always fun to observe, it's not real and learning about the real Punjab is much more rich. 

Read it!

~Becky~

Imaginary Homelands - Salman Rushdie

 NonFiction

Verdict: Read it

No readers, we are not done fangirling about Salman Rushdie.  I suspect I will never be done with that.  This book was picked up merely because Rushdie's name was on the cover. It turned out to be a bit different than I expected, but that's one of the joys (or risks, depends on perspective) of how I buy books. Imaginary Homelands is a collection of essays/book reviews that Salman Rushdie has written about other books. It was both difficult and fantastic at the same time. But then again readers, what else is to be expected of Salmon Rushdie?

Exploring into Rushdie's mind is always a fun adventure, and this was a different trip than going through one of his novels. We get to see not only what I am sure is a partial reading list from Rushdie, we also get to see what impresses him and what doesn't; the forces and authors who shaped him as an author. This is an exciting exercise for me, especially when the author is one I admire and is intelligent.

That being said, not all of the essays are easy to read (surprise surprise!) and some are boring. This actually made me mildly amused as it gives us a glimpse into Rushdie as a person. If you know anything about Rushdie, he is unapologetic about his opinions, even when they aren't popular and he sometimes comes off as extremely arrogant. This shines through in his writing of the essays as well.

I think my favorite essay in this collection has to do with Umberto Eco and Focault's Pendulum. Rushdie slaughtered it, saying it was over objectified and unnecessarily boring and odd. This was one book that my ex husband always glorified as being one of the pinnacles of intelligence if you could read and understand. We will of course not discuss his intellectual snobbery nor love of unnecessarily complicated things here. I of course had to try to tackle it. Yes readers, I am one of those. I also, of course, got bored out of my gourd and just figured I was punching way above my weight limit and just wasn't that smart. Reading what Salman Rushdie said put a huge smile on my face. 

My second favorite essay(s) was the response at the end of the book to criticism and backlash to Satanic Verses. Satanic Verses was my intro to Rushdie (and what a hell of an introduction!) and I have a special place in my heart for that novel. I've since read it 3 times and am still finding things to understand about it. Reading about Rushdie's purpose and mindset reading has helped me understand the novel further, which I definitely appreciate. I'm now inclined to read it again. 

Rushdie challenges people's views of many things and while it may be a frustrating endeavour to read him and understand all his intelligence and subtext, for a serious reader, these are good things rather than bad. Understanding the amazing writer's influences can help us become better writers ourselves and have better context to the world as readers.

Read it!

~Becky~

The Slim Punjabi - Harmeet

Non-Fiction

Read it for a deeper look into Punjab

I was expecting this to be a story. It wasn't. The author has woven together recipes with history, dance, folk lore, and festivals to give the reader a peak into Punjabi culture. I greatly enjoy Punjabi movies and culture, so this was delightful. I even found things I didn't expect to not have known - like some dance forms and even history. 

I guess my favorite part was the love stories that the author included. There are a few and they are of the Romeo and Juliet variety of romantic tragedy. I feel that stories of this type reflect a great deal on culture and history, so reading these was very interesting for me. The recipes, to be quite honest didn't interest me that much as finding any recipe is just a matter of consulting the google gods, but they gave a mental refresher after the weightier material. 

Read it if you're interested in Punjabi culture overall or just looking to broaden your horizons. 

~Becky~

Three Merchants of Bombay - Lakshmi Subramanian

NonFiction
Verdict: It depends

I picked this book up from my favorite bookstore long before we all came under house arrest for Covid.  These were supposed to be short stories, and I love short stories that  are about people. Set in the British Colonial times in India, the book follows three prominent money lenders and merchants during that time. 

I started reading. The intro was a very heavy, in depth account of the situation and situation at the time. Cool. I love extra information that helps me understand the context. Only it went on, and on.  I really had a hard time separating the intro from the actual start of the "stories."  When the author did get going, the focus of the book was more on the British than the actual merchants that the book was about! 

This is definitely an academic piece, and the scope that the author is trying to cover is quite large. Unfortunately, I couldn't ever identify with or understand the characters she is trying to explain. And eventually I got bored of the repetitive sentences about the British. 

I guess If I would have had a better idea about what the book was about then perhaps my expectations would have been different. So whether or not you read it depends on if this is something that interests you. It didn't hold mine and I didn't finish it. 

~Becky~

The Age of Kali - William Dalrymple

Non-Fiction
Verdict: Read It


I wasn't quite sure how I would like this book when I picked it up. British writers make me hesitate for some reason, especially when they write about India. Left over colonialist thoughts and such. William Dalrymple has made me change my mind - at least in terms of his writing. 

This is a collection of stories about things that he's seen - most of them not good things. The book is a bit older - 90's and such, so it's a bit out of date, but most of the issues that he highlights are still sore spots for India. 

The interesting part of this is that Dalrymple is a journalist. And he's a good one. He brings a beautiful impartiality when he tells stories. You know that some of the things he explains are not good, but he lets you decide why.  I'm not sure how, but he has somehow gotten a very intimate view of the subjects he's discussing as well. Not easy for a foreigner to understand the culture and underlying issues well enough to grasp the whole situation. It's refreshing and I feel still relevant even though it was written around 20 years ago. 

India has made huge strides and at the same time stood still. This book highlights that.

Do read it.

Becky

The Imam and the Indian - Amitav Ghosh

Non-Fiction
Verdict: It's difficult but read it.

I'll admit, I picked this up because it was recommended. That and I absolutely adore Amitav Ghosh's writing.

This was a different bowl of fish from his usual novels. It's a collection of nonfiction essays on various topics he has written. 

I will say this for Amitav Ghosh: He is a very intelligent man. The topics chosen for this compilation were of varied subjects and all delved deep into the subject he was holding forth on. None had an obvious point, but were so rich in details and culturally significant points. I loved it. 

It does get a little difficult to read at points as the details compile quickly and if you don't have an interest, it's dull. A few essays repeated information as well. This being said, it is a learning experience, especially for those interested in cultural foiables. 

Read it!

Becky

How I Became a Farmer's Wife - Yashodhara Lal

Non-Fiction
Verdict: Read it

This was another interesting one. I can't remember why I chose to rent it, but I was definitely interested.

The story is about a couple who have kids and a happy life but the husband has dreams of being a farmer. So he quits his job, finds a partner, and does just that. Obviously this isn't an easy task for him, not to mention the family supporting him.

The author is honest about the difficulties they face, sometimes hilariously frustrating as India is prone to be. The incident with the babas taking over the farm had me laughing in delight.

It was a little heavy on the spiritual angle for my taste. I really didn't need to know what she talked about with her yoga instructor, but hey, i guess that was how she coped.

The ending also didn't wrap up neatly. Her husband decided that even with the steep learning curve and some moderate sucess, that the first attempt had failed. But that didn't stop him from deciding to evolve his technique, find cheaper land, and try again.

It was refreshing to see people going after something they were passionate about.

Read it.

Becky

The Beautiful and the Damned: A Portrait of the New India - Siddartha Deb

To be sure, India is one of the easiest places in the world to see the dichotomy of society into rich and poor.
This book wanders around this dichotomy in a pondering and not so orderly fashion. Aside from pointing out the differences, I could not find much of a point to this book.

That is not to say it isn't interesting. Deb introduces you to charaters so colorful, they sound like fiction. They are probably not the average people a westerner would run into, which makes them fascinating to me.

Verdict: Read it - good time pass.

The Intolerant Indian - Gautam Adhikari

As per my penchant for learning about Indian culture, I was curious about the author's premise.

Gautam Adhikari explores some of the history that has resulted in many Indians becoming xenophobic and overly concerned with religion in order to exclude others. The author explores fanaticism without resorting to the usual suspects or blaming one party over the other.

He also explores how religion has, and continues to shape politics. There is an idea floating around that Indians are extremely tolerant because India hosts a society that is comprised of multiple types of people with different religions, creeds, and outlooks. Unfortunately, he solidly debunks this myth.

Verdict: I wouldn't recommend this for someone who hasn't had any real time exposure to life in India. It's a hot confusing mess to understand, even for people who have had exposure. If you are interested/have had exposure, it's a very interesting read on India's view on itself and in relation to the world. The level of intolerance will shock and possibly sicken you. 

100 Great Modern Lives - John Canning

So I like reading about interesting and or inspiring people. This book seemed to offer me lots of interesting people to read on.

The modern part of this is a little misleading - there are some people who lived quite some time ago. I suppose John Canning was going for modern era - my mistake.

I really enjoyed this week as even well known characters (think Thomas Edison) came even more alive for me as the author delved into personal lives as well as societal contributions. There were musicians, inventors, artists, etc.

The only downside was that this is a THICK book, it will take you a while to read if you find it in the library and have other things going on in life.

Verdict: Read it. Great people tend to inspire others to improve their lives and expand their minds.

Becky

Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson

This book is about Greg Mortenson and his work in Pakistan. He has helped establish schools and social organizations in a secluded section of a nation that is in dire need. It's a fascinating story of one person's determination and how things are done in Pakistan.

If you feel that one person can't make any differences, you need to read this book.

Verdict: Read it.