The Witches of Vardo by Anya Bergman

Another book which makes you sad and angry together. The central idea is based on witch trials and hunts in Vardo. It is a work of imagination but not completely. It puts the visualisation and builds a story around what was a common trial which is actually not very old.

The word witch-hunt comes from the history of such trials where the women were killed (why do they even call them trials while it was pure hunt supported by legal power to just go ahead with the execution in the worst way possible) for the sole reason that a life of woman was not worth a thing and can be taken away for the stupidest whims of power.

The neighbours, royals or representatives of power who reported on each other as a practitioner of dark magic. More powerful they were, more likely it was easier for them to pronounce someone as witch. And it was not just limited to a small village or a country, it was a full fledged program across.

Witch hunt was prohibited by laws in 17th and 18th centuries in different countries but no one was ever tried for killing a real person in the cruelest possible way. The most common argument which at least tries to mollify the whole spree is that it was the way of those days. Well, you never left anyone to tell the history otherwise.

Power is a corruptor. A lot of people desire it but nobody knows what to do with it.

Peace

Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong

The discrimination doesn't stop at AfroAmericans or marginal communities but also with the wider communities who have been around for ages but still not accepted the part of the society irrespective of them being here for generations. Or worse, it puts a particular label to them which stops them from being seen as any other person who is not part of the majority.

The South East Asians have been one of these who are demeaned by different names, and after being one of the most successful communities and labeled as model community still face discrimination. These labels push the behaviour and self sensor for the people who belong to this one.

Additionally, even after with all the model behaviour the discrimination stays when people are called yellow, slant eye and what not. The stereotypes which don't go away but manifest in different ways.

The sensitivity to these cues is still a far cry but you hope against the hope, right?

Love

Femina by Janina Ramirez

The whole idea of male superiority stands strong in a vacuum created by the suppression of thoughts, ideas, and works for female.

This suppression worked in many forms, from outrightly removing any reference/work from the records to brazen theft. Challenging the notion that history is made by man and woman just existed in the margins is an insult to all the brave and intelligent women who had the equal right to fame and history.

The author picks some of the most prominent women from history who excelled in war, intellect, innovation, religion, business and what not.

Its not a comprehensive list but you don't need a comprehensive list to understand the contribution of female, and how they were marginalised.

Peace

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum

How do young people respond to the environment of racial differences around them?

This book tries to answer this question, and suggests a framework how it is possible to build an environment of trust by educating people about racism.

Of course, no other person can live the experience of a black person irrespective of their education/empathy but this should not stop one from being educated and be a part of the better social understanding.

For the black kids in cafeteria sitting together, the reason is that they share a common experience which only the people in this close group can understand, and provide care and support.

Peace

The Anti-Cool Girl by Rosie Waterland

Everything we found funny is funny as long as it is not happening to us.

Reading this memoir of childhood, growing up in a difficult household, growing up with obesity, and other health complications (physical or emotional) sound funny until it hits you that it was all happening to a real person. A person who was going through all of it but came out with enough shine to tell it with a lighter mood.

The struggle to fit in a society which doesn't look like you because it has not seen what you have been through.

Worth reading even if you're not in contemporary first hand accounts of peoples lives.

Love

Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree

Some stories are meant to be told unfinished but that is not the case here.

This one is long, and speaking at so many imaginative levels that it can't fall into magical realism of Rushdie. It is a slow story of daughter and mother with everything else. Specially, lists of sweets, spices, flowers, and what not.

Half way through, the thought of abandoning it comes, and almost by the end of it, when the shadows come into the picture, the narrative asks if you're still around :)

Couldn't appreciate much because this is a translation in English from Hindi, and it is very much possible that it does read better in Hindi but not sure if everyone is going to see it.

Love

Love's Executioner by Irvin D. Yalom

This is the kind of book you'd like to read which is written by a person who knows about his/her chosen topic. I didn't finish a book on porn earlier for the reason that it doesn't offer a critical study, and based on sole discussions with people from a closed circle. In that sense this book brings a different perspective.

It brings the ideas of people with death scare (old age or medical condition) in one place and analyse this from a psychologists perspective who worked with them.

Death is literally a larger than life idea which sounds absurd to any living cognitive being. This cognition which helps humans examine things differently brings it own perils. And the worst of all is to face the possibility of one's own death. The thought of end of a life which you have known all your life which brings the torments, and challenges. This is one of the reason why the humans can't just exist like a tree or a stone in nature, and search for immortality/longevity has been such a big theme across all the fields of  human developments.

We can look at all the cases mentioned in this book, and don't relate to anyone of them but it provides a primer before you start your own painting.

Love

Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks

I don't remember where I saw the reference for this one but glad to found it.

It is small, and apparently more autobiographical. Gewndolyn is known for her poetry, and this was her only published novel.

This is small but the language is very poetic. It looks like a collage of life events rather than a storytelling which is how it ends also. But maybe that was not the end but the prequel of something bigger which never got published.

Quick and a beautiful read.

Love

Chip War: the Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller

Every other time some or the other technology is called the future. Semiconductor was no different when it was invented, and won a couple of Nobel along the way.

The book explores the history of semiconductors/chips. How it started, developed and what lies in the future. And, it is an interesting read.

There are two main things which anyone can find common with any other technology that we see around today. First, it was developed for war (later it got commercialised because business has to make money), and second is that obsession for cheap and efficient never stops, no matter the price.

The same happened to semiconductors where the design came from one place funded by the speculation of wars and being second to none but eventual production was transferred to any place in the world which can do it cheaper. This was short sighted focus on profits without taking into account the global equation of mutual mistrust among the stakeholder countries.

The funny example here is the shortage of semiconductors during the time of pandemic where the supply chain got broken and a lot of production got halted due to shortage of chips. It is funny because when people were struggling for their lives, semiconductor was the last thing on their minds. But this argument doesn't go down with the calculation of loss in productivity.

Proverb was "Necessity is the mother of invention" but from the oldest times it was war which led to inventions.

Peace

Boy Friends by Michael Pedersen

Its a memoir of lost friends. The friends who came for a short period or the one who stayed for the lifetime. But it focuses on the celebration and memories of those friends rather being an account of loss, and how much pain it causes.

The loss is there but it has been portrayed as a journey. The question, how long a pain of losing a loved one lasts, doesn't have an answer but we don't love people by measuring them on a scale of longing. Even when sometimes it is lurking behind the joyous moments, pain stays, and does come back.

Solution is, if we're looking for one, not to fight it but to cherish.

Love

Porn by Polly Barton

I stopped after the introductory chapter which I generally don't do, and make a point that I see it till the end.

However, in this case I made an exception because this was not what I expected it to be. As a rule of thumb I avoid looking up the books or writers if I pick a book, and same was the case here.

The book is based on a discussion with people about their porn consumption, and how do they look at porn. My only reservation was that this group of people come from the writer's close circle which takes the objectivity of the discussion out of the whole narrative. The writer is not a specialist on this topic which provides a lot of freedom to interpret the discussions, and can go top down logic.

To all those books left unread!

Love

Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas

Winner takes all sounds like a cliche from a casino until you realise that it is true to its core.

The book is about how a certain level of wealth motivates the people to move into philanthropy without realising the wider aspects of their wealth accumulation. The historical theory of wealth redistribution which promised that the wealth on top goes down to everyone in the chain has been proven phenomenally wrong. It is not just the inequality that it causes in the society, it also brings the absurd ideas of philanthropy in the heads of the ultra-rich who end up with a notion of knowing and doing the right thing for the humanity. To top it up the misplaced idea of helping the humanity with technology seems like a perfect excuse to keep doing what makes money for you.

The idea of improving productivity never ends up in improvement of wages or the living conditions of the people who are working for these businesses. Additionally, harming the environment, creating chaos in societal structures, raising inequality, bad working culture, and tax evasion etc take it from bad to worse.

Taking is something which is inherent to human nature but taking all is what causes the problems which begin when one doesn't realise how it is taken, and where to stop taking. Where one justifies all the taking in the name of any suitable adjective at hand. This builds a whole ecosystem for inequality where everyone with money bends the rules, deprive others, and claims privilege.

But why does this happen that even the people who started from a humble background end up being part of this elite club? There is no one answer but broadly the lust for wealth, power, and misplaced sense of accomplishment/entitlement compounded by inability of challenging the status quo is the recipe for it.

Philanthropy is defined as the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes. So, next time when a billionaire says philanthropy, take a closer look at the causes it supports, what they propose to do, and what might have caused those causes in the first place.

Peace

American Carnage by Fred Guttenberg

This tries to bust the myths attached to gun control efforts in US. It goes point by point to highlight why all those myths (legal or otherwise) don't stand a chance in front of a fair scrutiny.

The book is rather short on narrative but does't have much chance to move anything because the most important factor which it is struggling against is the business of selling guns. The whole idea of lobbying in favour of gun rights and ease of availability should be called a charade in the name of business. But that is how the business works, right? It is a mad race to sale rather than thinking about after effects of goods sold.

Another failure of the book is that it goes a lot soft on the gun rights. It proposes a framework of background verifications and exclusion of assault weapons from civilian reach while it misses the main point of why any gun is lethal irrespective of its firing capacity. And that point is that how a gun takes the humanity out of these attacks and killing spree. It does point out that the idea of owning a gun can strike someone as an equalizer but can't tell equal to what.

It actually ends up sounding like that people who are sane enough or trained enough should have the right to own a gun but this thought befuddles the idea of why anyone in a civil society should have a gun. It should be the duty of police and other forces to maintain the law and order in a society and not just another person with a gun.

There is no political will to counter the gun arguments in US, and it is going to stay for a real long time.

Peace

First You Write a Sentence. by Joe Moran

After a book on debate comes the book on writing :) 

The main question is why anyone writes? What does anyone has to tell that others are keen to read?

Reading is the most isolated activity (not counting group readings) which happens in the mutual absence of the two major stakeholders, the writer and the reader. Which makes it a bit closed activity where one need to break an obligation of presence. It is a one way dialogue between two people which is open to interpretations or abandonment from either side.

Given that the human attention span is short what does a writer need to keep a reader hooked, and here the author mostly addresses this question from personal experience. And it is important to know because you may have the best thing in the world to tell someone but what if people don't pay attention because you don't write/express it well enough. Or you have the worst things to say but your deliverance prowess gets you the all the eyes, ears and minds.

And never forget your grammar. Most important part is that a good writing is rewriting.

One can't become a writer by reading a book but the inspiration to record your thoughts in a neat way can come from anywhere with a little guidance. So, even if you're planning to never publish - write something.

Love

Unworthy Republic by Claudio Saunt

There are books which make cause anger, pain, and a sense of absurdity of our thinking.

Anger because the sense of entitlement that make you think that you can do whatever you want to do as long as you have the power on your side. Even if it means to blind yourself to the extreme suffering or others.

Pain because the unnecessary loss of lives which could have not ended prematurely, and the remaining lives which were lived as lost, uprooted, and sad.

Absurdity because your greed not only stopped you from seeing what was inhuman but also gave you the courage to present this is as a favour to larger humanity without the consent of people who lost everything. An idea that you justify on your own terms while disguising it in the name of law, class, race, superiority and what not.

This is a document which records the greed of colonisers who had vested interests in terminating people and the civilians who pounced on the misery of fellow humans to get the smallest benefits out of it. This was not the first time, and this will not be the last.

If we don't have a reason to kill others, we'll invent one.

Peace

Win Every Argument by Mehdi Hasan

This one has what you can read in any other book on debating and arguments but the main difference is the anecdotes here. You get to watch a good debate but many at times you don't know what goes behind the scenes which is why the anecdotes are so important.

The most common myth is that a side with the facts and truth wins. You can have all the truth in the world until you put it out there in a way that people recognise and empathise with it. This is where the debating skills come into the picture. Debates are considered as a healthy sign on of a good society where the thoughts are argued. An argumentative culture is important because it provides for an environment which is good but this comes with its own pitfalls when you witness that a discussion in favour of right gets lost because the other one was represented better/differently.

A debate can reach a solution based on words, and avoid a lot of action which can potentially go wrong. But be careful when you see a debate, and remember the difference between a debate and a monologue.

Peace

Fix the System, Not the Women by Laura Bates

The system somehow reflects how the society is, so implying that fixing one is going to fix the other is a premise set to fail.

The word is changing, and there are developments in a lot of areas where the attitude, environment, and system has improved even if it is far from where it is expected to be. However, the crime against woman is not such a field. Violent crimes are sometimes gender neutral but the gender specific crime rates can't hide behind the argument of it going up overall.

The women are still vulnerable to a lot of crimes, and petty mindedness which can be only fought with implementation (not just creation) of tougher rules, and education. This is easier said than done but this is the best way forward.

Peace

Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas de Quincey

This is something which I was reading in parallel to other books during commuting.

It is marked as a classic or the firs one in drug addiction writing but this doesn't go very far beyond the clouds, memory of some moments, general apathy, and all the senseless ideas which keep people hooked to an addictive substance.

This is more like a self-aggrandizement statement rather than a record of experiences.

Not worth a read even if it so small.

Peace

Different by Frans de Waal

Does gender defines the way a person behaves? What is the difference between gender and sex? Do people born with gender irrespective of sex?

Chimps and bonobos are human's closest relatives in the evolution cycle. Primatology is an observational field which records the interaction of any species to understand its behaviour. Chimps and gorillas have very clear physical distinctions between male and female, and they are known for the male aggression. But if we set aside the alpha male theory, there is a lot in their behaviour that trumps the whole idea of male domination. The male is more territorial and hungry for leadership (which leads to more mating opportunities) while female are seen as the pilar of social cohesion, and in this role they do perform a lot of negotiations/power balances that the idea of alpha male sounds ridiculous.

Additionally, if we turn our attention to bonobos, the whole idea of any domination, authority, sexual definition/preferences etc just goes for a toss. Bonobos are rarely in conflict for power irrespective of gender. But this is something which doesn't sell, and to add injury to insult - their hypersexuality is something which is always whitewashed in any documentary about them.

Ultimate question - does the behaviour of closest primates tell how humans inherit their gender? Maybe or maybe not, depending on whom you're asking. But an observational primatologist can tell you that we've more in common with chimps and bonobos than we can accept.

This might not be the best argument defining gender dynamics but something worth a thought.

Love

The Devil's Element by Dan Egan

The devil's element is Phosphorous and it is called so because it glows in dark, and can catch fire on in air with moderate temperature.

The whole ecosystem which supports the life as we see is a very fine balance between all the elements in nature. The human consumption behaviour at a large scale can disturb this balance which results in catastrophic events which is not just global warming but others as well.

This one is focused on Phosphorous which was part of this balance but the imbalance due to human activities (industries, agriculture and even dairy farms) has tipped the balance, and once this phosphorous shows up in the fresh water lakes and rivers, its immediately puts the life around it in danger. Not just the marine life but human life as well. The books explains the results of free phosphorous in the nature, and does explore its historical origin when the humans started using at an industrial scale.

Ozone layer was a victim of such industrialisation and a restriction over CPC set the path for its recovery. This can be done again with Phosphorous but it needs more efforts and coordination not just with the industries but people's consumption habits as well. This requires education not only for the policy makers but it also needs wider visibility among consumers.

Peace