yes, there is a hope...

दिनकर के साहित्य में शक्ति और शांति का सामंजस्य

2026-09-29T21:26:05.174+05:30

दिनकर के साहित्य में शक्ति और शांति का सामंजस्य

इस माह दिनकर जी का जन्मदिवस था। दिनकर एक ऐसे साहित्य रत्न है जिन्होंने गद्द और पद्द दोनों ही विधा में पारंगतता हासिल किया हुआ है । आधुनिक कवियों की सूची में शायद मैं दिनकर को सर्वश्रेष्ठ मानता हूँ। जिला मुंगेर, बिहार के सिमरिया गाँव में जन्मे रामधारी सिंह दिनकर का जन्म आज ही २३ सितम्बर, 1908 को हुआ था। प्रारंभिक शिक्षा के उपरांत शिक्षक के रूप में कार्य शुरू किया और वर्ष 1924 में प्रथम कविता का प्रकाशन किया। उसके बाद से साहित्यिक जगत से दिनकर का ऐसा जुड़ाव हुआ कि दिनकर अपनी विशिष्ट शैली में साहित्य सृजन करते रहे और नित नई जिम्मेदारियों के साथ अपने साहित्यिक प्रतिभा को भी निखारते रहे। राज्यसभा सांसद के रूप में अपनी सेवाएँ दी और भागलपुर विश्वविद्यालय के कुलपति रहे। दिनकर और वीर रस की कविताएँ एक पर्यायवाची के रूप में हो गए िसमें रश्मिरथी सबसे अग्रणी है । इस लेख का मुख्य प्रेरणा स्रोत भी यही है ।

आमतौर पर हम मौजूदा नव तरुणों को इस बात के लिए आरोपित करते हैं कि उन्हें हिंदी के स्वर्णिम काल का ज्ञान नहीं है और एक अरुचि है। लेकिन यह अवधारणा बीते पंद्रह अगस्त को स्वतंत्रता दिवस समारोह में खंडित हो गई जब तीन प्रतियोगीयों ने रश्मिरथी के विभिन्न अंशों का पाठ किया। रश्मिरथी के प्रति एसी उत्सुकता देख कर मुझे लगा कि अभी हिंदी साहित्य के लिए कुछ उम्मीद की रेखा ये कालजयी रचनाएँ दिखा रही हैं। जिस ओजस्वी स्वर में कविता का पठान हुआ यह अगर दिनकर जी आज होते तो प्रफुल्लित हो जाते। लेकिन उसी समय मन में यह ख्याल आया की क्या हम दिनकर को सिर्फ़ एक महाकाव्य तक सीमित कर सकते हैं? इसलिए यह लेख आज अपने इस रूप में आया।

तो इस प्रश्न के उत्तर शायद नहीं में होगा क्योंकि जब आप दिनकर के समस्त साहित्य का अध्ययन करते है तो आपको परशुराम की प्रतीक्षा, उर्वशी, रेणुका, हारे को हरिनाम, हुँकार और मिट्टी की ओर, रेती के फूल, संस्कृति के चार अध्याय, उजली आग, वेणुवन, शुद्ध कविता की खोज, हे राम!, संस्मरण और श्रद्धांजलियाँ, मेरी यात्राएँ सहित दर्जनों कृतियाँ का भंडार मिलता है। दिनकर की सोच एक शक्ति आधारित समाज़ और राष्ट्र की अवधारणा है।

“परशुराम की प्रतीक्षा” की प्रस्तावना में दिनकर लिखते हैं कि भारत एक धार्मिक देश और धार्मिक समाज है, इसलिए हम पाते हैं की उनकी काव्य रचना में एक धार्मिक झुकाव, एक धार्मिक सोच रहती है। इसी प्रकार संस्कृति के चार अध्याय में जो मूल सूत्र है वो सनातन धर्म है।

जब यह कविता में लिखी गई थी तब भारत चाइना युद्ध पक्ष हो चुका था और भारत वर्ष को हार सैम करना पड़ा था इस बात से दिन बहुत आहत थे। जिनका मानना था की आज अरुणाचलप्रदेश पूर्व में भगवान परशुराम की तपोंस्थली थी ब्रह्मपुत्र नदी प्रबल प्रताप से अवतीर्ण हुई है।

इसी काव्य के “शांतिवादी” शीर्षक कविता में दिनकर लिखते हैं:

“अब मत लेना नाम शांति का,

जिह्वा जल जाएगी,

ले-देकर जो एक शब्द है बचा, उसे भी,

तुम बकते यदि रहे,

धरित्री समझ नहीं पाएगी।

शांतिवाद का यह नवीन सारथी तुम्हारा

नहीं शांति का सखा,”

उसी प्रकार “समर शेष है” शीर्षक कविता में दिनकर लिखते हैं,

समर शेष है, नहीं पाप का भागी केवल व्याध,

जो तटस्थ हैं, समय लिखेगा उनका भी अपराध।

दिनकर ने हमेशा शांति की पहल की है लेकिन साथ ही शक्ति को भी संरक्षित, संचित और सुरक्षित रखने के संदेश दिया है। उनका मानना था की जब तक हो तब तक युद्ध को टाला जाना चाहिए। परंतु यदि युद्ध निश्चय हो तो लंबी शांति स्थापित करने के लिए हमे युद्ध और हिंसा से तिरस्कार नहीं करना चाहिए। रश्मिरथी काव्य के “कृष्ण की चेतावनी” में वे लिखते हैं,

दो न्याय अगर तो आधा दो,

पर, इसमें भी यदि बाधा हो,

तो दे दो केवल पाँच ग्राम,

रक्खो अपनी धरती तमाम।

हम वहीं खुशी से खायेंगे,

परिजन पर असि न उठायेंगे!

रचना में कई प्रसंग ऐसे हैं जहाँ इस बात को दिनकर इंगित करते हैं की न्याय के लिए लड़ने में कदम नहीं ठिठकने चाहिए। न्याय और साम्य की बात वही कर सकता है जिसके पास शक्ति और साहस है। बिना शक्ति के क्षमा का कोई महत्त्व नहीं है और बिना नैतिकता और धर्म के शक्ति निरंकुश और भ्रष्ट आचरण की ओर व्यक्ति को अग्रसारित करती है । इसी काव्य में “शक्ति और क्षमा” में दिनकर लिखते हैं,

“क्षमा शोभती उस भुजंग को

जिसके पास गरल हो

उसको क्या जो दंतहीन

विषरहित, विनीत, सरल हो।

सहनशीलता, क्षमा, दया को

तभी पूजता जग है

बल का दर्प चमकता उसके

पीछे जब जगमग है।”

रश्मिरथी के चतुर्थ भाग में कर्ण की दानता का वर्णन करते हुए और दान रूपी महान कृत्य को धार्मिक आयाम देते हुए लिखते हैं,

“जो नर आत्म-दान से अपना जीवन-घट भरता है,

वही मृत्यु के मुख मे भी पड़कर न कभी मरता है,

जहाँ कहीं है ज्योति जगत में, जहाँ कहीं उजियाला,

वहाँ खड़ा है कोई अंतिम मोल चुकानेवाला”

…

“दान जगत का प्रकृत धर्म है, मनुज व्यर्थ डरता है,

एक रोज तो हमें स्वयं सब-कुछ देना पड़ता है.

बचते वही, समय पर जो सर्वस्व दान करते हैं,

ऋतु का ज्ञान नही जिनको, वे देकर भी मरते हैं”

दिनकर ने स्वतंत्रता संग्राम में कृषकों, श्रमिकों और आम जानता पर हो रहे अत्याचारों के विरुद्ध “हुंकार” में बहुत ही मार्मिक और भावपूर्ण वर्णन किया है जिसकी रचना वर्ष में किया था।

“टाँक रही हो, सुई चार्म पर

शांत रहें हम, तनिक न डोलें;

यही शांति? गर्दन कटती हो,

पर हम अपनी जीभ न खोलें!”

दिनकर शक्ति, वीरता और शांति तीनों को एक ही सूत्र में मानते थे और यह विशेषता उनकी समस्त रचनाओं में उभर कर सामने आती है। यदि आप में शक्ति नहीं है तो आप की शांति, स्थायी नहीं और वह कभी भी खतरे में है और यदि आपने शक्ति और सत्ता का विवेकशील प्रयोग नहीं किया तो आपकी सत्ता स्थायी नहीं रहेगी। यही सिद्धांत भारत ने अपनी नीतियों में अपनाया है जिसमे सैन्य, आर्थिक और कूटनीतिक शक्ति का उपयोग राष्ट्र प्रथम और वसुधैव कुटुंबकम् के हितार्थ प्रयोग किया है। शक्ति ही अंतरराष्ट्रीय संबंधों में विश्वास का संतुलन बनाए रखने में सहायक है और जिसे आजकल “पॉवर डिटरेंस” नाम से पुकारा जाने लगा है।

दिनकर के कार्य और ओजपूर्ण लेखनी का इसी बात से अंदाज़ा लगा जा सकता है की स्वतंत्रता सेनानियों, क्रांतिकारियों ने उनकी कविता का पाठ किया, उनसे प्रेरणा ली है। इमरजेंसी में जय प्रकाश नारायण जी ने उनकी कविताओं और विशेषकर “जनतंत्र का जन्म” कविता की पंक्ति “सिंहासन ख़ाली करो कि जानता आती है” की हुंकार पर हजारों युवाओं ने सत्ता को चुनौती दिया और परिवर्तन का शंखनाद किया।

स्वतंत्रता संग्राम, स्वतंत्रता पश्चात के युद्ध संघर्ष और बाद में इमरजेंसी में हुए बल प्रयोग ने दिनकर की लेखनी को काफ़ी प्रभावित किया और इसका प्रभाव उनके शब्द चयन, शैली और पृष्ठभूमि चयन पर मिलता है।

इस भूमि पुत्र ने भारत भूमि को शब्दों एक ऐसो रत्नकोष दिया है की सम्पूर्ण दिनकर साहित्य से आप कुछ भी उठा लें, आप उसे पढ़कर अपने आपको ओजस्वी और गर्वित हों जायेंगे। हिंदी के समृद्ध साहित्य कोष में बहुत कम रचनाकार हुए हैं जिन्होंने अपनी कविता कोश और मूल गद्द रचना से एक ऐसा आयाम प्राप्त किया जिसे आने वाले कुछ दशकों तक छूना यदि असंभव नहीं तो मुश्किल ज़रूर होगा। राष्ट्र ने उन्हें साहित्य अकादमी, भारतीय ज्ञानपीठ और पद्मभूषण सम्मान देकर उन सम्मान पत्रों का ही मान बढ़ाया है।

आज दिनकर जयंती पर उस महान कवि को राष्ट्र का नमन जिसने वीर रस को प्रत्येक भारतीय तक पहुंचाया और आने वाली पीढ़ी भी उनकी रचनाओं का उसी प्रकार अध्ययन करेगी और आने वाले हिंदी वक्र्तव् प्रतियोगिताओं में वो युवा रश्मिरथी, हुंकार, परशुराम की प्रतीक्षा का पाठ करके श्रोताओं को मंत्रमुग्ध कर देंगे।

Readers Digest

2026-08-19T21:36:13.284+05:30

This is a very cherished post for the blog because till now I have been writing mostly standalone book reviews. In this blog, I’ll be sharing my love for long standing and continuous feature from 3 decades ie Reader's Digest. I used to read this monthly magazine when in my teens as it was a regular sighting in school Library but let me confess that it was an elitist concept to have RD as part of your school library and if someone caught you reading then the teasing was unavoidable.

If you take any magazine, it is divided into several columns and features, of which different readers have different liking and dislikings (or less liking) which they skip altogether. So for me, there are a few sections of Reader's Digest which I like the most, the first is "Laughter, the Best Medicine" in which the jokes as provided by the readers across globe are shared, then there is Word Power to know about different word related to the particular theme like it may be any geographical term, event etc. Trivia basically focuses on Quiz type questions. There is one more lovely feature in which the magazine introduces one personality like writer, artists, critic or public figure and she/he discusses and gives books and literature he prefers to read and why. Every magazine edition is theme specific, like August 2026 is themed "Portraits of Hope" compiled by Ishani Nandi wherein she has collaborated with lead photographers of India. Top contributors on people, places and moments are Bandeep Singh of India Today group, Sounak Banerjee of CSCP, Akash Das, Shreya Patil Mumbai, Dinesh Khanna among others. They have shared their photographs with brief writeup. This becomes more special as in August 19th we observe World Photography Day. The objective of this like any cover story is to introduce the issue/theme and present different perspective on the matter, so that we can have balanced opinion. Another regular feature of RD is Quotable Quotes.

The best part of having any magazine subscription is that you dearly wait for the magazine to arrive and flipping to your favourite part. Reading with kids, who have their own preferred section, is an added advantage because in times of shorts and reels if a kid waits for any magazine, just read their favourite article or column is itself an achievement and hence RD is worth it. Like I was discussing with my son in July' 26 edition on how to "Reduce your Waste" in which the author have deliberated on the topic of waste reduction as it leads to the pressure on environment. Further they have shared as to how we can reduce it, reading with kids is like making next-gen ready. We as a generation used to have things as needed rather than use for accumulation, particularly Kids were happy to know that earlier one product was having multiple uses like coconut oil which was used for cooking, hair care, moisturising, make up, unlike modern world where everyone has customised products for each of these functions. In the same edition, we have read how the AI is impacting the drug industry and drug repurposing is one of the best use of AI for doctors as severe diseases can be treated by existing drugs because developing new drug for that particular disease is money-consuming, time-consuming with results not to be sure about.

If I can find one magazine which fits for the entire family, it has to be RD as everyone will find one corner or another to relate and read it.

Raiders from the North

2026-07-31T22:10:20.059+05:30

Alex Rutherford is a name to reckon with if History is the field of study. "Raiders from the North" is first in the four book series under the project "Empire of the Moghul." The book is published by Hachette.

The book is an account of Babur who laid the foundation of Mughal Empire in India. However the book traces its journey to much before from the birth of Babur and his father's time in Ferghana, Afghanistan. The familial line of Babur traced from Timur and Ghengiz Khan from Central Asia. With such an illustritious blood line and being surrounded by bigger kingdoms of whom majority were his extended family and relatives, Babur faced survival as a daily assignment and threat of being eliminated after sudden death of his father in an earthquake. His ascedence to the throne was amidst lurking Turks, Uzbecks under Shaibani Khan and his uncle Ahmed ruling from Samarkand. He successfully navigated everyone and in the process to be rightful successor of Ferghana, he has to eliminate some of his confidante's.

Most of the book revolves around Ferghana, Samarkand, Kabul and later on shifts to India. His life is shaped by women like his grandmother Esan Dawlat , his mother Kutlugh Nigar and sister Khanzada. Infact he was so close to his grandmother that he used to consult her on political and state matters regularly. However, he was not much impressed with intellectual capacities of his wife Maham, whom he loved the most. His friendship with Baburi who went upto India for conquest against Ibrahim Lodhi and died fighting is worth mentioning. Rutherford's work itself became easy as Babur was an accomplished writer and has published his autobiography titled Baburnama.

"A ruler must at all times, be vigilant, listening to what is courtiers are saying, and ready to pounce on any sign of disloyalty."

Initial chapters deal with his accession and local wars. His capture of Samarkand and then loosing it out. The description of battle with Uzbek’s under Shaibani Khan in Chapter 11 "Bitter Almonds" is so vivid that one can see the acts of war through words. The seize of Samarkand by Uzbek’s led to acceptance of offer by Babar and he had to leave the city with family much to public humiliation which is akin to swallowing bitter almond’s. The final nail in this humiliation was when he has to send off his sister Khanzada as wife to Uzbeki Shaibani Khan even against his and familial wish. Though later on after few years she joins her family back. The attack on Hindustan and naming his son as Hindal meaning conqueror of Hind points that he wanted to claim Hindustan as its righful ruler being successor of Timur clan and resulting war with Ibrahim Lodi. It is mentioned that Babar was poisoned by the family members of Ibrahim Lodhi after he was defeated in the battle. Somehow, he survived the attempt on his life and caught the perperators of the crime. The way he punished the conspirators so as instill fear in attendants is gory.

The book is like a biography of Babur, right from his birth to his conquest of Hindustan. The account is detailed and in a lucid, pleasant and presentable manner that once you grab a copy, you have to resist to put the book down. The author has used references which are mainly primary in nature.

Dashmukh

2026-06-28T21:36:13.234+05:30

Asura : Tale of the Vanquished
The story of Ravan and His people

Written by Anand Neelakantan and published by Leadstart. The author is a former engineer in a PSU and has come up with this novel after lot of deliberation in which he narrates the story of Ravan from his own perspective. All the other versions are either of Ram or Hanuman and no one has tried to understand Ravan and his side of story. As it is said that the history is written by the victors and so none will take up his side.

In the introduction, the author writes that Ravan is portrayed as 10 faced traditional income, ism places, importance on the control of emotions and projects the intellect alone as the being supreme.

His guru Mahabali advises Ravan to shun, the nine emotions of anger, pride, jealousy, happiness, sadness, fear, selfishness, passion, and ambition. Intellect alone is to be revered. But Ravan argues and states that all these 10 emotions make him a complete man without any pretence of holiness and he cannot shun other 9 for sake of being superior to his people.

The book is divided into 65 small chapters in which the protagonist is Ravan himself and in some chapters the narrator is Ravan's slave Bhadra. The book starts with the last day of the battle where Ravan lies almost dead in the battlefield and revisits his life from the day he remembered as a kid. Ravan‘s mother belonged to a prominent Asura tribe Hethis and his father was a Brahmin for the fact of which he used to despise brahmins as he was not supportive to the family which was left to fend for itself. Interestingly, Kuber was his step brother.

After Ravan's initial education, Mahabali asked few vows and lessons to be followed by Ravan. Mahabali states, "Anger is the lowest emotion. It clouds intellect, and can make you do foolish things. You become blind to reason and react only with your body, without thinking. This leads to failure in every sphere. Uproot this evil from your system."

The next base emotion is pride. Arrogance stems from pride and kills clear thinking and vision. Pride makes you underestimate your force and overestimate yourself. Then he speaks about jealousy. Jealousy is a vile emotion, and mastering it is one of the most challenging task human being has.

Speaking of Fear, he says it is not an emotion, it is a disease. Nothing has killed more men in war than fear.

Mahabali tried to teach and reason with Ravan and requested him to leave all the ambition and focus on his duty. However Ravan countered all his lessons with his reasoning and moved away to conquer the world. A civilisation draws its pride from the cities it has built, the books it has produced, the artist and artisans it has bred, the temple that has built and so on. A conqueror's first duty is to make the mightiest blow possible on these edifices of civilised existence.

The book traverses through the entire story of Ravan from his childhood to the occupation of territories in India through his conquest from central to north and subsequently abduction of Sita and resultant war with Ram and Lakshman. The book gives anecdotes related to birth of Sita, Bali - the king of Kishkindha, of Hanuman burning Lanka in search of Sita, attack of Varuna. Another feature is Bhadra, who was slave to Ravan. His is an interesting character who survives to tell the story after Ravan has died and to avenge his death Badra comes to Ayodhya. The novel is very lucid, in continuum and being the first book of the author there is a freshness. It would be good if people who are aware of the story of Ram-Ravan as they will be able to connect better. Even after so many years spending reading Ramayanic literature, I found few facts for the first time. If you are interested in history, mythology, dharmic reading, please go ahead and read.

श्याम फिर एक बार तुम मिल जाते!

2026-05-17T17:58:24.115+05:30

“श्याम फिर एक बार तुम मिल जाते!”

इस उपन्यास की रचना गुजराती साहित्यकार श्री दिनकर जोशी जी ने मूलतः गुजराती में किया है जिसका बाद में हिंदी अनुवाद प्रकाशित किया है विद्या विहार प्रकाशन ने। पुस्तक की विषयवस्तु महाभारत अंत के ३६ वर्ष उपरांत द्वारका नगरी में व्याप्त अराजकता है और गांधारी के श्राप के फलस्वरूप कैसे यादव कुल में विध्वंस मचा हुआ है। यादव कुल की आपसी लड़ाई और मद्यपान को लेकर कृष्ण व्यथित हैं और इसी क्रम में वन में उन्हें ज़रा का बाण लग जाता है। ज़रा को जब ज्ञात होता है की भूलवस बाण कृष्ण को लग गया तो वह क्षमा याचना करने लगा। श्री कृष्ण उसे संबोधित करते हुए कहते हैं,

“पाप आचरण नहीं, भावना है ! आचरण कर्मप्रेरित निमित्त है - भावना ही आत्म प्रेरित है। तू भावना मुक्त है, वत्स । तुझे पाप स्पर्श नहीं करेगा..”

जैसे ही अर्जुन को यह ज्ञात होता है यादव कुल में कलह है वो कृष्ण से मिलने द्वारका और फिर प्रभास जाते हैं। वन में कृष्ण से भेंट और उनके आदेशानुसार कर्म करके जब अर्जुन महल लौटते हैं और कृष्ण के देह त्यागने का समाचार उनके पिता वासुदेव और माता देवकी को बताते हैं तो उन्होंने भी अपना शरीर त्याग दिया। उसके उपरांत अर्जुन कृष्ण के निर्देश अनुसार सभी द्वारका वासियों को लेकर हस्तिनापुर चल देते हैं।

इस भाग में माँ देवकी की वेदना जब कृष्ण ने उनके हाथ से मिश्री और माखन खाने से ये कहते हुए मना कर दिया कि उन्होंने यशोदा माँ को वचन दिया है कि वो वापस गोकुल आयेंगे और पुनः उनके हाथ से ग्रहण करेंगे बहुत ही सुंदर प्रसंग है।

उद्धव का चरित्र बहुत ही अच्छी तरीक़े से दर्शाया गया है और उद्धव अर्जुन और बाद में राधा से संवाद मैंने पहली बार पढ़ा। एक बहुत सुंदर प्रसंग पुस्तक में अश्वत्थामा और कृष्ण के बीच है जब अश्वत्थामा सुदर्शन चक्र पाने के लिए व्याकुल था और इसके लिए कृष्ण की हत्या भी करना चाह रहा था। यह बात कृष्ण को ज्ञात थी लेकिन उन्होंने पहले नहीं दर्शाया। कृष्ण कहते हैं,

“ सुदर्शन तो शक्ति है, तात ! शक्ति की प्राप्ति के लिए स्वामित्व नहीं, समर्पण चाहिए! जिस दिन इस सत्य को समझ जाओगे, उस दिन सुदर्शन से भी कहीं बड़ी शक्तिया स्वयं तुम खोजते आएगी!”

पुस्तक के अंतिम भाग में उद्धव जब राधा को संदेश देने जाते हैं तब उनकी भेंट अक्रूर से होती है। अक्रूर कृष्ण से अपने संवाद को याद करते हुए कहते हैं,

“व्यक्ति चाहे जितना महान हो मामा,” कृष्ण ने संयत स्वर में समझाने की कोशिश की, व्यक्ति पर हुआ अन्याय चाहे जितना निष्ठुर हो तब भी किसी सामर्थ्यवान व्यक्ति को अपना एकाधिकार स्थापित करने का अधिकार नहीं मिल जाता! अन्याय के विरुद्ध संघर्ष करना एक बात है और अन्याय को निमित्त बनाकर सारे समाज को अपनी मुट्टी में कर लेना दूसरी बात है। यह दूसरी बात उस असली अन्याय से कहीं अधिक निर्मम अन्याय है, मामा! एक अन्याय का सामना उससे बड़े अन्याय द्वारा नहीं किया जा सकता… मामा, यह बुनियादी सत्य आप कैसे भूल गये?”

इसी प्रकार कृष्ण - शयामन्तक का संवाद जब मणि के संबंध में हो रहा था और श्यामान्तक की इच्छा थी की मणि यादवकुल को मिले, तब भगवान ने जो कहाँ वह तब भी सत्य था और आज हम कलियुग में देखते हैं कि इन शब्दों का महत्व और कई गुना बढ़ चुका है। भगवान बोलते है:

“- जो लक्ष्मी परिश्रम करके प्राप्त की जाए, उसका स्वामित्व ही व्यक्तिगत हो सकता है, आर्य! परिश्रमरहित लक्ष्मी समूह के लिए समर्पित हो, यही सबके कल्याण के मार्ग है!” कृष्ण के होंठों पर चिरपरिचित मोहिनी खेलता रही।”

उपन्यास बहुत सरल शब्दावली में लिखा गया है और जिन्होंने भी महाभारत का अध्ययन नहीं भी किया है वे भी पुस्तक को पढ़ कर आनंदित हो सकते हैं।

The Tibetan Book of Dead

2026-04-30T22:24:00.001+05:30

"The Tibetan book of the Dead" is translation work of Prof. Robert Thurman. This book is translation of "The Great Book of Natural Liberation through understanding in-between" or “The Bardo Thodol” in Tibetan. This is the translation of the original composition by Padma Sambhav. There are many translations of this great text. However as per the preface of The Dalai Lama, this one by the author is more realistic.

The book explains the phenomena of dying and is related to body of literature popular in Tibet which is similar in theme, and is kind of a manual for people who are facing the death of self or of dear ones.

Death is one of the most mystic and researched topic in the world. There is no absolute truth, no explanation which can tell us to what happens after one person dies. This book attempts to tackle and explain the phenomenon with help of Tibetan Buddhism. So the book basically explains the in-between state, which refers to whole process between the death and the rebirth as Tibetan believe in birth after death or reincarnation.

The book is divided into eight chapters with chapter 1 discussing the background. It explains the Tibetan history, its spiritual civilisation and the problems which are faced today. The chapter points that in a diverse society like Tibet there is a common bond of territory, language and religious tendencies. The chapter explains that Tibet is basically a spiritual civilisation which focuses more on inner modernity rather than outer modernity, which is a characteristic of Western civilisation. This leads to difference between two kind of civilisation. The Tibetan civilisation focuses on in our experiences, sensation, relativity, percept, and concept and dreams. The fourth part explains the teaching of Buddhism and how it has been integral part of Tibetan civilisation, the author states that the main aspects of Buddha Dharma are teacher, teaching and community called as triRatna.

Chapter 2 introduces with the concepts of The Six Realms explaining Preta and Asura and wheel of life which we find in Buddhist temples, The three Buddha Bodies namely truth body, beatific body and Emanation body and Stages of Death, The body-Mind complex. This chapter forms the core for understanding the rest of the book. The Tibetans believe that a dead traverses through eight stage dissolution process.

The boook mentions the three main ethical practices for preparation of death which are taken for granted in Buddhist societies namely:

a. Practice giving things away

b. Practice being more relaxed in your relationships

c. Practice being more relaxed with your body

d. Practicing meditation as it is like a tool. there are several varities to it as discussed in the book.

e. intellectual preparation by gaining wisdom

Though these are integral part of Tibet, the secular world is also now propounding these as virtues.

The book deals with death like a process and not a finality. the pyschological aspects of death, the emotional bearing on oneself and loved one and how to traverse through that ultimate truth is key learning. The book will be more relevant and rewarding for those interested in Buddhist literature, meditation.

BANDITS

2026-03-31T19:17:00.000+05:30

Bandits by Eric Hobsbawm published by hachette, is a book on history of Bandits explaining their rise and expanse as a social phenomenon. If we see the profile of the author, he is one of the accomplished writer and historian and has produced major works like the Age of Revolution, the Age of Capital, the Age of Empire, the Age of Extremes, apart from several other books on social, political and economic aspects.

Banditry is an old phenomenon. Bandits came into limelight due to their relentless opposition to the authorities. India has long seen banditry phenomenon and were called as "Dasyu" which was a bit different from Dacoit. Colonel Sleeman has written good account of same in "A journey through the kingdom of Oude in 1849-1850". Even the Bollywood was fond of the topic which was mainstay of the films like Bandit Queen on the life of Phoolan Devi, Ganga ki Saugandh, Sholay and recently Paan Singh Tomar which has been played by Irrfan Khan. Mostly these movies are based on real character. Infact, the area around Chambal was nursery of Banditry with Chambal River ravines offering natural harbour. The author has visited continents and several countries in his study of bandits. He visited Columbia, China, Europe for getting real life experience of a band life and presented a portrait of bandit to explain them. The chapters are followed by detailed appendix and postscript to describe the mandatory details.

In chapter "Bandits, States and Power", the author has stated that Banditry as a phenomena cannot exist outside social, economic and political affairs. He adds that socially speaking, the history of Banditry falls into three parts: its birth, as pre-bandit societies come to form part of class and state societies; its transformations since the rise of capitalism, local and global, and lastly its long career under states and social regime.

The word Bandit arises from Italian word Bandito meaning a man placed outside law. In Turkish, the term was Celalis and they were not in opposition to Ottoman Sultan but to reinforce his rule. The book recognises that even in the most formidable kingdom and empire, there were presence of bandits to some extent, and it was a mass phenomena and occurred frequently, mainly when power was unstable, absent or broken down.

In chapter 2, "What is social Banditry", the author states that social Banditry is one of the most universal social phenomena and uniformly distributed. He states that it occured in all type of human society between the evolutionary phase of tribal and kinship organisation, and modern, capitalist and industrial Society transition phase. All rural societies of the past or accustomed to periodic harvest, failures and natural crisis, which gave rise to situation like war and conquest and failure of and system. These situations led to emergence of Banditry if the government was weak or divided.

On the question of "who becomes a bandit", the author states that in many societies only few have freedom and most people are chained with a double chain of Lordship and Labour, which makes them victim of authority and coercion. Mostly bandits come from area where there is low labour demand and poors who are able body do not find work. In the chapter, the author describes the kind of bandit called as Hyuk, who were active in some parts of Hungry, they were attached to Lord and had obligation to maintain fighters and horses. Essentially, they were free and superior than rest of the peasants. However, one category of Bandits were free and were mainly robbers and enemies of Turks, resorting to guerilla resistance and liberation. They were free men but not free communities, cut from family and villages. For them death was equivalent of marriage.

In the chapter, "The economics and politics of Banditry", the author discusses that the bandits collected resources by loot and consume locally produced food and drink. People provided them when in need and they needed someone as intermediary to act as intermediary like in the case of kidnapping for arranging ransom. For, large bandit groups they were well integrated with the society. Mentioning a case from India, the author cites that Gajraj Dacoit in Gwalior, who was earlier practising as a monkey showman rose to the rank and was appointed as keeper of the Chambal and was considered as Robin Hood of Gwalior. He adds that British regime in India regularly recruited the bandits to escort for treasure to transport.

On the aspect of "Bandit and revolution", the author writes at some point of time, the bandit has to choose whether to become a criminal or revolutionary as social banditry challenges the established order of class society. Sometimes the community of armed outlaw is so strong that they want to return to lawlessness as they are not adapt to regulated community life. Bandits and revolutionaries respect each other as outlaws with common enemies however, there is difference also among them which may be due to lifestyle of a band, which is not expected of comrades.

In "Women and Banditry', the author states that the defence of 'honour' is one of the most cited motive that has led men into banditry in Mediterranean and Latin America. Infact, Phoolan Devi also became bandit due to the atrocity committed on her. The women also had linkage with banditry as a supporters and women became bandits themselves in China and Balkan.

The book offers insight into a very reclusive topic which is not a prevalent practice now especially due to shift in peasant and pastoral economy. The life of Bandits was one of the interesting topic of discussion due to reclusive nature of the bandits and mystery and folklore surrounding their working. It is to the credit of Hobsbawm that he has presented the topic after researching it at global level with field visits and real life exmple rather than a table job.

This book deserves a read if one is interested in the subject.

This Explains (Partially) EVERYTHING

2026-02-28T16:26:00.001+05:30

This Explains Everything

John Brockman

Published by Perennial is a compilation of different articles written by various scientists, academicians and researchers having expertise in their areas. It is an attempt by the author to explain all major phenomena, especially related to science space human life in a single omnibus.
Now packing more than 125 articles in 400-page book is quite a task, both for the editor and the writer. On the one hand it gives benefit to the reader for getting knowledge, even if superficial, while on the other it devoids the depth of understanding for any topic discussed in the chapter.
Nonetheless, having gone through the book, I found few interesting chapters like "Frames of Reference" by Dimitar D. Sasselov who is professor of Astronomy in Harvard University. He points that the reference frame theory relies on 2 basic frames: one in which the flow is described as it moves through the space called an Eulerian frame and another called a Langrangian frame which moves twith the flow, strcthing and bending as it goes.
One interesting article is written by Elizabeth Dunn titled "Why We Feel Pressed for Time". She states that the perception that people are doing more work than previous generations is wrong as per data collected and studies done recently. As time is becoming worth more and more money, time is seen scarer. Scarcity and value are directly related hence, people feel pressed for time.
In Death is the Final Repayment, Arthur Schopenhauer while comparing life to finance writes
"Sleep is the interest we have to pay on the capital which is called in at death; and the higher the rate of interest and the more regularly it is paid, the further the date of redemption is postponed."
He adds that at birth you will recived loan in form of consciousness and light which will be repaid by death as final repayment.
There are articles by luminaries in their own fields like Matt Ridley, Jared Diamond, Stenislas DeHaene, Dawkins, Taleb whom I have personally read alot but the articles in the book do not render justice to these intellectual giants.

TRUST

2026-01-31T13:47:00.003+05:30

Trust
Hernan Diaz

Chaos is a vortex that spins faster with each thing it swallows.

This fiction is based in United States of America around early 1900 written by Hernan Diaz and published by Picador Books in 2022 and Booker Prized. The book is a story about business family which has migrated from Glasgow to United States of America. The book is in four parts which offers four different narrative. The unique format of the storytelling is USP, it has used both the descriptive format as well as the producing the first person account of the characters. It is a story of the couple Andrew Bevel and Mildred in New York.

In part one Bond, the description of the perspective by novelist Harold Vanner describes how money was made by Benjamin Rask (pseudonym) in trading. It is also the most popular version which was acceptable in New York. Rask was a trader and finance wizard with seldom any inclination for emotional aspects of life. When he got married to Helen, his life takes a sweet turn which cane be gauged from the following line,

Intimacy can be an unbearable burden for those who, first experiencing it after lifetime of profound self-sufficiency, suddenly realise it makes their world complete.

Part two, “My Life” by Andrew Beval, is divided into seven chapters which discusses about the ancestry, education, business, prospect of his family and himself. Th chapters with his wife Mildred, he further talks about how the prosperity has to be created and sustained. The chapter starts with a prophetic statement:

My name is known to many, my deeds to some, my life to few. This has never concerned me much. What matters is the tally of our accomplishments, not the tales about us. Still, because my past has so often overlapped with that of our nation, lately, I have come to believe that I owe it to the public to share some of the decisive moments of my story.

Bevel writes that the "Denial is always a form of confirmation", however he forgets his own maxim and spends pages to attempting to counter the narrative set in part one by Harold Vanner. In chapter 5, Prosperity and its enemies, he states,

Every life is organised around a small number of events that either proper or bring us to a grinding halt. We spend the years between these episodes, benefiting or suffering from their consequences until the arrival of next forceful moment. A man’s worth is established by the number of these defining circumstances, he is able to create for himself. He need not always be successful, for there can be great honour in defeat. But he ought to be the man actor in the deceive scenes in his existence, whether they be epic or tragic.

The part three, "A Memoir", remembered by Ida Partenza is the version of the story by the author commissioned by Bevel, who can write on his behalf and present him and his business in good light. This part also explains the relationship the author has with her immigrant father and friend Jack. She became very uncomfortable in the process of narration by Bevel as she got instincts of being manipulated. Though she tries to collect independent information about Mildred from various literary sources, journals, friends and even attempted to contact Vanner to get his views on the family as he had certain personal interactions with Bevel family in few social interactions. She also sifted through documents, journals, magazines, paper reports of the time but it was of not much use as Mildred used to live secluded life.

Part Four, "Futures" is reproduction of journal which Mildred wrote and which uniquely in morning and evening. A plain reading of a journal brings very astonishing fact which I don’t intend to share here for benefit of readers and to keep the climax intact.

The book not only gives a story but some terrific philophical principles applicable in larger life. Some of my favorite ones are:

Most of us prefer to believe we are the active subjects of our victories but only the passive objects of our defeats. We triumph, but it is not really we who fail — we are ruined by forces beyond our control.

Some people are exceptionally clear-eyed. To them, nothing is ever too complex or mysterious. Answers invisible to most are in plain sight to these enlightened few. Their approach to the world is elementary and without fail, right.They see through false complications and find the simple truths of life.

It is hard to give money away. It requires a great deal of planning and strategizng. If not manage properly, philanthropy can both harm the giver and spoil the receiver. Expand. Generosity is the mother of ingratitude.

It is a good read especially in light of the fact that I read fiction barely and could finish the book in time. :)

Shattered Land : A Journey of Partitions

2025-12-30T18:24:00.004+05:30

Shattered Land

Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia

Sam Dalrymple / Harper Collins 2025

We all have studied history from different perspectives as presented by different historians to the ideology they have followed like left historians, sub-altern etc. The credit to Sam goes for the fact that he has presented this book as factually as possible without any tint of ideological bias. The book is divided into 15 chapter with detailed notes, epilogue, acknowledgement notes, maps and illustrations. The book starts with the introduction of the Simon Commission and it’s visit to Bombay wherein it held deliberations with Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Sarojini Naidu and Mahatma Gandhi. The relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and Jinnah soured over certain misunderstanding. The chapter introduces the readers to the personal life of Jinnah, his wife Ruttie and daughter Dina. There is interesting map which shows places visited by Simon Commission, which starts from Aden to Rangoon, Madras to Tinsukia. One interesting fact, the book presents that there was Mahatma Ottama in Rangoon, who was in favour of continuing Myanmar with India and on the contrary, Mahatma Gandhi opposed its inclusion in India and wanted that Myanmar should be separate country. Infact Mahatama Ottama was made president of Hindu Mahasabha and perhaps only one till date. The description of Saya San Rebellion in Myanmar is one of the overlooked event in the history of freedom of India. Finally on 1 April 1937 Burma was separated from an India. The issues of Rohingya and Bengali Muslim was a problem in 1930s also between Myanmar and Bengali speaking population, which continues even till today as we see recent fights between Buddhist Monk and Muslim. Chapter 2 and 3 deal with the post effect of the separation of Myanmar from India and how violence broke out which forced Indian settlers mainly Tamils and Gujarati population settled in Rangoon, which was one of the most cosmopolitan town. The onslaught of Second World War and attack of Japan on Burma border bought war to the India with the battles of Imphal and Kohima. In the chapters, Direct Action Day and Dividing an Empire, details of 1940s on how the partition of India became imminent is discussed with Mountbatten having tough time to implement mandate of British Parliament. The book points that even till March 1947, the Persian Gulf was administered by Indian Political Service and as mentioned earlier the South Yemen and Aden were part of India till late 1940s. Kanak Khimji was the first Hindu Shaikh representing Bania Tribe in the history of Gulf.

The political and diplomatic battle for division which included the unification of Indian princely states and race to merge them with India or Pakistan is a good read. We mostly know about the issues of merger of Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Jodhpur and Kashmir but there were so many issues to be sorted before the merger and the risk of fractured India loomed until Sardar Patel and Mountbatten stepped in. The case of Hyderabad is very unique where book mentions that Jinnah was banned from entering Hyderabad and Nizam of Hyderabad could not see Jinnah an eye to eye. The influence of Hyderabad was such that the Oman Army was the main supplier of Hyderabad and it was Qua'iti family which was ruling from Hyderabad. The book mentions

“When Soviet premiere Nikita Khrushchev found out what had happened, he looked on in disbelief. How had India managed ‘to liquidate the princely states’, he asked, ‘without liquidating the princes?’'

The chapter, "Mother Tongue" discusses the fight for the languages and how the post-Independence politics shaped the language issue. The entire Bangladesh movement was built upon Bengali script and suppression of East Pakistan's political will.

The book is very lucid, interesting and binds readers even if they are not aware of any historical context previously. The reproduction of maps of subcontinent gives a context to the entire discussion. The author had accessed the private papers from government, archives, private letters and papers and weaved it into a masterpiece on specific topic of partition of south Asia. So within a span of few decades Indian subcontinent underwent 5 partitions and now there remains only acrimonious relation between most of the nations.

CHAOS: The Amazing Science of The Unpredictable

2025-11-29T16:59:00.011+05:30

CHAOS: The Amazing Science of The Unpredictable written by James Gleick, published by Vintage Books in 1998 is a popular science book which has been presented in a layman's language. The book takes an attempt to break the artificial boundaries that separate scientific disciplines because science is the global nature of systems and chaos has got together thinkers from various wheels that have been separate.

Chaos poses problems that defy accepted ways of working science. James Gleick was science reporter and editor of New York Times. It is written after a long observation of scientific phenomenon and decades of reporting on different science verticals. The book is divided on the basis of different themes of chaos like in the chapter "The Butterfly Effect", he discusses the story of Edward Lorenz, which talks about the famous Lorenz curve study of weather prediction. The story of how he discovered that the weather behaviour was dependent on the initial conditions. A small change in initial condition can lead to huge change somewhere else. The description of how he set up his instruments to monitor changes in early 1960s when technical knowhow on computers was not much developed is revealing.

The chapter "Evolution" discusses how the study of chaos picked up across the institutions and different disciplines and how it was opposed tooth and nail from various quarters within the scientific society. In fact, in many places, the proposals were turned down and articles were refused publications in the journals. The chapter, "A Geometry of Nature" discusses fractal theory. In the chapter "Strange attractors", the author states that wild patterns disrupt the boundary between fluid and solid. In fact for a pretty long time, turbulance was such a problem that physicists have relegated the study of turbulence to mathematicians. The study of fluid on top surface was understandable but when it came to flow, all the laws of physics were incapable of explanation. The chapter is such an interesting read and lucidly explained that even if one is not from a science background one can have a good grasp of fluid dynamics and turbulence. He writes,

"Theorists conduct experiments with their brains. Experimenters have to use their hands, too. Theorists are thinkers, experimenters are craftsman. The theorist needs no accomplice. The experimenter has to muster graduate students, cajole machinists and flatter lab assistants. The theorists operate in a pristine place free of noise, of vibration, of dirt. The experimenter develops an intimacy with matter as a sculptor does with the clay, battling it, shaping it, and engaging it. The experimenters' lovers sweat, complain, fart."

In the chapter "Inner rhythm", he writes,

"The paragon of a complex dynamical system and to many scientists, therefore, the touchstone of any approach to complexity is the human body. No object of study available to physicists offers such a cacophony of counterrhythmic motion on scales from macroscopic to microscopic: motion of muscles, of fluids, of currents, of fibers, of cells. No physical system has lent itself to such an obsessive brand of reductionism: every organ has its own microstructure and its own chemistry...".

After studying the different systems and organs of the body, the scientists zeroed in on heart as a dynamical system of vital interest and they studied comprehensively. The discussion on heart beat and its movement is presented in new light on how the fibrillation and movement of heart are related. Fibrillation is a disorder of a complex system, just as mental disorders – whether or not they have chemical roots – are disorders of a complex system.

The book ends with discussion on "Chaos and beyond" in which he discusses how the discipline boundaries have to be broken for study of chaos and every discipline has much to offer and gain from its study. It is a compulsive read to expand one's horizon and see the magic of chaos from an entirely new perspective.

Zero to One : Notes on Startup

2025-10-29T15:51:00.002+05:30

Peter Theil, a technocrat, figures as one of the lead mentors in Silicon Valley for entrepreneurship. He has also taught at Stanford. Zero to One : Notes on start-ups or how to build the future is a book which he has written along with Blake Masters, published by Penguin Random House in 2014.

The book is presented in 14 chapters ranging from compilation of experiences on start-up, culture, entrepreneurship and business world, has a cult following. in this book, he tried to work on some of the concepts for new age business world and suggested new age founders. He writes that this book is about how to build companies that create new things. Technology is miraculous because it allows us to do more with less, ratcheting fundamental capabilities to a higher level.
He explains why it is easier to start a new technology in start-ups as he says it’s hard to develop new things in big organisations, and it’s even harder to do it by yourself. Bureaucratic hierarchy is more slowly and entrenched interest away from this. In the most dysfunctional organisations, signalling that work is being done, becomes a better strategy for career advancement than actually doing work .
On the other extreme alone, genius might create a classic work of art or literature, but he could never create an entire industry. In the chapter “Secrets” he writes that “there are two kinds of secrets: secrets of nature and secrets about the people. Natural secrets exist all around us: to find them. One must study some undiscovered aspect of the physical world. Secrets about people are different; they are things that people don’t know about themselves or things they hide because they don’t want others to know. So when thinking about what kind of company to build, there are two distinct questions to ask; what secrets is not telling you? What secrets are people not telling you?”
Further, he adds that what to do with the secrets as everybody is faced with a choice, whether to tell anyone or to keep it to oneself, he states that some secrets are more dangerous than others, and it is rarely a good idea to tell everybody everything that you know.
In the chapter "Foundations", he mentioned Theil's law:

“a start up messed at its foundation cannot be fixed.” as the beginnings are special.

He states that

"from the outside, everyone in your company should be different in the same way.
On the inside, every individual should be sharply distinguished by her work."

The book is marked with plenty of graphs and charts. The pictorial depiction makes it easier for the author to put his points forth to the authors. Though the book is a decade old, its prescriptive nature makes it a good read for anyone aligning with the tech sector and start ups.

SKIN IN THE GAME : HIDDEN ASSYMMETRIES IN DAILY LIFE

2025-09-27T19:23:00.004+05:30

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a known name amongst the academics and practitioners alike. He is a Bond in the field who has written multi-book series Incerto which means uncertainity in Latin. So in the series he talks about the uncertainity as it plays out in our daily life. This book is one of the constituent in likes of The Black Swan, AntiFragile, Fooled by Randomness amongst others. The book is published by Penguin Randomhouse, UK in 2018.

The book is divided into 19 chapters. The basic premise of the book is to explain that whatever person gives advice he should have a skin in the game which roughly translates to that a person should not advise when he has nothing to lose about an investment and advisor should not advise if he have nothing to lose about. As he writes in the introduction that Skin in the Game is about four topics in one. Firstly it is about uncertainity and reliability of knowledge, secondly, symmetry in human affairs like justice, fairness, responsibility and reciprocity, thirdly it is about infromation sharing in the transactions and lastly rationality in complex world systems. These all four pillars of the book are related with each other like a knot.

As I stated earlier that to understand Taleb, you have to read his entire literature to explore connetedness and it’s not an easy read because the way he delves into the subjects connecting history, statistics, mathematics, and philosophy is something very unique to him. He states that historically all warlords and warmongers were warrior himself, and societies were meant by risk takers and not risk transferors. Taleb is strong critic of bureacracy and mentions,

Bureaucracy is a construction by which a person is conveniently separated from the consequences of his or her actions.

He further add that "The curse of modernity is that we are increasingly populated by a class of people who are better at explaining, than understanding." In chapter 2, "A brief tour of symmetry", the author introduces the concept of Hammurabi who for all of us is a known name, but most of us don’t know his contribution. He states that the law “an eye for an eye” along with other legal maxims comes from Hammurabi‘s code and it is a metaphorical, not literal rule. He states that there is a fallacy in academics where people generalise from local to universal and expect that it should behave in the same manner. However, when things are universalised, they do not behave in such a manner leading to his failure. He writes universal behaviour is great on paper, disasterous in practice. One interesting observation, which he makes is,

“Avoid taking advice from someone who gives advice for a living, unless there is a penalty for their advice.”

He states that the skin in the game helps to solve the Black Swan problem and other matters of uncertainty at the level of both the individual and the collective. Giving an example of architecture, he states that "architects today build to impress other architects, and we end up with strange – irreversible – structures that do not satisfy the well-being of the residence, it takes time and a lot of progressive tinkering for that." In a discussion with regulations versus legal systems, he says that there are two ways to make citizens safe from large predators that is big powerful Corporation. The first one is regulation, but it is prone to misuse by lawyers leading to regulatory capture. The second is by introducing a skin in the game by the government for the business person in the form of legal liability and an efficient lawsuit. He differentiate that in the common law, it is the spirit while regulation is all about letter.

“If you do not take risk for your opinion, you are nothing.”

He says the ethical is always more robust than the legal. Over time, it is the legal that should convert to the ethical, never the reverse when he adds "Laws come and go, ethics stay." Because Law is ambiguous and is highly dependent on the jurisdiction. In US, Civil law is very strong, in Europe and Asia it is English Common Law which rules. On certainity he writes, "No person in a transaction should have a certainty about the outcome while the other one has uncertainty." He points out that information of the outcomes should be equal to both the parties so that they make proper decision. He is inspired by Herbert Simon in the decision-making who has stated that information is key for decision making process and as there is no perfect information, people make for satisficing decision.

It may not be ethically required, but the most effective, shame- free policy is maximal transparency, even transparency of intentions.

In the chapter, “The most intolerant wins”, he discusses the evolution of religion and how they have been conflicts and conciliation across the history. He states that societies don’t evolve by consensus or voting. It is a minority which set the rule and brings revolutionary changes that minority, which is inspired, intolerant and courageous. In the chapter, "How to legally own another person", he discusses how people turn into submissive and what are the factors leading to dependability. He discusses Coases theory of the firm and says freedom is never free. A very good point he makes which is applicable on the decision making process in government set up like India is,

“People whose survival depends on qualitative job assessments by someone of higher rank in an organisation cannot be trust for critical decisions.”

In the chapter 6, “Inequality and the skin in the game” he discusses what is inequality and an important part is dedicated to Ethics in Civil service which is a must read for civil service aspirants.

In the chapter "Deeper into agency", he discusses the concept of the assassins. He states that killing was low on agenda for the assassins and the word assassins originated from word Hassassins which has which resulted into its present format. The word Hassassins originated from the drug hashish which they used to take before taking any action and went into trance. On censorship and freedom he writes that "Give me a few lines written by any man and I will find enough to get him hung." which is so true.

The chapter “The merchandising of virtue” is very interesting one and relevant to today’s scenario in which activists have a perceptible difference between what they preach and how they live, that they are exploiting virtue for image, personal gain, careers social status. These kind of things are worse. Some quotable quotes from the book are below:

“It is much more immoral to be explain virtue without fully living with its direct consequences."

"If your private life conflicts with your intellectual opinion, it cancels your intellectual ideas, not your private life."

"If your private actions do not generalise, then you cannot have general ideas."

"Courage is the only virtue you cannot fake."

"Sticking up for truth when it is, unpopular is far more of a virtue, because it costs you something – your reputation."

"Survival comes first, truth, understanding, and science later."

"Not everything that happens happens for a reason, but everything that arrives for a reason."

"The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything."

He gives three suggestions to tackle this issue:

Never engage in virtual signaling.
Never engage in rent seeking.
You must start a business. Put yourself on the line, start a business.

Last portion of the books discusses rationality and risk as both are interlinked. He mentions that one may be risk loving yet completely averse to ruin and defines it as "Rationality is avoidance of systemic ruin."

The book is a extremely rewarding if you are interested in the fields and approach it with unbiased mind and like quality content. One interesting fact I got to know is that he commisions his own studies and research and does not take grants as it may influence his study like having real skin in the game.

Why The Poors Don’t Kill Us

2025-09-21T15:11:00.000+05:30

Why The Poor Don’t Kill Us
The Psychology of Indians

by Manu Joseph, published by Aleph Book Company in 2025. Before I put my own words in the blog, lets read the author's note which states,

“This book is about how Indians behave, narrowly by a mystery – why is there peace between the classes in one of the most unequal regions on earth?”

Manu Joseph (Here) is an Indian writer, journalist and editor of Open magazine. Previously, he has written fictions and has long and illustrious literary career. As a reporter, he has covered many stories across the India and world. This book basically sums up his observations on such assignments and othwerwise and its analysis.

The author has divided this book into 18 chapters and in chapter 1, he deals with "Who is Poor". Basically in India, we cannot have a definition what the world over is accepted and how it is governed by pure pragmatism where he gives some anecdote relating to his experience as reporter when he was covering Bhuj earthquake. In chapter 2, "Why the poor don’t kill us", he narrates as to how India’s chaos and its processes protect us and prevents poor from revolting. He gave a very interesting observation that it is the poor who are the worst enemies of the poor, he writes “Envy is a thing between equals." He further states that it is not that the poor revolt against the top billionaires, but it is the second rung hierarchy which co-ops the poor and the lower classes for their struggle against the upper class, and this is not only in India but it is phenomenon across the world. Even in French revolution the second category united with the poors and masses to throw away the aristocracy. Later on they assumed the role of top elites. Most people are programmed to find joy in their lives. No matter what, that is to say, that it is we who think they are miserable and it is not necessary, though it may be that they are miserable condition. In chapter 3, "How we Provoke", the author discusses the happiness index and why Indians are not satisfied in India. It is in India where poor subsidies the good lifestyle for the upper class as labour is cheaper. He compares with this with Scandinavian countries as a benchmark. Further he adds in the book that, "Surprise is our national emotion" and also we are surprised at the most logical outcome of our action." Indians are more bothered about the social order rather than public order and there is a difference between freedom which is feral and liberty, which is an intervention which is such an astute observation.

The author states that across the world, the poor and the lower middle class despise poor migrants because poor migrants, first compete for resources and jobs with poor residents and not editorial writers and development economists. A central quality of an immigrant is that he is competition, or perceived as competition. He states that if you have to analyse the compassion towards immigrants it should be done with comparison to the classes which are going to affected from such migration. The hatred for the potent migrant is very severe among the poor locals of region because they undercut their wages, bring more of their own, and for a tight community that makes them an even more formidable job market. The author writes in the chapter, “How hate United Rich and Poor” that

“A story is a very corrupt thing. A story is not an event: a story is an interesting event. And herein lie all our problems. What is interesting in a story is not essentially what is important in life. At times to do meet, but that is rare."

Somewhere I've read that a storyteller is one of the most powerful person. Story telling is the most powerful way to communicate. He has a very interesting observation about the dichotomy of left and right. He states that

“The ‘left’ is a low-stakes human hive of hearts that sees the world as a human hive of victims. The ‘right’ is a high-stakes preoccupation with what is locally relevant. The ‘left’ is a monoculture of a European idea; the ‘right’ is culture. And all elites are like parents - conservative at home, where the stakes are high and liberal elsewhere, an abstract place that is not as important as Home."

He gives a scathing remark on India’s political system. He states that politicking has a sense of direction and gravitas because of its objective, which is to transform society, politicians spend very little time on the transformation part. In fact, it can be said of most politicians that if it were not for the harm they cause, their professional lives would have been entirely without any impact.

The book has interesting anecdote related to Aaadhar project of UIDAI which was then led by Shri Nandan Nilekani, Free Basics initiative of Facebook led by Zuckerberg, Civic voes and urban decline.

The compass of the book is very wide and covers all aspects of life of an ordinary Indian. He adds that moral ideas like the importance of family, sacrifice, culture, religion, nation, and the idea of a community is more important than an individual, our ideas that primarily favour the rich, but they are enticing to the poor who emulate or imitate the rich. I personally loved on observation of the author that,

"Austerity is possible only when one is able to afford everything it rejects."

Before we wind up this review of a fastinating read, the author has given some scathing remarks in "Despite India". Some quotes are worth mentioning here:

Most humans hold the same set of virtues dear, but the hierarchy in which they are held at any point in time is what sets us apart.

Clarity is often inconvenient, while misunderstanding is a pleasurable massage of prejudice.

The mechanism of greed can increase the general quality of life, but cannot fix any quality because the whole point of greed is inequality. If you use money as a measure, there will never be equality because that is the nature of money. To that end inequality is a false lament.

The book is a fresh read and perhaps a unique topic which carries satire, concern, observations, undeniable facts and pin points issues. His field experience adds a genuiness in his statements and does not sound hollow or preachy. The book not only confirms the predelictons of most of us but also gives insights from other side of the road.

राजधानी एक्सप्रेस वाया उम्मीदपुर हॉल्ट

2025-09-13T22:38:00.000+05:30

राजधानी एक्सप्रेस वाया उम्मीदपुर हॉल्ट

यह पुस्तक मूलतः संघ लोक सेवा आयोग द्वारा आयोजित सिविल सेवा परीक्षा के तैयारी के दौरान एक साथ आए युवाओं के दोस्ती, संघर्ष और बलिदान की दास्तान है। लेकिन इसे सिर्फ़ सिविल सेवा परीक्षा तक सीमित कर देना अनुचित होगा क्योंकि यह पुस्तक आपको युवाओं के सपनों की उड़ान के पीछे क्या क्या दर्द छुपा होगा है उससे परिचय करवाती है। पुस्तक का प्रकाशन हिंदी युग्म प्रकाशन ने २०२५ में किया है। लेखक भारतीय राजस्व सेवा के वरिष्ठ अधिकारी हैं जिन्होंने पूर्व में कविता संग्रह प्रकाशित किए हैं और हिंदी साहित्य से वर्षों से संबद्ध रहे हैं।उपन्यास की साहित्यिक समीक्षा के उपरांत ऐसा कतई नहीं लगेगा कि इसके रचनाकार का मूल कार्य साहित्य के इतर है ।

सिविल सेवा परीक्षा भारत देश में एक सम्प्रदाय के समान है, जिसमें कोई अभ्यर्थी किसी भी जाति, धर्म, क्षेत्र और भाषाई विविधता का हो लेकिन उसके सिविल सेवा तैयारी के दौरान के अनुभव लगभग समान होते है और दिल्ली ही इस संप्रदाय का मुख्यालय बनाया जा सकता है। आपने यदि मुखर्जी नगर और राजेंद्र नगर में एक माह का समय भी सिविल सेवा की तैयारी में व्यतीत किया है तो आप स्वयं को किसी न किसी पात्र के रूप में कल्पित जरूर करेंगे।

तो ये कहानी है पाँच दोस्तों की जिसमें शशिभूषण, चंद्रशेखर, दिवाकर, मनोज और स्वयं लेखक शामिल हैं। ये कहानी है उस संघर्ष गाथा कि जो इन सारे दोस्तों ने सिविल सेवा की तैयारी के दौरान जिया।

पूरे उपन्यास का केंद्र बिंदु एक वो छोटा सा घर जिसे चिड़ियाघर का नाम दिया गया है। अब चिड़ियाघर का नाम लेखक ने इसलिए दिया क्यूंकि पक्षी प्रवासी होते हैं और उस मकान में कितने ही पक्षी आते जाते रहते हैं । इसका एक और विस्तृत वर्णन जो मुझे लगता है उचित होगा इस परिप्रेक्ष्य में वो ये है कि चिड़ियाघर में तरह-तरह के जानवर होते हैं, सब की एक अलग पहचान होती है, सबकी एक अलग शैली होती है, सबका अलग अलग खानपान होता है। इसी तरह जितने भी अभ्यर्थी वहाँ रहते थे सबके अलग ही सुर तान थे।

इस उपन्यास में कहानी ऐसे तारतम्य होकर सुनाई गई है जिससे एकदम पाठक बंध सा जाता है और जिसमें आप एक बार उतर गए तो फिर किताब ख़त्म करके ही आपको सुकून मिलेगा। लेखक का बाढ़ के ऊपर डॉक्यूमेंट्री बनाने के लिए बिहार जाना और उस चैप्टर में जैसे बिहार के ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों का विवरण किया है वह बहुत ही जीवन्त बना है। आज भी उत्तर बिहार, कोसी, पूर्वी उत्तर प्रदेश में बाढ़ आती है तो ये सब विवरण सत्य सजीव होता है। इसी चैप्टर में

दो-तीन दृश्य बहुत ही संजीदगी के साथ लिखे गये हैं, जैसे कि शशि से लेखक का संवाद। शशि लेखक के प्रश्न कि “गाँव जाते हो?” के जवाब में बोलता है,

“दो-तीन बार गया, अब जाने की इच्छा नहीं होती।जो हाकिम कहकर बुलाते थे वहीं अब कहते हैं, चौबे गए छब्बे बनने, दुबे बनकर आ गए।’

फिर मेरी तरफ़ देखते हुए उसने धीरे से कहा “गाँव जाते हुए अब लगता है कभी एक दिन ऐसा होगा कि वहाँ जाना असंभव हो जाएगा। अब वह रास्ता बंद हो रहा है। मैं अचानक से उन सबके लिए अजनबी हो गया हूँ। वे भी मेरे लिए अब अजनबी होते जा रहे हैं ।हमारे बीच अब कुछ नहीं बचा। एक गहरी खाई है जिस पर कोई पुल अब संभव नहीं, संभव हो भी तो वह बेमानी होगा। वह गहरी खाई वहीं रहेगी।”

इसी चैप्टर का एक और अंश उद्धृत करना चाहता हूँ, जिसमे दिवाकर और लेखक, शशि से भेंट के उपरांत निकलने की तैयारी करते हैं और दिवाकर एक दर्शन शास्त्र की व्याख्यान की तरह बोलता है,

“बाढ़ में मारे गए लोगों की विभीषिका देख ली,सपनों के मरने की विभीषिका देख ली। साला, आदमी के मरने का हो या सपनों के मरने का, श्मशान एक-सा वीरान होता है ।इस पूरे प्रदेश में हर रोज़ ऐसे ही न जाने कितने सपने मरकर दफ़न हो जाते हैं।”

कहानी में और भी बहुत कुछ है जिससे प्रतियोगी परीक्षाओं की तैयारी करने वाले छात्रों के जीवन से जुड़े आयाम मिलेंगे और सबसे ज़्यादा मज़ा तो कहानी की जान पाहवा अंकल की कहानी है जिसको आप पढ़ने के उपरांत ही आनंद ले पाएंगे।

यह पुस्तक एक जीवंत उदाहरण है कि जिसने हार नहीं मानी और अंत तक खड़ा रहा, वह विजयी भाव हुआ है चाहे उसकी जैसी भी किस्मत रही हो। चाहे चंद्रशेखर को ही कोई देख ले।

तो बैठ जाइए राजधानी एक्सप्रेस में और मिलते हैं उम्मीदपुर हॉल्ट पर जल्द।

Tesla : The Man and the Myth

2025-09-04T16:58:00.000+05:30

My Inventions : Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla, born 10th July 1856, Smiljan, Croatia. Recently, I've read his autobiography “My Inventions”. He was God gifted serial innovator and from very illustrios family. His mother belonged to one of the oldest families of the region having impeccable record as inventors and who invented several tools and implements. His father was military officer and later on turned to work as priest. Infact, his grandfather served in the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. From childhood he was suffering from light flashes and he could intuitively imagine the exact drawings without any assistance of pen or paper. He had clarity of vision but knowledge of principles of physics was a limiting factor in his earlier life. Firstly he proposed to transport letters and packages across seas through submarine tube in spherical containers. The pumping plant would force the water through the tube. In yet another project he proposed to construct a ring around equator to float freely, which could be arrested in its spinning motion by reactionary forces enabling high speed travel. His Alternating Current (AC) for power transmission was a landmark development but sadly it was pitted against Edison’s DC model which led to ugly controversy in USA.

Infact attempts were made to defame Tesla and his AC system by fake accidents and his lab was burnt in 1895. He proposed “The World-System” which comprised of The Tesla Transformer, Magnifying Transformer, Tesla Wireless system, Art of Individualisation, Terrestrial Stationary Waves. This was supposed to transmit data on real-time basis. As he stated:

What we now want most is closer contact and better understanding between individuals and communities all over the earth and the elimination of that fanatic devotion to exalted ideals of national egoism and pride which is always prone to plunge the work into primeval barbarism. Peace can only come as a natural consequence of universal enlightenment and merging of races, and we are still far from this blissful realisation.”

Tesla in 1914 predicted World War “It is regrettable that a punitive policy was adopted in framing terms of peace, because a few years hence it’ll be possible for nations to fight without armies, ship or guns, by weapons far more terrible to the destructive action with no limit."

He led a life of chastity and abstinence, slept for only 2 hrs. With 300+ patents in his name, he didn’t opted for many patents as he considered them for general use. He is profound figure in scientific history whose signatures can be seen even today in all fields.

The book is in interesting read.

Aadhyatmikta : Explorations into Hindu Spiritual Practices

2025-08-31T22:08:00.004+05:30

These days, I am reading books related to spirituality, philosophy, yogic practices and Hinduism.

In the series, recently, I have completed Aadhyatmikta : Explorations into Hindu Spiritual Practices written by Rajarshi Ranjan Nandy. The book has been published by Bluprint in 2023.

The book is divided into two parts. In part one, the author has discussed the general concepts relating to Sanatan dharma like reforms, sadhana, difference between experience and realisation, Purush and Prakrati. In the part two, the author has developed into different aspects of this and Devi‘s which are in Sanatan Dharma, which includes some of very famous forms of Shakti like Chinnamasta, Kubjika, Bhairavi. Amongst Devta’s he has discussed Ganesh, Shiv, Hanuman, Garuda which introduces you to their puja padhatti. The glossary contains meaning of the words used in the book and otherwise in the common parlance in Hinduism.

In Chapter 1, "Are Indians naturally spiritual?", the author takes que from chapter 2 of Bhagwat Gita in which Shri Krishna explains the traits of an spiritual man as the one who is not moved by the sensory indulgence and controls external provocations.

In Chapter 2, "Rituals, Reforms, Orthodoxy, Orthopraxy", the author has discussed these aspects with respect to Sanatan Dharma and why one has to follow Sadhana Dharma, Sadhana Shastra for proper following of rituals. In this chapter, for first time I've read the word orthopraxy, which is technically opposite to orthodoxy, which is generally used in the context of Sanatan Dharma. The author says that orthopraxy need of the hour for better understanding of Hindu Dharma and its evolving nature.

Chapter 3 titled Dharma and Adhyatma, the author does that the destruction of ego is the biggest achievement towards spiritual path. He also mentions that there are eight chains that bind the consciousness and these eight chains have to be broken, which are aversion, shame, suspicion, pity, hate, family, character, and community. In the chapter titled "Rituals versus Gyan", the author delves on the debate of ritualism versus gyan. It is a very important chapter and the author has dealt in a comprehensive manner. The author has tried to replied opt asked question,

"What is ritual?"

"Any set of coordinated actions which bring a sense of meaning purpose, energy, and direction to the spiritual life can be called a ritual. These rituals when done with understanding and comprehension and faith in the deity and the guru produce a change in the inner nature of the Sadhak."

In the part two, different gods and goddess are discussed, particularly in chapter 12, the author writes that the research of N.N. Bhattacharya in his book “History of the Tantric Religion” points about similarity of Goddess Tara with Astarte or Ishtar of Akkadian Sumer civilisation in ancient Mesopotamia. Further it spread to China, Tibetans, South Asia.

He mentioned one powerful prayer for Goddess Kali as:

"कलौ काली कलौ काली कलौ काली वरप्रदा

कलौ काली कलौ काली कलौ काली तू केवला"

The book is a good compilation and gives a crash course in essential concepts of Sanatan Dharma and pooja paddhati for certain Gods. There is nothing unique or new in the book except for the fact that it is a easy read on the topic and written by a sadhak who knows the limitation of followers of Hindu Dharma in understanding certan concepts as most of the person are followers into their family tradition and have less knowledge on the conceptual level.

HOW WE LEARN : Nature or Nurture

2025-06-30T21:03:00.001+05:30

"How We Learn” by Stanislas Dehaene published by Penguin Books shakes the old held notions about how learning happens, the basis of our civilisation. A must read for academicians, practitioners, policy makers in education sector, public policy, the book opens up new perspectives and present insights after considerable research.

The book is divided into 3 parts. While the first part deals with what is learning per se, the later part delves into the process of learning which our brain adopts. The concept of hardwired and plasticity is discussed and makes a case for adaptability in learning process. The author states that the learning is a process which is unique to homo sapiens as they can adapt and learn. infact, Pedagogy is a priviledge for us as no other species teaches its offspring, takes time to monitor progress and point out errors. the invention of school has vastly added our capacity and capabilities.

In chapter 2, Why Our brains learns better than current machines:, the author has delved into a the current trend of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The author states that inspite of ground breaking development, the AI has its limitation and human brain surpasses all advances.

In Chapter 3, he states that babies are not blank slates as they possess knowledge of objects, spaces, people etc in first few months only. He adds that Probability theory is the language of science and infants speak this language way before they even pronounce their first alphabet, they manipulate probabilities and draw logical conclusions from the observations they make.

In chapter Nurture's Mind, the author mentions that there are different types of memoris namely Working memory, Episodic memory, Semantic memory and Procedural Memory. An important point to note is the role of nutirtion as key element of learning. as much as 50 % of body's energy is used up by young child's brain and glucose, vitamins, iron, iodine and fatty acids are necessry for brain growth. he adds that that Alcohal is teratogen, a substance that causes embryonic malformations of the body and brain: it is true poison for the developing nervous system, one that should clearly be avoided throughout pregnancy. The brain is not shaped entirely by the inputs as neurons are already present at the time of birth and only last bit of information is refined. Learning does not happen through exposure to data and information, instead child brain generates new hypotheses and tests it in ongoing manner. This mental model is core to the learning process.

The author identifies attention, active engagement, error feedback and consolidation as secret ingredients of successful learning and errors are not the hallmark of academically weak students but is integral part of learning process to check the discrepancy between hypotheses and reality. Some key revelations from the scientific study point that:

Human brains till day remains most fastest, energy efficient information processing device which extracts maximum amount of information from each day and transforms it at night into abstract and general knowledge to be used at later date.

Children must be introduced to a second language ASAP to make best use of brains plasticity.

Making them sleep adequately and deep is key to brain development.

Routinisation of activities is best shot for learning. Engaging and making learning conditions difficult help them in talking efforts more cognitively leading to increased retention of knowledge.

Sleep is a crucial link in the learning. The brain plays models and memories on loop and strengthens the previous day learning. Infact, anything read/done just before sleeping will be best remembered.

The book is an excellent piece of scientific literature on the topic. Learning which many historians and evolutionary biologists have identified as keystone in human civilisation is discussed in detail with relevant studies.

India : A Sacred Geography

2025-04-29T09:03:00.001+05:30

India : A Sacred Geography

Do you remember review of Benaras: The City of Light written by Diana L. Eck?

As I read more and more about her books, I am sort of liking her. The depth she had in exploring the Indic religious organisation which is very rare for someone looking from outsiders perspective.

This book India : A Sacred Geography, published in 2012 by Random House is next in series for the author wherein she has delved into the vastness of religiosity of India as a country.

The book is divided into 10 chapters starting with a detailed note on transliteration and pronunciation.

In A Sacred Geography, an imagined landscape, the author identifies tirthas as “crossings” where one’s prayers are amplified, one’s rites are more efficacious, one’s vows more readily fulfilled. The book indicted that in the ancient shastras not only geographical teerthas but also teerths of heart are referred as “manas teerthas”. These are enumerated as “truth, celibacy, charity, patience, self-control and wisdom” which one should bathe with and come clean. Infact there was associated literature with all teerths as teerth mahatmya. The author cites teerth yatras like Pandharpur in Maharashtra and Sabrimala yatra in Kerala for Swami Ayyappa.

The author states the relevance of numbers in like 3 for trivenis of rivers where 3 river meet or 3 devis. Four as relevant for 4 dhams or char dhams, five as relevance for panch koshiya parikrama. Six as evident in six faces of Murugan who is son of Lord Shiva namely Kumara, Kartikeya, Shanmuga, Guha, Skanda, Subhramnaya who is looking in all six directions. Number 7 is very auspicious with many rites associated with it along with seven sacred rivers and teerths.

In chapter 2, “What is India?” , the author explores the various facets of Indian culture and its constituents in todays nation-state concept.

She has dedicated chapter 4 to the rivers of India and majorly to the River Ganga. She enumerates the melas fairs held on the banks of River Ganga from its source to the destination i.e. Ganga Sagar where Mela in held in January every year. While writing about Kumbh she mentions the work of Kama Maclean titled "Pilgrimage and Power", “The Kumbh captures the attention and the imagination of masses of Hindus, and those seeking to capture them have sought to inject themselves into the mould.” She mentions one interesting anecdote about the linkage of Kumbakonam town in Tamil Nadu with the Kumbh mela in Prayagraj. Apart from Ganga, the rivers of Kaveri, Godavari , Narmada are discussed at length. She writes, "There is arguably no place in the world that should have a higher standard of river quality than India, for there is no other culture in which rivers have such a central role in the daily ritual lives of countless millions. There is no other place in the world where worshippers and pilgrims repair daily to the great rivers and the river fords to bathe, sip water, and make water offerings for the departed. The web of India’s rivers constitutes one of the most important religious theaters of the nation, so the crisis of environmental degradation is not only environmental. It is a cultural and theological crisis. It is not a matter of tradition that will somehow disappear with the onset of modernity. Polluted or not, India’s rivers are as busy as ever." It is very scathing remark looking on the state of our major rivers which are suffering from pollution, decomposition and decreasing water flow year by year.

Chapter 5 is dedicated to Shiva who has temples from north of Himalayas to down South. The twelve jyotirlingas are spread in such a manner that they cover entire expanse of India. Having visited all the 12 jyotirlingas in India from Kedarnath to Rameshwaram, I can say the Shivas' bhakti is unmatched and people from all castes and communities have a crazy following of Lord Shiva also known as Bhagwan Shankar or Mahadev.

Chapter 6 is dedicated to Shakti referrring to mother Goddess who is considered all powerful. The shaktipeeths which are present in entire Indian subcontinent from Tripura to Dhaka to Pakistan, represent the religious aspect of the geography. Next chapter is dedicated to lord Krishna who is an avatar of God Vishnu. In last chapter "A Pilgrim's India Today", the author discusses the growth and modernisation of India with the religion and how it has been intertwined in the growth. In this process, there is connection with climate change, pollution, technology, how the pilgrims have created a landscape of religious India.

The book explores the intersection of geography, religion and spirituality along with its pan-India explanations. Ms. Eck has been the professor of religion in Harvard and an Indologist. She has spent time in India during her project on Benaras in early 1980s. There is reflection of that work in this one also due to same theme and to the fact that Benaras has profound impact on Hinduism. The river Ganga and presence of Lord Vishesvara add to the depth in one's understanding of Hinduism through these 2 pillars.

There are many factual snippets which even the most aware practitioners of Hinduism may not know and it offers a primary source for such information. Like all of her book , the appendix and explanation add credibility and reflection of her hard work which went into this grand work. The book is also available on internet archives as a free copy and can be accessed at:

https://archive.org/details/indiaasacredgeography/page/n455/mode/1up?view=theater

“आपका बंटी” मन्नू भंडारी Apka Banti, Mannu Bhandari

2025-02-28T23:20:00.001+05:30

“आपका बंटी” मन्नू भंडारी के उन बेजोड़ उपन्यासों में है जिनके बिना न बीसवीं सदी के हिंदी उपन्यास की बात की जा सकती है ना स्त्री विमर्श को सही धरातल पर समझा जा सकता है। बच्चों की निगाहों और घायल होती सम्वेदना की निगाहों से देखी गई परिवार की यह कहानी बच्चों की दुनिया को एक भयावह दुस्वप्न बना जाती है। कहना मुश्किल है कि यह कहानी बालक की है या माँ की क्यूँकि सभी तो एक दूसरे में ऐसे उलझे हैं कि एक की त्रासदी सभी की ज़िंदगी में भागी बन जाती है।

मन्नू भंडारी हिंदी की प्रसिद्ध लेखिका है जिनका जन्म मध्य प्रदेश में हुआ था। आपके कई उपन्यास प्रसिद्ध हैं जिनमें महाभोज और "आपका बंटी" (राधाकृष्ण प्रकाशन 1971) सबसे प्रमुख हैं। आपका बंटी मुख्यतः पति और पत्नी के बीच मंझधार में फँसे उस अबोध बालक की कहानी है जो माँ और पिता के प्यार को संपूर्ण रूप से ना पा सका। यह एक ऐसी कहानी है जो एक कार्यकारी महिला चुनौती का सामना करती है, कैसे वह समाज के लोगों को और अपने परिवार और बच्चों की देख रेख के बीच में सामंजस्य बैठाने की कोशिश करती है और उसमें अपने स्वयं के अस्तित्व को भूल जाने दिया। उसको ज़िंदा रखने की एक संघर्ष गाथा है।

एक अंश इस ऊहापोह को रेखांकित करता है,

“शुरू के दिनों में ही एक ग़लत निर्णय ले डालने का एहसास दोनों के मन में बहूत साफ़ होकर उभर आया था, जिस पर हर दिन और हर घटना ने केवल सान ही चढ़ाई थी। समझौते का प्रयास भी दोनों में एक अंडरस्टैंडिंग पैदा करने की इच्छा से नहीं होता था, वरन् एक-दूसरे को पराजित करके अपने अनुकूल बना लेने की आकांक्षा से । तर्कों और बहसों में दिन बीतते थे और ठंडी लाशों की तरह लेटे-लेटे दूसरे को दुखी, बेचैन और छटपटाते हुए देखने की आकांक्षा में रात।…साथ रहने की यंत्रणा भी बड़ी विकट थी और अलगाव का त्रास भी। अलग रह कर भी वह ठंडा युद्ध कुछ समय तक जारी ही नहीं रहा, बल्कि अंजाने ही अपनी जीत की संभावनाओं को एक नया संबल मिल गया था कि अलग रहकर ही शायद सही तरीक़े से महसूस होगा कि सामने वाले को खोकर क्या कुछ अमूल्य खो दिया है।

“ सामनेवाले को पराजित करने के लिए जैसा सायास और सन्नद्ध जीवन उसे जीना पड़ा उसने उसे ख़ुद ही पराजित कर दिया । सामने वाला व्यक्ति तो पता नहीं कब परिदृश्य से हट भी गया और वह आज तक उसी मुद्रा में, उसी स्थिति में खड़ी हैं-साँस रोके,दम साधे,घुटी -घुटी और कृत्रिम!”

यदि परिवार के तनाव और माँ-बाप के सामंजस्य की बालमन में क्या छाप होती है, बालक मन को समझना है तो आपका बंटी ज़रूर पढ़ना पड़ेगा आपको।

BANARAS : A Civilisational City

2025-01-25T19:27:00.007+05:30

This is Manickarnika, where death is auspicious,
where life is fruitful,
where one grazes the pastures of heaven.
There is no tirtha like Manikarnika,
There is no city like Kashi,
There is no linga like visheshwara,
not in the whole universe.

Banaras: City of Light is written by Diana L. Eck. Before we proceed further to review the book, it is pertinent to discuss the credentials of the author. She is a professor of comparative religion and Indian studies in the Harvard University. She has written books on spirituality, religion, especially on India. The book was published in 1981.

The book is divided in eight chapters dealing with different aspects of the city. The chapters range from discussion on Shiva temples of Banaras to the events, on Ganges and the seasons. The book richly contains appendix and a detailed notes and glossary which gives it a complete treat for someone who is new to India or wants to explore the city in a holistic manner on its own. The author has not limited herself to the hearsay but studied Indian texts and learned Sanskrit. She got trained under noted academicians of the time in BHU and pandits having command over texts. The references from recent times as well as Kashi Khandas, puranas call for a deeper study of the book.

At one place, the book originally distinguishes the type of Brahmins who have their own cutout tasks like Pandits (teachers), Pujari (temple priest), Pandas (Pilgrim priest), Mahant‘s (heads of large Temple complex) and Vyas (story tellers) which is not even known to most of the Indians.

The scholarship of the book can be caused from the fact that it has reproduced maps from the times when Ghazi invaded India years and accounts of British officers and historical data available in Gazateers and journals of James Princep. Though lot of changes have happened on the ground level stii it gives a fair idea of how the city looked like in 1800s.

Mark Twain once wrote "Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together!". Lewis Mumford once remarked about Benaras that "it is a energy converted into culture."

The author while emphasising on the need for taking religious trips for grahasthas mentions that God Indra in Aitreya Brahmana urges Rohita:

"There is no happiness for him who does not travel, Rohita! Thus, we have heard. Living in the society of men, the best man becomes a sinner... therefore wander!

The feet of the wanderer are like the flower, his soul is growing and reaping the fruit; and all his sins are destroyed by his fatigues in wandering. Therefore, wander!

The fortune of him who is sitting, sits; it rises when he rises; it sleeps when he sleeps; it moves when he moves. Therefore, wander!

The book introduces names of Kashi which I've heard for first time even though I've visited more than a dozen time. It includes, Kashi : the city of Light, (Kash is a long grass with silver colored flower); Varanasi : the area lying betweeen Varuna and Assi river (Banaras is derived from the corrupted name of Baranasi), Avimukta : the never forsaken (Shiva never leaves the city, the concept of Kshetra Sanyas is discussed which a unique concept); Anandvana : the forest of Bliss (where Sat, Chit, ananda are always present); Rudravasa : The city of Shiva; the Mahashamshana : the great cremation ground (where dead can be cremated anywhere and at anytime. Infact it is the only place where Hindus can cremate even at night). Sham means shava (corpse) and shana refers to Shayana (a bed).

In the chapter 2, "Banaras in historical Perspective", the evolution of the city from Aryan times to Mauryan - Guptan empire days and upto Muslim rulers and colonial rule is discussed. It was one of the Mahajanapadas. The author mentions that once the muslim age started the greatest temples of Krittivasa, Omkara, Mahadeva, Madhyamaheshwara, Vishveshvara, Bindu Madhava and Kal Bhairava were destroyed and most of these temples didn't saw resurgence after that. Few idols were hidden in nearby houses but most of the temples were razed to the ground. Later on the Maharajas of Benaras, the Singh family and Marathas especially rebuilt Benaras as it was this city which sheltered Shiva ji.

In chapter 3 "The City of Shiva" the author devotes entire chapter to the Lord Shiva. It is for him that he "challenges any faciles distinctions between sacred and profance, rich and poor, high and low." It is here where the author introduces to the concept of Chala and achala lingas, kshanika linga, svayambhu and sthapita lingas. A basic introduction to all the Shiva temples in the city is in this chapter. from Avimukteswara to Kedareshwara. Chapter 4 titled "The sacred Circle of All the Gods", the discussion ranges from King Divodasa to Gods and Goddesses' residing in the city like Annapurana, Shitala, Durga, Sankata Devi, Vishalakshi, Ganesh, Adi Keshava, Vishnu.

Chapter 5 is on the lifeline of Benaras and North India, River Ganga titled "The River Ganges and the Great Ghats". The author quotes from Kashi Khanda as "I am Vishwanath, the Lord, Kashi is the light of liberation. The waves of the River of Heavenare the wine of immortality. What can these three not provide?" The introduction to the tirthas and ghats along the river are revelation with brief histroy of each major ghat like Panchganga ghat, Kedara ghat and the greatest of all The Manikarnika ghat.

In "Seasons and Times" the relevance of seasons and festivals falling in that particular period are mentioned. Like chaturmasa, Kajali Tij, Lolarka Shasthi, Sorahia Mela, Shravan maas celebrations and Annakuta. While in "City of All India" and "City of the Good Life" and "City of Death and Liberation" the general information of the city and scriptures mentioning the mahatmya of the city.

The 6 appendixes that follow the main text enlists some important factual information which is further strengthened by glossary and notes. For someone who intends to visit Banaras or not, if he wants to know about the oldest civilisational city in detail, this is a must read. It is must have in collection of books.

ANNUAL DAY ADDRESS IN DMPS, RAEBARELI

2024-12-25T15:13:00.000+05:30

ADDRESS ON THE ANNUAL DAY OF DAYAWATI MODI PUBLIC SCHOOL , RAEBARELI (MY ALMA MATER) ON 18.12.2024

Today's arrival is not as chief guest but more of a homecoming. After the demise of my father, this school, teachers, and staff were like extended family. Being a boy in his adolescence there was plenty of room for departure from what we call a good boy but timely intervention has helped to take corrective action.
I remember how as a small kid I entered these hallowed campus and Mr. BR Dubey was the principal. Modi school was the pride of Raebareli and neighbouring districts. Over the years, Mt Rodrigues, Mr RMD Abreo have served the campus. We spent a few years in the guest house school where Mrs. Rodrigues was the sole teacher. So many things change but yet everything remains the same.
Today amongst us we have parents and students. This occasion does not call for a lecture but I am tempted to give a few sermons to my younger friends. First try to expand your thinking from just rote learning to understanding. Remember curiosity is the key creativity, be curious even for the smallest of things. As to why your body shivers when you encounter a cold? Remember it is the open mind which can take you places. The entrepreneurs of the 21st generation will not be the one who have money but the one who has an idea, a thought which can transform. Today's giants Amazon, Tesla, Nvidia all are first generation entrepreneurs and they have left the traditional industrialist miles away. Learning by doing.
Focus on health and sports as a healthy body provides and nourishes a healthy mind. There is a saying that if you have 100 problems in life until you have a health problem, then you have only one problem.
Personality development:
What is personality is not describable in words. Why is it when sometimes a person enters a room you adore him/her? There are few checkpoints which you can tick and which will yield you exponential results:
Punctuality
Honesty
Clear speaking
Command over any language
Now coming to very hot topics these days, the advent of Instagram reels, tiktok and youtube shorts. You must have read that recently Australia has banned social media for kids below 16 years. I must admit reels are very addictive, they are akin to drugs. It has not only affected kids, it has overbearing nature over all walks of life. Everyone is affected, some are creating and others consuming. The security personnel are watching reels on duty, students watching in school, drivers scrolling while driving. This divided attention has caused several accidents. For a kid, the kind of havoc these social media is playing is not evident completely. We have to use it sensibly, it is a powerful tool but there is a certain age which it can assist. If you use social media there is an obsessive urge to check what is going on . the FOMO factor kicks in. We need to focus on our careers first. Thankfully in our times there was no Insta.
Parents have to say that don't chain your kid to some competitive exam, see what are his strengths and weaknesses. If maths is good and english is bad, then put focus on maths, it'll give you results. Let him play for some time. Ask him to read newspaper, general reading. Tell him about mythology, culture, family history. COMMUNICATE. We have observed that one kid reaches 15-16 years, parents only talk about studies, how it is going, when the exam is. Don’t limit your parenting to exams only. Talk with him/her. Even if there is negativity around, don't put your child in such an atmosphere. Be positive and talk positively. It’ll help him make a better social person, a good citizen.
Teachers are real heroes, they may not realise because they also are humans first. I remember how this school has been shaped by its teachers and staff. When I look upon Siddhu Ma’am I wonder what she is made up of. Do we chisel such personalities now? In the last 35 years or so I have seen her with the same discipline and enthusiasm, she has called dozens of times just to ensure everything is in place. We need that grit in today's teachers and students and even if we have few then it is a blessing for institutions. It said that it takes a village to raise a child, it’s even true today. Only the village has been replaced by a community. I remember in our times anyone can correct us if we were wrong no matter what his position was.
I have already taken a lot of your time but having a captive audience is such an attractive proposition that I could not hold back.
Sky is not the limit and believe yourself, you all are special. Have a certain go getter attitude. The young have changed the world and you can.

THE GOLDEN ROAD : A GOLDEN ERA

2024-12-15T19:59:00.005+05:30

THE GOLDEN ROAD :

HOW ANCIENT INDIA TRANSFORMED THE WORLD

WILLIAM DALRYMPLE, BLOOMSBURY, 2024

William Dalrymple does not need an introduction. Every reader has heard his name even if he hasn't read his works. His readership spreads from serious history researchers to casual history enthusiasts, from serious UPSC Civil services aspirants of History optionals to general studies specific students, from Indians interested in their cultural revivals to global readers interested in South-East Asia and especially India.

Recently, I have read his "The Golden Road" published by Bloomsbury which is about India's golden era where the dominance extended from Central Asia to China to South East Asia. The extent of influence was such that the entire cities were built on the patterns as in Bharatvarsh and Kings ruling in the name of Hindu dieties what he broadly terms as Indosphere.

The book is presented in 10 chapters revolving around the common theme of Indic influence transcending geographical borders. In "A Gale of Stillness", the author traverses through the discovery of Ajanta to the influence of Buddhism on Alexander and further Europe. He mentions,

"the doctrine of Buddha was at once a philosophy, an ideology and a method, a practical spiritual path of mental training and discipline..."

The reason Ashok became Buddhist and recommended to common people was that he regarded Buddhism as best path to tolerance and pluralism by adopting non-violence, morality and moderation. He further analyses role of Viharas (monastry) and wealthy upper class as instrumental in the spread of Buddhism.

In "India : The Sink of the world's most precious metals", he talks about how the trade with Europe was favourable for India and items like spices, ebony, sandalwood, diamonds, silk, elephant tusk, rubies and Indian Cotton were in huge demand. The excavations have revealed the extent of inroads made through trade. The situation led to adverse balance of payments that emissaries were sent for settlement of debtas Romans were unable to pay (yes, its true). This Gold drain reached such a stage that for a certain period export to Rome was halted.

The third chapter "The Great King, King of Kings, Son of God" deals with Kushan empire and Kanishk. The reference of Kumarjiva and his travel to China is a new insight which I have not read before. In "The Sea of Jewels" and "The Fifth Concubine" the discusssion how Buddhism reached and dominated China after stiff competition with Daoism and Confucianism and role of Wu Zetian (an interesting historical figure) in spread of Buddhism is discussed. The detail with which Dalrymple has woven the book is remarkable. We have to commend the kind of diverse reading he had to done.

"The Diaspora of Gods" and "In the lands of Gold" is dedicated to the outreach of Southern Empires of Pallavas to Cambodia, Sumatra and Java, expanse of Khmer Empire and how the climatic and geographical similarities led to convergence. The construction of Angkor Wat, use of Mandala rules in the construction of Borobudur. He writes

"The two shores of the ocean formed part of one integral maritime unit, an Indosphere sharing a common culture and sacred language, a sanskritic union of monsoon Asia. ... At this eastern terminus of the Golden Road, the monsoon-blown waters of the Bay of Bengal did not divide but instead connected and united."

The chapters details how Cambodia and India had shared ancestry and how Ramayana and Mahabharat became most celebrated topics, Sanskrit became the official language of the government.

"The Treasury of the books of the Wisdom" and "Fruits of the Science of Numbers" deals with the contribution of India in the field of mathematics and numeracy, science with contributions of Aryabhata, Brahmagupta. The import of Indic knowledge system of Ayurveda, mathematucs, astrology and philosophy to Central Asia. The dedication of the rulers of Baghdad to build a respository of all world knowledge led to development of a great library titled "Bayt al-Hikma". Its tragic that Baghdad has fallen from such a height. The impact of Indian Knowledge System was so much that India was recognised as "The first nation to have cultivated science is India." Infact the Fibonacci Sequence is attributed to the initial work done by Aryabhata. one intersting fact which finds mention in the book is that Md. Ghuri who destroyed sacred temples and repurposed them as mosques belonged to a Sunni Sect called Karramiya, which was regarded as heretical and his coins featured Goddess Laksmi. The chapter draws down to the adventures and capture of India by Europeans. He adds that the India's Golden Road spread its influence not through the sword but through the ideas. The cultural and civilisational transformations of the nations, societies it touched was through philosophy, religion, scholarship, art and skill sets.

The book explores India's journey from ancient to medieval to modern era. Reading history from various sources as precursor to civil services examination was a must. Good thing is that the history as a subject even today has its charm for me and this is where I found this book as a compulsory read. Dalrymple has been recognised as one of the few authors whose scholarly work has appeal amongst masses also. His podcast is hugely popular. There was debate sometimes back as to why historians failed in India to carry everyday history to the masses and popularise it. This postion is more challenging today due to advent of incessant knowledge flow from WhatsApp university of the Globe. The author has a unique way of describing events and sites wherein he seems to take readers on a 3D virtual ride. While describing Borobudur he writes,

"At this point, the pilgrim emerges from the labyrinthine maze of the mandala on to the highest elevated platform, surrounded by seventy-two hollow, latticed and performated stupikas and inside each, a void - the goal of the pilgrimage to enlightenment that the architect has been taking the pilgrim on - and inside that, an image of the meditating Buddha".

At factual level, the book offers stunning revelations about the rich civilisational antiquity which was exported not only to Central Asia and Europe in the West but also to Java, Cambodia and Sumatra in the East. The kind of research and scholarship which went into the book can be gauged from the fact that almost 150 pages have been dedicated to notes on references. The rich illustrations are added positives as book frequently refers to archeology, artfacts, paintings and architectural designs.

For 2024, this is the best book I've read and I think everyone interested in History should read it. It may arouse your interest in exploring certain unravled frontiers of Indic civilisational.

Photos clicked by me:

THE LUMUMBA PLOT : A COLD WAR ASSASSINATION

2024-11-28T22:27:00.001+05:30

THE LUMUMBA PLOT

The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination

The race of one-upmanship between USA and USSR during the cold war era was heating up. The competing blocks fought for the supremacy in all aspects of life and at any cost. The roles of their agencies CIA and KGB was very crucial and is well documented in the now declassified files.

This book is written by Stuart A Reid who is executive editor of Foreign Affairs magazine and is now associated ith CFR. It revolves around the Democratic Republic of Congo which was also known as Zaire for some time. The central African country is one of the largest country in the world criss-crossed by River Congo. The country was a personal estate of King Leopold of Belgium before becoming the colony of Belgium.

After a brief struggle, the country got its Independence on 30 June 1960 but due to absense of administrative machinery and institutions to support the sudden withdrawal of Belgians, the country fell into a chaos. The USA-Soviet blocks and cold-war era politics had taken Congo as a casualty and even today it is not stable.

The book is a piece of research and yet it retains the charm of a true spy novel. The author has used his vast knowledge of association with diplomatic world, research on Africa, classified files, cables, private letters, government archives, Congress Committees proceedings, record and interviews. He has beautifully intertwinned the academic research and lay-men story telling format to give a classic work otherwise it would have become a work with a limited readership.

The book traces origins of the Congo's independence and emergence of its first Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba who lead the freedom struggle. The author states "He was his country's greatest politician and perhaps its worst statesman." He was one of the earliest literate native who organised and agitated for independent Congo which was divided on racial and ethnic lines. However he was murdered by fellow Congolese with active role of Belgium and conspiracy of CIA as the book points about role of Devlin, station head of CIA in Congo. His friend Joseph Mobutu whom he trusted and appointed as the Army chief was the one who turned against him and assumed role of country head by Coup. He ruled for decades after deposing Lumumba.

The book is rich source on how cold war poltics worked out and how African nations were on platter for blocks is lucidly explained along with the role of UN which was in a nascent stage and evolving for world peace. Lumumba was PM of Congo for a brief period but could not see his country prosper and stable and lead Africa. He was assassinated at the age of 35 in January 1961. The book presents clear evidence of meddling by foreign powers in the domestic affairs of a newly born country and instead of helping it to grow and develop, the energies were pulled out to destablise and capture the natural resources or make them pawn in the power games. The tragic life loss of UN Chief Dag Hammarskjold in a mysterious plane crash made the matters worse.

The book navigates the readers through the internal politics of Congo like between Katanga whose leader Moise Tshombe was opposed to independecne and Lumumba, as former wanted to have a separate country Katanga which was rich in minerals and controlled by Belgian companies, skirmishes in UN between Soviet and US blocks, role of newly independent countries like Ghana and leaders like Nkrumah who supported Lumumba like a wall, role of Indian peace keeping force and diplomat Rajeshwar Dayal in trying to work out a middle ground and establish peace, the emerging continent of Africa whose division by colonial power was done while sitting on the table and drawing lines without considering ethic and linguistic divisions due to which the continent is still at war with their own.

In authors own words "it is a story of a fearful United States, its view clouded by racism and reductive Cold War thinking, lashing out against threats more imagined than real. It is, at base, a story of how a moment of unprecedented hope gave way to unrelenting tragedy."

The book is a recommended read for those having interest in old school diplomatic stories, international politics and Africa. You'll thank me.

GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL : 3 DRIVERS WHICH CHANGED COURSE OF HUMAN HISTORY

2024-11-09T21:53:00.003+05:30

A Scholarly Work

Guns, Germs and Steel - The Fates of Human Societies written by Jared Diamond and published by Penguin Random House in 1998 is a brief history of evolution of human civilization. Before we delve into the specifics of the book, we must introduce the author Jared Diamond, for he is one of the prolific author writing on evolution, human history. He is professor of Geography at UCLA and won Pulitzer Prize for this book. In order to explore the evolutionary process deeper he studied anthropology, biology, genetics, linguistics, ecology and history. His scholarship leaves an indelible mark which is evident in the book.

The book revolves around the quest of the author to find answer as to why human development proceeded at such different rates in different continents and societies. What factors have caused this differential rate of evolution where even nearly placed societies experienced different growth trajectory. He spent 33 years in New Guinea for understanding the society. He specialises in the study of bird evolution, which he has studied in South America, southern Africa, Indonesia, Australia, and lastly New Guinea.

The book which starts with prologue of his discussion with native Guinean Yali leads to main body of the book which is divided into 4 parts on different themes:

Part 1 titled from Eden to Cajamarca: consists of three chapters. Chapter 1 provides a overview of human evolution and history, extending from our divergence from apes, around 7 million years ago, till the end of the last Ice Age. The author discusses what is civilisation and its contexts and what the term "rise of civilization" means. It turns out that human development in some parts of the globe got way ahead as compared to others. Chapter 2 explores effects of continental environments on history over the past 13,000 years, by briefly examining effects of island environments. When ancestral Polynesians spread into the Pacific around 3,200 years ago, they encountered islands differing greatly in their environments.

The third chapter introduces us to conquest of South America by Europeans. The capture of Inca emperor, Atahuallpa, in the presence of his whole army, by Francisco Pizarro of Spain and his tiny army at Cajamarca. The author identifies factors like germs (yes! a prime factor), horses, political organization and technology (especially ships and weapons). The author has done threadbare analysis and its a revealing one. He writes, "Throughout the Americas, diseases introduced with Europeans spread from tribe to tribe far in advance of the Europeans themselves, killing an estimated 95 percent of the pre-Columbian Native American population. The most populous and highly organized native societies of North America, the Mississippian chiefdoms, disappeared in that way between 1492 and the late 1600s, even before Europeans themselves made their first settlement on the Mississippi River. A smallpox epidemic in 1713 was the biggest single step in the destruction of South Africa's native San people by European settlers. Soon after the British settlement of Sydney in 1788, the first of the epidemics that decimated Aboriginal Australians began. A well-documented example from Pacific islands is the epidemic that swept over Fiji in 1806, brought by a few European sailors who struggled ashore from the wreck of the ship Argo. Similar epidemics marked the histories of Tonga, Hawaii, and other Pacific islands. I do not mean to imply, however, that the role of disease in history was confined to paving the way for European expansion."

Part 2 "The Rise and Spread of Food Production" discusses how organised agriculture led to rise of nation states and bureaucracies. Chapter 4 sketches how food production—that is, the growing of food by agriculture or herding, instead of the hunting and gathering of wild food. But it varied around the globe. In Chapter 5, peoples in some parts of the world developed food production by themselves; some other peoples acquired it in prehistoric times from those independent centers. Chapter 6 discusses factors driving the shift from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle toward food production.

Part 3 discusses, the evolution of germs characteristic of dense human populations. It points that far more Native Americans and other non-Eurasian peoples were killed by Eurasian germs than by guns or weapons. the author has pointed recent molecular biological studies hint linking germs to the rise of food production in Europe as copared to America. Also food production led to writing, which made sapiens as unique in animal world. Writing has evolved de novo only a few times in human history, in areas that had been the earliest sites of the rise of food production in their respective regions. By enabling farmers to generate food surpluses, food production permitted farming societies to support full-time craft specialists who did not grow their own food and developed technologies. Besides sustaining scribes and inventors, food production also enabled farmers to support politicians. It also led to the rise of chiefs, kings, and bureaucrats. Such bureaucracies were essential for governing large population, armies and organizing wars of conquest.

Part 4 titled "Around the World in Five Chapters," In chapters 16-19 the author discusses the polynesian Islands and nearby Australia and how the conquest shaped the both society, China, Africa. He discusses Africa in detail in How Africa became Black and a case for Bantu tribe expansion destroying Khoisan tribe which was more in number.

The Epilogue, entitled "The Future of Human History as a Science," the author identifies 4 set of environmental factors for differecnes in response as:

The first set consists of continental differences in the wild plant and animal species available as starting materials for domestication. A second set of factors consists of those affecting rates of diffusion and migration, which differed greatly among continents. They were most rapid in Eurasia, because of its east-west major axis and its relatively modest ecological and geographical barriers. A third set of factors influencing diffusion between continents, which may also help build up a local pool of domesticates and technology. Ease of intercontinental diffusion has varied, because some continents are more isolated than others. Within the last 6,000 years it has been easiest from Eurasia to sub-Saharan Africa, supplying most of Africa's species of livestock.

The fourth and last set of factors consists of continental differences in area or total population size. A larger area or population means more potential inventors, more competing societies, more innovations available to adopt—and more pressure to adopt and retain innovations, because societies failing to do so will tend to be eliminated by competing societies.

He mentions that "One can think of other individuals whose idiosyncrasies apparently influenced history as did Hitler's: Alexander the Great, Augustus, Buddha, Christ, Lenin, Martin Luther, the Inca emperor Pachacuti, Mohammed, William the Conqueror, and the Zulu king Shaka, to name a few. To what extent did each really change events, as opposed to "just" happening to be the right person in the right place at the right time? At the one extreme is the view of the historian Thomas Carlyle: "Universal history, the history of what man [sic] has accomplished in this world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked here."

The book is a treasure. It is full of new insights and how the relationship evolved between different factors in different manner in different geographies. Though all the chapters are connected to the central theme of evolution but you can read any chapter and it'll offer a complete picture of the aspect dealt in.

yes, there is a hope...

दिनकर के साहित्य में शक्ति और शांति का सामंजस्य

दिनकर के साहित्य में शक्ति और शांति का सामंजस्य

Readers Digest

Raiders from the North

Alex Rutherford is a name to reckon with if History is the field of study. "Raiders from the North" is first in the four book series under the project "Empire of the Moghul." The book is published by Hachette.

Dashmukh

Asura : Tale of the VanquishedThe story of Ravan and His people

श्याम फिर एक बार तुम मिल जाते!

“श्याम फिर एक बार तुम मिल जाते!”

The Tibetan Book of Dead

BANDITS

This Explains (Partially) EVERYTHING

This Explains Everything

John Brockman

TRUST

TrustHernan Diaz

Shattered Land : A Journey of Partitions

Shattered Land

Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia

CHAOS: The Amazing Science of The Unpredictable

Zero to One : Notes on Startup

Peter Theil, a technocrat, figures as one of the lead mentors in Silicon Valley for entrepreneurship. He has also taught at Stanford. Zero to One : Notes on start-ups or how to build the future is a book which he has written along with Blake Masters, published by Penguin Random House in 2014.

SKIN IN THE GAME : HIDDEN ASSYMMETRIES IN DAILY LIFE

Why The Poors Don’t Kill Us

Why The Poor Don’t Kill Us The Psychology of Indians

राजधानी एक्सप्रेस वाया उम्मीदपुर हॉल्ट

राजधानी एक्सप्रेस वाया उम्मीदपुर हॉल्ट

Tesla : The Man and the Myth

My Inventions : Nikola Tesla

Aadhyatmikta : Explorations into Hindu Spiritual Practices

These days, I am reading books related to spirituality, philosophy, yogic practices and Hinduism.

HOW WE LEARN : Nature or Nurture

India : A Sacred Geography

India : A Sacred Geography

Do you remember review of Benaras: The City of Light written by Diana L. Eck?

“आपका बंटी” मन्नू भंडारी Apka Banti, Mannu Bhandari

BANARAS : A Civilisational City

This is Manickarnika, where death is auspicious, where life is fruitful,where one grazes the pastures of heaven. There is no tirtha like Manikarnika,There is no city like Kashi,There is no linga like visheshwara, not in the whole universe.

ANNUAL DAY ADDRESS IN DMPS, RAEBARELI

THE GOLDEN ROAD : A GOLDEN ERA

THE LUMUMBA PLOT : A COLD WAR ASSASSINATION

THE LUMUMBA PLOT

The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination

The race of one-upmanship between USA and USSR during the cold war era was heating up. The competing blocks fought for the supremacy in all aspects of life and at any cost. The roles of their agencies CIA and KGB was very crucial and is well documented in the now declassified files.

GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL : 3 DRIVERS WHICH CHANGED COURSE OF HUMAN HISTORY

A Scholarly Work

Asura : Tale of the Vanquished
The story of Ravan and His people

Trust
Hernan Diaz

Why The Poor Don’t Kill Us
The Psychology of Indians

This is Manickarnika, where death is auspicious,
where life is fruitful,
where one grazes the pastures of heaven.
There is no tirtha like Manikarnika,
There is no city like Kashi,
There is no linga like visheshwara,
not in the whole universe.