Books read in 2018

“To travel,” Aldous Huxley once quipped, “is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.”

“That is the American Dream: to make your life into something you can sell. — Chuck Palahniuk”

~Highly Recommended~

~Worth a Look~

The Lottery of Birth: On Inherited Social Inequalities - Namit Arora

Execution Premium - Robert S. Kaplan

~Pleasure Reading~

Origin (Robert Langdon, #5) - Dan    Brown

Sidney Sheldon's Angel of the Dark - Tilly Bagshawe

The Legend of Virinara - Usha Alexander

Fathers and Sons - Ivan Turgenev

The Great Indian Obsession: The Untold Story of India's Engineers - Adhitya Iyer

The One-Straw Revolution Masanobu Fukuoka 3

~Avoid~



Comments

Post a Comment

What are people reading?

1990s की हिंदी कॉमिक्स सुपरहीरोज़

Image
सूचना: तीन ताल पॉडकास्ट से इंस्पायर्ड और  नॉस्टैल्जिक  होकर मैं 90s को लिख रहा हूं। 90s नॉस्टैल्जिया: एंटीना, केबल और एक पूरा बचपन नामक ब्लॉग पोस्ट पहले भी लिखा है और आगे भी ९० के दशक ( अपने बचपन) को  कलमबद्ध करने का इरादा है | 90 के दशक की हिंदी कॉमिक्स बच्चों और किशोरों की पढ़ाई-लिखाई के साथ-साथ उनकी कल्पनाशील दुनिया का अहम हिस्सा थीं। राज, डायमंड, तुलसी, मनोज और इंद्रजाल जैसे ब्रांडों ने सैकड़ों चरित्रों की परिघणा खड़ी की — सुपरपावर, जासूसी, जादू, लोककथात्मक तत्व और नैतिकता से जुड़े बेहतरीन मिश्रण के साथ। इन कॉमिक्स ने न केवल मनोरंजन दिया बल्कि पाठक समुदायों में साझा संस्कृति, किराये पर किताबों की परंपरा और लोककथाओं के नये रूपों को भी जन्म दिया। इस लेख में मैं उन प्रमुख ब्रांड्स, मुख्य पात्रों, विषय-रुझानों और सामाजिक प्रभावों का समग्र विवेचन कर रहा हूँ। राज कॉमिक्स राज कॉमिक्स 1980s–90s के दशक में सबसे बड़ी और प्रभावशाली पब्लिशिंग हाउसों में से एक था। भारतीय सुपरहीरो के पिता कहे जाने वाले संजय गुप्ता ने सुपरहीरो किरदारों को  बनाया।  यहाँ 50 से अधिक पात्र जन्म...
Read more

Kanpur Coaching Gurus

Image
Memories of coaching days at Kanpur are inseparable from me. I have done a separate post on Kanpur coaching mandi only. The most remembered image of my coaching days was the advertisement of Ankush Bhatia by Pran classes, and it was pasted on each wall of Kanpur. His photo was spread at distant corners of the city, showing All India Rank 51. Never seen any local marketing campaign like this. Sometimes, I recall the rush of students from one coaching center to another for seat capture, xerox copying of assignments, and 'out-of-course' study material. The JEE course was never completed on time in the Kanpur coaching mandi. At the end of March, the mad rush to complete the course began with various test series taking place simultaneously. I could not forget that pressure till now. I will never forgive Anish, Pankaj, and Vishnoi sir for combining their individual treats into 1 party for JEE-qualified students. For information on the pre-2000 AD days of coaching mandi, check this l...
Read more

Kanpur Coaching Mandi

Image
For previous article on Kanpur coaching mandi, go through this label of Kanpur Series . Hot News:  IIT Entrance Examination (JEE) of the seven teachers together to prepare a joint platform sigma - IIT JEE is made. Students will get a place to preparing for the three subjects without straying around and meet all the facilities. In addition, due to the joint will reduce the fees too. Sigma of the joint forum of the physics teacher Anish Srivastava and Raj Kushwaha, Ashish Bishnoi and Anurag Bishnoi of mathematics and chemistry of Pankaj Agarwal, Nirmal Singh and Sanjay Chauhan's. Small - small batch (one hundred to two hundred) in the three subjects under the same roof will get a chance to prepare for. Three different subjects to students before a total of 51,300 rupees to pay the fees now total 45,000 fees will be charged. Sigma's head office 117 / N / 581 Raniganj (Kakadev) will be. Old Time:  Even after paying Rs 8,000 for each of the three different JEE subjects, most of the...
Read more

Kanpur Coaching Days

Image
Within a radius of one kilometer, Kakadeo is the hub of the coaching mandi for JEE, MBA, Medical, etc having at least 20-30 coaching institutes. The classes are run by individuals teaching a single subject with a completely one-man show. Few people object to the name ' mandi ' but it's like a fish market only. Coaching Mandi is the perfect name for it because the teachers are earning the butter, not bread for them. When you go for admissions, people try to admit you to their institute with false advertisements and lucrative trial offers. It's altogether a mandi in which every teacher just wants students' admission, not in JEE, but in their institute. It was an urban legend that girls were used to seduce boys for admission in a few coaching centers. I and my friends tried in vain to find such lethal hunting beauties. My encounter with coaching mandi begins with JEE preparation. Nalanda Hotel, Pamela Restaurant, Agra sweet house were my favorite places there. For othe...
Read more

Book Review: The Jihad Game: Inside Pakistan’s Dark War by Abhinav Pandya

Image
The Jihad Game: Inside Pakistan’s Dark War by Abhinav Pandya The Jihad Game: Inside Pakistan’s Dark War by Abhinav Pandya | Goodreads ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰ Worth Reading India-Pakistan conflict (wars) is a challenging mostly negative-sum game where both countries are often in escalation cycles with no easy solution. The roots of the conflict, particularly cross-border terrorism supported by Pakistan trace back strongly to Kashmir.  Pakistan has long used Jihad   (religious war against infidels)   as a strategic tool in Kashmir, now reinforced by a nuclear umbrella. Kashmiri Muslims were predominantly Sunni Hanafi , practicing a syncretic, Sufi-influenced Islam shaped by local traditions (Rishiyat), shrine culture and coexistence with Kashmiri Pandits. What has changed over the years? Religious followership has shifted toward a more orthodox, radical Sunni Islamist and scriptural orientation  especially among youth. The 'Jihad Game' written by Abhinav Pandya (counter-terro...
Read more