Books read in 2019

Great critics, of whom there are piteously few, build a home for the truth. -Raymond Chandler

“Peace of mind happens to a man only after he has developed deep insight. ~Sam Veda

   ~Highly Recommended~

  • Peeli Chhatri Wali Ladki - Uday Prakash
  • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Noah Harari
  • A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea - Masaji Ishikawa
  • Waiting For A Visa: Autobiographical notes - B.R. Ambedkar
  • Andhavishwas Unmoolan: Aachar Vol.2 - Narendra Dabholkar 

~Worth a Look~

  • Andhavishwas Unmoolan : Siddhant Vol. 3: - Narendra Dabholkar
  • The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3) - Philip Pullman
  • The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, #2) - Philip Pullman
  • The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1) - Philip Pullman
  • The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins
  • Qissa Qissa Lakhnauwa - Himanshu Bajpai
  • Andhavishwas Unmoolan: Vichar Vol.1 - Narendra Dabholkar 
  • Azadi mera brand - Anuradha Beniwal
  • Courage and Conviction - V.K. Singh
  • Out of the Blue - Aakash Chopra
  • GUJARAT FILES - Rana Ayyub

~Pleasure Reading~

  • Wah Bhi Koi Des Hai Maharaj - Anil Yadav
  • The Arabian Nights - Andrew Lang
  • The Bard of Blood - Bilal Siddiqi 
  • काशी का अस्सी  - Kashinath Singh
  • सीन : 75 by Rahi Masoom Raza
  • The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom 
  • Kamayani - Jaishankar Prasad
  • Meena Bazar - Saadat Hasan Manto
  • Joothan - Omprakash Valmiki
  • Isq mein shahar hona - Ravish Kumar
  • Poor But Spirited in Karimnagar: Field Notes of a Civil Servant Sumita Dawra

~Avoid~

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Kanpur Coaching Gurus

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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...
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Personal Reading History -1

"It is good to be curious because that is how one starts the journey of inquiry... into existence; but if one simply remains curious, then there will be no intensity in it. One can move from one curiosity to another — one will become a driftwood — from one wave to another wave, never getting anchored anywhere. Curiosity is good as a beginning, but then one has to become more passionate. One has to make life a quest, not only a curiosity." --- Osho  I am now searching the root of mine reading habits and how they have changed my behavior over the span of time. Even though I was attracted towards schoolbooks, I don't remember any interest in the reading at KG level. Only memory I have of reading, it is of nursery rhyme ' Johnny Johnny Yes Papa ' in the classroom. I spent most of the time listening to the old songs of Kishore Kumar and Mahendra Kumar in the cassette player. I had started reading Children stories in Hindi newspaper ' Dainik Jagran ' initially...
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Book Review: Putin's People by Catherine Belton

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Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West  - Catherine Belton Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West by Catherine Belton | Goodreads ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highly Recommended Catherine Belton’s Putin’s People  is less a conventional political biography and more a forensic examination of how money, power, and state institutions fused to produce modern Russia under Vladimir Putin. For readers seeking to understand Putin not just as a man, but as a system, this book is essential reading—even if it leaves you uneasy about where responsibility truly lies.  Origins: Perestroika, Collapse, and the Intelligence State Belton begins the narrative in the early 1990s, just before the Soviet Union collapsed. Russia lagged far behind the West technologically, while Dresden - where Putin served as a KGB officer- had become a hub for smuggling and covert intelligence networks.  During Perestroika , KGB closely monitored the Soviet Union’s...
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Bahadur Shah Zafar - Last Mughal King

Lagta Nahin Hai Dil Mera Ujde Dayar Mein Kiski Bani Hai Aalam-e-Napaidar Mein Bulbul ko baghban se na sayyaad se gila Kismat mein kayd thi likhi fasle-bahaar mein Kehdo In Hasraton Se Kahin Aur Ja Basen Itni Jagah Kahan Hai Dil-e-Daagdaar Mein Umr-e-Daraz Mang Ke Laye The Chaar Din Do Aarzoo Mein Kat Gaye Do Intezaar Mein Din zindagi ke khatm hue shaam aa gayi phaila ke paanv soyenge koonje mazaar mein Kitna Hai Badnaseeb “Zafar” Dafn Ke Liye Do Gaz Zameen Bhi Na Mili Koo-e-Yaar Mein English Translation: My heart is not happy in this despoiled land Who has ever felt fulfilled in this transient world The nightingale laments neither to the gardener nor to the hunter Imprisonment was written in fate in the season of spring Tell these emotions to go dwell elsewhere Where is there space for them in this besmirched heart? I had requested for a long life a life of four days Two passed by in praying/wishing, and two in waiting. The days of life are over, Its evening of death Now I can sleep w...
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Lyrics of Title Song from Bharat Ek Khoj

सृष्टी से पहले सत्य नहीं था, असत्य भी नहीं अंतरिक्ष भी नहीं, आकाश भीं नहीं था छिपा था क्या कहाँ, किसने देखा था उस पल तो अगम, अटल जल भी कहाँ था सृष्टी का कौन हैं कर्ता कर्ता हैं यह वा अकर्ता ऊंचे आसमान में रहता सदा अध्यक्ष बना रहता वोहीं सच मुच में जानता. या नहीं भी जानता हैं किसी को नहीं पता नहीं पता नहीं है पता, नहीं है पता........... वोह था हिरान्य गर्भ सृष्टी से पहले विद्यमान वोही तो सारे भूत जात का स्वामी महान जो है अस्तित्वमाना धरती आसमान धारण कर ऐसे किस देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर जिस के बल पर तेजोमय है अम्बर पृथ्वी हरी भरी स्थापित स्थिर स्वर्ग ओर सूरज भी स्थिर ऐसे किस देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर गर्भ में अपने अग्नी धारण कर पैदा कर्व्यपा था जल इधर उधर नीचे ऊपर जगह चुके वो का एकमेव प्रान बंकर ऐसे किस देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर ॐ ! सृष्टी निर्माता स्वर्ग रचायता पूर्वज रख्सा कर सत्य धर्मं पलक अतुल जल नियामक रक्षा कर फैली हैं दिशाएं बहु जैसी उसकी सब में सब पर ऐसी ही देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर ऐसी ही देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर......
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