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My Dagestan (Мой Дагестан) (Avar: Дир Дагъистан) by R asul Gamzatov . The book was translated in English in 1970 by Julius Katzer and Dorian Rottenberg. ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰ Worth Reading Let me speak of Dagestan —a rugged land along North Caucasus of Eastern Europe and the western shore of the Caspian Sea. The word Dagestan is of Turkish and Persian origin, directly translating to "land of the mountains".  The land has for centuries been a mosaic of peoples and languages: Avars, Dargins, Lezgins, Laks, Kumyks, and many others. The territory was annexed into the Russian Empire after protracted wars in the early nineteenth century.   By 1921, with the Red Army’s advance, the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic came into being.  Soviet state enforced sweeping modernization in  Dagestan, bringing it into line with Marxist-Leninist ideology while managing the religious sentiments.  Arabic was replaced first by Latin, later by Cyrillic; schools sprang up, teach...

Bhutan: The Kingdom at the Centre of the World  by  Omair Ahmad Bhutan: The Kingdom at the Centre of the World | Goodreads ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰ Worth Reading Despite the neighboring state of India, relatively limited number of books for common readers are available on Bhutan , a landlocked country in the Eastern Himalayas. This can be attributed to  unique geography and isolation  a policy of self-imposed isolation, which was successful in preserving its territorial integrity  as a Himalayan kingdom. Bhutan is much less known in the U.S. and western hemisphere that too for its Buddhism and as a mystical, serene travel destination.  Bhutan is slowly gaining popularity as a travel destination and t he readers will know a surprising  fact  on reading the book co nnecting Bhutan with the ' Golden Gate Bridge ' of San Francisco. Omair Ahmad has written an  insightful and beautiful book into the history of Bhutan, Druk Yul: Land of the Thunder Dragon. The book is...

Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy by Christopher L. Hayes ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰ Worth Reading “To see what is in front of one’s nose is a constant struggle,” George Orwell famously observed. So, what is it that American liberals and conservatives have missed? Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy is a 2012 nonfiction book written by Christopher Hayes. The book Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy by Christopher L. Hayes explores the crisis of authority in America, attributing it to the failures of the modern meritocracy. Hayes argues that since the 1960s, as more diverse groups rose to elite status through meritocratic means, a new elite emerged that is marked by increased social distance, corruption, and institutional failure.  This elite, embraced inequality, leading to widespread distrust in key institutions such as government, corporate America, the media, and even sports organizations.  Today, the children of these  elites enjoy outsized ret...

Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan  by William Dalrymple ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highly Recommended Despite the significant failures experienced in Vietnam, the idea of American exceptionalism remained deeply ingrained in the U.S. national psyche till 2000. Then, 9/11 happened. A focused military-intelligence operation targeting the perpetrators of 9/11 could have addressed domestic demands for justice. Alas, Bush administration launched a large-scale ground invasion of Afghanistan.  USA withdrew ultimately from war scarred land of Afghanistan, marking the end of a twenty-year military presence. They couldn't capture and run a dummy Afghan government. Sounds familiar !  The aphorism “History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes” is evident in these events when the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, echoing past foreign interventions in the country. The rapid collapse of Afghanistan’s government and swift Taliban resurgence after the U.S. exit underscore the c...

" The Seen and the Unseen " is India's premier long-form podcast hosted by Amit Varma. The podcast, which has been running since 2017, features long-form conversations with intellectuals, writers, economists, historians, and thought leaders from India and around the world. I am only sharing the books recommended related to  Indian History:  Post-Independence to Contemporary India (1970s–Present) India after Gandhi — Ramachandra Guha 1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh — Srinath Raghavan Emergency Chronicles: Indira Gandhi and Democracy’s Turning Point — Gyan Prakash India Moving: A History of Migration — Chinmay Tumbe Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi — Vinay Sitapati The Paradoxical Prime Minister — Shashi Tharoor The Generation of Rage in Kashmir — David Devadas Atomic State: Big Science in Twentieth-Century India — Jahnavi Phalkey Independence and Nation-Building Era (1940s–1970s) VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India — Narayani Basu The M...

Maus (Complete Part I and II)  by  Art Spiegelman ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highly Recommended How difficult it is to write the review of a book acclaimed worldwide by critics? It is the only graphic novel to have won a Pulitzer Prize.  Between moral weight and artistic expression, one struggles to find words that do justice to a depiction of quiet lives being lived alongside a loud and brutal sweep of history. "The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting," -  Milan Kundera   “A human being survives by his ability to forget. Memory is always ready to blot out the bad and retain only the good.” - Varlam Shalamov Both these quotes hold profound significance in understanding the dynamics of power struggles, history, and human agency. Yet some memories refuse oblivion; they persist through narrative as a warning and a plea to the humanity. This memory has been itched in a book touching the lives of many and showing all the importance of bea...

तीन ताल के सभी साथियों को जय हो, जय हो, जय हो! मेरी चौथी चिट्ठी आप सबके मानसिक स्वास्थ्य को समर्पित है!  किसी तीन तालिये  ने कहा था "तीन ताल के घाट पे, भईया, बकबक की भीड़, गपशप के लिए जुट गए, राजा, रंक, फकीर" ! राजा, रंक, फकीर के साथ इस बार कुछ लिबरल्स ने तीन ताल को सुना। उनको बहुत बहुत साधुवाद।  यह विविधता हमारे समाज की जटिलता को दर्शाती है, जहाँ हर आवाज़, चाहे वह राजा हो या आम आदमी, संवाद की साझा धुन में एक साथ जुड़ती है। आज मैं  बात करूँगा उस चउतरफा चर्चा की, जहां मानसिक स्वास्थ्य की व्यथा और चिंतन ने ताऊ-वादी दर्शन और उदारवादी विचारों के बीच टकराव को जन्म दिया!  कमलेश ताऊ, आसिफ़ ख़ांचा और कुलदीप सरदार मेंटल हेल्थ पर चर्चा कर रहे थे  और  ताऊ ने  दीपिका पादुकोण को भारत की पहली मेंटल हेल्थ एम्बेसडर बनाए जाने पर तंज कसा कि यह सब एक बड़प्पन दिखाने का तरीका है, और थेरेपी को अमीरों का स्टेटस सिंबल बताया। इससे सोशल मीडिया पर लोग इतने खफा हुए जैसे किसी ने रंगदारी नहीं दिया हो! लिबरल्स ने शर्मनाक घोषित क़िया, एपिसोड कैंसिल कराने और बायकॉट की धमकी ...

The Silk Roads: A New History of the World  by   Peter Frankopan ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰ Worth Reading “ The age of empire and the rise of the west were built on the capacity to inflict violence on a major scale. The Enlightenment and the Age of Reason, the progression towards democracy, civil liberty and human rights, were not the result of an unseen chain linking back to Athens in antiquity or a natural state of affairs in Europe; they were the fruits of political, military and economic success in faraway continents .” The Silk Roads  by  Peter Frankopan  challenges conventional Eurocentric narratives by revealing how global history, trade, and exchange formed the bedrock for the modern world.    This perspective challenges the notion of Western progress as an isolated or inevitable phenomenon, situating it instead within the interconnected histories of empire, trade, conquest, and genocide.   The Silk Roads is a deceptive title for a profound book. While th...

Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud by   Peter Watson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highly Recommended The past is an inheritance, a gift and a burden. It can’t be shirked. You carry it everywhere. There’s nothing for it but to get to know it. - Jill Lepore Crisis makes radical ideas relevant. Radical ideas inspire social movements. Social movements amplify crisis. In a crisis, shovel-ready ideas can win support quickly.  History is full of deeply flawed  ideas adapted rapidly by civilization and also burial ground of the ideas applied with the best of intentions.  We must look at history and to understand that change never, ever, ever comes about in a brief period. It's the gradual accumulation of knowledge as ideas to historical change that lead to the historical changes. All the  current knowledge has been built on past insights, and a book is devoted for the cause.  Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud by Peter Watson, has c...

" The Seen and the Unseen " is India's premier long-form podcast hosted by Amit Varma. The podcast, which has been running since 2017, features long-form conversations with intellectuals, writers, economists, historians, and thought leaders from India and around the world.  I am only sharing the books recommended related to Journalism & Media: 1. The New New Journalism — Robert Boynton This book offers deep insight into the craft and practice of modern journalism. It features interviews with 19 leading journalists who bring facts to life in compelling ways, making stories engaging and impactful. It inspires journalists and writers to improve storytelling techniques essential for today’s media landscape. 2. The Power Broker — Robert A. Caro This is a multi-dimensional portrait of American power and political influence. Through Robert Caro’s detailed biography, readers learn how power is gained, wielded, and its impact on ordinary people. It is a masterclass in politic...