The 50 book challenge !

At the beginning of the year, I had set myself a target of reading 50 books this year, primarily to force myself back into the reading habit. Have read 33 to date and am slightly lagging behind my target vs. time elapsed !

Posting a wishlist of books I want to read before end of this year so that I dont get tempted to read trash and meet my target.

1. Undercover Economist (Tim Harford) - Currently reading. It is great economic reasoning in a very easy to read manner. It uses real world examples to explain economic theories. Unlike Freakonomics, the book explains key economic concepts starting with the value of scarcity and marignal cost vs. average cost.

2. End of Oil (Paul Roberts) - Just bought it in Bangkok a week ago. It is about the energy crisis, how real it is and what the implications are. I am not a very environment conscious person, hopefully the book can make me a bit more aware

3. Confessions of an economic hitman (John Perkins) - Highly recommended by Shrenik. The book is about the life of an economic hitman - highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars.

4. India 60 (Edited by Ira Pandey) - Collection of essays as India matures into a 60 year old nation. Currently reading. Quite ordinary. But since I have invested time in it and the stress of finishing 50 books, might as well finish it.

5. Maximum City (Suketu Mehta) - Have heard my husband rave about book forever now. Intend to find out for myself what is so great about it.

6. Tao of Physics (Fritjof Capra) - Tried reading, gave up. Worth another shot. The book draws parallels between eastern mysticism and western physics. Quite involved, I dont even understand it sometimes.

Do let me know if you have recommendations for good books that I can read !

Book Review: The Algebra of Infinite Justice (Arundhati Roy)

‘The algebra of infinite justice’ is a collection of essays written by Arundhati Roy covering a range of issues – Nuclear weapons, nationalism, big dams, globalization, corporatization, America’s war against terror. Her opinions and essays are strongly leftist. I agree with some (America’s war against terror), strongly disagree on most (nuclear weapons, Narmada Andolan, Indian democracy) and dont even understand the rest (I dont know what the essay ‘the ladies have feelings so...’ was about).

Despite my disagreement with most of her opinions (I wont call them arguments, because they dont qualify as that) the book was an interesting read, mostly because her writing is very passionate and evokes a response from the reader - my response was mostly anger at her naivete and violent disagreement with her opinions. Though it did open my eyes to the perspective of a minority groups of freaks (she calls herself that...I didnt) on issues of global and local relevance.

That said, there is a lot that I dont like about the book

1. Her essays sound like emotional outbursts rather than a coherent, rational argument. Sample this – “The nuclear bomb (in the context of India’s nuclear tests) are the most anti-democratic, anti-national, anti-human, most outright evil thing...” with no explanation or context whatsoever. OR “India’s nuclear bomb is the final act of betrayal by a ruling class that has failed its people”
2. Some of her essays also take a very patronizing tone like the reader is not capable of understanding governments’ hidden agenda, unlike her. For example - “Has anyone bothered to tell them (the un educated millions in India) that nuclear war has nothing to do with pride? Has anyone bothered explaining to them about Thermal blasts, radioactive fallout and nuclear winter?Are there even words in their language to describe it? Do they not matter at all? Should we treat them like cretins?”
3. It also doesnt help that she asks tons of rhetoric questions. I distinctly remember one page in the book which had only questions, which completely threw me off. In parts, It seemed like an exam question paper rather than an essay.
4. Though she has effectively raised issues (some non-issues), voiced dissent, asked questions and criticized the system, there is no attempt to suggest solutons for the same. Being an intellectual (she considers herself one), is the reader allowed to expect it of her?

To find faults, criticize, point fingers and rubbish the system are all easy to do. To understand the issue, its practical implications and identify possible solutions calls for a much more mature writer (and thinker) !

Overall, the book is an OK read for someone who hasnt read Arundhati Roy's political writing before, just to decide whether you agree with her or not. I most certainly dont!

Rating - * *

This is not going to be pleasant reading...

Not so long ago, I discovered that one of my wisdom teeth was looking black and had a pretty gaping hole (I had warned that it wasn’t going to be pleasant). After the initial shock, I decided a visit to the dentist was in order. Very optimistically, I expected him to do some general cleaning and say that my teeth are in perfect condition. I was also willing to pay him tons of money (alright whatever little that I have) to get this desired outcome.

I went to this clinic near my home for lack of knowledge of any better options. I sat in the waiting room flipping through some magazines and thinking about the time when I used to be scared of dentists. The idea of having unknown, sharp instruments in my mouth and a grim looking doc scared the hell out of me. But after a 4-year long orthodontic treatment with a great orthodontist, I began warming up to the idea of dentists not being bad people really.

Soon enough I was called in by a dark, skinny, Indian girl called Sheila. The dentist (I couldn’t catch his name, let’s call him Dr) came in briskly and said
Dr: What do you want me to do today?
Me: I am not sure (It is not for us ordinary people to tell doctors what to do. It’s for you to know!!) I think there is an issue with my wisdom tooth
Dr: What is the issue?
Me: It is black (Really, this conversation was bringing back all my fears about dentists)
Dr: Ok. Do you want to save it?
Me: Can you?
Dr: I am not sure
All of this conversation happened without even a glance at the tooth in question. There was now a huge pause with me not knowing if I made the right decision coming here and the Dr wondering if there might be some merit to examining the tooth after all.

Sheila tied a small white napkin around my neck in the way that you do for kids before their meal. She made me wear dark glasses apparently to shield my eyes from the bright light above. But I felt more scared then ever with the world around me in gloomy sepia colours. We all resigned to the fact there was nothing left to do now but examine my teeth. Dr and Sheila had a conversation about my teeth like I wasn’t present.
Dr: I see what she means. It is black
Sheila: Yes
Dr: I can fill the hole and save the tooth. But she will have to come back in 6 months get it extracted
Sheila: Ok
Dr: (mumbling) The wisdom tooth is at a difficult angle. All of them actually
Sheila: What
Dr: Nothing, keeping myself busy. Bring me the pliers (it could have been a different instrument name, but that’s how it sounded)

Stunned silence. Finally,
Sheila: The straight ones?
Dr: No that is different. Bring them all. I will teach you later (Oh my god, Sheila was a trainee and a pretty bad one at that!!)
Dr: (to me) What do you want to do now?
Me: Extract the tooth (removing my cool sunglasses)
Dr: All 4?
Me: Just 1 thank you
Dr: Which one?
Me: The blackest of the lot
Dr: Good
Dr: (to Sheila) Get the local anesthetic

Sheila got a small vial of something. I prayed hard for it to really be the anesthetic. I cringed at the sight of an injection.
Dr: (to me) Well, now that you have come here, you need to get dental work done. I am ok to do it without the anesthetic also
Me: Can you please tell me what you intend to do before poking my teeth with dangerous looking instruments? (I wanted to cry but I was putting a brave front)
Dr: (frustrated) Come on now, you have had braces before. I am sure you have got tooth extractions done. (Sheila nodded) I can’t really explain everything

Halfway through the process of extracting the tooth, Dr wanted the light to be adjusted because he couldn’t see clearly. Sheila tried unsuccessfully for a while to adjust the light. Then with a sigh, she realized she wasn’t going to be able to do it. Her face had an I-have-a-brilliant-idea expression and she began twisting and turning my face till she got the angle that she wanted for the tooth to be well-lit. Now, I was not only wearing a baby napkin and random sunglasses but my face was also twisted in an angle that I didn’t know was humanly possible. She looked triumphant. I didn’t have the heart on energy to tell her that she was an idiot! Dr probably felt my contribution to this process was not enough, so he made me hold a couple of instruments.

The tooth finally same off and Dr asked Sheila to get some surgical mask (it is a tar coloured gel which needs to be applied on the affected area). Sheila got a red tube. Dr shook his head and said surgical mask. She got a blue coloured one now and he shook his head ever more vigorously. Finally, they both went to a drawer full of medical creams/gels/lotions and he made her name everyone of them. The only one she didn’t know was the surgical mask. I wanted to be reassured that everything would be fine.
Me: There isn’t going to be a lot of blood, right?
Dr: Come now, we are all educated people (Sheila nodded). If there is a tooth extraction there is going to be blood and pain. This is surgery, not a minor cleaning.

I nodded, clutched my painkillers and ran out.

Book Review: King of Bollywood SRK (Anupama Chopra)

Its so blah ! I dont even know why I read it...

Avoid !

A day at Desaru beach, Malaysia

Last weekend, we went to Desaru – a beach in Johor state, Malaysia. We being Varun, Tara, Vishy, Abi and I. We had planned to stay overnight, but somehow all hotels in this fairly unknown beach were booked. Optimistically, we decided to leave from home at 7am in the morning and try to find a room in Desaru since we refused to believe that all rooms could be taken.

Abi and I had slept late the previous night. So when the alarm rang at 6am, there was no chance that I would get up. Abi being an early-bird made himself busy finding books to read during the trip, getting our passports ready and packing some clothes in a small little bag and eating breakfast. Periodically he would call out to me to get up. To get him off my back, I asked him to check if others had woken up, fully confident that everyone would have slept in. Apparently not, because 5 mins later he shouted for me to wake up with an edge in his voice indicating rising temper. I quickly began getting ready for the trip and putting a few clothes of mine in the bag. Soon I realized that I was putting in a lot of stuff in the bag but it just didn’t seem to get full. On closer inspection, I realized that Abi kept removing clothes as I added them in since he felt we didn’t need as many for a short weekend trip. We were in the middle of a heated argument when Tara called to say that they were on way to pick us up. So we just quickly filled the bag with whatever we could find and rushed down.

Abi appointed himself as navigator of the trip and prided himself on his sense of direction and brilliance in geography. To his credit, he had written down detailed directions (like "Take a left immediately after KFC and keep going straight") on a sheet of paper to ensure we wouldn’t get lost. Vishy had just finished reading Harry Potter the previous night and like a true Harry Potter fan he had a few unresolved questions in his mind. He wanted to discuss these unresolved issues with me since I had also read it. As we began to discuss it, Varun and Abi got irritated since they planned to read the book and we were breaking the suspense for them. Once Varun turned around to shut us up and the car swerved dangerously. Fearing our lives, we agreed not to discuss it anymore. Suddenly, I heard someone whispering to me. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was Vishy trying to be very secretive about the Harry Potter discussion. In a car with 5 people, whispering is bound to draw more attention than a normal conversation. Anyway, we only stopped the discussion when Vishy had asked all his questions, didn’t get satisfactory answers on some and decided to read the book again.

We were travelling on a narrow road and there were a few really slow-moving trucks in front of us. Varun got fairly frustrated with the slow pace at which we were crawling and overtook the trucks even though there was traffic coming at us from the other side. Tara, who was sleeping so far got fairly worked up at this and said “I will complain to Papa if you don’t drive carefully”. Varun (and all of us) were taken aback at Tara’s frenzy given that she seemed peacefully asleep just minutes ago. In any case, the outburst worked like a charm and Varun became the safest driver on the face of earth ever.

We reached Desaru without further incident and decided to hit the beach before trying to find a room. In any case the beach looked fairly empty, so we would get rooms easily. The weather was brilliant – cloudy with a gentle breeze. The water was a dull blue and the sky was a dirty gray. Vishy jumped into the water wearing track pants with 6 pockets (this becomes important later on). We had just reached the beach when high tide was beginning. We sat down at the edge of the water for about an hour with successive wave drenching us more than the previous. It had begun to drizzle now and soon we were the only people left on the beach. When the rain became heavier, we got up to leave. Vishy couldn’t get up since every pocket was filled with atleast a kilo of sand. Clutching his pockets, he ran into the privacy of the sea water to get rid of the sand while we had a good laugh.

As always, immediately after coming out of the seawater, we began to feel tired and dirty and needed a shower. The boys went to find a room, but couldn’t since Desaru was celebrating "family day" that weekend with 2000 families from all over Malaysia participating in the celebrations. I must say that these 2000 families were doing a very good job of hiding themselves since we couldn’t spot anyone for miles. We reconciled to the fact that it would have to be a day trip and we would have to find alternate arrangements to shower and change. After a long and painful search, we found a public loo where we paid 50 cents to shower and had the option to buy a soap and shampoo as well. The washroom's lights were turned off, but as soon as we paid up, miraculously the lights turned on. It might have been better to keep it dark since the light served to magnify the dirt and grime in the washroom. I entered to see small cubicles with built-in cement tubs containing stale water. There was no shower, not even a bucket or a mug. Just a rubber pipe connected to a tap. I was most upset. There seemed no way out of this. Just as I was reconciling myself to this reality, I heard voices from the other side of the cubicles. I walked around to the other side to find a row of showers. I had started rejoicing when noticed that none of them had a door. Flimsy curtains covered roughly half the entrance. After a hugely disgusting experience, we managed to freshen up. As I was coming out of the washroom, a strange Indian man walked in and my shock was mirrored on his face also. He gathered his wits sooner than I could and asked in a shaky voice "Ladeej toilet?” I nodded and he quickly ran out. There were 2 people at the entrance of the loo, but since this man hadn’t paid up for their special services (shower, shampoo, soap et al) they chose not to enlighten him that the men's washroom was on the other side.

We managed to find food quite easily and had a long lunch. It was now about 3pm in the afternoon and the rain finally stopped. So we decided to lie down on the beach and read for a while before leaving for Singapore. Abi read all of one word before he fell asleep. Vishy didn’t attempt to read at all, just lied still. Varun and Tara fought a losing battle with sleep and succumbed to it after a few minutes. I diligently read the depressing book I had got. Vishy periodically woke up from sleep to announce "I can’t sleep straight. I need to spread myself out, but Abi is taking up all the space". I felt like a school teacher trying to tell him that he had to make do with the space he had. After an hour we decided it was time to leave.

On our way back, Tara decided her cold had subsided enough for her to drive us back to Singapore. We reached Johor without any incident. We stopped at a petrol pump in Johor to fill the tank and suddenly felt like we didn’t want to go through the Woodlands checkpoint, we wanted to go to Tuas. Abi tried to rationalise it by saying immigration was quicker at Tuas. We asked the way to Tuas and drove in search of it for half an hour. At one point, we thought that we found the right way and Abi was quick to take credit for it. After a short celebration, we found ourselves driving down the same road that we had previously, heading towards Woodlands. Abi had failed at his job as a navigator and tried to salvage some pride by convincing us that both checkpoints were equally efficient and we should just head to Woodlands.

Vishy had just bought a new phone with a powerful camera, so he whiled away time by clicking pictures of himself. His eyes were closed in all pictures and he ruefully muttered "I wish I was photogenic". Abi quickly jumped up and said "I know how Filipinos manage to look good in pictures and I can teach you". Abi's technique was a 3-step process. (1) Tilt your head towards the camera as if you are going to get into it (2) Smile showing all (or as many as possible) your teeth (3) Slightly open the mouth to indicate extra happiness. This apparently also serves to open the eyes wider and make you look cheerful. One thing must be said about Vishy, he is a diligent student. He practised it a few times and then mastered the art. He strongly believes in this technique and is willing to teach anyone/everyone who is interested. He also has a pre-post photo to show that it works. In the spirit of being honest, I also tried the technique to find out what all the fuss is about. I have a couple of horrendous looking photos to show for my efforts. Hence it does not work for all. If you are still interested, Vishy is most certainly willing to teach.

We reached Singapore at 8:30pm, ate a quick dinner and crashed ! These day trips are really tiring..what say T?

Bihar Travelogue (Ekma - Varanasi - Chennai)

Ekma – Varanasi
I bought a ticket to Varanasi at the station. Wise from my previous experience, I got into a general (unreserved) compartment. There was absolutely no place to sit. So much so that some people tied their dhotis (spare ones, not the ones that they were wore) to rods in the compartment and grills on the window and made hammocks where they rested peacefully. The train stopped at every small station and was so slow that I felt like I could run along the train and keep up with it’s speed. The only empty space I found in the compartment was the overhead luggage carrier above the seats. I climbed up and waited for someone to leave so I could pounce on their seat. This was a foolish hope since everyone was well-aware that once they got up, they would never get to sit again. Hence everyone stuck to their seats like fevicol ka mazboot jod.

Reached Varanasi at 3pm. Incidentally it is the oldest living city in the world. Nana had spoken to his friend in Varanasi (who was a teacher at the Sanskrit University) to help me with accomodation and getting around the city. I took an auto and went to the Sanskrit University. I asked around for Mishraji, but no one knew him. I spent an hour unsuccessfully trying to find him and missed the view of sunset over the Ganga in the bargain. So I made my way to Dashashwamedh Ghat and got a room in a small hotel where I would be put up for 2 nights. Varanasi has a 7km long sweep of 100 bathing ghats which form the western bank of the river Ganga. Most ghats are used for bathing, but some are also used for cremating bodies. Dashashwamedh ghat is among the most sacred of them and it is believed that pilgrims who bathe here will have their wishes fulfilled. I freshened up and went to the ghat where the evening aarti was being conducted. After the aarti I sat by the banks of the river just admiring the majestic river, pious ghat and ardent pilgrims. There were people offering the pilgrims a boat ride in the ganga at night. I didn’t want to risk going for a ride at night on a rickety boat, so I made my way back to the hotel.

When I reached the hotel, it would have been around 9pm, but people were already fast asleep on the roads. I saw that the gates to my hotel were shut and locked with a heavy-looking chain and lock. I jumped over rows of people sleeping in front of the gate and woke up the watchman. He asked for my name, room no, identity and purpose of visit. After having answered his question, I was still subject to his curious gaze for a whole minute as if he was contemplating whether or not to let me in. Who would have expected such watertight security in a budget hotel like mine. Anyway, after some more cross-questioning he decided I was harmless and let me in. When I turned on the lights in my room, I saw that all sorts of creatures had made themselves comfortable while I was away - 2 lizards, 3 cockroaches and a few mosquitoes. I tried shooing them away but it didn’t seem to work, so I covered myself head to toe with a blanket, hoping that they would ignore me and continue to do their thing.

Next morning, I got up before sunrise and went to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. It is one of the most famous temples in Varanasi and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Built during the reign of Akbar, it was partly destroyed when Aurangazeb built the Gyanvapi mosque at the same location. Today, the temple and mosque co-exist but this area has the potential to become an ayodhya-like issue. Hence there is a huge amount of security around this area. I reached the temple at 5am. They had just finished the maha-arti at 4am and opened the temple to public for darshan. I found a Panda, or rather the Panda found me. Panda is a temple official who can take you around the temple and explain its history, significance etc. As I walked around the temple, I definitely felt like it was a special place. My mind was calm, also because there were very few people in the temple at the time. At the end of my tour around the temple, the Panda asked me for thousand rupees as his fees for showing me around. I was completely taken aback. Then began a long process of negotiating with him. We finally agreed at 200 rupes since I convinced him I was a student and couldn’t afford to pay any more. The whole incident left a bad taste in my mouth. I came out of the temple to hear chanting at the river banks. This was the last day of my trip and I spent it sitting by the riverside.

Varanasi – Chennai
I had a return ticket to Chennai from Patna. Since there was no direct train from Varanasi to Patna, I took a train through Mulgalsarari and was on my way back home. This has definitely been one of my more interesting and fulfilling trips.

Bihar Travelogue (Hajipur - Ekma - Sitalpur)

Hajipur – Ekma
I didn’t have a ticket for this leg of the journey. So I went about looking for the ticket office. Got a ticket on an express train (Barauni-Varanasi Express). I waited at the platform for my train and had some 3 hours to kill. Quite suddenly, I felt weak and realized that I was running a fever. I sat in the shade and drank fluids hoping that I wouldn’t fall seriously ill. I remembered everyone advising me against going on the trip for fear of falling ill and suddenly felt stupid at not having listened to them and being more careful. After what seemed like eternity, my train arrived. I got into a reserved compartment which looked less empty than the others. I am a big believer in sleep and water being a cure for almost everything. So I found an empty seat and immediately dozed off. In sometime, I was rudely shaken awake by the ticket checker. Turned out, I had a ticket that only allowed me to travel in the unreserved compartment and I had gotten into a reserved, sleeper coach. I paid a fine of 200 rupees to continued rest of the journey. I was extremely embarassed at breaking the law but I couldn’t pause to understand this hierarchy in ticketing system in my delirious state. I dozed off again and remember being oddly comforted by the fact that rules do exist (and are enforced) in Bihar unlike what is given to believe commonly. Reached Ekma station at 3pm and my fever had subsided.

Ekma - Sitalpur
My maternal grandfather’s younger brother (called nana henceforth) had come to receive me at the station. He didn’t know which train I was coming by, just what time my train would arrive. After a bit of a search I located him. Since I was meeting him after a long time, he took me to a mithai ka dukaan to buy sweets. I ate some random sweet that was supposedly rasagulla. From Ekma, my village (Sitalpur) is a further 6-8 kms and the most common mode of transport is a tuktuk. Tuktuk in Bihar (unlike Bangkok) is a horsecart. I started moving towards the tuktuk stand but turned out my nana had got a cycle and had planned to take me to the village on his cycle. I was a bit skeptical about this, but it didn’t seem right to argue. So I balanced myself on the cycle carrier with a suitcase in one hand and a bag in the other. After what seemed like ages of delicate balancing act on a rough terrain under a scorching sun, I asked him to stop the cycle. I couldn’t take it anymore, my butt hurt like it had never before. My nana seemed sympathetic and after a short while asked if we could proceed. I hoped we were halfway to the village and asked him to confirm my hopes. Apparently, we had just cycled around the Ekma station and to prove his point, he pointed to the station building. I was most disappointed and tried to think of a way to get out of riding on a cycle. There was none so I resigned to fate and sat back on the cycle. On the way to Sitalpur, this incident happened atleast 5 times – me requesting to stop the cycle and my butt numb with pain, nana giving an update on our location and patiently waiting till I got back to senses, me getting back on the cycle hoping for the pain to end. Eventually, we did reach the village in one piece at 4:30pm when it was still quite hot.

The house was crowded with lots of people whom I hadnt met before. Again, no electricity. I thought it was a routine power cut but apparently electricity is available only during election times. Hence people hope for frequent elections. I freshened up and went on a small walk to the village temple. Everyone seemed to know each other and asked nana about who I was. He introduced me to some old friends. I visited a few relatives’ houses after sunset. They were drinking chai in the light of lanterns. As we were talking, I saw something move in the bushes. It seemed like a dog. But my nana informed that it was more likley to be a jackal, since there are a lot of them around the village and they move about during the night. That night I slept on the roof with some 15 other people since the house was stuffy. I fell asleep while trying to identify different constellations on this cloudless, still night.

Next morning, I went to the village market to buy vegetables and lazed around during the day after that. In the evening, a few children were playing cricket. I joined them and was made to keep wickets. It started getting dark and the children decided to go home but I hadnt got a chance to bat yet. When I asked them, they made excuses about how their mom would scold them if they didn’t return immediately and hence couldn’t wait for me to bat. In a matter of minutes, I was the only one left standing by the stumps, bat and ball having been claimed by their owners. So I went to the village and made a few STD calls from the lone phone in the village.

Sitalpur - Ekma
I had to catch a train to Varanasi from Ekma at 9am next morning. I somehow managed to convey to nana that I couldn’t possibly ride on the bicycle again. So we waited for the Trekker to come and pick us up. But the trekker was delayed and nana panicked that I might miss my train. He asked his son to get the bicycle since there wasn’t any other option. I was really scared and fervently prayed for the trekker to just appear. Seconds and then minutes passed with nana worrying about missing the train and me worrying about more immediate matters. I opened my eyes hoping to see the Treker, but saw the dreaded cycle instead. There really was no option now, my God had let me down. I climbed on to the cycle and immediately memories of the previous experience came rushing back. I could have cried. We reached the end of the road when suddenly the trekker miraculuously appeared. I quickly got off the cycle and hugged the trekker with a feeling of relief and happiness. I took nana’s blessings and was on my way to Ekma in a comfortable trekker.