ExpertDabbler

Verppattru is my first Indira Parthasarathy novel. I would not call this as a classic, but it is still a decent read. I liked the irony at the end. A guy who is hell-bent on fighting caste, at last gets his job because of his caste
Actually the central theme of the novel is the hypocrisy by various characters in various situations. The person who seems the most dogmatic (kesavan’s father) in the beginning, is the one who adapts well with reality without losing his principles towards the end.

Verdict: Time irundha padikalaam

This was an unusual weekend for me in many ways. I was mostly at home, yet mostly offline. I was reading Thanneer Vitto Valarthom – Part 1 by S.Gurumurthy. For Dummies, this is a collection of Gurumurthy’s writings in Thuklaq over the years.

Many readers would promptly label Gurumurthy as someone belonging to the upper caste and who is inclined to Sangh Parivar and just ignore him. I think it’s easy to label someone; all it takes is a single sentence. But we should remember that a lot of details will be lost under that label, and the loss is ours.

Gurumurthy’s arena comprises of religion and its political implications, economics, and society. He thinks India as a nation can improve only if the main parameters – religion, economics and society are configured in a certain way.

Of all the subjects he discusses, I am most impressed with his writings on economics. Here is one person who can write about economics without complex graphs, equations, ‘jalliadi’ statistics about GDP, GNP, fiscal deficit, etc and that too in Thamizh!
I would like to think I have attained more clarity on economic concepts from Gurumurthy than any other writer. I think it’s far better to learn about economics in ones own mother tongue than in English from Milton Friedman. If you want to read about economics in simple Thamizh, look no further.

On religion, he is very categorical in stating that Christianity and Islam, being Abrahamic religions which believe their paths are the only way to salvation, are the root cause of all religious troubles – from religious conversions to terrorism, which I agree with for the most part.

However, I am less inclined to his views on caste, women’s rights, and his high handed views of Kalaacharam. Some of the core issues of caste, the injustices meted out to less privileged, the way women have been exploited in this country over the years are simply moved under the carpet as ‘paarambariyamaana nambikkaigal’. He even implies women were given respect and that’s why were ‘protected’ in our society. He argues women’s rights are less important than ‘women’s respect’. This is like saying, “I have a pair of parrots, and I respect it so much that I protect it in a cage so that outsiders and other animals cannot attack it. For, my entire family economics and gouravam revolves on those parrots’. Well, whether they want such kind of respect is for the parrots to decide, not me or Gurumurthy.

He is very tactical in equating nationalism with the rise of Hinduism and stating that it was during the times of Periyaar that national pride was at its lowest ebb. While this is true, I think one should also consider the reasons for that. Here he conveniently leaves aside the reasons why E V Ramaswamy had to move out of the Congress, why national independence was even considered undesirable, and the behavior of the then wealthy “orthodox” lawyers of Tamil Nadu, etc.

I am also neutral to his views on Kanchi Mutt. His first chapter, I suspect, was strategically made to be on Kanchi Mutt. Perhaps he wanted to make it clear that he is from a particular background with a particular set of beliefs. Kanchi Mutt is more like a cultural icon I guess. I have seen references to it in various wedding invitations I receive from my Brahmin friends, even though the people getting married and their current behaviors have no connection whatsoever with the Mutt. It’s more like, ‘If you are a Brahmin, you better refer to some Sankara Mutt’. Anyway, it does not matter to me. That’s the best I can say at this point.

All said and done, I think it’s a refreshing read. At a time when all intellectuals earn their bread by criticizing anything and everything, here is someone who is bold enough to put together a framework and write a series of articles espousing it in thamizh. It is another matter that I do not subscribe to the ideas fully. But that should not prevent me from recommending this book.

Overall, this is one book which has to be read, debated and discussed whenever time permits if you are concerned about India. It raises some interesting counterpoints which are almost always muted by the more vocal mainstream media. The other two parts are currently out of stock. I am eagerly looking forward to reading those as well.

Price: Rs. 175
Published by: Alliance Book Company
Location: Opposite Mylapore Tank.

It takes enormous control over one’s craft and unsurpassed knowledge in a community’s way of life to write a novel like ‘Gopallapurathu makkal’.

The reason I say this is because the novel does not define a single protagonist, nor a tight plot. But a community’s complete way of life was shown to me effortlessly. And this is possible only with a writer of Ki. Ra’s calibre.

References to ‘Kazhugu Malai’ in the novel made me relate to it even better. That’s my maternal grandma’s native

I love good movies, but i don’t think any one can ever make a movie out of this, except maybe Ki. Ra himself.

I wanted to write this post in tamil, but unfortunately i am not able to install NHM writer. Mine is office laptop

I think it’s only fitting that i write about a superb novel which ends with India’s Independence day, on the eve of one Independence day.

Ki. Rajanarayanan Vazhga! Happy reading! Happy independence day!

Finished reading ‘Brahmin and Non Brahmin’ by MSS Pandian. Just search for this title in google.

A well written book elucidating the politics of brahminism during the early twentieth century, to the non-brahmin politics pioneered by Periyaar, while gently touching the emerging overtures and ambitions of the Dalits in the epilogue. As a by product, we also get to know about Iyothee Thoss and Maraimalai Adigal.

I had a few conceptions which I thought was original, only to find those ideas were discussed and brainstormed as early as 1892 Overall a very interesting read if you have an open mind.

Caveat: This being a book written by a scholar has its own rhythm.

Well, thats Chetan Bhagat’s third book. Expecting Chetan to write literary masterpieces is like expecting Mallika Sherawat to act. Thats not their intention in the first place. Chetan Bhagat is all about the frustrations of the city bred youth, whacky one liners and couples making out in odd places. This book is no exception.

This should also be the more serious of Chetan’s efforts so far. Tackling themes like communalism is surely as serious as it gets with him. What I did like about this book was the way he had used the Gujarat Earthquake, the Godhra carnage and the epic 281 by Laxman in that test match against Australia in Eden Gardens.

And of course his one liners. When Fred calls the boy to Australia, Govind says “..Like it was taking an auto to Navrangpura”
and in the Bondi beach “I would rather see one topless woman a day for hundred days than hundred in the same day”.
I literally LOL-ed on lines like these. But sadly those lines are much less frequent when compare to his previous works.

On the down side, there are some completely cinematic sequences which would make even a hardcore Vijay fan squirm.

Overall a readable, though nothing great book. My only concern is he is taking himself too seriously for his own good. I expect him change course in his next efforts.

I’ve been seeing Shelfari in Subha’s blog for sometime but was never really open minded enough to explore this till today At last, this seems to be one social networking site I might be comfortable.

For a person who is conservative with money, I think I’ve been relatively generous(by my kanjus standards) in gifting books to friends. Couple of recent gifts include Po Bronsons’s What should I do with my life. I’d already blogged about this long back. I started reading this again recently and to my pleasant surprise, the thoughts this one offered me on second reading was even better.

There are some books which are not for the casual reader. They demand more scrutiny and attention. In the sense one practically needs to study those. ‘Myths of Innovation’ by Scott Berkun comes under that category. I’ve been a regular at Scott’s blog for the past 4 years. Overall, a good read but requires more effort from the reader.

One way to get the latest and greatest from Amazon is to order it online and send it to our friends in US. Someone or other always travels every month or so anyway and they can be our courier agents I managed to save on shipping this way.

I am currently reading A Whole New Mind by Dan Pink. Dan talks about how right brain thinking will be the next big mantra for success in the coming years. His arguments are compelling but more importantly he does not put you to sleep in the process. I think it should be incredibly hard to write a fast readable book on serious topics. Authors like Daniel Pink with their journalism background are specialists in such genres.

One caveat, all these books have one thing in common though, don’t try to gulp it all in a hurry. The book and a fast food joint are not one and the same.

The most basic bottomline about books, even after discounting all the gyaan, is that they are so easy on the eyes when compared to the 14 inch notebook monitors. A 30 minute book reading session before sleep is perhaps the best treatment, both for dry eyes and insomnia :-).

PS:
Folks in India can avail PDR (Professional Development Reimbursement). Essentially the money spent on books can be deducted from taxable income by submitting the bills. Unfortunately, lot of companies keep mum on this provision because its more work for them. I am not sure what kind of books are covered and what’s excluded and who decides on these issues though. I think we are safe so long as we do not claim PDR for Penthouse letters :). It’s better check with your HRs and accounts departments.