Post after a long time

Its been more than an year and though i know not many read this blog, I would post one soon just to satisfy myself of having done something today.

The Kite runner and Shogun

Shogun happens to be the book I read almost 10 years ago. This is probably the first book which has some incisive observations about the Japanese culture. I do not know what is written is the book is true or more likely, a flight of imagination by the author, James Clavell. But I loved the Japanese as seen in 16th century Japan and I have been a fan of friction based in South East Asia.

So when I came across Sishir with a copy of Shogun, I was plesantly suprised. Further enquires revealed that it is part of series of 5 books. The next book in this series, Tai-pan, runs through a frictional account of the European traders involved in trade with China. James Clavell view about the integration between the west and the east with the political sub-text. Though the book was not as interesting as the Shogun, it was still a good read.

The kite runner is written by Khaled Hosseini, an American afghan. The story actually heart rending tale of a boy, Amir, in Afghanistan in the mid 70’s. Amir wants the approval of his father, who feels that his son spends too much time in his books and does not stand up for himself. Amir sees his opportunity in the kite flying competition to gain the love of his father. The last kite to be cut is seen as a trophy and he asks his childhood friend and ‘servant’ to get it for him. And then begins the tragedy. The story is also covers aspects as to how the Taliban had changed the Afgan society with emphasis on their cruel methods.

The Bartimaeus trilogy

An entertaining fantasy book at last. The last two harry potters were frankly dissapointing. As I said in my last post, the dijinni is really a great character. And fortunately, this book has none of the loose ends that have vexed me in Lord of the Rings. Most charcters have a complete ending though the ending actually is not as interesting as the journey itself. The tongue Bartimaeus has!!!!

Moreover, though the book carries parallels to current political move towards more obtrusive and spooking governments, it is not overwhelmed by it. The book thankfully never launches into a debate or a diatribe. Thats actually a reason why I hate Ayn rand books. You do not want to read 55 pages of some god forsaken speech(trust me, its very boring. In spite of claims by its fans of great philosophical insights, I stongly urge you to never touch a Ayn Rand).

Anyways, the second and thrid part, the Golem's eye and Ptolemy gate were worth the money. The gamble has actually paid off. A depressing day before the birthday might just have rewarded me with a great experience.

The Amulet of Samarkand

Djinnes(genies)!!!!!!!!!. The first genie book I have read and man, it just bowled me away. I brought the Amlut of Samarkand half afraid that it would be some kiddish book. Couldn't have been more wrong. The characterization of the genie is too good. Though it does mean that the magician though necessary is not a very interesting character. And the foot notes are full of sarcastic comments though it is pretty much kept in check. I have it when authors overload the books with sarcasm.


Now this is one book I can recommend to one and all. Unlike fooled by randomness which would be passing interest to a non-fin guy. And the book pushed into reading the second part of the trilogy, the Golems eye. Due to this book, i spend half the time in office dreaming when I could just run away home.

By the way, planning to start the driving classes soon. They are not as expensive as I thought it would be. That would take care of at least one of the targets before year end.

Fooled by randomness

A must for everyone ever interested in trading. The book is by a propitiatory trader who has been in the business for a long time. The main philosophy of his trading career has been how not to blow up. Blow up means not just losing money but losing more than expected. There are lots of instances and examples of people who blew up and why they blew up. And he heaps loads and loads of scorn for analysts like me.

Moreover, the book touches upon some of the sublime issues with human behavior. We always tend to compare our success relative to others in our close proximity rather than consider the whole population. For example, no matter how much better off I am as compared to 90% of Indian population, I will still compare my financial well being with the limited number of people I studied with.

Wretched Birthdays

As it happens every year since the past 5 years, Yesterday was another wretched birthday. This day is celebrated every year till your death and in some cases even after your death. The birthday, as the name implies is not the day you were born on but rather a day every year to commemorate that day of the month and the month you were born on. I never in the fast 5 years have got the feeling of celebrating life at birthdays. I have always felt a disgust at the things that I promised to do and never got around to doing then. The things I could have done but couldn't. Truthfully speaking, they are the days I get the blues.

So, this is what I did for birthday. Woke up, office, back home, read a book and off to sleep, after having food at regular intervals. I might not remember what I did the day I was born. But I am pretty sure all I did was wake up and go back to sleep after some milk. This, according to me, is an ideal way to celebrate the day you were born.

On a different note, I really like how some people remember my birthday instead of depending on Orkut. Maybe, they maintain a different database. Whatever it is, I like the gesture. Among those good enough to remember it were my parents and sister, Praveen mavauya, Kanwal, Kris, Katra, Meghana, Skg, Aditya, Vikash and Sanjay. Love you all.

Let’s stop the mushy stuff for now. Let’s have a party this weekend. More than anything else, it’s a good excuse to meet up. Next post is going to be on that book I promised “Fooled by Randomness”.

Racism in India

Yesteraday evening, after a game of Risk II with Aditya and SKG(friends from IIML for those who do not know them), myself, PP and SKG got into a discussion on problems we find in general in India. After wandering and trashing communists, TATA's, Birla's and Pratiba Patil, we did come across an interesting and disturbing aspect. Indians are highly racist. Racist not in the conventional sense where you discriminate against based on race but racist in the sense where discrimnation is based not on your abilities/qualifications.

The first and obvious instance is matrimonies. 90% of matrimonies feature either caste or the widely prevalent, "wanted fair, beautiful bride". I have no clue how Indians get fascinated with fairness. Are dark people not beautiful? Will a dark-colored woman make marriage life difficult? Or do fair women result in lower electricity bill due to their radiating light all around them. But we have the gumption to go all around saying that Indians are discriminated against.

The other major racism instance is while dealing with people from Africa. In India, there is a strong belief that people from Africa are inferior, lazy and quite recently I came across this one, drug junkies. And all these beliefs based on the observation of a small number of students who come to study in our colleges. The students, who lack of knowledge and communication skills in English, are mistaken and mislabeled as being dumb. And as far as drug junkies, it is just bull.

We complain about the treatment given to Md Haneef, who we presume to be innocent. But are we willing to extend the same trust in the hundreds of people languishing in Indian jails who go on for years even without seeing a trial? What about those who are victims of street justice which the lot of hindi news channels show us? Our media doesn't get into frenzy about it. I do not find interviews of the victims in newspapers. I am not saying that what's happening wtih Haneef is right, but that what's happening in India is also wrong.

P.S: Just started reading the book fooled by randomness. Will certainly publish a review once I am done with it.