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<guid>https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/azadi/</guid>
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<description>Check it out on Goodreads
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I don&rsquo;t have a lot of friends who are supporters of the ruling BJP (well at least the ones who have disclosed it publicly), and consequently whenever the conversation shifts towards the ongoings in India, more often than not, we find ourselves agreeing with each other. Although this is perfectly alright for me on most days, on few ocaasions, I find a shadow of a doubt slowly creeping up inside - what if I&rsquo;m living inside a bubble, an echo-chamber where I only get exposed to the ideas which I already hold to be true, especially relevant now that everything in our lives are getting regulated by algorithms.</description>
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(For some reason, this review has resonated with a lot of people - it&rsquo;s currently the top review for the book!)
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I don&rsquo;t have a lot of friends who are supporters of the ruling BJP (well at least the ones who have disclosed it publicly), and consequently whenever the conversation shifts towards the ongoings in India, more often than not, we find ourselves agreeing with each other.</description>
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<p>Check it out on Goodreads
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I don’t have a lot of friends who are supporters of the ruling BJP (well at least the ones who have disclosed it publicly), and consequently whenever the conversation shifts towards the ongoings in India, more often than not, we find ourselves agreeing with each other. Although this is perfectly alright for me on most days, on few ocaasions, I find a shadow of a doubt slowly creeping up inside - what if I’m living inside a bubble, an echo-chamber where I only get exposed to the ideas which I already hold to be true, especially relevant now that everything in our lives are getting regulated by algorithms....</p>
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||||
(For some reason, this review has resonated with a lot of people - it’s currently the top review for the book!)
|
||||
I don’t have a lot of friends who are supporters of the ruling BJP (well at least the ones who have disclosed it publicly), and consequently whenever the conversation shifts towards the ongoings in India, more often than not, we find ourselves agreeing with each other....</p>
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<footer class="entry-footer"><span title='2020-09-30 22:22:13 +0530 IST'>🗓 September 30, 2020</span> 4 min 🔖 <a href="/tags/non-fiction"> non-fiction</a> · <a href="/tags/indian-authors"> indian-authors</a> · <a href="/tags/favourites"> favourites</a></footer>
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<a class="entry-link" aria-label="post link to Azadi by Arundhati Roy" href="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/azadi/"></a>
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I find India really fascinating sometimes, even though I’ve lived my whole life here. What the cultural multitudes and colorful festivals hide underneath is an ugly facade which threatens to break everything that has been built over the years. What I find most fascinating is how we’ve conditioned ourselves to ignore the blatant reality and move ahead with an oblivious calm, living in shit and aspiring for the gold." />
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<meta property="article:published_time" content="2021-07-23T22:56:47+05:30" />
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<meta property="article:modified_time" content="2021-07-23T22:56:47+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />
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<meta name="twitter:title" content="Annihilation of Caste(Annotated Edition) by Arundhati Roy"/>
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I find India really fascinating sometimes, even though I’ve lived my whole life here. What the cultural multitudes and colorful festivals hide underneath is an ugly facade which threatens to break everything that has been built over the years. What I find most fascinating is how we’ve conditioned ourselves to ignore the blatant reality and move ahead with an oblivious calm, living in shit and aspiring for the gold."/>
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"articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nI find India really fascinating sometimes, even though I’ve lived my whole life here. What the cultural multitudes and colorful festivals hide underneath is an ugly facade which threatens to break everything that has been built over the years. What I find most fascinating is how we’ve conditioned ourselves to ignore the blatant reality and move ahead with an oblivious calm, living in shit and aspiring for the gold.\nCaste and religion are two of the most contentious topics out there, so much ingrained in our day to day life that one cannot even comprehend that any alternatives exist. Ambedkar had tried to show an alternative way out, and it only speaks of the deep-rootedness of the system when all we remember Dr. Ambedkar for is writing the Constitution (albiet not a small feat by any stretch), while all his life he had worked to shake the society off from the chains of caste.\nThis annotated edition is the perfect way to educate oneself about the almost forgotten history of a radical man who dared to question the status quo and to demand justice, fighting not against a foreign invader but with his fellow countrymen, and who has been sidelined from every history book that is taught in the country.\nCaste is part and parcel of a Hindu life. I did not realize or experience this until I entered college. Although it remains rather concealed amongst students, it reared its ugly head whenever the matter of reservation (Affirmative action in west) was discussed. Arundhati Roy put this brilliantly in her forward:\n‘Merit’ is the weapon of choice for an Indian elite that has dominated a system by allegedly divine authorisation, and denied knowledge—of certain kinds—to the subordinated castes for thousands of years. Now that it is being challenged, there have been passionate privileged-caste protests against the policy of reservation in government jobs and student quotas in universities. The presumption is that ‘merit’ exists in an ahistorical social vacuum and that the advantages that come from privileged-caste social networking and the establishment’s entrenched hostility towards the subordinated castes are not factors that deserve consideration. In truth, ‘merit’ has become a euphemism for nepotism.\nEven now when I no longer believe in religion (Hinduism was never my religion, it was my parents’ religion which I inherited, much like everyone else), I still get asked for my “last name” as a proxy for my caste. It is so seeped into our consciousness that we can’t help but feel a reverence whenever we come across someone from a “higher caste”, or to feel discomfort when we meet someone from a “lower caste”. This prejudice even trumps religious beliefs in India - even though their scriptures don’t sanction it, the elite Muslims, Sikhs and Christians all practice caste discrimination.\nThe arguments put forward by Ambedkar for breaking up the entire caste system is a brilliant demonstration of the crystal-clear thinking of a man who left such a huge legacy on the Indian subcontinent and made sure that the future of India is steered in the right direction. He is criticised for asking for a radical transformation of society when India needed to unite everyone to win its freedom. What these criticisms seem to miss is that every radical man/woman is considered radical precisely because i) they go against the cultural norms and ii) they question the deep-rooted prejudiced beliefs. There will never come an “appropriate” time for reforms, as is sadly evident with the still prevalent caste discrimination almost 90 years after Ambedkar decided to storm the gates.\nIt’s a travesty that he still remains, for the large part, forgotten.\n",
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<div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4063570586">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
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<hr>
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<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/caste.jpg#center" alt="Annihilation Cover" title="Annihilation Cover" />
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<p>I find India really fascinating sometimes, even though I’ve lived my whole life here. What the cultural multitudes and colorful festivals hide underneath is an ugly facade which threatens to break everything that has been built over the years. What I find most fascinating is how we’ve conditioned ourselves to ignore the blatant reality and move ahead with an oblivious calm, living in shit and aspiring for the gold.</p>
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<p>Caste and religion are two of the most contentious topics out there, so much ingrained in our day to day life that one cannot even comprehend that any alternatives exist. Ambedkar had tried to show an alternative way out, and it only speaks of the deep-rootedness of the system when all we remember Dr. Ambedkar for is writing the Constitution (albiet not a small feat by any stretch), while all his life he had worked to shake the society off from the chains of caste.</p>
|
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<p>This annotated edition is the perfect way to educate oneself about the almost forgotten history of a radical man who dared to question the status quo and to demand justice, fighting not against a foreign invader but with his fellow countrymen, and who has been sidelined from every history book that is taught in the country.</p>
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<title>Azadi by Arundhati Roy | Siddhartha Golu</title>
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<meta name="keywords" content="non-fiction, indian-authors, favourites">
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I don’t have a lot of friends who are supporters of the ruling BJP (well at least the ones who have disclosed it publicly), and consequently whenever the conversation shifts towards the ongoings in India, more often than not, we find ourselves agreeing with each other. Although this is perfectly alright for me on most days, on few ocaasions, I find a shadow of a doubt slowly creeping up inside - what if I’m living inside a bubble, an echo-chamber where I only get exposed to the ideas which I already hold to be true, especially relevant now that everything in our lives are getting regulated by algorithms.">
|
||||
(For some reason, this review has resonated with a lot of people - it’s currently the top review for the book!)
|
||||
I don’t have a lot of friends who are supporters of the ruling BJP (well at least the ones who have disclosed it publicly), and consequently whenever the conversation shifts towards the ongoings in India, more often than not, we find ourselves agreeing with each other.">
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I don’t have a lot of friends who are supporters of the ruling BJP (well at least the ones who have disclosed it publicly), and consequently whenever the conversation shifts towards the ongoings in India, more often than not, we find ourselves agreeing with each other. Although this is perfectly alright for me on most days, on few ocaasions, I find a shadow of a doubt slowly creeping up inside - what if I’m living inside a bubble, an echo-chamber where I only get exposed to the ideas which I already hold to be true, especially relevant now that everything in our lives are getting regulated by algorithms." />
|
||||
(For some reason, this review has resonated with a lot of people - it’s currently the top review for the book!)
|
||||
I don’t have a lot of friends who are supporters of the ruling BJP (well at least the ones who have disclosed it publicly), and consequently whenever the conversation shifts towards the ongoings in India, more often than not, we find ourselves agreeing with each other." />
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I don’t have a lot of friends who are supporters of the ruling BJP (well at least the ones who have disclosed it publicly), and consequently whenever the conversation shifts towards the ongoings in India, more often than not, we find ourselves agreeing with each other. Although this is perfectly alright for me on most days, on few ocaasions, I find a shadow of a doubt slowly creeping up inside - what if I’m living inside a bubble, an echo-chamber where I only get exposed to the ideas which I already hold to be true, especially relevant now that everything in our lives are getting regulated by algorithms."/>
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(For some reason, this review has resonated with a lot of people - it’s currently the top review for the book!)
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I don’t have a lot of friends who are supporters of the ruling BJP (well at least the ones who have disclosed it publicly), and consequently whenever the conversation shifts towards the ongoings in India, more often than not, we find ourselves agreeing with each other."/>
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<div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3534647672">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
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<p>(For some reason, this review has resonated with a lot of people - it’s currently the top review for the book!)</p>
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<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/azadi.jpg" alt="Azadi Cover" title="Azadi Cover" />
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<p>I don’t have a lot of friends who are supporters of the ruling BJP (well at least the ones who have disclosed it publicly), and consequently whenever the conversation shifts towards the ongoings in India, more often than not, we find ourselves agreeing with each other. Although this is perfectly alright for me on most days, on few ocaasions, I find a shadow of a doubt slowly creeping up inside - what if I’m living inside a bubble, an echo-chamber where I only get exposed to the ideas which I already hold to be true, especially relevant now that everything in our lives are getting regulated by algorithms. Whenever this confirmation bias hits me, I long to read something contrarian, to engage with the other side and to try to put myself in their shoes.</p>
|
||||
<p>So it was with a pleasant surprise that I found out one day, one of my friends “coming out of the closet” and to declare him(her)self to be a supporter of the ruling party. I grabbed the chance to finally be able to hear the arguments from the other side and so, I broke my cardinal rule of not engaging in political debates on social media and contacted him/her. The result was devastating. We passionately debated our views and had heated discussions throughout the day, in the end agreeing that maybe we shouldn’t have bothered to hit each other up after all. I was visibly distressed for a few days after this incident, as if a small flicker of hope had died in that encounter.</p>
|
||||
<p>If two educated and privileged youths in their early twenties were unable to agree on something as basic as whether Muslims deserve to live in India, or whether India should really become a “Hindu Rashtra” or not, what hope could I have from the millions of others who didn’t have the same privileges as us?</p>
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@@ -63,12 +63,12 @@ How to fool the world and become a Billionaire I remember hearing about Elizabet
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How to fool the world and become a Billionaire I remember hearing about Elizabeth Holmes when I was in my late teens, at that impressionable age when you get hyper-inspired by reading about icons that are going to change the world. There was a profile of her in Wired, with an eye-catching image of her wearing a turtleneck black sweater holding what looked like a test-tube with a tiny amount of blood with a science-y background." />
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<meta name="twitter:title" content="Bad Blood by John Carreyrou"/>
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<meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
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How to fool the world and become a Billionaire I remember hearing about Elizabeth Holmes when I was in my late teens, at that impressionable age when you get hyper-inspired by reading about icons that are going to change the world. There was a profile of her in Wired, with an eye-catching image of her wearing a turtleneck black sweater holding what looked like a test-tube with a tiny amount of blood with a science-y background."/>
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<div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2635590846">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
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<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/bad_blood.jpg#center" alt="Bad Blood Cover" title="Bad Blood Cover" />
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<h2 id="how-to-fool-the-world-and-become-a-billionaire">How to fool the world and become a Billionaire<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#how-to-fool-the-world-and-become-a-billionaire">#</a></h2>
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<p>I remember hearing about <em>Elizabeth Holmes</em> when I was in my late teens, at that impressionable age when you get hyper-inspired by reading about icons that are going to change the world. There was a profile of her in Wired, with an eye-catching image of her wearing a turtleneck black sweater holding what looked like a test-tube with a tiny amount of blood with a science-y background. I remember it had made quite a distinct impression on my mind, no doubt helped by the fact that the profile had described her as <em>“this Stanford dropout 20-something who was hailed as being a younger version of Einstein, was going to change the world”</em>.</p>
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@@ -172,8 +172,8 @@ There are few books which leave you in a mesmerizing state after having read the
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@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@
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<div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4452417243">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
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<hr>
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<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/four-thousand.jpg" alt="Four Thousand Weeks Cover" title="Four Thousand Weeks Cover" />
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<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/four-thousand.jpg#center" alt="Four Thousand Weeks Cover" title="Four Thousand Weeks Cover" />
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<p>Nothing extra-ordinary in terms of content, but special when you think of the book as a compilation of useful frameworks to think about time.</p>
|
||||
<p>Alas, I stumbled upon Four Thousand Weeks at such a point in my life where I’ve already been a productivity addict for so long that it’s impossible for me to make a fresh start. The central theme of the book - that you won’t ever get to do all the things you’ve set out to do so you should consciously choose and be happy about your choice - is such an aphoristic statement that no matter how you spin it, it always feels bland.</p>
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@@ -172,8 +172,8 @@ World history in a nutshell More than 1100 pages, this behemoth of a book still
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@@ -172,8 +172,8 @@ I have been a lover of music since my early childhood - runs in the family - and
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<meta name="twitter:title" content="Life Between Buildings by Jan Gehl"/>
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<div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3445459877">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
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<p>One of the principal joys of reading is to discover the magic hidden in the seemingly banal things in life. I would’ve never cared to think twice about the intricacies of designing buildings and urban spaces, had it not been for this book. This serves as a gentle introduction to the fascinating study of how subtle differences in design of public spaces affect interactions on a much more broader scale.</p>
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I have had a very curious relationship with religion, although now that I talk to others, it was a much more normal experience than what I led myself to believe. I followed the typical path of receiving a particular religion from my parents (born a “Hindu child”), which had a supporting role in my life up until my late-teenage/early-adolescent years.
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"articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nI have had a very curious relationship with religion, although now that I talk to others, it was a much more normal experience than what I led myself to believe. I followed the typical path of receiving a particular religion from my parents (born a “Hindu child”), which had a supporting role in my life up until my late-teenage/early-adolescent years.\nAs is the norm for every child brought up in religion, I used to consider myself special believing that I had a “personal relationship” with God. There are so many good things about religion, but this in particular I believe to be the best part - this soothing feeling that somebody is watching over you in times of distress. During my early college years when I lost my faith, I was most afraid of having lost this rescuer of last resort (I wrote a short poem on this which you can read here. During times of despair, I frequently wondered what would’ve happened had I not been brought up in a religious family.\nThis book combines two of the most morally contentious issues that have always puzzled me - Religion and having a child. While I don’t swing to the other extreme of subscribing to antinatalistic views, I do frequently wonder how it is that people don’t question the morality of bringing a sentient being into the world, whose life (to a major extent) will be affected by how they are brought up by their parents. Children are shaped by the identity of their parents during their formative years, and require a significant struggle during their adolescence to be able to make independent decisions of their own. This struggle is more pronounced in matters of faith - an overwhelming majority of children wind up believing in the same gods that their parents believe in.\nWhat can be done to lessen this automatic behavior so that children are more confident of picking their own battles and faith? This book presents insights from the people who tried to do exactly that.\nIt is a wonderful collection of essays from parents who are non-religious and want to bring up their child in an environment which enables them to question the authority and dogma. While just raising them secular doesn’t make them superior to everybody else - bigotry is never dependent on faith - it is the independent exploration that is crucial. The essays deal with nuances of raising children in secular homes, going pretty much against the society, and how to deal with disagreements. Unfortunately, there are few essays in the end which swings the pendulum to the other end, concerned with finding “Humanist” and “Unitarian” communities which I found to be dull, however, the rest of the book remains a pleasant and insightful read.\nMy notebook is filled with highlights from the book, but there’s one paragraph in particular that I want to share, which nicely defines the central theme of these essays.\nOne thread runs throughout this book: Encourage a child to think well, then trust her to do so. Removing religion by no means guarantees kids will think independently and well. Consider religion itself: Kids growing up in a secular home are at the same risk of making uninformed decisions about religion as are those in deeply religious homes. In order to really think for themselves about religion, kids must learn as much as possible about religion as a human cultural expression while being kept free of the sickening idea that they will be rewarded in heaven or punished in hell based on what they decide—a bit of intellectual terrorism we should never inflict on our kids, nor on each other. They must also learn what has been said and thought in opposition to religious ideas. If my kids think independently and well, then end up coming to conclusions different from my own—well, I’d have to consider the possibility that I’ve gotten it all wrong, then. Either way, in order to own and be nourished by their convictions, kids must ultimately come to them independently. Part of our wonderfully complex job as parents is to facilitate that process without controlling it.\nI’d highly recommend this book to everyone.\n",
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<div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2833252009">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
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<p>I have had a very curious relationship with religion, although now that I talk to others, it was a much more normal experience than what I led myself to believe. I followed the typical path of receiving a particular religion from my parents (born a “Hindu child”), which had a supporting role in my life up until my late-teenage/early-adolescent years.</p>
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<p>As is the norm for every child brought up in religion, I used to consider myself special believing that I had a “personal relationship” with God. There are so many good things about religion, but this in particular I believe to be the best part - this soothing feeling that somebody is watching over you in times of distress. During my early college years when I lost my faith, I was most afraid of having lost this rescuer of last resort (I wrote a short poem on this <a href="https://thelazyoxymoron.me/blog/deference-vs-indifference/">which you can read here</a>. During times of despair, I frequently wondered what would’ve happened had I not been brought up in a religious family.</p>
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<p>This book combines two of the most morally contentious issues that have always puzzled me - Religion and having a child. While I don’t swing to the other extreme of subscribing to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antinatalism">antinatalistic</a> views, I do frequently wonder how it is that people don’t question the morality of bringing a sentient being into the world, whose life (to a major extent) will be affected by how they are brought up by their parents. Children are shaped by the identity of their parents during their formative years, and require a significant struggle during their adolescence to be able to make independent decisions of their own. This struggle is more pronounced in matters of faith - an overwhelming majority of children wind up believing in the same gods that their parents believe in.</p>
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I have no affinity for running, even for short jogs, and much less for wanting to run long distances. Although this is not because I hate exercises - one of those rare things that I figured out early in life was my desire to remain healthy as long as possible and that of course means I need to keep myself fit - but probably my distaste for running stems from the monotonous nature of the activity." />
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Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
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"articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nPain is inevitable, suffering is optional.\nI have no affinity for running, even for short jogs, and much less for wanting to run long distances. Although this is not because I hate exercises - one of those rare things that I figured out early in life was my desire to remain healthy as long as possible and that of course means I need to keep myself fit - but probably my distaste for running stems from the monotonous nature of the activity. You keep pounding your legs with a short breath and no rest in sight, what is there to enjoy and look forward to?\nMy girlfriend on the other hand, loves running.\nIntrigued by her passion, I began to take a more compassionate look on the whole idea of running, shunning my former dismissive attitude. What is it that motivates people to run marathons, putting their body through excruciating pain for an uncertain reward? It cannot be as simple as just the competitive spirit. In fact, running is exactly opposite of a team sport, it’s as solitary an activity as thinking and dreaming. Can it be that the monotonicity itself is part of the charm?\nIn this book, Murakami tries to give an answer to this. Or more accurately, he dissects his own emotions and gives insights on how (long distance) running has been crucial to his writing. Both involve perseverance and intense emotional turmoil. While talking about the different ways in which artists produce creative works, he humbly says:\nWriters who are blessed with in-born talent can freely write novels no matter what they do, or don’t do. Like water from a natural spring, the sentences just well up and with little or no effort, these writers can complete a work. Occasionally, you’ll find someone like that, but unfortunately that category wouldn’t include me. I haven’t spotted any springs nearby. I have to pound the rock with a chisel and dig out a deep hole before I can locate the source of creativity. To write a novel, I have to drive myself hard physically and use a lot of time and effort. Every time I begin a new novel, I have to dredge out another new, deep hole.\nSeeing it through his eyes, it becomes clear that there are a lot of parallels between running long distances and sustaining a long writing career. He is also not shy about admitting that both of these processes involve sheer repetition of the same thing over and over again:\nI think certain types of processes don’t allow for any variation. If you have to be part of that process, all you can do is transform, or perhaps distort, yourself through that persistence repetition and make that process a part of your own personality.\nThis part-memoir, part-love-letter to running is filled with such simple yet important insights. Murakami has made a name for himself as one of the most original writers of the time and the humility with which he lays out himself in these pages is inspiring. In one of those beautiful passages, he talks about the turbulent times of adolescence and how we can cope up with the absurd reality of our imperfections:\nOnce when I was around sixteen and nobody else was home, I stripped naked, stood in front of a large mirror in our house, and checked out my body from top to bottom. As I did this, I made a mental list of all the deficiencies - or what, to me at least, appeared to be deficiencies. For instance (and these are just instances), my eyebrows were too thick, or my fingernails were shaped funny - that sort of thing. As I recall, when I got to twenty-seven items, I got sick of it and gave up. And this is what I thought: If there are this many visible parts of my body that are worse than normal people’s, then if I start considering other aspects - personality, brains, athleticism, things of this sort - the list will be endless.\nAs you get older though, through trial and error you learn to get what you need, and throw out what should be discarded. And you start to recognize (or be resigned to the fact) that since your faults and deficiencies are well nigh infinite, you’d best figure out your good points and learn to get by with what you have.\nThis book has piqued my interest to give running a try and if I ever manage, in future, to enjoy running long distances, Murakami would certainly have a large role to play.\n",
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<div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4168404043">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
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<p><em>Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.</em></p>
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<p>I have no affinity for running, even for short jogs, and much less for wanting to run long distances. Although this is not because I hate exercises - one of those rare things that I figured out early in life was my desire to remain healthy as long as possible and that of course means I need to keep myself fit - but probably my distaste for running stems from the monotonous nature of the activity. You keep pounding your legs with a short breath and no rest in sight, what is there to
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Now that I’ve moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of inertia to pick up something purely for pleasure. Maybe this is a nasty by-product of wanting to be as “productive” as possible. But the more I have drifted away from reading for pleasure, more mechanical the whole process has become for me. Partly to avoid this feeling, and partly because of my shame at seeing my bookshelf filled with dusty unread books, I picked up this one to assuage my feelings of guilt." />
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Now that I’ve moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of inertia to pick up something purely for pleasure. Maybe this is a nasty by-product of wanting to be as “productive” as possible. But the more I have drifted away from reading for pleasure, more mechanical the whole process has become for me. Partly to avoid this feeling, and partly because of my shame at seeing my bookshelf filled with dusty unread books, I picked up this one to assuage my feelings of guilt."/>
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"articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nNow that I’ve moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of inertia to pick up something purely for pleasure. Maybe this is a nasty by-product of wanting to be as “productive” as possible. But the more I have drifted away from reading for pleasure, more mechanical the whole process has become for me. Partly to avoid this feeling, and partly because of my shame at seeing my bookshelf filled with dusty unread books, I picked up this one to assuage my feelings of guilt.\nI had not expected the journey to be this beautiful!\nSalman Rushdie doesn’t need an introduction. He has been routinely hailed amongst one of the best contemporary writers of our time. It only speaks of my ignorance that I had only heard about him because of his controversies - outcry for Satanic Verses, fatwa issued against him - and only knew that one of his novels, Midnight’s Children, had won a Booker Prize. I don’t have a fond memory of reading Booker Prize winning books, bitter from the day I read The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. But as I got sucked into the universe created by Rushdie, my initial skepticism gave way to awe and admiration.\nRushdie has a peculiar way with words, an authoritative stance where the sentences bend over backwards to dance to the master’s tunes. He weaves them in and out and creates intricate relationships between the story, storyteller and reader. You need to be acquainted with the history of India and Pakistan, or at least be familiar with the events surrounding the partition, in order to grasp fully what he has set out here to do. The book is filled with brilliant uses of metaphors and similes, creating a parallel universe of Pakistan during the tumultuous years after partition. The sentences are measured and precise, neatly packed with an intricate plot and the social commentary (with a tinge of satire) leading you towards the destination.\nIf it’s not yet clear, I unashamedly loved every part of Shame and I’m excited to dig more into Rushdie’s works!\n",
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<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/shame.jpg#center" alt="Shame Cover" title="Shame Cover" />
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<p>Now that I’ve moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of inertia to pick up something purely for pleasure. Maybe this is a nasty by-product of wanting to be as “productive” as possible. But the more I have drifted away from reading for pleasure, more mechanical the whole process has become for me. Partly to avoid this feeling, and partly because of my shame at seeing my bookshelf filled with dusty unread books, I picked up this one to assuage my feelings of guilt.</p>
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<p>I had not expected the journey to be this beautiful!</p>
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<p>Salman Rushdie doesn’t need an introduction. He has been routinely hailed amongst one of the best contemporary writers of our time. It only speaks of my ignorance that I had only heard about him because of his controversies - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Verses_controversy">outcry for Satanic Verses</a>, fatwa issued against him - and only knew that one of his novels, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14836.Midnight_s_Children">Midnight’s Children</a>, had won a Booker Prize. I don’t have a fond memory of reading Booker Prize winning books, bitter from the day I read <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1768603.The_White_Tiger">The White Tiger</a> by Aravind Adiga. But as I got sucked into the universe created by Rushdie, my initial skepticism gave way to awe and admiration.</p>
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<meta property="article:published_time" content="2021-09-01T10:43:25+05:30" />
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<meta property="article:modified_time" content="2021-09-01T10:43:25+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />
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"articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nEthics is hard.\nIf I’ve learnt something all these years, it is this universal maxim. Everybody wishes they’d make ethically sound choices in their lives, but more often than not, ethical choices are in contrast with cost and convenience. Nowhere is this more apparent than the way we consume food.\nThere are a lot of similarities between food and religion. Both are deeply personal choices which are erroneously thought of as having a clear, set winning answer. Both divide people into disjoint sets where they vehemently try to outdo one another in following “The Right Way”. And of course, both are deeply political.\nMy personal journey in food, as in religion, has been quite tumultuous. Coming from a vegetarian family, I used to feel discomfort in sitting at the same table where somebody was eating meat, used to scoff at the smell of eggs and couldn’t go near anything related to fish (this is still the case). Then somewhere along the way, I decided that I don’t have a right to reject things which I haven’t experienced myself and started indulging in this forbidden fruit. I tried everything I could get my hands on, but never reached that stage where I could appreciate the hype. Having gotten a taste of the other side, I made the decision to quit everything and slowly move back to being a vegetarian/vegan.\nThis was the point where I started to seek out reasons to convince me of my choice, and came across this book.\nI wouldn’t call this a balanced book in the sense that the authors’ convictions are clear from the start, however where this shines is the way they use evidence to reach their conclusions rather than playing on guilt and shame. The basic fact remains, and this I have confirmed with many of my non-vegetarian friends as well, that we know too little about where our food comes from and our choices would be different if we were armed with this knowledge. The authors visit few American families and observe their eating habits, and then take us through some factory farms where the brutalities are quite graphic and sometimes hard to read and difficult to digest.\nHowever, one qualm that I had while reading through these chapters, was the over-importance of ethics in our everyday choices. Not everyone wants to live a Kantian life full of moments filled with questioning their every choice. Life is hard to live anyway. I was delighted though to find a section dealing with this exhaustion:\nSometimes the very success of the ethical consumer movement and the proliferation of consumer concerns it has spawned seems to threaten the entire ethical consumption project. When one ethical concern is heaped upon another and we struggle to be sure that our purchases do not contribute to slave labor, animal exploitation, land degradation, wetland pollution, rural depopulation, unfair trade practices, global warming, and the destruction of rain-forests, it may all seem so complicated that we could be tempted to forget about everything except eating what we like and can afford.\nI’m facing this situation myself when I eat eggs and drink milk in the morning - if every time I consume an animal product, I have to think about where this is coming from and whether I’ve unintentionally hurt an animal - to say that my day-to-day life would be unpleasant would be an understatement. However, we should be cautious of throwing the baby out with bathwater - the choice doesn’t have to be between over-indulgence and starvation; we just need to be a bit more conscious of what we consume. To borrow an economist’s favorite phrase: there’s always a trade-off. We just need to be aware of the ones we are making.\nAll in all, I found this to be quite an informative read, albeit a bit dry in places, but would definitely recommend.\n",
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"image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/the-way-we-eat.jpg","datePublished": "2021-09-01T10:43:25+05:30",
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"image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/the-way-we-eat/images/the-way-we-eat.jpg","datePublished": "2021-09-01T10:43:25+05:30",
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<div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4125010337">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
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<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/the-way-we-eat.jpg#center" alt="The Way We Eat Cover" title="The Way We Eat Cover" />
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<p>Ethics is hard.</p>
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<p>If I’ve learnt something all these years, it is this universal maxim. Everybody wishes they’d make ethically sound choices in their lives, but more often than not, ethical choices are in contrast with cost and convenience. Nowhere is this more apparent than the way we consume food.</p>
|
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<p>There are a lot of similarities between food and religion. Both are deeply personal choices which are erroneously thought of as having a clear, set winning answer. Both divide people into disjoint sets where they vehemently try to outdo one another in following “The Right Way”. And of course, both are deeply political.</p>
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