some image refactorings

2024-01-27 20:41:04 +05:30 · 2024-01-27 20:41:04 +05:30 · 5ed01c22fe
parent dcf5aed8e2
commit 5ed01c22fe
98 changed files with 203 additions and 192 deletions
--- a/config.yml
+++ b/config.yml
@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ params:
  cover:
    hidden: true
    hiddenInList: true
-    hiddenInSingle: true
+    hiddenInSingle: false

  label:
    icon: /apple-touch-icon.png
--- a/content/about.md
+++ b/content/about.md
@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 title: "About Me"
 date: 2019-01-09T11:16:16+05:30
 cover:
-  hidden: false
  image: "images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"
 draft: false
 ---
--- a/content/posts/Cinema/after-life.md
+++ b/content/posts/Cinema/after-life.md
@ -4,9 +4,6 @@ summary: "An interesting take on life, seen through the lens of afterlife. Highl
 date: 2022-05-01T22:41:55+05:30
 categories: ["Cinema"]
 tags: ["foreign-cinema", "asia", "favourites"]
-cover:
-  hidden: false
-  image: "images/after-life.webp"
 draft: false
 ---

@ -16,6 +13,8 @@ Verdict: <span> &starf; &starf; &starf; &starf; &star; </span>

 ---------------------

+![After-life Cover](/images/after-life.webp#center "After life cover")
+
 Can there be a more difficult task than being asked to select a single memory from your life that you want to carry forever? As humans, we contain multitudes and we want to resist any attempt to put us into a box. But what happens if you're asked to choose something which you'll cherish for the rest of your life - would you let go of all the times when you were sad, angry, bitter, hypocrite and a bad human being? Would you like to remember your life as having lived a happy memory or would rather prefer a kaleidoscope? 

 There are no right answers to these questions. 
--- a/content/posts/Cinema/darjeeling.md
+++ b/content/posts/Cinema/darjeeling.md
@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ summary: "Wes Anderson and his colorful quirks"
 tags: ["colorful-quirks"]
 cover:
  hidden: false
-  image: "images/darjeeling.jpg"
+  image: "images/darjeeling.webp"
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Cinema/winter-sleep.md
+++ b/content/posts/Cinema/winter-sleep.md
@ -3,9 +3,6 @@ title: "Winter Sleep (2014) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan"
 date: 2021-03-15T21:30:40+05:30
 categories: ["Cinema"]
 tags: ["foreign-cinema", "turkey"]
-cover:
-  hidden: false
-  image: "images/winter_sleep.png"
 draft: false
 ---

@ -15,6 +12,8 @@ Verdict: <span> &starf; &starf; &starf; &starf; &starf; </span>

 ---------------------

+![Winter sleep Cover](/images/winter_sleep.webp#center "Winter sleep Cover")
+
 Over the years, I have increasingly gravitated towards films where supposedly "nothing happens". Characters talk, no attempt is made to instill a moral point into the minds of the audience, which is usually accompanied with long, patient shots of people existing in their environments. This was an excellent specimen of the same dish.

 I had watched [Once Upon a Time in Anatolia](https://letterboxd.com/film/once-upon-a-time-in-anatolia/) from the same director previously and much like films by Wes Anderson, I could immediately tell this was Ceylan's film right from the start, although these two directors could not be any more different. The way Ceylan deals with landscapes and how people co-exist with nature is simply breathtaking. Alas, I neither have the vocabulary nor the expertise to appreciate much less dissect a film like this, but let these screenings be my own private film school and I hope that at the end of this year (which I've dedicated to watching foreign language films only), I would at least be in a position where I can better appreciate these masters of their crafts.
--- a/content/posts/Reading/annihilation-of-caste.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/annihilation-of-caste.md
@ -3,10 +3,6 @@ title: "Annihilation of Caste(Annotated Edition) by Arundhati Roy"
 date: 2021-07-23T22:56:47+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["non-fiction", "indian-authors", "religion", "favourites"]
-cover:
-  image: "images/caste.jpg"
-  hidden: true
-  relative: true
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/azadi.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/azadi.md
@ -4,10 +4,6 @@ date: 2020-09-30T22:22:13+05:30
 summary: "A series of essays on the bleak reality in India. Highly recommended."
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["non-fiction", "indian-authors", "favourites"]
-cover:
-  image: "images/azadi.jpg"
-  hidden: true
-  relative: true
 draft: false
 ---

@ -17,7 +13,7 @@ draft: false

 ------------------------------------

-![Azadi Cover](/images/azadi.jpg "Azadi Cover")
+![Azadi Cover](/images/azadi.webp#center "Azadi Cover")

 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.

--- a/content/posts/Reading/bad-blood.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/bad-blood.md
@ -3,10 +3,6 @@ title: "Bad Blood by John Carreyrou"
 date: 2020-05-01T23:39:18+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["non-fiction", "journalism", "audiobook"]
-cover:
-  image: "images/bad_blood.jpg"
-  hidden: true
-  relative: true
 draft: false
 ---

@ -14,7 +10,7 @@ draft: false

 -----------------------------------

-![Bad Blood Cover](/images/bad_blood.jpg#center "Bad Blood Cover")
+![Bad Blood Cover](/images/bad_blood.webp#center "Bad Blood Cover")

 ## How to fool the world and become a Billionaire

--- a/content/posts/Reading/behave-review.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/behave-review.md
@ -3,10 +3,6 @@ title: "Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert Sapolsky"
 date: 2019-09-12T20:12:10+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["favourites", "understanding-ourselves", "non-fiction"]
-cover:
-  image: "images/behave.jpg"
-  hidden: true
-  relative: true
 draft: false
 ---

@ -14,7 +10,7 @@ draft: false

 ------------------------------------------------------------

-![Behave cover](/images/behave.jpg "Behave cover")
+![Behave cover](/images/behave.webp#center "Behave cover")

 There are few books which leave you in a mesmerizing state after having read them. You ponder about it for days to come, want to scream your head off about it to anyone who'd listen, and then dwell in this fear of picking up another book because how can something else ever come close to being this perfect!
 I have felt this way before - first when I'd finished [The Complete Sherlock
--- a/content/posts/Reading/chup-deepa-narayan.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/chup-deepa-narayan.md
@ -5,10 +5,6 @@ categories: ["Book Notes"]
 summary: "A powerful exploration into the psyche of Indian women and how society perpetuates the
 status quo"
 tags: ["non-fiction", "indian-authors", "favourites", "feminism"]
-cover:
-  image: "images/chup.jpg"
-  hidden: true
-  relative: true
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/empire-of-pain.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/empire-of-pain.md
@ -4,10 +4,6 @@ date: 2023-06-21T08:49:32+05:30
 summary: "If you want to understand how the opioid crisis began, read this"
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["non-fiction", "audiobook", "public-health"]
-cover:
-  image: "images/empire-of-pain.jpg"
-  hidden: true
-  relative: true
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/four-thousand-weeks.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/four-thousand-weeks.md
@ -4,10 +4,6 @@ summary: "A book about time and our relationship with it. Recommended."
 date: 2022-09-21T07:35:24+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["non-fiction", "productivity"]
-cover:
-  image: "/images/four-thousand.jpg"
-  hidden: true
-  relative: true
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/glimpses-of-world-history.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/glimpses-of-world-history.md
@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["indian-authors", "history", "non-fiction", "letters", "favourites"]
 cover:
  hidden: false
-  image: "images/world_history.jpg"
+  image: "images/world_history.webp"
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/great-music.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/great-music.md
@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["audiobook", "favourites", "classical-music", "history"]
 cover:
  hidden: false
-  image: "images/ttc_great_music.jpg"
+  image: "images/ttc_great_music.webp"
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/i-do-what-i-do.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/i-do-what-i-do.md
@ -4,10 +4,6 @@ date: 2020-12-19T09:24:30+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["non-fiction", "economics", "india"]
 draft: false
-cover:
-  image: "images/rajan.jpg"
-  hidden: true
-  relative: true
 ---

 [Check it out on Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3659132372)
--- a/content/posts/Reading/life-between-buildings.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/life-between-buildings.md
@ -4,10 +4,6 @@ summary: "A gentle introduction to the study of buildings and the way they enabl
 date: 2022-04-21T09:04:49+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["non-fiction", "architecture", "society"]
-cover:
-  image: "/images/life.jpg"
-  hidden: true
-  relative: true
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/parenting.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/parenting.md
@ -3,10 +3,6 @@ title: "Parenting Beyond Belief by Dale McGowan"
 date: 2021-03-18T22:14:21+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["religion", "non-fiction", "parenting", "favourites"]
-cover:
-  hidden: true
-  relative: true
-  image: "images/parenting.jpg"
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/range-a-review.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/range-a-review.md
@ -3,9 +3,6 @@ title: "Range by David Epstein"
 date: 2019-09-05T00:16:14+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["non-fiction", "understanding-ourselves", "career-advice"]
-cover:
-  hidden: false
-  image: "images/range_kindle.jpg"
 draft: false
 ---

@ -13,6 +10,8 @@ draft: false

 ---------------------------------

+![Range cover](/images/range_kindle.webp#center "Range cover")
+
 Started with a tightly-knit structure, but faltered at the end. The last few chapters were a slog to get through - mostly because of numerous "business-class" style case studies. 

 Main takeaway? Other than the central idea around which the book revolves (and succinctly mentioned as the book subtitle too), the
--- a/content/posts/Reading/reasons-to-stay-alive.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/reasons-to-stay-alive.md
@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["depression", "non-fiction"]
 cover:
  hidden: false
-  image: "images/reasons_to_stay_alive.jpg"
+  image: "images/reasons_to_stay_alive.webp"
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/running-murakami.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/running-murakami.md
@ -3,10 +3,6 @@ title: "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami"
 date: 2021-08-14T20:09:56+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["audiobook", "favourites", "health"]
-cover:
-  hidden: true
-  relative: true
-  image: "images/running-murakami.jpg"
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/shame-rushdie.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/shame-rushdie.md
@ -3,10 +3,6 @@ title: "Shame by Salman Rushdie"
 date: 2021-08-17T22:55:02+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["fiction", "favourites", "indian-authors"]
-cover:
-  image: "/images/shame.jpg"
-  hidden: true
-  relative: true
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/stoner.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/stoner.md
@ -4,8 +4,7 @@ date: 2020-06-28T19:45:36+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["fiction"]
 cover:
-  hidden: false
-  image: "images/stoner.jpg"
+  image: "images/stoner.webp"
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/the-way-we-eat.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/the-way-we-eat.md
@ -4,10 +4,6 @@ summary: "The ethical dilemma of eating. Highly recommended!"
 date: 2021-09-01T10:43:25+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ['review', "debating-ethics", "non-fiction", "animal-cruelty", "favourites"]
-cover:
-  hidden: true
-  image: "images/the-way-we-eat.jpg"
-  relative: true
 draft: false
 ---

--- a/content/posts/Reading/waking-up.md
+++ b/content/posts/Reading/waking-up.md
@ -3,9 +3,6 @@ title: "Waking Up by Sam Harris"
 date: 2020-04-15T23:31:08+05:30
 categories: ["Book Notes"]
 tags: ["non-fiction", "meditation"]
-cover:
-  hidden: false
-  image: "images/waking_up.jpg"
 draft: false
 ---

@ -13,6 +10,8 @@ draft: false

 ---------------------------------

+![Waking up cover](/images/waking_up.webp#center "Waking up Cover")
+
 ## A disappointing jumble of thoughts

 Disappointed.
--- a/content/posts/deference-vs-indifference.md
+++ b/content/posts/deference-vs-indifference.md
@ -3,9 +3,6 @@ title: "Deference vs. Indifference"
 date: 2019-03-15T22:27:30+05:30
 categories: ["Poetry"]
 tags: ["poetry", "writing"]
-cover:
-  hidden: false
-  image: "images/the-solitude.jpg"
 draft: false
 ---

@ -13,6 +10,8 @@ draft: false

 ------------------------------------------------

+![Lake cover](/images/the-solitude.webp#center "Lake cover")
+
 ## Deference vs. Indifference


--- a/public/about/index.html
+++ b/public/about/index.html
@ -214,6 +214,9 @@ So to solve this little problem of mine, I came up with this unoriginal idea."/>

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/160696242@N07/48775361931/">(See this picture on flickr)</a></p>
 <hr>
 <p>&ldquo;Tell me about yourself.&rdquo;</p>
--- a/public/images/after-life.webp
+++ b/public/images/after-life.webp
--- a/public/images/azadi.webp
+++ b/public/images/azadi.webp
--- a/public/images/bad_blood.webp
+++ b/public/images/bad_blood.webp
--- a/public/images/behave.jpg
+++ b/public/images/behave.jpg
--- a/public/images/behave.webp
+++ b/public/images/behave.webp
--- a/public/images/darjeeling.webp
+++ b/public/images/darjeeling.webp
--- a/public/images/range_kindle.jpg
+++ b/public/images/range_kindle.jpg
--- a/public/images/range_kindle.webp
+++ b/public/images/range_kindle.webp
--- a/public/images/reasons_to_stay_alive.webp
+++ b/public/images/reasons_to_stay_alive.webp
--- a/public/images/stoner.webp
+++ b/public/images/stoner.webp
--- a/public/images/the-solitude.jpg
+++ b/public/images/the-solitude.jpg
--- a/public/images/the-solitude.webp
+++ b/public/images/the-solitude.webp
--- a/public/images/ttc_great_music.webp
+++ b/public/images/ttc_great_music.webp
--- a/public/images/waking_up.webp
+++ b/public/images/waking_up.webp
--- a/public/images/winter_sleep.webp
+++ b/public/images/winter_sleep.webp
--- a/public/images/world_history.webp
+++ b/public/images/world_history.webp
--- a/public/photography/index.html
+++ b/public/photography/index.html
@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ You can browse the images below using left/right keys. All the images are hosted
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
 <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/photography/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2021-03-23T20:18:21+05:30" />
-<meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-03-21T10:14:52+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />
+<meta property="article:modified_time" content="2024-01-27T17:54:11+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

 <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
 <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ You can browse the images below using left/right keys. All the images are hosted
  "wordCount" : "79",
  "inLanguage": "en",
  "datePublished": "2021-03-23T20:18:21+05:30",
-  "dateModified": "2023-03-21T10:14:52+05:30",
+  "dateModified": "2024-01-27T17:54:11+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Siddhartha Golu"
--- a/public/posts/cinema/3-iron/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/cinema/3-iron/index.html
@ -211,6 +211,9 @@

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/3-iron.webp" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><p>Verdict: <!-- raw HTML omitted --> ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ <!-- raw HTML omitted --></p>
 <p><a href="https://letterboxd.com/carte_blanche/film/3-iron/">Check it out on Letterboxd</a></p>
 <hr>
--- a/public/posts/cinema/after-life/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/cinema/after-life/index.html
@ -63,13 +63,13 @@
 <meta property="og:title" content="After Life (1998) by Hirokazu Kore-eda" />
 <meta property="og:description" content="An interesting take on life, seen through the lens of afterlife. Highly recommended!" />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/cinema/after-life/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/after-life.webp" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/cinema/after-life/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2022-05-01T22:41:55+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-10-24T23:39:04+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

-<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/after-life.webp" />
+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="After Life (1998) by Hirokazu Kore-eda"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="An interesting take on life, seen through the lens of afterlife. Highly recommended!"/>

@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
  "articleBody": "Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ Check it out on Letterboxd\nCan there be a more difficult task than being asked to select a single memory from your life that you want to carry forever? As humans, we contain multitudes and we want to resist any attempt to put us into a box. But what happens if you’re asked to choose something which you’ll cherish for the rest of your life - would you let go of all the times when you were sad, angry, bitter, hypocrite and a bad human being? Would you like to remember your life as having lived a happy memory or would rather prefer a kaleidoscope?\nThere are no right answers to these questions.\nAs I read somewhere few hours ago:\n“Film editing performs on the material of a film, the operation that death performs on life - that is, giving a sequence of uncertain and unstable events a coherent form and meaning”.\nWatching the film unfold was like leafing through the pages of my own life. In fact, I think the characters are universal - everyone can find at least one person (or their memory) here that they’ll relate to. The most intriguing case being a young man who has left the world before his cynicism could turn into quiet acceptance. After refusing to select one memory from his past, he says in one of the conversations:\n… But those are just memories. And ultimately, we end up turning memories into our own images. Of course, it really happened so it feels very real, but, Say I construct the future, as though I’m making a film about it. As I imagine all kinds of situations, I think what I create, would feel a lot more real than some memory. That’s a lot more meaningful than looking back at the past\".\nRather than giving you answers, Kore-eda takes you on a journey of discovery with questions. After all, how often do you think about death, memory, legacy and afterlife?\n",
  "wordCount" : "334",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/after-life.webp","datePublished": "2022-05-01T22:41:55+05:30",
+  "datePublished": "2022-05-01T22:41:55+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2023-10-24T23:39:04+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
@ -214,6 +214,8 @@
  <div class="post-content"><p>Verdict: <!-- raw HTML omitted --> ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ <!-- raw HTML omitted --></p>
 <p><a href="https://letterboxd.com/carte_blanche/film/after-life/">Check it out on Letterboxd</a></p>
 <hr>
+<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/after-life.webp#center" alt="After-life Cover"  title="After life cover"  />
+</p>
 <p>Can there be a more difficult task than being asked to select a single memory from your life that you want to carry forever? As humans, we contain multitudes and we want to resist any attempt to put us into a box. But what happens if you&rsquo;re asked to choose something which you&rsquo;ll cherish for the rest of your life - would you let go of all the times when you were sad, angry, bitter, hypocrite and a bad human being? Would you like to remember your life as having lived a happy memory or would rather prefer a kaleidoscope?</p>
 <p>There are no right answers to these questions.</p>
 <p>As I read somewhere few hours ago:</p>
--- a/public/posts/cinema/anatolia/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/cinema/anatolia/index.html
@ -214,6 +214,9 @@ A slow, methodical display of patience and absurdity juxtaposed on the vast land

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/anatolia.jpg" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><p>Verdict: <!-- raw HTML omitted --> ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ <!-- raw HTML omitted --></p>
 <p><a href="https://letterboxd.com/carte_blanche/film/once-upon-a-time-in-anatolia/">Check it out on Letterboxd</a></p>
 <hr>
--- a/public/posts/cinema/darjeeling/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/cinema/darjeeling/index.html
@ -64,12 +64,12 @@
 <meta property="og:description" content="Wes Anderson and his colorful quirks" />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
 <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/cinema/darjeeling/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/darjeeling.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/darjeeling.webp" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2020-03-04T23:01:15+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-10-03T09:42:51+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

 <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/darjeeling.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/darjeeling.webp" />
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="The Darjeeling Limited (2007) by Wes Anderson"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Wes Anderson and his colorful quirks"/>

@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
  "articleBody": "Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ Check out this review on Letterboxd\nYou can spot Wes Anderson trademark from a mile ago, although this is the only movie by him which left me dissatisfied. The unique and swift camera movements are still there, the colors still pop out like from another universe, the absurd comic timings still bring a smile to your face - but you won’t feel the kind of personal emotional investment into the characters like you would in the rest of his filmography. Still, for a Wes Anderson fan, this would be a nice enough movie.\n",
  "wordCount" : "99",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/darjeeling.jpg","datePublished": "2020-03-04T23:01:15+05:30",
+  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/darjeeling.webp","datePublished": "2020-03-04T23:01:15+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2023-10-03T09:42:51+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
@ -211,6 +211,9 @@

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/darjeeling.webp" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><p>Verdict: <!-- raw HTML omitted --> ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ <!-- raw HTML omitted --></p>
 <p><a href="https://letterboxd.com/carte_blanche/film/the-darjeeling-limited/">Check out this review on Letterboxd</a></p>
 <hr>
--- a/public/posts/cinema/oslo-august/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/cinema/oslo-august/index.html
@ -220,6 +220,9 @@ At one point or another, we have all experienced some version of this phenomenon

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/oslo-august-31.jpg" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><p>Verdict: <!-- raw HTML omitted --> ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ <!-- raw HTML omitted --></p>
 <p><a href="https://letterboxd.com/carte_blanche/film/oslo-august-31st/">Check out this review on Letterboxd</a></p>
 <hr>
--- a/public/posts/cinema/riding-solo/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/cinema/riding-solo/index.html
@ -214,6 +214,9 @@ Motorcycling community is laden with fist-pumping-muscle-bulging-neckbeardy-spee

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/riding-solo.png" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><p>Verdict: <!-- raw HTML omitted --> ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ <!-- raw HTML omitted --></p>
 <p><a href="https://letterboxd.com/carte_blanche/film/oslo-august-31st/">Check it out on Letterboxd</a></p>
 <hr>
--- a/public/posts/cinema/waking-life/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/cinema/waking-life/index.html
@ -217,6 +217,9 @@ The college sophomore me would have been really excited about discussing vague n

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/waking-life.jpg" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><p>Verdict: <!-- raw HTML omitted --> ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ <!-- raw HTML omitted --></p>
 <p><a href="https://letterboxd.com/carte_blanche/film/waking-life/">Check it out on Letterboxd</a></p>
 <hr>
--- a/public/posts/cinema/winter-sleep/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/cinema/winter-sleep/index.html
@ -67,13 +67,13 @@ I had watched Once Upon a Time in Anatolia from the same director previously and
 Over the years, I have increasingly gravitated towards films where supposedly &ldquo;nothing happens&rdquo;. Characters talk, no attempt is made to instill a moral point into the minds of the audience, which is usually accompanied with long, patient shots of people existing in their environments. This was an excellent specimen of the same dish.
 I had watched Once Upon a Time in Anatolia from the same director previously and much like films by Wes Anderson, I could immediately tell this was Ceylan&rsquo;s film right from the start, although these two directors could not be any more different." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/cinema/winter-sleep/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/winter_sleep.png" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/cinema/winter-sleep/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2021-03-15T21:30:40+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-06-25T16:07:49+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

-<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/winter_sleep.png" />
+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Winter Sleep (2014) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Check it out on Letterboxd
 Over the years, I have increasingly gravitated towards films where supposedly &ldquo;nothing happens&rdquo;. Characters talk, no attempt is made to instill a moral point into the minds of the audience, which is usually accompanied with long, patient shots of people existing in their environments. This was an excellent specimen of the same dish.
@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ I had watched Once Upon a Time in Anatolia from the same director previously and
  "articleBody": "Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Check it out on Letterboxd\nOver the years, I have increasingly gravitated towards films where supposedly “nothing happens”. Characters talk, no attempt is made to instill a moral point into the minds of the audience, which is usually accompanied with long, patient shots of people existing in their environments. This was an excellent specimen of the same dish.\nI had watched Once Upon a Time in Anatolia from the same director previously and much like films by Wes Anderson, I could immediately tell this was Ceylan’s film right from the start, although these two directors could not be any more different. The way Ceylan deals with landscapes and how people co-exist with nature is simply breathtaking. Alas, I neither have the vocabulary nor the expertise to appreciate much less dissect a film like this, but let these screenings be my own private film school and I hope that at the end of this year (which I’ve dedicated to watching foreign language films only), I would at least be in a position where I can better appreciate these masters of their crafts.\n",
  "wordCount" : "187",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/winter_sleep.png","datePublished": "2021-03-15T21:30:40+05:30",
+  "datePublished": "2021-03-15T21:30:40+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2023-06-25T16:07:49+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
@ -220,6 +220,8 @@ I had watched Once Upon a Time in Anatolia from the same director previously and
  <div class="post-content"><p>Verdict: <!-- raw HTML omitted --> ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ <!-- raw HTML omitted --></p>
 <p><a href="https://letterboxd.com/carte_blanche/film/winter-sleep/">Check it out on Letterboxd</a></p>
 <hr>
+<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/winter_sleep.webp#center" alt="Winter sleep Cover"  title="Winter sleep Cover"  />
+</p>
 <p>Over the years, I have increasingly gravitated towards films where supposedly &ldquo;nothing happens&rdquo;. Characters talk, no attempt is made to instill a moral point into the minds of the audience, which is usually accompanied with long, patient shots of people existing in their environments. This was an excellent specimen of the same dish.</p>
 <p>I had watched <a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/once-upon-a-time-in-anatolia/">Once Upon a Time in Anatolia</a> from the same director previously and much like films by Wes Anderson, I could immediately tell this was Ceylan&rsquo;s film right from the start, although these two directors could not be any more different. The way Ceylan deals with landscapes and how people co-exist with nature is simply breathtaking. Alas, I neither have the vocabulary nor the expertise to appreciate much less dissect a film like this, but let these screenings be my own private film school and I hope that at the end of this year (which I&rsquo;ve dedicated to watching foreign language films only), I would at least be in a position where I can better appreciate these masters of their crafts.</p>

--- a/public/posts/deference-vs-indifference/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/deference-vs-indifference/index.html
@ -81,13 +81,13 @@ when I used to love the aroma
 of the stick when it burned,
 lighting up my day with the secret enchantments," />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/deference-vs-indifference/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/the-solitude.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/deference-vs-indifference/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2019-03-15T22:27:30+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2022-01-10T10:41:34+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

-<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/the-solitude.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Deference vs. Indifference"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="(See this picture on Flickr)
 Deference vs. Indifference There used to be a time
@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ lighting up my day with the secret enchantments,"/>
  "articleBody": "(See this picture on Flickr)\nDeference vs. Indifference There used to be a time\nwhen things used to be simple.\nI’d wake up, rub my eyes, sit up straight, close my eyes,\nAnd pray that He will continue to guide me\nas He had done the previous day.\nThere used to be a time\nwhen I used to love the aroma\nof the stick when it burned,\nlighting up my day with the secret enchantments,\nas if the secrecy itself was the source of my happiness.\nThere used to be a time\nwhen coming home after a bad day,\nI’d sit on my bed and join my hands and close my eyes\nand quietly shed a tear.\nThe statues didn’t move or speak or whisper,\nbut I felt assured that somehow those little stones\nwere the only ones who listened to me\nand answered back.\nBut now,\nI wake up and lie on my bed for hours,\nwatching the fan complete circles after circles after circles,\nas if I was stuck in the middle while everyone else around me\nkept going through life as if it was such an easy task.\nBut now,\nThe smell of the burning stick nauseates my senses,\nthe secret spells make me mad,\nthe constant enchantings feel as if someone lit a person on fire\nwhile they were sleeping.\nBut now,\nwhen I come back home after a bad day,\nto the empty apartment echoing with silence so loud\nI worry my neighbors will start complaining -\nEven crying for hours doesn’t help.\nSometimes I think,\nwhat use is consciousness\nif it doesn’t make you happy but slowly takes away\nwhatever little sanity you had left\nsecond by second.\nSometimes I worry,\nDid I make a mistake in choosing not to follow blindly?\nDoes asking questions that nobody has answers to\nmakes me more alive\nor merely leaves me more broken and naive and stupid?\nIs ignorance really bliss?\nI still go to churches and mosques and temples,\nthe difference being it was deference before,\nand now it’s curiosity about the people who go there\nand indifference to the thing they pray to.\nSometimes I wonder,\nThere really is no answer, is there?\nA poem I wrote when I had troubles accepting myself. Still do, to be honest.\n",
  "wordCount" : "383",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/the-solitude.jpg","datePublished": "2019-03-15T22:27:30+05:30",
+  "datePublished": "2019-03-15T22:27:30+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2022-01-10T10:41:34+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
@ -240,6 +240,8 @@ lighting up my day with the secret enchantments,"/>
  </header> 
  <div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/160696242@N07/46619008205/">(See this picture on Flickr)</a></p>
 <hr>
+<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/the-solitude.webp#center" alt="Lake cover"  title="Lake cover"  />
+</p>
 <h2 id="deference-vs-indifference">Deference vs. Indifference<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#deference-vs-indifference">#</a></h2>
 <p>There used to be a time<br>
 when things used to be simple.<br>
--- a/public/posts/drawings/a-beautiful-woman/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/drawings/a-beautiful-woman/index.html
@ -211,6 +211,9 @@

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/lady_finished.jpg" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><hr>
 <p>I don&rsquo;t know why, but I liked the eyes-only version more. Linked below is the work-in-progress sketch:</p>
 <p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/lady_partial.jpg" alt="Work in progress"  />
--- a/public/posts/drawings/chaplin/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/drawings/chaplin/index.html
@ -211,6 +211,9 @@

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Charlie_Chaplin.jpg" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><hr>
 <p>I was either on acid or I had watched a sad movie before attempting this piece. A strange juxtaposition of Chaplin and Hitler.</p>

--- a/public/posts/drawings/einstein/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/drawings/einstein/index.html
@ -211,6 +211,9 @@

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Einstein.jpg" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><hr>
 <p>I have a particular affinity towards this sketch as I was very apprehensive about attempting Einstein, his face had much more complexity than what I usually dealt with, but it turned out good enough in the end.</p>

--- a/public/posts/drawings/gandhi/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/drawings/gandhi/index.html
@ -211,6 +211,9 @@

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Gandhi.jpg" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><hr>
 <p>My first attempt at drawing after dabbling in caricature pieces in my childhood :)</p>

--- a/public/posts/drawings/martin-freeman/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/drawings/martin-freeman/index.html
@ -211,6 +211,9 @@

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Freeman.jpg" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><hr>
 <p>I used to be obsessed with Sherlock (the HBO show) during the time it aired, and part of my fascination was with Martin Freeman here, who so brilliantly played the role of Watson.</p>

--- a/public/posts/drawings/teresa/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/drawings/teresa/index.html
@ -211,6 +211,9 @@

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Mother_Teresa.jpg" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><hr>
 <p>Completely botched this drawing, but it reminds me of the drawing streak I used to have back when I was in my hometown during college vacations.</p>

--- a/public/posts/reading/annihilation-of-caste/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/annihilation-of-caste/index.html
@ -65,13 +65,13 @@ I find India really fascinating sometimes, even though I&rsquo;ve lived my whole
 <meta property="og:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 I find India really fascinating sometimes, even though I&rsquo;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&rsquo;ve conditioned ourselves to ignore the blatant reality and move ahead with an oblivious calm, living in shit and aspiring for the gold." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/annihilation-of-caste/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/annihilation-of-caste/images/caste.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/annihilation-of-caste/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2021-07-23T22:56:47+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

-<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/annihilation-of-caste/images/caste.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Annihilation of Caste(Annotated Edition) by Arundhati Roy"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 I find India really fascinating sometimes, even though I&rsquo;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&rsquo;ve conditioned ourselves to ignore the blatant reality and move ahead with an oblivious calm, living in shit and aspiring for the gold."/>
@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ I find India really fascinating sometimes, even though I&rsquo;ve lived my whole
  "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",
  "wordCount" : "610",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/annihilation-of-caste/images/caste.jpg","datePublished": "2021-07-23T22:56:47+05:30",
+  "datePublished": "2021-07-23T22:56:47+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
--- a/public/posts/reading/azadi/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/azadi/index.html
@ -63,13 +63,13 @@
 <meta property="og:title" content="Azadi by Arundhati Roy" />
 <meta property="og:description" content="A series of essays on the bleak reality in India. Highly recommended." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/azadi/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/azadi/images/azadi.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/azadi/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2020-09-30T22:22:13+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-06-23T08:58:20+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

-<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/azadi/images/azadi.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Azadi by Arundhati Roy"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="A series of essays on the bleak reality in India. Highly recommended."/>

@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
  "articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\n(For some reason, this review has resonated with a lot of people - it’s currently the top review for the book!)\nI 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.\nSo 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.\nIf 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?\nReading this book brought that hopelessness to the front once again. There are hard-hitting truths written here, things that we would sooner like to forget lest they cause us pain and make vivid the grim reality of our times. But like a festering wound which devours our body if unattended, ignorance is not bliss but a vicious disease which paralyzes us faster than we might think.\nMy appeal to whoever is reading this would be - reach out to others, engage in conversations, don’t dismiss the whole debate as “unnecessary politics” - your mere existence is political. Politics is not about discussing who should be the next PM, it’s about discussing ideas and how you view others who are different than yourself, to engage with empathy and to embrace the differences, and to speak out against wrongs.\nI’ll leave you with a powerful passage from the book itself, where Arundhati Roy laments about the role each of us plays in how the future shapes itself:\nAfter twenty years of writing fiction and nonfiction that tracks the rise of Hindu nationalism, after years of reading about the rise and fall of European fascism, I have begun to wonder why fascism—although it is by no means the same everywhere—is so recognizable across histories and cultures. It’s not just the fascists that are recognizable—the strong man, the ideological army, the squalid dreams of Aryan superiority, the dehumanization and ghettoization of the “internal enemy,” the massive and utterly ruthless propaganda machine, the false-flag attacks and assassinations, the fawning businessmen and film stars, the attacks on universities, the fear of intellectuals, the specter of detention camps, and the hate-fueled zombie population that chants the Eastern equivalent of “Heil! Heil! Heil!” It’s also the rest of us—the exhausted, quarreling opposition, the vain, nit-picking Left, the equivocating liberals who spent years building the road that has led to the situation we find ourselves in, and are now behaving like shocked, righteous rabbits who never imagined that rabbits were an important ingredient of the rabbit stew that was always on the menu. And, of course, the wolves who ignored the decent folks’ counsel of moderation and sloped off into the wilderness to howl unceasingly, futilely—and, if they were female, then “shrilly” and “hysterically”—at the terrifying, misshapen moon. All of us are recognizable.\n",
  "wordCount" : "725",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/azadi/images/azadi.jpg","datePublished": "2020-09-30T22:22:13+05:30",
+  "datePublished": "2020-09-30T22:22:13+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2023-06-23T08:58:20+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
@ -214,7 +214,7 @@
  <div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3534647672">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
 <p>(For some reason, this review has resonated with a lot of people - it&rsquo;s currently the top review for the book!)</p>
 <hr>
-<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/azadi.jpg" alt="Azadi Cover"  title="Azadi Cover"  />
+<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/azadi.webp#center" alt="Azadi Cover"  title="Azadi Cover"  />
 </p>
 <p>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. 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 &ldquo;coming out of the closet&rdquo; 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&rsquo;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>
--- a/public/posts/reading/bad-blood/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/bad-blood/index.html
@ -65,13 +65,13 @@ How to fool the world and become a Billionaire I remember hearing about Elizabet
 <meta property="og:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 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." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/bad-blood/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/bad-blood/images/bad_blood.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/bad-blood/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2020-05-01T23:39:18+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

-<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/bad-blood/images/bad_blood.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Bad Blood by John Carreyrou"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 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."/>
@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ How to fool the world and become a Billionaire I remember hearing about Elizabet
  "articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nHow 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. 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 “this Stanford dropout 20-something who was hailed as being a younger version of Einstein, was going to change the world”.\nUndoubtedly, as so often happens, I forgot about people who were gonna change the world as I grew up. Then I heard about this book last year, which was getting enormously praised for its exposé of a Silicon Valley firm and was really surprised to find out that the company at the center of the storm was Theranos, the brainchild of Elizabeth Holmes. This book reads like a detective novel, meticulously giving the clues and binding the threads of the deception that Holmes had so carefully and brilliantly constructed and managed to fool the entire world.\nRead this one if you want to get a lesson in how not to emulate a leader.\n",
  "wordCount" : "239",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/bad-blood/images/bad_blood.jpg","datePublished": "2020-05-01T23:39:18+05:30",
+  "datePublished": "2020-05-01T23:39:18+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ How to fool the world and become a Billionaire I remember hearing about Elizabet
  </header> 
  <div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2635590846">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
 <hr>
-<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/bad_blood.jpg#center" alt="Bad Blood Cover"  title="Bad Blood Cover"  />
+<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/bad_blood.webp#center" alt="Bad Blood Cover"  title="Bad Blood Cover"  />
 </p>
 <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>
 <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>&ldquo;this Stanford dropout 20-something who was hailed as being a younger version of Einstein, was going to change the world&rdquo;</em>.</p>
--- a/public/posts/reading/behave-review/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/behave-review/index.html
--- a/public/posts/reading/chup-deepa-narayan/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/chup-deepa-narayan/index.html
--- a/public/posts/reading/empire-of-pain/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/empire-of-pain/index.html
@ -63,13 +63,13 @@
 <meta property="og:title" content="Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty" />
 <meta property="og:description" content="If you want to understand how the opioid crisis began, read this" />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/empire-of-pain/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/empire-of-pain/images/empire-of-pain.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/empire-of-pain/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2023-06-21T08:49:32+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-10-03T09:42:51+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

-<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/empire-of-pain/images/empire-of-pain.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="If you want to understand how the opioid crisis began, read this"/>

@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
  "articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nI remember first knowing about the Sackler family when Jon Oliver did a segment on them, and I remember feeling infuriated. Little did I know about the empire that they had created, riding on the wave of people’s addictions, creating and fueling the opioid crisis and absolving themselves of all the blame while at the same time, putting up their names on all the Ivy league buildings.\nIt’s sickening to learn how the rich always get a preferential treatment by law and society.\n",
  "wordCount" : "88",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/empire-of-pain/images/empire-of-pain.jpg","datePublished": "2023-06-21T08:49:32+05:30",
+  "datePublished": "2023-06-21T08:49:32+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2023-10-03T09:42:51+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
--- a/public/posts/reading/four-thousand-weeks/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/four-thousand-weeks/index.html
@ -63,13 +63,13 @@
 <meta property="og:title" content="Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman" />
 <meta property="og:description" content="A book about time and our relationship with it. Recommended." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/four-thousand-weeks/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/four-thousand-weeks/images/four-thousand.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/four-thousand-weeks/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2022-09-21T07:35:24+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

-<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/four-thousand-weeks/images/four-thousand.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="A book about time and our relationship with it. Recommended."/>

@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
  "articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nNothing extra-ordinary in terms of content, but special when you think of the book as a compilation of useful frameworks to think about time.\nAlas, 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.\nHaving said that, the self-help ocean that this book is a part of, is filled with heaps of garbage books, so stumbling upon this one is like finding a needle in a haystack. Few ways of thinking about time and choices that I found interesting:\nDon’t think of these things as life hacks - don’t treat life as a faulty contraption in need of modification.\nA spin on FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): missing out is what makes our choices meaningful in the first place, every decision to use a portion of a time on anything represents saying no to every other thing that you could’ve done but you didn’t.\nThe anti-skill of staying with the anxiety of never having time to do everything.\nPicking one item from the menu represents an affirmation rather than a defeat. The fact that you could’ve chosen a different and perhaps equally valuable way to spend this afternoon bestows meaning on the choice you did make.\nA hobbyist is a subversive: they insist that some things are worth doing for themselves alone, despite offering no payoffs in terms of productivity or profit.\n",
  "wordCount" : "301",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/four-thousand-weeks/images/four-thousand.jpg","datePublished": "2022-09-21T07:35:24+05:30",
+  "datePublished": "2022-09-21T07:35:24+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
--- a/public/posts/reading/glimpses-of-world-history/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/glimpses-of-world-history/index.html
@ -66,12 +66,12 @@ World history in a nutshell More than 1100 pages, this behemoth of a book still
 World history in a nutshell More than 1100 pages, this behemoth of a book still fails to capture the whole essence of world history - and rightly so. How can you combine over 2000 years of human history and still do justice to every element? But the unique manner in which this book - or more appropriately, collection of letters - has been written, it shines brightly amongst the plethora of history books you can find on this vast subject of world history." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
 <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/glimpses-of-world-history/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/world_history.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/world_history.webp" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2020-03-12T23:23:19+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2022-05-01T23:09:23+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

 <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/world_history.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/world_history.webp" />
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Glimpses of World History by Jawaharlal Nehru"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 World history in a nutshell More than 1100 pages, this behemoth of a book still fails to capture the whole essence of world history - and rightly so. How can you combine over 2000 years of human history and still do justice to every element? But the unique manner in which this book - or more appropriately, collection of letters - has been written, it shines brightly amongst the plethora of history books you can find on this vast subject of world history."/>
@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ World history in a nutshell More than 1100 pages, this behemoth of a book still
  "articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nWorld history in a nutshell More than 1100 pages, this behemoth of a book still fails to capture the whole essence of world history - and rightly so. How can you combine over 2000 years of human history and still do justice to every element? But the unique manner in which this book - or more appropriately, collection of letters - has been written, it shines brightly amongst the plethora of history books you can find on this vast subject of world history.\nLately and unfortunately, people in my country have been going down a dangerous political hole and it is almost becoming a fashion statement now to indulge in tales of “revisionist history”, especially when it’s related to foundations of India and the exact roles played by political parties of the time. It’s shameful to hear people bashing Nehru for whatever “wrongs” he committed, while at the same time, being ignorant about his accomplishments and the monumentally difficult task he faced of leading and building India during its first few years of Independence.\nThe personal nature of the letters and the choice of the subject notwithstanding - or more accurately, I should say because of these characteristics - this book is also a revealing window to the character and intelligence of our first Prime Minister.\nThis one would surely go onto my favorites’ stand :)\n",
  "wordCount" : "231",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/world_history.jpg","datePublished": "2020-03-12T23:23:19+05:30",
+  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/world_history.webp","datePublished": "2020-03-12T23:23:19+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2022-05-01T23:09:23+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
@ -214,6 +214,9 @@ World history in a nutshell More than 1100 pages, this behemoth of a book still

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/world_history.webp" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2891482793">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
 <hr>
 <h2 id="world-history-in-a-nutshell">World history in a nutshell<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#world-history-in-a-nutshell">#</a></h2>
--- a/public/posts/reading/great-music/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/great-music/index.html
@ -66,12 +66,12 @@ I have been a lover of music since my early childhood - runs in the family - and
 I have been a lover of music since my early childhood - runs in the family - and have imitated and performed songs (mostly inside my own head) on numerous occasions. Despite this lifelong love affair with music of all kinds, there was one particular genre of music that always baffled me. Mostly because of my own ignorance, but partially also because nobody else was talking about it." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
 <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/great-music/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/ttc_great_music.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/ttc_great_music.webp" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2020-01-16T22:05:06+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2022-05-01T23:09:23+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

 <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/ttc_great_music.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/ttc_great_music.webp" />
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="How to Listen to and Understand Great Music by Robert Greenberg"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 I have been a lover of music since my early childhood - runs in the family - and have imitated and performed songs (mostly inside my own head) on numerous occasions. Despite this lifelong love affair with music of all kinds, there was one particular genre of music that always baffled me. Mostly because of my own ignorance, but partially also because nobody else was talking about it."/>
@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ I have been a lover of music since my early childhood - runs in the family - and
  "articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nI have been a lover of music since my early childhood - runs in the family - and have imitated and performed songs (mostly inside my own head) on numerous occasions. Despite this lifelong love affair with music of all kinds, there was one particular genre of music that always baffled me. Mostly because of my own ignorance, but partially also because nobody else was talking about it. Nobody else in my own vicinity that is. It didn’t play on the radio, you won’t hear it playing on any of the countless music channels and certainly, nobody was going on tours giving live performances.\nThis was the wonderful genre of concert music.\nWe have all probably heard the following names: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky. But, and this is especially true in India, very few listeners would be able to identify a piece of concert music by its composer, the way they would a Linkin Park song for example. Now I realize the comparison is a bit unfair, and I’m not trying to pit one musician against another - it’s just to illustrate a point - the point being that we are grossly unfamiliar with these great composers apart from reading a passage about them in history books about what geniuses they were.\nThis series of lectures is dedicated towards amending this misstep. Narrated by the ever passionate and wonderful Dr. Robert Greenberg, this is a collection of 48 lectures of 45 minutes each (36 hours in total), which takes you on a musical journey starting from the ancient Greek music up until the first half of the twentieth century. For the lack of a better word, these lectures are absolutely amazing - especially because of the narrator. His enthusiasm is simply so infectious!\nDo give this one a listen. I promise it’ll be worth it.\n",
  "wordCount" : "310",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/ttc_great_music.jpg","datePublished": "2020-01-16T22:05:06+05:30",
+  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/ttc_great_music.webp","datePublished": "2020-01-16T22:05:06+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2022-05-01T23:09:23+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
@ -214,6 +214,9 @@ I have been a lover of music since my early childhood - runs in the family - and

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/ttc_great_music.webp" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3030817409">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
 <hr>
 <p>I have been a lover of music since my early childhood - runs in the family - and have imitated and performed songs (mostly inside my own head) on numerous occasions. Despite this lifelong love affair with music of all kinds, there was one particular genre of music that always baffled me. Mostly because of my own ignorance, but partially also because nobody else was talking about it. Nobody else in my own vicinity that is. It didn&rsquo;t play on the radio, you won&rsquo;t hear it playing on any of the countless music channels and certainly, nobody was going on tours giving live performances.</p>
--- a/public/posts/reading/i-do-what-i-do/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/i-do-what-i-do/index.html
@ -65,13 +65,13 @@ I had picked up this one thinking it to be an autobiography, and with an expecta
 <meta property="og:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 I had picked up this one thinking it to be an autobiography, and with an expectation that it&rsquo;ll cover Rajan&rsquo;s tussles with the government in more details. I was pleasantly surprised to find instead a good collection of technical essays covering the workings of RBI, and economics in general. If you&rsquo;re looking for a good explanatory work in the field of Economics (and especially those concerning India and its policies), you&rsquo;ll enjoy this." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/i-do-what-i-do/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/i-do-what-i-do/images/rajan.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/i-do-what-i-do/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2020-12-19T09:24:30+05:30" />
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-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/i-do-what-i-do/images/rajan.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="I Do What I Do by Raghuram Rajan"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 I had picked up this one thinking it to be an autobiography, and with an expectation that it&rsquo;ll cover Rajan&rsquo;s tussles with the government in more details. I was pleasantly surprised to find instead a good collection of technical essays covering the workings of RBI, and economics in general. If you&rsquo;re looking for a good explanatory work in the field of Economics (and especially those concerning India and its policies), you&rsquo;ll enjoy this."/>
@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ I had picked up this one thinking it to be an autobiography, and with an expecta
  "articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nI had picked up this one thinking it to be an autobiography, and with an expectation that it’ll cover Rajan’s tussles with the government in more details. I was pleasantly surprised to find instead a good collection of technical essays covering the workings of RBI, and economics in general. If you’re looking for a good explanatory work in the field of Economics (and especially those concerning India and its policies), you’ll enjoy this.\n",
  "wordCount" : "78",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/i-do-what-i-do/images/rajan.jpg","datePublished": "2020-12-19T09:24:30+05:30",
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  "dateModified": "2023-07-11T09:31:18+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
--- a/public/posts/reading/life-between-buildings/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/life-between-buildings/index.html
@ -63,13 +63,13 @@
 <meta property="og:title" content="Life Between Buildings by Jan Gehl" />
 <meta property="og:description" content="A gentle introduction to the study of buildings and the way they enable societal interactions." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
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-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/life-between-buildings/images/life.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/life-between-buildings/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2022-04-21T09:04:49+05:30" />
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-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/life-between-buildings/images/life.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Life Between Buildings by Jan Gehl"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="A gentle introduction to the study of buildings and the way they enable societal interactions."/>

@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
  "articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nOne 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.\n",
  "wordCount" : "75",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/life-between-buildings/images/life.jpg","datePublished": "2022-04-21T09:04:49+05:30",
+  "datePublished": "2022-04-21T09:04:49+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30",
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--- a/public/posts/reading/parenting/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/parenting/index.html
@ -67,13 +67,13 @@ As is the norm for every child brought up in religion, I used to consider myself
 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 &ldquo;Hindu child&rdquo;), which had a supporting role in my life up until my late-teenage/early-adolescent years.
 As is the norm for every child brought up in religion, I used to consider myself special believing that I had a &ldquo;personal relationship&rdquo; with God." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/parenting/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/parenting/images/parenting.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/parenting/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2021-03-18T22:14:21+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-06-25T16:19:25+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

-<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
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+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Parenting Beyond Belief by Dale McGowan"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 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 &ldquo;Hindu child&rdquo;), which had a supporting role in my life up until my late-teenage/early-adolescent years.
@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ As is the norm for every child brought up in religion, I used to consider myself
  "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",
  "wordCount" : "703",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/parenting/images/parenting.jpg","datePublished": "2021-03-18T22:14:21+05:30",
+  "datePublished": "2021-03-18T22:14:21+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2023-06-25T16:19:25+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
--- a/public/posts/reading/range-a-review/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/range-a-review/index.html
@ -67,13 +67,13 @@ Main takeaway? Other than the central idea around which the book revolves (and s
 Started with a tightly-knit structure, but faltered at the end. The last few chapters were a slog to get through - mostly because of numerous &ldquo;business-class&rdquo; style case studies.
 Main takeaway? Other than the central idea around which the book revolves (and succinctly mentioned as the book subtitle too), the idea of interleaving is what struck me the most. I had already read about this particular method in Michael Nielsen&rsquo;s brilliant post on Anki (&ldquo;Augmenting Long-term Memory&rdquo;) and it was interesting to read about it formally in the book." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/range-a-review/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/range_kindle.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/range-a-review/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2019-09-05T00:16:14+05:30" />
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-<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/range_kindle.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Range by David Epstein"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 Started with a tightly-knit structure, but faltered at the end. The last few chapters were a slog to get through - mostly because of numerous &ldquo;business-class&rdquo; style case studies.
@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ Main takeaway? Other than the central idea around which the book revolves (and s
  "articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nStarted with a tightly-knit structure, but faltered at the end. The last few chapters were a slog to get through - mostly because of numerous “business-class” style case studies.\nMain takeaway? Other than the central idea around which the book revolves (and succinctly mentioned as the book subtitle too), the idea of interleaving is what struck me the most. I had already read about this particular method in Michael Nielsen’s brilliant post on Anki (“Augmenting Long-term Memory”) and it was interesting to read about it formally in the book. Interleaving is the technique of mixing up your learning in varied environments so that it makes some unusual connections that you’d normally won’t think about - and might come in handy when you are faced with a problem in a new environment you haven’t previously encountered.\nIn the end, “Range” suffers from the same deficiencies that a lot of other pop-psychology/self-management books suffer from - too many anecdotal evidence and case studies. A reviewer here on Goodreads summed it the best:\nFinally, Range is designed to appeal to people who are already skeptical of specialization/ enthusiastic about generalized skillsets. I worry that some of the appreciation of this book is just a soothing exercise in confirmation bias for generalists.\nStill, I’d recommend it to people who (like me) are skeptical about their tendency to dabble in too many disparate fields at the same time - this might be the soothing pill that you were looking for.\n",
  "wordCount" : "250",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/range_kindle.jpg","datePublished": "2019-09-05T00:16:14+05:30",
+  "datePublished": "2019-09-05T00:16:14+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2022-05-01T23:09:23+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
@ -219,6 +219,8 @@ Main takeaway? Other than the central idea around which the book revolves (and s
  </header> 
  <div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2918108710">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
 <hr>
+<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/range_kindle.webp#center" alt="Range cover"  title="Range cover"  />
+</p>
 <p>Started with a tightly-knit structure, but faltered at the end. The last few chapters were a slog to get through - mostly because of numerous &ldquo;business-class&rdquo; style case studies.</p>
 <p>Main takeaway? Other than the central idea around which the book revolves (and succinctly mentioned as the book subtitle too), the
 idea of interleaving is what struck me the most. I had already read about this particular method in <strong>Michael Nielsen&rsquo;s brilliant
--- a/public/posts/reading/reasons-to-stay-alive/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/reasons-to-stay-alive/index.html
@ -68,12 +68,12 @@ Reasons you should read this book:
 If you&rsquo;ve ever had a panic attack. If you&rsquo;ve ever counted the number of times the ceiling fan rotates, just so you could avoid dealing with the endless voices in your head. If you&rsquo;ve ever felt ashamed to admit that you might be suffering from the D-word. If reading about personal stories of how people overcame their mental illnesses soothes you." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
 <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/reasons-to-stay-alive/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/reasons_to_stay_alive.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/reasons_to_stay_alive.webp" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2020-01-28T22:28:18+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2022-05-01T23:09:23+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

 <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/reasons_to_stay_alive.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/reasons_to_stay_alive.webp" />
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 Reasons you should read this book:
@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ If you&rsquo;ve ever had a panic attack. If you&rsquo;ve ever counted the number
  "articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nReasons you should read this book:\nIf you’ve ever had a panic attack. If you’ve ever counted the number of times the ceiling fan rotates, just so you could avoid dealing with the endless voices in your head. If you’ve ever felt ashamed to admit that you might be suffering from the D-word. If reading about personal stories of how people overcame their mental illnesses soothes you. Because why not. A lucid, non-linear and a sort of haphazard look at the most personal struggle anyone can go through, give this one a read if you want to know what it feels like to have depression.\n",
  "wordCount" : "110",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/reasons_to_stay_alive.jpg","datePublished": "2020-01-28T22:28:18+05:30",
+  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/reasons_to_stay_alive.webp","datePublished": "2020-01-28T22:28:18+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2022-05-01T23:09:23+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
@ -217,6 +217,9 @@ If you&rsquo;ve ever had a panic attack. If you&rsquo;ve ever counted the number

 </div>
  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/reasons_to_stay_alive.webp" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3161153699">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
 <hr>
 <p><strong>Reasons you should read this book:</strong></p>
--- a/public/posts/reading/running-murakami/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/running-murakami/index.html
@ -67,13 +67,13 @@ I have no affinity for running, even for short jogs, and much less for wanting t
 Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
 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." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/running-murakami/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/running-murakami/images/running-murakami.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
+<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/running-murakami/" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2021-08-14T20:09:56+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

-<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
-<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/running-murakami/images/running-murakami.jpg" />
+<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ I have no affinity for running, even for short jogs, and much less for wanting t
  "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",
  "wordCount" : "770",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/running-murakami/images/running-murakami.jpg","datePublished": "2021-08-14T20:09:56+05:30",
+  "datePublished": "2021-08-14T20:09:56+05:30",
  "dateModified": "2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
--- a/public/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/index.html
+++ b/public/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/index.html
@ -65,13 +65,13 @@ Now that I&rsquo;ve moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of
 <meta property="og:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 Now that I&rsquo;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 &ldquo;productive&rdquo; 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." />
 <meta property="og:type" content="article" />
-<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/" />
-<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/images/shame.jpg" /><meta property="article:section" content="posts" />
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 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2021-08-17T22:55:02+05:30" />
 <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Siddhartha Golu" />

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+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Shame by Salman Rushdie"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 Now that I&rsquo;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 &ldquo;productive&rdquo; 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."/>
@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ Now that I&rsquo;ve moved away from reading fiction, I find that I face a lot of
  "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",
  "wordCount" : "355",
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-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/posts/reading/shame-rushdie/images/shame.jpg","datePublished": "2021-08-17T22:55:02+05:30",
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  "dateModified": "2023-06-23T00:36:16+05:30",
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@ -214,6 +214,9 @@ The School of Life - a massively popular YouTube channel - used to be this sourc

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  </header> 
+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/the_course_of_love.jpg" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1855122398">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
 <hr>
 <p>The School of Life - a massively popular YouTube channel - used to be this source of solace in some turbulent times of my college life.
--- a/public/posts/reading/the-stranger-and-the-plague-a-review/index.html
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@ -214,6 +214,9 @@

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+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/The_Bookshelf.jpg" alt="">
+        
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  <div class="post-content"><h1 id="preamble">Preamble<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#preamble">#</a></h1>
 <p>Philosophy has always been one of those baffling things that entice you at first by its simplicity, but as you get sucked into it more and more, you find yourself searching for the end of this labyrinthine landscape. I had my first exposure to anything related to philosophy in my second year of college when I stumbled upon <strong>The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand</strong>. At the time, it was one of the fascinating books I had ever read. I distinctly remember sitting down with the book at 9 PM having had my dinner, and as the custom goes, was looking forward to reading anything that could distract me from the mountain load of coursework that I had to finish for the upcoming semester exams. I became so engrossed in the story that when I finished the book and went outside to take in a fresh breath of air - I was startled to discover that the sunlight was already shining throughout the corridor - it was 7 o&rsquo;clock in the morning!</p>
 <p>However, aside from a couple of books here and there, I was pretty ignorant about the whole field of philosophy . It was not until my last year of college when my then-girlfriend introduced me to different sub-fields of philosophy, and consequently, the names like <em>Albert Camus</em>, <em>Bertrand Russell</em>, and <em>Friedrich Nietzsche</em> and their ideas started sounding familiar. From all the ideas out there, <strong>Existentialism</strong> was something that drew me in the most.</p>
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 <meta property="og:title" content="The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer" />
 <meta property="og:description" content="The ethical dilemma of eating. Highly recommended!" />
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 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2021-09-01T10:43:25+05:30" />
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+<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/Love_for_mountains.jpeg"/>
+
 <meta name="twitter:title" content="The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="The ethical dilemma of eating. Highly recommended!"/>

@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
  "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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@ -67,13 +67,13 @@ I am an atheist interested in the power of mindfulness and the whole world of so
 A disappointing jumble of thoughts Disappointed.
 I am an atheist interested in the power of mindfulness and the whole world of so-called spirituality, so naturally, I am the ideal audience that Sam Harris is looking for. But it disappointed in almost every domain that I had expectations in. Using deep-sounding difficult words and wrapping them in an almost mythical aura of &ldquo;Consciousness&rdquo;, this one was a huge letdown." />
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 <meta property="article:published_time" content="2020-04-15T23:31:08+05:30" />
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 <meta name="twitter:title" content="Waking Up by Sam Harris"/>
 <meta name="twitter:description" content="Check it out on Goodreads
 A disappointing jumble of thoughts Disappointed.
@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ I am an atheist interested in the power of mindfulness and the whole world of so
  "articleBody": "Check it out on Goodreads\nA disappointing jumble of thoughts Disappointed.\nI am an atheist interested in the power of mindfulness and the whole world of so-called spirituality, so naturally, I am the ideal audience that Sam Harris is looking for. But it disappointed in almost every domain that I had expectations in. Using deep-sounding difficult words and wrapping them in an almost mythical aura of “Consciousness”, this one was a huge letdown. The irony is that I’ve been following his mindfulness meditation course and it’s been the opposite experience there - in fact, his meditation course itself was what motivated me to pick up this book.\nSave yourself the trouble of reading on why to meditate and instead dive into doing the practice itself and judge for yourself.\n",
  "wordCount" : "129",
  "inLanguage": "en",
-  "image":"https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/waking_up.jpg","datePublished": "2020-04-15T23:31:08+05:30",
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  "dateModified": "2022-05-01T23:09:23+05:30",
  "author":[{
    "@type": "Person",
@ -219,6 +219,8 @@ I am an atheist interested in the power of mindfulness and the whole world of so
  </header> 
  <div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3272821691">Check it out on Goodreads</a></p>
 <hr>
+<p><img loading="lazy" src="/images/waking_up.webp#center" alt="Waking up cover"  title="Waking up Cover"  />
+</p>
 <h2 id="a-disappointing-jumble-of-thoughts">A disappointing jumble of thoughts<a hidden class="anchor" aria-hidden="true" href="#a-disappointing-jumble-of-thoughts">#</a></h2>
 <p>Disappointed.</p>
 <p>I am an atheist interested in the power of mindfulness and the whole world of so-called spirituality, so naturally, I am the ideal audience that Sam Harris is looking for. But it disappointed in almost every domain that I had expectations in. Using deep-sounding difficult words and wrapping them in an almost mythical aura of &ldquo;Consciousness&rdquo;, this one was a huge letdown. The irony is that I&rsquo;ve been following his mindfulness meditation course and it&rsquo;s been the opposite experience there - in fact, his meditation course itself was what motivated me to pick up this book.</p>
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@ -241,6 +241,9 @@ an open invitation to a room full of sugary syrup."/>

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+<figure class="entry-cover"><img loading="eager" src="https://www.siddharthagolu.com/images/fear.png" alt="">
+        
+</figure>
  <div class="post-content"><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Znc5AB_hK/">Check it out on Instagram</a></p>
 <hr>
 <p>I&rsquo;m scared.</p>
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