ramadocblog

Sanjeev Kumar by Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, Uday jariwala
Narrated by Jasleen Bhalla
Audiobook

Non Fiction Biography

Rating- Overall 3/5 and 3/5 for the story and 4/5 for the narration

This book was a guilty pleasure and a break from serious novels which I am presently reading and listening to such as A Pale Blue dot by Carl Sagan and Judges list by John Grisham!

Of course once you start listening to filmy gossip even if it is a gossip you already know, you obviously cannot stop
It is understood that this is a biography not an autobiography so it means that what you listen is not the truth or direct depiction but only a point of view and this is the biggest drawback of any biography! It is simply not from the Horses’ mouth!
This is however a very honest effort by the people involved to bring out the story of one of the best actors ever! The one who could pull of any role with ease and how!
Even now Angoor and Pati Patni gives me a smile after watching umpteen number of times just like how Viday Balan mentions in the epilogue. He is the only one who can play any role! In fact he was the hero to Jaya B in Koshish, Father in Parichay and Father in law in Sholay!
Sanjeev Kumar or Harihar Jethalal Jariwala was a typical Gujarati in his childhood and how he became Sanjeev Kumar is the story.

Starts with a brief introduction of his father and mainly his mother and his big family and how he lost his father in his childhood and the responsibility of managing the whole family was on his shoulders. How he did not complete his school and took up acting instead and how he struggled in plays and small roles for years before he made it big.
Since the story is narrative from the point of view of many dear and near; it loses steam when the people who are narrating the story subconsciously put the central character as themselves and the I in the team comes into play which makes it a little skewed to say the least!

No spoilers since in the beginning itself his death and his mothers death (the two major incidents in his life) have been described rather emotionally and this is was the best part of the narration since this has to be by the third person!

The novel thus explores the relations of his friends and family including his brothers and their wife and their sons and daughters and how they interacted with him. Most of the stories and interaction have a consistent fact that Hari Bhai (as he was known) was a major addict of Smoking and Drinking and a glutton to the core!
It is always said that you must never meet your hero; you must add that you must not know too much about him or her. That would make you realize that he or she is just a mere mortal and the pedestal you have placed them upon may seem shaky as it did to me!

So you have famous personalities such as Shatrughan Sinha, Gulzar, Ranjita, Parikshit Sahni, Tanuja, Sachin, Daughter of Sippy, and many others who state their interaction and relationship with him.
His love and respect for his mother was mentioned by all though it seems odd that he loved and respected her so much but still use to do things which she would have felt bad like eating non veg and drinking and smoking without any control whatsoever! That is of course something personal between a mother and her son and no business of others.

Though some stories of his getting the roles of Nayi din nayi raat and Khilona has been mentioned; it could have been more elaborate since everyone likes Sanjeev Kumar the actor and not Hari Bhai; the man.

The most juicy part of the whole book of course are his affairs including and not restricted to Nutan, Hema and others. This section however reveals so many new things about how he was not a heart broken person and the affairs were not the reason for his attacks! You can listen to the whole book simply for this section! So many misconceptions and rumours will be laid to rest at least for some actresses with whom he had some links. Some though are kept under wraps with only a hint!

The author and narrators though many times are confused; they makes statements of one kind and we are presented with a story which shows something else! On one side it is told that Hari Bhai never cared about any thing and then they tell the story of how he could not tolerate anyone having the same car as he! They would tell how he was a simple man and then they would talk about his rare and costly cigarettes and his different cars! They would talk about how he was simple and uncomplicated in his room and then you would get a story of how he had a cupboard having more than 500 perfumes!

That is the problem with biography; when we ourselves don’t know what we are thinking, how can we try to think what the other person is thinking and that too when one of the authors has not even met the person!

There is also a note by his doctor who tells how modern medicine has progressed which is really sad since it gives a false sense of comfort! As a doctor I can frankly tell that however progressed medicine is; you have to first take care of your body and only then the medications would work! You cannot have a medication which will allow to drink and smoke till you drop and expect no harm would come to you!

Finally it is safe to say that it is a very interesting ride indeed and you would really like it with some breaks! You can accept his smoking like an addict since that is personal, you can also accept his drinking to a point when he is stuporous (he apparently used to become quiet and then Tanuja narrates how he knocked on her door one night in an inebriated state! Confusion thy name is biography!).
We can also accept his fondness of food even if it means he eats like a glutton like there is no tomorrow and expect your body to survive! We can also accept that he had history of heart disease in the family and his time was short so he lived life kingsize!

One thing which no one should accept is his absolute lack of respect to punctuality! In fact there was a story told by Shatrughan Sinha (another in the same category; unpunctual that is!) of how they both would be sitting and smoking in their house with no work to do while the whole team and unit would be waiting for them. He would make the whole set, actresses and many directors wait and would not feel an ounce of remorse as stated by many of them in the book.
You may be the greatest actor in the world but if you do not give respect to the most precious thing in the world that is time then please do not be shocked or have misbelief when time shows you your place.
All the book managed to do was make me more sad and lose respect for the person in this biography; it may not be the one in his autobiography which of course we will not get to compare.

You listen and draw your own conclusion…

A time for mercy by John Grisham
Book review with no spoilers
Courtroom thriller

Rating 4/5 alone and 3/5 in comparison to ‘A time to kill’
Fictional thriller genre

An unofficial sequel to A time to kill and Sycamore Row and many characters which we have come to like and recognise are present!
Jack of course is the lead and just like his previous two cases, is a sucker for cases no one wants and is on the verge of poverty!

A time to kill was the first Grisham novel and it was like an unofficial ode to ‘To kill a Mockingbird’ though a comparative analysis of both can be another blog or even a stand alone novel!

Sycamore Row was a passing case and nothing much to write home about

This sequel is stand alone but if you read the first two then a feeling of familiarity comes and you can also compare which is the best thing!

No spoiler here but if you have not read a ‘time to kill’ and do not know the final court scene ‘Now close your eyes and imagine she is white!’ Then stop reading and read the book or even watch the amazing movie simply for the gripping climax!

So while this is a standalone book, it is inevitable that it’ll be compared to a time To kill. So while the downtrodden or oppressed or the accused was a black father who killed his daughter’a rapist; here it is a teen who is accused of killing the abusive boyfriend of his mother.

Don’t worry that’s not the spoiler since it is the opening scene of the novel. The young shy boy finds his mother unconscious and unresponsive and shoots her boyfriend. The issue here is that the boyfriend is a cop and a good cop according to his colleagues! And there lies the conundrum!

Would you support a cop killer? Come Jack to the scene and then it’s a roller coaster ride!
Just like Sycamore Row; here also the case is thrust upon him though he gets lots of support from the judge. Of course he gets less of that from the cops but then you get some…

Some irregularities creep in though since initially Jack was not into the job and finally he ends up getting so involved so much so that it feels a little too much! Being a doctor or lawyer; the first thing you must do is to maintain a boundary if you want to have a life of your own. Jack gets so much sucked into the personal life of his client you will be shocked! Especially the end which may seem fairy tale but in real life it’s not!

Just like Time to kill; the court scenes are the best and there is a similar zing in the climax (double zing actually!) but the biggest let down is status quo! Can’t reveal that without spoiler so let’s leave it at that!

There was a strange sense of Déjà vu because of the recently released movie Dhrishyam and its sequel! Especially when the cops try to protect their own!

As far as continuity is concerned; even John states that he was too lazy to read his own previous books so he has just written as he remembered!

All in all a very good read and I am shocked at the rate which John writes novels like a factory! Already there are three novels after this pending to be read starting with The Judges list which is a sequel to his amazing The Whistler!

John slow down! Lemme catch up with you! Have mercy!

By Ellis Silver

Nonfiction to conspiracy genre

Rating- 4/5 for the attention grab 3/5 for everything else!

Long post alert!

While listening to the pale blue dot and trying to search something about evolution; I chanced upon this article on how this ecologist and Environmentalist called Ellis Silver states that humans are not from this planet! And how his book elaborates on this! The interesting fact is that this is the second corrected and more researched edition! So even though the claim sounds crazy it made me think how the claim that its not the sun but it is the earth which moves around would have sounded to the general public and the scientific community thousands of years back!

So these are some snippets on what you can expect from the book!

Our body’s natural (circadian) rhythm doesn’t match the Earth’s 24-hour clock. This is simple enough to prove: you just deprive people of external stimuli, such as daylight and clocks, and let them wake and sleep and turn the lights on and off whenever they like. After about two weeks they’ll settle into their body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, completely out of step with the outside world, where each day lasts around 25 hours. We aren’t usually deprived of external stimuli, of course, and our biological clocks reset each morning as soon as the daylight hits our eyes. But as we’re an hour short, we feel pretty rotten when this happens. Many of us feel a massive resistance when it’s time to get up in the morning!

He says that there are only three violent animals in the world. These animals behave violently even if it’s not for food or self-defense! That means they will fight and torture other species without any rhyme or reason! The species are Chimpanzees, Dolphins (big surprise for me too!) And the top; humans! (No surprises there!). In fact humans are born with the instinct of violence which they control their whole life!  The author states that this may be why the aliens of our original planet would have transported us to this prison Earth!

He informs us about cognitive dissonance which is the psychological discomfort of trying to hold two opposing views at the same time. One such view is Panspermia; which is the theory that life exists throughout the universe and is carried to other worlds by comets and meteorites and so on.
The specific part of panspermia that interests scientists here is exogenesis – the theory that life originated elsewhere in the universe and was brought to Earth. This theory was first proposed in 1871 and, although it remains on the fringes of science, it’s highly plausible. Francis Crick, one of the co-dis-coverers of DNA, was a keen supporter!

He mentions a set of out-of-place artifacts such as the anomalous maps like the Piri Reis map which was created in Istan-bul, Turkey in 1513 and rediscovered in 1929. It shows the coastlines of Africa and South America with almost perfect accuracy. That level of accuracy shouldn’t have been possible at that time.
We couldn’t measure longitude properly until accurate marine chronographs were invented in the 1790s. The map also shows the coastline of Queen Maud’s Land, Antarctica, including sections that have been under two miles of ice for the last two million years. And it shows mountain ranges that were only discovered in 1952. As far as we’re aware, no humans even saw Antarctica until 1820!


There are signs of ancient nuclear explosions in Rajasthan, near Jodhpur and in the Sahara Desert in and around Libya. Several sites in northern India are also contaminated by radiation.
The radioactive contamination in Rajasthan has been dated to about 12,000 years ago, but it could be older. It appears to have been caused by an atomic bomb, equivalent in size to those the Us dropped on Japan during World War II. But the radiation level there today is around fifty times higher than at the Japanese sites. This cannot be explained by the current evolutionary biologists!

The appendix was thought to be the diminished remnant of the long caecum, which herbivores have to help digest cellulose. Now we’re herbivores at heart, but we don’t need to digest cellulose, so the appendix was considered redundant in us. But researchers have discovered that it stores beneficial gut bacteria. Diseases such as cholera and dysentery can kill off these bacteria in the main digestive/fecal stream, but those in the appendix are safely out of harm’s way. And that means they can repopulate the digestive system once the pathogen has passed! We can survive perfectly well without an appendix, but those who have had theirs removed may suffer an increased risk of conditions such as colitis.

In another note by Ellis Silver, he mentions how most animals wake up when they are exposed to increased levels of carbon dioxide. Now This is a useful response as it allows them to flee from things like forest fires! But Carbon dioxide has opposite effect on us, it either sends to sleep or puts us into a deeper sleep! This Could be one of the worst possible responses which kills millions of people, especially before the advent of smoke alarms! Thousands of people owe their life to the pets such as dogs and cats for waking them up when their house caught on fire!

Just as we can’t safely eat raw meat, we also can’t drink from impure water sources, even though they present no problems to any other species. Dogs, for example, come to no harm whatsoever if they drink from puddles, muddy streams and rivulets, gutters in the street, or even toilets!
We have to boil, filter or chemically treat our drinking water to make it safe. The consequences of not doing so are dire!
Dogs have the physiology of meat-eaters, and one of the main benefits of that is having stomach acid twenty times stronger than ours. This could be one reason why they can drink straight out of the toilet while we can’t (though I am sure no one is longing for that!)

The other reasons range from humans suffering from bad backs – which he suggests is because we evolved in a world with lower gravity – to getting too easily sunburned and having difficulty giving birth. Dr Ellis says that while the planet meets humans’ needs for the most part, it does not perhaps serve the species’ interests as well as the aliens who dropped us off imagined.
Dr Ellis would be surprised if one could find a single person who is 100 per cent healthy and not suffering from some perhaps hidden or unstated condition or disorder and this might be because our body clocks have evolved to expects a 25 hour day, as proven by sleep researchers! He suggests that Neanderthals such as homo erectus were crossbred with another species, perhaps from Alpha Centauri!

You would think that even World-class athletes such as Usain Bolt must surely be physically perfect and totally free from chronic conditions right? But it’s not the case. Usain Bolt was born with scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and also has hyperactive disorder according to this book by Ellis Silver called Humans are not from earth! There are thousands of chronic, hidden (or mostly hidden) ailments, disabilities or afflictions that affect us. In fact, there is no person in the world who is hundred percent healthy both mental and physical! He or she will have some ailment or the other ranging from trivial issues (for classification sake only since it may not be trivial to the person!) like anxiety to major problems like anemia or allergy!

Scientists have also found structural differences between black and white skin!
Dark skin is thicker and dermis is more compact this provides protection against skin cancer and explains what people with dark skin typically get fewer wrinkles than those with light skin. Even so, if you compare the thickness of dark skin with that of bear skin and mammals, such as an elephant or rhino human skin is much thinner! Interestingly, elephants are pretty much immune to cancer! Geneticists have found that they have 20 copies of the cancer suppressing Gene while humans have only one! This gene p53 (TP53) churns out copies of the p53 protein if it detected that a cell has suffered DNA damage or it kills the cell if the damage is too severe! So cancer does not have a chance to develop!
p53 gives freedom from cancer

He talks about different animals, about lactose intolerance and so many things in favor of his theory!

Worm hole and warp drives! Yes you get a good description! Really interesting to read! And one of the most interesting chapters for a science fiction fan like me!

He mentions about how chemists have carried out experiments that simulated the atmospheric chemistry of the early Earth and then added electricity to simulate lightning strikes. The best known of these (the Miller-Urey experiment) was performed in the early 1950s by Stanley Miller at the University of Chi-cago. His chemical mix of methane, ammonia, hydrogen and water vapor was slightly off, but it produced amino acids – the building blocks of proteins. Repeating Miller’s experiment with this chemical mix of rock at that time also produces amino acids. Another experiment found that a type of pre-RNA could have formed spontaneously when molecules of barbituric acid and melamine combined!


Another “Alien” thing he mentioned (though throughout the book he mentioned many!); The Antikythera mechanism which is the first-known analog computer – is thought to date from about 205 BC. But it incorporates technologies that were previously unknown until the 14th century AD. It was found in 1902 among objects recovered from a shipwreck off one of the Greek islands. It may have been designed for calculating astronomical and astrological positions, or as a navigational tool, but the latest theory is that it was probably a teaching aid for philosophers. But how did it come to exist 1,500 years before we developed any comparable technology?
Now, there are so many unanswered questions even in science or mathematics but not everyone or everything needs to be answered!

He debunks known evolutionary biologists by poking holes in their theories all supplemented by references! He does not spare creationists either!

He gives a list of Alien landings and also Alien tech (including so many techs we use today!). On top of all this he also gives a timeline of the actual deposition of humans on Earth and the evolution according to him!

Still not astonished!? Well, he also mentions in passing about Alien treaty with US president and how may have seen Aliens and the icing; how he has met two of them!

A very interesting book which kept my attention till the last page and I was almost sad to see it end!

The last five percent of the whole book is the reference which has been classified and pointed out on the lines of a scientific discussion! The only way you can read the book is to be open minded and listen to all the arguments with an open mind! A true scientific mind does not accept and more importantly reject anything without proof!

All in all a fresh perspective on evolution when I am in ocean of books by Richard Dawkins and Carl Sagan!

Do check it out!

The war of Lanka by Amish Tripathi

Ebook and Paperback

Reading time 3-4 hours

Fictional retelling of the classic Epic

Rating 3/5 for the characters, 4/5 for the war scenes and description
3.5/5 overall

Simple straightforward grammar which doesn’t tax your brain and a familiar story makes it easy to read and enjoy!

I am a big critic of remix and hate them to the core so a remix of Ramayana is difficult to digest even otherwise! But then like the sapta Swaras; Ramayana is a story which can be inspirational to many stories now and in the future so if you read this story as an original retelling then you can tolerate it like me!

This of course is not the first retelling of the epic since the popular Asura by Anand Nilketan is also there among others. Anand had written his story in the perspective of Ravan and lost himself and the story and the point he was making in another character!

Now coming to this final (I am assuming this since there is a conclusion and the story is not left midway like the other books in the series!); the treatment of Ravan and especially Indrajeet and Kumbhakarna is better and more humane! So much so that you almost feel bad for them when they meet their fate! ( This is of course not a spoiler since any retelling of Ramayan has to have these fixed end points!)

An additional story of Ravan and Vedavati which has been explored even in some other Ramayans and in Anand’s book has been extended here. This is the lateral story which gives the reader a modern twist to the whole Ravan and Sita conflict.

There are lots of side stories and mentions of Vishnu and Rudra which could be the seeds for new stories in the future!

There is also the famous rivalry of Vishwamitra and Vasishta which has been done to the zenith! And then some!

The building of Ram Setu was a good idea and the involvement of a new character who is totally not involved in the war may raise some eyebrows but it’s a good effort indeed!

Then what could have been the highlight of the novel; the Pushpak Viman and the adventure of getting the Sanjeevini started with a big only to end in a very sudden side note! That was anti climactic! I thought that I have skipped a few pages there!

The one prickly thorn in the novel is the treatment of two younger brothers; namely Sugreev and Vibheeshan who both went against their cruel elder brothers and chose the right path. But somehow Amit has not personally liked this! So while Sugreev story in the book has been relegated to nothing, Vibheeshan is shown to be cunning and selfish and having no love for his brother! This cannot be more farther from truth! In fact he is so good that he is Chiranjeevi! When you base your story on this epic you can play around with the characters but you cannot change their basic operating system so to speak!

Then another issue about these retelling is extra space given to non essentials in the original like the warrior Akampana and one more lady warrior who has been shown to be in love with Hanuman! That’s just not done!
Believe me, you have lots of area to play around with characters without making alterations in ur basic tenet of the epic!

This of course is only my personal opinion and may be the general population may still like this treatment!

The other famous stories like of the burning of lanka and the ashok Vatika visit by hanuman has been completely revamped into something new and difficult to digest (for me only! You may still like the imagination!)

Even though the story is known, it is definitely not the same! In spite of all the reservations you may have, once you start then it is an interesting read! You really turn the pages in anticipation and enjoy the novel especially the battle and escape scenes!

All in all a good effort which is more mature than the Shiva trilogy though I still prefer that because it was new and fresh!

Definitely read if you have read the first three books and get your closure ( for now at least!)

Jai Sri Ram!

The demon haunted world- science as a candle in the dark

By Carl Sagan

Audiobook

Rating 4.5/5

Running length over 14hours

Non fiction

Introduction by his wife; and partner of his many adventures and books!

Starts by dedicating his parents and some teachers. How he got into a fight ending up in stitches and a broken glass!

He then talks about the witches and wizards of the modern world

Starts off where cosmos left and is like a continuation or addition to most of the books by Richard Dawkins so much so that they sound familiar and similar! There is a mention of Richard in the book as one of the modern thinkers!

A big section of how UFO were first invented! Yes invented because it is not seen in nature!
Also, how the first flying saucer name came about how the pilot described a completely different thing and how the media reported it
The author was also part of the team for investigation of UFO and its sightings; all which were proved to be false in one way or the other.

He speaks about the crop circles which were a big thing and how it spread all over the world and finally it was a hoax created by two artists!

Then of the very interesting topic of Sleep Paralysis! This is an amazing description of this event and similar to the ones described by Richard Dawkins in his books. But since this was first and I like original; I am siding with this one!

How the UFO and angel or demon stories evolve over time though very similar! The witch hunts and now the UFO hunts! How aliens are territorial and how they are similar to the ones portrayed in the movies! How Christian faith can either believe in aliens or god but not both since that would obviate the need of god!

History is written by the winners and everyone has their own version of history; at some parts he does become emotional especially when he describes the torture by the church of non scientific people or of the so called witches and how most of the time the nerd is treated badly!
This is a specially true, which means that there is no actual accurate history, only opinions or versions of history

An interesting account of the charlatan in an Australian Tv who fooled even the TV show!

He also mentions how Younger scientists always on the lookout for the banking or disproving the work of Older scientists which can make them instantly famous and get all the work attributed to them!

Scientists make mistakes even if it is Newton or Einstein! And then the author list the mistakes made by him! Quite a few of them actually!

Article in parade about state of US education!
Basket ball and science! He concludes how US gives least priority to education which is why there are hardly any intellectuals there! People would rather send the kids to make money rather than do research! How unscientific Stalin crushed his opponent which is why Russia is not so great anymore!
How in the rush for hydrogen bomb so many other true scientists were discredited!
The whole book has so many of such incidents and details which shows how well researched and how well read Carl is!
It’s a pity though he is not there to narrate it himself which is the only thing missing in the book; the emotion connection!

Most importantly the baloney detection kit!
This is the most important part of the book! He talks about a set of things you can do to reveal Baloney!

This is probably one of the best books on the scientific method without being too preachy about Atheism!

The magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins

Ebook

Rating 3/5

The audio book has a listening Length of around 6 hours; I finished reading this in less than 3!

Starts with how atom is the smallest part of the matter and then proton and neutron

Then taking about the myths of things like night and day with a couple of Greek and aboriginal stories thrown around (I actually liked those Stories to be Frank!)

Then how earth revolves around the sun!

The an entire chapter on Sun! Starting with the tales about sun and moon of course!

He talks about the epic of Gilgamesh! And then how rainbows are formed the he describes what is light?

The spectrum of light the visible rays to the invisible rays!

The evening primrose flower apparently looks yellow to us with a pattern but with a photograph in ultraviolet light you can certainly see a starburst of stripes!

What is the surprising is that the light we see as the spectrum of rainbow between the slightly higher pitched violet in the slightly lower pitched red is a very tiny band in the middle of a huge spectrum ranging from gamma rays in a high-pitched end to radio waves at the low pitch and almost the whole of the spectrum is invisible to our eyes! We cannot see the ultraviolet and infrared though we do feel the Infared as heat!

He talks about how everything began with some myths from Africa, China and India (the Indian one is told so wrong that I can assume that the others are also told With the mind of an atheist!)

He then talks about spectroscopy and how each element has a bar code; this has been repeated in his other books and also bats and also rainbow and many things!

Too much over lap between this one and his previous book. Also in parallel I was listening to Carl Sagan’s books and the overlap increased! So much so that I had to stop listening to Carl to avoid getting confused!

Are we alone is an often Repeated topic in his books and in Carl’s. Dawkins describes how in California in March 1997 a religious cult called Heaven’s Gate came to a sudden end when all 39 of its members took poison that killed everyone because they believe that a UFO from outer space would take the soul to another world. Of course that bright Dot In The sky which they thought to be an UFO was a comet called the Hale Bopp!

He gives Information about sleep paralysis, false memories, suucubus or incubus!
Then there is a chapter on what we don’t know in science like whether there is a life out there in a Goldilocks planet!

Then a chapter on what is earthquake which reminded me of Bill Brysons book!

One section was my favourite since he was discussing Dhoni and cricket! And the law of averages and coin toss!
He tells about Pollyanna and Sod’s law and Murphy’s law and also pink panther! He tells you to watch the original! (Taking that cue I would tell you to read the original of this book that is Carl Sagan’s Cosmos!)

He talks about auto immunity, about allergy and about cancers! How miracles and coincidences can be explained very well though he had touched upon this point in his previous books as well!

Read it for completion though you will have déjà vu all around!

That’s the tragic reality!

Cosmos by Carl Sagan

Narrated by Le Var Burton, Seth Mc Farlane, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Ann Fruyan

Audio book

Rating 4.5/5

Running length 14 hours

Disclaimer- This review has been written by voice typing since it’s an audio book! So any errors which might have crept in is regretted!

Genre Non fiction

The book is based on the TV show Cosmos which was apparently produced by BBC
So there are so many similarities between the TV show and the book there are some things which are found in the book and there are some facts which are shown in the TV show

Basically this means that though the premise is the same; they are both are mutually exclusive.

After going through a horde of books by Richard Dawkins; Carl’s cosmos was a nice change in pace!

Though the narration and narrators change in many chapters it somehow feel that author is talking to you through them and the audiobook gives you feel of the innermost thoughts of the author.

Starting from the big bang the author explores the development the evolution the progress it has seen in science and civilisation and in our understanding of the universe.

The language is made simple so that even a layman can understand and there very few technical words used and if they are used they are explained very nicely by the author and his team

Since this is an audiobook and his latest there is also the forward by Neil Degrasse Tyson which was there in the later edition of the book.

Neil Degrasse Tyson is now was a familiar figure because of his association with the series called ‘the big bang theory’

Just like a voyage the novel also goes through different chapters (13 to be exact) and starting from the solar system it is like a spacecraft which goes away and away from the sun which travels crossing each and every planet going on to the empty vacuum of space and beyond!

An approximate time line is put during which a spacecraft would traverse each planet and things and structures the craft would experience including the gravitational force or pull and the asteroids and the rings or satellites and so on!

In between the author also talks about many scientists and inventors with a big chapter dedicated at first to Aristotle including others

He talks about Plato he talks about Pythagorean’s he talks about the Netherlands in the 17th century he talks about library of Alexandria and of Leonardo da Vinci!

He talks about the Tunguska effect and lunar impact and how!

Just like Richard he talks about the Heiki crab and Charles Darwin though he does not go to veneration level of Richard!

He talks about the changes that undergo in the constellation and universe over time

The Doppler effect and Einstein’s theory of relativity and its importance

Any talks about how the human brain is also like a history. How is the oldest part of the brain like the brainstem is inside while the newest the latest development like the cerebral cortex Are all outside just like a city in development!

He also gives an example how modern develop civilisation met a less developed civilisation and the result was most of the time catastrophic
In the same way he also opined how an advance civilisation if it comes in contact with human beings or earth may act in the same way though for them we are all the same!

He talks about how we have in nuclear weapons the power to destroy the earth in our hands and if we are not careful then there will be no earth to save! He says how the budget for development of weapons several billion dollars while the budget for disarmament of nuclear weapons is just a few thousand!

The book ends in a note for the future where we are just a small speck in the whole big universe and that there may not be in life in any other part of the universe and it is better to save the life what we already have!

This is an already very famous book and a very famous TV series so does not need my opinion but it does feel nice to give one anyway!

If you have not read it before grab those headphones and go! The narration is smooth and the diction is really good!

Enjoy the cosmic journey!

Ramayana The game of life
Book 6

Think Big to win by Shubha Vilas

Ebook by Kindle

Book Review

Genre Retelling of epic

Rating 3.5/5 (As compared to his books one to five!)

I have mentioned this many times but I am again repeating it for the sake of it! Very first rendition of Ramayana was which blew my mind was C Rajagopalachari’s Added by of course the Amar Chitra Katha Ramayana and Tulsidas Ramayana which was a pretty decent job especially the extended Ramayana addition with Had about 4 to 6 volumes and each and every episode was mentioned in detail.

Then I read Devdutt Pattanaik’s Sita and that was also a very detailed retelling of Ramayan specially from different sources and it was also very well researched book thOugh I don’t have much hope for the author especially after going through his toxic twitter profile (if it’s fake then I retract this!)

Of course that’s as you would have realised by now the book number six starts where the book number five ends! The search party has found Seetha and now they reach the end of the ocean and now they’re staring at the ocean to cross and reach Lanka.

Now most of his previous books stuck to the epic by Valmiki and deviated only a little to give some news stories and side stories on the origin of that particular character in the book. Though this book also received similar treatment somehow there is a lack of continuity which was not seen in any of us his other books.

Some stories are interesting and some side stories are also nice but somehow there is lack of flow. Also there are more elaborate stories in other sources.

This may be because the first two books in the series and also the previous book had very elaborate stories with lots of side notes and no loss of continuity.

I feel like the author was in a hurry to get this over

This maybe because I have read many other novels which have an update on these things and the stories are ones which we already know!

The best part of the novel is of course not the stories or the depiction of events but the morals and sayings of what we can learn from each and every episode!
These are given as subtexts in the end which are really nice And then I realise that the author is a TED speaker and he uses these stories and incidents to make his point across.
You can read the book just for the critical analysis and the final interpretation of a particular incident and what we can learn from them!

Of course if you read the first five novels in the series then there is no question about it that you read this for the closure! A much-needed closure!Though of course he does not mention the Uttarakhand which I am guessing may be another novel.

For now enjoy this series and try to incorporate the teachings in your life!

Jai Sri Ram!

The magicians of Mazda by Ashwin Sanghi

Book review

Ebook via kindle

Fictional thriller

Rating 4/5 (if I can give that to Dan Brown then Ashwin definitely deserves it with the amount of research and details thrown in!)

The book starts with a bang and ends with another one!

No spoilers here since Ashwin’s book unlike his private series; the thrill is in the side notes!

After expansion of most Bharat stories Ashwin now takes on the Parsis or Persian religion or Zoroastrian or Zorathustra and how!

Every page is either a thrill ride or a religious history lesson with trivia thrown around like chocolate chips on a cookie!

The thrill you get when you read a Dan Brown like Angels and Demons or The Da Vinci Code is not the story as such but the different interpretations and almost magical examination of trivia and scriptures!
The thrill of a new rediscovery or a new interpretation of what we already know or the relation between two aspects!
Also how a known story is extrapolated to include the modern times! He did it in his previous books and now Ashwin does it again and how!

The novel starts with introduction speech which is itself a bomb! and then races on to a brave robbery attempt then races on to a kidnapping then goes on to another kidnapping and that kidnapping goes wrong and goes on to something more!

Then of course there is a rescue and the rest of the novel goes back and forth with history and thrill!

This is the second novel in recent times there I am listing or reading about the tense relationship between America and China And how the intelligence agencies in these countries operate

The previous one was a novel by Ken Follet which also had similar points to say

The crux of the novelist of course the history of the Persians or the Parsis or zoratrians or zorathusthra. Add in more points about their prophet Ahura Mazda and Humza Dara (mild spoiler here if you are clever!)

Then like always there is a priceless artefact which everyone wants to get their hands on. Then you can add the classic cross and double cross and triple cross and so many crosses than you don’t know the way across! But it creates a cross action stimulus in your brain and you want more!

The torture technique and the narration of the genocides makes sure that the gore is maintained at a high level even as the bodies keep piling up!

The narration is fast paced interrupted by the retelling of the stories of Parsis; many we knew while many are new! Even the fact about vultures and diclofnac piqued my interest and is very true!

The book is a page turner and the added fact that I was in a new place without Internet really made me jump into it full on and I enjoyed the ride!

There are many narratives and conclusions and point of views which are sure to raise some eye brows and it’s best to read the book and decide on that!

For those who can digest only the Dan Brown version they can wait for his next novel but this is more researched and more closer to you if only you broaden your mind and leave your Indian Author prejudices behind!

To be fair though even I read Ashwin’s first novel ‘The Rozabel line’ only because he had changed his name in the novel to Shawn Haigins! Which was an anagram to his actual name! And I thought it was some non Indian author! My eyes are open now! How’s your vision!?

Enjoy the magic!

Unweaving the rainbow by Richard Dawkins and Lalla ward

Audiobook

Genre- Non Fiction

Rating- 4/5 for matter, 3/5 for never ending soap opera like feeling!

Talking about how the poet WB Keats told that newtons forever spoiled his poetry for him by getting the scientific fact of rainbows And how they are formed

Richard here tries to use that analogy and tries to make his point that even scientific points can make nice poems. So after trying out all the avenues of his theory of evolution he now takes on poets and the abstracts!

So an already drab book about evolution which usually is instilled with facts is now filled with quotes and quotations and poems recited in alternate by the husband and wife duo!

Unfortunately people to read poems and poetry are not the ones who would try to read these type of books.

Then again like I had predicted in the previous book the Blind watchmaker that there will be similar books of these kinds written by Richard and narrated by him and I have been proven right!

So the very thing which he wanted to oppose like the sermon like nature of the religious books has now become a sermon of evolution in each and every book coming from the Richard Hawkins factory!

Mind you this is not a bad attempt; it’s a very nice book and if it was your first book of Richard Dawkins it would have been an amazing read but since this is like the fifth sixth book in the series it has become repetitive and definitely boring!

After the third of fourth book like the Blind watchmaker or the selfish Gene or the greatest show on Earth the individuality of each and every book has been lost to me and I am sure to the reader and now I am sure even the author has lost the individuality! So you have repetitions like the bad and the most commonly repeated animal that is the behaviour the cuckoo. I have a big urge of telling that the author has become cuckoo but then that’s not scientific!

Just make several important and good points throughout the book though.
Like the power of the brain it’s not what the eyes see but what the brain processes! He compares the system to a computer saying that you cannot use it like a direct comparison. But using the example of hollow mask which the brain perceives as solid he says that whatever we see is actually the virtual imaging done or made by the brain. Which is why when we see things which are not there or things which look like other things these are just tricks of light added to the imaging capacity of the brain!

This can very well be an imaginary monster which is at the end of the alley or it can be a dieting which you see in the sky or on the walls!

He also makes a very good point about coincidences since life is all about coincidences waiting to happen. He speaks about a true incident happened to his wife about how she got a watch and that had the inscription which was similar to the inscription of her grandmother or mother! Although that seemed amazing at first he by ways of calculating and by approximating and by prediction made the whole amazing incident quite possible albeit still rare!

The reason why this review is so short and simple is that I have simply lost track of which particular fact I read in this novel or work or the one before but then you would not miss anything much because it is literally the same thing stalled over and over again with different examples thats all!

The only thing which I noticed as an Otolaryngologist is that the author has an extreme case of laryngitis! In fact I had wondered about this in the previous books since the author had to speak non-stop for 10 to 15 hours and finally in this book it shows! The author’s voice is hoarse and not very clear in parts and he actually tries to put too much strain in his voice and as a speech specialist that was difficult for me to listen! For once I was happy when Lala took over once in a while!

Of course is no easy task to write books and to read about them and then read the whole book for 10 to 15 hours but I guess his first 4-5 books have already done the job so let us leave it at that Richard!

Of course the book talks about technology about computers about evolution about scientific facts and everything else which makes Richard Dawkins books quite readable so that’s there!

Read it (or listen to!) completion and just hope that there are no similar books! Since you don’t have to write a test about which particular fact you read in a particular book you are in safe territory!

Have fun and unweaving the rainbow! And then have fun trying to unweave which information was told in which book!