Review: Sita's Sister

Sita's Sister by Kavita Kané
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am a fan of Indian mythology, and believe there are a lot of lessons to be learnt for life from mythology in general. Reading Joseph Campbell’s writings helped me get a more organized understanding of the role mythology plays in our lives – helping transcend the literal and leading us to the gates of the more profound truths.

I read Kavita Kane’s “Karna’s Wife” and really liked it for its imaginative storytelling using the larger framework of the Mahabharata, and a strong character in Uruvi. Similarly, “Sita’s Sister” develops the character of Urmila, Lakshman’s wife exceptionally well.

The story starts with a brief background of the four sisters – Sita, Urmila and their cousins Mandavi and Kriti. The story moves on to the Swayamvar for Sita which Ram wins; and the subsequent marriages of the four sisters to the four brothers. The story largely follows the mainline version for most of the book with Kaikeyi stepping in and seeking two boons from King Dasharatha - her son Bharat to be crowned the King, and Ram being banished to exile in the forests for 14 years. As Sita, and Lakshman decide to accompany Ram, Urmila’s life comes apart. She is in deep turmoil as Lakshman advises against her following him. Sita, while in exile, is still at peace with herself unlike the other sisters. With Bharat also deciding to rule from a distance on behalf of Ram, Mandavi feels frustrated as well.

Since the storytelling is from Urmila’s perspective, there is only scant coverage of Sita’s abduction and the war with Raavan. The most important aspects are weaved into the story though. The inner thinking & motivations of all the central characters are explored very well. There is a fairly big twist towards the end as compared to the mainline versions and it fits in well and naturally.

This is a very well written story from Urmila’s perspective and strongly recommended if Indian mythology interests you.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.


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Review: Sleep, Insomnia, Stress: What you don't know can hurt you

Sleep, Insomnia, Stress: What you don't know can hurt you by Patricia A. Farrell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sleep does not yet quite figure at the same level of lifestyle advice as exercise and diet, while it is as important, if not more. There is a growing interest in sleep in recent times, which hopefully will lead to more people prioritising sleep. This book does well to outline the role of sleep in our lives and reinforces the important of getting enough of it.

Sleep deprivation is increasingly being linked to very serious health conditions including diabetes, cancer, dementia and others. There is basic coverage of sleep science, which in a way is good for people who want to get directly to the lifestyle changes required. There is fairly detailed coverage with practical tips on monitoring your sleep and improving sleep quality.

My rating: 3.75 / 5.

I read the excellent book ‘Why We Sleep’ by Matthew Walker sometime back, and hence found much of the material to overlap. While both books are good, ‘Why We Sleep’ is more comprehensive in terms of the science coverage.


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Review: India Wins Freedom: The Complete Version

India Wins Freedom: The Complete Version by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I remember, many years back, when the complete version of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s book was released, it had aroused a lot of curiosity as there was new content which he had authorized for release only after 30 years. There is certainly material critical of other leaders (especially Sardar Patel towards the end of the book) though the treatment is fairly mature. The book is right on most aspects including the fact that partition was not progress towards peace. The main issue with the book though is that it has a “I know best” tone right through the entire book with blame laid on others –Patel, Jinnah, Nehru & Gandhiji.

The book covers the period in the late 1930s and 40s leading up to the freedom of India. Considerable part of the coverage is the period in the early 1940s when Maulana Azad was the President of the Indian National Congress. The second world war and whether Indians will participate is contentious, with most in the Congress wanting to tie to independence finds detailed discussion. The Quit India movement is launched in 1942. Maulana Azad holds that this was a mistake and all prominent Congress leaders ended up in jail, while the Muslim League grew during that time and built up a case for partition.

Maulana Azad makes the point that there was apprehension among the Muslims on their status if the leadership was largely Hindu. His reasoning here is spot on that rather than partition - constitutional safeguards, federal structure of states and strong leadership would have provided the safeguards and that is what he worked towards. He points to mistakes Nehru made on two occasion where he could not arrive at a power sharing in states (in 1937) with the Muslim league and later in 1946 mentioned in public that the cabinet plan will be improvised as needed. Mr Jinnah, already not too happy with the cabinet plan, promptly rejected the cabinet plan. The interim government was a turbulent affair with the Muslim League holding the Finance portfolio and entered into constant bickering and stonewalling proposals. This apparently led Patel and later Nehru to give on the possibility of working with the League. At the same time Lord Mountbatten became an advocate of partition as well. While he is very critical of Patel here, he also opines that maybe Lady Mountbatten had a role in convincing Nehru. Maulana Azad now looks towards Gandhiji, who does try his best in convincing Mr Jinnah but had to lose hope finally.

Partition arrives, and with it, large scale violence and dislocation of people. As Maulana Azad points out, with mixed populations in so many places, partition could never have been a good solution (events completely bear him out with minorities in Pakistan facing intimidation and their numbers declining steeply). However, it was a genie which could not be put back in the bottle after the League went full steam with it. Gandhiji’s fast in Delhi to bring the communal violence to an end makes for very moving reading. Already very frail, he does it with great risks to his health, hardly able to move after a few days. He breaks his fast by sipping juice from Maulana Azad’s hands finally as communities meet him and work to end the violence and acrimony. Very soon, further tragedy strikes with Gandhiji’s assassination, and here again Maulana Azad feels more caution could have been taken as there was a bomb attack shortly before.

At the end as Maulana Azad writes, all were losers with an unstable Pakistan struggling to establish a functional democracy and constant animosity between the nations. This is entirely correct – the problems between the two nations is far greater than within a multi-cultural India which now has a larger Muslim population than Pakistan, other than all major world religions.

The only mistake which Maulana Azad says he personally made was not seeking re-election in 1946 as Congress President, instead proposing Nehru’s name. It is always somebody else who is to blame for all problems, and this is the most irritating aspect of the book. This is an important book, and in hindsight Maulana Azad makes all the right points with remarkable foresight on what partition would mean.

After every account that I read of the Indian Independence movement, my respect for Mahatma Gandhi only goes up further. With his selflessness, love for all and absolute commitment to non-violence, he is the role model the world needs to follow.


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Review: The Order of Time

The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time has always been an enigma – with philosophers and even scientists calling it an illusion. And, Carlo Rovelli tells us that it is increasingly appearing to be so. A topic which without doubt captures your attention & is very intellectually stimulating. It would have been an exceptional book, but in parts struggles between being a book for everybody vs being a book of serious science. I have observed many science books do run into this issue – and it is quite obviously a difficult balance to achieve.

The start gets you immediately hooked with the description of how time moves slower at lower altitudes than higher altitudes. When you fall, you are actually tending to go towards the place where time moves slower. The advances in our understanding of time makes for very interesting reading with the big breakthrough coming with Einstein’s theory of relativity. Einstein’s concept of the spacetime fabric affected by mass as well as speed completely changed how time was viewed. This also brings into question what we really mean by present – which really holds only here and is highly localized. The present somewhere else – on a different planet for instance is known to us much later and may mean nothing.

It makes sense for the universe to be seen as a series of events, rather than as objects interacting with each other. Objects are a logical outcome of events and quite possibly so is time - a result of a change of entropy rather than something which passes by objects. There has been progress in creating theories & models of the universe without time. The Loop Quantum theory is discussed – which Carlo is personally involved with as well.

The later part of the book discusses the practical uses of time – emerging out of a universe which does not really need time to explain it.

This is a book which will kindle your curiosity to think and read more about time theories. There are vague & incomplete references to Vedanta & Lord Shiva from Hindu philosophy. Despite the inconsistent treatment – oscillating between simple language and more detail, this is a book to read, for the fascinating topic it explores.

It is not a big book and will not take you too much time to read. Oh well, it will not be that easy to banish time from my mind yet though 😊

My rating: 3.75 / 5.


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Review: The Erich Fromm Reader

The Erich Fromm Reader by Erich Fromm
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have read passages of Erich Fromm and have wanted to read his work since quite some time. I picked up this book as it seemed to offer a rounded summary of Erich Fromm’s writings. However, while it does cover many concepts Erich Fromm wrote about, I felt at the end of it that directly reading Erich Fromm’s writing would be far more satisfying.

The book is divided into several sections covering concepts Erich Fromm explored during his time. The concept of social unconscious is interesting and a logical extension & companion to Carl Jung’s collective unconscious. There are further sections on love, society, materialism, purpose, religion and others. The comparisons & contrast with Freud's writings is interesting.

While the book does a decent round-up of several important concepts – all of which are interesting even today, the treatment feels inadequate. I hopefully will read Erich Fromm’s books soon.


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