Thoughtful Reflections, Shared

Empire : How Britain Made the Modern World by Niall Ferguson

How did a cluster of rain-soaked islands on the western edge of Europe build the largest empire the world has ever known? That is the central question Niall Ferguson attempts to answer in Empire. As Indians, we are accustomed to studying the British…

Betrayed by Hope by Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal is a deceptively simple five-act play built around three primary characters: Michael Madhusudan Dutt, his childhood friend Gourdas Basak, and Rubina Rehman—the imagined Sutradhar, a PhD scholar fro…

Wings of Fire by A.P.J Abdul Kalam

Re-read this inspirational book after 14 years and found some fresh perspective to look at certain things again.
A simple upbringing in Rameswaram inculcated in him a deep love for humanity and the peaceful environs at home and on the island ingraine…

Daggers of Treason by Niraj Srivastava

I picked up this book while waiting at the railway station of my hometown. The good thing about the book is it's narrative style. The passion of the author in Mughal history is quite evident. The sincerity in presentation of the characters is co…

ছেলেবেলা | Chhelebela | My Boyhood Days by Rabindranath Tagore

In "My Boyhood Days" Tagore takes us back to a time and place that has passed by about 160 years ago. The 19th century Calcutta, the city of his childhood was a place with palanquins for mode of transportation and oil lamps for street ligh…

The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity by Amartya Sen

The first thing that strikes you after reading this book is that it is profoundly thought provoking. It also helps to understand why Dr. Sen is often regarded as"conscience keeper of Economics".His ability to seamlessly straddle fields suc…

If It’s Monday It Must Be Madurai: A Conducted Tour of India by Srinath Perur

In the process of trying my hand at travel blogging I have read substantial number of travel blogs and articles on the net but never a paperback travel book before Srinath Perur's debut work.
The most inherently beautiful quality about the book i…

All Roads Lead to Ganga by Ruskin Bond

All the books by Ruskin Bond I have read so far have been memoirs one way or the other and this book is no exception.
The deep reverence he holds for nature is reflected throughout his writing. Just like Jim Corbett before him, Bond narrates his emot…

S D Burman: The World of His Music by Khagesh Dev Burman

I never met my paternal grandfather. He passed away when I was barely one and a half years old. Growing up I always heard from elders in the family about the physical resemblance between my grandfather and a certain film music composer. That was my …

Scenes from a Writer's Life by Ruskin Bond

Ruskin Bond has lived a lonely and solitary life all his years except for those two years he spend with his dear daddy Aubrey Alexander Bond in the early part of 1940s in New Delhi. In spite of having lived among family and friends some of whom were…

My India by Jim Cotbett

Jim Corbett is known for his adventure filled books but I didn't want to read all that. I wanted to know about JC the man more than the hunter. That is precisely the reason why I picked up this book and how well it served that purpose.
My India d…