Reading more like a hyper extension of Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” than an introduction to an explosion of technology, James Barrat’s “Our Final Invention”, brings us face to face with the alarmingly potential consequences of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) gone uncontrolled. Banking on materials collected from interviews with scientists, pioneers in robotics, chief technology officers … Continue reading Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era by James Barrat
BlogchatterA2Z 2019
A conscious attempt at enhancing, embellishing and edifying the habit of blogging by inculcating a habit which, hopefully, would turn out to be indelible.
NO SPIN – SHANE WARNE (WITH MARK NICHOLAS)
Shane Keith Warne’s only approach towards the game of cricket was one rooted in intensity. An approach that never took any prisoners and brooked no opposition. An aggressive in-your-face, no holds barred attitude, which more likely than not, won a multitude of games for Australia, some of which literally involved wresting victory from the gaping … Continue reading NO SPIN – SHANE WARNE (WITH MARK NICHOLAS)
Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami
Reading Haruki Murakami is like sampling the Durian. For the uninitiated, the Durian is an obnoxious smelling, even more obnoxious tasting, ravaged and ugly textured fruit which is glorified as the “King of Fruits” in South East Asia. There are only two categories of homo sapiens when it comes to the Durian. Those who are … Continue reading Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami
Lost Connections: Why You’re Depressed and How To Find Hope – Johann Hari
Finding a typically ingenious yet deep way to describe her harrowing experience with bouts of manic depression, the indomitable late Carrie Fisher once said, “One is Roy, rollicking Roy, the wild ride of a mood. And Pam, sediment Pam, who stands on the shore and sobs … Sometimes the tide is in, sometimes it’s out.” According to the World Health … Continue reading Lost Connections: Why You’re Depressed and How To Find Hope – Johann Hari
Kaleidoscope City: A Year in Varanasi by Piers Moore Ede
A poignant and mesmerising work that captures the myriad patois of a city considered by many Indians to be the holiest of places on Earth. Benaras, Varanasi or Kashi is home to the imperial sweep and magnificent scope of the Ganges. Benaras is also home to a whole spectrum of vertiginous culture that both scars … Continue reading Kaleidoscope City: A Year in Varanasi by Piers Moore Ede
Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do by Michael J. Sandel
You know (or at least you strongly suspect), that your sibling is a notorious murderer on the run, and consequently the focus of a massive man hunt by the cops. You also happen to know the whereabouts of the elusive fugitive and you harbor this eerie suspicion that his victim count has definitely not ended. … Continue reading Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do by Michael J. Sandel
I Can’t Breathe: A Killing on Bay Street by Matt Taibbi
Matt Taibbi has penned an essential, excoriating and evocative work that can be considered to be a pioneering effort in the realm of Social Sciences. On the 17th of July 2014, forty four year old Eric Garner was put in a choke-hold (a maneuver deemed to be illegal by the Police Department decades ago), by … Continue reading I Can’t Breathe: A Killing on Bay Street by Matt Taibbi
How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World’s Most Dynamic Region by Joe Studwell
“How Asia Works…” (“The book”) comes highly recommended, garnering rave reviews from the likes of Bill Gates etc. The book more than merely lives up to the hype generated. Joe Studwell is more of a surgeon than an economist/journalist as he diagnoses the stumbling blocks, flexes out stimulants and prescribes suggestions that constitute the preserve … Continue reading How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World’s Most Dynamic Region by Joe Studwell
GURKHA: Better to Die than Live a Coward: My Life in the Gurkhas – Kailash Limbu, Alexander Norman
"If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or is a Gurkha" - Sam Manekshaw The feeling that stems from a reading of Colour Sergeant Kailash Limbu can at best be described as ambivalent. If you are looking for an extended and elaborate history of the stellar origins … Continue reading GURKHA: Better to Die than Live a Coward: My Life in the Gurkhas – Kailash Limbu, Alexander Norman
Fully Connected – Julia Hobsbawm
A finalist for the 2018 Business Book Awards, “Fully Connected” (“the book”) by the Honorary Visiting Professor at Cass Business School and at the University of Suffolk, Ms. Julia Hobsbawm, “Fully Connected” lends a desperately needed perspective to a world immersed, enmeshed and entangled in a plethora of networks. As Ms. Hobsbawm painstakingly, albeit eruditely … Continue reading Fully Connected – Julia Hobsbawm