BOOK OF THE DAY

"If you are not already a Steven Pinker addict, this book will make you one." -- Jared Diamond

In Words and Rules, Steven Pinker explores profound mysteries of language by picking a deceptively simple phenomenon -- regular and irregular verbs -- and examining it from every angle. With humor and verve, he covers an astonishing array of topics in the sciences and humanities, from the history of languages to how to simulate languages on computers to major ideas in the history of Western philosophy.

Through it all, Pinker presents a single, powerful idea: that language comprises a mental dictionary of memorized words and a mental grammar of creative rules. The idea extends beyond language and offers insight into the very nature of the human mind.

This is a sparkling, eye-opening, and utterly original book by one of the world's leading cognitive scientists.

ASHES OF KNOWLEDGE: BOOK BURNING BY PHILISTINES AND BARBARIANS

ASHES OF KNOWLEDGE:  BOOK BURNING BY PHILISTINES AND BARBARIANS

The Ashes of Knowledge: Book Burning by Philistines and Barbarians

While the Library of Alexandria is the most famous example in the West, the burning of Nalanda in India was a tragedy of even greater proportions for Eastern philosophy, science, and spirituality.

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​The Ashes of Knowledge: Book Burning by Philistines and Barbarians

​Welcome back to BOOKS, BOOKS AND BOOKS. Today, we are stepping away from our cozy reading corners to look at a darker side of literary history: the moments when the world went quiet because the pages were set aflame.

​From the ancient sands of Egypt to the monastic heights of India, the act of burning books has always been the first tool of those who fear the power of a free mind.

​The Great Tragedy: The Library of Alexandria

​As we recently explored through the Lost Knowledge Archive, the loss of this institution was a catastrophic blow to humanity.

​What was lost: 

The library held approximately half a million scrolls—the "entire knowledge of the ancient world".

​The Scope: 

It is estimated that 99% of ancient literature disappeared in those fires. We lost centuries of progress in brain surgery, mathematics, and even mechanical computing.

​The Culprits: 

Whether it was Julius Caesar’s accidental fire in 48 BC or later religious purges, the result was the same: a "millennium" of human progress potentially lost to smoke.

​The Infinite Fire: The Nalanda University Library

​If Alexandria was a tragedy, the destruction of Nalanda University in 1193 AD was an apocalypse of ink. Located in modern-day Bihar, India, Nalanda was the world’s first great residential university, housing 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers from across the globe.

​The "Dharmaganja" (Treasury of Dharma): 

The library was so vast it consisted of three massive multi-story buildings: Ratnasagara (Ocean of Jewels), Ratnodadhi (Sea of Jewels), and Ratnaranjaka (Jewel-Adorned).

​The Burning for Six Months:

 It is a haunting historical fact that when the invader Bakhtiyar Khilji set the library on fire, the collection—comprising an estimated 9 million manuscripts—was so immense that it burned for three to six months continuously.

​What Vanished: Centuries of Vedic texts, Buddhist philosophy, logic, grammar, and groundbreaking Indian medical treatises on Ayurveda were reduced to ash. Legend says the smoke from the burning manuscripts hung like a dark shroud over the hills for weeks.

​Historical "Philistinism" and the Fire

​In a historical sense, a "Philistine" is someone indifferent or hostile to culture. History is riddled with examples where "barbarian" forces—seeking to erase a culture to install their own—used fire as a weapon:

​The Burning of Books and Burying of Scholars (China, 213 BC): 

Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered the burning of philosophical texts to ensure only his ideology survived.

​The Maya Codices (1562):

 Bishop Diego de Landa burned countless Maya manuscripts, claiming they were "lies of the devil," effectively erasing the written history of an entire civilization.

​Modern Dark Chapters: 

The Nazi book burnings in 1930s Germany remain a chilling reminder that even "modern" societies can succumb to barbarian impulses.

​Book Burning in Literature: The Warning

​Authors have long used the image of the burning book to warn us about the fragility of our civilization:

​Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451:

 In this world, "firemen" start fires rather than putting them out. The "barbarians" here are the citizens themselves, who chose mindless entertainment over "troublesome" thoughts.

​George Orwell’s 1984: 

The "memory hole" incinerates documents to ensure that "he who controls the past controls the future."

​The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: 

It highlights the act of saving a single book from a Nazi bonfire, showing that even in the face of philistinism, a single spark of literacy can survive.

​Final Thoughts for the Nook

​Every time we crack open a spine, we are performing an act of resistance. The ghosts of Alexandria and Nalanda remind us that knowledge is not guaranteed; it is a treasure that must be guarded.

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 Let’s make sure we keep reading, keep sharing, and keep our nooks filled with the voices that others tried to silence.

​What do you think? Which historical loss do you find more heartbreaking—the scrolls of Alexandria or the millions of manuscripts at Nalanda? Let's discuss in the comments!

Grateful thanks to Google Gemini for its great help and support in creating this blogpost!🙏🙏🙏

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BOOK OF THE DAY

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From Elizabeth II to future King William, The Windsor Legacy offers a riveting exploration of the British monarchy's resilience and influence over the past century, looking at its key players and conflicts, with a forward-looking examination of its future.

In an age where resilience is essential, The Windsor Legacy delivers an enthralling narrative of inspiration and royal intrigue. Penned by Robert Jobson, a Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author and a front-line royal correspondent for over three decades, this extraordinary work will take readers deep into the heart of royal history as well as through the secrets that plague it to this day.

From the abdication crisis, royal family entanglements, Cold War espionage, betrayal, and scandalous love affairs to more recent constitutional crises and the monarchy's most closely guarded secrets and feuds. This riveting and stylish narrative, told through the key characters and clashes at the heart of the family, will be packed with exclusive revelations with a story as comprehensive as it is captivating.

BOOK OF THE DAY

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER •  A must-read owner’s manual for every body. Take a head-to-toe tour of the marvel that is the human body in this “delightful, anecdote-propelled read” (The Boston Globe) from the author of A Short History of Nearly Everything. With a new Afterword.

“You will marvel at the brilliance and vast weirdness of your design." —The Washington Post
 
Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body—how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Brysonesque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular.

As Bill Bryson writes, “We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted.” The Body will cure that indifference with generous doses of wondrous, compulsively readable facts and information. As addictive as it is comprehensive, this is Bryson at his very best.

BOOK OF THE DAY

Understand Exactly What Holds You Back—and Learn How to Break Free

Fear is the invisible enemy that robs people of their dreams, decisions, and destiny. In How to Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear, legendary success thinker Napoleon Hill reveals the six universal fears that haunt our lives—fear of poverty, criticism, ill health, loss of love, old age, and death—and shows you how to defeat them once and for all.

Drawn from Hill’s groundbreaking work Think and Grow Rich, this standalone guide offers timeless wisdom, practical steps, and deep psychological insight into the fear-driven thoughts and habits that sabotage success.

Inside, you'll discover:

• How indecision and doubt lead to fear—and how to interrupt the cycle
• A detailed analysis of the six most common fears and how they control your actions
• Powerful self-analysis questions to uncover and confront your own limiting beliefs
• How to build immunity to negative influences and reclaim control of your thoughts
• The one thing you do control—your mind—and how it determines your destiny

“The only thing you can control is your mind.” —Napoleon Hill

If you’re ready to conquer fear and unlock the power of your mind, How to Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear is your ultimate guide to personal power, resilience, and success.

BOOK OF THE DAY

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“A wake-up call for the entire planet . . . [A New Earth] helps us to stop creating our own suffering and obsessing over the past and what the future might be, and to put ourselves in the now.” —Oprah Winfrey With his bestselling spiritual guide The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle inspired millions of readers to discover the freedom and joy of a life lived “in the now.” In A New Earth, Tolle expands on these powerful ideas to show how transcending our ego-based state of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world. Tolle describes how our attachment to the ego creates the dysfunction that leads to anger, jealousy, and unhappiness, and shows readers how to awaken to a new state of consciousness and follow the path to a truly fulfilling existence. Illuminating, enlightening, and uplifting, A New Earth is a profoundly spiritual manifesto for a better way of life—and for building a better world.                 

THE HINDU LIT FOR LIFE 2026

NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY OF INDIA: A TREASURE HOUSE FOR BOOK LOVERS

NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY OF INDIA: A TREASURE HOUSE FOR BOOK LOVERS

In an age where knowledge is just a click away, India has taken a giant step forward by creating a digital gateway to learning for all. The National Digital Library of India (NDLI) stands today as one of the country’s most ambitious and inspiring educational initiatives — a virtual ocean of books, journals, manuscripts, and learning resources, freely accessible to every curious mind.

What is the National Digital Library of India?

The National Digital Library of India (NDLI) is a nationwide digital repository of knowledge resources, developed and maintained by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, under the Ministry of Education, Government of India.

Its core mission is simple yet profound:

👉 To make quality educational content available to anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Whether you are a school student, college learner, researcher, teacher, competitive exam aspirant, or a lifelong reader, NDLI has something valuable to offer.

A Library Without Walls

Unlike traditional libraries bound by space and time, NDLI breaks all barriers:

📚 Millions of digital items in one platform

🌍 Accessible across India and beyond

🕒 Available 24×7, free of cost

📱 Works on computers, tablets, and smartphones

It is truly a library without walls — and without entry restrictions.

What Can You Find in NDLI?

NDLI is not just about textbooks. Its richness lies in its diversity:

Books and textbooks (school to postgraduate level)

Research papers and academic journals

Theses and dissertations

Rare manuscripts and archival materials

Audio lectures and video courses

Competitive exam preparation materials

Content in multiple Indian and foreign languages

From ancient wisdom to cutting-edge science, NDLI connects the past, present, and future of learning.

Designed for Every Learner

One of NDLI’s greatest strengths is its user-centric design. The platform allows users to:

Search by subject, author, language, level, or format

Create personalized reading lists

Receive recommendations based on interests

Access content suitable for school children, higher education, and researchers

In essence, NDLI understands that learning is not one-size-fits-all.

Why NDLI Matters Today

In a time when:

Books are expensive,

Physical libraries are shrinking,

Reliable information is often buried under digital noise,

NDLI emerges as a democratic knowledge platform, ensuring that education is not a privilege, but a right.

For students in remote areas, economically challenged learners, and first-generation readers, NDLI can be life-changing.

A Boon for Book Lovers and Researchers

For bibliophiles like us, NDLI is sheer delight. It allows readers to:

Discover forgotten classics,

Access scholarly works otherwise locked behind paywalls,

Explore interdisciplinary knowledge effortlessly.

For researchers, it saves time, money, and effort — bringing global academic resources to one’s fingertips.

Towards a Knowledge-Driven India

The National Digital Library of India is more than a website or an app.

It is a vision — a vision of a knowledge-empowered India, where learning flows freely and curiosity is nurtured without constraints.

As lovers of books and learning, we can only celebrate and support such an initiative that honors the timeless Indian belief:

“Knowledge shared is knowledge multiplied.”

Closing Thought

For readers, students, teachers, and thinkers, the National Digital Library of India is not just a digital platform —

it is a modern Saraswathi Bhandaram, open to all who seek wisdom.

Grateful thanks to ChatGPT for its great help and support in creating this blogpost!🙏🙏🙏

BOOK OF THE DAY

Evoking the tumultuous history of the relationship between Britain and Ireland, These Divided Isles investigates the complexities of culture and colonization to ask what the future holds for both countries.

Ireland is Britain's closest neighbor—the sea crossing from Scotland measures only twelve miles. Ireland was also its first conquered territory in what became Britain's empire. The two nation's stories have been intertwined since Anglo-Norman invaders crossed the Irish Sea during the twelfth century.

These Divided Isles tells the extraordinary history of the past century in this tumultuous relationship, from the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1922 to the present day. This is a tale of deep division between Catholic nationalism and Protestant unionism, of wars and terrorist violence, and of occasional moments of great courage on the part of British and Irish leaders.

Today, the post-Brexit weakening of the UK's constitutional ties has coincided with the march of demography in Northern Ireland as the Protestant unionist majority continues to shrink. Sinn Féin's historic string of electoral victories in Northern Ireland since 2022 has once more resurfaced the unfinished business of partition. Here, Philip Stephens explores how Ireland might escape its troubled past by deploying history to inform the future rather than hold it in place.