My Books-1: "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga

After my retirement, I slowly started weeding out my books. This is as a result of the realization that some of the books were simply dying out, becoming a prey to silverfish and other tiny insects. Further, I realized that I may never open some of these books and so thought either they had to be weeded out or the ones in good condition to be gifted to friends and relatives, who would love receiving them.

Even after all these, I still have about 3000 books. I find it difficult to part with most of them.

Then I thought at least I should write about them in my blog - at random. Where to begin or with what to begin, was a difficult decision. So finally I have decided to select the books at random.

The first book that has come into my hands on random selection is 'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga. I bought this book during one of my visits to Chennai at Moore Market and have completed reading it on March 22, 2009. (I have this habit of signing on the last page with date when I finish a book). Sometimes I record the date and place where I bought a book with its price. In this book there is no such entry. I must have forgotten to record them.

The White Tiger is a debut novel of Aravind Adiga and it won him the Man Booker Prize in 2008. It is a tale of Balram Halwai, the son of a rickshaw-puller from a remote village and his life's journey upward. The disturbing element in the story is Halwai gets away with a murder and goes scot free. "Truth alone triumphs or falsehood and evil always lose; however clever may be the perpetrator of evil gets caught and punished at the end". This is what I have been taught and novels highlight this truth. Nowadays books like The White Tiger, probably reflecting the times, end with the evil-doer or wrong-doer going scot free. All these things happen in 'Kali Yug'. The other book that follows this type of thinking I have read is Paulo Coelho's 'The Winner Stands Alone'. For old fashioned people like me this trend is extremely disturbing.

Otherwise, the narration flows freely and holds one attention. It has been reviewed and discussed widely and has won name and fame for author. As such my writing anything further would only be superfluous.

For an article on The White Tiger from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Tiger

Grateful thanks to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

New Books-20: "The Charm of Mayavati Ashrama"

"Shades of Green", excerpt from the book 'Whole Earth Discipline" by courtesy of Conservation Magazine

To read an excerpt from the book, 'Whole Earth Discipline' by Stewart Brand, by courtesy of Conservation Magazine, click the URL underlined below:

Introduction to the excerpt from Conservation Magazine:

An icon of the environmental and counterculture movements of the 1960s, Stewart Brand created and edited The Whole Earth Catalog (1968–1985). Since then, he has cofounded the Global Business Network, The Long Now Foundation, and the All Species Foundation. Here, we offer you a small taste of his latest book, Whole Earth Discipline - (reproduced from Conservation Magazine).

Conservation Magazine » Blog Archive » Shades of Green

Posted using ShareThis

Grateful thanks to Stewart Brand, Conservation Magazine and ShareThis.

Book Reviews by Judy Wexler from Conservation Magazine » Blog Archive » Book Reviews, Fall 2009

Book Reviews by Judy Wexler from Conservation Magazine.

Books Reviewed:

1. Elephants on the Edge
What Animals Teach Us about Humanity
By G.A. Bradshaw
Yale University Press, 2009

2. Hope for Animals and Their World
How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink
By Jane Goodall with Thane Maynard and Gail Hudson Grand Central Publishing, 2009

3. No Impact Man
The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process
By Colin Beavan
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009

4. The Jaguar’s Shadow
Searching for a Mythic Cat
By Richard Mahler
Yale University Press, September 2009

5. Climate Change:
Picturing the Science
By Gavin Schmidt and Joshua Wolfe
W.W. Norton, 2009

6. Nature’s Ghosts
Confronting Extinction from the Age of Jefferson to the Age of Ecology
By Mark V. Barrow, Jr.
University of Chicago Press, 2009

7. Extinction in our Times
Global Amphibian Decline
By James P Collins and Martha L.Crump
Oxford University Press, 2009

For reading reviews of all the abov ebooks just click below:

Conservation Magazine » Blog Archive » Book Reviews, Fall 2009

Posted using ShareThis

Grateful thanks to Judy Wexler, Conservation Magazine and ShareThis.

Daily Reads-2: November 19, 2009

Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda - Volume VII

Though this book is in my Daily Reads collection, I find I am not actually read it daily - so many distractions, disturbances and demands on my time. What to do! However, today I could read it. I generally read only a page or two and savour what I have read.

From today's reading, the following passage impressed me most and hence I am excerpting it here.

"The greatest sin is to think yourself weak. No one is greater: realise you are Brahman. ... Stand up and say, I am the master, the master of all. We forge the chain, and we alone can break it."

Daily Reads-1: October 24, 2009

1. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by Mahendranath Gupta -
(A beautiful translation from Bengali by Swami Nikhilananda - Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai)

My Bible. Though read several times, reading again daily at the rate of one or two pages a day. Hence it occupies a special place on my table. It is a present from my dear friend, Dr.R.Janakiraman. He has very kindly inscribed the book for me. It reads: "To Suri, with Love, Signed R.Janakiraman, 07.07.1990.

Nearly for seven or eight years, it was just gathering dust in my bookshelf. A time came when I was going through a very miserable period in my life, somehow I sought out the book and started reading. It acted like a balm and changed the course of my life completely.

Read today pages 325-326. They contain some useful guidance for householders from Sri Guru Maharaj himself:

"Master: It is extremely difficult to practise spiritual discipline and at the same time lead a householder's life. There are many handicaps: disease, grief, poverty, misunderstanding with one's wife, and disobedient, stupid, and stubborn children. I don't have to give you a list of them.

But still there is a way out. One should pray to God, going now and then into solitude, and make efforts to realize Him."

Neighbour: "Must one leave home then?"

Master: "No, not altogether. Whenever you have leisure, go into solitude for a day or two. At that time don't have any relations with the outside world and don't hold any conversation with worldly people on worldly affairs. You must live either in solitude or in the company of holy men."

Probably based on the views of the Master only, nowadays 'Andar Yogam' programs are conducted in the various branches of the Math. I did attend 'Andar Yogam' consecutively for three years at the Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Tirupparaithurai, Trichy District, Tamil Nadu. These 3-day Andar Yogams were conducted just after Sri Ramakrishna Jayanthi. They were unforgettable experiences and will remain ever green in my memory. They made my journey on the spiritual path a little easier.

Actually 'Andar Yogams' are conducted on a regular basis at Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Tirupparaithurai. In case you are interested, you can write to them or get a copy of 'Dharma Chakram', the Tamil monthly, published by them.

Diwali Greetings!

HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL OF YOU!

With Love

Suri

"Books I have Loved" by OSHO

OSHO: "To me a book is not just a book, it is a love affair... I have loved reading from my very childhood. My own personal library consisted of one hundred fifty thousand rare books of all the religions..."

Grateful thanks to OSHO International and YouTube.

Book of the day-12: 'Life after Death' by Deepak Chopra

  Grateful thanks to Dr Deepak Chopra and YouTube.

Book of the day-11: Jesus: Story of Enlightenment by Dr Deepak Chopra

'New Realities' with Alan Steinfeld interviews Deepak Chopra about his most recent book - JESUS: A Story of Enlightenment.  Dr Deepak Chopra never ceases to amaze me by his breadth of vision, depth of knowledge , benevolent heart and universal thinking. This video interview reinforces my belief that he is one of the greatest thinkers, writers and speakers of the present-day. In this interview, he tells he is planning to write more books in this 'Story of Enlightenment' series, which is a joyous news.  Grateful thanks to Dr Deepak Chopra, Alan Steinfeld, 'New Realities' and YouTube.