Book Opinionist

 He was a man who had a great vision for India; A man who asked 128 Crore Indians to dream; When I was a kid, people always told me to read books of Kalam sir. Partly because I used to say my ambition was to become a space scientist back then! And APJ was the most popular scientist in Indian. He was well respected among the common folk. Even all the politicians, irrespective of their differences in political opinions respected Dr. Kalam. And I was always looking forward to reading his books. I wanted to buy the his autobiography "Wings of Fire" initially but it was a large book for me. So I chose "Ignited minds" instead. This happened when I was only 12 or 13. I was only getting started into the world of books. So obviously this small book with lot of big words (mostly technical terms) did baffle me and I was demotivated to read further. It didn't matter to me how many rockets he launch or missions he take on, because it looked all the same to me. All his urges...

 A brief History of time by Stephen Hawking is a unique attempt by a legendary theoretical physicist to explain complicated scientific theories to us ignorant fools :) Cosmic Science has been, for centuries, something that "common folks" couldn't fathom with ease. Instead it has always made them perplexed, more than enlightened. It is very curious indeed, when one sees that, the same science the farmers, smiths and tradesmen use so jovially, while solving one's day to day problems, becomes a cause of large aversion and boredom for them when it reaches the cosmic level. I am not trying to simplify things here by generalizing some trades and professions, but still "not to know more than a certain point" is something that is built into the humans.  Then there are the people who very much thrive by exploring such ideas and concepts. For them discussing these things means life and every second they may spend without exploring the secrets of the universe is consi...

 "A philosophical debate which is also a psychological crime thriller" is what Dr. Jordan Peterson said (not his exact words, but the gist ) pitching 'Crime and punishment' to his audience during a lecture. This is exactly what I felt while I was reading the novel.  Crime and Punishment is set in the 19th century St Petersburg, where the poor lives like vermin, rich live like kings and those in the middle barely gets by. I read this book expecting a story with good philosophical insights and discussions and I was not disappointed at all. It's a gripping tale of cold blooded murder, where the intentions of the murderer is very different from what we have usually seen from fiction so far. It is also a summary of almost all the philosophical and cultural discussions of that period.  For me the main purpose of reading a book, when I was younger than I am now, has always been the eagerness to listen to heartwarming or intriguing stories, filled with characters who I c...