Sharath's book reviews

  Hindutva and Hind Swaraj: History’s Unforgotten Ideas by Makarand R Paranjape My rating: 2 of 5 stars Hindutva and Hind Swaraj by Majarand R Paranjape. The title looks enticing. Also at the front cover, there is a review by the late great Dr. S.L.Byrappa. Hard to resist the temptation to read this book. However I was severely disillusioned when I finished reading it. It turned out to be like a bag of Lays. Full of Gas, with very little edible food. And that edible food too cooked in Palm oil is Category A junk. Well if Lays were to introduce a new Moringa flovour, with the chips having a dressing of the superfood, perhaps this book can be equated to it. The book start off promising to be a impartial study of both Gandhi and Veer Savarkar and proposes that both are required for modern India. I can see why Savarkar is required, but the Gandhi bit is confusing. One is curious to know why Gandhi or his methods are required at all. While the book often quotes sublime lines of poe...

 A long time ago, thousands of years ago by many estimates, a dusky child was born in a prison. The night was at it's darkest and there were thunderstorms everywhere. The parents were amazed that the child did not utter a single cry, lest the guards bring his evil uncle who was bent on killing him. The guards of the palace, alert as ever, fell in a dreamless sleep as though drugged. Even as the parents watched, longingly at the child, to hold him in their hands, the chains that were preventing them from doing so, fell off miraculously! A few more events followed which proved beyond doubt that this was God himself who had come down to rid the earth of Evil. The same Lord who described the sublime philosophy of the Vedas and Upanishads in an eternal song to his devotee Arjuna. This was the Sage Narayana who had come unto earth as one of his most beautiful and endearing avatars, Lord Krishna. Later, people built a temple to honor the birthplace of Krishna in Mathura at the prison of K...

Invaders and Infidels (Book 1): From Sindh to Delhi: The 500-Year Journey of Islamic Invasions by Sandeep Balakrishna My rating: 5 of 5 stars Around 6th century AD, after the advent of Islam, there were tectonic shifts in the geopolitical landscape of the world. Within a 100 years, invading Arab armies had marched all the way to North Africa, conquering most of Iran,Iraq,Syria,Damascus,Yamen. They were staring hungrily at Bharatavarsha. For one, they had heard of the immense riches of India. And secondly, it was the "den of infidelity and idolators". The two factors equally spurred the ambition of the blood thirsty Arab invaders. Multiple attempts at trying to make inroads into India was met with stiff resistance and the Arabs realized they were no match for the fabled warriors of Bharatavarsha. However around 7th century AD, a man who was blessed with an equal measure of cruelty and determination by the name of Hajjaj, rose to the position of the Governor of Iraq under th...

 26th January 2021. Like so many proud Indians, I woke up excited. I wanted to watch the Republic Day parade! The cream of the Indian army would march with clockwork precision. The tanks. The BSF Camel division, where beautifully decked camels would march in unison. The wonderful tableaus! After breakfast I wanted to rest for a while. Therefore I took a small nap. I then walked into the hall, had one look at the television and was shell shocked! Hordes of "Farmers" were invading the Red Fort. Many of them appeared to belong to the Sikh community. Many of the "protesters" were displaying wired flags, flags I had not seen before. Yellow flags. Green Flags. Many appeared to be orthodox Sikhs. A couple of rogues eventually removed the "Tiranga", the Indian flag and raised another flag in it's place. This was one of the most shameful incidents I had witnessed. I was enraged! The Delhi police seemed to be grappling with the situation in the best way possible...

There are a lot of books that are enriching and teach life lessons. This may not be one of them! But if you are open to it, you can learn from anything life throws at you! Even a horror story! 'It' is a "King" size novel that I am talking about! Sometimes it bores you to death by talking about death! "It" is a book by Stephen King. It was made into 2 movies which were released by Warner Brothers quite recently. It garnered quite a bit of praise and attention. As one of those bibliophiles who want to read "It" before watching "It" on the big screen, I did not watch the movies. Now finally I can watch them, but after reading the book, I am not really inclined  to do so!  Here's why! Stephen King is a very popular author. He is the "King" of horror genre. I read a couple of his books hearing people praising him  to no end! The most recent book I read was "It".  Stephen King is from Maine! And the book is all about a s...

 I finally did it! I have no guilt admitting it! I had avoided it all my life, knowing it would be evil to do it! I  feared the consequences! What about the health hazards? What if I end up experiencing a mutation from Homo sapiens into Homo Neanderthal??? What if my brain stopped working? What if my friends and family stopped speaking to me! And yet, I did the unthinkable! I read a Chetan Bhagat book!  Before you judge me (You will judge me anyway), let me explain why! I have always had a weakness for whodunnit stories, no matter who writes them! I started reading books when I was in 9th grade. A good friend introduced me to the world of books and there was no looking back. In fact, I started reading with an Illustrated Children's adaptation of the book "The hound of the Baskerville's". And as they say, rest is history! I consumed copious amounts of Hardy Boys (Not the wrestlers!) and Nancy Drew. Then I read Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (All 56 short stor...