A Thrilling Dive into a Gathering of Tanka Verses
Passey.info | The Real Fiction
by Arvind Passey
1y ago
Words love other words and have that strange magical power to turn each of their get-togethers into duels, sermons, inquisitions, insights, decisions, barbs, directions or whatever else they are asked to do. Sometimes we just let them clump into complex shapes that defy any description and allow them to go on with their search. It is this alchemy of words that has come together in ‘The forest I know’ by Kala Ramesh and it is this slim volume that introduced me to the ethereal beauty of tanka, tanka sutra, tanka prose, tanka threads, the experimental tanka doha, and a few permutations of these ..read more
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The curse of Kuldhara – book review
Passey.info | The Real Fiction
by Arvind Passey
1y ago
There are suspense and thriller tales that hardly ever let the adrenalin rush subside, those where calculated risks abound and then yet others where the power of the narrative scores. ‘The curse of Kuldhara’ by Richa S Mukherjee has all of these in scattered evenly and, in addition, is also like a delectable mix of dal baati, churma, gatte and guar ki sabzi, imarti, gulgule and laddoos, if I may be allowed to pick a few culinary nuances from the book without putting them in quotes, and I say this because of the Kanpuriya factor that has been driven hundreds of miles to the cursed village of Ku ..read more
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Happiness according to Naval Ravikant
Passey.info | The Real Fiction
by Arvind Passey
1y ago
Why do I wish to talk about happiness and not wealth or building judgement, or rational Buddhism, meaning of life, and any other aspect of values that are so vital for us? All these are painstakingly explained in ‘The Almanack of Naval Ravikant’ written by Eric Jorgenson, a book published by Harper Business. This is because only if we are enabled to understand and experience happiness will we know the importance of acceptance. In fact, my suggestion to all those who decide to read this book, is to begin with this chapter as only then will the other aspects rise out of the universe of words and ..read more
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It is impossible not to fall in love with Poonachi
Passey.info | The Real Fiction
by Arvind Passey
1y ago
Unless you have read Poonachi, you will never know how even a goat can make you shut your eyes and sigh. Poonachi, or the story of a black goat is written by Perumal Murugan and even though it is a fable, it leads you right into the heart of nearly every kind of experience that exists today. Book review – Poonachi – Perumal Murugan This short book has goats with names of their own and has heroes, villains, mothers, sisters, brothers, friends, strangers, and lovers with humans ably performing their supporting roles. Thus, we meet not just Poonachi but also Semmi, Kalli, Kaduvayan, Peethan, Poru ..read more
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Battleworthy thoughts on National security
Passey.info | The Real Fiction
by Arvind Passey
1y ago
National security situations that have impacted Indian political thinking on war – both limited and otherwise – and even other security-related challenges need not just an unbiased retelling of what happened but must also be insightful and courageous enough to express reflections that are not obfuscated by mere political alliances. The book that I have just read through is ample proof that Manish Tewari in his ’10 Flashpoints 20 Years’ has turned every observation not just readable but his thoughts are battleworthy and not just notional. Book review – 10 flashpoints 20 years – Manish Tewari ..read more
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A psychiatrist inside the mind
Passey.info | The Real Fiction
by Arvind Passey
1y ago
Book reading habits have changed. We have come a long way from being asked to read only textbooks and those that supposedly improved our general awareness. Well, writers of fiction are having a field day, you might be tempted to say. But no, we still have a far mightier market for titles that teach one thing or the other and so everything from financial wizardry to overcoming anxiety struts around boldly. We are fascinated with books that claim to help us manage everything from our vocabulary to inter-personal skills and this disease is so widespread that we want to read about how the Mahabhar ..read more
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Those who think clearly, listen
Passey.info | The Real Fiction
by Arvind Passey
1y ago
The art of thinking clearly needs above average listening skills. One way to develop this skill is to listen to books being read out to you… particularly by people who know how to read well. By the way, even when we read books, our mind pauses other activities and listens carefully… and we call this being attentive. The easiest way to learning how to listen is to follow the newest technology in audio devices. Only the very weak refuse to be influenced by advances in technology. This is probably one reason why some of us take more time in accepting new realities and one among these is the rise ..read more
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One mind prodding another
Passey.info | The Real Fiction
by Arvind Passey
1y ago
Search for books on pandemic and Amazon has page after page listed. There are those that talk about the history of pandemics to those that list out lessons for a post-pandemic world, others go on and on about practical ways to get a healthy lifestyle during a pandemic and then those that have articles from different people on their perspective of the virus that spread to all corners. Neo-liberalism, politics, and economics meandering through these traumatic times and not just the patho-physiology of the virus-sphere, are just some of the subjects for published works. Articles and reports in th ..read more
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The importance of being different
Passey.info | The Real Fiction
by Arvind Passey
1y ago
‘I don’t like kindle. It doesn’t smell like a book,’ tweeted a friend, and the words left me wondering if a kindle must really smell and feel like something that it is not. For instance, a book never adopts the smugness of a smartphone, and it doesn’t bother me. Our obsession with making everything seem similar and familiar resembles an infection. Just look around and you will find this just as widespread. This tendency is worse than the pandemic that we now know so well. Before moving on to a few seriously unnerving instances where this disease of turning everything similar is causing a lot o ..read more
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Which way to go?
Passey.info | The Real Fiction
by Arvind Passey
1y ago
While on treks even I have often noticed, as did Oorja, the protagonist in ‘Mapping Love,’ the debut novel by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, that everyone is ‘in a hurry although everything around them is slow. They know that they have to make things happen before the sun sets…’ The narrative pace of this book, as if completely captivated by this observation, gets decidedly slow and then slower and the reader gets increasingly restless. Now do not assume that I am complaining because the book is not about compacting unlimited kinetic energy from all over to make things happen but to simply let thoughts ..read more
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