Geocaching! My first find.

Last month, at the insistence of Suyog we finally managed to track down our first Geocache. 

I first learned about geocaching while reading a book called 'Maphead' by Ken Jennings. It is must read book for geography and map lovers. 

Geocaching is an outdoor game where people use GPS to hide and locate containers called geocaches at specific locations with marked coordinates. Geocaching's origins are quite interesting. 

Till 2000, even though the GPS system in the United States was capable of locating a GPS holder's position on earth within a few metres of accuracy it was intentionally scrambled by the Government due to National Security reasons. This 'Selective Availability' as it was called was finally turned off on 01 May 2000. All the GPS receivers instantly became 10 times more accurate. Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant in Portland, Oregon had stayed up all night to see the change in his GPS receiver. On seeing the change in accuracy from 100 metres to around 10 he was mighty excited and thought this would make a nice game of hide and seek. And so he hid the first ever geocache nearby his house and shared the coordinates on an internet GPS forum for other members to find. Within a day another enthusiast searched and located his cache. And so the game of Geocache was born. It soon exploded all over the world. 

Geocaches are now spread out all over the world. Theres one in Vatican and one in the temples of Angkor Vat and another in McMurdo Station in Antartica. For a period of time there was an extraterritorial geocache too. The GC1BE91 was in the International Space Station from 2008 to 2017.  

There are some legendary geocaches too like a cache called Psycho Urban Cache #13, a West Virginia cache that was dropped from a helicopter into the Potomac River. 

Our first geocache hunt was nothing like the exotic ones mentioned here. Ours was located in a park near our home. We went to the place and using the clues found out the small container. It contained a log of all the people who had found it before us. Stupidly enough we did not bring a pen with us so we were content to just take a pic and leave the container back in its place. 

Book Post 12 : China Syndrome : The True Story of 21st Century's First Great Epidemic

Book Name : China Syndrome : The True Story of 21st Century's First Great Epidemic

Author : Karo Greenfeld Taro

Genre : Non-Fiction

What is it about? : It is about the SARS outbreak in China in 2003. It details how the disease started, how it spread, how the Chinese Govt responded, how Hong Kong responded, how the medical fraternity responded and finally,most exciting of all, how it was identified.

How I came to read it :  As I write these lines there have been almost 2.2 million cases of COVID-19 and 150000 deaths. The whole world is taking unprecedented measures to stop its spread. At a time like this fake news spread like wildfires. Half the WhatsApp groups I am in had some kind of fake info about the virus. Conspiracy theories abounded and in some cases racism against the Chinese. In my quest to try to fact check and provide a proper answer to the stuff being shared I decided to get more info about what viruses are. I read about this book in a website listing the top 10 books about pandemics and hence decided to read it.

Did I like it? : Its a brilliant book. This was my first medical non fiction book and I loved every bit of it. Now I know, among many other things, what viruses are, how they mutate and how they spread.
 Why/views/summary  : 
Note : The below section contains a summary of the book. If you want to read the book I suggest you stop here and read the actual book. For others who have no time/inclination to read the book the below summary will suffice. 

China Syndrome is the kind of a book, the reading of which, will change your viewpoints on a lot of things. The book starts off with a quote from a Virologist from the University of Hong Kong.
It simply reads,

''There are only four questions you need to ask about a virus.

What is it?
What does it do?
Where does it come from?
And how do you kill it?

- Guan Yi ''

1: What is it?
November 1 2003 | 7 Infected | 0 Dead

China Syndrome follows the above structure in unraveling the timeline of SARS. It starts off by following, in an almost a thriller book fashion, the movements of a young migrant from the interiors of China who arrives in Guangzhou to try his luck in the booming industries there. This is in November, 2002. Here, the ground work is laid down of the city's growth and the popularity of something called the Wild flavor restaurants which serve exotic wild animals from all over the world. A brief digression here. Many people have the question why not shutdown all of these markets once and for all. Its not that simple. Its a culture that is seeped in the people of these regions. Like how we think of checking out a new restaurant every other weekend they think of checking out an exotic animal every now and then. They think that having wild animals is their right. It is a complex problem the solution to which has to be found.  Our young migrant gets a job in one of these restaurants where he is given the job of culling and preparing the animals for the chef. Here he comes in contact with a number of wild animals like cats, squirrels, civets, pangolins, bats, snakes etc. The author makes a visit to one of these markets and reads off from a Govt issued banned animal list. To his surprise all of the banned animals are available at the market. The first section ends with the description of what exactly constitutes a Virus which I have reproduced from the book below,

''The most efficient and cruelest killer on earth is not a lion, bear,

shark, or other superpredator, but probably the smallest predator. (The

difference between predator and parasite, at this point, seems to be mainly semantic.) 

And this killer is not even alive in the sense that we

are alive, or even in the sense that a lichen or bacterium is alive. Viruses

are described, simply, as active or inactive. They are little more than

bits of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) wrapped in a skein of proteins self programmed

to subvert more protein and genetic material, which they

can fashion into more virus particles. A virus’s mission is to replicate,

and it does this by landing on a cell and attaching to specific receptors

on the cell membrane, destabilizing the surface of the cell just enough

to pass into the cytoplasm—the initial stages of this replication look

something like the Apollo lander setting down on the surface of the

moon. Once inside, the virus hijacks the cell’s genetic material in order

to fashion more of itself. The process has been described as taking over

a factory and then refitting the assembly line to turn out a new product:

in this case, more viruses. These new viruses will mature and leave the

cell either by “budding,” during which a few viruses at a time pop

through the membrane, or by “lysis,” when the cell itself ruptures and

sends millions of viruses out to infect other cells. After being duped

into subverting itself to become a viral factory, the host cell will deplete

itself and die. When too many cells start dying, the host’s immune system

will react and, in the case of viruses that attack human cells, symptoms

of disease and illness will appear. Just like other predators, viruses

appropriate an animal’s protein in order to survive. (A lion gorging on a

gazelle’s entrails out on the savannah is doing exactly that.) Unlike other

predators, however, viruses are never sated. They don’t eat; they simply

reproduce. In some sense, they are the perfect life-form, only they are

not technically alive. They are nothing more than manifestations of the

urge to propagate. And in so doing, viruses have probably killed more

of everything than anything else in the history of the world.''

2: What does it do?
January 03 2003 | 48 Infected | 9 Dead

This part starts off by describing cases of a strange new disease affecting people in the interior of China. People were coming to the hospitals with respiratory illness and many of them die within weeks. A team is sent to investigate and they bring out a report. This report would be the first official document on SARS. But at that time it had no name. Nobody even knew what it was and its significance. Here enters Zhong Nanshan, a charismatic doctor who would go on to play an important role in the fight against SARS. As the cases keep mounting up China responds by centralization of infected patients. They allot 4 Hospitals in Guangzhou to deal specifically with this new disease. All other medical problems are referred to other Hospitals. This is still one of the most effective ways to deal with an epidemic. Also described here is the process of intubation which doctors and nurses perform. The author calls it a process which is 'violent and brutally simple'. The main purpose of this procedure is to bring air to the lungs. This is done by inserting a tube carrying oxygen straight into the throat and end near the T shaped junction which leads to the lungs. Now the major hurdle here is the glottis, which is a protective cover near the base of the tongue. This glottis has to be moved aside while inserting the tube. This is done by a laryngoscope. But our body has something called the gag reflex, the involuntary vomiting that the body responds to insertion of any foreign material into our throat. This movement of the patient makes the whole process tricky. Multiple attempts are made to insert the tube. All this while the patient is coughing out droplets of his saliva all over the place including the doctors and nurses. As you can imagine this is a nightmare if the patient has any disease that can transmit by droplets. Which is precisely how SARS could transmit. But the medical personnel did not know this at that time. Many hospital staff got infected this way. This part made me realize what the Healthcare workers are involved in and it only made my respect for them increase manifold.

At this time China was still holding back a lot of critical info about this new disease which was burning through some Chinese provinces.  The world was aware about this new disease but there was not much info available. At this point the Department of Microbiology, University of Hong Kong start their own investigation into what was happening in their neighboring country. One of the heroes of the whole SARS episode, Guan Yi, who was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology decides to smuggle swab samples of infected patients from China into Hong Kong. He does this with the help of the earlier mentioned Zhong Nanshan. With these samples Guan Yi and Malik Peris, another professor in the same department start their investigation to try to identify the micorbe causing this. But the first set of samples yield no result. All this while China is reluctant to share information with WHO and the World. They maintain that this is nothing to worry about and they have it under control.

3: Where does it come from?
February 21 2003 | 479 Infected | 49 Dead

Guan Yi goes into China to get more samples. Meanwhile a Chinese scientist announces that he has identified the culprit which he believes is Chlamydia. The team of University of Hong Kong do not agree with him and they carry on their own investigation. The disease reaches Vietnam where a brave doctor, Carlo Urbani takes proactive and quick steps in trying to stop the spread but ultimately succumbs to his death with the same disease. Before his death he instructs to send his lung tissue sample to the US Center for Disease Control. This doctor I believe deserves more recognition. Meanwhile the disease spreads to Beijing, one of the most heavily populated cities in the world. China is still in denial. They claim that Beijing has single digit cases.

Meanwhile the effort to identify this previously unknown virus was going on. The generally followed rule was the Koch's postulate that states that for a microbe to be considered the causative agent of a disease only when satisfies the following 4 conditions.
1. It has been isolated from the diseased host
2. It has been cultured outside the host
3. It has been introduced via those cultures to cause disease in another host
4. It has been re-isolated from this newly infected host.

At the UHK, the second batch of samples also yield no result. They get a lung tissue sample from a Hospital in Hong Kong where the disease has reached. Around this time this new disease is given its name. The people who named it did not want to name it after a place as is usually done like nipah virus, zika virus, marburg virus. They decided on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS in short.

Finally on Friday 21 2003, the team of UHK find success. They identify the agent as a Corona virus.
3 days later US CDC independently identifies the agent as Corona virus using Carlo Urbani's lung tissue sample.Even though this was major success there was still the issue of what was happening inside China. Nobody outside of China knew the extent of the spread of SARS inside China. At this point a senior former doctor called Jinang Yanyong decides to talk to the media.

Here an explanation is provided of the SARS Corona-virus which I have reproduced as it is.

''The SARS coronavirus, Caroline Astell, project leader
at the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, would tell me, was
“the largest RNA virus we’ve ever seen.” Every organism on earth,
besides a few viruses, stores and deploys its reproductive instructions
by DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, the familiar double-helix “code of
life,” rendered in Ping-Pong ball and pipe cleaner models in high
school biology classrooms around the world. RNA, ribonucleic acid,
is generally used as a messenger to carry genetic instructions. A few
viruses, such as the SARS coronavirus, instead store their genes as
RNA. DNA is far better suited than RNA to serve as a storage
medium for genetic information. The “double” part of the helix can,
in effect, check on the work of the genetic machinery as it replicates
itself, “correcting” most errors, i.e., mutations, as they occur. Viruses
with their genetic code stored as RNA instead of DNA lack this
proofreading ability to check on their own reproduction. As the
nucleotides of a next-generation virus are assembled according to
information stored on the viral RNA, there is a far higher chance of
an error occurring. Adding volatility to the process is the fact that
RNA is a more reactive polymer than DNA, which means that there
is more likelihood that any part of the genome may become altered
because of the presence of foreign chemicals or proteins.
Though not a reliable storage medium, RNA does provide an
interesting survival strategy for a virus. All viruses go through a very
rapid duplication cycle. A single RNA virus can produce ten thousand
copies of itself in six hours; a human being might reproduce,
perhaps, every eighteen months. Hence viruses, even more stable
DNA viruses, are evolving much faster than we are.
An RNA virus accelerates that already quickened process. As the
RNA replicates one strand of itself, it averages one mistake per ten
thousand nucleotides copied. Such instability means that once an
RNA virus has entered a cell and successfully begins to create copies
of itself, it is producing numerous mutated versions, with differences
ranging from just a few nucleotides to dozens or perhaps hundreds.
The vast majority of these genetic changes—perhaps 99.9999 percent
of them—are inconsequential or unsuccessful, or they create a
virion that is not successfully “active.” Occasionally, however,
because of the tremendous rate of mutation, an evolved virus will
emerge, one that it is actually better suited to its cellular environment.
It might have different spike proteins or a slight variation of
peptides that enables it to bind more efficiently with a host cell,
making the disease it causes more infectious or contagious.
The SARS coronavirus, it turned out, had nearly thirty thousand
nucleotides—a nucleotide is a specific combination of purine or
pyrimidine, a sugar molecule, and phosphate; genes are the
sequences spelled out by groups of these nucleotides—making it the
largest RNA virus ever recorded. While genome size does not automatically
correlate with mutability, it is a depressing fact that RNA
viruses do mutate more rapidly than DNA viruses, and that this was
a very large RNA virus. “SARS is a big, big boy,” said Kathryn
Holmes, who literally wrote the book—or at least the relevant chapter
of the book Field’s Virology—on coronaviruses. Viruses from the
coronavirus family had previously been known to cause only mild
infection in humans; along with rhinoviruses, they are a major culprit
for the common cold. They were traditionally so nonthreatening that
the 2,629-page Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, the
world’s best-selling English-language medical textbook, devotes just
a page and a half to them. Yet coronaviruses that infect animals can
undergo troubling mutations. For example, a coronavirus that
caused gastroenteritis among pigs mutated in the late 1980s into
porcine respiratory infection. Another coronavirus that was the cause
of shipping fever among calves became the reason for dysentery
among adult cattle.''
4: How do you kill it?
April 08 2003 | 2941 Infected | 293 Dead

Susan Jakes, a TIME magazine journalist based in Hong Kong gets wind of Jinang Yanyong's disclosure. She meets the doctor and gets full information about the present state of the SARS situation in China. What she learns is startling. There is a full blown epidemic in China with the number of cases several times higher than what was claimed by the government. After verifying this piece of info with another source and by another reporter on the field Susan publishes the report. That article can be read here. It creates a furor in the world and directly leads to the resignation of the Health Minister and a change in tactics of the government.After a second expose of a Beijing Hospital China holds a press conference admitting about that mistakes have been made about the handling of the crisis. Here the author makes an interesting observation. Something which we are seeing again in some countries. Politicians taking advantage of the situation for their political gains.

Slowly cases begin to decline in Hong Kong. All this while Guan Yi still has one question to which he has no answer. How to kill or stop it? For this he needed to find the Vector. Along with a group of researchers in China he begins his investigation. All animals carry some kind of virus with them. Most of the time these virus stay within their hosts. Sometimes they crossover into new hosts. And in some extremely rare events they make the jump from animals to humans.This is called a Zoonotic transmission. Guan Yi believed that this jump must have happened in one of the thousands of wet markets that dot the southern region of China. He visits a number of these wet markets taking samples from the animals and and checking for the presence of the SARS virus in them. He finally finds one in Civets. He publishes his result and measures are taken to cull the animals. Slowly the SARS disease dies out.

Towards the end theres a chilling statement.

''Yet SARS had been the first disease to go H2H, or human to
human, since AIDS. And the reasons it had not wiped the human
slate were still unclear. Clinically, the consensus had emerged that
the virus had been stopped by better infection control.''

What is worrying is that There is still no vaccine for SARS and we still dont know why exactly SARS stopped.

Overall the author does a tremendous job of bringing out the timeline of SARS in a way that keeps the reader hooked. Like I mentioned in the beginning this plays out more like a thriller book. The only distraction I found in the book was when the author gets personal and describes his situation. This must have been to present an outlook covering all angles but to me it was a digression that I did not want. Apart from that the book is a must read for all of us!   

---------------------------
Some useful Links of the stuff mentioned in the book
---------------------------

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemic_curve
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch%27s_postulates
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canon_of_Medicine
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avicenna
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_plague_in_India#Surat
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhong_Nanshan
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Yi
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Yanyong

Book Post 11: Michael Faraday and the Electrical Century by Iwan Rhys Morus

Book Name : Michael al Faraday and the Electrical Century

Author : Iwan Rhys Morus

Genre : Non-Fiction

What is it about? : About the great scientist Micheal Faraday and his place in the evolution of electricity.

How I came to read it :  I saw the book in our University Bookstore sale and promptly bought it as I am always on the lookout for science related books.

Did I like it? : Its an average read. As Chernobyl's Dyatlov would say 'Not great not terrible'.

Why/views/summary  : The book starts off with describing Micheal Faraday's early life when he was a kid working at a book shop. Malcolm Gladwell has a theory that to be successful you need to have the right kind of people in your life at the right time. In this Micheal Faraday was very lucky. In his first job at the Book shop he had a supportive boss who did not stop young Faraday when he did random experiments at the shop and read all the books and journals that came his way.  He even let Faraday visit a number of lecture series that use to take place for the public. From this point the author moves on to describe the science scene of those times. This is perhaps the best part of the whole book.

In the 19th century era electricity was making inroads into the society. There were many inventors and scientists working on different aspects of electricity. So rapid was the pace that almost every week bought a new development. Also popular among the public at this time was the public lectures or shows that inventors and scientists put up. Every institution of repute used to run their own lectures and shows to showcase their achievements. And public attended these in droves. Faraday grew up in these times and attended a number of these in his young age. He would go on to become a great speaker/showman himself later in life. At some point Faraday decided that a life of working at the bookshop was not for him and he was looking at opportunities in science.  His life changed when one of the regular customers at the book shop offered him tickets to Sir Humphrey Davy's lectures. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity as Davy was a legend at that time. Faraday attended all the lectures and got in acquaintance with Davy and soon landed a job as his lab Assistant at the Royal Institution.  This changed Faraday's life completely. Davy tutored him in experimentation among many other things. The teacher student partnership did wonders for both of them initially till Davy's death in 1829. When someone asked Davy what his greatest discovery was he replied in a flash 'Micheal Faraday'.

The book then meanders off to again describe the various developments taking place in the field of electricity. It talks about other inventors like William Sturgeon, who made the first electromagnet. Then Faraday's contributions including electromagnetic induction are described. The books mostly talks about the series of lectures he gave at the Royal Institution. He started a trend which continues to this day. Here is the link to the present day lecture series. 

Here lies the main weak point of the book. At no point is the significance of Faraday stressed upon and nowhere is his legacy talked about. This aspect of the book could have been improved. Overall a casual read. Except for the part where those lectures are described the rest of the book is pretty average.

Other Related Reads-
1. Empires of Light by Jill Jones - Amazon Link

Book Post 10: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Book Name : 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind'

Author : Yoval Noah Harari

Genre : Non-Fiction

What is it about? : The book traces the evolution of Humans from the earliest species to the present. This it does in a different way than the many other books on the same subject. This books takes an idea or a phenomenon and wraps the history of people around it. A unique approach. 

How I came to read it :  One of my friends suggested the book to me.

Did I like it? : No, I did not like it. Having heard so much about it from friends and family I had high expectations but it was a let down for me. I understand its a best seller but there are flaws in it that simply disappointed me.

Why/views/summary  : The author divides the whole books into 4 parts keeping in line with his view that Humankind had 4 key moments in its history. These 4 parts are:

1. The Cognitive Revolution
2. The Agricultural Revolution
3. The Unification of Mankind
4. The Scientific Revolution

Some of the ideas presented in this parts are brilliant. Take, for example, domestication of wheat. Harari states that Humans did not domesticate wheat. It is wheat that has domesticated us. This is supported by the fact that since wheat was grown humans had to stay at one place to look after it and protect it from diseases and animal attacks. Also Humans were always looking for ways to improve the yield and as the yield increased so did the population it supported. This multiplied over the years and slowly wheat was everywhere. Today it remains one of the most grown crops on Earth. This is a quite brilliant take on wheat. There are many more such ideas presented in the book. But at the same time at some points Harari verges on the boundaries of hyperbole like where he states that Agriculture is History's biggest fraud. Now stating that Agriculture changed how Humans lived and turned their life for the worse (Harari's views) is one thing but to call it History's biggest fraud is exaggeration and quite simply being careless. For me, as soon as I read that line I did not want to read further but I continued as I wanted to finish what I started.

Some good points that I found in the book are the way he talks about free market and how saying that in times of ethical issues free market will take care of itself is quite foolish. He elaborates on this point by giving the example of Slave trade in the past. Now when the Slave trade was rampant during the 16th to 19th century it was simply viewed as an economic thing. Importing cheap labor was something that helped the businessmen. Nobody thought anything was wrong in it. This was an instance that needed intervention which was beyond the economic or financial factors. It was an ethical one. Similarly, today there are a number of ethical dilemmas that the business world faces which needs intervention but some people say leave it the market itself because the free market will take care of such things. No it does not.

Then there is the point about 3 major unifying factors in History. They are Economic, Political or religious. No matter what instance you take in human history if humans gathered to do something together it has to be because of one of the 3 reasons mentioned above. Even today these stand as huge unifying figures. Then there is an explanation of how the small countries of Europe like Spain, Netherlands, France and Britain dominated the world in the 16th to 18th centuries. Their rise is attributed to the start of the credit system. Many expeditions that started in those times were sponsored by credit in these countries. Leading this were the Dutch. They soon became world leaders in the world before the British caught up with them. Interestingly there is mention of VOC also called the Dutch East India company. Its not mentioned in the book but VOC remained the worlds largest company for 200 years since its inception. It is said that many of the corporate practices that we see today are direct descendants of the VOC model. Its a topic that deserves a separate blog post. I had the chance to see VOC era buildings in a small town called Pulicat in India. Heres more about that trip.

One of the biggest flaws of the book is the complete disregard of the Islamic Golden Age of cultural,economic and scientific growth that happened from the 8th to the 14th Century in the middle east. Harari states that the scientific growth only started from the 16th century in Europe completely skipping the Islamic Golden Age. This is unthinkable. If purely talking about only the scientific impact of the Islamic Golden Age it is huge. One has to simply look at the contributions of Nasir-al-din-al-Tusi(Astronomy), Ibn al-Haytham(Physics), Al-Kindi (Chemistry) to how huge is that contribution. Biology alone produced such geniuses as Ibn al Nafis, Rhazes, Ibn Khaldun and Avicenna. (More about some of them in my post here). Most damning is that fact that there is not even a passing mention of the Translation movement of 9th century. It is largely forgotten in the west but for a book which claims to outline the History of whole mankind leaving out the translation movement if not the whole Islamic Golden Age is quite unpardonable.

Another point is how Harari passes over the Indian Independence Movement in just 2 or 3 lines. He is guilty of oversimplifying key events in history in a couple of lines completely ignoring the years, the factors and the complex geopolitical dynamics involved. He does this for may other events in History.

All in all, Sapiens does produce some brilliant passages, compelling ideas and notions but I think this book is a bit pompous in its claims and the author is guilty of sensationalism, oversimplifying complex issues and just pure carelessness.

Book Post 9: ''Inglorious Empire'' by Shashi Tharoor

Book Name : 'Inglorious Empire'. Alternative title 'Era of Darkness'

Author : Shashi Tharoor

Genre : Non-Fiction

What is it about? : Its about the British Rule in India and how it was totally detrimental to India. Shashi Tharoor demolishes every possible defense of the British rule in India. All the benefits that some people usually attribute to the British like the Railways, Education, Rule of Law all were designed to serve Britain's Interests alone.

How I came to read it :  One of my friends suggested the book to me. He had borrowed the book from the local library and after he was done I borrowed it from him.

Did I like it? : Loved it. A very insightful book

Why/views/summary  : I have read a ton of books about the British. But in most of the books which I read they were secondary players. Books like 'The Last Mughal', 'Sahibs who loved India', 'The Last Nizam', 'Begums, Thugs and Englishmen', 'City of Djinns' had British playing important but secondary role. They gave me a good picture of the British times and of the many of the atrocities they committed but 'Inglorious Empire' presents all these facts in a systematic manner. Shashi Tharoor has taken all the common arguments which favor the British Rule and he systematically destroys them with data and contemporary accounts. There are some damning data in the book,for example, take this - ''In 1600, when the East India Company was established, Britain was producing just 1.8 per cent of the world's GDP, while India was generating some 23 per cent. By 1940, after nearly two centuries of the Raj, Britain accounted for nearly 10 per cent of world GDP, while India had been reduced to a poor 'third-world' country, destitute and starving, a global poster child of poverty and famine.''

Why should you read it? :
I believe the book should be read by every Indian. If not the whole book then at least Chapter 4 called 'Divide et Impera' is a must read. Every Indian should know the legacy of their past and how the British reduced it to shambles by the time they left India. Also its a good reminder of how and why our forefathers fought for freedom and why the idea of a democratic India was and is such a cherished thing. 

My Top 8 favorite Hindi movies

I don't usually watch Hindi movies. Having watched English movies since childhood it became a habit. The mainstream Masala movies of Bollywood have not helped either. But as my eyes opened to the world of Hindi cinema I found out it has its own masterpieces and brilliant pieces of works. Over the years I have watched, very selectively, a few movies which have stayed in my mind long after the movie ended. Here are a few of my favourite Hindi movies. Most of the movies mentioned below I have watched with friends at their insistence.

When choosing these movies I have stuck to my personal mantra that 'More than the story, the moments in a movie stay with you'. The following movies all have excellent moments in them. Also they are in no particular order.

1. Lootera
Lootera is a criminally underrated movie. Featuring the best performance of Sonakshi Sinha till date it is a shame that it did not perform well at the box office. Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, one of the directors I keep a track of, it is a period movie set in the 1950s during the abolition of Zamindari system. It is based on O.Henry's short story 'The Last Leaf'. The film beautifully recreates the essence of Bengal of that time. The costumes are perfect, the acting is brilliant, the music is soulful(Amit Trivedi is another underrated star) and there are those memorable 'moments' that I spoke of before. Like the scene where Sonakshi's character and Ranveer's character are involved in a road accident. It is a simple scene made memorable by the execution. Its in these kind of moments that Lootera rises above a number of romantic movies of Bollywood. For me, Lootera remains one of the first movies I mention when talk of underrated movies comes up. 
Link to Wikipedia Article on Lootera

2. Rang de Basanti
What to say about this cult movie. Our group of friends watched this movie together at my home on our PC. And it remains a highlight of our childhood memories. At that time we were not aware of the impact this movie had on the youth of the country(Check out the section titled 'Social Influence' in the wiki entry for this movie) but it sure had an impact on us. We constantly referred to its themes of friendship and the uber cool style of its characters especially Siddharth's and Sharman's. Siddharth's dailogue 'Welcome to India su' and his lighting his cigarette with a burning stick will remain our childhood's 'cool' moments. The central story of the movie is about a group of college students whose lives change irreversibly when they decide to act in a documentary movie about India's freedom struggle. As they learn more and more about the struggle they grow more and more disillusioned with the current state of affairs both personally and in the country.  The movie has everything, brilliant acting, excellent soundtrack by A.R. Rahman, a good storyline, and heavy doses of patriotism including religious harmony. All of these pieces are held together and they all complement each other. Overall a master piece.
Link to Wikipedia Article on Rang de Basanti.


3. Taare Zameen Par
Another of Aamir Khan's gems, Taare Zameen Par can move people to tears and yet feel happy by the end of it. Amol Gupte was the man behind the idea of the movie and he also directed most of the movie before Aamir Khan took over the reins. The story is about a boy struggling in his studies and life due to Dyslexia. A kind Art Teacher played by Aamir understands the kid's struggle and helps him overcome his problems. A lot of Indian kids can relate with the parents attitude in the movie.
Link to Wikipedia Article on Taare Zameen Par

4. Haider
Haider is a classic of Hindi Cinema. Directed by the brilliant Vishal Bharadwaj whose filmography is worth taking a look (notably Maqbool and Omkara), Haider is an adaption of the Shakespeare play Hamlet. Set in the backdrop of Insurgency hit Kashmir of the 90s it is the story of Haider, a student who searches for answers about his father's disappearance. The direction is sharp and the cinematography haunting. Add to it an excellent background score, Haider will leave you shaken. No mainstream movie has shown Kashmir the way it is shown here. The presentation is raw and hard hitting. Also the cast is excellent. Shadid Kapoor is excellent in his role of Haider,but it is Tabu who steals the show. There are a lot of political sub threads too running in the background like forced disappearances, the fear of the state, the trauma of the general populace and others. To illustrate the last point there is a scene in the movie where a man stops in front of a door mumbling to himself. No matter how much his mother calls him to step inside the home he doesn't. Then Irfan Khan's character intervenes and frisks him and gives him the go ahead to move. Only now he gets inside the home. A simple scene but speaks volumes about the people there. All of this has been excellent portrayed in the movie.
Link to Wikipedia Article on Haider

5. Kahaani
The only mystery thriller on this list, Kahaani stars Vidya Balan as a pregnant woman searching for her missing husband in Kolkatta. The film is high quality with its elements of suspense and mystery. The characters are top notch, especially memorable is a character called Bob Biswas. It became so popular that there was clamor among the public to make a spin off movie on Bob Biwas. Sadly it did not happen yet. For me the character I enjoyed the most was Nawazuddin Siddiqui's role as an IB Inspector. This was one of his first major big roles and he reveled in it. Viday Balan too is excellent here and carries the whole movie on her shoulders. The final twist is perhaps one of the finest in Hindi Cinema and for me Kahaani remains my favorite Hindi thriller till date.
Link to Wikipedia Article on Kahaani

6. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
ZNMD as it is popularly called is a story of three friends who go on a vacation to Spain and the people they meet there. The movie is fun, sharp and witty. The poems of Farhan Akhar are an added bonus. There are a lot of moments of friendship in the movie that will make you drop everything, call you friends and plan a trip. Remains my second favorite movie about friends after number 2 on this list.
Link to Wikipedia Article on  Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

7. Ishqiya
Ishqiya is a black comedy starring Viday Balan, Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi, all class actors. Set in a rural background Ishiqiya has witty dialogues, excellent chemistry between Naseeruddin and Arshad warsi and catchy songs.
Link to Wikipedia Article on  Ishqiya

8. Tummbad
The only Horror movie on this list Tummbad is an underrated gem. Set in the Pre-independence days the sets and costumes are authentic, adding to the creepy nature of the movie. Its the story of a man searching for a hidden treasure in the village of Tummbad. For me the number one criteria for a good horror movie is the atmosphere of dread it creates and Tummbad absolutely nails it in this area. There are downright nightmarish characters and absolutely scary situations. I am a huge horror fan both of stories in the written form and movies. Keeping in mind all of my horror fascination in mind and the work that I have read and watched I can safely say that Tummbad is one of the best Hindi Horror movies ever. If I can take it a bit further it can be even be called the best hindi horror movie ever.
Link to Wikipedia Article on Tummbad

Book Post 8: "The Engineer in History'' by John Rae & Rudi Volti

Book Name : The Engineer in History

Author : John Rae & Rudi Volti

Genre : Non Fiction.

What is it about? : As the name implies this book traces the origins and the evolution of Engineers in History. Of course Engineer as a designation and a profession came into effect only recently during the Industrial revolution.

How I came to read it : This is one of those books I had marked for reading when I went on a round of libraries on UBC campus. Being an Engineer myself I was always interested in the History of Engineers.

Did I like it? : Yes I did. It is one of the best books on Engineering in general.

Why?/Summary/My views : The book is spread out into 10 chapters with each chapter dealing with the different time periods of human history. It is a well written book which traces the evolution of the place of an Engineer in society. The term 'Engineer' is a recent word developed during the Industrial Age in Britain. But the role of a builder of practical machines and buildings was called different things in different places and times. The book traces all the significant periods and the people who made Engineering what it is today. There are also interesting pieces in the book like an personal accounts from diaries of people involved in building projects of ancient times and other interesting tidbits of info.

Why should you read it? :   If you an Engineer this is a must read book as it makes you understand the place of Engineer in a society and how it evolved over the years.