Shashank > Recent Status Updates

It’s been a warm read but the story is still building up. There are two parallel stories of Maryam and Laila; young ladies in Afghanistan of the 1990s.

“I’m not all that smart. It takes me a while to understand things. But if I do have the time, I will come to understand you - better than anyone else in the world”

“Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life.”

It’s a detailed autobiography and it seems Mr. Mandela has not held back much. It’s difficult to imagine him running away from home and getting caught with a pistol in his bag.

It explains his challenges of having grown up in the apartheid era, where every aspect was a challenge - getting proper education, a job and even a driving license was not easily available, if at all, to non-whites.

The book combines Mahabharata with Indian history (pre- and post-independence) in a unique way. Started reading last week, and it’s been delightful.

We all know how good Shashi Tharoor’s vocabulary is, usually through memes. I need the dictionary every few pages, but I am a big fun of his language skills after half a book. The wit and humour make it a very interesting read.

I heard so much praise about this book, that my expectations were high despite me tapering them down a bit. It has been a decent read, but nothing very new yet. Buddy reading this with a group of friends, and interestingly, each of them has the same feedback.

I look forward to the second half of the book, and am curious if the three storylines of Ella, Shams and Rumi do merge eventually, in some way.

I’m loving it!

“On the days the body rebels and pain is too great, there are two paths to choose from: either tell yourself you’ve had enough and leave, or be prepared to suffer and keep going. The choice is between giving up and enduring.”

Just relived the 2008 Wimbledon final, through his eyes, where he beat Roger for his first All England championship.

Anyone who saw that match can never forget it.

It’s been a very interesting journey refreshing a lot of concepts from all facets of science classes from my time at school.

The book covers a very diverse range of topics from the human body to the cosmos and yet somehow has tied it all together and also kept it interesting. Full points to the author to ensure it’s an interesting read despite it being quite heavy in terms of actual content.

It’s an interesting read covering different facets of science that I studied mostly while at school/ college and then as part of random readings since my profession isn’t directly linked to basic sciences.