Sooraj Nagabalaji

Madasamy a.k.a Jayakanthan is well known for his controversial stories, what can you expect from a commie writer about women was my first perception, but then there were nuances which should be appreciated for his views on women how this society has given yardsticks to define a women's character which has brought too much ipse dixits as social constructs.

To bring change there requires strong and healthy debate to bring down such dogmas against any oppressed collective, but you know what this is just another log on commie novels which had derivative to sideline the main players of the society to create some kind of drift. To bring that it requires strong controversy, so JK just did that just using two simple strategies making the community of the character look like perverts and the Rapist as a divine creature also the lead role Ganga as a half-wit which saddens me also sub-standardizes women in general.

The premise could have been set to any other caste background where there is more anarchy, instead, JK goes with society with the community which is a minority and more open and educated look like a doofus. Anyway, this is a plot where a criminal is portrayed as a hero and the victim/woman a half-wit. This shows the perverted nature of the author and his itch to show a particular community in a bad light thanks to the Dravidian politics of Tamilnadu.

Politics, geography, demography, economy, art and many other elements of chronology related to Mysore are explored in such a way that the truth of the Mysore since the fall of Vijayanagar to the neutralization of the Wodeyars by the East India Company becomes apparent with every section of the book,
With the author's extensive knowledge of Music the heriatge of musical landscape is documented in great detail, there were also many instances the author has made the crux of court scenes come to life; with many paramanas and technical details on the art, he highlights the dominance of Indian Art by and that has yet to become a renaissance
Understanding the battle strategy, dynamics of holding people, and the key decisions made by women at that time helped Mysore survive throughout various seasons. It is a maze of information to contemplate. You will be captivated throughout the journey - but, until you realize that you are are an avid history buff, it will be cumbersome process to complete this book.

Throughout this temporal constellation of time in life, ideas and thoughts are racing through mind with the burden we carry forward in the name and forms of karma. We, as individuals, become disoriented on this path by not envisioning we are in a vicious cycle of life and death but only seeking pleasure in various forms. As we lose our ability to grasp the wider picture because we try to comprehend such abstracts through the senses that we can perceive which can only deceive . One can connect the dots and learn about the patterns that we are stuck in through Mahabharata and other great Ithihasas, as well as reflect on the transcending thoughts that help us make decisions, in a way help us to see in birds eye view and not getting stuck in the loop of thought, despite the staggering cosmic odds.

The following maxims are mental models that can provide a framework for bringing a positive outlook to everyday events while remaining unaffected by the outcomes. Various chapters in this book are attributed to various gunas and highlight the key aspects that are central to the Mahabharata, setting a premise to understand the key excerpts of Mahabharatha in a few pages. 

The “hard problem of consciousness” as put by David Chalmers is concerned with understanding why and how physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experiences, also known as qualia. Chalmers argues that even if we were to fully understand the neural mechanisms and physical processes associated with consciousness, there would still be an “explanatory gap” in our understanding of why these processes give rise to subjective, conscious experiences. He started citing to Upanishads in many areas to explain this concept. Unless a person has gone through the teachings of Vedanta this phenomenological quest will sound mundane.

In the context of Advaita (non-dual) Vedanta, especially the concept of Sakuna Brahman, we can draw some parallels. Non-dual Vedanta posits the existence of Brahman, an ultimate, formless reality that transcends distinctions and is beyond conceptualization. Sakuna Brahman refers to Brahman with attributes or qualities, as opposed to Nirguna Brahman, which is Brahman without attributes. Religious practices strongly emphasize devotion to the personal aspect of the divine (bhakti) and, in doing so, establish a separation between the individual (jiva) and the Supreme Being (Ishwara) in most religions but only in Hindu philosophy it goes beyond this through the path of knowledge to explain that there are no distinctions.

In the exploration of consciousness, one could draw an analogy between the “hard problem” and the challenge of understanding how Sakuna Brahman (with attributes) is related to or gives rise to the multifaceted, varied experiences within the phenomenal world. Just as Chalmers highlights the gap in understanding the transition from physical processes to conscious experience, in a Vedantic context, there is an inquiry into the relationship between the attributed Sakuna Brahman and the diverse, manifested reality.
Chalmer attacks Cartesian dualism in its classical form, where mind and body are distinct substances. However, his emphasis on the subjective nature of consciousness and the difficulty in explaining it purely in terms of physical processes echoes some of the themes in the dualistic tradition. He introduces the concept of “property dualism,” suggesting that consciousness has irreducible properties that cannot be fully explained by physical properties alone, we can see these observations were lucidly explained in the yogin and advaitin in standard vedantic texts several thousand years back.

As we engage with the world and we perceive it to be true, which is the fundamental question of all the Upanishads. From a logical standpoint, the inquiry into why our individual experiences should constitute the consciousness of the ultimate consciousness where the hiranyagrabha plays the role of explaining these concepts. This perpetual seeking is crucial for self-realization, leading to the understanding that there is no duality—there is only the non-dual essence that is the ultimate reality, referred to as “ekam.”

This book is an experience for an individual to comprehend the great battle of Kurukshetra, one needs a certain level of sukshma to understand the series of events in the war, and this was brought home well by the author here.

Even though I felt certain portions repeated, I understood this is to move the reader to the next scene while recalling later sequentially throughout the book. So this book provides a first-hand experience to visualize the scenes in the readers' canvas of mind.

This meta workaround enforces the reader to contemplate and seek out the backgrounds of each character also to examine their mannerism, to gain an insight into their lives, Why and what made them be this. Therefore, the reader becomes more curious about the lives of the characters in the Bharatavarsha.

शीतला-refers to cool in sanskrit, this story is a classic anecdote and sets a premise of how a young woke challenges her grandfather through her colonial education which has shaped her way of thinking and how her cool grandfather, an erudite scholar of Ayurveda strategizes and removes ignorance (avidya) by providing a clear mental model intermittently of why you should not buy the narrative of modern Wikipedia scientists instead of a dedicated sources. Its a common fashion nowadays as there are many so called Pseudoscientific detectives on the internet deceive and try to act as intellectuals to establish everything associated with ancient India as superstition and pseudoscience.

Und so lang du das nicht hast, Dises: stirb und werde Bist su nur ein trüber, Gast Auf der dunklen Erde - Goethe

Transl: As long as you do not know how to die and come to life again, you are but a distressed traveler on this dark earth...

Life, in existence, is deemed a positive experience to the same degree that death is considered a bad encounter. The more a person is able to attach another person and enjoy his/her company the greater is the grief at their death or in separation. By using simple events that we observe on a daily basis, Watts subtly conveys the essence of non-dualism and Zen throughout the book. As he points out in many instances how materialistic conditioning since childhood destroys the morality of Quale because the man dwells deeper in these pursuit of material and couldn't satiate his brainy endeavors as the goal post will shift perpetually. Nevertheless, he never portrays them as evil. instead, he asks the observer to see the transcendence of the world and find the middle path to comprehend the calmness, similar to the Vijnana-bhairva of Kashimiri Shaivism which deals with attention to paradigm of relations.

Having listened to lectures of Alan Watts's for several years, I have come to realize he is one of the few westerners who understand the core of eastern philosophy.

With 70% of the world's population expected to live in cities by 2050, the affordability of housing and leading a sustainable lifestyle are becoming myths in any given metropolitan area.

Throughout the book, the author deals with aspects of the housing crisis in the United States and explores the fallacy of a policy that is being projected onto the population, which inevitably causes more difficulty for people of colour and immigrants.

The author presents many case studies that show how multigenerational housing and co-living are picking up the trend among realtors and neutralizing urban poverty in urban areas. This strategy should be consciously followed in any urban area from city planning to placemaking. Must read for policymakers, urban planners, architects, social scientists, etc

Throughout this book, the author's background in mathematics and physics is evident. This reminds me of this joke that a chancellor complains about the physics department “We need to cut costs!” He says. “All this complex technology you guys use! Why can't you be more like the Maths department? All they need is pencils, paper and a cup of coffee!” as applied physics needs costlier equipment.

Having worked in both spheres simultaneously, the author puts the reader at ease who is interested in reading popular science. Anecdotes of the string theory in its earliest adaptations to the Higgs Boson experiment (GOD particle) renders particle physics comprehensible to a casual reader like me.

The references in Vedas and Upanishads which deal with time, consciousness, the relation between cause and effect, that still the modern science of the west pondering upon, shows that Vedic sciences are sophisticated in their understanding.

In the end, “Until the end of Time” will show anyone who has the slightest tinge of curiosity about the mind, matter, consciousness, and of course the existential universe, many angles to explore.

The author aims to illustrate why you should be a polymath in this accessible world and what benefits you will gain from it, even if you are exceptional at one thing. Generalization widens your scope and gives you a greater capacity for adapting to new situations considering the highly fluctuating world.

It is hard to critique a sublime force and prove its value. Only through the first-hand experience of actively reading the words of the Swami would make justice to Swami Vivekananda's teachings.
It is timeless; while reading his words, you can not miss the nuances of Advaita philosophy. Among the many verses, these words struck a chord for me to contemplate more on the reality/ true self
“Knowing one lump of clay we know the nature of all that is in the universe”
“The effect is never different from cause”
“Limitation can never come upon the unlimited it is a fiction”
Insights on other religions and their fallacies are explained so precisely by Swami. Nasthik/asthik whatever one identifies themselves to be they are the one existence, absolute consciousness and bliss [Sat-chit-ananda]

Being the average person who ponders on approval given by others and has existential crisis regarding subjective and objective characteristic of living a good life, a struggle of duality with which human tries to contend with and fails.

This book attempts to convey this dilemma in a very lucid way, so that the readers gain clear insight on how we live the life we live by ignoring the hard truth without any conviction

There are many ethical dilemmas associated with psychedelics, seeing people use them as dietary supplements when their thoughts are conflicted without understanding what is being ingested into their bodies and minds.
There is invariably substance advocacy in this book, with anecdotes that are modelled under controlled environments to evidence the scientific support. From the first chapters to the midpoint, the book is an exciting new experience, but at later stages, your brain completes the events automatically.
Since I've intermittently been reading this book for the past 2 years, I've gained a few insights on how external stimulation can entertain neurons with psychedelics that have taught me how we humans behave to grab more dopamine at any given point in time to escape from the great monotony.

An immense amount of focus is required to comprehend and introspect anything subjective. Kalanithi has contemplated his final moments of Jagrath (waking state) until his samadhi (disconnecting mind from body/death ), with precision and described them casually which makes the readers review life as a collective in few episodes of his experience towards the ultimate tranquility.

This should have ideally been a podcast rather than a book. In ‘98 it was not an option to explore different premises where digests were the main source of time pass read. In today's context, this would not interest common readers like me, but given the pandemic as a constraint, any second-hand book can deliberately provide some ancient knowledge that a millennial may not inculcate. Mostly I was eager to learn what Marcel Proust had to say after page 48 than Botton, sarcasm which the narrator had to impart to the audience did not work on me as I was not very keen to read this book. Highly recommended for people who really know about Proust, because I was not aware who he was until I got a parcel of books from a second-hand eCommerce website.

The successful warrior is the average man, with laserlike focus – Bruce Lee

This book discusses sophisticated information about various real-life cases studies about key people and their traits who are involved in running top firms that makes the reader inquisitive. Daniel Goleman is known for his research on emotional intelligence, well this book touches why emotional quotient is important and the success rate of leaders who have innate quality to empathise. Here and there you will get more interesting anecdotes.

Having seen many Holocaust films, this book provides an understanding of not just the gas chambers and concentration camps, but also Jew's behavior after the war. As survivors, they are impacted by PTSD, which affects their family and societal structure. There is no doubt that the characters provide a different perspective from the usual narratives. As an ambitious Polish Jew, this guy tries a variety of businesses and settles on marrying a rich Jewish girl in order to achieve upward mobility. The Nazis are sketched as cats, the Jews as mice, the Americans as dogs, and the Poles as pigs and they are highly relevant to the narrative, to illustrate the the Nazi campaign. It is more common for rich Jews to speak the language of the locals rather than Yiddish, and to name their children after Christian names rather than Yiddish.

Till 1920's wealthy Jews were into pan European nationalism and they settled in eastern Europe, east-central Europe and south-eastern Europe. Both the legal status of Jewish communities and their internal development differed considerably from region to region. In western Europe, the process of emancipand later they split into three parts, the ultraorthodox Haisdic jews were ultraorthodox, the blue collar jews were communist, and the rich jews were capitalistic, their lack of unity cost them dearly after WW1. When the Nazi party began blaming the rich jews for the loss of Germany in WW1. With these things, we can see how the socialist movement engineered anger towards capitalist Jews. Overall the story moves as any comic would without getting into these subtleties. Even so, it's obvious from what has happened that this was a catastrophic event when all odds were against them. It was through sheer will and survival instincts that protagonis survives the genocide.