Richa Reads

I came across this book on Bill Gates summer reading list. I know, I know, what you are thinking, I thought the same and that’s precisely the reason I picked up the book, with a ready smirk that I am going to speed read and then rip the book apart (at least in my mind). Another negative thing going for the book was, that I was picking it up right after Becoming by Michelle Obama and I had already loved her story. Question: So, how did it stack up against all these negative prejudices?   Answer: Brilliantly How? Read on…. The basic idea of the book is very simple yet very profound, lift up the women and you will solve problems that you didn’t even know existed. Topics like Children’s nutrition, immunization, health is obviously related to women of the house. But then, Melinda talk’s about how Productivity in agriculture and even containing the AIDS epidemics are dependent on women empowerment. Melinda talks about her journey with the foundation in great detail, where her ...

Let me start by saying that I am a sucker for biographies, whether its books or movies. An autobiography is then on a higher pedestal. So that’s the reason why I picked up this book, and I expected it to make for a good read and it did.   The book turned out to be a page-turner for me, esp. the part before Barack Obama became the President. The whole process of going through Michelle’s life is a story of highs. An African American girl from a blue collared family, making it to best public school, Princeton and then to Harvard. It’s the stuff of dreams. From Michelle’s childhood, my favorite character was her mom. I felt both Michelle and her elder brother, drew a lot from her sense of grounding, calm and a clear sense of priority. That could be one of the biggest reasons why she wanted her mother to be there, in the white house with them. It would have definitely helped with providing the same sense of grounding for her kids, Malia and Saasha. At Princeton, she talk...