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...

I was hesitant to read this book, as I feared, that it will make me painfully aware of my lack of understanding of my own culture and religion. And it did. However, the author has taken care of people like us, the first chapter is called “Foreigners in their own land”. The essence of it is captured in this phrase: Nehru had written of “Spiritual loneliness”, he puts it down to having become “a queer mix of the East and the West, out of place everywhere. At home, nowhere. “For a long time,” Aatish Taseer writes, “I had a recurring dream of the ancient Indian city of Benares, superimposed onto the geography of New York”. That's how the book begins, with a sense of duality. During the course of the book, the author (Who is gay and has a Pakistani father : wondering why I mentioned this? I too was wondering why was it necessary to cover this in the book in a longish way) travels to Benares to learn Sanskrit, observes the city as a first timer and has conversations. Most of these co...

I have been missing out on posting here for a little over a month now. I still don't have much to say, hence I am borrowing a poem written by my elder one, Manyaa in school. Its called "Family" There was a lonely kid called Sophie, and she was feeling kind of down, So she got herself a coffee, And she sat there with a frown. She just failed her science test today, So things were not okay. She called her brother, without any hesitation, Brother asked where are you going? I don't have a destination. I know a park with some nice rides As I just wanna hide. So they went into the park, Brother paid for the tickets, He said, "Race you to the swings." I don't think you are gonna make it. So they sat on the swing for a while, and she slowly started to smile. By Manyaa Dikshit 7A AVM, Bandra East

This was my first Murakami, so can't do any parallel comparisons. This book is a collection of 7 stories and they all center around the loneliness of the male characters. The characters in most stories are very well developed. The title gives away the linking theme, but that’s too simplistic. The tones are somewhat unemotional but are totally beguiling nonetheless. As you would expect they are beautifully written, containing lines that had me wondering to ponder over the pure truth of the statements. Murakami also introduced me to people who not only live in a very different culture but who also seem slightly off. It’s unsettling…Sometimes I can reconcile myself to who they are and why they do what they do, but mostly I struggle to relate to them. These stories spoke to me of introspection and addiction and of a yearning for relationships lost. I don’t think I’ve worked out the true underlying message in any of these tales yet. Filed in my head as : To be read again.  My f...

What attracted me to this story is that it is about human migration and how it impacts them. I have always been keen to know about how people adapt to displacement. To my mind, there are usually two kinds of behavior associated with migration. The first kind adapts to the new culture with open arms and is likely to move ahead. The second kind gets further seeped in their own culture in a new land. It's almost like if they change their ways, they are being disloyal to their roots. The question is, why do we choose what we choose? In the book, both these roles are beautifully filled in by the two main characters, Saeed and Nadia. In the story Saeed and Nadia, though not said as much, move from Syria to Greece to London to the USA. In the book, the comparison between Nadia and Saeed to migration is very well played out. When displaced, Saeed prays more, spends more time with his kind. It seems like the farther he moved away from the city of his birth through space and time, the ...

I must say my first and foremost motivation to read the book was to read Booker’s prize book by a Nobel Laureate, that’s only 220 pages. However, all plans fell flat, as the book will probably stick with me for long and not necessarily in a feel-good way. First things first: This is a very grown-up book, so pick it up only if you are ready for a grown-up conversation. But, at the same time, it isn't a hopeless one – it expresses confusion, anger, and sometimes despair, but also a certain sense of searching that at least imagines a different future.  The word Disgrace is what struck me with nearly every page. Coetzee’s writing is like that. Tight. There’s no escaping what he wants you to see. It’s not outrageously blatant, but it’s none too subtle either. Main character Lurie, has a sharp intelligence, but too little empathy.    My favorite passage from the book that describes him:  At 52, twice divorced, David is solitary, resigned, erudite and sarcastic. He...