“Watching television and surfing the Internet are really excellent practice for being dead” - excerpt from Damned by Chuck Palahniuk

Madison is thirteen year old, overweight, ignored by her movie star parents and is attracted to her adopted brother. And yes, she is dead. The novel is all about her life (?) in hell, the souls she meet there and her conversations with Satan.

After starting and not completing some of the previous books by Chuck (some were boring, some were unreadable and some were downright offensive), I had my reservations about this book. The premise of the book sounded interesting but I was not sure about the treatment. To my surprise, it turned out to be an engaging read, laced with intelligent humor and witty one liners.

Chuck is known to be is a rockstar of kickass dialogues and he does not disappoints here. Also, Chuck’s hell, as seen thru the eyes of a thirteen year old, is an excellent satire on modern life on earth. Some concepts like ocean of wasted sperms, dandruff desert, telemarketers are from hell, etc. are seriously funny.

On the downside, the supporting characters are un-interesting and uni-dimensional. In the later part of the book, things move so fast that, within a few pages, Madison is challenging Satan’s authority. Also, the story itself is very weak. Although there are a few interesting twists and surprises, but things don’t tie up in the end. However, please note that this is a first part of series, and the story does not end with this novel. I am looking forward for the next part, hoping that Chuck will come up with a rocking story based on the context set in this one.

Photo- Sandeep Chandra thru Flickr

This post is a tribute to the bravest man I have known.

True strength comes from true conviction. True strength is to do what you believe is right, no matter what others think. True strength is the willingness to go to any extent, make any sacrifice to defend what you believe is right. There are numerous instances when Gandhiji has shown this strength. I think the bravest decision Gandhiji ever took, and probably the most difficult one,  was to call off the non cooperation movement after the Chauri Chora tragedy. This was a point in history, when many felt that we were just inches away from independence and Gandhiji’s decision pushed away the victory for many years. He was heavily criticized, even by his close associates. But he struck to what he believed was right, irrespective of the consequences.

Another attribute which I admire a lot in Gandhiji was his ability to overcome hatred and anger and forgive people, even love them. As he said, ”The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”, forgiving and letting go is one of the most difficult things to do, and requires a lot of strength and courage.

The following quote by Albert Einstein nicely summarizes what I feel for this great man -

“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood”

PS: Just finished watching Gandhi by Richard Attenborough starring Ben Kingsley. A truly powerful piece of cinema.

Photo courtesy – Sandeep Chandra (sanchantr) flickr photostream

Radioactivity: A History of a Mysterious Science, written by Marjorie C Malley, is a non-fiction detailing the history of Radioactivity and how it captivated the imagination of the scientific community as well as the industry, politicians, and the general public.

Radioactivity was not just another scientific phenomenon. It created a new branch of study in itself, had a profound impact on the society, international politics, war, business and industry and medical sciences.

This is a very geeky books with lots of scientific jargon which a non-technical person nay not be able to understand without considerable effort. However, readers who have relevant technical background will find it a good and interesting read.

I loved the portions of the book which contained the stories of the researchers, even more than the technical stuff. I was interesting to know how the personality traits, education, background and even religious beliefs of the researchers shape the way they hypothesized and tried to explain radioactivity. Life stories of Marie Curie and other researchers of the era was fascinating and heart warming at the same time (the biography of the Curies is on me “To read” list now). I was also surprised to know the sheer number of scientists who got noble prizes for their discoveries related to radioactivity. It was also very interesting to read about the effect of politics, war, and economics on the development of this field of study.

Pierre and Marie Curie in their Laboratory (Image Courtesy - Wikipedia)

On the flip side, the book misses out on a lot of interesting recent developments in this field. I was anticipating a section on nuclear power industry, all the associated controversies and the role this industry has played in international politics. Also, there is a lot of interesting history related to nuclear warfare industry, which could have made the book much more interesting and appealing for an average reader.

Overall it is a well written book, meant for a very niche audience.

“Because something is significantly wrong with a creature that sacrifices its children’s lives to settle its differences. You can spin it any way you like. Snow thought the Hunger Games were an efficient means of control. Coin thought the parachutes would expedite the war. But in the end, who does it benefit? No one. The truth is, it benefits no one to live in a world where these things happen.”

Mockingjay is the third part of the Hunger games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

In every coming of age fiction, there comes a point when the protagonist takes control and starts driving the story. After this point, the turn of events in the plot should be in response to the decisions taken and choices made by her. At this point, the protagonist should be sure, confident, and taking decisions which are critical to the way the plot proceeds. This is exactly what I expected from Katniss in Mockingjsy and this is where I was hugely disappointed.

Katniss is never able to take control, dominate or even strongly influence the course of the struggle against the capitol. Although she is the symbolic leader of the revolution, she is never involved in any key decision. The revolution is still controlled by others and many a times, she is not even aware of what is happening and why. Her actions and decisions do influence the overall story but most of these are not planned or intentional (expect for a few pages at the end). She is not even present during the climax - the fall of the capitol and the capture of President Snow. There is no metamorphosis from a symbolic face to the resistance to someone who is really leading it. This, I believe is the greatest flaw of this novel.

In terms of the style and pace of the narrative, this novel is very similar to the previous two. There are some unpredictable and interesting twists and turns (without giving away the details) in the plot. Further, this one is definitely the darkest of the trilogy (especially the way rebels behave towards the end). The violence is imaginative and visceral, but after a point the whole thing gets boring. Some very important characters are killed, but their deaths could have been written in a more impactful manner. President Snow was a character with a lot of promise and I was disappointed to see him get very little page space.

The ending is not very happy, but believable. The love triangle between Katniss, Peeta and Gale is handled sensibly and brought to a realistic conclusion.

The highlight of the book is the blunt and unapologetic way in which the author has presented the hunger for power from both sides and shown how both the leaders (Snow/Coin) are willing to go to any extent to retain/gain it. There are no rights and wrongs here, only winners and losers. This may make you cringe, but look all around yourself – this is what is happening everywhere. This truth about human nature is presented bare naked.

If you have read the first two novels, there is no way you can (or should) avoid reading this. With all its flaws, it is still a good piece of fiction.

Related Posts: Book Review – The Hunger Games and Book Review - Catching Fire

“The berries. I realize the answer to who I am lies in that handful of poisonous fruit. If I held them out to save Peeta because I knew I would be shunned if I came back without him, then I am despicable. If I held them out because I loved him, I am still self-centered, although forgivable. But if I held them out to defy the Capitol, I am someone of worth. The trouble is, I don’t know exactly what was going on inside me at that moment.” – Excerpt from Catching Fire

Catching Fire is the second book of the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  It takes forward the story of Katniss Everdeen, who after winning the Hunger Games along with Peeta, has unknowingly become the symbol and mascot of a revolution against the capitol. By threatening to eat poisonous berries instead of subjecting herself to the whims and fancies of the gamemakers and their changing rules, she has not only defied the authority of the capital, but has done it openly, in front of almost all citizens of Panem. The capitol now wants her to pretend that what she did was out of innocent love for Peeta and not “an act of defiance”. The love story should continue, and the acting should be real convincing, else people close to her will pay the price.

Katniss, unsure about her feelings towards Peeta and Gale, and concerned about the safety of her family and friends, tries to play it along as the Capitol wants. But circumstances lead her to stroke the same fire which she was supposed to douse.

The ultimate twist in the story comes when a second hunger games are announced, which again puts her and Peeta in the arena, where only one can come out alive. Giving them company are a few selected victors of the previous years. It is the hunger games of the hunger game winners.

Compared to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire is slightly less engaging (but still it is quite good), and the purpose is probably to build the platform for a grand action packed climax in the third part. Collins has succeeded in writing a perfect penultimate novel, where the ending will make you eager to start the final book.

The highlight of the book is  how the other characters – Peeta, Gale and Haymitch (especially Haymitch) – are developed. President Snow makes a small appearance and a big menacing impact.  Parts of the narrative related to the second hunger games become a bit repetitive and are not as gripping as the first part. Other tributes are not as properly itched out as the first one, and this time it is more about the tributes against the gamemakers rather than the tributes against each other.

Summary – Must read for anyone who enjoyed the first part.

Related Posts: Book Review – The Hunger Games and Book Review – Mockingjay

I had written earlier about IIT Guwahati alumni who have been inflicted by this disease. It was about a year ago. I am updating that list now. I (unfortunately) missed out a few last time, and some more people have taken the plunge. Prominent additions to the list, mentioned in the earlier post, are -

• Deskala Research and Design Consulting founded by Kshitiz Anand (2005 Batch). Before I say anything else, let me mention that Deskala has one of the most beautiful and neat websites I have ever seen. True designers at work here. Deskala provides design research, design workshops and user experience consulting services.

• Vivu Inc. founded by Sivakiran (2006 Batch)- I remember Siva a the thin geeky guy from our batch, who apparently knew more about programming and stuff than the 3rd year seniors. Vivu provides video conferencing solutions. Siva is in great company at Vivu, check the list of his team members here and the companies Vivu is partnering with here

• Support Bee – This is the second start-up by Prateek Dayal (2005 Batch), after founding hugely popular site Muziboo, a kinda social network for musicians (Read ET covering Muziboo here). Support Bee is a help desk software which promises to be as easy to use as managing emails. Currently the product is in private beta version.

• Jaxl founded by Abhinav Singh (2007 Batch). Jaxl is a communicator for websites with instant messaging, social networking and sharing capabilities. The product is currently under alpha release.

• Learn 4 Life Academia founded by Soumen Das (2006 Batch). L4L provides technical training, personality development and communication skill training to students in the various north-eastern colleges. It is focused on filling the skill gap between the students and corporate requirements. (Read Rediff.com covering L4L here)

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish and All the Best to all of you!!!

• Number Five – On the 50th Anniversary of understanding the structure of the DNA

• Number Four -On the birth anniversary of Gregor Mendel

• Number Three – On Pi Day

• There is a tie at Number Two, both these doodles are similar in concept and I find both of them equally amazing – Google Logo in Morse Code and Google Logo in Braille System

• Number One – Google Doodle on Thomas Edison’s Birthday

Bonus Doodle – This is my personal favorite – The Doodle on Einstein’s Birthday

“The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins” – Excerpt from The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the first book of The Hunger Games trilogy, is the story of Kateniss Everdeen, a young girl competing in a Big Brother meets Gladiator kind of contest.

In the country of Panem, every year, the capitol which rules over the other 12 district, selects, by means of a lucky draw, two teenagers from each district to participate in the annual hunger games. These games are televised live and the winner needs to kill the other participants to win. Kateniss, volunteers to participate in place of her younger sister, Primrose. Peeta, the other participant from Kateniss’s district, adds an interesting angle to the story by declaring that he is in love with Kateniss. Like any other realty show, here the chances of survival are much more if you are able to entertain the audience – and what can be more entertaining that a couple in love trying to survive in an arena where everyone else is trying to kill everyone else.

This is one of those books which you just cannot leave in between – it is what I call as the “Cover to Cover” ones. The premise is interesting and fairly original, the setting is surreal yet believable and the lead characters are very real.  The highlights of the books is the way the characters, be it Kateniss or Peeta, unfold and respond to the situation the game keepers create for them. Collins has created a very convincing post apocalyptic world, sometimes going into quite sadistic and creepy details. If you can read between the lines, it has some very hard hitting satire on our society. Overall it is a brilliant book and a must read.

Hunger Games is being adopted as a movie by Gary Ross (of Seabiscuit fame). Jennifer Lawrence  (Mystique from X-Men: First Class) would be playing the role of Kateniss. I am looking forward.

I am also looking forward to reading Catching Fire and Mocking Jay – the second and third parts of the trilogy.

Related Posts: Book Review – Catching Fire and Book Review -  Mockingjay

There is even a product which conducts a “emotional spellcheck” on the emails, and claims to ensure that the tone is appropriate and reduce the cost of dealing with misunderstanding!

However, almost all the time the burden to ensure that the reader views the email in the right spirit, lies solely with the sender. I do not see much material advising readers on how to read emails.

It is official now, emails fail to communicate the tone of the message, not matter how hard you try. As per this study,  the number of times when senders are pretty confident that they have done a good job of conveying the tone of the message is one a half time more than the number of times they actually succeed in conveying the right tone. Which means, even with the best of the intent from the sender, there is a high probability that the reader will misunderstand the tone. Basically, the means of communication itself is flawed.

Given this, email reading guidelines become as important as email writing guidelines. Three things immediately come to my mind -

• Never assume the worst case scenario. Be optimistic, if the email seems like offending, don’t assume that it is necessarily supposed to offend.
• Check you mood. Sometimes, the way you interpret an email is not because of the content of the email, but because of your mood. Read that email again when you are in a better mood. An email which annoys you in a bad mood may seem perfectly normal later.
• In case of doubt, pick up a phone – just call the sender and clarify.

Remember, emails may be easy, fast and cheap, but are not the most efficient means of communication. they do have some drawbacks, and we have to learn to live with these.

A as in Aeronautics

B as in Biotechnology

C as in chemistry

D as in Design… and so on

(My favorites were F as in Fuzzy Logic, N as in Nobel Prize, and R as in Random Numbers)

So my way of telling my email id was “Ashutosh – A as in Aeronautics, S as in Science, H as in Horticulture, U as in UFO, T as in Technology, O as in Oncology……..”

Believe me when I say, the clients (who themselves were deep into technology – most of them were Scientists/Innovators/PhDs) really liked this,  at least they noticed us,  remembered us,  and sometimes ever talked to their co-workers about us. A truly elegant and subtle way to convey the message – we are like you  – hardcore into technology!