Random Thoughts

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee My rating: 4 of 5 stars Pachinko is a story spanning four generations of a Korean family living in Japan during the tumultuous 20th century that saw the annexation of Korea by Japan and the two world wars. The story of the family is pretty tragic. They deal with poverty, discrimination, suicide, forced imprisonment, all consequences of war and hatred from Japanese. What I liked about this book is that it tells you a lot about what happens when people are displaced and try to make a new place their home in the time of war and chaos. I admit my ignorance in that I had never heard of the term "Zainichi" which literally means foreigners living in Japan. The Zainichi even though born and raised in Japan are not considered Japanese citizens. They were made to choose between North and South Korea after the Korean war of the 1950s even though they have not known any country other than Japan. These people have faced a lot of discrimination and negativ...

The Last Suppers by Mandy Mikulencak My rating: 3 of 5 stars The Last Suppers has an intriguing premise. It is set in prison grounds in Louisiana with the protagonist, Ginny (a young white woman, who I though was black until about halfway through the novel for some reason :P), is charged with preparing the last suppers of death row inmates, a task that she takes very seriously. All of the death row inmates welcome this last touch of humanity and request various dishes that remind them of their families or their childhood. But, the latest death row inmate, Samuel, refuses it sending her on a quest to retrieve the recipe of his favorite dish from his family. Samuel's refusal and erratic behavior opens a whole can of worms from her own past from the time when her own father was murdered and the accused had been sent to the electric chair. It is, as I said, a very interesting premise. It keeps you engrossed from the very first page. But, its only drawback is when the author c...

Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman My rating: 3 of 5 stars I picked up this book only because it won an oscar. All I knew before I began reading this was that it was a love story between two guys - a seventeen year old and a twenty four year old. I had not even watched the trailer, and therefore had no idea what the story was going to be like. I could imagine why a gay themed story was raking up nominations, so I thought I'd give it a try. But the story itself was way too ordinary. I might have enjoyed it if I was a teenager. Maybe it was meant for one and I wasn't the target reader after all. The story is set in a small beach town in Italy in the summer of 1983. A family that includes a seventeen year old boy, Elio, hosts a new research scholar every summer. This year it is the charming Oliver who has come all the way from America to work on his book. Oliver is so charming and seemingly has such airs about him that he is likened in attitude to a movie star. Love bloss...

© Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson A country's expenditure on research and the attitudes of its citizens towards science and technology are one of the leading parameters of development of a country. India spends about 0.65 % of its GDP (world bank data for 2015) on research and development, a number that has not changed much in two decades. The Indian educational system too on the other hand does not help in creating scientific temperament. The education is mostly a means to secure a job, any job, however far removed it might be from the field you've studied.  These issues are even more apparent when you interact with people not related to the field. There is a lack of curiosity about science even among educated people. In fact, some are also of the view that it is a waste of the taxpayer's money. They go so far as to complain about the fact that their tax money is being used to fund PhD scholarships of students in Indian institutions. This, when the govern...