My 2024 Bookmarks!

The Road To Freedom: Economics and the Good Society—Joseph E.Stiglitz (Allen Lane):?Whose freedom is it anyway? Social contract is based on trust. Freedoms entail tradeoffs. The moral legitimacy of inequalities needs a serious relook. There is a misunderstanding of freedom as a critical virtue of capitalism.

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI—Yuval Noah Harari (Fern Press):?For thousands of years, prophets, poets and politicians have used language to manipulate and reshape society. Now computers are learning to do it, giving rise to digital dictatorship and data colonialism.

Ravana’s Lanka: The Landscape of a Lost Kingdom—Sunela Jayewardene (Penguin):?Was Ravana simply the personification of evil? What was the nature of civilization in which those characters lived?

Just a Mercenary: Notes From My Life and Career: Duvvuri Subbarao (Penguin):?What was the CAG’s locus standi to question a democratically government’s right to decide to sell 2G telecom spectrum at below market price, and forgo revenue in a serve a larger public good of deepening telecom penetration?

The Money Trap—Alok Sama (MacMillan):?Investment bankers are like markets, birds without feet, condemned to a life of continuous flight. Many self-destruct, while others get shot…but while in flight all are driven by the irreversible power of money…Greed takes over when poverty ends.

Yatra: An Unfinished Novel—Harekrishna Deka (Niyogi Books; Translated from Assamese original by Navalamati Neog Chakraborty):?Getting Tangled in a Web of ethics. Imagine being watched all the time, unsure what's real and what's not. This book tells the story of a writer living under government surveillance, where every step feels like a journey further away from the truth. It raises a tough question: how far do you go to do what's right? (Disclaimer:?The author, HK Deka, is my Mama, my mother’s elder brother).

Chhaunk: On Food, Economics and Society—Abhijit Banerjee (Juggernaut):?Delicious twist on serious topics like economics, society, and India, and surprising connections between everyday dishes and big issues. For instance: the economics of gift-giving.

Society Girl: A Tale of Sex, Lies and Scandal—Saba Imtiaz and Tooba Masood-Khan (Roli Books):?What really happened to Mustafa Zaidi? Was it murder, suicide, or something in between? A gripping tale set in 1960s-70s Karachi, where the lines between truth and power are blurred. It's not just a story about one man's mysterious death, but a deep dive into the city's underbelly - media, bureaucrats, elitist social clubs, and ruthless politics, and power dynamics.

Women and Development—Banshaikupar Lyndogh Mawlong, Charles Reuben Lyngdoh, and Jonestar L. Nonglait (Synergy):?Let's get real about the challenges women face in their fight for equality. We need to move beyond just paying lip service to women's empowerment and actually address the issues. For too long, women's contributions have been overlooked, especially when it comes to crucial areas like education. Take moms, for example - their role in shaping their kids' educational journeys is huge, yet often undervalued. It's time for a genuine, gender-balanced approach to politics that recognizes and rewards women's efforts.

The Biggest Ideas In the Universe (Books 1 & 2)—Sean Carroll (One World):?What is time? What is space? What properties does space have? What is the arrow of time? Time, at least at the intuitive level, seems to move from the past to the future, not the other way around. Is this always axiomatically true?

Bertrand Russell: Selected Works—Bertrand Russell (Classy Publishing):?You know how scientists often try to break down complex stuff into simple movements? Like, they'll say light is just a type of wave. But here's the thing: that explanation doesn't really work for everyone. For instance, try explaining wave-motion to someone who's blind. It's just not relatable. So, maybe we need to find new ways to describe these phenomena that work for everyone. (This was a re-read after about 28 years with a fresh perspective and understanding of Russell).

The Corporation in the 21st?Century—John Kay:?Owning stuff is not always clear-cut. Think about your relationship with everyday objects, like your umbrella. It's pretty straightforward: you own it, you can sell it, give it away, or toss it. And if someone steals it, you can report it to the authorities. But when it comes to big companies like Amazon and their shareholders, things get complicated. It's not just a simple matter of ownership and responsibility.

Urdu: The Best Stories of Our Times—Edited and Translated by Rakshnanda Jalil:?A snapshot of today's literary scene. A vibrant mix of voices and styles - that's what you get when you bring together some of the best contemporary fiction writers.

Ulfa: The Mirage of Dawn—Rajeev Bhattacharyya (Harper Collins):?The ULFA came into being in 1979 a fateful year in which the Assam Movement erupted. Was it a mere coincidence or the cause behind the both were the same?

There has been a debate about the factor behind ULFA’s formation. A section attributes it to wide-scale immigration from Bangladesh and the subsequent governments’ perceived apathy. The other section says that it was the migration from mainland India that triggered it.

The late 1980s was the “golden phase” of ULFA. Would it be correct to interpret people’s growing disenchantment with the newly elected Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government resulting in popular support for ULFA?

The brief period was never to be replicated in the future. Why is that? When did the point of inflection come? Would it be accurate to consider the Independence Day bomb blast in 2004 killing 10 children as a point of inflection from which popular support for ULFA started collapsing?

These and many others answered in this deeply researched and engagingly narrated book.?(Disclaimer:?Rajeev is a childhood friend and I had the fortune to moderate a session with him during the book’s launch in Delhi.)

Knife: Meditations After and Attempted Murder—Salman Rushdie (Penguin):?`Knife’ is Salman Rushdie at his best - brutally honest and unflinchingly raw. He tackles the big stuff: life, loss, love, and art.

Unpopular Essays—Betrand Russell (Routledge):?Written to combat the growth in dogmatism. `Change is one thing, progress is another. Change is scientific, progress is ethical; change is indubitable, whereas progress is a matter of controversy’. (This was a re-read after about 25 years with a fresh perspective and understanding of Russell).

The Number That You are Calling is Switched Off—Tushar Srivastava (Ink):?A thrilling ride through the streets of New Delhi, weaving together crime, corruption, and the city's famous (or infamous?) Lutyens intrigue. There are many secrets lurking beneath the tranquil facades of India's political hub where power plays and deceit reign supreme, beyond the manicured lawns and aristocratic charm. (Disclaimer:?Tushar and I have been colleagues at Hindustan Times in an earlier life).

The Sunday Times Teasers (Book 1)—Edited by John Owen (Times Books/HarperCollins Publishers):?It's a mental boot camp of sorts.?Mental workout, logic, brain teasers, mathematical skills, and lateral thinking all in equal measure.

The Divine Economy: How Religions Compete for Wealth, Power and People—Paul Seabright (Princeton):?Religion is more than just a business - it's a platform where people come together to create a shared sense of purpose and meaning. It's not just about abstract ideas or theories, but about the real-life experiences and connections that bring people together. Think of it like a community hub, where people find common ground and support one another.

What Went Wrong With Capitalism—Ruchir Sharma (Allen Lane):?Bailout culture. Easy money. Zero interest rates. Industry bailouts. Global market bailouts. Bidenomics. The rise and influence of oligopolies. All of these and much more in one volume.

Burn Book: A Tech Love Story—Kara Swisher (Piatkus):?A scathing, but entertaining, account (or takedown) of the global tech industry, wealth creation, disruption, and policy influence.

Power Within—R. Balasubramaniam (Penguin):?Leadership, in most strands of thoughts, is interpreted as having the power to lead people and organisations to bring about change. When people occupy these positions of authority, they begin to rely more and more on the power attached to the position. However, leadership is more than just exerting influence and power over others.

The Corporate Life Cycle: Business, Investment, and Management Implications—Aswath Damodaran (Penguin):?Corporations have a life cycle, too. How do corporations age? What are the markers of this ageing process? Why do some live much longer than others? ??

Chasing Shadows: A True Story of Mafia, Drugs and Terrorism—Miles Johnson (The Bridge Street Press): An absorbing true crime page-turner giving a ringside view of greed, international terror, global drug syndicates and the deep state.

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