Parasara Sridhar Duggirala's Blog

This is 100% an American book. The cultural ethos of America is permeated by the ideas of opportunity, entrepreneurship, and wealth. While the rich are hated universally, the country that hates them the least is USA. While the recent neo-lib and neo-con administrations has contributed to rich being increasingly hated, there are several reasons for the typical American mind set. Given the vast resources in the early days of discovery of Americas, the spirit of entrepreneurship was encouraged. During the American gilded age, and the wild west, a lot of rags to riches stories captured the public imagination. A culmination of all these stories is the coining of the term 'American Dream'. This book piggybacks on the popularity of obtaining wealth and sells a capitalist narrative. In this narrative, the protagonist is the product of two ideologies, one is a state-dependent socialist and second is a crony capitalist. The protagonist conveniently picks and chooses the "nicities...

I often alternate between fiction and non-fiction books in my reading regimen, just to break the monotony and have a change of perspective. I read these two books Altered Carbon and The Girl on Train. I picked up Altered Carbon because it was one of the top rated Sci-Fi novels on Goodreads and I picked up The Girl on Train because it was mentioned in one of the book reviews for Eileen (see my blog post  here ). I don't think each of them deserve a blog post of their own so that is why this combined post. Altered Carbon This is a sci-fi book about a crime story in 2500. The usual suspects of sci-fi like inter-planetary travel, floating whore houses, space ships, are obviously part of this universe. As expected, there is indirect condescension towards religion, in this case Catholicism, which is also a convenient plot point for the novel. The special aspect of this book is that your consciousness is condensed into what is called as a "disc" and can be digitally tran...

Did you ever read or write a love letter? If no, you are in luck. If yes, please read this book and compare it with the love letter you have read or written. This book is a 100 page love letter to Tea; that too, an excellent one. There are several quotes in this book which would take me 10 life times to come up with. Simply put, this book is poetry in prose. This book is not just about Tea. It is about Eastern philosophy; it is about Japan; it is about art, aesthetic, and beauty; and most importantly, it is about life. In the guise of "The Schools of Tea" preparation and their evolution, Kakuzo explains the various natural changes that happen as a part of cultural evolution. Through "Teaism", he talks about the virtues and vice of Taoism and Zenism. Through "Tea Room" and its description, he guides us through the discipline required to develop aesthetic sense and peace. Through "Art Appreciation", he lays our narcissism bare naked and forces u...

This book was insufferable! Recently, I developed an appetite for specialty coffee and wanted to read more about coffee in general. I bought this book at my local library bag sale (if you ever get a chance, you should do it, it is a good place to buy lots of books) because I got it for cheap. When I finished my previous fiction book, I wanted to read something different (non-fiction), so I picked up this book. Boy! was I disappointed. First, I think the authors should hire an editor to chop down their work. I think this entire book can be cut by two thirds and it makes for a nice 100 page book. There is a boat load of junk that doesn't add to the narration of the book. One of the most irritating aspects of the book are the quotations. Often, quotations are used to provide a perspective or to emphasize an emotion. The quotations in this book drag on and on without a specific goal or conveying an emotion. The writing is poor. It is not crisp. Many times, I would read 4 pages witho...