Book review: Probably the most important book you will ever read - China Syndrome

 

China Syndrome
by Karl Taro Greenfeld
Genre: Non-fiction
2006, Harper Collins

“He then announced a new policy called “The Three Nos,” which came straight from the Communist Party Publicity Department: no talking to the media about the nature of SARS, no talking to the public about doctors’ personal experience treating the disease, and no communicating with the WHO about anything to do with SARS." - China Syndrome

This is the most important book you can ever read possibly in this century about the SARS coronavirus. Armed with detailed research and personal experience, the author takes you through the politics, economics, cultural and environmental parts of the epidemic which is continuing to this day in its mutated form. It includes what had been the behavioral or environmental change that had created the right circumstances for coronavirus to jump species - urbanization, consumerism, so called "development" and globalization.

While the world was watching and debating the War on Iraq and eyeballs worldwide were glued to TV screens on what was happening in Iraq, the world was facing a deadly global outbreak as the coronavirus had jumped species and human - human transmission was happening in what was then termed SARS. Just when the whole world was questioning the use of the existence of UN because the Iraq war was taking place, the health arm of the UN namely the WHO was working hard trying to get the Chinese government to open up. It was coordinating with multiple countries where the disease outbreak  was seen like US,Vietnam, India, Thailand, Japan, Mongolia, and of course the originator, China.While American CDC discovered it was the coronavirus that caused SARS, the Chinese CDC did too but the the Chinese government gagged them from announcing it apart from indulging in under reporting of deaths, closing of industry which led to migrant worker problems and super spreading as they arrived back in remote parts of China. All the politburo did was try to save face and made it illegal to even share samples inside China  which doctors from Hong Kong managed to smuggle in at great personal loss to identify. The whistle blower was Dr.Jiang Yanyong who was placed under house arrest for sending letters to the Chinese media and Communist party that they needed to inform the world and did through the TIME magazine website. Then there was Dr. Guan Yi who identified the virus and the animal which was spreading it namely the masked palm civet which is popular food in the wet markets in Shenzhen,China and Vietnam apart from SriLankan Dr. Malik Peiris who was working with Yi in HongKong.

It led to the fall of Jiang Zemin and rise of Hu Jianto. By making China, especially Southern China the global manufacturing hub for all things as the whole world chanted the mantra of "More but Cheap" during the Era of Wild Flavor and wet markets created conditions for the virus to jump species. Development and globalisation which leads to cramped work environments is perfect for the virus as it aids in  speeding up replication.With globalisation in travel, we ensured the virus could be in all parts of the world within a day's time.

The writing is crisp, factual and has the humane touch which is hard to come by in this genre. It reads like a thriller which keeps

bringing the line "Truth is stranger than fiction" to mind repeatedly The last words are ominous in the book as the world is now seeing so called waves of the coronavirus aka Covid-19. Greenfeld writes about how it  had already spread from civets to chickens to pigs in 2004 itself and how it was contained and treated. The virus was still among us and while the infectious disease network kept track of it, the rest of the world went back to its merry self pretending the virus is not mutating or doesn't exist.

If only this book had been made mandatory reading for all medical students worldwide, we might have been able to control the

outbreak in 2019 instead of repeating the mistakes the Chinese government did in 2002 which was replicated  by governments

worldwide thanks to international flights and forgetting the SARS outbreak that was contained initially by massive killing of

certain animals. Media and social media failed to spread awareness during SARS, avian flu, swine flu and now Covid-19 - which

seems to be a mutated form of the same virus  which in 2003 was termed "Breath taker" before it was given the term SARS.

 

Failing to review this book and following it up with stories on the ground seems to be the massive mistake that the world media has made and concentrating on the so called "War on Terror" experiences. If only there had been awareness, research for vaccines could have begun almost 20 years ago and millions of lives would have been saved and we would have been relatively less likely to be in this mess we are in now worldwide.

Buy the book here

Book review : Chaturanga

 

Chaturanga
by
Anand Neelakantan
Genre: Fiction
Westland , 2020

"Make up stories and repeat them often. Scream about how no one who is against Mahishmathi is going to be spared. There will be enough fools to fall for it. Nothing sells like nationalism and religion in our country. Offer prayers at all the temples along the way. Talk about our ancient culture and tradition. Fools who have done nothing in life will feel proud that they were born in this goddamn country, though they are living like worms. Be their fucking hero. They will soon be devoted to you, willing to kill and die for you, and to lynch anyone who dares question you." - Chaturanga.


Chaturanga is the second book of the prequel trilogy of "Bahubali - before the beginning" and is possibly the best book I have read so far by Anand Neelakantan. Book 1 ends with the king demanding Sivagami kill her foster father ( the general of Mahishmathi and the one who took care of her since she was orphaned) to prove her patriotism to Mahishmathi. Book 2 - Chaturanga means Chess and the book is aptly titled as this is about politics of running a kingdom and how politicians deal with the economic collapse that can lead to political collapse. It also exposes the diversion tactics politicians employ to keep the people occupied while they go after their own vision of what is right while people die just to stay in power.  So does Sivagami kill her foster father who is her father's best friend just to become a landowner?  How does the slave Kattappa live with himself after killing his younger brother Shivappa at the command of the prince Bijalladeva who rapes and murders Shivappa's fiance despite knowing the prince is wrong? Will the slave ever be free? What happens to the book Sivagami's father has left her and which is stolen? Does she manage to retrive it? What about rebellion of the Vaithalikas - does it die with Shivappa's death? What is Pattaraya really up to?  Will Acchi Nagamma and her network of spies be able to beat the Mahishmathi rulers at their own game? How does patriarchy conquer matriarchial culturally ruled places? In the chess game of politics, does truth or power triumph? How does a freedom fighting group of idealist friends change into enemies ? Who lives and who dies? What about the disappearing children? Will someone come to their rescue? Book 2 deals with all these questions and more.

From the power corridors of Mahishmathi to the matriarchial ruled Kadiramangalam, from the leper colonies to the secret temples in the forests, Neelakantan weaves a tale of power, betrayal, injustice and survival with an ease that only a master storyteller can do. The only book I can compare it with is the Indian epic Mahabharata for the sheer number of stories within stories. Even the epic seems too simple in comparison to Chaturanga where there is no Draupadi seeking revenge or fight between cousins for power.  This one is much larger as no one is related or taking revenge for betrayal but is more realistic.

The writing is crisp, Not only has his writing got better but the narration and plot points are superb. If Book 1 was a surprise, this book will blow you away as it is not only a page turner but is a insight into real politics of the world.  It cuts through the crap of politicians spewing ideology and explains how politics is done in the world where the political ideology is nothing but a diversion employed by politicians to stay in power. The book ends leaving you wanting for more as you are left wondering what will happen and I am looking forward to reading the book 3.

It is a great book to read during lockdown. If you wish to buy it, click this   

Book Review : Who killed Osho ?

Who killed Osho?
by Abhay Vaidya
Genre: Non fiction
Om Books International, 2017

 

Rajneesh aka Osho was a controversial Indian spiritual figure. He died in Pune in 1990. His business model of commune,international followers, etc. was new to the world and is the kind that so called spiritual figures in India follow today. But was he killed? If so, who are on the list of suspects? The author who is a journalist, narrows it down to whom and how Indian spirituality has become a business nowadays. 

Vaidya traces the growth of Rajneesh from a small boy interested in arguments and debates to the his death at the age of 58 under mysterious circumstances and who could be possibly involved. It was news to me that the Osho's lectures and books are now copyrighted and Osho itself is a trademark which now belongs to a company based in Europe. Neither did I know that there were allegations that the then US government was against the commune in Oregon or that many of Osho's followers suspected the US government of secretly poisoning him nor that he died at young age of 58 under mysterious circumstances. He had a worldwide following which included celebrities and high profile people of the world. He also had communes in different parts of the world. It never ceases to amaze me how the death of a world renowned figure under suspicious circumstances soon devolves into who can make off with what. What is even more astounding is that the Indian government irrespective of parties in power don't really care about such people. 

While Vaidya has done a good job by narrating the Osho story with documents, the writing starts off well but the pace slows down badly and only in the end picks up speed with a request for a SIT to look into how Osho died. It is an interesting book which only throws up more questions than answers. If you would like to buy the book, click here

Book review : Learned Men and Women of Ancient India

Learned Men and Women in Ancient India
by Sreelata Menon
Genre:Nonfiction

This is an interesting and informative book for children. Though by no means complete, it is a book of and about learned men and women in ancient India as the title says. What is interesting about the book is that each chapter is about one learned man or woman and starts with quotes/shlokas from the works of the men and women covered in the chapter or from rig veda and then goes to into their life and later their contributions to philosophy, aviation, surgery, mathematics, astronomy and other fields.

The learned men include Kanad to Thiruvaluvar while the women include Maitreyi to Gargi. I kind of missed Avvaiyar and other women poets whose contribution as usual is missing though their works are there in some of the oldest literature is recorded in Purananooru and Bhakti literature. That is my only complaint but in a multilingual country like India it is hard to cover so many women and men who composed and contributed to  ancient literatire like Puranooru, Agananooru, Periya Puranam, Tolkapiyam, Shakuntala, Silapathikaram, etc. Maybe the author should plan to write a sequel to this book

The writing is crisp and easy to follow. Some like Charaka, Lopamudra, Bhaskarcharya II were new to me. I didn't know there were two Bhaskaras who had contributed to mathematics and thought there was just one.  

If you wish to buy it, get it by clicking the link below.


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Book review - A cozy, delightful read

A Writer's Deadly Epilogue
by Cynthia Raye
Genre : Cozy Mystery


Molly Simmons is a child prodigy who cannot find a job despite graduating from a top college. So she works for a tabloid magazine writing stories she absolutely hates. Then an author she knows gets murdered. He is the husband of her childhood friend who now works in a TV soap opera. While she quits her job as she is unable to write a scandalous story about the death of her friend's husband, her friend gets arrested. Now Simmons puts her investigative skills to work and ends up ruling the top three suspects. So who shot her friend's husband?

 It is not often authors write about writers and authors as their main characters in a novella.That too especially about the state of journalists and freelance writers are brought out in a very realistic way.In this the protagonist and victim are journalist and an author respectively.

Raye tells a story which is enjoyable page turner. The writing is crisp and the story flows easily making it a very enjoyable read. The characters are totally believable and the story is fast paced and you can probably read it one sitting. 

 

Since the author is giving it away, you might want to download her book from her website by clicking on the link below.

 Get your FREE copy here

 

A fun weekend read

 

 

Killing Valerian Zolotov
by
Jonathan Harries
Genre : Fiction



A motley group pf anti poaching activists discover a member of the Russian mafia has kidnapped an Indian geneticist and is holding him hostage on his estate in Namibia. Why is the question? What is he up to? As the group investigates, we also get to know more about the group itself which includes people of multiple nationalities including a Mossad woman assassin from Columbia.
 

From the crazy traffic ridden roads of India to trophy hunters in Namibia, from the streets of Hong kong to the secret worlds in Russia, Harries tells us an adventurous tale of crime and redemption. Some scenes are funny like the appearance of Vladimir Putin or drinking Putnika to please Putin that it had me laughing.
 

The writing style is clear and the pace is fast.Most authors lack the sense of humor but Harries weaves it in despite desperate situations. The majestic wild life of Africa are right before your very eyes and makes you want to go on a safari.

Not many books are written about poaching and the money behind poachers though most of us know it happens. Well not anymore. You cannot just ignore a news report about a dead elephant as the book stays with you. What I loved about the book apart from the adventure and wild life is the thread of humor that runs through the whole book.If you wish to buy the book,

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Call of the Raven - book review

Call of  the Raven
by
Wilbur Smith and Corban Addison
Genre: Fiction

"And what use is freedom, if it is only the freedom to live
in a slum until you are worked to death? What use is a
wage if it does not buy you enough to eat?"  - Call of the Raven

The book opens with Cambridge Union debate between Fairchild and St. John arguing for and against slavery. But what exactly is freedom? This thread runs through the entire book, what exactly is freedom?

Mungo St. John returns from Britain to America only to find his father murdered and the love of his life, Camilla, a slave on his father's estate  murdered by the militia of his father's trusted banker, Chester Marion.  He has is penniless as his entire fortune has been pledged. While young St. John vows revenge on Chester Marion, he discovers his own family is not entirely innocent and finds himself on a ship to Africa to earn his fortune. He loses his innocence about all that he considers decent and is ready to do anything for revenge but then he discovers that Camilla is alive. He changes again and now all he wants is to rescue his love while destroying his enemy in the process. Will he?  

Reading the book was a revelation. I always thought I knew what freedom was and then began to wonder if I really knew while reading this book. It is amazing how we are all slaves and free at the same time when we think about it. Is the world really free from slavery now? Are we truly free or is our freedom just an illusion while we remain slaves in the hands of the system that controls us? Is selling and buying humans really off the table in this century when you compare it to the years of slave trade? Sure, most of us are not bound physically and dragged out to work in return for three meals a day and a roof over our head but has the system truly changes ?  

The writing is like picturesque and adventurous like any Wilbur Smith novel with heroes. I would recommend everyone to read this.

To buy the book  Click here.