This blogpost is inspired by my experiences of observing teaching processes in secondary school classrooms. Over a period of years I have observed the general tendency for teacher educators to repeatedly emphasise not relying on the textbook in the classroom. In sharp contrast lies the somewhat archaic method of teaching by reading and underlining text…
The Unknown Indians (People who Quietly Explored the World) Subhadra Sen Gupta 2016 Rupa pp. 83 This is the first time that I have come across Gupta’s writings and I am left wondering why. Maybe because I have long stopped spending time in sections carrying books for children. When we think of books for children,…
My Husband and Other Animals Janaki Lenin 2012 Westland pp. 282 The book is a collection of anecdotes based on her life experiences with, well, her husband and other animals. I had never imagined living in harmony with nature would be like this. And although it sounds charming, I don’t think I have the courage…
Coma Robin Cook 1977 Little Brown pp. 306 Coma is a medical thriller about a series of patients going mysteriously into coma. It is one of Cook’s earlier books and his passion for pursuing socially relevant issues in the practice of medicine is clear in the book. When otherwise perfectly healthy people, admitted for routine…
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions Edwin A. Abbott 1884 Seeley & Co. The novella is written from the perspective of a fictional character, a Square, living in a Flatland a land of only two dimensions. The story is a satire on the Victorian culture and the social structure therein. However, it is also a…
All That Could Have Been (Humari Adhuri Kahaani) Mahesh Bhatt with Suhrita Sengupta 2015 Speaking Tiger pp. 142 I picked up this book looking at Mahesh Bhatt’s name and for all the months that I have had it, I was quite sure it was his biography. It was ten pages into the book that I…
Marker Robin Cook 2005 Pan Macmillan pp. 592 After a long time, I have really enjoyed reading one of Cook’s work. Reading Marker reminded me of why I had started reading Robin Cook in the first place. It has mystery, it has medicine, it has all the makes of a good thriller. It is always…
30 09 2018 Gulati, N. (2018). Aankhein Munde Kabutar: Yaunikta ki Abhivyati. Paathshala- Bheetar aur Baahar, 1 (1): 43-55. The paper begins with a discussion on a July 2017 incident of a young boy being restricted from sitting in class XII boards post his hugging a peer in the school. The ensuing discussion in the…
Cracking the Code- My Journey in Bollywood Ayushmann Khurana & Tahira Kashyap 2015 Rupa pp. 158 I am not a movie buff and I am not an aspiring actor. I do not get inspired to read biographies of famous people. Yet, I picked up Khurana’s (& Tahira’s) book. This should be an indication that I…
Abduction Robin Cook 2000 PanMacmillan pp. 400 Abduction is a fictional account of the abduction of five undersea explorers into an alternate world that exists inside earth. The interterrains, as they call themselves, are far more ancient and simultaneously far more advanced that the humans inhabiting surface earth. In terms of the narrative, the first…
