Author: manuscrypts

  • The Story of Philosophy

    Will Durant

    “Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom”, states Will Durant in the introduction to this book that chronicles the lives and opinions of Western philosophers from Socrates to John Dewey. The idea behind this book is to make philosophy accessible to the layman, and as one among the intended audience, I can say that it does a fantastic job of it!

    There are nine chapters each dedicated to a philosopher, and two additional ones that capture the thoughts (in lesser detail) of three European and three American contemporary philosophers. (the book was published in 1924, so ‘contemporary’ is actually almost a century away) One of the great aspects of this book is how it manages to give the milieu in which the philosophers operated – both the socio-political contexts and the influences of his predecessors.

    This gives a wonderful flow to the overall narrative and gives the reader a kind of seamless path of thought. The effect of their personal lives on their thinking has also been well captured. (more…)

  • Privilege & Currency

    I read a remarkable set of tweets sometime back on the subject of privilege by @eveewing. She rightly pointed out that it is fairly easy to acknowledge privilege, but reparations are far more difficult. Writing about it, by that measure, is the easiest thing to do, but be that as it may….

    I had written about privilege a while back, and used the framework from Breaking Smart – socio economic, cultural and cognitive kinds. The tweets I’d mentioned above are related mostly to the first kind – socio economic – and this is indeed the most visible around. But a recent experience made me think of it a little beyond that. (more…)

  • Horn OK Please

    First published in Bangalore Mirror

    The last thing you need on 100 feet Road Indiranagar is a signage that proclaims “Horn OK Please”, but hey, that’s what the new restaurant and bar is called. What adds to the twist is that it is right below the very musical sounding B Flat & Highnote. (map) True to its name, you hear the place before you see it. As you step out of the lift, you are greeted with the sounds of a Bollywood remix, and that’s one of the décor themes as well. Reworded Bollywood titles – Brosnan in Dabond executed superbly on a corrugated sheet, Rajinikanth in Endiranator and so on. Stallone would punch someone if he was saw ‘Rocky Rocky Rocky Sawant’, but it does deliver the LOL. The rest of the décor – bright an vibrant colours, truck art, lanterns and some of the seating – makes you think of a stylised dhaba. One element that really deserves a mention is the wordplay on the menu – from Palak Dikhla Ja to Skewer ka Baccha to Pathar Late Than Never, the pages are packed with puns that add a fun element to standard dishes.

    collage1 (more…)

  • Consumer-facing AI : Phase One

    Since the launch of the Messenger Platform and bots, (a handy summary by Mashable) the world has had a lot to say about this move by Facebook – ranging from “fantastic start” to “frustrating and useless“. Somewhere in the middle probably lies the truth. Facebook is, of course, not the only player in this specific game – to name a few, Slack, Telegram, Kik all are at it! A more elaborate representation of the landscape can be found here.

    Somewhere in all this hype is a little grain of truth. For instance, two (plus one) trends, as explained in this post by MG Siegler, are pretty evident – the rise of messaging, app saturation and the increasing application of AI/machine learning. Bots are well placed in the intersection of these three. (more…)

  • The Girl from Nongrim Hills

    Ankush Saikia
    I must admit a little bias before I write more. For one, it is set in Shillong, which despite a visit that didn’t deliver what it was supposed to, retains a wistful, charming space in my mind, mostly thanks to one Anjum Hasan. Also, the book is written by Ankush Saikia, whose Jet City Woman I quite liked, and who is now an Instagram friend. 🙂
    I finished the book in less than three days, and would have finished it in one sitting if I hadn’t exercised some self control! That is a testament to its racy narrative, which just doesn’t flag in all of the 200+ pages. I thought it was just the right material for a slick flick.

    (more…)