Author: manuscrypts

  • Daemon

    Daniel Suarez

    OMFG! That was one fantastic ride!

    An obituary of a genius gaming tycoon gets published, a program, or rather a complex logic tree system, is activated, and it begins its not-so-slow journey of taking over the world! The concept of a person infiltrating and controlling (and even micromanaging) people, events and corporations, after his death, doesn’t seem as far fetched once you get on this roller-coaster of a book.

    The immense tech knowledge that the author clearly possesses, meshes with a worldview that I definitely could relate to, and is nuanced with some very humane moments. It is as much a commentary of technology’s impact on society and individuals as it is an absolutely racy thriller that paces itself superbly. Pretty much an MMORPG set in the real world! What’s interesting is that at a certain point, it becomes very difficult to decide what the villain is – the Daemon or the government-military-industrial-corporation nexus that it seeks to destroy. The characters that fight for and against the Daemon are also an interesting bunch, with their own complex backstories, and sense of loyalty.
    I thought this would be classified as cyberpunk, but apparently there is a thing called post-cyberpunk. Whatever it is, I can’t wait to read the second part of this amazing story!

    P.S. Somewhere in between, the author also manages to explain the reason for evolution deciding on sex as a means of reproduction! Fantastic stuff there too!

    Daemon

  • Finn, Tolstoy, and happy families

    “You’ve heard that line about all happy families being the same?”

    “War and Peace”, I said.

    “Anna Karenina, but that’s not the point. The point is, it’s untrue. No family, happy or unhappy, is quite like any other.”

    I read this in The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn recently. I use the Anna Karenina principle quite a bit in many contexts and discussions. In fact, recently, while reading Guns, Germs & Steel, I realised he had used this framing too. To put it simply, there are x number of conditions that definitely need to be met for something to succeed. The ‘something’ could be anything from origin of life to economical supremacy, and the ‘x’ conditions would change with that context. But in a given context, only those who fulfill all the x conditions will succeed.

    Naturally, as a believer, I was miffed by Finn’s (character’s) statement. But, could he be right?

    As I write this, D and I are a day away from celebrating 21 years of being together, 15 of them in a married state. Speaking of state, Kerala in the late 90s and early noughties, much like other non-metros in India, wasn’t friendly to intimacy or dating. In fact, the reaction to our relationship was actually a combination of the two – intimidating! Especially since a couple of religions were involved. Anyhow, here we are, 21 years later – happy.

    The stage was set for a thought experiment. Are we happy in the same way other couples are? I’d think not. I don’t really have data, so I will use  a simple non social-media-posturing observation. There are a lot of happy families with kids.* We chose not to succumb to that genetic pressure. So we’re different from other happy families. Does that mean Finn is right, and Tolstoy was wrong?

    I think it just isn’t as binary as that. Tolstoy was right because if one figured out the conditions that need to be met for a happy marriage, I have a feeling the successful couples would be meeting them (children most likely will not feature in that list). Finn is right too, because the way in which the couples met them would be drastically different from each other.

    In any case, I don’t think we have found an objective framing of happiness to begin with!

    *There is interesting data (Google searches and experiments) to show how “kids bring happiness” is just belief transmission for evolution’s needs and not the truth it is portrayed to be. But people have their own narratives of what happiness is, so I’ll leave it at that. 

  • Punjabi By Nature 2.0

    Half a dozen years ago, we had visited Punjabi by Nature in Koramangala and really liked it. When we moved to Whitefield, we were happy to find one here as well, but that was such a bad experience that I don’t think I even wrote about it. That was why a visit to the new outlet named Punjabi By Nature 2.0 was warranted. This is on the 4th floor of the Park Square Mall, next to the food court. The decor elements are definitely of a different style from the original – more modern, vibrant and colourful. But the terrace section was what we loved the most, especially the bar stool seating along the edges that offered us a fantastic view! One of the factors that guarantees a repeat visit from us.

    We decided to try the Hefeweizen and the Blonde Ale. The first was the standard german wheat and fairly decent, though it didn’t really have the banana and clove flavour it promised. I really liked the Blonde Ale – balanced the malt very well and went down smoothly. We wanted to try the Marzen too but that wasn’t available. Only 3 out of the 5 craft beers were.

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  • Murder in Mahim

    Jerry Pinto

    “Em and the Big Hoom” is a favourite book largely thanks to how sensitively Jerry Pinto deals with the issue of a person’s mental health and its impact on their near and dear. Murder in Mahim, in terms of premise, is vastly different and as the title would suggest, a murder mystery. But once again, it is the sensitivity that the author displays in treating both the subject and the subjects that takes it beyond other fare in the genre.

    It would be unfair to compare this to his previous work simply because of the massive genre shift. I also feel that it might not have worked simply as a murder mystery because once the plot progresses, second guessing becomes rather easy. Two things worked in its favour. The pace of the narrative is tight. The author doesn’t stretch any suspenseful plot points beyond its worth, and in that sense, respects the reader’s smarts. The other part is the nuanced detailing. A subculture of Bombay truly comes to life in the book. (yes, I recognise the irony here) The author makes the effort to get the reader to empathise with the characters and their complexities. That goes for the city too – as represented by its people and places, and even the time of the day when it is seen.  (more…)

  • Byg Brewski Brewing Company

    The first Brewsky that happened to me was the one in JP Nagar, a long while ago. That was a review for Bangalore Mirror and I never really managed to taste the brew. The second was on Sarjapur Road where I did manage to taste the brew(s) but left with a what’s-this-place feeling. Mostly because I couldn’t accommodate grandparents, kids running around, and a dirty pool with fishes – all within a microbrewery – in my mind! I also remember them claiming the place was full only to find entire sections being empty once I got inside! I am happy to report that in the world of Brewsky, there is some consistency. Oh wait, the spelling! Numerology apart, I remember one of the owners correcting my pronunciation to brew + sky during the first visit. Going by that logic, this one could be about water skiing – the waterbody is fairly large. I didn’t see snow, but the place is huge enough for me to have missed it.

    In fact, it reminded me of Hoot and MTV Grind. But much, much larger. I would have said much, much lager but the brewery isn’t running yet. But since we had traveled to Hennur, we decided to endure. The standard procedure was followed – we were told that the place was full (at 5.45 PM on a Saturday) and asked to wait at the bar. The place was crowded but we could see entire sections empty. In less than half an hour we were told that a table was available but we were fairly comfortable where we were, and didn’t want to risk getting wet in case it rained. It was also a great place to watch the crowd – mostly posh locals, no kids. Other than the ones who are probably still in college, of that kind there were many.

    To be fair, the place is overall quite pretty, especially so when sunlight is out of the scene.

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    Most of the fancy drinks weren’t available, so we finally settled on an Old Fashioned and a Binky Burrow. A good time to mention that it took a long frustrating while to get the initial attention from the service staff, but once we got going, it was much better! The Old Fashioned was stronger than my usual, and the sweetness was between subtle and nothing, but I enjoyed it. D’s drink had strawberry and carrot flavours added to a Bacardi Carta Blanca and “topped with bubbles”. That last part wasn’t visible but did come out in terms of taste. D didn’t much care for the flavours though I thought they weren’t bad.

    The Calcutta Club Chicken Cutlets managed the textures well and had really soft chicken. The kasundi mustard sauce was the perfect complement. Cheap wafers could have been better though! The stir-fried beef chili lived up to the spice promise, and would be a perfect beef companion.

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    In contrast, the Naga Pork Baos were absolutely mild. The pork itself was fine, but the Naga chili zing was completely missing. Not to be outdone, we decided to try a Pigs in a Blanket pizza, which promised more pork with onions and quail eggs. It would have been a good dish if only they had managed the salt consistency better. And finally, the most interesting dessert we found was the Kaveri Mud Cake – mud cake, mousse and a custard topping. This was really delicious.

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    The card was damaged to the extent of around Rs.2750. We aren’t going back, not even for the brew. But that’s mostly because of the distance. This is probably worth at least one trip if only to see how large the place is!

    Byg Brewski Brewing Company, 22/123, Byrathi Village, Bidarahalli Hobli, Hennur, Ph: 080 39514766