book

Profiling Anuradha Bhagwati: First south Asian woman US Marine Corps Officer

At 24, Anuradha Bhagwati, become the first south Asian woman officer in the history of the US Marine Corps. At the time, the Yale graduate, daughter of eminent economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Padma Desai was proud to join the elite military force.

Image result for anuradha bhagwati marine

Bhagwati’s famous parents pushed her hard to be a good Indian girl and conform to the desi diaspora’s norms, but she rebelled.

Image result for anuradha bhagwati marine

Anuradha recounts in Unbecoming: A Memoir of Disobedience,

Yet once training begins, Anuradha’s G.I. Jane fantasy is punctured. As a bisexual woman of color in the military, she faces underestimation at every stage, confronting misogyny, racism, and astonishing injustice perpetrated by those in power. Pushing herself beyond her limits, she also wrestles with what exactly drove her to pursue such punishment in the first place.

Once her service concludes in 2004, Anuradha courageously vows to take to task the very leaders and traditions that cast such a dark cloud over her time in the Marines. Her efforts result in historic change, including the lifting of the ban on women from pursuing combat roles in the military.

Bhagwati’s book has also received rave reviews from critics:

“While reading a book to review, it’s usually useful to fold over a page’s corner to make it easy to come back, to reflect on each noteworthy passage…But then you find yourself folding down the next page, and another, and another, until more than half the book is folded down, rendering the tactic useless as a reference but testimony to the story’s potency.”
—Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Bhagwati’s book stands out most as a chronicle of overcoming psychological trauma…The book is at its most powerful when she writes about who she became in response to the violence the military trained her to commit.”
—New York Times Book Review

Image credits and more about Bhagwati on the website

#BookReview: Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook

Here we present a review of new book ‘Transit Lounge’ by Myra Gupta .

Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook: Top 100 Indian Slow Cooker Recipes from Restaurant Classics to Innovative Modern Indian Recipes All Easily Made At Home in a Slow Cooker

Indian cuisine is widely acknowledged to be among the very best in the world. Now you can make all of the top Indian dishes at home in your own kitchen! From classic Indian dishes served in restaurants around the globe, to innovative fusion dishes that exemplify modern India on a plate, you are guaranteed to enjoy this curated collection of amazing Indian meals. This complete guide to cooking authentic Indian food at home empowers you to become a true master of Indian cuisine, even if you’ve never stepped food in South Asia.

You’ll learn what spices work best for bringing out the natural flavors of popular Indian ingredients, as well as the techniques employed by the most discerning Indian cooks, from international superstar Indian chefs, to the most experienced home-cooks in Mumbai.

The best part is that these recipes are easy to prepare at home in your slow cooker. The slow cooker is one of the healthiest appliances you can use to cook at home, and its “low and slow” style of one pot cooking lends itself perfectly to the demands of top-notch Indian cuisine. With 100 recipes there is something for everyone, from quick and spicy lunch dishes for one, to elaborate Indian feasts for the whole family, you’ll be equipped with everything you need to produce truly world class Indian meals at home every night of the week. The Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook is your all-in-one resource for enjoying the very best of South Asia wherever you are in the world!
This Indian Slow Cooker Cookbook contains:

100 Easy to Follow Recipes using ingredients that are easily found at your local grocery store and that are ideal for cooking in your slow cooker – each with complete nutritional information
Healthy and Delicious Indian Food For Every Occasion organized into chapters including Lentils, Beans, Peas, Vegetables, and Meat dishes
A Complete Overview of Indian cuisine detailing the essential information you need to know to master the very best dishes India has to offer
Handy Charts and Indexes so all the information you need is at your fingertips

——————————————————————————————

Review by our Editor on Amazon: “Yet another cookbook for DIY on Indian Cuisine”

I happened to come across the book while reviewing recent Kindle publications and was intrigued: was this yet another cookbook on Indian cuisine?

The title of the book is a mouthful though it describes what it is all about “Top 100 Indian Slow Cooker Recipes from Restaurant Classics to Innovative Modern Indian Recipes All Easily Made At Home in a Slow Cooker.” The sections of book are well written and follow a predictable format:
– Time to cook
– Basic ingredient list
– Recipe
– and ends with informative tips on calories, fat, Carbs, Sugar, Protein and Cholesterol

A+ for painstaking collation of information. Perhaps a few pictures of the dishes would be a nice addition.

Book Review: Transit Lounge

Here we present a review of new book ‘Transit Lounge’ by Sunil Mishra.

Transit Lounge is a contemporary book consisting of short incidents, observations and reflections while travelling to 30 countries across six different continents during the last 15 years.

The book is a personal account of travels to places in Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and Mauritius), South America (Venezuela and Argentina), Asia (China, Iran, Kuwait, UAE, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka,Malaysia and Thailand), Europe (UK, France, Italy,Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Georgia,Turkey, Croatia and Romania), USA, Australia and New Zealand.

It was interesting to observe all these different cultures and people from an Indian perspective. The book is a compilation of small incidents and events during such travels; it includes losing an air ticket, dealing with difficult custom officials or getting mugged in a prime location in a foreign country.”

Review by our Editor on Amazon: “An entertaining and readable travelogue”

An adage – join the navy and see the world – applies in equal measure to this generation of Indian IT professionals who have gone global. Sunil Mishra has leveraged such an opportunity to capture the essence of his travels in the newly published book in which he collates his observations of cultures and people from a distinctly Indian perspective.

The fast-paced narrative is sprinkled with anecdotes and humor that seamlessly ties together his views into a readable book. He shrugs at incidents where he had to bribe customs officials and security guards, turning to humor; perhaps reflecting on his Indian background where such incidents are par for the course. In his narrative, the author also attempts to review the geopolitical and economic aspects of the countries he visited.

Sunil makes a point of ‘cookie cutter’ customer service he experiences at hotels and airlines, a fact that intrigues the frequent traveler in me. With all the choices of airlines, he continues to patronize Indian national carrier, Air India, more than a few times while observing its ‘declining ranking.’ Equally intriguing is the fact that Sunil, the frequent-traveler didn’t get to an ‘elite’ status with his preferred airline or hotel, which would have afforded him the “personal touch” he yearns for. (Perhaps add those tips to the next edition of the book?)

Bottomline: Transit Lounge is a nice, entertaining and readable travelogue.

[Review from a complimentary copy of the book received from the publisher.]

#BookReview – Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Novel

Balli Kaur Jaswal, a writer-in-residence at the University of East Anglia and Nanyang Technological University has third novel Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows (Harper Collins/William Morrow) released internationally in March 2017.

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Novel by [Jaswal, Balli Kaur]

With visions of emancipating the women of the Sikh community she left behind as a self-important teenager, Nikki is shocked to find her creative writing class is a group of barely literate women who have no interest in her ideals of liberation.

To her surprise, the white dupatta of the widow hides more than just their modesty. These are women who have spent their lives in the shadows of fathers, brothers and husbands; being dutiful, raising children and going to temple, but whose inner lives are as rich and fruitful as their untold stories.

East meets west and tradition clashes with modernism in a thought-provoking cross-cultural novel that might make you look again at the women in your life

Amazon review OUR EDITOR

The title of the book is a bit of a misnomer. While there is certainly some description of eroticism and sexual desire, Jaswal uses the theme of ‘Erotic stories’ as a catalyst for a glimpse into the imaginative minds hidden behind white dupattas of Southhall Sikh widows.

The novel begins with an introduction of the protagonist, Nikki, a law-school dropout who is trying to find her calling in life by bartending. Nikki tries to help with her sister’s matchmaking quest by making a trip to the Gurudwara in Southhall to post her matrimonial advert, and is amused to read other tacky adverts.

The author builds Nikki’s character with liberal doses of the clichéd desi issues: arranged marriage, gossip and conflicts that second-generation Non-Resident Indians face while trying to meet their parent’s expectations of life and career choices.

Those like me into this genera will find this an enjoyable East-West Mix.

Book Review: Read Rudyard Kipling’s classics for Free (Kindle eBooks)

Indian Tales Kindle Edition by Rudyard Kipling

The Kindle edition of this book is now available for Free download (as of October 2017)

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English short-story writer, poet, and novelist, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1907. His children’s books are classics of children’s literature and his books include The Jungle Book and the Just So Stories. Kipling’s classics have been required reading for generations of Indian students.

This eBook was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web.

Review by our Editor on Amazon: “Read Kipling’s classics for Free!”

This is a great read, especially since it is available for Free download!”

This collection includes the following Kipling short-stories

The finest story in the World
With the Main Guard
Wee Willie Winkie
The Rout of the White Hussars
At Twenty-Two
The courting of Dinah Shadd
The story of Muhammad Din
In Flood time
My own true ghost story
The Big drunk Draf’
By Word of Mouth
The Drums of the Fore and Aft
The sending of Dana Da
On the City Wall
The broken-link handicap
On Greenhow Hill
To be filled for reference
The man who would be king
The Gate of Hundred Sorrows
The Incarnation of Krishna Mulvaney
His Majesty the King
The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes
In the House of Suddhoo
Black Jack
The taking of Lungtungpen
The Phantom Rickshaw
On the strength of a Likeness
Private Learoyd’s Story
Wesssley of the Foreign office
The solid Muldoon
The Three Musketeers
Beyond the Pale
The god from the Machine
The daughter of the Regiment
The madness of private Ortheris
L’envoi

Book Review: ‘Hit Refresh’ by Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella

This is not yet another CEO’s ghost written tome

It is almost customary of tech CEO’s to write a book to to clarify their viewpoints, and also to solidify their personal legacies. The new book by Indian born CEO of tech giant Microsoft, Satya Nadella, does just this.

Indians, Indian-Americans and NRIs have been closely watching the ascend of Indian born technologists like Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai to top of multinational tech companies. There are several nuggets of wisdom that readers are sure to glean from Satya Nadella’s new book.

Amazon book review by our editor, Mohan

It is a time-honed tradition among tech CEO’s and executives to pen down a biography. The intent is generally multifold – to use it as a vehicle to clarify their viewpoints, and also to solidify their personal legacies. Nadella’s book follows the pattern of his mentor Bill Gates’ bestseller “Business @ the Speed of Thought” that tried to make sense of the seismic changes during the earlier dot.com era. This book takes us through Microsoft’s transformation through the digital-cloud era.

Hit Refresh, as the title suggests, is Nadella’s attempt to take us through his company’s ongoing transformation to ‘refresh’ the strategy, and his quest to “Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul.” A soul that essentially encompasses everything from the culture to competitive landscape and industry partnerships. Of course, corporate watchers and researchers are bound to wonder if a company really has a “soul.”

As a blogger who continually pursues South Asian ‘success stories,’ I have been following Nadella’s journey and his ascend to the top of American multinational is an inspiration to a generation of Indian Americans. In the book, Nadella takes us through the journey in his own words: from his childhood in India to the CEO of a Tech giant, that makes for an interesting read.

The book concludes with Nadella’s vision for the coming wave of digitization and explores its potential impact on society. Techies and students of business strategy are sure to find nuggets of insights in the book.

Bottomline: Nadella gives writer Greg Shaw full credit as a co-author – and the tone and themes in the chapters certainly reflect that of Microsoft’s leader.

According to the blurb, this is an attempt by Microsoft’s CEO to take us through

“the inside story of the company’s continuing transformation, tracing his own personal journey from a childhood in India to leading some of the most significant technological changes in the digital era. As much a humanist as engineer and executive, Nadella concludes with his vision for the coming wave of intelligent technologies and a distinct call to action for leaders everywhere. Hit Refresh is about individual change, about the transformation happening inside of Microsoft and the technology that will soon impact all of our lives–the arrival of the most exciting and disruptive wave of technology humankind has experienced: artificial intelligence, mixed reality, and quantum computing.It’s about how people, organizations, and societies can and must transform “hit refresh” in their persistent quest for new energy, new ideas, and continued relevance and renewal. At its core, it’s about us humans and how our one unique quality–empathy–will become ever more valuable in a world where technological advancement will disrupt the status quo as never before. Satya Nadella explores a fascinating childhood before immigrating to the US and how he learned to lead along the way.”

Book Review “I Do What I Do” – Does a green card make you less Indian?

Does a green card make you less Indian?

Names like Raghuram Rajan, Arvind Pangariya et al. are role models for the global Indian diaspora. They also happen to be globalized intellectuals with impeccable credentials, stellar education backed by real world experience.

Former Governor of the Indian Reserve bank, Raghuram Rajan (wikipedia) has decided to speak out his legacy of 3 years in India with the launch of his recent book “I Do What I Do.” One aspect that continues to resurface in the media is the question of his “Indianness,” which is attributable to the fact that he has spent much of his working life abroad.

Questions on his “Indianness,” sometimes puts the an otherwise articulate intellectual, Mr. Rajan on the defensive. This continues to be a part of the rhetoric despite his impeccable educational credentials that include a bachelors degree from the prestigious IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. Having a global background like these also means they are unencumbered by trivialities like visas and immigration restriction that may apply to rest of the junta.

The book has received a lot of media hype in India though the global Amazon.com website has a couple of reviews. Extract of the Amazon Review from our editor:

Former Governor of the Indian Reserve bank, Raghuram Rajan has decided to speak out about his legacy of 3 years in India with the launch of his recent book “I Do What I Do.”

After browsing through the book, I am left wondering about the media hype the book launch received in India. The book is a compilation of his public speeches with a preface and notes added to clarify and explain his thinking during the period. Mr. Ranaj received a superstar welcome on his recent homecoming for the book-launch and has received sufficient media airtime that he has leveraged craftily.

You should consider buying a copy of the book only if you need a handy reference to Mr Rajan’s speeches; else you are better off referencing these speeches from the public domain on the web.

Other book reviews and media references:

I am Raghuram Rajan…I do what I do: RBI Governor after rate cut – Indian Express
My name is Raghuram Rajan, I do what I do: Top quotes by RBI guv – Hindustan Times
Reading Raghuram Rajan: ‘I Do What I Do’ – Times of India
I Do What I Do: Raghuram Rajan endorses an idea that is spoken in hushed tones – India Today
Raghuram Rajan is back with I Do What I Do – Rediff
How and why do top intellectuals go back to teaching jobs? – Blog post on Raghuram Rajan going back to academia

Book Review: Stories from Tagore

This kindle edition of stories by Rabindranath Tagore was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. Rabindranath Tagore (1861 1941), is to the Indian subcontinent what Shakespeare is to the English-speaking world. A poet, playwright, painter, and educator, Tagore was also a mystic of great complexity and depth. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.

Review from our editor, Sujatha, on Amazon

I happened to chance on Tagore’s classic listed for Kindle’s and decided to check it out, especially since I had read some of his stories years ago. This edition of “Stories from Tagore” is a collection of classics from the master.

Novel laurate Rabindranath Tagore’s writing has shaped and transformed Indian literature, and has been an inspiration for generations. The stories in this collection cover a broad spectrum of themes and includes classics like the Cabuliwallah and Subha. These tales from generations ago which continue to enlighten contemporary readers.

About the author: Rabindranath Tagore was a Nobel Laureate for Literature (1913) as well as one of India’s greatest poets and the composer of independent India’s national anthem, as well as that of Bangladesh. He wrote successfully in all literary genres, but was first and foremost a poet, publishing more than 50 volumes of poetry. He was a Bengali writer who was born in Calcutta and later traveled around the world. He was knighted in 1915, but gave up his knighthood after the massacre of demonstrators in India in 1919.

You may also be interested in other recent book review (link) | You may also be interested in the Books section of GaramChai

Book Review: Children’s book ‘We Are One’

‘We Are One’ is a nice book that celebrates diversity in America, especially focused on South Asian toddlers and kids.

Pinky Mukhi, like many Indian mothers in North America began fielding questions from her curious toddler. While answering the questions, the Indian American author was inspired to convert the idea into an illustrated children’s book.

Book Blurb: After Mintu invites his friends over for dinner, he decides he might have made a mistake. He thinks he’s too different from his friends and that they won’t like the same food as his family. Will his mom and friends be able to change his mind?
Sure to instill pride in children for their own food, language, and culture, We Are One is an inspiring story that will lead to a meaningful dialogue with children of all ages.ISBN: 978-1-63177-847-6

Book review:

‘We Are One’ is a nice children’s book that celebrates diversity in America, especially focused on South Asian toddlers and kids.

The protagonist in the simple story, Mintu is curious and observant, and nothing misses his eyes. He wants to be a soccer player. However, Mintu also realizes that he is different from his American friends. His parents spoke Gujarati at home and his mother made parathas .

Mintu was planning to invite his friends home and was concerned his friends would find him strange for liking parathas. “It smelled, looked, and tasted different from the foods he saw his friends eat.” The narrative builds on from this point with a nice happy ending.

Inspiration for the book

We asked the author, Pinky for her motive behind writing the book:

“I am Indian Mother of a six-year-old curious and observant boy who finds his food, language and culture different from his friends at school and discusses these differences with me at home. He also at times feels food shame. I have written this Children’s book which deals with cultural and physical differences and reveals the secret of oneness despite the differences.”

Publisher: Mascot Books | Book’s Facebook page

Indian-American Book Review

Book Review: Captain Riddle’s Treasure

Here is a review of a recent book by Indian American author GV Rama Rao, a retired Commander of the Indian Navy.

Review from Amazon

The young-adult fiction, “Captain Riddle’s treasure” an interesting book that children and their parents are bound to enjoy. In the book, Rao skillfully weaves humor and action to keep readers engaged.

The story is that of three kids who have been punished for fighting with their siblings. Banished by the Night Fairy to a deserted island, they must find their way back home using their wits.

Rao draws on his seafaring experiences to imagine the adventures the children might encounter during a voyage onboard a one-of-a-kind ship. The book also has a healthy dose of pirates, leprechauns, a fire-spewing dragon, a knight astride a lion, and the Night Fairy herself; enough to keep any child imagining the art of the possible.

An engaging story for young-adults and their parents alike
-Amazon Review

More details of the book on GaramChai.com | You may also be interested in the Books section of GaramChai