Does every man get a wonderful wife?
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Barring an exception or two, all the men in this collection seem to be happily married and shower wholesome praise on their better half. The narrative spans three generations. The stories are varied, mostly drawn from the middle class, some more appealing than the others.
Planning mayhem in Mumbai: A new view of 26/11
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The real truth behind the planning and preparation of 26/11 may never be known, but the duo present a most plausible reconstruction of it, though admitting that "at the end of it all, we knew what had happened and in what sequence and like all events there were some things which we could prove and some things that we could not. This narrative is a combination of verifiable facts and a professional's estimate of what happened and how".
Not-so-common wisdom for today's Aam Aadmi
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Sometimes it is the more simple, the uncommon "common" sense and sometimes counter-intuitive advice, presented almost informally rather than a diktat, that proves to be the best.
Religiosity must give way to spirituality
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The book makes for powerful reading, more so the interviews Agnivesh gave at different points of time and which figure towards the end. But there are concepts in the book that are difficult to digest.
The unbelievable psychology of conspiracy theories
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Is it the Illuminati? The Priory of Sion? The New World Order? A powerful bureaucracy, business corporation or media? All of them? No, it something more powerful - and inescapable.
How a pacifist religion became warrior-like
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Dhillon admits that the Sikh history he is unveiling is not new. Yet, in re-telling a story that is known, Dhillon - who taught English for 47 long years -- proves he is a great storyteller.
From Athens to Silicon Valley, a quest to understand genius
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Weiner's conclusions include genius being simple/nothing new/expensive/ practical/ chaotic/unintentional/contagious/weak, and requiring conducive social, political and economic conditions, which may not be very expected (freedom but not necessarily democracy, not too plenty or many choices, and tension and disruption can be useful).
How a rural caste elite became urban, modern middle class
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The Tamil Brahmans have also changed in many other ways. Although they tend to marry within the community, Iyers (or Shaivites) are seen as less conservative than Iyengars (or Vaishnavites).
All the world's a stage - for Shakespeare
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These are the issues that theatre critic, Shakespeare scholar and writer Andrew Dickson painstakingly deals with in this book, the outcome of a travel to six countries on four continents - and spanning 400 years.
Witnessing history, writing a new literary story
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The problem arises since the expectation that the author "would take the centrestage and be the hero of this story" is belied since Sahni is willing to "share the light with almost everyone else".
