The Statistical Anomaly

The Statistical Anomaly


To the gang who keeps Church street clean,
day after day.
To the traffic policeman who was there at 6 am,
at that chaotic junction close to my office
To the guy who covered the three potholes
near my house,
To the auto driver who agreed to charge metered fare,
irrespective of my destination,
Take a bow, i salute you.
You are now a rare breed of people,

who work efficiently, with ownership and with dignity,

with pride.

But i hate to break this to you,

You are now a statistical anomaly.

To the one who held the trash in his hand,
until he found a trash bin.
To the one who controlled the pee pressure,
cause a public space ain't the place.
To the driver who drove on the left lane,
because he was slower than the rest.
To the commuter who got up from his seat,
on seeing that old man.

To everyone who refused to pay a bribe,

To anyone who refused to accept a bribe.

I know you know this but please listen

You did the right thing, you are a hero.

They said - "Everybody else is doing it! "

"Not me", you told everyone. 

There will not be any brave tales to tell your deeds,

no songs will be sung in your honor. 

But don't be bothered. 

I know it. You know it.

You are now a statistical anomaly.

To that dude who thought it was cool,

to jump a red light,

to talk inside a movie theater,

to come late to a concert,

to smoke weed,

to drink and drive. 

Grow up! 

You are a burden, you are a shame,

on me, my people and my culture.

You do not belong here, 

You are a statistical anomaly.

To the one who volunteered to mentor

a stranger's kid

To the teacher who teaches in a tribal area

by his own choice,

To those villagers who planted trees,
every time a girl was born,
To anyone who left his high paying job,
for doing what he believed in
To all those who ran a full marathon,
because you believed in a cause.
Kudos to you!
You are my inspiration, you are my hope.
I am glad you exist, even though
you are a statistical anomaly.

The Spy who came from the cold

The Spy who came from the cold

By John Le Carre.

Imagine that you are reading the best spy fiction novel out there and wondering - why? Am i not getting it or what? Why is this so special? This loser protagonist who is just ranting that what he did throughout his life has been a failure - how could this novel be so exceptional to be picked by Time as one of the All time Top 100 novels (since 1922). Yet it is and this is exactly how i felt while i was reading the book, up until 80%. 

There are two points here - One. In order for a book to be judged the best spy fiction novel, you have to compare it with other spy fiction novels (famous being James Bond series) and then declare that this one wins. Unfortunately this was my first novel in this genre. So, i had no notes of comparison. Second, when you think of a spy, because of popular fiction out there (again, in particular James Bond), they are so much ingrained with fiction, in terms of spy being a perfect hero, the philanderer where girls are falling over, the dashing hero with fancy gadgets and car, that you seem to believe that it must be true even when you know that it is impossible. 

Thus, when you have pre-conceived notions about a genre mostly by the new age media such as Burn notice, Spy game and James bond series. Along comes a novel that provides a realistic portrayal of the genre, a novel that provides the human side of things - that spies are regular people who are disillusioned,  they often find it difficult to switch between their true identity and the one they are trying to pretend. Spies who find it difficult follow any ideology, who find it difficult to fall in love, have trust issues etc etc. This is what The Spy who came from the cold gives us - a fine grained close view of a life of a spy who is playing and getting played at the same time. It takes some time to realize this but in the end, when all the plots are revealed, you get a sense of the entire story and now it all makes sense. 

I picked this one after watching Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and instantly fascinated by Gary Oldman's portrayal of George Smiley. A few searches later, i got to know about this one and when it was called the best, i just had to go through it. I felt cheated when the novel said that it is a George Smiley novel even though George Smiley only comes like on 10 pages. 

But the novel shines in the end, when pieces get together and you know that the player is a pawn and nothing else. I would not re-read this novel, will not put in my top list but it was a good read. It is definitely more realistic than generally other fiction novels that i have read so far. 

The movie review post

Its been a long time since i wrote about the movies that i have seen. Here is a long due one.

Shanghai

Directed by Dibakar Banerjee (of Khosla ka Ghosla fame), Shanghai is his entry to the genre of political thriller. In terms of plot, Shanghai comes out as predictable application of a well known formula in a different problem, in this case the issue of Special Economic Zones. There are activists, corrupt politicians, govt. officers working for corrupt politicians and in dilemmas of their ethics, grass root level local thugs or wanna be thugs who crave for lime light and media reporter who get access to truth by sheer luck. Jaane bhi Do Yarron morphed this plotline into a comedic-satiric take, Rajkumar Santoshi focussed more on the political duplicity, Shanghai mixes to create its own cocktail. What works in its favor is the cleverly engineered screenplay, cinematography and direction. It is definitely engineered, a lot of emphasis on tracking shots with an engaging background score to create tension that runs throughout the movie. The difference between a good and bad movie in this genre is how you can make the audience believe of the magnitude of plunder yet show case the grassroot level details, the trick of balancing the two is the key and Shanghai does a fabulous job. The local goondas are believable, their craving for money, limelight and more power is evident. Right in the first scene you can see them in action by painting black color on a local shop-owner's face.

Shanghai is good but its not excellent. The problem with Shanghai is that even though you know that all that is shown is happening in present day India, yet you realize that it is fiction trying to stand on reality. The movie is not able to transcend itself from fiction to reality because so much is happening to those few characters that it creates an artificial feeling. I remember listening in a DVD commentary of a great film where the director explained that certain scenes were deleted to give a touch of reality even though they were all real. 

But overall Shanghai takes Indian cinema a step closer to where it should be and it is really a good viewing experience. 

Gangs of Wasseypur (part 1) review

My thought while watching the movie - "Kashyap kamina hai".  Even though it is 160 mins, even though it will not be in any of my top lists,  yet this movie deserves to be seen. GOW makes me proud that it is a movie coming out of India, that an Indian has made such a movie. Do you know why?  Because of its sheer creativity, because of what Kashyap is daring to do. He is trying to make a movie about how time affects a town, how things change and yet rivalry is passed down generations and how the finer details are filled with sheer creativity both in terms of story telling or disrupting well defined things such as item numbers.  I do not remember any Indian movie which tries to spans over a 50 year period. All i can think of is those Amitabh movies where something happens in his childhood and ge groups up to take revenge :)

My favorite is the Yashpal Sharma sequence where he presents an item number by lip-syncing to a female voice while standing and wearing a bright red colored lipstick. The male portions of the song are   heard over a dream sequence where two love birds communicate while wearing a dark goggles during night. In another sequence, there is an intense rivalry happening between two strong players, "keh ke lenge",  and yet in the same shot, there is a disco dancer mimic artist dancing to bappi lahiri tunes but with its own lyrics. There is a total hippie fusion band singing about guns and girlfriends in a railway train while the actor is trying to hide guns. Often i found myself asking why is he doing this and the only answer was - "Kyunki Kashyap kamina hai" And you know what is the best part - I liked it. While we are at it, the movie opens up with the Kyunk saas bhi squence which is followed by bullets, bombs and more bullets. Why?

GOW is an ingenious movie, very very creative and is indeed pleasure to watch despite of its length. It is like Inglorious Basterds, very pleasurable to watch, creative and yet it does not feature in top lists of anyone. The part two is awaited dearly by this one. 

(I also watched this one in PVR gold class, so sitting on that lazy boy chairs with food, it adds more the whole experience even though its more expensive)

Vinay Pathak is not King Lear

This was a play not a movie. I had gone to see it for only one reason - Vinay Pathak. I have never read King Lear, yet the desire to see Vinay Pathak in any theater is overwhelming after Blue Mug.  Directed by Rajat Kapoor, VPINKL tries to spoof Shakespeare yet in a Shakesperian way. It is a tragedy, comedy, non-linear and very jumpy. I think my experience would have been much better had i read King Lear but i have heard a few bits about the story, so i had some idea. It is a monologue and it is performed brilliantly by Vinay Pathak (nothing new here) . But yet it does not feel a long lasting impression as one does not fully get what the end goal is or for that matter the theme. Abstraction is good but as long as one can understand the theme, sadly  VPINKL does not do a convincing job at it. 

Justice by Michael Sandel

Justice by Michael Sandel.
A book review.
http://www.justiceharvard.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sandel

Consider a hypothetical scenario when you are in your home and a murderer with the intent of killing everyone in the house walks in. Your friend is hiding somewhere in the house. The murderer asks you if there is anyone else in the house. What should your response be? Should you lie to save your friend? Or should you always speak the truth? Now suppose you are living in an ideal world, there is no greed, everybody is happy, people treat each other with respect, there is fairness, equality and no discrimination and all good things that you can think off in this ideal world. Will your response now be different to the above question? 

Michael Sandel takes several examples, some hypothetical and some based on real life events, to give us an idea of justice, its meaning, its motives and its aims.  In the book, Justice, the author gives an overview of various ideologies (or rather view points) that are proposed to provide a framework for Justice. Every ideology is followed by a discussion on how the ideology is applied,  what are its benefits and then followed by its shortcomings. Both pros and cons are shared with related case studies which makes one think, which makes one apply and it brings out the notion of justice. 

What makes an action Just ?  If i pose this question, the majority answer would be - it depends. But it is not an acceptable answer in a practical world where two different parties can reach to a totally opposite conclusion by following their reasoning.  I strongly believe that there should be objectives that we as a society should strive for and a just action is one that helps us realize that ideal. But what should those ideals be? Michael Sandel explores this question by examining  theories of Utilitarianism, Kant's, Rawls theory of  justice, Aristotle's theory of telos, libertarian , egalitarian and many such principles. 

Justice does a good job in conveying the essence of most theories. It is very accessible to lay men who as it breaks down complex notions into ideas that are quite tangible. Even though it is quite an academic subject, Michael does not come out as didactic. With the help of practical case studies, the listener is forced to think through as Michael observes different explanations. In terms of tone, one can feel the bias of the author while explaining some principles but if you agree with him, like me, it doesn't bother much.  

Coming back to the murderer case described above, a careful observer will object that if there is indeed an ideal world, it will not have any murderer, so that is a contradiction. But that is not the point. The point is that do we all agree that Justice should take us to an ideal world? Should we forgo our principles of speaking truth in case of an extremity. Where does it lead us if we chose such a path? In my personal belief, i regard that the just path is not an easy path. A just path often poses more difficulties in short term but it will pay out in long term. A just decision even though is a hard one, we must still take it because it is the right thing to do. What is a right thing is indeed a big question but i believe that if each one of us imagine an ideal just world, we will all end up to the same world and the right thing is the one that helps us move towards that world. 




Read Justice if you want to know about the leading ideologies that has been practiced till present day.  Read the book if you want to know where you should invest your energy for an in-depth study. The audio books runs little over 6 hrs and is a fabulous way to spend time while commuting to office or going on a long distance road trip. 

Hyderabad

Me: I have never been to Hyderabad.
G:Hmm.
Me: Rathi and co are there, chalna hai?
G:Kab?
Me: When you visit Bangalore next.
G: Chalo.
Me: Done.

And that's how the trip was planned. We boarded the Friday, 8th June Rajdhani. The run up to get its ticket was interesting but not that important to be written as part of this story. With a 30 min buffer, we reached the station with 30 mins to spare, so we decided to check out the Dakshin restaurant at the station. A small average crowded south Indian restaurant, its highlight is that dishes are not prepared in Karnataka style. Seeing the spicy sambhar converted me to have a masala dosa as dinner and skip the Rajdhani meal.

Our stay was arranged by Rathi inside the ISB campus. From Secunderabad, a local train followed by a nice Auto ride through the wide, traffic-less streets of Hi-Tec city brought us to the ISB gates to be stopped by about half a dozen security guards who demanded purpose, proof of our visit. Once that was settled, first thing that you notice once you enter ISB is the tall academia building at its centre and its green open campus. Away from city, away from noise, this academic campus is very well designed making it accessible by foot from anywhere.  The wind tunnel inside the main building brought back the nostalgic memory of my NSIT campus and a self note(If i ever study again in an institute, the mandatory thing to check for is a wind tunnel). And of-course CCD was also present inside the campus.

With no planning, we were faced with deluge of choices in, places to visit, to begin with but eventually decided to check out the Salar Jung museum. After about an hr or so, we were quite tired of looking at the shaan-ho-thaat of the kings. There was a small nook where we found several people gathered together waiting for something to happen, so we joined the crowd, only to find that they were all waiting for a mechanical clock to strike 2. One thing that was interesting was the sheer crowd number that had shown up to visit the museum. A proof that even though people may see it as a recreational place, it is still high in demand and affordable too. If maintained more properly, it can inspire many.

Museum was followed by a leisure walk to Charminaar. On the way i had a lemon soda made from the soda machine by a local redhi-wala, followed by those awesome small triangle samosas and a falooda; All under the brightly shining Hyderabad sun. At Charminar, we no longer could resist to our temptation to have those awesome Badamfalli mangoes. We had our late lunch at the restaurant Paradise which claims to be very authentic Biriyani place. Dinner that night was done at Chutneys after an hr long wait. Both the places were decent but nothing extra-ordinary as their fame.


Next day morning was spent leisurely at the wind tunnel reading (Rather re-reading) the Storm of Swords by GRRM. We decided to chuck all tourist related activities to avoid the Sun and spent the noon in an air-conditioned theater watching the latest Dibakar Banerjee film - Shanghai.


Main Hyderabad city is like any other Indian city  - crowded, noisy, bad drivers and dirty. But the outskirts, the Hi-Tec city, the ISB area etc  appears to be well planned. One can see the big rocks that have been blasted to make way for those glass covered buildings, one can imagine how desolate this land may have been two decades ago,  the vast expanse area may have been considered once inhabitable is now the bed of new IT solutions. 

At ISB, we checked out couple of presentations given by students as part of their bid to win the president elections for General Management. Before one girl's presentation, she is cheered with the same ferocity as you see in a UP elections, only the participants are ISB students and the scale is much smaller. Frankly after what we saw, we were appalled by the crowd and unimpressed by the presentations that we witnessed. Talking to students, it felt that people were not happy by their peers. Faculty was great, campus is good, lectures are enjoyable but peers was a common complaint. People exaggerating in their resumes appeared a common phenomenon. If this is India's answer to a global management institution, it was quite disappointing.






 

Kahat Kabir Suno bhai Sadho - Main vaari jaoon re

तू तू करता तुझ गया
मुझ में रही ना हूँ
वारा फेरी बलि गयी
जित देखूं तित तू
Saying You! You! I became yours, 
no 'I' was left in me
I quit spinning in circles, 
wherever i look, I see You


मैं लगा उस एक से, एक भया सब मांही
सब मेरा मैं सबन का, तहां दूसरा नाहीं
I merged into the One, the One permeated all
All are in me, I am in all, no Other is there

मैं वारी जाऊं रे

I have given up myself

मैं वारी जाऊं रे , बलिहारी जाऊं रे मेरा सतगुरु आंगन आया, मैं वारी जाऊं रे सतगुरु आंगन आया, गंगा गोमती नहाया मेरी निर्मल हो गयी काया, मैं वारी जाऊं रे... सब सखी मिलकर हालो, केसर तिलक लगावो घणे हेत सूं लेवो बधाई, मैं वारी जाऊं रे सतगुरु दर्शन दीन्हा, भाग उदय ही कीन्हा मेरा धरम भरम सब छीना, मैं वारी जाऊं रे सत्संगी बन गयी भारी, मंगला गाऊं चारी मेरी खुली ह्रदय की ताली, मैं वारी जाऊं रे दास नारायण जस गायो, चरणों में सीस निमायो मेरा सतगुरु पार उतारे, मैं वारी जाऊं रे

I am in surrender, I lose my self My true Guru enters my courtyard, I have given up myself Wisdom enters my body, like a holy dip in Ganga Gomti My body feels purified, I have given up myself Friends, Lets get together ! Anoint the Guru with saffron Lovingly celebrate her arrival, I have given up myself My true Guru appeared, My good fortune dawned False religion and delusions have fled, I have given up myself I've become a committed songster, Singing these songs of wisdom The locks in my heart have sprung open, I have given up myself Narayan Das sings your praise, Lays his head at your feet My true Guru gets me across, I have given up myself

Kahat Kabir Suno Bhai sadho - Bahar kyon bhatke?

सब वन तो तुलसी भये और परबत शालिग्राम
सब नदियाँ गंगा भयीं, जब जाना आतम राम 
All forests become holy basil, All mountains sacred stones
All rivers become holy Ganges, When i discovered Ram within



कबीर बहुत भटकिया, मन ले विषय विराम
ढूँढत  ढूँढत  जग मुआ, तिल के ओटे राम
Kabir, you've wandered a lot. Oh mind, take a rest from craving
You searched and searched, an age went by, Ram was under a  sesame seed




माला जपूं ना कर जपूं, मुख से कहूं ना राम
राम हमारा हमें जपे, हम पायो विसराम
I don't turn rosary beads, My lips don't chant "Ram"
My Ram is chanting me, I have found my ease.

बाहर क्यों भटके?

Why go wandering?

थारो राम ह्रदय में, बाहर क्यों भटके? ऐसा ऐसा हीरला घट मां कहीये जौहरी बिना हीरा कौन परखे ? थारो राम ह्रदय में, बाहर क्यों भटके? ऐसा ऐसा घृत दूध मां कहीये बिना झुगिये माखन कैसे निकले ? थारो राम ह्रदय में, बाहर क्यों भटके? ऐसा ऐसा आग लकड़ी मां कहीये बिना घिसिये आग कैसे निकले ? थारो राम ह्रदय में, बाहर क्यों भटके? ऐसा ऐसा किवाड़ हिवडे पर जड़िया गुरु बिना ताला कौन खोले ? थारो राम ह्रदय में, बाहर क्यों भटके? कहें कबीर साह सुनो भाई साधो राम मिले थाणे कौन हटके ? थारो राम ह्रदय में, बाहर क्यों भटके?

Ram's in your heart, Why go wandering? Such rare jewels in your body Without jeweller, who will know their worth? Ram's in your heart, Why go wandering? Such pure Ghee in the milk Without churning, How will the butter emerge? Ram's in your heart, Why go wandering? Such fire in the heart of the twig, Without being struck, how will it ignite? Ram's in your heart, Why go wandering? Such big doors shut over your heart Without the guru, who will open the locks? Ram's in your heart, Why go wandering?  Says Kabir, Listen seekers When you've got Ram, Who can stop you? Ram's in your heart, Why go wandering?

Kahat kabir Suno Mere sadho - Evi Evi sen

ऐवी ऐवी सेण

Such amazing signs

ऐवी ऐवी सेण बताई म्हारे  सतगुरु मुख पर कहयो नहीं जाये, रे साधो हमारे देस में मांई नहीं धरा नहीं गगना नहीं कोई पवन नहीं पानी हमारे देस में मांई नहीं चंदा नहीं सूरज नहीं कोई नव लख तारा हमारे देस में मांई नहीं ब्रह्मा नहीं विष्णु नहीं कोई शंकर देवा हमारे देस में मांई नहीं वेद नहीं गीता नहीं कोई शबद नहीं साखिया हमारे देस में मांई नहीं उगे नहीं आथमे नहीं कोई जन्मे नहीं मरे मंजले मंजले एक संत जई पहुंच्या कबीर संत चढ़यो निरवान

Such amazing signs, My true guru gave me Such that can not be told! Dear friend In my land, there is no earth, no sky Neither wind nor water In my land, there is no sun no moon Nor the nine lakh stars In my land, There is no Brahma, no Vishnu Nor the god Shankar In my country, there is no Ved, no Gita No verse or couplets either In my land, there is no rising, no setting There is no birth or death Step by step, A saint made it there Kabir climbed to freedom

Kahat kabir suno bhai sadho - Yugan Yugan hum Yogi

युगन युगन हम योगी

For ages and ages, I've been a yogi

युगन युगन हम योगी अवधूता, युगन युगन हम योगी आवे ना जाये मिटे ना कबहुं शब्द अनाहत भोगी अवधूता, युगन युगन हम योगी  सब ठौर जमात हमारी सब ठौर पर मेला हम सब मांय, सब हैं हम मांय हम है बहूरी अकेला अवधूता, युगन युगन हम योगी हम ही सिद्धि समाधी हम ही हम मौनी हम बोले रूप सरूप अरूप दिखा के हम ही हम में हम तो  खेले अवधूता, युगन युगन हम योगी कहें कबीरा सुनो भाई साधो नाहीं न कोई इच्छा अपनी मढ़ी में आप मैं डोलूँ खेलूँ सहज स्वइच्छा अवधूता, युगन युगन हम योगी

For ages and ages, I've been a Yogi Oh wanderer, for ages and ages, I've been a Yogi I don't come or go, I never disappear I enjoy the endless sound Oh wanderer, for ages and ages, I've been a Yogi Everywhere I see my community Everywhere i meet with them I'm in all, all are in mine I am alone and together Oh wanderer, for ages and ages, I've been a Yogi I'm the realized one, I'm realization itself I'm silent, I speak I show outer form, inner form, no form I play within myself Oh wanderer, for ages and ages, I've been a Yogi Kabir says, listen friend I have no desire I sway myself in my hut I play simply to please myself Oh wanderer, for ages and ages, I've been a Yogi

Life in Apr 9 - June 3

May came and went just like that, i still cant believe that May is over. Here are the highlights of this installment -

* Attended Bangalore 220 flea market and Soul Sante in May. 220 was great as i got to buy my plates and bowls for a very cheap price. Soul sante was amazing - i bought a solar powered phone charger. I am hoping to carry it on the Kashmir trip to charge my phone/camera. 

Flea Markets in Bangalore -220 and Soul sante

* Aarti visited on her birthday. Together with Mamji, on that weekend went for a Folk it India concert at Allaice Francaise. The play Robinson Crusoe at Ranga shankara, ISKCON temple and FAVA.

* Bought a futon and slept on it instead of my bedroom for a week just for fun.

* Movies: (a) The cabin in the woods: Very good. A mirror to the horror genre. Very creative. (b) MIB3 - Horrible. (c) The avengers in 3D: Average but the 3D made it awful. All the colors are gone when i wear those glasses. (d) Hugo. Super super awesome!!!!

* Ran the TCS 10K run. Finished it in 84 mins. It was quite dehydrating after the run. There were lots of people on a 2 lane road, lots of pushing etc  happened in the first 3K. But overall glad to have done the run. Need to be more disciplined in my training, next stop is half marathon.

*Books: The God delusion by Richard Dawkins. Reviewed one post before. Read Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Decent fantasy,  good story telling with nice images (its a graphic novel)

* Lots of board games at office and the meetup. Also downloaded the Catan app on iPad and finished the entire campaign yesterday. Man, gaming on ipad is addictive. Played poker and won 110 Rs.

* Team outing from office. Went to play Paintball followed by three games of cricket. Cricket was more fun than paintball (and cheaper too!)

* Attended concerts by Laal (band) from pakistan. A socialist band. :)

* TV: Absolutely loved the Sherlock season 2. The season 2 of Game of thrones is also awesome. Blackwater episode was epic. Finale is tomorrow. Also started Doctor Who to follow Steven Moffat :)

* Saw yet another live IPL match with STS and Paneendra. RCB vs DC which RCB won.  Bored of cricket now. 

The God Delusion

Book: The God delusion
Author Richard Dawkins

The God Delusion was the May book of the Bangalore politically inspired book club.  Written by a famed atheist, the book questions the existence of God and asks questions such as - Why we believe? Why should we pray, origins of God, Is creationism scientific? While doing so, it adds a lot of "masala", lot of anecdotes, funny quotes and an admitted bias in language during its criticism.

The starting point of this book is what gets one going; Why a discussion on God such a taboo in public? We can talk about politics, cricket, astronomy, but when somebody starts a discussion on creationism, or God, suddenly you are in some "sacred" (pun intended) territory and all discussion stops. This book is one such attempt to bring out a discussion.

For me, the first half was just masala, repeated mocking of religion. But in later chapters, as it talks about evolution,  thats when it gets interesting.  Dawkins, first, applies evolutionism to counter creationism but then he also applies it to origin of Gods, the roots of morality.  The line of argument gets quite fascinating here. Dawkins picks up an arguments, follows it up and then sometimes discards if it does not fit the evolutionary process. Morality stems from religion, this is a complete non-sense and Dawkins does a nice job discrediting this point.


Perhaps, the most meaningful chapter comes in the end when Dawkins talks about childhood and religion.    Should children be taught religion? Childhood being a stage when things are internalized very quickly, especially a thing which requires blind belief and no questioning. Dawkins makes a strong case that religion should not be taught to children. From a marketing standpoint, this is the best time to keep your customers loyal. While  science at one end end is taught in a step-wise manner, while every lesson of science is preceded by question everything, religion is just the anti-thesis of it.

Overall, this book is a good one if somebody needs points to articulate against religion. It shines in bits and pieces but there is a lot of bias that has gone in writing into it. It is interesting to read reviews of this book. People who like it (like me) feel somewhat satisfied and believers who hate it  often claim that this book has no substance but they themselves offer no critique on the things that are talked about in it. Negative reviews soon result in mindless bashing like Dawkins will go to hell etc.


This meetup was better than the others, 4 people showed up including me but three of four had read this book. So, the discussion that followed was more meaningful. But since most of us are converted atheists, it was little bit one sided.