Review: Justice For The Judge: An Autobiography

Justice For The Judge: An Autobiography by Ranjan Gogoi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: Autobiography of a former Chief Justice of India

For a legal layman, the first half of this book provided me insights into the working of the legal system as Gogoi traces the journey from Dibrugarh to Delhi - college days to entering the law profession. Through his journey, he highlights the working of the court and reasons why certain things happened in a certain manner - like how he missed out on making it to High Court before hitting 40 and finally did around the average age a HC judge usually falls under for elevation.

There is privilege at play through his journey for having come from a politically connected family which often people with privilege don't realise for that's the world they have been in and assume as baseline. The second half of the book seems like Ranjan Gogoi providing his justifications across all the controversies that surrounded him and his thought process through some of the landmark cases he handled as CJI including the Ayodhya Ram Mandir / Babri masjid one, followed by the CAA one and some very high profile ones. Interesting trivia was the introduction of single bench Supreme Court hearings with Sushant Singh/ Rhea Chakraborty one being the first case heard by a single SC judge.

The importance of dates in legal profession especially for promotions was not lost in this book as numerous judges who make the roll call in this book have their dates of joining and retirement highlighted to again justify their elevations at the time that they were. What I probably need to read more on is the dismissal of elevations on the basis of average income being 7 LPA .

Overall, if you are complete layman, you get some hints on the workings of the system and his justifications to media headlines that surrounded his career all through.

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Review: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A regular day in the life of institutionalised patriarchy and misogyny.

Taking the life of Kim Jiyoung - middle of 3 siblings through her childhood where her granny had hoped she'd be a boy. Living though the challenges of a patriarchial society makes it globally relatable on the opportunities the average woman loses out on due to how society has set up expectations whether it is education or career or just living life. This Korean translation is pretty straightforward in hitting that message home. What I didnt quite get was the reason she relapsed into her mother - was that metaphorical to explain nothing has changed or something more direct to bring the psychologist into the script since he is the one narrating this story interspersed with facts and the set up of society - like the roll number in classrooms being boys and then girls to the lax dress code in schools to a similar setup in the corporate world. What works for the book is its a relatively short read so by the time it could get dry, you are done with it.

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Review: The Complete Yes Minister

The Complete Yes Minister by Jonathan Lynn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hooter: A witty satire on the relationship between civil services and politics

You have to see the TV series! Even if the politics is dated, the dialogues and the premises are timeless. The wit, the humour and the acting is brilliant. I decided to try the audible version of the series and was not disappointed at all even though I had already seen the entire series twice before.

The concepts are still relevant in today's day and age and the use of wit and puns is brilliantly done. There are some instances when you feel the lack of the video for some of the body language but the general comic timing makes up for it. Sir Humphrey and Jim Hacker's exchanges are good fun.

A must read, watch or hear - whichever format suits you.

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Review: The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: Biography of Nature's Indiana Jones

Humboldt is a name that hasn't really made the front page of science and history in recent times but Andrea Wulf's take on him provides insight into this scientist and adventurer who unlike his predecessors went around the world in quest of gold, glory and god, Humboldt probably focused on glory in the pursuit of science and nature. Travelling across South America, Europe and Russia, his adventures along with his great oratory skills and writing skills made him a toast of the populace in his prime - amply helped by a rich inheritance his father had left behind.

The book dedicates chapters to individuals who were heavily inspired by Humboldt like Thoreau, Darwin, Haeckel and Marsh to name a few. He was probably one of the first to talk about the interconnectedness of the entire planet and the ecosystem and how an ecological disaster was a ticking time bomb as humans played against nature - for eg: deforestation in place for cash crops and the long term side effects of monoculture being one such example- just maybe not in so many words and jargon as these were concepts ahead of his time.

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