Palakkad Manga
Cultural Hotpot in Kerala - the hope of India!
What a wild, topsy-turvy week — a wedding in Palakkad, collective Hindu middle-class celebrations on the consecration of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, layoffs at RIOT Games (my employer; my team was not affected though many talented friends were), meeting old friends, a wonderful culinary experience, and discovering a fantastic bookshop. It feels like I could write a book with all that happened this week!
First though: what is Palakkad Manga?!
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Kerala, a southern state in India, is referred to as “God’s Own Country” for its natural beauty. It has been a cultural melting pot for millennia — Judaism came to Kerala in 70 CE, Christianity in 100 CE, and Islam in 700 CE. People from different faiths, including the Hindu majority, live more or less peacefully in this Marxist Communist state, which has the highest literacy rate and the lowest infant mortality rate among all states in India.
I visited Palakkad, a city in Kerala, for a wedding the past weekend. Here are some photos from Palakkad, with commentary:
As I spent my day walking across Palakkad, I chanced upon a tiny bookshop. Here’s what I bought at the bookshop…
Yes — the first books of Kaiju No 8, Spy x Family, One-Punch Man, and Demon Slayer, each for 500 INR (with a buy-3-get-1-free deal!). This is what I mean by Palakkad Manga: in a city known for its fantastic raw mangoes (manga), Japanese Manga is taking over the traditional raw mango…
In a week of peak Hindu nationalism (with histrionics in Hindu dominated gated-communities like the one I live in), Kerala offers a counterpoint for what India could be: a country focused on entrepreneurship and trade, on literacy, and on healthcare, with people of different faiths living side-by-side in peace, focused on progress and prosperity (rather than mild tolerance towards those in the ghettoes), and an openness to modernity and change.
Palakkad Manga gives me hope.
With that commentary out of the way, here’s what I vibed with this week:
Long reads
Relevant to Manga, here’s an article by Polygon on the growth of Anime: if you want to takeaway 1 thing, it is that 42% of Gen-Z watch Anime weekly (and only 25% follow the NFL) [the data is from a survey in the US]
The most thought-provoking article that I read this week was a fantastic piece by the virtuoso Carnatic musician and public intellectual TM Krishna titled “Murthy and the middle-class view of life, merit, and success”. Every line of this article is a truth bomb; the one that particularly stood out for me is “Caste-privileged individuals do not understand the difference between economic deprivation and social discrimination.”. This is an important article — a must read.
“The Dawn of Cultural Schizophrenia” was a good article. The model of “Knowing one story is death, knowing no stories is ignorance, knowing many stories is wisdom, and knowing too many stories is schizo” was powerful; the commentary on consuming too much media and being “wide as an ocean and deep as a puddle” is something I worry about too.
The most fun article I read this week was called “There is way too much serendipity” by LessWrong. I found the stories of how different artificial sweeteners were discovered was fascinating and hilarious.
The article “Evolution of AI and Amaras Law” is fourth in a 4-part series that offers a good primer on the state of AI, and how it will impact different industries and how different companies are placed in their AI investments (which is the 4th part).
Books I’m reading — and are on the “To Read” list
I completed reading “The Shadow of the Torturer”, the first book in the “Book of the New Sun” series. I had a mixed review of the book; the middle part of the book felt like a psychedelic trip, somewhat like Alice in Wonderland; I really liked the first part of the book and the final section.
I started reading “We are Legion”, the first book of the Bobiverse series — and I’m loving it!
On my “To Read” list:
I picked up “Sakina’s Kiss” by Vivek Shanbhag at the fantastic bookshop I found. Vivek Shanbhag’s first book, “Ghachar Ghochar” was my book of the year from a few years ago — a spectacular short-fiction. I’m looking forward to this one…
I also picked up “Too Much of Life” by Clarice Lispector at the bookshop. I read the first 2 pages and decided to buy — what spell-binding writing!
I got introduced to Lux Narayan the author of “Name Place Animal Thing” by my brother, and had a fantastic chat with him. I got this on my Kindle and am curious about how it will be.
My sister-in-law recommended “23 things they don’t tell you about capitalism”, and it’s gone on my to-read list. I’ll read it, only if just to find things in the book that I can use against her in arguments :)
Bookshop Discovery!
I discovered this tiny, unpretentious, and absolutely fantastic bookshop in Jayanagar, Bangalore… Nagasri Book House. Inside the shop I found books that I’d never heard of, and that sounded like I must get them right away — “Travellers in the Third Reich”, “The Origins of Totalitarianism”, “Hood Feminism”, “The Science of Saving Tigers”, “Escape from Model Land”, and so many more… I had to restrict myself to buying 2 books. The small shop has a fantastic collection of books on nature and nautral history…
The most fantastic small bookshop in Bangalore that I’ve found - run by an elderly gentleman who was very knowledgeable about books… Restaurant Discovery: Bamey’s Restro Cafe
I chanced upon a small sign for a Nepali restaurant a few days ago, in the middle of Koramangala.
I dragged my wife there a few days ago… and after parking and walking for about 10 minutes, we were told that the restaurant is shut for renovations — “But here’s a 20% discount coupon for our restobar that is 5 minutes away”. We took our chance, and discovered the most fantastic Nepali restaurant. What we thought would be a hole-in-the-wall turned out to be this most tastefully decorated Nepali restaurant, with beautiful metal cutlery, and the most amazing food! We had the momos and the Nepali thali’s, and every dish was lip-smacking good. Must must visit if you’re in Bangalore!
Music for the week
I hadn’t heard of Nujabes who seems to have been super-influential to where hip-hop is today and where it’s going. I discovered the album “Modal Soul” and have been tripping on it, and everything else by Nujabes in the last week. It’s great music to write to, among other things…
Happiness and hope from the week
In a week of layoffs at my company and collective hysteria about Ram Mandir, it is easy to feel down. But then, this happened…
The power of sport to revive us and give us joy is tremendous, whether playing it or watching it. Rohan Bopanna became the oldest #1 tennis doubles player, and the oldest player to win a grand slam at the Australian Open, at
agelevel 43. What joy for India, and what joy to see this gentle giant of a player who has been on the periphery of greatness for so long finally achieve his dream… and to inspire each of us to keep on chasing our dreams.
Till next week… keep dreaming!
As a Gen-Z member , Im fascinated to learn that people from all generations admire manga! Rohan Bopanna's well deserved win was phenomenal to watch - he proved its never too late to achieve dreams.