What does it mean to be an effective altruist? A fascinating podcast interview has the answer

We are (mostly) happy to help people who are less fortunate than we are, provided it doesn't cost us too much in terms of time, effort, and money.

So how do you account for people who go out of their way to provide succour to those in need, no matter what it costs them in terms of time, effort, and money?

That was the subject of a fascinating Bookworm podcast discussion between host Michael Silverblatt and New Yorker staff writer Larissa MacFarquhar, which I was privileged to listen to recently.

I was so impressed I not only ordered MacFarquhar's book, which focuses on what she calls "effective altruism"; I also urged my students to listen to the interview and submit their impressions in a short article afterwards. "There is no word limit," I told them, "but there are two conditions: You must use your imagination and you must make it interesting to read."

Out of the 30 or so submissions, I found Shreya Roy's write-up to be exceptional, so here it is for your reading pleasure:

LIFE IN THEIR SHOES

Life. What is this life we are living? Have you ever taken a minute out of your life to think about life? By that I mean taking the time out of your busy schedule to think about the lives of others out there and not your own.

SHREYA ROY

Just one minute. That’s all it takes.

Unfortunately we all know the answer to that question. We don’t! And why would we want to think about other people’s lives anyway. We are so busy struggling with our own we never think about what others are going through in life. We complain over and over again. Unfortunately, life isn’t a bed of roses.

There is just one word to define us individuals. Selfish.

Yes, that’s right. We are selfish human beings. All we think about is ‘I’ rather than ‘you’. We always see life from our own perspective rather than someone else’s.

Take a moment to think about what it would be to like to live the life of someone who has never seen her own mother or father. How would her life be different from that of yours? Does she even get 1% of the love that you get? What are her feelings? What goes through her mind every second of the day? Put yourself in her shoes for once.

Fortunately (and unfortunately for some of us), there are certain people in this life who care more about others than about themselves. They care about being effective irrespective of what others think of them. They are extremists in their own way of life and would go to any extent to help the needy, give them the love they deserve. These especially good Samaritans are the focus of Larissa MacFarquhar's first book, Strangers Drowning: Grappling with Impossible Idealism, Drastic Choices, and the Overpowering Urge to Help.

Strangers Drowning talks about many different kinds of people who have committed themselves to helping others in an extreme way. It’s more to do with "effective altruism", which is so rare to find these days.

And it is these altruists who make a difference in this world. They see things from a different perspective. Why? Because that is what gives them a reason to live. To serve society this way. They feel if they can have the means to buy branded clothes, why can’t they use the same amount of money to save a life? Precisely why MacFarquhar has included in her book the story of an American couple who adopt two children in distress. But then they think: If they can change two lives, why not four? Or ten? They adopt 20. But how do they weigh the needs of unknown children in distress against the needs of the children they already have?

It is interesting that MacFarquhar would never put herself in the category of the people she is writing about. She doesn’t believe in being an altruist herself, precisely why, she says, she became a writer. The fact that she put herself out there to find out more about what drives such people itself is praiseworthy. Not only does MacFarquhar put herself in their shoes but she also tries to explain what true effective altruism is all about.

Strangers Drowning showcases a world of strangers drowning in need and the different ways by which these do-gooders help to make their world a better place.

Moreover, is it right to care for strangers even at the expense of those we are closest to? Strangers Drowning challenges us to think about what we value most, and why.

---
Now that you have read Shreya's well-articulated thoughts on the podcast interview, surely you will want to listen in on that absorbing conversation between Michael Silverblatt and Larissa MacFarquhar? Yes? Just head on over to the Bookworm website — click here.

• To learn more about the gifted host of Bookworm, read this interview. You can also learn what things to avoid when conducting an interview.
• And to learn more about Larissa MacFarquhar, check out this interview in The Guardian.

---

ALSO READ:

• Back in May last year, Shreya Roy had written a post for The Commits Chronicle about why she was glad she was joining Commits. Read her piece here.

• Thank you, Commits, say our MMC students

What is it that makes life endurable?

"...we all require devotion to something more than ourselves for our lives to be endurable. Without it, we have only our desires to guide us, and they are fleeting, capricious, and insatiable. They provide, ultimately, only torment."

~ Harvard philosopher Josiah Royce, quoted in a fascinating book I bought for myself recently, Atul Gawande's Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

• Want to know more about the book? Check out this review.

The joy of being greeted by your student on World Book Day!

I was delighted to receive this e-mail from Sharanya Shivakumar (Class of 2017) this morning:

Almost immediately I sent her my reply:

Happy World Book Day to you too, Sharanya. I can't tell you how happy I am to receive this e-mail from you. :-)

Of course, I have read Kane and Abel. It was first published in 1979, so I think I must have picked it up in my final year of college. I'm sure I liked it, because I was a huge Archer fan at the time, but I have read a few thousand books since, so I am not sure now exactly what I felt when I put it down for the last time.

You finished it in three days? Wow! I am impressed.

My favourite book? Rabid book-lovers can never have a favourite book. I can, if I put my mind to it, name a few hundred which I absolutely enjoyed reading. :-)

Right now I'm re-reading Wolf Hall. I first read it a few years ago (and even purchased a copy for the college library) and I thought it was a magnificent portrayal of Thomas Cromwell, the man who worked behind the scenes for Henry VIII (he of the six-wives fame!). I love books dealing with history — fiction as well as non-fiction — and I am re-reading this one because my wife and I have been watching The Tudors on Netflix.

Wolf Hall has been made into a TV mini-series. Sushant has downloaded it for me and I'm looking forward to watching the book come alive on the small screen.

At the moment, I am on Page 463 — only about 200 pages to go. After I am done, I'm going to re-read the sequel, Bring Up the Bodies. (Both books are so, so good, author Hilary Mantel was honoured with the Booker Prize. She is the first woman and the first living British author to win the prestigious literary prize twice.) And now I'm waiting for the last book in the trilogy, The Mirror and the Light. I am hoping it will be published this year.

Oh-oh. When I get started on reading and books, I don't seem to stop, right? :-) *Stops typing now*

I am bcc'ing this to your classmates for their edification. :-)

Cheers,

RP

----------------------

ALSO READ: Good readers make good media professionals

"Words. A child needs a forest of words to wander through, a sea of words to splash in. A child needs to be read to, and a child needs to read."

TWO EXCERPTS FROM A POWERFUL PIECE, "The Gift of Reading", by Frank Bruni, IN THE NEW YORK TIMES:

Words. A child needs a forest of words to wander through, a sea of words to splash in. A child needs to be read to, and a child needs to read.

Reading fuels the fires of intelligence and imagination, and if they don’t blaze well before elementary school, a child’s education — a child’s life — may be an endless game of catch-up.

“Kids who read more get better at reading, and because they are better at reading, it’s easier and more pleasurable so they read still more,” he [Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and the author of Raising Kids Who Read] said. “And kids who read well don’t just do better in English class — it helps them in math, science and every other class, too.”

I’d go even further. Reading tugs them outside of themselves, connecting them to a wider world and filling it with wonder. It’s more than fundamental. It’s transformative.

Read the article in its entirety here: "The Gift of Reading".

• ALSO READ: "Read, kids, read"

"The last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's way"

Some years ago, I read an eyeopener of a book titled Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl. I found it to be so inspirational I bought two copies for the Commits library. Today, while rearranging the books on the shelf in my cabin, I happened to pick it up again.

I remember being struck by one particular passage and I went hunting for it again:

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's way.

And here, in an excerpt from the preface, is Frankl's take on success and happiness:

And so it is both strange and remarkable to me that — among some dozens of books I have authored — precisely this one, which I had intended to be published anonymously so that it could never build up any reputation on the part of the author, did become a success. Again and again I therefore admonish my students:

"Don't aim at success — the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run — in the long run, I say! — success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it."

Here you can read the New York Times obituary of Viktor Frankl to learn more about the remarkable man and his little book that, at the time of his death in 1997, had been reprinted 73 times, translated into 24 languages, sold more than 10 million copies and was still being used as a text in high schools and universities: Psychiatrist of the Search for Meaning, Dies at 92.

• ALSO READ: There's more to life than being happy

Media Matters-9: What to read, especially if you want to understand the media (First part of a two-part series)

This was published on the Education Page of Dubai's Khaleej Times today:

WHAT TO READ, ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE MEDIA-I

By Ramesh Prabhu

I have been fortunate over the years to have met and worked with many enterprising journalists. None, to my mind, is more enterprising than Krishna Prasad.

I was first introduced to Krishna Prasad, or KP as he is universally known, sometime in 2001 in Bengaluru. The media company I was working with at the time had hired him to come up with a template for the technology and business daily that was to be launched later that year. KP not only designed a classy tabloid; he also trained the journalists who had been recruited to produce it.

KP, who has been hailed as one of India’s finest young journalists, is today at the top of his game as editor in chief of Outlook, the weekly newsmagazine founded by his mentor, Vinod Mehta.

I am particularly pleased to have made KP’s acquaintance because, like me, he also believes you are what you read. And he is also clear on the point that reading is a vital factor in the success of a media professional.

Many years ago, KP had come to Commits for an interactive session with our students. (He has also been a speaker at the college’s annual seminar.) Afterwards, for our students’ benefit, he graciously handed over to me his recommended reading list, which, in the interests of serving a wider audience, I have reproduced below (the comments introducing each category are by KP) with his consent.

I have had to trim the original list for reasons of space, as well as to add some books which I have found to be especially useful and some books which became available only recently. My choices are marked by the prefix “RP”. If you would like to go through the list KP gave me, here’s the link: What To Read.

Here then, in a two-part feature, are the books you must read – especially if you want to understand the media.

FICTION
Like the movie Citizen Kane (which is the fictionalised account of the life and times of the publisher William Randolph Hearst), one of the all-time great novels is also built on journalism: Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop. But here are a few other works of fiction centered around journalism:

1. Psmith Journalist, by P.G. Wodehouse
2. Fourth Estate, by Jeffrey Archer (a veiled story of Rupert Murdoch)
3. Pelican Brief, by John Grisham
4. (RP) Towards the End of the Morning, by Michael Frayn
5. (RP) Broken News, Amrita Tripathi
6. (RP) The Imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman
7. (RP) Bunker 13, by Aniruddha Bahal

WALKING THE TALK: Outlook editor in chief Krishna Prasad, who was a speaker at the annual Commits seminar in February 2010, is a book-lover at heart.

STYLE AND WRITING GUIDES
For those who love words and the use of language,there can be nothing more gripping than reading “style sheets”: these are the in-house guides and manuals that newspapers and magazines use to achieve uniformity and standardisation. The Economist Style Guide is universally regarded as the best and most entertaining, but there are a few others that you might like to read.

(RP) It is impossible to overestimate the importance of learning how to write well by following the tips and advice of those who have been there, done that. And since grammar and punctuation have a vital role to play in good writing, you should read books that will help you on that front, too.

1. The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White
2. The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage
3. On Writing Well, by William Zinsser
4. (RP) How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times, by Roy Peter Clark
5. (RP) The English Language: A User's Guide, by Jack Lynch
6. (RP) Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer, by Roy Peter Clark
7. (RP) The Art and Craft of Feature Writing: Based on The Wall Street Journal Guide, by William E. Blundell
8. (RP) 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing, by Gary Provost
9. (RP) The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English, by Roy Peter Clark
10. (RP) On Writing, by Stephen King

• In the next installment of “Media Matters”: The second and final part of “The books you must read if you want to understand the media”

THINK ABOUT IT: “Why did you become a journalist?”
“Better than working for a living.”
― Leslie Cockburn, Baghdad Solitaire

·        Ramesh Prabhu is professor of journalism at Commits Institute of Journalism & Mass Communication, Bangalore. Commits offers a full-time two-year MA degree course.

·        “Media Matters” welcomes questions from readers who would like to know more about careers in journalism. Please send in your queries to education@khaleejtimes.com.

ALSO READ:

• There is no job like journalism (Media Matters-1)
• Can anyone become a journalist? (Media Matters-2)
• What you must do to become a journalist (Media Matters-3)
• Why we became journalists: First part of a three-part series (Media Matters-4)
• Why we became journalists: Second part of a three-part series (Media Matters-5)
• Why we became journalists: Final part of a three-part series (Media Matters-6)
• Good readers make good media professionals (Media Matters-7)
• Reading non-fiction pays huge dividends (Media Matters-8)

ADDITIONAL READING:

• Outlook's peerless issue on the Indian media crisis

Media Matters-8: Reading non-fiction pays huge dividends

 This was published on the Education Page of Dubai's Khaleej Times today:

READING NON-FICTION PAYS HUGE DIVIDENDS

Journalism professor RAMESH PRABHU explains, in a Q&A with his journalist alter-ego RAMESH PRABHU, why it is important to read non-fiction.

Q: I am told you are fond of telling every batch of new students that they should read Longitudes and Attitudes, by Thomas Friedman, if they want to know what makes the world tick.

A: Yes, and I also tell them they should read India Unbound, by Gurcharan Das, if they want to know what makes the country tick. As a bibliomaniac, as a teacher, as someone who believes in the manifold blessings showered on readers by books, I have made it my life’s mission to encourage, even push, people to read. And I’m happy that I have had some success over the years.

GURCHARAN DAS, AUTHOR OF INDIA UNBOUND.

Q: Most people I know, especially young adults, seem to prefer fiction. So how do you go about extolling the virtues of non-fiction? Perhaps you can explain by elaborating on your reasons for recommending Thomas Friedman and Gurcharan Das.
 
A: Gurcharan Das first. Many of us have only a superficial knowledge of the reforms of the ’90s that have transformed India so dramatically. The impact of those reforms is being felt even today. But what was the country like before 1990? How did India change after liberalisation? And why is it important for all of us to grasp the logic underlying this grand economic revolution? You will get the answers to these questions, and more, in Gurcharan Das’s splendid book.

Das, a former chief executive of Procter & Gamble India, has a unique insight into the country’s history. He also has a way with words, which makes India Unbound incomparable as an introduction to economics. Really, it is the equivalent of Economics 101.

So, knowing how young people shudder at the thought of an economics lesson and knowing how badly they need to understand the subject, I press them to read India Unbound closely.

THOMAS FRIEDMAN, AUTHOR OF LONGITUDES AND ATTITUDES.

Longitudes and Attitudes, on the other hand, offers readers a seat at the international table as Thomas Friedman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist, serves up his sharp opinions on “the world in the age of terrorism” (the sub-title of his book, which is a collection of the columns he wrote for the Times). Friedman flies around the world to gather material for his twice-weekly articles, so we get reports — and horizon-widening views — from Riyadh and Moscow, Jakarta and Teheran. Who can say no to this choice cuisine? More to the point, who will want to say no?

Q: Going back to my original question, though, isn’t fiction a better choice? After all, novels transport us to a world that exists in the author’s imagination, and that world becomes ours, too, as we read on. What better way to escape from our humdrum lives!
 
A: Everyone who knows me knows how crazy I am about books. I have been reading books since I was five or six years old. And like everyone else, I began with fiction. So I know where you are coming from. I agree that novels offer us a way to experience many vicarious thrills. But non-fiction gives us a new perspective on our world as it exists. Reading non-fiction can help us become better persons. Non-fiction can give a boost to our careers.

Q: That’s a bit far-fetched, surely?

A: You have apparently not heard of How Will You Measure Your Life? Or The Last Lecture. A Complaint-Free World. Letters to Sam. A Fistful of Rice. How Proust Can Change Your Life... I could go on. These are just a few of the many wonderful books that I have read in recent years that have not only made me think about my approach to life but have also been an inspiration. I wish these books had been around when I was growing up; they would have made such a big difference to my mindset at a stage in my life when change would have been more welcome, and easier, than it is today.

I would have been a better journalist and writer, too, if the books available to me now were available when I was beginning my career. The books I am thinking of are, again, just to mention a few, Remembering Mr. Shawn's New Yorker: The Invisible Art Of Editing; The Gang That Wouldn't Write Straight; Breaking the Big Story: Great Moments in Indian Journalism; Writers on Writing: Collected Essays from The New York Times; Essential English for Journalists, Editors, and Writers... there are so many extraordinary books in this category that I feel bad about not being able to name all of them.

Q: The way I look at it, you seem to be focused on what I think of as self-help books, and books that deal with journalism and writing. What about history, biography, memoir? And business books — they are all the rage today, I understand.

A: I’m glad you’ve brought this up. I am not really a big fan of “self-help” literature; I think of the books I have referred to as “wisdom literature”. I only chose those two sub-genres you mention because, as a teacher, I have found it easier to get young people started on non-fiction when they believe, rightly, that there is a possibility that the books concerned will have a bearing on their future.

But when it comes to non-fiction, I am an omnivore. Want to read a great book dealing with world history? I recommend highly Travels with Herodotus, by legendary Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, who began his career as a foreign correspondent in India. As for biographies, there is Art Spiegelman’s spellbinding Holocaust narrative, Maus (yes, it is a graphic novel, but who says non-fiction has to be wholly text-based?). Recently I also read Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain — how a man can be both an amazing chef and a gifted writer with an eye for detail beats me.

I have read my share of business books, too — not too long ago, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Inside Drucker's Brain, billed as the most accessible guide to the essential ideas of Peter Drucker, the inventor of modern management.

Q: Clearly, there is a wealth of great non-fiction out there to suit all possible tastes.

A: Oh yes. So the sooner you get down to it, the better.

THINK ABOUT IT: “Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.” ― Christopher Morley, American journalist, novelist, essayist, and poet

• Coming up in the next installment of “Media Matters”: What to read (especially if you want to understand the media)

·        Ramesh Prabhu is professor of journalism at Commits Institute of Journalism & Mass Communication, Bangalore. Commits offers a full-time two-year MA degree course.

·        “Media Matters” welcomes questions from readers who would like to know more about careers in journalism. Please send in your queries to education@khaleejtimes.com.

ALSO READ:

• There is no job like journalism (Media Matters-1)
• Can anyone become a journalist? (Media Matters-2)
• What you must do to become a journalist (Media Matters-3)
• Why we became journalists: First part of a three-part series (Media Matters-4)
• Why we became journalists: Second part of a three-part series (Media Matters-5)
• Why we became journalists: Final part of a three-part series (Media Matters-6)
• Good readers make good media professionals (Media Matters-7) 

"100 books that can change your life": A magnificent issue from Outlook

I have read 35 out of the 100 featured here. What about you? How many have you read?

Check out the full list, and other fascinating feature articles, here: "100 books that can change your life".

And, afterwards, learn about the book that should have been on the Outlook list but isn't: "Reading this book will change your approach to life".

The best of journalistic virtues:

A.
Courage

Campaigning

Toughness

Compassion

Humour

Irreverence

B.

A serious engagement with serious things

C.

A sense of fairness

D.

An eye for injustice

E.

A passion for explaining

F.

Knowing how to achieve impact

G.

A connection with readers

• From Alan Rusbridger's essay, "Does Journalism Exist?", in a wonderful and fascinating book, Page One: Inside The New York Times and the Future of Journalism (edited by David Folkenflik), which puts journalism and one of the world's greatest newspapers front and centre. I have already placed a copy of the book in the Commits library. (Alan Rusbridger is the editor of the highly respected Guardian newspaper.)

• I have now ordered the documentary on which the book is based. Take a look at the list of awards and award nominations for the documentary here. And here is a riveting feature from Slate on David Carr, "the star of Page One", the documentary. (Carr has also contributed an essay, "Print Is Dead. Long Live The New York Times", to Page One, the book.)

• ALSO READ: "If you want to understand what journalism should be..."

Meet the 93-year-old journalist who still goes to work almost every day

For more than five decades now, Roger Angell has worked at the hallowed New Yorker magazine.

And during that time, as Sridhar Pappu points out in an elegantly written profile for Women's Wear Daily (also known as the bible of fashion), Angell has edited fiction and non-fiction while also publishing his own light-verse poems, short stories, profiles, and other features in the New Yorker's pages.

ROGER ANGELL WITH HIS FOX TERRIER, ANDY.

A few months ago, Angell made news on his own when he wrote a piece for the New Yorker that, as Pappu says in the profile, "managed to cut through the noise, becoming a subject of conversation at Manhattan cocktail parties and in Brooklyn bars while also generating thousands of tweets and more than 40,000 Facebook shares".

No wonder it created such a buzz. Look at that zinger of an opener:

Check me out. The top two knuckles of my left hand look as if I’d been worked over by the K.G.B. No, it’s more as if I’d been a catcher for the Hall of Fame pitcher Candy Cummings, the inventor of the curveball, who retired from the game in 1877. To put this another way, if I pointed that hand at you like a pistol and fired at your nose, the bullet would nail you in the left knee. Arthritis.

And here's another passage that speaks volumes for Angell's sense of humour:

Decline and disaster impend, but my thoughts don’t linger there. It shouldn’t surprise me if at this time next week I’m surrounded by family, gathered on short notice—they’re sad and shocked but also a little pissed off to be here—to help decide, after what’s happened, what’s to be done with me now. It must be this hovering knowledge, that two-ton safe swaying on a frayed rope just over my head, that makes everyone so glad to see me again. “How great you’re looking! Wow, tell me your secret!” they kindly cry when they happen upon me crossing the street or exiting a dinghy or departing an X-ray room, while the little balloon over their heads reads, “Holy shit—he’s still vertical!”

Read Angell's marvellous essay in its entirety here: "This Old Man".

And check out the profile written by Sridhar Pappu here: "Roger Angell: A Hall-of-Famer at 93".

• Two delectable nuggets from the profile:

*The writers Angell has edited include Woody Allen and John Updike.

*In 1956, [the editor of the New Yorker] gave Angell a staff position, only to ask him to take an editing test at the last minute. “I said, ‘No, I’m not going to take a test,’ ” Angell recalls. “I said, ‘I’ll start, and if it doesn’t work out, you can fire me.’ And it worked out.”

• Photograph courtesy: The New Yorker

• Back in June 2000, Sridhar Pappu had written an essay for Salon about his "experience with the new world of high-stakes Indian American dating". Read it here: "Deranged marriage".

ALSO READ: In the New Yorker — "Citizens Jain: Why India's newspaper industry is thriving"

• Patrick Michael, editor of the Dubai-based Khaleej Times, commented via Google+

What a zinger of an opening line! Reminds you of Charles Dickens (classics) and Raymond Chandler (non-fiction).

What is it about words that can stop you in your tracks no matter what you are doing? Opening lines was actually a topic for debate at the recent Emirates Literature Festival in Dubai and almost all the authors agreed that an opening lines makes all the difference between picking up or dropping a book. Perhaps you should invite your students to offer the best opening lines they have read... and the worst.

Here's mine:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. We had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.” — Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
.
Beat that.

"Read, kids, read"

Now where have you heard that before?

At Commits, for sure. Since April 2003, when I began teaching journalism, I have been pushing my students to read. (Sometimes, they push back, and that, I have to say, is a big concern for me.)

In June 2010, I also wrote a blog post on the subject: "Why you must read".

And I have been using my social media accounts in a big way to try to popularise reading.

MONIKA KHANGEMBAM, CLASS OF 2012

So you can imagine how thrilled I was when, two days ago, first thing in the morning, I received this message via Facebook from Commitscion Monika Khangembam (Class of 2012), with a link to an article by Frank Bruni in The New York Times:

7:00am

Monika Khangembam

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/opinion/bruni-read-kids-read.html?referrer=
This article reminded me of you sir.

After I sent a message thanking her, Monika replied:

Yay! I am so glad you liked it. The ideas expressed in the article resonate with what you mostly say in class and how you keep telling us to read more. I can also imagine you encouraging (read nagging) your nieces and nephews to read. 

During the course of our text conversation, Monika revealed she is reading The Fault in Our Stars, which finds mention in the NYT article, too. So I replied:

What a wonderful coincidence. I bought a copy of this book for the college library some time ago, but before placing it in the library I read it to try to understand why it had become a bestseller. It is an excellent book, for young people especially. I loved the highly original plot.

Monika then articulated her own thoughts about the book:

That's amazing sir. I am not so much into these young adult novels but I accidentally came across this and I am glad I did. The characters feel so real. I can so relate to Hazel. You relate to her more if you are a 20-something and still struggling to understand your life. There is this particular part in the beginning where Augustus talks about oblivion and how Hazel responds to that. That has helped me to be less scared and be a bit more adventurous. It's funny how a few lines can influence us so deeply.

And it's amazing, I thought to myself, how a few lines written by my student about the transformative power of reading can brighten my day like nothing else can. Thanks a million, Monika!

SRUTI NAYANI, CLASS OF 2004

• There's more good news on the reading front. Commitscion Sruti Nayani (Class of 2004), who has been blogging about books for some six months now, has just published a post about the importance of writing. Sruti makes six important points in the post. Here is the first one:

Read and read some more. I do not know how one can begin writing if one does not read; reading is essential. You could begin with newspapers, magazines, essays, short stories, fiction, non-fiction or even articles. Basically, just about everything. The idea is to find a path to the written word. This kind of reading could help you to understand the different types of writing and eventually develop your own style.

Now where have you heard that before?

• For more on Frank Bruni, the legendary New York Times journalist, check out "Do you have what it takes to be a restaurant critic?"

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SOMETIMES IT IS EASY TO MEASURE THE IMPACT OF A READING ROOM POST (A FACEBOOK CONVERSATION WITH BRINDA DAS, CLASS OF 2015):

Brinda Das

May 31

“My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars — reading The Fault in Our Stars.

Like · · Share

• Debarati Deb and 7 others like this.
• 
  

  Luella Tariang I cant wait for d movie..!!!!!!

  May 31 at 2:45pm · Like · 1
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  Brinda Das I am loving the book.

  May 31 at 2:46pm · Unlike · 1
• 
  

  Ramesh Prabhu When did you pick up the book, Brinda?

  May 31 at 6:37pm · Like
• 
  

  Brinda Das Sir, I am reading the e-book. I purchased it today and I am reading Chapter 9 now.

  May 31 at 6:38pm · Like
• 
  

  Ramesh Prabhu From Amazon? Flipkart?

  May 31 at 6:39pm · Like
• 
  

  Brinda Das Sir, I got the e-book from Flipkart.

  May 31 at 6:41pm · Like
• 
  

  Ramesh Prabhu How come you chose this book?

  May 31 at 6:42pm · Like
• 
  

  Brinda Das I read the email you had sent and also read that Monika Khangembam is reading this book. I also wanted to read this book so got a copy of it.

  May 31 at 6:46pm · Like · 1
• 
  

  Ramesh Prabhu Ah -- this post, right?
  

  
  

  THE READING ROOM: "Read, kids, read"

  May 31 at 6:48pm · Like · 1 · Remove Preview
• 
  

  Brinda Das Yes, Sir! This is the post. I am glad that this book has been mentioned. It's a lovely book.

  May 31 at 6:49pm · Unlike · 2
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  Monika Khangembam I am glad you are loving the book Brinda. Happy reading!

  May 31 at 7:06pm · Like
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  Brinda Das Thanks a ton for mentioning this book. Monika Khangembam It is indeed a lovely book.

  May 31 at 7:09pm · Like · 1
• 
  

  Monika Khangembam Keep reading and tell me which are your favourite parts

  May 31 at 7:11pm · Like
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  Brinda Das Monika, I will surely do that. Till now, my favourite part is Isaac in the hospital telling Hazel how each one of us deserve true love that should last for a lifetime.

  May 31 at 7:14pm · Like · 1

***

Frank Bruni's article is so inspiring
BISWAJIT DEY (Class of 2016): I read the article by Frank Bruni just now. I found it really inspiring — this was the first time I got to know that there are so many positive aspects to reading other than gaining knowledge; reading acts as therapy too. Thanks for sharing, Sir.

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• Patrick Michael, editor of the Dubai-based Khaleej Times, commented via Google+

Ramesh, as a voracious reader, it's heartening to read that the message is getting home. I'm sure many more will realise the benefits of reading. Anything and everything. Comics included.

I follow most of the links you send and some I forward to a few of my colleagues who, despite the many years of experience under their belt, still believe that life is a learning curve and you can learn more from books than from idle chatter.

My next book: Straight to Hell: True and Glorious Tales of Deviance, Debauchery and Billion Dollar Deals. Read all about it here. Can't wait to get my hands on this mother of lies!

Oh, the pleasures of reading!