by Abhishek Kumar | Oct 27, 2024 | Book Review, Non-Fiction
Call The Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950s is one of Jennifer Worth’s bestsellers. The non-fiction revolves around her service as a midwife at the Nonnatus House, a chapel which housed nuns and nurses who served as trained midwives. Nonnatus House was located in the East-End of London, at the center of East India Docks. Unlike posh, luxurious, and attractive West London, the East End was where the dock and industrial labourers and working class lived. During the 1950s the East end was a rough area filled with bomb sites, a result of the bombing of docklands during the Second World War. Street fights, brawls, and gang-violence were common. England was a country rebuilding after the war and there was a lack of infrastructure and social services. The picture we paint today of England would be perhaps unimaginable for the people of that time. The social standards would be more unimaginable for the liberal people of our time and Indians mesmerized by the glimmer of the Western world would perhaps find it indigestible.
During the war and in the few years that followed the conditions of the middle and lower-income class of the East End were filled with hardships, low wages, and high competition for jobs. The social conditions were not so flowery. Early marriage was common, and living with a boyfriend was unimaginable. It was scandalous to get pregnant before marriage and such cases ended in marriage under extreme social pressure. Domestic violence was prevalent and due to the absence of pills and other contraceptive methods women often had a large number of kids. In the extraordinary case of Conchita Warren mentioned in the book, she begot 25 children in her life. When the author was assigned the pre-natal care of Mrs. Warren for her 24th baby, the author thought she misheard and it was probably the 14th baby. Later, she was confirmed that Mrs. Warren was in fact, having her 24th child.
Jenny is an exceptional writer and through her intricate and immersive writing she brings the characters to life. Her portrayal of the characters and description of the social standards of the time, the common people, their lifestyle and the enormous self-less service of the people of the cloth in the area to uplift the social conditions, and the tiring efforts of the midwives of Nonnatus House in the area to ensure safe delivery is captivating and keeps one spell-bound throughout the pages of the book. In this book, Jenny Worth, through the colorful characters, effectively portrays hate and love, separation and reconciliation, shame and pride, whim and wit, sorrow and humor.
This book gives a layman an idea of the difficulties a woman goes during her pregnancy and the pain and risks she goes through to bring a new life into this world. The idea of home-delivery of a child may be foreign in Western world and a child to be born in a hospital would be a well-accepted norm nowadays but it is still very prevalent in developing countries like India and especially in the third-world countries where people do not even have access to safe-drinking water. This book is a hard slap on the faces of the controversy theorists who think that modern science and medicine is evil and takes one away from their religious roots. The book highlights how much the development in the field of medical science has improved our lives and how unimaginable it would be even think of the hardships people had to go through in absence of medicines and services that are as common nowadays that we can’t imagine ourselves without it.
Finally, what intrigued me the most is treatment of the common and helpless people of the country. I was surprised but not shocked to know the dark history of the workhouses in Britain, after all it were these people who colonized entire nations and converted them to mass workhouses making life hell for the people of these countries, where people even now continue to suffer the ill-decisions of their past colonial rulers.
In the end, I would say this is an exceptional book which highlights the struggle of the common people and it is worth reading for it is sure to amplify your respect for science, especially medical science and for women, nurses, doctors and the forgotten midwives. If you are looking for a non-fiction that is in par with fictional literatures and at the same time you do not want something too technical, this is the book you are looking for. And by the way, the depiction of the cockney dialect and the accent is enjoyable, I was always looking forward to the parts where the author included some texts in the cockney dialect of the east-enders.
by Abhishek Kumar | Apr 9, 2024 | Book Review
Suppose you are a judge and you have received two cases. First, a husband (person A) murdered his wife while he was sleepwalking. He has a history of sleepwalking. In the second case, a person (person B) lost all of their savings in gambling and took a huge loan through a line of credit from the gambling company to gamble. B has filed for bankruptcy and is suing the gambling company for compelling them to gamble by providing a line of credit. Both persons, A and B, claim that they were not in control of their habits and hence, they are not guilty. What will be your verdict? Find the answer in this article.
Almost all of us want to change some part, some habit of us. You must have felt that you don’t want to do something, yet you do it. You swear you won’t do it ever again, yet again, you fall for it and do it again. The power of habits explores the reason why we do things even if we don’t want to do them and shows us the scientific way of changing them.
The book starts with the story of a person who could be described by words such as couch potato, overweight, underachiever, financially and emotionally unstable. However, something happens, and in two years, the person has run a marathon, they are in their best shape, and has been working for a big company longer than any of her past jobs. So, what exactly happened in those two years that caused this paradigm shift in their life? They decided to take control. But most of all have come to realize that we need to take control and we need to change. However, after some days we relapse to our older habits. How, then, was that person able to change? What was their recipe exactly?
The book explores this topic. The book is divided into three parts, namely, the habits of individuals, the habits of successful organizations, and the habits of societies. A reader can easily speculate the scope of the respective sections as they are self-explanatory. The author, Charles Duhigg, argues that humans are a product of their habits, and he provides numerous researches and pieces of evidence to back his argument. So, the answer to the first question, i.e., why do we act in some ways even if we don’t want to, is because of our habits. These habits are so deeply engraved in our lives that we rarely take note of them. Hence, we think as if things are happening automatically.
If you have watched the sitcom, the Office. There is a scene where Jim (John Krasinski) gives an apple to Dwight (Rainn Wilson) every time his computer chimes while shutting down. Jim continues this for several days. One day, as Jim shuts down his computer, he doesn’t give any apple, but Dwight extends his hand in the expectation of getting the apple. Jim asks, “Why would you do that?” and Dwight begins to wonder, “Why would I do that?” Jim uses the famous classical conditioning theory put forward by the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov in 1897. The classical conditioning theory was one of the earliest research in the field of habits. For detailed info on Pavlov’s classical conditioning theory, please refer to the link at the end.
In his book, Charles Duhigg presents the habit cycle, containing three elements: cue, routine, and reward; cue and reward can be said to be similar to Pavlov’s conditioned stimulus and conditioned reward. Simply put, a cue is something that triggers an action in the hope of some reward. So, when presented with a favorable situation for a certain cue, you automatically perform some action. And, hence why some actions seem automatic to you and as if you have no control over them. Duhigg does not only explain what habits are and how strong habits are but also provides explanations on how to change them and how to take control over your habits and reclaim your life by taking note of the cue and changing the routine and reward.
The Power of Habits is the most powerful book I have read till now, and I strongly suggest reading it. Duhigg’s language and tone are very immersive, and you won’t be able to stop reading once you start it.
Also, did you find the answer to the scenario given at the beginning of this article? If yes, well done. If not, give the book a try, and you surely will.
If you want to know more about Classical Conditioning (Pavolv’s Experiment), please check the following article.
Classical conditioning: https://www.simplypsychology.org/classical-conditioning.html
by Abhishek Kumar | Feb 14, 2024 | Book Review
Is the world just? Does every one of us have the same equal rights? Or do some people possess more rights and power than others? Are such people above the law? Can they commit murder and such heinous crimes and go unpunished? Can a person kill others and not get punished because it was for some higher purpose?
Crime and punishment explore these questions. Written in 1866 by one of the most celebrated literary philosophers of all time, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment is often considered his magnum opus. Understanding Dostoevsky’s life, philosophy, and contemporary Russia is crucial for understanding the classic. Dostoevsky, a feeble but intelligent student, was arrested in 1849 for being part of a literary group that gathered to read Fourier and Proudhon. They were accused of reading censored material, planning to set up a printing press, and conspiring against King Nicholas I. He was condemned to death. Only to know that the King forgave them at the last moment as they were lining up to get shot. His sentence was changed to hard labour in Siberia, where he immersed himself in the New Testament. This incident left a lasting effect on his life. He accepted the sufferings as blessings.
In the mid-nineteenth century, Russia and the West were going through rapid ideological changes. People were affected by the new philosophical ideas such as nihilism. The German philosopher Fredrich Nietzsche, the originator of this idea, proposed that God is dead, and hence, the moral principles established in the name of god can no longer work in society. Thus, he proposed the idea of Ubermensch to establish new moral values for human civilization. Many thinkers like Dostoevsky considered such ideas dangerous for the society. To counter such ideas and to show the devastating consequences, Dostoevsky wrote Crime and Punishment.
Crime and Punishment is a psychological crime thriller but one in which we know the criminal at the beginning of the novel. It is wonderful how strong and brilliant Dostoevsky made the character who represents ideas that are contradictory to his personal beliefs. The book will transport you to 19th-century St. Petersburg and show you the contrasting conditions of its slums and the people who lived in it. The characters are vibrant and vile, friendly and hostile, helpful and wicked. The narrative is gripping and will make you challenge your beliefs about morality, justice, and social norms.
The protagonist, Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov, an intelligent but insane law student, believes there exist two kinds of people in the world. The ordinary and the extraordinary. Ordinary people do ordinary deeds and are not above the law. The extraordinary man has an inner right to transgress the law because his idea will benefit humanity. The law of the states does not apply to these extraordinary men because they are the men who create new laws by transgressing old laws for the benefit of humanity. Nonetheless, he believes that he is one of the extraordinary men. He hatches the ‘perfect plan’ to murder a parsimonious old pawnbroker for money, but he believes it is for the benefit of humanity. He believed that she was no more than a louse and that her death would benefit hundreds. Raskolnikov murders her and her half-sister, who happens to come to the pawnbroker’s apartment while Raskolnikov was still in there.
A thrilling game of chase begins between a detective and Raskolnikov. He is conflicted by his growing conscience and commits one mistake after another despite his ‘perfect plan.’ In this novel, most of the time, we are inside the head of Raskolnikov, understanding his ideas about society, religion, law, and morality. Raskolnikov, who is heavily influenced by philosophers like Hegel and Gogol, sneers at religion. Sonia, his angel, a sex worker, an ardent believer of her religion, tries to persuade him to accept his mistake, for that is the only way he can be saved from his delirious and wretched condition.
So the question remains: Will Sonia be successful in her efforts? Will Raskolnikov give up his ideologies? Will the detective catch Raskolnikov? Or will he not be caught? And the most important question, is crime acceptable for achieving a higher purpose? You will have to find it yourself.
Crime and Punishment will challenge your views about morality, justice and social norms.
by Abhishek Kumar | Apr 9, 2023 | Book Review
Written by James Boyden, The Orenda is setup in the 17th century Canada. The book presents the complex relationship between two of the tribes of the new world and the French colonists. Before you continue reading further, let me tell you that although The Orenda is an admirable work this is not a fan review of the book. The blog is a critical review of one of the most famous writings of Joseph Boyden, The Orenda.
Joseph Boyden is a Canadian author who claims Indigenous heritage and often advocates for the First Nations of North America in his writing. The Orenda, like much of Boyden’s work, is set in central Ontario, Canada. While the book is skilfully written and compelling, it is also incredibly violent and graphically depicts the violent nature of the tribes during the period of the fur trade. Despite its strengths, the book does exhibit some bias. At times, Boyden seems to suggest that the colonization of the New World by Europeans was inevitable, and that the disappearance of the Wendat people (also known as the Huron, Wyandot, and Wyandotte) was predetermined and unavoidable. The story of Orenda revolves primarily around three themes: war, religion, and colonization. Boyden presents the idea that the eradication of Indigenous culture was unavoidable, and that the colonization of Canada was essential for its emergence and development as a nation.
In the language of the indigenous tribes, “Orenda” means the life force or the soul. Wendat and Haudenosaunee are the names of two indigenous nations and The Orenda is a story of violence between the two indigenous nations and its consequences. The book is narration of events through the perspectives of three characters, Bird, a warrior and leader of a Wendat Village; Snowfalls, a Haudenosaunee girl; and Christophe (named Crow by Bird), a Jesuit missionary. The family members of Bird were murdered by a group of Haudenosaunee community. He (Bird) swears to avenge them by killing one hundred of the Haudenosaunee members. He attacks a Haudenosaunee village to avenge his family members and captures Snow Falls as a war captive. Bird later adopts Snow Falls as her daughter, as it was a custom among the first nations to capture a member of the enemy tribe and adopt them as their own, for the killed family member. Christophe is a Jesuit missionary, who had come to live and preach the message of one-true god among the Huron. Huron was the name given to the Wendat people by the French, who thought connecting them to the one-true god was necessary in order to civilize the “sauvages”. Christophe intends to civilize the heathens by converting them, and fearing this Bird and Gosling, an Anishinaabe healer, plans to kill him, but Bird neds up saving him. With the passing of time, Snow Falls accepts Bird as his father and later marries Carries an Axe. Christophe converts many Huron to the Christian faith and dies a martyr in an attack from the Haudenosaunee people. Snow falls also gets killed. Bird and Gosling escape to an island where she gives birth to twins and leads the survivors to the Anishinaabe, her people.
The book presents Haudenosaunee as a violent, war-loving, brutal tribe. They were sworn enemy of the Wendats and were also hostile towards the French Colonists. The Wendats lived in the region stretching from Georgian Bay in the north to Lake Simcoe in the east. The Wendat traded corn, tobacco, and other food crops with other tribes and produced fishing nets, hides and fur. They were present in an important geographical location essential for trade and knowing this fact they tolled other tribes for conducting business in those areas. Due to the geographical location and leading fur production, the French joined allies with the Hurons. Huron was a name given by the French to the Wendats, meaning boar’s head from the hairstyle of the Wendat men. As the fur trade flourished, the Hurons gained riches and became powerful diplomatic traders and a dominant military force, The Iroquois wanted to become a major trader in the fur trade business and disrupt the French and Wendat relations. Considering this, the Wendat always feared attacks from the Haudenosaunee (the Haudenosaunee are commonly called as the Iroquois). They used to constantly raid the Huron villages; as it is mentioned in the book, the relationship between the two tribes is pretty violent, and many members had to lose their loved ones. The revenge motive for the murder of a family member was a strong reason for the never-ending cycles of war. Bird lost his family in am attack on his village, and he attacked Snow Falls’ village to avenge his family members, and both lost their families. The Iroquois attacked the Huron allies to disrupt the French alliance with them. The Algonquins who were responsible for scouting Christophe to Bird’s village fled away when they reached near a Haudenosaunee village. The Wendat had strong relationships with the Algonquins, who used to provide passage for the French to the Wendats by protecting them through Haudenosaunee lands. One of the other reasons the Iroquois hated and attacked the French colonists was due to the collaboration of Samuel de Champlain with Hurons and Algonquins in war with the Iroquois in order to strengthen New France’s relationships with the Huron and the Algonquin tribes. Thus, securing an enmity from savages who were warlike and intensely rude in manners would further cause New France’s fall.
The book has presented natives as savages, two-legged animals who are human in appearance only and are extremely violent and war-liking creatures. In fact, the Orenda is the most violent book I have read till now. The mission of Christophe’s life is to convert the savages to the Christian faith and save them. However, the main purpose was not saving them but converting them and easily controlling them. The Jesuits were linguists who learned aboriginal languages and lived among them and persuaded them to convert to Christianity in order to have a greater control. The Jesuit’s observation of the native people was often biased. Father, Pierre Biard, one of the Jesuit pioneers in North America, describes the nations as uncivilized and describes the native people as vengeful, ignorant, lazy, profane and treacherous. Father Biard further says that those people (native Americans) possess no arts, and are pathetic in every occupation and considers them hardly above beasts. However, his tone changes when the Jesuits are driven out of Acadia, in 1616 he describes the native Indians as ‘our savages’ who are physically handsome and well-built and can become good Christians and attain salvation. Another argument is given that the conditions of indigenous people will improve once they convert to the Christian faith and leave their pagan ways, as conversion will make them more civilized, but the opposite is observed. In their native traditions, women had opportunities of equal participation, in some places they were even leaders but after the arrival of Christian faith the society became more patriarchal and women rights decreased. In fact, the Huron women enjoyed more autonomy and respect as compared to the contemporary white women. In Dispersed But, Not destroyed: A History of Seventeenth-Century Wendat People, Kathryn Maggie Labelle quotes Bruce Trigger, who says in the east women lost power due to their dependency on Jesuits as they lost their men in war with the Iroquois.
Boyden, in his book, the Orenda gives the idea that the disappearance of Huron was destined due to their own doings, selfishness. However, this is not accurate. The Huron existed as one of the largest nations when the French first arrived in the early 1600s and disappeared in the late 1640s. In the 1620s, Huron produced half of all the furs traded but when the epidemic hit in 1630s, both Huron and Iroquois suffered loss of many lives but in the wars that followed after, Huron lost many men as the French did not come to their help and also as a result of excess conversion. The diseases brought by colonists to Huron villages and the betrayal of colonists in the war by not fighting with them are also reasons for the disappearance of Huron. Hence, the Huron federation dispersed in 1649 as a result of diseases, wars, betrayal and excessive conversion.
In conclusion, “The Orenda” is a remarkable literary work that transports readers to a period of pre-federation Canadian era. It delves into the turbulent times of the fur trade and frequent violent clashes between the Huron/Wendat and the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois tribes. The author, Joseph Boyden, presents a reasonably accurate depiction of historical events, but his portrayal of the Haudenosaunee as a relentlessly violent and antagonistic tribe, the impact of Christian conversion on the Wendat people, and the inevitable extinction of the Huron people are not entirely accurate.
The mission of Christophe’s life is to convert the savages to the Christian faith and save them. However, the main purpose was not saving them but converting them and easily controlling them.
