What I read this week (June 11, 2023 – June 17,2023)

I see this column as a collection of some things I read during the week – books, articles, tweets etc. that pique my interest in some way. I love learning and I find reading to be one of the best ways to not just understand a topic but also expand referential thinking. Learning about something, however disconnected it may be from my immediate interest, always has a way of coming back. And I find that to be the most beautiful thing – learning and its ability to open the world even more for you!

However, recently I struggle when the experience of “reading” or “learning” starts to feel passive and “consumption” based (so many thoughts on this I should perhaps share in a separate post). With this column, I’m hoping to develop a new way of appreciating what I read and share some of those learnings here.

So here it goes – 

June 11, 2023 – June 17, 2023

1. The Botany of Desire: From the forests in Kazakhstan to every single store near you, apples have come a long way as arguably one of the most popular fruits in the world. Pollan takes you through the socio-cultural history of how apples have come to be one of the most recognizable symbols in the world and particularly in the United States. Pollan ties Apple’s connection to the Bible, US Land Expansion rights, Prohibition, American Agriculture etc. I am a big fan of Pollan and his book “In Defense of Food” continues to be one of my favorite books ever. What I like about his writings is his ability to draw the readers’ attention to be more present and appreciate even the simplest of ideas. So far, I’m loving this book. I have three more chapters to go – tulips, marijuana and potato and I’m very excited to read more.

2. How Dowries Are Fuelling a Femicide Epidemic: This coupled with a BBC article I had read recently on the continued prevalence of dowry (payment in the form of property or money paid by the bride’s family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage, practice still popular in South Asia) was incredibly troubling. These ran completely counter to my and many people’s thinking that attainment of higher education would help alleviate the issue of dowry. Instead, according to research, dowries have continued to be prevalent across all social classes in India and amongst the “highly educated” class as well. As a South Asian woman, it made me rethink how disconnected I might be from reality of what is happening on the ground. Dowries were prevalent in western societies till the 18th centuries but it subsided with the industrial revolution and increasing literacy of women. The cultural dominance of this practice in South Asia poses a very important question – What is the role of education in solving issues of unequal gender practices? Are we relying too much on the role of education without acknowledging the inherent cultural biases and misogyny at hand?

3. Did This Writer Actually Know Tennessee Williams?: The thing about reading the New Yorker is there is bound to be an article on something I know absolutely nothing about and yet I know I will come out of it with some really good nuggets. This piece on James Grissom and his connection to Tenessee Williams and subsequently to many big names in the theater and movie world (allegedly) through Williams was fascinating. The piece touches on many themes – ambition, American ethos of amassing connections voraciously, source material checks in writing, New York publishing culture among many other things. But the part that left me the most awestruck was hearing about Grissom’s 8 bedroom rent stabilized apartment on the Upper West Side (moment of appreciation for this!!). After having freshly moved to New York in the late 80s, he learned about this apartment from his network of older New York actresses with whom he used to socialize. He lives there to this day and claims he will only leave “in a box”. Grissom has fully sealed the deal on the apartment by marrying his friend and roommate – he was 52 and she was 76 (she died 5 years later) when they married. I guess networking has many good merits indeed.

4. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: I have to be honest. I’ve had this book for 3 years and it’s been one of those books that I knew I would want to get to at some point but I never made the jump. I have been frequenting the Williamsburg farmers market very often recently and also having been thinking a lot about the idea of “consumption”, I knew the time was right to pick this book up. Nosrat said it took her 17 years (!!) from when she had the idea for this book to when it came to life; and that is very very evident from how intimately she writes about every single topic in this book. I read the first chapter on Salt – on its enhancing effect on food. The concept that salt can reveal underlying flavors and even heighten the taste of other spices was one of the most illuminating things I have ever read (I know I will never be able to salt food without this knowledge popping in my head ever again). In my moment of newfound appreciation for salt, I definitely over-salted my food at least once this week but that in itself goes to show you how good Nosrat is at getting you excited about the simplest of the simple acts in the kitchen!