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  • When I Grow Up – Sunday Clippings #4

    Apr 11, 2021

    Hello there,

    This week, I posted an article about why Practice is so Important? I’m slowly working on building a series of blog posts about practice, this post though is research-based and about an interesting experiment on about practice. I also posted another blog post about why I think the “Tools Don’t Matter”. I’ve seen people who are super obsessive about apps and notebooks and phone models. The materialistic bits are just distractions that stop you from working. Now, on to the newsletter.

    One of the highlights of my week has been making the important life decision of which profession I want to take up as an adult. And honestly, I don’t know myself. I see my interests as subjects, not as careers. I know that I like science, math, history, English literature, computer science but does that mean I’ll have to become a doctor, historian, writer, engineer or computer scientist?

    Some people have their aims clear but it isn’t for me. I am bad at setting long term goals and I don’t understand how people are expected to decide what they’ll be doing for thirty or forty years when they’re just inexperienced teens.

    Austin Kleon says, “We are not nouns, we are verbs. I am not a thing – an actor, a writer – I am a person who does things – I write, I act – and I never know what I am going to do next. I think you can be imprisoned if you think of yourself as a noun.” This is exactly what I’m trying to convey. Thinking about sticking to one thing seems boring and risky. What if it’s tedious? What if I figure out I don’t find it enjoyable halfway through?

    It seems that “when I grow up” isn’t a small decision, it requires a very careful thought and a lot of planning. It’s something you’ll be dedicating your whole life to and that’s some pressure. While discussing this subject in an article, Abigail Lane writes –

    “With the retirement age rising to 67 by 2026-28, young people will soon work for 50 years or more. I realise that choosing the profession I want to follow and university courses that will get me there – is a decision of paramount importance. But I can’t help thinking that it’s too much for an inexperienced seventeen years old to make. With students choosing careers that may not suit them, a worrying scenario could emerge: we could be stuck in careers like round pins in square holes. This is detrimental for the students because reconsidering a career is an enormous decision.”

    Now personally, I think that at this stage it is more important to perfect your skills than eyeing a definitive profession that may or may not be in demand in future. With new personality based careers emerging, it’s important to study the subjects you’re interested in (in the best way you can) but not assuming a permanent career for yourself.

    For instance – I like science and I’ll study science. I’ll give it my best but I’m not hoping for a specific science-based career (like a doctor). After studying the basics, I can decide which science-based career I’ll be pursuing based on the future circumstances.

    Also two decades back, professions like Digital marketer, Youtuber, App Developer, Data Scientist didn’t even exist. These terms had never been heard of and the people who practice these careers today didn’t aim for these certain careers when they were teenagers.

    They chose them because of their skills not because of a set of memorized knowledge. When I grow up, I want to do something worthwhile for work with a bunch of side hustles to moderate it. We are verbs, not nouns. I am a person has certain interests that I want to gain more knowledge on. Hopefully while studying them I’ll be able to figure out the particular profession.

    Have a great week,

    Vedant


    This Week’s Clippings

    1 – Article – Who’s the first person that comes to your head when you hear the word ‘genius’? Albert Einstein, right? Here’s an article about how Einstein become the poster boy for genius. He certainly wasn’t the only superhuman. He became a cognitive celebrity as he lived in the special sliver of time – after the lights of fame had begun to shine bright, and before science came to be seen as a team sport.

    2 – Article – I recently discovered this older article on one Seth’s blog. The post is about the difference between memorization and learning. Learning is understanding the concept and memorizing is just a short-term way to cram and pass the test. Seth’s blog has the most relatable and inspiring daily notes.

    3 – Video – In this ABC interview from 1974, they were talking about having computers on our desks by 2001 which will allow people to work from home and access their banking records. This video made me think about how much technology has advanced under five decades. We are the computer dependent society which was being predicted that time.

    4 – Quote – “…do every day or two something for no other reason that you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved and untrained to stand the test.” (Source: Habit by William James)


    (This is an issue of the “Sunday Clippings”. Every week I compile various valuable ideas, learnings, along with my highlights from interesting articles, books and podcasts in a short and skimmable email newsletter. Sign up here to get future issues delivered directly to your inbox!)

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  • The Tools Don’t Matter

    Apr 9, 2021

    Tools are everywhere. Every day, several new apps are being developed for you to do the things you want. Even to send a text message or click a selfie, you’ll have a vast variety of apps to choose from. There’s always a variety waiting for you, different types of apples or plants or shoes.

    Does the pen I use to write matter? Does my calendar or note-taking app matter? Does the model of my phone or computer matter?

    Tools never matter. I wouldn’t be able to write better plays or stories if I had Shakespeare’s quill. Having Elon Musk’s computer wouldn’t make me more productive. It’s just me and my potential that matters.

    I like to start with a simple tool and use it for a while. Then later if I’m facing any serious problems, I’ll consider upgrading. I’ll only upgrade if it’s necessary and mostly it isn’t. Amateurs often tend to focus on little details, their platforms, cameras, microphones which stops them from starting or distracts them from doing the actual work.

    It’s important to know how to work with what you have. A bad workman blames his tools and uses it as an excuse to hide his faults, it’s not the tools that make you good but rather how you choose to employ them.

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  • Why is Practice so Important?

    Apr 7, 2021

    3,605 sixth graders from 91 different elementary schools were told to read a short test. Then immediately, they had to take a test based on it.

    Half of these students were given a practice test based on the same information for one to seven days. After the seventh day, all the students had to sit for a final test based on the same piece of information.

    The final test performance for the experimental text was reported separately for the top and bottom thirds of performers on the baseline measure. Overall, taking the practice test had benefited both groups of students. The testing effect appeared to be somewhat larger for higher-ability readers than for lower-ability readers. With approximately 12% to 20%, improvements in accuracy. This separates the learners and memorizers.

    The more you chew over the information, the more it gets embedded in your long-term memory. The students who practised more performed better than the ones who practised less or didn’t practice at all.

    It takes efforts but eventually, the hard work pays off. The crammed facts might help you pass a test but at last, only the learners who practised it well will have it stored in their brains for years.

    Understand → Learn → Practice

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  • Value of Simplicity – Sunday Clippings #3

    Apr 4, 2021

    Hello there,

    This week I posted my notes on the Flynn Effect theory which suggests that the IQ scores of the general population are rapidly increasing over time. This article is an overview with more information to help you understand the theory, some causes and how the IQ scores once rose and have started declining now with the use of technology.

    Right then, on to the newsletter.

    Recently, one of the highlights of my life has been making things simpler and easier to manage. When things start piling up, the ones at the bottom start disappearing. At this point, it seems important to remove the clutter.

    Something I have noticed is that we live in a world full of procrastinators. We don’t do the things that we don’t have to. This week, I had been hunting to find the most basic note-taking app that’s straightforward and just does the job of taking notes. No unnecessary features, just a simple app where I can write drafts and meeting notes. I found the one called Simplenote (it’s named appropriately).

    While writing using this software, you can’t make things bold, italic or underline them. You can’t add photos, videos or tables. It’s interactive and syncs across all my devices. I don’t always use the several features Microsoft Word offers. Infact, many people never use most of those features. Steve Jobs, the late CEO of Apple, an American entrepreneur and investor, once said that –

    “That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

    The one takeaway from this issue is to remove clutter and keep what you need. It saves time and increases the clarity of mind. Otherwise, the brain has fifty tabs open and you don’t know where the music is coming from.

    Have a great week,

    Vedant


    This Week’s Clippings

    1 – Book – Currently, I’m reading the unabridged version of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I’m hooked to the storyline and it’s a great inclusion for my quest of reading classic books of all time.

    2 – Video – I really enjoyed this video about the biggest, deadliest and weirdest creatures to walk on the Earth. It’s made using latest fossil evidence and immersive computer graphics that looks really cool.

    3 – Video – This video about hygiene during the Black Plague. More than 50 million people or half the continent was wiped out as the bubonic plague swept through Europe in the 14th century. A really intriguing video from one of my new favorite channels.

    4 – Quote – “People who excel tend to obsess over the details. People who struggle also tend to obsess over the details. The difference is what details they focus on. Minutiae vs polish. Most things don’t matter—but when it does, you want to get the details right.” (Source: James Clear’s 3-2-1 Newsletter)


    (This is an issue of the “Sunday Clippings”. Every week I compile various valuable ideas, learnings, along with my highlights from interesting articles, books and podcasts in a short and skimmable email newsletter. Sign up here to get future issues delivered directly to your inbox!)

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  • Notes on the Flynn Effect

    Apr 1, 2021

    The Flynn Effect theory suggests that the IQ scores of the general population are rapidly increasing over time. With more researches being conducted, it’s believed that the Flynn Effect has already ended and has gone into reverse. This is an overview with more information to help you understand the Flynn effect theory, some causes and how the IQ scores once rose and have started declining now with the use of technology.

    What is the Flynn Effect?

    Flynn Effect is a theory that describes how over the last sixty years there has been a substantial rise in the IQ scores of the general population. James Flynn, a social scientist at the University of Otago, in New Zealand, documented this in 1984 and wrote a variety of academic books on it.

    The first question that comes to our brain is “why? what’s the reason behind this?” James Flynn lists several explanations to explain this but the major ones are based on how health, nutrition and education have improved. Even the more developed IQ testing system could be a reason. The education system is conducting frequent tests to make the younger generations more familiar with the competitive environment. The curriculum is constantly developing making the human IQs better and better.

    The Rise in IQ Scores

    The rise is intriguing because it occurred in those tests that aren’t easy to learn. The verbal intelligence has remained relatively flat but the non-verbal scores continue to rise. The figures could not be overlooked because it’s massive. In a 2013 TED talk Flynn mentions that “We don’t just get a few more questions right on I.Q. tests. We get far more questions right on I.Q. tests than each succeeding generation back to the time that they were invented. Indeed, if you score the people a century ago against modern norms, they would have an average I.Q. of 70. If you score us against their norms, we would have an average I.Q. of 130.”

    Recently, the new evidence shows something that’s been coming from the opposite end. A reverse of the Flynn Effect is being observed in certain locations which leads to a decline in the IQ score of the population. Currently, this has been named the ‘Negative Flynn Effect.’ Nine reports have been found suggesting this in seven countries across the world. The major causes being immigration, maternal age, sex ratio and Dysgenics. A literature review from 2016 mentions that “There are a number of limitations to this analysis. Ideally, in order to establish and understand the causes of the negative Flynn Effect, we need large samples, annual cohorts over a longer period of time, and, where possible, the ability to rule out potential confounding factors such as sex and immigration.”

    Why did the Flynn Effect happen?

    The education system and technique play an important role in the intelligence value of common people. The manner in which children are being evaluated presently is more developed and holistic. Flynn writes about the questions the state of Ohio gave to 14-year-olds in 1910 were about socially valued concrete information. They were things like, what are the capitals of the 44 or 45 states that existed at that time? But when they looked at the exams of the state in 1900, they were all about abstractions. They were things like, why is the largest city of a state rarely the capital?

    Another reason that contributes to the Flynn effect is the generally more stimulating environment. Learners these days are supposed to read books and watch movies like Harry Potter and derive sense out of them whereas they were just means of entertainment in the older times. Information is more widely available. People are having diverse interests which promote curiosity and leads to more learning. With the use of technology, knowledge is easy to consume through visual and audio forms which weren’t necessarily available in the past as it is today. The brain has a short term capacity to learn things. In the earlier times, people memorized information for learning but these days, schools are focusing more on making learners know the reasoning to consolidate it for long-term memory.

    A popular example Flynn gives is the question, What do a dog and a rabbit have in common? A modern respondent might say they are both mammals whereas someone a century ago might have said that humans catch rabbits with dogs. People were pragmatic back a century ago. They weren’t interested in hypotheticals or in classifying things together.

    Lastly, nutrition and healthcare improved and resulted in better IQ scores. The fewer members a family has, the better nutrition the children get. The nutritional improvement affects their intelligence positively and equally, which would be reflected in an overall mean IQ change. Wikipedia explains this by stating, “Today’s average adult from an industrialized nation is taller than a comparable adult of a century ago. That increase of stature, likely the result of general improvements in nutrition and health, has been at a rate of more than a centimetre per decade. Available data suggest that these gains have been accompanied by analogous increases in head size, and by an increase in the average size of the brain.”

    The Reverse of Flynn Effect

    People weren’t mentally retarded back in 1900. They were able to perfectly adapt to the circumstances they had, they could earn a living and you’ll probably not even able to comprehend the information in their 8th-grade textbook as it was so complicated. They were able to achieve great things in their circumstances which we can’t despite having the equipment.

    But intelligence has adapted over time, we can tackle problems better today because we know more (because of them). Flynn Effect did happen and the IQ has definitely evolved if not increased. The question is, is it still happening? Are we still getting smarter and smarter?

    It’s predicted that the Flynn Effect might have stopped in the 21st Century. More researches are being conducted about its reverse or the so-called “Negative Flynn Effect”. The Flynn effect theory was proposed in 1984 and technology has developed immensely in the last two decades.

    While discussing the Negative Flynn Effect, Will Conaway wrote, “Technology is changing our concept of time, and we are getting the brunt of the abuse. There’s an expectation to solve problems at the same speed as clicking through websites. Additionally, the amount of information online can give those working on a project a false sense of expertise; they read a few lines on a blog and often take action in the wrong direction.”

    Albert Einstein famously said, “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” With many new distractions that didn’t exist back then, there’s no guarantee if we will keep getting smarter and if it will keep rising (or decline) in future.

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  • Sleep to Remember – Sunday Clippings #2

    Mar 28, 2021

    Hello there,

    One of the highlights of my life recently has been ‘sleep’. Sleeping on time leads to waking up on time and sleeping late leads to waking up late. I’ve realised is that – every human being needs 8 hours of sleep even if you don’t want it. Early birds or Night owls – everyone needs to sleep, those who work till late at night payback by sleeping during the daytime and the others sleep during nights (the normal people) and work during the daytime. There is no escaping sleep.

    Side note – This week, my sleeping routine thrived as it had never before, I slept at 10 or 11 pm and wake up at 6 am! And it was great! There’s a research paper called Sleep to Remember which talks about how a healthy sleep cycle has positive impacts on your learning and memory power.

    I have realised that sleeping to your stumbling blocks is an effective technique, the next day you wake up with a fresh attitude and a new state of mind to tackle it. The basic explanation for this is that when we’re asleep, there’s a loss of consciousness. This gives time to the newly encoded information to get absorbed in our long term memory. If you need to learn something properly, sleep is an essential factor (otherwise you’re cramming it for short term use).

    “Sleep has been identified as a state that optimizes the consolidation of newly acquired information in memory. There is also evidence that sleep after learning can provide a qualitative change to memories. Learning-activated engram neurons play a critical role in memory recall and selective sleep-associated reactivation of learning-activated sensory populations serves as a necessary instructive mechanism for memory consolidation.”

    Apart from brainpower, I’ve also observed that poor sleep quality leads to me waking up in a bad mood. And to avoid anger and mood disturbances I need to have a proper sleep pattern. Avoiding sleeping does add some extra hours for work but it takes away the quality and causes many serious health problems if it becomes a regular thing. Sleep runs in a circle, you just need to make the effort of joining the circle and it becomes normal and once you’re off the circle, it starts going anti-clockwise.

    The one key takeaway from this issue is to remember to sleep and sleep to remember. Sleep, Learning and Memory are correlated and important for a healthy and productive life. Don’t play with your sleep.

    Have a great week,

    Vedant


    This Week’s Clippings

    1 – Article – This article about Substack is eye-opening. They pay an elite, secret group of writers to make newsletter writing appear more lucrative than it is. This is really beneficial for Substack as more people will sign up and give them content for ‘their’ business.

    2 – TV Series – This week I watched this miniseries consisting of six instalments that takes place in the 1960’s during turbulent times in the United States. I loved it, there are some really hilarious scenes which led to me binge watching the whole series in a one day.

    3 – Video – Podcasts are a growing business. I really enjoyed this video about how podcasts became so popular. It seems like everyone already has a podcast these days. The video gives you an insight about the podcast revolution and why it grew so quickly.

    4 – Video – I learnt a lot from this video about the northern white rhinos who are on the brink of extinction. Only two females of this species are alive today. A group of scientists are attempting to save this nearly extinct species through artificial insemination.

    5 – Quote – “We are very good lawyers for our own mistakes, and very good judges for the mistakes of others” (Source: Hippie by Paulo Coelho)


    (This is an issue of the “Sunday Clippings”. Every week I compile various valuable ideas, learnings, along with my highlights from interesting articles, books and podcasts in a short and skimmable email newsletter. Sign up here to get future issues delivered directly to your inbox!)

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  • Collect, Create, Connect

    Mar 22, 2021

    Yesterday, I published the first issue of my personal email newsletter called the Sunday Clippings. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while but could never do it properly with  my capricious self. The only goal I have right now is to write weekly and never skip a single week (even if that means writing a tosh palaver over a random quote). I’m writing this post for anyone out there who is planning to start a newsletter and needs some pointers to begin with.

    The key here is to find a structure and stick to it. After doing my completely useless hunt of finding the ideal newsletter structure, I came to know that it doesn’t exist. I brainstormed a few thoughts and formed by own blueprint :

    Collect – The last thing I want to be called is a spammer. I don’t want to spam the reader’s with my content excessively. The value decreases when the quantity increases. To have fans, you need to be a fan first. Share a collection of your favorite articles, books, quotes, videos. In your newsletter, include a “weekly recommendations” column with links to these resources for your readers. Share the things that are worth sharing.

    Create – This one is pretty obvious. You wrote an article, filmed a video or recorded a podcast, just tell your audience that your content is ready for them to view. It’s something you spent time on and you should not be ashamed to promote it. But make sure to not do it excessively, people seem to get pissed off (as they should) when you spam them with your content alone.

    Connect – I’m not a machine, I’m not an organization and neither I want to pretend that I’m one. Be a person (like you are) and connect with people in a simple and unpretentious manner. The advice here is to write as if you’re writing to a friend. People love when they find something relatable, share something that happened to you, a bad experience or your thoughts on something. Be yourself and have fun being yourself.

    This is pretty much going to be my new newsletter strategy (with consistency). I don’t want to overthink it, this sounds simple and I’ll stick to this as long as I can. I hope you discovered something helpful here. Start an email newsletter, it’s worth giving a try.

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  • Introduction – Sunday Clippings #1

    Mar 21, 2021

    Hello there,

    Recently, I felt the need to do something consistently for mental clarity. In the internet age just like everyone else, I consume a ton of content online – from tweets to articles, videos and podcasts. The question is – Am I really able to incorporate the information I consume into my life. Consumption overload is useless especially when I wasn’t able to put the ideas and inspirations to use.

    Tiago Forte, the founder of the Forte Labs has introduced something impactful to my life. It’s the concept of building a Second Brain. It ideally means a place where you compile all your highlights from various places for your future self. A brain outside your body where you store the insights. Here’s how he explains this:

    “Building A Second Brain is a methodology for saving and systematically reminding us of the ideas, inspirations, insights, and connections we’ve gained through our experience. It expands our memory and our intellect using the modern tools of technology and networks. This methodology is not only for preserving those ideas but turning them into reality. It provides a clear, actionable path to creating a “second brain” – an external, centralized, digital repository for the things you learn and the resources from which they come.”

    This inspired me to start this newsletter. I’m not an expert but I believe in sharing what I know and what’s a better way to do that than a personal newsletter. I decided to call this the “Sunday Clippings” because just like people cut out useful clippings from publications and store them for future references, I’ll be sharing my weekly clippings and insights about various concepts, articles and books in this email.

    Another purpose of this newsletter is to make me more consistent with writing online. I want to take writing more seriously, not for anyone else but myself and the best way to do so is to keep writing. Excuse me if some weeks I just decide to share a random quote or a tosh palaver. My goal right now is to stick this habit with discipline and improve over time. Growth is slow but consistency is the key.

    The newsletter will ideally start with a letter-style essay letting you know some personal and cool learnings that you might find useful. In this essay, I’ll also be adding the links to any new articles or blog posts I have published during the week.

    The second half will be a section is called “This Week’s Clippings” which is a ragbag of thought-provoking things that were worth sharing in my opinion. Here, I’ll be adding some bits and pieces of highlights that resonated with me the most. I’ll try my best to make the newsletter as short and concise as I can so that it is easy for you to skim through.

    This issue was just an introduction to the series of emails you’ll be receiving every week since you’ve decided to subscribe (Thank you very much!). I’d love it if you shared this newsletter with a friend who would find it interesting.

    Have a great week,

    Vedant


    This Week’s Clippings

    1 – Short Story – I read a story called The fisherman and the businessman on Paul Coelho’s blog when I was brainstorming ideas about a very similar topic. It’s a great short story that completely changes your perspective about success and happiness.

    2 – Blog – I’m currently reading two books by Darius Foroux and I discovered his blog through those books on Kindle. He’s been sharing actionable tips to optimize your life and career every week since 2015.

    3 – Newspaper Archives – This week, I read many old newspaper archives. Specifically, I’ve been trying to read the issues from The Sunday Indian Express from 1949. It’s interesting to find events I know from my history books here, in the actual newspaper published during that time.

    4 -Quote  – “Hunger and pain lengthen the night, and so the beggars and dogs are the last to see the stars; hunger and pain hasten the awakening, and the beggars and dogs are the first to see the sun.” (Source: The Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond)

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  • Morning Rituals by Katie Stone

    Mar 14, 2021

    Rating : 6/10

    Genre : Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Life Advice


    The Book in 3 Sentences

    1. A habit is a symbolic statement that you adopt to have big impacts.
    2. Focus, energy, strength and clarity are the stepping stones to success.
    3. Do something daily with full focus simply because you love doing it.

    Main Takeaways

    The author mentioned “Tea Meditation”. This is a practice of making tea every morning while being completely mindful and putting your attention on every step of the process. Afterwards, you need to enjoy every sip of the tea without letting any worries distract your peacefulness.

    Take some time every morning to read non-fiction books to either further your expertise or broaden your skills and knowledge by reading them.

    Visualise success in a non-financial manner. So instead of saying, “I want make x number of money per year”, think about how your life would look like if you were successful and happy.

    Give the same attention to good things in your life as you give to your problems and stress. Dedicate a fixed amount of time to note down the things you’re grateful for; or a list of things that made you smile.

    Differentiate between the workspace and a relaxing place. Otherwise, you send your subconscious mixed signals. Keep it clean and keep all the things you need for work close-by.

    Instead of writing a list of activities you want to adopt in your morning routine, write reaffirming text to read out loud. Something like “I get up every morning at 7:00 am and take a shower. After that, I sit down and meditate for ten minutes before making my coffee. Then, I…”


    Comments

    This book is a great handbook for people looking to the make most out of their mornings. The writing style is quite casual and straightforward which makes it easier for the readers to comprehend the information. The book is filled with practical morning habits.

    It was a short read but at times I felt that the author could have elaborated the rituals more. Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who wants to build their morning routine and is looking for the ‘ingredients’ to customize it according to their needs and goals.


    Top 3 Quotes

    “There is no use to blindly copy what someone else is doing – no matter how many millions or billions they make. Every person is unique, and so should be their morning routine be.”

    “Tidiness is a very beneficial factor for your mental well-being. A made bed adds to that tidiness with just 10 seconds of work.

    “Find a place where everything you need is there, and nothing else. Where distractions are locked away, even if only symbolically. Where your subconscious is fully on your side.”

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  • The Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond

    Mar 12, 2021

    Rating : 9/10

    Genre : Fiction, Young Adult


    What It’s About

    The Room on the Roof is a classic fiction about a seventeen-year-old orphaned Anglo-Indian boy, Rusty who manages to escape his strict English guardian. He aspires to live a life of happiness and relaxation. The boy who used to be called a ‘snob’ slowly found himself developing a strong bond with his friends. He became accustomed to the Indian lifestyle and was no longer confined.

    Just when Rusty was living his best life, the story took a gloomy turn. His companions start to flit which was then accompanied by a tragedy with Rusty’s first love interest. The book describes life from a teen’s perspective, his experiences with friendship, love and responsibility and his transformation into a mature adult.


    How I discovered It

    This novel was Ruskin Bond’s first literary venture, Written when he was seventeen himself. It was also the first book by him I’ve ever read. I discovered it quite randomly a few years back after being recommended it by my friends. It made me fall in love with the author’s writing style. After reading this book, I immediately bought more books by him, read them and became fond of them as well.


    Key Thoughts

    Written in a short and simple manner, the book is about self-discovery. It depicts friendship and love with a realistic approach. With an adventurous start, the ending was quite unpredicted and leaves the reader heartbroken. It shows that life is uncertain and we should learn to move on. It displays the freedom and responsibilities of a teenager’s life. The book teaches that the best relationships in life are formed when we are least expecting them; which is the reason we should open ourselves to new people without being hesitant.


    Summary Notes

    “They who sleep last, wake first. Hunger and pain lengthen the night, and so the beggars and dogs are the last to see the stars; hunger and pain hasten the awakening, and the beggars and dogs are the first to see the sun.”

    “We don’t know why we live. It is no use trying to know. But we have to live, Rusty, because we really want to. And as long as we want to, we have got to find something to live for, and even die for it.”

    “One day you’ll be great, Rusty. A writer or an actor or a prime minister or something. Maybe a poet! Why not a poet, Rusty?”

    “He could not run away. He could not escape the life he had made, the ocean into which he had floundered the night he left his guardian’s house. He had to return to the room; his room; he had to go back.”

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