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Twenty pages into ‘Eden Abandoned,’ I had a pit in my stomach. Having always thought of myself as an avid reader, I was kicking myself for not having discovered the magic of Shinie Antony before. Is she one of the most underrated Indian writers of English language?

 
Ladies, I invite you to meet ‘curiosity’ and ‘non-conformity’ in this wonderful book, Eden Abandoned - The Story of Lilith’ by Shinie Antony. Exquisite prose is one way to put it. Fun read is another. Gentlemen, I invite you to see a mirror that Lilith wants to hold up and share a laugh which apparently ‘Adam couldn’t because he never had it’.

 
But first up, who is Lilith? According to lore, Lilith was the first wife of Adam. Although not mentioned directly in the Bible, Lilith has been used to explain the two contradictory versions of Creation within the book of Genesis. Adam and Lilith were both created from the dust and the earth. They were equals. And this was the problem.

 
Here are our five Bookstrapping insights -

1. There’s a reason you wont find me in the Bible, says Lilith. I am memory erased, even as I live. Her manufacturing defect was the ‘inability to nod.’ In other words, the fact that she had a mind of her own. Someone who wouldn’t merely put ‘ovary and uterus to use.’ And that’s why Adam allowed Lilith to disappear, as long as she didn’t make a fuss!

2. 'Between two adults, consent comes into play during separation’. Gems like these keep the reader hooked! After all, Adam did choose the more submissive Eve over Lilith, albeit righteously!

3. The evocation of feminism, is dealt with in the most fascinating manner. The author brings Lilith alive in the most irreverent way, for she believes that it was Adam’s ‘contempt for himself that interfered with his joy in her!”

4. Even as Lilith builds a menacing life outside Eden, the author brings out the contrast between her and Eve. The latter, made from Adam’s rib , is not his equal. She nods and smiles and is eager to please. Because…God is a man!

5. The book puts an entirely new spin on the very idea of worship and dignity. With chapters numbered in reverse, from thirteen to zero and unnamed, the reader can make their imagination go wild.

Let ‘Eden Abandoned’ mark the beginning of discovering Shinie Antony, a truly humbling voice in women’s writing; a magical wordsmith whose works I’m excited to dig into.
 
One question seems to apply to both Shinie Antony and Lilith- have they got their due?
 
Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ A reading coach, you can find her on Instagram @OfficialReetaGupta

Bookstrapping: Eden Abandoned - The story of Lilith by Shinie Antony

The Lords of Frauds

 
When I read the title of the book, ‘The Dirty Dozen, India’s 12 Biggest Corporate Defaulters,’ by N Sundaresha Subramanian, I was immediately reminded of an HBR Ideacast that I had listened to a while ago, featuring accounting professor Kelly Richmond Pope. She spoke at length about three kinds of ‘white collared crimes,’ those that came about by intentional perpetrators, accidental perpetrators and righteous perpetrators. Pope has authored 'Fool me Once- Scams, Stories and Secrets from the Trillion Dollar Fraud Industry,’ and proposes that people who end up as intentional proprietors, might've often started off as accidental or righteous perpetrators.

 
Armed with this perspective, I opened the book to discover that the 12 case studies in the book, could also be categorised in the same way!

 
Here are our 5 Bookstrapping insights:

 
1. The foreword by Dr. M S Sahoo, former chair of the IBBI (Insolvency and Bankrutpcy Board of India), maintains that the book’s cautionary tales will serve to ignite inspiration. Later in the book, Sahoo also quotes from Ernst Hemingway's novel 'The Sun also Rises.’ When one of the characters asks, ‘How did you go bankrupt ?’, the other one answers, “ Two ways; gradually then suddenly!” Sahoo believes that this is how the bankrupty reforms have unfolded too!


2. Due credit is given to M.Narasimhan, the 13th governor of the RBI, who suggested the NPA categorisation system. The book also touches upon an IIM-B and KPMG study, about how banks don’t seem to always ensure that the promoters’ contribution is funded through equity and not debt! (so that the promoter has enough skin in the game.)


3. The chapter titled ‘Companies Cry but Owners Party,’ speaks about the nexus between the establishment and a category of defaulters. Subramanian also highlights the misuse of the ‘corporate debt restructuring (CDR)’ scheme by big organisations. Later, the book refers to how the the CDR cell shutdown overnight, after faithfully serving Indian lenders and letters for 17 years. Moreover, the URL cdrindia.org was taken over by a dubious adult website!


4. Another chapter titled 'Conquerors, Survivors and Hindustan Leavers’, refers to popular names! Building a narrative with carefully selected data, the author categorises JSW, Vedanta and Adani as conquerors, GMR GVK and ADAG as survivors and Videocon, Essar Steel, Jaypee Infratech and Lanco Infratech as not-so-lucky companies, who faced a similar fate as the dirty dozen!


5. The author preserves his sense of humour. A debtor confesses to a banker, “Your lending rates are okay, but the high NPA numbers! Wow! That's what attracted me to your bank! Touche!


The author’s track record as a hard-hitting journalist with award winning coverage in corporate and regulatory affairs, sets the tone foe the merciless, diligent number crunching in the book. This one is about the crooked ones!


Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On Instagram @OfficialReetaGupta


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/bookstrapping-the-great-flap-of-1942-by-mukund-padmanabhan-27264.htm">Bookstrapping: The Great Flap Of 1942 by Mukund Padmanabhan</a>

Bookstrapping: The Dirty Dozen by N Sundaresha Subramanian

On 18th March 2024, Deepak Parekh stepped down as the Chairman of HDFC Life. Before this, in June last year HDFC merged into HDFC Bank, creating India’s largest and the world’s fourth largest bank by market capitalisation. When the identity of a company and its leader are synonymous, such as HDFC and Deepak Parekh, naturally, it will take us a long time to not rattle off both in the same breath. The founder of HDFC, H. T. Parekh must be smiling in his resting place.

 
Fittingly enough, three days before the merger of HDFC Limited, Deepak Parekh personally oversaw the inauguration of the H. T. Parekh Legacy Centre. ‘Hasmukh Kaka’ as Deepak Parekh calls him, was his uncle.

 
Visitors to the legacy centre can ask for a copy a book titled 'Letters to Hira,’ a sentimental compilation of epistles written by H. T. Parekh to his beloved wife Hira, ten years after her death. College sweethearts who met in Wilson College, HT Parekh and Hira Parekh present a simple love story that tugs at your heart strings.

 
This is not just a book, it has history written all over it! Imagine if letters written by the legendary Dhirubhai Ambani to his wife were to appear suddenly; how priceless would they be!

 
Here are our five Bookstrapping insights:


1. The logo of HDFC Limited is so ubiquitous that connecting a homely treatise like ‘Letters to Hira’ to the mind boggling worth of the corporation can be a stretch of imagination. H. T. Parekh and Hira Parekh’s story is like the comfort food cooked by mom- simple, wholesome, loving.


2. In the letters, H. T. Parekh offers information about life in London, where he was studying at the London School of Economics. The language of the letters is purposeful and detailed; its almost as if HT Parekh wanted to share every moment of his life, again with Hira.


3. He recounts his career, his work life in detail to Hira, as if informing her for the first time, even though she has lived every moment with him.


4. HT Parekh and Hira never had any children. Many anecdotes in the book are about how Hira was the favourite ‘masi’ to their sibling’s children. There is a reference to how families that shared values with them, had become an integral part of their lives.


5. The tasteful illustrations in the book, give it a feel of a collector’s item. These letters were originally written in Gujarati and are now available in English.


The book stands testimony to what old timers at HDFC know- an intrinsically humble person, H. T. Parekh never consciously set out to create a business empire but by dint of hard work and a visionary mind, he went on to become a formidable force in Indian business. His analytical approach shines through in these letters. In his own words, placed at the Legacy Centre dedicated to him, H.T. Parekh says, “"I seem to enjoy sitting at the feet of Saraswati more than worshipping Laxmi, though it is Laxmi I have served all my life."


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/bookstrapping-wellness-by-nathan-hill-19318.htm">Bookstrapping: Wellness by Nathan Hill</a>

Bookstrapping: Letters to Hira by H.T. Parekh, founder, HDFC

THE RESILIENT LEGACY OF A GOOD MAN!
 
When India became a nation, the Ashoka Chakra became part of our flag and the Ashoka lions became our emblem. These Ashoka lions are based on a 3rd-century BCE sandstone sculpture known as “Lion Capital of Ashoka.” This was erected by the Emperor Ashoka- who lived in 200 BC,at Sarnath, in present-day Uttar Pradesh.

 
So Emperor Ashoka is a part of our lives as a nation! Patrick Olivelle insists that Ashoka’s ideals are embedded in the ‘dharma’ we abide by. However, unlike Gandhi, Ashoka’s ideals aren’t attributed to him- and this is what he argues in his book 'Portrait of a Philosopher King'. 


Patrick Olivelle has carved out an exceptional volume, with almost 90 pages of reference alone. As a reader, I was grateful to the work of James Price, who in 1837 deciphered the Brahmi script in which most of Ashoka’s inscriptions were written! What a wonderful value addition to other hagiographies!


Here are our five Bookstrapping insights:-


1. Long before Gandhi preached peace, there was Ashoka. Long before vegetarianism became mainstream, Ashoka was the vegetarian King. Ashoka’s inscriptions indicate that he prohibited the sacrificial killing of animals to feed the royal household.


2. Ashoka’s empire stretched from today’s Afghanistan to Bangladesh in breadth and from Nepal to present-day Karnataka in height. This is large enough to be considered important. Ashoka inherited his kingdom from his grandfather Chandragupta Maurya and father Bindusara. He would certainly have had a state bureaucracy, armed forces, economic management etc to manage such a vast region.


3. Ashoka’s other name ‘Piyadasi’ is all but extinct! Piyadasi- which means of benign countenance or ‘pleasing to see’ was evidently not preferred by the Buddhists- though we dont know why.


4. Ashoka’s conquests were as bloody a those of his father and grandfather. The difference is that Ashoka acknowledged it and apologised for it. Ashoka speaks of an ‘offence’ committed by the state of Kalinga, because of which he 'had to' attack! And yet, he regretted it. He was a King with a conscience and that is why, we cannot get over him fully.


5. Ashoka’s upbringing was multicultural- both Chandragupta Maurya and Bindusara had Greek wives. Naturally, Ashoka was a ‘universalist’ with an expansive vision, connections and influence all over the world.


H G Wells is right to consider Ashoka almost alone, unique and shining as not just a King who was responsible for the spread of Buddhism but also the lone king in world history who was strong enough to say, ‘Im sorry.’ Here was a King who believed that ‘Dharma is universal’ and not the monopoly of any sect. Chapter 9 in the book, explains Dharma in detail and must not be missed!


Summing up, lets stay with Ashoka's statement that 'it is difficult to do good'! Ashoka believed that he who is the first to embark on doing good, has done something difficult to do. What are you waiting for?


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/bookstrapping-the-great-flap-of-1942-by-mukund-padmanabhan-27264.htm">Bookstrapping: The Great Flap Of 1942 by Mukund Padmanabhan</a>

Bookstrapping: Ashoka - Portrait of a Philosopher King

Poetry day is observed in March every year, even though it receives far less attention than Women’s Day, Holi and Ramadan! And yet, poetry transcends every celebration there ever has been and ever can be! We celebrate three different books of poetry in our column today.

 
Sahitya Akademi Award winning poet Arundhathi Subramaniam says in the introduction to her collector’s item ‘Wild Women’ that she is setting out to serve a thali—an explosion of flavours and textures on a single plate—rather than a multi-course meal. She has curated an enthralling volume, a poetry book that talks to every woman, makes us remember what we have forgotten!

 
Sample this; Marathi Dalit poet Soyrabai who wrote in the 14th century CE (before her famous ideological successor Savitribai Phule, but in the same vein). She raises questions of the legitimacy between high and low, pure and impure, as she asks-

 
“Why carry these burdens on your head?


If the world still tempts you, all hope has fled.

 
Soyara says: I find it odd;


Those who know nothing, speak most of God.”

 
Or Indira Devi, who’s mystical conversations with Mirabai merged into her poetry.

 
“I’d renounce the entire world for you,

 
But tell me, how do I reach you?’

 
The book features exquisite translations- prepare to meet everyone from Andal to Habba Khatun to Yellamma in this esoteric volume.

 
In complete contrast is Harish Bhat’s ‘Restless Lives’, a modern compilation of poetry that captures his conversations with himself as he catches cathartic moments of self-reflection. A poem titled ‘Hope on a Sunday morning’ features the lines

 
“Every day. Every day my parrot is my own


For though it never comes home, and always flies away,

 
It will always, always be back in my park


Each anxious, cheerful Sunday morning.”

 
The third book of poetry I encountered was ‘The Days of a Small Book and Other Poems’, a self-published volume by film director Seenu Ramasamy, translated from Tamil by Prof N Elango. This book is an ode to everyday realities.I asked the author about his motivations and he said, “I write poetry to say thanks to this world,…..and also to apologize..to this land because I have nothing to give it except my poetry and cinema.”

 
“It cannot be found even in tales

 
That someone died when he wished to die.

 
Everything will come

 
Only to the one who wishes to live.”

 
I urge readers of this column to pick up the odd book of poetry, every once in a while. For what are we if we cannot express our soul’s deepest moments in song!


Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer and reading coach. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On Instagram @OfficialReetaGupta

Bookstrapping: Your songs, my songs and the pleasure of poetry

Did the Japanese ever invade India?

 
Chances are that if we ever get asked the above question, our response will be a defiant no. But the fact remains that on March 1942, the Japanese entered Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and took its capital Port Blair with no resistance.

 
What? Why?

 
And doesn’t 1942 sound like a period in the middle of the second world war?

 
In the ‘The Great Flap of 1942’, Mukund Padmanabhan opens a tightly shut door with this intensely researched piece of narrative non-fiction. 


Here are our five Bookstrapping insights.

 
1. The book is laid out in 12 sharp chapters. With titles such as ‘The Tongue of Rumour’ and ‘The Fog of Confusion’, the book takes the reader back to the days in which communication was not as quick as it is today! Its plain to see the challenges of interpreting partial information and how estimates can go seriously wrong, while anticipating potential events!

2. Japanese imperial ambitions are documented but largely from the vantage point of their attack on Pearl Harbour. There’s so much more that you discover as you turn the pages of this book!

3. Japan was on quite a roll before the US stopped it in its tracks! They took Singapore in 1942 before proceeding to set sail into the Indian Ocean, as their potent airforce bombed Sri Lanka and their navy sunk British ships!

4. There was a time, when the British felt that the Japanese would attack Madras next! So, in the middle of April 1942, an estimated 75 to 90 percent of Madras was evacuated! What’s more, wild animals in the Madras zoo was shot dead, so that lions, tigers, bears and snakes would not be set free and let loose, as an unintended consequence of Japanese bombing.

5. The British seemed to be preparing for a great Japanese threat. They referred to this as the The Great Flap of 1942. This threat, however never came through, even though at one point, the Japanese attempted to enter India’s mainland via the north-east from their base in Burma.

The question the book leaves the reader with is this- ‘how much did the Japanese threat change political attitudes and influence the national movement in 1942?’ How did it change British attitudes towards India? And how does war time threat alter the social fabric?

 
Don’t miss the epilogue about the ‘zoo story’ from this debut author!


Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On Instagram @OfficialReetaGupta

Bookstrapping: The Great Flap Of 1942 by Mukund Padmanabhan

SHOULD WE BET ON WHAT DOESN’T CHANGE?
 
Is anything the same as ever?


Morgan Housel seems to thinks so! Some things never change, is what he bets on in this wonderful, relatable read and shares 23 stories to prove his point. He also quotes Voltaire; “History never repeats itself, man always does.” Touche!

 
So, what are these things that never change?

 
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos posits in the introductory chapter,“ It is impossible to imagine a future where Amazon customers don’t want low prices and fast shipping.” Makes sense! Because that’s what he focuses on.

 
Here are our five BookStrapping insights.


1. Media interviews almost always focus on what’s likely to change. Imagine if we could interview billionaires on the things that are never going to change? And bet on them.


2. Consider this for starters; if there are infinite number of ways in which your life could potentially play out, and you just happened to be living in one version, what would be true in every imaginable version- not just this one? Egad!


3. Recognising that some things never change, helps you appreciate the fact that some of the biggest and most consequential changes in history happened because of a random, unforeseeable, thoughtless encounter or decision that led to magic or mayhem. Not because of great planning!


4. If the above were true- then risk is simply what you don’t see- because the surprises are all that matter. If no one sees it coming, no one is prepared for it. Therefore the damage will be amplified when it comes.


5. Your role models, folks who think about the world in unique ways (you like these), also think about the world in other unique ways (you don’t like these). Unique minds therefore have to be accepted as a complete package. Everyone needs them but nobody can stand them!
Pithy gems like ‘most competitive advantages eventually die,’ leave you stunned; because it takes time to sink in and then suddenly starts to makes sense!

 
Is it then, easier to navigate the world if we knew what never changed?

 
Maybe your answer is the ‘same as ever.’


Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On Instagram @OfficialReetaGupta


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/bookstrapping-marginlands-indian-landscapes-on-the-brink-by-arati-kumar-rao-25949.htm">Bookstrapping: Marginlands - Indian Landscapes on the Brink by Arati Kumar-Rao</a>

Bookstrapping: Same as Ever by Morgan Housel

THE LEGACY OF LANDSCAPES LOST


As we wean off the women’s day celebrations, its time to celebrate a traveller-writer of great distinction, Arati Kumar Rao. Her book Marginlands reminded me of another book we had reviewed in 2022, Wild Wisdom by Christine-Amour-Levar, a forceful plea to save nature.

 
If you rush through Marginlands, you will definitely miss the woods for the trees. Because Marginlands is not about geography alone; it is about the people, the microhabitats and any aspect of a place that we don’t pay attention to. Something that is on the margins of our attention; a place and people that are endangered and on the brink; even though we don’t see it clearly.

 
Here are our five Bookstrapping insights:

1. What places the author in a position to write such an intense book? Arati Kumar-Rao is an environmental photographer, writer, artist and NatGeo Explorer and has become an active voice in the environmental storytelling space in India. She expresses her surprise that despite all the marginalisation they experince, those who face the brunt of it seem to be full of hope!


2. The book captures the tumultuous lives – both human and non-human – of those who inhabit the margins of the subcontinent. And the author includes unusual suspects like Bombay too! How is a wealthy city like Bombay a Marginland? The author argues that many facets of Mumbai don’t really feature in mainstream conversation and how it continues to be a magnet for migrants despite being one of the cities that will be most affected by climate change.


3. Make no mistakes, this is not just a personal narrative but also a literary work. Poetry and prose collide and literary devices are aplenty- with alliteration framing curious chapter titles such as ‘The Farakka Folly’ and 'The Fleeting Flash of Fin’ and an interesting hyperbole in ‘A Coup on The Roof of the World!’


4. The author uses several examples to suggest that if only we ‘walked a problem back in history’ to determine is origins, we would find the solutions. This would prevent ‘interlopers’ from using marketing and propaganda to usurp the narrative and destroy the ecology and livelihood supported by that place.


5. The book is a delightful weave of history, ecology, society and emotion.Arati slowly but surely builds empathy with the characters in the book. The relationships that she has built, transmit to the author, even as she argues about how decisions about ‘places’ are invariably made by people who sit so far away that they’re unconnected to the ground reality.
 
 
In essence, this book tugs at your conscience. Arati quotes American ecologist and writer Also Leopold in saying, “Civilization has so cluttered this elemental man-earth relationship with gadgets and middlemen that awareness of it is growing dim. We fancy that industry supports us, forgetting what supports industry.”

 
Time to put that thinking cap on!


Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On Instagram @OfficialReetaGupta.


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/bookstrapping-the-w-factor-in-literature-25704.htm">Bookstrapping: The W factor in literature</a>

Bookstrapping: Marginlands - Indian Landscapes on the Brink by Arati Kumar-Rao

Our column Bookstrapping is in its third year and we have celebrated women authors with aplomb! We have reviewed non-fiction books written by women, such as Arundhati Bhattacharya’s 'Indomitable' and Michelle Obama’s ‘The Light We Carry.’ 

 
We have reviewed the rare biography of a woman written by a man, in ‘The Code Breaker’, the story of ace scientist Jeniffer Doudna by Walter Isaacson. We have reviewed award winning fiction written by women such as Geetanjali Shree (and her translator Daisy Rockwell) who won the Booker Prize for ‘Tomb of Sand’. We have also reviewed rare collector’s items like Rahaab Allanna's ‘Unframed’, which reminds us that photography could be the only surviving evidence to understand things that transpired in the past.

 
Women’s contribution to literature has obviously brought a better understanding of the world. By sharing their point of view, using their own bylines and making their voices heard, they have been powerful agents of change. 

 
In our column today, we present a cross section of favorites from celebrity women readers.


Actor and educator Dr Swaroop Sampat Rawal is an ardent fan of Daphne Du Maurier. “ I love all her books, Jamaica Inn, My Cousin, Rachel, The Birds,” she says. Rawal’s own 2023 book ‘Play Practice Pursue’ is hailed as essential reference material across all schools in India on how to implement the 10-day bagless school approach to pre-vocational education. 


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/bookstrapping-the-showman-by-simon-shuster-22615.htm">Bookstrapping: The Showman by Simon Shuster</a> 


Actor and hearthrob Mrunal Thakur has always loved the pain in Rupi Kaur’s poems. The actor says, “On a whim, I booked a ticket to LA and attended one of her shows- it was a moment of reckoning for me; her narration gave me goosebumps. I revisit her books to find courage, solace, inspiration- whatever one may call it.”


Bibliophile and social media influencer Shweta Rohira chooses 'Where Love was Sinful' by Chirasree Bose as among her favorites. “The author captivated me from the very title, ensnaring my interest like a spider web. Each page unraveled layers of the story, revealing a tapestry of love, politics, greed, and more,” she says. Rohira also mentions Kiran Manral’s “Rising: 30 Women Who Changed India," and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s "Palace of Illusions" as having a special place in her heart.

 
I recently met the feisty Meghna Pant who confessed that her recent war novel 'The Man Who Lost India’ has people asking her “do women write war novels?” Of course they do. Meghna shares her wonderful light in a sparsely populated world that shines with ‘The Nightingale’ by Kristin Hannah, a book about two sisters in France during World War II and their struggle to survive and resist the German occupation of France!


And the story of women’s voices continues.


Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On Instagram @OfficialReetaGupta.

Bookstrapping: The W factor in literature

Every Bite You Take


Hippocrates was right; all disease begins in the gut. And he said this at a time when human life expectancy was 35 years!
In today's world, we may well want to replace Sting’s evergreen romantic number ‘every breath you take’ with “every bite you take’ and embark on a forever love story with our gut. Now is this a book I can ignore? Possibly not; because Dr. Steven Gundry is eminently qualified and has dedicated his life to improve health, happiness, and longevity through a unique vision of human nutrition. And thank God for it!


Here are our five Bookstrapping insights:


1. Much of our immune system is actually lining the gut and protecting it. So on most occasions, the gut can take the doughnut and the cigarette in its stride. And the gut’s own warriors- our immune cells-perform a splendid job. Unless we abuse them too much!


2. The gut ecosystem plays a major role in producing neurotransmitters like serotonin. Hence, there is a direct correlation between the gut and depression.This is why ancient Chinese medicine has always approached depression treatment via the gut. Dr Gundry affirms that we need to tap back into all kinds of ancient wisdom and knowledge to get a better grasp on our gut.


3. Dr Gundry has been writing for a few years now. Those who have read ‘Dr Gundry’s Diet Evolution” or “The Plant Paradox” already know about his ‘leaky gut’ postulates. One aspect of this is that our gut may not recognise several modern foods. There’s a chapter titled ‘The Gut Check Food Plan’ that’s not to be missed. There are recipes in it too!


4. A big recommendation in the book is to adjust your eating schedule to maximise the health of your inner ecosystem. Of course, condensing the time you eat, also known as ‘intermittent fasting’ is now fairly popular. Digestion is hard work for your gut; give it a good break so that its not vulnerable to attackers!


5. Another easily doable thing is to increase the amount of pre-biotic fibre or fermented foods that you ingest. For eg; how about some ground flaxseed in water and some apple cider vinegar sweetened with allulose?


The author makes a strong case that despite there being no oxygen deep down in your colon, it has its own working logic and the food you eat must not impair it! Whew!


To implement this better, health enthusiasts in India definitely need a book that is written more with the Indian food palate in mind.


Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On Instagram @OfficialReetaGupta

BOOKSTRAPPING