On The Racks

Richard E. Nisbett
The Geography of Thought | Hachette

A remark from a Chinese student inspired the author to dismantle his universalist conceptions regarding human thought and exp­lore how Asians and Westerners think differently. He delves into social structures, philosophies and whether the world is “made up of nouns or verbs” to tease out our underlying assumptions.

Raj Rao
Madam, Give Me My Sex | Bloomsbury

A gay professor is fired at the beh­est of a feminist firebrand. It soon explodes into a controversy, one of the many engulfing the university. Faction fights and a hungerstrike by students lead to an unprecedented administrative order. The author, a professor himself, takes shots at the perceived failings of the Indian higher education system throughout the novel.

T.R. Raghunandan
Everything You Wanted To Know About Bureaucracy But Were Afraid To Ask | Penguin

An insider’s account of the structure and functioning of Indian bureaucracy, which often leaves insiders as flummoxed as the common people. With humour and quirky anecdotes, the author shares instructive information on how to get into the IAS, how postings and promotions work and, importantly, how to navigate files, letters and red tape.