The Remains of the Day
A novel about the cost of misplaced loyalty and the self-deceptions we build to survive them — closer to a mirror than a story.
Readings
Books I've finished
One honest line on what each changed or confirmed. Organised by year read.
2025
The Righteous Mind
Uncomfortable and necessary: moral reasoning is mostly post-hoc rationalisation, not the driver of our beliefs. Made me more suspicious of my own certainties.
Thinking in Systems
Changed how I look at organisations, habits, and education — everything is a feedback loop, and most interventions push at the wrong leverage point.
2024
Being Mortal
About medicine and dying, but really about what gives a life meaning — and whether our institutions are built to serve that or to avoid confronting it.
Why Nations Fail
Institutions, not geography or culture, explain prosperity and poverty — and institutions are shaped by power, which is shaped by history. Essential reading for anyone thinking about India.
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
Validation and a framework: breadth is not a liability, it is how you see patterns that specialists miss.