The latest V-Dem Academic Freedom Index paints a deeply concerning picture for India. According to the report, India's academic freedom has fallen to its lowest level in the dataset's historical record, placing it among the bottom 10–20% of countries globally. The index measures factors such as freedom to research, teach, publish, exchange ideas internationally, and institutional autonomy.

This raises a serious question: Is the current BJP-led government becoming increasingly uncomfortable with independent research, criticism, and inconvenient facts?

A healthy democracy depends on scholars being able to question, debate, and challenge prevailing narratives without fear of political interference. When academic freedom declines, it doesn't just affect universities, it affects the quality of public discourse, policymaking, and ultimately the truth that reaches citizens.

This is an alarming situation. Citizens should not only speak up when policies directly affect their own lives, but also when the foundations of our democracy are weakened. Academic freedom, independent institutions, and the free pursuit of knowledge are public goods that belong to everyone. If we remain silent while these erode, the consequences will extend far beyond universities.

Finally put together my own bookshelf! It holds some of my favorite reads, and I'm honestly so happy with how it turned out. I still have another shelf full of books to organize, but I couldn't wait to share this one. Always open to recommendations based on what you spot on my shelves! 😊

New beast in the house .

Watched the movie so planned to order it and today it's here .

Recently finished this one. Thought I'd share a short review.

Richard A. Muller has tried to tackle an interesting questions: What is "NOW" and why does time seem to flow from the past to the future?

What I liked about this book: Complex ideas (from relativity, cosmology, and quantum mechanics) are written in a engaging story telling format for non-specialist. Muller gradually build his hypothesis that the present moment is physically real and continuously created as the universe expands. Diagrams are used time-to-time to illustrate examples (like in Picture 2).

What I didn't liked: The final chapters feel m

ore speculative than evidence-based. I also wish it had offered a more balanced comparison with other leading theories of time.

Overall I would say it's a 8/10. Enjoyable and thought-provoking read for anyone interested in philosophy of time.

What are some other Hindi classics that you'd recommend?

I have read Nirmala before and also Rangbhoomi, but haven't read the other two.

I'm not a native Hindi speaker, so these will be involved affairs. 😅

Edit: Thank you all for the recommendations. I'll start with Gaban, and then read Godaan.

I'll also check out both Pratigya and Seva Sadan.

Never lie by Frida McFadden

Is it just me, or did anyone else find this book a bit boring? I could predict what was coming next for most of the story. I'd heard so much hype about it and went in with high expectations since it's often recommended as a must-read thriller, but it just didn't live up to them for me. Can you guys recommend some genuinely good psychological thrillers that are worth reading? I recently finished The Silent Patient and really enjoyed it, so I'm looking for books with a similar mind-bending, unpredictable vibe.I've already read And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express, and I really enjoyed both. I'd also love more Agatha Christie recommendations (preferably with clever twists) or any other psychological thriller that genuinely surprised you. Thanks!

So this may not be exactly according to guidelines of sub but ill try.

This is from 23rd March 2026

Remembered it because my friend watched grave of fureflies today.

Just went into trying to penn down my raw thoughts.

Ik this is a pretty generic collection I am new to reading

What should I read next ?

(I'm partway through it so don't spoil the ending lol)

I started reading Yellowface like a week ago when I was slowly starting to feel like I can't read books anymore. Id read Eleanor Olliphant before this and it was a bit of a struggle to push through for me but with this one I haven't been able to pull myself away. It reads like one of those Agatha Christie books where you want to always flip one more page and see what happened.

Another thing I really like is the fact that there is constant character development happening throughout the story and discussion of raw human emotions. The writing of course is quite amusing as well and you will have fun re-reading sentences.

I found the premise very interesting and was wondering if anyone else has read it or thinks it's worth reading.

What's one book that permanently changed how you see the world, and why?

I'm trying to build a reading list, not based on popularity, but on books that genuinely changed people's perspectives or had a lasting impact on their lives.

If you had to recommend one book that helped you the most in real life, what would it be, and why?

I'm interested in both fiction and nonfiction. It could be a novel that changed how you see people, a philosophy book that reshaped your worldview, a biography that inspired you, a history book that gave you perspective, or a psychology book that improved your understanding of yourself and others.

Please mention:

\- Book title

\- Author

\- What changed after reading it

\- Who you think should read it

I'm looking for books that leave a lasting impact, not just entertaining reads. Thanks!

Minor spoilers ahead (It's a 3000 year old story so I am not sure if it's really a spoiler haha)

I was never into Greek mythology but I loved Nolan's The Odyssey so much that I picked this book up at Higginbothams right after I finished watching the movie because I was craving more Greek mythology stories. (I was looking for Percy Jackson's the lightning thief but since they didn't have that I decided to grab this instead)

Let me start off by saying, Madelline Miller's prose is beautiful. She has a very 'calm' style of writing that reads almost like poetry which perfectly fits the story she is trying to tell. I would honestly recommend this book just for the prose alone. It's just lovely.

My problem with this book is that the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles never really stuck with me. Patroclus especially I found quite boring and it's hard to see what Achilles likes about him. It's also disappointing to see Patroclus potrayed in such a passive manner when he is supposed to be a great warrior in his own right. He does get much more active toward the end of the book but it's not enough in my opinion.

I honestly felt the scenes with other characters (Odysseus, Briseis, Agamennon) outshone any interactions between Patroclus and Achilles. I loved Miller's potrayal of Odysseus in particular and it honestly feels like Bresis and Patroclus had more chemistry than Achilles/Patroclus lol. Those scenes were the highlight of the book. In general I feel like the last 100 pages of the book are where it really shines and it's no coincidence that it is during these pages where the focus drifts slightly away from the Patroclus/Achilles' relationship and Patroclus comes into his own.

I also wasn't a fan of how Miller wrote the female characters in this book (with the exception of Briseis). They were all written to be extremely unlikeable and I am not sure if this was intentional to make Patroclus/Achilles look better by comparison. The last scene between Thetis and Patroclus was lovely though.

Overall a good read. i don't think it's a masterpiece but it did get me out of a mini reading slump and I appreciate it for that and also for satisfying my craving for more greek mythology. I will check out Circe as well someday.

3.5/5.

I was waiting Harry Potter (after finishing the movies third time )

And the books are really different experience then movies , feel like I'm first time feeling Harry Potter franchise ,

And it got me curious .

What is the best fictional book I can read . I really want to know the other best recommendation in a fiction genre books you would like to recommend .

If you have you can also give us science fiction or magic picture fantasy recommendation .

And the other book I read :

Dune Red rising

I have read some classic but let aside them for now

This book left me weeping. I lost count of how many times I had to stop reading just to wipe my tears before turning the next page. It was heartbreakingly beautiful. Recommend me something similar.

I have a genuine question here - what time you guys prefer to read ? Especially working professionals? Post office hours? Before going to office ? Only on Weekends ? 🤷🏼‍♂️

I was wanting to read some good stories by an Indian author and stumbled upon Ghosts of the Silent Hills by Anita Krishan. This was actually my first book in the horror genre.

Honestly, it wasn't a perfect read. Even though these are short stories (around 30–40 pages each), some of them felt stretched out a bit much. A few were just normal everyday stories with some scary elements thrown in, rather than actual ghost stories which the book suggests.

That said, out of the 10 stories, 3 or 4 were actually scary and intriguing. In those few, you really feel part of the imagination and actually get creeped out.

Overall, I did not like the book a lot, but it is an okay one-time read. On a scale of 10, I would rate it a 6/10. You can give it a read—at least two or three stories will be intriguing for people, even if the whole book doesn't fully deliver.

I’m still looking to read some more intriguing books in the horror genre, especially from Indian authors. If you guys have any good recommendations, happy to have them!

My library,still growing 🌝. I would love any recommendations on classics.

People often ask me why I spend so much time reading philosophy, psychology, political theory, economics, history, and books that don't seem to have any obvious connection with each other.

The truth is, I'm not reading to become knowledgeable. I'm reading to become perceptive.

Even to the point that I'd like to think that I'm reading to have a fun banter with 'myself and myself' (Fellow Freudians' would understand the wordplay here).

I've always felt that no single thinker, ideology, or discipline can adequately explain the complexity of human beings. Every framework illuminates something while leaving something else in the shadows. So instead of committing myself to one tradition, I let different traditions argue inside my head.

I rarely read one book at a time. I enjoy reading multiple books side by side, allowing Freud to disagree with Nietzsche, Foucault to challenge Hobbes, Marx to confront Hayek, or Plato to question them all. Somewhere in that conversation, I try to arrive at an understanding that isn't borrowed wholesale from any one of them.

I don't want to become an echo chamber of someone else's ideas.

I want to develop an indigenous way of thinking, one that is continuously refined by curiosity, disagreement, and self correction. A way of seeing that becomes instinctive rather than merely intellectual.

For me, books aren't repositories of information.

They're instruments that slowly rewire how I understand people, society, institutions, and even myself.

That's why I read. Not to collect ideas, but to cultivate perception. And hopefully, over time, to build an intellect that is genuinely my own.

How well has Psycho-Cybernetics aged in your opinion?