Sapiens

Yuval  Harari
I found the graphic novel Sapiens very thought-provoking and insightful. A certain concept of human evaluation which I understood wrongly was clarified like there were 6 species of humans with the same genus chimpanzee. Only one species survived through all the odds not due to bigger brain size, but they were masters of fiction stories. They could co-operate in masses due to sharing the trust of collective imagination like nationality, currency, trade, judiciary, religion. We still share our bindings with that...

Vavtal

Vyankatesh Madgulkar
Novel is based on anti-Brahmin riots in Pune and some parts of Maharashtra after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, very powerful account of mass mentality and social frustration.

Tughlaq (Hindi)

Girish Karnad
It is autobiographical story of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, sultan of Delhi. Drama highlights his quest for developing the excellence governance, his political moves and thoughts and how society misunderstood and some time took its advantage for own benefit. How he wrongly treated as “Pagal raja” in the history books.
Learning: Whatever good idea or thought one has to improve system; can not be implemented in the system unless they want it…and it bit dicey…

The Story of Philosophy

(William James Durant American writer, historian, and philosopher)
It is good book to keep as a reference about philosophers, their ideas and short biography which shaped them. First chapter begins with introduction to philosophy and it’s different branches like Metaphysics, politics, Art, Theology, Epistemology etc
Philosophers included are: Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Baruch Spinoza, Voltaire (with a section on Rousseau), Immanuel Kant (with a section on Hegel), Arthur Schopenhauer, Herbert Spencer, and Friedrich Nietzsche.

The Naked Ape

The Naked Ape: Desmond Morris Zoologist's study of the humans as a species and compares them to other animals. This is basic book one must read to understand human behavior, it is full of facts are comparisons with other animals to clarify doubts. It is a benchmark of popular anthropology and psychology book. Each chapter is distinct and like individual research papers on topics: Origin, Sex, Rearing, Exploration, Fighting, Feeding, Comfort, Animals, and References.

It asks the fundamental questions like: If humans are evolved from monkey, what would have been today’s monkey that time?