https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/Recent content on The Freudian CouchHugo -- gohugo.ioenthefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)© 2026 The Freudian CouchSat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/09/hazelnut/Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/09/hazelnut/A short story about belonging, identity and an awkward coffee in a new countryhttps://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/09/housemaid-mcfadden/Thu, 03 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/09/housemaid-mcfadden/Freida McFadden's bestselling thriller delivers pulpy, page-turning suspense, but its twists don't always survive scrutiny.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/08/mahajaya/Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/08/mahajaya/A modern retelling of the Mahabharata set among Delhi University students, fought out over campus politics and a game of Kabaddi.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/08/brown/Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/08/brown/A short story about interview anxieties and the desire to help othershttps://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/07/moonshine/Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/07/moonshine/A historical fiction about loyality, sacrifice and maternal lovehttps://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/07/faces-in-the-flame-mcqueen/Tue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/07/faces-in-the-flame-mcqueen/An interlinked anthology of thirteen stories that are subtle and evocativehttps://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/07/loneliness-sonia-sunny/Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/07/loneliness-sonia-sunny/A sprawling tale of romance and loneliness that spans India, the USA and a few other countrieshttps://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/06/trinkets/Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/06/trinkets/A blend of historical fiction and magical realism set in 15th century Calicut for the prompt 'For Sale - Baby Shoes - Never Worn'https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/05/hallucination/Wed, 06 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/05/hallucination/A dystopian thriller that ponders on the cost of happiness.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/04/sigma/Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/04/sigma/A darkly humorous story about the influence of Manosphere on adolescents in a South Indian townhttps://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/03/destiny-other-follies-venters/Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/03/destiny-other-follies-venters/Gregory Venters's Destiny and other Follies looks like a novel about corporate politics. At its core, it is about the animal instincts that civilization only thinly disguises.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/03/by-myself/Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/03/by-myself/a literary fiction that captures the fragile, everyday negotiations between a child’s stubborn independence and a mother’s weary resiliencehttps://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/03/damaged-goods-scheufele/Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/03/damaged-goods-scheufele/Paul Scheufele's Damaged Goods tackles class, luck, and sibling bonds in an engaging but uneven debut — a review.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/02/treated-like-a-fly/Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/02/treated-like-a-fly/Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Notes from the Underground makes us hate its narrator while forcing us to admit we are more like him than we would like. A review, and a confession of my own ineptnesshttps://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/02/nation-terry-pratchett/Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/02/nation-terry-pratchett/Terry Pratchett's Nation tackles imperialism and belief with sincerity that feels naive to a cynic—and that's exactly why young readers need it.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/02/why-i-write/Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/02/why-i-write/Why my writing at The Freudian Couch is useless in the age of LLMs, and why I won't let that stop mehttps://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/01/dutch-house-ann-patchett/Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/01/dutch-house-ann-patchett/A family saga where a grand house becomes a symbol for the vacuum caused by maternal absence.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/01/and-your-byrd-can-sing-roberts/Sun, 11 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2026/01/and-your-byrd-can-sing-roberts/A gritty Southern-Gothic coming-of-age story that focusses on a misfit's attempts to fit, and to free himself of the burden of his past.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/12/2025-in-books.htmlSun, 28 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/12/2025-in-books.htmlGoodreads tells me that I read 16 books this year. Though this is not a lot, I am pleased that I found time to read. I am even more pleased that I found time to write about most of these books. I reviewed 10 of these books on my site, and felt bad every time I did not write about …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/12/covenant-of-water.htmlFri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/12/covenant-of-water.htmlAbraham Verghese's historical fiction has the thesis that everyone is connected and it doubles down as a medical thriller at times.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/12/coffee-connoisseurs.htmlFri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/12/coffee-connoisseurs.htmlFrom the parables of Hindu mythology to the color-coded labor hierarchies of Qatar, this explores the absurdity of the perfect cup. A humorous reflection on South Indian roots, American dreams, and the existential relief found in a disappointing brew.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/12/artistic-liberties.htmlFri, 05 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/12/artistic-liberties.htmlThe tenuous connection between Love in the Time of Cholera, Tere Ishk Me and Clockwork Orange; and bemoaning the lack of nuance in criticism.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/10/daughters-of-madurai-variya.htmlWed, 29 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/10/daughters-of-madurai-variya.htmlThis novel dealing with Female Infanticide in India works in parts, but some glaring mistakes stop from feeling authentic.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/10/libraries-and-refugees.htmlSun, 05 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/10/libraries-and-refugees.htmlOn school libraries with locked bookshelves, the privilege of browsing freely, and what libraries mean to those who've lost everything else.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/10/mother-tongue-other-tongues.htmlWed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/10/mother-tongue-other-tongues.htmlReflections on language, identity, and the complexity of mother tongues—what it means to think and write in a language that isn't your first.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/09/migrations-charlotte-mcconaghy.htmlFri, 19 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/09/migrations-charlotte-mcconaghy.html If I were capable of staying any place, it might be here. But the birds won’t stay, and neither will I. In an early scene in Charlotte McConaghy’s Migrations, the lead character Franny Stone spots a man outside a pub in Greenland. The man seems to unwittingly walk into an …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/09/blindness-jose-saramago.htmlSat, 13 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/09/blindness-jose-saramago.html Perhaps only in a world of the blind will things be what they truly are José Saramago’s Blindness begins with the colorful lines: “The amber light came on. Two of the cars ahead accelerated before the red light appeared. At the pedestrian crossing the sign of a green man lit up. …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/08/flowers-for-algernon-daniel-keyes.htmlMon, 18 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/08/flowers-for-algernon-daniel-keyes.html Who’s to say my light is better than your darkness? Before, they had laughed at me, despising me for my ignorance and dullness; now, they hated me for my knowledge and understanding. Overview # I have my own term for a genre of novels that were written in the early to mid 20th …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/06/vegetarian-han-kang.htmlWed, 18 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/06/vegetarian-han-kang.html It’s your body, you can treat it however you please. The only area where you’re free to do just as you like. And even that doesn’t turn out how you wanted. I have dreams too, you know. Dreams…and I could let myself dissolve into them, let them take me over…but surely the dream …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/04/remains-of-day-kazuo-ishiguro.htmlFri, 11 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/04/remains-of-day-kazuo-ishiguro.htmlA restrained historical fiction that subtly questions our sacrifices in the name of a vague conception of dutyhttps://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/04/russia-house-le-carre.htmlSat, 05 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/04/russia-house-le-carre.html “Today one must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.” “Some people, I reflected, are cursed with too much loyalty, for a day could come when there was nothing left from them to serve.” As a teenager, I enjoyed spy thrillers and action adventures. …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/03/wool-silo-howey.htmlWed, 05 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/03/wool-silo-howey.html What god would make so much rock below and air above and just a measly silo between? They put us in this game, a game where breaking the rules means we all die, every single one of us. But living by those rules, obeying them, means we all suffer. I had an awareness of Hugh …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/02/daughter-of-fortune-allende.htmlSun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2025/02/daughter-of-fortune-allende.html ..she had fallen in love with love and was trapped in the morass of a legendary passion with no link to reality. Before I picked up Isabel Allende’s Daughter of Fortune, I had a preconceived notion about her writing. The words “magical realism” and “South America” were in my …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2024/12/my-2024-in-books.htmlTue, 31 Dec 2024 22:17:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2024/12/my-2024-in-books.html2024 was an interesting year for me in terms of reading, an activity that has taken a backseat in my past few years. This was the year when I made a conscious effort to change this and get back into reading more. One contributor to my reading slump, apart from life, was my …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2024/12/fredrik-backmans-anxious-people.htmlWed, 18 Dec 2024 10:48:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2024/12/fredrik-backmans-anxious-people.html"That's simultaneously the sweetest and the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a very long time, Anna-Lena." Fredrik Backman’s debut novel, A Man Called Ove, is a bittersweet depiction of a lonely old man as he tries to come to terms with a world that's changing around him. The …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2024/12/kurt-vonneguts-slaughterhouse-five.htmlSun, 08 Dec 2024 08:07:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2024/12/kurt-vonneguts-slaughterhouse-five.htmlYou'll pretend you were men instead of babies, and you'll be played in the movies by Frank Sinatra and John Wayne or some of those other glamorous, war-loving, dirty old men. And war will look just wonderful, so we'll have a lot more of them. And they'll be fought by babies like …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2024/11/margaret-atwoods-burning-questions.htmlSun, 24 Nov 2024 13:28:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2024/11/margaret-atwoods-burning-questions.htmlA decade ago, I used to read more in terms of quantity and variety. I read far less now because of life and social media. Having recognized this, and hoping to correct for variety (while giving up on quantity), I decided to read some magazines. Short pieces on varied topics might …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2023/01/my-2022-in-books.htmlTue, 03 Jan 2023 22:36:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2023/01/my-2022-in-books.html We are already into the new year, but I did not want to give up on what has now become my little routine - a summary of all the books I read in the previous year. In 2021, I had written about momentous changes to my life that left me little time for reading. The impact of those …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2022/07/review-of-aint-i-woman-black-women-and.htmlTue, 26 Jul 2022 22:09:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2022/07/review-of-aint-i-woman-black-women-and.htmlBell Hooks's foundational text on Black feminism and intersectionality—a rigorous examination of racism within feminism and sexism within civil rights movements.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2022/07/review-of-anthony-burgesss-clockwork.htmlMon, 04 Jul 2022 23:53:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2022/07/review-of-anthony-burgesss-clockwork.html  "It may not be nice to be good, little 6655321. It may be horrible to be good.. What does God want? Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?.. And yet, in a sense, in …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2022/05/review-of-man-called-ove-by-fredrik.htmlThu, 26 May 2022 15:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2022/05/review-of-man-called-ove-by-fredrik.html  “For the greatest fear of death is that it will pass us by. And leave us there alone.” Dealing with a subject that is charming and humorous on the surface, but layered with serious emotions underneath, is a tightrope walk. Only some creators manage to achieve success in such an …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2022/01/review-of-arthur-millers-death-of.htmlMon, 03 Jan 2022 21:01:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2022/01/review-of-arthur-millers-death-of.htmlArthur Miller's Death of a Salesman as a critique of American toxic positivity. Why Willy Loman reminds me of Trump, minus the vileness and unearned success.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2021/12/my-2021-in-books.htmlThu, 30 Dec 2021 23:16:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2021/12/my-2021-in-books.html  2021 was a year of ennui. I discovered very late in the year that there is a medical condition that could potentially describe my state of mind through the year - languishing. 2021 is also a year marking a momentous change in my life, a change that could affect my reading …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2021/12/review-of-salman-rushdies-quichotte.htmlThu, 09 Dec 2021 11:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2021/12/review-of-salman-rushdies-quichotte.html He said he was trying to write about impossible, obsessional love, father-son relationship, sibling quarrels, and yes, unforgivable things; about Indian immigrants, racism towards them, crooks among them; about cyber spies, science fictional and "real" realities, the death of …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2021/12/review-of-marjane-satrapis-persepolis.htmlTue, 07 Dec 2021 21:46:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2021/12/review-of-marjane-satrapis-persepolis.htmlMarjane Satrapi's Persepolis chronicles growing up during Iran's revolution with humor and lightness—a graphic memoir that balances history with teenage desires.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2021/12/review-of-pearl-sbucks-kinfolk.htmlSun, 05 Dec 2021 23:05:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2021/12/review-of-pearl-sbucks-kinfolk.html  "It  takes a certain kind of person to live in China now," Chen mused. "What kind of person?", Mary asked. “Someone who can see true meanings, someone who does not only want the world better but believes it can be made better, and gets angry because it's not done, someone who …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2021/12/review-of-nadine-gordimers-house-gun.htmlSat, 04 Dec 2021 12:35:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2021/12/review-of-nadine-gordimers-house-gun.htmlThe House Gun Review: Gordimer on Post-Apartheid Liberalismhttps://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2021/01/my-2020-in-books.htmlFri, 01 Jan 2021 00:48:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2021/01/my-2020-in-books.htmlI have a link to my blog in my resume, which also smugly mentions "writing" as one of my hobbies. A recruiter took the effort to visit it and wrote a quick note to me about it ("Unfortunately we decided not to proceed with your application at this moment"), triggering memories of …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2018/10/join-my-wedding.htmlTue, 16 Oct 2018 17:54:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2018/10/join-my-wedding.html Hi there! Long time. How’ you been? I have been fine, thanks for asking. Well, wait! Actually, not so much. I have been avoiding people like plague. I have been frustrated about how things are turning out to be. To the collective us. I have been fighting an early onset of a …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/12/review-of-roshani-sinhas-snippets.htmlThu, 28 Dec 2017 14:58:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/12/review-of-roshani-sinhas-snippets.html Snippets: Short Stories by Roshani Gash Sinha My rating: 4 of 5 stars Note: The author of this book, Roshani Sinha, is a friend, and I had read a few of the stories from Snippets prior to its publication. Snippets is an apt title for this wonderful collection of ten short …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/09/review-of-sujatha-gidlas-ants-among.htmlSat, 02 Sep 2017 11:30:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/09/review-of-sujatha-gidlas-ants-among.htmlSujatha Gidla's family history across generations of Dalit oppression in India—a stark, unflinching account of caste, communism, and survival.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/08/the-prodigy.htmlSat, 12 Aug 2017 23:39:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/08/the-prodigy.html "Thalangu thaka thimi thalangu thaka thimi thakathari kitta thom…” "Stop it!", shouted TVR sir, and waited for the percussionist Shree Haravahanan's Mridangam to stop. He allowed a couple of minutes silence and said, "Darling, I asked you to use the complete stage!" They were in …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/07/nithya.htmlSat, 29 Jul 2017 11:47:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/07/nithya.html “ONE LITTLE KITTEN, TWO BIG CATS”, wrote Mala ma'am in big, bold letters on the blackboard, reading her words aloud. The letters curled towards the right, in contrast to the upright letters of the words “HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY” written in bigger and bolder letters at the top …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/07/review-of-alan-moores-watchmen.htmlMon, 24 Jul 2017 22:54:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/07/review-of-alan-moores-watchmen.html Watchmen by Alan Moore My rating: 5 of 5 stars "It doesn't require genius to see that America has problems that need tackling. An' it takes a moron to think that they are small enough for clowns like you to handle"  - The Comedian I recently came across this engaging Podcast …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/06/review-way-of-strangers-encounters-with.htmlWed, 28 Jun 2017 18:23:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/06/review-way-of-strangers-encounters-with.html The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State by Graeme Wood My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) has been continuously losing territory in Iraq and Syria, and there seems to be no …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/06/review-of-arundhathi-roys-ministry-of.htmlMon, 19 Jun 2017 00:29:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/06/review-of-arundhathi-roys-ministry-of.html The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy My rating: 4 of 5 stars "We're jackals who feed on other people's happiness, we're Happiness Hunters." In a thought provoking 1973 short story titled "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" (which you can read here), Ursula Le Guin …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/06/review-of-rknarayanans-guide.htmlWed, 14 Jun 2017 16:22:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/06/review-of-rknarayanans-guide.html The Guide by R.K. Narayan My rating: 5 of 5 stars R.K.Narayan is the direction I would like to take in my own writing. Concise, clear and unobtrusive language that tells simple, timeless stories. In The Guide, we meet Raju who -- fresh from serving a two-year jail term -- is …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/06/review-of-liu-cixins-three-body-problem.htmlSat, 10 Jun 2017 23:58:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/06/review-of-liu-cixins-three-body-problem.html The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin My rating: 4 of 5 stars "It was impossible to expect a moral awakening from humankind, just like it was impossible for humans to lift off the earth by pulling up their own hair. To achieve moral awakening required a force outside human race." …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/05/review-of-virginia-wolfs-mrsdalloway.htmlMon, 29 May 2017 22:09:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/05/review-of-virginia-wolfs-mrsdalloway.html Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf My rating: 5 of 5 stars "Human beings have neither kindness, nor faith, nor charity beyond what serves to increase the pleasure of the moment." There is a word that we usually do not associate with classics. Science-fiction? Sure. A thriller with …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/05/review-of-manu-josephs-serious-men.htmlWed, 17 May 2017 16:32:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/05/review-of-manu-josephs-serious-men.html Serious Men by Manu Joseph My rating: 4 of 5 stars "If you stare long enough at serious people they will begin to appear comical" "Of all deformities, genius is the most useful" If there is any doubt about the tone Manu Joseph's debut novel Serious Men would take, the book's …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/05/review-of-scott-fitzgeralds-this-side.htmlSun, 14 May 2017 23:15:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/05/review-of-scott-fitzgeralds-this-side.html This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald My rating: 3 of 5 stars "It was always the becoming he dreamed of, never the being" I picked Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise from my local public library for two reasons : I wanted to read a classic; and having moved to an …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/04/review-of-mark-haddons-curious-incident.htmlThu, 27 Apr 2017 21:38:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/04/review-of-mark-haddons-curious-incident.html The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon My rating: 4 of 5 stars "I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them" There are two possible reactions to …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/04/review-of-jared-diamonds-guns-germs-and.htmlTue, 25 Apr 2017 11:25:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/04/review-of-jared-diamonds-guns-germs-and.html Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond My rating: 4 of 5 stars In 1532, 168 Spanish men faced nearly 80000 men of the Inca empire at Peru. What was supposed to be a parlay between the Incas and the visiting Spanish men was actually a subterfuge by …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/04/review-of-vsnaipauls-bend-in-river.htmlSat, 08 Apr 2017 23:19:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/04/review-of-vsnaipauls-bend-in-river.html A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul My rating: 3 of 5 stars V.S.Naipaul's A Bend in the River begins with Salim, a muslim in Africa with Indian ancestry, moving from the eastern coast of Africa to an unnamed town situated at the bend of an unidentified river in Central Africa. …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/03/review-of-franz-kafkas-trial.htmlFri, 31 Mar 2017 11:41:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/03/review-of-franz-kafkas-trial.html The Trial by Franz Kafka My rating: 4 of 5 stars In The Trial, Josef K wakes up one morning to find that he has been arrested. "Somebody must have laid false information against Josef K., for he was arrested one morning without having done anything wrong", says Kafka's first …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/03/review-of-harper-lees-go-set-watchman.htmlSun, 19 Mar 2017 08:07:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/03/review-of-harper-lees-go-set-watchman.html Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee "As you grew up, when you were grown, totally unknown to yourself, you confused your father with God. You never saw him as a man with a man’s heart, and a man’s failings—I’ll grant you it may have been hard to see, he makes so few mistakes, but he …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/03/hair-experts.htmlSat, 11 Mar 2017 07:07:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/03/hair-experts.htmlA short story about hair salons, expertise, and the small negotiations of everyday life—told with the understated humor you'd expect from a barber shop visit.https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/02/chronicles-of-narayana-punch.htmlSat, 18 Feb 2017 02:45:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/02/chronicles-of-narayana-punch.html The mental and physical lives of Z.Narayanan, Senior Comrade - Technology , Yetnothersys Technologies Limited ("Moving IT to the cloud and beyond") are often in-congruent. It was no surprise thus that he chose to reflect on his life of twenty-eighth years at the exact moment …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/02/review-of-feast-for-crows-book-4-in.htmlWed, 15 Feb 2017 14:20:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/02/review-of-feast-for-crows-book-4-in.html A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin My rating: 3 of 5 stars *Minor Spoilers ahead* "A Feast For Crows" is a misleading title, as there is not much fodder for the crows here. The war of five kings is at its fag end, and there is an uneasy calm to the South of Westeros as it …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/02/review-of-black-tower-by-pdjames.htmlFri, 03 Feb 2017 14:55:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/02/review-of-black-tower-by-pdjames.html The Black Tower by P.D. James My rating: 4 of 5 stars "In this job it wasn't the last piece of jigsaw, the easiest of all, that was important. No, it was the neglected, uninteresting small segment which, slotted into place, suddenly made sense of so many other discarded pieces" …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/01/review-of-francis-cliffords-drummer-in.htmlFri, 27 Jan 2017 06:29:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2017/01/review-of-francis-cliffords-drummer-in.html Drummer In The Dark by Francis Clifford My rating: 3 of 5 stars Francis Clifford's "Drummer in the dark" starts with the epigraph "Do not men die fast enough, without being destroyed by each other?". A set of explosions rock the United Kingdom, and Duncan Howard forgets his …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2016/12/hurry-up.htmlSat, 24 Dec 2016 05:17:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2016/12/hurry-up.html A friend's mom passed away last week. She was crossing a road when a speeding two-wheeler hit her. The driver had an excuse for himself - he said "I was in a hurry to get to office". Are emotions singular? Can one be simultaneously happy and sad? Can you be simultaneously sad …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2015/09/modern-moral-stories-hare-and-tortoise.htmlFri, 18 Sep 2015 14:14:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2015/09/modern-moral-stories-hare-and-tortoise.html Once upon a time, a Hare and a Tortoise happened to meet at a village. Being old acquaintances but not close enough to be friends, they greeted each other warmly, stopped by to make a courteous conversation, and wished each other luck before parting their ways. The Hare galloped …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2015/06/guest-post-series-cancer.htmlWed, 03 Jun 2015 13:39:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2015/06/guest-post-series-cancer.html Note : This post is a part of the Guest Post Series. On our very first day at our engineering college, some fifty of us were asked the question : "Why did you choose the stream Biotechnology?" As I almost leapt up to give an answer, the faculty hastily added "don't say 'sir when …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2015/03/memories-of-chokes-and-near-chokes.htmlSat, 28 Mar 2015 02:43:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2015/03/memories-of-chokes-and-near-chokes.html Dear South African cricket team, I haven't been following the ICC cricket World Cup 2015 that diligently. The news of your semi-final loss did reach me though. Yet another loss in an ICC tournament knock-out game. It must be quite depressing. You will have to wait some more …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2015/01/george-carlin-tees.htmlSat, 17 Jan 2015 13:35:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2015/01/george-carlin-tees.html Humanity is doomed. I am basing this statement on the fact that we -- almost each one of us -- are filled with half stupidity and half greed : a deadly combination. There are, and there have been a few exceptional people though, who have transcended the average stupidity, and …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/12/the-books-that-made-my-2014.htmlWed, 31 Dec 2014 12:57:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/12/the-books-that-made-my-2014.html Throughout the latter part year, I had been of the impression that I was reading a lot of books this year. That impression was shattered when I just checked my Goodreads statistics and realized that in sheer numbers, my reading has been pretty ordinary. But in quality, I am …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/12/the-grass-better-be-greener-on-other.htmlSun, 28 Dec 2014 10:43:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/12/the-grass-better-be-greener-on-other.html I accompanied a friend and his companion to a mall recently. It was one of these malls where you press a button upon entry to generate a time-stamped parking slip and settle the parking charges while exiting the mall. We were surprised to find on our way in that the vending …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/12/guest-post-series-interstellar-and-my.htmlWed, 10 Dec 2014 13:25:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/12/guest-post-series-interstellar-and-my.html Note : This post is a part of the Guest Post Series. A minor setback kept me away for a little from the blog. Now that I am a wee-bit more confident that things outside the blog can be set right, I am back to doing what I like doing the most - forcing you all to momentarily …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/11/tender-indifference-to-ice-creams-and.htmlWed, 12 Nov 2014 09:57:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/11/tender-indifference-to-ice-creams-and.html Let me make a confession. I do not love ice creams. Please note that I am not saying "I do not like ice creams", for I do like them. I know intimately the feeling of looking forward to eating an ice cream. I enter buffet halls with a general plan to concentrate on the desserts. …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/11/guest-post-series-recos-from-bored.htmlSun, 02 Nov 2014 10:29:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/11/guest-post-series-recos-from-bored.html Note : This post is a part of the Guest Post Series. There is/used-to-be (and hopefully, will-be) an informal movie fest at Chennai, where a group of people meet together once every month and watch movies of a selected genre all through a Saturday night. A terrace would be lent …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/stop-shrug-and-fly-you-fools.htmlSun, 26 Oct 2014 10:45:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/stop-shrug-and-fly-you-fools.html Certain things that I came across in the past few days led me into deep contemplation of a sort I was unable express properly. And then, I discovered a video that clarifies a lot of what I had been wondering about, and expresses my worries better than I could ever do. First, let …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/guest-post-series-on-writing.htmlThu, 23 Oct 2014 10:23:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/guest-post-series-on-writing.html Note : This post is a part of the Guest Post Series. Since my mother is a teacher, she would often end up meeting other teachers from my school. It would soon be discovered that a few of these people had been my own teachers. As a result, I would occasionally get trapped into a …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/guest-post-series-from-hell.htmlTue, 21 Oct 2014 10:57:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/guest-post-series-from-hell.html Note : This post is a part of the Guest Post Series. While attending the induction training at my first job, I would wake up every morning quite early, walk a little, take a share auto, take a thirty minute bus ride, and then take another sixty minute bus ride to reach my …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/guest-post-series-gods-own-guests.htmlThu, 16 Oct 2014 12:08:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/guest-post-series-gods-own-guests.html Note : This post is a part of the Guest Post Series. Meet Vidhya, another contributor for a short story collection a few of us are hoping to publish soon. You have already met Shyam, and you will be meeting the one remaining contributor soon. Vidhya has been reading my blog for …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/guest-post-series-reflections.htmlTue, 14 Oct 2014 14:42:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/guest-post-series-reflections.html Note : This post is a part of the Guest Post Series. Travel sounds so romantic. But the truth is that not all of us are built for travel. Anyone can be a tourist, but only a few of us are cut out to be travelers. What most of us actually want is to have some cool photos snapped …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/guest-post-series-poison-ivy.htmlTue, 07 Oct 2014 09:40:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/guest-post-series-poison-ivy.html Note : This post is a part of the Guest Post Series. Supriya was my schoolmate, but we barely knew each other at school. She ended up at the same college as I, but we would still exchange only a word or two when we came across each other occasionally. I did know that she writes …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/the-success-series-dog-and-buffalo.htmlSat, 04 Oct 2014 05:12:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/10/the-success-series-dog-and-buffalo.html Wanting to write a series of articles on how I feel about motivational messages, I got off to a terrible start with this post : The Success Series (with WhatsApp and Facebook) - The Samosa Vendor. I received only a couple of feedbacks, and both were negative. Apparently, I took …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/guest-post-series-vulnerable-queen.htmlTue, 30 Sep 2014 10:26:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/guest-post-series-vulnerable-queen.html Note : This post is a part of the Guest Post Series. A couple of weeks ago, after flagging of the guest post series, I had a dark moment when I wondered if what I am doing is too silly, and if it will end up as a massive failure. I overcame that moment, and I am really glad that …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/the-success-series-with-whatsapp-and.htmlMon, 29 Sep 2014 10:38:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/the-success-series-with-whatsapp-and.html Hidden amongst all the bleak, dreary, depressing and pessimistic thoughts in my blog, there lies a promise I once made -- that I will explain the immensely significant impact of motivational quotes on me. Promises are meant to be kept. I have been receiving millions of …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/guest-post-series-bureaucrat-bloody-hell.htmlSat, 27 Sep 2014 14:18:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/guest-post-series-bureaucrat-bloody-hell.html Note : This post is a part of the Guest Post Series. The popular opinion among our countrymen and women is that the Indian bureaucracy doesn't work at all. We believe that all "babus" are lazy and corrupt, and all others are hardworking. The way we talk about about the public …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/guest-post-series-my-most-memorable.htmlWed, 24 Sep 2014 10:56:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/guest-post-series-my-most-memorable.html Note : This post is a part of the Guest Post Series. In a pre-release interview for the unmatchably hilarious Tamil movie Naduvulla Konjam Pakkatha Kanom, director Balaji Tharanitharan revealed the reasoning behind one of the most rip-roaring moments of the movie, explaining …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/guest-post-series-anjaan-review.htmlMon, 22 Sep 2014 15:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/guest-post-series-anjaan-review.html This post is a part of the Guest Post Series. Meet my brother Sri Vittal, or Arbind as we call him at home. My brother often makes me feel old. When he has views, he usually voices them without wondering if he is being polite. He also provides hilarious entertainment to us all …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/guest-posts-series-vagabound.htmlFri, 19 Sep 2014 02:26:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/guest-posts-series-vagabound.html Note : This post is a part of the guest post series. Hello! I wanted to begin the guest post series with my father's post, and I had to hold a couple of posts I have already received from my friends. Our house is a messy place. It is so messy that we have an exclusive …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/guest-posts-series.htmlMon, 15 Sep 2014 09:07:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/guest-posts-series.html On Writing, and anxieties Hello all! I just realized that it is close to five years since I started blogging. For someone who has been at it for five years, I am remarkably inconsistent as a writer. In my very first post I set myself an agenda that I didn't expect to follow. I …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/the-illicit-happiness-of-other-people.htmlSat, 06 Sep 2014 10:12:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/09/the-illicit-happiness-of-other-people.html ‘If one half of your life has been tough’, she will tell Thoma another time, ‘the chances are that the other half will turn out all right. As Unni told me once, “In this world, you cannot escape happiness”' The Illicit Happiness of Other People is Manu Joseph's second novel, …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/08/oiling-happiness.htmlFri, 29 Aug 2014 01:38:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/08/oiling-happiness.html A couple of months back, I was having one of those sudden urges I occasionally get to read a book immedietely. Such urges have an uncanny ability to creep in exactly when there is not a single good book within reach. But they are also compulsive, and I couldn't give up. I …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/08/comprehensive-but-clumsy-career.htmlTue, 26 Aug 2014 14:34:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/08/comprehensive-but-clumsy-career.html Ever since the overwhelmingly positive response by all of my one and half readers for The Depression Flowchart that I created a little more than a year ago (oh, how time flies!), I have been wanting to replicate my modest success by designing yet another flowchart. For the …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/08/money-where-mouth-is.htmlWed, 06 Aug 2014 12:11:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/08/money-where-mouth-is.html The November night is almost pitch dark, and it suits me. I carry my closest friend as noiselessly as I can into the desolation. Sigh! He is heavy. I lumber and pant for a few minutes, retracing the path I took a while back, and reach the spot I had marked earlier with a spade. …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/07/we-are-all-diseased.htmlSun, 27 Jul 2014 12:17:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/07/we-are-all-diseased.html I seem to suffer from this disease. As always, I might be completely mistaken. But -- to phrase it like a man of science for once -- all available facts lead to the undeniable conclusion that the probability of me suffering from this disease is quite high. You know what? I think …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/07/thoughts-on-crime-and-punishment.htmlSat, 12 Jul 2014 13:50:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/07/thoughts-on-crime-and-punishment.html "Mere existence had always been too little for him; he had always wanted more" A little more than nine months ago, I reviewed the book Little Women on my blog. My chief issue with the book which I loved otherwise, was that it was morally preachy. I was not comfortable with the …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/07/the-book-thief-review.htmlTue, 08 Jul 2014 14:20:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/07/the-book-thief-review.html "Like most misery, it started with apparent happiness" - Markus Zusak, through "Death" in The Book Thief Does this review contain spoilers? I honestly don't think so. On that note though, here is a quote from The Book Thief Of course, I’m being rude. I’m spoiling the ending, not …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/07/man-hospitalized-after-showing-real.htmlThu, 03 Jul 2014 09:28:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/07/man-hospitalized-after-showing-real.html On a typical work day, I conceived yet another article for My Faking News, consisting of a lot of exaggerations, distortions of truth, some stereotyping, and a few lame attempts at joke-making. The article features Shakeseare, Dr.Harsh Vardhan, and Lord Krishna. Please read, and …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/06/on-freedom-and-semantics.htmlSat, 21 Jun 2014 11:25:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/06/on-freedom-and-semantics.html A stone thrown up in the air has to come back down. This is the undefiable law of nature. Let us momentarily assume that stones have a heart, a conscience, and self-awareness. Let us assume that a stone can hold desires and strive for these desires.  The immediate impact of this …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/05/science-morality-and-sam-harris.htmlSat, 10 May 2014 04:56:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/05/science-morality-and-sam-harris.html I have always felt irritated by people who are unwilling to consider that they are wrong. We dish out other people's opinions quickly, without even giving a thought about its merit. Thoughtcrime -- a term popularized by George Orwell's brilliant, ever-relevant and epic novel, …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/03/what-in-name.htmlMon, 31 Mar 2014 14:56:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/03/what-in-name.html I seem to possess some sort of a super power. Really. It is not an easy thing to explain, considering the fact that I am not sure how it works yet. All I know is that like a character out of Salman Rushdie novels, I can influence the World with my thoughts. I do not have enough …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/03/cogito-ergo-sum.htmlSat, 29 Mar 2014 09:10:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2014/03/cogito-ergo-sum.html Cogito Ergo Sum. I think, therefore I am. This is an oft quoted proposition laid down by the 17th century philosopher Rene Descartes. I suspect that if Descartes had had an inkling that a line he innocuously wrote down would be repeated around the World for more than three …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/12/entropy-and-orderliness.htmlMon, 23 Dec 2013 10:06:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/12/entropy-and-orderliness.html An Indian short story goes like this - a learned sage was once walking besides a riverbank, when he spotted a scorpion in the river struggling to come out of a strong current. The sage waded into the water and lifted the scorpion with care, intending to carry it ashore. As soon …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/11/critique-on-movie-criticism.htmlFri, 08 Nov 2013 06:13:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/11/critique-on-movie-criticism.html In the past few days, my assumption that the Earth stops rotating on its axis if I do not log into Twitter for a reasonable amount of time was shredded apart like a, like a, well, like a controversial tweet by Narendra Modi . I logged into Twitter after quite a long time …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/09/little-women-review.htmlSat, 28 Sep 2013 11:11:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/09/little-women-review.html I had been to attend a family function few months back. Meeting a little cousin of mine after a long time, I was trying to get her to talk to me. She ignored me and joined a gang of little children. I tried engaging all of them together, but the little children just mocked me …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/09/girl-arrested-for-checking-in-from-29.htmlSat, 07 Sep 2013 13:07:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/09/girl-arrested-for-checking-in-from-29.html Inspired by a lot of Indian bloggers, I have been wanting to write satirical news items for a long time. I finally got myself to do it, thanks to the "Citizen Journalism" section of the fantastic website Faking News. Here is a link to my article at their site. For the sake of …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/08/stephen-hawkings-black-holes-and-baby.htmlSat, 31 Aug 2013 03:44:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/08/stephen-hawkings-black-holes-and-baby.html A few days back, I got into an online debate with a random girl in a Facebook community. She had mentioned that this is the age of Science, and while Science is taking human life forward at an unimaginable pace, speculative Philosophers are just a hindrance to human progress. I …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/08/weekly-digest-must-read-online-articles.htmlSun, 25 Aug 2013 14:42:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/08/weekly-digest-must-read-online-articles.html For the past few months, I have been coming across some wonderful articles on varied subjects. Most of my content discovery has been through twitter. Given that I follow nearly 300 people on twitter, I come across articles of many different kinds. Since my the list of my browser …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/08/the-depression-flowchart.htmlFri, 09 Aug 2013 01:44:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/08/the-depression-flowchart.html This year has already been one of my most productive year as a Bibliophile, both in terms of quantity and quality. I have already read 17 books this year, and I am on the brink of completing the 18th. My aggregate for the whole of last year was 18 (The statistics are readily …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/08/india-today.htmlTue, 06 Aug 2013 12:10:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/08/india-today.html I don't usually blog on current events. The reason is simple - I need atleast a whole week to complete a single post, and by the time I complete it, the event is not current any more. Looking through all of my blogposts (admittedly not as many as I would like), there are just a …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/07/art-movies-and-philistines.htmlThu, 11 Jul 2013 13:27:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/07/art-movies-and-philistines.html I envy people who can express their thoughts clearly and crisply. A couple of years ago, I wanted to write a post on how people do quite a few things they imagine to be cool just to be accepted by their peer groups. I started writing a longish post, as is usually the case with …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/06/and-mountains-echoed-review.htmlMon, 24 Jun 2013 13:01:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/06/and-mountains-echoed-review.html And The Mountains Echoed is widely read Khaled Hosseni's third novel,following The kite Runner and Thousand Splendid Suns. Somewhere in the middle of the book, the story telling abilities of a minor character is described as follows :  "..This was often the pattern of their …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/05/two-monkeys-and-aam-aadmi-political-tale.htmlTue, 28 May 2013 14:01:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/05/two-monkeys-and-aam-aadmi-political-tale.html The IPL is finally over. Just before the final match between CSK and MI began yesterday, twitter (atleast, my timeline) went berserk. Here is a glimpse of what the CSK fans were saying about Gurunath Meiyappan's (CSK Team Principal enthusiast) arrest. Two recurring themes in …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/03/on-kindness.htmlSat, 02 Mar 2013 15:03:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/03/on-kindness.html "Kindness is a distemper which is soon cured by experience"  - Abraham Miller  The weather that morning wasn't pleasant. It wasn't uncomfortable either, just unremarkable. As I wheeled out my bike out of my driveway, I wasn't as happy as this person (yes, I am quite shameless). …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/02/django-unchained-review.htmlFri, 01 Feb 2013 14:49:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2013/02/django-unchained-review.html Quentin Tarantino has a few trademarks that can be associated with him. Firstly, he has this inimitable ability to pick a genre, study it thoroughly, and make a movie that stays completely faithful to the genre while simultaneously imparting his own uniqueness to it. For …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/12/the-books-that-defined-my-2012-part-1.htmlTue, 25 Dec 2012 13:21:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/12/the-books-that-defined-my-2012-part-1.html The end of the year is always a good time to keep your blog going. You can always look back with fondness at moments that looked, and probably are, insignificant when they happened. Newspapers, websites, and uninteresting blogs use the immense marketing potential when a year …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/11/the-social-network.htmlWed, 07 Nov 2012 14:26:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/11/the-social-network.html The first thing that struck him as he opened the door was the uncharacteristic pleasantness of the weather. A perfect start to a Saturday after the dampness of the previous day. He woke up a little later than he  had planned and had to hurry to make it up, leaving him without a …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/10/the-hindi-test.htmlMon, 01 Oct 2012 14:24:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/10/the-hindi-test.html If my life were to be made as a movie, in all probability I would still be playing a not-so-important side character. If I ever write a SOP, it would never resemble this (if you are going to read only one blog post today, I recommend you read the one that is linked). Admittedly, …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/09/broken-april-poetic-and-poignant-movie.htmlSun, 23 Sep 2012 05:05:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/09/broken-april-poetic-and-poignant-movie.html I spent this weekend watching and re-watching a Brazilian movie titled Abril Despedacado (literally translating to Broken April), which was released in English as Behind the Sun. The movie is directed by Walter Salles, who has also directed the wonderful Motorcycle Diaries. I …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/08/the-undesirability-of-truth.htmlFri, 10 Aug 2012 14:05:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/08/the-undesirability-of-truth.html Late last week, India's Union Cabinet approved the launch of a satellite to study the atmosphere of Mars. The estimated cost of the mission will be Rs. 450 crore, and chances are that the real cost will be much higher. ISRO's ex-chief, Padma Vibushan Madhavan Nair believes that …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/08/the-important-of-being-fickle-minded.htmlSun, 05 Aug 2012 03:58:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/08/the-important-of-being-fickle-minded.html "I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them" - George Bush (Sr.) For as long as I have known, I have had a malleable mind. I am sucker for good arguments, and will completely agree with anyone's opinion, as long as it has a shred of logic …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/06/ten-video-games-that-i-grew-up-with.htmlTue, 26 Jun 2012 15:01:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/06/ten-video-games-that-i-grew-up-with.html There have been lots of posts going around in Facebook recently claiming that we, those of us who are in our twenties at this point of time, are the luckiest generation ever. the posts reason that we have had the best of most things, and we have seen a lot in our short lifetime …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/06/impatient-indian.htmlSun, 03 Jun 2012 03:27:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/06/impatient-indian.html The greatest thing about reading books is that they transport you to a place far far away. One such book, that had a great impact on me as I read it was The Sicilian.  Written by Mario Puzo, the author more famously known for his Godfather series, The Sicilian is a side story to …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/04/gen-next-are-we-heading-in-right.htmlSun, 22 Apr 2012 13:16:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/04/gen-next-are-we-heading-in-right.html It is fortunate that each generation does not comprehend its own ignorance. We are thus enabled to call our ancestors barbarous. -Charles Dudley Warner Modern man is just ancient man... with way better electronics. -Unknown Having led a mostly impassive life, today was one of …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/04/strange-tale.htmlThu, 12 Apr 2012 15:59:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/04/strange-tale.html (Disclaimer : All incidents mentioned below are completely fictitious. Or at least, that is what the owner of this blog believes.) As soon as I was born, my mother came close to my ears, and whispered "son, one day you could become anything. You could become anything you want". …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/03/intruder.htmlWed, 14 Mar 2012 15:25:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/03/intruder.html It must have been during the third year of our Engineering course. Like most typical Indian under-graduation course, ours too was in the danger of contributing not many things to our life. It is not the fault of the system - I will have the authority to blame the system only if …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/03/future-number-three.htmlSun, 11 Mar 2012 13:22:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/03/future-number-three.html It is an emotional moment for me. My idol in cricket, and sometimes in life, Rahul Dravid, has just retired from test cricket. I did want to write a post on how I feel about his retirement, but much has been written about him already, and I don't trust my writing skills to do …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/01/kollywood-in-2011-my-personal.htmlSun, 01 Jan 2012 03:17:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2012/01/kollywood-in-2011-my-personal.html It is that time of the year when everyone looks back to see what was good in the past year, and when everyone looks fondly at the coming year hoping that things would be better. It is that time of the year, when everyone tries to list and rate their favorite moments in the past …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2010/12/excuse-for-my-prolonged-absence.htmlSat, 04 Dec 2010 05:13:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2010/12/excuse-for-my-prolonged-absence.html There are two kinds of audiences for Tamil movies. The first is the average Tamil audience. It consists of people who see cinema like Shakespeare did, as ‘a willing suspension of disbelief”. They are perfectly satisfied with an average commercial movie. They enjoy the movie of …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2010/02/selfless-entertainers.htmlTue, 23 Feb 2010 13:31:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2010/02/selfless-entertainers.html Let me start by informing that I have got back access to net. That doesn’t mean I will be more regular with blogging. I am realizing that blogging is difficult for a person as lazy as me. My net connection works at an excruciating speed. For instance, I open my yahoo mail …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2009/11/falling-heros.htmlWed, 11 Nov 2009 13:09:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2009/11/falling-heros.html This one is about my role models : Rahul Dravid, Rajinikant and Roger Federer. Let's start with Rajinikant - The Superstar, a person who is as much despised as he is admired. I will start by making it clear that to me, Rajini is an over-rated hero, but an under-rated actor. His …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2009/11/me-too/Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:28:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/2009/11/me-too/ Well, I have succumbed to my temptation. I first got the idea of blogging when I was in class 12. That was the time when I really discovered the world of internet. I used to sign up in any social networking site that came up. That was also the time when blogging was really …https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/archive/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000thefreudiancouch@gmail.com (The Freudian Couch)https://www.thefreudiancouch.com/archive/