Wajahat Habibullah
I am reading Barkha Dutt’s This Unquiet Land: Stories from India’s Fault Lines. I’ve read about four chapters so far; it has very bold and graphic descriptions. I had read Nisid Hajari’s Midnight’s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India’s Partition before this. While the book was interesting, I didn’t quite agree with the conclusion. But it had horrific descriptions which we must all know about. Next I plan to read P. Chidambaram’s new book and Rajmohan Gandhi’s new book.
(Wajahat Habibullah has served as Chief Information Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities.)
Shakun Batra
I am reading Creativity, Inc: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace. Catmull is the co-founder of Pixar. It’s a great book for anyone who is interested in the creative industry. The book talks about finding the balance between telling the stories you have to tell and fighting the battle you have to fight. It talks about how Toy Story set a benchmark for Thanksgiving movies in terms of box office numbers. It’s a book that gives a lot of perspective and also makes me feel that it is possible to not sell your soul and make a film that connects with people.
(Shakun Batra is a writer and director. His latest film is Kapoor & Sons .)
