Today’s Reading Recommendations : Rahul Gandhi’s reinvention, Shashi Kapoor’s passing away, Bill Gates’ book reads, Sheryl Sandberg’s concerns on sexual harassment

 

Vidya Subramaniam, at the Hindu, writes on Rahul Gandhi’s path to President of the Congress Party.  What is evident is his persona of ‘niceness’, and that he is making some headway in chipping away at the ‘pappu image’, but

But as everyone agrees, pitted against the combination of Mr. Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah, and the humongous election cum public relations machinery they have created, Mr. Gandhi could be a toddler taking his first steps to indulgent applause.

And, the obits to Shashi Kapoor are enough to make you cry for the man. I saw him a few months ago at Prithvi, and he it seemed that all the vitality had been sucked out of him. Age and illness are terrible things. The Hindu has a lovely obit  here 

A good read on why 4th of December is observed as Navy Day – it is the day the Navy bombed Karachi

Bill Gates recommends 5 books. While all of them look fascinating, i have my eyes on Energy and Civilisation.

While women have been patting our backs on the #MeToo campaign, and seeing lecher after lecher being taken down (albeit in another country), the lechers are fighting back. What, according to them, is the best way of curtailing sexual harassment – stop hiring women. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, sounds a warning bell on this attitude. She Says,

The percentage of men who will be afraid to be alone with a female colleague has to be sky high right now. Doing right by women in the workplace does not just mean treating them with respect. It also means not isolating or ignoring them – and making access equal. Whether that means you take all your direct reports out to dinner or none of them, the key is to give men and women equal opportunities to succeed. This is a critical moment to remind ourselves how important this is. So much good is happening to fix workplaces right now. Let’s make sure it does not have the unintended consequence of holding women back.