character,” creative director DavidIrvin says in the book.

Get green An abundance of plant life is also acommon feature in creative spaces,as are displays of eclectic objectsthat trigger ideas or memories. “Ifyou have things that inspire you, likea large bulletin board with inspir-ing photos, or shelves with inspir-ing objects, whether natural objectsor things that someone has made, it

can really help the creative process,’’says Lorna Aragon, home editor at‘Martha Stewart Living’ magazine.“Having natural elements in yourspace is also crucial. A view ofgreenery is important, if that’s pos-sible, or bring plants into yourspace,’’ she says.

Light it upCreative spaces also should be or-derly, Aragon says, with lots of nat-ural light. “Clutter does not help you

to focus. You want your space to havesome order,’’ she says. And lighting,natural light, if at all possible, isvery important. It helps productiv-ity and improves moods.

Go neutralFor colours, Aragon favours a lighttouch. “I think neutrals are alwaysgood because they are not a dis-traction, but soft blues and greensalso are supposed to help with pro-ductivity,” she says. AP

How to create your own

03Books! Books! Books! There is no end to knowledge. All you need to dois flip through the pages to get that extra dose of infotainment. So sim-ply read on...

■ SNAKE SQUAD,ANIMAL PLANET,3.00 PM: In Goa,Alex Carpentermeets AaronFernandes whois up against adeadly Russell's

viper in a beachside restaurant.Later, Aaron has to tackle a ven-omous cobra on the roof.

■ SCIENCE ICONS, DISCOVERY SCI-ENCE, 5.00 PM: Scientists are now

1541: Ottoman Turks under Suleiman theMagnificent captured Buda, the capital of theHungarian Kingdom and went on to dominatecentral Hungary for 150 years.

1841: A patent for venetian blinds wasissued to John Hampton.

1888: The adding machine waspatented by William Burroughs.

1972: Wildlife Protection Act waspassed in India.

1973: Sergey Brin who co-founded Google withLarry Page, was born in Moscow, Soviet Union.

1986: Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter, was born inSherwood Content, Jamaica.

1989: Voyager 2, a US space probe, got close tothe Neptune moon called Triton.

1993: NASA lost contact with theMars Observer spacecraft. Thefate of the spacecraft wasunknown. The mission cost

$980 million.

2018: Water-ice first detected on theMoon by India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft

(2008-9) in findings published by scientists.

certain there is far more matter inthe dark portions of the universe.

■ MAN VS. WILD, DISCOVERY CHANNEL,7.00 PM: Bear Grylls survives the Pa-cific Ocean, encountering coral reefs,rip currents and relentless surf be-fore coming face-to-face with sharks.

■ WILDLIFE: ANIMALS GONE WILD, NA-TIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL, 8.00PM: From the depths of the deepblue sea to the untamed jungles andrainforests, animals, birds and ma-rine life pull off outrageous stuntsand moments to survive variousenvironments.

■ THE EMOJI MOVIE, MNX, 3.40 PM:Gene, a multi-expression emoji,gets sentenced to be deleted afterhe messes up a message his userAlex sends to his crush. Gene es-capes the agents sent to destroyhim and accepts his uniqueness.

■ THE TRANSPORTER, STAR MOVIES,4.21 PM: An ex-soldier turned mer-cenary 'transporter' moves goods,human or otherwise, from one placeto another. Complications arise

MOVIES ON TVTELEVISION

MUST DOMUST SEEAUGUST21, 2019

when a job goes astray and he hasto save the life of his female cargo.

■ IP MAN 3, WB, 7.12 PM: Ip Man musthelp the police guard his son'sschool from a corrupt property de-veloper. In the meantime, he has tolook after his terminally ill wifeand defend his title.

1. The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald FScott

2. I Am the Messengerby MarkusZusak

3. Ode on a Grecian Urn and OtherPoemsby John Keats

4. Hamlet by William Shakespeare

5. Twilight of the Idols by FriedrichNietzsche

6. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

ANSWERS

Which book has this quote?

1. “I was within and without,simultaneously enchanted andrepelled by the inexhaustiblevariety of life.”

2. “Maybe everyone can livebeyond what they’re capable of.”

3. “Heard melodies are sweet,but those unheard, are sweeter.”

4. “There is nothing either goodor bad, but thinking makes it so.”

5. “Without music, life would be amistake.”

6. “I started my life with a singleabsolute: that the world was mineto shape in the image of my high-est values and never to be givenup to a lesser standard, no matterhow long or hard the struggle.”

BOOKS

A collection of all ofauthor SudhaMurty’s works willbe donated to markher 69th birthday.The set of 23 booksfor adults and chil-

dren, collectively titled ‘The SudhaMurty Library’ will make it to five com-munity libraries under The CommunityLibrary Project (TCLP). PTI

THE BOOKSHITTING

THE NEWS

BOOK REVIEW

TIPS

1

Willliam Dalrymple’slatest book ‘TheAnarchy’ (releasedate: September 10)tells the story of howone of the world’smost magnificentempires disintegrat-

ed and came to be replaced by a danger-ously unregulated private company.

2

The ninth $25,000DSC Prize for SouthAsian Literature willbe awarded at thefinale of the four-day Nepal LiteratureFestival, in Pokhra,

on December 16. A shortlist of 5-6books will be announced early Novemberin London. AFP

3

Tommy Orange’s novel‘There There’ andJeffrey C Stewart’sbiography of HarlemRenaissance thinkerAlain Locke areamong this year’swinners of AmericanBook Awards, given

for works that highlight the diversity ofthe country’s literature. AP

4

What is race science?It is the biological study of differ-ences between so-called racialgroups. In the past, this kind ofwork not only categorised people inspurious ways but also reinforcedthe idea that there is a such a thingas a racial hierarchy.

Was that the trigger for the book?The reason I wrote the book now isthat the world is seeing a resurgencein right-wing populism and the eth-nic nationalism. Issues of race havezoomed up the agenda, and I wantedto explore the way biological notionsof race play into politics and identi-ty. It’s as important to call out pseu-do-scientific racism now as it was inthe 1930s, when the Nazis were de-veloping their theories of racial hy-giene. These are dangerous times welive in, and science is a target of abuseby those with political agendas.

Does this mean inequality has noth-ing to do with our genes?

There are individual differ-ences between us, in ap-

pearance, natural talent,skill and intellect, butthese are not the sameas population-levelgroup differences. In-equality between socialand racial groups is the

product of history, poli-tics and power, not our genes.

Does ancestry testing work?Many scientists have called out an-

cestry testing as both unscientific andmisleading, because these companiesdon’t make clear exactly what it isthey’re showing customers when theytest their DNA. They’re not provingrace or ancestry, they are merely spot-ting certain statistical genetic con-nections between living people whohave also had these tests done. Theresults are always fuzzy, as you would

expect given the amount of geneticcommonality between all humans.

Do you think the notion of some racesbeing superior to others stem from In-dia’s colonial hangover?I do think that the rest of the worldinherited some of its ideas aboutracial superiority from white Eu-ropeans, but I also think there arelocal dynamics. British colonial-ism rule certainly introduced, hard-ened and reinforced certain ideasabout racial difference in India indeeply damaging ways, which peo-ple still live with.

What can we all do to not be racist? The one thing I do is to try and ap-proach every new person I meetwithout prior assumptions orstereotypes – to get to know themon their own terms as a unique in-dividual with their own particularinterests, skills and experience. Idon’t have a problem with self-dep-recating humour, or laughing at sil-ly stereotypes. But when a joke re-inforces a stereotype, that’s not fun-ny, it’s just cheap and lazy. TNN

Inequality is a social construct, not a genetic one: Angela Saini

In her new book, ‘Superior: The Return of RaceScience’, the British writer and journalist debunksthe notion that race-based social inequality is theproduct of our genes, and tells us why the whole

world needs to pay attention to rising racial biases

Read more. . .RACISM: A VERY SHORTINTRODUCTION | AAllii RRaattttaannssiiA simple book to start with. Itdemystifies the subject ofracism andexplores its evo-lution throughhistory, science,and culture.

LET’S TALK ABOUT RACE |JJuulliiuuss LLeesstteerrThe author brings up ques-tions about why we think raceis important andwhat it means tohave a racialidentity. Ideal forany age group.

EVERYDAY BIAS | HHoowwaarrdd JJ RRoossssIf you are human, you arebiased. From this fundamentaltruth, diversityexpert HowardRoss explores thebiases we eachcarry within us.

Since the dawn of hu-mankind, mosqui-toes have beenaround to pester us,

buzzing in our ears beforeselecting a blood vessel tofeast. But these tiny, disease-transmitting bugs are morethan a summertime nui-sance; they have played asignificant role in shapingour world today.

‘The Mosquito: A Hu-man History of Our Dead-liest Predator’, by TimothyC Winegard, chronicles thepest’s role from the fall ofthe Roman Empire to therise of Christianity... to theend of the American CivilWar. “As the pinnacle pur-veyor of our extermination,the mosquito has consis-

tently been at the front linesof history as the grimreaper, the harvester of hu-man populations, and the ul-timate agent of historicalchange,’’ writes Winegard,a professor of history andpolitical science at the Col-orado Mesa University.

Winegard traces the

mosquito through history,starting with the dinosaursup to present day. It’s whenhumans began to cultivatefarm animals in close prox-imity about 10,000 years agothat the mosquito reallyflourished. With the bug’subiquity, it’s no surprise thateven ancient philosopherssuch as Homer have touchedon the mosquito’s disease!

Readers of non-fiction,history and science will en-joy Winegard’s unique takeon the ever-present pest. Ifyou can’t get away frommosquitoes in your back-yard, then immerse your-self in this book and get anew perspective on thisseemingly insignificantpart of summer. AP

Here’s why themosquitoes will alwayshaunt us

Timothy C Winegard’s ‘The Mosquito: A Human History

of Our Deadliest Predator’chronicles the role the

pest has played in shaping our world

For spaces conduciveto creative thinking,consider plants,natural light, anddecluttering

How do you create a space conduciveto creative thinking? “They arespaces that reflect the real lives ofpeople,” says Ted Vadakan, co-au-

thor with Angie Myung of the new book, ‘Cre-ative Spaces: People, Homes, and Studios toInspire’. The authors talked with 23 creativepeople in a range of disciplines to come upwith their work. “One common thread wefound (among all creative people) is that things(their workspace) were always in a state ofprogress; the space changes over time as theygrow and change and explore,” Vadakan says.

Embrace imperfectionIn addition to being comfortable withchange, many of the people profiled in thebook embraced imperfection. “I don’t minddirt and rust, and I like things that don’tlook new, because it adds a little bit more

Image: www.angelasaini.co.uk

FOLLOW OBAMA’SREADING LIST

Former US President Barack Oba-ma shared his summer readinglist on social media, offering amix of novels, short story collec-

tions and non-fiction for anyone “lookingfor some suggestions”.

The list covers both new releases andolder works from authors such as TéaObreht, Colson Whitehead, Ted Chiang,Haruki Murakami, DinawMengestu and HilaryMantel. He begins thenote on his Facebookpage with a tribute toToni Morrison, the re-cently-deceased NobelLaureate. “To start, youcan’t go wrong by readingor re-reading the collectedworks of Toni Morrison.‘Beloved’, ‘Song ofSolomon’, ‘The BluestEye’, ‘Sula’, everythingelse – they’re transcen-dent, all of them.You’ll be glad you readthem,” he says.

➤ THE COLLECTED WORKS of ToniMorrison➤ THE NICKEL BOYS by Colson Whitehead➤ EXHALATION by Ted Chiang➤ WOLF HALL by Hilary Mantel➤ MEN WITHOUT WOMEN by HarukiMurakami➤ AMERICAN SPY by Lauren Wilkinson➤ THE SHALLOWS by Nicholas Carr➤ LAB GIRL by Hope Jahren➤ INLAND by Téa Obreht➤ HOW TO READ THE AIR by Dinaw

Mengestu➤ MAID by Stephanie Land. NYT

OBAMA’S LIST

THISDAY THAT

YEAR