Fluid by Ashish Jaiswal

A book for both educators and learners. It is based on ‘Vishnudharmottaram Puranam’. The book begins with the story of Malvina Reynolds. She, in her early fifties, attended the University of California, Berkeley to study music theory. The society always told her that she cannot go to the universities at the age of fifty. Malvina wrote on upholding the rights of women, equality against nuclear testing, protecting civil right, shopping wars and many such themes. In her seventies, Malvina was doing around 20 concerts a year ago and against the advice of many, she continued to perform until shortly before her brief illness and death. 

Malvina didn’t act as per the perceptions and myths of the world. Malvina was more than what she was taught to be. The book also has some interesting references. There is a reference to The Fountain Head by Ayn Rand and the character Howard Roark who refused to become a mere follower or ‘the second handlers – those who simply copy and do not have the courage to produce original designs. There is also reference to the Ramones and their song- It’s not my place (in the 9-5 world) - I took a 3 minute and 23 seconds break to listen to the song.  There is also reference to the spinning doctors to check whether you are a left-brained person or a left-brained person.

The literary reference to V.S Naipaul is quite interesting. He said that he would have become a better person if he had studied profoundly. The author, Ashish Jaiswal also talks about the life and times of scientist and novelist Charles Percy Snow who is the author of ‘The Two Cultures and Scientific Revolution’ – Snow had a very interesting lifestyle. In the morning he would interact with scientists and evening he will discuss ideas with a circle of friends. The book Fluid is all about challenging boundaries. The book contains stories of people who refused to jail themselves inside the boundaries of one or the other island. They built their own hypothetical boats and sailed in search of new knowledge. The author calls them – ‘fluid thinkers. These were adventurers, unafraid to weather the stormy oceans, which existed in the form of threats and mockery from those who remained stuck with their existing learning. These wanderers travelled from one island to another without a set path, without a map, without the fear of failure – learning freely, challenging the existing world views and eventually changing the course of human history.