Thalaimai Seyalagam, which loosely translates to Head Quarters in English is a Non-Fiction book written by Author Sujatha, a well known Tamil laureate. I picked up this book, as one of my book buddies recommended me this!
Knowledge has no value unless you share it with others.
I’ll elaborate my reading experience here.. Initially when I started, I was like — meh.. This book is just filled with jargon, complicated scientific terms translated in Tamil, and telling me stuff which I already know.. My struggle to flip through pages became harder and harder as I turned one page after another. Keeping myself awake became even bigger challenge. In short, the book felt like a translated summary of all my high school science lessons in school. But I braved myself and forced to read few more pages, before I give up and drop the book into which-I-will-Not-Ever-Touch-Read-Later list. But Now I can say that, it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. ‘Thalaimai Seyalagam’ is a new addition to my favorite books list! Crossing that threshold was the hard part, After crossing the initial few pages of high school recap, it was nothing but a roller coaster ride! The book just splashed me with information's from every directions throughout, and it was one hell of a ride to be honest.
There is a popular saying(not the exact words, but the gist): A book is said to have done its job, if it makes the reader think. In that case, ‘Thalaimai Seyalagam’ has done an amazing job, at-least for me. Having fascinated by other books in same genre — like Outliers, Power of Habit, Sapiens and others — I could connect even more dots now! Those(Outliers, Power of Habit) were specialization, and this book(Thalaimai Seyalagam) is a connection of them all which showed me the big picture. The most fascinating thing about this book is that he explained Neural Networks(Yeah, you read it right! Computer Neural Networks!) way back in 1993. I know the fact that neural networks has been under research field since 1990s. I also have worked on them for my final year project, but Sujatha’s explanation was so simple, so clear yet it conveyed the actual working of the neural nets in normal Tamil. I have a much clearer visual understanding of them now, than I had previously by reading dozens of books on that same topic.
There are few notable things that are incredible and highly appreciable in this book. Firstly — He can break down complex mountains into simple pebbles, making it easier for not so highly intelligent sapiens also to consume knowledge. His words are so simple(except the part where he writes the Scientific names) and easier to understand. His analogies are awesome! He has done a lot of research before writing this book, and makes sure he credits the researchers wherever their findings are used in this book. Yes, I said initially that this book looked like a summary of my Science books, but at the end of the book, my view was changed: Why didn't my Science books explain these amazing concepts? Why was my Science books so hard to understand? Why was I forced to mug-up things, when actually these concepts are very easy to understand? and lots more.. In short, This book had made a significant impact on me! I even lamented for days about the fact that 1 gram of brain cells die on average every year after a human turns 20! :(
The book also contains Questions and Answers session at the end. Some of Sujatha’s one line answers were “Thug Life” kind. Also, had a puzzle section, to tease your brain with! Overall its awesome, a short book but a good read! I would highly recommend people to have a read, and its definitely a book which can be read multiple times, and I’m sure it wont disappoint the reader.
I would rate this book 4/5 for its awesomeness and the way it made me think.
