Greed

The Grammar of Greed 

Reflections on a Fatal Ecology 

Aseem Shrivastava 

Illustrations Sachin Vyam 

Pages 246

First published March 2025 

Publisher Red River Story 

ISBN 978-93-48111-84-5 

Price 799/- 

At the beginning Aseem bhai writes, “The book is written for those moments when there is an interval of leisure to ponder.” This worked - the lines, the illustrations, the spaces all made me ponder! He adds,“The sentences in this book are to be read very slowly. They cannot be digested without patience.” While the book touched me as I travelled the pages I realised that for all my claims of having slowed down I have a lot to walk on the road! This is what the book does, it reminds you where you stand! And, it resonates!

The text is all about “we” and not about “them”; the author and the reader are integral to the world that the book talks about; it neither talks about the “other” nor does the tone imply a higher ground - moral, intellectual or otherwise. It also steers away from talking about individuals - there are no heroes. It focuses on greed and reminds us how we are all connected to each other and all that is around us - connected way beyond our grasp! 

As it explores our lives today it also looks at the words we use frequently - words like hate, love, friendship, power, brave, fear, success, and happiness. It also gets deeper and tells us that the words we use tell us about ourselves, our changed lives; earlier we used to “have” lunch and now we “grab” it or how we used to “go to sleep” and now we “crash”! 

The book conveys how well-read the author is, the depth of his thoughts and the clarity of expression. It also reminds the reader of the need to sit, ponder, write and revisit what one writes! It underscores the starkness of the times when it conveys, that sports as we knew and played are dead, and asks if we can be ourselves in these times! In this it reminded me of Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

The cover, the size, the page quality, the fonts, all fell in place as I read the book. The illustrations add to the text, one has to put in time with them to savour them. I would want to visit them at intervals and remind myself of the conundrums that engulf our existence today. 

Udayan Vajpeyi had said that he writes a poem as it “had to be written”; this is a book possibly on similar lines; it had to be written. 

Some lines (from the initial 180 pages) and my reflections.

“Boredom with races is true maturity. Life is for living, not for racing.” 

These took me to the past. Years ago I had moved from a job in a bank to one in a not-for-profit only to get caught up with conferences and networking in lieu of bosses and promotions and wondering which was better! I had to take a call of either getting closer to the centre of gravity, read elite old boys clubs, or opt out of the race! 

“Most of recorded history is about making others play the few games whose rules you control!” 

This had me thinking. How many times have I been subjected to this? And, worse, during which phases of my life have made life difficult for others? And, even then, was it me who was setting the rules or someone above me?

“Punctuation marks are vanishing from our sentences. What does this mean, if not for the fact that just like we do not like to stop while chasing or driving, we wish to proceed without pause for thought even while speaking or writing?” 

Much as I love reading and writing I end up doing this or  randomly inserting commas left, right and centre. Why, I have no idea but these lines surely made me feel guilty.

“Most people are too lazy and impatient to be anything but slavish caricatures of conquerors.” 

How if we replace “conquerors” with “bosses”? 

“Ironically nothing makes humanity more insecure than the search for security.” 

This had me go into amused silence. 

"..those who deliver the bitter pills of truth nowadays have to sweeten them more than ever before to be digestive to the educated, metropolitan classes"

Reminded me of two conversations. A friend once commented after reading one of my articles, "har baar yeh gande-gande sawaal karna zaroori hai?". A newspaper editor I sent a draft for publications got back saying that it was not something the readers would want to come across on a Sunday morning - they want something which makes them happy! 

“If there is such a thing as light pollution, does that mean there could also be a think like dark pollution? If there is noise pollution, could one also therefore imagine a silence pollution?" (Google turned this to science pollution!)

I got wondering why it never occurred to me. (Not that a lot else in the book did!) 

“Nothing denies freedom more subtly than choice. We do not write the menus from which we choose.” 

A friend used to say, “When I give you options I have already decided for you”. Is there a better way to fool, to create an illusion? And, so many of us like these options  - we are increasingly keen to stay away from either thinking critically or taking decisions. 

“If you never destroyed cultures, you would never have to build museums.” 

Just questions on this. Is this why we increasingly have more museums? Are we getting more efficient at destroying cultures as we are getting better are building museums? At what stage does a history teacher discuss this with children? Are our teachers ready for such conversations? 

“A secure human being is a flawed consumer.” 

Thank you. 

“Reason is always a slave.” 

How would it be to take a few lines from the book and discuss it with younger minds? 

“The smartphone is possibly the most culturally influential and cognitively powerful invention of humanity. Judged appropriately it is more potent that an automobile or a nuclear bomb.” 

Glad have been away so far - indebted to all those who have made this possible. 

“Everyday we willingly lose ourselves to our possessions.” 

Using, buying less, or talking about it is increasingly becoming difficult, socially unacceptable, considered show-off; it is like standing up to a brute majority. I had first faced similar behaivour years ago when I disliked watching the television serials -  Ramayan and Mahabharat! 

“Given all that has been happening for the past few centuries, it is much too late on this earth to wish to be modern.” 

A good line to end this post with. There are other lines from the book, and how they resonated, but given that Aseem bhai has been economical with words I too will try to follow suit.