This is the
latest book of R. Guha. I have read many
of his books and translated one of his books into Tamil. I may have some soft corner for the author
because I like his books.
This book is a colelction of essays
on some of the political questions. One
of them is about the long life and lingering death of Indian National
Congress. In his assessment INC may
disappear if it continues in the present form and with present leadership. He cherishes the ideals which inspired the
leaders of INC before and immediately after independence. But as a reader I feel that whether INC
lives or dies, there would always be some political formation that would carry
on with the principles for which Congress fought because they were in the
political arena not because Gandhi or Nehru Espoused them, but these are
fundemental principles which will crop up in a nation like India with multiple
identities. Even BJP may appropriate
some of the principles and policies of Congress in this regard other India as a
nation may not survive with a single identity.
Other essays cover some fothe issues
thata need attention in India. In most
of his essays R. Guha, engages with the existing political myths and gives a
contrarian point of view with available evidence. These are informative and as usual written in
a simple style and for this alone the author has to be appreciated. He also does not reduce everything into
binaries like some of the political pundits.
His arguments are always nuanced.
Some of the topics included are about China, Pakistan, Democracy and
Violence in India, Srilanka and beyond and Tribals affairs.
Part II of the book discusses about
some of the individuals who in his opinion have contributed to better understanding
of the problems in the world.
The essay about Dharmanand Kosambi
is the best ( and forme, the uninformed about his contributions,
eyeopening). The efforts made by Kosambi
for studiying Buddhism and his contribution in this field have all been well
brought out. This really kindled my
interest in his books. I have decided
that I shoiuild read at least some of his books about Buddhism.
The essays on Andre Betelle, Dharma
Kumar and UR Anantha Murthy make an excellent reading and informative. I
particularly noted that Dharma Kumar had established the fact that the status
of peasants was not better in the pre British era than it was during British
Rule as some of the historians make us believe, particularly in her area of
study i.e. South India. She had
contested the view of marxist indian historians who tried to put indian history
in only the anti-colonial framework and ignored what went before.
As for A. Sen’s book ‘Argumentative
Indian, which I have read, R. Guha points out that Sen’s premise that we could
trace the elements of multi religious
cultural understanding in India’s past is not correct. In my understanding a modoern concept like
Secularism cannot be read into the administrative principles of Ashoka or Akbar
or that the debates between various sects cannot be equated with any modern
thought process. Both the points of view
are facinating. A.Sen’s essay points out
the continuity in thought and R. Guha’s mentions about the discontinuity. Truth may be somewhere in between.
Altogether, a book after reading
which I felt better informed about the indian society and intellectuals.
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