A Book Review - Amritsar: Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle (1985)

With the election commission finalizing the dates for the next year’s poll in Punjab, I finally found myself motivated enough to write a review for a book I wanted to discuss about ever since reading it few weeks ago. The book in question is Amritsar: Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle (1985), written by the renowned scribe and former Chief of Bureau, BBC, New Delhi, Mark Tully and co-authored by Satish Jacob.

As the title suggests, it not only provides an insight to the events that led to operation bluestar, and its aftermath, but also a glance to the history of Punjab after independence and the consequences of the decisions made by our egoistic leaders. In true respect, it was a case study of “The Butterfly Effect”, where in a small ripple can affect the course of history.

Most of us know what operation bluestar was about, either told by our elders who witnessed to the events first hand or vicariously, or from the news channels who sporadically and unwillingly bring it up whenever a protest pertaining to the aftermath occurs. I always wanted to read an impartial and detailed documentation on the events that had led to the final act and the pogrom later on. It was natural when I first heard about the book, especially the author who wrote it, I knew at once I have finally unearthed a book that can explain chronologically on what had conspired before 1984. I was not disappointed. It was a truly riveting read, a read which again rejuvenated my fascination for history that I had lost in the rat race which we all go through after matriculation. Mark Tully has written the book in first hand whereas Satish Jacob took on the role of seeking the truth. Both have shown the integrity which journalism should be, but rarely is, associated with. They have indeed treaded on a fine line without playing any blame game or holding a biased view.

The book was first published in 1985, and as is the case with history, it still finds relevance today. Understanding the current socio-economic conditions through the eyes of history, one is able to prognosticate better. I would sign off with a quote from Robert Penn Warren–

“History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future.”

Synopsis Of Last Few Weeks

Eviction of Baba Ramdev

What happened in the wee hours of Sunday was an extreme reaction by the government. It not only highlighted the fear Congress had regarding Ramdev’s demands, but triggered a sharp reaction across the country regarding their attitude towards democracy. Attacking hapless people gathered for peaceful demonstrations with teargas is not what’s expected to be defended by senior leaders like Kapil Sibal and Digvijay Singh. Rather than explaining convincingly on this shameless attack, they were busy maligning the yog guru. It needs to be pointed out that many of his demands were what he had been preaching, and believed in, for nearly 10 years on live television. Congress have allegedly told Ramdev to concentrate only on teaching Yoga and not get involved in politics, but they have no right whatsoever to stop anyone from expressing themselves publically. The consequences of the governments’ egocentric attitude are still to be seen, but the absolute failure to address key issues like corruption and black money stashed abroad will become a major hindrance to UPA’s coming back to power in 2014 lok sabha elections.

Mamata makes history, storms Left bastion

A landslide victory often highlights the need for a change, and change is what Bengalis had demanded vociferously after 34 years of Left Front rule.

The former Railway minister now faces a huge responsibility of carrying the burden of expectations of her people. She needs to instigate a rebuilding process with a vision that will bring a social and economic reform the state of West Bengal badly needs. Industrialization, for which Ms. Banerjee has hitherto been defensive, needs to be encouraged if the state wants to overturn the slump it is in. Indeed if anyone can be the influential role model of West Bengal, it's her, the question lies in the fact if she could to do what’s right for the sake of her state.

Sex ratio, patriarchy, and ethics

With India’s literacy rate going up from last census, an optimist would have expected a similar trend in its girl child sex ratio. However, 927 females against 1,000 males in 2001 to 914 in 2011, has once again highlighted the ignominious fad for a boy child in India. The inbred belief of boys being better than girls has much to do with abortion of female fetuses. Along with the introduction of stringent laws to curb prenatal sex determination, the government needs to be vigilant to improve socio-economic conditions for women. If the need for an egalitarian society is observed now, by next census, India could well be a leader in the world order.

What’s different about IPL4?

We are now into the third week of IPL4, and even an ardent fan of the test match cricket won’t deny that this IPL has been most entertaining of all editions so far and perhaps T-20 is not that bad after all. The quality of cricket may not have improved, but the restructuring in the format along with the euphoria of a world cup win have given the tournament an added flavor. Considering what had happened last year off the field, it’s certainly a reflection of our insatiable appetite for bat hitting a ball. But that’s to be expected since our memories of public debacles have no connection with the need for instant gratification provided by this format.

This IPL though has a soft spot because of a special person – Sachin Tendulkar. After a World cup win there is still a jewel missing in the crown (if you want to believe it) and an IPL trophy win will definitely complete the cycle of dominance that Sachin has been associated with ever since his debut and specially since his rejuvenation 3 years ago!

I have asked this question many times though, why has IPL been so successful over the last 3 years? Any true romantic of the game can spot the difference between genuine and half hearted efforts of some of the international pros. All that motivates them to win is to justify their price tags along with an added incentive of a hug if you are from KXI team. But when we talk about IPL it’s hardly the quality that drives the fans to the stadium. In the country we live in, it provides an escape route from the hardships of lives, from the mundane 9 to 5 jobs, from the inundation of indistinguishable soap operas, from whatsoever that has been bothering an average Joe. An undeniable fact though is that it is here to stay; for good or for worse that still needs to be seen post the golden era of Indian cricket.

CONNECTED- PART 1

Those who had predicted Google would just a bubble and Social Networking just a petty time pass for the Y gen, must certainly be feeling the pinch when it was announced that the two have been the pioneers in the field of networking last year. Indeed, the phenomena have been unprecedented both in scope and impact. With both of them instigating a revolution in Arab world and nationwide unity towards eradicating an inbred evil back home.

Google, with the turn of the millennium, cemented its roots deep down in almost half the urbane psyches. Initially what began as a search engine and a learning tool developed into a medium to promote propaganda along with providing financial opportunities to netizens. What Google achieved was an inspiration to those in Silicon Valley who had given up hope after Microsoft had monopolized the cyber world in the 90s. Facebook and Twitter with their predecessors Orkut, MySpace, etc. must be thankful to Google which led to the existence of the world we live in today.

Having said that, the only thing Google wasn’t able to consolidate was its Social Networking site Orkut. With the advent of Facebook and its revolutionary founder Mark Zuckerberg, a new chapter was written in the modern world. The concept was old now, what mattered was the content and the ease with which one can connect with his/her friend in the best possible way. While Orkut steadily declined and became anachronistic, Facebook discernibly took over the internet and became a self proclaimed protagonist. Soon followed Twitter, and now presented a device which had been in existence for many years but never quite got the affect as Twitter did- Micro blogging. With celebrities too joining the bandwagon, opinions suddenly started to matter more than what they had been in pre-Globalization era.

Although I have always considered the two as modern bullies who have changed the way people interact with each other and simultaneously renaming an entire generation as Facebook generation. One fact that can’t be underestimated, is the unity that it has brought among nations trying to achieve a common objective. Egypt revolution would be considered as the epitome of modern civil warfare. It left the dictators in the entire Arab world bewildered and gave them absolutely no time to react and think intelligently on what needs to be done to control the situation. Congress felt the same way when it happened to them just after the world cup leaving many bemused to the effectiveness of today’s citizen galvanizing techniques.

Summarizing my first attempt at serious writing, I would say this synergy between public opinion and social networking if best used, could actually eradicate the parasites of our nation which are a huge hindrance to its development. What I think of Facebook and twitter effecting lives of the today’s youth can be dealt with some other day!