Book Review [91] : India - China Relationship

'India - China Relationship Rivalry and Engagement' is a very thought provoking and well researched book on the India - China relations. It does a historical survey of their relations, covers various dimensions including political, military, economics, energy etc as well their relations with respect to USSR/Russia, US and Pakistan. Its a good read for a student of the geopolitics of South Asia and gives a great insight into the coming challenges and opportunities in South and East Asia. The Sino-India partnership can make South Asia the next West of the world in terms of economic prosperity and high HDI but their rivalry can make it a poor cousin of middle east. The choice is on the leadership and the people of these two countries. The future generations have lot of expectations from these two countries.

Although this book was published in 2004 yet this book contains some very good gems from the volatile history of India and China.

Highly Recommended (8/10)

Book Review [90] : India what can it teach us

Freidrich Max Muller (1823 - 1900) is generally considered one of the greatest minds of 20th century who have studied India with open minds and open hearts. He was born in Germany and learned Sanskrit in Germany and later joined Oxford university as Professor of Comparative Philology. He produced and edited some great works on India including "The Rig Veda", "The Sacred Books of the East", "India What can it teach us" etc. 

'India what can it teach us' was published in 1883, it contains 7 lectures given to Indian Civil Service aspirants of Cambridge University. He advocates the case of India with great passion and zeal and tries his best to destroy the ugly stereotypes about India and Indians created by the likes of Macaulay and James Mill. He was a firm believer in the Aryan Invasion Theory and considered the Britons, Teutons, Slavs, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Indians etc members of great Aryan family. He teaches his audience the great contribution made by Indians to the human civilization, talks about the impact of climate on the unique civilization of India, objectively discusses the Vedic Gods etc. In nut shell he encourages aspiring officers to go India with open mind and to go without any stereotypes and the feeling of superiority though he never visited in his lifetime.

Its a great book even now though outdated in its 'Aryan Invasion Theory' concept.

Highly Recommended (9/10)