Book Review [111] : The God Of Small Things

I generally do not read fiction and i generally dislike Arundhati Roy. The reasons for my dislike of Ms Arundhati Roy are manifold but the most important one is her jaundiced intellectualism. Yet i bought her 'The God Of Small Things' but only to read many years later. Its a story weaved in a peculiar social caste ridden structure of Syrian Christians in God's own country. The plot of the book is not that great but its a good tome to understand

the society, customs and caste structure of Syrian Christians. We have read this plot in many books, seen in many movies and experienced in various situations but to me the knowledge of "strict" adherence of caste system in this non-Hindu society came as a shock. The climax is not a climax at all and like numerous such stories the low caste guy had to pay for their carnal "sin" against the centuries old laws. The book starts at a snail pace (and you have to be show extreme patience) with some suspense in the middle but the climax is too mediocre.

To me the story meant nothing and is full of stereotypes; there are stereotypes of Hindu pilgrims, communist leader, communist workers, Syrian Christians etc but the description of Syrian Christians (if true) is indeed a learning for me.  The description of the natural beauty of Kerala is mesmerizing and the choice of words awe-inspiring. This book was awarded Booker Prize in 1997 and certainly the prize has made this book a 'best seller' just like The White Tiger of Aravind Adiga. Had this book been written in a predominantly Hindu society it would have come as full of cliches, the Syrian Christian household is its only savior. 

Recommended (7/10)

Book Review [110] : I Dare!

Autobiography/biography is a condensed form of life long learning of the person concerned. Every person should write one and read many so that reader and writer both can mutually benefit as well as the posterity. But this can also promote a kind of blind following so should be read with a pinch of salt. The hero worship is a peculiar problem that our country faces; we are not ready to accept any fault in our heroes, are immune to any criticism and readily add an aura of divinity to them. This is not good for our country and was strongly denounced by none other than great reformer Dr. Ambedkar in his seminal speech in constituent assembly.

'I Dare!' is a biography of the first ever and highly celebrated woman IPS Officer and a highly distinguished social activist Dr. Kiran Bedi. She (aka Crane Bedi) is a very inspiring icon of India and her life is a living record of many challenges that a woman (and a common man) in our country faces.  Dr. Kiran Bedi faced seemingly insurmountable challenges in her life, she passed in many and failed in few but in doing so she created a trail which many many Indians would like to follow. It is said that Kiran Bedi "ran" away from Mizoram assignment instead of taking the challenge head-on, she also "ran" away from Chandigarh and Goa assignments. Many critics and media personalities blame her and write with all the vituperation that they can muster for these "failures" but all these people fail to understand one basic thing that in our country its the woman (and specially the working woman) who has to make all the sacrifices. In Goa and Chandigarh assignments, she had to leave for Delhi because of the serious medical condition of her daughter and mother, though she had a husband and three more sisters but only she had to put her career at stake. In case of Mizoram i think she made a right decision but i would also say that her daughter should not have wasted the highly coveted medical seat and should have finished her medical studies. 

In this book she blames higher bureaucracy's antipathy towards her for not getting the prime post of Commissioner of Police, Delhi. She resigned within few months after her being overlooked for this post. I seriously believe that she should have been given the charge of Delhi Police, this would have sent an encouraging signal to Delhites specially the women. 

Her work in Tihar jail is the stuff of legends and she was duly awarded with Magsaysay award for it but even then she was not given any of the Padma awards. She could have been "utilized" in a better way by the Police establishment but Alas!

Change is the law. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.

Recommended (7/10)

Book Review [109] : Operation Black Thunder

India has seen a large number of man made tragedies since her Independence, starting from bloody partition to the bloody UP riots of 2013 but no tragedy had been bigger than the Operation Blue Star. Operation Black Thunder (1988) is a telling reminder that Operation Blue Star was indeed a blunder and an unforgettable tragedy that could have been avoided. 

I can't imagine even in wildest of dreams that the leaders of my country would use Tanks to liquidate self created monster from one of the holiest shrines of our civilization. '1984' remains one of the darkest years of our history; in this year we betrayed the faith of the most patriotic, courageous and proudest of Indians by first bombarding 'Golden Temple' and then massacring them on the streets of north Indian cities following the assassination of PM Indira Gandhi.
These days great Indian intellectuals use the 'causality' doctrine to justify terrorism as a kind of revenge against manufactured or genuine injustices as they had done in recent hanging of Yakub Memon, in those days only politicians used to follow this shameful justification without giving even scant respect to the innocent lives. I don't know whether our intellectuals have degenerated or our politicians have evolved. 

'Operation Black Thunder' is an account of Punjab insurgency from the closest eyes possible. Sarab Jit Singh (former IAS) was the deputy Commissioner of Amritsar for full 5 tumultuous years (1987-1992), this is an account of his experience. He faced enormous challenges from the day he landed in Amritsar. Sarab Jit,  super cop KPS Gill and millions of peace loving Punjabis can be considered true liberators of Punjab from the bloody insurgency that consumed more than 21,000 Indians (including about 2000 police ranks, 7500 insurgents and 11,500 civilians). He indicts central government and the oldest political party of India for the Punjab troubles. The reluctance of central government to solve three umbilical issues (River water sharing, Chandigarh question and Anandpur Sahib resolution) was used as fodder in this bloody insurgency. Rajiv-Longowal accord of 1985 did raise few hopes but even that was not implemented. Though assembly election was conducted in early but the popularly elected government of S. S. Barnala was dismissed after 18 months on law and order issue. Next assembly election was convened after 6 bloody years though it could have been convened earlier.
Operation Black Thunder (1988) was a 'peaceful' operation to flush out militants from the precincts of the Golden Temple. Had this kind of solution been used in 1984, the scars on mother India would not have been so deep. The proud Punjabis deserve our eternal respect for the sacrifices they had given, for the brutalities that had faced and for the patriotism that they had shown.
Though this book is full of information and unknown incidents but i still feel that writing style could have been better. 

Recommended (7/10)