Short notice

Rs 750

A Political Snapshot

Journalist V. Krishna Ananth,who teaches a module on political reporting at the Chennai-based Asian College of Journalism,points out,correctly,that for the vast majority of young journalists or students of politics,even the national Emergency of June 1975-March 1977 belonged to the distant past. Ananth hopes to bridge the remoteness most youngsters sense when political developments even two decades old are brought up. He claims this is the context in which the idea of India Since Independence took shape.

If Ramachandra Guha,in his sweeping India After Gandhi,approached political events shaping modern India 1948-1989 from a historians point of view,Ananths take is political,thick with details. Its first four chapters are dedicated to the formation of the modern Indian middle class,the coalescing of various events and movements into the freedom struggle,the emergence of Nehru and the early signs of modern Indian democracy. The rest of the 10 chapters focus on the days of Nehruvian socialism,the emergence of the Congress into a larger-than-life force under Indira,the Emergency,the Janata era and the Rajiv years. There is plenty of material for researchers looking for a snapshot view of politics. The book serves as a reference point for details that are not on always on Google. The additional problem confronting youngsters is not knowing what to look for. Ananth attempts to find answers and questions that need to be posed regarding the politics of modern India.