Words of Wisdom

* Everybody Loves A Good Drought written by P Sainath, published by Penguin is a throughly researched study conducted on the poorest of the poor. It mainly deals with the backward areas where tribals and the dalits reside. It reveals how when some disaster strikes people suffer the most and the government policies instead of providing any relief to the affected drives them more towards agony and pain. It shows the impracticalability of certain schemes of the governmnet and the lengthy process involved in it. The people who figure in this book represent a huge section of the Indian population and how the rest of the 10 per cent of the populaqtion run their lives.

* The other book that needs to be read is Dr Ambedkar Jivan aur Mission written by L R Bali, published by Sugat Prakashan, Nagpur. The book gives a life sketch of Ambedkar, his struggle against all odds and the way he managed to reach the top. It not only depicts his personal struggle but also the struggle involved in the country’s freedom movement which led to the emancipation of the dalits as was incorporated in the constitution of India by Baba Saheb himself. The book brings out clearly his difference of opinion with the Mahatma and then his subsequent resignation as the Law minister.

* An Indian Pilgrim written by Subhas Chandra Bose, edited by Sisisr K Bose, Sugata Bose and published by the Oxford University Press is a must read for all those who wish to trace the path that trail blazers of modern India took for progress and development. This autobiography is complemented with a fascinating colllection of 70 letters of Bose’s childhood, adolescence and youth. The handwritten manuscript is now preserved in the archives of the Netaji Research Bureau.

* Nirad C Chaudhari’s Hinduism published by Oxford University Press provides a detailed description and interpretation of the religion of the Hindus as practiced by them. The book favours on the religious psychology and behaviour of people. The book is reassesment of its influences and goes to examine temple and image worship in general and the three major cults of Siva, Krishna and Mother Goddess in particular. It is these books that provide an insight into the making of a nation and must be read by those interested in understanding the movement and the development.

(The writer works with Dr Ambedkar Foundation and has researched the subject.)