Having missed the book review for last 3 books, I desperately wanted to write this one. When I finished my last book "Kashmir: The Vajpayee years" by ex-raw chief and Vajpayee's Kashmir expert A.S. Dulat, I was not sure which book should I pick next. And somehow I stumbled upon this compilation of essays by Arundhati Roy. I have read her in newspapers but I never had chance to read her text so this was a good beginning to foray into leftist literature.
The book is compilation of her essays on variety of subjects. The subjects span over a diverse range like nuclear weapon, Narmada Bachao Andolan, capitalistic onslaught of society, US war on terror, democracy and much more. Sabine once said, 'Every thinker is child of her time'. The same stands true for Roy. The decade of 1990's saw a tectonic shift in world polarity. USSR, the exponent of socialism crumbled and the USA emerged as winner in the aftermath of cold war history. The world witnessed a wider acceptance of idea of capitalism, macro developments, and market theory of economics. Came together the concomitants like nuclear race, terrorism and privatization which are considered the evil face of capitalist induced competition and power politics. Thus her views are compilation of thoughts on these issues.
Author has presented a lucid and articulate argument on the pertinent subjects. She has used mix of saracasm, cynicism, and philosophy in communicating with her audience. She has punctuated her arguments with facts and figures in some of the essays which provides more depth to her arguments. However, in certain areas, arguments are more qualitative and emotional in nature.
In the first essay "End of Imagination", She begins with question mark over efficacy of deterrence theory and utility of nuclear weapon for Indian in specific and world in general. She considers nuclear weapon as antithetical to Idea of India. Her left leanings are clearly visible as she lambasted VHP and BJP for spreading nationalistic fanaticism. VHP had planned to distribute Pokhran desert sand as Prasad in Hindu houses at that time. She is critical of India's aspiration of becoming superpower. To quote her, she says that India's claim of demanding superpower status is akin to claim of demanding world championship because we have a ball. She even questioned the whole rationale of Swadeshi campaign and says it is against the base of Indian identity. For her, call for Swadeshi would mean we should ban Cricket, English, Chillies(Mexico), Tomatoes(Peru) and anything that our civilization has inherited from rest of the world.
In the essay "Greater Common Good", she is critical of Maheswar and Sardar Sarovar dam, havoc and disturbance caused due to this in tribal and rural community of Madhya Pradesh. She was a one of the face in Narmada bachao Aandolan. This essay is supported by facts and figures. With her articulate writing which combines case studies, facts and grass root stories, she leaves deep imprints over her readers.
In the essay on "Power Politics", She talks about evil face of capitalism. She cites the example of Enron bribing of Indian MP where Enron invested millions of rupee in India as education to Indian politician to pass their contract. She is cynical about capitalism because it generates disparity in the society.
In the other essays, she is critical of US war against terror. She describes US role in creating this hydra headed monster and highlighted US hypocrisy in its anti-terror operations.
She has attempted to capture chaos and confusion of daily Indian life and juxtaposed it with the contradiction prevailing in our society. However her arguments leans toward socialist utopian model. She does not provide solutions or alternative model rather she is simply playing the 10th man in this development debate. She has criticised centrist and rightist parties in the same tone.
Irrespective of all her rigid ideological posturing and fault finding, her writing has a humanistic touch and she is able to connect with her readers. The book is a good read for people who wish to know the alternative narrative of development model.
The book is compilation of her essays on variety of subjects. The subjects span over a diverse range like nuclear weapon, Narmada Bachao Andolan, capitalistic onslaught of society, US war on terror, democracy and much more. Sabine once said, 'Every thinker is child of her time'. The same stands true for Roy. The decade of 1990's saw a tectonic shift in world polarity. USSR, the exponent of socialism crumbled and the USA emerged as winner in the aftermath of cold war history. The world witnessed a wider acceptance of idea of capitalism, macro developments, and market theory of economics. Came together the concomitants like nuclear race, terrorism and privatization which are considered the evil face of capitalist induced competition and power politics. Thus her views are compilation of thoughts on these issues.
Author has presented a lucid and articulate argument on the pertinent subjects. She has used mix of saracasm, cynicism, and philosophy in communicating with her audience. She has punctuated her arguments with facts and figures in some of the essays which provides more depth to her arguments. However, in certain areas, arguments are more qualitative and emotional in nature.
In the first essay "End of Imagination", She begins with question mark over efficacy of deterrence theory and utility of nuclear weapon for Indian in specific and world in general. She considers nuclear weapon as antithetical to Idea of India. Her left leanings are clearly visible as she lambasted VHP and BJP for spreading nationalistic fanaticism. VHP had planned to distribute Pokhran desert sand as Prasad in Hindu houses at that time. She is critical of India's aspiration of becoming superpower. To quote her, she says that India's claim of demanding superpower status is akin to claim of demanding world championship because we have a ball. She even questioned the whole rationale of Swadeshi campaign and says it is against the base of Indian identity. For her, call for Swadeshi would mean we should ban Cricket, English, Chillies(Mexico), Tomatoes(Peru) and anything that our civilization has inherited from rest of the world.
In the essay "Greater Common Good", she is critical of Maheswar and Sardar Sarovar dam, havoc and disturbance caused due to this in tribal and rural community of Madhya Pradesh. She was a one of the face in Narmada bachao Aandolan. This essay is supported by facts and figures. With her articulate writing which combines case studies, facts and grass root stories, she leaves deep imprints over her readers.
In the essay on "Power Politics", She talks about evil face of capitalism. She cites the example of Enron bribing of Indian MP where Enron invested millions of rupee in India as education to Indian politician to pass their contract. She is cynical about capitalism because it generates disparity in the society.
In the other essays, she is critical of US war against terror. She describes US role in creating this hydra headed monster and highlighted US hypocrisy in its anti-terror operations.
She has attempted to capture chaos and confusion of daily Indian life and juxtaposed it with the contradiction prevailing in our society. However her arguments leans toward socialist utopian model. She does not provide solutions or alternative model rather she is simply playing the 10th man in this development debate. She has criticised centrist and rightist parties in the same tone.
Irrespective of all her rigid ideological posturing and fault finding, her writing has a humanistic touch and she is able to connect with her readers. The book is a good read for people who wish to know the alternative narrative of development model.
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