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FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF wealthiest men in the world , sharing the podium with their countrymen who constitute forty percent of the world’s hungry. Changes in India are the result of many factors, some more tangible or visible than others—often having much to do with the persistence of the past and fragility of the future, about modest victories and difficult challenges. This is what Shashi Tharoor has attempted to capture in his eclectic and whimsical compilation of “Reflections on India.” The volume spans the topics of history, culture, society and sports, with occasional thoughts on economy and business. The book is divided into six parts, each of which focuses on a very broad theme. However, in spite of this focus, each chapter covers subjects at times unrelated to one another. For instance, in his chapter “India at Work and Play” Mr. Tharoor writes about Gandhi, democracy, Indian holidays, his Bombay childhood, the sari, police, literacy, renaming of Indian cities and India’s urban heritage. In other chapters he tackles not so adeptly, both serious and light topics: Hinduism and nationalism, cricket, Bollywood and politicians, poverty, relations with Pakistan, Indian Muslims, Indian women, finishing up with a glossary, “A to Z of Being Indian.” All the essays, however, fall roughly into one of the three categories: memoirs, essays on development and international relations, and pieces on idiosyncratic subjects, like the decline in the popularity of the sari, Indian police, name spelling and superstitions, Indian intelligence services, etc. Essays in the latter category make for an interesting read, not least because they are less familiar and rare to come across in the press. However, when Mr. Tharoor— perhaps as a result of his background as a former senior United Nations official—delves into international relations theory, or topics widely covered by the media, the tone becomes somewhat dry and brings to mind a policy memo. These few didactic chapters aside, the author’s knowledge of Indian history and domestic politics, reinforced by his profound concern for the country, personal experiences and literary skill, makes for an engaging read. “Indians Who Made My India” is perhaps my favorite chapter, thanks to the Mr. Tharoor’s compassionate and moving account of the lives of FFFFFFFFF SEPTEMBER 2010 NAVAL DESPATCH India’s prominent personages as well as the people dear to him, including his family and friends. The author dusts off the portraits of frequently forgotten or misunderstood political and cultural icons— Krishna Menon, Srinivasa Ramanujan, M.F. Husain, Amartya Sen and a few others. In this chapter, he also candidly writes about his friends’ accomplishments and their tragedies, rendering a more intimate picture of his country’s global citizens. Judging from the book’s subtitle, Mr. Tharoor’s selected topics are supposed to illustrate aspects of India’s changing position as a power to be contended with on the global stage. On one level, most economic indicators—the Indian economy has grown at the average rate of 7% in the past few years and poverty dropped by 10% between 1991 and 2001—may give credence to the author’s optimistic outlook of India turning into another Asian tiger. But on another level, a portrayal of India as an emerging power is too premature. Although the author mentions India’s many political, economic and social challenges in the “Dangers to India’s Future” chapter, he glosses over the gravity of certain problems. He understates the Herculean effort required from the government, civil society and the aam admi, the common man, to meet the challenges that India faces on its way to creating broad-based economic prosperity and a tolerant society. Problems such as demographic pressures, communal violence, sectarianism, a weak judiciary, absence of civic culture and overall apathy, are just a few of the daunting challenges India’s government and its people have to overcome. If these issues aren’t tackled, the inequity gap and sectarianism may tear India apart. Mr Tharoor’s scenario of the rising India might be rewritten by India’s desperate masses taking things into their own hands. The Naxalite movement, its supra-state status and its resort to spontaneous tribunals in search of justice, doesn’t make this scenario that implausible. The author, however, rightly points out that in order to leverage India’s soft power—its attractiveness to the outside world—Indians “must ensure that they do enough to keep their people healthy, well-fed, and secure not just from jihadi terrorism but from the daily terror of poverty, hunger, and ill health.” Moreover, in Mr. Tharoor’s opinion, the cultural pluralism and FFFFFFFFF 57
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF tolerance, at the core of the notion of Indianness, is a remarkable “civilizational asset” that may contribute eventually to a building up of its hard power – the strength to wield stick if necessary. Those who are unfamiliar with Indian history, culture or current affairs won’t get much out of the book in terms of either a comprehensive introduction to Indian society, or an in-depth understanding of its problems. Mr. Tharoor himself notes that the “book is not a survey of modern Indian history or politics,” and refers readers in search of this to his book "India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond". ************ ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lieutenant Shameer Puri (05787-A) was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 10 Jun 05. He is presently carrying out the duties of Navigating Officer INS Vibhuti. ************ FFFFFFFFF SEPTEMBER 2010 FFFFFFFFF58
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