Long Time, No Read ?

It has been a long time since I wrote something sensible – so many days have passed since I posted on something here. Not sure if I am getting lazy or slow. Started to get remarks about being a slow eater :-)  Took a long time to finish this last book I got my hands on – Daughter of the East, Benazir Bhutto. Slow Reader, eh.

The book turned out to be decent, though I found it biased against India at places. Still, you have to admire the resilience and persona of the lady who went to become the first woman to head a Muslim state. Great achievement! The significance increases manifold if you take into account the amount of sacrifices her ultimate family had to make at the altar of politics.

Anyways, it was good reading the thoughts and life of someone significant from across the border. Now, looking for some another interesting stuff.

Current To Read List –

•          The Hitchhiker's guide to Galaxy - Douglas Adams
•          The story of integration of Indian states – V.P Menon
•          AMRITSAR : Mrs Gandhi's Last Battle - Mark Tully
•          Battles Half Won : India's Improbable Democracy - Ashutosh Varshney

Uncovering the past

I finished reading India After Gandhi some time back and had came across criticisms of Mr. Guha that he was pro-Congress - which in present day scenario is quite scandalous.

But in due course of time I have realized that this argument against the eminent historian is misplaced. In his book, Patriots and Partisans, he has been very harsh on Congress for corruption. More over, in IAG he has remarked at one place that the decline of Indian politics - nepotism, favoritism and all the maladies that plague national politics today took roots during the prime-ministership of Indira Gandhi. (I am not discrediting Mrs. Gandhi of whatever good decisions she took.)

Today I got a chance to watch a documentary about Bhindranwale and was shocked to know that he was patronized by the Congress to gain back influence in Punjab. Maybe I have been less-informed but this fact was a revelation to me. Bhindranwale grew like a cancer and had to be eliminated via a surgical military operation, marking one of the darkest episodes in Indian history.

P.S - If interested, read Mark Tully's book on Operation BlueStar.