Journey Of A Common Man Born In Independent India

The book is about a law-abiding common man’s journey and what he sees and experiences during his life span, about happenings in various fields like politics, scandal/scams, personalities, sports, achievement/disappointments, Entertainment, and lastly his personal journey. The things are broken into decade-wise chapters. Readers of this book will feel as if it is part of their journey also.

India and the Indians have made some progress in 75 years after Independence. The number of literates has gone up. The Indians have become healthier and their life expectancy at birth has gone up. The proportion of people below the poverty line has also halved. But the shine from the story fades when India is compared with that of the East Asian Tigers and China. It looks good but not good enough. India looks far away from the glory it seeks. This issue forms the core subject matter of this book. It tries to argue why India could not achieve more and what all it could have achieved. It paints a picture of its possible future and highlights the areas that need immediate attention.

At midnight on 14 August 1947, Britain's 350-year-old Indian Empire was broken into three pieces. The greatest mass migration in history began, as Muslims fled north and Hindus fled south, and Britain's role as an imperial power came to an end. Patrick French's vivid and surprising account of the chaotic final years of colonial rule in India has been acclaimed as the definitive book on this subject. Journeying across India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, he brings to life a cast of characters including spies, idealists, freedom fighters and politicians from Churchill to Gandhi.

India, that is Bharat, is an entity, an existence and a continuity. India has not only been a civilisational legacy but also a legacy of mankind. The book is a collection of essays written by the author in last few years on different issues concerning religio-cultural and socio-political aspects of Indian state and Indian society. The book would induce questions in the minds of general as well as critical readers. Not only that young job-seekers would find it beneficial for their competitive examinations.

Andrew has a very unique perspective of life. He is an optimist. He strongly believes that there is no life after death. Having been born in India, a poor, underdeveloped country, he received the best possible opportunity for education. He also took advantage of the opportunities in the United States and was successful in developing a career. He faces life one day at a time. He never complains about life. He knows that the events of life are often unpredictable. Andrew wants to bring more fulfillment to his life by serving humanity more. But he is restricted because of his family obligations and limited financial resources. Andrew believes that if each person was willing to make some positive contribution to humanity, life in this world would become enjoyable to all. Andrew says, “There is only one life to live, and live it right.”

This book looks at India of the 1950s and 1960s while it was still emerging from two centuries of colonial rule and striving to come together as a nation. It critically explores the history of nationalism and identity in Northeastern India, a region with diverse ethnolinguistic communities and people, through the personal history of the first Manipuri (Meitei) direct recruit in the Indian Administrative Services. The book weaves in autobiographical stories with the story of Northeast India, capturing its politics, socio-cultural distinctiveness and milieus that set the region apart from the rest of the country. It covers the career of the author in the IAS, serving in Manipur and Karnataka, with the Union Government, and finally as Secretary for the northeastern region. Through these, the book tells the story of a changing society, of a developing nation and a people on the move. It shows how borders and barriers were collapsing and being formed at the same time and how the country was dealing with it. The book is a unique and significant addition to the literature on Manipur; it deepens our understanding of the northeastern states and the complex interactions of the people of the region with the rest of India. Part of the Transitions in Northeastern India series, this book will be of great interest to researchers and scholars of modern history, sociology, social anthropology and postcolonial studies, particularly those concerned with India and Northeast India.

The book presents the history of our great nation from the earliest times to the 7th century ad when the last of the Hindu emperors, Harshavardhana, ruled over a major part of India. The author has presented the chequered history in a brief manner, and with meticulous regard to authenticity of facts. He has deftly touched upon differing views on controversial matters, pinpointing the most likely scenario in an objective manner. The book meets the long-felt need of a nationalist, yet independent, appraisal of our past in a concise manner. It avoids the preconceived notions of foreign historians and their blind followers, at the same time without attempting undue glorification of the past. The book is certainly a laudable attempt to bring our glorious heritage alive!