Makers of Modern India

I happened to read the reviews on this site before buying the book. Couple of comments were encouraging.
About the criticism why some figures like Netaji, Vidyasagar, Vivekananda have been ommitted from the author's list, the author himself had made his stand clear on this. The book is about the original thinkers who have made some original contribution to the politcal theory from Indian perspective. With this is criteria in mind all the acts of omission and commisson by the author seems justifiable.
And somewhere in the comments I also read that many of the articles are not originally penned by the author. Well that is very true. And the author has clearly stated that too at many places, carefully giving the names of the author and the books in the footnotes. Moreover in the opening pages of the book it is carefully mentioned as "Edited and introduced by Ramchandra Guha" and not authored by. And rightly so, as the book was supposed to show the original works of these 19 Indian political thinkers.
Hats off to Mr.Guha for this wonderful compilation of Indian thinkers with their selected works in original or in translation!

I bought Makers of Modern India on flipkart even before it had been released officially, simply because I had finished reading India after Gandhi by the same author and was completely blown away by it! It was an astounding, amazing read, full of exhilirating highs.

But I suggest that those who wish to buy the current book should do good to notice a 'small' detail that I completely missed ! Makers of Modern India is EDITED and INTRODUCED by Ramachandra Guha, meaning there's little contribution in terms of susbtance by the author in this. I have read only the initial portion of the book but have figured out the scheme ... there's a short introduction by Guha for each 'Maker' and then a collection of extracts from the works of the chosed personalities. So the reader has to o throught the original selcted works of the theme-by-theme and reach their own conclusions and make their own interpretations.

In fact, now it is very easy to understand why Guha left out prominet figures like Patel and Bose, much to the resentment of many. It is because these personalities do not have much to claim their own in terms of written works, and this book is essentially a cool collection of the works of these various thinkers.

On a positive note, I am looking forward to reading this book, especially the works of Gandhi and Ambedkar, but I will sorely miss the astute, insightful analysis that Guha excels in and which is amply available in India after Gandhi.

Recommended for those who like to read the works of outstanding personalities!

Guha’s style of writing is easy to follow and I am reminded of “The Raj” by Lawrence James. The sheer extent of his research cannot but impress everyone who reads the book. He is consistent in his views and deals with personalities of people who are considered demi-gods in India and even controversial subjects like communalism in an even handed manner without sounding too opinionated or biased. Like many works of this size, there are bound to be instances where research fails him or where he takes some things for granted. His reference to the Maharaja and Maharani of Travancore baffled me since the Maharaja at the time did not have a wife. It is unlikely that most of his readers would have thought through this to understand that Guha may have meant the Maharaja’s mother and it may have helped if he spared a couple of sentences or perhaps just add the words, “his mother” to clarify this if he did not wish to be distracted by explaining the matrilineal system of inheritance in the Travancore royal family. This did, however, get me to recognise my own ignorance of the history of Travancore which I have begun to address. His research fails him on the critical issue of the constitution and the right to property. His claim that there was no right of due process in property legislation due to impending land reform laws is light on facts since the constitution had article 19(1)f which provided for citizens to acquire, hold and dispose property (before it was deleted in 1978 by the 44th constitutional amendment) and article 31 to ensure due process before being deprived of property. The constitution is a great document and while he may have taken pains to read the debates of the constituent assembly, I wish he had taken some time to read the constitution itself and consulted some experts who, I am sure, would have been delighted to help. Perhaps when he revises the book and before the next edition goes to print, he will address this obvious error. Another area where he will be embarrassed by the cognoscenti is his failure to deal with the significance of the role of the judiciary in politics during the Nehru era, especially the role of the judiciary in approving the mauling of the constitution in the early years (for e.g. about 600 laws in the Ninth Schedule which excludes judicial review and therefore accords no protection from abuse by the State). There are several good books on the role of the Indian judiciary which, I suspect, Guha ignored. Calling India “a constitutional democracy, by and large, for the first two decades”, overlooks the significant constitutional crises that occurred during that time completely. I was also disappointed by the manner of his reference to Subba Rao,a former Chief Justice of India, as an alternative Presidential candidate to N Sanjiva Reddy and VV Giri; he is mentioned as Subba Roa and just once in the book when in reality, there was so much more behind his desire to be the President of India. Guha will find material on Chief Justice Subba Rao and the events leading up to his nomination for Presidency in “Before Memory Fades”, Fali Nariman’s autobiography. He does however deal with judicial activism beginning in the 1980s, which shines a light on what he missed. Guha deals with India’s growth as an Asian superpower in with acknowledgement of economic and military successes from the United States as the spokesperson for the Western world. However, while he deals with the IPKF and its misadventure in Sri Lanka as indicative of India’s regional influence, I was disappointed that he missed Operation Cactus, India’s military intervention in November 1988 to save the government of Abdul Gayoom from a coup in the Maldives. I was also disappointed by his mention of the Enron power project only in the context of bribery. While dealing with the growth of the economy and the instances of liberalisation, there is no mention of the many projects like Enron that actually produce power to sustain India’s dramatic growth. He would do well to say that, despite all the controversy, the Enron power plant was built and is capable of producing power but the continued politicking keeps it mothballed. One could read the book and feel that one has gather many facts that one did not know but Guha does manage to get me to think very carefully about the condition of the country today and its causes in history. For example, the situation in Kashmir should not surprise us at all. We were warned about it 50 years ago, given the solution to resolve the issue and we still refuse to do something about it. Same is true of our relationship with Pakistan and China. Guha has succeeded in forcing us to listen to the voices from the past, clearing a path for those writers who follow him.

An amazing introduction to modern Indian political thought through the words of the thinkers themselves. The opening and final essays are beautifully written emphasizing the profundity of Guha's thoughts expressed in simple prose. /

My favorite parts were Ambedkar's speeches in the constituent assembly and MK Gandhi's explanation for Non-violence as a strategy in struggle.

Folks. Don't fall for the author, like you should not (like Warren Buffet says) fall for the market trends! Guha has here done a cut paste job. I bought is wanting to read Guha's views on Modern India, but as it turns out it is excerpts of passages i had already read. Guha here, i testing the intelligence of readers. A sorry attempt