Book Review: Words of Freedom: Ideas of a Nation by Bhagat Singh

‘Words of Freedom: Ideas of a Nation’

By: Bhagat Singh

Penguin Books

ISBN 9780143068884

Shaheed Bhagat Singh is an icon of India’s freedom movement. His life-story has inspired thousands to do something worthwhile for their nation and continues to inspire the youth, generation after generation. He was a lion-hearted young man who spent his life, blood and death for the betterment of his nation called Bharat (or India). At the time he was hanged by the British, he was only 23 years old. Penguin has done a great work by compiling some of his writings, letters and revolutionary literature in the form of a small book. Readers get to know Bhagat Singh better and also delve into his “ideas” for our nation.

The book would also serve a very good means of waking us up to the realities of our nation. Have we in all these years proven the sacrifice of our freedom-fighters worth the efforts? Are we doing something for a better future of our nation? Or are we still stuck in the webs of religion, caste or location, which divide us and make us weak? In these pages, Bagat Singh puts his views very strongly. He also challenges those (Congress members) who were apparently soft on the British policies and believed in small incremental gains towards the freedom. His ideas on religion are also very strong and provocative, but well-grounded. Here is a sample of some lines from the first article:

“While we Indians, what are we doing? A branch of a peepal tree is cut and religious feelings of the Hindus are injured. A corner of a paper idol, tazia, of the idol-breaker Mohammedans is broken, and ‘Allah’ gets enraged, who cannot be satisfied with anything less than the blood of the infidel Hindus.” (P-7)

“The conservativeness and orthodoxy of the Hindus, extra-territorialism and fanaticism of the Mohammedans and narrow-mindedness of all the communities in general are always exploited by the foreign enemy.” (P-9)

“We want people who may be prepared to fight without hope, without fear and without hesitation, and who may be willing to die un-honored, unwept and unsung.” (P-10)

(From manifesto of The Naujawan Bharat Sabha, founded by Bhagat Singh in 1926 in Lahore)

(I think his idea of freedom-fighters to be ready to fight even without hope points to the eternal teaching of Lord Krishna in Gita)

Reading Bhagat Singh’s letters and speeches to the British, I couldn’t stay without being in awe of his intellect and brilliance! I think if the British gave him a fair trial, he would have got himself free, given the way he explained the matters and debated in the court. But alas, the British were bent on hanging him and ignored crucial evidence and facts, and went about their own determined ways. Bhagat Singh asked to be shot dead by a gun rather than being hanged, but no surprise that the British didn’t want to grant him his last wish too.

Sardar Bhagat Singh’s story is worth being read, told and sung with all our heart, until each Indian counts one’s nation above one’s other priorities. It also points towards self-reflection to the communities who count some other nations and their foreign beliefs above our nation, or those Indians who harm our nation’s prospects in the name of business and trade.

I find myself lucky to have read this book. Highly recommended to all India-lovers.

- Rahul

Book Review: The Post Office by Rabindranath Tagore

‘The Post Office’

By: Rabindranath Tagore

Translated by: Debabrata Mukhopadhyay

Wisdom Tree

ISBN 81-86685-26-X

The literatures of Rabindranath Tagore have their own charm. I think he has a unique style and charisma in his writing which keeps the readers spellbound as well as soaked deep into the world the writer wishes to take them in. The Post Office is a play written by Tagore, which captures the charms of childhood curiosity and activity as well as the misery part of human life.

The story of The Post Office is about Amal, a kid who has to remained locked in the house because of an ailment he is suffering with. Readers get to realize the seriousness of his ailment with time. He sits on the window of his house and chats with the passersby. As it happens, he sees a Post Office from the window and waits for a letter arriving in his name. His pure heart and childlike curiosity is so heart-touching. At the same time his unconscious suffering from the disease makes our eyes wet. Life is a ride full of ups and downs and the readers of this play are taken on one such, in all its elements.

The English translation is also at its best. In Bangla, this play is called Dak Ghar.

A wonderful and heart-touching play, recommended to all.

- Rahul

Book Review: The World of Nagraj by RK Narayan

The World of Nagraj

By: R. K. Narayan

Indian Thought Publication [Link]

“The World of Nagraj” is a classic novel from the great author RK Narayan. It is one of the stories set in the town of Malgudi.

Nagraj is a man of leisure, living in Kabir Street of Malgudi with his wife and old mother. He is blessed with inheritance, which gives him a big house and money sufficient to lead a life without working for money. His wife couldn’t have a child, but he is happy that his brother has a child, called Tim. Nagraj has a dream to write the story of divine sage Narada, the eternal wanderer who spread stories from one world to the other resulting in curious happenings. The story also covers his old mother, his elder brother Gopu and his wife, Gopu’s son Tim, and various characters from the town of Malgudi. The world of Nagraj takes a turn when Tim comes to live with him. Nagraj proves to be an ineffective guardian in a way. But when looked through his lens, we can understand the reason why couldn’t be harsh on the kid. Readers get to know Nagraj, understand him, his fancies and his ways, and I believe they fell in love with him.

As it occurs in most of the RK Narayan stories, the city of Malgudi can be taken as any midsize town of India whether in Northern or Southern parts, and the characters are so very Indian in nature that we (Indian readers) feel as if the story revolves around us.

The World of Nagraj has been such a wonder read for me and I would remember and love it for lifetime…

- Rahul

Book Review: Mastering Business in Asia: Supply Chain Management

‘Mastering Business in Asia: Supply Chain Management’

By Bowon Kim

John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd

ISBN 0-470-82140-X

‘Mastering Business in Asia: Supply Chain Management’ is a wonderful book on the interesting subject of supply chain management. Written in a comprehendible language and full of examples and some very useful charts, this book deals with hosts of some very relevant issues in global supply chain management.

The book starts with a discussion on how in the modern challenging times, a lot of organizations have focused on the supply chain management (SCM) to create value for customers. Then author discusses the role of effective decision making in supply chain management and a chapter on “dynamic learning in SCM” has been a great value add. Some topics like strategic management of a supply chain and innovation in SCM field give a lot of fresh perspective. The concluding chapters are on “global SCM” and “SCM for sustainable competitive capability”.

The book has been a wonderful read. And to top that, the readers get to go through some brilliant case studies in SCM. For example, one on the MP3 player industry and others on online bookstore industry and an auto parts industry are really enlightening.

Highly recommended for all SCM lovers and practitioners.

- Rahul

Book Review: Recess: the Penguin Book of Schooldays

‘Recess: The Penguin Book of Schooldays’

Edited by: Palash Krishna Mehrotra

Penguin Books

ISBN 9780143100119

Schooldays are something which can’t be compared with anything else in life. Those carefree days, with its own flavors and enigma, can’t be forgotten totally. Here is a refreshing read, taking us to those good old schooldays. It is a collection of memoires from the childhood and schooldays as shared by a diverse set of authors. The diverse set of authors bring with them a very diverse set of experiences; some beautiful and some bitter. We can connect with many of those, and at some others, we may feel good not having come across in our own.

The set of authors include Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Gandhiji, Premchand, Nehruji, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Vijay Lakshmi Pandit, RK Narayan, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Ismat Chugtai, Satyajit Ray, Vikram Seth, PT Usha, and a lot of known and not-so-known names. Swami Dayananda Saraswati’s episode from childhood tells about an incident in the Shiva temple where he witnessed a rat eating the sweets offered to the deity and wondered why the deity couldn’t protect its offerings? Lal Behari Dey talks about his school days in Calcutta and about Duff’s School where the principle was a radical Christian Missionary converting a lot of Bengali youth and how despite this fact, his father sent him in that school keeping “faith in fate”. Fakir Mohan Senapati’s account tells about the domination of Bengali over Oriya language. Rabindranath Tagore tells about his home tuitions. Krupabai Satthianadhan tells a very interesting “The Story of a Conversion”, about how an old teacher, a Christian Missionary, was trying to influence a young South Indian lad who decided to tolerate all because of willingness to learn English; but it couldn’t prevent him from feeling like giving it back to the “old fanatic”. Ismat Chugtai tells the inside story of a girls hostel. Gandhiji’s childhood part is taken from The Story of My Experiments with Truth and talks about the popular portion where he was accused of telling a lie, and on the importance of sports and learning Sanskrit. Premchand’s childhood was influenced by his Big Brother (elder brother) and the way he recollects the events, makes it such a hilarious account.

The childhood stories are diverse and bring with them all sort of tastes. There are also some controversial ones. I feel if the editor had decided to keep the controversial and bitter ones out; the book would have been absolutely delightful. But like our childhood is full of good and bad experiences, I think the different shades of the stories give this book a unique depth and gravity.

Highly recommended to all.

- Rahul