Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Nehru: The invention of India
Here's a short biography of Nehru, that is mostly a re-interpretation of previous research, for those who cant be bothered to read the extended biographies by Wolpert, Akbar, Gopal etc. Shashi Tharoor's Nehru:The invention of India is a short, yet reasonably comprehensive biography of India's first prime minister and the tumultous times he lived through. Though Tharoor is by his own admission an admirer of Nehru, this book goes into Nehru's shortcomings in great detail as well, especially his obsession with socialism. Tharoor puts it best when he writes thusly...
I started the book as divided between admiration and criticism as when I finished it; but the more I delved into Nehru's life, it was the admiration that deepened. Jawaharlal's impact on India is too great to not be re-examined periodically. His legacy is ours, whether we agree with everything he stood for or not. What we are today, both for good and for ill, we owe in great measure to one man.
I started the book as divided between admiration and criticism as when I finished it; but the more I delved into Nehru's life, it was the admiration that deepened. Jawaharlal's impact on India is too great to not be re-examined periodically. His legacy is ours, whether we agree with everything he stood for or not. What we are today, both for good and for ill, we owe in great measure to one man.
