Mainstream Weekly

Ideological Transformation

D. Bandyopadhyay — 2018-06-30T16:21:00Z

BOOK REVIEW
My Journey from Marxism-Leninism to Nehruvian Socialism: Some Memoirs and Reflections on Inclusive Growth by Dr C.H. Hanumantha Rao; Academic Foundation, New Delhi; Price: Rs 1295/-.
A supple mind does not stick to a rigid formulation on any socio-economic issue. Ground realities change. Hence, except for a frozen mind, theories reflecting the real situation also have to undergo change. Mathematical rigidity would make these theories non-applicable. John Marshall wrote his (…)

- 2018

A Forgotten Episode in Contemporary India

D. Bandyopadhyay — 2017-12-24T15:43:26Z

BOOK REVIEW
Kandhamal: Introspection of Initiative for Justice 2007-2015 by Vrinda Grover and Saumya Uma; Media House and United Christian Forum; 2017; pages 304.
Being a member of the majority community it is difficult for this author to assess the inner threat that the members of the minority groups and communities feel living among the vast mass of the majority community. We are really oblivious of their threat perception and their inner feelings. With such a blockage of mind, how (…)

- 2017

Emasculating a Genuinely Popular Governing System

D. Bandyopadhyay — 2017-04-09T07:41:45Z

BOOK REVIEW
Essays of Inclusive Growth and Some Reminiscences by C.H. Hanumantha Rao; published by Academic Foundation; 2014; price: Rs 995.00.
The prime quality of reviewing a book is objectivity. The reviewer should be able to scan the book with complete neutrality. But being an ordinary person, I can't claim that I am above normal emotions. I write this because Prof C. H. Hanumantha Rao is not only known to me but I consider him as my friend. So I may not have that objectivity on (…)

- 2017

Major Contribution to understand Myanmar's Puzzle of Plenty with Poverty

D. Bandyopadhyay — 2016-08-10T05:28:25Z

BOOK REVIEW
My Myanmar Years: A Diplomat's Accounts of India's Relations with the Region by Preet Malik; Sage Publications; 2016; price: Rs 495 (paperback).
Formerly, the British members of the Indian Civil Service used to write their memoires which constituted an important source of historical events. It is true that the memoires used to be coloured by the author's pride and prejudice but when a number of memoires were read together, facts emerged correctly. It is rather unfortunate (…)

- 2016

Vivid Portrayal of Massive Human Tragedy

D. Bandyopadhyay — 2016-08-01T20:27:32Z

BOOK REVIEW
New Songs of the Survivors: The Exodus of Indians from Burma by Yvonne Vaz Ezdani; Speaking Tiger, New Delhi; 2016; price: Rs 350 (paperback).
Human memory of any important incident or event has now become a major source of history. There are pitfalls. Memories may fail. Memories may get clouded by other events thereby distorting memories of the events. In fact, in earlier days history depended entirely on written and/or archeological evidence, references in literature, epics (…)

- 2016

The Strength of Indian Democracy

D. Bandyopadhyay — 2014-06-09T20:22:02Z

The election of Shri Narendrabhai Modi to the post of the Prime Minister of India and that of Smt Mayawati as the Chief Minister of UP earlier reinforce my faith in the inner strength of our democracy. Almost every democratic country does have its “blue-blooded” families who always aspire for the high elected posts through their wealth and family and business social network. Bushes and Kennedys of the US could be one illustration. Britain has its “ruling” families in a more camouflaged way (…)

- 2014

A Puppet on a String

D. Bandyopadhyay — 2014-05-19T19:07:13Z

book review
The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh by Sanjaya Baru; first published in Viking by Penguin Books India, New Delhi; 2014; pages: 301; price: Rs 599.
Being ruled for centuries by despotic petty rajas and nawabs whose private lives were often not only bizarre but even grotesque (shrouded in secrecy), common Indians had an insatiable curiosity about their life and living style. This propensity about our elected leaders continues even after (…)

- 2014

A Gentle Colossus!

D. Bandyopadhyay — 2013-07-01T05:26:24Z

There is no contradiction in terms in describing a gentleman as a gentle colossus. Colossus only indicates the stature. It does not refer to any quality of refinement or rudeness. Nikhil Chakravartty, who was born a year before World War I started, lived through the tumultous events of the twentieth century imbibing both its froth and the essence of its refinement. He was quintessentially a twentieth century intellectual.
Son of a well-off family of the then Calcutta, the second largest (…)

- 2013

Doyen of Indian Feminist Movement

D. Bandyopadhyay — 2013-06-09T11:18:25Z

TRIBUTE
Vinadi (Dr Mrs Vina Mazumdar) passed away in the wee-hours of May 30, 2013. There were other illustrious leaders of the Indian feminist movement prior to Vinadi but the singular contribution of Vinadi was to ensure political empowerment of women in India.
Daughter of one of the pioneer hydrological engineers of India, Vinadi was a born rebel. One of her personal habits—like chain-smoking in her prime age—was not so much addiction to tobacco as a sign of defiance of the (…)

- 2013

A Reluctant Civil Servant!

D. Bandyopadhyay — 2013-02-02T10:47:24Z

BOOK REVIEW
Making Sense of Bihar—An Autobiography of a Civil Servant of Bihar by Shree Shankar Sharan; Abhinav Publications, New Delhi; 2012; pages: 426; Price: Rs 500.
If one wanted to read the usual stuff generally contained in the autobiography of a civil servant, where “I” dominates the whole write-up, one would miss it in this book. Witty, simple, humble, self-effacing as he was in his real life, Shree Shankar Sharan in this book reveals more of the contemporary social and (…)

- 2013