I am halfway through Ramchandra Guha's India after Gandhi.This book is a very good read. I have read a lot of literature about India but most of them are about pre-1947 India or about partition of India. This book focuses on the decades after independence. It gives a good idea of the difficult times for our nation, the 50s and 60s.
This book has given me new perspective on Jawaharlal Nehru. I think he deserves a lot more respect than he gets by this generation. To uphold the ideals of secularism and egalitarian society in a communally charged atmosphere must have been very difficult. Add to it the issues related to caste, language and secession. Hindu code bill was another progressive reform. He perhaps failed in handling the border situation with China but who is not flawed? If we look at his work in totality, he is perhaps the greatest Prime minister we had. Perhaps he would have been more effective in these times. A mass leader (Golwalkar had 1 lakh crowd in his meetings, Nehru 6 lacs), hard working and extremely honest. His last 4 years in office must have been very torturous for him but what he did in 4 decades preceding it laid the foundation of progressive India. No nation with parochial policies can develop or be a super power for long. Pakistan is a case in point. Obsessed with religion they have dug themselves into a hole where they have stopped seeing reason. No surprise then that their citizens suffer and don't realize the real issue are they themselves. Nehru reined in such parochial elements from the beginning. Thanks to him, India is not Pakistan now.
