For now, however, I wanted to look at a controversy that has come up around one of the earlier chapters (Chapter 2), where Guha talks about the events leading up to Partition. Next week's topic will be chapter 3, "Apples in the Basket," where Guha looks at how the Princely States were incorporated into the union - sort of a neglected topic. From the chapters I've read, Guha seems to be quite fair in his approach, and his style of writing is accessible without being 'dumbed down' in the least. He is also scrupulous in looking at "marginal" communities such as the tribals, who are often left out of major histories.
Guha tends to be much more pro-Nehru than is fashionable these days (since liberalization, many people blame Nehru for keeping India behind I think this is mistaken). The idea is to do a survey of post-independence Indian history with emphasis on the conflicts that have occurred in various states. In each case, I'll try and present some of the main ideas in each chapter in a blog post, so readers can participate in the discussion even if they haven't read that chapter of the book. What I propose is this: we'll look at a chapter or so a week, and go in sequence. Why not read it together? It's not a book club that I'm suggesting, or at least, not exactly - since anyone who proposed an 850 page historical tome as a book club selection would have to be out of his mind. I've had Ramachandra Guha's India After Gandhi on my shelf for a couple of months, waiting to be seriously cracked.
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