Swami - The Peshwe Era

खूप वर्षांनी एक मराठी पुस्तक वाचायला घेतलं. ते संपवायला किती वेळ लागेल, जुनी मराठी भाषा असल्यामुळे आपल्याला कितपत शब्द माहित असतील, ह्या सगळ्या बद्दल मी साशंक होते. पण हे पुस्तक इतकं रंजक आहे की एकवेळ बसून आरामात ३०-४० पानं वाचून व्हायची. शेवटची ७० पानं सलग वाचावी अशीच आहेत. माधवराव पेशव्यांबद्दलचं 'स्वामी' हे पुस्तक वाचून झाल्यावर, त्याबद्दल चा हा review .

शाळेमध्ये इतिहास हा खरंतर माझा आवडीचा विषय होता. तरी पण मला इतिहासात पेशव्यांबद्दलचं डिटेल मध्ये शिकलेलं अजिबात आठवत नाही. शिवाजी महाराज, भारताची स्वातंत्र चळवळ, world wars, ह्या बदल शिकलो, पण ज्यांनी शिवाजींनंतर पूर्ण भारतावर राज्य केलं त्यांच्या बद्दल शाळेत जास्त शिकवलं गेलं नाही. आत्तापर्यंत कधी ह्या काळाबद्दल स्वतःहून research किंवा अभ्यासाची वेळ आली नाही. आता त्याची त्रुटी भरून काढावीशी वाटत आहे. 

'स्वामी' हे लेखक रणजीत देसाई ह्यांचं, थोरल्या माधवरावांबद्दलचं पुस्तक आहे. आपल्याला थोरले माधवराव हे रमा-माधव ह्या मालिकेतून, picture मधून माहित आहेत. पण त्यांचा कर्तृत्व, त्यांचा स्वभाव, त्यांचे विचार हे जास्त highlight झालेले नाहीत. थोरले माधवराव हे खूप कमी वयात पेशवे बनले. एवढी जबाबदारी लहान वयात येऊनही त्यांनी ती खूप चांगली पेलली, कधी आपल्या ध्येयापासून आणि निष्ठेपासून दूर न जाता, पानिपतच्या युद्धानंतर हरवलेली पेशवाईची शान परत आणली. खूप कमी वयात tuberculosis आजाराने त्रस्त झाले नसते आणि अजून काही वर्ष जगले असते तर नक्कीच भारताचा इतिहास वेगळा असता असं मला वाटतं.

ह्या सगळ्या मध्ये एक जाणवलेली गोष्ट म्हणजे राघोबा दादांची. पेशव्याचे हे काका असले तरी सगळ्यात जास्त पेशव्यांना विरोध आणि अडवाआडवी त्यांनीच केली. माधवरावांचा अर्धा वेळ हा internal fights मधेच गेला. हा वेळ, पैसे, माणसं जर शत्रूवर चालून जायला उपयोगी पडली असती तर चित्र काहीसं वेगळं असतं. तसं बघायला गेला तर अजूनही इतक्या वर्ष नंतर, आपल्याकडे तेच चालू आहे. घराघरामध्ये भांडणं, भारता मध्ये राहून पण देशाच्या विरुद्ध बोलणारे आणि वागणारी लोकं. आपण इतिहासातून काहीच शिकलो नाही असं म्हणायचं. 

हे पुस्तक वाचून मला माहिती तर खूपच मिळाली पण माझी पेशव्यांच्या कारकिर्दीबद्दल अजून वाचायची इच्छा पण वाढली आहे. Lockdown संपला कि एकदा शनिवारवाड्यावर जाऊन पुस्तकात वर्णन केले आहेत ते दिल्ली आणि गणेश दरवाजे बघायचे आहेत. पेशवाईबद्दल अजून बरंच काही वाचायचं आहे. राघोबादादांची बाजू मांडणारे काही असेल तर ते वाचायचं किंवा बघायचं आहे. कारण ह्या पुस्तकातून तर बाकीच्या शत्रूंपेक्षा तेच सगळ्यात  जवळचे आणि मोठे शत्रू आहेत असा दिसून येतं.

पुस्तकात अवघड मराठी शब्द आहेत खरे. पण context मध्ये ते समजून जातात. मी गोधळले ते आजूबाजूंच्या व्यक्तींमुळे. सगळ्यांची नावं लक्षात ठेऊन, त्यांची टोपण नावं लक्षात ठेवणं खूपच अवघड गेलं. नाना, बापू, दादा, राव, अश्याने संबोधन केल्यावर नक्की कोणाबद्दल बोललं जातंय हे कळायला वेळ लागला. बरीच अशी जवळची मंडळी असल्यामुळे अशी अनेक नावे सहजच मध्ये मध्ये येतात. ते समजून घ्यायला थोडा वेळ लागतो. 

ह्या सगळ्या नंतर वाटला तो पुण्याबद्दलचा जाज्वल्य अभिमान, आधी पेक्षा ही जास्त. भारतावर राज्य केलेल्या सत्तेची राजधानी पुण्यात होती आणि त्या वेळेस च्या इमारती, जिथे हे सगळं घडलं, अजूनही आपल्याला बघायला शाबूत आहेत, हि किती अभिमानाची बाब आहे.

Era of Darkness

After Sapiens, I picked up the book 'Era of Darkness' by Shashi Tharoor as my next read. From a historic viewpoint, I was thrown into a complete nationalist standpoint (albeit with extremely well researched content). It was a different end of spectrum for me, from Yuval Noah Harari explaining imperialism, capitalism and what probably made England venture out to far off countries and build empires in Sapiens; to the Era of Darkness; which gave me a stark reality of what the conditions in India during the empire looked like.

According to Shashi Tharoor, the idea for this book came when his speech from a London debate went viral and he received a lot of accolades and compliments for standing up for his country and putting across points related to remuneration for empirical rule. When he got so many compliments and people lauded him for saying what was common knowledge according to him, he realized that the horrors of English regime were not that widely understood and known to everyone. Which is when he came up with the idea of writing this book.

The book is very well researched but if you are looking for a chronological story type reading experience, that is not how it is presented. Instead, he has taken individual occupations (like textile, steel, printing press), different conditions (like famine, labor movement during world war 2), growth and spread of English items like tea and cricket, social and religious structures in pre-British era; and described the impact to all these because of the British rule. He goes on to meticulously point out how it was a deliberate attempt of British to ruin Indian economy so that the British economy could flourish and how India, to the British, was a gold reserve for developing their own country. 

It is very saddening to read the detailed background and aftermath of historical events like Jallianwala Baug massacre, the Kohinoor diamond trading hands, the Partition and the events surrounding it, and many such incidents which we have heard about but probably do not know in too much detail. 

For the Raj apologists, as he calls them, he has provided well explored details on how the supposedly good things that we should be grateful to the British for, were also something completed and used for British convenience and not for the ease of Indian people. One major example of this is the Railways, for which the British rule is given much credit. He knocks off this assumption giving detailed info on how railways were used for British to connect only certain parts of India such that they could ferry off most material easily to the British shores. Tharoor makes compelling arguments for each and every point that is usually credited as a positive outcome of the British rule. At the end of the chapter, you are bound to agree with him.

The most impactful chapter for me was where he described the final years of the freedom struggle and the conditions that led to the Hindu-Muslim, India-Pakistan divide. He has sincerely pointed out the drawbacks or mistakes that the Indian National Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru did which could have avoided the whole bloodbath later. From a social perspective, he has explained in detail how British were responsible for tearing the social structure and dividing the country into religions and castes, more permanent than they had ever been in pre-British era. It is a sad truth that something that was deliberately initiated more than 200 years back, is still strongly rooted in our society and getting more and more fragmented day by day.

One interesting point in the book which I hadn`t noticed or thought about previously is the difference between French or Portuguese imperialism and British imperialism. He mentions that other regimes wanted to inculcate the local population and make them more or less like themselves. French and Portuguese influence can still be seen in various parts of India like Pondicherry and Goa. The local population was encouraged to talk, eat, live like the rulers. Many rulers married into the local populace too. However, British rulers always maintained a stark divide between them and the local population. According to them, they were the better race and Indians needed to be ruled for their own benefit. Excerpt from the book ``The British had no intention of becoming one with the land. The French rules foreign territories and made them French, assimilating them in a narrative of Frenchness; the Portuguese settled in their colonies and intermarried with the locals; but the British always stayed apart and aloof, a foreign presence, with foreign interests and foreign loyalties``

The book depicts a sad reality and shows the horrific cruelties of the British rule. If you are in a dreamy and happy mood, this is something you should definitely not pick up. But read it to know the history, read it to be proud of your country and finally, read it for the partition chapter which is sure to bring goosebumps. Also, if the name Shashi Tharoor is making you think twice about picking up the book, lest you need to sit with a dictionary on the side, don`t worry. Though he casually uses words like eclectic, consign, apocryphal; you would be able to understand the gist of the sentence without feeling too daunted with the words used. All in all, a very interesting but disheartening read!

Sapiens - A must read

I picked up the book - Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari in mid last year. Being a fiction fan, it was after a long time that I started with a non-fiction book by borrowing it from the office library. I kept on renewing it until December when I had to return it due to the holiday season. Determined to complete it, I then borrowed it from a colleague who had this book in his collection. After almost a year of starting the book, I have finally finished reading it yesterday, thanks to the lockdown that we are all in.

The reasons for taking so much time to read are different and none of them is because the book is drab. Firstly, Sapiens is a non-fiction book, of almost 500 pages, with each page, each paragraph and each line giving so much information that you actually need some time to comprehend and digest the details. After around 10 pages or so, I used to get mentally consumed and took time to recollect everything that I had read within the last half an hour. Secondly, I usually did not feel like picking this book up when I was tired or bored, lest I couldn't give the information justice. Thirdly, I got distracted with other smaller books in between which I was able to complete much faster.

However, keeping all of my personal inefficiencies in completing this book aside, Sapiens as a read is fantastic. It is a must-read and I would say that this book can and should be prescribed as a textbook in schools or colleges. The information provided in this book is mind-boggling and makes you stop, think and introspect at multiple junctures during the read. Sapiens starts off with the advent of humankind, takes us through the important milestones in history like the cognitive, agriculture and scientific revolution and ends up speculating about the future and giving us food for thought.

The pace and flow of the different topics are extremely smooth and effortless. You are reading about the Gilgamesh project in one chapter and before you realize it, the author is talking about how science was funded and how it progressed. The author also explores various theories and possibilities about why history has developed as it has, why did the society become patriarchal, why European nations were able to invade and rule over half the globe whereas other countries did not even try, how different religions come into being, what lead to Christianity and Islam being the most popular religions; topics that are varied across human history. Though he might not have a definitive answer to these questions, the author has explored various possibilities and you can't help but admire the research that must have gone in to get so much information.

There are various facts strewn across the chapters and they are much more interesting than the casual way in which they are mentioned. A very interesting story from the book is as follows - "During the Second World War, BBC News was broadcast to Nazi-occupied Europe. Each news program opened with a live broadcast of Big Ben tolling the hour - the magical sound of freedom. Ingenious German physicists found a way to determine the weather conditions in London based on tiny differences in the tone of the broadcast ding-dongs. This information offered invaluable help to the Luftwaffe. When the British Secret Service discovered this, they replaced the live broadcast with a set recording of the famous clock".

The parts I loved to read were his take on how agriculture has more disadvantages than advantages, how Homo Sapiens came into being by annihilating Neanderthals, how and why Europe ruled over half the world, how capitalism is almost one of the religions these days. He has explained all of these theories very interestingly. The author ends the book with the below line which is very symbolic these days - 'We are more powerful than ever before, but have very little idea what to do with all that power. Worse still, humans seem to be more irresponsible than ever. Self-made gods with only the laws of physics to keep us company, we are accountable to no one. We are consequently wreaking havoc on our fellow animals and on the surrounding ecosystem, seeking little more than our own comfort and amusement, yet never finding satisfaction'. Isn't this a very profound statement in the COVID-19 times?

The only point I found surprising was the fact that though he has written a lot about Christianity, Islam and Buddhism along with details about their origins and spread, he has not mentioned these details about Hinduism, which is the 4th religion by population*. I would have loved to read his interpretation of Hinduism and understand how it fitted into the general scheme of things at the time.

The book has almost 40 pages of references and notes. In the current world of WhatsApp unverified or unresearched information, it is refreshing to read something which we can understand and digest as a well-researched truth.

Sapiens is a book that should be in your personal book collection to be read whenever you feel like.

I can't wait to get my hands on the next two books in this series by the same author - 'Homo Deus - A Brief History of Tomorrow' and '21 Lessons for the 21st Century'. 

*References -
List of Religious Populations

Asura - The Ravana Tale

With much excitement and eagerness, I took up the book 'Asura - Tale of the Vanquished' by Anand Neelakantan to read in this quarantine period. The previous book by the same author 'Ajaya' was extremely thrilling and unputdownable; the review of which I have written in my blog too.

Asura is Ramayana from Ravana's point of view - 'Ravanayana' he calls it. The author details out the journey of Ravana from his childhood to his eventual demise in the war between Rama and him. Disclaimer - This blog will have spoilers, so please stop here if you are interested in reading the book.

The book starts off very interestingly, explaining why Ravana is called Dasamukha or ten faced. Ravana was advised to shun all other emotions apart from intellect, but he decides to assimilate all of the ten emotions - anger, pride, jealousy, happiness, sadness, fear, selfishness, passion and intellect to become a complete man. Of all the logical explanations I have heard about Ravana being ten faced, this sounds like the most believable.

A few points which I liked in the book

The storytelling alternates between narration by Ravana and by Bhadra, who is a commoner in Ravana's kingdom. This gives us a viewpoint of the commoners under Ravana's regime and what they were going through, what their thoughts were about the king and the situation, and how their life changed under Ravana's rule.

As he did in Ajaya, the author has tried to provide alternative theories to explain the situations in the Ramayana epic. He has portrayed Ravana as a genuine person with a cause, rather than as an egoistic, ruthless leader who did things things on a whim to satisfy his ego. Though the alternate fiction is not as convincing as in the first book, it is admirable of the author to weave a story with a completely different perspective.

Some of the points do make you think. Why did Laxman behave so ruthlessly with Shoorpanakha and cut off her nose (according to the popular tale, this book has a different version)? Does the fact that Sita was in the Ashokvan and Ravana did not even try to touch her, show that he was a good soul? Was the Agni Pariksha, that Sita had to go through after the war, justified?

Now to the parts where I was a tad bit disappointed

Ravana was a learned man who was a great devotee of Shiva. I would have liked to learn more about why he is still revered by so many in Lanka, how did he get all the knowledge that he supposedly possessed, how was he gifted the sword by Shiva (which only has a fleeting mention in the glossary), his ego and his personality. Instead, Ravana comes across as a confused character behaving more or less on ego and impulse and not like the great mastermind you would expect the king of Asura to be.

While I laud the author in coming up with an alternate fictional version of Ramayana, unlike Ajaya, this version is not as convincing. The fact that Sita is shown to be Ravana's daughter who he had cast away; the reason to kidnap Sita is shown to be that he believes that Ram, her husband, will not treat his daughter right; the fact that he sacrifices his son and his entire kingdom for his long lost daughter who obviously loves her husband too much to appreciate her father doing this for her; these all story lines seem incredulous, unconvincing and far-fetched.

Although the Bhadra character gives us the ground root emotions and thoughts of the commoners, his story seems stretched. His character seems confused too, oscillating between someone who reveres the king and would do anything for him, to the one who realizes that the monarchy does not care for him and his help. The Bhadra story also extends too much, long after Ravana is dead. This probably was important to narrate what happened next with Ram and Sita and to close the epic logically, but the story felt stretched and unnecessary after the great Asura Ravana had fallen.

Overall, though this book was not as gripping as the previous novel by the same author, I am grateful to this book for keeping me company in this isolation period at home.