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India interpreted
WRITTEN for a Western audience in 1954 at a time when the sun had set on the British Empire, A.L. Basham's The Wonder that was India is among the "must reads" for every undergraduate pursuing history in India. And, herein lies the greatest testimony to the fact that this book had successfully "decolonised" Indian history.
Picador India celebrates the golden jubilee of The Wonder with a reissue of its third edition published 12 years after the book first came out. For those familiar with the book, the only new addition is the foreword by Basham's student, Thomas R. Trautmann — a professor at the University of Michigan — in which he explains the context in which The Wonder was written.
Part of a series on ancient civilisations — the other titles being The Glory that was Greece, The Grandeur that was Rome, The Splendour that was Egypt and The Greatness that was Babylon — The Wonder was Basham's effort to correct the negative stereotypes of India perpetuated by the writings of James Mill, Macaulay and Vincent Smith — whose Early History of India had become a standard in Indian schools and universities.
Translated into a dozen languages including Spanish, Russian, Polish and Croat, The Wonder, along with nationalist historian, R.C. Majumdar's multi-volume History and Culture of the Indian People sought to replace the imperial histories of India. According to Trautmann, "Basham and Majumdar, moving toward one another from different directions" were a counter to the hegemonic texts that claimed "Indians were never so happy as when they were held in good order under the rule of a firm but benevolent empire such as that of the Mauryas, the Guptas, the Mughals or the British".
The Wonder that was India, A.L. Basham, Picador India, Rs. 395.
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Disasters and gender
THE year 2001 may be the cut-off date and the Gujarat earthquake of that January the last disaster to be chronicled in Gender Dimensions in Disaster Management: A Guide for South Asia, but this "how to" handbook is as relevant four years later in the wake of the tsunami that ravaged the region on December 26, 2004.
The Indian edition of this 2003 publication arrived just weeks after tsunami became a household name in the sub-continent and exposes the chinks in the country's existing mechanisms to deal with natural calamities. In the days since tsunami struck, newspaper reportage suggests a growing acknowledgement that disaster affects different groups of people differently.
But, disaster management strategies are yet to factor in the different needs of people. Under siege, the State machinery tends to adopt a blanket policy — evident from the way Punjabi families in the Andamans were clamouring for "rotis" as relief camps in the islands had only rice to offer.
This book seeks to address the dearth of specific information on "gender issues in disaster" — particularly in the South Asian context where women are more often than not excluded from development planning despite a fair amount of lipservice to the concept — and is aimed primarily at policy-makers and development practitioners in the region.
Gender Dimensions in Disaster Management: A Guide for South Asia, Madhavi Malalgoda Ariyabandu and Maithree Wickramasinghe, Zubaan, Rs. 195.
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The growing Indian diaspora
EVER since the Government decided to celebrate Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, there is a growing consciousness here about the huge and ever expanding Indian diaspora. Hailing as she does from a family with links to this diaspora, journalist Shubha Singh presents an insider's view into the life of the overseas Indian in her latest book Overseas Indians: The Global Family.
Tracing the various processes which Indian communities went through in different regions of the world as they dropped anchor in new lands and adjusted to their new surroundings, Singh shows how they held on to their identities as ethnic Indians while remaining loyal to their adopted countries.
In particular, she draws a parallel between the Indian diaspora and the Chinese to make out a case for greater involvement of the "Pravasi Bharatiya" in India.
Of the firm view that more Indian migrants would be willing to invest in their homeland, Singh draws from the Chinese experience to advocate the creation of a similar investment environment in India.
Also, according to Singh, overseas Indians should not be eyed just for their money. Unofficial ambassadors of India wherever they are, her contention is that in recent years they have begun to wield influence that has stood India in good stead in her hour of crisis.
On a more personal note, Singh picks up cudgels for the older diaspora — the descendants of those who left India as indentured labour in the 19th Century. Not as articulate as the post-World War emigrants who have done well for themselves in developed countries, she is of the view that they should be given similar attention in the nation's diaspora policy.
Overseas Indians: The Global Family, Shubha Singh, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies.
ANITA JOSHUA
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