This was my first poetry book in Tamil published in 1959 while I was in England. Like all first poetry books this is a thin volume of few pages got together by a few friends of mine. Besides the fact that the first poem was written while I was barely 15 years old. This piece…
Life and Art of C N Vasudevan
This was a rare book that brings to light what the outside world does not know about how Rabindranath Tagore’s arts, in particular the famous Santiniketan, style of dancing was evolved. Tagore was infact lucky to have this unknown artist from the deep south of India from Pollachi, Coimbatore District. He studied art at…
Congress Election Manifesto 1967
The Congress Manifesto for the 1967 General Election was prepared by a team with which I was entrusted the job of the final copy and bringing it out of the press. The brains behind this manifesto were Atulya Ghosh (the then Congress party Treasurer) and Saddiq Ali (General Secretary) and assisted by two Delhi…
Oxford and other essays on education
This book was composed in the year 1984 and contains autobiographical recollections of my years at Oxford. The other essays deal with my educational activities and experiences. One article sums up my establishment of a secondary school in a remote village in the South of India. There are also articles summing up my visits…
Prime Minister’s Red Fort Speech: Agriculture, just an excuse!
Very weak and uninspiring, the domestic agenda! The Prime Minister on the Independence Day makes the mandatory speech from the Red Fort. This, under the present incumbent had become a routine speech? Yes, he has warned the Pakistanis, he had reiterated commitment to the US nuke deal, he, more importantly had said something about the…
Decline of the West? Or Descent of the West?
New Books on India and the Western domination The Scandal of Empire: India and the Creation of Imperial Britain by Nicholas Dirks The British Empire and the Second World War by Ashley Jackson Published by Hambledon Continuum Harvard University Press The History of British Empire by Niall Ferguson The War of the World: History’s Age…
Right to Information Act
What chance it will make a difference to our lives? “A society of sheep in time will beget a government of wolves” Why a French philosopher said so? The Right to Information Act (RTI) enacted and now in force gives the citizens to demand all the information from the government depts. so that the citizens…
Art of conversation: alive or declining?
Our personal cultures improving? Why our leaders don’t talk clearly, engage the people? President and the Prime Minister don’t inspire the people! There was this delightful piece in the Economist, December 23rd, 2006 issue. It was on the art of conversation. As usual it was written with verve and wit. What it says? The art…