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A review by shom
Incarnations: India in 50 Lives by Sunil Khilnani
4.0
India is a huge country, that has a rich and diverse history.
Some of the Indians are well known, some are not.
Among this huge haystack, the author had picked few needles and have them pointed to the reader.
What you get, is nonetheless, a massive collection of epic lives, shortened to some pages for each one of them. The thing is, each of the discussed people need a book allotted to them itself, so passionate and motivational are their stories.
For some personalities, there are already 100-200 books. For some others, they are footnotes for some para's in a research/thesis published. Few others are only legends in folk tales.
All the 50 are not enough to let you know what India is. But, then again, no country can be defined by a handful of its people.
Still, it gives you enough pick to dwelve into the wonderful journey through which India had passed, over times and lives and empires.
The choice of these individuals ranges from all aspects of lives that runs through India. To some, the author may look partial, with his choices.
But given the huge responsibility and task to scoop out 50 droplets of Indians among the Indian Ocean is a Herculean one.
I am not going to divulge any of their names. Go, buy this one for the classic it is. For the biopic lovers, these one is a must one.
But the thing is you don't only get a biopic here. You get the context of those colossal personalities with a contemporary lens, some part of their lives merging into the common timeframe that makes you think and ponder, what if, this person was here and now?
Every story starts with a precise introduction directed at the particular person, that makes the chapter unique and firm, and places it within the rest. Then we get how come he/she is/became what he/she is.
What it meant to be an Indian. Did he/she even bothered with that label? That of being an Indian? Or, even any label at all?
Go figure this one out. Or, you can catch the podcast of these radio stories from BBC channel itself, by the author Sunil Khilnani.
Thanks to the film Neerja : a biopic of Neerja Bhanot, another Indian to bow down to, that was being screened in nearby halls, and that was where, I had this book found me.
Some of the Indians are well known, some are not.
Among this huge haystack, the author had picked few needles and have them pointed to the reader.
What you get, is nonetheless, a massive collection of epic lives, shortened to some pages for each one of them. The thing is, each of the discussed people need a book allotted to them itself, so passionate and motivational are their stories.
For some personalities, there are already 100-200 books. For some others, they are footnotes for some para's in a research/thesis published. Few others are only legends in folk tales.
All the 50 are not enough to let you know what India is. But, then again, no country can be defined by a handful of its people.
Still, it gives you enough pick to dwelve into the wonderful journey through which India had passed, over times and lives and empires.
The choice of these individuals ranges from all aspects of lives that runs through India. To some, the author may look partial, with his choices.
But given the huge responsibility and task to scoop out 50 droplets of Indians among the Indian Ocean is a Herculean one.
I am not going to divulge any of their names. Go, buy this one for the classic it is. For the biopic lovers, these one is a must one.
But the thing is you don't only get a biopic here. You get the context of those colossal personalities with a contemporary lens, some part of their lives merging into the common timeframe that makes you think and ponder, what if, this person was here and now?
Every story starts with a precise introduction directed at the particular person, that makes the chapter unique and firm, and places it within the rest. Then we get how come he/she is/became what he/she is.
What it meant to be an Indian. Did he/she even bothered with that label? That of being an Indian? Or, even any label at all?
Go figure this one out. Or, you can catch the podcast of these radio stories from BBC channel itself, by the author Sunil Khilnani.
Thanks to the film Neerja : a biopic of Neerja Bhanot, another Indian to bow down to, that was being screened in nearby halls, and that was where, I had this book found me.