Monday, October 1, 2012


Brand New World by Max Lenderman ; Published by Jaico ;
Pages 264 ; Price Rs 295/-
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                                 The Russian thirst for Vodka is insatiable and yet successive administrations have tried to crack down on it, curb it, misdirect it- anything really- to force Russians to drink less..........Nevertheless, a budding oligarch named Roustam Tariko decided to launch a vodka brand called Russian standard in 1998. Nine years later Forbes magazine‘s World’s richest people ranking placed him at 150 with an estimated personal wealth of $ 5.4 billion.
                                  Rajshri group and Eros entertainment have created online sites where thousands of Bollywood movies, music videos and shows are available for a fee, or in most cases absolutely free. Free is anathema to the Hollywoodexecutives, who cling protectively to their content and distribution rights. But in India online dissemination and consumption of Bollywood content is arguably the future of the film industry world wide.

                                  These and many more exciting items are the soul of the book under review. The author Max Lenderman currently works as the Executive Director of GMR Marketing in USA .He is an internationally sought-after speaker on Branding, marketing and youth trends. The world is changing constantly and fast. The changing needs of businesses and economies manifest in varying patterns. Branding and advertising rule the roost now and have the power to shape and reshape economies. ”Medium is the message”, declared Marshall Mc Luhan and the power of advertising and branding affirms this. Power lies in persuasion which doesn’t rest on abstract dreams of the future, but on concrete goals. This generation demands action in the words of the advertising in the accompanying product. The most indigenous ideas of branding and success now come from the BRIC countries –BrazilRussiaIndiaChina. The economies of these countries are exploding and Lenderman  proves  how the smallest of ideas, rooted in the culture of the country brings out the best results.
                                             Breaking the loopholes to create new advertising strategies to not just brand your own product but to ensure co branding of other products is the call of the day. Adobe Photoshop released free versions of its product in China to counter piracy but made   companies like Citibank to sponsor the ‘Save’ Command, Tide to sponsor the ‘Clear command’, Xerox bought rights to the ‘ Copy’ command and Gillette sponsored the ‘Cut’ Command. Logos of these companies were visible every time you clicked these options. Adobe avoided piracy while . Co branding helped the other companies.
                                             Lenderman’s book is replete with such insights and there is a generous dose of practical achievable advertisements ideas. Ideas that do not reek of just money and selfish motives, but ideas for advertising and a branding world where human emotions and values find place . The book offers deep insight into how markets work and why similar advertising techniques will not work everywhere. The book also discusses Visual Pollution or Mental Pollution. As a generation we are subject to experiences of all the senses but through a variety of media which do not involve direct contact with each other or with nature. You hear people sing on the radio, you watch them dance on TV; you experience underwater swimming on a simulator. All this adds to mental clutter or mental pollution. These countries are aware of this and do not risk another colonisation by the western world and hence protest in their own indigenous ways. These methods help them release not only their product into the market but create brands that are people friendly and brands that stand by their consumers. An absorbing book to be relished by Brand makers and students of advertising and management,

P.P.Ramachandran.
,
21-08-2011

From Crisis to Recovery by Brian Keeley and Patrick Love ; Published by OECD and Academic Foundation; Pages 144 ; Price Rs 495/-

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                                  We had reviewed in these columns four publications of OECD brought out by Academic Foundation and noted that they were authoritative analysis of contemporary economic and social problems. The book under review is a part of that series and is an analysis of the current global economic crisis which was triggered by a financial crisis, in turn caused by the rising thirst for short term profits. The OECD’s response calls for strengthening corporate governance and combating the dark side of globalization, such as corruption and tax evasion. The Organisation’s extensive expertise in the analysis of economic growth, employment policy and financial markets has been utilized to great effect.

                                  The financial crisis of 2008 was the cause for the most serious economic slowdown since World War I I. The failure  of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 heralded the unprecedented collapse of  world trade and widespread job losses. It was called “The Great Recession”.

                                   This book traces the causes and courses of the crisis, analyses the post-crisis challenges, including employment, pensions and financial regulations. The suddenness of the financial crisis took many unawares. Financial pressures built up for years as funds flowed from emerging economies like China to developed countries like  U.S.A. Banks too were observed to be recklessly taking risks. Governments took extraordinary measures to keep financial institutions afloat and stimulate demand. These took the shape of support for banks and financial markets and effective  monetary and fiscal policies.

                                            When the crisis struck, employment in OECD countries was at it’s highest since 1980. By mid-2009 unemployment in OECD area stood at 8.3 %--an extra 15 million people out of work compared with 2007. By end 2009 the rate was 8.8 %. The downturn hit U S A—the number of unemployed persons grew by 7.9 million and unemployment rate doubled
from 5 % to 10.1 % in October 2009.

                                                Pension Fund Assets dropped by over
  $ 5 trillion from $ 27 trillion during the crisis. Most of the Pension Funds survived the crisis. The OECD has called for effective monitoring of investment risks and performance and of the relationship between Pension Funds’ assets and liabilities.

                                               What was the experience of the ‘Emerging economies’? . Early in 2009, Chinese officials reported that 20 million migrant workers had lost their jobs as demand for goods from customers in U S and Europe collapsed. But a year later the same officials reported growth at above 8%--a performance that left China “in extraordinarily better shape than many forecasters had expected”. Brazil and India weathered the storm relatively well-so well, in fact, that they have helped drive recovery in the global economy.

                                                 The crisis and recession revealed gaping holes in the role of the global economy. Financial markets are the most obvious targets for new regulations. But other areas too have come under increasing attention, including tax and the basic values of capitalism. Three main areas tackled are Regulation of financial markets  ;Tax evasion and Global standard for ethical behaviour. Strongly commended is the need for promoting a better balance between market forces and the societies they serve ensuring “stable, socially balanced and sustainable development of the global economy”. These have found a place in G 20 adopting “Core Value for sustainable economic activity.”

                                                   Assessing the future OECD  asserts that regardless of the pace of recovery, the recession will have long-term economic and social consequences. “ The crisis we have lived through is a “Black Swan” event—we did not see it coming ; it will continue to shape our economies for years to come and at some level,  we may be in danger now of beginning to rationalize it retrospectively ” . The next few years will bring challenges and opportunities. Societies will have to rethink about our priorities, about achieving higher economic growth and how to tackle global problems in a “shared  manner”.

                                                    A truly valuable analysis.


P.P.Ramachandran,

20-05-2012


Dark Anatomy—by Robin Blake ;Published by Panmacmilan ; Pages 372  ; Price Rs 350/-
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                                                    Just as Sherlock Holmes made 221 b Baker StreetLondon known the world over, a certain townhouse in central Preston is making its mark on the literary map. “Cheapside ”, but it certainly rings bells for those who regularly walk the streets of Lancashire’s largest city. Robin Blake, a Preston-born author better known for his biographies of artists, has turned his hand to historical crime fiction and the first of a new series looks set to put both his talents and his old home town centre stage.

                                                       The case currently gripping Preston is the brutal murder of Dolores Brockletower in the grounds of Garlick Hall, a country mansion in the leafy suburb of Fulwood, and as policing barely exists, it’s up to the Coroner Titus Cragg to turn detective. What is unsettling for him  is that no-one at the big house seems to care that the young mistress, daughter of a wealthy West Indian sugar planter, has been found with her throat cut ‘from ear to ear’. Local gossip is awash with rumour and suspicion and there are those that believe the reclusive Dolores was involved in witchcraft and ‘walked with the Devil’. What little evidence there is seems to point in the direction of her husband, Ramilles Brockletower, the local MP and JP who owns a large tract of land, ‘filched from the forest’ claim locals, and is consequently hated by his tenants. Faced with obstruction, corruption and interference, Cragg and his Doctor friend Luke Fidelis must use their own detective skills and a primitive judicial system to track down the killer. Blake conjures up a fascinating portrait of 18th century life full of superb period detail from a map of old Preston on the inside cover to the internal workings of a country house and the Coroner’s dinner of ‘baked marrow and mutton’.

                                                      
                                                This first novel of Blake has the atmosphere of the period and is quite a mystery.  Georgian England is the apotheosis of wickedness and despite witnessing great social and economic reform and upheaval the nation was still rife with superstition, which Blake brings out well. Old fears and superstitions still abound but this is the Age of the Enlightenment when a new kind of rational thought process is taking root and forensic science is on the cusp of playing a key role in crime investigation.

                                                With no formal law enforcement in place, it is left to  Cragg and  Fidelis, to discover the truth. The story is told through Cragg’s dry-witted narrative and recounts the duo’s investigations into the murder and subsequent affairs. Fidelis is cheerfully irreverent though fundamentally Catholic in his beliefs, which plays off well against Cragg’s Anglican pragmatism. The ambitious and headstrong young doctor Luke Fidelis bases his  discoveries  on science rather than irrational judgment often take the cautious Coroner to the most unexpected corners of enquiry.

                                         We have a “ whodunit ” without a police procedural, a rarity in the genre. The historical facts are interesting and quite authentic; the story is an enchanting one and Blake’s treatment of rural folklore and archaic beliefs is masterly, and is particularly macabre in the final chapter.

                                      Blake’s prose is fluid, smooth, engrossing and very easy to read. He has managed to keep the formality of the era without making it sound like another language and he ever so slightly bent some aspects of custom to make it a little easier to connect to. Blake also succeeds in describing the difference between the classes simply by the way they speak. The way the characters talk you know exactly the place they occupied in society. Blake sets the scene for future novels as “A Dark Anatomy” is the first of a trilogy. Not only that, but in the era before computers, high tech analysis, DNA and finger printing murder investigations were not as straight forward. It is really amazing that any crime was solved at all! After the second death, however, everything seems to unfold swiftly. The ending is very interesting and the solution something one does not envisage.

                                   Blake  has  created an excellent double act in Cragg and Fidelis, two men of conflicting character and methodology, motivated by a strong sense of justice and some friendly rivalry, but both strong-willed, clever and determined to seek out the truth wherever it leads. Robin Blake’s story is historically informed, crisply written and has all the qualities of a classic detective novel and introduces the reader to a new detective from the past.

P.P.Ramachandran,



 

Zohra Segal by Kiran Segal ; Published by Niyogi Books ; Pages 167 ; Price Rs 1250/-
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                                      She is adorable, lovable, witty, charming and has a fantastic zest for life; she hit a century this year and she is  Zohra Segal -- born  on April 27, 1912. With a career more colourful than a rainbow, she has danced and acted her way through many productions that go beyond Bollywood.

                                      The Coffee Table book under review is an official biography—a tribute from a daughter Kiran Segal who calls her  Fatty. Fatty because Zohra is very particular about her weight and gets very conscious if she puts on as much as even half a pound. Wheelchair bound, she relaxed as she revealed the secret of her long productive life as ‘inner fire that has pushed me though life’. "I have often told my daughter that I felt I have done everything in life and I wish someone would euthanise me. I will sleep in peace with an injection," .

                                          She was one of seven children of a land-owning family of Rohilla Pathans of Rampur. She lost vision in her left eye as she contracted glaucoma at the age of One. She lost her mother while still young. She went to Queen Mary's Girls CollegeLahore, attended by the daughters of aristocratic families, and with all English staff.  Upon graduating,  her maternal uncle, arranged for her to apprentice under a British actor. In Europe, her aunt Dicta  got her admission and she became the first Indian to study in Mary Wigman’s school inDresden ,where she  stayed  for the next three years studying modern dance. Then she happened to watch the Shiv-Parvati ballet by Uday Shankar, who was touring Europe. This was to change her life forever as, impressed by the performance, she went back stage to meet Uday Shankar, who promised her a job on her return to India, at the completion of her course.

                                                  She joined his troupe and danced across JapanEgyptEuropeand the US, as a leading lady, along with French dancer, Simkie. She became a teacher at the Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre at Almora. It was here that she met Kameshwar Segal, an young scientist, painter and dancer from Indore , eight years her junior. They married on 14 August 1942. They had two children, Kiran  and Pavan. They migrated to Lahore and set up their own Zohresh Dance Institute. Later they migrated to Bombay and Zohra  joined Prithvi Theatre in 1945. She became member of the leftist theatre group, IPTA, acted in several plays, and made her film debut in IPTA's first film production, directed by K.A.Abbas Dhari Ke Lal ; followed it up with Chetan Anand’s film Neeche Nagar .  She did choreography of a few Hindi films as well, including Baazi, Awara,etc.

                                               After her husband's death in 1959, Zohra first moved to Delhi and became director of the newly founded Natya Academy. She then moved to London on a drama scholarship in 1962. Here she met Ram Gopal, a India-born Bharatnatyam dancer, and starting 1963, worked as a teacher in 'Uday Shankar style' of dance at his school. Her first role for British television was in a BBC adaptation of a Kipling story. She also anchored 26 episodes of BBC TV series, Padosi , made in 1976–77. In London, Zohra got her first break in the films and she appeared in The Courtesans of Bombay directed by James Ivory in 1982. This paved way for a important role as Lady Chatterjee in the television adaptation of The Jewel in the Crown. This started  the second phase of her career and she appeared  in The Raj Quartet, Tandoori Nights, etc
Zohra came back to India, in the mid-1990s .
                                      Known for her sense of humour and wit, Zohra's all-time favourite quote remains:
"You are seeing me now, when I am old and ugly. You should have seen me then, when I was young and ugly. Since the mid-1990s most of Segal's work has been for the Bollywood film industry, in films such as in Dil Se , Dillagi , The Mystic Masseur and Bend It Like Beckham .

                                     Zohra,  revealed the secret of her long productive life as "an inner fire that has pushed me through life… . I have often told my daughter that I felt I have done everything in life and I wish someone would euthanise me. I will sleep in peace with an injection,"

                                          This is an affectionate tribute by a daughter to her mother, rich in photos guaranteed to evoke nostalgia in lovers of screen and stage.

P.P.Ramachandran,

10-05-2012


“And All Is Said” by Zareeer Masani ; Published by Penguin; Pages 236 ; Price Rs.299/-
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                                           This chronicle of a divorce foretold— unfolding like a Greek tragedy --is at once melancholic and majestic. The mother Shakuntala—a Hindu was part of the Kanpur-based Srivastava family, which benefited tremendously from the British Raj both financially and politically. The father, Minoo Masani—a Parsi, was the leading light of the post-independence political Opposition. The couple were united by a love marriage but divided in their temperament, lifestyles and political affiliations. A troubled marriage and a prolonged divorce caused untold emotional damage.

                                           Minoo Masani’s historian son Zareer  eloquently breathes life into the last days of the British Raj, the early years of a one-party state and the rise and fall of Indira Gandhi, with the perennial strife  between his political parents looming large in the  narrative. Masani had two broken marriages  before he met Shakuntala. Torn by infidelities, much-publicised political differences and constant squabbling over the upbringing of their only child, Minoo Masani and  Shakuntala’s tumultuous marriage lasted for two decades after the first seeds of distrust and division were sown in 1960. Zareer draws on the letters and diaries of his parents to put together an intimate portrait of two remarkable individuals from two contrasting backgrounds.

                                            Their politics eventually led to their acrimonious divorce in the 1980s, when Minoo Masani was 84.The memoir aims at giving his mother the tragic dignity that she never got during her own life. He vividly narrates the gradual manner in which the accumulation of failures and setbacks, major as well as minor, eroded Shakuntala's sense of self worth and eventually affected her sanity. By laying bare many of his mother's flaws, Masani  makes a conscious attempt to give his father a fair chance. This, in some ways, makes up for the rather partisan role he admits to having played in his parents' squabbles during their forty years of wedded life.

                                         The correspondence between Shakuntala and Masani gives fascinating insights into the entire Indira era, especially the manner in which the political machinery of her time resembled a medieval court full of intrigues rather than a democratic government. The fact that the author and his mother used code language in the private letters - calling Gandhi 'Bhai' and Jayaprakash Narayan 'Russet', the name of Zareer's childhood pet - reveals the degree of censorship that existed during that period.

                                             This is a frank, affectionate and dignified memoir---not only an intimate portrait of a short-lived love marriage and a 17-year battle for divorce between Zareer’s parents but the saga of a family divided by opposing worldviews — the author compares them to Montagues and Capulets.

                                              Zareer was born in November 1947, which marked the beginning of the end of his parents’ marriage. As an only child, he was thoroughly spoiled by all except his remote and taciturn father. Zareer not only had to come to terms with his parents’ troubled marriage but his own leftist leanings and, not least, his homosexuality. Shakuntala’s downfall began when Indira won by a landslide and the opposition was routed  With Zareer back in Oxford, Shakuntala lobbied Mrs Gandhi for employment — and was grudgingly appointed member-secretary on the Committee for the Status of Women, a job in which her enthusiasm and intelligence was dissipated by infighting. Shakuntala’s behaviour swung erratically between paranoia (people want to kill her, she consults astrologers) and hysteria (importuning her estranged husband to take her back) — her son suggests that modern psychiatry might have labelled her bipolar.

                                          Zareer writes with clarity, a certain shrewd humour and poignant honesty. He blames himself for the breakdown of the marriage —the book probably serves as a confessional. It is captivating for the personal story and its valuable description of a seminal period in Indian politics.


P.P.Ramachandran,

3-04-2012


C,V.Raman by Uma Parameswaran ; Published by Penguin; Pages 274 ; Price Rs.350 /-
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                                            Uma Parameswaran, the author of the book under review, is a member of the Raman family. Her most recent novel, A Cycle of the Moon, was nominated for the Manitoba Book of the Year award.  She retired from the University of Winnipeg where she was Professor of English. This book is a simple “attempt to record his life” and is a comprehensive biography of the great scientist Sir.C.V. Raman  and a stirring account of his journey to glory.

                                            Raman’s career can be seen in slots of ten years. The years 1910-19 were spent mainly on acoustics, 1920-29 on optics and light scattering and 1930-39 mainly on ultrasonic diffraction and the application of Raman scattering to crystals. During the decade 1940-49, Raman focused on diamond and vibration of crystals lattices. In the 1960s Raman came full circle to his first fascination on the physiology of the eye.

                                            Raman’s  unparalleled galaxy of scientific achievements, institutions and students is faithfully  recorded as also his bitter controversies with some  peers. He had to quit two leadership positions, in  IACS  in Kolkata and
the IISc in Bangalore. His last two decades were spent in an Institute he named after himself where he worked practically till he breathed his last in 1970.

                                            The formative years are very charmingly captured with reconstructed dialogues between a young Raman and his grandmother and older brother Subrahmanya Iyer, Raman’s elder brother—father of eminent astrophysicist Nobel Laureate--S.Chandrasekhar. Raman’s elder brother  took up a large share of the responsibility for the extended family. Raman helped financially but pursued physics even as he moved up the hierarchy in the Accountant- General’s Office. Raman’s wife Lokasundari comes across as a remarkably determined woman with a husband pursuing his aims with extraordinary zeal. She was not an appendage of a great man but highly resourceful in her own right.

                                We learn that his most celebrated research sprang from  his reaction to nature — its colours, shapes and sounds — and that he was fired by a spirit of scientific inquiry combined by the view of a man with a sublime vision.
Raman, who moved to the city on posting in the finance department and devoted all his evenings to research, resolutely denied himself any leisure. Calcutta , became Raman’s scientific habitat for the years to come, till he was driven out of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), the very institution he had lovingly fostered. He later took the reins of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, before retiring to build his own Raman Research Institute. In his last years he gave grand tours to students culminating in a display of his famous collection of diamonds.

                                           Raman’s work on the scattering of light by liquids, inspired by the blue of the Mediterranean Sea, came to be known as the Raman Effect and won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. His fascination with colours lasted a lifetime, and he quickly went from admiring the plumage of birds to studying the luminescence of diamonds. He was noted for his furious pace of work and his penchant for promptly publishing results of his experiments.

                                                     Raman worshipped Gandhi, had a love-hate relationship with Nehru — once he is reported to have shattered a bust of Nehru at his home in Bangalore — and did not care for the government. We also get a rare glimpse into his vanity: Sir Raman, as he liked to be addressed, was prone to poetic flourish, famous for his extemporaneous speeches and loved being garlanded. We can surmise Raman was obsessed with the Nobel. In 1924, when congratulated on being made FRS and asked ‘What next?’, he is said to have replied, “The Nobel Prize, of course.”

                                            Raman was famous for his ready wit. When offered a glass of champagne on one of his travels abroad, Raman purportedly replied, “Sir, you have seen the Raman Effect on alcohol; please do not try to see the Alcohol Effect on Raman.” When someone asked Raman why he wore a turban, he said, “Oh !, If I did not wear one, my head will swell. You all praise me so much. So I need a turban to contain my ego.”

                                           This book is an excellent introduction to Raman but not a scientific account of the great man’s achievements. It is a splendid introduction to a splendid man.

P.P.Ramachandran,

9-03-2012



In The Name Of The People by K.R.Narayanan: Published by Penguin / Viking ; Pages ; Price Rs. 499/-
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                                Shri.K.R. Narayanan, born  as  a dalit rose to become the  country's President from 1997 to 2002.  He was one of seven children; his father, a practitioner of herbal medicine, helped him go to a school run by Christian missionaries. A supremely talented student, he won a scholarship and went to college in the state capital. Because of his caste he was refused the teaching job that his exam results should have guaranteed. Instead, he was offered a post as a clerk.  Though friends remember  Narayanan as gentle and courteous, he had the stubbornness born of a lifelong fight against injustice. Academic brilliance won him a scholarship from a philanthropic industrialist and took him, just as the Second World War ended, to the London School of Economics. He studied under Harold Laski, mentor of many leading figures in Britain's former colonies. He returned to India in 1948, armed with a letter of introduction from Laski to Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru found him a job in the diplomatic service, where he flourished, becoming ambassador to ThailandTurkeyChina and—as a political appointee after his retirement—to America.

                                       In 1984 he entered politics, as a member of parliament for the ruling Congress party in a Kerala constituency. In 1992 he was nominated as the country's vice-president, taking the top job five years later. He filled the largely ceremonial post with distinction. He was no rubber stamp. Twice, on constitutional grounds, he questioned the government's decision to sack state governments. He also challenged the tradition that, after an election, the largest party automatically gets the chance to form a government, insisting it show evidence of a parliamentary majority.


                                   Few have a real understanding of who he was both as a man and a leader. What better way is there to get the sense of a man than through his words and deeds. The book under review  is a collection of articles, speeches and various other writings by K.R. Narayanan penned over 47 years. These are the words of a statesman; chronicling his rise from journalist to civil servant and from politician to President. The  book explains  the ideals, philosophies and beliefs central to our nation; namely diplomacy, democracy, nationalism and development. With the critical eye of a journalist and experience of an international ambassador, the author  talks about foreign policy and diplomatic matters . The current state of India's relationship with its neighbours requires an understanding of the history shared by these counties. Going as far back as 1966, there is a first hand appraisal of the ramifications of China testing its first nuclear device and the hostility between the two nations. The complex relationship between India and the US is another key political issue discussed. Narayanan's entire political career shows his dedication to upholding the fundamental principles of democracy and nurturing the spirit of nationalism. He understood that in order to implement lasting reform education was necessary. He praises the vision and intelligence of Ambedkar, Nehru and Gandhi ; who were not only great men of great importance to this nation but also his personal heroes.
                                 Narayanan made development a priority; be it human, infrastructural, scientific or technological. He encouraged research and development realising how pivotal science and technology was for the progress of a nation. He also emphasised the need for rural development and low cost housing.
                                           Narayanan demonstrates remarkable frankness. These memorable writings provide an insight both into the mind of the man who helped shape India and also into its fascinating history. In an eloquent Foreword Amartya Sen recommends this magnificent collection of articles by one of the most powerful thinkers and admirable human beings thatIndia has produced. The book is a real triumph of sympathetic understanding and clear headed analysis.

P.P.Ramachandran,

17-02-2012


M S and Radha by Gowri Ramnarayan ; Published by Wordcraft ; Pages ; Price Rs 709/-
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Gowri Ramnarayan who is the grandniece of  M. S. Subbulakshmi   is a  journalist who writes on music regularly for the “Hindu”. Having accompanied M S for 16 years she is eminently fitted to write on M S. She has done research on the role of emotion in art. She has written a number of books and translated stories of Kalki and Vijay Tendulkar. The book under review is the story of the bond between M S and her daughter Radha.

                           Pandit Ravi Shankar, who writes the Foreword to this book has stated, “M S’s aura, beauty and persona captured the audience even before she sang a single note. Her amazing voice had the tonal quality of a temple bell, which resonated throughout the concert hall. It was unique, combining deep pure emotion and technical perfection.”
She represented in her simple everyday life, the values of an ancient culture—humility, compassion, consideration for others and unwavering principles of conduct—all these ingrained in her from her childhood.

                           The M  in her stood for Madurai—the sweetness of Madurai Tamil, the fragrance of Madurai malli, the gentleness of Madurai people, the magnificence of Madurai in legend , history and literature, all equally celebrated in verse and song. The S in her stood for her mother Shanmukhavadivu who was an eminent Veena player. Her grandmother Akkammal  was a violin artist. Thus, she was from a family of musicians.


                             M S , initially trained by her mother, was later fine-tuned by the doyen Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. She acquired the status of a saint by her portrayal of Meera. She captivated the world by the grandeur of her voice. The man who transformed her from an ordinary singer to a Bharat Ratna was her husband Sadasivam. M S  made music and Sadasivam made M S.


                                She was the first woman to storm the Madras Music Academy’s and later bagged  the most coveted  title in the world of Carnatic music Sangita Kalanidhi.  India's highest civilian honour  Bharat Ratna was conferred on her but regrettably after the demise of Sadasivam .

                                Gowri Ramnarayan tells the story of this  great singer from Madurai and deals with  the special relationship between MS and  Radha. She  takes us through Radha’s early training in music, her highly acclaimed debut as the young Meera in the film of that name which made MS an icon, her brief branching out as a Bharatanatyam performer and her eventual return with the tanpura to her assured place beside MS. The story begins in an intimate and vivid moment in 1936 when a two-year-old girl with sparkling eyes and two well-oiled plaits, is introduced to a beautiful woman as she steps down from a horse-drawn cart in a narrow Tiruvallikeni street. As she is "enveloped in a cloud of jasmine", her father T. Sadasivam says, "Radha, from now onwards, this is your mother".

                                     Radha deleted  her real mother  from her memory. She attached herself to MS, who became over the years her mother, teacher, sakhi and nurse . She became a part of a musical journey in which M S led  her all over the globe. She virtually became M S’s shadow. Her exposure to music began the moment her new mother entered her life. She would sit for hours listening to M S practice and would sit with her on stage, remaining completely still and absorbed. Music entered her without her even realising it.  Radha had a native  sense of rhythm, amazing  photographic memory and natural vivacity. M S  and Radha became inseparable in all concerts.  A veteran  declared , "To see MS on the stage without Radha is to see the sky without the crescent moon. No doubt it is vast and starry, but something is missing."

                                    Radha had a brief career as a dancer but rendered full support to her mother.  She declared proudly "Sacrifice implies loss, but being second voice to Subbulakshmi is indeed a gain. It is my great good fortune to be able to sing with Amma."  Radha assisted M S in all her personal matters until she was overcome by tubercular meningitis and bedridden. Roles were reversed and MS took care of her as if she were a child again.

                                     Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , releasing the book  declared , “ MS was a rare individual and it is difficult to believe that she existed in flesh and blood. She shaped the lives of millions,” He recollected how Jawaharlal Nehru had said at the end of a concert: “What am I? A mere Prime Minister before the queen of emotions. She led a good life and her voice will inspire generations.”

                              The author declares “In writing about M.S. Subbulakshmi, I am asserting the values that our nation holds dear — damyata, datta, dayathvam (restraint, generosity and compassion). M S sang this prayer song at every concert with conviction and hope.” The greatest virtue of this volume are the stunning photographs of yesteryears---the like of which we have seldom seen. There are detailed and delightful descriptions of  M S’s and Radha’s musical development and the range of their stupendous repertoire. 

                                    Here is a book worth cherishing for its breezy style and collection of rare stories about the legend M S—to whom Sarojini Naidu  surrendered her title, “Nightingale of India”. 

P.P.Ramachandran,

21-12-2011

Saturday, August 4, 2012


of Economics, Policy and Development—An Intellectual Journey by Dr.I.G.Patel ;Published by Oxford University Press; Pages 456 ; Price Rs 1295/-

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                                       “There is a vacant chair at every cabinet meeting of Jawaharlal Nehru. It is reserved for the ghost of Prof. Harold Laski.” This famous statement brings out clearly the paramount influence on Indian administration  of the London School of Economics (L.S.E ) .Dr.I.G.Patel  was the first professional economist at the helm of the L S E. Patel’s brilliant captaincy of L.S.E led to a coveted K.B.E –knighthood from the British Queen. He had a wide, all-enveloping grasp, sharpness of intellect, breadth and sweep of understanding, freshness and clarity of views—all these left his audiences spellbound. Patel was recipient of the Padma Vibhushan in 1991. He was an economist of international repute, a brilliant scholar who brought excellence to whatever he touched, a distinguished teacher, a sensitive administrator.


                                           The book under review is Patel’s intellectual journey and is edited by Dr.Y.V.Reddy and Dr.D.R.Khatkhate; the former was RBI Governor and the latter was closely associated with the IMF and was Editor of “World Development”.

                                           In a brilliant introduction Khatkhate writes of Patel’s versatile intellectual personality roaming with equal ease in his writings and economic adviser’s role on the national scene as well as international which  were all inextricably linked with the personal life of this prodigy. Patel made a successful transition from an academic economist to an economic administrator. He was that rare kind of economist who can at once think and act. His grip over economic theory and over the complex facts of economic life was fantastic.

                                            The criterion adopted by the Editors in their selection of the papers, published and unpublished are explained in detail. Patel’s articles reveal a tapestry of ideas in economics of money, trade, balance of payments, economic development and monetary policy. Some of his ideas are relevant even today and apply in full measure to the Indian and the World stage.

                                             The book has 34 chapters and in a brief review we cannot cover all chapters. The chapter on  “Demand for money during periods of inflation and stabilization”—written in 1950 was prepared  for the IMF and is published for the first time. It investigates the circumstances under which an expansionist monetary policy is appropriate to the stabilization of the price level in an inflation-ridden economy. Patel presents a succinct historical survey of the monetary policy during stabilization taking the actual experience of Germany, Austria and Belgium. He argues that it is desirable to expand the money supply, even while attempting to halt an inflation if we are not to fall into a “stabilization crisis”. India followed some of these ideas when it adopted a policy of “non-inflationary financing since the Second Five year Plan.

                                                Two chapters on Gold analyse the elasticity of demand for gold in India and -the core issue of mobilization of the stock of hoarded gold and flow of gold into “the sinews of economic growth.” Patel believed that introduction of gold bonds would prove a flop or would make for strong entrenchment in the country of anti-social activities such as tax evasion and smuggling of gold.

                                           Patel’s views  on Nehruvian socialism are highly original. “In its concrete achievements, the socialism of the Nehru era can lay claim to a respectable degree of public ownership of the means of production. But the prevailing tone of social behaviour is unmistakably that of acquisitiveness and private profit”.

                                             There is a highly impressive framework of the Second Five Year Plan prepared by Patel which set a direction for the final version.

                                            A chapter entitled “ Miscellany ” has affectionate memoirs of two British economists—A.C.Pigou and Adam Smith.
                                        
                                         The Epilogue by Dr.Reddy affirms that the value of this collection lies not only in providing a background of Patel’s  thinking on various economic issues that confronted India during half a century of freedom but also evokes reflections on global economic contemporary theory and current challenges for policy makers. The book is compulsory reading for bankers, students of monetary policy, finance, trade and policies. It is a veritable economic history of India during the first fifty years after Independence.


Friday, July 27, 2012

WILL AND ARIEL DURANT




                                 “ HISTORIANS COUPLE ”

Will Durant (1885 - 1981) was a prolific writer, historian and philosopher. He is best known for “The Story of Civilisation” 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife Ariel Durant and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for “The Story of Philosophy ”, written in 1926, which popularized  philosophy.

 He sought to unify and humanize the great body of historical knowledge, which had grown  voluminous and become fragmented into esoteric specialities, and to vitalize it for contemporary application. Durant was a gifted prose stylist and storyteller who won a large readership in great part because of the nature and excellence of his writing, which, in contrast to formal academic language, is lively, witty, charismatic, colourful, ornate, epigrammatic. Durant's prose "begs to be read aloud." His prose so beautiful it rivals poetry.

Will Durant was born in Massachusets of French Canadian   parents Joseph Durant and Mary Allard. In 1905, he began experimenting with socialist philosophy but he began recognizing that a "lust for power" underlay all forms of political behavior. A persistent penchant for philosophy led him to Spinoza. He graduated in 1907. He began teaching Latin, French, English and Geometry in a College where he was Librarian too.  
 At the Modern School, he fell in love with and married a pupil, 13 years his junior, Chaya (Ida) Kaufman, whom he later nicknamed "Ariel". The Durants had one daughter, Ethel, and adopted a son, Louis.
He had concocted, by his mid-thirties, that sentimental, idealizing blend of love, philosophy, Christianity, and socialism which dominated his spiritual chemistry the rest of his life.
In 1913, he  began lecturing in a Presbyterian church for five- and ten-dollar fees; the material for these lectures became the starting point for The Story of Civilization.

In 1917, while working on a doctorate in philosophy at Columbia University, Will Durant wrote his first book, Philosophy and the Social Problem. He discussed the idea that philosophy had not grown because it avoided the actual problems of society. He received his doctorate that same year from Columbia.  His “Story of Philosophy” originated as a series of  educational pamphlets aimed at workers and was so popular it was republished in 1926 as a hardcover book and became a bestseller, giving the Durants the financial independence that would allow them to travel the world several times and spend four decades writing “The Story of Civilization.’ He left teaching and began work on the eleven volume “Story of Civilization”.

The Durants strove throughout to make The Story of Civilization  a "biography" of a civilization, in this case, the West, including not just the usual wars, politics and biography of greatness and villainy, but also the culture, art, philosophy, religion, and the rise of mass communication. Much of the Story considers the living conditions of everyday people throughout the twenty-five hundred years their "story" of the West covers. They also bring an unabashedly moral framework to their accounts, constantly stressing the repetition of the "dominance of strong over the weak, the clever over the simple.  "The Story of Civilization” is the most successful historiographical series in history. The Story of Civilization is also noteworthy because of the excellence of its writing style, and contains numerous apothegms worthy of the Roman and Renaissance authors Durant admired. For
  “ Rousseau and Revolution, (1967), the 10th volume of The Story of Civilization, they were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature; later followed one of the two highest awards granted by the United States government to civilians, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Ford  in 1977.

Though they had intended to carry the work into the 20th century, they simply ran out of time and had expected the 10th volume to be their last. However, they went on to publish a final volume, their 11th, The Age of Napoleon in 1975. They also left behind notes for a twelfth volume, The Age of Darwin, and an outline for a thirteenth, The Age of Einstein, which would have taken The Story of Civilization through to 1945.
The Durants also shared a love story as remarkable as their scholarship; they detail this in Dual Autobiography. After Will went into the hospital, Ariel stopped eating. Will died after he heard that Ariel had died. They died within two weeks of each other in 1981 (she on October 25 and he on November 7). Though their daughter, Ethel, and grandchildren strove to keep the death of his Ariel from the ailing Will, he learned of it on the evening news, and he himself died at the age of 96. He was buried beside his wife in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.