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.

India's New Development Agenda by Dr.N.A.Mujumdar



India’s New Development Agenda by Dr.N.A.Mujumdar ; Published by Academic Foundation ; Pages 223 ; Price- Rs 895/-

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                                             Dr.N.A.Mujumdar is an authority on Agricultural Economics and is currently the Editor of the Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics and the Honorary Professor at the Society for Development Studies. He was  Principal Adviser, Reserve Bank of India and Lecturer in the highly respected School of Economics of the University of Bombay. The I.M.F appointed him as Adviser to the five Central Banks of Zambia, Mauritius, Belize and Cambodia. He is author of a number of books including two volumes on Indian Agriculture.

                                               Ours is a defining moment in the history of the global economic system. The 2008 collapse of the capitalist model of the American economy was as traumatic as the crash in 1991 of the Russian communist model. India discarded the centrally planned model and adopted the capitalist model since 1991. Where do we go from here?.

                                                 The book under review is an attempt to convince us that we must grow up from the conventional growth economics trapped in market theology to resonate to larger concerns of holistic development. The author has assembled thirty of his articles and speeches at different fora. He pleads for a broad-based, decentralized growth which would facilitate access by the poor to employment, food , nutrition and health and quality education and ensure safety nets that reduce the vulnerability of the poor—all these efforts resulting in  a value-based society. 

                                                 The analysis in the book proves beyond doubt that the economic reforms introduced in 1991 diluted the development content and reforms soaked in market theology went further degenerating  into anti-development instruments. Unbridled market philosophy during 1991—2004 had a negative impact.

                                            The book is divided into five parts. The first part dealing with approaches to development has nine articles. All those involved in development of our economy have to re-think their strategies in response to the new emphasis given on “inclusive growth”. The essay on ‘Sustained Development’ emphasizes that intra-generational equity is as important as inter-generational equity. Sustainable development is a co-operative enterprise in which both public and private enterprise have a role to play. Public and private—community-centred development is the key to sustained development. Three core issues in the present financial scenario are —Inclusive growth or broad-based decentralized growth in the real sector, New architecture of the financial system to facilitate such growth and the Inequitable interest rate structure. These must be tackled vigorously for India to progress.

                                                 The second part of the book is devoted to the Financial Sector reforms and incorporates three essays. There is a cogent analysis of financial inclusion which demands a systemic perspective on the part of the players. The High Level Committee on Financial Sector Reforms under the Chairmanship of
 Prof. Raghuram Rajan has come in for a severe drubbing by the author. “The recommendations of the Committee are based on amateurish understanding of the Indian economy. The Committee has failed to address the basic issue of how to reshape the financial system to promote inclusive growth. The Report belongs to the genre of IMF / World Bank reports, characterized by excellent presentation, obsessed with market theology and marked by a sense of superciliousness. The authors of the Report lack a sense of Indian economic history”.—a stern indictment indeed. Incidentally, the Committee did not include a member from R B I.

                                              “Monetary and Credit Policies” form the subject matter of part three and has ten essays. There is a critical analysis of policies in the post-reforms period and a stirring call on the part of R B I  to evolve a blueprint of area-specific plans to facilitate banks and financial institutions to promote inclusive growth in the real sector. A number of essays analyse credit and monetary policies during 2007—2009.

                                                    The fourth part is concerned with global crisis and India and has six articles. Three of these analyse the role of R B I and the author quotes Nobel Laureate, Prof. Joseph Stiglitz—“Our ( U.S ) financial system collapsed because we did not have a Dr.Reddy at the helm.” There cannot be a better tribute to the management of our banking system.

                                                    The final part is dedicated to the Agricultural Sector and has two articles. It draws pointed attention to three issues—(i)-Exports of foodgrains, (ii) Foodgrains management and (iii) Watershed development.

                                                     This is a book bursting with radical ideas and presents an incisive analysis of our problems. It is warmly commended to all students of agriculture, banking and central bankers.


P.P.Ramachandran

Healing with Homeopathy by Mukesh Batra



Healing with Homeopathy by Dr.Mukesh Batra ; Published by Jaico; Pages 568  ; Price Rs. 395/-

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                                     Homeopathy is an alternative system of treatment which is winning increasing acclaim all over the world. This system of medical treatment was started by Samuel Hahnemann. It is based on the premise that the symptoms of a disease are evidence of a cumulative process going on in the human body in response to the disease. The Homeopathic physician attempts to promote the further development of these symptoms in order to accelerate the body’s self-cure.

                                     Homeopathy is derived from the words
“homeo” and “pathos” meaning “ similar suffering ”. A cure is selected which, in its crude form, would produce in a healthy body the same symptoms found in a person suffering from the specific disease.

                                     Homeopathic remedies are discovered through a process called“proving”. In “proving” various substances are administrated to healthy people and their effects carefully observed. Homeopathic physicians give patients only one remedy at any time. They believe that using a combination of remedies interferes with the efficacy of each particular remedy. Remedies are diluted so that the patient receives the minimum effective dose. This procedure is thought to maximize the benefits of the treatment. An added advantage is that it also prevents harmful side-effects.



                                    
                                       Samuel Hahnemann , a German  who practiced in Leipzig, founded the homeopathic method of treating diseases. His two books published in 1911  and 1933 contain his chief ideas—(i) Like cures like, (ii) Medicines become more potent as they are diluted and (iii) Itch causes most diseases.  He strongly believed that the basic cause of illness starts from the mind. He thought of the mind-body connect, when psychology was a small part of philosophy. According to him, when the balance of body and mind is restored the human body is free of illness.

                                      The foremost Homeopath in India is Dr. Mukesh Batra, who has established a number of clinics all over the country. In the book under review, Dr.Batra offers a guide to holistic healing. He has neatly arranged diseases alphabetically. In absolutely simple language the layman can know about any particular disease, the symptoms, the manifestations and what remedy can be applied for each ailment. On the basis of his experience of over three decades he has culled out and provided case-studies and he presents a simple, easy to comprehend list of “Do’s and Don’t’s”. Furnished are capsule accounts of over 100 ailments arranged from “A to Z”. With this book in hand the patient can fearlessly choose his remedy for particular ailments.

                                          In today’s world we have become slaves to allopathic medicines and suffer the tyranny of the pill. Doctors prescribe too many medicines in order to satisfy or reassure the patients. Over-use of drugs is making more and more people sick. Excessive addiction to antibiotics leads to allergies, stomach disorders, diarrhoea and general debility. The new medical mantras are specialisation and super-specialisation. There is no holistic view of the patient’s physical condition and the psychological condition is ignored.

                                        
                                      According to a study in the “Outlook” magazine, “With the burgeoning of hospitals,  medical malpractice has grown. Needless surgery is resorted to, in which patients are put through costly invasive procedures they don’t really need. These operations cost anywhere from Rs 10,000/- to Rs.2.5 lakhs and are such that patients can be discharged the same day--biopsy, cataract surgery, gall bladder removal, hysterectomy, even certain types of joint replacement.” This is an ideal book for those who are defeated by the high cost and rigour of allopathic medicine. Homeopathy offers a reliable substitute which is  not costly. According to Dr.Batra Homeopathy is effective, affordable, non-invasive, easily administered and pleasurable to partake. This is book to be kept within easy reach and dipped into to find a cure for our common ailments.

P.P.Ramachandran

Dark Anatomy by Robin Blake



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 Street, London 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

Monetary Governance by Dr.A.Vasudevan ;Published by Academic Foundation ;  Pages 127;Price Rs.695/-

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                                           Dr.Vasudevan is Adviser on monetary policy to the Central Bank of Nigeria. He held exalted positions in I M F  and had served in Reserve Bank of India in several capacities, including that of Executive Director. His book
   “ Central Banking for Emerging Market Economies ” is considered to be  the Bible for Central Bankers. He is a prolific writer and imparted a new shape, colour and content to the earlier drab R B I publications, like the Monthly Bulletins and several other Reports.

                                          The book under review tackles the problem of relevance of the role of money and banking, especially in the context of the global crisis that hit the economic world like a Tsunami. The author deals thoroughly with the challenges to governance of central banking ably assisted by his deep experience, thorough theoretical mastery combined with expertise in public policy in India, Nigeria and other nations and International organizations.

                                             In his Introduction, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi writes. “His vast wealth of knowledge garnered from his days as a central bank researcher-cum-academic in India and Adviser to the Executive Director for India at the I M F  has been brought to bear in this veritable information book, in lucid style and with remarkable clarity of thinking”,

                                             Monetary governance deals with governance through sound economic policy just as political governance deals with political aspects of society. It has national as well as international dimensions. They both interact in the globalised world of economic business as well as ideas.   

                                               The discussions in G-20 led to the recognition of the idea of working out mechanisms that would bring out a standardized financial discipline the world over. The Financial Stability Board recommended International Standards and Codes in 12 areas. These have been accepted by the G-20 and the Multi-lateral Financial Institutions. The events leading to the global financial and economic crisis beginning with the middle of 2007 show that complacency together with the absence of thorough and regular monitoring of market place realities has been at the heart of the matter. The  crisis  opened a window of opportunity for Governments and Central Bankers to search for new space for policies and their implementation to promote national interests without jeopardizing  the interests of the rest of the world.

                                              This brief book has six chapters. The first chapter is devoted to explain the meaning of the term “ Monetary Governance”. It consists of international institutions and processes required for functioning of the tasks devolving on Central Banks and Governments to achieve specific objectives. Chapter Two deals with the institutional requirements –the institutional bodies that ensure growth,  price stability and improved income and wealth and finally distribution and promotion of human development. The architecture of monetary governance should ensure co-ordination of actions of Governments and Central Banks. The next chapter’s analysis is concerned with Governments and Central banks and Commercial Banks, Pension Fund Management Entities, Foreign Exchange Dealers and Operators, Mutual Funds, other Brokers. We have a cogent review of the functions of the Central Bank and the other players listed above. The economist calls for a thorough screening of all financial innovative products . The fourth chapter is dedicated to analytics and the international dimensions of monetary governance in detail from the point of view of emerging economies. What is imperative is good analytical framework of both fiscal and monetary authorities. The fifth chapter is about international dimension-- to the extent the major multi-lateral institutions represent the financial arm of international diplomacy-- the  IMF and the World Bank get involved. This is indicated by the high level of participation by Heads of States and Finance Ministers in G-20 meetings.There is a succinct analysis of the I M F and the World Bank and their important committees. The Development Committee has 26 members and deals with issues of development and transfer of financial resources, trade and global environment issues.

                                                Existing multi-lateral institutions and their operations, bye-laws and rules need to be reformed and a number of issues have to be resolved. Industrially emerging economies have to be committed to ensure that the financial and economic imbalances do not recur. International institutions should co-ordinate their activities for the common good across countries. The final chapter emphasizes that it has become imperative to ensure that both the domestic and international organizations, banks and other financial institutions are closely screened and regulated along with the setting up of sound supervisory systems. Sound monetary governance, with strong political commitment will act as a light at the end of the tunnel.

                                                 The volume is studded with copious references and is compulsory reading for all those connected with monetary policy and financial regulations, planners, economists, bankers and all students of banking.

P.P.Ramachandran