Wednesday, October 26, 2016


The Ocean Of Churn—How The Indian Ocean Shaped Human History by Sanjeev Sanyal : Published by  Penguin Random House ‘ Pages  297 pages; Price  Rs. 599/-

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Sanjeev Sanyal was given the International Indian Achievers Award in 2014 for contribution to Literature. He is  a reputed economist and urban planner and best-selling author. His earlier book         “ Land of the Seven Rivers” was hailed as a thought provoking account of the rise and fall of urban civilisation in India.

The book under review is a historical account of the regions round the rim of the Indian Ocean which stretches from East Africa, the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent to South East Asia and Australia. What is presented to the reader is  a fascinating account of the earliest migrations out of Africa, the fabulous cities of Angkor Vat and Vijayanagar, medieval Arab empires and Chinese treasure fleets; the enmity among European colonial powers and the birth of a new Dawn. 

Sanyal writes  “I have lived my life around the Indian Ocean, and it was only natural as a history buff that I would collect information about the history, which I have been doing for almost 20 years now.”  Sanyal has written about  the Indian Ocean at a time when Indian strategists are rediscovering our maritime identity and economic reforms have re-linked India to the global economy. “History looks different when witnessed from the coastlines rather than from an inland point of view.”

 “Almost all of the existing books on the Indian Ocean fall into two categories”. The first category has histories written from a Western perspective and they suffer from the taint of colonial superciliousness. According to them , the history of the Indian Ocean begins with the arrival of the Portuguese and  they ignore  ancient Indian mariners, Arab merchants and Indonesian empires who created a polyglot world long before the West arrived. This " School " sees the Indian Ocean as a conduit for spices rather than a way of life. The second group includes native experts  whose  perspective is narrow and  focus is on a locality or region, negating  a broader sense of inter-connectedness. Sanyal attempts to bridge these two schools.

 The  book is a  complex story on how different parameters like  monsoon winds, geography, human migration, technology, religion and military conquest have tied the Indian Ocean coastlines in a common destiny. The author relies on  genetic studies, archaeological discoveries, historical documents and popular tales to weave this gripping saga. We have enough evidence  of India’s  rich trading culture in peninsular India through most of recorded history.
 
K.M.Panikkar was one of the pioneers who emphasised the significance of geographical factors in Indian history  and he  called for an oceanic view of Indian national interest. He declared  “The peninsular character of the country and the essential dependence of its trade on maritime traffic give the sea a preponderant influence on its destiny.... The economic life of India will be completely at the mercy of the power which controls the seas.” The Indian Ocean  must be given its rightful place  in our national psyche as a theatre of strategic interests, commercial prosperity and cultural exchange.

Trade was robust between the kingdoms of southern India, the Arab world and China. When Chola rule flourished  oceanic trade was not merely  individual merchants but was spelt out by  an efficient  network of guilds , financed by temple banks. Sanyal argues that the Indian Ocean rim in the 12th century should be seen as zones of civilisational influence—the Islamic zone, the Indic zone and the Chinese zone. The Mongols were the first to shatter these zones  followed by  Europeans in search  for spices. 

  A professional historian might find a hundred flaws in this book but for a layman it is an unusual gift , a splendid study of an ocean. Its sheer  scholarship has a profound effect on the reader.  Sanyal also frees himself from the restraints imposed by Marxist historians. He has debunked  the Marxist historians .He paints a rich panorama of how Tamil, Oriya, and Sri Lankan power struggles reverberated against the length and breadth of Asia- even as far as China and Yemen. 
He describes the rich tapestry of guilds, banks, and organisations that dominated Asian trade. He underscores   the financial importance of temples in this system and how, as a secure holding for wealth and a source for records, they helped drive the financial systems of Indian trade. 

 What makes Sanjeev’s book interesting to students, scholars and history enthusiasts is his questioning of the popular narrative of history. “Our history,” he says, “is very problematic. Bulk of it was written by historians from the West, and therefore if you read the conventional narrative, it seems that our history starts with Vasco da Gama (1497-98) as if we were waiting for him to appear at our shore. The history is essentially Europe-centric.” He has demolished some other heroes !

This is an outstanding work  which has re-established the position of the Indian Ocean in the history of the region abutting it.

P.P.Ramachandran.

23/ 10 / 2016

Sunday, October 16, 2016



Making It Big by Binod Chaudhary ; Published by  Portfolio / Penguin ; Pages  411 ; Price Rs.399/-

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The book under review is the autobiography of the first  billionaire of Nepal Vinod Chaudhary. He  has built a billion-dollar empire under the Chaudhary Group and Cinnovation banners. The only  Forbes billionaire from the Himalayan nation, with a net worth of $1.16 billion recounts graphically how he reached this peak—the trials and tribulations.  “When I made up my mind to write this book, I also decided that I would not manipulate it,” he says. We have an honest account of his achievement.


 Prince Dhirendra to   protect Chaudhary  offered him  a majority stake in a new company and asked him to sign a paper that confirmed that the money he was investing for his share was a loan, What emerged was a company called Apollo Steel Industries. It gave Chaudhary considerable power flowing  from the governance structure: “In those days, all government ministries were divided among, and controlled by, the secretaries at the royal palace. However, these secretaries were subordinate to the King’s brothers, who had divided the ministries among themselves.” 

The details of the partnership and a subsequent standoff with the Prince’s wife reveal  an incredible show of power and corruption.  “There were also good souls in the royal family like  Prince Dhirendra, who was killed in a massacre in Kathmandu in 2001." 

 What are the motivating factors of this truly successful businessman?. Four  factors--High ambition, organisation building, market awareness and keeping oneself updated about trends .

The  Chaudhary Group (CG), a conglomerate of 122 companies  include banking, insurance, finance, hotels, food, real estate, retail and electronics and has collaboration among others with the Taj Group. CG  is famous  for  the Wai Wai brand of instant noodles, which has percolated  into India.

The story of Wai Wai,  began around 35 years ago when a friend noticed large quantities of the noodles arriving on the Bangkok-Kathmandu flights into a market that imported a large quantity of  Maggi. Chaudhary boldly entered  into the market and the  company  has "sold more than a billion packets in India" and sells in over 35 countries.

His  company has an annual turnover of Rs 250 crore.

We are given details of  his first multinational venture Taj Asia and the travails with  the Taj Group. 

 Chaudhary eloquently recapitulates his  family members , especially  his grandfather who was born in Shekhawati in Rajasthan and  moved to Nepal when he was less than 20 years old and  opened  a textile store. Chaudhary's father set up Nepal's first department store and Chaudhary joined the business at age 18.

 Chaudhary says , “You do not annoy the tiger if you want to survive in the jungle.” The tiger in this case was the royal family, which at the time governed the country. According to  Chaudhary , entrepreneurs have to cooperate with whoever is in charge, “be they royals, democrats or Maoists.”

He  candidly recounts  how he struck  alliances and deals over the years with his business interests in mind.  “You know relationships are important for making anything big in America, in Japan, anywhere in the world. I’ve never been shy about my relationships with anyone.”

 The book offers a surprisingly frank window into Nepal’s recent history complete with palace intrigue and behind-the-scene dealings.

 The earthquake in Nepal in 2015 killed 9,000 people, destroyed 700,000 homes and damaged 36,000 classrooms. The Chaudhary Foundation, led by his son Nirvana, who also runs several business lines,  donated $2.5 million directly, and co-invested with outside corporations to bring the total closer to $10 million, to construct 40 schools and 3,000 homes so far.  Chaudhury utilized this  opportunity  to put his  foundation to the center stage.

 Chaudhary remains ambitious, with plans to expand the company’s various interests throughout Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia and China..


 Chaudhary’s  father used to say : “You have to sacrifice something to gain something.” The book is about a boy from a conservative Marwari family based in Nepal, who excelled in academics, sang for Radio Nepal, dabbled in movies, went on a hunger strike to get his parents to buy him a car, fought to marry the love of his life (and got his ex fiancee’s relatives to help organise his wedding!), ran some successful nightclubs dressed in bell bottoms, while sporting long hair, and successfully made his mark in the corporate world in his early 20s after his father’s illness, while taking on powerful enemies like the Nepal Royal family, politicians and business associates who wanted him out.

"I did not have a mentor. Neither did I go to a B School. Working in the family business involved travelling to Japan frequently and this has had the largest impact in my professional life. I learnt a lot by working with the Japanese and observing their ethics of team work, meticulousness and systematic efficiency, their tendency to finish all the day’s work and never keep anything pending. 

His formula for success . Be a dreamer. Know when to spend, how to spend and where to spend.

An anecdote from his early life illustrates his success aptly. Binod recalls being sixteen and visiting Mumbai for the first time. He stood in front of the Taj Mahal Hotel and was transfixed in awe of the grandeur before him. He wanted to go in but was intimidated. “We were not used to seeing five star hotels in Nepal.  I was intimidated but also curious. I wanted to walk in. But the gentleman friend who was escorting me was terrified. He said, ‘Don't go in. Tumko nikal dega ( they'll throw you out).’ So I didn't risk it.” The hospitality branch of his business has since partnered with Taj Hotel Resorts in a number of countries.

This is  the special story of a special man who worked with his every breath to make life better for his country and is a must for all budding businessmen.

P.P.Ramachandran.

16/ 10 / 2016


Friday, October 14, 2016


Law  and  Sports in India by Mukul Mudgal and Vidushpat Singhania ; Published by LexisNexis ; Pages  1181 ; Price Rs 1295/-

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Mukul Mudgal was Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and before that Judge of the Delhi High Court. He was Chairman of several Commissions—the Drafting Committee of the Sports Development Bill, the Sporting Fraud Bill, etc. He has been a crusader of the sports movement and athletes’ rights in the country. The co-Author Vidushpat Singania  is the Managing Partner of a firm specializing in sports and gaming laws. He has advised the Government of India on sports laws.
Sports had engendered many problems and controversies with serious legal implications. A book on Sports law is absolutely essential to keep Sports out of being tainted by the gang of persons like Suresh Kalmadi. The book under review fulfills this need to a great extent. It is distinguished by its coherent analysis of a number of legal aspects which have a bearing on the current crisis in the field that affects sports persons such as contracts, sponsorship, doping and other malpractices, broadcasting, betting and settling sports disputes.

In our country, the National Sports Policy was first formulated in 1984 with the objective of raising the standard of Sports. The implementation of the National Sports Policy is required to be  reviewed every five years. The policy was reformulated in 2001. Currently, the National Sports Development Bill 2013 is under consideration. The aim behind the Bill is to ensure good governance practices like transparency, accountability, responsibility and discipline.

The authors provide  a comprehensive analysis of the historical and contemporary issues related to sports and law. They define sports as an activity that  helps man gain mastery over nature and environment which  assisted Man in developing skills that are required for development as a social being. We have an excellent and lucid analysis of the origin and development of sports, covering the history of the Olympic Games. The history of cricket, Hockey, Chess, Tennis, Billiards, Golf, Football are succinctly recounted.
With professionalization and commercialization of sports and the subsequent increase in the financial stakes in sports events , a number of disputes related to sports emerged and this inevitably necessitated evolution of sports laws. Major problems sprang from gender discrimination, sexual exploitation of women athletes and exploitation of players and the predominant gap between players and the governing bodies of various sports. A controversial topic is performance enhancing drugs. Organisations like Indian Premier League, the Indian Super League, Premier  Badminton League, Pro-Kabbadi League Hockey,  India League,etc   have  in some measure contributed to a reduction  in the quality of sports. Broadcasting and publicity rights have become an important domain of controversy. Violence has also become endemic in sports.

The book thoroughly discusses subjects as Gender Discrimination, Doping, Sports Broadcasting, Labour and Contractual issues in Sports, violence and injuries, Tax problems in Sports. Resolution of Sports Disputes. We have a clinical analysis of the legacy of the Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010, International Cricket Council Governance and the IPL Probe.
The NADA established as an autonomous society is the main presiding agency for initiating proceedings against persons violating the Anti-Doping norms. It acts as an advisory body to the Government on the policy matters relating to anti-doping matters. Over 425 pages are devoted to a summary pf the NADA Panel decisions.
Some grey areas in Sports Rules are highlighted in one chapter. The problems in sports where there are no rules have been made or where rules are difficult to apply have been analysed in depth and the authors examine ways and means of tackling such problems. To give a brief examples—The Switch Hit controversy in Cricket ;  The Art of Flip in and the Penalty Corner Rule in Football ;  The Spy Story involving Ferrier and Melamer in  Formula One racing cars.
Technology has had an impact on Sports and  led to an advancement of sporting equipment and amendment of several rules of the game.

There are eight  Appendices running into 175 pages which furnish a  wealth of information on important subjects like the Draft National Sports Development Bill, 2013, Draft Prevention of Sporting Frauds Bill 2013 and BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Code for participants.

The book offers a glimpse about 26 countries which have either enacted a legislation for Sports or are regulating Sports through Sports laws maintaining a close watch on the Governance of National Olympic Committee and the National Sports Federations.

There is a rich bibliography of books, articles, journals and on-line sources. 

The book is of immense interest to members of the sports fraternity, sports organizations, regulatory agencies and thousands of sports lovers.

P.P.Ramachandran
09 / 10 / 2016

Tuesday, October 4, 2016


The Assassination Of Rajiv Gandhi by Neena Gopal : Published by Penguin -Viking; Pages 273 ; Price  Rs.499 /-

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 Neena Gopal  was Foreign Editor of Gulf Times and   currently edits the Bangalore edition of Deccan Chronicle. She was the last person to interview Rajiv Gandhi on 21 May 1991  before he was killed by a suicide bomber She reveals the complicity at various levels  from intelligence officers to Congress party officials to the country’s foreign policy makers and finally the dead man  himself. Rajiv  did the absolutely wrong thing in  putting boots on the ground in a neighbouring country where he was not welcome, and paid for it with his own life and that of thousands of others.

Writes Gopal, “ Minutes after Rajiv Gandhi  walked unhesitatingly into the crowd, there was a deafening sound as the bomb spluttered to life and exploded in a blinding flash. Everything changed. A moment that, in my head, will always be frozen in time. It was exactly 10.21 pm.” The  place Sriperumbudur—the birthplace of Ramanujacharya.

She  points out that a year before the assassination, Colonel Hariharan, India’s chief of military intelligence in Sri Lanka, had told the Intelligence Bureau in Chennai about the “Rajiv Gandhine marana podungo (bump off Rajiv Gandhi)”---- chatter within the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). They pooh—poohed  him. It was common knowledge  that LTTE leader Prabhakaran’s style was to kill his assailants brutally. Neither the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), which considered several people up and down the LTTE ladder as its protégés, nor Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthy, the Congress chief in Tamil Nadu who had warned Gopal to “be very careful” while she was headed for the fateful rally, foresaw this disaster.

 Rajiv was taken for a rally in an obscure panchayat 50 kms from Chennai. Security arrangements were so lax that they couldn’t detect and stop a tiny girl with half a kilo of RDX round her waist despite there being two metal detectors. Rajiv who was facing several threats was protected by two gunmen—one was in distant Hyderabad. Both D.R.Karthikeyan who was in-charge of the S I T as also Justice J.S.Verma Chairman of the Inquiry Committee would prosecute the men responsible for the lapses.

 R.K.Raghavan , Inspector General in Sriperumbudur ,said the persons who should bear the responsibility for single-handedly removing the SPG  cover that could have protected Rajiv Gandhi were the former  Prime Ministers V.P.Singh and Chandra Sekhar ,who had stripped him of SPG Security.

Rajiv is quoted as saying, “Have you noticed how every time a South Asian leader of any import rises to a position of power or is about to achieve something for himself or his country, he is cut down, attacked, killed.” .This was less than an hour before he died.

The first half of the book is full of tension which is  resolved in the second part  by delineating developments behind the scenes and investigating  the factors leading to the gory aftermath.


 Gopal packs original reporting and revealing anecdotes and has done thorough research of the background. Rajiv’s death is a “Chronicle Foretold”.  None had gauged the total abhorrence  Prabhakaran had for Rajiv Gandhi. A considerable portion of the book is devoted to the intricacies of India’s understanding of Sri Lanka and how we got it all wrong. According to the author : “The message is that not enough is known about the Indian involvement in Sri Lanka and how Rajiv’s assassination was a direct fallout of the Sri Lankan blunder.” No mention is made of the involvement of political parties in Tamil Nadu .Vazhapadi Ramamurthy had expressed to the author 24 hours earlier that danger loomed. Immediately after the blast, one white Ambassador with a red beacon and another car sped away.No investigation was made of who were in those cars. Shri.A.J.Doss cleared the list of invitees without informing the police but the SIT did not ask him or the police. A crucial video tape disappeared and evidence did not include that video.

  “Even when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister, the RAW had drawn attention to the likelihood of a threat to his security from the Sri Lankan Tamil extremist organisations. It repeated this warning after he became the Leader of the Opposition,” says B. Raman, head of R&AW during 1988-94, in his book , “The Kaoboys of R&AW.”  “These warnings did not receive the attention they deserved because they were based on assessments and not on specific intelligence,”

 “The IB and RAW didn’t agree on much. If we had read the signals right, if we understood what was going on in Prabhakaran's mind, who knows, we could have prevented this. It was our fault, we made a huge error of judgement. We misread Prabhakaran. We never believed he would turn against us in this manner. We should have seen it coming. We didn’t. We failed Rajiv Gandhi, we failed to save his life,”

Prabhakaran’s  order—an intercepted message-- was not to eliminate one of their own. The target was the former Indian prime minister, the leader of another country. When PLOTE leader Siddharthan Dharmalingam first heard it, he was so alarmed, he immediately tipped off the head of IPKF’s Counter-Intelligence (COIN) in Sri Lanka, Col Hariharan. A native Tamil speaker with an inside track into the Lankan Tamil narrative, Col Hariharan was assisted  by his  aunt who was married to a Jaffna native. It was Col Hariharan—one of a handful of Indian operatives with his ear to the ground and an understanding of the Tigers’ mindset—who recognised its true import.

“Whether the intercepts were not clear enough, or were not taken seriously by intelligence mandarins who received them, is not known.” “It was the first time we heard any mention of Prabhakaran taking vengeance against Rajiv Gandhi,” Siddharthan said, But the warning—albeit tenuous and imprecise—instead of being investigated, was laughed out of court; it was simply set aside and forgotten.
The author’s description of the death of Prabhakaran deserves special mention. The process of cornering him, trapping and killing him, and the state of his body after he was killed is brought out in graphic detail covering several pages. It seems to be a kind of highly understandable personal vindication.

The book is tautly written and has the pace of a Frederick Forsyth novel. Prabhakaran was very fond of the Fred Zinneman film  of the Forsyth novel “ The Day of the Jackal”.

P.P.Ramachandran.

02 / 10 / 2016