The Land of the Naked People by Madhushree Mukerjee

It is always interesting to read about parts of India that are off the beaten track or places where our Government, in its infinite wisdom, prohibits us from visiting. One such place is the Andaman and Nicobar islands and The Land of the Naked People: Encounters with Stone Age Islanders by Madhushree Mukerjee (New Delhi: Penguin, 2003) is one such travelogue. However, Mukerjee is no tourist, ogling at bare-breasted savages and considering them to be quaint. She brings a scholar's perspective to her visit and exposes the neglect and duplicity to which these people have been subjected.

Whilst not concentrating upon the issue Mukerjee lays bare the machinations of the timber lobby and their exploitation of the islands, aided by a complacent Government. We also see how mass migration has marginalised and very nearly eradicated local cultures. Still further, we understand that it is for these very reasons that it is judicious to restrict access to these islands. Those of us who frequent wildlife sanctuaries on the mainland are all too familiar what restricted access can lead to. More often than not, the reasons for restricting access have ulterior motives. Reading The Land of the Naked People is depressing, for Mukherjee chronicles the persecution these people have been subjected to for centuries, but it is important that you read this book for it adds to one's awareness of India.

Strangers in the Mist by Sanjoy Hazarika

If there was just the one book you chose to read on India’s magnificent North East, this is the book: Sanjoy Hazarika’s Strangers in the Mist: Tales of War and Peace from India’s Northeast (New Delhi: Penguin, 1995). I have only once seen a copy in South India; the copy I bought was purchased at Calcutta airport. Perhaps booksellers down South do not order it as we don’t seem very interested in our own country.

Hazarika is an acclaimed journalist and Strangers in the Mist explains the turmoil of the North East to a reader who is not familiar with the are. Importantly, Hazarika explains and analyses thereasons behind the militancy prevalent in the North East, and one is shocked when one reads of the callous treatment of the North East by successive Central governments. (Did you know that for several years after Independence the North East was ‘looked after’ by the Ministry of External affairs? Did you know that we just walked in and took over once the British left? And that the our treaty with the Nagas expired sometime in the 1960s?)

One of the most fascinating aspects about the book is the documentation of the deliberate attempts to strangle the cultures on the North East, by inviting Bengalis to colonise the land and by attempting to declare Bengali as the official language! And of course there was the Muslim League’s attempts to encourage mass migration from today’s Bangladesh into Assam so that they could claim Assam for Pakistan.

Read this book; and if you only read one book about your country, let this be the book.

The Smile of Murugan by Michael Wood

Very often, I am irritated by travel books about India authored by Westerners as they take a patronising attitude towards Indians. It almost seems as if they feel that Indians owe them a living. Michael Wood’s The Smile of Murugan: A South Indian Journey (London: John Murray, 2002) is one book that is a refreshing change. This is a book of religious travel, as Wood accompanies a group from Tamil Nadu on their trips to various temples. All through the book is characterized by Wood’s empathy and respect for these people, for whom these pilgrimages must be a high-point in their worldy existence.


One is also touched by his friendship with Mala, a lady struggling to keep her family fed and to make ends meet. In all his interactions with Mala and her extended family Wood is sympathetic, and this is one of the essential ingredients of good travel literature.


The Smile of Murugan covers Wood’s travels to Rameshwaram, Cape Comorin, Courtallam, Srivilliputtur, Madurai, Palani, Kumbakonam, Tanjore, and Madurai amogst other places.


This is an old book, but an old favourite, good to purchase and it lends itself to re-readings.

An Introduction

I have started with a few older books, but books which are well worth reading. As I read newer stuff I shall add reviews to the blog. As the blog title says, this site shall have a distinctly Indian flavour.

Apana

TBL January 1st, 2007

To be launched, January 1st, 2007