Minoo Masani by S.V. Raju
National Book Trust. Pages: xxi+99. Price: Rs. 40/-
Believe it or not there used to be a significant number of politicians in India who wouldn’t mould their conscience to fit into extant fashions. Minoo Masani was one such stalwart. A purist, he was upright and honest to a fault. No wonder he could hardly have a comfortable place in any political group. Yet he made a lasting impact on Indian political ethics. Starting off as an ardent socialist he became disenchanted with communists and turned into their implacable foe. He was instrumental in establishing of the genteel and high-minded Swatantra Party that could not survive the rough and tumble of unscrupulous Indian politics. His punctuality, principles, perfectionism and intellect earned him many admirers, and formidable foes too. He belonged to that rare breed of Indian politicians who never hankered after power or pelf and readily sacrificed the comforts of office for their beliefs. Minoo Masani will be remembered for his writings that had positive effect upon Indians belonging to all age groups. His book Our India is considered a classic while The Growing Human Family and We Indians have been impactful too. Guess what – all the three actually were meant for children! Raju has done a signal service in writing this concise biography of an icon of India.
Stories from the life of the Buddha by Saddhaloka
Wisdom Tree. Pages: viii+163. Price: Rs. 145/-
Born in the royal family of Kapilvastu’s Sakyas, Siddharth became motherless soon after his birth. His father Shuddhodhana protected him from miseries of the world by keeping him involved in the palace’s sensual pleasures in order to thwart a prediction’s consequences. But the inevitable happened. Witnessing an old, a sick and a dead man on three separate occasions he renounced the world in order to seek The Truth. He subjected his body to severe ascetic rigours, interacted with several wise men and meditated for long spells of time. Finally, in about 528 BC, he became Buddha (The Enlightened One) while sitting under a Bodhi tree in Bihar’s Gaya when he realized the path to salvation from suffering (Nirvana). Thence started his journey traversing the Gangetic plains, preaching his doctrines and establishing monastic communities. Saddhaloka, formerly known by his American name David Luce, has narrated stories relating to the life and times of Buddha that are part history and part mythology – an alluring mix for readers.
Descending dark stairs by KS Pal
Writers Workshop. Pages: 54. Price: Rs. 120/-
Poetry, a potent mix of imagination and reality, has the power to articulate any mood, any situation and reactions thereto. Pal too seems to endorse this view as he gives expression to variegated feelings and frames of mind. For example, he rather blithely justifies carnal escapades in the very first poem In Defence but becomes bitterly introspective in It Hurts. The Sudden Longing should have been titled A Rush of Infatuation as it articulates the poet’s passion for a girl he sees for the first time. These are good, readable poems that trigger off a wave of images and thoughts. My favourite stanza is from his poem The Portrait of a Successful Man, “…how he has worked/for a peacock tomorrow/and left/his present/to hungry vultures”. Reflective and evocative stuff.
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