REVIEWS
Mahatma Gandhi–100 Years: Edited by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. Published by the Gandhi
Peace Foundation. Sole Distributors: Orient Longmans Ltd., Madras-2.
Price: Rs. 17-50.
Under
the auspices of the Gandhi Peace Foundation this volume of homages
paid to the Mahatma by about sixty important writers, has been prepared with
the editorial supervision of a committee of scholars headed by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. At the time of the completion of seventy
years of the Mahatma, a similar collection of tributes was got up by Dr. Radhakrishnan solely by himself.
The
centenary year of the Mahatma’s birth has naturally induced the Gandhi Peace
Foundation to usher into the world of readers its own volume to be added to the
many other attempts at estimates of the great man’s life and achievements both
by similar bodies and individuals of eminence of the East and the West. The
admirers of Gandhiji, the world over, must certainly be a legion though only a
limited number can have the capacity to express themselves
well worthy of preservation in a permanent form. Hence the selection of writers
to go in needs enough care before the conspectus of the volume itself has been
taken.
Here,
therefore, we have a list of prominent persons who either bear the credentials
of having been close to Gandhiji or have watched with interest and discernment
the Mahatma’s impregnable faith in his doctrines of Ahimsa and Satyagraha. As a
person of universal recognition for his services to the cause of humanity, the
tributes which adorn these pages bespeak of an earnest endeavour
on the part of thinkers everywhere, to estimate Gandhiji’s superior claim to an
unsurpassed stature among the great leaders of thought and action.
In
his introduction, Dr. Radhakrishnan has, with his
usual precision and effective phrasing, characterised
the times we are living in as of the lowest ebb in civilization’s march. He
says: “There is a fatal imbalance between what man is and what he wishes to be.
The discord is responsible for our unrest. We talk like wise men but act like
lunatics. We cannot prepare for war and at the same time for a world unity.”
Another forceful writer, M. C. Chagla, deplores the
evil habit of sentimentalizing over Gandhiji’s memory thus: “The most
dishonest, the most dis-reputable and the most
corrupt politicians capitalize on his name and everyday he is being
assassinated again not in the body but in the spirit.” We feel like crying sabash for such a candid criticism from one
who has held responsible posts in the post- independence era. Louis Fisher, who
has to his credit a volume of his own impressions of the Mahatma after having
watched him at close quarters, exclaims with pain: “How many Gandhians can be counted in his native country? How much
influence do these Gandhians exercise? Is Gandhiji to
become a lost Mahatma?” Who can contradict him with any semblance of boldness?
Cardinal Gracias stresses the fact that “Mahatma Gandhi saw clearly that
without the formal basis of religious belief, there was no possibility of peace
among men.” Zakir Husian,
one of our honest politicians while alive, says without hesitation that “Today,
those who wish to keep Gandhiji’s memory alive need to remember not so much the
occasions or the reason for his fasts, but the plain truth that power will corrupt
those who are not pure enough to exercise justly and for ends for which it
should be exercised.” Homer A. Jack of
There
are reminiscences from the pens of Suniti Kumar Chatterjee and Abdul Gaffar Khan
which give vivid portraits of Gandhi as a man. Keisinger,
the once Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, accepts the fact that: “We
owe it in a large measure to the endeavours of the
Mahatma that today politics rest on a moral basis that is respected by the
great majority of nations.” Prof. Kathleen Lonsdale remarks, with sufficient
penetration of Gandhiji’s actions, that “when he found himself in error in even
the smallest detail, he took every possible care to correct that error and to
let it be known that he was doing. so.”
From
Mira Behn, the Earl of Mountbatten, Hiren Mukherjee, Sushila Nayar, Pyarelal and others, there are brief accounts of intimate
points of view of the Mahatma’s character and principles. No less valuable are
the impressions of men like U Thant, Arnold Toynbee
and of Rajaji; who in his own way has added sagelike
the words: “Let us while celebrating Gandhiji’s Birth Centenary, reflect and
realize his true teaching and the true lessons of his work, and not look him as
a mere inventor of a cheap gadget to displace an old troublesome way. Gandhiji
was not an inventor. He was a man of God, and therefore was called Mahatma.” Indeed
Rajaji cannot otherwise project his observations into a world, now fast growing
indifferent to the many moral codes enunciated by Gandhiji and followed
meticulously by him during his life on earth.
This
is a volume which requires not only careful perusal but possession of copies of
it in our public libraries not excluding those of colleges and schools.
–K. CHANDRASEKHARAN
The Press in
Journalists And The Law:
By K.
D. Umrigar. Law Book Co., Sardar Patel Marg, Allahabad-1.
Price Rs. 12-50.
The Working Press–Special to The New York Times: Edited by Ruth Adlers.
Foreword by Theodore M. Bernstein. Lalvani Publishing House,
News Editing: By Bruce Westley.
Not
all the journalists are terribly interested in the problems of the Press. Not
even the well-known editors of the larger newspapers. More often than not, they
have their own personal problems, and quite pressing ones too, that demand
immediate attention. As for other things, they seem to have neither the time
nor the inclination, nor even the intellectual equipment, to grapple with them.
It is given only to a very limited few of the Indian editors to identify
themselves with the problems of the profession. Even among those few, the
striving to maintain professional standards is not always found together with
the anxiety to improve the lot of the working journalist. An intelligent
understanding of the basic tasks of journalism does not necessarily go with an
aggressive preoccupation with the mechanics of collective bargaining and the
other aspects of the overall strategy of the trade union movement.
Luckily
for Indian journalism, we have in the person of Mr. Chalapathi
Rau (no stranger to the pages of the Triveni Quarterly, as readers of
its old files would know) a first-rate intellectual, who is also a
forward-looking leader of men. While he was the first by natural endowment and
ceaseless striving, he had strenuously to fit himself for the role of the
second by the compulsion of circumstances. Ample evidence of both these
faculties at work could be had in the articles contributed by him to his own
paper (The National Herald) and to others, collected in the volume
entitled The Press in
Mr.
Chalapathi Rau’s emphasis, in outlining the role of
the Indian Press, is on a clear sense of social purpose and on the prime need
for self-regulation, apart from a fair deal for the working journalist in the
functioning of the industry. His observations on the future of the Indian Press
are worth pondering over by the journalists and others alike. He says:
“The
future of the Indian Press means essentially the future of the Indian languages
Press, though the circulations of English language newspapers will take a long
time yet to reach the saturation point. There are several newspapers in the
Indian languages maintaining high standards even now, but with increasing
circulations, the appeal of vulgarity and spurious sensationalism may increase.
There are many warnings from the Press of advanced countries. The principle of
self-regulation is thus specially important in
In
discussing the power of the Press (which could be a “magnificent illusion”) and
the freedom of the Press (more often the Proprietor’s than the Editor’s), the
author, with his acute powers of analysis, cuts beneath the surface and helps
to explode many of the popular myths. Not all the essays are about these and
such other impersonal issues, though a large majority. cannot
help dealing with them. There are a few with the personal touch, which are the
most readable of the lot. One of them provides an intimate glimpse of Jawaharlal
Nehru in the role of a journalist, including that of a mofussil
correspondent, in covering some of his own speeches in a district town and its neighbourhood. Another pays a high, but well-deserved,
tribute to Gandhi, who knew, the economy of words and whose total impact was
the product of an integrated personality. Vivid light is thrown on the giants
of old like Chintamani, in another article.
From
this book to the other one, on Journalists and the Law, by Mr. K. D. Umrigar, is indeed a far cry. The author, who is introduced
as a journalist of over 45 years’ experience in the profession, could have more
aptly called his book “All and sundry about the World Press, as I could gather
it.” It is pure “scissors-and-paste” all through, from the synopsis to the
conclusion. It is written, rather the material unsifted is presented, in such a way as to eliminate the
distinction between the chapters of the text and the appendices. There is,
however, a lot of useful raw material for the student of journalism, provided
he knows to pick and choose.
The
New York Times is
to
–D. ANJANEYULU
Women in Indian Folklore–A Short Survey of
Their Social Status and Position. Editor: Sankar Sen Gupta. Indian Publications,
Woman
is said to be the gate-keeper of family which is the nucleus of any society.
Hence, it is of profound importance to understand the position held and status enjoyed
by women in a society if we wish to understand its social structure. The book
under review helps us in understanding the status of Women of India in
different cultural regions and therefore is a valuable addition to the scanty
literature in the field.
The
book is an anthology of the scholastic and stimulating contributions made by
twenty-six research-scholars representing different linguistic regions of
The
editor’s first article makes a valuable introduction to the succeeding
chapters. Unlike others, the three authors, M. Bhatnagar
of “Women in Rajasthani Folklore” (pp. 58-78), A. K. Kayal of “Women in the Folk-lore of West Bengal” (pp. l77-200)
and Radha Krishna Murti of “Women
in Folk-sayings of Andhra Pradesh” (pp. 223-230) have made exceptionally
valuable contributions to the field of sociology by their effective and
impressive presentation of the originals and translations of the folk-sayings
in English.
In
any society, the sacred lore and the folklore interact and thus have an impact
on the actual societal behaviour. Unfortunately in
The
book is brought up very attractively and elegantly; yet it could have been
still better had the large number of printer’s mistakes been avoided by a
careful proof-reading. The reviewer personally feels that reading of the book
is indispensable especially for those who are concerned with the subjects of
Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work. The editor and the publishers need to
be congratulated for undertaking this type of a fruitful activity.
–C. VIJAYAKUMAR
Classical Samkhya: A
Critical Study by
Dr. Anima Sen Gupta, Reader in Philosophy,
Samkhya in its early phases is perhaps the only true and
scientific philosophy developed in
Dr.
Anima Sen Gupta of
We
are impressed by the deep scholarship and originality of thought evinced in the
present brilliant study of the Samkhya philosophy
under review. This has surpassed her former writings on this
The
main feature of the book under review is that the philosophy of Samkhya is fully constructed on textual basis and in a
logical manner. Epistemological and metaphysical topics which are generally
hinted at in the original texts are elucidated well so as to enable the
students of Samkhya philosophy to have a full grasp
of all the aspects of the said school; No epistemological text of Samkhya like the Vedanta Paribhasha
has been written before by any scholar. Her approach to the subject is clear,
penetrating and critical.
–R. A. GUPTA
Virgin Bouquet: By Arthur S. Nathaniel. Copies available with the author, at “Diamond Cottage”, Charachira,
An
anthology of verses written over four decades, Virgin Bouquet smells
many a fragrance. The verses, indeed, are amazingly varied, so far so that the
poet who sings most warmly of his motherland and addresses her as “my darling
Ma, thou queen of heavenly seed” also wishes, “Ah had I been an English lad. In freedom’s sacred isle!” (And curiously,
both the poems are written during the same period; the first one in 1926 and
the second one in 1927.)
But
it is not the reviewer’s contention that the poet was unsteady in his
inspiration. (The second poem referred to is, of course, written in a lighter
vein.) Not so. To be faithful to the fanciful calls of the muse is by no means
unsteadiness. A feeling–may be of a moment–has its poetic validity, or at least
a personal validity, however strange it may seem when other maxims are applied
to it. Thus, To My Sovereign, a poem hailing the “Throne of Travancore” may sound anachronistic to most, but it has its
own nostalgic value to the poet and a certain generation, and has a value as
the record of a characteristic sentiment for a detached critic.
But
the anthology abounds in sweet and flowing verses, happy romantic ones like Fair
Helen and With Thee and sad and yet charming pieces like The
Soldier’s Farewell. The poet has a good grasp over English verse orders
(only, too many apostrophes play a jarring role) and a capacity to cover a wide
range of themes
–MANOJDAS
We Shall Unite: Edited by Dr. P. D. Saggi. Sole Distributors: Indian Publications Trading
Corporation, 64 Regal Building, New Delhi-1 Price: Rs. 25.
Even
after twenty years of independence, the great menace which our country faces
today is that of communalism. The second menace is that of provincialism or
regionalism or parochialism. Another serious danger to national integration and
perhaps one of the causes of other menaces is the persistence of inequalities.
If we really want to achieve the national goal of socialistic pattern of
society, all of us, irrespective of differences, will have to work unitedly. As proud inheritors of the legacy of Mahatma
Gandhi and Pandit Nehru all of us should strive to promote the unity among all
sections of population and put down the forces that may lead to the disruption
or disintegration of the country.
Containing
as it does articles by eminent men, the book under review highlights the need
for focussing the attention of the people on the
imperative necessity of achieving national integration. The articles include
those of Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Y. B. Chavan, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Vinoba Bhave, Radhakamal
Mukherjee, and many other important leaders of
thought.
The
recommendations made in the report of the National Integration Committee, the
report of the Emotional Integration Committee, and the recommendations of the
Committee appointed by the University Grants Commission to suggest concrete
steps to be taken by the universities in the implementation of the suggestions
of the Seminar on National Integration are appended, which enhance the value of
the book. We commend the book to all those individuals and institutions
interested in the promotion of national integration.
–BHAVARAJU
Hindu Astrology For All
by S.
S. Chari. Copies can be had from the Author, Type
IV/5,49,
This
book on Hindu Astrology is avowedly, for the benefit of the English knowing
layman, novice, amateur and practitioner. In 38 chapters the author has covered
a wide range of the subject from the theoretical as well as practical
standpoints. The quotations from Western and Eastern authors, the useful
tables, charts and instant-reckoners provided, enhance
the value of the book.
The
information given on pages 236 and 237, is not
acceptable. Bhishma fell on the battlefield on the
9th day of the war, that is in the month of Margasira. The Gita was first revealed to Dhritarashtra by Sanjaya on Margasira Sukla Dasami at the request of the former who was greatly
concerned at the disquieting news. That is why Gita Jayanti
is celebrated in Kurukshetra and all over
The
book is warmly commended to every reader, whatever be
his grade, who wishes to have Hindu Astrological information in simple English.
It is a very useful and handy guide containing, together with over a hundred
illustrative example horoscopes, much of the valuable traditional subject
matter.
–Y. N.
TELUGU
Sahiteevaallabhyamu Part I–Published by Sri Narendranatha Sahitya Mandali, Tanuku, Andhra Pradesh. Price
Rs. 30.
It
was an age-old tradition in
The
present volume which contains nearly a thousand pages is replete with
contributions both in prose and verse of great scholars in Andhra Pradesh. They
cover a wide range of subjects–“Indian Culture” by Dr. C. Narayana
Reddi, “Who is the hero of the Mahabharata?” by Dr.
K. V. Ramakoti Sastri, “The Message of Kadambari” by Dr. S. V. Joga Rao,
“Kutubshahis and Telugu Literature” by A. Virabhadra Rao, “Buddhism in South India” by S. Hanumantha Rao–to mention only a few. It is not possible to
enumerate the brilliance of the several articles me in a review. Suffice it to
say that it is the only compilation of its kind in Telugu language. It is an encyclopaedia on Telugu the literature. However, one cannot
but help observing that the proof reading is far from satisfactory.
Sri
Thimmaraju and his son Sri Harischandra
Prasad deserve all praise for the trouble they have taken and for the interest
they have evinced in placing this veritable mine of gems before the lovers of
Telugu literature. It is earnestly hoped that the second volume also would be
published soon.
–BHAVARAJU
TAMIL
Gnaghi Vazhkai
Kathaigal. Edited by K. R. Kalyanaraman. Published by Tamil Nadu Gandhi Memorial Fund. Madurai-13.
Paperback Rs. 7-50. Library edition
Rs. 10.
The
book under review is a timely publication to commemorate the Gandhi Centenary
Year. It contains fifty short stories written by eminent short story writers
such as ‘Kalki,’ Pudumaippittan, ‘Mayavi,’
Akilan, Narana Duraikannan. T. N. Kumaraswami, ‘Anutama,’ P. S. Ramaiah,
The
stories illustrate the views of Gandhiji on Temperance, Untouchability, Village
uplift, Prayer, Ahimsa, Hindu-Muslim unity etc.
Every
one, especially our student population, should read these stories for pleasure
and profit. The book deserves to be in every school and college library.
–M. V. V. PILLAI