tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post764362909521068733..comments2024-03-26T17:11:09.856+05:30Comments on The Middle Stage: The Books Interview: Ramachandra GuhaChandrahashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-40986667892334465842008-04-17T20:33:00.000+05:302008-04-17T20:33:00.000+05:30Absolutely wonderful! The book as is as good as th...Absolutely wonderful! The book as is as good as the author. Fantastic interview! Please keep this up!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-15840825614491262952008-04-17T10:44:00.000+05:302008-04-17T10:44:00.000+05:30Anonymous - You might want to take a look at this:...Anonymous - You might want to take a look at this:<BR/><BR/>http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/10/stories/2008041055671003.htmChandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-91784157170666100842008-04-16T14:29:00.000+05:302008-04-16T14:29:00.000+05:30While we can accept that the late CR Irani was a m...While we can accept that the late CR Irani was a megalomaniac who perhaps played a part in destroying the Statesman , why do we turn a blind eye to N Ram who's doing the same to The Hindu .. or is it Mr Guha's Tambrahm upbringing ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-31678994707451314602008-03-06T11:37:00.000+05:302008-03-06T11:37:00.000+05:30Chandra - Glad you liked the interview. Hope you'l...Chandra - Glad you liked the interview. Hope you'll keep returning to this site now.<BR/><BR/>The Quark - Couldn't agree with you more. I must confess that I myself didn't know anything about the linguistic reorganization of states after indepedence until fairly recently. One reason for this problem of course is that our history texts in school are too narrowly triumphalist, and present a narrative in which the high point is the attainment of independence. In my view that is not the way to produce a mature citizenry.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-42348739037738726262008-02-29T14:46:00.000+05:302008-02-29T14:46:00.000+05:30India After Gandhi as a line of thought is brillia...India After Gandhi as a line of thought is brilliant. The point made by author that history stopped at the stroke of midnight of 14th-15th Aug 1947 is a brilliant one but I find Mr. Guha biased towards Nehru (and his clan too). <BR/><BR/>The book leaves one more thirsty than ever before for vast amount of untold name and unseen faces who have shaped post-Raj India.<BR/><BR/>Such a book was direly needed is a fact I realized when I was talking of formation of states on linguistic basis with a group of friends and few knew about this! I mean not even a hint that such a thing happened, let alone nitty-gritties of the event<BR/><BR/>I am interested to read his biography of Verrier Elwin and 'A Corner of a Foreign Field'<BR/><BR/>One thing missing was the spat with Arundhati Roy :)TheQuarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17380581344714982852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-58331687279801533352008-02-19T03:11:00.000+05:302008-02-19T03:11:00.000+05:30Chandrahas, Wonderful interview. I saw Dr.Guha's t...Chandrahas, Wonderful interview. I saw Dr.Guha's talk while promoting his book in NYC (on cspan) and the interaction with audience was mediocre compared to this. (Of course Dr. Guha's book itself is great) Thanks for doing it...<BR/><BR/>(I read you book reviews in Pragati - Nitin's publication. Finally made it to your site...)Chandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04763671243428875888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-27467348603769407532008-01-19T13:28:00.000+05:302008-01-19T13:28:00.000+05:30Uncertain - Good to see that you're keeping a clos...Uncertain - Good to see that you're keeping a close watch on patterns of sloth and movement here on this site. Unfortunately, much as I'd like to put something up every week, it's hard for me to write a weekly book review for a newspaper, keep up work on my book, <I>and</I> keep things going on this site. But I have something new every week up at this link:<BR/><BR/>http://www.livemint.com/Articles/Authors.aspx?author=Chandrahas%20Choudhury&type=waChandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-85901319774020629692008-01-19T08:14:00.000+05:302008-01-19T08:14:00.000+05:30Chandrahas, after being detained by Middle Stage f...Chandrahas, after being detained by Middle Stage for so long, Dr. Guha was to have taken its leave .. not you :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-45506390828283116492008-01-14T11:46:00.000+05:302008-01-14T11:46:00.000+05:30Mark - Thanks very much for taking the trouble to ...Mark - Thanks very much for taking the trouble to write. Always a pleasure to hear from you, and hope to meet later in the year.<BR/><BR/>Words Are Lost On Me - Serendipity is actually one of the great pleasures of book browsing, and for this reason I always prefer the smaller owner-run bookshops to the bigger chain bookstores (which in any case often organise books bizarrely, and often have staff who can't point you to anything except the direction of the washrooms).Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-22481247919655348932008-01-11T21:26:00.000+05:302008-01-11T21:26:00.000+05:30I feel this has been easily one of the best interv...I feel this has been easily one of the best interviews I have read. I especially like the bit of The Premier Bookshop, as it took me back to the days that I would wake up early while in Banglore and go and read Calvin and Hobbes with Shanbagh. <BR/>I was just out of college and in Bangalore on my internship. When I first visited the stopre, I thought of him as a man who would be totally lazy to keep his books in order under the bracketed shelfs with labels like "crime" or "fiction" or even "comics". But when I started looking for Calvin, I recall him taking me to the exact corner and pulling the exact cover from underneath a stack which I thought was much of a task. Since then I started repeating those visits. He would not mind me reading most of the book in the shop without buying it, and sometimes also show me the new arrivals. Eventually as my term ended, I left for Bombay, but not before spending some quality time with the only old man I know who enjoys his Calvin even as he handles sometimes weird and also once a shy couple who wanted to buy Kamasutra- the complete edition with Pictures, which they wanted wrapped in a newspaper. Shanbagh simply said, "take it, read it. If not satisfied, money back."words are lost on mehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12086305802593048930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-85966761851720800982008-01-11T16:06:00.000+05:302008-01-11T16:06:00.000+05:30Excellent interview Chandrahas -- after this, I'll...Excellent interview Chandrahas -- after this, I'll be sure to chase down Guha's book ... Good work!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-75002567472089058662008-01-10T19:09:00.000+05:302008-01-10T19:09:00.000+05:30Uncertain - Why is CR Irani posthumously dealt a r...Uncertain - Why is CR Irani posthumously dealt a ringing slap by Dr. Guha, whose tone is otherwise so moderate? That is an intriguing question, but the answer to it lies with Dr. Guha, who has now taken his leave of the Middle Stage after being detained by its questions for so long. <BR/><BR/>In his absence we can only indulge in speculation. Perhaps, contrary to what you think, CR Irani freely accepted he was a megalomaniac, and so Dr. Guha is doing nothing more than quoting from a primary source, as it were?<BR/><BR/>I must thank you also for your thoughtful comment on my previous post, which requires a no less thoughtful and considered response from me, which is the reason I haven't yet done so.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-83456068639811729692008-01-10T18:58:00.000+05:302008-01-10T18:58:00.000+05:30Swar - You do well in arguing with some of the poi...Swar - You do well in arguing with some of the points raised in this interview, but even so I find your tone a bit too dour. Whether the beginnings of Indian democracy represent the greatest gamble in history or simply a great gamble is of course arguable. But there are a range of issues discussed in this piece, some of which I hope you found to be of value.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-79325930925025717872008-01-10T18:52:00.000+05:302008-01-10T18:52:00.000+05:30Sonja - Thank you for your generous words. But in ...Sonja - Thank you for your generous words. But in truth the credit for these pieces is only fractionally mine, and their owe their success almost entirely to the intelligence and the zest of the respondents: Mr.Guha here, and Mr.Tyrewala, Mr.Upadhyay and Mr.Kremmer in past instances.<BR/><BR/>As proof of this, I can let you know that I once tried doing a Books Interview with myself, and the answers were so dreadful that I just couldn't put it up, and had to junk the entire thing...lost two whole working days there.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-50408465600040447382008-01-10T10:05:00.000+05:302008-01-10T10:05:00.000+05:30What a gorgeous post Hash! You do these book inter...What a gorgeous post Hash! You do these book interviews so very well.Sonia Faleirohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00110570082643289106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-92184350554313454492008-01-10T05:46:00.000+05:302008-01-10T05:46:00.000+05:30Thanks for this interview. It made an interesting ...Thanks for this interview. It made an interesting read .. and I can't help but envy you a little for having come in contact with an intellectual of such stature.<BR/><BR/>Out of curiosity, do you know why poor C R Irani was posthumously dealt a ringing slap by Dr. Guha? Coming from a scholar who allegedly believes in measured speech, the statement about Irani was very strong and very unqualified. Maybe this topic came up in other informal conversations..?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-40363380814283756472008-01-08T20:31:00.000+05:302008-01-08T20:31:00.000+05:30"In the West, the franchise had been granted in st..."In the West, the franchise had been granted in stages; first only men of property were allowed to vote; then men of education were added on to the list. The male working class had to struggle long and hard to be deemed worthy of the privilege. Women had to struggle even longer; in a supposedly “advanced” country like Switzerland, women were not permitted to vote until 1971!"<BR/><BR/>- I have heard Mr. Guha expressed these exact sentiments at a talk in IISc, Bangalore. His statements help simplify history, neatly pare events and serve our facile age. I find it hard to believe that he is still swinging the Swiss schtick. Is that his official tagline now? <BR/><BR/>Does Mr.Guha explain in the book WHY the introduction of women's suffrage in Switzerland took a long time? The history behind it is a lesson for the present Indian democracy. Switzerland is one of the world's oldest republics. It has never been invaded in its modern history. It has enjoyed a neutral luxury. Majority of the population had been comfortably used to certain reliable rules and stuck to them. In such an insulated environment of rules and paperwork, reforms like women's suffrage took an extended struggle. <BR/><BR/>A mass revolution overthrowing a regime makes it easier to implement radical social changes as against reforms in an old democratic tradition. India got independence in the middle of 20th century. By the time we achieved Independence, universal suffrage had been enacted in many Western countries. The West had already experimented with suffrage gradation and reached the conclusion of universal suffrage. Our (western-educated) leaders cleverly implemented only the Western conclusion, not their process. Wouldn't it have been political suicide for Gandhi and Nehru to grade suffrage beneficiaries? <BR/><BR/>A very short timeline:<BR/><BR/>Czar Nicholas II abdicated in February of 1917 - Women's suffrage enacted in the then Soviet Union in 1917<BR/><BR/>The defeat of the Central Powers in 1918 resulted in the disintegration of Austria-Hungary. Emperor Karl of Austria, who had ruled since 1916, went into exile. - women's suffrage enacted in the then German Austria in 1918. <BR/><BR/>After Germany's defeat in WWI, monarchy was abolished and in 1919, the Weimar Republic was established - women's suffrage enacted in Germany in 1919. <BR/><BR/>Did Mr. Guha seriously say 'the biggest gamble in history'? I disagree with his assertion but if that is his case, what history are we talking about here? Modern history? Mediaeval History? Ancient History? Political history? Economic history? Human history? <BR/><BR/>"...Most interesting country in the world... <BR/>...Rarely in any country’s history have so many men and women of intelligence and integrity taken—at more or less the same time—to the political life"<BR/><BR/>I would love to contest these statements but if they are true, I must be living in a very dull world with only INDIA SHINING. <BR/><BR/>And a little bit of 1792 - The Principality of Liege gave the vote to all men and women over 18. But then, history can always be contested and I have biased opinions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-89696355623114458272008-01-08T13:05:00.000+05:302008-01-08T13:05:00.000+05:30Space Bar - Thanks very much for your kind comment...Space Bar - Thanks very much for your kind comment, with which I couldn't agree more. In fact, the structure of the questions in these interviews is designed to replicate that of the writer's working day, which begins with the agitation of Very Serious reflections about Deep Matters and subsides after two or three hours into thoughts of lunch.Chandrahashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07483080477755487202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9082470.post-79153311852882388862008-01-07T16:41:00.000+05:302008-01-07T16:41:00.000+05:30More than any part of these interviews - and this ...More than any part of these interviews - and this one is wonderful! - I love the answers to the last question.Space Barhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08251329008160756254noreply@blogger.com