Bookshot #65: India After Gandhi: A History Of The World's Largest Democracy

There are history books that are interesting yet interminable and then there are history books that capture you with the eloquence of the author's passion and writing and the sheer volume of material that is both compelling and captivating.  Happily, Ramachandra Guha's well paced and fantastic book chronicling the nearly seven decades of the history of post-independence India falls into the latter category and although it's a doorstop of a book, it's a glorious, glorious doorstop that I was honestly sad to finish.

Picking up right at the moment of independence in 1947, Guha wastes no time plunging the reader into the chaos and sectarian disaster that was Partition as Pakistan (along with East Pakistan- which eventually became Bangladesh) was shorn from India and massive population exchanges and sectarian riots that followed.   The steady hand of the remarkable first Prime Minister of India Jawaharal Nehru, who's firm commitment to a secular India above all else made a lasting mark on the country that despite the rise of Hindu sectarianism in the 80s and 90s still holds remarkably true today proved to be an inspired stroke of good luck for the early years of India.   Under his leadership (though many, many others played a role) India wrote it's Constitution (probably the most significant Constitution written since the American one), started the process of integrating the Princely States left behind by the British and delayed pressures for states along linguistic lines and Hindi as the national language for at least a decade (which proved to be a significant factor in embedding English as a lingua franca of the government and business class- a unifying factor that cannot be overlooked today.)

But where the book really knocked me down was Chapter 7.  Entitled 'The Biggest Gamble In History' it tells the story of India's first elections in 1952 and the achievement alone is staggering:

176 million eligible voters, some 85% of which could not read or write.
224,000 polling booths were constructed
2 million steel ballot boxes were constructed- requiring 8,200 tons of steels.
16,500 clerks were appointed on six month contracts to collate and type up electoral rolls
380,000 reams of paper were used printing the rolls
56,000 presiding election officers were chosen to supervise
They were aided by 280,000 staff members and 224,000 policemen to stop violence and intimidation.
Total area were the elections were taking place: more than 1 million square miles over a variety of different terrain

And you know what?  They pulled it off.   The elections were considered free and fair and provided a huge jump start to the process of consolidating Indian democracy- and decades later, it's still going strong.

With history books, it's not just what I already know that's fascinating, it's learning stuff I don't know as well.  I have a biography of Indira Gandhi kicking around here some place so many of the features of her rise to power and subsequent rule- however controversial I already knew about but reading about it from Guha's broader perspective really provides a lot of context.   While Nehru proved to be a major unifying figure during the early years of Indian democracy, when Indira came to power, her centralizing tendencies had effects on India that are still being seen today-  even Guha at the end of the book says India is more a populist democracy than a constitutional one- and the rise of regional parties as the national image and efficacy of the Congress Party has declined over the decades has forced India into coalition governments more often than not which may seem slightly more stable to some but also have provided new challenges and difficulties that have yet to be overcome.

I knew plenty about the conflict in Kashmir but I knew less about the conflicts in the Northeast with Assamese and Naga separatists and the conflict with the Mizo and the other tribal peoples in the south of the country.   I also learned where the term Naxalite comes from.  (I heard it first from this song thanks the excellent soundtrack from Brokedown Palace.)  Guha also does an excellent of job of explaining and then tracking the rise of Hindu sectarianism and fundamentalism in the 80s and 90s (mainly centered around the conflict over Ayodhya).

Overall:  If you want to learn anything about India, read this book.   I was left with little doubt that India was a remarkable, vibrant country that I now desperately want to see for myself and any history book that gives me this much knowledge to pack into my brain and doesn't bore me to death doing so gets an enthusiastic **** out of **** from me.