Part 1: Prologue and Preface
ReadWithMe IAG Series: In order to aid the book reading journey below you would find the summary and vocabulary included in each section of the book. It is advised to read the portion provided for each section before proceeding with the read for a wholesome experience.
All credits are reserved with the author Ramchandra Guha, this is merely an effort to ease the reading process.
Vocab Trail
Exhortation/ उपदेश: an address or communication emphatically urging someone to do something. Diminution/ कमी: a reduction in the size, extent, or importance of something Grumble: complain about something in a bad-tempered way. Example: "I'm getting old" she grumbled Privation: Deprivation Secessionist/ स्वपक्षत्यागी: person who favors formal withdrawal from membership of a federation or body, especially a political state. Sovereign: free country having the complete right to govern over itself without any interference from any external source. Republic: government having a head of state who is not a monarch
Retrenchment/ छटनी: reduction of costs or spending in response to economic difficulty Shanties/ झुग्गियां: small, crudely built shack. Conflates / इंगित: combine Endogmous/ सगोत्र विवाह: the custom of marrying only within the limits of a local community, clan, or tribe Discern/ पहचानना: distinguish (someone or something) with difficulty
bridgehead: strong position secured by an army inside enemy territory from which to advance or attack.
measly / तुच्छ: ridiculously small or few
edifice: large, imposing building
The author starts by extrapolating from the famous writer Ghalib whose texts talk about first war of Indian independence, the sepoy mutiny in 1857. India was in a whirlwind so the British crown took control of the colony to ensure stability.
Views of Churchill and John Strachey:
India is incapable of self-governance, lacks the feeling of a single country, and current Brahmin(INC) leadership inefficient and need British law and order.
India United is an anomaly it lacks all requirements of a United democracy. All believed heterogeneity of culture, language n religion meant eventual secession.
Guha describes the city of Ghalib - Delhi, how Rajpath -the independence day parade place shows rule ending in the great house where the viceroy lived. India was always filled with conflicts in which authorities tied hiding.
5 reasons for fission: Caste (Jaati + varna), Language, Religion, Class, and gender. All odds speak against India staying a democracy but it's an outlier. If marked on a map area in peace has always been greater than conflicted.
History books on India are insufficient and measly ending on 15 Aug 1947 or a 6-month extension till Gandhi died. Post-independence has been left unnoticed It's considered under sociology n civic but it is the undocumented history of 28 states and 8 Union territories.
Preface:
Word | Meaning | Translation | Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
Peripatetic | traveling from place to place, in particular working or based in various places for relatively short periods. | आवारा / यात्री / पथिक | Peripatetic academic career |
Tumultuous | making an uproar or loud, confused noise. | अंशातिप्रिय, उतार-चढ़ाव भरे | The tumultuous history of India |
Communism | theory or system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs. | साम्यवाद | |
Pluralism | condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles, sources of authority, etc., coexist. | | |
Obituaries | a notice of a death, especially in a newspaper, typically including a brief biography of the deceased person | श्रद्धांजलियां | Obituaries of new India were written fearing a civil was breaking in |
Balkanize | fragmentation of a larger region or state into smaller regions or states, which may be hostile or uncooperative with one another. | खंडित | Yogulavia has been balconyzed into 5 independent countries |
Sagacious | having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgement; wise or shrewd. | मेधावी/ बुद्धिमान/ समझदार | Indian politicians over came the challenges of a new India with sagacity |
Concatenation | series of interconnected things. | कड़ी | Remarkable concatenation of leaders |
Mastodon | Extinct elephant like mammmal | | |
Marooned | left in a place from which you cannot escape | असहाय |
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