Chanakya's New Manifesto

Mother India was raped by innumerous invaders over several decades. Later she was freed from their clutches after mercilessly ripping her apart. It gifted her not only pain but also a never fading scar and ever multiplying disease, in the name of wars and terrorist attacks.

Then, Mother India suffered relentlessly only to be further slaughtered by her own children. Greed for money and exploitation by the powerful became her misery. Known for her patience, she went through it without complaining; with a distant hope of mending her wounds.

And Pawan K Varma’s Chanakya’s - New Manifesto talks about evolution of India pre and post Independence. He portrays a true picture of India today which is capable of making your heart bleed. You will hear your mind cry for a change. Yet, you try to ignore it. You try to act as if you didn’t hear that at all. You try harder to act as if nothing is wrong. You look around and console your foolish heart that nothing is wrong at all. If heart acts smart and throw some questions that demands you to be realistic and rational, you will close your eyes. This time you would reiterate to yourself, “Come on, at least I am good. That means some good is still left in this mighty World!”

Yes… We all do this. We all run aimlessly from the facts which are thrown on our face. We choose to see only what we want to see. As being taught, we dutifully follow the principle of carrying only good things and deliberately avoid the black shades that surround us.

But amazingly, Chanakya’s - New Manifesto pin points at the five pests that are nudgeeating India. He talks only about five aspects:

i.             Governance

ii.           Democracy

iii.          Corruption

iv.          Security

v.            The Creation of an Inclusive Society

The facts given in the book takes us through an emotional roller coaster ride. Some make us stir uncomfortably… Some makes us feel shameful… Some make us want to get up, roll the sleeves and do some cleaning work… Some shakes us from the dream of seeing a developed India and directs us to work towards realizing that dream.

“India is a developing country”

Aren’t we hearing this for a long time? Aren’t we fed up of this lame statement? How many more years is it required to finally see her developed?

And here comes this book! The author takes each and every aspect that is pestering India and the Indians. Then, the author gives solutions to these solve each of these problems through Chanakya’s Arthashasthra.

As a preamble to each chapter, the author gives a few stanzas taken from Arthashasthra. The wisdom it carries though intricately woven within the constraints of few lines depicts the high quality of Arthashasthra. It makes us sit back and wonder why we Indians have a tendency to praise everything that comes from west and always neglect the home bred.

However, the book is a little too overloaded with details and statistics. It could bore you a bit if you are also someone like me who hates to read Social Studies. But yeah, I don’t deny the fact that there are many who love reading it and knowing the History of a glorious and celebrated Nation called India. If you are one among them, I bet that this book would feed you well.

In short, Pawan K Varma’s Chanakya’s - New Manifesto is a thought provoker. It makes us long for that day when mother India will shine without any blemishes and raises the same old question – But when?!

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