Skip to main content

Book Review: Between You and Me by Atul Khanna

Between You and Me by Atul Khanna is a brilliantly penned down non-fiction, which at large dissects the most delicate, insane, and important aspects of our Indian society. The wealth of a nation does not lie in the banks, but in the minds of people, and it subsequently affects the society in which they live and try to be progressive.


When we say society, it’s just not the physical addresses or dwelling places where people roam around and live. Society is a big word – it is inclusive of history, past deeds, political and historical figures, financial ecosphere, bureaucracy, institutions, and much more. Aptly, the book starts with mythology era that existed even beyond the Indian subcontinents’ history. We see Eklavya and Karna. They might be remembered for their talent and sacrifice, but the ugly underlying fact is that they were victim of a fake societal system. How? The author expounds that they were extremely capable and talented but their lineage had no proper track. They were from no concrete system. So, the rudimentary layer of our society which was laid way back in the mythology era was corrupt. It was not based on merit. And we are roped in the same since then. That’s one classic instance from the book.

As you move ahead, you will find that the book is segmented into three logical parts. Be it any part, the author has kept his major focus on societal issues, and at the same, he tried giving many feasible options to solve them. For instance, he finds flaws in the India’s electoral process. According to him, the people should get more than one option of candidates from the same party, this will make way for the deserving candidates. In the first part, there is a dazzling chapter on India’s democratic leadership. Indian democracy is metaphored as a car, and leaders as drivers. It is given that every time, we hopefully, elect a different party and expect a lot to be done in return. However, that is not possible because of the structural obstacles. Every time the driver is being changed, not the car. Did you get the point of election in the Indian democracy?

Likewise, the author’s another major concern is with the storage of power and the role of bureaucracy in keeping normal people bereaved of their basic constitutional rights. A lot has been discussed and suggested to improve the execution of power and bureaucratic tenacity. The book is full of jaw-dropping topics that are often not covered anywhere, actually people do not discuss them, the media do not take responsibility of it. Atul Khanna must have done a lot of research and study to put up all in a book. Other than the persisting problems, the beautiful part is his imaginative solutions. They may or may not sound feasible, but some or other way make sense. Taking the advantage of the current time, India as a whole going through a transformation. Probably this is the right time to make amends and changes that can bring true fruits to 600 million youth of India.

Topics based on Redefine Adult Franchise and state division (given with examples) are way ahead than the ordinary mentality. It’s to be noted that Indian government act according to the population as a metric, rather than geography. As put in by the author, people living in plains cannot decide the fate of Sikkim or any small coastal town which is capable of pulling immense tourism crowd. 

Well-thought out and perfectly placed. It is the need of the hour. Atul Khanna rocked with this book – undoubtedly and deserved a standing applause. This book is majorly for Indians like us and you – maybe not for the left or right politics. In one word – takes a Powerful Stance on the Issues of Indian Society!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Poem Summary: Where The Mind Is Without Fear by Rabindranath Tagore

Poem by Rabindranath Tagore: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. Short Summary: This poem is written by Rabindranath Tagore during pre-independence days, when India was a colony of the British. The underlying theme of the poem is absolute freedom; the poet wants the citizens of his country to be living in a free state. According to the poem, we see that the poet is expressing his views there should be a country, like where people live without any sort of fear and with pure dignity…they should

Book Review: The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond

Among all Ruskin Bond books, The Blue Umbrella has, so far, gathered immense applaud from readers and critics alike.  This is a short novel, but the kind of moral lessons it teaches to us are simply overwhelming. This is a story of Binya, a poor little girl living with her mother and an elder brother, Bijju, in a small hilly village of Garhwal. One day while herding her two cows back home, she stumbles upon some city people enjoying the picnic in the valley. She is enthralled to see them well-groomed and rich. She craves to be one like them and among many other things of their, a blue frilly umbrella catches her attention. She begins craving for it. On the other hand, the city people get attracted by her innocent beauty and the pendant in her neck. The pendant consists of leopard’s claw – which is considered a mascot widely in the hills. Binya trades her pendant off with the blue umbrella. The blue umbrella is so much beautiful that soon it becomes a topic of conversation fo

Poem Summary: Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ozymandias is a short poem of fourteen lines written by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The concurrent theme of the poem is that nothing remains intact and same forever in this world. Even the brightest of metal, one day decays with passage of time. The throne name of Egyptian King Ramesses is Ozymandias. It was his dearest desire to preserve himself forever by building a huge statue that he thought would never tumble down. Stanza 1: I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; Summary: The poet narrates the poem through the eyes of a traveler who seems to have come back from a remote and far-away land, referring to Egypt. The traveler r