Book Review: The Soul of a Butterfly by Muhammad Ali

 

One of the finest boxers of human history- Muhammad Ali, in conversation with his daughter Hana Yasmeen Ali reflects on his life journey. Muhammad Ali was a legend who had an unwavering conviction, and this book presents his personal recollections. His daughter’s memories, his own stories and poems that touched his heart are also recorded in this book.

Muhammad Ali says: “I see that many people build big beautiful houses but live in broken homes.” Ali says that religion and spirituality are two different things. Discussing his personal life Ali says that his father was a painter who worked hard for his children’s upbringing. Ali himself did odd jobs early in life. Prejudice was common in America at that time as racialism was at its peak. The blacks were considered as second class citizens. Ali says: “But everything was considered bad, and undesirable.”

Writing on the purpose of life Ali views that one person with knowledge of his life’s purpose is more powerful than ten thousand working without that knowledge. In addition, he says: “The greatest victory in life is to rise above the material things that we once valued most.” The author says that self-discovery is the most liberating choice of all. When Muhammad Ali won the Olympic gold he thought that everything would open up to him, but that did not happen. He and his friend Ronnie were not served food in a restaurant as the waitress replied that they did not serve Negroes. Ali later threw his medal into Ohio river as he thought that material things really did not matter in life.

Ali was a great supporter of freedom and equality for the black population. He describes how he met Elijah Muhamad and adopted Islam as his new religion. He met Malcolm X for the first time in Detroit in 1962. At age 22 Muhammad Ali beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to become the heavyweight champion of the world. Ali says that Elijah Muhammad had forced Ali to break with Malcolm. He remembers turning his back on Malcolm as one of the mistakes that he regrets most. Ali considered Malcolm as a great thinker and a great friend.

Discussing the heart of a man Ali stresses that regardless of how wealthy a man may be, if his heart his not pure, he cannot be great. Ali returned to boxing in 1971 after three and a half years.  The Supreme court overturned Ali’s conviction for violation of the Selective Service Act. Ali says that of all the men that he fought Liston was the scariest, Foreman was the most powerful, Patterson was the most skillful, and Joe Frazier the most toughest.

On success Muhammad Ali says: “True success is reaching our potential without compromising our values.” Ali further adds that honesty, integrity, kindness, and friendship are the true treasures we should be seeking. Ali married four times and had nine children. His love for his children in shown in this book. He feels lucky because of them. On unity Ali is of the view that when people lend a helping hand without having to receive something in return, we will see humanity. Ali also writes about his meeting with Nelson Mandela and Dalai Lama. His visit to Afghanistan and his efforts for peace building are also included in this book.

The Soul of a Butterfly is a book that covers numerous themes ranging from belief in God to personal development. It is an insight to the life of Ali Muhammad who was a boxing genius and a great human being.

Read More

Book Review: The Procession By Kahlil Gibran

 

This unique work of Gibran is unique in the sense that it is his first major work in verse. It was originally written in Arabic and translated into English by Dr. George Kheirallah. A biographical introduction has also been added by Kheirallah. This introduction puts light on the poet’s life and his perception in his native land. His mystical drawings have also been added in the book.

Gibran arrived in the United states with his mother and siblings. They went to Boston where other people of their town had settled. Gibran’s father was a shepherd. After some education in the U.S Gibran’s half-brother Peter now wanted Gibran to go back to Beyrut and learn his native language Arabic. He also wanted him to learn French. Gibran returned to America after four years of study. Upon his return to Boston he discovered that Sultana had died on April 4, 1902. Peter and Gibran’s mother passed away. Gibran and his sister Mariana left the plague-ridden house. Mariana sewed and Gibran wrote. By early 1904 Gibran had twenty drawings to offer. No gallery would receive his imaginative and mystical drawings. Mary Haskell became a close friend of Gibran who assisted him in writing English. She also prevailed upon him to accept her aid and to go abroad for study.

From 1908 to 1910 Gibran worked at his art in Paris under the guidance of older artists. After that he returned to Boston, but in 1912 he moved to New York where he lived for the rest of his life. A fatal ailment was gnawing in his body, but he kept his work going. On April 9, 1931, a friend came to see him and found him in pain and illness. He did not wish to be removed to a hospital. Next morning, he was taken to the hospital where he died on 10 April 1931, at the age of forty-eight. Mariana brought back her brother body to his native land. People flocked in large numbers to pay their respect to Gibran.

In this book Gibran addresses the themes of religion, justice, science, knowledge, freedom, happiness, hope, love youth, death, will and capitulation of the sage. I quote Gibran below:

• Life is but a sleep disturbed.
• As though religion were a phase of commerce in their daily trade; should they neglect it they would lose- or preserving would be paid.
• Yea, death and prison we mete out to small offenders of the laws, while honor, wealth, and full respect on greater pirates we bestow.
• To steal a flower, we call mean, to rob a field is chivalry; who kills the body he must die, who kills the spirit he goes free.
• For man is happy only in his aspiration to the heights; when he attains his goal, he calls and longs for other distant flights.
• For in nature we the children hold the sane as strange.
• Have you taken to the forest, shunned the palace for adobe?
• Have you ever bathed in fragrance, dried yourself in sheets of light? Ever quaff the wine of dawning, From ethereal goblets bright?
• Ever bedded in the herbage, quilted by a heavenly vast, unconcerned about the future, and forgetful of your past?

Read More

Book Review: Between Morn and Night By Kahlil Gibran

 

The magnetism of Kahlil Gibran is seen in this work where he brings different themes under his microscope. The Tempest, slavery, satan, the mermaids, the poet, and we and you are some of the chapters in the book. Gibran shifts between poetry and prose bringing out the deep meanings of topics which remain close to his heart. I personally found his writings on slavery very amazing. His definition of blind, mute, deaf, lame, ugly, subtle, twisted, bent and black slavery are really worth reading for anyone. 

Under the chapter We and you he says:

When you ridicule us your taunts mingle

With the crushing of the skulls and the

Rattling of the shackles and the wailing of the

Abyss. When we cry, our tears fall into the

Heart of life, as we dew drops fall from the

Eyes of Night into the heart of Dawn; and

When you laugh, your mocking laughter pours

Down like the viper’s venom into the wound.

We cry, and sympathize with the miserable

Wanderer and distressed widow; but you rejoice

And smile at the sight of resplendent gold.

Read More

Book Review: High Road to Hunza by Barbara Mons

 

This book is a travelogue of a couple who travel from United Kingdom whom visit Hunza in the spring of 1956. Peter Mons, the author’s husband is accompanying her on this exciting journey. The couple had written to the ruler of Hunza in 1955 about their desire to visit Hunza. The ruler Muhammad Jamal Khan said that if we could get permission from the Government of Pakistan to enter Azad Kashmir, he would be delighted to welcome us in his territory. The couple started from London in a Land-Rover. They passed through Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran and then entered Pakistan. Almost half of the book is about the journey from London to Pakistan. During this section of the journey the author describes the various cities they passed through. On 4^th of April 1956, exactly four weeks after leaving Istanbul, the couple reached Lahore where they were hosted by their friend Manzar Bashir.

On 10^th April 1956 the couple arrived in Rawalpindi. The author says that ‘To reach Hunza you must fly from Rawalpindi to Gilgit; there is no other way, except the jeep-track over the Babusar Pass that is open only for a short time in the height of summer.’ Meanwhile the couple was waiting for their permit from Karachi, they went to Peshawar and over the Khyber Pass to the Afghan frontier and back again. After telegrams were exchanged with the Mir of Hunza, the permit arrived. Now the only wait was for good weather. After ‘several unnerving false starts’ the couple finally landed in Gilgit on May 2^nd. The time spent waiting was instead invested in two trips. One to Swat and one to India for a week via the Grand Trunk Road.

The author had got special permission from the Director of Civil Aviation in Karachi to photograph Nanga Parbat. They were in a Dakota plane. Humayun Beg, the Secretary of the Political Agent General Kiani received the guests at Gilgit airstrip. They were driven to the Agency house. The guests brought a letter of introduction from General Shahid Hamid, Master-General of the Ordnance in Rawalpindi. They were driven to Kargah Nullah where Colonel Cobb, the then British Political Agent had planted trout in 1918. The author discovered Gilgit under the wing of Rhabar Hassan. The General lent his jeep to the guests along with a driver. Rhabar Hassan was also accompanying them, sitting on the top of their rucksacks. The jeep drive started from Gilgit and ended in Sikanderabad.

After waving goodbye to the jeep they set on foot. Mayun, the village opposite Nilt was the halting-place for the night. The guests reached the Mir’s rest house at five. After supper the Mir talked with the guests on the telephone. The next morning at six, the travel party was again on track. The author describes the twenty miles between Mayun and Baltit as ‘torturous track’. The author gives reference to previous writers on the area. This includes Knight, Durand and Lorimer- all having military backgrounds.

Mons says that the ruler of Hunza wore European clothes and his eldest son Ghazanfar also wore a tweed suit. The author says that the guest-house was built in 1925 by the present ruler’s father, Muhammad Nazim Khan. Before dinner there was ‘Black and White Whisky and a cut-glass decanter of Hunza pani.’ The photographs in the ruler’s house included that of Aga Khan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Shah of Persia’s brother. The schoolmaster Sultan Ali was introduced by Jamal Khan to the guests. He ‘spoke some English and was to be our friend and guide and constant companion.’  Chapter twelve ‘Looking back’ reflects on the past of Hunza through the lens of foreign writers. This includes E.F. Knight, Younghusband and Colonel Durand. The battle of Nilt is also covered.

The author is of the view that in the comparatively new settlement of Aliabad, where the cultivable shelf is much wider and less steep than elsewhere, there are many quite large flat sites, and here most of the houses are of the new, so-called Wakhi, pattern. Sixteen to twenty poplar tress go to the making of a house, says the author. In addition, she says that a Hunza house rivals any Swiss home for order and cleanliness; there is a total absence of unpleasant smells. The author mentions: “Hunza has been aptly called nicknamed ‘The Land of the Just-Enough’. They have just enough for their own essential needs, but not enough to make anybody else want to take it away from them.” The author quotes Muhammad Nazim Khan. Nazim states: ‘Marriage is not allowed between near relations, and whenever possible people marry into a clan different from their own.’ The author adds that child marriages do not take place now and unhappy marriages are said to be rare. Small girls and boys have the center of their heads shaved. In addition to that, the author views the Hunzakuts as ‘empiricist’.

Mons continues that Hunza has one doctor named Safdar Mahmood, a Pakistani. The little hospital in Aliabad is maintained by the Pakistan Army Medical Corps in Aliabad. The author adds that the mysterious immunity to disease in Hunza is not true. Dr. Safdar Mahmmod sent the authors husband analysis of all the cases of illness during the past year. It contained 348 cases of dysentery, 1 of typhoid, 734 of intestinal disease, 290 of malaria, 113 of rheumatic fever, 426 of goitre.

The chapter on ‘Custom, Faith and Language’ revolves around the ruling family. According to the author Jamal Khan’s milk father was Inayatullah Beg, the present Wazir of Hunza. Mentioning the ruling family, the author views it as forming a ‘class or tribal division by itself, called the Thamo, sub-divided into the Kareli, the royally-born on both sides, and the Arghundaro, of common origin on the female side.’ Mons observed that the school in Baltit had three other masters besides Sultan Ali. This included Haji Qudrat Ullag Beg, Thara Beg and Sangi Khan. The school in Baltit had 60 pupils under four masters. Urdu, Persian and English were taught there.

On Festival, the author says that only the ‘royal family’ kept the fast. Wazir Inayatullah Beg’s age was given to the author as ninety-four. The author disagrees and says: ‘with his virile looks it seemed impossible that he could be over seventy.’ Ayub was Ghazanfar’s milk-father. He played in the team of the ruling family whereas Ayash Khan kept the score during a polo match.

Every man possesses enough land to grow the necessary grain for himself and his family, says the author.Moreover she adds that this land is ‘generally owned outright, passing from generation to generation, but can be on lease from the Mir, in which case a small rent is paid in kind once the ground is producing.’ The author of this book states that there is no police or soldiers in the state. And persistent evil-doer can be banished for a few years to higher less hospitable valley. Jamal Khan goes on hunting trips to the north of his state following his grandfather’s footsteps. In Hunza fuel is so scare that fuel in winter is a serious problem, stresses the author. Furthermore, not many animals can be spared for meat, so the regime is mainly vegetarian. Fresh butter is unknown. The author seems to have based his claim by observing things in Central Hunza and did not visit the upper parts of the state where the situation was quite different. Barbara Mons writes that ‘the Mir of Hunza gets fairly clear drinking water for his guests, but he himself, like everyone else in Hunza, drinks pale-grey silty water with no ill effect, and in fact prefers it.’

Master Sultan Ali was also the Postmaster. He guided the couple to Altit fort. The author says that the fort is said to have been in existence for seven hundred years. The Mir comes into residence at Altit every February for the initiation of the spring festival ceremony. In the chapter on Hunza crafts, the author discusses the Bericho people of Hunza. These are the people who are blacksmiths and musicians. The Mir Jamal Khan told the guests that ‘he had recently had to put a stop to the Bericho sending their boys to the school, not from snobbery or race bar, but because it had been observed that when they started being ‘educated’ they ceased to want to be blacksmiths and musicians: and upon the first of these two professions the very life of the community depends.’ There are around half a dozen flour-mills around Baltit.

On her stay in Hunza the author remembers the deputations from villages who brought presents in honour of the forthcoming marriage of Princess Durri Shahwar to the Prince of Yasin. The Mir invited the author to sit next to him. The gifts included coffee-pots, sheep, ponies, hats, plates, rolls of materials, teapots, goats, rifles, tiny bags of gold-dust from the river, and hundreds of rupee notes which were counted by one of the retainers helped by the Crown Prince, while Ayash Khan, Court Scribe, worked very hard entering it all in a large red book. Mons says further in the book that there is a refreshing absence of superstition in Hunza, which I do believe is a doubtful claim. Mons says that Gilgit Scouts was enlisted in 1913 to replace the inadequate and half-trained fighting levies that existed up to that time. The new plan was suggested to the Mir of Hunza Muhammad Nazim Khan by Major Macpherson, the Political Agent back then. This was formally sanctioned by the Government of India.

At the farewell party for the guests many presents were exchanged between the guests and the hosts. The couple set out at dawn to ride the easy four-mile stage to Sikanderabad to meet the jeep. The jeep was not there. It arrived after three and a half hours. The couple reached Gilgit agency house. There they met another guest- an American the advance guard of a team who were contemplating a Cinerama film of Hunza, to be entitled In Search of Paradise. The book ends with the grand reception and dinner given by United States Military Assistance Advisory Group to the traveling couple at the Officers’ Mess at Chaklala.

Read More

Book Review: The Broken Wings by Kahlil Gibran

 

The Broken Wings is one of the famous works of Gibran. Through his inspirational writing Gibran recounts the story of his own first love. He writes about the taboos of traditions. Equally well known and read among the eastern and western population of the world, to many Gibran was a poet, philosopher and artist. With great craft Kahlil Gibran brings to the reader his adoration and passion for Selma Karamy, the girl of Beirut. Selma, due to societal pressure marries another man. This story is about happiness, sorrow, tragedy and to a large extent about complexity of human relations in the oriental world.

Read More

Book Review: Mirror of History by Mubarak Ali

Mirror of history by Dr. Mubarak Ali is a collection of one hundred and ten articles. The themes discussed in this book include politics, religion, society, language, culture, sports, science and architecture.  All these themes are discussed from a common man’s perspective. He does not fall in line with those authors who present the perspective of the political elite. Instead, he encourages the reader to understand the ignored segments of society in history. Social history is what he emphasizes upon. His writings are simple yet encouraging for the reader. Moreover, his approach of understanding history in the context of South Asia is also very different from the popular writers of the time.

Read More

8:50 A. M. October 8, 2005: Stories of Hope and Courage from the Earthquake in Pakistan by Fatima Bhutto

 

I read this book almost fifteen years after the devastating earthquake, that killed thousands of people in northern Pakistan. This book by Fatima Bhutto was published in 2006, and the royalties and profits from this were to be donated to the earthquake victims- as mentions the cover of the book.  Covering the inspiring stories of the affected people Fatima pays a tribute to their courage and resilience.

The numerous accounts in the book by those affected present elements of hope, dreams, memories, motherhood, misery, pain, love, survival, volunteerism and care. Survivors, volunteers and youngsters mention their observations in words. Each story in the book offers an eye opening account and the author believes that the resilience of Pakistanis is unparalleled. For those interested in understanding the real destruction of the 2005 earthquake, this is a good read.

Read More

Book Review: V. I. Lenin by Margaret J. Goldstein

Vladimir Lenin was born on 10^th of April 1870 in Simbirsk, Russia. His name at birth was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. The Ulyanov family had six children. Lenin’s father worked for the government. On 1^st of March 1881 when Vladimir was ten years old, bombers set off two explosions near Czar Alexander’s carriage outside his palace in Saint Petersburg. The second explosion killed the Czar. People’s Will, the organization of the bombers believed that once the Czar was dead poor people would rise up in revolution and take control of Russia’s government.

Vladimir earned top marks in school. He excelled in Greek, Latin, German, algebra, and other classes. He was also doing great in his writing class. Moreover, his favorite classes were history and literature. Nikolay Gogol, Leo Tolstoy, and Ivan Turgenev were his favorite Russian novelists. Lenin was not even sixteen when his father passed away. Vladimir’s brother Alexander got inspired from the works of German thinkers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Alexander along with other like-minded fellows planned to murder the Czar. Alexander was to make the bomb. Before they could execute their plan, the police caught them. On 8^th May 1887 Alexander was executed. He did not beg for mercy as some of his other fellows.

Vladimir was greatly shaken by the death of his brother. After graduating from Simbirsk Classical Gimnazia with a gold medal Lenin hoped to attend Saint Petersburg University, but his brother’s crime barred him from admission. Instead, he applied Imperial Kazan University for Law, but the university officials kept a close eye on him. He along with thirty-nine others were expelled from the school on joining a protest against some harsh university regulations. Not giving up his thoughts of becoming a lawyer, the self-taught young man stood first out of a class of 124 students. Lenin hated the Russian nobility and wanted a revolution to happen and in the summer of 1893, Vladimir moved to Saint Petersburg.

He was twenty-three when he arrived at Saint Petersburg.  His fellow revolutionaries used to call him Starik (old man) as he appeared to be fully politically mature. Lenin was a powerful speaker who had strong command over history, economics and political science. Lenin met Nadezhda Krupskaya at a Marxist discussion circle in February 1894. The two became close companions. Lenin saw liberals and reformers as members of the bourgeoisie and enemies of the proletariat.

In Dec 1895, Lenin and his colleagues were caught in the process of creating an illegal newspaper. As he was waiting for his sentence Lenin stayed in cell 193 and engaged himself with writing a book called The Development of Capitalism in Russia. After more than a year of waiting he was punished. He was to spend three years in exile in Siberia. There in Siberia he was was reading, writing and hunting. Lenin’s companion Nadya was sentenced to exile in Ufa. Claiming they were engaged they requested to be allowed to get married in Shushenskoye. In Jan 1900, Lenin’s exile ended, but his wife had one year left which she was to spend at Ufa.

After exile Lenin and his comrades decide to produce papers abroad which they were to smuggle into Russia. In 1902, Lenin met Trotsky and was impressed by the young man’s sharp mind, and commitment to revolutionary cause. Lenin’s group was known as Bolsheviks and Julius Marton’s group was known as Mehseviks. In the time period around 1905 peasants wanted changes to land laws.  Russia went to war with Japan, which further angered the Russians. Russians started to doubt Czar’s ability to rule them. On 9^th of January 1905 Georgy Gapon, a Russian Orthodox priest with some 200, 000 people headed to the Czar’s winter palace with a petition signed by 135000 people. Before the demonstration reached the palace soldiers fired on them.

Uprisings continued throughout Russia. By October 1905, Czar Nicholas agreed to create a constitution. He gave people freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Politics were allowed to operate. A Duma (parliament) was allowed to operate, but he reserved the right to disband the Duma. According to the author the elections of April 1906 were won by the Constitutional democrats, nicknamed Cadets who were in favor of liberal reforms and a western European style of democracy. Lenin criticized the Cadets and also was against the Mensheviks

Nicholas disbanded the first Duma within three months and called for new elections. Revolutionaries were actively involved in activities against the Czar.  Lenin left Russian for Finland in 1907. The second Duma was also disbanded. In this socialist groups were quite successful. In the third Duma which met for the first time in November 1907 there were fewer Cadets, few socialists and more pro-Czarists.

In 1914 the great war had started. Russia was on the side of Allied Powers. The author says that the Russians were not well prepared for the war. Lenin and Krupskaya were in Galacia, which was part of Austro-Hungarian Empire. When the war started they left for Switzerland. Setting foot in Russia on 3^rd of April 1917. In May 1917 Leon Trotsky joined who was earlier in the Menshevik camp joined the Bolshevik camp. The government troop caught Trotsky but Lenin managed to escape to Finland. From Finland, he continued to direct Bolshevik activities. Trotsky now released from prison, became the chairman of the Petrograd Soviet.

On 24 Oct 1917 Congress of Soviet opened. The wheels of revolution were already in motion. On the same day, late at night Bolshevik soldiers took over telephone exchanges, telegraph offices, banks, railroad stations, power stations and bridges. On Oct 26 the red guards entered the palace and arrested the palace. The Mensheviks and the Social Revolutionary delegates denounced the coup at the Congress of Soviets. Trotsky scolded them in return. On the evening of Oct 26, Lenin addressed the congress. He ordered the peasants to take over all private land in Russia.

Soon after coming to power Lenin established Cheka, the secret police force. Lenin struck down the law of inheritance, gave women equal rights with men, nationalized big businesses and tightened the control over smaller ones. In July 1918 the entire ruling family of Russia was murdered. On 30 August, 1930 Lenin was shot thrice by a woman named Fanya Kaplan. She did so because Lenin had disbanded the constituent assembly earlier. The author stresses that for propaganda poets, authors, artists, theatre and films were used. Even posters, slogans and musical works were to follow the party line. In 1920 the civil war in Russia had ended in favor of a red victory. It is estimated that millions perished during the conflict.

On January 21, 1924, Lenin fell into a coma. Later that evening, he died. He was fifty-three years old. Before that, he had a few strokes which had partially paralyzed his body. Lenin thought that Trotsky was the most capable person to succeed him, but Stalin found the testament which Lenin tried to keep secret. The document did not stand in the way of Stalin’s rise to power, as Stalin very much wanted. Lenin’s body was not buried. His body was preserved and put in a glass coffin. Petrograd, which was previously renamed from Saint Petersburg, was now renamed as Leningrad.

Lenin who rose to become one of the most powerful man in human history inspired millions throughout the world. This book presents a leader who transformed Russia- for good or for bad is another questions. A short read this book gives a short biographical account of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

Read More

Book Review: Bob Marley by Garry Steckles

 

Garry Steckles, the author of this book has written a wonderful biography of Bob Marley- one of the renowned personalities from the Caribbean region who made his name on the global level. On 6 February 1945 Nesta Robert Marley was born in rural Jamaica. His father was a white man named Captain Norval Marley and his mother black named Cedella. Nesta had a typical rural childhood where he engaged in working on the farms and playing games. When Nesta was five year-olds he could read the palms of people. To this his mother became very astonished.

Nesta moves to Kingston after his father convinces his mother. Later it is discovered that Nesta does not live with his father’s brother, as the captian had promised earlier. At the age of ten Nest lost the father he really not knew. Cedella moves to Kingston leaving her son Nesta under the care of her father Omeriah- who was happy to have his grandson help him on the field. In 1957 Nesta joined his mother in Kingston. His mother spent a tough time doing domestic jobs with low pay. For the next couple of years, she and Nesta were virtual nomads, moving from rented room to rented room.

Bob Marley later went to the United States, but he could not bear the cold. He returned back to his native town where he was happier. Bob Marley gained fame but initially this fame did not give him the monetary return which he wanted. When Bob Marley got famous throughout the world along with his band of musicians he developed differences with the band manager. Reportedly, one of his managers stole large amounts of money from his concert payments.

Marley popularized reggae music throughout the world. His politically conscious lyrics and melody won him millions of fans around the world. He was not only a popstar. Having strong attachment to Rastafarian beliefs and practices he was a strong opponent of injustice. His wholehearted support for the downtrodden and oppressed are shown in his songs.

Steckles has written about Bob Marley’s early rural life in Jamaica, his recordings, performances and rise to become a famous star throughout the world. Marley’s political and religious beliefs are also briefly discussed. Moreover, his relationships with family members, fellow musicians and other international figures are also mentioned. The more money he earned the more he tried to distribute it. In Jamaica he distrusted money among thousands of needy people on a regular basis, after listening to their issues.

In the second last chapter the issue of royalty of the songs of Bob Marley is discussed. After his death there rose a series of legal cases in which very sad incidents took place. Fabricated signatures of Bob were used by his closed ones. Bob Marley was never so much attracted to material benefits. His whole philosophy of life had different set of principles. His manager and many band members were now busy contesting cases.

The concluding chapters of this book mention the sad demise of Baob Marley at the young age of thirty-six. Furthermore, it elaborates how the cancer developed in his foot and spread to his brain. Marley was initially very careless with the injury and by the time he got serious, it was unfortunately too late. In chapter eighteen Marley is quoted on life, fame, music, politics, marijuana, Africa, race, religion, money, mortality and poverty. Bob Marley says: “Me don’t love fighting, but me don’t love wicked either… I guess I have a kinda war thing in me. But is better to die fighting for freedom than to be a prisoner all the days of your life”.

Read More

Book Review: Power and Terror: Post-9/11 Talks and Interviews by Noam Chomsky

 

Noam Chomsky completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his PhD degree from the same university in 1955. Moreover, he has received many honorary degrees and has written extensively on important themes. Considered a world-renowned political activist and professor, Chomsky in this book presents his views through a lengthy interview and a series of public talks he gave in the spring of 2002.

Without mincing words, the author writes about the double standards of the United States. He stresses that the United States should apply to its own actions the same moral standards it demands from other states. Addressing the issues related to terror, the author brings in the stark realities of the American intervention in Vietnam, Central America and the Middle East region.

Chomsky sees himself as the enabler of social change by providing his audience with information and analysis. In history imperial countries have always remained immune to atrocities. The author stresses that as he was growing up he along with other children used to play cowboys and Indians. He says: “We were the cowboys and we killed the Indians”. He tries to the antagonism that existed within American society.

Chomsky says that Turkey was the first country to offer troops to the U.S in Afghanistan because U.S was the only country willing to provide massive support for Turkey’s atrocities in southeast Turkey against Kurds. He further gives many examples from recent history in which he points out the hypocrisy of some of the world powers. Haiti, Cuba, Honduras, North Korea, Vietnam, Palestine, Iraq, Iran and many other examples are also quoted. In addition to that, he also criticizes hypocrisy of the western media and the intellectuals in addressing genuine issues of the world.

Chomsky concludes by saying that the world is a far more civilized place than it was in the past. Highlighting the challenges of the present age, Chomsky does not present pessimism in any case. In fact, he espouses optimism. His optimism is based on the point that armed with knowledge the public with not fail to act.

Read More

Book Review: Setting the East Ablaze: Lenin’s Dream of an Empire in Asia By Peter Hopkirk

In 1920 Lenin had declared that England was Soviet Union’s greatest enemy and they must be hit in India hard. During this tense period of the twentieth century various intelligence gatherings missions were carried out, both on the Soviet and the British side. The Soviet secret police known as Cheka as rival of the British intelligence, which was still the world’s most formidable intelligence service. Disguised as member of shooting trips, scientific expeditions and covering as native traders, acts of espionage gained new highest in the Central Asian region. In Summer 1918 a small party on ponies led by Colonel Fredrick Bailey of the Indian Political and Secret Department were travelling through Chinese Central Asia heading for the Russian frontier. Another British officer included in this party was Major Stewart Blacker.

On 22 April Bailey left India and on 7 June he reached Kashgar. Messages from Kashgar took at least three weeks to reach India by runner. On June 16, 1918, when Bailey and his party were about to leave Kashgar Tsar Nicholas and his family were executed in cold blood in the soviet territory. As they travelled towards Tashkent Bailey stopped to catch butterflies. On 14 August 1918 Colonel Bailey and Major Blacker stepped off the train in Tashkent and drove to Regina hotel. The two officers were lucky enough not to get shot. Invisible ink and code was used to convey news of their situation to Etherton in Kashgar. On September 1, 1918 Sir George Macartney had arrived in Tashkent and both were summoned to the White House, residence of the former Governor-General, to see President of the new republic.

One of the reasons why forbearance was being shown to the mission was that Bolshevik’s desire for recognition by the British, the then leading power of the world. At Tashkent there was the American Consul named Roger Tredwell. The author of this book says that Bailey finished his lunch and made his way home. Safely inside he made the final plan and left for Tredwell’s, for supper. After supper he entered a narrow row of houses nearby, after which he disappeared.

Another character in the great game was Paul Nazaroff who was the ringleader of a White Russian plot to overthrow the Tashkent Soviet and link up with the British to the West. Nazaroff was caught by two Cheka agents. Osipov had overthrown the Tashkent government and before the Revolution he was a junior officer in the Tsarist army. ‘For months now those Russians opposed to Bolshevik rule in Central Asia had been looking in desperation to the British for deliverance’, says Hopkirk.

Bailey was still on the run from the Cheka and was out of touch with his government. Indian revolutionaries had arrived in Tashkent with Bolshevik assistance and Bailey had noted them, not for the first time. King Habibullah of Afghanistan strictly remained neutral throughout the war from 1914-18. An Afghan mission had visited Moscow and met Lenin, Trotsky and other senior Bolshevik leaders.

Bailey’s former companion in Tashkent was now engaged in Bolshevik-watching from Meshed. To Bailey in Tashkent it had become obvious that the British were not aiming to drive the Bolsheviks out of Central Asia. He was simply wasting his time there and was at considerable risk. Bailey with the help of Manditch, a Serbian police contact got recruited in the Bolshevik Secret Service. Before leaving Tashkent Bailey managed to obtain a letter of introduction from the Bokharan consul to his opposite number in Kagan. It was acquired through mutual friends on ‘a solemn promise that Bailey was not a Bolshevik’. It was the last Bolsheviks were ever to see of Bailey.

It occurred to Bailey that once established in Bokhara, with the Emir’s blessings, he would be well placed to supply to Meshed regular intelligence about what was going on in Bolshevik Central Asia, just as Etherton was doing from Kashgar. Bailey made his escape to Persia on January 6, 1920. Bailey’s party crossed the river and narrowly escaped Bolshevik arrest. After seventeen months Bailey was finally on friendly soil. After Bailey, the author places Major (later Colonel) Etherton in the Soviet order of villainy. Etherton spent four years as Consul General at Kashgar. His book Across the Roof of the World is also mentioned by Hopkirk. In January 1918 a wireless receiving set was installed which intercepted Bolshevik radio traffic between Tashkent, Moscow and elsewhere. Officially the Consul General was there in Kashgar to protect the rights of British –Indian subjects in Chinese Turkestan. The Consul staff included a Vice-Consul, British wireless monitors, chief clerk, an assistant clerk, a Chinese secretary and numerous orderlies and servants. In case of trouble this British outpost had thirty sepoys commanded by an Indian officer who were changed annually.

The author describes the Chini Bagh residence at Kashgar. In 1913 Chini Bagh was demolished and a new twenty roomed European style residence was constructed. Before 1914-18, this English home was the oasis for rare European travelers. Albert von Le Coq and Aurel Stein also visited this place. The Bolsheviks were pressing the Chinese to be allowed to open consulates in Sinkiang and handover those who still remained loyal to the Tsarist cause. Etherton was determined to sabotage the Bolshevik move. Etherton warned the Chinese that the Bolsheviks would foment trouble among the Muslim population, which was already restless. Not until three years after Etherton’s departure from Kashgar was Moscow allowed to reoccupy its own Consulate-General at Kashgar.

On the second of March 1919, fifty-two leading revolutionaries including Lenin and Trotsky met within the walls of Kremlin to lay the foundations of the Communist International, which became better known as Comintern. Lenin wanted Bolshevism to spread in India. For this Manabendra Nath Roy was ready. He was a native of Bengal and from a well-known Brahmin family. He began his revolutionary career in as anti-British secret society. Wanted for treason by the British authorities Roy fled via Japan and China to the United States. Roy had disagreed with Lenin on two issues. First, Roy insisted that the colonies should first be liberated and secondly Roy did not want cooperation with non-Marxist liberation movements.

Further in the book, Baron Ungern-Sternberg who brought terror to Mongolia and Enver Pasha who dreamed of a Turkish empire in Central Asia is well explained. Their photographs are also published in the book. In 1921 Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement was mad, which according to the author made partial recognition by the greatest of the imperialist powers. The news of the agreement was a bombshell to Colonel Etherton, who was at Kashgar. In India Mahatma Gandhi had appeared on the political scene. Gandhi had transformed the Indian National Congress into a nationwide political party. Mongolia on the other hand, was the second country to turn Communist. Ungern-Sternberg had it made easy for the Russians, says the author.

The entire Muslim population of Central Asia was alienated when the ancient Muslim town of Kokand was brutally sacked by the Soviets in 1918. Basmachi bands were formed as a reaction to this. Lenin chose Enver Pasha, a former Turkish General to break the basmachi and persuade the Muslim masses to join the Bolshevik cause. Enver wanted to deliver British India to the Bolsheviks in exchange their help in restoring him to power in Turkey, which by now was in the grip of one of his former colonels, Mustafa Pasha, better known as Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk showed himself to be friendly towards the soviet neighbors and hostile towards the British.

Enver Pasha’s political fortunes reached a low ebb on March 16, 1921 when Moscow finally signed a treaty with his arch-foe Ataturk. The author says that: “But it appears that the unsuspecting Lenin dispatched him to Central Asia hoping that he would exert his considerable influence on the local Muslim population…”. Enver arrived in Bohara which was now in firm Bolshevik hands. He made secret contact with basmachi leaders. Enver is said to have found himself in the cradle of the Turkish race. He was to lead against the Bolsheviks. Enver had to unite Uzbek, Turkoman, Kirghiz and Kazakh. He sent messengers to Khiva, Samarkand and Ferghana to invite basmachi leaders to join forces with him. On 14 February 1922 Enver captured Dushambe, in present-day Tajikistan.

On the other side, Roy considered Gandhi’s ideas as ‘positively reactionary’ and not being revolutionary. Ten of Roy’s Indian agents were picked up after entering the India across the Pamir. They were charged under section 121-A of the Indian Penal Code. Satlin who had been placed in charge of the Comintern’s eastern operations by Lenin, was now becoming increasingly impatient at Roy’s lack of results. On May 8, 1923 Lord Curzon sent an ultimatum warning Moscow that unless, within ten days, it withdrew all its agents operating against British interests in Asia, or anywhere else, trade relations between the two countries would be terminated forthwith. Moscow was momentarily stunned by Curzon’s bombshell but for the Bolsheviks Soviet India remained the ultimate Prize in Asia, and Moscow had no intention of abandoning its hopes. Comintern now aimed at expanding Eastwards towards China as well as into French Indo-China and the Dutch East Indies. Bolshevisk had links with China dated from 1920.

On February 1, 1924, Britain accorded full diplomatic recognition to the Soviet Union, becoming the first major power to do so. Major George Gillan who took charge as Consul-General at Kashgar pointed out to Taoyin that incase of trouble the British Consul-General could become a refuge for the most obvious victims of the mobs. In Kashgar Gillan and his Russian counterpart were indulging in these shadowy pursuits, elsewhere in China there had been dramatic developments. Borodin wanted the communists in China to go along with the Kuomintang and to seize victory from them at the last moment, from within. The warlord-held territories could be captured in this manner was what Borodin planned. Roy exited from the Soviet Union with the help of Borodin. Roy was arrested in Bombay and was found guilty and sentenced to twelve years of rigorous imprisonment.  He argued in court and quoted Hume and Bentham. His sentence was cut half.

Chapter sixteen is about the last of the central Asian dreamers. In this chapter the political turmoil, killings, conflicts and the last foreigners who observed the various changes in that part of Central Asia are mentioned. Khotan, Kucha and Yarkand are mentioned in the next chapter, serving as important positions in the great game. Colonel Reginald Schomberg, after travelling through Chinese Central Asia produced a twelve-page report. He warned that there is great threat of ‘Red intrigue’ in ‘India, Tibet, Chitral and Punial’.

Peter Hopkirk espouses that the East fails to ignite as he says that: “Lenin’s great dream of an empire in Asia, like those of Sternberg, Enver and Ma, had ended in failure”. Hopkirk considers that the only permanent gain has been Mongolia. Bailey described as the last player in the Great Game was to serve the British government for another eighteen years. First as political officer in Sikkim, later resident in Srinagar and lastly as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Royal Court of Nepal. Bailey passed away in 1967 at the age of eighty-five. The author considers him as the last survivor of those stirring days in Asia’s back.

The bloody struggle is a story of British intelligence officers, armed communists of the Communist International, Muslim leaders, Chinese political figures and other regional stakeholders. A very interesting read for all those interested in understanding Great Game in the Central Asian region.

Read More

Book Review: Identity: Contemporary Identity Politics and the Struggle for Recognition by Francis Fukuyama

 

Tracing the development of the idea of identity from the time of Plato, the author Francis Fukuyama gives a simple message of shaping a universal understanding of human dignity. Unless humans do that conflict seems unavoidable. The author says that the inner self is the basis of human dignity. He adds that economic grievances become more severe when indignity and disrespect are attached with it.

The concept of identity is rooted in Thymos, according to the author. This emerged only in modern times when it was combined with a notion of an inner and an outer self, and the radical view that the inner self was more valuable than the outer one. This was the product of both a shift in ideas about the self and the realities of societies that started to evolve rapidly under the pressures of economic and technological change.

Modern concept of identity unites three different phenomena. The first is thymos which craves for recognition. The second is the distinction between the inner and the outer self and the raising of the moral valuation of the inner self over outer society. The third is an evolving concept of dignity, in which recognition is due not just to a narrow class of people, but to everyone.

In chapter five titled Revolutions of Dignity, the author states that ‘desire for the state to recognize one’s basic dignity has been at the core of democratic movements since the French Revolution’. The author extensively refers to the western thinkers including Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Marx and many others. Fukuyama says that nationalism and Islamism can be seen as a species of identity politics. Both provide an ideology that explains why people feel lonely and confused. And both of them demand recognition in restrictive ways (only for the members of a particular national or religious group).

In chapter nine the author describes thymos, isothymia and megalothymia. Thymos is part of the soul that desires for recognition, isothymia which is recognition as equal in dignity to others and megalothymia which is recognition as superior. In the same chapter there is criticism of the left. The argument is that the left is not building solidarity around large collectivities such as the working class, instead it chooses to focus on smaller groups being marginalized in specific ways.

Understandings of dignity forked in two directions during the nineteenth century. One, toward a liberal individualism and second toward collective identities for e.g. nation or religion. Fukuyama says that in liberal democracies identity politics began to reconverge with the collective and illiberal forms of identity such as nation and religion.

Fukuyama suggests that ‘a shift in the agendas of both left and right toward the protection of ever narrower group identities threatens the possibility of communication and collective action’.  In addition to that he suggests that the remedy is to define larger and more integrative national identities that take account of the de facto diversity of existing democracies.

Inclusive national identities are encouraged by the author. Policy of assimilation is to be promoted as liberal democracies benefit greatly from immigration, both economically and culturally, writes the author. Identify politics is making things harder and complicated. Fukuyama says that: “Social media and the internet have facilitated the emergence of self-contained communities, walled off not by physical barriers but by belief in shared identity”. The last chapter stresses that the human race will not escape thinking about themselves in terms of identity. In fact, identity should be used to integrate and if this happen populist politics would be remedied.

Read More

Book Review: The Girlfriend By R. L. Stine

I personally think this book presents a short story with so many lessons for the reader. It is about a boy named Scotty and his friend Lora. Scotty has been accepted at Princeton and is happy in life until he faces a difficult situation. Lora goes to Paris with her family for holidays. During this time Scotty meets Shannon, a girl at his school. Things change very quickly as Shannon gets addicted to Scotty. Scotty regrets his action and tries to stay away from Shannon. He is tense, scared and troubled by his mistake. Due to his single mistake he starts lying. He tries to cover up anything that he thinks would uncover his secret.

For this he personally faces a lot of damage. Shannon kills his pet snake, breaks his fingers and threats him. Scotty does not want Lora to know about the mistake which made the other night. Things grow more complex when Shannon threats Scotty. She now wants to inform Lora about Scotty’s secret. Scotty is very tense. He goes to Shannon’s house to settle things in a pleasant manner. Instead, things become uncontrollable. A surprise birthday party turns into a terrible shock.

Scotty tells Lora about the whole chain of events. She is very displeased and shocked. Shannon takes up the birthday present- a ski and tries to kill Scotty with it until Lieutenant Jarmusch arrives and arrests Shannon who was already under vigilance for her abnormal acts. Lora and Scotty feel relived as Scotty accepts his mistake. Things get normal and Scotty gets dropped back home.

The lessons which could be taken by the reader is that trust is a very important relationship, it should never be violated in any case. A single lie takes you a long way into a sea of lies. Honesty should be encouraged and deceit should be denounced at all costs.

Read More

Book Review: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

This novel was written by Ernest Hemingway in the United States in 1899. The author of this book worked as a journalist, took part in both world wars of the twentieth century and covered two civil wars too. In 1954 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. Seven years after this, he sadly committed suicide.

The story of this novel revolves around a person named Santiago. In his younger days he was called by his full name, but now “salao” has replaced his real name, as he is unable to catch any fish lately. His only apprentice is a young boy, who is advised by his parents to stay away from the old man as he could bring him the worst kind of bad luck.

One day he goes out into the deep sea to try his luck. He catches a real big fish. It becomes a really challenge traveling with the fish back home. The length of the fish is later measured and it is eighteen feet. Sadly, on his way back many sharks attach Santiago boat and eat up the large fish. When Santiago nears home he sees the large fish in a skeletal form. This disappoints him a lot.

One of the lessons which I think is very clear in this novel is that any individual should not give up. Despite his old age Santiago takes up the challenge and ignores unwanted criticism. He proves that he caught a big fish and also proved that any concerted effort can help you achieve your goals and bad luck is just an excuse for not making an effort. Integrity is not in boasting but it’s in acting on what you believe. A good short read!

Read More

Book Review: Ibn Khaldun: His Life and Work by Muḥammad Abdullah Enan

 

The author of this book presents a study on Ibn Khaldun, one of the distinguished personalities in the history of Muslim thought. Although western scholars benefited from Ibn Khaldun, but the author believes that in the East he is still not fully appreciated. The early chapters of the book cover the early life period of Ibn Khaldun and his adventures, whereas the latter part focuses on his intellectual and social legacy.

Born in 1332 in Tunis, Ibn Khaldun belonged to a prominent influential family of Andalusia (Muslim Spain). He was the descendant of an old and learned family. At an early age he learned Quran by heart, studied Hadith and jurisprudence.  Khaldun became a seal barrier, shifted sides when under danger. He travelled, studied and became an outstanding personality in the history of the states of North Africa. He was appointed at the court of Fez. Other than that he also got involved in political intrigues. Sultan Abu Enan kept Khaldun in prison for two years.

The author considers Khaldun as an opportunist for whom ‘end justified means’. Under Sultan Abu Salem Khaldun was secretary and chamberlain. After that he was appointed as Chief Justice. The author continues that Khaldun occupied the same status of a thinker and writer in the states of North Africa, as Ibn al-Khatib had in Andalusia.

Under Sultan of Bougie, Khaldun served as a Hajib (manager of all the affairs of the state). When Khaldun returns to North Africa he resumes his relations with Abu Hamu. He starts to write his historical work. Later, Khaldun arrives in Egypt. Firstly, he is appointed as a professor in the Kamhiah School and later as a Maliki judge. The Egyptian writers oppose and criticize him. Khaldun’s family dies during a journey when a storm hits their ship. This book mentions the circumstances under which Khaldun is relieved from his position as a judge. Furthermore, his study, research, and his efforts for the improvement of relations between Egyptian court and the courts of North Africa are also mentioned. His journey to the holy land is also briefly covered.

Ibn Khaldun descends from the walls of Damascus and reaches the camp of Timur, who is ready to invade. He interviews the invader Timur. For twenty-three years Khaldun lives in Egypt. He keeps away from politics and works on his literary works. Egyptian writers greatly oppose him and attack him in their writings, but a few also support him. Some of them include Al-Makrizi who was influenced by his thoughts and theories.

The second part on the book revolves around the legacy of Ibn Khaldun. This includes both social and intellectual legacy. Under this section Khaldun’s compression of subjects such as history, sociology and political economy are praised. The author discusses Khaldun’s views on state, sovereignty and social phenomena. Ibn Khaldun considered history as a science worthy of study- not as a narrative merely recorded. While discussing the Arabs Khaldun opines that they are a ‘savage nation whose conquests are made for pillage and devastation’.

Western research considers Khaldun a philosopher, historian, a scholar of sociology and political economy. Dutch, French, Italian and Russian scholars have praised Khaldun’s work. Comparing Khaldun and Machiavelli the author believes that the Muslim thinker was richer in material than the Italian thinker. The author states that: “The opinions and theories of Machiavelli are inspired by the events of ancient history, particularly by the events of his time which he witnessed and studied, and from which he concludes certain general laws, in the same manner as Ibn Khaldun who makes similar conclusions by studying society.”

The author leaves the reader with the possibility that Machaivelli might have heard of Ibn Khaldun and his Prolegomena towards the end of his life, ten years after writing the Prince. In the concluding paragraphs Inan says that ‘Prince was a great conquest in the thought of the Renaissance as the Prolegomena was a great conquest in Muslim thought’. This book stands out as a great effort by the author in highlighting Ibn Khaldun’s achievements and his work. Every person interested in history, politics and sociology should give this a read.

Read More

Book Review: Water by Bapsi Sidhwa

 

In this book Bapsi Sidhwa adapts Deepa Mehta’s controversial film ‘Water’. The setting is based on the backdrop of Gandhi’s rise to power in India of 1938.  The story revolves around the life of an eight-year-old girl named Chuyia. Chuyia is a child-bride who is abandoned away from her village at an Ashram, when her fifty-year-old husband dies. Like all the other widows there at the Ashram, she is expected to spend the rest of her life in penitence. Despite her young age Chuyia becomes a source of change in the lives of other widows.

Madhumati, the eldest widow in the Ashram supplies widows to rich clients through a eunuch named Gulabi. Chuyia’s friend, the young and beautiful Kalyani, is also used for prostitution by Madhumati- the patronizing widow. Kalyani falls in love with Narayan, a young Gandhian of the upper class.

Narayan informs his mother about his choice for marriage. His mother is displeased and shocked. The traditional balance of culture, morals and religion are under threat, according to his mother. For Kalyani, this would mean challenging the balance of power in the Ashram. With that, it would also mean defying openly the religious dictates. Bapsi Sidhwa has beautifully shown details of the characters, societal intricacies, moral fabric, class system and hypocrisy of the upper classes.

The story ends with Kalyani’s death when she is left in a state of despondency. Chuyia’s fate changes when she climbs the train with Shakuntala. Shakuntala is upset as Madhumati has forced the young Chuyia into prostitution. She does not want that to continue.  Narayn promises Shakuntala to take Chuyia’s responsibility, as he had already promised Kalayani.  Narayan is on Gandhi’s train march and leaves his native town with Chuyia. This novel offers a great insight to the lives of widows in colonial India. A very rich and detailed narration by Bapsi Sidhwa keeps her reader attentive throughout the novel. Worth reading!

 

Read More

Book Review: Judgment of History by Mubarak Ali

Judgment of History is one of the more than eighty books published by Dr. Mubarak Ali. This book is a collection of articles on various themes in history and historiography. Ali presents a pro-people approach in his writings. 

He does not agree with the dominant narratives of history where local perspectives of the people are missing. In his simple style Ali discusses dynasties, imperial powers, Europe, Mughals, Arabs, Romans, traders, civilizations, conflict, social attitudes, wars, history of sub-continent and much more. His articles in this book are easy to read and understand.

Dr. Ali was born in Rajasthan in early 1940s and later in 1950s he migrated to Pakistan. He completed his doctorate degree from Ruhr University Germany. Before that he had studied history from Sindh University and had also served as a lecturer. In 1989, Ali was forced to resign from Sindh University.

By reading this book one gets a very clear message that history needs more research and dominant perspectives should not be accepted in any case, as they have been manufactured by the ruling elite. Distortion of history is another element which he points out in his writings. Students, teachers, researchers and anybody interested in history should get a copy of this book.

Read More

Book Review: Principles of Social Reconstruction by Bertrand Russell

 

Principles of Social Reconstruction is a compilation of lectures written by Bertrand Russell in 1915 and delivered the very next year.  Based on eight chapters this book covers themes of growth, state, war, property, education, marriage, religion and the potential of the human race.

Russell says that ‘without understanding and sympathy it is impossible to find a cure for the evil from which the world is suffering’.  He further adds that all human activity springs from the two sources: impulse and desire. Russel thinks that men not only need material goods, but more ‘freedom, more self-direction, more outlet for creativeness, more opportunity for the joy of life, more voluntary co-operation, and less involuntary subservience to purposes not their own. The author says that public opinion is largely created by the state with the help of oratory and the influence of the press. Moreover, he adds that ‘public opinion is as great an enemy to liberty as tyrannous laws’.  Both for internal; and external affairs the worst enemy of freedom is considered war by Russell.

In the third chapter war as an institution is discussed. Power or wealth are the two objects identified by Russell, which are desired by groups which make war. Russell believes that a ‘large proportion of mankind have impulse to conflict rather than harmony. This is same in the case of private lives and relation of states. In this chapter a suggestion is provided which says: “If the world is to be saved, men must learn to be noble without being cruel, to be filled with faith and yet open to truth, to be inspired by great purposes without hating those who try thwart them’.

In the chapter on property the author says that political institutions can play an important part by helping ‘individual creativeness, vigor, vitality, and the joy of life’. Russell opines that the evils in the current system result from the difference in the interest of consumer, producer and the capitalist. Chapter five of this book is on education. The author says: “Education is, as a rule, the strongest force on the side of what exists and against fundamental change: threatened institutions, why they are still powerful, possess themselves of the educational machine, and instill a respect for their own excellence into the malleable minds of the young”. He espouses that education should provide children with the knowledge and mental habits required for forming independent opinions. Russell says that ‘almost all education has a political motive.’ Preserving independence and impulse is more needed than instilling obedience and discipline by a teacher, says Russell. More money should be spent to secure teachers with more leisure and natural love of teaching. In addition to that the author says that men fear thought more than anything else on earth.

In chapter six the author addresses the question of marriage as a political institution. More and more women find motherhood unsatisfying, more and more there comes to be a conflict between their personal development and the future of the community, says the author. Russell states that: “It is the combination of love, children, and a common life that makes the best relation between a man and a woman. In chapter on religion and the churches, he is not in favor of professional priesthood. He is of the view that curiosity is the primary impulse out of which the whole edifice of scientific knowledge has grown. A reconciliation of instinct, mind and spirit is essential for men to remain whole. It is instinct that gives force, mind that gives the means of directing force to desired ends, and spirit that suggest impersonal uses for force of a kind that thought cannot discredit by criticism. He concludes chapter seven by saying that for those people who once enter the world of thought, it is only through spirit that happiness and peace can return.

In the last chapter titled ‘what can we do’ Russell explores the insecurities and possibilities of man on this planet. He says that ‘it is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly’. In the same chapter he further states that: “Education, marriage, and religion are essentially creative, yet all three have been vitiated by the intrusion of possessive motives”.  Russell is of the view that economic systems play an important role in promoting or destroying lives. According to him, after slavery, the present industrial system is the most destructive of life that has ever existed.

In this compilation of essays Bertrand Russell argues that impulse has more effect than conscious purpose in crafting men’s lives. Life built on creative impulses, according to him is the best life. Liberation of creatives should be the principle of reform both in politics and in economics. This conviction led Russell to the writing of these lectures.

Read More