Book Review: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan by Begum Naz

Syed Ahmad Khan's (SAK) grandfather had migrated from Herat. Syed was born in October 1817 to Mir Muttaqi. He was sent to a maktab. From his father he learnt archery and swimming. Khan's mother told him: 'Life is full of vicissitudes you must only form such habits as you can always live with' (p. 9).

Khan went to England where he visited Cambridge and studied the education system in the university.  Syed was an advocate of advanced scientific education. He was very practical and realistic. The author of this book states that Khan 'was not a preacher by vocation but by compulsion of circumstances, hence it would be safer not to treat this aspect of his personality further' (p. 48). Naz furthers stresses that Khan's greatest work was to instill lost confidence in the hearts of the Muslims and to open before them fresh alternative avenues and pathways which alone could relieve them from their state of utter hopelessness and despair (p. 56).

Khan was elected the honorary fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of London in 1864 (p. 10). The British took formal permission from Mughal Emperor to administer Bengal and Bihar during the time of Shah Alam (p. 11). There is an incident of the murder of a person named Nana by the English officer Saunders. This officer chopped Nana's nose, ears, fingers and toes (p. 14).

The role of missionaries, British plunder during the 1857 revolt, realism of SSAK and his publications are also explained in the book.

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Book Review: Pakistan and the Bomb: Public Opinion and Nuclear Options (Edited by Samina Ahmed and David Cortright)

Pakistan and the Bomb presents one of the most thorough surveys of Pakistani public opinion on nuclear policy. It examines the main factors that brought a nuclear arms race in South Asia. One of the perspectives in the book is that the majority of the Pakistani elite support their country's official stance of keeping the nuclear option open. Fear of an attack from India is the central factor behind the support for the nuclear option.

Pakistan's nuclear program gradually evolved during 1960s (p. 9). The nuclear postures of India and Pakistan have gone from calculated ambiguity to overt weaponization. In 1976 Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was dispatched to Islamabad and later to Paris in a bid to halt the reprocessing deal (p. 34). Pakistan's journey to nuclear weapons capability, the three wars of Pakistan, troubled relationship with USA, China's role, and budget allocation for the military are also discussed in the book. The book presents the reader with different perspectives on nuclear policy choices, public opinion poll, and offers a new vision which can lead to a more nuclear weapons'-free future.

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Book Review: Lahore: A Sentimental Journey by Pran Nevile

First published in 1933, Lahore: A Sentimental Journey is a tribute by Pran Nevile to his city of birth of Lahore. This interesting book covers his early childhood in Lahore, his time at Government College Lahore, festivals, cinema, time with his friends and the glamour in the city of Lahore. The author also writes about other themes including pathshala (teaching houses), fruits, film censor boards, clothing, fashion, fraudsters of Lahore, doctors, Lahoria's love for ghee, food, nepotism in Government College Lahore, annual jalsa of Arya Samaj and Rang Mahal School.

Pran Nevile writes that the Sikh rulers converted Badshahi mosque into a workshop (xviii). Nevile remembers Nehru passing through Anarkali. He says that Lahorias aped the Sahibs (p. 5). He remembers the pathans as moneylenders (p. 11). During the Besakhi festival in Lahore thousands of people took bath in the Ravi river (p. 23). Nevile also writes that the kite flying went from China to Europe, through India (p. 28). Tea was yet to gain a foothold and it was promoted in Lahore in the 1930s (p. 134). An old Punjabi saying is: 'Eat what appeals to you and wear what appeals to the people.'

The author himself grew up in Sutar Mandi in todays old Lahore. Some of the interesting observations of the author are that early marriage was the established custom in Punjab until the 1920s (p. 64). During the 1930s the author noticed that ghagris gave way to Shalwar suits and saris (p. 81). Even during the summer months the author and his friends would wear cotton or silk suits (p. 154). Some doctors would travel to Lahore from Amritsar twice a week to attend patients (p. 120).

Other interesting themes covered in the book include gatka instructor at Government College, swimming, rowing, King's Commissioned Officer, hierarchy within the bureaucracy, temporary government officials, refence culture, salaries of VCOs and KCOs, new rich class of contractors,  emergency wallahs as brown sahibs, a large majority of India army being Punjabi and the opening of the Wagah border in the 1950s for a  cricket match.

I find this account very interesting and reader friendly!

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Book Review: The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov (Translated by Constance Garnett)

This volume contains nine amazing short stories.  It touches on the themes of hope, despair, married life, choice, love, ego, time, happiness, life and freedom. The short stories include the Lady with the Dog, A Doctor's Visit, An Upheaval, Ionitch, The Head of the Family, The Black Monk, Volodya, An Anonymous Story and The Husband.

Chekov writes (from In The Lady with the Dog): " Useless pursuits and conversations always about the same things absorb the better part of one's time, the better part of one's strength, and in the end there is left a life groveling and curtailed, worthless and trivial, and there is no escaping or getting away from it- just as though one were in a madhouse or a prison" (p. 9).

Chekov was born in 1860 in Russia and died in 1904 in a German town. I think Anton Chekov is one of the greatest short story writers of the world. People reading him in Russian are very lucky.

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Book Review: Fidel Castro: Nothing Can Stop the Course of History (Interview by Jeffrey M. Elliot and Mervyn M. Dymally)

This detailed book covers a wide-range interview of the Cuban President Fidel Castro- the David who challenged the goliath. Some of the major themes discussed in the book are U.S-Cuba Relations, Reagan's foreign policy, the New International Economic Order, Politics in Latin America, Cuba's relations with African countries, arms race, political changes in Afghanistan and the economic blockade of Cuba by USA.

Castro believes that Ho Chin Minh and Lenin are great leaders. He also says that Prophet Muhammad and Christ are great leaders (p. 30-31). Castro does not approve of reactionary leaders such as Hitler. He furthers mentions that in the West there is a tendency to view leader of any third world country as chieftain (p. 38).

Fidel Castro says that Americans have an antisocialist, anti-revolutionary and anticommunist view (p. 57). He also adds that the people of the United States are some of the worst-informed people in the world (p. 58). Fidel Castro says that no one respects those he buys. He criticizes the IMF for causing havoc. He says that the US opposed all sanctions against the South African regime (p. 172). Cuba sent forces to Angola, so that they could fight against South Africa which invaded Angola. Further in the book, Castro also talks about the atrocities committed against the African countries, white supremacy, literature, work and sports.

I think the book is very important in understanding the mind and politics of the man who ruled Cuba for a very long time.

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