THE SAGA OF THE SHAHANSHAS BY ADI F MERCHANT

THE SAGA OF THE SHAHANSHAS: ADI F. MERCHANT: BHAVAN’S BOOK UNIVERSITY: PAGES 250: PRICE RS 675/-

“I've reached the end of this great history
And all the land will talk of me:
I shall not die, these seeds I've sown will save
My name and reputation from the grave,
And men of sense and wisdom will proclaim
When I have gone, my praises and my fame.”
(Concluding verse of Shahnameh composed by Toosi)
Known as Abu ‘I-Quasim Firdausi Toosi or just as Firdausi, he was a Persian poet and gained fame as the author of Shahnameh. He has the distinction of being the sole composer of the world’s longest epic poem consisting of about 60,000 couplets written in early modern Persian and even longer the Illiad and Odyssey. Shahnameh literally means the name of kings. In his work which took 35 years to complete he covered the entire gamut of Persian history beginning with the creation of the world till the complete takeover of Persia by the Arab invaders. The Shahnameh is an impressive monument of poetry and historiography. It is essentially the poetical recast of what Firdausi and his predecessors regarded as the account of Persia's history.
Three main dynasties of Persia were covered by Toosi. They were the Peshdaad, Kayaan and Sasanid. Toosi was a person with outstanding ethical values and emphasized the avoidance of all negative human attributes and championed high human values for the upliftment of humankind. He lived for 80 years (940-1020 AD). Commissioned by the King, to undertake this humongous epic, he worked on it with all the passion in him but died heart-broken due to the measly amount that he was paid for this monumental task. Though the king tried to recompense him for the shabby treatment meted out to him by sending him gold coins and other gifts, it was too late in the day. His daughter with the little money Toosi had earned built a memorial for her father in his native village.
Adi Merchant has done an outstanding job of bringing alive the history of Persia to the present generation in his latest book. When Adi sent the book to me, I had strong reservations of reading a book on Persian history and I thought that I would be better off reading more about our own Indian history. After reading the first few pages on a flight, the book literally gripped me and then I ended up reading page to page with great excitement and suspense. Written in a simple and lucid style, the author has taken great pains to undertake extensive research to chronologically trace the rise and fall of what was a great empire in the annals of human civilization.  The book traces the Persian history from the time of Kaiomars who founded the Persian nation and from then onwards the succession of kings and queens have been graphically portrayed by the author for their military strengths, nobility, pride, egos, weaknesses and their final annihilation. The battle scenes have been so realistically depicted in the book by the author that I felt that I was watching the dramatic battles and wars in reality.
Some kings like Jamsheed played God, Faridoon was a just and generous king, Minuchehr was kind and munificient, Naudar was cruel, Kai Kaus proud and foolish and the unforgettable Rustom and Sohrab saga, which all of us must have heard about in our younger days was thrilling to read. Kai Khusru, Lohrasp, Gushtasp, Bahman, Humai the first queen of Iran, Darab, Dara and Sikandar (Alexander the Great), Khosroes, Nooshirwan and Mazdak, and it was Khusraw Parwiz who had the misfortune of presiding over the beginning of the  end of the great Persian dynasty caused by the invasion of the Arabs. Finally, the roaming King of Iran, Yazdigird III fled to Khuraasaan and he was killed in 652 AD. Thus ended the saga of the Shahanshas on a most tragic note.
The main message that the Shahnameh of Firdausi tries to convey is the idea that the history of the Persian Empire was a complete and continuous whole; it started with Kaiomars, founder of the Persian nation, and ended with his fiftieth scion and successor, Yazdigird III spanning over nearly six thousand years of history of Persia. Firdausi took upon himself the enviable task to prevent this history from being lost to future Persian generations. It is largely his effort to preserve the memory of Persia's golden days and transmit it to the younger generation so that they could learn and try to build a better world.
Adi Merchant must be complimented for the excellent work he has produced for the younger generation not so familiar with Persia’s ancient history. I strongly recommend this book to them.  It is a monumental and majestic work on the history of Persia and narrated very fascinatingly. I had to often go back many pages and come forward again to keep my mind in sync with the author’s pace. The book has several interesting sketches and colour pictures of the emperors which enrich the book further.
We in India know how the Zorastrians who fled Persia due to the persecution by the Arabs landed on our West Coast at Sanjana in the 8th century and continued to keep their faith in Ahura Mazda and also have kept the holy fire unextinguished.  Known as Parsis (from Persia), they continue to contribute immensely to India which they have adopted as their own.

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WHY I AM A HINDU: SHASHI THAROOR

BOOK REVIEW : WHY I AM A HINDU: SHASHI THAROOR: ALEPH: PAGES 302 : RS 699/-

Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament, needs no introduction to book readers. He is a prolific author of books. This is his seventeenth book. Neatly divided into three sections, almost the first one-third of the book is about his own belief in Hinduism, the Hindu way of life and its various customs with a full chapter devoted to the great souls of Hinduism.

In the first chapter of the first section, he explains the title of the book. His Hinduism is one of a lived faith. It is the oldest religion in the world (Sanatana Dharma)  with around 1250 million people as followers all over the world. It includes an eclectic range of doctrines and practices which includes pantheism (multiple divinities) as well agnosticism and even atheism. It believes in rebirth and a caste system. To be a Hindu you are not obligated to any doctrine and you don’t have to have a belief in a God. Hinduism has a long history from time immemorial and a common culture and tradition throughout the vast country.

What also attracts Hinduism to Tharoor is lack of dogma and freedom to choose one’s way of life from a broad canvas of options. So majestic and yet modest are the Vedic Seers that Tharoor quotes the Naasadiiya Sooktham or Hymn of Creation- part of the three millennium old Rig Veda “who knows whence this creation had its origin? --- He knows---or maybe even He does not know”. Tharoor compares Hinduism to a huge banyan tree under whose shade, men and women, plants and animals, thought and action flourish.
Tharoor highlights in Chapter 4, the immense contributions to Hindu philosophy made by Adi Shankara and Ramanuja who restored “Hinduism to pre-eminence and popularity as the principal religion of India”. Tharoor takes the readers on an illuminating journey through the maze of Hinduism. He quotes extensively from the Vedas and Upanishads, guides them through myths and popular practices, elaborates the thoughts of prominent expounders, and tells us about his own religious practices.

In the second section of the book, he chronicles the making of Hindutva. How it distorts Hinduism and how it can damage the social fabric of our country. He concludes that Hindutva as politics simply does not adhere to the precepts of Hinduism. It is basically incompatible with Hindu religion and faith. It seeks control and power over society. Hindutva is not concerned with the nuances of Hinduism, its agenda is to galvanise the Hindu community to quench its thirst for power unlike Hinduism which shows the path to personal salvation.

The last chapter and last section of the book is devoted to taking Hinduism away from the clutches of Hindutva proponents who at the cost of the minorities  are converting a pluralist religious philosophy into a political ideology.  One of the distinct features of Hinduism is that there has never been any attempt by any individual or any organization to spread the religion or establish it as an element of identity of people. As a result, the philosophy of Hinduism and the prescriptions of moral living are applicable to anybody irrespective of the religious belief the person might follow. Swami Vivekananda had said that Hinduism stands for both tolerance and universal acceptance. Any such move to change the character of Hinduism would be dangerous and would destroy India argues Tharoor. Tharoor believes that Hinduism is almost the ideal faith for the 21st century and a universal religion. No apostasy, no heresy. It is eclectic, has no dogmas and is therefore best suited to the uncertainties of a post-modern world.

Tharoor is a proud Hindu and a non-Hindutva Hindu. “ Garv se kaho ki hum Indian hein” is his motto.

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“FROM MAILROOM to CORNER OFFICE: a banker’s journey:”
DR. R. SRINIVASAN: PUBLISHED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF MR CHINMAY DAS: PAGES 290: PRICE: NOT MENTIONED

Dr. Raghavachari Srinivasan is a renowned banker having served the banking industry for more than four decades. He retired as Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of India. He started his banking career as a clerk at National Bank of India, Chennai in 1949. Later in 1960, he joined Andhra Bank to set up their foreign exchange department and worked at Hyderabad and Chennai. While in Andhra Bank, he was sent for specialized training in foreign exchange to Deutsch Bank, West Germany and West Minister Bank, UK. In 1971, he joined New Bank of India, New Delhi, as Controller of foreign exchange and rose to be their Chairman in 1981. He took over as Chairman and MD of Allahabad Bank, Kolkata in 1982 and in 1987 he was appointed CMD of Bank of India. He retired in 1991. He was also Chairman of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) during the years during this period. His spectacular rise in the banking industry was literally from the Log Cabin to the White House.

Urged by his son Srikant Vasan in 2005 to write his autobiography, Dr. Srinivasan agreed to embark on this journey to record his fascinating life from humble beginnings in a remote village in Tamil Nadu to the apex of power in the country’s banking industry. In his mid-seventies then, aided by his remarkable memory, he started writing this book primarily for the benefit of his large family of multi-generational members and dear friends from a wide circle in the banking industry and outside. He joined a Facebook group of present and past employees of Bank of India called “Galaxy of Bank of India Stars”. Over a year, he had posted in Facebook about his various experiences during his illustrious banking career which added the right “masala” to his writings on his early life to make his book a very delightful read.

What emerge from the book are the characteristics of a person of great integrity, honesty, a dear family man, a thorough professional and an outstanding leader and banker. He excelled in indoor games both carom and chess. A role-model for the old and younger generation in general and aspiring professionals in the banking industry in particular- an industry which he led with remarkable success. Current and potential leaders of the banking industry can learn many lessons from Dr. Srinivasan’s accounts of his wide ranging experience as a specialist in foreign exchange and his interactions with the topmost echelon of different banks in which he worked as well as with colleagues and Union leaders and Unionized staff. The way he handled militant Unions is an object lesson for all professional managers.

Dr. Srinivasan’s writing is candid, transparent and his views brutally frank. He had his early education in nondescript schools in Vembanoor and Ohai villages, in Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu. Over the years, he studied while working and obtained graduate and post graduate degrees. Post- retirement, he obtained a Doctorate from Bombay University in 1992 on “Priority Sector Advances- An Overview”  at the age of 73. This thesis was later published as a book and dedicated to Late Sri C Rajagopalachari, the first and only Indian Governor General of India for whom he has described his unabashed respect.

After covering his early days in his village and giving a glimpse of his personal life to the readers, Dr. Srinivasan narrates his various roles in the banks that he worked with. To begin with, he was an active member of the Bank’s employees’ union in National Bank and participated from the front in a 13 days first-ever bank strike. Undoubtedly, these experiences helped him to play an effective role in handling Union intransigency as CEO of the Allahabad Bank and later as CMD of Bank of India. He established a personal rapport with many of his staff and Union leaders who respected him for his humane approach. He took the Unions head-on when required and demonstrated his courage, tenacity, persuasive ability and conviction and found satisfactory solutions to difficult problems. Needless to say, the staff found in him a person of extraordinary qualities of head and heart. A leader who was just and fair in his dealings with one and all. They demonstrated their respect to him in many ways.

Sadly, there was an aberration in Dr. Srinivasan’s life post retirement. False charges were foisted on him by CBI in 1994 and he had to suffer the ignominy for many years. Justice system in India moves at snail’s pace. As it is said, justice delayed is justice denied. Dr. Srinivasan was put through severe mental torture and trauma till he finally obtained relief in 2007 and was acquitted by the Court of all charges. He covers this phase of his stressful life under the chapter “Challenging Times”.

The book is extremely readable and appealing. It is written in a simple style (the author has a reputation for an excellent handwriting) with interesting incidents and episodes and charming anecdotes including innumerable colour photographs taken during the many foreign and domestic holidays that he enjoyed with his family members after retirement. The accounts of his short meetings with political bigwigs are a treat to read.  The last chapter on his meeting with Col Rai, Vir Chakra, of the Indian Army brings out the author’s love for his motherland and admiration for the unflinching battles that the soldiers fight for preventing any intrusion into the country’s borders and for the safety of our people.

There are many pages in the book that should be read by the younger generation to understand and imbibe the basic values of life and how integrity, conscientiousness, honesty, hard work and discipline can take one to the pinnacle of one’s career. Equally, there are object lessons for elders who can learn the art of productive ageing in their twilight years from octogenarian Dr. Srinivasan. Besides, his steadfast support for his wife Sulochana during thick and thin and who he considers as his conscience keeper and pillar of support, his graceful acceptance of different cultures in his large family and integrating every one as an important unit exemplifies Dr. Srinivasan’s tolerance, magnanimity and farsightedness.

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