Hilal Ahmed, Muslim Political Discourse in Postcolonial India: Monuments, Memory, Contestation.

Another tale reveals the widening chasm between the different life-worlds (p. 156). A Jesuit priest in mid-nineteenth-century Karnataka listened to a Jain monk’s discourse on non-violence and vegetarianism. In the evening when food arrived, he took out a crude microscope and stained a little yoghurt that was being served. Seeing the microbes for the first time, the Jain monk could not eat any more. Mirza Ghalib took to verses to extol the steam power of the colonial rulers, how they rule the waves and get news from thousands of miles in a couple of breaths (p. 160). The concluding chapter traces the contemporary history of the country. The author ponders as to whether we are in a post-Darwinian age of ‘survival of the richest’ or some kind of reverse Darwinism that promotes the ‘survival of the idiots’ (p. 193). Yet he is hopeful about the inner resilience of people who withstood the vicissitudes of partition, emergency, wars and internal strife and still repose faith in the democratic tradition. This book is a well-argued scholarly work which one can enjoy at leisure, full of humorous insights about our Trishanku existence. Hailing from a mofussil background, the author had to struggle to gain proficiency in English. Maybe keeping his own experiences in mind, he has used very simple yet elegant prose which would be understood even by a layman. One only wishes that the author should have analysed the changing ethos in the country, especially since the past 2 years. There are passing references to civil society groups who have outlined an alternative agenda for the nation which needs to be explained at length particularly in a scenario where the state is curtailing the rights of the citizens. Many a time, the author uses ideas which tease the reader’s imagination but does not elaborate; for example, setting up of Special Academic Zones (SAZs, p. 45). However, the book would be of immense use to any student who wishes to understand the changing contours of our society. Shailaja Menon Assistant Professor in History School of Liberal Studies Ambedkar University Delhi, India E-mail: shailaja@aud.ac.in