Book Review 2 Non Stop India by MARK TULLY

1. Mark Tully was the chief Bureau of BBC, New Delhi for 23 years. He got Padma Vibushan 2005. This book is an unsentimental tribute to India By it best Loved Englishman. The Essays written with clarity; warmth of feeling, and critical balance. Provides a lively view as one can hope from the Panorama of India. The articles are not judgments from a passing by western couple but from one that has become ingrained in the Indias mission. 2. He has covered ten topics ranging from Red India, caste, vote bank, Ramayana , Ayodhya, Tiger and also farming futures. He has kept the name Non Stop India, He says many Nonstop trains only get delayed. Indias growth story is similar, that there are certain dangers ahead. But if the rights steps are not taken to avert them the little of Non-Stop India will be justified. EXTRACTS He starts from 1991- how our government was forced to sell Gold, a devastating blow to the self respect of a Nation, where possession of that shining metal is the ultimate status symbol. To complete the humiliation it was reported that the truck carrying the Gold to the airport broke down. He remarks as how Atalji as PM while inaugurating NHDP his dream project told in lighter vein that Our Roads do not have pot holes, in fact our pot holes have few roads. He talks about the danger of Naxalites, Maoism and NE states. 3. He says that the fire lit by Naxalites are still burning; It is a major challenge for India & Its development.

 On the Indian castes he talks at length about the empowerment of Harijan, marginalized, desperate, and dispossessed. Social engineering have to be done with the aim to bring these communities along the modernization lines. The only way out is to remove illiteracy improve education, health, so that ultimately poverty gets stashed. Indias secularism, vote bank on caste lines, religious lines- reservation, growth of Yadav Politics in Bihar & Uttar Pradesh. He touches all this at length. 4. He says it is only the congress responsible for bringing BJP to power in the case of Ram. It was congress in 1987 which popularised Ramayana & Mahabharat in official solo broadcaster Doordarshan. That 78 episode galvanized the nation Hinduism was brought to peak with this aid by BJP has done a great service to Ayodhya Movement. Many ministers put off them swearing ceremonies to watch Ramayana serial. Many trains were compelled to stop as passengers wanted to see the episode. He talks about the language problem of India in Particular about the anti Hindi agitation in TamilNadu. How in Tamil Nadu alone DD was not broadcasting Hindu National News. 5. How 1991 liberalization helped India to emerge as economic powerhouse and the growth of software companies made a middle class revolution. How with a minority Government PVNR was able to push all the reform with one stroke of Pen in a nation built under the socialist legacy of Nehruvian congress atmosphere. On the whole he says that India may have many problem, it has witnessed the horrific partition, emergency, wars with the neighbors He says Bharat Mata is so young, she reinvents herself every time to solve the problem in her unique & inimitable style. One should read as many books about our country as it helps the civil service aspirant to get a perceive the problems and priorities of the country in full view, and one can answer any type of questions whether in the main exam or interview. In fact Louis Fischers book The Life of Gandhi should be read by all civil services aspirants. 2