Ninad Pradhan- Archives

This page archives two kinds of articles: Currently reading from Literature, and blogs which I have written. You will have visited this page through some other page link, and it shows you have bothered to carefully browse my webpages. Thanks!
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Literature --> Currently reading...

This section includes:

• Glimpses of World History- Nehru archived June 30, 2004
• Patrick Moore on the Moon- Moore archived June 30, 2004

Glimpses... is meant to be a book on history. It is a compilation of a series of letters written by Pandit Nehru to his young daughter Indira, and in Nehru's words, is a 'rambling account of history for young people'. He is wrong about the 'rambling account' part. Glimpses... is written in simple language, answers questions with the simple logic of children, but is never a bubbly or over-optimistic account of things, and never rambles. He writes about history as a statement of facts, interspersing it with his own philosophy on the events and issues. For someone who was born long after Nehru died, this is the most appropriate way of getting to know him, far better, I feel, than biographies and expert opinions on the man. You may or may not agree with all that he says, but his clarity of thought and ability to argue using facts makes it easier for you to form your opinions.

The book, while objective and unbiased, does have the shadow of the present (mid 20th century) falling on it consistently. The reader is reminded of the state of deterioration of the then present-day India whenever the achievements of its past are mentioned. A major portion of the book acquaints the reader with the Asian empires and their lineage, and Europe comes into the picture only much later. The single most remarkable feature of the book is the writer's ability to toggle between significant periods or events happening in different regions of the world, thread them together, and keep the reader free of confusion. I am halfway through the book, and we are at the beginning of World War I.

Just when you think the US has missed the Glimpses bus, it finds space, and perhaps is the only country which is not gradually introduced to the reader. Native American civilisations, Latin America, Australia, and Africa (except for Egypt perhaps) have been largely ignored. This book was the victim of a library deadline, and I have not completed it. However, I will one day buy it and append it to my personal collection.

Though Pandit Nehru was in no way obliged to cover everything, since this is not a course book on history, the history of these regions through his eyes would have made for good reading, and I am a little disappointed because of that. Also missing are the profiles of the great architecture, of scientific and literary minds of each era that has been touched. Some of these minds made contributions that, in the course of time, turned out to be as important as any of the conquests of land made by kings and invaders. Maybe it is a fallacy of my thought, but I tend to associate periods in time with the relics or architecture of that period, since they register as pictures and make for easier recollection.

Patrick Moore on the Moon is about- what else- the moon, and written by Patrick Moore, the famous astronomer. You can see that it doesn't take a lot of effort to interpret the title. I have only just begun reading it, but the matter in the book follows the title in its ease of interpretation. I have often thought that I claim to know a lot about the moon without really knowing much about it, and this book seems like a promising place to correct this discrepancy. The book does explain the whole gamut of jargon associated with the moon and traces its discovery from ancient times. From the time man saw the moon to the time he began to observe it to the time he believed he could step on it. (he/she, don't take out your knives, ladies :) )

I could not finish this book, I had to return it to the library in time. As mentioned before, lot of information, but is a little dry in terms of presentation. Should be more enjoyable when one gets used to the style of writing.

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