The Discovery of India By Jawarharlal Nehru I will express just one thought before I go on to present this plagiarised book

review. Why do we read? The answer to this question lies in the fact that we have only one life, but we want to experience hundreds. Speaking for myself, I want to be James Bond one day, Harry Potter on another day. It would delight me to be the worlds most admired Unfortunately, I am Raja of today and thats what I will remain. So how do I live these thousand lives? When I pick up an Ian Fleming, or a P G Wodehouse or an Arthur Conan Doyle and curl up somewhere, I live the life of a James Bond, or I live the carefree platonic life of Bertie Wooster. I travel the world with the author; I experience the joys, the sorrows, the sins , and the saintliness too. Thats what books give mea thousand lives. Yes I said plagiarised. I was a busy professionally, so I picked up some stuff from the net. (Hey, I read about 20 of them! ) I regret that I did not note down the sources to give credit where due. So heres cheers to my unknown benefactors. Read on and enjoy. The story of Discovery of India begins from prehistory to the last years of British colonial rule. Analyzing texts from the Vedas to the Upanishads, and epics such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, and personalities like the Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru brings to life an ancient culture and land that has been the base and headquarters of some of the worlds great traditions of philosophy, science and art, and almost all its major religions. His the search for India, the Bharat Mata, the variety and unity of India and all these reflect the beauty and glory of the Indian civilization. The glory of the Indian civilization, can never be equalled in any way by the modern society of our country. Here, we will not come across a bunch of facts, about Indian history, to recollect all the years and names. Here we are enlightened by the knowledge on the culture and tradition on India and at the same time, we are not going to be starved of our enthusiasm. The Indus valley civilization, the coming of the Aryans, Hinduism, caste system, the continuity of the great Indian culture, is in the book (Discovery of India). The epics, The Mahabharata, the Bhagavat Gita, Buddha, Ashoka and through all the people, the Discovery of India has the contemporary records of the time, we can get a complete picture of India through the ages. Through the Arabs, the Mongols we come to the golden time of the Mughal empire. And the lives of Babar, Akhbar, the Marathas, all flash before our eyes, as we are led to the colonial times of the British rule, with all the minute details. The path takes through the times when the British came as traders to India and later went to built a colonial empire.

Discovery of India gives us a beautiful insight into the friendship between Gandhi and Nehru, the role of Gandhi, M. A. Jinnah, the coming of the Second World War and the final phase of the freedom movement after the war. Writing with pride about his motherland, he does not mince his words. Whilst singing the praises of his peoples successes and great heritage, he also acknowledges their failures and weaknesses. At times, one feels that Mr. Nehru has just stopped by for a chat in your living room. The style of writing is such that you never feel that he is lecturing you or even teaching you. He is but discussing with you your heritage. To read is to more than discover just India. The Discovery of India makes a person have inner knowledge and pride that he originates from so wonderful a land.

I end this effort with something not of the net. I quote one of the many thoughts which hooked me totally to this wonderful book. I leave it to you to think about why I chose to quote this one. A blind reverence for the past is bad and so also is contempt for it, for no future can be founded on either of these. The present and the future inevitably grow out of the past and bear its stamp, and to forget this is to build without foundations.

Wishing you a thousand lives.