Author: L K Advani
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: June 7, 2003
URL: http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jun/07spec.htm
I started reading books when I was
a teenager. At that time I was living in Hyderabad, Sindh, now in Pakistan.
I was 14 years old when I joined
the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The first question put to me by Rajpal
Puri, then prant pracharak (RSS provincial head) of Sindh, was whether
I liked reading books.
Since I was very much interested
in reading, he gave me Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence
People. In those times and at that age it was an extremely impressionable
book. Today it may not impress me, but it did impress me then.
Almost at the same time, I read
a book by Veer [Vinayak Damodar] Savarkar titled The First War of India's
Independence. It left a deep impression on me. It was about the first uprising
of Indians against British rule in 1857. It was brought to me by a friend
from Lahore. He purchased it from a shop which exclusively sold old books.
His gesture touched me because he spent a whopping Rs 27 for the book,
a high price in those days.
It was a costly book because it
was out of print and it was proscribed by the British government.
After school, I joined the science
faculty but didn't pursue my studies. In 1942, I was in D G National College
in Hyderabad, Sindh. Because of the freedom movement, our college used
to remain closed for long periods. I got a rare chance to access the entire
spectrum of world literature. All those months I remained in the library
reading the literature created by classical writers. Authors like Alexandre
Dumas, Charles Dickens and Jules Verne, I was able to read extensively.
Dumas was a French author who fictionalised historical events and I enjoyed
reading him.
Around 1947, I was living away from
home. My home was a RSS office where I was very active. When Partition
took place I was 20 years old. My passion for reading was increasing.
I migrated to India only after Partition,
on September 10, 1947. I flew from Karachi with my friend Murlidhar. When
I arrived here [in post-Partition India] I knew only English and Sindhi.
After 1947 I started learning Hindi and reading Hindi authors. I gave up
my studies in engineering and joined the law college in Mumbai.
Between the age of 18 and 22 Vivekananda's
books and sayings influenced me a lot. In Karachi I used to listen to Swami
Rangnathdas's lectures on Vivekananda regularly.
I vividly remember one event of
1947. Immediately after Partition I visited Mumbai for the first time in
my life. My host in Mumbai asked me, "What will you like to see?" He recommended
the Elephanta Caves. I said, "Take me to Veer Savarkar." Since his book
had impressed me deeply, I was keen to meet him.
Savarkar was living in Shivaji Park.
I met him for 30 minutes but memories of the meeting have remained with
me. Savarkar asked me about Sindh, how Hindus were treated there, and he
inquired about their well-being. He was an outstanding and dynamic personality,
a great patriot.
Another author whom I liked was
Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi. I read Munshi's novels like Rajadhiraj, Patan
ni Prabhuta, and Jai Somnath. He wrote in Gujarati, but his translations
were available in Hindi and English.
I found a deep influence of Dumas
on Munshi. Munshi's novels were also based on facts of history. When I
was leading the Ayodhya movement and when it became powerful, I went to
the Parliament library to re-read Munshi.
One of his books, Pilgrimage to
Freedom, recounts how he became interested in the Somnath temple. If you
remember, when Independence came, all the states of India were given an
option to accede to India or Pakistan. The nawab of Junagadh opted for
Pakistan, but the people (more than 80 per cent were Hindu) opposed it.
A people's movement, called arzi
hakumat, was initiated under the leadership of Shamaldas Gandhi, nephew
of Mahatma Gandhi. He freed Junagadh from the clutches of the nawab, who
panicked and fled to Pakistan.
Sardar Patel, then home minister,
was sent a telegram by Shamaldas Gandhi and S N Bhutto, then diwan of Junagadh
and father of Z A Bhutto, the late prime minister of Pakistan. When the
message was received from Bhutto, diwan of the nawab, that he had invited
the Indian army into Junagadh, the Sardar's face was beaming. Munshi said,
"Jaya Somnath!"
Donald Smith's magisterial volume
India as a Secular State (1963) is another book which I should mention.
The book debates Nehru's secularism and Gandhi's secularism. To put it
simply, it is argued that Gandhi was a believer and he thought all religions
should be respected. Nehru was a non-believer who believed all religions
are false and the State should not identify with any religion. Nehru's
views were the views of an atheist. I believe what Gandhi believed. Respect
all religions.
I have read Nehru's Discovery of
India too. As a critic of Nehru, I found it okay. But I certainly give
credit to Nehru for strengthening democracy in India after Independence.
As Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee contributed from our side, from Congress
side Nehru contributed immensely.
These days I am able to read [mainly]
at night or when I am travelling. Now, I have a full-scale library at home
with more than 8,000 books. Books are still an important part of my life.
Another book I liked was Stephen
Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. One of the points
the book makes is that for self- improvement or to become effective or
efficient, you need not just sweet talk or remembering birthdays. All these
sophisticated things are fine, but what matters is basic honesty. Inner
characteristics make you effective. Basic earnestness counts for more than
anything else. So true.
On Pakistan, I liked reading Mary
Ann Weaver's Pakistan.
I do read contemporary Western novelists
as well. My favourite is Jeffrey Archer. I have read John Grisham, but
I don't find him consistent. Kane and Able is the best one from Archer.
Recently I have read many books
relating to September 11.
On globalisation I read recently
Thomas Friedman's The Lexus and the Olive Tree.
But my all-time favourite book is
Rajaji's Mahabharata.
Like many book lovers, I don't surrender
to books when I am depressed or when I am not in a good mood. I just withdraw
within myself. Sometimes I do feel like not talking to anybody and resort
to reading. But even when I am not in a proper mood, I rarely express anger
because I regret it later. It hurts me too. In such a situation I do tell
my family members, "Mujhe padhna hai."
But frankly speaking, most times,
to avoid expressing my feelings or displeasure, I go off to sleep.
(As told to Sheela Bhatt on board
a flight from New Delhi to Hyderabad)
