The Man who Never was

Anubhavangal Palichakal by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai My rating: 4 of 5 stars Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade: A Premise: Like most of thakazhi’s works, this book is set during the post-independence era. It details the day-to-day grind of the farmers, manual laborers and other blue-collar workers in Kerala. At a time when the nation had barely gained independence, when there was a gross inequality in wealth, when few influential landlords had control of all the arable land, industries and lucrative businesses, most lived just one of two steps above poverty. Your average worker had to perform 12-hour days of back breaking work, just to earn enough for food and boarding. Thye owned no lands, had no knowledge of their rights, were cavalier with their limited assets, and hence were ripe for exploitation by the ruling bosses. Being from weaker sections of society, as well as illiterate, they were incapable of even understanding if they were being underpaid o...

View all my reviews An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi My rating: 5 of 5 stars An Autobiography: The Story of my Experiments with truth, as penned by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, is something that everyone, Indians in particular, and people in general should read, in order to gain an insight into the life, thoughts and convictions of the one of the most influential and relevant personalities of the 20th Century, perhaps of modern history. In a time of wars, conflict, and colonial oppressions taking place on a global scale, Gandhi was one of few who appealed to the better qualities of humanity and advocated a form of resistance which bore neither violence, hatred nor bloodshed. Gandhi told an entire nation the meaning of nonviolence and peace, but by no means did this make him a pacifist, ergo in the sense of someone who washed their hands of any affairs of the world. Gandhi was an active force for good, and chose to upload his ideals eve...