Theatres of Democracy
Between the Epic and the Everyday
Selected Essays
Shiv Visvanathan
Edited by Chandan Gowda
Publisher Harper Collins India
Pages 427
Price Not quoted
This book contains a bouquet from among the essays written by Shiv Visvanathan over the last 20 years and chronicle the democratic ferment and political upheavals in contemporary India . These had appeared in various important and leading newspapers of the country .The essays engage the reader with diverse issues like , to name a few ,the new dimensions of violence , the value of dissent , media , middleclass culture , creativity in popular culture , cities , elections political parties , cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, sundry social movements, and pathologies of nationalism and religious fundamentalism .
He has written also about politicians , intellectuals and sport and film personalities. His writing combines such wit, irony and analysis , as very few commentators can claim. He is eminently readable and his insight is amazing .Although dated, these essays are still carrying a freshness about them and are relevant even today.. , and sues below the surface identified by Shiv are, unfortunately, likely to remain rooted in our culture and the Indian Society is bound to or destined to suffer because of lack of social innovations and lack of comprehensive popular culture and pathologies of nationalism and religious fundamentalism .
He has written also about politicians, intellectuals and sport and film personalities. His writing combines such wit, irony and analysis as very few commentators can claim. He is eminently readable and his insight is amazing. His analysis and comments are relevant even today.
Also Read: The Silk Road, Not So Silky–Peter Frankopan
Shiv Visvanathan works as Professor , School of Law, Jindal University. Earlier, he was Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi and Professor , at Dhirubhai Ambani Institute for Information and Communication Technology.
Shiv writes as a freelancer and he writes on a variety of topics . A look at the topics would clearly show that the topics selected by him are close to the middleclass. No wonder, his essays and column are popular amongst that class. I am not highlighting this to belittle Shiv’s cultivating a constituency for his writings. As a matter of fact, every writer, every artist, every creative person has to decide about his target group and audience so that he can in advance prepare himself
to meet their expectations and\or educate them about the reality. In case of journalistic work, it is the most difficult task, compared to other fields, to cultivate loyalty of the readers because essays are to be written every day or every week on a variety of subjects each one demanding notice and attention and response .
Further, an essayist does not have one to one contact or direct exposure to audience like an artist, thereby making it far more difficult for an essayist to create a loyal audience.
Shiv has crossed the barrier and created admirers all over the country although they do not meet him in person. It is his word, his style, his wit which attracts people to him and he has thousands of readers all over the country who read his column the first thing after the newspaper is delivered .
It would be interesting to mention here titles of some of the essays included in this book . The very first essay is titled ‘The necessity of Corruption’ a subject near and dear to the hearts of almost all the Indians .Shiv acknowledges that there are pluses and minuses to corruption , and discusses various aspects of this evil and rewarding phenomenon. Here are some of the proverbs of corruption .1.Everything is negotiable. 2.Every rule is an opportunity. The more the rules ,the greater the opportunity .3. Corruption recognizes that delay is money , but too much delay is inflationary .
Also Read: India’s Long Road-Long and Hard Road Ahead by Vijay Joshi
He recalls meeting a World Bank expert ( in a TV programme ) who was advocating Summer Schools for bureaucrats on corruption . Shiv laughed at the queer idea upon which the expert told him that people like him should not be given space on the TV.
I will mention 2 more topics. ‘ Deciphering Sonia ‘ and ‘ The Fading Magic of News ‘. And , here are two more . ‘Will Advani Apologize for Godhra ‘ and
‘ Allahabad and Kumbh ‘ .
Unburdened by partisanship or political correctness these essays by Shiv Visvanathan bring home to the reader, once again ,the democratic ferment and political upheavals in contemporary India . This also highlights Shiv’s commitment to creativity as a journalist .
