The first thing that comes to my mind after reading Indian
Summer by Alex Von Tunzelmann is that why does it take a westerner to write
such an intriguing story about Indian History. The reason is beyond my
comprehension till date as common sense suggests the otherwise. The Indians
must be having greater access to archives, letters of iconic personalities and
first hand interviews of the survivers. This I am saying as I have also read
Indira by Katherine Frank and found it excellent.
The Indian Summer is based on dissection and deep research into the true personalities and personal lives of Mountbatten and Jawahar
lal Nehru in the backdrop of Indian Independence movement, giving an
microscopic and magnified version of the last few months on the British Raj in
India. Although the book starts in a bit sluggish way describing in detail the
lives of Mountbattens in 20s and 30s and Indian freedom struggle but one later
feels its requirement in order to personify the true characters and lives of
the Mountbattens and to build the story. The book catches the tempo in the
later half giving not only the details of the events but also the personal conversations
and discussions of the personalities we read so much about and allows us to
have a closer glimpses at their personal lives. The book presents the facts not
only on the basis of here says and rumors but are thoroughly researched based on
the letters exchanged between personalities involved and the evidences gathered
otherwise. This book unravels the humane side and peels of the layers of their character
and brings to life their common and simpler side of some of the greatest
personalities of India. We read about the leadership roles of Nehru, Patel and
Gandhi in our history books but its very difficult to personify them with just
those details. This book fills the gap between political and personal life of
leaders and having human insight into their lives.
The writer though falters few times to reach conclusions
based on conversations and indirect references but otherwise depicting a
neutral account of the events.
Nehru’s personality comes out as a great visionary leader
whose intellectual level was way higher than other leaders who sometimes
compromised with their ideals and vision in tiring circumstances.
After reading this book I would to delve more into the books
that discusses the ideas and experiments of Gandhiji and gives me more insight
into the Kashmir problem.
In the end … a good and interesting read.
