My Reflections

Perumal Murugan’s novel ‘Kazhimugam’, translated as ‘Estuary ’ into English by Nandini Krishnan is a story set in a technologically advance but morally decayed town. It depicts struggle of a government servant to fit in a fast changing world, his unease and incompatibility with the changing social norms.  ‘It is the world where ugly habits prevail, where rules are broken, a world with no values, a world of greed and desire and cruelty, a world that has rotted from all these that best lends itself to fiction, and this world is that of asuras, Asuralokam’. The novel is as much about midlife fear of its protagonist as it is about flaw in education system and a commentary on modern times. Kumarasurar, the protagonist of the novel lives a disciplined and modest life. He doesn’t carry lofty ideals and is bereft of big dreams. His predicament starts with education of his only son, Meghas. He admits him in school which has very strict rules. Kumarasurar laments when he sees his ...

Warfare is as old as human civilization so is its history. Indian subcontinent has been witness to bloody conflict and clashes since ages. Epics such as Mahabharata, Ramayana, Alha- Udhal are masterpieces of South Asia's age old tradition of rendering and preserving conflicts in different literary and art forms. India inherited thorny issues left behind by colonial masters at the time of partition which led to altercation and conflict with neighbors. These issues are still pestering making understanding of military history an essential part of statecraft. India can ill afford to ignore the history of conflict in this part of the world. Still t here are few good books on this topic worth visiting. The academics have largely ignored this important area whereas one comes across account of military conflict in memoirs of politicians or retired soldiers. There is dearth of well researched accounts on military history of India. This gap has been filled by  Arjun S...