The world-view of an eclectic intellect

There are 106 of them in this book. And most of them are reviews he wrote of books and essays by eminent authors.

In a bid to give the book a contemporary touch, perhaps, Lal has also thrown in about half-a-dozen essays freshly written for this volume.

Although these are not the only reasons this book is a pleasurable read, they do provide a glimpse of the fine intellect and the overall understanding of public affairs that Lal is gifted with.

Not an editor known for his perspicacity on matters economic, Lal's assessment of the logic of economic reforms initiated by the P V Narasimha Rao government is razor sharp all the same.

Sample this: "...the country had to make a transition to a market economy. It was true that some of the changes which would need to be phased out over a decade or more were parts of the IMF's conditionalities but they were to a large extent also in accord with the government's own thinking. Their sequencing in any case would depend on what measures could pass muster with Parliament and the public at a given time."

The stand-alone essays written exclusively for this volume also serve the purpose of meeting a gap that the author sensed while trying to compile the reviews in a thematically integrated structure.

Lal has been a little defensive in justifying the title of the book. Which is why, he explains in the introduction, that the main title of the book, 'Indian Realities', has been qualified with a sub-heading, 'In Bits and Pieces'.

Indeed, the essays he wrote for the volume provide the bits and pieces of the Indian reality that Lal perceived through the years.

The eight sections in which the essays have been classified give a fair idea of the vast range of Lal's world-view. They also provide ample testimony to Lal's intellectual eclecticism.

The sections cover ancient Indian history, art and thought, political developments since India gained Independence, the inexorable decay of institutions, westernisation of Indian society, the dubious role of Left politics and organisations, India's transition to a market economy and the Indian creative genius.

The two sections that stand out among the rest are those on India's journey towards a market economy and on Indian authors.

Lal has commented on the writing of virtually every economist of note who influenced policy-making in India in the eighties and nineties.

Ashok Mitra's anger over policy failure, Deepak Nayyar's optimism on economic reforms, Sukhomoy Chakravarty's dilemma as an economist and Amartya Sen's endeavour to reconcile ethics with economics are all issues that get a fresh perspective through Lal's reviews.

Yet the section that has the largest number of essays that stand out because of their timelessness is the one on Indian authors. Most of these reviews were written immediately after these authors had published a new book.

For instance, the review of A Passage to England by Nirad C Chaudhuri brings out the author's love-hate relationship with readers.

Lal does not fail to notice Chaudhuri's idiosyncrasies and is distinctly uncomfortable with the way the author looked up to his English hosts "as to an angel".

R K Narayan's writings and characterisation acquire a new meaning with Lal's review of Waiting for the Mahatma.

Writing the review in 1955, he says: "The characters in the novel come alive but they are not full-blooded. It is because R K Narayan's method permits only of pencil drawings. The object is rendered by line rather than volume. Yet, the line is always sensitive to the subject matter."

It is remarkable that even though Lal is a celebrated film aficionado, the book features only one film review and it comes at the fag end of the book.

This is one of the early reviews of Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali. Published in The Times of India on February 10, 1956, it is a gem.

Not just because of its sharp, analytical and perceptive comments about the film, but for the manner in which Lal could sense so prophetically that Pather Panchali was on its way to making celluloid history.

Lal sums up Pather Panchali as "pure cinema" and adds, "There is no trace of the theatre in it."

He does not see the film as propounding a "philosophy of despair" (remember Nargis Dutt, then a Rajya Sabha member, launching a tirade against Ray for having earned international fame by portraying India's poverty!) "There is more hope in it than in the make-believe world of vagrants landing top jobs or hooking rich heiresses, and of melodramatic revolts in tea plantations," Lal writes.

He praises the control Ray exercised on his material, which is what made Pather Panchali a work of art. In 1956, Lal had announced the arrival of a world-class film director much before the world began showering him with awards.

His only complaint was why such a film had to be sponsored by a state government. "But an industry that hasn't had the integrity to leave the conscientious maker of films to his own devices and true to his personal vision has little to complain about official sponsorship of feature films," Lal comments regretfully.

He sees this as a challenge and a promise. He ends the review with an earnest desire: "Let us hope that he (Ray) will produce a sensitive sequel to Pather Panchali."

Ray and many other young film directors took up the challenge and fulfilled the promise Lal talked about.

It is a pity that the book offers no clue as to whether Lal returned to this subject later and how he may have assessed Ray in his other celebrated films.

INDIAN REALITIES IN BITS & PIECES

Sham Lal

Rupa

Price: Rs 395