Chronicles of greatness

In a world where the 24-hour news channels have made the 10-minute sound byte the yardstick of articulation, what can you say about a compilation of articles published in a news magazine on a single theme, sustained for over 20 years? A good history lesson?

A guide on how it is possible to write more than 400 words on a subject without putting the reader to sleep? Or, a reminder of kinder, gentler times in the news industry when a good story was not cut short by shouts of "we're running out of time"?

Each of the articles is no less than 12 pages long, a lengthy cover story by any standard. And the fact that the man of the year issues of The Week have always been sell-outs on the stands indicate that a good story will always get a reader.

According to the introduction, written by Mammen Mathew, editor in chief of the magazine, it was a conscious decision by the editorial that the man of the year would be someone who has dedicated his or her life to a social cause. A second more important clause was that the person be unknown, so that, the publicity may actually help someone who really requires it.

The actual story of the man of the year compilation is in the title of the book itself. "Prophets of Modern India", the title, refers to the time period that the compilation covers.

The series begins in 1983, when Amte was decided upon as the first man of the year. The early 1980s was also the time when a nascent voluntary sector was coming up in the country.

At first led by Gandhians like Baba Amte who did not join the race for power which came to characterise the Congress, post independence, but chose to propagate the larger message of the freedom movement.

While Baba Amte's pioneering work among lepers was chronicled by the magazine in 1983, a decade later Dr Kshama Metre, a doctor who practises medicine in 125 villages in the Kangra valley was featured.

Unlike Amte, Metre was a new breed of social worker, product of independent India, professionally qualified, someone who had forsaken the glittering prizes of her profession to serve Kangra valley.

What follows is almost a history lesson on the voluntary sector movement in India, from Amte, to Metre, to Ratan Katyayani, a social worker in Rajasthan, who has dedicated his life to providing a basic identity to nomads.

Katyayani's story is, in fact, fascinating; his discovery that nomads actually do not exist just because they have no existence on paper is almost Kafkaesque in pointing out the absurdities of officialdom.

All the contemporary pre-occupations are well chronicled in this volume, from primary health care to water harvesting to low cost technology.

In fact the causes and people featured in the volume can almost be a substitute for a text book in development economics. The 20th man of the year is Anil Joshi, who has pioneered the preservation of indigenous seeds and other environmentally sound practices.

At least four of The Week's "finds" have won international awards subsequent to being published. That is of course remarkable. What is more remarkable is the fact that the magazine still manages to find worthy people in an age where the voluntary sector is looked at with suspicion as yet another fund-soaking avenue.

Needless to say none of my candidates, in the two years that I worked in the magazine, found favour with the editor, since I could never actually suspend my precocious cynicism.

The book has been brought out as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of the magazine. One would have liked a little more detail on how the man of the year is chosen by the magazine, and a little bit too about the correspondents' own views, with the hindsight that time provides.

That the people featured in the book are great is beyond doubt, but a compilation actually comes alive if there is a sincere examination of compulsions and motives and the effect that time has on it.

The title calls those featured "prophets of new India", that requires not just greatness but an ability to look in to the future. A post script to the actual story or, "the prophet revisited" would have made for more gripping reading.

Rajendra Singh, one of the men featured in the book, was beaten up by local political goons at a public meeting in Aligarh, Alice Garg too had to face her share of detractors, Raghavendra Swamiji has now attained divinity in Karnataka.

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THE WEEK: PROPHETS OF NEW INDIA

Penguin Enterprise
Price: Rs 395
Pages: 270