The Dismantling of India by TJS George

The Dismantling of India: In 35 Portraits by T.J.S. George
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One may disagree with the author, but TJS George does offer some probing questions to the present ruling dispensation, although, conversely, he appears to have a single point agendum – criticise Modi. Whether he is talking about JRD Tata, Rahul Gandhi etc, the arguments veer back to Modi – Modi is an autocrat, tyrant, megalomanic, intolerant, etc etc.
However, there are some really thought provoking articles.
At times the title seems to be at odds with the contents – how have JRD Tata, AB Vajpayee, APK Abdul Kalam P Lal contributed to the ‘dismantling’ of India? Why include Ustad Vilayat Khan and why has he subsumed Pandit Ravi Shankar. The antics of the anti-Hindu MF Hussain are justified in the name of art. The dismantler-in-chief Lalu Yadav (the shameless guzzler of cattle-fodder of millions of ruminants) is conspicuous by his absence, as is Mamta Banerjee.
If Amitabh Bachchan is included why are Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, JP, Sachin Tendulkar excluded?
To redeem the narrative and justify the title of the book, the real dismantlers of India the cadre of the secessionist ‘tukde-tukde gang’ are included – Rana Ayyub, Umar Khalid, Varavara Rao. Also, other dismantlers like Veerappan, Harshad Mehta, Dawood Ibrahim, Raja Bhaiya are rightly included.
I loved this quote from JRD Tata

‘While I usually come back from meeting Gandhiji elated and inspired but always a bit sceptical, and from talks with Jawarharlal, fired with emotional zeal but often confused and unconvinced, meetings with Vallabhbai were a joy from which I returned with renewed confidence in the future of our country. I have often thought that if fate had decreed that he, instead of Jawaharlal, would be younger of the two, India would have followed a very different path and would be in better economic shape than it is today.’

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