The President of India looks back to look ahead at the challenges that can disrupt a democracy’s dialogues.
My first exposure to politics was at home. My father, the late Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee, joined the Indian National Congress in response to the call of Mahatma Gandhi in 1920. A staunch nationalist, he was arrested several times by the British government during the freedom struggle. After Independence, he served as a member of the West Bengal Legislative Council for two terms.
I have many childhood memories of local Congress leaders visiting our modest house. Quite often, when the discussions extended through the day, my mother would prepare a frugal meal for them. It is hence not surprising that when I entered college, the study of politics and modern Indian history captivated me. I became involved with student politics. Through all of this, and till date, Jawaharlal Nehru was a dominant influence on me.
A Nehruvian Indian
Nehru was a politician, statesman, institution-builder and a nationalist committed to the plurality that makes India exceptional. In his thinking, only a democratic structure, which gave space to various cultural, political and socio - economic voices, could hold India together. Nehru also strongly discouraged all forms of hero worship. As early as November 1937, he had penned an article titled ‘Rashtrapati’ under a pseudonym, Chanakya, in the Modern Review of Calcutta, edited by Ramananda Chattopadhyay, accusing himself of having all the makings of a dictator, and concluded: “We want no Caesars.”
Of Human Bondage
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 2017 من Reader's Digest India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 2017 من Reader's Digest India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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BOOKS
Books review
STUDIO - Off Lamington Road by Gieve Patel
Oil on Canvas, 54 x 88 in
NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF MEDICINE
FOODS THAT FIGHT DEMENTIA
TO HELL AND BACK
The Darvaza crater in Turkmenistan is known as the Gates of Hell. I stood on its edge - and lived to tell the tale
THE SNAKE CHARMERS
Invasive Burmese pythons are squeezing the life out of Florida's vast Everglades. An unlikely sisterhood is taking them on
Sisterhood to Last a Lifetime
These college pals teach a master class in how to maintain a friendship for 50-plus years
...TO DIE ON A HOCKEY RINK
ONE MINUTE I WAS PLAYING IN MY BEER LEAGUE, THE NEXT I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL
Just Sit Tight
Broken, battered and trapped in a ravine for days, I desperate driver wonders, \"Will anyone find me?\"
Allow Me to Mansplain...
If there's one thing we know, it's this: We're a nation of know-it-alls
THE BITTER TRUTH ABOUT SUGAR (AND SUGAR SUBSTITUTES!)
It's no secret that we have a serious addiction. Here's how to cut back on the sweet stuff, once and for all.