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Deendayal Upadhyaya
Biography of Deen Dayal Upadhaya
178 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 16, 2019
Before you dismiss me as a 'libtard' or a 'congii' or even an 'urban naxal' (which I am in no mood to reject or defend, you are absolutely entitled to your judgement), on the basis of the rating that I have given to this book, allow me to tell you that here I am rating 'the book' and not the 'personality'. If I give a 5* rating to Hitler's biography, doesn't mean I endorse Hitler's worldview and his deeds; far from it, it is just that I found that the writing, the narrative, the presentation of that book is terrific. Now that I have made that point clear, let me tell you, that this particular book that masquerades as a biography of India's RWs' hot favourite messiah does injustice to the personality of DeenDayal Upadhaya.
India's Right Wing political party, The BJP, desperately needed a philosopher leader of yesteryear to match the personality and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, who their primary political rival, the Congress, was lucky enough to own to promote as their weapon in political gimmickry. DeenDayal Upadhaya, a rather uncontroversial righteous ideologue, meets that criteria. So, DeenDayal, who had been completely absent without even a remotest mention in the text books of India's history taught in school, has become one of the prominent figures in our current political narrative. How India's left wing historians have deliberately ignored the greatness of this personality is a common talk in Social Media.
Having known very little about DeenDayalji, I wanted to read some books to gain my understanding of his thoughts and contributions. Surprisingly, there are very few books available by and on him.
This book, though its cover suggests to be a biography of DeenDayal, actually more focuses on the foundation and history of RSS, Bharatiya Jana Sangh and BJP, and does a terrible job at that.
DeenDayal's actual life is described not more than few pages and the remaining things about him that you can find in this book are nothing but eulogies given by different BJP leaders after his death and recounting of certain incidents that they were involved in, which I found to be nothing out of ordinary or remarkable.
As far as DeenDayalji's thoughts and ideas are concerned, this book provides a skeletal view of those. Whether the 'integral humanism' or 'antodaya', I couldn't find more than what I already knew. This book lack so much in content, that you can find the same sentences used again and again to describe the same ideas at different parts of the book.
I was utterly disappointed.
Shakespeare wrote, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." I sincerely hope that DeenDayalji doesn't fall into the third category. I wish I would find a book (most probably written by him only) that would convince me the greatness of DeenDayalji and learn more about his ideas.
One minor thing that baffles me. I have found many people have joined Goodreads just to provide negative reviews and give one star ratings to the books by the so called India's left leaning liberal intellectuals opposing the current government, which I am pretty sure that they have never read. But how come those same individuals don't come out and promote the books on and by DeenDayalji? Should I conclude that those people not only don't read, but also don't 'love' and only 'hate' ? Or am I taking it too far?
India's Right Wing political party, The BJP, desperately needed a philosopher leader of yesteryear to match the personality and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, who their primary political rival, the Congress, was lucky enough to own to promote as their weapon in political gimmickry. DeenDayal Upadhaya, a rather uncontroversial righteous ideologue, meets that criteria. So, DeenDayal, who had been completely absent without even a remotest mention in the text books of India's history taught in school, has become one of the prominent figures in our current political narrative. How India's left wing historians have deliberately ignored the greatness of this personality is a common talk in Social Media.
Having known very little about DeenDayalji, I wanted to read some books to gain my understanding of his thoughts and contributions. Surprisingly, there are very few books available by and on him.
This book, though its cover suggests to be a biography of DeenDayal, actually more focuses on the foundation and history of RSS, Bharatiya Jana Sangh and BJP, and does a terrible job at that.
DeenDayal's actual life is described not more than few pages and the remaining things about him that you can find in this book are nothing but eulogies given by different BJP leaders after his death and recounting of certain incidents that they were involved in, which I found to be nothing out of ordinary or remarkable.
As far as DeenDayalji's thoughts and ideas are concerned, this book provides a skeletal view of those. Whether the 'integral humanism' or 'antodaya', I couldn't find more than what I already knew. This book lack so much in content, that you can find the same sentences used again and again to describe the same ideas at different parts of the book.
I was utterly disappointed.
Shakespeare wrote, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." I sincerely hope that DeenDayalji doesn't fall into the third category. I wish I would find a book (most probably written by him only) that would convince me the greatness of DeenDayalji and learn more about his ideas.
One minor thing that baffles me. I have found many people have joined Goodreads just to provide negative reviews and give one star ratings to the books by the so called India's left leaning liberal intellectuals opposing the current government, which I am pretty sure that they have never read. But how come those same individuals don't come out and promote the books on and by DeenDayalji? Should I conclude that those people not only don't read, but also don't 'love' and only 'hate' ? Or am I taking it too far?
March 11, 2018
There are very few personalities in the world of Indian politics who can be respected. And reading and knowing about such politicians or ministers is always a great experience. I am just done reading the book written by Shiv Shakti Nath Bakshi on the life of “Deendayal Upadhyaya” titled on the name of the personality himself with a tag line “Life of an ideologue politician”. Since BJP has come into power, many people have come to know about RSS and its history but still people want to know how did BJP form and come into power since all these decades. Pt. Deendayal being one of the pillars in the formation of the party had a wonderful journey as the politician who never gave away his principles for winning an election.
Generally, the biographies are written in very tough language but this book is written in a very simplistic manner which can be understood by any reader who knows English language. The author did not know much about Panditji which is quite evident from each and every chapter but the way he has gathered the information is worth-applaudable. The research put behind this book is very clear from every paragraph. The way all the lectures, columns, speeches, interviews are compiled to gather the timeline and fact about Pt. Deendayal’s personality is excellent for which author should be mentioned highly.
This book cannot be called as biography of Panditji as it mainly focuses on how RSS turned into the biggest political party- Bhartiya Janta Party today. Whatever contribution Pt. Deendayal had during this process in mentioned as and whenever possible but there is no focus specifically on the timelines of his life. Also, author is quite biased towards the personality and the political party which is quite observable as he has never discussed about the negative points of Pt. Deendayal or BJP and only spoken highly of them. This book will be loved by BJP followers more than anyone else. Also, this book must be read by all the young and aspiring politicians as it teaches how to be a politician without breaking the principles and integrity of your country. I give this 3.5* out of 5.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA!!!
Generally, the biographies are written in very tough language but this book is written in a very simplistic manner which can be understood by any reader who knows English language. The author did not know much about Panditji which is quite evident from each and every chapter but the way he has gathered the information is worth-applaudable. The research put behind this book is very clear from every paragraph. The way all the lectures, columns, speeches, interviews are compiled to gather the timeline and fact about Pt. Deendayal’s personality is excellent for which author should be mentioned highly.
This book cannot be called as biography of Panditji as it mainly focuses on how RSS turned into the biggest political party- Bhartiya Janta Party today. Whatever contribution Pt. Deendayal had during this process in mentioned as and whenever possible but there is no focus specifically on the timelines of his life. Also, author is quite biased towards the personality and the political party which is quite observable as he has never discussed about the negative points of Pt. Deendayal or BJP and only spoken highly of them. This book will be loved by BJP followers more than anyone else. Also, this book must be read by all the young and aspiring politicians as it teaches how to be a politician without breaking the principles and integrity of your country. I give this 3.5* out of 5.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA!!!
March 18, 2020
Deendayal Upadhyaya : A politician cum ideologue
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One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
- Plato
Deendayal Upadhyaya, Life of an ideologue politician is an okay kind of book about the man whom the RSS and BJP consider their ideal.
Deendayal Upadhyaya was the former president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( Predecessor of the BJP). Although, he was died in 1968 due to unknown circumstances near the Mughalsarai railway junction. But, he left an indelible mark on his party workers because of his simple and down to earth lifestyle.
Throughout his life Upadhyaya was against the horse trading in politics, centralization of power and opportunistic alliances. But, it's an irony that those who consider him as their ideal are doing the exact opposite of what he preached throughout his life.
He also gave the philosophy of 'Integral humanism'. He also wrote extensively throughout his life on different topics which later became a guiding force for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
This book is not that enlightening. I hope someone will write a good book about the life and times of Deendayal Upadhyaya. I don't recommend this books to readers.
I will end with these lines :-
'It is difficult to keep alive democracy between the two forms of government- mobocracy and autocracy.'
My Ratings : ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)
I hope you like this, Thanks for reading, Jai Hind.
------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
- Plato
Deendayal Upadhyaya, Life of an ideologue politician is an okay kind of book about the man whom the RSS and BJP consider their ideal.
Deendayal Upadhyaya was the former president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( Predecessor of the BJP). Although, he was died in 1968 due to unknown circumstances near the Mughalsarai railway junction. But, he left an indelible mark on his party workers because of his simple and down to earth lifestyle.
Throughout his life Upadhyaya was against the horse trading in politics, centralization of power and opportunistic alliances. But, it's an irony that those who consider him as their ideal are doing the exact opposite of what he preached throughout his life.
He also gave the philosophy of 'Integral humanism'. He also wrote extensively throughout his life on different topics which later became a guiding force for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
This book is not that enlightening. I hope someone will write a good book about the life and times of Deendayal Upadhyaya. I don't recommend this books to readers.
I will end with these lines :-
'It is difficult to keep alive democracy between the two forms of government- mobocracy and autocracy.'
My Ratings : ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)
I hope you like this, Thanks for reading, Jai Hind.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews