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The Marigold Story: Indira Gandhi & Others
From the diary of veteran political journalist, Kumkum Chadha, The Marigold Indira Gandhi & Others unravels the hitherto unknown aspects of eleven men and women who remain a significant part of India’s history. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hated the marigold flower, although in death it was strewn all over her body; her son Sanjay Gandhi was dictatorial, but also uncommonly empathetic; Smita Patil, who was synonymous with strong, women-centric films, was deeply insecure in her personal life; Ekta Kapoor, the television czarina believes that her unabashed faith in God helped her scale heights and earn her first big bucks; and Abhinav Bindra, who won India the first Olympic gold medal in an individual event confessed how he was a laidback child with no goals in sight. Embellished with interesting nuggets, this book is a collection of fascinating profiles including, L.K. Advani, Smriti Irani, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rajiv Gandhi, Amitabh Bachchan and Arun Jaitley. Uncommon access, being privy to confidences and, above all, a willingness to tell the story, bring alive the people behind the headlines. The Marigold Indira Gandhi & Others is not a gushing account of newsmakers; if anything it captures their weaknesses; goes beyond their achievements and examines what makes these individuals distinctive and unforgettable at the same time.
- GenresNonfiction
355 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 30, 2019
37 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 12, 2022
Read only if you are interested in politics and are curious.
It's a ok book. A glimpse into the people behind the names but nothing detailed.
It's a ok book. A glimpse into the people behind the names but nothing detailed.
September 10, 2019
The Marigold Story: Indira Gandhi & Others by Kumkum Chadha... An account of the unknown stories of the known personalities in the Indian political, culture and art arena. a wonderful read.
May 2, 2020
The Marigold Story is a compilation of the journalist, Kumkum Chadha’s interactions, thoughts and views on some renowned names in the field of politics, films and sports – in that order of coverage. The book starts off with an interesting name – Abhinav Bindra - the Olympic gold medallist where Chadha brings out the nature of the reluctant hero that Bindra turned out to be. The next subject is India’s former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Here the author does well to steer away from talking about Indira Gandhi as a politician for that has been analysed by way too many in way too much detail, but brings out some lesser important but interesting commentary such as Gandhi’s allergies to marigold (and hence the title of the book, I suppose). Her brief interactions with Indira Gandhi are recollected, along with some titbits from the world of politics. I found the chapters on these two personalities the most interesting in the book. Beyond them, the book tends to become lightweight in terms of its content and the narrative too. In some chapters, there is nothing much of relevance that the author is able to add that may not already be well-known. At times the stories tend to slip away from the subject matter for too long as Kumkum Chadha starts digressing to some other narrative or her own personal life (though some of these smaller plots tend to be more engaging than what she has to say on the personality being covered in that chapter). Nonetheless, Chadha writes with a candidness on each of these personalities – either on their professional capabilities or their personal lifestyles – which helps enrich the book. Given her long career as a journalist, Kumkum Chadha does have a lot of information to share, which could be new discoveries for the younger readers, but the veterans may feel somewhat short-changed.
January 5, 2020
The evolution of Indian politics since independence is no less than a thriller. Bollywood and their stories have always fascinated the masses at large. The author has managed to focus both on politics and bollywood and at times shown the interlink between the two. Different stories from the PVR man to BJP's solitary reaper to Smita Patil (associated with strong women centric films but insecure in personel life), to the power couple Bachchans , The reluctant PM Rajiv Gandhi, the Pied Piper of BJP Arun Jaitley (one of the finest diplomats) and the women with an electrifying personality Indira Gandhi- the author has packed punch in every story giving insights on various personality traits of people which are not so well known. Recommended for a nice leisure read and good conversations later on!
January 26, 2020
Access journalism 101
This is pretty much in the vein of Karan Thapar's book Devil's advocate, but way less interesting and more lame.
Just proves how journalism in india is basically access and closeness to positions in power. If you were expecting some great insights into Indian political social history well this is the wrong book.
The least the author could have done, a la Karan Thapar, was to make the book gossipy and include some juicy stories. Well, the book disappoints there too.
All in all a waste effort. I am getting more enraged by the day with 'journalists' spending 30-40 years covering politics and not getting even an iota of understanding about social realities. Like how unbelievably cut off are these folks
This is pretty much in the vein of Karan Thapar's book Devil's advocate, but way less interesting and more lame.
Just proves how journalism in india is basically access and closeness to positions in power. If you were expecting some great insights into Indian political social history well this is the wrong book.
The least the author could have done, a la Karan Thapar, was to make the book gossipy and include some juicy stories. Well, the book disappoints there too.
All in all a waste effort. I am getting more enraged by the day with 'journalists' spending 30-40 years covering politics and not getting even an iota of understanding about social realities. Like how unbelievably cut off are these folks
Want to read
May 21, 2019https://scroll.in/article/912244/the-...
A National Herald report by Wajahat Habibullah- https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/o...
A National Herald report by Wajahat Habibullah- https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/o...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2020
Quick interesting read!
At the outset the author clarified that this book is her view of the some of the most powerful politicians of India. Her style of writing is not very ostentatious. What I disliked most about the book is that the author frequently detours and starts commenting on people other than the one person about whom the chapter is about.
At the outset the author clarified that this book is her view of the some of the most powerful politicians of India. Her style of writing is not very ostentatious. What I disliked most about the book is that the author frequently detours and starts commenting on people other than the one person about whom the chapter is about.
May 11, 2020
Really nice read about lots of personalities ( LK Advani, Indra Gandhi, Arun Jaitley) mostly realated to politics and few celebrities (Samita Patil, Abhinav Bindra etc)...while u read , u feel like watching movie about Indian politicians and observe their life closely.
February 10, 2021
Story behind the headlines.
The reason I gave it a four star was because it provides an inside view of Delhi, of what does on behind the headlines. Slightly biased, definitely rambling at times, but compelling. Just for those tit bits, it's worth a read.
The reason I gave it a four star was because it provides an inside view of Delhi, of what does on behind the headlines. Slightly biased, definitely rambling at times, but compelling. Just for those tit bits, it's worth a read.
June 15, 2019
MOST OF IT IS PUBLISHED IN VARIOUS DOMAIN. IT IS A POLITICALLY CORRECT NARRATIVE, NOTHING MORE.
October 23, 2019
Engaging and informative
April 6, 2020
Good read
Absolute page turner, keeps one glued to these world famous personalities and their travails continues to keep you engrossed throughout.
Absolute page turner, keeps one glued to these world famous personalities and their travails continues to keep you engrossed throughout.
May 7, 2020
Average Read!
July 3, 2020
An easy breezy read.
“The Marigold Story. Indira Gandhi and Others” profiles 11 important Indian figures to have impacted the political and celluloid landscape of India.
The book is full of interesting trivia. It refreshes varied political scenarios, and so many instances. And many historical episodes rush back as a memory.
Kumkum Chadha’s ease of her being a part of the political landscape as a journalist and an insider in very important households comes through.
She talks in detail of hitherto unknown facts about the famous profiles revealing their humane and vulnerable sides.
Indira Gandhi hated “marigold flower” …. but in her death, she was covered with heaps of it. Such small interesting revelations combined with political insights make this book an interesting read.
#bookreview#books#kumkumchadha
“The Marigold Story. Indira Gandhi and Others” profiles 11 important Indian figures to have impacted the political and celluloid landscape of India.
The book is full of interesting trivia. It refreshes varied political scenarios, and so many instances. And many historical episodes rush back as a memory.
Kumkum Chadha’s ease of her being a part of the political landscape as a journalist and an insider in very important households comes through.
She talks in detail of hitherto unknown facts about the famous profiles revealing their humane and vulnerable sides.
Indira Gandhi hated “marigold flower” …. but in her death, she was covered with heaps of it. Such small interesting revelations combined with political insights make this book an interesting read.
#bookreview#books#kumkumchadha
May 27, 2021
This book written by KumKum Chadha is a book full of memories of some of the forgotten people such as Politicians like "Sanjay Gandhi" and Actresses like "Smita Patil" who had created their impressions in their respective fields during the era which is now considered as the forgotten era of Indian History.
Kumkum Chadha began her career as a journalist at that time when women were either scared or were discouraged by their families to enter into this field and the only times you could hear about women as journalists was when they had to interview other women or had to cover a College Event.
Some of the anecdotes are funny like why the Author's mother was irritated on Sitaram Kesari and somewhat the Author calls as "TragicComic" like the interaction between Indira Gandhi and Kalpnath when his wife had died! The incidents like how Indira Gandhi reacted to her Son's Death made me feel sad and in-detail descriptions like that of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination shocked me! Success stories like Priya Village Roadshow or PVR's Ajay Bijli will definitely inspire you. The book is interesting except at few anecdotes where they feel like dragged or like an attempt is made to change your opinion about a person.
Overall, I liked the book because of the real-life incidents and the language used by the author.
Kumkum Chadha began her career as a journalist at that time when women were either scared or were discouraged by their families to enter into this field and the only times you could hear about women as journalists was when they had to interview other women or had to cover a College Event.
Some of the anecdotes are funny like why the Author's mother was irritated on Sitaram Kesari and somewhat the Author calls as "TragicComic" like the interaction between Indira Gandhi and Kalpnath when his wife had died! The incidents like how Indira Gandhi reacted to her Son's Death made me feel sad and in-detail descriptions like that of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination shocked me! Success stories like Priya Village Roadshow or PVR's Ajay Bijli will definitely inspire you. The book is interesting except at few anecdotes where they feel like dragged or like an attempt is made to change your opinion about a person.
Overall, I liked the book because of the real-life incidents and the language used by the author.
August 18, 2019
I read this because I met the author at a book club meeting. Fascinating woman, with a long interesting career as a reporter. While I didn't know most of the people she described in the book (as an expat in India, I just don't know much about India beyond the big names), I did find her tidbits and stories about them interesting and enlightening. She writes like she speaks- so the stories meander a bit, but she tells a good one.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews