Making it as grim as it gets, Collins Dictionary picked ‘permacrisis’ as its word of 2022, to describe an extended period of instability or insecurity. If the word portrays the time with the world in recovery mode but torn asunder by deep divisions, the books of the year reflect on loss, strength and survival, with writers writing on issues from virus to climate change, war, history and economic challenges. It was also a year of anniversaries — India celebrated 75 years of Independence — and a passing, with Queen Elizabeth II, the U.K.’s monarch, dying at the age of 96 after reigning for 70 years, and a new King (Charles) on the throne. These are The Hindu’s top 10 books of the year, in no particular order, and by no means the last word on them.
Lords of the Deccan by Anirudh Kanisetti is a journey to the medieval world of the Deccan, when the Chalukyas, the Pallavas, the Cholas, the Rashtrakutas and others ruled, reviving the history of a period that has been long forgotten. The book begins around 618 CE when the Chalukyas, which established a mighty citadel in the sandstone cliffs of Vitapi in northern Karnataka, “exploded on to the historical stage by defeating the dominant ruler of north India”. This set the stage for a half-millennium of Deccan dominance, says Kanisetti.
In the 75th year of India’s independence, there were several books to mark the landmark anniversary, and The Lost Diary of Kastur, My Ba provides a glimpse of unimaginable personal sacrifice during the freedom struggle. Kasturba and Mohandas Gandhi’s great grandson, Tushar Gandhi, says the diary was found in a trunk at the Kasturba Ashram in Indore. The diary spans nine months, between January and September 1933, but in it she talks about prison sentences, her worries about Gandhi’s health and her unwavering commitment to freedom and justice.
How China Sees India and the World by Shyam Saran argues that “a narrative is being built on the inevitability of Chinese regional, and eventually global, dominance, which it would be futile to resist.” Saran brings his experience as diplomat to weigh in on India-China relations, and points out that when India’s GDP growth began to decelerate, and China maintained the same rate of growth as India, but on a much larger base, the asymmetry of power began to reflect on ties. The implication is that India should defer to Chinese interests.
In The Song of the Cell, Siddhartha Mukherjee profiles the cell, the building block of life. All organisms, including humans, are made of these ‘elementary particles’ and these autonomous living units — tissues, organs, organs systems — that enable a body to perform a variety of functions from immunity, reproduction, repair to rejuvenation. Dr. Mukherjee, whose The Emperor of All Maladies won the Pulitzer Prize, also narrates what happens when cells become dysfunctional and how that precipitates the malfunctioning of the body.
The Palace Papers by Tina Brown takes readers on a journey through the British monarchy with its scandals, love affairs, power plays and betrayals. As a documentary, Harry & Megan, plays out on Netflix, and with Prince Charles anointed King after Queen Elizabeth’s passing, it’s a good time as any to dip into this saga of a royal mess. Among other things, Brown explores the tension between Willam and Harry on “different paths” and Harry and Meghan’s decision to step back as senior royals.
As the war in Ukraine hangs in the balance, The Story of Russia by Orlando Figes takes readers through a thousand years of Russian history to understand the present. Taking off on George Orwell’s maxim — “Who controls the past... controls the future: who controls the present controls the past,” in Nineteen Eighty-Four — Figes says these words are more true for Russia than any other country in the world. “History in Russia is political. Drawing lessons from the country’s past has always been the most effective way to win an argument about future directions and policies,” he writes. To understand Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions, it is imperative, says Figes, to understand Russia’s past and the “structural continuities of Russian history like geographic factors, systems of belief, political ideas, social customs” and “traditional values.”
In the time of a climate crisis, several books on conservation, tackling global warming, India’s key role appeared in the year. Nitin Sekhar’s What’s Left of the Jungle, goes to the heart of the human-animal conflict and finds that for those living in the jungle, trying to makes ends meet, conservation is a tricky issue. He writes a story about “poverty, ambition, democracy, elitism, murder, poaching, smuggling, love and lust”. He tells the story together with Akshu Atri, who is at the frontline of the struggle, and it taught Sekar how things work in the jungle, how difficult it is to balance the imperatives of conservation and development, and how things could be better.
Historian and columnist V. Sriram’s Chennai — A Biography is an exhaustive account of all things Madras right through to its Chennai avatar. He profiles a city that is officially 380 years old, but possibly much older, with love but also acknowledges its flaws. He touches on everything significant to the city from its history, to its art, food, architecture, cinema, temples, politics, language, and people. There’s also a nod to the Cooum, Chennai’s most infamous river. Sriram takes readers through various aspects of the city’s history from the time when it was a set of villages, through the years of the Portuguese, Dutch and British right up to the Dravidian politics of the day.
In The Last Heroes: Foot Soldiers of Indian Freedom, P. Sainath talks to some extraordinary men and women who played a role in the freedom struggle, but are not well-known. They hail from different regions, speak different languages and include Adivasis, Dalits, OBCs, Brahmins, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, but says Sainath, they had one thing in common: their opposition to Empire was uncompromising. They were aware of the risks they were taking, says Sainath, and had a vision of the freedom they were seeking. With the youngest 92 and the oldest 104, their stories needed to be chronicled before they are lost forever.
Mobile Girls Koottam: Working Women Speak by Madhumita Dutta shares the life and views of young women workers in a Tamil Nadu factory, which will eventually close down. As part of her project, Dutta interviewed them and gleaned details of their lives, how they came to work in a factory, why were their education disrupted and so forth. The girls also opened up about anti-caste struggles, patriarchal mindsets and a fight for self-respect.
sudipta.datta@thehindu.co.in
