NEHRU The Invention of India - Shashi Tharoor

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. -J.D. Salinger, writer (1919- )

Shashi Tharoor has this uncanny ability of bringing a new perspective to almost anything out there. Numerous books must have been written on Jawaharlal Nehru over the past five decades yet Tharoor finds something new to write about him in his almost 300 page long book and he does so with amazing finesse.

I heard him introduce this book during a book signing at Stanford and was completely bowled over by his charismatic and charming personality. His hold over the language amazed me then and it had me reaching for the dictionary frequently as I read through this book now. The book itself is a wonderful summarized take on Jawahar's upbringing and how it influenced him in years to come, his growing into a full fledged nationalist freedom fighter after his return from England, his leading India to Independence and beyond. Tharoor provides interesting perspectives on the Nehruvian policies and what worked and what didn't work for India over the past five decades since Independence.

The book also provides a lot of interesting tidbits that would not be mentioned in prescribed textbooks in school but probably played a big role in how India of today has shaped up. Overall the content is very interesting and provides for a definite read.