The Sceptical Patriot: Exploring The Truths Behind The Zero And Other Indian Glories (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
Actually my problems with this book are manyfold.A)Could have definitely been shorter.A lot of gibberish is added to make it lengthier and the book could have easily been around a 100 pages short!B)After reading the whole book,I don't feel any wiser or more informed about the "India facts" discussed in the book!It is a popular and intelligent formula which the author has cooked up for this book.It is to google extensively about a particular topic and then summarise it with anecdotes and satires and sometimes crassy,unneeded humor!In his narration,one can easily figure out that he is trying to unlayer the fact and the whole story behind it one by one!The problem is that while it feels good somehow in the first two chapters,the formula becomes mundane and redundancy becomes the annoying factor of his book,which doesnot change its formula of narrative at all in any of the rest of chapters!After a while you start getting irritated with the same old start to a chapter as to where he got this idea from through the descriptions of his own autobiographical endeavors!C)Definite attempt to produce artificial sensationalism in sarcasm,which is unappreciated and many a times not funny but annoying and too oversmartly narrated.D)Probably the whole point of writing this book fails due to his ambiguity of all the facts he tries to verify.Reason being that he doesnot take the pains to one sidedly declare whether a fact is a complete fallacy or stands true to the best of his knowledge!The facts which he considers completely untrue get a rating of 2/10 or 4/10 !Why,I ask?Would they feel ignored or left out?Sorry but that is not why I bought this book,diplomacy and playing safe doesn't work for a book that rides on the audaciousness of the choice of topic and the repercussions attached with being wrong in one's research and such!I was expecting much more committment from an IIM-A alumni!The last thing which sucked was his sources were mostly the sources of those people on blogs whom he derides,by calling them unaware patriots and stuff like that!Yes I agree that he has done his research through books of famous people across centuries and tried to verify his facts to the best of his knowledge!But nowhere was he able to make his verdict a final statement with complete surity!there was always a cloud of dubiousness hanging over all his facts and even within a chapter,it was easily evident!The book raises more questions than it answers!Also,It would have been good if he had included atleast one fact which he could prove once and for all and give it a 10/10 ! That would have been gutsy and a welcome change!Now lastly ,the questions he has added at the end of all chapters for the "Excessively sceptical" ,a term which makes me instantly question as to which category he belongs to,having written an entire book about India facts and their veracity ! One would think he is the torch-holder for the excessively sceptical !Anyhow,that is what I felt about this book ,which started with a concept that amused me but having read two chapters,became a monotonous and redundant read and I was already counting the pages which I had to go through to just be done with this book!If I had to read about his personal experiences,opinions and anecdotes,I would have preordered "Sidin Vadukut:An autobiography" As simple as that! This wasn't what I signed up for!A feeble attempt which didnt enrich much about my country than I already knew! The first non fiction by Sidin Vadukut tries to debunk some of the commonly held myths about India. A reading of the book will reveal that Vadukut has done a tremendous amount of research for this book. But in his attempt not to make this book another dull history book he has given too much personal details which could have been avoided. Sidin Vadukut may be having an opinion that most of the reading public(and he may also be correct to some extent) are not really interested in serious books. But in spite of this, the book is worth reading. A chapter worth mentioning is about the Chola invasion of South East Asian Countries. I am not surprised about the ignorance of many about these invasions considering the importance given in history textbooks about empires to the exclusion of small kingdoms. But anybody touring ASEAN countries will be presented with material evidence of these invasions when one sees temples with South Indian Architecture. The Myth of Indians never invading any country is widely prevalent even in Tamil Nadu.(I held a contrary view but I had a taste of this myth when I had to watch one of those useless popular ID programmes in a popular channel when one of the professors of Tamil made an assertion of this myth). I also feel that a strict time line to publish the book might have been the reason for some of the errors/factual mistakes. With my understanding of Indian history(which is not masterly)I can point out that the year of Lord Macaulay's address in British Parliament could not have been 1985. Likewise, Sidin is also off the mark when he includes the British in the list of invaders from the North West of India. It was the British who showed to the world that the oceans cannot be a barrier for invading the country. But the invasion was unlike the previous invasions it was not outright attack but a gradual annexation of territory.
What do You think about The Sceptical Patriot: Exploring The Truths Behind The Zero And Other Indian Glories (2014)?
Worth a read esp if u know somebody who annoys u with too much India bashing or too much Jingoism ;)
—prettyBOI
history is really fascinating, what is more fascinating is truth behind the lies.
—sue
Good book. Well researched. Gets over before you know it.
—navroz
