That Chink In The Wall

- Sanjay Joshi

I don’t call myself a “fan” of Ramachandra Guha because reputable dictionaries trace the origin of the word to “fanatic”. Based both on reading his work and some personal interaction, I know that Ram despises fanaticism. The same dictionaries though, also describe a fan as an “admirer or enthusiast”. In such elaborations, I find my own estimation of Ram. I have found no better book to introduce post-Independence India to my undergraduate students than his India After Gandhi. When it comes to books on cricket, A Corner of a Foreign Field rates among my favourites. As I write about Kumaon’s history, I often refer back to Guha’s Unquiet Woods. I make sure I read as much of his writing on current affairs that I can. Even though, in recent times, I have disagreed with Guha, I remain an admirer, but not “fan” offering “uncritical devotion”.

“Inside every thinking Indian, there is a Gandhian and a Marxist struggling for supremacy.” So began a collection of ess­ ays representing the unique range of interests and expertise, as well as the thoroughly engaging prose characteristic of the scholar and public intellectual that is Guha. He has negotiated a remarkable and distinctive path between these contending positions in academics and in public debates. That alone is no small achievement. It is a sign of the different polarisations of our own moment that Guha gets lumped together with Leftists and labelled part of the “break India into pieces brigade” by right­wing internet trolls. It also displays the ignorance of such intolerant criticism because Guha is as far away as possible from taking such as position. Indeed, a criticism one could make is that his commitment to the national state and its institutions, and modernity more generally, sometimes under­ mine his commitment to imagining a more just, equitable India.