Book Launch in Singapore!

From Partition to Operation Bluestar: Tales of a Journalist, Bureaucrat, Spy- by Som Nath Dhar

To be released at a book launch at the Singapore Management University by Prof. Kirpal Singh, Director, Wee Kim Wee Centre, on 3 April 2013.

And the book is now available in bookshops in Singapore, as well as in India; through several online stores in India; and through amazon.com internationally.

I welcome genuine comments, not spam!

I am sorry I get so few comments on this and other blogs now that so much of the action has shifted to facebook! But I'm not desperate enough to publish spam thinly designed as a comment.

I moderate comments on this blog and do not publish such obvious spam as the following comments, all of which end with a request to visit another blog:

- I really appreciate the information here... pls also visit my blog xxx.

- I like your blog, do you face xxx problem (something technical)... btw, pls visit my blog yyy.

- I appreciate your recommendation. Let me try it. Now visit my blog...

etc etc

But if I had to give a prize to the weirdest one it would be the one praising the audio features on this blog! Those would be the non-existent audio features, ha ha.

So, please do share your ideas, opinions and genuine comments - even questions, if you have any, but don't make blandly, obviously generic comments followed by a url!!

Cheers.

Partition to Bluestar - availability UPDATE!

From Partition to Operation Bluestar: Tales of a Journalist, Bureaucrat, Spy
- by Som Nath Dhar

Available in bookstores all over INDIA and SINGAPORE!

In all major bookshops in several Indian metros and cities.

As of 1 April, also available in Singapore stores:
Kinokuniya (Orchard), Times bookshop in Tampines 1, airport bookshops, MPH stores throughout the city...

Book launch in Singapore on 3 April. 

A friend who just received his copy from an online store in India sent in this picture:


ONLINE ORDERS:

Internationally
Amazon

In North America
SOUTH ASIA BOOKS

In India
flipkart
BOOKadda
StackKart
infibeam
CROSSWORD

The publisher's website
Harper Collins India

NEW BOOK - Reader-friendly, journalistic view of modern Indian history

An excellent book - OK I'm just a little bit prejudiced because it's written by my father! :) But it really is a wonderful book, very readable, very interesting, kind of a personal view of Indian history from the partition of the country into India and Pakistan (1946) until the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (1984).


FROM PARTITION TO OPERATION BLUESTAR - TALES OF A JOURNALIST, BUREAUCRAT, SPY
- By Som Nath Dhar
published by Harper Collins India
ISBN: 9789350293775

Available in India through the flipkart and stackkart online stores; and will be in Indian bookstore very soon. Available in Singapore through me! Email me: pamposh@gmail.com


FROM THE PUBLISHER'S website: 

BOOK SUMMARY

An engrossing, personal view of the public events that have shaped India's recent history 

From Partition to Operation Bluestar provides an engrossing, personal view of the public events that have shaped India's recent history, written by a man who had a ringside view of these.

As we follow Som Nath Dhar's career in journalism, government and the world of covert intelligence, the book transports us from pre-Partition Punjab to Delhi and Kashmir, with side trips to East Africa and Europe.

Dhar writes in a compelling, journalistic style about the turbulence of Partition; the heady experience of working closely with India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru; the dramatic events leading up to the 1947 invasion and accession of Kashmir; and later developments such as Indira Gandhi's accession to power, her fall from grace and eventual return to power, and much else.

Full of charming anecdotes, the book deepens our understanding of recent Indian history and provides insights into the character of many of the personalities who shaped it.


THE AUTHOR

Som Nath Dhar started his career as a journalist in Lahore in 1946. He moved to Delhi in 1947 and was part of Jawaharlal Nehru's staff for a few months, after which he returned to journalism, this time as a radio reporter. He went on to work in the government's Central Information Service (now called the Indian Information Service), and later as a diplomat and as an intelligence officer. He ended his career in government as director of news, All India Radio. After retirement, he taught for five years as head of department at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication.

A Visit to Delhi

For once, I visited Delhi at the perfect time of year, just before the heat and dust descended. In late March, I was able to enjoy the green trees, with the leaves shining in the sunlight and swaying gently in the breeze, the cool evenings, the nicely sunny days. It was lovely.

Not only that, but I also got to meet up with relatives and dear old friends. Fantastic Kashmiri meals fed to me by aunts and cousins, and long leisurely evenings spent in the company of good friends.

In many ways, it was such a great time…

But a couple of things kept intruding. One, the habit several Indians have of blindly defending everything that happens in India against all “foreign-dwellers.” I am a traitor for living outside India – on top of that, I dare to criticize some things Indian!

So when I’m critical of an hour-long traffic jam over a half-mile stretch of road for no apparent reason, I’m reminded that New York, too, has jams. Hey? So? Does that explain why it took us 65 minutes to cover this tiny stretch of road, where there was no accident or any other visible cause for a jam? No, not that there were too many vehicles either. But, yes, there is no traffic light there and no good human regulators of traffic – though we did see a few cops milling about. Heaven forbid we should regulate ourselves – forget it, don’t you know we are Indian? We don’t bother with such things as self-discipline or cooperation.

I had to extend my stay in Delhi by a week because of the numerous public holidays – Mahavir Jayanti, year-end closing, Good Friday, the day AFTER municiple elections, and on and on. In the old days, India had a whole lot of “restricted holidays” – each individual chose the holidays they wanted to take but there was a cap on the total number. When I ask if that concept has now been jettisoned, I’m told everything is shut for 10 days over Christmas in Western countries. Really? I’ve lived in two Catholic countries and this hasn’t been the case in either.

The second habit kicks in when the obviously indefensible comes up – like rape and the habit of blaming the victim more than the perpetrator. This habit is a bit harder to pin down – it looks like apathy, but sometimes I think it’s more distraction and a kind of nebulous fear. The truth is so awful that I think I won’t look at it. If I refuse to acknowledge it, perhaps it will never touch my life. Something like that. Perhaps.

Whatever it is, the end result is tolaerance of the indefensible. Yeah, things are bad, but have you checked out the latest mall in Delhi? Isn’t it as good as any in Singapore (which, incidentally, it is; if not better). And one phrase puts a stop to all discussion. “This is India, madam.” No, really, I thought it was Timbuktoo!

Life is as you see it...

A friend finally inspired me to get off my butt and join her Pilates class. She has an instructor who teaches not more than 3 people at a time, so she can give individual attention (or almost) to her students.

So my friend and I showed up to ask if she would take us on together. She took one look at us and exclaimed: “My goodness! You are totally different!!” Poor thing, she has her work cut out for her – I think she has taken it on as a challenge. She gets us to do different exercises for most of the hour, and watches over both of us to make sure we do it right.

Her gut reaction to the two of us – as potential Pilates students – made me laugh. It’s true, of course – I have 20 plus years on my friend and I won’t say just how many kilos. And she’s a good 8 inches taller than me. (Hey, I’m just as gorgeous as her, just in a different way! :))

Funny thing, though – I always thought we were so alike. Because our values, and many of our ideas, are so similar. The only difference I had really noticed was the difference in age – because we are, of course, at different stages in life; but also because, despite the age difference, we share so many ideas and values!

I guess life is as you see it.  And how you see it depends on your perspective – a Pilates teacher must assess physical fitness and needs, a Reiki teacher is more likely to notice ideas and values. Simple. Good to see things from a different perspective once in a while though – shakes things up and keeps life interesting.

P.S. – Our Pilates classes are a lot of fun. More about that in another post perhaps.

MUM

As my Mum’s 86^th birthday approaches, and as we plan for a bit of surgery she will need to have before that, I’m once again thinking of all that she has meant to me and the role she continues to pay in my life.

My parents are both 86 and live with my husband and me now in Singapore. Papa is not very mobile now and has lots of niggly little problems that make life a bit hard. Mum has had all manner of illnesses over the years but remains cheerful and fun-loving. She has helped Papa keep up his spirits too. When he gets into a feeling-sorry-for-himself mood, we both tell him to smile. He does, and immediately cheers up.

It was my Mum who several years ago kindled my interest in Reiki (energy) healing. When I do presentations on Reiki now, I often end with the story of Mum’s astonishing healing with Reiki. The last time I started on this story I suddenly realized two women in the audience were gaping at me in amazement. This is because they have met my Mum and seen her dance at one of our parties at home; so when I started the story with a description of her severe attack of sciatica, which had made her completely bed-ridden, they couldn’t believe I was talking about the same woman!

The Reiki healing was truly amazing. But no less was Mummy’s spirit, will-power and openness to the energy. To the amazement of the surgeon, who had predicted the possibility of her being able to sit again – but not walk – she made a complete recovery even without his surgery!

Now, at 86, she has very little short-term memory, but she remembers older things perfectly. And in every other way her brain is sharper than all our brains put together! Just because her short-term memory is shot to pieces – which it is – people assume she can’t think rationally. This morning, when the doctor asked me for the third time if she was competent to sign her consent for the surgery, I asked him to talk to her directly. She immediately put him on the defensive by asking him to give her his professional opinion as a doctor instead of asking her if she “wanted” to have the growth removed.

In the past year, Mum has enthusiastically taken part in our parties at home and our outings outside the home. However, she refuses to go out without Papa, so we go out less often now. Except for her appointments with doctors, which she does consent to keep even without Papa. Today, she grumbled throughout her echo cardiogram, insisted she was about to peg out, demanded to know if I was keeping an eye on her handbag; then, when it was over, got up cheerfully, her good humour completely restored.

Every time we have friends over at home, she makes some attempt at being a decorous elder. After dinner, around 10 or 11 pm she politely says good night, gathers up her husband, and makes off to her bedroom. Since most of our parties end up with music and dance, I take her byes with a pinch of salt. As soon as the music starts, she comes right back and starts dancing with us. Never mind that she had a pacemaker, with her heart working at only 10 percent of capacity, and never mind that she uses a walker (frame) to walk. She doesn’t need any support when she’s in the mood to dance. And nothing can stop her.

More on Mum and me (an article from 2009)