Book Review: The Incredible History of India's Geography by Sanjeev Sanyal

 Who am I? Where am I from? 

Why do Indians celebrate the anniversary of a violent event by dancing in a flash mob? 

Indians have a treatise on everything - dance, economics, public administration, grammar, mathematics (includes physics, chemistry, and astronomy). The record keeping system of Benares is one of the most accurate, the most longstanding genealogy documentation in the world. Why, then, do we have so few books of history? Why do people say that Indians have no sense of history? 

If these are some of the questions in your thoughts, then you are at the right place of wondering. 

Dear Children: This is a book written for you. And my advice to you is: Read your school textbooks for the marks. THIS is the book that you should read to understand your history. 

This book covers an incredibly long period of history in a very pithy 256 pages, with many illustrations and maps. 

At no point is the reader bored, or overwhelmed. The book flows like a story, going easily from one period to the next, largely in chronological order, and at a couple of places, taking steps back and forth.

Since history is multifaceted, the book obviously does not cover all chronological events and all the facets of our history. But it does give us a very good sense of our past, and a couple of things that the book took some time to explain, are really important, and not often found in history books: 

A. The continuity from IVC to ancient Indian history to the modern age. We are the same civilisation. 

B. The importance of maps 

C. The share of India in global GDP 

D. The difference between the Western and Indian concepts of history. 

Of the three, the first and the last are truly mindboggling. You will never see the world the same way again. 

I think that every Indian child, and indeed, every single Indian should read this book. Since Sanjiv Sanyal is also an economist, he also brings in a very valuable view - the share of India in global GDP over the centuries. This information is shared, not in a boring tabular view, but with context at the right places. At one time, Indians became overly obsessed with puritanism. Not coincidentally, that was also when the growth of India stopped, and our share in global GDP reduced. Over a period of time, this closed mind led to our losing the technological edge that was always ours. From being the pioneers in steel weaponry, we were laggards in modern warfare. 

There are many lessons in this book, and many stories. Like Gibran, this book will bring different things to different people. But to everyone, it will bring something worth treasuring.