Book Review-Savarkar (Part 2): A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966 by Vikram Sampath

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Decades after his death, the mere mention of the name Vinayak Damodar Savarkar riles people up even today. From being an optimistic advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity in his famous book, “The Indian War of Independence 1857”, what transformed him into a proponent of ‘Hindutva’? Why was Savarkar a severe critic of Gandhi and the Congress? What happened after Gandhi’s assassination?

Veer-Savarkar's Biography part-2-Review-collage

These are the questions that the readers of Vikram Sampath’s first book about Savarkar have. The answer to all those questions and many more historical facts are documented in the second and concluding volume of this two-part biography of Veer Savarkar. Having read the first volume, the expectations were high, and Vikram Sampath did not disappoint. This book is even more detailed, so engaging that I read the entire volume in just three days! I couldn’t put the book down!

Before we get going with my insights from this book, if you haven’t seen my review of the first book in this series, you can click here to read it:

BOOK REVIEW-SAVARKAR: ECHOES FROM A FORGOTTEN PAST BY VIKRAM SAMPATH

As I had shared in my last post, these books by Vikram Sampath are my first introduction to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, having read nothing about him in textbooks. Therefore, everything I shared is what I discovered about his life reading through the book. I was eager to get my hands on this second volume because I wanted to know what happened after Savarkar was transported from Andaman to Ratnagiri jail around 1924.

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Book Review-Savarkar: Echoes From a Forgotten Past by Vikram Sampath

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The name Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (aka Veer Savarkar) doesn’t mean much in the minds of Indian people these days, other than a notion that there is some controversy around this name that politicians stoke around the election period.

The author of the biography of V.D. Savarkar named Savarkar: Echoes from a Forgotten Past, Vikram Sampath says in the prologue itself, the name of Savarkar or any details about him is conspicuously absent from all our history textbooks across India. After reading this book, one thing is obvious to the reader, as the author also confirms, the post-colonial political powers in India did not wish the young people of the country to know anything about Savarkar and his legacy. And they succeeded so far!

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Picture: Book Cover(left) and the author, Vikram Sampath(right)

The left-liberal cabal of historians and media who seem to have infiltrated all influential institutions with the help of political powers has ensured that one can hardly get anything positive about Veer Savarkar if he tries to search even his name on the internet. Amidst all the propaganda, Vikram Sampath brings a very comprehensive and rare biography of Savarkar that carries details of his fascinating life story, description of the tumultuous times of our history, and presents us with a comprehensive account of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s eventful journey through this book.

Being an avid reader, I have read many great biographies and autobiographies. But this is by far the only biography I couldn’t rest until finished once I got started. Going through Savarkar’s life from just an ordinary little boy to becoming a multi-talented young man, to becoming a threatening figure for the almighty British Empire who needed to get rid of him anyhow, to his deportation from England to India to be sentenced to a 50-year jail term on fabricated charges, to his transfer to Cellular Jail at Port Blair and his suffering there is a heart-wrenching reading experience that gives a feeling of nothing less than a thriller!

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Samrat Yudhishthir – Study of Mahabharat’s Glorious Emperor

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Although Mahabharat has been analyzed and commented on by numerous scholars from around the world, most people from Bharat (India) would think of the TV serial Mahabharat by B.R. Chopda brought Mahabharat to the masses.

Most people’s knowledge of Mahabharat is limited by what was shown in that TV serial. However, for a curious mind, that should be the starting point to the exploration of such an epic from the ancient and glorious history of Bharat. Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, the repository of knowledge that was bestowed upon Arjun for all of us is just a part of the set of events captured within the timeline of Mahabharat.

Yudhishthir-Krishna-Discussion-Mahabharat

When we think about Mahabharat, people think of the battle of Kurukshetra and the set of events that lead to that battle. But Mahabharat is so much more than that. The best way to know Mahabharat is to read it and learn about the glorious history of Bharat captured in it.

To keep this post focused about Samrat Yudhishthir, I want to mention that the impression I got (and many people will agree with me) about Yudhishthir Maharaj after watching B.R. Chopda’s Mahabharat or reading about stories/commentaries by scholars was not very positive of even impressive. The impression we get is that though he always tried to follow Dharma and never lied, he was a weak/soft person whose only strength was that he had brothers like Arjun and Bheem who were mighty warriors.

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Book Review – One Arrow, One Kill: Jai Shri Ram

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If you don’t know anything about Shri Ram and the Ramayana written by Maharshi Valmiki, then this is just the book for you. And if you don’t know anything about Shri Ram and Ramayana, this is a great starting point for you as well. In either case, a great book to increase your knowledge. One-Arrow-One-Kill-Jai-Shri-Ram-Book-Cover Growing up, I didn’t have much exposure to the Vedic concepts of India, there was never any formal education system that teaches the glorious history of Indian civilization. Therefore every historical aspect of Ramayana and Mahabharat was pretty much absent from my life as it is absent today from the lives of most people

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Essential Steps Before Launching Your Digital Marketing Campaigns

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Every business wants to harness the power of Digital Marketing. However, one of the very first steps you must take before planning for any marketing campaigns (let alone digital) is a thorough self-assessment.

ESSENTIAL STEPS BEFORE LAUNCHING YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

The most fundamental questions we must ask before planning for any strategic communication activities (online or offline):

What do you want to say, to whom and for what purpose?

  1. Who are you?
  2. To whom do you want to communicate?
  3. What do you want to say and how do you want to say it?

To answer this seemingly simple question, you must consider the following as a business owner or as a digital marketer:

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Holi Wishes And Life Lessons From The Festival Of Colors

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Holi, also known as the festival of colors, is one of the biggest and the most colorfully celebrated festivals by Indian families around the world and preparations for Holi this year, has already begun as well.

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It is one of those unique occasions when the bright colors of Holi demolish all the social barriers of caste and creed in society. A festival that is all about colors also brings along with it the spirit of joy, love, peace and enthusiasm in our hearts.

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A Modern Powerful Way Of Content Marketing Using Flipbooks

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Content marketers are always looking for more and better ways to market their content: content re-purposing, curating and eBook publishing. Have you thought about Flipbooks as another avenue?
Reading Digital Books as Flipbook is the closest perfect experience of reading a physical book
As a content marketer, you are always looking for ways to promote your content and book is another form of content your readers love to consume. EBooks have been popular for a while now and so have been PDFs.

Magazine companies like Foundr (by the way, I am one of their subscribers,) and much alike produce their content in PDF format for their community to consume.

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Why Woocommerce Follow-Up Emails Plugin Doesn’t Deliver On The Promise

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Email marketing outperforms social media 8 to 1. So, you bought the premium product, Follow-Up Emails WordPress plugin from Woocommerce, to leverage the power of Email Marketing. Well, let’s examine how it delivers on its promise.
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What Follow-Up Emails Plugin Is Supposed To Do

This premium plugin from Woocommerce is supposed to enable you to define and create your own customized emails that will be automatically delivered to your customer’s email inbox, at defined intervals, after they complete a specific action such as finishing a quiz, making a purchase, or signing up for an account etc.

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How To Fix Internet Connectivity Problem On Windows 8.1

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If you love Windows 8, it’s probably because of the beautiful touch-screen feature which has made life so much better since it became available.
Steps to Fix internet connection problem on Windows 8.1 using winsock command

I know there are many better quality operating systems around and many people prefer Apple and Linux, even Windows 7 over Windows 8.

However, less use of the mouse is better for my fingers and Windows 8 touch screen has given me a lot of relief in that aspect. So, although not perfect, it is definitely my favorite OS at this time.

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