The political story of India

The actual writing process for The Lotus Years by Ashwini Bhatnagar did not take very long, but the book in a way has been in the making since 1980 onwards. For a book that talks about the political life of India in the time of Rajiv Gandhi, the title The Lotus Years though doesn’t rhyme politically at all. Or at first. “But as and when all the current government’s policies became public, I was struck with a sense of déjà vu. All the policies to do with environment, digitalisation, cleanliness are nothing but repackaging of old policies.” As a journalist, covering politics from the time of Indira Gandhi’s reign, the author got to observe from close quarters the consequences of the transition from one rule to another. And all the drama that unfolded, right from country’s foremost political players to the dramatic election campaigns. Not to forget the workings of dynasty politics.

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In The Lotus Years, the field notes have been drawn by the author to chronicle all the significant events bringing together the life of a reluctant prime minister, the inner dynamics of his powerful family and the story of a maturing democratic nation, laying bare the intricacies and dissonances of political life in India. “Except for a few gaps that were filled in through documentation and research.”

Coming up

Last in Chandigarh for the screening of his 25-minute documentary film, Diary of a Kashmiri Pandit, which documents the first person account of a Kashmiri Pandit and the horrors of sectarian violence in 1990s, on the anvil are two more books. In all likelihood slated for release by the end of this year itself. “The first is a book on Farooq Abdullah and him at the centre of politics in Kashmir.” The second is on artist Amrita Sher-Gil. “It’s a book that talks about her unusual romance with her first cousin Victor.” He adds, “She was an intense artist and a woman ahead of her times who pioneered the modern Indian woman taking charge of herself, her imagination and her body.” —TNS