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Disclaimer feels necessary: I am not anti national, I do appreciate the good things done by the government, but it isn't charity - it is the work they signed up for. I don't think you need to be thankful towards the government for the good things and ignore the injustice happening away from the limelight. I am not into supporting the government with a blind eye. I do think we need to support free thinking for the betterment of the society. I think the government of India is different than the country India and its constitution. I am not a Marxist - but I do support subsidizing and providing free/low-cost education to the poor, I do believe in equal opportunity for all. Better yet eradication of all caste system. I am not into Thuggery and Muscle forcing views onto masses, I am not into Propaganda or Moral policing. And Kanhaiya makes a valid point that we don't have to believe in a particular political ideology to ask for basic rights and question authorities when they falter.
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In the current situation we are all living in an open jail. We are scared in our own houses, we are scared of going out in the night, we are scared to talk, where to talk and how our opinions will be manipulated. We feel insecure and yet on 15th august every year we congratulate each other and Say Happ
His writing depict the actual problem in India. Generally we polish our egos by saying that India is a Holy Country. Countries aren't holy, people who live in and nurture its freedom make it holy.In the current situation we are all living in an open jail. We are scared in our own houses, we are scared of going out in the night, we are scared to talk, where to talk and how our opinions will be manipulated. We feel insecure and yet on 15th august every year we congratulate each other and Say Happy Independence. We have forgotten what independence means, what it true independence is what we need to discover now. It is lost in divisive religions and dirty politics of this country.
Human values and equality needs to be defined again and restructured for a free India, for a free world.
Kanhaiya in page 39 says "one must compare with oneself. There can be no real competition between two different individuals, as their situations and opportunities can't be similar." He is a little boy then studying in school and trying to be the best that he can be.
It's time to make situations and opportunities equal for all Indians and in the whole world.
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He has got something to tell about tales of human sufferings in the name of caste, gender, class, identity, religion and so on.
Despite flaws this guy can give voice to the voiceless.
The book provides only a tiny glimpse of his world. He has come a long way since the publication of this book.
It's not easy task of being anti-establishment, specially when there is rule of Fascist Hindutva in the country.
Every country needs youth icon / leaders like him.
Like him or not, you need to listen him.He has got something to tell about tales of human sufferings in the name of caste, gender, class, identity, religion and so on.
Despite flaws this guy can give voice to the voiceless.
The book provides only a tiny glimpse of his world. He has come a long way since the publication of this book.
It's not easy task of being anti-establishment, specially when there is rule of Fascist Hindutva in the country.
Every country needs youth icon / leaders like him.
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His perspective on politics and activism surely strikes a chord with me, though I wish I could get first hand perspective of the other side too.
Nonetheless the writer makes some exceptionally brilliant and valid points about India and majority of Indians.
"To be able to understand exploitation, I had not followed the whole kanhaiya story on media. However he kept cropping up during discussions in several forums. And that intrigued me. I picked up this book to understand the whole issue closely.
His perspective on politics and activism surely strikes a chord with me, though I wish I could get first hand perspective of the other side too.
Nonetheless the writer makes some exceptionally brilliant and valid points about India and majority of Indians.
"To be able to understand exploitation, one must be the exploited; for the privileged, the stories of exploitation are just a fairy tale" ...more
After a powerful session Kanhaiya Kumar participated in at Chennai, I was in awe. Even as a self-proclaimed capitalist then (with whiffs of leftist thought just beginning to creep in), his words landed with riveting thump. As corny as it sounds to say, when I met him to get his then newly-released book signed, I had a feeling I was actually in the presence of someone who was going to drive change. A fact I told him, to which he merely smiled and a I'm a proud owner of a signed copy of this book.
After a powerful session Kanhaiya Kumar participated in at Chennai, I was in awe. Even as a self-proclaimed capitalist then (with whiffs of leftist thought just beginning to creep in), his words landed with riveting thump. As corny as it sounds to say, when I met him to get his then newly-released book signed, I had a feeling I was actually in the presence of someone who was going to drive change. A fact I told him, to which he merely smiled and asked that as students we work towards a better future.
From Bihar to Tihar is a reflection of the man I met there - a stirring book that summarizes the journey of the charismatic Kanhaiya in lucid language, with no airs of pretense. The glimpses into the evolution of his beliefs are told in a way that breaks down complex ideologies such as privilege and equality of opportunity into the pragmatic circumstances that influenced the way he thinks. He's a convincing raconteur, which he uses to great effect in explaining his politics - a method he acknowledges in the book itself.
What I found most heartening throughout the book is the honesty with which he writes. It allows a glimpse into a world often far away from the one we usually picture Kanhaiya in, and one that's populated by a reassuringly large number of Indians who have wisened up to the BJP and the Right's bullshit(no pun intended).
This book offers hope, but a hope that isn't ignorant of the struggles that go into keeping that torch alive and held aloft. It might not have great literary merit, but that's besides the point. This one is for the voices unheard, inadvertently unearthed by fascists who sought to keep them buried.
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That was written in 2015. Forget phony cries of anti-nationalism. Anti-democracy is what is really happening.
"All they want to know is why their rights are being taken away. But the police and government treat them like their enemies...It is a strange paradox. The government talks eloquently of vasudhaiva kutumbakam—the world is one family. And at the same time they brutally beat up their own people."That was written in 2015. Forget phony cries of anti-nationalism. Anti-democracy is what is really happening.
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The very first chapter, which addresses the horrific abuse Kanhaiya suffered made me realise this story was going to have much more depth than I expected.
Spoilers ahead:
"From a very tender age, many girls were attracted to me, but as I was very shy and I had slight EDS problem, I could not manage the courage to have sex with anyone till I went to Tihar Jail "
"Life was getting very boring for me, I did no
This is a short autobiography of the famous Maoist terrorist bordering on graphic contents.The very first chapter, which addresses the horrific abuse Kanhaiya suffered made me realise this story was going to have much more depth than I expected.
Spoilers ahead:
"From a very tender age, many girls were attracted to me, but as I was very shy and I had slight EDS problem, I could not manage the courage to have sex with anyone till I went to Tihar Jail "
"Life was getting very boring for me, I did not have enough money to afford a girl friend, I was getting fed up with researching about gay chimpanzees whole day and then at the night, all the sex sounds around PANU campus was driving me crazy. I was becoming suicidal"
Now how can anyone not have sympathies with our repressed Maoist
"Only one plate was given to me eat food and as well use it in toilet"
u-turn Khujliwal,Aul Singh, makes a brilliant secondary character,with their wisdom, our maoist shines like superstar
Coming of Jail Story
Must Read, Highly recommended
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Since the JNU incident took as one of the most debated issues in the country, I have been keen on knowing everything and about everyone who was highlighted by medias and especially Mr. Kanhaiya Kumar.
I must say this Book has great stuff in understanding in and out about Mr. Kanhaiya as well as the JNU issue and also the story of a boy who made his way to the capital of India.
Mr. Kanhaiya story is not unusual if you are one among the millions of Kanahaiya in this country. The Inciden
Rating: 4.5/5Since the JNU incident took as one of the most debated issues in the country, I have been keen on knowing everything and about everyone who was highlighted by medias and especially Mr. Kanhaiya Kumar.
I must say this Book has great stuff in understanding in and out about Mr. Kanhaiya as well as the JNU issue and also the story of a boy who made his way to the capital of India.
Mr. Kanhaiya story is not unusual if you are one among the millions of Kanahaiya in this country. The Incidents he narrated about his childhood, family, his village is full of struggle and definitely struck the chord within us.
What I loved most about this Book is; How Mr. kanhaiya relates his story to a larger base of the country. The understanding of this complex Indian society with this childlike mentality definitely touching and it's indeed true to the fullest.
The only downside about this Book is that it loses its grip over translation from Hindi - Even without reading, the reader can sense that.
Read it for enlightening yourself with a dose of real India.
...more keep it up gentleman, GOD bless you..
All real and honest Indians are with you.....
There is nothing extraordinary about his childhood. Like any other village kid of India, he was born and brought up i
This book is the life story of Kanhaiya Kumar in Brief, who is - rightly claimed on the book cover - the most famous student leader of India. It is also a study of how an ordinary student rises up to become a major opposition leader, starts speaking up against the party in power in several TV news channel debates, without even being a national level member of any opposition party.There is nothing extraordinary about his childhood. Like any other village kid of India, he was born and brought up in a poor family, and like millions of poor families, his parents too struggled financially and faced many difficulties to raise their children. What in fact does make the difference is the attitude of his parents, who valued the importance of education, for which they sacrificed other aspects of life, to ensure that Kanhaiya's Studies do not suffer.
Reading his life story makes you humble and grateful for the opportunities that you have gotten in life. You are made to see the unfairness of the system more clearly. In Kanhaiya's own words: "There is no such thing as merit, opportunity is supreme."
I had a misconception before reading this book, that Kanhaiya's rise and emergence as a leader, and eventual threat to BJP was because of BJP's own mistake of attempting to arrest him. I thought it ws a foolish move, which inadvertently brought all the media attention to a supposedly incapable leader. Without this move, he would never have come to the forefront of Indian Political Scene. However, this is not true, as one finds out that he was already quite active before all of this took place. He used to actively conduct and take part in demonstrations and protests agains BJP's political actions, for issue ranging from changes in JNU election policy to Rohit Vemula Suicide case in Hyderabad University. This shows that he was already under the radar of BJP, which was well aware of his actions, and the potential threat which he had already started to pose. His arrest was actually just an attempt to curb his actions, which apparently backfired.
Whether you agree with him or not, it is hard to deny his gift of giving speeches. His speeches are simple, direct, aggressive and quite rational in its approach towards any topic that he chooses to speak on. In the current political scenario, where there is a lack of big opposition leaders, there are not many who can match up to his ability to speak and connect with people. This does make his a prominent face of opposition, outside of parliament.
The last part of the book, which is about the inside view of Jail life in Tihar, is quite interesting. The chronological development of his arrest from the university till he finally gets bailed out is a fascinating account which is worth reading, especially since it is from his point of view.
Finally, the most important reason for picking up this book to read is because it presents his point of view. What are his true intentions and how patriotic he is, we can never find out, but before diving into the cooked up conclusions presented by our Media, it is very important to hear the other side of the story.
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the way i learnt in the memoir how he communication ( "samvaad") have powers of its own and how to the much extent we've already lost that,but coming from a small place gives us an edge and better and clear understanding of communication- how it is just not merely a tool but something far greater than that, that we grow up "un-learning" as we're, on every step of our modern or urbanisation( sheharikaran- I like to flaunt the niche hindi words I know :), we're told and asked to drop down and resultingly we end up becoming a little dilute on every step- our culture and ideologies fade away to compensate for normalization
On a larger note it was a changing in how emphasis-worthy journeys are and we never in think terms of it, we're always in one or even several- ending and beginning afresh constantly, This journey of his however was very very special it inspired and motivated me every bit, and my perspective has been widened to include all the "other" angels and look at things from the bigger picture, also the message- "listen to heart in times of conflict".
Sorry I didn't include and describe his personal journey and got carried away but hey that's what memoirs are for so you read for yourself and explore how humble and the same time empowering this guy is and how politics affects every dimension possible of our life- the "Polio Drop" ( vaccination) he usually gives and how and why we never be and are apolitical. Also I didn't want to spoil the book for you and it's been long time since I've read it, thanks for reading if you've made it this far, this is my first time writing about a book. Take care xoxo ...more
He tells about all the struggle he faced since childhood. Bad economical condition is the major issue because that creates all the struggle. A person's personally is totally based upon his/her own experiences. After reading this, you will have an idea about why he is what he is. If you know him as a left
From Bihar to Tihar" is more a political book than a memoir. This book starts from his childhood, then goes to Patna, Delhi, JNU and ends up at Tihar. This book is as interesting as his speeches.He tells about all the struggle he faced since childhood. Bad economical condition is the major issue because that creates all the struggle. A person's personally is totally based upon his/her own experiences. After reading this, you will have an idea about why he is what he is. If you know him as a leftist, an activist or JNUiates then it's not enough for sure. Labeling is not enough. He is more than a leftist. He is more than a activist. But the bigger question is why? This book has all the answers.
Seeing JNU through Kanhaiya's eyes is much better than anyone elses. His JNU is more in dhaba than in classroom. The culture of JNU has so many colors and that's the beauty of it. Freedom of expression is at it's core which is attacked many times by the external forces but still it survived in this institute.
It also talks about sold media under modi government. How BJP's right-wing thought process is damaging society at large scale. How it is snatching away the right to freedom of expression. How girls are beaten up by male police force. There are many questions unanswered. In simple words, Modi government failed in every way possible. They are promising more and delivering less.
All along it will give a proper insight in Indian politics along with Kanhaiya's life. A must read for all the people who are interested in Indian politics.
Happy reading!
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The reason I was so intrigued to pick this book up was to understand and get to know the facts from the other side as well. From day 1 of JNU events, Kanhaiya Kumar and his colleagues were awarded the tag of "anti-national" and "terrorist". On completing the book, I h
In terms of the writing style, I would say the translation of book to English could have been better and more presentable. Its pretty evident from the content that the Hindi version would have had a better impact on me as a reader .The reason I was so intrigued to pick this book up was to understand and get to know the facts from the other side as well. From day 1 of JNU events, Kanhaiya Kumar and his colleagues were awarded the tag of "anti-national" and "terrorist". On completing the book, I had a completely different picture of the whole scenario of what was portrayed. I believe someway or the other there was a political aspect of the situation in which the ruling as well as opposition party had there own gain and hence they were the ones who led it from the front end.
Media played a good role in not providing a full coverage of the situation on equal grounds, rather majority of there reports were biased and had political influence. As media holds the most powerful mode of communication to spread a news be it partially correct, the whole nation stood united against JNU. Kanhaiya Kumar though his book has given some inside stories that could have made a bit difference if they ever came forward in the limelight. Few points that are mentioned in here might affect your vision of the present political condition. Some conversations will help you understand the situation better than it was presented before.
The book was written with a motive to reach out common people and make them familiar with the facts that they weren't aware of. I believe this book will be an eye opener for those who don't really understand the gravity of a situation and follow others blindly.
Give it a read, because by the end of this book you will gain more information of the other side which you we never knew.
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I have some favourite quotes in this book. I especially liked Kanhaiya's questions about Africa, when he asks if it is India this time who's trying to colonize Africa to settle its businessmen there.
No matter what your views on Kanhaiya Kumar or communism are, this book is a staple of contemporary political writings and memoirs in India. I would recommend everyone interested in contemporary Indian politics to read it. ...more
Kanhaiya Kumar came into limelight when he got arrested on the charges of sedition along with some other charges & was locked up in Tihar jail. In this book the author traces his life from his childhood which he spent in rural Bihar, the challenges he faced coming from an economically weaker family. His journey as a struggling civil service aspirant to going to JNU & actively participating in student politics. But it doesn't just end here, the author gives a brief look into the syst
Rating: 4.5/5Kanhaiya Kumar came into limelight when he got arrested on the charges of sedition along with some other charges & was locked up in Tihar jail. In this book the author traces his life from his childhood which he spent in rural Bihar, the challenges he faced coming from an economically weaker family. His journey as a struggling civil service aspirant to going to JNU & actively participating in student politics. But it doesn't just end here, the author gives a brief look into the system of our country & how it's important for citizens of the country to stay united no matter, surely something to look forward.
Read the full review on Just Another Bookaholic
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A goodread and more relatable especially at this time of BJP.
And eventhough Umar khalid appears only 2 or 3 times in this book, i got kinda interested more in t The story of a simple lower-middleclass brave indian thinker who got popularity due to the right wing or The story about the consequences a man can face due to his switched off mobilephone. Its a simple read which can also be completed in a day. And i kinda started wanting to put my foot atleast one day on the JNU campus due to this book.
A goodread and more relatable especially at this time of BJP.
And eventhough Umar khalid appears only 2 or 3 times in this book, i got kinda interested more in that guy too due to his presence in it. ...more
When he was in JNU,he was the President of JNSU and attacked vehemently by BJP. He was arrested and beaten even in the police custody. He was labelled as Anti National. But when he got the bail, we witness how a student turn to a politician. The way he attacked Modi Govt in his speech is really commendable. If you're in politic Kanhaiya Kumar is a student leader who was a supporter of CPI and now he recently joined Congress Party. He is a good orator and his charm impressed especially the youth.
When he was in JNU,he was the President of JNSU and attacked vehemently by BJP. He was arrested and beaten even in the police custody. He was labelled as Anti National. But when he got the bail, we witness how a student turn to a politician. The way he attacked Modi Govt in his speech is really commendable. If you're in politics,then please go through it. ...more
This book is recommended.
A good read if you are interested in student politics and wanting to understand the Feb 2016 incident in JNU.
I am impressed how Kanahiya is so well informened, and articulate given his poor schooling background. Although I do realize that he has had help from others in writing this book but still it's quite impressive.
Inspiring tale of a man with least resources and opportunitiesI am impressed how Kanahiya is so well informened, and articulate given his poor schooling background. Although I do realize that he has had help from others in writing this book but still it's quite impressive.
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