A Neat Biography of a Stoic Politician

I really cannot remember when was the last time I read such a lively bio­graphy of an Indian politician. I have seen and heard former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda at events organised in Parliament or in Delhi and other cities. I can say without hesitation that, like most North Indians, I also saw him as a stoic kind of politician. However, as a journalist, I was well aware of some of the best aspects of Deve Gowda as well as some of his mistakes. But his entire life and long political journey with several turning points—his rise as a politician, then chief minister, and finally Prime Minister—had not been as well-informed as was reconstructed in the volume under review—Furrows in a Field: The Unexplored Life of H D Deve Gowda.

To countless people like us, this book provides a wide-ranging and truthful ­account about the personality, capabilities, and mindset of a former Prime Mini­ster of our country. This book is not just a biography of Deve Gowda or an evaluation of his political personality and his government’s policies, but it is also a factual and objective history of contemporary politics and society of ­India.