The zamindars mercilessly squeezed the peasants leaving them no incentive to produce more. The development of infrastructure, including railways and irrigation facilities led to the commercialization of agriculture and monetization of the rural economy with uneven effects on different areas and sections of the people.
Though the book makes an important contribution, there are a few areas which the author could have fleshed out more. There is an over-emphasis on Hindu women and mothers and very little mention of Muslim women. Likewise, during the colonial period
The book is indeed a detailed micro-history of the city, looking at the lives of individuals, communities and localities and their interactions with each other and their transformations from the 1930s to the mid-1950s, and the impact of the transition from a colony to a state to a nation on the city.
Anindyo Roy’s account of Lear’s visit to India stands out as the kind of travel book that Lear hoped to write from his journal jottings: ‘A travel book that that was akin to a kind of music: it was not a trophy, not a mirror held up to nature. Like a kaleidoscope
The book expands on existing research that examines the historical sociology of middle-class Indians, focusing on how they defined themselves and their role as agents of modernity during the 1920s and 1930s. It primarily explores western India, specifically Bombay and Pune, and deliberates on various Indian groups such as Marathi Brahmins, Gujarati upper castes
Manipur’s hosting of the Indian Science Congress in December 2017 had stirred up a few hornets’ nest in the University. The Vice-Chancellor AP Pandey now began to be targeted as a non-local person. The academic community was up in arms against him