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FACES: FORTY IN THE FRAY Penetrating Portraits Evocative and sharp delineation of top politicians by someone who specialised in profiling them. By Inder Malhotra FACES: FORTY IN THE FRAY Janardan Thakur had made his mark immediately after entering journalism at the end of the 1950s. As an author, however, he burst onto the scene nearly two decades later in the heady aftermath of the Emergency, when the Empress, having been overthrown, was cooling her heels. Through the 19 months of the Emergency, still described as "dark days", free expression when not surrendered voluntarily was suppressed ruthlessly. No wonder then that the lifting of the heavy lid was followed by a vast outpouring of pent-up emotion -- in newspapers, newly started magazines and, above all, in an unprecedented avalanche of books. Most of these were eminently forgettable, and have deservedly disappeared into limbo. But not Thakur's All the Prime Minister's Men. Though clearly modelled on All the President's Men, the literary-cum-historical spin-off from Watergate, Thakur's wasn't a copycat venture. It compelled attention because it was a brilliant expose of the sycophants, hatchet men, fixers, informers and time-servers surrounding Indira Gandhi and her extremely powerful and tactless son, Sanjay. When the 1977 "revolution by the ballot-box" was devoured by its children in 30 months flat and Indira Gandhi was back in power, Thakur was ready with another book, All the Janata's Men. Unlike many other authors of "Emergency-ana", he did not retract what he had said earlier. Instead, he demonstrated his capacity to hold the scales even. Thakur's latest and, alas, last book -- it was sent to the publishers only a day before his untimely death -- is in the same mould as his previous works. These include a recent book on Indian prime ministers from Nehru to Vajpayee. Thakur specialised in profiling and portraying principal actors on the political stage. In his final book, he does so in a style that is racy, vivid, witty, evocative and highly readable. The one question likely to be asked is why he has selected 40 "in the fray"? Why not 30 or 50? Could it be that the running thread of chicanery and skulduggery that binds the penetrating portraiture of the chosen leaders -- arranged alphabetically from Farooq Abdullah to the Yadav duo -- demands that the number of men and women expected to determine the ongoing poll's outcome must equal that of Ali Baba's adversaries? Each profile has an expressive subtitle. If Uma Bharati is "Glamour in Saffron", Jayalalitha is "The Heavyweight Czarina" and Mamata Banerjee "The Royal Bengal Tigress". A.K. Antony is adjudged a "Saint in the Murky Business", Jyoti Basu described as a "Marxist Bhadralok" and George Fernandes labelled "The Loose Cannon". Delightfully appropriate is the subtitle to the chapter on Atal Bihari Vajpayee: "The Pregnant Pause". Some irreverent souls may be tempted to add that each pause does appear to last a full nine months and 10 days. NEW RELEASES Faultlines The Lightning Should Have Fallen on Ghalib Hindu Feasts, Fasts & Ceremonies India in the Era of Economic Reforms The Third Sex and Human Rights Indian Nationalism |
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