Book review: Bimal Prasad and Sujata Prasad, The Dream of Revolution: A Biography of Jayaprakash Narayan

AuthorDhananjay Rai
DOI10.1177/00195561221091414
Published date01 June 2022
Date01 June 2022
Subject MatterBook Reviews
Book Reviews 315
Each chapter considerably claries every point at length that is laid out through
the theme by avoiding ambiguity of the stance of Gandhi and RSS regarding it. A
pure conceptual normative analysis of the principles or values would have further
strengthened the philosophical aspect of the book and enriched it. Nonetheless,
the book is multi-faceted in nature. It is very useful for understanding Gandhi and
the RSS thoughts about the issues of Indian society. It provides helpful juncture
regarding philosophical inquiry of the Indian social system in a historical
perspective. The book strives towards the goal of excavating similarity between
the thoughts and ideas of the RSS and Gandhi from a new perspective elaborately.
In doing so, it also debunks the misconceptions regarding social issues and
highlights the respect for heterogenous nature of society within the ideological
stance of RSS. The author has nonchalantly and curiously evaluated the theoretical
stances from various vantage points rather than explaining them plainly at face
value. This book is a signicant contribution to the domain of Indian political
thought and is highly valuable for scholars and students interested in it.
Reference
Rothermund, I. (1986). Gandhi’s Satyagraha and the Hindu thought. In T. Pantham & K.
Deutsch (Eds.), Political thought in modern India (p. 301). SAGE Publications.
Ekta Shaikh
Department of Political Science,
University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
eshaikh@polscience.du.ac.in; Ektashaikh93@gmail.com
Bimal Prasad and Sujata Prasad, The Dream of Revolution: A Biography
of Jayaprakash Narayan. Gurugram: Vintage Books, 2021, xv+271 pp.,
`799. ISBN: 9780670096176.
DOI: 10.1177/00195561221091414
A “detached” view is not possible in politics, because we do not live in a vacuum, nor
is politics brewed in it.
Jayaprakash Narayan (1936, p. 160)
If social revolution were just to follow the revolutions of nature, there would have been
no place for human effort for social progress and change. What then are we to do?
The answer is: “They who raised that slogan and sang that song must offer to sacrice
themselves”.
Jayaprakash Narayan (1975, pp. 9–10)
The book under review contains an introduction and ten chapters. Titling of
chapters (in terms of information, evolution, years of making, parting, emer-
gence, from and to, the sting, times) suggests the transversal characteristics in
Jayaprakash Narayan. The transversal characteristics also have the core that

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