Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers

Arundhati Roy is my favorite writer and I am glad that her earlier books have received the recognition they so deserve. This one too is a gripping read as it combines and analyzes political events and provides a lucid presentation of the same. The well written essays depict the journey of Hindu nationalism and neoliberal economic reforms that commenced together in the 1990s and have been unraveling, day after day, with catastrophic outcomes.

Be it the callous killings of Muslims in the Gujarat riots in 2002 or a correlation between progress and genocide that have gone parallel to each other in the walk of history, the political and social mayhem over an epoch, have been well dissected. This is followed by the unsophisticated investigations into the Parliament attack of 2001 and the dangers of an increasingly powerful judiciary.

The collection of essays ends with the recent attacks on Mumbai and a detailed account of the uprising in Kashmir. The logical analysis makes it all the more interesting for a fresh reader. I have been intrigued by the intellectually presented articles in popular fortnightlies and this book is certainly the cherry on the pudding. It is lucid, unlaced with mystifying jargons and actually tracks the fault lines that are a threat to our nation's future. 'Listening to Grasshoppers' is profuse with an analytical approach to political issues and is a must read for the youth.

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