Explore India’s Rich History: Top Book Picks from The Seen and the Unseen Podcast

"The Seen and the Unseen" is India's premier long-form podcast hosted by Amit Varma. The podcast, which has been running since 2017, features long-form conversations with intellectuals, writers, economists, historians, and thought leaders from India and around the world.

I am only sharing the books recommended related to Indian History: 

Post-Independence to Contemporary India (1970s–Present)

1. India after Gandhi — Ramachandra Guha
2. 1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh — Srinath Raghavan
3. Emergency Chronicles: Indira Gandhi and Democracy’s Turning Point — Gyan Prakash
4. India Moving: A History of Migration — Chinmay Tumbe
5. Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi — Vinay Sitapati
6. The Paradoxical Prime Minister — Shashi Tharoor
7. The Generation of Rage in Kashmir — David Devadas
8. Atomic State: Big Science in Twentieth-Century India — Jahnavi Phalkey

Independence and Nation-Building Era (1940s–1970s)

1. VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India — Narayani Basu
2. The Man Who Saved India: Sardar Patel and His Idea of India — Hindol Sengupta
3. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India — Akshaya Mukul

Colonial and Pre-Independence India

1. Gandhi Before India — Ramachandra Guha
2. Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World — Ramachandra Guha
3. An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India — Shashi Tharoor
4. Gods, Guns and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity — Manu Pillai 
5. Age Of Pandemics (1817-1920): How they shaped India and the World — Chinmay Tumbe

Ancient to Early Modern India

1. Early Indians — Tony Joseph
2. The Great Indian Novel — Shashi Tharoor
3. The Discovery of India — Jawaharlal Nehru
4. Rebel Sultans: The Deccan from Khilji to Shivaji — Manu Pillai
5. False Allies: India’s Maharajahs in The Age of Ravi Varma — Manu Pillai

Book Review: Maus (Complete Part I and II) by Art Spiegelman

Maus (Complete Part I and II) by Art Spiegelman

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highly Recommended

How difficult it is to write the review of a book acclaimed worldwide by critics? It is the only graphic novel to have won a Pulitzer Prize.  Between moral weight and artistic expression, one struggles to find words that do justice to a depiction of quiet lives being lived alongside a loud and brutal sweep of history.

"The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting," - Milan Kundera 

“A human being survives by his ability to forget. Memory is always ready to blot out the bad and retain only the good.” - Varlam Shalamov

Both these quotes hold profound significance in understanding the dynamics of power struggles, history, and human agency. Yet some memories refuse oblivion; they persist through narrative as a warning and a plea to the humanity. This memory has been itched in a book touching the lives of many and showing all the importance of bearing witness through art. History has shown that it does not start with concentration camps or mass murder, or civil war or genocide. It always starts with words: stereotypes, cliches, tropes. The fight against dehumanization, therefore, also needs to start with words. Stories. This is where Spiegelman’s Maus stands—using the intimacy of storytelling to resist erasure of the unimaginable suffering.

Maus is a graphic novel in two parts and it’s autobiographical written by Art Spiegelman. Maus I: My Father Bleeds History tells the story of Vladek Spiegelman’s life in pre-war Poland and his survival through the Nazi ghettos and camps. Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began continues Vladek’s story with the death marches, liberation from Auschwitz and the aftershocks of war. Through his parents (Vladek and Anja’s) experiences, the author depicts the horrors of the Holocaust, trauma of the survivors and tortured relationship with his aging father.

Set against the devastated landscapes of wartime and postwar Europe, the story offers an unflinching portrayal of survival, resilience, and the generational legacy of the Holocaust, blending personal memory with historical narrative. Through Anja Spiegelman, Vladek's wife, exhibits a different kind of heroism marked by emotional resilience and mental stamina. The novel also explores the complicated nature of heroism by refusing to idealize its characters. Through Vladek’s character, Spiegelman captures both the ingenuity that ensured survival and the lingering psychological scars that shadow life long after liberation. 

In Maus, last part of the narrative unfolds in 1970 at Rego Park, New York, centering around Art Spiegelman’s strained relationship with his father, Vladek who is portrayed with flaws - difficult personality, frugality, and moments of bitterness. The most remarkable and unexpected page in the graphic novel was the reaction of Vladek with fear and racial slur towards a Black Man. Spiegelman portrays a painful irony: a Holocaust survivor, once persecuted himself, now exhibits prejudices similar to those that dehumanized him. Maus teaches the readers a critical lesson on how discrimination persists universally, transcending both time and place.

The graphic novel’s layered storytelling merges visuals and text to evoke a powerful emotional and intellectual response. Spiegelman’s minimalist black-and-white art style that contrasts innocence and brutality effectively. Through its first-person perspective and the seamless interplay of image and language, it offers a profound exploration of both the graphic novel form and Holocaust memory.

In Maus, the symbolic use of animal allegory- Jews as mice, Germans as cats, Poles as pigs, and the French as frogs—functions as a striking visual metaphor that exposes the constructed nature of racial and national identities. This also sparked criticism in Poland, where some readers perceive the depiction of Poles as pigs as perpetuating negative stereotypes and oversimplifying complex historical realities.

Beyond its artistic merit, “Maus” stands as an example of the power of art to document the genocide and offer commentary on the horrors of the Third Reich. The allure is not so much to do with history as it is to present human, where flawed ideas of racial supremacy lead to genocide as cautionary tales to the readers. Maus is an essential read that tackles both private memory and historical horror.

4th Letter to Teen Taal (तीन ताल को चौथा ख़त लिखा )

तीन ताल के सभी साथियों को जय हो, जय हो, जय हो! मेरी चौथी चिट्ठी आप सबके मानसिक स्वास्थ्य को समर्पित है! किसी तीन तालिये  ने कहा था "तीन ताल के घाट पे, भईया, बकबक की भीड़, गपशप के लिए जुट गए, राजा, रंक, फकीर" ! राजा, रंक, फकीर के साथ इस बार कुछ लिबरल्स ने तीन ताल को सुना। उनको बहुत बहुत साधुवाद। यह विविधता हमारे समाज की जटिलता को दर्शाती है, जहाँ हर आवाज़, चाहे वह राजा हो या आम आदमी, संवाद की साझा धुन में एक साथ जुड़ती है।

आज मैं बात करूँगा उस चउतरफा चर्चा की, जहां मानसिक स्वास्थ्य की व्यथा और चिंतन ने ताऊ-वादी दर्शन और उदारवादी विचारों के बीच टकराव को जन्म दिया!  कमलेश ताऊ, आसिफ़ ख़ांचा और कुलदीप सरदार मेंटल हेल्थ पर चर्चा कर रहे थे  और  ताऊ ने  दीपिका पादुकोण को भारत की पहली मेंटल हेल्थ एम्बेसडर बनाए जाने पर तंज कसा कि यह सब एक बड़प्पन दिखाने का तरीका है, और थेरेपी को अमीरों का स्टेटस सिंबल बताया। इससे सोशल मीडिया पर लोग इतने खफा हुए जैसे किसी ने रंगदारी नहीं दिया हो! लिबरल्स ने शर्मनाक घोषित क़िया, एपिसोड कैंसिल कराने और बायकॉट की धमकी दे डाली। फिर भी कुछ  हुआ नहीं। तीन ताल के सुनाने वाले ठसक से बड़े और मिजाज से प्यारे  होते  हैं  इसलिए वो ताऊ के साथ खड़े मिले । जन जन का नारा है, तीन ताल हमारा है का उदघोष सोशल मीडिया पर गूंज उठा।

पहले तीन ताल की मूल भावना हास्य रस है और ये बैठकी ग़ज़ब का मंजर है! एक तरफ़ गांधी जी की गंभीर फोटो, दूसरी ओर मर्लिन मुनरो की मुस्कुराती तस्वीर, और बीच में तीन ताल पॉडकास्ट का स्टूडियो — जहाँ विचार ऐसे टकरा रहे हैं जैसे समोसे की प्लेट पर चटनी और मिर्च। गांधी जी के पीछे लिखा है "सादा जीवन, उच्च विचार", और मुनरो की तरफ़ से झलक रहा है "ग्लैमर भरा विचित्र संसार". बीच में होस्ट लोग बैठे हैं और तीन ताल का ध्वज-पताका ऐसे फहरा रहा है मानो विचारों का स्वतन्त्रता संग्राम चल रहा हो।

तीन ताल, सादा जीवन और बिज़ारे विचार का तुग़लक़ी संगम है। ताऊ-वादी दर्शन हर समस्या को तुगलकी विचार से सोचने के नाम है ! और ताऊ-वादी विचारक विरोधों से अपनी दिशा नहीं बदला करते। और जो हर रोज़ रुख़ और तवज्जो पलटते रहते हैं, वे ताऊ-वादी विचारक नहीं होते। ताऊ का सोशल मीडिया पे अपने विचार पे अडिग रहते देखना अच्छा लगा, एक एक जुमला याद आया, "वो उसूल ही क्या जिसकी कीमत ना चुकानी पड़े! 

जब  फ्री स्पीच  का  ध्येय  रख  कर  अति गंभीर से लेकर अनौपचारिक तक सब पे बात हो रही  है,  ये है रुदाली रुदन क्यों ! रूढ़िवादी कहते हैं धर्म पे व्यंग्य न बोलिये और लिबरल्स बोलते हैं मेन्टल हेल्थ पे व्यंग्य न बोलिये। आज लिबरल्स हों या रूढ़िवादी — दोनों पक्षों ने विचार को नारे में बदल दिया है। जब भाषा केवल दलीलों का हथियार बन जाती है, तब स्वतंत्रता मर जाती है। असली बोलने की क्षमता वही है जो किसी खेमे में रहते हुए भी उसके झूठ को पहचान सके। सोशल मीडिया पर कितनों को मैं सूरज समझ बैठा था, बाद में मालूम हुआ वो तो महज़ दिया निकले। कभी रंग बदलते हैं, कभी रुख़। मूल बात यह है कि कुछ लोगों की नैतिकता ऐसा आईना बन गई है, जिसमें हम स्वयं को चमकदार और श्रेष्ठ प्रदर्शन करते हैं, पर दूसरों की खामियों को ही देखते हैं। बाकी मेरा आपका जीवन समाप्त हो जाएगा, आउटरेज ख़त्म नहीं होगा।

वैसे  देश में मानसिक स्वास्थ्य पर बात करने पे हिचक है I मेन्टल हेल्थ को नकार देनी वाली बातें अक्सर आकर्षक लगती हैं, लेकिन उनके असली मायने और वास्तविकता करीब जाकर ही समझ आती है यहाँ हर समस्या का समाधान है — थोड़ा पॉज़िटिव सोचो और चाय पी लो। विशेषज्ञों की जगह अब मोटिवेशनल स्पीकर बैठेंगे, जो हर तीसरे वाक्य में कहेंगे, “तुम्हारा मन कमजोर नहीं, तुम्हारा वाईफाई स्लो है |

बुजुर्गों ने कहा है... चिंता चिता समान है! — बस फर्क इतना है कि अब ये चिता वाई-फाई से जलती है। लोग सुबह उठते ही अपने “स्ट्रेस लेवल” को फिटनेस बैंड की तरह ट्रैक करते हैं, नींद नहीं आती तो मेडिटेशन ऐप डाउनलोड कर लेते हैं, और फिर उसी ऐप की रिव्यू पढ़कर और चिंतित हो जाते हैं। ऐसा लगता है मानो मानसिक स्वास्थ्य अब कोई आत्मिक यात्रा नहीं, बल्कि सब्सक्रिप्शन प्लान हो गया है — महीना दो, चिंता लो, चिता स्थगित!  

ऊपर से विज्ञापन के तौर पर ब्रांड एंबेसडर बनाए जाने के मुद्दे पर व्यंग्यपूर्ण और गंभीर चर्चा को भी कुछ ज्वलनशील लोगों तटस्थता की जगह उग्रता से ले लेते हैं |  तीन ताल का अनुभव, मानो अंतर्मन की नदी में प्रवाहित एक सतत संवाद है, जिसमें  हर विचार्रों की  हर लहर — चाहे वह गंभीर हो या चुटीली, पवित्र हो या सांसारिक, सतही हो या गहरी, आपके दिमाग को  स्फूर्ति देती है | ऐसा सुनना सिर्फ बातें सुनना नहीं, बल्कि उनकी सोच और महसूस को समझना है।  जब हम ताऊ को ध्यान से, लंबे समय तक सुनें, तो ऐसा लगता है जैसे वो हमारे मन में उतर गए हों।  

यह संवाद, अपनी विविधता और गहराई में समृद्ध, सिर्फ बातचीत नहीं बल्कि सहानुभूति और समझ का जीवंत आदान-प्रदान बन जाता है। इस चौथे खत के अंत में बस यही कहना है कि आप लोगों की जुगलबंदी शानदार हैं। आने वाले एपिसोड में हाथ जोड़कर अनुरोध है कि आप हिंदी क्षेत्र से दूर देश बिदेश में  रह रहे हिंदी भाषियों के जीवन-संघर्ष और मानसिक स्वास्थ  पर भी प्रकाश डालें—क्योंकि बहुत से तीन तालिये दूर- सदूर से आपको सुनते हैं। तीन ताल के सभी साथियों को मेरा कोटि-कोटि प्रणाम।  जय हो, जय हो, जय हो! 

--- यायावर  ( टीटी स्टाफ)

Book Review: The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan

⭐⭐⭐⭐✰ Worth Reading

“The age of empire and the rise of the west were built on the capacity to inflict violence on a major scale. The Enlightenment and the Age of Reason, the progression towards democracy, civil liberty and human rights, were not the result of an unseen chain linking back to Athens in antiquity or a natural state of affairs in Europe; they were the fruits of political, military and economic success in faraway continents.”

The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan challenges conventional Eurocentric narratives by revealing how global history, trade, and exchange formed the bedrock for the modern world.  This perspective challenges the notion of Western progress as an isolated or inevitable phenomenon, situating it instead within the interconnected histories of empire, trade, conquest, and genocide.  

The Silk Roads is a deceptive title for a profound book. While the title evokes images of ancient trade routes, the book encompasses far more. It places ancient global dynamics revealing the enduring interconnectedness of civilizations and the forces shaping our world. 

Initial chapters of the book focus on the origins of the Silk Road as ancient commercial and cultural networks. They further dwell into how religions, revolutionary ideas, alliances and beliefs traversed the Silk Road, shaping societies across continents. The book gives a glance on the rise of key cities like Minsk, Kyiv, and Novgorod adds a crucial dimension to The Silk Roads. Frankopan delves deeply into how "military might, careful administration, low taxes and religious tolerance created the bedrock of the Mongol Empire."

Peter Frankopan goes on to discuss the commerce that is against the concept of modern society i.e. the movement of enslaved peoples and the impact of slavery on societies. The word "slave" is historically derived from the ethnonym "Slav," referring to the Slavic peoples. In the 8th and 9th centuries when many Slavs were captured and enslaved by Byzantines, Avars, Germanic tribes, and other groups during medieval wars and raids, leading to their ethnonym becoming synonymous with "slave" in Europe. 

The book further analyses the fur trade, oil (black gold), agricultural trade, gold and silver trade’s influence on power, politics, and global economies.  This trade affected the rise and fall of empires fueled by Silk Road wealth and connectivity. The last chapters deal with the Silk Road’s role during modern geopolitical tensions and America’s involvement and via Silk Road-inspired connections. Silk Road was once world's nervous system with the strategic geolocation of the Countries of the Silk Roads (from the Western borders of China to the Mediterranean Sea) has a historical ring. The 21st Century Silk Roads is what BRI is all about.

The book is vast in scope, profound in insight, and deeply philosophical in its approach. It is not merely a must-read—it demands multiple readings. The immense canvas the author unfolds can be overwhelming, yet this remains one of the finest and most illuminating treatises ever written on the idea of the Silk Road.

Book Review: Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud - Peter Watson

Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud by Peter Watson

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highly Recommended

The past is an inheritance, a gift and a burden. It can’t be shirked. You carry it everywhere. There’s nothing for it but to get to know it. - Jill Lepore

Crisis makes radical ideas relevant. Radical ideas inspire social movements. Social movements amplify crisis. In a crisis, shovel-ready ideas can win support quickly. History is full of deeply flawed ideas adapted rapidly by civilization and also burial ground of the ideas applied with the best of intentions. We must look at history and to understand that change never, ever, ever comes about in a brief period. It's the gradual accumulation of knowledge as ideas to historical change that lead to the historical changes.

All the current knowledge has been built on past insights, and a book is devoted for the cause. Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud by Peter Watson, has covered the key intellectual milestones of humanity’s intellectual ascent. Central to the narrative is the theme that ideas—not war, politics, or economics—are the true drivers of history, which the author weaves with remarkable sensitivity. Watson crafts a sweeping intellectual history that traces how ideas evolve and have profound consequences. 

The book is a sweeping chronicle of how human beings have thought about the world and their place in it across cultures and centuries. The amount of knowledge condensed in a single book covering disciplines (science, philosophy, law, religion, the arts, music, economics, etc.), is astonishing! 

The reader will explore about the foundational scientific discoveries and their unexpected consequences. How great minds connect the dots across different ages and disciplines? Reader will delve into the major philosophical and religious movements that defined our ethical systems and societal structures, tracing thought from the earliest concepts of the soul to the complex theories of Freud.

Understanding how ideas evolved helps the reader appreciate the unique power of human thought and innovation. Watson’s methodology and narrative structure is exhausting for the reader as the book covers the depth and breadth of intellectual evolution. 

Reading the book is worth the effort. It's illuminating, but not without blind spots! The book is too Eurocentric, and it oversimplifies things for the experts. Peter Watson does acknowledge major non-Western civilizations (like China, India, and the Islamic world) and includes influential figures and concepts from them. However, their contributions are often subordinated to the narrative arc of Western intellectual development, especially from the Renaissance onward.

Bernard of Chartres, a medieval scholar, who said: "We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance..." The phrase has come to symbolize intellectual progress built on the foundations laid by others. The trajectory of knowledge — from fire, to writing, to the internet — suggests that future breakthroughs will continue to reshape human life. Confidence in the knowledge that those before you have achieved wonderful things in past always help an individual or community to overcome doubt, hysteria and even conspiracy theories. Ultimately, the book is a celebration—and critique—of the complex history of ideas that shape our world.