Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. Between them stretches a poignant era of India’s contemporary history. A unique independence movement, both militant and non-violent. Freedom at midnight. The blood-socked Partition. Consolidation backlash. A ruling dynasty. The players were unique. Gandhi, a baffing combination of Bania and Vairagi. Patel, the iron-man with his communal feet of clay. Jinnah, winner of Pakistan with the help of his stenographer. Azad, deeply religious yet secular to the core, Subhas, prince among patriots exiled by his compatriots. Ambedkar, the voice of the dumb Daits. Nehru, a socialist pretender sporting a rose after the Great Mughals. Indira who clamped Emergency to save her inherited throne. With his double advantage of a freedom-fighter and journalist, Ansar Harvani tells us about them. Rich with first hand experience, deep insight and heart-warming prose, the characters come alive. The little-known facts about well-known men (and a women) give human dimension to the icons. It is left to Harvani, like the child of the fable, to point out that the king is without clothes.
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