Bibek Debroy

ANNUS HORRIBILIS

December 31, 2020

The phrase “Annus Horribilis” pre-dates Queen Elizabeth-II, but it was certainly popularised by her in 1992, when the royal family faced a particularly difficult year. Queen Elizabeth-II said, “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more...

Not truly an insider’s account

October 16, 2020

“This book is being published after the Lok Sabha elections held in May 2019. The previous government has been re-elected for a second five-year term (2019-24) with a substantial majority… This is a relatively short list of agendas for the re-elected government.” Bimal Jalan is a respected economist. Having held...

This Plassey book isn’t a dumbed-down history

July 31, 2020

Plassey: The Battle thatChanged the Course of Indian HistorySudeep ChakravartiAleph Books, Rs 799 Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay was a famous Bengali writer. Outside Bengal, he is probably most famous for his fictional detective, Byomkesh Bakshi. Byomkesh has a friend, Ajit Bandhopadhay, who is also a chronicler. One of these stories was published...

An appetiser, not the main course

July 3, 2020

There are several versions of the Ramayana story. Despite some regional variations, the Mahabharata story is essentially one. For Ramayana, there are Sanskrit and non-Sanskrit versions. For example, in Sanskrit, we have (1) Valmiki Ramayana; (2) Adhyatma Ramayana; (3) Yogavasishtha Ramayana; (4) Rama’s story in Raghuvamsham; and (5) Ramayana story...