Doomsday conspiracy, anchoring & polity
Reviewed by Vipul Grover

Red Jihad: Battle for South Asia
By Sami Ahmad Khan. Rupa. 
Pages 266. Rs 295

dan Brownwas inspired to write his debut novel Digital Fortress (1998), in which protagonists raced against time to save the world fro possible annihilation, after the thrill he felt upon reading Sidney Sheldon’s The Doomsday Conspiracy (1991). It’s a similar thrill that Sami Ahmad Khan tries to generate in his debut novel Red Jihad. To a Stanley Kubrick fan, this novel might seem a rip-off of cult movie Dr Strangelove (1964). It is 2014; India and Pakistan, moving away from external prejudices, are throwing the Naxalites and jihadis, within their respective countries, into the abyss. India’s threats to internal security unite to take over the national defence agency’s research centre and unleash Pralay, India’s just-developed intercontinental ballistic missile, on the subcontinent. The narrative is fast-paced. Some characters are painstakingly introduced, only to be killed the next moment to accentuate the ‘shock factor’. Meticulousness is absent in roles of important characters. Jargon, especially related to defence equipment, without proper explanation, leaves the reader stranded at times. Sami’s hold on the language and decent research make Red Jihad a good read on a lonely night or train journey.

The ABC of News Anchoring: A Guide for Aspiring Anchors
By Richa Jain Kalra, Pearson. 
Pages 130. Rs 250

news anchoring has come a long way and 24-hour news channels have added new dimensions to the old profile of a news reader, making it more challenging. An element of glamour along with power associated with the jo is inspiring many youngsters to take up journalism.

As Dr Prannoy Roy puts it in the foreword of The ABC of News Anchoring, a book on this subject was long overdue. Author Richa Jain Kalra’s experiences as a news anchor with the NDTV India make the book insightful. She deglamourises the profession to bring to fore the hard work behind the camera. With examples from recent news items, she explains intricacies of breaking news, interviewing guests, panel discussions, anchoring from different locations, etc. Separate chapters have been devoted to reading from teleprompter and facing the camera. A partisan approach, wherein views are passed on as news, is the foremost mistake that can set back an anchor’s career. The last section has perspectives of veteran anchors, including Vinod Dua and Rajdeep Sardesai. No substitute to the hands-on experience but a useful guide for aspirants for this field.

Systemic Failures of Indian Polity: In Defence, Diplomatic and Internal-Insurgency Fields
By Mahinder N Gulati. 
Gyan Books. Pages 364. Rs 840

in the book Himalayan Blunder (1969), Sino-Indian War veteran and PoW Brig JP Dalvi (Retd) brought to light the lack of coherent policies and ill-timed decisions that lead to the debacle in 1962. Dr Mahinder Gulati (Col Retd) makes a similar attempt, albeit on a much larger historical canvas.

His book Systemic Failures of Indian Polity tries to enumerate the endemic problems with decision making at the highest level of political leadership that has taken the nation into murky waters, be it in defence, diplomacy or internal disturbances, including insurgencies.

From the failure of Indian premiers to hold their ground while signing peace treaties, to the ‘fiasco’ of the peacekeeping mission in Sri Lanka, and the strategy of deploying civil militia to tackle the Maoist insurgency, the author presents a critique of political decisions that have shaped this nation since Independence. The author has "ventured into the slippery field of political science" with this book. Covering many events in a single book, he does slip at times. Some of his conclusions seem rushed up and some seem biased; nonetheless, the book succeeds in presenting a wide-ranging account of the period of Indian history that has long been neglected.

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