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authors Manish Tiwari and Rajan Panday do not mention any inspiration from the famed The Motorcycle Diaries of a voyage of adventure and self-discovery of Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara and his friend Alberto Gradano, the book provides fascinating glimpses of Indian democracy at work, discovered by the authors during a similar travel. Between the crucial periods of March 2011 and March 2012, the duo travelled across Uttar Pradesh by bike, jeep, bus and trains, covering more than 15,000 kilometres and 350 of the state’s 404 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in over 60 of its 75 districts.
The racy narrative presents no high theory of Uttar Pradesh’s realpolitik. Strangely enough, the authors do not attempt in any way to connect the plethora of information and insights that they collect during these journeys to "UP being the land of Ram". The book is divided into six independent parts of varying sizes completely independent of each other giving the narrative a cyclical feel rather than a linear one. Written in an anecdotal, often journalistic, fashion the authors narrate many "colour stories" and interesting asides which journalists get to know but often do not use in daily reports due to the lack of space or format restraints. As a matter of fact, in their acknowledgements, the authors have admitted that: "We believe that these numerous less-talked of soldiers of the Fourth Estate possess an incomparable pool of information and knowledge, which could be of great significance in successful implementation and monitoring of governance and democratic functions". The book presents the working of various mobilisations tools like rallies and castes and look closely at how it worked in favour or against the political parties and candidates. The most interesting insight is perhaps capturing the rise of Akhilesh Yadav after the brutal repression of the Samajwadi Party workers by the Mayawati regime during the three-day "BSP Hatao, Pradesh Bachao Abhiyan". "The party wanted Akhilesh to be the face of the yatra as it served two purposes: One to counter the Congress youth icon Rahul Gandhi, with one of its own, and two, to project the new image of the party that reflected not only generational change, but also a positive shift towards governance, technology and politics. The party that had opposed computers and English in its 2009 election manifesto now projected an English-educated, Australia-returned leader who was also visibly engaged with his two Blackberry phones". The book contrasts the two youth icons’ style of functioning. While much has been written about Rahul Gandhi’s war room and his "backroom boys," the versatile team of Akhilesh Yadav comprising of street fighters to radio jockeys and foreign –returned techno-geeks as well as the professionals who designed the SP’s sleek and positive "Umeed-ki-Cycle" campaign makes for interesting reading. The more general observations about caste and the changing political milieu in Uttar Pradesh are far more perceptive. The inclination of the OBC and Dalit politicians to indulge in the same kind of customs and practices as the upper-caste leaders used in earlier times is described as length and explained as Sanskritisation. "Power has changed hands but its character has not changed. The social and political roles that Thakurs or Brahmins had occupied so far have now been taken over by middles castes, such as Yadav, Kurmis and Jats. Unfortunately this ‘silent revolution’ has not brought about any substantial change in the progress of the poorer and the most downtrodden sections of society." Observing a sort of pedigree of vehicles the authors provide an interesting guide to the status of the owner. "SUVs are very popular, not only for their glamour quotient, but also for their utility`85most aspire to own at least a Toyota Fortuner. The Mahindra Scorpio is now reserved for senior chamchas (yesmen close to the leader) and the Bolero is for the sadharan karykartas." The disadvantage of depending too much on gonzo journalism kind of writing is that the end result often dates as quickly as yesterday’s newspaper. The resignation of Kunda Independent MLA Raja Bhaiya, after being named in an FIR for the murder of Kunda Circle Officer Ziaul Haq is highlighted in the book as a case of the Akhilesh Yadav government trying to control law and order. The Raja has since been rehabilitated as a cabinet minister and the law-and-order situation has further nose-dived.
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Traversing
the length and breath of state during the months before the
declaration of the 2012 assembly elections and then during the
campaigning in the seven-phase-long election the book makes the reader
go beyond headlines. In fact, it makes us understand the significant
changes taking place at the ground level which did not find space in
the media at that time.