We all discuss the symptoms that are negatively impacting the Indian society instead of looking for a cure, says Pawan Varma, the author of 17 bestselling books, who was in the city on Friday on the invitation Chandigarh literary Society.
His latest book “Chanakya’s New Manifesto: To Resolve the Crisis Within India” published by Aleph Book Company formed the backdrop of his interaction with local literati to initiate the debate on how everyone can contribute to change India for the better, said Sumita Misra, President of Chandigarh literary Society.
“Youth holds the key to change and one will have to be literary blind to not see that the country is in a crisis. My target audience is the youth and I would like to send them a message that they should read my book and understand the nuances which will help them shape the future of this country,” said the bureaucrat turned author.
Modelled on Chanakya’s seminal fourth century treatise — the Arthashashtra — Varma has worked out a practical and detailed plan to bring about reform and change in five key areas that require urgent attention — governance, democracy, corruption, security, and the building of an inclusive society.
Varma said that in the book one can find answers for laying the foundation for an independent and effective lokpal, or decriminalising politics and successfully weeding out the corrupt, the solutions proposed are substantive, well within the constitutional framework and can make all the difference between intent and action.
Varma has been press secretary to the president of India, official spokesman of the Foreign Office, director general of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and India’s ambassador to Bhutan.
Having taken premature retirement from the Indian Foreign Service, he now seeks to be actively involved in public life.
“As a civilization, India has shown a remarkable talent in reinventing itself. That is the secret of our survival through an incredible 5,000-year-long journey. We have been known as a civilization in which the power of original thought was cultivated. This is a legacy that we can, and must, revive,” is how the author introduces his book.
“We are fortunate that our founding fathers bequeathed to us a framework of a functioning democratic order through a farsighted constitution. We do not need to throw this aside, or to transplant, borrow or mimic what others have done. But what we do need to do is to make the system that was bequeathed to us work,” he says.
Both a call to action as well as a deeply insightful account of the challenges facing the country today, Chanakya’s New Manifesto is a book that should be attentively read by everybody with a stake in India’s future, added Sumita Misra.