The Argumentative Indian

The Argumentative Indian is a collection of essays by Nobel Laureate and economist Amartya Sen. The essays discuss Indian history, democracy, culture and secularism.

Probably, there is a time and place to read this book and that time (atleast for me) was not now. India is currently seeing a kindling of intolerance on many levels and the essays especially the ones on secularism are drab and sometimes sound political.

The book is a disappointment, however, the essay that compared and contrasted Tagore and Gandhi's personalities is interesting. Despite not seeing eye to eye on many topics, the two great men expressed their dissent civilly (something that we should learn) and stuck together for the common goal of liberation from the colonial forces.