23 August 2007

Paddy Docherty and Edna Fernandes at the Book Festival

From 15 August. Originally published in ThreeWeeks.

Technical problems kept Paddy Docherty from showing us a photo where he is holding a hunk of hashish "the size of a child's head". The image, from a market near the Khyber pass, stuck with me anyway. Countless armies have traveled the Khyber on their way to India, and Docherty's book 'The Khyber Pass: A History Of Empire And Invasion' looks at the social consequences of these invasions. Edna Fernandes' 'Holy Warriors: A Journey To The Heart Of Indian Fundamentalism' examines some modern consequences of those ideas. Fernandes sees fundamentalism as partly a consequence of economic development, but on the 60th anniversary of Indian independence and partition, is still optimistic: "Indians are not looking to fight the battles of the past - they want to move forward".h

No comments: