Pradeep Damodaran has always pursued his first love 'journalism' and in spite of doing his graduation in chemistry, post graduation in computer application and an early career in the software industry while it was doing well, he quit the same in order to be on the field! He joined Deccan Chronicle and was Chief of Bureau for the publication in Coimbatore for three years before heading the paper in Chennai for sometime. Pradeep is also the author of "The Mullaperiyar Water War" and one fine day he quit everything in order to explore our borderlands and share his thoughts about the same. After the break and the successful publication of the book "Borderlands - Travels across India's boundaries", Pradeep is back to being a full time journalist at Chennai.
The book has been published by Hachette and the cover illustration and design by Prabha Mallya is really fantabulous. Pradeep spoke exclusively to SIMPLICITY about his experiences, "Coimbatore is my second home after Chennai and its the only other place where I have spent time as a resident. I began the sojourn with regard to the book at the beginning of 2015 and took me almost two years to complete the travel and the recording of my impressions. It was a solitary experience for me and I had to go through extreme weathers and difficult situations during the course of my travel. However the experience was kind of a chance of a life time for me because the voyage took me across the whole country at my own pace. If not for Arup Chada (senior journalist), my friend Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan, my parents, my brother, my wife Prabha along with Varsha and Vidhur it would not have been possible for me to have this marvellous experience. I ate, drank, saw, discussed, took pictures, got many answers for so many things only because of this journey across the country. Hopefully this travelogue will give some idea to the readers about the places seen and experienced. I am grateful to everyone who did their part in order to make my journey happen."
Pradeep began his travel by visiting Dhanushkodi first and completed it with Campbell bay which is part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The publishers have chosen to put the chapters in a clock wise manner geographically. Students pursuing their social studies will find the book to interesting and so will everybody else. Pradeep's style is gripping and the book has a sense of timelessness which will make it readable even after a number of decades. He has been honest to the core and has been frank enough to share details even about the drinks and cigarettes had by him during the course of travel. The impartial approach strikes a chord with the reader and the book is a real treat for the lovers of travel. He has stood by his word about Coimbatore for the reader can find a mention of it a couple of times in this lovely book.
Its fascinating to read about the fisher folks of Dhanushkodi, the self sustaining approach of the intellect innovator Manikfan of Minicoy which is part of Lakshadweep, the not so much known facts about the Indo Pak war and the daily exercises at Hussainiwala in Punjab, the rice sheller machines and the difficult people at Raxaul on the Indo Nepal border in Bihar, the Baba Mandir and the border trade at Gangtok, The interactions at Jaigon with the Bhutanese and the road routes to Thimpu in Bhutan, The smuggling of cows into Bangladesh at Taki in West Bengal, The monastries of Tawang and the sacrifice of 2420 soldiers who lost their lives during the Chinese aggression of 1962, The Ankala Parameswari temple and the cosmopolitan nature of Moreh in Manipur which is located on the Indo Burmese border and the settlers at Camplbell Bay due to the initiative of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi among a huge carnucopia of information.
The book is like a horn of plenty and its actually a labour of love for Pradeep has offered a huge treat in one giant platter. The skill of the author will never cease to amaze the reader while he or she learns about every good, bad and ugly aspect of these places. Its nice to learn that the people of Arunachal love India while its sad to know that our cows are tortured before being killed in neighbouring Bangladesh. We get to know that many of the border people have more in common with their immediate neighbours than the rest of the country. The travails, fears and the insecurities of the border dwellers are well depicted. Its quite possible that our Government can do things to make life better and if people from both our home and external affairs ministries read this unputdownable book much can be achieved.
Pradeep is really frank while he talks about the smuggling of youngsters, illegal migrations into India from the neighbourhood, smuggling and other illegal activities, the role of some of the thug politicians, the insinuations caused at the border ceremonies, poverty, lack of infrastructure and medical facilities in the places visited by him. Of course its heartening to note that India exists at the borders. The author has done a good thing by talking about the night life, bars and food at the far flung places of our country. He also speaks about some of the anomalies which exist for the new settlers in some of the places though they are part of India. Its sad to learn that the people at Moreh and Campbell Bay feel that they may have to return home in sometime due to man made and natural reasons like the Tsunami.
The use of Hindi in the North East and the mixing up through marriages among the settlers in some places helps us to understand that neccissity is the mother of invention. Pradeep has done his travel by road and by water except for taking an air ride to Andamans which includes a helicopter ride too. He has achieved a stupendous task by putting facts down gracefully. Pradeep makes us understand things about the very many cultures while sharinfg details about items like the good luck giving and protecting manmade phalluses sold in Bhutan. Similarly he has shared the fact about every second son joining a the Buddhist monastry at the very spiritual Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. The fast paced book has nice stories which shares details about the globe trotting sailors of Minicoy while also giving facts about the neighbouring countries which have a close cultural link to the borderlands of our country.
In all, Pradeep has tried to emphasise that Gross National Happiness has to be the other side of the currency which talks about the Gross Domestic Product in a country which is huge and diverse. The book is sure to draw the attention of many and will help the readers to understand the borders better than ever. Kudos to Pradeep and its hoped that he will continue to unravel a lot more during the times to come.
The book has been published by Hachette and the cover illustration and design by Prabha Mallya is really fantabulous. Pradeep spoke exclusively to SIMPLICITY about his experiences, "Coimbatore is my second home after Chennai and its the only other place where I have spent time as a resident. I began the sojourn with regard to the book at the beginning of 2015 and took me almost two years to complete the travel and the recording of my impressions. It was a solitary experience for me and I had to go through extreme weathers and difficult situations during the course of my travel. However the experience was kind of a chance of a life time for me because the voyage took me across the whole country at my own pace. If not for Arup Chada (senior journalist), my friend Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan, my parents, my brother, my wife Prabha along with Varsha and Vidhur it would not have been possible for me to have this marvellous experience. I ate, drank, saw, discussed, took pictures, got many answers for so many things only because of this journey across the country. Hopefully this travelogue will give some idea to the readers about the places seen and experienced. I am grateful to everyone who did their part in order to make my journey happen."
Pradeep began his travel by visiting Dhanushkodi first and completed it with Campbell bay which is part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The publishers have chosen to put the chapters in a clock wise manner geographically. Students pursuing their social studies will find the book to interesting and so will everybody else. Pradeep's style is gripping and the book has a sense of timelessness which will make it readable even after a number of decades. He has been honest to the core and has been frank enough to share details even about the drinks and cigarettes had by him during the course of travel. The impartial approach strikes a chord with the reader and the book is a real treat for the lovers of travel. He has stood by his word about Coimbatore for the reader can find a mention of it a couple of times in this lovely book.
Its fascinating to read about the fisher folks of Dhanushkodi, the self sustaining approach of the intellect innovator Manikfan of Minicoy which is part of Lakshadweep, the not so much known facts about the Indo Pak war and the daily exercises at Hussainiwala in Punjab, the rice sheller machines and the difficult people at Raxaul on the Indo Nepal border in Bihar, the Baba Mandir and the border trade at Gangtok, The interactions at Jaigon with the Bhutanese and the road routes to Thimpu in Bhutan, The smuggling of cows into Bangladesh at Taki in West Bengal, The monastries of Tawang and the sacrifice of 2420 soldiers who lost their lives during the Chinese aggression of 1962, The Ankala Parameswari temple and the cosmopolitan nature of Moreh in Manipur which is located on the Indo Burmese border and the settlers at Camplbell Bay due to the initiative of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi among a huge carnucopia of information.
The book is like a horn of plenty and its actually a labour of love for Pradeep has offered a huge treat in one giant platter. The skill of the author will never cease to amaze the reader while he or she learns about every good, bad and ugly aspect of these places. Its nice to learn that the people of Arunachal love India while its sad to know that our cows are tortured before being killed in neighbouring Bangladesh. We get to know that many of the border people have more in common with their immediate neighbours than the rest of the country. The travails, fears and the insecurities of the border dwellers are well depicted. Its quite possible that our Government can do things to make life better and if people from both our home and external affairs ministries read this unputdownable book much can be achieved.
Pradeep is really frank while he talks about the smuggling of youngsters, illegal migrations into India from the neighbourhood, smuggling and other illegal activities, the role of some of the thug politicians, the insinuations caused at the border ceremonies, poverty, lack of infrastructure and medical facilities in the places visited by him. Of course its heartening to note that India exists at the borders. The author has done a good thing by talking about the night life, bars and food at the far flung places of our country. He also speaks about some of the anomalies which exist for the new settlers in some of the places though they are part of India. Its sad to learn that the people at Moreh and Campbell Bay feel that they may have to return home in sometime due to man made and natural reasons like the Tsunami.
The use of Hindi in the North East and the mixing up through marriages among the settlers in some places helps us to understand that neccissity is the mother of invention. Pradeep has done his travel by road and by water except for taking an air ride to Andamans which includes a helicopter ride too. He has achieved a stupendous task by putting facts down gracefully. Pradeep makes us understand things about the very many cultures while sharinfg details about items like the good luck giving and protecting manmade phalluses sold in Bhutan. Similarly he has shared the fact about every second son joining a the Buddhist monastry at the very spiritual Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. The fast paced book has nice stories which shares details about the globe trotting sailors of Minicoy while also giving facts about the neighbouring countries which have a close cultural link to the borderlands of our country.
In all, Pradeep has tried to emphasise that Gross National Happiness has to be the other side of the currency which talks about the Gross Domestic Product in a country which is huge and diverse. The book is sure to draw the attention of many and will help the readers to understand the borders better than ever. Kudos to Pradeep and its hoped that he will continue to unravel a lot more during the times to come.