Book Review: Swaraj

• Book: Swaraj   
• Author: Arvind Kejriwal  
• Publication House: Harper Collins.  
• Category: Non-Fiction/ Current Affairs.  
• Rating: 4.5/5 

In-Short:

The last one-and-a-half years in India have been defined by the anti-graft agitation led by Anna Hazare. His key lieutenant, Arvind Kejriwal, has played a central role in the movement.

In 2012, as it became clear that the political establishment was not going to accede to the main demand of the movement to pass the Lokpal Bill. Team Anna demanded the setting up of a Special Investigative Team to probe corrupt politicians. On 25 July 2012, Kejriwal, along with two of his colleagues and Anna Hazare, sat on a fast to press this demand.

This book, which serves as a manifesto for the movement going forward, gives practical suggestions as to what the ordinary citizens, the opinion makers and the political establishment in India can do to provide a political alternative, or to achieve true swaraj (self rule). 

The authors central point is that power must shift from New Delhi and the state capitals to the village councils and the town communities, so that people can be directly empowered to take decisions about their own lives. A must-read for anyone with a dream to leave behind a better India for the next generation. 

In my View:

I’ve considered Arvind Kejriwal as a perfect example for Indian politics, an ideal for good governance and a speaker for a progressive development. I wished to read his book Swaraj which is written by him, himself and thus read each and every page of it with scrutiny. 

I rarely find non-fiction books interesting but this book is really, really interesting and fantastic. The book explains each and every problem which India is currently facing. Arvind Kejriwal has mentioned detailed information on the social topics. How’s and Why’s of social evils are described in a complete comprehensive manner. How our neta’s are looting the country’s respect for the selfish and endless needs, why the people are unable to mount their opinion despite the existence of democracy, How government employees misuse their powers, Why are poor’s still poor, etcetera questions have been answered by Mr. Kejriwal in his this book. 

• Arvind Kejriwal.

There are many slots in the book where-in he has recollected the stories from the ancient times, the style of functioning of government then and inspiring stories from across the world. Description of selective initiatives that have gradually transformed the public life have found place in the book. 

There is a minute account of the inefficiencies of the Panchayati Raj system. The book defines and describes corrupt Sarpanch’s and Collector’s. It reports and makes readers realize that how corrupt people are drastically changing the system, in a harmful manner, under our nose. 

What I liked is the point vise placement of necessary paragraphs. Arranging paragraphs in such style leads to easy understanding of the complex texts. Arvind Kejriwal has done a detailed analysis of many important things in just 151 pages, unlike many other books which are 500+ pages long. 

In my opinion, ‘Swaraj’ should not only be in the libraries and book shelfs but also in the bags of school and college students. Trully, I found it much better than the civics textbooks that I’ve read and studied. The book is available in both Hindi and English language!

Over-all, it is a fabulous book. I would make a humble request to the people of this country for getting and reading it and staging their voices up to clean the corrupt political system. This book has won my heart and I would rate it by 4.5/5. Hat’s-off Arvind Kejriwal! 

• Swaraj is available in all leading book stores and libraries. 

• You can also get it online: Flipkart, HomeShop18,  Amazon, URead, Infibeam,  Book Adda.