The Doctor and the saint

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Name : The Doctor and The Saint
Author : Arundhati Roy
    Year of Publication : 2019
    Genre : Non-Fiction, Politics 
    Rating : **** (4 stars out of 5)

The author is at her best as the content involved gives scope for irony and debate. She sums up Ambedkar poignantly thus : "He wore suits,yet. But he died in debt". She does not address Mohandas Gandhi as "Mahatma" and brings up the Mahatmahood only to point out how the halo is not as bright as it is portrayed to be. That a speech written by Ambedkar in 1936 remains relevant even in 2019 points to the inadequacies of the Gandhi way of addressing Dalit issues. But what India needs today is not a "Gandhi vs Ambedkar" debate. Rather , a "Gandhi AND Ambedkar" approach is needed but for those who do not care about Ambedkar yet, this short and sharp book is a good place to begin with.

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