Book Review: Neither Roses Nor Thorns

If we look at the post-independence history of India one can easily see the tumultuous times that this young nation has gone through to reach the stage where it can call itself a robust democracy. Littered with doubts, the journey was always on the verge of derailment. A few gentlemen of extraordinary grit and calibre saved it, however. With most of those men, as is usual with the history, the importance of their actions and the men themselves have gone unnoticed during their times, except a gifted few. Justice H.R.Khanna is one such man who was celebrated in his times and continues to be a venerated personality of this order. His was the lonely voice that sung the triumph of democracy in testing times. To arrive at a decision with wide ramification to both him personally and to the moral fabric that made the country like India takes the kind of courage that is rarely encountered in the history. What makes the man that he is? The answer comes straight from the horse's mouth in 'Neither Roses Nor Thorns'. The narration starts with his childhood and traces it to his ascension as the judge of the highest court of India. The best part of this journey is that, more than the man himself, it is the importance that he gives for those people who partook the burden of the journey with him. Littered with hear warming anecdotes of such men this book just shows the immense importance that this man gives to others that surrounded him in his life, how much ever small they may be. In spite of being a well-written prose there are significant shortcomings that I felt made the book somewhat of a disappointment. The book does not carry the much-required depth that one would expect from it. The lack of depth makes one to think that this is a half-hearted attempt by the author to write an autobiography. For a towering personality that he is, this book has all the possibilities to set the golden standard in writing, since his life offered immense scope for the grandeur in such a scale. In fact, I was not able to help myself but to draw comparisons with the “Roses in December by M.C.Chagla” (The greatest autobiography ever written in my opinion) against which this book fails in every possible aspect of writing. If my guess is right, this is the mistake of editor who was not able to bring the best out of the author. Another major problem that I encountered in reading this book is that it does not make any chronological sense. At places, it jumbles within the overall timeline without much making sense or purpose confusing the reader. Granted! A non-linear narrative is a style of writing. But it must go organically with the story that the writer intends to convey to the reader, which is missing here.
I was utterly disappointed with the book. However, few stray snippets of information about people and incidents qualifies this book to be a read worth one time. There went the unsung song of one of the greatest composers of the democracy called India.