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books

the-best or gating. And collection and disburse-
although Mani recounts ment power to local a matter of the heart:
the monumental work and governments in every civic education in india
effort he invested in vari- ward countrywide. If these Anurag Behar
ous initiatives abroad in- constitutional amend- westland books
cluding Pakistan, the plain ments are enacted in spirit rs.599
truth is that diplomatic and substance, under the Pages 375
ties and relationships with principle that local com-
these countries, rather munities best maintain
than improving, have dete- their backyards, the coun-
riorated. Of course that’s try would be much better caregiving professions, a valuable narrative
not his fault. governed. including medicine, ac- recounting stories of
However, on the major Be that as it may, counting, protective forc- dedicated teachers
issues of economic de- although Memoirs of a es, and law that require transforming the
velopment — imposition Maverick reeks of un- close interaction with the lives of students in
of the inorganic social- earned privilege, there’s primary stakeholders, nondescript villages
ist development model, no denying parallely, it’s patients, clients, etc, a cer- and far-flung sites
India’s stagnant rate of an engaging social history tain level of detachment is
economic growth through of post-independence In- warranted, for retaining
the 1960s-80s, the neglect dia recounted from an elite distance and maintain- Apart from personal
of education and mass perspective. Almost all the ing professional behav- commitment and actions
poverty and immiserisa- men and women — espe- iour. All these rules are a of teachers, Behar also
tion of two generations of cially the Nehru-Gandhi hindrance in the practice highlights the important
free India’s children under dynasty and its genuflect- of the teachers’ profession. role of government in edu-
the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty ing servitors — are named In this vocation, one must cation. Through various
— Aiyar, who married well and a few shamed in this be passionate and care policies that work against
and sired three children eminently readable ac- deeply and genuinely for teachers, such as recruit-
who are inevitably well- count of life in the Indian students. This is evident in ing teachers at various
placed in India and abroad Foreign Service and Lu- the hundred-odd anec- pay levels and inadequate
— has little to say. Ditto tyen’s Delhi. Perhaps the dotes that Behar shares in funding, the government
the Emergency (1975-77) best is yet to come. this volume. has largely relegated pub-
which he “hated”, though diliP tHakore Behar’s extensive lic schools to the sidelines.
he continued to faithfully fieldwork covers hith- Behar argues that despite
serve and eulogise the erto ignored villages and the widespread prevalence
Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. inspiring field nondescript sites. The of private school educa-
Nevertheless on one book is a valuable source tion, it is government/
count during his long tapping into stories that public schools that can
career in government, report would have been lost to make real impact.
Aiyar did make a no- history. Documentation of He admits the ability of
table contribution to the NUraG BEhar the changes made by the private players to provide
national development has rich experi- work of Renu Upadhyaya low cost education. But
effort by conceptualising aence in the field in Uddham Singh Nagar, according to him, low fees
the Panchayat Raj and of education by way of Uttarakhand; Shobha in charging private schools
Nagarpalika — local self- working with the Azim Gulbarga, Karnataka, and are “parasitic” in their
government — Bills which Premji Foundation and teachers and principals exploitation of the labour
eventually transformed travelling extensively at in different parts of the market. It is left to the in-
into the 74th and 93rd the grassroots level. Like country, is a reminder for dividual teacher who even
Amendments to the Con- others who have worked in teachers to maintain com- if dissatisfied with the
stitution. It’s a pity these the field, he argues that in mitment and zeal towards workplace, to somehow
Bills despite having been the end, good education is their work, wherever they find the inner strength and
sanctified by inclusion in ‘A Matter of the Heart’. are. These are motivation- resolve to provide quality
the Constitution, remain a This insight is a clear al stories of transforming education to students. A
dead letter because selfish indication of how the pro- the lives of students and committed teacher teaches
state governments refuse fession of teaching is un- inspiring hope, peace, and with her heart not because
to transfer property taxes like any other. With other possibilities. of good infrastructural

162 educationworld december 2023