The Evening by Phidalia Toi

Phidalia Toi is back with another stunning analytical book on the NDA government’s fourth year at the centre. The Evening is the fourth and penultimate instalment of the series Marathon Race to Acche Din by the author from North-East India and like all the previous ones, this book also shows an inclination towards maturity as well as a subtle attitude in analysing the various issues that rocked the scenes in the fourth year of the Modi regime. She has divided her new book into several chapters and each one of them is devoted to unique concerns which the author thinks to be important as a ‘layman’ and not as a political commentator or an expert.

The nicest thing about The Evening is that you don’t have to be an expert in politics in order to understand the points raised by the author. The author has kept the presentation simple but the ideas are mostly connecting to the general audience. What do people think as voters is being reflected in this book more than any other thing – Marathon Race to Acche Din is not only a metaphor but also the challenge of a promise that the current PM has made to the nation and people are scrutinising his actions and his responses to the major issues. Phidalia has mentioned the issues of farmers, the fringe elements, J & K, the moist terrorism and many others. However, I would like to mention a few certain things that I have found in her book to be important. Moreover, I will also raise the issues that the author has ‘raised’ personally.

Many good and valid points have been raised by the author – when she talks for farmers and she analyses the policy of Kashmir as a common citizen of India, she is all good. Phidalia also raises her concerns and thoughts. She breaks down the foreign policies in simple terms for the commoners like me and others and I fully agree to some of the points and disagree with some. The one point that I politely disagree with Phidalia is that she mentions fringe elements and an elected MP, Hukumdev Narayan Yadav, from my home, Madhubani, in the same breath. She questions whether Mr Yadav is driving the ideas to an exclusion of the minorities or a majoritarian state of India. Mr Yadav tells that Muslims should recognise that their ancestors were also Hindus. I don’t find any harsh words or an identity crisis in this, Phidalia; have you heard the whole speech? This is a classic case of misinterpretation or out of context citation. I am not supporting or denying his statement and yes, India is called Hindustan and a land of Hindus in popular culture – so, Mr Bhagwat’s comments do not have any lack of history lessons! India has always been tolerant and these notional derivations from the statements become wayward at times!

She goes on to describe the indirect power tussle between the NDA and the opposition. The author tells us how the elections of the president of India and the vice president as well as various other constitutional posts had become a fight for the upper hand in Indian politics. Her analysis and assumptions, as well as the presentation of fact, are quite standard.

So, the readers who want to go through a recap of the fourth year of Modi government and the race to acche din must read this instalment by the author – The Evening. It will be amazing for them as well as for the readers who simply want to get a political highlight into the main events of this year and half of the previous year. Language and narrative are flexible and it depends upon the chapters being discussed. So far so good and I can wait for the fifth and the final instalment now. You can get your copy of the book from the Amazon link below:

Get the book by Phidalia Toi – Click here