Land of Poverty: Memoirs of an Indian Family, 1947-1977, The

Journal of Third World Studies, Fall 2000 by Murdoch, Grace

Dube, Siddharth. The Land of Poverty: Memoirs of an Indian Family, 1947 1997. London and New York: Zed Books Ltd., 1998.

The book, "In the Land of Poverty" is an historical description of the experience of being poor in India, discussed in ten-year periods from 1947 through 1997. Mr. Siddharth Dube takes a novel approach to an historical presentation. He uses the experience of poverty of one family, that of Ram Dass. He allows the family to tell their own story by using their own words and he then integrates their story into historical events. He also provides a broader picture by discussing how the Dass family's experiences compare to other impoverished Indian families. In each ten-year period, the book highlights the issues of that period that the author perceives to be the major political influences in shaping the life of the poor as defined by the experiences of Ram Dass and his family.

In the introductory chapter Dube describes this unique approach to an historical subject. It is helpful to have this explanation because in the following chapters his integration of material is often confusing. The technique of using a personal story in combination with description of historical events is effective in making those events come alive. However frequently the author will omit essential transitions and he will make statements that read like opinion before he actually presents the historical event. As a result themes are often repetitive, overdone, and hard to follow.

As one progresses through the book the reader senses the depth of concern the author has with the plight of the Indian poor and his frustration with so many failed attempts by the Indian government to deal effectively with the problems of poverty. His concerns and frustrations are indeed justified. However because of these attitudes the author fails to present an unbiased look at the data. He is convinced that the plight of the poor is no better in 1997 than in 1947. Yet based on his own information there has been some improvement, however meager in the bigger picture. The Ram Dass family story clearly indicates positive change. Is the author perhaps doing the very thing he accuses the Indian government of doing, that of oversimplifying a very complex problem?

One important element of his discussion of historical events is missing. While he effectively demonstrates how policies shaped the lives of the poor, he does not address the question of why such policies occurred or the nature of their ideological assumptions. What were the prevailing attitudes, values, ideals, and priorities that shaped such policy? In any society in any time period, the ideology is a major driving force in shaping policy. While he does allude to the role of Hinduism in contributing to discrimination, he does little to shed light on the underlying philosophical causes of policy decisions, decisions that are at the heart of his thesis.

Dube presents some interesting material on Mahatma Gandhi's view of the poor. He attributes major change in the area of discrimination to Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, changes that are typically attributed to Gandhi. To support his argument it would have been helpful if he had elaborated more on how Ambedkar accomplished these changes and who he was.

In the last chapters Dube discusses several important social issues such as women's issues, health, and support for the dependent. Again the Dass family story helps us appreciate the experience of being poor. These are issues of significant importance when thinking about political policy and yet Dube does not integrate them into the discussion of historical events in the previous chapters. They are almost presented as afterthoughts.

If the reader can get past the confusing presentation and the lack of historical analysis, Dube's book is a useful description of how events in Indian history had a direct impact on the experience of being poor in India over the last fifty years. Ram Dass has an important story to tell. We seldom take the time to appreciate the dramatic impact historical events have on individual lives and Dube's book gives us the opportunity to do this.

Grace Murdoch University of Cincinnati