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Savarkar: Echoes of a Forgotton Past, Vol. 1: Part 1

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Savarkar: Echoes of a Forgotton Past, Vol. 1: Part 1

Written by: Vikram Sampath
Narrated by: Pratik Sharma
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About this listen

As the intellectual fountainhead of the ideology of Hindutva, which is in political ascendancy in India today, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is undoubtedly one of the most contentious political thinkers and leaders of the 20th century.

Accounts of his eventful and stormy life have oscillated from eulogizing hagiographies to disparaging demonization. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between and has unfortunately never been brought to light. Savarkar and his ideology stood as one of the strongest and most virulent opponents of Gandhi, his pacifist philosophy, and the Indian National Congress.

An alleged atheist and a staunch rationalist who opposed orthodox Hindu beliefs, encouraged inter-caste marriage and dining, and dismissed cow worship as mere superstition, Savarkar was, arguably, the most vocal political voice for the Hindu community through the entire course of India's freedom struggle. From the heady days of revolution and generating international support for the cause of India's freedom as a law student in London, Savarkar found himself arrested, unfairly tried for sedition, transported and incarcerated at the Cellular Jail, in the Andamans, for more than a decade, where he underwent unimaginable torture.

From being an optimistic advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity in his treatise on the 1857 War of Independence, what was it that transformed him in the Cellular Jail to a proponent of "Hindutva", which viewed Muslims with suspicion?

Drawing from a vast range of original archival documents across India and abroad, this biography in two parts - the first focusing on the years leading up to his incarceration and eventual release from the Kalapani - puts Savarkar, his life, and his philosophy in a new perspective and looks at the man with all his achievements and failings.

©2019 Vikram Sampath (P)2019 Random House Audio
Colonialism & Post-Colonialism Hinduism Historical Politics & Government

Critic Reviews

"Vikram Sampath has written the finest biography.... This will restore the right balance to the story of one of the revolutionaries of modern India." (Meghnad Desai, eminent author and columnist, professor emeritus at the London School of Economics)

"Vikram's writing skills and his penchant for description, especially of the inhuman torture that the prisoners had to undergo...make the text both heart-wrenching as also very readable." (Tathagata Roy, governor of Meghalaya)

"Vikram Sampath has done extraordinary research into Savarkar's life and history." (T.V. Mohandas Pai, chairman, Manipal Global Education)

What listeners say about Savarkar: Echoes of a Forgotton Past, Vol. 1: Part 1

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epitome of sacrifice....veer Savarkar

loved every moment of the book... would look forward to hearing. very well researched and narrated

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    5 out of 5 stars
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It’s a good book

It’s not just book or story this story of legend which never came out side by this book helps to know about the legend

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  • Overall
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Brilliant book

Definitely worth reading. I am further motivated to read other books by same author now.

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Great book

the book is so so good but the narrator has done a shoddy job . His pronunciations of Marathi surnames ,Indian cities ,books and poems of Savarkar are pathetic. A narrator well versed in Marathi would have done a wonderful job.The narrator has repeatedly pronounced vahini ,which is sister in law in Marathi as Vaahini.As it's an audible book I feel correct pronunciation of words is very very important.Otherwise it's very jarring to the ears of a person well acquainted in a particular language.

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UNTOLD TRUTH

He and many others were such a hero. They were true freedom fighters which are not told by history.

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3 people found this helpful

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Narration could have been better

Loved the details and nuances of the events described in the book ,but Marathi pronunciation was abysmal wished narrator with better understanding of Marathi have narrated it because meaning of many world have changed in this narration because of pronunciation.

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Well spoken

Wherever Marathi songs are quoted if that would have been in the original form rathar in English would have been more informative to know richness of India's great treasure.

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Untold Story of Savarkar & Revolutionary movement

Absolutely loved the story put together with appropriate verbatim references and quotes from the cotemporary government reports, court judgements and press. Savarkar's tale is a highly inspiring one, largely unknown hitherto..

Really incredible is the extent of ingenious planning, consistent hardwork and physical torture, mental hardships that the Indian freedom fighters went through, led from the front by Svatantrya Veer Sawarkar..

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Narrator should’ve been better

The overall writing is good. The sad part was the narration. There are a lot of references and names in Marathi and the pronunciation of them is bad! They should’ve either used a person who can speak Marathi or at least the director should’ve practiced the pronunciation with the narrator before recording.
The sound editing is also very bad! There are several empty patches where the narrator has taken time to read the difficult words. Whereas, there is absolutely no pause/gap when a chapter end and the next one begins!
Looks like they have produced this audiobook with lowest possible budget! Disheartening, considering the content and the person it is about!

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Missing chapters

The audible version contains only the first 7 chapters out of the 12 in my kindle ebook. The audible version ends at L’Affaire Savarkar but my ebook has chapters Sara-E-Kaala Pani onwards and all remaining chapters.

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