Letters from a Father to his Daughter

 

letters-from-a-father-to-his-daughter

This book has a collection of letters addressed by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru from Allahabad to his daughter Indira, who is at Mussoorie.

The letter discusses about the pre-historic times.

By Pre-historic, we mean before history, as there is no real history of that period i.e. very very old times.

These letters were just personal letters when they were written, teaching Indira who is 10 years old, about the earth and the world.

You will read about the earth and its age, how life came into existence on earth, about the time when there was no one on the planet, and then, about the time when only animals existed on planet with no humans and then how humans came into existence from apes. Adaptation and evolution mechanism.

It discusses about old stone age, new stone age (neo-lithic age), discovery of fire, settlement due to beginning of agriculture and the beginning of civilization.

You will read about very interesting facts about the earliest civilization in Egypt, Mesopotamia, region and the earliest civilization in India and China.

The beginning of language, the origin of Dravidians and Aryans in India, and how religion came into being, the concept of patriarchy and kings, and how kings started assuming all the power and then overthrown. Its like Nehru Ji is explaining everything to his 10-year old daughter in a very lucid way and I really feel that a 10 year old must have a taste of pre-history because to be true, when I was 10 years old, I was not quite aware of all these things which are being discussed here.

You will also get to know about the beginning of Vedas, about the epics Ramayana and Mahabharat, its most important verse- Bhagavad Gita and that’s wonderful. Reason, I say wonderful, because a 10 year old is being introduced to the names of these epics and Upanishad Bhagavad Gita, even introducing a name to a child sets a seed in her that arouse interest further to know about these books more.

I am very much sure that if read in a proper way, it will open a different world of history all together for a child which might be a beginning for you to further exploration.

A must read this book for every child and adult as well. Because you will find so many examples here that is relatable to our day to day life and how often we get conditioned by those or simply ignore them thinking that’s the way it is.

For example- there is a letter to Indira that discusses about the race and color. So, you know, when I was a child, I have been degraded because of my skin color. Fair skin color was always thought as superior and black or wheatish as inferior. A child doesn’t have that understanding that color is because of the climatic environment one lives in, melanin pigment and has nothing to do with beauty and intelligence. But it had somehow set in my consciousness deeply because I was highly influenced by the advertisements that promoted fair skin color, I was highly influenced by the harsh comments that people around me used to make, making fun of me. But now I clearly understand that all those people were just devoid of wisdom literature and the skin color or my body has nothing to do with my inner being. But then, I always feel if only I could have understood this as a small child alone.
Like wise, a lot of examples here are being given and definitely a child is going to learn a lot.

So, go and definitely read this book. A wonderful and must read for a child.

Thankyou!!

The review is also published in medium. 

find the video link here.