Advani wants to pen analysis
of Indian politics

A voracious reader and a political pamphleteer during the Emergency, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani wants to pen an analysis of political developments in the country since independence but is unable to pursue it for want of time.

"I have been wanting to share my experiences in public life, but don't have the time to do so," Advani, a former journalist, told PTI.

The septuagenarian leader said he had received a couple of offers from some people for writing his biography or even
an autobiography if he could spare some time.

"I have not yet made up my mind," he said.

"My idea is to write an analysis of political developments in the country since independence. How Indian democracy and the party system evolved, the experience of Emergency, the shift from one-party rule to coalition politics etc," Advani said in Delhi.

Citing paucity of time as the 'biggest constraint', Advani said, "The only time I wrote a lot was when I was in jail during Emergency and after the fall of the Morarji Desai government. I wrote five to six pamphlets for the underground movement during Emergency."

"It needs both time and concentration. Jan Sangh founder Deendayal Upadhyaya used to find time to write even while pursuing active politics. He made it a point to write daily."

Advani, however, said he made it a point to take some time off his hectic schedule for his favourite passion of reading.

Interestingly, he is currently reading a compilation titled 'A Passion for Books', which he describes as "a book lover's treasury of stories, essays, humour, lore and lists on collecting, reading, borrowing, lending, caring for and appreciating books." The book gave him company during his whirlwind poll campaign in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday.

Movies are another weakness.

During a recent tour to Thailand, he told his tour guide, "Next time, I come to your country, I would like to see the bridge over the river Kwai, which I have seen only on celluloid (The Bridge on the River Kwai is a famous film directed by David Lean)."

Declining to comment on the failure of Devdas to get an Oscar nomination, Advani said, "Lagaan, which was nominated last year, was a far superior film in terms of story and acting."

The latest Devdas was 'spectacular, extravagant with good acting and music and Kiron Kher's acting was the best'.

Advani said that Company and Saathiya were the latest movies that he had watched.

He had stopped watching movies between 1942-57 but recalled that in the early 60s', after a municipal poll debacle in Delhi, he had accompanied his party colleagues to watch Phir Subah Hogi.

"Subsequently, when I was staying with my uncle in Mumbai, I heard that a person died of shock after watching a movie. I decided to watch that horror movie House of Wax and later many other Alfred Hitchcock films," he said.