Compartive review of two books relevance to South Asian history Research Paper

Compartive review of two books relevance to South Asian history - Research Paper Example Attempting a comparative study of these two eminent personalities one should first of all focus on their background. The people of India keep everlasting memories about Subhas Chandra Bose even after fifty years of his death, but he is not much popular to many of the westerners. As the extremist leader of the Provisional Government of Free India after its establishment by the Axis powers during World War II, many regard him as the Asian Hitler or Quisling. But he was soon forgotten just after the Allies defeated his Indian National army. For the Indians, he is still â€Å"Netaji† or "revered leader." Mother Theresa, the Nun Mother was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, on August 26, 1910. She was born to Albanian descent parents and it is said that she had the call of God at the age of twelve. This prompted her in joining the sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India (The Nobel Peace Prize 1979). When Mother was assigned to India after her initial vows as a nun, she happened to meet the pathetic state of the poor people outside the convent wall and decided to uplift their dismal state. Though she was devoid of any funds to support them, she herself felt that she had the Divine Providence which helped her all through her life. This selfless and endless sympathy along with kindness for the fellow beings, make her different and it is the same that earned her The Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Therefore, analyzing the biography of Netaji and Mother, one can certainly identify certain similarities; both fought for the freedom of people, Netaji for physical freedom and Mother for spiritual freedom and the main contrasts are concerned with Netaji as an extremist leader and Mother as the one followed non-violence like Mahatma Gandhi to attain her goals. 1) What subject matter does each author cover? The texts selected here for comparing and contrasting the characters of Mother Theresa and Subhas Chandra Bose are; "Subhas Chan dra Bose: a biography" (2002) by Marshall J. Getz and, "Mother Teresa: helping the poor" (1998) by William Jay Jacobs. Both the texts attempt a down to earth study of the given personalities without avoiding even the minute details. This is quite identifiable when observing the way the authors arrange the texts. Marshall J. Getz has arranged his book, â€Å"Subhas Chandra Bose: a biography† very systematically, beginning with the childhood of Netaji. The text has a logical sequence of development in the arrangement of incidents occurred in his life. The minute observation of the author is quite visible when he narrates Netaji’s father, Janakinath, a lawyer. Here the author, Marshall J. Getz writes, â€Å"His father, Jnakinath Bose, enjoyed an outstanding reputation as a lawyer among the local population of 20,000† (7). The subject matter of this book is concerned with Subhas Chandra Bose, his childhood, towering as a great political leader, the factors helped fo r attaining this position, his path-by putting an end to education and beginning politics, visits to foreign countries intended to seek help and support for his Indian National Army, and so on. The author has colorfully portrayed his towering as ‘Netaji’ and as the darling of the Axis. The chapter entitled; ‘The falling Tiger’ describing his disappearance and death, which is still left as a mystery. William Jay Jacobs has