Author: Pascal Alan Nazareth
Publication: Konark Publishers
Genre: Autobiography/Memoir
Format: Hardcover
Length: 256 pages
Rating: 5/5 stars
'A Ringside Seat to History ' is an insightful memoir of the renowned author, orator and diplomat Pascal Alan Nazareth sir. In it, he has poured down the innermost feelings of his heart and showed us the art of living and how one can follow the path of righteousness in every difficult situation. Divided in fourteen chapters the work is a captivating record of Pascal Alan Nazareth's life and the experiences he gathered in his more than three decades long IFS career as a diplomat in Tokyo, Rangoon, Lima, London and New York, as India's High Commissioner in Ghana and as the Indian Ambassador in Egypt and Mexico.
The work also contains a few snippets from his post-retirement life after 1994 when he decided to devote his life in the pursuit of seeking and upholding the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. Narrated with a relentless sense of loyalty, the work's stories and advices are inspiring. Author Nazareth speaks with the depth and fluency of a sage and the simplicity of a family man, which makes it quite interesting a journey to go through his work.
One thing that I loved the most about this work is Author Nazareth's passion for establishing the ideals of Gandhiji for creating a better world. Throughout the book one can feel his excitement and passion in sharing the historical events he witnessed as a bureaucrat and how it shaped his perception over the years. The structure of the work is chronological and it contains a thumbnail view of his exciting career such as, the news he received on the very first day of his IFS career at the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's office about Dalai Lama's crossing the border to India and then years later his meeting with Dalai Lama at Gaya, Mother Teresa's arrival at the New York's Sloane Kettering Hospital to pray over his son Andy and then his complete recovery to name a few.
He has also shared his experiences of the two bloody coups in Ghana and then in Liberia and how he witnessed the wrath of mother nature in the devastating earthquake of Peru which buried an entire town of more then thirty thousand residents within a few minutes. Here, the readers will also find the details of his fight against the so called 'virginity test' imposed upon the young indian female migrants by the British authorities, which gave him the name 'Virginity Nazareth '. His lifelong fight for corrupt arms dealer and arrogant senior bureaucrats as well as the efforts to boost India's economic conditions and commercial relationship with foreign countries makes him a true champion and makes it a book worth reading. I believe these golden lines from the Holy Bible 'Wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove'(Matthew 10:16) truly defines his character and endeavours.
Complete with insightful and exciting life lessons, 'A Ringside Seat to History' is an absorvbing autobiographical work that conveys his undying passion, commitment and love for his country and above all, the truth.
I give this work full 5 stars for the amazing inspiration, narration and overall presentation and encourage everyone to go through this work.
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Happy Reading
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