A Reading Syllabus for Understanding Indian Society Before Questioning Its Systems

Note 1: This is a personal reading framework meant to understand society from multiple angles, not to promote any single ideology, book or philosophy. I am open to corrections, additions, and debate.

Note 2: Grammarly was used to enhance the grammar and clarity of the description. This reading list is from me. I have read most of these books, and the others are in the yet-to-read bucket of mine... and I choose after careful research.

Pillar 1: What’s Happening?
A daily newspaper that covers local and national news. I read The Hindu, and like it, so I suggest it.

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Pillar 2: The Rules of the Game (State, Law, Nation)

1. NCERT Social Science (Class 6 to 10)
   Very underrated and very much needed for basic history, polity, geography, and economics.

2. The Constitution of India (Bare Act)
   At least the Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Duties, Directive Principles, and the institutional framework.

3. Introduction to the Constitution of India by D.D. Basu
   Explains constitutional provisions, structures, and procedures in detail.

4. The Federalist Papers (Some Selected only)
   Discusses the design of democratic institutions, separation of powers, and checks and balances.

5. India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra
   Documents the freedom movement with a focus on political processes and mass movements.

6. India After Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha
   Covers India’s political, social, and institutional history after independence.

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Pillar 3: The Social Hierarchy (Caste, Gender, Identity)

1. Annihilation of Caste by B.R. Ambedkar
   A critique of caste as a social and moral system. More than that, you will understand many basics.

2. Waiting for a Visa by B.R. Ambedkar
   Autobiographical accounts of caste-based exclusion and humiliation. If you are feeling that he is a selective guy, you must read this.

3. Gulamgiri by Jyotirao Phule
   Examines historical domination and social inequality.

4. Homo Hierarchicus by Louis Dumont
   Analyses caste through concepts of purity and pollution.

5. The Weave of My Life by Urmila Pawar
   Explores intersections of caste and gender through lived experience.

6. Joothan by Omprakash Valmiki
   An autobiographical account of caste-based discrimination and its psychological impact.

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Pillar 4: The Human Animal (Psychology & Anthropology)

1. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
   Discusses human history through biology, culture, and shared belief systems.

2. The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
   Examines moral psychology and political disagreement.

3. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
   Explains cognitive processes, biases, and decision-making.

4. The Crowd by Gustave Le Bon
   Studies crowd behavior and mass psychology.

5. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
   Explores human resilience and meaning under extreme conditions.

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Pillar 5: Economics & Class

1. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
   Analyses class struggle, labour, and capital.

2. Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty
   Studies income and wealth inequality using historical data.

3. Poor Economics by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo
   Examines poverty through field experiments and data.

4. Everybody Loves a Good Drought by P. Sainath
   Reports on rural distress and systemic neglect in India.

5. Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber
   Traces the historical and moral dimensions of debt.

6. A Feast of Vultures by Josy Joseph
   Investigates political-business networks and corruption in India.

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Pillar 6: When the Contract Breaks (State vs People)

1. Hello Bastar by Rahul Pandita
   Narratives from regions affected by the Maoist conflict.

2. The Burning Forest by Nandini Sundar
   Documents state the response and legal aspects of internal conflict.

3. Maoist Insurgency, State and People
   A must-read if you want a comprehensive understanding of Maoism from start to finish. 

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Pillar 7: Modern Control (Media, Tech, Surveillance)

1. Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky
   Examines media systems and power structures.

2. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
   Explores data extraction and behavioural prediction.

3. 1984 by George Orwell
   Depicts total surveillance and authoritarian control.

4. Propaganda by Edward Bernays
   Discusses public opinion shaping and mass persuasion.

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Pillar 8: Competing Ideologies (Right & Left)

1. Essentials of Hindutva by V.D. Savarkar
   Outlines the ideological basis of Hindu nationalism.

2. Bunch of Thoughts by M.S. Golwalkar
   Presents the worldview associated with the RSS.

3. Prison Notebooks by Antonio Gramsci
   Introduces ideas of cultural hegemony and consent.

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Pillar 9: Satire, Health, and Reality Checks

1. Raag Darbari by Shrilal Shukla
   Satirical portrayal of politics and administration.

2. Bottle of Lies by Katherine Eban
   Investigates pharmaceutical fraud and regulation.

3. The Plague by Albert Camus
   Explores human behaviour during crisis and uncertainty.

4. Animal Farm by George Orwell
   An allegorical account of revolution, power, propaganda, and how new elites replicate the same oppression they replace. It's from the Russian Revolution, so just understand the context properly.

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Pillar 10: The Physical Limit (Environment & Survival)

1. The Great Derangement by Amitav Ghosh
   Discusses climate change and cultural response.

2. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
   Documents the environmental damage caused by pesticides.

3. This Fissured Land by Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha
   Traces India’s environmental history and conflicts.

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Pillar 11: The Toolkit (Strategy & Action)

1. Hind Swaraj by M.K. Gandhi
   Examines civilization, self-rule, and resistance.

2. Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
   Analyses education, power, and liberation.

3. Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky
   Outlines strategies for organising and power-building.

4. From Dictatorship to Democracy by Gene Sharp
   Documents methods of non-violent political resistance.

5. The Dictator’s Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith
   Explains political survival and power incentives.

6. Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
   Explores individual resistance to unjust authority.

7. The Art of War by Sun Tzu
   Discusses strategy, conflict, and leadership.

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Pillar 12: Ethical Grounding

1. The Republic by Plato
   A brutal question disguised as philosophy, what justice really means, who should rule, and why most societies reward power instead of wisdom.

2. Letters from a Stoic by Seneca
   Writings on ethics, resilience, and personal discipline.