Many Indians see Pakistan and Pakistanis as irredeemably hostile. Of the rest,

while some argue that, despite Partition, we're still the same people, others

don't really know any better to have an opinion. Veteran journalist Kesava

Menon offers a unique and personal perspective that pulls the third category

of Indians out of their indifference, and pokes holes in the black-and-white

outlook of the first and the glib optimism of the second.

Menon has been a long-time commentator on Pakistani politics, ever since

his stint as The Hindu's correspondent in Pakistan in the early 1990s, a crucial

period in that country's recent history. The Islamic hardliner and dictator Ziaul-Haq had died in an air crash, and the future of the nation's new experiment

with democracy was at best uncertain-with Nawaz Sharif coming to office

after Benazir Bhutto's brief first run as prime minister. People were free

enough to breathe easy, but yet too feeble to speak up to power. So while the

army was now led by a non-fanatical professional, religious fundamentalists

with little electoral clout could still openly hurl obscenities about Benazir

at a PPP rally; the three-starred pioneer of anti-India jihad could personally

express genuine hope for Indo-Pak friendship to the author; and a prime

ministerial gala could alter its menu to accommodate a South Indian Hindu

journalist who they assumed must be vegetarian.

While we see both the authoritarian and the democratic tendencies at work

in Pakistan's politics-in the 1990s, as in the decades before and since-this

book contains more than just political commentary. It is also an attempt to

understand the 'idea' of Pakistan, its sense of itself-both as a people and a

nation-state-and how India ought to deal with its intractable neighbour.

Calm and lucid yet simultaneously playful and trenchant, this analysis of the

culture and politics of Pakistan vis-?-vis India combines deep insight and

engaging anecdotes to deliver a thoroughly entertaining take on the complex

and often tumultuous relationship between the two countries.