Book notice: Samagra Vikas

-- Samagra Vikas: Development With A Human Face Editor: P Parameswaran Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan Trust Chennai 356 pp Rs 200

Diverse: this word best describes the compilation. The sources from which the articles are drawn are diverse -- The Hindu, New Scientist, Span and Uncommon Wisdom, to name a few. The topics the book covers are diverse. For instance, while one article, titled Laughing Less, talks about benefits of laughing more, another talks of the young and unemployed. The themes range from traditional medicine, biogas, agricultural neocolonialism, narcotic drug abuse to spirituality. Each of the seven sections of the book begins with a prelude -- heavy, extended dialogues between 'The Ruler' and Tenali Rama. A generous sprinkling of cartoons offers much-needed visual relief. But the cartoons are more about evoking serious thought than smiles. There are some interesting quotes. "Nothing is as irrational as running with high speed, and with utmost efficiency in the wrong direction," reads one by Wolfgang Sachs.