Calm Reasoning

Calm Reasoning Ashok Mitra Studies on Indian Agriculture by Dharm Narain; edited by K N Raj, Amartya Sen and C H Hanumantha Rao; Oxford University Press, Delhi; pp 238 +. xix + index, Rs 200, A SPECIAL climate attaches to the niche Dharm Narain had created for himself in the world of academia: that of calm reasoning. The combination of filialty to facts and rigour of analysis which marked whatever he wrote is not exactly a commonplace in this neighbourhood. In his own manner, Dharm Narain was an activist, in the sense that he wanted the fruits of economic analysis to be made available, with expedition, towards the improvement of the community. He was not however a dime-a-dozen crusader, abdicating the coolth of logic for the sake of either prejudice or unbridled emotion. The present collection of his papers on the problems of Indian agriculture is a reminder of both how much we owe to him and the void his death has created.