In Search of a Better World

In his life-long mission to make the world a better place, Jolly Kaul takes us to the heart of what concerns India and, indeed, any nation: its values, politics and governance. At the age of nineteen in 1941, convinced that only the Communist Party could fight effectively the fascist and imperialist forces and bring about a more just society, Kaul abandoned his family, any possible career, and went underground. He did not know what he was going in for, he admits, but knew that he must give 'his all'. He was to remain a dedicated and disciplined member till January 1963 when he left the Party, shocked by the China-India war and by the forthcoming split within the Party. The points he raised in his resignation letter resonates today. An unusual contribution is Kaul's incisive critique of the developments within the Party based on the twenty-two years he spent in it, first as a trade union organiser and later as Secretary of the Calcutta District Committee. Jolly Kaul built three additional careers: in the corporate world as the head of public relations for Indian Oxygen Ltd, as a journalist with a news agency, editing the economic journal, Capital, and, finally, as a social activist in the Gandhi Labour Foundation at Puri. On each occasion, he has continued to search for ways to contribute towards the improvement of society and is still active at 89. The distinguished economist and former Vice Chancellor of Viswa-Bharati and the University of North Bengal, Dr Amlan Datta, has written the Foreword. Aditi Roy Ghatak, a well-known journalist, who has known the author for thirty years, presents a lively portrait of the author in an Afterword.