The telling of history cannot be left to the foibles of academics and academese

Last week, my cousin — the son of my Calcutta-based nonagenarian uncle who is a veritable fount of history, especially of the family’s erstwhile zamindari in East Bengal — had an unusual request. He wanted me to recommend a book he could read to learn more about ancient India. “But Didi, please make sure it’s something I can understand, not some academic tome,” he cautioned. That put me in a fix as books on history not written in “academese” are