Sinha - The great repression: the story of sedition in India

T he idea of writing a book, any book, took flight when Rukun Kaul, a dear friend, declared one fine evening that she thought I was going to write a book. This decree was pronounced while discussing the future and our expectations from it. She followed up her pronouncement by connecting me to Manasi Subramaniam, editor extraordinaire at Penguin Random House India. Manasi then guided me towards the idea of writing the story of sedition in India and helped me crystallize the pitch and the structure. After that she granted me complete freedom and never ever interfered or tried to influence my work. As a professional working in a high-stress environment, being granted such freedom was a breath of fresh air. Thank you, Rukun, and thank you, Manasi.

The idea of writing anything for public consumption was given a push by another dear friend, Apar Gupta. He pushed me to write and connected me with Rukmini Srinivasan at Huffington Post, for whom I wrote my first article. Rituparna Chatterjee, who was then an editor at Huffington Post, and whom I have the privilege to call a friend now, enabled me to write even more and helped me develop my writing style as well as my confidence. Thanks, guys.

The amount of research involved in this book was monumental. I would not have been able to take a deep dive without the help of my colleague Sonali Khanna, who is a bright young lawyer to watch out for, and Akshay Sharma, who is one of the brightest law students I have come across. Deepa Kumar helped me source research material which otherwise would have been unobtainable for me thanks to the gatekeepers of knowledge. I also want to thank all my colleagues in my office for their support and constant encouragement. Dua Associates, the law firm where I work, has one of the best work environments which granted me the freedom to write while working full-time.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my friends and colleagues Alok P. Kumar, Gautam Bhatia, Aastha Dhaon and Konark Tyagi for looking at my manuscript despite having extremely busy lives. Their suggestions and inputs were invaluable and helped me provide the final shape to this book. Siddharth Singh chipped in with excellent tips and advice despite being occupied with writing his own book, the excellent TheGreat Smog of India. Asmita Bakshi and Avantika Mehta, excellent journalists both, provided brilliant suggestions for deciding the books title, which is an extremely underrated task. Super-cop A. Sai Manohar (IPS) provided insights and guidance on legal procedure and data without which a critical part of the book would have remained insufficient. His grace was demonstrated by the fact that he took time out to help me despite being busy beyond belief. I am really grateful for his help. Special thanks to my brother, Ayushman, for being my sounding board and for patiently listening to my rants.

This book would never have been completed without the support of Esha Sharma, my wife, who suffered through a year of lost weekends (and weekdays) with nothing but encouragement. She forsook important occasions for my sake, raised my spirits and kept me on the right path every time I was just about ready to throw in the towel. Her help at crucial junctures is invaluable. This book is as much hers, if not more, as it is mine.

Lastly, writing in this medium would not have been possible without the English language education that my parents provided me with despite all odds. They ensured that my brother and I studied in the best schools and colleges while fighting off financial constraints. My brother and I never felt that we did not have enough, or we were not good enough. They taught us life.