Author: Anil Dharker
Publisher: Roli Books
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 228
ISBN/UPC (if available): 817436298X
Description
When Mahatma Gandhi set off for the historic Dandi March on 12th Marth 1930, why did he choose salt as a symbol of British imperialism? Why did the East India Company throttle, then kill the salt industry in Bengal and Orissa? Why did the British build a hedge which stretched over 3000 km just to thwart salt smuggling?
Salt, that innocuous substance we dismiss as common salt, has played an uncommon role in the history of mankind. Wars have been fought over it, kings and emperors have enriched their treasures by imposing tax on it, odes have been written about it, it even played a role in the French Revolution. Myths and superstitions have grown around it, babies are baptized with it and evil spirits are banished by it.
The romance of salt takes you on a fascinating journey through history featuring this magical substance. You will never look at a salt shaker in the same way again.
Salt. Another four-letter word for Life. We take it for granted, dismiss it as common salt, but without it, we couldn’t exist. It’s in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. It’s in semen and in urine. It’s in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. It’s in semen and in urine. It’s in our biological tissues and is a necessary component for the functioning of cells.
In short, salt literally gives life. In Hinduism, in fact, that’s how the world began, with the churning of the primordial sea. Our seas teem with life, their fecundity seems limitless and their salty waters sustain our life.
The Romance of Salt takes you on a fascinating journey through history featuring this magical substance. You will never look at a salt shaker in the same way again.
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PART I
SALT MARCH TO DANDI
Prologue
The Ashramites of Sabarmati
The Choice of weapons
The Girding of Loins
The medium and the Message
The Final Countdown
The March to Dandi
Epilogue
PART 2
SALT’S MARCH THROUGH HISTORY
The Stuff of Life
Salt through History
Salt Wars
Dead Sea, Live Seas
Superstition and Myth
The way of all flesh
Literature, Art and the Cellars Market
See How It Runs
Ladies of Salt
Giving Life to life
Select Bibliography