Book Review: The Constitution We Adopted (With Artworks)

The book 'The Constitution We Adopted (With Artworks)' edited by Vijay Hansaria, Senoir Advocate, was released by former Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, on 19th May, 2025 at Bharat Mandapam. R. Venkataramani, the Attorney General for India was the Guest of Honour. The Book release function was attended by sitting and former judges of Supreme Court, many advocates and people from different walks of the society. The book has for the first time attempted to inform the common man about the process of the Constitution coming into being and make available its text in the original form, as was framed by the 299 founding fathers and mothers over a period of 167 days from 9th December 1946 to 26th November 1949. A very peculiar feature of the book is the Constitution Clock which can be viewed on the cover page, where the author has tried to take us through the journey of framing of the Constitution of India by way of 12 steps in the chronological sequence of the happening of event, starting with demand of the Constitution Assembly and ending with the signing of the National Anthem on 24th January, 1950. The author says that these 12 steps are something which every citizen of the country should know. Something that would have caught reader's attention is the time shown on the clock which is 11.55 p.m., which was the time when the historic speech of Tryst with Destiny was delivered by Jawaharlal Nehru, then Prime Minister of India on the midnight of 14th August 1947, the beginning of India's independence. Apart from containing the original text of the Constitution, the book also discloses the lesser known and equally important facts about the Constitution, one of it being, the Constitution calligraphically written by hand, by Prem Bihari Narain Raizada (Saxena) in English and by Vasant K. Vaidya in Hindi. These calligraphic sheets were decorated with 22 artworks in miniature style by Nandalal Bose and his team from the Shantiniketan, Visvabharati in a span of 4 years depicting 5000 years of Indian history from the Indus Valley Civilization to the Vedic period, to the epic period, to Mauryan period, to the Mugal period, to the freedom movement including the revolutionary movement. The book has for the first time given platform to the family members of great artists for their unparalleled contribution in the making of the Constitution, by inviting them to the book launch and family members of the calligraphers and miniature artist were felicitated by former Vice-President of India. According to the author, the Constitution of India is not just a document made of pages and ink, but is the living soul of our democracy, which every Indian must proudly possess in their treasured collection. Ms. Kavya Jhawar is a practising Advocate.

Book Review: The Constitution We Adopted (With Artworks)

Kavya Jhawar

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