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The Penguin India
Reference Yearbook 2005
Compiled and edited by Derek O'Brien
Penguin Books India
2004
Reference
Pages: 973
Price: Rs 120
ISBN: 014-303247-x
Paperback

For anyone so inclined, a yearbook is veritable treasure, a repository of information that offers innumerable hours of pleasure. The arrival of a yearbook has often been long anticipated and eagerly awaited.

But in this sphere, Indians have not been spoilt for choice, Malayala Manorama, being the one noteworthy such compilation for decades. There is a government yearbook and a few like the Deccan Chronicle and the Britannica one, which joined the fray a couple of years ago, and now Penguin enters the field. How does it compare?

At first glance, it is almost a replica of the Manorama yearbook, even in shape and size. The cover colour is noticeably different (fluorescent green, purple and black would stand out anywhere!). It also prominently mentions the contributors, largely drawn from already published writers. 

So what does this one have? It starts off with The Year in Review, which goes by date and is fairly extensive.

The next section is what perhaps distinguishes it from its rivals - a section titled 'Cover Story - The Future of India', which ahs contributions from Shashi Tharoor, Khushwant Singh and Bipan Chandra besides an extract from one of the president's book.

The rest follows in predictable lines - timelines for India and the rest of the world, details about the various countries, Indian states, sections on politics, economics, sciences, sports, arts and unusually enough, a brief section on careers as well!

There are contributions from other famous names sprinkled across the book, and these are redeeming factors for a compilation that seems a tad short on originality.

There could be improvements - the paper could be better, the pictorial elements generally getting most affected. The periodic table on page 775 id probably just an indicator of how the table looks like, for it is impossible to figure out text within! There are other features one could quibble about, but given the thousand-odd pages one is getting at a fairly low price, this should prove invaluable to students, the media, or just about anyone seeking general information.