Dear All, Today I finished a very voluminous book (pages-900) namely INDIA AFTER GANDHI by Ramachandra Guha. It is a wonderful book. I recommend that whenever you get time , do browse through it . You will understand India better & be conversant with what our founding fathers have given us to live , nurture , blossom , & flourish ourselves according to our ability .India provides that opportunity if you have the reslove & determined persistence to pursue . I share with you the excerpts from the last two concluding pages ( part of epilogue) which more than anything captures what India is all about : Quote: The most eloquent tribute to the idea of India that I have come across rests in unpublished letters of the biologist J.B.S Haldane. In his native Britain, Haldane was a figure of considerable fame & some notoriety .In 1956, already past sixty , he decided to leave his post in University College London & take up residence in Calcutta .He joined the Indian Statistical Institute , became an Indian citizen , wore Indian clothes & ate Indian food. He also travelled energetically around the country , engaging with its scientists but also with its citizenry at large . Five years after Haldane had moved to India, an American science writer described him in print as a citizen of the world. Haldane replied: No doubt I am in some sense a citizen of the world . But I believe with Thomas Jefferson that one of the chief duties of a citizen is to be a nuisance to the government of the state .As there is no world state , I cannot do this ......On the other hand I can be , & am, a nuisance to the government of India , which has the merit of permitting a good deal of criticism , though it reacts to it rather slowly . I also happen to be proud of being a citizen of India , which is lot more diverse from Europe, let alone USA , USSR, or China , & thus a better model for a possible world organisation .It may of course break up , but it is a wonderful experiment .So I want to be labelled as a citizen of India. On another occasion Haldane described India as the closest approximation to the free world. An American friend protested , saying his impression was that India has its fair share of scoundrels & a tremendous amount of poor unthinking & disgustingly subservient individuals who are not attractive . To this Haldane responded: Perhaps one is freer to be a scoundrel in India than elsewhere . So was one in in the USA in the days of people like Jay Gould , when ( in my opinion) there was more internal freedom in the USA than there is today. The disgusting subservience of the others has its limits. The people of Calcutta riot, upset trams, & refuse to obey police regulations , in a manner which should have delighted Jefferson. I dont think their activities are very efficient , but that is not the question at issue. Forty years later down the line , what Haldane called a wonderful experiment might be counted as a success , a modest success. Poverty persists in some ( admittedly broad) pockets , yet one can now be certain that India will not go the way of sub- Saharan Africa & witness widespread famine. Secessionist movements are active here & there , but there is no longer any fear that India will follow former Yugoslavia & break up into a dozen fratricidal parts. The powers of the state are sometimes grossly abused , but no one seriously thinks that India will emulate neighbouring Pakistan , where the chief of army staff is generally also head of government . As a modern nation, India is simply sui generis . It stands on its own , different & distinct from the alternative political models on offer -- be these Anglo- Saxon liberalism , French republicanism, atheistic communism , or Islamic theocracy . Back in 1971 , at the time of Bangladesh crisis, when India found itself simultaneously at odds with communist China , Islamic Pakistan & America , an Indian diplomat captured his countrys uniqueness in this way : India is regarded warily in the West because she is against the concept of Imperialism & because she invented the THIRD WORLD. India is looked on with suspicion in the Third World because of her ( subversive ) sentiments for democracy, human rights, etc.; the Muslim world is wrathful because of our secularism . The Communist countries regard India as insolent -- & potentially dangerous -- because we have rejected Communism as the prime condition for progress. WE ARE , OF COURSE , ON THE SIDE OF GOD. BUT IS GOD ON OUR SIDE? The writer whose lines open this book , the nineteenth - century poet Ghalib, thought that God was indeed on the side of India. All round him were conflict & privation , but doomsday had not yet come. Why does not the Last Trumpet sound? Asked Ghalib of a sage in the holy city of Benares. Who holds the reins of the Final Catasrophe? This was the answer he got : The hoary old man of lucent ken Pointed towards Kashi & gently smiled. The Architect , he said , is fond of this edifice Because of which there is color in life ; He Would not like it to perish & fall Ghalib & his interlocutor were speaking of India , the Civilisation. Speaking now of India, the nation- state , one must insist that its future lies not in the hands of God but in the mundane works of men. So long as the constitution is not amended beyond recognition , so long elections are held regularly & fairly & the ethos of secularism broadly prevails , so long as there is an integrated market &,a moderately efficient civil service & army , & lest I forget -- so long as Hindl films are watched & their songs sung , INDIA WILL SURVIVE. ( bold letters my emhpasis) Somewhere in the concluding paragraphs , the author refers to the opening poem with which he started this marathon book , I thought , I share with you what Mirza Ghalib remarked , when asked about the division of India. This is what he had said in a poem called CHIRAG- i- DAIR( Temple Lamps), which contain these timeless lines : Said I one night to a pristine seer ( Who knew the secrets of whirling Time), Sir, you well perceive , That goodness & faith , Fidelity & love Have all departed from this sorry land. Father & Son are at each others throat; Brother fights brother .Unity and Federation are undermined. Despite these ominous signs Why has not doomsday come? Why does not the last Trumpet sound? Who holds the reins of the Final Catastrophe? Before I end , I must say that India is indeed a land of un-fetterd freedom & you are all aware that you could do anything you like , speak out anything you like , pursue any religion you like , can go anywhere you like , create any chaos you like , can urinate anywhere you feel like, can defect to any other political party you like , can snarl traffic anywhere you like ....... you have total freedom of media , you can have the freedom to speak on any TV channel, whisper , speak gently , shout , call names, use abusive language & deny truth with all your force. The current election campaign is fully representative of what I have stated - no holds barred . What a freedom to live & breathe. With all this , I love my country & have the mighty wisdom to say that we will be the best country in the years to come .( we love elections as it is yet another festival of color & entertainment for all & sundry ) Hail our great founding fathers who gave us this Republic with un- assailant Constitution! I hope you enjoy this write up which also happens to be very topical , in the current context Warm regards, Amrit Kapur Sent from Samsung Mobile
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 06:21:05 +0000