Revisiting the tryst with destiny...

"I still remember, I was in parliament on the midnight of Aug 14. There was a huge gathering in the hall and we were jostling for space," said  Bal Krishna Khurana, who migrated from Pakistan in 1943 at the age of 25.

"When Pandit Nehru uttered the words 'long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny...' there was not a single person in the hall who didn't have tears in his eyes,"

-Hindustan Times

 

Nehru’s ‘Tryst with destiny’ speech is one of the best speeches I have read. I have seen the video a million times and it still has the same effect upon me - A sense of pride, the proverbial  lump in the throat and a familiar glistening of the eye.

I always felt that this speech deserved to be up there among the greatest speeches along with Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ and Winston Churchill’s ‘Britain's finest hour’. What makes it even more deserving is the fact that this speech was made impromptu i.e. without any advance preparations.

(Full text of ‘Tryst with destiny’ available here)

 

 

 

Very similar is Nehru’s ‘The light has gone out of our lives’ speech. Sincere, emotional, eloquent and touching and not to forget, impromptu. Nehru almost chokes with emotion during the speech and it is easily one of the finest eulogies in Indian history.

 

(Read the full text of ‘The Light has gone out of our lives’ here.)

Freedom of Expression, anyone?

                

 

  So, Jaswant Singh was expelled from the BJP. Well, the ‘Party with a difference’ did not seem to appreciate the fact that Jaswant’s book claimed that Nehru and Patel were also responsible for the Partition of India. Quite contrary to the dominant Indian historical narrative that Jinnah, the conspiratorial figure, in cahoots with the British brought about the Partition of India. In most historical accounts of the Freedom Struggle, he is shown as the obstinate villain who is coldly bent on partitioning India while Gandhi and Nehru as portrayed as the true leaders. In the rest, he is completely ignored.

                     The truth, however, is more complex. For the first two decades of his political career, Jinnah was a secular politician. He was a natty westerner with Victorian manners who showed himself as a true liberal who believed in education, rationality and democracy. In 1916, he was called as the ‘Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity’ by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He moved away from the Congress around 1925 after differences in strategies with Gandhi over the ways to attain freedom. It was only in the 1940s that Jinnah demanded a separate homeland for Muslims after all his attempts for a loose federation failed.

                What many are unaware of is the fact that it was not only religion that led to the division of India. Religion was merely a front, it was mostly politics. Or the lure of power, perhaps. We squabbled like cats over a piece of cake. Moreover, the British tactics of ‘Divide and Rule’ and of exploiting the communal divide in India was the perfect catalyst. All these are forgotten in order to lynch Jinnah. India was always the land of a thousand warring kings and as Indians, we always were the quarrelling lot, be it on basis of religion, caste, language or region. As Maulana Mohammad Ali rightly said to the British once, “We divide, and you rule.”

                          

                 I was never a great admirer of Jinnah nor is this post to be considered as my justification of the Partition. Jinnah, for all his secular nature, had a communal streak as well. His claim that the Muslim League was the only voice of the Muslims was plainly communal. While Pakistani historians blame the Congress for being too rigid to make compromises in a diverse democracy, Indian historians blame Jinnah and Liaquat Ali for sabotaging any chance of a unified India. Still, we need to do away with the myth that the British partitioned India and accept the fact that it was always the ‘We divide, you rule.’ syndrome.

         As for Jaswant Singh being booted out of the BJP for writing the book, it is the price he paid for telling the truth. What’s worse is that the Book was banned in Gujarat and soon other states will follow suit. Freedom of expression, anyone?

All for a Gandhian cause??

I don’t think many of us would have heard about James Otis before..! For the uninitiated, James Otis is the person who auctioned MK Gandhi’s memorabilia earlier this month. The Indian Government wanted it back and the Indian High Court passed a stay order on the auction. The New York’s auction house didn’t read too much into the order and proceeded with the auction. The new channels across India were wailing that we have lost Gandhi’s belongings forever.

   And in true filmy manner, liquor baron Vijay Mallaya stepped in and saved the day. What an irony it was! A liquor baron spending $1.8 Million to bring back the belongings of the Great Prohibitionist of India. Vijay Mallaya did not do it for the first time. He brought the Sword of Tipu Sultan back to India. And he intended to gift Gandhi’s belongings to the Government of India. Millions across India rejoiced. Bapu’s belongings were back to the place where it belonged.

Now, ‘Who is this James Otis?’ was the question on everybody’s mind. Well, apparently James Otis is a self proclaimed peace keeper. He said that he was an ardent follower of Gandhian principles and that he was auctioning Gandhi's belongings because he wanted to use the money raised through the auction for noble causes.

I saw James Otis’ interview on TV the other day. Apparently, he wanted that the auctioned items to be returned to him. James Otis, with his lawyer Ravi Batra were giving an interview to an Indian News channel.

The News reporter asked Otis, “Mr. Otis, isn’t it appropriate that Gandhi’s items should be back in the country where he belonged?”

Otis said, “Yes, I’d love to do that. It is my earnest wish that the items should be back in India.”

“Then why are you objecting now that the items are back in India?”

Otis replied that he was unhappy with the way things were turning out to be and that it had become “too political” and that it “doesn’t seem very Gandhian.”

“Still, now that the items are back to the place where it originally belonged to, why don’t you just let it go?” The News reporter asked.

Otis replied, “I am feeling very unhappy about this whole thing... I would have been able to raise a million dollars for non-violent causes…” He also went to add that he had offered to withdraw just hours before the auction but the auction house did not agree.

He added that he was following the Gandhian principles in auctioning off the memorabilia.

The reporter, visibly embarrassed by her lack of knowledge asked him to explain the Gandhian principle behind the auction.

“Gandhi believed in auctioning off his belongings and use the money generated for good causes.”

The reporter nodded intelligently. All through the interview, Otis’ lawyer was smiling into the camera like a a 10yr old.

Well, it is true that Gandhi used to auction his autographs, letters and belongings to raise funds for good causes. In fact, as a shrewd marketing technique, Gandhi had learned to sign his name in many Indian languages so that it could appeal en masse.

What Indians forgot was that Gandhi himself never attached himself to materialistic things and that if he were alive today, he would have chided Vijay Mallaya like no one else. Alas, he isn’t and would be squirming in his grave...

Gandhi Jayanti, Ramzaan Eid and … ?

This morning  I was dead tired and was pushing myself to stay awake till 12.00 Noon. They were airing Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi on TV today. I wouldn’t miss it for  anything.

While watching the movie, more than once I had to wipe away tears and more than once I felt that proverbial lump in the throat. Perhaps, I will never understand the enormity of the freedom struggle and some tears were the most I could shed. Ben Kingsley’s portrayal of India’s greatest champion of peace was simply stunning and it is an emotional exercise to watch the movie. And yes, you too, will feel that lump in the throat. Gandhi does that to you.

But the reason I am writing this is not to eulogise Gandhi or the Movie, it’s an event that transpired when watching the movie is what inspired me to write this.

I was watching the movie with my Mom and my Maid arrived (finally!). She went about her with chores brusquely and sat down to drink some tea. She saw that we both were intently watching the movie and she too joined us.

 “Aaj kaa din kuch toh hai naa?” She asked my Mom. Isn’t today some special day?

“Haan, Gandhi Jayanti hai.” Mother replied. Yes, it’s Gandhi Jayanti.

“Nahin Nahin, Gandhi Jayanti nahin kuch aur bhi hai..”  Not, Gandhi Jayanti, something else..

“Ahan! Aaj Ramzaan Eid hai.. Mussalmanon kaa” Mother said helpfully. Oh Yes, it’s Ramzaan Eid for the Muslims today.

Naah! Voh toh maloom hai. Aur bhi kuch hai… She wondered aloud. No, I know that too. It’s something else.

I was seriously interested in the conversation now.

“Aaj phir.., Lal Bahadur Shastri kaa bhi Janamdin hai…voh pooch rahe ho kyaa tum?” Mom asked. Today is Lal Bahadur Shastri’s birthday as well. Is that what you’re asking?

“Haan! Shastri…Shastri!! voh ich yaad kar rahi thee main. Maloom hai sab mereko.. bas bolne ko aata nahin hain.”  She replied cheerfully. Oh Yes! Shastri! I just couldn't get the name right.

Then came her punch line.

“Toh aaj uske liye kyaa hai?” She asked. So, how is that celebrated?

 

I was wide eyed. And My Mom Speechless.

Saturday Morning in the Maximum City...

A lazy Saturday morning, Mr. Pillai is intently reading Suketu Mehta's "Maximum City". The curtains are up but the sunlight is always blocked by an equally ugly building a few metres away. A tree between them doesn't help matters. It's 10.00 AM and it's already dark as if it's way past the sunset. To say it's raining incessantly since last night adds upto the misery.

Suketu Mehta's Maximum City is all about the 'Great Ruined Metropolis" called Bombay. A Bombayite at heart, Mr. Pillai smiles throughout the book reading about his daily encounters being penned so eloquently by an NRI. He feels proud of being a part of the city and is very immersed in reading the book when his mother turns on the light and he realizes that he was actually straining to read the book. The letters are clear now and Mr. Pillai stretches back to read the book in a more comfortable position. A couple of pages, and the lights go off! His Mother's relieved sigh is audible.

"Strange.." Wonders Mr. Pillai looking at his Mother's contented expression."Why would someone be so happy because of a powercut?" Isn't this the moment when everybody sighs swears. Usually, A dark mood dots the area which faces the power cut.

"Good God! I was able to finish off everything before the power cut. Yesterday, your dad did not get any breakfast as the power went off an hour before schedule."

" The indefatigable Mumbai spirit." thought Mr. Pillai.

"Mumbai Spirit, My Foot!!" Mr. Pillai corrected himself. " The city is going to the dogs and the politicos try to fool the people by celebrating the Mumbai spirit. Like we have any other choice!!"

His colleagues at office have to go through agonising 12 Hr powercuts. " Twelve Hours!" was his reaction when he heard it for the first time.

Later when he heard about the 16hr Powercuts in Akola, 40hrs in industrial belts, 12hrs seemed comparatively bearable and the 5hrs that he was subjected to looked like a luxury now.

The newspaper featured the states facing a power shortage with Maharashtra leading the way with an annual shortage 5200MW followed by Andhra Pradesh with 1000MW something , Karnataka, UP and Kerala. That meant Bangalore and Hyderabad had already seen their first powercuts in more than a decade. In fact, the Andhra Pradesh Government shamelessly managed to come up with an innovative "Power Free Weekends " Campaign.

And he was seething when he saw that the power consumption of his CM & the deputy CM alone was equivalent to the power consumption of an entire town!!

"If Gandhiji were alive today, he would've first stopped using electricity before exhorting others to cut down on power usage. Always led by example, the Great Man." thought Mr. Pillai.

As if reading his thoughts, the radio blared, "They don't make them like that anymore"