1
INDIA RISES IN THE WEST
A HISTORY REWRITTEN
RANGANATHAN MAGADI
2006
2
INDIA RISES IN THE WEST Author Ranganathan Magadi
Copyrighted ©2006 by Ranganathan Magadi Published by Ranganathan Magadi, Shobha Sreenath and Jamuna Mysore No part of this book can be copied or reproduced in any form or in any manner without a written permission from the author or the publishers. First printed and published in USA in 2006 E mail address: [email protected] Or [email protected]
3
Author’s note
This book is not a discourse on any abstract ideology but an attempt to provide a layman’s knowledge of India and its people, past and present; to portray the strength, weakness, and follies of their leaders and to sketch the lives and achievements of great men who made India great in the fields of political progress, economic development, social transformation, industrialization, education, literature, sports and entertainment. The author has collected materials from various sources and presented them in such a way as to provide sufficient knowledge regarding the bane and boon of the country, the frailty and strength of its leaders and the myth and reality of its people. While the material is based on historical facts and figures, the author claims that the observations made and the conclusions drawn are his own. The author has no intention of hurting the sentiments of anyone or any group of people and the observations made and the inferences drawn are purely based on author’s evaluation of events, personalities and achievements. There is need to rewrite the History of India because no other history has been so distorted as the History of India. History was written during the British period to meet the requirements of the British. The historians from the West could not fully understand and appreciate Indian culture and hence they left out many aspects of Indian life as unimportant. The historians from the east wanted to gain the good will of the political masters by not highlighting any matter which would irritate them. Jawaharlal Nehru rewrote the history of India in his ‘Discovery of India’ to bring out the glory of India which was obliterated by the historians. Indians expected that the history would be rewritten after India’s Independence in its true perspective. Once again in the post-Independence period history was distorted to please the political masters of free India by hiding certain truth or by not highlighting certain facts. . The purpose of the book is to highlight the contributions made to India by the people of all communities including the Brahmins and to give the true account of their contributions so that the present generation and the posterity may see for themselves the truth. At the same time I would like to emphasize that intelligence is not the monopoly or prerogative of any caste or class and it is a great injustice and discriminatory to regard any class or caste as backward class or treat them as weaker sections. It is really shameful for any community
4 to demand the tag of backward class or scheduled caste or scheduled tribe to gain undue benefits. Merit should be recognized, appreciated and utilized wherever it is found and I stress once again that mediocrity should not take the place of merit on any pretext in the larger interest of the nation. I profusely thank Prof. Sreenath, Shobha Sreenath, Jamuna R Mysore, Apu Kaushik, Abhi Kaushik and Ravindranath N for providing necessary help in the publication of this book.
RANGANATHAN MAGADI
5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 ...... 17 INDIA AND ITS PEOPLE ...... 17 India is east and America is west but they are partners in progress...... 17 India is a home for courtesy and hospitality...... 19 India has varied culture...... 20 India has a strong family bondage that perhaps no other society has...... 20 Indians have great tolerance towards other religions...... 21 India has favorable climate and rich natural resources...... 22 Cost of living is low...... 23
CHAPTER 2 ...... 25 1. WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT INDIA? ...... 25 2. WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT INDIAN DIASPORA?...... 28 3. THE SUCCESS STORY OF THE GLOBAL INDIANS ...... 31 4. WORLD’S TOP YOUNG INDIAN AMERICAN INNOVATORS ...... 34 1. SHILADITYA SENGUPTA ...... 34 2. RAJIT MANOHAR...... 35 3. NARASIMHA CHARI ...... 36 4. ADAM RASHEED...... 37 5. VIKRAM SHEEL KUMAR...... 37 6. SHASHI SETH...... 38 7. NEAL KATYAL ...... 39 8. ANSHUMAN RAZDAN...... 39 ...... 39 9. KARAN K BHATIA ...... 40 10. BOBBY JINDAL ...... 40 11. ANITA GOEL...... 41
6 5. DISTICTION OF GLOBAL INDIANS ...... 42 1. SHAKUNTALA DEVI ...... 42 2. KALPANA CHAWLA...... 43 SPACE RESEARCH ENGINEER ...... 43 3. SRIMATHI SRIDHAR...... 44 TOP RANKING STUDENT ...... 44 4. RANDHIR KAUR...... 45 A VALIANT SOLDIER...... 45 SUNITA WILLIAMS ...... 45 5. NARASINGARAO SREENATH...... 46 GREAT ACADEMICIAN ...... 46 6. M.N. SRINIVAS, A GREAT SOCIOLOGIST...... 49 7. C H HANUMANTHA RAO, A GREAT ECONOMIST ...... 49 6. TOP US AMERICAN INDIAN SCIENTISTS ...... 50 1. RAKESH JAIN...... 50 3. SHIVAJI SIRCAR...... 51 4. ARUP CHAKRAVARTI...... 51 5. VIJAY VITTAL...... 51 6. SIVA BANDA...... 52 7. KISHOR C MEHTA...... 53 8. RAJAGOPAL S. RAGHAVAN...... 53 Raghavan is a ...... 53 9. DARSH WASAN...... 53 10. RABINDRA N ROY...... 54 11. MALLA REDDY...... 55
CHAPTER 3 ...... 56
INDIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE ...... 56
CHAPTER 4 ...... 61 INDIAN NOBEL LAUREATES...... 61
7 1. VIDIYADHAR SIRAJ PRASAD NAIPAUL...... 61 2. HARGOVIND KHORANA...... 62 3. AMARTYA SEN ...... 62 4. SUBRAMANYA CHANDRASHEKAR...... 64 5. Dr. C.V.RAMAN ...... 65 6. RABINDRANATH TAGORE...... 69 7. MOTHER THERESA ...... 71
CHAPTER 5 ...... 74 INDIAN RELIGIONS...... 74 1. CHRISTIANITY ...... 75 2. JAINISM ...... 76 3. BUDDHISM ...... 77 4. SIKHISM ...... 78 5. JUDAISM ...... 78 6. ISLAM...... 79 7. BAHAI FAITH ...... 81 8. HINDUISM...... 82
CHAPTER 6 ...... 84 THE HINDU SOCIETY ...... 84
CHAPTER 7 ...... 94 GREAT SOCIAL REFORMERS ...... 94 1. RAJARAM MOHAN ROY ...... 94 2. DAYANANDA SARASWATI...... 97 3. SWAMI VIVEKANANDA...... 98 4. SUBRAMANY BHARATI ...... 101
CHAPTER 8 ...... 102 INDIAN ECONOMY...... 102
CHAPTER 9 ...... 105
8 GREAT ECONOMISTS ...... 105 1. C. RANGARAJAN...... 105 2. BIMAL JALAN...... 106 3. P C MAHALANOBIS...... 107 4. JAGADISH BHAGAVATI...... 108
CHAPTER 10 ...... 109
GREAT SCIENTISTS...... 109 1. JAGADEESH CHANDRA BOSE...... 109 2. HOMI BHABHA ...... 111 3. VIKRAM SARABHAI ...... 116 4. SATHYENDRA BOSE...... 118 5. PROFUL CHANDRA ROY...... 122 SIR MOKSHAGUNDAM VISHWESWARIAH, ...... 127 A GREAT ENGINEER...... 127
CHAPTER 11 ...... 128 INDIAN BILLIONAIRES ...... 128 1. AZIM PREMJI...... 129 WIPRO...... 129 2. MUKESH AMBANI ...... 130 RELIANCE ...... 130 3. ANIL AMBANI...... 131 RELIANCE ...... 131 4. KUSHA PAL SINGH ...... 132 REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER ...... 132 5. SUNIL MITTAL ...... 133 BHARATI TELECOM...... 133 6. KUMAR BIRLA ...... 134 ADITYA BIRLA GROUP ...... 134 7. SHIV NADAR...... 134
9 HCL GROUP...... 134 8. PALLONJI MISTRY...... 135 SHAPOORJI POWER CO...... 135 9. RAVI RUIA AND SHASHI RUIA...... 136 ESSAR GROUP ...... 136 BABA KALYANI ...... 137 KALYANI GROUP (BHARAT FORGE) ...... 137 11. ADI GODREJ ...... 138 GODREJ GROUP ...... 138 12. INDU JAIN ...... 139 THE TIMES GROUP...... 139 13. DILEEP SHAGHVI...... 141 SUN PHARMA...... 141 14. TULSI TANTI...... 142 ENERGY SECTOR ...... 142 16. UDAY KOTAK...... 143 BANKER...... 143 17. SUBHAS CHANDRA ...... 144 Z TV CHANNEL ...... 144 18. VIJAY MALLYA...... 144 UB GROUP ...... 144 19. SIDDHARTHA MALLYA...... 144 20. HABIL KHORAKIWAL...... 146 WOCKHARDT PHARMACETICAL...... 146 LAKHMI MITTAL ...... 147 STEEL BARON...... 147 22. SRICHAND HINDUJA AND GOPICHAND HINDUJA ...... 148 HINDUJA GROUP...... 148
CHAPTER 12 ...... 149
10 INDIAN LITERATURE AND LITERARY MEN...... 149 1. RABINDRANATH TAGORE...... 150 2. SHOBHA DE ...... 151 3. RAJA RAO ...... 151 4. ARUNDHATI ROY ...... 152 5. KHUSHWANT SINGH ...... 152 6. ANITA DESAI...... 153 7. SALMAN RUSHDIE ...... 153 8. VIKRAM SETH...... 154 9. R K NARAYAN...... 154 10. KAMALA MARKHANDAYA...... 155 11. V S NAIPAUL ...... 155
CHAPTER 13 ...... 156 1. A SAGA OF INVASIONS AND SLAVERY...... 156 FIRST WAR OF INDEPENDENCE ...... 162 JHANSI LAKHMIBAI...... 163 CONSEQUENCES OF THE REVOLT ...... 165 BIRTH OF INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS...... 166 STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE...... 168 THE GREAT MEN WHO CONTRIBUTED TO INDIA’S INDEPENDENCE ...... 171 1. A.O. HUME ...... 171 5. MOHANDAS KARMACHAND GANDHI...... 174 6. VALLABHBHAI PATEL ...... 177 4. DADABAI NAOROJI...... 179 8. MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA ...... 181 (1861-1946)...... 181 9. J B KRIPALANI...... 182 11. GOPALA KRISHNA GOKHALE ...... 184 1. SAYYAJIRAO GOEKWAD ...... 186
11 2. ISWARCHANDRA VIDYASAGAR...... 188 3. K M MUNSHI...... 191 4. ASHUTOSH MUKHARJEE...... 192 5. DATTATREYA GOPAL KARVE...... 192 12. SAROJINI CHATTOPADHYAYA ...... 193
CHAPTER 14 ...... 195
GREAT FREEDOM FIGHTERS...... 195 1. LALA LAJPAT ROY...... 196 2. BAL GANGADHAR TILAK ...... 197 3. VINAYAK DAMODAR SAVARKAR ...... 198 4. AURABINDO GHOSH ...... 202 5. MADAN LAL DHINGRA...... 204 6. BHAGATH SINGH ...... 206 7. KHUDIRAM BOSE...... 207 8. BANKIMCHANDRA CHATEERJEE...... 208 9. SUBHASCHANDRA BOSE ...... 209 THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA...... 213 WHY INDIANS DESPISED THE BRITISH RULE? ...... 214 WHY INDIANS SHOULD THANK THE BRITISH?...... 215 2. WHY INDIAN HISTORY NEEDS TO BE REWRITTEN...... 217 FORGOTTEN HEROS ...... 224 10. ARUNA ASAF ALI...... 224 11. VINOBA BHAVE ...... 225 12. SANJAY GANDHI...... 226
CHAPTER 15 ...... 227 BIRTH OF AN OPPOSITION PARTY...... 227 1. SHYAMPRASAD MUKHARJEE ...... 227 2. HEGDAWAR ...... 229 3. M S GOLWALKAR ...... 230
12 4. DEEN DAYAL UPADHYAYA...... 231
CHAPTER 16 ...... 232 THE PRESIDENTS OF INDIA...... 232 2. CHAKRAVARTI RAJAGOPALACHARI...... 233 3. RAJENDRA PRASAD...... 234 4. SARVAPALLI RADHAKRISHNA ...... 235 5. R VENKATARAMAN ...... 237 6. K R NARAYAN (1920-2005)...... 239 7. A P J ABDUL KALAM...... 242
CHAPTER 17 ...... 243
PRIME MINISTERS OF INDIA...... 243 1. JAWAHARLAL NEHRU ...... 243 2. LAL BAHADUR SASTRI ...... 245 3. INDIRA GANDHI...... 246 4. RAJEEV GANDHI ...... 249 ...... 249 5. P V NARASIMHA RAO...... 250
6. ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE...... 252
7. MANMOHAN SINGH...... 254
CHAPTER 18 ...... 256
1. THE PRESIDENT OF THE BHARATIYA JANATHA PARTY ...... 256 L K ADVANI...... 256 2. THE PRESIDENT WHO REVIVED THE CONGRESS ...... 257 SONIA GANDHI...... 257 3. NARENDRA MODI ...... 258 A CHIEF MINISTER WITH A MISSIONARY ZEAL ...... 258 CHANDRABABU NAIDU ...... 259
13 A CHIEF MINISTER WITH A VISION...... 259
CHAPTER 19 ...... 261 EXPONENTS OF CASTE AND COMMUNAL POLITICS...... 261 1. WINSTON CHURCHILL...... 261 2. MOHAMMADALI JINNAH...... 265 3. BHIMARAO RAMJI AMBEDKAR...... 268 4. VISWANATH PRATAP SINGH ...... 273 5. ARJUN SINGH ...... 275
CHAPTER 20 ...... 277 IMPEDIMENTS IN THE PATH OF INDIA’S PROGRESS...... 277 SOLUTION TO INDIA’S PROBLEMS...... 298
CHAPTER 21 ...... 306 BUDDING SINGERS ...... 306 SHANTANU MUKHARJEE (Shann) ...... 306 1. NIHIRA JOSHI ...... 306 2. HIMANI KAPOOR ...... 307 3. HEMCHANDRA...... 307 4. VINEET SINGH...... 307 5. SWANANDA KARMARKAR ...... 307 6. TWINKLE BAJPAI ...... 307 7. PARESH MADAPARIA ...... 307 8. RAJEEV KUMAR ...... 308 9. SHARIB ...... 308 10. BANJYOTHSNA ...... 308 12. RAKTIMA MUKHARJEE ...... 308 13. UJJAINI MUKHARJEE...... 308 14. AISHWARYA...... 309 INDIAN IDOL COMPETITION ...... 309 15. KARUNYA N C...... 309
14 CHAPTER 22 ...... 311 1. FILM PERSONALITIES...... 311 2. GREAT SINGERS...... 313 1. KUNDANLAL SAIGAL...... 313 2. LATA MANGESHKAR...... 314 3. ASHA BHOSLE ...... 315 4. GEETHA DUTT...... 317 5. MOHAMMAD RAFI...... 318 6. KISHORE KUMAR...... 320 7. ALKA YAGYAK ...... 321 3. GREAT MUSIIC DIRECTORS...... 323 1. S D BURMAN...... 323 2. RAHULDEV BURMAN ...... 324 3. NAUSHAD ALI...... 326 4. C. RAMACHANDRA ...... 327 5. O P NAYYAR ...... 328 6. LAKHMIKANT-PYARELAL ...... 329 7. A. R. REHMAN...... 330 4. GREAT FILM DIRECTORS ...... 332 1. SHYAM BENGAL ...... 332 2. B R CHOPRA ...... 333 3. RAVI CHOPRA...... 333 4. HRISHIKESH MUKHARJEE ...... 334 5. RAJ KAPOOR...... 336 6. DEVANAND ...... 337 7. GURU DUTT...... 338 8. SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI...... 339 9. RAMGOPAL VARMA...... 340 10. MANIRATNAM...... 340 11. KARAN JOHAR...... 341
15 GREAT ACTORS ON CELLULOID SCREEN...... 342 1. AMITAB BACHAN ...... 342 2. AMRISH PURI...... 342 3. RAJESH KHANNA ...... 343 4. SHARUKH KHAN ...... 344 6. GREAT ACTRESSES ON THE CELLULOID SCREEN...... 345 1. REKHA ...... 345 2. VYJAYANTIMALA...... 346 3. WAHEEDA REHMAN ...... 347 4. AISHWARYA RAI ...... 347 3. RANI MUKHARJEE...... 349
CHAPTER 23 ...... 350 SPORTS PERSONALITIES ...... 350 CHESS...... 350 1. VISHWANATHAN ANAND ...... 350 CRICKET...... 352 1. SUNIL GAVASKAR ...... 352 2. SACHIN TANDULKAR ...... 352 3. KAPIL DEV RAMLAL NIKHANJ...... 354 TENNIS...... 354 1. RAMANATHAN KRISHNAN ...... 354 2. VIJAY AMRITRAJ ...... 355 3. SANIA MIRZA ...... 356 4. MAHESH BHUPATHI...... 357 P T USHA-a great athletic...... 357
16
17 CHAPTER 1
INDIA AND ITS PEOPLE
India is east and America is west but they are partners in progress. India and its people are totally different from America and its people in every respect. India is blessed with beautiful climate while America is blessed with beautiful skin color. India is blessed with spiritualism while America is blessed with material prosperity. India has huge population which is a bane to that country while America has scarce population which is a boon to it. The West looks great with its high degree of discipline, civic sense and political awareness while India lags far behind the West in these aspects of civilization but its merit appears to be in the strong family and social bondage. Indian society like many other societies has been bound by various religious precepts, social customs and traditions which the people follow with greater fervor than they follow the state law but it is totally different from American society where everything is personal except the obedience to the state law. Indians flatter themselves that they have an altruistic and spiritual society. The people are proud that they have great ideals like purity, virginity and righteousness; and they think that they are peaceful and willing to make sacrifice. They think that the western societies are materialistic, devoid of spiritualism. They say that the Westerners are more individualistic and are after pleasure. The Westerners think that that the people of India are hypocritical and superstitious. It is true that the Indians have ideals they will never be able to reach and glory in its fantasy. No other people have perhaps ideals as lofty as Indians but no other people have failed as such as the Indians in their realization. All said and done, basically man is fundamentally selfish, nasty, and brutish; and he is dangerously animalist who tries to conceal the basic instincts in the garb of civilization rather unsuccessfully and often betrays his basic instincts reducing the entire gamut of divinity, spiritualism, altruism and civilization to a mockery. Indians glory in their heritage and culture but America lives in the present legal framework as a new nation with no legacy of its own to glory in it but both live in a world of their own. If India lived in her past it was because she had not much to talk of her present or future. She has lost every battle to every invading force every time; and she could save nothing, not even her honor except her customs and traditions which
18 she is finding it hard to safeguard anymore against the sweeping rampage of transport and communication between different parts of the globe. America having never tasted defeat in the last three centuries has been riding high waves of their current success and future prospects. Indians and Americans nevertheless have something in common other than being human beings in as much as both value democratic way of life, freedom of conscience and tolerance to other religions. Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, has paid rich tributes to the Indian-American community in these words. The Indian-American community has contributed to the “intellectual capital of the American Universities by the dint of its hard work.” They “not only added to the wealth of our nation but also to the character of our country,” she averred addressing the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin. It is true that Indians go to American Universities for studies with great difficulty but with full of hopes; and work there honestly and earn by honest means to help the less fortunate ones in the family back home in India. Rice said that “Indians in doing so they are making America more American.” There are nearly 2.5 million people of Indian origin are living in America and most of them have come as students and later on took up jobs here. More than 80,000 Indians have sought Admission to the universities this year alone. There is no other country in the world that welcomes foreigners as much as Americans do. There is no other country which is as cosmopolitan as America is. There is no other country which has as much religious tolerance as America has. There is better understanding of India and Indians at this point of time in America and thousands of Americans are now residing in Bombay, New Delhi and Bangalore to build partnership in the fields of agriculture, health and commerce, defense, science, technology and education. They are interacting with Indians and understanding their culture. There is closer co-operation and partnership between the governments of India and America. India is the largest democracy in terms population but America is the oldest democracy in terms of chronology and the biggest democracy in terms of area. The two democracies have come closer now for building a better future for the world. They started as strategic partners but they soon will be the natural partners as they have something in common. Both are open, free, transparent and stable. Both are multiethnic, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual communities. Both uphold individual freedom, rule of law and freedom of conscience. Indi will soon become one of the top five economies in the world and American administration under President Bush has invested sufficient
19 capital to build global partnership with India, a partnership that will advance peace, freedom and stability and transform the world. India is catching up with America in many respects shedding its conservative and traditional outlook but the transition is considerable only in and around metropolitan cities and not in the rural areas. The rural people display the same pattern of behavior which they used to display a thousand years ago. They unnecessarily interfere in the affairs of the neighbors and they group themselves and show their physical strength to enforce their own law or custom or decision. The rule of law is totally absent and every attempt will be made to ignore or disobey law. The law of jungle prevails albeit in a couched manner and manifests itself in the form of threatening,, intimidating, or calling for negotiation or mediation or arbitration against one’s will or consent, social boycott, parading naked, parading the unfortunate one on the donkey’s back smearing tar on his face, assault, mayhem, banishing a family or person from the village, sexual assault on lonely women, creating terror in their minds or even murdering them. The strongest man or group will control the rest of the village community by resorting to such tactics. India is ready for a take off no doubt but she needs proper leadership and guidance which the present Indian leadership is unable to guide. They cannot take India to the new heights with her wings of thought clipped or with their prejudiced, narrow-minded ideas. India needs the dynamic leadership with lofty ideas and ideals no matter if she has to shed the ideas of democracy and liberalism for a short while because the so called democratic leaders are misleading the people to the gloomy world of darkness by upholding the ideas of discrimination, and treading the dismal and abysmal path of dividing people, encouraging mediocrity, imposing casteism, preaching hatred and leading them to the path of destruction and disintegration. A vital change of leadership is badly needed to save India from disintegration or genocide.
India is a home for courtesy and hospitality. Asian hospitality is world famous. India is more hospitable than most of the Asian countries because it is a part of its culture. When you check into a hotel in India you will start feeling that you are a very special person. The man at the front desk will go out of the way to help you although you rarely hear him say the formal words like ‘thank you’, ‘you are welcome’, ‘I appreciate it’, ‘May I help you,’’ ‘Hi, how are you’ and a hundred other cultural jargons unknown to that part of the world. During your sojourn in the hotel you will find many good
20 souls who will be ready to help you. Woman will be treated with greater courtesy as India is known for respecting women and enjoy extra privileges wherever they go. Within 24 hours you feel you are safe and secure and the people really care for you. You can talk to anyone, you can seek help from anyone and you will be so comfortable there that you would want to stay longer. Wherever you go you will be welcomed with a broad smile and you really feel you are great. India is known for courtesy, kindliness, hospitality and piety.
India has varied culture. You will see people on the road who belong to different races, colors and cultures; and speak different languages and wear different dresses. India is an abode of multi-ethnic society which displays variety of people and cultures. You will wonder how the people of such divergent ethnicities could live as a nation with great affinity. It may be compared to Europe in many respects than to America. Just imagine the whole of Europe is one nation and compare it with India as Europe is a home of several races, languages and religions.
India has a strong family bondage that perhaps no other society has. Since India was never politically strong, the people had to form defense against the invaders and intruders by themselves. This gave birth to strong societies and weak states. The states being monarchies did not look after the welfare of the people and the people had to organize for themselves. The internal feuds and strife often made people weak and left them impoverished. The socially strong group or individual exercised great control over the local people. So the people became more gregarious and relied on mutual help from their fellowmen. It is very common in India for the people to seek the help and support of others. Anyone may approach anyone at any time of day or night and seek any help and the people come out to the streets to help solve your problem. In course of time, the people have started misusing this good show by frequently meddling with the personal matters of others. In the smaller societies, the society is so strong that the people have to sacrifice their personal will and desire to conform to the wishes of the society. The social laws are stringent and it will be applied by a leader or a group of leader who wields influence. The people are so habituated with the meddling in others affairs that they deem it as their prerogative and impose their will on others. The weaker ones and the milder ones cannot live a life of their own as they will be at the mercy of the
21 stronger ones. The stronger ones will be embroiled in the feud to make their own life miserable and unsafe. However this kind of social tyranny is much less in the big cities and among the higher castes. These circumstances have forced Indian families to live together under one roof and families play a dominant role in the Indian society. It is a miniature government in spirit and action. The eldest member of the family is the head of the family and all extended family members live together in the rural areas. but in the cities nucleus families are coming up, but nevertheless the Parents help their children in need throughout their life and the children help their parents in need throughout their life and brothers help sisters and sisters in law, if need be not out of reciprocity but out of love and respect. In case of need, his friends provide help by keeping the needy in their houses for a few weeks or months. A very few old people are left to the mercy of the Old Age Homes in India as it is a reprehensible act on the part of the children to leave them to their fate in their old age. It is also their duty on the one hand. If any member of the extended family is in distress, the other members of the family will help them. The people are peace-loving except when they are amidst mob organized by the politicians or trade unions. The social cohesion of its people is mainly due to the fact that politically India was never well organized and so the people had to depend more on social hegemony and social solidarity. The police intervene only when the case involves murder or gang attack. Even to this day the government runs short of money to hire adequate number of people to maintain law and order in the country! Or perhaps the government does not want to spend money on the maintenance of law and order!
Indians have great tolerance towards other religions. The Hindus form eighty percent of the Indian population. Their religion allows freedom of conscience. India has encompassed many religions within her hold. Some religions are born on the Indian soil and some are forced on the people from outside. It has given birth to too many religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism while Christianity and Islam are forced on her soil. They have wonderful degree of religious tolerance. In 1947 there were 10% Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan but today it is reduced to 0.1%. In India the Muslims are allowed to retain their identity, language and culture uninterrupted. Recently, Pakistan court sentenced an Indian national to death penalty for spying on Pakistan. The government of India took up the matter with that country at the highest level but nothing came of it but recently he converted
22 himself to Islam and gave a declaration that he has converted to Islam on his own volition! Religion bends to its knees before a sword. The people of India are peculiar in that that they have religious tolerance but have deep rooted hatred towards other castes within the Hindu society. Some day this caste hatred may lead to the collapse of the social and political system in India and the Indians are repeating the same mistakes they did in the past.
India has favorable climate and rich natural resources India is a vast country. It extends from the highest ranges of the Himalayas which are nearly 30,000 ft above the sea level in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south; and from east to west; it stretches from Pakistan to Bangladesh. It lies in the northern hemisphere between 8' 4' and 37° 6' north latitude and 68° 7' and 97° 25' east longitude. The Tropic of Cancer passes through the middle of the country. India stretches to 3214 km from north to south and 2933 km from east to west with a total land area of 3,287,263 sq km. It has a land frontier of 15,200 km and it has a coastal line running to 7516.5 km. It also stretches its territory to the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal and to Lakshdweep in the Arabian Ocean. In the north China and Nepal are contiguous areas. In the south Sri Lanka is separated by a narrow channel called Palk Strait. India has insurmountable Himalayan Mountain ranges in the north that separates India from the rest of Asia. Down the mountain ranges, there are Indo gangetic plains. In the west there is Thar Desert and in the south there is a vast Deccan Plateau with narrow costal lines. India has a number of rivers flowing through different parts of the country of which Sindhu, Ganga and Brahmaputra are the longest rivers. India got its name from the river Indus the original name of which was Sindhu. Ganga is fit for navigation. The rainfall is abundant in the Western Ghats and in the North Eastern States but it is very scarce in the Deserts of Rajasthan. India has rich forest resources in the regions where there is heavy rainfall. India’s climate varies from state to state and sometimes within the state itself. While in the north there are snow covered Himalayan Mountains, in the southern tip of India there are coastal lines which are very hot. In the North, the people grow and eat wheat but in the south, the people grow and eat rice, ragi and jower. The Northern India is land-locked while the western State of Gujarat and Maharashtra and the Southern states and the Eastern States of Orissa and West Bengal have vast coastal lines. The Long coastal lines have given India the advantage of maintaining a strong Navy and water transport.
23
It is a Himalayan Mountain range at 11,000 ft above the sea level. The highest peak in the Himalayas is 30,000 ft above the sea level.
There are three seasons in a year, namely the monsoon season when there is widespread rainfall, the winter when the temperature falls to sub zero in Kashmir and to less than 40 degrees in the north and less than 45 degrees in the South on the Fahrenheit scale; and the summer which is really hot, the temperature ranging from 90 degrees to 120 degrees on Fahrenheit scale. It has varied natural resources such as gold, iron, nickel, manganese, copper and metals. In short it is a sub- continent within the continent of Asia, situated in South Asia. India has no inclement weather for most part of the year as there is no snowfall. Summer is generally hot but not unbearable. In the Himalayan region, there are many hill stations like Shimla, Dalhousie, Mussorie, Dehra Dune, Ninital and others where the summer is very pleasant. Kashmir also has great weather in summer. It is the only state where there is heavy snowfall. The winter in the Himalayan region is very severe and the mountain peaks remain snow covered. The whole of North and Western India will have extreme climate both in summer and in winter. In winter the temperature goes below 25 degrees on the F scale and many people die out of cold. In summer the temperature goes up to 120 degrees on F scale and many people die of heat. In most parts of India generally the climate will be hot dry and dusty but you can roam about the country all through the year. In the south, the Western mountain regions near the west coast and interior Karnataka have agreeable climate in summer. In fact these regions will have very pleasant climate in winter too.
Cost of living is low
In India the cost of living is comparatively low. There is widespread unemployment and underemployment among the people. The salary earned is not sufficient to lead a good life. Moreover most people are vegetarians and even the non-vegetarians are mainly vegetarians because of cultural heritage. The so called non-vegetarians eat flesh only on special occasions and the flesh they eat is limited to meat, chicken and fish. The Hindus venerate cows which are useful and harmless and they don’t kill cows or eat its flesh. The Muslims hate
24 pigs and refuse pork. There is no need for air conditioners or air- conditioned cars except for the months of April, May and June; and there is no need for snow boots and heavy winter clothes. The private homes generally do not have air conditioning equipment. Most of the people use two wheelers and public transport which do not have air conditioners. The people use electric fans in summer and wear warm clothes in winter. Car is a luxury in India. There is no need for owning a car to wander about if you have enough patience and some money in your pocket. You may not see great roads as you find in the west but there is good public transport system wherever you go. The people use two wheelers widely as they are cheap in price and in fuel consumption. By western standards, the cost of living is surprisingly low for those who want to live a simple life, except in a few metropolitan cities where there is acute pressure of overpopulation and consequent discomfort.
Indian has huge population India has an area of 3,287,263 square kilometers with a population of 1.1 billion. It is the second most populous nation in the world, and is expected to surpass China by 2050 A D which has the largest population in the world according to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Census Bureau. India will have an estimated population of around 1.6 billion in 2050 while China will have an estimated population of around 1.4 billion then. On the planet earth the estimated population now is 6.5 billions and one in five in the world population is an Indian. There are thirty one states in India and 64 major languages. The people of each state speak different languages and in each state the people are divided into various castes and the people of each caste form a different ethnic group having their own mode of dress, culture and traditions. You will find people who are as black as the people of Africa and you will find people who are as white as the Europeans. You find sophistication of global standard in some while you find some as primitive as that of the new stone age. While some people wear traditional dress of the Vedic age, some others wear dresses as prim as you find in the streets of London. In outlook some people outclass the internationalists while others are as narrow-minded as the savage people. There is diversity in race, language, literature, dress, customs and traditions, outlook and ideas but they all feel one when it comes to safeguarding the interest of the nation. Common interests have bound them together. United they stand and divided they fall.
25
CHAPTER 2
1. WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT INDIA?
In spite of the fact that India has too many problems it has made wonderful contribution to the world civilizations from the time immemorial down to this day. 1 India, in spite of being an abode to more than 100 languages, is the largest English speaking country in the world. Though English is not their mother tongue, seventy percent of the people learn to read, write and speak English. No Indian language is as useful and as popular as English. India has no national language in the sense that the people do not have a language which is common to them all. Hindi is named the national language although majority of its population cannot speak, write or understand that language! English is the only language that is spoken in all parts of India and it is not a national language! 2. India has the largest vegetarian population on this earth. It has given birth to several religions which follow the path of non-violence and shun killing of animals. Jainism and Buddhism were born in India and they have made strong impact on the minds of the people in matters of showing kindness to animals and not killing them for food. 3. India has made wonderful contribution to the world in the field Astronomy. Arya Bhatta was the first Astronomer who was born in India in 476 A.D. He was the first one to state that earth is round and it rotates round the Sun on its own axis causing day and night. Even in later years astronomy was given great importance and observatories were constructed. The astronomical laboratories were called Jantar Mantar which you can see even to this day in New Delhi and Jaipur. The instruments are made of stone and lime. Arya Bhatta was a Brahmin. 4. Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart and stated that Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days. He was a Brahmin by caste. 5. India has made wonderful contribution to the world in the field of Mathematics. In India the place value system and the decimal system were developed as early as 100 B C.
26 6. The greatest contribution to the world of Mathematics is the use of Zero. Brahma Gupta who lived from 598 to 660 A D was the first mathematician to treat zero as a number and show its mathematical operations. Bhaskar Acharya who lived in 1114 A.D. was the first to understand mathematical implications by stating 'any non-zero value divided by zero is infinite'. 7. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were enunciated by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers that the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as tera10 to the power of 53, with specific names as early as 5000 B.C. during the Vedic period. He was a Brahmin. 8. India enunciated Pythagoras Theorem much before Pythagoras did. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians did. 9. Sushruta is the father of surgery. He conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery 2600 years ago. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipments were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts. 10 India has made valuable contribution in the field of medicine too. Bharadwaja a sage was the founder of the Indian system of medicine called Ayurveda. He presided over the symposium of medicinal plants in relation to diseases in 7 B C. in the Himalayan region. Bharadwaja was a Brahmin. 11. India had the Earliest School of Medicine in the world. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to civilization. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization. 12. India established first university in the world. It was established in Takshashila in 700 B C. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century B C was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education. There were 2000 teachers and 10,000 students in pursuit of knowledge. The Chinese traveler who visited Nalanda in fifth century A D has given a detailed description of the university in his account. Takshashila teachers and students were all Brahmins. Nalanda University was a center of learning for the Buddhists.
27 13. The world's first fingerprint bureau was set up in Calcutta in June 1897. A murder case in 1898 in Jalpaiguri was among the first in the world where the culprit was caught on the basis of dactyloscopy, the science of fingerprint identification. 14. The contribution of India to the world is no less in the field of Sports and Games. The credit for inventing the great intellectual game of Chess (Shataranj) was invented in India. 15. India does not lag behind in adventure sports as well. First woman to swim the Straits of Gibraltar was an Indian. Aarti Pradhan swam the 30 km Straits on August 29, 1988 in 7 hr 17 min. 16. In the field of education India has made great contribution. The first University in the world was established at Nalanda in Bihar in 500 B C. To day Indians form the highly educated ethnic people in America. 17. India has the largest number of Non-Resident Indians around the world.1 38% of Doctors in America are Indians. 12% of Scientists in America are Indians. 36% of NASA employees are Indians. 34% of Microsoft employees are Indians. 28% of IBM employees are Indians. 17% of Intel employees are Indians. 13% of Xerox employees are Indians. 18. India has built an Airport at Leh which is the highest airport in the world at an altitude of 10,680 ft. 19. India has the largest Postal Network. India has 154,149 post offices of which 89% are in the rural areas serving 604,341 villages in the country. Letters are collected from 564,701 letter boxes, processed by a network of 573 Railway mail service. 20. It has the longest road from Khardungla in Leh to Manila. 21. India is the largest producer of Spices. She is the largest producer of milk and milk products. She is the largest producer of Bananas, fruits and vegetables, cereals and pulses, in the world. India is a global supplier of Spices down to this day. India accounts for one-fourth of the global trade in spices and herbs, estimated at 500,000 tons worth US $150 crore. She is the largest producer of Tea and sugar. 22. She has established the largest number of mobile hospitals in the world. 23. The earliest city was built by Indians at Varanasi or Benaras when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C, and is the oldest, which has been continuously inhabited city even to this day.
1 www.wikipedia.com
28 23. India has preserved vast tracts of forests and habitats in its 80 National Parks and 441 Wildlife Sanctuaries. You can visit national parks and bird sanctuaries. In northern India, Corbett National Park and Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh, Kanha National Park and Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Ranthambore National Park and Sariska Tiger Reserve, are all homes of tigers. These also have varieties of deer, cats, mammals and birds. In the north-east States of Assam, the Kaziranga National Park and the more remote Manas Tiger Reserve with their extensive swamps and grasslands are the home of the 'Rhinoceros Unicornis'. India has single horn rhino. In the South, interesting wildlife sanctuaries include the Bandipur and Nagarhole National Parks in Karnataka, the Mudumalai Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu and Periyar National Park in Kerala. The lush forests of these sanctuaries are noted for the predators like tigers and leopards, a variety of animals like the wild boar, pangolin, slender loris and macaques, as also a range of colourful birds typical to this area. Gurarat in Western India has a number of unusual sanctuaries - the Gir National Park, the last habitat of the Asiatic lion; the bare saline flats in the Rann of Kutch, home of the Indian wild ass and the spectacular Flamingo Island. Another interesting sanctuary is the magnificent Keoladeo Ghana National Park with its incredible varieties of birds, easily accessible from Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. 24. Benaras or Kashi is the most ancient city in India which is flourishing even to this day. The city came into existence in 1000 B C. It has an area of 74 sq. kilometers and a population of 1.4 millions. It is a holy city for the Hindus. It is standing on the bank of the river Ganga. There is Kashi Viswanath Temple which was built by Ahalya Bai Holkar who belonged to Royal family of Indore in Madhya Pradesh in 1780. The present day Benaras is known for silk saris and locomotive Industry. It is a center of learning. There is Kashi Vidyapeeth, Banaras Hindu University and Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. The above list of contributions made by India to the contemporary world is only illustrative and not exhaustive.
2. WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT INDIAN DIASPORA? Once the British were boasting that ‘the Sun never sets under the British Empire.’ Times have changed. Now "the sun never sets on the Indian Diaspora." Millions of Indians have left the shores of India and migrated to different countries of the world. These global Indians
29 account for fifty millions out of a total of 191 million who have left their homeland. The Government of India has categorized them as non- resident Indians (NRI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO).
The British Government abolished the practice of slavery in any form by an Act called the Slavery Abolition Act on August 1, 1834, and freed the slave labor throughout the British colonies which resulted in an extreme shortage of labor in many of the British colonies. The British colonists started massive importation of workers from India to overcome the shortage of plantation workers in tea and rubber plantations of Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaya and Singapore. After 1947, a large number of Indians migrated to the United Kingdom. Now they have become third generation people of Indian origin. They have been very successful and many people like Lakhmi Mittal and Hinduja brothers are ranked top among the richest people of England. Many Indians have mixed themselves with the Anglican race and have formed mixed races by inter racial marriage. According to 2001 census of the United Kingdom around 4.73 % of the populations are of Indian origin including the inter-mixed Anglo-Indians. Total Indian population accounts for 2.46 millions. Many people of Indian origin are from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and the Caribbean. Many Indians had migrated to Malaysia as plantation laborers under British rule and they form seven percent of the total population in Malaysia. Most of these are Tamil. They have retained their language and religion. Most Asians in South Africa are descended from indentured Indian laborers who were brought by the British from India in the 19th century mostly to work in what is now the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The city of Durban has the largest Asian population. Mahatma Gandhi worked as a lawyer in Durban in the early 1900s. There is a huge population of Indians in the Middle East. Many people of Indian origin have been employed in banks and corporations. There are many businessmen of Indian origin. They retain their Indian passports since most of the countries in the Gulf do not provide citizenship or permanent residency. After the 1970s oil boom in the Middle East, a large number of Indians moved to Gulf countries for contractual labor.
Many people have moved to English speaking countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Most of the Industrialists of India have their second homes in Australia. In the last 60 years there has been exodus to Canada and the United States.
30 A large number of people of Indian origin have settled down in Canada especially in urban centers like Toronto and Vancouver. In 2001 there were 713, 330 people of Indian origin in Canada. Out of this population, 42% were Hindu, 39% are Sikh, and the rest are Muslim or Christian. The main Indian ethnic communities are Punjabi, Gujrati, Tamil, Keralite, Bengali, and Sindhi. Indians in the USA are known as Asian-Indians. They account for 2.16 millions. They have occupied good positions especially in the field of information technology, medicine and the academics. There were over 4,000 professors and 33,000 students of Indian origin in American universities in 1997-98. The American Association of the Physicians of Indian Origin has a membership of 35,000. In 2000, Fortune magazine estimated the wealth generated by Indian Silicon Valley entrepreneurs at around $250 billion. The children of NRI are facing problems because they are going through challenges posed by cross culture. Sporadically racial assaults have taken place against these people Indians comprise 16.4 per cent of the Asian-American community and are the third largest in the Asian American population. There is enormous growth of Asian Indian population since 2000 A D. Asian- Indians are the second largest Asian group (2,226,585) in the US, behind only the Chinese, who migrated to USA when the American railroads were built. Indians own many motels and hotels in the US and their total value exceed $40 billion. One tenth of NRI in America are Millionaires. One-third of the engineers in Silicon Valley are of Indian descent. Indians have the highest educational qualifications of all ethnic groups in the US. Almost 67% of all Indians have a bachelor’s or higher degree. Nearly 40% of all Indians have a master’s, doctorate or other professional degree, which is five times the national average2. India has lost most intellectuals due to the fact that successive governments have been adopting the wrong policy of reservation. India has great pleasure in welcoming mediocrity in their public services and this trend has forced Intellectuals to move away from India in search of better opportunities. However, India has been receiving huge foreign exchange from the NRI in exchange for brain-drain. India is the largest recipient of remittances by overseas workers, estimated at $21 billion -- up from almost 150% since 1995, says a study by investment bankers J P Morgan. The Indian diaspora is estimated at 20 billion. Six of the 100 best paid executives in Silicon Valley are Indians, according to a survey in the San Jose Mercury News. Rajiv Dutta of eBay is ranked at 61 among the highest paid and Vyomesh Joshi who is
2 Indian American Center for political awareness
31 ranked at 71 among the highest paid. Abhijit Talwarkar, LSI Logic CEO is at 89 and Kamal Agarwal of National Semiconductors at 99. The JP Morgan study reaffirms RBI figures released recently that found remittances were double the amount of net foreign institutional investor inflows and one-fourth of the merchandise export earnings of the country. The study reports that stock of deposits by NRIs amounts to around $32 billion or 23% of foreign exchange reserves. Portfolio and real estate investment has been largely concentrated in the field of information technology3 .
3. THE SUCCESS STORY OF THE GLOBAL INDIANS There are now more than 2.15 million people of Indian origin in America. They reflect the multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi- lingual society of India. They have entered into many areas including academic and entrepreneurial, medical and legal, engineering and finance. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average family income of an Indian American family is $61,322 as against the national average of family income is $41, 994. The high income clearly reflects the advanced educational levels achieved by the community. More than 85% of Indians in America have completed high school while at least 62% have some college education. As much as 61% of Indian Americans over the age of 25 hold a bachelor's degree or higher. The high levels of education have also enabled them to become a productive segment of the U. S. population, with 72.3% participating in the work force of which 57.7% are employed in managerial and professional specialties. Technical, sales, and administrative support occupations constitute another 29.8% of the work force. The remaining 12.5% of the population works in other areas, such as operators, fabricators, laborers and precision production. More than 5,000 Indian Americans today serve as faculty members in institutions of higher education in the U. S. About 300,000 Indian Americans work in technology firms in California’s Silicon Valley. They account for more than 15% of high-tech startups in that region. The median income of Indian Americans in that region is estimated to be $125,000 (average $200,000) a year. Two Indian Americans, Har Gobind Khorana of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and late Subrahmanyan Chandrashekhar of University of Chicago have been awarded the Nobel Prize, in medicine and physics respectively. In deed, the NASA's premier X-ray observatory was named the Chandra X-ray Observatory in honor of the
3 Himanshi Dhawan writes to Times of India
32 late Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, known to the world as Chandra. He was widely regarded as one of the foremost astrophysicists of the twentieth century. The observatory was launched into space in July 1999. Late Dr. Kalpana Chawla added a new chapter to the history of the Indian American community. In 1997, she became the first Indian or Indian American to fly in the US space shuttle. She was part of the Space Shuttle Columbia Flight STS-87. The estimated annual buying power of Indian Americans in the United States is around $ 20 billion. Indian Americans are increasingly beginning to take a more direct role in political activities. They have traditionally exercised the most political influence through their campaign contributions, and are actively involved in fundraising efforts for political candidates on the federal, state and local levels. The number of Indian-owned companies grew from 46 to 8,707, the Washington Post reported. Asian-owned businesses in the US have made lot of profits and boosted the country's economic growth. They have earned revenue of 3.8 billion dollars according the report of the Census Bureau. As a result of these activities, the India caucus in the House of Representatives now numbers 118.4 The younger generation of Indians and American Indians are taking keen interest to grow up as partners of America. A research project presented by Ullas Mishra, the group leader, Amitav Mohanty, Ashim Kar and Soumya Ranjan Pati, all students of the Ispat English Medium School run by the Rourkela Steel Plant, have won the second prize in the 'NASA Space Settlement Design Contest' conducted by the NASA AMES Research Centre in the USA for their project ‘Eden’ on an imaginary dwelling place in space providing accommodation for about 10,000 people. Four teams from India had participated in the competition with the Ryan International School of Delhi being placed in the first prize category for the above project. Altogether 95 teams from across the globe had participated in the competition of designing a space settlement. The enterprising students have received a certificate each and have been invited to visit NASA. Twelve-year-old Bonny Jain of Moline, Illinois, won the National Geographic Bee on May 25, 2006 beating two other Indian Americans in the finals held at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, DC. Neera Sirdeshmukh, 14, of Nashua, New Hampshire, came in second place, while 13-year-old Yeshwanth Kandimalla from Georgia came third. Jain correctly answered 'Cambrian
4 www.indianembassy.org
33 Mountains' to the question 'Name the mountains that extend across much of Wales, from the Irish Sea to the Bristol Channel.' Jain, who is still in eighth grade won $25,000 and a lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society for winning the competition. A Class XII student from Kanpur has won a prize at an international science fair for developing a multi-functional model that helps children with cerebral palsy with increased mobility and do therapeutic exercises. Mukund Tiwari, a student of St Aloysius School in Kanpur, won the award at the International Science and Engineering Fair in the United States for his system that help such patients to do all essential therapeutic exercises as well as mobility to patients, school principal Edward Goveas has claimed in Kanpur. The "uniqueness" of this multi- functional system is that the mini tri-wheeler provides all therapeutic exercises on a single system, he said. The system can be driven by both hands and foot pedals and its dual steering system enable the patient to steer it on his own. Otherwise an attendant can also steer the vehicle from behind. Goveas said Mukund got selected to represent the country at the fair after he emerged as the national winner in December 2005 in Science Talent Discovery Fair held at Bangalore. It is that time of the year again when a group of word-wise Indian American schoolchildren will go through some serious word crunching in their bid to win the United States' most prestigious word spelling contest, the Scripps National Spelling Bee held on May 31 and June 1 in Washington DC and will have a record 275 participants. Last year, a 13-year-old eighth grader of Indian descent, Anurag Kashyap, won the title by spelling out 'appoggiatura', a musical term, and became a celebrity with all major television channels and prominent publications featuring him. Prior to that, other Indian Americans who have won the coveted crown in recent years are Sai Gunturi (2003), Pratyush Buddiga (2002), George Abraham Thampy (2000) and Nupur Lala (1999). This year 12-year-old Samir Patel is being touted as one of the favorites for the crown in 2006. He stood second at the age of 11 and third at the age of 9 at the Scripps National Spelling Bee Contest. Another Indian American contestant worth keeping an eye on is 12- year-old Bonny Jain. He got $25,000 for his efforts and a life membership of the National Geographic Society. When Bala Natarajan became the first Indian American to win the national spelling bee in 1985, it had a tremendous impact on the Indian American community. Gurinder Chadha, an NRI film-maker is among the hundreds of celebrities and civilians who have been honored in Britain's Queen
34 Elizabeth II birthday honors. He is a film director of Bend it like Bechkam and Bhaji on the Beach fame. Saket Kaurav, a first year Master’s degree student in Physics from Rani Durgavati University has been invited to visit the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He was selected for this honor through a global knowledge test. He will be informed of the latest in Rocket Technology. Kaurav belongs to a village called Kareli in Narasinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh and he is interested in Astronomy. A seventy five year old Australian service organization called Apex has awarded Cheryl Naik, a sixteen years old non resident Indian girl the prestigious award called State Youth Citizenship Award. She is the first person of Asian origin to receive this prestigious award from Apex Victoria. She is the media spokesperson for the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, a youth body of Victoria which works with the State government. Her comments on issues affecting the youth will be often published by the Australian media. Gaurav Raja, a 15-year-old Indian American who is studying in Salem high school in Virginia has memorized 10,980 digits of pi (π), a mathematical term representing the ratio of a circle's circumference to the diameter, to break a North American record. His teacher asked her students to memorize at least 40 digits of Pi which is equal to 22/7(constant) but broke the record by memorizing 10,625 digits. David Swiftwater of Pennsylvania had previously set the record of 10,625 digits. In 1995, Hiroyuki of Japan had set the record of 42195 digits of Pi, Washington Post reports.
4. WORLD’S TOP YOUNG INDIAN AMERICAN INNOVATORS
1. SHILADITYA SENGUPTA
Shailaditya Sengupta is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He was born in Bengal but grew up in Delhi. He went to Trinity College at Cambridge and as British Scholar, pursued a PhD in Pharmacology. He is named among the Technology Review top 35 Indian American Innovators. He is an AIIMS alumnus.
35 Shiladitya has won the Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize for excellence in Medical Research from the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Geeta Mital Gold Medal from AIIMS. He is the recipient of the Amanda Stavely Prize in the Cambridge University 50K entrepreneurship competition. It was at Trinity that he started working in the field of angiogenesis. After joining MIT as a postdoctoral associate, he started working on the question of how to deliver chemotherapy after the blood vessels to the tumor have been cut off. The Technology Review magazine says that his biggest discovery, that of the 'nanocell', is a nanoscale drug delivery device to treat cancer. He joined the Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital as an Assistant Professor of medicine and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology of late. Shiladitya says, "Getting the TR35 Innovator award was a privilege…However, I take pride in the fact that a significant per cent of the winners were Indians, which reflects the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit within us. He met Shivani at Trinity and married her.
2. RAJIT MANOHAR
Rajit was an Associate Professor in Cornell University. He was born and brought up in Mumbai. He went to the Bombay International School until 10th standard and later on studied at DG Ruparel College. He was at IIT Bombay for two years in the Computer Science and Engineering department. He was sent to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) where he completed his BS, MS and PhD degrees in Computer Science. He is named among the TR35. He joined the Cornell faculty in 1998, where he was one of the founders of its Computer Systems Laboratory. Currently, Rajit works an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a
36 member of the graduate fields of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics. "My research interests are in asynchronous systems, and my group works on low power asynchronous processors, asynchronous field- programmable gate arrays, and fault-tolerant electronics," says Rajit. According to the TR magazine, Rajit has been noticed for his enhancement of the chip. An onboard clock harmonizes the different functions of a computer chip. He speeds up chips and lowers power consumption by removing the clock. His signature chips are 10 times more energy efficient than earlier clockless chips. Rajit has started a company called Achronix Semiconductor.
3. NARASIMHA CHARI
Narasimha was a founder and Chief Architect at Tropos Network. He left India for Caltech after completing his studies at IIT in 1992 to graduate in Mathematics and Economics. Chari did his Masters in Physics from Harvard. In 2000 he co-founded Tropos Networks with Devabhaktuni "Sri" Srikrishna, his Caltech classmate. The Technology Review magazine has named him among the Top 35 young innovators for setting the wireless mesh networking standard. He created elegant algorithms that tailored mesh networking, once an exclusive province of the military, for routine civilian communication.5 Chari told the Hindustan times that "It is quite an honor to receive this award, but the innovation we've achieved at Tropos is the work of many highly-talented individuals, of which I'm only one. I view the award as recognition for the role Tropos has played in creating a new market space and successfully building out fast, low-cost wireless access networks that are providing residential broadband, powering mobile public safety applications, enabling video surveillance, aiding in disaster recovery, promoting economic development in cities and bridging the digital divide, to name just a few applications." He is also a member of the IEEE Communications Society, IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Standards Association and the Association for Computing Machinery.
5 The Hindustan Times Reports
37
4. ADAM RASHEED
Adam is an aeronautical Engineer in GE Global Research. He has been fascinated with Airplanes and Space from his childhood. He is known for integrity and hard work. Adam's parents are from Delhi but he was born and brought up in Canada. He spent most of his youth in Ottawa. He completed his Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University in 1995. After working for a year as an engineer at a local company, Adam obtained his Masters of Science (Aeronautics) in 1998 and PhD in Aeronautics in 2001 from California Institute of Technology (Caltech).Since then Adam has been associated with GE Global Research in New York where he began working on energy and propulsion technologies, focusing on Pulsed Detonation Engines, a new kind of engine that has the potential of dramatically reducing the amount of fuel used by airplanes. For Adam, being named among great 35 was in itself a personal recognition. He feels that "this honor really is a tribute to the efforts of our entire team working towards the next evolution in aerospace propulsion.” Adam’s had been to India only twice. He enjoys Bollywood movies and loves desi food.
5. VIKRAM SHEEL KUMAR
Vikram is President and CEO of Dimagi Inc. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology and the Harvard Medical School. He is the first Indian to receive the 'Ten Outstanding Young Americans (TOYA)" Award. With the TOYA Award, the 29-year-old doctor joins the ranks of former US President Bill Clinton, Henry Ford and rock legend Elvis Presley. Among other prominent personalities who have received the TOYA Award in the past are former US presidents John F Kennedy
38 and Richard Nixon, as also former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Vikram, who migrated to the US in 1996, was named among the 'World's 100 Top Innovators Under 35' in biotechnology and medicine in 2004 by the Technology Review magazine. He is the founder of the medical clinic Dimagi Inc. Vikram came to this field through a unique combination of engineering and medical education he had as an undergraduate at IIT and Columbia; and as a graduate student at Harvard and MIT. Presently, he is doing a residency in Clinical Pathology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital to develop a foundation in diagnostic technologies.
6. SHASHI SETH
Shashi is the Lead Manager in Google Research. Shashi grew up in the small town of Kanpur. While in school, he was more passionate about tennis than studies. After obtaining Bachelors degree, Shashi enrolled himself for the new emerging Computer Sciences at the University of Poona for his Masters. In 1988, after his Masters degree, Shashi worked for a few months at CMC in Mumbai, but soon took the opportunity to go for further studies at the University of Miami, Florida. In 1999, he took a job with a contractor for NASA and worked on various projects at NASA for the next six years, building futuristic avionics and flight simulation software. "The Internet boom had just started with the IPO of Netscape, and I took the plunge providing consulting in e-commerce and internet technology," Shashi said. First, he helped Gap launch their online stores. Then, from 2002 to April 2005, he created the hugely successful eBay Platform. In May 2005, he got an opportunity to play the role of Lead Product Manager for Google Search. While describing his experience at Google he says, "To manage a product that touches millions of people everyday, all over the world, is very rewarding, and come with a huge amount of responsibility."
39 7. NEAL KATYAL
Neal Katyal, 34, a Georgetown Law Professor, is fighting one of the most-widely covered cases in the US, ‘Hamdan v. Rumsfeld’. He is the lead attorney for the alleged driver and bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, Salim Ahmed Hamdan. In May 2005, Neal was named as one of the leading "40 lawyers under 40" by the National Law Journal. "Not only is Katyal a young professor at a top-tier law school, he is also involved in some significant cases of the decade," the Journal says. The Journal chose 40 top young attorneys who showed evidence of "extraordinary achievements early on in their careers" and who they expect to "continue to exert influence in the legal profession." He is an expert in national security law and on the American Constitution. He is also well-versed in the Geneva Conventions, and also in matters of the role of the President and Congress in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack. Neal has forged a worldwide coalition of support for his challenge to the Guantanamo Bay policy. He was brought up the suburb of Chicago. He was born to the Punjabi parents who have no opinion regarding the legal career. He studied at Dartmouth College and Yale Law School. Neal is also a visiting professor at Harvard and Yale law schools.
8. ANSHUMAN RAZDAN
Anshuman Razdan is the Director the ‘Prism’. He is a Kashmiri Indian but was born in Karnel, Punjab. He likes playing cricket and golf as a hobby. He started his career like many immigrant students that come to US from India but achieved something great. Anshuman is 40, and is a director of the Arizona State University's Partnership for Research in Spatial Modeling. He is collaborating with anthropologist Jeffrey Schwartz to recreate three, life-size figures of George Washington. The reconstruction is part of an $85 million facelift of Washington's Virginia estate. Anshuman is using cutting-edge, 3-D spatial-imaging
40 technology to scrutinize moulds, sculptures, dentures, hair samples, clothing, painted portraits, and all available written descriptions of Washington's physique and personality to create the three models. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2006.It is his wish that he should also build statues of Jawaharlal Nehru, Lincoln and Tantya Tope. Anshuman started as a mechanical engineer and became a computer scientist; and works in projects that range from biological data to water resource management.
9. KARAN K BHATIA
Karan is an Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Aviation and International Affairs in USA. He was nominated as Deputy US Trade Representative by George Bush in 2005. At present he is working as Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs at the Department of Transportation. He was formerly Deputy Under- Secretary of Commerce in the Department of Industry and Security in the Bush administration. He was Chief Counsel for the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Export Administration. Before joining the Bush administration, Karan was a partner in the Washington law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. Karan has a Bachelor's degree from Princeton University and a Master's degree from the London School of Economics. He got his law degree from Columbia Law School. If he is confirmed by the Senate he will become the highest ranking Indian American to serve in the US government.
10. BOBBY JINDAL
Bobby Jindal is a Congressman from Louisiana. He
41 comes from New Orleans which was worst hit by ‘Khatrina’. New Orleans was his constituency and he worked for the people although his own home was damaged during the period of devastation. Piyush 'Bobby' Jindal was born a Hindu in Baton Rouge but converted to Christianity in his teens. His parents moved to Louisiana from India just before he was born. He graduated from the Brown University. He got Master’s degree from the Oxford University. He has working experience with international consultancy firm, McKinsey. He had been hired by Louisiana's governor to fix the state's healthcare problems. In November 2004, Bobby became the first Indian American to win a Congressional seat in 46 years. Only Dilip Singh Saund had this privilege in 1956.
11. ANITA GOEL
Anita Goel is a Founder of Nanobiosym. She is also the CEO of that company. She is both a physicist and a physician who was named among the world's Top 35 young high-tech innovators by prestigious Technology Review magazine of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She holds a PhD in Physics from Harvard University and an MD, from Harvard. Anita is also a Fellow of the World Technology Network and a Fellow-at-Large of the Santa Fe Institute. She is also a Trustee and Scientific Advisor to India-Nano. “The young, dynamic lady studies the tiny proteins that edge their way along DNA, reading and copying the genes inside each cell” the Technology review explains. The Technology Review is one of the oldest magazines in the field of technology and focuses on emerging technologies and analyses their commercial, economic, social and political impact.
42
5. DISTICTION OF GLOBAL INDIANS
1. SHAKUNTALA DEVI A MATHEMATICAL PRODEGY AND A WORLD FAMOUS ASTROLOGER
Shakuntala Devi, a numerical prodigy, was born on November 4, 1939 in India at Bangalore. She is as fast a calculator as a computer and hence she is called the "human calculator." She belongs to a Brahmin family in Bangalore. At a young age of six she displayed her prowess of calculations at Annamalai University in Tamil Nadu. Her abilities did not demure as she grew old as in case of Henry Safford. She demonstrated her ability at the Computer Department of Imperial College in London 1980. Her name is entered in the Guinness Book of World Records. She is an astrologer too. She mesmerized the audience at Texas sometime ago by computing 23 rd route of a 200 digit number in 53 seconds while the fastest computer takes 62 seconds. She has demonstrated her brilliant mind in most of the major cities in the world. In addition to normal arithmetic such as addition, multiplication and division, she calculates square and cube roots as well as algorithms in her head6. Given any date in the last century she could tell the day of the week, in a flash. Shakuntala Devi has been honored with numberless medals and awards around the world. A multi-talented personality, Shakuntala has written many books on numbers and mathematical puzzles. She is the author of a novel and many short stories for children. Shakuntala has formulated a unique herbal tablet that boosts one's memory and mental power. Shakuntala lives both at Bangalore and London.
6 www.wikipedia.org
43
2. KALPANA CHAWLA
SPACE RESEARCH ENGINEER
Kalpana was born in India but studied and worked as an astronaut in NASA, USA. She died an untimely death on February 1, 2003 over the United States in the mid air just 16 minutes before landing in her Shuttle ‘Columbia’ and the entire crew perished with her due to technical snag in the Shuttle. She was married and she is survived by her husband. She held a Certificated Flight Instructor's license with airplane and glider ratings, Commercial Pilot's licenses for single- and multi-engine land and seaplanes, and Gliders, and instrument rating for airplanes7. She enjoyed flying aerobatics and tail-wheel airplanes. Kalpana was graduated from Tagore School in Karnal in 1976. She obtained Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College in 1982. She held a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas, 1984. She obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado in 1988. She was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Kalpana Chawla started to work at NASA in 1988 at Ames Research Center in the area of powered-lift computational fluid dynamics. Her research concentrated on simulation of complex air flows encountered around aircraft such as the Harrier in "ground-effect." Following completion of this project she supported research in mapping of flow solvers to parallel computers, and testing of these solvers by carrying out powered lift computations. In 1993 Kalpana Chawla joined Overset Methods Inc., Los Altos, California, as Vice President and Research Scientist to form a team with other researchers specializing in simulation of moving multiple body problems. She was responsible for development and implementation of efficient techniques to perform aerodynamic optimization. Results of various projects that Kalpana Chawla participated in are documented in technical conference papers and journals.
7 www.jsc.nasa.gov
44 Kalpana was selected by NASA in December 1994. Kalpana Chawla reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995 as an astronaut candidate in the 15th Group of Astronauts. After completing a year of training and evaluation, she was assigned as crew representative to work technical issues for the Astronaut Office EVA/Robotics and Computer Branches. Her assignments included work on development of Robotic Situational Awareness Displays and testing space shuttle control software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory. In November, 1996, Kalpana Chawla was assigned as mission specialist and prime robotic arm operator on STS-87. In January 1998, she was assigned as crew representative for shuttle and station flight crew equipment, and subsequently served as lead for Astronaut Office’s Crew Systems and Habitability section. She flew on STS-87 (1997) and STS-107 (2003), logging 30 days, 14 hours and 54 minutes in space. STS-87 was the fourth U.S Microgravity Payload flight and focused on experiments designed to study how the weightless environment of space affects various physical processes, and on observations of the Sun's outer atmospheric layers. Two members of the crew performed an EVA (spacewalk) which featured the manual capture of a Spartan satellite, in addition to testing EVA tools and procedures for future Space Station assembly. STS-87 made 252 orbits of the Earth, traveling 6.5 million miles in 376 hours and 34 minutes. On STS-107 Columbia (January 16 to February 1, 2003). The 16-day flight research mission was planned. Working 24 hours a day, in two alternating shifts, the crew successfully conducted approximately 80 experiments working 24 hours a day. The STS-107 mission ended abruptly on February 1, 2003 when Space Shuttle Columbia and the crew perished during entry into earth’s atmosphere just 16 minutes prior to landing.
3. SRIMATHI SRIDHAR
TOP RANKING STUDENT Srimathi is a teenage Indian student who has been named Editor-in- Chief of the online edition of Tattler, the newspaper brought out by the Bethesda Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda Maryland., which is one of the top ranking high schools in Montgomery County, Maryland; and in the United States. She is a junior student in the High school. She is enrolled in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and will be graduating in May next year. Her talent as a writer was noticed by her school teachers whenever she presented them with her articles and essays as part of her school assignments. The teachers were so
45 much impressed with her essays and articles and her ability to present facts that they asked her to write for the school newspaper Tattler. She is a student from India but she had spent her childhood in Singapore. She intends to pursue her studies in English literature and journalism. She is looking for an Institution that will shape her career as a scribe. She is inspired by her father Sridhar who is well-known as a journalist in the Washington D C area. They have been residing there for the last twelve years.8
4. RANDHIR KAUR
A VALIANT SOLDIER
Randhir Kaur became the first Sikh woman to join the US armed forces. She joined the US army while she was just 17 and she is now 20. Now she is on a mission in Afghanistan, patrolling the streets of Kabul with an M-16 rifle on her shoulders. She was born in India in Nijjran village of Jalandhar district of the Punjab. Mohan Singh her father secured green card in 1990 when she was seven years old in the year 1990. She spent her younger days in an isolated village Earlimart in California. She joined the US armed forces in 2001 when she was in 9th grade at Delano. Some racist elements posted email maligning that she was seeking army position to get citizenship but she was already a citizen of the United States.
SUNITA WILLIAMS Flight Engineer 14th International Space Station crew
Sunita Williams has been chosen as flight Engineer by NASA for the 14th International Space Station crew. Michael Lopez of Algeria will be the Commander while Mikhail Tyurin will be fight Engineer and Soyuz Commander for the Mission. She was born on September 19, 1965 in Euclid Ohio. She has married Physician turned Marshall, Michael J Williams. She is the daughter of Deepak Pandya who migrated to the United States in Nineteen sixties and he is now working at a veteran
8 United News of India, Washington D C
46 hospital. Her mother is Ursaline, an American of Slavic descent. Williams and Ursaline live in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Sunita is the second astronaut of Indian origin after Kalpana Chawla. Sunita wanted to become a veterinarian but she became an astronaut.
5. NARASINGARAO SREENATH
GREAT ACADEMICIAN
Prof. Sreenath is an Associate Professor in the Case Western Reserve University at Cleveland. He is a great academician with varied interests. He has been a Professor for the last 18 years and has worked on Robotics, Environmental Science and Systems Biology. He is attached the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Now he is the Director of Case Systems Biology Initiative.
Prof Sreenath was born on March 14, 1959 at Bangalore in a traditional orthodox Bramhan family. His father Narasinga Rao was a Mines Manager in Andhra Pradesh. He graduated from the Government Engineering College at Bangalore in 1982 and went to the Indian Institute of Science (Tata Institute of Science) to do his Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering. After obtaining Master’s degree in 1982 he worked for a brief period in Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). He went to the United States of America for doing his Ph.D. program in the University of Maryland at College Park in 1983. He obtained his Ph. D. Degree in 1987 and moved to the Case Western Reserve University at Cleveland to occupy the Chair of Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1988. Professor Sreenath is the Director of Case Systems Biology Initiative (Case SBI), and, a Co-Director of UNESCO Global Issues Education Network Initiative (GENIe). He is a recipient of NIH- National Cancer Institute (NCI) Research Career Award in 2004. Sreenath’s research interest over the past two decades could be defined using a single phrase “Complexity analysis”. Specifically, it has been in understanding complex systems through a holistic approach that has
47 been central to ‘Systems Science’. Modeling as a representation of reality is a starting point and his work is based on the goal of the objective (analysis, design, etc.). This is followed then by applying various analysis and design methods such as large-scale, multi-level and hierarchical systems analysis, nonlinear systems modeling, differential geometric control, structural properties analysis (controllability, stability, equilibria and robustness), uncertainty analysis, and, computer based analysis, simulation and design. Application of these methods has been in areas such as Systems Biology, Future Studies, and space robotics. Work in Systems Biology is towards the understanding (a) of signal transduction problems in cancer and inflammation, and (b) of hydrocephalus (neurobiology/neurosurgery) problems. Collaboration with Case NIH Comprehensive Cancer Center resulted in the funding of a P20 Planning grant ($1.5 million over three years) from NIH-NCI. Case School of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, is other collaborators. In Future Studies, the concentration has been in the following application areas: global problematic (global climate change, carrying capacity of the world and regions), long-term policy modeling of environmental systems, (water resources, and energy resources), and public health policy (HIV-AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa). In space robotics (1982-93) research focus was on non-holonomic systems (e.g. why a cat dropped upside down always land on its feet). He has been a consultant to many developing countries and the UN agencies on issues of water, energy and policy development. He has lectured in more than twenty countries and has also written a book on global warming. His research interests are in Systems Biology with application of complex systems representation, multi-scale modeling, coordination and goal seeking to understand: (a) signal transduction in cancer and inflammation (MAPK and JAK/STAT pathways), and (b) biological causes and intervention approaches to hydrocephalus (cerebrospinal fluid accumulation). Projects are with Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and the School of Medicine (Neurosurgery). He is also involved with Global Systems modeling and analysis research (water, energy and policy targets). Prof. Sreenath has written a book titled Systems Representation of Global Climate Change Models: Foundation for a Systems Science Approach, Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences, Springer-Verlag, Berlin / New York, 1993 (291 pages). His publications include
48
1. Mesarovic, M.D., Sreenath, S.N. and Keene, J.D, .Search for organizing principles: understanding in systems biology, J. Systems Biology, Volume 1, 19-27. 3. Sreenath, N., Vali, A., and Susiarjo, G., “Nile River Problematique: An Integrated Look at the Future of Egypt & Ethiopia”, Water Intl. (J. Intl. Water Res. Assoc.), November 2002. “On Optimal Global Sustainable Population”, J. of Environment, Development and Sustainability, October 2002 (accepted, resubmitted after revision) written by Susiarjo, G, Sreenath, N, Vali A., Mesarovic M. N. Sreenath, M. Mesarovic, B. Venkatesh, “Optimal Control Approach to Global Warming Problem”, Int. J. of General Systems, Special Issue on Global Change, August 1996 (26 pages). N. Sreenath, “A Hybrid Computation Environment for Multibody Simulation”, Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, summer 1992 (20 pages). N. Sreenath, “Nonlinear Control of Multibody Systems in Shape Space, Mathematics of Controls, Signals and Systems (MCSS), Vol. 5, pp. 343-363, 1992 (21 pages). N. Sreenath, “On the Hamiltonian Structure of a Class of Multibody Systems: Equilibria, Stability, Control, and Stabilization”, accepted in J. of Dyn. Mes. And Cont., Oct 1992 (32 pages). C-K. Chen and N. Sreenath, “Control of Coupled Spatial Many-body Systems with Nonholonomic Constraints”, J. of Mathematical Systems, Estimation and Control, March 1993 (20 pages). N. Sreenath, Y.G. Oh, P.S. Krishna Prasad and J.E. Marsden, “The Dynamics of Coupled Planar Rigid Bodies Part I: Reduction, Equilibria and Stability”, Int. J. of Dynamics and Stability of Systems, Vol. 3, No. 1 & 2, pp. 25-49, 1988 (25 pages) N. Sreenath, Y.G. Oh, P.S. Krishna Prasad and J.E. Marsden, “The Dynamics of Coupled Planar Rigid Bodies Part II: Bifurcations, Periodic Solutions and Chaos”, Int. J. of Dynamics and Stability of Systems, Vol. 3, No. 1 & 2, pp. 25-49, 1988 (30 pages). He has been interested in social activities and community work. He has helped the cause of women’s education back in India. He has toured many countries around the world providing consultation in matters of Environment.
49
6. M.N. SRINIVAS, A GREAT SOCIOLOGIST 1916-1999
Srinivas’ contribution to the disciplines of sociology and social anthropology was unique. He received many honors from Bombay University, the Royal Anthropological Institute, Government of France, the Padma Shree from the President of India, and was honorary foreign member of the two most prestigious Academies – the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He had already written a book on family and marriage in Mysore and completed his Ph.D. at Bombay University when he went to Oxford in the late forties. Srinivas had great literary skills. That was evident not only in his book on Rampura, but also in many autobiographical works he wrote. Those essays brought out his relationship with the major anthropologists with whom he interacted, his recollections of how he constructed the discipline not only as a scholar but also as one engaged in pedagogic practices and in building the institutional foundations of these subjects. He has made great contribution to public life in India.
7. C H HANUMANTHA RAO, A GREAT ECONOMIST
Hanumantha Rao held high positions such as Director in the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, and a member of the planning commission, member of the Seventh and Eight Finance Commission and President of the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics. Etc. He was a Visiting Fellow at International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington in 1994. He was a Consultant of ESPRI, United Nations, and Bangkok in 1995-96. C H Hanumantha Rao was born on May 15, 1929 at Karim nagar in Andhra Pradesh. He was Hon. Professor and Chairman at Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, & Institute of Economic Growth, Univeresity of Delhi, Delhi. He was Post-doctoral Fellow in 1966-67 in the Department of Economics in the University of Chicago. He obtained his Ph.D. in Economics in 1962. He has published five books including Technological Change and Distribution of Grains in Indian Agriculture, Macmillan, 1975; and Agricultural Growth, Rural Poverty and Environmental Degradation in India, O.U.P., 1994; and over 100 papers in journals. He has supervised half a dozen students for Ph.D. Degree of the University of Delhi,
50 Delhi. He was awarded Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Memorial Prize in 1974- 75. He got K H Bathija award for Best book published in 1993-94. He has received Financial Express Award I 1995 and has two honorary Ph. D degrees from Venkateshwara and Kakatiya Universities. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the President of India in 2004.
6. TOP US AMERICAN INDIAN SCIENTISTS
Nine Indian Americans, including a top scientist with the US defense establishment, are among 76 new members and 11 foreign associates announced by the National Academy of Engineering in America. It is a great distinction accorded to an engineer. Academy honors those who have made "important contributions to engineering theory and practice, including significant contributions to the literature of engineering theory and practice," and those who have demonstrated accomplishment in "the pioneering of new fields of engineering, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education." by giving them membership.9
1. RAKESH JAIN Rakesh is a chemical and biomedical engineer. He is the Andrew Werk Professor of Tumor Biology at Harvard Medical School and serves as director of the Edwin L. Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology at the MGH Cancer Center of Massachusetts General Hospital In Boston. The leading expert on tumor path physiology, angiogenesis, drug delivery, and intravital microscopy, Dr. Jain has published nearly 300 scientific papers and five books on tumor blood supply and other topics. He also holds several patents for medical discoveries. Jain has been cited “for the integration of bioengineering with tumor biology and imaging gene expression and functions in vivo for drug delivery in tumors.” 2. PRADHAN Pradhan is a Chairman of Hughes Software Systems. He is also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Hughes Network Systems, a 1.4 billion dollar (US) division of Hughes Electronics Corporation. Mr. Kaul oversees all Hughes enterprises in India, which include Hughes Software Systems, Hughes Network Systems India, Hughes Escorts
9 www.Indialinks.com
51 Communications Ltd., and Hughes Tele.Com. Kaul had served previously as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating officer as well as Director of Engineering. In this role, he oversaw the development of new digital communications equipment for handling voice, data and television systems. He has played a pioneering role in the satellite industry, which saw Hughes Network Systems conceiving the COMSAT and VSAT technology. With his sense of strategy, technology and market focus, Kaul has led Hughes into the world of mobile satellite communication systems.
3. SHIVAJI SIRCAR Shivaji is a professor in the chemical engineering department, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa. He has been inducted into the academy “for contributions to the fundamental science and technology of adsorption separations and their applications in process industries.” He became a faculty member at Lehigh University in 2002 following his retirement from Air Products and Chemicals Inc., where he served 29 years and became chief scientist in the company’s adsorption science division. Professors of practice, who are appointed by the university provost, are faculty members who bring a wealth of practical experience to the university but are not seeking tenure-track positions. Sircar holds 57 U.S. and 65 international patents.
4. ARUP CHAKRAVARTI Arup is a professor of chemical engineering and chemistry at U.C. Berkeley and a scientist in the materials science division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research interests include problems ranging from inter-cellular communication in the immune system, bio-sensors, polymer science and interfacial phenomena to zeolite catalysis. He expects his team's research to enhance molecular- scale applications including the development of sensors, nanoscale separators, and viral inhibitors. Engineers wanting to design molecules that recognize a target pattern could use the model he has developed to speed up the search through "libraries" of synthetic molecules. He is currently Warren and Katherine Schlinger Distinguished Professor, Chair of Chemical Engineering, and Professor of Chemistry.
5. VIJAY VITTAL Vijay is a Harpole Professor, department of electrical and computer engineering, Iowa State University has been addressing the problem of the electrical systems division within the nation during his career. He
52 has worked on ways to solve problems of connecting the nation's two electrical systems, which are separated by the Rocky Mountains His goal is to continue providing reliable and uninterrupted electric power. According to the academy's citation, Vittal was elected for "improvements in real-time control and dynamic security assessment for electric power systems." Vittal said he is proud of his research in electrical power systems, dynamics and control. He works to prevent large blackouts in power systems. "Only when the power goes out do we realize how dependent we are on it," Vittal said.
6. SIVA BANDA Siva is a senior scientist at the Air Vehicles Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, and Wright-Patterson AFB where he leads the Control Science Center of Excellence. The Center‘s on going activities are focused on control of unmanned air vehicles, control of transatmospheric vehicles, and control of micro satellites. He performs and directs basic and applied research that supports the future vision of the Air Force. His primary responsibility is the transition of basic research results from control theory to the USAF and the aerospace industry. The technologies that emerge under Banda’s direction are expected to meet the challenges of the USAF. After high-level discussions with Air Force operational personnel in the Air Combat Command, Banda’s mission is to translate the future Air Force operational needs into a list of future technologies by enlisting the broader academic community. Banda, who has been at WPAFB since 1980, says that the Air Force interest in access to space and NASA’s focus on the development of the next generation of reusable launch vehicles has provided new opportunities for researchers to develop technologies that support the objectives of civilian and military space programs. He recently solicited proposals from scientists that will reduce development costs, reduce turn-around time and increase overall safety and reliability of such vehicles. Banda is a technical adviser to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Office of Naval Research, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Research Council and several leading academic institutes worldwide. Banda says that the Air Force interest in access to space and NASA’s focus on the development of the next generation of reusable launch vehicles has provided new opportunities for researchers to develop
53 technologies that support the objectives of civilian and military space programs. He recently solicited proposals from scientists that will reduce development costs, reduce turn-around time and increase overall vehicle safety and reliability.
7. KISHOR C MEHTA Kishor is a P.W. Horn Professor of Civil Engineering and Director, Wind Engineering Research Center, Texas Tech University, Lubbock is recognized nationally and internationally as an authority in the field of wind loads on structures and wind engineering. His research and consulting experience have helped him to develop guidelines and standards for wind loads, site-specific design basis wind speeds, and tornado-resistant design for shelters and building functions. He has shared his expertise and enthusiasm with students and professionals over the years. He has been recognized by the NAE “for systematic studies of structural damage caused by windstorms and leadership in the development of structural design standards for wind loads.’”
8. RAJAGOPAL S. RAGHAVAN. Raghavan is a senior staff associate now retired from Phillips Petroleum Co., Tulsa, Okla. The NAE is honoring Raghavan “for pioneering contributions to the interpretation of pressure data in wells to improve the definition, engineering, and production of complex oil and gas reservoirs.”
9. DARSH WASAN Darsh is a vice-president and Motorola Chair, department of international affairs, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Wasan has been cited “for pioneering research, inspirational teaching, and the development of novel technology in colloidal processing and interfacial rheology.’” Professor Wasan has research interests in the areas of interfacial and colloidal phenomena, foams, emulsions and dispersions, and environmental technologies including soil remediation.
54
10. RABINDRA N ROY
Robindra was the Walter H. Hoffman Distinguished Research Professor and Head of the department of chemistry at Drury College in Springfield. He has over 300 publications to his credit. He received the Most Distinguished Scientist Award from the Missouri Academy of Scientists and the prestigious national Camille and Henry Dreyfus Scholar Award. Rabindra gave away his hard earned money to open a school in Dhanbad near Durgapur in West Bengal. He could have used it for his own luxuries of life but he did not, and thus he stands out a great man in the community of Indians abroad. He was born in the village called Benachity in 1939 and he had his early education at Calcutta. Roy came to the United States for his doctoral studies at Lousiana State University after receiving his M.Sc degree in chemistry from Jadavpur University. Though he went on to become a great professor in the USA he never forgot his village in India. He invested time and money into the dream of a model school dedicated to his parents' memory in the heart of Bengal since 1988. Roy along with his brothers formed the Hemchandra Sheelabati Memorial Educational Trust and donated 4 acres of land for the school. Later K.P. Sharma, managing director of the Durgapur Steel Plant, allotted 8 acres of land to the project. Roy's dream became a reality with the inauguration of Hem Sheela School in Durgapur on March 12, 1995. It is an English medium coeducational institution. Dr. Johann Deisenhofer, who won the Noble Prize for Chemistry in 1988, went down to Durgapur to speak at the Founder's Day celebrations at Hem Sheela School which has 800 students enrolled in the primary division. Roy is not a wealthy man but still he has put
55 $400,000 of his own money into the School. He has shown the way to NRI men and women as to how they could repay their debts to their homeland. Former Ambassador Siddhartha Shankar Ray wrote to Roy, "The school is an ideal example of a nonresident Indian contributing his share for the development of his motherland. I can only hope that your example will be emulated by many more NRI." The Non Resident Indians who had received education in India may show their indebtedness by doing something to the country of origin.
11. MALLA REDDY Malla Reddy’s saga from Harappanahalli near Bangalore to California is unforgettable. It's a story of a boy who could afford just one meal a day, but then he became a Professor of Civil Engineering at California State University in the United States. Malla Reddy was a year old when his father passed away. Akkamma, his mother worked in the fields in Harappanahalli, to send him to the local primary school. She expressed her inability to send him to Bangalore for college studies after he passed out of high school with distinction. "All I ask is a one-time meal which you could send with the local bus driver to Bangalore. If I cannot manage on my own, I will join you in the fields," Malla Reddy assured his mother. At National College, Basavanagudi, Malla Reddy chanced upon "free hostel facility for deserving candidates". Principal H Narasimhaiah accommodated Malla Reddy next to his room at National College. "There was no looking back. Then on, Narasimhaiah remained my biggest mentor. After finishing his intermediate studies, Malla Reddy joined the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering at Bangalore and completed his degree in civil engineering. Two years later, he joined the same college as lecturer. He got a job on the faculty of one of the best US universities, California State University. He did not forget his roots and the poverty and penury he suffered in his boyhood days. Now, a brand new primary school stands tall with the latest infrastructure, at a cost of over Rs 60 lakh, due to the efforts of Malla Reddy. The school was re-inaugurated by H. Narasimhaiah. Taking a cue from Bangladeshi Nobel laureate Mohammed Younis' book, 'Microlanding and Eradication of World Poverty', Malla Reddy adopted a pilot project to eradicate poverty in Harappanahalli. He is helping the needy students a great deal. Eligible residents are given financial back-up and other expertise to start small businesses.
56
CHAPTER 3
INDIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE
India is known for its ancient art and architecture. To understand Indian art and architecture you have to visit any ancient Indian temple where you will find the outer walls of the temple depicting hundreds of carvings. 1. Khajaraho is known for world’s best place for erotic depiction on stones. The human emotions have been brought on the inanimate objects. The figures depict both the spiritual and carnal love. Khajaraho is a small village situated in the central India in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The sculptures in the temples were carved a thousand years ago. The temples might have been constructed in the years between 950 A D and 1050 A D., during the reigns of Chandel Kings. The typical temple Kandariya Mahadev is symmetrical. The Chauset Yogini temple is the oldest surviving temple of Kali. There are also Chitragupta, Lakhmana and Viswanath temples. Chandela Rajputs rose to power during the early 10th century AD in the land known as Jajhauti, now Bundelkhand. From being local feudatories of the Partiharas of Kannauj, they rose to become a major power in northern India. They were great patrons of the arts and equally great builders. From 12th century onward, the other rival power of central India and Muslim invaders like Mahmud Ghazni whom the Chandelas had kept at bay began reasserting themselves. Al-Biruni, the chronicler of Mahmud Ghazni, mentions Jajhauti with 'Kajuraha' as its capital. Anita Thakur is crusading to keep the rich Indian cultural heritage alive through her research and writings.10
The sculpture that has survived the Muslim vandalism 2. Ajanta and Ellora caves of Maharashtra are places of great interest in the field of architecture. The sculptors have carved beautiful figures in the caves of Ajanta and Ellora near Aurangabad. Situated about 32 kilo meters from Aurangabad the carvings in the caves are marvellous. It was destroyed by the Mohammadens invasion but the ruins were
10 www.sawf.org
57 discovered by John Smith, a British officer accidentally in 1819. There are 34 caves in Ellora and 29 caves in Ajanta. There are both the Buddhist and the Hindu sculptures. In the Viswakarma Caves the Buddha is seated in a Stupa in the two storied structure. . Kilasa Temple at Ellora is the largest monolithic structure in the world. It is a Hindu temple at Elloa caves belonging to the days of Rashtrakuta King of Deccan, Krishna I.3. The Golden Temple is the ultimate Sikh pilgrimage. It is situated in the city of Amritsar. It is the place of Har Mandir Sahib. There is a causeway across the Pool of Nectar to reach the Temple. The shrine is symbolic of the doctrines of Sikhism. It reflects the adaptation of the Mohammedan style with a good deal of Hindu traditions. It was built by the 5th Guru Arjan Dev who lived between 1581 and 1606. Raja Ranjit Singh spent huge sum of money in ornate the Harmandir Saheb. The platform of Harmandir Sahib is 67 feet platform in the center of a sarovar. It is a three storied Shrine. Guru Arjun Dev thought of building a central place of worship for the Sikh community. In 1588, after finalizing the design of the Durbar Sahib, he laid down the foundation of the temple himself. However, the construction of the tank took place under the supervision of Baba Buddha. The first Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh made Amritsar his spiritual capital. He developed the temple further by the embellishment of the ceilings with the mirror and floral designs. Bodh Gaya Bodh Gaya is one of the four holiest cities of Buddhist faith. The Mahabodhi temple is the main attraction of this town and is located near the spot where Lord Buddha attained spiritual enlightenment. Bodhgaya is not only an important Buddhist pilgrim center, but it is also an important center for the study of Buddhism. Mahabodhi Temple and other monasteries are the major attractions in Bodhgaya. Places associated with the life and times of Lord Buddha are located inside the Mahabodhi complex including the Bodhi Tree and a pond where according to legends, Lord Buddha mediated for few days. The King Ashok, the grand son of Chandra Gupta Maurya built this temple. Chandragupta Maurya had faced the invasion of Alexander the great of Macedonia. Ashok was a great ruler of the Maurya Dynasty who after expanding his empire by waging wars and shedding lot of blood realized that he had killed thousands of people for the greed of acquisition and became a Buddhist and started spreading the message of non-violence and peace. He sent several monks around Asia for preaching Buddhism
58 which spread later on to Indonesia, Nepal, China and Ceylon in addition to China and Japan
THE VIJAYANAGAR EMPIRE.
A great Empire flourished in Karnataka called the Vijaynagar Empire when the Muslims under the Bahumani Kingdoms were ruling Deccan. Hampi was its capital and Krishna Deva Raya was the most powerful of its rulers. A subordinate close to Royal family by name Rama Raya treacherously sided with the enemy and the kingdom was destroyed in the battle of Talikote in the Sixteenth century A D. The remains of this kingdom stand to this day to remind the people of its glory. Of the remaining temples the most famous is the Virupaksha temple.
Virupaksha temple at Hampi Hampi is famous for its ruins belonging to the erstwhile medieval Hindu kingdom of Vijaynagar and it is declared a World Heritage site. It was the heart of the Vijaynagar Empire built by saint Vidyaranya with the help of Hakka and Bukka on the bank of the river Tungabhadra. The Empire was destroyed by the Bahumani Muslim rulers. The 15th-century Virupaksha Temple is located in the Hampi Bazaar area. It is one of the oldest monuments of the town. The top of the temple rises about 50 m from the ground and the main shrine is dedicated to Virupaksha, a form of Lord Shiva. Hemakuta Hill, south of the Virupaksha temple, contains early ruins, Jain temples and a monolithic sculpture of Lord Narasimha, a form of Lord Vishnu.
6. The great Sun Temple of Konark is situated near Puri, 65 km away from Bhubaneswar in Orissa. The temple is dedicated to the Sun God or Surya. It is a masterpiece of Orissa's medieval architecture and has been designated a United Nations (UNESCO) World Heritage Site. The massive structure of the temple is now in ruins. The entire temple has been designed in the shape of a chariot carrying the Sun God across the heaven. The huge wheels of the chariot, which are carved around the base of the temple, are the major attractions of the temple. The spokes of these wheels serve as sun dials, and the shadows formed by these can give the precise time of the day. The pyramidal roof of the temple, made of sandstone, soars over 30 meters in height. Like the temples at Khajuraho, the Sun Temple at Konark is also covered with erotic sculptures.
59 7. Qutb Minor at Delhi
Qutb Minor in South Delhi built around 1200 A D. by Qutb Din. He was the slave of Mohammad of Ghori who invaded Delhi in 1191 and he built this monument as a mark of his victory. Qutb Minor in Delhi is developed into a wonderful site. It is a huge monument in the form of a pillar situated in south Delhi. It was built in 1311.A D. The base of the pillar is 1432 sq.ft and the top is just 10 ft in diameter. It is built out of red stones. He has built two Mosques from the materials he had collected by destroying 20 Hindu temples.
8. Sanchi Stupa
Sanchi Stupa on a serene hill is one of the most vital visitations for the Buddhists of not only India but from all over the world. In 1989, these relics were included in the World Heritage enlistment.
9. The wall carvings of Sarnath After Enlightenment, the Buddha went to Sarnath near Benaras to teach Buddhism. A monastic tradition flourished there for 1500 years when it was destroyed. King Ashok erected in 15 ft high column with four lions. The four lions are now the emblem of the Republic of India. Buddha preached in his first discourse the Wheel of Dharma. He symbolized the wheel as the wheal of life that goes on endlessly as long as the people are greedy and desire to possess wealth.
10. MADHURAI MEENAKHI TEMPLE
Located at Madurai in Tamil Nadu, the Meenakshi temple is the place, as the legend goes, where Lord Shiva married Meenakshi. The Pandyas built this temple. The high gopurams of the temple are visible from a distance, and the temple's sculpted magnificence reflects the richness of our culture TAJMAHAL AT AGRA Taj Mahal built by Shah Jahan, the Moghal Emperor, at Agra in memory of his wife Mumtaz Begam as mark of love. It is the seventh wonder of the world. The entire structure is built in polished white marble and it looks so fascinating on a moonlit night. Taj Mahal was built from 1631 to 1648 for a period of 17 years and it has a garden setting. The four minors at the corners are 137 ft tall each. The platform is 22 ft high and 313 sq.ft in area
60 SCULPTURE AT HALEBEED IS A HOYSASLA ART IN 1200 A D IN KARNATAKA
These are some of the top wonders of Indian architecture. There are numerous temples and palaces of India which depicts the rich heritage of India in the field of art and architecture. You may visit Temples at Belur and Halebeed in Karnataka to see the sculptures of Jakanachari and Dankanachari. During the Hoysala rule of Karnataka, Karnataka had two great sculptors by name Jakanachari and Dankanachari. They carved all sculptures on the walls and sealing of Temple at Belur and Halebeed. You can visit these places when you tour Karnataka in India. INDIAN ART Indian arts are many and varied. India is in forefront in art and literature. It varies from designs to decoration, from Rangoli to dance, from knitting and embroidery to paintings and sculpture. The Photographs below are illustrative of the Indian Art
1. Wall paintings of Jaipur palace 2. The temple art of Badrinath at 11000 ft above the sea level in the Himalayan range. 3. The biggest Silver vessel of Jaipur palace. The Maharaja was carrying this copper vessel filled with water of Ganga for his drinking purposes whenever he went to England. 4. The traditional dress of a Rajasthani woman 5. Camel is a means of transport of goods and passengers (caravans) in the Deserts of Rajasthan. 6. A Rajasthan woman performing a local dance 7. Amber Palace in Jaipur 8. Taz Mahal 9. Taj Mahal by moonlight 10. An elephant ride in the Amber palace on a Hill near Jaipur A few miles away from Jaipur, on its outskirt there is a hillock on which stands Amber palace. There is temple, fort and palace on this hill. It has magnificent scenery all around and a wonderful place to spend an evening. There is Shish Mahal, a palace of mirror which reflects light through all the mirrors on the walls and the ceiling which are in thousands.
61 CHAPTER 4
INDIAN NOBEL LAUREATES
India has been in forefront in the fields of Science and technology in the last fifty years, and it has to its credit a number of scientists some of whom have obtained the Nobel Prize for their outstanding works in the field of Social Service, Science and Literature. The list of Nobel Prize winners includes Amartya Sen, a great economist who worked on poverty and famines; Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman - Physicist acclaimed for his work on radiation effect; Mother Theresa on Christian Missionary and Social Service; Rabindranath Tagore for Literature in 1913; S Chandrashekar for Physics on black holes and V S Nepal for Literature in 2001 and Jagadishchandra Bose.
1. VIDIYADHAR SIRAJ PRASAD NAIPAUL
Vidiadhar Suraj Prasad Naipaul got Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He was a great cosmopolitan being a global Indian. His works are mainly novels and Short Stories. The Mystic Masseur (1957) is recognized to be one of his best novels; His works include A House for Mr. Biswas (1961), Guerrillas (1975) and A Bend in the River (1979). His novels The Enigma of Arrival (1987) and A Way in the World (1994) are in the form of autobiography. V.S. Naipaul has been awarded a number of literary prizes, among them the most important are the Booker Prize in 1971 and the T.S. Eliot Award for Creative Writing in 1986. He is an honorary doctor of St. Andrew's College, Columbia University and of the Universities of Cambridge, London and Oxford. In 1990 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. V S Naipaul was born in Trinidad in West Indies in 1932. He belonged to an immigrant family from India. His grand father worked as a plantation worker. His father was a journalist and a writer. At the age of 18, he left for England and settled there after studying at Oxford. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in 1953 and he now lives in Wiltshire. He has traveled widely in Asia, Africa and America. But for his short stint as a freelance journalist with B. B. C he has devoted his entire life to writing novels and short stories. He wrote Mystic Masseur in 1957. Since then he has written a number of books. He wrote Magic seeds in 2004.
62 2. HARGOVIND KHORANA Dr. Hargovind Khorana did research for producing the first man-made gene in his laboratory in the early seventies which won him the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1968 along with Marshall Nuremburg and Robert Holley. They worked independently and were found qualified for the great honor. He worked on the genetic code and how it works in a cell. He has also been honored with Watumull Foundation, Honolulu, Hawaii; American Academy of Achievement Award, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1971); Padma Vibushan, Presidential Award, India (1972); J.C.Bose Medal, Bose Institute, Calcutta (1972) and Willard Gibbs medal of the Chicago Section of American Chemical Society (1973-74). Hargovind Khorana was born on January 9, 1922 at Raipur. He obtained his Master’s degree in Chemistry from the Punjab University. In 1945, he got his Ph. D. from the University of Liverpool in England. In 1960 he joined the University of Wisconsin as Professor and Co- director of the Institute of Enzyme Research and Professor of Biochemistry. In 1970 he became a Professor of Biology and Chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Cambridge in the United States of America. He became a foreign member of the USSR academy of Sciences in 1971 and an honorary Fellow of Indian Chemical Society in 1974. His researches embrace many fields. He has answered critical questions on environment and heredity. His work is an important scientific landmark of the twentieth century and it has brought the world closer to the day when synthetic DNA may be introduced into the defective human tissues to bring about their repair or treat mentally retarded people and change them into more intelligent and healthy human beings. His synthesis of RNA, capable of replication in laboratory, is a step towards artificial creation of life.
3. AMARTYA SEN
Amartya Sen is Nobel laureate. He was born in the University campus of Viswa Bharati University at Santiniketan in India. Between 3 and 6 years of age he was at Mandalay, Burma where his father was a visiting Professor. Much of his childhood was spent in Decca. He had his early education at St. Gregory School. He was originally from Old Dacca, now in Bangladesh. His ancestral home is not from the University of Raman. His father was Ashutosh Sen who taught Chemistry in Decca
63 University. His maternal grandfather Kshiti Mohan Sen was teaching Sanskrit at Viswa Bharati and his mother was a student of Viswa Bharati University. At Santiniketan, the Hindus and the Muslims were not discriminated as Rabindranath Tagore died before Hindu and Muslim fanatics caused carnage which engulfed the whole of India. The Hindu Muslim carnage has left an indelible mark on his young mind. Amartya Sen studied at Presidency College in Calcutta and then at Trinity College in Cambridge. At Presidency College he was influenced by Bhabatosh Dutta and Tapas Muzumdar. He was married to Nabaneeta Dev, with whom he had two children, namely, Antara and Nandana, but the marriage broke up shortly after they went to London. Amartya Sen taught at Delhi University and also at London School of Economics. He also taught at Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard and on visiting basis at Stanford, Berkeley and Carnell. In 1953 Amartya Sen moved from Calcutta to Cambridge to study in Trinity College. He studied again for Bachelor’s Degree in Economics. In Calcutta, he was also appointed to a chair in economics at the newly created Jadavpur University, where he was asked to set up a new department of Economics. When his thesis was ready, he submitted it for a competitive Prize Fellowship at Trinity College. He took a decision to study philosophy in that period. Meanwhile he visited Stanford. In 1963, he left Cambridge and went to Delhi, as Professor of Economics at the Delhi School of Economics and at the University of Delhi where he taught until 1971. He published Collective Choice and Social Welfare in 1970. He left Delhi, in 1971, and when in London he had serious medical problems, like mouth cancer. He settled down at the London School of Economics in 1971. In the late 1985 his second wife, Eva, developed cancer in the stomach and died leaving Indrani and Kabir who were 10 and 8 years of age respectively, and He wanted to take them away to another country, where they would not miss their mother constantly. He chose Harvard, and it worked out extremely well. During his Harvard years up to about 1991, He was involved in welfare economics. It was during his early years at Harvard that he met his old friend, Mahbub ul Haq, who had been a fellow student at Cambridge. When the Nobel award came his way, it also gave Amartya Sen a great opportunity to do something immediate and practical about literacy, basic health care and gender equity, aimed specifically at India and Bangladesh. He set up ‘Pratichi Trust’with the help of some of the prize money, to this end. He was then married to Emma Rothschild, a Fellow and Director of the Center for History and Economics at King’s and so he moved to
64 Cambridge College, Trinity as Master of the College. Emma too is an academic both her parents had long connections with Cambridge.
4. SUBRAMANYA CHANDRASHEKAR
Subramanian Chandrasekhar was awarded Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983. He was a great Physicist and an Astronaut. He was born to C Subramanian Ayyar and Sitalaksmi Aiyar on October 19, 1910 in Lahore now in Pakistan. His father was an auditor in the North West Railways. He came from a Brahman family of South India. Chandrashekar had six sisters and three younger brothers. His parents moved to Madras while he was still young and he was trained to become a public Servant but Chandrashekar chose to be a scientist. He found a role model in his paternal uncle Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman who had won the Nobel Prize in 1930 for his discovery which is called Raman Effect. He graduated from Presidency College at Madras and obtained doctorate from Trinity College at Cambridge in England in 1933. He had great interest in English Literature. Chandrashekar wrote his first research paper while he was still an undergraduate. The paper was published in the Proceeding of the Royal Society where it had been submitted by Ralph Fowler. While studying in the Presidency College he met Lalitha Doraiswamy and they were engaged to marry. Chandrashekar obtained a scholarship from the Indian government to finance his studies in England, and in 1930 he left India to study at Trinity College, Cambridge in England. From 1933 to 1937 he undertook research at Cambridge, but he returned to India in 1936 to marry Lalitha on 11 September, 1936. She was working as a Head Mistress in a school before marriage. She provided excellent companionship for 59 years. They had no children. They returned to Cambridge in 1936 but in the following year Chandrashekar joined the staff at the University of Chicago and settled there for the rest of his life. At first he worked in Yerkes Observatory, part of the University of Chicago in Wisconsin. Later he moved to work on the university campus in the City of Chicago. During World War II he worked in the Ballistic Research Laboratories at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. He worked on the decay of plane shock waves and the normal reflection of a blast wave. He was appointed Morton D Hull’s distinguished service professor of the University of Chicago in 1952. He and his wife became American citizens in 1953. Chandrasekhar published around 400 papers and many books. First he studied stellar structure, including the theory of white dwarfs, from 1929 to 1939, then stellar dynamics from 1939 to 1943.
65 He worked at the theory of radioactive transfer and the quantum theory of the negative ion of hydrogen from 1943 to 1950, followed by hydrodynamic and hydro magnetic stability from 1950 to 1961. During most of the 1960s he studied the equilibrium and the stability of ellipsoidal figures of equilibrium but during this period he also began work on topics from general relativity, the radiation reaction process, and the stability of relativistic stars. From 1971 to 1983 he undertook research into the mathematical theory of black holes, then for the last period of his life he worked on the theory of colliding gravitational waves. In 1930 Chandrashekar showed that a star of a mass greater than 1.4 times that of the Sun (now known as the Chandrasekhar's limit) had to end its life by collapsing into an object of enormous density unlike any object known at that time. Chandrashekar died at the age of 84. In 1999, NASA named the third of its four "Great Observatories'" after Chandrasekhar. This followed a naming contest which attracted 6,000 entries from fifty states and sixty-one countries. The Chandrashekar X- ray Observatory was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999. The asteroid ‘1958 Chandrashekar’ is named after Chandrasekhar, as the Chandrasekhar limit. The limit was first discovered and calculated by Chandrasekhar whilst on a ship, on his way from India to Cambridge, England, where he was to study under the eminent astrophysicist, R. Fowler. When Chandrasekhar first proposed his ideas, he was opposed by the British physicist Arthur Eddington, and this had probably played a part in his decision to move to the University of Chicago in the United States. He was given the following awards: namely Henry Norris Russell Lectureship in 1949; Bruce Medal in 1952; Gold medal of the Royal Astrological Society in 1953; Henry Draper medal in 1971; Nobel Prize in 1983 and Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 198411.
5. Dr. C.V.RAMAN
Sir C V Raman was the first Asian scientist to win Nobel Prize for Physics. His full name was Chandrashekar Venkataraman. He was the second son of Chandrashekar Ayer and Parvathi Ammal. Chandrashekar Ayer was a scholar in Physics and Mathematics and taught in a school at Tiruchirapalli of Tamil Nadu. Raman was exposed
11
66 to music, Sanskrit literature and Science. He stood first in every class. He joined the B.A. class of the Presidency College and won a gold medal. He joined the M.A. class in the same college and chose Physics as the main subject of study. The works of the German scientist Helmhotlz (1821 - 1891) and the English scientist Lord Raleigh (1842 - 1919) on acoustics influenced Raman. He took interest in the study of sound. When he was eighteen years of age, one of his research papers was -published in the 'Philosophical Magazine' of England. Later another paper was published in the scientific journal 'Nature'. Raman's elder brother C.S. Ayyar was in the 'Indian Audit and Accounts Service' Raman also passed IAAS. At the age of nineteen he joined government service as Assistant Accountant-general at Calcutta. On May 6, 1907, Raman married Lokasundari Ammal. One evening Raman was returning from his office in a tramcar. He saw the name plate of the 'Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science' at 210, Bow Bazaar Street. Immediately he got off the tram and went in. Dr. Amritlal Sircar was the Honarary Secretary of the Association. There were spacious rooms and old scientific instruments, which could be used for demonstration of experiments. Raman asked whether he could conduct research there in his spare time. Sircar gladly agreed. Raman took up a house adjoining to the Association. A door was provided between his house and the laboratory where he worked in the laboratory at night. In 1909, Raman was transferred to Rangoon, the capital of Burma. When Chandrasekhara Ayyar passed away in 1910, Raman came to Madras on six months' leave. After completing the last rites, Raman spent the rest of his leave period doing research in the Madras University laboratories.
The Science College of Calcutta University was started in 1915 wherein a position of Professor for Physics was established in memory of Taraknath Palit, a generous man and Raman was appointed Professor. He sacrificed the powerful post in the government, which brought him a good salary to devote his time for research. The Indian Science Congress was started in 1913. Its aim was to bring together scientists engaged in research; they should meet and exchange ideas. Its first session was held in 1914. Asutosh Mukherjee was the President. Raman was the President of the Physics section. Later he worked for many years as the Secretary of the Science Congress. He presided over its annual sessions in 1929 and 1948. Raman completely devoted his time to experiments and research. Raman continued to teach also. The Congress of the Universities of the British Empire met in 1921 in London and Raman went to England as
67 the representative of Calcutta University. This was his first visit abroad. Raman lectured in the ‘Physical Society’ of London. He was introduced to J.J. Thomson and Ernest Rutherford, the famous English Physicists. Raman visited St. Paul’s Church in London. A whisper at one point of the church tower is heard clearly at another point. This effect, produced by the reflection of sound, aroused his curiosity. Raman traveled to England and back by sea and during his journey he used to sit on the upper deck of the ship and enjoy the beauty of the vast sea. The deep blue color of the Mediterranean Sea interested him. Was the blue due to the reflection of the blue sky? If so, how could it appear in the absence of light? Even when big waves rolled over the surface, the blue remained. As he thought over the problem, it flashed to him that the blue color might be caused by the scattering of the sun’s light by water molecules. He turned over this idea in his mind again and again. Immediately after his return to Calcutta, he plunged into experiments. Within a month, he prepared a research paper and sent it to the Royal Society of London. Next year he published a lengthy article on the molecular scattering of light. The Royal Society, the oldest and the most important science society of England, honored Raman in 1924 by electing him as its ‘Fellow’ The annual session of ‘The British Association for the Cultivation of Science’ was held in the same year in Toronto. Raman inaugurated the seminar on the scattering of light. R.A. Milliken, the famous American Physicist, who also attended, was full of admiration for Raman. They became fast friends too. At the Mount Wilson Observatory in California, a telescope of 100- inch width was in use. Those were the times when Astronomical discoveries bewitched the people. Raman was always eager to learn new things. He spent a couple of days on Mount Wilson and viewed the Nebula through the telescope which thrilled him. He went to Russia in 1925 to participate in the two hundredth anniversary of the ‘Russian Academy of Sciences’. Many scholars were working in Calcutta laboratories to unlock the secrets of sound and light. To all of them Professor Raman was the leader. He had observed the blue color of the deep glaciers in the Alps mountain ranges. Taking the clue from this, some of the research workers studied some scattering of light in ice and quartz crystals. They also studied the scattering of light in liquids such as pure water and alcohol, as well as in vapors and gases. He started 'The Indian Journal of Physics' in 1926 to make the prompt publication of research papers possible.
68 Raman's research on sound became famous all over the world. 'Handbuck der Physic', a German Encyclopaedia of Physics, was published in 1927. Raman was the only foreign scientist invited to contribute an article to it. On 16th of March 1928, a meeting was held under the joint auspices of the South Indian Science Association and the Science Club of Central College, Bangalore; Raman was the Chief Guest. He announced the new phenomenon discovered by him to the world. He also acknowledged with affection the assistance given by K.S. Krishnan and Venkateshwaran, who were his students. The phenomenon attracted the attention of research workers all over the world. It became famous as the 'Raman Effect'. The spectral lines in the scattered light were known as 'Raman Lines'. The Raman Effect confirmed that light was made up of particles known as 'photons'. It helped in the study of the molecular and crystal structures of different substances. Investigations making use of the Raman Effect began in many countries. During the first twelve years after its discovery, about 1800 research papers were published on its various, and about 2500 chemical compounds were studied. Raman Effect was highly praised as one of the greatest discoveries of the third decade of this century. Raman received many honors from all over the world for his achievement. In 1928 the Science Society of Rome awarded the Matteucci Medal. In 1929 the British Government knighted him; thereafter Professor Raman came to be known as Professor Sir C.V. Raman. The Royal Society of London awarded the Hughes Medal in 1930. Honorary doctorate degrees were awarded by the Universities of Freeburg in Germany, Glasgow in England, Paris in France, and also by the universities of Bombay, Banaras, Dacca, Patna, Mysore and several others in India. The highest award a scientist or a writer can get has been the Nobel Prize. In 1930, the Swedish Academy of Sciences chose Raman to receive the Nobel Prize for Physics. No Indian and no Asian had received the Nobel Prize for Physics up to that time. He came to Bangalore as the Director of the Tata Institute now the Indian Institute of Science in 1933. The Tata Institute soon became famous for the study of crystals. The diffraction of light (the very slight bending of light around corners) by ultrasonic waves (high frequency sound waves which we cannot hear) in a liquid was elegantly explained by Raman and Nagendranath. This became known as the 'Raman-Nath Theory'. In order to encourage scientific research in India, Raman established the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1934. From that year the science
69 journal 'The Proceedings of the Academy' is being published every month. The Government of Mysore granted 24 acres of land to promote the activities of the Academy. It was his earnest desire 'to bring into existence a centre of scientific research worthy of our ancient country, where the keenest intellectuals of our land can probe into the mysteries of the Universe'. He fulfilled his wish by establishing a Research Institute at Hebbal, Bangalore. He did not seek help from the Government but gave away all his properties to the Institute. The Executive Committee of the Academy named the centre 'Raman Research Institute'. In 1948 this great scientist entered on one more active phase of life when he became the Director of the Raman Research Institute. The greatest honor the Government of India confers on an Indian is the award of 'Bharat Ratna'. Raman became a 'Bharat Ratna' in 1954.
6. RABINDRANATH TAGORE May 7, 1861 to August 7, 1941
Tagore was born in Jorasanko near Calcutta of Debendranath Tagore and Sharada Devi along with fourteen other children into a wealthy and prominent Brahman family. His father Debendranath Tagore was a religious reformer and scholar. His mother, Sharada Devi, died when Tagore was very young. Dwijendranath Tagore was the eldest and Rabindranath was the youngest of Debendranath Tagore’s children. Another brother, Satwendernath Tagore, was the first Indian to join the Indian Civil Service. Yet another brother, Jyotirindranath Tagore, was a composer and a gifted playwright. Among his sisters, Swarna Kumari Devi earned fame as a novelist in her own right. The Tagore family was gifted one with all men well trained in art and literature. Rabindranath Tagore's grandfather Prince Dwarakanath had established a huge financial empire for himself. Debendranath, his father, was a Philosopher and Rabindranath Tagore turned out be a very great Philosopher and poet. He also wrote novels, essays, short stories and drama. He wrote over 2,000 songs, which is now known as Rabindra Sangeet. He is the author of the famous novel, ‘wreck’ and story of ‘Kabuliwala.’ His collection of poems includes ‘Gitanjali’. He was the greatest writer in modern Indian literature. He was an early advocate of Independence for India. Tagore won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Two years later he was awarded the
70 knighthood, but he surrendered it in 1919 as a protest against the Massacre of Amritsar, where British troops killed some 400 Indian demonstrators. Tagore's prose deals with social, political and educational issues and his vision of the universal brotherhood of man. His poetry and songs, apart from their deep spirituality and devotion, often express a celebration of nature and life. His song has been chosen as Indian national anthem. He was the first Asian to receive this honor, for his English. Tagore wrote to support the Indian Independence movement but he directly did not involve in the freedom movement. He wanted to establish a school system of his, suitable for Indians. He established a school called Bramhacharyashram at Santiniketan in west Bengal in 1901 which became later the Viswa Bharati University, which, since 1951, has been administered by the Government of India as a Central University. He opposed War and worked to promote World Peace. Tagore was a source of great inspiration till the middle of the twentieth century. He was more a poet, an educationist and a philosopher than a politician. So he is remembered even to this day in the field of Literature than in politics. Tagore's influence over Gandhi and the founders of modern India was enormous, but his reputation in the West as a mystic has perhaps mislead his Western readers to ignore his role as a reformer and critic of colonialism. "When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut. Oh, grant me my prayer that I may never lose touch of the one in the play of the many." (From Gitanjali) He helped a number of public projects, such as Calcutta Medical College. The Tagore’s tried to combine traditional Indian culture with Western ideas; all the children contributed significantly to Bengali literature and culture. However, in My Reminiscences Tagore mentions that it was not until the age of ten when he started to use socks and shoes and servants beat the children regularly. Tagore, the youngest, started to compose poems at the age of eight. Tagore's first book, a collection of poems, appeared when he was 17; it was published by Tagore's friend who wanted to surprise him. Tagore received his early education first from tutors and then at a variety of schools. Among them were Bengal Academy where he studied history and culture. At University College, London, he studied law but left after a year - he did not like the weather. Once he gave a beggar a cold coin - it was more than the beggar had expected and he returned it. In England Tagore started to compose the poem 'Bhagna Hridaj' (a broken heart). In 1883 Tagore married Mrinalini Devi
71 Raichaudhuri, with whom he had two sons and three daughters. In 1890 Tagore moved to East Bengal which is now Bangladesh, where he collected local legends and folklore. Between 1893 and 1900 he wrote seven volumes of poetry, including Sonar Tali, 1894 and Khanika in 1900. This was highly productive period in Tagore's life. Tagore was the first Indian to bring an element of psychological realism to his novels. Among his early major prose works are Chokar Bali in 1903, and Nanshtanir in 1901, The Broken Nest was published first. Between 1891 and 1895 he published forty-four short stories in Bengali periodical, most of them in the monthly journal Sadhana. Tagore's wife died in 1902, next year one of his daughters died, and in 1907 Tagore lost his younger son. Tagore's short stories influenced Indian Literature. 'Punishment', a much anthologized work, was set in a rural village. It describes the oppression of women through the tragedy of the low-caste Rui family. In 1901 Tagore founded a school outside Calcutta, Viswa-Bharati, which was dedicated to emerging Western and Indian philosophy and education. It became a university in 1921. Tagore's reputation as a writer was established in the United States and in England after the publication of ‘Gitanjali’ about divine and human love. The poems were translated into English by the author himself. His poems were greatly appreciated by poets like William Butler Yates and Ezra Pound. Much of Tagore's ideology comes from the teaching of the Upanishads and from his own beliefs that God can be found through personal purity and service to others. He stressed the need for new world order based on transnational values and ideas, the "unity consciousness." Unable to gain ideological support to his views, he retired into relative solitude. Between the years 1916 and 1934 he traveled widely to Japan South- east Asia and Iran.
7. MOTHER THERESA
“Mother Teresa was a symbol of untiring commitment to the poor and suffering. Today Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity has 570 missions all over the world, comprising of 4000 nuns, a brotherhood of 300 members and over100,000 lay volunteers operating homes for AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis patients; soup kitchens, children's and family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools.” Mother Teresa was often referred to as the "most powerful woman in the world". Her faith in God and her sincerity in serving Him through the poor showed the world the beauty of love. She had touched the lives of many during
72 her life and will continue to do so as she inspires others to believe in the simplest of things---love and faith. Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910 and was named On August 27, 1910 as Agnes-Gonxha Bojaxhiu. She was the last of three children. She had an elder sister, Aga and an elder brother, Lazar. Her sister and she were actively involved in church activities. They were both a part of the choir and were known as the 'nightingales' of the church. Her brother received a scholarship to study in Austria and he therefore left home at an early age to study in Austria. Mother Teresa's parents, Nikola and Dranafile were Albanian and were originally from city of Prizren, which was then a part of Yugoslavia. Her father, Nikhola, moved the family to the town of Skopje, Serbia where he became a merchant and an entrepreneur. Her mother, Dranafile, was a housewife. Both the parents made religion and prayer an important part of their family life. They also encouraged a non- materialistic and generous life style. Her mother occupied herself with taking care of elderly people, alcoholic mothers and orphans. As a child, Mother Teresa often accompanied her mother on these trips. At about the age of twelve, Mother Teresa realized that she wanted to live her life with the poor and God. She discussed this with a Father of the church who encouraged her to take to religion. At 18, she decided to be a nun. When she discussed this with her mother approved her decision. She left Skopje on September 26, 1928 to become a nun. Many of her friends, relatives and neighbors accompanied her to the station and that was the last time she saw her mother. Other girls who were on the same mission joined her along her journey. Agnes and her colleague landed at Rathfarnham, Dublin and they went to the house of the Loreto Sisters. She stayed at the convent for a few months and then started her journey to India on December 1, 1928. Before sailing for India, Agnes had changed her name from Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu to Sister Mary Teresa of the Child Jesus - after Teresa of Lisieux, the 'Little Flower'. Mary Teresa, as she was then called, reached Kolkata in January 1929 but went on to Darjeeling to become a Loreto beginner. In May, she received the 'holy habit' and began to learn Bengali and Hindi. She worked as a teacher in a convent in Darjeeling for some time and then moved to Kolkata. She taught in schools in Kolkata too and her affectionate disposition, people called her "Ma". On May 24, 1937, Mary Teresa finally took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience for life. From that very day, she was renamed as 'Mother Teresa'.
73 On 10th September 1946, on a train journey, she got what she terms as a "call within a call". She felt she heard the call of God to leave the Convent and help the poor while living amongst them. She discussed this call with a father, Van Exem. And she had to wait to get permission from the Archbishop, her Mother Superior and the Pope to leave the Loretto sisters but still be a part of the Roman Catholic Church. She finally received the permission in August 1948, to leave Loreto Order. She was given the 'induct of exclaustration'. On the evening of August 16, Mother Teresa removed her old religious dress and wore a new dress of her future 'Missionary of Charity' Order. Her new dress consisted of simple, cotton, white sari with blue stripes along with white dress to be worn under the sari. At midnight of August 16, Mother Teresa left Loreto Order with only a ticket to Patna and just Rs.5 for other expenditure. In Patna, she worked in the Holy Family Hospital and gained some medical knowledge. She returned from Patna and formed new rules of her 'Missionaries of Charity' in Kolkata. As per the rules of Missionaries of Charity the nuns who would join the Order, would live, dress and eat like the poorest of the poor. They would have to take utmost care of the poor people. Sister Teresa went to the slums and the streets of Kolkata, to talk with the poor, to help them. She helped them wash the babies, to clean the wounds. The poor people were astonished at the European Lady who was helping them. She began to teach the poor children how to read and write how to wash and to have some hygiene. Her first residence cum-office of Missionaries of Charity was a small room on the first floor of Little Sisters of the Poor's Institution in Kolkata. She slept with the Sisters of the Poor. God was her great refuge for strength and material support. She always had faith in him that he would always find the right medicine, clothes, food and a place to receive the poor to be able to help them, make them feel wanted. On 19th March 1949, a Bengali girl, from a rich family and former student of Mother Teresa, came to stay with Sister Teresa and help her. She was the first to join her in her work. Soon, other girls followed. In May, they were three, in November five, next year seven. Mother Teresa thinks of starting a congregation. On October 7th, 1950, the Papal in Rome approved of the "Constitutions of the Society of the Missionaries of Charity". Thus the Missionaries of Charity began with just twelve members. However, every year, the number of sisters in it was increasing and so are the volunteers and the people that they need to care for. Mother kept praying for vocations and the work kept growing. In 1965, Pope Paul VI granted Mother Teresa's request to
74 globally expand her order. Now her work spread across the world. Whether it was in Ethiopia feeding the hungry, the ghettos of South Africa or it was her native country, Albania. When the communist regime collapsed, Mother Teresa "the living saint" was there. In 1982, at the height of the siege in Beirut she convinced the parties to stop the war so she could rescue 37 sick children trapped inside. Mother Teresa went all over the world to help people, rescue children, advise her sisters; to organize and to talk. Her sisters are present in every continent serving the poor and lost. By 1992, her health did not permit her to cope with the increasing work. She was prepared to hand over the responsibility but she was re- elected as the Superior General. But in 1996, she suffered a heart attack and she expressed her will not to continue. On March 13th, 1997 the assembly of sisters elected Sister Nirmala to continue the work that Mother Teresa had started. On September 5th, 1997, late in the evening around 9.30, Mother Teresa passed away quietly in the Mother house in Kolkata. She was 87.
CHAPTER 5
INDIAN RELIGIONS
India has become an abode of many religions in the last ten centuries such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islamism, Judaism and Christianity although basically India is a state with eighty percent Hindu population. India has given birth to too many religions on her soil and she has endured with great tolerance the religions imported by some from outside. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism are all born in India but Islam and Christianity was brought into this country from outside and they are also flourishing. Originally India had cent percent Hindu population in ancient India when the foreign invasion began. The foreign invaders in some cases mixed themselves with the local population and formed their religion in India but in some cases, the subjected people were forced at the point of sword to embrace their religion for fear of being killed or maimed or to avoid insult or humiliation or to avoid the ruthless behavior of the cruel invaders. Mohammad of Ghazni invaded India seventeen times and Mohammad
75 of Ghori invaded India two times and they not only carried away vast wealth from India but they raped the Hindu women who they came across and the Hindu religion which was very rigid, refused to take back the polluted women to its hold. A Hindu would cease to be a Hindu if she is desecrated by any member of another religion. There was no process of re-conversion or conversion to Hinduism. Aurangzeb, the last of the powerful Moghal emperors, even levied special taxes on the Hindus. There is no evidence in the history that the Mohammadens families came and settled in India. Only the Muslim marauders and invaders who were all men came to India in the eleventh century and after. In 1947 the Muslim population in West Pakistan and in East Bengal was nearly 90%. How could it happen? What is more interesting is that in 1947 there were 10% Hindus in Pakistan. Now the Hindu population after fifty five years is said to be 0.1%. How do you account for this? So the Hindu population began to dwindle and the Muslim population began to increase. Today there are 13.4 percent Muslim population in India and has 99 percent Muslim population in Pakistan which was once one hundred percent Hindu region. In 1498 Vasco De Gama came to India during the course of his exploration and landed in Calicut. The French and the English came to this country later on. They were followed by the Christian Missionaries who set up their missions in India and started conversion in India not at the point of sword but with assuring certain benefits and privileges to those who adopt their religion. A huge population in India forming nearly one fifth of the population were treated as outcastes among the Hindus and those people readily adopted Christianity forsaking Hinduism. That was a great jolt to Hinduism
1. CHRISTIANITY
Christianity is the most popular religion in the world with well over two billion followers. It is also the largest religion in Britain, with around 42 million people regarding themselves as nominally Christian; about 6 million of these are actively committed to the faith. Christians are people who believe that Jesus Christ, who lived in the Holy Land 2,000 years ago, is the Son of God, and who follow his teachings and those of the Christian churches that grew up after his death. Christianity is 2,000 years old. It began in the Middle East. It was founded by the followers of Jesus Christ. God sent his Son Jesus to earth to save humanity from the consequences of its sins. Jesus was
76 fully human, and experienced this world in the same way as other human beings of his time. Jesus was tortured and gave his life at the Crucifixion. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his Crucifixion He was resurrected. Christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Christians believe that there is only one God, but that this one God consists of 3 "persons" He is the father, He is the son and he is the Holy Spirit. Christians worship in Churches; their spiritual leaders are called priests or ministers. The Christian holy book is the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments. Christian festivals include Easter and Christmas.12
2. JAINISM
MONOLITHIC STATUE OF BAHUBALI IN SHRAVANABELAGOLA
Jainism was founded by Vardhamana Mahaveera. He was the last of the 24 Thirthankaras. Thirthankaras are those who have attained enlightenment through meditation and self realization. Tirthankaras are also known as Arihants or Jinas. He taught his disciples that man has enemies within himself. They are anger, greed, passion, ego, etc. Man has to fight these internal enemies and become perfect before he qualifies for Nirvana. One who qualifies becomes the Jina. Mahavir was born in 599 B.C. as a prince in Bihar, India. At the age of 30, he left his family and royal household, gave up his worldly possessions and pleasures, including clothing. He become a monk and spent the next twelve years in silence and meditation to conquer his desires and inner feelings. He abstained from eating and starved his body. He did not harm or annoy other living beings. At last he perfected himself and qualified to be a Jina. He earned knowledge, power and bliss. He traveled barefooted all over India and preached his Dharma to the common man. He had both kings and paupers among his followers. He organized his followers, into a four fold order, namely
12 http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/intro.shtml
77 Monks, Nuns, Laymen and Laywomen. Later on they came to be known as Jains. The ultimate objective of his teaching was help people attain the total freedom from the cycle of birth, life, pain, misery, and death, and achieve the permanent blissful state of one's self. This is also known as liberation or Nirvana, He explained that over good or bad deeds follow us beyond our lives. If we do good deeds we get pleasure and if we do bad deeds, sorrow will engulfs us; that from eternity, every living being (soul) is in bondage of karmic atoms that are accumulated by its own good or bad deeds. He preached that right faith (samyak-darshana), right knowledge (samyak-jnana), and right conduct (samyak-charitra) together will help attain the liberation of one's self. They dedicate their life to Ahimsa or non violence, satya or truthfulness, Asteya or non- steeling, Chastity or purity or not indulging in sexual pleasures and non possession. Jains hold these vows at the center of their lives. The monks and nuns follow these vows strictly and totally, while the common people try to follow the vows as far as their life styles will permit. At the age of 72 in 527 B.C., Lord Mahavir died. He became a Siddha, a pure consciousness, a liberated soul, living for ever in a state of complete bliss. On the night of his salvation, people celebrated the Festival of Lights (Dipavali) in his honor.
2. JAINISM
The Jains worship the idols of 24 Thirthankaras. Every day Jains bow their heads and say their universal prayer, the Navkar-mantra. All good work and events start with the prayer of salutation and worship. During the prayer, Jains do not ask for any favors or material benefits from their Gods, the Tirthankaras or from monks and nuns. They do not pray to a specific Tirthankara or monk by name. By saluting them, Jains receive the inspiration from the five benevolent for the right path of true happiness and total freedom from the misery of life.
3. BUDDHISM Hinduism faced challenge not only from invaders’ religions but also from the indigenous Religions. The earliest challenge came from the Buddhism in India. The founder of the Buddhism was Goutham Buddha whose original name was Siddhartha Goutham, a prince of sakya tribe of Nepal in 566 B C. When he was 21 years old he gave up the worldly pleasure, started wandering as an ascetic and at last he found enlightenment after six years f penance under the Bhodhi tree.
78 He died at the ripe age of eighty. He went on teaching his principles to his followers. Life is full of sufferings. Greed is the root-cause of the sufferings. Man should give up his greed and detach himself from the world. Only when you detach yourself, you will find salvation. Until man finds salvation he will be born again and again and undergoes suffering. During the time of Ashok Buddhism spread to Ceylon, Indonesia, China and Philippine The Buddhist monks are praying at the temple of Lord Buddha in Bodh Gaya
4. SIKHISM
Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak Dev. He was born in 1469. At Sultanpur, he received a vision to preach the way to enlightenment and God. He taught a strict monotheism, the brotherhood of humanity. He rejected idol worship, and the oppressive Hindu concept of caste. He was born in a place where both the Hindus and the Muslims were in equal numbers. His religion became a reformist religion pointing out the defects of other religions. He died in 1538 at an age of 69. To day there are more than two million Sikhs in the Punjab and around the world. Guru Govind Singh was the tenth Guru
5. JUDAISM
The God of the Israelites entered into covenant with Abraham to make him the Patriarch. There are four religions which trace their origin to Abraham. They are Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Bahai. In addition a number of smaller groups owe their origin to Abraham. The first three patriarchs were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob according to Christianity. According to the Jews, the third main leader was Moses. He led the people out of captivity in Egypt and received the Mosaic Law from the God. Joshua led the tribe into a Promised Land driving out the Canaanites in a series of battle. The original tribal organization was converted into a kingdom by Samuel; its first king was Saul. The second king, David, established Jerusalem as the religious and political center. The third king, Solomon built the first temple there. Division into the Northern kingdom of Israel and the Southern kingdom of Judah occurred shortly after the death of Solomon in 922 BCE. Israel
79 fell to Assyria in 722 BCE; Judah fell to the Babylonians in 587 BCE. The temple was destroyed. Some Jews returned from captivity under the Babylonians and started to restore the temple in 536 BCE. The Orthodox Jews date the Babylonian exile to be from 422 to 352 BCE. Alexander the Great invaded the area in 332 BCE. From circa 300 to 63 BCE, Greek became the language of commerce, and Greek culture had a major influence on Judaism. In 63 BCE, the Roman Empire took control of Judea and Israel. There are about 24 religious sects had formed in the first century CE. Many anticipated the arrival of the Messiah, a religious, political and military ruler to drive out the Romans and restore independence. Christianity was a Jewish sect in the initial stages and its center was Jerusalem. The group followed the teachings of Yeshua of Nazareth who is referred to as Jesus Christ. The group was led by one James, a brother of Jesus Christ. They are known as Jewish Christians. Paul broke with this tradition and created Pauline Christianity and spread the religion to the gentiles or non Christians in the Roman Empire. The third group came to be called Christian and Jewish Gnosticism. In 70 CE Jerusalem was destroyed by revolts and the Jewish Christians were wiped out. The Paul’s religion survived and evolved into Christianity while Jews were scattered throughout the world. The Jews were banished from Jerusalem and Judaism became decentralized. The local synagogue became the center of their activities. Animal sacrifice was abandoned. Rabbinic Judaism was born.
The Jews were persecuted throughout Europe by the Christians maligning them of murders and executors of Jesus. Nazis exterminated around 6 million Jews. It led to Zionist movement which stood for the creation of their homeland in Palestine. The state of Israel was formed on May 18, 1948. Currently there are 18 million Jews around the world. When the exodus took place from Israel due invasion of the Greeks, the Romans and Babylonians, a number of people from Israel came to India and settled in the Himalayan region and you can see the Jews here and there, even to this day who follow their culture and tradition.
6. ISLAM Islam was founded by Muhammad Pygamber. Pygamber lived from 570 AD to 632 AD. The tribe Qurayshite was an influential trading community around Mecca. His father was Abdullah. Muhammad could not read and write but by miracle he wrote Quoran. Mohammad was a
80 Sheppard. Mohammed later was hired as a purchasing representative for a rich widow woman merchant who subsequently became his wife. Muhammad, because of that marriage and the wealth he gained thereby, was later able to afford to retreat to solitude in the desert to think and pray. Muhammad lived in the Arabian Peninsula, in Mecca. The people then were worshiping idols. During his lifetime, Muhammad became a powerful political and military leader. He had many visions and mystical experiences. Muhammad had 23 wives. His favorite wife, Aishah was engaged to him when she was six, and married him when she was 9 years old. Muhammad says that at the age of 40, in the year 610 A.D., after spending 6 months praying and meditating in a cave on Mount Hira, a vision came to him. The angel Gabriel came, he says, and recited to him the words of the Quoran, the words of Allah for all human kind. The city of Mecca, however, did not welcome him as a prophet, or his message, because he condemned their polytheism and idolatry. Eventually, Muhammad and his followers had to flee to Medina, a city 250 miles to the north. The year of that flight, or Hijrah, became the first year of the Islamic calendar. Then Muhammad and his followers started raiding the caravans of the Mecca, and they also became increasingly hostile toward the Jews. In the battle of Badr, his warriors soundly defeated the Meccans. There waged the battles of Uhud and the Ditch, and they massacred 700 Jewish captives, and sold their wives and children into slavery. Muhammad's Islamic army numbered at least 10,000. Thronged by his followers, 62-year-old Muhammad led a glorious pilgrimage to the Ka'bah, which was no longer an idol shrine, but it had become the center of Islamic worship. There, in 632, he pronounced the perfection of the new religion. "I have completed my blessing upon you, and I have approved Islam for your religion," was the message he said he had received from God concerning this achievement. Three months later, he died. By the time of his death, Muhammad had imposed Islam on most of Arabia. His successor, Abu Bakr, however, had to re-subjugate the area and defend Medina against rebel forces. As Caliph, he united the conquered tribes by promising them the spoils of foreign conquests. So in 634 A D. they invaded Jerusalem. In 636, Syria fell to his hands. By 641, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq were conquered. Within 100 years of Muhammad's death, Islam had spread to Spain in the west and India in the east and embraced more territory than did the Roman Empire. One Muhammad invaded India in the beginning of the eight century. Islam’s
81 advance in Europe was halted by the forces of Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in France in 732. One of the greatest tragedies was what the Islamic armies did in Persia, now Iran. They burned any and every written book or text or library they found in Persia. The motivation was to propagate the belief and law that the only written texts allowed to be read by Muslims was the very speech of Allah, which could be found only in the Arabic language, in the Quoran. The belief is that the words of Allah can only be in Arabic. Any translation of the Quoran into another language is not and cannot be the words of Allah. Thus one essential ingredient of Islam was a declaration of war not only on other religions and other ethnic groups but also on other languages. A society's culture is its language, and its language is its culture. An effective way to subjugate a people is to outlaw and wipe out its language. The Greek empire tried to do that to Israel. One of the good points about the Roman Empire is that it did not forbid indigenous languages.
7. BAHAI FAITH
The Bahai Faith is an independent world religion. With more than five million adherents residing in over 124,000 localities, the Bahai Faith is established in 204 countries across the planet. The spiritual principles of the Bahai Faith affirm its overall purpose--to bring about the oneness of humanity. In cooperation with these same principles, Bahai also believe that there is only one Creator and that the spiritual truth of all religions is the same. From a Bahai perspective, The Bahai Faith is the most recent of the world's great religions. It forms the next link in a chain of important, divine teachings, a progressive revelation that places Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahai Faith, as the Messenger of God for this age. There is Lotus temple in Delhi built by the followers of Bahai faith.
This is Lotus temple at New Delhi is a Bahai temple. The structure was conceived by the architect Faribuz Sahba in 1986. The Bahai faith stands for one religion and one god
82
8. HINDUISM
Hinduism differs from Islam and Christianity. It was not founded by any one at any point of time in History. It is an evolved religion and it underwent many changes from time to time. There are a number of schools of thought and hence there are several sects of Hinduism. It is the oldest religion and has its origin in the Vedas. There is only one God and he is omnipotent, omni-competent, omni present and all pervasive. He takes different forms to protect the good and punish the bad and so far he has ten different forms. The Hindus worship many Gods and Goddesses because all these goddesses and Gods are the manifestation of the Supreme god. They worship god in the form of Idols. The Ramayana, The Mahabharata and The Bhagawad Gita are the epics of the Hindu religion. The Holy Scripts of the Hindus are the Vedas, Aranyakas, The Brahmanas, Upanishads, the smritis and the shrutis. The Hinduism is not regimented into a single religious order. Everyone follows Hindu religion as much as his conscience permits. Rigorous religious enlistments and conversions are not the part of religion. Therefore the religion is on decline. Ramakrishna Mission and the Krishna consciousness are trying to revive Hinduism but there is no sign of its revival. Hinduism has grown to become the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam. It claims about 837 million followers - 13% of the world's population. It is the dominant religion in India and Nepal. According to the "Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches," there are about 1.1 million Hindus in the U.S. It estimated that there are about 157,015 Hindus in Canada. The Hindus believe in Varnashram Dharma and in the rigorous religious practices. At present Hinduism centers round two sects namely Vaishnavism and Shivism. The Vishnavas believe that Vishnu is supreme while the shivaites believe that Shiva is the supreme god. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world with approximately 970 million followers, approximately 900 million of whom live in India. The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal is the only nation in the world with Hinduism as its state religion. Hinduism is the most ancient of all these religions. It was a way of life of the people who had settled down in the Sindhu river basin. The people were called the Hindus because they lived by the side of the Sindhu River in course of time. The earliest religious scripts were the Vedas. There are four Vedas, namely the Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama
83 Veda and Atharva Veda of which the Rig Veda is the most ancient. The Vedic Aryans worshipped the nature like the Sun, the wind, the fire and water and the earth. In course of time, the Great Epics were written and the people started worshipping the Good and Great personalities like Ram and Krishna. Later on it came to be believed that God can take any form or avatar and may even be born on this earth to punish the evil and safeguard the good. In course of time the people started idol worship and started worshipping various Gods and Goddesses. As an off-growth of religious practices certain social practices developed which were unreasonable and evil. Thus the Hindu society came under criticism. The Buddhists and the Jains decried worship of too many Gods and said that there is only one god. They also preached that non- violence is essential to good life and decried killing of animals. They also decried class and caste basis of the society. Hinduism is a natural growth on the Indian soil and its religious leaders tried to give different interpretations from time to time. It is such a broad based religion that in spite of disputing many of its rituals and practices you can still be a Hindu. It is not a regimented and militant religion. Its followers could follow religion to any extent possible and still he can remain a Hindu. Being a Hindu is not a matter of choice as birth determines religion. The Hindu missionaries developed only recently with Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Missions. Hinduism does not believe in conversion. Only a person born to a Hindu becomes a Hindu. However with the birth of Ramakrishna Mission, Brahma Samaj and Arya Samaj the Hindus are trying to reconvert the Hindus who had given up the Hinduism either due to allurement or compulsion. The Brahma Samaj and a little later the Arya Samaj concentrated on removing the evil social practices which had made Hinduism unpopular such as Caste system, Sati System, polygamy, Child marriage, praying multiple Gods and inequality to women in the Hindu society so on and so forth. To day Hindu society is divided against itself. Hindus of the Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes are lured or instigated to convert themselves to Christianity or Buddhism. The people are divided on the basis of Castes and there is unhealthy competition between different castes and communities. It has become grave impediment in the path of social progress and development of the spirit of nationalism. Many social reformers like Rajaram Mohan Roy, Dayananda Saraswati, Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, M K Gandhi and others realized that the rigidity and irrationality of
84 Hindu social practices could lead to disintegration of the Hindu society and tried to rationalize Hindu social system. Hinduism is basically a very rigid religion but it is not enforced upon the people in modern times as there is no enforcing authority. The society which guarded the religion is losing its hold on it while other religions are seizing every opportunity to convert people to their religion. The Hindus have started questioning their own religion and that has added to the already existing problems as other religions are well organized and more devoted to religious conversions. When the Hindus are not jealously safeguarding their religion it signals decay and destruction.
CHAPTER 6
THE HINDU SOCIETY
According to traditional Indian thinking, a child is born not as an individual but as a member of the family. The moment the child is born it has certain rights and obligations. It inherits the name, the property and status in addition to getting paternal, maternal and fraternal relationship with the parents and the siblings. Individual is not the unit of the Indian society but the families are. Every individual has certain rights and obligations as a member of the family as well as a member of the society. The relationship with the family is eternal and survives even after the death. It casts certain obligation on the posterity to observe the death anniversary in a particular way and do certain rituals. The relationship between the individual and the society is very strong in India especially in the smaller towns and cities as the law and order situation is still not satisfactory and the people have no adequate protection from the state. The government, the police and the courts are all so corrupt that the people would prefer to stay away from them as far as possible. Historically, India had been a victim of series of invasions and the kings who were the protectors could not protect them. Even now the government is weak as the officials are corrupt and the work force is totally inadequate thanks to the trade unionism and career system. The people do not respect the rule of law as they have come under the foreign rule and they take law into their hands at every step. They have no civic or political consciousness. There is widespread indiscipline among the people and as a political society India is still immature.
85 1. FAMILY
Family is the basic unit of the Hindu society. In most parts of India, the families are patriarchal except in Kerala and some parts of Bengal where the families are matriarchal. In patriarchal families, the families are joint-families consisting not only of children, husband and wife but also parents, their siblings and their families, all living under the same roof and preparing and eating food in the same kitchen and live together. The eldest male member of the family is the head of the joint- family and he is called the karta who will manage the family and its properties. Nothing can be done by anyone in the family without his knowledge and consent. All other male members respect him and remain obedient to him and anyone who violates the family norms will be looked down upon and other members compel the recalcitrant member to conform to the patriarch’s direction and to the family tradition. In case of disputes between the family members, the patriarch will decide the issues and the entire family must honor his decisions. But the joint family system is gradually dying in some parts of India because the people are going out of their town in search of greener pasture and they are even going to different parts of the world. The small family is becoming the social pattern of the day except in case of agricultural and business families where the properties are owned in common or jointly.
2. CASTE SYSTEM
The caste system came into existence at a very early stage of civilization in India. The early society was divided into four castes hierarchically one below the other, namely the Brahmans, the kshyatriyas, the Vyshyas and the Shudras. The Brahmans formed the top of the caste hierarchy while Khyatriyas were second and the Vysyas were third in the hierarchy. The Shudras formed the lowest rung of the hierarchy and they consisted of all people other than the three other castes. There was no marriage between members of different castes. The Shudras consisted of the formers and the artisans. In course of time a number of castes came into existence on the basis of their trade or profession. The Shudras formed a number of sub-castes and today we have in India more than a thousand castes. The higher caste people began to look down upon the lower caste people and so the enmity grew between the castes. In the twentieth century when the British introduced the western system of education and offered jobs for the educated, unhealthy competition began to develop between different
86 castes. When the government started giving reservation to certain classes of people by listing them as backward classes, and when it started giving better privileges in matters of admission to educational institutions and employment in the governmental organizations, those who earlier wanted to be regarded as upper castes began to fight for being listed as backward castes. Today India is totally divided on the basis of castes and there is jealousy, enmity and hatred between the various castes, each vying for more benefit to themselves at the cost of the society, state and the nation. In the mind of the people of India, caste comes first, religion, next, region next and the nation, last. This has become a great obstacle in the process of national integration and development of national spirit although so for it has not destroyed the integrity of the nation thus far. The short-sighted politicians instead of creating a casteless society are creating caste feelings and ill-will by giving privileges to more and more castes and creating jealousy between them and are taking the nation to the brink of disaster for the sake of clinging on to power. In the midst of mushroom growth of castes, certain castes were deemed outcastes and were discriminated against by the caste Hindus. They were not allowed to draw water from their wells and they were branded as untouchables for reasons like that they touch or carry shits and clean the latrines, or they work in the funeral grounds and touch the dead bodies, or they eat dead animals and dead cattle or they don’t clean their bodies everyday or on such grounds. Now such castes form 18 to 20% of the Indian population. The Constitution has abolished discrimination and has removed social disabilities and they are categorized as Scheduled classes. They have been given certain privileges in matters of admission to educational institutions and government employment. Bhimarao Ambedkar, their leader advised the Scheduled castes people to give up Hindu religion and embrace the Buddhism or some other religion. Millions of people belonging to the Scheduled castes were converted to Buddhism and Christianity. There are now 3% Christians in India. The Outcastes joined Christianity under the persuasion of the Christian missionaries. India had 99% Hindus in tenth century but now it has only 49% caste Hindus and 51% non-Hindus and that is the reason for social disharmony and political instability in India.
3. PROPERTY
In the joint family system, the properties were owned in common and there was no division of property. In the later years the brothers used to
87 divide the property after the death of the patriarch if they decided to live separately. Only male members of the family were eligible to inherit the ancestral property. The women and female children had no right to ancestral property. A woman had right only to the property she brought from her parents’ home and it was called Stridhan. If a father had 10 children, nine female and one male, the entire property would go the male child to the exclusion of 9 female children. Since 1950 the Hindu law has been amended from time to time and the women’s right to property has now come to be recognized as on par with the male members of the family.
4. EDUCATION
Today seventy-one percent of India’s population is literate but fifty years ago seventy-one percent of the population was illiterate. Only male member of the family had right to education. He was imparted education before marriage from the age of 7 to the age of adulthood. The female members not entitled to education. She was not supposed to live outside her family, alone or independently. Nobody had thought of educating their female children until the British system of education became popular in India. It was thought that the female children should be groomed for becoming a good housewife. Her place was kitchen and her job was cooking and to look after the husband and children after the marriage. She was entitled only to the property she brought from her parents’ home in the form of jewelry and ornaments. If she became a widow she had to depend on her husband’s family for her living or on her brothers or parents. Now there is no discrimination on the basis of sex and women are entitled to education.
5. MARRIAGE
In the traditional India, everyone had to marry within his or her caste to preserve the purity of caste and race and to retain the identity of the ethnic origin. Inter-caste marriages were strictly forbidden. If anyone marries outside one’s caste he or she will be excommunicated from both the castes. They will be socially ostracized. No one will marry their offspring. In the later years there were two systems of marriage, Anuloma system and Pratiloma systems. Anuloma system is one in which a person belonging to upper caste marries a woman of lower caste and it came to be tolerated and legitimized. The Pratiloma system of marriage was one in which the man of a lower caste marries a woman of upper caste. It
88 was totally forbidden till the last fifty years. In most parts of India marriage was solemnized by the couple taking seven steps before the fire. However in certain tribal communities, the marriage by rape or kidnapping still exists. In some communities, Gandharwa Vivaha exists in which marriage becomes legitimized by exchange of garlands and ring with or without the consent of the parents. The Hindu marriage in the traditional style has to be solemnized by the parents or guardians in the presence of friends and relatives. Marriage is incomplete unless it is solemnized with the consent and participation of the parents or guardians. There was child marriage in vogue for a very long time. The children were married in their cribs. When they grow up they come to know who their spouse is. The consent of the children was not sought and the children had to marry whoever the parents chose. There was no system of divorce. A man could get rid of his wife by sending her to her parent’s house and refusing her to taking back. That separation amounted to divorce. A man could remarry while his wife was still living and there was no bar on his marrying any number of times. A woman could not divorce her husband once married and she would belong to her husband even after his death. She should live the rest of her life without marrying anyone if her husband dies. She should renounce the world and live the life of austerity while living with his family members. She should remain pure for the Sake of her dead husband.
In some parts of India, an evil social custom called Suttee or sati existed. If the husband died, the wife had to jump into the funeral pyre of her husband and burn herself to death. If she refused to do so the relatives of the dead would throw her to the funeral pyre ‘to save the family from the infamy’. The Arya Samaj and the Brahmo Samaj strove to put an end to this practice and requested Lord William Bentinck to pass an enactment against the practice of sati. Now this evil practice does not exist in this country. Both men and women could divorce and re-marry. The widow remarriage is allowed. The child marriage is abolished. Intercaste marriage is legal.
6. CHILD MARRIAGE
Till the beginning of the twentieth century, the children were married before they attained six years and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a great social reformer rebelled against the child marriage and vowed that he would not marry off her daughter before his daughter attained the age of 8!
89 That was the rigidity of the social customs. On many occasions the children were married in their cribs and they would grow to adulthood as husband and wife. There were sporadic spread of epidemics like plague, cholera and small pox which would kill thousands of people and many girls in their childhood would become widows and they were not allowed to remarry during their life time. They had to remain faithful to their dead husband and live austere and pure life.
7. DOWRY SYSTEM
The greatest evil practice in Indian society after Sati and Caste system is the Dowry System which is prevailing even to this day. The parents of the bridegroom are always a privileged party and the brides parents will have to dance to the tune of the Bridegroom or his parents. The Bride’s party will have to celebrate the marriage according to the wishes of the Bridegroom and his parents. The Bride’s parents have to pay as much Cash and ornaments as is demanded by the Bridegroom or his parents. It is called Dowry in North India and Vara Dakshina in the south. If the bride’s party fails to meet the demand for money and ornaments made by the Bridegroom and his party, the Bridegroom will walk out of the marriage hall without marrying the girl or if he married her, he and his family will torture the girl after their marriage until her parents pay the demanded sum. Many marriages have resulted in the bride burning because of this dowry system. It is happening in the 21st century! Thousands of girls are not married because their parents cannot pay the Dowry.
8. FOETICIDE
As the medical science advanced the so called kind Indian society is growing into a monster that kills the children. The medical science is advanced that it is possible to determine the sex of the child in the womb by sonogram. The parents want to know if the child in the womb is a male or female and abort the child in the womb if it is female. It is because the birth of a female child is considered a curse because they have to spend a lot of money for her marriage and pay dowry for the groom. In most of the cases the parents do not have money to pay and the female child will have to remain unmarried. Since they can determine the sex of the child in the womb they prefer to abort the female child in the womb. This evil practice arises out of the evil
90 practice of dowry system. Instead of fighting the dowry system they resort to infanticide.
9. VIRGINITY
Indians have many high ideals which they can never reach. One such ideal is the virginity and celibacy. A girl has to remain virtuous and virgin until she is married. A boy marries a girl under the assumption that the girl he is marrying is a virgin. Nobody under the usual circumstance would come forward to marry a girl who had had a premarital sex. Even a rumor that she had an affair with someone before marriage is sufficient for the boy to desert her after marriage although law does not allows divorce on that ground. But the law grants divorce on the ground that she committed adultery after the marriage. In India the entire life of a man surrounds around sex and love. A man will be heart broken if he comes to know that his wife is not loyal to him. He will make his wife miserable and makes his own life miserable. Very rarely a man will excuse his wife’s adulterous life and live with her. If a girl gives birth to a child before marriage, she will not be able to face the society. There are not instances where an unmarried girl gave birth to a child. Either the child in the womb is aborted or in a very rare case a girl may give birth to a child in an unknown place and abandon the child after its birth in a deserted place. But love and sex are basic instincts which are beyond the control of anyone. The ideals that the Hindu society has placed upon its members are too high to materialize and so there is a wide gap between the theory and the practice. Love and sex go on in the society as much as in any other society but it will be kept a top secret so that the society may not despise the person who violates this norm or her family members. Now the medical science is so advanced that a number of girls who become pregnant before marriage get the unwanted child aborted and project to the world that they are still virgins. Still there has been fear that the husband may discover that the girl had lost her virginity before marriage after a medical examination. Such a fear bothers many a family. Very recently a new kind of operation has been discovered in the medical science called Hymenoplasty which will remove the traces of premarital sex and leave her husband after the marriage no chance of finding out that she had premarital sex. More and more women are queuing up for the surgical procedure that will restore their hymens and keep their virtue intact in the eyes of their future in-laws and husbands. Hymenoplasty had clandestinely begun eight years ago in India. Of late, however, such surgeries are on the rise. But still men have not
91 realized that they have no chance of knowing the virgin status of their would-be wives. Most men in India do not want to believe that their wives were not virgin at the time of their marriage. Recently a film star remarked that men should give up the idea of expecting their wives to be virgin before marriage but she had to face the wrath of the society and matter even went to the court and the Indian court took cognizance of her offence. The offence she committed was that she encouraged moral depravity of women. Very few people believe what she spoke was truth! Every man knows his sexual adventure and sometimes boasts of his adventure but he does not realize that when so many men boast of premarital sex equal number of women should be indulged in premarital sex. This is what we call in the rational sense, hypocrisy. If we set up impossible goals we follow them in their breach. India is no exception. Again the Indian society is erring on the question of the young widows who lose their husband at a young age. Due to accidents, disease and pestilence, many young women lose their husbands. The Hindu society takes away from the widows their right to live. In the eighteen and nineteenth century the Sati system was in vogue when the widows had to jump into the funeral pyre of their husbands. After 1856 when the law prevented people to enforce Sati the widows wee allowed to live but not with dignity. Women were not given education before or after marriage. Once they become widows they had no means of livelihood. They became dependents of the father or brother and the family members exploited her condition. The near relatives who visited the house sexually exploited them. The widows had no chance of satisfying their sex. To avoid sexual advances widows were shaved of their heads. They had to remain virtuous and observe celibacy in the name of their husbands. They had live on one meal and should not very good clothes or colorful clothes. They should not participate in any congregations or festivals. They should not adorn themselves and they should not appear in public. In fact they were living dead. They could not remarry. They could not live with any man. It was a life of misery and horror. Now the women are emboldened in the metropolitan areas and try for marriage or companionship albeit secretly. But in the rural areas the situation has not improved but whether the society has been able to keep widows virtuous and pure is still debatable. The law at present allows widow’s re-marriage but how many men come forward to marry a widow? When the society is full of unmarried young girls who would want to marry someone who is a widow with or without a child? With all the talks of virginity, purity, etc, sex is easily available as much as in ay
92 other society. That is where we stand when we want people to conquer their basic instincts.
10. ADOTION AND MAINTENANCE
A couple had no right to adopt a child unless they had no male child. If a couple had no male child, they could adopt only a male child, not a female child. A couple having a female child could adopt a male child for the continuation of his dynasty. The female children belong to the family of their husbands after the marriage and the female child born to them will belong to her husband’s family. It is the duty of the parents to look after the sons until they stand on their own and to look after their daughters until they are married. If the daughter is widowed and the husband family does not look after her, it is the duty of the parents to look after her in their house. The parents, brothers and any other nearer relative are bound to look after the widows, the disabled and the male or female children of unsound mind. Similarly it is the duty of the children to look after the aged parents and disabled siblings or relatives who have no means of support unto their death. In short the Indian society was male chauvinistic society where man could do anything and everything without inviting the wrath of the society but the female members had no sort of privilege or rights. They were put to disadvantage in every walk of life. She must do every kind of sacrifice for her living or dead husband and to his family without expecting anything in return. It was nothing but subjugation of women by the stronger sex. Anyone who would question social custom was deemed anti-social element and met with indignity from the members of the society until the great men like Rajaram Mohan Roy, Swami Dayananda Saraswati and Bhimarao Ambedkar questioned the rationality behind such practices. India has made great strides in social reforms and economic development in the last fifty years. The society has become more complex and the people are moving away from their towns and cities in search of jobs. The joint family system has come to an end. The properties are now divided. The government has brought about certain reforms relating to property. The women have equal right to property and education. They can join job and live independently at least on paper. The marriage system has been amended. The inter-caste marriages are recognized by a process of registration of marriages. The widow remarriage is allowed. The men are restricted from practicing polygamy and women from practicing polyandry. The child marriage is gone out of social life and marriage
93 will be solemnized at the age of majority or later. Women have right to divorce men subject to certain conditions. Adoption of male or female is permitted. Inter-caste marriage is recognized and the educational institutions are thrown upon to all. Women are allowed to actively participate in politics. They have been given equal opportunity in the educational institutions and in public employment. Women are taken to all professions including armed forces and the police forces. India is marching ahead faster than most of the countries of the world. It would not have been possible but for the greater vision and greater sacrifice of many great men of the country who have made India great and left their footprints on the sands of time
94
CHAPTER 7
GREAT SOCIAL REFORMERS
1. RAJARAM MOHAN ROY (1774-1833)
Portrait by Atul Bose
The Indian society was too traditional and the Indian people were following too many irrational social customs as late as 1829 A. D.; and nobody dared to question the irrationality of the then existing customs. Even to this day some of the customs are so irrational that any rational individual will horrified to see them implemented. Those who questioned the social customs were ostracized and humiliated. Till then, in some parts of India, the wife had to immolate herself at the pyre of her husband upon his death. That system was called Sati. Rajaram attacked the most evil practice of Sati in India. In most cases the wife did not want to die but she was forced to jump into the burning pyre either by the relatives of the wife or the husband or by the neighbors, ostensibly to save the family from infamy. Rajaram explained that very often it was her greedy relatives who were interested in the property of the dead husband that forced her to jump into the burning pyre. Such an inhuman practice did not exist anywhere else in this world. It was the sight of the burning of his brother's widow on her husband's funeral pyre that spurred Ram Mohan into action. The status of women in India was very deplorable. The women had no right to property. They had no right to education. They had no right to independent existence. The women’s purity in matter of sex was all that the Indians were proud of and wanted to preserve at all cost. Nobody was bothered about the purity and fidelity of men. When such a ghostly social practice was
95 prevailing in India for centuries in parts of India, Rajaram Mohan Roy was the one who dared to raise objection to such an abject evil practice. He pointed out the evil practices and appealed to the people to give them up. He brought about new awakening among the people who were otherwise in deep slumber. He established a new forum called Brahma Sabha in 1828 at Calcutta which came to be called Brahma Samaj later which started pointing out such evil practices and demanded social reforms in India. He appealed to the colonial administration to put an end to such practices by an enactment of law. Lord William Bentinck passed a law in 1829 banning the practice of Sati. Rajaram also emphasized the fact that the women had right to education and right to property which was being denied to her. Rajaram was born in Radhanagar village in Hooghly district of Bengal on May 22, 1772, to Bengali Brahmin parents. Roy did his elementary education in the village school in his mother tongue. At the age of 12, Roy went to a seat of Muslim studies in Patna where he mastered Persian and Arabic. His knowledge of Arabic enabled him to read the Koran in the original, as well as the works of Sufi saints. He also read Arabic translations of the works of Plato and Aristotle. When he was 16, Roy clashed with his orthodox father on the issue of idol worship and left home. To acquaint himself with the Buddhist religion, he traveled across northern India and Tibet for the next three years. His questioning mind objected to the exaltation of the Buddha and this did not go down well with some of the lamas. He then visited Varanasi where he learnt Sanskrit and studied ancient Hindu scriptures. In 1803, he secured a job with the East India Company and in 1809, he was posted to Rangpur. From the Marwaris of Rangpur, he learnt about Jainism and studied the Jain texts. Roy tried to understand Christianity and some Christians tried to convert him to Christianity, but he politely declined. Rajaram came to England in 1831 as an ambassador of the Mughal Emperor Akbar Shah II. In 1832 he visited Paris and returned to England the same year to stay at Beech House in Stapleton Grove. He stayed at Bristol in 1833. During his visit to the city he worshipped at Lewin's Mead Chapel. Ten days after arriving in Bristol he fell ill with meningitis, and died on 27 September 1833. He was initially buried in the grounds of Beech House, but ten years later, Dwarakanath Tagore had him re-buried at Arno's Vale. In 1997 a statue of Raja Ram Mohan Roy was built at Bristol. Brahma Samaj awakened Bengal in the 19th century and drew into its hold the great intellectuals like Keshub Chandra Sen, Rabindranath Tagore and other members of the Tagore family. The objectives of the Samaj were to follow theistic form of Hinduism. Brahmo Samaj prayer
96 halls have been constructed all over the country where its members meet once a week, and worship one God, the Brahma the creator of the universe and hold discourses, recite Vedic texts and sing Vedic hymns. He wanted to uplift the downtrodden and believed in the universal brotherhood of man. A hundred years before the establishment of the League of Nations, Roy had expressed the need for such an international institution. He argued for the reform of Hindu law, led the protest against restrictions on the press, mobilized the Government against the oppressive land laws, argued the case for the association of Indians in Government and argued in favor of an English system of education in India. Roy published a newspaper in an Indian language, a weekly called the 'Bengal Gazette'. He also published a newspaper in Persian called 'Miratul-Akhbar' and a Bengali weekly called 'Sambad Kaumudi'. Roy stressed the importance on the development of his mother tongue. His 'Gaudiya Vyakaran' in Bengali is rated highly among his writings. Roy's understanding of the different religions of the world helped him to compare them with Vedanta philosophy and derive the best from each religion. Sufi mysticism had a great influence on Roy. To pursue his interests, Roy resigned from the East India Company a few years later and came to Calcutta in 1815. He was dissatisfied with the system of education and the method of teaching English, and he formed an association of English and Hindu scholars. He invested his money in the starting of a school where he introduced subjects like science, mathematics, political science and English. Roy felt that an understanding of these subjects would give Indians a better standing in the contemporary world. He felt that the exposure of the Indians to Christianity and Western type of education would benefit Indians. Rajaram lived in an era of colonial rule. He compared the merits of both Hinduism and the Christianity and finally evolved a reformed Hindu Religion which attracted the educated youth of that era but the masses were too conservative to embrace or appreciate his principles. His movement brought renaissance in Bengal and set in motion a new thinking but did not become a mass movement. It remained an intellectual Movement only.
97 2. DAYANANDA SARASWATI
After the death of Rajaram Mohan Roy Brahma Samaj lost its appeal, although it existed in Bengal. A new religious and social reformer was born in India who brought about another movement called Arya Samaj Movement. His name was Dayananda Saraswati. In 1875 he founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay to spread the doctrines of the newly reinterpreted Vedas. In spite of serious efforts made by the Bramhosamajists, the society had not undergone any change. Indian society was still a victim of many evil social practices. The women were glorified in words but in practice they were treated as slaves. The society was chauvinistic and expected every sacrifice from women while placing men in privileged position. The child marriage was still in vogue. Untouchability was still practiced against the Harijans alienating the Harijans away from the mainstream of the Hindu society. The women had very good place of honor in the religious scripts but in reality they were confined to kitchen and temples. They were praised for being devoted to their husbands but they were not given rights and liberties with men. They were expected to be as pure as Sita and make all kinds of sacrifices in their lives to please their husbands and the society without expecting more than appreciation from their husbands. They did not have right to property and other rights and freedom. The Child marriage was still in vogue. He condemned certain social practices like idol worship, child marriage, untouchability and low status of women. He wanted to rebuild Hinduism on a strong Vedic foundation as he was an exclusive authority on the Vedas. Dayananda belonged to Tankara, a small town in the region of Morvi which was a small state in Sourastra of Gujarat. He was born to Karshanji Lalji Tiwari and Amrit Bai in a very orthodox and wealthy Brahman family from Khatewar in Gujarat. Hs father was Tahsildar of Tinkara. His original name was Moolashankar. He did not believe in idol worship and so his parents had hard time to convince him that he had to conform himself to the Hindu religion which he opposed. He had an inclination to become a Sanyasi but his parents pressurized him to enter into wedlock. At the age of 21 he left home and declined the
98 family wealth. After leaving home he traveled to places like Ahmedabad, Baroda, Hardwar, Kanpur and Kashi in search of a guru. At this juncture, he came across Swami Poornananda, a profound scholar and sanyasi. The Swami initiated the young man into the holy orders. Moolashankar became Swami Dayananda Saraswati. In 1845 he took to sanyas. Moolashankar was given the name Dayananda Saraswati by his mentor who confirmed Dayananda’s belief that India had gone wrong in straying away from the original source of spirituality, the Vedas and maintained that the Vedas tell you all you need to know about the Hinduism. He remained a bachelor throughout his life and led the life of an ascetic. He preached that there is only one supreme God. He deprecated the existence of too many Gods and deplored many rituals and practices which did not find expression in the Vedas. The Arya Samaj members advocate inter-caste marriages and re- conversion to Hinduism. The Arya Samaj exists even to this day and is still active. Even Arya Samaj failed to become a popular movement in the rigid Hindu society but you can see the Samaj working in certain spheres of activity. He was the founder of the Arya Samaj who worked for the general awakening of the people. He was also a very great Vedic scholar. He was the author of a well known book called Satyartha Prakasha which is regarded as the sacred book of the Arya Samajists. Dyanand started preaching his doctrine that “There was only one god; he has to be worshipped not in the form of images but in the form of spirit".
3. SWAMI VIVEKANANDA (JANUARY 12, 1863-JULY 4, 1902
All foreigners who invaded India left behind them a large number of men on this soil who merged themselves with local people by marriage or otherwise; and India thus became a notoriously mixed race. It also became an abode of many religions like Islam and Christianity unknown to its soil. Today India is a blend of different religions and races and the population is highly heterogeneous in
99 character which is taking heavy toll on the social and political life of the country. In spite of all these, Hinduism still remains solidly in the minds of vast majority of its people although the Christian Missionaries are active in India converting socially and economically weaker sections of the people to Christianity, taking advantage of the loopholes in the Indian social system. Hinduism does not preach conversion or re- conversion. On this subject matter the religion is silent but the members of Arya Samaj and the Brahma Samaj believe in conversion and re- conversion of people to the Hindu religion to counter-influence the menace of conversion by Christian missionaries. Swami Vivekananda was one such social reformer who believed in preaching Hinduism to the world and making Hinduism a world religion in its new form. He was born in India on January 12, 1863. He established a Hindu missionary called Ramakrishna Mission to propagate Hinduism. He was a proponent of Hindu religion and its culture. Vivekananda was a proponent of the Hindu religion and culture. He was a great religious and social reformer. He had deep faith in Hinduism, but he raised objection about caste system and evil social practices. His real name was Narendranath Datta. He was born in Shimla Pally near Calcutta of Viswanath Dutta and Bhuvaneswari Devi. He was fond of music and was good at studies and martial art. He joined Brahma Samaj then led by Keshabchandra Sen but he was not happy with it either. Wherever he went he had only one question to ask, “Have you seen God?” Once, Professor Hasti of Scottish church college told him about Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar. Narendranath met Ramakrishna for the first time in November 1881. He became a staunch disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahansa although he did not agree with everything Ramakrishna preached. He came under his tutelage for five years and transformed himself into a person who would make every kind of sacrifice. He was then mature and resolute. Ramakrishna died of Cancer in August 1886. Narendranath and a group of Ramakrishna's disciples took vows to become monks and renounce everything, and started living in a supposedly haunted house. Vivekananda went round India with begging bowl sleeping in palaces and huts alike. The Maharaja of khetri gave him the name Swami Vivekananda. He came in close contact with the culture of different regions and various classes of people in India. Vivekananda observed the imbalance in society and tyranny in the name of caste. He realized the need for a national rejuvenation if India was to survive at all. Finally he reached Kanyakumari and swam in the sea and reached a nearby rock and started meditation on 24th December, 1892. Vivekananda addressed the youth of Madras. The Madras youth urged
100 him to go the parliament of religions in Chicago and address the world parliament of religions. He heeded to their appeal and went to Chicago to address the parliament of Religions in 1893 and made a memorable speech which is reverberating in our minds even to this day. Vivekananda had a great personality that inspired millions of people in India and abroad and became the spiritual ambassador of India in America. He had started Vedanta centers in New York and London and lectured at major universities and generally kindled western interest in Hinduism. The Christian missionaries of whom he was fiercely critical were making counter propaganda against him. After four years of constant touring, lecturing and retreats in the West, he came back to India in the year 1897. Swami Vivekananda, moved by the spirit of America's Declaration of Independence, on July 4, 1898, wrote a poem: “Move on, O Lord, in the resistless path! Till the high noon overspreads the world, Till every land reflects thy light, Till men and women with uplifted head Behold their shackles broken, and Know in spring time joy, their life renewed.” He delivered a series of lectures known as "Lectures from Colombo to Almora" which uplifted the morale of the then downtrodden. He once again toured the west from January 1899 to December 1900. On July 4, 1902 at Belur Math near Kolkata, he taught Hindu philosophy to some pupils, fed his chief disciple Nivedita, a white disciple from the west and passed away in Mahasamadhi. Vivekananda followed Advaita philosophy, and believed that God lived in everybody and that service to Man is service to God. If God lived in everyone how can we discriminate between man and man he asked. Swami Vivekananda belonged to that branch of Vedanta that held that no-one can be truly free until all of us are. Even the desire for personal salvation has to be given up, and only tireless work for the salvation of others brings salvation to self. Ramakrishna Matt is founded on this principle. He practiced Brahmacharya and remained a bachelor. Though it was not obvious, Swami Vivekananda inspired India's freedom struggle movement; and his writings inspired a whole generation of freedom fighters in Bengal in particular and India at large. Subhas Chandra Bose, Aurobindo and many others were prominent among the freedom fighters. His books on the four Yogas are very influential and still seen as fundamental texts for anyone interested in the Hindu practice of Yoga. He was also a very good singer and a poet who composed many songs
101 on the God and goddesses, including his favorite Kali, the goddess. Many years after his death, Ravindranath Tagore had said: If you want to know India, study Vivekananda.” Arabindo considered Vivekananda as his mentor. Swami Vivekananda visited Aurobindo regularly while the latter was in Alipore jail. Mahatma Gandhi who strived for a lot of reform in Hinduism himself, said: Swami Vivekananda's writings make irresistible appeal to the people. He had also interacted with Max Mueller and Romaine Rolland. The latter also wrote a book in 1930 entitled Vie de Vivekananda on the Life of Vivekananda. He practiced Brahmacharya and transcendental meditation during his short span of life. He lived only 39 years and had time to devote to the masses ten years of his life! He left for posterity his four classics, namely Jnana- Yoga, Bhakti-Yoga, Karma-Yoga, and Raja-Yoga, all of which are outstanding treatises on Hindu philosophy. He delivered innumerable lectures, wrote inspired letters in his own hand to his many friends and disciples, composed numerous poems, and acted as spiritual guide to his followers. He also organized the Ramakrishna Order of monks, which is the most outstanding religious organization of modern India. It is devoted to the propagation of the Hindu spiritual life and culture not only in India but also in America and in other parts of the world. Swami Vivekananda was the first Indian to be invited to chair the Oriental Philosophy at Harvard University. Jamshedji Tata set up the Tata Institute or the Indian Institute of Science on his advice. India celebrates National Youth Day on his birthday.
4. SUBRAMANY BHARATI (December 11, 1882 - September 11, 1921) Subramanian Bharati popularly known as Mahakavi Bharati was one of the greatest poets of Tamil Nadu in the extreme south. He was a prolific writer and a great visionary. Bharati was also one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian independence movement too. He was born on December 11, 1882 in the former Madras Presidency and was educated at a local high school. He was married at a young age but he left his place soon after his marriage to discover the outside world. He had an exceptional love and devotion towards his language, Tamil. He was fluent in many languages like Bengali, Hindi, French and English and frequently translated works from other languages into Tamil. He involved himself in the nationalist movement and he questioned the social taboos of the Tamil society. Bharati joined as Assistant Editor of the Swadeshamitran, a Tamil daily in 1904 and he
102 had become the editor of the Tamil weekly ‘India’ by 1907. He was also the editor of the English newspaper ‘Bala Bharatham’. Bharati's poetic themes were varied but often related to religion and nationalism. Bharati also published two of his most widely read epics, Panchali Sapatham and Kuyil Paatu. As a journalist he introduced cartoons in his newspapers. By 1912 Bharati was already a legend in Tamilnadu and Pondicherry and his political meetings were attracting multitudes of young patriots, ready to join the non-violent constitutional agitation against the British rule. This led to a systematic British suppression of what was dubbed as the "militancy". His newspapers were banned. He was given amnesty later but his health deteriorated. Bharati was trampled to death by an elephant at Parthasarathy temple, Thiruvallikeni on September 11, 1921 at an age of 39. He had great knowledge of the Vedas and Upanishads, the Aranyakas and Brahmanas. He preached Hindu philosophy to the Harijans. He was against division of society on the basis of caste. He died in poverty and penury and his funeral was however attended by just seven persons.
CHAPTER 8
INDIAN ECONOMY According to the World Bank, India has emerged as the 12th wealthiest nation in the world with its GDP touching $785.47 billion (or Rs 3534615, 0000000 in 2005). The US was the wealthiest nation with GDP of $12.46 trillion, according to a list of 15 wealthiest countries prepared by the World Bank in terms of their Gross Domestic Product. India was way down compared to China, positioned fourth with $2.23 trillion of GDP, it was wealthier than Mexico, Russia and Australia. The first nine countries had GDP of more than $1 trillion. The United States was followed by Japan with $4.51 trillion and Germany $2.78 trillion. Britain, France and Italy occupied fifth, sixth and seventh rank with GDP of $2.19 trillion, $2.11 trillion and $1.72 trillion, respectively. Spain, Canada, Brazil and South Korea with their GDP estimated at $1.124 trillion, $1.115 trillion, $794.10 billion and $787.62 billion stand eighth, Nineth, tenth and eleventh in the list respectively. There was no African country among the 15 richest nations, while India was the only South Asian country in the list.
103 India had an agriculture based economy until 1950. Seventy percent of the Indian population was engaged in agriculture. They adopted an age old pattern of cultivation which had resulted in less earning and less production. The per capita income was low and the standard of living was abominably low. The national income was low and its growth was very slow. India was reeling under poverty, unemployment and disease and malnutrition. The first task of the Independent India was to bring about agricultural development. The Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who had socialist leaning brought on Five Year Plan to improve the Indian economy on the pattern of Russia’s seven year plan. The First five year plan went on schedule and rapid progress was made in the field of irrigation and construction of numerous dams across the rivers. The second five year plan was launched to improve the industrial economy of the country and a number of industries were brought into existence. The third Five Year Plan relied on balanced growth of Agriculture and economy. Meanwhile the war with China upset Nehru’s apple cart and he died of heart attack in 1964. Pakistan waged war in 1965 and war with china and Pakistan forced India to strengthen Indian defense and this relegated the economic development programs to background and dream of building a socialistic pattern of society never materialized. The later Five year Plans were only on paper. The next Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri could not contribute much because Pakistan launched a war against India thinking that India will collapse as a house of cards. Shastri defeated Pakistan and went to Tashkent to meet Bhutto the vanquished Prime Minister of Pakistan for a peace Agreement, but mysteriously he died in his bed at Tashkent! Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in her zeal to carry forward her father’s ideas brought on socialistic programs when the whole country was reeling under spiraling of prices and high inflation. The people became less comfortable with her government. Taking advantage of the dwindling popularity of Indira Gandhi both the opposition and the enemies within the party played spoil sport in her effort to develop the economy. Her son Sanjay Gandhi came to her rescue and adopted undemocratic means to put away the enemies within and without her party and that made her unpopular. She lost election in 1977 and she was out of power for a brief period. When she came back to power the following year the country’s economic and political situation was very bad. India had not recovered from the consequences of 1971 war and the thirty years of socialistic and protectionist policies had completely ruined the Indian economy and there was adverse balance of payment and Indian economy was about to collapse when she became a martyr to the Sikh terrorists’ bullets and died. Rajeev Gandhi could not wield
104 his magic wand to improve the Indian economy and he too was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka in 1991. There was a big void in Indian leadership after the death of Rajeev Gandhi and the Congress was without a strong leader in addition to economic bankruptcy that India was facing. At this critical juncture, the Congress made a right choice in selecting P V Narasimha Rao as the Prime Minister and he immediately brought on the Economic liberalization program throwing to winds the socialistic policies which had taken India to the brink of disaster. India opened its economic to the world and free trade was encouraged. India started developing fast when Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister and Manmohan singh was the Finance Minister. He was implicated in several cases on various charges by his enemies and he came out unscathed before his death. He had some confidential information but he decided to die with that information. India made a marked recovery during his period but he is a forgotten hero today. Very rarely we find any congress leader mention his name. The policy of liberalization was perused by BJP government which was in power from 1998 to 2004 more rigorously. To day India is one of the most progressive economies of the world and India’s economic progress has been lauded round the world and here are the statistics of Indian economy for the year 2005-2006 tabled in parliament which is self explanatory.
Economic growth projected at 8.1 per cent in 2005-06. Agriculture growth is projected at 2.3 per cent. Food grains output up by 5 million tonnes to 209. Savings rate goes up at 29.1 per cent of GDP. Investment rate goes up at 31 per cent of GDP. Industrial growth is estimated at 7.8 per cent (April-December). Exports grow by 18.9% (April-January) period. Import grows at 26.67% in April-January period. FDI inflow will be put at 3.2 billion dollar (April-September). It has a foreign exchange reserve of 139.2 billion dollars. India has a potential to absorb 150 billion dollars FDI in the next five years.
Not all is well with our progress. There is trade deficit and fiscal deficit. Interest rate may harden. Inflation rate is at 5%. It has great tax burden on its people. It needs 5.56 crore worth investments for developing infrastructure and highways. Oil has become a scarce commodity and its prohibitive cost is posing problem for development. The government is contemplating to adopt measures for speedy development of infrastructure. They are also planning to develop
105 airports and ports. Power and electricity shortage is a bottleneck to India’s progress.
CHAPTER 9
GREAT ECONOMISTS
1. C. RANGARAJAN Rangarajan was the Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, for almost a decade from 12 February 1982 to 20 August 1991. He was a Member of the Planning Commission, Government of India, from 21 August 1991 to 21 December, 1992. He was Governor, Reserve Bank of India between December 22, 1992 and November, 1997. During this period besides making monetary policy a flexible instrument of economic policy in achieving growth and price stability, Governor Rangarajan gave a major thrust to financial sector reforms such as simplification and deregulation of interest rate structure, reorientation of reserve requirements with a view to improving banks' resources, strengthening the soundness of banks through the institution of internationally accepted prudential norms and an improved supervision system, up gradation of information technologies and imparting a greater element of competition in the financial system. Dr.C.Rangarajan assumed charge as Governor of Andhra Pradesh on the 24th November, 1997. After obtaining his Honours Degree from Madras, he went to the University of Pennsylvania and obtained his Ph.D. degree in Economics. In the U.S., he taught at the Wharton School of Finance & Commerce, University of Pennsylvania and the Graduate School of Business Administration, New York University. In India, he has taught at Loyola College, Madras; University of Rajasthan, Jaipur; Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi and for well over a decade and a half at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He was for a time Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington. He is the author or co-author of the books such as Short-term Investment Forecasting (1974); Principles of Macro-economics (1979); Strategy for Industrial Development in the ‘80s (1981); Innovations in Banking (1982); Agricultural Growth and Industrial Performance in India (1982); Indian Economy: Essays on Money and Finance (1998); Perspectives on Indian Economy (2000); and Structural Reforms in Industry, Banking and Finance (2000).
106 He was a member of the Economic Advisory Council for the Prime Minister between 1985 and 1991, President of the Indian Economic Association in 1988 and President of the Indian Econometric Society in 1994. He is Chairman of the National Statistical Commission which has been set up to reform the Indian Statistical System. He was awarded Padma Vibhushan award by the government of India. He is now the Chairman of the 12th Finance Commission. He was recipient of several awards such as Business Man of the Year 1997 (Madras Management Association); Honorary Fellow, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad 1997; Award of Excellence in Finance (Bank of India) 1998; Finance Man of the Decade (Bombay Management Association) 1998; The Governor of Reserve Bank of India, Y. V. Reddy, said his predecessor, C. Rangarajan concepts were valid even today on the occasion of releasing a two-volume book "Select Essays on Indian Economy" by Dr. Rangarajan. Dr. Reddy said Dr. Rangarajan had initiated a series of reforms in monetary policies when he was at the Bank and they were paying off now.
2. BIMAL JALAN
Dr. Bimal Jalan is one of India’s well known economists. He was Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1997 to 2003. During this period, the Reserve Bank successfully managed the impact of the East Asian crisis and its aftermath; substantially strengthened India's balance of payments position; maintained a low inflation environment and promoted wide-ranging reforms in the financial sector. In August 2003, Dr. Jalan was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of India's Parliament, by the President for distinguished service to the country Before taking over as Governor of the Reserve Bank, Dr.Jalan held several high level positions in India and abroad. In India, he had served as Chief Economic Adviser to the Government, Banking Secretary, Finance Secretary, Member-Secretary of the Planning Commission, and Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. He represented India as Executive Director on Boards of International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington D.C. during 1988- 89 and 1993-96 respectively. Earlier, he was Director (Economic Affairs) of Commonwealth Secretariat in London.
107 Dr. Bimal Jalan was educated at Presidency College, Calcutta and Cambridge and Oxford. He had been Chairman or President of a number of distinguished academic institutions, including the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi and Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi. He has written extensively on the Indian economy. Books by Bimal Jalan on the economy include India's Economic Crisis: The Way Ahead, The Indian Economy: Problems and Prospects, India's Economic Policy: Preparing for the 21st Century and India's Economy in the New Millennium - Selected Essays. His earlier publications include Problems and Policies in Small Economies and Essays in Development Policy. His latest book on India, which has recently been published, is on politics, economics and Government.
3. P C MAHALANOBIS (1893-1972) Prasanta Chandra belongs to a family which participated in the renaissance of Bengal in the nineteenth century. His grandfather founded along with others the Brahmo Samaj. His father Pramod Chandra was an active member of that organization. His mother Nirodbasini belonged to a family of academicians. Prasanta Chandra was born on June 29, 1893. Prasanta Chandra had his early schooling in Calcutta in 1908. He was graduated with honors from Presidency College, Calcutta in 1912 and went to England in 1913 and finished his study in Physics and Mathematics from King’s College. King’s College awarded him research Fellowship. He returned to India for a short vacation but he never went back. The war broke out and he stayed back and found a teaching job. While coming to India he brought with him Biometrica which gave a new direction to his life. He assisted Brojendranath seal and Annandale in their research project. He was invited to make a systematic study on the meteorological problems. This resulted in an important discovery by Mahalanobis that the region of highest control for changes in weather on the surface of the earth is located about 4 kilometers above sea-level. He was appointed Meteorologist in the Alipore Observatory and he held this post from 1922 to 1926. He undertook statistical studies in Agriculture At the request of the Indian Government, Mahalanobis undertook some work on prevention of floods in various regions of the country. His findings and
108 recommendations were accepted by the Government and resulted in alleviation of the problem of flooding to a large extent. Mahalanobis spent a few months in Karl Pearson's laboratory in London; He conducted many large scale surveys. He was elected Chairman of the United Nations Sub commission on Statistical Sampling in 1947, and held the post till 1951. Mahalanobis received the Weldon Medal from Oxford University in 1944 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, London, in 1945, for his fundamental contributions to Statistics, particularly in the area of large-scale sample surveys. He advocated that Statistics should be a part of the national planning. Mahalanobis believed that statistics should be an integral part of the dynamics of national planning. His dream came true when Indian Statistical Institute was declared an Institution of national importance in 1951. He collected great deal of statistics in the national sample survey in 1950 and provided statistics for social and economic growth. Mahalanobis became the Hon. President of the International Statistical Institute in 1957, and was elected a fellow of the American Statistical Association in 1961. Throughout his career he received many other academic Honours and awards. He received the highest national honor, Padma Vibhushan, from the President of India in 1968.
4. JAGADISH BHAGAVATI
Jagadish Bhagwati a prominent economist of Free-trade was born in 1934. He was a Professor of Economics at Columbia University. Bhagwati had previously served as an external advisor to the Director General of the Word Trade Organization in 2001, as a Special Political Advisor on globalization to the United Nations in 2000, and as an economics policy advisor to the Director-General of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariff from 1991 to 1993. Bhagwati was an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1968 to 1980. Bhagwati currently serves on the Academic Advisory Board of Human Rights Watch in Asia and also on the board of scholars of the Center for Civil Liberty. He is a Senior Fellow of the Council of Foreign affairs. In January, 2004, he published In Defense of Globalization, a book in which he argues "this process [of globalization] has a human face, but we need to make that face more agreeable." Bhagwati was one of the experts who took part in the Copenhagen consensus project in May 2004. He was conferred the
109 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in 2004. Bhagwati is married to Padma Desai, They have one daughter. His elder brother Justice P.N Bhagwati is a former Chief Justice of India and his niece Pallavi Shroff heads one of the India's largest law firms. He has written the following books . In Defense of Globalization, The Wind of the Hundred Days: How Washington Mismanaged Globalization, Etc.
CHAPTER 10
GREAT SCIENTISTS
1. JAGADEESH CHANDRA BOSE India has produced great scientists who have made valuable contribution to the field of Science. They include Sir C V Raman, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics; Vikram Sarabhai who as Chairman guided research on Atomic Energy; Homi Bhabha, the architect of Nuclear weapons in India; Dr. J C Bose, a great Biologist; Satwendernath Bose who worked with Robert Einstein and Madam Curie and P C Roy, a great scientist who started manufacturing medicines in India5. J C BOSE J C Bose the great biologist who set up his own laboratory and made remarkable discoveries. J.C. Bose informed the results of his research from Calcutta to the Royal Institution in London He proved that plants too have life and feelings. He did research on the life of plants. He was a great biologist and brought laurels to his country. He was from a great family who were known for piety and kindness. He led a simple life Jagadishchandra Bose was born on the 30th of November 1858 in Faridpur in Dacca District. Faridpur was a part of India until 1947; now it is in Bangla Desh. His mother Abala Bose was a soft and affectionate woman. His father Bhagawanchandra Bose was a man of excellent qualities and was the Deputy Magistrate of Faridpur. There was a servant who used to take Jagadishchandra to school every day. He had been a dacoit in the past. Bhagawanchandra Bose as a judge had sent him to prison. After some time the dacoit came out of prison. Bhagawanchandra employed him as a servant. J C Bose went to Calcutta at the age of 9 where he was admitted to St. Xavier School. He had to switch the medium of instruction to English
110 from Bengali. Then he studied B A with science subjects with Physics. He was interested in the study of Biology. By nineteen, Jagadishchandra was a Bachelor of Arts. He wanted to go to England for higher studies. His mother allowed him to go. She had saved some money. She also wanted to sell her jewels to meet the expenses of her son. Bhagwan Chandra Bose prevented her and he managed to find money on his own. At last Jagadish was on his way to England in 1880 at the age of 22. In London he first studied medicine. But he repeatedly fell ill. So he had to discontinue the course. He studied Natural Science in Christ Church College, Cambridge. It was necessary to learn Latin in order to study Natural Science and Jagadish had already learnt it. He passed the Tripos Examination with distinction. In addition to the Cambridge Tripos Examination, he passed the Bachelor of Science Examination of London University also. He returned to India and joined Presidency College at Calcutta where Indian teachers were paid one-third the salary of their British counter parts. Bose had worked on Morconi’s wireless but Marconi submitted it earlier. In the year 1896 Bose wrote a research article on electro-magnetic waves. This impressed the Royal Society of England. He was honored with the Degree of Doctor of Science. He needed money to continue his work. Bengal, his homeland, came forward to bear his expenses. Those were days when the British Government would not help an Indian to go abroad for studies. Bose had the honor of getting encouragement even from the British Government. Bose became famous in the world of science. After he lectured at the Royal Society, scientific associations in many other countries invited Jagadishchandra Bose. He visited France, Germany, America and Japan besides England. He lectured at several places and explained his discoveries. When electricity passes through a man, animal or plant, we say there is a 'shock'. When it is passed through a living being the being gets excited, 'irritated'. Bose developed an instrument that would show such a reaction of the organism on a graph. When electricity was passed through zinc, a non-living substance, a similar graph was obtained. So he came to the conclusion that living and non-living things were very similar in certain reactions. He did researches on electro-magnetism. Bose had invented many instruments. They have since been used by many industries. When he was offered money for these he did not accept it. He was very generous and noble; he felt that knowledge was not any one's personal property. He permitted any one the use of the fruits of his work.
111 The Davy-Faraday Research Institute is a very famous scientific institute for scientific research in England. This institute requested Jagadishchandra Bose to continue his research there. Jagadishchandra Bose continued his work and made new discoveries. He found that plants shrink a little during the night. He found out why plants always grow towards light even if they have to bend. He also found out the reason why some plants grow straight and some do not. He explained that this was due to the 'pulsation' in plants. This pulsation quickens by heat and slows down by cold in plants. Jagadishchandra Bose did remarkable work, - and scientists outside India had honored him. Yet there were people who opposed him. By this time Bose had made a name for himself as a great scientist. The instruments he had developed were being used in some Western countries too. He visited Europe and America in 1907 and 1914; scientific institutions invited him to explain his discoveries. He visited Japan also. The British Government honored him more than once. In 1915 when retired from service he was made an Emeritus Professor. He was to get Rs. 1500 a month as long as he lived. He was honored as a Fellow of the Royal Society (F.R.S) in 1920. In 1927 he presided over the Indian Science Congress. Bose had worked all along without the right Wind of scientific instruments and laboratory. For a long time he had been thinking of building a laboratory. The result was the 'Bose Research Institute' which is in Calcutta. Even now it is famous as a centre of research. He worked in this laboratory for 20 years, up to the very end of his life. He brought laurels to his motherland. His interests were many-sided. He was especially interested in literature and fine arts. The great poet Rabindranath Tagore and Jagadish Chandra Bose were very good friends. Bose, the great scientist, was also President of the Bengali Sahitya Parishad. Scientists of other countries praised Bose's important discoveries; Bose used to say, "The sages of India knew all this long ago". There were two other friends of his, two giants of the literary world. They were George Bernard Shaw, the English dramatist and Romaine Rolland, the French writer. Both of them dedicated one book each to Jagadishchandra Bose.
2. HOMI BHABHA
Homi Bhabha is the architect of nuclear science in India. He was born in Bombay on October 30, 1909. His father Jehangir Bhabha, once a student of Oxford University, was a reputed advocate and served the
112 Tata Enterprises. Meheran, Bhabha's mother, belonged to the petit family. His grandfather was an officer in the Education Department of former Mysore State. His parents took interest in shaping Bhabha's love of science. He was also provided with a small library. The library contained many science books. At the age of 15, Bhabha was able to read Einstein's book on Relativity. He could also digest the contents to some extent. Even as a boy Bhabha was a lover of Nature. He was deeply interested in painting, music and literature. He took full advantage of his good collection of books and records. But he was not much interested in sports. Bhabha was educated at the Cathedral and John Cannon High School. He was a merited student. At the age of 15, Bhabha passed the Senior Cambridge Examination. Later on he entered Elphinstone College and the Royal Institute of Science, Bombay. He continued his studies here for two years. Bhabha loved Physics. Mathematics was also his favorite subject. But his father wanted him to become an engineer. Bhabha respected the wishes of his father. He left India for Cambridge to study Engineering. Bhabha passed the Mechanical Engineering Tripos in the first class in 1930. He then pursued his studies in Theoretical Physics as a Research Scholar. During his stay in England and Europe, painting became his hobby. He visited many art galleries, museums, palaces and gardens. He never missed a good musical concert. Many of his paintings now grace the walls of art galleries in England. Devotion to art and the study of science went hand in hand in Bhabha's life. Bhabha was awarded the Rouse Ball Traveling Studentship for two years in 1932. He worked with W. Pouli in Zurich and Enrico Fermi in Rome. During this period he was awarded the Isaac Newton Fellowship in 1934 and the1851-Exhibition Studentship in 1936. Bhabha was fortunate to come into close contact with famous scientists like Rutherford, Dirac, Niels Bohr and Heitler. This association greatly influenced his research and way of life. Bhabha presented, with Heitler, the 'Cascade Theory of Electron Showers', in 1937. It is called the 'Bhabha-Heitler Cascade Theory'. It is a unique contribution to the world of Physics. This research brought fame to Bhabha. This theory explains the process of electron showers in cosmic rays. Bhabha recognized heavy electron particles in cosmic rays and called them 'Meson'. Bhabha's mastery of mathematics can be seen in the 'Classical Theory of Spinning Particles' which received wide recognition. Bhabha's original contributions to Physics lie in the fields of cosmic radiation, theory of elementary particles and quantum theory.
113 .Bhabha returned to India for a holiday in 1939. That was the time of the Second World War. Bhabha did not return to England and this was indeed fortunate for India. Bhabha decided to devote his life to the service of his motherland. In 1940 Bhabha joined the Indian Institute of Science as Reader in Theoretical Physics. He shouldered the responsibility of building a new department to undertake research on cosmic rays. In 1941 he was elected a member of the Royal Society. When this great distinction was conferred on Bhabha, he was just 31 years old. Not many have been so honored at such a young age by the Royal Society. Bhabha became a Professor in the Institute in 1942. The University of Cambridge also awarded the Adams Prize to him. The young Bhabha dreamt of the 'great adventure' of building a modern India. In the salubrious climate of Bangalore he studied the background of the great culture of India. He analyzed the socio- economic problems of the country. He was quite convinced that science was the only means for the progress of India. Bhabha had just come to Bangalore. He was asked to deliver a lecture. C. V. Raman presided over the program. Bhabha was invited to join the staff of Oxford University but he did not accept the invitation. He expressed his desire to build an excellent institution of research in India .The Tata Trust founded the - 'Tata Institute of Fundamental Research' in1945. The establishment of the Institute was mainly due to the initiative of Bhabha. The Bombay government and the Government of India gave financial support to the Institute. Bhabha was appointed its first Director, and he assumed the responsibility of shaping the Institute. India thus took the first step on the journey of nuclear science. The Institute first commenced its work in the rented premises at Peddar Road. Later it moved to the extension at the Yatch Club. It is now situated in a beautifully proportioned building. Research work is in pure mathematics, theoretical and applied Physics, Computer Technology and Geophysics. The study of the principles of atomic explosion, the production of isotopes and the purification of uranium formed part of the work of the Institute. Thus Bhabha created an intellectual environment in India. He was successful in practicing what he had learnt at Cambridge and Paris. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research is an outcome of the discussion that Bhabha had with the industrialist J. R. D. Tata, and the far-sighted decision of the Tata Trust to support Bhabha's Project. The hills of Trombay have today blossomed into a fine research complex. The Institute is one of the world's top research centers in nuclear research. It enjoys a great reputation and can be compared with any research institute in developed countries. Thanks to the guidance and
114 tireless efforts of Homi Bhabha the Institute is indeed a symbol of scientific tradition in India. It is Bhabha's contribution to the country's advancement of science and technology. India got independence on August 15, 1947. Eleven days later, on August 26, 1947, Bhabha addressed the Atomic Energy Research Committee as follows: "We meet today at the beginning of a new era in our history. We have great hopes that this new era will be a glorious one. The development and use of atomic energy is a question of national importance. We hope to establish soon an Atomic Research Center comparable with those in the most advanced countries." A year later, the Atomic Energy Commission was formed. Bhabha was appointed Chairman of the Commission. The major responsibilities of the Commission were: a survey of Indian soil for the materials required for nuclear research, the construction of atomic reactors, the purification of atomic materials, conducting fundamental research and the formulation of training program. The Commission utilized the services of scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. The scope of the work of the Commission was enlarged. The Atomic Energy program took a concrete shape. The Department of Atomic Energy thus came into existence as a separate department of the Government of India in 1954, under the direct control of Prime Minister Nehru. Bhabha became the Ex-officio Secretary of the Department. Shortly after the formation of the Department of Atomic Energy, it was decided to create the Atomic Energy Establishment for application of atomic energy to peaceful purposes. Bhabha became its first Director. The Establishment was formally inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru on January 20, 1957. Thus India began to win new laurels for the study of atomic energy. Bhabha worked ceaselessly and enriched the sphere of science in the country. Through out his directorship, he emphasized indigenous know-how to make the country self-reliant in the nuclear field. J. R. D. Tata and Jawaharlal Nehru gave support and encouragement to Bhabha in his work. Pandit Nehru very much appreciated the efficiency, farsightedness and patriotism of Bhabha. Bhabha was very close to Nehru and enjoyed his confidence. As a result, Bhabha got considerable freedom to carry on his work with ease and efficiency. Bhabha framed administrative rules to suit the tempo, of scientific activity. He helped to get rid of lethargy and bureaucratic red-tapes which were obstacles to the progress of science. One of Bhabha's achievements was that he persuaded the Government to take greater
115 interest in technology. Bhabha worked very hard for the development of Trombay Institute. His time and energy were entirely devoted to the Institute. Reactors like Apsara, uranium and zirconium plants, the Van de Graff and cyclotron equipment - all are the gifts of Dr. Bhabha. Top priority is given to research relating to the application of radiation to preserve perishable food and protect it from the attacks of parasites. This work has made it possible to preserve fish, fruits, vegetables and other edible products for a long time. The process of curing seeds for better yields is also being studied. A seismic array station has been set up at Gauribidnur, about 80 kilometers from Bangalore, to detect earthquakes and underground nuclear explosions. The consumption of energy in the world is on the increase. Naturally available resources of energy like coal and oil are on the decrease. Added to this, there is shortage of hydel energy in certain places. Realizing this, Bhabha declared that atomic energy is the only foundation for the progress of industries in India. He suggested that producing electricity could affect economy by nuclear methods. Bhabha gave generous assistance to a number of centers of science. The Saha Atomic Research Center (Calcutta), the Physical Research Laboratory (Ahmedabad) and other laboratories got assistance from the Department of Atomic Energy. The Tumba Rocket Launching Station of Kerala, the High Altitude Research Center of Kashmir, the Uranium Mine of Bihar and the Heavy Water Plant of Nungal are also the undertakings of the Atomic Energy Establishment. Bhabha gave necessary attention to the advancement of fundamental science. He had close contact with the universities and research laboratories in India and abroad. He offered facilities, like scholarships, grants and equipment to institutions, which needed them. He thus promoted the cause of research in basic -science. On May 18, 1974, India conducted its first nuclear explosion for peaceful purposes, at Pokran in, Rajasthan and joined the galaxy of nations with atomic energy. It thus became the world's sixth nuclear power. The other five countries with the nuclear know-how are America, Russia, Britain, France and China. India’s explosion of a nuclear device is a great milestone in the path of technological progress. This achievement was based entirely on Indian effort. The success of this achievement is due mainly to Bhabha who put India on the world map of nuclear science. Bhabha was a recipient of many honors. He was awarded honorary doctorates by several Indian and foreign universities. Among these universities are London, Cambridge, Padova, Perth, Banaras, Agra, Patna, Lucknow, Allahabad, Andhra and Aligarh. In 1948 he received
116 the Hopkins Prize of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. He was elected the President of the Indian Science Congress in 1951. In 1954 the President of India gave him the Padma Bhushan award for his outstanding contribution to nuclear science. In 1963 he was elected as the President of the National Institute of Sciences of India. He was an honorary fellow of many earned institutions. Laurels came to Bhabha from all corners of the world throughout his lifetime. Bhabha was a member of many scientific advisory committees of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He also served as the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee to advise the Government of India. In 1955 Bhabha was elected as the President of the first International Conference on the 'Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy', organized by the United Nations at Geneva. The conference was another step in international cooperation. Bhabha was the first to advocate, from international forums, the peaceful uses of atomic energy. Bhabha was going to attend an international conference. He was on a mission of peace. The Air India Boeing 707 'Kanchenjunga’, in which Bhabha was traveling, crashed in a snowstorm on January 24, 1966 at Mount Blanc. Bhabha thus met with a tragic end. He died comparatively young and at the height of his fame. It was a loss too deep for tears. In the death of Dr. Bhabha India lost an eminent scientist and one of her great sons. Bhabha had disliked the practice of stopping work when some one passed away. He considered that the best homage was hard work. When the members of the staff at Trombay heard the news of Dr. Bhabha's death, they worked as usual and thus paid their respect to their departed leader. As a tribute to Dr. Bhabha, the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay, was renamed as the Bhabha Atomic Research Center, on January 12, 1967.
3. VIKRAM SARABHAI
In 1966, Vikram Sarabhai succeeded Dr. Bhabha as the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Vikram Sarabhai was born in one of the Sarabhai families of Ahmedabad on August 12, 1919 to Ambalal and Sarala Devi. They had eight children. There were thirteen teachers in the school for teaching eight children of the Sarabhai family. Of these, three were PhDs, trained in Europe and three, ordinary graduates two from Andhra and Bengal for teaching. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore him- self selected an artiste to teach dancing. The children
117 studied in this school up to matriculation and went to government schools for their Matriculation Examination. Rabindranath Tagore, J. Krishna Murthi, Motilal Nehru, V. S. nivasa Shastri, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Maulana Azad, C. F. Andrews, C. V. Raman and such great men used to stay with the Sarabhai family when they visited Ahmedabad. The greatest of them all, Mahatma Gandhi also stayed in their house while recovering from an illness. There is no doubt that this close contact with such great men deeply influenced young Vikram. His teacher, Badami, has said, “I never saw Vikram lose his temper and shout at people." After completing his college education Vikram Sarabhai went to England to continue his studies at Cambridge University. In 1939, when Vikram was only twenty, he passed the Tripos Examination in Physical Sciences. The Second World War broke out in 1939 and Vikram returned to India. Right from his boyhood, Vikram had great love for physics. During the forties, the most famous center for scientific research in India was the Indian Institute of science (the Tata Institute) at Bangalore. Its Physics Department was headed by the world-famous scientist, Dr. C. V. Raman. When Sarabhai returned to India, he came down to Bangalore to carry on research under Dr. C. V. Raman. The famous Dr. Homi Jahangir Bhabha was also engaged in research at the institute that time. Vikram Sarabhai conducted research on the changes in the intensity of cosmic rays. His very first scientific paper was on the periodical variation of the intensity of cosmic rays' It was published (1942) in Bangalore in a scientific journal. This research helped him later to take up the studies of interplanetary space (space between planets), the relationship between the sun and the earth and earth magnetism. During this period, he did research for sometime at the Poona Central Meteorological Station. In 1945, the Second World War ended. Sarabhai again went to Cambridge to continue his study of cosmic rays. In 1947 he got his Ph.D. for this work. Although Sarabhai went to Cambridge in 1945, he had started his work for the Ph.D. Degree in 1942. His family used to go to Kashmir every summer. Vikram would carry his cosmic ray research equipment to Kashmir and continue his research for his PhD After he returned from Cambridge, he established the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad. A scientist by name Dr. K. R. Ramanathan was appointed as its first Director in 1948. Sarabhai maintained close contact with this Institute till his end. At first he was Professor of cosmic ray research; from 1965 he worked as the Director. This Institute sponsored a cosmic ray research center in 1955 at Gulmarg, in Kashmir. The Government
118 established a full-fledged High Altitude Research Center at the same place -the only research center ' in the world to be set up at such a high altitude. At last, Sarabhai's long dream became a reality. Later on, similar centers were opened at Kodaikanal in Tamilnadu and at Trivandrum in Kerala. Vikram Sarabhai established centers for scientific research in several places from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and has left his footprints there. Dr. Homi Bhabha, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, died in 1966. He was a very capable man. Many thought no one in India could replace him. In this depressing atmosphere they asked Vikram Sarabhai to continue Bhabha's work at the Atomic Energy Commission. He did his work quite ably and showed his capacity to direct the work of the Commission. On 29th December 1971, Sarabhai died at a young age of 52. Vikram Sarabhai had married the famous dancer Mrinalini Swaminathan in 1942. They had a son, Karthikeya and a daughter, Mallika.
Vikram Sarabhai was one of the leading scientists engaged in space research. During his studies on cosmic rays he discovered that the intensity of the cosmic rays changes twice a day. This discovery helped to understand the nature of inter- planetary space and its electro- magnetic properties. He did research on atomic power. Sarabhai was a genius. His fame had spread for and wide even when the study of atomic energy was still in its early stages, Dr. Homi Bhabha dreamt a dream. He dreamt of an India, which did not depend on foreign countries for experts. He wanted India to have her own specialists in every field. For this purpose, he established several organizations and research institutes. Vikram Sarabhai also had his dream. That was to use atomic energy for a variety of purposes - for the development of agriculture and industry, for communication satellites, for national integration and the promotion of literacy, for weather forecast and for exploration of mineral wealth etc. To his last breath he worked for the realization of this dream.
4. SATHYENDRA BOSE
Sathyandranath Bose was a renowned scientist in Physics who worked with Albert Einstein and Madame Curie. He was also a veteran teacher revered by his students for his affection, discipline and methodical work. Einstein and Madame Curie are among the world's great scientists. Bose worked with them. Sathyandranath Bose was born on the first of January 1894 in Calcutta. Surendranath was his father. He was employed in the Engineering
119 Department of the East India Railways. Sathyandranath was the eldest of his seven children; the rest were all daughters. Though Surendranath Bose lost his wife at an early age, without losing heart, he brought up his children well. It is said that, when Sathyen was hardly three years old, a Bengali astrologer made this prediction: "This child will face many obstacles all through his life; nevertheless he will overcome them with his exceptional intelligence and attain great fame." The father took a special interest in his son's progress. Though he had seven children he took care to see that nothing came in the way of the boy's education. As days passed, a thorough change came about in Sathyandranath. By his own effort he stood first throughout his academic career. Because of his love for and interest in Science he did much research. He earned a name both at home and abroad. Surendranath heart was filled with joy when Sathyen earned honor after honor. Surendranath lived up to the ripe old age of 96 enjoying the glory of his son. Amodini was Sathyandranath mother. She passed away in 1939. In his school days, Sathyendranath had come to be recognized as an intelligent student. Young Sathyen loved to improvise apparatus for his experiments. Sathyendranath joined Presidency College of Calcutta for higher studies. At the age of nineteen, Bose became a graduate. On the 5th of May 1914, at the age of twenty, he married Usha Devi. The next year, he completed his post graduation, getting the M Sc. degree. In all the examinations - the Intermediate, the B.Sc. and the M Sc. examinations - he annexed the first rank. In 1915, several young men who had secured the Master's Degree pressed for the opening of the post graduate courses in Modern Physics and Modern Mathematics in Calcutta University. Among them were Meghnad Saha, Jnanachandra Ghosh, and Sathyendranath Bose. In 1916, the University started M Sc. classes in Modern Mathematics and Modern Physics. M. N. Saha, J. C. Ghosh and S. N. Bose were all appointed as lecturers. Thus, Bose started his career in 1916 as a Lecturer in Physics in Calcutta University. He served this University for five years from 1916 to 1921. During this time, his friends and colleagues recognized his exceptional talent. But when he won worldwide fame he was no longer in this University. He joined Dacca University in 1921 as a Reader in Physics. While serving in this post he wrote a short article of just six pages in English. It was an article relating to physics, on 'Max Planck's Law' and 'Light Quantum Hypothesis'. This article was sent to Albert Einstein. He had not only won the Nobel Prize but was one of the world's greatest scientists in the twentieth century. The learned professor read the article. This little article brought about a great change in the life of
120 Sathyendranath. When he wrote it he had not yet made a name. He was as just an M Sc. The university, which had employed him was an infant one and was little known. But this article attracted by Albert Einstein. He appreciated it so much that he himself translated it into German and sent it for publication to a famous periodical in Germany -'Zeitschrift fur Physik'. He also explained at length the significance of the subject matter of the article and the great possibilities the article indicated. At that time he had only a Master's degree in Science and had no higher academic qualification. Yet the University readily gave him the money for a tour of Europe. Bose first visited Paris in 1924. He stayed there for a year. He conducted research in the Madame Curie Laboratory, which had special facilities. Here he became acquainted with several physicists. The next year, he left Paris for Berlin to join Einstein and work with him. There he came into close contact with noted scientists like Schroedinger and Heisenberg. He participated in all the meetings and discussions held there. While Bose was in Berlin, the post of a professor fell vacant in Dacca University. J. C. Ghosh and other friends persuaded him to apply for the post. Bose had not yet got his doctorate. It was, therefore, difficult for him to secure the professorship. A recommendation from Albert Einstein to select him would have made things easy for him. So, with great hesitation, Bose approached Einstein. Einstein was surprised. He said, "You are so proficient in you’re subject. Is their need for any other certificate or recommendation?" He wrote a letter to the authorities of Dacca University in which he said, "Can you find another scientist as proficient as Sathyendranath? He is quite fit for the post." It had the desired effect. In 1926, Sathyendranath Bose was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Physics. Bose served in Dacca University nearly twenty-five years as Professor. In 1944, when he was the Head of the Science Section in Dacca University, Bose was chosen as the General President of the thirty-first session of the Science Congress. In 1945, he was appointed as Khaira Professor of Physics in Calcutta University. He retired from Calcutta University in 1956. The University honored him on his retirement by appointing him as Emeritus Professor. Later he became the Vice-Chancellor of the Visvabharati University. In 1958, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, London. This was indeed, a very great honor. On being appointed a National Professor in 1958 he left the Visvabharati University. He represented India on many International Committees.
The scope of his research was vast and varied. His main field of work was mathematical physics. His achievements in many other fields were
121 also considerable. His first article on theoretical physics was on 'Equation of State’ based on research conducted and published jointly with Meghnad Saha. Incorporating the Theory of Relativity propounded by Albert Einstein, this equation explained many aspects of the pressure, cubic measure and temperature of gases. This article was published in the 'Philosophical Magazine' in 1918. Scientists now refer to it merely as the 'Saha-Bose Equation'. The article entitled 'Stress Equation of Equilibrium' was published in 1919 in the popular Bulletin of the Calcutta Mathematical Society. Another article with the title 'Herpolhode' was published in the same periodical in 1920. His other article on Rydberg's Principle was also published in the Philosophical Magazine. He enunciated many new theorems in Geometry. Bose's original approach struck Einstein. Later Einstein systematically adapted Bose's approach in his own work. That is why the particular field of Bose's research has come to be known as 'Bose-Einstein Statistics'. Of late it has come to be known merely as 'Bose Statistics'. Several scientists published papers based on Bose's brief article. Discussions were also held. Bose sent another article in 1926 to Einstein relating to the same topic. Einstein translated this article into German but also expressed some doubts and points of disagreement. Sathyendranath Bose, therefore, got an opportunity to meet Einstein and substantiate his argument. For about six months he stayed in Berlin holding discussions with great scientists and convincing them of his point of view. Quantum Statistics, a well-known branch of science today, was yet to see the light of day. Bose's theoretical exposition developed this branch. Quantum Statistics has enabled scientists to solve several problems scientifically and by cogent reasoning. Bose sent another paper to Albert Einstein. The distinguished scientist was at a loss to understand how the solution offered by Bose could be used in physics. He published an article giving expression to his doubts. Bose felt it would be more appropriate to meet the great scientist Einstein and discuss the paper with him than to correspond with him. While he was still planning a visit the news of the sudden death of Einstein stunned him. Bose had taken Einstein as his 'Guru' (the master). Bose tried his best to confine himself to the scientific field. But he soon realized that in this country, to work for the progress of science entry into politics was inevitable. So he was compelled to enter politics. He became a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1952. He utilized this opportunity to work for the benefit of both science and society. His fight in the political arena was of immense benefit to
122 science and society. He worked untiringly in the political field from 1952 to 1958. Within a few days after he completed 80, Bose suffered an unexpected and a severe heart attack. He lay ill for some time and breathed his last February 4 1974.The death of Bose was a great loss not only to India but also to the whole world and especially to the world of science. Bose left behind his wife, two sons and five daughters.
5. PROFUL CHANDRA ROY13
Prafulla Chndra was an Indian scientist who won fame in many countries. Eighty years ago he began to manufacture medicines at home to prevent foreign companies from exploiting Indian market. As a great teacher he gave his salary to students who were interested in the study of Science. He was a Professor of Chemistry. As scientist he won international acclaim. His dwelling was a simple room on the first floor of the college in which he was teaching; his household consisted of students who could not afford to stay elsewhere. He gave his salary in donation to the department of Chemistry for its development and as scholarship to the needy students. Such was the Scientist-Professor Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray. At the Metropolitan Institute, Prafulla Chandra came under the influence of great teachers like Surendranath Banerjee and Prasannakumar Lahiri. They instilled in him a burning desire to achieve freedom of India and to improve living condition of the people. While pursuing his studies in the Metropolitan Institute, Prafulla Chandra used to attend lectures by Alexander Pedlar on Chemistry, in the Presidency College. His lectures influenced Prafulla Chandra to take up Chemistry for his higher studies in B.A., although his first love was literature. However, he continued to take interest in literature, and taught himself Latin and French at home. Sanskrit was compulsory in the college. Thus, he learnt several languages very well. The London University used to conduct competitive examinations in those days for the ‘Gilchrist Prize Scholarship’. The successful candidate could go abroad for higher studies. He won the competition. Prafulla Chandra now decided to go abroad. In 1882 Prafulla Chandra left for Britain. In 1885 the University of Edinburgh announced that a prize would be awarded to the best writer of an article on 'India before and after the Mutiny'. Prafulla Chandra at once decided to compete. He
13 Calcuttaweb.com
123 plunged into a deep study of the historical, political and economic conditions of India during this period. He studied all available authentic records and writings on the subject. The article was submitted for the prize. The results were announced. The prize went to another student, but the judges considered Prafulla Chandra's article as an essay of a very high standard. Sir William Muir, the Principal, praised Prafulla Chandra's essay in his inaugural address delivered to the students of the University. The article was full of criticism of the British rule in India, but also had a touch of humor. Prafulla Chandra got his essay back from the University and got it printed for private circulation amongst his fellow students and the general public. He appealed to them for help in the task of liberating India. A copy of this was sent to the great parliamentarian, John Bright, who was regarded as a friend of India. Bright sent a very sympathetic reply and authorized Prafulla Chandra to use the same in any way he liked. Prafulla Chandra lost no time in sending a copy of Bright's letter to the 'London Times' and other leading daily papers of the United Kingdom. One morning these papers came out with the headline 'John Bright's letter to an Indian student'. This made Prafulla Chandra famous. Even as a student he tried to make Englishmen in England understand what India suffered in slavery. Prafulla Chandra took the B.Sc. degree in 1885. After this he did research in Chemistry for the D.Sc. degree. In 1887 he was awarded this degree on the basis of a thesis on the results of his original work. He was only 27 years old at the time. He received the Hope Prize Scholarship of the University, which enabled him to continue his work in the University for another year. His income was very small during the time he stayed in Edinburgh. But since his needs were very simple, he managed with this. He was living with another Bengali student, and himself prepared his food. Prafulla Chandra was born on 2nd August 1861 in Raruli-Katipara, a village in the District of Khulna (now in Bangla Desh). His father, Harish Chandra Ray, a landlord with liberal views belonged to a wealthy cultured family. His great grand- father Maneklal Ray a Dewan of the Collector of Krishna agar. He earned plenty of money. Every now and then he used to send home the East India Company's 'sikka' rupees in big earthen pots. He would cover them with some sweets to avoid the suspicion of dacoits. Prafulla Chandra's grandfather Anandlal Ray was Sharisthadar of Jessore and added considerably to the family estates. Prafulla Chandra's father Harish Chandra was well versed in Sanskrit, Persian and English languages and acquired a great reputation for his
124 learning, eloquence and social activities. He loved music and could play on the violin with much skill. He placed great value on education. Prafulla Chandra's early education started in his father's village school. But he often stayed away from school. His teacher, while making a search for the truant in almost every house in the village, would find the culprit resting comfortably on the branch of a tree, hidden under its leaves! In 1870 Harish Chandra moved his family to Calcutta so that his sons could have higher education. Here, Prafulla Chandra was admitted to the Hare School. He took a great interest in books and read a vast number of them. But a severe attack of dysentery forced him to leave the school. The disease was slowly overcome, but it permanently injured his health; he became a life-long sufferer from chronic indigestion and sleeplessness. In his later days he sometimes thought of this as a blessing in disguise. For the rest of his life he was very strict about his food; and he had regular exercises. Prafulla was now free from the tyranny of the dreary school routine; so he found time to satisfy his passion for the study of English and Bengali literatures. When he was barely ten years old, he learnt Latin and Greek He also studied the history of England, Rome and Spain. Two years later, Prafulla Chandra resumed his studies and in 1874 joined the Albert School. He liked the attitude of the teachers of this school and their method of teaching. The teachers in their turn were very much impressed by his knowledge of English literature and other subjects. They were hopeful of his brilliant success in the examinations. But Prafulla Chandra suddenly left for his village without taking examination. He still had a secret desire to return to the Hare School. But if he sat for the examinations He was sure to win prizes. Then it would be unfair to leave the Albert School. So he left that school before the examinations. In the village he mixed with the simple villagers and shared their joys and sorrows. He helped them in many ways. Prafulla Chandra, however, returned to Calcutta in 1876 and resumed his studies at the Albert School. His affectionate teachers made him agree not to leave the school to go back to the Hare School. This time Prafulla Chandra worked hard and got the first place in the examinations. He won a number of prizes. In 1879 he passed the Entrance Examination and joined the Metropolitan Institute (now called Vidyasagar College). Harish Chandra's financial position was bad. It grew worse and worse. He was forced to sell the ancestral property, to pay his creditors. To
125 save money, he shifted his family back to Raruli. The sons lived in rooms in Calcutta. He started the Bengal Chemical and pharmaceutical Works. Soon his father died in1894 Dr Amulya Charan Bose, a medical practitioner, helped him at that juncture. He himself helped to start many Textile Industries. In 1901 he met Gandhi. In 1904 Prafulla Chandra proceeded to Europe on a study tour and visited many famous chemical laboratories. In England, Germany, France and other European countries, he was welcomed by scientists at universities and research institutions. He had useful discussions with them. They praised his famous work on Mercurous Nitrite, Ammonium Nitrite etc. Some universities conferred honorary Doctorates on him. He made the acquaintance of famous scientists like William Ramsay, James Dewar, Perkin, Van't Hoff and Berthelot. In 1912 Prafulla Chandra visited London again to represent the University of Calcutta at the Congress of the Universities of the British Empire. He delivered speeches at the Congress and later before the Chemical Society. Sir William Ramsay congratulated him on his fine work. Prafulla Chandra did not rest content with giving such advice. He worked hard to practice it. In 1916 he retired from the Presidency College. Sir Asutosh Mukherjee, the vice-chancellor of Calcutta University, appointed him as professor of Chemistry at the University Science College. Here Prafulla Chandra trained many talented students and with them made famous discoveries. The University Science College had been started just then. Facilities for experiments were very meager. Hence it became difficult to do advanced work. According to the rules of the college, all the Professors had to be Indians. Perhaps because of this the British Government did not make adequate grants to the college. However, Prafulla Chandra and his students used whatever facilities were available and did remarkable work. And soon the college became very famous. Prafulla Chandra worked in this college for twenty years. He remained a bachelor all his life. All these twenty years he lived in a simple room on the first floor of the college. Some of his students who were poor and could not live anywhere else shared his room. In 1936, when he was 75 years old, he retired from the Professorship. In 1921 when Prafulla Chandra reached 60 years he donated, in advance, all his salary for the rest of his service in the University to the development of the Department of Chemistry and to the creation of two research fellowships. The value of this endowment was about two lake rupees. In addition, he gave ten thousand rupees for an annual research
126 prize in Chemistry named after the great Indian Chemist Nagarjuna and another ten thousand for a research prize in Biology named after Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee. In recognition of Prafulla Chandra's great work he was elected President of Indian Science Congress and Indian Chemical Society more than once. Many Indian and Western Universities conferred honorary doctorates on him. In 1888 Prafulla Chandra returned to India. He had obtained letters of introduction from his Principal and Professors. It was his hope that with their aid he would be able to get a good position in the education department. But in those days all the high places in this department were reserved for Englishmen. Though Prafulla Chandra had a Doctorate in Science, it became difficult for him to receive recognition in his own country. For about a year he spent his time working with his famous friend Jagadish Chandra Bose in his laboratory. In 1889 Prafulla Chandra was appointed as Assistant Professor of 4 Chemistry in the Presidency College at Calcutta. His salary was only Rs.250 a month. But he was quite satisfied with his work. He started teaching very enthusiastically. He soon earned a great reputation as a successful and inspiring teacher. With the help of experiments, and with instances from everyday life, he made his lectures easy to follow. His lectures glowed with spicy humor and wit. He would recite poems of Rabindranath Tagore and quote slokas from 'Rasa Ratnakara', a book written by the ancient Indian Chemist Nagarjuna. To demonstrate that, on burning, a bone becomes pure Calcium Phosphate, free from all animal matter, he would put a pinch of the ashes into his mouth! Prafulla Chandra was never tired of saying that the progress of India could be achieved only by industrialization. He advocated the use of the mother - tongue as the medium of instruction in schools. For this, he began to write science texts-books in Bengali. He used to tell the story of the famous Russian Chemist Mendeleef, who is famous for his Periodic Law. He first published the results of his work in the Russian language. This compelled the scientists of other nations to learn Russian in order to know his important discovery. If we develop new knowledge, people of other countries will be forced to learn our languages. In 1888 Prafulla Chandra returned to India. He had obtained letters of introduction from his Principal and Professors. It was his hope that with their aid he would be able to get a good position in the education department. But in those days all the high places in this department were reserved for Englishmen. Though Prafulla Chandra had a Doctorate in Science, it became difficult for him to receive recognition
127 in his own country. For about a year he spent his time working with his famous friend Jagadish Chandra Bose in his laboratory. In 1889 Prafulla Chandra was appointed as Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the Presidency College at Calcutta. His salary was only Rs.250 a month. But he was quite satisfied with his work. He started teaching very enthusiastically. He soon earned a great reputation as a successful and inspiring teacher. With the help of experiments, and with instances from everyday life, he made his lectures easy to follow. His lectures glowed with spicy humor and wit. He would recite poems of Rabindranath Tagore and quote slokas from 'Rasa Ratnakara', a book written by the ancient Indian Chemist Nagarjuna. To demonstrate that, on burning, a bone becomes pure Calcium Phosphate, free from all animal matter, he would put a pinch of the ashes into his mouth! Prafulla Chandra was never tired of saying that the progress of India could be achieved only by industrialization. He advocated the use of the mother-tongue as the medium of instruction in schools. For this, he began to write science texts-books in Bengali.
SIR MOKSHAGUNDAM VISHWESWARIAH,
A GREAT ENGINEER September 15, 1860–April 12, 1962,
Vishweshwariah was an eminent Engineer and a great Statesman of India. He passed a degree in Engineering and joined the Department of Public Works in Bombay and later served on Indian irrigation Commission. Sir M.V. was born to Srinivasa Shastri and Venkachamma at Muddenahalli village in the Kolar district of present-day Karnataka. His father Srinivasa Shastri was a Sanskrit scholar and anAyurvedic practitioner. He belonged to a Telagu speaking Smartha Brahmin family. His ancestors hailed from Mokhagundam near Giddalur in Prakasam district of Andhra and migrated to Karnataka. Vishweshwariah lost his father at the age of 15 and moved back to Muddenahalli immediately thereafter. He attended primary school at Chikkaballapur and high school at Bangalore. He passed B.A. from Madras University in 1881 and later studied civil engineering in the College of Science at Pune. He implemented a new irrigation system with automatic wire water floodgates in Kadakvasla as early as 1903 near Pune. The same system was installed at the Tigra Dam in Gwalior and in constructing Krishna raja Sagar dam near Mysore. Vishweswariah became a reputed
128 personality when he designed the flood protection system in Hyderabad. He also prevented Vishakapatnam port from sea erosion. He supervised the construction of the KRS dam from the stage of conception to its inauguration. This dam created the biggest reservoir in Asia at the time it was built. He was called the "father of modern Mysore State. He built power generation system at Shivasamuram near Mysore in 1894. He founded Mysore soap factory, the Parasitoide laboratory, the Bhadravati steel factory, the SJP polytechnique, the Bangalore Agricultural University, the State Bank of Mysore, the Mysore sugar mills and a number of other industrial undertakings. In 1908, Vishweshwariah was appointed the Dewan of Mysore. With the support of Krishna Raja Wodeyar, the Maharaja of Mysore, Vishweshwariah made great contribution for the development of Mysore as the Dewan. He constructed Steel Mills at Bhadravati and established the University of Mysore at Mysore and the Engineering College at Bangalore. He was awarded Bharat Ratna Medal for his service to the country. British Queen honored him with Knighthood. He was made honorary member of London Institution of Civil Engineering. Many universities awarded him honorary degrees. He was given fellowship of the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore. He was buried on the family-owned land at Muddenahalli in the back drop of the Nandi Hills.
CHAPTER 11
INDIAN BILLIONAIRES
Here is the list of Forbes Asia which gives a brief sketch of biography and profiles of Indian Billionaires. The entrant to this list needs more than 590 million net worth as against 305 millions worth in the previous list. The group’s collective worth has risen to 106 billion this year. India has lead over China in terms of net worth of rich people. India has 27 Billionaires while China has 10 although china has more population than India. India has 3.3 trillion GDP while China has a GDP of approximately 7.3 trillion; and the growth of India is 7.3% while china has a growth rate of 9.5%. India's wealthiest citizen is again steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who resides in London. Seven newcomers join the ranks, including four who took their companies public in 2005. They include former airline agent Naresh Goyal, who runs Jet Airways, the country's leading domestic
129 airline; Anurag Dikshit and Vikrant Bhargava, executives at Internet casino outfit Party Gaming; and Tulsi Tanti, who built Asia's largest wind farm. Forbes has also added two low-profile, privately held fortunes: Kushal Pal Singh, whose DLF group is India's biggest real estate developer; and Indu Jain, the matriarch of India's most powerful media house, Bennett, Coleman.. Pharmaceutical tycoons didn't do quite so well. While seven returned to the list, three--Dr. Reddy's Laboratories' Anji Reddy, Zydus Cadila's Pankaj Patel and Lupin's Desh Bandhu Gupta--dropped off because their stocks underperformed India's red-hot stock market. According to Forbes.com, there are 793 rich people around the world whose net worth exceeds one billion dollars, totaling 3.3 trillions. Of these twenty people are from India. There names appears in the order of their rank. They are Azim Premji, Mukesh Ambani, Anil ambani, Kushal pal singh, Sunil Mittal, Kumar Birla, Shiv Nadar, pollanji Mistry, Ravi and Shashi Ruia, Adi Godrej and family, Indu Jain, Dilip Shanghvi, Baba Kalyani, Tulsi Kanti, Narayana Murthy N R, Uday Kotak, Subhas Chandra, Vijay Mallya and Habil Khorakiwala and Anurag Dikshit. Lakshmi Mittal and Hinduja Brothers are also among the top rich people Others in the list include Malvinder and Shivinder Singh of Ranboxy, Anil aggrawal of Sterlite, Om Prakash Jindal of Jindal group, Rahul Bajaj of Bajaj Auto, Yusuf Hamid of Cipla, Brij Mohanlal Munjal of Hero group, Vivek Burman of Dabur, Nandan Nilekani of Infosys, S Gopalakrishnan of Infosys, N S Raghavan of Infosys, Narendra Patni of Patni computers, Ajay Piramal of Nicholas Piramal, Pankaj Patel of Zydus Cadilla, Ramalinga Raju of Sathyam computers, Kiran Mujumdar of Biocon, KarsonBhai Patel of Nirma, K Dinesh of Infosys, S D Shibulal of Infosys, Anji Reddy of Dr. Reddy Lab, Narotham Seksaria of Gujarat Ambuja, Jayaprakash Gour of Jayaprakash Industries, Shyam and Hari Bhatia of Jubillent Oregano, Keshub Mahendra of Mahendra and Mahendra, Desh Bandhu of Lupin Lab.
1. AZIM PREMJI
WIPRO
Azim Premji is sixty years old. He was born on July 24, 1945. He made fortune out of his own effort. He is worth 13.3 billion dollars. He is an Indian citizen residing at Bangalore. He runs the world renowned
130 Information Techology industry called WIPRO Technologies. He was rated as the richest person by Forbes from 1999 to 2005. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, USA. He could not study further because his father died and the task of running the family business fell on him. He is married and has two children. He owns 82% of the shares in WIPRO. He is India’s third largest software exporter. He has cMango in California and mPower in New Jersey. He was conferred Hon. Doctorate by Manipal academy. He was adjudged best businessman of the year 2000 by Business India. He is a member of the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee for Information Technology in India. Wipro was manufacturing hydrogenated oil in the beginning. It expanded its business into Software Technology. It is now ranked as one of the 100 top technology companies exceeding a turn of 1.4 billion USD. In 2000, he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world by Asia week. He was also among the 50 richest people in the world from 2001 to 2003 according to Forbes. According to a 2003 BBC report, he is "regarded as an Indian Bill Gates". In April 2004, he was rated among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. His assets include 84% holding in Wipro Technologies. In 2005, Premji was awarded the Padma Bhushan. He has set up Philanthropic organization called Azim Foundation. He has provided the required finances to the foundation. It believes that education is the vital element in the development and progress of our nation. Azim Premji Foundation says it "dedicates itself to the cause of Universalization of Elementary Education in India." It also runs a newsletter called Learning Curve. The foundation has produced 70 CD master titles. It has also produced CD in reginal languages.
2. MUKESH AMBANI
RELIANCE
Mukhesh ambani is the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries. It is the largest private sector company. Mukesh Ambani is aged 48 years, who has inherited huge wealth from his ancestor. He is engaged in Petro chemical Industry. He is worth 8.5 billion dollars. He is an Indian citizen who has manufacturing industries called Reliance. He is a Bachelor of Arts from Bombay and an MBA from Stanford. He is married having three children. He is running a business which has a sale of 16.5 billion dollars.
131 Mukhesh ambani was the first son of Dhirubhai ambani, the founder of the Reliance Industries. Dirubhai died in 2002 and his wealth is now shared by him along with his younger brother Anil Ambani. His wealth is estimated to be 6.4 billion dollars. He was born in Aden, Yemen on April 19, 1957. His father’s full name was Dhirubhai Hirachand Ambani. His mother’s name is Kokilaben He has a Chemical Engineering degree from Bombay and Master’s degree from Stanford University. He joined Reliance Industries in 1981. He established Reliance Petrochemicals at Jamnagar with a capacity of 660,000 barrels a year. He has set up Reliance infocomm Ltd. He is ranked 42nd among the World's Most Respected Business Leaders. He is second among the four Indian CEOs featured in a survey conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and published in Financial Times, London, and November 2004. He has been conferred the World Communication Award for the Most Influential Person in Telecommunications in 2004 by Total Telecom, October, 2004. He has been chosen Telecom Man of the Year 2004 by Voice and Data magazine, September 2004. He has been ranked 13th in Asia's Power 25 list of The Most Powerful People in Business published by Fortune magazine, August 2004.He has also been conferred the Asia Society Leadership Award by the Asia Society, Washington D.C., USA, in May 2004. He was ranked No.1 for the second consecutive year, in The Power List 2004 published by India Today, March 2004.
3. ANIL AMBANI
RELIANCE
Anil ambani is the younger brother of Mukhesh Ambani and the younger son of Dhirubhai Ambani. He is an Indian businessman with a net asset of 5.5 billon dollars. He is aged 46 years He is the chairman of Reliance Capital, Reliance energy Ltd, and Reliance infocomm Ltd.
132
Ambani has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Bombay and MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA. He joined Reliance in 1983 as Co-Chief Executive Officer. Anil is the member of Uttar Pradesh Development Council. He is also the Chairman of Board of Governors of DA-IICT, Gandhi agar and a member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He is member of the Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad. He is also a member of the Central Advisory Committee, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. In June 2004, Anil was elected as an Independent Member of the Rajya Sabha - Upper House, Parliament of India with the support of the Samajwadi Party. In March 2006, he resigned. He has been adjudged CEO of the year at the Platts Global Energy Awards for 2004. In business baron he has been adjudged most admired CEO. Bombay Management Board had conferred on him ‘The Entrepreneur of the Decade award in 2002. He has been awarded First Wharton Indian Alumni award in 2001. He has been recognized as the most powerful decision makers; a leader of the millennium and top 25 most influential person. He has various sources of income and assets worth 5.7 billions... He is an Indian citizen having residence in India and Australia. He is married having two children.
4. KUSHA PAL SINGH
REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER
Kushal Pal Singh is 74 years old. He has a net worth of over 5 billion dollars. He resides in Delhi. He is married and has three children. He is an Indian citizen and has his residence in Australia also. He is engaged in real estate business. He was a former army officer who joined father in law’s family business of real estate. He built DLF city in Gurgaon which is now run by his children Rajiv and Pia. He is fond of collecting art and playing golf.
133 5. SUNIL MITTAL
BHARATI TELECOM Sunil Mittal is a self made man aged 48 years having an asset of more than 4.9 billion dollars. He is a citizen of India and is married having 3 children. He has Bachelor degree from the Punjab University. He runs technology industry. He is son of a politician and built Bharati group of Industries, India’s huge Mobile telephone operator in just 10 years. He has also entered into export business and Insurance. He is planning to enter retail trade. Sunil Bharati Mittal is the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharati Group Sunil is a former student of Harvard Business School. He graduated from the Punjab University. After graduation, Sunil got together with his friend and formed a small bicycle business. He moved out of Ludhiana and spent a few years in Mumbai and in 1981, was running an import and distribution operation out of New Delhi and Mumbai. By 1982, Mittal had started a full-fledged business selling Portable generators imported from Japan Sunil Mittal got interested in push button phones while on a trip to Taiwan, and in 1982, introduced the push button phones to India, replacing the old fashioned, bulky rotary phones that were in use in the country then. Bharati Telecom Limited (BTL) was incorporated and entered into a technical tie up with Siemens AG of Germany for manufacture of electronic push button phones. By the early 1990s, Mittal was making fax machines, cordless phones and other telecom gear. He started Mobile phone manufacturing in 1992. He was chosen as one of the top entrepreneurs in the world for the year 2000 and amongst 'Stars of Asia', by 'Business Week', he received IT Man of the Year Award 2002 from Dataquest and CEO Of the Year, 2002 Award. He is the member of National Council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Chairman, Indo-US Joint Business Council, Member, Advisory Committee constituted by Ministry of IT. His brothers Rakesh and Rajan are with him in business.
134 6. KUMAR BIRLA
ADITYA BIRLA GROUP
Kumar Birla is aged 38 years and has inherited huge fortune. He is worth 4.4 billion dollars He is a citizen of India and lives in India and Australia. He is married having two children. He has bachelor’s degree from Bombay University and MBA from the London Business School. He runs 7.6 billion dollar sales empire, the main commodity, being Cement. He has also entered the field of fertilizer, finance and textiles trade and industry. His mother Rajashree is building a 500 bed hospital near pune in Maharashtra. They have been competing with the Tatas. He is the chairman of the 27000 crore A V Birla group. He gets 30% to 40% of the company’s revenue from his overseas business. He wants to join the select group of fortune 500.
7. SHIV NADAR
HCL GROUP
Shiv Nadar is the head of the HCL (InfoTech) group of companies. He is aged 53 years. He has his permanent residence at Delhi and also in USA. His net worth is 1.2 billion dollars. He started manufacturing computers in his garage 24 years ago. He is a great wizard who transformed HCL into a great computer and office equipment organization. Shiv moved to Delhi from Tamil Nadu in 1968. Shiv Nadar was working as an engineer with DCM Ltd. He stepped into HCL after IBM left. By 1982, HCL came out with its first computer. In the U.S, a software subsidiary, HCL America, has reaped rich benefits by taking advantage of global time zones. Every morning, the company's Madras office receives software assignments from the U.S, just after work stops there for the night. A team of Indian engineers, with salaries much lower than those of their American counterparts, complete the jobs and modem them back in the evening. America accounts for almost 20% of HCL Corp.'s annual revenues.
135 Shiv Nadar is aged 60 and married. He has built a technology industry out of his own efforts. He is worth 4 billion dollars. He is a citizen of India and resides in Delhi and Australia. He is married and has a child. He has a Bachelor’s degree from the P S G college of Technology. He founded and runs 3 billion dollar worth HCL group which has operation in 15 countries. In his Ireland Center he has employed 2000 people. His customers include Boeing, IBM and Deutche bank. He is also tied up with Japan’s NEC. He is passionately fond of Cricket. He is a movie buff. His business is based at Delhi. He is one of the top seven richest Indians who have found place in Forbes rating list with a net worth of 1.2 billion dollars. He made HCL a top firm in the world for computers and office equipments. People who know Shiv Nadar call him Magus, the wizard. He worked his way to glory. He transformed HCL Hi 80% income from the computers and office equipment. In the U.S, a software subsidiary, HCL America, has reaped rich benefits by taking advantage of global time zones. Every morning, the company's Madras office receives software assignments from the U.S, just after work stops there for the night. A team of Indian engineers, with salaries much lower than those of their American counterparts, complete the jobs and modem them back in the evening. Far East and HCL America account for almost 20% of HCL Corp.'s annual revenues.
8. PALLONJI MISTRY
SHAPOORJI POWER CO
Palloneji has established a power company called Shapoorji Palloneji Power Co Ltd. It was set up on January 1, 1995. It is a consortium of Shapoorji Pallonji Power Co. Ltd, Mumbai, Wartsila Diesel OY of Finland and Banaras House Ltd, New Delhi. The aims and ambitions of SPPC are very clear. It has been set up to execute a 120 MW Diesel Power Project near Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Further, on December 21, 1994, the Company also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board, (MPEB) to identify, develop and set-up a private power generating company to produce electric power up to 120 MW based on heavy fuel in the State of Madhya Pradesh. The main
136 advantage of setting up the Diesel Engine Power plant (DPP) is: low gestation period, availability of fuel, higher thermal efficiency. He is fifth richest Indian and chairman of the pallonji group of companies. Pallonji is aged 76 and has inherited great fortune. He is in construction business and Engineering industry. He is worth 3.6 billion dollars. He is a citizen of India who lives in Bombay and also in Australia. He is the biggest shareholder in Tata sons and is involved in direct selling of Eureka Forbes products and Forbes Gokak. His top brands include Kingfisher Beer, Bagpiper whiskey and Mcdowell Brandy. He is a construction tycoon from India. He also benefits from his 18.5 % stake in Tata Sons which is the holding company of the Tata conglomerate. Noel Tata the CEO of Retail arm of Tata's is his son-in- law. Noel Tata is also the half-brother of Ratan Tata. He is the fifth richest Indian and Chairman of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. Pallonji Mistry is a man who rarely appears in public. His employees call him the man with no faults, his friends describe him as humble and within the Tata Group he's known as the Phantom of Bombay House. He is associated with Tata group for half a century and holds twelve and a half percent shares in Tatasons. Noel Tata, Ratan Tata's stepbrother, married Pallonji daughter, Aloo. Pallonji’s father invested in Mughul E Azam the largest sum during that period and lot of money. Today, Pallonji owns 18.35% of Tata Sons, while Ratan Tata himself owns less than a per cent. When TCS went public, Pallonji was the biggest beneficiary, netting more than even the Tata companies. His net worth, estimated by Forbes in 2003 was Rs 9,200 crore. But he's expanded the family business to build great quality buildings in the Middle East Now his firm has moved onto road construction as well. He have been from Muscat to Dubai, Dubai to Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi to Qatar and finally only less than a month ago now, he has been given a contract to build a stadium in Guyana, South America. Having led his family business from strength to strength, he's almost handed over the reins to his sons.
9. RAVI RUIA AND SHASHI RUIA
ESSAR GROUP Ruias have 5 billion dollars Essar Group with interest in power, steel, shipping telecom, construction and oil. They have assets worth 2.8 billion dollars. They are citizens of India. They also live in Australia. They have 1/3 assets in cell phone operator, Hutch. Their sons and
137 daughters are also involved the business. They have inherited huge fortune. They live in Pune and Australia. Their main industry is the field of engineering and construction but they have diversified into various fields. Their biggest asset is one-third stake in cellular operator Hutchison-Essar worth $2 billion. Shashi's sons Prashant & Anshuman work in the group; Ravi's daughter Smiti publishes ‘Time Out’ in Mumbai. The Ruia family has been in business and in trading since the 1800s, when the family first moved to Mumbai from Rajasthan in western India. In 1956, Nand Kishore Ruia, the group founder, moved south to Chennai to begin independent business activities. In 1969 following the untimely demise of Nand Kishore Ruia, his sons Shashi and Ravi Ruia took over the group. Essar's growth had already begun with contracts for the construction of ports, jetties and berths. Over the next few years, Essar grew rapidly in the related fields of offshore construction, laying pipes, and contract drilling and marine transportation.
From the beginning, the group was built on businesses at the heart of the Indian economy, often replacing foreign enterprises in India, such as in oil and gas services, construction or shipping. The year 1987 marked its entry into the core manufacturing sector, as Essar Constructions began to build a hot briquette iron plant at Hazira. Over the next decade, it invested billions to build a 2.4 mega ton per year steel mill and a 515 MW power plant at Hazira, a 3.3 megaton per year pelletization plant in Vishakapatnam, a 200,000 tons per year cold rolling mill in Indonesia and a 10.5 mtpa oil refinery which is under construction at Vadinar, Gujarat.
BABA KALYANI
KALYANI GROUP (BHARAT FORGE)
Kalyani Baba is Chairman and Managing Director, of Bharat Forge in India. Baba Kalyani have inherited huge wealth and they operate in the field of engineering. He has amassed 1.4 billion dollars. He is a citizen of India who lives in Pune and also in Australia. He is married having a child. He is a Master of Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He runs 1.5 billions Kalyani group. His flagship company is Bharat Forge whose customers include GE, Toyota and Honda and Daimler Chrysler. He has a diverse conglomerate with interests in auto components, specialty steels, infrastructure and IT enabled services.
138 Group companies have successful joint ventures with: Robert Bosch, Germany; Arvin Meritor, US; Carpenter Technology Corporation, US; Sharp Corporation, Japan. Largest Indian exporter of automobile components with exports the key growth driver. Baba Kalyani has obtained M.Sc, from MIT in USA; He is also a Mechanical Engineer from Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani. As chairman of Kalyani group he was engaged in various philanthropic activities and projects including promotion of primary education for underprivileged children through the India Education Initiative and Pratham Pune Education Foundation. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management at Indore. Further he is a Member in CII's National Council.
11. ADI GODREJ
GODREJ GROUP
Adi Godrej inherited vast wealth and diversified it for further expansion. He is the chairman of the Godrej group of companies which has 1.3 billion sales. They make soaps, home appliances, hair dyes and office furniture. The value of their real estate is rising phenomenally. Their asset is 2.6 billion dollars. Adi is a citizen of India and resides at Bombay and Australia. He is Maryland has 3 children. He has passed Master’s degree in Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Adi is a great industrialist who has made fortune in the Engineering and soap industry. He studied Master of Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is worth 2 billion dollars. He is married and has 3 children. He has his residence in Bombay. Adi is one of Bombay's biggest landowners. Family's 3,500 acre suburban estate is worth $900 million. Godrej, paid $6 million for ‘Upstream’, a small call-center firm in the U.S., and is eyeing more acquisitions overseas. The group set up a family council to groom younger family members. He has donated $1 million to establish environment center in the southern city of Hyderabad to help Indian companies become environment-conscious. His wife, Parmeshwari, has teamed up with pal Richard Gere to raise funds for children with AIDS.
139
12. INDU JAIN
THE TIMES GROUP
Indu Jain is the Chairman of The Times Group. She is a spiritualist, an entrepreneur, an educationalist, a humanist, a patron of art and culture. In her capacity as Chairman of The Times Group, Indu has since infused new energy into the further growth of India’s largest media house. The Times Group publishes India’s largest newspapers, which include The Times of India, The Economic Times and Nav Bharat Times. In addition, the group enjoys a dominant presence in magazines, events, radio, the Internet and television. Indu’s eclectic cultural interests, social concerns and spiritual inclinations have brought a whole new dimension to the functioning of a conventional media house. The Times Foundation, which she founded and carefully guides, has garnered international acclaim for its, often pioneering, activities in the field of development. An educationalist, par excellence, she is President of Times Foundation. A humanist to the core, under her direction, The Times Foundation runs – Community Services, Research Foundation and Times Relief Fund for disaster relief’s like floods, cyclones, earthquakes and epidemics. Her measured commitment to several spiritual and charitable causes is well known and she constantly draws form her deep well of spiritual understanding as she approaches various issues. This strongly humane, and often decidedly spiritual, approach is another dimension she has been instrumental in adding to the mindscape of the media in India. Indu’s championing of women’s causes is also very well known. She actively supports women’s rights, women’s uplift and the encouragement of entrepreneurship. Indu is founder President of the Ladies wing of FICCI (FLO). A patron of literature and culture, she is Chairperson of the Bharatiya Jnanpith Foundation, which awards India’s most prestigious literary award, the Jnanpith, and supports endeavors in the field of literature in every major Indian language. She addressed the United Nations in 2000 at the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, a speech in which she stressed the need for oneness among faiths and went on to chair a special session of the conference. Ms Jain is also the guiding force behind The Oneness Forum, formally launched by the President of India in 2003. The Forum recently awarded the Mahatma-Mahavir
140 Awards to outstanding individuals from all of walks of life and is involved in several activities that seek to bring, and highlight, a sense of Oneness in the world. Spreading the message of Peace within First, Indu Jain spear heads a movement to spread the principles of peace globally. Indu Jain is aged 69 and has inherited vast wealth. She is the chairperson of Bennet, Coleman and co, the biggest media in India. Her sons Sameer and Vineet run the management. The Times of India is the flagship publication. They have also launched a television channel. They have also launched a philanthropic organization called the Times Foundation. Indu is a citizen of India who stays both in India and in Australia. She is widowed. She has two children namely, Sameer and Vineet.14 (www.asha-foundation.org/women/women/indu_jain.php)
14 www.ashafoundation.org
141
13. DILEEP SHAGHVI
SUN PHARMA
Dilip S Shanghvi, chairman & managing director of Sun Pharmacuetical Industries Limited and vice president of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) will succeed H F Khorakiwala of Wockhardt Group as president of the IPA. Sudhir Mehta, chairman of Torrent Group will be the new vice president. The IPA, initially formed by eight national companies in November 1999, has now thirteen companies in its fold. They are Alembic, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Cadila Healthcare, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Unichem Laboratories, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, USV, Lupin Laboratories, Wockhardt, and Matrix Laboratories. A brainchild of late Dr Parvinder Singh, the IPA, in a short span of five years, has emerged as a credible alternative that caters to a large number of stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry. It has grasped the emerging scenario and has worked with the Government to steer the local industry to new heights.
Collectively, their R&D expenditure for the year ended March 2005 is Rs 1,500 crore, which accounted for 90 per cent of the total private sector spending in pharmaceutical research and development. The exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals by these national companies are estimated at Rs 5,600 crore, that is more than one-third of the country's exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals, and they serve over 30 per cent of the domestic market.15 Dileep Shanghvi is aged 50 and he is a self made man. His assets exceed 2.4 billion dollars. He is a commerce graduate who built Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. He paid recently 23 million dollars for Able
15 www.pharmabiz.com
142 Labs in New Jersey. He is a citizen of India who stays both in India and Australia. He is married and has two children.
14. TULSI TANTI
ENERGY SECTOR
Tulsi Tanti aged 48 years is a citizen of India who stays in Pune and Australia. He owns energy industry. He studied at Pace University of New York. He is married and has two children. This textile trader turned alternate energy business. He started a wind power venture in 1995, expanding to USA, China and Australia. He and his three siblings hold 70% of the 7 billion dollar company. 15. NARAYANA MURTHY INFOSYS
N. R. Narayana Murthy is the Chairman and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Limited. Mr. Murthy served as the Chief Executive Officer of Infosys between 1981 and 2002. Under his leadership, Infosys was listed on NASDAQ (INFY) in 1999. In March 2002, he handed over the reins of the company to co-founder Nandan M. Nilekani. Mr. Murthy is the chairman of the governing body of the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He is a member of the Board of Overseers of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School; Cornell University Board of Trustees; Singapore Management University Board of Trustees; and the Asian Institute of Management's Board of Governors. He is also a member of the Advisory Boards and Councils of the William F. Achtmeyer Center for Global Leadership at the Tuck School of Business, the Corporate Governance initiative at the Harvard Business School, and the Yale University President's Council on International Activities. Mr. Murthy has led key corporate governance initiatives in India. He was the Chairman of the Committee on Corporate Governance appointed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in 2003. Mr. Murthy serves as an independent director on the board of the DBS Bank, Singapore’s largest government-owned bank. He is a member of the Asia Pacific Advisory Board of British Telecommunications Plc., and a member of the Board of New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV), India. He also serves as a director on the Central Board of the Reserve
143 Bank of India, as a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the United Nations Foundation. He is an IT advisor to several Asian countries. Mr. Murthy is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. The Economist ranked him eighth on the list of the 15 most admired global leaders (2005). He was ranked 28th among the world's most-respected business leaders by the Financial Times (2005). He topped the Economic Times Corporate Dossier list of India's most powerful CEOs for two consecutive years — 2004 and 2005. TIME magazine’s "Global Tech Influentials" list (August 2004) named Mr. Murthy as one of the ten leaders who are helping shape the future of technology. He was the first recipient of the Indo-French Forum Medal (2003), awarded by the Indo-French Forum in recognition of his role in promoting Indo-French ties. He was voted the World Entrepreneur of the Year - 2003 by Ernst and Young. He was one of two people named as Asia's Businessmen of the Year for 2003 by Fortune magazine. In 2001, he was named by TIME/CNN as one of the 25 most influential global executives, selected for their lasting influence in creating new industries and reshaping markets. He was awarded the Max Schmidheiny Liberty 2001 prize (Switzerland), in recognition of his promotion of individual responsibility and liberty. In 1999, Business Week named him one of their nine Entrepreneurs of the Year, and he was featured in Business Week’s 'The Stars of Asia' for three successive years - 1998, 1999 and 2000. The Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane, Australia) conferred an honorary doctorate on Mr. Murthy in 2005. He has also been conferred honorary doctorates by several well-known universities in India. Mr. Murthy was born on August 20, 1946. He holds a B.E. from the University of Mysore and a M. Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
16. UDAY KOTAK
BANKER
Uday Kotak is 47 years old. He is a self made man. He his assets exceed 1.1 billion dollars. He is a citizen of India and stays at Mumbai and in Australia. He has a Bachelor’s degree and a degree in Business Administration from Bombay University. He has 55% stake in Kotak Mahendra Bank which he founded some years ago. He is doing
144 business in banking and Insurance. He has invested in Hutch cellular phone to a tune of 140 millions and is a cricket fan. He plays sitar.
17. SUBHAS CHANDRA
Z TV CHANNEL Subhas Chandra is aged 55 years and is a self made man. He is married and has 3 children. He is worth one billion dollars. He is a citizen of India. He lives in London, India and Australia. He has made progress in the field of media an entertainment. He runs Z TV, packaging, lotteries and cinemas.
18. VIJAY MALLYA
UB GROUP
Vijay Mallya is aged 50 years and resides at Bangalore. He also stays in Australia, but he is a citizen of India. He is married and has three children. He runs liquor Industry. He runs UB group of liquor industries. He is liquor tycoon. He is a graduate from Calcutta University. Vittal Mallya was born on December 20, 1955. He is a successful Bangalore-based businessman and Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha since 2002) from India. He is the son of a famous industrialist Vittal Mallya and is the Chairman of the United Spirits. Mallya has started a domestic airline in India called Kingfisher Airlines. He is a billionaire. The flamboyant businessman owns 26 homes around the world. Other expensive assets include a stud farm comprising over 250 Race Horses, 200 classic Vintage Cars, a castle in the United Kingdom and several yachts & private jets. Mallya owns a sprawling home on Bangalore's Vittal Mallya Road (named after his father) - there is also a Vijay Mallya Road in Bangalore
19. SIDDHARTHA MALLYA
Sidhartha Mallya is the only son of the UB group chairman Vijay Mallya. He is sixteen years old and to be successor to Vijay’s empire. Sidhartha Mallya is but one among dozens of children of India’s billionaires who are being prepared for a role in their parents’ business
145 empires. He may start with UB group from the bottom. Many of the economic empire builders have studied or are studying in the US. To cite but two examples, Wipro chairman Azim Premji’s elder son, Rashid Premji, 28, is working towards a Masters degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School. Ruia, daughter of Essar group chairman Ravi Ruia, too studied in the US, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing from a New York university. She worked as an analyst at Lehman Brothers and later did her post-graduation in publishing at the London College of Printing. Infosys Technologies’ chief mentor and chairman N R Narayana Murthy’s two children, Akshata and Arjun, are currently studying in the US. Ranbaxy Laboratories president Malvinder Mohan Singh, who is tipped to become CEO in a few years, has an MBA from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Aditya Shriram, son of DCM Shriram Consolidated chairman and managing director Ajay Shriram, obtained a masters degree in engineering at Cornell University in the US and is now working at a Dutch finance company in Amsterdam. To be sure, not all children of billionaires are directly in the family business. Azim Premji’s second son, Tariq Premji, is currently working at the Azim Premji Foundation that’s spearheaded by his mother, who is the director. The foundation, which is run on Premji’s personal funding, is trying to improve education at state-funded schools. Tariq had, however, earlier worked at a business process outsourcing company. Ambika Hinduja, daughter of Ashok Hinduja, the youngest of the four Hinduja brothers, has opted for film making. Says she: “I was always more of a creative person. Besides, I didn’t want to get into something that I didn’t understand very well,” she explains. An alumnus of the London International Film School, Ambika Hinduja started by assisting in the Subhash Ghai-banner production “Yaadein,” and worked on Farhan Akhtar’s recent war film “Lakshya.” In 2003, she launched her own production house Serendipity Films, and is set to release her first film “Being Cyrus” early next year. Ruia, 25, though, is currently publisher of lifestyle magazine “Time Out,” in India through Paprika Media, part of the Essar group. A few of the entrepreneurs in the making started, like Sidhartha Mallya will, at the bottom. During school vacations, Malvinder Mohan Singh was sent by his late father Parvinder Singh on daily rounds with Ranbaxy medical representatives on their scooters so that he would understand the basics of the medicine business.
146 Once he graduated, Parvinder Singh gave his son Rs 100,000 to build a portfolio of stocks so that he would get an idea of the stock markets. Many of today’s IT entrepreneurs at least also seem bent on ensuring that their children make it to the top only on merit. Premji has often hinted that anyone who reaches the top at Wipro will do so purely on merit and not through filial connections – a novel and welcome change.
20. HABIL KHORAKIWAL
WOCKHARDT PHARMACETICAL
Habil Khorakiwal is agae 63 years old and has inherited a fortune. His field of operation is Pharmaceuticals. His net worth is 1 billion dollars. He is married and has three children. He is a Master of Science from Purdue University. He lives in India and Australia. He broke away from the family’s retail business to start Wockhardt, now a leading pharmaceutical firm whose products include homegrown insulin. His company gets over half of its $288 million revenues from the U.S. and Europe. He is further expanding overseas into Mexico, South Africa and Brazil. Sons Huzaifa and Murtaza work in the company. H F Khorakiwala was elected President of Indian Pharmaceutical Association with Dilip Shanghvi as the Vice-President succeeding K Anji Reddy, Chairman of the Dr. Reddy’s Lab in 2003. The IPA, initially formed by eight national companies in November 1999, has now ten companies in its fold. They are: Alembic, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Cadila Healthcare, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Unichem Laboratories, Lupin Laboratories, USV Limited, Ranbaxy Laboratories, and Wockhardt. Collectively, their R&D spend at over Rs 500 crore in the year ended March 2003 accounted for 90 per cent of the total private sector spending in pharmaceutical research and development. These national companies' exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals are estimated at Rs 4,500 crore, that is more than one-third of the country's exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals, and they service over 30 per cent of the domestic market. .
147 LAKHMI MITTAL STEEL BARON
NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has maintained his position as the richest Asian in Britain in 2006 with a fortune worth 14.8 billion pounds even as the wealth of the country's richest 300 Asians jumped by over 40 per cent in a year according to a report in The Sunday Times. Lakshmi Narayan Mittal is also known as Lakshmi Niwas Mittal. He is a billionaire industrialist. He was born on 15 June 1950 in Sadulpur, in Churu district of Rajasthan in India. He spent the childhood on bare concrete floors and rope bedsat an ancestral home sadulpur. He was a marwari aggrawal from Rajasthan. His father Mohan worked for Tarachand Ghanshyam Das firm, one of the leading marwari industrial firms of pre-independance India. They eventually moved to Kolkata where his father became a partner in a steel company and made a fortune. Lakshmi graduated from St. Xavier's College in Kolkata with a business degree in 1969. Lakhmi Narayan Mittal is now residing in Kensington Palace Gardens, London, UK. He is the 5th richest man in the world and, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, the richest in the UK, with a net worth of $23.5 billion (2006). Today he is chairman and CEO of the Mittal Steel Company NV, which is the world's largest producer of steel, with steel assets in Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Africa, Poland, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, the United States, Ukraine and other countries. He was the Fortune European Businessman of the Year for 2004. In 2002 he was embroiled in a political scandal dubbed Mittalgate with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. On July 13, 2005 it was announced that he had donated £2 million to the Labor Party.
148 22. SRICHAND HINDUJA AND GOPICHAND HINDUJA
HINDUJA GROUP
The wealth of the Sri Chand Hinduja, 70, Chairman of the Hinduja group, and Gopi Chand Hinduja, 66, President of the Hinduja Group has more than doubled from 1.5 billion pounds last year to 3.6 billion pounds this year. They continue to be the second richest Asians in Britain. Hinduja family ranked 3rd richest in Switzerland only to Prince Hans Adam from Liechtenstein and the Latsis Family connected with banking. According to the latest issue of the Magazine Bilan, leading financial magazines in Switzerland, the Hindujas whose two brothers, SP Hinduja, chairman of the Hinduja Group and GP Hinduja, its president are based in London and third brother Prakash Hinduja is based in Geneva; figure third in the list of 300 richest people in the country. In the Swiss German version of the magazine, "Bilanz", they are listed in the category of "Bankers" while in the French version, "Bilan", they are placed under the category of "Services and Commerce", with fortune worth 3 to 4 billion Swiss francs. The family, headed by the eldest brother Srichand Hinduja, who owns the Amas Bank in Geneva, has reinforced its position in Switzerland, the report said. The family has bought and integrated the Swiss branches of the German Schmidt Bank. This gives them foothold in Zurich, Basel, St. Magrethen, besides Luzern since last year. They have bought a building in Zurich and two buildings in Geneva, Place de la Fusterie, where Amas Bank is installed. In Geneva, Amas has besides bought the clientele of the Banque Financiere de la Cite which has ceased its activities. They have also opened branches in Paris and in London. The total wealth of Asians in the UK has gone up from 24.9 billion pounds in 2005 to 35.5 billion pounds this year, an increase of 42 per cent, boosted by strong stock markets and the community's links with the booming Asian economies, according to Philip Beresford, author of The Sunday Times Rich List'.
149 CHAPTER 12
INDIAN LITERATURE AND LITERARY MEN
The Vedas are the earliest known literature in India. They are as old as Aryan civilization itself. They were written on palm leaves. There are four Vedas, namely, the Rig Veda, Ayurveda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. To explain the Vedas Aranyakas were written. In course of time, the Brahmanas were written as the commentary on the Vedas. Then Upanishads were written in the form of moral stories to help ordinary citizens digest the Vedas and the Upanishads. Manu wrote Dharmasastra after codifying all the unwritten laws of the land. It is the oldest comprehensive literature on the unwritten laws of India. Then many smiritis and shrutis were written by a number of writers like Vishnu, Narada and Yagyawalka and others. King Chandragupta Vikramaditya(between 4th and 5th century A D) gave lot of encouragement to the growth if literature and there was a great poet and dramatist called Kalidasa in his court who wrote the great dramas like ‘Shakuntala’, Malavikagnimitra and Vikrama-Urvashiya. He was also a great poet who wrote in Sanskrit poems like Raghuvansh, Meghadootha and Kumara Sambhava The Indian literature did not make any headway after that because of the advent of the Mohammadens and the Moghals. The literary movement in India gained ground only after the western system of education became widespread in India. Mahatma Gandhi wrote his Autobiography. Jawaharlal Nehru wrote the Discovery of India from the Jail where he was lodged by the British. Savarkar, arabindo Ghosh and others wrote many books before India became Independent. The National Bibliography of Indian Literature: 1901 - 1953 (NBIL); 4 v. (New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1962 - 1974), is a selective bibliography of the Indian literature. It was compiled by a group of distinguished language specialists under the editorship of B. S. Kesavan, the then Director of the National Library. In addition to the original four volumes of the bibliography, the project was extended to include a fifth volume (New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1990), ed. by Kartik Chandra Dutt. Nearly 56,000 titles with imprints prior to 1954 in twenty-two Indian languages are listed in the bibliography. Subject Areas Covered included General works, Biographies, Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Science, Philosophy, Social Sciences, Religion, Art and Literature
150
There are a few thousand authors who have sprung up in the last few decades. Here is a list of modern Indian English writers.16 The most popular amongst them are the following writers. RABINDRANATH TAGORE SHOBA DE RAJA RAO ARUNDHATI ROY KUSHWANT SINGH ANITA DESAI SALMAN RUSHDI VIKRAM SETH KAMALA MARKHANDEYA R K NARAYAN N S NAIPAUL
Former President S Radhakrishnan has written ‘Kalki’. Former Jawaharlal Nehru has written ‘The Discovery of India’. Many political leaders of India were great writers too. There is hardly any subject that is not touched upon by the English Indian writers.
1. RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Tagore wrote seven volumes of poetry including Sonar Tari which means golden boat in Bengali and Khanika between 1893 and 1900. He came to be called Bengali Shelly. He brought our realism in his novels. Among his novels are ‘Chokkar Bali’ which means ‘Eyesore’ and ‘Nashtanir’ which means the broken nest. He published forty-four short stories in Bengali periodical, most of them in the monthly journal Sadhana between 1891 and 1895. His other works include Gitanjali which dealt with divine love. Tagore founded Vishwa Bharati which grew into a University. He translated several of his own works into English. Ezra Pound drew the attention of the Nobel Prize committee. He supported Gandhi but did not agree with
1. 16http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/mdamodaran/html/sabks/b kl1.html
151 Gandhi’s ideas. Unable to gain ideological support to his views, he retired into relative solitude. Between the years 1916 and 1934 he traveled widely. He went to Japan in 1916. In 1927 he toured South East Asia and he visited Iran at the invitation of the Shah of Iran Riza Shah Pahlavi in 1932. Tagore took to painting when he was 70. He died on August 7, 1941
2. SHOBHA DE Shobha was an Indian columnist and a novelist. He is referred to as Jackie Collins of India. She was born of Anuradha Rajyadhyakshya in Swaraswat Brahmin family on January 7th, 1947. She graduated from St. Xavier College Bombay with a degree in Psychology. She began her career in Journalism in 1970. She founded three magazines, namely, Stardust, Society and Celebrity. Later on she became a freelance writer. She lives with her husband Dilip De and her children. She is also a script writer for T V serials like swabhiman. She flays men for being sexists and chauvinists. Her literary works include Starry nights, Socialite evenings, Sultry Days, Speed Posts and others.
3. RAJA RAO
Raja Rao is an Indian writer of English novels and short stories. He belongs to Karnataka in India. His works are deeply rooted in Brahmanism and Hinduism. Raja Rao's novel, The Serpent and the Rope is a semi-autobiographical. Raja Rao was born on November 8, 1908 at Hassan, in the erstwhile State of Mysore in South India. He belonged to a well-known Brahman family. His native language was Kannada. He had his post-graduate education in France, and all his publications in book form have been in English. In the foreword to Kanthapura, he admits the difficulties in using "a language that is not one's own the spirit that is one's own". Rao was educated at Muslim schools. After taking a degree from Madras University, he left India for Europe, where he remained for a decade. He studied at the universities of Montpellier and the Sorbonne, doing research in Christian theology and history. In 1931 he married a French academic, Camille Mouly. Later he depicted the breakdown of their marriage in The Serpent and the Rope. During 1931-32 he contributed four articles written in Kannada for Jaya Karnataka. When his marriage disintegrated in 1939, Rao returned to India and began his first period of residence in an ashram. He searched for spiritual life, traveling widely in India. In
152 1942 he was active in an underground movement against colonial rule. During these years he edited the literary magazine Tomorrow.
4. ARUNDHATI ROY
Arundhati Roy is not only a writer but also a social activist. Her first book The God of Small Things, has won Booker Prize Award in 1997 which has been sold over six millions and translated into 20 languages. She has written numerous articles and essays on topics such as militarism, ecology, activism and war, which have appeared in publications worldwide. In India she is involved in Narmada Dam Andholan and has sentenced for a day in prison. She is also an opponent of India’s nuclear development program. Her other works are "Power Politics," "War Talk," "The Checkbook” and “the Cruise Missile" and her latest, "An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire."
5. KHUSHWANT SINGH
Khushwant Singh is one of the best -known Indian English writers. He was born in 1915 in Hadali which is now in Pakistan. He was educated at the Government College at Lahore, at King's College in Cambridge University, and at the Inner Temple in London. He practiced law at the Lahore High Court for several years before joining the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in 1947. He began his distinguished career as a journalist with the All India Radio in 1951. Since then he has been founder-editor of Yojana (1951-1953), editor of the Illustrated weekly of India (1979-1980), chief editor of New Delhi (1979-1980), and editor of the Hindustan times (1980-1983). His Saturday column "With malice towards one and all" in the Hindustan times is by far one of the most popular columns of the day. Khushwant Singh will be remembered in Indian literary history as a great novelist, a great journalist and a forthright political commentator. In July 2000, he was conferred the "Honest Man of the Year Award" by the Sulabh International Social Service Organization for his courage and honesty in his "brilliant incisive writing." Among his several works there are classic two-volume history of the Sikhs, several novels such as Delhi, Train to Pakistan, and The Company of women and a number of translations and non-fiction books. The Library of Congress has in its catalogue ninety-nine works of Khushwant Singh.
153
6. ANITA DESAI Anita Desai is the first Indian writer in English to write on Feminist themes. Anita Desai is recognized as the first Indian author writing in English who addresses feminist themes seriously, focusing on the condition of women in India. In her novels Fire on the Mountain (1977), Clear Light of Day (1980), or Cry, the Peacock (1980) Desai's shifted her interest from the female to male related, themes such as trade, raw deals, and mercenary motives In Custody (1984), In Baumgatner’s Bombay, we see the clash of cultures, and the social bias. In Fasting Feasting, the story revolves round the condition of women in India. Her other works include Fire on the Mountain, Where Shall We Go This Summer, Voices in the City, Bye, Bye Blackbird and A Village By the Sea. ANITA DESAI
7. SALMAN RUSHDIE Ahmed Salman Rushdie was born on June 19, 1947, in Bombay, India. He is an Indian-born Kashmiri Muslim. He is an Essayist and novel writer. He lives in London and New York City. Rushdie grew up in Mumbai and attended the Cathedral School and John Connon School in Mumbai. He studied later in Rugby School in Warwickshire. He then entered King's College, Cambridge in England. He took to advertising career with Ayer Barker and became a full-time writer. In 2004, Rushdie married Padma Lakhmi as his fourth wife. She was a prominent Indian model and actress. His book ‘The Satanic Verses’ inspired radical Muslims but Ruhollah Khomeini passed a fatwa for his assassination for Blasphemy. He spent many years underground, appearing in public rarely. He started his career with Grimus. His next novel was Midnight’s Children brought him fame. He was awarded Booker of Bookers’ prize in 1993 for adjudging his novel as the best novel. He wrote a short novel called ‘Shame’ on Pakistan’s politics, involving Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Muhammed Zia ul Haq. His ‘The Satanic Verses’ is also clearly influenced by Mikhail Bulgakov's classic Russian novel The Master and Margarita. He bagged European Union’s Aristeion Prize for Literature. He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. Rushdie was the President of PEN American Center from 2003-2005. His newest book, Shalimar the Clown, released in September 2005, was a finalist for the Whitbread Book Awards. Other Awards that Rushdie
154 has won include the following: Booker Prize for Fiction, James Tait Black Memorial Prize (Fiction), Arts Council Writers' Award, English- Speaking Union Award, Whitbread Novel Award and Writers' Guild Award (Children's Book) His The Satanic Verses published in 1988 caused controversy in the Islamic world. According to it, Muhammad added verses to the Quoran accepting three goddesses that used to be worshipped in Mecca as divine beings but Muhammad later revoked the verses, saying the devil tempted him to utter these lines to appease the Meccans. The book was banned in many Islamic countries.
8. VIKRAM SETH Vikram Seth has written three novels namely, A Suitable Boy, The Golden Gate and An Equal Music. He was born in 1952. He had early education I India. He took his undergraduate degree in Humanities from Oxford University. He was a graduate student in economics at Stanford University and He studied for two years at Nanjing University. He was a Wallace Steger Fellow in Creative Writing at Stanford during 1977-78. He has written five books of poems: Mappings (1980), The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985), All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990), Three Chinese Poets (1992), and Beastly Tales (1991). ‘From Heaven Lake (1983)’ is a non-fictional account of his travels through Xinjiang and Tibet.
9. R K NARAYAN
R K Narayan published series of novels and short stories and the most popular among them are ‘Swami and his friends’ written in 1935, Malgudi Days in 1982 and Guide. R. K. Narayan was born in Madras in 1906 and educated there and at Maharajah's College in Mysore. The full name of R. K. Narayan is Rasipuram Krishnaswami Ayyar Naranayanaswami. He has lived in India ever since, He has published numerous novels, five collections of short stories (A Horse and Two Goats, An Astrologer's Day, Lawley Road, Malgudi Days, and The Grandmother's Tale, two travel books ‘My Dateless Diary’ and ‘The Emerald Route’, four collections of essays namely Next Sunday, Reluctant Guru, A Writer's Nightmare, and A Story-Teller's World), a memoir titled ‘My Days’, and some translations of Indian epics and
155 myths (The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, and Gods, Demons and Others). In 1980, R. K. Narayan was awarded the A.C. Benson award by the Royal Society of Literature and was made an Honorary Member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1989 he was made a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award for The Guide (1958). His other works include1935: Swami and friends 1937: Bachelor of Arts 1938: The Dark Room 1939: Mysore 1945: The English Teacher 1947: An Astrologer's Day, and other stories 1949: Mr. Sampath - The Printer of Malgudi 1952: The Financial Expert 1953: Grateful to Life and Death 1955: Waiting for the Mahatma.
10. KAMALA MARKHANDAYA
Kamala was born in 1924 at Madras in India. Her literary works include Nectar in a sieve, Some Inner Fury, Possession, A Handful of Rice, A Silence of Desire, Nowhere Man, Two Virgins, The Coffer Dams, The Golden Honeycomb, Pleasure City, Shalimar and A Silence of Desire.
11. V S NAIPAUL
V. S. NAIPAUL is a Nobel laureate. He was born in Trinidad, West Indies in 1941. His novels and short Stories include A House for Mr. Biswas, An Area of Darkness, and India: A Wounded Civilization, India: A Million Mutinies, Among the Believers: Islamic Journey, Bend in the River, Guerrillas, The Enigma of Arrival, Finding the Center and A Way in the World and others. His life and profile has been described earlier in the chapter ‘Nobel Laureates’ on page 77.
156
CHAPTER 13
1. A SAGA OF INVASIONS AND SLAVERY
India has a unique past that no other country has.
Have you come across a country which had more than 500 kingdoms at a time in the past? Have you come across a country which has been invaded, raped and ravished by foreign invaders for more than 30 times in History, sapping of the country’s wealth and resources? Have you come across a society divided into more than a thousand groups based on blood and race? Have you come across a country with 20% of the total world population which is divided on the basis of race, language, religion, customs, outlook and traditions but yet living side by side for centuries? All these unique characteristics have left this country in a unique situation with its own problems.
ANCIENT INDIA
India remained a mere geographical expression until 1947 although the spirit of nationalism was growing high since 1885. The British brought under their control more than 594 kingdoms but let those kings rule independently without prejudice to the British sovereignty. They ensured that India remains divided and the Indians were not unified politically under one government. India has a history of 5000 years as it is one of the earliest Civilizations of the world. We have records of existence of Indian civilization from the days of Rig Veda, the earliest known scripture which dates back to 3500 B C. Before the Aryans came to India, India was inhabited by the Dravidians and the Aborigines. There are many theories explaining the ethnic origin of the people of India who lived here and who came from elsewhere prior to this period. The Aryans were the earliest nomads who came from the Asia Minor and settled down on the river Sindhu which is now called the Indus and started growing agricultural products on this land according to the most reliable theory. Gradually they established many small kingdoms from the river Sindhu to the river Brahmaputra. The great Epics ‘the Ramayana’ and ‘the Mahabharata’, speak of the existence of several
157 kingdoms in India ruled by different dynasties five thousand years ago. The head of each kingdom was called ‘Raja’. They were feudal monarchies where the king distributed his land to the people who cultivated and gave a part of the produce to the king as tithe. In ancient India, the king was the patriarch of the people and ruled his kingdom according to a code of Ethics. But he was the master of himself and there was none who could question his actions. The king was the executive head and his order was law and he administered justice as well. The kings had wise and learned advisors who would give him advices on all matters. The people were generally happy because they were left to themselves. Later on many foreign invaders came to India, vandalized, plundered raped and ravished the country periodically from fourth century B C. Alexander the King of Macedonia (326 B C) came all the way from Europe and plundered some parts of Takhashila and Kaikai now in Pakistan but then it was a part of India. The King Ambi of Takshashila and the king Porus of Kaikai made friendship with Alexander and accepted his suzerainty. He was a son of Philip II of Macedon and Olympias. He came under the tutelage of Aristotle and succeeded to the throne in 336 B.C. He immediately showed his talent for leadership by putting down uprisings in Thrace and Illyria. He undertook war on Persia and reached the Punjab in India. He defeated King Porus and wanted to conquer mighty Magadha then ruled by Dhanananda, but his soldiers were adamant that they should return home. He died on his way back home in Babylon. He left a garrison of soldiers behind him who mixed themselves with the native population. Chanakya by virtue of his wisdom and statesmanship liberated the occupied kingdoms from the yokes of the Greeks and helped Chandragupta Maurya establish his empire at Magadha when he went back. Takshashila was an important place of learning in ancient India. The ruins of Takshashila remain to this day in the West Punjab which is now a part of Pakistan situated 30 km from Islamabad.17. It is a period of pre-islamic history and the people of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kashmir were all Hindus. The Mohammadens overran from the river Euphrates to the river Sindhu and forcefully converted the people to Islamic faith at the point of sword between 633 A D. and 710 A D. Darius, the king of ancient Persia, whose reign lasted from 522 to 486 A D., seized power after killing king Gaumâta, fought a civil war and was finally able to re- establish the Achaemenid Empire. Darius fought several foreign wars, which included India and Thrace. When he died, the Persian Empire
17 www.wikipedia.com
158 had reached the Indus plains. He was succeeded by his son Xerxes. The Bactrian and the Parthian race came to India from Persia under the rule of Cyrus, Darius and Zorzus. Some of the invaders stayed back in western parts of India. Later on Kushans and the White Huns from Mongolia came to India. The Kushan Empire was stretched from Tajikistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and down into the Ganges river valley in northern India. The empire was created by the Kushan tribe of the Yuezhi confederation, a people from the eastern Tarim Basin and Gansu, China, possibly related to the Tocharians. They had diplomatic contacts with Rome, Persia and China. The Kushan Empire was the trade center between the East and the West. The Kushan Emperor Kanishka is remembered even to this day. When the White Huns ravished India in the 5th century the Gupta dynasty in India ruled the Ganges basin while the Kushan Empire occupied the area along the Indus and Ganges up to Persia. The Hephthaltes or Hunas waited till 470 A D. and immediately after the death of Gupta ruler, Chandragupta of the Gupta dynasty, entered India from the Kabul valley after the conquest of the Kushans. They ruined every city and town along the Ganges basin. Pataliputra the capital of the Guptas was reduced to a village. They persecuted the Buddhists and burned all the monasteries. Their conquest was accomplished with extreme ferocity and the Gupta regime (414-470) was completely destroyed. Mohammad of Ghazni came to India from Central Asia seventeen times in the eleventh century; and plundered the wealth of this land and carried away gold, diamond and other treasures on the donkeys back. Mahmud of Ghazni was interested in plundering India as he had heard that there was vast wealth hidden in the temples and palaces of India. He crossed the Hindukush Mountains and came to the Punjab plains. In A.D. 1000 he defeated Jayapala the Rajput king. In the following years he was campaigning in Seistan and Multan, a town of strategic importance since it gave control of the lower Indus River. In 1005 Mahmud attacked the Punjab once more and returned home with a vast amount of wealth. The following year he was involved in a conflict with the ruler of Ghur. Soon his campaigns led to the arrival of the Afghan armies in India. Temples were depositories of vast quantities of wealth, in cash, golden images, and jewellery and hence they were targeted. Mahmud who had insatiable desire for wealth and gold came to India seventeen times and carried away vast wealth from India from 1010 to 1026 A.D. He plundered Mathura, Thanesar, Kanauj, and Somnath. He forcefully converted the Hindus to Islamic faith.
159
MEDIEVAL INDIA
Mohammad of Ghori came to India in the eleventh century twice and carried away vast wealth from India, and while going back, he left his slave called Qutb din to rule the areas of Delhi conquered by him along with an army of soldiers. Muhammad was the brother of the Sultan of Ghor, a region of what is now central Afghanistan. By 1160, the Ghaznevid Empire covered an area running from central Afghanistan to the Punjab, with capitals at Ghazni and Lahore. In the First Battle of Taraori In 1191 Prithvi Raj Chauhan captured Muhammad Ghouri in the battle of Taraori. Next year, he again reached Taroro and challenged Prithviraj, killing him and conquering his kingdom. He controlled Rajastan and went as far as Bengal. To day Pakistan is proud to name their missiles after Ghori and Ghazni! Timur the lame was another invader plundered Delhi, Meerat and surrounding areas before the advent of the Moghal ruler Baber. At the time that Timur was looting Delhi, and putting the population to the sword. 20,000 warriors of the Panchayat army, made a surprise attack on the 52,000 strong army of Timur in the middle of the night and killed 9,000 of them, and let their corpses be swept away in the river Yamuna. As soon as dawn came these heroic soldiers of the Panchayat returned to outside the city walls. The battle carried on like this for three days. Timur Lung got frustrated, left Delhi and advanced toward Meerut. Timur, with his numerous and powerful army, with much weaponry, advanced towards Meerut. In this land, Timur's army was given no space to breathe. The battles continued all through the day. Wherever the Army of Timur would stop for the night, the Panchayat army would attack, and uproot them. In this land the army of the Panchayat fought three major battles with the army of Timur. From eleventh century onwards, the Mohammedan invaders started establishing and consolidating their rule in India. Baber the founder of the Mughal rule in India came to India from Kabul and established Mogul dynasty in India. The Mughals who ruled a large part of India were urban people and they did not rub against the rural people of India. They collected revenue from the villagers through their officials. They divided their country into different divisions and sub-divisions and each was ruled by Subhedars who collected the revenue from the people and handed over to the Nawabs and the Emperor. The contributions of the moguls were in the
160 field of Mughal arts and Music. They hardly thought of improving the living condition of the people. The concept of the welfare state was beyond their comprehension and imagination. The Mughals ruled India up to eighteenth century. Aurangzeb was the last powerful emperor who died in 1707. Bahadhur Zafar was the last king who was imprisoned at Rangoon after the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 and his three sons were beheaded by the British.
Nadir Shah Afsar lived from October 22, 1688 to June, 1747. He ruled as Shah of Iran from 1736 to 1747 and was the founder of the short-lived Afsharid dynasty. He was a military genius, who was called as the Napoleon of Persia or the Second Alexander. He created a great Iranian Empire with boundaries from the Indus River now in Pakistan to the Caucasus Mountains in the north and India in the east. Nadir Shah was probably the last greatest Asian military conqueror. But Nadir was also responsible for the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of civilians, especially non-Muslims, during his military campaigns. He defeated the great Mughal army of Mohammad Shah at the Battle of Karnal, on February 24, 1739. After victory, Nadir captured Mohammad Shah and entered with him into Delhi. Nadir returned home with vast treasures, including the Peacock Throne, which thereafter served as a symbol of Persian imperial might, and, among a cache of other fabulous jewels were the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond and Daryaye Noor diamand. The great explorers like Columbus, Vasco de Gama and Megellan set sail from Europe to discover India which they thought had lot of treasure. Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean and discovered America. He thought that he had reached India and called it Indies. Vasco de Gama traveled southwards from Portugal and reached the Cape of Good Hope and skirting the Cape traveled Eastwards across the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea and finally landed in the west coast of India in 1498. The Portuguese started trade with the Indians. The British were the last of the Europeans to reach the Indian shores after the Portuguese and the French.
MODERN INDIA
A group of merchants from England obtained permission from the Crown of England, Elizabeth 1 to trade with India in 1600 A D. and landed at Surat in 1608 A D when most parts of India were ruled by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. The British traders defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of Swally, gaining favor of the Mughal
161 emperor Jahangir. Sir Thomas Roe, the British emissary of King James 1 arrived at the court of Jahangir in 1615 to seek permission to build a factory at Surat and Jahangir gave the British the right to construct a factory at Surat. The Company traded in such commodities as cotton, silk, indigo, and tea. In 1670, King Charles II gave the company the right to acquire territory, raise an army, mint its own money, and exercise legal jurisdiction in areas under its control. There was massive expansion of the British trade in India in the next few years. The British Communities settled down in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. By then Robert Clive a company civil servant fought the battle at Plessey in Bengal against Siraj ud daulah, the Nawab of Bengal and laid the foundation of the British rule in India. Robert Clive was made the first Governor of Bengal. He may be called the first British conqueror of India after the Battle of Plessey. He came to India as a Civil Servant in 1743 and returned to England in 1753. He was anxious to return to India because he could not succeed in his attempt to enter the British Parliament and was in debts. He came back to India in 1756 and moved to Calcutta to fight the Nawab of Bengal as the Nawab had recaptured company possessions. Clive waged a war at Plessey a small Village in a Mango groove for a few hours and defeated the Nawab in the battle of Plessey by treachery as Jawaharlal Nehru put it in his Discovery of India. He conspired with Mir Jafar the aspirant to the Nawab’s throne. Mir Zafar did not order his army to fight the British but instead asked his army to surrender to the British as he had entered into an understanding with Robert Clive. The company acquired right to collect revenue on behalf of the Mughal Emperor. The British parliament established the office of the Governor-General in India by an Act known as Regulating Act of 1773. Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of India. He ruled India from 1973 to 1984. He stripped the Nawab of Bengal of all powers and took direct control of Bengal and refused to pay revenue to the Mughal Emperor. Hastings supported the kingdom of Awadh who was intimidated often by the Rohillas of Afghan Descent. Hastings concluded treaties with various other Indian rulers and sought alliances against the powerful forces of Haidar Ali in Carnatak. However, in order to wage these wars, Hastings "borrowed" heavily from the Begums of Oudh and Raja Chait Singh of Benares. In reality, these Indian rulers and numerous others were compelled to part with their financial resources being afraid of the consequences they might have to face if they antagonized the British. However he was impeached in the British Parliament when he went back to England. Edmond Burke played a great role in his prosecution. He was interested in learning
162 Indian literature and philosophy and asked Charles Wilkins to translate Bhagawad Gita to English. He was succeeded by Lord Cornwallis. He initiated Permanent settlement by which the Zamindars could collect revenue in perpetuity. Lord Wellesley brought on territorial expansion ruthlessly. The British gained victory over Tippu Sultan of Mysore, the Marathas and the Sikhs which brought the entire India under the British Rule. Many native princes made agreement with the British accepting their suzerainty and paid fixed sum to the British. He brought on ‘Subsidiary System’ under which the native princes had to keep the British army in their territory and pay for its entire expenditure in return for their territorial security. Lord Dalhousie felt that the small princely states such as Satara, Sambalpur, Nagpur and Jhansi, should be taken over. He brought the doctrine of lapse by which if any native prince dies without leaving a male issue the kingdom should be annexed by the British as a part of the British Empire. While Lord William Bentinck was considered a good governor-general who brought out social reforms like sati, Lord Dalhousie sealed the fate of the British Empire in India.
FIRST WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
The Sepoy Mutiny broke out on May 10, 1857. The British army consisted largely of the Hindus and the Muslims soldiers who were called the Sepoys. The soldiers revolted in Meerat garrison, eighty kilo meters from Delhi and marched to Delhi to offer their services to the Mughal ruler against the British. Some Indian kings joined the rebellion other native princes remained loyal to the British.
Causes of the Rebellion
The revolt was brewing because of the wrong and oppressive policies pursued by the British. The proclamation of the doctrine of lapse by Lord Dalhousie proved to be a great mistake. The states annexed under this doctrine included Satara, Tanjavur, Sambhal, Jhansi, Jetpur, Udaipur, and Baghat. The company had also annexed the rich kingdoms of Sindh in 1843 and Oudh in 1856. The Company rulers had become so greedy and corrupt that they had alienated the sympathy of the Indian Zamindars and the landed gentry.
163 The British supplied new cartridges to the soldiers smeared with pig fat which triggered the Muslims and cow’s fat which hurt the Hindus and it hurt the religious sentiments of both the communities. The repressive policies pursued by the British had caused estrangement of relationship between the British and the Indians. The Indian prices had started suspecting that the British policy was to divide and rule this country. The rebellion started at Meerat but soon spread to whole of North India including Awadh and the Maharashtra.
JHANSI LAKHMIBAI
Lord Dalhousie became the Governor-General of India in the middle of 18th century. He indiscriminately applied the doctrine of lapse in India by proclaiming that if any native prince died without a natural heir in his lineage, his kingdom would be confiscated by the British. Many Princes realized that after their death their kingdom would be confiscated by the British and started opposing the doctrine of lapse. Dalhousie applied his doctrine of lapse against Jhansi where the native king died. Though Damodar Rao, the adopted son of late Maharaja Gangadhar Rao and Rani Lakshmi Bai, was Maharaja's legal heir and successor as per the Hindu law, the British rulers rejected Rani's claim that Damodar Rao was their legal heir. In March 1854 the British announced an annual pension of Rs. 60,000 for Rani and ordered her to leave the Jhansi fort. But Rani Lakshmi Bai was determined to defend Jhansi and so she proclaimed that she would not give up. Jhansi started strengthening the defense of Jhansi by forming a volunteer army of patriots wherein women were also recruited and trained to fight the British. Rani was accompanied by her generals Gulam Gaus Khan, Dost Khan, Khuda Baksh, Lala Bhau Bakshi, Moti Bai, Sunder-Mundar, Kashi Bai, Deewan Raghunath Singh and Deewan Jawahar Singh. Many from the local population volunteered for service in the army ranks, with the rise of popular support for her cause. Soon the Indian Princes became apprehensive about the British intentions in India and revolted against the British and declared war against them. Lakshmi Bai was the first Indian princess who fought
164 against the British to establish her rights over her kingdom when the British tried to snatch it from her at a time when no one dared to encounter the British and anyone who dared would be ruthlessly dealt with. She fought out the British in the battle field tying her adopted son on her back knowing that she would be killed and the British army did kill her. She represents bold and courageous woman of India who fight for their just cause even to this day. She is remembered as a martyr who died for the sake of the country. Vinayak Damodhar Savarkar termed the fight against the British as the First war of Indian Independence. Lakshmi Bai was born on 19 November, 1835 at Varanasi, of Moropanth and his wife Bhagirathibai who were Brahmins by caste. She lost her mother at the age of four, and her father brought her up. She had her education and martial training including horse riding and shooting when she was still a child. She married Raja Gangadhar Rao, the Maharaja of Jhansi in 1842, and became the Rani of Jhansi. After the marriage she was named Lakshmi Bai. Her marriage was performed in Ganesh Mandir, the temple of Lord Ganesh, situated in the old city of Jhansi. Rani Lakshmi Bai gave birth to a son in 1851, but this child died when he was about four months old. After this, the couple adopted Damodar Rao as their son. Maharaja Gangadhar Rao expired on 21 November 1853, when Lakshmi Bai was 18 years old. In the Revolt of 1857, Jhansi became a center of the rebellious activities. A small group of British officials took refuge in Jhansi's fort, and the Rani negotiated for their evacuation. When the British soldiers left the fort, they were massacred by the rebels. The British became so angry with her that they sent an army to confiscate Jhansi. In September and October of 1857, the Rani led successful defense of Jhansi from the invading armies of the neighboring rajas of Datia in northern Madhya Pradesh state. In March 1858, the British Army advanced on Jhansi, and laid siege to the fort. After two weeks of fighting the British captured the city, but the Rani escaped from the city in the guise of a man, strapping her adopted son Damodar Rao closely on her back. She regrouped loyal soldiers in the town of Kalpi where Tatia Tope and other compatriots joined her. On June 1, she and her allies captured the fortress of Gwalior from Sindhia who was a British ally. She died three weeks later at the start of the British assault, when she was hit by bullets while riding on the rampart of the fort. The British captured Gwalior three days later. The 22 year-old Rani was cremated nearby. The British brought additional forces from England, put down the rebellion and annexed Jhansi. The last batch of Sepoys to surrender was at Gwalior at Sirwa pass on May 21, 1859. The Indians
165 lost the first war of Indian Independence mainly because of the following reasons. It was the war waged by the native rulers, not by the masses of people. The people had no spirit of nationalism whatsoever. Moreover not all native princes joined the war. Many princes were loyal to the British and they waged war on the side of the British. The Ghorkas and the Sikhs remained loyal to the British. Most of the native kings did not join the revolt. The British had well-trained army and sophisticated arms and ammunitions while the native princes had to fight with sword and that gave advantage to the British forces. The British brought more army units from England and put down the Mutiny. The British could put down the rebellion because they had greater power, leadership, money and organization.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE REVOLT
Many developments took place in the aftermath of the rebellion. Queen Victoria realized that a trading organization like East India Company could no longer rule a vast area like India and by a proclamation assumed direct control over the possessions in India. By then the British were the masters of the whole of India. The Sepoy mutiny was a death-knell to the remnant Mughal dynasty. The British exiled the Moghal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar II to Rangoon in Burma and executed most of the members of his royal family in 1858. He died in solitary confinement in 1862. His three sons were beheaded at the Khooni Derwaza (Blood Gate) in Delhi by Major Hudson of the British Army, and their heads were then put up for display at the Delhi Court. The properties of the rebels were confiscated. The religious and cultural centers where the revolutionary activities were going on closed down. Indians began to distrust the British rule. The British segregated Indians. The post of secretary of State for India was created in London giving it a cabinet rank. The Governor-General ruled the Center and Governors ruled the Provinces. The Princely States were ruled by the regents or viceroys. The British had created a special cadre of ICS called Indian Civil Service and the Indians were discouraged to take the ICS examination. Surendranath Banerjee and a number of other intelligent students went to London and took the examination but they were either not taken to service or they were dismissed on flimsy grounds. That
166 gave birth to a large number of Indian nationalists who owed to release India from the clutches of the British rule. The British reaffirmed their commitments to 562 Indian rulers and renounced the doctrine of Lapse. A thorough reorganization was effected in the constitution of army and government finances. Shocked by the extent of solidarity among Indian soldiers during the rebellion, the government separated the army three divisions and distributed among three presidencies. The Indian Councils Act of 1861 restored legislative powers to the presidencies, which were exclusively vested in the governor-general by the Charter Act of 1833. The spirit of nationalism began to grow in Bengal which a little later spread to whole of India but it had not affected the illiterate mass of people until M K Gandhi came on the political scene. The British became the supreme masters of India and subjugated Indians. The British started dealing with the Indians so badly and ruthlessly that no Indian ventured to challenge the British Empire. The Rani Lakhmi Bai earned the respect of Indian nationalists for her bravery, and became a symbol of feminist hero. When the Indian National Army was created by Subhaschandra Bose much later in nineteen forties, the female unit of the army was named after Jhansi Lakhmi Bai. The British put down what they called the Sepoy Mutiny and reestablished their supremacy in India. Lord Canning was the last Governor-General of East India Company who came back after the Queen Victoria’s proclamation in 1858. About 40 percent of Indian territories covering a quarter of the population remained under the control of 562 princes who were subservient to the British. The British were able to put down the rebellion but they could not gain back the support of the Indian princes and the people. In the interregnum that followed the British established the Postal service and the Railway service in India for quick transport of the army personnel and for quick communication. They also established western type of school education in India to utilize local man power for lower jobs. Many of the Indians who went to England for studies returned with great fascination for the British political system and wished that they could adopt the British type of democracy in India.
BIRTH OF INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
Some British humanists and Indian elites who disagreed with the British Government’s callous attitude and repressive policies started a
167 new forum called Indian National Union to criticize the government, under the guidance of a great Humanist, A O Hume who was himself a British civil servant and it was later renamed as Indian National Congress in 1885. Some Indians like Motilal Nehru, Bipin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Roy and Madan Mohan Malaviya joined the Congress, thus starting a new era of confrontation between the British and the native Indians. No Indian could have started the Indian National Congress at that period of time. The British officials would not have allowed it to come into existence. With zeal and devotion Hume worked ceaselessly till the end of his life to keep alive the Congress he had founded. It was mainly because of his efforts that the Indian National Congress survived in the earlier days in spite of all the repressive measures adopted by the Government. The British Government sensed the beginning of trouble in India and adopted the policy of ‘divide and rule’. They divided Bengal into two administrative units namely East Bengal and West Bengal in 1906. East Bengal had vast majority of Hindus and West Bengal had a vast majority of Muslims. They divided Bengal with a view to give an impression to the Indians that the Hindus and the Muslims were separate nationalities and the Muslims want to be administered separately. Suddenly there was growth of national fervor in India and the people began to sacrifice their life for the sake of their country. The Congress enunciated its policy as establishing Self-Government in India. Some extreme elements in congress wanted to launch agitation for complete Independence. In Calcutta and Punjab many terrorist organizations sprang up outside the preview of the Congress. The terrorists wanted to kill the British officers and create in the minds of the British a sense of insecurity and destabilize the British rule. The Congress was divided into two groups between the Moderates and the Extremists. Many senior leaders of the Congress like Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Bala Gangadhar Tilak, Dadabai Naoroji and others died soon and political vacuum was created by their death. M K Gandhi entered the political scene in 1916 at that juncture. The British passed Morley Minto reforms in 1909 to increase the strength of Indians in the central legislative councils and to try Diarchy in the provinces. All departments requiring vast expenditure were given to the Indians so that they might depend entirely on the British for money. All revenue yielding departments were kept under the British control. The Indian members were nominated by the British. It was wholly unacceptable to even the most moderate like Gopal Krishna Gokhale. There was turmoil and discontentment everywhere.
168
STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
The Muslims became more apprehensive after England entered into peace settlement with Turkey in the post First World War. The Khilafat Movement was launched by the Indian Muslims. It was a mass repudiation of Muslim loyalty to British rule and thus legitimated Muslim participation in the Indian nationalist movement. The Muslim leaders joined Gandhi in mobilizing the masses for the 1920 and 1921 demonstrations of civil disobedience and non-cooperation in response to the massacre at Amritsar. At the same time, Gandhi endorsed the Khilafat Movement, thereby placing many Hindus behind what had been solely a Muslim demand. The Khilafat movement subsequently failed, and the Hindu-Muslim differences widened. The Indian National Congress and the Muslim League met in December 1916 under the leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Motilal Nehru, resulting in a Pact. Congress accepted the separate electorates demanded by the Muslim League, and the Muslim League joined with Congress in demanding self-government. The pact was expected to lead to permanent and constitutional united action but that was not to be. The British government formally announced a policy of "increasing association of Indians in every branch of administration and gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire in August 1917." The franchise was extended, and increased authority was given to central and provincial legislative councils, but the Viceroy remained responsible only to the British Queen. Diarchy was introduced in the Provinces but the departments which are to spend were given to Indian hands while retaining the departments fetching revenue in the British hands. Montego- Chelmsford Reforms which was subsequently passed as Act of 1919 gave Indians limited roles in the central and provincial legislative councils. Indians had previously been nominated to legislative councils, but after the reforms some of them were elected. At the Center, the majority of the council members continued to be government-appointed officials, and the viceroy was in no way responsible to the legislature. Separate communal electorates were formed to different communities especially for the Panchamas and the Muslims. The practice of
169 identifying the communities by their religion sowed the seeds of dissention among different religions and they became more religion- conscious. It was a ploy by the British Government to divide and rule. For Muslims it was important both to gain a place in all-India politics and to retain their Muslim identity. The British sowed the seed of dissention thus paving the way for division of India between the Hindus and the Muslims. . The 1919 reforms did not satisfy political demands in India. The massacre in Jalianwala Bagh at Amritsar in April 1919 led people to revolt against the British rule in India. The British repressed opposition and imposed restrictions on the press and movement. The Indians were not allowed to the streets where the British lived. They were asked to walk on four legs if they had to pass through such streets. This seriously hurt the native Indians and increased their determination to oust the British from India. Three round table Conferences were held and in spite of strong protest by the people of India and its leaders, the British gave Communal awards in favor of the Panchamas or the Harijans who were determined to fight the Caste Hindus under the leadership of Bhimarao Ambedkar. Ambedkar went to England with Gandhi and argued with the British in the Third Round Table Conference to grant communal award for the Harijans much against Gandhi’s wish and sentiments. The British conceded Communal award to the Harijans to set up the Harijans against the Caste Hindus. Gandhi and Congress strongly opposed but the damage was done to keep India divided. Gandhi led the people of India in their freedom struggle up to 1933 actively when Jawaharlal Nehru assumed the leadership of the Congress. Meanwhile the Government of India Act of 1935 was passed and provincial autonomy was introduced. Diarchy was shifted to the center. In the States the diarchic system was discontinued, and all subjects were placed under ministers who were individually and collectively responsible to the former legislative councils, which were renamed legislative assemblies. Almost all assembly members were elected, with the exception of some special and otherwise unrepresented groups. After the elections, provincial chief ministers and cabinets took office, although the governors had limited emergency powers. The Federal principles were incorporated. Very soon the Congress members resigned and started agitation for Indian Independence. Meanwhile the Second World War was started and the British were engrossed in war efforts and demanded the cooperation from the congress. Gandhi wanted to help the British in their war efforts but Subhas Chandra Bose
170 and Jawaharlal Nehru opposed the idea as that would have demoraralize the lower rung of the congress, and pressurized Gandhi to launch Quit India Movement. Gandhi was arrested and kept in confinement at The Aga Khan palace at Pune. Most of the congress leaders were kept in prison during the war years. In 1945 the war ended and the Prime Minister Winston Churchill could not form the government as the Labor party which won majority in 1945 general elections formed the government in Britain. Prime Minister Attlee who led the labor Party declared that he would give Independence to India. India became independent on August 15, 1947. PARTITION OF INDIA A British Cabinet mission arrived in India in 1946 to negotiate plans for the transfer power to Indians. It released the plan of May 16th which included Dominion Status and provincial autonomy on the basis of religious majority. Jinnah laid the unjust demand for an equal number of portfolios for Muslims with Hindus and a right for Muslim-majority provinces to secede before the Stafford Cripp’s mission; and consequently the talks broke down. Jinnah and the League issued a call for all Muslims to launch "Direct Action" to achieve Pakistan. Strikes and protests swept across India, but so did mob violence. Violence swept Lahore, Calcutta and Noakhali, and more than 7,000 people were killed in Bihar alone, and nationwide the casualties were far greater. The League activists and politicians were blamed for orchestrating violence. However, to stop violence, the Congress conceded the League's entry into government with half the portfolios. This was seen as a major political victory for Jinnah. The cabinet mission also had the plan of June 16th providing for the partition of India on religious lines, with the princely states free to choose the dominion of their choice or independence and it was rejected by the Indian leaders. Finally the Congress gave consent to the Partition of India as Jinnah and the Muslims were adamant. Along with Liaquat Ali Khan and Abdur Rab Nishtar, Muhammad Ali Jinnah represented the League in the Partition Council to appropriately divide the public assets between India and Pakistan. Jinnah became Pakistan's first Governor-General and president of its constituent assembly. The post of governor-general was to be the constitutional head of state and representative of the King of England, but Jinnah assumed the leadership of government of Pakistan. Owing to his role in the state's creation, Jinnah was the most popular and influential politician in that country.
171
THE GREAT MEN WHO CONTRIBUTED TO INDIA’S INDEPENDENCE
1. A.O. HUME18 (June 6, 1829 - July 31, 1912)
A number of Indian intelligential was becoming restless because they did not know how to get rid of the British from the Indian soil. If anyone talked of freedom the British would brand him as a traitor and hang him. At that point of time A British Civil Servant named A O Hume showed kindly light to the Indians. Immediately the Intelligentsia followed him to free India from the clutches of the British. A.O Hume, the founder of the Indian National Congress, was a great Humanist who detested the British ruthlessness and atrocity and decided to help the hapless Indians. He himself was a British civil servant in the East India Company but he sacrificed his own career and rejected the office of the Lieutenant-Governor to show light to millions of Indians who were still groping in darkness and led them to the path of Independence. Allan Octavian Hume was a Scottish civil servant, a political reformer and the founder of the Indian National Congress. He was born at St Mary Cray at Kent, to Joseph Hume, a radical Member of Parliament. He was educated at Haileybury Training College and then at the University College Hospital where he studied medicine and surgery. In 1849 he sailed to India and joined the Bengal Civil Service at Etawah. He soon rose to become District Officer, introducing free primary education and creating a local vernacular newspaper, 'Lokmitra'. He married Mary Ann Grindall in 1853. In 1867 he became Commissioner of Customs for the North West Province, and in 1870, he became Director-General of Agriculture. In 1879 he returned to provincial government at Allahabad. Hume retired from the civil service in 1882.
18 www.kamat.com
172 Hume wrote a letter to the graduates of the Calcutta University on March 1, 1883 inviting them to come forward and dedicate themselves to the service of the country. He reminded them that “whether in the case of individuals or nations, self-sacrifice and unselfishness are the only unfailing guides to freedom and happiness.” The British government resorted to suppressing the people instead of helping them from 1884 to 1894. A O Hume declared, “It will now be for us to instruct the nations, the great English nation in its island home and the far greater nation of this vast continent; so that every Indian that breathes upon the sacred soil of this, our motherland, may become our comrade and co-adjustor, our supporter and if needs be, our soldier in the great war that we, like Cobden and his noble band, will wage for justice for our liberties and rights.” This led in 1885 to the first session of the Indian National Congress held in Bombay. Hume served as its General Secretary. Hume left India in 1894 and settled at Upper Norwood in London. He is buried in Brookward Cemetery.
2. ANNIE BESANT
Since the inception of the Congress, a number of freedom fighters presided over the congress. Here is a list of Congressmen who were President of the Indian National Congress. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee Dadadabhai Naoroji Badruddin Tyabji George Yule Sir William Wedderburn Sir Pherozeshah Mehta P. Ananda Charlu Alfred Webb Surendranath Banerjea Rahimtulla M. Sayani Sir C. Sankaran Nair Ananda Mohan Bose Romesh Chunder Dutt Sir Narayan Ganesh Chandavarkar Sir Dinshaw EduIji Wacha Lalmohan Ghosh Sir Henry Cotton Gopal Krishna Gokhale Rashbihari Ghosh Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Pandit Bishan Narayan Dar Rao Bahadur Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar Nawab Syed Muhammad Bahadur Bhupendra Nath Bose Lord Satyendra Prasanna Sinha Ambica Charan Mazumdar Dr. Annie Besant Syed Hasan Imam Pandit Motilal Nehru Lala Lajpat Rai C. Vijayaraghavachariar Hakim Ajmal Khan Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das Maulana Mohammad Ali Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Mahatma Gandhi Sarojini Naidu S. Srinivasa lyengar Dr. M. A. Ansari Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Nellie Sen Gupta Dr. Rajendra Prasad Subhas Chandra Bose Acharya J.B. Kripalani Dr. Pattabhi Sitaraimayya Purshottam Das Tandon U. N. Dhebar Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy K. Kamaraj S. Nijalingappa Jagjivan Ram Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Dev Kanta Borooah Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi Narasimha Rao Sitaram Kesri and others.
173 Apart from Hume another great personality that supported and guided the people of India in its initial stages of freedom struggle was Anne Besant. She was a great orator, a great social worker and one of the founders of the Theosophical society, Besant adopted India as her motherland. She started the Home Rule movement and invited the wrath of the British. She presided over the memorable Calcutta session of the Congress in 1918, which brought the Congress and the Home Rule League together and appointed a Committee to recommend a design for the National Flag. She translated Bhagavad Gita in 1923. She died in 1933. Annie Besant, the daughter of William Wood and Emily Morris, was born in England in 1847. Annie's father, a doctor, died when she was only five years old and Annie's mother worked for boarders at Harrow School. She requested a friend, Ellen Marryat, to take responsibility for Anne’s upbringing. At nineteen, Annie married Rev. Frank Besant a young clergyman. Annie had two children, Digby a son and Mabel, a daughter. However, Annie was deeply unhappy with the marriage and Frank ordered her to leave the family home. A legal separation was arranged and Digby, the son, stayed with his father, and Mabel went to live with Annie in London. Annie Besant completely rejected Christianity and in 1874 joined the Secular Society. Annie soon developed a close relationship with Charles Bradlaugh, editor of the radical National Reformer and leader of the secular movement in Britain. Charles Bradlaugh gave Annie a job working for the National Reformer and during the next few years wrote many articles on issues such as marriage and women's rights. In 1877 Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh decided to publish ‘The Fruits of Philosophy’ by Charles Knowlton which advocated birth control. Besant and Bradlaugh were charged with publishing material that was “likely to deprave or corrupt those whose minds are open to immoral influences". Besant and Bradlaugh were both found guilty of publishing an "obscene libel" and sentenced to six months in prison. At the Court of Appeal the sentence was however quashed. Besant then wrote and published her own book, advocating birth control, entitled The Laws of Population. Newspapers like The Times accused Besant of writing "an indecent, lewd, filthy, bawdy and obscene book". In 1880 Charles Bradlaugh was elected MP for Northampton, but as he was not a Christian he refused to take the oath, and was expelled from the House of Commons. Annie Besant became friends with socialists such as Edward Aveling and George Bernard Shaw. She became a social worker and a reformer. In 1889 Annie Besant was elected to the London School Board. Some
174 of her achievements included a program of free meals for undernourished children and free medical examinations for all those in elementary schools. In the 1890s Annie Besant became a supporter of Theosophy, a religious movement founded by Madame Blavatsky in 1875. Theosophy was based on Hindu ideas of karma and reincarnation with nirvana as the eventual aim. Annie Besant came to live in India, worked for the Indian cause and died in 1933.
5. MOHANDAS KARMACHAND GANDHI (1869-1948)
There was a big void in the political leadership of India caused by the death of Gopal Krishna Gokhale and dying Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Dadabai Naoroji. Gandhi assumed leadership and continued the battle against the British government. Gandhi came on Indian political scene at the age of 47 and took the mantle of struggle from Tilak after his death; and gave concrete shape to Tilak’s ideas on self rule and Swadeshi movement actively for next 15 years until it was assumed by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1931. M K Gandhi did a great job in broadening the base of Independence Movement by enlisting co-operation from the people of all walks of life and adopted his new technique of Civil Disobedience and non-cooperation with the government. He converted freedom movement into a people’s movement. Gandhi was opposed to all kinds of extremism and took a moderate path, accepting any overture made by the British towards constitutional progress. Gandhi expected the people to participate in his Movement in a disciplined manner without resorting to violence of any kind. But soon he realized that the masses were undisciplined and violent and any Satyagraha which he started as non-violent ended in violence and the mobs went beyond control. He realized the futility of provoking undisciplined masses and thought he should first educate the people in
175 matters of discipline and political awareness. He also realized that an undisciplined mass will never be able to manage the country’s independence even if the British gave Independence for long. So he stopped stressing for country’s Independence and in the interregnum that ensued he gave more importance to social reforms and economic development of the nation. He engaged himself in women’s education, adult literacy, Harijans welfare and Hindu-Muslim unity. On the economic front he focused on boycotting the British goods and instilling self reliance among the masses. Once he handed over the political charge to Nehru, he went in one direction and the congress in another direction. He became a symbolic leader who would be consulted but not necessarily followed. Gandhi did not want to launch quit India Movement but the Congress pressurized him to do. He wanted to help the British during the War but the congress decided to confront by launching the Quit India movement. He went to the extent of asking the Muslim League to form the government of free India if they agree not to divide the country but Jinnah was determined to divide India. The Congress agreed for the Partition of the country while Gandhi always opposed. When the communal award was granted to Harijans at the instance of Ambedkar after the Round Table Conference and after Jinnah became adamant in forming a separate state for the Muslims around the same time, Gandhi became disillusioned and remained a shattered man. He just put up the façade of Congress leadership but decisions were taken at Nehru’s behest. Gandhi believed that only Nehru could steer the political movement to success, not withstanding the difference of opinion and so he supported his candidature for Prime Minister of Free India as against the claims of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. Mohandas Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 at Porabunder in Gujarat. He got married when he was just 13 years old. He was sent to England to study Law at the inner temple and became a barrister 1891. He returned to India and started practicing law at Bombay. Before his practice could pick up he received an offer from Abdullah, a big businessman from South Africa which he accepted and went to South Africa. He was flabbergasted to see the British discrimination against the native population in South Africa. He himself was discriminated so much that he decided to resist the discrimination policy of the British in South Africa. Once he was thrown out of train although he had valid ticket by the railway authorities. No white barber was ready to shave his beard or cut his hair. The non-whites were treated as third rate citizens and Gandhi launched protest marches and Satyagraha. Finally, he was issued deportation order by the South African British
176 Government. He came back to India with the object of fighting the British government in India. He traveled in India far and wide, and gained the first hand information of the plight of the farmers in India. His first task was to improve the lots of the farmers who formed 80 percent of India’s population then. He launched four pronged attack against the British, namely, Satyagraha, picketing, civil disobedience and hartals. He marched to Dandi to protest tax on salt. He launched Satyagraha in Champaran to get the farmers tax relief. He launched Satyagraha at Bardoli and a number of other places and created insecurity in the British mind. He represented India in the Round Table Conference between 1930 and 1933. By then he realized that it was not so easy to route out the British in India. He also realized that Indians were not yet ready for self-rule as they lacked the political sense to rule the nation. He wanted to prepare India for self rule. He launched various social and economic programs for the people, such as Women Education, Mass Education, removal of untouchability from the Indian social system, building their moral stature and instilling in them self confidence and self reliance and so on. By then Jawaharlal Nehru took over the leadership of the Congress and Gandhi became a political advisor. Gandhi gave more importance to Hindu-Muslim amity and tried to save division of the country between the Hindus and the Muslims but he could not avert that disorder as the Muslims and their leader Jinnah were adamant that the Muslims should have a separate state of their own, if the British decide to leave India granting India freedom. In 1942, he wanted to help the British in their war effort by extending Indian participation in their war efforts in response to the call from Viceroy Linlithgow. The congress opposed this idea and forced him to launch Quit India Movement to force the British to flee India. He was arrested and placed in the house arrest at the Aga khan palace at Pune where his wife Kasturba’s health deteriorated and finally she died and due to failing health of Gandhi, he was released from the jail. Soon the war was coming to an end and England won the war but became bankrupt and so the labor government that came to power under P M Attlee decided to give freedom to the British Colonies including India. He was a firm believer in Hinduism although he read Koran and Bible intensively. He practiced truth and non-violence. He was practicing celibacy and abstinence and lived a simple life with noble thoughts in mind. He led the life of an ascetic and he had large group of staunch followers. His extra affinity for the Muslims, and his attempt to abolish untouchability, got him a number of enemies. He went on pleading for peace between the Hindus and the Muslims when thousands of Hindus
177 were massacred, and their women raped and their properties were destroyed. His acceptance of the formation of separate State of Pakistan brought misery to those who were dreaming of Akand Bharat or the United India and to the millions of Hindus who suffered in the hands of the Muslims. One of those disgruntled men, Nathuram Vinayak Ghotse shot Gandhi from a point blank range and Gandhi fell dead on January 30, 1948. Gandhi’s contribution included the Swadeshi Movement he launched in continuation of the plan enunciated by Bal Ganghadhar Tilak and the Indian National Congress. Gandhi was an anarchist who believed that a moral society can be run without a centralized government. He also believed that Civil Disobedience is justified while fighting the British out of India but his successors are under the misconception that Civil Disobedience is a democratic instrument which can be used by any citizen or group of citizens against the lawfully established Government. Therefore India has been passing through a period of Anarchy and the selfish politicians fail to distinguish between the colonial British government and the legally established government of India. Not a day passes in India without the politicians resorting to strikes and lockouts, Marches and hartals against the government. Resistance to lawful government has become the order of the day and in the stricter sense there is legitimization of civil war in India in the guise of civil liberties.
6. VALLABHBHAI PATEL October 31, 1875-December 15, 1950
Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel popularly called Sardar Patel. He was a great Indian statesman and a leader of the Indian National Congress. He was the right-hand man of M K Gandhi. Vallabhbhai was always equated with Nehru until Gandhi made it clear that Nehru will lead Congress after him. He was also the deputy Prime Minister in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. Vallabhbhai Patel was born into a farmer family on October 31, 1875, in Nandiad, Gujarat. He was the fourth son of Jhaverbhai Patel and Ladbai. Somabhai, Narsibhai and Vitthalbhai Patel were his elder brothers. He also went to London to be trained as a barrister and returned to India to become one of the leading lawyers in Ahmedabad. Sardar Patel's first major participation was during the Kheda struggle in Gujarat when the whole country reeled under severe drought. He and Gandhi led the agitation against the British government for tax relief to the suffering farmers. Finally the British government yielded to the
178 pressure and gave tax relief to the farmers. Sardar led Satyagraha movement at Bardol in Gujarat. Sardar Patel became Congress President twice between 1920 and 1937. He was popular both in the party cadres and among the masses. Both of them deserved to succeed Gandhi and so Gandhi was puzzled when the question of his successor arose. Gandhi had to choose between Patel and Nehru. Both of them were right hand men of M K Gandhi. Gandhi finally chose Nehru as his successor and Patel was disappointed. Nehru nevertheless made him the Deputy Prime Minister when he formed the ministry for Free India and gave him Home Ministry portfolio but relations between him and Nehru continued to be strained, with both threatening to resign on several occasions. As Deputy Prime Minister and the Home Minister, Patel gave much importance to integrate India and oust the Indian Princes who wanted to stay out of the Indian Union. He merged the Indian Princely states with the Union of India without bloodshed except in case of Hyderabad where Indian army was pressed into service and the Nizam of Hyderabad ran away to London and Hyderabad was integrated. His unification efforts brought him the title ‘the Iron Man of India’. He died in 1950, leaving Nehru unopposed leader of India. In spite of differences they worked together till Sardar Patel’s death in 1950.
3. MOTILAL NEHRU
Motilal, a lawyer by profession, who took keen interest in the birth and growth of Indian National Congress, contributed a great deal to the Independence Movement in the earlier days. His greatest contribution was that he gave birth to Jawaharlal who led the freedom struggle. Motilal’s dynasty has been serving the cause of India down to this day. He was one of the key architects of Modern India, an eminent lawyer, a great freedom fighter and a Congress man. His residence Anand Bhavan became the center of congress activity during the freedom struggle. Motilal Nehru was a Kashmiri Brahmin who had settled down in Allahabad for practicing Law in Allahabad High Court. He was born on May 6th, 1861 of Gangadhar and Jeo Rani at Delhi. He was born on the same day that Rabindranath Tagore was born. He had his education in Kanpur and Allahabad and Agra. Motilal Nehru could not participate in the political struggle during the last two years of his life due to failing health. Motilal’s posterity which included Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Firoz Gandhi, Vijayalakhmi Pandit, Rajeev Gandhi, Sanjay
179 Gandhi, Menaka Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi made valuable contribution to the Indian politics after his death. Rahul Gandhi and Varun Gandhi, his great grandsons have already entered the political scene. Motilal Nehru entered Indian politics at a time when nobody thought that the British would give Independence to India. The British would declare anyone seeking Independence as a traitor and hang him. Motilal himself had great admiration for the British style of living. The Congress itself had not declared that the object was to free India from the British until 1929. It had been only agitating for self government or Swaraj. Motilal was a moderate congress man who would have accepted dominion status but for his son, Jawaharlal Nehru. At the time when Gandhi entered the political scene in 1916, Congress was divided into two groups, moderates and extremists. Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Dadabai Naoroji and Motilal Nehru and the likes were considered Moderates who would accept any progressive reforms which would give greater participation for the Indians in the government but the extremists who included Bipinchandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Roy boycotted Montego-Chelmsford reforms which gave diarchy for the provincial governments while the British retained full power at the Center. Gandhi himself was a moderate. Motilal became a member of the Central Legislative assembly and presided over the Congress session at Amritsar in 1919, and again at Calcutta in 1920. He was arrested and sentenced for six months in 1921. He formed a separate Party called Swaraj Party in 1923 with Chittaranjan Das to oppose the Gandhi’s Idea of accepting Dominion status for India while his son Jawaharlal Nehru remained loyal to Gandhi. When Simon Commission was visiting India, he drew up a constitution for Free India. He passed away on February 6, 1931.
4. DADABAI NAOROJI (September 4, 1825-1917)
Dadabai was associated with the Congress from its first meeting in 1865 and became President of the Congress in 1886, 1893 and 1906. He declared the goal of Congress in 1906 as Swaraj which means self government. Naoroji was known as the Grand Old Man of India. He was a mentor to Mahatma Gandhi when he came to India in 1915.
180 Dadabai Naoroji was born in a poor priestly Parsi family in Bombay on September 4, 1825 as a son of Maneckbai and Naoroji Palanji Dordi. At the age of 4, Dadabhai's father died and his mother brought him up with great difficulty. She arranged the marriage of Dadabhai to Gulbai at the early age of 11. For the rest of her life, Maneckbai remained a close companion and mentor to him. He studied in Elphinstone College and became a professor of Mathematics at the age of 27. He was the first Indian to become a professor of the college. On June 27, 1855, Dadabhai sailed to England to join the first Indian business firm of the mercantile Cama family. In 1859, Dadabhai established his own business firm under the name of Dadabhai Naoroji & Co. On 31st October 1861, an association was founded in the name of "THE LONDON ANJUMAN" and Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji was its Patron, Founder and First President. He came back in 1869 but returned to England soon. He again came back to India in 1874 as Dewan of Baroda under the Maharaja Gaekwad for a period of two years. He again went to England to enter the British Parliament in 1886. He attempted to mould the public opinion in favor of self rule for Indians and fought election for the British parliament as a liberal party member in 1886 which he lost but he won election from Fins bury London in 1892. He was appointed to the Royal Commission on Indian Expenditure in 1895. He wrote his views in his book Poverty and Un- British Rule in India, published in 1901. He delivered his maiden speech in the British House of Commons in 1892 and spoke on political reforms in India. In 1867 Naoroji helped to establish the East India Association. In 1874 he became Prime Minister of Baroda and was also a member of the Legislative Council of Bombay between 1885 and 1888. He also founded the Indian National Association from Calcutta a few years before the founding of the Indian National Congress in Bombay, with the same objectives and practices. The two groups later merged into the INC, and Naoroji was elected President of the Congress in 1886. Dadabai tried to impress upon the British people the need for self rule in India and stopping of Indian wealth flowing to England. Naoroji was a staunch moderate within the Congress when opinion in the party was divided between the moderates and extremists. He died on June 30, 1917 at a time when Gandhi was to come to the Central stage of Indian political scene. Gandhi filled the void left by Dadabai.
181 8. MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA
(1861-1946)
Madan Mohan’s multi-faceted personality made him a great patriot, an educationist with a vision, a social reformer, an ardent journalist, an effective lawyer, a successful parliamentarian and an outstanding statesman. Malaviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, which remains as a premier institution of learning in India today.19 Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya was born in an orthodox Brahmin family in Allahabad in the present day state of Uttar Pradesh. He founded and edited two nationalistic weeklies called ‘Hindustan’ and ‘The Indian Union’. He brought out Hindi weekly 'ABHYUDAYA'. In 1909 he started the publication of ‘Leader’ as editor. He was responsible for spreading the awareness of freedom in the Indian heartland. Malaviya was the president of the Indian National Congress during 1909 and in 1918. He represented the whole of India with Mahatma Gandhi in the First Round Table Conference in 1931. Malaviya popularized the famous slogan "Satyameva Jayathe" (Truth alone will win). Madan Mohan was born in an educated orthodox Hindu family at Allahabad on Dec 25 1861. He was married to Kundan Devi at Mirzapur1884. He passed B.A. examination from Calcutta University. He was appointed as a teacher in a government school in 1886. He addressed the Second AICC session as early as 1887 under the chairmanship of Dadabai Naoroji. He name to be recognized as an outstanding and noble son of India. Among Malaviya's many achievements, the most monumental was the establishment of the Banaras Hindu University or Kashi Hindu Vishvidyalaya. In the course of his lifetime Banaras Hindu University came to be known as the Center of Knowledge. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya created history in Indian education with this institution, the first of its kind in the country. He chose Banaras as the site, because of the centuries old tradition of learning, wisdom and spirituality inherent in the place. His vision was to blend the best of Indian education called from the ancient centers of learning, Takshashila and Nalanda and other sacred institutions, with the best tradition of modern universities of the west. Great minds and personalities like Annie Besant, Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Shyama Charan De and many others joined hand
19
182 with him in his quest for knowledge, arousing the national spirit in India and winning freedom with the power of education and righteousness. Malaviya passed away in 1946. He started studying Law in.1891 and set up his practice in the District Court in December 1893 and in High Court in 1898. He was elected to state Council in 1906. In 1906 he organized Sanatan Dharm Mahasabha in the Kumbh Mela and decided to establish Indian University in Banaras.1907. In December 1911 he Left legal practice and decided to devote whole time for the service of the country and establishment of Banaras Hindu University. On Apr 20, 1932, he was arrested before presiding over the Congress session at Delhi. In 1934 he spoke on Harijan welfare in the presence of M K Gandhi at Varanasi. Gandhiji delivered convocation address in the Silver Jubilee celebration of Banares Hindu University. Madan Mohan was appointed Rector of the University in 1942 but he passed away on November 12, 1946.
9. J B KRIPALANI
J B Kripalani was a leading member of the Congress during the crucial years of transformation of power from the British hands to Indians, but his views were so different from that of Nehru and Patel that he left the Congress and started a new Party called Krishik Majdoor Praja Party which made no impact on the minds of people. J. B. Kripalani was born at Hyderabad in Sind, now in Pakistan in 1888 in an upper middle class Hindu family. He studied in Wilson College first but later on migrated to D J Sindh College. He organized a strike in his college against the Principal who called Indians ‘liars’. He worked as a Professor of English and History at Muzaffarpur College in Bihar. He taught at the Benares Hindu University (1919-20) and also served as the Principal of the Gujarat Vidyapeeth founded by Mahatma Gandhi and came to be called Acharya. From 1927 he became fully devoted his time to the political movements of the Indian National Congress. Kripalani first came into contact with Gandhiji in 1917 during the Champaran Satyagraha and that proved to be a turning point in his life. Another turning point in his life was his marriage with Sucheta in 1936. It turned out to be the happiest partnership in life. From 1934 to 1945, he served as the General Secretary of the Congress. During the Quit India movement in 1942 he was arrested; and he was released along with the other Congress leaders in 1945. He was elected President of the Indian National Congress in November 1946 and
183 steered the organization through the critical days of the transfer of power. In November 1947 he presided over a very crucial meeting of the AICC where he differed sharply from many of his former colleagues, like Nehru and Vallabh Bhai Patel who were in the government; and he retired from the Congress in 1951. He then started a weekly called the Vigil and a new political party known as the Krishak Mazdoor Praja Party
10. DESHBANDHU CHITTARANJAN DAS (1870-1925) Chittaranjan Das, also known as C R Das was bestowed the title ‘Deshabandhu as he was one of the most dynamic patriots in the beginning years of the twentieth century. He was a great lawyer by profession and fought the case of arabindo Ghosh against the British charge. He was an associate of Bipin Chandra Pal, Surendranath Banerjea and Arabindo Ghosh but in the later years they were separated because C R Das went all out for Hindu-Muslim unity. Chittaranjan Das, a revolutionary freedom fighter, was born on 5 November 1870 in Calcutta. He belonged to an upper middle-class family of Telirbagh, in Dacca district. His father Bhushan Mohan Das was a Solicitor in Calcutta High Court. He received his early education at the London Missionary Society's Institution at Bhawanipur in Calcutta. He passed the Entrance Examination in 1885 and obtained his graduation degree in 1890 from the Presidency College, Calcutta. He went to England, joined the Inner Temple and was called to the Bar in 1894. In the same year he returned to India and enrolled himself as a Barrister at the Calcutta High Court. He defended the case of Arabindo Ghosh so brilliantly that Aurobindo was finally acquitted. He was the defense counsel in the Dhaka Conspiracy Case, which was initiated in 1910-11. He was an expert in both civil and criminal law. C R Das came to politics early in the twentieth century. He was associated with the revolutionary organizations like the Anusheelana Samiti. He justified the revolutionary activities on the ground that the British effected partition of Bengal. He presided over the Bengal Provincial Conference held at Bhawanipur in 1917. When M K Gandhi gave a call for boycotting the visit of the Prince of Wales he gave up his lucrative practice at the Bar and took part in the boycott in 1921. The government imprisoned him on many occasions. C R Das, however, strongly criticized the announcement of the suspension of the Non- cooperation Movement by Gandhi and condemned it as a serious mistake. In his opinion, this action of Gandhi demoralized the political workers to a great extent.
184 C R Das was one of those who wanted the Congress to enter the legislative councils and wreck the government from inside. In 1922 Congress rejected his suggestion and he resigned from the Congress. He started a new party called Swaraj Party which was also joined by Motilal Nehru. In the election to the Bengal Legislative Council, held in 1923, the Swaraj Party achieved a remarkable victory. He was an ardent advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity, and won over the Muslims of Bengal to his side through an agreement commonly known as the Bengal Pact but it was opposed by Surendranath Banerjee and Bipin Chandra Pal. They accused C R Das of surrendering the rights of the Hindus to the Muslims. The Muslims of the province welcomed the Pact but they were disillusioned when the Pact was rejected by the Cocanada Session of the Indian National Congress, held in December 1923. CR Das was elected the first Mayor of the Calcutta Corporation following the victory of the Swaraj party in the election in 1924 and was re-elected for the next term also. He presided over the All India Trade Union Congress held at Lahore and Calcutta in 1923 and 1924 respectively. He presided over the Bengal Provincial Conference held at Faridpur in 1925. C R Das founded the weekly ‘Forward’, the organ of the Swaraj Party in 1923. He also founded the Municipal Gazette, the official organ of the Calcutta Corporation in 1924. He was against caste distinctions and untouchability. He favored women's emancipation and encouraged female education as well as widow remarriage. His advocacy of inter- caste marriage is proved by the marriage of his own daughters with Brahmin and Kayastha families. Deshabandhu died in June 1925 when he was only fifty-five. His premature death came as a blow to the cause of communal harmony of Bengal. Bankimchandra Chatterjee influenced his political ideas. He was in active politics for just eight years but he became very popular in that short period of time. He wanted government of the common man not of any class of people. He championed the cause of mass education. He did not want mere western type of education as he thought that it was devoid of cultural education. Many institutions and organizations are named after him in free India.
11. GOPALA KRISHNA GOKHALE
Gopal Krishna Gokhale made lot of efforts to force the British to introduce constitutional reforms in India which culminated in the passage of Minto-Morley reforms of 1909, but he and his supporters were disappointed that the British could not devolve more power to the
185 Indians. Gokhale visited England and voiced his concerns relating to the unfair treatment of the Indian people by the British government. He as a moderate, pleaded for gradual reform to ultimately attain Swaraj, or self-government, in India while some of his contemporaries comprising radical elements, were asking for self government. Gopalkrishna was born in small village called Kothluk in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra on May 9, 1866 and he was born of Krishna Rao and Valubai. His father died while he was young and upon his father’s death the economic condition of the family was so bad that he could not continue his studies. His elder brother sacrificed his own education to help him. He was brought by his maternal grand father. He studied in Rajaram High School in Khotapur with the support of his brother and sister-in-law. He went without meal on many occasions and studied under the street lights. He got his degree from Elphinstone College, Bombay in 1884. He took his B.A. degree in 1884 and joined the Law College in Bombay, but could not complete the course. He had great respect for Democracy and the parliamentary Institutions. He worked as an assistant master in New High School at Pune. He wrote a book on arithmetic. He became a founding member of Fergusson College Pune. He worked there as teacher and the member on the Board. In the year 1886, Gopal Krishna Gokhale entered into the public life. He contributed articles to the English Weekly, Maratha. He became the Secretary of the Deccan Education Society of Poona. He was given charge of the Bombay Provincial Conference in 1893 and he was elected to the Senate of the Bombay University. Gokhale he devoted his spare time to the causes of the common man: famine, plague relief measures, local self- government, land reform, and communal harmony. He was twice elected to the position of the President of Pune Municipality. Gokhale published a daily newspaper called Jnanaprakash, which allowed him to voice his reformist views on politics and society. In 1905, he founded the Servants of India Society, which taught people to be selfless workers. Ranade, his mentor, trained him for 15 years in all spheres of public life, and taught him sincerity, devotion to public service, and tolerance. Gokhale died on February 19, 1915. Gokhale was greatly influenced by Ranade, Dadabhai Naoroji, and Pherozeshah Mehta. Immediately after his graduation, Gokhale joined the Deccan Education Society at Poona, as a Life Member. When the Fergusson College was opened in 1885, he was called upon to lecture there. He retired in 1902 specifically to devote himself to public life. In 1889 he became a member of the Indian National Congress. In 1890 he was elected Honorary Secretary of the Sarvajanik Sabha, Poona, of
186 which Ranade was the most influential member. In 1893 he became the Secretary of the Bombay Provincial Conference. In 1895 he became Joint Secretary of the Indian National Congress along with Tilak. In 1905 Gokhale founded the Servants of India Society with the object of training men to devote themselves to the service of India as national missionaries and to promote by all constitutional means the national interests of the Indian people. In 1908 he founded the Ranade Institute of Economics. He was a front rank Reformer; he deprecated the caste-system and untouchability, pleaded for the emancipation of women and championed the cause of female education. In Gokhale's opinion, the introduction of Western education in India, with its liberalising influence, was a great blessing to the people. He was a firm believer in the theory that mass education was a prerequisite to national political consciousness. He advocated that primary education should be free in all schools throughout India at once. He pleaded for greater autonomy for Indians and assured that the Indians would cooperate with the Government. His idea was that India should be given Dominion status within the Commonwealth of Nations. He appreciated the benefits of British rule in general; but he nevertheless criticized unjust policies and high-handed actions of the British Government. He pleaded for technical education and for better method of cultivation in Agriculture. He made great speeches in the Imperial Legislative council from 1902 to 1908. He served the country for three decades. Gokhale paid frequent visit to England. His first visit was in 1897 in connection with the Welby Commission. In politics he belonged to the moderate group opposed to the extremist school led by Tilak. He, however, placed equal emphasis on social reforms as much as on political progress.
1. SAYYAJIRAO GOEKWAD 1863-1939
In the days when the rulers of the princely states were squandering public money for personal luxuries without bothering about the welfare of their people, His Highness Maharaja Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad of Baroda introduced many reforms including compulsory education for boys and girls. He built libraries for the benefit of the public. He launched co-operative movement in his state. He established Village Panchayats and introduced agriculture I the field of education. He also
187 took steps to eradicate social evils like child marriage. He was fond of discovering talent and encouraging it. He identified and encouraged Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, whom he sent abroad for higher studies. Maharaja Sir Sayajirao III Gaekwad was born at Kavlana on 10th March 1863 as Gopalrao Gaekwad, second son of Meherbanmant Kashirao Bhikajirao Gaekwad. He was selected by the British Government as successor to Maharaja Malharrao Gaekwad and was accordingly adopted by Maharani Jamna Bai, on 27th May 1875. He ascended to the throne at Baroda on 16th June 1875 but being a minor reigned under a Council of Regency until he came of age and was invested with full ruling powers on 28th December 1881. His educational and social reforms included, among others, ban on child marriage, legislation on divorce, removal of untouchability, spread of education, development of Sanskrit and ideological studies, religious education, encouragement of fine arts and compulsory primary education. Those reforms placed Baroda far ahead of other states of British India at that point of time. He identified himself with the people. He was the first Indian Ruler to introduce in 1906 compulsory and free primary education in his State. He had a big library. He admired the British and their rule but he safeguarded his own rights against the British Government. He attended the Delhi Durbars of the King Emperor in 1877, 1903, 1911and in the 1911. In Delhi Durbar Sir Sayajirao did not bow to the King Emperor and this was considered disrespect to the throne by the British and he fell out of the British grace. It was during his reign that a large narrow gauge railway network was set up in Baroda State which even to this day is the largest narrow gauge railway network in the world with Dabhol at its focal point. Sayajirao envisioned a water supply scheme for Baroda in 1892 at Ajwa which would supply drinking water to the people of Baroda. Even to this day, a large portion of Vadodara City gets its drinking water from this source. He constructed Kamati Park in the city of Baroda. He set apart funds out of his personal as well as the state money for setting up a University in Baroda for the benefit of students from the rural areas of his state. His dream came true when his grandson Sir Pratapsinghrao Gaekwad founded the Maharaja Sayajirao University and settled the trust as desired by his grandfather. This Trust known as Sir Sayajirao Diamond Jubillee and Memorial Trust exists even to this day also and caters to the educational and other needs of the people of the former state of Baroda. He took pains to identify talents from among his people. He supported education and training of persons who in his opinion would shine in
188 life. Such persons whom he patronized included Dr. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and Dadabhai Naoroji. Dadabai started his public life as the Dewan to the Maharaja and thereafter Dadabai went on to become the first Asian Member of the British House of Commons where he made no secret of the fact that he would also be representing 250 million of his fellow subjects in India. Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad of Baroda used to visit England every year to select outstanding young people to join his service and in one of such visits he met 20-year Sri Aurobindo whom he immediately offered a job in the Baroda College. Sri Aurobindo returned to India in 1893 to join the Baroda service. Maharaja Sayajirao had a splendid collection of jewels and jewellery. This included the 262 carat "Star of the South" diamond, the "Akbar Shah" diamond and the "Princess Eugenie" diamond. Maharaja Sayajirao Rao Gaekwad was also a patron of Indian Classical Music. Ustad Moula Bux founded the Academy of Indian Music under the patronage of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad. This Academy later became the Music College and is now the Faculty of Performing Arts of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Vadodara. Apart from Ustad Moula Bux, Sayajirao’s Court boasted of great artistes like Ustad Inayat Khan and Ustad Faiyyaz Khan. It was during the reign of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad that the first all India Music Conference was held in 1914 in Baroda. Maharaja Sayajirao’s first wife Maharani Chimnabai I came from Tanjore in South India. The dowry she brought included a troupe of dancers and musicians who brought to Baroda ‘Bharat Natyam’ a classical dance style of South India. One of these Bharat Natyam dancers was Kantimathi. This tradition of Bharat Natyam continues in Baroda today through her son Kubernath Tanjorkar and his son Ramesh Tanjorkar. After a long and eventful rule of 63 years, Sayajirao Gaekwad III died on 6th February 1939.
2. ISWARCHANDRA VIDYASAGAR (1820-1891)
A band of Intelligential in India was planning providing higher education in India for the Indians. They occupied chairs in the Universities and colleges and worked for the cause of education and social Upliftment. Iswar Chandra was a Professor of Sanskrit in a college and went on to become the Principal. He was an educator, a reformer, a writer and a
189 philanthropist. He was one of the greatest intellectuals and activists of the nineteenth century. Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar was born in a Brahmin family at Birsingha in Midnapore district. His parents, though poor, managed to send him to Calcutta for studies after he finished his early education at the village school. Iswar studied at Sanskrit College in Calcutta from 1829 to 1841. He bagged many prizes and scholarships for best performance. The College management evaluated his performance in various courses such as Poetics, Rhetoric, Vedanta, Smritis, Astrology and Logic and conferred the title of ‘Vidyasagar’ in 1839. At the age of 21, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar started his career as the head pundit of the Fort William College at Calcutta. He joined Sanskrit College as a professor in 1850. Next year he became Principal of the college. The government entrusted him in 1855 with additional responsibility of Special Inspector of Schools for the districts of Hooghly, Burdwan, Midnapore and Nadia. He was also an honorary office-bearer of several organizations including Asiatic Society and Bethune Society. In 1858, he was made one of the first fellows of the Calcutta University. He received a certificate of Honor at the Imperial Assemblage in January 1877 and in January 1880 was made a CIE. He also received honors and felicitations from many social, cultural and scientific organizations. Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar was more a translator than a writer. Bankimchandra and others of his time were creative writers. The writings of Ishwarchandra were instructive, reformative and utilitarian, not creative. His earliest works including Mahabharata Upakramanika and Vetalapanchavingshati were translations. In fact, the majority of his works, 32 in all, were directly or indirectly translations from Sanskrit, Hindi and English. These were mainly textbooks addressed to school students. His only independent scholarly study, but which remains obscure among the generality, is on Sanskrit language. In his hands, Bangla prose style took a new turn. According to critics, Vidyasagar inaugurated a new era for Bangla prose literature. Though personally an orthodox Hindu, Iswar Chandra respected other religions. Iswarchandra was a great social reformer of his times. He drew the attention of the people to the problems like child marriage, polygamy and widow remarriage. Most of his thoughts were summarized in his two famous works, Bidhababibaha Prachalita Haoya Uchit Kina Etadvisayak Prastab in two volumes on widow remarriage; and Bahubibaha Rahit Haoya Uchit Kina Etadvisayak Bichar in two volumes on Abolition of Polygamy, widow remarriage, child marriage and such other sensitive issues, because those evil practices were
190 supported by the Hindu society of that time. Vidyasagar did not want to hurt the sentiments of the common people by directly attacking the evils. He profusely drew instances from the Shastra and other classical texts to prove his point which had a tremendous impact on the people. Vidyasagar was also instrumental in the passage of the Act of 1856, legalizing widow remarriage and the Civil Marriage Act of 1872, restricting bigamy and child marriage and encouraging widow remarriage. As Special Inspector of Schools, Vidyasagar used his position to encourage landholders and other well-to-do people to establish schools. Within his zone he brought dozens of schools into existence, and some of which were for girls. He established some schools at his initiative and with his financial support. He established a model college with attached schools in 1864. He also raised funds for building a great building for his Metropolitan Institution. He kept half the money that he got from his salary and his royalties for helping the needy. Vidyasagar died on 29 July 1891 and the whole nation, mourned. Vidyasagar was rated as the greatest man of his century.
191
3. K M MUNSHI 1887-1971
Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi was an Indian nationalist from the state of Gujarat. He was an author, a dynamic administrator, a dedicated institution-builder, an eminent jurist, a Constitution-maker, a publicist and statesman and a philosopher. He was a great man who tried to uphold the heritage of India and stood for ‘One India and one strong Central Government’. He joined Jan Sangh after leaving congress and devoted most of his time for upholding the heritage of India through Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. Munshi was born on 30th December, 1887 in the town of Bharuch in Gujarat. He got his education in Baroda, where he excelled in academics. He later practiced at Bombay High Court. Munshi was an active participant in the Indian Independence Movement led by Gandhi. He founded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan which has become a leading educational and cultural Center now, in 1938 at Bombay which has now several branches in India and abroad. He joined the Swaraj Party but returned to the Indian National Congress with the launch of the Salt Satyagraha in 1930 and courted arrest several times. During the Quit India Movement too he was arrested. Munshi served in the Central Legislative Assembly in the 1930s. After India became Independent, Munshi went as diplomatic envoy and trade agent to the princely state of Hyderabad, where he served until its accession in 1948. He was also part of the ad hoc Flag Committee that selected the Flag of India in August 1947, and one of the members of the committee which drafted the Constitution of India under the chairmanship of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. Munshi left the Nehru-dominated Congress Party and joined the newly formed right wing Swatantra Party led by Chakravarti Rajgopalachari who stood for free enterprise, freedom of property, free market economy and pro-business. The party enjoyed limited success, and soon died out. However later KM Munshi joined Jan Sangh. He served as the Governor of Indian State of Uttar Pradesh from 1952 to 1957. Besides being a politician and educationist, K.M. Munshi was also an environmentalist. He initiated the Van Mahotsav in 1950, when he was Union Minister of Agriculture and Food. Munshi was also litterateur with a wide range of interests. He has written novel, short story, biography, autobiography, etc. He is specially known for his historical novels in Gujarati. His trilogy Patanni Prabhuta, Gujaratno Nath and
192 Rajadhiraj is considered significant in the literature of Gujarat. His other works include Jay Somanath, Keshavavatara and Bhagwan Parashurama.
4. ASHUTOSH MUKHARJEE
Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee held three doctorate degrees to his credit. He was a Doctor of Philosophy, a Doctor of Science and a Doctor of Literature. He was an Indian educationist and Vice Chancelor of Calcutta University from 1906 to 1914 and again from 1921 to 1923. He also had title ‘Sahasravachaspati’, meaning ‘great orator’. Ashutosh became a Fellow of the Calcutta University when he was just 24 years old. He transformed University into a teaching and research center and dominated its affairs throughout his life. He discovered the great talents of Dr. C.V. Raman and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. His son Shyama Prasad Mukherjee who established Jan Sangh in 1951, carried aloft the torch of Indian Culture. He was also responsible for the foundation of the Bengal Technical Institute in 1906 and the Calcutta University College of Science in 1914. He approached different people to raise funds for the establishment of the Calcutta University College of Science, which became the first and foremost institute of scientific education and research in the country. Though the British did not share his views on colonial domination, they respected and admired his honesty, transparency and integrity. The epitaph beneath his marble bust at the Ashutosh Museum of Arts at the University of Calcutta reads: "His noblest achievement, surest of them all a place for his mother tongue --- in step mother's hall".
5. DATTATREYA GOPAL KARVE (December 24, 1898 – December 28, 1964)
D G KARVE was a great educationist, economist and professor who made valuable contribution to economic and political progress of India. He was professor and later Principal of Willingdon College at Poona. D.G. Karve worked to educate and promote state planning in India. His contributions to Public Administration included serving as Chairman of the Bombay Administrative Enquiry Committee, and later as Director of the Indian Institute of Public Administration in 1954.
193 Karve contributed to India's cooperative movement using his background in Agricultural Economics to encourage state participation in cooperation. He was chosen to become a Director of the Bombay State Cooperative Bank, Vice-Chairman of the State Bank of India (1960-1962) and Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (1962- 1964). During his tenure at the Reserve Bank of India he served as Chairman of the Central Committee of Cooperative Training. He went on to serve as a special consultant to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. He participated in and chaired several commissions of the International Cooperative Alliance, and was Chairman of the 23rd session of the International Cooperative Congress in Vienna in 1966. D.G. Karve was born in Pune in 1898. His father died when he was one year old. He was supported by his mother. He studied at the New English School in Pune and later at Fergusson College. He studied under the distinguished Indian economist Professor V.G. Kale, and in 1921 was awarded the Cobden Club Medal for winning first position in economics on his B.A. examination. In 1923 D.G. Karve joined the Deccan Education Society as a Professor of Economics. In collaboration with Professor Kale he published a book on Principles of Economics in the Marathi language in 1927. In 1932 he succeeded Professor Kale as Head of the Economics Department at Fergusson College, Pune. In June 1935 the Deccan Education Society appointed him Principal of Willingdon College, Sangli, an institution suffering from low numbers and poor academic standing. During his tenure the college saw significant improvements in its enrollment, finances and reputation. He returned to Fergusson College as Head of the History-Economics Department in 1940. He went on to become the first Principal of the newly-formed Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce in 1943. He was elected President of the All-India Economic Conference in 1945 and President of the All-India Agricultural Economic Conference in 1956.
12. SAROJINI CHATTOPADHYAYA (February 13, 1879 - March 2, 1949)
Sarojini was a great poet in English literature of India. She was called as ‘The Nightingale of India’. She was the first woman to become a governor of a State in Free India. She was also sometime the President of the Indian National Congress. In 1905, the first volume of her collection of poems was published as ‘The Golden Threshold’. The
194 subsequent volumes ‘The Bird of Time’ and ‘The Broken Wing’ were published in 1912 and in 1917 respectively.
Sarojini was born in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh on February, 1879. Her father was the founder of the Nizam College in Hyderabad. In December 1898, she married Govindrajulu Naidu and they had 4 children, namely, Jayasurya, Padmaja, Randheera, and Leilamani. She joined the Indian freedom struggle in 1919 to protest the Rowlett Act which Gandhi had organized. In July 1919, she joined the Home Rule League. In January 1924, she was one of the two Indian National Congress delegates at the East African Indian Congress. She arrived in New York in October 1928 and was concerned with the unjust treatment of the black population. Upon her return to India she became a member of Indian Congress High Command. On January 26, 1930 the Congress proclaimed its independence from the British Empire. On May 5, Mohandas Gandhi was arrested. Sarojini was arrested shortly thereafter and she was in jail for several months. She, along with Gandhi, was released on January 31, 1931. Later that year, they were again arrested. Sarojini was eventually released due to her poor health and Gandhi was released in 1933. At the Asian Relations Conference of March 1947, she presided over the Steering Committee. On August 15, 1947, she became the governor of Allahabad. She died on March 2, 1949.
195
CHAPTER 14
GREAT FREEDOM FIGHTERS
There were a few national leaders of that era who fought selflessly for India’s freedom and some of them even embraced death but they were sidelined by the mainstream politicians of that era because they were not congressmen. In the post- Independence era History has been written in such a way that only Gandhi and Nehru have been glorified as freedom fighters and the gullible public believed it. Netaji Bose was deliberately kept out of focus to diminish his personality. The sacrifice made by Savarkar was hushed up and he was portrayed as a person who gave in to the British terms. Madanlal Dhingra and Bhagat Singh were never remembered in the official memoirs. Kundiram Bose was totally ignored. They went unrecognized to this day because they did not take the mass with them or because they were not very close to M K Gandhi or because they did not follow the Gandhian principle or because they were not congressmen. Among Congressmen three names may be mentioned who should have deserved a better place in History but they were never given due place because they were extremists with whom Gandhi differed. They were called Bal Lal Pal trio. They were Bal Ganghadhar Tilak from Poona, Lala Lajpat Roy from Punjab and Bipin Chandra Pal from Bengal. They went into oblivion with their death. Some national leaders who were not in the congress organization or were opposed to the Gandhian idea of agitating in a non violent way as they did not believe in it, were totally ignored by the congress leaders; and their sacrifices were not highlighted before the Indian people. The people of India were misled to believe that only Gandhi and his followers in the Congress were great when History was rewritten after India got independence. Incidentally most of them died before 1920 and were swept away in the Gandhi wave that swept across India between 1920 and 1933. Gandhi himself was sidelined after 1933 partly because Gandhi gave up the futility of leading the undisciplined, undeserving and ignorant masses and partly because he was disappointed by Mohammad Ali Jinnah who led the Muslims away from the Hindus and partly because Ambedkar divided the Hindu Society by pleading his caste people to convert to non-Hindu religions and partly because the British were hell bent on dividing India by encouraging these communal forces. To put the blame on others today
196 congress calls Hindu organizations as communal organizations and the gullible people accept it!
1. LALA LAJPAT ROY
Lala Lajpat Roy was another extremist Congress leader who confronted the mighty British Empire fearlessly, along with Bal Gangadhar Tilak of Poona and Bipin Chandra Pal of Bengal. Lala Lajpat Roy's supreme sacrifice came when he led a procession in Lahore on Oct.30, 1928 to boycott all British Simon Commission and he was severely wounded by the callous police wantonly. Though he was in acute pain, he gave a speech and declared "...every blow aimed at me is a nail in the coffin of British Imperialism...." He died 18 days later, on November 17, 1928. Lala Lajpat Roy was born of Munshi Radha Krishan Azad and Gulab Devi on January 28, 1865 in a village named Dhudike in Ferozepur District of Punjab. His father, Munshi Radha Krishan Azad was a teacher and scholar in Persian and Urdu. After schooling, Lalaji joined the Government College at Lahore in 1880 to study Law. He passed the Pleader’s examination and started practicing law at Jargoan. He was an activist of Arya Samaj. He moved to Rahtak and later on to Hissar where he was elected to Hissar Municipality. After the death of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Lalaji, with his associates toiled to develop the Anglo-Vedic College. In Hissar, Lalaji started attending Congress meetings and became an active worker in the Hissar-Rahtak region. He shifted his residence to Lahore in 1892. During the famines of 1897 and 1899, Lalaji was in the forefront providing great service towards the famine relief efforts. When the partition of Bengal was announced, Lalaji joined forces with Surendranath Nath Banerjee and Bipin Chandra Pal to galvanize Bengal and campaigned for 'Swadeshi' movement across the country. Lalaji was arrested on May 3, 1907 for creating "turmoil" in Rawalpindi. He started concentrating on serving the nation. Lalaji believed that it was important for the national cause to organize propaganda in foreign countries to explain India's position because the freedom struggle had taken a militant turn. He left for Britain in April 1914 for this purpose. Lalaji wrote numerous articles and delivered many speeches. A couple of months later, World War I broke out between England and Germany and Lalaji was not allowed to return to India. Lalaji immediately made plans to go to U.S.A. to galvanize more political support for India's cause. He founded the Indian Home Rule League of America in
197 October 1917, in New York and, a year later, he also set up, with himself as Director, the "Indian Information Bureau" to serve as a Publicity Organization for India. Lala Lajpat Roy returned to India on Feb.20, 1920 as a great hero. Lalaji was invited to preside over the special session of the Congress in Calcutta in 1920. He plunged into the non-cooperation movement, which was being launched in response to the Rowlett Act and he soon came to be known as "The Lion of Punjab". Lalaji died on November 17, 1928 without completely recovering from the wounds inflicted on him by the police at Lahore just 18 days ago but he was declared dead of heart failure.
2. BAL GANGADHAR TILAK (1856-1920)
Tilak belonged to India's first generation of youth who received a modern, college education. He was not only a freedom fighter but also a great social reformer and a nationalist. He claimed that Self Rule was his birth right and inspired millions of people in India to fight out the British Colonialism. He encountered the police and the mighty British in his teen age and made himself a place in Indian History. He was also a teacher and a journalist He was deeply supported by two other great leaders, namely Bipin Chandra Pal of Bengal and Lala Lajpat Roy of the Punjab. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was born on July 23rd 1856 in a village near Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, into a middle class Hindu family. Tilak was a devoted student with a special aptitude for mathematics. At an early age he realized that the educational system the British provided for the Indians was not at all adequate. He helped to found a school which laid emphasis on nationalism after he completed his education and obtained University degree. He founded Deccan Education Society to give better education as per the country's needs. He was a great Sanskrit scholar, a mathematician and a journalist too. He founded a newspaper called Kesari in 1881 to teach Indians of their glorious past and reminded them to be self-reliant. He joined the Congress and the Home Rule Movement of Anne Besant and led the Indian Freedom Movement unto his death. He was against the British exporting raw materials to England at a cheap rate and selling the finished products in India for high price. His fighting techniques were boycotting foreign goods, Self Government, Swadeshi Movement and National Education. Gandhi continued the policy framed by Tilak on these matters.
198 He was deemed an extremist in the Congress and he firmly opposed the moderates, who were willing to accept any reforms made by the British to satisfy the Indians and said Self Government is my birthright. He opposed the division of Bengal and wrote articles against the British which landed him in Jail. There was mock trial at midnight after which he was secretly removed to Burma. He was put to jail at Mandalay in Burma from 1908 to 1914 for antagonizing the British. He wrote commentary on Bhagavad Gita while he was in Jail. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was also called Lokmanya Tilak by the people of India. He was also a great social reformer. He despised child marriage then prevalent in India and vowed that he would not marry his daughter before she attained the age of 8 at a time when the children were married in their cradle. Tilak proposed various social reforms, such as a minimum age for marriage, prohibition on the sale of alcohol, promotion of Hindi as a national language and celebration of Ganesha festival as a national festival of India. However, Tilak is considered in many ways to have created the nationalist movement in India, by expanding the struggle for political freedoms and self-government to the common people of India. His writings on Indian culture, history and Hinduism spread a sense of heritage and pride amongst millions of Indians for India's ancient civilization and glory as a nation. Gandhi called Tilak "The Maker of Modern India". Tilak in short is the father of Indian Nationalism. While the people were very happy with the ideas of Tilak the native princes of India were upset with him because his self rule movement was opposed to Monarchy. Tilak was a critic of Mahatma Gandhi's strategy of non- violent, civil disobedience. Although he was considered an extremist and revolutionary, he did not support the idea of freedom from the English rule at that point of time. He was the idol of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who took the path of assassination of the British officers after the partition of Bengal. He died on August 1, 1920.
3. VINAYAK DAMODAR SAVARKAR (1883 to 1966)
Savarkar was a great Historian, an orator, a writer, a poet, a social worker, a philosopher and a revolutionary. He was highly appreciative of Tilak and was highly critical of M K Gandhi’s principle of non- violence as he believed that the British could be scared away from India only through Violence. He was also one of those who were greatly disturbed by the division of Bengal in 1906 and by mindless atrocities committed by the British. In 1898, the British had hanged the
199 Chapekar brothers in Pune for killing a British officer. This had a deep impact on the teenaged Savarkar, who decided to take up armed struggle. He planned to throw the British by creating insecurity in their mind. Savarkar was born of Damodar Savarkar and Radha Bai on May 28, 1883 in a village called Bhagpur near Nasik. He had primary education at Shivaji School, Nasik. He lost his mother at the age of nine. He was brought up by his father who was influenced by the freedom struggle against the British rule. He lost his father during the plague that hit India in 1899. After his parents died young, his elder brother Ganesh looked after the family. In March 1901, he was married to Yamuna Bai. In 1902, he joined Fergusson College at Pune for higher studies. In 1901 while at the Fergusson College, he formed Abhinav Bharat Society, which preached a revolutionary struggle against the British. In June 1906, he received a scholarship and left for England to study law. In Britain, Savarkar organized students and advocated an armed struggle to throw the British out of India. He also wrote his book on the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, which he called India's First War of Independence, a terminology the Indian government accepted after Independence. Since there was no question of printing the book in Britain, it was printed in Holland and copies of it were smuggled into India. The book was a huge success, giving Indians a strong sense of pride, providing a fresh perspective on a war that was till then merely seen as the outcome of disgruntled Indian soldiers in the service of the British. The second edition was published by Indians in the US while Bhagat Singh printed the third edition. Its translations were a big success in as much as the Punjabi and Urdu translations traveled far and wide while the Tamil translation almost becoming mandatory reading for soldiers of Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army, a majority of them being Tamils from Southeast Asia. In Britain, he also created a network of like- minded individuals. The British noticed his anti-British activities, and soon the police came looking for him. He was arrested in London on March 13, 1910 on a charge of abetting the murder of A.M.T. Jackson, the District Magistrate of Nasik and sent to India to face trial. The ship in which he was being taken to India berthed at Marseilles, France, on July 8, 1910. Savarkar wriggled out of the porthole and swam a great distance in the cold water to reach the shore. He had earlier told his friends, including Madame Bhikaji Cama, to meet him at Marseilles, but they arrived late and the British recaptured him. Since Savarkar did not speak French, he was unable to tell the local policeman that he was a refugee. Even though he could not escape, this story resonated across India. He was tried, and on
200 December 24, 1910, sentenced to 50 years in prison. On July 4, 1911, he was sent to Port Blair's Cellular Jail. That must have been very tough and it certainly was. He was tried at the age of 27. He is believed to have appealed for clemency in 1911, and again in 1913 during Sir Reginald Craddock's visit because he knew that he could achieve nothing by languishing in prison. In 1920, many prominent freedom fighters including Vithalbhai Patel, Mahatma Gandhi and earlier, Bal Gangadhar Tilak demanded the release of Savarkar and his brother in the Central Legislative Assembly. In May 2, 1921, Savarkar was moved to Ratnagiri jail and from there to Yeravada jail. It was in Ratnagiri jail, that Savarkar wrote the book 'Hindutva'. In January 6, 1924 he was released with limitations imposed on his travel and activities. Savarkar supporters always point to his incredibly difficult and degrading days in jail, sentenced to rigorous imprisonment when he was in the prime of life; placed in solitary confinement while other leaders had it much easier and were released whenever their health failed or someone in the family fell ill. Savarkar enjoyed no such luxury. In 1920, Vithalbhai Patel -- Vallabhbhai Patel's elder brother -- demanded Savarkar release, a demand also backed by Gandhi and Nehru. On May 2, 1921, Savarkar was shifted from the Cellular Jail, first to the Alipore Jail in Bengal and then to Ratnagiri Jail in western Maharashtra. He was released on January 6, 1924 on the condition that he would not leave Ratnagiri district, which is not very far from Mumbai, till 1937. His supporters say he only made such promises to get out of prison and that he remained committed to throwing the British out of India. He became active in the Hindu Mahasabha, founded in 1915, which sought to protect the interests of Hindus. The Hindu Mahasabha, which differed radically from the Indian National Congress, attracted followers who were either opposed to Gandhi and the Congress, or believed in Hindutva. Savarkar, who coined the term 'First War of Independence', also coined the term Hindutva outlining its features. He also wrote another book in English, Hindupadpadshahi, glorifying the Maratha rule over India. He had developed and expounded the notion of one nation, one culture, bound by blood and race. In 1937, he became president of the Hindu Mahasabha, and remained in the post till 1943. The Hindu Mahasabha, under Savarkar presidency, did not support the Quit India movement launched in August 1942. Savarkar also asked Hindus to help the British in their war effort against Germany and Japan. His supporters say this was a tactic to get more Hindus to pick up military training that could have been turned
201 against the British later. He was not alone. The Communist Party of India and Muslim League also did not support the Quit India movement. Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte, the two main accused, were known to Savarkar and frequently visited him. Savarkar was a great nationalist and a Freedom fighter. He lived at a time when the British were ruthlessly putting down any attempt to free India from their clutches. The trial in court was not fair and the Indians had no freedom of expression. Any person who wrote against the British government was deemed traitor and summarily tried and punished by banishing him from India. No one dared to face the wrath of the British. The Congress workers trod the cautious path and stopped short of demanding Indian independence. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Roy and Bipin Chandra Pal expressed themselves against the British and faced jail terms in Burma and Lahore and such other places. They suffered trauma in the hands of the British. Therefore Savarkar adopted his own technique of fighting the British by assassinating the British officers and thus created panic in the British mind. He was greatly agitated by the British atrocities on the Indians and decided to kill the British officers in India. He wrote a book called First War of Indian Independence Movement which inspired millions of people of India. As a student, Savarkar was involved in Swadeshi movement. He later joined Bal Gangadhar Tilak's Swaraj Party. When in London, he founded the Free India Society. The Society celebrated important dates on the calendar including festivals, freedom movement landmarks and was dedicated to the talks about Indian freedom which came to be highly unacceptable to the British. In 1908 when he wrote "The Indian War of Independence 1857", the British government immediately put a ban on it both in Britain and India. Later, it was published by Madam Cama in Holland and was smuggled to India to reach the revolutionaries working across the country against the British rule. After India became independent, he advocated a 'militarily strong' India. He was implicated in the assassination of M K Gandhi in 1948. He was finally acquitted of his charge. Central Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar ordered the removal of ‘a plaque with a message by Savarkar’ from the historical Cellular Jail at Port Blair on the Andaman Island in 2004 which led to Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra demanding an apology from the Congress MP. The insult which the minister heaped on Savarkar by his mindless act and the silence of the Congress in not condemning Mani Shankar Ayer will go a long way in destabilizing the Congress in India.
202 4. AURABINDO GHOSH
The British under Lord Curzon divided Bengal into two divisions ostensibly for administrative convenience, but the people knew that the British were adopting the policy of divide and rule by separating the Hindu majority areas from the Muslim dominated areas. The people of Bengal in particular and the people of India in general became provoked at the British policy and registered their protests. The British mercilessly put down the agitation which led to the formation of terrorist organizations everywhere especially in Bengal and the Punjab. They decided to assassinate the British officers who were ruthlessly punishing the people. Arabindo started hating the British because they were discriminating against the Indians. He was not taken to Indian Civil service although he passed the I C S examination and that hurt him most. He joined the freedom struggle. Arabindo was born on august 1871 of Krishnadhan and Swamalata in a ghosh family. He studied at Loretto convent while four year old and then he was sent to England to study in a public school and later at King’s College in Cambridge. He passed I C S examination but he was deliberately kept out of Indian Civil service. He returned to India and joined Baroda College as Vice Principal. K M Munshi was his student. At this juncture - Arabindo who was teaching in the Baroda College left that college and came back to Bengal to join the Bengal National College with the intention of participating in the freedom movement. He was contributing articles to Bengali magazine ‘Yuganta’. Bipinchandra Pal started another daily, ‘Bande Mataram’. Arabindo became unofficially its Editor in Chief. Meanwhile Arabindo was charged for sedition but he was acquitted for want of proof. The nationalists like Tilak and Arabindo held meeting separately breaking away from the Indian National congress at the Surat Session. The atmosphere in Bengal was surcharged and the British Government had let loose repressive measures to put down all resistance. In this tense atmosphere two Bengali youth threw bombs at the Magistrate named Kingsford. The police traced the bomb to Arabindo’s property and he was sent to solitary confinement. Many terrorists were trained at Manicktolla Gardens of Arabindo. It was one of the historic trials of the Indian freedom movement. There were 49 accused and 206 witnesses. 400 documents were filed and 5000 exhibits were produced consisting of bombs, revolvers, acid, etc. The judge C.B. Beechcroft had been a student with - Aurobindo at Cambridge. The Chief Prosecutor Eardley Norton kept a loaded revolver in his briefcase throughout the trial. The
203 case for - Aurobindo was taken up by C. R. Das. The trial lasted for one full year. At the end C. R. Das addressed the court in these ringing words: "My appeal to you is this that long after the controversy will be hushed in silence, long after this turmoil will have ceased, long after he is dead and gone, he will be looked upon as the poet of patriotism, as the prophet of nationalism and the lover of humanity. Long after he is dead and gone, his words will be echoed and re-echoed, not only in India but across distant seas and lands. Therefore, I say that the man in his position is not only standing before the bar of this Court, but before the bar of the High Court of History." - Aurobindo was found not guilty and acquitted. Arabindo’s life underwent a thorough change in that one year and He became a detached ascetic. - Aurobindo started two weeklies, the 'Karmayogin' in English and the 'Dharma' in Bengali. Lord Minto stated that Arabindo was the most dangerous man. He wrote, "I can only repeat that he is the most dangerous man we have to reckon with." Arabindo sensed that his arrest was imminent. He went to Chanernagore and later on he moved to Pondicherry, both being French colonies. Aurobindo reached Pondicherry on 4th April 1910. He was then 38 years old. He was received by several revolutionaries of Pondicherry. Aurobindo gave up political life and stayed back in Pondicherry. He had awakened the people to the voice of freedom and that was his job. Aurobindo in a letter he wrote from Baroda to his wife Mrinalini Devi on August 30, 1905 spoke about his "three madnesses." This letter was later found by the police and produced in court during the Alipore Bomb trial. He wrote, “I firmly believe that the accomplishments, genius, higher education and learning and wealth that God has given me are Gods’ gifts. Hindu dharma asserts that the path is to be found in one's own self, in one's mind to experience the god. I look upon my country as the Mother, I worship her and adore her as the mother and use the power of a Brahman, the knowledge, to achieve freedom.” Mrinalini, his wife passed away on December 17, 1918 in Calcutta, before she could come to Pondicherry. From 1910 for several years - Aurobindo lived with a few followers depending entirely on donations to maintain them. He had no money but he believed that God would somehow provide him. In 1920, Mira, a French lady, wife of one Paul Richard joined the - Aurobindo Ashram. She became the Mother and presided over the
204 Ashram. Every morning she gave Darshan to the eager devotees and supervised the activities of the organization. The Ashramites in - Aurobindo Ashram are not Sanyasis. Aurobindo himself was not a Sanyasi, but a Rishi. There are Christians, Zoroastrians, Muslims and members of other creeds the Arabindo ashram.
5. MADAN LAL DHINGRA
Madan Lal Dhingra was a dedicated freedom fighter who was ready to die for the sake of the country and invited death at a young age by killing a British officer who was responsible for sending a number of freedom fighters to the gallows in Bengal. He went to England and became a staunch supporter of Savarkar ideology. Madan Lal was born in 1887 in the Amritsar. He belonged to a highly respectable family. His father was a reputed medical practitioner and his brother a barrister. The family had a long tradition of service and loyalty to the British colony in India. He had his early schooling in Lahore and Amritsar. As a boy he used to dream that he would one day go to England to become an engineer. Madan Lal passed his B.A examination from the Punjab University but he would not ask his father for money for further studies abroad. He therefore decided to work in order to earn money he needed to go abroad. He was married by then and had a child too. So Dhingra went to Kashmir and got a job in a Government department. He worked at Simla and Kolkatanga and earned enough money to reach England. He went to England as a jolly young man in the month of July 1906 to study engineering. Dhingra came in contact with the great revolutionary Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Shyamji Krishna Verma in London. He also met revolutionaries like Har Dayal, Gian Chand and Kore Gakar at the ‘India House’ in London. He listened to the address given by Lala Lajpat Ray during his stay in London. He was also associated with the Indian Home Rule Society and the Abhinava Bharat Society. He started thinking about the atrocities in India and decided to fight the British out of India. His bravery was put to test by piercing and passing a thick needle through his palm. Dhingra did not utter a sound and there was smile on his face. Savarkar was impressed with his sense of dedication and determination A few months later he was ready to kill the British officers and die. He decided to kill Lord Curzon in India but he missed the target. In England he decided to kill the public prosecutor who sent hundreds of freedom fighters to jail. With the help of Savarkar he bought a revolver in London and another Belgian pistol from a private person. To his
205 mind Sir Curzon Wylie represented the die-hard British ruling community. On 1 July 1909, the National Indian Association was to celebrate its annual day. The venue chosen for the annual day celebrations was the Jehangir hall of the Imperial Institute. Dhingra collected information from one Emma Beck and discussed his plans with Savarkar. Wearing a sky-blue turban in the Punjabi style and a smart suit, a necktie and dark glasses, Dhingra filled up his coat pockets with a revolver, two pistols and two knives. Dhingra reached the party at eight. It was past ten when Curzon Wyllie and his wife arrived. The proceedings ended at eleven. Wyllie got down from the dais. Dhingra approached Wyllie who raised his eyebrows and said 'Hallo' as Dhingra drew nearer. He stood quite close to Wyllie and pretended to tell him something in confidence. As he lowered his head in order to hear Dhingra's whisper Dhingra suddenly took out his revolver from his pocket and fired two shots into his chest and with a scream, Wyllie fell to the ground. Dhingra fired two more shots at him. Wyllie lay dead on the floor. A Parsi gentleman called Cowasjee Lalkaka rushed to the aid of Wyllie. Dhingra fired a shot at him and Cowasjee fell to the ground too. Dhingra had prepared a statement to be read in court. The police stole the statement so that he may not read it. Savarkar had a copy of that statement. He gave it to Dhingra who read it out to the court and the statement appeared next day in all the newspapers including “Daily News”.
The following is the excerpts of Dhingra’s statement: “It is true I tried to shed the blood of an Englishman. It is a small measure of revenge against the British who are torturing the Indian youths. I alone am responsible for my action. My country is enslaved. We are struggling hard to achieve independence. We are not allowed to have arms. We are not allowed to carry guns. So I had to attack with a pistol! I am a Hindu. I believe an insult to my Nation is an insult to my God. I am not intelligent. I am not mighty. What can I offer to my Mother except my blood? Therefore I am shedding my blood in the service of my Motherland. To me the service of Lord Bharat Mata is the service of Sree Rama. Service of my Mother is service of Lord Krishna. Therefore I am sacrificing my life for her sake, and I am proud of it. I wish to be born-again and again in India until she achieves independence. I wish to sacrifice my life again and again for India! May God grant me this one wish of mine! Vande Mataram!” The British hanged him to death On August the 17th, 1909 in the Pentonville Jail. Madan Lal Dhingra went to the gallows that day with
206 the holy Gita in his hands and the sacred names of Rama and Krishna on his lips. He and martyrs like him laid down their lives for their country. Dhingra died so that his countrymen could live. India and its people have totally forgotten this young man. History does not mention his name and the posterity do not know that such a person existed on this land!
6. BHAGATH SINGH 1907 – 1931
Bhagat Singh is the symbol of heroism for the youth of India. Bhagat singh like Veer Savarkar believed in kneeling down the British with guns. He developed hatred for the British rule because the British treated Indians like slaves. He joined the terrorist outfit and killed the British officers. He was tried and put to death by hanging. Sardar Bhagat Singh is one of the early martyrs of India during India's freedom struggle. Bhagat Singh was born in a Sikh family of farmers in the village of Banga of Layalpur district of Punjab now in Pakistan on September 27th of 1907. His family stood for patriotism, reform, and freedom of the country. His grandfather Arjun Singh was drawn to Arya Samaj, a reformist movement of Hinduism, and took keen interest in proceedings of the Indian National Congress. Bhagat Singh’s father Kishen Singh and Uncle Ajit Singh were members of Ghadr Party founded in the U.S. in early years of this century to end British rule in India. Both were jailed for alleged anti-British activities. Ajit Singh had 22 cases against him and was forced to flee to Iran. Thereafter he went to Turkey, Austria, Germany and finally to Brazil to escape punishment for his revolutionary activities in India. Bhagat Singh was brought up in the politically surcharged Punjab where the British committed the greatest atrocity on the human beings by blocking the people’s way out in Jalianwala Bagh and killing 400 innocent people and injuring thousands of people who were demonstrating peacefully in 1919. As a lad of fourteen he went to this spot to collect soil from the park of Jalianwala (Bagh) in his lunch box, sanctified by the blood of the innocent and kept it as a memento for life. Bhagat was studying at the National College founded by Lala Lajpat Roy. He became a member of the youth organization Noujawan Bharat Sabha which was open to all sects and religions. He met Chandrashekhar Azad, B.K. Dutt and other revolutionaries. They used
207 to print handouts and newspapers in secret and spread political awareness in India through Urdu, Punjabi and English. These were all banned activities in India at the time, punishable with imprisonment. In Lahore, Lala Lajpatrai and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya decided to protest to the Simon commission openly about their displeasure. It was a silent protest march, yet the police chief Scott had banned meetings or processions. Thousands joined, without giving room for any untoward incident. Even then, Scott beat Lala Lajpatrai severely with a lathi (bamboo stick) on the head several times. Finally the leader succumbed to the injuries. Bhagat Singh who was an eye witness to the morbid scene vowed to take revenge and with the help of Azad, Rajguru and Sukhadev plotted to kill Scott. Unfortunately he killed Mr. Sanders, a junior officer, in a case of mistaken identity. He had to flee from Lahore to escape death punishment. Instead of finding the root cause for discontent of Indians, the British government took to more repressive measures. Under the Defense of India Act, it gave more power to the police to arrest persons to stop processions with suspicious movements and actions. The Act brought in the council was defeated by one vote. Even then it was to be passed in the form of an ordinance in the "interest of the public." No doubt the British were keen to arrest all leaders who opposed its arbitrary actions, and Bhagat Singh who was in hiding all that time, volunteered to throw a bomb in the central assembly where the meeting to pass the ordinance was being held. Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt courted arrest after throwing the bombs shouting slogans Inquilab Zindabad20. He was arrested and tried. Instead of disowning the crime, he gave long statement why he killed. He was hanged on the 23rd of March 1931. He was 24. He became a symbol of bravery and a goal to free India. On Bhagat Singh's martyrdom, M.K. Gandhi said, "It has increased our power for winning freedom." Jawaharlal Nehru observed that Bhagat Singh and comrades, who showed 'magnificent courage and sacrifice', had been an inspiration to the youth of India.
7. KHUDIRAM BOSE
It was Kundiram who threw the first bomb on the British who were crushing Indians. He was attracted towards the slogan, ‘Vande
20 Long live Revolution!
208 Mataram!’21 As a school student he plunged into the war of independence and defied the police. He became a martyr at 19 with the holy book of the Bhagavadgita in his hand and with the slogan Vande Mataram' on his lips. Kudiram Bose was born on December 3, 1889 at Midnapur in west Bengal to Trilokyanath Bose. He left studies when he was in Nineth standard and took to Swadeshi Movement to fight the British for dividing Bengal in 1905. He became a member of a revolutionary party and distributed a pamphlet bearing the title, ‘Vande Mataram’. He was arrested in 1906 but he escaped arrest by assaulting a policeman. He was again arrested in April, 1906. He looted the mail-bag at Hatgachha in 1907. He participated in the bomb attack on Bengal governor’s special train near the Naravangarh railway station on December 6, 1907. He attempted to kill two Englishmen, Wastson and Bamfylde Fuller in 1908. He plotted to kill Kingsford, the sessions Judge at Musaffarpur in Bihar for punishing harshly the patriots. He threw bomb on April 30, 1908, at Kingsford’s carriage which happened to be carrying a European lady, Mrs. Kennedy, and her daughter. Both of them were killed by mistake. He was arrested at Waini railway station and tried for murder and he was sentenced to death. He was sent to the gallows in the Muzaffarpur Jail on August 11, 1908. In 1906 a grand exhibition had been arranged at Medinipur in Bengal with the intention of hiding injustice they did to the Indians. Some articles, pictures and puppets, which could create the impression that the British rulers, though foreigners were doing much to help the people of India, were being exhibited. There were big crowds to see the exhibition. He threw a bomb at the police!
8. BANKIMCHANDRA CHATEERJEE
Bankimchandra Chatterjee wrote a novel titled Anandmata, describing the fight of the patriotic ascetics against foreign rule. His intention was to rouse patriotism in people and inspire them to fight for freedom. The freedom fighting sanyasis in the novel sing ‘Vande Mataram’ as a song of inspiration. In the song, Mother India is described as Goddess Durga. Within a few days of the publication of the novel 'Anandmata', the song Vande Mataram' became the favorite 'Mantra' of patriots. Whenever they gathered together, they would shout
21
209 the magic words ‘Vande Mataram'. Bankim's novel inspired more and more people. Great men like Arabindo Ghosh, Brahmabandhava Upadhyaya and Bipinchandra Pal plunged into the fight for freedom. They established many organizations to train young men in the use of pistol, lathi, dagger and the like. Some important ones were Anusheelana Samiti, Jugantar, Bhrato Samiti, Vande Mataram Sampradaya and Circular Virodhi Samiti. The determination to free the Mother even at the cost of life, happiness, family, money and all grew stronger. Sister Nivedita, the disciple of Swami Vivekananda, supported and encouraged these attempts.
9. SUBHASCHANDRA BOSE (January 23, 1897 - August 18, 1945)
Subhaschandra Bose popularly known as Netaji was the prominent leader of the freedom movement and was very close to M K Gandhi until Netaji proclaimed that he would form an army to encounter the British. He was as much loved and respected by M K Gandhi as Jawaharlal Nehru for sometime until he decided to tow a hard-line against the wishes of Gandhi. Gandhi was aware of the fact that any attempt to take to arms to force the British out of the country was utter foolishness in the light of the British ruthlessness. Indians would never be able to build an army stronger than the British army as long as the British stayed in India and so Indians will never be able to throw the British out of the country by an army action. He knew very well that anyone attempting to build up a force against the British would meet the same fate as that of Savarkar, Dhingra, Bhagat Singh and others and that was why he relied on his new technique of Satyagrahis. Gandhi tried his best to drive this point to Netaji Bose but he was not able to appreciate or acknowledge that point of view. So, Netaji parted ways with Gandhi and Gandhi wished him well and distanced himself from Netaji. Netaji focused his strategy on building a powerful army with the help of Japan which was about to conquer British India and they had conquered Burma already. A sudden turn of events against Japan overturned his plan and the army he built was never able to invade India. Netaji at that point of time did not think it necessary to take the people of India with him. He knew that the Indians were in deep slumber and they would not wake up for decades until it would be too late. He wanted to rely on a well-trained army than a disorganized, uneducated and ignorant mass of people. Gandhi knew that the people of India were disorganized and were in deep slumber. So he gave up his idea of pressing the British for immediate withdrawal and concentrated
210 more on social and economic development of India after the masses behaved in most undisciplined manner. He wanted to build India from the grassroots and when it was ready he should press for Independence. Netaji wanted Independence first and then he would think of organizing people for self government. Netaji did not believe in people’s power as much as Gandhi did and so the people, especially the intellectuals of that era backed Gandhi and Gandhi emerged as the people’s leader. Netaji wanted to take advantage of the British predicament. They had to wage war in different parts of the world and India was not coming forward to co-operate when they were badly in need of Indian help. In fact Gandhi and Nehru were willing to help the British in times of crisis but the other leaders and rank and file in the congress was opposed to the idea of extending cooperation to the British. They would have been branded as British stooges had they asked the people to co-operate with the British in their war effort and the freedom movement would have collapsed. So they, instead of supporting the British in their war efforts, launched Quit India Movement. Notwithstanding their differences, Gandhi called Bose the "Patriot of Patriots" and Bose had called Gandhi "Father of the Nation". Subhas Chandra Bose told the people that they should give blood in return for freedom and built an army with the help of the Japanese called it Indian National army; and established a government in exile at Rangoon. He gathered the prisoners of war captured by Japanese and the patriotic people to form INA as an auxiliary force of imperial Japanese Army. Subhas Bose was born on January 23, 1897 at Cuttack in Orissa. His father Janakinath Bose was a famous lawyer and later on became a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly. Subhas Bose had eight Brothers and six sisters. He was greatly influenced by Vivekananda’s teachings and took social service as the motto of life. While his father wished him to become a great Civil servant under East India Company he emerged as a great national leader against the British government. He was educated at Protestant European School in Cuttack and later at Scottish Church College at Calcutta. He went to England for further studies and passed Civil service examination securing the fourth place. But he decided to throw his lot with the freedom movement. He resigned from civil service in 1921 and joined the youth wing of the Congress. He met Gandhiji but he was not impressed by Gandhi’s principle of ahimsa and so he went to work with Chittaranjan Das. He organized boycott of the visit of Prince of Wales to India. He was also for sometime the chief Executive Officer of Calcutta Municipal Corporation. He was suspected as a terrorist and placed in Alipore jail
211 and later on he was exiled to Mandalay in Burma. In 1925, his mentor, Chittaranjan Das died. Bose was released from jail in 1927 due to poor health. He became General Secretary of Congress along with Nehru in January 1930. He was again jailed for leading a procession. When he was released, he became the Mayor of Calcutta Corporation. He was elected President of the Haripur congress party and next year of Tripura Congress much against the wishes of Gandhi. He won the election but under Gandhi’s opposition the working committee resigned leaving Bose no choice but to resign. Bose formed a separate party, the All India Forward Bloc. When the Second World War broke out, Bose escaped to Afghanistan as a Pathan insurance agent, named Ziauddin and from there to Moscow and from Moscow to Rome and from Rome to Germany and there with the help of Adam Von Trottzu Solze broadcasted on German sponsored Azad Hind Radio. He founded Free India center in Berlin. Bose had openly criticized Hitler on the question of Jews, demolition of democratic institutions and invasion of the Soviet Union and so, Hitler did not support Bose. He went to Japan where he got help. When the Japanese were defeated at the battles of Kohima and Imphal, the Provisional Government's aim of establishing a base in mainland India was lost forever and the INA was forced to pull-back along with the defeated Japanese Imperial Army. Japan surrendered after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Bose has been given recognition in India, by renaming Calcutta's civil airport and a university in his name. Rabindranath Tagore's "Jana Gana Mana" was accepted as the National Anthem which was earlier the national song of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind. Adoption of Hindi as India's national language and the tri-color of India's national flag were all the ideas of Netaji which the Congress adopted without mentioning his name. The death of Subhaschandra Bose is still shrouded in mystery. While it is generally believed that he died in a plane crash while flying to Taiwan, there are many who refuse to believe it in the absence of evidence. Some think he lived in Russia in disguise while others believe that he died as an ascetic in India. However, in an Indian investigation into his death, Taiwan told the inquiry that Bose could not have died in a plane crash in Taiwan, stating that there "were no plane crash at Taipei between 14 August and 20 September 1945." Nizamuddin, a driver cum bodyguard of Netaji Subhas narrates his connection with the life of Netaji life before and after he disappeared in 1945. He is now 102 years old. He asserts that Subhash was not killed in an air crash but died a natural death several decades later in Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh.
212 ''Netaji was not on the plane that crashed in Taipei in 1945, as he changed his plans to board aircraft at the last minute. He was not killed in the crash, but died a few years ago as 'Gumnami Baba' in Faizabad,'' claimed Nizamuddin, the driver-cum-bodyguard of Netaji in the Azad Hind Fauj (AHF). He was talking to UNI at his house in Shahabuddinpur village in Billariaganj on Thursday. ''I ran away from my house in Dhakwa village in Mubarakpur area of Azamgarh district in 1924, when I was barely 20. I reached Singapore by ship paying a fare of Rs 24 and was later blooded into the AHF,'' said the centenarian who can now walk only with the aid of a staff. ''Netaji, who was addressed by everyone in the AHF as 'Babu', asked me to become the driver of his 12 cylinder car, donated by a king in Malaya (now Malaysia). I was later appointed his bodyguard too, carrying a Tommy gun,'' said the man who was re-christened Nizamuddin from Saifuddin to hide his original identity in the AHF. Endorsing the Mukherjee Commission findings on the life of Netaji death, Nizamuddin said Justice Mukherjee had finally managed to arrive at the truth behind the life of Netaji story. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was reported to have died in an air-crash in Taipei on August 18, 1945. His body was never found. ''He did not die in the air-crash. The plane did not carry him, but instead had on board Captain Ekram, Lal Singh, a Bengali soldier and a woman, all AHF members, besides two to three Japanese,'' Nizamuddin recounted. He reminisced that he met Netaji and his brother Sharat Chandra Bose in 1946 over a bridge on a river in Thailand, a year after the alleged death in air-crash. He said the leader had told him that Indian leaders, in collusion with the British and US governments, were playing a political game using his alleged death. ''Jo jaisa karega woh waisa bharega,'' Netaji had told me when I asked him what he thought of the Indian leaders trying to pronounce him dead. That was the last meeting I had with 'Babu', who disliked being called 'Sahib' by his AHF mates, Nizamuddin said with tears in eyes. ''I wanted to accompany Netaji, but he asked me to go to Rangoon, the capital of Burma, and promised to meet me in an independent India.''
213 THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
A Constituent Assembly was set up in 1946 to draft a constitution for India but when the constituent assembly was yet to submit a constitution the British decided to give Independence to India in 1947. The Constituent Assembly was then entrusted with the task of drafting a constitution for Free India. It submitted a draft Constitution which was later accepted and adopted in 1950. Under the Constitution of 1950, it is a federal state with 31 constituent unit states. India is a sovereign Democratic Republic. By an amendment, the term ‘socialist’ was added but it remained only on paper because the majority of the Indians never thought that the state ownership of land and industry will usher in an equal and just society. Indians are out and out individualistic in their thinking on matters relating to property and its distribution. The distribution of power is well-defined between the central government and the state governments The distribution of finances is also well defined between the center and the states There is a supreme court which also acts as Federal court to decide disputes between states and between the center and the states. There are certain fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution. The constitution enunciates certain rights and principles for which the government has to strive. India has a British type of parliamentary democracy. Since there is no crown in case of India as in Britain, the president of India is the nominal head of India. The prime Minister who is the leader of the majority party is the real executive. The party of parties in majority will be the ruling party. The party or parties in minority will be the opposition party or parties. The Prime Minister presides over his cabinet. There is collective responsibility of the cabinet. The parliament is supreme law making authority. The parliament can remove the Prime Minister and his cabinet by passing a no confidence motion. There is an indepenent judiciary. The political offices will be filled by election based on adult franchise. There is an independent and impartial election Commission in India There is a Comptroller and Auditor general of India to ensure that the political and public officials spend the government money properly. It is a lengthy constitution.
214 There are so many amendments to the original constitution in an attempt to take away the fundamental right given to possess, hold and dispose of the property and the fundamental right against discrimination on the basis of race, color, caste or religion. There is urgent need for rewriting the Constitution as no amendment can set right wrongs done by the previous amendments. In the zeal to usher in rights and liberties, the constitution introduced equality and removed discrimination based on race, color, caste or sex but the very next year the constitution was amended to take away equality without erasing it from the constitution allowing reservation to backward classes and scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and by subsequent amendments extending and expanding the reservation to 52%. Human Resources minister Arjan singh has been contemplating increasing the reservation quota to about 80%! What a great leader we have!!! In fact the Indian constitution has been amended more than hundred times in the last sixty years that it has totally altered the basic structure of the constitution and it needs to be ended and a new constitution needs to be written down in the larger interest of the country.
WHY INDIANS DESPISED THE BRITISH RULE?
Indians hated the British rule for many reasons. The British started ruling the country ruthlessly and treated Indians as their slaves. They kicked men who would not salute them. They ordered Indian people not to walk on roads where the British lived. They went to the extent of ordering the people to walk like animals on four legs in areas where the British lived after Jalianwala massacre. Such inhuman treatment made men like Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekar Azad and others resorting to killing the British officers. When the Indian National Congress was born and the intelligentsia of the country started hoping for freedom for the country the British resorted to the policy of divide and rule. They divided Bengal into two divisions, one with Hindu majority areas and another with Muslim majority areas. This angered the Indian nationalists some of whom started killing the British officials and they had to sacrifice their life in doing so at the British alters. The British called any nationalist who talks of Indian Independence as traitor and put him behind the bar which further aggravated the situation. The British passed the Rowlett Act to scare away Indians and adopted repressive measures.
215 When Gandhi came on Indian political scene, he brought with him the technique of Satyagraha which irritated the British. They started arresting the nationalists who in turn started hating the British. There was growing confrontation on both sides. The Indians were adamant that they should get their Independence at any cost. The wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill flatly refused to give Independence to India and he would not have given if he had continued as the Prime Minister. The British in order to sabotage the strategy of Indian nationalists invited Jinnah to put forth his demands on behalf of the Muslims although there was no agitation from their side for Independence and encouraged him to put forth all sorts of unjust demands until finally he started asking for a separate state for the Muslims. In 1929, the British started dividing India further by encouraging Bhimarao Ambedkar who had taken cudgel against the Hindus. He had become self-imposed Harijan leader and started representing the Harijans in The Round Table Conferences which the British accepted and volunteered to give communal award in favor the Harijans. The Hindus became minority in their own land. Gandhi was disappointed and engaged himself in improving the economic and social conditions of the people including Harijan welfare which was not accepted by Ambedkar and his men. Gandhi was too old then to take bold decisions and Nehru took the mantle of guiding India’s destiny and agreed to give separate state for the Muslims and 15% reservation to depressed classes for 15 years which Ambedkar himself single-handedly writing the draft constitution, included those provisions in the Constitution. Nehru played himself into the hands of Ambedkar changing India’s destiny in the process. Even Ambedkar had not dreamt that the self- seeking politicians would easily perpetuate the policy of reservations for their own advantage. If Ambedkar had lived today he would have thought himself very conservative and not a revolutionary in the face of what is going on today in the name of reservation.
WHY INDIANS SHOULD THANK THE BRITISH?
The British came to India with the object of trading with this country and gradually became the masters of the whole country. They did not voluntary contribute to the development of this country but they had to bring on certain development in India in furtherance of the British Interests. That gave a great chance for India to catalyze the process of development in India.
216 They had to develop the Post and Telegraph system for helping the British civilians and military men in India. They had to introduce Railways to move their army from one station to another throughout the country for their wars and also for their own travel. They introduced the British System of education in India because they needed a large work force and they could not bring it from Britain. They had to educate and hire the Indians for their rank and file positions. Then the question arises why the Indians should be thankful to the British. The British created a bridge between the East and the West. Had not the British ruled to India Indians would not have been exposed to western culture and civilization. If the British had not occupied India, it would have remained ignorant of the progress that Europe was making in the field of economic development and political ideology. Because the British were traveling between England and India, a good transport and communication system developed between the two. The British started western type of education in India which came as a boon to the Indians and opened up plethora of knowledge relating to Europe. The elite Indians went to England for higher studies and gained knowledge in the field of political philosophy and administrative practices. The continued British domination led to the growth of spirit of nationalism which was unknown to Indians whose loyalties did not stretch beyond the native kingdoms. If the British had not established their rule in India, India would not have remained great in the contemporary world. India would have been still a geographic expression with thousands of self-seeking rulers called the Kings ruling different parts of India. Indians would not have come under one flag and would not have formed one nation. On the contrary, they would have fought among themselves and remained divided India would not have made as much of progress as it has made today. India could not have come out of the Muslim rule. The Hindus and the Muslims would be fighting among themselves plunging the whole country in civil wars from time to time. English would have been a foreign language and not many Indians could have gone out of the country in search of greener pasture. The British rule gave India English language as their gift. Today more number of people in India speaks English than the people of the USA and UK put together. The British have made India an English speaking country thus opening up great opportunities for the Indians in the entire
217 world. In the absence of the English language India would not have access to thousands of millions of English books of Science and Technology and Indians would have been at a great disadvantage. The best contribution that the British did to India was to bring India under one political control. That gave lot of impetus to the people of India to come under one banner and under one flag. It would not have made the great strides it has made today in the national and international sphere of activity. The Elite class of India got access to the British system of education which enabled them to travel to England and Europe and study the working of the political systems there. That kindled a desire in them to adopt the parliamentary system of government and throw the British out of the country and to establish Free India. The educated Indians got exposed to different kinds of political ideologies such as democracy and the welfare state. The East India Company’s rule in India introduced the modern system of revenue collection system Lord Cornwallis introduced the British Revenue System in India which brought direct contact between the rulers and the ruled. Lord William Bentinck abolished the evil practice of Sati. Lord Dalhousie annexed the kingdoms in the name of Doctrine of Lapse and brought them under the direct rule of the British paving the way for Indian integration. The British atrocities against the Indians helped the Indian people to unite against the British and develop the spirit of Nationalism in the common interest. The spirit of nationalism in India was so high at the end of the Second World War that the British asked the Indians to set up a Constituent assembly to draw up a Constitution for India. In a span of 58 years of freedom India has achieved a great deal in spite of its inherent weaknesses. If the narrow-minded and greedy politicians had served India with half the zeal with which they served themselves and their castes India would have become developed five times more in half of that time.
2. WHY INDIAN HISTORY NEEDS TO BE REWRITTEN
No other History is so distorted as the History of India. The Historians at all times have not written History in its true perspective. They have gone out of way to please their political masters. Hegel for example wrote his interpretation of history to uphold the Dictatorship of the
218 State. Marks interpreted History to usher in Communism. Thomas Hobbes interpreted History to support Stuart Despotism. History is a weapon in the hands of both protagonists and opponents of power at different periods of time. Indian history has been distorted for the same reason. India was always a victim of either external invasion or of internal dissention and the political masters would humble and humiliate anyone writing against them. They could even imprison them or treat them as traitors. Therefore the historians could not write a ‘true’ history of India. Alexander could easily conquer India because there was no unity among the Indian rulers and the spirit of nationalism was totally absent. Chanakya was the man who single-handedly tried his best to set up defense of the country against Alexander but failed because of disunity among the kings. It was he who reunited the people after Alexander left India leaving behind his garrison; and liberated many kingdoms from the Greek rule. History has totally ignored his contribution. If the Kings were united neither Mohammad of Ghori nor Ghazni Muhammad could have ravished India. When the British were about to leave India, they liberated 562 kingdoms so that they might perpetually fight against each other but India became united because of the people’s power and not because wisdom had dawned on the Indian kings. The truth of this matter was not highlighted in History. India remained a divided house against itself, as late as 1947. As late as 1942 there was no underground drainage system in India. The Government would appoint people for disposing of the human excreta who would manually handle the load because there was no facility was provided to them by the government. Some Panchamas were undertaking these tasks because they had no means of livelihood. Nobody in the Indian body politic at any period of time in History compelled anyone to do any such tasks. In what way the Brahmins are to be blamed for it? Instead of blaming the governments that ruled up to 1947 why do they make the Brahmins the scapegoat for this wrong? Manu wrote Dharma Shastra in 1500 B C. Manu codified the customary laws of the land that existed then. What wrong did he commit? The content was not his. He was only conveying the existing laws of that period through his Dharma Shastra. If you write the existing laws of today into a book should your caste people be punished for having done it a thousand years later because those laws were bad? He wrote what was prevalent in the early societies. At no point of time there was ill-will among the people because everybody accepted the customary law without any cause for complaint. Those laws were accepted and adopted because everyone in the society stood by it. For
219 the social practices that existed in the early societies why are the people screwing a particular caste people in the 21st century? Today the Brahmins are being ill-treated because once upon a time the Panchamas was ill-treated. It is as silly as the fable of ‘wolf and the sheep’. The protagonists of anti-Brahmanism are finding some pretext to remove the Brahmins from the mainstream of the society. It is nothing but a Class war or gang war for furthering their self interest on some pretext or the other. If they want to be classified as backward in 2006 A D how backward they must be when Manu wrote Dharma Shastra? The Mohammadens relentlessly ravished India and destroyed the Hindu civilization by destroying the temples and their idols; and defaced their carvings and sculpture but the historians were too afraid to narrate what they did. They raped the Hindu women and tried to destroy the Hindu culture by marrying Hindu women. They razed the temples to the ground and built Mosques on such places with materials of the demolished temples. The historians did not narrate the incidents properly for fear of incurring the fury of the invaders. They subjugated the Hindus to their atrocious rule and degraded them as second rate citizens and even levied special taxes on the Hindus but the history would not go hard on such facts. Akbar tried to destroy Hinduism by encouraging the Muslims to marry Hindu women standing himself an example and even tried to form an amalgamation of the Hindus with the Muslims but the historians wrote that Akbar was great and they thought it better not to highlight the motives behind such events. Our historians wrote modern Indian history to please the British Masters and did not write about the British atrocities. The Indians were made to walk on 4 legs like animals on the streets where the British lived but even such atrocious rules escaped mention in the History books. They kicked Indians if he did not salute and went unpunished but it did not draw anybody’s attention. The black holes of Calcutta went unreported in History. In fact they wrote Indian History as if it was the History of the British Administration in India. The Indians hoped that ‘true’ History would be written at least after Indian Independence but unfortunately that was not to be. The historians totally ignored the social, economic and other aspects of life of the Indian people during their two hundred years of rule. They did not highlight how badly Indians were treated and how miserable their life was in the light of government’s apathy. The British divided the country between the Hindus and the Muslims on the line of religion with the help of Jinnah. They divided the Hindu society with the help of Bhimarao Ambedkar. Ambedkar instead of becoming a national leader owed allegiance to his caste and fought for
220 the Upliftment of his caste. Gandhi was so upset with him for demanding separate electorate and representation for the Panchamas, and he was so disappointed with the British for granting Communal award for the Panchamas that he practically withdrew from politics. Ambedkar went to the extent of asking his followers to change their religion to Buddhism or any other religion. That gave wide scope for the Christian missionaries in India to convert the Panchamas to Christianity. Indian Society which was already divided between the Hindus and the Jains and the Buddhists, came to be divided further between the Hindus, the Muslims, Christians and the Panchamas, thus reducing India into a Hindu minority state in the only state of the Hindus. The Historians were too afraid to write the truth and suppressed the material information or did not highlight the prose and cons of such events. The British wanted to punish Indians by dividing and subdividing India for demanding Independence and they did successfully. History writers dared not to publish it in proper perspective and so they wrote as if they were all unrelated events of no great importance. Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869. He was a barrister in South Africa. He came back to India in 1916 at the age of 47 and led the Indian Independence movement for 14 years only. From 1930 the mantle of Congress was taken over by Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru consulted Gandhi but he took his own decisions. The Congress gave him the title ‘Father of the nation’ and made the people believe that the Congress was led by Gandhi even after 1933. Gandhi was embroiled pacifying Jinnah and Ambedkar but he could not succeed in both cases. Gandhi’s main contribution was the technique of Satyagraha through non-violence. But did he succeed in launching non violent Satyagraha? Whenever he launched Satyagraha there were violence, vandalism, death and destruction. His Satyagraha would start peacefully but invariably end in violence. Gandhi himself was tired of his followers and thought that his followers were politically immature and postponed the idea of demanding freedom. He started living a detached life. He appealed to Jinnah that Jinnah and his party could rule India if he did not ask for division of the country. Was Gandhi right in making such a decision? He wanted to help the British during the Second World War because he was soft on the British. Did you know this? He launched Quit India Movement because of pressure from the Congress and not on his own volition. He did not want self-seeking congress men to spoil the country’s future and so he advised congressmen that the Congress had fulfilled its purpose of getting Independence and hence it should be dissolved as soon as India became Independent, but he was ignored by
221 his own men. Not only they converted the congress into a political party but they also retained the National flag as the Congress flag with a minor change which an average man would not distinguish. Has any History book prescribed for School children highlighted these facts? To garner Mohammedan votes they have compromised national security and for the same reason they are soft on the terrorists today. The political parties have not discussed and evolved a uniform policy towards the Minorities even after 60 years of Independence. They want to entice the Muslims to their hold at the time of elections by giving them some concessions even against the national security. The political parties should give up using them as vote bank. The same suggestion holds well in case of Scheduled castes and tribes. In the larger interest of the country all political parties should give up playing Caste card and communal card which will one day engulf entire India in flames and end in mutual hatred, ill-will, distrust and finally disintegration. Have the Historians highlighted this? In 1947 the Congress felt that RSS could pose a challenge to the Congress some day and the Hindu votes may go the RSS. Incidentally M K Gandhi was shot dead and the assassin was a volunteer of the RSS. The Congress seized the opportunity to malign RSS in emerging India and banned it. When they could not fix RSS for Gandhi’s assassination they took an undertaking from the RSS that they will not get involved in political matters and thus got rid of RSS from the political scene and ruled India uninterrupted for 38 years. Has any Historian published these facts? History of Indian Independence is so written that only Gandhi got freedom for India. Did the British give Independence because they were afraid of Gandhi’s Movement as they are made out to be? If Churchill were to return to power in the election of 1945 would India have got Independence in 1947? Is it not the fact that London treasury was empty at the end of the Second World War and the United States had to rush millions of dollars aid to England under Marshall Plan and at that stage India was a white elephant which the British could not nurture? Was it not a fact that the United Nations were urging its members give up colonialism. Lala Lajpat Roy, Bala Gangadhar Tilak, Arabindo Ghosh, Veer Savarkar, Bhagat Singh and others made no contribution to India Independence? Was Subhaschandra Bose not as great a leader as Gandhi albeit they were of different mound? History is so written that only those who accepted Gandhi’s leadership were freedom fighters and those who gave up their careers and life were not. Indian Independence struggle lasted for 40 years and Gandhi took
222 active role for 14 years and Nehru took active role for 20 years. Do you remember all those people who kept the sparks of Freedom struggle? Once India became Independent, the self-seeking politicians got admission to the Congress to enjoy political power and kept the Brahmins out of political life. They joined hands with backward class leaders and amended the Constitution to give reservation for Backward Classes and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. When they set up a Commission as early as 1953 to study this question, the Chairman of the Commission did not agree to its recommendation and resigned. The Government to usher in the policy of reservation from the back door gave powers to the states to adopt their own policy of reservation. The State of Mysore immediately passed a government order declaring that all people except the Brahmins were backward and eligible for reservation. When the Court Struck down the government order, they somehow manipulated to keep the substance of that order by outwitting the High Court for 60 years including more and more communities in the net of backward classes to pacify the disgruntled castes. A Tamil Dravidian leader suggested that the Brahmins are just 3% and they must shot dead. Nehru turned a socialist with his half-baked ideas and India Gandhi who succeeded to the position of the Prime Minister a year after the death of Jawaharlal, in her attempt to follow her father’s avowed policy of Socialism amended the Constitution to include the term ‘Socialism’ in the preamble of the Constitution and passed several laws detrimental to the interest of the people including the right to property. When she died in 1984 India was in a very bad shape. There was turmoil in the Punjab. There was spiraling in prices of essential commodities. There was huge international debt which India was not in a position to pay due to closed door, protective policy pursued by the congress government over several decades. Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister who liberalized Indian economy; and was instrumental in lifting India to the position as it stands today. But he was maligned by his own party men, implicating him in a corruption case but he was acquitted just before his death. The Congress has erased his impressions by totally ignoring him. North India has more representatives in Parliament and they would not let a South Indian rise to the highest position unless they cannot agree among themselves who should occupy the highest position among themselves. C Rajagopalachari was a south Indian and he was Governor-general of India from 1947 to 1950. When India adopted a new Constitution in 1950, he was unceremoniously discharged and the
223 post of the President was given to Rajendra Prasad. The South stood flabbergasted and has never forgotten the insult done to him. Ramakrishna Hegde was often saying that it is not possible to go beyond the position of a Central Minister to a man from the South. In the case of Deve Gowda and Narasimha Rao the Congress leaders of the North could not accept anyone among themselves and so a man from the South was chosen as compromise candidate. That the political parties in India are very immature at every step and they come into existence for only one purpose that is to usurp the power of the state and hence they perform only one function i.e. to bring down the opposition parties. They have no morals or principles. They are so unscrupulous in their thinking and action. The administration is totally corrupt and the people are morally bankrupt. The politicians are divided on caste basis and they are fighting for distributing the spoils among their own castes, by increasing the percentage of reservation to 80% unmindful of the national interest. In spite of giving reservation for 60 years, if any caste has not ceased to be backward there must be something wrong with the people of that caste and they should not blame some other caste for their backwardness. The truth is no community in India is forward and all communities are backward including the Brahmins and the whole concept of caste-based reservation is deceptive. The Brahmin community is being harassed in the government offices to get rid of them. The government is trying to chase them out of the Industries by extending the policy of reservation to the Industrial establishments. They are trying to annihilate the entire community which forms 5% of the total population. It is only next to the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis. Their only mistake is they are born Brahmins and other castes think that they cannot compete with them in education and achievement. Why should 95% of the population want to keep 5% of Brahmins out of political corridor and public life, if it is not out of jealousy? After all they are a negligible minority. Let every Indian question himself on this matter. India is a divided country against itself. India stands if united but falls if India is divided. Has any Historian attempted to state these facts in any school or College book? These are the facts that the people have right to know but they have been either suppressed or misinterpreted to suit ulterior objectives of the political parties. That is the reason why History of India needs to be rewritten.
224 FORGOTTEN HEROS
10. ARUNA ASAF ALI (1909-1996)
At that point of time, women were given neither education nor liberty to work but Aruna became a graduate, worked and established herself as an independent woman. She was the third woman to be awarded with Bharat Ratna although posthumously. Aruna Asaf Ali was born at Kalka in Haryana in 1909, into an orthodox Hindu Bengali Brahma Samaj family of the Gangulees. She met M. Asaf Ali, a prominent Congressman, and they were married amidst parental opposition, both on the grounds of religion and age. She had chosen a man 23 years her senior for marriage. Her marriage bought her to the arena of the freedom struggle and social service. During M K Gandhi’s Satyagraha movement she was sent to prison four times on charge of sedition and other charges. When the Congress leaders were arrested on the day after this resolution was passed to fly the national flag in Bombay, Aruna presided over the flag-hoisting ceremony at Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay, where the celebrators were tear-gased lathi- charged and fired upon. She became a full-time activist in the Quit India movement and went underground to evade arrest. Her property was seized by the Government and sold. She became the symbol of the spirit of youth in this country guiding and leading the National Movement from underground. Aruna Asaf Ali was the 'Grand old Lady of the Independence Movement. She was a great leader who plunged into politics at a time when the youth were laying down their lives for the country's Independence. Aruna Asaf Ali's first major political involvement was during the salt Satyagraha, when she addressed public meetings and led processions. Once when she was arrested, and put in the Delhi jail, she went on a hunger strike in protest against the callous treatment of political prisoners. The prisoners' demands were conceded, but Aruna was transferred to Ambala jail, where she was kept in solitary confinement. She became editor of Inquilab, the monthly magazine of the congress, along with Ram Manohar Lohia and fought the British through the paper. The Government meanwhile announced a Rs. 5000 reward for
225 her capture. Aruna surrendered herself only when the warrants against her were cancelled on 26th January 1946. After she was married, she also worked in the local women's league, which was affiliated to the All India Women's Conference. In 1954 she helped to establish the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), the women's wing of the Communist Party of India. The NFIW was meant to be a radical alternative to existing women's organizations, and one that would reach beyond a middle class membership. In 1992 she was awarded the Nehru Award for International understanding. After Independence she turned to social work, and served as the first mayor of Delhi. Aruna belonged to the heroic age of Freedom Movement. With this background, after Independence she could not adjust to the political realities and chose to live in retirement till her death. The country honored her with its highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously. She is the third woman after Indira Gandhi and Mother Teresa to be conferred with the Bharat Ratna. She died on July 29, 1996 at the age of 87
11. VINOBA BHAVE (September 11, 1895–November 15, 1982) The full name of Acharya Vinobha Bhave was Vinayak Narahari Bhave. He has left his firm imprint on the religious, social and political consciousness of India. He was born in Gagode, Maharashtra into a pious family of Chitpawan Brahmins. He was highly inspired after reading, at a young age, the Bhagavad Gita. He was associated with M K Gandhi. In 1932 he was sent to jail by the British colonial government because of his fight against British rule. There he gave a series of talks on the Gita, in Marati to his fellow prisoners. These highly inspiring talks were later published as the book "Talks on the Gita", and it has been translated to many languages both in India and elsewhere. In 1940 he was chosen by Gandhi to be the first Individual Satyagrahi against the British rule. Vinoba's religious outlook was very broad and he was also a scholar of many languages.
Vinoba observed the life of the average Indian living in a village and tried to find solutions for the problems he faced with a firm spiritual foundation. This formed the core of his "Sarvodaya movement. Another aspect of his movement was the "Bhoodhan" (land gift) movement. He walked all across India asking people with land to consider him as one of their sons and give him a portion of their land which he then distributed to landless poor. Nonviolence and compassion being a hallmark of his philosophy, he also campaigned
226 against the slaughtering of cows. Vinoba spent the later part of his life at his ashram in Paunar, Maharashtra. There he died in 1982 after refusing food and medicine few days earlier.
12. SANJAY GANDHI (December 14, 1946-Jauary 23, 1980)
Sanjay Gandhi was born of Indira Gandhi and her husband Feroze Gandhi on December 14 1946. He was a Member of the Parliament and a political associate of Indira Gandhi when she was the Prime Minister. Sanjay and his elder brother Rajiv Gandhi studied at Doon School and went to England for college studies. Sanjay instead of attending the college took up an apprenticeship in Rolls Royce Company. He returned to India and began living with his mother in Delhi. Rajiv built his independent, non-political course in life while Sanjay grew close to his mother and involved himself in politics. In 1971, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's Cabinet proposed the production of a people's car. Sanjay had experience in manufacturing car but he was given production license. The Maruti Udyog Ltd., the nation's premier automobiles corporation of today was founded by Sanjay Gandhi, but the company did not produce any vehicles during his lifetime. In 1974, the opposition parties staged protests and strikes and caused a widespread disturbance. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a national emergency, enforcing martial law, censoring the press and suspending some constitutional freedoms in the name of national security in the following years. A crucial element of emergency rule meant no elections. Non-Congress governments throughout the country were dismissed. Thousands of people, including several leaders like Sarvodaya leader Jayaprakash Narayan and J B Kripalani, who were against the emergency, were arrested. That was a period of turmoil and discontentment when Indira and her family faced a tirade against the Congress and India Gandhi by her enemies both within and without. The 1971 war against Pakistan had made Indian economy very weak and the inflation was too high. The opposition parties seized the opportunity to malign her. All the senior political leaders who envied Indira Gandhi were working against her from within the party. Indira had to face so many problems from her own party men and at that point of time her son Sanjay Gandhi took up cudgel against those who were troubling her mother in and out and silenced them by adopting undemocratic methods. Although his
227 methods were undemocratic there was no other way that she could have mollified the power hungry politicians of her own party. He ensured that the emergency was declared to save his mother from the opposition. He exercised extra-constitutional authority, cleared Turkmen Gate of Delhi of ramshackle houses, initiated family planning and ordered arrests of truants opponents and officers. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi opted for fresh elections in the year 1977, released her opponents and suspended the emergency. But she and her Congress Party was defeated in a massive landslide by the newly formed Janata party coalition, The new Janata Government appointed tribunals to look into Emergency abuses. Charan Singh ordered the arrest of Indira and Sanjay. The arrest of Indira Gandhi viewed by the people as unfair and they were soon released. The Janata coalition fell like a house of cards in 1979, Prime Minister Morarji Desai resigned. His successor was Choudhary Charan Singh, who upon failing to secure support from a majority of MPs who had earlier formed the Janata party, turned to Indira Gandhi for support. She promised him that support, but at the last minute, withdrew it, forcing new elections and the end of Janata party coalition in power. In 1980, she and her Congress (I) Party returned to power in a landslide victory. Sanjay was elected to a parliamentary seat from Amethi, in Uttar Pradesh. Sanjay Gandhi’s married life was turbulent and his relationship with his brother Rajiv was bad. Sanjay nevertheless was then openly being groomed as his mother's successor, but Sanjay died in a plane accident. His brother Rajiv quickly became successor when Indira died.
CHAPTER 15
BIRTH OF AN OPPOSITION PARTY
1. SHYAMPRASAD MUKHARJEE
Shyam Prasad was a great son of India who united Hindu voices to protect the Hindus against the divisive agenda of the Muslim League. Mukherjee felt the need to counteract the communalist and separatist Muslim League of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who were demanding either exaggerated Muslim rights or a Muslim state of Pakistan.
228 Shyam Prasad Mukherjee, the founder of Jan Sangh, a political party, was born on July 6, 1901. His father was Ashutosh Mukherjee and his mother was Jog Maya. His father Asutosh was widely known all over India. He was a graduate of Calcutta University. Shyam Prasad became a fellow of the Senate in 1923 and enrolled as an advocate in Calcutta High Court in 1924.He went to England in 1926 to study in Lincoln's Inn and became a barrister in 1927. He became Vice- Chancellor of the Calcutta University at a young age of 33 and held the position up to 1938. He was a member of the Asiatic Society. He was also a member of the Council of Indian Institute of Science and Chairman of the Inter University Board. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Bengal as a Congress candidate representing Calcutta University but he had to resign as the Congress decided to resign from all ministries to boycott the legislature He later on contested election as an independent and got elected. He was opposition leader between 1937 and 1941 when the Muslim League led coalition ruled Bengal. He joined the Progressive Coalition Ministry headed by Fazlul Haq as a Finance Minister for a short period. He joined Hindu Mahasabha and became its President in 1944. He left the Hindu Mahasabha on November 23, 1948. He was a minister in the Jawaharlal Ministry but resigned shortly thereafter on April 6, 1950 Mukherjee founded Bharatiya Jana Sangh on 21st Oct. 1951 at Delhi and he became the first President of BJP. In 1952 elections, Bharatiya Jana Sangh won 3 seats in Parliament one of them being that of Mukherjee. He had formed National Democratic Party within the Parliament with 32 MPs and 10 Members of the Rajya Sabha. On Kashmir he criticized the arrangement made under Article 370 as Balkanisation of India and three nation theory of Sheikh Abdullah. Bharatiya Jana Sangh along with Hindu Mahasabha and Ram Rajya Parishad launched a massive Satyagraha against Article 370. Mukherjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953 and was arrested on 11th May while crossing border. He died as a detenu on May 23, 1953. Mukherjee supported the partition of Bengal in 1946 to prevent the inclusion of its Hindu-majority areas in a Muslim-dominated East Pakistan; Along with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Mukherjee is considered the godfather of Hindu nationalism in India especially the Hindutva movement. He is highly revered by members and supporters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Mookerjee was a major role model to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The BJP has become one of the two largest national political parties and had
229 formed the Government from 1998 to 2004, with Vajpayee serving as the Prime Minister of India.
2. HEGDAWAR April 1, 1889 - June 21 1940
Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar was a great Indian nationalist who founded R. S. S., the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at Nagpur in 1925. RSS began as an organization promoting the Hindu Rashtra. It successfully crystallized the concept of Hinduism and Nationalism and has become largest volunteer organization in the world. Hedgewar was sent to Kolkata by Moonje in 1910 to pursue his medical studies but he unofficially joined secret revolutionary organizations like the Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar in Bengal. He became a part of the inner circle of the Anushilan Samiti to which very few had access. He was also a member of the Hindu Mahasabha till 1929. He was imprisoned for sedition in 1921 for one year and again for nine months in 1930. After his spell in prison he instructed the RSS to remain aloof from political activities including the salt Satyagrahis (1930), Quit India movement (1942) and the naval mutiny (1946) in Mumbai and continues mainly as a social organization. The RSS was formed on Vijaya Dashami Day in 1925 in Nagpur. It focused primarily on the Hindu youth. Hedgewar wanted Muslims to join the mainstream. Since Hindus formed the core of the country, Hedgewar felt that if they could be strong, then Muslims would drop their separatist agenda and live together with the majority community as a country. Guided by a great vision of national unity, he built the RSS from the scratch. He traveled extensively to expand and consolidate the organization. According to Hedgewar "at the heart of Hindu culture is Hindu religion, and its noble ideas are from the Vedas". He also asserted that the diverse languages of India are offshoots of Sanskrit, the dialect of the gods and Aryans the enlightened race. Hedgewar emphasized the Hindu youth to build character and develop pride among Hindu culture. He wanted to build character through physical exercises, body-building and sports. Hedgewar spoke of Hindu culture by which he hoped to restore the Hindu character and culture to make it nationalistic and defend itself against threat posed by others, namely the British and the Muslims.
230 3. M S GOLWALKAR
M S Golwalkar was the second head of the R. S. S. His full name was Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar. He was popularly known as Guru. He instilled patriotism in the mind of millions of people in India. He traveled all over India a hundred times in his thirty three years of tenure as Sarsanghchalak. He had scaled the highest levels of spirituality through his intense austerity and perseverance. By constant study and reflection he had become a veritable treasure of knowledge. He was a voracious reader even as a boy and he had acquired commendable mastery in History, Art, Religion, Culture, Sciences, Sociology and Economics. He was instrumental in expanding the network of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and inspiring and guiding thousands of efficient dedicated workers spread throughout the country. His thoughts are a perennial source of inspiration for mankind. He preached his disciples thus.22 1. Fearlessness is the first and foremost virtue of the brave, and the starting point of all sublime qualities. 2. 'This is my Dharma, my Vedanta. This is my Hindu Rashtra. I have to live and strive for its realization. I must live as an example for the entire world to follow'-only such abiding faith would provide a firm foundation for reorganization of the Hindus. 3. The will of a person becomes tempered like steel when he prepares himself for the supreme sacrifice for a just and lofty goal. 4. We are not so narrow-minded as to call any one as 'alien' merely because he has changed his mode of worship. We have no objection to the use of any name in addressing God. We in the Sangh are Hindus in every particle of ours. That is why we respect all religious faiths equally. A person with religious intolerance cannot be called a Hindu at all. 5. the most demeaning sin is to remain weak in the world. It not only destroys us, but also incites others to attack us with violence. 6. No doubt it requires two to fight. But both of them need not necessarily be fighters. It is, all the same, a fight, even if one goes on beating and the other gets beaten. There is no guarantee that others would behave properly with us even if we remain peaceful and cordial with them. 7. There must be an axis at the center of a wheel if it has to rotate. No wheel would rotate if its axis were outside it. There cannot be a circle
22
231 with its center outside it. It is impossibility. Those cherishing extra- national loyalties can only be called traitors. Will it not be treacherous if an individual is drawing inspiration from elements beyond the boundaries of his country? 8. A grain of salt completely dissolves in water, and then retains no separate existence. But the salty taste will be evident in each drop of that water. Likewise an individual should dissolve him in the nation.
4. DEEN DAYAL UPADHYAYA
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was a great personality who wanted to serve the country. He rose to the top 2 position in the hierarchy of the RSS in 1967. He translated the biography of Dr. Hegdewar, the founder of RSS. Before he could serve the nation to the fullest extent he was found dead in a train under the mysterious circumstances. Deen Dayal was born on September 25, 1916 in a traditional Hindu family in the village of Nagla Chandrabhan, Near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. He lost his parents at an early age. In spite of being orphaned, he emerged a meritorious student. He passed Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Teaching from Lucknow University. He passed the Civil service examination but did not join the civil service as he wanted to serve the common man. He joined RSS in 1937 and became its President in 1967. He had worked with Shyam Prasad Mukherjee. He joined the Jana Sangh in 1952 and was its General Secretary till he became the President of the Party in 1967. Pandit Upadhyaya brought out Panchajanya, a journal and Swadesh, a daily from Lucknow. He has also written a drama, ‘Chandragupta Maurya’ in Hindi, and later wrote a Hindi biography of Shankaracharya. He was found dead in the train while traveling on February 11, 1968. The perpetrators of the heinous crime escaped and went unpunished.
232
CHAPTER 16
THE PRESIDENTS OF INDIA India became independent in 1947. Since then one Indian Governor- General and eleven presidents have adorned the highly prestigious position in the last 56 years. C Rajagopalachari was the first Governor- General from 1948 to 1950 before the new constitution was drafted for free India. It was he who accepted the transfer of power from the British Governor-General Lord Mountbatten and held the power until the new Constitution came into existence in 1950. By then Gandhi had died and the Congress dominated by the North Indians, elected Babu Rajendra Prasad as the First President of India and Rajaji who was not even nominated to the position of the President had to vacate the office and that was when the South Indians felt the severe jolt of discrimination between the North Indians and the South Indians. So far the Parliament and the state legislatures have elected 11 presidents of India. They are mentioned below in the chronological order. Rajendra Prasad, 1950-62, Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, 1962-67, Zakir Hussain, 1967-69, V .V. Giri, 1969-74, Fakruddin Ali Ahmed, 1974- 77, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, 1977-82, Zail Singh, 1982-87, R Venkataraman, 1987-92, Shankar Dayal Sharma1992-97, K R Narayan, 1997-2002 and A P J Abdul Kalam.( since 2002).23
4 4 4 4 4 4
4 4
The above are the images of the Presidents of India in the order of their ascendance to the position of the President.
23 www.presidentofindia.nic.in
233 2. CHAKRAVARTI RAJAGOPALACHARI 1878-1972 Rajagopalachari was one of the top five leaders of India in the pre- independence period. He was the heart and soul of M K Gandhi who affably called him Rajaji. He was the First Indian Governor-General of Free India but he was superseded by Rajendra Prasad when the new constitution was brought into force 1950 without any reason and that hurt him most. His was a writer and a Hindu spiritualist too. He was Chief Minister of Madras State for sometime. Rajaji was born on December 10, 1878. He was a great lawyer from Salem in Tamil Nadu who plunged into the freedom movement during his days when Gandhi was leading the Movement. He was also related to Gandhi by marriage. Raja Mohan Gandhi was the grandson of both M K Gandhi and Rajaji. As early as 1940 he admitted that there was going to be partition of India between the Hindus and the Muslims. He served jail term on many occasions during the freedom movement. In 1946 he became a member of the Governor’s council. When the British left India in 1947, he took charge as the First Governor-General of Free India from the last British Governor-General, Lord Mountbatten in 1948. Subsequently, Rajaji became a minister in the first Cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru as minister without portfolio and then as Home Minister. He was honored with Bharat Ratna award. After his retirement from active Congress politics, C. Rajaji became a strident critic of Nehru and the Congress. He founded a new political party called Swatantra Party and criticized Nehru and the Congress in no uncertain terms. When Nehru brought on socialistic pattern of Society he called it license-permit Raj which degenerates into corruption. He believed in individualism and opposed Socialism. After several decades of experimentation in Socialism, the government has turned to free enterprise in the last ten to twelve years proving Rajaji was a better statesman than Nehru. As a writer, he translated Ramayana, Mahabharata and Upanishads into English. He wrote Bhaja-govindam into English. His novels and short stories have won him public admiration. He also translated 'The Tirukkural' from Tamil to English. 'Tirukkural' is an ancient piece of the Tamil literature. Some of his poetry was set to music and sung by the people of Tamil Nadu. M S Subbalakhmi sung his lyrics, ‘Here under the untilting roof’ at the United Nations. He was invited to the White House by President Kennedy; perhaps the only civilian, not in power, ever to be accorded formal state reception. Rajaji was considered by many to be an original and profound thinker in matters
234 of spirituality and religion. He had met Vivekananda as a student. He was praised by Gandhi as the keeper of his conscience.
3. RAJENDRA PRASAD (1884-1963) Term of Office: 26 January 1950 TO 13 May 1962
Rajendra Prasad was the first President of India and assumed the highest office on January 26, 1950 replacing C Rajagopalachari who was then the Governor-General of India. He was also very close to M K Gandhi. Sarojini Naidu had said that "he (Rajendra Prasad) was to Gandhi, what John was to Christ”. Jawaharlal called him the symbol of Bharat. Rajendra Prasad was born on December 3, 1884 in a small village in Saran district of North Bihar of Mahadev Sahay and Kamleshwari Devi. At the age of five a Maulavi taught him Persian. Later he learned Hindi. He was admitted to Chapra Zilla School but he was moved to Ghosh academy and his brother Mahendra Prasad was also studying in Patna. In 1897 he joined Hathwa High School. After passing the Entrance examination Rajendra Prasad joined the Presidency College, Calcutta, and both brothers lived together for a time in a room of the Eden Hindu Hostel. The great scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose and the highly respected P.C. Ray wanted him to offer Science, but he preferred Arts. He had a great academic career with a first place in the M.A degree examination and in Master of Law examination. He joined Swadeshi movement and The Dawn Society run by sister Nivedita and Surendranath Banerjee. He set up his legal practice in Calcutta in 1911 and apprenticed to Khan Bahadur Huda. He also joined the Indian National Congress and was elected to the A.I.C.C. A year earlier, Sir Asutosh Mukherjee offered him a Lectureship in the Presidency Law College. Gopal Krishna Gokhale, the greatest political leader of India in those days, had met him in Calcutta a year earlier and had invited him to join the Servants of India Society in Poona. About that time his mother died and his only sister Bhagwati Devi, fifteen years older than him, returned to her parents' home as a widow. In 1916 Rajendra Prasad shifted his practice to Patna on the establishment of the High Court of Bihar and Orissa. Rajendra Prasad had first seen Gandhi at a
235 meeting held in Calcutta in 1915 to honor him. In the December 1916 session of the Congress held at Lucknow, he again met Gandhi. In the April 1917 A.I.C.C. session which was held at Calcutta, Gandhi and Rajendra Prasad became close to each other. He plunged into the freedom movement and faced the difficulties. Rajendra Prasad was in jail when on 15 January, 1934, the devastating earthquake in Bihar occurred. He was released two days later. Though ailing, he set himself immediately to the task of raising funds and organizing relief. He was elected President of the Bombay session of the Indian National Congress. He gave the slogan 'Grow More Food' His stewardship of the Constituent Assembly was exemplary. As a President he was very unassuming. He retired in 1960. His elder sister Bhagwati Devi passed away on the night of 25 January, 1960. He fell ill in 1961. His wife passed away in 1962. No wonder, his last days were days of agony. The Chinese aggression had shaken him completely and he suddenly died on 28 February, 1963.
4. SARVAPALLI RADHAKRISHNA (1888-1975)
Term of Office: 13 May 1962 TO 13 May 1967
“Dr. Radhakrishnan is, indeed, a versatile genius - a great scholar, a great philosopher, a great seer, a great writer, a great orator, a great statesman, a great administrator, and above all, he is a great man”24 Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan was born on September 5, 1888 in Tirutani, a well-known religious center in the State of Madras. He was the second son of Veera Samayya, a tehsildar. It was a middle-class, respectable Hindu Brahmin family. Radhakrishnan was married in 1906 to Sivakamamma at the tender age of 18 while he was still a student. They had a happy married life until she died in 1956. He spent first eight years of his life in his home town with his parents. His parents, though orthodox, sent their son to Christian Missionary schools and
24 www.cs.memphis.edu
236 colleges, namely Lutheran Mission School, Tirupathi, Vellore College, Vellore near Madras and the Christian College, Madras. Radhakrishnan chose Philosophy as his Honors subject in his B.A. degree course He studied Sanskrit and Hindi also. He read also the Vedas and the Upanishads. Radhakrisnan was Lecturer in Philosophy at the Presidency College, Madras. He was also an Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the same College for five years. Later on, he was Professor of Philosophy at Mysore University (1918-1921). He also held the following offices such as King George V Professor of Philosophy at Calcutta University from 1921-1931, and again between 1937 and1944, Vice-Chancellor of the Andhra University (1931); Spaulding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics, Oxford University (1932-1953) and Vice-Chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University (1942). He was also the leader of the Indian Delegation to UNESCO many times (1946-1950); Chairman of the University Education Commission (1948) appointed by the Government of India; Chairman of the Executive Board of UNESCO (1948); President of UNESCO (1952); Delegate to the P.E.N. Congress (1959); Vice President of International P.E.N.; Honorary Fellow of the British Academy (1962); Representative of the Calcutta University at the Congress of Philosophy, Harvard University, U.S.A. (May 1962). He was the Ambassador-Extraordinary and Minister-Plenipotentiary to the U.S.S.R. (1949-1952), Vice-President of India (twice: 1952-1956 and 1957-1962); and President of India (1962-1966). He was Upton Lecturer, Manchester College, Oxford; Harwell Lecturer in Comparative Religion, University of Chicago; Hebert Lecturer, University College, London and Manchester (1929). He was honored with Knighthood in 1931; He had honorary Doctorate from over one hundred Universities including Oxford, Cambridge and Rome. To name a few are D. Ph. (Teheran University, 1963); Honorary D.Litt. (Tribhuvan University, Nepal, 1963); Honorary Doctor of Law (Pennsylvania University, 1963); Honorary Ph.D. (Moscow University, 1964); Honorary Doctor of Law (National University of Ireland, 1964); Honorary Member of the Order of Merit, Buckingham Palace (12 June, 1963). He made Goodwill tours to Singapore, Indonesia, Japan and China (September-October 1956); to Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, Hungary and Bulgaria, African countries like East and Central Africa (June-July 1956); to Indo-China States, China, Mongolia and Hong Kong (September, 1957). He paid State visits to Great Britain in June 1963), to Nepal in November 1963 and to U.S.S.R. and Ireland in September 1964
237 Radhakrishnan was one of the most prolific writers of the previous generation in the field of philosophy, theology, ethics, education, society and culture. His first book, 'The Ethics of the Vedanta and Its Material Presupposition', being his thesis for the M.A. degree examination of the Madras University, published in 1908, at the tender age of twenty only, at once established his fame as a great philosophical writer of undoubted ability. His other works are 'The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore' (1918), 'Idealistic View of Life' (1932), 'Eastern Religions and Western Thought', 'Reign of Philosophy in Contemporary Thought', Kalki or The Future of Civilization', 'Indian Philosophy (2 vols.), etc. It is said that he was “Dynamic in personality, quiet in demeanor, austere in habits, unostentatious in behavior, just in decision, prompt in action, simple in his dress, sympathetic in his dealings - such is our revered Dr. Radhakrishnan. He is a living, loving symbol and lovely emblem of our age-old Indian culture and civilization.” He was one amongst the most notable of modern philosophical luminaries. Radhakrishnan is honored in India by celebrating September 5 as Teachers Day every year.
5. R VENKATARAMAN Term of Office: 25 July 1987 TO 25 July 1992
Venkataraman was sworn in on July 25, 1987. He was the Eighth President of the Republic of India. Earlier He was Vice President of India. He was an able advocate, a trade unionist and a freedom fighter. R venkataraman was born in a small village Rajamadam in Tanjavur district of Tamil Nadu on December 4, 1910. He married Janaki in the year 1938. He has three daughters. He had his education at Madras and passed his Master’s degree in Economics and Law Degree from Madras University. He became an Advocate in the High Court of Madras and later in the Supreme Court in 1951. Venkataraman was drawn into the movement for India's freedom His actively participated in the Indian National Congress's the 'Quit India Movement of 1942. He was detained for two years under the British Government's Defense of India Rules. In 1946, when the Transfer of Power from British to Indian hands was imminent, the Government of India included him in the panel of lawyers sent to Malaya and
238 Singapore to defend Indian nationals charged with offences of collaboration during the Japanese occupation of those two places. In the years 1947 to 1950, Venkataraman served as Secretary of the Madras Provincial Bar Federation. Venkataraman acquired, early in his legal career, an abiding interest in the law pertaining to labor. On his release from prison in 1944, Venkataraman took up the Organization of the Labor Section of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee. He founded in 1949, the Labor Law Journal which publishes important decisions pertaining to labor and is an acknowledged specialist publication. Venkataraman came to be intimately associated with trade union activity, founding or leading several unions, including those for plantation workers, estate staff, dock-workers, railway workers and working journalists. Venkataraman also took a direct and keen interest in the conditions of agricultural workers in his home district of Tanjavur. Venkataraman was elected to India’s Provisional Parliament in 1950 and later on to the Parliament from 1952 to 1957. He was a member of the Indian Parliamentary Delegation to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in New Zealand. Venkataraman was the Secretary to the Congress Parliamentary Party in 1953-1954. Although he was re-elected to Parliament in 1957, Venkataraman resigned his seat in the Lok Sabha to join the State Government of Madras as a Minister and held the portfolios of Industries, Labor, Cooperation, Power, Transport and Commercial Taxes from 1957 to 1967. During this time, he was also Leader of the Madras Legislative Council. Venkataraman was appointed a Member of the Union Planning Commission in 1967 and was entrusted with Industry, Labor, Power, Transport, Communications and Railways. He held that office until 1971. In 1977, Venkataraman was elected to the Lok Sabha from Madras (South) Constituency and served as an Opposition Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. In 1980, Venkataraman was re-elected to the Lok Sabha and was appointed Union Minister of Finance in the Government headed by Indira Gandhi. He was later appointed Union Minister of Defense. Venkataraman was also, variously, member of the Political Affairs Committee and the Economic Affairs Committee of the Union Cabinet; Governor, International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Asian Development Bank. Venkataraman was a Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961. He was Leader of the Indian Delegation to the 42nd Session of the International Labor
239 Conference at Geneva (1958) and represented India in the Inter Parliamentary Conference in Vienna (1978). He was a Member, United Nations Administrative Tribunal from 1955 to 1979 and was its President from 1968 to 1979. Venkataraman has visited a large number of countries in West and East Europe, the Soviet Union, U.S.A., Canada, South East Asia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Yugoslavia and Mauritius on official duties. Venkataraman was honored with the Doctorate of Law from University of Madras, the Doctorate of Law from Nagarjuna University. He is Honorary Fellow, Madras Medical College; Doctor of Social Sciences, University of Roorkee; Doctor of Law (Honoris Causa) from University of Burdwan. He has been awarded “Tamra Patra” for his participation in the freedom struggle and the Soviet Land Prize for his travelogue on Kamraj's visit to the Socialist countries. He is the recipient of a Souvenir from the Secretary-General of the United Nations for distinguished service as President of the U.N. Administrative Tribunal. The title of "Sat Seva Ratna" has been conferred on him by His Holiness the Sankaracharya of Kancheepuram. Venkataraman was elected Vice-President of India in August, 1984. He was also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Second Chamber of the Indian Parliament. As Vice-President of India, he was Chairman of the Jury for the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding and of the International Jury for the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development. He was Vice-Chairman of the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund; Trustee, Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust; President, Indian Institute of Public Administration; Chancellor, Gandhi gram Rural Institute; Chancellor, Delhi University; Chancellor, Punjab University and President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
6. K R NARAYAN (1920-2005) Term of Office: 25 July 1997 TO 25 July 2002
Kocheril Raman Narayanan assumed office as President of India on July 25, 1997. He was born on October 27, 1920 in the village of Uzhavoor in Kottayam district, Kerala. He obtained M.A. degree in English Literature standing first from the University of Travancore. Later, he obtained B.Sc. (Econ.) degree from
240 the London School of Economics. He was a Lecturer in the University of Travancore. Later he became a journalist and worked for the Hindu at Madras and for The Times of India at Bombay. In London he served as a London correspondent of Social Welfare, a weekly from Bombay. Narayanan joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1949 and served in Indian Embassies in Rangoon, Tokyo, London, Canberra and Hanoi and held different positions in the Ministry of External Affairs. He also taught Economic Administration at Delhi School of Economics from 1954-55 and was also the Joint Director of the Orientation Centre for Foreign Technicians. Narayanan also served as India's Ambassador to Thailand (1967-69), Turkey (1973-75), the People's Republic of China (1976-78) and Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs (1976). In 1978, Narayanan was appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in January 1979 and held the post till October 1980. He was also an Indian Ambassador to USA. He won three general elections in 1984, 1989, and 1992 from the Parliament Constituency of Ottapalam in Kerala. He was a Member of Parliament from 1985 to 1992. During this period he was Union Minister of State for Planning (1985), External Affairs (1985-86) and Science and Technology, Atomic Energy, Space, Electronics and Ocean Development and Vice- President, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (1986-89). Earlier Narayanan was elected Vice-President of India and served in this position from 21st August, 1992 till he assumed the office of the President of India in July 1997. He was ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha during this period. Narayanan has been a Member of various Indian delegations to (i) United Nations General Assembly (1979), (ii) The UN Security Council in November 1985 on Namibian Independence, (iii) Conference of Non-aligned Nations at Harare (1986) and (iv) UN General Assembly special session in May 1986 on the critical situation in Africa. He was President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations; President of Indian Institute of Public Administration; President of Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Cultures, Calcutta; Patron of the International Award for Young People - India. Narayanan has also served as Chairman of (i) The Jury of the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding; (ii) The International Jury for the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development; (iii) The Advisory Committee for the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award; (iv) The Jury for International Gandhi Award for Leprosy; (v) The Jury for Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar; (vi) The Jury for Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Award for Social Understanding and Upliftment of Weaker Sections; (vii) The Jury for Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
241 International Award for Social Change; (viii) The Jury for G.D. Birla Awards for Humanism, India's Heritage and Culture and Rural Upliftment; and (ix) The Jury for Communal Harmony Awards.9 Narayanan has authored four books namely (i) "India and America: Essays in Understanding" of which a new edition was reissued in 1998; (ii) "Images and Insights"; (iii) "Non-alignment in Contemporary International Relations" (Joint Authorship); and (IV) "Nehru and His Vision". He has also contributed a number of articles on social, political, international and literary matters in various magazines and periodicals. Narayanan is a Member of the Universal Academy of Cultures, Paris; Honorary Fellow of London School of Economics; Honorary Fellow, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore; Honorary Fellow of Centre for Development Studies, Kerala. He was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1970-72 for study of Pandit Nehru's Non-alignment. The President received the World Statesman Award of The Appeal of Conscience Foundation, New York in 1998. Narayanan has received several degrees and honors. These are : Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa), University of Toledo, USA; Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa), Australian National University; Australian National University has instituted an annual "K.R. Narayanan Oration"; Honorary Professor of Bishkek Humanities University (Kyrgyz Republic); Vachaspati (D. Lit) (Honoris Causa), Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi; Doctorate (Honoris Causa), University of San Marcos, Peru; Doctorate of Letters (Honoris Causa), Tribhuvan University, Nepal; Doctorate of Political Science (Honoris Causa), Bilkent University, Turkey. Narayanan is the Visitor of Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and several other Central Universities. He has also been the Chancellor of Delhi University, Punjab University, Pondicherry University, Assam University, North Eastern Hill University and Gandhi gram Rural Institute (Deemed University); Visitor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University Institute of Journalism, Bhopal; Visitor of Madras School of Economics. He is also visitor of Viswa Bharati University, established by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Narayanan has delivered Convocation Addresses at several Universities in India and abroad. The President has gone on State Visits to Peru, Brazil, Nepal, Germany, Portugal, Luxembourg and Turkey, Austria, France, China, Singapore and Mauritius.
242 Narayanan is married to Usha. Usha has a Masters Degree from the Delhi School of Social Work, Delhi University and her field of specialization is 'Juvenile Delinquency'. Usha is closely involved in social welfare activities for women and children. As National President of KARUNA, an all-India organization for the welfare of women and children from 1985 to 1992, she was responsible for building Working Girls' Hostels and Day Care Centers, Potters' Cooperatives and Sericulture projects in Kerala. She is actively associated with women's organizations in India. In addition to interest in landscaping, gardening, orchid cultivation, Ikebana and Bonsai, Usha has also translated Burmese short stories into English. Most of them have been published in the national fortnightly journal "Frontline". A collection of her translations of Thein Pe Myint's Burmese Short Stories was published as a book entitled "Sweet and Sour" in December, 1998. Usha has also worked with All India Radio for many years, translating and broadcasting news and talks for the External Services of A.I.R. Usha and Narayanan have two daughters, Chitra and Amrita.
7. A P J ABDUL KALAM
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the President of India, added blood and muscles to India’s Missiles Program as a scientist. He told Science Express that "India has people of high caliber and intelligence. The only thing required is more facilities in our labs, government funding and good leadership in scientific areas." As a humanitarian and with his extreme simplicity and easy access, Abdul has become a National Hero. A P J Abdul Kalam was elected President of India in 2002 when Bharatiya Janata Party was in power. He earned this high office on the basis of his service to India. Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabhudin Adbul Kalam was born on the 15th October, 1931, at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. He passed B.Sc. from the St. Joseph's College, Tiruchi, and DMIT in Aeronautical Engineering at the MIT, Madras, during 1954-57. He joined the DRDO in 1958. During 1963-82, he served the ISRO in various capacities. As Project Director, SLV-3, he was responsible for carrying out design, development, qualification and flight testing of 44 major sub systems. In 1982, as Director, DRDO was entrusted with the Integrated Guided
243 Missile Development Programme. He conceived the program constituting 5 major projects for meeting the requirements of the defense services and for establishing re-entry technology. While at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, he developed the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3) which put the Rohini Satellite into orbit. An Advanced Technology Research Centre, called Research Centre Imarat has also been established by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as an extension of DRDL to undertake development in futuristic missile technology areas. He has also established a unique 3 tier management structure to integrate and commit technologists, academic institutions and Industries. He was appointed Scientific Advisor to Raksha Manthri and Secretary, Dept. of Defense Research and Development. He is a member of Indian National Academy of Sciences, Astronautical Society of India. He has published two books. He loves Tamil poetry and Carnatak Music.25 He has been honored with Bharat Ratna award. He has been showered with honorary Doctorates.
CHAPTER 17
PRIME MINISTERS OF INDIA
1. JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (November 14, 1889-May 27, 1964)
Jawaharlal Nehru was a great leader of Indian Independent Movement and later on he led the Congress government in the formative years of Independent India. He became the first Prime Minister of India on August 15, 1947 and served as Prime Minister for 14 years.
25 www.presidentsofindia.nic.in
244 Jawaharlal Nehru was born of Swaroop Rani and Motilal Nehru on November 14, 1889. He was popularly known as Pandit Nehru. He was a Kashmiri Brahmin who had settled down in Allahabad His father Motilal Nehru was a practicing advocate in Allahabad High Court. Jawahar went to Harrow at the age of sixteen and studied further at Trinity College in Cambridge. He entered Inner Temple to become a Barrister. He was married to Kamala Nehru at the age of seventeen in the year1916. Nehru became a staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi He abandoned his luxurious life and resorted to austerity. He led agitations at Champaran, Kheda and Bihar and went to jail. He was with Gandhi when many including his father Motilal deserted Gandhi to form a new party called the Swaraj Party in 1922. He went on to become the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee. He was also a member of the Allahabad Municipality in 1924. In 1929 the Congress passed resolution for Indian Independence. He was in the forefront during protesting against the Simon commission which came to India to suggest administrative reforms to India. The Congress staged the protest because all members of the commission were British and no Indian was on the Simon Commission. Nehru was again arrested in 1930 and 1931 for Salt Satyagraha at Dandi. His father Motilal Nehru died in 1931 and the family responsibility fell on him. He had with him three sisters, a daughter and his wife. Nehru was much worried while in prison because Kamala, his wife, was suffering from Tuberculosis and her health was deteriorating. Kamala died in 1936 and he devoted more time to politics. He became President of the Indian National Congress in 1936 and committed Congress to socialism. Nehru had an opponent and competitor in Vallabh Bhai Patel. Patel vied with Nehru to become the Prime Minister of India, but withdraw his nomination of Congress Presidency at the instance of Gandhi and then it was clear that Nehru would become the first Prime Minister of Free India In 1939 the Second World War broke out and the British sought the support of the Congress for its war efforts. Nehru wanted to help the British but there was strong opposition to it. He told the British that they could help the British on the condition that they would give Independence to India after the war was over but the British refused to commit themselves and the talks broke down. Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement against his own will and all leaders of the Congress including Nehru were sent to prison. Nehru wrote the book “discovery of India” while he was in prison.
245 At the end of the war, the labor party won the elections in England and Attlee became the Prime Minister of England. The London treasury was bankrupt and the British were not in a position to hold on to the overseas territories. The British Government declared that they would give Independence to India in 1947. Nehru agreed for the partition of India and for carving out Pakistan, a separate Muslim state for which the Muslims of India agitated since 1930s under the leadership of Mohammadali Jinnah. Nehru included in his First Cabinet some people like Shyam Prasad Mukherjee, Sardar Vallabh Bai Patel, and B R Ambedkar who represented the different shades of opinion. Very soon the Constitution was adopted for India and under the constitution, the ministry was formed under the able leadership of Nehru and he made Sardar Patel the Deputy Prime Minister of India and gave him the most important port folio of Home Affairs but Sardar Patel died a few days later in 1950 and Nehru became the undisputed leader of India unto death. Nehru died in May 1964 leaving a great void in political leadership. He was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964. Nehru worked for 18 hours a day. He launched the Five years plan on the pattern of seven years plan of Russia for economic development. He was greatly influenced by the Fabian society in Britain and established Socialistic pattern of Society in India. He introduced Compulsory education in India. He established Indian Institute of technology in different parts of the country. He re-organized the Indian states in 1956-57. He declared Hindi as the national language of India. He established Atomic Energy for Peace. He sought the help of developed countries for establishing heavy industries in India. He built dams and improved irrigation and gave importance to Community development programs. His foreign policy may be summarized as anti- colonial, anti-imperialistic and anti-apartheid. He stood for peaceful coexistence, non alignment, and dynamic neutrality. America looked upon his policy with great suspicion and deemed it as anti-American.
2. LAL BAHADUR SASTRI
Nehru’s death in 1964 created a void in the political leadership of the country. There were many political leaders like Kamaraj, Morarji
246 Desai, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, Choudhary Charan Singh and Jagajeevan who were vying with each other to become the Prime Minister but Lal Bahadur Shastri was made the Prime Minister because none of them was in favor of accepting the other one as the Prime Minister. Shortly after his assuming the office of the Prime Minister, Pakistan thought it was the right time to strike and launched a war against India. He led India to victory and forced Pakistan to come to peace conference. In January 1966 the Russian Premier Aleksei Kosygin called the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan to a summit Conference at Tashkent where India and Pakistan agreed to not meddle in each other's internal affairs and "not to have recourse to force and to settle their disputes through peaceful means. There he died after going to bed and no enquiry was ordered. Shastri's body was brought back to India, and a memorial was built to honor him. With the inscription "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" which means ‘Honor the Soldier, Honor the Farmer’. He is now a forgotten hero. He was born in 1904 and died in 1966 at the age of 64. Those were the days when there were many senior leaders
3. INDIRA GANDHI (1917-1984)
Indira was politically shrewd and handled the situation well. She was determined to fulfill her father’s cherished dream of making India great by ushering in socialism. She amended the constitution to declare that India is a socialist state but in so doing she embraced the wrong and unworkable ideology of her father and put India in a great predicament. India continued to reel under the congress leadership of Rajiv Gandhi and under the minority government of V P Singh until P V Narasimha Rao became the Prime Minister and Manmohan Singh became the Finance Minister and they together liberalized the Indian economic policies and lifted India from the brink of disaster 1991. Indira was the first and only lady Prime Minister of India. She was for the first time elected to Parliament in 1964, the year of her father's death and she went on to become a Minister of Information and broadcasting in the government of Lal Bahadur Shastri. She held the
247 office of Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977. She became more popular after India's triumph in the war of 1971 against Pakistan, and the explosion of a nuclear device in 1974. She was the most controversial of all the Prime Ministers of India because of the circumstances in which she became the Prime Minister. There were many Congress leaders like Morarji Desai, Sanjeeva Reddy, Kamaraj, Jagajeevan Ram and Choudhary Charan Singh who had grown old but had no chance to become Prime Minister as Nehru had occupied the chair for good 14 years. When the vacancy fell each one would not let another to occupy the chair. So they agreed to place Lal Bahadur Shastri on the chair as a consensus candidate. Within a year and a half the chair fell vacant following the sudden demise of Lal Bahadur and the quarrel for the chair ensued and they could not decide which of them should become the Prime Minister. Kamaraj, the Tamil Nadu congressman became a king maker by putting forth a plan in which he suggested that all the senior members must retire making place for Indira Gandhi to become the Prime Minister. The congress found Indira as a consensus candidate but the senior leaders were too agitated to accept a young lady as their Prime Minister when they lived. So they all turned against her and formed a separate party to throw her out of power and started toppling her from within the party. The Congress party was divided against itself and the entire atmosphere in the party was corrupted. Some leaders were trying to malign her for their selfish ends and she had no trusted people around her. So her son Sanjay Gandhi took upon himself the task of showing the opponents their place and took extra-constitutional means to put them down. In June 1975, the High Court of Allahabad found her guilty of using illegal practices during the last election campaign, and ordered her to vacate her seat. There were demands for her resignation. By 1973, India was reeling under high inflation, bad economy, rampant corruption, and the poor standards of living. Indira Gandhi's declared a state of emergency, under which her political foes were imprisoned, constitutional rights abrogated, and the press placed under strict censorship. But they stepped up anti- propaganda against Indira and Sanjay vitiating the atmosphere. The declaration of emergency itself was used to make anti-propaganda against her and she was finally defeated in the next election. The Janata party a conglomerate of four parties came together to form a government and with vengeance sent her to prison on a technical ground The coalition could not stand for more than a year when the re- election was held and the Congress bounced back to power with thumping majority.
248 Indira Gandhi was the only child of Kamala and Jawaharlal Nehru. She spent part of her childhood in Allahabad where Nehru had their family residence, and part in Switzerland, where her mother Kamala was convalescing from tuberculosis. She received her college education at Somerville College, Oxford. At 17 Indira realized that she did not experience a stable family life during her childhood. Indira attended prominent Indian, European and British schools like Santiniketan and Oxford, but her weak academic performance prevented her from obtaining a degree. While she was in Europe, she met Feroze Gandhi, a young Parsee Congress activist, whom she married in 1942, just before the beginning of the Quit India Movement. Feroze died in 1960. Her married life was as turbulent as her early life. The couple had settled down in Allahabad where Feroze worked both for a Congress Party newspaper and for an insurance company. Their marriage started out well, but deteriorated later as Indira moved to Delhi to be by the side of her father who had then become the Prime Minister and lived alone in a high-pressure environment. Indira became his constant confidante, secretary and nurse. She had two children from Firoz, Rajiv and Sanjay. Both of them lived with her, and she became separated from her husband. Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister of India from 1966-77 and from 1980-84. In the Post-Emergency period Indira Gandhi was preoccupied with the political problems in the state of Punjab. Some Sikh extremists had formed a separate state for Sikhs in exile and resorted to terrorism to achieve their goal. The terrorists had holed up in Golden Temple Complex at Amritsar in Punjab to prevent the Government from taking action against them. She boldly ordered the army to move into the Golden temple in an attempt to crush the secessionist movement of Sikh militants led by Jarnail Singh Bindranwale in the "Operation Bluestar in June 1984. The Golden Temple was cleaned of Sikh terrorists. In November 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated at her residence by two of her own Sikh bodyguards, Sawant Singh and Biant Singh in retaliation for ‘the operation blue star’. On her death, her first son, Rajiv Gandhi, was sworn in as head of the Congress party and Prime Minister. Richard Nixon, the American President met Indira Gandhi in 1971 at the height of tension between India and Pakistan when the war was about to break out. During the 1971 War with Pakistan, the US sent its 7th Fleet to the Bay of Bengal as a warning to India not to use the genocide in East Pakistan as a pretext to launch a wider attack against West Pakistan. She developed close friendship with the Soviet Union and signed the treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet
249 Union. Indira daringly fought the war to success before the seventh fleet could reach the Bay of Bengal. She entered into Shimla accord with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan that the two countries would resolve Kashmir issue by peaceful means. Indira accelerated the national nuclear program, as it was felt that the Super powers were showing too much of indulgence in the affairs of South Asia which were not conducive to India's stability and security at a time when India was facing nuclear threat from China. She was assassinated in November 1984.
4. RAJEEV GANDHI
Rajeev was hurriedly called by the Congress leaders to shoulder the responsibility of running the government when Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, Sawant Singh and Biant Singh. Rajeev was very reluctant to become the Prime Minister and he became Prime Minister at the request of the congress leaders. Rajeev Gandhi was born in Bombay and educated at University of Cambridge and Imperial College, London. His grandfather was Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, and his mother, Indira Gandhi was the third prime minister. Rajiv Gandhi had no interest in politics and he chose to become a commercial airline pilot. When his younger brother Sanjay, died in a plane crash he had take upon himself the mantle of Indian politics. Rajiv won his seat in parliament in 1980. He pledged to route corruption from the administration. He came to be called Mr. Clean. By 1984 he was the most powerful political figure in India after his mother. When Indira was assassinated, he was elected leader of the house and became the Prime Minister. He pledged to deal with population control, educational and social reforms, and ethnic problems, but he could not. He had acceded to the Ceylon’s request to send a peace keeping force to Sri Lanka. He ran for re-election in 1989 but he was defeated. In 1991 he went to Madras to address a rally at Sriperumbadur where a human
250 bomb of LTTE called Dhanu smashed him killing herself with bombs around her loin. Seven of her accomplishes were hunted down and killed by the police in an encounter a few weeks later at Bangalore. Again there was a void in the political leadership as the Congress leaders were left without an able leader who could sway the masses. Sonia was the lone lady from the Nehru family and the congress leaders were requesting her to take the leadership but she refused to enter politics at that point of time. In the struggle for power, the vying leaders found a consensus candidate in a man from South, namely, P V Narasimha Rao.
5. P V NARASIMHA RAO June 28, 1921-December 23, 2004
Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao was the ninth Prime Minister who brought on major economic programs to save the country from the economic crisis. He was also responsible for developing the missile security system. Rao was an active freedom-fighter during India's independence movement who devoted completely to politics in the post independence period. Rao was in the central cabinet from 1962 – 1971. He was chief minister from 1971 to 1973 for the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was one of the loyalists of Indira who rose to the national level in 1972 by serving in several ministries like home, defense and foreign affairs. He was minister both in Rajeev’s cabinet and earlier in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet. He was the first Prime Minister from South India. His father's name was P. V. Ranga Rao. They belonged to a poor Brahmin family from a village called Vengara in Karim Nagar District of Andhra Pradesh. Rao edited a Telugu bi-weekly magazine called "Kakatiya" in nineteen twenties. He also knew French and Spanish. Rao studied at Mumbai, Nagpur and Osmania Universities and obtained Master’s degree in Law Rao knew many major languages of India. In 1991, Rao was chosen to lead the minority Congress party and he succeeded in forming a minority government and serve as Prime Minister for five continuous years. Indian economic situation was very bad by 1990 following the socialistic policies. The USSR and China,
251 the two communist countries had liberalized their economic policies but not India. Rao launched the process of liberalization with Manmohan Singh as the Finance Minister. Rao provided the much needed political will and support to push economic reforms. India's economy grew by an average of 6.3% from 1991-2000, a growth rate that continues with a predicted rate of 6.7% for 2005. This rate of growth was the result of spending cuts, deregulation, and privatization that began under his government. Rao picked up BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee to represent India in the World Disarmament Conference. Although they were opponents, Vajpayee's hard-line pro-nuclear stance was in accordance with Rao's own views. Vajpayee later went on to become the Prime Minister. Rao had to face the challenge of terrorism from Kashmir and neighboring Pakistan. He introduced Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Act known as TADA. Terrorism had spread to Assam, Tripura and Nagaland. He sent the Indian Army to troubled areas to put down violence and terrorism. The long-agitating VHP activists attacked the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya on 3 December 1992. The site on which Babri Musjid stood was claimed to be the birthplace of Lord Rama. The destruction of the mosque led to communal violence in India. Rao was criticized for that event and he lost his seat in the next general election. A strong earthquake shook Latur and killed 10,000 people and injured thousands of people in Maharashtra during his tenure. Rao did a wonderful job by using modern technology and resources to organize major relief operations to assuage the stricken peoples, and for schemes of economic reconstruction. Rao also energized the national nuclear security and ballistic missiles program, which ultimately yielded in the 1998 nuclear tests in Pokarn. Rao also made diplomatic overtures to Western Europe, the United States and China. Rao's government survived a "no-confidence" vote in Parliament in 1994. In 1996 the government was charged with corruption. Congress was badly defeated, and he lost his office of prime minister. He retained leadership of the Congress party until late 1996. After his tenure, Rao was charged in several bribery cases, the most famous among them being the one involving Harshad Mehta, although he was later acquitted on all charges. In late 1996, Rao was ousted as party leader and his political career ended. Rao rarely spoke of his personal views and opinions during his 5 year tenure. After his retirement from national politics Rao published a novel named The Insider. The controversial book, which follows the career of a person as he rises through the ranks of Indian politics,
252 resembled events from Rao's own life. Rao, however, denied any connection. Rao suffered a heart attack on 9 December 2004, and was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where he died at the age of 83. Rao was not as popular as the members of Nehru’s family. He always kept low profile but worked for the country and for the organization. He became the head of the government at a time when the country was facing very grave situation. There was economic crisis due to the wrong policies pursued by the uninterrupted congress leadership for 38 years. He had to lift the country from the economic crisis as India was on the verge of bankruptcy. He had to put down the militancy and terrorism in Kashmir. He was never considered great by the people. His predecessors had achieved much less but were loved more because of their background. P.V. Narasimha Rao was the first Prime Minister to lead a minority Government successfully for 5 years; and to be a congress Prime Minister outside the Nehru-Gandhi Family. He was the first Prime Minister from South India.
6. ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE
Atal Bihari Vajpayee waited too long to get an opportunity to serve his country in the hope that one day he will steer India to the path of glory but when he finally became the Prime Minister he found that he could do nothing because his government was a conglomerate of 20 odd parties with conflicting interests. He however held the coalition partners for 4 years until he ordered prematurely the general election which proved fatal for the party. Vajpayee was Prime Minister of India from May 16 1996 to May 31, 1996 for period of 15 days but could not continue in office because no party came forward to support him. He became Prime Minister for the second time from March 19, 1998 to May 13, 2004. He was chosen to the office of the Prime Minister thrice after three successive elections. Vajpayee was born on December 25, 1924 at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh to Krishna Bihari Vajpayee and Krishna Devi. He was educated at Victoria College, Gwalior and DAV College, Kanpur; Vajpayee has an M.A degree in Political Science. He edited Rashtradharma, a Hindi
253 monthly, Panchjanya, a Hindi weekly, and the dailies ‘Swadesh’ and ‘Veer Arjun’. His published works include "Meri Sansadiya Yatra" in four volumes, "Meri Ikkyavan Kavitayen", "Sankalp Kaal", "Shakti-se- Shanti", "Four Decades in Parliament" (speeches in three volumes), 1957-95, "Lok Sabha mein Atalji" (a collection of speeches); Mrityu Ya Hatya", "Amar Balidan", "Kaidi Kaviraj Ki Kundalian", "New Dimensions of India's Foreign Policy", "Jan Sangh Aur Mussalman"; "Sansad Mein Teen Dashak" (Hindi) (speeches in Parliament - 1957- 1992) - three volumes; and "Amar Aag Hai", a collection of poems in 1994. Vajpayee had four decades of parliamentary experience speeding over forty years. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1957. He was elected to the 5th, 6th and 7th Lok Sabha and again to the 10th, 11th 12th and 13th Lok Sabha and to Rajya Sabha in 1962 and 1986. He has again been elected to Parliament from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh for the fifth time consecutively. He was elected leader of the National Democratic Alliance, which is a pre-election combination of certain political parties which had support of the elected Members of the 13th Lok Sabha. He was elected as the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was Founder-member of the erstwhile Jana Sangh (1951), President of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh from 1968 to 1973, leader of the Jana Sangh parliamentary party from 1955 to 1977, and a founder-member of the Janata Party from 1977 to 1980, Vajpayee was President of the BJP from 1980 to 1986 and the leader of BJP parliamentary party during from 1980 to 1984, 1986 and again from 1993 to1996. He was India's External Affairs Minister in the Morarji Desai Government from March 24, 1977 to July 28, 1979. Vajpayee was widely respected within the country and abroad as a statesman of Jawaharlal Nehru caliber. He conducted Pokran nuclear tests in May 1998. He undertook bus journey to Pakistan to develop friendship with that country but Nawaz Shariff sent his army into Kargil in Kashmir when he was shaking hands with Vajpayee. During his term of office India made rapid progress. Vajpayee participated in the freedom struggle and went to jail in 1942. He was detained during Emergency from 1975 to 1977. He remained unmarried to serve his country. Vajpayee had been taking a keen interest in international affairs, uplift of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, women and child welfare. Vajpayee was conferred Padma Vibhushan in 1992 in recognition of his services to the nation. He was also conferred the Lokmanya Tilak Puruskar and the Bharat Ratna. Kanpur University honored him with an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in 1993.
254
7. MANMOHAN SINGH
Manmohan Singh is India’s 14th Prime Minister. He was born on September 26, 1932 at Ga which is now in Pakistan. He became Prime Minister on May 22, 2004. Dr. Singh married Gurusharan Kaur in 1958. They have three daughters. The youngest, Amrita Singh has graduated from Yale Law School and is practicing attorney in New York. In spite of his education and experience, he lost the election in 1999. But he has been a member of the Upper House since 1991 and was the leader of the opposition when BJP was in power from 1998 to 2004. Dr. Singh is a great economist who obtained his Doctorate from Oxford in England. He obtained his Master’s degree from the Punjab University and his undergraduate degree from Cambridge University. He was given an outstanding Parliamentarian award in 2002. He is an advisor to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and is close to her. Singh served as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India in the late 1980s, and was elevated to finance minister‘s position by the Prime Minister Narasimha Rao who initiated Economic Reforms in India. Earlier he had served in International Monetary Fund. Singh is widely regarded as the architect of India's original economic reform programs which was enacted in 1991 under Rao's rule. Narasimha Rao is his political mentor too. The economic liberalization package pushed by Singh and Rao opened the nation to foreign direct investment and reduced the red tape that had impeded economic growth. The 1991 liberalization was the first of a series of economic liberalization throughout up to the present day that have raised India's growth rates substantially since the early 1990s. Singh stayed with the Congress Party despite continuous marginalization and defeats in the elections of 1996, 1998 and 1999.
255 The Congress alliance won more number of seats in the Parliamentary elections of 2004 contrary to anybody’s expectations. The Left Front decided to support a Congress led coalition government from outside in order to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party out of power. Sonia Gandhi was elected leader of the ruling party and was expected to become the Prime Minister. In a surprise move, she declined to accept the post and instead nominated Man Mohan Singh. He secured the nomination for prime minister on May 19, 2004 when President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam officially asked him to form a government. He entrusted the Finance port folio to P Chidambaram. His appointment is notable as it comes 20 years after India witnessed significant tensions between the Indian central government and the Punjabi Sikh community. Man Mohan’s foreign policy has been to continue the new peace process with Pakistan initiated by his predecessor, Atal Bihar Vajpayee. He has improved his relation with America and China. His entering into nuclear deal with America has brought him wide acclamation although the Communists have found it inappropriate for their own reasons. While Singh heads the United Progressive Alliance government, Sonia Gandhi has always been regarded as the true political head of the Congress Party. “Most of the Indian media has speculated that ministers in Singh's cabinet have been nominated at the behest of Ms. Gandhi, and likewise, partners of the Congress, such as Laloo Prasad Yadav, meet Sonia directly to discuss any issues pertaining to the alliance. Singh has rarely made appearances during canvassing for the party, and was left in the background during the 82nd All India Congress plenary in Hyderabad, where Congress workers celebrated Sonia's heir-apparent, Rahul Gandhi. To top it all off, the Leftist parties supporting the government from outside also rarely address Mr. Singh directly.” He is a strong and great administrator but selfish politicians have made him weak for their selfish end. As a result of this, the BJP-led opposition has often referred to Manmohan Singh as the weakest Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi as the "Super Prime-Minister". Faced with a lack of respect in his own party, its allies, or the opposition, Singh's tenure has been markedly different from that of his predecessor, Vajpayee who could command respect across the political spectrum.
256
CHAPTER 18
1. THE PRESIDENT OF THE BHARATIYA JANATHA PARTY
L K ADVANI
L.K. Advani was born on November 08, 1929 in Karachi now in Pakistan. His earlier schooling was at St.Patrick's in Karachi. He later on graduated in Law from Bombay University. He argued on behalf of his party in 1974 before the Supreme Court in the Presidential reference whether election to the post of President could be held when the Gujarat Assembly was dissolved. At the time of partition of India into Pakistan and India in 1947, Advani was the Organizer of RSS in Karachi City. After partition, for several years Advani organized RSS work in Rajasthan. When Dr.Mukherjee founded Jana Sangh in 1951, Advani became its Rajasthan State Secretary and continued there till 1957 before he moved to Delhi to become Secretary of the Jana Sangh. From 1970 to 1989 he was a Member of the Rajya Sabha. In 1989 and again in 1991 he was elected to Lok Sabha. In 1991, he was also appointed the Leader of Opposition. He was elected President of Jana Sangh in 1973 and continued until 1977, before he was appointed Information & Broadcasting Minister in the Janata government. During his tenure he freed the media from legislative and executive shackles, institutionalized reforms and inbuilt safeguards to guard freedom. He abolished Press Censorship and repealed anti-press legislation. The BJP was launched in 1980 and He held the position of General Secretary for the next six years. In 1986, he became the All India President, which position he held until January 1995. He vacated his position as the President in 2006 as his statement during his tour of Pakistan about Jinnah came as a shock to RSS and most people in BJP. He was succeeded by Rajnath Singh.
257 2. THE PRESIDENT WHO REVIVED THE CONGRESS
SONIA GANDHI
Sonia Gandhi was born as an Italian and she had the faintest idea that she would one day rule a populous country like India in Asia when she married Rajiv Gandhi. She took Indian citizenship in 1983 and stayed back in India. When Rajiv died there was a void in the congress leadership and no one was really a unanimous choice. They requested Sonia to lead the Congress and India which she being a foreigner, refused politely and stayed away from the congress and politics. After Narasimha Rao’s exit, the congress leaders could not choose their leader who was acceptable to all. They requested Sonia to save their party by taking the mantle of congress leadership both outside and inside the parliament which she accepted with humility but when the congress did not emerge as a majority party she thought it wise to stay from the government and proposed Man Mohan Singh for the position of the Prime Minister. Sonia was born to Stefano and Paola Maino in Orbassano, a town in Turin, Italy. She spent her younger days at orbassano and attended a Roman Catholic School. Her father died in 1983 leaving his wife and two children where they continued to stay after his death. She went to London to do a course in English at Cambridge where she met Rajeev Gandhi and they got married in 1968. Rahul was born to them in 1970 and Priyanka in 1972. Sonia and Rajeev were not involved in Politics until his mother died and the mantle of ruling the country was thrust on him. Rajiv worked as an airline pilot, and Sonia took care of her family. Despite her father's vehement opposition to her marriage to Rajiv, Sonia maintains close links with her family in Italy. Her son, Rahul Gandhi was elected to Parliament in 2004. The two brothers, Rajeev and Sanjay and their families were always estranged. She learnt Hindi and gained first hand knowledge of India and Indian culture before she entered Politics. She entered Politics at the behest of the Congress
258 leaders who cried for her help as they feared that they would not win the General election without her. She finally entered politics just before the 1998 national election and took charge of the Congress party as its president in 1998; and was elected to parliament in the elections held in 1999. She was elected leader of the opposition of the 13th Lok Sabha. The BJP and some of the leaders from her own party raised objection to her becoming the Prime Minister in 2004 on the ground of her foreign origin. On May 18, a day before her scheduled inauguration, she suggested the name of the great economist, Manmohan Singh, for the Prime Minister's post. Manmohan Singh was the Finance Minister in the previous Congress government headed by P V Narasimha Rao, the Father of Indian Reforms. Moreover, the fact that he was not known to have any political ambitions and that he enjoyed a good rapport with Sonia Gandhi probably helped him to win the post. Gandhi retained the post of the Leader of the Majority and the Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party. She could have become the First Prime Minister of India of foreign origin if she wanted to. She is the undisputed leader of the Congress party as well as the leader of the ruling party.
3. NARENDRA MODI
A CHIEF MINISTER WITH A MISSIONARY ZEAL
Narendra Modi is the Chief Minister of Gujarat. He was sworn as Chief Minister for the second term on October, 2001. In the election held in 2002 BJP got landslide victory in Gujarat under his leadership. He has 126 legislators to his support. He was born on 17th September, 1950 in the small town of Vadnagar in the Mehsana district of Gujarat. He secured a meritorious degree in M.A., Political Science from the Gujarat University. He is a great orator and successful organizer. He is also a great political thinker. He was a student leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the powerful student’s body affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. In 1972, he became a prominent and active ‘Pracharak’ with the RSS. In 1974 he played an important role in the anti corruption movement. In 1975 he became the General Secretary of Lok Sangharsha Samiti. In 1988 he became the General Secretary of the state unit of BJP and actively participated in Somnath to Ayodhya Rath
259 Yatra led by L K Advani and Kashmir to Kanyakumari Ekta yatra led by Murli Manohar Joshi. He was in charge of BJP election campaign from 1989 to 1995 when he became the National secretary of the BJP. Narendra Modi has also contributed many articles in newspapers and magazines and authored "Sangharsh Ma Gujarat", "Setubandha" and "Patrarup Guruji". He has moulded the public opnion in favor of BJP although he has become a very controvertial Chief Minister. He has received bouquet from the staunch Hindus and brickbat from the fundamentalist Muslims. He won the re-election as chief minister with 126 seats in the 182-member assembly. He has the strong support of the RSS. It is common for RSS members to join the BJP and carry through in whatever way possible the objectives of its parent organization, RSS. The RSS leadership sent Modi to join the BJP unit in Gujarat in the early 1980s. He is now 52 years old and computer savvy. Mr. Modi got his big break in the public arena when his predecessor in the state, Keshubhai Patel, was forced to step down in the fall-out from the earthquake in January 2001 that killed nearly 20,000 people. Mr. Modi is known to be LK Adjani’s favorite protégés and has grown in stature within the BJP after his handling of the communal riots.
CHANDRABABU NAIDU
A CHIEF MINISTER WITH A VISION
Chandrababu Naidu is a man of great vision and made Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, a great Information Technology Center. He was soon forgotten after he went out of power. He led Andhra for 10 years and improved Andhra. He was a successor to N T Rama Rao, the cine-artist turned politician who mesmerized the common man of his period. The Wall Street Journal saw him as "a model for fellow state leaders." Time magazine declared him `South Asian of The Year' as early as 1999. Nara Chandrababu Naidu was born on April 20, 1950 at Naravaripalli in Chitoor district. Naidu is married to Mrs. Bhuvaneswari and has a son Lokesh. He is the son-in-law of late Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, who was a Cine-Artist and later on started Telagu Desam Party and became the Chief Minister of Andhra. He did his Master’s degree in Economics from Venkatehwara University at Thirupati. . He was the Chief Minister from 1995 to 2004. He was the longest serving chief
260 minister of Andhra. He is the leader of the Telugu Desam Party at present. Naidu was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1978 from the Chandragiri constituency in Chittoor district. He subsequently became a Minister and held the portfolios of Archives, Cinematography, Technical Education, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, Public Libraries and Minor Irrigation between 1980 and 1983. He also served as the Chairman of the State Karshak Parishad, constituted for the first time to look after the welfare of the farming community. He was elected again to the State Legislature from Kuppam constituency of Chittoor district in 1989. He served as Coordinator of the Telugu Desam Party, in which capacity he effectively handled the party's role of main opposition in the assembly which won him wide appreciation from both the party and the public. In 1994, he was re- elected to the Assembly from Kuppam constituency with a large majority of 57,000 votes and held the important portfolios of Revenue and Finance. During this tenure Naidu introduced transparency in Government, thus breaking the tradition of inordinate secrecy in the Finance department. He dismantled four decades of Congress rule for ten years and did lot of improvement in the state. Mr. Naidu was unanimously elected as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on 1 September 1995. He was sworn in on 11 October 1999 as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the second term. He was elected with a majority of more than 65,000 votes. Naidu has a modern outlook towards administration. Naidu has initiated an exercise to define Vision 2020 for the state. According to Naidu, "Our vision of Andhra Pradesh is a State where poverty is totally eradicated; where every man, woman and child has access to not just the basic minimum needs, but to all opportunities for leading a happy and fulfilling life; a knowledge and learning society built on the values of hard work, honesty, discipline and a collective sense of purpose." In recognition of Naidu's leadership and vision in the field of Information technology, Mr.Naidu was designated as the Co- chairperson of the National Task Force on Information technology set up by the Government of India to prepare the IT road map for the future. Naidu is well known for innovative concepts and programs. The "Dial your Chief Minister" program telecast by the Doordarshan Kendra of Hyderabad is one such program. The Chief Minster has laid a lot of emphasis on water conservation and water harvesting. He has taken up
261 a campaign for sensitizing the people of the State and the administration for better management of water to prevent drought situation in future. Launching of an innovative program called 'Neeru Meeru, formation of Watershed Committees, promotion of Water Shed development have all been taken up in the State for better management of water on the insistence of Naidu. Water Conservation Mission has been formed as a step in this direction. A number of households have built rain water-harvesting structures towards this cause. Mr. Chandrababu Naidu has been campaigning for fiscal federalism and devolution of financial power to the states and the distribution of the revenue between the state and the Center on the basis of equality and efficiency. Naidu has won numerous awards including 'IT Indian of the Millennium' and member of the World Economic Forum's Dream Cabinet and South Asian of the Year. Chandrababu Naidu has turned author, writing a book on governance. Naidu has penned down his ideas on challenge of governance in the new millennium, Titled 'Plain Speaking', co-authored by Ninan Sevanti which focuses on changing strategies of governance, hurdles in pursuing reforms and the need to break free from the politics of populism.
CHAPTER 19
EXPONENTS OF CASTE AND COMMUNAL POLITICS
1. WINSTON CHURCHILL
While a large number of patriotic Indians were either martyred or making great sacrifices in their life for the sake of India, a strong opposing force was growing to counteract the freedom fighters and to nullify the efforts of their movement. The opposing force consisted of Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Britain; Mohammadali Jinnah of the Muslim League and Bhimarao Ramji Ambedkar. Stanley Baldwin (1923-1924, 1924-1929, 1935-1937), James Ramsay MacDonald (1924, 1929-1935), Neville Chamberlain (1937-1940) and Winston Churchill (1940-1945, 1951-1955) were the Prime Ministers
262 of England when India was fighting for its freedom and these Prime Ministers opposed the idea of granting freedom to India. Sir Winston Churchill was a great soldier and a shrewd politician. He was a member of parliament several times and he became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. His original name was Sir Winston Leonard Sponsor Churchill. He was a wartime Prime Minister who was opposed to the idea of giving Independence to India. He was a member of the Conservative Party which stood for colonialism and rejected the idea of granting independence to the British colonies. Winston championed the cause of British Colonialism and dealt with the Indian nationalists ruthlessly. He called M K Gandhi a half naked Fakir and the Hindus timid; and maintained that India was not ready to govern itself and believed in Whiteman’s burden of safeguarding the interests of the colonial people. He won the Second World War with the American help but Britain was almost bankrupt. He lost the election in 1945 paving way for the Labor government under Clement Attlee. Churchill was born on November 30, 1874 at Woodstock in Oxford shire. He died in Hyde Park Gate, London on January 24, 1965. He won the Nobel Prize in 1953 for English Literature and he was identified among the top hundred Britons. Winston’s father was Lord Randolph Churchill and his mother was Jenny Jerome who became Lady Churchill. He was not close to his parents but he was very close to his nanny, Elizabeth Anne Everest who died on July 3, 1895. Churchill attended the Royal Military Academy and graduated at 20. Churchill married Clementine Hosier on September 12, 1908 and they had five children. Clementine was the daughter of Blanche Henrietta Ogilvy. John F Kennedy named him the first citizen of the USA in 1963. He died on January 24, 1965 at the age of 70. He was buried in St.Paul’s Cathedral at Royal burial. Churchill joined the army and served in India also. He rose to the position of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1899 he left the army and took to parliamentary career. In Anglo-Boer war of 1899 he was a war correspondent. But he became a prisoner of war. He toured USA and had dined with Theodore Roosevelt In 1905 he wrote the biography of his father Lord Randolph Churchill. In 1905 when the liberal government came to power under Henry Campbell Bannerman he became the under-secretary of state for Colonies and from then on he was closely participating in the Indian affairs. In 1911 he became the First Lord of the Admiralty. He became Secretary of State for Colonies in 1921. He became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1924.
263 He wished M K Gandhi to be tied by rope and trampled by elephant at the Delhi Gate. He took every opportunity to malign Gandhi. When Gandhi was on fast he tried to prove that he had in fact increased in weight which was impossible without taking food. He became the Wartime Prime minister in 1940. Here are the excerpts of his speech he made to the House of Commons on the British policy on India which speak out his mind. “The Indian Congress Party does not represent all India. It does not represent the majority of the people of India. It does not even represent the Hindu masses. It is a political organization built around a party machine and sustained by certain manufacturing and financial interests. Outside that party and fundamentally opposed to it are the 90,000,000 Moslems in British India- He asked who have the rights of self- expression of the Muslims and the 50,000,000 Depressed Classes, or the Untouchables as they are called because they are supposed to defile their Hindu co-religionists by their presence or by their shadow; and the 95,000,000 subjects of the Princes of India with whom we are bound by treaties; in all 235,000,000 in these three large groupings alone, out of about 390,000,000 in all India. This takes no account of large elements among the Hindus, Sikhs and Christians in British India who deplore the present policy of the Congress Party. It is necessary that these main facts should not be overlooked here or abroad, because no comprehension of the Indian problem or of the relations between Britain and India is possible without the recognition of these basic data. The Congress Party has now abandoned in many respects the policy of non-violence which Mr. Gandhi has so long inculcated in theory, and has come into the open as a revolutionary movement designed to paralyze the communications by rail and telegraph and generally to promote disorder, the looting of shops and sporadic attacks upon the Indian police, accompanied from time to time by revolting atrocities- the whole having the intention or at any rate the effect of hampering the defense of India against the Japanese invader who stands on the frontiers of Assam and also upon the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal. It may well be that these activities by the Congress Party have been aided by Japanese fifth-column work on a widely extended scale and with special direction to strategic points. It is noteworthy, for instance, that the communications of the Indian forces defending Bengal on the Assam frontier have been specially attacked. In these circumstances the Viceroy and Government of India, with the unanimous support of the Viceroy's Council, the great majority of which are Indians, patriotic and wise men, have felt it necessary to proclaim and suppress the Central and Provincial organs of this
264 association which has become committed to hostile and criminal courses. Mr. Gandhi and other principal leaders have been interned under conditions of the highest comfort and consideration, and will be kept out of harm's way till the troubles subside. It is fortunate, indeed, that the Congress Party has no influence whatever with the martial races, on which the defense of India apart from British Forces largely depends. Many of these races are divided by unbridgeable religious gulfs from the Hindu Congress, and would never consent to be ruled by them. Nor shall they ever be against their will so subjugated. There is no compulsory service in India, but upwards of a million Indians have volunteered to serve the cause of the United Nations in this world struggle. The bravery of the Indian troops has been distinguished in many theatres of war, and it is satisfactory to note that in these last two months when the Congress has been measuring its strength against the Government of India, more than 140,000 new volunteers for the Army have come forward in loyal allegiance to the King-Emperor, thus surpassing all records in order to defend their native land. So far as matters have gone up to the present, they have revealed the impotence of the Congress Party either to seduce or even sway the Indian Army, to draw from their duty the enormous body of Indian officials, or still less to stir the vast Indian masses. Indian sub-continent which is as large as Europe and it is more populated than Europe. Further its people are more divided on the ground of race, language and religion than the Europeans. The government ruled such a vast country and huge population with less than 600 British Civil servants. In five provinces, including two of the greatest and comprising 110,000,000 people, provincial ministers responsible to their Legislatures stand at their posts. In many places, both in town and country, the population has rallied to the support of the civil power. The Congress conspiracy against the communications is breaking down. Acts of pillage and arson are being repressed and punished with incredibly small loss of life. Less than 500 persons have been killed over this mighty area of territory and population and it has only been necessary to move a few brigades of British troops here and there in support of the civil power. In most cases the rioters have been successfully dealt with by the Indian police. I am sure the House would wish me to pay a tribute to the loyalty and steadfastness of these brave Indian police as well as of the Indian official classes generally whose behavior has been deserving of the highest praise. To sum up, the outstanding fact which has so far emerged from the violent action of the Congress Party has been their non-representative character and their powerlessness to throw into confusion the normal
265 peaceful life of India. It is the intention of His Majesty's Government to give all necessary support to the Viceroy and his Executive in the firm but tempered measures by which they are protecting the life of the Indian community and leaving the British and Indian Armies free to defend the soil of India against the Japanese. I may add that large reinforcements have reached India and that the numbers of white soldiers now in that country, though very small compared with its size and population, are larger than at any time in the British connection. I, therefore, feel entitled to report to the House that the situation in India at this moment gives no occasion for undue despondency or alarm.”
2. MOHAMMADALI JINNAH
Mohammadali Jinnah was mainly responsible for the division of British India into two separate states of India and Pakistan. He rose to the forefront of the struggle for a Muslim nation as India negotiated its independence from Britain. Jinnah was not a man of the people like Indian nationalist leader, Mahatma Gandhi. Jinnah left the Congress and joined the Muslim League in 1920. He became its President in 1924. He could not go on with the Muslim League either. He left for London to practice law but returned back in 1933 to assume the leadership of the League which had started demanding a separate State for Muslims in India. All attempts made by Gandhi to convince Jinnah failed. He went to the extent of giving the mantle of ruling India to the Muslims to stop Jinnah from seeking a separate State. Jinnah was adamant that the two nationalities being separate in every respect must be given two separate states and the British upheld the views of Jinnah and encouraged him. He took charge of the Muslim League and proposed 14 point constitutional reforms to give political rights to the Muslims for self governance in India. But the conflict within the Muslim league made him to go back to London leaving Indian scene. Jinnah returned to India on the urging of Muslim politicians to lead the Muslim League. Under his leadership, the League regained its unity and won many Muslim seats in the elections of 1934 and 1937. He demanded homeland for the Muslims at the Lahore Resolution in 1940 and supported the British in their war efforts. The Muslim League won more number of Muslim seats in the 1946 elections after the war. Jinnah managed to get a nod from the British and the Congress to the creation of an independent Muslim state, Pakistan and became the first Governor-General of Pakistan.
266 Muhammad Ali Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress in 1896. It was the largest Indian political organization at the time consisting of the moderates on issues of self-government. Jinnah like most of the Congressmen at the time did not favor outright independence from the British Empire. He believed that British system of modern education, law and industry were beneficial to India. When World War I broke out in 1914, Jinnah supported the war effort amongst other Indian moderates in the hope that the support would be rewarded with greater self-government and political freedom for Indians. Jinnah's problems with the Congress began with the ascent of Mohandas Gandhi in 1918, who espoused non-violent civil disobedience as the best means to obtain self-rule for all Indians. Jinnah said that they should only fight for constitutional change. Jinnah was greatly fascinated by the British dress and their style of living. He was not impressed with Gandhi’s idea of simple clothes, talking in mother tongue instead of talking in English, and his spirituality. Gandhi's style of leadership gained tremendous popularity with the Indian people. By 1920, Jinnah resigned from the Indian National Congress and a little later he was elected the President of the Muslim League. The League wanted to continue with the separate electorates while the Nehru Report was in favor of the joint electorates. He set forth 14 point plan which was rejected by the Congress. Jinnah criticized Gandhi at the Round Table Conferences in London. Meanwhile the two other major contenders for Muslim leadership, Sir Fazl-e-Hussain and Sir Muhammad Shafi, passed away, leaving the field wide open for Jinnah. It was Sir Muhammad Iqbal who in his 1930 presidential address to the League mooted an independent state for Muslims in "northwest India." Choudhary Rahmat Ali published a pamphlet in 1938 advocating a "Pakistan." Jinnah developed the idea that Muslims needed a separate state to protect their rights and culture. Jinnah believed that a united India would lead to the marginalization of Muslims. In the League's session in Lahore in 1940, the Pakistan resolution was adopted as the main goal of the party. Jinnah founded the newspaper ‘Dawn’ in 1941 to propagate the League's point of views. Jinnah supported the British effort in World War II, and opposed the Quit India movement initiated by Gandhi and the Congress. On July 26, 1943, a member of the extremist Khaksars attempted to assassinate Jinnah by stabbing; Jinnah was wounded. He was born on December 25, 1876 at Karachi as the son of a wealthy Karachi merchant. Jinnah belonged to the Gujarati family of Jinnah Bhai Poonja a prosperous merchant from Kathiawar who practiced Ismaili Khoja branch of Shi'a Islam, and had Hindu ancestry. Jinnah
267 had two sisters and two brothers, and was educated at the Cathedral and John Connon School, in Bombay. In 1893, he went to London to work for Graham's Shipping and Trading Company, with which his father did business. He had been married to a 16-year old, distant relative named Emibai, but she died shortly after he moved to London. Around this time, his mother died as well. In 1894, Jinnah quit his job in order to study law at Lincoln's Inn and subsequently became the youngest Indian to graduate from the school in 1896. It was while in London that Jinnah began to participate in political activities. An admirer of Dadabhai Naoroji and Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Jinnah worked with other Indian students on Naoroji's campaign to win a seat in the British Parliament - Naoroji would become the first Asian to sit in the British House of Commons. While developing largely liberal and constitutionalist views on Indian questions of self-government, Jinnah despised the arrogance and bigotry of British officials and the discrimination of Indians. Jinnah joined congress in 1896 when there was no Muslim League in existence. In 1906 the Muslim league was formed and Jinnah‘s loyalty became divided. He outright joined the Muslim league and continued in both contradictory organizations up to 1920 when he broke away from Congress and led the Muslim League against the Congress.
He was married to Emibai from 1892 to 1893. He was married to Rattanbai Petit from 1918 to 1929. In 1918, Jinnah married Rattanbai Petit, a Parsi from a wealthy, elite family in Bombay. There was great opposition to their marriage from Rattanbai's family, as well as Muslim orthodox leaders. The difference between them was not only of religion - Jinnah was twenty-four years older than Rattanbai. However Rattanbai defied her family and converted to Islam. She gave birth to Jinnah’s only child, Dina. They were divorced in the late 1920s, but Jinnah was deeply saddened when Rattanbai died in 1929. Jinnah became estranged from his daughter after her decision to marry a Parsi- born Christian businessman, Neville Wadia. Jinnah received personal care and support from his sister Fatima in the latter part of his life, who lived and traveled with him and also became a close advisor. Jinnah studied law in England and after his return to India in 1896 as an advocate for the Bombay High Court, the slender, well-dressed and well-spoken attorney quickly made a name in public life and legal practice. Early in his political career, Jinnah was chiefly concerned with achieving independence for a unified India. Increasingly, however, he thought that British oppression would be replaced by Hindu
268 oppression and India's Muslim minority will be subjugated by the Hindu Majority Jinnah was revered by the Muslims. He was known to them as Quaid-e- Azam, or 'Great Leader.' He was ‘their George Washington, their de Gaulle, and their Churchill’. He became the first Governor General of Pakistan in 1947. He was in Indian National Congress from 1896 to 1920. He was in the Muslim league from 1913 to 1947. Between 1913 and 1920 he was in the Indian National Congress but worked for the Muslim League. He was encourgaged by the British government so that they might divide the Hindus and the Muslims and rule India longer. Jinnah subscribed to Hindu-Muslim unity between 1906 and 1913 but later, he joined the Muslim League and started demanding separate state for the Muslims. In 1919, Jinnah resigned from the Congress and turned his focus to Muslim interests. Over the next two decades he would become the architect of a dream first voiced by Muslim poet- philosopher Muhammad Iqbal that Indian Muslims would someday have their own nation.
No descendant of Jinnah is either a citizen or a resident of Pakistan. Dina Wadia his daughter remained in India after Pakistan's creation before ultimately settling in New York City. Jinnah's grandchild, Nusli Wadia, is an Indian-born British citizen who converted from Christianity to Zoroastrianism; he is now a prominent industrialist residing in Mumbai. In the 1963–1964 elections, Jinnah's sister Fatima Jinnah, known as Madar-e-Millat, became the presidential candidate of a coalition of political parties that opposed the rule of President Ayub Khan, but lost the election. The Jinnah House in Malabar Hill, Bombay is under the possession of the Government of India — its future is officially disputed. It had been preserved by India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru after Jinnah personally requested him to do so. There are proposals that the house be offered to the Government of Pakistan to establish a consulate in the city, as a goodwill gesture. Jinnah was suffering from tuberculosis. In 1948, Jinnah's health deteriorated and he died on September 11 1948.
3. BHIMARAO RAMJI AMBEDKAR April 14, 1891 - December 6, 1956
Bhimarao Ramji Ambedkar was the most prominent scheduled castes leader in India who brought into existence dissention within the Hindu
269 society at a time when it was challenged by the Christianity and the Islam. His move reduced the Hindus to a minority in the Hindu India and gave other religions an opportunity to humble them. Bhimarao Ambedkar who had himself suffered humiliation in the caste ridden Indian society in his earlier days took up cudgel not only against the practice of untouchability but against the Hindus and incited the Harijans to quit Hindu religion and join some other religion. In the later years of his life he himself became a Buddhist and millions of Harijans were converted to Buddhism at his insistence. When Mohammad of Ghazni invaded India, India consisted of one hundred percent Hindu population. Even the earlier invaders who stayed in India were mixed with the Hindus. The Muslims converted the Hindus to Islam at the point of sword and by 1947; Ninety percent of the Population in Baluchistan, Sindh, West Punjab and Kashmir were Muslims and they formed a separate state of Pakistan. In the present India, 13% of the population is the Muslims. At that juncture, the very learned and Harijan leader, Bhimarao Ambedkar incited his men to leave the Hindu religion and join any other religion; and reduced the Hindu population by another 18%. The British Christian missionaries had silently converted 3% of the population to Christianity. The Congress in its zeal to gain the votes of the Harijans, Muslims and the Christians introduced pseudo-secularism and created a new band of the Hindus who had no faith in their own religion. Now in the Hindu India, the Hindus are in minority. Ambedkar was very intelligent and learned; and he could have become a national leader instead of becoming a Dalit leader had he not committed the mistake of setting up the innocent Harijans against the Caste Hindus and sowed the seeds of dissention between them. His brazen attack on the Hindus; guiding his caste people to give up Hinduism and convert themselves to some other religion and pressing the British to grant communal award for the Harijans and cooperating with the British in their war efforts against the wishes of the Hindus and challenging M K Gandhi’s interest in Harijans welfare, converting himself to Buddhism and converting millions of Harijans to Buddhism have all made him a Scheduled Caste leader. Upliftment of the untouchables was his agenda and he did not look beyond that. Ambedkar was born at Mhow in central India as the fourteenth child of his parents who belonged to the low caste known as Untouchables on April 14, 1891. Ambedkar was married in 1908 to Ramabai when he was sixteen and she was nine; and they had five children but only one survived. His father encouraged his son to become educated. In 1908, he passed matriculation and four years later he got Bombay university
270 degree with Economics and Politics. It was a great achievement for men of his caste at that point of time. He entered civil service in Baroda as its ruler, the Maharaja Sajjan Rao Gaekwad had granted him scholarship. From 1913 to 1917, and again from 1920 to 1923, Ambedkar studied at the University of Columbia in New York. He was awarded a Ph.D. for a thesis, “The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India.” His first published work, however, was a paper on “Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development”. After completing his studies in America, Ambedkar left for London to study in the London School of Economics. In 1920, having worked in a Bombay weekly called Mooknayak or 'Leader of the Dumb', Ambedkar was able to return to London and resume his studies there. In the course of the next three years he completed a thesis on The Problem of the Rupee, for which the University of London awarded him a D.Sc. At this time, he was admitted to the Bar. Before permanently ending his residence in England, Ambedkar went to Germany to study Economics at Bonn. Ambedkar came back to India and settled down in Bombay to establish an active legal career. He built up his legal practice and taught in a college. He started a newspaper, and was nominated to the Bombay Legislative Council. He also attended the three Round Table Conferences held from 1930 to 1933. Ambedkar helped form the Depressed Classes Welfare Association, the objects of which were to promote education and culture among Untouchables and to improve their economic condition. Between 1927 and 1932, Ambedkar led a series of campaigns to assert the right of the Untouchables such as right to enter Hindu places of worship and to draw water from public tanks and wells. Higher caste Hindus resisted strongly. The Chowdar Tank campaign, after years of litigation, ended in a legal victory for the low caste activists. The Chowdar Tank campaign also saw the ceremonial burning of the Manusmriti is one of the eighteen smritis of the Dharma; the ancient Hindu law book that Ambedkar believed bore much of the responsibility for the cruel treatment that the Untouchables had suffered. By thus desecrating Manusmuti, Ambedkar had become very unpopular among the Caste Hindus and the most hated person in India. Ambedkar pressed for separate electorates for the depressed classes. Gandhi and the congress opposed the idea of separate electorates for the depressed classes, and Ambedkar and Gandhi had clashed on the subject at the Second Round Table Conference, and the British taking advantage of the dissension within the Hindus granted the Communal Award to the depressed classes by granting separate representation for Harijans. Gandhi's response was to go on a fast unto death for the
271 abolition of separate electorates for the depressed classes. Since he was the acknowledged leader of the independence movement his action created consternation throughout India. He finally agreed to replace separate electorates with joint electorates, in return for increased number of reserved seats. This agreement was embodied in a document that became known as the Poona Pact, the signing of which by Ambedkar marked his emergence as the most influential leader of the Untouchables. Ambedkar made a shift in his policy by asking his followers to concentrate on raising their living conditions and gaining political power. He also began to ask them to convert themselves to Buddhism. By then Ambedkar was appointed principal of the Government Law College, Bombay, built a house for his use but he had lost his wife, Ramabai. Ambedkar founded the Independent Labor Party, took part in the 1937 provincial legislative elections held as a result of the Act of 1935. He was elected to the Bombay Legislative Assembly, where he pressed for the abolition of agricultural serfdom, defended the right of industrial workers to strike, advocated the promotion of birth control, and addressed meetings and conferences throughout the Bombay Presidency. Ambedkar exhorted the public to support the British government in prosecuting the war and encouraged Untouchables to join the Indian Army. In 1941, Ambedkar was appointed to the Defense Advisory Committee and in the following year joined the Viceroy's Executive Council as Labor Member, a post he occupied for the next four years. During the same period he transformed the Independent Labor Party into the All-India Scheduled Caste Federation, founded the People's Education Society, and published a number of highly controversial books and pamphlets including Thoughts on Pakistan, What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables and Who Were the Shudras? Etc.
In 1947, India achieved independence and Ambedkar was elected to the constituent Assembly the previous year itself. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, invited Ambedkar to join the Cabinet as Minister for Law. A few weeks later the Assembly entrusted the task of framing the Constitution to a Draft Committee, and this committee elected Ambedkar as its chairman. For the next two years, he worked on the Draft Constitution, writing it almost single-handedly. Ambedkar completed the Draft Constitution by the beginning of 1948 and later that year he introduced it in the Constituent Assembly and in November of 1949, it was adopted by the Assembly with very few amendments. The constitution written by him laid the foundation for the policy of
272 reservation on the basis of Castes and has thrown to winds down to this day the principle of merit in the recruitment to Public services in India. Now most of the communities of India come under the reservation category to the exclusion of a few caste Hindus. 52% of jobs in Public services and 52% of seats in higher educational institutions are reserved for backward Castes and Scheduled castes on permanent basis! Arjun Singh, a great propagandist of pseudo-secularism and the policy of reservation, enunciated the policy of the congress government that it will further increase the reserved quota for the backward classes to 80% of the total number of positions available with the government. He also moved the government to force the Industries and trade to reserve positions for these classes of people against the wishes of the management of the Industries and Trade. He is a minister of Human Resources and has been a source of problem for the progress of the country by upholding class interest against the national interest. Ambedkar tendered resignation to the Nehru’s Cabinet in 1951 and that marked the end of his political career as well. In the general elections of January 1952 he failed to win a seat in the lower house of India's parliament. Ambedkar continued to participate in the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha until the end of his life. Ever since the 1935 Depressed Classes Conference, he had shocked Hindu India with the declaration that though he had been born a Hindu but he did not intend to die one. Ambedkar had been giving earnest consideration to the question of converting to Buddhism. In 1950 he visited Sri Lanka at the invitation of the Young Men's Buddhist Association at Colombo and appealed to the Untouchables of Sri Lanka to embrace Buddhism. In 1954, Ambedkar twice visited Burma, the second time in order to attend the third conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in Rangoon In 1955, he founded the Bharatiya Buddha Mahasabha or Buddhist Society of India and installed an image of the Buddha in a temple that had been built at Dehu Road, near Pune Addressing the thousands of Untouchables who had assembled for the occasion, he declared that henceforth he would devote himself to the propagation of Buddhism in India. He also announced that he was writing a book explaining the tenets of Buddhism in simple language for the benefit of the common man. Not long afterwards, Ambedkar announced that he would be formally converting in October of that year. On 14 October, 1956, Ambedkar took the Buddhist order in the traditional manner and administered them to the 380,000 men, women, and children who had come to Nagpur in response to his call. He also ordered conversion in Chanda and Nagpur. Then Ambedkar returned to Delhi and traveled to Kathmandu for the fourth conference of the World Fellowship of
273 Buddhists, Ambedkar died on 6 December, 1956. At the time of his death and thereafter more than a million Untouchables had become Buddhists.
4. VISWANATH PRATAP SINGH Vishwanath Pratap Singh was India’s seventh Prime Minister. He was the Prime Minister for a short duration from December 2, 1989 - November 10, 1990. He became Prime Minister following Rajiv Gandhi's defeat in the general election. Expelled from Gandhi's Congress faction in 1989, he formed an anti-Congress coalition, and headed a minority government marked by instability and factionalism. He was forced to resign in 1990. After resigning as Congress cabinet minister under Rajiv Gandhi's government, Singh floated an opposition party Jan Morcha to protest a defense contract. He was elected to Lok Sabha from Allahabad. On 11 October 1988, the birthday of Jayaprakash Narayan, Janata Dal was formed by merger of Jan Morcha, Janata Party, Lok dal and Congress(s). Janatha Dal fought elections in 1989, alongside BJP and the Communist parties. Within a few days of taking office, terrorists kidnapped the daughter of the Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed (Ex Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir). Vishwanath Pratap Singh was born on 25 June 1931. V P Singh was a backward class leader too who accepted the recommendation of the Mandal commission report for increasing the reservation quota. His tenure was marred by students’ protests for allocating a huge chunk of government jobs based on one's caste. V. P. Singh was alienated after his government decided to implement the ideas of Mandal Commission, which favored affirmative action for the lower caste solely based on the caste and not merit. He was ousted when BJP withdrew support to the National Front government after its leader L.K. Advani was arrested during his rath yatra that supported the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. A paragraph in a circular to the presidents of all Pradesh Congress Committees issued by none else than Jawaharlal Nehru, on 26 May 1954? That paragraph said: “In particular, we must fight whole- heartedly against those narrow divisions which have grown up in our country in the name of caste, which weaken the unity, solidarity and progress of the country....” When the British Government sought to give separate electorates to the Scheduled Castes, Gandhi went on a hunger strike that is old history now which ended in the Poona Pact in 1932.
274 Some seven and a half decades later, on 6th September 1990 Rajiv Gandhi made an effort to promote national unity in his speech in parliament criticizing the Mandal Report.26 Addressing the Lok Sabha he said: “If you believe in a casteless society, every major step you take must be such that you move towards a casteless society. And you must avoid taking any step which takes you to a caste-ridden society.” He further said relating to Mandal commission report that “Unfortunately, the step that we are taking today, the manner in which it has been put, is a ‘casteist’ formula. While accepting that is a reality, we must dilute that formula and break that formula by adding something on to it”. Attacking the then Janata Dal Prime Minister V. P. Singh whom he charged with not having the guts to stand up and say whether he believes in a casteless society or not, Rajiv Gandhi said to the parliament. Here are the excerpts of his speech. “This government is creating a vested interest in ‘casteism’ and the country is going to pay a very high price for it”. The Mandal Commission had recommended that Reddys of Andhra, Vakkaligas of Karnataka, Kammas of Andhra, Lingayats of Karnataka, Gounders of M P, and Chettiar of Tamilnadu should be given reservation.27 Are these Backward Castes? Do they need help?” Rajiv Gandhi asked, and shot out: “Does the government subscribe to the Mandal Commission view that political constituencies should be carved out on the caste basis? Are we going back to the Round Table Conference for having separate electorates? That was designed to break our country, Sir”. He suggested that there is time to pull the country back from this caste division....and alleged that the Ministers are provoking caste wars”. He further said that V P Singh’s statement does not command wide acceptance in the country. The Ministers have weakened our national fabric and to add to that, the Central Government and its Ministers, have deliberately provoked the caste confrontation and caste wars....” Rajiv Gandhi said that “an issue like reservation cannot be treated in a piecemeal manner. We must look at the whole picture.” The concept of “Other Backward Castes” has always been a joke.28 Attacking the Mandal Report, Rajiv Gandhi asked “On what basis has the Mandal Commission defined caste? How has the Mandal
26 www.newindpress.com 27 www.newindpress.com 28 M V Kamath writes in his news report.
275 Commission reinterpreted the Constitution and changed Backward Classes to Backward Caste?” Rajiv Gandhi noted that only 28 per cent of the respondents favored caste as the sole criterion and that nearly 70 per cent were in favor of evolving “multiple criteria based on social status, political influences, educational attainments, economic level, employment status, etc.” Rajiv Gandhi reminded the Lok Sabha of an earlier Kakasaheb Kalelkar report which had said that the Upliftment of the Backward Classes are extremely wide-ranging and comprehensive task and covered such diverse fields as extensive land reforms, re-organization of the economy, Bhoodhan Movement, development of livestock, dairy farming, cattle insurance, bee-keeping, piggeries, fisheries, development of rural and cottage industries, rural housing, public health, rural water supply, adult literacy, university education etc. Rajiv Gandhi asked, “Do we want the benefit that the Government is giving to be cornered by the Ministers or the sons of Ministers or the families thereof? Do we want the benefits that are being given by the Government to be cornered by big landlords and people who have a lot of property? Why do we not exclude the people with a certain number of properties from such benefits? Do we want these benefits to go to high senior Government officers who have already got that privilege? The Government is aiming these benefits at a particularly privileged group and not looking at the really poor”, Rajiv Gandhi charged. He went on to say that V P Singh’s policies were not different from that the British policies-divide and rule. “It was the British who tried to divide our country on the basis of caste and religion and today it is V P Singh, sitting over there, trying to divide our country on caste and religion. Sonia and Manmohan must read Rajiv Gandhi’s speech before relenting to the political strategy of V P Singh and Arjun Singh on the policy of reservation.
5. ARJUN SINGH
Arjun Singh, the Human Resources Development Minister under the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh worked out a formula which would totally keep out the merited students from the Institutions of Higher Learning like Indian Institute of Technology and Indian Institute of Management by providing 80 percent of the seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and scheduled tribes, backward classes and other backward classes on the basis of their castes. By extending the reservation quota from time to time the government had reserved 52
276 percent of the seats and employment to these reserved castes by naming it as backward class. Arjan Singh a supporter of Caste based reservation used the opportunity to increase quota of reservation by another 27 percent to the ‘Other backward classes’ virtually eliminating the merited from the sphere of employment and education. Now the whole of India is divided on the basis of caste. He is adding fuel to fire to keep up caste hatred. He wants to give reservation to the Muslims in the Indian armed forces and extend the policy of reservation to Industrial establishments. The hapless citizens are looking on meekly! He has forced peace-loving educated upper class people to resort to strike harming the social fabric of the society. He was accused of corruption in Churhat Lottery case which he escaped because the accusation could not be proved. He kept up his caste based politics by recommending 104th amendment to the constitution providing for 27% reservation for ‘other backward classes’. In 2006 he ruled that 27% quota should be given to OBC in the institutions of higher learning. The government honored him for his contribution with Outstanding Parliamentarian award in 2000 AD. He served previously as Minister at the center and He was also chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for sometime when the Bhopal gas tragedy occurred in 1984 The National knowledge commission opposed his move and two of its members resigned. The students of Medical colleges are deeply disturbed by his move and went on 19 days strike. The terrorists from Pakistan are freely moving into and out of India, and the government is unable to control their movement because there is a great mass of Muslims still that support Pakistan and terrorism. No less a man than the Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab al Zarqawi who was killed in a US air strike in Iraq recently has got certificate that he was a resident of Lucknow in India. UP Chief Secretary has ordered an enquiry into it. Abdul Razak, who has retired from the BSF, has been arrested from Faridabad district of Haryana for his alleged links with the ISI. Razak was arrested on information provided by agents of Pakistan’s intelligence agency who were arrested recently. No other details were available.
277
CHAPTER 20
IMPEDIMENTS IN THE PATH OF INDIA’S PROGRESS
1 The Minority Question
India has a unique past. The Muslim League led by Mohammadali Jinnah was adamant that the areas predominantly inhabited by Muslims should form separate state called Pakistan. Jinnah argued that the Hindus and the Muslims were separate nationalities based on religion, outlook and customs; and they could never be one nation. So the very basis of partition was Religion. The British India was thus divided into India and Pakistan in 1947 on the basis of religion. The Muslims of Pakistan declared Pakistan an Islamic state. Nothing prevented Indians declaring India a Hindu State but the leaders of India declared India a secular state and granted citizenship to the Muslims of India. The loyalty and sympathy of Indian Muslims at that time was with Pakistan because to them blood was thicker than water. A great majority of the Hindus still believe that the minority Muslim community has divided loyalty which has been destabilizing the country. Many Spies, Secret agencies like ISI, terrorists and Mafia Dons sit in Pakistan and issue orders to their henchmen in this country. No less a man than the Head of Pakistan government, Pervez Musharaff has no qualms in acknowledging the fact that he can influence the terrorists and their outfits in India. The attack on Indian parliament, the attack on Akshardham, the attack on the US consulate in Calcutta, the attack on the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore and attack on the people in Hyderabad and Delhi all point out that the minority community has divided loyalty. Several city-based muftis issued a fatwa in Hyderabad asking Muslims not to admit their children in schools where ‘Vande Mataram’ an alternative to the national anthem is sung every morning. They have issued a religious order that the children who are already studying in such institutions must be immediately shifted to other schools. Muftis, including all--India Sunni Ulema Board president Moulana Syed Shah Badruddin Qadri Aljeelani, Moulana Mohammed Hasnuddin, Moulana Mohammed Mastan Ali, Nazima Aziz and Rizwana Zarreen of Jamiat--
278 ul--Mominath, jointly issued the fatwa when some parents approached them seeking a Shariat ruling on Vande Mataram, a patriotic song which is sung in India in schools Several schools in the city start their day with a recital of the national song. “Vande Mataram was written by Bankimchandra Chatterjee. It was to be the national Anthem but just before independence Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru was asked by Journalists in London which one is going to be your national anthem and Indira who had not thought of it off-hand named ‘Jana gana mana’, the present national anthem and Nehru wanted to save the honor of his daughter by making Jana gana mana the national anthem. So it became a national anthem. For the Muslims religion is more important than the state and their allegiance is always to their religion first. Some political parties, unmindful of these facts want minority communities to be employed in the armed forces where the leakage of certain security information is likely to destroy this country. Some political parties are playing with fire to secure minority votes. Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukharjee and Arjun Singh have been attempting to include the Minority community in armed forces in large numbers and they are still in power! If persons of divided loyalty get access to county’s sensitive information that will be dooms-day for India. As long as the minority community in India does not demonstrate their loyalty to the state of India they must be kept out of the armed forces which have access to sensitive information even if it means effecting amendment to the law and the constitution.
2. Issue of Citizenship:
No nation in the world allows a naturalized citizen who is basically of a foreign origin to rise to a position that allows him to decide on the question of war and peace and share the top secrets of the country or to guide the destiny of the nation. In India, The President is a ceremonial head who can advise but cannot wield the destiny of the nation. It is the Prime Minister who is the real executive and it is this office which has to be safeguarded from falling to the hands of a naturalized citizens. There is a lacuna in the constitutional law which has to be filled with immediately by an amendment to the constitution. A political party by selecting a naturalized citizen of foreign origin as its leader cannot force a nation to accept the naturalized citizen as the real head of State. It is not the prerogative of any political party to thrust any naturalized citizen of foreign origin on a nation taking advantage of a loophole in the constitution just because they don’t have an able leader who can
279 bind them together to wield the destiny of the nation. It is not the right of a person or a party that is involved. It is the safety and the security of the nation that is involved. It is destiny of 1.1 billion people that is involved. A few leaders of a party cannot impose their will on the entire population. The person in controversy may be an honest and reliable individual. We may have full confidence in the person but the matter is not a personal one but it concerns a policy, a national policy of great importance. Suppose an agent of Taliban manages to sneak into such a position and a few thoughtless people select him to lead the nation. What will happen to India? We are a country situated in a precarious position geographically as we are surrounded by Muslim countries which have a History of waging 4 wars against India and the enemy is lurking both within and outside India and the mass of people still think in terms of caste rather than the nation and they are politically immature and the leaders are self seeking who can barter away the security of the nation for the sake of votes. If such a country allows a foreign national to rule the country just because he has taken an oath at the time of conferring citizenship is to push the absurdity too far. Most of the constitutions specifically state that the Head of a State or Government must be a natural citizen of the country. This provision is most relevant to any state because the head of the state will have access to much confidential and sensitive information and in the hands of wrong person the country’s freedom and security will be in jeopardy. It is of utmost importance that such information should not reach any foreign hand however reliable that such person is and in spite of him taking oath of secrecy and pledging to safeguard the constitution. It is the responsibility of the whole nation and every citizen to save the country from disaster of allowing a naturalized citizen to have access to sensitive and confidential information. The Constution makers should have specified in the constitution that only a natural citizen is eligible for the august office of the Prime Minister as he is the real chief executive of the nation during his tenure of office. There is a lacuna in the constitution which must be bridged at once by having recourse to the constitutional amendment. It is also the responsibility of the political parties not to sponsor the naturalized citizens to the highest post. In India a situation has arisen where a naturalized citizen has been sponsored to the highest office of the country by a political party taking advantage of the lacuna in the constitution with least regard to the security of the country. Unless this problem is sorted out immediately by resorting to the constitutional amendment the future of this country is threatened. The politicians are not serious on this question; and they have made no attempt to amend the Constitution. The opposition party
280 simply cries foul but suggests no remedy. It reflects the political immaturity of our people and the politicians.
3. Havoc of Parliamentary system in India
The most fundamental pre-requisite for a strong nation is the executive stability. Does India have the requisite executive stability? It is open to debate. We have adopted parliamentary system of government because the elite class during British colonial regime went to England and were fascinated by the working of the British Parliamentary system. That was the time when the political parties in India was in the rudimentary state and had not developed. The Congress was not a political party in the narrow sense of the term; as it was brought into existence to restrain the ruthless behavior of the British administration and later on to fight the British for India’s freedom. Mahatma Gandhi told the Congress when Indian Independence was about to be granted that the purpose of Indian National Congress had been fulfilled and hence the Congress organization must be dissolved. But the Leaders of the party in their greed for power wanted the Congress to transform itself into a political party in free India to reap greater benefits. During the freedom struggle most of the political parties if not all, participated under the leadership of Gandhi but the common man thought only Congress party fought for Independence and voted Congress to rule for 38 years without any interruption. If America and England had two-party democracy, India had the unique distinction of having a single party democracy for 38 years because the only Party that could challenge the Congress was implicated falsely in Gandhi’s murder case and banned for sometime maligning the Party and denigrating it in the eye of the general public and when the ban was lifted it took an undertaking from the Party that it will not be a political party. The only party which could give fight to Congress was RSS, the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh. The assassination of Gandhi by a Volunteer of RSS gave a wonderful opportunity to the Congress to brand RSS as killer of Gandhi and humiliate RSS in the eye of the masses which then believed in whatever the Congress leaders said. Finally the Congress government held the threat of banning RSS if they entered politics and the RSS had to meekly admit that it would not enter politics for its survival and so the Congress had the monopoly of ruling India for the first 38 years. Now there are more than 60 political parties in the country and each party has some strong supporters in certain areas. The Congress is no longer the sole party that would decide India’s destiny but still there is no one single party which is as strong as Congress is because of its
281 historical connections. Nearly scores of political parties find entry into each Lok Sabha and no party gets majority. In such a scenario the politics of coalition has created weak executives who cannot take major decisions. For the last fifteen years all governments that ruled India were coalition governments. The Prime Ministers could not make any major decisions. Each party has been trying to get as much as benefits as possible in the political bickering. Many governments have fallen in short period of time in the game of toppling the government. The government and politicians are engaged in playing the game of politics rather than suitably bringing about the constitutional charges to stabilize the executive. The only way to stabilize the executive in India is to adopt the Presidential form of Government. Alternatively certain qualifications must be prescribed to the political parties contesting to the central legislature. The reginal parties must be barred from the national government and the national parties must be barred from the reginal governments. There should be only two national level political parties at the center to end the coalition politics. The eligible national level parties must secure prescribed number of seats or prescribed percentage of votes to contest elections at the national level or to form a government at the national level The national level political parties must mention in their manifesto their national programs only and any such political party which discriminates between the people or the classes of people directly or indirectly must not allowed to contest election for the central government. Any other viable alternatives may be adopted to bar political parties representing less than twenty percent of the population from fighting election at the national level. Similar procedure may be laid to the reginal parties in matters of elections to the reginal government or legislature. The Presidential democracy appears to be a good alternative because there will be separation of powers between the legislature and the executive and the legislature cannot topple the executive and the President cannot dissolve the parliament; and the parliament cannot overrule the Judiciary by amending the laws at its will and pleasure. Independence of Judiciary must be preserved at all costs. For a country like India with heterogeneous population and multi-party system, the presidential system is better suited. But no one is paying attention to this fact. The existing constitution has outlived its utility and with over
282 a hundred amendments it has ceased to be the original constitution. The constitutional change is imminent.
4. Political Parties and the Members of Parliament
Look at the way the Members of Parliament behave in the Parliament. It is so annoying and disgusting. They don’t deserve to be there but they are there nevertheless. Such an indiscipline you have not seen anywhere in the civilized world. It takes several decades before they learn to behave on the floor of the parliament. They throw furniture at each other, they show fists at each other, and they manhandle each other; and run into the well of the house and disrupt the proceedings of the house. These are the representatives and leaders of the masses! In a democracy both the ruling party and the opposition have a definite role to play. Once the election is over and a particular party comes to power the opposition must help the ruling party in ruling the country efficiently. The ruling party and the opposition parties must sit together and find out what are the issues on which they could agree and what are the issues on which they differ. The opposition has to oppose the government only those issues which they have not agreed upon. They shall give up the practice of criticizing everything that the government does. They cannot criticize whatever the government does irrespective of its merits with a view to misguide the public as otherwise the people get confused and take wrong decisions. The opposition must wait for their turn to occupy the government offices. What they do now in India is that the opposition criticizes whatever the government does as if the government cannot do anything right. Such criticism will bring down the prestige of the opposition parties in the eye of the public. When the Judiciary delivers a decision against the government the latter instead of abiding by the decision alters the law to enforce their decision and tie down the hands of the judiciary. The parliament and the government must learn to respect judiciary and allow it play its role properly.
5. Inept Judiciary
The judicial system is as corrupt and inefficient as the executive and legislature. The judges are influenced and pressurized easily. The selection of judges on the basis of caste has taken great toll in evolving the standardized and rational judicial decisions. The Judiciary is overburdened and there is need for one hundred-fold expansion of the judicial system. The entire judicial system is anachronous and sluggish. The entire judicial system needs to be revamped.
283
6. Lawless Citizens
The people of India do not obey law generally unless they cannot avoid. The officials circumvent the law if they are paid bribe-money. They are habituated to take bribe even to do what they have to do. The people want to have their way irrespective of what the law says by bribing the officials. The government and the people who have come under the colonial rule have no respect for the laws. Indians are politically immature. They are politically immature in spite of many claiming that the voting pattern depicts a high degree of maturity. They are more swayed by emotion than by reason. They lack civic sense completely and they are the most undisciplined people in the world. Law does not mean much to them. They question the wisdom of law and depend more upon their wisdom. They take law into their hands, they interpret the law as they want it and they even administer justice mantling the role of judges. They have great fascination for destroying property and resorting to violence when they are in crowd. They are more curious about the affairs of their neighbors than they are towards their own affairs. They interfere in other’s affairs too often; they try to encroach upon other’s property and cannot be trusted in matters of money and property. Regarding the Indian politicians the less said the better it is. Don’t make the mistake of watching them on T V Channels when they are ‘in action’ in Parliament or else I am afraid that you will not find a proper word to label them! In fact the people display ‘primitive’ characteristics in many respects. In India most of the middle class people are law abiding. If they improve upon civility, discipline and rule of law, they could be angels walking on earth! India is chaotic. If you are a traveler coming to India from America or Europe you will be amazed to see a world you have not seen before. It is a world, which is really a ‘free world’ in the sense; there is no law, order or discipline. You will find cab drivers dishonest, officials corrupt, and the traffic, unregulated. You will wonder if democracy means this kind of freedom. You will be amazed to see the vehicles jostle past one another at dangerous speed and the traffic rules, flouted with impunity. The pedestrians cross the road at will and the drivers make no attempt to apply brakes to their vehicles on seeing the pedestrians crossing the road as the hapless cop looks on helplessly. When you get out of the cab you will be surrounded by beggars asking for money. The tricksters try to mislead you and exploit your situation. You will be accosted by the undesirable elements who would want to grab some money from you by hook or crook. By the time you enter the
284 hotel you will be damn disgusted with the country and its people. You will think that you made a wrong choice and would want to get back to his country of origin as early as possible. But you need to be patient because the appearance is always deceptive and the real India is very different from what you see at the airport.
7. The Policy of reservation
The Brahmins who were the Advisors to the Kings in ancient India and who played a great role as political leaders during the freedom struggle were pushed out of the political arena and their places were occupied by the self-seeking unscrupulous politicians when India became Independent The backward class leaders monopolized all walks of life making it very difficult for the Brahmins to get good education and employment. They adopted the policy of reservation in the educational Institutions and in public employment to keep Brahmins out rather than helping other sections to advance. In the name of social justice and Upliftment of the down-trodden, the backward class leaders attempted to oppress the Brahmins as a community and annihilate them from the public life. Their contribution to Indian Independence was totally hidden from the younger generations by not highlighting their contribution to Indian Independence. They led the country for centuries for the good of the country but they have been maligned by the very persons who used them to come up in life. As late as 1947 the Brahmins led the political movement and when India became independent to wrest the political power from the Brahmins the non- brahmin leaders portrayed them as loathsome creatures who had ill- treated them and every attempt since then is being made to erase their contribution to the cause of the country and to keep them out of mainstream politics. Today the Brahmins have become aliens in their own country and are being treated as second grade citizens. The present day leaders are breeding ill-will and hatred in the minds of the people towards the Brahmins with a view to gain advantage for their own people by wresting any advantage the Brahmins may still have. The greatest injustice has been done to the statecraft and to the intelligent people in the society by reserving up to 80 percent of the positions in state employment and in matters of admission to the educational institutions to certain castes. Our Constitution was drafted single-handedly by Bhimarao Ambedkar who was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee and other members were silent spectators. Everyone was afraid of him at that point of time because he had incited
285 his caste people to giving up Hinduism and even the people like Gandhi and Nehru were alarmed by his perilous path and gave him the free hand to draft the constitution. He introduced the policy of reservation. Once that was adopted the Backward Classes and the Scheduled caste people thanked him as they put them in a privileged position; and they wanted to perpetuate the wrong policy not for the sake of the nation but for the sake of a section of people who vote en mass. The principle of merit is given a go by and recruitment is made on the basis of castes. The quality of education and government efficiency has come down due to this policy of reservation. Indian society is infested with caste system; and caste hatred is so rampant that the people have forgotten patriotism and unity. They have become self-seeking narrow-minded masses. The government instead of putting an end to this system glorifies this system by bringing more and more castes under reservation. It has entangled itself so much with this wrong policy that it can never come out of it until the constitution itself is replaced. The protagonists of this policy add fuel to fire by increasing the percentage of reservation from time to time until the- none-too-backward classes (the so called forward classes who are more backward than the backward classes economically) are completely burnt out. Can you think of a democracy with Government positions reserved to certain classes of people to a level of 80%! It serves only one purpose that is to keep the so called forward class people out of government service. That is what the government and the majority of backward class people want. It is an annihilation of a section of the population without securing any benefit to any class of people. Agitating city doctors from Indore, protesting the Center's move to implement 27 per cent quota for OBC in institutions of higher learning, have decided to return their gold medals to President A P J Abdul Kalam. Altogether 128 doctors of Indore, who were awarded gold medals for their excellence in various subjects during their studies, have decided to return their medals to the President in protest against reservation, Madhya Pradesh Junior Doctors Association (JDA) General Secretary Dr Anand Rai said. He said he had "requested an appointment" with the President, adding that the medicos were returning the medals because the doctors felt they were of no use to them under the quota regime. Meanwhile, striking medicos polished shoes at the Regal Square in protest even as their relay hunger strike on the issue entered 10th day. In an attempt to gain electoral advantage the political parties go out of way to please the minorities and in the process they threaten the
286 security of state. If all parties together enter into an understanding not to make unnecessary concessions to the minorities just for the sake of votes and fight elections on the basis of national priorities, this problem can be easily solved. All that the political parties need to do is to evolve a national policy on minorities acceptable to all parties. No attempt has been made on building the national policies on any matter so far. Here are excerpts taken from an interview with the great social scientist, Ramachandran “It was Babasaheb Ambedkar who brought in the idea of reservations. He kept himself away from the Congress and worked on his own. In 1919, he appeared before the South Burroughs committee and made a series of remarks. He spoke of how divided Indian society was and what could happen if oppressed groups were left out. He was the first leader who spoke in favor of reservations When the Simon Commission came to India in 1928, it was boycotted by the Congress but the oppressed classes took it as an opportunity to present their case. They thought the Congress rule would be Brahmin rule, and it would be worse than the British rule. They made several demands such as, if India were to have a Constitution, there should be constitutional safeguards for the oppressed. And, that included reservations in public services. Ambedkar even specified the percentage. The original idea was to continue this reservation for just ten years. They thought things would change in that period. Reservation which was meant for just ten years has been going on for nearly 60 years. The first commission to study reservation policy was appointed in 1953. The Chairman himself was against reservation. Its recommendation was not implemented. The Central government asked the states to implement reservation as they wanted. The Southern states ruled that all communities other than the Brahmins were backward and reserved jobs and seats in educational institutions accordingly. Tamil Nadu accorded 88% reservation and Karnataka gave even more percentage of reservation. In each group, there is a creamy layer and they grab the opportunities. There were only pro-reservation agitations in the south throughout. Nehru was not interested in granting reservations to OBC. He was also against caste-based reservations while Ambedkar was for it; but Ambedkar also wanted to discontinue it after ten years. The fact is the Dalits have not gained much from reservations particularly because politicians are using the OBC category as a vote
287 bank. The Dalits are also a vote bank but they are small compared to the OBC. Students do feel that politicians are trying to divide them. Today's politicians use reservations for garnering votes. So, there is a lot of anger in the student community. As far as reservations are concerned, the government should have made an assessment of reservations in the last six decades. Then, if necessary, they should have come up with a better alternative. Now, the issue is in safe hands because the Supreme Court has intervened. My feeling is that there will be a parallel exercise on matters relating to admission to educational Institutions also. Now, we have that exercise only for job reservation. Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh's move to bring about an amendment is a great education muddle because there was a great opportunity for the government to reform the education system using directives of the Supreme Court. No educational system in a large country like India can survive and improve without public- private partnership. What will happen if the government extends reservations to private educational institutions? They will go before the Supreme Court and get the legislation stayed. If the Supreme Court does not stay the legislation, they will pull down shutters, saying enough is enough. Students are bound to lose both ways, so also the State. It is in that context that Ramachandran called the situation the great education muddle.”29
8. Reorganization of Indian states on language basis
The government of India did the greatest blunder by creating States on the basis of language. Each state has a language of its own and the people speaking different languages think that those who do not speak their language are different. They have now forgotten that all are Indians. India stands divided because of the formation of the linguistic states. The people who speak the state language want to corner all privileges to them and they want to destabilize the people who speak other
29 Prof P Radhakrishnan of the Madras Institute of Development Studies is a well-known social scientist. He spoke to Shobha Worrier of Rediff.com in an Interview dt.June13, 2006
288 languages. They would not allow the people speaking different language to settle on their soil. They want all official communication to be in the state language. There is a strong reginal feeling not conducive for the integration of the country. In addition to this there is south-north divide in India. If a south Indian goes to the North he finds himself in a foreign country. If a north Indian goes to south he finds himself in an alien land. There is so much of bias and prejudice between the people of north and south that we really wonder if India would remain united. There is growing ill-will between the people of different regions, states and castes. India is totally divided except for the common interest of safeguarding the nation itself. India will never be united on permanent basis unless the people rise above these bias and prejudices. The common man in India is even to this day carried away by these considerations at every step in life; and nationalism to him is an abstract entity. A new band of political activists who teach the people these values should come to power if India is to change.
9. Political interference in administration
The self-seeking politicians in India do not know the role they have to play. Once they occupy the seat in the state or central legislature they think that they have right to meddle in matters of administration and by using or abusing their power, they pressurize the officials to take decisions according to their dictates. They do not know that the job of a legislator is to legislate. Fearing the backlash the officials submit to their pressure and do injustice to the people. By getting the work done to their clientele the politicians extract huge some of money from the beneficiary and grow rich. Many legislators have empires of their own sufficient to cause injury to any person who disobeys them. In short they have private army of men who put down the opponent. They run parallel economy. In India the politicians put together have more (ill- gotten) money than the government Exchequer itself.
10. Trade Unionism
On the economic front, some elements calling themselves socialists or communists are causing great damage to the interests of the workers and the government. They misguide the workers to go on strike now and then and bring the economy to standstill. They force the sick units to run for the sake of the workers while they force the profit making units to close down on the pretext of helping the workers to get better
289 working conditions and the misguided workers go without job. They are killing the hen laying the golden eggs and bringing misery to workers and to the country as a whole. Communism has vanished from Russia and China but it is cherished by some Indians in their dreams, causing untold hardship to the entire India. Communism is an anathema to national progress. There is an urgent need to ban trade-union activities in India by taking away the right to strike work and right to procession on the public roads causing public nuisance and right to assembly in public places.
11. Sonogram and Foeticide
On the social front there is need to take up on war footing the question of Foeticide or aborting the female child in the womb because of social malpractices like the dowry system and wrong notions regarding the female child. A female child is looked upon as a bane and a male child is looked upon as a boon in India. No other notion is more mistaken than this. A female child can be as useful as or more useful than the male child if she is given proper education and made to stand on her own legs. The less educated child whether male or female could be a burden to the parents in several ways. The government has to come out with greater and stringent measures to ban dowry in ever form, cash or kind, and society must provide female child as much opportunities as they provide for male child. The government has to establish agencies to see that the people celebrate marriage with least expense. It of course, needs change in heart and outlook among the people of India and it is hard to come about.
12. Hymenoplasty
The Tamil actress Khusbu was pulled up and taken to the court for making a statement that the youth should not expect their brides to be virgins, on the ground that it offended the sentiments of the people. All she said was that the younger generation should give up expecting their bride to be a virgin. Scores of surveys have been conducted on the virginity of the unmarried girls in India and all surveys confirm that more than half of the unmarried have had premarital sex. If you are not convinced, read this report. “More and more women are queuing up for the surgical procedure that will restore their hymens (the thin diaphragm in the vagina which will break up after the first sexual act) and keep their virtue intact in the eyes of their future in-laws and husbands. Hymenoplasty is a process of
290 restoring the diaphragm in the vagina to create an impression in the mind of the husband and his parents that the bride was a virgin. Hymenoplasty had clandestinely begun eight years ago in this city. Of late, however, such surgeries are on the rise. Young girls turn up with the sole intention of "keeping their future in- laws under the illusion that they are virgins", said a cosmetic surgeon. "Two out of the seven girls who came for Hymenoplasty to me said they were sex workers who wanted to get married. One of them didn't want her in-laws to know that she was not a virgin. "The other didn't want her future husband to find out that she had had a premarital affair," the surgeon said. "They had to pay just Rs 20,000 for the restoration of the hymen," he added. He described it as a simple surgery that was not too painful for patients. "I operated the first patient eight years ago, but five patients came during the last couple of years," he said. Another Plastic surgeon said that people were very inquisitive about the surgery although only two patients actually came to him for Hymenoplasty. Astonishingly, it is not just young women getting married who are going in for the procedure. A middle-aged woman from abroad approached Parikh for the surgery because she wanted to gift the regained virginity to her husband on their 20th wedding anniversary. "I get queries from Indians in the US and Britain. If the practice becomes a trend, we will strike gold," Parikh said. "Moreover, the surgery is much cheaper in India. Also, we have five- star hospitals in the city that are economical compared to any of India's metro city hospitals." While the surgeons look at the business aspect, there are many who alarmed at what it portends. Sociologist Gaurang Jani, for instance, holds medical professionals responsible for "not educating people" in order to profit monetarily from such a gender-biased operation. "Instead of educating society by spreading information about sex, doctors are making money out of such backward mindsets. "If Hymenoplasty becomes a trend, it will provide our patriarchal set- up with a more conducive environment to retain old mindsets. Only the doctors will prosper." Jani, however, put aside the question on the future of Hymenoplasty by saying, "This is a transitory phase. After a couple of decades, if a boy claims that he has married a virgin, people will laugh at him." Whether it is a scientific triumph or a regressive procedure, it further compromises the position of women in conservative India. Either way, surgeons in India are set to cash in on
291 the demand for Hymenoplasty, the term for medical restoration of a woman's technical virginity, writes the Reporter.
13. Over-population
In India, every second, 4.1 children are born, he says. United Nations Report titled “World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision Population Database” by 2030, India’s population would have surpassed that of China. Panabaka Lakshmi, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare brought this matter to the notice of the parliament recently. Various steps have been taken to stabilize the population of the country. These include adoption of National Population Policy (NPP), constitution of the National Commission on Population, registration of The National Population Stabilization Fund and constitution of an Empowered Action Group (EAG) for focused attention on 8 demographically weaker States. The Reproductive and Child Health Programme (RCH-II) was launched by Government in April, 2005 for provision of reproductive, maternal, child health and contraceptive services to the people. The Government has also launched the National Rural Health Mission to provide for comprehensive integrated primary healthcare services throughout the country which seeks to stabilize the population growth in the country. According to another study, "Population explosion is one of the most threatening issues facing contemporary India. The population is growing at the rate of about 17 million annually which means a staggering 45, 000 births per day and 31 births per minutes. If the current trend continues, by the year 2050, India would have 1.6 billions.” India has four major communities, namely the Hindus who form 80.5% of India’s population, the Muslims who constitute 13.4 percent, the Christians who are 24 million in number and the Sikhs who are 19 millions in number. While the Hindu population is coming down due to practice of birth control, the Muslim population is increasing at an alarming rate and this has been causing discomfort to the Hindus because they fear one day they become a minority in their own country. All communities, the Hindus, the Muslims, the Christians and the Sikhs are living in great harmony but sporadic skirmishes take place rarely in certain areas due to lack of religious tolerance among certain people. The Hindus still fear that the Muslims of India still have more affinity to the people of Pakistan than to the Indian Nation. The increase in Muslim terrorist activities in India especially in Kashmir and acknowledgement by no less a person than President of Pakistan that he
292 has influence over the terrorists in India and failure of the Muslims to condemn the terrorist activities and distribution of Osama’s pictures and literature in Muslim areas, all point to the Hindu suspicion that the Muslims’ sympathy are more to Pakistan than to India. The population is so heterogeneous and the political leadership is so narrow-minded that many political and other issues are decided on the basis of narrow political considerations rather than on the basis of national interests. The Hindus themselves are divided on the basis of castes; and the Scheduled castes are up against the caste Hindus. The people are guided more by parochial interests, caste interests, local interests and self interests rather by the national interests. It has been playing a spoil sports in the path of progress, amity and unity. Still when it comes to integrity of the country they are second to none in safeguarding their territorial Integrity and sovereignty. There is no doubt that despite all the weaknesses, the people have there is no threat to the national integrity.
14. India is not free from lurking criminals.
India is a country of contrast where a few criminals do not hesitate to rob, rape or murder, but the vast majority of people are courteous and show remarkable level of courtesy and hospitality. The main problem for a tourist in India is to identify the good people and the bad. The tourists will have to be careful in big cities especially when they are wondering in desolate and lonely places, or when they are carrying luggage or when they are at the airports or Railway Stations or Bus Stations. Those are the places the criminals will be lurking around. To find out 0.1 percent criminals from 99.90 percent is really a tough task. If you are a foreigner to that country, it is not safe to move alone or in the lonely places where the criminals are likely to target you. It is always safe to take a guide with you or move in groups. It is very common in India that the people move in groups. If you are not careful you will end up your tour without money and travel documents.
15. A victim of terrorism The world has changed today and we see a band of terrorists trained to destroy the modern civilization in the name of religion. Terrorism has spread to different parts of the world and the worst sufferers are Indians being the neighbors of a country which has been a training-ground for the terrorists. Pakistan managed to get help from America on the pretext of waging war against communism but used the arms and ammunitions supplied by America for waging war
293 against India. Pakistan has fought four wars against India and used the weapons supplied by America to Pakistan against India. Having failed to win an outright war, Pakistan has unleashed faceless enemies to wage a dastardly attack on the innocent people for the last twelve years. Pakistan is proud that it has influence over the terrorists who have killed 40,000 or more people in the last 17 years of terror. The blood- thirsty terrorists are continuing the orgy of violence and threatening to engulf the entire world. This phenomenal bloodshed will end only when the people realize the futility of fighting wars or causing violence in the name of religion.
16. Hero-worship The Indians are in the habit of worshipping the Heroes may it be a famous politician like Mahatma Gandhi or a film actor like Raj Kumar or M G Ramachandran or N T Rama Rao. They were about to worship Mahatma Gandhi as God. Nehru became a hero after Gandhi. Later on Indira became a heroine because she was the daughter of Nehru. Rajiv was a hero because he was son of Indira Gandhi and now Sonia is a great heroine in India because she is the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are the hero and heroine in the making because they are children of Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi. Even film stars were great Heroes in India. N T Rama Rao of Telugu films, M G Ramachandran of Tamil film and Raj Kumar of Kannada films were worshipped by some fanatics. The Great artists like them need to be respected for their talents but they should not regarded as superhuman. If the hero falls from their grace he will be humbled and humiliated. He will suffer the fate of Stalin in the era of Nikita Khrushchev, the ‘destalinization.’ 17. Self appointed social activists Many people become self appointed leaders who start guiding or misguiding masses. They make out a social cause out of some government policy and incite the affected people to revolt against the lawfully established government and its laws. They organize rallies, strikes and lock-outs, processions and agitations for self glorification unmindful of the damage they cause to the society. Construct a dam across a river. It will affect a few hundred people. Let the government do any task it will affect some and the particular interests of the few will suffer for the sake of larger interest. The government does not provide compensation quickly and satisfactorily and self appointed activists start misguiding the affected people and creating trouble in the path of progress. The government must deal firmly with the law violators, trouble makers and the like. 18. Hypocrisy has come to be deep-rooted in Indian society in the garb of culture and refinement. We have something in mind which we think
294 is right and we are afraid if we say that it is right we will be branded immoral and unsocial. For example, in India a number of surveys have been conducted regarding the virginity of the unmarried girls and the researches have found out that a large chunk of boys and girls have premarital sex. When a film star recently stated that the boys should give up the idea of expecting their brides to be virgin, so much offensive was launched against her that she was taken to the court and the court registered a case against her! So many politicians are morally depraved but they pose as Gods living on earth. Every individual is guilty of such obsessions and hypocrisies. Indians have no guts to accept the truth and they want to live in a world of fantasy. 19. Superstitions Nowhere in the world we have people more superstitious than we have in India. Here are some horrible superstitions, for example; A widow should not partake or participate in rites and rituals. She should not appear in public on auspicious occasions. If a lizard falls on the left side of the body it is ominous and if it falls on the right side of the body it is good omen. Seeing a funeral procession on the road is ominous Early morning dreams are likely to come true. Tuesdays are not auspicious If a Dog is howling at night before your house it is ominous to you. Such hundreds of thousands of baseless and irrational thinking is a part of life for Indians. Such superstitions run to hundreds of thousands in number. The people should strive to make their thinking rational.
20. No rule of law in India
Indian constitution has enshrined rule of law but it remains only on paper. There are too few courts and too many cases. The cost of hiring lawyers is prohibitive for a common man. The courts are too tardy and the judges are too tainted to administer justice. India is divided into different classes of people and the Judges too. There are very few judges who can deliver judgement without bias and prejudices. The police stations are dens of corruption and the people want to remain hidden from the police as much as they want to hide themselves from the criminals. The police pursue cases they want to pursue and not the cases an individual wants them to pursue or investigate. The rich people are generally above law unless someone vows to wreak vengeance against them. The poor are in practice exempted from most of the laws. The laws in India are applicable only to the bulk of the
295 middle class who cannot afford to bribe the police or the judge. Even they are exempted if they are close to the corridors of power. The people who enjoy the patronage of politicians and the politicians themselves know no law. They cannot be bound by any law unless the stronger force attempts to bind the weaker force.
21. Class war
There is a class war going on in India. The backward classes, the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes are on to monopolize the public offices, educational institutions; and avariciously garnering all benefits and privileges by marginalizing the upper castes on the pretext that at some stage in History the upper classes did not treat them well. They being in majority are making life difficult for the upper classes. On the economic front, the workers and the trade unionists are on to destroy the economic fabrics of the country by resorting to strikes, misguided by their leaders. The leaders are hell bound on closing down the running profitable establishments by demanding all sorts of benefits for the workers who do not realize that their job security and prosperity depends on the stability of the establishment where they work. The communist countries like China and Russia are silently bidding farewell to communism but the communists of India are zealous about establishing the workers government and they recommend all sorts of retrograde steps in the processes of economic, social and political change. In short the people of India have numerous problems due to historical events, social causes and political lunacy. The people must develop analytical mind and think rationally to overcome the narrow- mindedness that has engulfed them and broaden their horizon. With the growth of knowledge we must also develop better ideas, outlook and attitude congenial for around development. India is a heterogeneous society. There is not much common between people living in different parts of India. A man from Madras belongs to an ethnic group and speaks a language of his own which is totally different from that of a man in the neighboring state of Karnataka. A man from Kerala has nothing in common with a Sikh from Punjab. The people of each caste or group are different from another caste or group in many respects. There is unhealthy competition and jealousy between people of different castes which make people feel different. In India there is at present complete national unity but in the social life and thinking there is complete disunity. India boasts of unity in diversity which is a figment of imagination. The people of India have a very long
296 way to go in building a homogeneous society. They have to rise above the level of the caste and then above the level of language, and then above the level of narrow parochial outlook and then people should develop unity of mind in addition to the unity of purpose. It takes more than a hundred years to reach that stage of maturity. 22. Prostitution is one of the oldest professions in India and perhaps it is as old as the existence of the society. A nation wide study conducted for the Department of women and child welfare says that there are four millions prostitutes in India and it may swell to 10 millions. The number could be much higher as there is no means of actually measuring this number. Most of these are from poor class and they do not maintain good standard of hygiene resulting in the spread of HIV and other related diseases. They also give rise to destitute women and street children who could grow into criminals or pimps. What is more distressing is the fact that most of them are pushed into the trade by their family members or people known to them. The Study is based on a survey of bout 9500 prostitutes from all states and union territories. The number of child prostitutes is on the rise avers K K Mukharjee who conducted the study with Sutapa Mukharjee. As the sun sets in Bharatpur where the renowned bird sanctuary exists the child prostitutes aged 10 to 15 blink torch lights standing on the roadside along with their family members who fix the 'price' for them, signaling for child prostitution. The customers are mainly the truck drivers. The rate is Rs 50 for half an hour. They take the girls to their trucks or thatched huts a few hundred meters away from the road. Many of the child sex workers contract sexually transmitted diseases. But that hardly deters their families. The better looking girls are sent to red light areas in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and other cities. They earn good money there and send it back to the families"30 IAN’s correspondent. These girls belong mainly to the Bedia community which is spread over dozens of villages in Bharatpur says K.K. Mukherjee, who is associated with the Gram Niyojan Kendra (GNK), an NGO working in the area. GNK has opened a school where 70 children of Bedia prostitutes from surrounding villages come to study and 22 of them, mostly girls, stay in a hostel within the school premises in Roopvas village, about 25 km from Ghatoli. The Bedia community was traditionally known for its singing and dancing skills but gradually took up prostitution as its main occupation. It falls under the Scheduled Caste category.
30 IAN’s correspondent DT. June 2, 2006
297 Despite reservation for the Scheduled Castes no one from our community in this village has a government job," says 58-year-old Bhagwan Das, a resident of Ghatoli. While the daughters are instituted for prostitution, the daughters in laws are not. As soon as they are 10 years old, the girls are sent to the relatives already working in the red light areas. Fathers and brothers visit the girls at regular intervals in the cities to collect the earnings. Some families have even built multi-storied houses with such money. If a female child is born out of wedlock to a Bedia prostitute, families bring the baby back to the village for it means an additional 'earning member' for the family in another 10 or 12 years. In my opinion this is not a lone incident of Bharatpur. Almost in every city the poor families are pushing the womenfolk and children to prostitution.
23. Religious conversion by the Christian missionaries has become a menace to the Hindus who see the decline in the Hindu population. As soon as the Europeans set their foot on the Indian soil, the European missionaries started opening their missions in India and converting the Hindu population into Christianity. They ostensibly came to India with the object of launching welfare programs like opening schools and hospitals but they clandestinely but vigorously started converting people to Christianity. The Caste Hindus could not easily be converted but the untouchables who were kept out of the Hindu society became easy prey. They told the weaker sections of the community that they would get free education and many material benefits if they convert themselves to Christianity and allured them to embrace Christianity. They have been able to convert 3% of the Hindu population to Christianity in a span of 100 years. By now millions of people of India would have become Christians if the British had ruled India till now. When India became independent the missionaries lost their backbone and they had to confine themselves to allurements which were greatly counteracted by the government’s move to give lots of privileges to the weaker sections if they remained Hindus. But the missionaries are receiving so much of funds from the western countries that they are still promising education and material help if they convert to Christianity and they have been doing conversions successfully. The Hindu organizations are demanding stopping conversions by allurements but the missionaries are not heeding to their cries. The government is mum on the issue for fear of losing votes. Pope Benedict XVI commented while receiving India's new envoy Amitava Tripathi that there was "disturbing signs of religious
298 intolerance" in India and "reprehensible attempt" to enact "discriminatory" laws against "fundamental right of religious freedom". The Pope said "the disturbing signs of religious intolerance which have troubled some regions in the nation (India), including the reprehensible attempt to legislate clearly discriminatory restrictions on the fundamental right of religious freedom, must be firmly rejected". The Hindu organizations replied that the Pope's remarks were not relevant and exposed his "ignorance" about traditions and laws in this country. They reiterated that "There is much more freedom here than in many countries. Freedom of religion does not mean conversions by coercion and allurements," BJP Spokesman Prakash Javadekar told reporters here. Javadekar said the state Assemblies had the power to enact such legislations. "Such laws are not against conversion by conviction but if people convert en masse, motives have to be there." And slammed pope’s remarks as "gross interference in the domestic affairs of India", RSS National Executive Member Ram Madhav alleged that "missionaries in India have converted their religion into a commodity and are indulging in its shameless marketing". VHP leader Ashok Singhal objected to Pope's "interference" in India's religious matters and charged the Pope with "insulting" the Supreme Court saying it has held that nobody had a right to convert. The government also took exception to the Pope's comments and reminded him that it was "acknowledged universally" that India is secular and all religious faiths enjoy equal rights.
24. CORRUPTION Corruption is rampant in India. The politicians are corrupt; the bureaucracy is equally corrupt; the Judiciary is corrupt; and the armed forces are also corrupt. Corruption is so deep rooted in India that the entire system needs to be revamped. The law enforcement is weak in the country because there is nexus between the politicians and the bureaucrats. The army men sell the nation for the sake of enriching themselves. The politicians do not hesitate to barter away the security of the nation for their personal gains. The people are forced to become corrupt.
SOLUTION TO INDIA’S PROBLEMS
Every problem has a solution and if the politicians have kept the problems alive it is not because the problems have no solutions but
299 because the politicians have turned deaf to these problems or they don’t have the intellectual caliber to deal with these problems. The politicians, the academicians, the bureaucrats, the intelligentsia and the group leaders both secular and religious, must have a common goal to make India a great country. India may rise economically but it will not be a great place to live in. We need to solve scores of problems before making India a great country in every respect. All individuals, institutions and organizations must pledge to work on the following principles to solve the country’s problems. All decisions must be taken in the larger interest of the nation. National interest must precede all other narrow interests such as individual interest, group interests, economic interests, class interests, caste interests, religious interests, social interests, linguistic interests, parochial interests and party interests. Everyone must commit oneself to work for national unity, public peace and economic progress. The Hindus should underplay the caste factors and stop mentioning their castes or using their caste based surnames. Intercaste marriages should be accepted by the society. The government should stop playing caste politics and amend the constitution to remove discrimination in the name of caste. There shall be no discrimination also on the basis of sex or age. The government should not make any attempt collect any information on the basis of caste or religion. It is a personal matter in which state shall not interfere. However the state may open special institutions for the benefit of the poor and give special attention to their special coaching. The state may provide for scholarship and financial aid to the needy students. The workers must do everything to improve the organization of which they are a part. They should not organize rallies or strikes against their employers. The trade unionism should be abolished or given up as anachronous. The State belongs to everyone. It is not the property of either the workers or the Industrialists. The people must give up fancying for the workers’ or farmers’ or bourgeois or elite government. State is an institution of all citizens without being biased towards any class of people. Shun Class war preached by the leftists and help industrial progress. The workers interest lies in the prosperity of the rich industrialists. The workers and owners are partners in progress and they are not opponents. Anyone who teaches a worker to rise against the employer is the worker’s worst enemy. Marxism has no relevance to the present day society. The people must attain the higher degree of civilization by becoming more refined and decent. At present the common man is still boorish
300 and nasty and he does not know that he is boorish and nasty. The bureaucrats and the politicians are more boorish and nastier and so India has no chance of improvement socially in the reasonable period of time. The people should stop assembling in public places such as roads or parks as it would cause embarrassment to the general public and such assemblage has often led to public nuisance and chaos. Strikes, processions, shouting slogans resorting to destroying public property, assault, mayhem, Satyagraha are all now outdated techniques and should never be resorted to in the new era of improved communication and telecommunication. You have to adopt more sophisticated methods techniques to register your protests. The leaders must grow up and lead people in matters of decency and morality. They should learn to behave in parliament and in public. They must practice discipline and give up faith in show of brutal force. All political parties must join together to form a coordinating panel in which they have to sort out the issues and such issues on which they agree should be notified for the information of the general public and they should not be raised or discussed in the parliament wasting everybody’s time. On matters of disagreement the political parties must make their stand clear. That should be the basis for fighting the next election. The opposition parties should not think of destabilizing a lawfully established government during its term of office. They should wait for next election. The government should be stable. To ensure executive stability India should switch to the presidential form of government. The President should have the powers of the prime minister. The President should be the powerful executive who is elected by the people directly or indirectly by an electoral college. There should be clear separation of powers and parliamentary supremacy must be dispensed with in the interest of the nation. A majority party in parliament should not have powers to change the structure or the purpose of the constitution unilaterally. The supremacy of the constitution should be upheld. The constitution should be framed to merge the position of the president and the prime minister and to usher in the Presidential form of government. There should be equality before law. They should learn to obey law. There should be no attempt to evade or defeat the purpose of law. The people should respect the laws and help the government in the enforcement of law. The people should maintain high degree of discipline in public places and on public roads, and behave in an orderly manner. It applies to following driving instructions on the public roads. You cannot overtake a man in front if he is going at regular speed. You cannot whisk your
301 vehicle to the front line in a traffic light signal overtaking the standing vehicles. Learn to respect other’s right as much as you wish to impose your rights. On the question of minority, all parties should evolve together a national policy and adhere to it whether they win election or lose election. They should not resort to giving undue attention or privileges to the minorities at the time of election just to garner electoral votes. The entire nation must be involved in this process either by referendum or taking decisions on the basis of advices tendered by wise men. The politicians who crave for people’s vote are not always ‘wise men’ in this context. The people should think India is one and no one is above the other. They should vote to bring the best government to power irrespective of the caste, color, race, language or sex of the candidates. Take maximum care to defeat the self-seeking politicians and if they win, see that they don’t derive any advantage of their position. This can be done by cleansing the Police and the Bureaucracy. The bureaucrats must not succumb to the pressure of the politicians. The politicians are not supposed to meddle in administrative matters and when they do, they are transgressing their sphere of activity. The greatest bane of Indian administration is the deep rooted bribery. The eradication of corruption is essential for strengthen administration. The policies and programs, the methods and procedure should be so rationalized that there should be little room for corruption and no scope for official intimidation which the officials resort towards the public to pay gratis before any paper moves in the government department. Voicing concern over prevalent corruption in India, Tata Group Chairman, Ratan Tata has said that his group would not submit itself to this menace. "Corruption is rife," he told The Times in an interview adding, "We will not submit ourselves to corruption." India is divided today on the ground of caste. There are innumerable castes in India and the government has classified them as ‘backward’ and ‘more backward’, ‘other backward’, ‘scheduled castes’ and ‘scheduled tribes’; and the government has reserved 80% of the total number of seats in the educational institutions to these people. Of the other 20%, 33% is reserved for women. Ninety percent of the merited have to compete for 13% seats. This is the real sad story of India. Already more than 80% of the seats have been garnered by the reserved categories of people. The general merit finds hardly any place in the educational institutions. If they find any merit student from the general category they set against him a merited student of backward class and would not let people in the general category to get seat. There is a lot of
302 manipulation going on in the educational institutions to keep the merited students out. They have been adapting the same strategy to keep the general category students out of the educational institutions. In fact have you seen 80% reservation elsewhere in a secular state which is committed to Democracy? The Government of India is not satisfied with 80% reservation. They want the policy of reservation to be extended to Industry and business. A few people belonging to specific castes cannot be discriminated against by the government on the pretext of providing protection to backward Classes. It is a tirade against 10 percent of the Indian population called Caste Hindus. It is a strategy to keep these 10% of the people who belong to Brahmins, Vaishyas and Khyatriyas out of economic and political life and to indirectly take away all opportunities for advancement from them and to impoverish them. The move is not to help backward classes but to prevent the upper caste people from living peacefully and making progress. This is nothing but caste war. Most of the ministers, bureaucrats, professionals and others who have usurped the government powers in the garb of backward classes and they want to perpetuate the poverty and misery of the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. This is what is happening in the Hindu India. They have been humbled and humiliated by keeping them out of government. The so called upper classes a name given by the government to its victims are facing extinction and annihilation in India and they are seeking protection in the foreign countries. For the first time the so called upper classes have come out in large number to oppose the government policy of reservation and the government is not bothered about them. The Constitution says that there shall be no discrimination only on the basis of sex, caste, language or religion. By an amendment to this article, the article now says that nothing shall prevent the government from making laws giving reservation to backward classes in employment and admission to educational institutions and vests the power with the government to classify population on the basis of castes reclassifying them as ‘class’ at its whims and fancies, perpetuating privileges to certain sections of society as against the others. A 24-year-old youth from Bholanathnagar, in Shahdara, doused his own body with kerosene and set himself on fire at the Delhi Aao, Delhi Bachao anti-reservation rally at the Ramlila Ground here on May 27, 2006. Medical students decided to continue their two-week-old agitation against the government’s decision to reserve seats for OBC in elite educational institutions. Thousands of doctors, students and professionals participating in the massive rally reiterated their demand that the number of seats in the general category be increased. They said there has been no assurance that the number of
303 general category seats would not decrease with the implementation of the reservation policy. Hundreds of traders, chemists, and teachers, representatives of the Indian Medical Association and resident welfare associations also joined the protest rally organized by the student’s forum Youth for Equality, which is spearheading the movement against the quota proposals in Central institutes. Some issues of paramount importance are not debatable in public but they must be settled at the highest level and adopted as a national policy irrespective of the party in power. Towards this end the existing constitution needs to be amended after deliberating with the intelligentsia of the country. They are the following: 1) The minority question 2) The role of naturalized citizen in Indian statecraft 3) Strengthening the security of the country 4) Matters of national interest 5) Matters relating to confidential information 6) Matters relating to ending Indian bureaucracy and replacing it with democratic administration 7) Replacing career administration with contractual system 8) Replacing the Government departments with Indepenent bureaus or regulatory commissions or giving the administration of lesser importance to the private agencies 9) Adopting the policy of hire and fire to ensure efficiency and economy in administration 10) Devolution of greater governmental power other than defense, police, finance and coordination to private entrepreneurs who work with the government without diluting the standard, policy and procedure. 11) Introduction of merit system in public service in letter and spirit.
Politics has become a profession. Most of the unruly and unscrupulous politicians have created caste hatred, and are breeding hatred between communities, to monopolize political power by appealing to the people to vote for their caste people. Their only merit is that they belong to the caste which has majority in a particular local area. The people vote in India on the basis of caste. They by virtue of political affiliation make policies that will help people who pay them huge sum of money or they help those who are their relatives or friends. They keep up emotional factors of caste, region, and language or community to keep the vote banks intact. The scope for politicking will be reduced if the Presidential form of government is established.
304 India has numerous laws which have been borrowed partly from the English law but it is not enforced by the enforcement officials. Therefore the people feel above law and often they get away with it after violating the laws. The law enforcement is weak and when they are used, it is used to help or harm someone but not to bring order and justice to the people. The government has deviated from the modern system of law in the name of social welfare and it has been placing some people in more advantageous position than the others. So called laws are full of biases and prejudices with so many exceptions defeating the very purpose of law and allowing exploitation of a section of the people by another section. The Hindu community has become volatile because of caste consideration and acute poverty. The people who have no money do not care for religion. The agnosticism of the Communists has added to their confused mind the futility of pursuit of any religion. The Christian missionaries have been finding India a fertile ground for religious conversion. India has lot of religious freedom. The missionaries are converting people by promising better opportunities for education or better employment opportunities. The backward class people who have no good social standing are allured to convert to Christianity. Hinduism does not propagate conversion. A person who is born to Hindu parents automatically becomes a Hindu. There is no missionary to convert a non Hindu to a Hindu religion. The Arya Samajists and Ramakrishna Missions are trying to reconvert only those Hindus who have been converted to other religions. As a result, the Hindu population is diminishing in India. The Muslim population is increasing in India because they are allowed to practice polygamy and they don’t adopt birth control measures. If the Muslim population increases in India it is going to be a great problem for the Hindus and their religion because they have no other country to bank on. The History of the Mohammedan invasion points to the fact they have converted people of different countries to Islam at the point of sword. The politicians should desist from the temptation of promising certain things to the minorities which would run against the national interest. On this question the government should have deep insight into India’s past and great perception to India’s future. India had natural borders which prevented invaders from conquering the country but still it was invaded more than 30 times in the past. Now the modes of modern warfare have undergone change and in the age of nuclear age, no natural barrier can prevent an enemy from causing damage. So with many nuclear powers surrounding India, it had to
305 develop nuclear weapons and become a nuclear power. Any attempt to give up nuclear program will end in the annihilation of India. Pakistan has become a nuclear power and shortly, Iran is going to become a nuclear nation. China and North Korea could pose danger to India any day. Indian security is of great concern. India should give up petty caste considerations and grow into a matured nation capable of resisting any onslaught from the external enemies. The new brand of Islamic militants who want to cause death and destruction of innocent people are a challenge to civilization and they should be defeated at all costs. The government should never submit to their threats.
306
CHAPTER 21
BUDDING SINGERS Zee Television held a ‘Voice of India contest in 2005 to identify the budding singers who could foray into Bollywood. The contest went on well until the top twelve were selected but as the contest narrowed down to last twelve the audience, the contestants and music lovers wondered if all was well with the voting pattern! Here are the top twelve Contestants. Shann hosted the entire show.
SHANTANU MUKHARJEE (Shann)
Shantanu Mukherjee is the full name of Shann, the anchor in Saregamapa. He brought out an album called Q funk album His faultless performance won him a great applause. He had lean period from 1995 to 2005 when he took up Anchoring for saregamapa. His album love logy was not a great success. In 2005, he brought out Tanha Dil which silenced his critics. The album established him as a distinctive singer and also opened doors for him in Bollywood. Shaan has sung for various films like Lakshya, Dil Chahta Hai, Kal Ho Na Ho, Hum Tum, Dus, and Salaam Namaste. He won the heart of millions as an anchor in Saregamapa.
1. NIHIRA JOSHI
Nihira Joshi, an undergraduate student of Mithibai College from Bombay proved to the Indian audience that she is the nightingale of India. Her performance was the best and she was the most favorite of the Contestants, but stood fifth in the popular voting. She has already sung in some albums.
307
2. HIMANI KAPOOR
Himani Kapoor, a girl studying in 12th grade from Faridabad, tomboyish and talkative who gave wonderful performance and mesmerized the music lovers in India in the sa re ga ma pa Challenge 2005
3. HEMCHANDRA Hem Chandra a 17 year old from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh stood third in the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005. He is a first year B.Sc student in animation and multimedia. He is well trained in Karnatak Music.
4. VINEET SINGH
Vineet Singh, naughty and lovable boy from Lucknow in Utter Pradesh was a runner up in the India’s voice competition conducted by SA re ga ma pa Challenge 2005. He is aged 17 years. He did no take his 12th grade Examination to participate in this Challenge. He became a finalist in SA re ga ma pa Challenge 2005 but lost to Debojit in erroneous voting, the rationality of which is disputed.
5. SWANANDA KARMARKAR Swananda aged 21, married and living in London gave a wonderful performance at SA re ga ma pa Challenge 2005 and earned great applause from the people of India. He is a University graduate. She likes travel and playing Tennis.
6. TWINKLE BAJPAI Twinkle Bajpai, a twnty year old from Lucknow gave a great performance and emerged top 12 in the SA re ga ma pa Challenge 2005. She is a student of final year Bachelor of Arts. She loves singing, dancing and traveling.
7. PARESH MADAPARIA Paresh Madaparia aged 25 from London gave a wonderful performance and won the appreciation of the people of India but in the popular
308 voting he stood 6th of the top 12 Contestants. He is an Information Technology support in United Kingdom.
8. RAJEEV KUMAR Rajeev kumar aged 29 from Chamba in Himachal Pradesh gave an excellent performance without any formal training and established his place among the top twelve of the SA re ga ma pa Challenge 2005 contestants. He loves cooking and music.
9. SHARIB
Sharib, a 17 year old from Jaipur, Rajasthan is 12 the grade student who loves playing Guitar established his place among the top 12 of the SA re ga ma pa Challenge 2005 contestants.
10. BANJYOTHSNA
Banjyothsna is paired with Sharib for Saregamapa Ek main and Ek tu Competition and Sharib and Banjyothsna are finalists in the competition. She is from Assam 11. DEVAJIT SAHA Debojit Saha, 29 years old, married man from Silchar, polled the highest number of votes in SA re ga ma pa Challenge 2005 and most of his votes came from his state and his neighboring states which prompted the three other contestants to walk out of the Challenge at one stage. He is diploma holder in Civil Engineering.
12. RAKTIMA MUKHARJEE
Raktima, a Masters Degree holder, aged 25 years from Kolkata, who gave grand performance in SA re ga ma pa Challenge 2005 and established her place in the top 12.
13. UJJAINI MUKHARJEE
Ujjaini, aged 17 from Kolkata, gave great performance and earned a good name. She stood one among the 12 top contestants of SA re ga ma pa challenge 2005. She is a 12th grade Student. She is a finalist in
309 ‘Ek main and Ek tu’ Competition. Ujjaini began reacting to music at the age of 8 months. Though a serious student, she always wanted to be a singer. She dropped her class 12-board exams to sing in SA RE GA MA PA. Her best friend is Music and God. She is fond of chocolate and music. For her Love is absolute trust coupled with friendship. Music is life
14. AISHWARYA
Aishwarya is from Muzaffarpur. He is greatly attached to father. His music teacher is Paramanand Singh and Ashwini Kumar. To him love is a power which does not have a definition. He says that music is a language of heart. He is finalist in Saregamapa Ek tu and Ek main Contest. He is a finalist in Saregamapa Ek Tu and Ek main competition.
INDIAN IDOL COMPETITION
Sony Entertainment Television held a similar Singing Contest in 2005 and again the Contestants, the audience and the music lovers were thunderstruck the way voting was going on. However the last three finalists were Karunya, Sandeep Acharya and Anuj Sharma. The final contest was between N C Karunya and Sandeep
15. KARUNYA N C Karunya is a melodious singer. His full name is N C Karunya. He was born on March 1, 1986 in Hyderabad. He is an Engineering student. He is currently residing at Hyderabad with his father, mother and younger sister. He is the only South Indian to have come so far in the Indian Idol Contest. N C Karunya from Hyderabad has made his mark on the show with his `Abhishek Bachchan` looks and his melodious voice. He has been singing since he was three and has come so far because of the support he has received from his parents. `My parents live in my dream world. They have seen me wanting to be a singer and have done all they could to help me attain my goal, ` says Karunya. He idolizes musical legends like Kishore Kumar,
310 Mohammad. Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, P Sushila and Ghantasaala and hopes to make his mark in the world like them some day. Audiences across the country have fallen in love with his voice and the change in his personality and appearance they have seen through the show. He managed to rake in the viewer votes in the first gala, despite a bad throat, proving that he has a strong and loyal fan following! 16. SANDEEP ACHARYA Sandeep is a handsome guy. He was born on February 4, 1984 in Bikaner in Rajasthan. He is a Bachelor of Science. He is staying with his parents, sisters and brother in Bikaner. Sandeep Acharya has the classic Indian playback singer’s voice and has often been compared to the great Udit Narayan of Indian playback. He found a keen interest and love in Indian music from a tender age and has been training for a career in the same since then. While his friends played and enjoyed themselves, Sandeep was focused on his career and was regular with his Riyaaz. It is this dedication and focus that has brought him to the top ten in the show and that will carry him forward to the final rounds, closer to the coveted position of the No. 1 Indian Idol! When asked what he would do on winning the Indian Idol 2 title, he said that he would give back in return the same love & confidence the audience showered on him & also take his family on a world tour. Z Television has organized another contest called Saregamapa ek tu and ek mi. The finalists in the contests are Aishwarya and Ujjaini as a pair challenged by Sharib and Ban Jothsna. In all these competitions the public voting system has come under severe criticism as is their wont the Indian people vote on narrow caste or parochial consideration rather than on merit.
311
CHAPTER 22
ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS PERSONALITIES
1. FILM PERSONALITIES
Bollywood is the name given for Mumbai-based Hindi language film industry. It has been accepted as the world’s movie capital in recent years and has found entry in the Oxford English Dictionary. It is the biggest of the Indian film industries compared to reginal language film Industries like Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam. It produces the largest number of films in the world. Approximately 14 million Indians go to the movies daily. It is a strong part of popular culture of Indians in the Indian subcontinent, Middle East, parts of Africa, parts of Southeast Asia and the South Asian diaspora worldwide. It attracts thousands of aspiring actors and actresses, models, beauty contestants, television actors, theatre actors and common people. They come to Mumbai to try their luck in Bollywood to become a star. Bollywood employs more than 6 million people from all over India. Bollywood film Industries are clan based and it is very difficult for outside the clan to become actors and actresses in the leading rolls. Each clan tries to bring up its own youngsters into filmdom making them leading actors and actresses whether they succeed or not. A few new entrants have been however successful although the outsiders have no means of knowing the invisible hands behind bringing them up. Bollywood has many clans. They are mentioned below 1. Kapoor clan consists of Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Rajiv Kapoor, Babita, Neetu Singh, Karisma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, and Kunal Kapoor 2. Deol clan consists of Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Esha Deol, and Abhay Deol. 3. Bachchan clan consists of Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan. 4. Rajesh Khanna clan consists of Rajesh Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Twinkle Khanna, Rinke Khanna and Akshay Kumar.
312 5. Vinod Khanna clan consists of Vinod Khanna, Akshaye Khanna, and Rahul Khanna. 6. Dutt clan consists of Nargis, Sunil Dutt, and Sunjay Dutt 7. Hussain clan consists of Nasir Hussain, Tahir Hussain, Aamir Khan, Mansoor Khan and Faisal Khan. 8. Khan clan: Salim Khan, Helen, Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Sohail Khan and Malaika Arora. 9. Samarth-Mukherjee clan consists of Shobhana Samarth, Debashree Roy, Sashadhar Mukherjee, Joy Mukherjee, Deb Mukherjee, Sharbani Mukherjee, Nutan, Tanuja, Mohnish Behl, Tanisha, Kajol, Ram Mukherjee and Rani Mukherjee. 10. Pataudi clan consists of Sharmila Tagore, Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan. 11. Roshan clan consists of Roshan, Rakesh Roshan, Rajesh Roshan and Hrithik Roshan. 12. Another Khan clan consists of Sanjay Khan, Zayed Khan, Feroz Khan, Fardeen Khan and Suzanne Khan. 13. Ganguly clan: Ashok Kumar, Kishore Kumar and Anup Kumar 14. Mangeshkar clan consists of Hridayanath Mangeshkar, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar. The new comers to Bollywood must have recommendation from these personalities or it would be too difficult to get a leading role. The Islamic dons and terrorists residing in Pakistan or elsewhere hold control over Bollywood from outside India. Every year many organizations grant certain awards to encourage the artists. They areFilmfare Awards since 1953 The Indian government sponsored National Film Awards since 1973. In addition to this there are several wards like Zee Cine awards, Star Screen awards, Stardust awards, IIFA awards and Apsara awards.
313
2. GREAT SINGERS
1. KUNDANLAL SAIGAL
Kundan Lal Saigal was the pioneering singer of Hindi film music who also popularised Gazals in India. Saigal acted in 36 films and sung over 200 songs during his fifteen years stint at the Indian cinema in its infant state. He had a distinguished melodious voice which captivated the mind of millions of people in nineteen forties. K.L. Saigal was a simple man. He created history with Devadas, based on Bengali writer Sharadchandra Chaterjee`s novel released in 1935. People all over the world heard Songs ‘Balam Aao Baso Morey Man Mein’ and ‘Dukh Ke Ab Din Bitat Nahi’. K.L. Saigal was born at Jammu in Kashmir. His father Amarchand Saigal was working for Maharaja Pratap Singh. Saigal was born on 12th April 1904. At the age of twelve, Saigal gave a rendition of Meera Bahjan in the court of Pratap Singh`s court. The Maharaja was impressed and predicted that Saigal had a bright future. In Jalhandar, Saigal learnt to sing in Punjabi style. Saigal did not undergo any formal training but wished he had training from Fayyaz Khan. After listening to K.L. Saigal songs, Fayyaz Khan later said "I have no knowledge with me to make you a better singer than you are." Saigal was a clerk in Railways and later he became a Hotel Manager. Then he took up a job with Remington Typewriter Co. for Rs. 80/- a month. When he went to Calcutta to become a singer in films, Rai Chand Bhoral assayed his voice and he sang Jhoola Na Jhulao Ri. K. C. Dey, the renowned playback singer who was in the adjoining room overheard Saigal. He met Saigal and showered compliments on him. He was instrumental for Saigal`s rise in his film career. In 1932 Kundan Lal Saigal`s successful career commenced after he signed a contract of Rs. 200/- a month, with New Theatre to act and sing in films. Some of the films in his early days were Subah Ke Sitare, Zinda Laash and Mohabbat Ke Aason. Later on his songs like Premnagar Mein Basoongi Ghar Main, Tadapat Beeti Din Rain and
314 Prem Ki Ho Jai became hits. His first feature film was Chandidas in which Saigal was the lead actor. The songs catapulted Saigal to stardom. He then sang for Devadas. It was a great success. Bimal Roy brought out a Hindi version starring Dilip Kumar, Vaijayanti Mala, and Suchitra Sen which flopped. He sang in low octaves from the throat which became a fashion and model for many singers. The Hindi films from 1932 to 1946 had the melody of Saigal. A day before his death, Saigal`s health suddenly took a turn for the worse. His niece, Durgesh, then 15, read Bhagwad Gita by his bedside throughout the night. Early in the morning, Saigal breathed his last. He was 42 when he passed away on 18th January 1947 in Jalhandar, his hometown. K. L. Saigal had expressed his last wish to play his song Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya, Hum Jee Kya Karenge a song composed Naushad by Naushad. Fifty years after his death his melodious voice is still reverberating in the years of the music lovers.
2. LATA MANGESHKAR
Lata Mangeshkar was born on 28th September, 1929 in Sikh Mohalla at Indore to Deenanath Mangeshkar and Shudamati. Deenanath was a classical singer & stage actor from Mangeshi in Goa. He was trained in the Punjabi school of Baba Mushelkar. He owned a drama troupe which made him pitch his tent in nearly every town in Maharashtra. He had five children of whom four were daughters and one son. He could not give them good schooling but gave them music lessons which helped them to come to limelight. In 1934, India's first talkie 'Alam- Ara' was released. That was the end of the era of stage Drama. The family moved to Sangli. Deenanath died of heart disease in 1942 and the only brother of Lata, Hridayanath was bed ridden from TB. Lata was then 12 years old. She acted in Vinayak Rao’s Pahili Mangalgour, a Marati movie. Her first Hindi song was sung in 1943 in Gajabhau. Vinayak Rao was happy with Lata's performance and signed her as a staff artiste. In 1945 the company shifted its headquarters to Bombay and so did Lata. But Vinayak Rao died in 1947 and she became jobless. She had very bad time finding a job One day Lata went with Haidar to the studios of Bombay Talkies at Malad. The first to come forward was Naushad. He signed Lata for Andaaz, a smashing box office success. Afterwards Bhagatram signed her for Badi Bahen. Barsat was the next film that brought her fame.
315 Fame came to her quickly but not money. According to Lata her first major break was in 1948 in Majboor shot by Master Gulam Haidar. She has been awarded Bharat Ratna. Lata had even composed for films, under the pseudonym ANANDGHAN.
3. ASHA BHOSLE
Asha Bhonsle was born on September 8, 1933 in the small hamlet of Goar in Sangli in Maharashtra in the musical family of Deenanath Mangeshkar. She was just nine years old when her father passed away. The family moved from Pune to Kolhapur and then to Bombay. She and her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar started singing and acting in films to support their family. She was the most popular singer. Her career started in 1943 and has sung for 825 movies. She is Lata’s younger sister. Asha Bhonsle is considered a "versatile" singer and has sung different types of songs though she is best known for her 'cabaret' numbers in Hindi films. She has sung in many Indian languages as well as in some foreign languages such as English, Russian and Malay. She has provided her voice for almost all popular Bollywood actresses from 1943 down to his day. She has sung from the days of Madhubala. She has sung duets with almost every notable Indian playback singer including Manna Dey, Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, etc down to Abhijeet. Asha sang her first film song Chala Chala Nav Bala for the Marathi movie, ‘Majha Bal’in 1943. The music for the film was composed by Datta Dawjekar. She made her Hindi film debut when she sang the song Saawan aaya for Hansraj Bahl's Chunariya in 1948, At the age of 16, she is said to have left home with her 31-year old lover, Ganpatrao Bhosle, and married him against her family's wishes. The marriage failed miserably. Her in-laws ill-treated her. Her husband beat her and forced her to keep singing and earning money even as she struggled to cope with babies and household duties. After few years of marriage, young Asha Bhosle returned to her maternal home with her two children and pregnant with her third child, Anand. She continued to sing in films to earn money. Asha Bhosle got the assignments in the second-grade movies. In 1950s, she sang more songs than any other playback singer in Bollywood, but most of these songs were in B or C-grade films. Asha Bhosle first tasted success with the songs of B. R. Choptra's Naya Daur in 1957, which was composed by O. P. Nayyar. O P Nayyar was the one who trained her voice in Naya Daur, Phagun, Howrah Bridge, Tumsa Nahin
316 Dekha, Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, Mere Sanam, Humsaya, Sawan Ki Ghata and that mega hit "Phir Wohi Dil Laaya Hoon". After 1959, she was emotionally and professionally involved with O P Nayyar. They split on August 5, 1972. Asha's best in her whole career came during this period with O P Nayyar. Sachin Dev Burman adopted Asha Bhosle as his lead female singer. In 1966, Asha's performance in R D Burman's first successful movie, Teesri Manzil won popular acclaim. Unfortunately, O. P. Nayyar and Asha Bhosle had a professional and personal parting of the ways in 1970s. Asha started relying more on R. D. Burman for her film songs. Their collaboration gave rise to some of the 1970s song hits. Her career had lean patch a few years before Rangeela. Her performance in Rangeela (1994) was great for she was singing for music director A.R. Rahman, the most popular music director in Bollywood to day. As late as 2005, 72-year-old Asha Bhosle's numbers for the Tamil film Chandramukhi and Lucky were great hits. Her best hits were Naya daur, Teesri Manjil Umrao Jaun and Rangeela. Asha Bhosle has worked with many other composers too, most notably Jaidev and C Ramchandra. The South Indian maestro, Ilayaraja worked with Asha in Kamal Haasan's Hey! Ram. The film flopped, but Asha's song Janmon ki jwala went well with audience. Composer Anu Malik and Asha have recorded many hit songs together, including songs for his first movie Soni Mahiwal. Asha has worked with Lata-patrons like Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Naushad, Ravindra Jain, N Dutta, and Hemant Kumar. Asha has also worked with other noted Bollywood composers like Jatin-Lalit, Bappi Lahiri, Kalyanji-Anandji, Usha Khanna, Chitragupta, Roshan etc In 1995, Asha started learning Hindustani classical music from maestro Ali Akbar Khan. Asha and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan recorded eleven fixed compositions in California for Legacy, a private album that won them a Grammy Award nomination. Asha had spotted Pakistani singer Adnan Sami's talent when he was about 10 years old. At that time she was performing in London, with R D Burman. It was she who had asked him to pursue his interests in music seriously. When Adnan grew up and became a professional musician, Asha sang the title duet with him for his best-selling album Kabhi to nazar milao. The two came together again in the album Barse Badal. To commemorate her 60th birthday in 1993 EMI India released three cassettes: In 1980s and 1990s, Asha went globe-trotting, staging concerts in Canada, Dubai, UK, USA and many other countries. In 1989, during a world tour, she performed in 13 US cities in 20 days. She also toured Swedon. Asha
317 Bhosle has won seven Filmfare awards. She was later given the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. Asha also holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Amravati and University of Jalgaon in Literature.
4. GEETHA DUTT
Geeta Roy was born in Faridpur District in East Bengal in 1930. In 1942 when she was just twelve years old, her parents shifted to Mumbai. When they were there in their modest flat at Dadar, the music director Hanuman Prasad heard her singing casually. He gave her two lines to sing in the film Bhakt Prahlad in 1946. "I gave playback for some children." she said. But her rendering of those two lines stood out and astonished everybody in the recording studio. A minor incident became the genesis of a great musical career. She signed major assignment in 1947, with Filmistan's Do Bhai. Music Director S.D. Burman had heard the song in Bhakt Prahlad and he promptly got hold of her address and met her to use her voice in the film. The music of that film clicked in a big way particularly 'Mera sundar sapna beet gaya.' Disc scales of the song rocketed to new heights. The years 1947 to 1949 saw Geeta Roy in limelight as the number one playback singer in the Mumbai film industry and she moved from strength to strength. Three films were released in 1949, namely Barsaat, Andaaz and Mahal. All three were great hits. The music of each film was better than the other. In all three films the heroine's songs were sung by Geeta Roy who had also made her debut in playback singing in 1946 but till then had not made any significant headway in her career. The success of these films brought her fortune. Only two singers managed to survive the Lata onslaught in the 1950s. Shamshad Begam and Geeta Roy. Though relegated to the second spot, Geeta managed to hold her own against Lata for more than a decade and she and Lata were the premier two female playback singers of the 1950s. By 1951, Geeta had become a singer well known for bhajans and weepy sad songs. Jogan (1950) in fact had 12 solo bhajans sung by her! But 1951 also saw the release of a film, Baazi. Directed by first time director Guru Dutt, the film, a crime thriller influenced by the film noir movement of Hollywood was a trend setter of sorts, leading to a spate of urban crime films that Bollywood churned out in the 1950s. The jazzy musical score revealed a new facet to Geeta's singing. The sex appeal in her voice and the ease with which she went western was marvellous to behold. While every song in the film was a raging hit,
318 one stood out for special appeal. 'Tadbir se bigdi hui taqdeer' a ghazal that was occidentalized into a jazzy seductive song! From then on in the 1950s for a club dance or a seductive song, the first choice was Geeta. During the recording of the song she met the young director of the film, Guru Dutt. Romance between Geeta and Guru Dutt culminated in marriage on 26 May, 1953. Geeta went on to sing some of her best songs in her husband's films while continuing singing in various outside assignments as well. The couple had two sons Tarun and Arun and a daughter Nina. However by 1957 the marriage had run into rough weather and was on the rocks. Guru Dutt had got involved with his new leading lady Waheeda Rehman. Ironically, Geeta the playback singer was used for Waheeda Rahman’s acting. The breaking up of her marriage also began having repercussions on her career. To console her Guru Dutt launched a film Gauri with her in the lead. She was to be launched as a singing star and it was to be India's first film in cinemascope but the film was shelved after just a few days shooting. This was the time when one heard complaints from music directors about her not being easily available for either rehearsals or recordings. She neglected her rehearsals and started drinking heavily. On October 10, 1964 Guru Dutt passed away. Waheeda had gone out of his life. Geetha was a broken woman, shattered by his death. Geeta suffered a nervous breakdown. When she recovered she found herself in a financial mess. Her health kept failing as she drank herself to a point of no return. She died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1972.
5. MOHAMMAD RAFI
Rafi was one of the greatest singers of Indian cinema. His Immortal voice had captivated the hearts of millions of Indian music lovers the world over. Rafi was born on 24th December 1924 in Kotla Sultan Singh village in Punjab, near Amritsar. Although music was not a part of his family background, he was endowed with a gift for music. Rafi’s elder brother Mohammed Deen had a barber shop when Rafi was still a young lad, and he spent many of his childhood days in his brothers barber shop. One day, when Rafi was about seven years of age, his brother noticed him following a fakir who was wandering in the streets singing while playing on his Ekta. Ignoring the regular reprimands of his parents, the young boy continued to follow the fakir to his abode - a huge tree - on a regular basis. Then one day, some of
319 the patrons at the barber shop heard him sing the songs of the fakir with such perfect pitch that they immediately recognised the immense musical gift that the boy possessed, and were convinced that this young genius-in-the-making was destined for greater things in life. The elders and the patrons used to regularly ask the young Mohammed Rafi to visit the barber shop and sing for them, for he had a truly melodious voice. Rafi had picked up the rudiments of music from a fakir while already possessing a God-gifted voice. Rafi at a tender age of about fifteen decided to become a singer but his father, a village landlord, did not like the idea. His brother, Mohammed Deen, though, having recognized that this young boy had a God-given talent which he simply could not see go to waste, decided to help his little brother realize his dreams, for the young Mohammed Rafi enjoyed nothing as much as he did to sing all day long. When he was barely seventeen years old, he sang his first playback song for a Punjabi film, 'Gul Baloch' under the music direction of the late Shyam Sunder in 1941, Rafi was an illiterate and he had to memorize the word before singing. Following the popularity of his Punjabi song, Rafi took the final big step in his life and ventured off to Bombay to realize his dreams of making singing his career. In 1942 he arrived in Bombay to sing again under the music direction of Shyam Sunder for the movie 'Gaon ki Gauri'. After this successful debut in Bombay, Rafi approached the renowned music director Naushad, confiding in him his admiration for the great Kundan Lal Saigal. Naushad did not disappoint him. He gave him two lines with K.L Saigal for a song in the movie 'Shahjehan'. Although Rafi had several 'hit' songs during these early years, he nevertheless had tough competition from respected singers like Manna Dey, Talat Mahmood, Hemant Kumar and Mukesh. The real recognition for Rafi came for his songs in 'Baiju Bawra' under the music direction of Naushad. O Duniya ke Rakhwale together with 'Man Tarpat Hari Darshan' left Rafi a great singer. He continued to lend his magnificent voice to such great music directors as Sachin Dev Burman, C. Ramachandra, Roshan, Shankar-Jaikishen, Madan Mohan, O.P. Nayyar, Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Jaidev, Salil Chowdhury, Ravindra Jain, Iqbal Qureshi, Usha Khanna, Ravi, Chitragupta and Rahul Dev Burman, to name a few. Rafi sang over 26,000 songs in all the national languages of India in his forty year career. He was the master of all forms of songs for he could sing ghazal, qawalis and bhajans with the same ease and greatness. There came a time in the sixties when Rafi was the permanent voice of Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Rajendra
320 Kumar, Dev Anand, Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor and Raj Kumar. In 1965 he was honored with the Padma Shree, a coveted award of which any Indian citizen would justly be proud. In 1977, Rafi received the 'Rajat Kamal' award from then Indian State President, Sri Sanjeeva Reddy at the 25th National Film Festival Awards. Rafi received his training from prominent classical Musicians like Abdul Wahid Khan, Pandit Jiwanlal Matto, Ghulam Ali Khan and Firoz Nizami. It is said that “Rafi scaled heights of fame and popularity that no other Indian singer ever has or ever will with his haunting melodies that enchanted lovers of music all over the world”. Indians the world over mourned his loss on 31st July 1980 when Rafi died. His death was a great loss not only to the film world but also to the millions of music lovers.
6. KISHORE KUMAR (August 4, 1929 - October 13, 1987),
Kishore Kumar’s original name was Abhas Ganguly He was a great Bollywood singer He had sung in many languages. He was also a Bengali actor. Kumar was a noted actor as well. His comedy work included Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Half Ticket, Padosan, Baap Re Baap, Etc. He had roles in films such as Naukri, Bandi, Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein, Door Ka Raahi. Kumar achieved notable successes as a lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter. Kumar was born in the small town of Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh. His father Kunjalal Ganguly was a lawyer and from a middle-class family, whereas his mother Gouri Devi was from a wealthy family. Her mother was from Bhagalpur in Bihar. Kumar was the youngest of four children born to his parents. Ashok Kumar was the eldest son, followed by Sati Devi, the only daughter in the family. Next was Anoop Kumar, and five years younger to Anoop was Kishore. When Kumar was still a child, his elder brother Ashok Kumar became a star actor in Bollywood. He was a fan of K. L. Saigal. Kishore Kumar came to Mumbai to pursue a career in films as a singer. At this juncture, Kumar disliked acting and instead wanted to become a leading singer in Bollywood. However, he didn't have any formal training in singing or music. Apart from S D Burman, Khemchand Prakash was another composer who recognized Kishore's singing talent early. He composed Kishore songs in the movie Ziddi. It was at Khemchand's studio, where Kishore
321 met Lata Mangeshkar, with whom he sang many duets later. S D Burman established Kishore as the voice of popular actor Dev Anand when he got him to sing for Dev Anand in the movies Taxi Driver and Paying Guest. Kishore was interested in composing music as well. But Kishore was still around, singing for established and young heroes alike. Kishore Kumar and Amitabh had some misunderstanding in mid- 1980s. In 1987, Kishore decided to retire from Bollywood and go back to his roots, his village Khandwa but he breathed his last in October 1987 before fulfilling this desire. His last wish to go to Khandwa was fulfilled by taking his body to his birth place for cremation after embalmment. Kishore Kumar married four times, and his wives were Ruma Guhathakurta from 1950 to 1958, Madhubala from 1960 to 1969, Yogeeta Bali from 1975 to 1978 and Leena Chandavarkar from 1980 to 1987. His son Amit Kumar also became a singer but did not become as famous as his father. Kishore's second son Sumit Kumar has also been a playback artist. Kishore was given filmfare awards for Aradhana, Amanush, Don, Thodisi Bewahai, Namak halal, Sharabi and Sagar from 1969 to 1985.
7. ALKA YAGYAK
For the past decade or two, Alka Yagnik, has reigned supreme in playback singing in India. She came to limelight since Lata Mangeshkar took a partial break from singing. Alka is a premier female playback singer in India today. Starting her career with the song "Tere Angne Mein", Alka Yagnik really got moving with "Ek Do Teen". With this hit song from "Tezaab", Alka has been climbing the ladder of fame consistently. Since Lata and Asha had become voices of yesteryears, there was a vacuum in the playback singing and Alka filled it. Alka Yagnik had hits after hits, such as, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Akele Hum Akele Tum, Deewana, Baazigar, Raja Hindustani and Taal and many more. Alka was born and brought up in Calcutta. She came to Bombay two decades ago. She walked away with three Filmfare awards and two National awards. She started singing Bhajans for the Calcutta Radio, at the tender age of six. According to her, singing was just a hobby initially but as success and popularity came along, she started taking it up seriously as a profession. Alka Yagnik has tried to become an Indian pop singer and has cut an album with Javed Akhtar, "tum yaad aaye" with great success. She is
322 married to a successful US based guy, Alka enjoys her family life and her leisure hours are reserved for her close relatives. She gets up early in the morning, and helps her daughter to get ready for school. Alka Yagnik is a bollywood singer who sings Hindi songs for Hindi Bollywood films. Alka Yagnik provides great support to Indian entertainment industry. Alka Yagnik is the daughter of Shubha Yagnik who is a trained classical singer. She is from Gujarat but based in Calcutta. At the age of eight, Alka was already an All India Radio artiste in Calcutta. She won a Sugam Sangeet competition in Calcutta at the age of 11. Alka's mother brought her to Mumbai to try her luck in films as a child-singer. Music directors Kalyanji and Anandji did take her under their wing but advised them to wait till her voice matured and try for a career only as an adult singer, as Alka was just ten then. It was in early 1979 that Alka got to sing a few lines in Raj's Payal Ki Jhankar. Her first fullfledged song was 'Hum Tum Rahenge' for Rajesh Roshan in Hamari Bahu. However the film was delayed and her first release proved to be the super - hit 'Mere Angne mein', the folk song adopted by Kalyanji - Anandji in Laawaris (1981). Filmlore has it that Alka was told to sing the song Bachchan had already recorded as a lark, imagining that she was singing it for Rakhee. After she did, Kalyanji - Anandji congratulated her on recording her first song for them! Around this time, Alka recorded her first song for Laxmikant - Pyarelal too, 'Jaldi Se Aa', in Jeevan Dhara (1982) with Anuradha Paudwal and Kavita Krishnamurty. Alka also recorded songs for Rajesh Roshan in Sannata and Kaamchor, Usha Khanna, R. D. Burman and many more songs for Kalyanji - Anandji and Laxmikant – Pyarelal. In 1980's, Alka sang regularly for films with veterans like Shankar, Ravi, Chitragupta and newcomers like Anu Malik and Anand Milind. But hits eluded her even as she sang for films like Loha, Mera Jawaab, Pighalta Aasman, Ghar Dwar and others. It was in 1988 that she got her breakthrough with the song that was to launch Madhuri Dixit and rank among the greatest and most evergreen cult songs - 'Ek Do Teen Char' (Tezaab/Laxmikant - Pyarelal). She is now a front ranking bollywood singer.
323 3. GREAT MUSIIC DIRECTORS
1. S D BURMAN
S.D. Burman proved that age is no impediment for creativity. He was a great composer who remained in high demand right till the end of his life. He was born in the royal family of Tripura in North-East India. He began his training in classical music under his father, sitarist and Dhrupad singer Nabadwipchandra Dev Burman. He later continued his training under Ustad Badal Khan and Bhismadev Chattopadhaya. His early work for radio was based on East Bengali and North-Eastern folk-music. In the early 1930s He made a reputation for himself as a singer of folk and light classical music as early as 1930s. He made his film debut singing in Yahudi ki Ladki (1933) but the songs were scrapped and re-sung by Pahadi Sanyal! His first film as a singer was finally Sanjher Pidim in 1935. He became a music director initially in Calcutta in the late 1930s before moving to Bombay in 1944. In Bombay, he began with Filmistan's Eight Days in 1946, but his first major breakthrough came the following year with the company's Do Bhai in 1947. The song Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya sung by Geeta Dutt is remembered till today. Shabnam (1949) was his biggest hit with Filmistan with the multi-lingual song Yeh Duniya Roop ki Chor sung by Shamshad Begum becoming the rage of the day. But disillusioned with the materialism of Bombay, he left the Ashok Kumar starrer Mashaal (1950) incomplete and decided to board the first train back to Calcutta. Fortunately he was dissuaded from doing so. Burmanda composed the music for Dev Anand's production company, Navketan's first film Afsar (1950). With the success of their second film, Baazi (1951) he made it to the top and a long association with Navketan and Dev Anand was on its way. Burmanda could at once be a light and a serious in-depth composer. When Guru Dutt made comparatively light-weight films like Baazi and Jaal (1952), Burmanda reflected their mood with compositions like Suno Gajar Kya Gaye or De Bhi Chuke Hum and when Guru Dutt made his somber masterpieces - Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz ke Phool
324 (1959), he was right on target with Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind and Waqt ne Kiya Kya Haseen Situm. Burmanda's zest for life showed through his music. He was right there on the front bench to cheer his favorite football or hockey team. Such was his enthusiasm that he once offered music to go with a hockey match! The very name of his house 'The Jet' signified a composer who was up to date. Ill health caused a slump in his career in the early 1960s but his compositions for Bandini (1963), Guide (1965) brought him applause.
2. RAHULDEV BURMAN
Rahul Dev Burman was born in Calcutta. After coming to Mumbai, he learnt Sarod from Ustad Akbar Ali Khan. When he was nine years old, he composed his first song, Aye meri topi palat, which his father used in the film Funtoosh in 1956. The tune of the song Sar jo tera chakraaye was composed by him as a kid. His father loved the tune and included it in the soundtrack of Guru Dutt's Pyaasa. As a child, Pancham also played the mouth organ in the famous song Hai apna dil to aawara. Pancham began his music career as an assistant to his father. His first film as a music director was Chhote Nawab. R D Burman gave music for 245 movies and a TV series Subah in 1987. He did Playback in eighteen movies composed by him. He was famous for unique, grunting bass singing style. He also acted in the film Bhoot Bungla in 1965 and 'Pyar ka Mausam' in 1967. R D Burman started his career as assistant to his father, Sachin Dev Burman. He assisted his father in Chalti ka Naam Gaadi in 1958 and Kaagaz ke Phool in 1959. His first film as a music director was Guru Dutt's Raaz in 1959. However the film was shelved after some shooting and recording of few songs. R D Burman's first released movie as a music director was Mehmood's Chhote Nawab in 1961. The first song "Ghar aaja ghir aaye" to be recorded for the movie was sung by Lata Mangeshkar because R D Burman wanted her to sing. The song brought together S D Burman and Lata Mangeshkar who had stopped recording together since 1957. R D Burman continued to work as his father's assistant in movies like Bandini, Teen Devian and Guide. Mehmood gave him his second movie as a music director in 1965 - Bhoot Bungla. The soundtrack is notable for Aao twist karein, and R D Burman also acted alongside Mehmood, displaying a fine comic timing. He also composed the music of Teesra Kaun in 1965.
325 R D Burman's first hit movie was Teesri Manzil In 1967. He gave music for the movies like Chandan Ka Palna and Baharon Ke Sapne. Meanwhile, he continued to work as his father's assistant for movies like Jewel Thief and Talash. When S D Burman fell ill during the recording of Aradhana's music, Pancham completed the music. The film was a turning point in the Bollywood history. It made Rajesh Khanna a superstar; Kishore Kumar replaced Mohammed Rafi as Bollywood's top singer and R D Burman became the industry's most sought-after composer. R D Burman was India's most popular composer in 1970s famous for his peppy tunes. He teamed up with singers Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and others to churn up some of the biggest hits in the Bollywood music history. His music became hits in Kati Pathag, Amar Prem, Yaadon ki Barat, Sholey, Naam gum jjayega, Mili Kumar Sanu was given his first break by R D Burman in Yeh Desh IN 1984 as voice of Kamal Hasan. Abhijeet was given his major break by R D Burman in Anand aur Anand. Although he made his debut a long time ago, Hariharan was first noticed in a duet with Kavita Krishnamoorthy, Hai mubarak aaj ka din, which was composed by R D Burman. In 1986, none of his 9 soundtracks made a mark that year. After 1986, he started getting less offers. R D Burman's last years were not very pleasant. The few films for which he gave music flopped at the box office. Subhash Ghai promised him Ram Lakhan but gave it instead to Laxmikant Pyarelal. This greatly upset Pancham. He suffered from a heart attack in 1988 and underwent heart surgery. During this period, he composed many tunes, which were never released. R D Burman gave music for few mediocre movies in 1990, 1991 and 1992. In 1993, there were four more releases, of which 1942: A Love Story is an unforgettable score. The film won him the third and last of his Filmfare awards. The music of Janam Se Pehle was also composed by R D Burman. After his death, Ghatak: Lethal was released in 1996. After his death, in the late 1990s, the remix versions of R D Burman's hits ruled the Indian music scene. Even today, most of the Indian remix songs are his tunes remixed. Gang (2000) was released long time after R D Burman's death. He was also credited for music of few more films after his death. The producers of Monsoon Wedding and Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaar had R D Burman songs "recreated" by one of his assistants Babloo Chakravorty. R D Burman also produced private albums, including one based on the samba. He also collaborated with Boy George. He has also composed music for an album called Pantera produced by Pete Gavankar in 1987
326 whose lyrics were written by Jose Flores. The 2002 release "Jhankaar Beats" features one of his famous tunes from the movie Kudrat while paying tribute to his talent. Pancham married a lady named Rita in 1960, but they were divorced in 1971. He then married Asha Bhonsle. Together, they recorded many memorable tunes and also staged many live performances. Pancham was comfortable with all types of music. Be it the romantic Raat Kali from Buddha Mil Gaya, the sexy cabaret Piya tu ab to aaja from Caravan, the ultimate hippie anthem Dum Maro Dum from Hare Krishna Hare Rama or the classical Raina Beeti Jaaye, Pancham proved himself to be a genius. It is said that Dev Anand did not include the complete version of 'Dum Maro Dum' in Hare Rama Hare Krishna, as he was worried the song would overshadow the film. At times, he doubled up as a singer too. His most famous song as a singer was Mehbooba from Sholay. Pancham was a very creative person. His percussion included a spoon against a glass, desks a bamboo whistle with a balloon and bottles filled with water at different levels. Although Pancham was a genius, some of his songs were ‘inspired’ from popular western tunes. Aao twist karein in Bhoot Bangla was a direct lift of Come lets twist again by Chubby Checker while Tera mujhse hai pehle ka naata koi is said to be a copy of The Yellow Rose of Texas by Elvis Presley. Pancham has also directed music for some regional films, including Bangla, Oriya, Tamil, Telegu and Marathi. He also acted in one of the Bengali film named 'Nayak'. Pancham's non- film music comprises of few albums, including 'Pentara', the international album for which he shares credit with Latin American composer, Jose Flore.
3. NAUSHAD ALI
Naushad Ali is regarded as one of the greatest Music Directors of Indian Cinema. Since early childhood in Lucknow he was an avid listener to the live orchestras accompanying silent films. He studied under Ustad Ghurbat Ali, Ustad Yusuf Ali and Ustad Babban Saheb. Before coming to Bombay, he repaired harmoniums and composed for amateur theatricals such as the Windsor Music Entertainers. He moved to Bombay in the late 1930s to try his luck as a musician but had to really struggle and saw days of acute deprivation. He even had to spend nights on the footpath before he worked as a pianist in
327 composer Mushtaq Hussain's orchestra. He joined music director Khemchand Prakash (whom he considers his teacher) as his assistant. Prem Nagar (1940) was his first Independent break but he first got noticed with Sharda (1942) wherein 13-year-old Suraiya did the playback for heroine Mehtab. It was Rattan (1944) that took Naushad right to the top and enabled him to charge Rs 25,000 a film then. Ankhiyaan Milake and Sawan ke Badalon became the most popular songs of the day. Naushad churned out hit after hit in the 1940s mainly in the films of A.R. Kardar - Shahjehan (1946), Dard (1947), Dillagi (1949), Dulari (1949) and Mehboob Khan - Anmol Ghadi (1946), Elaan (1947), Anoki Ada (1948), and Andaaz (1949). Naushad was among the early composer who gave Lata Mangeshkar an opportunity to sing and Andaaz and Dulari were instrumental in her rise to the top along with Mahal and Barsaat that year. Naushad was one of the first to introduce sound mixing and the separate recording of voice and music tracks in playback singing. He was the first to combine the flute and the clarinet, the sitar and mandolin. He also introduced the accordion to Hindi film music and was among the first to concentrate on background music to extend characters' moods and dialogues through music. But perhaps Naushad's greatest contribution was to bring Indian classical music into the film medium. Many of his compositions were inspired by Ragas and he even used distinguished classical artistes like Amir Khan and D.V. Pulaskar in Baiju Bawra (1952) and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in Mughal-e-Azam (1960). Baiju Bawra demonstrated Naushad's grasp of classical music. To quote India's greatest playback singer Lata Mangeshkar who sang for him in the film.
4. C. RAMACHANDRA
C Ramachandra was born in 1918. He was from Putnatambe in Maharashtra. He became a Music Director in Bollywood. He was a student of Vinayakbua Patwardhan at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya music school. He joined films with Y.V.Rao's flop, Naganand followed by chuck roles in Minerva Movietone. He became a Harmonium accompanyist for Minerva composers Bindu Khan and Habib Khan. He often got opportunities to sing and act in Marathi films under R.N.Chitalkar.
328 His debut film as a music director was in Tamil films with Jayakkodi and Vanamohini. He got break through as composer in Master Bhagwan's Sukhi Jeevan, establishing a long-term association that culminated with the musical megahit Albela. Influenced by Benny Goodman, he used some interesting sounds to film soundtracks, like a combination of the harmonica, guitar and the alto sax in Aana meri Jaan Sunday ke Sunday, the bongo, oboe, trumpet, clarinet and sax in Shola Jo Bhadke (Albela) and scat singing in the unforgettable Eena Meena Dika (Aasha). Shin Shinaki Boobla Boo featured him singing the title song with Lata Mangeshkar assimilating some rock rhythms. He introduced scat singing for Ina mina dika in Aasha. He worked on Marathi, Telugu, Tamil and Bhojpuri films. And briefly he turned producer with New Sai Prod in 1953 and produced Jhanjhar, Lehren, Duniya Gol Hai under his banner. In the late 60s, he composed for successful Marathi films: Dhananjay, Gharkul. His autobiography was published in the year 1977. He used several different pseudonyms in the course of his work - Shyamoo, Ram Chitalkar, Annasaheb. His best movies were Anadamath and Albela.
5. O P NAYYAR
O.P.NAYYAR was born in 1926 at Lahore and became the director of music in Bollywood. Most of his compositions have a distinct Punjabi influence. His family shifted from Lahore to Amritsar after partition. In 1949, Nayyar came to Bombay and met the producer-director Krishan Kewal who was making Kaneez. Thus his career started with scoring the background music for Kaneez. He made his name in Aar par, CID, Howra Bridge and Nayadour. O.P. Nayyar was born in undivided India in Lahore in 1926. He was earlier employed in AIR, Jullundur. Nayyar scored very popular music for many 1950's films like Baaz, Aar Paar, Mr and Mrs '55 and Kishore Kumar films like P.L.Santoshi's Cham Chama Cham and Kardar's Baap Re Baap. He dropped out of college to compose music. Not long afterwards HMV, the recording company, released his compositions ‘Pritam aan milo’ In 1951 in Delhi Bhatia a close friend recommended Nayyar to Pancholi who was releasing Nagina starring Nutan and Nasir Khan. But
329 he got first break as a composer in Aasmaan. Guru Dutt Aar Paar was a hit and later on they worked together in Mr. and Mrs. 55. In the late 50s, his films include Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Presley image, and Howrah Bridge with the most famous song, Mera naam Chin Chin Choo. He also scored the Shammi Kapoor's hit film, Kashmir Ki Kali. In the 1960s he brought out one film a year and crafted exquisite scores for Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon (1963), Kashmir Ki Kali (1964) and Mere Sanam (1965). He had limited musical education but he embellished his melodies with well-chosen instruments like the sarangi which he popularised or the piano which ripples through Aapke haseen rukh pe from Baharein Phir Bhi Aayegi. In the late 1960s, Nayyar fell out with his favorite Mohammad Rafi but managed to conjure memorable songs even with Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor and Kishore Kumar. Nayyar was so involved with Asha Bhosle that he neglected other great singers like Geeta Dutt and Lata Mangeshkar. Together they created magic. In about 70 films, they scaled new heights in music. He molded Asha's voice and gave her style and respectability. The Nayyar-Asha team lifted to an unprecedented high in 1957- 1958 with around nine releases in both years and a string of successful scores like Naya Daur (for which he won the Best Music Director Award), Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Sone Ki Chidiya, Phagun, Howrah Bridge and Ragini. In the early 1990s, Nayyar made a surprise comeback with Zid and the Salman Khan-Karisma Kapoor starrer Nischay, with his unmistakable tunes. He is a living legend who is seen on TV shows as a guest. He got filmfare award for Naya Daur in 1957.
6. LAKHMIKANT-PYARELAL
The Duo, Lakshmikant and Pyarelal were Music composers who were at the top of their profession in the 70s and 80s. They have composed two biggest hit songs of the late 80s, Ek do teen in Tezaab and the Bachchan’s Jumma chumma in Hum. Both these musicians started as performers in orchestras and became arrangers for Hindi film music. Laxmikant learnt the violin with Husnlal while Pyarelal learnt music from the Goan music teacher, Anthony Gonsalves in his score for Amar Akbar Anthony. Both
330 assisted Naushad, C. Ramchandra and Kalyanji- Anandji. Their first film as music directors, Parasmani, yielded a major hit, Hansta hua nurani chehra. They got break through in Milan when they directed Sawan ka mahina Real success came in the 70s with their Rajesh Khanna films (Dushman, Hathi Mere Saatbi, and Do Raaste) and with Raj Kapoor's Bobby. Since then they have worked on many Manmohan Desai films (Dharam Veer, Naseeb), Shekhar Kapur's Mr India and the film that breathed new life into their career, Tezaab, followed by Hum. They tend to ascribe their success to their integration of classical Indian and folk rhythms with electronic synthesisers. The lyrics of their songs are frequently written by Anand Bakshi.
7. A. R. REHMAN
Allah Rakha Rahman was born on January 6, 1967 as A.S. Dileep Kumar in Madras. He is a popular Indian film music composer. He is a native Tamil. He made his debut in 1992 with Roja from Maniratnam which has been dubbed into many languages. He made his debut in the Hindi film Rangeela of Ram Gopal Varma in 1995 as the music director. He is a recipient of the Padma Sree. Rahman is the only son of R. K. Sekhar, who was an arranger and conductor for Malayali films. His father died when Rahman was nine years old, and his family used to rent out musical equipment to make both ends meet. During those hard times, a Muslim saint helped them spiritually, and he was converted to Islam. At the age of 11, Rahman joined the troupe of Indian composerIllayaraja as a keyboardist. He later played on the orchestra of M S Viswanathan and Ramesh Naidu and accompanied Zakir Hussain and K Vydhyanathan on world tours and he got scholarship of Trinity College at Oxford where he got a degree in western Classical Music. In 1991, Rahman began his own studio (attached to his house), called the Panchathan Record Inn. He initially composed music for use in advertisements, the title music on popular Indian Television channels and music in documentaries, among other projects. Rahman was, at first, hesitant about composing music for the Indian film industry
331 primarily because most film makers at the time used songs as "fillers" - a means by which the audience was given a break from the movie's plot. In 1991 he was approached by film director Mani Ratnam, who offered Rahman the job as composer of music for his upcoming film Roja, at a price of Rs. 25,000. Rahman accepted, and the movie's superhit debut made him a household name in Tamil Nadu virtually overnight and led Rahman to receive the Rajat Kamal award for best music director at the Indian National Film Awards, the first time ever by a debutant. Rahman has since then gone on to win the award 3 more times (for Minsaara Kanavu (Electric Dreams, Tamil) in 1997, Lagaan (Tax, Hindi) in 2002 and Kannathil Muthamittal (A Peck on the Cheek, Tamil) in 2003), the most ever by any composer. A.R.Rahman pioneered the art of composing Indian classical Carnatic and Hindustani music and using western Instruments to play those tunes.
He has worked with Mani Ratnam on eight movies (until 2004) He also collaborated with the director S. Shankar. He made an album Vande Mataram (1996) on India's national song. Recently, he also came up with an album called Jana Gana mana, a huge conglomeration of performances by all the leading exponents/artists of Indian classical music. His latest work includes Mani Ratnam’s Yuma, Meenakshi: Tale of 3 Cities, Bose - The Forgotten Hero, Swades, and Mangal Pandey - The Rising and Rang De Basanti. He is currently working on Mani Ratnam's next venture Guru, and on one of Shyam Benegal's most expensive ventures, undisclosed so far, which is set for release in the spring of 2006. Andrew Lloyd Webber, a well known composer of musicals, was impressed with Rahman's unique style and therefore hired him to compose his maiden stage production Bombay Dreams (2002). This play was well received in England and opened him up to new vistas in Hollywood. Currently (as of May 2004) Rahman, along with the Finnish folk music band Värttinä, is composing for The Lord of the Rings musical, set to open in Toronto on March 23, 2006. Rahman received more international attention with this article in the TIME magazine. According to BBC Rahman is reported to have sold 100 million records world-wide. In 2000, Rahman's annual income was estimated to be around $4 million from worldwide endorsements and royalties dating back to Roja (1992). In addition to influencing western audiences, Rahman also impressed eastern audiences with his music so much that he was tapped by Chinese director He Ping to provide music for the Chinese film
332 Warriors of Heaven and Earth in 2003. The music of this film was very much appreciated in Asia and in India. He has also composed the Music for Lord of the War (2005), Inside Man (2006) and Provoked (2006). A.R. Rahman has won a number of awards from 1993 to 2003 from Roja, Taal to Sathiya including 9 South Indian Filmfare Awards and 6 Times Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Rahman started with Raja and he is continuing even to this day scoring music in hundreds of films.
4. GREAT FILM DIRECTORS
1. SHYAM BENGAL
Shyam Benegal is a creative Indian director. He was born on 14 December 1934 in Alwal in Andhra Pradesh. He was initially involved in the advertising industry and produced over 900 advertisements before his interest turned to films. His film directorial debut was ‘Gher Betha Ganga’ in 1962. Benegal shot to fame with Ankur in 1973 in which Shabana Azmi made her debut. He was awarded the Padma in 1976 and the Padma Bhushan in 1991. The success that New India Cinema enjoyed in the 1970s and early 1980s could largely be attributed to Shyam Benegal's quartet Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977), which were artistically superior yet commercially viable films. Tapping fresh talents like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Amrish Puri, Benegal has made several sensitive and stimulating films. Benegal has had private backers for many of his films. Following the success of these four films, he was backed by film star Shashi Kapoor for whom he made Junoon (1979) and Kalyug (1981). The former set in the turbulent period of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 is one of Benegal's most stylish films and one which is meticulously detailed and visually arresting and one that gave him much satisfaction In the 1980s however with the collapse of the New Cinema, Benegal's films have not had proper releases and the 1980s also saw him turn to TV where he directed serials like Yatra (1986) for the Indian Railways, and of course one of the biggest projects undertaken on Indian Television, Bharat ek Khoj (1988) a serial based on Nehru's Discovery of India.
333 2. B R CHOPRA
Mr. B R Chopra, one of most celebrated movie mavericks of the Indian celluloid scene has been the architect of a golden era of the Indian film industry which created immortal classic like Waqt, Naya Daur etc. With a characteristic vision and great entrepreneurial spirit, he converted offbeat stories into the most magnificent movies. Mr. B.R.Chopra is the living legend of Indian cinema who continues to make socially relevant films with a great vision and purpose and of course, style. After graduating he studied Master of Arts in English Literature in Lahore. In the turbulent period of 1938 to 1947 he had a successful stint as a journalist and author. When tragedy of partition struck, he headed for Bombay to live up to his dreams amidst despair. He ventured into the film industry as a producer and made his first film 'Afsana' as a producer-director. As luck may have it, the very first movie became a runaway success and celebrated silver jubilee.
Under the visionary leadership of Mr. B. R. Chopra, B.R. Group of Companies grew as the premiere Indian Entertainment conglomerate. With the advent of television and satellite revolution B.R. Group's foray into television serial production started in 1985. Today BR TV is one of India's leading television software production houses, having produced a bouquet of popular serials like Bahadur Shah Zafar, Chunni, Mahabharat, Sauda, Kanoon, Ek Se Badkar Ek, Crown Old Melodies, Jhansi Ki Rani, Rangoli, Mahabharat - Katha, Aurat, Maen Dilli Hoon, Teri Meri Kahani (telefilm), Dharti - Aakash, Beta, Ghazal.
Winner of many national and international awards, Mr. Chopra has been conferred Doctorate of letters by Andhra University for his great contribution to Indian Cinema.
3. RAVI CHOPRA
B.R. Films, a movie-producing concern through the past four decades has now become an Institution. Into a flourishing film family was born young and dynamic director Ravi Chopra. Both father B.R. Chopra and Uncle Yash Chopra had already many Silver Jubilee hits to their credit as directors, and uncle Dharma was already established as one of the Indian movie-industry's best cinematographers. Ravi Chopra is one of the important pillars of the Chopra Group.
334 Ravi learned direction by assisting both his father as well as uncle Yash and by 1973-74 was confident enough to make his directorial debut under the B.R. Films banner with 'ZAMEER', an Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna and Saira Banu starrer.
Since 1974, B.R. Chopra's son Ravi Chopra has been directing films under the banner of his illustrious father. They are 'ZAMEER' (1974) a silver jubilee hit which dealt with the theme of Man's conscience; 'THE BURNING TRAIN' (1980) a film in the disaster movie genre with a high Hollywood gloss; 'MAZDOOR' (1983) based on the eternal conflict of labour-vs-capital; 'AAJ KI AWAZ' (1984) a silver jubilee hit which deals with the burning problems of big-city lawlessness and how ordinary mortals are compelled to execute summary justice themselves, 'DAHLEEZ' (1986) which dealt with the problems of terrorism in modern India; 'PRATIGYABADH' and the contemporary theme of political kidnappings. But it is as the director of India's marathon tale- serial ‘MAHABHARAT’; a visual epic based upon India's immortal ancient epic which attained an incredible high of 96% nationwide viewers on Indian television over 93 consecutive weeks, that Ravi Chopra has attained world-wide fame. Plaudits pour in from all over the world with the 'MAHABHARAT' was applauded and aired in many foreign countries and also on B.B.C.
4. HRISHIKESH MUKHARJEE
Hrishikesh Mukharjee was born September 30, 1922 at Calcutta. Hrishikesh Mukherjee never dreamed that he would one day be a part of show business. He was a student of science and while in college he saw himself as a biochemist studying and teaching flora. After graduating in chemistry he did teach mathematics and science for a while and then drawn by his fascination for photography signed up with a Calcutta studio, New Theatres. For the next few months Hrishida worked industriously as lab assistant. One of his friends at the studio was an editor and whenever Hrishida had time to spare he would slip into the editing room to sit with his friend as he snipped reels of footage. Hrishada embarked on his first editing assignment and was ecstatic when the film hit bull's eye. But by then he had decided to quit the studio and pursue higher studies. It was Bimal Roy again who stopped him in his tracks. Bimal Roy had got an offer from Bombay Talkies to direct a Hindi film for them and was
335 leaving for Mumbai. He asked Hrishida to accompany him. Hrishada came to Mumbai and never went back. From film editor he became a screenplay writer with Do Bigha Zameen and with Musafir a director. In the years since he has directed several hit films including Anari, Anuradha, Guddi, Anand, Namak Haram, Abhimaan, Bawarchi, Chupke Chupke, Khoobsoorat and Gol Mal. His last film was Jhoot Bole Kauva Kaate. Madhumati was a great success. Musafir starred Kishore Kumar, Suchitra Sen and Dilip Kumar. It won Hrishida a Gold Medal and a certificate of merit from the National Awards jury. Raj Kapoor was another very dear friend of Hrishida. He had worked with him in his second film, Anari. Hrishida’s Anand was one of Rajesh Khanna's best-loved roles but it was also memorable for Amitabh Bachchan who was struggling to establish himself. Amitabh was also signed for Guddi but he was taken off later. During Guddi both Amitabh and Jaya were newcomers. Guddi shattered many myths about movies and matinee idols but it also turned Jaya into an overnight star. She's still referred to as Guddi. Amitabh and Jaya went on to do more films with Hrishida including Mili, Chupke Chupke and Abhimaan. Abhimaan warned of how fragile egos could destroy a good marriage. The film, Hrishida admitted, had been inspired by the lives of a film couple whose marriage Hrishida had seen going downhill before his eyes because the husband could not stomach his wife's success. Abhimaan gave Bindu a new image. Bindu who had become an established vamp after films like Kati Patang, Zanjeer and Imtihaan was dying to break out of the bad girl stereotype. It was Hrishida who dared to give her a sympathetic role in Abhimaan. Bawarchi is another of Rajesh Khanna's memorable films. It was a remake of a Bengali film in which Rabi Ghosh had played the role of the handy help who is instrumental in bringing happiness and harmony into a household. The film has inspired many film-makers including David Dhawan and Sanjay Chel whose Hero No. 1 and Khubsoorat had undoubtedly found their muse in Hrishida's family film. Jhoot Bole Kauva Kaate was a film Hrishida had planned years ago. It was to complete the triology of laugh riots that had begun with Gol Mal and Naram Garam. Utpal Dutt had excelled as the eccentric inspector and the wanting-to-wed-widower in these films and he was to star in Jhoot Bole Kauva Kaate too in the role of the girl's father. But by the time the film went on the floors Utpal Dutt had passed away Hrishikesh Mukherjee is one of the most famous Indian film directors. He worked with Bimal Roy in Calcutta as an editor. Later on, as a director, he created many immortal films like Anand, Abhiman, Guddi,
336 Golmal, Ashirvad, Bawarchi, Satyakam, Namakharam and many more. His films have melodious songs and the music was often created by Sachin Dev Burman. The films are realistic and unlike the other Bollywood films do not have crime, violence, and vulgarity. The stories are apparently simple but on analysis one can find the depth of meaning. He was honored with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award by the Government of India, in 1999, for his contribution to Indian cinema. He also holds the distinction of working with almost all the top Indian stars since independence of India in 1947. His last film was Jhoot Bole Kauua Katen. Since his original hero Amol Palekar has grown old he had to take Anil Kapoor. It is again a story of the Comedy of Errors and somewhat of a remake of his Golmaal. He has also directed TV serials like Talash. Another director akin to him is Basu Chatterjee.
5. RAJ KAPOOR
Raj Kapoor was a producer, director, actor, editor, musician, and an acknowledged patriarch of India's film making industry. He was the greatest entertainer known to Indian films. Mehboob's Andaaz (1949) made Raj a top star and in the same year it was the passionate romance Barsaat which really reckoned Raj Kapoor as a director of much merit. Barsaat, a runaway hit, also brought to limelight Shankar-Jaikishen, lyricists Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri and the actress Nimmi. The fifties saw Raj Kapoor's greatest work as a Producer-Director, Trimurthi with Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar. With Awaara in 1951, and Shree 420 in 1955, Raj Kapoor became a great star and a great Hero. He broke up with Nargis after 1956. He imitated Charlie Chaplin and the likes in Mera Naam Joker (1970). It was a great film but flopped at the box office. In Bobby Raj again bounced back. His later hits were Satyam Shivism Sundaram and Ram Tere Ganga Maili. At the time of his death Raj Kapoor was making Heena, a love story breaking the barriers of the Indo-Pak border, which was subsequently completed by his eldest son Randhir. His sons, all primarily actors, have tried to keep up his father’s show but with limited success. Raj Kapoor was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to Indian Cinema in 1988. Raj Kapoor made every effort to ensure that his movies appealed to every section of society, in particular the mythical 'common man'. Film
337 buffs have spoken of him as the 'Charlie Chaplin of India', since he often himself played a tramp-like figure who, despite adversity, could still be cheerful and honest, a 'gem of a man'. His other popular films are Agg and Jis desh me Ganga Behti hai. The songs of his films endeared Raj Kapoor not only to the masses in India, but to audiences in large parts of Africa, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union, where his films were to become enormous commercial successes. After the box office failure of his great film Mera Naam Joker which took six years to complete, he realized that the people want only love and sex and started films like Bobby. Raj Kapoor kept up with this trend of titillating sexuality in later films like Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) and Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985).
6. DEVANAND
Dev Anand was born on September 13, 1923 at Gurdaspur in Punjab. Dev Anand is one of the greatest stars the Hindi Film Industry has seen. He was handsome and elegant; and he was a gentleman in every sense of the term. His full name was Dev Dutt Pishorimal Anand His father was an advocate. He graduated in English Literature from the Government College, Lahore, and left for Bombay to join elder brother Chetan Anand in the IPTA. The initial years were full of struggle as among other things he even had to sell some of his possessions. His first acting assignment came with Prabhat's Hum Ek Hain (1946) but the film didn't do anything at all for his career. However at Prabhat, he met the young choreographer of the film, Guru Dutt. A friendship blossomed between the two of them. They promised each other that if Guru Dutt were to turn filmmaker he would take Dev as his hero and if Dev were to produce a film then he would take Guru Dutt as its Director! Ziddi (1948) at Bombay Talkies was Dev's first success. The following year he turned producer and launched his own banner, Navketan. Navketan's first offering was Afsar (1950) starring Dev and lady love Suraiya and was directed by elder brother Chetan. Remembering his promise to Guru Dutt, he invited him to make a film for Navketan. The year 1951 saw the release of Baazi, Guru Dutt's directorial debut. The film, written by actor Balraj Sahni, was a trendsetter of sorts leading to the spate of urban crime thrillers Bollywood churned out in the 1950s. The film took Dev Anand to dramatic star status. It was also
338 the beginning of seeing Dev play mostly hard-bitten characters living in the urban underbelly. But even as Dev started to get successful in films, his relationship with Suraiya ended as she could not take a stand against her strict grandmother. Ironically, her career went on the downslide thereafter even as his ascended - a total reversal of the days when they went around and she was the bigger star. The next pairing of Dev Anand and Guru Dutt was Jaal (1952). Dev played a heartless smuggler who only repents at the end of the film. It was a good performance but the film didn't do well at the box-office. The partnership came to an end when Guru Dutt decided to act in his own films. Dev meanwhile went from strength to strength and along with Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor ruled the Hindi Film Industry in the 1950s. Gregary Peck and Cry Grant appeared to be his role model. To quote Amit Knanna "Dev Anand's forte was the boy next door, part lover, part clown, part do-gooder." Munimjee (1955) and Paying Guest (1957), Kala Bazaar (1960) and Bombay ka Babu (1960) were his hit films. He excelled in Hum Dono (1961) and Guide. Dev Anand entered the 1970s on high waves with Johnny Mera Naam (1970) and also took to direction with Prem Pujari (1970). His best efforts in this field were Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971) and Desh Pardes (1978). He launched Zeenat Aman, Tina Munim (now Ambani), Natasha Sinha and Ekta. He also tried to launch his son Suneil with Anand Aur Anand (1984) but was unsuccessful. His philosophy is to think positive. To quote him, "I never give myself a chance to get depressed. I think ahead." On January 26, 2001 Dev Anand was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Indian Cinema and He has also won Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
7. GURU DUTT
Guru Dutt was a famous director and wonderful actor who killed himself in a love triangle. He was born on July 9, 1925 at Mangalore, Karnataka. His full name was Guru Dutt Shiv Shankar Padukon. He received his early education in Calcutta. Guru Dutt learned dancing at Uday Shankar's, India Cultural Centre at Almora for two years. Later he moved to Maharashtra where he began his association with the film world. He learned every aspect of film making by assisting major
339 directors in studios like Prabhat, Famous Pictures and Bombay Talkies etc. Dutt's earliest assignment in the world of commercial cinema was that of a choreographer in the film 'Hum Ek Hain' and as an actor in the film 'Lakhrani' in 1944. His first big break as a director came with ' Baazi' (1951), produced by Dev Anand's Navketan Studio but it was with 'Aar Paar'(1954), that Guru Dutt entered his most popular phase as a director. He also proved his mettle as an actor by playing the hero in the film with a style of his own. During this time he married the popular playback singer, Geeta Roy who was to sing some of the best songs in his films. With Aar Paar, Guru Dutt started his own production company. Other films which established Dutt's reputation as an excellent Director were 'Pyaasa'(1957), 'Kaagaz Ke Phool'(1959); The films that established him as an actor and producer, was 'Chaudvin Ka Chand'(1960) and 'Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam'(1962). The story of Kaagaz ke Phool has glimpses of his personal life. Almost all his films had female as central characters. Famous actresses like Meena Kumari and Waheeda Rehman have given powerful performances in his films. He was so different from his fellow directors in the sense that he made good purposeful, films though not hits at the box office. He had a tragic end at the young age of thirty nine as he fell for Waheeda Rehman who neglected him as he was already married to Geeta Dutt the play-back singer. Geeta Dutt had a nervous breakdown before her death a few years later.
8. SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI
Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an Indian director, best known for filming the 2002 adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Devdas. His works also include Khamoshi: The Musical (1996), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) and Black (2005) (a loose adaptation of The Miracle Worker). His directing trademarks include lush visuals and loud melodrama. He has won the Filmfare Award for Best Director twice; for Devdas and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. His next project was to be Bajirao Mastani (2006) but it has been shelved as of now. Bhansali has adopted the middle name "Leela" as a tribute to his mother, Leela Bhansali. He is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India. He has directed Saavariya, Black, Deva Das, Ham Dil Dechuke Sanam and Khamoshi
340 9. RAMGOPAL VARMA
Ram Gopal Varma entered the world of cinema by choice not circumstance. He was a civil Engineer by profession. He owned a video library shop in Hyderabad a decade ago. He almost went to Nigeria to better his prospects, but decided to stay back only because by then he had started making money with the video library. Actor Nagarjuna was impressed with the way Ramu narrated the subject of Shiva and gave him. Ram Gopal Varma shook the whole nation with Rangeela and Tamil Nadu with Udayam. From a video library owner to one of India's leading filmmakers, Ram Gopal Varma's success story is amazing. His innings as a filmmaker began with the low budget Telugu film Shiva. As a student of Siddhardha Engineering College, Vijayawada, he was a regular movie goer. He won 1991 Andhra Pradesh Government's Nandi award as Best Director. Ramu started his career with Shiva in Telugu, starring Nagarjuna, Amala and Raghuvaran. He made Kshanakshanam, Raathri, and Raat. His other films are Anthem, Rangeela and Satya, Prem Katha and Jungle.
10. MANIRATNAM
Mani Ratnam was born June 2, 1956, at Madras. He is a great Director, screen writer and director of the Indian film industry. He was educated at Jamnalalal Bajaj Insitute of Management, a noted management school in India. He got into film direction with the help of his late brother, film producer G. Venkateswaran.Mani Ratnam consistently chooses realistic, contemporary themes and complex plots for his movies. He has also made films in other languages like Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada. Ratnam's movies are further noted for their brilliance in technical aspects like art direction, cinematography and background score. Of late, his talent has come to be acknowledged at an international level also. In 2002, he was awarded the Padma Shri. He started with Pallavi and Anu Pallavi in1983 to Guru in 2006. In 1994, a retrospective of his Tamil films was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. The characteristic elements of Mani Ratnam's films include memorable music by A. R.
341 Rahman earlier called Ilayaraja, a strong story line, sharp dialogue and innovative cinematography and art direction. He has worked with the best cinematographers in the country, notably P. C. Sriram, Balu Mahendra, Santosh Sivan, Ravi K. Chandran, Rajiv Menon and the likes.Mani's father Gopal Ratnam Iyer was a film producer.Mani's brother G. Venkateshwaran, popularly known as G.V. was also a film producer who committed suicide. Mani married to actress Suhasini, niece of Kamal Haasan and they have a 12-year son Nandan. Mani Rathnam, one of the leading film directors in the country, shares a friendly relationship with Ram Gopal Varma. His Tamil film Thiruda Thiruda, was co-written by Ram Gopal Varma and Ramu's Telugu film Gaayam was co-written by Mani Rathnam. In a way, it can be said that both the directors have ventured into new wave cinema with Company (Ram Gopal Varma) and Kannathil Muthamittal (Mani Rathnam) in 2002. Mani Rathnam's Dil Se. was co-produced by Ram Gopal Varma and Shekhar Kapoor. Mr. Varma tells that until he saw Mani's films, he never took song and dances seriously. His inspiration for visuals comes from Mani. Mani Rathnam, Shekhar Kapoor and Ram Gopal Varma are partners in a company, very good friends and have mutual respect for their works.
11. KARAN JOHAR
As Assistant Director, Karan Johar and Sharuk worked together in Dilwale Dulhania Lejayenge. He also worked with him in Dil To Pagal Hai, Duplicate, Mohabbatein, Main Hoon Na and Veer-Zaara. In 1998 he worked as Director in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and it was a blockbuster. In This film he proved that he was a creative genius. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai won eight Filmfare awards in 1998 including the Best Movie, Best Director and all the Best Actors in lead and supporting roles. His second attempt as a director which brought laurels was in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham was released in 2001. He went on to produce Kal ho na ho in 2003 which was directed by Nikhil Advani, his Assistant Director from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. In 2005, he produced another movie, Kaal, directed by Soham Shah. In 2005, after taking a four year long break from direction, he has directed his third film with Shahrukh Khan, Kabi albida na kahena which will be released in the summer of 2006.
342
GREAT ACTORS ON CELLULOID SCREEN
1. AMITAB BACHAN
Amitab Bachan is a super-star of the millinium. He has captivated the hearts of millions of people for over thirty years. Embarking on a career in cinema with a little known film Saat Hindustani in '69, Amitabh Bachchan soon shot into limelight with his performances in Dewar, Zanjeer, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar and Sholay. He is still in the cinema world with his charismatic acting. His performance in Bhagban and Black were so good that the people want him to still act for the films at his advanced age. Many of his films have been blockbusters. He had a brief stint as a parliamentarian and he bid adieu to it loathing the political stink this country is having. He survived an accident in Coolie but still he is fit to act in the films. He is versatile actor who can fit into any role. He is a son of Harivansh Rai, a well-known poet and Teji Bachchan. He was born on October 11, 1942. Amitabh is married to actress Jaya Bhaduri. Amtitabh Bachchan became more popular after hosting the famous Television show "Kaun Banegaa Crorepathi". Abhishek Bachan is also an actor.
2. AMRISH PURI
Amarish Puri is a great actor that the Cinema world has ever seen in the role of a villain or a bad guy. He wanted to be a hero but Bolluwood recognized in him a great villain which he accepted and performed his role in such a way that he left the people stunned.
343 Amarish was born on June 22, 1932 and died on January 12, 2005 in Bombay of brain hemorrhage. He worked for a number of films produced or directed by Shyam Benegal, Yesh Chopra and others. Madan Puri another bollywood villain was his brother. Om Puri of Bharat Ek Khoj is his cousin. He made his debut in the Hindi film at the age of 40 in 1971. He is survived by his daughter Namrata and Son Rajiv.
3. RAJESH KHANNA
Rajesh Khanna ruled the Indian silver screen from 1969 and 1972 and almost all his films became hits. He became a super star in a short span of his career. Just five years later his films failed to make box-office. He was born as Jatin Khanna and he was adopted son of his parents. After a stint in theatre, he was selected by the United Producers' Talent Contest. He made his film debut in Chetan Anand's Aakhri Khat in1966. His earlier films however did nothing for him till Aradhana in 1969 came along. Aradhana made Rajesh Khanna a star. It was a golden jubilee hit. Barely a short while later in December the same year, Raj Khosla's Do Raaste opened to full houses and also went on to be a golden jubilee hit. What's more in Bombay, the two films had their main theatres right across the road from one another, Aradhana at Opera House and Do Raaste at Roxy! In films like Khamoshi (1969), Safar (1970) and Anand (1970), he came up with sensitive performances straight from the heart. As Khanna went from strength to strength, even a guest appearance in Andaaz (1971) generated more hysteria than the hero of the film Shammi Kapoor. Though Khanna worked with top heroines of the day like Waheeda Rehman, Nanda, Mala Sinha, Tanuja and Hema Malini, his most popular pairings were with Sharmila Tagore and Mumtaz. The BBC made a film on him, Bombay Superstar, and a textbook prescribed by the Bombay University contained an essay, 'The Charisma of Rajesh Khanna!' Rajesh Khanna formed a brilliant combination with director Shakti Samanta, Music Director R.D. Burman and 'his voice', singer Kishore Kumar resulting in such films like Kati Patang (1970) and Amar Prem (1971). With Hrishikesh Mukherjee, he gave fine performances in Bawarchi (1972) and Namak Haram (1973) ably carrying both films on his shoulders. The same year (1973) also saw him score with a strong performance in Aavishkaar, Basu Bhattacharya's realistic study of a marriage gone sour.
344 Amitabh Bachchan had stormed the Industry with his intense 'angry young man' performance in Zanjeer (1973). With his tall and lean looks, Amitabh became emblematic of the new kind of action hero. Every hero fell to the Amitabh onslaught and Rajesh Khanna was no exception. He tried to stay in the news however with a sensational marriage to the 'Bobby Girl', Dimple Kapadia who at 16 was 15 years younger than him! With Amitabh's success, different kind of movies began to be made with a stronger accent on action. Rajesh Khanna's romantic mannerisms now appeared jaded and out of synchronization with the times. Even films with old regulars Shakti Samanta (Ajnabi (1974), Mehbooba (1976), Anurodh (1977)) and Hrishida (Naukri (1978)) came unstuck at the box-office. What's more both Shakti Samanta and Hrishida went on do a series of films with the new superstar, Amitabh Bachchan! And to top it all, even his marriage to Dimple was on the rocks and subsequently she left him and resumed her acting career with much success. Though Amardeep (1979) and Thodisi Bewafayi (1980) brought Rajesh Khanna some reprieve, it was the triple success of Agar Tum Na Hote (1983), Avtaar (1983) and Souten (1983) that proved to be the last strong flickers in a dying flame. Avtaar particularly saw a good performance from him in the role of a self-respecting garage mechanic. In the 1990s with his film career all but over, Rajesh Khanna entered politics and even served a stint as Member of Parliament with the Congress - I Party. He made an undistinguished comeback of sorts in Rishi Kapoor's Aa Ab Laut Chalein (1999) and is now all set to make his debut on Television with the serial Batwara.
4. SHARUKH KHAN Shahrukh Khan was born on 12th November 1965. He was brought up in Delhi. He has a sister named Shehnaaz, Wife Gauri Khan; He is an animal lover and tames a dog which he has named as Chebacca. Shah Ruche Khan has won several awards for his outstanding performance in Darr (1994), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). Right now he is the top most popular actor in the India. His recent hit Baadshah (1999) has also earned many praises. Shahrukh started his career on a TV serial called "Fauji" (1988) that won him instant recognition. He also acted in another TV soap called "Circus" (1989). He was born and raised in Delhi, and he was equally brilliant in studies and sports. Fell in love with a girl called Gauri
345 Chibba who was then studying in Loreto Delhi. He later married her before he got his break in Bollywood. Currently, he is the most sought after actor in India. Has a son called Aryan Khan and a daughter named Suhana Khan. Gauri Khan is his wife since October 25, 1991.His father is Aryan Khan He runs a production company "Dreamz Unlimited" with actress, friend, co-star Juhi Chawla and director, friend Aziz Mirza. He was named one of Time Magazine's 20 Asian Heroes under 40 (2004) Shah Rukh and his wife, Gauri Khan, own the production company "Red Chilies Entertainments", which Shah Rukh started for friend and colleague, director/choreographer Farah Khan, for her debut directorial film - Main Hoon Na (2004). He has purchased a villa on a man made island on the coast of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
6. GREAT ACTRESSES ON THE CELLULOID SCREEN
1. REKHA
Rekha is one of the all time greatest actress of bollywood. Rekha is a daughter of the well known film superstar Gemini Ganeshan and actress Pushpavalli. Her first film Sawan Bhadon was released in 1970. Since then she has worked in more than 60 Hindi movies.
Rekha is daughter of the well known film superstar Gemini Ganeshan and actress Pushpavalli. Both of her parents were film stars hence studio became her playground. Film studio was like second home for her. Rekha started acting very early, at the age of thirteen. She did not even know Hindi at that time. But she was a quick learner and learnt Hindi in three months and dancing in one month. Her first film Sawan Bhadon done with Navin Nischol was released in 1970. Throughout the Seventies, she remained an insignificant entity in Bollywood with nothing but moderate success to her credit. Rekha turned out to be a smart girl. With the help of Yoga and make over she underwent amazing transformation in early 1980s both physically and mentally, transforming from a plump, darkish, also-ran sort of leading lady to an athletic sexy looking damsel. This overnight transformation boosted her image in the Bollywood so much so that she reigned as number one for almost a decade! The transformation was so complete that it did not only change her appearance but also seemed to have enhanced her acting capabilities. It was at this stage that Amitabh Bachchan entered
346 her personal and professional life. Their hits together like 'Muqaddar Ka Sikandar', 'Mr. Natwarlal', 'Khoon Paseena' and 'Silsila' made Amitabh-Rekha one of the most successful pairs on the Hindi screen. Her most memorable film is Umraoo Jaan in which she played the role of a court dancer with such charm and captivated the audience with her mastery of classical dances. She acted in over 20 films with the then reigning superstar Amithbh Bachchan with whom her reported love Affair culminated in Yash Chopra's art-imitating-life movie Silsila. Details on Bollywood
2. VYJAYANTIMALA
Vyjayantimala was the first of the few South Indian actresses who have made it as a national star of Hindi films and ruled the silver screen for almost two decades. She was not only a great actress but also a great dancer. Vyjayantimala had the dance sequence in every film of hers. She started in Tamil films under M.V. Raman's direction at AVM with Vazkai/ Jeevitham (1949) a bilingual and later adapted as Bahar (1951), which was AVM and Vyjayantimala's initial foray into Hindi Films. She became a major star with Filmistan's Nagin (1954). Crowds thronged to see her body movements as a snake to Lata’s hit - Man Dole, Mera Man Dole. With Devdas (1955), Vyjayantimala, playing the dancing girl Chandramukhi, proved herself to be an actress of considerable merit. She replaced Madhubala in Naya Daur (1957) and shot to the highest echelons of stardom with Bimal Roy's Madhumati (1958) and her role of a prostitute in Sadhana (1958) fetched her Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Ganga Jamuna (1961) saw another flawless performance from her. It is to her credit that in spite of her South-Indian upbringing, her bhojpuri dialect in the film is near perfect and fetched her Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She got her third Best Actress Award for Raj Kapoor's Sangam (1964), one of the best triangles in Indian Cinema. But while doing Sangam she got involved in an ill-fated romance with Raj Kapoor. After Sangam, her later films were pretty lightweight and made no challenges on her as an actress. She had some role in Jewel Thief (1967) though. She got married to Raj Kapoor's personal physician Dr. Bali and left the Film Industry. She has since had a son Suchindra, dabbled in various businesses like M P farming and even stood for elections and was a Member of Parliament in the 1980s, besides
347 concentrating on her first love - dancing. Her son has now entered the Tamil Film Industry to try and make it as an actor.
3. WAHEEDA REHMAN
Waheeda Rehman brings nostalgic memories of Chaudvin Ka Chand, Pyaasa, Kaagaz ke Phool, and the list goes on. Waheeda Rehman was considered very beautiful as she had won the hearts of millions through her elegance and acting skills. No wonder Shakeel Badayuni was inspired to write Chaudvin Ka Chand, Ho Ya Aftab Ho, Jo Bhi Ho Khuda Ki Kasam Lajawab Ho after seeing her. It can probably be called the 'million-dollar glance'. Waheeda Rehman in Kaagaz Ke Phool proves, beyond doubt, how graceful and talented an actress she is. Waheeda Rehman was a great actress in the "Golden Era" of Hindi Cinema in Bollywood. She could portray any role in a tragic and romantic manner.
4. AISHWARYA RAI
AISHWARYA was born into a traditional South Indian family. She started modeling at a young age. She was crowned Miss India runner- up in 1994. She was a hot favorite for Miss World title, which she won. Her performance in Iruvar (1997) was acclaimed well, and she bagged the Screen best female debutant award for her role in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (1997). She was adored in movies like Taal, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, and Bunty & Bubbly. Aishwarya was an architecture student before she entered modeling as her part-time job. She was best known for her Pepsi commercial with Mahima Soon after her winning title in 1994, she received offers to star in movies. In Southern India, she was best known for her role as Madhumita/Veishnavi in Jeans (1998) and as Meenakshi in Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000). She bagged the Filmfare Award for best actress for her performance in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) as Ajay Devgan's wife who is in love with another man. She also won rave reviews for her performance as a rape victim in Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (2000). In 2000 she was awarded Best Actress by Filmfare and Zee Cine for her work in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", She
348 was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her special appearance in Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein (2000). In 2001 Ash was nominated for FilmFare's Best Actress Award for Satish Kaushik's "Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai". Ash's star continued to rise in 2002 working again with Sajay Leela Bhansali in 'Devdas'. 'Devdas' is the most ambitious and most successful film in Bollywood history. It became the first Bollywood picture to ever receive a special screening at this year's Cannes Film Festival and broke box-office records in India and the United States. 2003. Ash became the first Indian actress to be a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. She is also the latest member of the elite L'Oreal Dream Team, joining beauties Catherine Deneuve & Andie MacDowell as their international ambassador. She graced the covers of India Today and the prestigious TIME Magazine. Aishwarya took a leading role in her first English language film for Gurinder Chadha in "Bride & Prejudice". She also became the first Indian female to be immortalized in wax at the world famous Madame Tussaud's wax museum in London. With over 17,000 websites dedicated to her, Ash finally launched her "Official Website" www.AishwaryaWorld.com. 2005. She gave appearances on "60 Minutes", "David Letterman Show" and the most watched television program in the world the "Oprah Winfrey Show". Aishwarya's career continues to grow even stronger - she will soon be seen in Mistress of Spices for director Paul Berges, Jag Mundhra's Provoked, Sanjay Gadhvi's Dhoom 2 and legendary film producer Dino De Laurentiis's The Last Legion opposite Colin Firth and Sir Ben Kingsley. The Queen of Bollywood is already becoming the talk of tinsel town and is currently in negotiations on two major motion pictures. Aishwarya Rai (Ash) is one of Bollywood's pre-eminent leading ladies. Beauty, poise and intelligence are her forte. 5. KAREENA KAPOOR Kareena Kapoor is popular star now after Aishwarya. She is yet another Kapoor family girl. She had acted with Abhishek Bacchan in Refugee as a debutant. He was born to popular Bollywood stars Randhir Kapoor and Babita Kapoor ‘Bebo’ as she is affectionately known, stand 5'5" tall, blue eyed, and is a total extrovert. She wanted to study law in Harvard and had no plans to do anything in Bollywood. But destiny took a hand and now she’s in the limelight.
349 3. RANI MUKHARJEE
Rani Mukharjee was born on March 31, 1978 with light brown eyes and took modeling and acting. She belonged to the family of cine- artists, Kajol and Tanuja. She is really attractive and a glamour queen. She has improved her acting a lot and does her role with ease. Raja ki Aayegi Bharat was her first film. Her performance in Ghulam was very good. She received her best supporting actress award from Filmfare for her role in
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. She will certainly shine on the silver screen for many more years to come.
350
CHAPTER 23
SPORTS PERSONALITIES
CHESS
1. VISHWANATHAN ANAND Anand won the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000 after defeating Alexei Shirov 3.5 - 0.5 in the final match held at Teheran, and became the first Indian to win that title. Viswanathan He was taught chess moves by his mother, Sushila Vishwanathan. His father, who was posted as a consultant in the Philippines, was his constant source of motivation. The credit for his success goes to his parents. Recognizing his love for the game his parents decided to encourage him in his pursuits and arranged for Anand’s trip to the Philippines for the World Junior Championships at his own expense. At 15, he was the country’s youngest International Grand Master. By the time Anand won his second national championship, he was already regarded as the world class player. Viswanathan Anand is 37 years old now. He was born on December 11, 1969. Viswanathan Anand is the only non-Russian to come close to winning world title apart from Bobby Fischer. Fisher had won the championship in 1972. Anand won the advance chess title in Leon for an unprecedented third time in a row and for good measure added a title in Merida in Mexico. He won Mainz championship defeating Vladimir Kramnik. Anand’s first success came as early as 1983 when he first won the sub-junior championship, and the same year he annexed the national junior chess championship. For the next two years, he won the National Championship and he also won Asian Junior Championship. Anand returned to Philippines in 1987 as a strong contender for the World Junior championships. He won the title in the process of becoming the first Indian Grand Master which he has retained for more than a decade. Philippine was a happy hunting ground for Anand. In 1990 he qualified for the candidates’ cycle of the World Championship after winning the Manila Inter-zone. In 1992 he became only the eighth player in the world to cross a rating of 2700 and won the world’s
351 highest rated tournament in Reggio Emila where he out-maneuvered the great Gary Kasparov. His moment of glory came in 2000 when he won the FIDE World Championship title, becoming the first ever Indian to do so. Regarding winning Kramnik he remarked, "It was an extremely tough challenge at Mainz. Kramnik is an excellent player; he is full of energy and tries to demolish the opposition very early in the game. It feels really great to defeat a powerful player like him," says Anand. From his fifteen years of age, Anand loved Chess so much that he could discuss every move in great detail. His elder brother, Shiva Kumar, is Chief Design Engineer with Crompton Greaves, and his sister, Anuradha, did her MBA at IIM Calcutta. She got married, went off to the United States and did a doctorate in Corporate Management and now she teaches at Michigan University. At the national level he won the National Sub-Junior Chess Championship with a score of 9/9 in 1983 at the age of fourteen. He became the youngest Indian to win the International Master's Title at the age of fifteen, in 1984. At the age of sixteen he became the National Champion and won that title two more times. He played games at lightning speed, earning him the nickname "Lightning Kid" In 1987; he became the first Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship. In 1988, at the age of eighteen, he became India's first Grandmaster. He is called by his fans Vishy. Anand won three consecutive Advanced Chess tournaments in Leon and Spain. Anand's recent tournament successes include the prestigious Corus chess tournament in years 2003, 2004, 2006 and Dortmund in 2004. He has won Monaco Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Championships in years 1994, 1997, 2003 and 2005. He is the only player to have won five titles of the Corus chess tournament. Anand has won the Chess Oscar in 1997, 1998, 2003, and 2004. His four Oscars ties him with Kasparov for the most ever, one better than Fischer's three. The Chess Oscar is awarded to the year's best player according to a world-wide poll of leading chess critics, writers, and journalists conducted by the Russian chess magazine 64. His game collection, My Best Games of Chess, was published in the year 1998 and was updated in 2001. He lost the title when Ruslan Ponomariov won the FIDE knockout tournament in 2002.He became shared second in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 together with Peter Svidler with 8.5 points out of 14 games, lagging 1.5 points behind the winner, Veselin Topalov. In October 2003, the governing body of chess, FIDE, organized a rapid time control tournament in Cap d'Agde and billed it as the World Rapid
352 Chess Championship. Each player had 25 minutes at the start of the game, with an additional 10 seconds after each move. Anand won this event ahead of ten of the other top twelve players in the world with Kasparov being the only missing player. Anand is widely regarded as the world's finest Rapid Chess player. He has consistently won several rapid events defeating many top players. His main titles in this Category are at: Corsica, Leon and Amber events where he dominated almost all the top-ranked players. Anand has received many awards such as Arjuna award; Padma award, Rajeev Gandhi Khel award, Book of the year award, Padma Bhushan in 2000 and Chess Oscar four times last in 2004. World number two Viswanathan Anand led from the front as the second seed Indian men’s team stamped an emphatic 4-0 victory over Mongolia in the third round of the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin.
CRICKET
1. SUNIL GAVASKAR
SUNIL MANOHAR GAVASKAR was born on July 10, 1949 at Bombay. He became a cricketing prodigy. He is a right hand batsman. He can also bowl right arm medium. He made his debut in Port of Spain, West Indies, in 1970. He played his last test against Pakistan in 1987. He played one-dayer from 1974 to 1987. He was a remarkable success in cricket and brought laurels to his country.
2. SACHIN TANDULKAR
Sachin is another great cricketer of India. He is a right hand batsman. He can also bowl leg break googly. He played more than 130 test matches and 362 one day international. He scored more than 10,000 in tests and more than 14000 in ODI with a batting average of 55 and 44 respectively. His highest score was 248* and 186* in test and one dayer respectively. He has taken around 37 test wickets and 142 ODI wickets as of March 13, 2006. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born April 24, 1973. He was the best batsmen of the modern era once. He currently holds the record for the most number of runs in One-Day Internationals, and the most number
353 of centuries scored both in One-Day Internationals and in Test cricket. He made his international debut against Pakistan in 1989 at sixteen, becoming India's youngest Test player. Primarily a top-order batsman, Tendulkar has occasionally proven a useful slow bowler. He received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honor, for 1997- 1998, and the civilian award Padma in 1999. Tendulkar appeared on the front cover of the Indian edition of TIME magazine in 2002 when he was chosen as one of its "Asian Heroes". He is also called the "Little Master" and "Master Blaster". He also received the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997. While at school, he was involved in a mammoth 664 run partnership in a Harris Shield game with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli. In 1988/1989, he scored 100 not out in his first first-class match, for Bombay against Gujarat. He was the youngest player to score a century on debut. Sachin played his first international match against Pakistan in Karachi. His first ODI century came on September 9, 1994 against Australia in Sri Lanka at Colombo. It had taken Tendulkar 79 ODIs to score a century. Sachin Tendulkar is the only player to score a century while making his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debut. Wisden named Tendulkar one of the Cricketers of the Year in 1997 for securing 1000 runs that calendar year. He repeated the feat in 1999, 2001, and 2002. Tendulkar also holds the record for scoring 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year. He has done it six times - 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003. In 1998 he made 1,894 ODI runs, still the record for ODI runs by any batsman in any given calendar year. Sachin was born in Bombay into a middle-class family. It is said that “Sachin Tendulkar was named after his family's favorite music director Sachin Dev Burman.” He went to Sharadashram Vidyamandir School where he started his cricketing career under Coach Ramakant Achrekar. Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali Mehta, the paediatrician daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta, in 1995, some years after they were introduced by mutual friends. They have two children, namely Sara and Arjan. Sara was born in October 1997 and Arjun was born on 23 September, 2000. Tendulkar now sponsors 200 under-privileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annabel Mehta.
354 3. KAPIL DEV RAMLAL NIKHANJ
Kapil Dev is a right hand batsman and right arm fast medium bowler. He played 131 tests and 225 ODI. He scored 5248 and 3783 runs respectively in tests and ODI. He has a batting average of 31.05 and 23.79 respectively. His top score is 163 and 175* respectively. He has secured five or more wickets in 23 matches and 10 wickets in 2 matches. His best bowling was 9/83 in test and 5 for 43 in ODI Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj was the former captain of the Indian Cricket Team. He led the Indian Cricket team to victory in the 1983 Cricket World Cup. He is now retired from the game, but is still in the administration. Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj is known as Kapil. He was born on January 6, 1959, in Chandigarh. He is one of the greatest all-rounders ever seen in the game of cricket. In addition, he held the record for the most Test match wickets, between 1994 and 1999. Kapil made his international cricket debut against Pakistan at Faisalabad in 1978-79 and became an instant success with the Indian masses when he hit two clean sixes on his way to his first half-century in the 3rd Test of that series. When Pakistan returned for a six-Test series in 1979-80, Kapil was the man of the series and the main factor behind the 2-0 win for India. More success followed in the next season in Australia, where he helped India defend a small second-innings score at Melbourne against a formidable Australian batting line-up. He was the man of the series against England, both in the home series of 1981- 82 as well as the "away" series in 1982. Following India's disastrous tour of Pakistan in 1982-83, he was appointed the captain and within a few months of taking over the captaincy, he led India to the world cup win of 1983. Kapil lost the captaincy in early 1984. He regained it in March 1985 and held it till the World Cup 1987 when he lost to England in the semi-final.
TENNIS
1. RAMANATHAN KRISHNAN
Ramanathan Krishnan entered the semifinals of the Wimbledon Championship twice. Ramanathan as a 10-year-old boy, practiced at the
355 Kalkatora stadium in Delhi, after all the senior players had left. His father, Ramanathan resigned his job and coached young Krishnan. The Tennis court was built in 1952 for him and by 1953 he became the best player in the country. He attributes his success Toto the ceaseless effort of his father. He won the Asian Championship, the Junior Wimbledon Championship and earned a world ranking at the highest level. Krishnan, on his part chose Wimbledon to revel into glory. As the fourth seed in 1961 he reached the semifinal. The eventual champion, Rod Laver, stopped him again. "I have no regrets of losing because both the times I lost to the ultimate champion. In 1960, I lost to Neil Fraser, one of the greatest left handers and in 1961 I lost to Rod Laver, an all time great," says Ramanathan Krishnan. Ramanathan Krishnan manages a gas distribution company in Chennai. It is a gift from the Government in recognition of his meritorious service to the country. There were many occasions when Ramanathan Krishnan did the country proud with his remarkable success.
2. VIJAY AMRITRAJ
For almost two decades, Vijay Amritraj was one of the most famous tennis players in the world, and was the top tennis player in Asia for 14 straight years. In recent years, Vijay has become a leading tennis commentator for Fox Sports in the US and STAR-TV in Asia. His California-based company, first serve entertainment, is one of the leading multimedia production companies that deal with Asian- American content and helped Disney, Turner and ESPN enter the Indian market. Vijay was born on December 14, 1953 at Chennai in India. He was ranked as one among the top ten tennis player in the world. He competed for 17 years in Wimbledon and in Devis cup for 20 years. He led India to finals in 1974 and 1987. He was named the UN messenger of Peace in February, 2001. He carried the Olympic torch in 1988. He founded Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy in India. He participated in movies such as Octopussy and Star Trek He is also a tennis commentator for Fox and ESPN. He has received Baron Pierre de Coubertin Award and also Padma Shree award. In 1987 he played the Davis Cup final for India against Sweden.
356 3. SANIA MIRZA
Sania Mirza is a tennis star from Hyderabad who created history. She as a teenager entered into top-50 club in Tennis. She became the first Indian woman to win a WTA tourney when she lifted Hyderabad Open trophy in February 2005. She was trained by Krishna Bhupathi the father of Mahesh Bhupathi, another tennis star. Sania Mirza has also been honored with the prestigious Arjuna award by the Indian government for the year 2004. She is the highest ranked female tennis player from India. She is ranked 31 in singles and 109 in doubles by mid-October 2005. As of October 2005, she also ranked 2nd among Asian women. Her year-end rank in 2004 was 206. She became the first Indian woman to reach the 4th round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005. Having secured a wild card entry to the 2005 Australian Open Mirza reached the third round, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams. On February 12, 2005, she became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title defeating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the Hyderabad Open Finals. Sania won the Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title in 2003, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia. In 2005, she was awarded the Arjuna award in tennis for the year 2004. The Government of India honored her with Padma, the fourth highest civilian award in 2006. She has defeated two top-10 players, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova. Mirza is also the first Indian sportswoman to feature on the cover of Time magazine (South Asian edition) and was included in its 2005 list of Asia's 50 heroes. In 2006 she won Bangalore Open. She had won Hyderabad Open in the previous years. Doubles: Won the tournament partnering with Liezel Huber. In 2005 she reached semi finals in Japan Open. In 2005 she also reached 4th round in US open and reached quarter final in Dubai Tennis Championships. In Wimbledon Championship Junior doubles she won the tournament (partnering with Alisa Kleybanova) to become the youngest Indian and the first Indian woman to win a junior Grand Slam title in 2003.In 2003 Afro-Asian Games: she won four gold medals - Women's singles, Mixed doubles (with Mahesh Bhupathi), Women's doubles and Women's team events, the last two gold in partnership with Rushmi Chakravarthy. Sania Mirza was born on November 15, 1986 at Mumbai. She is residing now at Hyderabad. Sania was also coached by her father Imran Mirza. She started playing Tennis at the age of six.
357
4. MAHESH BHUPATHI Mahesh nivas Bhupathi was born June 7, 1974 in Madras. He is a professional tennis player from India. He turned professional in 1995. In 2001, he was awarded the Padma. He currently resides in Bangalore and is among the best doubles tennis players in the world. In 1999, Bhupathi won three doubles titles with Leander Paes including Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He and Leander became the first doubles team to reach finals of all four Grand Slams, the first time such a feat has been achieved in the Open era and the first time since 1952. On April 26 that year, they became the World No. 1 doubles team. Bhupathi also won the US Open mixed doubles with Ai Sugiyama of Japan. After a layoff of more than 3 years from match play, Martina Hingis made her Grand Slam comeback in Melbourne in 2006. Bhupathi teamed with Hingis defeated the sixth-seeded team of Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Elena Likhovtseva (RUS) in straight sets, 6-3, and 6-3, to capture the championship. It was the sixth mixed doubles Grand Slam for Bhupathi and a first for Hingis.
P T USHA-a great athletic
The queen of Indian track and field for two decades, P.T. Usha has been associated with Indian athletics since 1979. She was born as the daughter of Paithal and Lakshmi, on June 27, 1964 in the Kerala village of Meladi-Payyoli near Calicut. In 1976 the Kerala State Government started a Sports School for women, and Usha was chosen to represent her district, at a cost of Rs. 250 per month paid by the state. In 1979 she participated in the National School Games, where she was noticed by O. M. Nambiar, who coached her through most of the rest of her career. Usha made her international debut at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 but she shone into the limelight in the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, winning the silver in the 100 m and 200 m event. At the Asian Meet in Jakarta in 1985 Usha established herself as the Asian sprint queen with five gold medals (in the 100meters, 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles and the 4x400m relay) besides a bronze in the 100mrelay. By 1986 Los Angeles Olympics, she had improved tremendously; she won the 400 m heats, and missed getting India's first track-and-field bronze medal in the 400m finals by 1/100 sec, in a dramatic photo finish. She
358 had set an Asian best, 55.42 seconds, for the event which still stands today. She is married to Srinivasan. They have son called Ujjwal. She as athlete astonished India by winning 200 m and 400 m at the Asian Track Federation events. P.T. Usha was named sportsperson of the century by the Indian Olympic Association, and is still the Indian with most international track and field medals. She was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1983 and the Padma Shree in 1985. You can walk on P.T. Usha Road in Cochin. Her autobiography, Golden Girl, was published by Penguin in 1987. P T Usha has started a training Academy. A large number of young girls are trying to clear the trials for admission to P T Usha Academy. She provides two week training with food and accommodation to 30 athletes. She intends to prepare world class athletes for 2008 Beijing Olympics. She is on to make the country proud at the international Athletics.
359
About the author
Ranganathan Magadi, the author of this book, was born, brought up and educated in India. He was born on November 26, 1936 in Bangalore, India. He received his Master’s degree at the University of Mysore and his post graduate Law Degree at Bangalore University. He served as a Lecturer, Reader and Professor, and taught under-graduate students at the degree level. He retired as Principal of First Grade College in India. He is now living in Solon, Ohio. He wrote FATE, a novel in 2004 and TWILIGHT ZONE, a collection of Short Stories in 2005.
360