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DELHI
sky
flown at Colva Beach
in Goa. Getty Images
COVER
As free
as the On India’s 75th Independence Day, writer Annie Zaidi
ponders about the real meaning of freedom p3
IN THE NEWS
Unparliamentary
Be careful when you say
‘pappu’. At least, if you’re in
the Madhya Pradesh
Legislative Assembly, which
has just brought out a booklet
of unparliamentary language,
listing 1,161 words and phrases
expunged from the House’s
records since 1954. The
impugned language ranges from the low (nikamma) to the literary
(‘casting pearls before swine’) to the innocent (yaar). The idea is to make
legislators think twice before using potentially controversial terms.
‘Unparliamentary language’ is a widespread concept in legislatures
globally, and traces its heritage to the British Parliament, where you
might accuse an honourable member of ‘terminological inexactitude’ but
never of ‘lying’. Labour MP Clare Short deployed the word ‘incapable’ in
1983 to avoid calling the then employment minister Alan Clark ‘drunk’ in
the House, but the speaker asked her to withdraw even that allegation.
Anthem of peace Clark’s published diaries later revealed that he had indeed been drunk.
Fast-tracked
As the Tokyo Olympics whooshed past, a number
of track records went tumbling. In sprinting, triple
jump, hurdles. How much of this was because of the
track itself being designed for speed? Quite a bit
apparently. Made by Mondo, an Italian firm that has
supplied tracks for 12 Olympics, it has
“three-dimensional rubber granules” with a “selected
polymeric system integrated into the top layer”,
according to the company website. Runner Kyron
McMaster said it better: “I felt like my legs were just
turning over.” Once, athletes simply ran on mud, but
tracks nowadays are complex engineering marvels,
designed to absorb the shock and return a bit of
bounce. Mondo spent three years fine-tuning the Tokyo
track. And it helped, as athletes beat their personal best
timings as well as national, Olympic and world records.
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OPEN PAGE
THE HINDU Magazine
02 DELHI
*
Cover story
Ashok Warrier selves beyond thresholds Barcelona Olympics of 1992 and The article is an
These sum up the of human endurance; being helped by his father to eyeopener on
N
profound spirit one of us forging of lasting friend complete the race even with all how not to carry
could have ships between competi the pain, agony and anguish. out treeplanting
of Olympics ever ima tors on the field and off it; Tokyo 2020 was not without simply for the
gined, be grace and dignity and also its own moments of heartbreak, sake of it. (‘The
fore the out controversies, physical and selfbelief, grace and dignity. right shade of
break of the pandemic, the mental breakdowns and even One of the standout green’; Aug. 8)
circumstances in which the heartrending violence as hap moments of this Involving local
32nd Olympic Games in Tokyo pened at the Munich Olympics Olympics, accord people,
would be held. Postponed by a of 1972. ing to me, was environmentalists
year, clouded in uncertainty and If there is the riveting story of what happened and experts in
stretched to the very limits, the Jesse Owens, one of the greatest during the high planting saplings
Tokyo Olympics was perhaps Olympians, being ig jump finals. Two and safeguarding
the only one which came nored by Hitler at athletes vying for a our ecosystem is
closest to being cancelled the 1936 Berlin gold, one from Italy, required now
because of a public Olympics, there the other from Qatar, were at le more than ever.
health issue. is also the so vel, having cleared the same We need to
Tokyo 2020 would mewhat under height. Thereafter, the Italian aggressively move
have no doubt posed reported story got injured and was in no posi towards our
special and extraordin of Owen’s deep tion to attempt another jump international climate
ary challenges to not just friendship with with the bar raised even further. goal for 2030, and ■ With different parts of
z participating sportsmen Carl Ludwig Long, The Qatari, if he so wanted, create additional the world reeling from
and women, their coaches and his German competi could have attempted another forest and tree cover. extreme weather
trainers and their families but al tor. Long is believed to have gi jump and sealed the gold in his V.L. Adhitiya conditions due to climate
so to the myriad people connect ven Owens a valuable tip which exclusive favour. Instead he Kaarthikheyan change, the article could
ed with the organising of the helped him get a gold medal in chose a tie with the Italian, thus not have been more
event. As the Games got un the long jump event even while ensuring a gold medal for both ■ What newsmakers are timely.
der way, stories of he himself got a silver. Owens players.An overwhelmed Italian doing in the name of S. Sanjeevi Rao
players having con was to later say about Long, jumped on to the arms treeplanting drives is
tracted the novel “…You can melt down all of the Qatari and nothing more than a mad Lost in translation
Tokyo 2020 coronavirus the medals and cups I the world saw in drive. The gloomy The article (‘The spirit of
emerged. One can have and they wouldn’t those magical picture of ‘compensatory Rumi’; Aug. 8) points out
was not
only imagine what be a plating on the 24 moments grace, afforestation’, as that every reader must
without its a challenge it would carat friendship that I gratitude and hu revealed in the article, read the correct version
own moments have been for these felt for Luz Long at that manism all at is an interesting analysis. of Rumi’s Masnavi.
of heartbreak, players, their trainers moment.” once. Could there Thus, the right approach Orientalists have
self-belief, and coaches to recover, have been a better is to create ‘an whitewashed the Islamic
train, come back to their peak Enduring image statement to exemplify ecosystem’ rather than touch from Masnavi
grace and
forms and participate in this One of the most enduring imag the new motto of the Interna recreation of through their
dignity ‘pseudoforests’ with translations. We can
huge sporting extravaganza, es that comes to mind is that of tional Olympic Committee: “Fas
amid the pandemic. the British champion sprinter ter, Higher, Stronger — multitudes of alien flora. correctly understand
Every Olympics brings with it Derek Redmond tearing his Together”. K. Balakrishnan every writer’s true
some remarkable stories. Stories hamstring during his race and ................................................................ emotions only through
of sportspersons pushing them falling on the track during the ashokwarrier27@gmail.com ■ The selection of native their original words.
Gettyimages/istock. IMAGING: J.A. PREMKUMAR species plus the right K.M. Suhail Elambra
combination will go a
long way in restoring Literary bonhomie
T
to the last, I had to walk my 45 he other day, I took a deci you in reality? Well, rarely does ■ “Ethical afforestation” writers from India and
T
he yellowbeaked, doe minutes. sion in the making for a anyone ask to be in a group. should support the Pakistan on one platform
eyed mynah took off from One day, as I left home at 5.30 long time. I knew the con They are added in, whether survival of indigenous every year. The political
the windowsill of my Pune a.m., a onehorned black bull, sequences would be unpleasant they like it or not. Then there is tree species as well as the establishments should
flat and dived nimbly into the grazing in the field by the road, but I owed it to myself and so the good morning, goodnight symbiotic relationship contemplate doing away
gulmohars and rain trees, trig sighted me and began to run took the plunge. Some were forwards. And all those happy between indigenous with visas for travel
gering fond memories of the ca swiftly towards me. Retreat was shocked and disappointed, birthday, Deepavali, Christmas communities and forests. between these countries.
nopy of rain trees that shaded impossible. I stood rock still, not some called to ask me if eve and any number of season’s Anurag Sharma K. Pradeep
the road from my house to the looking at it, but expecting the rything was okay, while others greetings, complete with fire
department where I worked for worst. As suddenly as it had be congratulated me, saying my works GIFs. ■ In this U.N. decade on Need for nuance
25 years in Mumbai. The ri gun, it stopped — a few feet action gave them the courage to Then there are the forwards ecosystem restoration It is sad that our
veting beauty of nature from me. A minute la do something they would not — 15 lines narrating a moral sto (20212030), the article filmmakers pay little
inscribed itself all ov ter, it began to am have dared to do. lership he owns. Meanwhile, ry and the scary “Read more” at rightly emphasises ‘the attention to mental
er the campus of ble to the other What did I do? I left a What another starts loudly warning the end. The real gems are the right species in the right health. (‘The call of the
the IIT, Powai, side. A village sApp group! people about how a secret so “pass this on to 10 people to places in the right mix’. couch’; Aug. 8) If at all
spread over 120 woman collect No one could have anticipat ciety has been poisoning the bring good fortune” messages. I M. Swetha mental illness is shown
acres, 44 km from ing dung came ed the horrors that would fol water. In the middle of all this, guess passing on the last three in movies, it is portrayed
the din of South close and said low the dreaded group chat fea two old school friends pass did not improve my luck. ■ As rightly pointed out, in its extreme forms. It’s
Mumbai. Nature excitedly in Ma ture of the messaging app. around school trip photos and Let us not forget fake news, compensatory time we seriously
expressed itself ful rathi, “It would’ve Nowhere have social etiquettes have a nostalgic conversation complete with unrelated and afforestation does more addressed this.
ly only after the insti killed you!” been more flouted and disre about their school that no one outofcontext videos or imag harm than good. Amy Babu
tute landscaped it. An Fifteen years on, I garded than in a WhatsApp else in the group went to. es. This wisdom comes courte A case in point is the
elderly colleague used to say, had another menacing en group. Smack in the middle of this sy of senior members of our fa compensatory Political punch
“Compare it with the barrenness counter. It was monsoon and Imagine a party with a few mayhem, a doctor friend shares milies, followed by blessings afforestation for Karthik Raja
outside.” raining. It had grown darker, but people hanging out, with lovely health tips no one asked for, and religious sentiments. Andaman and Nicobar Karuppusamy’s piece
Birds, reptiles, humans and I was restless. Midway, it began food and light music. Some are and the other annoying person And yet, thousands of What Islands being proposed brought to light the
other creatures coexisted in the pouring, and I was drenched. chatting and others staring at shows off more baby photos. sApp users like me continue to in Madhya Pradesh. sociopolitical context
middle of pristine beauty. The My clothes stuck to me but I was the art work on the walls, but Now imagine you quietly remain in the grips of these Considering that both of the film Sarpatta
lakeside was home to migratory alone on the road. So I one person looks desperate to walk away from this storm of in groups, wanting to avoid the ecosystems are different, Parambarai. (‘Uppercut
birds in winter. Baby crocodiles continued. escape from someone showing sufferable madness, and eve awkwardness caused by those this move will cause to the system’; Aug. 8)
cockily sunned themselves on The solar bulbs lit the road him all 200 pictures of his baby. ryone stops and stares at you, terrifying words: “Soandso species to go extinct and It is commendable that
the dry lakebed in summer. A dimly as the breeze flitted in and Suddenly, one guest grabs as if you insulted them, and has left the group.” Those words eventually lead to loss of Pa. Ranjith weaves a
lost leopard cub was sighted by out of the trees, lifting the hold of 10 people, drags them to calls you rude! seem to insinuate an abandon habitat, not only for flora great deal of history,
hostellers, trying to climb in leaves. Just as I was about to step the centre of the hall and forces ment of filial or friendly duties, and fauna, but also for politics and ideology
side. Snakes slithered across the on the speed breaker, a long them to plan how to bring the No sanity not the great escape that it ac tribal communities. into all his films.
quiet roads, undisturbed by traf slatecoloured, broad swordlike cake out. Though bewildered at That, my friend, is exactly how tually is! And so, I continue to S. Haritha Rao Divya Venkattu
fic. snake leapt in the air right in first, you all decide to humour some WhatsApp groups feel open and close chats, hoping to
A dense forest of centuries front of me and darted into the your strange friend. After a few like! What would definitely be remain unnoticed in the back
old trees stood in the cordoned thick bushes. “Phew!” I hadn’t halfhearted comments, the viewed as insane behaviour in a ground. I dared once to “exit”
conservation area. seen it. “Saved!” I completed my topic at hand is forgotten and normal social setting, is tolerat but no more. I’m not that reck
In such mesmerising natural walk. one member of the group sud ed and even perpetuated in less. I only rant nowadays!
surroundings, there was not a ................................................................ denly starts handing out fliers these groups. ...............................................................
soul who didn’t walk, jog or run. ceogiit@gmail.com for the discounts in the car dea Any resistance or indiffe janepauline@gmail.com
W
hen my grandmother for her daughters and daught husband and I epitomised the travel and announced, “Mom, I lockdown, we organised out
had her first grand erinlaw who balanced their quote by Ogden Nash, “When am bringing them to stay with door activities on some days. Reading the mind
child, her youngest careers and families. It would grandparents enter the door, you for a month. They will at The pandemic has changed me Thoughts on autopilot? Take a mindful break
daughter was just 11. Bringing be apt to say that behind every discipline flies out the win tend their online classes and from an indulgent grandmoth Avinash Kumar
up children was a family res successful woman, one would dow”. I observed a more active you just need to supervise.” My er to a vigilant coparent.
ponsibility and her role as a find another woman — a moth role by grandmothers husband and I were delighted A grandmother’s role is no The wake
grandmother was limited to er or a motherinlaw. who live with their as our empty nest bustled with more limited to storytelling and
storytelling. Being illiterate, she grandchil the chatter of classes, games pampering. It demands close A five-year-old child’s searching questions during a
would make me read out her fa Granny leave dren. A and music. School kept the chil partnership to instil selfcon poignant moment
vourite stories from Anandavi- I became a grand cousin ac dren busy from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. trol, appreciation of privileges Suma Zacharia Jacob
katan while plaiting my hair. mother in my late After school, the children and healthy habits to aid the
She would shield me and my si fifties while at a learned guitar and tabla online. children evolve into resilient
This page consists of reader submissions. Contributions of up to a
blings from being scolded by crucial junc Selfcontrol was put to test as and adaptive adults. After all, length of 700 words may be e-mailed to openpage@thehindu.co.in.
our mother, who dared not ture in my ca the children had access to dev grandchildren have made us Please provide a postal address and a brief background of the writer.
speak harshly in front of her. reer. I had to ices for long hours with a po “grand” and the least that we The mail must certify that it is original writing, exclusive to this page.
My mother became a grand be a fully tential for wandering into video can do is to give them our undi The Hindu views plagiarism as a serious offence. Given the large
volume of submissions, we regret that we are unable to acknowledge
mother in her late forties. The commit games. Prolonged screen time vided attention and time. receipt or entertain queries about submissions. If a piece is not
family size had become smaller, was a concern, and I coaxed .............................................................. published for eight weeks please consider that it is not being used.
and she played a more active them to walk during the breaks. vijayacardio@gmail.com The publication of a piece on this page is not to be considered an
endorsement by The Hindu of the views contained therein.
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COVER STORY
THE HINDU Magazine
03
*
DELHI
IDEAS is supposedly approved by a majority. In its
2019 report, the Cato Institute had pointed
out that political freedom does not mean
Hand on
unrestrained democracy. Instead, it was
‘ideally some combination of the division of
power, limited government, decentraliza
tion, and structural characteristics de
signed to control the powers of the
heart,
majority’.
The materials of which freedom is made
are rule of law, equality before the law, ac
cess to justice, personal security, the right
to diverse beliefs and practices. But one
person’s freedom is defensible only so long
as they are not assaulting another’s. If one
set of people trample on the freedoms of
is the
another set, freedom itself loses meaning.
In India, authentic freedom — econom
ic, personal, civic with easy access to servic
es and judicial intervention — is not accessi
ble to most. Adam Gondvi, an alias for Ram
Nath Singh, a poet from Uttar Pradesh,
country
wrote:
Sau mein sattar aadmi filhaal jab nash
aad hain
Dil pe rakh ke haath kahiye desh kya
and Indian society was traditionally un income and health safety nets. New Zea azaad hai
equal. Before gaining selfrule, therefore, land came out on top (it should not surprise Kothiyon se mulk ke meyaar ko mat
free?
our view of the ‘self’ that could ‘rule’ had to us that it was able to handle the COVID19 aankiye
change. crisis better than wealthier nations like the Asli Hindustan to futpaath pe aabaad hai
The leaders of the movement for Inde U.S.). Since the previous year’s report, In [Among a hundred men, when seventy
pendence worked to safeguard and extend dia dropped five places on the list, with a are miserable
our freedoms through a Constitution that score of 6.43 on a scale of 0 to 10. Among Hand on heart, is the country free?
guarantees all citizens equal rights. They al South Asian nations, India scores lower Do not judge by the number of
so endorsed affirmative action, land redis than Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal. On mansions
tribution, access to water, and universal rule of law, we made no progress between Real India lives on the pavement]
franchise as a way of making freedom real 2008 and 2018. Over the same period, reli I think of this verse every time I walk
and not a hollow idea. India eventually be gious freedoms shrank from 6.7 to 5.0, and past clusters of people living on the street,
came the world’s largest democracy on the the freedom of identity and relationships sometimes with no more than a string cot
After seven and a half decades of independence, can we strength of regular elections, which shrank from 7.5 to 5.7. and a bundle of clothes hooked on a tree
changed governments when they disap branch. I don’t know whether Adam Gond
truly be counted among the world’s freest people? pointed voters. Seven decades passed. Patterns from history vi wrote these words in the 1970s, 80s, or
Have we grown up to be counted among the Yet another organisation, Freedom House, 90s, but it was doing the rounds on social
world’s freest people? released its Freedom in the World report media in 2020. The question remains valid.
Annie Zaidi monopolies leading to ‘the first great dein The Cato Institute is a public policy re this year with expressions of concern about How do we measure the nation’s freedom?
dustrialization of the modern world’. There search organisation that measures human a global democratic decline. India was
S
queeze your eyelids over your iris are legends of weaving looms being freedom, which it defines as ‘a social con downgraded to ‘partly free’ (for compari Web of power
es, until the inner mirror fogs over, smashed in Bengal and heavy tariffs im cept that recognizes the dignity of indivi son, China is listed as ‘not free’ since it is Freedom is tied up with a web of power that
and say the word ‘freedom’. What posed on Indian textiles exports while im duals’ or ‘the absence of coercive con not a democracy). We were listed as ‘free’ determines how much a citizen’s labour
image do you see? port duties were removed. Similarly, the straint’. This index reflects a mix of just one year ago and our score was report and profit are used for their benefit, how
I see a keen blue and bale upon British shipping industry petitioned Parlia personal and civic freedoms including free ed as ‘the worst decline among the world’s taxes are spent, and how they are treated
bale of cottony white sky. Freedom to me is ment and, in 1813, Tharoor writes, the law speech, the right to assembly, and religious 25 largest democracies’. Frequent and ex when they disagree with those more power
an unbroken expanse, full of light, full of was changed so that lighter vessels (which and economic freedoms. Since impoverish tended Internet shutdowns, suppression of ful. The truth is, hundreds of millions live in
beauty and unlimited potential. Like the applied to Indian ships) could not sail bet ment is linked to independence, it also protests, and a discriminatory citizenship a constant state of insecurity, fighting for
sky, it is unfailingly present. Like the sky, it ween the Indian colonies and the U.K. In measures how much citizens are paid, law were major reasons cited. The report survival, with equality not even discussed
is simultaneously universal and particular, 1814, Indianbuilt ships were denied British whether their jobs are in the formal econo acknowledged that elections were held, but as a goal worth chasing.
and forever in need of watching. It changes registration, so they could not trade with my with benefits, and the status of food, it also pointed to criminal cases filed Our gut and our history books should
each hour of each day, and my slice of sky Europe or the U.S. clothing and shelter. Rule of law is key, as is against students, attacks on journalists, tell us that inequality and the curtailment
can grow black and thunderous even as it Farmers too were taxed to ‘the utmost li the question of whether the law applies to weakening of academic freedom, the use of of the freedoms of one set of people is
remains blue for another citizen in another mit’. Where traditional elites had accepted everybody, including state authorities. the sedition law, the scapegoating of Mus usually in aid of disproportionate assump
town. Yet, the sky is comprised of the same agricultural produce as revenue, the British The Human Freedom Index of 2020 lims during the pandemic, as well as the tion of power by a narrow elite that gains
materials everywhere. changed the rules so that only money was ranks India at 111 of 162 nations. The high status of women. control of ports, civic infrastructure, land,
What of freedom: what is it made of? In accepted, which made no allowances for estranked countries have democracy and We may dismiss international report water, forests, mines, and, ultimately, food.
an article about the dangers of a philan crop failure. This led to largescale rural in cards, but we should recognise patterns The only way to remain free is to keep a
thropycentric approach to pressing pro debtedness and famines. This was achieved from history. When we were not indepen sharp eye trained on who profits at whose
blems rather than a rightsbased one, polit through legal means; the right to collect re dent, the British government censored expense, and who is punished for uphold
ical philosopher Gwilym David Blunt had venue in India came through an act of newspapers and arrested activists who crit ing the principle of equality.
posed an interesting question: ‘Let’s say a Parliament. icised unfair laws. Police were used to We can do this, or we can fail. The sky
kindly benefactor offered you a better stan This is why selfrule or swaraj was desir quash civilian protests, often using brute won’t fall, but our share of sunshine and
dard of living than that which you currently able. We needed a government that would force. How different are contemporary rain can be looted.
enjoy, or can realistically aspire to, and suffer the consequences of the laws they curbs on free speech and the state’s treat It has taken me a long time to see free
credibly promises to treat you very well. enacted. We needed businessmen who did ment of dissenters and critics of govern dom as a kind of omniscience. It simply is,
The only condition is that they would own not ship off profits to foreign shores. We ment policies? like the earth, like air and sky. If one per
you. Would you accept the offer?’ needed taxes to be spent locally. son, one ethnicity, one nation, is unfree, it
I know I would not. And yet, why? What does not mean that freedom itself has
is it about this word — freedom — that I am Loss of autonomy disappeared from the face of the pla
willing to pay for it with my life? Why did This is also why leaders like Gandhi asked net. It just means that someone’s ac
our ancestors pay the ultimate price? Thou Indians to destroy Britishmade textiles cess to it has been cut off. A man in
sands were executed in 1857 and in the 90 and to learn weaving. He was not driven prison may long for a walk under the
years that followed, tens of thousands lost by a blind hatred for anything foreign. stars at midnight. Or a woman might
The materials precious years of youth and health as they He understood the problem: deskill long to do the same and be denied it in the
of which were jailed, exiled, stripped of their proper ing and loss of autonomy. Weaving name of her security. The stars, the aching
freedom is ties. The word gulaam, slave, was used to was a rejection of an unfree and un beauty of the night, the cool air remain the
describe the status of India before we won fair market, controlled by political preserve of only those who may walk
made are Independence in 1947. It is a question still forces that didn’t care enough about unchallenged.
rule of law, worth asking: what made us feel enslaved? the welfare of workers. The salt satyagra To return to Blunt’s question, the answ
equality ha was another such rejection of laws er is no, I would not surrender my freedom
before law, ‘Legally free’ that hurt people. India has also to any kindly benefactor. Not even if I was
access to Most Indians were legally free while being Enslavement, impoverishment and dropped two places on starving. If I am owned, I am made un
part of the British empire. Many owned bu discrimination are inextricably linked. If the World Press Free equal, and inequality will only deepen my
justice,
sinesses, or joined the army or the civil ser the essence of the colonial enterprise dom Index, ranked impoverishment. To be unfree strips me of
personal vice, or travelled to Europe to study. Many was a drain of wealth, the freedom 142 among 180 na my right to profit from my labours, to
security, of our freedom fighters had studied law in struggle was a fight against inequali tions. Sweden, New choose where I live and with whom, and
the right to Britain. Some were also free to declare pol ty. Not only were the laws skewed Zealand and Switzer what to do with my body and mind.
diverse beliefs itical allegiance to an Indian prince rather against Indian industries and arti land were again The philosopher John Locke argued that
and practices. than to the British crown. What does ‘free sans, nonwhites were kept out of se among the top coun man (or, a human being) is naturally free,
dom’ mean then? niormost positions in the armed tries. On every in and remains so, as long as he may think or
But one Freedom does not flow from Parlia forces and civil services. Sites of en dex, it is obvious move, or not, as he prefers. Preference or
person’s ment. Britain had a Parliament and it enact tertainment and travel were segre that democracy, per choice distinguishes a free man from an un
freedom is ed laws to the detriment of millions in gated. Such discrimination drew In sonal and civic free free one. Protecting my freedom means
defensible South Asia. Shashi Tharoor writes in An Era dian elites into the struggle for doms, and equality protecting my power to think, believe, act,
only so long of Darkness that India enjoyed a 25% share freedom even at the cost of their are intertwined. speak as I choose. And I would be a fool to
of the global textile trade in the early 18th lives and personal liberty. However, An assault upon not protect it with my life.
as they are century but once British traders turned not all of them wanted to return to one strand damages ......................................................................................
not assaulting ‘rulers’ — or ‘governors’ as they were de the lives their ancestors lived. True the fabric as a whole, The author writes fiction, non-fiction,
another’s scribed — they set about imposing trade freedom is incompatible with inequity even if such an assault drama and films.
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04
Literary Review
DELHI THE HINDU Magazine *
The
Balloki, now in Pakistan,
during Partition.
* SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
promised train as a teacher and go out into
the wide world. Partition for her is
liberation. Moving to Lahore in
tryst
1947, Aliya escapes the women’s
courtyard once and for all.
Losing home
Running like a thread through all
these stories is rage at leaders who
uncaringly determine the fates of
millions. Ammi in Looking Through
Glass ponders, “Nehru and Jinnah
We look at six works from both sides want to change the world so they
need to give their dreams a name...
of the border to understand I like the world the way it is.” The
child Lenny in Ice Candy Man,
how fiction has dealt with taken by her excited parents to one
of Gandhi’s rallies, detects “the
Partition and its aftermath concealed nature of the ice lurking
beneath the hypnotic and dynamic
femininity of Gandhi’s nonviolent
Ranjana Sengupta exterior.” And the magistrate in
Train to Pakistan, desperate to
P
arsing Partition is a prevent more killings, reflects
national pastime. A bitterly on how people said Nehru
stream of personal “is a great man... and how
accounts, historical handsome... Yes, Mr. Prime
analyses, films, Minister, you made your tryst —
documentaries and novels on the and so did many others.”
theme has appeared since 1947 and “The Partition novel has always
with the 75th anniversary provided a route to understand
approaching, there will doubtless what seems otherwise
be more. Daisy Rockwell tries to inexpressible,” says Ambar
explain why in the Afterword to Chatterjee, former commissioning
her translation of Khadija Mastur’s editor for Penguin India’s Classics
A Promised Land: “Like the (1956) is set in early August 1947 in violence of Partition with terrible inhabitants of a lunatic asylum influence events, the narrator list and now a literary agent. He
Holocaust, or the American Civil the village of Mano Manja close to consequences. “I lobbed grenades have to be divided between India conjures up the quintessential and says the centre of gravity has
War, or the French Revolution or the new border. The villagers are into the windows of Sikhs and and Pakistan. One of them climbs a horribly familiar images of what he shifted in contemporary Partition
any other epochal conflict that has the first to see the train carrying Hindus I’d known all my life,” tree and declares this is where he’ll knows will happen in 1947: novels, which tend to focus more
shredded the fabric of society and butchered Hindu corpses arrive at boasts the Ice Candy Man, stay as he does not want to live “in “Murder, arson, rape, flight, on the psychological impact of the
caused many deaths, it is both a their station. touching the crux of the horror — either Hindustan or Pakistan”. migration, butchered trains, event, but it remains “a way of
deep psychic preoccupation and Tensions rise and rumours of a it’s people you know who become Manto forces the reader to step refugees, dispossession, enemy expressing the pain of being
an attractive literary device.” plot to avenge the murdered your killers. back and contemplate a reality in aliens... in short, Partition.” robbed of a place that was home.”
Partition has figured prominently refugees sweep the village. which a few unknown leaders Partition, then, is sometimes Though the sense of loss is
in Indian fiction — mainly in Hindi, Meanwhile, news of Sikhs killing Step back and ponder thousands of miles away can used as a metaphor for a violent shared by both countries, there is
Urdu, Bengali and English — from Muslims in Ambala and Kanpur At the core of nearly every announce to an entire population force beyond the control of also an interesting difference of
the late 1940s onwards and always starts circulating, and Muslim Partition novel is the sadness for a that they have to leave behind ordinary people, which they have views here, which we in India often
had a wide Indian readership. villagers who had initially refused world lost forever — whether you everything they’ve known and to unwillingly accommodate. Set in don’t recognise. While the
Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s to leave their homes have second stay or go, that syncretic, old, loved for an uncertain, probably the early 1940s, Khadija Mastur’s overriding narrative in India is that
Children (1981) took it to the thoughts: “For the first time delicately balanced universe has unpleasant, future. The Women’s Courtyard (published Partition was a tragedy visited on
international stage. Pakistan came to mean a refuge... vanished in the tide of violence. in Urdu in 1962, translated by Daisy us by the British, in Pakistan 1947
Here we look at five novels and a where there were no Sikhs.” “The Mehtas have gone. The A violent force Rockwell in 2018) looks at the is celebrated as liberation, the
short story on the Punjab Partition Herded onto army trucks, “there Guptas have gone. The Malhotras History’s inexorable progress is claustrophobic lives of women beginning of a new nation that
(the Bengal Partition would need was no time to make have gone,” mourns Lenny’s upfronted in the inventive, confined largely to the inner Jinnah and other Muslim League
an article to itself ) by acclaimed arrangements. There was no time godmother as she contemplates a fastpaced and often funny Looking courtyards of their home in a small leaders had fought for and won. In
Indian and Pakistani authors and to say goodbye.” Lahore she no longer recognises. Through Glass (1995) by Mukul U.P. town. The women are at one Kamila Shamsie’s Salt and Saffron
ask ourselves: what does fiction tell In Singh’s portrayal, Lenny’s family remains in Lahore Kesavan. The protagonist remove from the momentous (2000), set in the 1990s, the
At the core of us about this lifechanging event? communities coexisted fairly as the Radcliffe Committee meets accidentally falls through the political movements in which their heroine, Aliya, is told by one of her
nearly every peacefully, with a degree of mutual at its famous Faletti’s Hotel to draw sleepers of a railway bridge into a men participate and which will Indian relatives in London: “And
Partition novel Crux of the horror respect, in prePartition Mano lines on a map that will decide river and finds himself inexplicably radically influence their futures. for the record, I think Pakistan was
is the sadness After 1947, writers on both sides of Manja. Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy destinies: “I am Pakistani,” in 1942. Saved by kindhearted Intelligent, pragmatic and a big mistake.” Aliya retorts, “For
for a world lost the new border felt the need to Man (1988) too invokes a calm, exclaims Lenny. “In a snap. Just Mansoor who takes him home to a courageous Aliya is determined to the record, I don’t. Glad we’ve got
forever — record the cataclysmic events as beautiful prePartition Lahore. like that.” rambling Lucknow haveli, he shape her own fate, different from that part of the conversation over
well as to memorialise a way of life Here, Lenny, from a middleclass While Partition permanently becomes involved with the actions her father’s, whose hatred of with.”
whether you
lost to them forever. While their Parsi family, enjoys an idyllic altered realities in the of his rescuer’s family and friends British colonialism lands him in But in both India and Pakistan,
stay or go, that
responses to the idea of Partition childhood, pampered by her pretty subcontinent, some accounts as the country gears up for the Quit jail; her angry, disappointed, that conversation never stops.
syncretic, old, varied, nearly all Indian and Hindu Ayah who flirts decorously question the realities themselves. India movement. manipulative mother; her aunts .......................................................................
delicately Pakistani writers dwelt on the with the Ice Candy Man, oblivious Saadat Hasan Manto’s justly The reader is taken through a and cousins with their incessant The writer is former Deputy
balanced horror of uprooting reluctant, to the darkness within him. Rage celebrated short story, ‘Toba Tek series of cleverly interconnected petty quarrels. Nor will she allow Publisher at Penguin Random
universe has bewildered people from their and obsession lurk under the Singh’ (1955), showcases the stories and locations as diverse as herself — though tempted — to fall House India and author of Delhi
vanished in the ancestral homes. Khushwant surface of this little sunlit world fundamental bizarreness of the Mysore and Shimla as India lurches prey to the smarmy blandishments Metropolitan: The Making of an
tide of violence Singh’s acclaimed Train to Pakistan and are released by the broader idea of Partition when the towards Independence. Unable to of her cousin Jameel. No, she will Unlikely City.
POETRY
REALISTIC FICTION
Ruthless roads Brimful of fury
Shivani Sibal’s novel is an engaging romp This anthology by women poets of South Asia is a cry against gender violence
through Delhi’s streets of power Irfan Aslam kumaranage takes on the violence women thology along with the late Sara Shagufta,
face at the hands of their husbands: He who had taken the patriarchal system
T
Percy Bharucha Aahan is winning. Each saw. Amid this, she also his anthology is meant to shake possesses a certificate/ which condones all head on in her poetry.
time he loses, he is re paints endearing por our conscience, making us forms of violence/ that take place within The anthology begins with an iconic
S
hivani Sibal’s Equations is a warded with chocolates. traits of the characters aware of the injustice around /the matrimonial abode. poem by perhaps the most famous wo
chronicle of power. It is a The meat of Sibal’s no who will become collat us. A collection of poetry by Ambreen Salahuddin from man poet of Punjab, Amrita Pri
nuanced depiction of those vel is her sharp observa eral damage in the po women poets from across Pakistan turns upside down the tam. Her ‘Today, I Invoke Waris
born into it, those who ac tions about the inherent werplay. The treatment South Asia, the book deals with the gen Islamic belief that hurs will wait Shah’ is addressed to the classic
quire it, and those who imbalance of power and Equations accorded to Nooriya, Aa derbased violence that is rampant in this for men in paradise to satisfy poet Waris Shah, who versified
have it taken away. how people must act ac Shivani Sibal han’s father’s mistress, part of the world. Irrespective of borders, their lust as a divine reward. In the legend of HeerRanjha.
The wealthy Sikand family occu cording to their stations. HarperCollins India by the Sikand family is India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, all ‘Shameless Women,’ she Some other Indian poets in
pies a palatial bungalow in the heart For example, in order not ₹299 heart wrenching. As he carry this terrible stigma, which sets the writes: These men will fill the cluded here are Nirupama Dutt,
of Delhi. Aahan, their heir, finds an to soil the car, Rajesh’s pa battles for his life, she is region back by centuries. pits of hell/ but they don’t know/ Kamala Das, Rochelle Potkar,
unlikely playmate in Rajesh, the son rents have to take a rickshaw to the locked out of their house in Shimla Many poems here sound like cries of in heaven that fills up the imagi Tishani Doshi and Sarita
of their driver, Laxman. Sibal cap hospital when his mother is about to and stopped from seeing him. women. One of the most poignant is ‘First nation of women,/ seventytwo Jenamani.
tures the story of their childhood as give birth. Even after Rajesh be Equations is an engaging romp They Raped Manamperi’ by Shamila Dalu handsome and tall slaves with Many of these poems are
it moves from innocence to subser comes an MLA, his father refuses through Delhi’s streets of power. Its watte from Sri Lanka. Manamperi was a muscular bodies are dancing!/ reactions to acts of gender vio
vience. She does a great job of com the government car, choosing to record of the terrible price ambition local beauty queen who was raped and Every nerve of their bodies can lence that got media attention.
municating how Rajesh is shown his drive to the Sikand factory on his exacts on families, as members turn murdered by Sri Lankan army officers be seen palpitating through Still We Sing: One wonders who will sing of
place in the scheme of things by his scooter instead. into mere pawns in the game, is scath during the insurgency of 1971. their flimsy garments!/ And on Voices on Violence the thousands of women who
own family: in a poignant scene, his In a fastpaced, wellstructured ing. Similarly, Indiaborn poet Usha Akella’s this reward/ women feel proud against Women are similarly tortured but whose
mother slaps him for defeating Aa narrative, Sibal deftly matches Ra ........................................................................... graphic poem, ‘Naming’, is about Jyoti of themselves. Edited by stories we never get to hear.
han in a game of musical chairs. Ov jesh’s rise with Aahan’s fall, as if The reviewer is a freelance writer Singh who was gangraped in December Salahuddin’s compatriots Sarita Jenamani ...............................................................
er time, Rajesh realises that losing to they were both on an invisible see and illustrator. 2012 and died later of her wounds. like Zehra Nigah and Fahmida Dhauli Books The writer is a journalist and
Sri Lankan poet Damayanthi Muthu Riaz are also a part of this an ₹495 poet based in Lahore.
BROWSER
Lesser Lives: Stories of Domestic Dirty Women The Owl Delivered the Good News All The Girls in Green
Servants in India Madhumita Bhattacharyya Night Long Tanushree Podder
Edited by Nitin Sinha & Prabhat Kumar Roli Books Lopamudra Maitra Bajpai Bloomsbury India
Pan ₹495 Aleph Book Company ₹499
₹399 When four-year-old Tara disappears ₹999 In this novel soon to be made into a
This is a collection of short fiction from her home in Kolkata, the media This collection of folk tales, legends and webseries, four girls from the Officers
from the Hindi heartland gets busy ripping apart the life of her modern lore has stories from J&K in the Training Academy are united in their
documenting the lives of domestic mother Drishti Sengupta, a singer and north to the Andamans in the south, dream — of breaking social taboos and
helps. The 11 stories included here a single mother. This is the story of from Daman and Diu in the west to achieving independence. A story of
underline the realities of class two tragedies: of a missing child, and Arunachal Pradesh in the east. Tales of soaring ambition and punishing
difference and inequality in Indian of a city that hounds a woman who ordinary men and women, of chudails, military regimens that is also about the
homes. lives life on her own terms. werewolves, wizards and more. joys of friendship.
CM ND-X
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Literary Review
THE HINDU Magazine
05
*
DELHI
FOCUS
SOCIETY
A
diversity, equality and tolerance crater on Venus is named Rukhmabai Raut, a rebel and “rule words in an excerpted passage:
after India’s first woman breaker” as Rao aptly addresses her; help us remember the “Shame on you, Hindu society. A girl
doctor, Anandibai Joshi, Haimabati Sen who fought every marathon efforts of our of ten will have to pay for the mar
R. Krithika
but not a single road or inch of her way from being a child predecessors and value the riage of an old man of fifty. In no oth
school in India, rues Ka widow, through remarriage to prac freedoms we take for granted er country does one find such con
“W
here are you from?” This query has of vitha Rao in the introduction to Lady tise medicine; Muthulakshmi Reddy, duct; such oppression of women is
ten stumped me. Do I belong to my Doctors in which she documents the who, not content with being a doc possible only in India.”
place of birth? Or where my parents lives and work of the first women tor, ventured into politics, became a tise medicine, she remains a great in Intertwined with the stories of
came from? Or the various places I doctors of the country, for social reformer and institu spiration. the lady doctors is the politics of
grew up in? Questions that came flood gotten by history. Starting tion builder and Mary Poo Rukhmabai, born in a Suthar their times, and Rao highlights this
ing back, as I read Vishakha Desai’s World as Family: A Jour- from the late 19th century nen Lukose, who worked to caste in Bombay in 1864, was the aspect. In her introduction, Rao ar
ney of Multi-Rooted Belongings. This personal chronicle, when the prevailing view build up Kerala’s public first to try and legally break her mar rests our attention: “In 1891, the con
writes Desai, was “an effort to reclaim global as a kind of pa was that education of wo healthcare system which riage. In her lifetime she was “to servative Bangabasi paper departed
limpsest that allows for the layers of the local, national, and men brought nothing but draws so much praise from smash every rule of the Hindu socie from its usual subjects to call Kadam
transnational to coexist and comingle.” shame on the family, the all quarters today. ty.” She faced the ire of activists like bini Ganguly — a matronly lady doc
stories weave a rich pattern Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Going a step tor — a whore."
Fragile values depicting the struggles Responsibilities too further, Muthulakshmi Reddy, from
In her Introduction, Desai points out that both India and the these women had to over A good life is rarely spent in the isai velalar caste, was one of the Inspiration for the future
U.S. “share the ideals of openness and respect for diversity.” come to carve out their ca isolation and that is true of main forces behind the battle for un The stories of the doctors will help
If it’s the Vedic Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (treat the world as reers, and in the process, these six women too. iversal franchise for Indian women; future generations remember the
family; the phrase that gives Desai her book’s title) in India, build a path for other wo Lady Doctors: To quote Lukose, “My she built one of India’s premier can marathon efforts of our predeces
the national motto of the U.S. is the Latin “e pluribus unum men to follow. The Untold father used to say, ‘My cer treatment institutes in Madras; sors and value the freedoms we take
(from many, one)”. Diversity, equality and tolerance are the Stories of India’s child, you have come to fought for a bill to dismantle the de for granted. Rao has done an excel
underpinnings of both and Desai accepts that these have Rule breakers First Women in have certain advantages vadasi system even while facing op lent job of not merely documenting
been “imperfectly actualised”. Current events in both coun Individual stories of some Medicine and privileges which other position from women of her own the stories of these women but also
tries are “a grim reminder that these va of the women doctors have Kavitha Rao girls have not. Remember community. placing them in context so that the
lues, to which we have aspired, are ac been traced in earlier Westland Books that you have responsibili While some stories are woven reader fully appreciates the force of
tually quite fragile” and “now more than works; however, reading ₹499 ties too’.” In their efforts to from the briefest of available mate their will to succeed in their goals.
ever, there is urgency to fight harder to about them together and in overcome shackles of com rial, some others are backed by per Despite their differences, all the wo
make these aspirational values opera this sequence offers an immense de merce, community and caste, these sonal accounts, such as heartrend men profiled in the book are united
tional, not only at home but in the gree of integration. women dragged along the surround ing incidents from Haimabati’s in their desire to snip enchaining pa
world.” Power The six women doctors whose ing world that stuck to them like a brutally frank memoir — “During the triarchal bonds. Albeit with different
Beginning from her birth (and her woman Dr. life stories have been described are viscous fluid. day, she and her husband’s daught methods, their goals remained the
mother’s feelings at birthing a third Muthulakshmi as different from each other as can In 1883, Anandibai Joshi, a Brah ers played with dolls. At night, she same — to stand out in a society that
daughter) through her childhood and Reddy as a be, yet the achievement of each is min, became the first Indian woman would make excuses to avoid her kept them down.
then her journey as a member of the In member of the unique and inspiring: Anandibai to cross the seas and travel to Phila husband’s advances. Haimabati To quote from Muthulakshmi
World as Family: dian diaspora, Desai takes the reader Hartog Joshi, whose refusal to part with tra delphia to study medicine. Though would lie on the bed, silent and stiff Reddy’s statement — “I had even
A Journey of through a journey that crosses many ge Commission. ditions even while asserting herself her life, cut short by illness, malnu as a piece of wood. When she fell as then set my heart upon something
Multi-Rooted ographical and cultural lines. Whether * IMAGE SOURCE: with dignity; Kadambini Ganguly trition, lack of adequate medical leep, someone would remove her high and I wanted to be a different
Belongings she is writing of moments of success and THE BETTER INDIA who had a bit of support from her care, ended before she could prac clothes. She would wake up and woman from the common lot.”
Vishakha Desai triumph or of loss and despair, the ac
Columbia University
count is candid and compelling. Desai li
kens her life to a banyan tree: the foun
Press
dational roots stay put in Ahmedabad,
₹552
where she was born, while the branches
and aerial roots spread all over the world. But she reconsiders
this metaphor when events offer the opportunity. Gracefully
she accepts, “The metaphor of an ancient banyan tree that
takes its time to grow wideranging roots all around its centre
feels too passive and unrealistically tranquil for the genera
tion that already inhabits a fastchanging multilayered life. It
may also seem too dated.”
CULTURE
A
s I read The Tatas, Freddie difficult to pay grazing fees imposed the Godrej safe spiralled.) Described as an intimate history ligion and culture while embracing the larger narrative gets lost in a clut
Mercury and Other Bawas by the British. And the Tanchoi saree Anecdotes and titbits infuse life of the Parsis, it attempts to tell the the ways of its new home. ter of family lineages, succession
by Coomi Kapoor, I’ve that pops up in trousseaus across the and vibrancy into the book. Kapoor story of the community by shining a battles and corporate gossip. And
been making an acquain country was born when Jamsetjee mentions that Field Marshal Sam spotlight on its prominent members Defining moment when Kapoor remarks, “Parsi histo
tance with a multitude of sent three Parsi weavers to China to Maneckshaw was so grievously down the centuries. And although Kapoor chooses to begin the book ry is a tangled web, indeed”, one can
Parsis — dead and living, admirable learn the art of jacquard weaving. wounded in Burma in 1932 that the Kapoor, who is a Parsi and a senior with the infamous boardroom battle only wish that she had disentangled
and lessthanadmirable, famous doctor refused to treat the injured journalist, occasionally slips into ste of 2016, during which Ratan Tata it somewhat.
and forgotten. Lock story soldier, and only changed his mind reotypes and wideeyed admiration, summarily sacked Cyrus Mistry, It’s a welcome relief when, in the
I didn’t know, for example, that Ardeshir Godrej, founder of the Go when Sam’s loyal Gorkha held up a the volume is rich with painstaking chairperson of the Tata group. She latter half, Kapoor turns her atten The Tatas,
Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, the mer drej empire, was inspired by the pistol. And that Nani Palkhivala, who research and unusual details. believes that the controversy was a tion to the many lawyers, doctors, Freddie Mercury
chant who made an enormous for Swadeshi movement to design an in had topped the MA exam at Bombay defining moment for the Parsi com musicians, vaccinemakers and re and Other
tune trading opium with China in digenous lock. It was Bal Gangadhar University, had assumed he would Tangled web munity — which explains why she bels who are the heart of this distinc Bawas: An
the 19th century, shaped Mumbai in Tilak who urged him to create a be appointed lecturer. When the The history of the Parsi community devotes half the book to the family tive community. Their stories ensure
Intimate History
small but significant ways. The en quality soap to compete with im post went to a Parsi woman instead, is a familiar one. When followers of trees, petty wrangling and past she that, although lopsided and hapha
of the Parsis
tire causeway linking the island of ported brands. he scrambled around and signed up Zoroastrianism — the world’s oldest nanigans of the three Parsi families zard at times, the book is a treasure
Coomi Kapoor
Mahim to the mainland was built by The eccentric Ardeshir once is for a law degree because that was monotheistic religion — faced reli involved in the spat. “The histories trove of moments from lost times.
Westland Books
Jamsetjee to ease travel between Ma sued a statement challenging mem the only course still open. (Palkhiva gious persecution in Persia, many of the Tata, Wadia and Mistry fami ........................................................................
₹699
him and Bandra. Charni Road de bers of the public to break open the la was so grateful to the woman for were forced to flee. One group lies are integral parts of the saga of The reviewer is a writer and
rives its name from the swathe of new safe that he had designed. inadvertently steering him towards reached coastal Gujarat and settled the Bombay Parsis,” Kapoor con chronicler of Bombay.
The Dragon from the Mountains The Barcelona Complex The First Cell Tata: The Global Corporation that
Matthew McCartney Simon Kuper Azra Raza Built Indian Capitalism
Cambridge University Press Penguin Random House HarperCollins Mircea Raianu
₹1,195 ₹15.99 (Kindle price) ₹479 Harvard University Press
China has promised to invest more A journalist profiles FC Barcelona by A leading oncologist admits at the ₹699
than $60 billion in Pakistan, in roads, putting the spotlight on two of its beginning of the book that she could A historian tracks the fortunes of a
rail and a deepwater port at Gwadar. greatest players, Johan Cruyff and not have written this when she was familyrun business that was born
Support for the ChinaPakistan Lionel Messi, who bid a tearful younger. After treating hundreds of during the British empire and went
Economic Corridor in Pakistan is goodbye to the club last Sunday. The patients with cancer, including her on to acquire luxury car maker Jaguar
widespread but there are detractors 34yearold Messi had joined Barca husband who succumbed to Land Rover. The story of the Tatas,
too. McCartney tries to understand when he was 13. Kuper traces leukaemia, she decided to explore says Raianu, holds lessons for the
the economic impact of the project. Barca’s rise and fall. cancer from every angle. future of global capitalism.
CM ND-X
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06 WIDE ANGLE
DELHI THE HINDU Magazine *
A documents and even more precious
memories. Juxtaposing the contents
buzz
of those pages with the ones I had
collected from the archives and Ush
some biscuits, Cheeslings or khak aben’s narrations have helped me to
hra (Gujarati cracker). A string of put the pieces of this narrative to
questions would come gushing to gether. Slowly the story, exciting and
my mind: How did the Congress Ra real, vibrant and intense, unfolded,
dio come into existence? Who oper giving glimpses of the defiant mood
ated it? Where? How? Who helped? of the freedom fighters and the bold
What did it broadcast? How long resolve of the team that was involved
did it last? How were the operators in the operation of the Congress
in the air
arrested? How was the case con Radio...
ducted? What was the incriminat As the story unfolded, I realized
ing evidence against them? What that though situated in Bombay, the
was the judgment?... In hindsight, Congress Radio reverberated far
the idea of operating an under beyond the city’s shores; it inspired
ground radio in the trou freedom lovers in various parts of
bled India of 1942 is the country. A reexploration of the
August 1942. Mahatma Gandhi launches the Quit India Movement at the indeed adventurous working of the Congress Radio is
Bombay session of the AllIndia Congress Committee. Responding to his and exciting. both educating and energizing; it is
call, a 22yearold student of Wilson College, Usha Mehta, starts an under One day, [Usha like a fresh breeze blowing the ideals
ground radio station to counter the propaganda disseminated through All ben] casually showed of freedom and selfless work into
India Radio, the British government’s mouthpiece. The clandestine Con me a bunch of care our uneasy and despondent times.
gress Radio brings messages from Gandhi and other leaders to the masses, fully preserved files, ........................................................................
reports the ‘unofficial’ side of events, and fights disinformation for three consisting of papers, From the Foreword to Congress
months till the arrest and imprisonment of its members in November of the neatly wrapped in Radio: Usha Mehta and the
same year. old newspapers, and Underground Radio Station of 1942
Usha Thakkar narrates this compelling story of passion and daring in asked, ‘Would you by Usha Thakkar published by
Congress Radio: Usha Mehta and the Underground Radio Station of 1942. In like to see these?’ I ea Penguin Viking.
the Foreword extracted here, Thakkar talks about how the project mate
rialised with the extraordinary Ushaben.
T
he story of the under hearts of its listeners and inspire
ground Congress Radio is them during those bleak and diffi
Slowly a fascinating but yet to be cult times. At the same time, it com bibed Gandhian values early in her
the story explored segment of his municated to the youth the immense life: her friends and wellwishers
unfolded, tory that demands atten value of ideals and dreams and how were charmed by her simplicity,
giving tion because of the integral role it significant voluntary and arduous ef humility and warmheartedness.
glimpses of played in India’s freedom struggle. It forts were to make these seemingly Her contribution to the operation
is the story of a zealous group of impossible dreams a reality. of the underground Congress Ra
the defiant
young patriots who operated the The contribution of the courage dio in 1942 was exceptional...
mood of Congress Radio, passionately propa ous and empathetic Professor Usha I would often ask Ushaben
the freedom gating the message of freedom and Mehta (Ushaben), the only woman in about her participation in the op
fighters and disseminating information about the the group, is particularly important. eration of the underground Con
the bold struggle against the coercive rule of Born on 25 March 1920 at Saras vil gress Radio. On many afternoons
the British government. The account lage in the Surat district of Gujarat, we would have cups of hot milky
resolve of
of their enterprise is both compell she grew up to be a bright student in chai (Mumbai’s mounting tem
the team that ing and inspiring, for not only did Bombay (now Mumbai) and carved a perature and humidity never in Making waves
was involved they make history within a brief niche for herself as a freedom fighter terfered with our routine of hav (Clockwise from top left)
in the span of time, but they also transmit in India’s history. Despite being ing tea in the afternoon) and The book cover; a story in
operation ted reliable news to the people, gen awarded the prestigious Padma Vib biscuits. Years of imprisonment Blitz on April 20, 1946 about the
of the erating confidence among them and hushan by the government of India had blunted her appetite, and radio station; Usha Mehta; and
unnerving the British. Equally im and known as a scholar of eminence, she survived mainly on two or rural India’s radio love.
Congress pressive was the power of the Radio she never lost touch with people at three cups of tea and/or coffee *
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT & GETTY
Radio to kindle the flame of freedom in the the grassroots level. She had im and a few eatables limited to IMAGES/ ISTOCK
Troublesome myths
The first of these myths, often propa
gated by UNaffiliated bodies — which
unfortunately are not the kind of bo
dies that could have their human
rights respected in Indian police sta
tions — is that India hasn’t been doing
a great job of protecting human
rights. I’m appalled every time I hear
this, especially by how easily people
swallow it. Hello? Which country has
the world’s second highest popula
tion of humans? India! Could we have
got the silver medal in population if
Indian humans hadn’t felt safe
enough to multiply, and multiply, and
multiply? I urge all international bo
GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK
End of the to dispel some of the most common
myths about human rights.
ture experts, encounter specialists,
the government, the corona virus,
zombies, vampires, and even Mar
human who still has some humanity
left in him/her, they will say human
rights matter. But that doesn’t mean
matter
Talk to all stakeholders tians, if you speak Martian. It is only they actually do, or ought to. What
The first thing to understand, when it by talking to all the stakeholders — about humans who don’t have any
comes to human rights, is that your both human and nonhuman — that humanity left in them? Don’t their
views are completely subjective, and one can arrive at a wellrounded per views count? And what if their views
not just subjective but utterly onesid spective on human rights, as I have. are that of the majority? Don’t they
ed. Why? Because you’re a human. So: The first rule about human have the democratic right to enforce
It’s like asking the Eskimo which is rights is that you don’t talk about hu their views?
the best material to build a house. man rights. Ask any policeman, The last and most important point
The first rule about human He’s going to say ‘snow’. If you pose they’ll tell you. If you don’t talk about about human rights concerns terro
rights is that you don’t talk the same question to a Martian, he
would say, “Sand from Mars”. So if
human rights, the question of human
rights abuse doesn’t arise. The matter
rism. We all agree that it’s important
to stop terrorists because they would
about human rights you go around asking humans wheth ends there. otherwise kill or maim humans.
er human rights are sacrosanct, what The second rule about human From this, it follows that if it’s neces
do you think they’re going to say? rights is truth is the opposite of what sary to illegally kill or maim some hu
A
ccording to media reports, My simple point: you will never any selfproclaimed victim or activist mans (that is, violate human rights) to
the Chief Justice of India get a balanced perspective on human says. If an activist claims there have stop them from illegally killing or
(CJI) said last week that rights from humans. In fact, many of been human rights violations in some maiming some humans (that is, vio
police stations pose “the them, especially those who style parts of India, then the truth is either lating human rights), then that is ex
highest threat” to human themselves as ‘human rights acti that there have been no human rights actly what the police needs to do. It’s
rights, which are “sacrosanct”. The vists’, act as if the abuse of human violations in some parts of India or a nobrainer. Seriously, how can we
CJI is a most learned person and I rights is the end of the world — when whatever the police say. Why? Be allow human rights to come in the
have the highest regard for his opi cause you’ll only get false allegations way of protecting human rights?
nions. Nonetheless, I was deeply dis from those who claim, showing off
tressed by his comment, which only their fancy injury marks — which may
strengthens the prevalent myths What about humans who don’t be selfinflicted, for all you know, or
about human rights. Not only that, just sophisticated makeup — that
have any humanity left in them?
his observation also reinforces non they are victims of custodial torture.
positive impressions about human Don’t their views count? These are the only two rules you
G. Sampath, author of
this satire, is Social
rights in India while being unhelpful And what if their views are that need to remember when you read Affairs Editor,
to the reputation of our police. of the majority? about human rights. But there are al The Hindu.
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THE HINDU Magazine
07
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DELHI
Notes
A woman from the island’s tou
rist information centre tells me that LIFE HACKS FROM AGONY AKKA
even the local church is run by a
group of women. Speaking of which,
the Kihnu have a tradition wherein
Take a bow. And aim
from once a woman reaches her 60s, she
starts to weave the funerary clothes
she is to be buried in, all in the vivid
blue shade that’s the community’s
Dear Agony Akka, major reason why privileged
Indian kids are unable to focus on
I
am a youth based in State of
Kihnu
mourning colour. Furthermore, to a demanding sports career. I don’t
Telangana and I have become
show that they are strong of body blame them — by the time they
very much inspired by seeing
even in death, other women stuff figure out which gravy they can eat
Neeraj Chopra win gold
hay into the stockings and arms of and whose room they can safely
medal in the Olympics. I have
the deceased to mimic the robust fi share in training camp, they get
been rewinding the video again
gure she prized when she was alive mentally and physically exhausted,
Raul Dias and again to see him in action. I
and able. poor things. On top of that, steady
come from decent middleclass
Back on the mainland, I soon diet of paneer can be very
family and my parents are saying I
T
he Kihnu Virve is a rather realise there is much scepticism debilitating.
unusual ferry boat for two among other Estonians about life on must become engineer only. But I
am very keen to become javelin But if you are watching Telugu
reasons. For one, its Kihnu. films, you will know that actor
gleaming, white hull is Many feel the whole matriarchy thrower or discus thrower or any
other kind of sportsman. They are Chiranjeevi can throw javelin
adorned with vivid blue All woman, no cry Recognised by their flowing pinstriped skirts, angle is a bit of a smokescreen and across the stadium to land straight
tribal symbols that belong to the tiny the women of Kihnu do all kinds of work on the island. NYT not entirely an accurate description also giving good nonveg food in
*
training camps it seems. Please tell on judge’s table. Maybe you can
community of 700 or so indigenous of everyday living there. A fancy, explore the cinema route for
Kihnu people. They’re the original which comprises four closeknit vil here about 3,000 years ago. modern day Lesbosesque tale for me how I can achieve this
ambition. sports. It has many advantages. For
inhabitants of the eponymous Kihnu lages. If I had made this 20minute Interestingly, those are the same the romanticallyinclined tourist, e.g., there are no age limits. You
island, located off the west coast of journey in winter, I would have been activities the islanders depend upon they claim. — Acutely Inviting Mentorship
can be 4050 years old but just
Estonia. A place where the waters of able to drive across the famous ‘ice today for their livelihood. Over the They say that Kihnu’s brand of Dear AIM, wear shorts and instantly
the Baltic Sea are surprisingly calm road’ that forms over the sea, effec centuries, as the men spent most of matriarchy is simply the absence of I am deeply participate in all high school
and shallow. tively linking the two land masses. their lives at sea — often for weeks at men for most of the year, as well as impressed. Very sports meets. Second,
But most importantly, the ferry is As I sail the placid waters, I can a stretch — the women became res the absence of expectations that few youths today you get the
named in honour of one of Estonia’s not help but draw parallels to the le ponsible for the land and thus took some jobs on land shouldn’t be done are interested in opportunity to
living legends — Virve Koster, a 93 gendary Greek island of Lesbos in on the mantle of weavers of the is by women. There’s no official denial anything except explore
yearold folk singer who also hap the northern Aegean Sea. Just like land’s sociocultural fabric. Quite lit of men’s rights, and anthropologists smartphones multiple
pens to be one of the Kihnu people. Lesbos, which was said to be ruled erally. believe there has never been any un and selfie sports.
This community is so distinct that by a phalanx of goddesses, life in ambiguous matriarchal society on
sticks. Mind You can play
UNESCO recognised its culture as Kihnu pivots around the allimpor Iconic lighthouse Kihnu. At least not in a way that’s si
you, that basketball in
part of the ‘Intangible Cultural Herit tant axis of ‘The Matriarch’, the de Recognised by their flowing red pin milar to the archetypical patriarchal
does not football field
age of Humanity’ in 2008, and it’s facto custodian of culture on the is striped skirts, which they weave in societies we’re used to seeing.
mean they are wearing tennis
widely believed to be Europe’s last land. winter, the women of Kihnu do eve But for those like me who have
not keen on clothes and that’s
matriarchy — of which Koster is the Once on the island, I soon learn rything from building houses, farm actually been on the island and felt
outdoor three sports before
uncrowned queen! that Kihnu is a place run by women ing and repairing to governing and that megawatt of ‘womanpower’
activities. interval itself.
thanks to historical circumstances manning (or “womanning”) the is light up everything, there’s no deny
Selfie Taking is If, however, you
Forested land that slowly took root in the culture. land’s iconic lighthouse, which is ing Kihnu’s magnetism. Myth or not!
an advanced insist on being a
It is a warm summer afternoon when The Kihnu people were first men kept by the rosycheeked Elly Kar ........................................................................
I board the ferry at the modestsized tioned in written records around jam. Vintage, side carsaddled mo
and sportsman in real
The Mumbai-based writer and
Munalaiu harbour on the mainland. 600 years ago, although there is evi torcycles — said to be relics of Esto lifethreatening skill life, you must know
restaurant reviewer is passionate
My destination is the tiny — 16 dence that fishermen and seal hun nia’s Soviet past — are their preferred that is practised your family history.
about food, travel and luxury, not
sq.km. — forested Kihnu island, ters from the mainland set up base mode of transport. necessarily in that order.
on mountain tops The Chairman and
and on Editor of Sudarshan
railway tracks Illustration: Satheesh Vellinezhi TV, Mr. Suresh
just before Chavhanke, has
train arrives and mows you down. intricately traced the history of
GOREN BRIDGE
Still, it is not yet recognised as Neeraj Chopra back to the
T
oday’s deal is from a re East tried to cash the 10 of clubs, but ace of diamonds, discarding a spade, or dieting to fit into sherwani for throw cannonballs at invading
cent online game. The ac South ruffed. South would have to and ruffed a diamond. A heart to the wedding parties. It is a busy life. hordes? Can you furnish proof that
tual auction took five hold the spade suit to one loser to queen was followed by a ruff of dum Middle class people are busy 350 years ago, your forebears
rounds and included five make his contract. There are straight my’s last diamond. A heart to the trying to become upper class bravely fought the Qutb Shahi
alerts. We have substitut forward plays that might do this on a jack drew the trumps, and South ran people, so that is also very dynasty with bows and arrows or
ed the auction above, which is the good day, playing one opponent or the jack of spades to West’s queen. timeconsuming. If you had been bayonets? If your answer is yes,
way my grandmother would have the other for a doubleton spade ho Forced to lead a spade or yield a ruff poor, things would be easier. You then instantly enrol in a sports
bid it. You’re welcome. nor. South took a line of play that sluff, West tried the nine of spades, won’t have a car to mow down academy of your choice. If not,
The queen of clubs held the first some would question, but he had a which might have given South a pro people and you won’t be worried well, you can throw calipers and
trick as South, withheld dummy’s big smile on his face at the end. blem on some other day. South, about your complexion becoming spirit levels in your free time.
king. The jack of clubs continuation A diamond to the queen at trick holding the eight, had no problem dark by playing in the sun.
was covered and East took his ace. four won. South cashed dummy’s and soon claimed his contract. Thankfully, you are keen on — AA
nonveg food, otherwise this is a agony.akka@gmail.com
QUIZ
Words and pictures are yin and to be published in colour. In 1961,
Upendrakishore’s grandson took
yang. Married, they produce a over as editor and even published
his own works such as Bankubabur
progeny more interesting Bandhu, which quickly became big
than either parent: Dr. Seuss hits. Who was this new editor of
Sandesh?
Berty Ashley
1 Born on August 15, 1938, Pran Ku
mar Sharma initially applied to
9
Launched by Anant Pai in
1980, this children’s ma
gazine contains comics,
be an art or drawing teacher in stories, puzzles and
schools in Delhi. He discontinued contests, and is well
the idea and joined Milap, a new known for its host of inter
spaper for which he produced a esting characters such as
comic strip called ‘Daabu’. In 1969, Suppandi, Tantri the
he sketched a character who helped Mantri, and Kalia the
solve problems with his experience Crow. Pai started the ma
and was based on the ancient philo gazine after he saw partici
sopher Chanakya. The ensuing suc pants on a quiz on Doordar
cess of the comic strip eventually shan unable to answer the
led to the creator being dubbed the question ‘who was Rama’s
‘Walt Disney of India’. What charac mother’. What now fortnightly
ter known for his red turban was magazine is this?
created by Pran?
3 Abid Surti is a painter and jour
nalist who won a National
Award for his short story collection
a monthly children’s magazine that
featured stories from regular wri
ters, reader contributions, doit
cha Chaudhary made his debut.
The two main characters of the
comic, Motu and Patlu, were initial
........................................................................
A molecular biologist from Madurai,
our quizmaster enjoys trivia and
16 Where you might see strippedoff bare
model with clothes removed? (3,6)
20 Labyrinth lieutenant, old, vanquished at
19 Not my mistake, putting junk in
stable (6)
22 Lover, fifth one after Mike (5)
Teesri Aankh. Known as the Salman yourself articles, info on global pen ly involved in many silly plots but music, and is working on a rock first? Congratulations! (5,3)
Rushdie of India, in 1976 he created friends and comic strips. It was are eventually shown to be heroes. ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi 21 In dining-car, a feeble serving of wine (6)
a comic character — the son of a da owned by Living Media and in 1995 Created by Kripa Shankar Bhard is an Emotion’. @bertyashley 23 Emphasise superiority to partner, with- Solution No. 3162
coit — who sets up a Citizen’s Secur it was changed to Teens Today ma waj, which two legendary come holding gold, diamonds and charm (4,2,4)
ity Force and helps rehabilitate da gazine, which unfortunately did not dians is this series a tribute to?
10. Shikari Shambu 24 To gather, crowd returned (4)
coits. Who was this character who do well. What magazine was this
9. Tinkle 25 Big change: larder refitted with
8. Satyajit Ray
formica (7,6)
was published alongside the Phan
tom and whose name means ‘The
Brave Man’?
whose ‘pen friends’ column was re
volutionary before the Internet? 8 Sandesh is a Bengali children’s
magazine first published in 1913
by Upendrakishore Ray. The maga
7. Laurel and Hardy
6. Green Humour
5. Target
Down
1 Quickly, list some conger eel offcuts (4,3)
4. Yash Raj Films 2 Tree ointment when scratching
4 Yomics World, or ‘Yomics’ is the
comic book division of a popu
6 Rohan Chakravarty is a dentist
from Nagpur who is well known
for his comic strips about wildlife
zine was wellloved because it com
bined literary values with humour
and information from different
3. Bahadur
2. Indrajal Comics
1. Chacha Chaudhary
bottom (5)
3 Perhaps writing milk-producers’
Answers guides (7)
lar Indian film production studio. It and the environment. Started in parts of the world, and was the first
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BACK PAGE
THE HINDU Magazine
08 DELHI
*
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ILLUSTRATION: R. RAJESH
development model has impacted rehabilitation have ignored the
natural resources, the rights and special requirements of
environment and marginalised women impacted not just by the
communities. It is an important SSP but by all ‘development
tool for future learning. It was also projects’. The forced displacement
60 MINUTES: WITH NANDINI OZA important to share how a mass hit the women harder as they were
movement of the marginalised particularly dependent on common
‘Those
can become a powerful force property resources like rivers,
against the establishment. forests, and grazing lands. But since
there is no provision to provide
How important was it to include these in the resettlement sites after
displaced by
the voices of women? displacement, women no longer
L Their voices help in knowing how had access to such resources.
women’s lives have been impacted Additionally, there are huge
by “development projects”. The violations in implementing the
development
interviews explain how women, policies, laws and provisions for
both from within the affected rehabilitation mandated by the
communities and activists from Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal.
outside the Narmada valley, were at For example, instead of landbased
projects have
the forefront of the struggle and, rehabilitation as directed, women
consequently, bore the brunt of in affected villages in Madhya
state repression. Many were jailed Pradesh were given cash. This
and beaten, and a few were even didn’t help.
sexually abused for their
nowhere to opposition to the SSP. Women
leaders of the movement,
particularly those belonging to the
Scheduled Tribes, made a huge
Do you think governments at
the State and national level
have learned their lessons about
the environmental impact of
A
s an activist of the players in the struggle. Excerpts Dedlibai live in a resettlement site power generation?
■ Full-time
activist with
Narmada Bachao from an interview with Oza: in Maharashtra. While Ushaben L Yes, of course. The NBA has been
Narmada
Andolan (NBA), Nandini lives in a resettlement site in able to raise questions on who
Bachao Oza lived and worked What kind of impact do you Gujarat, Kamala Yadav lives in the really benefits from such
Andolan from among the people think oral histories can create? NBA office in Madhya Pradesh and development projects and at what
1990 to 2001 affected by the Sardar Sarovar L As an archivist and chronicler, I continues to play a leading role in cost. It has also to a great extent
Project (SSP) for over a decade. feel oral history is gaining the movement. successfully questioned the
■ Has Having participated in the significance as a method of study, discourse that dams are temples of
documented movement and documented its oral as it is a more participatory Have they received proper modern India.
oral histories history through the voices of its process of recording historical rehabilitation and resettlement? Movements like the NBA have
since 2004 leaders, she felt it was important to events. Oral history is the history L No. While people displaced due helped gain recognition and
share their lived experiences so of the marginalised. In India, to conflicts or natural calamity can acceptance for the people’s right to
■ Author of
that their struggle would not be there are many communities hope to return to their lands and question the process of
Whither
forgotten. Although Oza has dependent on natural resources, homes someday, those displaced by development, their right to
Justice —
authored a book on the movement, especially among Scheduled development projects have information, and their
Stories of
she wanted the audio and video Tribes, who speak languages that nowhere to return as their homes participation in policy decisions
Women in
recordings to be available to a do not have a written script. Here, and lands are permanently and implementation. Only this can
Prison and
larger audience. oral history helps to record their destroyed by such projects. A 2019 help us move towards sustainable
Ladha
The Narmada Oral History history, social and cultural survey by NBA revealed that the and equitable alternatives.
Narmadecha
website (oralhistorynarmada.in), practices, and traditional rehabilitation claims of 31,593 ......................................................................
■ On the board curated by Oza — currently knowledge of natural resources families in Madhya Pradesh were The interviewer is an independent
of Greenpeace president of the Oral History for the next generation. Also, it Leading the fight (From left) Bagi, Jeblibai and Pervi,women leaders of still pending. journalist writing on development
India Association of India — is the first of helps to record how the dominant NBA from Jalsindhi village, Madhya Pradesh. NANDINI OZA
* Actually, the laws and policies of and gender.
Papads, A
ll three mealtimes at formed border. My paternal
my home — yes, grandmother sold her thick gold
breakfast too — are bangle at a refugee camp in
usually marked with a Bombay to buy butter and ghee: a
query of how many far cry from her earlier days when
papads will be needed at the even the vark on sweets was a thin
table. The younger generation sheet of beaten real gold.
requests a particular, rather As the businessbased
popular, peppery brand and community struggled to make
pickles and Partition instantly the voice of a rabbit
singing its name echoes in my
head. Spouse and I settle for the
equally famous Sindhi papad.
The Sindhi papad is unique. It
ends meet, many of its
enterprising women made and
sold papads and pickles to keep
the kitchen fires burning. The
Sindhi pickle is also unique, being
is an amalgamated version of its oilless, with carrots, small
Way back, in the Sindh province, the papad was not Punjabi and Rajasthani cousins: it onions, cauliflower, and
just an accompaniment to meals but was offered as has the urad dal and pepper of the sometimes turnips, okra, dry
former, and the moong dal and dates and lotus stems, pickled in
a snack to guests along with a glass of water jeera of the latter. Way back in the vinegar and spices.
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