Review: The Emergency by Coomi Kapoor

Emergency was a period about which I had only heard of fleetingly in the media and when the parties opposed to the Congress party vilified Indira Gandhi and her cronies. However, Coomi Kapoor’s book explains in painstaking detail what happened in the June of 1975. Though what happened in June was planned much before that and happened with connivance of Indira Gandhi, S.S. Ray, R.K. Dhawan, and many others.

For someone who wants to know why Emergency was declared and what grave actions it led to in the period after that, this is a great book. The author has included her own experiences of that period, and she happens to be the sister-in-law of the current BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy. Her account of how Swamy kept dodging arrest, and disguised himself in various avatars is nothing less than a thriller.

Indira Gandhi’s son, Sanjay Gandhi, led by an insatiable hunger for power, led his own agenda. His sterilization program, the Maruti car project, and his never ending fights with other Congress made it difficult for Indira Gandhi to work towards her own Twenty-Point agenda.

Almost all of the major leaders of opposition parties were jailed, including JP, Morarji Desai, Atal Behari Vajpayee, George Fernandes, Gayatri Devi, the Scindia family, and many others. It was a truly black period for India.

Though the subtitle of the book mentions “a personal history”, not much personal history is disclosed in the book. We do get to know how the author, then with the Indian Express led by RN Goenka, her husband struggle through it. But not as much as one would desire. We get to know that her husband was jailed as he raised slogans which angered Ambika Soni. But what all did they go through through the entire period of Emergency is not written about.

Nonetheless a good read.

Pick it up from Amazon.

 

Review: The Romance of Salt by Anil Dharker

The Romance of Salt

The first time history of salt intrigued me was through a suggestion on my Amazon account – the book ‘Salt’ by Mark Kurlansky. I clicked on it out of curiosity about the cover design rather than the name. The description sounded interesting – it covered history of salt through thousands of years and its impacts throughout history. I probably added it to my wish-list, while desisting myself from buying it owing to the ever-increasing books on my shelf. But books have a way of coming back to you. Somehow they always end up in front of you when you are looking for them in the least. I picked up ‘The Romance of Salt’ from Oxford Bookstore during a sale. Apart from the sale, what interested me more was that it had the first section completely dedicated to the ‘Dandi March’ (Salt Satyagraha) of Gandhi. During Tata Literature Festival (of 2012), I had seen Mr. Dharker during one of the talks. My earliest memories of him are of reading his columns in the Times of India in younger days.

As much as the book interested me, the cover design was a disappointment. It was a mere unattractive collage of colorful images pasted together. It seemed like those stock images found in the millions on the internet. The first part of the book is about Dandi March, while the second one covers the role salt has played as an actor in life, death and everything in between. It starts with how “prominent Indian political leaders like Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, Dr. M.A. Ansari and M.A. Jinnah were summoned by the Viceroy and handed over a document announcing the poointment of a Royal Commission to be headed by Sir John Simon”. It was the beginning of another betrayal by the British wherein all the seven members were white and British. This formed the mood for Civil Disobedience with Gandhi being at the helm. Out of the various options of boycott, salt was chosen by Gandhi as it would rouse the lowest denominator of the strata as well – because the British were unjustly taxing the production of salt in the country which was resulting in salt imports. This irony was for everyone to see, but nobody had one anything about it till then. And as shown by the meticulous calculations in the book, the taxes made the commonest of the common commodity ridiculously expensive. The author has got many letters and speeches of Gandhi printed along with his commentary to create the anticipatory mood prevailing 85 years ago in Sabarmati Ashram. From the selection of marchers, planning of the route, backup marchers and backup leadership in the likes of Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru, everything is used to rouse the spirit in a revolutionary mode. The long speeches of Gandhi bring out his mood at that moment – contemplating what would force the world and British to take notice, whether the media would be on their side and, most of all, the loss of lives which may happen due to police brutality. Some aspects also bring out the short comings of him though. Like his opposition to vaccination, not on any scientific basis, but only because he had done so all his life; his use of Hindu prayers in Ashram was a sign that his movement was ‘Hindu oriented’, alienating Muslims to a great extent. His stressing on non-violent forms of opposition is commendable, as much is his strict regimen even though he was already sixty years old! This section is a complete page turner. Mr. Dharker sets you right in the middle of things, and one cannot actually miss the feeling of being witness to one of the greatest movements of Indian independence.

Photos from a trip to Dandi in 2009

The second part is not as exciting as the first one – but more so because it deals with not specific events but the elapse of time in terms of the importance of salt. The author brings out vivid stories of war, and sometimes love, having salt as an important character – American Civil War, German advancement in Russia during Second World War, French Revolution, Mummification in Egypt and the Seven Years’ War between Austria and Prussia to name a few. He also dwells briefly on the properties of salt, the effects of over-usage, how in the past many considered it as symbolic of semen, the Dead Sea, the major salt producer countries, and finally writes about the role of Tata Salt factories in Mithapur, Gujarat in the uplifting of the society around the area and its socially responsible actions. The final chapter, ‘Giving Life to Life’ is a touching one, detailing the various migratory birds which come to the western Gujarat region and also about the fishes found in that region.

It is a short book of 225 pages with ample black and white photographs. Anyone interested in knowing why Gandhi chose only the seemingly harmless salt as his weapon against the ruling British must read this book. It brings forth interesting anecdotes and charms you with a simple, flowing writing style.

Buy it on Amazon

Buy it on Flipkart

Review: Gandhi by Catherine Clement

Gandhi – The Power of Pacifism

Though I already had more than four books on Gandhi, I couldn’t resist myself from buying this one from the Strand annual sale not only because it was compact and tiny, but also because it had some amazingly rare photographs and all the pages were glossy. And as it may have it, this also became the first book I read on Mahatma – the great soul. In India, for a commoner, Gandhi is a man nearing god with almost no blemishes and above all dry clouds of criticism. The sub-heading of the book, The Power of Pacifism, suggested to me that this also would be on the same lines. But it turned out differently.

The book starts with colorful pictorials depicting Gandhi as a child and in his youth amongst his family in Gujarat. During adolescence he went through the usual rebellious phase and tasted meat, saw girls other than his wife and even smoked. Then it covers in brief the rule of
the British over India and the fighting between the Mughals and the British. The author also gives an introductory overview of the various religions in India and specifically of few Hindu gods and goddesses. The photographs of Gandhi, when he was seven years old, and another with his brother Laxmidas deserve a mention. His friendship with Sheikh Mehtab, who took him to a brothel, is interesting to say the least. The incident where the young Gandhi, overpowered by lust, goes to make love with his already pregnant wife Kasturba and in midst is interrupted by a servant to inform him of the death of his father, Karamchand Gandhi, is an important one and leaves him feeling guilty of, first, neglecting his father and, second, of having been punished by god in the form of death of his young child (with whom Kasturba was pregnant during that time). He later left for England in 1887 to learn law.

The next sections cover his various experiences in England, in India (after coming back from England) and then in South Africa, where he went to practice law. The numerous photographs, mostly black and white but sometimes poorly (not by the publisher) converted to color make it a very visually appealing read. The coming of age of Gandhi can be attributed to various stages of life he went through in South Africa. When he finally came back to India, after being hardened by his own experiments towards achieving freedom, not from British but from oppression, his stature already had swelled and he undertook a year long journey of the country to see how his country was and what the plaguing troubles were. His interactions with Tagore are mentioned, including his visit to Shantiniketan. He took to championing the cause for indigo planters, for textile workers and, in the least, for the millions of oppressed Indians. His various undertakings of fasting left him debilitated, but only physically. His spirit was much more courageous. His innumerable stints in different jails are documented and described as times of rest – for only then he could sleep and devote time to himself. His famous ‘salt satyagraha’ is very well written about with a clinching image of him bending down to break the ‘salt law’. His one fistful of salt was later “sold to the highest bidder for 1600 rupees”. His visits to England were euphoric for the British media and he met workers, servants, workers and commoners and interacted with them openly. He, to the imperialistic Churchill, was a “seditious half-naked fakir”. A photograph of him with Charlie Chaplin, not in his comical hat-and-moustache avatar, makes one wonder what they would have talked about. The rift between Ambedkar and Gandhi on the issue of the Untouchables highlights that later for Gandhi the reform of the social India became as much, and probably more, important than just gaining freedom. Nehru, initially, as evidenced in this book and also in Sarvepalli Gopal’s authoritative biography, was confused with this – for him independence was the only issue worth fighting at that time. Gandhi thought of not just freedom from oppression from outsiders but also about freedom from our own inhibiting practices. Then follow the Quit India Movement, World War II and, finally, the Independence (on the specific day of 15^th-August-1947 he fasted for he was unhappy about his failed dream of a united India). His fasts continued for Hindu-Muslim unity, purity and repentance on behalf of wrongs by others.

His end tragically at the hands of a Hindu fanatic, Nathuram Godse, and the ensuing shock is covered through nine memorable photographs.

As I mentioned earlier, this book does not treat Gandhi as a demi-god and laid bare many uncomfortable facts about his life. To this contributed the most the covering of his relationship with various women in his ashram (relationship not as in a physical one). His self-trials at testing himself when sleeping with his adopted grand-niece, of getting attracted to foreign women in England and with few other followers only point to his earthly existence. After all he was flesh and blood in living. My own surprise on reading about this led me to search more about this and led me to various links (this and this can be primarily read to get an idea). But I disagree in the way in which these ‘revelations’ have been interpreted and have clouded the greatness of the man. For me, Gandhi was and will be a man beyond praise and admiration – he practiced to a great extent what he preached. But, as I admit, this doesn’t shield him from the various temptations a man must face over a lifetime. His sleeping naked with grand-niece and taking bath with them to test his and their commitment to their vows show that his interpretation was incorrect – for he was advocating something against Nature. His advice to married people to abstain and to have sex only for procreation and later advocating no sex at all do not merit any logic. These were his limitations – his wrong interpretations of things around him. Why did he think being a celibate would help him or anyone else in the quest of freedom? Why did he sleep naked with others to test when anyways he had decided on celibacy? The answer to these questions I do not have. And to me it only shows that after all, he was one from within our people. These do not take away or blot his greatness owing to which India became free (not to take away contributions of others). His sacrifices taken together with his ‘experiment’s of sexual nature only show that to fight for the right being a human is enough.

The book makes for a good light weight read on Gandhi without delving into the overbearing, dense and mired political history of India. Towards the end a number of documents are mentioned – his speech in Benares which led to controversy; his rules of satyagrahasrama; his tips on how to fast properly; his writing on Hitler and the persecution of Jews; his letters to different people on the 15^th of August, 1947; an article on Madeleine Slade – Miraben; Romain Rolland and his work on Gandhi; Alexandra David-Neel on his death; and Sudhir Kakar’s psychoanalysis of Gandhi (I had attended a session of Sudhir Kakar during the Tata Literature Mumbai festival in November, 2012). 

Review: Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography (Volume – 1) by Sarvepalli Gopal

Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography – 3 Volumes by Sarvepalli Gopal

The Boxed Set

 

The Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History and An Autobiography were the books which I always used to pick up from the shelves of bookstores but never bought them thinking I will first read about the man and then his words. So I performed a search for ‘Nehru’ on Flipkart and a lot of books came up. Much lower down the list was a 3 volume biography by Sarvepalli Gopal and published by Oxford. Sarvepalli Gopal was the son of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan – who was the second president of India. One of the articles in Frontline by Ramachandra Guha mentioned a discussion involving him and
two other historian friends discussing Gopal’s work after the latter’s passing away. So this one looked like a perfect first step towards finding more about the man who is no less than a legend in Indian history and is a revered personality. And the cost of Rs. 1575/- for a box cased of 3 dust-jacketed hard bound books wasn’t steep at all. So I ordered it along with a lot of other ones with some apprehension about the quality of the casing and how it would be delivered. When it arrived, I was no less than impressed by the bubble wrap around the case and nearly airtight packing.

Volume One

In the midst I realized that page 143 was totally out of place. While page 142 talked of Nehru’s period in jail in the early 1930’s, page 143 suddenly jumped to problems with China and Pakistan! I wrote to Flipkart and they readily replaced it with a new set, but the problem persisted. Then I wrote to Oxford India and it’s been quite some time since I have been following up with them, but to no avail yet; thumbs up to Flipkart though.

Now, to say that I am going to review this book is an over-exaggeration in the least. Both, the man about whom these books are and the man who has written them, are much larger in stature to be reviewed. Hence, rather than that, this is a reflection of my understanding of Nehru and other personalities involved in Indian Independence from the book.

The book starts with the birth of Jawaharlal Nehru on the 14^th of November, 1889 in Allahabad, and traces very briefly the history of Kaul-Nehru’s and how they migrated from Kashmir to the United Provinces. The author brings out the aspects of Nehru’s personality when he was a young boy – shy, not clear in thoughts, “showed no signs of fire inside him and generally bored” and overspending his dad’s money and more often being in debt. It makes for an amusement to read that “at the Bar examinations, Jawaharlal just managed to pass” and when next year he passed the finals, Motilal wrote to him: “I do not look upon it as a great achievement. But you have eminently succeeded in investing the event with an importance which it did not possess”. While one cannot help but laugh when Motilal, once again, wrote to his son: “I wish I were my son instead of being myself” when Rao Maharajsingh sent a “money order for Rs. 500” to Jawaharlal while “the first fee” which Motilal himself got was Rs. 5 only! Two startling incidents where Nehru almost got killed stand out amongst these pages. Of course the luxuries of life were at Nehru’s disposal because of a rich father – Motilal, who was a “bright pupil but never graduated” and “setup a successful legal practice, first in Kanpur then in Allahabad”. But these worldly attractions didn’t keep Nehru out of the struggle for independence for long. His tryst with destiny was already written.

In his youth Nehru encountered General Dyer, the man responsible for ordering the firing in Jallianwallah Bagh, in a train and found his attitude callous. Nehru regarded Gandhi as his mentor and was a disciple of him, even when in later years their differences of views and ideologies were more prominent. Nehru’s wife, Kamala, died at the young age of thirty six. She was “born in a social environ much humbler than that of Nehru’s” and “from the start faced resistance from some family members”. She “hardly figures in Nehru’s diaries of prison time of 1920’s”. But after her death he missed her all the more and lost interest in life at one point of time. “Many women, drawn by his charm or driven by snobbery, made claims on him and he did not always firmly resist their gross ardours”, but no specific names are mentioned.

Criticism of Jinnah and Rajagopalachari is abounding in the book – Jinnah, not in the least, for his shrewdness in increasing his own stature by gaining support from the British and Rajagopalachari for his appeasement of the British for personal political gains. The chapters on the Second World War eruditely bring out the dilemma the British Government faced with India – “one had to be free and democratic to fight for freedom and democracy” – and the dilly dallying of the various political forces in play at that time in support of and against the Japanese.

This book is as much about the movement for Indian independence as much about Jawaharlal Nehru. It took me a lot of time to read the first volume, not only because lot of chapters regarding the government structure were difficult for me, but also because I made my own notes – making it easier for me to quickly wade through the important points at a later date. The first volume covers the period 1889-1947 in 398 pages, second one covers the period 1947-1956 in 346 pages and the third one covers 1956-1964 in 336 pages. At the outset it’s a logical deduction that more the years hence more the number of pages, but a thoughtful consideration does point to the fact that Jawaharlal’s life always had been more about his growing up, gaining an understanding of the Indian people and wanting an undivided India and a pan-Asian togetherness, rather than a divided India with barking neighbours.

While Jawaharlal made a moving speech on India’s independence, Gandhi celebrated by fasting, a resemblance to the events which were to follow.

This scholarly work rises above the common “knowledge” about Nehru and his family, and proves the facts, mostly in favor of him. A brilliantly researched work of art by an eminent historian it is and deserves a place in the library of the ones who are curious about Chacha Nehru. 

Sesquicentennial Celebrations of the Bombay High Court

I have always had immense respect for lawyers, judges and all things judicial. This is because of three reasons. First being that my father himself has done LL.B when he was working with state electricity board as an engineer. And the sort of books he used to read even otherwise like Companies Act, Constitution of India and other law related books used to make me wonder what is it that interests him to read such things? I still remember when a lot of his other colleagues used to visit our home and huddled up in a room to discuss the intricacies of various cases – probably as a part of the course which they were pursuing. It made for an interesting scene – all men above the age of forty pouring over books late into the night and animatedly discussing law cases! There must be something interesting about law, I thought. The second one
is that in Hindi cinema so many movies depict honest lawyers fighting cases defending the innocent with such verve that it is difficult not to be overwhelmed by them – the lawyers. There used to be an interesting lawyer based serial that used to come at prime time and was one of my favorites because of its different theme. And lastly, because people like Arun Jaitley, Kapil Sibal and others who regularly appear on televised debates all have been lawyers. And they used to puncture the opposition’s arguments in a debate like a needle piercing a balloon.

Some days ago I happened to read in a local paper that the Bombay High Court was holding an exhibition open to the public celebrating its 150 years. And it had various interesting items on display. Despite of holding lawyers and all things judicial in high honor, I never had really enjoyed going to courts for stamp papers, affidavits for passports and the like. There used to be so much chaos, the constant clutter of typewriters and the ‘agents’ who could get things done for you. But this provided an opportunity for a different experience like a visitor and not for a purpose. I headed to the Bombay High Court on a Saturday morning. They police was camped near the barricades serving as an entrance. After passing through a detector I asked for directions. The exhibition was on the second floor. The whole court building has got this old British look which many buildings in the south of Bombay have. As I neared the entrance there was a register in which I had to enter my name, address and phone number.

As I entered I somehow got reminded of the permanent Indian historical exhibition at Nehru Centre, Worli. Inside there were few large portraits of the people related to the history of the court and huge display boards. On one side there were innumerable legal papers on display. Some old land deeds of 19^th century, some agreements, their peculiar stamps, the circular punches in them so that they couldn’t be re-used – I noticed it all. There was also created a court like appearance with a judge’s chair, witness stand etc. In one of the glass casings there was an ‘Advocate’s Roll 1924-1949’ having entries and signatures of Nani Ardeshir Palkhivala dated 6^thSeptember, 1946. It also had those of Taraporewala dated 15^th July 1946. A little ahead it had the ‘attorney’s roll 1824-1976’. One of the names was of Darius Jehangir Kakalia dated 21^st October, 1976. Another one had a ‘Letters Patent’ of King George III of 1797 establishing recorder’s court.

Near the exit was another long display of fiscal of princely states of India, namely: Baroda state, Benares state, Gwalior state, Mysore state amongst many more. Because of the not so orderly arrangement and no directions whatsoever I somehow ended covering the middle of the exhibition towards the last. And it was the best. It had the application of 1923 for admission as advocate of Mr. Ambedkar signed ‘I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant’. That sign was humbling enough. Then it had a gem. The application of Mr. M.K. Gandhi dated 16^thNovember, 1891 for admission. I couldn’t stop myself from staring at it for minutes together. It was like seeing a small part of history live. And I did notice the three tiny slanted lines for cancelling an incomplete letter between the alphabets of ‘c’ and ‘t’ in ‘practise’. That was monumental I would say. A cancellation signaling he almost committed a spelling mistake in his application and was right in front of me!

Few more wonders followed. The order or whatever it was admitting Mr. Vallabhai Javerbhai Patel as an advocate date 14^thFebruary, 1913. I couldn’t help but make a mental note of the spelling of ‘Vallabh’ mentioned below the display. Then there was a request by Mr. B.G. Tilak for supply of prints of evidence. It was followed by an application dated 18^thAugust 1896 of Mr. M.A. Jinnah for admission as advocate. And most surprisingly, there was an order dated 17^th January, 1923 for “removal of the name of – Prisoner M.K. Gandhi from the, Roll of Barristers”. This was exactly what was mentioned on the old paper. The huge but spartan chandeliers had large spherical glass coverings seeming like orbs of clairvoyance.

After viewing all of this I went for a second time near the application of Mr. M.K. Gandhi. I stood so near to it that had it not been for the glass separating me from it I could have smelled it. Whenever I get my hands on a book I first smell it. It gives me a sense of pleasure. Then I headed towards the exit and there were hundreds of photographs in black and white of people of Bombay – of tailors, washer men, fishermen, monkey charmers, women, and nurses and alike. And finally before exiting I went near Mr. M.K. Gandhi’s application for a third time to bask in the palpable greatness emanating from that withered paper. ‘Withered Papyrus’ may I mention…