Discovery of India (independence onward)

If Nehru were to pick his choice of a historian to chronicle Indian history starting where he left off with his Discovery of India letters to Indira from 1942-46; he would probably have lived a decade longer in his excitement after finding Ramachandra Guha. Never before has a historian (or any human being for that matter) undergone the momentous task of uncovering and articulating the history of the world's largest democracy the way Guha has with India After Gandhi. Leave opinion, judgment, agenda, and agency aside; it is little doubt that Guha is the most aware Indian alive.

I had the good fortune of spending hours listening to Ram in person earlier this year, and was amazed at the wisdom-per-second spewing out from head-to-mouth impromptu. It is one thing to collect, select and organize information in chronological order; and it is another to hold that infinity in the back of your mind and retrieve, synthesize and present it on demand. It reflects passion, experience, genius, and wisdom. The series of talks were a follow-on to his controversial article in The Outlook about seven reasons why India will not be a Superpower, and why that is a meaningless goal to aspire towards.

I have received several new-found insights about India as a result of this book. It would be silly to attempt any summary or conclusions of the book and trivialize its very essence. Yet, the most important insight is that it is a miracle that India has overcome the challenge of surviving as one country. The initial conditions before, during and after independence were so unfavorable that  historians, intellectuals, politicians and journalists worldwide did not give the "India experiment" a chance to survive too long (read the book for hundreds of revealing quotes on this topic). In our detachment from the freedom struggle and ignorance of history, we often fail to acknowledge the fact that India's biggest achievement might be the fact that we survived as one country, a fact now beyond question; and so beyond reproach that it would take a deep conspiracy to imagine otherwise.

In a world where hindsight is 20-20, over a billion people are unable to speculate on what could've should've would've been a better road for India to travel since Independence - Pakistan or no Pakistan, Nehru or Patel, Gandhi right or wrong, Hindu or secular, etc. It is easier to chart a path (any path) to utopia lined up with reversal of outcome at key turning points, but much harder to understand the gravity of flaws in the idea of India and the fragility of initial conditions, despite which we made it. An awareness of the initial conditions followed step-by-step with the path to where we are today, would provide much-needed closure (and surprising optimism) to every Indian or worldly soul interested in this most crazy country; and a brand new set of goggles as we look ahead.

Comments

[Ketan Pandya]

Hi,

I have not yet read any of his books, but from whatever statements and assertions I have seen from him, I found Guha to be prejudiced, opinionated and sometimes even misleading in his claims.

That aside, let's come to the topic of the history of this (our) country. This is actually something very close to my heart and something I feel very strongly about, which is why I felt compelled to respond to your appreciation of Guha.

Bharat (I prefer this name over "India") has a 5000+ year history and one of the reasons why the country seems "crazy" (as you put it) to many people is that they do not understand or acknowledge the relevance of that 5000-year history.

"India" may be fragile or crazy, but Bharatvarsh is anything but fragile.

The country only looks fragile to educated, English-speaking Indians because we have had the misfortune of learning the Macaulayite view of history - a history that was carefully engineered by the British to indoctrinate a cadre of educated Indians and make them mentally accept British authority and subjugation.

Unfortunately, vested interests and agendas (of which I believe Guha is a part) do not want these anomalies to be removed.

Anyone expressing the kind of views I have expressed is denounced as "right-wing", which makes informed and intelligent debate difficult.

On a side note, if Guha's knowledge of history really impresses you, I would urge you to take a look at Bharati Vidya Bhavan's "The History and Culture of the Indian People" - an encyclopedic 11-volume set that is the effort of multiple historians.

Please don't take offense to the tone of this post. It is not intended to provoke or offend anyone. It's just that the issue of History and Culture is close to my heart and if a button is pressed, I feel compelled to respond, especially if the person I am talking to is an old friend ;-)

Regards
Ketan

[kashyap]

Ketan:

This is an interesting point. I raised it with Guha in person. What about the history of India before independence - last 100 years, last 200 years, last 1000 years, last 5000 years. He gave a convincing reply, which I shall over-simplify again. In terms of history, he chose the focus of his work as India the nation-state that came into existence since independence. He also thought it was most relevant to the discussion about India's future as a nation.

However, I am not sure I understand the British or international history context or framework you refer to. His approach is quite holistic and for the first time, someone has gone through the Indian history through the documents in the national libraries that were ignored by all historians, Indian or Brit. I have not followed Guha's political views in the Hindu or Outlook or online. But I would certainly recommend you read this book. You might be surprised!

kashyap

[Ketan Pandya]

Yep, I'll certainly read it. Maybe I'll drop by when I am in Mumbai next and borrow it from you :)

Let me try to briefly summarize the "British context" about history that I was talking about:

To put it very simply: during British rule, there was a systematic use of intellectual and psychological media to instill a sense of inferiority among educated Indian elites. The ultimate goal was to convince Indians that British rule was good for them, because Westernization was a good thing, and so it should be easier for us to accept British rule.

This was very cleverly and subtly done by linking *economic* incentives to adoption of English.

Thus, if you educated yourself in the English medium, you would be rewarded with better job prospects, incentives from the Government, etc.

This strategy required them to underplay or discredit our own values, culture, history while at the same time playing up everything English/Western.

For example, they made sure that "Science" taught in great detail about Newton and Galileo, but there would hardly be any mention about Aryabhat, Bhaskaracharya or Panini. Maybe just a couple of lines or a paragraph somewhere...

Similarly, "History" would wax eloquent about the Aryan "invasion" theory and about the Mughals, but about the Maurya and Gupta empires are relegated to second-class treatment.

The basic game-plan was to wean educated Indians away from their history and culture. Because history and culture are a powerful source of strength, by suppressing them the British reduced the threat of our uniting against them again after 1857.

I must say that the British achieved success beyond their wildest expectations. Because even TODAY, the same anomalies are continuing.

Even TODAY, English-medium education continues to give undue advantage over Indian languages.

This is tragic and must change. Many of our so-called intellectuals have got it the wrong way round.

We shouldn't need to force our villagers to learn English for a better future. Instead, we should think of ways to empower them WITHOUT their having to learn English. Prosperity and success should not be linked to learning English.

I know it is ironic that I am writing this in English. I am a product of the same environment that compels us to learn English for better economic prospects.

But, I think it is in our hands to challenge the status quo, attack the old assumptions and change the situation.

Sorry for the long post, this is not really easy to communicate... maybe if we sit down together for a couple of hours (in a "conducive" environment ;-) - I will be able to get my point across...

Whenever you have some time, just google for Lord Macaulay and his role in Indian education..

Cheers
Ketan