Dr.B.C. Roy

Gandhiji gathered around him some of the most brilliant Indian men and women of the highest integrity for India's struggle for freedom.
I may mention one of these, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy ( 1882-1962 ).

 Dr. Roy was born in Patna, Bihar, where his father was an Excise Inspector. After getting his B.A. degree in Mathematics Honours, he applied for admission to both Bengal Engineering College and Calcutta Medical College, and was accepted in both. He accepted the medical line, perhaps because he thought he could be of greater service to humanity as a doctor.

 His medical studies were fraught with great financial difficulties as his father had retired after his first year in Medical College, and he had to live frugally, borrowing books from the library instead of purchasing them.

 After getting his medical degree from Calcutta Medical College he joined the Provincial Medical Service, and later went to England where he set up a record by topping in both the F.R.C.S. and M.R.C.P. examinations simultaneously in 2 years time ( the British authorities stopped holding these examinations simultaneously after this ).

 On returning to India he started his private practice, and soon became the top doctor in Calcutta, earning about Rs. 50,000 per month ( which would be equivalent to about Rs 10 lacs per month today ).

 He also became a Professor of Medicine in Calcutta Medical college, and Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University. In 1928 he created the Indian Medical Association, which is the largest body of medical practitioners in India even today, and the Indian Medical Council, for setting high standards for the medical profession. He also set up many hospitals and medical establishments, including schools for nurses.

  He had joined the Congress party, and under the leadership of Gandhiji took part in the Independence Struggle. He led the Civil Disobedience Movement in Bengal in 1929. However, he was forbidden by Gandhiji from going to jail, as his services were required for medically treating the freedom fighters.

 He was Gandhiji's friend and doctor. Once when Gandhiji fell ill, and Dr. Roy prescribed some medicines for him, Gandhiji refused to take them, saying how could he take medical treatment when 400 million indians were not given similar treatment. Dr. Roy replied that he was not giving the medicines to Gandhiji, but to one who represented the aspirations of 400 million Indians. Gandhiji then took the medicines.

 After India became independent, Dr. Roy became the Chief Minister of West Bengal, on which post he remained till his death in 1962.

 At that time the salary of a Chief Minister was Rs. 500 per month. So a person who was earning Rs. 50,000 per month accepted a job of Rs. 500 per month. Nobody ever questioned his integrity.

Even after becoming the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. Roy allotted a couple of hours every day for giving free medical treatment to poor people. My grandfather, Dr. K.N. Katju, who was Dr. Roy's personal friend was the Governor of West Bengal from 1948-1951. He told me that he himself would sometimes go to Dr. Roy for medical treatment while Dr. Roy was the Chief Minister, and he offered to pay Dr. Roy's fees, which Dr. Roy always refused.

 Dr. Roy was the architect of post independence West Bengal. He was responsible for creating Salt Lake ( Bidhan Nagar ), a satellite town of Calcutta, by reclaiming the land from the salt lakes in that area. Today many people prefer to live in Salt Lake, rather than in Calcutta.

 Dr. Roy was a bachelor. he donated his house for setting up a nursing home, and gave all his other properties to a trust for social service in Patna.
 He died in 1962, and was awarded the Bharat Ratna.

K.Kamaraj ( 1903-1975 )

Kamaraj was the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu from 1954 to 1963. He set one of the highest standards of integrity in public life in India.

  Once as Chief Minister he went to his village to see his ailing mother. There had been no water tap earlier in her house, but this time Kamaraj noticed a municipal water tap. He got very upset, and scolded the Municipality officers for installing that water tap, saying that Municipal water taps are meant only for public use, and could not be installed in private houses. Having said that he ordered immediate removal of that water tap.

 Kamaraj came from a poor family. His father used to earn a living selling coconuts. When Kamaraj was 6 years old his father died, and his mother had to sell her jewellery to support her family.

 When Kamaraj was 16 years old the Jallianwala massacre took place in Amritsar, which electrified the whole country. This event so moved  Kamaraj that he decided to devote his whole life to the freedom struggle. Consequently he never married.

 Kamaraj participated in the freedom struggle enthusiastically. He was jailed 6 times by the British authorities, and he spent over 8 years in jail, between 1930, when he was arrested during the Salt Satyagrah under Gandhiji's leadership, and 1945.

 After India became independant Kamaraj became a Member of parliament from 1952-1954, and then the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu for 9 years. His large heartedness can be seen from the fact that when he became Chief Minister of Tamilnadu in 1954 he nominated C. Subramaniam and M. Bhaktavatsalam, who had been his bitter opponents, to be his cabinet colleagues. This reminds one of President Abraham Lincoln's appointment of Edwin Stanton, his bitter opponent, to his cabinet in 1861.

 During his Chief Ministership Tamilnadu made tremendous strides, so much so that Prime Minister Nehru openly said that Tamilnadu has become the best administered state in India.

 Among his achievements were the following :

1. Literacy in Tamilnadu rose from 7% to 37%.

2. Education was given special importance. No village was without a primary school, and no panchayat without a High School. Education was free and compulsory upto class 11. This enabled poor children also to get education. Perhaps without this scheme there may have been no Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalaam.

3. The Mid Day meal scheme was launched, providing at least one free meal to students a day. This scheme was later adopted by several states.

4. An I.I.T was started in Chennai for creating first class engineers. Many of the alumni of this institution are today manning Silicon Valley in California,and are Professors in the Science, Engineering and Mathematics Departments of American and European Universities.

5. Many irrigation schemes were started and completed, and several dams and irrigation canals were built. Consequently large areas in Tamilnadu which were earlier without water could now get it.

6. Many industries were started in Tamilnadu with government support.

  

Kamaraj always led a simple life, and detested ostentation. He disowned sirens on his car, and often refused police protection, saying that if one did not do wrong deeds he would need no police protection. When he died he had no accumulated wealth. None of his relatives ever benefited from their relation with him.

Usne kaha tha

Just read the Hindi short story ' Usne kaha tha ' by Chandradhar Sharma Guleri ( 1883- 1922 ). I had read it earlier half a century ago. It is regarded by some as the first short story in Hindi, and some regard it as one of the best.
 It is remarkably realistic in its description of lives of Sikh soldiers in the French trenches in the First World War. It reminds one of Erich Maria Remarque's 'All Quiet on the Western Front ', though the latter is much longer and much more vivid.
 Perhaps the reason for that is that while Remarque actually fought in the war, Guleri never did. However, he must have heard first hand accounts from some Indian soldiers who fought in the war, because his descriptions of the cold and dampness of the trenches in France, and the brutality of the war, are truly graphic and realistic.
 Also it is an undying story of sacrifice by Jamadar Lehna Singh for his Subedar, whose wife had pleaded to Lehna Singh to protect her husband before they went to France to fight in the war.
 The most touching and heart rending words in the story are Lehna Singh's words to one of his comrades towards the end of the story " Wazeera, paani pilaa "
 Guleri's early death at the age of 39 cut short a promising career as a story writer. Only 3 of his stories are known. In ' Usne kaha tha  ' Guleri has successfully used the technique of flashbacks. His scenes of the jostle in Amritsar's bazaars and his description of the lives of the Sikh soldiers on Europe's Western Front are remarkable. He has used Punjabi and Urdu vocabulary.
 What is more remarkable is the fact that Chakradhar Sharma was a Professor of Sanskrit and Hindi in Jaipur and Mayo College, Ajmer. It is rare for such a person to write such a memorable story
 The Hindi film by the same name is very disappointing. It does not catch the essence of the story, or the lives of soldiers in the trenches

A couplet

" Main ne Majnoon pe ladakpan mein Asad

  Sang uthaaya tha, ki sar yaad aaya "

 - Mirza Ghalib

i.e.

" In my boyhood ( that is, when I did not have much understanding ) I picked up a stone to throw at Majnoon

  But then I remembered that when I grow up the same may happen to my head "

N.B.

" sang ' means a stone

' Majnoon ' literally means ' crazy ' ( deewaana ). Majnoon was the name given to Qais, who fell madly in love with Laila. The story of Laila and Majnoon is well known.

 In Sufi literature Majnoon means a person having a passion.

There are two attributes of men, reason and emotion. Sufis, like the French thinker Rousseau, believed that over reliance on reason and neglect of emotion makes people crafty, cunning and scheming, and totally selfish. Hence, emotion or passion are required, that is, compassion and altruism. Like the poet Kabir, the Sufis were against bigotry,rigid customs and over emphasis on scriptures, and instead preached the message of love and consideration for all humankind

Sarita Devi

I had been critical of the Indian woman boxer Sarita Devi, who had behaved in a totally unacceptable manner in the medal awarding ceremony in the recent Asian Games by creating a scene by throwing tantrums and putting her bronze medal on the neck of her Korean opponent who was declared the winner in their bout.

 Many Indians at that time supported Sarita Devi, but in my opinion they were only being emotional.  Patriotism, of which I daresay I am not lacking, does not mean supporting every Indian even if he/she does something wrong.

I pointed out that none of the 3 Judges who awarded the bout by a very slim margin to the Korean was himself a Korean. It was a closely contested bout, and I myself thought that Sarita Devi did slightly better than the Korean, but then I am not a professional boxing Judge. Moreover, Judges, too, are human beings, and may have made a mistake. Lord Denning has said that the Judge has not been born who has not made a mistake. So ordinarily we should accept the verdict of the Judges, unless there is clear proof of bias.

  But Sarita Devi is a young, evidently emotional, woman, who later realized her mistake and unconditionally apologized. So the suspension order passed recently against her is  unwarranted, and needs to be reconsidered.

 The boxing authorities of the Asian Games should be told of Portia's speech in Shakespeare's  ' Merchant of Venice ', where she pleaded that justice should be tempered with mercy.

 In my opinion, in view of her apology, the authorities should have let off Sarita Devi with a stern warning that this kind of misbehaviour will not be tolerated in future, and will entail dire consequences.

Gorky and the Russian ladies

Maxim Gorki, the great Russian writer, tells this interesting story. Once he was sitting with Anton Chekhov, another great Russian writer in Chekhov's house discussing literature, when three very fashionably dressed Russian ladies came to see Chekhov. They filled his room with the scent of strong perfume and the rustle of silk attire.

They sat down before Chekhov, and pretending to be very interested in politics began to ask him some questions.

" Anton Pavlovich ( Chekhov's name ), what do you think will be the result of the war between the Greeks and the Turks ? "

 Chekhov reflected seriously, then said amiably " I think it will probably be peace. "

 " Yes, of course ", said one of the ladies, "  But who will win ? The Greeks or the Turks ? "

   " I think  those who are stronger will win " said Chekhov.

  " But who is stronger in your opinion ? ", persisted the lady.

  " Those who are better nourished and better educated " he replied.

  " And whom do you like better, the Greeks or the Turks ? ", asked another lady.

  Chekhov gave her a charming look and amiable smile, and then said " I like marmalade best. Do you like it ? ".

   " Very much " cried the lady vivaciously, and the three of them then started chattering enthusiastically, displaying their considerable knowledge about marmalade, and their profound erudition on the subject.

  

It was obvious that they were delighted not to have to make any further mental effort and pretend to be seriously interested in the Turks and Greeks, about whose affairs they had never bothered before this.

  As they were leaving they promised to send a lot of marmalade to Chekhov.

 When they had gone, Gorki said to Chekhov " You handled that very cleverly "

  Chekhov laughed, and said " It is best for everybody to speak their own language "

Reply to Mr. Sartaj Aziz

Mr. Sartaj Aziz, the Adviser to the Pakistan Prime Minister on foreign affairs, in a statement made in the Pakistan Senate recently, said

(1) Pakistan will not accept the superiority of India, and 

(2) It would continue highlighting the Kashmir issue worldwide.

 My reply is : 

(1) The question of superiority and inferiority arises if there are two countries. But if there is only one country, where is the question of superiority or inferiority ?

 In fact Pakistan is no country at all. It is a fake, artificial entity created by the British on the basis of the bogus two nation theory to ensure that Hindus and Muslims keep fighting each other,and that India ( of which Pakistan is really a part ) does not emerge as a modern, powerful, prosperous country, like China, for which it has now all the potential with its huge pool of bright engineers and scientists, and immense natural resources.

 The two nation theory, that Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations, was a mischievous hoax  and fraud by the British on the Indian people using their agents like Jinnah, and Partition in 1947 was done on that basis. Since the theory itself is bogus, the only resolution of this historical swindle and fraud is reunification of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh under a strong, secular, modern minded government which will not tolerate religious extremism of any kind and crush it with an iron hand.

 People in India ( in which I include Pakistan and Bangladesh ) must realize that we were duped and taken for a ride by the British. The British and some others are still laughing at us, seeing how they befooled us. Do you like to be befooled and laughed at ?

 Those who say that much water has passed since 1947 and now what is done cannot be undone should be reminded of Germany which was reunited after 45 year separation. China has still not recognized Taiwan, though they were separated in 1945. Did President Abraham Lincoln accept the Confederate States of America ( the slave holding states  ) in 1861 ?

 Some say that the reunification idea of mine is a day dream. My reply is : when Mazzini proposed unification of Italy, most people said it was  a day dream, but it was realized later by Cavour and Garibaldi.

 When I meet Pakistanis I feel no different from them, we look like each other, speak the same language ( Hindustani ), have the same culture ( love for Urdu poetry, Hindustani classical music, etc ), the same food habits, etc. In fact when Indians and Pakistanis meet in foreign countries they mix together and socialize as if Partition never took place.We were befooled by the Britishers into thinking we were enemies, but how much longer must we remain befooled ? How much longer must blood flow between us ?
 What is Pakistan ? It is Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and NWFP. These were part of India in the time of Emperor Ashoka ( his edicts are still found in some of those places ). They were part of India in Mughal and British times.
  Those who talk of 'improving' relations ; between India and Pakistan are living in a fool's paradise. Pakistan was created so that there should be perpetual enmity between us, and thereby India should remain weak and poor. Whenever it appears that relations between us are improving there is some incident of hostility.
 Look at the amount of money we spend on arms purchases abroad. India spends about 40 billion dollars every year on arms purchases, and Pakistan also spends a huge amount on them. Much of this money could be saved and spent on the welfare of our people. Can a poor country like ours afford such huge amounts on unproductive matters ?

 Of course reunification will take time, may be 15-20 years, firstly because those who divided us will not let us easily reunite, and secondly because the poison of the divide and rule policy ( communal hatred ) which was injected into our society consistently by the British after 1857 ( see my article ' The Truth about Pakistan ' and the speech 'History in the Service of Imperialism ' by B.N. Pandey, available online ) will take time to remove. However, I am injecting the anti-dote, though it will take time to have effect, as the poison of one and a half centuries cannot be eliminated in one day.

 (2) The Kashmir issue will automatically be resolved on the reunification of India and Pakistan under a strong, secular government. Then both parts of Kashmir will be united, and have a democratically elected state government, but within a federal Indian government. I am myself a Kashmiri, and have the welfare of Kashmir at heart. I know what the Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits have suffered. My message to Kashmiris is not to be misguided by the separatist leaders who have their own vested interests and agenda, and who do not really care for the welfare of Kashmiris. Talk of independence for Kashmir is nonsensical, and will result in more suffering. Instead of the slogan of independence, Kashmiris must raise the slogan of reunification of India and Pakistan under a strong secular government.

 Secularism does not mean that one cannot practise one's own religion. It means that religion is a private affair, unconnected with the state, which will have no religion.

Sir William Jones ( 1746-1794)

Sir William Jones was an English philologist, orientalist and jurist, who is renowned for his seminal discovery that Sanskrit is so closely related to Greek, Latin and other European languages that the similarities could not possibly be coincidental, and could only be explained by accepting that they were all derived from a common ancestor, an ancient language, which does not now exist. This led to the creation of a branch of knowledge called comparitive philology.

 Sir William was a child prodigy. He had learnt Greek, Latin, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, and some rudimentary Chinese at a very early age. By the end of his life he knew 13 languages thoroughly, and 28 reasonably well.

 He graduated from Oxford University in 1768, and joined the Middle Temple in 1770, completing his law studies and becoming a barrister in 1773, the year in which he also obtained his M.A. degree.

 In 1783 he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of Calcutta, on which post he remained till his death in 1794.

 On arriving in Calcutta Sir William was told by someone that there was an ancient language in India called Sanskrit, which was still used by native scholars. His curiosity having been aroused, he decided to study it, and within a short time he had mastered it.

 Soon after his arrival, Sir William, along with Colebrooke, established the Asiatic Society, whose purpose was to study Oriental culture.

 Sir William's Third Annual Discourse before the Asiatic Society, (delivered on 2 February 1786 and published in 1788) contains the famed "philologer" passage, which is often cited as the beginning of comparative linguistics and Indo-European studies. In this lecture Sir William said :

 "The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists. "

 This theory provided the impetus for the development of the branch of knowledge called comparitive linguistics, and can be compared to the discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo and Darwin in their respective fields.

 Sir William noted that Sanskrit had such striking similarities to Greek, Latin and other European languages that the connection could not possibly be coincidental.

 Thus, 'pater' ( which means father) in Latin is similar to 'pita' in Sanskrit, mater ( mother) in Latin is similar to 'mata' in Sanskrit, ' daughter ' in English is similar to ' duhita' in Sanskrit, 'agnus' ( fire) in Latin is similar to 'agni' in Sanskrit, 'horse' in English is similar to 'ashva' in Sanskrit, 'hand ' in English is similar to 'hasta' in Sanskrit, 'est' in Latin ( 'is' in English ) is similar to 'asti' in Sanskrit. Hundreds of other similarities can be shown.

 The Hindi word 'tu' means exactly the same as the word used by Julius Caesar when he said "Et tu Brute "

 Sir William translated the Sanskrit works, 'Abhigyan Shakuntalam' and ' Ritusamhar' of Kalidas, 'Geet Govinda' of Jayadev, the 'Hitopadesh', etc into English. Goethe, the great German scholar was full of praise for ' Abhigyan Shakuntalam '.

  Sanskrit is also similar to Persian, e.g. the word 'trishna' ( thirst ) means the same as the Persian word ' tashna '. The Rigveda uses similar words as in the Zend Avesta.

  It was a great tragedy that Sir William died at the relatively young age of 48. It was a great loss to India, and to the world.

Newton, Einstein and the quest of The Holy Grail

There is a striking analogy between the later years of two of the greatest scientists of the world, Isaac Newton ( 1642-1726 ), and Albert Einstein ( 1879-1955 ). Starting from brilliant scientific discoveries in their younger days, both wasted several decades of the later years of their lives in fruitless, quixotic work, which can only be called the quest of the Holy Grail, i.e. useless endeavours.

Isaac Newton the creator of classical physics, is renowned for his great discoveries of the laws of motion and the law of gravity. In his later years,however, he spent most of his time on alchemy, a pseudo-science, which claimed to know how to transform the base metals into gold, on finding the ' elixir of life ', a substance which can ensure permanent youth and life. and a ' philosopher's stone ', and on occult, which was all humbug.

  Albert Einstein, too, had a similar phase in his life. After his brilliant discovery of the photo-electric effect ( for which he got the Nobel Prize ), the Special Theory of Relativity ( 1906 ) and the General Theory of Relativity ( 1919 ), he went on his fruitless quest of creating a Unified Field Theory, which would present all the forces in the Universe as one..

 In the 1920s two forces were known in the world, electro-magnetism and gravity. Later, two more forces became known, strong nuclear forces and weak nuclear forces.

 Strong nuclear force is what keeps the nucleus together. In a nucleus within the atom there are several protons ( except in the hydrogen atom, which has only one proton in the nucleus ). Protons are particles having positive electricity. Now positive electricity repels positive electricity, so theoretically if an atom has several protons ( which all atoms have except the hydrogen atom which has only one proton ), the nucleus should blow apart, due to the repulsion of the protons with each other, but the fact that it does not means that there is a strong force keeping them together. This is the strong nuclear force.

 Weak nuclear force is the force responsible for beta decay.i.e. emission of radiation by radioactive substances.

 Thus it is now accepted broadly that there are four forces in the Universe. Einstein suggested that all these four forces are really different features of one single force, and for the last 30 years of his life he pursued the quixotic goal of creating a Unified Field Theory, because he strongly felt as an intellectual need that all of nature must be run by a single field theory.

  Einstein's downfall came because he could not accept new ideas, e.g. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, ( though Heisenberg had demonstrated it mathematically ), and his grave doubts about the correctness of the principles of quantum mechanics. Having himself been an original and seminal thinker when he propounded the Theory of Relativity, Einstein later seemed unable to accept the new, radical ideas of quantum mechanics.

 The Quantum Theory of Max Planck said that light could be conceived of as discrete packets of energy ( which Einstein called photons ). This was in contrast to Huygen's theory that light consisted of waves.

 Quantum mechanics, as propounded by De Broglie, and as developed by Heisenberg, Dirac, Schrodinger, Pauli, etc, on the other hand, said the reverse. It said that particles ( e.g. electrons, protons, neutrons, etc) can be conceived of as waves, since they undergo diffraction, interference, and polarization, which are qualities peculiar to waves.

Einstein split with mainstream physics at the height of his career, because he could not accept these new ideas. In 1927, when all the top physicists of the world were gathered at a conference in Brussels, he dismissed quantum mechanics as if it were a pseudo-science, and clashed with Niels Bohr ( see the Einstein-Bohr Debates online ).

As a result, Bohr, who was ordinarily a very soft spoken man, told Moffatt in an  interview " As far as I am concerned, EInstein has become an alchemist. In  search of a transcendental theory ( the Unified Field Theory ), he has lost touch with experimentation, and drifted off into the field of metaphysics ".

When Moffatt met Schrodinger, a great physicist and renowned for the famous Schrodinger's Equation in quantun mechanics, and mentioned Einstein, the latter got very angry and remarked :  "Einstein is a fool ".

 Both Newton and Einstein were victims of their own success. What went wrong with them in their later years ? It is difficult to say. May be they became arrogant because of their early success, and arrogance is the death of a scientist. Perhaps they started regarding themselves as gods, and any new idea coming from anyone except themselves was nonsense.

 Also, Einstein seems in his later life to have become a Platonist.

 In science, theory must conform to facts. The Greek philosopher Plato, however, believed that facts must conform to theory.

  Plato relied mainly on reason, and did not give much importance to knowledge acquired by the senses. On the other hand, his disciple Aristotle, laid equal importance on reason and knowledge acquired by the senses, i.e. by experimentation.

 True scientific knowledge is that which comes from a combination of both.

My Favourite Poem

This is one of my favourite poems, by the American poet Walt Whitman from his book ' Leaves of Grass '. It is a mournful elegy, and was written soon after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The ' Captain ' is President Lincoln. 'the fearful trip is done' means the end of the American Civil War ( 1861-1865 ). 'The ship has weathered every wrack ' means that America has braved and survived the storm of the civil war, ' the prize we sought is won ' means American unity and end of slavery has been attained, 'the people all exulting ' means the jubilation of those who wanted America to remain united.
 The writer cannot believe or accept that President Lincoln is dead, and tells him that honours are being showered  on him ( for his sagacious handling of the situation ), and asks him to get up. However, he ultimately realises that Lincoln is dead

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
                         But O heart! heart! heart!
                            O the bleeding drops of red,
                               Where on the deck my Captain lies,
                                  Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
                         Here Captain! dear father!
                            This arm beneath your head!
                               It is some dream that on the deck,
                                 You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
                         Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
                            But I with mournful tread,
                               Walk the deck my Captain lies,
                                  Fallen cold and dead

Julian Gardner

When I was admitted in the Boys' High School, Allahabad in January 1951 there were about 200 students in the entire school ( now there over 5000 ), about one third of whom were Anglo-Indians ( most of them migrated later with their parents to England, Australia, or Canada) . Many of these Anglo-Indians had the surname Gardner.

One of these was my class mate Julian Gardner, whose son-in-law, David Luke, is now Principal of the school.

 After I had passed out of Boys High School on completing my Senior Cambridge school examination in 1961, I lost touch with Julian.

 It was much later.when I was a Judge of Allahabad High Court ( from 1991-2004) that I again came into contact with him when one day he came to my house in Allahabad.

  We exchanged old memories of our time in the school. Julian told me all that he had done after leaving the school. He had been in the railways in some capacity, and later left the railways and had been doing farming in Kasganj, in U.P.

 The Gardners in India all come from Kasganj. Their ancestor was a British lord, William Gardner, who had been a general in the British army in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, had fought in India, and had been granted an estate in Kasganj as a reward for his services. I am informed that a Gardner's House still stands in Kasganj.

 Lord Gardner had raised a British regiment known as the Gardner's Horse in 1809. The regiment still exists in the Indian army, but is now known as the Second Lancers. It is the oldest and most highly decorated armoured regiment in the Indian army.

  When Julian met me in my house in Allahabad he told me a fascinating story.

Lord Gardner had been a hereditary peer, not a life peer. Hereditary peers are those belonging to old aristocratic families in England, and the eldest son of the father inherits the title, the castle, etc. Life peers are those appointed only lords for their lifetime, because of some accomplishment in some field, e.g. business, science, art, etc, and their sons do not inherit the title. The peers, whether hereditary or lifetime, have the right to sit in the House of Lords, which is the upper House in the British Parliament.

 The British Government had appointed a well known historian to do research about the hereditary peers. That historian found out, after painstaking research, that Julian was the seniormost, direct descendant in the male line of descent from Lord Gardner, and hence had the right to inherit the title, the castle, etc. However, Julian had to submit certain documents to prove his claim, and so he had come to me for help.

 I immediately instructed the District Judge of Kasganj to help in the matter and obtain the relevant documents and give them to Julian.

 I started dreaming of the day my friend Julian would become Lord Gardner and sit in the House of Lords in England, and I would be a guest in his castle and enjoy his hospitality.

 However, this dream was shattered when later Julian informed me that the Labour Government of Tony Blair had changed the policy, and now Julian could not become a Lord.

That was really cheating my friend !

Peer into the past

He ekes out a living as a peasant farmer in a remote part of north India. His only link to Britain would seem to be his short-wave radio. But despite his humble lot, Julian Gardner is heir to an English barony. William Dalrymple tracks him down deep in Uttar Pradesh

William Dalrymple
The Guardian, Monday 8 December 2003
The village of Khasgunge ( Kasgunj ) lies on the edge of bandit territory in the increasingly anarchic north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Here on the banks of the Ganges, in the badlands to the north west of Lucknow, it is the police who are the highwaymen and the local politicians who run the mafia. It is a place where you do well to keep off the roads after the fall of darkness.
The nearest town of any size to Khasgunge is the old Mughal capital of Agra, three hours' drive away, so I set off in the pre-dawn glimmer of a chill winter's morning, hoping to get safely back by nightfall. As we set off, the great white dome of the Taj Mahal was just visible above the early morning mist, and the bazaars were full of muffled figures wobbling along on rickety bikes. Passing the crumbling cupolas of the old ruined Mughal gardens, we drove out into the foggy fields of yellow winter mustard beyond. Trucks and camel carts headed slowly in the opposite direction, as monkeys lolloped across the road.

The tale I was chasing was an unlikely one. During the research for my book White Mughals - all about the forgotten period of multicultural "chutnification" during the late 18th century - I had heard about a princely Anglo-Mughal dynasty living in strained circumstances in Khasgunge. The Gardners mixed in their veins the blood of British barons, Mughal Emperors and Indian Nawabs, and were said to be still clinging on to their ancestral acres where their mixed Muslim and Christian ancestors still lay buried in large domed Mughal tombs. More intriguing still, it was said that Julian Gardner, the small-holding peasant farmer who was now the head of the dynasty, was in fact the rightful heir to the Barony of Gardner, historically linked to Uttoxeter, and so eligible - at least until recently - for a seat in the House of Lords.

I had asked around and learned a little about Julian before setting off in search of him. Some said that the putative Lord Gardner had never been to England and spoke only faltering English, contenting himself with farming his Indian acres and enjoying the prestige of being the village wrestling champion. Others told me of the strained circumstances in which the current Baron Gardner now lived. A distant cousin of his described how Julian, having invited her to stay to lunch, had picked up his shotgun and promptly shot a green parakeet sitting in the tree outside his house, then handed it to his wife to be plucked and cooked.

It certainly sounded intriguing, especially when a quick call to the royal College of Arms confirmed that the story of Julian's peerage was indeed true. According to Patric Dickinson, the Richmond Herald, who has spent some time researching the claim, had Julian Gardner had the money and the inclination to fight his case through the committee of privileges at Westminster, he would have had no trouble in spending much of his adult life not in a dusty Indian farm, but instead on the soft leather benches of the Lords. "I personally have no doubt that Julian should be Lord Gardner," said Dickinson. "It's not going to be much use to him now that the government wishes to abolish the hereditaries, although I suppose there is the consolation of an invitation to the next coronation. But I don't think there is any doubt that Julian is the rightful heir."

Three hours' drive later, Khasgunge turned out to be a scrappy bazaar town, alive with the smell of ginger tea, frying parathas and the sound of blaring film music. The sun was now up and I was directed from chai stall to chai stall as people pointed out the way to the Angrez Kothi (the Englishman's estate) as they called it. We found our way through the maze of canals and rutted bullock tracks that criss-crossed the country, past saras cranes preening on the edge of irrigation runnels, finding our way towards the high-pointed hemisphere of the vast-domed Mughal tomb of the American-born founder of the dynasty, William Linnaeus Gardner. The tomb dominated the flat country for miles around, and it was only when you drew nearer that you could see that to one side lay the ruined remains of a once very grand residential complex: a hamam [Turkish bath] and a stable block, a roofless ballroom with glassless Georgian fan windows, and a bibi khana or women's house with crumbling lattices set in cusped Mughal arches.

There is a wonderful description of life in these buildings in the journals of a travel writer named Fanny Parkes who visited Khasgunge in February 1835. She gives a detailed picture of how William Gardner lived in a culturally hybrid house with Mughal customs and mixed European and Mughal cuisine.

At the wedding of the colonel's granddaughter, Parkes describes how the European guests, like their host, were all in Mughal dress. Later, "two English gentlemen, who were fond of native life, and fascinated with Khasgunge, requested me to mention to Colonel Gardner their wish to become of his family". But little was now left of this hybrid world: goats lay tethered in the ballroom, and Yadav peasant women stacked their sheaves of winter wheat in the remains of the hamam . Before long the village headman appeared and gave me direction to Julian's farmhouse, which lay, he said, along a narrow dirt track, a couple of villages away.

The house was indistinguishable from any other north Indian farmstead. Outside was the usual disordered Indian scene: chickens perching on charpoys, buffaloes chewing the cud amid mountain of dung chapatis, drying for the winter cooking fires, the gush of water from an ill-oiled hand pump. There was certainly no indication that this was the residence of a man with an excellent claim to a British title.

The strange story of the Indian Gardners begins approximately 200 years ago, with the arrival in Madras of a young refugee from the patriot victory in the American war of independence. William Linnaeus Gardner was born into a prominent American loyalist family on the banks of the Hudson. After the British defeat at Yorktown, the Gardners fled America for Britain, and William sailed to India to seek his fortune. There he married a beautiful Mughal princess, and seems to have converted to Islam to marry her. It was a long, happy marriage. Years later, living with his Anglo-Indian family on his wife's estates at Khasgunge, with his son James married to a niece of the Mughal emperor, Gardner wrote proudly of his multi-racial family: "My having been married some 30 years and never having taken another wife surprises the Musselmans very much," he informed a cousin. "The begum and I, from years of constant contact, have smoothed off each other's asperities and roll on peaceably and contentedly. My house is filled with brats, and the very thinking of them, from blue eyes and fair hair to ebony and wool makes me anxious to get back again. I have more relish in playing with my little brats than for the First Society of the World."

The "brats" and their children grew in time into a remarkable Anglo-Mughal dynasty, half of whose members were Muslim and half Christian; indeed some of them, such as James Jehangir Shikoh Gardner, seem to have been both at the same time. Even those Gardners who were straightforwardly Christian had alternative Muslim names: thus the Rev Bartholomew Gardner could also be addressed as Sabr, under which name he was a notable Urdu and Persian poet.

William Gardner died on his Khasgunge estate on July 29 1835, at the age of 65. His begum, whose eyes he had first glimpsed 38 years earlier, could not live without him. According to Parkes: "My beloved friend Colonel Gardner was buried, according to his desire, near the [Mughal] tomb of his son. From the time of his death the poor begum pined and sank daily; just as he said, she complained not, but she took his death to heart; she died one month and two days after his decease."

The family never recovered the position they held under William. Despite possessing the right to a pukka peerage, over time they lost their wealth, became poorer and poorer, gradually losing touch with both their aristocratic Mughal and English relations. Their old porous multiculturalism gave way to a more conventional pigeon-holing in the firm social stratification of the Raj, and like many other Anglo-Indians, the Gardners found employment on the railways. The penultimate vicereine, Lady Halifax, had Gardner blood and records in her memoirs that she was a little surprised when alighting from the viceregal train on her way up to Simla, to see the station master break through the ceremonial guard and fight his way up to the red carpet. Shouldering his way through the ranks of aides, he addressed the vicereine:

"Your excellency," he said, "my name is Gardner."

"Of course," replied Lady Halifax, somewhat to the surprise of the viceregal entourage. "We are therefore cousins."

I sit on a charpoy in the winter sunshine of Julian's farm as he lays out his file full of family papers. Letters from Burke's Peerage and Debrett's blew about the yard as we eat not parrot, rather disappointingly, but one of the chickens who has been picking about the letters from Burke's only minutes earlier. "The papers are all there and no one disputes my claim," says Julian, through a mouthful of chickpeas. "But I simply don't have the cash to fight the case through the courts: when the bank at Farrukhabad failed during my grandfather's time we lost nearly everything. We're living all right - God has been good to us - but we can't afford to employ lawyers or anything like that."

He is a thin, wiry, intelligent man in his late 60s. He has dark sunburned skin and a lilting Anglo-Indian accent. Contrary to reports I had heard, he is neither a village wrestling champion, nor illiterate; but it is true that he has never been to Britain, and his only link to the country of his ancestors is the short-wave radio inside, permanently tuned to the BBC World Service.

"Anyway," he continues, "what would I do in the English parliament? My life is here: getting up at 5.30 to put the cattle out, check the herdsmen are giving the right food to the buffaloes, that the maize and barley are being watered properly ... It's true we Gardners feel more English than Indian: our behaviour, our way of dressing and living - it's all English and we bring up our children to learn the English scriptures. All the people here call us Angrez. But my home is not London - it's here in Khasgunge."

"Do the people here know about your history?" I ask.

"Oh, yes: if ever the bandits come, the people only have to say Angrezi Sahib aa rehe hai - the English sahib is coming - and the dacoits run off: they have heard I am handy with my rifle. But now hardly any Gardners are left. When I was young there were hundreds of us: we could dance and sing and create our own English atmosphere in this village. We knew all the old songs. Now most of us have emigrated, to Australia mainly. There are a few in Allahabad and Delhi, including my children. But I don't think they will ever come back to live here. My wife and I are the last Gardners left here.

"The end is coming very fast," he says. "It's sad. My family have been here for centuries and now it's the end of the chapter. I just hope the title will come through before I die. My grandfather's soul will rest in peace and my children can go back home as English lords. That's what I pray for at night.

"At my age its too late for me to emigrate. But my children would definitely go if they got the title. I'd like my children to have what belonged to their ancestors. At the moment," he added, "they can't even get a British passport."

· Fanny Parkes's travelogue Begums, Thugs and White Mughals has just been reprinted by Sickle Moon. William Dalrymple's book on 18th-century multiculturalism, White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth Century India, recently won the Wolfson Prize for History and the Scottish Book of the Year.
www.williamdalrymple.com

The Death Penalty

Many persons want abolition of the death penalty. While I agree that ordinarily the death penalty should not be imposed, I am of the view that in exceptional case it should be awarded.

Our society is in transition from feudal society to a modern industrial one. Whatever helps in this advance should be supported, while whatever obstructs it it should be opposed.

 For example, 'honour killing' is a barbaric,feudal practice, and so must be stamped out, and to do that terror must be created in the minds of those who indulge in it by awarding death penalty in such cases. I said this in a judgment I gave in the Supreme Court, Bhagwan Das vs. State ( NCT ) of Delhi, 2001.

 Similarly, dowry death,  fake encounter killing by the cops, serial killing ,and particulary gruesome murders should be awarded death penalty.

 I am not a blood thirsty person. But I agree with Bheeshma Pitamah in his upadesh to Yudhishthir after the Mahabharata war in the Shantiparva.

 Bheeshma Pitamah told Yudhishthir :

" O Yudhishthir, I know that you are merciful and forgiving by nature, but the government cannot be conducted in this manner. You must sometimes be firm, and award punishment in appropriate cases "

About Myself

I am a purely theoretical person.

I got the reading habit very early in life, maybe when I was about 10 years old ( I have crossed 68 now ). Even now I read several hours every day ( though the internet is of great help now in getting a lot of knowlege).

 I was very good in games in my youth. I played a lot of football ( my favourite game ), hockey, cricket, tennis, badminton, table tennis,  swimming, and even boxing, in school, college and University.

 But what I really enjoyed, and still enjoy most is reading, for which I have a passion.

 I am a loner in life, not a very social person, and books became my greatest companions. While reading I am transported to a different world.

 I started going to libraries very early in life. In Allahabad, while I was in the University ( 1963-1967) I used to spend several hours reading in the Public Library in Alfred Park, and I also visited other libraries. In Chennai, where I went as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court in 2004, I regularly went to the Madras University library, and borrowed books to read from there. In Delhi, where I came in 2005, and where I have been since then, I regularly visit the India International Centre and Delhi Gymkhana Club libraries and borrow books to read from there.

 My favourite subjects in reading are history, literature, biography, and, of course, law ( which was my profession ).  I have read a lot of literature  of several countries, and of several Indian languages. I have also read a lot of philosophy, economics, science, political science, etc

  I had been admitted in an English medium school in Allahabad in January 1951 ( The Boys High School, Allahabad). At that time about one third of my school mates were Andlo- Indians ( later many migrated with their parents to England, Australia and Canada), and these boys all spoke in English. So I became fluent in English at a very early age, and this opened up the door for me to much knowledge in the world, because most of the books on various subjects are in English.

 Indian intellectuals are broadly of two kinds, the traditional ones who have a good grip over Indian culture, and the Westernised ones, who have a good grip over Western culture. I have a good grip over both, and am equally comfortable and familiar with both. Thus, for example, I am well conversant with both Western philosophy, literature and history, as well as Indian philosophy, literature and history.

 I am not a practical person, and it is because I have a very practical wife, who looks after all the practical affairs in my life, that I have survived so far. I am a purely theoretical man, and this is where I am highly specialized.

 What is the use of theoretical knowledge ? The answer is that without theoretical knowledge we cannot understand the world, we cannot understand what is going on in it, and we cannot know how to solve the country's problems. Intellectuals are the eyes of society, and without intellectuals society is blind.

Naanum Oru Tamilar

I do not believe in rebirth. But if there were rebirths, I was certainly a Tamilian in one of my previous births. Whenever I go to Tamilnadu I feel I am going home, and feel at home there. I have lots of friends in Tamilnadu, and Tamilians have always given me a lot of love and respect, which is because of the kindness and generosity of their hearts. When meeting a Tamilian I often say :" naanum oru Tamilar " ( I, too, am a Tamilian ). and I mean it ( though I am also a Kashmiri, an M.P.ite, a U.P.ite, a Bengali, a Rajasthani, an Oriya, and a Punjabi, because of the association of my ancestors with those places ).

  While studying in Allahabad University, where I was from 1963-1967, I got this idea of learning Tamil, probably because I thought I should know my country, and Tamilnadu was furthest away in the south. So I joined a Tamil diploma course in the Allahabad University ( apart from pursuing my regular studies). My Tamil teacher was one Prof. Ranganathan, and he always wore a white turban and put on a tilak ( naamam) on his forehead. I remember the first words in Tamil which were in my Tamil book : " Tamilar Veeram " i.e. the bravery of the Tamil people.

 After I finished my studies in Allahabad University, I decided I needed to know more about Tamilnadu. So in !967 I went to Annamalai University in Tamilnadu, and joined a one year spoken Tamil diploma course there  ( I was told it was discontinued some years after I had left ).

   I remember that on approaching the University, there were vast stretches of water on both sides of the approach road, and many cocoanut trees.

  My Tamil teachers were Mr. Raja, and Mr. Shanmugam Pillai. When I went to Annamalai University after I became a Supreme Court Judge in 2006 I was told there that Mr. Raja had disappeared somewhere while he was alive, but I met members of his family.

  I was in Kambar Hostel. One of my room mates there was Venkat Subbu Reddy, about whom I had put up a previous post on facebook. He was from Pondicherry, and he later became a teacher, but has now retired, and looks after his farm. He had met me when I was leaving Tamilnadu to take over as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court in October 2005, and again when he came to meet me in Chennai this year.

 When I went to Annamalai University after becoming a Supreme Court Judge, I went to Kambar Hostel. The news of my coming had obviously reached the hostellers, who greeted me with loud cheering when I arrived.

  At Annamalai University I often used to go to the Chidambaram Temple , which is about 2 kms. from the University,on foot with some friends. I played a lot of football, my favourite game, in the University.

  Much later, I became the Chief Justice of Madras High Court in November 2004. At that time the High Court was in a very bad shape, for reasons which need not be mentioned, and I determined to set it right.

 My flight from Delhi was reaching Chennai at about 2 p.m. on a working day,and I telephoned the then Acting Chief Justice to request all the Hon'ble Judges of the High Court not to come to the airport to receive me because it would not be proper for Judges to leave their Courts during working hours. However, a large number of lawyers received me at Chennai airport. The Hon'ble Judges called on me in the evening after Court hours.

  I was given a warm welcome in the High Court, and in my speech I quoted from the Tirukkural, some verses I had learnt in my Tamil diploma course in Allahabad.

 On the very first day of my joining the Madras High Court, after the Court hours, the Registrar General of the High Court brought an old lady with white hair into my chamber. She could not speak English, and kept moving her hands indicating that there were small children in her house. The Registrar General told me that she was an employee of the High Court who had just retired after about 35 years service, and her son, who had small children was unemployed. I immediately told the Registrar General to give her son a job in the High Court

 When I went to Madurai, where a bench of the High Court had been set up a few months earlier, I was again given a warm welcome in the High Court. In my speech I referred to the famous Tamil epic Silappathihaaram of the poet Ilango, about which also I had read in my Tamil diploma course in Allahabad and  Annamalai University. I said that Kannagi had burnt the entire city of Madurai because injustice had been done to her husband, and therefore if you want to have peace and prosperity justice must always be done.

  During the lunch interval on the very first day at Madurai, two lawyers brought a young woman to my chamber, who was crying. The lawyers told me that her husband, who was employed as a class 4 employee in Tirunelveli district court, had recently been killed in a bus accident, and she had two small children with no means of financial support. She was an M.Ed. and so I called the Registrar of the Madurai bench and told him to give her a class 3 ( clerical ) job in the High Court. Her name is Kalavathi, and whenever I go to Madurai she meets me.

 I have already said a lot about certain matters relating to the Madras High Court in my previous posts ( one of which created a lot of controversy ) and so I need not repeat it. I may only make a passing reference to the Madras High Court Museum and the Tamilnadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre which I got set up, as well, as the Madras High Court Guest House, which I initiated, and which was completed after I had left.

 Even after coming to Delhi my association with Tamilnadu, and particularly Tamilian Judges and lawyers, has remained strong. Many of my recommendees are now very senior Judges of the Madras High Court, and I  am told they are keeping the flag of the High Court flying high. Even now I am always concerned about the welfare of the judiciary in Tamilnadu.

 In the Supreme Court my knowledge of some Tamil was helpful, and I often used it when a Tamilian lawyer was arguing before my bench.. Once, Mr. K. Parasaran, a very senior lawyer, and former Attorney General of India, was arguing before my bench. There was nothing in his case, so I told him in Tamil " Okaarung " ( which means, please sit down ). Had I said that in English he may have felt offended, but since I said it in his own mother tongue he smiled and sat down.

 In the Supreme Court I found one Tamil word very useful, and which I sometimes used after a Tamilian lawyer had finished his argument, " Tallupadi ", which means " Dismissed!".

The Rajputs
 The Rajputs are the warrior race, the Samurais, of India, and Rajasthan is renowned in Indian history as the land of the warriors.
 Rajputs are divided into several clans---Sisodias, Rathors, Chauhans, Parmars, Tanwars ( Tomars ), Pratihars, Solankis, Baghels, Chandels, Gahlots, Kachwahas, Bhatis, etc.
 Traditionally, Rajputs are both endogamous as well as exogamous. Endogamous means marrying within the community. Rajputs are traditionally endogamous because a Rajput boy only marries a Rajput girl. Exogamous means marrying outside the community. Rajputs are exogamous because a boy from one clan of Rajputs cannot not marry a girl from the same clan. Thus, a Rathor boy cannot not marry a Rathor girl, a Chauhan boy cannot not marry a Chauhan girl, etc.
 The highest among the Rajputs are the Sisodias of Udaipur ( the capital of Mewar ). Other Rajput princes were known as Maharajas or Rajas, but there was only one Maharana in India, and he was the Maharana of Udaipur, and he was regarded as the highest among the Rajputs. This was because of the fame and renown acquired by Maharana Pratap who never surrendered before the Mughals ( incidentally, both the Mughal Emperor Akbar and Maharana Pratap are my heroes, though they were enemies ).
  Udaipur, a lake city, is the capital of Mewar, which is in southern Rajasthan. Mewar is a hilly land, unlike western Rajasthan ( Marwar ) which is desert. So Mewar is ideal for guerilla war, which Maharana Pratap waged when the Mughal forces invaded Mewar, realizing that a head on collision with the Mughals would be disastrous. The Rajput soldiers  of Mewar went to the famous Ekalinga temple ( a few kms. from Udaipur, which I visited ), the family temple of the Maharana, and took a solemn oath that they will not sleep on a bed but on the open ground, and would eat chapatis made of grass until they liberated Mewar. For 25 years Maharana Pratap led his forces ( which included tribals, and even some Muslims ) but did not surrender. Ultimately, after the death of Maharana Pratap and Akbar, their sons Maharana Amar Singh and Emperor Jahangir entered into a treaty guaranteeing the independence of Mewar, and peace was restored.
 For this bravery the Maharanas of Mewar are regarded as the highest among the Rajputs.
  When I went to Udaipur a few years back, I met an old Rajput with a white beard and white whiskers at the Udaipur palace. I said to him " You Rajputs are brave people ". He replied " No, only the Rajputs of Mewar are brave ".
 A durbar was held in Delhi in 1911 attended by King George the Fifth and Queen Mary , on the occasion of the coronation of the King a few months earlier. It was the only one a King of England attended in person in India. All the Indian princes attended it. Maharana Fateh Singh of Mewar ( born 1849, and King from 1884-1930 ) was at first reluctant to attend, but after great persuasion agreed.
 While all the other princes of India were dressed in colourful clothes, golden, purple, red, blue, yellow, etc. Maharana Fateh Singh and his men were dressed in plain white. The Maharajas and Rajas wanted to meet him, but he refused, and met only King George the Fifth.
  It is said that if one wrote a letter to the Maharana of Udaipur it would be returned undelivered if it was addressed  to ' His Royal Highness the Maharana of Mewar, K.C.S.I. ' or with some other such words. But if one wrote ' Himself ' ( Svayam ), Udaipur, as the name of the addressee it would be delivered.
 Before concluding I wish to mention an interesting story.  It was told to me by a relative who was in the Indian Foreign Service, and was posted as Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan. This relative of mine had a Pakistani friend, a Muslim gentleman with the surname Chauhan ( some ancestor of his may have been a Hindu Chauhan who converted and became a Muslim ). This Pakistani friend had a son who was in love with a Muslim girl and wanted to marry her, but her parents, for some reason, refused. The father then told his son " We are Chauhans. We do not take the consent of a girl's father to marry her, but just carry her off. You do the same ".
 This was obviously a reference to the Chauhan King, Prithviraj Chauhan who fell in love with Sanyogita, the daughter of a Rathor king, Jaychand. Sanyogita was also in love with Prithviraj, but her father,Jaychand was an enemy of Prithviraj, and refused to marry her to Prithviraj.
 Jayachand held a swayamvar for his daughter's wedding. In a swayamvar many princes are invited, and the girl goes around a hall and selects her husband to be, and places a garland on his neck. Prithviraj was deliberately not invited, and only his statue, dressed as a doorman ( to insult him ), was kept in the swayamvar hall. However, dressed as a doorman he entered the hall and hid behind his statue. Sanyogita went around, and ultimately placed her garland on the neck of the statue. At this moment Prithviraj came out of his hiding place, grabbed Sanyogita, and carried her away on his horse. The story is recounted in the epic poem  'Prithviraj Raso '

Mahatma Gandhi as a lawyer

People know Mahatma Gandhi as a political leader, but few people know about his law practice in South Africa for 20 years. I may mention about one of his earliest cases in Pretoria,when he had just started law practice, as a young man in his early 20s.

The case was a civil dispute between two businessmen of Indian origin settled in South Africa and doing business there, Dada Abdullah and Tyeb Seth. Gandhiji was the lawyer for Dada Abdullah.

 I may now continue this narrative in Gandhiji's own words, in his book ' The Story of my Experiments with Truth ' :

" I saw that the facts of Dada Abdullah's case made it very strong indeed. But I also saw that the litigation, if persisted, would financially ruin both sides, who were relatives, and belonged to the same city. No one knew how long the case might go on.

 I approached Tyeb Seth, and advised him to go for arbitration. I recommended him to see his counsel, and suggested that if an arbitrator enjoying the confidence of both parties were appointed, the case would quickly finish. The lawyers' fees were so rapidly mounting that they would devour the financial resources of both litigants, even though they were big merchants. Moreover, the case occupied so much of their time that they had no time left for any other work. In the meantime, mutual ill will was steadily increasing

 I became disgusted with the legal profession. I felt that my duty was to befriend both parties, and bring them together. I strained every nerve to bring about a compromise. At last Tyeb Seth agreed. An arbitrator was appointed, the case was argued before him, and Dada Abdullah won.

  But that did not satisfy me. If my client were to seek immediate execution of the award, it would be impossible for Tyeb Seth to pay the whole of the awarded amount, and there was an unwritten law among the Porbander Memons living in South Africa that death should be preferred to bankruptcy.

 It was impossible for Tyeb Seth to immediately pay the whole sum awarded, but he meant to pay not a pie less, and he did not want to be declared bankrupt.

 There was only one way. Dada Abdullah ( Gandhiji's client ) should allow him to pay in moderate instalments. He was equal to the occasion, and granted Tyeb Seth instalments spread over a very long period. It was more difficult for me to secure this concession ( from Dada Abdullah ) than to get the parties to agree to arbitration. But both were happy over the result, and both rose in the public esteem.

  My joy was boundless. I had learnt the true practice of law. I realized that the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder.

  The lesson was so indelibly burnt into me that a large part of my time during the twenty years of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises in hundreds of cases. I lost nothing thereby, not even money, certainly not my soul. "

William Penn ( 1644--1718 )

One of my heroes is the British Quaker, preacher, and founder of the state of Pennsylvania, William Penn.

 He was a remarkable man. He was an early advocate of democracy and religious freedom, at a time in England when these were dangerous ideas, and he was imprisoned several times because of his views, writings and teachings.

 He was the son of an English Admiral, a very rich man, who had great ambitions for his son. At the age of 16, in 1660, William Penn was sent to Oxford by his father. There he became associated with a dissident Christian religious sect called the Quakers.

 The Quakers were a sect founded by one George Fox, who, after the English Civil War ( 1642-1651 ) was dissatisfied with the Church of England ( Anglican Church ). He claimed that it was possible to have direct experience of Christ without an intervening clergy, and was critical of organized religion.

The sect founded by George Fox became known as 'Quakers' ( though they called themselves ' The Religious Society of Friends ' ), because they 'quaked' or trembled before God.

 The Quakers had several distinguishing features, which marked them off from other Christians :

(1) They never used the pronoun ' you ' when addressing someone, and only used the term ' thou'.

 Nowadays the word ' thou ' is not used in English for addressing anyone, and only ' you ' is used.

 In Hindi, for addressing someone there are 3 pronouns which are used. ' Aap ' is used for elders or persons whom one wishes to give respect. ' Tum ' is used for equals. And 'tu' is used for inferiors or younger people ( it is often also used as a word of affection between two close friends ). In English, however, ' you ' is used for all 3 categories, and 'thou' is out of vogue.  ' Thou ' is equivalent to 'tu' in Hindi.

The Quakers used ' you ' only for addressing God.

(2) They never took off their hats before anyone, and took it off only while praying, because they thought only God deserved that honour.

(3) They refused to bow before anyone, not even the King of England, believing all men to be equal

(4) They refused to participate in wars

(5) They wore plain clothes at all times.

(6) They refused to swear oaths, or oath of loyalty to the king

(7) They were strict teetotallers

(8) They opposed slavery

 (9) There were no rituals , and no professional clergy, among them

( 10) They did silent meditation in a meeting hall.

(11) They regarded Catholics and Puritans as hypocrites

 While at Oxford, William Penn became a Quaker. In those days ( the reign  of King Charles the Second ) this was dangerous, since Parliament had outlawed Quakers, and declared their activities criminal. Despite this, William Penn attended Quaker meetings regularly.

 When he came home from Oxford for his holidays he refused to take off his hat before his father, as was expected to be done before elders or superiors, and he addressed his father as 'thou' ( like the Hindi 'tu' ). His father thought that his son had gone mad.

 In those days there was a custom that high dignitaries would present their sons to the King. William Penn's father told his son that he would like to present him before the King. However, he told his son, even if he did not take off his hat before his father, and addressed him as ' thou', he should take off his hat before the King, and address him properly as 'Your Majesty'. William refused, saying that that would be against his religious principles. This made his father so angry that he turned his son out of the house. Probably he feared for his own position at Court if he allowed such a dangerous rebel to remain in his home.

 William Penn then became homeless, and started living with poor Quaker families. He refused to compromise with his principles, and started preaching to people on the streets, for which he was often imprisoned in the Tower of London. There he declared " My prison shall be my grave before I will budge a jot, for I owe my conscience to no mortal man ".

 In 1668 Penn was put in solitary confinement in the Tower of London for writing a tract ' The Sandy Foundation Shaken '. While in prison he was given pen and paper, in the hope that he would write an apology. Instead he wrote another inflammatory tract ' No Cross No Crown '.

 In 1670 in what became famous as 'The Bushel's Case', William Penn was accused of preaching the principles of Quakerism on the streets. When he asked to be shown the charges against him, and the law he had supposedly broken, the Judge angrily refused, though that was a right guaranteed by English law. Furthermore, the Judge directed the jury to return a verdict of guilty against Penn, without even hearing him.

 Despite heavy pressure by the Judge, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. The Judge then asked the jury to reconsider their verdict, but they refused. This so infuriated the Judge that he said "  You shall go and bring a verdict of guilty, or you will starve ", and he ordered the jury to be imprisoned in a cold cell, where they were kept for several days without food or water. Penn and the jury were in addition fined the equivalent of one year's wages each.

 The members of the jury and Penn fought their appeal before the High Court from jail. They ultimately won their case, the High Court holding that all English juries can give their verdicts free of the Judge's control, and that the verdict of the lower Court was a travesty of justice.

 Penn was imprisoned several times for asserting his right of religious freedom. His father, though initially hostile to him,later  started respecting his son in his old age for his integrity and courage, and said to him " Let nothing in this world tempt you to wrong your conscience ".

 Penn later migrated to America, and founded the state of Pennsylvania on the democratic principles of John Locke. He was one of the earliest supporters of unification of the American colonies, a vision which was realized only after the American War of Independence ( 1775-1781 ).

Great Injustice to India

Great Britain and France have populations of about 64 million each, and have a permanent seat in the U.N. Security Council.
India, with a population of about 1250 million, does not.
 Thus India is about 20 times bigger in population than Grat Britain and France each.
India's land area is 3, 287, 590 sq.km. Great Britain's land area is 229, 848 sq.km, while that of France is 640, 679 sq.km.
 Thus India is about 14 times bigger than Great Britain, and about 5 times bigger than France, in land area.
 Despite this, India is denied a permanent seat in the U.N. Security Council.
 This is great injustice to India

Verses from Tirukkural, Chapter 22

" Kaimmaru venda kadappadu maarimattu
  En Aarrum kollo ulagu " ( Verse 221 )

  " The benevolent man should serve society seeking no return
     How can the earth recompense the bounty of the rain clouds ? "

" Puttel ulagattum eendum peral aaridey
  Oppuravin nalla pira " ( Verse 213 )

" There is no pleasure in this or the other world
   Equal to the joy of being helpful to others "

" Otta tarivaan uyirvaalvaan
  Marraiyaan settaarul vaikkap padum " ( Verse 214 )

" Only those who help others are living
  The others are as good as corpses "

Rich people are leaving Pakistan

I am informed by some immigration lawyers of Pakistani origin who are settled in  Washington D.C. and London that a lot of Pakistanis who have money are frantically trying to immigrate to  U.S.A. Canada or England because of the security situation in Pakistan, and also because of the drying up of economic opportunities in Pakistan. The immigration business of these London and Washington D.C. based lawyers has increased manifold due to the developments in Pakistan over the last few years.

Some Pakistani businessmen have sold their assets in Pakistan, and remitted the money abroad.

As I said in my earlier posts, this is the inevitable result of creating a theocratic state in this sub continent of such diversity. Pakistan has become a Jurassic park

Read my article: The truth about Pakistan

A Fool's Paradise

Those who talk of  ' improving ' relations between India and Pakistan are living in a fool's paradise.

 The very purpose of creating Pakistan ( which is a fake, artificial entity ), as a theocratic state, on the basis of the bogus and wicked British two nation theory, that Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations, ( propagated by British agents like Jinnah ) was to ensure that Hindus and Muslims keep fighting each other, so that India may not emerge as a modern, powerful and prosperous industrial state, like China, of which it has now all the potential, with its huge pool of engineers, scientists, etc .

 If there are good relations between India and Pakistan, the very basis for Pakistan's existence will disappear.. The only solution to the problem is reunificatioin of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh under a strong, secular government which does not tolerate religious extremism of any kind

Musharraf and Kashmir

17.10.2014

General Musharraf said yesterday that Pakistan should ' incite ' those fighting in Kashmir. He also said " In Kashmir we can fight the Indian army from both front and back. "

Musharraf is a well known mischief maker. He started the Kargil war, and is a well known hater of India. Kashmiris should not be misguided by him. The only solution to the Kashmir problem, as I have repeatedly said, is the reunification of India and Pakistan ( and Bangladesh ) under a strong, secular, modern minded government which does not tolerate religious extremism of any kind, and crushes it with an iron hand.

Kashmir was part of India ever since it was incorporated into the Mughal Empire by the great Emperor Akbar in 1586. Not only is Kashmir part of India, even Pakistan is part of India.

 Pakistan is no country. It is a fake, artificial entity created by the British on theological basis to keep Hindus and Muslims fighting each other, so that India does not emerge as a modern, powerful, and prosperous industrial state, like China ( for which it has now all the potential ).

What is Pakistan ? It is Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and NWFP. These were always part of India since the time of the great Emperor Ashoka ( some of his edicts have been found in these places ). They were part of India in Mughal and British times. They were separated from India by the wicked British who created ( through their agents, Jinnah, etc ) the bogus two nation theory, that Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations. They will surely be reunited one day with India, but that will take a long time, maybe 15-20 years, because those who divided us will not let us easily reunite.

Daniel Webster and National Unity

 The great American statesman and lawyer Daniel Webster ( 1782-1852 ),  is one of my heroes. Apart from being a great lawyer, he was a member of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress for 10 years, a Senator for 19 years, and Secretary of State under three Presidents. He could not become the U.S. President, although much less deserving persons became President, mainly because he refused to make any compromise on the question of unity of America.

From the 1830s onwards upto the Civil War ( 1861-1865) many of the Congressmen of the southern states of U.S.A. ( the slave holding states ) propounded the theory of nullification, which in effect meant that any state in U.S.A. could secede from the Union. This doctrine of nullification was first proclaimed by Senator John Calhoun, who later became the U.S. Vice President.

In Janury 1830 the Senator from South Carolina ( which in 1861 became the first state in the Union to secede ) Robert Hayne gave a strong speech in the Senate in favour of the right of a state to secede.   Hayne,following Calhoun's doctrine of nullification, said that liberty comes first, and union comes only thereafter.

Daniel Webster joined issue with Hayne in what became known as the Webster-Hayne debates.

On 27.1.1830 Daniel Webster delivered his famous 'Second Reply to Robert Hayne " in the Senate, which is regarded as the most eloquent speech ever delivered in the U.S. Congress.

Absolutely refusing to compromise on the question of preserving the union of the nation at any cost, Webster ended his speech with words which have immortalized him :

" When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see it shining on the broken and dishonoured fragments of a glorious nation, on states dissevered, discordant, and belligerent, on a land rent with civil feuds or drenched in fraternal blood. Let my last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the glorious ensign of the republic, not a stripe erased or polluted, not a single star obscured, bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as " What is all this worth ?", nor those other words of delusion and folly " Liberty first, and Union afterwards ", but everywhere spread all over in characters  of living light, blazing in all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart---Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable ".

Again on 17.7,1850 in his address to the U.S. Senate, Daniel Webster said " I shall stand by the Union, with absolute disregard of personal consequences. What are personal consequences in comparison with the good or evil which may befall a great nation in a crisis like this ? Let the consequences be what they will."

Daniel Webster's stand is the stand which all patriotic Indians must take, if our country is to survive and progress. Let the separatists know that we will fight for the unity of our country, with our blood if necessary.

A National Disgrace

(16.10.2014,' The Hindu ', page 11)

A Manipuri youth, Michael Lamjathang Haokip, who had been studying in Bangalore for 3 years, while he was with his friends Ngmakholen Hankip and Rocky Kipgen at a fast food restaurant, was attacked on Tuesday by 3 persons at Byrathi Cross on Hennur Main Road, in Bangalore, which resulted in injuries to his head, shoulders and knees. He was bleeding profusely, and had to get stitches on his forehead.

According to him, 3 persons came and said that we were in Karnataka, eating food of Karnataka, and so we should speak in Kannada. When they were ignored, they attacked the Manipuri students. Michael said that he was attacked because he did not speak Kannada and his facial structure was different from Kannadigas.

 This is a national disgrace, and must be condemned by all patriotic Indians. All Indians are one, but such incidents weaken our unity. Whoever weakens our unity is an enemy of the nation. At this moment of our history, when so many challenges are before us, we must remain united if we wish to make India prosper

The Crisis in Kashmiri Handicraft Industry

Handicraft industry is the backbone of the Kashmir econonmy. These handicraftsmen inherited their skills and small businesses from their forefathers. They were self employed, as there are not sufficient government jobs in Kashmir.

The recent natural calamity in Kashmir has resulted in unbearable losses  to the handicraftsmen. Many of them are ruined. Most of them could not afford to insure their goods, which were lost in the floods. They have to pay back loans to the banks, suppliers, etc and wages to their artisans, which they are unable to do.

Urgent measures are now necessary by the state and central government to save the Kashmiri handicraft industry

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