Independent India, period 1947 to 1975. First few years.

The India Today has brought out a special edition, "Remaking India - Fifty years of India Today" The period covered is from 1975 to 2025. It is very timely! Browsing through, it took me further  back in time! 

We seem to be at a cross-road. Perhaps we are there all the time and we need to take a look at ourselves as countrymen. 

I was nine years old when India got its independence, year 1947. The memory of its celebration has stayed with me! I clearly remember my father getting all excited about the coming independence day on the 15th of August. Especially keen to hear Pandit Nehru's midnight/early morning braodcast. Tryst with destiny for the new nation on its 'first' day of Independence. He purchased a Radio, and when he tried it out, the reception wasn't that good. It was a small radio and hence the tuning was not precise. He rushed back to the shop, exchanged it for a better model.

 I did not hear Pandit Nehru speak. Anyway, I and my sister Srilatha were in Madras on that day. Our neighbors Vasudeva Rao and Lalithamma took us along with them to Madras. Very nice of them, considering I was nine and Srilatha was six years old! We stayed with my father's cousin.

Everything was new for us. I do remember the illumination on the ships docked on the port celebrating the day.  We played in the smooth sands of Marina beach. But the sight of small fish struggling in a basket was disrurbing!

Our uncle was a friendly pleasant and person! However, we did not enjoy being teased by his son, my cousin! We were about the same age. He constantly made fun of our Kannada mixed Tamil. Srilatha, spoke up when uncle Vasudeva Rao dropped in after a couple of days. A courtsey call! She went to him immediately and said, 'I want to stay with you!' Vasudeva Rao spoke to my uncle softly in fluent Tamil. After a while, we were asked to get our small bags and we went along with him to his relatives home. It does prove 'Language' can and does become an issue!

Back in Bangalore, I walked around our area with a friend. He had heard that many Muslim homes were empty in our area. Curious we peeped into the closeby Mosque. An elderly person came out asked us in kannada ' why are you here'. When we said we just wanted to see, he said very gently it was not the time for a visit that it was better if we didn't do so! Another older friend explained that they had gone to Pakistan, a country created by the British before they left India! I do not remember any mention of violence! 

We had just visited Sundarbans and had seen a village close to Bangladesh border I wondered  how it was for them on that momentous day. I did not ask, but googled to check!

Yes, immense violence occurred on the day of Indian independence due to the concurrent Partition of India.

While the broader movement utilized largely non-violent resistance and civil disobedience, the actual transition of power on August 15, 1947, triggered catastrophic communal riots.It was shocking that people who had lived in the same place together attacked and killed those who were suddenly declared as a minority. Doesn't speak much about our huuman values.

It is possible leaders just let it go believing other options would make it worse.  A system was set up to deal with the  refugee influx. It appears most just blanked it out from their memoris and tried to cope with the immediate challenges they faced.  The communal problems were there and still persists! We have seen it can be stoked up whenever it gets into someone's head and the person has the influence! So 'Tryst' with our destiny continues. 

The British had thoughtfully left their dwellings as it is, which our leaders occupied. The Armed forces, though divided was still intact. The well trained beaureaucrats were there too. The Brits gaves their language, taught us whatever they felt could be used by them. It is claimed they even taught us corruption! They stole a lot from us, obviously! They also gave us a benefit! We could always blame them for anything that went wrong! And it is no brainer that the idea of 'non-cooperation' is the best gift we bestowed ourselves with! We can take recourse to it, whenever we are unable to reason!We became free while most of is in the country were poor! Not all our countrymen were poor! 

Anyway I had my challenges, I was in middle school, studying in Kannada medium. In High school I would be studying in an English medium school. The British were gone, but English remained. Nothing wrong with it! 

We were not sensible, anyway it was complicated! Just imagine, the English taught barristers and others who knew english who managed to take charge of the country took some arbitratary decisions! If earlier, people could learn english from the British, and even draft a constitution. Where was the need for a common Indian language, based on Majority?? 

We could have taught all the Indians English! Imagine our literacy was 18.3 percent at the time of independence. In fact, Indians could have been taught any language! Even after our idedpendence, the well healed learnt English and others were left behind. It is debatable, I wish the debate had taken place in the early years!

So we have language problem and we have a huge caste issue. 

A Tranquil boat ride along the mangrove forests of Sundarbans

While we hoped to see the Bengal tiger looking out from the mangrove forest, even swim along with us, our  main intention was to see the world famous UNESCO approved wonder of nature. I had seen a very well made documentary on Sundarbans, hence was doubly curious. 

 We headed towards a pier about 100 km away from Kolkata after checking out from our hotel.We had memorable stay at Kolkata! 

It was a smooth drive of two and a half hours on a well made and maintained two lane road. The traffic was not heavy and it was disciplined. I guess the mayhem in Bengal is only in in its politics. There were many modified tuk-tuks. Our driver drove well except he loved to honk but he was not aggressive. 

We reached a pier and the driver coordinated with the boat people and  we were on board after a small wait. I needed help to get on to the boat. Soon we were on our way!

A view from our boat. The boatsmen had stopped to shop for grocery.
 Our lunch would be cooked on the boat!

As we  practically glided on the river, we were given some gyan about life on these islands. As I had chosen not to wear my hearing aids, missed to grasp it fully. Hope others who heard will fill in! 

A boat is their life line! 

The boat ride was very tranquil. I would have dozed off to sleep if there was a sofa on the boat and wished they had at least spread a gymkana on the floor. Others kept busy chatting with one of the boatsmen.

 The pilot of our boat was around 72 years old, his son helped and his granddaughter was also there. Not clear about her role. Perhaps helped her father in the galley. I did not go down to have a look. 

Only excitement happened, we moved slow, was when another larger boat came parallel to ours. Our boat swayed a lot and the drinking water bottle turned upside down as it had no real support. 

He put back the bottle up and salvaged precious water!

The lunch was very delicious and just right. It was vegetarian.
However fish is veg for Bengalis. Tara and I stuck to total veg food. 

In about two hours we stopped near these concrete steps.
I needed more help to negotiate these steps.
Back to my childhood as I held on, actually grabbed the helping hand!

Very thoughtful, especially if the Bengali tiger had a smart phone!

A driver with a buggy picked us up, and soon were at the hotel. As it was off-season we didn't see too many tourists at the resort. 

 Gayathri later told me that Sanjay, her cousin and family, had visited Sundarbans years ago when there were no resorts. They stayed at ramshackle place, but saw a tiger!

I noticed that our nice resort was well protected by a high compound wall!

We rested for a while and were back on the boat. It was tougher for me to climb down, so held on to two people. It reminded me of the picture of Mahatma Gandhi supported by two girls as he walked. In my case it was only to negotiate some very difficult steps.

The ride was smooth, and I was still hoping for a glimpse of a tiger. Actually we were on the boat just to view the sunset. I have no clue if a tiger was watching us. No burning bright eyes seen as it got darker. 

Wish I had the guts to take a  ride with the boys!

Sunset from a different spot!

We had an excellent dinner served by a very pleasant person taking care of our table. A 30 ml Ballantine with it made it perfect! 

The Iran war was not discussed. I had suggested to Tara not to talk politics with the locals. She said okay, but was not very pleased though!

We were up early next morning, the sun is in a bit of a hurry here in Bengal. Idli and Uthappa including my usual omelette for breakfast. After checking out, we were dropped at the same spot. 

It was a different scene. 

The staircase I was dreading to climbdown was missing.  I learnt that the high tide is about  five meters higher than the low tide. A  big relief! I still needed help to get on to the boat, but it was not scary!

The plan was to take a quick trip to the tiger reserve forest situated on an island. We had our return flight to catch the same evening!

 We were still hoping to get a glimpse of the wild life. We had a guide with us on the boat and our keen team had a long chat while I had my eyes peeled looking out!

A welcoming tiger!

A baby turtle. It could live for another 300 years!

Aslo a brave tiger, sitting next to a tigress?

Notice the large nest!

The fruits are edible!

It's cousin visits me on our terrace. No crows following us!!

Notice the protective net in front. It is atleast twenty feet high during low tide. 

Forest during low tide. 

This is how islands are protected from the river.

Many idle boats

Back to reality and our journey back began!

Tara adds:

60% of the Sundarbans is in Bangladesh and 40% in India.

Villagers have been protected from the Bengal tiger with nets bordering the shore line..

 Tigers, we were told can swim 8 to 9 km at one time.

It was amazing to see the 'Aerial roots' above the grounds and the luxurious foliage thriving in salty back waters. We saw the

Sundari tree, which is salt water tolerant, giving the forest its name as Sundarbans. 

Those interested can read more by googling 'Sundarbans Mangrove Forest'!

A tigress chooses to hide her cubs under Sunadari trees as their entangled roots protect the cubs from the male tigers!

Bengal Tigers living on islands do not have many animals to hunt. They have been forced to become man eaters! Villages on the banks of rivers and in islands  protect themselves and their animals by putting nets across possible accesses to their village. 

I remember that the documentary movie, about thirty years old, ended with a question to a villager. 

His son was taken away by a tiger! The question was "Do you hate the tigers?" 

His reply was, "It was my bad luck to lose my son. I do not hate them. They too have a right to live".

Remaking India. Cockroaches at it?

 I received the well-made India Today magazine a couple of days ago, which covered independent India. It was for just 50 years. It was more about how the magazine saw India and reported about it. I felt I could fill in the gap as I grew up in independent India. I was nine years old in 1947. 

As I was mulling about it. I noticed a news item about 'Cockroach Janata Party' and thought it was a joke and let it go! I read a bit more about it today and sat up. Good or bad, the party was launched on my birthday, 16 May! 

My father had my horoscope made thru a friend. Later I accidentally read a few predictions about my future. It is incredible that one prediction was that I would be considered "eccentric". No wonder he did not bother to share the horoscope with me! Perhaps it is the right date for this party with such a ridiculous name!

I am a novice in politics and so no expert comments. It is strange that a supreme court judge's comments gave birth to this party! I am sure other political parties have jumped on the bandwagon or they are cursing! Some may even be dreaming of leading this group of cockroaches! Others would be blaming deep or deeper state!

Many of us would have been called a cockroach while young by the bigger boys! Actually cockroaches survived because of their habit of hiding behind gaps in woodwork and creeping out mostly in the night. No idea how these new cockroaches will do!

I actually had a strange experience with cockroaches in Pune. I had slept in the living room on the floor for some reason. In the middle of the night, I felt a kind of movement  on my skin. I got up and was shocked to see my bed was full of cockroaches. And they were all scurrying towards the kitchen sink. They entered the gap between the wall and the wooden panel fixed on it. They got in there very fast, their safe haven! Not for long!

"The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is a viral, youth-driven satirical political movement in India. It was founded on 16 May 2026 by Abhijeet Dipke, a political communications strategist and student at Boston University". 

Opportunity lost by Women of India or is it our country 'India' which lost?

There are countless reactions to the recent failure of the government to get approval for reserving 33% of the seats for women in Parliament. It has been linked to the delimitation of the total seats in the parliament. It has been called either clever or cunning!

Whatever it is, the increase is phenomenal! Wonder why the country kept it in abeyance for so long? It is now declared  as a missed opportunity! I suppose it is how politics are played by politicians!  Kettle calling the pot black!?

If there was a need to fix what is perceived as an unfair formula, as a democracy we should have fixed it. Hopefully by debate and discussion and not by other undemocratic means. The increased cost of delimitation is also worrying. 

Apart from that, I wonder if any of  the experts, known as influencers, were concerned about the possible increase of shouting in the parliament as one of them spoke. Debate seems to have lost its charm. Imagine the din as more hands begin to thump the table in front or the rush down the aisle to demonstrate a protest, hopefully not a stampede! I guess these are treated as small worries!  

 

I am assured with increased number of women, the parliament and the country will do better and be more productive! The cry is about the missed opportunity for the country with lesser number of women  taking part in the parliament. In fact, women have been contributing  without being elected to the parliament. Our history shows that women  have worked for the betterment of people and especially women!

Hopefully with the addition of more women there would  be less number of MP's with criminal cases. *Just a hope as both men and women MPs in the present parliament have declared that criminal cases are pending against them! I am neither imagining nor predicting, but only reflecting on the present  parliament and its working! Lets be optimistic about it.

(--*about 1 in 3 women MPs in Lok Sabha have declared some criminal case, and ∼1 in 5 face serious charges, .... )

I had pointed out earlier to another group, that  mention of Nari Shakthi is misleading. Women are powerful and have been so in their own way! A few more in politics is welcome! Women empowerment is accepted today! I guess the chauvinistic males are getting scared that they have to work harder! Perhaps a little more in the Hindi belt! It is a tricky subject as it is part of human nature to have the cake and eat it too! We do hear that in some instances that even if a woman is elected, it is the men  in the family who control.

We brag about being the largest democracy in the world. And being demographically the best situated! It is very debatable.  It is said while our population has quadrupled, the percentage of  people Below Poverty Line has dropped. It is also true that in absolute numbers, the people in poverty are still large.

I will be asked to keep quiet, if I try to compare India with China.  Anyway that is another sensitive subject. 

Getting back to the present subject, it is an eye opener to see, thanks to AI for responding to my request, the most notable Indian women of the last hundred years (roughly 1920s–2020s), categorized by their contributions is listed. 

Politics & Governance

·        Indira Gandhi (1917–1984): India's first and only female Prime Minister.

·        Sarojini Naidu (1879–1949): Freedom fighter and the first woman governor of an Indian state.

·        Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1900–1990): First woman president of the UN General Assembly.

·        Rajkumari Amrit Kaur (1889–1964): Independent India's first Health Minister.

·        Sucheta Kripalani (1908–1974): First woman Chief Minister of an Indian state (Uttar Pradesh).

·        Pratibha Patil (Born 1934): First female President of India. 

 AI cautions that list may not be entirely right. Interesting to see that Nehru family, who have chosen to call themselves Gandhi and their loyal friends have dominated in politics!

Interesting to know that Sarojini Naidu's parents are from Bengal! Rajkumari Amrit Kaur belonged to a royal family! They both were educated in England! Sucheta Kriplani was also a Bengali! C M of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee could feel proud with the role Bengali women have played in India! 

Here is the full list that AI listed! I see that it is created after scanning the website!

Freedom Movement and Social Activism

·        Aruna Asaf Ali (1909–1996): Known as the "Golden Old Lady" of the Independence Movement, famous for hoisting the national flag during the 1942 Quit India Movement.

·        Kasturba Gandhi (1869–1944): A pivotal leader in the Women's Satyagraha and an active supporter of Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent movements.

·        Usha Mehta (1920–2000): Gandhian freedom fighter who organized the underground 'Secret Congress Radio' during the Quit India Movement.

·        Captain Lakshmi Sahgal (1914–2012): Led the Rani Jhansi Regiment, the all-female unit of Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army. 

Science and Technology

·        Kalpana Chawla (1962–2003): The first woman of Indian origin to go to space, serving as a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Columbia.

·        Tessy Thomas (Born 1963): Known as the "Missile Woman of India," she was the first woman to lead a missile project (Agni-V) at DRDO.

·        Dr. Asima Chatterjee (1917–2006): Renowned chemist and the first woman to receive a Doctorate of Science from an Indian university.

·        Gita Gopinath (Born 1971): First female Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Sports and Adventure

·        Mary Kom (Born 1983): Six-time world boxing champion and the first Indian woman boxer to win an Olympic medal.

·        P.T. Usha (Born 1964): Legendary track-and-field athlete who dominated Asian athletics in the 1980s.

·        Sania Mirza (Born 1986): Trailblazing tennis player, the first Indian to win a WTA title.

·        Bachendri Pal (Born 1954): The first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest (1984). 

Literature, Arts, and Business

·        Lata Mangeshkar (1929–2022): Iconic playback singer known as the "Voice of the Millennium," honored with the Bharat Ratna.

·        Arundhati Roy (Born 1961): Author and activist, the first Indian citizen to win the Booker Prize (1997).

·        Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Born 1953): Founder of Biocon, pioneering entrepreneur in the biotechnology sector.

·        Nita Ambani (Born 1963): Founder of Reliance Foundation and a major figure in education, sports, and philanthropy.

·        Mother Teresa (1910–1997): Nobel Peace Prize laureate who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, dedicating her life to the poor. 

Impressive list. Below is another link provided by AI 

WordPress.com

The top 100 women achievers of India. Droupadi Murmu, Nita ...

25 Dec 2023 — As the founder and chairperson of the Reliance Foundation, she has worked extensively in healthcare, education, rural transformation, and sports. She also plays...

While we celebrated 78 years of 'Indian' independence, I had to surrender my freedom!

August is the month we hoist our national flag to celebrate independence! Last August, it was a white flag I raised in total surrender! I lost my freedom to eat food*, especially the ones I fancied. (* native English spelling!)

 It was not sudden. It began quietly, rather stealthily. While playing golf I felt tired, resulting in a very sloppy game. My golfing buddies were very understanding when I chose to stop playing midway. But I was not happy! Golf is not like cricket where you walk back to the pavilion if you get out! It is expected that a golfer completes a full round of 18 holes. He owes it to himself and to his fellow golfers!

 Believing I needed more energy, I ate more bananas, like a monkey. Surprisingly it didn’t help! So, I added ragi every day to my breakfast. This was in addition to the usual masala dosa, medhu vada and other popular South Indian dishes. I gave up, rather reluctantly, the special Iyengar biscuits, which are made from maida! I replaced it with ‘whole wheat’ biscuits and rusk. Believed to be a ‘must’ for a healthy diet.

 Meanwhile, a senior caddy did advise me to drink more water, added with electrolytes! Hydrating was the mantra! Golfers keep sipping water consistently while playing! I began to do so, but often forgot! The lame excuse is I didn’t feel thirsty!

  As my tiredness persisted, I went for a medical checkup and was shocked to see the reports which showed I was low on Iron and high on Potassium! Low Iron was fixed with injections, and I was advised to avoid high potassium food! No ragi, no banana and NO potato in masala dosa and the list is long. In short, almost all food I loved, was ‘verboten’! 

Being a foodie, called sapaad rama in our lingo, it was a tough call! It was difficult to accept that food  which were extolled earlier as good nutrients were now bad! A complete reversal! It feels like a betrayal!

  When Rohini heard about my need for a special diet, she suggested 'talk to Jayashree'. Jayashree is a well-qualified and an experienced dietician! She lives and works as a dietician in the USA!  Rohini and Jayashree know each other since their childhood days in Pune. She is the daughter of Lt. Gen Raghunath and Vatsala, our friends for a long time!

I messaged Jayashree asking for help. She was kind to send me a plan for a low Potassium diet!  The low potassium diet helped, though I did lose weight. Initially it was for the good. However, I need to gain weight now! If not, I will have go find a tailor to alter my clothes!

It was clear that I had to live with this new reality!

 Not even a ‘metric passed’, when it concerned food values and diets. I tried to learn about diets recommended for my condition! Not easy!  The information provided on the web is extensive. We need to login to some of the web sites if looking for more information. You need to subscribe and I suppose pay.

 One such website gives access to 500,000 different recipes of food and its nutritional values.  It is not easy to absorb and comprehend the details given! For instance, Cucumber, which for me is mostly water, has many nutrient values.  Milk (milk values.xlsx) is with so many nutrients, it is not surprising that our 'Gomaatha', the sacred cow, is protected!  Milk has 24 types of Vitamins, 28 different nutrients including carbohydrates, fats, protein, sterols and others! It even has ethyl alcohol, caffeine, theobromine and water!

 There are many websites with detailed information, and researched data about Nutrition! The values given in numbers are accurate up to two decimals! Extensive research on vegetables and fruits is made based on their color, size and origin, the way of cooking, whether with oils or butter and the effect of  various ingredients added in small quantities are studied.

 Displaying a chart with nutritional values on the packed food is a legal requirement, especially if sold in shops and malls. Surprisingly only ‘Calories’ and a few other nutrients and their values are shown! There is no mention of either Potassium or Phosphorus! It is like offering prayers to your chosen God and ignoring the others.

 However, nutritional value charts show quantities in many ways: as a serving, half a cup or a full one, as a number and also in grams or ounces! Definitely  convenient!  Measuring in grams is cumbersome for people who are used to ‘a pinch of salt or a handful of peanuts. In Kannada we say ‘Kai alathe or kannu alathe’ (Measure with hands or eyes). 

Information about diets and specially for potassium is  mind boggling! Potassium was ‘sarvavyapi’ (All Pervasive). It is in every kind of food we eat! Not surprising God, in his wisdom, made us into omnivores.

Wonder why these nutrients were not given the status of Gods or ‘devatas’ by our venerable Rishis? How else could we explain the wars between the ingredients? As I understood, Potassium went after Iron in my blood to gradually demolish it. My blood was in trouble as my Kidney was not able to stop the war of Nutrients in my blood. No wonder words ‘रक्त -khoon-blood’ have a huge impact on our psyche!

A chart attached about Apples reminds me of my grandmother. She was very meticulous! She would ask me to peel the apple. She then would cut into small exact pieces, fill a small silver cup, exactly half. The rest of the apple pieces would be for me!

She would have been a good case study on diet discipline. There were many ‘Noes’ in her diet. She would not touch red colored vegetables, and those which grew below the earth’s surface and unpolished rice. I don’t think she ever ate a cake and bought out eats! She ate only home-made food! Frowned upon us if we wanted eat in restaurants

It is fascinating to read about the history of nutrition https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12126291/

A bit embarrassed to admit that random articles or all-knowing influencers ruled instead of depending on doctors and lab reports! Felt less guilty when I learnt that unlike other organs, kidney, like a long-suffering spouse, suffers silently!

In Kannada we are fond of mentioning ‘shesha prashne’ when we get philosophical! It translates to ‘the final question’? This question came up as I spoke to Raghu, as I always do, about my health issues! He heard me first and then took a look at the lab reports, as he was concerned about the drop in the Hemoglobin numbers, and said that I was on the right track to recovery!

He added ‘your good genes have helped you this far!’ And continued ‘I would advise you to enjoy your normal life! Be active, go and play golf! How long do you want to live by following the strict diet you have followed in the last few months? Your diet at best may extend your life by another six months!’

It was a tough question! I really don’t know the answer! It reminded me of Bhishma Pitamaha! He was blessed with the gift of ‘Ichha Marana’,  the  choice to choose the time of his death! 

I don’t think Bhishma asked for it! I found it very difficult to figure him out! Though he is not the only one!

 Wishing you all a Happy Songkran. It is celebrated today, 13th  April in Thailand! We had a wonderful time in Thailand!

"I want to read Nidhi’s original blog please😀😀."..  Rama Gopinath.

 Thanks! Here it is Rama, hope you like it.