At the interview in the Engineering college, the chairman of the committee said 'We could have considered, but he is a Brahmin!'
Reality struck! I was 19 years old. We knew admission to the Engineering college was hard. It was a strange feeling that l was punished for what a rishi or rishis had done ages ago!
The government we lovingly chose applied an arbitratary rule in a hurry. Affirmative action for one by denying another. Luckily there were avenues for the rejected students.
Institution of Engineers (India): The AMIE (Associate Member of the Institution of Engineers) is a highly specific qualification recognized in India as equivalent to a bachelor's degree in engineering for individuals who pass the institution's examination.
Not entirely as Railways wouldn't hire. Anyway, I joined an institute which coached aspirants . It was known as "C R Iyengar's" institute. It was housed in a few sheds within the factory of Mysore Electrical Industries.
The institute admitted an aspiring student not just Brahmins. I passed exams sections A and B, and was ready for the job market. I was twenty-two years old. A bit late, but better late than never.
I am not sure if this reservation rule was only in the state of Mysore. Anyway the rules of reservation of seats was somewhat amended when a few Bhramins went to court. It took four years get a judgment. Super fast considering the pace at which courts work! It did help others!
The country faced many challenges and coped! The daunting task of resettling the refugees was the first. The exchange of people is said to be one of the largest in human history! A phenomenal challenge for the newly born India.
A family from Sindh moved into a house near our home. They looked fairly well off! They had read the situation well and had moved out on time! The Sindh community has generally settled well in Bangalore!
It surely was very different and difficult for those who had to leave their homes overnight. Their life both in Punjab and Bengal had suddenly changed and the victims were totally traumatized.
Kushwant Singh's ' Train from Pakistan' a novel based on history was shocking as it was meant to do. People, affected by partition, became brutal, callus and inhuman. It is a very cynical view of us the humans, rather homo-sapiens!
The author could also be mocking the political leaders who were largely unprepared! Anyway it was about coping and trying do their best in a very unpredictable situation.
Reading Priya Hajela's recently published novel 'Ladies Tailor' which focused on the story of a survivor during the partition feels better! It focuses on one individual family out of the many millions who survived and struggled. In fact, Priya's family migrated from Punjab which had become Pakistan! Inspired by the stories she had heard from her grandfather, she chose to write about it. Worth reading to learn about how people survived
Partition was expected to be an amicable split. However, the atrocities show how the wrong kind come out of the woodwork, and exploit the situation! It seems unavoidable. Most of the migrants did well, mainly because of their ability to cope!
It was surprising to see what AI gemini had come up with: "For decades after 1947, there was a major lack of formal memorials to commemorate the estimated 200,000 to 2 million people who died during the communal violence. However, several institutions and national observances have recently been established to break this silence.
Eventually two 'Partition Museums' were built, one in Amritsar and the other in Delhi. India now has a Remembrance Day.
Officially observed every year on August 14th since its declaration in 2021. Known as Vibhajan Vibhishika Smriti Diwas, this day institutionalizes national memory to honor those who lost their lives, families, or homes to the mindless violence and hatred.
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| A day of mourning |
It was a bolt from the blue! Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated soon after getting our independence. Shocking and very saddening for all. He was a grandfatherly figure for us kids.
Our neighbor's son Nagendra, much older to us, said he had seen Godse at the recent RSS shaka he had attended at Nagpur. He didn't say much, immersed in his own thoughts.
The country mourned while preoccupied with innumerable problems. I wish they had added a memorial for the 'victims of partition' in Raj Ghat next to the Mahatma's memorial. I am sure he would have appreciated it.
Naming it 'Raj Ghat' I feel was inappropriate! I think Mahatma would have preferred it named as "Bapuji Memorial" or such.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raj_Ghat_and_associated_memorials.
A Memorial for PM's and other notables in the same area could have been called 'Raj Ghat' with a separate entrance.
We now are faced with other types too. Assassins, terrorists and suicide bombers, who indiscriminately kill innocent people!
Good to know that in spite of the innumerable problems many landmark and far reaching decisions were taken and implemented!
Birth of the Republic (1950): On January 26, Reorganization of States (1956): redrawing internal borders along linguistic and ethnic lines to prevent cultural unrest.
Remarkable that the Princely States were integrated into the Indian union mostly through negotiations. Those who predicted or expected utter chaos were proved wrong.
Very sadly a few young men lost their lives in the ongoing protests just before the Maharaja of Mysore finally agreed to integrate fully with Indian union!
I was part of Rastriya Selva Dal as it was very close to our house. The activities were conducted by an INA returnee. A nice person.
As Maharaja of Mysore was not willing to merge totally, a protest march was planned. Our Dal leader wanted us to be at the grounds early in the morning. We were a motely crowd of teenagers and us urchins. We walked towards the main road and were stopped by the police. They ordered the teenagers to get on an open lorry. We urchins were gruffly asked to go home.
We later learnt that the police took the older chaps to the end of the town, dropped them there and drove off. While we were jealous about their lorry ride, were also relieved that we escaped the long walk back.
For those interested can check these out:
Digital and Art Memorials:
The 1947 Partition Archive: Because geographic and political tensions make physical travel difficult between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, The 1947 Partition Archive serves as a digital memorial. It crowd-sources and preserves thousands of video and audio oral histories from survivors worldwide.
The Partition Memorial Project: Created by artist Pritika Chowdhry, this is a series of traveling art installations or "anti-memorials" (such as Memory Leaks and Cracking India) that specifically hold space for mourning the thousands of women and hidden victims of Partition violence.
3 comments:
Nice. Thank you for the mention. Also noted Raj Ghat. Now that I think about it, very odd name 🤔.
Thanks Nidhi for a very interesting article and for a person of my age era is much appreciated with some perspective on how things were back then. 🙏
Good read. Loved it.
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