Sat D Sharma - India Marching: Reflections From a Nationalistic Perspective

Dedication

T his book is dedicated to the six generations of strong-willed females Ive had to contend with during my life-time: my (maternal) great grandmother, who must have been in early sixties at the time of my birth; my (paternal) grandmother, who should have been in her early fifties that time; my mother, who was barely twenty years old then; my wife, who happened to be slightly under twenty-six years of age at the time of my marriage to her; and my daughter, born to her when I was twenty-nine years of age. No doubt all of them have been strong-headed females, but they have also been blessed with a sort of clear thinking that has helped them to successfully achieve their goals. The last but not the least in the family tree have been my two very young, sensible and lovely granddaughters the older born when I was 59, and the younger coming five years later. Both are clear-headed and intelligent. The youngest one appears to be even more strong-headed at this tender age. I believe they all helped me learn various facets and traits of human character along with an insight into different divergent aspects of life. It had always been a sheer pleasure for me interacting with any and every one of them from time to time. I am deeply indebted to them for their role. Each one among them deserves at least part of the credit for whatever little I could achieve i n my life.

Disclaimer

T his book gives an account, based on personal recollections, on the subject closest to the heart of the author i.e. the progress of a democratic republic and, in particular, of the country where he was born and where he has chosen to stay on. This choice was made in order to make his life more meaningful by doing his bit for her people and trying to pay back his gratitude for being born there. The author, unlike a vast majority of his class fellows and friends from the 1963 class of Medical College Amritsar made a conscious decision not to settle abroad. He did not shun the country to look for greener pastures in developed and far better democracies though he has had the opportunity to travel to nearly eighty countries and stay abroad for varying length s of time.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this Book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this Book and specifically disclaim any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particula r purpose.

Acknowledgements

M y first two teachers were my nanaji (maternal grandfather) and my padnani (his mother and my great grandmother). I spent eleven years of my childhood from the age of two years and eight months in their house, which was rather big compared to others that existed during those times, even though it was located outside the municipal limits of my home town. I was imbued with a strong sense of patriotism by my grandfather who was a freedom fighter, homoeopathic physician, Sanskrit scholar, and, by pastime, an astrologer all rolled into one. My padnani, though widowed at age fourteen as an illiterate person, learned Sanskrit and Hindi later, and was well versed in our ancient Hindu scriptures. She used to recite meaningful stories from them in place of the usual lullabies meant for kids of my then early age. I am grateful to the many friends and neighbors of my nanaji, who lived both around his clinic and his residence for providing real insight into the role of various different players in the freedom struggle of my enslaved country. The usual topic of discussion when they met in our house was the sacrifices, sometimes extreme, of the revolutionaries. All of them apprised me on the relative roles of the two different streams: the revolutionaries fighting hard to snat ch freedom

from the British and the Congress, enamored of white skin, who

have merely played second fiddle t o the Raj.

I am grateful to my daughter who has been pestering me to write a book for nearly two decades even before she left the country for studies abroad. She wanted me to write on my travels and travails, and that I shall certainly do. But the subject matter of the present book has been closer to my heart ever since I came to understand the world around me.

My gratitude goes to the innumerable authors and writers and to a host of makers of the related documentaries I went through. It is difficult to thank each one separately but my indebtedness to anyone among them is a blind fact and hence cannot be refuted. I am sure they all will excuse me for not listing them separately. I am indebted to so many persons who helped me in various ways during the three-and-half years that took me in writing the book. They have to bear with me since it may not be possible for me to thank each of them p ersonally.

My thanks are due to iUniverse, my publishers. First and foremost to Mr. John Potts with whom I got in touch two- and-half years ago during my 2009 visit to that great country known as America the worlds oldest continuously functioning democracy. Editorial Consultant Manager Ms. Sarah Disbrow and Publishing Coordinators Ms. Meredith Lefkoff and Ms. Rebecca Potter helped me and deserve my gratitude for that.

Introduction

D epending on which version one is reading, history may or may not depict the truth. The truth need not become history. History is dictated or narrated by the victors of wars or the rulers of any particular land, or else by their sycophantic followers. We were taught in school that Alexander the Greatest , of Macedonia defeated the strong and valiant Indian king Porus after crossing the upstream Jhelum where the rivers flow was narrow. The British, who initially meddled with our history, wanted us to look silly and weak. Upon a visit to Athens some twenty years ago, I came across a map (in the topmost heritage hotel of the city) that showed the vast empire of the first of the three greatest generals the world has seen. It depicted the Jhelum the westernmost of the five rivers of the great Punjab as the easternmost boundary of his vast empire that encompassed the then-known world. Sitting at the bar counter on the penultimate day of my stay, I spoke with the steward who introduced me to his boss. The manager was kind enough to then introduce me to the general manager of the hotel. This gentleman, in turn, arranged a complimentary breakfast meeting with an eminent Greek historian who vouched for the authenticity of the map. If Alexander never crossed the Jhelum, how did he defeat Porus, whose kingdom lay east of that river? Or, was he defeated by Porus who spared his life, like any other benevolent Indian Hindu king would have done, when Alexander was produced in the court? If the map is indeed authentic, the narration of the dialogue has been reversed by British historians. In this case, the more accurate version might have included an interesting exchange. The following answer to Poruss question: What should be done to you? may then have come from the brave Alexander: As one king does to the other. This first-ever defeat of the most ambitious young general would have halted the further eastward progression of his army. This in turn would have forced the just thirty-three year-old crest-fallen Alexander to return to his capital, Babylon. The excuse advanced in history that his army personnel were too tired to advance would then seem less tenable than the above version. Likewise, we currently teach our geography students that J&K is wholly our state, even although the ground realities are different. There has been an interesting ad titled Incredible India consistently run by the government of India on the state-owned TV channel, Doordarshan highlighting the beauty of this state. In a way, this indeed may be incredible since we control only forty-five percent of the land in J&K (the remaining fifty-five percent is held by Pakistan and China), but still we have the audacity to represent the whole of the state of J&K as part of India.