I hope you have read ‘The Discovery of India’ and most of you
must have seen the ‘Bharat ek khoj’ the 53 episode Doordarshan TV serial
produced by the legendary Shyam Benegal which traces 5000 years of Indian
history till our independence in 1947. The Discovery of India was written by
India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru during his imprisonment in
1942–1945 at Ahmednagar fort. He was incarcerated for his participation in the ‘Quit
India’ movement by the colonial authorities during the British Raj.
“The discovery of India — what have I
discovered? It was presumptuous of me to imagine that I could unveil
her and find out what she is today and what she was in the long past. ...
Shameful and repellent she is occasionally, perverse and obstinate, sometimes
even a little hysteric, this lady with a past.” This book is the product of the
times when an ancient civilization encumbered by the burden of its past, shamed
by its present status of stagnation and slavery was coming to terms with harsh
realities of the present and intimidating challenges of the future. That was a
moment of transition. And in those moments national mind runs the risk of
getting overwhelmed; it craves for an anchorage, a civilizational aspiration.
And Jawaharlal Nehru tried to establish that anchorage. He ventured into past
and traced the roots of our country.
A book to me is essentially a monologue and at most exposes
one to the writer’s mind. But even that monologue can resonate with the reader’s
inner intimate questions and then the book becomes a dialogue. Discovery of
India is one such book. This journey to the past is not for the romance of the
past or the nostalgia, it is a purposeful journey; a journey to consolidate
one’s ancient heritage and wisdom; to frankly face one’s mistakes and failings;
and to prepare oneself for the change.
Nehru’s narration of history and knowledge about India is
excellent. Writing with pride about his motherland, he sings praises of his
people’s successes and great heritage, he also acknowledges their failures and
weaknesses. His intense dislike for British rule comes through as clearly as
his hope for India that prevails eventually. To read The Discovery of India is
to more than discover just India. Not limited to information about the
subcontinent as it is today, the discovery talks about the world from Plato,
Emerson, the history of lands like Afghanistan, China’s ancient trade links
with India and so much more. It is to venture into a discovery of the world
itself.
So to classify this book as one of the historical accounts of
India will be an incomplete assessment. It is an ongoing process of learning
from the past to build the present and inspire the future! This is exactly what
I feel when I listen to our present Prime Minister’s ‘Man ki
baat’, the radio programme through which Sri Narendra Modi addresses the
people of India on the last Sunday of every month. This is a practice he
started on the Vijay Dashami day of
October 3, 2014 and on March 28, 2021 we heard the 75th edition of
this programme. Since television connection is still not available everywhere
in India, especially in the isolated, rural and less developed regions, Modi ji
chose the radio to be the medium of communication as an estimated 90% of the
total Indian population is reachable over the medium. And what is the Prime
Minister talking about…….almost everything under the sun if it has to do with
India and Indian people. Instead of writing for an elite few Modi ji has chosen
a medium which has far greater reach and on this account he scores over his predecessor.
Aided by an ace research team and a very active section of
the Prime Minister’s Office this 20 minutes programme is packed with
information mostly received from audience feedback. Almost 66% of urban India
tunes in to this address, which is now also available in regional languages and
on a YouTube channel and Facebook streaming and is the highest revenue grosser
for All India Radio today. In the first fifteen addresses of Man ki baat broadcast, more than
61,000 ideas and 1.43 lakhs audio recordings by listeners were received on
the website. Each month, some selected calls become a part of the broadcast by
the virtue of which India has discovered her many unsung heroes and heroines.
The subjects that Modi ji touch upon are varied and from them
emerge certain campaigns like Swachata
Abhiyan or Clean India Movement, Selfie with Daughter, Beti Bachao Beti Parhao, Incredible India, Fit India and Sandesh
to Soldiers. The most remembered topics were the promotion of Khadi, Drug
Free India – establishing a toll free helpline for fighting the menace, Mars Mission,
Mission Chandrayan, Examination stress
of students and how to overcome them, and separation of garbage in different
coloured bags.
Farmer’s issues have always found a special place in Man ki baat - soil health, ‘Fasal Beema yojana’ or crop insurance, right
value for yield and land acquisition. He clarified many misunderstandings about
the recent Land Act in one such programme and talked about the harmful health
effects of stubble burning in another. His appeal for organic farming, as is
being practiced in Sikkim and his call for rainwater harvesting, water
conservation, linking of rivers were all aimed to improve the ecology.
International Yoga Day was first discussed in Man ki Baat and he presented yoga as a
form of preventive healthcare. Other game changing ‘Jan Dhan Yojana’, ‘Mudra loan’, ‘Ujjwala Yojana’, ‘Dindayal Uppadhayya Gram Jyoti Youjana’, ‘Stand
up India’, Start up India’, gold monetization etc were talked in great detail
in Man ki baat. While introducing
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) Modi ji said that the "Future will be
technology driven, embrace it. The key to future is technology and to lead, one
must innovate and participate in nation building process.” He has talked extensively
on the scientists and mathematicians of yesteryear like Aryabhatta, Bhaskaracharya,
Srinivas Ramanujam, Visheshwariya, and healers like Sushruta, Charaka and
Dhanwantri and thus presented to the new generation a heritage that they can be justifiably proud
of……a new discovery of India!
During stressful times like demonetization and COVID pandemic
Modi ji reassured the nation, explained to them the reasons of their hardship
and how to overcome them. Demonetization saw a sharp spike in our cashless
economy and a collapse of the black market driven real estate boom and terror
factories. He requested citizens to promote BHIM, which is a Mobile App
developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and today it is one
of the most popular cashless portals giving serious challenge to VISA and
Mastercard. . During the pandemic Modi ji emphasized on the practice of wearing
masks, washing hands and maintaining social distancing in his own easy to
understand language. The government COVID Warriors website was also mentioned
and the 1.25 crore volunteers who have joined were offered a special thanks.
The fact that we can export PPEs, ventilators, drugs and vaccines to the world
today instead of being at the receiving end is a discovery of new India!
Soldiers are close to our hearts and Modi ji often discusses
their issues like ‘One Rank one pension’, availability of highest quality of
equipments and arms, indigenization of manufacturing of military hardware etc.
His ‘Diwali in Siachin’ and tribute to the ‘Kargil Heroes’ were touching. His
praise of the leadership of Smt. Indira Gandhi, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and the
immortal heroes of Bangladesh liberation war were lavish. Whether it was Field
Marshal Sam Manekshaw or Marshal of the Air Arjun Singh or GOC in C Eastern
Command Genl. Jagjeet Singh Arora, or Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul
Hameed or Major Kuldeep Singh Chanpuri Man
ki Baat has recorder their valor for posterity. Even his take on the 1965
war was an eye opener. His account of skirmishes in Doklam and Galwan and the
offensive action against Uri and Pulwama terror attacks were precise and
powerful……the documentation of a new discovery of India!
Modi ji’s admiration for Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and the
Azad Hind Fauj has found an expression in several episodes as has his adulation
for Swami Vivekananda. He has also lavishly praised Gandhi ji, Sardar Ballabhbhai Patel,
Smt. Indira Gandhi, Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Dr. P.V.
Narsimmha Rao, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Dr. Pranab Mukherjee and while doing
so he has managed to pass on a small lesson of history of their time to the
present generation.
Icons like Bismilla Khan, Bhupen Hazarika and Hemanta Kumar and
living legends like Lata Mangeshkar were often idolized in Man ki baat. Sportspersons like Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguli, M.S.
Dhoni, Mithali Raj, Vishwanathan Anand, P.V. Sandhu, Saina Nehwa, Dipa
Karmakar, Abhinav Bindral, Lalita Babar, Vikas Krishna Yadav are often
presented as role models for modern India. The role played by social reformers
like Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Rishi Arobindo, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Guru
Nanak Dev, Sri Paramahansa
Yogananda, Anandamayi Ma, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Mata Amritanandamayi
(Amma), and Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev, Morari Bapu to shape the India of today are
also very lucidly explained by Modi ji and while doing so he traced a new
discovery of India as well as discovery of a new India!
Organizations like the NCC, NSS and the Bharat Scouts and
Guides, Red Cross and the Nehru Yuva Kendra were also talked about in Man ki baat. The unsung Asha workers
were remembered and social issues like illiteracy, ignorance, poverty were
routinely touched upon and a social answer to these problems was sought. Helping the poor on the occasion of various
festivals so that they do not feel left out, sharing unused clothes and extra
food with those who are less fortunate were also touched upon. The ban on
single use plastic was explained with the same lucidity as the contentious judgment
of Ayodhya Ram Mandir. Modi ji, in his inimitable style, described his
demographic dividend thus ‘Our youth hate anarchy, instability and disorder and
dislike casteism and nepotism’ and that remains the blueprint of the India of
the future.
A call to all Indians to plan inland tourism in different
states and his mantra of ‘Vocal for local’ has caught the imagination of the
masses. He routinely talks about local art and craft, locally made toys and of
his visit to the Hunar Haat near India Gate in Delhi. The story telling
tradition of India in Hitopdesh and Panchtantra and the inspiration we get from
Chatrapati Shivaji, Maharana Pratap, Rani Laxmibai, and Mangal Pandey were all
passed on in a unique way thus scripting a new Discovery of India!
But Man ki baat is strikingly different from the Discovery
of India in being totally impersonal. While Nehru dedicated the entire Chapter
3 to his relationship with his wife Kamala, her death, and his thoughts of
death in Man ki baat Modi rarely
talks about himself. There are places where Nehru, educated in the west, shares
his fascination for western things and ideals, and even at some places he
lavishly praises the Chinese. Modi in contrast gives the mantra of ‘Atmanirbhar
Bharat’! If you exclude these bits both
Discovery of India and Man ki baat
are recording the contemporary records of the time so that we can get a
complete picture of India through the ages. History is visited and re-visited
only to draw inspiration from and to create a new India of the future.
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