Give you a problem for your midnight toil,--
One you can study till your hair is white
And never solve and never guess aright,
Although you burn to dregs your midnight oil?
O Sage, I give one that will make you moil.
Just take one weakling little woman's heart.
Prepare your patience, furbish up your art.
How now? Did I not see you then recoil?
Tell me how many times it has known pain;
Tell me what thing will make it feel delight;
Tell me when it is modest, when 'tis vain;
Tell me when it is wrong and when 'tis right:
But tell me this, all other things above,--
Can it feel, Sage, the thing that man calls “Love”?
- Thomas Winthrop Hall, 'When Hearts are Trumps'
July 28, 2007
Tumult
Well, talk about tumult in the mind or in the country. I’ll prefer to talk about the one in the country on this space. I have other spaces to talk about the one in my mind.
It is not only shameful but an insult to woman or religious minority empowerment by colouring the Presidential or Vice-Presidential elections with such taints. It’s not just about merit, but about the preservation of the dignity of the high offices of this country. Our minority-conscious nation has elected atleast four Presidents from religious minority communities, but none of those have in the least benefited from such antics. I call them antics because when you elect a person as the Head of the State on the ground that he belongs to so-and-so community, you undermine the person’s competence as a leader, as a future Head of the State. Why not just have Presidents and Vice-Presidents without such labelling contamination? It is heartbreaking to hear politicians say women are empowered when we have a Lady President - that we are more progressive than the United States in that respect. Now, we have three candidates for the Vice-Presidential election – all three Muslims. But does it even matter? They are all distinguished personalities and that should be the outstanding criterion for candidature.
Talking of tumult, the memorable dates of the decade which I’m going to present below was one of exceptional tumult. Just like in the present, we have high offices being demeaned, in that decade too, all institutions, barring none suffered considerable damage. Be it the legislature whose life was extended by 21-months (a state of Prime Ministerial coup, may we say?). Or the judiciary which suffered two supersessions and the infamous Habeas Corpus case. Or the executive, which probably suffered the most defilement under the leadership of Mrs. Gandhi, and even her incapable successor in the Janata Government.
This was all about the Centre. The situation in the States would be worse in the decade of 1980s, with the rise of a series of sub-regionalist movements. Before embarking upon this decade’s listing, I would confess that this is the most difficult decade to have a date a year, because of such eventfulness.
August 15, 1969-August 15, 1970: August 24, 1969: V.V. Giri becomes the President, as Indira Gandhi led members of the Congress support him over Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. Indian National Congress splits into two, with Congress (R) being the real Congress faction led by Indira Gandhi, and Congress (O), the orthodox faction led by K. Kamaraj, eventually merging into the Janata Party. Aam aadmi ka haath comes into being as Congress (R), later Congress (I)’s election symbol.
I will continue this list later.
Meanwhile, the distance seems to be increasing.
Everyday. Every hour. Each second.
It is not only shameful but an insult to woman or religious minority empowerment by colouring the Presidential or Vice-Presidential elections with such taints. It’s not just about merit, but about the preservation of the dignity of the high offices of this country. Our minority-conscious nation has elected atleast four Presidents from religious minority communities, but none of those have in the least benefited from such antics. I call them antics because when you elect a person as the Head of the State on the ground that he belongs to so-and-so community, you undermine the person’s competence as a leader, as a future Head of the State. Why not just have Presidents and Vice-Presidents without such labelling contamination? It is heartbreaking to hear politicians say women are empowered when we have a Lady President - that we are more progressive than the United States in that respect. Now, we have three candidates for the Vice-Presidential election – all three Muslims. But does it even matter? They are all distinguished personalities and that should be the outstanding criterion for candidature.
Talking of tumult, the memorable dates of the decade which I’m going to present below was one of exceptional tumult. Just like in the present, we have high offices being demeaned, in that decade too, all institutions, barring none suffered considerable damage. Be it the legislature whose life was extended by 21-months (a state of Prime Ministerial coup, may we say?). Or the judiciary which suffered two supersessions and the infamous Habeas Corpus case. Or the executive, which probably suffered the most defilement under the leadership of Mrs. Gandhi, and even her incapable successor in the Janata Government.
This was all about the Centre. The situation in the States would be worse in the decade of 1980s, with the rise of a series of sub-regionalist movements. Before embarking upon this decade’s listing, I would confess that this is the most difficult decade to have a date a year, because of such eventfulness.
August 15, 1969-August 15, 1970: August 24, 1969: V.V. Giri becomes the President, as Indira Gandhi led members of the Congress support him over Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. Indian National Congress splits into two, with Congress (R) being the real Congress faction led by Indira Gandhi, and Congress (O), the orthodox faction led by K. Kamaraj, eventually merging into the Janata Party. Aam aadmi ka haath comes into being as Congress (R), later Congress (I)’s election symbol.I will continue this list later.
Meanwhile, the distance seems to be increasing.
Everyday. Every hour. Each second.
July 23, 2007
Heavier Things
"I know a girl,
She puts the colour inside of my world,
She's just like a maze,
Where all of the walls all continually change,
And I've done all I can,
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands,
Now I'm starting to see,
Maybe it's got nothing to do with me."
- John Mayer, 'Daughters'.
She puts the colour inside of my world,
She's just like a maze,
Where all of the walls all continually change,
And I've done all I can,
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands,
Now I'm starting to see,
Maybe it's got nothing to do with me."
- John Mayer, 'Daughters'.
July 21, 2007
Justice Chaudhary et al - II
Howsoever much I might love The Code and the course I don’t feel like typing my project. I would rather write about the situation in Pakistan, which I last described as ‘on the whole… deprecable and disheartening’. The situation seems to have much improved since then. Yesterday, Justice Khalil ul-Rehman Ramday of the Supreme Court of Pakistan announced the historic verdict setting aside (by a majority of 10-3) the Presidential reference of March 9, 2007. The order stated:
“As a further consequence thereof, the petitioner Chief Justice of Pakistan shall be deemed to be holding the said office and shall always be deemed to have been so holding the same”.
July 20, 2007 can be categorized a great day in Pakistani history. I think it is a great day for atleast three reasons.
One, it is important that the public has faith in the judiciary and such faith has, in some sense, been restored, if there ever was in the first place. As I noted in the earlier post, Pakistan’s judiciary has been meek and subservient to the Government, especially when it is the often seem form of military rule. This is a bold and resilient response to all the bullying the judiciary in Pakistan has suffered. It is in a way a response to all the public demonstration that took place in the last four months in protest of the dismissal of the CJP.
Two is not wholly unconnected from one. The verdict contains in it the seeds of judicial activism in Pakistan, which could have seemed a joke otherwise. In a country like Pakistan, judicial activism can be of immense value. It can be reasonable accepted that the democracy has virtually failed in Pakistan. Although I am not a proponent of judicial activism, because of the excessive usurpation of functions it results in (as it has in India), yet a single institution rule is much better than a single man rule. Being optimistic, almost romantic, it can see Pakistan being set on the path of economic growth under the mentorship and direction of the judiciary.
Three, because it is the first time ever in the motley history of Pakistan that the Supreme Court has pronounced a verdict against a military ruler. This can be because the present military ruler is in a way different from his two predecessors. He does not see the world in black and white (Read: Kuldip Nayar’s “Black and white world of Pak dictators”, Asian Age; although the author of that article thinks Musharraf is like his predecessors). Generals Ayub Khan and Haq were not such able PR managers of themselves. Whatsoever President Musharraf’s domestic image may be, he has succeeded in the West in projecting himself well, as an upholder of democracy in a country like Pakistan, by having a puppet Government and Prime Minister. So, the judiciary could have passed such a verdict to sustain that impression considering the amount of worldwide criticism he faced for sacking the CJP by presenting an image of a strong judiciary.
Well, while I write this, India gets its first woman President. Shameful as it is, I would just quote Shobhaa De here:
“From the sublime to the ridiculous, to the downright shabby, the pathetic wheeling and dealing, horse trading and lobbying that have scarred this election, this is nothing short of an insult to the high office.”
Click here to read the full article.
Consider reading this as well.
Meanwhile, I continue my list:
August 15, 1964-August 15, 1965: January 26, 1965: Official Languages Act, 1963 comes into effect. North versus South results. Fierce Anti-Hindi agitations in Madras.
August 15, 1965-August 15, 1966: September 1, 1965: Pakistan launches Operation Grand Slam and a bloody tank battle follows in Sialkot. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri jingles Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan.
August 15, 1966: The goongi gudiya becomes the first lady to address the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort after being chosen the Prime Minister on January 19.
August 15, 1966-August 15, 1967: November 17, 1966: Reita Faria becomes the first Indian to win a major beauty pageant at the Lyceum Theatre, London.
February 27, 1967: A mammoth eleven judge Bench rules that a Constitutional amendment is subject to Fundamental Rights.
August 15, 1967-August 15, 1968: February 20, 1968: India secure their first overseas cricket win by beating New Zealand at Dunedin by five wickets. Mansoor Pataudi, the captain of the Indian team wins the Wisden Cricketer of the Year that year.
August 15, 1968-August 15, 1969: December 10, 1968: Hargobind Khorana becomes the first Indian post-independence to win a Nobel Prize: in Physiology and Medicine for his pioneering research in genetics.
“As a further consequence thereof, the petitioner Chief Justice of Pakistan shall be deemed to be holding the said office and shall always be deemed to have been so holding the same”.
July 20, 2007 can be categorized a great day in Pakistani history. I think it is a great day for atleast three reasons.
One, it is important that the public has faith in the judiciary and such faith has, in some sense, been restored, if there ever was in the first place. As I noted in the earlier post, Pakistan’s judiciary has been meek and subservient to the Government, especially when it is the often seem form of military rule. This is a bold and resilient response to all the bullying the judiciary in Pakistan has suffered. It is in a way a response to all the public demonstration that took place in the last four months in protest of the dismissal of the CJP.
Two is not wholly unconnected from one. The verdict contains in it the seeds of judicial activism in Pakistan, which could have seemed a joke otherwise. In a country like Pakistan, judicial activism can be of immense value. It can be reasonable accepted that the democracy has virtually failed in Pakistan. Although I am not a proponent of judicial activism, because of the excessive usurpation of functions it results in (as it has in India), yet a single institution rule is much better than a single man rule. Being optimistic, almost romantic, it can see Pakistan being set on the path of economic growth under the mentorship and direction of the judiciary.
Three, because it is the first time ever in the motley history of Pakistan that the Supreme Court has pronounced a verdict against a military ruler. This can be because the present military ruler is in a way different from his two predecessors. He does not see the world in black and white (Read: Kuldip Nayar’s “Black and white world of Pak dictators”, Asian Age; although the author of that article thinks Musharraf is like his predecessors). Generals Ayub Khan and Haq were not such able PR managers of themselves. Whatsoever President Musharraf’s domestic image may be, he has succeeded in the West in projecting himself well, as an upholder of democracy in a country like Pakistan, by having a puppet Government and Prime Minister. So, the judiciary could have passed such a verdict to sustain that impression considering the amount of worldwide criticism he faced for sacking the CJP by presenting an image of a strong judiciary.
Well, while I write this, India gets its first woman President. Shameful as it is, I would just quote Shobhaa De here:
“From the sublime to the ridiculous, to the downright shabby, the pathetic wheeling and dealing, horse trading and lobbying that have scarred this election, this is nothing short of an insult to the high office.”
Click here to read the full article.
Consider reading this as well.
Meanwhile, I continue my list:
August 15, 1964-August 15, 1965: January 26, 1965: Official Languages Act, 1963 comes into effect. North versus South results. Fierce Anti-Hindi agitations in Madras.
August 15, 1965-August 15, 1966: September 1, 1965: Pakistan launches Operation Grand Slam and a bloody tank battle follows in Sialkot. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri jingles Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan.
August 15, 1966: The goongi gudiya becomes the first lady to address the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort after being chosen the Prime Minister on January 19.
August 15, 1966-August 15, 1967: November 17, 1966: Reita Faria becomes the first Indian to win a major beauty pageant at the Lyceum Theatre, London.
February 27, 1967: A mammoth eleven judge Bench rules that a Constitutional amendment is subject to Fundamental Rights.
August 15, 1967-August 15, 1968: February 20, 1968: India secure their first overseas cricket win by beating New Zealand at Dunedin by five wickets. Mansoor Pataudi, the captain of the Indian team wins the Wisden Cricketer of the Year that year.
August 15, 1968-August 15, 1969: December 10, 1968: Hargobind Khorana becomes the first Indian post-independence to win a Nobel Prize: in Physiology and Medicine for his pioneering research in genetics.
Fetish and fondness
When I was five, I used to love playing Prince of Persia (prince.exe) and Brick (brick.exe) in DOS. I used to fiddle around with comps so much that once I deleted some of my dad's important documents on that 386. I got a good thrashing for it because those documents contained matters listed for the following day. For a long time, dad forbade me to touch that comp and it took long for me to reinstate that eternal truth in him that I was good at comps. At the risk of sounding immodest, I must confess that I was way ahead of most of my classmates in terms of comps (some of them are 'budding engineers' now,
one of them at MIT) because of this fidgety propensity. Our course in ninth standard contained an introduction to Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 (VB). For the uninitiated, it is a program to make programs. Actually I much rather prefer the Queen’s English spelling of programme. Anyhow, most of us didn't used to work for the computers course because it was only graded and not marked. But I fell in love with VB. I would bunk classes on the pretext of preparing for ‘extra-curricular activities’, and would sit in the comp lab for hours experimenting with this funky program. At the end of the ninth standard, I made a modest six programs, three of which were, if I may so, quite decent. One of them was a calculator. You just select the city you were in from a dropdown box, which contained a list of around 500 cities from around the globe and you would get the current time of that city. It sounds very simple. But it took six months to be finalized. Immense labour went into it - I had to key in the formula for the time difference for every city. But then, that program got lost with the formatting of my comp. There it was, I lost most interest in comps. I got bored with them. I tried learning Flash, but didn't. Now I know just enough to survive. It has happened with me often in life, that I develop an unhealthy addiction with some things, that they eventually bore me and I almost detest engaging myself in them again. The fetish kills the fondness.
Constitutional law seems to be an exception to this maxim. It never seems to bore me. I know I've already had some of my readers roll eyes and exclaim "Blah!!" and changed the URL in the address bar or clicked on the tiny cross on the *north-east* of the screen or if they are too piqued, maybe just clicked the turn off button on their comps. My sincerest apologies to them for causing such outrage. But honestly, there seems to be no end to it. I do not claim to have read too much, but I do claim to have a love for it. All that aside, I am also very fond of history. The next ten are here (yes, I have lost my seven-mania):
August 15, 1954-August 15, 1955: A plethora of legislations which would have probably pleased the great draftsman, Dr. Ambedkar, is ushered in as India promises to secure rights for women and the oppressed. Untouchability Offences Act (now Protection of Civil Rights Act), Hindu Marriage Act comes into effect. They are some of the most revolutionary pieces of legislations and mark a watershed in Indian socio-political system.
August 15, 1955-August 15, 1956: November 17, 1955: Nehru, in his inimitable style, while pouring the first bucket of concrete into the foundation (Only quoting verbatim may convey the sentiment accurately): “Probably nowhere else in the world is there a dam as high as this … As I walked round the site I thought that these days the biggest temple and mosque and gurudwara is the place where man works for the good of mankind. Which place can be greater than this, this Bhakra-Nangal?” India had fallen in love with both Nehru and concrete in 1950s – be it Hirakud or Bhakra-Nangal. The love for concrete of that decade is exemplified in the new capital of Punjab, Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh.
August 15, 1956-August 15, 1957: November 1, 1956: The first reorganization of States on linguistic basis. India is a Union of States and Union Territories, not Part A, Part B or Part C States. The date remains the Rajyotsava for most Indian states, because the later major reorganization (in 1966) took place on the same day.
April 5, 1957: The first Communist ministry is sworn in at Trivandrum headed by EMS Namboodripad. Few would have thought that the Communist rule in an Indian State would last forever.
August 15, 1957-August 15, 1958: March 26, 1958: Hollywood: Although it lost to the Italian film Nights of Cabiria, Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (or the Indian Gone With the Wind) becomes the first ever Indian film to be nominated for Oscars (in the foreign language film category).
August 15, 1958-August 15, 1959: September 23, 1958: Mihir Sen, an Indian lawyer, swims the English Channel, the first Asian to do so.
March 31, 1959: His Holiness the Dalai Lama crosses the border into India after a 15-day foot journey from Lhasa. Thousands of followers follow suit. India grants them asylum, the seeds of Sino-Indian antagonism are planted.
August 15, 1959-August 15, 1960: May 1, 1960: Bombay Presidency State is split into the new linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
August 15, 1960-August 15, 1961: September 6, 1960: Rome: The barefoot Flying Sikh broke the 400 m Olympic record, but misses the bronze by a deci-second. India face another disappointment as Pakistan beat India 1-0 to end India’s Olympic streak of 28 straight wins to win the gold.
August 15, 1961-August 15, 1962: December 12-19, 1961: Operation Vijay succeeds and the territories of Goa, Daman and Diu are liberated from the Portuguese.
August 15, 1962-August 15, 1963: September 20-November 21, 1962: India faces a humiliating defeat which disintegrated national morale. Its neighbour-sugary-brother-of-Panchsheel-fame attacks at the Sela Pass (Arunachal Pradesh). Militarily, India has learnt and seen only ascent since. Nehru’s decline is kicked off. In his good friend, Mountbatten’s words: “Menon killed him (Nehru) with the disastrous Chinese war.”
August 15, 1963-August 15, 1964: May 27, 1964: I know this is the third death in this list, but I assure you it will be the last. For, although I am not a Nehru lover, his death probably marked the end of statesmanship in Indian politics, mostly to the blame of his progeny.
And yes, I am quite fond of death. (Click on this) it is dreadful as well. In the words of Rammohan Roy (quoted in The Argumentative Indian),
“Just consider how terrible the day of your death will be.
Others will go on speaking, and you will not be able to argue back.”
one of them at MIT) because of this fidgety propensity. Our course in ninth standard contained an introduction to Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 (VB). For the uninitiated, it is a program to make programs. Actually I much rather prefer the Queen’s English spelling of programme. Anyhow, most of us didn't used to work for the computers course because it was only graded and not marked. But I fell in love with VB. I would bunk classes on the pretext of preparing for ‘extra-curricular activities’, and would sit in the comp lab for hours experimenting with this funky program. At the end of the ninth standard, I made a modest six programs, three of which were, if I may so, quite decent. One of them was a calculator. You just select the city you were in from a dropdown box, which contained a list of around 500 cities from around the globe and you would get the current time of that city. It sounds very simple. But it took six months to be finalized. Immense labour went into it - I had to key in the formula for the time difference for every city. But then, that program got lost with the formatting of my comp. There it was, I lost most interest in comps. I got bored with them. I tried learning Flash, but didn't. Now I know just enough to survive. It has happened with me often in life, that I develop an unhealthy addiction with some things, that they eventually bore me and I almost detest engaging myself in them again. The fetish kills the fondness.
Constitutional law seems to be an exception to this maxim. It never seems to bore me. I know I've already had some of my readers roll eyes and exclaim "Blah!!" and changed the URL in the address bar or clicked on the tiny cross on the *north-east* of the screen or if they are too piqued, maybe just clicked the turn off button on their comps. My sincerest apologies to them for causing such outrage. But honestly, there seems to be no end to it. I do not claim to have read too much, but I do claim to have a love for it. All that aside, I am also very fond of history. The next ten are here (yes, I have lost my seven-mania):
August 15, 1954-August 15, 1955: A plethora of legislations which would have probably pleased the great draftsman, Dr. Ambedkar, is ushered in as India promises to secure rights for women and the oppressed. Untouchability Offences Act (now Protection of Civil Rights Act), Hindu Marriage Act comes into effect. They are some of the most revolutionary pieces of legislations and mark a watershed in Indian socio-political system.
August 15, 1955-August 15, 1956: November 17, 1955: Nehru, in his inimitable style, while pouring the first bucket of concrete into the foundation (Only quoting verbatim may convey the sentiment accurately): “Probably nowhere else in the world is there a dam as high as this … As I walked round the site I thought that these days the biggest temple and mosque and gurudwara is the place where man works for the good of mankind. Which place can be greater than this, this Bhakra-Nangal?” India had fallen in love with both Nehru and concrete in 1950s – be it Hirakud or Bhakra-Nangal. The love for concrete of that decade is exemplified in the new capital of Punjab, Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh.
August 15, 1956-August 15, 1957: November 1, 1956: The first reorganization of States on linguistic basis. India is a Union of States and Union Territories, not Part A, Part B or Part C States. The date remains the Rajyotsava for most Indian states, because the later major reorganization (in 1966) took place on the same day.
April 5, 1957: The first Communist ministry is sworn in at Trivandrum headed by EMS Namboodripad. Few would have thought that the Communist rule in an Indian State would last forever.
August 15, 1957-August 15, 1958: March 26, 1958: Hollywood: Although it lost to the Italian film Nights of Cabiria, Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (or the Indian Gone With the Wind) becomes the first ever Indian film to be nominated for Oscars (in the foreign language film category).August 15, 1958-August 15, 1959: September 23, 1958: Mihir Sen, an Indian lawyer, swims the English Channel, the first Asian to do so.
March 31, 1959: His Holiness the Dalai Lama crosses the border into India after a 15-day foot journey from Lhasa. Thousands of followers follow suit. India grants them asylum, the seeds of Sino-Indian antagonism are planted.
August 15, 1959-August 15, 1960: May 1, 1960: Bombay Presidency State is split into the new linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
August 15, 1960-August 15, 1961: September 6, 1960: Rome: The barefoot Flying Sikh broke the 400 m Olympic record, but misses the bronze by a deci-second. India face another disappointment as Pakistan beat India 1-0 to end India’s Olympic streak of 28 straight wins to win the gold.
August 15, 1961-August 15, 1962: December 12-19, 1961: Operation Vijay succeeds and the territories of Goa, Daman and Diu are liberated from the Portuguese.
August 15, 1962-August 15, 1963: September 20-November 21, 1962: India faces a humiliating defeat which disintegrated national morale. Its neighbour-sugary-brother-of-Panchsheel-fame attacks at the Sela Pass (Arunachal Pradesh). Militarily, India has learnt and seen only ascent since. Nehru’s decline is kicked off. In his good friend, Mountbatten’s words: “Menon killed him (Nehru) with the disastrous Chinese war.”
August 15, 1963-August 15, 1964: May 27, 1964: I know this is the third death in this list, but I assure you it will be the last. For, although I am not a Nehru lover, his death probably marked the end of statesmanship in Indian politics, mostly to the blame of his progeny.
And yes, I am quite fond of death. (Click on this) it is dreadful as well. In the words of Rammohan Roy (quoted in The Argumentative Indian),
“Just consider how terrible the day of your death will be.
Others will go on speaking, and you will not be able to argue back.”
July 07, 2007
Nineteen Forty-(Seven)
I have always regarded calendar dates highly. As it so happens, today is 7/7/7, which is supposedly the most auspicious day in a century. Why is seven so lucky – it is a lucky number in most cultures: the seven virtues (Christianity), seven blessings (Jewish marriage: Sheva Berachot), Seven Gods of fortune (Japanese), seven chakras or wheels of energy (Hindu).
Maybe because according to the Bible, seven represents the union of man and woman (since the number for woman is 4 and for man is 3) or because according to many ancient faiths, there are believed to be seven heavens and seven planets in the solar system – those celestial objects they could see with their own eyes (the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn), from where the names of the days of the week are derived in most languages, in the same order (Sunday through Saturday). Or is it because seven is the optimum number of hours of sleep for humans, according to some study?
Whatever the reason be, seven has always received great attention from the antiquitarian, the historian, the chemist, the playwright and the author alike: Seven wonders of the world, the line of seven emperors in classical Rome, seven is the pH of pure water as also the atomic number of the harmless nitrogen, according to Shakespeare, there are seven ages of man [As You Like It, Act II Scene 7, Jacques, “All the world’s a stage…”], and the legendary fictional character created by Ian Fleming is Agent 007.
July 7, 2007 is dubbed to be the biggest wedding day ever across the globe.
Be that as it may, my obsession with calendar dates will continue over the next few weeks when I compile a list of some of the most eventful dates in post-Independence history, as a preparation to recalling that 'moment (which) comes but rarely in history…when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance'.
Here are the first seven years:
August 15, 1947- August 15, 1948:
January 30, 1948: For it wasn’t that easy to assassinate the Mahatma (read about the lesser known Gopal Godse) and as George Bernard Shaw put it – ‘It shows you how dangerous it is to be good’.
August 15, 1948- August 15, 1949:
September 23, 1948: Colonel J.N. Chaudhari eclipses the portraits of the Nizam in Hyderabad, for as Coupland once wondered, ‘India could live if its Moslem limbs in the north-west and north-east were amputated, but could it live without its midriff?’
August 15, 1949- August 15, 1950:
January 26, 1950: The greatest political venture since that originated in Philadelphia in 1787. India announces herself as a ‘SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC’. The Supreme Court with the widest known powers in the world comes into existence.
August 15, 1950- August 15, 1951:
December 15, 1950: Death of the Iron Man of India, and the end of two power centres in India’s ruling party—virtual monopoly of Jawaharlal Nehru.
August 15, 1951- August 15, 1952:
October 25, 1951 and January-February, 1952: As the world’s largest democracy exercises its franchise, was it ‘the biggest experiment in democracy in human history’ or ‘the biggest gamble in history’?
August 15, 1952- August 15, 1953: December 15, 1952:
Death of Potti Srimamulu, after fasting for fifty-eight days paves the way for the cartographic revision of India on the basis of language. As Ramachandra Guha puts it, he was the Mercator of India.
August 15, 1953-August 15, 1954:
April 29, 1954: India and China decide to ‘mutually coexist’ on five principles: Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai?
Maybe because according to the Bible, seven represents the union of man and woman (since the number for woman is 4 and for man is 3) or because according to many ancient faiths, there are believed to be seven heavens and seven planets in the solar system – those celestial objects they could see with their own eyes (the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn), from where the names of the days of the week are derived in most languages, in the same order (Sunday through Saturday). Or is it because seven is the optimum number of hours of sleep for humans, according to some study?
Whatever the reason be, seven has always received great attention from the antiquitarian, the historian, the chemist, the playwright and the author alike: Seven wonders of the world, the line of seven emperors in classical Rome, seven is the pH of pure water as also the atomic number of the harmless nitrogen, according to Shakespeare, there are seven ages of man [As You Like It, Act II Scene 7, Jacques, “All the world’s a stage…”], and the legendary fictional character created by Ian Fleming is Agent 007.
July 7, 2007 is dubbed to be the biggest wedding day ever across the globe.
Be that as it may, my obsession with calendar dates will continue over the next few weeks when I compile a list of some of the most eventful dates in post-Independence history, as a preparation to recalling that 'moment (which) comes but rarely in history…when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance'.
Here are the first seven years:
August 15, 1947- August 15, 1948:
January 30, 1948: For it wasn’t that easy to assassinate the Mahatma (read about the lesser known Gopal Godse) and as George Bernard Shaw put it – ‘It shows you how dangerous it is to be good’.
August 15, 1948- August 15, 1949:September 23, 1948: Colonel J.N. Chaudhari eclipses the portraits of the Nizam in Hyderabad, for as Coupland once wondered, ‘India could live if its Moslem limbs in the north-west and north-east were amputated, but could it live without its midriff?’
August 15, 1949- August 15, 1950:
January 26, 1950: The greatest political venture since that originated in Philadelphia in 1787. India announces herself as a ‘SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC’. The Supreme Court with the widest known powers in the world comes into existence.
August 15, 1950- August 15, 1951:
December 15, 1950: Death of the Iron Man of India, and the end of two power centres in India’s ruling party—virtual monopoly of Jawaharlal Nehru.
August 15, 1951- August 15, 1952:
October 25, 1951 and January-February, 1952: As the world’s largest democracy exercises its franchise, was it ‘the biggest experiment in democracy in human history’ or ‘the biggest gamble in history’?
August 15, 1952- August 15, 1953: December 15, 1952:Death of Potti Srimamulu, after fasting for fifty-eight days paves the way for the cartographic revision of India on the basis of language. As Ramachandra Guha puts it, he was the Mercator of India.
August 15, 1953-August 15, 1954:
April 29, 1954: India and China decide to ‘mutually coexist’ on five principles: Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai?
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