Tuesday, 5 November 2024

City Centre Traffic Muddle “Transport Triangle” -- The Crux of the Traffic Problem by R. Chandra Prakash

Recent write ups in Star of Mysore are an indicative of the fact that the city centre traffic problem has caught the attention of citizens. And this augurs well for Mysuru and Mysoreans.  This will make the People’s Representatives of every hue and Officers of every Department to take note of citizens’ anguish and  to take their responsibilities seriously. 

What is the nature of City Centre? Who are the main contributors to Traffic Muddle out there?

City Centre – A Commercial Hub

Erstwhile Makkaji Chowk has spawned new and modern commercial establishments around Devaraja Market, on roads such as Sayyaji Rao Road, Dhanvantari Road, and the new Devaraja Urs Road. Even the old Dodda Pete i.e Ashoka Road, Shivarampet and Chamaraja Double road have now become very busy commercial area. Heritage Devaraja Market continues to be the epicenter of  city’s commercial activities.

K.R.Hospital Complex in the City Centre has expanded with the establishment of newer Departments and services. Further, it has given rise to a large number of pathological labs and pharmaceutical shops. Being only large and heritage government hospital in Mysuru District, K.R.Hospital complex  attracts exceptionally large number of  patients from rural areas apart from city itself. 

Thus, there is no denying of the fact that, despite of emergence of new extensions with commercial complexes, city centre continues to be our Commercial Hub. Mysore Master Plan has categorized this area as Central Business District [CBD].

Further, over past decades the number of private vehicles has grown at a very fast rate. City has nearly seven lakh vehicles of different categories. Two wheelers, followed by four wheelers, constitute a very large chunk of total private vehicles. This indicates citizens’ preference to independent mode of transport. Prevalence of concentrated commercial activities within the city centre along with preference to private transport vehicles have certainly resulted in heavy vehicular traffic in the city centre. 

However, it would be missing the real problem if we think that the city centre traffic muddle is entirely due to above reasons. Widened roads within the city centre would have provided adequate scope for the smooth flow for the fast increasing private vehicle. The real culprit in the city centre traffic muddle is the emergence of self constricting “Transport Triangle” within the city centre.  



“Transport Triangle” - The Crux of the Traffic Problem 

Railway Station, Suburban Bus Station and the City Bus Station are located on three points of a triangle formed by Sayyaji Rao Road, Irwin Road and the Bengaluru – Nilgiri Road.   And this is a very narrow triangle in that. The distances between the two angles do not exceed 1.5 km. This is what we would like to identify as “Transport Triangle”, which is our own Bermuda Triangle of sort. Most important of all, CBD is located within this triangle!!

Let us consider functioning and the consequences of this Transport Triangle on the city centre.  

Railway station

Railways run 35 pairs of daily trains (which mean daily 70 trains, either departing or arriving at the station), 5 Weekly trains, 3 Bi Weekly trains, and one Weekly train from the station. Every day there are, on an average, 28,000 to 30,000 outgoing passengers; and on an average, 30,000 incoming passengers at the Railway station. This means that on an average 60,000 passengers are making use of the Railway station. Not all trains carry same number of passengers. It is mainly the Bengaluru – Mysuru oriented train traffic which account for major chunk of railway passengers arriving at or departing from the railway station. 

Part of arriving passengers would be heading towards Suburban Bus Station to catch their buses to reach their destinations in the rural hinterland. So also a large number of railway passengers could be heading to City Bus Station to complete their onward journey to destination, in case they cannot have a city bus at the railway station.

Railway passengers make use of buses, auto-rickshaws, four wheelers and two wheelers to arrive at or depart from railway station. One can imagine the vehicular traffic generated by the Railway station on Irwin Road, Jhansi Lakshmi Bai Road and now on K.R.S Road.

Since the C.F.T.R.I side of the railway station does not have full service of ticket booking, bus services, etc, major portion of railway passengers prefer to use the old railway office side entrance/exit. This further increased the passenger load on Irwin Road and Jhansi Lakshmi Bai Road.

Thus, heavy vehicular traffic generated by the railway station within this narrow triangle cannot be ignored.

Sub-urban Bus Station

Sub-urban Bus Station is located on the Benglauru – Niligiri road, within about 1.5 km from the railway station. This bus station was established in 1977 only to operate Mysuru - Bengaluru Non-Stop Bus services and to overcome the congestion at the city centre bus station. Over the period it developed as Sub-urban Bus station.  Today this bus station is handling 2,350 arrivals and 2,350 departures per day. On an average about 1,00,000 passengers make use of this sub-urban bus station every day.

Daily there are 557 departures towards Bengaluru alone (115 Non –Stop luxury bus services, 310 Non-Stop Karnataka Saarige services [non A/C buses], and 132 Inter-state bus services). Bengaluru  oriented departures  alone account for more than 20,000 passengers per day. Then there are an equal number of arrivals, both in number of buses and the number of passengers. This means that Bengaluru oriented buses alone account for more than 1000 buses and about 40,000 passengers; both incoming and outgoing. One can imagine the total load of this traffic alone on the sub-urban bus stand. 

This load is not evenly spread over 24 hours. On an average from 08.00  to 19.00 is the peak time at the bus station. In that too 09.00 to 10.00 and 14.00 to 15.00 are high peak times. The traffic load  is very high during the peak times.

One has to take into consideration the fact that those who get into and get out of the sub-urban bus station themselves will be using some means of transport. That could be city bus services, two wheelers, four wheelers, auto-rickshaws.  All these vehicles will be using the roads leading from and to the present sub-urban bus station. There is substantial traffic, both of vehicles and the passengers, between Sub-urban Bus Station and the Railway Station on Irwin Road on the one hand, and between the Sub-urban Bus Station and the City Bus Station via Harding Circle. Consequently, these short distance roads within the Transport Triangle get further highly  congested.

City Bus Station

This bus station was established around 1967. Today 421 city buses make 6,300 trips, ie arrive and depart from this bus station. On an average about 2,60,000  passengers make use of City Bus Station.  Of  6,300 trips , nearly 3,335 trips are those which take place during the Peak hours consisting of 07.30 to 10.30 and 16.00 to 19.00 hours. Obviously the density of bus trips and the number of passengers will be skewed heavily during the peak hours. 

Now this bus station is located at a corner of K.R.Circle, with entrance from Albert Victor Road (between two statue circles) and exit on Sayyaji rao road. All the buses coming to City Bus Station come from Albert Victor Road, and almost all the departing buses take turn towards MCC office on Sayyaji Rao road. Congestion caused by these buses on these two roads has to be seen to be believed. 

“Transport Triangle” needs immediate Attention

From the above facts and figures one can imagine how much of vehicular traffic is accounted by this Transport Triangle. One can argue that this triangle is only a consequence of the existence of CBD.  Even if it is so, a time has come to find out of the box solutions before these roads become out of use due to chocking vehicular traffic.  All the wide footpaths in the CBD area are either slimmed down or have become not useful to the pedestrians. Like in Bengaluru, city bus drivers may soon refuse to drive on these chocked roads, if immediate solutions are not found.

Possible Solutions

A. Reduce the number of passengers disembarking  at the city station by following steps are recommended: 

a. Railways should consider brief stop at Naganahalli for  trains originating from Bengaluru so that passengers heading to areas linked by Ring Road can disembark there. Bus services should be made available here for such destination.

b. Railways should also consider to extend the services above trains to be extended till Railway workshop. This would facilitate passengers to disembark at Chamarajpet station, and at Railway Workshop station to reach their destinations in southern parts of the city.

c. Trains coming from Hassan Arasikere side should give a stop at Metagalli where a new terminal is being planned. This will help passengers heading towards western part of the city to disembark.

d. Railways should introduce local trains running between Naganahalli, City Station, Chamarajapuram, Ashokapuram, and even Kadokola where a large container station is being planned. Similarly locals can run between KRS, Belagola Metagalli, and City station and provide link to earlier mentioned local trains.

Above steps will not only help reduce the passenger load on the city station but substantially reduce the vehicular traffic on the roads in the CBD. Similar steps have been taken in Bengaluru with the shifting of  many operations first to Cantonment station, then to Yeshvanthpur station and now development of KR Puram station. Should Mysuru wait for total collapse of the system before one considers rational solutions?

B. Shift the City Bus station and re-design the routing pattern

It is time that the present City Bus Station, which is already chocking due to shortage of space and highly congested CBD roads is shifted out of the CBD. It seems to have outlived its utility and is more a main source of vehicular congestion in the CBD. The present city bus routes are structured mostly on a Circular pattern. It is time to consider Radial Patter in the light of newer bus stations available on the Ring Road or nearby Ring Road. Prof.Yedunandan, of J.C.Enigineering College, who is also a Consultant Structural Engineer,  has developed Radial Loop system for the internal bus transport which can be considered here.

C. Need to Shift the Sub-urban Bus Station
Sheer load of bus trips on Bengaluru – Nilgiri road within the city demands that major operations of this bus station needs decentralization. Like in the case of heavy vehicles, now time has come to restrict the movement of sub-urban buses through the city roads. Bengaluru oriented buses can make use of Sathagalli Bus Station, near Narayan Hridyalaya, on the Ring Road. And southern sector buses can be routed through a bus station on Ring Road there. So also the Eastern and Western sector buses. These steps may be considered highly impractical at first. But since there is no alternative to them, one should hasten up to test them. Who could imagine that Mysuru oriented buses could be cut off from the main bus station at Bengaluru and shifted to the Satellite Bus station. Have not the travelling public gradually accepted this change?

Serious problems demand courageous decisions. Mysore Master Plan should have taken note of this problem, but did not. Now at least it is time that MUDA, MCC, RTO, and the Police department put their heads together to analyze the traffic problem emanating from the Traffic Triangle and take appropriate steps before it reach gigantic proportions. But has it not already reached that stage?

Fifteen Days, 2500 km and Twelve Places A Panoramic View of Uttar Pradesh Tour by R. Chandra Prakash

Commonly aired opinions about Uttar Pradesh (U.P) have been that its cities and towns are dusty and dirty. With 828 persons per square km it happens to be a state with one of the highest density of population in the country. U.P is also considered as the centre piece of “cow belt”.  “Jugaad” is not an unsavory word here; it symbolizes the region’s inventive instincts to find practical but simple solutions to complex problems. And “Jugaad” finds its application in administrative and social problems as well!!  Lawlessness is the commonly accepted feature. Corruption, in its every form, is not a sin, but a way of life here. With 80 Members of Parliament, this state has played a decisive role in the making or breaking of the union governments.  

Frequent visits have kept us abreast with the nuances of culture and economy of the western U.P to which our ancestry belongs. But the differences in the dialect and the cultural traits on either side of the Ganga delta always fascinated us. Further, the divergent views, derisive comments and political acrobatics [quite often one heard this state being disparagingly called “Ulta Pradesh”, implying that everything here is upside down],   attributed to this state have been challenging us to visit the  eastern part of  U.P. This is how we ventured to tour the state for 15 days, covering 2500 plus km by road and visiting 12 very important places. All these cities and towns located across the region’s length and breadth are places of historic, religious and tourist importance. They also reflect a wide spectrum of economic, sociological and linguistic divergence.

Having toured  the state’s capital, Lucknow for two days, we went on to visit Ayodhya, Faizabad,  Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Sarnath, Allahabad, Agra, Gwalior, Orchha and Jhansi. Here is  a panoramic view of our tour. 

Surprise, Surprise!!

Contrary to many assumptions, allegations and apprehensions, we found many pleasant waiting surprises for us during our tour. 

1. Good Road Connectivity

All along our tour we found that the connectivity between cities and towns was very good. Well planned and  roads of good standard connect Lucknow – Ayodhya – Gorakhpur - Kushinagar; Varanasi – Allahabad – Agra.  We could easily go at a speed of about 100 km per hour without any obstruction on these roads. 

Road link between Gorakhpur and Varanasi was under reconstruction into Four Lane Highway.  So also the road link between Gwalior and Jhansi. The old roads were in disarray.

2. Yamuna Express Way

Yamuna Express Way, was launched by Ms.Mayawathi as a PPP model of development, linking Agra with Lucknow. However, not being far behind her, Akhilesh Yadav linked this Express Way from Agra to New Delhi. The result is a world class Express way linking Lucknow to New Delhi. Our travel on this road, though only of 75 km, was an experience in itself. More so as it was in Uttar Pradesh!!

3. Long Flyover By-passes

A near 27km long flyover by-pass over Kanpur, one of the most congested cities of not only U.P but also of the country, and near 20 km long flyover by-pass over Gwalior are  standing examples of sensible planning that has ushered in an era of economic development by cutting short travel time. Even if they were a part of national road development, the very fact that this large state utilized the project for its own good deserves admiration. 

Compare this with our struggle to have an unobstructed travel between Mysuru-Bangaluru. Old by-pass roads have totally failed us. Yet, no fly-over by passes have been provided for even in the new six laning project. Mysuru-Bengaluru road link seems to be jinxed!!

4. Cleanliness Drive

In every place we visited we found genuine attempt to keep places clean. Eastern U.P known for mosquito borne diseases due to unhygienic surroundings is now getting a face lift. At the Triveni Sangam in Allahabad thousands of village folks visit to perform rituals of their deceased relatives. Here too we found groups of people and scores of vehicles involved in cleaning up the beaches, resulting in clean sands despite thousands footfalls 24x7. 

We took a boat drive to reach to the confluence of rivers Yamuna and Ganga (river Saraswathi was invisible). We found the waters of both the rivers quite clean and  dredgers working on both the rivers to mop up the floating materials. The scene was equally heartening at Varanasi where the river as well as the ghats were quite clean.

5. Earthen-ware replaces Plastic 

Plastic ban has been implemented quite effectively. Traditional earthen-ware, of all sizes and shapes, has replaced plastic and plastic quoted cups and plates. Tea is being served in small earthen ‘Kullads’ (tumblers), and whereas ‘sakoras’ (saucer shaped earthen ware) are in use at roadside eateries to serve ‘chaats’ at every place across the state. This was seen across the state and in every place we visited. This obviously has mitigated the plastic menace and revived the potter’s jobs in rural areas.

6. Electric Auto – rickshaws

Wherever we went, be it Lucknow, Varanasi, Allahabad or Agra, Jhansi or Gwalior;  we found that electric auto-rickshaws called ‘Mayuri’ have more or less completely replaced petrol, gas, and diesel driven autos. They are noise free, pollution free and tourist friendly. This is an exemplary transformation within a very short time. 

7. Vibrant Economy

As the winter was setting in shops were full with woolens and people were thronging the shops and footpaths to buy them. We saw a sea of customers at every commercial establishment, be it sweat-meat shops, chaat centres, Gajak-Revadi [winter specialties in the North] outlets or malls. This kind of sings of vibrant economy prevailed in every city.

8. Greenery and  Gardens Galore

It was an eye-feast to see that Allahabad, Lucknow, Agra, have large gardens and greenery within the city areas which certainly are much bigger and better gardens than those of  our garden cities  Bengaluru and Mysuru. Allahabad is known for its Allahabadi guavas, have a distinct taste and externally look like apples. We were told that the city also has its mangoes with distinct taste.This proves the deeply rooted  horticulture in these cities. 

On the whole our  U.P tour threw up so many surprises that we now feel that this state, despite its mammoth size is way ahead of many states in genuine development. If  U.P facilitated the growth of engineering and medical colleges in Karnataka between 1970 and 2000 [for reasons known to every one!!], now the state has made noteworthy progress on that count too. However, there are problems of extreme levels of economic disparity, regional imbalance, religious polarity, caste conflicts and political machinations. These problems get accentuated due to high density of population and large geographical area of the state. May be creation of smaller state like Bundelkhand out of present U.P, [on the lines of Uttarakhand], might be beneficial to the overall growth of the entire region


Monday, 4 November 2024

RE-DISCOVERING BHARAT - Bharat, India and Pakistan The Constitutional Journey of a Sandwiched Civilisation by J. Sai Deepak

Sai Deepak’s second volume India, Bharat and Pakistan: The Constitutional Journey of Sandwiched Civilisation  is a detailed account of  the 1905-1924 tumultuous period, during which  ‘a partnership of convenience between European and Middle Eastern colonialities’ inflected irreparable  damage on on Indic Civilisation. This volume elaborates on how this  period  has also cast a politico-legal dye, with deep fault lines engraved in it, for the post Independence Constitution. 
The Determining period: 1905-1924
 
This period was of great socio-political upheavals in the annals of freedom struggle. To name some of them: Partition of Bengal in 1905, Establishment of Muslim League in 1906, Separate Electorates in 1909, Re-unification of Bengal in 1911, Outbreak of I WW in 1914, the Boer War,  Lucknow Pact of 1916 and the Communal Riots in Malegaon, Malabar, Gulbarga, Kohat, Jallianwala Massacre in 1919, Launch of Khilafat Movement, Minto-Morley  Reforms Report and the Enactment of Government of India Act 1919, Arrival of Gandhi and the  Turmoil in the Congress.

It is  Sai Deepak’s view  that  “…. unless the period between 1905 and 1924 is made sense of …, the assessment of the combined impact of European and Middle Eastern colonialities … on the framing of the Constitution of 1950 would be truncated and historically uninformed.”  The author desires that  the  “misplaced religiosity towards the document (that is, Constitution) is replaced with sense of proportion, perspective and purpose.”   


Colonial Clouds over Indic Civilisation

Wahhabi Movement arrived in India as early as in 1800 and continued to have a strong Indian base. The role of Syed Jamal-al-Din-al-Afghani in the global pan-Islamism and that of Shah Waliullah in Bharat are narrated in detail. In 1877 Syed Ahmed Khan believed in treating Ottoman Calipha as merely a religious head and Ottoman empire as a model Islamic modernity, but with no potential significance for Muslims of the subcontinent. 

However, despite opposition from Syed Ahmed Khan,  Syed Jamal al-Din-al-Afghani’s visit to Bharat around that time strengthened ‘pre-existing pan-Islamic notions’. So much so, by 1918 Fazlul Haque, president of Muslim League, unhesitatingly pronounced that “…. in case of conflict between Divine Laws and the mandates of our rulers, every Musalman will allow Divine Commandments to prevail over human laws, even at the risk of laying down his live.”
 
The advent of European, more particularly the British, rule not only ended this long period of Islamic political dominance but also created a new socio-political dynamic in Bharat. And the 1857 Mutiny became a turning in the British colonial control over India. Emergence of Congress triggered a political movement in the country online with the contemporary developments in Europe.


Congress – Its Colonial Roots and  “Reforms”  Blueprints
 
It is noteworthy that in 1855 Allan Octavia Hume founded the Indian National Union “in full consultations with the Viceroy”. It later became Indian National Congress. Its specific objective was to provide a platform for civic and political dialogue among the ‘educated Indians’ - interpreters between the British and the millions whom the British governed. Freedom from the British rule was never founding objective of the then Indian National Congress.

Author subscribes to the thought that Congress’s colonial roots and policies had deep negative impact on Indic Civilizational Values of Bharat. Congress’s emphasis on western education bereft of Indic Values was in stark contrast with the Islamic Reformers like Syed Ahmed Khan, identified as a British loyalist.  He had placed greater or at least equal emphasis on Islamic and Western education, and his Aligarh model led to the establishment of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama and Jamia Millia Islamia apart from Aligarh Muslim College. 

This development  lead to the  Hindus moving away from their roots  at a time when the  Islamic reformist movements sought  to move closer to the practice of early Islam. Thus, author feels that the Congress helped in further strengthening the roots of Middle Eastern coloniality in Bharat.


Gandhi and Swaraj

With the coronation of honorific ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi had acquired an unchallengeable socio-political position, and an aura which belittled even the senior stalwarts in Congress. Gandhi’s politico-socio-psychological manipulations within the Congress led to further splintering into sub-groups representing different approaches to country’s future. His deeply entrenched belief in Hindu-Muslim-unity, even in the face of stark realities in front of him and  manipulation of people’s faith  in him on the basis of his success in South Africa, played diabolic role in the happenings during 1905-1924. 

In later years his distancing from Congress and yet continuing to have a veto power in the decisions of the Congress corroded the internal democracy within the  party. His repeated Fast-unto-Death, Non-cooperation and Satyagraha caused congenital deformities in the functioning of the party.

Gandhi’s strong support for the Khilafat Movement became a watershed moment in the freedom struggle. It is interesting to note that the British and the allies tactfully managed to subvert the position of Calipha with the help of Ataturk, who maneuvered to get Abdul Mejid, a son of late Sultan Abdul Aziz ‘elected’ as Khalifa.  New Khalifa’s powers were  restricted to spiritual and not temporal. Therefore, the author feels that “Swaraj, from the perspective of the Khilafatists, was a Quran sanctioned Islamic means to a purely Islamic end…. with Swaraj being merely incidental goal as it was not the trigger for the Agitation, dismemberment of the Caliphate was the real trigger. 

By hoping to secure Swaraj with the pan-Islamism, “Gandhi had struck a Faustian bargain, the ultimate price being paid with the blood of millions of people and dismemberment of Indic civilisation’s only sacred geography – Bharat.” 

Therefore, author very strongly feels that “Gandhi helped advance Syed Jamal al-Din-al Afghani’s vision more than Syed Ahmed Khan did. Had Afghani been alive around that time of Khilafat Movement and Agitation, he would have been proud of Gandhi for furthering the former’s vision and cause, and prouder of Maulana Abdul Bari, Maulana Muhamad Ali, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Maulana Abdul Kalam, and Maulana Hasrat Mohani for getting a ‘Hindu leader’ to support the cause of pan-Islamism in such a big way.”


Defying Myths
  
This book defies three myths which have entered into our political discourse.

The first myth: That the Wahhabis supported Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. 

Quoting R. C. Majumdar author states that “Wahhabis demonstrated non-alignment of goals with mutineers which would have benefited the British. And this aloofness was consistent with their central stated belief that Bharat was Dar al-Harb as long as it was ruled by non-Muslims”.
 
Second myth: The British sowed the seeds of the idea of Pakistan with the partition of Bengal in 1905 on religious lines. 

To quote author “What is also important to note is that Afgani’s pan-Islamic ideas and vision of reclaiming ‘Mughal lands’ had laid out the template not just for the Kilafat Movement, but also for the Pakistan Movement, since, essentially, Pakistan was meant to be Dar al-Islam, to which Muslims in Bharat could emigrate by performing hijrat. Pakistan would serve as the new homeland from where jihad could be launched against Dar al-Harb, i.e., Bharat, to ‘restore’ its status to Dar al-Islam” (p.109).

Thus, author clearly establishes that it is a false impression that communal harmony existed between Hindus and Muslims prior to the employment of so-called divide-and-rule policy by the British in 1905. This myth only creates an erroneous impression of Hindu and Muslims being equal victims of British rule. 

Third myth: Jinnah was the architect of Two-Nation Theory. 

Author states that the  Two-Nation Theory is the outcome of inherent separatist tendency of Middle Eastern consciousness, starting from Syed Ahmed Sirhindi under Mughal emperor Akbar to Syed Ahmed Khan of Aligarh. Constant objective was  to secure position of global ummah as well as the position of Muslims in a Hindu majority Bharat under British rule. Therefore, the Two-Nation Theory was a reality which existed much before Jinnah arrived, and finally ended with the partition of Bharat in 1947.


Dormant Socio-Political Volcanoes

Author provides very detailed accounts of Malegoan, Malabar, Gulbarga and Kohat communal riots during 1905-1924 with authentic multiple source references. This account bares not only the discriminatory approaches by the Congress and more particularly Gandhi, but also the inbuilt socio-political fears within the communities which act as dormant volcanoes. These horrific incidents by no account the passé in our history, unfortunately they are destabilizing the post-independent Bharat as well.


Era of Re-discover of Bharat 

India is celebrating its seventy fifth year of Independence as the world’s largest successful democracy.  At a time when the credit for this momentous achievement ought to have been attributed to the maturation of its political system, it is largely ascribed to our Constitution, Judiciary and the deliberations in the Constitutional Assembly. Sai Deepak is of strong opinion that the Bharatiya mind is buried deep under three layers of coloniality – European, Middle Eastern and Nehruvian Marxist / post-colonial. In his trilogy he is trying to expose the overall historical impact of these coloniality on our Constitution, which has led to the deprival of the Indic Values. Consequently, a   country which fundamentally believes in international brotherhood, harmony and peace – Vasudeva Kutumbhakam, is forced to suffer social disharmony and political chaos. Political developments since 2014 stand testimony to the renaissance of country’s innate beliefs.


Book is certainly a product of in-depth research. Presentation with Quotations from multiple sources, detailed Notes, References, Appendices, and Index authenticate the statements.  However, 600 plus pages are indeed a reader’s challenge, though enlightening one.

Looking Back on Independence Saga Partitioned Freedom by Ram Madhav

Independence struggle has been substantially dissected, deliberated and detailed during the past seventy five years. However, the dogmatic distortions in its narration have only increased the hunger for unraveling the mystery surrounding the incidents and the individuals during that long struggle for freedom. Ram Madhav’s book Partitioned Freedom is an outcome of author’s strong conviction that “Talking about that (partition) tragedy was considered politically incorrect and anti-secular. It was only after many decades, when the relations between the countries touched their nadir, pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war, did some debate over Partition and its fallacy begin prominently.”  He is of the opinion that however fictitious the Two-Nation-Theory might have been, it has not only divided the territory but also hearts. Therefore, revisiting horrors of the Partition is needed not just as an academic exercise, nor to hate anybody, but to learn appropriate lessons and avoid another Partition. 

This book deals with many incidents and individuals causing changes in the direction of freedom struggle that lead to the  Partition. 

The Root Cause
The partition of India, which author feels ‘Nobody Wanted it, But Nobody Stood Up’, was a gruesome event and the rationality of it is being questioned even today. Whether all the efforts of freedom struggle yielded the Independence, or the circumstances forced the British to leave India that resulted in our freedom is still a matter of unending debate. It also raised many questions regarding the fundamental sociological construct of the land. Author has dealt in great details the events  leading to and post 1857 revolt, which he prefers to call as First War of Independence and strongly decries calling it a Sepoy Mutiny. These events lead  not only to the emergence of  Islamic political ambitions but also created a deep rift within the freedom struggle. A country which had undergone two major colonial dominance over a millennia was confronted with a wide communal divide within few years of fight for political independence.  The consequence was a Partitioned Freedom.

Division of Bengal – A Precursor 
The intention of the British in dividing Bengal was to suppress the freedom movement led by the Indian National Congress, centered around capital Calcutta and Bengal Province.  Even though, the plan boomeranged by further intensifying the independence effort, it yielded unexpected gift to the colonial rulers in the form of consolidation of Islamic movement and the formation of Muslim League. This, in turn, provided the British an opportunity to invent and successfully implement Divide and Rule policy.  All the events that took place thereafter were leading towards a partition of the country. 

Ambassador of Unity turns Champion of  Partition
Author has dealt with the issue of Hindu-Muslin Unity and the turn of events during the freedom movement in great detail. Jinnah was a London-graduated barrister and an associate of Gokhale. He had joined the Congress in 1906 and had become secretary of Congress stalwart, Dadabhai Naoroji. He had opposed the partition of Bengal, describing it as “ the obnoxious virus introduced into body politic of India with evil design”.  He had opposed the provision of separate electorates under the Minto-Morley reforms in 1909, arguing that they reduced Indian politics into ‘two watertight compartments’. And in 1913, he even told the Islington Committee on administrative reforms that “ I do not see why a Hindu should not be in charge of a district where the majority happens to be Mohammedan”.

Therefore, by the time of Gandhi joining the Congress, Jinnah  was already a tall Muslim leader in the party. Both Jinnah and Gandhi had a common nativity and language- Gujarati, but belonged to two different religions. However, the rift between to two, and Gandhi’s preference to Ali Brothers, despite their changing positions, had grave consequences. Jinnah, an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity turned into a successful champion of partition. He very ingeniously used the Khilafat issue as not only a clash within Europe, but a clash between the Cross and the Crescent, to consolidate the Islamists within the country and to arm-twist the British on the one hand and the Congress on the other to yield to their demands. 

Author states that “... in its competitive bargaining for League’s support, the Congress leadership gave up on those sane and secular Muslim leaders and leaned more and more on the communal and fundamentalist elements in the community”. The consequence was the partition of the country.  
Blind Faith in Unity

Gandhi’s strong belief in the communal harmony were rooted in his success during his South Africa days. This success also crowned him with sobriquet of ‘Mahatma’ which accompanied him to India. However, while glorifying Gandhi’s South Africa success, legal as well as socio-political, the fact that both Hindu and Muslim there were a very small communities in a larger demography cannot be overlooked. Gandhi’s steadfast belief and insistence on communal harmony in a very large country that India was, with its long colonial history led to disastrous consequences and raise many theoretical questions. 

Author provides several instances where Gandhi’s blind faith in unity only further divided the two communities. When Maulana Mohammed Ali, whom Gandhi preferred over then secular Jinnah, had stated  that ‘an adulterous Mussalman is superior to Mahatma Gandhi’ enraged Hindus, Gandhi simply explained the statement away. Gandhi called the rebellious and murderous Moplas as ‘human’ but categorized the conduct of Chauri Chaura protestors as ‘inhuman’. To  prevent any outrage against Muslims in case of his death during fast he ensured that regular Quran recital were arranged during his fasts. To placate feelings of Muslims Gandhi modified Hindu bhajan ‘Raghupati Raghav Rajara’ to add ‘Ishvar-Allah tere naam’. Vande Matarm which was a clarion call for a unified Bengal in 1905 and later on became the national song, was truncated to only first two stanzas in 1937 under pressure from the Muslim League, and finally was replaced by Mohammad Iqbal’s song ‘Saare Jahan se accha- Hindustan Hamara’. Ironically,  the poet who wrote these lines preferred to live in Pakistan! 

Could Partition be Averted?
As late as in 1944, Lord Wavell, the Viceroy had stated “India is a God-made triangle; you cannot divide it.” But within three years India was partitioned between India and Pakistan. 

Therefore,  Ram Madhav ponders that Bengal’s Partition was announced in 1904 but annulled seven years later, in 1911. India’s partition was demanded in 1940 and executed seven years later, in 1947. If Congress had launched Vande Mataram movement to oppose partition of Bengal in 1905, it announced Quit India movement to oppose India’s partition in 1943. The Vande Mataram movement was a grand success. It forced the British monarch to come down to India in order to declare partition null and void. But Quit India movement, after having picked up a nationwide momentum, soon fizzled out. Gandhi himself admitted that “Quit India movement had lapsed’. 

Author ponders could the last seven years before partition be any different (from the seven years of 1904-11)? Could Jinnah  be weakened? And could Partition have  been averted? 

Lessons from the Partition
The vivisection of Pakistan and the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971 throw up larger question for India. Author feels that now “It is not just about the hypothesis whether it [India’s Partition] could have been prevented. It is about whether another partition can knock at India’s doors and how such a calamity can be prevented.’ Acknowledgement by the Indian Government, for the first time in 2021, that the horrors of partition must be revisited in order to learn lessons from it.

Author ponders “Can the legacy of partition in the form of the division of hearts between Hindus and Muslims end? Can they live together as one nation? Or Jinnah’s ghost will continue to haunt us forever?

Valuable Addition
After nearly seven decades after Independence  a great political transition is taking place in the country and there is realignment of value system. This heralds emergence of a new India which wants to see history devoid of dogmas. Ram Madahv’s book exposes several chinks in our freedom history and poses several fundamental questions. Therefore, it  is a valuable addition to such a re-evaluation of events and individuals leading to the partition of the country in our fight for freedom. The book is very informative and provokes the readers to question the prevalent narratives about partition of the country.

This book has meaningfully titled eleven chapters, authenticated by chapter-wise References, two Annexures and supported by scientifically presented Index. It is reasonably priced for its rich contents. 

The Psychology of Money - Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, And Happiness by Morgan Housel

Book under review is based on American environment. Within first year of its  publication in India [2020] it has gone into 9th edition! Morgan Housel is highly decorated financial journalist with many prestigious awards under his belt. However, he himself is an example of how every hard working smart Alec has an equal chance of becoming rich in the United States. Housel’s book is not based on academic theories of finance. But on his observations of financial markets and personal experiences. 

In the chapter  No One is Crazy  he proves that “in theory people should make investment decisions  based on their goals and characteristics of the investment options available to them at the time. But that is not what people do.” With several illustration to prove his point he states “ We all do crazy stuff with money, because we’re all relatively new to this game and what looks crazy to you might make sense to me. But no one is crazy – we all make decisions based on our own unique experiences that seem to make sense to us in a given moment.”

In the chapter Luck & Risk, he states that in a financial world where investment is mathematically established as a science, there is a very important element of Luck which may tilt the outcome of one’s financial decision, however wise or otherwise the decision might be. In the case of   Bill Gates, Housel says that not all his success can be totally attributed to his acumen alone.  Bill Gates has had several instances which should have changed the course of his destiny, but unexpected twists and turn saved him such that today he is what he is. 

In the  chapter Tails, You Win  the philosophy is “ You can be wrong half the time and still make a fortune.” Among several examples he provides to prove his philosophy Housel best quote is that of Walt Disney. “Disney’s first studio went bankrupt. His films were monotonously expensive to produce, and financed at outrageous terms. By the mid 1930s Disney had produced more than 400 cartoons. Most of them were short, most them were beloved by viewers, and most of them lost a fortune.  ..... Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs changed everything. The $8 million it earned in the first six months of 1938 was an order of magnitude higher than anything the company earned previously. It transformed Disney Studios...”

Then he illustrates how Venture Capitalists [VC] may lose in 99 percent of his ventures, but one successful venture might be such that all previous losses might be mitigated to keep him in the business. It is this Tails Win feature that keeps the VCs in positive state of mind in the financial market.

In the chapter Confessions Housel explains his own financial philosophy which stands totally in contrast with normal American way.  He has always maintained 20% savings, even if the interest earned is less than 2% P.A. He has always believed in keeping cash for any emergency than depend on credit cards. His investments have been on long term basis rather than earnings from  short term market chances. He has always believed in protecting his post retirement life. These confessions help in creating trust in his approach to money and investment. Sounds very Indian traditional financial practices!

In Postscript A Brief History of Why the U.S. Consumer Thinks the Way They Do Housel provides highlights of how the consumer in the United States has undergone fundamental transformation since 1945. Much more than the success of policies it is occurrence of series of events which lead to the prosperity that followed. Apart from cheap finance policy, it was the introduction of Credit Card system which acquired a variety of form over a period; and the emphasis on productivity in outputs that resulted in new prosperous American. Credit to Income ratio which was reluctantly low at 20 to 100 in 1950s has grown to 130 to 100 in 2007.  He shows how an egalitarian America today is facing a steep disparity in income and wealth. Keeping up with Joan’s has fundamentally corrupted the very psychology of money among the citizens. 

This book is not only very useful to today’s American investors but also to Indian IT & BT young Indians who have scope and temperment for investments. There is a  generational change with regard to credit in India. Credit Card is normal part of purse of every earning member in the family. Now that an average Indian is influenced by “American Way of Life” this book becomes highly relevant.

A very interesting and  useful book.