Rise and shine, India
Non-Stop India
Mark Tully
Allen Lane
(Penguin imprint)
2011, pp 257, Rs 499
This book is required reading for anyone interested in what is happening in our populous, contradictory nation. Although there have been a plethora of books about India, this book is different in that it looks at many sides of the spectrum.
It offers no easy remedies for whatever ails India, it does not analyse situations or have any philosophical undertones, neither does it belabour any one particular side.
It tells stories, stories spoken by Indians themselves, and it just leaves it there. It is up to the reader to draw conclusions, think up answers, or simply as I did, to enjoy the stories with the hope of understanding India a little bit more than I did before.
It is dense, for it covers a wide ranging field of topics, from the Maoist trouble, the vagaries of caste and the present reaction to it, vote banking, the presence of Ramayana and its subtle repercussions, and the work of building communities by NGOs.
Not to mention contract farming in the Punjab and its viability, and the story of shining India by looking at a company that symbolises the success and ethos of entrepreneurship. And it is lightened by an amusing chapter on English as “she is spoke in India”, and its impact, and the story of the environment, with particular emphasis on the tiger and forests of India.
What is obvious to me is the author’s love of India — it is his adopted country. He makes no excuses. He praises when praise is due, for example, the work ethics of the Tatas, or the work of NGOs like Seva Mandir in building communities who think for themselves, even when building a wall.
He tells stories told by interesting people whom he and his partner, Gillian Wright, have met — sometimes after some perilous journeys — from a wide spectrum of life, from journalists, Muslim and Dalit communities, company executives, Baba Ramdev and Durga, the woman in Rajasthan who has acquired shares in FabIndia.
These are informed articulate voices who show no rancour (maybe anger) and are intent on moving on from the past, because the past only binds them and refuses to allow them to move on.
Their views are interesting, if somewhat controversial at times. For example, Dalit activist Chandrabhan holds the view that through the usage of English, casteism can be destroyed and Brahminical teaching can be hurled away. “If English becomes the only national language, it will link India without caste. Caste, as you know, divides India.”
However, the author ends the chapter by quoting the editor of the Business Standard: “Every educated Indian must be proficient in their mother tongue. A two-language policy — mother tongue and English — must be made compulsory”. Not his opinion, but chosen to be put there. Makes sense.
According to the author, there is no simplistic solution to any of the aspects that are discussed here — something we all know. Yes, there is corruption in the
government, but that is also linked to the bureaucratic and corporate corruption.
In farming futures, he talks about contract farming in Punjab, highlighting the fact that imitating practices first adopted in western countries without adapting them to Indian circumstances should be avoided. For every pro there is a con and the task before us needs careful balance. The question is, of course, how can that be made possible?
With such a vast easel, the author could have easily deteriorated to a hotch-potch summary of the situation in India, but his thoughts are clear cut, his stories follow a pattern — a provocative introduction, a well defined articulation of facts from
differing perspectives, and a conclusion which is open ended, sometimes with a twist or mischievous throwback.
Some extremely interesting trivia are also given, which serve as leavening agents. The chart of the journey of a file, from its inception to the proposal stage to the final sanction, in the form of a ‘snakes and ladders’ board. Chandraban’s Survey
measuring social inequality among the Dalits was an eye opener.
The questions included what they ate (food served as a metaphor for cultural hierarchies), spent their money on, how they were treated and how different were their earnings.
The conclusion was hopeful, for they now ate tomatoes and flavoured their food; they were invited for other caste weddings and seated together with the rest — that, in effect, they can engage in practices which have long been the province of the upper castes.
Tully plays a safe role, there is not much evidence of his opinion, but that was a stated objective — to steer a middle course. However, his hopes for India find a small outlet in the last chapter which relays his confidence in India’s continuing progress over the next 20 years.
