The Revenge Fleet – The Destruction of Honnavar, The Bhatkal Treaty, The Miri Massacare and The Cannanore Treaty

Anchored off the coast of Anjediva Vasco’s Armada spotted three watch ships belonging to a Hindu Privateer by the name of Timoji. Timoji a Goan by birth feld to the Vijaynagar Kingdom after Adil Shah’s conquest of Goa. He currently was under the service of the Vijaynagar Empire. He was outsourced the task of keeping Vigil on the coast. Vasco chased the ships till the city of Honnavar. Vasco lost sight of the ships and ordered a search operation. The operation failed and Vasco realised he had been tricked into Honnavar. Enraged Vasco then ordered an attack on the prosperous agricultural port destroying many ships and docks. He burnt down the entire port an estimated total of 500 Indians were killed mostly merchants and a handful of Nair Sepoys.

The 18 Ship Armada of Vasco Da Gama in Cannanore

After the raid at Honnavar the fleet headed towards the port city of Bhatkal. Bhatkal at that time was rice and horse trading port and full of only farming communities. On hearing of the devastation of Honnavar the Feudal Lord of Bhatkal agreed to submit to the Portuguese. In return of the Portuguese not harming Bhatkal the feudal lord was asked to halt all spice trade from the port, give an annual tribute of 15 tons of rice to the Portuguese and to expel all Arab traders from their soil. This was the first ever Indo – Portuguese treaty that was written down on paper and signed.

Vasco left Bhatkal in early September towards Cannanore. He decided to anchor off Ezhimalai as it was a known port for Muslim pilgrims heading towards Mecca. After prowling for almost a month, Vasco got hold one huge ship on the 29^th of Septemeber. It belonged to an Arab trader in Calicut and was full with close to 200 pilgrims and huge amounts of silver. The pilgrims mostly family men and women surrendered to Vasco’s fleet. Vasco then ordered all the silver to be moved out of the ship into his own. The pilgrims realized that Vasco planned to kill them all after the transfer was done. They pleaded but to no avail. Vasco ordered 2 of the pilgrims be sent to Calicut to narrate the incident to the Zamorin and the Arab traders. He then let loose all hell on the pilgrims. Many of them mostly females were stripped naked infront of their families and raped by the merciless Portuguese. The pilgrims tried to fight back with their bare hands but they were no match. Vasco ordered the entire pilgrims already in a humiliated state to be burnt alive. Some who managed to jump overboard were killed with spears and swords. The entire episode of the humiliation, loot, rape and the burnings lasted for 4 long days. The two pilgrims later were stripped naked whipped and then sent to Calicut to narrate the horror. Such was the intensity of horror and cruelty that some of even Vasco’s own chroniclers condemned it by calling Vasco a Satan in human flesh and the incident as the worst one ever witnessed.

Example of a Jewelled Portugese Sword, like the one presented to the Kolathiri by Vasco da Gama

On October 18 1502,  Vasco and his fleet anchored in the waters of Cannanore, by now the news of of the massacre of the pilgrims had spread and even the Kolathiri now seemed scared of the Portuguese Armada. Vasco invited Kolathiri over and as a proof of safe conduct sent him some priceless gifts, a jewel laden sword, a royal jeweled armchair, some gold given by the Sultan of Kilwa and sets of Royal European Robes. Impresses the Kolathiri immediately sat down for discussions with Vasco. A treaty is negotiated thus paving the way for the establishment of a factory and a warehouse in Cannanore and the Kolathiri gives his personal assuarance of the availability of spice trade in his Port. However the Kolathiri refused to adopted the fixed price clause stating that he does not have any right over the market price and it is for the traders to decide the prices. Vasco furious at this threatened for a full fledged attack like that on Honnavar and ordered his fleet to set sail. After repeated consultations with the trading lobby the Kolathiri finally agreed to the fixed price clause. And the treaty was signed.

The Revenge Fleet – Vasco’s Terror – Lisbon to Anjediva

On the return of the 2^nd Armada, King Manuel immediately started preparations of a Revenge Fleet – The 4^th Portuguese Armada to India. Initially Cabral was to lead this mission. This being a Revenge fleet a separate fleet of purely military ships were to accompany it led by a Royal Portuguese Knight and Vice Admiral by the name of Vicente Sodré. Cabral and Sodre before the voyage had a falling out on leadership issues. Sodre belonging to the Order of the Knights and was a Vice Admiral, he was much higher in authority than Cabral. He refused to work under the leadership of some other individual. King Manuel invited Cabral to convince him to work under Sodre. Cabral in fit of rage walked out on the King and hence was banished from the mission and privileges. Sodre then invited Vasco, who also was Sodre’s nephew to lead the mission.

The fleet contained 20 ships and another 5 supply ships. It contained 2000 men out of which 1500 were soldiers, captains, officials and other militia. The main fleet of 20 ships was further divided into three squadrons of 10, 5 & 5. The first squadron was for the main attack containing 10 ships spearheaded by Vasco Da Gama himself, the second was for a watch out and was headed by Vice Admiral Sodre and the third was for secondary delayed attack led by Vasco’s cousin Estêvão da Gama.

Frol De La Mar – Flower of the Sea A boat in the 3rd Squadron , was at that time twice the size of the largest ship used before itself making it the Largest, Heaviest ship ever built at that time.

The objective of this mission was to teach the Zamorin a lesson. This mission as not aimed to conquer Calicut but to be show of strength and to cut off Calicut’s chief lifeline – its trade with the Arabs. There were explicit instructions to this mission to establish factories and warehouses in all of Calicut’s rival cities dotting the Malabar coast line especially Cannanore and Kochi.

On February 10 1502 the first two squadrons left Lisbon for Calicut, the third squadron left later on April 1. This mission had also been instructed to open up the Gold trade in Africa controlled by the Arab Sultans. The island nation of Kilwa was one of the most important ports for the Trade of Gold, and Sofala a Gold producing nation. Vasco Da Gama was successful in establishing ties directly with Sofala thus cutting out the need of having to pay tributes to Kilwa. On July 20 1502, Vasco created a blockade of the Kilwa port and demanded extortion from the Kilwa Sultan. He threatened to destroy Kilwa if his demands were not met. After a lot of negotiations the Sultan finally gave him 150 kg of Gold in tribute. The Custodia de Belem was later forged from this tribute.

The Custodia de Belem made by Gil Vicente in 1506 was made out of the ransom received from the Sultan of Kilwa

On 23 July 2 of the 5 ships of the 3^rd squadron arrive at Kilwa and set sail together from there with the 1^st and 2^nd squadrons. The mission then docked little ahead of Malindi for supplies. Two of the remaining 3 ships arrived 2 days late and docked in Malindi, they immediately set sail ahead after receiving the letters from the 3^rd Armada which the 1^st and 2^nd squadron missed.  The last ship however remained in Africa due to repairs and was stuck there for an entire year.

In mid August Vasco finally lands at Dabhol a luxurious sea port under the rule of The Adil Shah of Bijapur. Sensing trouble Vasco quickly started heading down south towards Anjediva. Enroute one small ship started to sink, the entire crew was rescued but the ship was lost. At Anjediva two days after leaving Dabhol the two ships finally catch up with the remainder of the fleet. The Armada now had 18 Warships and 5 supply ships.

The 3rd Armada to India (Nova and the Trader’s Consortium)

King Manuel I

King Manuel I was a Portuguese king who bought fame by expanding the Portuguese empire overseas. He succeeded John II who was his brother in law to the throne. He continued the policy of aggressively expanding Royal Commerce laid down by John II.

Bartalomeo Marchionni was a wealthy and resourceful Florentine merchant residing in Lisbon. He took up keen interest in the spice trade with India after Vasco da Gama’s super profitable voyage. He already had an established monopoly over the sugar trade in Portugal, he however had shifted his attention and greed to the profits coming from the trade in Indian spices. His only problem was that the Portuguese crown had decided to expand only royal commerce and not involve private traders in their visits to India. Bartalomeo started building up his contacts during the second invasion of India led by Cabral by financing the ship building operations and thus sponsoring 5 out of the 13 ships. His generous donations earned him respect and admiration among the Portuguese aristocracy and feudal lords. He befriending one such feudal lord by the name of  D. Álvaro of Braganza. Dom Alvaro was very close to the royal family and especially King Manuel. Dom Alvaro convinced King Manuel to allow Bartalomeo to conduct a exploration in partnership with crown. King Manuel though reluctant at first later agreed to do so.

Joao da Nova

Joao da Nova was an Atlantic explorer in service under the Portuguese Crown.  He was appointed the commander in chief of a comparatively smaller fleet of a purely commercial intent, sponsored by Baratalomeo Marchionni and Dom Alvaro. This was the 3^rd Aramada of the Portuguese to India. It consisted of just 5 ships of which one was a supply ship. Its agenda was wholly commercial. Out of the 5 ships only one was owned by the crown the rest by the Marchionni-Alvaro consortium. It carried 500 men of which only 70 were armed. The mission departed on the 10^th  of March 1501. Their destination was Calicut the principle spice port. The mission was under the assumption that the previous one led by Cabral would have made a good base in India what they did not know was that instead of making good relations and base it had infact increased the hostilities of the Indians towards the Portuguese. The 3^rd Armada was sailing into a war, which they were not ready for nor expect. The departure could not have been delayed till the return of the previous mission due to the pattern of the trade winds.

They reached Cape of St Augustine in May 1501 and crossed the Cape of Good Hope on July 7 1501, and anchored at Mossel bay some days later. Here they found letters left in boots hung to a tree by  Pêro de Ataíde of Cabral’s mission stating of the newly developed hostilities in Calicut. He also stated some more detailed information was left in Malindi by Cabral himself. Also in the letters was mention of two newly found ports of Kochi and Cannanore which were friendly towards the Portuguese and also favorable for spice trade. As per the prior decisions one of the 5 ships was to head out to Sofala but Nova decided otherwise and decided to head out together towards India. In Mid July they stopped near Kilwa and took onboard some citrus fruits for their scurvy sick crew. The mission then made another halt in Malindi and then head off towards Cannanore.

The mission reached the Santa Maria islands off the Indian coast in August 1501. Nova the proceeded to the trade port of Bhatkal of the Vijaynagar empire. He brokered a deal with the feudal lords present there and in return received few of their military units to help them against The Zamorin. Nova started his journey towards Cannanore. Midway he encountered 2 trade ships belonging to The Zamorin and captured them by force and took them along. In November 1501 the mission finally arrived in Cannanore. The Kolathiri of Cannanore gave him a grand welcome and asked them to immediately load up the spices before the news of their arrival reached Calicut. However Nova decided otherwise and headed towards Kochi to collect the supplies from the factory set up there. Nova left behind a small group of men as factors in Cannanore to negotiate and explore the spice market till he returned from Kochi. He decided to leave behind a trading group belonging of Marchionni-Alvaro consortium.

Before he could set sail to Kochi the news of his arrival had reached The Zamorin and he sent an embassy accompanied by a Portuguese survivor of the previous mission. The Zamorin stated that he was apologetic of what happened in the previous year, expressed his desire for increased trade ties and blamed it all on the Arab traders. He also asked Nova to come to Calicut collect the wares left behind by the previous mission and also some compensation for the same. The survivor however advised Nova to not trust a single word of The Zamorin. The Kolathiri however fearing the wrath of The Zamorin asked Nova to trust him and accept the great offer.

Nova set sail towards Calicut and anchored in the waters in plain view of the city. By this time Nova’s fleet had grown to 7 ships. While anchored near Calicut a Portuguese survivor from last year visited the ships and warned Nova to not trust the Zamorin, Nova grew suspicious of Zamorin’s plans. He decided to flee but after a show of strength, he attacked three merchant ships including one owned by Zamorin himself. He captured them and the booty filled with sliver and spices. He set fire to a fourth ship and sailed off towards Kochi with now 10 ships. He however came to an unpleasant scene there as well. Cabral had left behind Barbosa a trader in Kochi he informed Nova that Cabral had betrayed the Ruler of Kochi by kidnapping 4 women from a noble household while leaving. The ruler of Kochi and the Arab traders had issued a boycott on all Portuguese products and had started accepting payment for spices in sliver alone. Nova was running short on silver and only had cloth to trade with. He and Barbosa then headed back to Cannanore with the fleet of 10 ships.

The trading group in Cannanore was facing the same problem as Portuguese wares were going unsold. Nova requested Kolathiri to intervene and help them secure a consignment of spices. Kolathiri gave credit to Nova and he himself remained as security for the payment which Nova promised to make on his next voyage. When Nova looted Zamorin’s ship he along with the booty also came across some navigational maps. It showed the location of an island called Ceylon famous for cinnamon. If all trade talks had failed Nova had planned to go to Ceylon to try his luck there. However after Kolathiri’s personal intervention he  decided to set sail back to Portugal. Just when he was about to set sail the news came in that Zamorin enraged on Nova’s behavior had sent a fleet of 20 warships 20 ships and close to 180 longboats all together adding upto 2000 men to attack the Portuguese Armada. Kolathiri advised Nova to stay back and told him that Zamorin will not attack till he is under the protection of Cannanore. However Nova decided otherwise, he was fed up of the misunderstandings and decided to tackle the problem head on. Nova decided to pierce the attack in a column formation. He loaded all the goods in the Portuguese vessels and used the Malabari captured vessels as a shield to get through. In a confrontation that lasted for 2 days Nova lost 7 of the 10 ships and more than half his crew. He however managed to get across.

He had lost half of his consignment, and also owed a handsome amount to the Kolathiri. He decided to try his luck and headed south in search of Ceylon on January 2 1502. He managed to intercept a Calicut merchant ship off the coast of Ceylon, he captured the cinnamon from the ship and burnt the remnants of the ship and crew. He further headed towards Ceylon. He managed to squeeze a trade alliance with the Tamil traders of nothern Ceylon. He started his return voyage after exchanging cloth for cinnamon in late February 1502.

Portuguese inscription on a stone in Ceylon 1502

After crossing the Cape of Good Hope in May 1502 Nova ran shore and found an inhabitated island and named it St Helena. He built a chapel there and also dug a freshwater well. For the next 120 years this would be a routine Portuguese halt enroute India and also a very well guarded secret from others. Nova reached Lisbon in September 1502. This mission was not as profitable as the previous ones and had made the Lisbon traders realize that Trade would not be as easy and profitable as earlier. The acceptance of trade in only silver also was a new development.

The St Helena Isles

However King Manuel had already flagged off the Revenge Fleet to attack India. The newly found information was not handed over to the Revenge Fleet (4^th Armada).

The Calicut Bombarding – The second visit of the Portuguese

Pedro Alvares Cabral

Pedro Álvares Cabralwas to lead a Portuguese Armada of 13 ships, 500 handymen, 200 officials and commanders and 700 soldiers. This Armada set sail on the route discovered by Vasco Da Gama to Calicut. The fleet under the command of the young 35 year old Cabral left Lisbon on 9 March 1500. Cabral was promised a sum equivalent to 40 Kgs of Gold for this Voyage.

The fleet reached Cape Verde on the 14^th of March. The next day a ship carrying 150 men disappeared without trace. Slowly regrouping they set sail towards Cape of Good Hope, after days of being lost they eventually arrived in Calicut on the 13^th of September with just seven ships left. Cabral successfully managed Zamorin and obtained his permission to set up a factory and a warehouse  in Calicut.

Cabral’s Route in Red, Vasco’s in Blue

Cabral asked permission from the Zamorin to venture out on foot further inwards. Cabral sent his military on several missions to scout for farmers farming spices which could earn him more repute in his homeland. Many of his officers breached the permissions given to them by mistreating the locals and raiding their houses and temples. Meanwhile Zamorin was constantly getting complaints from the Arab traders about Cabrals men destroying their trade and seizing the produce from the farms directly.

Cabral misjudged the tolerance levels of the locals and the Arab traders. He misused the permissions he had from Zamorin. On the 16^th and 17^th of December 1500 a angry mob of Traders and Farmers close to 300 strong attacked Cabral’s factory and Warehouse. They killed close to 50 Portuguese crossbowmen, entered the premises and set fire to the warehouse.  Cabral enraged stood ground with all his might and close to 800 soldiers demanded an explanation, apology and damages from the Zamorin. The Zamorin however ordered Cabral to leave before the next sunrise else face the wrath of his military might.

Cabral outraged by the response ordered his troops and ships to attack, bombard and destroy Calicut. His troops seized 10 fully laden Arab merchant ships and burnt the sailors and merchants alive. Cabral wanted the Portuguese alone to control the entire profitable spice trade. The Portuguese always demanded preferential treatment in all of their trade treaties.

Historian William Greenlee has argued that the Portuguese realized that “they were few in numbers and that those who would come to India in the future fleets would always be at numerical disadvantage; so that this treachery must be punished in a manner so decisive that the Portuguese would be feared and respected in the future. It was their superior artillery which would enable them to accomplish this end.”

Cabral then fled with the 10 Arab ships to the Indian port city of Kochi. Kochi then was a part of the Zamorin’s empire but was ruled by a feudal lord.  The city of Kochi was eager to attain its own freedom from the Zamorin’s rule and Cabral saw his chance and got ready to exploit the Indian intra fighting. He soon forged a trade treaty with the ruler of Kochi and other few neighboring cities (also ruled by feudal lords) At last he loaded his ships with more spices and set sail back to Portugal on the 16^th of January 1501.

The way back Cabral’s original fleet reduced to only 2 ships and that those of the Arabs. He decided to wait for the remaining 4 but only 3 returned. He along with 5 of his ships fully laden and the Arab ships returned to Portugal on the 21^st of July 1501. This brought back 800% of profits 200%  more than Vasco’s. The Portuguese now had started growing ever more greedy for Indian trade.

The crown had already sent ahead another exploration and trade fleet to India days before Cabral had arrived. As soon as Cabral landed, the King immediately started managing resources to launch another, a fourth fleet, now a complete invasion spearheaded by Cabral. This fleet was called the Revenge Fleet.

The first Portuguese visit to India

John II was born to the King Afonso V of Portugal. He took the throne in 1481. His main policies revolved around curtailing the overgrown power of feudal lords and aristocrats and getting it back to the throne, in other words he no more wanted to live of royalties and tributes and now focused on enriching the royal treasury. To do this he also looked at Royal Trade and Commerce as an option. He decided to take the neglected work of his great-uncle Henry the Navigator forward and restart explorations in search of riches. He dispatched two spies,  Pero da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva, via Egypt to explore and scout the territories of East Africa and India in search for riches and trade opportunities. In 1488 the first break through came when the news reached of a high potential trade route from the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean.

The job was first assigned to Vasco Da Gama’s father but he proved incapable of leading such a big mission. Eventually youg Vasco Da Gama set sail commanding a fleet of 4 ships and 170 men on 8 July 1497 from Lisbon. After loosing 2 of his ships and close to 80 men Vasco finally landed in Calicut on 20 May 1948 in present day Kerala. The then king of Calicut Zamorin welcomed Vasco despite the resistance from the Arab trading community. He even gave him a huge lot of Spices to along with him back to Portugal, but in return Vasco gave the King Zamorin only 4 Cloaks, 6 Hats, some sugar and one barrel each of oil and honey. The king felt insulted on not being offered the customary silver and gold as gifts in return. He declared Vasco a pirate and banned him from leaving the port. Vasco however rebelled and managed to flee on 29 August 1948 with the consignment of spices and in the process also kidnapped a few Nair Sepoys and 16 fishermen. The booty Vasco now carried back was worth 60 times the cost of the expedition.
Vasco new to the Indian ocean misinterpreted the climatic conditions. Enroute back to Portugal his brother fell terribly ill with scurvy. Vasco volunteered to get down at Santiago Island and ordered the remainder of the crew to head back to Portugal. After his brother started showing signs of recovery they hitched a ride to Lisbon. Vasco’s brother died enroute and he got down at Azores to bury his brother. Vasco lingered there in mourning for sometime. Meanwhile the remaining crew had reached Lisbon with news of the trade route on 10 July 1499. Vasco finally arrived in Lisbon in a dull mood on 29 August 1499. The expedition had made great a loss of lives and money, it also failed to establish a trade treaty with Calicut, Nonetheless it brought back never before seen or heard of profits.

Meanwhile the Portugese crown was now already busy in setting up a new voyage let by a Commander in Chief of its naval forces.A huge fleet of 13 ships, 500 handymen, 200 officials and commanders and 700 solders were being prepared to sail out to Calicut.

The History of Maharashtra – Yadav / Jadhav Period

Although the land of modern day Maharashtra has been witness to civilization from times dating back to 7 to 10 centuries BC, it started coming in its current geographical form during the 12^th and 14^th century AD under the rule of the Yadavs of Devgiri, modern day Daulatabad. This in a true sense was the first true Marathi empire. All the rules prior were either headed by the Rashtrakuta or Chalukya dynasties of Karnataka.

Above a map of the Yadav Empire

Yadavs were once the Jahagirdars of the Rashtrakutas and then of the Western Chalukyas. Raja Seunachandra, was an very early yadav king. who originally ruled a region called Seunadesha present-day Khandesh. Bhillama V (1173–1192), a later Yadav ruleri, established the sovereign Seuna kingdom. He took over the Chalukya capital of Kalyani in 1190 and founded Devagiri (now Daulatabad) as the capital of the Yadava dynasty. The Seunas were bordered by aggressive neighbours on all sides: Paramara rulers of Malwa in the north, Kakatiya dynasty in the east, Hoysalas in the south & Solanki rulers of Gujarat in the west. Bhillama V’s son, Jaitrapal had Mukundaraja, the author of Paramamrita  and Vivekasindhu as his spiritual teacher. Paramamrita is considered the first systematic attempt to explain the Vendantic principles in Marathi. Yadavas in the true sense are credited with overthrowing the rule of Kannada-speaking dynasties in Maharashtra.

Above Devgiri Fort

Shingana II 1200–1247 C.E. is considered the greatest ruler of the Yadava dynasty. During his rule the kingdom expanded from Narmada to Tungabhadra, reaching its zenith at the expense of Hoysalas in the south, Kakatiya dynasty in the east,Paramaras and Chalukyas in the north. He founded the town Shinganapur. He was a great patron of learning and literature. He established the college of astronomy to study the work of celebrated astronomer Bhaskaracharya.

The Sangita Ratnakara, an authoritative Sanskrit work on Indian music was written by Sharngadev (or Shrangadev) during Shingana II’s reign. He also patronized Changdev Maharaj (spiritual disciple of Muktai – Sister of Sant Dnyaneshwar) and the Kannada poet Kamalabhava.

Ramachandra, the grandson of Singhana II, ruled from 1271 to 1309. Hemadpant was Ramachandra’s Shrikaranadhipa (Chief Minister) Hemadpant compiled the encyclopedic Sanskrit work Chaturvarga Chintamani. He is said to have built many temples in a style known after him –Hemadapanti. He also invented the Modi script for writing Marathi.Hemadpant wrote many books on Vaidhya Kshastra (medical science) and he introduced and supported bajra cultivation. Ramchandra promoted Marathi by making it the official language of his Kingdom. Thus Devgiri slowly became a magnate for Marathi literature scholars. The origin and growth of Marathi is directly linked to this period. During this period the Yadav kingdom was rich with wealth and intellect and was an envy to many neighboring kingdoms.

An example of HemadPanthi Architecture

Devnagri (left) and Modi (right) scripts

In 1294, Ala-ud-din Khilji of the Delhi Sultanate came to know of the immense wealth and knowledge of the Yadavs and mounted an attack eventually he captured Devagiri making the entire Yadav royal family prisoners. Khilji restored it to Ramachandra in return for his promise of payment of a high ransom and an annual tribute. However, this was not paid and the Seuna kingdom’s arrears to Khilji kept mounting. In 1307, Khilji sent an army commanded by Malik Kafur, accompanied by Khwaja Haji, to Devagiri. The Muslim governors of Malwa and Gujarat were ordered to help Malik Kafur. Their huge army conquered the weakened and defeated forces of Devagiri almost without a battle. Ramachandra was taken to Delhi. Khilji reinstated Ramachandra as governor in return for a promise to help him subdue the Hindu kingdoms in South India. Abiding by his promise to save his empire Ramachandra helped Malik Kafur invade the Kakatiya Kingdom and thus began the Islamic Conquest of the Hindu Kingdoms of Central and South India.

The successor of Ramchandra was felt let down by his predecessor hence Shankardev decided to beat out Malik Kafur’s forces from his empire. He was given the title of Prati Shingana in honor of the great Yadav King for this decision. He however was killed in the battle by the combined forces of Kafur and other reinforcements sent by Khilji. Thus the kingdom of Devgiri fell. It was annexed by Khilji and eventually renamed to Daulatabad by Tughlaq.

Rajmata Jijau (Mother of Shivaji) was from the Yadav / Jadhav dynasty.

The Bahujan Samaj Party – BSP

The newest of all the national parties in the Indian Political System

Kanshi Ram joined the DRDO, in Pune. During his tenure in the DRDO in 1965 he joined the agitation to prevent the abolition of a holiday commemorating B.R. Ambedkar’s birthday.

Kanshiram realized that the formation of a bahujan bureaucracy was important if dalits’ interests were to be served. In 1978 he formed the, BAMCEF. Kanshiram wanted BAMCEF to become the organisation of educated bahujan employees: “the think tank, talent bank, and financial bank of the bahujan samaj”.

Eventually he came to know the limitations of the apolitical BAMCEF. He started another organisation – DS4 and eventually the BSP in 1984. In early 1986, BAMCEF split. Kanshiram announced that he was no longer willing to work for any organisation other than the BSP.

Mayawati was born in a Dalit family. Her father a post office employee. she finished her schooling in a govt school. In 1983 she acquired her LL.B from Delhi University. Impressed by her speaking skills and ideas, Kanshi Ram included her as a member of his BSP. Mayawati was first elected to parliament in 1989. Due to Kanshi Ram’s deteriorating health in the 1990s, former school teacher Mayawati became the party’s de facto leader.

In 1993, following the assembly elections, Mayawati formed a coalition with SP and Mulayam Yadav as Chief Minister. In mid-1995, she withdrew support, which led to a major incident where Mulayam Singh was accused of keeping her party legislators hostage to try to break her party. The SP cadres were so angry with Mayawati that she was attacked in a guesthouse in Delhi. Mayawati then sought the support of the BJP to become Chief Minister on 3 June 1995. She became the youngest Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh at that time. She was the first female Dalit Chief Minister in India. In October 1995 the BJP withdrew support to her and fresh elections were called after President’s Rule.

In 1997 and in 2002 she was Chief Minister in coalition with the BJP, the second time for a full term. Mayawati’s tenure has attracted praise and controversy. Mayawati’s rise from humble beginnings has been called a “miracle of democracy” by P. V. Narasimha Rao. The 11 May 2007, the Uttar Pradesh state assembly election results saw the BSP emerge as a single majority party, the first to do so since 1991. The BSP President Mayawati began her fourth term as Chief Minister of UP.

In 2003 Mayawati was accused to be involved in the Taj Corridor Case.
It has been alleged that Mayawati embezzled the money dedicated for this project. The case is currently under investigation by the CBI. However, since late 2003, investigations appear to have slowed down.The Supreme Court of India has several times pulled up the CBI for its tardy progress in the case. Media sources reported that various officials who had been investigating the case were transferred to other duties.

Mayawati’s assets run into millions of dollars, with several properties to her name. In the 2007–08 assessment year, Mayawati paid an income tax of INR 26 crore, ranking among the top 20 taxpayers in the country. CBI filed a case against her for owning assets disproportionate to her known sources of income. On 13 March 2012 Mayawati revealed assets worth INR 111.26 crore in an affidavit filed with her nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha. The Delhi HC dismissed the central government’s appeal against Mayawati, stating that “she has fully discharged her obligations by disclosing the identities of all of her donors, the gifts had been donated by her supporters”. 6 July 2012—nine years later—by a SC bench the court found that the case was unwarranted. On 8 August 2013 the Supreme Court declined a request to re-open the case.

The World Bank loaned India funds for development, and Mayawati was to manage projects with this money in UP. The projects were preplanned and on schedule, but the Mayawati government started rapidly transferring high-caste managers in and out of rural posts and spending lavishly on furniture and vehicles. The World Bank sent a letter of complaint on 1 August 2002 to India’s central government and severely criticized Mayawati of corruption. Mayawati called the letter a fake but later retracted her statement.

Diplomatic cables published in 2011 through WikiLeaks detailing the opinions of American civil servants asserted that Mayawati ran all governmental decisions through her small group of advisors and that she employed food tasters for security. They also stated that she had sent a private jet to Mumbai to retrieve a pair of sandals.

As a CM, Mayawati erected number of statues of various icons, BSP founder Kanshi Ram, and of herself. She claims that the expenditure on statues and symbols of Dalit icons was required because the past governments did not show respect towards Dalits. She claims she spent over INR 2,500 crore on such memorials. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India reported that only INR 15 crore was spent on memorials and not 2500 crore as stated by Mayawati. The Supreme Court of India admitted a PIL questioning this expenditure. Mayawati’s government also approved a plan for a special police force to protect the statues.

The Bhartiya Janata Party – BJP

The BJP, established in 1980, is one of the two major parties in the Indian political system in terms of representation. The BJP is the political child of earlier political parties like the Jan Sangh and the Janata Party.

BJP initially moderated the Hindu nationalist stance of its predecessor, in order to gain a wider appeal. The failure of the moderate strategy championed by Vajpayee led to a shift in the ideology of the party toward a policy of more hardline Hindutva.

In 1984 Advani was appointed president, and under him the BJP became the political voice of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. On the strength of the movement the BJP won 86 Lok Sabha seats in 1989, a tally which made its support crucial to the National Front government of V. P. Singh.

In September 1990, Advani began a “rath yatra” in support of the Ram mandir movement. A large body of kar sevaks reached Ayodhya, and attempted to attack the Babri Masjid. This resulted in a pitched battle with the paramilitary forces that ended with the death of several kar sevaks and the arrest of senior leaders.

The BJP withdrew its support to the V.P. Singh government, leading to fresh elections being called. In these elections the BJP once again increased its tally, to 120 seats, and won a majority in the Uttar Pradesh assembly.

On 6 December 1992, the RSS and its affiliates organised a rally involving thousands at the site of the Babri Masjid. Under circumstances that are not entirely clear, the rally developed into a frenzied attack that ended with the destruction of the mosque. Over the following weeks, waves of violence between Hindus and Muslims erupted all over the country, killing over 2000 people.

In the parliamentary elections in 1996, the BJP capitalized on the communal polarization that followed the demolition to win 161 Lok Sabha seats, making it the largest party in parliament. Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime minister, but was unable to cobble together a majority in the Lok Sabha, and had to resign after 13 days. Mid term polls were held in 1998. The BJP contested the elections leading a coalition called the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which contained its existing allies like the Samata Party, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena, in addition to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Biju Janata Dal. Vajpayee returned as prime minister. However, the coalition ruptured in May 1999 when the AIADMK withdrew support, and fresh elections were again held.

On 13 October 1999, the BJP-led NDA, this time without the AIADMK, won 303 seats in parliament and thus an outright majority. The BJP alone had its highest ever tally of 183. Vajpayee became prime minister for the third time. This NDA government lasted its full term of five years thus in history became the only non INC led govt to do so.

The economic policy of the BJP in its election manifesto recommended increasing foreign investment in “priority” sectors, while restricting it in others. The Vajpayee government expanded the process of economic liberalisation initiated by the P.V. Narasimha Rao government (1991–1996). His government initiated the privatisation of most state corporations, including the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. His government also began the establishment of special export processing zones, Information Technology and Industrial Parks across the country to bolster industrial production and exports. His government launched the National Highway Development Project, with the first phase being the Golden Quadrilateral. In 2003, the government launched the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Honouring of Non-Resident Indians) and initiated plans to establish an Overseas citizenship of India to enable NRIs to invest and do business freely in India. His government also expanded efforts to encourage foreign investment, especially from Europe and the United States.

The tenure of the NDA saw an unprecedented influx of foreign companies into India. The tenure of the two NDA governments from 1998 to 2004 saw India’s GDP growth increase substantially. This invited praise from within the business community, international media, neighboring states as well as the IMF and World Bank. India under the Vajpayee regime was moving towards being a Global India like never before.

The BJP is seen as supporting a strong national defence policy, which includes a modernisation of India’s armed forces and a strong nuclear deterrence. The Vajpayee government oversaw Pokhran-II and the tests of multiple ballistic missile systems. The Vajpayee government also ordered the Indian armed forces to take all measures to expel Pakistani infiltrators who had occupied territory in Kashmir, in what became known as the Kargil War. The decisive response and success of military operations bolstered its popularity and image of toughness on national security.

The historical stance of the BJP towards foreign policy, much like its predecessor the Jana Sangh was founded with the explicit aim of reversing the ill effects of the partition of India. In 1998, Vajpayee made a landmark visit to Pakistan, and inaugurated the Delhi–Lahore Bus service. He also signed the Lahore Declaration. Despite the war, Vajpayee continued to display a willingness to engage Pakistan in dialogue. Relations with China, Pakistan, Russia, Israel, Germany and the US were at the best during the Vajpayee regime.

The true success of the BJP led NDA govt lies in the fact that inspite of being known RSS activists, inspite of the nuclear tests, inspite of the Kargil war, the Indo-Pak relations were still at the peak.

The BJP has long taken a position against what it calls the “pseudo-secularism” of the Congress party, instead embracing “positive secularism.” Specifically, it supports the enactment of a uniform civil code across all religions. It also favours the abrogation of Article 370 from the Indian constitution. The BJP has a stated policy of opposing “illegal” migration into Indian territory from Bangladesh. The party states that this opposition is because such migration, mostly in the states of Assam and West Bengal, threatens the security, economy, and stability of the country. The BJP expresses a commitment to Hindutva, an ideology articulated by Savarkar. (Note – According to a 1995 Supreme Court of India judgement the word Hindutva could be used to mean “the way of life of the Indian people and the Indian culture or ethos”)

In 2001, Bangaru Laxman, then the BJP president, was filmed accepting a bribe of INR1L in a sting operation by Tehelka journalists. The BJP was forced to make him resign, and he was subsequently prosecuted. In April 2012, he was sentenced to four years in prison.

On 27 February 2002, a train carrying many Hindu pilgrims was torched outside the town of Godhra, killing 60 people. The incident was an attack upon Hindus, and sparked off massive anti-Muslim riots across the state of Gujarat that lasted several weeks and killing close to 1500 people both Hindus and Muslims. In April 2009, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate and expedite the Gujarat riots cases. In 2012, Modi himself was cleared of complicity in the violence but still this remains as the sole black patch on the credibility of Modi today.

Vajpayee called elections in early 2004, six months ahead of schedule. However, the NDA unexpectedly suffered a heavy defeat, winning only a 186 seats in the Lok Sabha, compared to the 222 of the Congress and its allies. Many believe this was solely due to the anti-incumbency feeling amongst the people. In the 2009 general elections its strength in the Lok Sabha was reduced to 116 seats.

Many international analysts believe that till date the BJP led NDA govt had the most acceptable mix of Economic – Defence – Foreign policies.

The Janta Party

The Janta Party
(A movement that crafted many modern day national leaders)

Having led the Indian independence movement, the INC became the most popular political party in independent India. However, the INC bifurcated in 1967 over the issue of the leadership of Indira Gandhi. Indira’s subsequent inability to address serious issues such as unemployment, poverty, inflation, shortages and the frequent invoking of the “President’s rule” to dismiss state governments led by opposition political parties was seen as authoritarian and opportunist.

Raj Narain, a socialist leader, had filed a legal writ alleging electoral malpractice against Gandhi in 1971. On 12 June 1975, Allahabad HC found her guilty of using corrupt electoral practices in her 1971 election victory over Narain. She was barred from contesting any election for the next six years. The Congress(R) government, which responded by imposing a State of Emergency. She then threw many major opposition politicians in jail including the leaders of the Bhartiya Jan Sangh. Several other atrocities were reported from the time, including a forced mass-sterilization campaign spearheaded by Sanjay Gandhi, the prime minister’s son. Invoking article 352 of the Indian Constitution, Gandhi granted herself extraordinary powers and launched a massive crackdown on civil liberties and political opposition.

During the Emergency, Indira Gandhi implemented a 20-point program of economic reforms that resulted in greater economic growth, aided by the absence of strikes and trade union conflicts. Encouraged by these positive signs and distorted and biased information from her party supporters, Indira called elections for May 1977.

Calling elections the government released political prisoners. When opposition leaders sought the support of Jayaprakash Narayan for the forthcoming election, JP insisted that all opposition parties form a united front. The Janata party was officially launched on 23 January 1977 when the Janata Morcha, Bharatiya Lok Dal, Swatantra Party, the Socialist Party of India and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) joined together.

As it became clear that Indira’s Emergency rule had been widely unpopular, Babu Jagjivan Ram left the party and along with his supporters formed the Congress for Democracy. CFD would contest the election with the same manifesto as the Janata party and later joined the Janata party in Parliament, but would otherwise retain a separate identity. CPI-M announced that it would not run candidates against the Janata party. Such unprecedented support was never before seen in Indian Politics.

The 1977 election drew a turnout of 60% from an electorate of more than 320 million. On 23 March, it was announced that the Janata party had won a sweeping victory. With the support of the Akali Dal and the Congress for Democracy, it had amassed a two-thirds, or absolute majority of 345 seats.
One of the most shocking outcomes of the election was the defeat of Indira Gandhi in her bid to seek re-election from her constituency of Rae Bareilly.

The new Janata-led government reversed many Emergency-era decrees. Both Indira and her son Sanjay were charged with allegations of corruption and briefly arrested. In response to her arrest, Indira Gandhi’s supporters hijacked an Indian Airlines jet and demanded her immediate release.

Immediately upon taking office, the Janata government pressured the ten state governments where the Congress (R) was in power to dissolve the state assemblies and hold fresh elections in June. The Congress (R) was defeated in all the states, and the Janata party took power in seven – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. In Punjab, the Janata party formed a coalition government with the Akali Dal.

Prime Minister Desai and the Minister of External Affairs Vajpayee began significant changes in India’s foreign policy. Both Pakistan and China had celebrated the ouster of Indira Gandhi. In 1979, Vajpayee became the highest-ranking Indian official to visit Beijing. In 1978, Jimmy Carter became the first U.S. president to make an official visit to India. Both nations sought to improve trade and expand cooperation in science and technology. Vajpayee represented India at the U.N. conference on nuclear disarmament, defending India’s nuclear programme and its refusal to sign non-proliferation treaties. In the eyes of the world a new India was being born.

Seeking to promote economic self-reliance and indigenous industries, the government required MNCs to go into partnership with Indian corporations. The policy proved controversial, and led to the high-profile exit of corporations such as Coca-Cola and IBM from India.

Cases against Indira Gandhi had also stalled for lack of evidence, and her continued prosecution began to evoke sympathy for her from the Indian public and anger of her supporters, who saw it as a “witch hunt.”

Continuous in-fighting and ideological differences made the Janata government unable to effectively address national problems. By mid-1979, Desai was forced to resign and his successor Chaudhary Charan Singh failed to sustain a parliamentary majority as alliance partners withdrew support.

In the run-up to the 1980 elections, the remaining Janata party leaders tried unsuccessfully to rebuild the party and make fresh alliances. The Congress (I) capitalised on the aversion of the Indian public to another fragile and dysfunctional government by campaigning on the slogan “Elect A Government That Works!” At the polls the party lost 172 seats, winning only 31.

Between 1980 and 1989, the Janata party maintained a small presence in the Indian Parliament under the leadership of socialist politician Chandra Sekhar. In 1988, it merged into the Janata Dal, which had emerged as the chief opposition party under the leadership of V P Singh. Although it failed to win a majority, it managed to form a fragile coalition government with V.P. Singh as the prime minister with the outside support of the BJP and the CPIM. However, Singh’s government soon fell victim to intra-party rivalries and power struggles, and his successor Chandra Sekhar’s Janata Dal (Socialist) government lasted barely into 1991.

The Janata party led a popular movement to restore civil liberties, evoking the memories and principles of the Indian independence movement. Its success in ending 30 years of uninterrupted Congress rule helped strengthen India’s multi-party democracy. Participants in the struggle against the Indian Emergency (1975–77) and of the Janata party went on to comprise a new generation of Indian political leaders. Chandra Shekhar, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deve Gowda went on to serve as Prime Ministers; Vajpayee led the first non-Congress government to complete a full five-year term from 1999 to 2004. Younger politicians such as Arun Jaitley, Pramod Mahajan, Gopinath Munde, Sushma Swaraj and others were grass-roots activists in the Janata party.

The Janata Party continued to exist led by Subramanian Swamy, which maintained a small presence in the politics of the state of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Delhi and at the national stage. In 2013, party Chairman Dr. Subramanian Swamy merged the Janata Party with the Bharatiya Janata Party in presence of BJP president Rajnath Singh.

CPIM (Communist Party of India – Marxist)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) or CPM is a communist party in India. The party emerged from a split from the Communist Party of India in 1964.

The basis of difference in opinion between the two factions in CPI was ideological. This difference in opinion was also a reflection of a similar difference at international level on ideology between the Soviet and Chinese parties.

The alleged ‘right wing’ inside the party followed the Soviet path and put forward the idea of joining hands with the then ruling party – Indian National Congress.

In 1962 Ajoy Ghosh, the general secretary of the CPI, died. After his death, S.A. Dange was installed as the party chairman (a new position) and E.M.S. Namboodiripad as general secretary. This was an attempt to achieve a compromise. Dange represented the rightist faction of the party and E.M.S. the leftist faction.

At a CPI National Council meeting held on 11 April 1964, 32 Council members walked out in protest, accusing Dange and his followers of “anti-unity and anti-Communist policies”.

At the Tenali in June 1964 convention a Bengal-based pro-Chinese group, representing one of the most radical streams of the CPI left wing, presented a draft programme proposal of their own. After the Tenali convention the CPI left wing organised party district and state conferences. The CPI(M) was thus formed. CPI(M) then claimed that they represented 104,421 CPI members, 60% of the total party membership.

The CPI(M) was born into a hostile political climate. At the time of the holding of its Calcutta Congress, large sections of its leaders and cadres were jailed without trial. Again on 29–30 December, over a thousand CPI(M) cadres were arrested and detained, and held in jail without trial.

In 1965 new waves of arrests of CPI(M) cadres took place in West Bengal, as the party launched agitations against the rise in fares in the Calcutta Tramways and against the then prevailing food crisis. State-wide general strikes and hartals were observed on 5 August 1965, 10–11 March 1966 and 6 April 1966. The March 1966 general strike results in several deaths in confrontations with police forces. In Bihar, the party called for a Bandh (general strike) in Patna on 9 August 1965 in protest against the Congress state government.

As compared to the CPI the CPI(M) was proving to be more active in resistance and hence slowly gaining the popularity in the minds of the people.

The Central Committee of CPI(M) held its first meeting on 12–19 June 1966. The reason for delaying the holding of a regular CC meeting was the fact that several of the persons elected as CC members were jailed at the time.

The United Front led by CPIM was a political coalition in West Bengal, formed shortly after the 1967 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, dislodging the Indian National Congress for the first time in the history of the state.

In 1967 a peasant uprising broke out in Naxalbari, in northern West Bengal. The hardliners within CPI(M) saw the Naxalbari uprising as the spark that would ignite the Indian revolution. The Naxalbari movement was violently repressed by the West Bengal government, of which CPI(M) was a major partner. The Communist Party of China hailed the Naxalbari movement, causing an abrupt break in CPI(M)-CPC relations.

Within the party, the hardliners rallied around an All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries. The AICCCR separated themselves from CPI(M). This split divided the party throughout the country. But notably in West Bengal, which was the centre of the violent radicalist stream, no prominent leading figure left the party. The party and the AICCCR supported Naxalites were soon to get into a bloody feud.

In Andhra Pradesh another revolt was taking place. There were many veterans from the Telangana armed struggle, who rallied against the central party leadership. In total around 50% of the party cadres in Andhra Pradesh left the party to form the Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries, under the leadership of T. Nagi Reddy.

In November 1967, the West Bengal United Front government was dismissed by the central government. United Front government in Kerala was forced out of office in October 1969.

Later after the relections a coalition government led by CPI leader C. Achutha Menon was formed in Kerala, with the outside support of the Indian National Congress. In West Bengal Ajoy Mukherjee was returned as Chief Minister of the state.

In 1971 Bangladesh declared its independence. Millions of Bangladeshi refugees sought shelter in India, especially in West Bengal. In Calcutta, where many Bangladeshi leftists had sought refuge, CPI(M) worked to co-ordinate the efforts to create a new political organisation. In the fall of 1971 three small groups, which were all hosted by the CPI(M), came together to form the Bangladesh Communist Party (Leninist). The new party became the sister party of CPI(M) in Bangladesh.

With the backdrop of the Bangladesh War and the emerging role of Indira Gandhi as a populist national leader, the 1971 election to the Lok Sabha was held. CPI(M) contested 85 seats, and won in 25. The party enjoyed support of the public in the 1977 and 1980 elections as well where it won 22 and 38 seats.

The CPI-M ruled West Bengal for a continuous period of 34 years, till 2011. The Nandigram incident, and the Singur issue were chief reasons to the fall of the CPI-M and the rise of the TMC in West Bengal. Jyoti Basu was the longest serving CM in Indian History.

The CPI-M is credited with its mass literacy program in Kerala. The CPI-M remains active mostly in Tripura, Kerala and West Bengal alone and enjoy considerable popular support there. Its activities in other states however remain close to negligible.

The CPI (Communist Party of India)

CPI (Communist Party of India) The 2nd oldest national party in existence.

The disappointment and disenchantment caused by the sudden withdrawal of the non-cooperation movement compelled the founders to search for new, more revolutionary and consistent platforms and forms of anti-imperialist struggle. On December 26, 1925, a few youths inspired by the Great October Socialist Revolution came together in the city of Kanpur, to form the Communist Party of India with a view to fight for national independence and a future of socialism.

The CPI began efforts to build a party organisation inside India. Roy made contacts with Anushilan and Jugantar groups in Bengal. The British colonial authorities had banned all communist activity, which made the task of building a united party very difficult.

The sixth congress of the Communist International met in 1928 and it called upon the Indian communists to unmask the Indian National Congress and oppose all forms of passive resistance.

On 20 March 1929, arrests against Workers and Peasants Party and CPI were made in several parts of India. The CPI alleged that the INC and the British were working together to crush the Communist movement. The communist leadership was now put behind bars. As a political move the CPI deserted WPP and it fell apart.

After the release of the leaders in 1933 the party reorganized itself. In connection with the change of policy the CPI changed their relation to the INC. The communists joined the Congress Socialist Party(CSP), which worked as the left wing of Congress.

In 1936–1937, the cooperation between socialists and communists reached its peak. In 1936 the CSP declared that there was a need to build ‘a united Indian Socialist Party based on Marxism-Leninism’. In 1937 several communists were included into the CSP National Executive Committee. However soon in 1940 the National Executive of the CSP assembled at Ramgarh took a decision that all communists were expelled from CSP.

In 1942, the CPI was legalised. Communists strengthened their control over the All India Trade Union Congress. At the same time, communists were politically cornered for their opposition to the Quit India Movement.

CPI contested the Provincial Legislative Assembly elections of 1946. It won in eight seats.

The Tebhaga movement was a militant campaign initiated in Bengal by the CPI in 1946. This was probably one of the most important phases in the lives of Indian farmers. In many areas the agitations turned violent and led to ransacking and looting.

The CPI was the only party to continue its support to the Indian Naval Mutiny both the other famous parties the INC and the Muslim League abandoned it.

The most important and heroic rebellion led by the CPI took place in Telangana, against the Nizam of Hyderabad. The Communists built up a people’s army and militia and controlled an area with a population of three million. The rebellion was brutally crushed leading to almost 2000 deaths and the party abandoned the policy of armed struggle.

In early 1950s communist leadership was uniting textile workers, bank employees and unorganized sector workers. CPI emerged as a front runner in the minds of people after Guru Radha Kishan undertook a fast unto death for 24 days to promote the cause of textile workers in Delhi.

In the general elections in 1957, the CPI emerged as the largest opposition party. In 1957, the CPI won the state elections in Kerala. This was the first time that an opposition party won control over an Indian state.

A serious rift within the party surfaced in 1962. One reason was the Sino-Indian War, where a faction of the Indian Communists backed the position of the Indian government, while other sections of the party claimed that it was a conflict between a socialist and a capitalist state, and thus took a pro-Chinese position. B. T. Ranadive, P. Sundarayya, P. C. Joshi, M Basavapunnaiah, Jyoti Basu, and Harkishan Singh Surjeet, supported the Chinese stand. Hundreds of CPI leaders, accused of being pro-Chinese, were imprisoned.

The party split in 1964 and two different party conferences were held, one of CPI and one of the CPIM(Marxist). There is a common misconception that the rift during Sino-Indian war lead to the 1962 split. In fact, the split was leftists vs rightists, rather than internationalists vs nationalists.

To date, CPI happens to be the only national political party from India to have contested all the general elections using the same electoral symbol.

On the national level they supported the UPA government, but without taking part in it.

On 8 July 2008, Prakash Karat announced that left front is withdrawing its support over the decision by the government to go ahead on the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act.

Apart from its state level the CPI has failed to project itself as a party worthy of having national significance. Due to its ideological similarities it is often in the minds of people mixed with the ultra-leftist faction of the communist front.

INC (Post Independence Era) Part 2

Rajiv Gandhi was appointed Prime Minister. His leadership was put to the test over the next few days as organised anti Sikh riots ripped the north killing thousands in Delhi alone. Nevertheless, that December, a nationwide sympathy vote for Rajiv’s Congress party helped it win the greatest Lok Sabha majority (411 seats out of 542) in history.

Rajiv Gandhi increased government support for science and technology and associated industries, and reduced import quotas, taxes and tariffs on technology-based industries, especially computers, airlines, defence and telecommunications. His efforts created MTNL in 1986, and his public call offices, better known as PCOs, helped spread telephones in rural areas. He improved bilateral relations with the United States – long strained owing to Indira’s socialism and friendship with the USSR.

Rajiv Gandhi was perhaps the most controversial PM when it came to corruption. The following incidents are held against him – The 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Bhopal disaster, the Shah Bano case, the reversal of the coup in Maldives antagonizing militant Tamil groups such as PLOTE. The Lankan LTTE situation, the Bofors scandal damaged his honest, corruption-free image and resulted in a major defeat for his party in the 1989 elections.

In November 1991, the Swiss Illustrated page magazine published an article on black money held in secret accounts by Imelda Marcos and 14 other rulers of Third World countries. Citing McKinsey as a source, the article stated that Rajiv Gandhi held 2.5 billion Swiss francs in secret Indian accounts in Switzerland. In 1992, two Indian newspapers, the Times of India and The Hindu, published reports alleging that Rajiv Gandhi had received funds from the KGB. The Russian government confirmed this disclosure and defended the payments as necessary for the Soviet ideological interest. Diplomatic cables published in 2013 through WikiLeaks detailing the opinions of American civil servants asserted that Rajiv Gandhi was an arms middleman.

Rajiv Gandhi remained Congress President until the elections in 1991. While campaigning for the elections, he was assassinated by a suicide bomber from the LTTE. His widow Sonia became the president of Congress party in 1998.

P V N Rao had nearly retired from politics in 1991. It was the assassination of the Congress President Rajiv Gandhi that made him make a comeback. He got the opportunity to head the minority government as Prime Minister. He was the first person outside the Nehru-Gandhi family to serve as Prime Minister for five continuous years. Rao in a by-election in Nandyal won with a victory margin of a record 5 lakh (500,000) votes and his win was recorded in the Guinness Book. His cabinet included Sharad Pawar, himself a strong contender for the PMs post, as Defence Minister. He also broke a convention by appointing a non-political economist and future prime minister, Manmohan Singh as his Finance Minister.

The assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, and later of her son Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, crushed international investor confidence on the economy that was eventually pushed to the brink by the early 1990s.  Rao who held the Industries portfolio was personally responsible for the dismantling of the Licence Raj as this came under the purview of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. He is often referred to as the “Father of Indian Economic Reforms”

Rao’s term as Prime Minister was an eventful one in India’s history. Besides marking a paradigm shift from the industrialising, mixed economic model of Jawaharlal Nehru to a market driven one, his years as Prime Minister also saw the emergence of the BJP. Rao’s crisis management after the 12 March 1993 Bombay bombings was highly praised.

It was alleged that Rao, through a representative, offered millions of rupees to members of the JMM and the Janata Dal, to vote for him during the confidence motion. S Mahato, one of those members who had accepted the bribe, turned approver. In 2000, after years of legal proceedings, a special court convicted Rao and his colleague, Buta Singh. Rao was sentenced to three years in prison for corruption.  Rao, was accused of forging documents showing that Ajeya Singh had opened a bank account in the First Trust Corporation Bank in St. Kitts and deposited $21 million in it, making his father V. P. Singh its beneficiary. The alleged intent was to tarnish V.P. Singh’s image. However only after Rao’s term as PM had expired in 1996, was he formally charged by the CBI for the crime.

While Rao should be rightly blamed for his failure to protect the Babri Masjid, at the same time, he should be given credit for initiating the process of economic reforms in India. It has been noted that the current leadership of the Congress party attempts to undermine Rao’s legacy.

In 2004, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power, its chairperson Sonia Gandhi unexpectedly relinquished the premiership to Manmohan Singh. “UPA I” government executed several key legislations and projects, including the Rural Health Mission, Unique Identification Authority, Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and Right to Information Act.  Manmohan Singh has continued the pragmatic foreign policy that was started by P.V. Narasimha Rao and mastered by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Singh has continued the peace process with Pakistan initiated by his predecessor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.  The important National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Right to Information Act were passed by the Parliament in 2005 during his tenure.  P. Chidambaram, has presided over a period where the Indian economy has grown with an 8–9% economic growth rate. In 2007, India achieved its highest GDP growth rate of 9% and became the second fastest growing major economy in the world.  Although India’s economy grew rapidly under UPA I, its security was threatened by several terrorist incidents.

The 2009 general election saw the UPA return with an increased mandate, with Singh retaining the office of Prime Minister. Over the next few years, Singh’s “UPA II” government faced a number of corruption charges—over the organisation of the Commonwealth Games, the 2G-spectrum allocation and the allocation of coal blocks. Time magazine’s Asia edition for 10–17 July 2012 week, on its cover remarked that Singh was an “underachiever” Singh’s public image has been tarnished with his government having been accused of various corruption scandals since the start of its second term in 2009.  The UPA 2 led govt is seen to be the most controversial, corrupt and allegation prone govt India has seen. Many commentators say that the loot of the past 10 years was far more than what the British took in 200 years.

INC (Post Independence Era) Part One – Nehru and Indira Gandhi

M Gandhi and Patel held the view that the INC was formed only for achieving independence and should have been disbanded in 1947.

After the assassination of Gandhi in 1948, and the death of Sardar Patel in 1950, Jawaharlal Nehru was the only remaining leader with truly national stature.

Nehru implemented policies based on import substitution industrialization and non-alignment. However due to such policies the Indian industries would in later years take a huge beating. Nehru started the Green Revolution. Nehru is credited with setting up the Atomic Energy Commission of India.

Nehru was accused of selective secularism has been criticized for the inconsistent application Section 44. Most notably, Nehru allowed Muslims to keep their personal law in matters relating to marriage and inheritance. Also in the small state of Goa, a civil code based on the old Portuguese Family Laws was allowed to continue.

Nehru adopted the “Forward Policy” of setting up military outposts in disputed areas of the Sino-Indian border, this is observed as the biggest reason behind the Sino-Indian War. Nehru was widely criticised.

Nehru’s government was facing rising problems and criticism and also intra-party corruption and bickering. The election of Indira Gandhi as Congress President in 1959 aroused criticism for alleged nepotism.

Shastri promoted the White Revolution – a national campaign to increase the production and supply of milk – by supporting the Amul milk co-operative of Anand, Gujarat and creating the National Dairy Development Board.

Shastri’s sudden death has led to persistent conspiracy theories that he was poisoned. This along with the disappearance of Netaji Bose remain the two biggest unanswered high profile mysteries.

Shastri’s Death was the biggest turning point in the INC history. Popular sentiments were with Right Winged Conservative Morarji however K Kamaraj the then president of the AICC put his weight behind Indira Gandhi thus changing the entire political equations all together. It was due to the insistence of K Kamaraj that the power seat stayed with the Nehru-Gandhi family. He is widely known as the Kingmaker of Indian Politics.

Indira Gandhi had to accommodate Desai as Deputy Prime Minister of India and Minister of Finance. In 1969, after many disagreements with Desai, the Indian National Congress split. The regional party elites, who formed the INC(O), stood for a more conservative agenda INC(O) later merged into the Janata Party.

Gandhi presided over three Five-Year plans as Prime Minister. All but one of them succeeding in meeting the targeted growth. Inflation accelerated sharply in the 1970s, from 5.5% in 1970–71 to over 20% by 1973–74.

A court overturned Gandhi’s victory in the 1971 General Elections. Instead of resigning, she called a state of emergency. Invoking article 352 of the Indian Constitution, Gandhi granted herself extraordinary powers. The Government used police forces across the country to place thousands of protestors and strike leaders under preventive detention. With the leaders of all opposition parties and other outspoken critics of her government arrested and behind bars, the entire country was in a state of shock.

Shortly after the declaration of the Emergency, the Sikh leadership convened meetings in Amritsar where they organized first mass protest in the country, known as the “Campaign to Save Democracy.” The Sikhs remained virtually alone in their active resistance to the regime. Hailed by opposition leaders as “the last bastion of democracy”. 140,000 people had been arrested without trial during & 40,000 of came from India’s 2 percent Sikh minority.

The RSS too defied the ban and thousands participated in Satyagraha against the ban and the curtailment of fundamental rights. Underground movements were formed by the RSS for the restoration of democracy. Networks were established between leaders of different political parties in the jail and outside for the co-ordination of the movement. ‘The Economist’, London, described the Sikh and RSS movement as “the only non-left revolutionary force in the world”. Talking about its objectives it said “its platform at the moment has only one plank: to bring democracy back to India”.

On 23 January 1977, Gandhi called fresh elections & released all political prisoners. In the Lok Sabha elections, held in February, Mrs. Gandhi and Sanjay both lost their Lok Sabha seats, The INC was reduced to just 153 seats, 92 of which were from the southern states. The Janata Party’s 298 seats and its allies’ 47 seats (of a total 542) gave it a massive majority. Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India.

Before the 1980 elections Gandhi approached the then Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, and entered into an agreement with him to secure Muslim votes. In the elections held in January, Congress was returned to power with a landslide majority.

To gain popular support among the Sikhs, INC helped bring J S Bhindranwale to prominence in the Punjab politics. In July 1982, he led the campaign for the implementation of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, which demanded greater autonomy for the Sikh-majority state. A small section of the Sikhs including some of Bhindranwale’s followers, turned to militancy in support of the Khalistan movement. Bhindranwale and his militant followers headquartered themselves in the Golden Temple, Gandhi ordered the Indian army to enter the Golden temple in order to subdue Bhindranwale and his followers. In the resulting Operation Blue Star, the shrine was damaged and many civilians were killed.

India under Gandhi was alleged to have supported LTTE militants in the 1980s to put pressure on the Lankan Govt to abide by Indian interests.

The day before her death Gandhi gave her last speech: “I am alive today, I may not be there tomorrow. I shall continue to serve till my last breath and when I die every drop of my blood will strengthen India and keep a united India alive.” On 31 October 1984, two of Gandhi’s bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, shot her with their service weapons in the garden of the Prime Minister’s residence at 1 Safdarjung Road, New Delhi.

History of The Indian National Congress Part 2

Originally Written on 16 March 2014

INC (Pre Independence Gandhi Era)

In WW1 India contributed massively to the British war effort by providing men and resources. Post WW1 for the first time a nationwide political dialogue was started and the divided Congress re-united in the pivotal Lucknow session in 1916. Tilak, along with the young Jinnah and Mrs. Annie Besant launched the Home Rule Movement.

Gandhi returned to India, in 1915 and initially entered the political fray in support of the unified commerce-oriented territory. Gokhale became Gandhi’s mentor and chief support. A whole class of political leaders disagreed with Gandhi. B C Pal, Jinnah, A Besant, Tilak all criticized the idea of civil disobedience.

At the Calcutta session of the Congress in 1920, Gandhi convinced other leaders of the need to support The Khilafat Movement. In protest a number of leaders C Das, A Besant, M Nehru resigned from the Congress to set up the Swaraj Party.

With the rise of Gandhi’s popularity came Sardar Patel, Pandit J Nehru, Dr. R Prasad, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, C Rajgopalachari, J Kripalani and Maulana Azad as well as leaders like Bose.

Under the presidency of J Nehru at its historic Lahore session in December 1929, the INC adopted a resolution calling for complete independence from the British.

Gandhi undertook his most famous campaign, The Dandi March, he and thousands of followers broke the law by making their own salt from seawater. It took 24 days for him to complete this march. Every day he covered 10 miles and gave many speeches.

In April 1930, approximately 100,000 people were imprisoned in the course of the Civil disobedience movement (1930–31). While Gandhi was in jail, the first Round Table Conference was held in London in November 1930. The ban upon the Congress was removed.

In March 1931, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed, and the government agreed to set all political prisoners and free (Although, some of the key revolutionaries were not set free and the death sentence for Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru was not taken back which further intensified the agitation against Congress not only outside it but within the Congress itself). In return, Gandhi agreed to discontinue the civil disobedience movement and participate as the sole representative of the Congress in the second Round Table Conference.

By 1935, the rift between the Congress and the Muslim League had become unbridgeable as each pointed the finger at the other acrimoniously.

In 1937, provincial elections were held and the Congress came to power in seven of the eleven provinces. When the WW2 started, Viceroy Linlithgow declared India’s participation without consulting the elected Indian representatives. In opposition the entire Congress leadership resigned from the local government councils. Gandhi resisted calls for massive civil disobedience movements stating he did not seek India’s freedom out of the ashes of a destroyed Britain.

In 1939, Subhas Chandra Bose, the elected president in both 1938 and 1939 resigned from the Congress over the selection of the working committee. Bose later joined Japan and Germany against the British.

On 8 August 1942, the Quit India resolution was passed at the Bombay session of the INC. The British, already alarmed by the advance of the Japanese and Bose’s army to the India–Burma border, responded the next day by imprisoning Gandhi in Pune. The Congress Party’s national leadership was arrested all together and imprisoned at the Ahmednagar Fort. They also banned the party altogether. The movement soon became a leaderless act of defiance. However, by 1943, Quit India had petered out.

By early 1944, India was mostly peaceful again, while the Congress leadership was still incarcerated. A sense that the movement had failed depressed many nationalists. Gandhi was released but sadly the Gandhi-Jinnah talks failed.

In 1945 the labor govt in Britain concluded that India was strategically indefensible and began preparing for the Independence. The Direct Action Day riots convince British that Partition was inevitable.

The History of the Indian National Congress – 1

Originally Written on 16 March 2014

INC (Pre independence, Pre Gandhi Era)

Founded in 1885, the Congress was created to form a platform for civic and political dialogue of educated Indians with the British Raj. Initially the perception in the minds of Indians of bodies like the Congress was that of an elitist, then educated and wealthy people’s institution.

This image of the Congress was changed to a great extent by leaders like Tilak, Surendranath Banerjee and Dadabhai Naoroji.

Following the Partition of Bengal (1905), a strategy set out by Lord Curzon to weaken the nationalist movement, Tilak encouraged the Swadeshi movement and the Boycott movement.

Tilak was the first to take up and support Swaraj as the national goal.

The first spurts of nationalistic sentiment that rose amongst Congress members were when the desire to be represented in the bodies of government, to have a say. Congressmen saw themselves as loyalists, but wanted an active role in governing their own country.

This trend was personified by Dadabhai Naoroji by becoming contesting the first Indian member in the British House of Commons. The fact that he was aided in his campaign by student activists like Muhammad Ali Jinnah, described where the imagination of the new Indian generation lay.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was among the first Indian nationalists to embrace Swaraj as the destiny of the nation. Tilak deeply opposed the British education system that ignored and defamed India’s culture, history and values, defying and disgracing the India culture. He considered Swaraj as the natural and only solution. He recommended abandonment of all things British and to protect the Indian economy from the diabolic exploitation of the British. He was backed by rising public leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, who held the same point of view. Under this Lal-Bal-Pal leadership, India’s three great states – Maharashtra, Bengal and Punjab region shaped the demand of the people and India’s nationalism. Such was the surge of nationalism that it was dubbed that Swaraj was not at all far away.

In 1907, the annual session of the Congress Party was held at Surat, Gujarat. Trouble broke out over the selection of the new president of the Congress between the moderate and the radical sections of the party.
The moderates, led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale criticized Tilak for encouraging acts of violence and disorder. Tilak and his supporters were forced to leave the Congress party.

On 30 April 1908, two Bengali youths, Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose, threw a bomb on a carriage at Muzzafarpur, in order to kill the Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford of Calcutta fame, but erroneously killed two women travelling in it. While Chaki committed suicide when caught, Bose was hanged. Tilak, in his paper Kesari, defended the revolutionaries and called for immediate Swaraj or self-rule. The Government swiftly arrested him for sedition.

With Tilak’s arrest, all hopes for an Indian offensive were stalled. The Congress lost credit with the people, while Muslims were alarmed with the rise of Tilak’s Hindu nationalism, and formed the All India Muslim League in 1906,sponsored by British Raj, considering the Congress as completely unsuitable for Indian Muslims.

Why Vote

(Originally Written on 13 March 2014)

 

Why Vote ?

It can’t be denied that the recent democratic experience in India has not been encouraging. For the past several years, India has been struggling with rampant corruption, unsure economy, and unclear foreign policy. Election after election has seen ineffective governments come to power that have done more harm than good. However, not casting one’s vote will only worsen the condition. And now people with such mindsets can opt for the NOTA option.

Voting is the agent of change. If we think that the ruling government is not performing its duties satisfactorily, we can show it the door by voting against it. Refraining from doing so can result in the same party, or a worse one, being elected for the next five years.

We can feel that a single vote does not make any difference. However, the balance tilts when this becomes a national attitude and thousands, lakhs even perhaps crores of votes are not cast. By casting their vote, citizens may not necessarily be able to get the best candidate elected, but will improve the chances of keeping the unworthy ones out. And sadly in the end, it is only us who shall to suffer through poor governance.

Voting is as much a responsibility as it is a right. The whole concept of Indian democracy is built on the foundation of voting. If citizens are not careful about casting their vote, or worse, skip their vote altogether it will jeopardize the very existence of our democratic Republic.

And yes flaunting the finger does feel good So people do vote not just this time every time. Our country does need this from us. Not just once but always.

Kankavli Theatre Fest 2009

Ahh the sweet sound of the bus running on the highway and the air slapping your face. Had missed this for quite sometime. As the name of my blog suggests i love to travel and i avoid missing any chance to do so.

Back in 2009 i had been  involved in a theatrical production by Jagar (the name of theatre group) We were doing this for the prestigious kankavli one act play fest. Each year select groups are invited to perform here. That year we were invited. The theme for this years fest was the plays written by noted author Ratnakar Matkari.

The process of selecting the right play suitable and relevant even in today’s scenarios started about 2 months ago. My friend Yogesh took the lead in doing so. We narrowed down on one play called “Dreamsellers International” a different perspective on this rapid commercialization and on the various marketing gimmicks used by MNCs.

The script according to everyone needed to be altered so as it be relevant today. But as the festival was dedicated to the works of Matkari we had to be delicate enough not to change the basic idea. We managed to do so by keeping the original thought and changing as little as possible. Usually i like to do the set and take charge of the production management but this being an out of station performance we decided to minimize the set and hence one of my jobs was reduced.

It was the night of 26th december 09 all were assembled at the given location of departure and waiting for the bus. I could feel it in the air the enthusiasm and the silent but sure adrenaline rush. I for one was one the most enthusiastic ones as i was doing a new production after a gap of almost 11 months and an out of station one after almost one and a half year. Our friend Ambarish and other senior members of the group and come to see us off. Finally the set was loaded, everyone seated and after chanting “ganpati bappa morya” we were OFF.

And what followed was filled with happenings fit for a David Dhawan style bollywood flick.

At about 2 am all of us were fast asleep and we were awaken by the loud quarrelling voice of our team-mate prashant. As i opened my eyes i realised that we were at a toll booth and prashat almost half out of the drivers window was quarrelling with the toll attendant. As my senses started returning to normal i heard his voice saying in a frustrated and fast tone “ase kase choclate ghet nai?, he bare ahe tumche ghya he choclate, don rupayeche ahe he mala ek rupaya parat kara, sutte nahit mhanje kay?” (how dare you not take this chocolate, you better take it, it is worth 2 rupees return a rupee, what do you mean by you have no change?) the poor attendant was left wondering from where on earth have these people come? he said “choclate kay gheu?, malkala kay 10 choclate ale 3 gele asa hishob deu?”(why will i take a chocolate? and what should i tell my seniors that we earned “X” chocolates today?) I could literally visualize the next scene that the attendant is flat on the ground and prashant is force feeding him the chocolates.

After this fiasco our very own shah rukh – Mayur had his share of adventures it so happened no one knows why he needed to go to the loo after every 15 minutes hence we started halting after every 15 min. His going to the loo was justified but what we noticed that another friend Pratul used to follow him every time for no apparent reason. Man these two are “close”.

It was almost 5am and something new just had to happen. A policeman on a checkpost wishing to earn a quick buck stopped our bus. Prashant just had to start as if he was waiting for this he flew to the drivers window and all i heard was “te kahi nahi 50 rupaye milteel ghya nahi tar soda”(nothing to it take 50 bucks for loose that too) He gave the cop the 50 bucks and we went on. We stopped at a dhaba at 6 am for some tea then while chatting the driver said “aho to police wala fakta 20 rupaye magat hota tumhi 50 ugach dile” (excuse me but the cop was asking just for 20 bucks, you gave 50 for no reason) That awkward feeling of shame filled with humour…..

Soon it started to light up and we could see the surroundings more clearly. We were travelling from kolhapur to vaibhavawadi via gaganbawda at this time. Sujay a friend who had been on this route n number of times gave us some geographical info. Suddenly Pratul started feeling as if he knows everything and declared that we are very close to amboli. (mind you this is the same friend who once claimed that bhimashankar is famous for lions) This trip was getting epicer by the minute.

We started climbing down the gaganbawda ghat and at a point halted to admire the view. What Pratul said next was forever to be remembered. He got down and filled with joy he exclaimed shantya shantya (thats what they call me) Hach re hach khara nisarga. Khara Nisarga was to be a term that would be used for so many locations by so many people hence on.

Gaganbawda is one heck of a ghat and actually we were slightly pleasant on reaching our destination – Kankavali. After a little bit of rest and freshening up we headed to the site of the performance to unload our set and have a look at the stage and setup. I had the entire responsibility of the stage management. We unloaded our set and just then had our first shock to see that the early morning dew had taken its toll on the colour of the set. We decided to give it a quick touch up before the evenings performance.

After the touch up and the basic inspection we returned to our hotel of stay for some late lunch and freshening up before the performance. That is when we realized that we were going to be served veg food, this itself turned some of us off cause we were in a place known for its fish. Me, Sujay and another team member decided to give the rest of the team a slip and have a quick fish snack. Ahh that was the best fried bangda i have eaten till day. Still remember the hotel – Hotel Kokan Kinara. Do visit this place if you ever are going to be in that area.

Now it was time for the final performance. All was set. Mr Matkari was in the audience and we started. Oh boy it was an amazing performance we in all aspects nailed it. Mr Matkari was a little bugged at the fact that we had changed quite a part of the script. It was evident from what he said to his wife – “Aga hyanni saglach baddalay ga” (hey they have changed everything) but that still was the best adaptation of the script and at the end the 1000 strong audience absolutely loved it. The entire team was on stage after the curtain to introduce each other and the audience just was not willing to stop clapping.

We were over the moon that time.

Yogesh started introducing everyone. He introduced each and everyone with their responsibilities. Pratul was absolutely in a joyous mood. He had an amazing smile on his face. He was sure that after it all Yogesh would not introduce himself and he was waiting for the chance to do it. Yogesh finished and as pratul assumed he did not introduce himself. Pratul steps ahead. The entire audience clapping. With a huge smile on his face. And he said – “Ani amche Lekhak-Digdarshak Yogesh Shejwalkar (And our Writer-Director Yogesh Shejwalkar) All for a split second seemed ok and just then we reaized that the festival was to celebrate the writing of Mr Matkari the writer of the script and he was sitting right in front of us all in the audience. Oh Boy…… whatte end to the amazing performance.

The audience felt silent the entire team still on stage was searching for a place to hide their faces. The mistake had been done. Pratul surprisingly was oblivious of his mistake for a moment still smiling. Santosh dada did make a futile attempt to cover it up but it was too late.

Ahh its all part and parcel of ‘The Process’

Everyone was relatively quiet while coming back not to disturb Yogesh any further.

It is a start

November 28, 2010 – 10:21 PM

Well it is a START!

It is amazing how some people, memories, locations, instances, things suddenly wake up the passion you have in you about some things. This so called START is an outcome of such an awakening.
Still remember when I first flirted with this aspect of my life, it started as always as a innocent start without having any expectations whatsoever and eventually could have evolved into something really spectacular, at least that is what I feel.

If you look up the word “art” as a noun in a dictionary you will get a very apt definition – “a creative form of expression.” That small three letter word has a lot of stuffed in it than almost all the encyclopedias combined.

I started trying out theatre as a kid in the stage in our colony during an annual festival. It is by all means a beautiful world and the more you get to know about it the more remains. I am not a writer and hence lack the gift of using words effectively. Eventually as I grew this “trying out” matured into a “liking” and then to a “passion.” I still remember those initial college days when I took part in my first ever inter-collegiate play competitions, and fortunately I was in such a college where there was not too much competition to get into the team. I started of with one the most prestigious festivals of the inter-collegiate level, the “Purushottam Karandak” a legendary name in its true right.
That year was a theatrical heaven for me I did almost all the possible things, festivals, roles possible for a new comer. Within a year I was considered as an integral part of at least a couple of dramatic circles. It was really magical for the first time in my life I was exploring life all on my own, learning as I wanted to, doing what I thought was right.

I got a message yesterday from a friend who really helped me a lot initially to explore this aspect of my life. “Have time to meet now? “ was the message and instinctively I called back and decided to meet over a cup of coffee and a coffee shop. In that meeting I started searching for a part of me that was asleep for the almost a year now. Was it the ambience of the coffee shop, was it the coffee, was it the friend, was it the state of mind, well as you may see it, it did wake up a part of me up and to honor that part I must start.

It is human desire to express what he feels. Through words, paintings, performances, poems, writings, body language, whatever it is a human needs to express.
He suggested that I start writing; I may be able to do it I said to myself.
Lets start exploring this aspect as well, after all that is what life is, exploring your passions through the ups and downs of life.

I hope I don’t stop exploring this aspect. I hope I go on. I hope I don’t be lazy.

I want to go on.

The Alma-Mater

I still remember the first time i saw her… had gone there with my parents, they had taken me to a magical place it looked like a huge castle to me… to my small thoughts then it was like being set free in the ocean… my world was never so bigger earlier.

I remember the one person i met then, probably one of the most iconic one of Loyola, he was not a teacher, not a father, not a student… he was dadaram a separate category by himself.

Loyola was simply love at first sight… from all the places i have been to, all the groups i have been a part of and in all the institutions none has been more special in each and every way than LOYOLA. I know how much ever busy we might be today, how much ever egoistic we are, how many ever issues we must be having between us batch-mates there is a very innocent and pure part of us that is craving to be in that magical environment each every breathing moments of our lives.

Time is very very cruel at times… when in school we were really really bored of it and could not wait to get out… but i remember the day we left, the last walk, the last march, the passing out parade and at that point however macho a guy was i really wonder if there was any without goosebumps that day. As we started the slow march each and every moment came rushing to us… the day we first saw her, the times when we used to play football, the cross-countries, the four poles, the valley, our swimming pool, school plays, the canteen wallah, the sports day, the library, our classrooms, the dreaded principal’s office, our hated teachers who at that moment became the most treasured, and off course our brothers who we had grown up wid….. and we suddenly realised that this won’t be there any more and probably this was the last time we could see everything together, and then till when we used to take everything in a playful way suddenly we realised the intensity.

However successful one may become it is really hard to find a person who does not share that special bond with his Alma-mater.  This bond is of a different kind all together, and i wonder if it can ever be compared with anything else at all. People change, attitudes change, the society changes, the places change but the memories always are constant. And remembering the ones from LOYOLA always manages to get a smile on my face. Words fall short when i want to describe the way i feel about LOYOLA. It was the place that is one of the biggest reasons for crafting me. I am no big starlet nor a businessman nor an executive but whoever i am today i owe to my Alma-mater. At times like this i wish i had taken more interest in literature as kid for i wish i could compose a nice little verse.

Ah the times spent there were truly precious and undoubtedly i would trade anything to have those golden days back. Still the memories of eating the dabba in the gardens then running off for a game of football and reaching just in time to the classroom are so pure and fresh. All those petty quarrels, fights and even the punishments seem so immaterial now, as a matter of fact I sometimes wish I could have them back.

As i wonder what we can do to give back many many things come to my mind but all of them just sum up in the phrase which we used to keep on hearing at LOYOLA that is to be MEN FOR OTHERS.

the process

Each team effort be it a sport, research, an event each one of these is a process, and its this process that makes it interesting and challenging. Someone has rightly said that “success is a journey not a destination”.

From each and every process we can learn a hell lot of things many times unknowingly and when time goes by and we look back on the days we were in such processes we feel really grateful to them for giving us the various skill sets.

Up till now in the travels of time trough my life the most intriguing process that I have been a part up till now is that of any theatrical production. I am not being biased, but really the many aspects involved in such a production are truly amazing. The whole feel of creating “art” is truly unique. Let a lone the quality of any production be it great or pathetic the mere fact that it is a “production” is really great.

Theatre is one of my many hobbies and is “dangerously” close to my heart. It is said that theatre is a “painting” and not a photograph. The whole world of make believe is in your hands when it comes to theatre. The main thing that i love about theatre is that we get just “1” chance and thats it. All that you have worked hard (and by hard i mean really hard) for the past 2 – 4 months comes down to one moment, the moment when you realize that from now on a hundred eyes will be watching each move you make, the moment when you will start make believing, the moment you see the audience. Unless you have had a chance to do something in front of a live audience it would be a bit difficult to comprehend this.

This process is not just about mugging up dialogues, not about perfecting your set, music and lights. It is about readying yourself for the world. and this is the most important lesson you learn from this process. To show the world what you want to, the way you want to, without showing fear.

I have been involved in atleast 15 – 20 different productions up till now but still each each time i get to learn so much more than i had known. Life is truly a constant learning PROCESS.