India: From Midnight to Millennium (Shashi Tharoor)

 India: From Midnight to Millennium (1997) is a book or non-fictional work published Shashi Tharoor who is one of important writers and political leaders of India. The book is not only a survey of modern Indian history, it also touches upon many of the principle events that took place in the last five decades in India. The book makes a survey of Indian politics and economy since its independence. The books is chapterised into ten different headings and each of these has its own importance in making a well balanced, informative and highly readable book presenting the current scenario of India. These ten chapters are designed in such a way:

1.      A Myth and an Idea

2.      Two Assassination and a Funeral

3.      Deaths and a Dynasty

4.      Unity, Diversity and Other Contradictions

5.     From the Milk Miracle to the Malayali Miracle

6.     Scheduled Castes, Unscheduled Change

7.      Of Indians and Other Minorities

8.     NRIs: Never Relinquished India or Not Really Indian?

9.     The Hindu Rate of Growth and Other Agonstic Legacies

10   Better Fed Than Free?

1 1. The Emergency and Other Urgencies

12 India at Forty Nine: Notes Toward an Impression of Indian

13 Society and Culture Today

14 A Future without Shock.

Above all, the text is interspersed with lively and humorous anecdotes of Tharoor’s own childhood and youth that adds a charming touch to the book. Superbly written and analyzed, this book offers an excellent insight into a huge country and its diverse people

Discussion:

Under the above headings the books highlights various topics like caste, Indian democracy, the legacy of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the partition of India and India’s transition from a socialist economy to a free market. Shashi Tharoor’s main interest has been political events, including the emergency years, Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s election debacle, rise of the right-wing Hindutva brigade and the economic reforms. With a lucid style, Tharoor discusses India’s transition from a socialist economy to a free market and expresses satisfaction at the Indian leadership’s realization that economic interdependence is not incompatible with political independence.

Shashi Tharoor shows compelling that India stands as the intersection of the most significant questions facing the world today: 1.  If democracy leads to inefficient political infighting, should it be sacrificed in the interest of economic well-being? 2. Does religious fundamentalism provide a way for countries in the developing world to assert their identity in the face of the western hegemony, for there is a case of pluralism and diversity amid cultural and religious traditions? 3. Does the entry of Western consumer goods threaten a country’s economic self-sufficiency, and is protectionism the only guarantee of independence?

India, the second most populous county in the world after China, has a history stretching back to thousands of years, with enormous diversity in culture, language and ethnicity. India that boasts an excellent Info-Tech industry also houses the largest slum in the world. The basic reason for this kind of diversity is due the political and economic conditions prevailing in India. Hence Tharoor deeply concerns on about the Indian political system in its pre-independent, independent and post-independent periods and the economic reforms of post-independent period in this book.

Tharoor makes a commendable and personalized examination of the contemporary India juxtaposing the pre-independent India with the post-independent India. He evaluates the past fifty years and also the challenges that India needs to face in future. Tharoor makes a comprehensive survey of the prime ministers of India in this book: he tracks down the inheritance of Nehru/Gandhi dynasty,  being in the driving seat of the Congress Party.

Indian Politics:

The long awaited independence, which was achieved by nonviolence, ended up in the blood bath and partition of the country. It is clear that the British rule brought the political unity in India, but on the contrary, when they left, they caused political disunity. Tharoor thinks that the most significant aspect of the first years of independence is the absence of Mahatma Gandhi who was killed in the capital by a Hindu fanatic, Nathuram Godse, just after the five months of independence. Tharoor calls Gandhi: “idealistic, quirky, quixotic and determined, a man who answered to the beat of no other drummer, but got everyone else to march to his tune” (India: From Midnight 16). Mahatma Gandhi’s two great weapons such as “ahimsa and satyagraha” did not allow the alien rule to withstand in India. But the untimely death of Gandhi shocked the entire nation. In the present perspective, the problems of terrorism failed Gandhism not only in India but in the whole world.

Then, Tharoor tracks down the inheritance of Nehru/ Gandhi dynasty, being in the driving seat of the Congress party. In the very beginning, Tharoor comments upon this continuing appeal of Nehru/ Gandhi dynasty. Under the influence of this appeal, the Congress party men unanimously voted Sonia Gandhi, Italian wife of the late Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.  In fact, right from Nehru till Rajiv Gandhi, the legacy of Congress Party is establish and has contributed as well as devastated Indian political and social lives and economy  according to Tharoor.  Nehru carefully nurtured democracy and secularism for 17 years and the policies that he adapted in India reflect his vision and principles. Yet Nehru was deeply shocked by the China war and dies subsequently.

After Nehru’s death, Lal Bahadur Shastri assumed the position of Prime Minister of India. But after his death the Congress party was in deep dilemma. During this period, the young daughter of Nehru, Indira Gandhi was nominated by the party to contest in election. Thus Indira took the reins of the country in her hands; Indira, Nehr’s daughter, was also his official hostess and political aide.  Indira became the president of the Congress party in 1959; her chief political advantage was her family background. In the beginning, Indira was addressed as “dumb doll” and accordingly the party lost the in the election in 1967. Then Indira made a split in the party in 1969. Tharoor says: “ … Having established a populist image and expelled the old bosses, she led her wing of the Congress to a resounding victory in 1971, campaigning on the slogan ‘Garibi Hatoa: Remove Poverty’” (Millennium 31-32). After that India defeated Pakistan and Bangladesh war. Yet Indira did not prove herself in removing poverty from India. She passed Emergency in 1975 when her 1971 victory was testified through court. Thinking that the Emergency would earn her victory, she daringly announced election in 1977. But she lost in this election. The Janata (people’s) front government came into power with Moraji Desai as the Prime Minister of  India, but this coalition government could not run the country for a long time. In January 1980, after splitting the Congress once again, Mrs. Indira was back to fight the elections with a Congress Party named after her (as Congress-Indira or Congress-I).  Mrs. Gandhi, akin to her father, thought herself as an embodiment of popular will; in this passion, she took her decision on her own, without discussing with her cabinet, party or senior leaders. Cabinet was reduced just to a rubber stamp, approving her decisions; during the emergency period, Mrs. Gandhi governed through advisors who were accountable  only to her.

Rajiv had scarcely started to learn his role when Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated by her own two Sikh security guards on 30 Oct. 1984 and brought an end to the tumultuous era of Indira Gandhi. Rajiv Gandhi got the sympathy of Indians and gained a great parliamentary majority then any other Prime Minister had ever received. Now a wave of change started in India in the field of education, economic development, cultural affinities and technology. People thought that he would solve the perennial problems of India; he talked about liberatio and elimination of corruption. People saw him as a reformer and a technocratic politician, but all hell broke loose when he faced the charge of corruption in the Bofors gun deal. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by Sri Lankan Tamil during the election campaign seemed an end to the dynasty.

In this book, Tharoor is very much concerned about his views on India, Hinduism and his Keralite origin. He is disturbed with the Rama Janmabhumi agitation, leading to the demolition of Babri Masjid and consequent Hindu-Muslim riots sullying the secular image of India. The unity between the two communities namely Hindu-Muslim unity was shattered forever. The contribution made by the Muslims before and after the independence was forgotten, subsequently the whole community is forced to face the fury of wrath.  Tharoor is very much upset about the ways the Muslims are treated in India. At the same time, he praises the “Hinduism” as a religion which has many holy books; originally the word “Hindu” basically implied for the people who lived beyond the river Sindhu or Indus. As a Hindu, Tharoor reiterates the generous attitude of Hinduism. He says that Hinduism has always taught to respect all other religions; it is a religion full of diversity, candidness and religious freedom. Tharoor is very much disturbed to think that how such a good religion can give birth to fundamentalism. Tharoor attributes his secularism through his Kerala roots. Describing Kerala, Tharoor observes: “More important, Kerala is microcosm of every religion known to the country; its population is divided into almost equal fourths of Christians, Muslims, Caste Hindus and Scheduled Castes, each of whim is economically and politically powerful” (Millennium 69).

Then, Tharoor deeply analyses about the caste system of India which originated from ‘Varnashram”. He feels sorry about the present caste politics that the politicians of present time and comments on the ancient system of Hinduism by saying that the ancient Hinduism can be briefed in the credo ‘Sarva Dharma Sambhava’ which means that all religions are equally worth to respect. It is right time to admit that Hinduism and Islam are entwined in India: no religion can claim its supremacy on this land. After discussing the problems of caste, religion and communal politics, Tharoor draws out attention towards NRIs (Non-residential Indians) who are sources of great importance in the development of the country. The NRIs have got name, fame and wealth in the foreign lands; they are financially very strong now and can help their motherland to overcome the financial crisis.

Tharoor discuss the economic policies of India. He strongly believes that the economic policies were not  matters of concern of common man; they are matters to be discussed by some economists, a few businessmen, share market holders , who are going to get benefit from the country’s economic policies. He finds the root-cause of economic crisis of the year 1954 when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress Party decided to work towards a ‘socialist pattern of society.’ According to his, the public sectors were considered as ‘new temples of modern India’; these units employed a large number of Indians and kept the country free from profit-oriented capitalists; in this way, performance was never considered as criteria and turmoil was overlooked; the inefficiency was remunerated with incentives and subsidies. In 1992-93, out of the 273 public sector units, 104 were in loss of about 40 billion rupees. This was the result of Nehru’s likes for socialist pattern and dislikes for capitalism.

The Janata government which replaced Indira witnessed the departure of multinational companies like IBM, Coca-Cola from India which gave negative signals across the world for business entrepreneurs. Rajiv Gandhi, the young and technocrat Prime Minister of India introduced new economic policy in 1985, but he also could do nothing new. Then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao brought a radical change by appointing a non-political figure, renowned economist Manmohan Singh as his Finance Minister. As a result, Indian government took a good decision of permitting foreign investment in 34 major areas rejecting  the old phobia regarding external capital.

 Tharoor also makes an assessment of Indian bureaucracy, which plays an important role in the implantation of the developmental polices; the infrastructure which India received from British administrative government was of a tendency to rule rather than serve the demands of the public. To correct the bureaucracy from a ruling attitude to a serving attitude was a very difficult task; when bureaucracy reacted positively to popular political currents it was condemned for becoming more ‘politicized’ placing politicians above the dictates of policy or regulations and becoming more corrupt and inconsistent.

Tharoor also thinks that Indian politics and politicians are responsible for the poor performance of India in the field of education. Education for women would have changed the entire social scenario in our country; it would have helped the society by controlling the population of India. In spite of all this, Tharoor says that middle class women in India have excelled in profession which were traditionally considered reserved for men in other societies. But he says that still the reality is otherwise; a majority of women in India are passing their lives as housewives.

Conclusion:

After analysing all the pros and cons of India in its political, social and economic lives , Tharoor advises that Indians must change from within to meet their ambitions and lift themselves to the essential criterions. He says that India’s future depends on our capability to educate our children; it is also essential to use the potential of women. In a truly liberal and secular attitude India should provide opportunities to the underprivileged sections and avoid the age-old abuse of human rights. He hopes that the fate of the country is in the hands of its people.