InDepth

How do I draw curtains to the write-up? Well I suppose I can never. Simply because the period was too complex. Also, too many things happened in a short span of time. Let me focus on 3-4 aspects and try to come to a conclusion or inference. Satyagraha, Non-Violence and Mahatma Gandhi's mass movements It is true that there are several among Indians, then and even now, who never really got aligned with Mahatma Gandhi and his principles of non-violence. Some have been rather vocal critic and even opposed to his passive form of resistance. His starting and stopping of the Non-Cooperation Movement did not help matters either. His Salt-Satyagraha or Civil Disobedience Movement came took a little time to shape up after 1922 (when Non-Cooperation Movement ended), because, Gandhi himself was also perhaps contemplating and reflecting on his views on how to organize Indians into a single-aimed mass movement. There were flaws, things were not perfect, the odd incidents here and there were happ...

As the drama moved, the characters started to liven up on screen. A few anecdotes and some nuances were never enough to capture the full plethora of emotions of Mountbatten, Nehru, Patel, Maulana, Jinnah or Gandhi. Someone rightly had once said, "a movie is an edited reality". Throughout the series, several portions could be pointed out, which reflected reality. However, not in its entirety. I am not being judgmental - but it is a fact that a part of the reality cannot tell us the entire story. At the time when Mountbatten was installed to take care of the transfer of power, the overall perception from the common people of the subcontinent towards any administrator appointed by the British Government was too meek. People were not able to put their trust. The Viceroy, as he was titled, lifted the morale somehow. Together with his wife, Lady Mountbatten, he came closer to the Indian society, and made some effort to understand the collective thought of India. Now, this journey o...

The last few months leading up to Indian independence - well, this was a highly complicated piece of history.  At the onset, let me tell you a few things - I am a student of history, but I have never managed to "learn" history seriously. That means, I know the episodes, I have studied about them in school and high-school, but due to my science background, I never got an opportunity to zoom into the episodes. For sure, Indian independence movement has fascinated me over all my formative years and it still does. I am of the opinion that no matter how deep we go into this topic - especially the period starting early 1900 to 1947, or even until 1950 - we will never manage to get the insights and details into every incident that took place during that time. With these known limitations on my mind, I started watching the elaborated series " Freedom at Midnight ". The series is based on a book written by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre  and is a documentary and drama...

  The seed Abby, my friend and classmate from my business school days, thought of bringing handmade designs from Ghana to Sweden. This was the seed thought. And that was it! A spark it was – spark that slowly took the shape of an initiative and formed into an initiative that could connect. A connection that could touch the life of artisans who come from the “Gold Coast” of Africa. A country that emanates hospitality, creativity and purity. Anyone conversing with Abby can easily get a feeling what purity of talks is all about. The start was not easy, it never is, isn’t it? We always have so many doubts. Had it been an established brand we would not question, would we? But since it was a seed, we had to doubt how the plant will come up. The products, the price, the place and what not! Things got sorted out one by one – a channel for procurement, a network of artisans and craftsmen/craftswomen, a capital to start and a mind full of hope – perhaps, nothing more was needed. After a ...

Back after a while!  Actually, the daily dose of work keeps me glued to my day. On one end the world is talking about 1 billion chat bots to be deployed in the future, perhaps with each having a defined set of work, on the other, there are countless out there who is looking for something substantial to do. Today, I want to talk about this very aspect of life - that is, finding something substantial to do in life. Before jumping to my stories of the day, I want to go back, way back to when I was in school. My father had an uncle and he was a great storyteller. He would come our ancestral house, stay with me, talk to me about his life stories, explain things to me in simple language and would make sure I get glued to my own depiction of imagination. I loved him, I still do. He had once told me a beautiful anecdote of a judge, who happened to be also part of our extended family. It went like this - there was a critical case where the judge had a tough hearing from both sides and there...

Last few days have been hectic. Travels, work and duties - they were with me. So, in essence I was not bored, but I could not find time to pen down some thoughts to share with you all. What has happened with me in the past few days? Well, as stated, some travels, I was at the shores of the Baltic Ocean and spent a lot of time to drink the beautiful moist air, to listen to the near-silent waves of the sea and to hum a few lines. Visiting the seashores of southern Scandinavia brings several emotional highpoints - The Baltic Ocean is blue and obedient. It is relatively calm, almost like a river. But a sea cannot be a river. A river meets a sea, and not the other way around. So, the sea is hierarchically higher placed. Therefore, Baltic sometimes shows its higher status - it soars and disturbs its own serenity. This interplay of emotions of a sea is wonderful. The neat and clean surroundings of the Ocean is exemplary. Any beach you visit in Sweden, like, Malmö, Lomma, Simrishamn - there is...