Latest news with #IndiaAfterGandhi
Mint
5 days ago
- Sport
- Mint
What Bengaluru's leaders have forgotten about legacy
On Tuesday night, 3 June, as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricket team won its first Indian Premier League title, I felt a sudden unease. Not because I don't love cricket or the joy of celebrations—I do—but because I've lived long enough in Bengaluru to dread what happens next. Traffic snarls, jammed roads becoming choking funnels, rains turning half-built streets into muddy rivers. So, instinctively, I started mapping my next day's routes, mentally avoiding potential flashpoints. But not once—not even remotely—did I imagine lives would be lost celebrating something as simple as a cricket victory. And yet, painfully, that's exactly what happened. By Wednesday night, 11 people had died in a stampede at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium. Among them: the 18-year-old son of a pani puri seller; a 14-year-old girl who'd arrived excited and hopeful; and a 22-year-old engineering student proudly wearing his RCB jersey. Families stood shattered outside mortuaries, unable to comprehend how quickly celebration had turned to devastation. When I heard politicians responding casually—some even comparing this avoidable disaster to stampedes at massive events like the Kumbh Mela—I felt a deep, searing anguish. My thoughts turned to Whitefield, Gunjur, and Varthur—places where I've stood helplessly watching commuters struggle, fall, and bleed on neglected roads. Lives continue to be quietly damaged every day, as if we've all become numb. Meanwhile, we live surrounded by concrete jungles rising rapidly, apartments still unfinished, some with nothing more than a foundation stone and yet brazenly proclaiming 'Live in Nature's Womb." Irony couldn't be crueler. It wasn't always this way. Bengaluru once had leaders who, despite their flaws, were acutely aware of the legacies they would leave behind. Consider the Wodeyars of Mysuru. Yes, their rule was feudal and complicated, yet it held a genuine commitment to lasting change. Historian Ramachandra Guha, in his landmark book India After Gandhi, points out how Krishna Raja Wodeyar IV, guided by visionary engineer Sir M. Visvesvaraya, built the Krishnaraja Sagar Dam—not for short-term applause, but to ensure prosperity for generations. Janaki Nair, in her insightful book The Promise of the Metropolis: Bangalore's Twentieth Century, highlights how the Wodeyars granted vast stretches of land to establish institutions like the Indian Institute of Science, investing quietly yet profoundly in a future beyond themselves. Travel further back and you encounter the Hoysalas. Their extraordinary temples at Belur and Halebidu, as art historian Gerard Foekema describes in Architecture Decorated with Architecture: Later Medieval Temples of Karnataka, weren't mere vanity projects. They were deliberate gifts to future generations—cultural treasures still admired centuries later. Cut to today. Bengaluru's infrastructure is crumbling. Ambulances sit paralyzed in traffic, helplessly unable to reach those in need. Meanwhile, startup valuations and Shark Tank theatrics dominate headlines; IPL wins overshadow basic public safety. We've even embraced 'doglapan"—that shameless hypocrisy of our business and political elites—as a form of casual entertainment, further numbing us to the negligence and chaos unfolding around us. Yet beneath this glossy surface, our roads remain a cruel reminder of the city's neglect—daily accidents, broken commuters, mud mixing with blood, and ironic billboards promising utopia amid urban chaos. History, though, remembers differently. It records every choice, every moment of disregard. Bengaluru's rulers must realize that true legacies are built from mindful acts of responsibility that are performed consistently. Bengaluru's leaders need to think deeply about how history will remember them—not as overseers of a city in decay, but as mindful stewards who choose accountability and care over spectacle and neglect. History never forgets. It's time Bengaluru's leaders remembered this, too.
The Wire
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Wire
Can Ram Guha Be Nervous and His Book Launches Jocular? For Sarthak Prakashan, the Answer is Yes
Menu हिंदी తెలుగు اردو Home Politics Economy World Security Law Science Society Culture Editor's Pick Opinion Support independent journalism. Donate Now Top Stories Can Ram Guha Be Nervous and His Book Launches Jocular? For Sarthak Prakashan, the Answer is Yes Sohini Chattopadhyay 4 minutes ago I have not seen a Guha book event punctuated with as many laughs as during the launch of India After Gandhi's Gujarati translation. Ramachandra Guha and others during the launch of the Gujarati translation of his book India After Gandhi. Photo by arrangement. Real journalism holds power accountable Since 2015, The Wire has done just that. But we can continue only with your support. Contribute now 'This is the eighth Indian language this book has been translated into, and this one is the best,' said Ramachandra Guha at the launch of Gandhi Pachhinu Bharat by Sarthak Prakashan, the Gujarati translation of his magisterial work India After Gandhi. The translators are Urvish Kothari, well known on X over the past half decade for his satirical videos in Hindi, and a Gujarati journalist-columnist for 30 years, and the late Dilip Gohil, who worked as a copy editor with the Gujarati edition of India Today. Guha has a limited acquaintance with Gujarati (he understands it if spoken slowly, he said). But he articulated two reasons why the Gujarati translation was special for him: M.K. Gandhi, of whom he is possibly the best-known biographer, wrote in the Gujarati language. And second, he met his wife (the influential designer Sujatha Keshavan) in Ahmedabad forty-something years ago. I submit another reason for Guha's love for the Gujarati translation without being able to read or write in the language: I have not seen a Guha book event punctuated with as many laughs as I heard on the evening of May 18 at the packed auditorium of the Ahmedabad Management Association complex (one of architect Bimal Patel's early works). Ram Guha addresses the audience during the book launch. Photo by arrangement. Guha's talks and events are marked by few laughs, all of them delivered on Guha's cues because he is a superb public speaker – packed with substance, and well-chosen witty anecdotes. This is primarily because Guha mostly delivers talks and does few conversations, so to speak. Most interlocutors are in awe of his scholarship, and intrepid opinions. Not the Sarthak Prakashan lot. Kothari and his colleagues made references to Sholay and Deewar – likely, another first in a Guha book event – although not directed at him. 'I will now be Shashi Kapoor in Deewar,' said Kothari. 'He had said mere paas ma hai. I say, mere paas Kartikbhai hai. With him in charge, I don't have to care about whether the publication makes money or not. I just have fun.' Earlier, Kothari's colleague Dipak Soliya set the tone for the evening with a reference to Gabbar. He mimicked ' aao, aao ' in Gabbar's style, adding, 'Gabbar said it differently but I'm saying it with warmth and affection.' Sarthak Prakashan was somehow both wholly unfazed by Guha's aura, and entirely affectionate. Their irreverence, stemmed from their aversion for stage formalities, did not slip into disrespect. 'That's Saarthak's house style', said Kothari. Guha himself, laughing frequently during the proceedings, appeared delighted by the occasion. When it was his turn to speak, the final talk of the 100-odd minute programme, he said he would not speak in his bad Hindi as he had planned because he would not have the same effect on the audience as Kothari and his colleagues. Nervousness had reportedly got to him. Then he proceeded to speak in perfectly passable Hindi (certified by a Calcutta Bengali) for 90% of this 30-odd minute talk. He began with a well-chosen anecdote about speaking at the 93rd birthday celebration of the Kannada polymath Shivaram Karanth where Karanth, ecological scholar Madhav Gadgil and Guha were the invited speakers. After Karanth's speech, which was received with voluble delight, Gadgil, a Kannada speaker who had planned to speak in Kannada, decided to speak in Hindi. And Guha, who had initially decided to speak in Hindi, decided to speak in English. This evening, Guha said, had put him in a similar frame of nervousness. L to R: Kartik Shah, Urvish Kothari, Ram Guha, Prakash N. Shah and Dipak Soliya. Photo by arrangement. Guha's talks are always enjoyable – for his deep scholarship and his wit – but in Ahmedabad, he chose a larger than usual number of superb anecdotes for his talk, likely in appreciation of the tone set by Sarthak and gang. My favourite was the one he related about Acharya Kripalani, the last and most senior of M.K. Gandhi's associates who was alive when Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency. Kripalani was the only one of her major critics whom Mrs Gandhi did not jail during the Emergency, but the man, then nearing 90 years of age, fell ill and was hospitalised in AIIMS, New Delhi, where a number of tubes were inserted into his frail form. One of his friends went to visit Kripalani in hospital, and put his hand on his forehead. Kripalani then opened his eyes and on being asked how he was feeling, replied, 'I have no constitution. All that is left are amendments.' 'This is the only quote in India After Gandhi that I could not find a credible source for,' Guha said, 'although I heard this story from more than one person'. Delighted, sustained laughter. Like much of the evening really, only this one probably rang longer than ever taking in the details of the superb anecdote. It made me think of how the book launch itself felt like a standup comedy show. A thoroughly footnoted standup show. With one notable exception. Sohini Chattopadhyay is a National Award-winning film critic and award-winning journalist. Her book The Day I Became a Runner: A Women's History of India Through the Lens of Sport was published by HarperCollins India in October 2023. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments. Make a contribution to Independent Journalism Related News Full Text: India is Getting Re-Hyphenated With Pakistan Because Under Modi We're Democratically Regressing 'Narendra … Surrender': Rahul Gandhi in Swipe at Modi on Trump's Claims of Mediating Ceasefire Two Books Remind Us of the Importance of June 4, 2024 What Would Gandhi Do About The India-Pakistan Conflict Today? Gandhi's and Modi's Reflections on 'Sindoor' Are Poles Apart Profit and Sales Growth Slow Down as Compared to Last Year Amid Rising Cost and Trade Uncertainties 'It's a Huge Tragedy': In Visit to Poonch, Rahul Gandhi Meets Families Bereaved in Pak Artillery Shelling 'India's Foreign Policy Has Collapsed,' Says Rahul Gandhi Targeting Jaishankar Interview | 'National Leadership Will Decide on Alliance But UP Congress Is Focusing on All 403 Seats' About Us Contact Us Support Us © Copyright. All Rights Reserved.
Indian Express
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘Sardar Patel, Nehru put aside differences to unite India': Historian Ramachandra Guha
Historian and author Ramachandra Guha, during the launch of the Gujarati edition of his book 'India After Gandhi' in Ahmedabad on Sunday, stated that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru had 'suppressed their differences' to unite the country. 'Some of you would have seen the letters that Nehru and Patel shared after Gandhi. They had differences, all of us have differences. But the way Patel and Nehru suppressed their differences and united this country, is an extraordinary story, which I tried to tell through my book. Had Nehru or Patel not been there, I would not be standing in front of you,' Guha stated. 'Patel united the country's territory. Nehru united it emotionally and psychologically. During the election campaign in 2014, a pernicious lie was told: Nehru did not attend Patel's funeral. They had the most extraordinary respect for each other… History taught on WhatsApp has made them rivals,' he said. 'Why does the world remember these comrades and co-workers as rivals? In my friend Gopalkrishna Gandhi's words, it's because the Congress after Nehru disowned Patel and BJP misowned Patel. Patel was a lifelong Congressman, which was forgotten since the time of Indira Gandhi…' Guha added. Referring to his book, Guha also said, 'So it took the whole decade and I was determined not to let my personal biases come in, though you can't remove your biases but I ensured … and I will try writing as a scholar. I wanted to tell a history of India not from Delhi, not Delhi-centred. It has a lot on Nagaland, Kashmir, Mizoram and other states…'
