Enlightening Pilgrimage of Indian Heritage

A Wish That Came Through

(From the Travelogues of Mathew D. Kunnappilly)

CONCLUSION OF THE JOURNEY

We reached Lucknow at 7.30 AM on September 29.

My original plan was to return from Lucknow. But my sister wanted to visit her two children at New Delhi. So we left for Delhi on the 30th morning reaching Delhi at 1.PM

I wanted to find out if I could get some information from the Indian Archives. But because of the Gandhi’s birthday celebration and Russian President Puttin’s State Visit to Delhi everything was off limit to the public.

Then, my sister’s children want her to stay there for about 10 days. I was not going to stay that long. But we were able to get the reservations only for the 4th of October. On the 3rd I rented a car and went for sight seeing, mainly for Subash. Only place we were able to get in was at Raj Ghat (Gandhi’s cremation ground) On the 4th morning Subash and I left for Kerala, reaching home on 6th afternoon.

All in all, we had a satisfactory journey through North India.

A Few Observations

India is very vast.

No one shall be able to see the whole of India in one lifetime or during a 10 life Times. You will find in every square miles in India something that is antique, old, unique, interesting, historic, important, invaluable, or irreplaceable, for India is an ancient country. The local people may not know the importance of these items. The government or the public has not taken stoke of these items. Some get withered in the weather. Some get buried in the ground. Most fade into oblivion. For a man who lives in a 300 years old carved wood home, that is not an antique house, rather, an old, stupid, stained, inconveniencing, uncomfortable doweling. He would be happier to demolish it and build a concrete house "like everyone else" than preserving it. Many places I have seen historical items left totally neglected.

The English Myth

There is a general opinion that if you know English, you can travel comfortably anywhere in India. This may be 75% true in Kerala, 50% in Tamil Nadu, 40% in Karnadaka, and 30 % in Andra Pradesh. It is 98% or more UNTRUE for the rest of the country. You will find people who are fluent in English in government jobs, metropolitan cities, first class trains, star hotels, airports, etc. But not in small towns, villages and in the countryside. This is a phony claim the English loving Hindi hating south Indians make to justify their opposition to learning the National Language.

Auto Rickshaws

The man-pulling rickshaw that was the favorite transport for the English was banned in India except in the city of Calcutta, by the government of India. Then the three wheeler auto rickshaw was introduced. That was one of the best things happened in independent India Millions of people were self employed and made a living. Now they are slowly banning them in the name of air pollution and issuing unlimited number of cycle rickshaws and Tongas. Besides the cutthroat competition to get a run, the sight of the poor fellow, young and old, peddling that thing, especially on up hills, is heart breaking. The engine on the auto rickshaw is smaller than the one in our lawn mover. It is an unpardonable shame that the technology that can build stretched limousines, nuclear submarines, bullet trains, supersonic planes, space stations, and inter planetary vehicles cannot come up with a small pollution free engine to help these people. If the needs were for the wealthy it would have been made over night.

India can feed its people, if needed.

A man who Chris-crossed a country a few times in moving trains, buses, and privet vehicles cannot claim that he had seen the whole country. Therefore, I make no such claim. However, from what I had seen, I am convinced that India can produce enough to feed the whole country or even the whole world. What is needed is irrigation and proper fertilizes. Go and see where they have irrigation. Indian soil is not unfertile.

Indian Villages.

" India lives in her villages" Mahatma Gandhi said close to a century ago. It was true then, it is true now, and I hope it will be true forever. Why did I say "forever?" Do I want to see the horrible and miserable conditions perpetuated forever? Absolutely not.

What I meant is that I hope India’s village life may not die. The strength of India was in her cities, or army barracks, or police stations. It was with her people. India was conquered, invaded, dominated, stabbed, stampeded, and violated so many times over the centuries. Yet, she survived. Her demise comes, if it should come, only by hands of her own children.

How many cities can you build for more than a billion people? Have we not learned anything from Calcutta, Bombay, New York, and other big cities? You take comfort to them, not pull them out of their roots and take them to comfort. Once the roots are gone, the strength will also be gone. Then they will become a name for elections and a number for statistics.

Having said it let me tell you this. Your cat sleeps in a far better place, your dog eats much better food, and your racehorse does not work as hard as, most of these people. This is not because the God Almighty so willed it, but because the local Land Fuddle so willed it. They are the ones blocking the progress coming to the villages. The fodder for their economic growth is the ignorance of the villagers. I have seen roads (if we can call it such) leading to the villages in knee deep mud. Only bullock carts can go through it. The landlords do not want easy access to these villages for social workers, newsmen, TV reporters or cameraman or any other "spoiling" elements.

In North Indian villages people live together in huts built wall to wall. There may be 150-250 homes in one place. Then for miles and miles are farm fields. People from these villages go the fields in the morning and will return dead tired in the evening. Most of them are tenant farmers eternally in debt to the landlords.

Give the land to those who work on it. Provide them with small implements that may easy on their burdens. They will produce enough for the nation and they do not get alienated in their own domains.

India needs industrialization but not to the extents that that would keep people idle and put machine to work. But, if we do that would be the end of India, as we knew it for centuries.

As it may sound as shocking to the young generation, Europe and America lived under such fuddle system long time ago. Then came the industrial revolution and things changed. When Henry Ford introduced the conveyer belt, it was thought that all the industrial vows were solved. Then what happened? Today we live under an Industrial Feudalism. Most workers in America are homeless only three paychecks away.

Can India with more than a billion people already, afford such a system?

THE END

Your Comments are Welcome

If anyone, from those who read it, care to make any comments I like to hear it. If anyone felt it was a waste of time for both of us, please feel free to say so. I do not fear creative criticisms.

Thank you,

Mathew D. Kunnappilly

Email: msimon at simdol.com