[Assam] [asom] Thakur' drama

Wed Oct 25 11:52:45 PDT 2006

Dear Satyakam,

Anything I write from my personal experience in the past tends to become
autobiographical and people resent it as some attempt for self-publicity.
I'll therefore try to make my reply to your question "May I know what was
the nature of the Question" very brief:

The year was 1951. So it was prior to the First Lokasabha that started in
1952. I think it was called "Constituent Assembly".

The month could be September-October, but I am not sure. The topic of the
question was about "Basic Education" which was promoted by the Mahatma
throughout his life as "nai talim" for an independent India . After
Independence, and after the assanination of the Mahatma, the Government
India was eagerly following various plans/programmes to implement the
Mahatma's idea of Independent India. For the programme of "Basic Education",
the Government of recently independent India was spending crores of rupees
at that time.

The question was asked by one MP by the name Shantanam, but I am not sure.
However, I clearly remember the question to the Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru : "Whereas the Government is spending crores of rupees for Basic
Education, how come you are sending your own grandsons Rajeev & Sanjeev to
expensive english-medium schools in Ajmer run by foreign missionaries?"

Jawaharlal Nehru became "livid" with anger, the newspaper reported. Very
angrily he replied: "People who can afford will definitely send their
children to better schools."

What kind of a shock I had by reading that reply that day may not be
understood by anybody today. Jawaharlal was our most beloved national leader
at that time. We lost Mahatma Gandhi but we had Jawaharlal --- that was the
only solace the Nation had after the assassination of the Mahatma. And, now,
suddenly Jawaharlal talked about "People who can afford"  ----

In one stroke, I wrote my first drama "gandhir chabi" in Assamese, but I
stopped halfway because I was not too sure about the content. After 11 years
(I lost the original draft), the idea became clear when Ram Manohar Lohia
asked his famous question based on the PC Mohalnabis Reprt that 95% of India
's wealth was owned by 5% of the population --- once again Nehru became very
angry and stubbed Lohia down in an unparliamentary manner ---  I completed
"gandhir chabi" from memory.

I still have the original "gandhir chabi" in Assamese in a manuscript form,
but I am now planning to publish the revised "The Portrait of Mahatma
 Gandhi" in English which was adorned by an "Introduction" by the late Dr.
Romesh Diwan, world authority of Gandhian Economics, in 2001.

If you can really dig up the Nehru's answer about "people who can afford",
it will help me a lot to write the Preface of "The Portrait ."

With the best wishes,

Himendra

PS: This has nothing to do with the immigration/infiltration  problem, Amrit
Nehru's letter, or Umesh Sharma's irresponsible remarks. "The Portrait of
Mahatma Gandhi" deals with collapse of an ideology.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Shantikam Hazarika" <aimghy at satyam.net.in>
To: <assamonline at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2006 5:38 PM
Subject: [asom] Thakur' drama

> Normally it should be possible to dig out old Q & A in Parliament, all it
requires is a bit of effort. I shall see if it can be done.
> May I know what was the nature of the Question? Nehru always felt that
Lohia / Tyagi etc were always needling him and his replies used to be too
blunt. Where can I lay my hand on bapuki Tasvir? Where is its Assamese
version?
>
> Those who refuse to learn from history are condemned to repetations and
there cannot be better example than the people of Assam.
>
> Shantikam hazarika
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     From: Himendra Thakur
>     To: assamonline at yahoogroups.com
>     Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2006 8:12 PM
>     Subject: Re: [asom] Nehru's letter
>
>     Shantikam's response will lead others to a positive direction.
>
>     Incidently, I missed the original "excerpts of the letters of the
former Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru published in" the Assam Tribune
"on October 8 and 9" --- will it be possible to send this to me ? I'll be
obliged if anyone can send it to me.
>
>     With love to everybody,
>     Himendra
>
>     PS: By the way Shantikam, since you liked my dramas, I must confide
(and confess) to you that I wrote the first drama in my life in 1951 after
reading a question-answer statement by Jawaharlal Nehru in the Parliament.
Due to inexperience of young age, I did not complete the drama at that time.
After eleven years, after reading another outburst of Nehru to a question by
Ram Manohar Lohia in 1962 on "PC Mohalnabis Repot", I completed that drama.
The revised English version of this drama "The Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi"
was translated as "bapuki tasvir" into Hindi and staged on January 2-6, 2003
at Kamani Auditoriunm in New Delhi. Do you think someone will be able to dig
up the original 1951 question-answer statement by Jawaharlal Nehru in the
Parliament ? That will help me rewrite drama "The Portrait of Mahatma
Gandhi" and send it to the publishers.
>
>     We must learn from history. If we do not, it will repeat.
>
> -----------------------------
> moderator edited, assamonline
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> <*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
>     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/assamonline/
>
> <*> Your email settings:
>     Individual Email | Traditional
>
> <*> To change settings online go to:
>     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/assamonline/join
>     (Yahoo! ID required)
>
> <*> To change settings via email:
>     mailto:assamonline-digest at yahoogroups.com
>     mailto:assamonline-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com
>
> <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>     assamonline-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com
>
> <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
>     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>