A tale from Akhand Bharat
On the eve of my cardiac bypass surgery on 6 February, 2004, at the Care Hospital, Hyderabad, my friend, Madhu Reddy, the Chief of University Press, who published Wings of Fire came to see me. He gifted me, Glass Palace, a book written by, perhaps the best of contemporary authors, Amitav Ghosh (b. 1956). I read the entire 552-page novel while still in hospital, recovering from the surgery. When President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam came to see me, he saw the book and asked me to brief him on it.
Later, when I visited him at Rashtrapati Bhavan in May 2004, I stayed there for about a week and had the opportunity of telling him the story of King Thibaw Min (1859-1916), the last king of Burma, and the central character in the novel, during our daily walks in the Mughal Gardens. With the story of how Burma lost its freedom to the British as its backdrop, the novel brought out the involvement of Indian-origin people in Burmese society, the complicated business of timber and rubber plantations, the moral dilemmas faced by soldiers in the British Indian Army, when Japan conquered Burma, who eventually formed the Azad Hind Fauj and finally, their exit as victims of rioting when Burma regained independence in January 1948.
While the entire coastal Burma was under British rule, the kingdom of Ava in Upper Burma was still sovereign, with Thibaw as king, living in the sprawling and magnificent Glass Palace in Mandalay. When it fell to the British in 1885, the king was captured with his family and taken away to India. He briefly stayed in Madras and was later shifted to the rather remote town of Ratnagiri on the Konkan coast practically under house arrest. A 30-room house was built for him, that exists even today. The king died in 1916 and after that, his family was sent back to Burma.
President Kalam arranged my meeting with General U Kyi Thein, Ambassador of Myanmar (as Burma is now called) in New Delhi. He facilitated my visit to Myanmar along with cardiologist, Dr P Krishnam Raju. This visit helped revitalize “old but cold” India-Myanmar relations. Soon after, Myanmar President Senior General Than Shwe visited India in October 2004 and President Kalam visited Myanmar in March 2006. I was involved in both visits. In Yangon, we visited the mausoleum of Bahadur Shah’s Zafar, who was exiled here in 1857 after the sack of Delhi by the British. When Dr Kalam was signing the visitor’s book, we noticed the signature of General Muhammad Zia-Ul-Haq (1924-1988), President of Pakistan, who had been there in May 1985.
Mandalay, located on the east bank of the mighty Irrawaddy River, 716 km north of Yangon, was pristine. Atop the 800 feet high Mandalay Hill, is the Sutaungpyei (literally wish-fulfilling) Pagoda. When we were standing there, our host pointed to a jail complex on the western side, where Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920) was imprisoned from 1908 to 1914 on sedition charges by the British. Lokmanya famously dared the judge who convicted him saying, “There are higher powers that rule the destinies of men and nations; and I think, it may be the will of Providence that the cause I represent may be benefited more by my suffering than by my pen and tongue.” It was during this period that Lokmanya wrote the book, Gita Rahasya.
Many years later, when I visited Tilakji’s house in Pune, I saw a tableau of Lokmanya writing Gita Rahasya in the jail. It inspired me to write A Modern Interpretation of Lokmanya Tilak’s Gita Rahasya. The book was published in December 2017, and I consider it my best work. The book was released by the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra at a glittering centenary ceremony to mark the occasion of Lokmanya Tilak’s call of “Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it” at Lucknow in 1916. At the event, I met Lokmanya’s great-grandson, Shailesh Tilak. He hugged me affectionately. A line from Glass Palace surfaced in my memory, “Every life leaves behind an echo that is audible to those who take the trouble to listen.” I felt as if a strange loop got closed with that hug.
I recently read another excellent book, The King in Exile, by Sudha Shah, published in 2012, narrating the saga of King Thibaw and focusing on the struggle of his family in exile, especially the Queen and the four princesses. It is a deeply moving book, with meticulously collected old photographs, offering a powerful testimony of how fate tosses human lives. Times have changed but not the reality of this world.
The effect of COVID-19 on migrant workers is a great human tragedy that people are not even willing to talk about. Old and dilapidated buildings are regularly falling in the rains in Mumbai and elsewhere, rendering people homeless overnight. In North India, floods in the Himalayan rivers every year wash away whatever little people living in their basins have, forcing them to live in perennial poverty.
In what has become a ritual, a cruel pattern indeed, is the announcement of a “relief package” after every flood. In what assumes a comic dimension, the State government demands a very large sum, say in billions, and the Central government provides a moderate sum, say in millions, and no one really knows what the people who lost their everything to the calamity get and to what effect. There is no long-term solution to manage floods, even contemplated. We remain predominantly a rain-fed agricultural nation taking “chances” with the monsoon every year to bring enough water so that we can grow our food.
Is the era of empires over? Not at all. Let us look at the present world closely. I recently read a 2019 book, The Big Nine, by Amy Webb (b. 1974) about how nine corporations — Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba, Microsoft, IBM, and Apple — are the new gods of AI and are controlling billions of people. These “systems” operating the world don’t share the motivations, desires, or hopes of humanity but operate for their own efficiency and wealth. What do we do with our Swaraj? People, even the affluent, are fast losing control of their lives and businesses. Children who are settled abroad for their livelihoods are indeed living in glorified exile. Many elderly people die alone, helpless, and powerless, like King Thibaw.
When the biblical king, Solomon, declared, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9), it was not a world-weary complaint against life’s monotony, but a truth, stated plain and simple. The nature of human life and the world that humanity makes for itself is indeed cyclic. Did we not see the emptiness of living only for being alive during the year-old and still-on-roll COVID-19 pandemic? Living under a hypnotic spell is alright as long as we don’t forget what it is to be human.
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“Times have changed but not the reality of this world” – There’s no more truer statement, Sir. Empires rise and fall, pandemics come and go as fate keeps tossing human lives.
Life is turbulent. To sail it’s waters smoothly, we should look into ourselves, and like you said, Sir, not forget what it is to be human.
An interesting insight into the history leaving behind an echo that is audible Prof Tiwariji !
Your simple and plain message on the nature of human life provides the much needed motivation and hope during the difficult times !!
Sir, your excellent blog led me to think if ever Indian subcontinent would be one geo-political entity. It is interesting to learn how The United States has been conducting nation-building operations since 1898 in a uniquely American way. It was done by removing existing governments by military force.
The Spanish-American War was waged by the United States to free Cuba and the Philippines from Spain. After defeating Spain in Cuba and routing their forces from the Philippines, the United States began nation-building efforts to establish democratic governments that were representative of the populace.
Bangladesh was created by Indian Military supported by the USSR Navy. It is now a flourishing democracy. Lanka suffered long years of rebellion but finally got stable by a successful Military action. Intervention of the USSR led to the destruction of the Afghanistan State and even the USA could not fix it after spending billions of dollars and loss of life. Pakistan is run by its Military, which is supported by China. Akhand Bharat does not look like a possibility.
Amazed truly at the breadth and depth of your experiences and contribution, Sir! One would never have fathomed your role in revitalizing India-Myanmar relations. Thank you for the interesting information and insights in this blog. The connections all through are brillant – and indeed, part of a ‘loop’.
The theme of exile is my takeaway- the King’s, LokmanyaTilak’s, that of the elderly living in isolation, an exile of sorts for migrants; also the homeless if and when they flock into shelters, and then the self-imposed exile of those settled abroad and the affluent. “Living only for being alive” is hard-hitting.
The only way to reconcile is to turn these exiles meaningful somehow. Perhaps, the way to look at it is — the purpose of our human birth is served better in suffering and in solitude.
Respected Sir, You have very wisely captured the story of the great king of Burma. So much to learn from the silent message underneath. Especially, till the time SO-CALLED large corporations drive the global economy, it is pertinent that we would not be able to enjoy the profound SWARAJ in the true sense. I guess this conglomerate cartel is too big to fail and beat by even any top leader of the respective country. Let us hope for the world to get united against this slow but lethal intrusion of such selfish and brutal companies into the personal lives of the mango people…
The story of the Burma king was new to me but touched my heart. I feel the whole world is an exile for the human soul and everyone must come out of the Exile in one’s own way.
A very thoughtful blog Sir. It is a reality that until and unless the borders of India, and Pakistan are peaceful, India may have to divert lot of resources into defence preparedness, but Pakistan won’t be able to achieve economical, societal, and educational development. Afghanistan and Myanmar have even worse fate.
It is time, that leaders of these countries take an honest call for the good of their people as Bangladesh has done to a great extent. There is so much business between India and Bangladesh and free movement of people and goods. Pakistan will be hugely benefitted by Iran-India oil pipeline.
I am intrigued how Pakistan slipped out of Western influence towards China and today working as a Chinese proxy against India. What if from Afghanistan to Myanmar a pro-development economic union emerge out as a deterrent to Chinese imperialism. It will also be in the interest of the Western powers, who have lost a significant clout over the affairs of the world.
Sir, I am indeed surprised why no one teaches us our history the way it happened and putting facts straight before the younger generations. I see no reason why there should not be free movement of people and trade in the erstwhile India subcontinent. When there can be a European Union, why not a South Asia Union? It has been 75 years after partition, and it is not a secret hat it did not work for anyone’s good. Thank you for being our true teacher!
Dear sir, A short but very meaningful recall of history of Burma. A very reverential reference to Lok manya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and his sacrifice. As you rightly brought out we are living in exile with fear of pandemic every minute. I am reminded of a dialogue from the movie Mr Natwarlal “YEH JEENA BHI KOI JEENA HAI LALLU”. Every minute we are under constant worry with fear of unknown called COVID. News channels, you tube clips and WhatsApp messages are contributing their might to kill our self confidence by showing/publishing unverified, unscientific information.
As you rightly brought out “the will of the God will prevail”. I strongly believe that God has a method of teaching us lessons of life and even if a small percentage of people have realized their mistakes and are willing to make corrections to their approach to the worldly behavior, this world will be a better place in future. To be positive and to be humane is all that we can do at this hour. we should accept at the end ” WAHI HOTA HAI JO MANJURE KHUDA HOA HAI”
Thank you once again for an excellent blog sir
Sir, Interwoven warps and wefts have successfully brought out many episodes of United India in front. Lokmanya Tilakji’s Gita Rahasya takes universal character providing fresh inspiration to all according to changing times, the same way your blog offers which is universal. Big Nine, reminds me of Yual Noah Harari’s 21 lessons for 21st century. Lot is at stake. You are holding a key to a treasure gathered from your time with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. There is nothing new under the sun. Looking forward to your next writing. Regards.
Dear Arun, This time your blog gives us glimpses of Burma’s history and details of few other historical events. As someone said, we live life forward and understand it backward. It means, we have to make our tomorrow better than today by analyzing & understanding all that happens to us today. And these things which happened today were unknown to us yesterday. Each moment in life has to be understood well in order to derive meaning from experiences.
A very emphatically impressive quote you have quoted from ‘Glass Palace’ “Every life leaves behind an echo that is audible to those who take the trouble to listen.” Yes, we need to learn ‘art of listening’ the voices of higher intelligence.
Wish you all the best.
Thank you Sir for sharing again a thought provoking blog.
Yes, you are right, humans are now forced to be in exile. People like me are living in great stress away from country and family. A late night call from parents or from siblings increases the heart beats for anything wrong or bad news about their health.
Due to Covid-19, we can’t travel to and fro easily like we used to do. I know some friends who lost their family or friends due to covid infection and they couldn’t go to attain their last rites… sometime seems like being living in a jail and no opportunity to go out.
Bhagavad Gita lessons are getting more relevant in today’s Covid-19 situations.
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||
Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction. Humans are now forced by nature to do right things or the future is going to be doomed soon. Warm Regards,
Though the world is cyclical, “every life leaves behind an echo that is audible to those who take the trouble to listen.”
– I hear you Arun uncle.
A very interesting idea of new technology empires! I see three empires already ruling the words – Apple, Amazon, and Google. Apple has revolutionized the way we interact with technology, with its super slick product design, incredibly clever user interfaces. Everyone else ends up copying them. Amazon changed the business and made consumers the real king. They now control goods, entertainment, and soon all ticketing will be through them. Google has positioned itself to be the new God after 5G is rolled out.
Arun ji, great insights! Thank you. Last year, I visited Ratnagiri and saw the palace which you referred to.
Thanks Mr Tiwari for yet another thought provoking and educative blog. This one is striking as one felt a seeming disconnect somewhere in the middle. But as one progressed, it showed a seamless connect between today and the past.
The past sway of empires ruling over physical geographies, obtained through blood baths, has yielded place to the pernicious-side of the global stranglehold of technology over the mind and body, with little hope of liberation, as we witness the tremendous groundswell of steadily enveloping technology revolutions, the world has ever see AI, 5G to name a few etc. With it the so-called strident Internet of Things is coming along. It has come to stay with a point of no return.
You rightly referred to the Big Nine technology giants. I am in particular concerned about the inescapable dystopian reality of digital surveillance. It means that as you are driving home you can turn on the TV, open the door, start your cooking etc. But everything is monitored. Surveillance uses convenience to control all that you do.
Empires flourished by geographical invasions through merciless killings. This did not last long as the possibility of benevolent regimes taking over was not ruled out. Today, we have the frightening and scary perpetuating (as against cyclical patterns) invasion of human lives. Todays aggrandising countries have made this their whole and sole modus operandi to colonise minds and control lives, globally. The role of the despots of the past pale into insignifcance. If there is anything worse than the covid pandemic that was unleashed on the world, this it, this it..
What is left for humanity and humaneness? We are wandering between two worlds, one dead and the other powerless to be born.
Dear Prof. Tiwari, Thank you for sharing a little piece of Myanmar (Burma) history in your blog. I was not aware of the story of King Thibaw. In a lighter vein, the British maintained the sense of their ‘fairness’, when they exiled King Thibaw to India. Earlier, they had exiled the last Moghul King Bahadur Shah Zafar of India to Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar.
Thanks to President Kalam and to you for reviving the ‘old but cold ties’ between India and Myanmar. I had the opportunity to visit Myanmar several times prior to my retirement in 2012 when ICRISAT was executing agricultural and human resources development projects in the country. I had seen many villages inhabited by people of Indian origin. I could sense that the people of Indian origin lived there a life of second-class citizen and were even reluctant to interact with Indian visitors.
Now, India is in another moral dilemma – whether to support the present military government, which has over thrown the democratically elected government or the democratically elected government. Pragmatic and practical realty on the ground forces India to keep silent ignoring the morality.
Agriculture in India remains largely rainfed. We, as a nation, have failed to take adequate steps to manage our water resources. Unless we nationalize rivers and other water resources including underground water, the water would either go waste (to sea) or become scarce (disappearing underground water). National interest will have to override the narrow political considerations. Warm regards.
Felicitations on another awe inspiring and entree de force that both enlightens and enlivens. The various interactions you have had with our enlightened and top leaders and the subsequent chain of events make riveting reading. Your travels and your actions have served such lofty ideals, I for one am awed .
Mentioning Amitav Ghosh, surely one of the most prolific Indian author of present times, in your Blog Arun ji, transports one immediately to the East of India and the flood of his books – Sea of Poppies, Hungry Tide etc brush across. His description of the Eastern topography and weaving a story along with coastal land, sea, back waters, jungles and mountains is a revelation in itself. Do confess – Glass Palace has been missed out, your mentioning same prompts me to read it along with your “A Modern Interpretation of Lokmanya Tilaks Gita Rahasya.” Also watching and hearing you on Zoom (27th June 2021) speak on “Connecting with God Inside.” The talk on Inside – Outside connection was stupendous.
Back to the Eastern sector – Though Burma was separated from the rest of India in 1937 with little opposition from Indian nationalist leaders primarily busy in obtaining independence for India itself, you’re getting a chance to visit in an official capacity miles upon miles of beautiful Myanmar’s (erstwhile Burma) untouched landscape – soaring mountains, pristine beaches and meandering waterways is quite heartening. That you were a part of the delegation shortlisted by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam in trying to streamline and upgrade the relations between the two countries in 2004 – 2006 is achievement no less. Thank you says India to you and Ce-zu tin-ba-deh says Myanmar in their language.
Your version of how fate tosses human lives, rings a bell. Recollecting old Indian movie Waqt to present day fast moving and changing world of business is indeed how fate tosses one around. Unaware of what’s next. A roaring money churning industry today could be dusted to ground overnight primarily because of technological advancement, the quick changes to keep up with the ever altering needs. The climate change world is experiencing, environmental catastrophe, medical dilemma, flash floods, a tsunami, earthquake, or a drone attack, not to talk about biological deluge piling up corpse upon corpse. Humans do endeavour but fate needs to hold up.
The Big Nine Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba, Microsoft, IBM, and Apple are undeniably the new gods of Artificial Intelligence heading to control the world. It’s going to be a new world, digitally driven, remotely controlled a heartless machine basically monitored to hasten up the task on hand, to do it precisely with minimum loss. Last two decades has seen us pole-vault our life’s working. Scaling impossible and gaining in all spheres of life. Our thinking and our level of comfort has touched dizzy heights. Watch out for the next two decades for present impossible to turn possible. The jump surely is envisaged to be three times to what has been achieved in previous two decades.
But again at the end of the day – all the rush, all above for what – to be happy? But does the strides and advancement in technology make one get that elusive cup of happiness and satisfaction. Human physical bonding, the love, care and feelings do count, do matter. Wish for a precise equilibrium in life to let the soul proclaim – Thank God for the mortal life lived.
Thank you for another great post Prof Tiwari! I’m always pleased to learn more about India’s history in reading your blog. The world is changing at a rapid pace due to technology. The book you mention, The Big Nine, is to the point. The American firms are beholden to Wall Street while the China firms are beholden to the demands of the CCP, and the world’s population is caught in the middle as their data is mined. What role will India play in this future? And how will India react to the negative impacts of AI will have on its future? My feeling is aligning with America is imperative, as Mr. Fisher has commented, to counter the China threat.
You seem to remember events in your life with great precision and that’s what makes your writing superior and many times, relatable. Yes, our problems tether us to God, something larger than life. So, when life hits us hard and we get tired of humans, it just means that we were created for something more.
Most of us know, the human spirit is incredibly strong and miraculously resilient. History of empires that have risen and fallen has taught us that the struggle and beauty of being alive, to win are remarkably common. Subduing the anguish of our souls is to know, our deepest humanity is rooted in our knowledge that we are connected. Ubuntu!
India which we have today we can’t say a developed nation what we would do with Akhand Bharat . The day when Indian will free of poverty then big brother role will have to play by india for nations in past belonging to Akhand Bharat
Excellent blog. For India to assert its national interests it should form a closer alliance with the United States, buttress its role in the Quad, and join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). India faces a threat from China that must be countered by growing its national economy, and defense capacity. India needs to boost its offensive and surveillance capabilities. China, which has taken advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to send many trips to its contested border with India, needs to be countered.
As usual, a very interesting blog. I would like to mention that during the period of the visit you mentioned, TCIL connected Mandalay through Optical Fibre to India via Manipur.
Respected Sir, Thanks for sharing new blog that has story about Burma King and various issues in Akhand Bharat. Humanity is better than any wealth and mostly we achieve something good after passing through a bad phase. We have achieved our current development after so much struggle.
Arunji, reading this blog was nice refresher post listening to this beautiful & interesting Burma connection story from you directly few days back. Got curious to read little more about King Thibaw and stumbled upon the information that his mother-in-law Hsinbyumashin had got 100+ family members massacred to have his son-in-law King Thibaw ascend to the thrown. So being exiled and living in a decent mansion in India started appearing not as bad for the king’s past.
Regarding post floods compensation and not taking enough preventive measures to prevent flooding, this seems to be the case in almost every field. Inefficiencies we see across in administration, governance and judiciary. As you once said, people get what they deserve. And till we as a society don’t play our part well, the people in these positions may not.
And when majority of the population is engaged in managing for 2 times meals, driving people to think of dharma or nation or duties seem meaningless. Somehow we need to find a way to get out of this ku-chakra earlier than later.. And that is where guidance of good people can play a pivotal role for larger good!
Sir, the tale from Akhand Bharat comes like a fresh breeze. It is hard to believe today that just a hundred years ago from Afghanistan to Burma, and Indo-China that is modern day Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore, India was one vast country. There is no doubt the Britishers have ruined this great part of the earth. But there is a hope that someday, for economic reasons, people living in these countries become ‘one system’ at par with ‘China system’. Thank you for sharing the story of the Burma king, who died in India.