Then & Now

It’s August 15 today and along with India’s Independence Day, it also happens to be the first anniversary of Silvertalkies. This called for a double celebration and we invited our readers to send in their views on ‘Independent India, then and now.’

We are pleased to share the recollections of our readers Maiji,Vathsala Madhavan, Prabha Kamath and Devinder Mehta. They wrote to us about their nostalgic memories of Independence and of this very special day.

We present this to you in two parts. Below are recollections of Maiji and Vathsala Madhavan. You can read Part 2 here

Vathsala Madhavan

When I went to middle school the school authorities invited contemporary poets and writers to come address us kids. When they talked, we used to get goosebumps. We were so excited and were bubbling with patriotism! They would tell us such great stories, we girls felt like we were ‘Kittoore Rani Chennamma’.

I don’t know how it is now here. I was out of the country for two and a half decades. But we still hoist the Indian flag on August 15 and  distribute candies to the neighbourhood kids. It brings back childhood memories in us and we love it year after year, even though we are now in our 60’s and 70’s.

Vathsala Madhavan is a resident of Bangalore and is 64 years old. She studied in Bangalore most of her life but went to US for higher studies where she stayed on for 25 years. Now back in India, she is enjoying her retirement years by focusing on various hobbies and interests. Some of these include sewing, craftwork, painting and writing poems.

Lalitha Ramakrishnan aka Maiji

August 13, 1947, was my first baby’s first birthday but we celebrated her birthday on August 3, which, according to our custom, was the day of her star birthday. The talk among the guests was more about India becoming a free country and which neta would hold the reins of free India.

On August 8, I was invited to a relative’s home to take part in the Varalakshmi Pooja. After my husband left for office, I along with my one-year-old daughter, walked the short distance to my relative’s place where the pooja was going on. We were living in Lodhi colony, Delhi — in fact we were one of the first occupants of that colony. This was the last colony built by the British before they left India. Unlike what it looks like today, Lodhi Colony was really a well-organized settlement and we were very proud of our colony and our well-planned homes.

Coming back to August 8. As the pooja was going on we heard a commotion in the streets outside. We found out on inquiring that communal riots had broken out in the market place and looting and arson were going on. I really got worried about my house and wanted to get back home. Without waiting for the pooja to be over and get the prasadam, I walked back home with my child. I saw many people hurrying about with household appliances like table fans, radios, and such items. As I reached home my neighbour’s son who was carrying a radio, told me that that what he was carrying was part of the loot he had brought home and was going back for more. I was shocked and appalled. Without bothering to talk to him I got inside my home and bolted the door.

This is how the riots started in our part of New Delhi. Come rain shine or hail the office-goers went to work everyday ignoring the pleas of the womenfolk at home — who every evening breathed a sigh of relief and a ‘Thank you God,’ on seeing their men back home safe and sound.

Though the leaders of India and the foreign media named India’s freedom struggle as a bloodless revolution, it was not so! The people went mad with arson, looting; worse was the mindless killing of innocent people. So much blood was shed and an undignified hatred between the two religions was created.

Another saying of the netas was that once India got her freedom milk and honey would be flowing on the roads of the country, there would be no poverty and so all people would be equal!

Silly dreams of foolish people!

Lalitha Athai aka Maiji is an ardent blogger and has blogged since April 2006. She is a 83-year-old mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and lives in Chennai with her daughter and family. You can catch more of her at http://lifeinpondicherry.blogspot.com/