Proud to be Present...........

Indian Independent Day 15 August,1947 This is the memorable day in the history of India,because this is the day where all the peoples of India got the freedom from British'sEast India Company.This i s simply a celebration to many of the peoples but our responsibility not ends he re . Independent Day is the "Yadein of All our great National heroes like of Bal Gang adhar Tilk,Subhash Chnadra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and many more.This article will follow the Tribute to all our Brave Freedom Fighter. " Ma Tuze Salam-Vande Mataram ! Vande Mataram ! " This is the article where we c an remeber our herores and give tribute to them.Being and Citizen of the coutry everybody is aware of the Histiry of this country and many thins about Indian Fr eedom Movement. Tribute to our National Heroes with them this day was not possible. 1.Balawant Gangadhar Tilak ( July 23,1856 ~ Aug 1,1920 )

2.Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose ( Jan 23,1897 ~ Presumbly Aug 18,1945 )

3.Gopal Krishna Gokhale ( May 9,1866 ~ Feb 19, 1915 )

4.Mohanda Karamchand Gandhi ( Oct 2,1869 ~ Jan 30,1948 )

5.Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ( Oct 31,1875 ~ Dec 15,1950 )

6.Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ( Nov 14,1889 ~ May 27,1964 )

7. Maulana Azad ( Nov 11,1988 ~ Feb 22,1958 )

8.Chandrasekhar Azad ( July 23,1906 ~ Feb 27,1931 )

9.Bhagat Singh ( Sept 27,1907 ~ March 23,1931 )

10. Sukhadev Thapar ( May 15,1907 ~ March 23,1931 ) 11. Hari Shivaram Rajguru ( 1908 ~ March 23,1931 ) 12.Sarojini Naidu (Feb 13,1879 ~ March 2,1949 ) And Many other heroes, some of them are listed above.This is the way we can reme ber their phenomenol contribution as " Freedom Fighter ).Finally in August 15, 1 947 British left the India and Indian Freedom Movement was sucessful. THE NATIONAL FLAG OF INDIA THE NATIONAL FLAG OF INDIA is in tricolour ( TIRANGA) of deep saffron (Kesari) a t the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal propotions.

The Indian flag is a horizontal tricolour in equal proportion of deep saffron on the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. The ratio of the wid th to the length of the flag is two is to three. In the centre of the white band , there is a wheel in navy blue to indicate the Dharma Chakra, the wheel of law in the Sarnath Lion Capital. This center symbol or the 'CHAKRA', is a Buddhist s ymbol dating back to 200th century BC. Its diameter approximates the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes, whic h intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation. The sa ffron stands for courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation; the white, f or purity and truth; the green for faith and fertility. The design of the National Flag of India was adopted by India's constituent asse mbly on 22nd july, 1947. It's use and display are regulated by a code. The flag symbolizes freedom. The late Prime Minister Pandit Nehru called it a fl ag not only of freedom for ourselves, but a symbol of freedom for all people. THE NATIONAL ANTHEM OF INDIA The Indian National anthem, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagor e, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950. It was first sung 27 December 1911 at the Ca lcutta session of the Indian National Congress. The complete song consists of fi ve stanzas. The lyrics were rendered into English by Tagore himself Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jaya He Bharat Bhagya Vidhata Punjab Sindh Gujarat Maratha Dravida Utkala Banga Vindhya Himachal Yamuna Ganga Ucchala Jaladhi Taranga Tubh Shubha Name Jage Tubh Shubha Ashisha Mange Gahe Tubh Jaya Gata Jan Gan Mangaldayak Jay He Bharat Bhagya Vidhata Jaye He ! Jaye He ! Jaye He ! Jaye,Jaye,Jaye,Jaye He "

Vande Mataram ! The National song of India "Vande maataraM sujalaaM suphalaaM malayaja shiitalaaM SasyashyaamalaaM maataram || Shubhrajyotsnaa pulakitayaaminiiM pullakusumita drumadala shobhiniiM suhaasiniiM sumadhura bhaashhiNiiM sukhadaaM varadaaM maataraM || Koti koti kantha kalakalaninaada karaale koti koti bhujai.rdhR^itakharakaravaale abalaa keno maa eto bale bahubaladhaariNiiM namaami taariNiiM ripudalavaariNiiM maataraM || Tumi vidyaa tumi dharma tumi hR^idi tumi marma tvaM hi praaNaaH shariire Baahute tumi maa shakti hR^idaye tumi maa bhakti tomaara i pratimaa gaDi mandire mandire || TvaM hi durgaa dashapraharaNadhaariNii kamalaa kamaladala vihaariNii vaaNii vidyaadaayinii namaami tvaaM Namaami kamalaaM amalaaM atulaaM SujalaaM suphalaaM maataraM || ShyaamalaaM saralaaM susmitaaM bhuushhitaaM DharaNiiM bharaNiiM maataraM |"

Bharat Mata Ki Jay ! Vande-Mataram! vande-Mataram.

Posted by Dattatray K.Nikam at 1:14 AM 3 comments: sunil said... Great Work Nigam... 7:05 PM sachin said... Sahi hain yaar...nice work...keep up the spirit Jai Hind 9:16 PM Sanjeev said... I love Bharat Bhumi

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4to40 > Legends > Show All Freedom Fighter Biographies > Freedom Fighter > India > India > Lyallpur Print | Recommend This Site Bhagat Singh After throwing the bombs, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Raj Guru deliberately courte d arrest by refusing to run away from the scene... Born in: Lyallpur > India BORN: Sept. 27, 1907, Punjab, India 1930: Threw bombs in Central Assembly Hall, protesting on imposing severe measur es like the Trades Disputes Bill by the Britishers. 1930: Went on hunger strike to protest the inhuman treatment of fellow-political prisoners by jail authorities. 1930: Sukh Dev and Raj Guru, he was awarded the death sentence. Cremated on the bank of the Sutlej in Ferozepur. Died: Hanged in the early hours of March 23, 1931. Cremated at: Ferozepur, Punjab. Bhagat Singh was born on September 27, 1907, in Khatkar Kalan, Punjab, in Britis h India. His grandfather Arjan Singh, father Kishan Singh and uncle Ajit Singh, were all active in the freedom struggle. While studying at the local D.A.V. School in Lahore, in 1916, young Bhagat Singh came into contact with some well-known political leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai a nd Ras Bihari Bose. In response to Mahatma Gandhi's call for non-cooperation against British rule in 1921, Bhagat Singh left his school and joined the National College newly opened at Lahore. At this college, which was a centre of revolutionary activities, he came into contact with revolutionaries such as Bhagwati Charan, Sukhdev and othe rs. He became a member of the Hindustan Republican Association formed by the rev olutionaries of Uttar Pradesh and was initiated into their firebrand activities. The revolutionaries were branded as terrorists by the British government. They b elieved that given the unjust and oppressive nature of British rule, it was legi timate on their part to use violence as a weapon to overthrow the foreigners. So , they used bombs and guns against Britishers and robbed establishments belongin g to the British or their sympathisers. Their ideas differed from the Gandhian idea of a freedom movement based on non-v iolence or ahimsa. Gandhi's ideas went on to become more prominent as the Indian

freedom movement progressed. But it is not merely as a bold militant-type figure that Bhagat Singh is remembe red today. He was also a thinker who was steeped in the best traditions of socia listic thought, the theory that advocated collective or state ownership of the m eans of production - land, labour and capital. This is borne out in the numerous letters, pamphlets and articles that he wrote in the course of a short but turb ulent life. In a letter to an Indian publication, The Tribune of December 24, 1929, Bhagat S ingh explained beautifully the meaning he and fellow socialists tried to convey by the phrase, Long Live Revolution. He wrote that by revolution, they did not s o much mean violence, as "the spirit, the longing for a change for the better." Since people generally get accustomed to the established order of things and beg in to tremble at the very idea of a change, they needed to be roused from their lethargy and the revolutionary spirit had to be instilled in them. A brutal attack by the police on veteran freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai at an a nti-British procession caused his death on November 17 1928, in Lahore. Bhagat Singh determined to avenge Lajpat Rai's death by shooting the British off icial responsible for the killing, Deputy Inspector General Scott. He shot down Assistant Superintendent Saunders instead, mistaking him for Scott. Then he made a dramatic escape from Lahore to Calcutta and from there to Agra, w here he established a bomb factory. The British government responded to the act by imposing severe measures like the Trades Disputes Bill. It was to protest against the passing of the Bill that he threw bombs in the Central Assembly Hall while the Assembly was in session. The bombs did not hurt anyone, but the noise they made was loud enough to wake up a n enslaved nation from a long sleep. After throwing the bombs, Bhagat Singh and his friend deliberately courted arres t by refusing to run away from the scene. During his trial, Bhagat Singh refused to employ any defence counsel. In jail, he went on hunger strike to protest the inhuman treatment of fellow-pol itical prisoners by jail authorities. Along with fellow comrades, Sukh Dev and R aj Guru, he was awarded the death sentence for his terrorist activities by a spe cial tribunal on October 7, 1930. Despite great popular pressure and a, Bhagat Singh and his associates 931. Their bodies were cremated on ingh was just 23 at that time. Old hearth fire burned that day. numerous appeals by political leaders of Indi were hanged in the early hours of March 23, 1 the bank of the Sutlej in Ferozepur. Bhagat S timers say that in many places, not a single

The last paragraph of the leaflet that he distributed (and wrote) in the Assembl y Hall said: "We are sorry that we who attach such great sanctity to human life, we who dream of a very glorious future when man will be enjoying perfect peace and full liberty, have been forced to shed human blood. But sacrifice of individ uals at the altar of the revolution will bring freedom to all, rendering exploit ation of man by man impossible. Inquilaab Zindaabad (Long live the revolution)." There was a time when the very mention of the name of the young revolutionary st irred the passions of most Indians. Today, the name evokes little emotion. The method of remembering him, too, has become mechanical. The day Bhagat Singh

was hanged is observed as Martyr's Day, when the chief minister of Punjab makes a trip for a memorial function in Bhagat Singh's memory. Needless to say, the po liticians have used this occasion more for their ends. And as for the children of the village, the high point for them is seeing the he licopter in which the chief minister travels. Bhagat Singh continues to be martyred by the very people of the country whose fr eedom he fought for. And that is the biggest irony of all.

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4to40 > Legends > Show All Freedom Fighter Biographies > Freedom Fighter > India > Ratnagiri Print | Recommend This Site Bal Gangadhar Tilak The Father of Political Unrest (1856 - 1920 AD) Born in: Ratnagiri Author: Sandeep Bal Gangadhar Tilak was the father of Indian nationalism. He imbued the Indian p eople with patriotic fervour. He gave the famous slogan - 'Swaraj is my birth ri ght and I shall have it'. He made congress a mass movement. He brought politics out of the drawing rooms of the intellectuals. He did not consider educated few to be his audience. He addressed his spoken as well as written word to the India n masses. He knew fully well the fact that once the teeming millions were awaken ed of the slavish slumber, it would be difficult for the foreign master to rule over India. In this Tilak was a little ahead of his times. He was a born revolutionary. He is rightly called the father of political unrest in India. He gave new meaning to politics. For him politics meant suffering and sacrifice. And for this, by common consent, he was given the epithet - 'Lokmana ya' - respected by all. He made people patriotic and fearless. In the first deca de of the present century his popularity touched its zenith and he was probably the tallest man then living in India. Tilak was born at Ratnagiri on the Konkan Coast on July 23, 1856. He was a Chitp avan Brahman - a sect which was de facto ruler of the Maratha kingdom. He was br ought up in the strictly orthodox Brahman traditions. His father was a primary s chools teacher drawing a meager salary of 10 per month. Later on he rose to be a

n inspector of primary schools. He was a great scholar of Sanskrit and Mathemati cs. Tilak also imbibed love for these subjects from his father. Tilak passed mat riculation examination at the age of 16 from Poona High School and he was marrie d soon after he passed his matriculation. His father died a few months before hi s marriage. He joined Deccan college, Poona for higher education. During his col lege days he held orthodox views and expressed them in an out-spoken manner so m uch so that his friends even nicknamed him "Blunt". He had around him a number o f friends who later on rose to eminence. He passed his graduation in 1877 and go t his law degree two years later. Instead of trying for a well paid government j ob, he decided to dedicate his life to service. He was convinced about the dire need of private institutions in the fields of ed ucation. He often discussed this point with his friends and they all agreed that self-sacrifice was the only means for attaining their goal. In his own words, " We were men with our brains in a fever heat with the thoughts of the degraded co ndition of our country and after long agitation we had formed the opinion that t he salvation of our motherland was to be found in education alone." Thus educati on was the field which he chose for his future activity along with his two frien ds - Agarkas and Chiplunkar. They opened the New English School at Poona, which became very popular and attracted a large number of students because of its repu tation of self-sacrificing and devoted staff. Tilak also started two weeklies the 'Maratha' in English and the 'Kesari' (lion) in Marathi in 1881. Through these periodicals Tilak aimed at mass education and national awakening. Like the educational institution he opened these weeklies a lso became very popular. He gave vent to his nationalistic views very fearlessly and struck at any wrong or abuse. He raised his voice against the 'Age of Conse nt Bill'. He opposed the idea of government to interfere in the social life of t he people. He was also instrumental in establishing the Deccan Education Society in 1885. Tilak was proud of India's past and cultural heritage. He wanted Indians to appr eciate their glorious past. He re-organized the Ganpati and the Shivaji festival s to boost the moral dignity and self-esteem of the people. He wanted Indian you th to inculcate sense of patriotism, courage and discipline. Tilak fiercely opposed the partition of Bengal in 1905. He popularized the conce pt of Swadeshi and Swaraj. Bipan Chander Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai also joined til ak to educate people against the partition of Bengal. They galvanized Indian mas ses and instilled in them yearning for liberty. Tilak was charged for anti-gover nment activities and was sentenced to six years rigorous imprisonment and sent t o Mandalay. The people resented it and riots broke out and lasted for six days a t different places. After his jail term, Tilak started Home Rule Movement, which played a memorable role in the political life of the country. He visited England in 1918 as a deleg ate of the Home Rule League. The end came to this scholar, educator, journalist and a remarkable leader on August 1, 1920. The entire country was plunged into g rief. Gandhiji said about him "He had dedicated his wonderful talents to the cou ntry. No man preached the gospel of Swaraj with the consistency and insistence o f the Lokmanya. His countrymen, therefore, implicity believed in him. He will go down to the generations yet unborn as a maker of modern India." No doubt the ge nerations to come will remember him as one whose supreme concern was the nation and its unbuilding and who suffered and sacrificed for it.

4to40 > Legends > Show All Freedom Fighter Biographies > Freedom Fighter > India > India > Cuttack Print | Recommend This Site Subhas Chandra Bose One of the most prominent leaders of Indian freedom struggle... Born in: Cuttack > India Date of birth: In January 23, 1897(1897-01-23) Cuttack, Orissa Passed Indian Civil Services Exam Elected Congress President in 1938 and 1939; Formed a new party All India Forward block Organized Azad Hind Fauj to overthrow British Empire from India. Died on 18 August 1945 (officially) Taiwan

Subhas Chandra Bose, affectionately called as Netaji, was one of the most promin ent leaders of Indian freedom struggle. Though Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Neh ru have garnered much of the credit for successful culmination of Indian freedom struggle, the contribution of Subash Chandra Bose is no less. He has been denie d his rightful place in the annals of Indian history. He founded Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) to overthrow British Empire from India and came to acquir e legendary status among Indian masses. Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa. His father Janaki Nath Bose was a famous lawyer and his mother Prabhavati Devi was a pious and religious lady. Subhas Chandra Bose was the ninth child among fourteen sibli ngs. Subhas Chandra Bose was a brilliant student right from the childhood. He to pped the matriculation examination of Calcutta province and graduated with a Fir st Class in Philosophy from the Scottish Churches College in Calcutta. He was st rongly influenced by Swami Vivekananda's teachings and was known for his patriot ic zeal as a student. To fulfill his parents wishes he went to England in 1919 t o compete for Indian Civil Services. In England he appeared for the Indian Civil Service competitive examination in 1920, and came out fourth in order of merit. However, Subhas Chandra Bose was deeply disturbed by the Jallianwalla Bagh mass acre, and left his Civil Services apprenticeship midway to return to India in 19 21. After returning to India Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and joined the Indian National Congress. On Gandhiji's instructi ons, he started working under Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, whom he later acknowl edged his political guru. Soon he showed his leadership mettle and gained his wa y up in the Congress' hierarchy. In 1928 the Motilal Nehru Committee appointed b y the Congress declared in favour of Domination Status, but Subhas Chandra Bose along with Jawaharlal Nehru opposed it, and both asserted that they would be sat isfied with nothing short of complete independence for India. Subhas also announ ced the formation of the Independence League. Subhas Chandra Bose was jailed dur

ing Civil Disobedience movement in 1930. He was released in 1931 after Gandhi-Ir win pact was signed. He protested against the Gandhi-Irwin pact and opposed the suspension of Civil Disobedience movement specially when Bhagat Singh and his as sociates were hanged. Subash Chandra Bose was soon arrested again under the infamous Bengal Regulation . After an year he was released on medical grounds and was banished from India t o Europe. He took steps to establish centres in different European capitals with a view to promoting politico-cultural contacts between India and Europe. Defyin g the ban on his entry to India, Subash Chandra Bose returned to India and was a gain arrested and jailed for a year. After the General Elections of 1937, Congre ss came to power in seven states and Subash Chandra Bose was released. Shortly a fterward he was elected President of the Haripura Congress Session in 1938. Duri ng his term as Congress President, he talked of planning in concrete terms, and set up a National planning Committee in October that year. At the end of his fir st term, the presidential election to the Tripuri Congress session took place ea rly 1939. Subhas Chandra Bose was re-elected, defeating Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya who had been backed by Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Working Committee. Cloud s of World War II were on the horizon and he brought a resolution to give the Br itish six months to hand India over to the Indians, failing which there would be a revolt. There was much opposition to his rigid stand, and he resigned from th e post of president and formed a progressive group known as the Forward Block. Subhas Chandra Bose now started a mass movement against utilizing Indian resourc es and men for the great war. There was a tremendous response to his call and he was put under house arrest in Calcutta. In January 1941, Subhas Chandra Bose di sappeared from his home in Calcutta and reached Germany via Afghanistan. Working on the maxim that "an enemy's enemy is a friend", he sought cooperation of Germ any and Japan against British Empire. In January 1942, he began his regular broa dcasts from Radio Berlin, which aroused tremendous enthusiasm in India. In July 1943, he arrived in Singapore from Germany. In Singapore he took over the reins of the Indian Independence Movement in East Asia from Rash Behari Bose and organ ised the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army) comprising mainly of Indian priso ners of war. He was hailed as Netaji by the Army as well as by the Indian civili an population in East Asia. Azad Hind Fauj proceeded towards India to liberate i t from British rule. Enroute it liberated Andeman and Nicobar Islands. The I.N.A . Head quarters was shifted to Rangoon in January 1944. Azad Hind Fauj crossed t he Burma Border, and stood on Indian soil on March 18 ,1944. However, defeat of Japan and Germany in the Second World War forced INA to retre at and it could not achieve its objective. Subhas Chandra Bose was reportedly ki lled in an air crash over Taipei, Taiwan (Formosa) on August 18, 1945. Though it is widely believed that he was still alive after the air crash not much informa tion could be found about him.

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4to40 > Legends > Show All Freedom Fighter Biographies > Freedom Fighter > India > India > Porbandar Print | Recommend This Site Mahatma Gandhi Gandhi in his younger days a sophisticated and westernized lawyer, did indeed ch ange his thinking more radically than most people do... Born in: Porbandar > India Author: Salman Rushdie BORN October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, India 1893 Goes to South Africa and battles for rights of Indians 1915-20 Begins his struggle for India's Independence 1930 Leads hundreds on long Salt March to Dandi to protest a tax on salt 1947 Negotiatives an end to 190 years of British colonial rule in India DIED 1948, Killed by a fanatic opposed to Gandhi's tolerance of other religions A THIN INDIAN MAN WITH NOT MUCH hair sits alone on a bare floor, wearing nothing but a pair of cheap spectacles, studying the clutch of handwritten notes in his hand. The black - and - white photograph takes up a full page in the newspaper. In the top left-hand corner of the page, in full color, is a small rainbow - st ripe apple. Below this, there's a slangily American injection to "Think Differen t". Such is the present-day power of business. Even the greatest of the dead may summarily be drafted into its image ad campaign. Once, a half-century ago, this bony man shaped a nation's struggle for freedom. But that, as they say, is hist ory. Now Gandhi is modeling for Apple. His thoughts don't really count in this n ew incarnation. What counts is that he is considered to be "on message", in line with the corporate philosophy of Apple. The advertisement is odd enough to be worth dissecting a little. Obviously it is rich in unintentional comedy. M. K. Gandhi, as the photograph itself demonstrat es, was a passionate opponent of modernity and technology, preferring the pencil to the typewriter, the loincloth to the business suite, the plowed field to the belching manufactory. Had the word processor been invented in his lifetime, he would almost certainly found it abhorrent. The very term word processor, with it s overly technological ring, is unlikely to have found favor. "Think Different". Gandhi in his younger days a sophisticated and westernized la wyer, did indeed change his thinking more radically than most people do. Ghanshy am Das Birla, one of the merchant princes who backed him, once said, "He was mor e modern than I. But he made a conscious decision to go back to the Middle Ages" . This is not, presumably, the revolutionary new direction of thought that the g ood folks at Apple are seeking to encourage.

Gandhi today is up for grabs. He has become abstract, a historical, postmodern, no longer a man in and of his time but a free-floating concept, a part of availa ble stock of cultural symbols, an image that can be borrowed, used, distorted, r eunited to fit many different purposes, and to the devil with historicity or tru th. Richard Attenborough's much-Oscared movie Gandhi, struck me, when it was first r eleased, as an example of this type of unhistorical Western saint making. Here w as Gandhi-as-guru, purveying that fashionable product, the Wisdom of the East; a nd Gandhi-as-Christ, dying (and, before that, frequently going on hunger strike) so that other might live. His philosophy of nonviolence seemed to work by embar rassing the British into leaving; freedom could be won, film appeared to suggest , by being more moral than your oppressor, whose moral code could then oblige hi m to withdraw. But such is the efficacy of this symbolic Gandhi that the film, for all its simp lification and Hollywoodizations, had a powerful and positive effect on many con temporary freedom struggles. South African anti-apartheid campaigners and democr atic voices all over South America have enthused to me about the film's galvaniz ing effects. This posthumous, exalted "International Gandhi" has apparently beco me a totem of real inspirational force. The trouble with the idealized Gandhi is that he's darned so dull, little more t han a dispenser of homilies and nostrums ("An eye for an eye will make the whole world go blind") with just the odd flash of wit (asked what he thought of Weste rn civilization, he gave the celebrated reply, "I think it would be a great idea "). The real man, if it is still possible to use such a term after the generatio ns of hagiography and reinvention, was infinitely more interesting, one of the m ost complex and contradictory personalities of the century. His full name - Moha ndas Karamchand Gandhi, was memorably - and literallt - translated into English by the novelist G. V. Desani as "Action - Slave Fascination - Moon Grocer", and he was rich and devious a figure as that glorious name suggests. Entirely unafraid of the British, he was nevertheless afraid of the dark, and al ways slept with a light burning by his bedside. He believed passionately in the unity of all the peoples of India., yet his failure to keep the Muslim leader Mo hammed Ali Jinnah within the Indian National Congress's fold led to the partitio n of the country. (For all his vaunted selflessness and modesty, he made no move to object when Jinnah was attacked during a Congress session for calling him "M r. Gandhi" instead of "Mahatma", and booed off the stage by the Gandhi's support ers. Later his withdrawal, under pressure from Jwaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallab hbhai Patel, of a last-ditch offer to Jinnah of the prime ministership itself, e nded the last faint chance of avoiding partition.) He was determined to live his life as an ascetic, but, as the poet Sarojini Naid u joked, it cost the nation a fortune to keep Gandhi living in poverty. His enti re philosophy privileged the village way over that of the city, yet he was alway s financially dependent on the support of industrial billionaires like Birla. Hi s hunger strikes could stop riots and massacres, but he also once went on hunger strike to force one of his capitalist's employees to break their strike against the harsh conditions of employment. He sought to improve the conditions of the untouchables, yet in today's India, t hese peoples, now calling themselves Dalits and forming and increasingly well-or ganized with the effective political grouping, have rallied around the memory of their own leader, Bhimarao Ramji Ambedkar, an old rival of Gandhi's. As Ambedka r's star has risen among the Dalits, so Gandhi's stature has been reduced. The creator of the political philosophies of passive resistance and constructive

nonviolence, but spent much of his life far from the political arena, refining his more eccentric theories of vegetarianism, bowel movements, and the beneficia l properties of human excrement. Forever scarred by the knowledge that, as a sixteen-year-old youth, he'd been ma king love to his wife, Kasturba, at the moment of his father's death, Gandhi lat er forswore sexual relations but went on into his old age with what he called hi s "brahmacharya experiments", during which naked young man would be asked to lie with all night so that he could prove that he had mastered his physical urges. (He believed that total control over his "vital fluids" would enhance his spirit ual powers). He, and he alone, was responsible for the transformation of the demand for indep endence into nationwide mass movement that mobilized every class of society agai nst the imperialist, yet the free India that came into being, divided and commit ted to a program of modernization and industrialization, was not the India of hi s dreams. His sometime disciple, Nehru, was the arch proponent of modernization, and it was Nehru's vision, not Gandhi's that was eventually - and perhaps inevi tably - preferred. Gandhi began by believing that the politics of passive resistance and nonviolenc e should be effective in any situation, at any time, even against a force as mal ign as Nazi Germany. Later he was obliged to revise his opinion, and concluded t hat while the British had responded to such techniques because of their own natu re, other oppressors might not. Gandhian nonviolence is widely believed to be the method by which India gained i ndependence. (The view is assiduously fostered inside India as well as outside i t.) Yet the Indian revolution did indeed become violence, and this violence so d isappointed Gandhi that he stayed away from the Independence celebrations in pro test. Moreover, the ruinous economic impact of World War II on Britain and - as British writer Patrick French says in his book Liberty or Death: India's Journey to Independence and Division - the gradual collapse of the Raj's bureaucratic h old over India from the mid '30's onward did as much to bring about freedom as a ny action of Gandhi's. It is probable, in fact, that Gandhian techniques were no t the key determinants of India's arrival at freedom. They gave independence its outward character and were its apparent cause, but darker and deeper historical forces produced the desired effect. These days few people pause to consider the complex character of Gandhi's person ality, the ambiguous nature of his achievement and legacy, or even the real caus e of Indian independence. These are hurried, sloganizing times, and we don't hav e the time or, worse, the inclination to assimilate many-sided truths. The harsh est truth of all is that Gandhi is increasingly irrelevant in the country whose "little father" - Bapu - he was. As the analyst Sunil Khilnani has pointed out, India came into being a secularized state, but Gandhi's vision was essentially r eligious. However, he "recoiled" from Hindu nationalism. His solution was to for ge an Indian identity out of the shared body of ancient narratives. "He turned t o the legends and stories from the India's popular religious traditions, preferr ing their lessons to the supposed ones of the history". It didn't work. In today's India, Hindu nationalism is rampant in the form of th e Bhartiya Janta Party. During the recent elections, Gandhi and his ideas have s carcely been mentioned. In the early 1970s the writer Ved Mehta spoke to one of Gandhi's leading politic al associates, a former Governor-General of independent India, C.Rajagopalachari . His verdict on Gandhi's legacy is disenchanted, but in today's India, on the f ast track to free-market capitalism, it still rings true: "The glamour of modern technology, money, and power is to seductive that no one - I mean no one - can

resist it. The handful of Gandhian who still believe in his philosophy of a simp le life in a simple society are mostly cranks". What, then is greatness? In what does it reside? If a man's project fails, or su rvives only in irredeemably tarnished form, can the force of his example still m erit the extreme accolade? For Jawaharlal Nehru, the defining image of Gandhi wa s "as I saw him marching, staff in hand, to Dandi on the Salt March in 1930. Her e was the pilgrim on his quest of truth, quite, peaceful, determined, and fearle ss, who would continue that quest and pilgrimage, regardless of consequences". N ehru's daughter Indira Gandhi later said, "More than his words, his life was his message". These days, that message is better heeded outside India. Albert Einst ein was one of many to praise Gandhi's achievement; Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama, and all the world's peace movement have followed in his footsteps. G andhi, who gave up cosmopolitanism to gain a prove resilient, smart, tough, snea ky and, yes, ethical enough to avoid assimilation by global Mc Culture ( Mac cul ture too). Against this new empire, Gandhian intelligence is a better weapon tha n Gandhian piety. And passive resistance? We'll see.

Jawahar Lal Nehru During his life time, Jawahar Lal Nehru went through the variety of individual a nd collective reactions... Born in: Allahabad > India Jawaharlal Nehru was born on 14 November 1889. He died on 27 May 1964. He was an Indian statesman who was the first (and to date the longest-serving) prime mini ster of India, from 1947 until 1964. One of the leading figures in the Indian in dependence movement, Nehru was elected by the Congress Party to assume office as independent India's first Prime Minister, and re-elected when the Congress Part y won India's first general election in 1952. As one of the founders of the Nonaligned Movement, he was also an important figure in the international politics of the post-war era. He is frequently referred to as Pandit Nehru ("pandit" bein g a Sanskrit and Hindi honorific meaning "scholar" or "teacher") and, specifical ly in India, as Panditji (with "-ji" being a honorific suffix). The son of a wealthy Indian barrister and politician, Motilal Nehru, Nehru becam e a leader of the left wing of the Indian National Congress when still fairly yo ung. Rising to become Congress President, under the mentorship of Mahatma Gandhi , Nehru was a charismatic and radical leader, advocating complete independence f rom the British Empire. In the long struggle for Indian independence, in which h e was a key player, Nehru was eventually recognized as Gandhi's political heir. Throughout his life, Nehru was also an advocate for Fabian socialism and the pub lic sector as the means by which long-standing challenges of economic developmen t could be addressed by poorer nations. Personal life and education Jawaharlal Nehru was born to Motilal Nehru (18611931) and Swaroop Rani (18631954) in a Kashmiri Pandit family. Nehru was educated in India and Britain. In England , he attended the independent boy's school, Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridg e. During his time in Britain, Nehru was also known as Joe Nehru. On 8 February, 1916, Nehru married seventeen year old Kamala Kaul. In the first year of the marriage, Kamala gave birth to their only child, Indira Priyadarshin i. Life and career

Nehru raised the flag of independent India in New Delhi on 15 August 1947, the d ay India gained Independence. Nehru's appreciation of the virtues of parliamenta ry democracy, secularism and liberalism, coupled with his concerns for the poor and underprivileged, are recognised to have guided him in formulating socialist policies that influence India to this day. They also reflect the socialist origi ns of his worldview. He is sometimes referred to as the "Architect of Modern Ind ia". His daughter, Indira Gandhi, and grandson, Rajiv Gandhi, also served as Pri me Ministers of India. Successor to Gandhi On 15 January 1941 Gandhiji said, "Some say Pandit Nehru and I were estranged. I t will require much more than difference of opinion to estrange us. We had diffe rences from the time we became co-workers and yet I have said for some years and say so now that not Rajaji but Jawaharlal will be my successor." Final years Nehru had led the Congress to a major victory in the 1957 elections, but his gov ernment was facing rising problems and criticism. Disillusioned by intra-party c orruption and bickering, Nehru contemplated resigning but continued to serve. Th e election of his daughter Indira as Congress President in 1959 aroused criticis m for alleged nepotism, although actually Nehru had disapproved of her election, partly because he considered it smacked of "dynastism"; he said, indeed it was "wholly undemocratic and an undesirable thing", and refused her a position in hi s cabinet. Indira herself was at loggerheads with her father over policy; most n otably, she used his oft-stated personal deference to the Congress Working Commi ttee to push through the dismissal of the Communist Party of India government in the state of Kerala, over his own objections. Nehru began to be frequently emba rrassed by her ruthlessness and disregard for parliamentary tradition, and was " hurt" by what he saw as an assertiveness with no purpose other than to stake out an identity independent of her father. Although the Pancha Sila (Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence) was the basis of the 1954 Sino-Indian treaty over Tibet, in later years, Nehru's foreign poli cy suffered through increasing Chinese antagonism over border disputes and Nehru 's decision to grant asylum to the Dalai Lama. After years of failed negotiation s, Nehru authorized the Indian Army to annex Goa from Portugal in 1961. While in creasing his popularity, Nehru received criticism for opting for military action . In the 1962 elections, Nehru led the Congress to victory yet with a diminished m ajority. Opposition parties ranging from the right-wing Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party, socialists and the Communist Party of India performed well. In a matter of months, the border disputes with China turned into open conflict. Nehru assumed that as former victims of imperialism (India being a colony itsel f) they shared a sense of solidarity, as expressed in the phrase "Hindi-Chini bh ai bhai" (Indians and Chinese are brothers). He was dedicated to the ideals of b rotherhood and solidarity among developing nations. Nehru, credulously, did not believe that one fellow Socialist country would attack another; and in any event , he felt secure behind the impregnable wall of ice that is the Himalayas. Both proved to be severe miscalculations of China's intentions and military capabilit ies. Following reports of his intention to confront Chinese occupation of the di sputed areas - summarised in a memorable statement that he had asked the Army to "throw them (Chinese) out" - China launched a pre-emptive attack. In a matter of days, a Chinese invasion of northeastern India exposed the weakne sses of India's military as Chinese forces came as far as Assam. Widely criticiz

ed for his government's insufficient attention to defence, Nehru was forced to s ack the defence minister Krishna Menon and seek U.S. military aid. Nehru's healt h began declining steadily, and he was forced to spend months recuperating in Ka shmir through 1963. Some historians attribute this dramatic decline to his surpr ise and chagrin over the invasion of India by the Chinese, which he perceived as a betrayal of trust. Upon his return from Kashmir in May 1964, Nehru suffered a stroke and later a heart attack. He died in the early hours of 27 May 1964. Neh ru was cremated in accordance with Hindu rites at the Shantivana on the banks of the Yamuna River, witnessed by hundreds of thousands of mourners who had flocke d into the streets of Delhi and the cremation grounds. Legacy As India's first Prime minister and external affairs minister, Jawaharlal Nehru played a major role in shaping modern India's government and political culture a long with sound foreign policy. He is praised for creating a system providing un iversal primary education, reaching children in the farthest corners of rural In dia. Nehru's education policy is also credited for the development of world-clas s educational institutions such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Indian Institutes of Technology, and the Indian Institutes of Management. In addition, Nehru's stance as an unfailing nationalist led him to also implemen t policies which stressed commonality among Indians while still appreciating reg ional diversities. This proved particularly important as post-Independence diffe rences surfaced since British withdrawal from the subcontinent prompted regional leaders to no longer relate to one another as allies against a common adversary . While differences of culture and, especially, language threatened the unity of the new nation, Nehru established programs such as the National Book Trust and the National Literary Academy which promoted the translation of regional literat ures between languages and also organized the transfer of materials between regi ons. In pursuit of a single, unified India, Nehru warned, "Integrate or perish." Commemoration In his lifetime, Jawaharlal Nehru enjoyed an iconic status in India and was wide ly admired across the world for his idealism and statesmanship. His birthday, 14 November, is celebrated in India as Baal Divas (Children's Day) in recognition of his lifelong passion and work for the welfare, education and development of c hildren and young people. Children across India remember him as Chacha Nehru (Un cle Nehru). Nehru remains a popular symbol of the Congress party which frequentl y celebrates his memory. Congress leaders and activists often emulate his style of clothing, especially the Gandhi cap, and his mannerisms. Nehru's ideals and p olicies continue to shape the Congress party's manifesto and core political phil osophy. An emotional attachment to his legacy was instrumental in the rise of hi s daughter Indira to leadership of the Congress party and the national governmen t. Many documentaries about Nehru's life have been produced. He has also been portr ayed in fictionalized films. The canonical performance is probably that of Rosha n Seth, who played him three times: in Richard Attenborough's 1982 film Gandhi, Shyam Benegal's 1988 television series Bharat Ek Khoj, based on Nehru's The Disc overy of India, and in a 2007 TV film entitled The Last Days of the Raj. In Keta n Mehta's film Sardar, Nehru was portrayed by Benjamin Gilani. Nehru's personal preference for the sherwani ensured that it continues to be considered formal we ar in North India today; aside from lending his name to a kind of cap, the Nehru jacket is named in his honour due to his preference for that style. Numerous public institutions and memorials across India are dedicated to Nehru's memory. The Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi is among the most prestigious universities in India. The Jawaharlal Nehru Port near the city of Mumbai is a mo dern port and dock designed to handle a huge cargo and traffic load. Nehru's res

idence in Delhi is preserved as the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. The Nehru family homes at Anand Bhavan and Swaraj Bhavan are also preserved to commemorat e Nehru and his family's legacy. Writings Nehru was a prolific writer in English and wrote a number of books, such as The Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History, and his autobiography, Towards Fr eedom. Brief 1889 : Born in Allahabad. Grows up in an influential political family with Europ ean governess' and tutors. 1907-1910 : Takes the Tripos in Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge a nd joins Inner Temple, London. o 1912 : Returns to India. Joins the Allahabad High Court Bar. o 1916 :Marries Kamala Kaul. Their only child, Indira, is born the next ye ar. 1919 : The turning point in his life. while travelling on a train, he overhears General Dyer gloating over the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Nehru vows to fight ag ainst British. 1920 : Begins public career in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh). Attends special session of Congress at Calcutta as delegate. 1930s : Forms the left wing of the Congress-the congress Socialist Party. 1937 : Post-electoral victory of the congress, Nehru disagrees to coalition with the Muslim League. Also refuses to join hands with Fazul Haque's Krishak Party as well, throwing Punjab and Bengal into the waiting arms of League. 1938-1939 : Openly supports Gandhian philosophy in the Gandhi - S.C. Bose rift. Bose resigns as Congress President. 1946 : Declares that the Cabinet Mission Plan would be altered once Congress is in power. Sparks insecurity in the League, leading to Jinah's call for Direct Ac tion. 1947 : Nehru becomes the first Prime Minister Of Independent India. 1950s : Charts the course of India's development with his five-year plan. Entrus ts responsibility of mobilizing resources to the public sector. 1950s : Nehru outlines the foreign policy with disarmament as its focus. He spea rheads the Non-aligned Movement. The debacle with China in 1962 makes him realiz es he cannot ignore brewing tensions in neighboring countries. Foreign policy is accordingly redefined. 1964 : Dies in Delhi.