Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru - Notes

DISCOVERY OF INDIA by  Jawaharlal Nehru

 FOREWORD by Indira Gandhi (daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru) - 4th Nov1980

Jawaharlal Nehru wrote 3 books:

1.     Glimpses of World History

2.     An Autobiography

3.     Discovery of India

Note: 1st book was written for her.

Books were his fascination. He appreciated literary beauty. The purpose was to describe the difficult situation compelling actions which he had to take up.

PREFACE by Jawaharlal Nehru - 29 Dec1945

This book was written in Ahmednagar Fort Prison during 5 months, April to September 1944. He had 11 fellow-prisoners who gave valuable suggestions. He mentions the names of 4 people: Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, Govind Ballabh Pant, Narendra Deva and M. Asaf Ali.

(Note: There are 10 chapters in total. We have only the 1st chapter in our syllabus, about 23 pages.)

CONTENTS OF CHAPTER 1:

1.     Twenty Months

2.     Famine

3.     The War for Democracy

4.     Time in Prison: The Urge to Action

5.     The Past in its relation to the Present

6.     Life's Philosophy

7.      The Flurden of the Past

1.     Twenty Months

·       In Ahmadnagar  Fort,  13th  April  1944

·       In his ninth term of imprisonment, 20 months had passed.

·       He counted his days and months by watching the moon.

·       His imprisonment started with the new moon after Deepavali.

·       He is amazed by moon being an easy calendar especially for peasants.

·       In the 1st 3 weeks, no news was allowed to reach them.

·       Later, newspapers and letters were allowed to reach but never were interviews taken.

·       Only censored news was given to them.

·       More than half the world were in a war.

·       Indian people served in it.

·       They were imprisoned without trial.

·       They were not given newspapers, letters, books and proper healthy food.

·       Many died due to lack of proper care.

·       Italian prisoners were also there.

·       They were governed under Geneva Convention which defines basic rights for wartime prisoners.

·       But Indians were governed under no rules. They were treated as the British rulers were pleased.

2. Famine

·       Because of wartime requirements, ships to carry food were scarce.

·       Money was not needed for food was said.

·       But these arrangements did not suffice.

·       In Malabar, Bijapur, Orissa and Bengal thousands of people died daily due to lack of food.

·       All over the world, men were dying because of an uncontrollable reason - war.

·       But in India, people were dying because of ignorance - artificial famine.

·       False reports were issued by the authorities.

·       First it was said that rural areas had too much to eat because of wartime prosperity.

·       Later, reason for famine was given that it was because of sub-divisions of government which govern on their own (provincial autonomy).

·       At last, something was done but millions had died already.

·       Sensitive men and women of England and America helped greatly in spite of obstructions by the government.

·       Governments of China and Eire helped greatly in spite of their own prevailing problems.

·       India will never forget their help he says.

3. The War for Democracy

·       Democracy is against Fascism (founded by Mussolini in Italy) and Nazism (founded by Hitler in Germany).

·       Wars were going on for 7 years in China, 4 & 1/2 years in Europe and Africa, and 2 & 1/2 years, the World War, to attain a democratic government.

·       In all these years, Nehru had spent 3 years in different prisons.

·       In the rest of the time, he visited other struggling countries.

·       He feels for the sufferings of China, Abyssinia, Czechoslovakia and Spain.

·       He visited Czechoslovakia.

·       Mussolini invited him but he refused.

·       Nazi government also invited him but he declined.

·       Nehru and others like him wanted to fight against Hitler and Mussolini but could not.

·       This was the attitude of the National Congress.

·       It was two years since the organisation was banned.

4. Time in Prison: The Urge to Action

·       In the prison, Nehru was detached from the present world.

·       Just as past happenings are unchangeable, the happenings in the then present, outside the prison, were also unchangeable by Nehru.

·       Memories of the past and fancies of the future were in his mind.

·       Memories of the past do not change with time just as the artistic works which stand the test of time.

·       But the past is like just art for art's sake if there is no link to the present or if there is no passion and urge to action.

·       The past recollected in jail-life is like this with no potential for action.

·       Life is understanding the past, combining it with the present and extending it to the future.

·       A person's past tracing his or her roots contribute to his or her psychology.

·       And such psychological background urge thoughts and actions right from childhood thereby partly determining the future.

·       Aurobindo Ghose writes of the present as 'the pure and virgin moment'.

·       Razor's edge of time and existence divides the past and the present.

·       Time comes from the veil of the future, becomes the present and the next moment becomes the past.

·       It is pure when it comes from the future and is impure when it enters the past.

·       It changes in the present either because of us or because of our past.

·       A great deal of the external happenings and the internal states of a person seems to be already determined by his or her past.

·       Schopenhauer says: 'a man can do what he will, but not will as he will.'

·       Therefore, even a man's free will also is conditioned by his previous events.

·       Thoughts come to Nehru in his mind along with a call for action.

·       And rarely, the action in mind give him back another thought; when he feels complete.

·       He was never under such intense thoughts in his young age.

·       He wants to respond to the call of action by taking risk of life delightfully but is unable to do so because he is in the prison.

5. The Past in its relation to the Present

·       The past leads to the present which leads to the future.

·       All three are interrelated.

·       Nehru lives actionless in the prison but with thoughts and feelings.

·       He ponders over historical matters which affected him and those which he affected.

·       Science and problems of the day attracted him before history.

·       A thought leading to action that leads to another thought helps in understanding the present.

·       The roots of the present lay in the past.

·       Past can be brought to the present by retrospection.

·       Nehru wrote "Glimpses of World History"  in the form of letters to his daughter by living in the past and in simple language twelve years before writing this piece.

·       Nehru wrote "Autobiography" with similar quest.

·       Nehru says that he can be more balanced now at the time of tragedies than he was before twelve years.

·       He asks whether this attitude was due to high spirits, toughened heart or loss of passions in life.

·       To act with courage and dignity and to stick to the ideals of life is how we should work and how a politician does not work.

·       'Death is the birthright of every person born' was said by someone which Nehru quotes.

·       This notion is satisfying at the time of helplessness.

6. Life's Philosophy

·       Six or seven years ago when requested, Nehru was unable to write an essay on his 'philosophy of life'.

·       He had a clear thinking about it but it has become vague after witnessing the adversities which occurred in different countries.

·       He continued to work during which he developed a distaste for politics and his ideas changed.

·       The ideals and the objectives of yesterday are the same today but it becomes weak with the triumph of the evil.

To be continued…