.
As the editor ofIllustrated Weekly of India,
India’s one of the most popular English weeklies,Khushwant Singh had commissioned quite a few Englishmen who had worked in Indiain different capacities, mostly in Delhi, Calcutta and Bombay to write abouttheir experiences of living here. Many did and some of the articles written bythem have been edited and compiled in this nostalgic book of the Raj. In allthere are 22 crisp personal accounts of people from the foreign lands, some ofwhom abhorred the land and everything that was connected with it, including itsclimate, dirt, overly populated people while others fell in so much love thatafter the country became independent they chose to settle down here. In thisbook readers get shocked to find the celebrated Aldous Huxley telling LionelFeldon that he was absolutely mad to think of setting an All India Radio in India which hefound most squalid and hateful. But there also were many others who with theiropen minds discovered India,loved its hoary traditions and cultures and secretly supported its yearning forfreedom. Lord Mountbatten had special place for the country in his heart.Understandable, because it was here that he gained his love and made her hiswife. Peggy Holroyde, wife of Derek Holroyde of the BBC, confesses that she wastaken over by India.She also underscores the scientific elements existing as abstract elementshidden in Hindu mysticism. Arthur Hughes who lived here for almost five decadeswished to be born here; of course if there were such thing as rebirth in whichthe Indians firmly believed. Of the 22 essays eight are by journalists whoadmit that they came to Indiabecause they didn’t have any suitable place in Britain. India was a saviour for them.
Published: December 03, 2008
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