“Rooted in the past, full of pride in India’s prestige, Vivekananda was yet modern in his approach to life’s problems, and was a kind of bridge between the past of India and her present.” – Jawaharlal Nehru

The year was 1893. On May 31, aboard a steamer that sailed from Yokohama to Vancouver, two great Indians met for the first time. One was an industrialist who would go on to become one of India’s greatest visionaries, Jamsetji Tata. The other was a monk who would take India’s spiritual tradition to the West more effectively than ever before, Swami Vivekananda.

Here’s the fascinating story of the encounter that marks a little-known, yet crucial, moment in the history of India.

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In 1893, Jamsetji was on his way to an industrial exposition in Chicago. A frequent visitor to Japan (there’s an interesting story behind this, read it here), he was staying at the same hotel into which Vivekananda would check in a few days later.

Soon after, on a sunny afternoon in May, the illustrious duo embarked on a voyage from the Japanese port of Yokohama to the Canadian port of Vancouver aboard SS Empress of India, a 16,992 ton luxury steamship belonging to the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company

While the two had met earlier, Jamsteji and Vivekananda had not had the time to engage in lengthy conversations. They did now and when they met again on the promenade of the ship, they got talking.

Vivekananda narrated to Jamsetji the experiences he had gained during his travels throughout the length and breadth of India as a wandering monk in the quest of truth. He talked about the relentless oppression and repression of his fellow Indians he had seen at the hands of colonial authorities.

Furthermore, he spoke about how, during his visit to in Canton (Guangzhou) in China, he had come across many Sanskrit and Bengali manuscripts in Buddhist monasteries.

He also explained that taking his faith to the West and calling for unity between the world’s major religions was the mission of his visit to the World Parliament of Religions.

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Considered to be the first global interfaith event in modern history, the World parliament of Religions was a gathering of more than 5,000 religious officials, scholars, and historians representing the major world faiths.

It was held between September 11 to 27, 1893, as part of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

They also discussed Japan’s phenomenal progress in technology and Jamsetji’s plan of laying the foundations of the steel industry to India. The founder of one of India’s largest conglomerates, Jamsetji also explained that he was in search of equipment and technology that would help make India a strong industrial nation.

Vivekananda endorsed the vision with enthusiasm, adding that the real hope of India lay in the prosperity and progress of its ordinary millions. He also added that instead of importing matches from Japan, Jamsetji should manufacture them in India and help provide a livelihood to the rural poor.

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Impressed by Vivekananda’s views on science and deep-rooted patriotism, Jamsetji requested his guidance in his campaign in establishing a research Institute in India. The visionary monk smiled, gave his blessings and remarked,

“How wonderful it would be if we could combine the scientific and technological achievements of the West with the asceticism and humanism of India!”

Jamsetji and Vivekananda never met after that journey. But these words struck a chord in the industrialist’s heart and five years later, he wrote a letter to Vivekananda. Here is what it said:

Esplanade House, Bombay.
23rd Nov. 1898

Dear Swami Vivekananda,

I trust, you remember me as a fellow- traveller on your voyage from Japan to Chicago. I very much recall at this moment your views on the growth of the ascetic spirit in India, and the duty, not of destroying, but of diverting it into useful channels.

I recall these ideas in connection with my scheme of Research Institute of Science for India, of which you have doubtless heard or read. It seems to me that no better use can be made of the ascetic spirit than the establishment of monasteries or residential halls for men dominated by this spirit, where they should live with ordinary decency and devote their lives to the cultivation of sciences –natural and humanistic.

I am of opinion that if such a crusade in favour of an asceticism of this kind were undertaken by a competent leader, it would greatly help asceticism, science, and the good name of our common country; and I know not who would make a more fitting general of such a campaign than Vivekananda.

Do you think you would care to apply yourself to the mission of galvanizing into life our ancient traditions in this respect? Perhaps, you had better begin with a fiery pamphlet rousing our people in this matter. I would cheerfully defray all the expenses of publication.”

With kind regards,
I am, dear Swami,
Yours faithfully,
Jamsetji Tata

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Busy setting up the Ramakrishna Mission, Vivekananda was unable accept the offer but he promptly sent his disciple, Sister Nivedita to meet met Jamsetji. Working together, they formulated a detailed plan for the research institute.

But it was promptly suppressed by the then-Viceroy, Lord Curzon.

However Jamsetji persevered and continued to work on these plans, convinced that the future progress of the country depended crucially on research in science and envisaged an institution that would encourage the same.

In 1898, he was on the lookout for a suitable place for such an institution when he met and discussed his idea with Sheshadri Iyer, the Diwan of Mysore. The two of them convinced the then-ruler of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, to donate roughly 372 acres of free land in the heart of Bangalore and provide other necessary facilities.

Interestingly, Jamsetji’s words also seem to have had an impact on Vivekananda. The book, ‘The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda‘, includes the following report from the Salem Evening News of August 29, 1893.

“According to Swami Veve Kyonda (Vivekananda), the need of the people of India is not more religion, or a better one, but as he expresses it, ‘practicality’. It is with the hope of interesting the American people in this great need of the suffering, starving millions that he has come to this country.

He said that missionaries had fine theories there and started with good ideas but had done nothing for the industrial condition of the people. He said, instead of sending missionaries, it would be better if Americans send someone who could give industrial education.”

Swami Vivekananda died in July 1902 and Jamsetji died two years later, unaware that their shared vision would be realised five years later. The Tata Institute of Science was born in 1909 and renamed the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) in 1911.

Today, it is the pride of Indian and one of the premier research institutions in the world.

Subsequent ventures by the Tata Group also included the establishment of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (in 1930s) and of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (in 1940s).

Also Read: The Story of Jamsetji Tata’s Forgotten Farm and How It Revived the Mysore Silk Industry

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The ancestral home of the great Swami Vivekananda has stood tall since the 18th century.

But the iconic monument went into disrepair until 1962, when the Ramakrishna Mission authorities decided to take over and turn it into a museum.

Today, it is much more.

A research centre, a memorial shrine, a library, an English centre, a computer training centre, and a charitable dispensary where seminars and conventions are regularly organised, the location is now a full-fledged cultural centre.

As a young boy, Vivekananda, whose parents named him Narendranath Datta, would run through the very same house, which catered to his interests in music, gymnastics or studies.

The son of an attorney, the young lad devoured Western philosophy and history, graduating from Calcutta University.

The death of his father in 1884 left the family penniless, and the responsibility of supporting his mother, brothers and sisters fell on Narendranath’s shoulders.

Narendranath’s aunt, also living with them in the ancestral house, immediately filed a lawsuit against the family, claiming possession of the whole property.

The property, built by Narendranath’s great-grandfather, Rammohan Datta, was over 300-years-old

Surrounded by a lush garden and a large open space while the young Swami lived there, the burgeoning city later caused the area to be crowded, resulting in the approach road to the house being turned into a lane, known as the Gour Mohan Mukherjee Street.

The aunt’s lawsuit caused the matter to be dragged to court, and the palatial house was split into ten parts. A portion of the house was even demolished to make a common passage for all the occupants.

It is perhaps bittersweet, that despite the lengthy litigation, and court cases, according to the final ruling, Swami Vivekananda got possession of the home he grew up in, just before he died.

As it does, time took its toll on the house over time, after Swami Vivekananda’s era. Sinking into a dilapidated condition, the building at one time had around 143 families and small business centres within it.

Sadly, the ancestral childhood home of Swami Vivekananda had become a slum.

To clear the pile-up of so many decades seemed impossible. But, the first step is always the biggest, and after the area was cleaned, the Ramakrishna Mission began restoring it.

The Archeological Survey of India and Development Consultants Pvt Ltd collaborated as well, and the house was restored, interestingly using materials similar to those in the original 18th-century construction.

Later the Kolkata Municipal Corporation declared the house a Grade-1 Heritage Building.

When Swami Vivekananda and his family occupied this home, it was at its zenith. With a massive doorway, the house comprised of two buildings bordering a courtyard, which also had a stable. The men stayed in a single-storied structure with many rooms. The ladies stayed in a 2-storey apartment, with a latticed enclosure.

Walk up to the terrace, where the ladies once used to gather, and you shall see a small shrine, marking the place where Swami Vivekananda was born.

The family’s place of worship and an assortment of other rooms are there, all used by Swami Vivekananda in his pre-monastic days, and his relatives.

Different incidents of Swami Vivekananda’s life are portrayed in the museum, right from his boyhood. Aiming to inculcate a sense of value education, the museum and cultural hub wishes to showcase a glimpse into the life of Swami Vivekananda – a true shaper of our times.

Today, the iconic structure is responsible for activities spanning different spheres:-

The medical services include a charitable dispensary and comprehensive programs tailored towards rural health and hygiene.

The educational services encompass a textbook library, computer education, value education, school of languages, a free coaching centre, and work on rural education.

The spiritual services include worship, prayer, spiritual discourses, and devotee’s conventions.

The cultural services include musical programmes and celebrations on social festivals and observance of important days.

The youth services include a youth forum, and a youth convention, as well as lectures and seminars.

You may also like:- 12 Lessons of Swami Vivekananda That Are Bang on for Today’s Entrepreneurs

Swami Vivekananda touched lives in his day, and his legacy lives on in this cultural hub that quietly continues to serve society in ways that Vivekananda would have probably approved.

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On Thursday, the Supreme Court collegium of India created history when it picked Indu Malhotra as the first woman advocate to be recommended for appointment as a judge of the SC, which has had just six women judges in 68 years.

Even as headlines celebrated this achievement, few people remembered the Indian woman who dared to go beyond the obvious and went on to become India’s first female Supreme Court judge.

Justice Fathima Beevi broke all the barriers of societal biases to take up a profession that was once considered to be a man’s prerogative. Here’s her inspiring story.

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Born to Annaveetil Meera Sahib and Khadeeja Bibi on April 30, 1927, at Pathananthitta in the erstwhile state of Travancore (now Kerala), Fathima studied law at Trivandrum’s Law College. Despite being only one of the five women students in her class in the first year (a number that dropped to three by the second year), the hardworking student was already on her way to making history.

In 1950, Fathima became the first woman to top the Bar Council of India’s exam. The same year in November, she enrolled as an advocate and started her career in Kerala’s lower judiciary, much to the displeasure of many people who raised their eyebrows at a headscarfed woman in the Kollam court.

Over the next three decades, Fathima served as the Munsiff in the Kerala Subordinate Judicial Services, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, the District & Sessions Judge and a Judicial Member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, before being elevated to the Kerala High Court as a judge in 1983.

In October 1989, six months after retiring from the Kerala High Court, Fathima was appointed as a Supreme Court judge in October 1989. For India, it was a watershed moment that paved the way for women in India to occupy positions in the higher judiciary.

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The first Muslim woman Judge to be appointed to any Higher Judiciary, she also earned the distinction of being the first woman Judge of a Supreme Court of an Asian nation.

According to senior advocate Dushyant Dave, during her illustrious tenure, Justice Beevi was as courteous as she was balanced, always well prepared with the case history as she sat on the bench.

After retiring in 1992, Beevi served as a member of the National Human Rights Commission. In 1997, she was appointed as the Governor of Tamil Nadu, an eventful stint that ended in in 2001.

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Since Beevi’s appointment in 1989, only six more women judges (including Indu Malhotra) have been appointed to India’s apex court. Furthermore, there have been only two periods when it has had more than two sitting woman judges at the same time.

As Fathima said in an interview with the Week, there is a need to elevate more women to the post of judges and even consider reservation to increase the number of women in the higher judiciary.

“There are many women in the field now, both at the bar and in the bench. However, their participation is meagre. Their representation is not equal to men. There is a historical reason also for that… Women took to the field late. It will take time for women to get equal representation in the judiciary”, Fathima said.

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Notwithstanding India’s recent vote in the United Nations against recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, bilateral relations between the two nations have reached new heights in recent times.

India has traditionally supported the cause of Palestine, and it was only in 1992, during the tenure of former PM Narasimha Rao, when the country officially established diplomatic relations with Israel. However, historians have documented how India sought Israel’s assistance on issues ranging from defence to agriculture, way before 1992.

One of Israel’s most significant interventions in India’s favour was the role it played in the 1971 war, which liberated Bangladesh from the clutches of Pakistan.

At a time when the US and its allies publicly backed Pakistan and imposed an arms embargo on India, Shlomo Zabludowicz, a Polish Jew and a survivor of the horrific Auschwitz concentration camp, came to the aid of India.

Remembered as a significant figure in the growth and development of the now world-renowned Israeli armaments industry, Zabludowicz was India’s point man in its deliberations with Israel for the supply of critical weapons during the 1971 war.

It is imperative to get into some context, before detailing the assistance Israel provided. When Pakistan sent in its military to brutally quash the rebellion in Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan) in the early months of 1971, Israel voiced its shock and anger. Addressing the Knesset (parliament) in June 1971, Israel’s foreign minister Abba Eban described Pakistan’s brutal repression as “a human tragedy amounting to genocide.”

“The Jewish people, which has suffered much sorrow and misery in its history, must be especially aware of and sympathetic to human suffering wherever it may be,” Eban said.

Even India’s biggest backer in the international arena, the former Soviet Union, did not take such a resounding position against Pakistan’s actions.

Despite Israel’s very public assertions, there was very little in terms of diplomatic ties with India, considering the latter’s position in favour of Palestine. A proposal for delivering arms to India, which got involved in a full-fledged war, was under consideration.

In a bid to strengthen its support for the Mukti Bahini, a guerrilla resistance movement formed by the Bangladeshis during the 1971 war, India required a steady supply for heavy mortar—something the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) had in their possession.

However, prior international commitments to supply heavy mortar to other friendly nations and a domestic shortage made it difficult for the IDF to provide it to India.

PN Haksar, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s principal secretary, then reached out to an old acquaintance from London, whom he knew from his tenure as the deputy high commissioner. This acquaintance was Shlomo Zabludowicz.

At that time, Shlomo was heading Establissments Salgad, a Liechtenstein-based firm that had already performed as a conduit for the supply of Israeli arms to India in both the 1962 and 1965 war.

Zabludowicz then reached out to the then prime minister of Israel, Golda Meir, who was a woman of real vision and leadership. She understood the potential benefits of better Indo-Israel relations and saw this moment as an opportunity to carry her vision forward.

In a letter written in Hebrew, which is now available in the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi thanks to the meticulous records maintained by Haksar, Meir is seen telling Zabludowicz, “I asked you to inform the Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, that we believe she will know how to appreciate our help in the past and our complying with the approach now.” This letter was written after the first consignment of weapons reached India.

It reached Prime Minister Gandhi’s desk in September 1971 after it was translated by the Israeli consular in Helsinki, Finland. Evidently, these arrangements were shrouded in secrecy, and nothing in the public postures of the two countries suggested that this arms deal was in the works.

In his remarkable book titled ‘1971: A Global History of the creation of Bangladesh,’ noted military historian Srinath Raghavan details this transaction.

Read also: Operation Trident,1971: How Indian Navy Pulled Off One Of Its Greatest Victories

“Zabludowicz had already spoken to the Israeli government and was ‘hopeful of airlifting ammunitions and mortars in September.’ He also agreed to send Israeli instructors with the first lot. Zabludowicz did more than he had promised. He not only diverted the weapons produced for Iran to India but also prevailed upon Tel Aviv to release additional quantities from the Israeli defence force’s stocks. In fact, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir was eager to accede to Indira Gandhi’s request,” he writes. In return, Meir sought to official diplomatic relations with India. Although Gandhi took home Israeli arms, no deal on establishing diplomatic relations was forthcoming.

There are other interesting anecdotes in the book. Among the fascinating ones is the note exchanged between the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Haksar on August 4, 1971, which details how the arms and a batch of Israeli instructors would be airlifted, and sent across to the aid of the Mukti Bahini, and the Indian Army.

Meanwhile, Iran went back on its assurances to Pakistan that it would offer Karachi cover against an Indian air invasion of the city because of fears that the Soviet Union would retaliate.

Despite United States President Richard Nixon’s best attempts at derailing India’s war efforts by sending in a US Navy fleet in the Bay of Bengal in December 1971 to intimidate New Delhi, India stepped up its offensive, and before anyone knew, Dhaka had fallen to India and the resistance fighters.

Read also: Lion of Ladakh: The Legendary Soldier Who Saved India While Still a Teenager!

International relations are rarely about dealing in binaries, whether ideological or strategic. Even during a time when India’s foreign policy was deeply entrenched in the Palestinian cause, India reached out to Israel for help, and the latter responded in the affirmative. While the credit for seeing beyond the confines of India’s then public and ideological position must go to former Israel prime minister Golda Meir, we should never forget the Auschwitz survivor who made it all happen.

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The visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to India is being seen as an important move towards building better ties between both countries.

It is especially crucial for the tightly integrated group of Jews who chose to stay back in India while thousands migrated back to their home state at the time of its creation.

Having faced severe persecution and discrimination throughout the history, India was probably one of the only nations in the world that offered a safe haven to Jewish immigrants and has welcomed them with open arms time and again.

Believed to be one of the first foreign religions to have surfaced in India in its recorded history, one can trace the Jewish lineage in the subcontinent to almost 2,000 years back in time.

Unknown to many, three prominent factions within the Jewish community—the Cochin Jews, the Bene Israeli and the Baghdadi Jews—landed on Indian coasts at different points in time and continue to live in the country.

One cannot find a similar classification of Jews anywhere else in the world, which is solely constituted on the basis of geographical location and its origin of myths in the country.

It is supposed that the first group of traders arrived along the coasts of Kerala in 562 BCE, followed by many exiled immigrants who fled after the siege of Jerusalem sometime around 50 CE, where Chera king Cheraman Perumal cordially received them.

Not only does historical evidence prove that the community was bequeathed with an entire village to settle and flourish, but there is also evidence of Jews cohabiting harmoniously with local rulers and natives for almost a millennium.

The Jewish town and the famous synagogue in Kochi are some of the examples that bear the testimony of a time-tested heritage left behind by the community before the mass exodus to Israel.

On the other hand, Bene Israelis are believed to be the descendants of 14 survivors of a shipwreck that landed on the Konkan coast around 1600 to 1800 years ago. It is this faction which is synonymous with the timeless legend of the ten lost tribes of Israel.

You may also like: A Jewish Bakery Has Been Making Kolkata’s Favourite Cakes for Over 100 Years!

The third group is that of the Baghdadi Jews, who forayed into the country during the mid 18th and 19th century and went on to emerge as a strong entrepreneurial class during the British reign.

Most of the synagogues, kosher markets and ritualistic bathhouses prominent across Indian cities were made at the height of their prosperity.

An interesting aspect is that not only did they manage to keep their identity as the centuries flew past, but they have also been accepting of local cultural influences. This duality has come to define Indian Jews, as we know them today.

The cultural diffusion runs both ways though, thanks to the Indian-origin Jews in Israel. Influences are so deep-seated that many of them still speak Marathi and practice intrinsic Indian customs like that using a mangalsutra and henna during weddings and the use of camphor in synagogues.

You may also like: How an Auschwitz Survivor Helped India Get Israel’s Aid in the 1971 War

In fact, the towns of Dimona and Ashdod in Israel are often dubbed as ‘little India,’ where close to 80,000 Indian-origin Jews continue to practice traditions and customs that showcase a cultural confluence—unlike anything seen in the region.

At present, over five thousand people live and practice Judaism in India without any form of anti-Semitic persecution, as they had been freely doing so throughout the pages of Indian history.

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“We can call him the Maharajah for want of a better description. But his blood isn’t blue. He may look like royalty, but he isn’t royal. He is capable of entertaining the Queen of England and splitting a beer with her butler. He is a man of many parts: lover boy, sumo wrestler, pavement artist, vendor of naughty post cards, Capuchin monk, Arab merchant…”

These are the words of Bobby Kooka, the man who conceived Air India’s Maharajah nearly 72 years ago. One of India’s most recognisable and loved mascots, this portly figure in regal garb has held a special place in the hearts of its citizens for years.

Here’s the fascinating story of Air India’s iconic Maharajah.

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A part of Air India’s campaign to distinguish itself from its peers, the jovial and rotund Maharajah first made his appearance on an in-flight memo pad in the mid-1940s. He was conceived by SK (Bobby) Kooka, who was then a Commercial Director with Air India and sketched by Umesh Rao, an artist at J Walter Thompson in Bombay.

Back then, India was known as the “Land of the Maharajas” and Air India was its only international carrier, flying to destinations such as Cairo, Prague, Damascus, Zurich and Istanbul. So Kooka wanted to create an illustration for Air India’s letterhead that would symbolise graciousness and elegant living.

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You May Like: The Little-Known Story of the First Air India Flight in 1932, and the Legendary Man Piloting It

It was somewhat along these lines that his creators, Kooka and Rao, gave him a distinctive personality, luxuriant moustache, aquiline nose and the quintessentially Indian turban. Eventually, the regal figure became Air-India’s mascot for its advertising and sales promotion activities.

For the next few years, the Maharajah was ingeniously used by India’s national airline to introduce new flight routes. His funny antics and quirky puns also allowed Air India to promote its services with subtle humour and unmatched panache.

For instance, one of the posters from Air India’s “retro collection” shows the Maharajah as a Russian Kalinka dancer to advertise its flight to Moscow. Another one shows him on a speedboat surfing in Australia with the boat replaced by two mermaids. Yet another one shows him being carried as a prey, hands and feet tied, by two lions in the jungles of Nairobi.

Here are some iconic posters that show the Maharajah in his quirky avatars, looking quite at home in famous locations around the world.

Photo Source: Air India on Imgur.

As such, the Maharajah came dressed in various garbs, but his trademark twirly moustache and his roly-poly stature remained — until 2017 when he lost of a bit of his flab and traded his traditional attire for blue jeans, trainers and a low-slung satchel to align himself with the modern times.

Unsurprisingly, the Maharajah has won numerous national and international awards for Air India for originality in advertising and publicity.

Interestingly, at one point in time, the mascot’s regal connotations triggered a controversy with politicians expressing doubts about using such a symbol to represent a nation with socialist aspirations. As a result, Air India did away with the Maharajah in 1989. But there was such a hue and cry from various quarters that the popular mascot had to be brought back.

In fact, during these years, Maharajah stickers and dolls were common in most middle-class Indian homes, even those where air travel was considered a luxury!

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So like all great men, the Maharajah has had his critics. But the millions of travellers who love him far outnumber them. For many of them, the inimitable mascot is a real person, almost like a friend who reaches out with warmth and hospitality, even to the farthest corners of the world.

As Rahul Da Cunha, the ad man behind the equally iconic Amul India campaign, once said,

“The Amul girl and the Air India Maharaja are the most brilliant characters ever created. The Maharaja encapsulates everything Air India should be: Indian luxury, hospitality, services and above all, royalty. It is royalty combined with humility. What can be a more iconic symbol for an Indian carrier?”

Also Read: Utterly Butterly Wonderful — The Story of India’s Most Loved Ad Icon, the Amul Girl

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“Music has been my outlet, my gift to all of the lovers in this world. Through it, my music, I know I will live forever.” – Michael Jackson.

It has been more than eight years since the untimely death of Michael Jackson. But for his countless fans around the world, the legendary artist remains immortal thanks to his timeless music and incredible dancing.

The ‘King of Pop‘ has inspired legions of musicians and dancers in India too. Several Indian actors and choreographers have also paid a homage to Jackson, by imitating his trademark moves that include the pelvic thrust, the sideways glide, and the iconic moonwalk.

In fact, Ranjeet Singh (a 38-year-old traffic cop from Indore who is also a die-hard Michael Jackson fan) was recently in the news for using moonwalking to direct traffic!

Despite such evident popularity, few Indians — especially millennials — know that Michael Jackson once performed live in Mumbai. Here’s the story of one of the most iconic concerts in the history of Indian entertainment.

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The early 1990s was a time when the internet was yet to become ubiquitous. Mumbai’s Viraf Sarkari (who had founded Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. in 1988) had received a fax saying that Michael Jackson would like to perform in India and that he’d like Wizcraft to organise the tour.

At that time, Michael was already a global star who dominated the music charts at will. With this in mind, Sarkari thought that fax was a prank and ignored the request. Until, a few days later, when he received another fax with the same message. This time, he replied that Wizcraft wouldn’t believe it till Jackson himself talked to them and confirmed the request.

To his utter surprise, this demand was accepted and a few days later, Sarkari and his partner Andre Timmins met the King of Pop at a studio in Los Angeles. Wary about the star canceling at the last minute, the duo told Michael that their company would be finished if he backed out later. He assured them that he wouldn’t.

And he kept his word. On October 30, 1996, Michael Jackson arrived in Mumbai —  newly renamed from Bombay.

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What greeted him at the airport can be best described as unprecedented and unadulterated fan frenzy. For this was a man whose celebrity cut across all barriers.

The phenomenal turnout included over screaming 5000 fans and teenyboppers who had come to catch a glimpse of the famous pop star. They were joined by local dancers with dhols and lezims (jingling cymbals) whipping up a musical frenzy of their own.

Decked up in an orange nine-yard sari and a Maharashtrian nathni, actress Sonali Bendre gave Michael — attired in his trademark red jacket, hat, and sunglasses — with aarti, teeka and all other accouterments of a traditional Indian welcome. Once this was done, the legend walked straight into the heart of the impromptu dance party that had started, courtesy his awaiting fans.

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After shaking a leg with the crowd, blowing kisses and waving to everyone around him,  Michael left for his hotel (the Oberoi Hotel at Nariman Point) in a 30-car motorcade. On the way, he frequently popped out of his Toyota’s sunroof to greet the crowds. In fact, at Dharavi, he stopped, got off, and walked into the colony to meet its overwhelmed residents.

Not only was the entire 15 km route lined with crowds, this hotel too was choc-a-bloc with hopeful fans queuing up to get a glimpse of the star up close. Surprising the hotel staff, Michael mingled freely with the crowd (that included everyone, from cricketing legends and industrialist to actors and editors) before heading to his suite.

It had already been stocked with his favourites — chocolates, orange-flavoured drinks and sweet white wine (yes, the legend had a legendary sweet tooth)!

The concert that followed on November 1 was simply spectacular, a show that the audience will never forget.

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The ultimate performer, Michael made a dramatic entry — emerging from a rocket-like capsule in a gold and black suit — before regaling the jam-packed Andheri Sports Complex with an outstanding performance of his greatest hits.

Bowled over by his showmanship and sheer star power, the captivated audience began singing and swaying along. In the VIP box, the effervescent Asha Bhosle had started dancing, encouraging others to do likewise. Soon enough, Sunil Gavaskar was on his feet, as was India’s very own dancing wizard, Prabhu Deva.

On the streets outside the complex, people who had been unable to get in broke into dances — Michael’s foot-thumping music could be heard for miles. In one line, it was magic and it finished too soon for those lucky enough to have witnessed the show.

Later that night, Michael returned to his suite, and by 7 am the next day, his aircraft was back in the air. The King of Pop’s first and only tour of India had been a mammoth success.

However, the highlight of this tour was not its stunning success but the pop star’s subtle acts of kindness that lingered long after he left India. Like the tea party at the Oberoi hotel that he hosted for orphan kids. Or his spontaneous invitation to the hotel’s staff to join him on the tour bus. Or the heartfelt message that the staff found scribbled on his pillow (it was later auctioned for charity).

Here is what it stated:

“India, all my life I have longed to see your face. I met you and your people and fell in love with you.

Now my heart is filled with sorrow and despair for I have to leave, but I promise I shall return to love you and caress you again.

Your kindness has overwhelmed me, your spiritual awareness has moved me and your children have truly touched my heart. They are the face of God.

I truly love and adore you, India. Forever, continue to love, heal and educate the children. The future shines on them.

You are my special love, India. Forever, may God always bless you.”

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Nearly fifty-three years ago, when he leaped into his bomber jet and flew into Pakistan on a top-secret mission, then Squadron Leader Jag Mohan Nath already had a Maha Vir Chakra awarded to him.Three years later, in September 1965, the gutsy IAF pilot was awarded another Maha Vir Chakra!

Awarded for outstanding acts of gallantry, Maha Vir Chakra is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra.

Here’s the little-known story of Jag Mohan Nath, the IAF veteran who holds the rare distinction of being awarded two Maha Vir Chakras.

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Jam Mohan Nath was born in Laya village in Punjab province of British India (now in Pakistan) and relocated to India after Partition. His family members were all doctors, but the young lad had a passion for planes from an early age. Growing up in his village, he would spend hours watching the planes high in the sky.

Nath got an opportunity to follow this passion in 1948 when he joined the Air Force Administrative College in Coimbatore for his initial training in the IAF. Dedicated and hard-working, he was soon selected for daring maneuvers and covert operations in hostile territory.

His tryst with history would begin a few years later with the 1962 debacle on the China border.

Beginning on began on October 20, 1962, the conflict saw a month-long standoff between approximately 10,000-20,000 Indian troops and 80,000 Chinese troops. Fought mainly by the Indian Army, India’s air power was sparingly used to support the ground troops as the government was wary of Chinese retaliation against Indian cities, especially Calcutta.

It was during the beginning of this stand-off that Nath was given the risky task of covertly assessing the Chinese build-up in the Aksai Chin area and Tibet. He took to skies in his Canberra, a twin-engine jet bomber that had been fitted with cameras.

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During his reconnaissance missions, Nath was often detected and fired at by the Chinese despite flying high to avoid radar detection.

“I was falling slow at almost stall speed. The Chinese could see me clearly and even fired at my aircraft,” Nath would later tell Daily Mail in 2014.

Undaunted, the courageous pilot continued to fly into hostile territory and return with invaluable strategic inputs on the ground situation and enemy troop activities in Aksai Chin and Tibet, both before and during the Indo-China conflict.

It was this outstanding effort of flying in hazardous conditions that earned Nath his first Maha Vir Chakra. Three years later, he repeated the feat in 1965 after war erupted between India and Pakistan.

Back then, the Himalayan battlefield had no radar. As such, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had set up observation posts pitched atop ridges of the mountainous terrain. Pakistani Sabres would also patrol the skies to lookout for Indian intrusion.

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During his recon sorties in enemy territory, Nath would fly his English Electra Canberra at extremely low heights, almost skimming the trees so that Pakistani radar could not detect his aircraft. Then, when he caught sight of something that needed to be captured on camera, he would climb (in broad daylight) to 12,000 feet to get clear pictures of well-defended airfields and installations.

This five-minute period of exposure was the riskiest part of the mission. Easily visible to Pakistani outposts and aircraft, Nath would often have to dodge and duck between the peaks at dizzying speeds to avoid being shot down by the furious PAF Sabres in hot pursuit.

Unsurprisingly, he had several close calls, such as the time when he found his fuel gauge running empty just as blips on his instrument panel informed him about four enemy aircrafts on his tail. Yet, undeterred by the danger such incidents posed to his life, Nath soldiered on, continuing to fly into an extremely hostile enemy territory to complete the vital task he had been given.

In fact, Nath once evaded Pakistani fighters and re-entered Indian skies in such a way that he was almost shot down by IAF MiGs who mistook him for the enemy!

The 30-odd recon sorties conducted by Nath yielded a treasure trove of strategic pictures and information. It was this crucial intelligence that helped IAF aircrafts destroy a powerful radar in Badin (near Karachi), and that the Indian army almost reached Lahore.

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Interestingly, Nath’s dangerous missions were so secret that only one other person had the authorization to known about them: the then Chief of IAF, Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh. Singh had also given Nath the codename of ‘Professor’ to maintain these high levels of secrecy.

The pilot’s top secrets assignments also ensured that he witnessed decisions being taken by the three Defence chiefs, senior bureaucrats, and political leaders. Yet what left a lasting impression on him was the incredible bravery under fire that his fellow soldiers displayed, many of whom lost their lives on the battlefield.

In 1969, Nath retired from the Indian Air Force and joined Air India as a commercial pilot. He remains the only living IAF veteran to be conferred the Maha Vir Chakra twice, a distinction that is as rare as it gets.

Also Read: The Story of Nirmal Jit Singh Shekon, IAF’s Only Param Vir Chakra

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Long before the Silk Road became the famous trading system it is today, the great blue expanse of the Indian Ocean was awash with commerce. Intrepid explorers and merchants would travel thousands of miles to India’s incredibly long coastline, not just to exchange goods and ideas, but also forming important cultural bonds.

However, while much has been said and written about the flourishing spice trade of the Malabar coast, the Coromandel coast also has a fascinating past of which little is discussed or even known. It is a history involving an ancient dynasty, a clash of colonial powers and a prosperous trade in diamonds.

Here’s the little-known story of how the Coromandel got its name.

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Around 300 BC, Alexander the Great invaded the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. With this, the Macedonian king began a series of campaigns that would last ten years and that would lead to him conquering much of the known world, including a part of Punjab in northern India.

While this was happening, a new dynasty in southern India was establishing itself — the Cholas of Tanjore. This ancient Tamil-speaking dynasty of warriors would go on to achieve unmatched glory in creating a maritime empire as far as Suvarnadweepa (Indonesia).

At the height of its power, the Chola empire encompassed some 3.6 million sq. km. This included India’s broad eastern coastline that stretched between Point Calimere (in present-day Tamil Nadu) in the south to Gangam (in present-day Odisha) in the north.

As years passed, traders from European countries began establishing themselves firmly on this coast.

The Portuguese were some of the first on the scene and they were the ones who began calling this region by the Tamil word for ‘Realm Of The Cholas’ or Cholamandalam.

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Interestingly, this name also finds mention in the rock inscriptions of Emperor Ashoka, the great temple inscription of Tanjore and on the walls of the temple cities of Tamil country, right up to a final appearance in the year 1279 CE. It was the Britishers who further translated Cholamandalam into Coromandel and started using it to refer to the coast.

As for the person who first coined the word Coromandel, the exact identity remains shrouded in mystery. However, Ludovico di Varthema — a young Italian adventurer from Bologna — may have a good claim.

In 1505, Ludovico had travelled to Nagapattinam, a town in Chola heartland that stood at the mouth of river Kollidam (the southern channel of the Cauvery River). Five years later, he published his book ‘Itinerario’ in Rome.

Full of detailed descriptions of India’s eastern coastline (or the Coromandel), it sold out quickly and led to the coast becoming a prime target for Portugal’s maritime rivals: the Dutch, Danes, French and English. Until then, the Portuguese had successfully guarded the secrets of navigation to this coast.

As such, in 1609, the Dutch East Indies Company captured the Portuguese fort at Pulicat, a coastal town on the edge of the Pulicat lagoon (Asia’s second-largest brackish water lagoon).

Dutch trading ships on the Coromandel Coast Circa 1680

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They then transformed it into the Coromandel headquarters of the company, from where they managed a flourishing trade in diamonds, gunpowder and fine spices. In 1690, the Dutch East Indies shifted its administrative stronghold from Pulicat to Nagapattinam, which remained under their control until 1781, when it fell to the East India Company.

Interestingly, a seaside town in New Zealand’s North Island is named Coromandel Harbour after HMS Coromandel. A ship of the British Royal Navy, it stopped at the town in 1820 to purchase kauri spars and was itself named after India’s Coromandel Coast.

Even more, interestingly, there is another theory about how the coast got its name. According to local folklore, it is believed that the first Dutch ship to India stopped at Karimanal (an island village to the north of Pulicat). The sailors aboard the ship spelt the village’s name as ‘Corimondal’ and the name stuck thereafter!

Also Read: An Awesome History Of The Lost Indian City That Traded With Romans

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“In attaining our ideals, our means should be as pure as our ends!” -Dr. Rajendra Prasad

On January 26, 1950, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected as the first President of independent India. His presidency has been appreciated by many Indians for his humble dedication to serving the country.

However, his service to the nation was not just as President—he was an active member of India’s freedom struggle, and his journey started long before he came into office.

Born October 3, 1884, in Zeradai, Bihar, to Mahadev Sahai and Kamleshwari Devi, Rajendra Prasad grew up during the peak of the British Raj in India. His father was insistent that his son learn Hindi, Persian, and Arithmetic, and as a result, Prasad took classes from a Moulavi. In June 1896, at the age of 12, he was married to Rajavanshi Devi, and they had a son, Mrityunjaya.

Always eager to learn, Prasad’s quest for education took him to the University of Calcutta, where he placed first in the entrance exam and was subsequently awarded a scholarship of Rs 30 per month. So impressed were his professors with his intellect, that one allegedly even wrote on his exam paper, “Examinee is better than the examiner”.

Throughout his college life, he was involved in social activism and was an active member of The Dawn Society. In 1906 he and his peers formed the Bihari Students Conference, the first organisation of its kind in India, which later gave birth to Bihari leaders of the freedom movement, including Anugrah Narayan Sinha and Krishna Singh. He was also offered a position in the Servants of India Society, which he regretfully turned down, due to his family commitments.

This was also the year that he first came into contact with the Indian National Congress for the first time, a party for which he would serve as president thrice in his life, first in 1934 and then in 1939 and 1947.

While he volunteered at the annual meeting in 1906, he only formally joined the party in 1911.

Post his studies in Economics, after a brief stint as a professor of English, he pursued law at Ripon College (now called Surendranath Law College), while simultaneously teaching classes for Economics at Calcutta City College. He eventually graduated with a gold medal, and officially became Dr Rajendra Prasad in 1937, when he completed his PhD in law.

Though he practised law in the High Court of Bihar and Odisha from 1915 to 1920 and was simultaneously appointed as part of the Senate and Syndicate of Patna University, Dr Rajendra Prasad’s life took a turn when he met Mahatma Gandhi in 1916.

Inspired by Gandhi’s principles, and the dedication and conviction with which he practised them when the Non-Cooperation Movement was passed in 1920, Prasad was driven to abandon his lucrative career as a lawyer to join the freedom struggle.

From then on, there was no looking back.

He was part of the group which founded the Bihar Vidyapeeth, an open rejection of the British education system, at Mahatma Gandhi’s request to boycott Western institutions; even enrolling his son as one of the students. Prasad also began to write articles, for notable revolutionary papers, such as Searchlight and Desh, while also collecting funding for the same. He travelled far and wide, lecturing, explaining and gathering people to join the freedom struggle.

Not only was he a revolutionary, but humanitarian causes were also close to his heart. During the earthquake which rocked Bihar on January 15, 1934, Prasad was serving time in prison, for his participation in the Satyagraha movement. However, when he was released two days after the quake, he immediately went to work setting up the Bihar Central Relief Committee, finding funds to help the affected people himself. A year later, when the Quetta earthquake struck, he again set up relief operations in Sindh and Punjab.

His open rebellion did not go unnoticed by the British. On August 8th, 1942, the government passed the Quit India Resolution, leading to the arrest of several Indian leaders. Unsurprisingly, Prasad was among the incarcerated, serving a sentence of three years in Bankipur Central Jail, in Patna.

It is rumoured that even then, he was more concerned about the welfare of his family, rather than his own suffering.

Upon his release, he joined Jawaharlal Nehru’s interim cabinet of ministers, chosen to head Food and Agriculture. He was elected President of the Constituent Assembly in 1946, overseeing the drafting and creation of the Indian Constitution, a key player since its inception.

On January 26, 1950, when the Constitution of Independent India was ratified, Dr Rajendra Prasad took office as the first ever president of India. While candidates backed by Nehru contested his presidency, every election that took place saw Rajendra Prasad win by massive margins. His differences with Nehru continued, especially during the Hindu Code Bill, which Prasad believed would preserve India’s culture and heritage, in the light of progress.

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His presidency was defined by the principles he practised. He accepted only half of his salary of Rs 10,000, and towards the end of his tenure, only accepted Rs 2,500! He had only one personal staff member, and was committed to doing chores himself. He loathed gifts, preferring the blessings and goodwill of his peers instead. In many ways, he was the people’s president, and his supporters were enamoured by his humility and the simplicity with which he conducted himself. For his service to the nation, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour in 1962.

Dr Rajendra Prasad is the only Indian President to serve 12 years in office.

When he resigned in May 1962, many gathered at Ramlila Maidan to bid farewell and pay their respects to the first President of India.

His wife passed away in 1962, and this took a toll on Prasad who then spent his final days in the Sadaqat Ashram of Patna. He passed away on February 28th, 1963.

While Indians recognise Dr Rajendra Prasad as a President, even before he showed his prowess in office, his struggles and dreams for an independent nation make him more than anything, an Indian patriot, and an unforgettable person who made a tremendous contribution towards building an India which was free from the British.

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From magnificent forts to dreamy palaces, India has a plethora of historical buildings that bring with themselves hundreds of years of human history. With intriguing legends and folklore, many of these time-tested forts and palaces also form the backdrop of epic stories of love, longing and loss.

Here are 7 forts and palaces that are the perfect place to relive some of India’s legendary royal romances.

1. Chittorgarh Fort

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With less than a week to go for its release, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat has been much in news over the last few months. From the resplendent colours and grand visuals of the trailer to the raging controversy around its storyline, the movie has left the Indian divided.

Well, no matter which side of the debate you choose to be on, we recommend a visit to the majestic Chittorgarh Fort in southern Rajasthan, where this epic poem (written by an Awadhi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540) is set.

The story goes that the tales of Princess Padmini’s legendary beauty were spread to lands far and wide by a talking parrot. Enamoured by these stories, King Ratan Rawal Singh travelled to Sinhala-dvipa (present-day Sri Lanka) to attend Padmini’s swayamvar, which he won. After a long journey filled with trials and adventure, he brought her to the Chittorgarh fort as his beloved queen.

Located about two hours away from Udaipur, the 7th century Chittorgarh Fort is one of the largest forts in India and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its main attraction is Padmavati’s Palace, a  three-storeyed white structure built on the banks of a lotus pool. Apart from this, the fort also houses intricately carved Jain temples, ornamental pillars, reservoirs, underground cellars and Mirabai’s temple where she is believed to have worshipped Lord Krishna.

2. Taj Mahal

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Often described as one of the seven wonders of the world, Taj Mahal is a sublime shrine to eternal love. The marble-clad marvel was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth.

It is said that Shah Jahan spotted Arjumand Banu (she was later named Mumtaz Mahal) at the marketplace in his royal complex. It was love at first sight and he married her soon after. Mumtaz travelled with Shah Jahan throughout India as his chief companion and beloved advisor. After Mumtaz died in childbirth, the devastated emperor decided to build her an everlasting and ethereal resting place.

The result was the Taj Mahal. Today, the cenotaphs honouring Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan lie within the stunning mausoleum, enclosed in an eight-sided chamber ornamented with pietra dura inlay and a marble lattice screen. But these gorgeous monuments are just for show: The real sarcophagi actually lie in a quiet room below, at garden level.

3. Mastani Mahal, Shaniwar Wada

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Witness to many historic events and the pride of Pune, Shaniwar Wada was first erected by Peshwa Bajirao — the prime minister of political leader Chhatrapati Shahu — in the year 1730. The imposing fort is also famous for having been the home of the beautiful Mastani (the second wife of Bajirao I, for some time after their marriage.

The great Peshwa and Mastani (the Muslim daughter of Bundelkhand‘s Maharaja Chhatrasal and his Persian-Muslim wife Ruhaani Bai) had fallen in love and married but Bajirao’s family refused to accept her as his legally wedded wife due to their different religions. So he later built a place for Mastani at Kothrud.

Though Mastani Mahal where she stayed at the Shaniwarwada Fort is no more, one can still see a doorway named after her at the fort and a small notice on its right that gives information about it. This is what it says: “Mastani Darwaza, which is mentioned in old records as Natakshala Gate, was named after Mastani, the beautiful second wife of Bajirao who was from Bundelkhand.”

4. Gujari Mahal, Gwalior Fort

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Once described by Mughal Emperor Babur as “the pearl among fortresses in India”, the lofty Gwalior Fort is built on an isolated sandstone hill and can be seen from every nook and corner of the tourist town. What few visitors know is that one of the many structures at this fort — Gujari Mahal — was constructed by Raja Man Singh Tomar for his favourite queen, Mrignayani, a Gujar princess.

Once while out to hunt in the jungle, Man Singh saw a beautiful tribal girl from the Gujar community successfully break apart two bulls locked in a fight. Bowled over by her beauty and strength, the King of Gwalior proposed marriage.

It is said that Mrignayani agreed to marriage after laying down three conditions before the smitten ruler. The first was that she would not follow the custom of purdah, the second was that she be allowed to accompany the king wherever he went, including into battle, and the third was that the water from her village is brought for her to her palace!

5. Qila Rai Pithora

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Over the years, the legendary love story of Prithviraj Chauhan (the 12th-century Rajput ruler of Ajmer) and Sangyogita has become as much part of the Indian folklore as the legends of Heer-Ranjha and Soni-Maliwal. Immortalised by the king’s court poet Chand Bardai in his epic poem, Prithviraj Raso, it has been told and retold multiple times, with each narration having its own slightly-varied version.

The most popular version of the legend states that Prithviraj Chauhan and Sanyogita fell in love after seeing portraits of each other that had been created by a painter from the Ajmer court, Panna Ray. However, Jayachand, the King of Kannauj and Sanyogita’s father was dead against the match and organised a swayamvar for her.

He also installed a statue of the Ajmer King at the door, mocking him as a doorman. But clever Sanyogita garlanded the statute!

Prithviraj, who had been hiding in a corner immediately sprang out of a corner where he was hiding and whisked his new wife off on a horse to his fortified city — Qila Rai Pithora. Today, the remnants of this citadel’s walls lie scattered across south Delhi, a testimony to this tale of love and valour.

6. Roopmati’s Pavillion, Mandu Palace

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Perched on a picturesque plateau, the historic town of Mandu is home to some of India’s finest heritage architecture —  palaces, tombs, monuments and mosques —as well as impressive baobab trees, originally from Africa. While all these monuments look visually stunning among their rustic rural setting, the most romantic of them all is Roopmati’s Pavilion, which sits serenely overlooking the sprawling plains below.

A singer blessed with a golden voice, Roopmati was the Queen of Malwa. Sultan Baz Bahadur had met her during a hunting expedition, fallen in love and asked for her hand in marriage. Roopmati acquiesced with one condition: that the king builds her a palace from where she could see her beloved River Narmada.

He agreed and built both Roopmati’s Pavilion and the reservoir of Rewa Kund for his beloved. However, their love story had a tragic ending: emperor Akbar’s army, led by general Adham Khan, attacked Mandu. Baz Bahadur was killed and unwilling to submit to the invader, the heartbroken queen poisoned herself.

7. Rai Praveen Mahal

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Orchha literally means ‘hidden place’ and it stays true to its name! Once the capital of the mighty Bundela Rajput kings, the historic town lies nestled on the boulder-strewn banks of the Betwa river. One among its many beautiful monuments is Rai Praveen Mahal.

Interestingly, the romance-infused story behind this time-tested palace is Bundelkhand’s own version of Anarkali–Salim story, except that this is no tragedy! Described by poet Keshav Das in his poems, the deep and abiding love between the king of Bundelkhand Indrajit and courtesan Rai Praveen has become a part of the local folklore.

A gifted danseuse, singer and poetess, Rai was known as the “Nightingale of Orchcha” and her fame was such that it had even reached the ears of Mughal Emperor Akbar. According to a popular folktale, having heard of her beauty and talents, Akbar summoned her to Agra as an addition to his harem. But the witty courtesan spoke her way out of Akbar’s heart who sent her back to the King of Orchha.

Today, Rai Praveen Palace is a popular tourist destination with fountains, underground bathing rooms and murals of Rai in various dance poses (plus one of Raja Indrajit on horseback). The fort also houses a Tope Khana (cannon foundry) and a formal Mughal garden.

Also Read: Seen the Padmaavat Trailer? Here’s What History Says About This Saga!

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Kodalia district, in South 24-Parganas, will be a one-of-a-kind tourist district, if the West Bengal Government’s plans to combine two sets of historical sites are successful.

While the sites linked to ancient history, Tilpi and Dhosa, are from the Buddhist era, the modern historical site is the ancestral house of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, one of India’s most revered freedom fighters.

This way, the ambitious project is combining two different eras—the fifth-century Christian Era and the other from the nineteenth century—to form one single tourist district.

Tilpi and Dhosa, contain 2 of the 22 Buddhist stupas, believed to have been visited by Chinese explorer Fa Hien. According to an official, the site contains an ancient furnace, in which smiths used to melt silver, copper and iron, to cast them into coins.

In February 2006, excavations began, and a structure consisting of concentric squares was unearthed at Dhosa. This is reported to be the remains of Buddhist stupa, proof that at some point, a thriving Buddhist civilisation probably flourished here.

The other site which is pivotal to the government’s plans is the Haranath Lodge which is 258 years old and is known locally as ‘Subhaser Bari.’ Subhash Chandra Bose’s family moved from Mahinagar in Burdwan to this village in 1760, and the house was built by Haranath Bose, Netaji’s grandfather.

The sleepy locality of Kodalia comes alive on January 23, Netaji’s birthday, and many tourists visit the house to pay homage to him.

Chittapriyo Bose, Netaji’s grand nephew, spoke to the Times of India and said, “Both domestic and international tourists come here,” adding “We have a 250-year-old Durga Puja and Saraswati and Laxmi pujas that are celebrated to this day. These festivals are occasions when the Bose family, scattered all over the world, come together. All my grandfathers spent a large part of their childhood in this house.”

The iconic house, on the 10-cottah plot (a cottah is a unit of area mostly used for measuring land parts of in India, and is roughly one-twentieth part of a bigha) and the adjacent pond, will be restored to their former glory. This is thanks to a Rs 77 lakh restoration project being undertaken by the state archaeology and public works department.

The main building, the pathway leading to it, and the thakurdalan (an altar to worship God) will see restoration and landscaping work. The government plans to make this a heritage building and wishes to build a museum, celebrating Bose, on its premises.

You may also like:– 10 Rare Pictures of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose That Everyone Must See

Officials are hoping that together; the two sites will give visitors a deeper sense of the myriad twists and turns of Indian history.

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“Tum Mujhe Khoon Do, Main Tumhe Azadi Dunga”

(Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom.)

Netaji’s voice resounded, loud and clear, at a rally full of Indians in Burma on 4 July 1944, to motivate and urge members of the Indian National Army to join him in his fight against the British Raj.

While his contribution as one of the most prominent heroes of the Indian National freedom struggle and driving force behind the Indian National army is undoubtedly a saga to be narrated for generations to come, the freedom fighter’s final days has been a major source of debate over the years.

Today we look at some of these death theories of the legend who fascinated us through his life, and continued to pique our curiosity long after his death.

Here are some of the theories that have surfaced and resurfaced about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the mystery of his alleged death.

The verified story has the freedom fighter dying on August 18, 1945, after his overloaded plane crashed in Japanese-ruled Formosa (now Taiwan).

The passengers aboard the flight were perturbed by a loud sound. The mechanics reported seeing something fall off the plane – presumed to be either the portside engine and the propeller or some parts of it. It wasn’t long until the plane crashed – exploding into flames. While Bose’s assistant Habibur Rahman fell unconscious for a while, Netaji allegedly wasn’t fatally hurt but completely soaked in gasoline.

Once Rahman was conscious, the duo decided to leave by the rear door. But they found hat exit blocked by luggage. Left with no choice, they ran through the flames at the front exit to escape.

It was at the time, ground staff approaching the plane to help, saw two figures running towards them. One man had turned into a human torch.

Needless to say, it was Netaji, whose fuel-soaked clothes caught fire. Though Rahman, assisted by the others, tried to douse the fire, they noticed that Netaji had suffered third-degree burns.

Historian Joyce Chapman Lebra writes that a truck which was utilised as an ambulance rushed Netaji and other injured passengers to the Nanmon Military Hospital, where Dr Taneyoshi Yoshimi, the surgeon-in-charge attended to Netaji at 3 PM. After witnessing his burns and assessing his situation, Dr Yoshimi doubted he would live.

Despite doing everything in their power to treat him, Netaji slipped into a coma and is reported to have died a few hours later, between 9 and 10 PM.

The body was cremated in the main Taihoku crematorium two days later on 20 August 1945, and the Japanese news agency Domei announced his death three days later.

The ashes were carried by a Japanese officer, Lieutenant Tatsuo Hayashida to Tokyo on 7 September and handed over to the president of the Tokyo Indian Independence League, Rama Murti. A memorial service was held in his honour on 14 September, post which the ashes were given to the priest of the Renkōji Temple of Nichiren Buddhism in Tokyo, where they continue to remain.

But this widely accepted story was refuted by Netaji’s followers, who believed that Netaji survived the crash and lived with a secret identity till he grew old.

One of the theories claimed the entire plane crash was a well-thought-of theory floated by the Japanese to help Netaji escape to the Soviet Union. This theory was proposed by Retd Major Gen GD Bakshi in his book, Bose: The Indian Samurai – Netaji and the INA Military Assessment.

He claimed that Netaji set up an Azad Hind Government embassy in Russia with the help of the then Soviet Ambassador to Tokyo, Jacob Malik. The Retired General claims that Netaji then made three radio broadcasts from Siberia, which unveiled to the British the truth of his successful escape to the Soviet Union.

Furious, the British then plotted against Netaji, getting permission from Soviet authorities to interrogate him. And it was during this interrogation that, Bakshi alleges, Bose was tortured to death.

Even Netaji’s lieutenants claimed that they never saw a body or photographs of him while being treated or post his death.

Another major theory about why soldiers serving in the INA refused to believe his death in the plane crash is attributed to Netaji’s senior officer JR Bhonsle.

Bhonsle was originally a British officer who joined the INA after the Japanese took him prisoner in Singapore. A little while later, apparently uncomfortable with Japan, he turned into a British agent. But Bose became aware of this later on, and so never allowed Bhonsle to know what his plans.

So when the Japanese delegation visited Bhonsle on 19 August 1945, to break the news of Netaji’s death, he responded by telling them Bose had not died, but his disappearance had been covered up.

It is also alleged that Mahatma Gandhi was sceptical about the air crash until he met a survivor of the crash – Netaji’s assistant Habibur Rahman – and was convinced otherwise.

Read more: The Fascinating Tale of Subhash Chandra Bose’s Secret Submarine Journey from Germany to Japan

For years after that, multiple stories of Netaji’s sightings continued to make the rounds. One such sighting was narrated by Lakshmi Swaminathan, later known as Lakshmi Sahgal, of the all-female Rani of Jhansi regiment of the INA, who said she thought Netaji was in China in spring 1946.

While some continued to believe Netaji was preparing for a final march in Delhi, another man claimed he met Netaji in a third-class compartment of the Bombay express on a Thursday.

But of the lot, the most bizarre theories that made the rounds continued to be the ones in the 50s and 60s, where stories claimed Netaji became a sadhu.

Historian Leonard A. Gordon writes about some associates of Bose, who formed an organization, the Subhasbadi Janata, which published claims like Netaji was alive and had attended Gandhiji’s cremation in Delhi in early February 1948 and became a yogi at a Shiva temple in Bareilly.

Bose allegedly practised herbal medicine and developed cures for tuberculosis and established the Shaulmari Ashram in 1959 taking the religious name Srimat Saradanandaji.

The real sadhu of Shaulmari continued to deny he was Netaji till he died in 1977.

Many doctored photographs of an ageing Netaji being in the Soviet Union or China continued to surface well until the 80s.

While one photograph showed him in Beijing parading with the Chinese Red Army, another rumoured him to be in a Soviet Gulag.

Of the modern theories, the one that garnered wide public attention – only to be proven false – was when a retired judge, appointed by the Indian Government in 1999 to undertake an enquiry into Netaji’s death, brought attention to the infamous ‘Gumnami Baba’ from the town of Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh aka by the religious name, ‘Bhagwanji.’

Historian Sugata Bose writes, “In October 2002, he (the judge) sent letters to members of the Bose family asking them to donate one millilitre of blood for a DNA match with “one Gumnami Baba,” who “some persons” had claimed was “none other than Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The evidence naturally did not support this bizarre theory.”

As historian Joyce Chapman Lebra sums up the legends about Bose death, she writes, “Stories persist that Netaji has become a sannyasi (holy man) and has been seen in the Naga hill country of Assam; that he was a member of a Mongolian trade delegation in Peking; that he lives in Russia; that he is in the Chinese Army. … Pictures have been produced to prove that Netaji is still alive. Bose’s family have announced at times that he is in hiding and will return to India when the time is right. In February 1966, Suresh Chandra Bose announced in the press that his brother would return in March. To date, however, Bose has not reappeared to contradict the evidence that he died in the crash on Taiwan. But the myth lives on.”

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“Just as street lights and the rounds of police constables bring to light anything wrong or unjust happening on the roads in the dark, the editorial pen brings to light the injustices and the wrongs of the administration.”

The above quote is from the first issue of Kesari, the Marathi weekly, which was founded in 1881 by Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

In 1878, British India passed the Vernacular Press Act, in an attempt to curb the freedom of the Indian press and the expression of disapproval of the British regime in oriental languages.

This instigated several journalists to fearlessly pick up their pens, and continue to publish nationalist articles calling for Swaraj, openly criticise British rule, and call people to action. They risked not only the wrath of the British but also, at times, their lives. Nevertheless, they remained dedicated to spreading their message.

The voices of millions of Indians would be heard. India would not give up the fight. Here are 5 journalists who proved that the pen could indeed be mightier than the sword.

1. Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Before Mahatma Gandhi, there was Bal Gangadhar Tilak. He is widely seen as the first leader of the Independence movement and was in charge of two publications—Kesari in Marathi, and Mahratta in English. The papers were started along with Gopal Agarkar and Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, who were both noted figures in the freedom movement. Both papers regularly published nationalist articles, criticising the British on several occasions.

When the British declared Shivaji VI, a minor king in Kolhapur, “mad,” Kesari and Mahratta published articles defending him and stating that in reality, his mental instability was because the servants and officials appointed to take care of him, were treating him poorly. They also suspected that the British were spreading a lie as a part of a larger ploy.

This was later brought to light in a defamation case filed by Mahadeo Barve when Kesari published letters allegedly sent by Barve to his subordinates in which he mentioned plans to poison Shivaji VI.

Eventually, the British arrested Bal Gangadhar Tilak on the charge of sedition, after an especially scathing report in which he supported revolutionaries who had tried to assassinate Douglas Kingsford, the then Chief Presidency Magistrate, and called for immediate Swarajya.

At his hearing, he had only this to say:

“In spite of the verdict of the jury, I still maintain that I am innocent. 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.”

Kesari continues to be published by Tilak’s descendants in association with the Kesari-Maratha Trust.

2. G Subramania Iyer

He was a freedom fighter and social reformer and chose to fight his freedom battle by establishing two prominent newspapers: The Hindu (which is still one of India’s most respected papers) and Swadesamitran (one of the first Tamil newspapers).

While Subramania Iyer was more comfortable writing in English, he started Swadesamitran four years after The Hindu to chronicle the Indian Freedom Movement, from the time of its inception, to incite a feeling of patriotism among Tamil people, and inspire them to join the freedom struggle.

He was determined that the discussion of India’s future be taken to the masses.

He tried to use his paper as a vehicle for reform but found himself in caught up defamation cases, which left him financially crippled.

While he served as editor for the publication, in 1908, he was prosecuted and sentenced for sedition by the British. He was never the same after he went to prison.

3. Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh

Brothers Sisir Kumar and Motilal started the Amrita Bazar Patrika, a daily which was published originally in Bengali and later in English.

The paper operated out of a battered wooden press which costed only 32 rupees!

The articles published in the Patrika were openly critical of the British regime and were instrumental in facilitating the freedom struggle. The Patrika journalists went through Lord Lansdowne’s trash to piece together a torn up letter detailing plans to annexe Kashmir. When the article was published, the Maharaja of Kashmir went to London to lobby for his independence. When Tilak was arrested for sedition in 1897, a ruthless editorial was published against the judge who declared the sentence.

You may also like: Power of Press: 5 Times India Was Rocked By Investigative Journalism

Sisir Kumar also advocated the need for Indians to be involved in administration through his articles, seeking to release Indians from economic exploitation.

The stories published in the Patrika were also one of the reasons why Subhas Chandra Bose and other students expelled from the Presidency College, Calcutta were readmitted.

The paper was involved in several altercations with Lord Curzon, who was then a Viceroy, describing him as, “Young and a little foppish, and without previous training but invested with unlimited powers.”

When both brothers passed away, the nationalist spirit of the paper was furthered by Sisir Kumar’s son, Tushar Kanti Ghosh.

4. K Ramakrishna Pillai

His name is synonymous with Swadeshabhimani, meaning “The Patriot,” a Malayalam publication which became popular for its articles against British rule in the princely state of Travancore.

The journal, which was owned by Abdul Khader Moulavi was edited by Pillai from 1906. He was given total freedom to publish, and publish he did!

His articles called for social transformation, openly attacking P Rajagopalachari, who was the Diwan of Travancore at the time, and urged the people of Travancore to demand self-rule, writing actively against corruption in the state.

In 1910 the newspaper was confiscated by the British, and Pillai was arrested and banished to Tirunelveli, where he spent the rest of his days writing and campaigning for civil rights.

Swadeshabhimani was revived by K Kumar of Travancore in the early 1920s and was in part re-established in tribute to the unforgettable work of Ramakrishna Pillai.

5. Madan Mohan Malaviya

While Malaviya is more popularly known as the founder of the Banaras Hindu University, his contributions to journalism during the freedom struggle are noteworthy. When the British government passed the Press Act and Newspaper Act, in 1908, Malaviya started an English daily, titled The Leader, in 1909, along with Motilal Nehru.

The publication remained politically oriented, publishing several of Mahatma Gandhi’s works, and remains a cornerstone of the writing of that era.

Malaviya was also one of the prime members responsible for saving the Hindustan Times from its demise, raising Rs 50,000 rupees to acquire the news agency, which he chaired from 1924 to 1946.

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Travelling is an exercise which enables you to explore places and find hidden gems and information, which you never knew about.

For example, did you know that Ratnagiri, a coastal town in Maharashtra, has a link with Myanmar?

Yes, it sounds a little odd, but this is a fact. In the late 19th century, the last king of Burma—Thibaw Min—was living in exile in the sleepy village of Ratnagiri.

The evidence of this is the Thibaw Palace in Ratnagiri, which was built to accommodate King Thibaw and his family, who were deported from Burma (now Myanmar) by the British in 1885.

The Thibaw palace is a beautiful red-brick structure strategically located on top of a hill. It is interesting to note that King Thibaw who lived in Ratnagiri for 31 years, spent less than half of these years in this palace.

The information chart at the palace mentions that the British had sanctioned Rs 1,25,000 for the construction of the palace in the early 20th Century. Construction started in 1906, and the king and his family moved into the palace in 1910.

While it was being constructed, King Thibaw took a great interest in seeing the structure come to life.

This is why, the palace, built of laterite and lava rock, on a 20-acre property, has traces of Burmese architecture.

The palace itself is a modest structure, in terms of scale and size, compared to the other palaces in the country. However, it draws a fair share of an audience during the annual arts festival organised by the Ratnagiri Arts Circle.

When I visited the palace, I was expecting a museum which spoke about King Thibaw and the way he lived. However, there is not enough information available to visitors, and there are very few items on display.

A room on the first floor is dedicated to the king. There is also a chart which gives out basic information about his life. I learned that he belonged to the Konbaung dynasty, and was very well lettered in Buddhist scriptures. He had also published law books and created a code of conduct for his officers and town heads. It also stated that in Burma, he spent the royal money for freeing slaves and for their rehabilitation.

His reign ended when Burma was defeated by the forces of the British Empire in the Third Anglo-Burmese War, on 29 November 1885, and he was captured and exiled (along with his family) to Ratnagiri.

Today, the Thibaw palace is a state-protected monument. In case you are intrigued with this story, you should read the book, ‘The King In Exile: The Fall Of The Royal Family Of Burma,’ by Sudha Shah, which chronicles the poignant life of the last king of Burma.

Photography by Om Prabhugaonkar

(Written by Arti Das)

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At the stroke of the midnight hour on August 15, 1947, when the world slept, India woke to life and freedom.

But have you ever wondered: If India successfully overthrew the British Raj on 15th August 1947, why did it wait for over two and a half years to become a Republic?

The history behind this is particularly interesting.

Even though India was declared a free country in 1947, it is important to understand that it did not attain complete freedom. She was still a constitutional monarchy under King George VI, with Earl Mountbatten as the Governor General, and had no democracy or constitution in place.

India’s citizens were denied the freedom of electing their own leaders – who could run the country.

It was only after the Constitution of India came into effect on 26th January 1950, replacing the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India, did our nation truly became a Republic.

So how did that happen? To start with, under the leadership of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar as the chairman, the Drafting Committee for a permanent constitution was appointed.

This committee worked vigorously and its final version was ratified by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November, 1949. But the Assembly still waited till 26 January, 1950 to formally promulgate it.

This was to commemorate that day in 1930, when the Indian National Congress first made the ‘Declaration of Total Indian Independence’, or Poorna Swaraj from the British Raj.

At the start of the freedom struggle, most political parties in India were in favour of dominion status, which would retain the monarch of the United Kingdom as the constitutional head of state of India, and preserve political powers for the British Parliament in Indian constitutional affairs.

Even the Indian National Congress, and Mahatma Gandhi, felt dominion status was the first logical step. A resolution demanding complete independence as early as 1927 was rejected, mostly because Mahatma Gandhi opposed it.

However, in December 1928, when the Indian National Congress passed a resolution demanding at least dominion status from the British, the empire rejected the idea, refusing to alter India’s ‘colony’ status.

This filled the Congress with rage, and such strong feelings fueled the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress in 1929, when the Congress finally voted for Poorna Swaraj.

Jawaharlal Nehru was elected President and veteran leaders like Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel returned to the Congress Working Committee.

The Congress Working Committee approved a declaration of independence on this day, January 26, 1930, which stated:

“The British government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses, and has ruined India economically, politically, culturally and spiritually…. Therefore…India must sever the British connection and attain Purna Swaraj or complete independence.”

Nehru hoisted the tricolour flag of India on the banks of the Ravi in Lahore. Over a 170 people had gathered to celebrate their ‘first independence day’ as early as 1930.

And thus, two decades later in 1950, 26 January was chosen to honour the sacrifice and battles of the freedom fighters.

Read more: How a Kerala Woman Made History By Becoming India’s 1st Female Supreme Court Judge

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A few kilometres away from the Golden Temple in Amritsar lies a little-known memorial with immense significance in India’s colonial history — the Saragarhi Memorial Gurudwara. The memorial pays homage to the unparalleled bravery of the 21 Sikh soldiers who fought against 10,000 Pashtun tribesmen on September 12, 1897, in what came to be known as the Battle of Saragarhi.

Despite facing such overwhelming numbers, the warriors (part of the 36th Sikh Regiment of the Bengal Infantry) valiantly defended the Saragarhi outpost in the rugged hills of the North-West Frontier Province. They set an example that continues to inspire countless soldiers across the world. Yet books on Indian history have often shied away from discussing this incredible tale.

Here’s the story of the Saragarhi’s legendary battle.

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In the late 1800s, tensions had heightened between Britain and Russia as the two nations battled over territories in central Asia. As such, threatened by both Russian forces and Afghan tribes, the frontier region between British India and Afghanistan had become a place of danger and constant unrest.

On September 12, 1897, a small British outpost called Saragarhi, 40 miles away from the garrison town of Kohat (in what is now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan), was attacked by 10,000 Orazkai-Afridi tribesmen.

Located between the main forts of Lockhart and Gulistan, this outpost was of vital importance. Through it, heliographic signal communications (Morse code using flashes of sunlight) could be maintained between the two forts.

Enemy tribesmen had surrounded Saragarhi with the intention of cutting communications and thus affecting troop movements of the British Indian Army. The 22 men inside were led by an experienced sergeant – Havildar Ishar Singh, who rallied his men to defend their positions.

Defending Saragarhi, 21 gutsy soldiers of the 36th (Sikh) Regiment of Bengal Infantry stood their ground against the mammoth onslaught.

Photo Source – Image Used For Representational Purposes Only

Led by Havaldar Ishar Singh — a feisty and experienced sergeant described by a British historian as “a nuisance in peacetime, he was majestic in war” — the men (aided by their helper, Daad) repulsed numerous attacks, killing scores of attackers.

The heliographic signaller among the Sikh soldiers at Saragarhi, Gurumukh Singh, sent an urgent message, “Enemy approaching the main gate…Need reinforcement”, to Fort Lockhart. Only to receive a disheartening reply — “Unable to breakthrough…Hold position.”

After discussed the situation with his men and reaching a consensus, Havildar Singh had his signaller send a single word as a reply: ” Understood.”

Outnumbered but undaunted, the Sikhs continued defending the outpost against the onslaught. They also used delaying tactics to give sufficient time to the two nearby forts to prepare themselves for the attack that would be directed towards them once Saragarhi fell.

Taken aback at the fierceness of the fight, the tribals shouted the message that if the Sikhs surrendered and joined them, they would be provided safe passage. It fell on deaf ears for Havildar Singh refused to budge an inch.

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However, unseen by the Sikhs soldiers inside the outpost, the enemy had begun digging beneath the walls to edge forward. Once this was done, they set fire to the surrounding shrubs to create a smokescreen that would hide their approach.

In the meantime, after fighting for several hours, the defenders had begun to run low on ammunition. The battle culminated when a section of wall caved into the underground tunnel and enemy soldiers took advantage of the breach to over-run the outpost.

Havildar Singh, grievously wounded by this time, displayed a final act of incredible valour and asked his surviving soldiers to retreat to the inner parts of the outpost’s building, while he stayed outside, with two other injured sepoys to face the tribesmen in one-on-one combat. Soon after, all three breathed their last.

By the time, the tribesmen managed to enter the building, only five Sikhs were left alive, including Gurumukh Singh. Engaging in fierce hand-to-hand combat, they fought bravely but were completely outnumbered.

As the day transitioned from afternoon to evening, Gurumukh Singh sent the final message from Saragarhi to Fort Lockhart: “Request permission to dismount and join the fight”. And received a prompt reply: “Permission granted.”

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Just 19 years, Gurumukh was the youngest among the Sikhs. Single-handedly taking down nearly 20 men with his bayonet, the braveheart went down fighting.

At the end of the seven-hour battle, all 21 Sikhs of Saragarhi had breathed their last. But they had made the most of their ammunition to inflict the maximum casualties on the enemy — over a hundred enemy tribesmen had been killed and the two British forts had been given crucial time to fortify their defences.

Fittingly, the heliograph, the reason why the men had fought to defend Saragarhi, would also be the source of their fame: details of their bravery were heliographed (and then telegraphed) back to Britain and sent ripples across the world.

The then commander-in-chief of the British Indian Army recorded his “admiration of the heroism shown by those gallant soldiers”. The British Parliament halted their session of 1897 mid-way to give the martyrs a standing ovation, with Queen Victoria praising the men and saying:

“It is no exaggeration to record that the armies which possess the valiant Sikhs cannot face defeat in war. 21 vs 10,000. To the last man, with the last round.”

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In an unprecedented gesture at a time when gallantry awards were not given posthumously, the 21 martyrs were awarded the Indian Order of Merit class III, on a par with the Victoria Cross. It was also the only time when an entire unit received the highest gallantry award for the same battle.

Every year, Indian Army’s Sikh regiment (which is also the most decorated regiment of the Indian army) also celebrates September 12 as the Saragarhi Day.

Interestingly, in September 2017, twelve army officers from England visited the Saragarhi memorial to pay tributes to warriors of the famed battle on its anniversary. As many as three films and a TV series are also being made on this battle.

While Akshay Kumar recently revealed the first look from his film Kesari, actor Mohit Raina also shared pictures from upcoming TV series, 21 Sarfarosh: Saragarhi 1897. Ajay Devgan and Randeep Hooda are also working on movies based on the historic 1897 battle, namely Sons of Sardaar: The Battle of Saragarhi, and Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Battle of Saragarhi.

Also Read: Battle of Basantar — When a 21-Year-Old Braveheart Single-Handedly Defeated 7 Pak Tanks

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“If I’m to die by the bullet of a madman, I must do so smiling. God must be in my heart and on my lips. And if anything happens, you are not to shed a single tear.”— January 28, 1948, Mahatma Gandhi.

January 30, 1948, remained crystal clear in the mind of Manu Gandhi, the great-niece of Mahatma Gandhi. Fondly known as Manuben, she was among the first eyewitnesses who saw the assassination of Bapu.

According to ‘Last Glimpses Of Bapu’, a memoir by Manuben Gandhi, it was almost as if the Mahatma had foreseen his death.

When told two Kathiawar leaders were looking forward to meeting him on the day, Gandhi, aged 78, told Manuben, “Tell them that, if I remain alive, they can talk to me after the prayer on my walk.”

He was already ten minutes late to reach the lawn behind Birla House where he conducted his multi-faith prayer meetings every evening. Walking with Manuben to his right and Abha Chatterjee (his adopted daughter) to his left, for support, he was approached by a ‘stout young man in Khaki dress’ who pushed his way through the crowd, pretended to touch Gandhi’s feet, and then shot him thrice at point blank range.

The man was Nathuram Godse. It was 5:17 on 30 January 1948.

While most might be familiar with the story of his death, did you know that Bapu successfully escaped five attempts of assassination in the past?

The book ‘Beyond Doubt — A Dossier on Gandhi’s Assassination’ compiled and edited by Teesta Setalvad published in 2015, is a collection of archival documents related to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

It talks about the five futile assassination attempts that Gandhi survived and the one he did not:

On June 25, 1934, Gandhiji was supposed to deliver a speech at the Pune Corporation auditorium. Accompanied by his wife, Kasturba Gandhi, they were travelling in a procession of vehicles, with two similar cars. On the way, luckily the car that the couple was travelling in was delayed at a railway crossing.

The first car, which was similar to the ones the Gandhis were travelling went on time. It was blown up by a bomb when it arrived, gravely injuring the Chief Officer of the Corporation, two policemen and seven others. Bapu’s secretary, Pyarelal in his book ‘Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase’ writes the bomb was the doing of anti-Gandhi Hindu extremists.

Setalvad writes about the deep agony Mahatma Gandhi expressed as he spoke about the attack saying,  “It is sad that this happened. I have no desire for martyrdom yet, but if it is to happen, I am prepared to face it. It is easy to kill me. But in trying to kill me, why are they inconsiderate to the innocents who are likely to be killed or injured along with me?”

Ten years later, in July 1944, the second attempt took place. After Bapu was released from house arrest from Aga Khan Palace, he was diagnosed with malaria. Ordered to rest, he went to Panchgani, a mountain resort close to Pune, to spend some quiet time.

A group of 18–20 men reached the resort via a hired bus from Pune and started yelling anti-Gandhi slogans all day long. So, Bapu decided to invite the leader of the protesting group for a chat. That leader was Nathuram Godse, who quickly rejected the invitation.

Things got worse during the evening prayer meeting. Godse rushed towards Gandhi with a dagger in-hand, yelling anti-Gandhi slogans. But fortunately, he was tackled by Manishankar Purohit and Bhillare Guruji. Setalvad writes they swore under oath about this attack before the Kapur commission, during the investigation of the Gandhi assassination conspiracy.

Though the men with Godse abandoned him, Mahatma Gandhi asked him to stay with him for eight days, in an attempt to understand Godse’s point of view.

And when Godse rejected the invitation yet again, a generous Bapu just let him go.

The third attempt took place in September 1944 and was testified yet again before the Kapur Commission. The Hindu Mahasabha wanted to sabotage the talk Gandhi was to hold with Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Setalvad writes how Nathuram Godse and LG Thatte threatened to stop Bapu from meeting Jinnah. When Gandhi travelled from Sevagram to Bombay (where the talks were to commence), Nathuram Godse, with his gang, mobbed the ashram to stop Gandhi from leaving Bombay.

During the later investigation, Dr Sushila Nayyar revealed Nathuram Godse was detained by people at the ashram from reaching Gandhi and was found in possession of a dagger. A police report on the incident provided to the commission mentions that a sword was seized from the ‘group leader’.

The fourth attempt took place in June 1946 when a train en route Pune, known as the Gandhi Special, was derailed between Nerul and Karjat stations. But thanks to the quick actions of the loco pilot, a tragedy was averted despite the engine being damaged.

The train smashed into large boulders on the track, but luckily the loco pilot had managed to slow down the train before the impact – saving the lives onboard.

Recollecting the incident at a prayer meeting a few days later Bapu said, “By the grace of God, I have escaped from the jaws of death. I have not hurt anybody. I can’t understand why there are so many attempts on my life. Yesterday’s attempt too failed. I will not die yet, I aim to live till the age of 125.”

Read more: From Soviets to Sadhus: A Look at the Conspiracies Behind Netaji’s Death

The fifth attempt is among the popular ones recorded on January 20, 1948. As per Setalvad’s book, Bapu was late in addressing the crowd due to technical difficulties.

It was the day Madanlal Pahwa, Nathuram Godse, Narayan Apte, Vishnu Karkare, Digambar Badge, Gopal Godse and Shankar Kistaiya decided to attend the meeting at Birla Bhavan to execute their plan.

The original plan was for to throw a bomb near the podium. And when people ran in, for Badge or Kistaiya to shoot Bapu.

While Madanlal and Vishnu were already at the Bhavan, the others were driven to the prayer meeting through the back gate by a taxi. The driver, Surjeet Singh, later became a witness in the Gandhi assassination trial.

Madanlal posed as a photographer. He approached one of the drivers at the Birla Bhavan servant quarters called Choturam and asked him to help him enter the podium where Bapu was sitting to take his photograph from the back.

Choturam wasn’t convinced and asked him why a backshot was needed and where his camera was – if he was a photographer.

To avoid more suspicion, Madanlal acted as if he was going back to board the taxi but sneaked up to the wall behind the podium.

‘…he placed the gun-cotton slab on the wall and ignited the fuse. The others saw that the plan was not succeeding and so they rushed to the taxi and left. The explosion was mild,’ writes Setalvad.

But he couldn’t escape. He was identified by Sulochana Devi, who lived close to the Birla Bhavan and rushed to the Birla Bhavan watchman to tell them. The watchman, along with a policeman, captured Madanlal, who during interrogation, revealed he was part of a seven-member gang who wanted to kill Gandhi.

The police even dragged Madanlal that night to the two hotels the members were staying at, but they had fled.

Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte – who escaped to their hometowns – arrived in Delhi on January 29, after procuring a Beretta automatic and eleven bullets.

The rest is history.

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On January 30, 1948, Mahatma Gandhi fell to the three bullets fired by his assassin Nathuram Godse during an evening prayer ceremony at Delhi’s Birla House. A few hours later, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru announced to the world the “light has gone out of our lives”.

Much has been written on Godse and co-conspirator Narayan Apte, who were convicted and hanged for the murder of the Father of the Nation on November 15, 1949. Yet few Indians have heard about the brave cook who didn’t just save Mahatma Gandhi’s life but also paid a heavy price for it.

A resident of Motihari district in Bihar, Batak Mian saved the legendary leader from being poisoned in 1917. Here’s his forgotten story.

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The year was 1917. On the afternoon of April 15, thousands had gathered at Motihari railway station (in Bihar’s East Champaran) to wait for a man who was destined to lift their lives out of misery.

It was 3 pm when Gandhi alighted at the station from a train coming from Muzaffarpur. He had come to probe the appalling conditions under which local farmers were being forced by the landlords to grow indigo.

Nobody knew it then but this fact-finding mission would snowball into the first satyagraha (policy of passive political resistance) that Gandhi would lead in the country and begin a new chapter in India’s independence struggle.

According to the book Champaran ke Swatantatra Senani, during this visit, Gandhi got a dinner invitation from a British manager of an indigo plantation named Erwin.

Aggravated by Gandhi’s interference in the workings of exploitative tinkathia system, the Englishman planned to assassinate Gandhi during this dinner.

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So Erwin told his cook, Batak Mian, to serve Gandhi a glass of milk laced with poison. To ensure that this was done, he offered substantial inducements as well as issued threats of dire punishment.

When the time came, the deeply patriotic cook did present the glass of milk to Gandhi, but also warned him of its contents and revealed Erwin’s sinister intentions behind it. Dr Rajendra Prasad, who would later go on to become India’s first president, witnessed the entire episode.

While Gandhi escaped the assassination attempt to successfully lead the Champaran Satyagraha, the man who had saved his life had to pay dearly for it. Dismissed from work, Batak Mian was thrown behind bars and tortured. His house was turned into a crematorium and his family was driven out of their village (Siswa Ajgari, a hamlet near Motihari).

With time, his act of bravery was erased from public memory, until 1950, when Dr Rajendra Prasad visited Motihari ( the then-headquarters of an undivided Champaran). As India’s first president alighted at the railway station, he was greeted by a huge crowd that had gathered to welcome him.

Just then, he witnessed a commotion near the entrance as a haggard old man tried to make his way towards him. Recognising him instantly as Batak Mian, Prasad walked up to him, hugged him and escorted him to the dais where he gave him a chair next to his.

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To the surprised and curious crowd, the President introduced the man sitting next to him as the person who had saved Mahatma Gandhi’s life. He then narrated the story of how the impoverished cook had turned down all kinds of inducements to poison Gandhi and faced brutal punishment as a result.

Had it not been for Batak Mian, Gandhi would have died, Prasad exclaimed, before wondering aloud what impact such a tragedy might have had on India’s independence. On learning about the hardships faced by the cook’s family, he also ordered the collector of the region to give 24 acres of land to Batak Mian and his three sons as a token of appreciation from the nation.

This incident seared Batak Mian’s story into the memories of Champaran’s residents. However, nearly a century after the Champaran Satyagraha, his grandchildren are still waiting for the government to honour its promise.

In 2010, after reading a report in the Hindustan Times on the plight of the family, then president Pratibha Patil had ordered the district magistrates of East and West Champaran to submit a report on action taken to fulfil Rajendra Prasad’s promise. But thanks to government apathy, the move did not lead to any action.

Today, the tombs of Batak Mian and his wife lie unattended in the nondescript village of Siswa Ajgari. His grandchildren live on a patch of land near the Valmiki Tiger Reserve forest and make a living as labourers.

It’s time India acknowledges the debt it owes to Batak Mian for saving the leader who would play a pivotal role in its hard-won independence. It’s time India gives this unsung hero the respect and recognition he deserves. For as actor Farooq Sheikh wrote in a letter to his family in 1996,

“If it weren’t for Batak Mian, India’s history would have been different.”

Also Read: The Untold Story of the Kathiawadi Doctor Who Had a Profound Impact on the Dandi March

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Attirampakkam, a small village 60 kilometres from Chennai, has one of the classic sites in the history of Indian Palaeolithic archaeology. Known for its sporadic research for over a century from 1866, recently the findings at Attirampakkam has fanned speculations about the current theoretical timeline of the evolution of technology in human beings.

The research in the site is under the care of Sharma Center for Heritage, led by Professor Shanti Pappu. And over the past 20 years, archaeologists from the Sharma Centre have unearthed a cumulation of over 7200 stone tools in the site – which is making archaeologists rethink history.

The tools found here have two major significances –

One is that they are of the type Levallois – a sophisticated technique for making stone tools that were believed to have first originated in Africa and Europe around 3,00,000 to 4,00,000 years ago.

And two, these types were thought to have been brought to India around 1,25,000 years ago. But luminescence dating puts these tools at 3,85,000 years back; shifting the timeline about 2,60,000 years.

The previous theory goes like this; hominins, our ancient human relatives, started making heavy stone tools at least 1.75 million years ago. But around 3,00,000 to 4,00,000 years ago, hominins in Africa and Europe started making tools by chipping stones into blade-like objects. At the time, this was a technological revolution and the Levallois tools were at the forefront of it.

Previous digs suggested that more advanced technology didn’t catch on in India until much later, after around 1,40,000 years ago. So the earlier theory suggests that modern humans brought their technological revolution with them to India when they first started leaving Africa around 1,25,000 years ago.

But this may be inaccurate as John Hawks, an anthropology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who wasn’t involved in the research, said to the Verge “These data show that (the earlier theory) was wrong,”. As these tools appeared in India the same time it did in Africa and Europe, John Hawks adds that “India is part of this network of cultural innovation that included Neanderthals and Africans,”.

By analyzing thousands of stone tools and dating the layers of soil where they were found, Shanti Pappu and her colleagues were able to reconstruct how technology changed over the course of nearly 2 million years.

The new discovery opens a world of possibilities, as humans fossils are yet to be encountered in the site. The tools, for now, can only serve as proof for a well-based assumption and the research isn’t quite sure what it replaces in history. But it does gives an outline of technological progress during the evolution of humankind.

Efforts from centres like the Sharma Centre for heritage plays an important part in discovering our linked pasts that lets us better understand ourselves better.

As John Hawks puts it “We carry our ideas with us, and trade ideas and exchange genes. They did that, too, even though the technology was much more basic than we use today.”

You can read more about the earliest habitants in India: Heard of Ramapithecus and Sivapithecus? Here’s the Story of India’s Earliest Human Inhabitants!

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