By Satish Aparajit
India woke from its slumber on 26th May, 2014. India till then represented a nation of half-naked fakirs, the fabled rope tricksters. Tigers roamed our streets and our good old and reliable Ghoda Gadi or Bail Gadi was not confined to the villages but was the most important mode of transport. We were living in a country where there was no infrastructure at all, no roads, no railways, no airports. It was a wild lawless country replete with jungles, snake charmers, dacoits and thugs.
There were no schools, universities or institutions of higher learning.
Hospitals were a far cry, probably only Hakims treated the entire population with some Jadi Buti (Ayurvedic) medicines. This could be partially true as the mythological story of the Ramayana mentions how Hanuman carried Sanjeevani (a herb called Selaginellabryopteris is a lithophyte with remarkable resurrection qualities) by flying from the northern side of Mount Meru where he found the Nila-mahagiri, twin peaks and then uprooted the lifesaving herb and flew to Lanka. He used this to revive Lakshman from near death and back to life. Indians had knowledge of medicines before any other human beings in the world and the Garuda that flew Ram was the precursor for aeroplanes.
There were some shipping lines that carried the goods from this country to various locations around the world. However these liners were owned by the foreigners. Shivaji was known to have started one of the first navies of the world but then there was no nation called India.
India despite its glorious past seemed to have gone into a comatose state after Independence till May 2014 and like “manna from heaven”, the greatest of the Kings was para-dropped to run the Kingdom called India or is it Hindustan or Bharat? The King perched himself on the throne, reminiscent of Rama returning after exile and celebrations on a scale never seen before took place. The common chant is that nothing was done in the country and the leaders in the past had no vision, lack of planning and only one thing that prospered was “corruption”.
Within a few days of taking over the kingdom called India, a magic wand was wielded and lo and behold, the entire kingdom was transformed immediately. The janta was awestruck in disbelief that suddenly their kingdom had changed. There were schools, colleges, universities, medical and engineering colleges. Another swing of the arm, there appeared IITs, AIIMs, IIMs, etc. Huge infrastructure in terms of roads, dams, hydroelectric projects, thermal power stations, big industrial growth began. Newer modes of transport – buses, trains, cars, bikes and aeroplanes appeared. The India of rope tricksters and naked fakirs became the third largest economy in the world. Some magic that. The statisticians created statistics to fulfill the requirements for the king’s satisfaction. Wah wah echoed everywhere. The colour of the nation changed to saffron.
The armed forces received weapons and birds that flew faster than sound and, of course, the ship that carries birds. No war was won before this king arrived, 1947-48, 1962, 1965, 1971, 1999-2000 were all mythological stories since we had primitive forces without any weapons. Now, we suddenly carry out surgical strikes, destroy the enemy and warn other surrounding kingdoms who continue to aggressively push themselves into our land and occupy it. Wah re wah, my King.
Before May 14, there was no ISRO, no satellites were sent to the outer world for various requirements of today but, then, another swing of the arm and we land on the moon. Such is the power of this king that everything happens immediately. Hats off to the new wave leaders, their vision and their ability to create and build a modern vibrant India, or is it Bharat, into a powerful force to reckon with.
(Satish Aparajit is a retired Wing Commander)
