AR Venkatachalapathy’s ‘Swadeshi Steam’ tells story of a swadeshi venture that challenged British

Salil Misra

INdian people’s struggle against the British was truly multi-faceted. Indians fought through non-cooperation, open defiance, underground violence and by courting imprisonment. There are also some notable examples where people fought the British by challenging their might in business. They started their own companies and competed with the British in order to undermine the British monopoly in business. Their business was not entirely motivated by profit-making and was completely at the service of anti-imperialist Indian nationalism.

VO Chidambaram Pillai (VOC), the hero of the book under review, was one such character. He set up his own business primarily in order to challenge and oppose the British. His is a story of great courage and heroism. In many ways, it is also a tragic story. The story of his life has been told most admirably by AR Venkatachalapathy in his book.

Shipping business in India was monopolised by the British. They had the resources, the technology and the necessary support from the state. VOC decided to challenge it by starting a small shipping company to ferry goods and passengers from Tuticorin on the eastern coast in South India to Colombo in 1906. This was the time of the Swadeshi movement. The idea of Swadeshi, which germinated in Bengal, had reached many parts of the country. VOC was a firm believer in Swadeshi and decided to bring this idea to the field of business.

It was not an easy task to float an Indian shipping company in those times. Almost everything went against this venture. The planters, who would use shipping to transport labour, were all Europeans. The necessary capital for the business venture was not easily available. There were all the risks in competing with the big fish, the British India Steam Navigation Company. Many Indians readily acquiesced in the British idea that Indian business lacked character and enterprise, and that Indian capital, being ‘shy’ in nature, would not easily enter the industry. In short, there were many political, social and psychological barriers in starting a purely Indian business venture.

It was thus against all odds that VOC decided to float an Indian shipping company. The main idea was to fight the British, not just in the political field but also in the field of business. Quite unsurprisingly, the preparations for the shipping business were very similar to starting a political campaign. All Indians were invited as shareholders in the joint stock company. The price of each share was kept as low as Rs 25 to enable common people to become shareholders. Europeans were not allowed to buy shares. VOC toured many areas, gave speeches, made appeals and asked people to support the Swadeshi venture. His campaign was very successful and nearly 1,700 shareholders bought 20,000 shares in the Swadeshi venture. His company was called Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company (SSNCo).

However, the venture flopped. The business, which was essentially politics in disguise, also floundered at the altar of politics. This was the time of the Swadeshi movement and the differences between moderate and extremist factions of the Congress had become very pronounced. The two actually clashed at the Surat session of Congress in 1907, leading to a split. VOC was a follower of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and a fierce votary of extremist politics. His radical and anti-British positions antagonised his moderate partners in the SSNCo, who conspired to remove him from all the important positions in the company. The founder of the company was reduced to the position of an outsider. This was just the opportunity the British were waiting for. The bureaucratic machinery of the British government swung into action, slapped charges of sedition against VOC and put him in jail for life. His sentence was later reduced to six years. By the time he was released in 1912, the SSNCo venture had wound up. This was also the end of VOC’s political career.

However, when many years later, in 1946, a Swadeshi steamship company was set up in Tuticorin, the main ship of the company was given the name of Chidambaram, after VOC. This was a fitting tribute to the man who had dared to implement his Swadeshi dream against all odds.

‘Swadeshi Steam’ narrates the story of a man who failed. The failure notwithstanding, it is an extremely important story not just in itself, but also because it opens into many larger themes. The story of the Swadeshi movement was confined largely to Bengal and Maharashtra. The book has enriched our understanding of the struggle by bringing important inputs from South India. It has also opened new vistas for an understanding of the politics of anti-imperialism.

The struggle against the British was carried out also in the field of commerce and business. Above all, the book highlights the truly federal character of Indian nationalism. VOC’s politics exemplifies a vision of nationalism in which the Tamil and Indian identities complemented each other instead of being at odds with each other. VOC wore his regional patriotism on his sleeve. And his Tamil patriotism created openings for his uncompromising commitment to Indian nationalism. One facilitated and enriched the other. VOC’s life illustrates this extremely crucial facet of Indian nationalism, as it developed during the course of the freedom struggle.

Recorded history has generally focused on accounts of successful ventures, not failed ones. However, it is important to realise, as the book demonstrates, that history can be equally, if not more, instructive in telling the stories of failures.