The Punjab connection

THEY say you can take an Indian out of India but never India out of an Indian. The same can be said of my relationship with Punjab. It is pretty clear to me that my umbilical cord with Punjab has never been cut even after three decades of having left it, so let me begin by remembering that golden period of the early 1970s up to 1990 when we lived there.

My Punjab connection and what it has meant to those of us who were not natural-born Punjabis suddenly came alive after I recently read some books written by friends and erstwhile colleagues of my husband. Books are my passion so I will start this new year by mentioning those authors and their works that rekindled my Punjab connection. Among them are three memoirs written by bureaucrats responsible for making Punjab among the best governed and prosperous states in the country up to the 1980s. Not just that, these were the years that also gave rise to the terrible times that followed: the rise of insurgency and the Khalistan movement. It seemed then that Punjab would never be able to shake off the legacy of hate and violence, and Hindus and Sikhs would never consider themselves brothers. Yet, for all the bloodshed and terror, Punjab did turn the corner and the tears and despair of that time are now almost forgotten by the new generation.

I have not come across any book that traces this historical arc as well as Ramesh Inder Singh’s recent book titled ‘Turmoil in Punjab: Before and After Blue Star’. RI (as he is popularly known), who was the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar at that politically sensitive time, was later Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. RI has given an excellent historical account of this important period in the life of the state. What impressed me deeply was how he spares no one, not even himself. Not all memoirists are able to turn the mirror upon themselves, since most petty minds like to think that but for their courage and brilliance, history may have been different. Nothing can be further from the truth, for all of us are culpable of some oversight and some judgmental errors.

In some ways, Punjab never recovered from the wounds inflicted on its industrial and economic development, and today, for the first time, it is in the hands of a new party and a new set of politicians who have little sense of where they are headed — leave alone where the state is going. In their defence, we can say perhaps that they are battling many of the problems — such as rampant drug abuse — that go back to the days of insurgency when drug trafficking was introduced from across the border. For anyone attached to Punjab, it is a book that makes one think deeply about how political apathy or playing games with power can ultimately destroy the very parties that indulge in petty power games. Blaming each other will only deepen the political crisis that Punjab faces today. I wish officers as honest as RI Singh have the courage to speak the truth, no matter how unpleasant.

This is a lesson that our own political parties and stakeholders need to heed. For, what does the politician gain if a polity is destroyed?

The other book that I have enjoyed is AS Dulat’s memoir ‘A Life in the Shadows’. Dulat, a legendary sleuth, also has a deep Punjab connection and it was in the early 1970s when we first met him in Chandigarh. Once he was picked by RAW, he lived far away from Punjab and did outstanding work in tracking India’s interests through a huge network of dedicated spooks. Dulat writes beautifully and holds the attention of the reader throughout this thriller of a book. His elegant and simple prose, his ability to reveal a lot by saying it in balanced prose, is a tribute to a man who must be an excellent listener and analyst. Both his earlier books were similarly gripping and his knowledge about the difficult state of Kashmir as well as Pakistan should be valued by those who handle such matters nowadays. His chapter on the current NSA alone needs to be read with care and deconstructed to separate his affection for the man from his awareness of the person’s character and aptitude.

Two other books written by people who have a long and distinguished connection with Punjab must also be mentioned. The first, by Tejinder Khanna, once Principal Secretary to Congress Chief Minister Darbara Singh, and who went on to became a distinguished secretary to the Central government and retired after serving as Delhi’s Lt Governor. Measured, poised and true to facts, his prose is very much like the author himself: a man who never put a foot wrong or gave rise to controversies.

The latest in this series is Ravi Sawhney’s ‘Living a Life’, a memoir that brought back fond memories of a time when we first met almost 52 years ago. Without a doubt, Ravi was the most handsome bachelor in the government then and broke many hearts when he married the vivacious Madhulika Bhandari. Known to have dated stunners like two Miss Indias and a man who could party and dance with the best, Ravi was also one of the most hard-working officers. He set up Punjab’s first milk cooperative plant, created several openings that became important manufacturing units and gave Punjab its first industrial direction. Yet, this filmstar-like officer also set up schemes in rural Punjab for marginal farmers and went to cattle auctions to check out the Murrah buffaloes to be bought for the poor, marginalised peasants of the Kandi area of Hoshiarpur district. We used to joke about how he was the only one who could spot a winner merely by looking from behind.

The final book I recommend is by Vandana R Singh who, like me, was married to a Punjab officer. Please read her book ‘The Bhagavad Gita’ that can hold its own among all the long list of scholars who have written about its philosophy and moral lessons. Vandana turned to this epic when she lost her moorings after the deaths of her father and husband in quick succession. This gives her book an immediacy and warmth that many who analyse its impact on the world do not have. By picking the shlokas to have a conversation with oneself has not only given her inner peace, it is the only way to make the book your own. A brave attempt, it is my favourite bedside read nowadays. Do read it.