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9/19/1960 - India: One Morning in Delhi by Granville S. Austin

NOT FOR PUBUATION INSTITUTE OF P T WORLD AIFAIR Marina Hotel India One Mornin Delhi New Delhi Romm No September Mr Richard H Nolte xecutive DireCtor Instl Current World Affairs Madison Avenue NeW YorI New York Dear Dick A thirty rising ichen acros court comes hrough sZrikes across burning snake There twohings ZhecurZainsdgobacktobed Theineviable blissuntileigh Zhe bearer beside moves silently bathroom cover Zeapo azare between arrival often Beside Delhi Saesman The Staesman runninghe Congo story fronZ month opera bouffe which I really focus A quick enough before Theeacomessyandbro fromthehob handledpotand issrong enough anybody comes The sugar invariably holds cubes deduce I A halfcupisenoughtogeouofbacrosshewailesbyhe cheval mirror which looms disconcertingly iarge bathroom toward splash splash during night stickiness Dressed zalle comes mattress pocicet Te Saesm I sauner lways sauner paces minute means hroughhesecondroomowardhe frondoor inZheformofab screen This white ceiling With mayonnaise colored ceiling pendant center C0 faded flowers V0Ver floor Between heaven earth bookcases bearer iZing which SI phone apricious telephone scratched posoffice dohiswocanebottomedchairs asZanding Tbnkinese peasan assel small tables oCagonai hichsuch fuchsiatinashray there ldec0raions Sims Cpbell style maary being embraced srpnosedn caPine nsecor suspec The Zhe oppdSite Wll being I srellquiteiriilingconfession cOIdn itbeelevis9 Outside split bamboo screen these retaining walls Delhi still night especially shadow breeze blowing freely across roofless verandah shaking neeme The neeme peepul trees common India The story recruits usage right brought sergeants peepul their neeme their right called cadence Peepul neeme peepul neeme The street below concrete balustrade flaking yellow paint awake bustling government offices shops until I0 business offices until Across street Delhi Branch Indo Soviet Cultural Society shares premises Ayurvedic traditional Hindu medicine dispensary Pandit Shree Krishan Multani Vaidya On dispensary building Sikh graying beard musters flock scooter rickshaws seaters built Vespas Off right front hotel group drivers mostly Sikhs turbans their fancied color stand sprawl chatting around their yellow topped Two pretty walking street saree other Their swing freely their thighs behinds through cloth The white collar worker white pants shirt tucked square bottomed shirt hanging loose already abroad sharing freshness white dhotied shirt tails hanging Dress become informal since departure British Ribby horses pulling wheeled seater tongas loaded passengers freight Cars taxis scooters tongas pullcars pushcarts thousands bicycles built Raleigh styled rider upright hunched handlebars traffic moves threads shuttles sight detached altitude The philosophy drivers catch catch result hectic genial seriously their other The creed violence animal extends verandah A perches whistlingfr H Marina while three others circle float above street tipping their tails either rudders Three hooded crows balustrade beaks peering tilted heads alert suspicious movement while magpie srucs dapper ignoring three bruisers The other I mongoose along lower verandah disappear drain Both pigeons magpies bathroom transom squawk during Down breakfast through which regrettably longer since partial prohibition drinking public liquor Tuesdays Fridays Delhi A friend going write Gin Empire I never guessed corollary empire The dining dusky rectangle peopled silent eaters except visiting Indonesian officers sometimes laughter The waiters white pants white atchkan shoes option Red trimned turbans distinguish waiters trimmed One saturnine Muslim other Christian seemed think I should there happy waiter I anyway A young sprout white pants blazer arrived headwaiter Methodist One night introduced Rev H A Townsley district superintendent Methodist Church Southern Asia American nearly years India The Reverend group missionary stamp introduced Indian Bishop I escaped smiling invitation anytime Most waiters either Christians Muslims three Hindus New Delhi cosmopolitan enough Hindu orthodoxy though prohibition reformist orthodoxy Gandhi others caste relationships dining habits something cannot wiped night despite forward taken present Constitution effect abolition untouchability exemplary unorthodox behavior Nehru other public figures Brahmins Indi loose groups those priests seers wisemen scholars following traditional occupation priestly caste Brahmins simply birth occupation anything schoolteachers clerks cooks Brahmins orthodox Hindus north central across India United Provinces Central Provinces South Punjab Bihar vegetarians Though Indians generally forego Indians Hindus mutton especially Bengal northern Punjab Kashmir eating quite common The taboo against eating extends people eating foods touched touching dishes containing In hotel where served every though vegetarian dishes available therefore Hindu waiters There might guests would object being served caste Hindus Strictly speaking course Hindu would reject being served Hindu This dying public eating places though homes particularly South India Mason Dixon Line where orthodoxy still strong Christian visitor outside caste would house different family From stories I women strictest observers taboos rituals guarding other women world moral inner sanctums After Statesman breakfast porridge cornflaes bacon toast marmalade coffee available mornings unless I arranged interview public begin their homes after eight ample Kashmiri determined glides lowers rself chair wipes pearls sweat upper squares shoulders giving Hindustani lesson Hindustani misused frequently misunderstood To means language street Northern India mixture Sanskrit based Hindi Persian based Urdu which comes closest being Lingua Indica excludes English Hindi Devanagari script official language India Article Constitution estabshes_this fifteen years commencement Constitution English continue official purposes Unlon which being immediately before commencement In years Prime iinister Nehru clear English occupy position facto official language longer specified years Hindi define English King English James George V Edinburgh Siou City Manhattan Brooklyn English Carl Sandburg English Hart Crane English Hindi purist Hindu rightist language using Sanskrit words which often Twentieth Century meaning He would purge Hindi foreign taint Urdu especially other Indian languages Give Sanskrit wallah syllable This desire toward Sanskrit language scriptures language vaguely Muslim belief fount purest Arabic Here rejection Hindu religious rightists Muslim influence Urdu major components Hindustani Persian based language usually written Persian script It India Muslim conquerors remained Court I until Century Though there probably millions Hindus speak Urdu Nehru comes Urdu Persian speaking addition English course people language Muslims If there Partition Muslims under Jinnah themselves apart Gandhi would almost certainly achieved Hindustani national language But flobded India after Partition gained support Hindi enthusiasts It doesn appear losing strength This Sanskritized Hindi being Used North Indian newspapers which seems because people understand would expect circulation The newspapers Arab example Arabic understandable Baghdad Rabat overcoming differences dialect It seems paradox newspapers reverse process become purveyors recherche tongue Many persons course define Hindi narrowly They speak broad Hindi language absorb other Indian languages become universal I suspect talking about Hindustani impolitic When Mrs Dar teaching Hindustani declaims social subject doesn sweeper house sweepers allowed clean bathrooms forbid touch object house because untouchable mportance Kashmiri Brahmin community Then either formidable expression forward displaying generous charms The lesson finished glides again rollers I arranged Dr Hirday Nath Kunzru O0 house The scooter rickshaw flock Sikh around Connaught Circus spokes Lady Hardinge Road Irwin Road Parliament Street Janpath formerly Queensway Curzon Road There minimum street renaming since British departed Curzon Road still Curzon Road though Viceroys cordially hated partitioned Bengal whose arrogance extended white This another colony Vietnam Of Frenchmen whose names graced Saigon streets silent tributes military defeat Louis Pasteur survived purge ConnaUght Circus bright street curving between yellow walls arcades shops selling everything would expect Curzon Road New Delhi streets lined avenue chwould credit Paris Lie leisurely shade A wrinkled diEniied crouches brass earthenware sellin water passers while mechanized sells Cold Re rieraed pushcart pumping tumblers customers Another woman green saree squats square beamed quick jerks wrist roast while behind bullocks munch husks On right underneath bicycle tires repairman shallow water between knees testing leaks His tools arrayed ground Beside watching owner question squats biceps knees hands hanging Just beyond these where squats railing perched ungainly group young girls waiting school Most slender light brown faces angular enough square chins cheekbones shadows their All sleek heads precise center parts gathered thick waist length braids They flowered sheaths white trousers which gathered ankle above embossed sandals The sheaths thigh fronts backs billow breeze blows girls laugh H N Kunzru small slender years He narrow profile vertical forehead aquiline square He He reminds vertical sheathing Vermont weathered outside solid bright underneath Kunzru active Indian politics since World War I early India constitutional history Liberal Party delegate London discuss constitutional reforms He member United Provinces Legislature member government committees delegations since thirties Always independent politics spoken issues arose following though close Liberals early thirties The Congress majority Constituent Assembly disliked majority views Kunzru tough tamer Kunzru headed private organizations important being Servants India Society religious roots founded Century Masses national scale He school Congress Indian statesmen nation still listens voice respect Kunzru talked mostly relationship between Central Government State governments members Constituent Assembly envisaged relationship during constitutional framing period relationship since Constitution effect January This relationship between States Centre exists levels probably important being legal constitutional level psychological level The diversity India hundred million people speaking least fourteen major languages adhering several major religions innumerable sects believing COnsciously unconsciously their first allegiance beyond family perhaps caste regional culture based language which Nationality defined K C Wheare priest federal systems calls sense which people bound together marked others bycommon sympathies common snpathies which arise usually possessionof common language common common religion In Syria Lebanon parts Ottoman Empire during latter Century nation meant religious cultural community which belonged larger political organization which exercised administrative authority supposed Turkey Arabia This usage India perhaps through British experience areas began Muslim Nation Hindu Nation Talk Tamil nation virulent demands Naga State Marathi speaking state Gujerati speaking state decade harvesting those seeds The innocent manife station sentiment perhaps doctrine development regional cultures eventually stronger India people culturally mature secure consider political cooperation higher level smaller threat their national entity With strong tendency these cultural groups which think themselves nations directions vital question technique India mother nation together Must there Centre administrative financial State governments Is strong Centre necessarily weakened because there States instead Should India loose federation somewhat resembling titutional American Confederation These questions legal constitutional level But psychological level Units manacled Centre their chains snarling obedient until reason breaks learn always their hands properly front cuffs taken If doubts restraint breeds docility notbeAeve loose federation decide seems Nehru course mother nation India together administratively preach constantly danger India these separatisms absolutely necessary separatist forces Maharasthra Gujerat Nagaland above arouse resentments hatreds never drive groups individual leaders ditch commitments never disavow these things eventual unity harder impossible achieve I believe India coming apart seams government generally effective I reason continue But great measure emotional unity India after British Constructive effort replace imperialism India motive force Kunzru confreres faced after Independence The majority Constituent Assembly wanted strong Centre Kunzru looked America their Federal model Huge India could unitary British Constitution though Indians British export federalism expressed Act See GSA thoughts Constituent Assembly majority Congress Though majority wanted strong Centre wanted unitary government legislature preferred grant power Centre would States viable political organizations As other Indians Kunzru believes demand autonomous states India fathered Muslim demands political separation British Hindus The strong Center implicit events Kunzru emphasized again again Partition convulsed Nor India There serious Communist menace Hyderabad succeeded Hyderabad might tried Andhra there trouble Bengal The nation absorbed former Princely States governed methods ranging elected legislatures thumbscrews There danger Kunzru desire rapid development State might close achieve objectives Aware these dangers Constituent Assembly wrote Articles Constitution sanction preventive detention operation State government President Parliament without consent Governor State government Ordinance Parliament session proclamations emergency resident where security country threatened external aggression internal disturbance believes financial stability India danger Central power control certain suppli normally purview States years commencement Constitution sanctioning indefinite period giving xecutive Directions President government former Princely State The Emergency Provisions allow President which means Council Ministers Central Government President figure supposed Parliament advise Units their Executive power legislate Unit legislature bring Unit finances under Central control suspend certain Fundamental Rights right Courts regard enforcement Fundamental Right Generally speaking Kunzru approved powerse No doubt Centre needs these powers forms Constitution cannot Constitution itself The people easily misled these things happen electorate unable discharge functions repres entatives selfish In India No person shall deprived personal liberty except according procedure established Article Constitution The omission process phrase American Constitution caused fight Constituent Assembly still source contention Speaking issue related unsettled conditions India Kunzru difficult accept normal legal procedure should exist emergency The other question India inherited certain powers British Government Should given He still believes Central takeover Unit governments government State cannot carried accordance provisions Constitution contradiction principle adult suffrage which favor Constituent Assembly skeptical If there adult suffrage electorate therefore responsible government power believes electorate ought remedy situation there shouldn recourse Central I think though Kunzru Would apply government alone malicious government subvert principles Constitution He believes Central control State financial matters though Central control certain matters essential He majority Congress wrote these provisions Constitution fearing Communist State governments Congress governments might nelth Central Government policy direction Congress Work Committee One party India deprived reasonably democratic government brought stability Ordinance power abnormal power Kunzru When times duration Ordinauce after Parliament resumed sitting I agreed power because disturbed conditions There Ordinances promulgated since I impugn their faith government inclined Because months elapse between sessions Parliament because Ordinance remain valid weeks after Parliament Ordinance remain effect about seven months Kunzru thinks between promulgation Ordinance summoning Parliament whichmay consider there reasonably rapid communlcaton transport established throughout India The telegraph airplane allow Parliament summoned should preference allowing Ordinances remain force Indians foreign observers discussed exhaustingly amount control Centre States should independent States Should Kunzru never believed extremely strong Centre panacea India neither myopic Statesrighter After years experience present Constitution thinks States still profoundly affect Centre The States financial autonomy taxes spend revenue subject tothe electorate Kunzru He think article Constitution State Central permission borrow money already Centre money nullifies independence Some States Centre I under impression Nor think crucial nearly States their normal running expenses their budgets figures count Central Just Certain people today notably Minoo Masani Swatantra Party leader claim Super Government Planning Commission wiped vestiges State ependence Those think argue planning Centre rection execution comes Centre Centre grants money States carry plans thereby controlling Kunzru believes States sedulously propagate Centre controls States profoundly affect Centre The democratic legislatures States strong brake Centre Centre impress national electorate national matters matters affecting States If State legislatures affect Centre Professor Morris Jones makes point Centre cannot itself carry development programs plans States If Centre States along Central program suffer And States certainly adversely affect other matters Central interest their areas Morris Jone evidence contradicts Masani contentions Civil servants State governments first unications States about national Planning Cummission framework total mount money available rough priority projects undertaken The States themselves fleshing skeleton their plans Centre where Morris Jones changes place MorriS Jones questions Kunzru point about electorate States influencing Centre The electorate could directly Provincial Congress Committee might influence Working Committee All India Congress powerful force could exerted powerful State Chief Minister Roy Bengal Kher Bombay would Central Government I electorate unless These arguments beginning temper belief Indian Constitution Unitary Federal disguise Outside house after interview I waited corner empty scooter Heat India doesn overhead climbs Like leaves sweat sprout scalp An instant breeze comfort comes scooter The hotel sanctuary ceiling It morning Sincerely Granville Austin Received New York September