Posted on: Apr 16 2004

Gentlemen: May I add to your debate: I come with no intention to shower praise on England. Yet in your postings here, there was something that had a sharp level of resonance to an introductory chapter in my book.

Part II. Chapter 4:(The International Effect-a preparatory reflection).

There is a string of events in history that places Britain in a position of difference: But what is the underlying reason for these phenomena. Surely it is not just individual might or intelligence. For, there surely are individuals in many nations, who can compete with the British, in all aspects.

Let me quote from my book:

The seeming coincidences

· One may say that the Magna Carta, that was signed in England, which indeed shows that the nobility could debate with the Monarchy, happened in England as a coincidence;

· That Sir Ferdinand Drake* could rule the seas and defeat the Spanish power both in Europe and in the Americas, was a coincidence and his destruction of the Spanish Armada was a piece of pure luck;

· That the small England could have so many geographical discoverers because of their proximity and affinity for the seas;

· That small groups of English men could go out into the newly discovered geographical areas and take over the leadership of these societies and transform them from strangle-dom to liberated societies because they were more capable than the natives in both physique and intelligence;

· That Robert Clive*, a young English youth, with just a handful of men, more of natives, could defeat the combined power of the French and the mighty Indian Emperor and Kings due to a string of strange coincidences that led to the defeat of his enemies;

· That the Sepoy Mutany*, which has been later described by Indian Historian as the First War of Independence, which was going gloriously for the Indian suddenly turned disastrous for the Indian side because of the brilliance of the Military leadership that immediately reached India from England.

· That everywhere the English went, they ultimately won and ruled as a single political entity and not as mutually competing states, as has always happened in India even if a son is given power to rule a province, can be taken as proof of the innate intelligence of the English people.

· That Industrial Revolution* commenced in England due to a strange historical coincidence.

· That the common Englishman contributed much to all sort of sciences, including Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Medicine etc. because, due to some factor of luck, they had some scientific genes in their chromosomes.

· That almost all wars, with the possible exception of one with their own people, that of USA, they have won at the end, braving and bearing all reverses and adversities because God always saves their Kings and Queens.

· That megalomania* and dictators are not a common English phenomenon, because of again some historical coincidences.

Well, all these coincidence and pieces of luck are believable in themselves and in isolation; but when all of them are listed out, they pale beyond the realms of just pure coincidences and luck. There must be a most logical causative factor that pervades the whole English history in sharp contrast to the other nationalities and societies. And this factor is the lack of hierarchy or feudal positioning that does not creep into the language when English is spoken between persons. And its immediate effect, in sharp contrast to feudal languages is that one cannot be addressed to or referred to or described in varying level of dignity in accordance with what one does for a livelihood, or in accordance with one’s family stature or of one’s family members’, or in comparison with one’s financial soundness.

This gives a sense of security to the individual and also to the total society, and its finer effects are of so vast a domain that each need to be discussed in relation to the effect a feudal language has on the individual and his society.

But before going to the various aspect of this in the context of England, we need to discuss about the various other countries all round the world. We can start with France, a country that existed very near to England and has immense themes in its history to correspond with that of England.————

The quotation above may be only taken in the general context of my other postings

India and 2000 years of slavery

QUOTE: Old Fred

So are you saying we should have left India in a state of mental and physical slavery for another 2000 years?

Hi, I am truly grateful for this beautiful question. I couldn’t have asked for more. It gives me a chance to explain. But then if I do it here, I would straight pull the thread out of its post.

I come back with the answer in the Banter and Rant section, another day.

But, let me briefly tell you, it is a very complicated question whether the British should have continued. I will come to it later. But, the fact is even though the British youth did not deliberately run to India to save the social slaves there, they brought in a language and along with it a culture, which was the very antithesis of what existed there for aeons. The very English language gave a tool to the general population to think in terms of equality and a new concept called dignity, for such a thing is not there in any of the Indian languages, as far as the common man was concerned.

And there is a lot of misconception about the British rule in India, everywhere including history books, and even such English historians like Toyenbee, had a very shallow understanding of what was India. British rule in India is generally connected to Tigers, Snake charmers, the pomp & pageantry of the raj, feudal aloofness that the White man seemed to exhibit with shameless nonchalance and many other themes. Yet, this was not the real India, that the English youngsters encountered in its all vividness, nor can it be confined to such themes as of Sleeman who squeezed the thugees out of earthly existence.

QUOTE

Or would you agree that India now has a chance of becoming one of the worlds leading democracies....thanks in no small measure to the British.

This dialogues is just a perspective from an English shore. It is like the Indian curry. What is available over there is not in existence over here. Or rather, the taste is quite different.