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The Nation and its
Margins
The Nation and its
Margins:

Rethinking Community

Edited by

Aditi Chandra and Vinita Chandra

The Nation and its Margins: Rethinking Community

Edited by Aditi Chandra and Vinita Chandra

This book first published 2019

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Copyright © 2019 by Aditi Chandra, Vinita Chandra and contributors

All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN (10): 1-5275-4018-9

ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-4018-7
Dedicated to the four brothers, Girish, Harish, Shrish, and Apurva Chandra, for
holding the family together through food and laughter with all our diverging
perspectives. And for giving to us, as inheritance, the gift of celebrating
heterogeneity.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ................................................................................... ix

Introduction: Between the Borders of Nations, Creating Third Spaces ...... 1

Aditi Chandra

Mission of Cultural Unity: Tagore’s Universalism as a Panacea

for Aggressive Nationalisms .................................................................... 16
Sarvani Gooptu

Historical Narratives and the Imaginaries of Community Identity:

Mithila in Some Key Historical Texts ...................................................... 33
Mithilesh Kumar Jha

The Anglicization of India’s Baghdadi Jews and their Emergence

as Intermediaries between the British and the Indians.............................. 47
Navras J. Aafreedi

Sikhs in the United Kingdom: From ‘Immigrants’ to ‘Transnational

Community’.............................................................................................. 61
Vijayta Mahendru

Protests in Print: Resistance against Indian Indentured Labour

in Nineteenth Century Bengal .................................................................. 90
Sudipto Mitra and Purba Hossain

The Indian Encounter with Western Medicine: Recounting Women’s

Experiences from the Late Nineteenth Century ...................................... 109
Sharmita Ray

Indian Mythology in Derek Mahon’s An Autumn Wind........................ 128

Tapasya Narang

Words know no Borders: Decoding Youth Culture in the Twentieth-

century World ......................................................................................... 139
Titas De Sarkar
viii Table of Contents

Death of an Empire: Subjectivity and Asian Pragmatism in José Martí’s

Annam .................................................................................................... 152
Vinh Phu Pham

A Sovereign Surrender? Digital Modernity and the Subject of Neoliberal

Control .................................................................................................... 172
Debaditya Bhattacharya

Editors and Contributors......................................................................... 181

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

No book was ever completed by one person, let alone an edited volume
of essays. We have a small village to thank. We are tremendously
appreciative of Ignacio Lopez-Calvo who is the founder and organizer of
the annual East-West intercultural relations conference where early versions
of these essays were presented. The eighth East-West conference, which
was titled “Reconsidering Cultural Ideologies and Identities in India and
Beyond” was held at Ramjas College, University of Delhi, India between
March 17-19, 2016.
The conference would not have been possible without the dedicated
assistance of the faculty, students, and staff of the Department of English,
Ramjas College. They were exemplary hosts and made sure that the
conference progressed smoothly and that everyone was comfortable and
well fed! They formed an engaged and critical audience, which helped
presenters and later these ten authors to strengthen their projects. Spanning
Literature, History, Gender and Media Studies, this collection of essays is
as interdisciplinary as the conference itself. We would, therefore, also like
to thank all the other presenters at the conference who helped foster
conversations that have likely found a place in this volume.
The ten essays in this collection were chosen out of approximately thirty
submissions and went through a rigorous blind peer review process. We will
be eternally grateful to the anonymous peer reviewers who spent their time
commenting on and honing the scholarship included in these pages.
Working with Cambridge Scholars Publishing has been a pleasure.
Everyone we have communicated with has been patient with delays and
quick to respond when things moved faster. Many thanks to Victoria
Carruthers and James Brittain for reaching out to us and starting the
proposal submission process. More specifically, sincere thanks to Adam
Rummens for shepherding us through the time-consuming and difficult
process of a collaborative project. Thanks also to Amanda Millar for
working with us through the final stages of proofreading. Tremendous
gratitude to the design team at Cambridge Scholars Publishing, specifically
Courtney Blades and Sophie Edminson, for an absolutely stunning book
cover. And lastly, abiding thanks to our families for their patience and
constant support as we worked on completing this manuscript.
 INTRODUCTION: BETWEEN THE BORDERS
OF NATIONS, CREATING THIRD SPACES

ADITI CHANDRA

Since the fall of monarchical empires and decolonization movements

across the globe, the nation has been the one abiding socio-cultural
formation that has held diverse people together in unlikely communities.
Unity-in-diversity—the idea that despite being different in terms of
language and customs the millions of people who, by chance of fate, are
born within a particular national boundary are essentially the same—is a
theme that can be found at the origin narratives of all nations. Ernst Renan
in “What is a Nation?” argues that the nation is conjured up as a community
through an intense remembering of a glorious and cohesive historical past.1
Janaki Nair has pointed out: “all nations need history like the body needs
oxygen” but that the histories that support the nation are exercises in
“historical myth-making.”2 Indeed, E.J. Hobsbawm has reminded us that “a
nation without a past is a contradiction in terms.”3 But, Renan reiterates that
ironically, this remembering is made possible only through forgetting the
violence, traumas, and ruptures that led to this newly-formed community.
Benedict Anderson has famously argued that the nation is an “imagined
community”—a socially constructed group that brings together diverse
peoples with nothing in common except the perception of a homogenous
time and a “deep, horizontal comradeship” that seemingly binds them

1 Ernst Renan, “What is a Nation? (Qu’est-ce Qu’une Nation?, 1882)” in What is a

Nation? And Other Political Writings, translated & edited by M.F.N Giglioli, New
York: Columbia University Press, 2018.
2 Janki Nair, “Introduction: A Teach-In for a JNU Spring” in What the Nation Really

Needs to Know: The JNU Nationalism Lectures, Noida, India: HarperCollins

Publishers, 2016, pp. xvii.
3 E.J. Hobsbawm, “Ethnicity and nationalism in Europe Today” in Mapping the

Nation, ed. Gopal Balakrishnan, London & New York: Verso Books, 2012, pp. 255-
266.
2 Introduction

together.4 Nation and Its Margins: Rethinking Community challenges the

idea that the nation-state is the only available form of community, and
questions its hegemonic control over narratives of belonging. The essays in
this volume attempt to go beyond just challenging mainstream polarizing
narratives: they explore cross-cultural encounters which highlight narratives
that escape the neat boundaries constructed by national identities. They
serve to complicate our understanding of peoples and groups and the varying
spaces they inhabit by allowing narratives that have been made invisible, by
hegemonic national control, to emerge. Through interdisciplinary perspectives
from History, Literature, Media Studies, and Gender Studies, this volume
of essays throws light on moments of cultural encounters in the Global
South (specifically South Asia, South-east Asia, West Asia, and Latin
America), questioning what happens when diverse communities and voices
came together to challenge the notion that claiming national identity is the
only acceptable mode of being, belonging, and existing in the world. In
doing so, they reveal other radically innovative forms of attaining cohesion
and identity.
Nations are created and held together based on the idea that their citizens
must necessarily be bound together by the sameness of history and
experience. In addition, the characteristics of sameness that the nation
desires of its citizens are determined by the dominant socio-cultural,
religious, caste, racial, and gender groups. But, nationalism that extols the
greatness of the nation does, indeed, celebrate diversity within its borders,
hence the repeated use of the phrase “unity-in-diversity” by those who claim
to envision pluralism in shaping national identity. This diversity, however,
is only appreciated when it is in the service of the unity of the nation and
subsumed within majoritarian narratives—often as tokens of alterity
employed for tourism brochures. More critically, government projects and
actions that seemingly highlight diversity merely pay lip-service to those
causes and are only used as public relations efforts for consumption by
social justice watchdogs.
Alterity, in other words, is exploited and brutally suppressed especially
when dissent emerges from those locations. The unity that the nation seeks,
despite diversity, curtails heterogeneity of expression, being, and thought.
Therefore, hyper-nationalists, when criticizing someone or some group, also
recognize communities through the very same homogenizing and generalizing
lens through which they shape themselves. The nation holds itself together
as a united entity by seeing itself in opposition to a demonized enemy Other,

4Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread

of Nationalism, London & New York: Verso Books, 1991.
 The Nation and its Margins: Rethinking Community 3

who they must construct as different from themselves. But, despite this
constructed difference, the hyper-nationalists cannot be attentive to the
diversity within that Other. The enemy’s heterogeneity is made invisible
precisely because the nation-state imagines itself as a homogenous
community. The hyper-nationalists, when criticizing the citizens of another
nation or the dissenters within its boundaries, are insidiously creating an
inverted mirror image for the masses to look into. They represent the Other,
much like themselves, as a homogenous group without heterogeneity of
thought, identity, and expression.
Resisting enforced consent to majoritarian discourses propagated by
nation-states has gradually become dangerous across the globe. Challenging
the hegemonic discourse of the nation has always spelt trouble but in the
last few years it has taken on frightening proportions resulting in jail time
and loss of life. To see examples in our contemporary milieus, one only has
to look towards Edward Snowden—the American whistleblower of the
National Security Agency—who is now on the run for his life, and the
highly suspicious disappearance and murder of Saudi journalist Jamal
Khashoggi who openly criticized his government.5 In India, academics,
activists, students, and journalists questioning governmental authorities,
have been labelled “anti-national” and verbally and physically attacked.
Some have lost their jobs, been forced underground or charged with
sedition, and unjustly jailed for their questioning stance towards the nation-
state.6 In Pakistan, marginalized communities such as the Ahmadiyas,
Hazaras, and Shias are routinely under attack.7 In Bangladesh, globally-

5 “Edward Snowden: Fast Facts,” CNN.com, updated June 4, 2018,

https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/11/us/edward-snowden-fast-facts/index.html. Mark
Mazetti and Ben Hubbard, “It Wasn’t Just Khashoggi: A Saudi Prince’s Brutal Drive
to Crush Dissent,” New York Times, March 17, 2019,
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/17/world/middleeast/khashoggi-crown-prince-
saudi.html
6 Clean the Nation: Inside the Facebook Group that plotted to get ‘anti-nationals’

sacked, prosecuted,” Scroll.in, February 19, 2019,

https://scroll.in/article/913666/clean-the-nation-inside-the-facebook-group-
plotting-to-get-anti-nationals-sacked-and-prosecuted. “JNU Sedition Case: 3 Years
Later, Charge-sheet to be filed against Kanhaiya Kumar, Others,” The Wire,
December 21, 2018, https://thewire.in/rights/jnu-sedition-chargesheet-kanhaiya-
kumar. “Who is an Urban Naxal asks Romila Thappar,” The Hindu, September 30,
2018. All articles accessed March 2019.
7 Rabia Mehmood, “The never-ending ordeal of Pakistan’s Minorities,” Amnesty

International, October 16, 2018,

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/10/the-never-ending-ordeal-of-
pakistans-minorities/. Accessed March 2019.
4 Introduction

renowned photographer, Shahidul Alam, was arrested for being vocal

against government violence.8 Next door, in Myanmar two Reuters
journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo working on stories about Rohingya
Muslims, were arrested in December 2017 and imprisoned for seven years.9
While these journalists were released on May 6, 2019, fear has been instilled
by their imprisonment and media repression continues.10 Some of these
events, especially those directly impacting a few individuals or located in
the Global South, do not generate large-scale and long-lasting outrage
because they are either lost in the multiplying din of ever-increasing sources
of news (online, television, and print) or not reported enough. These
episodes are also polarizing, at least in the Indian context, with some
believing that the actions of governmental agencies against the dissenters
are justified. Stringent action against anyone who questions the nation-state
comes from an increasing desire to create homogenous and bounded
national communities wherein only those who conform to the rules of the
perfect citizen, as described by majoritarian narratives, are considered
legitimate.
South Asia is not alone in this brutal silencing of dissenting voices and
the marginalized. This is a matter of global concern. The United States and
some European countries have routinely displayed frightening xenophobia
and hatred towards immigrants. Most recently, it has manifested in the
drastic reduction of refugees permitted to enter their borders despite the
extensive checks that they must go through. When inside, immigrant
communities of color often face discriminatory behavior in their daily lives
on the basis of their religion or race. Some examples include: the heart-
wrenching forced separations of migrant parents from their children at the
U.S.-Mexico border, Donald Trump’s demand for a wall along this
boundary, his proposed ban on people from seven Muslim countries from
entering the U.S., and the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union

8 Eli Meixler, “Journalism Is Under Threat. Inside a Bangladeshi Journalist’s

Dangerous Journey From Photographer to Prisoner,” Time.com, December 11, 2018,
http://time.com/5475494/shahidul-alam-bangladesh-journalist-person-of-the-year-
2018/. Accessed March 2019.
9 “Imprisoned in Myanmar,” Reuters.com, Series of news reports from September

2018 until February 2019, https://www.reuters.com/subjects/myanmar-reporters.

Accessed March 2019.
10 Dominic Faulder, “Myanmar media repression deepens despite release of Reuters

pair” Nikkei Asian Review, May 14, 2019,

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Myanmar-media-repression-deepens-despite-
release-of-Reuters-pair . Accessed May 2019.
 The Nation and its Margins: Rethinking Community 5

or Brexit.11 Couched in national security and economic terms, these actions

are symptoms of the same hyper-nationalistic and xenophobic malaise.
There is a frightening similarity between the homogenizing tendencies
of today’s mainstream hyper-nationalists—some of whom are heads of
State—and the extreme right-wing terrorists (for example, Islamic State and
far-right white nationalism). Both denounce and are afraid of what has been
described as the “gray zone”—the ability of individuals to belong to and
feel affinity with multiple communities and, at the same time, to also
question those communities. The gray zone has also been described as the
ability of people from varying political, cultural, and religious backgrounds
to coexist. In November 2015, Dabiq, the online magazine of the militant
group variously known as Islamic State (ISIS), Daesh, or ISIL, included an
article titled “The Extinction of the Grayzone.” It celebrated the creation of
two distinct camps in the world—the camp of Islam under their rule and the
camp of the Western crusaders.12 Published a week after the attacks at the
headquarters of the Paris-based satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, the
anonymous author of this article described the gray zone as a space
inhabited by any Muslim who has not joined either ISIS or the crusaders.
Throughout the article, the Muslims who refuse to inhabit any one side are

11 “Timeline of the Muslim Ban,” American Civil Liberties union (ACLU),

https://www.aclu-wa.org/pages/timeline-muslim-ban. “Bolsonaro backs Trump’s

border wall ahead of White House Meeting,” The Guardian, March 19, 2018,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/19/jair-bolsonaro-donald-trump-
wall-immigration. Julia Ainsley, “Thousands more migrant kids separated from
parents under Trump than previously reported,” NBC News, Jan 17, 2019,
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/thousands-more-migrant-kids-
separated-parents-under-trump-previously-reported-n959791. Annalisa Mirelli,
“The US and UK have let xenophobia bring them to the brink,” QZ.com, Jan 19,
2019. Josh Gabatiss, “Brexit strongly linked to xenophobia, scientists conclude,”
The Independent, Nov 27, 2017,
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/brexit-prejudice-scientists-link-
foreigners-immigrants-racism-xenophobia-leave-eu-a8078586.html. Gary Younge,
“Britain’s Imperial Fantasies have given us Brexit,” the Guardian, Feb 3, 2018,
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/03/imperial-fantasies-
brexit-theresa-may. All articles accessed March 2019.
12 Laila Lalami, “My Life as a Muslim in the West’s Gray Zone,” The New York

Times, Nov 20, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/magazine/my-life-as-

a-muslim-in-the-wests-gray-zone.html. Murtaza Hussain, “Islamic State’s Goal:
“Eliminating the Grayzone of coexistence between Muslims and the West,” The
Intercept, Nov 17, 2015, https://theintercept.com/2015/11/17/islamic-states-goal-
eliminating-the-grayzone-of-coexistence-between-muslims-and-the-west/.
Both articles accessed February 2019.
6 Introduction

called “the grayish,” “the hypocrites” and, “the grayish hypocrites.”13 A

similar desire to create two distinct and opposing sides is at the heart of
George Bush’s call, “you’re either with us, or against us,” that he repeatedly
made after 9/11.14 Similarly, those who find affinity with white nationalism
believe that all Muslims, Jews, Communists, and people of color are out to
destroy the white population of the world and are constructed as the ‘enemy
Other.’15 The nation-state too fears the gray-zone, which allows for an
interrogation of one’s communities and an embrace of expansive forms of
cultural belonging. People defined as “grayish,” refuse to fall prey to
stereotypes and posit a pluralistic approach when encountering those from
differing socio-cultural, religious, racial, or national groups.
In 2009, the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave a
powerful TED talk at Oxford titled “The Danger of the Single Story.” In it
she described the ways in which complex human beings, communities, and
regions of the world are reduced to a single narrative or a “single story”
about them. For example, diverse people from the vast continent of Africa
are understood only as poor, starving, and without any means and Mexicans
are seen only as desperate migrants. People, and in turn communities, are
much more than a single narrative that is manufactured about them.
Adichie’s point is that each individual life contains a heterogeneous
compilation of stories. Reducing people to only one story takes away their
individuality, humanity, and dignity. The same can apply to religious,
regional, linguistic, and even national communities. Single stories about
people and places, Adiche argues, are tools by which those in power control
how we understand and interact with those without power. She says that the
consequence of the single, unidimensional story is that it “robs people of
dignity … [making the] recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It
emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar.” It is this
empathetic search for multiple narratives about any community or person
that also allows for the emergence of similarities instead of focusing on
irreconcilable barriers through us versus them narratives. How we tell

13 Laila Lalami, “My Life as a Muslim in the West’s Gray Zone,” The New York
Times, Nov 20, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/magazine/my-life-as-
a-muslim-in-the-wests-gray-zone.html, accessed February 2019.
14 “You’re either with us or against us,” CNN.com, Nov 6, 2001,

http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/11/06/gen.attack.on.terror/, accessed March 2019.

15 Colin P. Clarke, “The Cult of Brevik,” The Slate, https://slate.com/news-and-

politics/2019/03/anders-breivik-new-zealand-right-wing-terrorism-inspiration.html.
“Connections In Hate Between NZ And Norway Shooters,” NPR.org,
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/16/704039092/connections-in-hate-between-nz-and-
norway-shooters. Both articles accessed, March 2019.
 The Nation and its Margins: Rethinking Community 7

stories and consequently frame communities by selective narrativization is

an exercise in turning complex identities into simplistic ones. The simplistic
framing of narratives often comes at the expense of silencing inconvenient
voices—the disenfranchised at the margins of the nation-state or those
dissenting against it. Inhabiting the “gray zone” means denying the single
story; it means denying the notions of pure black and pure white and
embracing diversity; of celebrating the hybrid and rejecting the idea of
unidimensional and homogenous communities.
This volume is a celebration of the “gray zone.” The essays discuss a
variety of themes: how a critique of nationalism could emerge even amidst
India’s struggle for self-determination against British colonial rule; how a
regional language shaped local identities and challenged colonial and
national discourses; they celebrate hybridity and communities that defy
borders; they highlight that cultural identities have always-already been
fractured and never been unidimensional; and reveal the frightening nature
of the modern nation-state’s use of cyber surveillance. Through literary and
historical case studies, they seek dissonances within homogenizing
narratives and show that there are many other forms of belonging and
community formation that look beyond the nation. As the world keeps
dangerously spinning towards militarized borders, xenophobic violence,
religious, racial, sexual, and caste discrimination, and the shutting down of
discomfiting dissent, this volume makes a timely contribution that questions
such exclusionary discourses.
Sarvani Gooptu’s essay traces Rabindranath Tagore’s journeys through,
and writings about, Asia and the West. It highlights his mission to educate
the public about the countries of the world, their histories, and cultures. She
focuses on Tagore’s English and Bengali articles that were published
between 1900 and 1940. Gooptu argues that Tagore’s mission of cultural
unity attempted to establish a sense of respect and awareness of cultures
other than one’s own, in the hope that it would end the self-absorbing
nationalism that he feared might degenerate into aggressive imperialistic
tendencies. He believed that cultural exchanges would bring different
nations into closer humanistic ties, which would create far more effective
and lasting bonds than political alliances and treaties. Tagore believed in a
‘unity of souls, not political union.’ Gooptu concludes that “a re-
understanding and a re-evaluation of [the] ideas of nationalism and nation
is periodically needed has been painfully proven in India.” This is precisely
the project of this collection, and the reason we start the book with her essay
on Tagore. The essay ends with Tagore’s words that are prescient in our
times: ‘The idea of the Nation is one of the most powerful anaesthetics that
man has invented. Under the influence of its fumes the whole people can
8 Introduction

carry out its systematic programme of the most virulent self-seeking without
being in the least aware of its moral perversion—in fact can feel
dangerously resentful if it is pointed out.’ And ‘if we want any merit from
interaction with other countries it can only be through ‘maitri’ (friendship)
and the use of the language of love. What one gets from the exploited is a
compromise, only friendship can bring total commitment.’
Mithilesh Kumar Jha examines the ways in which the writing of histories
has shaped the “struggle for political power” and self-determination in a
diverse range of 19th-century Maithli texts, which come from modern-day
Bihar and Jharkhand. Jha argues that the language, Maithli provided a
powerful tool for the people of this region to represent themselves and shape
their identity. He explains that while Mithila, the region in northern Bihar,
was praised, by colonial administrators and Indic priests, as the seat of
Sanskrit learning, the language, Maithli, was not given its due. Maithli was
ignored, not just by the colonial authorities but also by the emergent Indian
nationalists who supported the development of Hindi, Hindustani, and
Nagari script. Jha provides close readings of five texts that recount the
history of Mithila and the languages that were studied and spoken in the
region such as Persian, Urdu, Hindi, and Maithli. Jha asserts that these texts
“helped in developing a geographic unity among the inhabitants.” This
essay reveals that even when the broader, national movement for Indian
independence was gaining momentum, the shaping and development of
regional identities remained a significant way to project Mithila, its history,
language, and culture “as a separate and distinct geographical and political
unit within India.” While these texts accept that Mithila is part of the larger
national frame of India, Jha’s analysis shows that they paved “the way for a
distinct consciousness about Maihtili identity.” These texts became the
starting point of the struggle for recognizing Maithli as a distinct language
and even shaped the demand for the separate province of Mithila.
Like Jha, Navras Aafreedi in ‘Anglicization of India’s Baghdadi Jews
and their Emergence as Intermediaries between the British and the Indians’
also examines language as a marker of community identity. Aafreedi shows
that the Baghdadi Jews’ linguistic allegiance towards English rather than
any Indic language reflects their desire to identify with the British in
colonial India. Examining the migration and eventual settling down of the
Baghdadi Jews (a term used for Jewish merchants from the Arab middle
East, broadly speaking), Aafreedi makes sharp distinctions between other
Jewish communities in India, namely the Bene Israel and the Cochini, and
rejects the homogenization of a singular Jewish mode of being in India.
Aafreedi discusses how Baghdadi Jews, despite being on the receiving end
of colonial racism at times, made the “business-friendly” choice of being
 The Nation and its Margins: Rethinking Community 9

culturally assimilated with the British rather than the locals. While hanging
on closely to their Jewish identity, they also made strong attempts, through
dress and language, to connect with the ruling white community. These
were survival strategies employed by a small community that was a
minority. Their gradual anglicization allowed the Baghdadi Jews to become
intermediaries between the rulers (British) and the ruled (Indians) and
therefore also “allowed them to contribute disproportionately to their
country’s cultural and commercial life.” Social ambivalence and indeed, the
seeming, unethical leaning towards the colonial masters, allowed an
extremely small community of foreign-origin to thrive in India.
Vijayta Mahendru in ‘Sikhs in the United Kingdom: From ‘Immigrants’
to ‘Transnational Community’ writes about another religious community
that has defined its identity through migration—the Sikhs. She shows how
the Sikhs as immigrants to the U.K. demanded “full and equal inclusion in
society, while claiming the recognition of their identities in the public
sphere.” Focusing on the three waves of Sikh immigration from India to the
West via Africa, Mahendru also examines three specific cases of this
community’s collective agitation for the right to wear the “physical
manifestations” of their faith such as the turban, beard, and the sheathed
dagger. These “indispensable articles of the Sikh faith” she contends
“violate publicly accepted dress codes in western societies.” Her analysis
shows the fragility of the nation-state. The United Kingdom frames itself
through the language of multiculturalism and unity-in-diversity but fails to
live up to those goals when faced by the sartorial demands of the Sikhs. This
community’s struggle to first assimilate into the new host society and later
come together to uphold the symbols of their faith has also brought the
“assumption of congruence between political unity and cultural
homogeneity into sharp relief.” Mahendru concludes by asserting that the
Sikh diaspora is not invested in the politics of nationalism and rather
committed to building a strong transnational community representing a
“move towards post-territorial sovereignty.”
Sudipto Mitra and Purba Hossain in ‘Protests in Print: Resistance
Against Indian Indentured Labour in Nineteenth Century Bengal’ go
beyond the bounds of the national framework in writing the histories of the
anti-colonial movement in India. Through a meticulous analysis of
nineteenth century print media and public discourse, Mitra and Hossain
locate the beginnings of the anti-indenture movement in surprising places
such as British anti-slavery societies and trace its origins as a regional
struggle in Bengal, which they argue occurred much before the movement
was folded into the larger struggle for Indian national independence.
Empowering the indentured labourers themselves, the authors trace dissent
10 Introduction

to reactions against atrocities that result in the deaths of labourers. Mitra and
Hossain contend that the anti-indenture movement helped shape the struggle
for nationhood rather than it owing its existence to the national struggle. It
was the anti-indenture movement that was influential in shaping the
nationalist politics of the early twentieth century and gave it the “rhetoric of
rights” rather than the assumption that the labourers received emancipation
as their movement acquired prominence in the wider struggle for national
independence. Moving out of a nationalist framework, even during a time
when self-determination was emerging, and locating the early history of the
anti-indenture movements that worked in tandem with anti-slavery
movements in Britain involving local and colonial elites, dismantles an us
versus them narrative and allows for heterogenous histories of the anti-
colonial struggle.
In ‘The Indian Encounter with Western Medicine: Recounting Women’s
Experiences from the Late Nineteenth Century,’ Sharmita Ray examines the
question of community formation, and the fractures therein, through the lens
of gender. She traces how western medicine made inroads into India under
colonial rule, the significant role played by women, both European and
Indian, and the struggles faced by them. Ray frames women as “propagators
and recipients of western medicine.” This analysis reveals the ways in which
western medicine could, at once, be intrusive for Indian women while also
creating circumstances where women could demand to be treated on their
own terms. It was, ironically, the practice of ‘purdah’ that kept women of
the household away from men, not connected through familial links, that
facilitated the entry of European, American, and Indian women into the
medical workforce. This essay shows how a form of hybrid medicine, open
to female participation is shaped by women, despite patriarchy and norms
of caste purity, on the insistence of female patients. Medicine has typically
been understood as a component of the West’s “civilizing mission” and as
a tool of empire in the colonized space. But through the training of European
and Indian women in western medicine, so that they could treat Indian
female patients, the hybrization of western medicine starts to occur in late
19-century India. Due to the important role played by women, both as
doctors and patients, the early introduction and practice of western medicine
in India escapes the homogenizing discourse of the colonial state. This
coming together of European and Indian women to create a medical practice
on their own terms subverts the colonial state’s intention of using western
medicine to homogenize and control the colonized.
Tapasya Narang and Titas De Sarkar look at texts that bring together
two very disparate cultures, and the ways in which this hybridization
destabilizes monolithic hegemonic stereotypes of both traditions. Narang’s
 The Nation and its Margins: Rethinking Community 11

essay titled ‘Indian Mythology in Derek Mahon’s An Autumn Wind’

analyses the poetry of the Northern Irish poet Derek Mahon, who deals with
“a whole range of literary associations from Greek and Roman mythology
to Indian and Chinese scriptures, borrowing fragments from different
sources and innovatively reworking them to address contemporaneity,
without an expression of loss at being unable to appropriate authentic or
coherent cultures.” She explores Mahon’s juxtaposition of the contemporary
world of flux and plurality with seemingly inherited traditions of the past.
She argues that Mahon’s poetry challenges the idea of the role of the poet
in “naturalizing traditional and inherited ways of reading by assuming a
revivalist approach and engendering nationalist exclusivist ideologies.”
Instead, he wants his audience to grapple with the fragmented reality of
modern times. Narang gives a sensitive an incisive reading of Mahon’s
representation of India and Indian mythology from the perspective of an
Irish poet.
Titas De Sarkar’s essay, ‘Words know no Borders: Decoding Youth
Culture in the Twentieth-century World’ compares two literary movements
from Calcutta, India and San Francisco, US in the 1950s and 1960s, and
explores “such notions of desires and anxieties which cut across
geographical boundaries” in the youth cultures that became a “site of
resistance, artistic conflict, and reflection of codes of conduct” imposed by
society. Sarkar asks why these writings were taboo in almost exactly the
same way in two completely different economic trajectories, across multiple
national and cultural borders. ‘Stark Electric Jesus’ (1964) by Malay
Roychoudhury, the founding member of the Hungry generation of poets,
and ‘Howl’ (1956) by Allen Ginsberg, the seminal Beat poet and counter-
culture figures respond to broader cultural and social structures, Sarkar
argues. He points out how similar conservative reactions were against the
two poets who inhabited geographical and cultural spaces far away from
each other. “The question then arises as to how and why they were so
successful in irking the institution, which from San Francisco, US, to
Calcutta, India, was run by very different kinds of government,” Sarkar
asks. He tentatively offers the explanation of the similarity between the two
poets as emerging from the coping mechanisms of a generation of misfits
who share optimism across national boundaries. Sarkar’s essay points to the
hybridization of cultures that borrow from each other to respond to different
situations in similar ways because of the shared human response to resist.
Vinh Phu Pham’s ‘Death of an Empire: Subjectivity and Asian
pragmatism in José Martí’s “Annam”’ studies the portrayal of Viet Nam by
Cuban author Jose Marti who is well known for his enduring commitment
to social justice and equality, and is often called the voice of the people.
12 Introduction

Pham locates this story as an unusual one because, as he points out, in 19th-
century Latin American literature the new feeling of nationalism drove
writers to “highlight the particularities of their country in order to
distinguish themselves from their neighbors,” but Marti performs the rare
deed of writing about a territory beyond the Americas and Europe to focus
on Viet Nam in his short story “un paseo por la tierra de los Anamitas,”
published in 1889 in the collection La edad de oro, exhibiting very strong
cross cultural sympathy. Instead of focusing on the greatness and modernity
of his own nation, as other Latin American writers of his time were doing,
Marti writes about a place considered to be “mysterious and exotic entities
outside the realms of high civilization.” Like Sarvani Gooptu’s reading of
Tagore, Pham explores the way that “these imagined communities of
peoples, places, and networks can generate, through Martí’s language of
sympathy, a unifying humanistic idealism that has the capacity to survive
long after the idealized nation-states themselves.” Pham articulates the idea
of trans-nationality as a unifying sentiment that transcends national borders,
which is more humanistic in nature than political. He argues that Marti’s
project was not to see the political within the post-national, but to talk about
the ideal state through the language of sympathy. Like other essays in this
volume, Pham concludes that “the ideas which Martí presents on
nationalism in “un paseo por la tierra de los Anamitas” is indeed an
articulation of trans-nationalism, wherein the true object of discussion is not
the fate of Cuba via Annam, but the symbolic gestures that sees a
commonality beyond immediate boundaries.”
The final essay in this volume, ‘A Sovereign Surrender? Digital
Modernity and the Subject of Neoliberal Control’ by Debaditya Bhattacharya
moves away from national boundaries to cyberspace and interrogates digital
boundaries and control. He argues, “My contention places itself in
opposition to the official narratives of digital humanities, which claim to be
furthering democratic access to knowledge and potentially infinitizing the
production of it. In this, I seek to understand the current proliferation of
technological media not as a moment of emancipatory excess, but as
essentially marking a neoliberal moment of control and containment.” He
returns to the question of the political versus the human: “My agenda here
is to renegotiate the question of the political in the field of the technological,
and to look at ways in which the logic of ‘excessive access’ is in effect a
mode of alienation between the digital and the human-in-humanities.”
Bhattacharya looks at the process of domination in cyberspace in the way
that difference is policed by the state. He incisively points out that “it is in
this moment of charity that the state simultaneously consolidates its claim
to sovereignty by bringing those invisible-because-geographically-remote
 The Nation and its Margins: Rethinking Community 13

masses within its own machinery of surveillance. The widening of

technologized publics is conversely an enlistment of larger numbers of
citizen-subjects within the network of control.” While the other essays in
this volume challenge conventionally acknowledged state boundaries and
strive to complicate state narratives by cross cultural encounters,
Bhattacharya sees humankind as becoming “unknowing, uncritical, and
unthinking mass of governable subjects.” He sees this occurring through the
state’s psycho-technological surveillance through the ownership of services
and devices by its citizens. The emphasis returns, then, on humane empathy
across cultures to break down artificial barriers that homogenize and
polarize peoples and communities.
Our attempt has been to create a no-man’s land—a third space perhaps—
that escapes homogenizing authority bounded by national borders. Indeed,
it is the sincerest hope of the editors and contributors of this volume that the
readers of this text will play a small role in healing our wounded world and
guide us towards a gentle gray zone. Initial versions of these essays were
presented at the eighth annual East-West intercultural relations conference
at Ramjas College, Delhi University. This annual conference, which has
been conceptualized by Ignacio Lopez-Calvo, travels to diverse universities
across the globe every year and inspires dialogue on cultural encounters and
fosters the diversities that inhabit our world. We are heartened that the
celebration of the gray-zone that has been expressed in this collection will
be continued by the existence of this forum.

Works Cited
Ernst Renan, “What is a Nation? (Qu’est-ce Qu’une Nation?, 1882),” What
is a Nation? And Other Political Writings, translated & edited by M.F.N
Giglioli, New York: Columbia University Press, 2018, pp. 247-263.
Janki Nair, “Introduction: A Teach-In for a JNU Spring,” What the Nation
Really Needs to Know: The JNU Nationalism Lectures, Noida, India:
HarperCollins Publishers, 2016, pp. ix-xxv.
E.J. Hobsbawm, “Ethnicity and nationalism in Europe Today” in Mapping
the Nation, ed. Gopal Balakrishnan, London & New York: Verso Books,
2012, pp. 255-266.
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and
Spread of Nationalism, London & New York: Verso Books, 1991.
“Edward Snowden: Fast Facts,” CNN.com, updated June 4, 2018,
https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/11/us/edward-snowden-fast-
facts/index.html.
14 Introduction

Mark Mazetti and Ben Hubbard, “It Wasn’t Just Khashoggi: A Saudi
Prince’s Brutal Drive to Crush Dissent,” New York Times, March 17,
2019,
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/17/world/middleeast/khashoggi-
crown-prince-saudi.html
Clean the Nation: Inside the Facebook Group that plotted to get ‘anti-
nationals’ sacked, prosecuted,” Scroll.in, February 19, 2019,
https://scroll.in/article/913666/clean-the-nation-inside-the-facebook-
group-plotting-to-get-anti-nationals-sacked-and-prosecuted.
“JNU Sedition Case: 3 Years Later, Charge-sheet to be filed against
Kanhaiya Kumar, Others,” The Wire, December 21, 2018,
https://thewire.in/rights/jnu-sedition-chargesheet-kanhaiya-kumar.
“Who is an Urban Naxal asks Romila Thappar,” The Hindu, September 30,
2018. All articles accessed March 2019.
Rabia Mehmood, “The never-ending ordeal of Pakistan’s Minorities,”
Amnesty International, October 16, 2018,
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/10/the-never-ending-
ordeal-of-pakistans-minorities/
Eli Meixler, “Journalism Is Under Threat. Inside a Bangladeshi Journalist’s
Dangerous Journey From Photographer to Prisoner,” Time.com,
December 11, 2018 http://time.com/5475494/shahidul-alam-bangla
desh-journalist-person-of-the-year-2018/
“Imprisoned in Myanmar,” Reuters.com, Series of news reports from
September 2018 until February 2019,
https://www.reuters.com/subjects/myanmar-reporters
“Timeline of the Muslim Ban,” American Civil Liberties union (ACLU),
https://www.aclu-wa.org/pages/timeline-muslim-ban
“Bolsonaro backs Trump’s border wall ahead of White House Meeting,”
The Guardian, March 19, 2018,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/19/jair-bolsonaro-
donald-trump-wall-immigration
Julia Ainsley, “Thousands more migrant kids separated from parents under
Trump than previously reported,” NBC News, Jan 17, 2019,
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/thousands-more-
migrant-kids-separated-parents-under-trump-previously-reported-
n959791.
Annalisa Mirelli, “The US and UK have let xenophobia bring them to the
brink,” QZ.com, Jan 19, 2019. Josh Gabatiss, “Brexit strongly linked to
xenophobia, scientists conclude,” The Independent, Nov 27, 2017,
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/brexit-prejudice-
 The Nation and its Margins: Rethinking Community 15

scientists-link-foreigners-immigrants-racism-xenophobia-leave-eu-
a8078586.html.
Gary Younge, “Britain’s Imperial Fantasies have given us Brexit,” the
Guardian, Feb 3, 2018,
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/03/imperial-
fantasies-brexit-theresa-may. All articles accessed March 2019.
Laila Lalami, “My Life as a Muslim in the West’s Gray Zone,” The New
York Times, Nov 20, 2015,
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/magazine/my-life-as-a-muslim-
in-the-wests-gray-zone.html
Murtaza Hussain, “Islamic State’s Goal: “Eliminating the Grayzone of
coexistence between Muslims and the West,” The Intercept, Nov 17,
2015,
https://theintercept.com/2015/11/17/islamic-states-goal-eliminating-
the-grayzone-of-coexistence-between-muslims-and-the-west/.
“You’re either with us or against us,” CNN.com, Nov 6, 2001,
http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/11/06/gen.attack.on.terror/
Colin P. Clarke, “The Cult of Brevik,” The Slate, https://slate.com/news-
and-politics/2019/03/anders-breivik-new-zealand-right-wing-terrorism-
inspiration.html.
“Connections In Hate Between NZ And Norway Shooters,” NPR.org,
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/16/704039092/connections-in-hate-
between-nz-and-norway-shooters
 MISSION OF CULTURAL UNITY:
TAGORE’S UNIVERSALISM AS A PANACEA
FOR AGGRESSIVE NATIONALISMS

SARVANI GOOPTU

The dawn of the twentieth century was unique since it bred and
fostered nationalistic ideas among Indians, and, at the same time, also
displayed first hints of disillusionment about the very same ideas of
patriotism and nationalism. Rabindranath Tagore and other intellectuals
wanted to diffuse the concentration of patriotic feelings to one’s own
country and spoke about the need to look beyond the nation. Tagore’s
pointed out the need ‘...to establish contact with the whole world. ...India
should not remain in utter obscurity. We should be able to take our part in
helping the world in her present situation and occupy an honoured place in
the reconstruction of civilization. India should be linked both with east and
west.1 It is to Tagore’s credit that, through his ideas, he was able to
influence many intellectuals in different parts of the world. There was, in
him and other contributors to the periodicals of the time, a complicated
conclusion regarding the lands of the East and West that they described to
their readers. Unlike contemporary essays, which dealt with a particular
issue or a viewpoint, these writers had multiple burdens of representing a
point of view or ideal and at the same time make a description of a place
or people interesting and attractive to the reader. Thus, even though there
was a commitment to patriotic revolt against the colonizing West, there are
many articles which describe in glowing terms the wonders of the western
world. In the descriptions of the countries of Asia, the dichotomy is far
less. The main sentiment that underlies the descriptions of Asian countries
is refraining from binaries of their good and our bad or vice versa and an
expression of similarities and explaining away the dissimilarities. There is
in fact a propreitorial familiarity in the visitors who are writing about these
places wherein they seem to be proud of identifying the sources of
similarity. From the second decade of the twentieth century, nationalistic

1 Notes, Modern Review XXXVII, no. 4 (April 1925): 483.

 Sarvani Gooptu 17

aspirations become apparent in these narratives, and past links as civilizing

missions by the Indians overtake the cosmopolitan mindset that was more
evident in the earlier period.
This mission of cultural unity that Tagore wanted to achieve would
establish a sense of respect and awareness of cultures other than one’s
own, and would end the self-absorbing nationalism that he feared might
degenerate into aggressive imperialistic tendencies. Cultural exchanges
would bring different nations into closer humanistic ties, which would
create far more effective and lasting bonding than political alliances and
treaties. Tagore not only used his creative works in poetry and prose as a
means to establish these bonds but, like the pilgrims of yore who travelled
to distant places to disseminate the ‘true word,’ Tagore carried his mission
of cultural unity to the lands of the West and East in order to establish
cultural linkages and to connect the populations of the world in a
humanistic bond, which even today may be the only panacea to aggressive
nationalisms of the world. Tagore’s travels accompanied by his friends
and followers were faithfully documented by the local periodicals and
newspapers, since the entire country was waiting to learn about Tagore’s
mission to create a cultural bond in the East and West. In this article I have
tried to highlight the reflection of these visits on those who were writing in
the popular journals to spread Tagore’s ideals.
Not only was the spirit of Tagore’s ideas and speeches discussed in the
vernacular press, his ‘pilgrimages’ led to a veritable flood of writing on
travel to distant lands, highlighting important landmarks and easy travel
routes. A study of this travel literature is interesting not only because it is
very entertaining but also because it reveals various shades. The travels are
informative and pictorial; and sometimes, they are not original but
translations of writings by famous travellers. The ones written in the first
person are a wonderful reflection of their writers as well as their
perceptions of the societies and cultures they describe. There are also
differences in the portrayal of the people encountered, since the reader is
always kept in mind. There are also certain educative considerations that
contribute to the writings when he or she is describing the lands visited. In
all cases, comparisons with India are constantly made, in order to make the
articles interesting and worthwhile to the Bengali reader. Interestingly,
differences in perception arise in the travel writing of the West and East.
The travellers from Bengal have certain preconceptions which they carry
on their visits. The western lands are alien and, information about the
material achievements of those cultures and its reasons is of utmost
importance. ‘The East has instinctively felt, even through her aversion,
that she has a great deal to learn from Europe, not merely about the
18 Mission of Cultural Unity

materials of power, but about its inner source which is of the mind and of
the moral nature of man.’2 The open admiration of the disciplined life of
the West as well of the freedom of the individual is generally accompanied
with both exhortation to Indians to adopt those disciplined ways as well as
caution against getting swept away by excessive individualism, as
Dwijendralal Roy wrote in his letters from England in the 1890s.3 In the
case of Asian countries it is the eyes of the heart that seem to be used—
similarities are highlighted in art and culture, and ties with the past are
described. Objectively speaking, here too there are distinctions in the
vision of South and Southeast Asia and East Asian countries. Japan and
China are described more admiringly, though affinities are drawn more
with China while Japan is admired from a distance. In the case of South
and Southeast Asia, travellers seem to have a proprietorial attitude
probably influenced by the Greater India research of the 1920s and 30s.
This over the period of 1900-1940 is not this simplistic or unilateral and
there are many layers and complications with changing events and time.
Besides writing, Tagore also inspired action. He experimented with
cultural links at Vishwa Bharati when he brought in teachers from
different parts of Asia and also incorporated the art and culture of the
Asian countries into the curriculum. He took world tours and sent
emissaries to acquire knowledge about the art and culture of other
countries, and this knowledge he then applied in his university activities.
Tagore and other intellectuals spoke about a different and more long
lasting colonization4 that had been achieved by India, since her influence
was not through arms but spread through philosophical ideas and culture.
This was something no western colonial power had visualized. These ties
of friendship and interaction could be revived since the travels by scholars
to the countries of Southeast and East Asia were, for most part, greeted
with warmth. This sense of pride in the achievements of the past was
highlighted in the writing in these journals. The idea of nationalistic pride
underlying the research of Indian historians and philologists may have
aroused fear of excessive pride in the mind of Tagore, but a perusal of the
writings in the periodicals, though inspired by Tagore’s universalism,
showed hints of national pride in the highlighting of similarity along with
a celebration of the difference in the cultures of the Asian countries. But in

2Rabindranath Tagore, Nationalism (1917) (Calcutta: Rupa and Co., 1992), 44.
3 Dwijendralal Roy, Bilater Patra, in Rathindra Nath Roy ed. Dwijendra Rachanabali,
v. 2, (Calcutta: Sahitya Sansad, 1989) (3rd ed) see also Sarvani Gooptu, The Music
of Nationhood: Dwijendralal Roy of Bengal, (Delhi: Primus Books, 2018).
4 Rabindranath Tagore, Brihattara Bharat (Greater India), Kalantor, (Calcutta:

Vishwabharati Granthanbibhag, 2002) Reprint (first pub in 1937), 300-309

 Sarvani Gooptu 19

the end there was more than an underlying hint that if the Indian mind-set
could be moved away from western orientation and an alternative focus of
civilizational development discovered, British colonialism would be
undermined and Indians empowered.
I must reiterate that all these ideas with their subtleties cannot be
comprehensively dealt with in one paper and this is only a small part of a
larger research. For this paper I have limited my discussion to articles in
English from Modern Review and from Bengali literary journals like
Ananda Bazar Patrika, Antahpur, Aryadarshan, Bharati, Bharatbarsha,
and Prabashi between 1900 to 1940.
Through travel writings and descriptive essays, there is a mission to
educate the public about the different countries of the world, their history
and culture. In every article, a link was established with India, whether in
the past or present, whether political, religious or cultural. In 1924, ‘Chin
O Japaner Bhraman Bibaran’ (descriptions of travels in China and Japan)
was published in Prabashi, where Tagore wrote that his travels were not
prompted by any desire for propaganda but were the fulfilment of a long-
time dream to understand the life force of an ancient civilization. Despite
all the storms the country has faced for centuries, from revolutions,
invasions, and civil wars, the inner strength of the huge population has
remained undiminished. One should come to the country to pay homage to
it in the same way one goes on a pilgrimage.5 This inspired a number of
return visits by intellectuals to India and Santiniketan. Anath Nath Basu
wrote about the welcome that Santiniketan gave to Chinese poet and
scholar Xu Zhimo (Su Simo), a professor of Peking University who was
inspired by Tagore when he visited China. According to Xu the ancient
Sino-Indian cultural and spiritual contact had been revived by Tagore’s
visit. Most Chinese had been unaware of India; Tagore’s personality
impressed everyone so much that they wanted to renew the contact
between the two civilizations. To keep the memory of Tagore’s visit fresh,
a society had been set up in China, called the Crescent Moon Society.
Basu gave detailed descriptions of how Kalabhavan was decorated for the
visit of the Chinese scholar and how Xu addressed the students after
enjoying a cultural programme organised by Dinendra Nath Tagore.6
A large number of essays are travelogues in which places of tourist
attraction are highlighted. The articles encourage visitors to travel to these
places. The easiest travel routes are discussed in detail. Hemendralal Roy

5 Rabindranath Tagore, ‘Chin O Japaner Bhraman Bibaran’, Prabashi 24(2)(1),

(1924): 89-90.
6 Anath Nath Basu, ‘Santiniketan e Chainik Sudhi Su Simor Abhyarthana’, Prabashi

28 (2)(6), (1928): 386.

20 Mission of Cultural Unity

wrote about his travels to Thailand in Prabashi in 1924. He gave details

about how to reach Thailand via Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, about
similarities between India and Thailand, with descriptions of the settlers
and the Indian influence in architecture. He ends on a note of admiration,
observing that an Asian state so close to India was prospering on its own.7
In Bharatbarsha, Ganesh Chandra Maitra published a pictorial journey of
Burma in ‘Brahma Prabasher Chitra.’8 In the same journal, there is a
descriptive essay on Korea, where Bharat Kumar Basu lauds various
aspects of life in that country, but laments that there has been a destruction
of traditional handicrafts and customs with the Japanese occupation in
1904; however, he observes, Korea has achieved something great—their
women have been emancipated.9 There is a serialized travelogue by the
magician P. C. Sarkar in Bharatbarsha called ‘Japaner Pothe.’ He travelled
all over Japan and visited all the tourist sites, and his performance was
deeply appreciated—he was named the Houdini of India and given a giant
pack of cards with an inscription that said, ‘in appreciation of the great
achievement you have made in the art of Indian conjuring.’10 There is an
interesting article in Bharatbarsha about a globe trotter on a bicycle tour
through China. On his way to Mongolia, Kshitish Chandra Bandopadhyay
fell among dacoits and was kidnapped when his bicycle was hit by a
bullet. He fell unconscious and when he came to he discovered that he was
in a room surrounded by Chinese soldiers. Realizing that he was not
among dacoits, he demanded to be taken to meet their leader. When he
was taken to the Captain’s room, he noticed that behind the captain’s desk
were pictures of Lenin and Stalin. The Captain asked his name and then
whether he was from India. He wanted to know the purpose of
Bandopadhyay’s visit and if he could prove that he was not a government
spy. Bandopadhyay showed him his identity papers and a letter from
Mahatma Gandhi appreciating his feat. The reaction was most gratifying;
the Captain immediately set him free saying that he had deep respect for
the Mahatma.11
Women’s travel narratives have a dimension of their own. The
exploration of the western countries by women belonging to a colonized

7 Hemendralal Roy, ‘Shyamrajya’, Prabashi 24 (2)(1), (1924): 64-73.

8 Ganesh Chandra Maitra, ‘Brahma Prabasher Chitra’, Bharatbarsha, 14(1),
(1927): 75-86.
9 Bharat Kumar Basu, ‘Korea’, descriptive essay, Bharatbarsha, 18(1), (1930):

273.
10 P. C. Sarkar, ‘Japaner Pothe’, Bharatbarsha, 25(2), (1937): 62-69.
11 Kshitish Chandra Bandopadhyay, ‘Chine Doshyuder Haate’, Bharatbarsha

26(2), (1938): 261-65.

 Sarvani Gooptu 21

nation and then sharing of their experience through travel narratives in the
form of a diary entry or letters has hardly been documented. To this was
added from the twentieth century, travel eastward to the neighbouring
Asian countries where the discourse followed a different trajectory and
brought in a nationalist dimension to the cosmopolitan outlook. Travelling
eastward was an extension of the home and created closer affinities than
travels to the west. All the travel writers remember their own country from
the moment they leave it, whether they are off on a short tour or a
prolonged stay. They compare every aspect of the places they visit with
comparable situations in India and create a sympathetic bond between the
traveller and the reader.12 Sarala Debi Chowdhurani in Burma Jatra
(Travels to Burma in 1928) in Bharatvarsha in (1931-32) compares
Rangoon with Calcutta saying that both were cosmopolitan cities and just
like in certain localities of Calcutta one cannot see Bengali faces so also in
Rangoon, some streets are devoid of Burmese.13 Mrinalini Raha, who
lived in Burma for some years and wrote Brahmaprabasher Kotha
(Descriptions of Life in Burma) in Antahpur much earlier in 1902, held a
similar view when she said that ‘in Rangoon, the number of expatriate
Indians is more than that of the locals and they come mainly for trade,
business or professional reasons... India and Burma’s destinies are tied by
the same thread- the same British monarch rules over both countries.’14 It
was her intention to make her readers forget the quaint ideas they had
previously held about Burma. She compares the roads and infrastructure of
the capital city Rangoon or Yanggon as the local people call it, with the
different Indian cities and points out that ‘only Jaipur is comparable in
beauty’ and ‘unlike Calcutta, Rangoon never suffers from muddy roads.’15
These women look at the countries they visit with appreciative yet
discerning eyes. Sarala Debi admires the modern buildings that she notices
in Rangoon but says that they retain a Burmese identity unlike those of
Calcutta which are cosmopolitan but have no ‘Bengaliness’ in them.16
Besides comparisons with India, these travelogues also establish
connections by referring to past linkages. Sarala Debi refers to Rangoon as
part of Greater India and expresses pride in the Indic connections in the

12 See Sarvani Gooptu, Crossing the threshold into the World: Travel narratives by
Bengali Women in the 20th century, Asian Studies, vols XXXV, Nos 1&2, (Jan-
Dec 2017): 1-15.
13 Sarala Debi, Rangoon, Bharatvarsha, 19 (2) (4), (1931): 606.
14 Mrinalini Raha, Bharmadesher Kotha (Descriptions about Burma), Antahpur,

5(8), (1902): 161-64

15 Ibid: 163.
16 Sarala Debi, Rangoon, Bharatvarsha 19 (2) (4), (1931): 605.
22 Mission of Cultural Unity

past but her awareness of the trends in people’s mindset is revealed when
she mentions that this point should not be stressed as it was not
appreciated by the local people. There are differences in the outlook of the
two women separated by time, education and background when they
discuss the Burmese. An important part of the gendered vision is that
women are much more visible in women’s eyes and most of the
descriptions about the people are about them. It is interesting that in
almost all the essays there is mention of Indians, even Bengalis but writing
about local people made it more authentic. As Sarala Debi writes, ‘it gives
one pleasure to meet one’s own countrywomen abroad but it was more
rewarding to meet the citizens of the new nation we were visiting, to learn
about their customs, social behaviour, literature and history, art and
culture. To make it interesting for her readers she writes in detail about the
dinner she attends at the home of Mrs Bardoon, wife of a government
employee well versed in Burmese history and culture. ‘Mrs Bardoon made
several vegetarian dishes and refused to sit down for dinner with her
guests and preferred to serve the meal herself. ‘Just like a doting mother
she made sure that I ate the meal like a proper Burmese and not like an
ignoramus.’17 From her conversation with the Burmese couples the
Bardoons and the Portoons, Sarala Debi realised that they were not very
receptive to ideas of Greater India or links with India’s Hindu past.
Historically their affinity was with Sri Lanka, from where Buddhism came
to Burma. Also political and economic clashes between Indian and
Burmese in Burma in the recent times had led to a denial of any past
links.18
Reading the articles decades after their publication, one comes across
many stereotypical assumptions which were obviously topics of debate at
various times. While discussing Burmese women, Mrinalini Debi,
reasserts the established view that Burmese women were the very epitome
of emancipation as evident from the businesses they ran and the markets
which were almost entirely run and managed by them and yet shows her
disapprobation about what she calls an ‘alien sense of morality’ which she
attributes to the lack of rigidity of marriage rules and lack of education
among them. This she points out has resulted in ‘a new law being passed
prohibiting cohabitation between foreigners and Burmese women so that
the whole race doesn’t end up as a mixed race.’ Her interpretation of what
she refers to as the ‘lax morals of the society’ is that it is due to a
misrepresentation of Buddhism which ‘has led to the degeneration of the

17 Sarala Debi, Rangoon, (1931): 610-11.

18 Sarala Debi, Rangoon, (1931): 609-610.
 Sarvani Gooptu 23

nation.19 Mrinalini’s frank and assertive tone is rare in any narrative by a

woman till one realises that Antahpur where this essay is published was a
magazine for women by women. Three decades later, in her essay
Rangoon, Sarala Debi points out to her Indian women readers that their
notion that Burmese women are beyond the bindings of patriarchal society
is a fallacy and there is not much difference between the ‘ideal Indian and
ideal Burmese’ in this regard.20
Rabindranath Tagore’s cultural voyages or ‘pilgrimages’ as he
preferred to call them, started from 1916 through Burma, Southeast Asia,
Japan, and then to North America, which coincided with the research of
the French and the Germans that showed the spread of the influence of
Indian civilization in the lands of Asia, leading to great euphoria within the
country. Indian researchers in history and linguistics started contributing to
this quest for the discovery of Indian ‘colonies’ outside the Indian
territory, as a means of fighting the British colonizers as equals. Later,
scholars working on Southeast Asian history and culture felt that not
enough credit was being given to local genius and, in the 1940s, a debate
raged among the Dutch and French scholars regarding the extent of Indian
influence in shaping the art and culture of this region. Unlike FDK Bosch
and George Coedes, Van Leur and Stutterheim believed in a more vibrant
local society in Southeast Asia influencing architecture and culture.21
Thus in the twentieth century, Asia was the focus of the Indian
intellectuals but the spirit of the West was always a place to learn from.
Tagore visited different parts of Europe and America and Ananda Bazar
Patrika faithfully followed Tagore’s visits within the country and abroad
from 1923. During his visit to China, Japan and Southeast Asia in 1923-4,
ABP commented that Tagore, in his speech to the students in China,
stressed the unity of all races and the brotherhood of man. He was quoted
saying that, ‘we are preparing the way—not for any self-aggrandizement
nor power, only for brotherhood. Today ease of communication has made
it possible for us to meet but our souls remain separate. Despite the
obstacles in the path of unity between China and India, a way will surely

19 Mrinalini Raha, ‘Burma-Burmi’ (Burmese Men and Women), Antahpur, 6(8),

(1903):178-79.
20 Sarala Debi, Rangoon (1931), 612.
21 Kwa Chong-Guan, ed., ‘Introduction’, in Early Southeast Asia Viewed from India:

An Anthology of Articles from the Journal of the Greater India Society (New
Delhi: Manohar, 2013).
24 Mission of Cultural Unity

emerge.’22 After that visit, ABP said that Tagore had expressed the idea
that ‘Asia’s ideals are different from the materialistic ideals of the West.
Everywhere in Asia the realisation has dawned that in the near future a
new life force will emerge from Asia’s ancient traditions.’23 That Tagore’s
visits were very well received in China is evident from the quotations in
ABP from various leading Chinese newspapers: Peking Leader, North
China Standard, Peking Daily News, Far Eastern Times, etc. Their welcome
Tagore likened to ‘the welcome of a grooms party at a wedding.’24 Yet as he
admitted himself, there were some who protested against the presence of
an Indian poet who would, through preaching spiritual non-materialism
inspired by Buddhism, adversely affect their newfound confidence.’25
Tagore claimed they were a minority, Communists and even they did not
insult him personally. He followed this visit with travel to South America
(Argentina), and then to Geneva and Italy. He announced on 7 March
1925, that the reason for his visits to these places was to bring about an
ideal of unity in the knowledge systems of the West and the East: ‘I have
created Vishwa Bharati for this purpose and….have done my duty as the
‘Sun’ (Ravi) of the East and now want to complete my work in the West.
It is on this spiritual unity that material unity of the world depends.’26 In
1926, the resounding success of Tagore’s visits to Germany created
disapproval in the London newspaper, Daily Telegraph, noted ABP. The
Daily Telegraph said that the ‘Germans must have an ulterior motive in
their welcome to Tagore. They want to gain access to the Indian markets
which is why they are showing adulation to an Indian who is so respected
and loved.’27 ABP responded to this the very next day by a retort that the
British newspaper was jealous that a personality from a colonized nation
could get such a warm welcome in the West.28 There is another reference
in 1929, when ABP raised the question of the humiliation of a world
renowned poet, a Nobel Laureate, at the American Immigration in
Vancouver where he was questioned on who his sponsor was and whether
he had ever been jailed.29 Despite the provocation, Tagore, in his interview

22 Chittaranjan Bandopadhyay, compiler, ‘Chine Rabindranath, Bideshi Tar’,

Anandabazar Patrika (henceforth ABP), 11 June 1924, in Rabindra Prasanga:
Anandabazar Patrika I (Calcutta: Ananda Publishers, 1993), 499.
23 ‘Rangoon e Rabindranath’, ABP, 15 July, (1924), op. cit.: 500.
24 Rabindra Nath Tagore, Chin O Japan, Bharatbarsha, 12(1)(3) (1924):425
25 Ibid.
26 ‘Rabindra Sandarshane’, (Associated Press of India), ABP, (7 March 1925): 508.
27 ‘Germany te Rabindranath’, ABP, (20 Sept, 1926): 513.
28 ‘Jothkinchit’, ABP, (21 Sept, 1926), ibid.
29 ‘Americar Soirachar’, ABP (8 July, 1929) : 553-4.
 Sarvani Gooptu 25

in Modern Review, refused to comment on the incident, pointing out that

Miss Mayo’s book Mother India was a far graver issue of contention
between the Indian nation and the United States than his humiliation.30
Much before Tagore ventured to popularise Asian theatre and dance in
India, there are references to them in the journals. In the second year of its
publication, Bharati, mouthpiece of the Tagore family, published a
discussion on Burmese drama as well as translation of a Burmese play.
The essay starts with the words, ‘we consider the Burmese (or Mogs as
they are colloquially referred to) as uncivilized but how can a people who
have a culture of drama and a love for dramatic art be considered to be
uncivilized? This is worth pondering over. Dramatic performances for the
Burmese are national festivals. It casts a tremendous influence over all
classes of Burmese who wait eagerly for an occasion to witness a poye
performance. There is generally a very large crowd who come to such a
performance but there is great discipline among the audience who watches
the play in rapt silence. They get so involved with the play that at times
they suffer with the pain of the characters while at other times they burst
out laughing at the comic characters.’31 The writer whose name is not
mentioned also describes the performance and stage. ‘The dress of the
performers is very bright and gorgeous but the stage and backdrop is
simple. The theatre hall is constructed with bamboo sticks and the roof is
thatched with grass but the whole stage is covered with colourful cotton
and silk cloth. The stage is in the middle of the hall and a tree branch is
planted to indicate a forest scene. It is amazing how a single branch can
represent the whole forest in the imagination of the viewers. The tree
branch is surrounded with lamps created from the boat-like stems of
banana trees in which petroleum oil is poured in and lit. For the well to do
audience, seats on higher ground were prepared while the ordinary folk,
were seated huddled together on the ground. The musical instruments
which accompanied the performance were seated behind the stage and
behind them was the so called green room where the actors changed their
costumes as well as entered and exited...In almost all the dramas there was
a princess for whom the prince pledged undying love, there was the King
who was the prince’s guardian, there were strict and wise ministers, the
obedient courtiers and the princess’ companions present. There was bound
to be a royal court with music performance, and the prince would always
have a companion whose role was like that of a vidushak (a jester) like the
Indian plays. His performance would keep the Burmese audience in

30 ‘Americay Rabindranath’, ABP, (27 August, 1929): 555-56.

31 Brahmadeshiya Natok o Natokabhnoy, Bharati, 2(2)(1), (1877): 306-14
26 Mission of Cultural Unity

splits.’32 Having provided a similarity with Indian plays the writer

underlies the difference as well. ‘In Burmese language the same word
takes on a different meaning with a change of the intonation. That is why
the language is very favourable for satires and farces because of the use of
double meaning. The dialogues were mostly conversational though at
times there were soliloquy and music and dance sequences to break up the
monotony of continuous dialogues.’33 As proof of the high lyrical quality
of the plays an example (a translated play called Rajatgiri) has been
provided for the enjoyment of the readers of Bharati.
Kalidas Nag who accompanied the poet on many of his voyages,
discussed the drama forms of Java in an article curiously called Dwip
Bharater Natyakala (the Dramatic art of Island India). This article tries to
trace similarities between the dramas of India and Java in different ways.
He finds similarities between the Wayang Orang portrayal of the epics
Ramayana and Mahabharata and the Yatra performances. He says that
there are similarities between the masked dance drama of Wayang Topeng
of Bali and the Ramleela of North India and the Kathakali of South India.
He also compares a Puppet drama performance he saw at a funeral service
in Bali to the creation of kush (grass) puppets at a Hindu Shraddha
(funeral) ceremony. Nag also finds similarities between the Wayang golek
puppets of mid- western Java and Indian puppets. The shadow play
Wayang Purva is based on Indian epics while the Wayang Gedok is based
on local traditions and myths called Panji literature. He expressed hope at
the end that there would be joint research on drama by Indian and
Indonesian scholars.34 Suniti Chattopadhyay provides detailed descriptions
of Chinese theatre in Singapore in Prabashi - the costume and make-up of
the artistes and the very loud orchestra which sound strange to Indian
ears.35
Even before nationalistic ideas created an interest in Asia, a cosmopolitan
mindset attempted to make readers aware of the culture of other Asian
countries. One of the first articles on music in the journal Aryadarshan,36
traces connections with Chinese music and translates Chinese songs into
Bengali notations. Though Sourindro Mohon Tagore, worked relentlessly
to popularise the theory and practice of music in India, it is not sure if it
was he who was the writer Sri Sou/Sri Sourindra of Music traveller

32 Ibid: 307
33 ibid
34 Kalidas Nag, Dwip Bharater Natyakala, Prabashi, 29 (1)(6), (1929)
35 Suniti Kr Chattopadhyay, Javadwiper Pothe, Prabashi, 28(1),(1928)
36 Sri Shou/Sri Sourindro., Sangeet Pathik., Aryadarshan,

1(1)(3)(4)(6)(7)(9),(1874): 51-54; 134-142; 192-199; 295-346; 434-439.

 Sarvani Gooptu 27

(Sangeet Pothik) who in six issues in 1874 describes his voyage to China
amid great hardship and misfortune where he finally accomplishes his
heart’s desire - the study of Chinese music. ‘Till today,’ he writes, ‘China
was still a foreign country to me, in outward appearance, in people’s
character, in social creativity, in its language, in every way China was
dissimilar to us. But in music, China and India, especially ancient India, is
the same. Such a long time has elapsed since the inception of the two
nations that it is difficult to say with any degree of certainty which country
influenced which. But if one listens to Chinese music, one feels that it is a
replica of Indian music- what difference there is, is due to passage of time
and social differences. Since maintenance of traditional practices untainted
by foreign influences is of utmost importance, the old Chinese music is
continued even today...’37 The author’s intention in discussing Chinese
music is to trace similarities with Indian music and to establish an Asian
solidarity. As he points out, ‘it is difficult for the Western musicologists to
comprehend the nuances of Chinese music38 which is why they are not
enamoured by it. The understanding of the grace-notes or srutis requires an
oriental musical ear. However to us, Chinese music seems melodious and
familiar, very similar to the ragas Bhupali and Bibhas...In the end
demonstrates this through applying Chinese music to Indian notations to
show the similarity between Mu-li-hoya and Bhupali ragas.39 This interest
in Asian music was sustained through the next decades in the different
journals. Narendra Dev’s essay on Thailand in 1924, says that music
permeated Thai lives much more than any other country. Almost everyone
trains in singing and it was considered a matter of shame if one couldn’t
sing. They also have many musical instruments which are performed in
solo as well as in an orchestra. The Thai soldiers march during a military
campaign while singing marching songs.40
Rabindranath was so determined to undo pride evoked in the memories
of past colonization of Asia by India that he decided that the only way to
mitigate it was through an inverse colonization. Not content with simply
creating awareness he devised a unique plan of cultural assimilation in his
university curriculum. He invited scholars to lecture and teach various
subjects and Asian languages at Vishwabharati, Santiniketan. His large
repertoire of songs he set to tunes which were influenced by world music
and in the dance dramas he decided to experiment with dance forms of

37 Sri Sourindro, Sangeet Pathik, opcit, 1(6), (1874): 295-96

38 He analyses the works of western scholars on Chinese music to prove his point.
Sri Sourindro, Sangeet Pathik, opcit, 1(7),(1874): 344-346.
39 Ibid. (1874): 299-300
40 Narendra Dev, Shyambhumi, Bharatvarsha, 12(1)(6), (1924): 905-7
28 Mission of Cultural Unity

Asia. An excellent description of this has been given by Santidev Ghosh

who graduated from a student to a teacher around 1930s. From that time
Ghosh was sent to different parts of India and Asia to learn some basic
techniques of different dances. After Manipuri and Kathakali, Tagore sent
him to Sri Lanka four times between 1936 and 38. There he trained in the
men’s Kandi dance. In 1937, Ghosh went to Burma and learnt the hand
movements of the Rampoye dance drama style from a veteran dancer.
Then in 1939, he went to Java and learnt the royal dance at the invitation
of the king and later spent a month in Bali learning the popular dances
there. He quotes a letter from Tagore which said that he should learn some
distinctive steps of the various Asian dances but the implementation in
Bengali dance dramas must be carefully done so that the Indian style is not
swamped by the Asian. Santidev Ghosh learnt his lesson well. When he
choreographed Chitrangada, he cast Maki, a Japanese No and Kabuki
dancer as Madan who comes to give the boon of beauty to the princess.
Madan’s character possibly allowed most innovation because Ghosh also
cast alternatively a ballet dancer, and Vietnamese style dancer besides the
Japanese. The dance of the Doiwala or curd seller in Chandalika was also
set to Japanese dance style. There were a number of foreign students who
knew different dance styles from Malaysia, Vietnam and Java and they
were all associated in the dance movement of Tagore. Sometimes troupes
from Vishwabharati also travelled to other countries to perform dance
dramas. Anandabazar Patrika in 1934 published serially over April and
May reports that Rabindranath Tagore was invited by some leading
citizens of Colombo and he was accompanied by some artists and students
of Santiniketan. They will present musical performances and attend an art
exhibition there. On 2nd May it was said that Rabindranath would be
accompanied by 20 people including the famous painter Nandalal Bose,
his son Rathindranath Tagore and his wife Pratima Debi. On 4th May
before his departure Tagore said that most of the students of Ceylon were
educated abroad and wanted to know India intimately. “Just as a tree is
destroyed when it is pulled out by its roots and replaced in a pot, the
separation (of India and Ceylon) has adversely affected the original art and
culture”. On 4th May, Anandabazar reported that the poet and his
companions left the Calcutta docks on the SS Ichanga. On 11th May a
tumultuous reception was given to the poet in Colombo by Mr Jayatilaka,
the chief of the reception committee. A list of his engagements during the
six weeks visit was also published.41 Ghosh mentions a performance of

41 Chittaranjan Bandopadhyay, ed., Rabindra Prasanga: ABP, (22nd Mar 1932-31st

Dec 1941), Vol 3, (Calcutta: Ananda Publishers Private Ltd, 1996), 313-14
 Sarvani Gooptu 29

Shaapmochon in Sri Lanka in 1938 which was praised in the Ceylon Daily
News.42
The charisma of Rabindranath’s personality attracted into India a
number of guests—painters, poets and writers. In the journals, there are
references to visitors from various Asian countries who came to pay
homage to Tagore. To commemorate the centuries long friendship ties
between Japan and India, a function was organised by the Japanese
Ambassador Mr Hara on 14 December 1932, where Rabindranath Tagore
and the Japanese sculptor Kosetsu Nosu were invited to speak in the
presence of many eminent personalities—Manmathanath Mukhopadhyay,
Bhandarkar (possibly D.R.), Gaganendranath Tagore, Abanindranath
Tagore, and Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay. Mr Nosu had been engaged in
engraving Buddhist sculptures on the walls of the Mulagandhakuti Vihara
in Sarnath. In his speech, he said that he was using the Japanese method of
art in the creation of the ancient sculptures in Bihar. In many ways the
Ajanta art style and the Japanese style were very similar and he was very
careful in maintaining the ancient style. This ceremony in Calcutta in 1932
was also the occasion when a golden bell was presented to the Mahabodhi
Society by the United Buddhist Priest Association. This bell, according to
ambassador Hara, was prepared in Kiyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. In
the morning and evening during the annual holy festival in the Sarnath
Vihara, this bell would be rung as an expression of the goodwill and
solidarity of the Buddhist priests of Japan and India.43
Was there perhaps then a hope that Asian solidarity would stop the
spread of aggressive nationalism? There is an implicit idea in all the
writing of the time that the Asian nations should be aware of each other’s
strengths, and tie themselves in an unshakable bond of friendship, a bond
which would be mutually beneficial. The admiration of Japan and China,
who had risen to become powerful nations without western help, was
stressed; however, the emphasis was always on the perpetuation of their
past glory, and their spiritual and ethical strength. All the leading journals
expressed shock at the growth of aggressive nationalism in Japan. In 1938,
there is a note by Jaladhar Sen, the editor of Bharatbarsha, stating that a
famous Japanese poet Noguchi had written to Rabindranath Tagore
justifying the Japanese attack on China, but that Tagore had replied saying
that Japan did not yet understand the inner strength of China. At that
present moment China had much greater moral strength than Japan and

42 Santidev Ghosh, Jiboner Dhrubatara, (Calcutta: Ananda Publishers Pvt Limited,

1996),141-3
43Chittaranjan Bandopadhyay ed., Rabindra Prasanga: Anandabazar Patrika,

‘Bharatbarsha O Japaner Jogsutra’, vol 3, (14 Dec 1932), 10-12.

30 Mission of Cultural Unity

they should in the near future erase the painful memories and recreate a
pure Asia.44 The greatest fear was that the Asian bond would be hampered
and the dream of the Asiatic League would fall through. Pankaj Mishra, in
his book From the Ruins of Empire, suggests that, judging from the
unsympathetic reception that the poet received from the young radicals in
both countries, Tagore may have misread the meaning of pan-Asianism
prevailing elsewhere in Asia, especially in Japan.45 Anticipating this
extreme disappointment and embarrassment by his countrymen during his
time and later, Tagore said at a lecture at the University Institute in
Calcutta in 1924, ‘the happiness I felt in Japan was because I found a ray
of hope and a way forward...the sole aim of India should be to proclaim
the faith of Asia in the language of Asia.’46 But he stressed in another
journal Bharatvarsha in the same year, his anxiety about the term ‘pan
Asiatic’ since it implies merging of bodies of countries which imperialism
desires. ‘What is needed is unity of souls, not political union.’47
The fact that Tagore did not abandon his ideals of integration even if
he gave up his visits to Japan after 1929, is evident from the experiments
with the dance styles in Santiniketan. From the regular stream of articles
on travel in Asia and the West, as well as discussion on events, economic
and political conditions, and the development of art and culture, a new
engagement with Indian nationalism was made by reviewing the
similarities and dissimilarities with life in other countries. This new
engagement is what Sugata Bose referred to as ‘a loftier aspiration of
universalism (not a universalist boast) from the haughtier expression of
cultural imperialism...more creative and generous in its delineations of
cultural commonalities and difference,’48 which he refers to as a ‘different
universalism.’
That a re-understanding and a re-evaluation of ideas of nationalism and
nation is periodically needed has been painfully proven in India, and my
exercise in exploring this intellectual strand is in response to that need. I
would like to end with a fear voiced by Tagore which rings true for all
times: ‘The idea of the Nation is one of the most powerful anaesthetics
that man has invented. Under the influence of its fumes the whole people

44 ‘Japan O Rabindranath, Samayiki’, Bharatbarsha 26 (1), (1938): 790-91.

45 Pankaj Mishra, From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt against the West and the
Remaking of Asia, (New York: Picador, 2012), 239.
46 Rabindranath Tagore, Chin o Japaner Bhraman Bibaran, Prabashi, 24 (2) (1)

(1924): 100-101.
47 Rabindranath Tagore, Chin O Japan, Bharatvarsha, 12(1)(3)(1924): 426.
48 Sugata Bose, A Hundred Horizons: The Indian Ocean in the Age of Global

Empire, Delhi: Permanent Black:2006), 246.

 Sarvani Gooptu 31

can carry out its systematic programme of the most virulent self-seeking
without being in the least aware of its moral perversion—in fact can feel
dangerously resentful if it is pointed out.’49 And ‘if we want any merit
from interaction with other countries it can only be through ‘maitri’
(friendship) and the use of the language of love. What one gets from the
exploited is a compromise, only friendship can bring total commitment.’50

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—. ‘Burma-Burmi’ (Burmese Men and Women), Antahpur 6 (8), (1903):
178-79.
Roy Dwijendralal, Dwijendra Rachanabali, 2 volumes, ed. Rathindra Nath
Roy, (Calcutta: Sahitya Sansad, 1989).
Roy, Hemendralal, ‘Shyamrajya’, Prabashi 24 (2) (1), (1924): 64-73.
Sarkar, P. C., ‘Japaner Pothe’, Bharatbarsha, 25 (2), (1937): 62-69.
Sri Shou/Sri Sourindro, (name withheld), ‘Sangeet Pathik’, Aryadarshan,
1 (1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9),(1874): 51-54, 134-42, 192-99, 295-346, 434-39.
Tagore, Rabindranath, Nationalism (1917), (Calcutta: Rupa and Co.,
1992).
—. ‘Chin O Japaner Bhraman Bibaran’, Prabashi 24 (2) (1), (1924): 89-
101.
—. ‘Chin O Japan’, Bharatbarsha 12 (1) (3), (1924): 423-26.
—. ‘Brihattara Bharat’ (Greater India), Kalantor, (first pub in 1937),
(Calcutta: Vishwabharati Granthanbibhag, 2002).
 HISTORICAL NARRATIVES AND THE
IMAGINARIES OF COMMUNITY IDENTITY:
MITHILA IN SOME KEY HISTORICAL TEXTS

MITHILESH KUMAR JHA

Introduction
History and historical narratives have played a very important role in
shaping the social and political imaginaries in the modern world. And
history writing is rightly regarded as a part of the ‘struggle for political
power’ or ‘an agenda for self-representation’ by many modern communities.
The idea of history, as promoted by the colonial administrators and writers
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in India, posed serious challenges
to many communities. Such challenges, however, also provided them an
opportunity to revisit and refashion their pasts in the ‘new ways’ in order to
re/construct a self-image and identity for self-representation.
In the context of social and political imaginaries in modern Mithila, the
role of historical narratives is extremely important. Its rich oral traditions,
based largely on the myths and legends in the Smritis, Sanhitas, Upanishadas,
and Puranas were increasingly challenged and even interrogated by many
modern historians. This chapter examines the ways in which colonial idea
and methods of history influenced the local communities. It does so by
examining such modes of history writing in the context of Mithila in north
Bihar. This chapter explores following questions: What kind of historical
texts/narratives were written? How did they describe Mithila? How
un/successful were these texts/narratives in adopting new methods of
writing history? What kind of narratives and descriptions one can find in
these texts about the idea of Mithila, its inhabitants, and their socio-
economic and political status?
This chapter focuses on how such historical writings were part of the
wider struggle for assertion of Mithila’s distinct socio-cultural identity.
These historical texts were published between the second half of the
nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century. These texts, however,
were written initially not in Maithili, not even in the dev-bhasha Sanskrit.
34 Historical Narratives and the Imaginaries of Community Identity

But the first two texts on the history of Mithila were published in Urdu.
These are Riyaz-i-Tirhut (1868) by Ayodhya Prasad ‘Bahar’ and Aina-i-
Tirhut (1883) by Bihari Lal ‘Fitrat.’ In Maithili, such texts were written after
the publication of Mithila Darpan (1915) in Hindi by Ras Bihari Lal Das.
Many literary figures like Chanda Jha (1831-1907) made sincere and
conscious efforts to write such history in Maithili. For this purpose, he
visited many parts of Mithila and collected historical materials and
evidence. However, it was Parmeshwar Jha (1856-1924) who wrote such a
book in Maithili - Mithila Tatva Vimarsha. He completed the writing of this
book in 1919, but it was published much later in 1949 from Vidyapati Press,
Laheriya Sarai. 1 Another text in Maithili was Mithila Bhashamaya Itihas by
Mukund Jha ‘Bakshi.’ Shyam Narayan Singh wrote History of Tirhut (1922)
in English which was published by Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta (now
Kolkata). This book is still regarded as the most comprehensive and
authoritative account of the history of Mithila. This tradition of writing the
comprehensive history of Mithila continued later. Upendra Thakur’s
History of Mithila (1956) is another such example. These texts provided the
basis for the formation of modern Maithili identity and subjective
consciousness. Although, these texts with the exception of Parmeshwar
Jha’s Mithila Tatva Vimarsha were not in Maithili, became the rallying
point in the Maithili movement in later years in their quest for self-
representation and struggle for power.
These historical texts also demarcated the territory of Mithila and
provided the basis for the formulation of an exclusive identity on the basis
of Mithila (region) and Maithili (language). However, such territorial
demarcations remain a highly contentious enterprise till today. In popular
imagination Mithila and Maithili, in comparison to Tirhut, was of relatively
recent development. Although, Mithila is mentioned in the Puranas,
particularly Brihad Vishnu Purana’s chapter two is on Mithila Mahatmya,
its access was limited to a small section of Maithili Pandits. In historical
works; administrative letters and papers; and also in inter-cultural
interactions, Tirhut was still a more popular term than Mithila until as late
as the second decade of the twentieth century.

Riaz-i-Tirhut by Ayodhya Prasad ‘Bahar’

Ayodha Prasad’s Riaz-i-Tirhut is the first modern historical account of
Mithila. He begins this book by paying tribute to ‘Allah, the almighty’ and

1Jha, Parmeshwar. 1977. Mithila Tatva Vimarsha, ed. Govinda Jha, Patna: Maithili
Akademi, p. Ą.
 Mithilesh Kumar Jha 35

provides a rich account of kings, his palaces, people, their lands, lives, and
culture of Mithila in the second half of nineteenth century. Tirhut in 1860s
was constitutive of the present districts of Muzaffarpur, Vaishali,
Samastipur, Darbhanga, Madhubani, and Sitamarhi. He wrote this book in
Urdu. This he might have done as by then Urdu had become the language
of the administration and the courts. And knowledge of Urdu was also
desirable for employment. It had also become a part of urban cultural and
social life particularly among the literary elites in the towns like Darbhanga
and Muzaffarpur.
Ayodhya Prasad ‘Bahar’ was the son of Babu Gopal Lal and was a
Khatri by caste. He was from Maner Sharif of Pargana Maner in the then
district of Patna. His father worked as thana-in-charge (SHO) of different
thanas (police stations) in the then district of Tirhut for about twenty-two
years since 1846. 2 Later on, he settled in Muzaffarpur. Like his father,
Ayodhya Prasad also served in the British administration in various
capacities since 1853. 3 When, the Maharaja of Darbhanga, Maheshwar
Singh died in 1860, and Darbhanga Raj was brought under the
administration of the Court of Wards, he was appointed as a subordinate
officer and was made in-charge of records. About the functioning of the
Darbhanga Raj administration, he writes:
‘(t)here were thirty-three offices, all haphazardly containing records in
Maithili, Deonagari and other scripts right from the beginning of the Raj.
There were firmans, deeds of purchase, decisions regarding boundaries,
papers of borrowing loan, horoscopes of Maharajas, and other papers
regarding festivals, etc. All of them were collected and compiled and
brought to the notice of authorities.’ 4

This description by Bahar establishes the point that multiple languages

and scripts were used in the administration of Darbhanga Raj. Ayodhya
Prasad worked in the administration of Darbhanga Raj for six years. It is
important to note that the author and his family were working under the
colonial administration. They had access to modern English language and
literatures. And therefore, they might have felt the need for writing a history
of Mithila. And it is also possible that he got this opportunity when he was
expelled from the service of the Raj. Thus, one can infer that the need to
have an objective history was felt first by those who came into close contact

2 Jha, Hetukar (ed.). 1997. A Glimpse of Tirhut in the Second Half of the Nineteenth
Century: Riyaz-i-Tirhut of Ayodhya Prasad ‘Bahar’, Darbhanga: Maharajadhiraja
Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation, p. 5.
3 Ibid., p. 6.
4 Ibid., p. 7.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 — C’est malheureux pour nous d’avoir un enfant comme toi. M.
Bailly m’a dit hier : « Est-ce que votre fils va prendre l’habitude d’aller
au café comme un rentier ? Il ferait mieux de vous donner l’argent
qu’il y dépense. »
Ainsi on se chargeait de lui rappeler qu’il était l’aboutissement de
plusieurs générations de soumis. On ne pensait même pas à ce qu’il
pouvait porter au dedans de lui-même. On ne voyait en lui qu’un
employé qui n’était même pas libre d’user d’une pièce de cinq francs
comme bon lui semblait.
Cette solitude et cette dépendance lui pesaient. Il lui tardait de
sortir de l’obscurité. Pour avoir un sonnet imprimé dans un journal
local, dans une revue de dixième ordre, il eût donné la moitié de sa
vie. Nul doute que tout le monde ne le lût, ne l’appréciât et que
Vaneau ne dût être, immédiatement, mis hors de pair.
Il n’y avait ici ni jeunes gens de son âge, ni personne de quelque
âge que ce fût, avec lesquels il pût parler littérature, ni jeunes filles
qu’il pût aimer.
Il se prit à douter de lui-même et du monde. Toute sa vie il serait
condamné à se rendre de bon matin à ce bureau d’où il ne sortirait
que vers six heures du soir. Il se fatiguait de se promener seul sur
une route ; il avait honte de passer à côté des jeunes filles qu’il
n’osait pas saluer en souriant. Ses jours couleraient monotones,
sans gloire. Il se fatiguait aussi d’écrire des vers que personne ne
lirait et qu’il lui serait impossible de faire imprimer.
Les soirs d’été voluptueux vinrent avec leurs frissons dans les
feuilles. Comme aux soirs de son enfance il s’asseyait sur le seuil
frais. Son âme était pleine de désespoir quand elle eût dû déborder
de bonheur. Il entendait à quelques maisons de distance des
hommes rire, en fumant leur pipe, avec des femmes et des jeunes
filles. Il eût voulu se mêler à leur groupe, mais on l’en empêchait. On
lui disait :
— Reste donc ici. Tu es mieux qu’à écouter les bêtises qu’ils
racontent.
 A vingt-trois ans il ne lui était pas permis de désobéir à ses
parents. Peut-être même que libre il fût resté là à se morfondre, tant
il aurait eu peur de paraître ridicule au milieu de cette joie.
Mais c’est toujours de Paris que vient le salut.
Vaneau n’attacha guère d’importance à l’arrivée de son oncle, un
dimanche de Juillet. C’était un gros homme, avec de gros doigts et
une grosse chaîne de montre. Il avait l’habitude de venir tous les
trois ou quatre ans respirer un peu l’air du pays entre deux trains, de
neuf heures du matin à cinq heures du soir. Vaneau se souvenait
d’anciennes années où, devant cet oncle qui venait de Paris où,
disait-on, il gagnait beaucoup d’argent, il se sentait pénétré de
respect.
— Et toi, qu’est-ce que tu deviens donc ? lui demanda son oncle.
— Il fait ce qu’il peut ! répondit-on pour lui. Nous ne connaissons
personne. Il travaille chez M. Auribault et gagne quarante francs par
mois.
L’oncle, levant les bras au ciel, dit :
— C’est tout de même une dérision !
On avait chez Vaneau d’autres idées. C’était déjà bien joli, que
M. Auribault eût consenti à le prendre et lui donnât quarante francs
par mois. Ils ajoutèrent :
— Oh ! toi, nous savons bien ! Avec tes idées de grandeur !…
Mais les quarante francs qu’il gagne valent peut-être mieux qu’un
billet de cent cinquante francs — on disait « un billet de cent
cinquante francs » parce que cela représente une grosse somme
qu’il ne faut pas penser gagner en un mois dans nos pays, — qu’il
toucherait à Paris. Ici on ne le mettra pas à la porte ; tandis que là-
bas pour un oui pour un non l’on vous remercie.
— Ta ! Ta ! Ta ! fit l’oncle. Vous n’y connaissez rien. Laissez-moi
faire. Je vais m’occuper de lui, dès demain. J’ai des relations. Je
connais des gens qui ne peuvent rien me refuser. Avant trois mois il
sera casé, je vous en réponds.
 Ce gros homme d’oncle, Vaneau l’eût embrassé sur les deux
joues.
 V

Du quai de la petite gare où il attendait le train, il voyait les deux

rails se rapprocher l’un de l’autre, finir par se toucher. Mais tout à
l’heure les roues de la locomotive allaient les forcer à s’écarter à la
distance réglementaire. Septembre s’ajoutait à l’automne perpétuel
des bourgs où les feuilles jaunes dorment tranquilles dans les ruelles
vertes de mousse humide, sauf quand arrive une rafale qui les fait
tournoyer, comme de vieilles femmes qui bien à contre-cœur
danseraient. Il partait la poche légère, l’âme lourde d’incertitude et
d’impatience. Autour de lui des hommes d’équipe poussaient des
brouettes sur lesquelles des malles, des caisses entassées faisaient
effort pour conserver leur équilibre.
Le train aspira les voyageurs. On put ensuite compter à loisir les
petites stations où vainement il s’arrêta. Mais aussi c’étaient des
gares de villages solidement plantés au milieu des champs et des
vignes. Le blé, le raisin poussaient en abondance. Les jours se
succédaient pacifiques sous les solives enfumées des plafonds, près
des âtres où le feu clair ne mourait jamais. On n’y éprouvait ni le
désir ni le besoin d’aller à Paris. Clamecy apparut, dominé par des
collines noires dont la désolation faisait penser aux paysages de
l’Écriture plantés de cyprès et semés de cailloux. Une grande rivière,
qui peu à peu et sans le savoir devenait un fleuve, traversait des
prairies et baignait des bosquets ; sur des rives, de distance en
distance, étaient entassées des piles de bois de moule. Sous des
huttes recouvertes de fagots et pour jusqu’au lendemain matin
désertées, des hommes gagnaient leur vie à fabriquer des
margotins.
Puis des villes se présentèrent avec des églises, des cathédrales
même. D’autres voyageurs se précipitaient pour avoir une place, un
coin peut-être s’il en restait.
Vaneau contemplait des horizons toujours pareils. Le ciel
s’appuyait sur la ligne onduleuse des collines d’où les vignes
descendaient vers la plaine à la rencontre des champs moissonnés.
Des bourgs se suivaient de distance en distance, avec des églises à
clochers trapus, carrés, d’où les angélus devaient tomber secs et
lourds.
La nuit ne se fit que sur la terre. Les étoiles étaient claires. Il
sommeilla.
Des voyageurs dès Villeneuve-Saint-Georges se levèrent. Ils
tiraient des filets cartons à chapeaux, paquets de toutes formes,
valises. Une grosse femme secoua deux gamins dont les lèvres
étaient restées jaunes de confitures de prunes. Une vieille à bonnet
noir sortit de dessous la banquette un panier dans lequel était
enfermée une oie qui se mit à cacarder. Ce fut comme une dernière
évocation des villages qu’ils venaient de quitter. Tandis que se
succédaient des villes de banlieue propres, blanches, avec des
maisons à concierges le long de quais soigneusement entretenus,
tous pensaient à des chaumières qui vacillent au bord de chemins
creux ou perdues dans les champs sous des châtaigniers.
A la fin, quelqu’un s’écria :
— Tout de même, voilà les fortifs !
Ils étaient fatigués de ce voyage. Puisqu’ils avaient tant fait que
de partir, ils étaient pressés maintenant de retrouver des habitudes
laissées dans leurs logements de Paris. Plus on approchait et plus
Vaneau frissonnait à l’idée de tout l’inconnu où il allait donner de la
tête.
Pour économiser deux francs il ne voulut faire signe à aucun des
cochers de fiacres qui d’un œil somnolaient sur leurs sièges. Sorti de
la gare il hésita : devait-il aller à gauche, à droite, en avant, faire
volte-face ? Il avait cependant trouvé tout simple le long itinéraire, à
s’en pénétrer d’après un plan minuscule : la rue de Lyon, la place de
la Bastille, les boulevards jusqu’à l’Opéra. Mais les plans doivent
être trompeurs ; il était désorienté. Sa petite ville lui revint à la
mémoire avec sa grand’rue et quatre ou cinq sentiers, qu’il eût suivis
les yeux fermés, qui finissent entre des jardins. Ce n’était pas
davantage la ville du collège ni de la caserne, avec beaucoup de
rues sans doute, mais que l’on a vite fait de connaître chacune par
son nom, des rues qui prennent de grands airs tant qu’elles sont
dans la ville, mais n’ont pas honte de finir chemins, sentiers, routes,
dès que les maisons ne veulent plus les suivre. Paris s’étendait à
l’infini avec ses toits qui semblaient se chevaucher, aveugles, dans
le brouillard d’un des premiers matins de l’automne. Il voyait les
maisons se suivre soudées les unes aux autres. Il y a peut-être au
milieu d’elles des églises avec leurs clochers, mais elles montent si
haut vers le ciel qu’elles les cachent. Elles ont jailli du sol comme
une végétation de pierre. Il a fallu en abattre pour pouvoir respirer ;
sinon elles auraient envahi Paris. De-ci de-là des clairières qui sont
des places publiques.
Au hasard il marcha lentement. Parce qu’il n’osait point lever les
yeux pour regarder les plaques indicatrices, il eut un brusque
mouvement d’épaules, rejetant la tête en arrière comme pour se
délivrer d’une pensée obsédante.
— Ah ! tout de même ! se dit-il.
Il se trouvait à l’entrée de la rue de Lyon.
Son ventre sonnait creux.
— J’aurais mieux fait, songea-t-il, de manger dans le train.
Il n’avait pu s’y décider : tirer d’un papier blanc graisseux une
cuisse de poulet, attendre pour boire qu’une gare veuille bien se
trouver sur le parcours, étendre une serviette sur ses genoux,
prendre soin de jeter sous la banquette les pelures de fruits, lui avait
semblé indigne de lui. Il portait son costume gris fer. Sa cravate
bleue semée de lunules blanches faisait penser à de l’étoffe coupée
dans un pan de ciel nocturne. Le col et les poignets de sa chemise,
empesés, remplaçaient faux-col et manchettes.
Pourtant on le lui avait recommandé :
— En arrivant, tu prendras quelque chose de chaud.
 Mais quelques cafés seulement étaient ouverts à l’entrée de la
rue de Lyon ; d’autres, plus humbles, où volontiers il se fût assis,
étaient bouleversés. Il craignait de déranger de leur nettoyage les
garçons et se demandait si on a l’habitude de prendre à Paris dès le
matin « quelque chose de chaud ».
Il traversa la place de la Bastille, le regard horizontal, et ne vit de
la célèbre colonne que la grille et le soubassement. Il dédaigna le
petit bonhomme d’or à la pensée que derrière lui quelqu’un pût se
dire :
— Tiens ! encore un provincial qui ne connaissait pas le Génie de
la Bastille !
Sa valise bourrée de linge commençait à lui peser. Il suait déjà
malgré la fraîcheur du matin.
Pour s’éponger le front il s’arrêta près d’un banc, posant son
bagage devant lui de peur qu’un filou — on lui avait tant répété d’y
prendre garde ! — ne le lui dérobât. Des histoires circulaient chez lui
de naïfs débarquant à la gare de Lyon, accostés par des
« individus » qui se prétendant chargés de les conduire les laissaient
n’importe où, délestés de leur porte-monnaie. Il avait mis le sien
dans la poche intérieure de son paletot, plus sûre que celle du
pantalon, et concevait une certaine fierté de ce que personne à la
sortie de la gare ne l’eût abordé. A la hâte il s’assura sur son plan
que c’était bien par le boulevard Beaumarchais qu’il devait passer
pour aboutir au quartier de l’Opéra.
De se savoir dans le bon chemin Vaneau fut heureux. Mais la
faim un instant oubliée se fit de nouveau sentir. Il revit tous les cafés
ouverts dans les environs de la gare, les deux premiers surtout,
postés aux angles de la rue de Lyon, et songea :
« Suis-je bête, tout de même ! J’aurais dû aller là. On doit y être
habitué à voir du monde à toute heure du jour et de la nuit ! »
Ici toutes les devantures étaient encore fermées. Il se dit :
« Le premier que je vois ouvert, je ne le rate pas ! »
 Il regardait à droite, à gauche. Il traversa posément, — parce qu’il
n’y avait encore ni voiture, ni omnibus, — pour montrer à l’univers
entier qu’il avait l’habitude de Paris.
Un café Biard. Deux ouvriers boivent le vin blanc et parlent d’un
accident survenu hier soir rue Amelot.
— Un café ! demande Vaneau. S’il s’écoutait il dirait :
— Madame, voulez-vous me servir un café ?
Mais bien qu’il lui en coûte, il n’ose pas être timide cette fois
suivant son naturel. Il commande un café, sèchement, en s’efforçant
d’affermir sa voix. A Paris il ne faudrait jamais trembler.
Dans une corbeille des croissants sont entassés mais il ignore si
l’on peut en prendre… Un des ouvriers étend le bras et se sert…
Vaneau affecte de n’avoir pas vu le geste, regardant les petits
carreaux verts des mosaïques où des femmes aux cheveux flottants,
en robes blanches et bleues, tiennent sur des soucoupes roses des
tasses fumantes. Il attend une minute puis, l’air dégagé de tout souci
vulgaire, étend à son tour le bras pour prendre un croissant… On
commente l’accident… Il écoute, heureux d’être enfin à Paris, au
centre du monde. Désormais lorsqu’il lira dans un journal : le crime
de la place du Tertre ou le vol de la rue des Pyrénées, il pourra se
dire :
« Tiens ? Avant-hier j’ai passé là ! »
Ou bien :
« Je connais quelqu’un qui habite cette maison. »
Est-ce qu’en province il arrive jamais quelque chose ? Les vols
s’y réduisent à quelques poignées de haricots verts que l’on
s’approprie la nuit dans les jardins. De temps en temps une poule,
un lapin disparaissent. Tout s’y résume en disputes entre voisines,
en algarades sans importance ; les crimes n’y sont que des crimes
de village.
Les ouvriers sont partis. De manière à ce que l’on ne s’aperçoive
de rien Vaneau tire de son paletot le porte-monnaie et, le glissant
dans la poche droite de son pantalon, le dégonfle des gros sous qu’il
fait tomber sans bruit sur le mouchoir. Maintenant il peut payer avec
une pièce sans que l’on fasse tout bas cette réflexion :
— Pourquoi donne-t-il une pièce, quand il à des gros sous à n’en
savoir que faire ? C’est donc qu’il a peur de ne pas en donner
assez ? Encore un provincial !
Certes il y a sur la vitre en lettres blanches : « Café, 10 c. » Mais
le croissant lui semble quelque chose de supérieur, hors de prix. La
croûte dorée craque sous les dents ; la mie, aussi douce que la
moelle de sureau, est beaucoup moins fade… On lui rendit dix-sept
sous, ce qui le stupéfia. Vraiment il fait bon vivre à Paris ! Il eut envie
d’allumer une cigarette avant de sortir, mais l’appareil où dormait
une petite flamme lui sembla d’un maniement difficile et qu’il
ignorait ; ou bien, s’il se servait d’allumettes, son incompétence
sauterait aux yeux. Il préféra s’abstenir, attendre, prit sa valise et
continua son chemin.
Uniformes se succédaient les kiosques où se pliaient et
s’installaient les journaux. Des voitures déjà commençaient à rouler.
Toutes les trois minutes, sa valise lui coupant les doigts, il la
changeait de main. Les platanes maigres avec leurs pieds entourés
de grilles avaient déjà perdu presque toutes leurs feuilles ; les autres
jaunies recroquevillées tombaient sur le ciment des trottoirs comme
des cosses de haricots secs.
Si peu de bruit l’étonnait. A la campagne dès le matin tout le
monde est debout. Si l’on se couche avec les poules, on se lève en
même temps qu’elles.
En passant devant la rue Rougemont il prit le « Comptoir
National » pour une église.
Le renflement du boulevard Montmartre lui parut extraordinaire. A
Paris, pensait-il, toutes les rues sont au même niveau. Paris est plat
du nord au sud, de l’est à l’ouest. Quand on dit « la butte
Montmartre », c’est une façon de parler.
Enfin il arriva. Un instant il chercha, des yeux, puis découvrit au-
dessus d’une devanture encore fermée :

L R
 Lavaud. Restaurant.
Déjeuners et diners.
Cuisine bourgeoise. On porte en ville.

Précisément de l’intérieur la porte s’ouvrait. Lavaud apparut sur

le seuil, les yeux encore brouillés de sommeil, le gilet non boutonné.
— Tiens, c’est toi, Louis ? Tu es donc parti aussitôt ma dépêche
reçue ? Tu es content ?
— Certainement. Je vous remercie beaucoup. Mais vous ne vous
attendiez pas à ce que j’arrive si vite ? Je vous dérange peut-être ?
Il a envie d’ajouter :
— Alors je vais reprendre le train.
— Mais non, tu ne nous déranges pas. Seulement nous nous
demandions si tu arriverais ce matin ou ce soir. Et chez toi, tout le
monde va bien ?
— Oui. Merci. Ils vous envoient le bonjour.
Lavaud va et vient, enlevant les volets numérotés de la
devanture.
— Et ma tante ? Et ma cousine ? demande Vaneau. Car il faut
être poli dans la vie avec tout le monde mais surtout avec ceux dont
notre sort dépend.
— Elles vont bien aussi. Tu les verras tout à l’heure. Je descends
toujours le premier pour aller faire mes achats aux Halles.
Il entre et regarde. C’est un des petits restaurants du quartier
Saint-Georges qui, blottis entre une teinturerie et une boutique
d’antiquités, regrettent de ne pouvoir écarter davantage les coudes
pour faire signe de loin à la clientèle. A midi, grâce à quelques
employés de banque, on débite quelques biftecks, des omelettes au
jambon, du veau marengo et l’on écoule deux ou trois douzaines de
demi-setiers. Quelques ouvrières s’y hasardent aussi qu’allèche
cette promesse de « cuisine bourgeoise » ; mais, les plats étant un
peu chers, elles se mettent à deux pour manger un bifteck aux frites.
Le soir c’est autre chose. A partir du crépuscule le quartier devient
morne ; à peine si de minute en minute on entend rouler un fiacre.
Les passants se hâtent vers les boulevards ou vers Montmartre. Les
employés de banque ont regagné leurs domiciles au fond de
Batignolles, les ouvrières rentrent chez elles dîner d’une soupe ou
de charcuterie. Tout cela Vaneau l’apprendra plus tard. Maintenant il
voit la salle rectangulaire garnie sur trois rangs de tables de marbre ;
tout le côté gauche est occupé par le comptoir en acajou. Des
serviettes de la veille traînent.
— Veux-tu prendre un verre de vin blanc, Louis ?
Sans doute il a soif, d’avoir marché vite, sa lourde valise à la
main. Il voudrait accepter mais il hésite. Il vient d’arriver. Il faut que
l’on ait bonne opinion de lui, surtout que l’on ne fasse pas de
dépenses pour lui.
— Non. Je vous remercie. Je n’ai besoin de rien ! dit-il. J’ai
mangé, bu, en route.
Heureusement pendant ce temps Lavaud lui remplit son verre.
— Oh !… Pour trinquer seulement ! dit Vaneau tout confus.
Puis c’est la tante qui descend, peignée, tout habillée, elle, pour
jusqu’au soir. Elle embrasse son neveu qui l’embrasse aussi.
— Lui as-tu montré sa chambre ? demande-t-elle à Lavaud.
— Tu es bonne, toi ! Il est là depuis un quart d’heure à peine ! Je
vous laisse. Je vais aux Halles.
— Oui. Tu comprends, Louis ? Ton oncle va tous les matins en
personne faire ses achats aux Halles, parce que tout y est meilleur.
C’est que nous avons une clientèle choisie de vieux employés, et qui
préfèrent payer un peu plus cher pour avoir meilleur. Ton oncle
choisit lui-même sa viande… Maintenant je vais te montrer ta
chambre.
C’est un cabinet noir compris entre la salle, la cuisine, le corridor
de la maison et le mur de l’escalier, et meublé d’une armoire, d’un
canapé, d’une table. Derrière un rideau sont dissimulés deux hauts
coffres en bois blanc.
 Enfin voici la cousine Jeanne. Elle aussi est habillée. Elle est
fraîche et sent bon. Vaneau l’embrasse sur les deux joues.
— Tu vois, Jeanne. Je lui montre sa chambre. Nous mettrons sa
malle au grenier. A propos où est-elle ?
— Elle me suit à petites journées. J’ai dans ma valise tout ce qu’il
me faut. Il ne me manque que des draps.
— Jeanne, tu lui en descendras une paire… Si tu veux faire ta
toilette, nous avons mis cette petite table dans le coin. Là-haut nous
ne nous en servions pas.
Ils occupent, dans la maison même, l’appartement du cinquième.
— Si tu as besoin de quelque chose, tu n’auras qu’à ouvrir la
porte de la cuisine. Tandis que Jeanne fait les menus, je prépare le
déjeuner.
Vaneau est heureux. Il n’a jamais eu de « coin » à lui, ayant
passé brusquement des salles d’étude et des dortoirs aux
chambrées qu’encombrent les lits. Ce cabinet le satisfait pleinement.
Beaucoup de jeunes gens entrent à Paris avec leur situation dans la
poche. Ils s’en vont au Quartier Latin où la vie est agréable à cause
des cafés, des brasseries et des tavernes où l’on peut s’asseoir près
de jolies femmes qui ne demandent qu’à rire, et du Luxembourg qui
est pour Paris aussi vaste que la campagne ; où la vie est facile
grâce aux deux ou trois cents francs que jamais, au commencement
du mois, la famille n’oublie d’envoyer, et passionnante lorsque dans
la solitude d’une chambre on a toutes ses heures pour lire, rêver,
écrire.
D’autres, un beau matin, quittent une chaumière et viennent au
hasard y tenter la fortune. Dans les grands magasins ils apprennent
à sourire aux belles clientes, même aux vieilles femmes qui ne
trouvent jamais rien à leur goût. Ils passent leur vie à courir d’un
rayon à l’autre ; ils ne rentrent chez eux que pour se coucher et ne
se lèvent que pour aller travailler. Mais ils n’ont pas d’autre but que
de dépenser moins d’argent qu’ils n’en gagnent. Ils ont apporté à
Paris l’esprit d’économie de leur village.
 Et les indépendants ! Et les réfractaires ! Eux-mêmes ne se font
pas faute de nous raconter jour par jour leurs années de misère
dans des greniers qui vraiment ne font point partie des maisons ;
nous connaissons leur pain vieux, leur fromage durci, leurs courses
en bottines percées. On ne saurait jamais payer trop cher son
indépendance.
C’est comme eux que Vaneau, encore inexpérimenté et pour
longtemps naïf, voudrait vivre. Mais on ne lui eût pas donné l’argent
du voyage. Il ne faut point de départs pour l’inconnu. On se raconte,
dans les petites villes, que des légions de bacheliers, de licenciés, à
Paris meurent de faim. C’est comme eux qu’il voudrait vivre, puisque
le Quartier Latin avec les trois cents francs par mois de la famille
n’est pas pour lui. Peut-être eût-il mieux valu qu’il partît comme ceux
à qui la vie d’un grand magasin suffira. N’est-ce pas dommage qu’à
l’école des Frères il ait appris tout ce qu’il a voulu ?
Plusieurs fois il se trempe la tête dans la cuvette. Il pousse sous
le canapé sa valise fermée à clef. Vers huit heures on se met à
table. Il voudrait déjà être dehors, dans les rues de ce Paris qu’il
ignore. Ce déjeuner n’en finit pas, au gré de son impatience. On lui
demande beaucoup de détails qu’il ne peut se refuser à donner. On
lui répète :
— Tu peux être tranquille. Nous connaissons beaucoup de
monde.
Il se lève, en allumant une cigarette.
— Qu’est-ce que tu vas faire, maintenant ?
— Un tour… par là…
C’est ainsi qu’il renseignait sa mère lorsque, partant pour le petit
bois tout proche, elle lui demandait :
— Où est-ce que tu t’en vas donc encore ?
Du chemin qui conduisait à ce bois il connaissait tous les
accidents. Même aveugle pour s’y diriger il n’aurait pas eu besoin de
bâton.
— Fais bien attention de ne pas t’égarer !
 Cette recommandation superflue le choque. Il vient sans
broncher de traverser la moitié de Paris, et on lui dit !… C’est un peu
fort qu’après un pareil exploit, dont il reste lui-même étonné, on le
prenne encore pour un provincial !… Il a envie de répondre que…
Mais il se contente de dire :
— Oh ! je n’irai pas loin ! Je ne m’écarterai pas des boulevards !
 VI

Pourtant Vaneau s’éloigne des boulevards ; il se dirige vers

Montmartre, et c’est à peine si de l’entrée de la rue Laffitte il aperçoit
le fameux dôme blanc qu’entourent de légers brouillards. Mais il ne
se précipite point. Il marche posément, avec des envies de s’arrêter
aux devantures où sont des tableaux, des livres qui ne demandent
qu’à être regardés ; derrière les livres et les tableaux il y a, de
quelque nom que l’on veuille les ennoblir, le marchand et la
marchande qui ne demandent qu’à vous voir entrer cherchant votre
porte-monnaie. Mais Vaneau n’est pas riche.
Il croise des jeunes filles qui ne ressemblent pas à celles que
jusqu’à présent il a vues. Elles parlent, elles rient très fort et sont
aussi bien mises, aussi importantes que de grandes dames. Vaneau
devine cependant qu’à cette heure elles vont travailler, mais ce doit
être uniquement pour se distraire. Il y en a qui s’en vont toutes
seules en lisant un feuilleton. Il se dit :
— C’est très bien ! Sans doute ce n’est qu’un feuilleton, mais
elles lisent. Vraiment toutes ces jeunes filles ont des âmes d’artistes
et sont éprises comme moi de littérature.
Il voudrait leur dire :
— Vous êtes depuis longtemps la lumière de mes rêves. Je n’ai
guère plus de vingt ans. Je veux devenir célèbre, ô jeunes filles,
pour que vous m’aimiez.
Mais elles passent et Vaneau continue son chemin.
Il y a aussi des jeunes gens, vêtus de noir, qui, l’air sérieux, se
dirigent vers des bureaux en mangeant leur croissant. Vaneau ne
doute pas que leur besogne n’y soit compliquée. Ce sont des
Parisiens, donc tous d’une intelligence supérieure. A songer que
demain il devra travailler comme eux, il éprouve quelque inquiétude.
Mais qu’importe demain ! Aujourd’hui mérite d’être vécu.
Vaneau débarque à Paris comme avant lui Rastignac, les
Lorrains de Barrès, le Petit Chose. Mais qu’il en diffère ! Il ne songe
pas à se jeter dans le gouffre ouvert par Balzac : il ne connaît point
de Mme de Beauséant qui lui ouvre les portes des salons. Son
activité ne fut point par Bouteiller orientée vers la politique : il s’est
développé par lui-même. Aussi pauvre que le Petit Chose, il n’aura
pas comme lui de mère Jacques qui travaille pour deux. Il ne pourra
point en écoutant les angélus de Saint-Germain-des-Prés écrire des
vers : il sera tout à la fois le Petit Chose et la mère Jacques. Mais il
travaillera. Il se sent robuste. La légende du Chat-Noir le ravit d’aise.
A lui qui depuis longtemps la voit dans ses rêves, la Butte apparaît
comme un terrier percé d’innombrables trous où gîtent de fameux
lapins, des « artistes » à pantalons bouffants, à cravates noires, à
chapeaux pointus. Ils ne vivent que pour l’Art dont ils discutent
continuellement, soit en prenant des bocks et des absinthes, soit
quand ils s’en vont par bandes galoper dans les bois de Clamart,
s’asseoir près des étangs de Ville-d’Avray, manger des fritures au
bord de la Seine. Vaneau les voit à travers Mürger et Manette
Salomon.
Il n’arrive pas en fondateur d’école. Il n’apporte pas, pliées entre
deux douzaines de mouchoirs, de théories nouvelles qui doivent
bouleverser le monde. Tout en montant la rue des Martyrs, il
soliloque :
— Si j’avais, à ma droite ou à ma gauche, un peintre qui pour la
postérité m’exposât ses idées sur la peinture, tandis que je parlerais
littérature !… Mais ce serait un chapitre de roman, non une page de
vie. Il est exact que j’arrive à Paris un matin de Septembre, seul,
plus inaperçu encore que dans les bois qui entourent ma ville natale.
Je soliloque, — je le sais et il est inutile de me le faire remarquer, —
comme Durtal sous les feuillages de cette forêt de pierre qu’est la
cathédrale de Chartres. Mais est-ce ma faute ? Je ne demanderais
pas mieux que de parler très haut pour qu’on m’entendît. Car je
viens ici pour tâcher de construire, sur ce terrain déjà si encombré,
ma bicoque dont j’ai à peine jeté les premières fondations.
J’aperçois des palais, des maisons bourgeoises, des villas sous la
verdure, des fermes, de petites maisons semblables à celles de ma
petite ville. Or tout cela est étiqueté, conservé, gardé, défendu par
les critiques. Pourtant je vois, tombant en ruines, des demeures jadis
fastueuses que personne ne visite plus. Que j’aille, ici, cueillir en
passant un brin de chèvrefeuille, ou respirer même de loin, une
rose ; que je ramasse là quelque branche morte ou une pomme
tombée sur le chemin ; que je fasse le geste de mettre dans ma
poche une ardoise ou un morceau de marbre brisé, tout de suite l’on
me criera :
— Hé, l’ami ! Que faites-vous donc ?
Je me bâtirai ma bicoque comme je pourrai, avec des débris de
zinc, des tuyaux de poêle que j’irai ramasser dans les coins vierges,
s’il en reste, de Paris, avec de la glaise et des pierres que je
déterrerai dans quelque carrière ignorée de province.
Vaneau a traversé un boulevard. Il monte maintenant les
marches d’un escalier qui n’en finit pas. Et voici brusquement tout
Paris encore couvert de brume à ses pieds.
Attention, mon ami Vaneau ! Tu vas pénétrer si tu n’y prends
garde dans les propriétés réservées. Tu ne t’imagines pas, je pense,
être le premier à regarder, de cette altitude, Paris ? Tu ne vas point
nous offrir comme régal nouveau des tartines sur la multitude d’êtres
assemblés là, qui souffrent, rient, s’agitent et meurent, l’antithèse
entre Notre-Dame et la tour Eiffel, entre les doux appels des cloches
et les cris rauques des sirènes. Rastignac, quand il lança son défi,
ne posait pas pour la galerie et les morts du Père-Lachaise n’ont pas
souri. Mais toi, essaie un peu de prononcer pour ton compte ces
trois syllabes :
— A nous deux !
Paris n’entendra pas. Mais s’il t’entendait il éclaterait de rire. Tu
veux être quelqu’un. Et tu n’es rien, qu’un jeune homme inconnu en
qui s’agitent des forces obscures que tu ne peux diriger. Tu es
quelqu’un, mais sur qui pèsent des années de servitude et
d’humiliations. Que peux-tu dire à la grande ville ? Que veux-tu
trouver aujourd’hui de nouveau ? Sans doute elle est tout entière à
tes pieds, mais c’est une façon de parler. Elle a l’air plutôt de te dire :
— Descends donc un peu et tu verras !
Voici qu’elle s’étire de son sommeil, qu’elle se découvre. Des
monuments, comme fatigués de dormir, surgissent de terre d’un
coup de reins. Un rayon de lumière tombe sur leurs vitraux luisants
comme des yeux de fauves qui te guetteraient du fond de la
brousse. La brume se retire peu à peu comme les flots de la mer au
reflux chassée par le soleil. Elle te laisse voir debout, enracinés dans
la grève, des quartiers énormes de rochers qui sont des maisons.
Des églises émergent dont tu ne sais même pas les noms : tu ne
reconnais que Notre-Dame et Saint-Sulpice. Tu reconnais aussi la
tour Eiffel. Tout le reste est un fouillis de cheminées, d’ardoises et de
zinc, de fenêtres. Il te semble, tant les maisons se pressent les unes
contre les autres, que tu pourrais traverser Paris en marchant sur les
toits. La brume n’est pas encore arrivée au bout de l’horizon. Il te
semble que Paris n’a pas de fin, qu’il va comme cela jusqu’au bout
du monde. Aussi loin que tu puisses voir ce sont toujours des
maisons que tu ne distingues plus qu’à peine. Pourtant, regarde. Là-
bas, sur ta gauche, ces îlots de verdure que n’a point submergés la
houle des pierres ni des ardoises : ce sont les Buttes-Chaumont et le
Père-Lachaise d’où Rastignac, près d’un siècle avant toi, découvrit
la grande ville. Trois millions d’êtres humains grouillent à tes pieds
en une cohue où bientôt il te faudra jouer des coudes. Il ne t’en
arrive qu’un bruissement confus, comme de crabes qui remuent sur
le sable. La trompette de l’Archange sonnant au-dessus de cette
vallée ne leur ferait point lever la tête, absorbés qu’ils sont par leurs
soucis quotidiens. Tu en aperçois quelques-uns, gros comme des
fourmis qui cherchent une brindille, une paille, un grain de blé, mais
tu ne les vois pas tous. Il y en a dans les églises et dans les
casernes, dans les couvents et dans les lycées, dans les rues et
dans les égouts, dans les grands magasins et dans les petites
boutiques, dans les banques et à l’Université, dans les ateliers de
couture et dans les cafés, dans les hôtels de Passy et d’Auteuil et
dans les mansardes, sur les berges de la Seine et sous les ponts et
jusque sur les toits. Ils sortent de partout. Par toutes les portes de
toutes les maisons c’est un flot humain qui se répand, toujours égal,
mais que creuse parfois le souffle des émeutes. Il y en a qui, comme
toi, sont venus d’un pays où il eût été pour eux meilleur de vivre à
l’ombre des chênes, sur les bords d’un étang fréquenté par les
paisibles poules d’eau. Ils y retournent la nuit au gré de leurs rêves
et ne se réveillent qu’en soupirant. De pauvres femmes se lamentent
dans les cours, tandis que les coupés électriques glissent le long
des avenues, accompagnés du frisson des platanes poussiéreux. Et
c’est tout cela que tu veux conquérir ? Vaneau, mon ami, prends
garde ! Tu exagères ! Redescends vers Paris.
Vaneau descend, ni mélancolique, ni enthousiasmé, simplement
heureux. Il fume cigarette sur cigarette. Demain il faudra se réduire,
mais cette matinée de Septembre vaut d’être pleinement vécue.
Boulevard Rochechouart, — il va bientôt être onze heures, — il
pénètre dans un café, demande un « Pernod sucre ». Le sucre posé
sur la cuiller, il l’arrose de quelques gouttes d’eau. Il songe :
— Je me souviens d’absinthes semblables prises dans des cafés
de cette sous-préfecture où, lorsque je parvenais à m’évader de la
caserne, le train qui s’arrêtait fatigué m’obligeait à errer deux heures
durant. Il faut avoir sué au cours de marches et de manœuvres sur
des routes où les arbres trop savamment espacés ne dispensent
qu’une ombre rare ; il faut avoir après de prétendus repas absorbés
à la hâte sur des coins de tables puantes encore de cire et de cirage
défilé des gardes à dix heures du matin, sous un soleil qui dénonce,
impitoyable, aux fureurs d’un adjudant de semaine le moindre trou
sur les bretelles de suspension et les cartouchières, pour savourer le
bonheur d’être assis tout seul dans un café silencieux quoique sur
une banquette dont le cuir usé, mourant, laisse à plusieurs endroits
à la fois s’échapper son âme de crin. Mais aujourd’hui cette paix,
cette tranquillité de jadis me pèsent. Les mouches seules étaient
vivantes. En province les toits sont posés sur les maisons comme
des éteignoirs : sous eux les enthousiasmes vite étouffés meurent.
Et les guêpes inutilement se cassent la tête contre les vitres.
 On peut se rendre compte qu’il commence à divaguer. Est-ce
l’effet de la nuit blanche, de l’arrivée à Paris, des premières gorgées
d’absinthe ?
— Oui. J’ai lu des tas de romans archifaux. Je dois m’avouer à
moi-même que j’ignore si j’en écrirai jamais un, et s’il sera meilleur.
Mais j’espère qu’à quarante ans, si Dieu me prête vie, j’écrirai mieux,
ou plus du tout. Ils taillent leurs personnages comme les gamins
leurs bonshommes de neige : à coups de pelle. Les épaules, les
jambes sont vaguement indiquées, et la tête fait une de ces têtes !…
Les joyeux ajoutent une pipe ; les lugubres creusent les yeux,
allument sous le crâne une chandelle. Mais qu’il y ait du feu dans la
pipe, et laissez faire la chandelle : en même temps que le visage
rudimentaire, le bonhomme s’en ira vite. Il n’y a pas besoin
d’attendre le soleil.
De temps à autre Vaneau regarde dehors. Il espère voir des files
d’artistes, mais rien, que des tombereaux, des fiacres et des
tramways. Des femmes mal peignées se rendent au marché ; des
bonnes, dès le matin coiffées, passent avec des filets et des paniers.
Vaneau invoque mentalement le Dieu de Hugo :

Modérateur des sauts de l’anse du panier.

D’artistes, point. Sans doute ils travaillent.

— Chercher à quelle date, songe-t-il, donc à quel âge un tel a
écrit son chef-d’œuvre, pour se dire : « Oh ! j’ai encore huit mois
pour faire l’équivalent ! » Et puis, que m’importe ! J’ai moi aussi de
l’infini sur la planche ! J’ai l’avenir à ma disposition.
Oui. Songe toujours. Mais pas d’illusions ! Attends un peu, et tu
verras. C’est toi qui es à la disposition de l’avenir. Si tu te laisses
entamer par la vie quotidienne, tu es perdu. Il te faudra
continuellement te ressaisir, rentrer en toi-même, et de l’intérieur
recimenter la petite tour du haut de laquelle tu regarderas. Ce
premier contact avec Paris t’enfièvre. Tu ne doutes plus ce matin de
personne, ni de toi-même. Tu arrives d’une bourgade inconnue où tu