HOW A POET MADE A TYRANNICAL GOVERNMENT KNEEL-DOWN ( The most significant piece of history in today's India)

The decision to effect the partition of Bengal was announced on 7th July, 1905 by the then Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. The devilish plan was to separate the Muslim dominated eastern areas from the Hindu dominated western areas. This caused widespread dissent across Bengal and there was an atmosphere of tension and mutual animosity everywhere. The reason behind the partition that was officially announced was that the Bengal province was too large to be administered by a single governor and so it would be partitioned on administrative purpose. The real reason behind the partition was political and not administrative. East Bengal was dominated by the Muslims and West Bengal by the Hindus. Partition was yet another part of the divide and rule policy. The following excerpts from Curzon's letter of 2 February 1905 to St. John Brodrick, Secretary of State for India, give an idea of his aims in partitioning Bengal:

"Calcutta is the centre from which the Congress Party is manipulated throughout the whole of Bengal, and indeed the whole of India. Its best wire pullers and its most frothy orators all reside here. The perfection of their machinery, and the tyranny which it enables them to exercise are truly remarkable. They dominate public opinion in Calcutta; they affect the High Court; they frighten the local Government, and they are sometimes not without serious influence on the Government of India. The whole of their activity is directed to creating an agency so powerful that they may one day be able to force a weak government to give them what they desire. Any measure in consequence that would divide the Bengali-speaking population; that would permit independent centres of activity and influence to grow up; that would dethrone Calcutta from its place as the center of successful intrigue, or that would weaken the influence of the lawyer class, who have the entire organisation in their hands, is intensely and hotly resented by them. The outcry will be loud and very fierce, but as a native gentleman said to me – 'my countrymen always howl until a thing is settled; then they accept it'."

There were widespread protests everywhere especially in the form of resistance by the Hindus which sparked off the Swadeshi movement entailing a complete boycott of British goods and services. However the Muslims in East Bengal hoped that a separate region would give them more control over education and employment, which were previously availed by the Hindu gentry and landlords, hence they opposed those movements. The plot hatched to divide Bengal along communal lines was beginning to succeed.

A lot of eminent figures from the political and literary arena protested against Government's partition policy. Apart from the Boycott which was in full swing, the opposition to the movement manifested itself in multifarious ways. One person who played a prominent role in this movement was the Country's renaissance giant, Rabindranath Tagore. He spearheaded a number of protest rallies, organized the grieving sections to launch a full fledged movement against the British. He was extremely vocal about the issue and also channelized his literary endeavours as a weapon of this agitation. He wrote Banglar Mati Banglar Jol as a rallying cry for proponents of annulment of Partition.

During August, when the vehement opposition was gaining a strong foothold amongst the political machinery, the festival of Rakshabandhan arrived. Although it was a Hindu festival, Tagore deftly used the concept of brotherhood, togetherness and ‘the thread of protection’ as a medium to protest against British’s partition policy by showing a picture of unity among the two communities.
He was again the steward of the movement and with a band of likeminded co-agitators went straight to Nakhoda Masjid in Kolkata on foot to give effect to his intentions. A lot of well-wishers forbade Tagore to do it as it might not go well with the Muslim community. They feared that amidst this environment of turmoil and distrust, even a request for participation in a Hindu festival for the Muslims can trigger hostility. When he reached the Mosque, the Imam himself came out and to everyone's dismay expressed his desire to get knotted with the blissful thread. Following Tagore’s call, Hindus and Muslims in Kolkata, Dhaka and Sylhet came out in large numbers to tie Rakhi threads as a symbol of unity. He transformed the religious tradition of Raksha Bandhan to a secular motif of unity among diversity and resisted Banga Bhanga (Partition of Bengal). A string of protests ensued in the upcoming years in both parts of Bengal and the British Government finally withdrew its plan in the year 1911.

However on account of a short lived vision of the movement, it ultimately failed to prevent the amputation of the Nation in 1947.

WAHH TAJ

The construction of the railway lines and railroad tunnels in America started in the 18th century. As Karl Marx said “that the  railways would act as the very plinth on which the edifice of modern civilization would stand and this eventually would give birth to official labour communities all over the world”, the construction of the communication lines heralded the era of massive development which US witnessed in the next century. If one digs a bit deep, he would uncover a bit of filth and squalor behind the history of these railroad constructions. The history is horrific, ugly and blood-stained. The progressive white Americans mostly employed the comparatively sturdy Afro-Americans as labourers to build these tracks. These labourers were taken as bonded slaves and treated like dirt. They were forced to work for long hours with scanty food and water supplies, tortured vehemently and many died working on the site due to austere physical strain. A good lot got themselves killed for not being able to live up to their boss’s command and some even committed suicide. This inhuman treatment from the white bosses went on for years and the rail roads, tunnels and everything else bear silently the dark history of centuries till date. Those who are a bit inquisitive to know about this ghastly piece of history can simply type “John Henry” in google.

History is past. We can memorize it, take lessons from it, lament it, get livid, feel elated or oblivious about it but we can't amend it. Similarly we don't have the power to erase it. We can at the utmost deny it or make unwarranted aberrations. No amount of sugar-coating can justify the deplorable actions of the tyrannical minds like in the case we read above. It should be condemned and remembered with a heavy heart. But what's the point in scrapping the piece of history altogether? Should the Americans blow-up the railway tracks or stop using the railroads as a gesture of atonement? Any rational mind won't give an affirmative nod in this case and rightfully so.

Taj Mahal indeed was erected by the Mughal ruler Shahjahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Begum. It's one of the wonders of the world, a marvel of marbles, and a great tourist attraction for Indians as well as foreigners. What the Statue of Liberty is to US or the Eiffel Tower is to France, Taj Mahal is to India. Every Indian restaurant in Europe and America has a picture of the Taj inside. It has become integral to the concept of Indianness. It's completely unwise to treat it as a “blot” or forcefully establish the unverified theory of “Tejo Mahalaya”. May be Ustad Isa’s men met with a dreadful fate but we must not forget that the structure was created by the blood and sweat of Indians. Belittling it or ignoring it would tantamount to an insult to those departed souls who made the miracle happen. It's because of their toiling we are able to say today -

“Gar firdaus bar-rue zamin ast, hami asto, hamin asto, hamin ast.” (If there is a heaven on Earth, it's here, it's here.)

DSCR - The guiding parameter

DSCR- Debt Service Coverage Ratio

The debt service coverage ratio (DSCR), also known as "debt coverage ratio" (DCR), is the ratio of cash available for debt servicing to interest, principal and lease payments. It is a popular benchmark used in the measurement of an entity's (person or corporation) ability to produce enough cash to cover its debt (including lease) payments. The higher this ratio is, the easier it is to obtain a loan. The phrase is also used in commercial banking and may be expressed as a minimum ratio that is acceptable to a lender; it may be a loan condition. Breaching a DSCR covenant can, in some circumstances, be an act of default.
In corporate finance, DSCR refers to the amount of cash flow available to meet annual interest and principal payments on debt, including sinking fund payments.
In personal finance, DSCR refers to a ratio used by bank loan officers in determining debt servicing ability.
A DSCR over 1 means that (in theory, as calculated to bank standards and assumptions) the entity generates sufficient cash flow to pay its debt obligations. A DSCR below 1.0 indicates that there is not enough cash flow to cover loan payments. In certain industries where non-recourse project finance is used, a Debt Service Reserve Account is commonly used to ensure that loan repayment can be met even in periods with DSCR<1.0

In general, it is calculated by:

DSCR = Net Operating Income/Debt Service

where:
Net Operating Income = Net Profit + Depreciation and Amortization + Interest paid + Non Cash Expenses other than depreciation and Amortization.

Debt Service = Principal + Interest + Lease Payments

To calculate an entity’s debt coverage ratio, you first need to determine the entity’s net operating income. To do this you must take the entity’s total income and deduct any vacancy amounts and all operating expenses. Then take the net operating income and divide it by the property’s annual debt service, which is the total amount of all interest and principal paid on all of the property’s loans throughout the year.
If a property has a debt coverage ratio of less than one, the income that property generates is not enough to cover the mortgage payments and the property’s operating expenses. A property with a debt coverage ratio of .8 only generates enough income to pay for 80 percent of the yearly debt payments. However, if a property has a debt coverage ratio of more than 1, the property does generate enough revenue to cover annual debt payments. For example, a property with a debt coverage ratio of 1.5 generates enough income to pay all of the annual debt expenses, all of the operating expenses and actually generates fifty percent more income than is required to pay these bills.
A DSCR of less than 1 would mean a negative cash flow. A DSCR of less than 1, say .95, would mean that there is only enough net operating income to cover 95% of annual debt payments. For example, in the context of personal finance, this would mean that the borrower would have to delve into his or her personal funds every month to keep the project afloat. Generally, lenders frown on a negative cash flow, but some allow it if the borrower has strong outside income.
Typically, most commercial banks require the ratio of 1.15–1.35 times (net operating income or NOI / annual debt service) to ensure cash flow sufficient to cover loan payments is available on an ongoing basis.

Pre-Tax Provision Method

Income taxes present a special problem to DSCR calculation and interpretation. While, in concept, DSCR is the ratio of cash flow available for debt service to required debt service, in practice – because interest is a tax-deductible expense and principal is not – there is no one figure that represents an amount of cash generated from operations that is both fully available for debt service and the only cash available for debt service.
While Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) is an appropriate measure of a company's ability to make interest-only payments (assuming that expected change in working capital is zero), EBIDA (without the "T") is a more appropriate indicator of a company's ability to make required principal payments. Ignoring these distinctions can lead to DSCR values that overstate or understate a company's debt service capacity. The Pre-Tax Provision Method provides a single ratio that expresses overall debt service capacity reliably given these challenges.
Debt Service Coverage Ratio as calculated using the Pre-Tax Provision Method answers the following question: How many times greater was the company's EBITDA than its critical EBITDA value, where critical EBITDA is that which just covers its Interest obligations + Principal obligations + Tax Expense assuming minimum sufficient income + Other necessary expenditures not treated as accounting expenses, like dividends and CAPEX.
The DSCR calculation under the Pre-Tax Provision Method is EBITDA / (Interest + Pre-tax Provision for Post-Tax Outlays), where Pre-tax Provision for Post-tax Outlays is the amount of pretax cash that must be set aside to meet required post-tax outlays, i.e., CPLTD + Unfinanced CAPEX + Dividends. The provision can be calculated as follows:
If noncash expenses (depreciation + depletion + amortization) > post-tax outlays, then Pretax provision for post-tax outlays = Post-tax outlays
For example, if a company’s post-tax outlays consist of CPLTD of $90M and $10M in unfinanced CAPEX, and its noncash expenses are $100M, then the company can apply $100M of cash inflow from operations to post-tax outlays without paying taxes on that $100M cash inflow. In this case, the pretax cash that the borrower must set aside for post-tax outlays would simply be $100M.
If post-tax outlays > noncash expenses, then Pretax provision for post-tax outlays = Noncash expenses + (post-tax outlays - noncash expenses) / (1- income tax rate)
For example, if post-tax outlays consist of CPLTD of $100M and noncash expenses are $50M, then the borrower can apply $50M of cash inflow from operations directly against $50M of post-tax outlays without paying taxes on that $50M inflow, but the company must set aside $77M (assuming a 35% income tax rate) to meet the remaining $50M of post-tax outlays. This company’s pretax provision for post-tax outlays = $50M + $77M = $127M

LLCR – A variant of DSCR

Loan Life Coverage Ratio (LLCR) is a ratio commonly used in project finance. The ratio is defined as: Net Present Value (NPV) of Cashflow Available for Debt Service ("CFADS") / Outstanding Debt in the period. Financial modelling of LLCR is now a standard metric calculated in a project finance model and has been standardized to a large extent but always needs to be aligned with local practice of the financiers as described in the transaction term sheet.
NPV(CFADS) is measured only up until the maturity of the debt tranche.
The ratio is one of the aspects used for estimates of the credit quality of a project from a lender's perspective.

Source: Wikipedia

When the best investor in the World visited India

Some of the key takeaways from the interview of Buffet in India for a Credit Person or an Investor.

1.    Understand the Business –

We are investing in the business as a whole. So it is imperative to understand its very nature. Financials are outcome of business activities, they assist in understanding the nature, performance and also the future trends of the enterprise. But barring that, there are other factors which comprise the business – The Nature of the Product(s)/Service(s) dealt in, existing economic conditions, demand in the market, competitive edge etc. Understanding the business is a detailed understanding of all such factors.

2.    Industry knowledge –

Despite Bill Gates being a long-time pal, Berkshire has minimal investment in “IT Sector”. Buffet explains “I did not have any idea about the IT companies. I first met Bill in 1991. He was already a success by then. But I did not have any idea what Microsoft was doing. I did not knew what Google was up to. Hence I remained aloof”. We may not have the privilege to exercise such sectoral preferences. Therefore its crucial for us to research various industries. As Buffet reiterates, “In the 1930s, there were large number of automobile companies in the US. All were experiencing a boom. But few became success stories like Ford Corporation or General Motors. Majority withered away”. Therefore you should know which horse to bet on.

3.    Independence –

An investor’s work is an independent exercise. He/She is not supposed to be guided or coaxed by what others are doing. Like Ajit Jain (Head of Berkshire Insurance wing) explains, “we don’t sign a deal just because other market players are doing. Neither do we reject proposals as our competitors are doing so. Our job demands an independent evaluation”. When the world refused to lay eyes on Coca-Cola, Buffet backed it heavily. Such a conviction can only arise if one takes charge independently. Not that you will be right every-time in your decision-making, but jeopardising independence will surely have fatal consequences on the business of investing.

4.    The importance of saying “NO” –

Buffet opines that the foremost reason why BH has been largely successful is that they have been able to decline proposals which deemed unfit to them. There were huge resistances but they did not budge. Ajit jokingly remarks “There are times when I don’t approve deals for a month. When I inform Warren about the same, he also remarks humorously “I have not done anything for a month either.”. They take every care in ensuring that money doesn’t get drained as poor investment.

5.    Stick to the Basics –

Aerodynamics as well as investing follow a complex structure but the latter does not involve the application of profound intellect. Buffet remarks “You don’t need an IQ of 160 to be in investing. If your IQ is 130, you can sell off 30 with ease”. The analysis is no rocket science but it revolves around the fundamental principles of finance. Compliance or interpretation of the same may be tedious in certain cases but you don’t need anything exceptional to pull it off. So remain confident.           

A MAN YOU CAN'T REFUSE

Have you ever been stung by a fictional character? I mean every child fancies to be a Tintin, Sherlock Holmes, 

Batman, Superman or the like. Why only minors, history have often bore examples where adults and quite famous ones have been so engrossed by imaginary characters that they have altered their accent, attire or hairstyle in tune with the character. President Kennedy was fascinated with James Bond. Edward Rutherford took to writing after being heavily inspired from the Mark Twain character Tom Sawyer. Many have been affected by the Malboro’s man charm of puffing the smoke. The tomboyish spirit in girls have been inspired to some extent by the Nancy Drew series. In a psychological survey, it has been observed that Barbie does set high standards for girls. 

I too have once been trapped by the charm of a fictional character. Although at that time I was not a school kid but a college goer. The fascination though unusual had a profound impact. My first rendezvous with the character didn’t happen in print but on celluloid. A friend of mine gifted me a DVD of a movie about which I expressed the desire to see. I was aware about the plot outline as I had watched many movies which were clearly inspired from this one. 
Before I watched it, I had already adored the Kamal Hasan-Mani Ratnam inaugural venture in Nayakan (adapted in Hindi as Dayavan starring Vinod Khanna), loved Feroz Khan’s Dharmatma and the Ramgopal Verma movie Sarkar where Amitabh Bachchan donned the lead role which also sported a reflection of the Ex-Shiv Sena Supremo and Founder Balasaheb Thackeray. 

I can still vividly remember the DVD cover. It bore the name of the movie along with the names of the two lead 

actors who are often regarded as one of the very best the World has ever seen in the sphere of acting. The director's name was also shining prominently - Francis Ford Coppola.Since one among the actors was Al Pacino whom I revered after visualizing his stunning act in ‘The Scent of a Woman’ (for which he won an Academy Award in 1992), I felt the necessity of giving the film an immediate go. The movie started with an iconic scene. The dialogue which marked conviction “ I believe in America” was succeeded by a submissive and disgruntled mustached man. The man was narrating the painful tale of his daughter’s torture and the pathetic state of the law which allowed the offenders to walk scot-free. Since the law denied him justice he has decided to plead the matter in the parallel court of “Don Corleone”. The initial scene set the tone for what was to follow. The man who commanded such respect was in fact the patriarch of the largest crime family of New York, the Corleone family. The supremo, played by the legendary Marlon Brando, immediately grabbed my attention. I watched the movie in a state of stupor being awed by the presence and reactions of the character addressed as Vito Corleone or more often by the title of the movie “The Godfather”. What this influence did to me was I did watch the next two movies of the trilogy in which the yesteryears of Vito reappeared through Robert De Niro on screen and I also gobbled the novel on which the movies were based - The Godfather - written by the American author of Italian descent, Mario Gianlugi Puzo. Vito gained on my senses even more. It may sound funny now but I started to use the name Vito as my middle name in social media.

                                          The opening scene - The Godfather listening to the plea

Who was Vito Corleone?

The novel and the second part of the trilogy depicts Vito’s story in the initial days. He was born as Vito Andolini in a small town and commune named Corleone in the province of Palemo in Sicily, Italy on December 7, 1891. Vito was a reclusive young boy who hardly spoke a word and was docile to his mother’s orders. He was often referred to as “dumb”. His Father Antonio was brutally murdered by the local Mafia Don Cicio as the former refused to pay tribute to him. Vito’s elder brother Paolo swore to avenge but he too was killed by the Don’s henchmen. Vito’s mother went with the little Vito to Don Cicio so that the cruel Mafia would at least spare the little one. The shrewd Don refused the request on the pretext that one day this little boy will try to extract revenge. At this point the movie shows that Vito’s mother holds a knife to Cicio’s throat allowing the little boy to escape. According to the movie,Vito’s mother got killed. However the novel shows she was subjugated to torture but her life was spared. Family friends smuggle Vito out of Sicily and he was deported in a ship along with a host of other immigrants traveling to America. In the film, the Ellis Island immigration officials renamed him as Vito Corleone mistaking Andolini to be his middle name and his village name to be his surname. Vito as usual remained mute. The novel though states that Vito used the surname Corleone to associate his existence with his origin in a far away land all alone.Vito was then taken in by the Abbandando family, who were a distant relative of his in an Italian colony on New York’s lower East Side. He wept alone in his room at night as he missed his family dearly. However he was indebted to the Abbandando family and grew very close to them. He was particularly fond of their son Genco and regarded him as his own brother. Vito also worked at the Abbandando family’s grocery store and earned an honest living. He also met his lady love Carmela, an Italian immigrant, who spoke in a broken English, and the two got married.Things were going well but one day Don Fanucci, a local blackhander and padrone threatened Senior Abbandando to fire Vito and hire his nephew instead. Seeing his patron in a state of dilemma, Vito himself resigned assuring the Senior Abbadando that he has always taken care of Vito like a Father. “I will never forget you” were his parting words to a weeping store-owner.

The Corleone couple faced acute financial distress. By that time, Carmela had already given birth to three children. Vito was struggling to make ends meet. During this time he meets Peter Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio, who teach him the art of survival through petty crimes and performing favours in return for loyalty. In 1920, when the police were desperately in search of the culprits of a robbery, Don Fanucci blackmailed the trio for a share in the illegal profits. During an Italian festival where there was enough of a pomp and show in the neighbourhood, Vito trails Fanucci through the rooftops as the latter was walking home. He ambushes Fannuci outside his apartment and guns him down. The sound of the fire shots was being subdued by the sound of the crackers. Vito then became the local padrone but with a greater degree of admiration among the populace. He also earned himself a name - “The Godfather”.

                                       

                                       A young Vito (played by Robert De Niro) killing Don Fanucci

Vito and Genco then started an Olive Oil importing business - Genco Pura (simply known as Genco Olive Oil in 

the films). This business acted as a legal facade for Vito’s growing organized crime syndicate.. Between Genco Pura, which also became a mighty company in its own right and the illegal operations in the prohibition era, Vito becomes rich. In 1923, he returns to Sicily with Don Tommasino and clinically eliminate Don Cicio’s men who were involved in murdering the Andolinis. Vito then arranges a meeting with the senile Cicio where Vito carves 

open the Don’s stomach with a knife avenging his Family tragedy.

By the year 1930, when the prohibition era was at its peak, Vito was already overseeing a huge business founded on gambling, bootlegging and union corruption. The Corleone family became the largest crime family in the country. Abbandando became the Consigliere (in simple terms legal counsel) and Clemenza and Tessio became the Caporegimes (Comrades). Vito’s eldest son, the hot headed Santino “Sunny” became the apparent heir. However he had a troubled relationship with his youngest son, Michael (played by Al Pacino) who had just returned from the army and who despised the filth and squalor of the family business. However in the end it was Michael whose proximity increased with Vito and he ultimately succeeded to title of the Godfather and took charge of the empire.

Why was a Mafia influencing?   

Despite being a Mafia supremo, Vito was well known for his generosity who lived by a strict moral code of loyalty to friends and above all his family. His every act demanded respect and he never deviated from his set of ethics. When the heroine trafficker Virgil Sollozo backed by the Tattaglia crime family seeks Vito’s political influence and legal protection, he refused sternly stating that “Drugs is a dirty business”. When he was urged to kill two molesters, he does not lose his rationality mouthing the dialogue “That’s not justice. Your daughter is still alive.”. He valued his words more than anything else. That is why when the Don brokers a peace accord between the leading crime families and assures that if his family is not harmed he won’t ruffle a feather, the others accept his assurance without the slightest of doubts. Even Don Emilio Barzini who was the mastermind behind the killing of his son Sonny and also directed the assassination attempt on Vito was confident about the latter’s declaration.

But what distinguishes Vito above everything else is his extreme protectiveness and care for his family. He came into the dark alleys of crime for his family. He avenged his parent’s and elder brother’s death. His maxim of “Keep your friends close but your enemies closer” was just another facet of his persona which made him ever-cautious in respect of any upcoming danger towards his family. He reminds his own godson Singer Johnny Fontane to spend time with family by quoting “a man who does not spend time with his family can never be a real man”.  Not only was he concerned and worried about his family, he could go up to any extent for their sake. When Johhny wanted to get released from his bandleader, Vito offers to buy him out. When the bandleader didn’t accede to the proposal, Vito made him an offer “which he could not refuse”. The result was that Fontane became independent immediately for a much lesser sum than what was earlier offered to his former boss. Later when the Hollywood Mogul, Woltz denied Fontane a role that could revitalize his waning career, Vito after an unheeded verbal warning had Woltz’s champion horse Kahrtoum killed and its severed head was placed in Woltz’s bed as a final warning.

We also see a soft side of Vito later on. He never wanted his younger son Michael who was in the army to be a part of this illegal business. But destiny had other plans and Michael took over as the operating boss. Vito lamented the move and the helpless grief evident in his words and gestures resembled a Father - a common man who could not give his child the future he dreamed of.

                                       Al Pacino as Michael and Brando as Vito - The iconic grief

Why to revere a Goon?

No matter how much generosity The Godfather displays, how much intuitiveness he had the fact remains that Vito was a hardcore criminal. Modern society will automatically ask the question that how can one idolize a wrong-doer? How can a smuggler, a killer, a Don be a role model? The criticisms may appear valid but if one takes a more careful look, the answers are engraved in the tale itself. It’s a saying that lotus thrives in a dirty pond. The character Vito Corleone epitomizes certain qualities which his own World and also the world beyond lacks severely in today’s era. He stands as a sharp contrast to a society which has forgotten the value of ethics, companionship, family ties for the sake of mundane pleasures or mere materialistic gains. To him his family and friends occupied pole priorities and then came the secondary objects of pleasure. A generation which has probably never realized the importance of living up to one’s word will find Vito as a distinguishing figure. He remains an ideal son, an ideal husband, an ideal Father and an ideal friend all rolled into one.

But the fact still remains that he is a gangster. A person whose very presence is detrimental to the society. But then again one has to remember that man is a product of circumstances. Vito was thrust into the World of crime by pathetic twists of fate. The orphaned immigrant from a distant continent was thrown into an era of depression, poverty, inequality and ultimately crime. Despite losing chastity, the soul remained unscathed. Even when luck had robbed him of nearly every chance of remaining civic, he did not give up on his virtues. The character acts as a strong reminder that one can be destroyed but not defeated and there lies its beauty. Even after being immersed in the filth of crime, he remains divine to a large extent. This constant state of righteousness also aids him to remain

prudent till the last day of his life despite bearing extreme personal losses. On July 29th, 1955, Vito dies of a heart attack in his garden while playing with his grandson, Michael’s son Anthony. In the novel, his last words were “Life is beautiful.”.

INDIA TOLERANT

India has always been and will always be a land of diversity and harmony. A strange unanimity is firmly embedded in the ethos itself. The culmination of multifarious colours, the variants of our customs, the differences in our food, the disparate choices of our attires, the wide ranging and often grossly dissimilar customs may bedazzle the alien onlooker but it does give rise to the unique phenomena of Indianness. Having said this, we must admit that our history is tainted with blood and sorrow. We have endured wrath on pretexts of every artificial distinction we could have possibly conceived. The country has been a painfully silent witness to many evils inflicted on its hapless countrymen. Remember Edgar Poe? - While I weep, While I weep. 

First it was the gruesome British Raj, arguably for the major part, if not in entirety. The Imperialism ended with the final sting of amputation of the country drawing fences and the task of breeding perpetual hatred and animosity across the newly formed “Independent” clans ensued henceforth. This vicious “Divide and Rule” policy have also crept deep in our psyche as a fatal parasite. It goes without saying that religion is the most threatening excuse of mass killing or propagating widespread hatred. This parasite transforms into an adder and spits venom quite often and we have endured numerous communal clashes. 

Muzzafarnagar, Bhagalpur, Gujarat, Graham Staines incident, Dadri lynching or the exodus of the Kashmiri Pundits have been some of the wounds which we have have swallowed. But these fringe incidents do not shape up the nation as a whole. India is the birthplace of nearly half the World’s major religions. But in today’s India where nearly eighty percent of the population are Hindus, there is a rousing propaganda that it is gradually turning unsafe for the Non-Hindu populace. This myth stands substantiated to a certain extent owing to the action of certain raving fanatics like Rajeshwar Singh of the Dharm Jagran Samiti who initiates “Ghar-Wapsi”(Returning Back Home) Programmes and swears audaciously to ‘cleanse’ India of Muslims and Christians by 2021. There are others too who are a part of the bandwagon. Mohan Bhagwat, The RSS Chief, stated that “Mother Teresa’s service would have been good. But it used to have one objective, to convert the person who was being served , into a Christian”.Kailash Vijayvargiya of BJP and Sadhvi Prachi of the Sangh Parivar labeled movie star Shahrukh Khan as a traitor and forbade Hindus to watch the movies of the Khans. The star had apparently ruffled a few feathers when he said in a TV interview on his 50th birthday that he was perturbed by the growing intolerance in the country. 

I am a Hindu Brahmin by birth but the way in which I was reared did not make me a devout Hindu by nature. I am neither a believer nor an atheist despite possessing a keen interests in the epics and other religious books and Scriptures. For the need of the hour, let me reassert my Hindu identity and try to observe everything with a clear vision and a sharper analytic prowess. It’s quite an irony that religion was formed to express solidarity among humans. Instead of acting as a solidifying factor or a unifying spirit, religion has acted as a catalyst accentuating rage, untold misery and utter destruction. The question is, is Hinduism gradually morphing into the effusing toxic now? Let’s no be enraged. Let’s not feel happy either.  Let’s not be idle. Let us introspect.

India is a secular country. Yes “Secular”, the second most used term after the word “Democracy” in the context of our constitution. But why  Secular? What does secular mean? Dictionary describes it as “not connected with religious or spiritual matters”. That clearly looks like a synonym for atheist. The Constitution of India in 1950 or in 1976 when it was made a part of the preamble never really defined or explained secularism. But going by the “Doctrine of Harmonious Construction’, it can be inferred that the Secular State means the one that protects all religions equally and does not uphold any religion as the state religion. Secularism clearly eliminates God from the matters of the state. Although the Indian Constitution has been an admixture in terms of influence of England and Irish constitutions, unlike in England, where the Queen is the Head of the Protestant Church, in India there is no provision to make any religion the ‘established one’. Now why do you think that we Indians have been so liberal? This is because Hindus are innately liberal. Of the World’s major religions, Hinduism is the only one without a Prophet or a guarding or guiding figure. No one really founded Hinduism - unlike Christ, Mohammad, Zoroaster, Abraham, Confucius, Mahavira, Buddha and Guru Nanak.

Hinduism or Sanatan Dharma has a history of organic revolution. The Vedas (circa 1800 B.C) predate the second oldest religious text, Judaism’s Torah (circa 1300 B.C) by several hundred years. It is the World’s oldest organized religious philosophy. It was followed by Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and then in quick intervals by Jainism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity. Islam and Sikhism are relatively new religions. All these 9 religions or faiths germinated in Asia - four were born in South Asia (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism), four in West Asia (Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam) and one in North Asia (Confucianism). 

Every religion has an Asian origin although Christianity blossomed initially mostly in Europe through Rome. Jesus Christ was a brown-skinned, dark haired Semitic Jew born in Bethlehem. His ancestry was Middle Eastern. However the Western World was rather keen to portray him as Caucasian with European features and fair hair. The debate still goes on.

India has always been an abode for intermingling of various religions. The first Jews arrived in India in 542 B.C and comprise of one of the World’s oldest Jewish communities which exists till date. India unlike Europe has never evidenced an Anti-Semitic Jewish massacre. Christianity came to India through St. Thomas in Kerela in 52 A.D, before it had knocked the doors of Europe. The massive departure of Zoroastrians in Persia (modern day Iran) owing to vehement Islamic persecutions entailed a massive refuge in Gujarat in 720 A.D leading to the formation of one of the most culturally gifted communities of modern day India, the Parsis.

The evolution of Islam in India has a different backdrop. Europe was tormented with wars and the Islamic armies were involved in Crusades with Christian fighters. The Islamic forces reached the gates of Vienna before gulping a defeat in 1529. It then narrowed its focus on India. The Mughals who were the first to invade were in fact Chagtai Turkish Warlords from Central Asia. Unlike the Jews, Christians or the Zoroastrians, they came to India for conquering it, not to seek shelter.

The last invaders were the Britishers. This lot was cunning.Unlike the Islamic invaders, their motive was not to expand the religious fraternity but to exploit India financially. They had the bitter experience of losing the American empire in 1776 and a land of diverse resources like India gave them the perfect substitute. Disguised initially as businessmen,the East India Company gradually took control of the land of the sub-continent officially by emerging victorious in the Battle of Plassey in 1757. They were scheming enough to deduce that forced conversions would only dilute their motives of making money, usurp Indian raw materials to fuel the Industrial revival back in England and expand the Empire through guns and warships. No doubt, India became the prime colony for the Britishers. 

Britain, a protestant nation, rarely carried out the task of converting Indians during its 190 years regime. Although, enactments like the Dalhousie Act prompted such intentions but mostly these were passive. This is why one would not find many protestant Christians in India. The bulk of Indian Christians are Catholics converted by the Portugese, Irish and the Spanish Jesuits who both preceded and followed the British into India (Goa, Puducherry, the Deccan and elsewhere).

Islam was different in their modus-operandi of conversions too. The Mughals converted Hindus in mostly three ways; by luring them to occupy a pivotal post in the administration, by imposing Jizya Tax on Hindus alone and in certain cases for the low caste Hindus, the Islamic religion appeared more egalitarian than the dehumanizing caste system of  Hinduism.

The historical backdrop is necessary to comprehend the modern day situations of these distinctive religious groups in India. If we take a look at some of the Countries of the World, the image would be further clear. Pakistan’s minority population (Hindus, Christians and others) have drastically declined over the last few decades and is almost on the verge of extinction, Bangladesh although a bit slow is catching up with Pakistan is following the same route. In the Middle-East, minorities (including Hindus) do not enjoy a lot of the basic civil rights. In Europe , Muslims live under strict diktats (no Hijab in France and Belgium, No minarets in Mosques in Switzerland). In the US, there have been incidents where cartoons and caricatures of Prophet Mohammad have been drawn in defiance of Islam’s tenets. Copies of the Holy Quran have been burnt during street rallies in Washington D.C. 

India is truly an exception in this regard. The share of Hindus in India’s total population has shown a marginal decline between 2001 and 2011, while that of Muslims has increased slightly in the same period, according to census data on the country’s religious profile released by the government on August, 25 2015. The percentage of the other religious groups have not increased much but they have not declined either. 

Hindus now make up 79.8% of India, a slight decline of 0.7 percentage points, while Muslims, the largest minority, make up 14.2% of the country, up by 0.8 percentage points. India has more than 3 Lakhs active mosques, which is probably more than any country including those of the Muslim countries.Historically, Hindus and Christians have lived in relative peace since the arrival of Christianity in India from the early part of the first millennium. In areas where Christianity existed in pre-European times like Kerala, land to build churches were often donated by Hindu kings and Hindu landlords. Apart from marginal incidents like the arson of 19 churches in Kandhamal districts in Odisha in 2007 or the the murder of the Hindu Monk, Swami Lakshmananada in 2007 which flared tensions across both the communities in certain parts, there is an overall amity. 

India is a land of festivals and here festivals of all religions are celebrated with all bask and glory. My own city, Kolkata gets exuberant during the onset of Durga Puja, Ramdan is celebrated with huge pump and galore and the city rejoices triumphantly during Christmas. Here in India, one may perform his or her religious rituals freely, a freedom denied to the minority in various parts of the World. 

Onam, the State Festival of Kerala, is essentially a festival of harvest and is celebrated by all the religious groups shunning their individual prejudices and differences. This assimilation of all cultures and religions does symbolize India and for that the majority group i.e; the Hindus have to be given credit. Islam never teaches violence. Had it been so, the entire 2.08 billion Muslim population of the World would have butchered the rest. Likewise had the group who constitute 80% of the population of this country been radicals, religious harmony would have never existed. 

Instead there is a strange connect with nature which fumes sparks of tolerance. As Ruskin Bond puts it ““Hinduism comes closest to being a nature religion. Rivers, rocks, trees, plants, animals, and birds all play their part, both in mythology and everyday worship. This harmony is most evident in remote places like this, and I hope it does not loose its unique character in the ruthless urban advance.”

  

   JAI HIND.

THE “LONG” INDIGO REBELLION

How it would have been if roads and other landmarks like stations had voices? The state heaps a name to a particular road or any other site and the thought process and rationale involved behind such nomenclature often turns out inexplicable. I still look at some of the important landmarks of the city of Kolkata and ponder why is it named so? What connection has the Kudghat metro station with Netaji Subha Chandra Bose? Why is the sports academy in Behala named after Satyajit Ray? Previously there was a trend to obliterate all the anglicized names and to rename the places or sites after the Indian heroes. Octherlony monument was named Sahid Minar, Dalhousie became B.B.D Bag, Russell Street became Anandilal Poddar Sarani, Amherst street became Raja Rammohan Sarani, Albert Road became Uttam Kumar Sarani and many more. I live in a place called Behala which is quite often in the news either on account of pitiable conditions of the roads and water logging problems or on account of its most famous inhabitant - Sourav Ganguly. Behala actually includes the extended area of Thakurpukur (although the latter is in the jurisdiction of a separate police station) and the main road which runs through the entire domain is coined Diamond Harbour Road. The entire DH Road connects Khiderpore to Diamond Harbour, which is in the Southern suburbs of Kolkata, on the eastern banks of the Hooghly river where the river meets the Bay of Bengal.

But apart from this road, there is a by-pass or a thoroughfare running through Thakurpukur up to Taratala named James Long Sarani. On a lazy evening when I was taking a stroll on this thoroughfare puffing the smoke, a thought flickered in my mind that why did such a name which bears a strong Anglican scent escaped unscathed from the hands of the reformists?My school is on this very road. So many times I have used this address while writing, directing someone but never did it previously occur to me that who is this person who has lend the name. I grew inquisitive and did a bit of a research to find out.

                                     A part of James Long Sarani with my school in the background

There is also a statue of this person - Reverend James Long, placed in one of the corners of the road. A bearded priest like look, typical to many Englishmen in the Victorian era. I studied and found out that he was an Irish by birth (Ireland was a part of UK then), having born in Bandon, County Cork in 1814. At the age of 12 he was enrolled at the then newly opened Bandon Endowed School by his parents. Long was a child prodigy who took a keen interest in Theology and Classics from a tender age. He learnt Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French along with English languages in school. He fared well in a variety of subjects ; Euclid, Algebra, Logic, Arithmetic, Book-Keeping, Reading, Writing, History and Geography.

                                            Bust of James Long on the road named after him 

CALCUTTA

From 1840 to 1848, the bachelor Long taught at the CMS mission school in Amherst Street. Returning to India as a married man in 1848, he was placed in the charge of the CMS mission in Thakurpukur which at that time was a hamlet, a day’s journey out of Calcutta in the Bengal Presidency. Apart from his identity as an Anglo-Irish Priest of the Church, Long became a humanist, educator, evangelist, essayist, philanthropist and a missionary. By 1851, he had set up a vernacular school for boys in Thakurpukur, while his wife Emily ran a corresponding school for girls. In a letter to F.J Haliday, the registrar of Council of Education, he boasted a roll-call of around 100 boys which included Hindus, Mohammedans and Christians. Long did learn Bengali and wrote a book titled “Bengali Proverbs” which was a sort of an extensive catalogue of Bengali proverbs, dialects and idioms and is considered to be one of the significant additions to Bengali literature. He studied Bengali and folk literature for another two decades , publishing a catalogue of Bengali newspapers and periodicals from 1818 to 1855. He also created a “Descriptive catalogue of vernacular books and pamphlets” forwarded by the Government of India to the Paris expo of 1867.

INDIGO IN INDIA

Indigo is a rich blue coloured dye which is used to colour cotton-yarn. Dye-Indigo is obtained from a genus of flowering plants named Indigofera belonging to the family Febaceae. Two varieties of this plantae namely Indigofera Tinctoria and Indigofera Suffruticosa is used to produce this dye. These varieties mostly in the nature of shrubs thrive well in the tropical regions. Italy, France and England were its major purchasers then. India was a haven to this cultivation especially on account of three conditions - tropical climate, fertile land and access to water bodies. Bengal in particular became the ideal location. India supplied around 30% of the world’s total dye-indigo produce in the early 18th century. But the price of the Indian indigo was high entailing the western world to use an inferior substitute called Woad. However the cloth dyers preferred indigo and there was a huge demand in the European markets for this dye-indigo. The industrious Britishers saw a glimmering prospect.

INDIGO PLANTING IN BENGAL 

Indigo planting in Bengal dated back as early as 1777. Louis Bonard was probably the first Indigo planter. With the expansion of British power in India, particularly in the Nawabate of Bengal coupled with the increasing demand of dye indigo, Indigo planting increased in leaps and bounds. The planting was carried under NIJ or RYOTI system both of which had its inherent set of disadvantages. The main problem was indigo plantation prospered in those areas where rice grows best and indigo takes a toll on the soil by causing significant top-soil erosion. On account of the fear of being bequeathed with an exhausted agricultural land,the farmers expressed their unwillingness to cultivate Indigo. However the British planters left no stones unturned to make money out of this profitable avenue. They mercilessly forced the peasants to plant indigo instead of food crops. They also provided loans which were in the nature of cash advances to cultivate the crops. The loans, called Dadon, bore a very high rate of interest and once a farmer took such a loan, he fell in a pit of perpetual debt throughout his life before passing it to his successors. The reward they got from the planters was meager grossing around 2.5 % on an average on the market price. The farmers suffered terrible losses growing Indigo. The farmers were totally unprotected from the clutches of the ruthless and greedy planters. With the law backing them up, the planters resorted to evil practices like mortgage or destruction of peasant’s property if the latter disobeyed them or failed to repay Dadon. Even the Zamindars, money lenders and other influential persons sided with the planters. India’s contribution to world’s indigo produce rose from 30% to 95%. There was a bit of a support from the Bengali middle class intelligentsia for the hapless farmers from the likes of Harish Chandra Mukhopadhyay who described the plight of the poor peasants in his column in the Hindu Patriot regularly.

                                               A sketch of an Indigo factory in Bengal

THE REVOLT

The upsurge started from Nadia in 1859 where Bishnu Charan Biswas and Digambar Biswas first led the rebellion against the planters. It spread like a forest fire in Murshidabad, Birbhum, Burdwan, Pabna, Khulna, Narail etc. Some indigo planters were given a public trial and executed. A large number of indigo depots were burned down by the agitators. Many planters fled to avoid being caught. The Zamindars were also the targets of the rebellious peasants. The revolt was however dealt with an iron fist. The police and the military literally butchered a number of revolting peasants, imprisoned a number of those who were involved in stirring the mutiny without trial and the insurgency was suppressed. In spite of the curbing of the revolt, the upheaval became popular in the whole of Bengal and beyond. The Biswas brothers of Nadia, Kader Molla of Pabna, Rafique Mondal of Malda were popular leaders. Some of the Zamindars too supported the movement, the most important of whom was Ramratan Mullick of Narail.

NIL DARPAN (THE INDIGO PLANTATION MIRROR)

                                                                Dinabandhu Mitra

A postal department employee by designation and a writer by choice named Dinabandhu Mitra wrote a play and got it published in Dhaka in 1859. The play titled “Nil Darpan” depicted the sad plight of the Indigo farmers and their consequential protest against the British Raj on account of such exploitative farming.

They play caused an immense stir in the social circles. Mitra himself wrote later 

“I PRESENT The Indigo Planting Mirror to the Indigo planter’s hands, now, let everyone of them having observed his face, erase the freckle of the stain of selfishness from his forehead, and, in its stead, place on it the sandal powder of beneficence, then shall I think my labour success”.

It was evident from this wish that it was a piece meant to raise a voice among the elite intellectuals of Kolkata so that the farmers revolt can be integrated with the urban minds.

AND THEN CAME LONG

James Long believed that the British mercantile community and even the Government treated the cultivators unjustly and oppressively. His views concurred with Mitra and Mitra sent him a copy of the play. Long brought it to the notice of W.S Seaton - Karr, Secretary to The Governor of Bengal and former President of the Indigo Commission. Karr having sensed its importance discussed the issue with the Lieutenant Governor,Grant.Grant demanded a translation of it and wished to see the translated copies being circulated in closed circles. Long first decided to translate it himself but upon a friend’s advice took help from the famous poet Michael Madhusudhan Dutt.

                                                        

                                                           Michael Madhusudhan Dutt 

Dutt did it overnight. Long supervised the whole night and for the next three days acted as the editor striking off some of the coarse passages and writing a short prefatory note for the play. Seaton Karr ordered printing of 500 copies to suffice Grant’s wish for a few copies. Then Long sent the translated manuscripts to Clement Henry Manuel, the proprietor of the Calcutta Printing and Publishing Press. It was finally published in May, 1861.

                                                 The translated Nil Darpan - The Indigo Planting Mirror

Unknown to Lieutenant Governor Grant, Long began to sent the copies in official government envelopes that had the heading “On Her Majesty’s Service”. The translation revealed the savagery committed on the poor indigo peasants and cited the agricultural hazards this mode of cultivation created. This attracted much attention in England where the people were shocked by the vile treatment meted out to Indian farmers by their own countrymen. The response was tumultuous in England and across the entire Europe. Even the British Parliament condemned such oppression.

LONG’S LEGAL STRUGGLE

This act of revelation naturally enraged the oppressors and they pounced on Long like an injured beast. A razing propaganda was initiated by the Anglo-Indian press against the publisher and the translator. One of the leading newspapers named The Englishmen and some Indigo planters filed a libel lawsuit against Long and the publisher C.H Manuel. The technical weapon for the plaintiffs was Long’s robust disclaimer at the beginning of the play that the incidents mentioned in the literary piece was “plain but true”. Long boldly took the prosecution charges on himself by declaring that Manuel acted on Long’s advice and he is the one responsible for the publication thereby relieving the publisher of the defamation charges.

The planters filed for only nominal damages even as they had decided to prosecute Long for libel in a criminal suit.

Friday, 19 July, 1861 was fixed as the first date for the trial and it lasted from then to 24 July, at the Calcutta Supreme Court. It was regarded as the first of the "state trial of India under the Empire". Mr. Peterson and Mr. Cowie were prosecuted. Mr. Eglinton and Mr. Newmarch appeared on behalf of the defendant. Sir Mordunt Wells presided as the Judge.

It is true that it becomes difficult to censor any literary work when it becomes so available in the public domain. That is why it became very urgent to find out the list of people who had the books after its printing. The issue of finding out the list was the concern for the first day of trial on 19 July, 1861. The list given in at the trial contained the number of copies that had been issued was said to be two hundred and two.

The agenda for the days of 20 to 24 July was to substantiate the two counts brought against James Long. The first count referred to a libel or the supposed libel against the two leading newspapers named the Englishman and Hurkaru published from the city of Kolkata. These two papers were alluded to in the preface of the play, Nil Durpan:

“The Editors of two daily newspapers are filling their columns with your praises; and whatever other people may think, you never enjoy pleasure from it, since you know fully the reason of their so doing. What surprising power of attraction silver has! The detestable Judas gave the great preacher of the Christian religion, Jesus and others, into the hands of Odious Pilate for the sake of thirty rupees; what wonder then, if the proprietors of two newspapers, becoming enslaved by the hope of gaining one thousand rupees, throw the poor helpless of this land into the terrible grasp of your mouths.”

Being enraged, Mr. Brett, the managing proprietor and formerly joint editor of the Englishman, brought a criminal prosecution against James Long. He claimed that the implied meanings of the allusions were defamatory because the extract symbolizes, they wrote for monetary gains from the indigo planters and not otherwise. Even the numismatic reference to rupee was a severe taunt.

The second count which concerned the interests of the society at large was the alleged libel against that portion of the community called as the indigo planters of Lower Bengal.

Sir Mordunt Wells accused Long of slandering the European women in the Nil Durpan the question of shame was brought up through the episode of a woman riding on horseback with Magistrate of Zillah through the village as well as injuring the reputation of every European in the country by calling Planter or Civilian or Soldier.The fictitious characters named Mr. Wood and Mr. Rose in the play represent the indigo planters. This also became a reason for prosecuting Long.

The case was concluded and Wells pronounced the judgement on the final day - 24th July, 1861. Long was declared guilty of libel and was slammed with a dual punishment of 1 month’s imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000. An Englishman was accused for espousing a cause against his own government. The judgement was not well received and there were glowing protests all around. The most significant was the one which took place on that very day in the court-room. A young boy hailing from the aristocratic Singho family of Jorasanko of North Kolkata was attending the sessions regularly. The boy at the age of 14 founded the famous Vidyotsahini Sabha and later he became the famed translator of Mahabharata. The author of “Hutum Pyachar Naksha”, Kaliprassanna Sinha, who was only 19 at that time, threw a bag of coins in the judge’s table paying off Long’s fine and despising the partial judgement. Long served the jail sentence for a month but his incarceration further fuelled the revolution with added impunity.

                                                          Kaliprassanna Sinha 

SUCCESS

Long’s struggle created a furore in the Indian as well as British media. The British Government reconstituted the Indigo Commission which was supposed to oversee the state of affairs in respect of indigo cultivation in India. A technical committee was called for to investigate the veracity of the allegations. After a month’s enquiry, E.W.L Tower specifically mentioned in his report “not a chest of indigo reached England without being stained with human blood”. Evidently, the British Government banned Indigo export from India.

SIGNIFICANCE

The Indigo Revolution was a major triumph of the peasants to incite such emotion in European minds. It was an unprecedented instance of east and west solidarity amidst a terrible atmosphere of hostility. Unlike the Sepoy mutiny, “Nilbidroho” is effectively an uprising which integrated the whole population of Bengalis with no distance kept between the different layers of the society. The famous historian Jogesh Chandra Bagal describes the revolt as a non-violent revolution and cites this as the reason behind its success. R.C Majumder in “History of Bengal” clearly mentions it as the forerunner of the non-violent passive resistance later successfully adopted by Gandhi. Nil Darpan, the book, showed the World once again that the pen is mightier than the sword. It was also essential to the development of theatre in Bengal and influenced the iconic Girish Chandra Ghose, who in 1872, established The National Theatre in Kolkata where the first ever play commercially staged was Nil-Darpan.

AND LONG WENT ON

Long resumed his teaching work and got associated with Calcutta School Book Society, The Bethune Society, The Bengal Social Science Association and The Asiatic Society. He then left with Emily for England for 3 years. But Reverend came back to Calcutta. Mrs. Long died of amoebic dysentery while on a voyage back to England in February, 1867. After her death, Long shared a house in Kolkata with long time aide Reverend Krishna Mohun Banerjee. The house bore a witness to a lot of Indo-British soiree, something which was very rare in those days and Long earned a lot of ostracism for that in the European community for mingling intricately with the natives. He probably didn’t mind all that and the guest list generally included names of repute like Bishop Cotton and Keshab Chunder Sen among others.

In 1872, Reverend James Long retired from the Church Mission Society and left India forever. He lived for the rest of his life in London, where he continued to write and publish until his death on March, 23, 1887. An unceremonious retreat from a life which itself was a paradigm of nobility. The real life Atticus Finch rests in peace and a thoroughfare bears a silent witness in the midst of a ruffling commotion.