Tag Archives: Badruddin Tyabji

Remembering the person behind the first Republic Day of India

NEW DELHI :

Badruddin Tyabji, the grandson of freedom fighter and third Congress President by the same name, was entrusted with arrangements for the inaugural Republic Day celebrations in 1950.

HISTORIC: National Stadium during the first Republic Day Parade. Old Fort is also visible

Every year on January 26, the Tyabji family sit together in their posh West End Colony house (near Vasant Vihar) to watch the Republic Day Parade which holds special significance for them.  

Their late patriarch Badruddin Tyabji, a 1936 batch Punjab cadre Indian Civil Service officer, was responsible for looking after the arrangements of January 26, 1950 functions: first at the President House and later at Irwin Stadium (now Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium). 

Tyabji’s painter wife Surayya Tyabji made the prototype of the Tri-colour on paper based on which the flag of cloth for Republic Day was made in Connaught Place.

“Just a couple of weeks before the first Republic Day, Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru entrusted me to look after the arrangements of the January 26 functions,” Tyabji told this writer in his south Delhi house in 1994. 

He was also member secretary of the Constituent Assembly.  

“I was called by Pt. Nehru and he gave me the huge responsibility for the historic day. I used to live at Sujan Singh Park during those days.” 

From that day onwards, the tall and gracious Tyabji moved from the President House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan) to Irwin Stadium several times a day to finalise the arrangements as time was running out for the big day.

HAPPY FAMILY: The Tyabji clan including Laila Tyabji (centre, front row), who is a social worker, designer, writer and crafts activist

The big day for which Tyabji had worked so hard was also hectic for Rajendra Prasad, the soon-to-be first President of independent India. He marked the momentous occasion with a visit to Raj Ghat to pay homage to Gandhiji. He remained there for around 15 minutes. 

But before the would-be President of India could get to the President House, C Rajagopalachari, the Governor General of India, had already reached there. The latter used to live in the double-storeyed bungalow at the then 10, Hastings Road, which was later renamed after him as Rajaji Marg. Edwin Lutyens, the chief architect of New Delhi, also lived in the bungalow, and so did Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, who also lived in that house after demitting his office of President of India.

“Dr Rajendra Prasad was sworn in as the country’s first President at around 9 am by the Governor General of India, C. Rajagopalachari. Rajvanshi Devi, his wife, and other family members were also there. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by over 500 guests, who had assembled inside the Durbar Hall. President Sukarno of Indonesia and several members of the Diplomatic Corps, members of the Constituent Assembly and prominent citizens had graced the occasion. The President was dressed in black achkan, white churidar and a white Gandhi cap. Pandit Nehru and his other Cabinet colleagues were sworn in soon after Rajendra Prasad,” recalled Tyabji, who was named after his grandfather, the third President of Indian National Congress. 

Immediately after returning from Raj Ghat, Rajendra Prasad was sworn in. The Chief Justice of India, Sir Hiralal Kania, read the oath of office in Hindi. President Prasad repeated it sentence by sentence. 

“The outgoing Governor General, C. Rajagopalachari; our first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, beaming with pride and joy; the Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Patel; cabinet ministers, judges of the Supreme Court and the Auditor-General of India, were present in the hall to witness the historic moment of India’s history. Pandit Nehru and his other cabinet colleagues were sworn in soon after.”

The national emblem of Ashoka Pillar with three lions was placed in the Durbar Hall for the first time near the throne where the British Viceroys used to sit. 

A smiling statue of Lord Buddha was also placed behind the throne for the first time. Rajendra Prasad, the President, who greeted the large gathering smilingly with folded hands, made a short speech in Hindi and English, stating that it was a memorable day in our annals. 

“Let us begin by offering our thanks to the Almighty Power who has enabled us to see this day; to the Father of the Nation who showed us and to the world at large his infallible method of Satyagraha, and led us on along it to freedom and to the numberless men and women, whose suffering and sacrifice have rendered the attainment of independence and establishment of this sovereign democratic Republic possible.”

The birth of the Republic was celebrated by the masses in the Capital through Prabhat Pheries (early morning movement of people singing patriotic songs). Outside the Durbar Hall, there were unforgettable scenes of jubilation. Large crowd of men, women and children had assembled in the forecourt of President House. 

People raised slogans of Gandhiji-ki-jai and Vande Mataram

After a dignified ceremony was held at the President House, the scene shifted to Irwin Stadium. The new President travelled to the stadium in a horse-drawn carriage and Delhi’s roads were lined up with enthusiastic crowd standing along the five-mile route with the Tri-colour in their hands. A huge crowd greeted the President’s entourage when it reached the vicinity of Connaught Place. And when the first President of India reached the stadium, he was welcomed with a booming 31-gun salute. 

According to Tyabji, “Rajendra Prasad made a brief speech at the stadium. Later, students from various schools of the Capital presented cultural programmes.” 

Old timers still recall that there were very few policemen guarding the VIPs inside the stadium. After the programme, the leaders mingled with the people. Nehru was mobbed by his admirers. He spent a good 20 minutes with them. 

Tyabji, who could not sleep for several days ahead of the big occasion, was there managing the affairs carefully with his colleagues. Following very cold weather days in Delhi, brilliant sunshine greeted the Capital on January 26, 1950. 

It was India’s defining moment, the day India truly freed itself from the shackles of colonialism to become a Republic. A truly sovereign state. 

The talk of the first Republic Day cannot be complete without discussing the role of Tyabji’s wife, Surayya, in the making of the first Tri-colour.  

According to Tyabji, “Once the Constituent Assembly finalised our Tri-colour with Ashok Dharma Chakra inside the flag, I was asked to furnish the model of Tri-colour on both paper and cloth.” 

Without wasting any time, Badruddin Tyabji went straight to his Sujan Singh Park residence and asked his wife Surayya to make the Tri-colour on paper. She did not disappoint her husband. Once she made it on paper, Tyabji carried the design to the now defunct SC Tailors at Regal building of Connaught Place and asked them to make the Tri-colour in cloth. The rest, as they say, is history.

After retirement from government service, Tyabji also served as the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University in the 1960s. 

He finally settled in Delhi and passed away in 1999. His wife, Suraiya, had died before him.

During one of our meetings, Tyabji had told me that when he came to Delhi from Hyderabad to appear for ICS examination, he was staying in Daryaganj. 

He used to take a tonga to reach Metcalfe House in Civil Lines to appear for his examinations. 

“Delhi was a very small city then. Except for old Delhi and villages, there was not much here. New Delhi was coming up,” he had said. 

When India was divided on the basis of religion in 1947, he was perhaps one of the only two Muslim ICS officers who opted to stay in India instead of accepting Islamic Pakistan.

OFFICER RANK: Badruddin Tyabji was a 1936-batch ICS officer of Punjab cadre. His wife, Surayya was a painter

Tyabji’s first son, Hindal Ahmad, was an IAS officer. He passed away last year. 

Tyabji’s daughter, Laila Tyabji is a noted social worker, designer, writer and crafts activist. She is one of the founders of Dastkar, a Delhi-based non-governmental organisation working for the revival of traditional crafts in India. 

Like in the past, the Tyabji family would watch the annual parade this year too. After all, they are the true and proud first family of India’s Republic Day. Yet, they are so self-effacing.

source: http://www.thepatriot.in / The Patriot / Home> Cover Story / by Vivek Shukla / January 26th, 2024

English, Urdu books on contribution of Indian Muslims in freedom movement released

NEW DELHI :

Patna: 

In a glittering ceremony, two books on Muslims’ contribution in India’s Freedom movement were launched here in Patna on 17th December. The function was presided over by Harsh Mandar, former IAS officer and human rights defender in the country.

The books ‘Muslim Freedom Fighters: Contribution of Indian Muslims in the Independence Movement’ and its Urdu version ‘Muslim Mujahideen-e-Azadi aur Tehrik-e-Azadi Mein Unki Khidmat’ have been authored by Delhi based author and journalist Syed Ubaidur Rahman.

The two books try to fight the oft-repeated allegations that Muslims are anti-national and have not contributed for the freedom of the nation. The books nail the lie and prove that Muslims not just participated in the freedom movement, they went on to lead the freedom struggle for a long time. The first war of Independence or Mutiny of 1857 was led by Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar in Delhi and Begum Hazrat Mahal in Lucknow. The Independence Movement in the first two decades of the twentieth century was led by Mahmud Hasan and ulama of Deoband and they had respect and support of everyone including Hindus and Muslims.

If anyone has any doubt about the Muslim contribution in the freedom movement, the fact that the Indian National Congress had as many as nine Muslims as its president till the year 1947 will remove such doubts.

While speaking on the occasion, Harsh Mandar said that the divisive forces in the country are trying to divide the nation on the basis of religion and faith. He said that the danger from such forces for the national fabric and its unity has become grave.

Harsh Mandar added that the threat to the communal amity in the country was never so high as is today as divisive forces are doing every thing to pit one community against the other and create a fear psychosis among the majority community prompting it to turn it against minorities.

Khursheed Mallick, a Chicago based urologist, philanthropist and director of IMEFNA said that the book is a timely reminder to the nation that Muslims and Hindus both sacrificed for the nation and this fact must be clearly told to our young generation. He said Muslims sacrificed heavily for the cause of the freedom of the nation and efforts must be made to tell the history.

Syed Ubaidur Rahman, the author of the two books, while speaking on the occasion said Muslims have been rather loath to write about the sacrifices they have made for the cause of the Independence and freedom. He said Muslims suffered badly throughout the freedom movement. They were the worst suffers in the wake of the mutiny of 1857 and its aftermath when Muslims were hounded across North India and beyond. Tens of thousands of Muslims lost their lives for the freedom.

Syed added that ulama of Deoband played a stellar role in the freedom movement. Unlike the common perception, they were secular to the core and when they established a government in exile in Kabul in 1915, they appointed Raja Mahendra Pratap as its President and Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali as its Prime Minister.

The book documents the lives of forty renowned Muslim freedom fighters including, Shaikhul Hind Maulana Mahmud al-Hasan, Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Dr Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi, Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, Ashfaqulla Khan, Maulana Hasrat Mohani, Maulana Muhammad Mian Mansoor Ansari, Asaf Ali, Husain Ahmad Madani, Aruna Asaf Ali (Kulsum Zamani), Peer Ali Khan, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Mohammed Abdur Rahiman, Captain Abbas Ali, Abdul Qaiyum Ansari, Prof. Abdul Bari, Moulvi Abdul Rasul, Nawab Syed Mohammed Bahadur, Rahimtulla Mahomed Sayani, Syed Hasan Imam, Sir Syed Ali Imam, M.C. Chagla, Yusuf Meherally, Justice Fazal Ali, General Shah Nawaz Khan, Allama Fazle Haq Khairabadi, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Syed Mahmud, Maulana Mazharul Haque, Badruddin Tyabji, Col Mehboob Ahmed, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Maulana Shafi Daudi, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Quadri, Batak Mian

The book launch function was organized at Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu and was presided over by Abdul Qaiyum Ansari, chairman of Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu Bihar.

Name of the Book: Muslim Freedom Fighters: Contribution of Indian Muslims in the Independence Movement
Author: Syed Ubaidur Rahman
ISBN: 81-88869-43-0
Price Rs 225/-
Global Media Publications
E-42, G. Floor, AFE, Jamia nagar, Okhla, New Delhi-110025

source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> India / by ummid.com News Network / December 12th, 2017

Role of Muslims in freedom struggle

The freedom movement of India was not the sole agenda of a particular political party but it had moved aam aadmi in the form of masses in his/her own capacity. The history of Indian national movement would be biased and incomplete without the presentation of the actual role of Indian Muslims in it, right from the revolt of 1857 to the day of Independence in 1947.

Shoulder to shoulder they fought with the other communities for the Independence of India. The contribution of Muslim poets, revolutionaries and writers is not known today. Instead of secular historiography, it has been communalised.

                                             Courtesy: Mapsofindia.com

The Muslims and other minorities never envisaged India as adopted land because Muslims of India have not come from outside but are the converts to Islam and have deep feeling sense of belonging to this country and therefore contributed to the cultural, economic, intellectual and spiritual progress throughout the ages.

The role, significance and uprising of Indians against British imperialists can be seen since mid of 18th century in the form of Battle of Palashi (Plassey), June 23, 1757. It was Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah who first awakened Indian rulers and gave a call to oppose the British. He, however, lost the battle and was executed at the young age of 24. This was soon followed by the great Tipu Sultan, who was killed by Lord Wellesley during the fourth Anglo-Mysore war in 1799.

The contribution of Muslim revolutionaries can be witnessed from the first half of 19th century. The Faraizi and the Wahhabi Movements had disturbed the pace of British plan in the initial stages of its expansion in India. The Wahabi movement of Syed Ahmed Barelvi was the most organised one. He appealed to all Hindus and Muslims to overthrow the British and thus he was killed in 1831 at Balakot.

The number of Muslims executed only in Delhi during 1857-58 was 27,000. During this revolt, Asghari Begum (mother of Qazi Abdur Rahim, the revolutionary of Thana Bhawan, Muzaffarnagar) fought against the British and was burnt alive when defeated. It was estimated that about 225 Muslim women gave their lives in the revolt.

Similarly, barely is known about the contribution of Muhammad Ashfaq Ullah Khan of Shahjehanpur who conspired and looted the British treasury at Kakori (Lucknow) to cripple the administration and who, when asked for his last will, before execution, desired: “No desire is left except one that someone may put a little soil of my motherland in my winding sheet.”

Likewise, the present generation does not know about Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, a great nationalist who had passed 45 years of his 95-years of life in jail for the freedom of India and thus awarded ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1987. Barkatullah and Syed Rehmat Shah of Ghadar Party sacrificed their lives. Umar Subhani, an industrialist and a millionaire of Bombay who, then, presented a blank cheque to Gandhiji for Congress expenses and who ultimately sacrificed his life for the cause of Independence. Maulana Hasrat Mohani, with his poetry, infused zeal of freedom in young hearts.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, at the age of 35, became the youngest person to serve as the President of the Indian National Congress. He was the icon of Hindu-Muslim unity as well as espousing secularism and socialism. Raj Mohan Gandhi in his book ‘Understanding Muslim Minds’ mentioned that Maulana went straight to Congress office just after the funeral procession of his wife, Zuleikha Begum and led Quit India Movement.

Manmohan Kaur in her book entitled as ‘Women In India’s Freedom Movement’ makes reference to only Begum Hazrat Mahel and Bi-Amma out of the hundreds of women who fought the battle of freedom along with their men folk against the British Raj. The history of the Indian national movement would be incomplete without mentioning the heartily services of Abadi Begum (mother of Maulana Muhammad Ali), Amjadi Begum (wife of Maulana Muhammad Ali), Amina Tyabji (wife of Abbas Tyabji), Begum Sakina Luqmani (wife of Dr Luqmani and daughter of Badruddin Tyabji), Nishat-un-Nisa (Begum Hasrat Mohani), Saadat Bano Kitchlew (wife of Dr Saifuddin Kichlew), Zulekha Begum (wife of Maulana Azad), Mehr Taj (daughter of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan), Zubaida Begum Daoodi (wife of Shafi Daoodi, the reputed nationalist of Bihar) and many others.

Santimoy Ray’s ‘Freedom Movement And Indian Muslims’ challenges the many prejudices that generate bias and hatred against the Indian Muslims, particularly their contentions role in Indian freedom movement.

This shows the great sacrifices they made to oust the British rule in all the national uprisings from Sanyasi Movement to Independence, finally led to the withdrawal of British from India in 1947. It is such a pity that their roles in the struggle for freedom has not been adequately presented in the Indian history. The comprehensive study about the role of Muslims struggle for freedom is essential to help eradicating prejudices and many misconceptions against the Muslims grown in the absence of fair historiography.

I’m recalling some of the beautiful lines of Faiz Ahmed Faiz …

Ye daagh daagh ujaalaa, ye shab-gaziida sahar,
Vo intizaar thaa jis-kaa, ye vo sahar to nahiiN,
Ye vo sahar to nahiiN jis-kii aarzu lekar
Chale the yaar ke mil-ja`egi kahiiN na kahiN
Falak ke dasht meN taroN kii aakhiri manzil,
KahiN to hogaa shab-e sust mauj kaa sahil,
KahiN to jaake rukegaa safiina-e-gham-e-dil.
Abhii chiraagh-e-sar-e-rah ko kuchh khabar hii nahiiN;
Abhii giraanii-e-shab meN kamii nahiiN aa’ii,
Najaat-e-diidaa-o-dil ki ghaRii nahiiN aa’ii;
Chale-chalo ke vo manzil abhii nahiiN aa’ii.

Meaning:

This stain-covered daybreak, this night-bitten dawn,
This is not that dawn of which there was expectation;
This is not that dawn with longing for which
The friends set out, (convinced) that somewhere there we met with,
In the desert of the sky, the final destination of the stars!
Somewhere there would be the shore of the sluggish wave of night,
Somewhere would go and halt the boat of the grief of pain.
The lamp beside the road has still come no lessening,
The hour of the deliverance of eye and heart has not arrived.
Come, come on, for that goal has still not arrived.

(Author is currently preparing for civil service examinations.)

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Articles> Indian Muslim / by Shaik Amer Arafath / August 14th, 2015

Sify columnist releases book on Indian Muslim freedom fighters

NEW DELHI :

FreedomFightersMPOs22dec2017

Patna:

In a glittering ceremony, two books on the Muslim community’s contribution to the Indian freedom movement were launched in Patna last week. The function was presided over by Harsh Mander, former IAS officer and human rights activist.

The books ‘Muslim Freedom Fighters: Contribution of Indian Muslims in the Independence Movement’ and its Urdu version ‘Muslim Mujahideen-e-Azadi aur Tehrik-e-Azadi Mein Unki Khidmat’ have been authored by well-known Delhi based author and journalist Syed Ubaidur Rahman.

The two books try to fight the oft-repeated allegations that Muslims are anti-national and have not contributed for the freedom of the nation. The books nail the lie and prove that Muslims not just participated in the freedom movement, they went on to lead the freedom struggle for a long time. The first war of Independence or Mutiny of 1857 was led by Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar in Delhi and Begum Hazrat Mahal in Lucknow.

The Independence Movement in the first two decades of the twentieth century was led by Mahmud Hasan and ulama of Deoband and they had respect and support of everyone including Hindus and Muslims.

If anyone has any doubt about the Muslim contribution in the freedom movement, the fact that the Indian National Congress had as many as nine Muslims as its president till the year 1947 will remove such doubts.

While speaking on the occasion, Harsh Mander said that the divisive forces in the country are trying to divide the nation on the basis of religion and faith. He said that the danger from such forces for the national fabric and its unity has become grave.

Mander added that the threat to the communal amity in the country was never so high as is today as divisive forces are doing every thing to pit one community against the other and create a fear psychosis among the majority community prompting it to turn it against minorities.

Khursheed Mallick, a Chicago based urologist, philanthropist and director of IMEFNA said that the book is a timely reminder to the nation that Muslims and Hindus both sacrificed for the nation and this fact must be clearly told to our young generation. He said Muslims sacrificed heavily for the cause of the freedom of the nation and efforts must be made to tell the history.

Syed Ubaidur Rahman, the author of the two books, while speaking on the occasion said Muslims have been rather loath to write about the sacrifices they have made for the cause of the Independence and freedom. He said Muslims suffered badly throughout the freedom movement. They were the worst suffers in the wake of the mutiny of 1857 and its aftermath when Muslims were hounded across North India and beyond. Tens of thousands of Muslims lost their lives for the freedom.

Syed added that ulama of Deoband played a stellar role in the freedom movement. Unlike the common perception, they were secular to the core and when they established a government in exile in Kabul in 1915, they appointed Raja Mahendra Pratap as its President and Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali as its Prime Minister.

The book documents the lives of forty renowned Muslim freedom fighters including, Shaikhul Hind Maulana Mahmud al-Hasan, Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Dr Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi, Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, Ashfaqulla Khan, Maulana Hasrat Mohani, Maulana Muhammad Mian Mansoor Ansari, Asaf Ali, Husain Ahmad Madani, Aruna Asaf Ali (Kulsum Zamani), Peer Ali Khan, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Mohammed Abdur Rahiman, Captain Abbas Ali, Abdul Qaiyum Ansari, Prof. Abdul Bari, Moulvi Abdul Rasul, Nawab Syed Mohammed Bahadur, Rahimtulla Mahomed Sayani, Syed Hasan Imam, Sir Syed Ali Imam, M.C. Chagla, Yusuf Meherally, Justice Fazal Ali, General Shah Nawaz Khan, Allama Fazle Haq Khairabadi, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Syed Mahmud, Maulana Mazharul Haque, Badruddin Tyabji, Col Mehboob Ahmed, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Maulana Shafi Daudi, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Quadri, Batak Mian .

The book launch function was organized at Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu and was presided over by Abdul Qaiyum Ansari, chairman of Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu Bihar.

Syed Ubaidur Rahman is a New Delhi based writer and commentator. He has written several books on Muslims and Islam in India including Understanding Muslim Leadership in India.

source: http://www.sify.com / Sify.com / Home> SifyNews> National / by SIFY.com / Friday – December 22nd, 2017

How greatness sometimes runs in a family’s genes

Mumbai (formerly Bombay), MAHARASHTRATA / and all over India  :

Some months ago I was in Kolkata when news came of the death of Laeeq Futehally, a writer and critic I greatly admired.

Badruddin-Tyabji-the-first-great-of-his-family
Badruddin-Tyabji-the-first-great-of-his-family

Some months ago I was in Kolkata when news came of the death of Laeeq Futehally, a writer and critic I greatly admired. The friend I was with hadn’t heard of her, so I spoke at some length of Laeeq’s own work (as literary editor of the pioneering journal Quest, and as the author of many books on varied subjects), and of the larger family to which she belonged. ‘Laeeq was a Tyabji,’ I told my friend, ‘and you can think of the Tyabjis as being the Tagores of Western India — a family of men and women of real distinction in the arts and public life’.

A look of disbelief now came over my friend’s face. For which Bengali can countenance a comparison to the Tagores? I pressed on, offering some names in illustration. The first great Tyabji was Badruddin, a judge of the Bombay High Court and an early president of the Indian National Congress. Direct descendants of Badruddin included the tennis player and legal scholar AA Fyzee (author of landmark studies on Islamic law), the politician and social reformer Saifuddin Tyabji, the conservationist Zafar Futehally, and Badruddin Tyabji Jr., a distinguished Indian diplomat and author.

My friend Laeeq Futehally was herself a descendant of Badruddin’s elder brother Shumsuddin Tyabji. Shumsuddin’s only son was Abbas Tyabji; once Chief Justice of Baroda State, he later joined the freedom struggle, being appointed leader of the Salt Satyagraha after Gandhi’s arrest. A nephew of Abbas (and grandson of Shumsuddin) was the great ornithologist Salim Ali, the author of landmark studies of Indian birds and an inspirational figure for conservationists all over the world.

The women of the Tyabji family were likewise quite remarkable. A fine study by the late Salima Tyabji (see http://cinnamonteal.in/authors/salima-tyabji/) narrates how they were the first Muslim women in Western India to emerge out of purdah, to travel overseas, to go to school and college, and to write at length of their experiences. Later generations kept the family name flying. Among Abbas Tyabji’s daughters was the formidable women’s rights activist Sharifa Hamid Ali and the mystic and Meera bhajan singer Raihana Tyabji.

Such was the background to the comment I made about the Tyabjis in Kolkata, a comment that evoked dismay bordering on disgust. But I have since found confirmation of the validity of my comparison. Reading through Gandhi’s Collected Works, I came across a letter written by him to Abbas Tyabji on the 17th April 1920. Here Gandhi says: ‘Indeed the Tagores and the Tyabjis are the rarities for India and they are her friends’.

The contributions of the Tagores are of course colossal, as well as colossally well known. The most famous of the Tagores was Rabindranath: poet, novelist, playwright, composer, artist, institution builder, the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize, and one who profoundly influenced both Gandhi and Nehru.

Rabindranath was a giant who looked farther in part because he stood on the shoulders of those who preceded him. His grandfather, Dwarkanath, was a successful entrepreneur whose wealth laid the basis for the artistic pursuits of his descendants. His father, Debendranath, was a progressive reformer and editor.

Rabindranath’s gifted siblings included the scholar and composer Dwijendranath, the actor and translator Jyotindranath, the singer, editor and social worker Swarnakumari, and Satyendranath, the first non-white member of the Indian Civil Service.

The generation that followed was also not lacking in talent. Rabindranath’s nephews included the modernist painters Abanindranath and Gaganendranath. His nieces included Sarala Devi, a singer, writer and patriot who so entranced Gandhi that he at one stage intended to make her his ‘spiritual wife’.

Which was the greater of the two families, the Tagores or the Tyabjis? Rather than answer the question, let me introduce a third and scarcely less gifted family.

These were the Sarabhais of Ahmedabad. The patriarch, Ambalal, was a textile millowner and philanthropist who was an early supporter of Mahatma Gandhi. When, in 1915, Gandhi’s funders withdrew support because he had admitted an ‘Untouchable’ family into his ashram, Ambalal Sarabhai stepped in to save the project.

Ambalal’s sister Anasuya was herself very close to Gandhi. A pioneering feminist and trade unionist, she ran schools for millworkers and their children. In 1918 she led the workers of Ahmedabad in a strike for fair pay that pitted her directly against her brother, who was representing the millowners.

Anasuya never married, although, in a daring defiance of custom and convention, she had a live-in partner, a fellow Gandhian and trade unionist, Shankerlal Banker.

As for Ambalal Sarabhai, he had seven children — all were talented, and at least four were remarkable. These were Vikram, the polymath physicist who founded both the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and the Indian Space Research Organisation; Mridula, who worked heroically to settle post-Partition refugees and, later, to bring justice to the Kashmiris and their leader Sheikh Abdullah (who had been incarcerated by the Nehru government); Gautam, a public-spirited entrepreneur who founded the National Institute of Design (NID); and Gira, a brilliant designer who assisted her brother in shaping the NID while also setting up the Calico Textile Museum.

Had Gandhi had the opportunity, he might well have added the Sarabhais to the Tagores and the Tyabjis as among the ‘rarities of India’. These three families had several things in common: the ability to defy social boundaries as well as transcend disciplinary boundaries, an apparently unending stream of creativity, and the striking independence of their women. A single column can scarcely do justice to their talents and achievements. While the Tagores have had their chroniclers, the Tyabjis and Sarabhais still await theirs.

Ramachandra Guha’s most recent book is Gandhi Before India
You can follow him on Twitter at @Ram_Guha
The views expressed by the author are personal

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Opinion / by Ramchandra Guha / April 11th, 2015