Thinking Activity -Shashi Tharoor

Hello Readers ,

                      Here is my blog, In this semester we are dealing with post colonialism  . This reading task given by Prof. Dilip Barad about Shashi Tharoor, to ponder some of the attractive ideas from his speech and also make critique on his work An Era of Darkness." 

About Shashi Tharoor :-

                  Shashi Tharoor  is an Indian politician, writer and former international diplomat who has been serving as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009. He was formerly Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and contested for the post of Secretary-General in 2006.

               Tharoor is an acclaimed writer, having authored 19 bestselling works of fiction and non-fiction since 1981, which are centred on India and its history, culture, film, politics, society, foreign policy, and more related themes. He is also the author of hundreds of columns and articles in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, Newsweek, and The Times of India. He was a contributing editor for Newsweek International for two years. 

        In 2019, Shashi Tharoor received the Sahitya Academy Award for his book An Era of Darkness in a non-fiction category in English language.

● His speeches videos are :- 

1. Speech at Oxford Union.

2. Looking back at the British Raj in India: The University of Edinburgh.

3. Exclusive interview by Karan Thapar On His book "An Era of Darkness."

4. About British Colonialism in India in His New Book ' An Era of Darkness'.

Industrial Revolution of British premised upon De-Industrialization of India :

As we all know that before colonized India is considered as the wealthy and richest country known as "Sone ki Chidiya."But because of British Government india is exploited and the economic share of India in world get paradigm shift from 23% to 4%. So Britishers on the name of civilization exploit the people and established their own rules and regulations and also control the native people.

   

            India is not only looted but all the gems and wealth of India is destroyed by England for their own Development. What England today is all because of the looted Wealth of India. He also satirizing on British India that…

"Sun Never sets in British India Because God Himself can not trust English in Dark."

As we see in the Heart of Darkness Britishers are the lootera, On the name of so called civilization they exploit the people. Now became wealthy. So Tharoor make critic that Sun never sets in Britain because God not even trust English in Dark.

        Shashi Throor, One main Argument is that British rule weakens India. This very idea also throw light that 70 years after independence and mismanagement of those days is also nothing to do with destruction of India. Irresponsibility of Indian politics is denied and the whole blame is thrown on colonialism.

                 So, This is the fact that British colony totally destroy the Indian Economy, also creates fight between religion, collapse Indian industries and handloom weavers only because of Britishers. 

About  An Era of Darkness :

              Shashi Tharoor's non-fiction work "An Era Of Darkness", published in the UK as Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India, arising out of a speech he delivered at the Oxford Union, was published in 2016. Shashi Tharoor's work is the first notable books which try to elaborate what British rule done harm to India on the name of civilization. It is the single book which listed among the voice against British Rule and its messed in India.

                   There are two different and controversial points about the British Rule in India…

* Development

* Degradation

            Britishers think that whatever they did in India is for their development. It is not just the British who thought that their rule over India is beneficial But, there are a few Indians hold such an opinion too. 

                        In the " An Era of Darkness " Shashi Tharoor mostly doing arguments to established about British colonial rites whose violence experience for Indian society.Here I notify that most off the his work represented on British exploitation of India so that he carried the day for Tharoor in an Oxford debate not too long ago.

                                                

        Let's we have discussed some of main points ;

1.Write on key arguments in Shashi Tharoor's book - An Era of Darkness.

This book " An Era of Darkness " which is by Shashi Tharoor and it contains 333 pages. In this book Tharoor talks about British Colonial rule in India. That what Britishers did in prior. This book essentially eliminates from the Oxford Speech is the very popular & widely viral Oxford Speech.

  

   This book depicts atrocities and wrongdoing things which is done by the British Empire.

He give two types of recently writing:- 

1. One is the contemporary scholarship on the field because he said he was not by professional historian that they had been doing...so, he had read Academic journals, books which shows the states of the thinking today by historian, sociologist and others of this issue.

2. Also read upon the lots of contemporary apologies for empire.

● Tharoor further adds that .... people like Lawrence James and more - the bunch about the British writers who actually acquired a fair amount of visibility & even has a best sellers in which they had conducted self justifying, excersises, glorifying empire or of the very least portray through Rose Tincture recipe. 

   And in this book he wanted to be able to take their claims which had dangerously gone without reputation for some years and conform that had on which is Shashi Tharoor try to do in this book. 

● Then another point he talks upon that ....he himself not agtag or imppsimpos to prove that ..." British had never come to India, then India would be the affluent country. 

● He further added that ...he demonstrated in this book that 3 Industries of India which doing very well.These are:-

1. Textiles

2. Steal

3. Shipbuilding.

And these 3 are systematically and deliberately targeted and destroyed by the British. Its very natural to happen this because ...

For Example:- { Shipbuilding }

So, our (India) ships used to last minimum 20 to 24 years & British - European ships have average maximum 7 years. So , obviously they were delighted to use Indian ships for craftsmanship & wood.

● Then he talks about British who highly regressive loss that continue even today. Low that seduce and deals with Homosexuality also.

● Then he talks about that India got 377, now the irony is the party of Hindutva is betraying is all the instead of Hindu tradition for tolerance of sexualities.

● He made a very important point about the British who being guilty of creating this massive divisions between Hindus and Muslims which continue till even today. British systematically wanted to creating division and played a very deliberate game.

● He write about Nationalism and difference between nationalism and patriotism then and now also.

   Tharoor says that in Nationalism in that day is an inclusive Nationalism. It embrassesed in everybody's country in any background, religion, language, cast...

  

     Today's Nationalism is narrow minded one.

2.Write critique on both the films with 

reference to postcolonial insights.

1.The Black Prince :-

        

      Edward never became king - he died before his father, Edward III - he is remembered as a great medieval military hero, with notable victories against the French in the Hundred Years War.

                                   Edward was born on 15 June 1330 at Woodstock in Oxford shire, the eldest son of Edward III. He was created prince of Wales in 1343. He showed military brilliance at an early age, playing a key role in the defeat of the French army at the Battle of Crecy when he was only 16. In 1355, he was appointed his father's lieutenant in Gascony and the following year led another significant victory against the French at Poitier, taking the French king prisoner.

        In the movie prince Duleepsingh play roll as a protagonist. One thing I noticed that this movie also focus on how British government ruled on India. Movie reflected good side of British government though providing so many things for prince but Prince always prefers conman life. Mother of the princes also hate British government and people. She didn't like their manner of hospitality. Normally movie working surrounding nationalism,colonialism,reflect British's manner,clothe,food,Christianity...etc.

2.Victoria & Abdul :-

            Victoria & Abdul is a 2017 British biographical comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Lee Hall. The film is based on the book of the same name by Shrabani Basu, about the real-life relationship between Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her Indian Muslim servant Abdul Karim. 

       It stars Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Michael Gambon, Eddie Izzard, Tim Pigott-Smith (in his final film role), and Adeel Akhtar. The film had its world premiere at the 74th Venice Film Festival, and was theatrically released on 15 September 2017 in the United Kingdom. It has grossed over $65 million worldwide.

3. Summarise Ngugi Wa Thiongo's views in 'Introduction: Towards the Universal Language of Struggle' - from 'Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature'.

           Ngugi Wa Thiongo who was an African Writer & Professor of English Literature and language in Africa.

" Decolonizing the Mind" the book by Kenyan novelist and Postcolonial theorist Ngugi Wa Thiongo. It is the collection of essay about language & its constructive role in national culture, history and identity.

In this book he talks about..." What language played the role in African Literature?"

So in the Postcolonialism , Resistance is very important , Resistance is the main buzz word in post colonial. So he said that the another form of to resist language is to

  own it or discard the language totally.

So ,in a way African Literature resist a lot in this idea.

Thank you...