Mainstream Weekly

Home > 2024 > To reclaim our country’s soul | Joydip Ghosal

Mainstream, Vol 62 No 29, July 20, 2024

To reclaim our country’s soul | Joydip Ghosal

Friday 19 July 2024

#socialtags

BOOK REVIEW

Review by Joydip Ghosal

Bharat Jodo Yatra, Reclaiming India’s Soul

by Pushparaj Deshpande, Ruchira Chaturvedi

HarperCollins Publishers India

2024 | 348 pages

P-ISBN: 978-93-5699-941-1

Bharat Jodo Yatra, Reclaiming India’s Soul is a comprehensive map of Bharat Jodo Jatra which was an epic nationwide march from September 2022 to January 2023. This definitive book attempts to portray the journey in its entirety. This book does not contain mere symbolic depictions. Rather the aspirations and reflections of the yatris and organisers are well reflected in this book. This book edited by Pushparaj Deshpande and Ruchira Chaturvedi attempts to comprehend and decipher India’s vast plurality and diverseness. Section one outlines the clockwork precision and organizational discipline and strength with which this Yatra was curated. Section two portrays the collective experiences of the participants. Section three outlines the reason for some of our country’s eminent personalities for joining the Yatra.

Rahul Gandhi in his article quoted Rumi. “If words come from the heart, they will enter the heart.†His article provides the raison d’etre of the journey. He wanted to understand the thing for which he was ready to give up everything, including his life. He also wanted to understand what sort of heart was his that had allowed itself to be captured in this way. His old knee injury like a hungry wolf would follow him everywhere. Every time he would think about stopping someone would come and provide him energy to continue. As the Yatra progressed he wanted to tell every on what he thought, what he understood. Apart from that he spoke about solutions to their problems. Then he felt a silence he had never felt before. Now he would almost never hear himself or the crowd. India was the voice of every single Indian. India was the pain , fear and happiness hidden deep inside the voices.He wrote “To hear India, my own voice, my desires and my ambitions had to fall silent.…India would speak to one of her own , but only if one was humble and completely silent.â€

In forward sction Mallikarjun Kharge described the Yatra as a people’s revolution to reunite India. According to him the characteristics features of padyatra and satyagrahas were converged in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. He feels that people need to be hard and they need to know that something is being done about what they have expressed about their aspirations. They need to feel included. But unfortunately the ruling dispensation has failed miserably. He described the two Yatras as a clarion call to every patriot to restore the path “ our founders started us on†. Pusparaj Deshpande described the Yatra as a platform for a sincere conversation between political class and the people of India. Sashikanth Senthil termed the Yatra as a transformative expedition spanning the vast stretches of our country. It was able to crystallize the hopes of civil society through deep interactions. On the other hand it rejuvenated the values intrinsic to the grand old party. Dr. Anshul Trivedi wrote that Bharat Jodo Yatra provided Indians an idea of India that is worth fighting for. Chandy Oommen thought this Yatra positioned the Congress in contradistinction of hyper- nationalistic narrative of current dispensation. While chronicling the history of these dark times in the future this Yatra will be considered a landmark event that challenged the might of regime.

In his article Bhrat Jodo and civil society Hrishiksh Singh wrote that the members of civil society saw this Yatra as a way to safeguard the basic precepts and ethos of Indian Constitution and democratic principles. The party’ s top brass tried to ensure that civil society was provided with dignified arena. The Yatra was also a moving learning school for the participants. The author had newfound respect for India’s rich diversities. Meenakshi Natarajaan highlighted how India is not a just a geographical entity but a confluence of innumerable human groups and amalgamation of diversified cultural stream. “India is an eternal Yatra. Like every yatri , holding on to the past while moving forward.†It nurtured the heritage and advanced towards the future without being shackled by the past. It did not lose itself in the past. It did not detach itself from it. For Dr Kanhaiya Kumar the Yatra was not over. Rather he believes it is still in him and he is still in Yatra learning to live with its eternal core values and living to learn from the common people. R. Sudha described the Yatra as Trivula or festival. It slowly grew into a movement. It declared in every inch it crossed that we the people were the architect of our nation and destiny. Prof. Mridula Mukherjee and Prof. Aditya Mukherjee mntioned that act of carrying out the Yatra was itself a demonstration of fearlessness. In a situation of all- pervading fear it was an act of daring. It also indicated the powerlessness of the authorities before the people’s inner strength. Prof. Mukulika Banerjee termed the Yatra as massive foot march against India’s growing culture of intolerance. In India Modi government has weaponized the law enforcing agencies, tax and other enforcement institutions. They hound any voice of dissent. That is the reason for the march. Once Rahul Gandhi had mentioned the streets are the only arena left for India’s opposition. This Yatra is organized in such a time when big businesses compete to join the rank of crony capitalists and mainstream media perform the role of post- truth voice. Sridhar Radhakrishnan quoted John Kenneth Galbraith. “ All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.†He pointed out that the unifying spirit of the Yatra transcended the fractional nature of Congress in Kerala. Rahul Gandhi’s tried to instill confidence in minority communities and it has amplified his secular credentials. For Nikhil Dey at the core of the Bharat Jodo Yatra was the simple idea of establishing direct communication with people. According to Medha Patkar and Guddi S.L. cutting across genders, classes, religions and parties this Yatra brought politics back to the streets. United by our constitutional values these people will save humanity and unity. Supriya Sule quite anxiously noticed that in the aftermath of a few years, full of unprecedented upheavals India finds itself at the crossroads of challenges grappling with many issues. The obliteration of democratic voices in parliament and the enactment of Orwellian laws cast an ominous shadow on democratic polity. In this stifling condition, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra injected fresh lease of life into people’s minds. Supriya Shrinate reposed her trust on the words of Gandhiji. “The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.†She asserts that Bharat Jodo Yatra is a ray of unwavering hope in a world full of broken dreams. It redefined Indian politics. D. Raja observes how over the past nine years the RSS-controlled BJP government has insidiously misused the electoral process. There have been attempts to tarnish the image of opposition leaders. The ruling dispensation has always been obsessed with homogeneity. On the contrary Bharat Jodo Yatra is an attempt at harmonizing the country. A.S. Dulat feels that while Pandit Nehru wrote The Discovery of India, his great-grandson is rediscovering and reviving the idea of India. Sanjay Raut asserted that the Bharat Jodo Yatra transcended political boundaries and brought together diverse voices for the national interest. Bhanwar Meghwanshi feels that through the Bharat Jodo Yatra Rahul Gandhi establishes himself as a public leader who truly lives in the heart of people.

Many voices contributed in this book. This Yatra tries to connect diverse meanings. In the end it is a clarion call to restore our collective identity and a mammoth journey to reclaim India’s soul.

ISSN (Mainstream Online) : 2582-7316 | Privacy Policy|
Notice: Mainstream Weekly appears online only.