NOSTALGIA
An age of values
ANNA VARKI
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The days of World War II saw rationing and shortage of essential items. Looking back at another time.
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World War II ended with the Atom Bomb being dropped on Nagasaki on August 10, 1945. Termed ‘black rain’, it killed thousands of innocent people and made Japan decide not to spend money on armaments. This year people from several countries paid their respects to thousands of innocent people who had a tragic end. To the survivors and those who see them, it is a stark reminder of the horror of a nuclear bomb! Yet countries today are busy stockpiling and perhaps soon there will be enough to destroy our whole world.
On the other hand nuclear energy can be used for peaceful purposes like generating electricity, in the field of medicine… Every discovery in the field of science can be used for good or evil; that’s why Einstein, who was responsible for giving the know-how to make the bomb, was really saddened by the havoc it wrought and is said to have remarked that if he had his life all over again he would have liked to be born as a plumber!
Away from the battlefront
The Indian army was very much on the battlefront though the country as such didn’t experience the horrors of war. The Japanese came right up to Kohima traversing Burma. What we experienced was shortage of petrol and food grains. Petrol was rationed; people with cars (very few compared to today) were allotted coupons depending on need and use. There were grain shops akin to our present PDS where one could purchase cereals and essentials; only the weights and measures were very correct unlike the PDS now where one gets quarter kilo less than the actual weight. Black market did not exist; nothing was available outside. Laws were strict; nobody dare flout it. Amazing that we managed with whatever was allotted
Paper was very scarce and students were advised to use paper judiciously. Government offices were asked to use both sides of files. Newsprint for newspapers was in short supply so were note books. I still collect sheets, fold and staple them to make notes or write messages, which my grandchildren find strange. I used to get mad at them when they used computer paper of excellent quality, type a few lines and throw it into the trash.
I wonder if people are aware that China imports waste paper from the US, recycles it and sends it back to U.S. market making enormous profit. China doesn’t have enough forest cover; no trees to get wood pulp to manufacture paper. This is akin to what British used to do: take our cotton to make textiles in their Lancashire mills and then flood the Indian market earning large profits. This gave rise to the Khadi movement. That’s a story in itself!
Stapling was unheard of; we used pins to hold paper together. To make a file we punched a hole and used a shoestring to hold it together. As the war progressed, steel was in short supply and pins became a luxury. Can you believe thorns were dried and used as pins! Gem clips were not known back then.
British troops were given many privileges especially for travel. The army had priority for booking in First class and also movement of goods. The Railways had four classes of travel. The first and second had cushioned berths, as did the interclass but the berths in the last were very narrow and the cushions thin. The Third class had wooden seats As students, we travelled third class; in fact most people did as money was precious. A cushion and a sheet sufficed for students but as a family we carried a hold-all. True to its name, it held everything. Made of a tarpaulin-like material or canvas, it had a large pocket at each end to hold a pillow or two. The centre had flaps into which thin blankets and sheets were spread. The flaps were folded and the entire thing rolled and tied.
After Pearl Harbour, when the U.S. joined the war, the American troops brought a lot of luxury items and equipment unknown to the British troops like better quality tents and mosquito nets. The army canteen became better stocked tinned foods. If one had friends in the army, one could get things not available in the market though they too had a fixed quota for each family.
Bomb protection
Anti-aircraft guns were still unknown. Our protection for a bomb attack was the trunk of a coconut palm placed vertically to a measured height and another placed diagonally, both painted black so that an aircraft flying high would be scared off! This was placed at intervals all along the Marina.
One interesting item was called ‘K rations’ or “what the troops carried with them on the march and transit. It carried a whole meal. But I don’t know what “K” stood for. It comprised an oblong carton containing a small wick candle over which one could heat instant coffee, a small tin of corned beef, crackers and a small packet of dried fruit, all in disposable wrapping. Whatever was scarce became precious; so there was no waste!
In the same way we know the value of freedom only when we are denied it. Otherwise it is taken for granted and abused. Someone who had returned from West Asia was telling a friend while walking down Mount Road all about life there and the strict the laws. He chewed a paan and spat on the wall. The friend asked, “Would you dare do this abroad?” And the man replied, “Oh! I would have my hand cut off. Here it is all right. It’s my country; I can do what I like.”
How do you inculcate civic sense if this is the attitude we adopt? Punctuality and discipline are two qualities we seem to have lost. Till August 15 and our tryst with destiny, we saluted the Union Jack and stood in reverence when “God save our gracious king” was sung. After every movie show, we had to wait till the anthem was over. There was silence till it was over. Today we have our own flag and anthem after long years of struggle…
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