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ANOTHER AGE Philips Talbot

He was their eyes and ears during the tumultuous days of the freedom struggle. In 1939, 24-year-old Talbot was sent on a fellowship by the Institute of Current World Affairs, New York to report about India. The assignment proved to be a tryst with history.

He saw freedom as well as Partition. Be it the Mahatma, Nehru or Jinnah — he interacted with them all. He wrote his observations as part of the assignment. Now these letters are being published as a book, ‘An American Witness to India’s Partition’, by Sage Publications.

Talbot says: “In those days there was a lot of political activity, but not much economic activity. Young people expected the same kinds of jobs as their fathers. Now there are new industries, a vibrant service sector and a level of economic activity not foreseen then.”

“Politically, I have been interested in the rise of regional and lower caste parties. Groups having no voice in those days are now running some of the States,” he adds

Talbot says awareness about India in the U.S. has grown.

“During colonial times, the British resisted American business involvement in India. But now American business is highly interested in India.

Going down memory lane, Talbot says: “When I first went to meet Mahatma Gandhi at the Sevagram Ashram near Wardha, I expected a frail man. But I found a very vigorous, hard-working man with immense powers of concentration. He would guide the Ashram residents in their nutrition and health while carrying out programmes like education and village reconstruction.”

“Jawaharlal Nehru was an elegant man with a great sense of history and political leadership. Pakistan was unfortunate in losing Jinnah, its tallest leader, soon after Independence,” Talbot argues.

Talking of Partition, Talbot says that the Muslim League, which was earlier a party of landlords promoted by the British policy of Divide and Rule, acquired mass support by 1939.

“The Congress party in its enthusiasm after taking seven provinces in the 1937 provincial elections hoisted Congress flags in schools and sang Vande Mataram – a song Muslims were apprehensive about.

“The Congress was relatively inexperienced in governance those days, which made it unwittingly hurt Muslim sensibilities. With post-independence experience in governance, the distinctly secular trend that Nehru emphasised became a happy feature of Indian governance,” he concludes.

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