The essay has remained a popular form of literature since the days of The Spectator founded by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele in 1711. Essays can both entertain and inform in a short span and this makes them handy for readers. The English language can boast of a rich crop of essayists on either side of the Atlantic, like Thomas Carlyle, Ralph W Emerson, Walter Bagehot, EM Forster, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, among others.
Some of the early English writings by Indians like Girish Chunder Ghose (Editor, Hindu Patriot) and MG Ranade were also in the form of essays. The growth of newspapers also aided the development of essays. Jay Bhattacharjee’s essays prove that their evolution should not stop in this age of news portals.
As is evident from the title, Resurgent Bharat and Other Essays is a work in defence of our national interests and the core values of Indic culture. The book is divided into 11 chapters, each containing several articles. These essays were written for different publications (print or online) over a period of more than two decades between 1997 and 2021. The principal publications are Times of India, New Indian Express Indian Defence Review and Niti Central. A number of articles pertained to the UPA-II era, which was a fertile soil for critical assessments of our national polity and economy.
“Our Core Ethos under Siege: It’s time to Take a Stand” the title of an essay that originally appeared in New Indian Express in 2015 defines the tenor of the book. The signature tune is that India is going through a critical time, because of its unresolved legacies of long Islamic rule, colonial indoctrination and administration. To make things worse, the Nehruvian administrative structure resulted in a selective amnesia that made us anemic. The rot began at the top, and the author cogently argues how India’s political-intellectual ecosystem, which goes by the name of Lutyens Delhi, ruined India’s development path.
Where does the book cease to be predictable? The book might appear as the author’s coup against his class. The author, a post-graduate in Economics and Sociology from the University of Cambridge, has had a rewarding career in the corporate world. He is well-versed in French, and references to France appear in many chapters in the book. He writes English with a panache that is uncharacteristic of any Indian writer of today. His style could be likened to the cue-sports technique in billiards, where the player hits one ball to pocket another. With such a background, he could have been a very prominent member of the Lutyens Zone elite, but he clearly did not choose this habitat.
The author is well read — a rare quality amongst writers today. However, he is a conservative with a difference. Both his mother and aunt were freedom fighters. He blends his love for four thousand years of Indic civilisation with an overt interest in Western humanism, without being blind to the follies of either. If he idolises the French humanistic ideals, he does not condone the Western colonial marauders. He pitches for progress, while being rooted to Indic culture.
The essays, being newspaper (or portal) articles, are of moderate length of around 1,200 words, which can be read and assessed quickly. To accommodate this format, technical analysis and discussions had to be minimised. That is also the demand of the style the author follows. However, there are exceptions, where he provides detailed roadmaps for his readers.
In two essays titled ‘Narendra Bhai: One of your Conscience-Keepers Sets out Your Action Plan and Agenda – I & II’ (October 2013), written a few months before Narendra Modi stormed into South Block in 2014, the author provided a wish list: (a) Giving India’s armed forces their due; (b) restoration of the balance in the historiography followed in the country; (c) ushering in good governance and its constituent components; (d) making bureaucracy technocratic and accountable; (e) reining in the judiciary; (f) streamlining the justice delivery system; and, (g) stamping out corruption and graft.
Has the Modi government fulfilled the expectations of the essayist? It is a matter of speculation. In an article written for Indian Defence Review (7 March 2020) the author laments that India is still a soft state manipulated by its civilisational enemies. He cites the anti-CAA violence, prolonged Shaheen Bagh demonstrations, the Tablighi Jamaat gathering at Nizamuddin that allegedly became the super-spreader of Covid-19 in March 2020.
Similarly, in Our Armed Forces Severely Handicapped when Fighting Terror, he rues the deplorable role of the Defence Ministry, when in January 2018 the then Mehbooba Mufti government in J&K filed an FIR against Major Aditya Kumar for an incident in Shopian (where rioters threw stones at an Army convey) although he was not even present at the spot, and his father Colonel Karamveer Singh (Retd) had to approach the Supreme Court to quash the FIR against his son. Later on, Major Adtiya Kumar received the Shaurya Chakra from the President of India.
The author is profoundly perturbed by the rise of jihadi violence whether it is in West Bengal or in other parts of the world. He fears that West Bengal is at the edge of a precipice, and might be headed for a Kosovo-like situation because of the rise of Islamism. The rot in the corporate sector and the crying need for reforms in the judiciary also engage his attention. The collusion between the banks and the corporate sector (as in the case of fugitive businesspersons like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, etc.) has come under the author’s scanner (and hammer). It is evident that he wants to see a strong and vibrant India, where the rule of law punishes the guilty and protects the innocent.
The author’s fervent desire is an India, anchored in the values of our ancient Indic civilisation. One of the guiding mottos is Buddha’s axiom — “Bahujan Hitaye, Bahujan Sukhaye”. In a modern republic this should be the motto of rulers, civil servants, scholars, etc. Resurgent Bharat will have served its purpose if it induces its target audience to start reflecting and introspecting.
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