Review: Kohinoor by Dalrymple & Anand

William Dalrymple and Anita Anand's Kohinoor is filled with mysteries, deceits, and murders but the lust and allure for the diamond has still not dwindled. 

“…blinded, slow-poisoned, tortured to death, burned in oil, threatened with drowning, crowned in molten lead, assassinated by their own family and bodyguards, lost their kingdom and died in penury.”

This describes some of the ways the owners of the Kohinoor - the world’s most infamous diamond - suffered. Kohinoor written by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand follows the journey of the Kohinoor diamond. The story begins in fables before exchanging hands between kings at considerable cost before finally settling today, in an anti-climactic fashion, in a locked room in the Tower of London.

The book is divided into two parts: The first part titled, The Jewel in the Throne, follows until Kohinoor rests in the East while part two The Jewel in the Crown follows the journey of Kohinoor into the hands of the British - where it still resides.

The origins of Kohinoor are shrouded in mystery - adding to its allure. Despite references to gemstones and jewels in Indian mythological stories, none matched the description of Kohinoor. Perhaps, the earliest reference to the Kohinoor was mentioned by Portuguese philosopher Garcia da Orto from the Vijayanagara Empire, “Many years ago I heard from a person worthy of credit that he saw on in Vijayanagara the size of a small hen’s egg.” While the description matches, at least the size, it is unprovable that the diamond referred to is Kohinoor.

Kohinoor suddenly appears in the hands of Babur and passed onto Humayun before disappearing again. It transverses to the Deccan to finally reach the hands of an unknown merchant, Mir Jumla - who presents it to Shah Jahan to curry favour. As the fog of mystery around Kohinoor is slowly removed, the murderous journey begins.

In the hands of Shah Jahan, who became one of the greatest connoisseurs of precious stones, installed Kohinoor as one of the eyes of the peacock as part of the Peacock Throne - the most spectacular jewelled object ever made. Since the Mughals had untold wealth, Kohinoor was one of the many precious stones. It played second fiddle to Timur Ruby - considered to be more precious.

It was passed on to Aurangzeb after Shah Jahan’s death. Unlike his father, Aurangzeb was interested in conquests of kingdoms. The Kohinoor was now part of the Mughal treasury - one among many precious stones.

Kohinoor left the Mughal and Indian subcontinent after Aurangzeb’s death. Nader Shah, founder of the Afsharid Dynasty in Iran, invaded and looted Delhi in 1739 under inept Mughal ruler Muhammad Shah.

An incident, most likely an apocryphal, on how Nader Shah got the hands of Kohinoor. According to the story, Nader Shah - after successfully conquering Delhi - after discovering that Nader Shah had hidden Kohinoor under his turban offers a turban exchange as a mark of ‘friendship.’ Awestruck by the shine, Nader Shah names it Kohinoor or Mountain of Light. Even if there are doubts regarding the story, the outcome is without a doubt - Kohinoor leaves the Mughals and arrives in Persia, now Iran. 

Nader Shah sitting on the Peacock Throne; Courtesy: Wikipedia

Here onwards, death or immense suffering follows the owners of Kohinoor - also known as the curse of Kohinoor. Nader Shah wears both Kohinoor and the Timur Ruby on his armband. Later, in 1747 he is murdered in his camp. Shah Rukh, the grandson of Nader Shah, is believed to have hidden Kohinoor. Aga Mohammad, the former court eunuch, tortures Shah Rukh and later pours a jug of molten lead onto his head to extract the whereabouts of Kohinoor and other precious stones. It is unknown where Aga Mohammad ever got his hands on Kohinoor. Irrespective, he faces the curse and is eventually assassinated by two of his servants.

The murderous trail stops, albeit temporarily. Kohinoor finds its way into the hands of Ahmad Khan Abdali - Nader Shah’s seniormost Afghan general and founder of the Durrani empire - and begins its residence in Afghanistan for the next 70 years. Kohinoor is passed from one generation to another - from Ahmad Shah to his son, Timur Shah, who passes it to his son, Shah Zaman.

Deceit, perfidy begins. Shah Zaman is deceived and later blinded by his chieftain, Ashiq Shinwari. However, Shah Zaman successfully hid Kohinoor. It was later discovered by a mullah who was using it as a paperweight. Shah Zaman’s brother, Shuja, got hold of Kohinoor and wore it on his arm like an amulet. Later, Shuja is cheated and arrested by his former courtier and present governor of Kashmir, Ata Muhammad Khan. Yet Ata Muhammad is unable to find the whereabouts of Kohinoor.

Ranjit Singh, the first emperor of the Sikh empire, started eying on the Kohinoor. He promised to rescue Shuja in exchange for Kohinoor. In 1813, Ranjit Singh defeats Ata Mohammad and rescues Shuja. However, Shuja refuses to fulfil his part of the bargain. Ranjit Singh puts Shuja in a cage and allegedly tortures his eldest son until Shuja relents. 

Kohinoor rested quietly - at least initially - for the next 36 years with the Sikh empire. Ranjit Singh wore the Kohinoor strapped to his biceps. Once Ranjit Singh, out of curiosity asks Shuja’s wife, Wa’fa Begum, to estimate the value of Kohinoor. She replies: “If a strong man were to throw four stones, one to each of the cardinal points, North, South, East and West, and fifth stone vertically, and if the space between were to be filled with gold and precious stones, they would not equal the value of Kohinoor.” 

Ranjit Singh wearing Kohinoor on his right arm

The death of Ranjit Singh in 1839 sets the domino in motion with Kohinoor exchanging hands closely followed by murders. Everyone wanted the Kohinoor including the pandits of Jagannath Temple, Orissa. During the last days of Ranjit Singh, the Brahmins of Jagannath persuaded Ranjit to donate the Kohinoor to the temple. However, the promise was reneged later - with Ranjit’s questionable mental state as one of the reasons for the denial. Even to this day, pandits of Jagannath Temple claim the rightful heirs of the Kohinoor.

Kharak Singh, the eldest legitimate son of Ranjit, took over the reign of the kingdom and became the newest owner of Kohinoor. His louche behaviour along with his love for drugs, drinks and dancing girls made several enemies. He was slowly poisoned to death. His son, an 18-year-old Nau Nihal became the next king. A charismatic young leader shortly died of an ‘accident’ when a structure collapsed on him. Sher Singh, the half-brother of Kharak Singh, became the next king. On a hunting expedition a year later, in 1843, a gun ‘went off' and killed him. Duleep Singh, a five-year-old son of Ranjit Singh became the next king. With the Kohinoor strapped to his soft little arm, Duleep sat on his mother’s lap while she (Rani Jindan) ruled over the empire.

All this while, the British were eyeing the Kingdom and the Kohinoor. They felt it was the opportune time to wage a war and succeeded in subduing the Sikhs. It later came to be known as the First and the Second Anglo-Sikh War - the latter resulted in a set of conditions by the British including “the gem called the Kohinoor…shall be surrendered by the Maharajah of Labor to the Queen of England.” The passage of Kohinoor from Lahore to England was - like its journey so far - eventful. The ship Medea - which was carrying Kohinoor - was struck with storms and a cholera epidemic, almost sunk the ship before making its way to England.

Disappointment and dismemberment follow. Kohinoor is shown in an exhibition of 1851. However, initial excitement to see the famous diamond was replaced by disappointment due to its dim radiance. This highlighted the difference between the East and the West. Most Indians, including the Mughals, liked their gems as close to their natural state and original size. In contrast, the British were more interested in the sparkle and bringing out the ‘fire’ within. The British hired Dutch masters to cut Kohinoor and make it sparkle again. The cut was a disaster and a success. In terms of mass - it was cut more than halved from 190.3 metric carats to 93 metric carats. But it sparkled. 

After the second Anglo-Sikh war, Emperor Duleep Singh was separated from his mother and placed with a British Resident. Later Duleep Singh was exiled to British at the age of fifteen to keep him away from his mother and make him an ‘Anglophile.’ He even converted to Christianity. While Duleep enjoyed a decadent lifestyle in Britain, the loss of Kohinoor must have hurt him.

Duleep Singh, who never saw Kohinoor since the time the British took it away, goes on to make a strange request. He states, “I would give a good deal to hold it again in my own hand…I would like to have it in my power to place it myself in Her Majesty’s hand.” Duleep is shown the Kohihoor, holds it in his hand and looks at it carefully against the sunlight. Despite having strong emotions, Duleep places the Kohinoor into Queen Victoria’s hand. “It is to me, Ma’am, the greatest pleasure thus to have the opportunity, as a loyal subject, of myself tendering to my Sovereign - the Koh-i-Noor.” And thus, Duleep officially gives away the Kohinoor an adult that was snatched from him as a child.

Duleep is severely affected by this event. Kohinoor represented to Duleep — the pain of losing his family, his empire and his culture. Angered and cheated by the British, Duleep started drinking heavily and leading a lavish, unsustainable lifestyle. In 1893, Duleep Singh - who wore Kohinoor around his arm as a young boy - died pennilessly.

As for Kohinoor, it was believed that women could wear it with impunity but not men. It has been placed on the crown and is rarely seen by the public. It now sits at the Jewel House in the Tower of London. 

Kohinoor in front of the cross on the Crown

Review: Stories of the True by Jeyamohan (translated by Priyamvada in English)

Stories of the True follow the lives of people steeped in idealism despite facing immense challenges and ethical dilemmas. 

Franz Kafka’s quote, “A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us”, is the best way to describe my feelings after I finished Stories of the True. Written by Jeyamohan in Tamil and translated by Priyamvada in English, it is a collection of twelve short stories - and follows the lives of real people filled with idealism despite being fraught with economic, social or/and ethical challenges. Some stories will make you laugh while others will make your eyes swell up in tears. However, it has two constant feelings: suffering and hope.

One of the standout stories is A Thousand Armchairs - a story about a Nayadi bureaucrat struggling to do the right thing for his tribal mother. Nagam Aiya’s manual of 1906 describes Nayadi as follows: “Nayadis. Since there’s a belief that it’s polluting to even lay eyes on them, they cannot move around during the day…they stay huddled like pigs, inside pits that they dig up…[and]…at night, they get out and hunt. They eat anything…rats, dogs…They cover their genitals with the spathe of the Palmyra tree”

The protagonist suffers. Separated from his mother at a young age, he clears civil services and become a bureaucrat. Despite trying to run away from his past, it follows him like a shadow.

The constant reminder is the armchair - which serves as a powerful and painful motif. After joining as a bureaucrat, the tall throne-like armchair is replaced by a simple wooden chair. It is a reminder that a bureaucrat from the Nayadi caste - a lower one - deserves a lower-grade chair.

However, when his mother sees him sitting on the same wooden chair, she cries, starts beating her chest, and screams, “he will kill you.” What did the armchair mean for the Nayadi? A community pelted with stones simply for stepping out of the drain, sitting on the armchair meant death.

The protagonist suffers immeasurably at home and outside. He is shunned and shamed by everyone while his mother tries to drag him back to the garbage dumps. And written in the first person, the reader suffers - at least I did, albeit temporarily. So did Jeyamohan.

 

Courtesy: www.jeyamohan.in

 

Initially, Jeyamohan wrote the story in the third person. Unhappy with the final product, he rewrote the story in the first person. As he mentions in an interview, “When you write the story in first person, empathy enters the story…Feeling another soul’s pain is fundamental to literature — if that is not possible, literature will suffer.” When the real-life protagonist of A Hundred Armchairs read the story, he wrote a letter to Jeyamohan saying he was sorry the author had to suffer, even if they were only imagined.

The theme of suffering comes from Jeyamohan’s life itself. After losing his parents to suicide six months apart, a twenty-four-year-old Jeyamohan describes his mental state during that time: “I had suffered the harshest of sorrows that a human being can be faced with. Death, ignominy, loss of my home, my land, my people and endless wandering…I set out to kill myself [and] headed towards the railway track.”

Amid despair, Jeyamohan stumbled on hope. The epiphany came in the form of a worm on a leaf: “Here is a being for which every moment of this life is of utmost significance. Death may be right beside it, still, it has its own purpose in this world, a purpose that can be fulfilled by no other…On that day, I resolved that there would be no more sadness in my life.”

Another story from the book, Elephant Doctor, is a hagiography of Dr V. Krishnamurthy (Dr V). He was a pre-eminent conservationist from Tamil Nadu who dedicated his entire life to the elephants. Told from the point of view of a forest ranger, it follows Dr K’s journey to gathering information about the forest and treating wounded animals - especially the elephant. He was a doctor, comrade, friend and admirer of the fantastic beasts. Once Dr K remarked about the elephants, “What a divine being. If there should come a day when there are no more elephants in Tamil Nadu, what’ll our culture amount to? If that should happen, we might as well throw the entire Sangam literature into the fire.” 

 

Dr Krishnamurthy (Elephant Doctor)

  

Elephants face several human-caused injuries - none more innocuous sounding than stepping on a shard of a glass bottle. Within two days, the wound will form pus, maggots will enter it, transport the pus inside - and likely kill the elephant. When one of the elephants visits Dr K with this injury, Dr K treats the wounds and administers the antibiotics.

Dr K died in 2002. Despite holding the record for the highest number of elephant autopsies and the highest number of elephant births supervised, world never recognized his contributions during his lifetime. But he never sought recognition from humans. After treating the injured elephant, the story ends with the herd of elephants forming a semicircle and trumpeting in unison. It was a fitting tribute to the Elephant Doctor.

There are other stories like Aram - The Song of the Righteousness, where a capricious publisher refuses to pay an impoverished author until the publisher’s wife intervenes. Or The Meal Tally, where the restaurant owner generously serves meals to his customers in exchange for voluntary payment.

Despite pain and suffering, it is the ability to think beyond oneself and work for others that makes someone stand out. Each character embodied Aram - in their own way - by holding idealism as their core tenet. It is such stories that renew faith in humanity.

Every breath comes at a cost

Dean Spears’ Air dissects the sources of air pollution, its impact on citizens and policy missteps, and potential solutions.

When I moved back to Delhi in the summer of 2022, the air quality was one of my prime concerns. Delhi is considered to be one of the highest polluted cities in the world — and the sky looks grey most of the year. Fortunately, the air quality is relatively better during the months of July and August due to monsoon as rain and wind ensure the dust and pollutants are removed from the atmosphere.

Air by Dean Spears is an essential read for anyone who is interested in understanding the problem of air pollution in India, various sources, its impact on the local population and future generations, policies taken by the government to combat it, and what needs to be done to fix it going forward.

Busting some myths about air pollution in India:

1. Air pollution affects everyone. While it does affect everyone, the adverse impact is inequitably distributed with poorer people exposed to higher pollution than their richer counterparts. A multimedia report by New York Times shows how. 

 

2. Air pollution is an urban/ large city problem. It may surprise some readers that Bhiwandi is the most polluted city in India. At least, I was. It shows that air pollution is not restricted to large cities like Delhi but spreads to small town cities like Bhiwandi and Kanpur. 

 

3. Air pollution is an essential byproduct of economic growth. It is true that air quality improves as a country progresses economically. But India’s air pollution is worse than other developing countries due to various factors like climate, policies, and apathy. 

 

 4. Curbing air pollution would require immense sacrifice. It requires a combination of smart policies and strategic shifts to reduce air pollution in the long term. Low-hanging solutions include shutting some coal plants. For example, Dan Tong et al identified that the worst 7% of India’s coal plants offer only 1.8% of the country’s electricity generating capacity, but are responsible for 13% of PM 2.5.

 

5. If the government won’t do anything, then nothing can be done. While the government and policies need to take lion’s share of work to fix this issue, civil society has started taking note and working on it. Open Philanthropy recently granted $1.2 million to set up air quality monitoring sensors, researchers are tracking the sources of air pollution.  

 

6. Let me buy an air purifier and I will be safe. While affordable air purifiers significantly improve the air quality, the particle count never goes too low to acceptable standards. It helps but not completely. There are no private quick fixes. 

 

Choices 

The story about air pollution can be described, in some ways, as making choices. Some are hard and some aren't that hard. 

 

Electricity vs Pollution 

Coal-powered plants are the primary source of electricity in India. However, burning coal comes at a cost. It releases SO2 and NOx which react with air to become PM2.5 that goes deep into the smallest air sacs in the lungs and into the bloodstream. PM2.5 - particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometer in diameter or less, causes illness in the near term. And carbon emissions from coal plants cause climate change in the long term. 

While there are environmental and health costs to coal plants, electricity is essential for people. There is a trade-off between getting electricity and protecting the environment. Electrification of a village/ town brings about economic benefits. This is the primary reason people disregard the environmental costs associated with coal plants. 

Studies show that getting a coal plant and consequently electrification of a village reduces stunting in children (a proxy measure for health). However, an additional coal plant within the same village offsets the benefits generated. In other words, a town that gets electricity due to a coal plant for the first time gets benefits but an additional coal plant in the town has worse effects. 

If one has to rank the choices:

No coal plant to electrified city > First coal plant that brings electricity to a city > Additional coal plant to already electrified city 

 

Coal-powered plants vs Other plants 

This is one of the easiest to argue in theory than applying them in practice. Should we wean away from coal plants to other forms of energy? Of course, we should. So, why aren't we then? 

Coal is the surest form of energy currently available. It provides electricity 24 hours a day. On the other hand, other forms of energy like hydro, wind, and solar either have much less capacity or cannot provide 24 hours a day. 

 

But there are some solutions available. First, the government can shut down 'super polluting' coal plants. Tong et al. identified that the worst 7% of India’s coal plants offer only 1.8% of the country’s electricity generating capacity, but are responsible for 13% of PM 2.5. 

 

Second, there needs to be a renewed focus on nuclear power plants. There is a fear among people regarding nuclear energy but it is considered one of the safest forms of energy. In fact, we can see this happen in Germany since they shut down several nuclear reactors -- and consequently, faced an energy crisis amid the Russia-Ukraine war. Things are changing globally as public opinion towards nuclear energy is more favorable. India also plans to set up additional nuclear plants in the future. 

Note: The author mentions nuclear energy could be an alternative but doesn't endorse it. 

 

Solid fuel vs Liquid fuel 

Most of the households in rural India use solid fuels like wood and cow dung to cook food. However, solid fuels are one of the biggest contributors to indoor air pollution. Further, more than 88% of households prefer food cooked using solid fuel compared to liquid fuel. 

When researchers Rema Hanna and Paulina Oliva gave assets to poor households, making them less poor, households shifted from clean to unclean. Similarly, when they were given clean stoves, many families didn't use them. It has dire consequences. As the image below shows, families that cook with solid fuel have lower lung capacity than families that use liquid fuel. 

One might of solid fuel is not just down to preference. But there is more to it. One hypothesis is that women didn't have decision-making power while they bear the consequences of it. There is an interesting study that corroborates this hypothesis. Richer mothers are more likely to use clean fuels. Mothers, after controlling for socio-economic status, who bear their first child as a boy are more likely to use clean fuel.

 

Conclusion 

The author ends on a positive note. He believes that air pollution could be tackled if the Indian state machinery single-mindedly focused on solving the problem. However, this can only happen if the government is held accountable for its inaction. To ensure this, air pollution needs to become a political issue -- an issue that people are willing to change their vote. This leaves us with a question - how many voters will insist on clearing the air?

 

 

 

 

 

Game of Thrones for Sadhus

Dhirendra Jha’s Ascetic Games gives an inside view into the insidious world of sadhus and akharas, and how politics, power, and money rather than spirituality are the fuel that drives them. 

When Westland Books announced it was shutting down in February 2022, I immediately ordered a couple of books for my library - one of them was Dhirendra Jha’s Ascetic Games. The book explores the world of Sadhus, the workings of Akharas, and how in recent times, politics has upended asceticism. The author in the introduction acknowledges that the book is ‘more about money, power, and influence rather than spirituality.’ So, the author - true to his word - begins with attempted murder.

Guru & Chela
Before I go any further, let me describe a couple of terms. First, a mahant is a chief of a temple or the head of a monastery. Second, an akhara is a nodal organization or a steering committee that organizes Kumbh Mela. The mahant of an akhara is supposed to be a spiritual leader. In reality, they yield powerful influence around their circle. And as a consequence, several people aspire to become one. So, how does one become a mahant?

The guru or the incumbent mahant predominantly selects his chela or disciple as his successor. However, if a mahant dies without nominating someone, the committee holds an election to elect the successor. In recent times, politics and money has been used to obtain the nomination. In some instances, the successors who had no history with the akhara or the guru have been appointed. In another instance, the author narrates the story of Mahant Yugal Bihari Das, a mahant from Ayodhya who left the town for a brief trip. His disciple, Ramagya Das, declared Yugal Bihari Das dead, conducted rituals, and appointed himself as the mahant. Upon returning, Yugal Bihari Das tried to fight back in vain and ultimately decided to leave the town for his safety.

If the mahant decides to appoint his successor in his will, it becomes even more disturbing. Since the nominee does not need the guru anymore, there are instances of mahants dying in mysterious circumstances just weeks after writing their will. To make things worse, it is a ritual to dispose of the body of a sadhu without any mutilation (read: no post-mortem). Thus, without conducting a post-mortem, it is difficult to assess the cause of death. Isn’t it perfect for the murderer?

Almost 90% of court cases in Ayodhya are of crimes committed for mahantship. It is so prevalent that it is mentioned in Ayodhya’s folklore:

Politics of Kumbh Mela 

Legend has it that when gods were transporting Amrit (or elixir) after Samudra Manthan (churning of the ocean) in a kumbh (or pot) to hide it from the demons, drops of it fell at four places - Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik, and Ujjain - where the Kumbh Mela is now celebrated. It is celebrated about every 12 years in alignment with Jupiter’s orbit which is approximately 11.86 years.

Over the past decades, the Kumbh Mela has become the platform for achieving political ends, especially for the BJP. It is important to delineate the differences between the BJP, RSS, and VHP. The BJP is the political wing, and RSS is the ideological-social wing that provides ideological direction and training supporters or sevaks. The VHP is the organizational wing that brings together mutts and sadhus to carry out activities at the behest of the RSS and BJP. The VHP plays a vital role by undertaking activities that are often politically unviable. This enables BJP to reap the benefits of activities without facing any political liabilities as it can always distance itself when it becomes inconvenient. For example, if VHP organizes a protest that becomes violent, BJP can conveniently state that they are not related to the VHP.

One of the earliest instances of using Kumbh Mela to achieve political ends was in the 1920s. Mahatma Gandhi attended the Kumbh Mela expecting a utopian world of respectful holy men. However, he was sorely disappointed by what he saw. Later, Nehru tried to use it as a platform to galvanize the sadhus in India’s struggle against the British, only to fail miserably.

Even VHP and the Sangh Parivar in the 1950s and 60s repeatedly tried to use Kumbh Mela to spread political messages and promote Hindu supremacist ideology. In 1966, VHP organized World Hindu Conference at Allahabad Kumbh which was well attended by all sadhus and raised a clarion call for the ban on cow slaughter. On 7 November 1966, more than one lakh sadhus gheraoed the Parliament before it became violent. Indira Gandhi crushed the protest by calling the army and imposing a curfew. The protest was brutally crushed and Sadhus were beaten. This left sadhus disillusioned. Even during the imposition of the emergency, sadhus supported Indira Gandhi and in return, she assured the government would not interfere with religious proceedings at the Kumbh Mela.

Now VHP had to restrategize and gain the trust of the sadhus. They decided to infiltrate sadhus by swayamsevaks and pracharks in the 1980s. As the number of sadhus with RSS backgrounds increased, VHP’s efforts and messages garnered greater support. VHP also started organizing Dharam Sansad, which, unlike the World Hindu Conference was open for sadhus as well as supporters. It started taking an ‘uber militant tone.’

Initially, the VHP issued a diktat to the central government for the construction of the Ram temple in 1989. Since the government had the outside support of the BJP, they did not press for it. After Congress formed the government, it was clear what VHP wanted to achieve. In 1992, they organized the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in Ayodhya near the Babri Masjid - and the rest is history.

Recognizing True Naga
One of the biggest attractions in the Kumbh Mela is the nagas - people who were nothing but marigold garlands and smear their bodies with ash. Nagas - which means naked - are attached to akharas who go through special initiation and abandon their clothes. Unlike popular opinion that nagas were historically spiritual gurus, they were primarily mercenaries and behaved like any other group of professional fighters - driven by money rather than political agenda or spiritual awakening.

Courtesy: Vitthal Jondhale - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

In recent times, nagas are used primarily as a prop at the Kumbh Mela. Since half of Ayodhya and Haridwar are owned by akharas, nagas are used to keep alive the symbols of their mercenary past showcased during Kumbh Melas. However, with the number of nagas dwindling and pressure to attract media attention, there has been a rise of ‘fake’ nagas.

To become a true naga, a person has to go through an elaborate process divided broadly into three rituals. First, a guru whispers a mantra into their ear and gives a new name. Second, there is an elaborate ritual to sever ties with their past and escape the cycle of life and death. Third and perhaps the most gruesome ritual is what differentiates true naga from others. This ritual - called tang tode, meaning 'broken leg' - is to break the membrane beneath the skin of the sanyasi's penis and it is believed that this emasculates him before he becomes a naga. The guru pulls the genitals three times with immense force. One of the true nagas mentions that this process left him unconscious after withering and shrieking in pain.

Final Thoughts

Ascetic Games is less than 200-page long — but don’t be fooled by its size as it packs enough content. The author has spent significant time traveling with sadhus and rigorously researched the world of sadhus. It gives an insight into the inside workings and insidious world of sadhus and akharas. However, it is difficult to keep up with hundreds of names - Das, Giris, Saraswatis, Ramshankars, Ramratis - thrown one after the other. One wishes the author had, instead, followed the trajectory of a couple of key people instead of including all the stories. Despite its flaws, it is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the game of thrones played in the name of spirituality at the holy places.

In Search for a Home

Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies is collection of short stories revolving around Indians and Indian Americans who seek belonging in a foreign land, society, or relationship. 

I have been a big fan of Jhumpa Lahiri from the time I read ‘The Namesake.’ Since then, I have read ‘In Other Words’ - an ode to learning a new language, Italian. However, I never got a chance to read her debut novel, Interpreter of Maladies, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. So when I saw the book on my friend’s bookshelf while visiting New York, I immediately borrowed it as my travel companion for my bus ride back to DC.

The book is a collection of nine short stories that revolve around the lives of Indians and Indian Americans. The author has an incredible ability to capture the nuances of a relationship, be it couples, spouse and the ‘other’ person, landlord and tenant, or immigrant and the new country. The stories are varied and engaging, and the characters are relatable to the readers.

Three short stories discuss the relationship between couples. In one story, a couple, at the cusp of ending their marriage, play a game to remember their nostalgic past - a time when they were in love. Another story talks about a young couple who recently got married. In getting to know each other, the signs of their marriage deteriorating are apparent but not explicit. The third story is about a traditional Bengali couple. The wife, unable to adapt to life in the US, narrates the stories of her past life to a boy whom she babysits. Ultimately, the simmering anger against the foreign land leads her to take a dramatic measure.

Some stories focus on the relationship between the spouse and the ‘other person.’ The first story is a namesake (no pun intended) titled, Interpreter of Maladies. It is an intriguing title - and you are likely to explain, "Ah" after reading what Interpreter of Maladies means. The story revolves around an Indian American couple who hire a middle-aged tour guide to show them around the heritage sites in India. In another story, Sexy, a young American has an affair with a married Indian man. The story brilliantly captures how her thoughts, actions, and preferences change after she is infatuated with a man who hails from a region foreign to her and how she attempts to fit in.

The third type of relationship is between an immigrant and their residing country, the United States. Some characters try to hold onto the past while others shed their skin like a cobra to embrace the new land. Both of them fail miserably. While many characters from different stories exhibit this trait, there is one story that focuses on the migrant experience in the US. The story, The Third and Final Continent, follows the story of an Indian librarian who moves to the US and settles with his wife and children. It is obvious the book, The Namesake, is inspired by this short story.

All the books that I have read from Jhumpa Lahiri follow a similar pattern - the characters struggle to fit into a world around them, most likely a foreign land. Since humans innately seek a place of comfort that is provided by a sense of belonging, Jhumpa Lahiri’s characters and their journey are relatable to readers. As the Mole from the book, The boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse says - “I guess everyone is just trying to get home.” In other words, one who has left home seeks home in a new house and no one captures the struggle better than Jhumpa Lahiri.

Turning vegetarian has devastating consequences

Han Kang's The Vegetarian is both a terrific and a terrifying read about a woman's decision to become a vegetarian 

 

 

One of the best ways to complete a book challenge is to pick up books that are less than 200 pages. Considering The Vegetarian was only 180-odd pages, I thought of a quick read over my bus journey from DC to New York. But what it lacked in quantity was more than ably salvaged in quality. And it will stick with you for a considerable amount of time. I must warn the reader that the book does not talk about the virtues or ethics of becoming a vegetarian. 

 

Set in South Korea, the protagonist one night has a terrible dream with images of blood and brutality. She immediately renounces eating meat and turns vegetarian. This simple decision of hers ends up with profound implications for her husband, her parents, and her sister's family. Everyone in her family beseeches, persuades, coerces, and even threatens her to stop her madness and return to the 'normal' world of eating meat. 

 

Yet it is not the decision of becoming a vegetarian that angers everyone. It is the act of making the decision itself that angers everyone. How can she make such a decision? Does not she know that we, the family, know what is best for her? Such questions are implied in the behavior of her husband and her parents when the protagonist refuses to eat meat. 

 

The book is dark and visceral. The visuals described in the book remain vivid in my mind several days after I read the book. It has themes of control and power, and one woman's struggle to break away from them and in doing so, possibly break herself.

Tiger on the Prowl

Arvind Adiga's The White Tiger is follows the life of Balram Halwai, a driver, who is treated like a servant or ghulam -- a ubiquitous and normalized culture in India -- and his justification to take revenge.

A good book is like a nice wine — the taste lingers for quite some time after it is consumed. Arvind Adiga’s The White Tiger is one such book. The book follows the journey of Balram Halwai — a poor yet ambitious person — from his village in Bihar to becoming a car driver to a wealthy household.

The book consists of a series of letters from Balram to the then Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, narrating his life journey to becoming a driver. He is an ambitious man who aspires for upward social and economic mobility. Despite his best efforts, he realizes his caste and economic status remains the biggest obstacle to becoming successful. The more he attempts to break, the more he realized how much he is truly shackled due to his caste and economic status.

Unlike others, Balram thinks he is different from his community. He calls himself the White Tiger (hence the title) — a rare breed and misfit in the jungle just like him. Despite being good in school, he is forced to drop out of school to help his family with additional expenses. Later, he works as a waiter in a small tea shop. But Balram was ambitious. As a kid, he would aspire to become a bus conductor since they were the most charismatic occupation he had seen. But he hustled to get a better job — a driver to a wealthy household. However, it is not the job but how you are treated in the job that matters.

The book highlights the relationship between the two Indias: those that are served a.k.a sahibs or masters and those who serve them a.k.a ghulams or servants. Balram is treated like a ghulam in the household he is hired as a driver. This is because wealthy people don’t hire full-time drivers. They hire servants who also drive. Other times, he is expected to buy groceries, wash clothes and do dirty laundry for his sahib (pun intended), massage the legs of older members of the households and get hit on the head every time he makes a mistake.

The book traces how Balram’s perception of his master, Ashok, changes over time. It can be broken into six stages although it might not always be linear. The six stages are as follows:

Stage 1: Worship — my master is god. I worship my master.

Stage 2: Gratitude — my master gives me food, money, and shelter. I am grateful to my master.

Stage 3: Respect — my master speaks to me nicely. I respect my master.

Stage 4: Betrayal — my master made me commit a sin. Master betrayed me.

Stage 5: Anger — my master commits sin. I don’t like my master

Stage 6: Hatred — my master is bad. I am poor because my master is rich. I hate him.

The book is written in a simple language (similar to Chetan Bhagat) since it is a series of letters by Balram. However, simple language doesn’t stop it from becoming hard-hitting and visceral. On the contrary, it enhanced the empathy for the servants. We feel a sense of outrage when Balram or other ghulams are treated poorly by the sahibs.

The pain requires an outlet. It talks about the subtle ways the servants take their revenge. For example, when one master got a toupee to hide his baldness, the driver would deliberately speed up during the speed breaker to make the toupee fall out of his master’s head. Other times, they would piss on the flower pots, kick the pet dog when taking them for a walk, slap their master if drunk.

It is a quick read but hard-hitting. After reading the book, you might start looking at the world from the driver's perspective when you enter the bus, cab, or a rickshaw.

A Bitter Pill to Swallow

Katherine Eban's Bottle of Lies uncovers the egregious practices of generic pharmaceutical companies by following the events that led to the conviction of India's generic drug company Ranbaxy.

Tweet Review (50 words or less)

A hard to put-down thriller with a few powerful villains, mafia groups and greedy bureaucrats that make millions by providing sub-standard drugs to patients with little guilt -- and a handful of heroes who fight the corrupt system. Unfortunately, it is not fiction but based on true events.

Longer Summary

In the movie Matrix, the protagonist is offered two pills. If he takes the blue pill — it would lead him back to a ‘happy’ existence. However, if he takes the red pill — it would let him know the reality which might be harsher and more difficult. Reading Katherine Eban’s Bottle of Lies is like taking the red pill (pun intended). The book felt more like a thriller fiction with rich, powerful villains profiteering by providing low-quality products to poor people, rent-seeking bureaucrats who overlooked glaring mistakes, clunky and outdated regulations, and a handful of courageous individuals who fought the system to expose the malpractices in the generic industry. Unfortunately, it is not fiction. And spoiler alert, there are no happily ever after.

The central theme of the book is the events that ultimately led to exposing of Ranbaxy’s malpractices. However, Katherine Eban also provides commentary on the history of the Pharma Industry, the rise of the generic industry, and regulatory flaws that led (and continues to lead) to such egregious outcomes.

But before I provide the details here are 11 things you should know about the book & the Pharma Industry

1. This book is not about ‘A White American ranting about Indian Pharma.’ When I suggested this book to my Indian friend, he angrily mentioned that Americans should fix their industries instead of bad-mouthing Indian pharma. Obviously, he hadn’t read the book. Katherine Eban’s book is balanced, well-researched, and equally trenchant about the American pharma industry. Don’t judge a book by its color or cover.
2. Almost all drugs will harm you. Only those drugs made in a controlled setting and tested rigorously can be beneficial to you. Others are likely to harm you.
3. Remember one acronym — Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients or APIs. It is a fancy term for ingredients (molecules, compounds) required to create the drug. 
4. Sorry, one more acronym — Food and Drug Administration or FDA. An American Federal agency that is responsible for overseeing and approving all the drugs that are sold in the US. 
5. Sub-standard drugs are different from counterfeit drugs. This book is about the former. Counterfeit drugs are fake but look genuine — like muddy water looks (somewhat) like chai. We are outraged when someone sells fake drugs. But sub-standard drugs are like chai made with spoiled milk. It won’t kill but it can make your life miserable. We should be equally outraged but aren’t. And remember point 2. 
6. Sub-standard drugs are very bad in a long run. Since these drugs have some APIs of the original but not everything, it can make pathogens develop resistance to it. In the long run, even genuine drugs will lose their efficacy. 
7. Big Pharma makes branded drugs and has a monopoly over selling them to consumers for X number of years. Since they spent millions in R&D to develop the drug, the governments give them Intellectual Property (IP) to sell in the market for x number of years to recoup the input costs and make profits.
8. Once the patent expires, the brand-name company gives the recipe to the world, the generic company makes the same drug at a cheaper cost since they don’t need to invest in research and marketing. 
9. Point 8 doesn’t happen. 
10. Instead, the Big Pharma resorts to ‘shenanigans’ to stop generic drugs. They patent the manufacturing process, make small changes to the drug and declare them new, don’t reveal the recipe, and hired a bunch of lawyers to stop companies from manufacturing generic drugs. 
11. The generic industry needs to reverse engineer the branded drug, change the manufacturing process and achieve the same results. If Big Pharma follows 1-2-3-4-5 to create the drug, generic companies need to create the drug following different steps like 4-3-1-2-5. 
12. Generic drug testing is outdated and wrong. They focused on the outcome of the generic drug and not how it achieved it. However, the rate and duration of absorption could be different. Let me give an imaginary situation. Assume the branded drug reduces 10 calories by making the patient’s heartbeat a little faster. The generic drug will be approved if it reduces 10 calories even if it doubles the heartbeat of the patient. What are the side-effects of increased heartbeat? Not tested.
    

Rise of Generic Industry in India

One must credit the rise of the generic industry in India to two (relatively) unknown Indian heroes.

Dr. Khwaja Abdul Hamied, inspired by Gandhi’s message in 1920 to serve Indians, studied chemistry in Cambridge, married a Jewish girl with Communist leanings in Germany -- and later, founded Cipla in 1935. His company supplied anti-malarial drugs and vitamin B12 to the Indian Army during World War 2. Despite facing bureaucratic redtape after India’s independence, he worked relentlessly to make drugs that were accessible and affordable to Indians.  

Yusuf Hamied, son of Dr. Hamied, took the baton from his father and changed the image of India and the generic industry around the world. During the 1990s, AIDS was ravaging across Africa. Big Pharma was selling the drug cocktail that controlled HIV at $12000 a year per patient. Yusuf Hamied promised and provided the generic AIDS drug for less than $1 a day per patient. People were outraged that Big Pharma is charging such high prices when it can be developed at such low cost. Eventually, the attitude of the West changed — from ‘we can’t afford to help’ to ‘we can’t afford not to.’

The son of a Gandhi-inspired Muslim freedom fighter and communist jew radically transformed the pharmaceutical industry from profit-driven to care-driven. (I hope a biopic is made about him but I fear it won’t since Muslims and communists are both pariahs in Bollywood).

Rise of Ranbaxy and Fall(ing) of Generic Industry in India

Taking advantage of India’s positive image on the generic industry, Ranbaxy — under the leadership of Maninder Singh — focused on selling generic drugs to the US and other lucrative markets. However, the company focused primarily on profits rather than patients.

It was later found that Ranbaxy was hardly testing drugs — few drugs that were created and sold in India were properly tested. They would either fabricate data or show results from branded drugs while filing their applications. If any drug was rejected in the US, it was usually sold in India or worse, shipped to Africa because — as one Ranbaxy executive put it — ‘who cares about the Blacks.”

But how did they get away with sub-standard drugs?

Lax regulatory policies, political pressure, insufficient capacity

The FDA, which approves drugs sold in the US, visits and inspects manufacturing sites unannounced for assessing quality and standards. With the advent of globalization and the boom in generic industries, most manufacturing sites moved outside of the US. By the mid-2000s, the number of manufacturing sites outside the US was greater compared to within the US. Unlike in the US, FDA had to take formal appointments outside the US — often months in advance — before inspecting the sites. So, you can imagine, generic companies like Ranbaxy had sufficient time to create a facade of high standard when the reality was completely different.

Further, there were only a few FDA officials were willing to visit India. So, some manufacturing sites would be visited once every couple of years.

There was also political pressure to approve generic drugs. Since generic drugs cost a lot less than their original counterparts, the politicians would insist FDA should approve applications faster to make them accessible to millions of Americans. Thus, the FDA was hesitant to deny any application even if they found something suspicious.

Uncovering the Mountain of Lies

The book follows the life of Dinesh Thakur — a US-educated Indian engineer— who returned to India to join Ranbaxy as he was convinced that the generic drug industry can be a force of good worldwide. Initially, he was impressed by Ranbaxy’s style of work with its start-up-like attitude of aggressively testing and filing new drug applications. While there were several red flags like lack of proper data and documentation, Thakur contended this was due to differences in working culture between the US and India.

But things took turn for worse in 2005 when WHO’s Olivier LeBlaye identified and reported fraudulent data on Ranbaxy’s antiretroviral drugs to its AIDS-ravaged population in South Africa. The report concluded that testing data was fabricated. Raj Kumar — Thakur’s boss who recently joined as Director at Ranbaxy — directed Thakur to investigate and uncover the cause of the problem.

However, this was a rabbit hole as more Thakur investigated, more he became concerned with Ranbaxy’s lack of compliance and systematic fraudulent practices. After assiduously documenting all the malpractices, Raj Kumar presented this report called ‘the SAR (Self-Assessment Report) to the top executives. Instead of acting upon this, the executives told Kumar to destroy the report. This report, later, became the key evidence to convict Ranbaxy.

Soon, Kumar resigned while Thakur was threatened before he was unceremoniously fired. Thakur started sending emails to the FDA exposing Ranbaxy’s malpractices as the US was their biggest market. Initially, FDA was slow to respond as they didn’t trust Thakur. Over time, the FDA started investigating further after Thakur shared several damning pieces of evidence of fabricated data by Ranbaxy.

Justice delayed is justice denied

Thakur had thought that once he gives all the evidence to the FDA, his role will be over. But he was embroiled in this investigation for several years. With limited sources of income, he was asked to come to the US, meet state attorneys and submit his evidence. Later, they asked Thakur to get a lawyer to defend himself. (Lawyers in the US are expensive and Thakur was unemployed).
Imagine, you are walking down the street and see a murder. And the murderer is your employer. You capture it on your phone. What should you do?

The right thing to do: Report the incident to the police and share the evidence with them. The police don’t believe initially. After years of conversations and meetings, the police finally write the FIR. But the police ask you to get a lawyer by paying crores to ensure you don’t get sued by the murderer. Meanwhile, the employer (aka murderer) threatens you and your family, fires you from the job with no other sources of income.

You will ask yourself, was this the right thing to do?

Thakur must have asked this question to himself several times. One can imagine the anguish, frustration, and anxiety faced by Thakur and his family throughout this journey.

Arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

Long story short. In May 2013, Ranbaxy pleaded guilty to multiple criminal felonies and agreed to pay $500 million to resolve criminal and civil allegations of falsified drug data and systemic manufacturing violations resulting in substandard and unapproved drugs. But no criminal charges were held against the executives. In other words, the murderer got bail.

Thakur was awarded $48 million as part of the False Claims Act in the US — which awards some percent of the settlement money to whistleblowers to incentivize them to report fraud — for his role in exposing Ranbaxy. But this came at the cost of mental trauma, loss of job, no financial support, family problems for six years. Was this worth it?

All’s Well That Ends Well?

After the conviction of Ranbaxy, one would have imagined that things would have changed for the better. However, Ranbaxy was a symptom of a larger problem — lack of regulatory oversight and capacity by FDA to monitor generic industrial sites outside the US coupled with Big Pharma monopolizing branded drugs. The patients are left with Hobson’s choice — either buy expensive Branded drugs or cheap substandard generic drugs. Either way, the patient pays a heavy price.