J J SINGH ON McMAHON LINE 

The McMahon Line: A Century of Discord by J.J. Singh; Published by  HarperCollins ; Pages 437; Price Rs 799 /-

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The author of the book under review Gen. J.J. Singh is  a former Indian Army Chief  whose immense  Army experience  has been  buttressed by his service in a border State  as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh.. This has endowed him with special qualification and authority  to write on this subject.

Singh  examines the impact of geography and history in keeping the Himalayan region and Tibet isolated and autonomous for centuries and studies  the status of Tibet and her borders with China and India.He then moves on to describe the evolution of the McMahon Line and the nuances of British India’s Tibet policy from the eighteenth century up to India’s independence in 1947. The  narrative is then  focused on Sino-Indian relations during the first decade after Independence—a peaceful one, until the conflicting boundary claims emerged like a sinister monster and led to the fierce and fateful border war in October 1962 between the two nations. This war proved to be a decisive debacle for India.

What the British did to demarcate a rather contentious India-Tibet boundary and its outcome on today's India-China relations requires a plunge  into British-Indian history and a sense of geo-strategy backed by an understanding of modern day real-politick.

Singh falls back on a wealth of material culled from diverse  sources — British, Tibetan, Indian. He presents an entirely different  perspective on the events of late 1800s and the early 1900s. 

How was the McMahon line  drawn ?. It is the virtual boundary between India and China.Singh writes eloquently  about  the line and what has happened over the last century, especially the conflict during  October-November 1962 . 

Singh contends powerfully after his reading of the relevant documents  that the Chinese never had any control over what is the modern-day Arunachal Pradesh.  According to him  the Tibetan and British records  prove that  the Chinese were nibbling  at the tribal areas in the north-eastern state by conducting some excursions briefly between 1910 and 1912, but they did not  take control.. 

 An  interesting development  between 1903  and 1914 was that the British first invaded Tibet in 1903-1904 and then, following a treaty with Russia, in 1907, backed off to have a 'hands-off Tibet' policy.  China  stepped  in and  declared sovereignty over Tibet in May 1912. Noticing the Chinese probes in the Himalayas in 1910-1911, the British responded to expeditions conducted by hill tribes and warned the Chinese not to interfere in the internal matters of Tibet. The General says the British were 'compelled' to give a new shape to their policies.

In 1913–14, representatives of Britain, China, and Tibet attended a conference in  Simla and drew up an agreement concerning Tibet's status and borders. The McMahon Line, a proposed boundary between Tibet and India for the eastern sector, was drawn by British negotiator  Henry McMahon on a map attached to the agreement. All three representatives initialled the agreement, but Beijing soon objected to the proposed Sino-Tibet boundary and repudiated the agreement, refusing to sign the final, more detailed map. After approving a note which stated that China could not enjoy rights under the agreement unless she ratified it, the British and Tibetan negotiators signed the Simla Convention and more detailed map as a bilateral accord. Neville Maxwell states that McMahon had been instructed not to sign bilaterally with Tibetans if China refused, but he did so without the Chinese representative present and then kept the declaration secret.

What is the way out of the imbroglio? Gen.Singh  suggests a way out  for India and China. The boundaries are merely  a flexible cartographic expression of the British 'forward policy' with no regard  to any accepted formula  of demarcating boundaries. The General is convinced that  people on both sides (India and China) are ignorant or have inadequate knowledge of this Himalayan frontier which has pressurised decision makers on either side to adopt a rigid approach. “No straight forward or universally applicable principle can be rigidly applied,” argues the General as he suggests a rational approach in dealing with China and resolving the existing dispute.

Singh  suggests that the two countries have to make adjustments. Minor adjustments of the boundary in the uninhabitated high-altitude Himalayan wilderness would be of interest to both countries as they move towards centre stage of world affairs.

The General recalls how during the Cold War (1945-1991), the US, in a way, sided with China in 1969. The US-Soviet rivalry during the Cold war era is well documented. It remains unclear if the warning de-escalated the matter or whether it was the Cold War dynamics that sorted it. Moscow and Beijing resolved their boundary dispute in 1991 and 1994.

The boundary, disputed by India's northern neighbour, has had a profound effect on the relations between the two Asian giants, resulting most prominently in the war of 1962 but also in several skirmishes and stand-offs both before and after that. It continues to be a thorn in the side - reaching a flashpoint at the tri-junction between Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan in Doklam in 2017 .It may derail all the progress in bilateral ties if left unattended.

The British records show that the Tibetan government’s acceptance of the new border in 1914 was conditional on China accepting the Simla Convention. Since the British were not able to get an acceptance from China, Tibetans considered the McMahon line invalid. Tibetan officials continued to administer Tawang and refused to concede territory during negotiations in 1938. The Governor of Assam asserted that Tawang was "undoubtedly British" but noted that it was "controlled by Tibet, and none of its inhabitants have any idea that they are not Tibetan." During World War II, with India's east threatened by Japanese troops and with the threat of Chinese expansionism, British troops secured Tawang for extra defence.

China's claim on areas south of the McMahon Line, encompassed in the NEFA, were based on the traditional boundaries. India believes that the boundaries China proposed in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh have no written basis and no documentation exists of acceptance by anyone apart from China. Indians argue that China claims the territory on the basis that it was under Chinese imperial control in the past, while Chinese argue that India claims the territory on the basis that it was under British imperial control in the past.  India's claim line in the eastern sector follows the McMahon Line. They claimed that territory south of the high ridges here near Bhutan (as elsewhere along most of the McMahon Line) should be Indian territory and north of the high ridges should be Chinese territory. In the Indian claim, the two armies would be separated from each other by the highest mountains in the world.

Singh questions the entrenched narrative of the Chinese road construction through Aksai Chin—which in some sense triggered the events leading up to the war—as being a complete surprise, noting that India, which possessed capabilities of aerial photography, thanks to Canberra aircraft, could have sent a couple of sorties and seen all. “Was it that the unpalatable truth was being deliberately swept under the carpet?.I believe this to be the case” writes Singh.

 Singh provides a timely reminder that the borders that India and China both claim with such finality and conviction today were in 1947 and 1948 far from settled as both governments would like their people to believe—they are  imperfect legacies of a history not properly recorded .

Singh’s insightful and masterly analysis provides a landmark and definitive point in comprehending the strategic balance in the region.

P.P.Ramachandran.

14/07/2019.

ANURADHA BHAGWATI

Unbecoming  -A Memoir of Disobedience by
 Anuradha Bhagwati ;Published by Atria; Pages 321 ;Price Rs.699/-

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The author of the book under review is Anuradha Bhagwati. She is the only daughter of the world renowned economist Jagdish Bhagwati and Padma Desai.eminent authority on Russia. Anuradha has refused to be downed by such a weighty background. Her parents tried to make her a good Indian girl and become a member of  the desi diaspora. But she chose to join the U S Marines — the most macho wing of the military. She rushed into the army’s  misogyny, racism and also fought to get combat roles  for women.                                                                                                                Anuradha is an activist, yoga and meditation teacher, and Marine Corps veteran. She founded the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), which brought national attention to sexual violence in the military and helped overturn the ban on women in com­bat. She is a regular media commentator on issues relating to national security, women’s rights, civil rights, and mental health, and is the recipient of numerous awards. Her writing has appeared in several important papers.  This book is a raw, unflinching memoir  detailing  her journey from dutiful daughter of immigrants to radical activist effecting historic policy reform.

Anuradha  abandoned  grad school in the Ivy League to join the Marines—the fiercest, most violent, most masculine branch of the military—determined to prove herself there in ways she couldn’t before.

Yet once training begins, Anuradha’s G.I. Jane fantasy is punctured. As a bisexual woman of colour in the military, she faces constant underestimation and  confronts misogyny, racism, sexual violence, and astonishing injustice perpetrated by those in power. Pushing herself beyond her limits, she also wrestles with what drove her to pursue such punishment in the first place.

Once her service concluded in 2004, Anuradha courageously vowed to take to task the very leaders and traditions that cast such a dark cloud over her time in the Marines. Her efforts result in historic change, including the lifting of the ban on women from pursuing combat roles in the military.

“Unbecoming” is a  tale of heroic resilience grappling with the timely question of what, exactly, America stands for. It is the kind of story that will inspire the next  generation of indomitable female heroes.

Anuradha held posts in Okinawa, Thailand and Camp Lejeune, and excelled as a marksman and runner. She  faced vicious sexual harassment and when she tried to get the Marines to address it, she ran into bureaucratic cover-ups and was thwarted by the conventions of chains of command.

She  writes artistically  describing everything from the pleasures of the basketball court to martial arts training in the Marine Corps with brutal clarity. This book  has some of the best descriptions  of what it is like to be the only woman of color in a roomful of white men. “In the national security world,” she writes, “my brownness and my gender were so loud and obvious in a sea of white dudes that it often felt like I was screaming even when I said nothing. The Marines had prepared me well for this. Although she does not see combat — a fact that haunts her — training leaves her with numerous injuries; the creeping physical toll of her service is undeniable.

The volume  is an impressive  chronicle of  overcoming psychological trauma. When she finally  files and wins a case against one of her tormentors, the victory is hollow: Marine chain of command means that little happens to the perpetrator. In her fight to make sure other women have real recourse, she leaves the Marines and leads the Service Women’s Action Network to lobby for change. The job is energising and exhausting by turns. She is as careful an observer of civilian hierarchies as she is of military ones, and raises important questions about inequality, activism and storytelling.

Misogyny and gender segregation in the military make violence against women possible around the globe according to Anuradha. She  offers critiques of politicians, the military, her fellow veterans and the media. The book is at its most powerful when she writes about who she became in response to the violence the military trained her to commit.


A tale of heroic resilience grappling with the timely question of what, exactly, America stands for, Unbecoming is about one woman who learned to believe in herself in spite of everything. It is the kind of story that will light a fire beneath you, and inspire the next generation of indomitable female heroes.

  Bhagwati started  the Service Women’s Action Network, which advocates for military sexual harassment victims, and she also helped change some government policies regarding women serving in combat roles. Her candid story pulls back the curtain on a hidden world in which highly capable women who thrive on the challenge of being a soldier are hindered by the men who surround them.

An intense, fierce woman generously shares her instructive experiences as a Marine and how her service time turned her into an activist for women’s rights in the military.

The second part  focuses on her training .She reveals that the isolation of women is intentional and cruel — she is exposed, continually, to a culture intent on traumatising her. “Bhagwati, looking at you makes me never wanna have sex with a woman again,” one staff sergeant snarls.

It's shocking  until it becomes commonplace.

She continues fighting  for her fellow female Marines. There were men, especially in the younger generation, who were respectful and who treated her equally, and there were older Marines who were righteous and noble, who stood up not just for Bhagwati but for what was right, for what the Marines could and should be. But the sexual harassment and the knowledge that the Marine ethos accepts — and even encourages — it does too much damage. Eventually, Bhagwati leaves the Marines.

The third part of the book deals with Bhagwati's attempts to heal herself and change the Marines. Yet much of this section is empowering and inspiring as she helps found the Service Women's Action Network and makes her next battlefield the halls of Congress, where she helps push for changes to the way military sexual assault and harassment is dealt with as well as getting the ban on women in ground combat lifted. Eventually, she leaves the network and finds healing, even joy, in teaching yoga to veterans.

 She is passionate about the need to change the culture of misogyny in the armed forces, stating “why don't we consider misogyny as much of a threat to the health of our veterans as any other injury from service.” Joining the Marines was my way of asserting myself when I felt I had no voice. I was raised in New York City by parents who put immense pressure on me to excel academically, and conform to Indian expectations around sexuality and gender, regardless of the cost to my psyche or wellbeing. I excelled, but felt isolated, depressed, and lost. I wasn’t allowed to choose my career, express myself or love whom I wanted to love. So I joined an institution in which my parents would have no influence over me. At the time I didn’t realise that I was replacing the control my family asserted over me with an even fiercer and more violent form of patriarchy.

In lots of ways, her  book and her choice to become an activist for women was in response to her  mother’s trauma. As someone who had the privilege of being born in a more progressive era and place, it felt like her dharma to speak up for her, for myself, for others who had been harmed by abusive men or sexist institutions.

 P.P.Ramachandran.

07/07/2019.

ROMILA  THAPAR

Questioning Paradigms, Constructing Histories: A Festschrift for Romila Thapar; Edited by Kumkum Roy and Naina Dayal;Published by  Aleph; Pages 539 ; Price Rs 999/-

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 During her career, Romila Thapar opened the study of early India to inquiry and conceptual frameworks arising out of the modern social sciences. She asked some original questions about the social development  in two thousand  years of our  history and called in question  current  paradigms of historians from both the colonial era and  recent nationalist era. She  has delineated   interplay among political, economic, social, religious and other factors, and has always taken a holistic approach. Faced with the absence of reliable dating, she has found new information in ancient texts -- Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit and Jain -- in Old Tamil traditions and folklore, and correlated  with findings from archaeology, numismatics, linguistics and inscriptions. She has constantly pursued  a history based on evidence drawn from a number of  sources, in many  languages from all levels of society across time. Making innovative use of familiar archaeological and literary sources and mining new data, Thapar has enlarged the world's understanding of India. Thapar has brought out  15 substantial books, beginning  with "Asoka and the Decline of the Maurya" and  the  classic "A History of India" and  "Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300."

She is a  professor of ancient Indian history at the  J N U  and  held visiting posts and received honorary degrees from universities the world over.  Along  with historian Peter Brown, Thapar won  the prestigious Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Study of Humanity.

Romila Thapar has produced a unique body of work. Her original and path-breaking commentaries and essays on ancient Indian history, along with her incisive writings on culture, society, archaeology, philosophy, classical literature and education have inspired a growing number of historians, scholars, public intellectuals and ordinary people alike.

The book under review edited by  Kumkum Roy and Naina Dayal-- two teachers of History--- is a  Festschrift to Romila Thapar’s and her students and colleagues from across the world celebrate her contributions by applying her methods and insights to a range of historical, philosophical, sociological and cultural questions. The volume brings  Thapar and her pioneering work to the attention of a world  audience.

 Romila Thapar declared : “…an enquiry should begin with a question… The question may be something quite simple, the answer to which will further qualify what you are saying. Or it may be a question that gives you the possibility of looking at the event or the person in history from different points of view. And that one question then leads to other questions that reflect these different points of view. So I would say that the fundamental approach to any piece of research or what one is working on grows out of a question.”

The book  takes forward key strands of her contribution to the academic discipline. Twenty-seven scholars, acclaimed for their own contributions to academia, have come together to celebrate the pursuit of knowledge about and scholarship on different facets of the history of early India and their modern narratives and debates. A ‘Response’ by Thapar not only addresses the core issues of the 2018 conference from which this book emerged but also sheds light on some key moments and challenges in her own career even as she evolved over time, not only as an academic but also as a public intellectual.

The essays in the book are organised into five segments reflecting facets of Thapar’s earlier and relatively recent interests: “Political Processes”; “The Symbolic and the Social”; “Historical Consciousness and Reconstructions”; “India and the World Beyond”; and finally, “The Past and the Present: Dialogues and Debates”. They showcase her exceptional achievements as one among the best historians of our time.

Essays in the first section thus interrogate the sound of silence in the Ashokan inscriptions , the pivotal role of communication techniques and networks in Mauryan administration , the complexities of post-Mauryan states and state-formation in early medieval South India , the intersection of state-formation and temple-building activities in the Deccan in the seventh and eighth centuries CE  and in Odisha between the 11th and 13th centuries CE . The articles in the second section devote attention to examine the relationship between the sedentary and the wild through the lens of symbolism. The first of them illustrates how, for instance, a tree, an object of the wilderness, can be transformed into a culturally embedded artefact, the sacrificial post in a Vedic ritual, the yupa  while others underscore the importance of differentiating ‘forests’ and make context-specific readings of habitations, woods and the wild  or explore the various representations of Sita and Shakuntala . Articles in the third section cover a wide spectrum: from exploring the innovative aspects of medieval commentarial traditions on the epics in establishing the authenticity of Valmiki and Vyasa , through contextualising the composition of the Mahabharata within the rubric of the second urbanisation of circa 600 BCE , examining the role of bardic traditions in consolidating Brahmanical order , mapping the contours of socio-religious change in Bengal through the lens of the Puranas , reconstructing a history of the Delhi Sultanate by looking beyond the capitals of the Sultans , reflecting on ‘the indeterminate nature of textual traditions’ by drawing upon a case study of different narratives of the 14th-century king Parakramabahu IV of Sri Lanka , and finally to the pivotal role of public performance as medium of expressing a sense of history . Contributors in the fourth section demonstrate the trans-regional dimension of history contemplating on, for instance, key aspects of the ‘Aryan question’ and especially the different disciplinary practices employed to address the ‘Aryan question’ in our times , relations between ‘Persians and Indians’ in circa sixth to fifth centuries BCE , comparison between Homer’s Iliad and Sanskrit  Mahabharata , ports and forms of exchange between peninsular India and the Graeco-Roman world , and the subcontinent’s maritime interactions with the eastern Mediterranean areas between the late first century BCE and the end of the third century CE . Essays in the fifth section are timely ruminations on the past/present interface. They address issues such as the lineages of inter- and transdisciplinarity and knowledge production , Marxism and nationalism , the disturbing ascent of anti-intellectualism , the writing of children’s textbooks with particular focus on the treatment of food and dietary practices in such books, showing how they re-shape in the process contours of identity , and finally the challenge of redefining heritage .

The beauty of the present collection lies in its sheer richness of themes and the very nature of engagement with South Asia’s many pasts in the crucible of the present, sensitised at once to current debates, controversies and challenges, indeed, to the very importance of social responsibility in the life of an intellectual. 

There is plenty in this book to seriously ponder over. Here is an extract from Prof. Thapar’s response to the essays included in the book. She reiterates that it does not matter how good the textbook is, it still requires the teachers to convey to the school student that the textbook is saying. It is imperative that the teacher be trained to think about the subject and brought up-to-date in their thinking otherwise they will not recognize the changes in disciplines — the paradigm shift. The teachers cannot expect their student to parrot the book to get the requisite grades. “That is not education”.

The editors and the entire team that helped put together this volume should be duly congratulated.This is a fantastic work that calls for careful reading and deep thinking over. 

                                                            

P.P.Ramachandran.

30/06/2019.

GOWRI  RAMNARAYAN ON M S AMMA

M S and Radha by Gowri Ramnarayan ; Published by Wordcraft ;Pages 216 ; Price Rs 709/-

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Gowri Ramnarayan who is the grandniece of  M. S. Subbulakshmi   is a  journalist who writes on music regularly for the “Hindu”. Having accompanied M S for 16 years she is eminently fitted to write on M S. She has done research on the role of emotion in art. She has written a number of books and translated stories of Kalki and Vijay Tendulkar. The book under review is the story of the bond between M S and her daughter Radha.

                           Pandit Ravi Shankar, who writes the Foreword to this book has stated, “M S’s aura, beauty and persona captured the audience even before she sang a single note. Her amazing voice had the tonal quality of a temple bell, which resonated throughout the concert hall. It was unique, combining deep pure emotion and technical perfection.”

                                       She represented in her simple everyday life, the values of an ancient culture—humility, compassion, consideration for others and unwavering principles of conduct—all these ingrained in her from her childhood.

                           The M  in her stood for Madurai—the sweetness of Madurai Tamil, the fragrance of Madurai malli, the gentleness of Madurai people, the magnificence of Madurai in legend , history and literature, all equally celebrated in verse and song. The S in her stood for her mother Shanmukhavadivu who was an eminent Veena player. Her grandmother Akkammal  was a violin artist. Thus, she was from a family of musicians.

                             M S , initially trained by her mother, was later fine-tuned by the doyen Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. She acquired the status of a saint by her portrayal of Meera. She captivated the world by the grandeur of her voice. The man who transformed her from an ordinary singer to a Bharat Ratna was her husband Sadasivam. M S  made music and Sadasivam made M S.

                                She was the first woman to storm the Madras Music Academy’s and later bagged  the most coveted  title in the world of Carnatic music Sangita Kalanidhi.  India's highest civilian honour  Bharat Ratna was conferred on her but regrettably after the demise of Sadasivam .

                                Gowri Ramnarayan tells the story of this  great singer from Madurai and deals with  the special relationship between MS and  Radha. She  takes us through Radha’s early training in music, her highly acclaimed debut as the young Meera in the film of that name which made MS an icon, her brief branching out as a Bharatanatyam performer and her eventual return with the tanpura to her assured place beside MS. The story begins in an intimate and vivid moment in 1936 when a two-year-old girl with sparkling eyes and two well-oiled plaits, is introduced to a beautiful woman as she steps down from a horse-drawn cart in a narrow Tiruvallikeni street. As she is "enveloped in a cloud of jasmine", her father T. Sadasivam says, "Radha, from now onwards, this is your mother".

                                     Radha deleted  her real mother  from her memory. She attached herself to MS, who became over the years her mother, teacher, sakhi and nurse . She became a part of a musical journey in which M S led  her all over the globe. She virtually became M S’s shadow. Her exposure to music began the moment her new mother entered her life. She would sit for hours listening to M S practice and would sit with her on stage, remaining completely still and absorbed. Music entered her without her even realising it.  Radha had a native  sense of rhythm, amazing  photographic memory and natural vivacity. M S  and Radha became inseparable in all concerts.  A veteran  declared , "To see MS on the stage without Radha is to see the sky without the crescent moon. No doubt it is vast and starry, but something is missing."

                                    Radha had a brief career as a dancer but rendered full support to her mother.  She declared proudly "Sacrifice implies loss, but being second voice to Subbulakshmi is indeed a gain. It is my great good fortune to be able to sing with Amma." 

                                                      Radha assisted M S in all her personal matters until she was overcome by tubercular meningitis and bedridden. Roles were reversed and MS took care of her as if she were a child again.

                                     Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , releasing the book  declared , “ MS was a rare individual and it is difficult to believe that she existed in flesh and blood. She shaped the lives of millions,” He recollected how Jawaharlal Nehru had said at the end of a concert: “What am I? A mere Prime Minister before the queen of emotions. She led a good life and her voice will inspire generations.”

                              The author declares “In writing about M.S. Subbulakshmi, I am asserting the values that our nation holds dear — damyata, datta, dayathvam (restraint, generosity and compassion). M S sang this prayer song at every concert with conviction and hope.” The greatest virtue of this volume are the stunning photographs of yesteryears---the like of which we have seldom seen. There are detailed and delightful descriptions of  M S’s and Radha’s musical development and the range of their stupendous repertoire. 

                                    Here is a book worth cherishing for its breezy style and collection of rare stories about the legend M S—to whom Sarojini Naidu  surrendered her title, “Nightingale of India”. 

                                                            

                                               

Tit Bit

My copy of the book is autographed by

 S.Saundarya.       

I attended her concert.

P.P.Ramachandran

24/06/2019.

JYOTI SHELAR

The Bhais of Bengaluru  by  Jyoti Shelar; Published by  Blue Salt Penguin ; Pages: 213; Price Rs 299/-

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All of us have heard of Mario Puzo and read his classic novel on the  “Mafia”—“Godfather”. Many  of us have seen Marlon Brando emote the Don and decline the richly deserved  Oscar.

Who is the Mario Puzo of India and the equivalent of “Godfather”?. He is S.Hussain Zaidi and the book is “From Dongri to Dubai” based on the Dons of Mumbai.

Now we have a novel on the Dons of Bengaluru . It is “The Bhais of Bengaluru” written by Jyoti Shelar who was assistant to Hussaini. The book  brings out unknown tit-bits   about gangsters who commencing from minor extortionists turned into horrifying  names in  Bengaluru real-estate circles.  Jyoti Shelar, a print journalist with over ten years  experience as a field reporter, prises open  this unknown  underbelly of India’s Garden City.

Hussain himself hoped  to undertake this study  but got bogged down by other dons.

  The book under review  starts its journey  with how  Kempe Gowda founded Bengaluru on a piece of land he believed was heroic after witnessing  a tiny hare chasing a dog during a hunting expedition.

Each  locality boasted of  one tough, well-built man who was held in total fear – Malleshwaram had Market Jaggi, Kalasipalaya had Ganpathy, Srirampura had Miyan Pehelwan, and Shivajinagar had its Pehelwans. There  was no trace of what Kannadigas call ‘Bhugataloka’ or the underworld and the city was still unfamiliar with organised crime or crude  criminals.

 ‘From Pehelwans to Bhugataloka’, introduces readers  to Bengaluru’s first powerful rowdy in the 1960s, Mune Gowda, whose mere presence in a room was enough to intimidate people. He exacted  mamool             ( extortion money). A dozen young, well-built locals armed with swords decided to teach him a lesson, but face-to-face with him, only one managed to hit, which cost Mune Gowda three fingers of his right hand. His womanising ways proved to be major weakness. His enemies succeeded in making  a woman feed him crushed glass along  with his food.

Then in the 1970s, it was from Bengaluru’s once-revered wrestling houses that the city got its most dangerous and notorious don.

 Jayaraj’s hallmark was robbery which  increased after his entry in to the Indira Brigade and he started a tabloid ‘Garibi Hatavo’ against corrupt cops. But on January 25, 1977, Jayaraj’s attack on an opponent in the court room changed his fate and he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. The void created by Jayaraj’s absence was sought to be filled by Kotwal Ramchandra and ‘Oil Kumar’. After Jayaraj got out of jail, Oil Kumar tried to bump off Jayaraj by using Kotwal. When Jayaraj’s men were after him, Kotwal ended up falling in to Sreedhar’s hands, who sought revenge against Kotwal for the attack against his brother.

Dawood Ibrahim’s close aide Sharad Shetty was a close friend of Muthappa Rai, who eliminated Jayaraj and Oil Kumar. Rai later escaped to Dubai and to get in Dawood’s good books, he revealed Chhota Rajan’s location to Dawood so that he could eliminate him. In 2003, Chhota Rajan had Sharad Shetty shot. After being deported from Dubai, Rai decided to live a reformed life.

One of these dons was a die-hard Amitabh Bachchan fan, who roamed around the lanes of Shivajinagar wearing bell-bottoms that his matinee idol had popularised. Tanveer Ahmed was smitten by Bachchan after watching  Don, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Trishul and Mr Natwarlal .

 “Tanveer was particularly fascinated by Bachchan’s style of brandishing a gun or a knife on screen. Back then, Bengaluru was unfamiliar with the gun culture. Knives, choppers, machetes and swords that outlaws referred to as lambiwali were more common. Tanveer copied Bachchan’s fight sequences and began wielding his chopper in true filmy style,”.

When Bachchan’s Inquilaab released in theatres across India in 1984, Tanveer, then 22, rushed to Naga Theatre in Shivajinagar to watch it. “The serpentine queue at the ticket counter made him restless. He broke the queue hoodwinking others and soon got into an argument that took an ugly turn. Tanveer, who was armed with a sharp knife, stabbed one of his attackers in the heat of the moment. 

This was the first official criminal case registered against Tanveer. He then moved to Mumbai only to return to Bengaluru sometime later.

The book also deals with rowdy elements like , Bekkina Kannu Rajendra and Srirampura Kitty and how they spread terror in Bengaluru. Muthappa Rai, Agni Sreedhar and Tanveer are now a reformed bunch

 As evident from various incidents mentioned in the book, rowdies have been a supporting pillar to many political bodies and even been on front face at many occasions. The book expatiates on  bravery of many people who were part of police system;  it also raises serious questions on the effectiveness of the same system quoting various incidents where the dons lived a luxurious lives inside jails and used to be masterminds of organised crimes while being in police custody. The book also discusses the battle for supremacy and power that existed between various gangs of the underworld while pointing out their allegiance with one another. Overall it is a great read for crime and mystery readers.

 No one is a born Don or Bhai .It is life that makes them so. Anyway the road to Don—hood is open and  nurtured by rage, revenge and thirst for power which leads to “The Underworld”.

Besides the dons, Shelar has  thrown light on various events that played a vital role in the growth of rowdyism in Bengaluru. There is a bit about the kushti culture and how the pehelwans gradually veered into the darker alleys. There’s also a bit about how ardent Rajkumar fans would go on a rampage under the guise of love for the actor and the cause of Kannada language movement. One chapter is dedicated to  the art of  chain snatching while  riding a motorcycle. This  formed a peak  in the city’s policing history as the cops had never experienced such a modus operandi before.

 The Bengaluru dons were equally brutal and shrewd as their Mumbai brethren but they always had a plan. They played with swords and machetes but still dreamt of a white-collar life and even worked towards it. Two of the most notorious dons in Bengaluru are now living white-collar lives. This planning and intelligence take them a notch higher than the Mumbai dons, who are either on the run or behind bars.

Jayaraj had immense hatred for the police and he would take them on through his newspaper. He was killed in 1989 in a well-planned and executed murder. This was the first time Bengaluru woke up to gunshots and Mumbai bhais were called in for the job.

The book  will be to Bengaluru what  “Dongri to Dubai” is for Mumbai.

P.P.Ramachandran.

16/06/2019 .