“There is a corner of a foreign field that is forever India...” - The Chattri Memorial Service – 9 June 2013

August 2014 will mark the centenary of the beginning of the First World War. With each decade that passes our understanding of the conflict fades but one cannot forget the cost in lives. When I first began to read history I thought writers had made errors of magnitude: just on the first day of The Battle of the Somme in 1916 there were 19,000 British deaths. French and German casualties were even higher. It is hoped that as the anniversary approaches there will be more awareness of the sacrifices made.

While the First World War was an almost exclusively European conflict, over a million Indians (from what now comprises modern day India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh) fought for the British Empire in the European theatre from Flanders to Salonika. Of those it is believed 43,000 were killed and 65,000 wounded[1]. During the Second World War 87,000 Indian servicemen were killed[2], having fought in campaigns in Europe, Africa and the Far East. A number of Indians fought in the Battle of Britain as Spitfire pilots. There are Indian cemeteries and memorials scattered all over the world.

In a couple of weeks the Chattri Memorial near Brighton will be holding a service to the memory of Indian soldiers who fought on the Western Front in the First World War. The memorial was built in the aftermath of the First World War as 12,000 Indians who were wounded in battle were taken to hospitals in the Brighton area. Tragically a number died of their wounds: 53 Hindus and Sikhs were cremated on a site on the Sussex Downs at Patcham and it is on this site that the memorial was built. In addition, Muslim soldiers were buried at Woking.

While any wartime death is a tragedy these Indians died in unique circumstances.  They were fighting for an Empire that subjugated their countrymen, they were often uneducated and illiterate, with perhaps very little understanding of the conflict that had brought them thousands of miles from home. They had been gravely wounded and ferried across the Channel, and perhaps they had an expectation that they would recover and be able to go home. Sadly that was not to be. Perhaps their families had little idea what had happened as communications were very slow by today’s standards.

In these circumstances it is important that we remember these sacrifices and those made by servicemen of all nations particularly with such a poignant anniversary on the horizon. I hope you may be able to read about the Chattri Memorial (www.chattri.com) and attend the memorial service.

[1] http://europeanhistory.about.com/cs/worldwar1/a/blww1casualties.htm

[2] Commonwealth War Graves Commission

 

The Tagore Festival

[caption id="attachment_517" align="alignleft" width="225"] Statue of Tagore, Gordon Square[/caption]

Sue and I paid a very quick visit to the Tagore Centre’s Tagore Festival in Gordon Square, central London yesterday afternoon. The Tagore Centre organised the Festival in particular to commemorate the centenary of the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore is revered in both West Bengal and Bangladesh as a cultural icon: a writer and poet of the highest merit as well as a distinguished musical composer responsible for the canon of work known as Rabindra Sangeet. Tagore’s family hailed from East Bengal in the area that is now Bangladesh, where they were landowners. Despite being sent to look after the ancestral lands Tagore devoted himself to culture from an early age. He was also a Brahmo, a member of an organisation that advocated Hindu reform. Tagore travelled widely across the world and espoused a form of Asian co-operation. He is most famous for Gitanjali, a series of poems which were received with awe by English poets when they were translated into English, and which prompted his Nobel Prize. In addition, Tagore composed the national anthems for both India and Bangladesh.

On a personal note my father sang Tagore songs from his teenage years. Apparently he sang at friends’ weddings and social events in Calcutta. But with a busy life and career when he came to the UK such cultural activities took a backseat. However, close to retirement my father began to play and sing again using an accordion and taking music lessons. At my father’s funeral a number of his contemporaries played and sang in memory of him.

The Tagore Festival took place in a corner of a busy square full of lunching students and office workers who sadly had little interest in the proceedings. We saw some classical dances, songs from Rabindra Sangeet, and a number of readings. Dr John Stevens of SOAS, quite bravely we thought, read in Bengali from Tagore’s diaries in addition to reading from Gitanjali in English.

There were a few stalls around the stage selling food, paintings, and Tagore texts. After a brief stay and eating a few samosas we left with the impression that this was an opportunity lost.  The Festival was sadly lacking in vision and organisation. Whilst it is appreciated that the event was to commemorate Tagore, this could have been the focus together with a more commercial approach to the other stands and activities. So, for example, the Festival could have been combined with Kolkata or Indian Street Food, and other types of music. Regular readers will know how much we have enjoyed Indian musicians in London but Tagore is probably still an acquired taste appreciated the most by those from a Bengali background. This was an opportunity to really bring Tagore to life, to educate the wider audience about his life and work. The Festival might have been more of a success had it taken place on a weekend - it was attended mainly by more mature first generation immigrants. It needs to widen its constituency to appeal more broadly to the second and third generations, and to groups other than Bengalis.

Preview: Shreya Ghoshal at The Royal Albert Hall (Monday 6th May 2013)

Alas we won’t be able to go to this event but given the quality of Indian singers we have seen in London recently I don’t think readers will be disappointed.  We were blown away by Shankar Mahadevan in particular and look forward to his next concert in London.

At the time of writing there only appears to be standing room in the gallery available at the RAH (which has a maximum capacity of c6,000) for Shreya’s concert which must show the latent demand both for her and Indian singers in general. Judging by her Twitter feed (@shreyaghoshal) she seems very excited at the prospect of this concert. On this tour Shreya will also grace Newport in Wales, Manchester and Birmingham.

Shreya Ghoshal is of Bengali birth and background but she was raised in Rajasthan (Susen always seems to find a Bengali connection somewhere - Sue). At about the tender age of 16, following an appearance on an Indian reality show, she sang Aishwarya Rai’s part in Devdas (see my posting Bollywood and Me). Since then Shreya’s sung in many movies and languages and appeared as a judge on a number of Indian shows such as Indian Pop Idol, and sang on one of SRK’s latest movies Jab Tak Hai Jaan (see our review).

If you are fortunate enough to be going to any of her concerts please let us know your thoughts on the website, Twitter and Facebook.

Susheela Raman at the Royal Festival Hall

Susheela Raman opened the South Bank’s ‘Alchemy’ festival last Wednesday with a performance that rocked. That is the most apt description that I can come up with.

This was the first time I had seen her perform. To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure I liked her singing on the You Tube clips I had seen – deep voice, jazz / funk influenced. But her live performance was much much better, with an originality that brought together European, African, Indian and Pakistani influences and created something that couldn’t be so easily categorised.

Outside the UK, Raman has been feted. She has released 5 albums since 2001, with her first album, ‘Salt Rain’ going gold in France. In the UK it was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize and she also won the Best Newcomer award from BBC Radio 3. In India she achieved fame and widespread coverage last year when her version of Bollywood song ‘Yeh Mera Deewanapan’ accompanied a pole dance by porn star Sunny Leone on India’s version of ‘Big Brother’ (You Tube link here).

Raman herself is of Tamil parentage, born in London but brought up mainly in Australia before moving back to London in the late 90s. She performs with her English husband Sam Mills on guitar. Mills himself has an interesting background, having become influenced by the burgeoning world music scene gaining prominence through the 80s – through the Womad festivals and subsequent setting up of record label Real World Records. His interest in Bengali Baul music led him to studying anthropology at the London School of Economics, emerging with a PhD in 1992, and then to musical collaboration with Bengali Baul musician Paban Das Baul. And Mills apparently speaks Bengali – a feat I have not even attempted, beyond the few words I have gleaned from Susen.

And so to the performance. Raman appeared on stage with a cape and characteristically wild hair, accompanied by three Rajasthani percussionists and London-based tabla player Aref Durvesh. Later on came the Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali singers from Pakistan – a group of 8, led by 2 nephews of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It was a strange sight seeing the all-male Pakistani singers, some fairly portly and middle aged, juxtaposed with Raman’s no-holds barred self-expression. It was a joy to see how she communicated her total immersion in the music, through her body and voice. Her movements ranged from more nuanced to the slower tracks to sheer head banging and pogo dancing. At times she seemed trance-like, body moving, with the other musicians in time to the rhythm. On occasion the gyrations and head banging has apparently been a bit too much for her Indian audiences. But compared to the restraint of many Indian female vocalists, it was liberating to see her sheer abandonment to the music. Susen considered himself far too ‘English’ to join in – but she was here to shake up the English. Towards the end she encouraged everyone to stand up from their seats, for we were going to ‘rock out!’ And rock out we did, at least as far as our English sensibilities would allow.

We have come such a long way since those early days of Womad. It takes me right back to 1985, when I attended one of the first Womad festivals on Mersea Island, together with memories of the cold tent, rain, mud and plastic cups of beer. But a time of huge change and excitement – a musical escape from the backdrop of Thatcherism, miners strike, yuppiedom and privatisation gripping the UK at the time – to a world quite literally opening up on our doorstep. The musical collaboration of Raman and Mills is the fruition both of their own personal explorations and journeys (for Raman, back to her Indian roots, for Mills, reaching out across continents from the UK) as well as the newly opened up world – to create something so uncategorisable and new. Pure alchemy.

The Hindu Rate of Growth?

There was an interesting story in this week’s Bombay Mix by Robin Pagnamenta in The Times. Juhu Airport in Mumbai, used primarily for helicopters and private charter flights, was closed for over 3 hours when rat excreta (sorry if you are reading this over breakfast) short circuited vital cables leading to a breakdown in the airport’s radio system. There was no back-up system, and tycoons and Ministers were forced to sit on the tarmac. Incidents like this are important since they expose influential people to the shortcomings in India’s infrastructure and maintenance.

This story gave some context to the lecture I attended at the LSE a couple of weeks ago. The original title of this lecture would have been much to dull to introduce this post: “India – Macroeconomic Challenges, Some Reserve Bank Perspectives”. Until I arrived at the lecture I had not realised the speaker was in fact the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Indian equivalent of Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England.

I was quite surprised at the turnout in the middle of the afternoon but the timing allowed many students to attend. Many of the student attendees were of Indian origin, and from India it seemed, judging by the Hindi I heard around me.  All seemed confident and many equipped with 2 mobile phones - presumably one for international calls and one for UK calls.  There seemed to be an ease between the sexes and a lot of what might be considered flirting - which I hadn't expected, but probably a reflection of the more recent urban liberalising of modern India.

Before going I had been a little concerned about whether my economics knowledge would stand the test of time, having done economics A level and some at university. When I learnt the speaker, Dr Duvvuri Subbarao, was in fact the Governor of the RBI that did not ease my concern. But I needed not have worried; from the dark recesses of my brain I was soon attuned to growth rates, fiscal deficits, current account deficits, quantum and price elasticity.

Before the lecture the chairman Professor (Lord) Desai noted that the “global” recession was one that only affected the Western world; China and India, and the Far East generally were enjoying relatively high levels of growth.

Although most of the lecture was rather dry as one would expect from a central banker to a School of Economics Dr Subbarao did mention he was formerly a scientist, originally studying physics, before doing graduate studies in economics in the US. He started with quite a good joke saying that he knew exactly when the recession would end. Lehman Brothers had collapsed when he was originally appointed, and the recession had intensified when he was re-appointed for a second term. Dr Subbarao suggested that the audience take note of when he steps down as a marker for the end of the recession.

Dr Subbarao began with a review of the economic situation in India. Its growth rate of 5% is the worst for a decade – we in the UK would be grateful for 5% or even 3%. But India has 7% inflation, and high current account and fiscal deficits. He suggested growth had slowed in recent years because of lower levels of investment, low business confidence, and infrastructure / governance issues. “The Hindu Rate of Growth” – low growth in the years from independence to the early 90s was said to be 3.5%. Overall with the rise in population that would mean lower living standards.

I would have liked more detail on the infrastructure and governance issues (perhaps code for economic mismanagement, corruption and the rule of law). Later on Dr Subbarao did suggest that India cannot raise long term finance for infrastructure as its financial sector is not fully developed with less sophisticated bank lending and limited pension funds. As a contrast, although Dr Subbarao did not say this, China is building almost a power station a week (remember India’s power cuts of a year ago?) and new roads and high speed railways are being built aplenty. China is also building huge numbers of airports. Dr Subbarao did say that he thought there were financial schemes such as Private Public Partnerships (PPP) that may offer solutions – although that is horribly reminiscent of PPI for British readers. But PPP requires good governance and a working court system to effectively settle disputes.

Dr Subbarao focused on inflation although we were not told whether the RBI has explicit inflation targets. He attributed relatively high inflation to rising food prices – as rural incomes rise there is more demand for food, and meat – rising global commodity prices, in particular oil and coal, and the fiscal deficit. He suggested rising food prices were a sign of success in raising rural incomes. But with GDP / head of $1500 any increase in rural income would automatically translate to a rise in inflation. Inflation had dropped from 11% a couple of years ago but has stayed stubbornly high despite growth leveling off.

I read later – again in Robin Pagnamenta’s column – that Indian efforts to reduce poverty has had limited effects and compares badly to its neighbours. The University of Oxford reported that both Nepal and Bangladesh had cut their multidimensional poverty index far faster than India. With an economy growing strongly recently far more progress should be expected in addressing poverty. Little of the wealth India is creating is trickling down to assist the poor.

Dr Subbarao accepted one criticism of the RBI in that he has only instrument, interest rates, to tackle inflation. But he focused on the fact that he needs to encourage savings to help oil growth in infrastructure projects in particular. There was acceptance that the RBI needs to strike a balance and that it is not possible to lower inflation without forfeiting some growth. Another dilemma is that inflation affects the poor more than the rich. Dr Subbarao suggested that encouraging more infrastructure was vital to ease inflationary pressures. A rather vicious circle but the message I got was that inflation would be high for some time to come.

The conclusions were that “The India Growth Story” was still credible but that it needs to grow at 7-11% for 10-15 years. One cannot take people out of poverty at 5% growth.
I would have liked some comparisons with India’s chief rival China, but Dr Subbarao is a representative of the Indian state putting the best slant on India. In addition, some discussion on the nature / structure of the Indian economy would have been helpful e.g. services / manufacturing, rural / urban, plus whether these infrastructure bottlenecks can be resolved. This week’s Economist shows that while India is forecast to grow at 6.5% in 2013, China will grow at 8.5% with both suffering from the downturn in the world economy. Indian industrial production growth is 2.4%, China’s 9.9%, China has much lower inflation, a huge current account surplus while India has a continuing deficit.

My “takeaway” from the lecture was concern about the long-term future of the Indian economy. The Congress Party is committed to raising rural incomes, using schemes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, but this leads to inflation. Furthermore, faster rising middle and upper class incomes leads to increasing purchases of imported consumer goods and a consequent rise in inflation. Developing infrastructure is the means to increase living standards and help drive down inflation e.g. getting more domestic goods and food to the urban market, and also precipitating a strong manufacturing sector which is presently unable to rely on guaranteed electricity supplies. Contrasts with China are inevitable and while China has its own issues, corruption included, these do not significantly impact on the development of it economy.