1857's mutiny and today's wedding

It was only coincidental that I happened to be reading the story of the 1857 mutiny in India when the furor over the royal wedding was taking place. But as I read the story – which I was talking about a few months ago – I couldn’t help but feel a sense of disillusionment towards the British. The British ruled India for over 300 years and plundered the country of all of its riches by the time they had left.

Nehru’s Discovery of India beautifully describes the country as self sufficient – it was comprised of a people who were satisfied. They did not find the need to “go out” and conquer, but were intrinsically happy with the way they lived. Besides being one of the wealthiest nations, they were also a spiritually awakened folk. That’s perhaps why any invader who entered the country got assimilated into the culture and never left without feeling a sense of oneness with it. Of course, the British are an exception.

Wherever the British went they brought in missionaries and tried to change the natives to the Christian faith. They burnt religious texts and always felt that the natives were “wild” and needed to be tamed to meet their definition of civil. They did not succeed with India, where like other invaders they tried to change but were completely unsuccessful. A docile people, they watched the British plunder and loot every possible object; ranging from jewels to bed sheets, curtains and pillows but when it came to their beliefs the British didn’t stand a chance.

1857 is a revolutionary book, simply because it tells of life during those times through the eyes of a commoner. Many Indian history books are written by freedom fighters, people who were involved in the thick of things but none written by a commoner, a man who had nothing to do with the revolution but left his village only to earn some money. He talks about life as most of us would have experienced had lived during those arduous times. He sees the cruelty of the British who kill, plunder and devastate in their effort to fasten their grip on the country. He talks about the brave men and women who dared to stand up and fought the British only to lose their lives or to live like fugitives. It is a sad story that opens your eyes to the abominable justice people had to suffer at the hands of an outside power.

So as I watched the wedding I kept thinking, the palaces, abbeys, jewels and all the royalty was awash with the blood of so many innocent people. Every bit that I saw reminded me of what was stolen, looted and taken away from whom it belonged to. Not just from Indians but all those people who suffered because the British were “expanding” their empire. Don’t get me wrong, I do wish the couple a life time of bliss, but really royalty at what cost?