What are the biggest ironies in India?

 

I bet you don’t even know his name !!! Sad !

The biggest ironies of India is that he was forgotten by India and his kin. His own family refused to accept his dead body ! How many know who he was ? Nation has forgotten its heroes. The younger generation are not aware about him. We breath freedom due to heroes like him, but don’t know him. This is the biggest ironies of this country.

Be ashamed of your education , but do read this to know who he was 👇

*London, 1908 – India House*

A cold drizzle tapped against the windowpanes of India House. Inside, the air was thick with smoke. Maps of India hung on the walls, plastered with pins marking cantonments and rail lines of the British Raj.

Savarkar leaned across the table toward Madan Lal Dhingra, his voice low but burning.

Savarkar: “Madan, speeches cannot uproot an empire. The Englishman’s rule rests on the sword. Shall we answer it with petitions?”

Dhingra’s eyes darkened.

Dhingra: “I have seen Indian labourers mocked on London streets, my countrymen treated worse than others. My own comforts mean nothing now. If freedom needs blood, then let mine be the first.”

Savarkar slid a revolver across the table.

Savarkar: “Remember, martyrdom is not defeat. It is the seed from which nations grow.”

Dhingra picked up the weapon. In its cold steel, he felt destiny stir.

*The Imperial Institute, London – 1 July 1909*

The hall glittered with chandeliers and silk gowns. Sir William Hutt Curzon Wyllie moved with practiced grace, his wife by his side. Dhingra blended into the crowd, calm, almost invisible.

When Wyllie approached, Dhingra stepped forward.

Dhingra: “Sir Curzon, may I speak a word?”

The revolver spoke. Four shots struck Curzon in the chest. He collapsed instantly. But another figure crumpled too — Dr. Cawas Lalcaca, a Parsi physician who had rushed to intervene.

Lady Curzon screamed, clutching her dying husband.

Lady Curzon (hysterical): “Good heavens , you killed him. Alas, I did beseech him not to seek his ‘posting of preference’ in this accursed India! Oh! Oh! Will none deliver him? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Confound these blasted Indians! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Ooooooooooooooooo!!!

Dhingra stood still, revolver lowered. His voice was steady.

Dhingra: “Sorry Ma’am. He had to pay for his sins. I did my duty to my country. I regret the other man’s death. He was not my enemy. For that, I am sorry.”

Policemen stormed the hall. Dhingra offered his wrists without resistance.

*The Trial, Old Bailey Court*

The court was tense with whispers. Indian elites in London denounced him; some turned their faces away.

The Judge’s gavel struck.

Judge: “Madan Lal Dhingra, you stand charged with the murder of Sir Curzon Wyllie and Dr. Cawas Lalcaca. How do you plead?”

Dhingra’s chin was high.

Dhingra: “I plead not guilty to murder. I killed an enemy of my nation. That is war, not crime. But I regret the death of the Parsi doctor. He was innocent. For that, I apologise.”

Gasps rippled through the hall. The Judge’s voice hardened.

Judge: “You are sentenced to hang by the neck until you are dead.”

Dhingra smiled faintly.

Dhingra: “So be it. The gallows are but a gateway to my motherland. If I meet that bugger Curzon in afterlife, I will kill him again!!!”

*Pentonville Prison, August 1909*.

The jailor entered with his last meal.

Jailor asks uneasily : “Why die for a country that has abandoned you? Even your family has renounced you.”

Dhingra looked up, eyes burning softly.

Dhingra: “They are not my family anymore. My true family is India. My next of kin are those yet unborn, who shall breathe free.”

He left behind a note under the candle flame:

“Patriotism is religion, and religion is love. Let me be reborn again and again, until I see my motherland free.”

*The Gallows – 17 August 1909*

The hangman adjusted the rope.

Hangman: “Any last words?”

Dhingra: “Tell my countrymen I am content. My body dies, but my spirit goes to my mother.”

The lever was pulled. Silence fell.

Epilogue

Back in Amritsar, his own family disowned his memory, refusing even to claim his body. For decades, his remains lay in a foreign prison yard. To countless young revolutionaries, he was proof that courage could strike at the very heart of empire.

Madan Lal Dhingra left no heirs. But in truth, we are his family — every Indian who walks free because a young man once dared to stand alone.

What are the biggest ironies in India?

 In India, in Hinduism, elephants are revered as God and as incarnation of the Hindu god Ganesh. I am not a religious person but even I like Ganesh because he seems like a jolly good fellow and easy to please kind of God and his face definitely helps. He is not depicted as a god that needs some serious anger management therapy unlike some other Hindu gods like Kali or Durga or others. Seems very kid friendly God too who doesn’t give kids nightmares lol

Ganesh has his own festival and from what I reckon, he likes to eat tasty food as well like sweet momos.

But here is the plight of Indian elephants and this is especially in Hindu temples.

Every big Hindu temple in India seems to have some elephants and in the state of Kerala, there are multiple elephants in every temple and I heard some even have upto 50 elephants.

And yet, every temple elephant in India looks like a prisoner in a Super Max prison. Chained up and shackled all over restricting their movement and they are like slave labourers in temples

The process of making these elephants docile and obedient is very dark and animal cruelty at its worst. And temple elephants are just the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of elephants in India in tourism industry as basically sweatshop labour.

So nobody, especially Hindus, see the irony in this?

I refuse to ride elephants or support any industry that uses and exploits elephants as slave labour. There are national parks in India that offer Elephant safari’s and I have seen them in Kaziranga and Manas national parks in Assam and we avoided elephant safari’s and instead preferred the jeep safaris.

So if India really likes this God

they will free every elephant from the sweatshop industry and temples and maybe let them live out their lives in sanctuaries without chains.

Elephants deserve to roam free in the wild.

Like these elephants.

Tourism and chained up temple elephants are a terrible sight.

Don’t support any industry that exploits elephants and stop giving them any money. The industry will die if you stop supporting them and Elephant slavery industry is one I would gladly see die.

And teach your kids not to ride them. Elephants don’t like you to ride them.

Elephants in zoos are ok as long as they have huge spaces to roam and not in chains. Elephants require a lot of territory and even zoo elephants in limited spaces are not ideal but as long as they have large areas to roam and not movement restricted in any way, it’s a fair trade off.

But tourism and temple elephants have got to go. Elephants in chains are an abomination no matter where they are.

Elephants are magnificent animals that deserve to roam free and be enjoyed from a distance. They are not sweatshop labour and elephants in chains are an eyesore.