The "Emergency" of India which was declared in 1975 and stayed until 1977 till it was lifted, was declared exactly on 25-June-1975.
Therefore, when June 25 comes every year,
after that, and particularly after 1977 when it was lifted, there is
always and it is normal/usual that lot of flutters in India and some or
many discourses do take place in public domain, by recollecting and
reminding the experiences of different people during the emergency
period from 1975 to 1977, it is very obvious. I am not going to get into
that or into the details of it, as the discourses relating to that
remain in public domain for anyone and everyone to read, imbibe and get a
feel of it by anyway or whatever way anyone or they like.
Thus June 25 had come just a day before now this year (2024),
(just one day back while today is June 27, 2024) and lot of discourses
appeared this year a day before, not only in Public Domain in India but
also it was heard in the auspices of Hon'ble Lok Sabha of Indian
Parliament with various comments relating to it, that traveled through
the nation.
It has been very interesting to read and assimilate, when The Times of India published the following article, which
said, during the whole period of the said emergency from 1975 to 1977,
the Incumbent Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi ji, his
excellency. personally had remained "incognito", sometimes in the
disguised form of a "Swamiji" or sometimes in the disguised attire of a
"Sikh Youth" with a trademark Turban, Mustache and Beard, so that none
including long time acquaintances of his excellency were even finding
hard to identify his excellency
that the Times of India article said. I am giving below, the link of
that News Article of The Times of India for anyone of to read in case
you like:
I
was just a 14-15 year old boy then in 1975, a minor, in class-IX (
Class-9) in an Odisha Board School of my District Town. I had literally
nothing to do with the history or geography of politics then, but I did
have some exposure to some cultural organization as a school child
informally introduced by some local but highly educated and sacrificing
uncles saying working for the cause of the Nation then as I had heard
from them. During those days, I used to find that some persons
( calling them as uncles ) used to come to my village ( which was about
8-10 kms from my District town in Odisha ) during the evenings to hide
themselves during the night. They were sleeping on a Cemented Pandal
that used to exist for long in a central place of our village below a
"Kusum Tree" ( Scientific Name of this Large Tree is : Schleichera oleosa and
the Cemented Pandal was built around the trunk of this large tree, so
that the village people and the passers by used to sit and sleep over
this pendal to rest or recreate under the shade of this large tree which
has been there for ages, it is still there today, but its size is
reduced today with passage of time. In fact, lot of village people old
or young, used to sleep on this pandal during night hours in open air
and in a comfortable airy atmosphere, during all seasons (when there
were no rains ) except the rainy season. So those Uncles then ( I used
to call them Uncles, older to me at that that time ), while the
Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975 which was a Summer Time, who
used to come to hide in our village during the night, used to sleep on
that Cemented Pandal below the "Kusum Tree" along with Other Lot of
Villagers sleeping and resting there in the night, so that they would
not be known easily having stayed there. They were not staying in their
own houses on those days in the night during the emergency period as
they used to be afraid that the Police may pick them up during the night and lodge them in the Jail, which used to happen easily during that period.
When
those uncles would come to our village during the evening, obviously,
they were about 4-5 of them at that time, they were the leaders known of
a Cultural Organization. Obviously they would need a meal for surviving
the night. Then they would prefer and ask in friendly manner that my
family to provide their meal for the night. My family of our village was
just a farming family, we were surviving primarily on our own
Agriculture, and we were not rich and my family was a modest Indian
Farmer's family, however we were sustaining of our own not depending on
others. My mother was very kind so as my father (both are not in the
World today). I have seen when I was small, my mother would never deny
anybody who coming to our village, expresses/asks to have food from our
family whatever we used have. She will go extra mile to cook an extra
meal for the guest of the village. Even within our village, at that
time, there were some people who would not have rice and dal to cook a
meal some days. They would come asking my mother to provide the
materials of rice and dal to cook a meal in their home, and my mother
would never deny them whenever they used ask for it she would come to
know their situation. She would definitely give some rice and some dal
from our home stock, for them to cook a meal and my mother would ask
them to go to our vegetable field just near our house that my father
would have grown, to pluck the vegetables they need by their own wish.
This was the kindness of my mother at her little level. Thus, when those
uncles would desire to have the night meal served from our family, my
mother used to cook extra meals for them without hesitation. My mother
was not very highly educated in those days, however, she used to say
to me, these people are working for the country, we must help them.
After the meals were cooked completely by my mother, I used to be assigned
by my mother, to carry those meals, with water and utensils, on my own
shoulder from our House to that Cemented Pandal ( about 300-400 meter
distance ) reaching the place, where those uncles were resting so that
they could have the meals. I used to wait there in the night till they
finished the meals, once those uncles finished eating their meals at a
place, near to that Cemented Pandal of our village, I used to carry back
the Utensils back home on my shoulder. When the night is over, in the
morning, as all the villagers will go to their own houses from that
Cemented Pandal, those uncles will also disappear in the morning and go
to either their houses which were at 8-10 kms distance or anywhere else I
would not know about it, Those uncles were not paying anything for the
meals to our family, let me be very clear, it was free from our Family.
as a free service for their cause. Of course those uncles were always
happy, conveying their verbal blessings and appreciating us, that I can
not deny. It would not be fair to forget the Blessings they gave without
hesitation and genuinely from their hearts for helping them at a time
they needed.
This
is what and this little I was doing during the "Emergency" of 1975, as a
Small School Going Boy then, I remember very well. Sharing with all
the readers here. I have also grown in life and age more than 60 now, it
remains in memory lane, in my memory as some important events of life
as it has passed and progressed.
Best regards,
Dr. Nimain Charan Biswal,
Mumbai, India
About the Author: Dr. Nimain Charan Biswal is a B.Sc.(Agri. Science and Technology), M.B.A. and Ph.D.(Management Area ) by qualifications; and he has 38+ years of work experience in both industrial and development sectors in diversified fields of social importance. He has been educated at Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT)-Bhubaneswar, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) and Gujarat University (with Resource Support of IIM-Ahmedabad). He is further educated at IIM-Calcutta, XLRI-Jamshedpur, Apple Computer Industries and Spar Inc., USA. He has worked for reputed National and International Organizations in Senior/Top Management Capacities at Board level as well as Managing Director and CEO. He is a management expert covering extensive areas from management in industrial sectors, management in agriculture and dairy, development management to management of public systems. He is a prominent professional of India and known Internationally as well. He lives at Mumbai in India.
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