Singing The Unsung

-- Kamalini Ramesh, IIK Young Contributor

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

A long time ago when dragons could breathe fire and pigs could fly, there was a country called Zinnia. This country did not have picturesque landscapes or prominent monuments. It just had a rugged landscape with mines of almost any mineral imaginable. It was unlike all countries which are fictious. Most fictious countries are small and unknown but not this one. It was incredibly famous for its peculiar system of selling jewels made from its minerals.

A single Zinnian diamond was valued at 50,000 Zines. But a diamond ring in Zinnia would approximately cost only 5,000 Zines. Out of the 50,000 Zines 45,000 was paid to the hardworking miners and the sellers made no loss either because Zinnian jewellery was exported in huge quantities as it was unbelievably cheap. If the Zinnians had said that only the miners were important to the country or that only the jewellers were important to the country, Zinnia also would be one of those unknown, little countries.

This tale might be a product of my imagination but the point it makes is very crucial. We must give credit to those in the shadows as well.

We all know the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the person behind it General O’Dyer. But have we ever heard of Udham Singh? He was the one who assassinated the General in London during a cabinet meeting. He was not afraid to do so even though the place was crawling with guards. Imagine how many Jallianwala Bagh massacres would have taken place if the General hadn’t been assassinated. You might think Udham Singh was rewarded handsomely and honours were showered upon him for his brave act. But no! he did not even make it to the pages of our history books.

This example should help stimulate your thinking about those who are in the shadows of history. You may agree with me that credit should be given to all but you may think why should we give credit to those who contributed very little. Let me quote another incredibly famous tragedy from the pages of history. The Titanic would not have sunken if one member of the crew wasn’t forgetful.

When second officer David Blair was removed from the ship at the last minute, he forgot to hand over the key to his locker. Inside his locker were the binoculars. If the key had been rightly handed over the iceberg collision would have been prevented and one of the world’s greatest ship-wrecking tragedy would not have happened.

From this we should understand that even the smallest thing can make a huge difference. It does not matter if it was a single rupee that a person contributed or if someone put down their life. Every person who played a part in the struggle did not do it for their own benefit. Would you ever agree to give up your life for someone whom you do not even know? If those in the independence struggle had thought likewise, we still would be under the thumb of the Britishers. They did it for their fellow Indians whom they did not even know. We were fortunate to have such selfless people to lead the way.

There are a lot of brave hearts out there who have allowed themselves to become the slaughter goats allowing us to taste and enjoy the sense of independence. We need to put into spotlight these ‘behind the scenes’ workers too.

So this Independence Day read your history books inside out. This is the least we could do as a means of paying tribute. Otherwise hone your singing skills for on the 15th of August we should be singing the praises of the unsung heroes [you need not necessarily have a voice as sweet as a nightingale, you just need to have a tune to sing along with.]

Stay home and salute all those who have participated in the struggle for independence.

JAI HIND.