He further questioned that the 'incidence of great men in the nineteenth century was not a genetic miracle, but the result of a cultural situation created by the British in India, out of which arose the cultural revolution known as the Indian Renaissance.' The value by which he is molded in comes from European civilization. And, the absorption of European civilization has continued throughout [his] life'
The very trend of colorful western life had completely shrouded Nirad's life. It was not political all together but most part of it had been cultural. David Lelyveld, a historian of Columbia University makes a nice comment on Mr. Chaudhury, "On his wedding night, Nirad Chaudhuri, a man in his early 30's, sat beside his bride for the first time.
He was in a state of high anxiety, but not because his previous sexual experiences had amounted only to gazing from afar at a young woman in a nearby house and studiously reading the classics of French pornography. What he was worried about was whether his new wife would permit him to pursue his passion for phonograph recordings of European classical music. Carefully he broached the subject: Could she spell ''Beethoven''? To his great relief she slowly responded: ''B,E,E,T,H,O,V,E,N.'' This is of course how does he take the life of different mode.
India had been struggling for almost two centuries to get rid of English occupation. Political organization and civil society could pick out the decadence of English dominance in India at the end of nineteenth century. In fact, Nirad Chaudhuri makes his political history at the very time when large numbers of Indians were fatigue of British usurpation and consequently find way to expel them.
In the very time, Nirad Chaudhuri was born in the perfect place and perhaps was rightly explored by the British administration to make their way easier. He was sometimes criticized by his fellow countrymen as a bootlicker of the British and also the running dog of the imperialism. Even after such vituperation from all parts of the Indian subcontinent, he didn't prevent him writing, 'all that was good, and living within us, was made, shaped and quickened by the ... British rule.'
To be sure, Nirad's position on Anglicanism is more than political and it is supposed to be cultural by choice which has two different aspects: one comes from his family background and another is purely psychological. Certainly, his nonconformist character had been grown up within the structure of pro-British geo-political reality. It needs to follow his early life and teaching to understand, how his long life was made into a different form.
He was born in a very ordinary house at Banagram surrounded by bush and west land. The main living room was made by mud and bamboo. It is a picture; thus, in common of East Bengal but the events inside the house was very uncommon. There was a big colored picture of Raphael's "Madonna della Sedia" inside the hut and also antlers above the front door. There were two panoramic pictures of Boer War: one is of Paardeberg battle and another is of triumphal entry into Pretoria.
This simple but sophisticated idea of west-influenced culture makes the distinction from others. He had a rare opportunity to be acquainted with English culture through their literature from his father. The family atmosphere and the adjacent environment were very much conducive to be westerner. No doubt, it was an environment of high-class educated Bangalee family from where he starts his very long-run journey. Surprisingly, he started cramming up huge number of famous literati and political personalities before going to finish up his secondary education.
He writes,
I shall begin with our knowledge of English and European personalities. I cannot remember the time when I learned just I cannot remember any time when I did not know, the names of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Napoleon, Shakespeare, and Raphael.
The next series comprising Milton, Burke, Warren Hastings, Wellington, King Edward VII, and Queen Alexandra is almost as nebulous in origin. … The beginning of true memory in my case were marked by the names of fox and Pitt, and Mirabeau, Robespierre, Danton, Marat, Junot( Napoleon's marshal), and also perhaps George Washington. On the literary side, in addition to the names of Shakespeare and Milton which we came to know of Homer as soon as we began to read Ramayana and Mahabharata, which was fairly early.
(To be continued)
The writer is Chairperson and Professor, Departmentof Philosophy, Jagannath University, Dhaka
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