"SHADES OF MAY IN HADES" B A R R I N G the f i rs t , M a y is a

m o n t h devo id o f d rama.

S p r i n g has merged in to summer

w i t h i ts ho t w inds in the day and

s u l t r y n ights. Po l i t i ca l act iv i t ies

lose the i r edge and b i te , and bus i -

ness condi t ions are du l l ed . On l y

a c i g r u l t u r e surv ives M a y . There

is m o r e in the c l i m a t i c theory

than people in the i r p r i de are apt

to t h i n k . Those w h o have l i ved

in the land of the loo are sur-

p r i sed how in ancient days i t was

the n u r s e r y of great in te l lects,

bu t they console themselves w i t h

the i n f o r m a t i o n that the c l imate

was d i f fe ren t then . Be tha t as i t

may , the sages ac tua l l y moved up

to B a d r i h a t h and Kf t i l ash . M u g h a l

Empero rs to K a s h m i r , B r i t i sh

governments to the h i l l s , and

Tagore to Europe. So i f today

Ind ia ' s P rem ie r leaves Ind ia for

the C o m m o n w e a l t h P r i m e M in i s -

ters ' Conference in L o n d o n and

proposes to spend a week in

S w i t z e r l a n d on the way back, i t

w i l l be c l ima t i ca l l y f i t . S im i l a r

v i ews we ho ld about the Sardar 's

m i l d exhor ta t i on to Ind ia 's top

businessmen to p lay the game,

and the i r lazy w i l l ingness to do

so. I f one notices some pan t ing ,

a l i t t l e sweat ing and a few wet

t owe ls , let t hem be ascr ibed to

the r i gou rs of a game in sum-

mer. W h o can b lame the p layers

i f t hey choose to a rgue tha t such

a game can on l y be pu rsued i f

M a y D a y can be sh i f ted a m o n t h

ea r l i e r? L i f e mus t be qu ie t and

sleepy in M a y , or we commi t a

c r i m e against n a t u r e whose f i rs t

l aw is tha t of laissez faire.

Pand i t N e h r u 's v is i t has caused

w i l d specu la t ion, fo r w h i c h , h o w

ever , there is l i t t l e scope in v i e w

of t h e Congress reso lu t ion on

fo re ign po l icy and the te rms o f

monwea l th w i t h the w o r l d , t ha t

A n g l o - A m e r i c a versus U.S.S.R.

is no t the on l y po l i t i ca l p ropos i -

t ion , and las t ly that po l i t i ca l

act ion is not exhausted by t a k i n g

sides w i t h e i ther o f them. A t

the same t ime , it is not a neuter 's

neu t ra l i t y . I t is a pos i t ive a t t i -

tude , ha rd to conceive no d o u b t

in te rms of A r i s t o t e l i an sy l log isms,

but u t t e r l y real ist ic. The on ly

th ing needed to overcome th is

d i f f i cu l ty is to be conf ident of

one's self and real ise tha t ex is t -

ence cannot be pu t in to the

s t ra i t - jacket of either or and

versus re la t ionships. Ex i s t en t i a l -

ist conf idence is i nco r r i g i b l y d ia -

lectic. An Eng l i sh summer shou ld

help Pand i t N e h r u in fee l ing

young and m a k i n g the o ld real ise

that Y o u n g Ind ia has, and mus t

have, a l i fe of her own . L i n k a g e

w i t h the C r o w n is the least i m -

por tan t part of i t .

B r i t a i n has p roduced P l u t o -

n i u m , w h i c h is an a l te rna t i ve to

U-235 so long used to create

atomic power . At f i rs t o n l y a

theoret ica l poss ib i l i ty , i t has n o w

emerged as a by -p roduc t in the

atomic p i le out of the su rp lus

neut rons rema in ing af ter sp l i t t i ng

U-235. The new isotope, be ing

unstable, becomes N e p t u n i u m by

beta-emission, w h i c h , i n its t u r n ,

is t rans fo rmed in to P l u t o n i u m .

U n d e r s im i la r t ype o f b o m b a r d -

ment , P l u t o n i u m releases t r e -

mendous energy . A t present

this isotope is m i x e d up in the

g raph i te slag of the p i le in a

dangerous ly rad io -ac t ive fash ion

and cannot be isolated or hand led .

B u t the po in t is that B r i t a i n has

made a chemica l p rob lem of i t i n -

stead of the phys ica l one of the

o ld A t o m B o m b . As such i t has

become economical in two ways ;

9

the Ind ian cons t i t u t i on , bo th o f

w h i c h he has done his best to ex-

p la in . He is also not the man to

be ove rawed by the advice of a

Smuts or a Fraser. The fo rmer

gen t leman, w h o is the au thor of

H o l i s m , does not see any d iscre-

pancy be tween his b io log ica l

t heory of the who le and po l i t i ca l

act ion in par ts . He has chosen

to p u t his a rguments in the shape

of e i ther or; that is, e i ther I nd ia

remains in or goes ou t of the

C o m m o n w e a l t h . I nd ia does not

subscr ibe to this logical pos i t ion.

H e r neu t ra l i t y i f that phrase can

at a l l be used is cons t ruc t ive .

W h i c h rea l l y means that Ind ia

does not equate the B r i t i s h Com-

23rd Apirl 1949

Off the Record

ECONOMIC WEEKLY