We left the hotel in the morning for going to Bedaling and to see the Great Wall of China. There was excitement as we were actually going to see one of the seven wonders of the world that we had merely read about in our primary school text books. The spot that we went was mountainous in nature. Originally the plan was to traverse a part of the wall in a cable car. There was some problem with the cable car and we had to go up the wall by climbing it. The wall goes up on mountains and descends into valleys repeatedly. It is about 3200 kms in length and was built in the 3rd century B.C. Astronauts have reported that it is visible from space. It was built to prevent raiders from the north. Funny thing is that some of the areas from which the raiders came are a part of China now and some other areas are a part of a nation state which is not only friendly to China but is also following a similar system of governance. There is no more any danger from them. Time and Technology have changed the situation drastically. In hindsight, it appears that this garrgantuan expenditure of money, materials and labour could have been avoided. We have done actually it in India. We too had gaps in the mountains in the form of Khyber and other passes in the Himalayan range. Countless raiders came from these passes, whether it was the Hun or the Shak, Mongol, or Persian or the Arab, the British, the French, the Portuguese ( from the sea ). All of them followed a pattern. They came, sacked, looted and went back. Some of them stayed back. When they did that, it was an improvement. Earlier, they assumed no responsibility. They simply killed, looted and went back. Now they assumed responsibility for governance. When you settle down in a place and govern it, you form an attachment to it. This is what happened. The descendents of the Moguls, Huns, Shaks and others are today indistinguishable from other Indians. They added to the diversity of India. They brought some new systems, new arms, new culture and so on. They added some muscle. The English though were different. They did not stay back and settle down.. We are however colonizing their land in a sort of a tit for tat deal. Internally, in India, the Marathas headquartered in Pune, used to do the same sacking, looting, and killing before going back. As a first step, they were persuaded to stay put in their own place and receive money in the form of protection money without having to take the trouble of venturing out of their homes. This was a win-win arrangement. The populace avoided collateral damage in the form of destruction of crops when the raiders ran their horses on the standing crops and killing of innocent people apart from the men of the resisting armies. The raiders too used to suffer some losses. Some people who were trusted by both sides were appointed to collect the protection money from the populace and pass it on to the raiders. For areas contiguous to Pune, where it was easier for the raiders to play mischief, one fourth of the revenue was to be paid. For areas farther away, one tenth of the revenue was fixed. Those who disbursed one fourth were called “ Chauthes “ and those who did the same in respect of one tenth were called “ Deshmukhs “ or : Desais “. In return for this service, they were given “ Inami “ lands which could be passesd on from generation to generation but not sold. Still later some of the Maratha chieftains were persuaded to settle down in the lands that they used to sack and become local kings. This was a further improvement on the protection money system. Now, in return for the revenue, they had to provide service in the form of governance. Gaekwads of Baroda, Scindias of Gwalior and Holkars of Indore are some of the notable examples. Some of the descendents of these dynasties like Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad did remarkable work in development of their state and its people. For example, introduction of free and compulsory primary education, free libraries ( static in towns and mobile - bullock cart laden - for the villages ), local self government in towns and cities and partial democracy with a 50% elected and 50% nominated legislature, special fillip for women, scheduled castes and so on by nominating them to these bodies. I can vouch for this as my mother was a nominated member of the Mehsana Municipality back in 1930s. Each collective of people deals with the same situation in ways that suit their genius. In my view, ours displayed a long term vision. The point is that by becoming proactive rather than being reactive or isolationist, raiders can be turned around into benefactors over a period of time. Japan seems to have learnt this. On the flip side; but for this fear psychosis of the Chinese and their reaction to it, in the shape of building the great wall of China, we might have been deprived of one of the seven wonders of the world ! At the base of the wall, I bought an eagle made of silk cloth and bamboo frame with quite a long wing span. When thrown from a height, it can actually fly and swoop down on a target. Perhaps in the old days such eagles were used as mobile missile scarecrows. It can also be flown like a kite ( Patang ). Now it adorns my front verandah where real sparrows are fighting it ! On way back we passed by the village built for the 2008 Olympics. We saw it from the outside only. The view conformed with the visuals that we had watched way back in 2008. Next on our itinery was a visit to a jade factory. Jade, a semi-precious stone is found in abundance around here. The traditional artisans who used to operate individually have now been collectivized into a corporate body. They seem to be doing rather well. There were some large showpieces depicting yachts, animals, landscapes and so on. I bought a couple of trinkets. Thus ended our long day. Back to the Hotel for a well deserved sleep.
Pappa (Ramesh N Desai)
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