Ajit's high school syllabus had no History or Geography as taught subjects. Apparently, he had bought two books later in life, as an adult, to make up for the deficiency, those taught him everything he needed to know about the world's history and its geography.
Antara couldn't tolerate the above anecdote, which she had to listen to more than her mother and sister, given her father often accompanied her to and from Brabourne Hostel.
"All the things that I learnt from 'Bishwer Itihash'/World's History..." he'd begin, and Antara would cut him off, "No, there was no such book as 'Bishwer Itihash'/World's History', you were making it up, you've found out things some other way."
Ajit's high school was under the Bihar Board of Education. Was it possible that it didn't teach history and geography to high school students? Why did it take such a decision, because of the David KE Bruce (OSS) blackmail? Given what had been done to world history and its political boundaries (geography), it was difficult to teach, what was real and what was not?
ii. The problem with the groups of Ninas that surrounded Antara was that at least one or two of them were from actual locomotive towns. More likely Chittaranjan (near Asansol), what were the chances they'd be from Perambur, a locomotive town important to AAP?
If you remember, Brabourne hostel enacted the blackmail against Volnovakha, the Ukrainian railway town, where German and Austrian divisions had gathered and set up base during WWI.
In such a setting as Brabourne, if one of the locomotive town Ninas told Antara, "My eldest sister was shifting from Honours in English Literature to MA in Sociology at JNU", what would you make of it?
Given the travesty the Indians have made out of JP Morgan, misunderstanding the complexities and every Indian with his or her own approach, the British might think of introducing sociological changes among the 'masters' or the ruling class.
The 'masters' would no longer remain one among equals, nor would they represent a government 'of the people, by the people, for the people'. That's why no one rushed to a Prussian lease, those that lived in Germany would do anything to get information on the American railroad tycoons.
Antara had not known her narrative, else she would have told locomotive town Nina, "Tell your eldest sister to stay with English Lit Honours, my former schoolmates were friends with a questionable medical institute in Pune, it was not the right thing to upset the settled order of things."
iii. If you read the blog, you would have realised by now that Antara had led her life without much advice, hardly any mentoring or direction, only with the perfect libertarian motto of her parents, "You were free to do what you choose but if anything went wrong, you were responsible".
Not so for her sibling, who required constant attention and analysis, "Different rules," Antara's mother had told her.
Thus, from a young age, Antara consumed vast amounts of media and published material to decide on the course of her life. Every decision in her life has been hers alone.
Antara, too, had tried moving from Honours in English Literature to MA in Sociology at JNU, having picked up the example from locomotive town Nina's eldest sister.
It was strange, the paucity of the English Literature syllabus in Kolkata, probably the same David KE Bruce (OSS) blackmail.
As it happened, Antara fell sick on the day of the MA entrance exam for Sociology at JNU and could not write the test. Probably why she was still free to fight for the Westminster-style parliamentary democracy of India, a government 'of the people, by the people, for the people'.
May 31, 2025.
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