BY K. RAMAKOTISWARA RAU

The Bose-Jinnah talks have failed. A formal reply will be sent by the Congress to the demands of the Muslim League embodied in Mr. Jinnah’s last communication to Mr. Bose. The Working Committee of the Congress meets at Wardha on the 9th instant to consider the position, but there is little prospect of the negotiations being resumed. As everyone knows, the main obstacle to a settlement is the initial demand of Mr. Jinnah and his League–that the League should be recognised as the sole organisation entitled to speak on behalf of Indian Muslims. The Congress was required to stultify itself by acknowledging that it was just a communal organisation representing only the Hindus, and treating on their behalf with the Muslim League. Such an admission would be fatal to Indian Nationalism, besides being manifestly contrary to the truth. Then again the Muslims of India have a number of progressive organisations which are allied with the Congress; the Congress cannot throw them overboard and proceed as if the, Muslim League alone mattered. There is a move on the part of these latter bodies to come together and counteract the narrow communalism of Mr. Jinnah’s League. For many years Mr. Jinnah has been posing as the victor who has brought the Congress to its knees and has only to dictate his terms. It is the task of Nationalist Muslims and their organisations to explode this myth.

In the correspondence recently published, one notices that Mr. Jinnah is more arrogant than wise, more swayed by a feeling of self-importance than by a desire to achieve unity. Indian unity is within sight, but it will not come through Mr. Jinnah and his nominees on the League Council. It will come in spite of them. The Time-Spirit is working with the Congress and the forces arrayed on its side. Federation or no Federation, it is the Congress that commands the allegiance of the millions of India: and if the Congress seeks to arrive at a settlement with the League, it is with a view to strengthen the forces of nationalism. But if these very negotiations result in the putting up of demands subversive of national interests, the Congress can only ignore the demands and those who sponsor them.

Another important matter which will come up for discussion at the next meeting of the Congress Working Committee is that of .the formation of linguistic Provinces. Deputations from Andhra, Karnataka and other units will wait on Gandhiji and on the Working Committee. The demand for new Provinces is strong and insistent, and the Congress High Command is under an obligation to carry out the resolutions of the All India Congress Committee in this behalf. Those who seek to brush aside the demand as of little consequence or to put it off on grounds of expediency, are obviously ignorant of the first principles of nation-building. No one maintains that linguistic Provinces are more necessary than Swaraj; that it is clear that no Swaraj can function properly and in the interests of the common man–the peasant and the artisan–without such a division into linguistic units. In fact, it was the organisation of Provincial Congress Committees on the basis of language which enabled Congressmen to carry the message of Swaraj to the remotest corners of the land. The nation throbbed with a new life, because proper moulds had been fashioned through which that life could express itself. Today the demand is emphatic that the new Provinces should be carved out for regular administrative purposes, even before the coming of Federation. The Working Committee ought to respect the demand and make this an item in their immediate programme. They must make this a condition precedent to the acceptance of Federation, a condition as important as the elimination of the reservations and the safeguards which fetter Indian freedom. The Secretary of State cannot be allowed to flout the wishes of the popularly elected legislatures of the Provinces. The Working Committee, as the custodian of the rights of these assemblies, owes a duty to the nation; and that duty lies in giving an effective reply to the Secretary of State.

On the 16th of June, the Premier of Madras inaugurated the new Madras station of the All India Radio. For several years, the Madras Corporation had its own broadcasting station, and visitors to Madras could hear some good South Indian music while they relaxed of an evening on the Marina or in the parks. Madras was a pioneer in this respect and became radio-minded long before the Government of India planned a station for Madras. Much of the credit of this achievement goes to Mr. Krishnaswami Chetty, the Corporation Engineer.

But such broadcasting was only local. Now, for the first time, Madras is linked with other Provinces and other countries. A welcome feature is the broadcasting of Telugu and Tamil talks and plays. Among the earliest to broadcast in Telugu was the revered old scholar of Andhra, Rao Saheb G. V. Ramamurti Pantulu Garu, who spoke with passionate fervour and delivered his message of ‘Live Telugu,’ the message of a life-time which is bearing abundant fruit in our day. The Rt. Ron. V. S. Srinivasa Sastri broadcast two talks–one in English and the other in Tamil. Mrs. Marcia Dodwell spoke on the 2nd instant on the World Congress of Faiths, an institution very dear to her.

Even within the first few weeks, the work of the Madras station has won the highest praise. Its programmes varied and choice. With a staff manned entirely by the young, Station Director, Director of Programmes, Programme manager and technicians are all below thirty–and with literary talent lying about in the city and the districts, the Madras station will soon rival Bombay and Delhi. Very shortly another station will be opened at Trichinopoly which will be predominantly Tamil, and, if the Government are wise and the Telugu people are tenacious, yet another at Rajahmundry which will be predominantly Telugu.

It is thrilling to find yourself seated comfortably in a chair and speaking quietly into a microphone before an audience of one or two, yet knowing all the time that people hundreds of miles away are listening. It is equally thrilling to a listener to hear a well-known voice borne on the air from far away. But apart from this personal and emotional aspect of broadcasting, it is bound to become, in an increasing measure, a means of popular education and entertainment, a People’s University of immense proportions.

An eminent Madras lawyer, Mr. S. Duraiswami Aiyar, retired from the profession and left for Pondicherry on the 26th of June to settle in Sri Aurobindo’s Ashram. This is a bare statement of fact, an item of ‘news’ like any other. Yet, to those who know him and have learnt to love him, this means a painful wrench. It was known all along that, though Mr. Aiyar was at the top of the profession, his heart was in Pondicherry. Nearly every week-end found him in the Ashram, and the two days he spent there in pursuit of the Higher Life had a vital meaning for him, while the other five days in Madras seemed so futile, so unreal. He yearned to cut himself away from the law and the other activities incidental to life in the City. It was widely expected that, sooner or later, he would take the final step and give himself completely to the Ashram, even as he had given to it the bulk of his earnings year after year. But when it came to the actual parting and the last breakfast together at ‘Palm Grove,’ it was difficult for his friends to fight their tears.

Mr. Aiyar is a man of whom you could truly say, "He is one in a million." He achieved a rare balance between emotions, "the poise of reason and love." But which that life could to give full play to his emotions; with a emphatic, he drew everyone to him by the power of affection. In particular, he loved the junior lawyers around him, and no senior was ever so adored as he was. He kept open house and an open purse. Singularly informal, he put every visitor at his ease, and when he conferred a favour, he made you imagine that you were favouring him by accepting his help!

Early in his career, Mr. Aiyar was an Assistant Professor in the Madras Law College. I remember with pride that I was then a student of his. We came together again after an interval of many years. The Triveni forged a new link between us. He gave the Journal his ungrudging support, and never missed an opportunity of putting in a warm word on its behalf. During moments of depression, I used to step into his garden, and, as he took rapid strides during his morning walk, he would exhort me to keep Triveni alive, whether it brought loss or gain, joy or sorrow. So, as I begin a new volume of Triveni–the eleventh-I think of Duraiswami Aiyar with gratitude and affection.

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