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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!decwrl!glacier!Shasta!zerksis@syr-cis-aos.cs-net (Zerksis Umrigar)
From: zerksis@syr-cis-aos.cs-net (Zerksis Umrigar)
Newsgroups: net.nlang.india
Subject: Re: Mountbatten series
Message-ID: <115@Shasta.ARPA>
Date: Sun, 23-Feb-86 14:14:28 EST
Article-I.D.: Shasta.115
Posted: Sun Feb 23 14:14:28 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Feb-86 08:08:18 EST
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Reply-To: zerksis%syr-cis-aos.csnet@ucbvax
Organization: Stanford University
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I usually access this BB only in a read-only mode.  However,  since  all
the messages re. the Mountbatten TV series have been critical, I thought
that it may be interesting to hear a different viewpoint. Hence a friend
is forwarding this message for me.

This TV series has been  described  as  a  "Dallas  with  brown  skins";
someone  else  said  that  Gandhi  is  portrayed as a buffoon. These are
subjective perceptions over which we may argue  endlessly  -  I  do  not
perceive  the  series in that way. Once I accept the historical facts of
India's subjugation by an imperialist and racist colonial  power,  I  do
not  see  why  a  portrayal  of  the  accompanying  attitudes  should be
seen as a conspiracy to malign India.

What we cannot argue about are historical facts. One of the  critics  of
the  TV  series referred to an incident in the second(?) espisode, where
Mountbatten and  his  wife  almost  single-handedly  pacified  an  angry
demonstration  by  thousands  of  armed Pathans. The critic charged that
this scene was ridiculous - initially,  I  tended  to  agree  with  him.
However,  I  changed  my  mind  when  I  found that the book "Freedom at
Midnight" by Collins and Lapierre (pg. 130) had an  identical  portrayal
of this incident. What is more, there is a photograph of the incident on
pg. 329. I also saw a similar description in  Tendulkar's  biography  of
Abdul  Ghaffar  Khan.  Hence, I have little doubt that this "ridiculous"
incident did indeed occur and was  not  conjured  out  of  thin  air  to
magnify Mountbatten's character in the TV series.

The TV series is almost entirely consistent with the events as portrayed
in "Freedom at Midnight". Hence the accuracy of the series boils down to
the accuracy of the book. Tho' the  book  is  written  as  an  extremely
interesting and fast-paced novel, it appears to be thoroughly researched
with  attributions  given   for   most   of   the   "facts"   presented.
Unfortunately,  one  of  the  major sources for the book appears to have
been Mountbatten himself - this possibly could have resulted in a bias.

Collins and Lapierre interviewed Mountbatten extensively for their book
and have reprinted their interviews in two interesting volumes published
by Vikas. One good reason for their accepting Mountbatten's version of
facts is that he alone, of the principals involved in the pre -
independence negotiations (as far as I can determine), kept a precise
record of all his meetings. Tho' Mountbatten is rather conceited (he
himself admits that) and credits himself for being instrumental in many
things, his perception is probably not all that distorted.

In conclusion, I must say that I think that the  Mountbatten  series  is
true to historical fact. It does concentrate on Mountbatten, but that is
not too surprising considering the title. I enjoy  watching  the  series
and would recommend it to everyone.

- zerksis.
zerksis@syr-cis-aos.cs-net.