The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1950-05-25
THROUGH
HAZEL
EYES
by Hozel Brannon Smith
Bombay, India
Delayed

Bombay, India
Delayed
India, mystic India! India with
all its splender and squalor, the
story book India and the India that
has been making news headlines
is revealed through its second
largest city, Bombay. Bombay is
q large city judged even by West
ern standards with a population
of over a million and a half.
My first impression was of the
terrible poverty that prevails.
Thousands of poor, dirty and
ragged people actually live in the
streets, at the railroad stations,
and around dock rea Housing
is more of a curse than just a pro-
blem here. Much of this situation
has been caused by the recent
partitioning of the Indian PENN
sula into the Dominion of India
and the Dominion of Pakistan.
The people of India are preiomi-
nantly Hindu and those of Pakis-
tan largely Moslem. With the
partition came a great movement
of people trying to get to
the country whose govern
ment favored their particular
religion. This great shifting of
mass populations has helped to
bring about the present wreCched
conditions which exist mainly in
the urban areas.
Side by side with all Of this
poverty is the lavish riches of the
so-called upper castles. This is
truly a land of sharp contrasts.
The city of Bombay has many
beautiful wide streets lined with
modern buildings, spacious parks,
air-conditioned theatres, deluxe
hotels, country clubs similar to
those found in any western city,
but all these symbols of civiliza-
ton exist so close to the odors,
dirt, and dire poverty that sup
ports them. Conditions are so bad
in many of the business sections
of the city that in the evenings
you must watch your step lest
you stumble over someone who
is sleeping on the sidewalk or in
the street.
Despite TINS situation India has
one Of the oldest civilizations in
the world which has been traced
back over 5000 years. The Hindus
are descendants of an Aryan
people and they follow the reii-
gious beliefs of Brahma which
teaches class distinction. This
caste system has not only develop
ed religious distinctions but eco
nomic divisions that entirely Sc
parate one group from another.
The new government guarantees
complete freedom of worship for
I'LL and is striving to abolish this
caste system which has been
largely responsible for the terri
BILE poverty that prevails. I'm
touchability, the age-old stigma
imposed by the caste system. win
be abolished under the new con-
stitution. Observation of current
conditions indicate that it will
take a long time for the new
government to effect these chang !
es. In a land where people are
starving, the COW has long been
sacred and cows may be seen aim
lessly wandering around the
streets while people beg for
crumbs or coins. i
Nearly IS per cent of the IN
dian people are illiterate. The
new government has plans which
are supposed to make education
compulsory between the ages of
six and eleven. Later it hopes to
increase the age limit to fourteen.
One of the principal problems in
education is the fact that there
are Is main languages, IL of
which originated from Sanskrit, |
with more than 200 variations in
dialect The present government
has recommended the adoption of
Hindi as the national language.
Hindu and English are taught in
the public schools. Many of the
motion pictures filmed in Bonn
bay and Calcutta have sound
tracts of Hindi with sub-titles in
English. At least a good start has
been made to lower the illiteracy
rate in India.
India has long been under the
rule of Great Britain. It was here
that the famed East India Com
pany got its start and eventually
enabled Great Britain to control
all of India. Warren Hastings,
first governor-general of British
India Q774-l785) set up the en-
pire's civil government system.
After more than 40 years of strug-
gle for freedom by both Hindus
and Moslems, the British ar
nounced their intention to parti-
ton India. August is, l947 was
the Indian Independence Day and
on that date India became a self
governing member of the British
Commonwealth of Nations. The
present India is a democratic Sc
cular state having a constitution