Some of those are:

• our excellent lecturer, Ivan Boxell with whom we have spent many stimulating and enjoyable hours
• our Captain Sidney Jones of the Caronia, whose first visit to India goes back to 1916
• Mr. John F. Cannon, Jr., formerly with the National City Bank, now retired in Charlottesville, Va. who has intimate contact with that bank's manager in Bombay
• Mr. D.P.S. Ahuga of the Indian Railways whom we pumped for hours on the train
• not to mention other Caronia passengers whose opinions we respected, even though we did not necessarily agree with them

Inevitable Outcomes?

A.M.S…
Contributing further to our viewpoint was avid reading of every English language newspaper we could get hold of, the best being “The Times of India”; a splendid newspaper which would do credit to any American city; another being “The Leader” of Allahabad.

The big question in India is: “Can India become self-sufficient in supplying itself with food, as a free republic, within the next decade, before the population explosion overwhelms the country?” If it cannot, widespread starvation is inevitable with its assured chain of consequences. This is the issue most of the well informed, together with the findings of the Ford Foundation seem to agree on.

A corollary question is: “Is India, since it gained independence in 1947, moving ahead, or is it slipping back?” If it's going ahead, then there is hope.

Strong Population Growth

A.M.S…
One stark fact stands out. India is just now completing its first census in 10 years; some returns were being published during our visit. Its population seems to be growing at the rate of 10 Million per year - or about at the rate of 25% over 10 years.

So every year, food production must increase enough to feed 10 million more mouths just to stay even with the present. Here many eat but one meal a day. Most people agree that the only answers, in a free society, are…

• mass education
• more schools - many more
• birth control
• mechanisation of farms
• increased industrial production to produce the needed agricultural machines
• much more irrigation, and
• more export

Education

A.M.S…
My Indian Railway friend, Mr. Ahuga says India is increasing its literacy and points to a gain among males from 31% to 43% in 10 years in the province in which Bombay is located. Literacy among females in the same period has increased from 9% to 16%.

The test of literacy, Mr. Boxell says, is merely the ability to read and write. Ahuga says that India has two to two and a half the number of schools it had 10 years ago. Thing is: how many were there back then; how many are there now and what ratio of children go to school?

Questions that are all unanswered. We know there's no compulsory education anywhere in India and there are no free schools. All must pay something ranging from 10 cents per month in the villages to $20 per month in the cities, according to Mr. Ahuga.

Poor Election Turn-Out

A.M.S…
A recent election in his province showed that only about 9,000 souls voted in an area which has 1.2m persons eligible to vote. Is it then really a Republic and a democracy when such a tiny percentage of the electorate either does not know enough, or cares so little to vote?

Yet, those are the same people who fanatically wanted freedom from British rule but 14 years ago. Our Captain, a shrewd man, says India with regard to living standards, education, ways of life, concept of religion, lack of sanitation, is the same as it was 100 years ago. He adds: it'll be the same 100 years from now.

You have to ponder just why an Englishman would be so pessimistic not only about the future, but indeed about the failure of the period of about 150 years of British rule. In one respect only did Captain Jones admit progress had been made, and that's in applied medicine, which he added served only to aggravate the population problem.

Agriculture

A.M.S…
Mr. Ahuga contends that India is now almost self-sufficient in food supply. Ivan Boxell and most informed people strongly disagree with him. Indian magazine articles, critical of the Government's progress in this regard, point out that only the great good fortune of heavy monsoons in recent years have brought the food supply up.

Ahuga also says that 35% of farms in Punjab are now mechanised and that by 1962, Punjab will also have compulsory and free education, for the first 5 or 6 grades. Further, Ahuga points out that there are now 15 large irrigation projects underway, and hundreds of minor projects which shortly will greatly aid food production; whereas he claims 10 years ago, there were no such projects.

Lots More Questions

A.M.S…
Are these projects actually under construction? How many? Is the money available? When will they be completed? And if completed, to what extent will they alleviate or solve the problem? The answers are important. Mr. Ahuga promised to send a copy of the “Annual Review of India” to me in Singapore, which may help answer these and many other questions.

Mr. Cannon has asked Mr. Frank Mathews, Manager of National City Bank in Bombay to send him data along similar lines.

Industry

A.M.S…
Mr. Ahuga says that 3 new steel mills are now starting to deliver. One each being built by the British, Germans and the Russians. He says India is now making bicycles and sewing machines in sufficient quantity to be able to export them.

Ahuga is a well educated, brilliant young man who's clearly painting an optimistic picture. As a loyal and dedicated citizen he makes his “points” with pride. My guess is that nevertheless there is other evidence of confidence in India's future. Bombay and New Delhi, as we saw them, are to us a reflection of a growing modern and possibly a dynamic new India.

Large Foreign Investments

A.M.S…
The U.S. Government has invested nearly 4 billion dollars in India. Russia has done likewise to the extent of about 1½ billions, if I remember this correctly. From the train window on the way back to Bombay, there was much evidence of well cultivated, irrigated land. The World Bank has invested large sums especially for irrigation on India's border with Pakistan.

Many Indian people we saw and talked to were as high class and educated as you would meet in similar capacities in the States. Everywhere on any level we met them, they were extraordinarily polite, friendly and courteous. Mr. Cannon says that the Import Export Bank has just authorised a loan of $350m and last but not least, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru apparently is one of the great men of our time.

Too Much of the Old!

A.M.S…
There is so much more to speak about, but there is neither more time nor any energy. We leave India deeply grateful for having had the privilege to see it; glad that the 6-day trip is over and we are well and healthy (a number of passengers got, what's known as “Bombay Blues” or “Delhi Belly”- it's a confining problem!).

I'm sure that in future we'll never see a dateline of “New Delhi” without avidly reading further. We have a deep interest and an intensely fervent hope that India solves its problems though we are neither optimistic nor pessimistic. We feel we saw the people of India at their best in Bombay and at their worst in Banaras.

We did not see any of the modern culture, such as new schools, nor did we see new industries; a regrettable gap! We very much liked the people we met on all levels. We felt a bit irritated at spending too much time looking at tombs, dead cities, past Muslim palaces. We couldn't possibly care less where Akbar, nor Shah Jahah are buried.

Muslims now represent less than 15% of India's population, so why bother to see where they or their wives are buried? My friend, Dexter Keezer, McGraw-Hill's ex-economist said of his trip to India some years ago… “Keep your mind open and your bowels shut, and you'll get along just fine.” We did and had a most rewarding time!