India was ruled by the British for nearly three centuries until 1947. During this period, several thousands of Europeans arrived in India seeking adventure and fortune. Many had returned to their homeland
with enough money to spend the rest of their lives in comfort. A number of them felt sorry for the poor, but most of them didn’t care. A very few of them actually cared and concerned for their welfare, and Jim Corbett stands tall among that small band of Europeans.
His family had been living in India for three generations. Corbett was born in Naini Tal on 25th July 1875. He had to quit the school at the age of 16 to look for a job in order to support his family. He found a job that led him to become a trans-shipment Inspector for the Bengal and Northwestern Railway where he spent 21 years. working with hundreds of simple, loyal and hardworking labourers. Most of the stories in MY INDIA revolves around this period he spent in Mokameh Ghat.
Even as a very young man, Corbett was compassionate and helpful, gave himself freely and expecting nothing in return. Take the story of Lalajee who was dying of cholera, near a railway station. Corbett carried him home to his bungalow, nursed him back to health, and listened to his story. His name was Lalajee, once a prosperous grain merchant who became penniless after being cheated by his partner. Without any hope in life, he took the train, got off at Mokameh Ghat stricken with the cholera, went to the shores of the Ganges and prayed for death. After regaining his health, Lalajee was given most of the money Corbett had, to start a new business. Lalajee left with 450 Rupees, and in 1898 that was Corbett’s salary for 3 months, given to a stranger to start a new life of hope.
Then the touching story of Chamari, an untouchable, whose untimely death shocked Corbett and he looked after the widow and their children; or take the case of Budhu who was forced to work as a slave by a greedy landowner, because Budhu’s grandfather had borrowed one rupee from him. The amount with interest was now reached several hundred, and with the help of a lawyer, Corbett paid the landowner, and released Budhu. He called Budhu in his office, gave the papers of his release. He took out a match and asked Budhu to hold the paper while he set it on fire. ’’Don’t burn these papers sahib’’ Budhu pleaded ’’I am your slave now’’. Corbett told him that he was nobody’s slave, but a free man.
Corbett was also on the trail of Sultana, India’s famous bandit who operated in and around Kumaon. When he found out that Sultana was not a mere bandit, but a person who helped the poor, he had much sympathy towards him, and condemned the people who captured him at the end, and publicly humiliated him before the execution.
My India is filled with such stories of love and compassion by an English- Irish man towards the poor and needy who lived such a simple life. He bought vast stretches of land, built houses and gave them to the poor, paid taxes on them, helped them to create orchards in the property and making it a model village. Of the thousands of books I have read over the years on India written by Europeans, I never came across a single volume featuring a fraction of compassion and love that is found in Corbett’s books.In fact, a majority of them rather looked down at the Indians.
This was Colonel Corbett’s third book, written in 1949 while living in Kenya. It was published by the Oxford Press in Bombay, London and New York in 1952.
The book was dedicated to ’’My friends. the Poor of India’’
Many thinks this was Corbett’s best work, written in such a style without slightest exaggeration or self praising. Always modest in his narrative and story telling,one of the the true qualities of a great man!
My India has been in print since 1952 in hard covers and in paperbacks. The original Indian edition in very good condition with the dust jacket is worth between $60.00 and $95.00. The modern reprints in paperbacks cost about Rs.150/. His other books are Man eaters of Kumaon (1944), Man eating Leopard of Rudraprayag (1948), Jungle Lore (1953), The Temple Tiger and More man eaters (1954) and Tree Tops (1955). All his books are available in India.
Looking at India through Corbett’s eyes is perhaps an unforgettable experience and an interesting education on India’s wildlife as well as the village life in Kumaon, a century ago.