Kalyani Mookherji’s book narrates the story of India through 75 objects

The 75th year of India’s independence is being celebrated with fanfare across the country, so it is no surprise that the publishing industry is excited to flood the market with books commemorating the occasion. Swimming in the ocean of new titles about key historical figures and events in India’s journey as a post-colonial nation state, the book that I have found most appealing is Kalyani Mookherji’s India at 75: A Journey through 75 Objects.

The author has taken an offbeat approach to chronicle and celebrate India’s story. She focuses on material culture – physical objects that people use in their lives, have an emotional connection with, and even reminisce about when they travel or live outside India and miss home. These are cherished not because of any government directive or activist impulse but due to the “enormous symbolic power that they exercise in India’s collective consciousness.”

Each chapter in the book is devoted to a specific object. A number of chapters are about food – masala chai, dosa, kulfi, paan, golgappa, and pickle. The descriptions are so mouth- watering that you might have to pause reading and please your taste buds first. To her credit, Mookherji is not partial to the phuchkas of West Bengal; she uses the chapter on golgappas to talk about delicacies from different states of India including “paani-patashas of Haryanvi
sweet shops”, “gup-chups of Bihar and Jharkhand”, and the “paani-puris of Juhu beach”.

Among the food chapters, I particularly enjoyed the one on chyawanprash. Mookherji not only fills us in on all the ingredients and their medicinal properties but also brings in cultural information that might be unfamiliar to readers like myself. She writes, “The name chyawanprash refers to the forest sage Chyawan, the mythological developer of this concoction and prasha which means food in Sanskrit. The earliest historically documented mention of chyawanprash dates back to first millennium BCE in the ancient Ayurvedic compendium, Charaka Samhita.” I was surprised to learn from this chapter that “Indian Olympic athletes are not allowed to consume any brand of chyawanprash since some of its ingredient metabolize into anabolic steroids or performance-enhancing drugs that are illegal.”

Among the 75 objects documented by Mookherji, you will also find Maruti 800, Hero Cycles, Sumeet Mixer Grinder, Bajaj Scooter, VIP Suitcase, HMT Watches, Ambassador Car, and Godrej Almirah. These are not just brand names; Indians have memories associated with them. If you read the book critically, you will certainly think about whether some of the objects are within the reach of all Indians or only those with the financial wherewithal.

Mookherji writes, “If you were growing up in the India of 1970s and ‘80s, chances are, your first cycle was from the house of Hero. Founded in 1956 in Ludhiana by visionary entrepreneur Om Prakash Munjal, Hero initially manufactured cycle components. But recognizing the pressing need of a newly independent India to put its millions on the move, Munjal began manufacturing entire bicycles.” Reading this book made me think of how rarely we learnt about the contributions of entrepreneurs when we studied history in school.

The chapter on Bajaj Scooter pays homage to the Chetak scooter that was named after Maharana Pratap’s horse and rolled out in 1972. “In the 1980s and ‘90s, the Chetak rode on a wave of the rising aspirations of the vast Indian middle class which was just discovering the benefits of geographical and social mobility. It could take young adults to college, people to work as well as entire families to Sunday picnics.” The fact that people genuinely loved this scooter was evident when industrialist Rahul Bajaj passed away in February 2022. He was widely praised for introducing the scooter with the tagline “Buland Bharat ki buland tasveer.”

The book has chapters on objects such as bindi, diya, dhoti, earthen matka, saree, pressure cooker, tiffin dabba, nimbu-mirchi, neem datun, lota, janam kundli, and gilli danda. Among the chapters that I liked a lot, I would certainly mention the one on agarbatti because Mookherji articulates its sensual and spiritual significance in elegant prose. After taking us through the labour-intensive process of making agarbattis with charcoal dust, bamboo sticks and perfumed spice powder, she evokes a picture of serenity with “fragrant smoke (wafting) through temples, churches, mazaars, gurudwaras and gompas with equal grace and fervour”.

Published by Rupa, this book offers an unusual entry point into the study of Indian history. It is well-researched but not dense. Since the author is an educator as well as a counsellor, she seems quite aware that contemporary readers have low attention spans. She gives us just enough to chew on, and quickly moves to the next object. You do not have to read it in a linear manner. You can read chapters at random, and create your own experience of the book.

The feel-good quality of this book will strike you soon after you go through a few pages but, as you get deeper into it, you will appreciate it for the many surprises in store. In the chapter on paan, for instance, Mookherji writes, “For all its significance in Indian social life, the betel leaf is not even indigenous to India…The tropical creeper made its way to the southern Indian shores probably sometime around the beginning of the Common Era as a result of maritime trade with Sumatra, Java and Malay Peninsula.” The chapter on kulfi indicates that the origins of this yummy dessert can be traced back to 16 th century royal Mughal kitchens.

You will find some chapters that are not strictly about material culture. Yoga and Midday Meal Scheme are not objects, neither is the Amul Girl or the Air India Maharaja. However, they are certainly important elements of what constitutes the experience of being Indian. Another author making their own selection of 75 objects would perhaps have written a different book, drawing from their upbringing, exposure, travel and various life experiences. That said, Mookherji has done a commendable job, and this book deserves to be read widely.

Chintan Girish Modi is a Mumbai-based writer who tweets @chintanwriting

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