Frog in the Well

As I ruminate over the long sequence of the same blunders repeat over and over again, I can't help but wonder about the below. This ties to my last post, Last Nail in the Coffin : World War II

India had often been so pre-occupied with internal disputes, that it hadn't realized it had become a pawn in the hands of outsiders. There are several examples, Alexander and Ghori to name a few. But lets look at a more recent one.

Case in Point : By 1750's Marathas and Sikhs displace Mughals from most territories. Mughal empire is all but restricted to one city, with exception of few vassal states. In the remaining Mughal vassal province of Bengal, British East India Company and French East India Company see enormous trade and continue to outmanoeuvre each other. British East India Company decides that a change in the ruler of Bengal is needed for it to prosper. Nawab witnesses British misuse of "trade permits" and interference in the operations of the his court. The English fort is fortified without prior permission. By the time Nawab prepares to regain the upper-hand, it is too late. British defeat Nawab and their French support with the help of a disgruntled chief of Nawab (1757). This is the beginning of "British Raj". By 1850's British East India Company occupies all of India and takes over the administrative control, aka, rules India.

In the end, East India Companies of various colonial powers were all private-stock companies armed to the teeth, a concept long forgotten in India. And the centers of powers were in Europe, where they were granted permission to operate in foreign lands. Indian rulers were distracted with internal disputes and were completely blind to anything outside the shores of India. So, understandably, none of the Indian rulers had any clue about the intentions of these centers of power in Europe.

A lot of what goes on in India right now is no different. India's reaction to most of these foreign interests and influences staring in the face is that of ignorance, indifference and blind trust. India has no clue what the power centers in the West have in mind. So, it is reduced to the status of "pawn", continuing the historical trend. As I would like to put it...

Too often, some end up so focused in their small worlds, that they remain blind to the big picture. This makes them mere pawns in the larger game

A variant of what is so succinctly put in our literature "Frog in the Well".