He Wanted India, China To Be Friends

'My father's life sends a message that there are positive things happening between India and China, no matter what happens at the border.'

Janaki Ballabh, who passed away in Beijing last month aged 94, was among the last men standing pursuing peace between India and China. A dream he pursued since he first visted China in the 1950s/

Atul Dalakoti, Executive Director, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Beijing, recalls his father's pioneering journey and his contribution to the India-China relationship in a telephone conversation from Beijing with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com.

In his younger days, my father was close to Pandit Sundar Lal, who was secretary to then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for some time.

It was on his recommendation that my father went to China in the 1950s.

He had no Communist leanings in his younger days and it would be wrong to label him a Communist.

My father was more of a Socialist and an intellectual. He was well versed in Hindu mythology, Hinduism and Sanskrit. This helped him as a journalist and, later, as a writer and translator of Chinese works.

It was his commitment to be a bridge between India and China. All his life, he tried to make Indians understand China and, in the same way, he tried to make the Chinese people understand India.

His work is worshipped in China and he used to take pride in that.

Among the famous works that he translated in Hindi from Mandarin are Mao Zedong's books and the selected works of Lu Xuin, the leading Chinese writer.

His other notable work is the translation of the famous Chinese classic novel, Journey to the West in Hindi.

He did so because he wanted Indians not only to understand the political aspects of China, but also the cultural aspects.

My father felt the importance of translating Chinese works in Hindi so that it can reach wider audiences in India.

He also helped Chinese translators translate the Ramayana and Mahabharata into Mandarin.

He was called Lao Shi, which is a term used for teachers in China.

The 1962 War was a hard time for him because he took a stance that India and China should work things out. He kept saying this constantly, even during the war.

Later, while recalling that tragic war, he used to say, "You got to understand that the 1962 War is not the only legacy of the India-China relationship. It is a long process and the 1962 War is only one chapter in it."

Recently, we had a meeting in his remembrance in Beijing, where I mentioned that we need to realise that we can love another country and another culture, but that does not make you love your own country or its culture less. In reality, it makes you love your country even more.

My father was also general secretary of the Indo-China Friendship Association for a long time and he kept working on friendship between the two countries in different capacities.

After 1990, he worked for the Centre for Indian Trade Unions, looking after CITU's international affairs for many years.

My father was a part of the Indo-China Friendship Association from the beginning. The People's Republic of China was formed in 1949, two years after India gained Independence, and India was the first non-Communist country to recognise the PRC.

If the Indo-China friendship had continued the way it took off in 1949, perhaps life would have been different for him.

One of the people whom my father admired was Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis.

Born in Solapur, Dr Kotnis went to China to provide medical assistance during the Second Sino-Japanese war in 1938.

He set an example for Sino-India friendship and collaboration which my father pursued in his life.

Even when tensions arose between the two countries, he would hope that it would be resolved.

My father used to say the India-China border is huge and this leads to flash points here and there. So the best way to solve the problem is political give and take.

It was his belief that hardly a blade of grass grows in those border areas between India and China and it is a very difficult terrain for humans to survive. In this scenario, the best way to solve the border problem would be to have a buffer zone between the two countries.

The bigger the buffer, the better, because there would be no eye to eye contact between the troops of the two countries. And this is the only way to maintain peace in the area.

In 2003, he suffered a stroke, after which I told him to come to Beijing and stay with me. He stayed with me as a retired person, along with my mother, Shyama Ballabh.

My father did more translation work after his retirement. He also translated President Xi Jinping's book The Governance of China Part 1 and Part 2 in Hindi.

His life sends a message to people that there are positive things happening between India and China, no matter what happens at the border.

There are people who are pursuing peace between the two countries. It is important for us to have interactions with and a policy of friendship towards China. There is no way we can ignore relations with China as we will be neighbours forever.

With 2.8 billion people, the combined middle class of India and China is the biggest in the world. There are so many good reasons to have a better relationship with China and that is the legacy of my father.

On the personal front, I would say my father was an incredible person.

Personally, he touched the lives of many people, including mine. He was full of zest for life. Always ready to party, go out and meet people till the end.

He loved life and always gave good advice to people on whatever issues they had. He was a mentor to many people.

He had a simple lifestyle -- he was a simple living and high thinking man. He lived life on the principles of equality, even in the family.

We had the right to speak and discuss things with him. He never took arbitrary decisions.

He was the principal caregiver for my mother Shyama Ballabh when she was suffering with kidney disease and had to be on dialysis for many years.

He was a person whom everyone looked up to. Everybody knew, they could depend on him.