Independence Day Special: Children’s author reimagines the accession of the princely states to India in times of social media

“Two years now and look at how Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still suffering in the aftermath of the atomic bomb. When will the misery end?”

“Wars and more wars. Stop, you two.” Sardar Patel broke this constant back and forth between his daughter, Maniben, and the Secretary of the Ministry of States, VP Menon. “We’re soon going to be an independent country, albeit a partitioned one, and you both are glued to your gadgets, doom scrolling through these feels.”

“It’s reels, not feels, dear Papa,” replied Maniben, as she slid her gadget towards her father across his mahogany office desk, insisting that he check out news on this new social technology that brought the world closer: Instant Telegraph.

“Social technology, whatever! Have you realised how antisocial it makes you? You’re just by yourself, oblivious to those around you. Nothing beats the personal touch.”

“Patel, this new avatar of the telegraph has revolutionised the way we communicate. Look how easy it is to share messages, pictures and short films with the world while moving around in tongas, trains or trams. No more beating the hell out of our radios and TV sets to get news. It’s all here, as it happens!”

“Forget the Instant Telegraph. We have a huge problem on our hands, Menon. We need to convince more than 560 princely states to join the Indian union. Else, we won’t have much of a country left. With East and West Pakistan cropped out of our map, we have already lost 3.6 lakh square miles of land and 81.5 million people.”

“You’re right, Patel. We need to draw a solid plan to accede as many states as we possibly can before we declare ourselves as formally independent. We have a month at best.”

An air of frustration lingered in Patel’s office. Jawaharlal Nehru and Lord Mountbatten had entrusted him and Menon with the near impossible task of integrating 565 states to restore India’s lost diversity and glory. Maniben showed Menon and Patel an Instant Telegraph film showing Jinnah addressing rulers of princely states, urging them to join Pakistan. As if struck by lightning, both Patel and Menon froze in their chairs, their faces bore looks of horror. “They are newborns. They have no idea how to walk and they’re trying to run!”

“Why don’t you both get creative and use Instant Telegraph to invite rulers to join India? Everyone is connected and everyone can see your messages,” Maniben’s eyes lit up as she spoke.

“And just how do we do that? Give speeches like Jinnah?” asked Patel.

“You’re India’s first-ever Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Papa. Tell them what they will miss if they don’t join us. Time to show them how it’s done. @Ministry_of_States will be our Instant Telegraph account and those rulers who wish to join us must follow us and use the hashtags #joinIndia and #weloveIndia.”

“This sounds frivolous! Fine, let’s do this and see how far we can go.”

Maniben and Menon were thrilled that Patel had agreed to the plan. Now it was time to pull all stops and create telegraph messages that no one could refuse. They started drafting messages to share with the rulers of the princely states, many of whom were already using the Instant Telegraph service.

Menon shared the ‘Instrument of Accession’, a legal document that rulers had to sign to join India or Pakistan. As a caption, he added: ‘Join India. You won’t regret it.’

The trio twiddled their thumbs and waited. But there was no response. “This isn’t enough. Why don’t you give them incentives?” Patel scratched his head. Menon loosened his tie. Maniben shared more messages:

‘Join us. With a shared history, together we can be one POWERFUL nation.’

‘Join an established nation and earn a readymade setup of defence, finances, foreign affairs, and communications.’

No response yet. But much else was happening on Instant Telegraph. Many rulers were not happy with the accession.

‘Why should we let go of our independence? Our integrity? Our privilege?’

‘Forget India or Pakistan. Let’s unite to form a Third Force. We are independent and we shall remain independent.’

It was the Nawab of Bhopal trying to convince other rulers to maintain sovereignty. Jinnah wasn’t far behind either.

‘Join Pakistan on your terms. Fill your conditions on this blank paper I have signed.’
The trio had to pull out a new trick from their hats.

‘Privy Purses plus Privileges! Join India and win monetary benefits for yourself and your families.’

Finally, there was one response and not one they had hoped for — ‘Good luck with this, Team India. You will lose all the states just like you lost us. HAH!’

No guesses on who this was. Other anti-India groups had started to troll them. “Dang! The Nawab of Junagadh is following Pakistan,” Maniben was tracking the progress.

“Instant Telegraph alone can’t work. Junagadh has a Muslim ruler and a Hindu majority. Just like J&K has a Hindu ruler and a Muslim majority. It’s not easy to accede these princely states to the Indian union.”

Patel picked up the phone. One by one, he called the respective rulers. He believed in direct conversations and negotiations. He cajoled. He coaxed.

Menon joined him while Maniben continued to take their strategies and put them on Instant Telegraph. “We have our first follower,” said an ecstatic Maniben.

It was Maharaja Sadul Singh of Bikaner. Slowly but surely more states started to follow India.
“Good work, Maniben. But Instant Telegraph cannot achieve what personal connections can.”
Patel and Menon worked hard to connect with the rulers while Maniben kept engaging everyone through the telegraph messages.

The people of the states took matters in their hands. There were protests happening across many states. #PrajaParishad and #PeoplesMovement were actively talking about how they wished that their rulers acceded to India.

“Just what we needed, Patel.”

Against all odds, by 14 August 1947, @Ministry_of_States had 562 followers.

“We have done it, Menon,” Patel said as he sank into his chair.

“Calls. Meetings. Instant Telegraph. Still Hyderabad, J&K and Junagadh are yet to join us,” Menon added.

“It’s a matter of time, Menon. We shall not rest until we have acceded the last princely state to India.”

“It’s official. The UN has passed a resolution for the adoption and implementation of the UN Partition Plan for Palestine. I hope it’s not another war,” Menon looked concerned.

“Some lands unite. Some divide. But people and shared histories, how can one partition that?”
“Wow! Say that again, Papa! Your next message on Instant Telegraph.”

Vaishali Shroff is a children’s author