| Summary: |
Audio recording of oral history interview with Ian Stephens, covering the period 1927-1947.
Cassette side OA1/65/1: Attribution of success in India to unconventional attitudes. Background to acceptance of post as deputy director, Bureau of Public Information. Voyage to India; impressions on arrival in Bombay 1927. Reactions to work in Secretariat in Delhi and Simla. Friendships with Indian officers of Indian Civil Service; experiences of Indian society. Conditions of baggage and 'rickshaw coolies' [term from original source, indentured/contract labourers]. Promotion to director: duties; misgivings about role. Transfer to assistant editor of 'Statesman' 1937.
Cassette side OA1/65/2: Dislike of Calcutta. European assignment to investigate German menace; recollections of German friend in India. Contrasts in Calcutta and Delhi. Travelling by train; story of nightmare delayed journey. Stephens' unconventional lifestyle in Calcutta: bicycling to work; clothes; dislike of women's conventional attitudes and avoidance of marriage; food. Horrors of Calcutta's hot season. Avoidance of social functions.
Cassette side OA1/65/3: Successful efforts in 'Statesman' to rationalise tropical clothing during Second World War. Effective use of yoga. Meeting Nehru 1946; mutual interest in yoga. Nature of Indian friendships. Contacts with Bengali terrorists; communist influences during their imprisonment in Andaman Islands. Recollections of servants. Recollection of Gandhi interviews. Leave allowances. Hill stations.
Cassette side OA1/65/4: Love for hills of India; story of meeting naked ascetics in Kashmir Hills. Similarity of British society's hierarchy and Hindu caste system. Domiciled Europeans. Stephens' position in society. Importance of newspapers in India. Liberal background of 'Statesman'; attacks on government over Bengal famine 1943. Explanation of Stephens' transformation from government propagandist to critic. British attitudes to approach of independence and Indian people. Indian attitude to British. Nature of Bengali people.
Cassette side OA1/65/5: Reactions to: Bengal famine 1943; Bihar earthquake 1934; Calcutta massacres 1946. Delights of India; evocative sounds and smells. Assessment of Raj.
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| Main author: |
Stephens; Ian Melville (1903-1984); editor |
| Other authors: |
Allen; Charles (b 1940); historian and interviewer |
| Extent: |
2 hr. 08 min.
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| Admin history: |
British Director of Bureau of Public Information in Delhi 1930-1932, editor of the 'Statesman' newspaper 1942-1951. |
| Access status: |
Closed
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| Access conditions: |
Access to sound recording of this interview is currently unavailable at SOAS Library. The transcript can be consulted. Researchers can access a copy of this sound recording at the British Library Listening & Viewing Service. Reference: C1510/65/01-05. For more details see www.bl.uk/listening or contact listening@bl.uk / 020 7412 7418.
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| Copyright: |
Copyright held by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |
| User restrictions: |
Private study only. For publication or broadcast please refer to Archivist |
| Language: |
English
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| Copies: |
Copy available at British Library Listening & Viewing Service. Reference: C1510/65/01-05
Copy available at Imperial War Museum. Reference: 004964/05 |
| Related material: |
Transcript available at SOAS Library. Reference: OA1/65/T |
| Format: |
Archive
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