Beyond the Call of Duty

The 200-year British presence in India left behind a mixed legacy. We think of the colonial rulers as people who plundered and impoverished our land. Lost in that narrative is the work of the scores of well-intentioned individuals who played a part in shaping modern India.Did you know, for instance, that as far back as the 1850s, a British engineer had chalked out a plan to link all the major rivers of India? Or that tea did not grow in Darjeeling until an English surgeon planted a smuggled Chinese plant in his backyard in the hills? Or that there was an East India Company polyglot who mastered Sanskrit, translated Kalidasa’s works into English and then set up the Asiatic Society?Beyond the Call of Duty celebrates a dozen of these British gentlemen who far exceeded their job descriptions, devoting their lives to the greater good of an adopted country — men whose work continues to benet India.They may not have had history books eulogizing them, but they exemplify a work ethic that is rare and relevant today. And therein lies the need to revive these stories — so that we may draw lessons from every quarter of our past to sculpt a better future.