WAH! TAJ BOLIYE

Francois Berner (1620-1688) was a French physician and 'doctor of fortune'. Arriving at Surat in 1658, he first found employment under Prince Dara Sikhoh (european freelancers were in good demand in medieval India). His service ended soon, but he left behind a first-hand record of the intra-family clash and the fall of Dara.

Subsequently, Berner joined Aurangzeb's team of doctors and traveled to far-flung areas with his boss. His 12-year career in India and keen observations resulted in the travelogue 'Travels in the Mughal Empire' - an important source of information about mughal India, through the eyes of a foreigner.

And, in 1663, Bernier wrote from Agra

''...I shall finish this letter with a description of the two wonderful mausoleums which constitute the chief superiority of Agra over Delhi. One was erected by Jehan-guyre in honour of his father Ekbar; and Chah-Jehan raised the other to the memory of his wife Tage Mehale, that extraordinary and celebrated beauty, of whom her husband was so enamoured it is said that he was constant to her during life, and at her death was so affected as nearly to follow her to the grave"

(written as a facebook post, in oct-2017)

Freedom on the Waves: In remembrance of the Indian Naval Mutiny

This is a tale of heroic sacrifice which in just 5 days,  steered the course of India. Yet, it  has been given only a few sentences in our school texts. Personally, I am glad I spent a day at the National Library, Calcutta, reading the old memoirs and scholarly works of historians, and compiling this. Its a story that had to be shared . 

https://thewire.in/history/freedom-on-the-waves-the-indian-naval-mutiny-70-years-later

THE AMAZING SPIDER-WOMAN

this blog is about compiling new as well as old 'publications'. 

and so, it is certainly worth putting this photo-collection here. 

I was damn glad when the iconic P. Sainath accepted it for the PARI website. 

here, it is

https://ruralindiaonline.org/albums/the-amazing-spiderwoman/ 

OBITUARY: THE MINISTER OF LIGHT

Calcutta of the 1980s was known as the 'load-shedding city'. a technical term of electrical engineering - whose exact definition few ever got to know - 'load shedding' had entered regular bengali vocabulary for the simple reason that power cuts were a daily part of our growing up years. 2-4 hours of 'loadshedding/ 'ebar jaabe'/ 'current nei'/ 'ondhokaar'/ 'alo nibhe jabe' was routine in calcutta proper and the suburban areas and villages fared worse, much worse.

Our lives revolved around the time when power was supposed to go off and stay off. not surprisingly, there was a great ever-innovative market of lamps - hyariken, hajak, lompho, mombati and kerosene was all the more important as fuel. the evening DD news dutifully read out how many hundred megawatt less-than-necessary power had been produced. no one exactly knew what that meant, but it was a way of getting a feel of the things. everyone prayed that the power stayed on during the time one's favourite tv serial was broadcast (althought it was not impossible that loadshedding would hit the DD headquarters too! really!) ...On one particular doomsday, i still remember, everything just crashed! trains and trams stopped moving, hospitals stopped surgery and even the crematoriums stopped midway!!!!

Then came SANKAR SEN. ex-prof. of electrical engineering and ex-VC of Jadavpur university, as minister for power, and within a couple of months, the difference was visible to even the staunchest opponent. Sen, more of a teacher and technocrat than a politician, was one of those few who knew his job inside out, and it was impossible to make him a murgi. the joke went, 'everyone in the electricity dept is either his student, or student of his students. now, which engineer-babu can bluff his own prof?' it wont be any exaggeration to claim that few ministers - either in left front or in tmc today - have been so adored as him.

Sen's career in political top brass was relatively short. he ran into the profiteering junta, tried fighting a lone war against entrenched corruption and found little support from his 'comrades'. But by that time, he had revamped the power situation in west bengal. things have improved from where he left, but there is no doubt that it was he who set the correct course. there has been no looking back since then. That is why, yesterday, when the news flashed of his demise at the ripe age of 92, red and blue and bengalis of all other hue paused momentarily to fondly recall how the 'bidyut montri' had helped us all to have a better slice of life.

respect.

(pic: anandabazar patrika)

THE EPIC'S 'DARK MESSAGE'

We do know that the Mahabharat (the great story of the Bharat dynasty (not India)) - composed and compiled between 400BCE and 400CE -  is perhaps the greatest database of human nature, actions based on variations of that nature and the consequences of those actions. It has been cited and recited in all its variations a few trillion times. and yet, people often tend to overlook the  uncomfortable 'dark' truth that forms a central take-home message of the epic.

the Mahabharat is family tussle - for property. Legal subtleties aside, it is the story of the eldest born being denied the property that was his, and he finally getting it back. its a classic intra-family case for land and power; with court verdicts, extra-court settlement attempts, loyalties and betrayals and finally he-who-fights-best-gets-the-riches. the rest of the great epic are largely accretion to this central core.

but what happened in this endless attempt to get the property?? think about it. the Pandavas were in their early to mid-40s when they fought the battle. and at the end of 18 days they had it. BUT, ALL THEIR SONS WERE DEAD!!!

for who was the kingdom now??? were they wrong? no...but was the kingdom worth their sons??? .....and why only the 5 men? Draupadi , Shubhadra and Gandhari - all sons dead! but at least they are the upper-caste upper-class women whose grief we know of. How about Hirimba or Ulupi ? Single mums from non-aryan tribes(?) who sent their only sons to fight for the superstar-fathers who didnt even know them well....thatz a tragedy Vyas et al don't even record properly, isnt it?

you can ponder on all that. these are open questions for all Time. but one thing for sure, Vyas and cowriters hit it hard - fighting among yourselves for what could be shared - cos the earth of India is rich and has space for all - is going to be very very costly, even for the winner whoever it is....and this is relevant when they wrote it ~2000 years ago, and equally relevant in 2020 today....