OUTRAM, NETAJI AND THE HORSE 

The recent outburst in the USA and Europe for removing and branding statues of (in)famous people - Edward Colston, Winston Churchil, Robert Milligan, Leopold II - whose actions associate themselves well with racism and colonization reminds of an factoid from the not-so-old history of my city, Calcutta. Its the tale of a statue that was removed and one that came up later.

Ask any Calcuttan, 'Heard of Outram?' and the most-likley answer will be 'Outram? after whom outram ghat is named?' Yes. One of the city's old riverbank ghats is named after the now almost-forgotten Outram. Who was he?

Well, General James Outram was one of the British icons of the 19th century. A noted military commander and colonial administrator (who didn’t hesitate to expose corruption of british officials!) , he played an important part in expanding British rule in the subcontinent in the 1840s-50s. He had a decisive role in the annexation of Sindh and later of Awadh (remember Sir Richard Attenborough's superb performance in Satyajit Ray's Shatranj ke Khiladi?' thatz Outram) .

 But, what endeared Outram to the British people was his decisive role in turning the tide of the 1857-rebellion. As the British desperately tried to restablish their rule, Outram was one of their most successful generals, especially at Lucknow. It was he who forced Nana Saheb to retreat - a decisive step that finally led to British victory. That wasn't all. By mid-1858, Outram's army had chased the Indian rebels all over central India and practically broken the back of the resistance.

The British weren’t hesitant in acknowledging his contribution to their profits. They commissioned the noted sculptor John H. Folli to build an equestrian statue in his honour. Thus, in 1874, General Outram - seated on his stallion- was installed at their ‘2nd capital of the empire’, Calcutta – at the junction of Chowringee Road and Park Street, close to his once-headquarters at Fort William and not far from the city center of Esplanade.
And there he stood (or galloped) for more than 70 years. Till 1947.

But colonialism had ended and so it was time for its icons to go too, at least from public view. In the 1950s, the WB government embarked on a ‘serious’ decolonization initiative after independence and several ‘firangi’ statues that dotted Calcutta were removed. Outram too was un-seated and by none other than the Mahatma, whose statue came up there in 1958 (today, of course, the same Gandhi has been placed at the Mayo Road-Dufferin Road junction).

All that is patriotic and very fine. But, now comes a bit of desi remix. and a rather awkward one.
In 1967, the Calcutta Corporation (today CMC) was decided to honour the city’s most charismatic hero (and ex-Mayor), Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. And, at the northern part of the city, at the 5-roads junction called Shyambazar Crossing, they erected an equestrian statue in his honour. Now, thatz doubly-good and should make our chests pump up beyond 56 inch. The only trouble is that, for reasons unknown, sculptor Nagesh Jogalkar made a direct copy of the Outram-on-horse statue!!!??

I personally think the Netaji statue itself is a rather unaesthetic one. Its location is rather 'ugghh' too, especially with the cobweb of tram cables all around. And the horse’s gravity-defying tail is a marvel of physics!!!!

But, besides all that, the spirit of Netaji must be quite sad that, after a lifelong struggle against the British empire, his statue had to be made identical to a colonial general! We Indians....aahhhhh!!!

PS: As for Outram, he was transferred to the premises of the Victoria Memorial – thus continuing to serve his Queen. And there he now stays, in quiet neglect, but providing a bit of space to those who have found love and warmth in the fast-moving metro.

(ref: Debraj Goswami’s post at fb https://www.facebook.com/groups/admin54/permalink/1449690395095724/;
pics: google, https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/therein-hangs-a-tail/cid/1729181 )