Mountain heritage is as fragile as its environment. Conservationist Anupam Sah recounts his Kumaon childhood, describes the similarity of traditions across the Himalaya and prescribes an approach to preserving this precious heritage, both built and intangible.
MILITARY-BUJU, MATHURI-VEER, formally known as Lt Colonel Mathura Lal Sah (MBE), my paternal grandfather, returned after World War II to his village in Kumaon, after stints in Egypt, Sicily and Monte Cassino. Completing his full service he retired from the Indian Army, bought a bit of land and built his house near our ancestral joint family home, where Nann Babu, his younger brother, continued to stay. This village is Ranibagh, named after Jiya Rani, in whose name the Jaagar still takes place at the Uttaraini-ka-mela on the cold night of Makar Sankranti at Chitrashila Ghat, situated at the confluence of the Pushpabhadra and Gaula rivers. Ranibagh lies on the bridle path from Kathgodam, the railhead for Nainital.
How green was my valley then! The perennial Kunmuniya Gadhera waters babbled down through the fields and sustained the crops, birds and animals, along with our family. In this house, Markandey Nivas, it was delightful to watch the sunbirds, barbets and paradise flycatchers in the morning. After lunch, we pressed our elders’ feet and, when they dozed off, we tiptoed away to read books. When night fell, we all gathered around the warmth-giving barosa, full of embers and ash, to hear the jungle tales of emerald-eyed Pratap, walking the hills with Ram Daju, toting their double-barrelled shotguns.
Denne historien er fra April - June 2017-utgaven av The Indian Quarterly.
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Denne historien er fra April - June 2017-utgaven av The Indian Quarterly.
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The Image-Maker
Sukumar Ray’s most vivid images were saved for his classics of nonsense verse, but his singular eye, writes Nabarupa Bhattacharjee, found its earliest expression in photography
The Nawab's Last Sigh
Rudely awakened by the fact of independent India, an aristocrat in Meerut clung to his past. Now, he tells Sunaina Kumar, all he has left are his memories of a glorious age.
The Guest
Vaiyavan is the nom de plume of MSP Murugesan. Born in 1936, he did sundry jobs before obtaining postgraduate degrees by correspondence and then served as an English and Tamil teacher till his retirement in 1996. His writing career began in 1956. Multifaceted and prolific, he has to his credit a long list of short story collections, novels, plays, literary essays, poems and children’s stories. He has won several awards including Tamil Nadu government awards for best book on culture (1982) and best science book (1992) and the Malcolm Adiseshiah award for active participation in neo-literacy activities (1996). In his short stories and novels, Vaiyavan revels in a zest for life. Humaneness is the hallmark of his work, as the pain and pleasure, trials and tribulations of people in different rungs of society are described in minute detail. —CGR
The Birth of an Anthem
From right-wing slogan to moving patriotic song and now back to Hindu nationalistic war cry. Rimli Sengupta on the evolution of Vande Mataram
The Birth of a Parent
The beginning of a new life can create other strange new lives, reflects Manidipa Mandal
The Unknown Soldier
One man wondered and worried about his disappeared brother all his life.His granddaughter continued the search. Preksha Sharma resurrects a man and his story
The Art Scene
For the new kid on the block, it certainly has pedigree. The Centre for Con-temporary Art, housed within Delhi’s Bikaner House complex, finally opened its portals to welcome art aficionados during this year’s edition of the India Art Fair. Nature Morte was invited to stage the centre’s much-awaited inaugural show, an opportunity the gallery found too irresistible to pass up. The ambitious exhibition it mounted, The Idea of the Acrobat, occupied both floors of the recently renovated building and brought together the works of a dozen well known artists in a multitude of media. The line-up included Bharti Kher, Atul Dodiya, Dayanita Singh, Shilpa Gupta, Ayesha Singh, Khyentse Norbu and LN Tallur to name but a few.
Long, Long Ago
Arundhuti Dasgupta and Utkarsh Patel recount obscure creation myths from around the world, many echoing each other
Family Business
AT THE DINDUKKAL BUS DEPOT, the abortionist pushed her way through the crowd thronging the bus and finally managed to board it. She placed her travel bag beside her on the seat, calling out to her niece to hurry up. The young woman renewed her efforts to break free of the tangle of limbs and claim the seat reserved for her.
A Goan Childhood
Fragments of memory of a time long gone, from a life lived far away. By Selma Carvalho
