HINDOL 3rd Issue - Jan - Feb 2010

8/2/2019 HINDOL 3rd Issue - Jan - Feb 2010

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Non-being then existed not nor being:There was no air, nor sky that is beyond it.

What was concealed? Wherein? In whose protection?And was there deep unfathomable water?

Who knows for certain? Who shall here declare it?Whence was it born, and whence came this creation?

The gods were born after this worlds creation:Then who can know from whence it has arisen.

None knoweth whence creation has arisen;

And whether he has or has not produced it:He who surveys it in the highest heaven,He only knows or haply he may not.

Extracts from the Creation Hymn (Rigveda)as translated by Arthur Anthony Macdonell


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In December 2008, a group of Bengalis started

Ohetuk Adda, a monthly Sunday meet open to all.

It was conceived as a meeting ground for the

'common' reader, the 'common' cultural enthusiast, the'common' cerebral addabaj Delhi-ite Bengali, all

looking for something in common, for something

uncommon. We believe all who attended these meets

(and some of them were certainly not common) have

thoroughly enjoyed and been enhanced from this

common effort!!

Ohetuk Adda celebrated its first anniversary with

an experiment the Chotoder Ohetuk Adda. It was

launched with a Workshop on English storytellingon 17th January 2010 guided by Ajanta Dutt.

17th January was one of the foggiest days of the

season. We thank all who came, braving the fog and

the cold. We had lots of fun, particlarly with the

impromptu stories related by the youngsters and

others. We would like to have more of such mixed

group meets, led by the young set. Someone has

suggested that we have Play Readings. We want more

ideas - so speak to us at [email protected] .You may be able to have your own show!


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Contents

Letters to Editor 6-8

Sailen Saha/Biman Das/Kalpana De Kirty Poetry 9-11Debendra Mohanty (Tran. Abani Mitra) Oriya Story 12-19

Nandita Roy On Translations 20-23

Gopa Dey On a Poet 24-29

Aparna Acharya On Poetry 30-36

Malabika Majumdar Essay 37-42

Chittaranjan Pakrashi Introspection 43-45

Jayanti Chattopadhyay Essay 46-56

Nandan Dasgupta An Epic Story 57-66

Shreya Ray Going Places 68-71

Ajanta Dutt Short Story Study 72-77

Romesh Chandra Kumar Memories 78-80

Amita Sen Going Places 81-85

Bharati Banerjee Musings 86-88


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fl g fl -'People here grumble and say that the heart of the Poet in Meghanad

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MICHAEL MADHUSUDAN DUTT

(25.1.1824 - 29.6.1873)

If there be anyone among us anxious to leave a name behind him, and not

pass away into oblivion like a brute, let him devote himself to his mother-

tongue. This is his legitimate sphere - his proper elementLet those

who feel that they have spring of fresh thought in them, fly to their mother-

tongueI should scorn the pretensions of that man to be called educated

who is not master of his languageBelieve me, my dear fellow, our

Bengali is a very beautiful language, it only wants men of genius to polish

it up.

extracts from letter written on 26th

January, 1865by Madhusudan Dutt to his friend Gourdas Basak

With best wishes from

INTERGLOBE

ENTERPRISES LIMITED

DLF Corporate Park, Gurgaon


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I almost never went to Barcelona.

I was in Spain for just nine days and based out of Madrid (which

is in the centre) and was more keen to visit the south of Spain instead

in particular Seville and Granada, with their quaint medieval charm

and Moorish architecture. I had to choose between the two because I

could only make one long trip. Barcelona, in the north-east was the

more typical tourist destination (and really, what was so new about a

city that never sleeps, or a city of beaches or parties that sounded

just like Mumbai); its hotels were always booked, and it was an eight-

hour bus ride away.

But when karma (actually, it was a newspaper article according towhich the temperature at Seville had gone up to 46 degrees Celsius)

intervened, I decided to book my tickets for Barcelona. Since finding

accommodation in Barca (as it is known locally) on weekends is next

to impossible, I had to make do with a Thursday. So I left Madrid

early in the morning planning to stay one night in Barcelona then return

the next day. That seemed enough to me.

Whereas in the rest of Spain you cannot make do without knowing

Spanish, in Barcelona it is possible to survive without knowing the

local language, they say. Survive, yes. Live, no. Although there are

more English-speaking people in Barcelona than in Madrid (where even

officials at the tourist office and airports dont speak English), this

was no consolation. Just as my bus reached the Barcelona Sants depot,

I decided to ask a suitably cosmopolitan looking passerby, how I could

24 hours in Barcelona

Shreya Ray

Chittaranjan Park,

New Delhi

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get to the Las Ramblas (the most famous street in Barcelona, close to

my youth hostel) After much stammering, stuttering and commiseration

he drew a map and finally managed to communicate to me that I should

take the Blue Line metro and get off at the fourth stop.

Barcelona Sants, as I learnt the hard way, is at once like ISBT,

Rajeev Chowk and New Delhi Railway Station combined. Its the

central metro station, where there are also trains, as well as a terminus

for inter-state buses. The station I was asked to go to seemed lost in

the metro guide map. But there was something on that map I

recognised. Red line, second stop. The Sagrada da Familia, the

legendary unfinished Cathedral of the eccentric 19 th century architect,

Antoine Goudi. Probably one of the few buildings in the city that Icared to see.

There is something unsettling about the Sagrada da Familia. Its an

imposing building with beautiful stained-glass windows and sinister-

looking sculpted images of Jesus and the apostles. After reaching the

top and taking the customary pictures, I spent some time at the souvenir

shop and then decided it was time to move. I had to go find my youth

hostel.

It was then that I got caught in the catacomb of Metro lines. The

city has about 10-15 metro lines (as opposed to the three in Delhi)

and I ended up taking four trains to Plaza Catalunya which was actually

just a 10-minute walk away. What also didnt help is that every station

seemed to lead to a station called Sortida. I later learnt that Sortida

meant Exit in Catalan.

I finally reached the tourist information office where I was given

a map of the area, marking what route I should take to get to my hostel.

Thankfully unlike what I had imagined this ended up being the

easiest and most memorable moments of my trip.

The walk from Plaza Catalunya to Palau Street is simply mesmeric.

Its almost like travelling through different times and cultures. You

pass through the liveliest section of the city with exquisite Roman

fountains, huge showrooms and plush restaurants; through the cobbled

streets into the old city area which has local musicians playing on the

pavements, selling their CDs. I managed to have some Catalonian ice-cream, discover the Salvador Dali museum, get a glimpse of the latest

European fashion, all during this half-hour and finally landed at my

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destination, the Alberg Palau youth hostel.

The first sight almost frightened me. Sure, this was a place that

cost me just 22 euros a night (including breakfast) but this might as

well have been a hostel in Chandni Chowk. The walls were decrepit

and crumbling, the door had an enormous knocker, and the staircase

was distinctly rickety. Was this the same swanky, modern, utilitarian

accommodation promised on the website?

Inside, at the reception, was the manager, who ominously enough,

spoke in English. I was shown into my room where I hurriedly dumped

my bags and got ready for my only night-out in Barcelona. I wanted

to just go exploring and yes, also try some Paella.

I set off for the port area just ten minutes from the Palau whereI was told you get the best Paella. Cafs in Barcelona are everywhere

in fact, the port area is lined by cafes and tapas bars, one right after

the other. I finally found the restaurant and ordered a plate of Mixed

Paella for myself. I was tempted to order a pitcher of Sangria, but I

didnt fancy getting drunk alone and spending the night slumped on

some stray pavement. By the time it was 11.30; I had finished my Paella

(with much effort; Paella is perhaps the most overrated dish ever) and

set off to explore the tiny cafes and alleys in the area. I saw a caf that

looked especially tempting and asked the waiter what time it closed,

since I wanted to come back later. Never, he said. I think he enjoyed

seeing the look of disbelief on my face.

I had to alter my plans when suddenly two drunken male voices

drawled from the darkness and said Out drinking alone? Come with

us I decided to postpone my adventure for the morning, and made

a beeline for my hostel.

But nows when I had to consolidate. There were still some places

I had to see in the remaining half-day that I had - the Picasso and Dali

museums; the football stadium and Miro museum which were at the

other end of the city; the beach, and the Las Ramblas. I thought Id

save up on lost time by waking up early.

Despite my noble intentions I overslept (Id put an alarm for 6 am

on my phone which was still on India time and screeched out at 3.30

am). I decided to skip the Picasso museum (having already seen theGuernica, his most celebrated work, in Madrid) and went to the Dali

museum.

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I spent the rest of the morning just walking on the Ramblas and

soaking in its forever-holiday mood. The Las Ramblas most famous

for its human statues is Barcelonas most celebrated street. There

are tapas bars, souvenir shops, a meat market, a flower market, and

lots and lots of people. I tried some tapas, bought some souvenirs (from

an Indian shopkeeper who gave me a special discount) and soon it

was time to board the bus back to Madrid.

Id imagined that 24 hours in Barcelona would be enough, but it

wasnt. Perhaps because with Barcelona, there never can be enough.

Perhaps because there is no one Barcelona - its different cities that

just seem to co-exist - there is the Barcelona of art and culture, the

Barcelona of beaches and parties, the Barcelona of the Las Ramblaswhere the whole world seems to be on holiday. As a tourist its easy

to get sucked in to any of these worlds without experiencing the others.

And this perhaps is my only consolation I didnt manage to

see everything there was to see in those 24 hours, but I did manage

to get a feel of all the Barcelonas. And leave a part of myself back

there.

(Shreya Ray is a journalist)

Our e-mail :

[email protected]

[email protected]

Although the emphasis of this group is on Bengali culture, the

propagation of multi-sectoral efforts for synergising people of different

cultures and languages in an atmosphere of mutual trust, respect,advantage and harmony is one of our declared objectives.

GoingPlaces


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- 1 -

A text, which offers the audience room for multiple disclosures to

identify, is the short story The Guest by Albert Camus. It is a story

with numerous points of entry to its core problem. It is also a text

without closure. If Camus had written his stories for French readers

alone, he would have been looking at his audience through a narrow

sociopolitical and historical window. This text instead provides a more

global lens which allows us to recognise and thereby blend our voices

with that of Camus and also with Darus, his Algerian-born protagonist

and schoolteacher who is being forced by an anonymous political

agency to bring an Arab to prison for a crime committed in a familyargument.

The issues of colonization, crime and cultural conflict invite readers

to enter into dialogues - to speak to and alongside the author - in the

context of French history and outside it. The events in the story span

a single night when Balduccis prisoner, the Arab, stays in Darus

schoolhouse and we relate to the events in The Guest, or the lack

of them, through our own experiences of being colonized. A feeling

of dj vu enters our reading as we discover the known within the

unknown.

For instance, the significance of the meal that Daru prepared for

the prisoner and the fact that he set the table for two is not lost onIndian readers. In many of our own cultures, the sharing of a meal is

an important indication of hospitality, and we readily relate to the fact

The Guest in Our Lives

Ajanta Dutt

Greater Kailash- I

New Delhi

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that Daru values Arab culture because that is the land he was born in.

We also appreciate Darus confusion, his amazement at the unmixed

joy he derived from the mere thought that the Arab might have fled

and that he would be alone with no decision to make. However,

individuals from certain cultures might not understand Darus gesture

and even misunderstand his mood because a visitor who arrives

unannounced, especially at dinnertime, is seen as the ultimate intruder.

Camus wrote in his essay on Tragedy, All can be justified, no one

is just. Readers find that they can justify the actions and feelings of

every person in the text by putting themselves in the place of each

character by turn. Although Balducci brings the prisoner all bound to

the schoolhouse, we notice that in Camus description of the approachof the two men up the steep slope of an arid wasteland. Balducci was

holding back his horse in order not to hurt the Arab. Yet Camus does not

make it easy for either Balducci or for us to act on our primary

emotions; the author balances choices that have no simple answer. In

reply to Darus protest, Balducci reinforces the fact that the decision

to hand over the prisoner comes from a superior authority. Then he

admits: I dont like it either. You dont get used to putting a rope on a maneven after years of it, and youre ashamed - yes, ashamed. But you cant let

them have their own way. This is the tragedy of the common man who

bears no personal grudges against the one chosen for him to be his

enemy.

Even such initial interactions with the text, to make sense ofCorsican Balduccis torn loyalties to the European authorities and the

poverty stricken Arabs, enable us to recall personal histories where

we too have been given an enemy we have not chosen. Many of our

Partition narratives like Toba Tek Singh or A Train to Pakistan

emphasize the fact that the violence of history was foisted upon us,

and it continues to grind us in its path even today, creating problematic

identities so very difficult to deal with.

We perceive Camus as a representative writer of world literature

striving to come to terms with the concepts of colonization and exile.

His narration is part of a growing discourse that links the work of such

diverse authors as Edward Said, Chinua Achebe and Amy Tan (to name

only a few). Camus short story is a moment in this continuing

discourse that measures the historical conflicts of this century against

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philosophical considerations that claim universality but are limited by

cultural boundaries.

The reality of space and time, of belonging simultaneously to more

than one world, one culture makes us understand Darus attitude toward

the land of his birth, and the resultant emotion that Everywhere else,

he felt exiled. If we imaginatively believe that The Guest is

autobiographical, and Albert Camus is Daru or has invested in Daru

his own cultural predicament, this can explain the isolation in the

closing line of the story that follows Darus fateful reckoning with the

Arab: In this vast landscape he had loved so much, he was alone. It

is not surprising that the reader feels the need to locate Camus in his

fiction because the author himself outlines his responsibilities as awriter in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech:

But the silence of an unknown prisoner subjected to humiliations at the

other end of the world is enough to tear the writer from exile, at least whenever

he manages, amid the privileges of freedom, not to forget that silence but to

give it voice by means of art.

- 2 -

Subjectivity is a cultural variable. Thus when Balducci summarizes

his reasons for taking the Arab prisoner, he is deliberately vague-

perhaps even a little indifferent. He says, A family squabble, I think.One owed grain to the other, it seems. Its not at all clear. In short, he killed

his cousin with a billhook. Attempting a detailed description of this

quarrel allows us to arrive at four different explanations for Balducciswords.

One, the Arab in the schoolhouse is a cold-hearted murderer. He

murdered his cousin with a billhook, which suggests that he is a violent

man, given to sudden spurts of anger. Two, the Arab is not a violent

man but the quarrel with his cousin lasted several days, even weeks.

The cousin provoked the Arab to such a degree that the latter could

not stop himself from the violent act. Three, the cousin some grain

from the Arab, promising to return it in due course but did not do so.

He may have been unable to do so or could even have tried to cheat

the Arab with his refusal to pay. The Arab was moved to violence

because he could not afford to part with the grain that was perhaps

the only means to feed his family when there was so much poverty inthe land. Four, the cousin was unsympathetic about the Arabs

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predicament and was meanly pressurizing him to make the payment

immediately.

In Balduccis description of the quarrel, only the identity of he

is evident. The two people referred to as one and other are

interchangeable, and could denote either the Arab or his cousin. The

deliberate lack of clarity leading to a confounding judgement of the

murder is further emphasized by phrases I think, it seems and not

at all clear. The language of the text helps us enter another zone of

justice, where neither the narrator nor we are eye witnesses to the inner

text. Thus we do what perhaps Camus would have us do - justify for

everybodys actions. We want to exonerate the man who is the

murderer because the act is not premeditated. It is committed underdeep provocation and intense hardship. It is a crime of passion but

also an act of self-defense because the Arab is perhaps trying to keep

his family from starving. The cousin is equally justified in demanding

payment as his family is probably starving too.

Each explanation leads us to a different part of the story for

supporting evidence. We have already read about the harsh

circumstances and famine in the land, which had moved the

administration to leave grain for distribution in the schoolhouse.

Camus writes, it would be hard to forget that poverty, that army of raggedghosts wandering in the sunlight, the plateaus burned to cinder month after

month. The sheep had died then by thousands and even a few men, here

and there, sometimes without anyones knowing. Although we glimpse thebenign forces of colonization, we concentrate upon the dual role played

by the agencies of justice who were searching for the murderer for

over a month. Reading that they were hiding him convinces readers

that the Arabs own community must have condoned his crime, and

he has been brought to Daru only because His village was beginning to

stir; they wanted to take him back. Such evidence should prevent us from

seeing the man as a cold-blooded murderer or else why should his own

people be ready to shelter him for a crime committed against another

one of their own?

When we consider the different possibilities that Camus is

proposing, we learn to incorporate more than one view of history and

literature to the topic. Again when Daru packs food for the Arab, gives

him money, points the way to the prison, but also gestures the alternate

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road to freedom, Camus is narrating a history that history cannot

narrate. He is telling us that what could have happened did happen.

Although Daru tells the Arab that the administrators at Tinguit are

expecting [him], he gives additional directions to his guest for the

road to freedom: Thats the trail across the plateau. In a days walk fromhere youll find pasturelands and the first nomads. Theyll take you in and

shelter you according to their law.

Perhaps there are no ambiguities here only possibilities. It cannot

be doubted that the schoolteacher is giving the Arab a choice, a choice

not to turn himself in but escape instead. It is perhaps obvious that

in Darus own mental state, the authority of the foreign law, especially

the one he is compelled to represent and uphold is not absolute. Thereis also an alternate law of the land symbolized by the nomads, a law

that can support the extenuating circumstances of the crime.

Darus vehement protest against his own role in the Arabs capture

is voiced earlier in the text. He says, every bit of this disgusts me, andfirst of all your fellows here. But I wont hand him over. Fight, yes, if I have

to. But not that. The question is: is Daru reconciled to fighting on the

side of the authorities if there is an actual war, or is he taking a stand

against them in everyday, civil matters? Of course the course of action

he chooses must be at some cost to him, for now he is the traitor,

protecting the one who has betrayed his kin.

Such complex socio-political problems regarding justice are

discussed by Amartya Sen in his recent book The Idea of Justice. Hewishes to clarify how we can proceed to address questions of enhancingjustice and removing injustice rather than to offer resolutions about questions

about the nature of perfect justice. Thus we are not trying to create a

perfectly just society, but negotiate with justice and have it mediated

for individuals who do not deserve to be condemned out of hand.

Seen in this context, Daru has been unable to accept the prisoner

for what he is a murderer. Instead, he has identified him as a guest,

with himself playing the role of the host. He has undone, literally, the

ropes on his wrists and given him tea in the first moments of their

meeting. Later, he has prepared a meal for him, put the security of

the revolver aside inside a desk drawer where the Arab could

possibly have reached it. In a brief exchange with the Arab about

whether he is the judge, Daru has replied, No, Im simply keeping you

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until tomorrow. During the night, Daru has realized the truth of his

own confused response to the Arabs presence: But it bothered him also

by imposing on him a sort of brotherhood he knew well but refused to accept

in the present circumstances. Men who share the same rooms, soldiers or

prisoners, develop a strange alliance. In the morning, Daru has ruminated

further on the complexity of his own position, the fractured state of

his own identity: That mans stupid crime revolted him, but to hand him

over was contrary to honor. And he cursed at one and the same time his

own people who had sent him this Arab and the Arab too who had dared to

kill and not managed to get away.

Darus relationship and interaction with the Arab are acutely

problematic and fraught with uncertainty. He would have appreciated

the easier choice of the Arab escaping without his help. In the final

scene between the two, Daru is not trying to be just to the authorities

or even to the Arab; he is merely justifying his own anxieties, his own

dilemma, and indirectly justifying for the Arabs predicament.

In the readers eye, he has shown respect to the Arab by treating

him as a guest. Yet, the reader is compelled to answer for more: Does

that justify for what he sees: with heavy heart, [he] made out the Arab

walking slowly on the road to prison. Has the schoolteacher given the

man a choice or withdrawn from him that very choice through his own

trust and hospitality?

This is the unexpected reversal. When Daru returns to theschoolroom, he sees on the blackboard, among the winding French rivers,sprawled the clumsily chalked-up words: You handed over our brother. You

will pay for this. Who could have written these words when no one

else was present? Would one of Darus students or a member of the

Arabs community dare to creep in behind his back and record such

an accusation on the blackboard? Perhaps the words were a figment

of Darus imagination, the surrealist imprint of self-accusation and guilt

which must be prominent in his own mind. This ultimate possibility

makes this story a text without closure.

(Ajanta Dutt teaches English

at Deshbandhu College, Delhi)

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My apologies to all who think of Kolkata my memories are only

of Calcutta from the 1950s to the early 1980s. I was all of 12 years

old when I read that Calcutta was the first city of the Empire. Our

history classes come to mind the Battle of Plassey, the British East

India Company, Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah, Robert Clive, Warren

Hastings, both the latter names still alive in Calcutta!

Cut to 13 years later and I am in a train to Calcutta to join an MNC

for what I hope will be an illustrious career. As I try to sleep, I hear

the train travel over the railway crossings and points. I dream of the

Howrah Bridge, a suspension bridge, a marvel of modern engineering

that was perforce opened without any fanfare; it was wartime and theJaps were knocking at Indias south eastern borders. For the record,

Japanese planes did bomb Calcutta! Visions also of the Red Road as

a landing strip for Spitfires and Hurricanesthe wheels of the train

clattered on through the night.

Next morning Calcutta at last. Confusion at the Howrah station

of the type I had never seen before. People everywhereand still more

people. Trams, buses, taxis, trucksand the ubiquitous hand pulled

rickshaws all over the place! Chaostraffic jams! How did people

get anywhere in this congestion! But they did.

Somehow I reach the office and am thrilled to learn that my

employers had a trainees hostel in Chandernagore (Chandannagarcame much later). From England to France in one day! By the evening

I am ensconced in the comfortable guest house. The Hooghly is just

Calcutta

I Love Thee Still

R. C. Kumar

Kailash Colony

New Delhi

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a 100 hundred yards away and a short walk to the banks is just what

Le docteur ordered.

It is early September. The fury of the monsoon is over. The river

is still in spate. There are barges going to Calcutta carrying goods from

dozens of factories; jute mills line either side of the river. These goods

then reach Calcutta for onward dispatch all over the world. The peculiar

thing is that jute is grown in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) and the

mills are in West Bengal. Commerce and trade continue uninterrupted

but what entrances me the most are the boatmen happily singing as

they drift down to Calcutta. Im told that this is Bhatiyali music in

its rawest form. It is only later that Sachin Dev Burman gave it a more

filmy format and popularized it all over the country.Those evenings on the Strand were very welcome. They relieved

the pain and tensions of the work-day. A big surprise was that even

the humble constable on his beat spoke French and good French at

that! Our weekends were spent going to Calcutta by the local trains

powered by steam engines. Howrah, a bus to Esplanade, and then

Chowringhee. I had still not heard of Mani Shankar Mukherjee

(Shankar), author of Chowringhee.

Travelling by bus, I learnt almost my first Bengali words It was now getting towards Durga Puja and Bata had a slogan

I saw my first Bengali film fl I was beginningto learn the language - a continuous project and an endless one.

I completed my training and set up home in central Calcutta. That

was when I came to love Bengal and particularly Calcutta. Two things

stand out most in my memory.

Calcutta is a city with a heart. The is the very essence of itsexistence. While a word in Hindi is mohalla, it doesnt have the heart

of a . In the everybody is for everybody; the mohalla lacksthat feeling. The youngsters in the spend their evenings drinkingtea in a group and this is the D. Subjects range from politics tofootball to love affairs but let no one from another talk of thelatter. If anyone is in trouble, then the boys are there to help. Thenearest thing to a

outside Calcutta is in Mumbai, with its chawl.

The other is the sense of true hospitality. Weddings and Onno-

prashon functions highlighted this. In a typical north Indian wedding,

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the host will have dozens of dishes well laid out. The host will probably

tell the guests aoji khana lag gaya and with a help yourself smile

leave the guests to fend for themselves. In the Bengali reception each

guest is seated with a thala and several batis and the host and his

friends go around with each dish serving the guests until the guest

says bas. This, to my mind, is true hospitality. I am told that Calcutta

has fallen on bad days but the practice continues in other towns.

Bengal is a host to many communities, and thus the cuisine of

Calcutta is a reflection of all the cultures, with its Nizams, Firpos,

Skyroom (I am told the last two have now closed), the K.C Das,

Ganguram and several other sweet shops.

Bengali cuisine is something else. However, it was most surprisingthat there were very few restaurants serving it. Of course, there were

holes-in-the-wall, what we in Delhi call dhabas. But these were not

for people like me who were strangers in the city. But this lacunae

was more than made up by my Bengali colleagues and friends, who

were more than hospitable.

All true blooded Bengalis would die for Ilish, the same fish as

the palla of Sindh. Cooked differently, both are delectable and yet

worlds apart in taste. The Mochar Ghonto, Shukto, Luchi and

Begun Bhaja 'Alur Dom', 'Shorshe-Ilish'.I can go on and on about

Bengali cuisine.

The other cuisine which I fell in love with, and consequently put

on weight, was Chinese cuisine. When I first went to Calcutta, it was

famous for its Chinese food. The best Chinese food was served in

Tangra in Chinese homes where the food is cooked fresh in front of

you. All that you need to enjoy this food is patience and appetite.

Regretfully, dhabas everywhere from Punjab to Kanyakumari, are today

serving something that goes by the name of chop suey and fried

rice.

Thank you Calcutta for making my stay so memorable. There is so

much more I remember about Calcutta to know Shankar and

Soumitra Chatterjee, the addas at Firpos, cricket madness at Eden

Gardens.some other day perhaps.

(Having returned to Delhi, Romesh Chandra Kumar

leads on Reeceful retired life)

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Once upon a time many centuries ago there was an empire in

Cambodia. It left behind many beautiful and desolate ruins, known to

the world today as Angkor Wat, a stunning and haunting World Heritage

site like none other. Here existed the Khmer empire between the ninth

and twelfth centuries AD. Today, Siem Reap is the gateway to this

mysterious kingdom that used to stretch over all of modern Cambodia

and a lot of Thailand as well.

The Indianisation of southeast Asia through trade and commerce

began a long way back in the 1st century AD, but the Pre Angkor era

began at Funan and Chendla in the 3rd century AD. Jayavarman II was

the first king of the Angkor era.The year was 802 AD. He

established himself as god-

king in the Kulen mountains

and began the Linga worship

cult or Shaivism. The first

capital was at Roluos. King

Yashovarman VI built the first

major temple in the Angkor

area, the Phnom Bakheng, in

893 CE. In 928 AD the capital

moved away to Koh Ker, onlyto return to Pre Rup in 961AD.

The building of temples,

Angkor - The Holy City

Amita Sen

Sarvodaya Enclave,

New Delhi

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palaces, water reservoirs or Barays

continued with the construction of

Ta Keo, Bantey Srey, Baphuon. The

temple mountain concept of the

Hindu Mythology or the Mount

Meru was used in many of its

buildings, in Bakong, East Mebon,

Pre Rup, Baphuon and the Angkor

Wat. This was the state temple of

Suryavarman II and was built in the

twelfth century AD.

Once inside you see a massivethree-storied pyramid crowned by

five lotus like towers rising 65 meters from the ground level. Its

orientation being westward suggested a later possible usage of the

edifice as a funerary temple for Suryavarman II. Other temples of the

period include Bantey Samre, Thommanon, Beng Melea and Wat Atea.

Between the 14th and 18th century, while Angkor Wat was very much

active in its native land, it was not visible to the western world.

Somehow it got lost in the dense forests of Cambodia. In 1860 a French

explorer Henri Mouhot in his book Travels in Siam, Cambodia, Laos

and Annam helped revive interest in Angkor once again.

Cambodia has four major seasons and although December to

January is considered to have the best weather, the wet season of June

to October has many advantages for the temple visitors. The moats

and lakes are full and the temples are at their photogenic best. The

main body of Siem Reap town stretches 3 km north south along the

river and aroud 4-5 km east west. The airport is around 6 km from the

town centre. The main temple complex lies around 5-10 km north of

the town. Tuktuks or large auto-rickshaws are a convenient mode of

transportation and although the currency is Riel [1 USD = 4100 R]

the dollar is readily accepted. The main ethnic groups are Khmer (90%)

and Cham (5-10%) with some hill tribes in the northeast. Theravad

Buddhism is the main religion (95%) with some Islam, Christianity

and animism also evident in the indigenous population.Cambodia is bordered by Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. It had been

under attack from its neighbouring states in the past as is depicted all

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along the walls of buildings in the Angkor Thom, the Bayon in

particular. The watchtowers of these monumental temples were perhaps

more a necessity than an element of design. Phnom Penh is the capital

city and the other international airport. The main rivers are the Mekong,

Tonle Sap and the Bassac and the main lake is the Tonle Sap. Water

is an important part of life in this part of the world - both for the paddy

fields as well as for religious symbolism.

Visitors from India can come in via Bangkok or Singapore as there

are no direct flights to Siem Reap; however those with more time can

also come in overland from Phnom Penh. The first sight that greets

you on stepping out of the airport is a water tank full of red water

lilies. After getting into town, you dont feel like wasting any timebefore going off to see the great Angkor Wat.

Built in the great Dravidian tradition of Gopurams, prakara walls,

temple tanks, outer colonnades, divinities are placed in the cardinal

directions and the cella of the main god - once Vishnu; now the state

religion is Buddhism - influencing the religious practices of the people.

A recurrent motif is that of the nagas, mostly seen at the end of many

balustrades, which makes it clearly a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

The element of snake worship also exists in the legends of the royals

having to cohabit with a snake every night for the well being of the

kingdom, in a certain palace building at the Angkor Thom - the state

capital of which Angkor Wat was the state temple.

As the visitor looks at the temple complex today, what strikes one

is the fact that in spite of tremendous efforts by the authorities towards

the ongoing work on

conservation, both time

and the humid weather

have not dealt kindly

with these monuments.

To keep them accessible

to visitors takes up

tremendous effort

indeed. A walk around

each level going pastcarved galleries, the

play of shadows

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amongst the ghata

pillars, the beautiful

apsaras (celestial

maidens), the devatas,

tales of battles and

valour from the epics.

There are also the gods

and mythology of the

timeless tales of heroic

kings and cosmic

heavens. It is all there carved in eternal stone.

Inscriptions telling the story still exist, etched in stone. The ceilingshave traces of the original paint, the patravalli floral motifs, the

elephants, the birds, the vines and the leaves and buds form many of

the enduring images. After the parikrama, as you return over the

causeway over the surrounding moat you turn back to look once more

towards The Holy City Of Angkor.

The sunrise, sunset and even the view during different times of the

day has been discussed and admired by many authors but the nicest

feel about this temple was its timelessness. As you walk past the

terraces with their bas reliefs of major scenes from Hindu mythology

you begin thinking about ancient trade routes and cultures spilling

across national boundaries. The architecture thus presents stories of a

faraway land so beautifully displayed in everlasting stone.

Life is not all about stone temples and desolate ruins. Angkor has

a cultural landscape too. The people are not merely statistics but very

real. My impressions of Cambodia were from the movie The Killing

Fields by Norman Jaffe a few decades ago at the Shakuntalam theatre

- a moving poignant tale of atrocities of the Khmer Rouge and Pol

Pot. I truly did not know what to expect in this country of contradictions

but stepping out into the pleasant Cambodian spring, I found an

extremely warm, friendly, albeit tourist savvy country.

The people were human, not merely stone carved apsaras.

Grandmothers, mothers, Tuk-tuk drivers, chubby babies behind the Ta

Prohm of the famous silk cotton trees coming out of stone images, allwere happy humans bound together by that common thread so familiar

to Bengal and Kerala. Rice fish and coconut milk.the tasty Amotik

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Curry.all of southeast Asia has one basic shared trait, excellent home

cooking over familiar hearths. I saw a lot of that in Siem Reap. Food

was good - pure Asian to pretty decent French - Cambodian efforts.

Great fruit juices, familiar mangoes were in abundance everywhere.

It is a quaint country with houses on stilts, Toyota Camrys, the older

models parked all over as taxis, Tuk-tuks to bargain with taking you

to Indian restaurants like the Currywalla, complete with a bearded

turbanned face. The Old market area in the colonial part of town is

just like Gariahat or a cleanish, more picturesque INA market. A lazy

river runs along the middle with French colonial buildings alongside

wide promenades. The bridges reminded me of the ponts on the Seine,

but on a smaller scale, of course.The local markets were pretty well stocked with scarves and beads

and cute souvenirs of dolls in native dress. The stall owners at the

temple sites were willing to bargain with all their wares. I still feel

excited remembering my walks all over the inner walls of the Angkor

Thom in silent contemplation of the tilted ruins and bargains with astute

sellers of Temple Etchings so very difficult to resist.

Away from Angkor Thom, also called the Citadel of Women, Bantey

Srey was a delicate delight of pink laterite stone, exquisitely carved

with Ramayana scenes and gods of the Hindu pantheon. The less

celebrated Bantey Samre, far from the crowds - a silent temple amidst

a wooded landscape with the Cambodian lion sentinels guarding the

empty causeway behind the monument evokes a sense of curiosity.

Where did the worshippers disappear?

I would have loved to drift down the great Tonle Sap, climb up the

Kulen mountains and so much more but I leave that for another visit,

another day. Till then I can only wonder that for 20 USD per diem if

you wish to wander around a serene landscape amidst friendly locals

with no religious or political issues (apart from occasional skirmishes

with Thailand, their traditional opponents) there is no better place. True,

this entails you to visit just their monuments, everything else is over

and above this. Come to Cambodia. Their civilization, like ours, lives

on. (Amita Sen is a practicing pediatric surgeon)

Photographs : Tapati Guha Thakurta

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The trendy boutique for outrageous outfits was a tip-off by my

ex-classmate Mona. At college she never wore the same sari or the

same salwar kameez for two successive days. Her pleats were stiffly

pressed, the pallu always at the same angle, her tips and toes

meticulously manicured. Her bangles always matched the hues of her

plentiful collection of expensive handloomed saris. Her hair was

bobbed, not a wisp was ever out of place. She was never the

maximalist student walking up to the dias to receive prizes. She

brushed off any pretentious talks of careers among her women

classmates by declaring the secret dream of them all, namely, to adorn

the post of an elegant hostess for a lucrative husband.Why, you wear a new sari every day, Mona. This, from the humble

Lila subsisting on a state scholarship. Beh, I just snuggle into bed in

my college clothes. Cant come to class in a crumpled sari, can I.

I met Mona after many years in Agras Kinari Bazar. I was

strolling, rather pushing my way through aimless folks, and trying not

to get tempted by those fly-covered sweets heaped on enormous brass

platters only centimetres above the open drains in rickety stalls. The

pitifully ugly, painted women were still huddling in their wretched

dwellings above the blaring paan shops. I was looking for silver

trinkets for my German friends a world away from this Kinari Bazar.

A stunning orange and black print hanging in the big showcaseof the traditional Mehra House stopped me, I blinked into the dusky

interior where the incongruously yuppieish scion of the Mehra clan

Bharati Banerjee

Heidenheim, Germany

Group Photo with Buffaloes

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greeted me elegantly. His grandfather used to sit on white sheets over

a raised platform facing the women. Sitting on simple benches, and

talking endless shop between cups of tea and cocacola. Then and now,

selling saris is monopolised by men with peculiar persuasive talents

for handling groggy-eyed females, tirelessly fondling masses of fabric.

Mehras had the proudest collection of bridal saris in shot silk, real

gold was used lavishly for mind-boggling borders and pallus in those

olden golden days. Artistry was likely to be sacrificed for more of that

coveted metal, as Grandma used to say, recollecting the stiff,

resplendent Banarasi of her wedding nearly as heavy as a medieval

knights outfit.

The young Mehra was leaning on one of the

Documents

HINDOL 3rd Issue - Jan - Feb 2010