I N T R O D U C T I O N :It all started when I questioned myself of my origin; and the answer was not easy. Born in a family with four generations living in the Northeast of India and originally hailing from the plains of Greater Bengal, now Bangladesh, it was a difficult question to answer. I was born and brought up in an upcoming vibrant city in Assam which is a melting pot of cultures. I have been exposed to a confluence of cultures, colours and cuisines and nonetheless the various landscapes, and I always nurtured an urge to to know more.

In the recent past I had the opportunity to visit Margherita/Ledo, small towns at the easternmost fringes of Assam, bordering Burma ( now Myanmar). I was documenting the growth of the coal industry in Assam both open cast and underground mines in Margherita when I happened to come across the stories about the Stilwell road. The Stilwell road or the Ledo road was built by Joseph.W.Stilwell during the second world war by the allied forces.It would connect India through Burma upto Kunming province of China.

Having visited a heritage museum built by Coal India and discovering a trea-sure trove of information propelled me to do a project on the art that hap-pened or was prevalent during the wars. Portraits of war is a concise docu-mentation of the kind of Art that was around during the second world war in Burma, a part of the Indian subcontinent.

There were different artists who were commissioned to document the war who were also war veterans who fought hand in hand with the other soldiers. World War II was the largest and most violent armed conflict in the history of mankind. However, the seven and a half decades that separates us from that conflict has exacted its toll on our collective knowledge. While World War II continues to absorb the interest of military scholars and historians, as well as its veterans. World War II has a lot to teach us, not only about the profession of arms, about military preparedness, global strategy, and combined opera-tions in the coalition war against fascism but also about the art that developed inspite of the war.

A documentation of one of the tribes who still inhabit parts of India, Burma and China under the shadows of the Patkai Ranges; The Singphos’ would perhaps justify this presentation.

Tipong Colliery is near the Arunachal Pradesh border. It is operated by the North Eastern Coal-fields division of Coal India Ltd, and was first commercialised by the Assam Railways and Trad-ing Company(AR&T) in the 1880s under Berry White.

Tipong has two irregular, tilted seams, utilising mainly underground working to a depth of about 350m. Coal is brought to the surface via inclines and is transported approximately 2.5km down the valley on a narrow gauge tramway to an underground conveyor belt and then to a loading dock.

Picture taken inside an abandoned ‘Udit Khani’ 1979

Art is a symbol. It serves as a visual manisfestation of the ideas that shape an age, despite percieved distance and removal from the reality.Jackson Pollock, suggests, “The modern artist cannot express this age, the airplane, the atom bomb, the radio, in the old forms of the Renaissance or of any other past culture.” Though Pollock was refering to the 1940s and 1950s, his insight remains relevant in understanding the art created during the Viet-nam War. Upon first glance it may appear as though conceptualism, the major American artistic movement of the 1960s and 1970s, demonstrated indiffer-ence toward the conflict, but this claim could not be further from the truth. Conceptualists of the Vietnam War era looked to new means and techniques to convey the ideas and to analyze the events that inspired their motivations.

A cholera case, by artist Jack Bridger Chalker

Dysentery too was endemic on the Thai–Burma railway. Often prisoners were forced to lie on bamboo beds and the wards became awash with human waste from prisoners unable to crawl to the latrines.

Australian Prisoners of War during the construction of the Burma Railway

War is a common theme in art and has inspired great works of art. Throughout history, most representations of war depict military achievements and often show significant battle scenes. However, in the 19th century a “turn” in the visual representation of war became noticeable. Artists started to show the disastrous aspects of war instead of its glorified events and pro-tagonists.[1] Such a perspective is best exemplified by Goya’s series, Disasters of War (1810-1820, first published in 1863).In connection to World War II, the relations between art and war can be articulated around two main issues. First, art (and, more generally, culture) found itself at the centre of an ideo-logical war. Second, during World War II, many artists found themselves in the most difficult conditions (in an occupied country, in internment camps, in death camps) and their works are a testimony to a powerful “urge to create”. Such creative impulse can be interpreted as the expression of self-preservation, a survival instinct in critical times.

A war artist depicts some aspect of war through art. The art might be a pictorial record, or it might commemorate how war shapes lives.War artists explore the visual and sensory dimensions of war, often absent in written histo-ries or other accounts of warfare.A war artist creates a visual account of the impact of war by showing how men and women are waiting, preparing, fighting, suffering, celebrating,or destroyed.

The works produced by war artists illustrate and record many aspects of war and the individual’s experience of war, wheth-er allied or enemy, service or civilian, military or political, social or cultural. The role of the artist and his work is to em-brace the causes, course, and consequences of conflict, and has an essentially educational purpose.Artists record military activities in ways that cameras and the written word cannot. Their art collects and distills the expe-riences of the men and women who endured it.The artists and their artwork affect how subsequent generations view military conflicts. For example, Australian war artists who grew up between the two world wars were influenced by the artwork which depicted the First World War, and there was a precedent and format for them to follow.

Official war artists have been appointed by governments for information or propaganda purposes and to record events on the battlefield,but there are many other types of war artists. These can include combatants who are artists and choose to record their experiences, non-combatants who are witnesses of war, and prisoners of war who may voluntarily record the conditions or be appointed war artists by senior officers.There were a number of war artists who were commisioned to document the ravages of war.

Art During the World War II EraWith the spread of Adolf Hitler’s oppressive juggernaut throughout Europe, many of the continent’s prominent artists sought refuge across the Atlantic in the United States. Subsequently American art experienced significant influence from the exiled artists and thinkers who were in the midst of embracing the Surrealist aesthetic as prescribed by the movement’s founder André Breton. Breton claimed that, “Surrealism rests on the belief in the superior reality of cer-tain forms of association hitherto neglected, in the omnipotence of the dream, and in the disinterested play of thought.” Influenced heavily by the work of Sigmund Freud, Breton embraced the idea of psychic automatism. Psychic automatism can be described as a reconciliation of sorts between the conscious and unconscious realms of human existence through permitting the content of dreams and other desires to permeate one’s conscious work. This practice was an attempt to depict the need to expand the limits of human reality in response to political and cultural turmoil that had consumed Europe and other parts of the world.

I have been specifically wanting to talk about the spoils of the vietnam war that happened during the second world war and how it affected the neighbour-ing countries like Myanmar(Burma), India and China. Art in the times of war and after the war is what I am trying to document. The outcome of the war, how it affected the people, how they lived and coped with their day-to-day life, their folk stories and what shaped them is what I want to highlight in this project.

Bisa Roja, of the Singpho/Jingpho/Jingphaw tribe narrating a folk story(Hati Bhai) for me

BU R M AThe name of the country of Burma (or Myanmar, as it is now officially known) is associated with the dominant ethnic group, the Burmese. Because of the current regime’s lack of legitimacy and poor human rights record, it is common practice outside the country not to use the name Myanmar. The country fell under British colonial rule during the nineteenth century. When it became independent as the Union of Burma in 1948, the country almost immediately entered a state of civil war as ethnic minorities fought against the Burmese-dominated central government. Insurgencies by some ethnic groups continue. In 1962, the military leader Ne Win seized power. His regime sought to isolate the nation and institute nationalist policies under the label “the Burmese Road to Socialism.” In 1972, the name of the country was changed to the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma. After civil unrest in 1988, the military govern-ment changed the name to the Union of Myanmar.

Efforts to create a broadly shared sense of national identity have been only partly successful because of the regime’s lack of legitimacy and tendency to rely on coercion and threats to secure the allegiance of non-Burmese groups. The low level of education and poor communications infrastructure also limit the spread of a national culture.

Burmese is a Tibeto-Burman language whose alphabet is derived from south Indian scripts. The largest ethnic group that speaks Burmese is the Myanma; there is a smaller Burmese-speaking ethnic group known as Baramagyi (or Barua). A few regional dialects of Burmese are associated with subgroups. Close-ly related Southern Burmish languages include Arakanese, Intha, and Taungyo (or Tavoyan). Burmese is the national language. It is spoken as a second language by most educated members of other ethnic groups, but some of those groups have little contact with the national language. Many educated urban residents speak English as a second language, but English is not widely spoken among the population as a whole. The teaching of English in schools was banned from 1966 to 1980. Shan is as an important second language for many ethnic groups in Shan State, while Jingpho/ Jingphaw(Singpho) is spoken as a second language by many smaller ethnic groups in Kachin State.

Since 1962, the government has used an array of slogans urging discipline and support for the regime and the military. The promotion of nationalist senti-ments through the media, public events, and the display of related images is especially marked on holidays. Among architectural sites with national symbol-ism, two of the most important are the archaeological site of the old capital of Pagan and Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon.

The Arts and HumanitiesSupport for the Arts.Until the 1880s, the nobility was an important source of support for artists. After the fall of the monarchy, support came from newly rich merchants and British colonial officers. From the 1920s to the 1940s, there was relatively little support from the government or the public. State schools for the fine arts were opened in Rangoon and Mandalay in 1953, and there was a revival of interest in traditional art forms. The military regime of 1962 en-couraged art forms supportive of its nationalist and socialist agenda. Since 1988, there has been little government support.Literature.The focus of writing within Burmese society was, and to a large extent still is, focused on writing for theater performances (pwe) and producing texts relating to Buddhism. In addition, since the nineteenth century there is a fair amount of popular fiction. There is also some British fiction from the colonial period that is set in Burma. Among the early British works of fiction concerned with the Burmese are two novels by H. Fielding:The Soul of a Peo-ple(1898) andThibaw’s Queen(1899). By far the best known British novel set in Burma is George Orwell’sBurmese Days(1934), a critical examination of British colonial rule.

Graphic Arts:

The graphic arts include temple sculpture in wood, stucco, stone, and wood; temple mural painting, usually in tempera; other forms of wood carving; ivory carving; work in bronze, iron, and other metals; jewelry; ceramics; glassware; lacquerware; textiles and costume; items made of palm and bamboo; and painting on paper or canvas.Lacquerware entails the covering of an object made of bamboo or wood with a liquid made from tree sap. These objects include containers as well as tables, screens, and carved animal figures. The process preserves, strengthens, and waterproofs objects and has been developed into a decorative art form. Its or-igins are ancient. Pagan is the largest and most important center for lacquerware. The Government Lacquerware School was established by local artists in Pagan in 1924. The Shan also have a distinctive lacquerware tradition.Weaving is a highly developed traditional art form. Among the Burmese, it reached its highest form in the production oflun-taya acheikcloth. The technique was brought from Manipur in the eighteenth century, but the complex motifs are distinctly Burmese. This style of cloth is still woven near Mandalay for sale to elite Burmese. There are distinctive textile traditions among the ethnic minorities.Traditional painting on paper made from tree bark or bamboo pulp is known asparabaik painting. The earliest known example dates back to the eighteenth century. Pigments were made of tempera, with gold and silver inks used for the costumes of nobles and deities. The paintings also formed folded pages in books. Initially these paintings depicted religious scenes, court scenes, or astrological charts, medicines, tattoo designs, and sexual techniques, and the painters were itinerant artists employed by the court. Among the new styles of painting that emerged after the fall of the monarchy were paintings of happy families sold to the newly rich. Traditional painting declined in the 1920s as local patrons and artists became more interested in European styles. A revival of interest in Burmese themes took place after the 1962 military takeover. The new regime held an annual painting exhibition to promote select painters.The exhibitions ended in 1988, but the military regime allowed the fine arts school to remain open.

Performance Arts.

Popular performances often combine music, dance, and drama in a pwe (“show”). These shows take place at fairs, religious festivals, weddings, funerals, and sporting events. They generally are held at night and can go on all night long. A pwe typically includes performanc-es based on legends and Buddhist epics; comedy skits; singing, dancing, and music; and sometimes a puppet show. Traditional music and dance have been influenced by Thailand. Traditional instruments played in an ensemble include a circle of drums, a thirteen-stringed boat-shaped harp, a circle of gongs, a xylophone like instrument, an oboe like instrument, a bamboo flute, a bass drum, small cymbals, and bamboo clappers. Today these traditional instruments are combined with Western ones, including a guitar. The Kon-baung court em-ployed performers specializing in recitation, singing, dancing, and acting. Highly stylized dramatic performances were accompanied by music. There is also a tradi-tion of popular public performances such as the nebhatkhin (a pageant depicting the birth of Buddha) and the more secular myai-waing (an earth-circling performance) conducted by traveling actors and musicians. After 1885, entertainers performed for a new public, and more lively forms of entertainment were developed, including all-female dance troupes. Western-style stage plays were introduced at that same time. There was interest in newer forms of performance in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Such performanc-es ended with the outbreak of World War II. After of independence, there was a revival of interest in traditional dance, drama, and music. The 1950s saw a revival of traditional art forms and the emergence of a new form of modern melodrama called pya-zat. These were modern plays that rarely dealt with traditional subjects. While secular performance arts now dominate popular entertainment, the military regime has continued to support more tradi-tional performances and the fine arts schools still teach traditional forms of dance and dra-ma, although the audiences consist largely of tourists, resident expatriates, and members of the ruling elite.

A young child at an initiation ceremony in Mandalay. Ninety percent of Burmese follow the Theravada form of Buddhism, also know as Hinayana Buddhism.

Art Post-World War II-After World War II, Japanese artists became preoccupied with the mechanisms of urban life and moved from abstraction to anime-influenced art.In the post-World War II period of Japanese history, the government-sponsored Japan Art Academy (Nihon Geijutsuin) was formed in 1947, containing both nihonga and yōga divisions.

After World War II, painters, calligraphers, and printmakers flourished in the big cities, particularly Tokyo, and became preoccupied with the mechanisms of urban life, reflected in the flickering lights, neon colors, and frenetic pace of their abstractions.After the abstractions of the 1960s, the 1970s saw a return to realism strongly flavored by the “op” and “pop” art movements, embodied in the 1980s in the explosive works of Ushio Shinohara.

By the late 1970s, the search for Japanese qualities and a national style caused many artists to reevaluate their artistic ideology and turn away from what some felt were the empty formulas of the West. Contemporary paintings began to make conscious use of traditional Japanese art.There are also a number of contemporary painters in Japan whose work is largely inspired by anime subcultures and other aspects of popular and youth cul-ture, such as the work of Takashi Murakami.

The new post-World War II period of Japanese history, the government-sponsored Japan Art Academy (Nihon Geijutsuin) was formed in 1947. The Acad-emy contained both nihonga (traditional Japanese) and yōga (European-influenced) divisions. Government sponsorship of art exhibitions had ended, but they were replaced by private exhibitions, such as the Nitten, on an even larger scale. Although the Nitten was initially the exhibition of the Japan Art Acad-emy, since 1958 it has been run by a separate private corporation. Participation in the Nitten became almost a prerequisite for nomination to the Japan Art Academy.

The arts of the Edo and prewar periods (1603-1945) had been supported by merchants and urban people, but they were not as popular as the arts of the postwar period. Many such outstanding avant-garde artists worked both in Japan and abroad, winning international prizes. Some of these artists felt more identified with the international school of art rather than anything specifically Japanese. By the late 1970s, the search for Japanese qualities and a national style caused many artists to reevaluate their artistic ideology and turn away from what some felt were the empty formulas of the West. Contemporary paintings within the modern idiom began to make conscious use of traditional Japanese art forms, devices, and ideologies.

Anime InfluenceThere are also a number of contemporary painters in Japan whose work is largely inspired by anime subcultures and other aspects of popular and youth culture. Takashi Murakami is per-haps among the most famous and popular of these, along with the other artists in his Kaikai Kiki studio collective. His work centers on expressing issues and concerns of postwar Japa-nese society through seemingly innocuous forms. He draws heavily from anime and related styles but produces paintings and sculptures in media more traditionally associated with fine arts, intentionally blurring the lines between commercial, popular, and fine arts.

Grave of the Fireflies is often viewed as an anti-war film due to the graphic and emotional depiction of the pernicious repercussions of war on a society, and the individuals therein. The film focuses its attention almost entirely on the personal tragedies that war gives rise to, rather than seeking to glamorize it as a heroic struggle between competing ideologies. It emphasizes that war is society’s failure to perform its most important duty to protect its own people.Director Isao Takahata says its not at all an anti-war anime and contains absolutely no such message. Instead, Takahata had intended to convey an image of the brother and sister living a failed life due to isolation from society and invoke sympathy particularly in people in their teens and twenties. In most of the frames, artists try to depict the ravages of war by having a subtle background but with a strong message.

Technology can also influence society through new products. Many inventions have changed our impressions of society. One invention, the camera, cre-ated images that readily appeared allowing society to view the world in a new light. In 1839, Louis Daguerre developed a process which left an image on a copper plate. The end result was called a daguerreotype. The same year, John Herschel developed the ability to create the first glass negative, permitting the multiplication of prints. A similar process was used by Matthew Brady during the Civil War, but since it took up to 15-30 minutes to develop, the photogra-phers had to have a dark room on site. In 1884, George Eastman developed a new type of paper giving everyone the opportunity to own a camera. Eastman Kodak’s new slogan was “You press the button, we do the rest.” Since its invention the camera, through photographs, has provided a window to the world, society and the past, present or the future. The advent of the camera changed the way people experienced war. For thousands of years, most people only experienced war through the stories of those who lived to tell about it. Wartime photographers gradually made the realities of war accessible, whether the homefront was prepared or not.

Wartime photography, became much more graphic in World War II. In January 1942, the Associated Press, Acme Newspictures, International News Photos, and Life magazine formed the Still Photographic War Pool. The agreement meant that the news organizations would send photographers to the frontlines and share the photographs. By mid-January 1943 there were 28 photographers in various theaters, and the photographs were available to all major publica-tions. Male and female foreign correspondents struggled to meet deadlines, find transportation, send photographs over the wire, and avoid censorship from government agencies. Photographers also had to transport cumbersome equipment that could total several hundred pounds. Life magazine had 21 wartime photographers that spent a combined 13,000 days on assignment, with half of that time near combat. The photographs that wartime correspondents pro-duced came at a high cost. Thirty-seven print and photojournalists were killed in World War II, 112 were wounded, and 50 were taken prisoner. The casual-ty rate among wartime journalists was four times higher than among soldiers. By the early 1960s, photographic technology had greatly advanced. The first digitally scanned photograph was produced in 1957. Cameras became smaller and lighter than their early 20th century counterparts. Furthermore, cameras were more affordable, which made them accessible to the general public. In 1962, as the U.S. government began to pay more attention to the conflict in Vietnam, photojournalists equipped themselves with 35mm cameras that had the capability to take a wide range of shots at faster shutter speeds in a variety of settings. Most importantly, their photographs were in color. The use of color photography, coupled with audio-visual news footage broadcasted into people’s living rooms through televisions, drastically impacted how Americans perceived and understood war. Although the government tried to control the distribution of news and images from Vietnam, the popularity of the television and advances in satellite tech-nology made it almost impossible. The photography documenting the Vietnam War was produced by military combat photography teams and public and private news agencies. Their photographs, intentionally or not, provoked national and international protest against the atrocities committed against human-ity. Up until the 21st century, the Vietnam Conflict was the longest war the United States had fought. Expanding a decade, the war defined a generation of young people. War photography implies more than military combat. It’s an artistic medium that encompasses the impact of war on civilians, environments, and culture. Many wartime photographers became internationally recognized artists. In general, the invention of the camera allowed for a person to document and re-cord history or daily living as he or she experienced it. Today, photography is high tech and continues to be considered an art form, whether it depicts cul-tural activities or documents war. Not only can it be viewed in a gallery, but we also use it to gain information regarding past and current events, as well as the future. Photography continues to provide a window into the world at large.

Influence seen in films:

The Bridge On The River Kwai, being one such film. It showed us by bringing the second world war to life in a series of moving images, ‘Film’ as we know it. The film is set in Burma and was loosely based on a true World War II incident, and the real-life character of Lieu-tenant Colonel Philip Toosey. One of a number of Allied POW’s, the senior British officer Toosey was in charge of his men from late 1942 through May 1943 when they were ordered to build two Kwai River bridges in Burma (first a temporary one made of wood completed in February 1943 and a permanent one of steel/concrete completed a few months later), to help move Japanese supplies and troops from Bangkok to Rangoon.The story’s theme is the futility and insanity of war, and the irony of British pride, viewed through the psychological, confrontational struggle of imperialistic wills between a proud and rigid British and Japanese Colonel. The two protagonists are symbols of different, oppos-ing cultures, but actually they share much in common - egotistical pride, dedication, a belief in saving “face,” and stubborn, inflexible obedience to their class, military codes and rules.A masterpiece in the world of cinema and a peep into the vast world of art based on war.

The railway prisoners during the war. Army personnel like these were captured and made to work as labourers, building bridges and laying down railway tracks through Burma and to diffferent parts of Southeast Asia.

Above left: A comparision be-tween William Holden’s portrayal of POW(Prisoners of War) workers and a real life Pow Railway worker.

Influence in literature:

AMONG INSURGENTS :Walking through Burma, is a nov-el written by Shelby Tucker which is based on his travels through the tropical forest of Burma and the neighbouring Indian states like Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

A diary entry everyday and an in detail documentation of his close encounters with the militia of both China and Burma. Falling in the hands of the Kachin Independence Army and surviving many near misses with the Burmese Army. Despite pain and constant danger, Shelby Tucker recorded each day the vivid beauty of the country, and the courtesy and hospi-tality of the Kachins, one of Burma’s hidden colonies.

Shelby tucker is a writer and a great artist. An artist who depicted the harsh realities of war. A look from within all the political unrest that went on in the country. Shelby Tucker in his own way repaints history with his words and changes the way we look at it.

When my documentations were starting to take shape, I had found a letter from a british soldier to his parents during the Second World War. After interpreting the letter, I have writtten a brief account of what Burma and the neighbouring states were like during the war. How things developed and perished with time and how the railways and the state of Assam came into being.

Front cover of the book (hardcover & paperback)‘AMONG INSURGENTS’: Walking through Burma by Shelby Tucker

INTERPRETING A SOLDIER’S LETTER

It was during the 2nd World War when the Americans decided to build the Stilwell road from Margherita(also Ledo road in Assam) to Rangoon in Burma, now Myanmar. During the War Ledo road acted as a strategic military route. The construction started in December 1942 as the highway crossed through the Pangsau pass(pronounced Pangsu) into the Kun-ming province of China where the road ends. It was known as the Ledo road until January 1945 and later renamed Stilwell Road in honour of General Joseph.W.Stilwell of the allied forces of the American Army. The Stilwell Road is bounded by the Patkai ranges of north-eastern India of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, bordering Burma.It provided land supply to China and Burma for support of the allied forces as an alternative to the Burma Road which had been cut by the Japanese in 1942. It passes through Lekhapani, Joyrampur, Nampong, Pangsau Pass and joins Burma road which passes through Shingbwiyang, Myitkyina and Bhaoma in Burma and Wan-ting and Kunming in China. The total length of the road is 1726 kms out of which 61 kms lies in India and the rest 1033 kms in Burma and 632 kms in Chi-na. In India out of the 61 kms, 30kms lies in Assam and 31kms in Arunachal Pradesh.

In Margherita, I had found a letter from an army soldier from the american allied forces who had been posted in Calcutta and then later posted in Assam as a trooper from the American Army. In the letter he talks about his journey through the jungles and roads of Assam. Now after 70 years the conditions have changed a lot and yet remain the same.The tropical forest still cover the mountainside though sparse. Snake bites are common; Ma-laria still rampant.

Not very far away from Jagun on the Ledo road is Jayrampur where mass graves were discov-ered by the Assam Rifles around 20 years back. These graves neither had tombstones nor epi-taphs. Here, a granite plaque stands today for those numerous unnamed soldiers and laymen workers alike who had laid down their lives, not to the bullet but to the ravages of malaria, snakebites and other diseases. Many of whom were designated to build the stilwell road.

The Stilwell road built by Joseph.W. Stilwell

The name of John Berry White, Civil Surgeon of Upper Assam is familiar to Medical students of Assam as the founder of the Berry White Medical School, Dibrugarh (now known as Assam Medical College & Hospital ). It is, however, not so well known that he played a prominent part in the early development of Upper Assam’s mineral resources and railways.

In the year 1870 coal mining development activity was initiated by Dr.John Berry White, and Mr.George Turner, Mining Engineer in Assam. The first col-liery, Ledo Underground mine was opened in the year 1882 by Assam Railways & Trading Company Ltd.(A.R&T) in the North Eastern Region of Ledo: Tikak Colliery(1884) followed by Makum coalfields in Margherita region. Currently, the Ledo/Margherita region lies in the Tinsukia district of Assam and operates under the Northeastern Coalfields which is a part of Coal India Limited(CIL).Apart from taking part the development of tea and coal, Dr. White had also campaigned in 1878 for construction of a railway line. He had issued a prospec-tus on 4th Dec, 1879 inviting application for shares in the Assam Railway Company Limited. Shortly thereafter action was initiated for formation of Assam Railways and Trading Company Limited which was incorporated on 30th July 1881.The construction work on the Dibru-Sadia Railway was started in the same year and on 15th August, 1882 the line was opened for goods traffic from Dibru-garh to Dinjan river. The train started from the terminus on the Bramhaputra, known as Mohono Mukh, the steamer ghat during dry season about 8 kilo-metres from Dibrugarh.

It was extended to Chabua on 23rd December , 1882. The line to Makum Junction , about 64 kilometres from steamer ghat of Dibrugarh was opened for passenger traffic on 16th July 1883.

Every place has its own story to tell. As for Margherita; the town borrowed its name from the Queen of Italy, Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna. On 18th February 1884, the official opening of the Margherita coalfield had taken place and a special train from Dibrugarh was sent to the collieries at Ledo to mark the occasion. The train plunged into the thick forest and the passengers witnessed a view like no other in the world. Birds chirping, blades of leaves rustling against each other, the only sound that was prominent through the rainforest was the chuffing and whistling of the steam locomotive. The band of 42nd Assam Light Infantry was played with the parades of Lakhimpur volunteers. On this day, the coal town of Assam was named Margherita as an honour to the queen of Italy and also paying tribute to the Italian Chief Engineer, Chevalier Roberto Paganini who constructed the first wooden bridge over the river Deh-ing and railway lines on both it’s banks and founded the settlement around this bridge.This signified the successful completion of Dibru- Sadia Railway.

The Assam Bengal Rail Company laid the first railway line in Assam from Ledo to Sadia to carry coal from the coal fields of Ledo. People hardly know that there is a narrow guage railway line also existed in Assam. The coal from here went to the main wagons which would thereafter be taken to Sadia to be load-ed on to ships for transport downstream. The town of Sadia dissappeared under the Brahmaputra in the 1951-52 earthquake.In order to increase the output of coal a few more collieries were started; Namdang(1896), Tirap(1904), Nandang Dip(1904), Boragolai(1909) and Ti-pong(1924)

The narrow guage engine in Tipong, Margherita ‘David’, is still in running condition which is the twin of the toy train in darjeeling.From this small beginning, the railways in Upper Assam have come a long way. Oil was struck in Digboi in 1889 leading to the formation of Assam oil Company. A number of saw mills , brick works, tea companies and plywood factories were set up in the succeeding years .Apart fom Kamrup express and Brahmaputra Mail, which runss directly from Dibrugarh to Howrah and Delhi respectively, there is also an Inter-city express connecting Tinsukia / Dibru-garh with Guwahati.

Ledo and Margherita are two major towns in the state of Assam and at a distance of about 570 kms from the state capital of Dispur in Guwahati. There are regular trains running everyday from Guwahati to Ledo/Margherita. The inter-city express departs at 8:15 every evening and takes around close to 12 hours to reach.As we enter Upper Assam, the mist enters the compartments and you can smell the dew and soil after a light morning shower. There’s a stickiness in the air as the humidity is very high because of the tropical forests surrounding the area. After we get off the train we are welcomed by the small train sta-tion and a few auto rickshaws without metre boxes waiting to get their first customer. Nature provides us with a background music of its own as Cicadas can be heard making a series of fast chirping and clicking sounds followed by slower resonating ones.

Our soldier, Andrew then talks about his new place of relocation by saying he’s never heard anybody speak of a church here; also informing his folks about his new Army Post Office(A.P.O), how he’s had beer and ends the letter by saying “swell place,huh?”

PAGE 1 of the letter

PAGE 2 of the letter

PAGE 3 of the letter

C O N C L U S I O N :

War Art or Art in general is not bounded by a specific set of rules or ideologies that the subject has to abide by. It doesn’t tell us about any particular way of doing things or has set any boundaries for us. I had an immense amount of fun doing this project and it was a great learning experience as I learnt so much about the subject while researching about it. The tribes, their customs and cultures. The study about how they live and also how the war artists documented the lives of the people living amidst the war, the localites and the tribes and how they were affected and how their lives changed completely during the war and soon afterwards.The name ‘Portraits of War’ fits well because War is personified and is interpreted in various forms and ways. The artists expressed themselves as metaphors and portraits of their inner self; be it through photography, painting or any other means. A psycho-analysis of their own self. In this process creative minds flourished. People found new means to channel their thoughts and work towards a certain utopian dream which may or may not exist.

I had worked with the Singphos in a week long project when I had gone to the border of Burma to document the mines that have been abandoned after they were classified as unfit for mining due to the technology being too old. Due to this a lot of miners and labourers lost their jobs and now had no means to earn for themselves or their families. Now, these people have no work but since they were working as labourers on a fixed contract, they have nowhere to go. They come to work everyday but have no work to do because of the mines being shut down. They cannot be transferred to any other mine either, because those mines already have the workforce they need. They still hold on to hope and thrive by doing odd jobs in and around the Margherita and Ledo town and support their families with bare minimum income. They also help around in the Coal India office and at times cater to the tourists who visit. A government job it could be but it isn’t always secure.

When I met the Singpho/Jingphaw/Jingpho tribe leader, ‘Bisa Roja’, it was an overwhelming experience when he started telling me about the various aspects of their life such as the customs they follow, their life as Hinayana Buddhists, how they prepare tea in their tribe and then telling me folk stories from their tribe which had been passed down verbally through the ages. I believe that these folk stories have undergone a metamorphosis through the ages of insurgency, war and political turmoil. These stories have also been influenced by the jungle and its animals. I vividly remember one thing that he said, “We have our own eyes to decide for what is real and learn but our ears are our ancestors’. ”

B I B L I O G R A P H Y:

- A u n g S a n S u u Ky i . F r e e d o m f r o m Fe a r : A n d O t h e r Wr i t i n g s , 1 9 9 1 .

- L e t t e r s f r o m B u r m a , 1 9 9 7 .

- A u n g - T h w i n a n d M i c h a e l A . Pa g a n . T h e O r i g i n s o f Mo d e r n B u r m a , 1 9 9 5 .

- My t h a n d H i s t o r y i n t h e H i s t o r i o g r ap hy o f E a r l y B u r m a : Pa r a d i g m s , P r i m a r y S o u r c e s , a n d P r e j u d i c e s , 1 9 9 8 .

- B u r m e s e C r a f t s Pa s t a n d P r e s e nt , 1 9 9 4 .

- F r e d h o l m , M i c h a e l . B u r m a : Et h n i c i t y a n d I n s u r g e n c y , 1 9 9 3 .

- H o w a r d , M i c h a e l C . Te x t i l e s o f t h e H i l l Tr i b e s o f B u r m a , 1 9 9 9 .

- B u r m a i n R e v o l t : O p i u m a n d I n s u r g e n c y s i n c e 1 9 4 8 , 1 9 9 9 .

- M a r i n g , J o e l M . a n d E s t e r G . Ma r i n g . H i s t o r i c a l a n d C u l t u r a l D i c t i o n a r y o f B u r m a , 1 9 7 3 .

- S i n g e r, N o e l F. B u r m e s e P u p p e t s , 1 9 9 2 .

- B u r m e s e D a n c e a n d T h e at r e , 1 9 9 5 .

- B u d d h i s m a n d S o c i e t y : A G r e at Tr a d i t i o n a n d It s B u r m e s e Vi c i s s i t u d e s , 1 9 8 2 .

- A nt h r o p o l o g i c a l O t h e r o r B u r m e s e B r o t h e r ? S t u d i e s i n C u l t u r a l A n a l y s i s , 1 9 9 2 .

- S t r a c h a n , P a u l , e d . E s s ay s o n t h e H i s t o r y a n d B u d d h i s m o f B u r m a , 1 9 8 8 .

- Tu c k e r, S h e l b y . A m o n g I n s u r g e nt s : Wa l k i n g t h r o u g h B u r m a , 2 0 0 0

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T

First and foremost I would like to thank Professor R.H. Kulkarni for giving me the opportu-nity to do this wonderful project and guiding me through this whole project regardless of his tight schedule

I would also like to express my gratitude towards ‘Bisa Roja’, king of the Jingphaw(Singpho) tribe in Assam for lending me his wisdom through his stories and who helped me interact with his community(the Singphos) who gave me a wholehearted co-operation with the study. Their warm welcome, and interaction in spite of the linguistic limitations was an eye opener. They abundantly spent time with me despite having their own work.

I would also like to thank my parents and other staff members and our head of department, Prof. Anil Kumar H.A for lending me a hand and for their guidance.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank my friends for supporting me throughout the course of this project.