Column | Window Seat | 11.8.19

Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 11.8.19

Kashmir

As the Union Government repealed Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and converted the State into two Union Territories- there has been three kinds of reaction immediately. There was this first sort of people, who became ecstatic and started rejoicing as if all the problems related to J & K were over. They could now buy lands in Srinagar and marry ‘beautiful’ Kashmiri girls. Memes to that effect appeared on social media platforms. The second sort of people was critical of the Govt. action. They viewed this action as an assault on democracy and going back on a promise. They were convinced that it would further worsen the situation. The third sort of people- and I believe they were in the majority- were happy that Article 370 giving special powers and privileges to J&K were withdrawn, but they were not happy with the way it was done- almost ramming it down the throat of the people. They were also concerned that this move to convert the State into two Union Territories could open a Pandora’s box. Already there  have been demands of turning Darjeeling in West Bengal into a Union Territory.

Will this action solve Kashmir problem? Will it integrate the people of Kashmir, especially from the valley, with mainland India? Will it contain the scourge of militancy and insurgency?

Only time will tell.

Meanwhile what we can do is act, talk and behave responsibly and with restraint. Snide and insensitive remarks vitiate the atmosphere. People of Kashmir are Indians. They must be treated with respect and dignity.

Scotlandpur

Last week, I wrote about interesting names of places. India has about six and half hundred thousand villages, many with very interesting names. Many of these names have a tale behind.

Do you know that there is a village called Scotlandpur in Odisha?  There’s actually a village in  Angul district of Odisha (about 14 km east of Angul in Talcher Tehsil) which is named after  Scotland in UK.

It is a small village having 26 hectares of area and 20-30 families. Talcher is the nearest town to it with a distance of 12 km. It has a small Railway station in which few local trains halt.

This tiny village has a ‘palace’ named Scotlandpur from which the village has taken its name. But why is it named so..!! The story begins when the Talcher King "Raja Kishor Chandra Dev" took charge of developing his entire kingdom and bringing Talcher to the forefront back in 1891. He was a king with modern thinking and wanted to develop his kingdom in modern administrative system.

His successor Pramod Chandra Deb, went to Scotland after being awarded with the title ‘Dewan Bahadur’ by Lord Wavell, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Indian Army. As Mr. Deb returned, he realised that he had fallen in love with Scotland and its disarming beauty. He built a palace near a village and named it Scotlandpur. Ultimately the village surrounding the palace was named  so.

Kishangarh Painting

Besides being known as the ‘Marble City’, Kishangarh in Rajasthan is also famous for its unique style of paintings of 18th century. The Kishangarh paintings are unique because of elongation of human faces and colour scheme. In this style of paintings, green color is used lavishly. The panoramic landscapes are depicted in a very elegant manner.

The common theme and subjects of Kishangarh Paintings are around the legends of Radha and Krishna. Usually the stories and various incidents of Radha and Krishna are depicted. 

In the Kishangarh style of paintings few things are very common like elongated neck of Radha and  Krishna, the long stylized eyes with drooping eyelids of Radha, the thin lips and pointed chin of Radha standing in a graceful pose with her head covered with a muslin odhni.

Bani thani is one of the most famous example of Kishangarh style of painting. India Post came out with a postage stamp depicting this painting done by Nihal Chand from the Marwar school of Kishangarh. It portrays a woman who is elegant and graceful. The painting's subject, Bani Thani, was a singer and poet in Kishangarh in the time of king Sawant Singh (1748–1764). Legend has it that Samant Singh who himself was a poet started writing poetry for Bani Thani and she responded positively. They fell in love with each other. Their love bloomed due to a shared interest in singing, poetry and devotion for Krishna.  She also wrote poetry under the pen name of Mrs.Rasikbihari. Later, he commissioned his artists to depict their relationship in a way similar to the love between Radha and Krishna. Both lovers died in the 1760s. They have twin chhatris dedicated to them near the Nagari Kunj temple.

An unbeatable creativity

Pankaj fell in love

Pankaj married

Pankaj divorced

Pankaj Udhaas..

Sameera went to a parlour

Sameera did her hair

Sameera did her makeup

Sameera Reddy..

Kangana hit the ball

Kangana took a single

Kangana did not reach the crease

Kangana Ranaut..

Hrithik buys bulb

Hrithik puts bulb in socket

Hrithik switches bulb on

Hrithik Roshan..

Neil arms weak

Neil joins gym

Neil does chin-ups

Neil Armstrong..

Anil mombatti

Anil agarbatti

Anil dhoop

Anil Kapoor..

Umar walking on the road

Umar got kidnapped

Umar not found by family

Umar Gul..

Minisha purchased a cycle

Minisha started riding cycle

Minisha's height increased

Minisha Lamba..

William making fruit shake

William took pears

William put them in glass

William Shakespeare..

Mika went to studio

Mika went to recording room

Mika took the mike

Mika Singh..

(Courtesy: Social Media)

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The author, a journalist turned media academician lives in Central Odisha town of Dhenkanal. An anthology of his weekly column Window Seat, published in 2018 has been published as a book. Write to him to get a free e-copy. mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com

This column is published every Sunday in Gangtok based English daily Sikkim Express and posted in www.orissadiary.com