Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee |
24.4.22
Sister Nivedita and Darjiling
Sister
Nivedita (Margaret Elizabeth Nobel), a
disciple of Swami Vivekananda who made India her home and dedicated her life
for its development, including its political freedom had close relation with
Darjiling. She breathed her last in Darjiling at a house called Roy Villa in
October 1911.
Roy Villa, the huge four storied building located on Lebong Cart
Road, now under Ramkrishna Mission and named Ramkrishna Mission Nivedita
Educational and Cultural Centre was originally owned by Dwarakanath Roy. When
Sister Nivedita’s health started deteriorating in early 1900s, Roy invited her
to stay here. She liked Darjiling and as well as her stay in Roy
Villa. Although she did not live there continuously she kept coming back.
During her seven visits to Darjeeling, she stayed at Roy Villa for 242 days.
She breathed her last at Roy Villa on 13th October 1911. Her last words reportedly were “the boat is
sinking but I can see the sun rise”.
Swami
Vivekananda had also visited Darjiling and and stayed at Roy Vlilla several
times.
Following
sister Nivedita’s death Roy Villa remained abandoned and then was used by
Himalayan Mountaineering Institute for a while when it started its operation in
1954. After they moved on the building remained dilapidated for quite some time
and during the Gurkha agitation in Darjeeling the building was ransacked.
However,
it has been finally handed over to Ram Krishna Mission and the building has
been renovated keeping the old façade intact. Sister Nivedita’s room presently retains
her original writing desk, chair, lamp, typewriter, wall clock and many other memorabilia.
The prayer hall has also been renovated.
 |
| Roy Villa. Photo: Anita Chatterjee |
Ram
Krishna Mission presently runs several social projects from here including free
medical camps.
When
we went there the renovation work was still on. We went up to the prayer hall
and silently prayed our tribute to the great soul.
Radio Fair
Eighth
International Radio Fair was held in Bhuanbeswar, Odisha on 16 and 17 April
2022. Radio enthusiasts from across
South Asia including radio club officials as well as radio lovers thronged the
fair. Popular radio jockeys like Raghav, Vinny, and Prabin participated and
provided inputs to the wannabe radio presenters. I participated as a speaker in
one of the sessions. I knew that some radio jockeys were popular, but honestly
I had no idea that they were so popular- almost celebrities. It indicated the
growing popularity of radio in recent times. In fact research shows audio
medium is gaining popularity as people are suffering from what is being called ‘screen
fatigue’.
Radio
came fairly early in India. Consider this: it was In June 1923 the Radio Club of
Bombay made the first ever broadcast in the country. One of the world's first
scheduled radio broadcast services (known as PCGG) began in Rotterdam,
Netherlands, on November 6, 1919.
Radio broadcasting in the United States began in early 1920s.
From
early on radio in India took on the responsibility of providing news,
entertainment and education.
However,
as the private radio stations started operating and they were not allowed to
disseminate news, they focused on entertainment. Gradually radio in public
perception lost its gravitas as a medium for news and education. It became
almost synonymous with entertainment.
It
took a pandemic to force a rethink about the role radio can and ought to play.
As isolation and social distancing became the norm, classroom teaching had to
be stopped. Online teaching was a poor substitute mostly because of lack of
access and poor connectivity quality. It was a time when radio could help. It
did- but to a limited extent as there was hardly any concerted effort to use
it.
Now
that we have suffered huge loss of education, we need to be prepare for such
situations in future. A network of community radio, AIR stations operating in a
state and campus radios of large educational institutions can help education to a great extent. This is the idea
I gave to Akash Dasnayak, young MLA from Jajpur, Odisha and in-charge of BJD
Government’s innovative ‘Mo College’ programme.
Government should help Higher education
Institutions to have their own radio stations, preferably on Internet and there
could be an institutional framework for a network, so that more content could
be created on collaboration. It can also preempt duplication of work. This
could be particularly helpful in hilly areas (like in Sikkim), where
communication is often a problem.
Prafulla Kar
Prafualla
Kar, well known singer, lyricist, music composer of Odisha, fondly called as 'kamaladeshara rajkumar' (An expression from
one of his popular songs it means Prince of the Lotus land) breathed his last
on 17 April 2022 at the age of 83.
 |
| Tribute Caricature by Neelima Nivedita |
He
was born in 1939 into a musician family in Puri. His uncle Khetra Mohan Kar was
a renowned Tabla Player. He was raised and brought up by his grandparents because
he lost his father Baidyanath Kar at an early age.
As a student
he was a part of AISF (students wing of CPI) and as an artist he was a part of
IPTA, and was active in theatre espousing social causes.
Prafulla
Kar worked as singer and music director in over 70 Odia and over 4 Bengali
feature films.
As a singer his oeuvre included classical, semi
classical as well as popular 'modern' songs. His command over the complex
classical ragas, thanks to the rigorous training he underwent, allowed him to
compose modern songs following classical ragas.
He
received Padma Shree in 2015 and several awards including Jayadev Samman by
Govt of Odisha for his contribution to music. His demise preceded by the death
of stalwarts like Akhyay Mohanty and Sikandar Alam and Chitta Jena almost
brought an end to an era in Odia music.
Tribute
Caricature by Neelime Nivedita
Tailpiece: Vibhuti
A foreigner
came to Kashi. He visited Viswanath
temple and all the ghats.
Then he bought
a Vibhuti packet from a boy selling
on the street and asked "What is
its expiry date?"
Boy replied
looking surprised: "It is made from expired people and when you apply on
your forehead it increases your expiry date."
++
Journalist turned media
academician Mrinal Chatterjee lives in Dhenkanal, Odisha. He also writes
fiction and plays.
mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com
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