Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 29.1.23
Netaji
Watch
this photograph of a heavily garlanded idol of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose taken on 23 January morning on the
occasion of his 126th birthday. At times a simple photograph can provide a
glimpse into the state of affairs, like no writings can.
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| Photo: Kishore Bit |
See
how the garlands are covering Netaji’s face. One cannot even see the face of
Netaji. One only sees the garlands - the adulation. The real Netaji and his
true spirit get lost amidst the adulatory din and bustle. Gradually, the
garlanded idol-the deified image becomes prominent, the ideology of the person,
his philosophy, his words and actions - take a back seat and eventually
forgotten.
This
happens with all great persons. The uber-deification obfuscates the true spirit
of the person.
And
watch the very act of garlanding the idol of Netaji or for that matter any
great person on special occasions. On such occasions neither the person or his/her
work and contribution is important. What are important are the ones on the
dais, who garlanded and got photographed while doing so. It’s not about the
great person, it is about them- in
the name of Netaji.
Photo:
Kishore Bit.
Pahalgam
On our vacation trip to Kashmir, before arriving at Srinagar
from Gulmarg, we went to Pahalgam for two days. About 90 kms away from
Srinagar, Pahalgam is situated at the junction
of the Aru and Sheshnag Rivers. At 2740 meters height, it is famous for its scenic beauty and is considered as the jewel of the picturesque
Liddar valley. It is also the starting point of the annual pilgrimage to
the holy cave of Amarnath.
It has several picturesque locations to visit. It has its own ‘mini Switzerland’ in Baisaran
which, we were told, can be accessed only on foot or on pony beyond a point.
There were some banners near the ‘pony stand’ with pictures
of the ‘mini Switzerland’. It looked straight out of Yash Chopra's movies and we hired three
ponies, one for my-self, one for my son and one for my wife. There were two
persons handling the ponies. I have forgotten the names of the persons but I
still remember the name of my pony: Siddhu. It was for the first time we rode
on ponies and as we mounted, they whined. Probably they complained to their handlers: kis mota moti ko bitha diya! (who are
these fat people, you made to ride on us!). God, were we scared! We kept on telling each other not
to worry, the horses know the route.
Finally we
reached the mini Switzerland. It is indeed a beautiful valley - a hilltop green meadow dotted with
dense pine forests and surrounded by snowcapped mountains.
Plumeria
Plumeria
or Frangipani is called Gulchin and Golenchi in Hindi, Kathgolop
in Bengali, Champha in Marathi, Khagi-leihao-angouba in Manipuri, Nela sampangi in Tamil, Chaempae in Konkani. In Odia we call it Katha Champa. Some of the popular names
of this tree are Temple Tree or Pagoda Tree in India and the Far East,
Graveyard Tree in the Caribbean Islands, Temple Flower in Sri Lanka. The
Plumeria is the national tree of Laos, where it is called dok jampa. In Santali it is called Gulachi. A short fiction film on women trafficking has been made
title Sacred Gulachi.
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| Photo: Mrinal Chatterjee |
It
has beautiful foliage in summer and rainy season. In winter, bereft of leaves,
it wears a desolate look. However, some flowers still bloom underlining the
fact that there is always hope and happiness, even at the direst of the
situations.
Tail-piece: Cat Power
If you enjoy browsing the Internet a lot then
you're probably already familiar with the fact that there are literally
millions of cat photos on it, to the point that the cat has to be the
Internet's unofficial mascot and most beloved animal. That is interesting
because cat is an interesting and utterly ungrateful animal. Human beings have
been unsuccessfully trying for the last 10,000 years to domesticate it. I
have a special fascination for this animal. So much so that I have written a
novel (Kandhei) with a cat as the
protagonist. One of my story collections is also named after a cat (Bidhumukhi). Recently I published
translations of selected stories of Sirshendu Mukhopadhaya. That also has a cat
on its cover.
I am glad to know that there is one lady
photographer Felicity Berkleef , who has taken hundreds of photographs of cats.
Here is one of her photographs and two of my books with cats on cover. See the
cat-power.
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mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com
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