Window Seat | Weekly Column in english | 22.1.23

 

Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 22.1.23

Srinagar in winter

Even as we planned our trip, we were told that you need to visit Kashmir twice to appreciate its beauty: once in summer to see the colourful Kashmir, and once in winter to wee the snow clad Kashmir. We wanted both, but at one go. So off we went to Gulmarg first, where we saw the snow-clad Kashmir. Then we came to Pahalgam, where we saw the snow-clad mountains from a distance, and found some snow at the ‘mini-Switzerland’, where people were riding on wooden sledges. And then we came to Srinagar and realized why we should not have come there in the winter.

Parimahal, Nishat Bagh, Shalimar

In Srinagar, on day one we were taken on what my son later called ‘bagicha-vraman’- garden tour. We were first taken to Parimahal (Palace of Fairies). It is a seven-terraced garden located at the top of Zabarwan mountain range, overlooking the city of Srinagar and the south-west of Dal Lake. Built during the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, it is an example of Islamic architecture.

We also went to the Mughal Gardens at Shalimar and Nishat Bagh, overlooking Dal Lake. Both Shalimar and Nishat (Delight) Bagh (garden) were built by Mughal Emperor Jahangir, for his wife Nur Jahan, in 1619. These Gardens are considered the high point of Mughal horticulture.

However, at the time of our visit the gardens looked worn out and flower less, which was natural in winter. The lake inside the Botanical Garden was half frozen. Some kids were enjoying themselves by breaking the thin ice floating on the lake. The famous Tulip Garden was closed as it was not the time of its blooming.

A wilted Botanical Garden at Srinagar, Kahsmir in winter.

Photo: Mrinal Chatterjee, 24.12.22

Amir Khusrau (Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau, 1253–1325 AD), Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate wrote a couplet in Farsi in praise of Kashmir. It reads:   

Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,

Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.

In English translation, it reads:

If there is a paradise on earth,

It is this, it is this, it is this”

Srinagar definitely did not look like a paradise in the winter.

 

The Mahanadi

 

The Mahanadi is the largest river in Odisha and at 900 km one of the major rivers of East Central India. The Mahanadi River system is the third largest of peninsular India after Godavari and Krishna.  It rises from a place near Sihawa, near Raipur in the state of Chhattisgarh to the south of Amarkantak and flows through Chhattisgarh and Odisha into the Bay of Bengal.

The Mahanadi River holds economic, agrarian and cultural importance for Odisha. Anil Dhir, a social researcher has been researching and documenting temples, existing and submerged, archaeological sites, monuments, and geological wonders for the last four years. He plans to put the findings with photographs, drawings and his experiences in two volume book. The first volume is scheduled to be released on the  21 January, at the Maritime Museum, Cuttack, which is located on the banks of the Mahanadi.

In his social media page, Dhir writes, “Four years of back-breaking efforts along with Deepak Nayak and team members from the other Chapters of Intach.  Traversing the entire length of the great river from  Bargarh to the estuary at Paradeep, covering nine districts of the State.  We walked on the banks and used boats, motorcycles, jeeps, bicycles, and bullock carts to cover the nearly 500 kms of the stretch of the river in Odisha. And this too on both the banks, so literally we did more than a 1000 kms of   survey, that too with a fine tooth comb. Major hitherto unreported discoveries have been made. Of the nearly 500 monuments we have listed, 80 are unique and are being reported for the first time.  We also discovered 60 submerged temples inside the Mahanadi.

The two-volume book has nearly 1200 photographs, 50 maps and is the most detailed report on the Mahanadi released to date. This is only half the story. We shall be starting the Chhattisgarh stretch (400 kms), from its origin till it enters Odisha very soon. Only then will the report be complete.” 

 Homai Vyrawalla

Eleven years ago, on 19 January Homai Vyrawalla, the first female photojournalist breathed her last. She is best known for documenting the country's transition from a British colony to a newly independent nation, and some tumultuous events post-independence.

Born on 9 December 1913 in Gujarat in a Parsi family, she spent much of her childhood on the move because her father was an actor in a travelling theatre group. The family soon moved to Mumbai (then Bombay), where she attended the JJ School of Art.

She was in college when she met Manekshaw Vyarawalla, a freelance photographer, who she would later marry. It was he who introduced her to photography.

The Vyarawallas moved to Delhi in 1942 after they were hired to work as photographers for the British Information Service.

She took her most iconic images, however, after India became independent - from the departure of the British from India, to the funerals of Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

The first Republic Day Celebration of India, 1950.

Photo: Homai Vyrawalla

Though being a female photographer in the 21st century seemed very common, it was a big deal back then. Camera in a woman's hands was the topic of discussion for people.

This is what she said in an interview- "People were very conservative. They didn't want women to walk around and when they saw me walking with camera in saree they found it a very bizarre and initially they thought I was just fooling people with camera. I may not be a photographer. I'm just pretending. They didn't take me seriously anyway. But it proved useful for me."

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This column is published every Sunday in Gangtok based English daily Siukki9m Express and www.prameyanews.com