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As the Union Government repealed Article 370 from Jammu and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powers and privileges to J&K were withdrawn, but they were not happy with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)
***
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
