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.
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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.
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The first Republic Day Celebration of India, 1950. Photo: Homai Vyrawalla |
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
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