India’s Great Masters by Raghu Rai and Ashok Vajpeyi ; Published by Harper Collins; Pages 167 ; Price Rs. 3500/- ********************** Raghu Rai is acknowledged to be one of the best photographers in the world. In this book he portrays thirteen masters and they are Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, M.S.Subbulakshmi, Mallikarjun Mansur, Kumar Gandharva, S Balchander, Alla Rakha , Zakir Hussain, Vilayat Khan, Bismillah Khan, Kishori Amonkar, Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Bhimsen Joshi. Portraits of these masters given in this book form an invaluable record of Indian musical heritage. Rai’s photo essays have appeared in Time, Life, National Geographic and the New York Times. He has also to his credit a number of books, including The Sikhs, Taj Mahal, India and Mother Teresa. A vital part of this book is the illuminating text written by Ashok Vajpeyi, Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi. His profiles of these musicians reveal highlights of their life and provide us remarkable snapshots of their lives, couched in lyrical language. We have chosen only two of the thirteen musicians covered in this book. image.png Ravi Shankar remains a legend of our times, combining in his person and his music the deeply classical and the firmly modern. A world-renowned Sitar player, Ravi Shankar introduced the world to the riches of Indian classical music. Ustad Allauddin Khan taught various instruments, including the Sitar, the Violin, the Flute and his disciples Ravi Shankar, Pannalal Ghosh,Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Nikhil Banerjee grew into major musicians. Yehudi Menuhin termed Ravi Shankar “without doubt one of the greatest musicians today. He has not only brought Indian classical music to the West but he has also, in no small degree, influenced western music…His genius and humanity can only be compared to that of Mozart’s”. Rich tribute from a great violinist but highly deserved. image.png Coming to India’s Queen of music, M.S.Subbulakshmi, it is written that the gold of her voice glittered more than the jewels she had around her neck and on her fingers. A sense of magic pervaded her-- magic created by her voice with such simplicity and humility. Her music was utterly pure and it purified the listeners as well. Words acquire a depth of meaning, a glow of relevance when they are used to describe the music of M S. Grace, transparency, purity by any standards, whether of skill or vision, of craft or economy, this was high music, lofty, noble, pure, well—structured, glowing inwardly and outwardly. Mahatma Gandhi , impressed both by the music and the bhakti of M.S. said, “She loses herself in bhajans. To sing bhajans is one thing, to sing it by losing oneself in God is quite different”. M.S sang bhajans of Meera,Tulsidas, Surdas, Kabir and Nanak. She was distinguished by the quality of her voice, spiritual fervour and high creativity of interpretation. For M.S-- life was her music and music was her life. The book under review is a photographic journey into the heart of classical music and one great photographer’s tribute to the great exponents of Indian classical music. One cannot conceive of a better way of paying tribute to these great Indian classical masters. This volume is a collector's dream fulfilled. P.P.Ramachandran 27/9/2020.

The Art of Costume Designing by Bhanu Athaiya; Published by Collins ; Pages 188 ; Price Rs.2500/- ********************* Who can forget the costumes of Vyjayanthimala in “Amrapali” and Waheeda Rehman in “Guide”—both inspired by classical sculptures?. Vyjayanthimala adorned in her role as “Amrapali ” swept all of their feet by the vibrant costume inspired by classical sculptures of Ajanta and complemented by an artistic hairdo and ornate jewellery. Who created this magic?. Bhanu Athaiya. Richard Attenborough, celebrated producer of Gandhi” in an affectionate “Foreword” to the book under review writes, “Bhanu Athaiya is the revered doyenne of Indian costume designers….For the benefit of future generations of filmmakers, film lovers and designers, it is important to landmark the work done by someone with a such knowledge, vision and passion.” He wrote that while it took him 17 long years to set up “Gandhi”, his dream film, it took him just 15 minutes to make up his mind that Bhanu Athaiya was the right person to create the many hundreds of Indian costumes that the film required. She was the first Indian to bag the Oscar for her work in Attenborough’s “Gandhi”. She annexed the Lifetime achievement Award at the South Asian International Festival in 2005 as also the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. Her work has been displayed in the Festival of India, New York. She bagged twice National Awards for costume designing for “Lekin” and “Lagaan” Athaiya hails from Kolhapur—where her forefather’s book “Rukmini Swayamwar ” was prescribed as Sanskrit reading in the Rajaram College of Kolhapur University. It is revealing to note that the prize she won for the best essay—a princely amount of Rs 30/- was spent on viewing seven times Walt Disney’s “Fantasia” famous for its waltz of flowers. Bhanu comes from a privileged family -- her father was a man of leisure, indulging his artistic passions and interests while encouraging his large family of a wife and seven children to do the same. It was this encouragement that led Bhanu out of her sprawling house in Kolhapur to the city of Bombay, in order to pursue her passion -- studying art at the J.J. School of Arts. "Travelling to Bombay was very exciting for me. It had been a dream for a long time, and I felt like it was finally happening. I made the journey with my art teacher from Kolhapur, who had convinced my mother to send me," recalls Bhanu. She annexed a gold medal from the J.J.School of Arts. She secured a French Government scholarship and went to Paris to study art, culture and cinema. The next milestone in Bhanu's life was her job at a magazine called Eve's Weekly, where her fashion illustrations would appear in each issue, making her a known name. When its editor opened a boutique, she asked Bhanu to try designing dresses. She discovered her flair for designing clothes and her success as a designer soon led to her switching career paths.Guru Dutt asked her to design clothes for his films, start with C.I.D. in 1956 ; there was no turning back for her from then on. She worked for five Guru Dutt films. Meanwhile Bhanu was designing a lot of creations for the boutique. Her customers included actresses Kamini Kaushal and Nargis. Beginning her career in costume designing over half a century ago she has created a world of her own that set the standards for costume design in Bollywood cinema. She has done costume designing for 131 films beginning with “C.I.D” and ending with “Swades”. She has prepared costumes for six films of Raj Kapoor. Recalling her association with Raj Kapoor, Athaiya writes: ‘One day Nargis decided to take me to R.K. Studio to introduce me to Raj Kapoor. We travelled to Chembur in her car. As we entered the spacious studio, the first thing I noticed was a huge Shiva statue. Then the car took a left turn and moved towards a small cottage, which was Raj-saab’s private cottage. At that time, work on ‘Shri 420′ was in progress and I was asked to design costumes for actress Nadira, who was playing a vamp…I gave her an unconventional look." She has assisted a galaxy of directors---to name a few—Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, B.R.Chopra, and Ashutosh Gowariker. Among her most memorable output was designing for Waheeda Rehman in “Guide”, Mumtaz in “Brahmachari” and Zeenat Aman in “Satyam,Shivam,Sundaram”. Bhanu Athaiya has traced the journey of fashion through films with which she has been associated. She has undoubtedly been a catalyst in defining the contours of Indian fashion. “I knew India and its clothes inside out. I went on a sketching tour as an art student and even spent 10 months in Paris where I visited all the cabaret joints, including Moulin Rouge,” she said. Some of her significant expressions that have indeed landmark for Indian films include, the looks that she gave to Helen in “Teesri Manzil ”, in the song “O Haseena Julfon Waali”, or the drunk look of Meena Kumari in “ Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam”. She was able to give Meena Kumari an endearing look even when the canvas of expression had a Black & White base. The book under review is the tale of her tryst with creativity in design. We begin with the utterly fascinating world of black and white world of cinema and graduate to the scintillating world of Technicolor—heavyweights like “Sangam”, “Ganga Jumna” and “Lagaan”. Her pinnacle is of course “Gandhi” which fetched the first-ever Oscar for an Indian. This book is a poem in beauty which is at once bewitching and highly informative. She unravels the mystery of how she tackled period pieces which demanded research of extraordinary dimension and total comprehension of Indian mores and traditions. Costume designing gives an actor complete confidence in the role he or she has to play by creating the mood and take the captive audience to a wholly different and distinct time and clime. What is essential is organisation, artistry, discipline, gifted imagination and patient research---in all of which there is no peer to Athaiya. The costumes she has designed range from the colourful Rajasthani attire set against the desert backdrop, to the typical dress of villagers in the Gangetic plains and the Himalayas. She brought renown for India in the world of International cinema. She got National awards for two films—Lekin and Lagaan. One entire chapter is dedicated to the magic of jewellery, which has a hold on Indians and our Gods and Goddesses. Hema Malini in “Sanyasi” is dressed in resplendent jewellery from head to toe and looks like an Apsara descended from heavens above. No wonder Manoj Kumar was ensnared!. Waheeda Rehman is unforgettable in “Reshma and Shera” in her colourful bandhni oddhna and ghagra typical of Rajasthan. Moghul royalty is completely captured by Athaiya in “Jodhaa Akbar”. The kilangi jhumki, and other jewellery of this era are brought out in all glory and authenticity. Athaiya has spent hours hunting for period piece jewellery in Hyderabad and other places. “Jewellery is the penultimate touch in the adornment of attire.” writes Athaiya. This is an outstanding book, as evocative as it is colourful and is the complete guide to costume design during the last fifty years in Bollywood. That Athaiya’s fame rests not only for “Gandhi” but her variegated creations of extraordinary artistry for five long decades becomes abundantly clear as one turns the pages of this luscious book. P.P.Ramachandran, 20/09/2020.

The ‘Other Shangri-La’ by Shivaji Das ; Published by Konark Publishers ; Pages 190 ; Price Rs.299/- ****************************** Who can forget “Shangri-La”, the fictional utopian lamasery in the mountains of Tibet created by James Hilton? As also the Hollywood movie based on the book-- directed by Frank Capra starring Ronald Colman?. James Hilton was a British novelist famous for two books—“Goodbye Mr.Chips” and “Lost Horizon”. Winner of the Hawthornden Prize, “Lost Horizon” is the first paper back book published. It was the book that inaugurated the paperback revolution. Hilton was inspired to create “Shangri-la” by reading articles in the National Geographic Magazine by Joseph Rock who explored the southwestern Chinese provinces and Tibetan borderlands. The name “Shangri-la” has become a byword for a mythical utopia, a permanently happy land, isolated from the world. President Roosevelt named his presidential retreat in Maryland “Shangri-La”. Zhongdian, a mountain region of Southwest China, has been renamed “Shangri-La” (Xianggelila), based on its claim to have inspired Hilton's book. This area in South China appear in the charming books of Shri.K.P.S.Menon “Delhi Chunking Diary” and “Many Worlds”. The book under review is on the “ The ‘Other’ Shangri-La”--Sichuan in the Sino-Tibetan frontier authored by Shivaji Das. Shivaji Das is the author of three travel memoirs—“Sacred Love: Erotic Arts in the temples of Nepal’; “Angels by the Murky River: Travels Off the Beaten Track” and “Journeys with the caterpillar: Travelling through the islands of Flores and Sumba, Indonesia” . The author was born in Assam and his articles have been published in TIME, Asian Geographic, Outlook Traveller and other journals. Shivaji has been interviewed on BBC, CNBC, The Economist, Travel Radio Australia, among others. His photographs, in collaboration with his wife Yolanda Yu (known as Lobo), have been exhibited in several world famous galleries and libraries. Shivaji is presently the Asia-Pacific Managing Director and Management consultant at Frost & Sullivan, Singapore. Shivaji Das was born and brought up in the north-eastern province of Assam. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, subsequent to which he completed his post-graduation from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta. Even though bit by the Travel-bug , Shivaji finds time to take an active interest in migrant issues and eradication of underage poverty . Shivaji’s writings and work with migrants have been published in many journals . He has close links with the Singapore based organisation “Transient Workers Count Too” . The book under review---The ‘Other’ Shangri-La is the result of a memorable journey made by the author and his wife across the SinoTibetan frontier land of western Sichuan. Sichuan prides on the fact that the world’s highest town is here. More to cherish it is the birthplace of major lamas; it boasts of the world s largest monastery . Rightly it is famous for its at once attractive women and noted for strength of mind. A few years ago it was the notorious hunting ground of ruthless bandit monks. We have vivid description of the forbidding terrain that is an amalgam of mountains 7000 metres high, deep gorges, immense grasslands and quite understandably the most dangerous roads in the world. The author provides a succinct history of the area along with clinical details of scattered settlements—some of which are listed below---: Litang—the world’s highest town that is also the birthplace of important lamas; Larung—the world’s largest monastery and highest slum; Danba—a ‘Beauty Valley’ famed since antiquity for its bewitching and strong-minded women; Yading—a pilgrim circuit once the terrain controlled by rabid bandit monks; and Kangding—a small town that gave birth to China’s favourite love song. The book is laced with interesting anecdotes of the author’s travels and adventures in this rugged area.Hilarious accounts are provided of the authors—staying with nomad families, debating with monks on revival in Communist China of Buddhism . Most fascinating is getting spooked by a bone-collector at a sky-burial site, as also the authors assuming the mantle of investigators in a love triangle in the ‘Beauty Valley’, and escaping from paparazzi tourists who believed the travellers to be participants in a local beauty contest. There is a wealth of detail on the lives and cultures of the people who live in these inhospitable places and currently under the sway of turbulent socio-economic factors over which they have no control. Sichuan is notorious for the troublesome connection between two communities---Hans and Tibetans and that too in what is the most restless of the Tibetan-inhabited areas in China. There is a morbid and macabre account of disposal of dead bodies. This is done through Vultures--of which there is good availability. The vultures eat the dead bodies and vivid details are given of cutting up bodies to make it convenient for the vultures.Wish the author had described a wedding or a birthday celebration! The book succeeds in bringing out in a remarkable way a distant land at once rugged and beautiful—a land beautiful to behold.It is travel writing ,in delectable limpid prose, of the highest quality reaching heights captured by Aurel Stein,Jan Morris,K. P. S .Menon and Paul Theroux. P.P.Ramachandran. 8/9/2020.

Haksar on India's Sri Lanka Policy by Dr.V.Suryanarayan and Dr.Asik Bonofer; Published by Book Venture--Center for Asia Studies ; Pages 96 ; Price Rs.200/- ********************* The authors of the book under review are acknowledged authorities on Sri Lanka. Dr.V. Suryanarayan worked for over two decades with the Centre for South and South East Asian Studies—which he established. He was Visiting Professor in several Universities in USA, Sri Lanka and India. Winner of many international awards. He was part of an International Team that monitored the Presidential election in 1999.He is the author of seven scholarly books. On Sri Lanka Suryanarayan has few peers with his formidable knowledge and closeness with the main actors. His co-author Dr.Ashik Bonofer is an authority and teaches International Relations in Madras Christian College. He has undertaken immense research on Sri Lanka. Among the outstanding books of this year is Jairam Ramesh’s “Intertwined Lives—P.N.Haksar and Indira Gandhi”. Haksar was an eminent scholar, able diplomat and administrator par excellence .He was a leading strategic thinker of his age. The authors of the book under review have used Jairam Ramesh’s book as the peg to hang their thesis. Haksar’s views on Sri Lanka were largely influenced by the thinking of a great diplomat Thomas Abraham who was our Ambassador to Sri Lanka. This book is a clear and cogent delineation of India’s Sri Lanka policy and the evolution of polity and politics. Sri Lanka’s treatment of the Indian Tamil minority is accurately covered and the trauma and travails they have undergone captured effectively. The response and reaction of New Delhi to these developments are depicted clearly. Haksar’s responses are adequately highlighted. Shri.M.Ganapathi.former Secretary,Ministry of External Affairs, in his brief Foreword has written, “Haksar’s influence in the shaping of India’s policy vis-a-vis Sri Lanka was minimal.”Jairam Ramesh also confirmed this at the book launch. There is a meaningful exchange of letters Haksar had with Thomas Abraham who was Indian Ambassador to Sri Lanka. Abraham, a great diplomat, had the interests of the safety, security and well being of the Tamils at heart and this rubbed on equally on Haksar. Haksar was largely influenced by Thomas Abraham . Abraham put an end to two odious India-Sri Lanka Agreements of 1969 and 1974 as they were contrary to India’s policy towards Indian overseas. The Agreements were terminated on October 31,1981. Prof.Suryanarayan’s contacts with the main dramatis personae helps in clearer understanding of how India’s Sri Lanka policy was shaped, resulting in the India-Sri Lanka Accord in 1987 and its consequences. The first section of the book deals with India extending support to Sri Lanka in 1971. India sent five frigates to seal off the approach to the Colombo harbour. Also military equipment was provided ---- 5000 troops, six helicopters and 250 India troops to guard the Katunayake airport. The next section deals with Haksar’s visit to Sri Lanka. Buddhist monks played a commanding and negative role in the country. One of the monks assassinated Prime Minister Bandaranaike. Sinhalese goons destroyed 200 temples. An important quote in the book is from Prof.Dharmadasa-- “If we talk about the culture of Sri Lanka in its entirety....it is rooted in the Indian tradition... the deep structure of Sri Lankan culture is Indian.” One section is dedicated to the ethnic conflicts plaguing the island-state. Riots were engineered and encouraged by the Prime Minister Jayawardene deliberately attempting to destroy the economic foundations of the Tamils in the Capital city. Indira Gandhi appointed Shri.G.Parthasarathy as a Special Envoy to Sri Lanka. New Delhi decided to provide military training to Tamil militants and supply them with arms and ammunition enabling them to defend themselves. Contingency plans were drawn up to meet any emergency. However, a firm decision was taken that under no circumstances would India intervene in the internal conflict of Sri Lanka. One section is devoted to the important role of RAW--(Research and Analysis Wing) in Sri Lankan affairs from 1983. RAW got in touch with TELO/EPRL and EROS.The LTTE is rightly described as a Frankenstein’s monster. The assassination of Indira Gandhi was a major setback for the on-going Tamil struggle in Sri Lanka. With the arrival of Rajiv Gandhi the scene changed and G Parthasarathy was replaced by Romesh Bhandari. Government of India did not take part in the talks held in Thimpu but senior officials were present to provide clarification and other good offices. The Thimpu talks generated more heat than light. One section discusses the role of Sri Lankan Tamils.On many issues,the Federal Party and the TULF had taken positions that harmed Indian interests. Influential Tamils supported the Government. They did not show an iota of sympathy to the suffering fishermen. The authors analyse the India Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 which was diametrically opposed to what G.Parthasarathy stood for. It did not have a Sinhalese consensus. There were sharp differences within the Sri Lankan government. The IPKF was a serious misadventure.The IPKF was fighting an unseen enemy amid an unsympathetic population. They returned from Sri Lanka without fulfilling the objective which the Rajiv Gandhi Government specified. When the soldiers returned Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi refused to receive them on the plea that IPKF had killed innocent Tamils. India’s passive role in Sri Lanka after its bitter experience in “active” phase of the Accord and the LTTE’s assassination of Rajiv Gandhi resulted in making Tamil militants persona non grata in India. This led to India’s passive support to the elimination of LTTE in the Eelam war 2009.Sans doubt the Accord was conceived in haste, drafted badly and executed poorly. An important point brought out by the writers is the need for the involvement of the Indian States in the formulation of foreign policy concerning relations with neighbouring countries. Framers of the country’s neighbourhood policy will have to bear in mind the imperative need to bring about harmony and trust between the Centre and contiguous border States. India’s relations with several of its neighbours will have an immediate impact on these States. Contending that “on several occasions, interests and sensibilities” of the States were not taken into consideration, the book gives two illustrations — bilateral treaties of 1964 and 1974 signed with Sri Lanka to settle the issue of 9.75 lakh stateless persons of Indian origin living in that country and an accord in 1974 on the ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka. India’s Sri Lanka policy was based on few assumptions, the prominent of which was that India was determined not to permit a military solution to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka. Recalling how former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral, as External Affairs Minister during the United Front government in 1996-97, got involved in West Bengal through Bangladesh in the successful finalisation of the Ganga Water Treaty of 1996, the book contrasts this episode with Tamil Nadu where competitive politics, according to it, vitiated the political atmosphere surrounding India-Sri Lanka ties. The book is compulsory reading for all students of South Asian politics and scholars dedicated to Indian Sri Lankan affairs. P.P.Ramachandran. 30/8/2020.

Our Moon has Blood Clots: A Memoir of a Lost Home in Kashmir by Rahul Pandita;Published by Penguin Books ; Pages 258 ;Price Rs 399/- ****************************** The book under review is journalist Rahul Pandita’s memoirs of his family’s flight from the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley during the onset of the violent insurgency. Pandita is the author of the bestselling Hello, Bastar: the Untold Story of India’s Maoist Movement and co-author of the critically acclaimed The Absent State. Traumatised by the pain, drudgery and hardship of exile, the Homemaker withers away. Her son picks up the pieces in this account of his family. Rahul Pandita was a young 14 year old when his family was forced into exile, first from the valley to Jammu and subsequently to Delhi. In this, he and his family joined thousands of others, mainly Kashmiri Pandits but also other ‘Muslims’, not in tune with the prevalent mood of the times and the violent insurgency that had gripped the Kashmir Valley. Like the other ‘displaced’, they became disoriented, unable to come to terms with why they had been targeted, not just by Islamist militants or ‘pro-aazadi’ forces but by the connivance of their neighbours with whom they believed they had excellent relations. To be forced out is traumatic enough; even more difficult to come to terms with is the fact that their dire situation evoked so little sympathy, forget help and support, be it from the administration or from the ‘rest of India’. Life in shoddy and inadequate relief camps or in rented accommodation, with inadequate money, no jobs, even access to schooling for children while being treated as ‘fair game’ by all those who could profit from their helplessness, further added to the agony. The more extreme accounts even saw them as erstwhile oppressors, privileged collaborators with the Dogra regime, who finally got their just desserts. This is a topical account of the ignored and “unfashionable" story of the purge of a thriving minority community backed by Islamist militants in Kashmir. Unlike many from his community, Pandita entertains no hatred for Kashmiri Muslims, not even to those who grabbed his ancestral house (after it had been ravaged by Islamists) and quietly made it their own. Pandita recounts an unexceptional childhood in a Kashmir “so beautiful", according to his grandfather, that “even the gods are jealous of us". Then comes the tough jolt: a page torn from the school magazine in class with a picture of a Hindu goddess covered in snot, celebrations when Pakistan win cricket matches against India, cries for Azadi renting the air—all “well-orchestrated to frighten the Pandits into exile". The escape is fraught with tension. Pandita writes evocatively about passing trucks filled with scared Pandits escaping to Jammu, the women “herded like cattle", and a man showing the family his fist and wishing them death. Stories are recounted of the degradation caused by exile: rapacious landlords, cruel neighbours, severe hardship, creeping xenophobia.The author and his family, like innumerable Pandits, were forced to live as refugees in Jammu before finally settling down in Delhi, changing houses as many as 22 times. "I have reduced my life to names and numbers, I have memorised the names of every Pandit killed during those dark days, and the circumstances in which he or she was killed. I have memorised the number of people killed in each district." Pandita recounts how the Pandits became “nobody’s people" with great precision. However,he has not tackled significant questions. Why did the minority Pandits also end up as “punching bags" in the hostilities? What provoked Sheikh Abdullah, bitter with India, to deliver a prescient warning to the Pandits in the 1940s, telling them to be “one among us, flee or be decimated"? Were the Pandits merely easy, soft targets or were there deeper forces and provocation at work? Pandita simply mentions that the killings of the Hindu minority “turned into an orgy; a kind of bloodlust", and the “armed terrorist" and the “common man on the streets" participated in some of the murders. Pandita skims the surface during a visit to a squalid Pandit refugee township on the outskirts of Jammu in 2011 and misses an opportunity to mine even more compelling tales in exile. He also visits one of the five resettlements set up for a few hundred Pandits who have returned to the Valley and finds them leading bleak and fearful ghetto lives, but the account is sketchy. The Pandits have been been in exile for two decades, and Kashmir, for Pandita, remains “a memory, an overdose of nostalgia". For the writer, who lives in Delhi, exile and homelessness is “permanent". It cannot be a happy state of mind. Only one who has undergone pain and witnessed it first hand could have written this moving account of how the Kashmir Valley forced the Pandits to flee . As exemplifying the larger story of a community torn asunder, it remains somewhat contentious. The accounts of the pre-1989 insurgency past, lyrical and evocative, fail to convey, at least to the non-Kashmiri reader, as to why if the inter-community relations were peaceful, did so many neighbours ‘willingly’ participate in the ‘ethnic cleansing’. Were there no cases of neighbours with a different mindset? Or were they too scared to help? In which case, what is one to make of all the protestations of Kashmiryat, a syncretic culture drawing on the best of the Sufi-Kashmiri Shaivate traditions? Even the Indian media was largely apathetic to the suffering of the Pandits. The Indian state would be accused of brutalising the Valley's Muslim people but what was ignored was "that the same people also victimised another people". This is the story that Rahul Pandita exposes with an evident sincerity. This is a powerful story, one that can't be ignored even as the Pakistan-backed separatist movement rages on, turning large parts of what was once a Sufi land into an Islamist hub. Unlike those who would want to sweep the ugly truth under a carpet, Rahul is prepared to call a spade a spade. He writes how ordinary Kashmir Muslims , at times, helped thugs who shout Azadi slogans to kill fellow Kashmiris in cold blood, only reason being that because they belonged to another religion. The narrative moves between personal story, community memory, historical accounts and ‘political’ judgement. Pandita writes, ‘One major untruth is that the Pandits were made to leave Kashmir under a government design to discredit the Kashmiri secessionist movement’ . ‘Another problem is the apathy of the media and a majority of India’s intellectual class who refuse to even acknowledge the suffering of the Pandits. No campaigns were ever run for us; no fellowships or grants given for research on our exodus. For the media, the Kashmir issue has remained largely black and white – here are a people who were victims of brutalisation at the hands of the Indian state. But the media has failed to see, and has largely ignored the fact that the same people also victimised another people.’ And finally, ‘Another untruth that leaves me fuming is the assertion that nobody touched the handful of Pandit families that had chosen to remain in the valley.’ This is a particular tragedy of Kashmir where every group competes with others for the privileged status of the ‘real’ victim. It is difficult to deny that such a rendering can rarely stand the careful scrutiny of history. What cannot be denied is the reality of pain and suffering. Pandita tries to establish that the madness of Islamic fundamentalists against Kashmiri Pandits enjoyed popular support and complicity of ordinary Kashmiri Muslims. “Killings of the Hindu minority,” Pandita writes, “had turned into an orgy; a kind of blood lust. By April 1990, the mask was completely off. It was not only the armed terrorist who took pride in such killings – the common man on the streets participated in some of these heinous murders as well.” This is the central theme. The author shows how Pandits became a target of a brutal ethnic cleansing. He points to the case of telecom engineer B.K. Ganjoo, who was shot dead in his attic by militants after a neighbour directed them to his hiding place. Similarly, he sees a trend in how the leading actors showed callous disregard to the plight of the Pandits while the organs of the state were aiding and abetting locals in usurping their properties. A great book to understand the real blood-stained history of the 'Paradise on Earth'. A brief timeline at the end summarises the events in chronological order for reference. If you need to understand the stark tragedy in Kashmir , this book is an absolutely vital document which is at once searing and revealing. PPR 23/08/2020.

The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony with Graham Spence ; Published by Pan ;Pages 387 ; Price Rs 550/- ************************** All of us grew up with animals. Some had pets. Those who could not afford resorted to books of animals. From early years we were fed on Aesop’s Fables and the lovely animals of Panchatantra. As we grew up we had the company of the animals of Lewis Carrol , Rudyard Kipling and Paul Gallico We were promoted to the company of actual animals portrayed by James Herriot,George and Joy Adamson, Gerald Durrell, Jim Corbett and Kenneth Andersen. On this fantastic landscape there emerged a giant—Lawrence Anthony and his game sanctuary in Thula Thula in Zululand. He was a South African conservationist who was asked to accept a herd of “Rogue elephants in his Game Reserve”.It was certain that if he did not accept the herd would be killed. Lawrence risked his life to form a bond with these troublesome elephants. He realised what a special family they were—under the wise Matriarch Nana,her warrior sister Francis and the children who struggled to survive. Thula Thula is 5000 acres of pristine bush in the heart of Zululand—natural home to much of the indigenous wild life of Zululand including the majestic White Rhino,Cape Buffalo, Leopard, Hyena,Giraffe, Zebra, Wildebeest,Crocodile and many species of Antelope as well as Lynx and long pythons and white backed vultures. To learn the background of Lawrence. Anthony’s grandfather was a miner who immigrated to South Africa from Scotland on a mail ship in the 1920s. His father founded an insurance business and took the family around southern Africa as he set up offices in small towns. Lawrence was born on Sept. 17, 1950, in Johannesburg, and as a youth liked to roam the African bush with his pet German shepherd. He followed his father into the insurance business, then went into real estate development. In the mid-1990s, Anthony decided to turn his hobby into a career and bought one of South Africa’s largest game sanctuaries, Thula Thula reserve. Anthony’s most widely publicised work was after the United States and its allies invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. Hearing that Baghdad had the biggest zoo in the Middle East, he was in Kuwait within days and packing a car with veterinary supplies before crossing the Iraq border in the wake of the United States soldiers. He arrived at the zoo finding clouds of flies swarming the carcasses of animals. Looters had stolen many others. Of the 650 animals in the zoo before the invasion, just 35 were still alive, mainly large ones like lions, tigers and a brown bear native to Iraq. They were in such sad shape, he said, that he initially wanted to shoot them to end their misery. Anthony worked in Baghdad for six months, often helped by American soldiers, who volunteered their time after a day of patrols. He bought donkeys to feed the carnivores. He hunted down one giraffe that had been stolen; another had been eaten by starving Iraqis. He rescued the Hussein family’s pet lions and tigers. When he left Iraq, the animals were healthy, the cages were clean and the zoo had been preserved. The United States Army’s Third Infantry Division gave Anthony a medal for his bravery. Anthony joined with Graham Spence, an author and his brother-in-law, to write a book about the experience, “Babylon’s Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo”. Elephants were not part of his plan until 1999, when he got a call offering him nine of the animals — three adult females, three young elephants, an adolescent bull and two babies. He was told they were wild and troublesome .His common sense told him to refuse, but he was the herd's last chance of survival: they would be killed if he wouldn't take them. He devoted his life to animal conservation, protecting the world's endangered species. In the years that followed he became a part of their family. And as he battled to create a bond with the elephants, he came to realise that they had a great deal to teach him about life, loyalty, and freedom. The Elephant Whisperer is a heartwarming, exciting, funny, and sometimes sad memoir of Anthony's experiences with these huge yet sympathetic creatures. Set against the background of life on an African game reserve, with unforgettable characters and exotic wildlife, Anthony's unrelenting efforts at animal protection and his remarkable connection with nature will inspire animal lovers and adventurous souls everywhere. We all know that many animals grieve the loss of family and friends. Here's a wonderful acknowledgment of broken-hearted elephants mourning he loss of their human friend, Lawrence Anthony. His friend wrote, "Tonight at Thula Thula,the whole herd arrived at the main house, home to Lawrence and I. We had not seen them here for a very long time. Extraordinary proof of animal sensitivity and awareness that only a few humans can perceive. And Lawrence was one of them. Lawrence's legacy will be with us forever at Thula Thula." However, there is so much more to learn from the book. There’s the internecine and tribal warfare among the Zulus that at one point results in a contract being taken out on Lawrence’s life. There are the tales–sometimes happy and sometimes tragic—of the other animals that share Thula Thula with the elephants, including: crocs, rhino, cape buffalo, snakes, and—of course—the humans and their pet dogs. And, sadly, there’s a constant war going on against poachers that occasionally results in a firefight. The author is told these pachyderms are unruly and are to come into the possession of a big game hunter to be shot if he doesn’t take them. There are no elephants in the area of Thula Thula, and taking them on is a big risk. The neighbors are opposed because if the elephants get out they could cause untold damage—even if not maliciously. Furthermore, these elephants have had bad experiences with humans; the only adult bull had recently been killed—making them all the more hostile. These elephants have a history of escape, and when a herd of elephants wants to escape, it’s hard to keep them in. They are five or more tons of raw power. In fact, the herd does escape once early in the book, and a major drama unfolds as a result. There’s pressure on Lawrence to get rid of at least the matriarch and another female, Frankie, who is almost the same size as the matriarch and is even more aggressive. Eventually, he gets the herd to calm down through patience and an attempt to understand them. However, even as the herd becomes calmer and actually friendly toward Lawrence, there are always new challenges popping up. They add an adolescent who comes in alone, its entire family having been killed off. This history makes the new addition skittish, angry toward humans, and dangerously aggressive. By the book’s end, there is even a new generation being brought into the fold. A lot of the book is about communication, both the stomach-grumbling elephantine intraspecies communication and the interspecies communication between the author and the elephants. It turns out that elephants can communicate with others across great distances, most notably by stomach rumbles that largely take place at a frequency outside human capacity. There is also humour. There are times when all one can do is to accept that elephants will be elephants and gardens will be trampled and swimming pools will become watering holes. There’s no maliciousness. It’s just that five and six ton animals leave their mark wherever they go. They are intelligent but unsubtle creatures. Anthony persuaded African rebels who were wanted as war criminals to protect the few remaining white rhinoceroses prowling their battlegrounds. He fought to save crocodiles and other species. To preserve wildlife and their habitats, he showed antagonistic African tribes how they could benefit by cooperating in setting up game reserves to attract tourists. He worked with diplomats and lawyers to introduce a proposal to the United Nations to prohibit using conservation areas or zoos as targets of war. Since his death, his son Dylan told reporters, the herd has come to his house on the edge of their reserve every night. Anthony's story of his trials and tribulations in preserving a herd of African elephants is a parable for the continent. The Elephant Whisperer holds you rapt to the very last. P.P.Ramachandran. 16/8/2020.

 

KULWANT ROY

History in the Making : The Visual Archives of Kulwant Roy; Published by Harper Collins ; Pages 336 ; Price Rs. 4999/-

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This is a magnificent coffee-table book

containing a priceless collection of photographs by Kulwant Roy from the 1930s to 1960s. The prints and negatives of these photographs remained forgotten in boxes for over twenty-five years after his death in 1984. The world must be thankful to their inheritor Aditya Arya, a photographer himself, for making it available. Arya, while cataloguing them, stumbled upon a rare and valuable visual archive, including many unpublished pictures, of a momentous era in India’s history. Some of these unusual pictures relate to Muslim League meetings, INA trials, the signing of the Indian Constitution, as well as significant post-Independence milestones such as the building of the Bhakra Nangal Dam.

 Indivar Kamtekar, eminent historian provides an illuminating text. 

 All those who wish to pierce the veil behind India’s ‘tryst with destiny’ must dip into this classic volume.

Author Adita Arya graduated in history from St.Stephen’s College, Delhi and plunged into professional photography. He has acquired expertise in the world of advertising and corporate photography.His works have been exhibited the world over and his photographs have been published by renowned global journals.

 He is the author of  " The Land of the Nagas ”, a photographic documentation of the Naga people and the first-ever exhaustive visual study of the masterpieces of Buddhist art at the Aichi monastery in Ladakh.

 Indivar Kamtekar is a name to reckon with in the field of teaching. He teaches modern history at the Jawaharlal Nehru University and has been a faculty member of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and a fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study at Shimla. For his doctoral thesis from Cambridge he selected the end of British rule in India.

Kulwant Roy was an Indian photographer, who was born in Lahore in 1914. As the head of the "Associated Press Photographs" he secured several iconic images of the Indian independence movement and the early years of the Republic of India. He joined the Royal Indian Air Force and specialised in aerial photography. After relinquishing his link with the RIAF, he moved to Delhi in 1940 and set up a studio, which later expanded into a full-fledged agency, in the Mori Gate district of Old Delhi. This area was to become an important centre of Press Photographs in the country. He followed Mahatma Gandhi , for a number of years, in his travels around India in a third-class train compartment; this endowed him with an insider status that meant that he was permitted to record many crucial events of and major participants in the independence movement, including Jinnah, Nehru and Patel—surely the dream of any photographer. Roy covered Jacqueline Kennedy's visit in 1962 to India and India's war with Pakistan in 1965.

To Kulwant Roy’s utter dismay, he noted that a new breed of aggressive young photojournalists acquired dominance. He heartily disliked this and hung up his camera and faded into obscurity. "No one knew him or his past," Arya said. Roy was a frequent visitor to Arya's parents' home in New Delhi, having known Arya's mother's family from Lahore. But by the time Arya was old enough to remember him, Roy was a poor and lonely man. "He never wanted me to be a photographer because of the hardships and the fact that one has to live a life a bit like a vagabond," Roy died of cancer, virtually penniless and with no children of his own and left Arya his photo collection. Arya is now dedicated to restoring Roy to what he sees as his proper place in the annals of Indian photojournalism. Roy sold many of his photographs to international news agencies during his lifetime and some of them are now found in archival collections, but they are rarely credited with his name. "For me making sure people know his name is as important as making 

sure they know his pictures," declared Arya.
 
 Arya believes that some of the images - for instance a picture of a loin-clothed Gandhi descending from a third-class rail car - could become as iconic as the vintage India photos taken by the celebrated Margaret Bourke-White and Cartier-Bresson. Again, Nehru's hand curled tenderly around grandson Rajiv's neck, Gandhi and Jinnah arguing in 1939, Nehru and Ghaffar Khan strolling in Shimla-these nuggets of history were captured through photographs by Kulwant Roy from 1940 to 1960.

Roy thoughtfully selected frames that attempt to capture moments of time that will make one pause, and revive hidden memory. This is an ultimate treasure trove for anyone, who loves photography. There are a wide range of rare exhibits from Roy's collection. He captured various moods, showing glimpses of political leaders in different facets of life. He, with his photographs, threw light on last years of British rule but didn't get the recognition. Moreover, he captured off-the-cuff moments of great leaders making them approachable figures.

Roy's photos depict rare glimpses of pre and post -Independence era and freedom fighters who have endured many years of conflict. We have rare photographs of the visit of Gandhi to meet Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan in the North East frontier province, visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to India in 1941, Simla Conference in 1945 , Muslim League meetings, fund raising by Gandhiji , building of Bhakra dam and visits of dignitaries.

The Nationalist movement is covered by tracing mainstream politics through portraits .Wonderful images of Mahatma Gandhi collecting money from a woman for Harijan fund, Mahatma Gandhi addressing members of INA at Harijan colony Delhi have been captured by Roy .

It is a mystery when a news photographer makes history from deadline to deadline, never really knowing when he might take a photograph that will determine how an entire era is remembered. Consider the famous photograph of Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at a Congress meeting in 1946. Gandhi, looking into the middle distance, is, as ever, talking mainly to himself; Nehru and Patel, one on either side, straining to listen in, Nehru looking intently at his mentor’s mouth, and Patel’s face showing the effort it took for him to lean over at an uncomfortable, forty-five-degree angle. Could Roy have dreamt when he took it that it would be the most memorable representation of those strained relationships? It was chosen as the basis for a commemorative stamp after Patel died.

Turning the pages of this majestic volume holds a lesson for us and that is that great men influenced history but they did not control it. Manmohan Singh in his Foreword has rightly written “..History in the Making takes us back in time to a momentous and inspirational chapter of our past. The images captured by photojournalist Kulwant Roy bring alive the years which saw the birth of an independent India. Kulwant Roy’s photographs are sources as well as products of India. I hope that more such visual archives are brought to light and given the recognition and importance they richly deserve”.

One tragic note. Roy travelled to Japan, Hong Kong, USA, Panama, Brazil and various European countries. The negatives and prints of photographs taken there were mailed back to his address in Delhi but were never delivered. A shattered man, he spent the next few years looking for the negatives and prints in garbage dumps and open spaces around Delhi.

We welcome such breath-taking books as also the India Photo Archive Foundation, which has been established to identify, preserve and document photographic legacies like the output of Kulwant Roy. It will contribute towards creating a culture of dialogue on diverse narratives of photographic archives which are landmarks of history.

P.P.Ramachandran.

9/8/2020.