Q. After Maharashtra, are we this not dynasty? You are talking Q. Now that the Centre has announced entering an Opposition- about one person in my family who has an Adivasi name, will you support her? mukt Bharat? been elected twice. What’s the harm in If she is in Kolkata will you meet her? A. I have seen many accepting the young generation? A. We don’t do caste politics. If they governments, worked with Narasimha had told us (about Draupadi Murmu’s Rao, Rajiv Gandhi, Deve Gowda, Atal Q. Do you accept the Opposition lacks candidature) we would have at least dis- Behari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh, a prominent, tall leader to counter cussed her Why won’t I meet her? But I but have never seen such a vindictive Narendra Modi? cannot betray (the Opposition). government. An elected government A. The 2024 polls will be a vote to reject [in Maharashtra] has been toppled by BJP. Why are naming Modi? Is he God? Q. But aren’t you expanding your party money, ED-CBI, what not! I believe the Look at the situation of the country— at the cost of Congress? Rahul Gandhi government will not continue because it price hike, inflation, unemployment. is also saying this. is unethical, undemocratic, illegal. From where have you got the money A. Oh my God! You (Rahul) cannot tell to provide luxury and other things for me what to do. (Why don’t) you go to Q. What about Shiv Sena switching people (MLAs) who camped in Assam? the grassroots, make the party strong? sides and forming the government with I will do my own business. NCP-Congress in 2019? Q. This is a serious allegation, be A. I am talking about now and future. specific. Q. But Congress is an important glue Why should the Union home minister A. No I won’t. Sometimes it’s better to for Opposition unity. say I will end dynastic rule and occupy remain silent. A. Why only Congress, Congress, Bengal? You can bulldoze democracy Congress? I don’t have any interest for but in the next election people will Q. The Centre levels the same allega- any big post. Sometimes you need to bulldoze you. tions at you—unemployment, no invest- bell the cat. I only want my country to ment, targeting critics. develop so that the young should get Q. The BJP has taken a national politi- A. The propaganda is to defame us. employment…to build a united India. cal resolution to end dynastic rule… Employment in Bengal increased by 40 A. What dynasty? In sports, you (Amit per cent. Our economy has grown 3.5 Q. You have issued a look-out notice Shah) have taken over a top post. Is times, revenue saw four times increase against Nupur Sharma…. and even during the pandemic we A. Why wasn’t she arrested? We want posted a positive 1.2 per cent growth, to arrest her because you cannot play whereas India’s growth was in the nega- with fire. BJP is spending money for tive. The Centres owes us Rs 98,000 spreading fake, communal news which crore and another Rs 28,000 crore for is dividing our country. rural development. They are conspiring to put an economic blockade against us. Q. What about the charge that you’re going for an Opposition-mukt Bengal. Q. People are saying, when the Opposi- You take back people who joined BJP. tion cannot unite for the presidential A. We don’t need to horse-trade. They polls, how will they unite before 2024? are willingly coming to us as they want A. True, Opposition is badly divided. If to boycott hate politics. we fail this time, people will not excuse us. Yashwant Sinha’s name came from Q. There’s talk that incidents like the Opposition, I did not suggest it. Bagtui happened as you cannot control But I am supporting him. your cadres. A. I am proud of my cadres. Ram- “True, the purhat (Bagtui) was the fall out of a Oppossition is badly local problem. But it was the BJP’s conspiracy to bring in the CBI. divided. People want us to fight Q. As the only woman CM in the unitedly and if we country, have you ever been treated fail this time they di erently? will not excuse us” A. Honestly, I always see myself as a human being, not just a woman. But maybe because of it they (NDA) are not giving me money and creating economic blockades.
“We are ensuring gover- nance improves, getting Centre’s support. You have to balance everything” CONRAD SANGMA Chief minister, Meghalaya “To say radicalisation hap- pens due to discrimination is untrue. BJP didn’t discrimi- nate on development” MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI Former Union minister the BJP as a team, there’s also no without discussion,” he said. “We are the only party that compulsion that we will have to com- BJP Lok Sabha MP from Odisha, believes in nation first, promise on our values,” Sangma said. He believes it’s not necessary to see Aparajita Sarangi, however, said party second and self last. eye-to-eye all the time and his party that productivity rate of the 16th and Ours is not an overnight is on its own in Manipur, Assam and 17th Lok Sabhas is on a consistent Arunachal Pradesh. high and it has been peaking every success.” year, from 86 per cent in 2014 to But “The Art of Building a 106 per cent in the current 17th Lok BAIJAYANT PANDA Consensus in an Age of Disruption” Sabha. She believes the country is BJP national vice president (another panel discussion) is near going through “Amritkaal, the times impossible if the people in power of thinking ahead, and thinking believe in riding roughshod over ahead of your time is bound to face others, said some. TMC Rajya Sabha resistance.” A major bill like the Per- MP Sukhendu Shekhar Ray, draw- sonal Data Protection Bill was sent ing a parallel with the UPA I and II to a Joint Parliamentary Committee regime, said that while 71 per cent and Standing Committee and after bills during the UPA years would be 78 meetings with all stakeholders it referred to Select Committees and saw the light of the day, she asserted. Standing Committees, barely 11 per But all said and done, 76 more bills cent of bills in 17th Lok Sabha got have taken the route of ordinances referred to a Standing Committee. in just five years in comparison to 61 “In 2021, 11 bills were discussed in 10 in the 10 years of UPA rule. Abdul minutes and out of seven bills tabled Khaleque, Congress MP from As- in the budget session, five got passed sam, said hurriedly passed legisla- 5 2 INDIA TODAY J U LY 18 , 2 02 2
“Judiciary is not a sacred card, We as a public have a right to question. Nupur has violated IPC, Zubair has not” MAHUA MOITRA TMC MP “The Bill (on CM as chancellor of universities) has been sent back to her because it was incomplete information” JAGDEEP DHANKHAR Governor, West Bengal tion like the Abrogation of Article 370 of fear and hesitation has permeated ing Goddess Kali smoking a cigarette. and CAA served no purpose. “See what the judiciary. “The fear of holding Mahua said that to her, Goddess Kali happened to Kashmir. It’s worse than back promotions, appointments and is a meat-eating and alcohol accept- before and the CAA Act has done no transfers does have a role to play behind ing goddess, as it was customary to good,” Khaleque quipped. But the pan- the hesitation,” Singhvi argued. But it’s offer meat and wine to her puja. Her elists agreed that the more Parliament time judges need to be true to their oath comment created a furore. The saffron sits and debates the less bloodshed we to uphold the Constitution. “The colle- brigade started trolling her, prompting will see on the streets. Even Sarangi gium apart, the judges ultimately have her party Trinamool Congress to dis- concluded that the “majority runs the a conscience to answer, quieten and be sociate itself from it. government but consensus runs the accountable to,” Singhvi added. country and taking the nation forward Another highlight of the conclave has to be a collective responsibility”. Former Union minister of Minority was the launch of India Today NE, Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said no a digital platform for the Northeast. If one thought the Nupur Sharma one from the BJP has justified Nupur India Today Group Vice-Chairperson controversy was done and dusted, there Sharma’s remarks. Modi bashing is Kalli Purie said: “Today I came to know was a mini dust storm waiting to stir on with a vengeance, extending into this area is surrounded by five other fresh dissent in the auditorium, as Bharat bashing, he stated. “BJP has countries. Strategically it’s an impo- sessions like “The Fine Line between made no discrimination on develop- rtant space. The eight states deserve Judicial Overreach and Executive ment; there are three lakh masjids and more spotlight. With that in mind we Inaction” and “Revenge Politics: From another 3 lakh dargahs in India—num- are launching the latest in news ven- Battle of Ballot to Battle of Bullet” took bers not even there in Pakistan.” ture, India Today North-East. Looking place. Panelists like Congress Rajya at this region we will showcase the area Sabha MP Abhishekh Manu Singhvi Lok Sabha MP Mohua Moitra, an better and to a certain extent correct and former judge of the Supreme Court advocate of free speech, was caught in a misunderstandings that exist about the Asok Ganguly agreed that a climate controversy when asked for an opinion region and its beautiful people.” on a poster of a documentary show-
a “If you feel you are being wronged and no Bengali can represent the cabinet, that is derogatory” BABUL SUPRYO TMC MLA “In the last “Nautanki gets ten years our asset you votes, gives base has grown from you simhasan. Rs 7,000 cr to Rs Anger is a politi- 52,000 cr. That is not cal expression slow investment” that helps you become pow- SANJIV GOENKA erful. Politics Chairperson, is basically RPSG group natyashastra” Amid the heated debates there DEVDUTT PATTANAIK were moments of quiet introspection and refreshing breaths of fresh air. Author Soumyojit Das’s rendition of Raag Bhairavi was pure magic, with the “Judiciary should be scales of Gayatri Mantra—Bhur much more vigilant Bhuva Swaha—smoothly blend- in protecting indi- ing with an azaan’s Allah hu Akbar. vidual liberty and It was inspiring and reassuring to freedom of speech. hear that a shared love for raags It is not discharging unite vocalist Soumyojit and pianist its duties properly” Sourendra—former college mates on a soulful musical journey. ASOK GANGULY In other bright spots, Sanjiv Former SC judge Goenka, chairperson of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, talked of the future “SC’s observation being secure in the competent hands on Nupur Sharma of his Wharton graduate son Sash- was part of perfectly wat, who is not only hard working, legitimate interac- but believes in modest living. tive process. It should not qualify as judicial There were delightful anecdotes overreach” from Dr Mehtab Chandee, wife of Conrad Sangma, who shared how a ABHISHEK MANU SINGHVI politician in Meghalaya is judged— not by the political colour he sports or Congress Rajya Sabha MP the company he keeps but by the fam-
“The infrastructure “Neighbouring states “The need of the deficit is enormous must sit together hour is to have a in eastern India voluntarily and have separate east compared to other a common platform. policy, with They must chalk out regions and that better roads and needs to change” a plan” infrastructure” ASHOK KUMAR LAHIRI PRONAB SEN SAGAR DARYANI, Economist, BJP MLA Economist CEO, Wow! Momo “The Agnipath scheme aims at improving the youthful profile of the armed forces. There has to be a fine balance between youth and experience” LT GEN RANA PRATAP KALITA GOC-in-C, Eastern Command “Confrontation ily he’s surrounded by as well as pets. means love, and the Hurricane between executive, The session “Being the Better Half” Gals, the first all-girl rock band legislature and judi- was about women who were not from Assam, spread love in abun- ciary will sort itself playing second fiddle to their well- dance with their energetic dhol and out if each keeps to its known spouses. It was refreshing to guitar beats and chorus of ‘Hoi’ respective domain set hear that Rajkummar Rao plays a (harmless catcalls when a group by the Constitution” doting house-husband at times—he of boys bumps into a girl gang) in loves doing the dishes and often picks a session titled “Opening Notes: DEVAJIT SAIKIA up the broom and the mop. Bihu Beats: Music, Melody and the Mirza Girls. Advocate general, Assam Last but not the least, Bihu
“OTTs are giving us more opportunities to explore because every character has to be eshed out, not just the protagonists” RAIMA SEN Actor “There is no “Conventional clash between is boring. There traditional is no point if cinema and you don’t stand OTT plat- out. I never forms. While had a plan B. I always wanted one is per- to be an actor” sonal viewing RAJKUMMAR RAO the other is community Actor viewing” PAOLI DAM Actor Photographs by BANDEEP SINGH 5 6 INDIA TODAY J U LY 18 , 2 02 2
“I will not hurt anyone’s religious sentiments or mix creativity with reli- gion. If you are coming up with something creative, then take responsi- bility for your own actions as well” NUSRAT JAHAN Actor, TMC Lok Sabha MP “Once you “During Covid, are trying digital platforms to create created great your path amounts of con- you are tent, work and bound to great amount face chal- of experiments, lenges. But besides money. By those chal- 2030, OTTs will lenges are create business also very worth $15 billion” exciting” ARINDAM SIL KALPANA Actor PATOWARY Folk singer
“Vande Mataram is a rare com- position that united the nation during the freedom movement” SOUMYOJIT DAS Vocalist “Probably raagas brought us together, though there are so many dissimilarities between us” SOURENDRO MULLICK Pianist “If you go for “Regional “Renowned “Sadly, we commercial cinema is a Assamese don’t have the considerations derogatory directors support system you will not be term really. made cinema for creative able to create we are Indian out of passion pursuits like good art. Art is cinema” and from an painting, ultimately innate need to classical dance a rasa” UTPAL BORPUJARI create” and sculpture” PARESH MAITY Filmmaker, KAPIL BORA NILA MADHAB PANDA film critic Artist Actor Filmmaker and director 5 8 INDIA TODAY J U LY 18 , 2 02 2
“On friendship day in 2010, I formed this all-girl rock band with my best friend Arju. We wanted to be unique and different from the very beginning. We are combining rock music with folk music, which is the soul of Assam.” MAMONI KALITA Lead singer, Hurricane Gals “I faced adversity “My husband is still for being a an ardent fan of minister’s wife. The mine. He’s still that general perception humble person I met 17 years ago” was I was getting favours.” AIMEE BARUAH Actor, filmmaker DR RITA CHOUDHURY Author “I call the third phase that I “It was a conscious am now in The decision to give up Awakening, or my profession and Arpita, the woman” look after my fam- ARPITA CHATTERJEE ily when Conrad Actor, entrepreneur became CM” DR MEHTAB CHANDEE Entrepreneur 60 INDIA TODAY J U LY 18 , 2 02 2
IN THE EYE OF THE WHERE THE STORM GODS DWELL PG 63 PG 64 GREAT DESIS OF THE GREAT WAR Q&A WITH PG 66 B.V. DOSHI PG 68 slercedtAlhiMmgclaaaehiUtmgnheaHdaC,’sisrmnIHeSwuampsToLneerOdwIarkKtaRifstEoghYirata,csineelf EXHIBITION A ROCK IN A HARD PLACE A new retrospective puts on display Bangladeshi photojournalist Shahidul Alam’s grit and iconoclasm
LEISURE SHAHIDUL ALAM WITH LUCID LENSES From left, A mural in Dhaka’s Jahangirnagar University; Bangladesh’s first collective of women photographers; floodwaters in Dhaka S istry doctoral student in London seem Khaleda Zia surrounded by women SHAHIDUL ALAM’S AFFINITY more concerned with aesthetics, while at an election rally, and hope seems with Kolkata runs deep. His parents lived and got married here. The ac- the pictures he makes on his return to palpable. But later, when Alam again claimed photojournalist came to the city shortly after Bangladesh was lib- Bangladesh, especially those from the goes to photograph Zia, he is met by a erated in 1971: “We saw three films a day and went to every concert we could late ’80s, demand a new ethic. wall of burly men. The prime minister fit in.” Crucially, many of the artists, philosophers, poets and activists the “It wasn’t a shift,” clarifies Alam. is distant, almost invisible. 67-year-old admires all have a Kolkata link. It seems only fitting that Singed “The ethics is the message, the aesthet- Alam isn’t frustrated by such irony. but Not Burnt, Alam’s first Asian ret- rospective, has come here before cura- ics is the means. In the UK, the cause He says, “Frustration is a luxury one tor Ina Puri travels the country with it. This city is no stranger to revolution, was not as acute. In Bangladesh, it was cannot afford. The minute you say, and Alam’s work hits home with the force of a sledgehammer. all consuming.” On display at Emami ‘What’s the use?’, and give up, you’ve Alam took to photography by ac- Art until August 20, Singed… can sud- abdicated. Not only do I refuse to give cident. While he was on a hitchhiking trip in the US, a friend asked Alam to denly grab you by the collar. Whether them an easy passage, I refuse to give buy him a camera. “He didn’t have the money, so I got stuck with it,” Alam it’s a woman being forced to cook on her them respite. The stakes are much too tells INDIA TODAY over email. The pho- tographer’s early work—nudes, photos tin roof, or another wading through a high.” In Alam’s case, it seems clear that of forests and swans—sees him use his Nikon FM to frame beauty, mostly flooded Dhaka, people are battling the he doesn’t employ the ‘us-and-them’ radically but, sometimes, also conven- tionally. The photos he takes as a chem- odds everywhere. The dots of Alam’s formulation lightly. It is the State which 6 2 INDIA TODAY J U LY 18 , 2 02 2 photography all connect to prove an has drawn that line in the sand. Dur- obvious truth—people are invariably ing Ershad’s regime, he’d seen a loaded resilient in the face of adversity, but gun pointed to his head. He was later their peril is often brought about by stabbed eight times, and, then, on Au- the apathy and hubris of those in power. gust 5, 2018, Alam suffered an ordeal It seems hardly surprising that a which was in some part Kafkaesque. Shahidul Alam retrospective offers After two teenagers were killed by us, his Indian audience, a snapshot speeding buses in Dhaka, thousands of of Bangladeshi history, but one feels students took to the streets, demand- that Singed… is also trying to remind ing their roads be safer. Seeing the us that history, much police fire tear gas and like a cliche, repeats it- ALAM HAD rubber bullets, Alam self again and again. In HAD A GUN live-streamed the pro- 1990, Alam shoots men POINTED TO test on Facebook. On atop a truck, celebrat- HIS HEAD, August 5, the same day ing the fall of General WAS STABBED he had told Al Jazeera Hussain Muhammad EIGHT TIMES, that he’d seen police of- Ershad’s military dic- AND SPENT 107 ficials simply look on as tatorship. In a 1991 armed gangs assaulted photo, we see Begum DAYS IN JAIL students, he was ar- IN 2018
rested in the dead of night on the BOOKS charge of “giving false information to the media”. When produced in IN THE EYE OF court, he couldn’t walk without THE STORM assistance. It was clear he’d been tortured. Denied bail five times, he The Vortex is a riveting retelling of the story was in jail for 107 days. of Bangladesh’s liberation Even though Section 57 of Ban- M ultiple arcs of crises together and occasionally extrap- gladesh’s Information and Com- intersected in the east- olating conversations. The purist munication Technology Act—the ern half of the Bengal may cavil but the end result is a law under which Alam had been charged—has been repealed, the Delta in 1970-71 and changed riveting read in which the consid- activist still faces a potential 14 years in prison. Asked if the possi- the status of East Pakistan to erable research and interviews bility leaves him afraid, Alam says, “It would be naive not to be wary, Bangladesh. The first was the the authors have pursued give a but in battle, fear is something you learn to live with.” To avoid being maturing of a political and federal granular feel of what happened tracked, Alam has now stopped us- ing a mobile phone: “My security, crisis due to Pakistan’s discrimi- half a century ago. and that of my family, friends and colleagues is always a concern.” nation against and exploitation of The creation of Bangladesh is Looking back, however, Alam Bengalis. Post 1947, East Pakistan also a story of Pakistan’s colossal says, “I can now see life through a different lens, which provides an became in many ways a colony of misjudgments and the character insight I might otherwise never have had. As for the ill treatment, the western wing. The second was flaws of its leadership, particularly I’m alive. I am still physically and mentally able. I have food on my a geopolitical crisis that followed its military dictator, General Yahya table. That is more than many oth- ers in my country can claim. My when Pakistan became an inter- Khan. His carousing and philander- nation is suffering far more than I ever did.” Alam, it seems obvious, mediary in cementing a US-China ing, combined with the narcissism will not go silently into any night. entente, a development which India of being a global actor sharing the By not buckling, Alam is also setting an example. Having and the Soviet Union viewed as an stage with Nixon and Mao, pro- founded the Drik Picture Library in 1989 and the Pathshala South alliance of all three, which in turn vides a near morality tale of Asian Media Institute in 1998, Alam has, over the years, recruited led them to forge an alliance how power corrupts several young “warriors” to fight the good fight. “A teacher’s job is to of their own. Finally, all this and depraves. open windows to people’s minds. Once you teach people to see, you was underwritten by a However, the must have things to show. The life- style one leads is the finest teach- climatic catastrophic reader may won- ing tool available.” Rather than dwell on the distinction between in the form of der whether Vortex aperture and shutter speeds, Alam’s lessons can also be pithy: cyclone Bhola assumes too much in “Changing the world for the better is what it is all about. Depicting it with disastrous its quest for historical is a by-product.” I consequences for technicolor: for instance, — Shreevatsa Nevatia deltaic East Bengal. a scene when the Shah This story of THE VORTEX: The of Iran on a state the emergence True Story of History’s visit to Pakistan of Bangladesh is Deadliest Storm and the pounds on Yahya’s well known. The Liberation of Bangladesh bedroom door Vortex, however, and interrupts him provides a grip- by Scott Carney and with his mistress. ping retelling of Jason Miklian Undoubtedly, in these three principal post 1971, there themes: the politics, HARPERCOLLINS INDIA were many Pakistanis `599; 528 pages the geopolitics and the who implicitly believed cyclone, populated by both such a story. known and unknown actors— Over time, the revulsion for West Pakistanis, Bengalis and Yahya and the belief that it was Americans. Readers here may well the depravity of their rulers alone find India’s role unusually dimin- that broke up Pakistan, has kept ished, but this does not detract the story credible. Even so, while from Vortex’s fast-paced narra- such devices may make a rol- tive. How the cyclone and later the licking yarn, they surely stretch genocide in East Pakistan became credibility to maintain that Yahya international causes are particu- finally signed off on the air strikes larly compelling narratives. against India and initiated the 1971 The dramatic element, in an war out of frustration and anger already drama-filled history, is because—according to the authors enhanced by a creative conjur- of Vortex—he’d just confronted ing of “motivations and states of his son in flagrante delicto with a mind that are not preserved in favourite mistress! Nevertheless, the historical record”. This means a thunderingly good read. I splicing disparate situations and —T.C.A. Raghavan facts, combining events and situa- (The writer is a former High tions that may not have happened Commissioner to Pakistan)
BOOKS WHERE THE GODS DWELL Having completed 75 years, Marg has released a special issue on temples that’s a feast for the senses F ounded by writer Mulk wards an abundance of interpretation the Kailasa Temple, not counted Raj Anand in 1946, Marg has tried achiev- religion can, at times, preclude. among the twelve jyotirlingas? Given ing its aim of “develop- ing a socially active and In ‘Visualising the Gods’, an essay Hinduism’s emphasis on dharma, culturally engaging lan- guage of art” with admirable courage. about the importance of darshan, Gil- how does one explain the explicit At a time when niche-interest maga- zines are going out of vogue and print, les Tarabout writes how a painting of eroticism that has been portrayed in Marg is evidently not in the game only to survive. To celebrate its 75th Narasimha—an embellishment on the temple sculpture? In each case, the year, the art magazine has released Readings on the Temple, a sumptu- outer wall of a Kerala temple—came answers that Marg’s scholars arrive at ous “bumper issue” that collects many articles it has previously published on to be worshipped by locals. “Offerings feels unexpected. Even pieces that are temples in India and beyond. and rituals are never without effect,” decades-old somehow seem novel. A temple is hardly ever without meaning. As Khajuraho somewhat writes Tarabout, “and Narasimha, so In his introduction, Marg’s editor, predictably proves, even its walls are significant. Though essential to a it is said, really began to reside in his Naman P. Ahuja, writes, “Temples temple’s fabric, devotion oftentimes has a tendency to blanket detail with image […] a proper consecration had have once again been prominently in fervour. By assigning scholars the task of deconstructing the complex symbol- to be organised in order to ritually con- the news. The growth of Hindu nation- ogy, architecture and art of Hindu places of worship, Marg has helped us tain the divine power.” Similarly, most alism […] has brought temple studies understand better the nuances of heri- tage. Like pilgrims, every contributor of Marg’s writers seem to look at faith into focus: Why does this form of here approaches the temple with dif- ferent intent. While Readings… makes as a result of the human condition, not building matter so much?” While poli- obvious the frequency with which the theme of temples has recurred in a riddle that needs solving. tics barely features in Readings…, it’s Marg, this 310-page volume signals to- In no way, however, sometimes hard not to look does this innate respect at its writing and images as for religiosity discount political. Catherine B. Asher, curiosity. Scholarship for instance, notes that invariably starts with Sawai Jai Singh had ensured inquiry, and those who the exterior of the Govinda have contributed to Marg Deva temple he had built in down the years all seem Jaipur resembles Shah Ja- to have begun with a han’s public halls. And, then, question: Were post- there’s the picture of the Kushan builders in Uttar READINGS ON THE Gyanvapi mosque on page Pradesh aware of the TEMPLE FROM 75 241—a reminder that in In- techniques their Roman YEARS OF MARG dia, the doors of masjids and and Byzantine counter- by Naman P. Ahuja mandirs are often adjacent parts were employing? and identical. I (editor) THE MARG FOUNDATION Why is cave 16 at Ellora, `700; 310 pages — Shreevatsa Nevatia 6 4 INDIA TODAY J U LY 18 , 2 02 2
MAPPING THE HERITAGE SACRED The Mandir Goes Viral Books that explain the significance of the Hindu temple The Mughal Era Mandir project, a social media initiative, hopes to conserve Delhi’s heritage and cosmopolitanism THE HINDU TEMPLE: An Introduction to Its urious for a lesser - chronicled the city’s history and heri- Meaning and Forms C known slice of Delhi tage. She and Dalrymple circled two by George Michell history, historian Rana more Sundays on their calendar to re- UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS Safvi and author Sam discover more temples from the time Rs 3,400; 194 pages Dalrymple recently vis- of Muhammad Shah and other Mu- If you’re looking for a primer on the temple’s cultural, religious and ited the Charan Das ki Baghichi temple. ghal leaders. The initiative took them architectural importance, this 1988 book serves as a perfect Built by Mughal emperor Muhammad through the labyrinthine gullies of the introduction. Michell helps Shah Rangeela (1702-1748), the tem- old city, to Shivalayas in Katra Neel, the illuminate the path from Khajuraho ple’s existence is a story of the religious epicentre of Shahjahanbad’s Shaivite to Angkor Wat. cross-pollination that has impacted community, to the “Urdu Mandir”, a Jain GODS IN THE TIME OF DEMOCRACY much of North Indian culture. Local leg- temple—built in Chandni Chowk in Shah by Kajri Jain end states that the Mughal was himself Jahan’s time—and so many more. “I sim- DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS Rs 2,589; 360 pages a devotee of the Hindu saint Charan ply wasn’t aware that there were over a At 597 ft, the Sardar Patel Statue of Unity is the world’s tallest, but Das—a bhakti ascetic who was believed hundred such historic mandirs in Delhi,” the 823 ft statue of Lord Ram being built in Ayodhya might well beat its to be an avatar of Lord Krishna. says Dalrymple. record. This book examines how scale is today a measure of piety. Upon their arrival to this intricate- Soon, there was yet another twist TEMPLE TALES: ly-crafted mandir, however, Safvi and to the tale, as the national conversation Secrets and Stories from Dalrymple were greeted by an about mandirs and masjids took India’s Sacred Places by Sudha G. Tilak unwelcome surprise. In the a sharp, toxic turn. At the HACHETTE INDIA name of renovation, some- SatarnatfdovIvNieDi(nSl@saitoTliUrrafaAystSnmeaGaEmdpRsilawaeAlfo(ivs@Mgie)u)e Gyanvapi mosque complex Rs299; 200 pages one was painting over the in Varanasi, it was a famil- Where would you find a shrine for temple’s Vaishnav fres- iar story retold: a shrine coes, modifying a piece in dispute, a mosque in the goddess of vegetables? of the city’s artistic and danger. At which temple is tonic an historical heritage with a offering? Answering these few casual brushstrokes. Over the next few questions in her children’s book, days, Safvi and Dalrymple Tilak shows us how temples are Having seen the origi- began to post their stories also centres of art. nal frescoes four years ago, of the Mughal Era Mandirs on Safvi mentioned in a recent interview their Instagram accounts as a way to her desire to bring to light the condi- shine a light on the complexities of Indi- tions in which the city’s heritage was an history, a way to challenge the divi- not being conserved—and the desper- sive political dichotomies of our times. ate need to do so. “I found this tragic,” The posts went viral, receiving some Dalrymple says, discussing the origin backlash; but mostly, they opened a of the ‘Mughal Era Mandir’ photo-proj- treasure trove of conversation among ect that Safvi and he launched on their historians and devotees alike. social media accounts. “These were “I think it’s very easy in politics, the most gorgeous frescoes… and across the world, where every side of we were losing a bit of Delhi’s Hindu the political spectrum reduces the past heritage.” to a very simplistic narrative,” says Dal- Between the rough outlines of rymple. “But history is complicated, New and Old Delhi, the capital of our and these mandirs are evidence of present-day democracy can also feel that. It’s good to know where you come like a breathing museum of centuries- from—because it can inform you about old kingdoms. Safvi, in a number of her your future.” texts and scholarly work, has closely —Karan Madhok
LEISURE THE FIRST WORLD THE RAJ NEEDED THE WAR ADVENTURES OF SACRIFICE BY COLONIAL NARIMAN KARKARIA SOLDIERS, BUT WAS by Nariman Karkaria; UNWILLING translated by Murali TO GRANT A COMMISSION Ranganathan TO A DESI HARPER COLLINS INDIA OFFICER WHO MIGHT GIVE `599; 260 pages ORDERS TO A WHITE MAN BOOKS GREAT DESIS OF THE GREAT WAR Rather than join Indian units, Hardit Singh Malik and Nariman Karkaria both fought World War I alongside white soldiers. Two new books detail their grit and successes I n an odd refraction of histo- reveal the stories of two com- adarsh balak, he does well riography, recountings of the plete outliers, Hardit Singh at studies and sports and First World War, especially Malik and Nariman Karkaria. is sent to boarding school the stories of Indian soldiers in England. He gets into are only now cutting through The two young men have Oxford, after which a secure the massive curtain of mate- a few things in common: first, future awaits him; instead, rial about the Second World neither of them was from the he joins first the French Red War. For King and Another peasant class that made up Cross and then the RFC, Country by Shrabani Basu the desi regiments; second, the precursor of the RAF. was an eye-opener about the neither of them really needed Karkaria, on the other hand, long obscured million-strong to join up yet both strove to seems to be a Huckleberry desi participation that basi- do so; third, neither of them Finn in a sadra. At the age cally saved the skin of Britain joined a desi unit, both find- of 16, he runs away from and France in the conflict. ing their way to serve along- home in Navsari and makes While Basu’s book concen- side gora combatants. his way to Bombay, Hong trates on the testimonies of Kong and Peking; he returns ordinary foot-soldiers, the The differences are also briefly and takes off again, books under review here equally sharp. Malik comes to China, Tsarist Russia and from a well-to-do Sikh family of Rawalpindi; as a complete 6 6 INDIA TODAY J U LY 18 , 2 02 2
Scandinavia, before reaching imaginable. The passages where THE LIST a black-out darkened London, where he decides to enlist. Malik finally goes into battle in a POINT OF HONOUR Lion of the Skies, written by Sopwith Camel may disappoint Stephen Barker, an English WW1 How India fought the historian, locates Malik’s story readers of Biggles books, but they First World War in the struggle he undertakes to become a fighter pilot and be given believably capture the stop-start, THE INDIAN EMPIRE AT WAR: due respect as a full officer of the From jihad to victory, the untold King’s military. Laid out here is yet boredom-horror reality of war. story of the Indian Army in the another instance of the huge, rac- ist double-standards of the Raj, Returning to India after the First World War where the high authorities are by George Morton-Jack desperate for the dedication and war, Nariman Karkaria writes sacrifice of their colonial soldiers, LITTLE, BROWN yet unwilling to grant even the his fast-moving, often hilarious `699; 592 pages most battle-proven desi officer a The First World War took nearly two commission where he might give travelogue in Gujarati for a small million Indians on many a journey. orders to a white man. Most turned soldiers, some became subscribership. We have to be gra- prisoners of war, while others travelled Following Malik’s story, we as spies. This book collects their get some funny and revealing bits. teful to Murali Ranganthan for extraordinary stories. Once, when Malik is walking in Paris with an Algerian officer of unearthing this gem and doing a INDIAN TROOPS IN EUROPE the French army and a white poilu by Santanu Das fails to salute the officer; the officer superb translation. Karkaria puts berates the soldier into saluting MAPIN PUBLISHING and the Sardar realises that the down pithy, hilarious thumbnails: `1,850; 160 pages French cook their racism some- How did the Indian soldier survive what differently from the British. “Though there were only six Parsis Europe during the Great War? Then, working as an ambulance This visual record of Indians in the driver in the town of Cognac, the in Peking, they were at daggers continent’s trenches, fields, farms, teetotaller Malik comes under billets, markets, towns, stations and the joint attention of the manag- drawn!... one had to be mindful hospitals offers some answers. ers of two of the biggest brands of fine brandy, Hennessy and about encountering them while Martell, thus losing his aversion to firewater in one of the best ways walking around the city.” When Karkaria’s unit is taken to the frontline in France, he describes the devastation a 15-inch artill- ery shell can cause, before going on to other ordinance: “...so these bombs, the latest invention of the white brain, were converted so that they could be used as rifle grenades.” Both books are invaluable reading for anyone interested in the encounter between a certain youthful subcontinental energy and the devastating short-circuits of the white brain from a hundred years ago. I —Ruchir Joshi LION OF THE SKIES: Hardit Singh Malik, the Royal Air Force and the First World War by Stephen Barker HARPER COLLINS INDIA `599, 248 pages THE HALFMOON FILES (2007) by Philip Scheffner (Director) Indians interned in the German city of Wünsdorf during World War I were made to record their voices through phonographic funnels. This documentary allows us to again listen to their stories and anguish.
BUILDING FOR Q. You’ve worked with masters of modern- THE PEOPLE ism like Corbusier & Louis Kahn but you acknowledge Le Corbusier as your guru. After having recently been awarded the Give an example of his influence on you? Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of Visiting my drafting table, Corbusier explained to British Architects, B.V. “Balkrishna” me the intricacies of space, movement, light and Doshi, 94, says he would like to be remem- structure. He would describe the movement of bered as a “humanitarian architect” people in it. I was transported to these buildings which he drew on the paper but didn’t exist in Q. Your many honours include the Pritzker reality. This is what influenced me greatly. prize, known as the Nobel Prize of archi- tecture. Why is RIBA’s Gold Medal special? QA Q. From low-income My association with RIBA early in my career housing projects to played an important role in my architectural multiple institutions, education. I used to spend hours at the RIBA such as IITs, your range library. Those memories make this special for is vast. But what is the me. In the late 50s, I was with Le Corbusier when genre that has been he received RIBA’s Gold Medal. For me, to get the most satisfying—and Royal Gold Medal that my guru got is even more why? humbling and gratifying. Low-cost housing has been the most gratifying work for me. I believe that you must give something to people— give them a reason to smile, joy to celebrate, and the security to celebrate life. RAJWANT RAWAT Q. Your artworks—paint- ings, metal sculpture and drawings—were recently shown at Art Basel. Do your building sketches in- spire the art or vice versa? I cannot distinguish one from the other—to me, they are inte- gral. When I draw something, it happens naturally because it is unexpected. And when I design buildings, I try to find ways by which the spirit comes through. —with Sunil Sethi 68 Volume XLVII Number 29; For the week July 12-18, 2022, published on every Friday Total number of pages 70 (including cover pages)
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