The online exhibition foregrounds the Indus’ significant impact in Ladakh, which crosses serene riverscapes, from the high Himalayas, through a melange of cultures and traditions, down to its delta in the Sindh and out in the Arabian Sea during its course…Siddhi Jain.
Ladakh is a dream place for most travelers. A series of photographs on the Indus River in the Ladakh region, taken by artist-photographer Isaac Tsetan Gergan, follow the length and breadth of Ladakh, from Nubra to Zanskar and Leh to Kargil telling the story of the river and of the state. On view till July 11 online, the exhibition titled ‘Two Banks of a River — The Indus in Ladakh’ brings to light the traditional practices followed by the locals and how the region’s waterways are imperiled by pollution and commercialisation.
Leh
The online exhibition foregrounds the Indus’ significant impact in Ladakh, which crosses serene riverscapes, from the high Himalayas, through a melange of cultures and traditions, down to its delta in the Sindh and out in the Arabian Sea during its course. Like it has nourished our ancestors, the river continues to bring life to the thousands of villages and communities along its course, says the exhibition about the life-giving river.
Building on how the Indus supports life, livestock and agrarian practices have built Ladakh, it shows how the Ladakhi way of life and everyday systems are sustainable and use resources wisely and in harmony with the environment. “One cannot say the same of today’s booming industries and infrastructure development.”
“Prayers have been offered to the great river, ashes dissolved into its currents. The Indus, like all water bodies, is sacred in these regions. The sacredness ascribed to water made communities use it wisely and deliberately, certainly not wastefully or thoughtlessly.”
The Vancouver-educated artist-photographer shares that the containers of water were prayed over, as they held a significant place in the home and were designed beautifully. “The plastic bucket, while cheaper and perhaps more practical, still pales. Do we carry forward our values related to water, even as we know of its decreasing availability? How can we still build our systems around traditional values connected with water?” says a note on the exhibition.
It adds: “Waterways are being polluted. We have a number of hydro-power projects that have come up too. Rising temperatures and erratic weather patterns, episodes of sudden downpours have increased risks to livelihoods and settlements. There is only so much water; can everybody have an equal share? The changes in the mountains are evident, many times before it is in the plains, owing to its fragility.
“Similarly the changes in climate are seemingly slow but certainly steady and constant. The impacts of Indus being dammed has altered life downstream, even if in small ways, or the flash floods that caused massive loss of life, land, and history. Sewage water seeping into the waterways, to the rise in tourism leaving an unmistakable trail of non-biodegradable waste, we come to make as our way of life. What is in our control and can we be better stewards of the resources we have been given?”
Leh
Reminiscing about a simpler past and reflecting on the present, the artist observes: “Photographing and writing about the Indus, hearing old folk tell their stories or experts giving presentations, I have been moved across emotions and thoughts about water and its central place in Ladakh. Sitting by still brooks to the banks of the raging Suru, I have seen water flow through Ladakh. Laying on the soft grass in a willow’s shade along a rushing stream, hearing the soft water following on the flattened pebbles is not only romantic but is still possible. From my position, while writing, on the other side of the bank are sounds of heavy machinery, earth movers, concrete and iron pillars rising higher, sweat under yellow helmets — a new age coming to the ancient mountains.”
The online exhibition is on view on the website of the India International Centre.
If you are reading this, then we have something in common…. Whether it’s a love of getting crafty, meticulously organizing or making fun-shaped snacks! …writes Siddhi Jain.
There is no speculated time for reading, but the pandemic era is surely a chance. As the world unlocks, there is a need to upgrade and upskill oneself. Let these books be your companions and coaches in a post-pandemic world.
‘Keep Sharp: How to Build a Better Brain at Any Age’ by Sanjay Gupta
An exciting new science-driven guide to protecting your mind from decline. This book includes a 12-week brain training program. An essential guide to keeping your brain young, healthy and sharp from neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta. Keep Sharp is the only owner’s manual you will need to keep your brain young and healthy at any age!
The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
With an IKIGAI like magic, Matt Haig’s reflections on hope, survival, and the messy miracle of being alive wraps around us like a warm blanket on an ice-cold night. The book is a collection of life rafts that have kept the author afloat and he hopes with utmost sincerity that some of them would carry us to a dry land too.
‘You Can Coach’ by Siddharth Rajsekar
Currently ranking in the top Amazon Book Bestsellers, You Can Coach aims to redefine the education system by creating a new breed of teachers, coaches, and mentors who will be implementers. The book decodes all the steps for experts to successfully plan, launch, and grow a digital coaching business to six-figures a month. Siddharth is one of India’s top digital coaches and wants to change the way we learn after his own experience as a student. Filled with practical strategies and principles, this information has already helped over 11,000 experts from across the world and created numerous success stories. Apart from his own experience in digital coaching, the book also draws on the experiences of the world’s best coaches and mentors through interviews with Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy, Blair Singer and Dr Demartini among others.
‘Tap to Tidy: Organising, Crafting and Creating Happiness in a Messy World’ by Stacey Solomon
If you are reading this, then we have something in common…. Whether it’s a love of getting crafty, meticulously organizing or making fun-shaped snacks! I find it hard to sit still but losing myself in a craft project or tidying a drawer is my form of meditation. It’s a chance for me to forget about the things going on in the world around me for a minute. I hope this book helps you to lose yourself for a moment, too — and that you enjoy reading it and even having a go at some of the bits inside.
‘Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behaviour’ by Mark Goulston and Philip Goldberg
In Get Out of Your Own Way, authors Goulston and Goldberg unmask deep-seated self-defeating behaviours rooted in our childhood experiences of being alone and defenceless. The underlying causes of self-defeating behaviours are explained with simple action tips to achieve the victory of impulse over awareness, immediate gratification over lasting satisfaction and relief over resolution. While it may not be easy to recognize or admit that we get in our own way, and harder still to take responsibility for getting out of our way, if we are smart, resolving life issues can be achieved with simple, yet powerful and proven strategies without visiting an expensive therapist!
The 70-year-old artist works with digital and is completely self-taught gives a great perspective to creating fine art through digital means…writes Siddhi Jain.
Women and artistic explorations have a very strong bond from ancient times onward. Mumbai-based gallery Method Kala Ghoda re-opened on July 1 after almost one year with ‘She’s In The Streets, She’s In The Stars’ by septuagenarian artist Santosh Jain. The art is a collection of experiences over seven decades which include the lives of different women and that of the artist herself.
During the lockdown, the gallery has not only been renovated but also added a whole new level for a bigger, better, and more immersive art experience.
The show highlights the prevalent patriarchal system that exists in society based on these experiences. The 70-year-old artist works with digital and is completely self-taught gives a great perspective to creating fine art through digital means.
“Over seven decades, I have borne witness to the lives of many different women, a number of which being myself. The theme of womanhood in all its forms, seen and unseen, has been a constant thread through the career of my artmaking. While the medium has changed, the presence and significance of women has not. Historically speaking, women have rarely been the central character of any story.”
“Rather, they have been pushed into the background, their roles, desires, and existence nothing more than of service to others. Through my art, I’ve explored the many ways in which women are an integral part of society, family, and life itself. These works are a second language that allows me to freely share long-forgotten episodes of my lifetime, my innermost feelings. Sometimes the same woman recurs in multiple artworks, and sometimes her presence is fleeting, though no less important. The women in my artwork are you, they are me. They are in the stars, they are in the streets,” says the senior artist about her show.
Jain’s art career began in 1971 as a young Printmaker in College Of Art, Delhi. Her prints earned her inclusion in prestigious artist associations — Group 8, Shilpi Chakra, Lalit Kala Akademi, Bombay Art Society, and AIFACS.
Her recurring subjects include ‘women’ and ‘the exploited’ which expand into empathy and layered personal narratives. She refers to these works as ‘her second language, which allows her to freely share long-forgotten episodes of her life and her innermost feelings.
The Persian floor coverings were hence re-made in Indian structures. These carpets spread to the whole subcontinent with each area having its own specialties…writes Puja Gupta.
Indians can’t avoid artistic perceptions in any of their creativity. India has been enormously honoured by having a rich legacy of craft skills assimilated through the rhythmic movement of historical events that rest upon cultural practices and strict convictions.
Changes and advancements have occurred from trade developments. The Indian carpets are a fruit of this rich heritage. They are known over the world for their dazzling plans, unpretentious class, appealing tones, and workmanship.
Historically, carpet weaving flourished under the Mughal reign. Mughals utilized the Persian method of carpet weaving, and at the same time were impacted by traditional designs and motifs from Persia.
“Mughal rugs were just about as dark as their miniatures and normally portrayed court life, creatures, and flower decorations. Mughal carpets were brilliantly hued and the hand-knotted silk carpets had 4,224 knots per square inch. The art grew and flourished here and it was modified as per the royal tastes and mixed with the Indian arts,” informs Vikas Gupta, CEO, Greyweave.com.
The Persian floor coverings were hence re-made in Indian structures. These carpets spread to the whole subcontinent with each area having its own specialties.
“The strength of handmade carpets lies in its distinctiveness, style, traditionalism, and encouraging innovations,” Gupta comments.
In contemporary India, important centers of carpet weaving in India include Mirzapur and Bhadohi in Uttar Pradesh, other than Agra and Varanasi which are rich places for woolen carpets and smooth textures. Srinagar in Kashmir, Jaipur in Rajasthan, and Warangal and Elluru in Andhra Pradesh are some of the well-known carpet-making urban communities, he highlights.
Speaking about the demand of different varieties of carpets, Gupta says, “Handmade Woolen Carpets, Tufted Woollen Carpets, Chain stitch Rugs, Pure Silk Carpets, Staple/Synthetic Carpets, Handmade Woolen Dhurries, have an immense market demand in the European and American market.”
India with a geological and social variety has assortments of carpets produced over the nation. Floor coverings from Jammu and Kashmir have an extraordinary interest in European business sectors.
The Indian Carpet Industry is energetic and has extensive potential for development. Presently, the government has taken dynamic measures to dispose of the existing deficiencies in the industry and at the same time produce great quality rugs.
The government has set up the Carpet Export Promotion Council of India (CEPC) to advance the fares of hand-knotted rugs and other floor covers. It gives vital help to the Indian exporters, recognizes the business sectors, gives monetary and advertising help, supports investment in fairs and presentations, and furthermore directs exposure abroad.
The exhibition has been conceptualized by FAQ Art and curated by Eka Archiving. It is on view till July 31…writes Siddhi Jain.
Art is something that gives light to the dark phases of life. Dhoomimal Art Gallery’s latest exhibition titled, ‘Outliers, Rebels, Disruptors: Delhi Silpi Chakra, 70 Years On’, features works of artists associated with the Silpi Chakra, including Amarnath Sehgal, B.C. Sanyal, J. Swaminathan, K.S Kulkarni, Ram Kumar, Rameshwar Broota, Sailoz Mookherjea, and Satish Gujral, among others.
The exhibition has been conceptualized by FAQ Art and curated by Eka Archiving. It is on view till July 31.
Founded by artists whose lives were ripped apart by the Partition, the Chakra became a haven of free thinkers and new ideas in the stilted cultural milieu of 1940s New Delhi.
These artists gave root to modernism in the capital’s art circles and laid the foundation for the commercial gallery system in India. The Silpi Chakra Gallery founded in 1949, later became the Dhoomimal Gallery.
The Delhi Silpi Chakra was formed in March 1949 as an answer to the woes of artists in Delhi, who felt the need of a platform and association which would be progressive and encourage new ideas. Their slogan, “Art Illuminates Life”, was to further the idea of art in the everyday lives of people and build a space for ideations in the capital of independent India.
Along with the Silpi Chakra, the Dhoomimal Gallery played a crucial role in the development of the modern art movement(s) providing an early platform and much needed patronage for new voices. This exhibition includes artists who actively engaged with the Silpi Chakra as members, founders, office bearers, and associates over the years. More than 7 decades later, presented is a nuanced re-look at these artists, some known and others less so, who came together in post-Independence Delhi and went on to significantly influence the trajectories of art in India in the second half of the 20th century.
The Delhi Silpi Chakra was founded by B.C. Sanyal, Kanwal Krishna, K.S. Kulkarni and Dhan Raj Bhagat — in search of hope and a space for art and artists in the capital city. Given the rupture caused by Partition, and the suffering experienced by many refugee-artists, the creation of the Chakra was essential for culture to emerge again. The Shankar Market space became an “adda”, for artists, musicians, writers, poets, dancers, intellectuals, and art-lovers.
The group played a crucial role in creating the critical mass that created and furthered the cultural and intellectual landscape in Delhi. The Silpi Chakra was vital in building an all encouraging vibrant atmosphere, ideal for intellectual, and artists’ pursuits as a space for not just cultural evolution but revolution. The Delhi Silpi Chakra, unlike the Bengal School or the Bombay Progressives, did not share a stylistic ideology, sharing, rather, a desire to make art accessible to the masses; to create a democratic platform for ideas and culture to flourish.
With an idea to take art to the masses, Delhi Silpi Chakra artworks were sold to lawyers, teachers, writers, poets, musicians, actors etc. Exhibitions were held in “mohallas” of Karol Bagh, Chandni Chowk, Jantar Mantar, and the grounds of the Masonic Hall.
Eventually the Silpi Chakra settled at 19-F Shankar Market. Artists from different parts of the country were invited to take part in events, with the group even coming up with a novel scheme of renting artworks. The group functioned as an art training centre, with regular classes taken by established artists; at the same time, it became a space to promote younger artists. Some of the Silpi Chakra’s art curriculum was designed by J Swaminathan.
At the same time, poets and writers like Nirmal Verma, Prayag Shukla, musicians like the Dagar brothers, art critics and historians like K. B. Goel, Charles Fabri, and Richard Bartholomew frequented the Chakra. Gradually, artists’ lives became busier, the collective gave way to increased individuality and newer avenues presented themselves; the Delhi Silpi Chakra dwindled: all that now remains is the painted sign board at the bottom of the stairs at 19-F Shankar Market.
“The Chakra also sought to create an agency through which the sale of works by its members could be organised on a commercial basis. Thus, the Silpi Chakra Art Gallery, the first of its kind in India, was inaugurated on October 7, 1949 on the mezzanine floor of Dhoomimal Dharamdas in Connaught Place, with the assistance of its proprietor, the late Ram Babu,” says P. N. Mago, Co-founder of Delhi Silpi Chakra.
Dhoomimal Art Gallery has been a landmark in the heart of Connaught Place since 1936. And now, it has undergone a complete transformation, reopening as a two-storey interactive experience.
Established in 1936, the Dhoomimal Art Gallery, one of India’s oldest art galleries emerged from the very needs of the artists of Delhi. Struggling to buy art supplies, they frequented the store of Ram Chand Jain, Dhoomimal’s proprietor, fondly remembered as Ram Babu. He encouraged artists to take the supplies they needed; in exchange they began leaving him with some of their work.
The mezzanine above Dhoomimal Dharamdas began to function as a gallery for artists to show and sell their works. In time, Ram Babu began to showcase the works of the emerging Delhi Silpi Chakra artists becoming an intrinsic part of the Delhi art circle in his own inimitable way. Today, more than eight decades later, Dhoomimal reaches out to a newer generation of artists and art lovers by hosting a Delhi Silpi Chakra retrospective at these historic premises.
Richard Wagner, being a great dramatist himself was completely mesmerized and spellbound after reading two of Kalidasa ’s play’s Malavikagnimitra and Vikramorvasi, writes Dilip Roy
Kalidasa is recognized as the greatest poet in Classical Sanskrit literature a Crown Jewel in the Royal Court of King Vikramaditya and certainly one of the greatest in World Literature. Just as Tagore became famous in Europe with his song offerings (Geetanjali) in the early 20th century, Kalidasa took the entire Western Europe by storm with his play (Shakuntala) in the early 19th century. Kalidasa’s status as a major poet and dramatist in classical Sanskrit literature remains unequaled to date.
A 20th century artist’s impression of Kālidāsa composing the Meghadūta
Kalidasa is said to have lived in around (first millennium BCE) at a place called Ujjain a central province of India from where he wrote most of his works was also known as the capital of empires, a centre of India’s ancient culture for thousands of years. Kalidasa’s accomplishment is distinguished by the excellence of his work. He was a dramatist, a writer of epic and lyric poems of exceptional talent. His two works are best known outside India are a play Shakuntala and a poem Meghduta (Cloud Messenger) Kalidasa based most of his work on Indian epics Mahabharata, Ramayana and also the ancient Vedas.
Kalidasa’s work influenced whole range of artistic and literary circles of Europe in the late 18th and early 19th century. It was the German Indologist Georg Foster’s translation of Shakuntala in 1803 that went on to inspire besides German, Danish, French, Polish, and Italian. Five operas and a ballet even Beethoven has reflected in his journal of (1815) the Italian composer Franco Alfano’s (1875-1954) Sakuntala is regarded his best work and was performed at Rome opera in 1952 just two years before his death.
Śakuntalā stops to look back at Duṣyanta, Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906).
The opera was also revived at the Wexford Opera Festival in 1982 Ireland. Sigismund Bachrich (1841-1913) composed a ballet, Ignacy Paderewski (1860-1941) composed a polish opera and went on to become the first Prime Minister of Poland in 1919. French composer Ernest Reyer (1823-1909) produced a ballet for Paris opera and staged on 14th July 1858, Karl VON Perfall (1824-1907) composed a German opera, Franz Schubert’s unfinished German opera “Sakontala.” Another significant contribution to Kalidasa’s work was done by a Hungarian composer Karl Goldmark (1830-1950). He composed the most successful ground breaking overture to Kalidasa’s Shakuntala in 1865.
A staunch supporter of Wagner, he was chiefly responsible for founding of the Vienna Wagner Circle in 1872. However, The chorus of praise was led by a noted German Indologist Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) who published Goethe’s epigram in his fourth book of Zerstreute Blatter “Scattered Leaves.” (1792) also wrote an ecstatic forward to the second edition of Georg Forster’s translation of Shakuntala in 1803.
Richard Wagner
Most significantly, the greatest impact was felt on three German intellectual giants such as Goethe, Schiller and Richard Wagner. Goethe’s affection for Shakuntala continued throughout his life and it watered the seed of many motifs in his later works. In his epic work Faust Goethe used the prologue of Kalidasa’s drama Shakuntala while Schiller interpreted the poem Meghaduta (The Cloud Messenger) in his play called Maria Stuart. Therefore, It is no wonder that the Romantic Poets and Musicians of 19th century Germany fell for the plays and poems of Kalidasa.
Richard Wagner, being a great dramatist himself was completely mesmerized and spellbound after reading two of Kalidasa’s play’s Malavikagnimitra and Vikramorvasi (Re:Cosima Wagner Diaries 1869-1877) Cosima asks Richard if Vikramorvasi would be suitable for an opera setting. No he says “it would have to be done for a Court of a kind we no longer possess.” Richard goes on to say to his wife Cosima, in Malavikanimitra we are fascinated by descriptions of Court etiquette. “Everything which we nowadays claim to be original is reflected here, but how stiff and crude Louis X1V seems in comparison.”
Since Wagner was not familiar with the opulence of Royal Court details of Indian period settings and being a perfectionist he did not persue it. However, Wagner also goes on to say that he enjoyed reading Malavika and Agnimitra with utmost delight; wit, invention, grace, life and fine customs everything about it is captivating. Wagner regarded Kalidasa as one of the greatest dramatist that ever lived also asserts and goes on to state in the same book that German language as it were would take place occupied by Sanskrit in India as a language of culture.
Crying of Shakuntala
Between 18th and 19th century, Germany produced a great number of Sanskrit scholars than the whole of Europe combined among them the most notable professor of Sanskrit at Leipzig university at the time was Hermann Brockhaus (1806-1877) a brother-in-law of Richard Wagner from whom Wagner gained a lot of knowledge on Indian philosophy and literature although Wagner was already an Indologist in his own right.
Goethe summarizes thus:” Here the poet Kalidasa seems to be in the height of his talent in representation of the natural order, of the finest mode of life, of the purest moral endeavor, of the most sovereign and of the most divine meditation, still he remains in such a manner the Lord and the Master of his creation.”
In India too Kalidasa’s ardent admirer was none other than one of 20th century’s greatest poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) who has interpreted Kalidasa’s plays and poems into his works.
A scene from Meghaduta with the yaksha and the cloud messenger, with the first verse of the poem – on an Indian stamp (1960)
According to German Indologists, Kalidasa was not just central to Indian literature but, to the entire Indo-European Cultural inheritance. The great German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer called the opening of Sanskrit Literature “the greatest gift to our century.”
Postscript: In today’s Germany, there are about fourteen major universities that has Indology and Sanskrit studies in their faculty and among them Heidelberg boasts the largest Dept. of Indology. In Wagner’s private library at Bayreuth there is a section called Orientalia which has an extensive collection of Indian classical literature and philosophy in German language which Wagner used to read.
(Dilip Roy is an ardent admirer of Richard Wagner’s prose works and operas he is also an elected Fellow of Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Dilip is also of firm opinion that Richard Wagner has no equal in the world of opera who occupies a supreme position as an European artist a polymath one who embodies all forms of art and culture and will remain paramount on the cultural map of the world.)
The Founder’s Memorial introduces visitors to the illustrious life of the Founding Father through narrating his inspiring journey, his deep appreciation of history….reports Asian Lite News
The Falaj Water Channel at the Founder’s Memorial is a remarkable symbol of the UAE’s efforts to showcase and preserve the country’s extensive cultural heritage.
This contemporary water feature pays rich tribute to the impressive green legacy of the Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and chimes with the timeless values that drive the country’s progress since its formation.
The Founder’s Memorial introduces visitors to the illustrious life of the Founding Father through narrating his inspiring journey, his deep appreciation of history and the ancestors authentic cultural heritage. It also signifies his persistence in spearheading the country’s comprehensive development to provide a decent livelihood for his people.
This story will also provide visitors with the opportunity to gain deep insight into Sheikh Zayed through a series of immersive multimedia experiences that comply with rarely seen footage, images, and testimonials from people that knew Sheikh Zayed personally.
The Falaj Water Channel is located in front of the Constellation at the Founder’s Memorial. Its unique design tells the history of the ancestors, their persistence to overcome the challenging environment and creativity in securing water for their agricultural lands using simple techniques.
Falaj was an innovative irrigation system that was used by people in the Arabian Peninsula to bring water from its source, which mostly originated from the foothills of mountains. They used this system to irrigate their farms from the water flowed through a water channel based on the force of gravity, which indicates an ingenious engineering.
Official photo of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi from 1966 to 2004 and First President of the United Arab Emirates from 1971 to 2004.(wikipedia)
Offering a glimpse into the country’s rich cultural heritage, the Falaj Water Channel is a testimony to the Founding Father’s grand vision and efforts to preserve the legacy of ancestors. Since the very beginning of his leadership, the late Sheikh Zayed realised the importance of water as a vital source of development. During his rule of Al Ain city in 1946, he ordered the provision of water to citizens for free since its cost was too high for farmers.
He also launched special programmes to maintain water resources, especially the Falaj channels.
The Water Channel’s location next to the Heritage Garden symbolises the Founding Father’s passion for nature and his role in protecting the UAE’s natural resources thanks to his wise vision. The late Sheikh Zayed developed plans to protect the environment and its sustainability and to inculcate environmental awareness in people’s minds. This was evident through his efforts to turn the desert into green fields and more hospitable to human life.
As a result, farming areas were expanded, millions of trees were planted in the desert, and endangered species were saved. These efforts reflect a visionary and determined leader who was keen on providing the best ways to develop agriculture despite the challenging desert environment.
His role in achieving the sustainability of natural resources articulates his vision that made the UAE a global model in protecting natural resources and one of the most influential countries in dealing with environmental challenges.
The Founder’s Memorial was inaugurated in February 2018 in line with the country’s celebrations of the Year of Zayed that marked the 100th birth anniversary of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who established an inspiring model for tolerance, development, and coexistence in the UAE.
‘The Rape Trial’ begins with the revelation that, many years ago, Rahul Satyabhagi had indeed raped Avni Rambha…writes Siddhi Jain.
Reading is one of the most joyous activities to the people especially during the pandemic era. From poetry on the vibrance of ‘letting go’, a reference guide on married lives, and a sprinkle of self-love and even mythological fiction, these five books by forthcoming authors are on our bookshelf this summer.
‘Ceasing to Disown’ by Sunny Ramesh Sadnani
‘Ceasing to Disown’ is the very persona of the similar antithesis that life is. It is a collection of poetries that serve as a reminder of what we have found solace in or maybe continue to hopelessly endure, not for a few moments or days, but for perhaps years and decades and what we choose to not let go regardless of the consequences. Maybe even feel vibrant about it! In this book, Sunny has attempted to relay his emotions with respect to family, parents, romantic alliances, failure, redemptions, loneliness, anger, sex, the natural environment, diversity. And then some more.
‘The Rape Trial’ by Bidisha Ghosal
‘The Rape Trial’ begins with the revelation that, many years ago, Rahul Satyabhagi had indeed raped Avni Rambha. Rahul has long since been acquitted and Avni had left the country for her peace of mind. Now, it looks like he’s about to get away with it again. Rhea, Amruta and Hitaishi are beyond furious. What unfolds is a thriller worth a read.
‘The Last War and Other Stories’ by Sambhit Daspatnaik
‘The Last War and Other Stories’ is a collection of science fiction stories written by Sambit Daspatnaik. In the main story “The Last War”, the author takes his readers back to a time of post Mahabharata War era, featuring the descendants of the Pandavas, a mammoth invasion by the Gandharvas and a desperate attempt by the protagonists Senapati Agrasen and princess Charulata to save the city of Moenjo and Hariapa. The rest of the short science fiction stories cover different genres of sci-fi from space travel, solar systems to alien planets.
‘Love Your Wife’ by Soumitra Singh Thakur
An insightful reference manual to have a joyous married life. This companion of love and devotion will invoke deep thoughts in you. It will reveal the true husband inside you, a husband, who you don’t show to anyone, not even to your wife, maybe. This book will share such an insightful perspective of human relations between a husband and a wife that will give you an outcome of joyous married life in this materialistic world. If used effectively, this book will serve as a lifelong practical reference manual and a workbook for all the world’s erring husbands and all eligible bachelors to efficiently handle all the difficult phases of their married lives.
‘Self Love — The Power Within You’ by Aaira Kaurr
This book makes you aware of a miracle ingredient necessary for your flowering and becoming the best version of yourself, self love. If you don’t love your own self first, you can’t love anyone else, be it a person , a profession or anything else. No matter, how much effort you put in or how good or brilliant you are, you will be disappointed in the end in all your ventures, in spite of your high achievements. Without self love, others will enjoy and exploit your talents, you won’t. This book not only explains the concept of self love, but gives you a systematic framework for imbibing it in your life. In fact you already have it in you, you just need to turn it on.
To make the magazine more appealing to children, Ray created all the illustrations, including the covers…writes Siddhi Jain.
Satyajit Ray is a multitalented icon of the Indian history of creativity. An online exhibition presenting a selection of Sandesh covers, illustrated by Satyajit Ray, is on view from June 14-27, as part of the centenary year celebrations of the legendary filmmaker, writer, illustrator and music composer. Sandesh (meaning both information as well as sweetmeat), is the iconic Bengali children’s magazine started by Ray’s grandfather, Upendrakishore Raychaudhury in 1913.
Presented by India International Centre, the exhibition is titled ‘Aap Kya Sandesh Laya’.
A prolific illustrator, as Editor of the magazine, Ray painted and designed each of the covers in addition to contributing his own stories, creating riddles, puzzles, and editing and illustrating other contributors’ works.
Satyajit Ray and Sandesh
Satyajit Ray was a multifaceted genius who will be remembered as much for his graphic designing and illustrations as for his storytelling prowess. He was a great artist first, well before he made his name as a filmmaker. He designed book covers, film posters, illustrated children’s books and had a mastery over calligraphy and typography creating numerous new fonts in Bengali and four Roman fonts, receiving an award for designing the typeface for Ray Roman.
Ray’s artistic work reflects a sophisticated experimentation with various artistic styles and traditions, both local and foreign, without compromising on aesthetic or authenticity. Throughout his career, sketching, graphic design and calligraphy merged seamlessly with his filmmaking.
In 1961, Satyajit Ray relaunched the children’s magazine Sandesh that was originally founded by his grandfather. To make the magazine more appealing to children, Ray created all the illustrations, including the covers. The cover designs incorporated colourful geometric and floral patterns in saturated primary colours with lines and textures similar to wood block printing.
Often using different folk motifs, motifs from traditional day-to-day rangolis (in Bengal, alpana) or the ‘pattachitra’ style of narrative painting. Experimenting with creative illustrations, he created four comic strips for Sandesh. However, these comic strips were ‘silent’, the characters did not converse with each other, leaving the narrative to the readers imagination.
Constantly experimenting, using ink and pen, pencil, watercolours and ordinary poster paint in different stylisations, Ray’s illustrations are striking in the way they marry playfulness with strong lines. For readers, every cover of the magazine was a constant source of surprise and delight, as with each issue, Ray played around with the word ‘Sandesh’ using different calligraphic and typographical styles.
Since the time of its publication, Sandesh was usually printed in the standard size of 7.5 inches x 9.5 inches. However, for a few years from 1970 to 1973, Ray experimented with a new size as an innovation to try and inspire a child’s imagination. For these three years, it was published as a bimonthly magazine and for the first time in the history of juvenile periodicals in the large format of 13 inches x 10 inches.
In subsequent years, the magazine reverted back to the original size. Since Satyajit Ray’s passing in 1992, Sandesh continues to be published with his son Sandip Ray at the helm and is now also available online. The covers remain those created and designed by Satyajit Ray during his lifetime.
To mark Ray’s 100 years, a series of programmes will be organised in virtual and physical mode throughout the year. The programmes will include exhibitions, films — documentary and features, talks and discussions to try to present both the known and lesser known aspects of Satyajit Ray.
Tagore became a sensation all over Europe and his work was translated in all the major European languages and was a complete sell out with reprints. Tagore’s popularity has outgrown even today in Europe particularly in Germany and Sweden where Tagore is almost a household name …. Writes Dilip Roy
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) in many ways was the embodiment and manifestation of India’s greatest classical poet KALIDASA(First Century BCE) Tagore’s stature as 20th Century’s most esteemed and revered poet of the world remains unrivalled to date.
Tagore’s poetry Geetanjali (Song offerings) published in English in 1912 had made Tagore famous in Europe almost overnight. The book was reprinted ten times within a year; and in 1913 because of his profoundly sensitive and beautiful verse, he has made his poetic thought expressed in his own English words, a part of literature of the West, he was awarded a Nobel prize in literature and remains the only Indian to win this award so far. His admirers included intellectuals and fellow Nobel laureates such as Bertolt Brecht, Albert Einstein, Andre Gide, Herman Hesse, Thomas Mann, Pablo Neruda, Boris Pasternak, Romain Rolland, G.B. Shaw, W.B. Yeats and Ludwig Wittgenstein of Vienna Circle ( who translated Tagore’s famous play “King of the Dark Camber.”)
However, it was with Einstein that Tagore forged an intellectual friendship and their discussions on music, philosophy and science has been published in many literary books and journals of the West. Tagore became a sensation all over Europe and his work was translated in all the major European languages and was a complete sell out with reprints. Tagore’s popularity has outgrown even today in Europe particularly in Germany and Sweden where Tagore is almost a household name. Some of the streets are also named after him.
Among the Nobel laureates at least six names come to mind who were Wagner admirers they are Herman Hesse, Thomas Mann, Boris Pasternak, G B Shaw, W B Yeats and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Incidentally it was Yeats who was a great admirer of Tagore also wrote 16 page introduction to Geetanjali in September 1912 and he even quotes Wagner’s Tristan in the last page. Tagore in his early days developed a special interest for German language and was reading Goethe and Schiller in its original and at the same time went on to translate the poems of Heinrich Heine. Tagore was also reading the works of German Indologists such as Friedrich Max Muller, Dr. Julius Jolly a German scholar and Friedrich VON Schlegel.
Tagore became second only Indian to receive Hon Degree from Oxford (D lit) in 1940 the first was a distant relation Sir S M Tagore received Hon Degree in music (D Mus) in 1895.
Most significantly, Tagore’s poetry struck a chord with wide variety of European composers among them Franco Alfano, Phillip Glass, Leos Janacek, Nino Rota, Arnold Schoenberg, Wilhelm Stenhammar, Karol Szymnowski and Alexander Zemlinsky to name but a few. Alfano who completed Puccini’s libretto for Turandot set to music twenty six poems by Tagore eleven of them from Nobel prize winning Geetanjali and fifteen from The Gardner the songs were beautifully sung in Italian. Phillip Glass whose opera Satyagraha based on Gandhian philosophy, has Tagore as silent character. Janacek was attending a lecture given by Tagore in Prague (1921) he was so carried away that he set to music from the (Gardner)Nino Rota the composer of Italian films of Federico Fellini, set to music Tagore’s four poems from award winning Geetanjali in bel canto style and Szymanowski set to music four poems from the popular Gardner in German. However, the most outstanding work was done by two Wagnerian composers and conductors namely Stenhammar and Zemlinsky.
The Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927) who describes himself as Wagnerian, belongs to the period of transition between the late romanticism and modernism better described as highly romantic. Stenhammar showed greater interest in the more progressive music of Liszt and Wagner. This is seen nowhere better than in Das Fest auf Solhaug (after Ibsen, Stuttgart 1899) was certainly the foremost Swedish concert pianist of his time, he devoted himself to composition and conducting. He was the conductor of Royal Opera in Stockholm from 1907 until 1922.
Tagore’s philosophical play Chitra based on the legends of Indian epic Mahabharata was written in the year he received the Nobel prize in 1913 and in Nobel’s home country of Sweden there was a real Tagore boom most of his works were rendered into Swedish almost as soon as they appeared, and several of his plays could be seen in Swedish theatres. Tagore became the leading representative of the Indian romantically inclined tradition. Tagore’s play Chitra was produced at the Lorensberg Theatre in Gothenberg in 1920. Stenhammar had been a conductor and director of Gothengerg Symphony Orchestra and was commissioned to write incidental music for the performance for the Tagore’s play Chitra which was completed in 1921 which he dedicated to his wife Helga Stenhammar and had its premier on 29th March 1921.
Alexander VON Zemlinsky (1871-1942) the Austrian born Zemlinsky’s “Lyric Symphony” is regarded as his major work. Zemlinsky was first and foremost a composer of operas, and Schoenberg thought highly of him as such: “I dot not know one composer after Wagner who could satisfy the demands of the theatre with better musical substance than he. (Lyrische Symphonie)now famously known as “The Lyric Symphony” in seven songs after poems by Rabindranath Tagore for Orchestra, Soprano and Baritone was composed in 1922 and it was premiered in Prague on June 4th in 1924. In Zemlinsky’s own Krollwords – belongs to the tradition of the Song of the Earth. It shares with Mahler’s work not only it’s genre, that of the “song symphony”, but with an exotic choice of text. The poems of Tagore combine Indian traditions with elements of European poetry of the turn of the century – a syncretism that won him the Noble prize for literature in 1913. The inner affinity of the seven songs, with their preludes and interludes which all have one and the same profoundly serious passionate basis. It’s a kind of a love drama, from the first stirrings ground of the desire to the agony of farewell. His music is often Wagnerian, with recitatives punctuated by Lohengrin inspired orchestral interjections figures similar to those which adorn the melodic lines of Tannhauser, softly pulsating figures for solo timpani as in Wagner’s epic the Ring Cycle. Zemlinsky was also the music director of Prague opera (1911-27) and of the Kroll opera in Berlin from (1927-32). The most famous ground breaking recording of Lyric Symphony was done in Germany under the baton of the legendary conductor maestro Lorin Maazel for the Berlin Philharmonic in 1981 and sung in a Wagnerian style by famous German Baritone Dietrich Fischer- Dieskau and Soprano Julia Varady. (This is probably the greatest tribute paid to Richard Wagner from Zemlinsky a great Wagnerian himself.)
For Tagore, poetry and music were the essence of life which gave it rhythm, and his philosophy was one of living in harmony with the nature.
( Gandhi )
Tagore, the Goethe of India, gives expression to his personal experience that this is the truth ( life affirmation ) in a manner more profound, more powerful and more charming than any man has ever done before him. This completely noble and harmonious belongs not only to his people but to the entire humanity.
( Albert Schweitzer )
India’s only World renowned European classical music conductor Maestro Zubin Mehta was conferred the most prestigious Tagore Award on the eve of Tagore’s Noble centenary in 2013 for cultural harmony instituted by Govt. of India on the 150th anniversary of the poet.
The internationally celebrated film-maker SatyajitRay who has interpreted many of Tagore works on to the screen sums up thus: Tagore remains the most original, prolific and influential artist India has produced “there is no equal not even in the West.”
Postscript: Just like Wagner, love has been main theme in Tagore’s poetic works as also his interest in Buddhist philosophy. Tagore like Wagner was a polymath. He was an artist, a poet of the first order, an essayist, a short story writer, a dramatist and a novelist also a composer of some two thousand songs but, most of all a philosopher. Tagore remains one of the greatest literary giants to date.
(Dilip Roy is an ardent Wagner enthusiast and also the author of a major article of 19th century Indian musicologist Sir S M Tagore (1840-1914) which was commissioned by the Royal College of Music London, for its Annual Review of 1996/97. Dilip is an Indo-German cultural enthusiast and like most Germans, he admires India’s classical cultural heritage. Dilip Roy’s articles on Richard Wagner has been published by various Wagner Societies)
