tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899322695461415892024-03-19T09:38:46.189+05:30Say WhatUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger230125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-29141582143727327092023-08-01T12:52:00.004+05:302023-08-01T12:52:38.748+05:30Tintin x Chacha Chaudhary <p> As a quirk of fate, when I started formal education in Ranchi (those days infamous for the mental asylum, now famous as the home of MSD) at St. Mary’s Doranda I had to take up Hindi as my second language and not Bengali (my mother tongue). And then for the next 18-20 years, all the way to university, I had to study Hindi. But we are not native speakers of the language. So something that taught me to read Hindi was Chacha Chaudhury comics (though my Hindi teacher would have preferred me reading the daily Sanmarg).</p><p>Created by our very own Pran, it was a staple for all children in in 1980s and 1990s. </p><p>Here are some images of Chacha in a new avatar. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJWMSv34az-ddEio2xrQ7lEHC1R1XVW5ivdFWLEnWnyzrYm8pLlQ9Ae8SMbQc8g8ffUAufGH_ZU_sjTVG2pzi7DVLdw36ZC8WfQyGX_5PxtKR96YAVgnNhITA5VuFaohJqnhg-qN6JvihBUlPSp72metEliZZiq52KRnVG49MxFksVNA__E97HrN3-UzwG/s1448/IMG_2870.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="1448" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJWMSv34az-ddEio2xrQ7lEHC1R1XVW5ivdFWLEnWnyzrYm8pLlQ9Ae8SMbQc8g8ffUAufGH_ZU_sjTVG2pzi7DVLdw36ZC8WfQyGX_5PxtKR96YAVgnNhITA5VuFaohJqnhg-qN6JvihBUlPSp72metEliZZiq52KRnVG49MxFksVNA__E97HrN3-UzwG/s320/IMG_2870.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgRDN1IUSH4e49aMJhzQhIdbxhMSmaSG9u0hsS8VaoNBqI7cuEtWc7Knfrrwfe-jmBu1qc1yJEAzClDj6u4iTaQk8bLWPcs3LVSuxRAqIaYtF6WLgGbuq7o1-5ez9upw2GP78jysOexrTpeEcQtmMTkLIftN20KCqDTA4CIu-L5-5j4X16Fw8e2bD4HqBb/s1441/IMG_2871.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1441" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgRDN1IUSH4e49aMJhzQhIdbxhMSmaSG9u0hsS8VaoNBqI7cuEtWc7Knfrrwfe-jmBu1qc1yJEAzClDj6u4iTaQk8bLWPcs3LVSuxRAqIaYtF6WLgGbuq7o1-5ez9upw2GP78jysOexrTpeEcQtmMTkLIftN20KCqDTA4CIu-L5-5j4X16Fw8e2bD4HqBb/s320/IMG_2871.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJ0W9ajNQN3zIq_zH7JGH3mlG3tFTtlZFHvd8DV9Tlry3rxkxDeuY96z3QT-ssmIqXzL-jeuRvey36B1n22UmrN0wZY3DX6D03etLEFM1Ksy82lkqNYrApYHQ247AqXBElSuV8O8uDlNWyArM0n2RXeaIjM69xhlAc26RfL1k-N67wQ5MJ8rLeei2QQ5h/s1448/IMG_2872.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="1448" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJ0W9ajNQN3zIq_zH7JGH3mlG3tFTtlZFHvd8DV9Tlry3rxkxDeuY96z3QT-ssmIqXzL-jeuRvey36B1n22UmrN0wZY3DX6D03etLEFM1Ksy82lkqNYrApYHQ247AqXBElSuV8O8uDlNWyArM0n2RXeaIjM69xhlAc26RfL1k-N67wQ5MJ8rLeei2QQ5h/s320/IMG_2872.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroyDrdfbFVF6y1Vb6O6sihEcKxK-wfmvjLgi6iXzGdxZciQfqCIFNW7zGDyg7rHbfH5gfoWlJTu79I94aHyXxjfeaS-Pbr6EIe26lq2U4faeZefiml9NI7aaGlLYclXyvhnI9X5_aSXGYeHmFVIe2PoZMqxcAeuqdX1ZoWmeJalYKNVeMCrhhG7pBIeQW/s1451/IMG_2873.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1451" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroyDrdfbFVF6y1Vb6O6sihEcKxK-wfmvjLgi6iXzGdxZciQfqCIFNW7zGDyg7rHbfH5gfoWlJTu79I94aHyXxjfeaS-Pbr6EIe26lq2U4faeZefiml9NI7aaGlLYclXyvhnI9X5_aSXGYeHmFVIe2PoZMqxcAeuqdX1ZoWmeJalYKNVeMCrhhG7pBIeQW/s320/IMG_2873.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3NkNU5Y9BNDKUbQgpfVXDSPfVbTilyjOzTrz6LEiFMblIUHgNU-XtpVRXW_ZThIG3FECyrvlqEIkePr2cSWBVrxfPEQ7ALVgeLtqt6xpNL5D9AD_AXolztHUAJx1KSGojaj-Z05_h66oqNKqByizuoc7LOG5jqJq_pYCAFBbfGzeb1YHq5e6seLFIJym/s1448/IMG_2874.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="1448" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3NkNU5Y9BNDKUbQgpfVXDSPfVbTilyjOzTrz6LEiFMblIUHgNU-XtpVRXW_ZThIG3FECyrvlqEIkePr2cSWBVrxfPEQ7ALVgeLtqt6xpNL5D9AD_AXolztHUAJx1KSGojaj-Z05_h66oqNKqByizuoc7LOG5jqJq_pYCAFBbfGzeb1YHq5e6seLFIJym/s320/IMG_2874.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These are created by Sumit Kumar:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11smVTFJcp4EK8ltrShBR9sPfPzAehMQsiSmJ2Trm5FAUg2z163-wepxVmlw5K9CvYZ7HTJugu705DgQw5xot9pAJh62qD5C8IJ7cVLC3VwTZ5sAaUyVAYCFA23KHGt_IyQ4fL7WHE8ro22nQmj7N-AHFNqiohap1x3H4CW9wogeTWyKs2_w4-z5zo62I/s610/IMG_2870.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="610" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11smVTFJcp4EK8ltrShBR9sPfPzAehMQsiSmJ2Trm5FAUg2z163-wepxVmlw5K9CvYZ7HTJugu705DgQw5xot9pAJh62qD5C8IJ7cVLC3VwTZ5sAaUyVAYCFA23KHGt_IyQ4fL7WHE8ro22nQmj7N-AHFNqiohap1x3H4CW9wogeTWyKs2_w4-z5zo62I/s320/IMG_2870.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></div><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-77687114292919919162023-03-24T15:05:00.004+05:302023-03-26T18:21:43.256+05:30Rozy<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Words are powerful. When written well, a piece of prose transforms from black and white letters on a paper (or screen) into movie scenes in your mind. And when the words describe someone you looked up to, in your impressionable years, the emotion lingers on for just that bit longer. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s exactly what happened when I read this piece in The Telegraph, Kolkata by a fellow Xaverian (Arghya Sen) eulogising Mr. Elphage Pradip Rozario or ‘Rozy’ as we called him. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fHLuBqYlFQIQle9DQwi5eIxpRDqYy6WN4afCsJQ4uP3KksNcqydUdwlMe-BWsVOWoG21RzJCoSmWDAty2gxcs4Zqw5eQF94S7WgbWldtEPo-O8PxXer6J9IbnsoCtDtgHW05TNo6_iJbjvcIbaWKCz7ZwDGULG7kvp6vvbFFCJdxpNlj42cMXs2iZA/s1475/C2CF757D-800E-4185-B048-D757A5FF609D.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1475" data-original-width="1201" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fHLuBqYlFQIQle9DQwi5eIxpRDqYy6WN4afCsJQ4uP3KksNcqydUdwlMe-BWsVOWoG21RzJCoSmWDAty2gxcs4Zqw5eQF94S7WgbWldtEPo-O8PxXer6J9IbnsoCtDtgHW05TNo6_iJbjvcIbaWKCz7ZwDGULG7kvp6vvbFFCJdxpNlj42cMXs2iZA/w522-h640/C2CF757D-800E-4185-B048-D757A5FF609D.jpeg" width="522" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Click on the photo to enlarge it or read the online version <a href="https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/different-lessons-the-enduring-legacy-of-a-remarkable-teacher/cid/1924162" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let’s travel back in time to 1994-95. I was an under confident 13-14 year old was studying at St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, Calcutta. ‘Rozy’ was mine. Mr. Elphage Pradeep Rosario taught our class 8E Mathematics and English. Rozy himself was a Xaverian - batch of 1974. I remember that he had the most beautiful handwriting on the blackboard. Quite exquisite. My best friend Arindam reminded me on WhatsApp that he had the most unique way of writing ‘x’ and that Arindam writes x like that even today. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="s1"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicBY6tJlOqtm-wyVRnVpI-IPJUmlyF0eHv3abrB70k4xCPhLb_tPXObbUOhbXF9MTX1Q-AAX4sGAl3nArosWTrpVG3V7OpARNeJJmuOS5MZ3LUoRlYQPZ9_9pwg0WyJa5fsIBwxA6iEyZnhXuDQPI65Fmnn6N9NajdR4BgVfBqD7OhsXsCJwP0IrEw3Q/s1599/9A1872C0-8F9F-470A-8C05-3A741F44FBE1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1599" data-original-width="899" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicBY6tJlOqtm-wyVRnVpI-IPJUmlyF0eHv3abrB70k4xCPhLb_tPXObbUOhbXF9MTX1Q-AAX4sGAl3nArosWTrpVG3V7OpARNeJJmuOS5MZ3LUoRlYQPZ9_9pwg0WyJa5fsIBwxA6iEyZnhXuDQPI65Fmnn6N9NajdR4BgVfBqD7OhsXsCJwP0IrEw3Q/w113-h200/9A1872C0-8F9F-470A-8C05-3A741F44FBE1.jpeg" width="113" /></a></span></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This paragraph from the article aptly remembers Rozy: ‘Sir’ had always been special. He didn’t use blue or black ink but a wonderfully unique turquoise. His hair was neither long nor short, but somewhat like a mullet (in Bengali - a <i>babri</i>). He was neither strict nor lenient — he was gentle when he needed to be, and firm when circumstances demanded it. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rozy was the person all of us looked up to. </span></span>He personified everything Xaverian.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> He was very good academically. He played the guitar. He was there in times of <a href="https://ldglearning.blogspot.com/2022/11/fear-and-fortitude.html?m=1" target="_blank">emergency</a> or just when you needed to chat. </span>He always had time for the boys. <span style="font-family: inherit;">He quizzed. He led the scouts. He was one of the ‘cool’ teachers who even the bad boys respected and listened to. He was a </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">bhalo chele </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">going out his way to help underprivileged children with free tuitions after school, and still a bachelor looking after his widowed mother and sister. And he rode a bike. The quintessential romantic hero of the 1980s Bollywood romcoms.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And then he passed away on 20 March, 1995 in a bike accident within metres of his beloved St. Xavier’s. Allegedly mowed down by an ancient Bedford van that was travelling on the wrong side of a one way road. He was just forty. The outpouring of grief was profound and spontaneous. I remember understanding the dull pain of death of a near one. The article took me back to that morning when we learnt of his passing. I went to the cemetery along with hundreds of my fellow Xaverians. The movie played back in my head. I felt the heartache again. Almost 30 years later. Some wounds heal, but scar.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I was in class 8, my maternal grandfather (Bajé) passed away as well. Another fine gentleman. Death was not longer an abstract concept.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-21098611189366950002023-03-06T01:07:00.028+05:302024-01-03T00:23:07.383+05:30Desi Dinosaurs<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This one is for my dinosaur mad son. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ever since Spielberg’s 1993 Jurassic Park released, we all have been captivated by these prehistoric creatures but </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I must admit that till a few week</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">s back, I had no idea that there were dinosaurs in India <i>(to be fair my sister had gifted us a book on Indian dinosaurs but I didn’t actually it)</i>. We were in a toy shop browsing dinosaur toys from the Jurassic World range when a new dinosaur caught my son’s fancy. It looked like a longish Tyrannosaurus Rex and had a horn like a rhino / unicorn. I picked up the package (below) and read the name - “Rajasaurus” and it was from India! </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI9sbqUszIu_i1SalFsXc-PeVlVUYsgShCX8HMCa1scGiReDzIMfIWTQTR4kPLMhdZmaGbmDd-5cR6XNasvmASoxTMR5-jnpZderVf-muyfTk1qiidgjtMYqTT93U71LWgohEMKpI8XQdWavu0zCBos_RNixfUGJlWIerWtsnSAeaN3BQXbK_bjWbh4Q/s600/E542F12D-893B-41EB-A324-4A798290AFB2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="600" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI9sbqUszIu_i1SalFsXc-PeVlVUYsgShCX8HMCa1scGiReDzIMfIWTQTR4kPLMhdZmaGbmDd-5cR6XNasvmASoxTMR5-jnpZderVf-muyfTk1qiidgjtMYqTT93U71LWgohEMKpI8XQdWavu0zCBos_RNixfUGJlWIerWtsnSAeaN3BQXbK_bjWbh4Q/s320/E542F12D-893B-41EB-A324-4A798290AFB2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to a 2018 <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/science-or-sci-fi-the-ignorance-about-dinosaurs-in-india/story-Xz8vEkuJuRzQHfhnQq4FNM.html" target="_blank">Times of India article</a> by arguably the most famous Indian palaeontologist Ashok Sahni, “</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit;">In India, 25 to 30 genera of dinosaurs are known, depending on how experts wish to club or split the population. In the 1980s dinosaur eggs and nests were discovered along the western boundary of Kutch in Gujarat, through Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana, a geographic record that replicates the finds of dinosaur bones. These constituted the single largest laying ground in the Cretaceous period globally.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgboAQcMTvgmtohcGTVfWEtHN7aVzhGMKbL9oMTx07OyXYTBPki__cevuFe_FSD7fJUswrG8OQ0h2yln36cDZdhPitbp7fpcFXAGW2FlFyaAYmVULdKdxduRR-xXmMffhDItTIE-nvcAc4Z5jSMzwr1WxiFRqXatArlZhuJA2c7v9TO-MAAXOIQS8zsKw/s1139/96F97A9F-0012-409F-ACDF-A3FE9D77E308.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1139" data-original-width="745" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgboAQcMTvgmtohcGTVfWEtHN7aVzhGMKbL9oMTx07OyXYTBPki__cevuFe_FSD7fJUswrG8OQ0h2yln36cDZdhPitbp7fpcFXAGW2FlFyaAYmVULdKdxduRR-xXmMffhDItTIE-nvcAc4Z5jSMzwr1WxiFRqXatArlZhuJA2c7v9TO-MAAXOIQS8zsKw/w261-h400/96F97A9F-0012-409F-ACDF-A3FE9D77E308.jpeg" width="261" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>A nice article from Hindustan Times</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i> - please click on the photo to zoom in</i></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I found an excellent <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220113-why-indias-fossil-wealth-has-remained-hidden" target="_blank">BBC article</a> that explains why we know so little about Indian dinosaurs. Here’s an excerpt:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"I think India's fossil heritage is largely untapped and has been forgotten," says Advait M Jukar, a vertebrate palaeontologist at Yale University and research associate in the Department of Paleobiology at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. "India has produced the earliest whales, some of the largest rhinos and elephants that have ever existed, vast beds of dinosaur eggs, and strange horned reptiles from before the age of dinosaurs. But there are so many gaps that still need to be filled."</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And that's because large parts of India have not been systematically explored by professional palaeontologists. In spite of this, over the years, major paleontological finds from India have helped scientists piece together critical information to debunk old theories and shed new light on how life has evolved over time.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the heart of many of these discoveries is Ashok Sahni (photo below), a pioneering palaeontologist whose grandfather, father and uncle were all in the field. Sahni often uses his own funds to power his expeditions – his personal collection of fossils has filled the shelves of Punjab University's Natural History Museum. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 1982, at a dinosaur site in the blazing heat of the central Indian city of Jabalpur, Sahni remembers covering every inch of ground in search of fossils. When he bent over to tie his shoelaces, right there in front of him were four or five spherical structures, measuring 16-20cm in length. "These were very weathered, round, roughly of equal shape. I was stunned. Could they be dinosaur eggs?" </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Indeed, they were the eggs of the Titanosaurus indicus, a large herbivorous dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period. It was the first time a clutch of dinosaur eggs had been discovered in India. Today, nearly 40 years later, nesting sites of dinosaurs have been found all over the country.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCdGdE_irIwUWZoAKVTgq0tcw0NaPGDi_mcgiU30Fl4gtspbBRFzVKGXD-6ph_ubYM9jQ6hHL-pk9iCEz8dShnmxbW_I0xujuZQP2L74XAUgj8DaFUGEZv76URwp4dAHAw4mv3qbmv6kXKGvv3rM9jSrj-H2qNOShin7GebeCHl9z2E0BUAJ_SDHsjg/s1569/D3B19CAD-6595-4929-8C08-32698DAE267F.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1569" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCdGdE_irIwUWZoAKVTgq0tcw0NaPGDi_mcgiU30Fl4gtspbBRFzVKGXD-6ph_ubYM9jQ6hHL-pk9iCEz8dShnmxbW_I0xujuZQP2L74XAUgj8DaFUGEZv76URwp4dAHAw4mv3qbmv6kXKGvv3rM9jSrj-H2qNOShin7GebeCHl9z2E0BUAJ_SDHsjg/s320/D3B19CAD-6595-4929-8C08-32698DAE267F.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In August 2003, Sahni shot to global fame after 20 years of excavating, identifying and piecing together the bones of India's newest species of carnivorous dinosaur, <b><i>Rajasaurus narmadensis</i></b>, which is thought to have been 30ft (9.14m) long. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But it's Sahni's less glamorous, lesser-known discoveries that have really informed science. In 2010, he was part of a team of Indian, German and US scientists who discovered perfectly preserved insects in amber, estimated to be more than 54 million years old. The discovery came from a lignite mine 30km (18.6 miles) northeast of Surat in Gujarat, and it indicated that today the region could be home to some of the oldest deciduous forests in the world. "The published findings challenged the notion that India was ever an isolated continent," Sahni says.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the last three decades, Indian dinosaurs have become better known. This modern era of awareness actually started before the release of Jurassic Park. In the 1970s a small band of dedicated palaeontologists from the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata, after nearly ten years of meticulous field work, were able to mount a skeleton of a gigantic herbivorous dinosaur, <b><i>Barapasaurus tagorei</i></b> in their own premises - see photo below:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAy9HrUCcDwqpA-gzVfIrvEHlsRmmId9lViLq417Ih8_EEClEgxonL_Ej9idOXbAK31d2W0EYno7joBt7HwTCzeDA8UOcjp6j2vARdoww5CG1u2LQqq_pvUsb8N4sTyUBWitXpLZhEhoQ2CZ0wUq87Pr6BN5fMr-iLFI3FBCwxMGWpANpMdeZJn7Xaw/s630/8751920D-5E1A-4796-ABBF-A587CC434C09.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="630" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAy9HrUCcDwqpA-gzVfIrvEHlsRmmId9lViLq417Ih8_EEClEgxonL_Ej9idOXbAK31d2W0EYno7joBt7HwTCzeDA8UOcjp6j2vARdoww5CG1u2LQqq_pvUsb8N4sTyUBWitXpLZhEhoQ2CZ0wUq87Pr6BN5fMr-iLFI3FBCwxMGWpANpMdeZJn7Xaw/s320/8751920D-5E1A-4796-ABBF-A587CC434C09.webp" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Building awareness is hard when this information does not find a place in school curriculums or textbooks. However, filling this void in recent years are individuals from all walks of life – particularly teachers, podcasters and children's books authors. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Vaishali Shroff's <i style="font-weight: bold;">The Adventures of Padma and a Blue Dinosaur</i> (see photo below) <i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>published in 2018 was designed to captivate kids <i>(this is the book my sister had gifted us but I hadn’t read - now I am reading it to my son)</i>. Using fiction and fantasy to weave in real details on Indian dinosaurs, it won the Best in Indian Children's Writing award in the environment category in 2019. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Since then, Shroff has spoken to hundreds of school children in many Indian cities, acquainting them with various species of Indian dinosaurs and the major discoveries over the years. "I wanted children to fall in love with our country's dinosaur fossil heritage and to make them aware of the fact that dinosaur fossils could very well be in their backyards," she says.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQo-cZ5C7QmL-rSYU5_-Zqnzu3raPWeqR_Jm0BS-ztmtyplK0_NXETdGXHe_bQ1K0lzAeBueWgQthpnyCc3xOeYOGQrtSIZ0_5c7H1ltlXjWqF_nsO94oehzUu772Pt8R1OTemClv9Hbo_yJvYft69ff_sTYc2x7bflMWgZhywfY6CnVIG2ybQHm4R3Q/s820/22C90F30-FA4D-4FCD-9E97-4F509E3FDFCD.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="820" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQo-cZ5C7QmL-rSYU5_-Zqnzu3raPWeqR_Jm0BS-ztmtyplK0_NXETdGXHe_bQ1K0lzAeBueWgQthpnyCc3xOeYOGQrtSIZ0_5c7H1ltlXjWqF_nsO94oehzUu772Pt8R1OTemClv9Hbo_yJvYft69ff_sTYc2x7bflMWgZhywfY6CnVIG2ybQHm4R3Q/s320/22C90F30-FA4D-4FCD-9E97-4F509E3FDFCD.webp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BEq_3uPk6TI" width="320" youtube-src-id="BEq_3uPk6TI"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-s1Cmt2YeJBVr0fNWRq-bmLafVOePzFe540U047nWR2AhIn4LG--WMcrq2vygkI_8Gj-yS-Sx5gVTIRKT3bdT2ef5N9ml5QmN6Semc4DG0Zh4d8Du88ojpI53AdApSE2hBReqXNRtevOK1uFk9BsTixXWX7Tjcw0W7vU25DEKwcrAmxZNr_f0kMB36A/s1024/8C3CCA03-DB20-4AE5-A679-B2B52AA1B331.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-s1Cmt2YeJBVr0fNWRq-bmLafVOePzFe540U047nWR2AhIn4LG--WMcrq2vygkI_8Gj-yS-Sx5gVTIRKT3bdT2ef5N9ml5QmN6Semc4DG0Zh4d8Du88ojpI53AdApSE2hBReqXNRtevOK1uFk9BsTixXWX7Tjcw0W7vU25DEKwcrAmxZNr_f0kMB36A/s320/8C3CCA03-DB20-4AE5-A679-B2B52AA1B331.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>A page from the book on the Barapasaurus</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i> - please click on the photo to zoom in</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPYSPHbyudVa5iU5kYfsJcU4i1b9t5cr8gHvx7HfX7MR9OhAKnhbd7otZK2rfh1uWdwDwJQuCnXEGLK0m6F7N3jCVPoq1NbV4vwEO8PTiCYpcY8oIpfYdppXflgPXyooY672P0Ag5nXPFofPkwvZ1VqpgcZKpHuMu9Fl8L1GlXwSFLKudaeTmBoBN6w/s800/2148401A-9DB2-4D7A-B8BD-97D2668422EC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="800" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPYSPHbyudVa5iU5kYfsJcU4i1b9t5cr8gHvx7HfX7MR9OhAKnhbd7otZK2rfh1uWdwDwJQuCnXEGLK0m6F7N3jCVPoq1NbV4vwEO8PTiCYpcY8oIpfYdppXflgPXyooY672P0Ag5nXPFofPkwvZ1VqpgcZKpHuMu9Fl8L1GlXwSFLKudaeTmBoBN6w/s320/2148401A-9DB2-4D7A-B8BD-97D2668422EC.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>An overview of Indian dinosaurs</i> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i> - please click on the photo to zoom in</i></div><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In January 2023, </span><a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/january/fossilised-nests-worlds-largest-dinosaur-discovered-india.html" target="_blank">256 Titanosaur eggs were uncovered in India</a>, revealing more about the lives of some of the largest animals which ever lived. Among the eggs was one containing the remains of a second egg inside it which suggests that these mighty sauropods may have reproduced similarly to modern birds. There could have been more titanosaurs in India than previously thought. Among the 256 eggs found at the site, one in particular caught the researchers' attention. It appears to show a layer of eggshell inside another egg, with its shape suggesting that it had always been this way.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D9tNeg0Dt_k" width="320" youtube-src-id="D9tNeg0Dt_k"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">***</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Of <span style="font-family: inherit;">superstitions and conservation: </span></b></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit;">Stones worshipped by Indian villagers turn out to be dinosaur eggs (see <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/sacred-stones-worshipped-indian-villagers-120000195.html" target="_blank">video here</a>)</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 28.4px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UCA0SLoyOStP0PAP7d2YYjd6KowIKSw5CDTBJuW9ReYem8BWe8WyVZdBQGSnQ0AmqS4yvvrWvwpagZf6uyB6ql721pXlFFRyuunWOfBf-PMqE-88js02khLuNOjVKVuErE3tw5SjrKuA1a1g8I9QQIyiq7U9117CKYfkrU_oLcJ2dHMKhnwo7TL5E_t1/s639/IMG_0367.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="639" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UCA0SLoyOStP0PAP7d2YYjd6KowIKSw5CDTBJuW9ReYem8BWe8WyVZdBQGSnQ0AmqS4yvvrWvwpagZf6uyB6ql721pXlFFRyuunWOfBf-PMqE-88js02khLuNOjVKVuErE3tw5SjrKuA1a1g8I9QQIyiq7U9117CKYfkrU_oLcJ2dHMKhnwo7TL5E_t1/s320/IMG_0367.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkel8RMvTe-oOkk7nrrfFjfBo2mo1noa5jElxEjbMiVcYkEYrcLkDM9EmP25YUkdwAt8hVAlhPvky8cmas9k00lsbwqSGZYL8bNPOOPHF5ROEkhT_-9hXn06-mv1WexFy6cRyDQSx_YJRi4F8lUiTQFOEVOEAYig0bvxVK_BiZ5_CqbJ_MZoEkzhQqe33/s739/IMG_0368.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="739" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkel8RMvTe-oOkk7nrrfFjfBo2mo1noa5jElxEjbMiVcYkEYrcLkDM9EmP25YUkdwAt8hVAlhPvky8cmas9k00lsbwqSGZYL8bNPOOPHF5ROEkhT_-9hXn06-mv1WexFy6cRyDQSx_YJRi4F8lUiTQFOEVOEAYig0bvxVK_BiZ5_CqbJ_MZoEkzhQqe33/s320/IMG_0368.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Farmer Vesta Mandloi was surprised to learn recently that one of the "stone balls" his family had been worshipping for generations has turned out to be the fossilised egg of a giant dinosaur that lived in central India's Narmada valley millions of years ago. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Mandloi, many farmers of Padlya village in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district have been worshipping these roughly palm-sized balls known locally as Kankar Bhairav or stone Shiva. The balls lie in small clusters often at the root of a fig tree in an open field and are considered the guardians of the land and livestock. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But after a group of scientists took a closer look, Mandloi found out that the stone he worshipped is in fact the egg of a titanosaur, one of the largest dinosaurs to have existed on earth.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5JVWP34FdjI" width="320" youtube-src-id="5JVWP34FdjI"></iframe></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"We were visiting the area in early December to develop a plan for a geological park when we met Mandloi and other farmers," Mahesh Thakkar of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences (BSIP) in Lucknow said.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Scientists believe that the dinosaurs were decimated during volcanic activity around 65 million years ago leaving behind a treasure trove of fossil-rich rocks along the valley of the river Narmada, which stretches thousands of kilometres from Madhya Pradesh to Gujarat in the far west. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Large numbers of dinosaur bones, teeth, claws and eggs have been found since the early 19th </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">century and Mandloi's Karkara Bhairav is the latest discovery.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Many of these fossils still exist because tribal people have been worshipping and taking care of them for time immemorial," said amateur palaeontologist Vishal Verma. </span></span><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A high school physics teacher, Verma has been an avid fossil hunter and conservationist right from his teenage days spent in this region of rolling hills and ancient volcanic rocks where dinosaurs used to roam 145 million years ago.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Even though they are referred to as Kankar Bhairava (kankar means stone and Bhairav is another name for the Hindu god Shiva), these stones are not worshipped in the traditional Hindu way with baths of water or milk. "Once a year near Diwali, the villagers make farm animals like cows or goats walk over these stones to gain the protection of the deity," Verma said.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Here are my five favourite species of desi dinosaurs:</b></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_J9VjvZ_z20mRq7ENS2gAQ6ZaHmy2gPeVVFFDzi8lL-vBeyZoD7RreaYYQ954EBAS6Rn1n6_382L39wFZFnOfawf5UvzMBUu_-GuoI__7rQjCI4RcTv4wqTc_FX-1KLiMkCHRE1qaXHDHjgsqwVm5a0A10Z9bvSACnsqx8WkvOCsF0R_iJ4vK0appNg/s715/rajasaurus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="715" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_J9VjvZ_z20mRq7ENS2gAQ6ZaHmy2gPeVVFFDzi8lL-vBeyZoD7RreaYYQ954EBAS6Rn1n6_382L39wFZFnOfawf5UvzMBUu_-GuoI__7rQjCI4RcTv4wqTc_FX-1KLiMkCHRE1qaXHDHjgsqwVm5a0A10Z9bvSACnsqx8WkvOCsF0R_iJ4vK0appNg/w400-h145/rajasaurus.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b>Rajasaurus </b></span><b>narmadensis</b><span><b>: </b></span> Rajasaurus belongs to the sub-family of the carnivorous Tyrannosaurus Rex, star of many a Jurassic Park movie was discovered as recently as the early 2000s.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pronunciation: raja-a-sore-us<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Name meaning: '</span>regal reptile of the Narmada<span>'<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Diet: carnivorous - as a large Abelisaurid, Rajasaurus would have primarily fed upon larger herbivores, such as Titanosaurs.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>When it lived: in the Maastrichtian of the late Cretaceous, between 70 and 66 million years. </span>Found in the Lameta Formation of Gujarat, India </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Rajasaurus narmadensis was an Abelisaur - so, a kind of theropod with a long body, almost </span>non-existent<span> arms, and thick, powerful legs. Rajasaurus in particular differed from other Abelisaurs in having particularly short legs, making it even more… sausage-like… in appearance than even its close relatives. It had a boxy head and thick neck, which would allow it to have a very powerful bite and strength in the neck to hold down prey. It had a strong sense of smell, as well, to help it to find prey from farther away - allowing it to set up an ambush for said prey when it got too close. It had horns on its forehead, made of bone from the nose, which was probably not extended by skin. It was also a lot shorter than other Abelisaurids - which means that it was only about 7 or so meters long, and maybe only two meters tall, if that. It really wouldn’t have stood much taller than an adult man. Rajasaurus had an especially short neck, which may have allowed it to grab onto prey even tighter than other Abelisaurids. It had very short, four-fingered hands, with claws on the first three of them. Though the legs of Rajasaurus are short, it did have very robust, thick toes, giving it more support on the ground. As an Abelisaurid, Rajasaurus was covered in scales all over its body, with potentially round bumpy bits of bone (osteoderms) interspersed among the scales. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsNiIpjNtZg1dOywHa9wuAnU2aJPIQTwE6uENVXhGBqzUr4el_-a08eliBszr3IQmBbJaD0zLhemXbb8uLbDh1QuHRIk1hbpBzE9iW02w0wauBEzZJldjAziEDfnaDYMHvKxyIvY6VlAoRK0ynR_qXJn4Jr5xEJWBf9kv0k9PT-nHuMxe7X1KgeEdEnw/s400/barapa.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="400" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsNiIpjNtZg1dOywHa9wuAnU2aJPIQTwE6uENVXhGBqzUr4el_-a08eliBszr3IQmBbJaD0zLhemXbb8uLbDh1QuHRIk1hbpBzE9iW02w0wauBEzZJldjAziEDfnaDYMHvKxyIvY6VlAoRK0ynR_qXJn4Jr5xEJWBf9kv0k9PT-nHuMxe7X1KgeEdEnw/s320/barapa.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Barapasaurus tagorei: </b>Barapasaurus was a primitive but very large sauropod.</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pronunciation: Bar-rap-oh-SORE-us<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Name meaning: 'big leg lizard', tagroei is a tribute to Indian Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Diet: herbivorous<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When it lived: Early Jurassic, 185-170 million years ago</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfhoVrAYQQ4qrKOHwevgID1s60nR-9OYtPZAd-B3TbLfVM3emMVP9weOhTljky3W54SKt2KnhJfDwwCM287EmqL68hvFgC36a785hGgHdbtJiEep4pGuFsLmtAsPVY3A-UrbREW2xhfgFsFGnzWMhb0GzkpSNzXxoRp4dhbWHLemGgk-i09pFCcdRuQ/s400/Isisaurus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="400" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfhoVrAYQQ4qrKOHwevgID1s60nR-9OYtPZAd-B3TbLfVM3emMVP9weOhTljky3W54SKt2KnhJfDwwCM287EmqL68hvFgC36a785hGgHdbtJiEep4pGuFsLmtAsPVY3A-UrbREW2xhfgFsFGnzWMhb0GzkpSNzXxoRp4dhbWHLemGgk-i09pFCcdRuQ/s320/Isisaurus.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Isisaurus:</b> This dinosaur is the
one most similar to modern-day giraffes. Fungus has been found in its poo!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pronunciation: iss-ee-sore-us</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Name meaning: 'ISI (Indian
Statistical Institute) lizard'<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Type of dinosaur: sauropod<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Diet: herbivorous<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When it lived: Late Cretaceous,
71-65 million years ago<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9i_dOGMq28KHndq5fmLtf6ylfuuqJsVu9Yt96jUWQDi6P39Cnq-mWjySoH4Sf9yLVUNo4toGTfPEQ6CtbViFJNCcV0hkkkOU5pHtXHLvZ3Ea7tWJeCWe0oh-lCYUC8Bphn53VHQgtNlt3EeoCgVAxeYd6EmW-_Q2ClSBQ9B0Gp_hRz6jRqPwVJJJhg/s400/Indosuchus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="400" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9i_dOGMq28KHndq5fmLtf6ylfuuqJsVu9Yt96jUWQDi6P39Cnq-mWjySoH4Sf9yLVUNo4toGTfPEQ6CtbViFJNCcV0hkkkOU5pHtXHLvZ3Ea7tWJeCWe0oh-lCYUC8Bphn53VHQgtNlt3EeoCgVAxeYd6EmW-_Q2ClSBQ9B0Gp_hRz6jRqPwVJJJhg/s320/Indosuchus.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Indosuchus:</b> An almost complete
skeleton of Indosuchus has been found.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pronunciation: in-doh-sook-us<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Name meaning: 'Indian crocodile'<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Diet: carnivorous<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When it lived: Late Cretaceous,
71-65 million years ago<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXTCCtSKBmIVXZJunsc1O8gcy9g1TZ7dCjb5SmZATcJ2PQP5yq75Y35b3Y9Hnjf8MEqiZCqD-A8KR2SEPkz6erjDbQUZWv6Dviqh0eRBqFxTVug33mlYe6WzGgDcIvVK8yWhDtr4l_Tf5606dwqZJG8Rr7Um2V4eegtF9PBcEGBURR6TdGk8olHrnTA/s400/Kotasaurus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="400" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXTCCtSKBmIVXZJunsc1O8gcy9g1TZ7dCjb5SmZATcJ2PQP5yq75Y35b3Y9Hnjf8MEqiZCqD-A8KR2SEPkz6erjDbQUZWv6Dviqh0eRBqFxTVug33mlYe6WzGgDcIvVK8yWhDtr4l_Tf5606dwqZJG8Rr7Um2V4eegtF9PBcEGBURR6TdGk8olHrnTA/s320/Kotasaurus.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Kotasaurus: </b>Kotasaurus is known
from a nearly complete skeleton that lacks the skull, so the reconstruction
uses guesswork based on similar dinosaurs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pronunciation: koht-a-sore-us<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Name meaning: 'Kota lizard'<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Diet: herbivorous<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When it lived: Early Jurassic,
205-180 million years ago<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">—</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmDxBfaw59aAKhlI53WYeS8HLNUBTqOS7oWSnMVCVeznShpiEuy9hGrEWciUmvMNQoqHPAKvO8qzmSbeSWppVCGu4oQpVWrS4PNN0loAmh5CD-1sj7cd85WJPJVdU7cQX6U11TOYIVNbPS5XzMjA4j2JT2NxDqCSg4OwV-gBfvnM-a-ewSmI8wKxEBYgR/s400/IMG_5924.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmDxBfaw59aAKhlI53WYeS8HLNUBTqOS7oWSnMVCVeznShpiEuy9hGrEWciUmvMNQoqHPAKvO8qzmSbeSWppVCGu4oQpVWrS4PNN0loAmh5CD-1sj7cd85WJPJVdU7cQX6U11TOYIVNbPS5XzMjA4j2JT2NxDqCSg4OwV-gBfvnM-a-ewSmI8wKxEBYgR/s320/IMG_5924.webp" width="320" /></a></div><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">In Aug 2023, there was <a href="https://weather.com/en-IN/india/science/news/2023-08-08-worlds-oldest-dicraeosaurus-dinosaur-fossil-unearthed-in-thar-desert" target="_blank">news</a> of a team of researchers having discovered a fossil of a previously-unknown plant-munching dicraeosaurid dinosaur that shaped the prehistoric landscape more than 167 million years ago. Found in India for the very first time, the species has since been named</span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;"> <b>Tharosaurus indicus</b></span><span class="s1">, after the Thar desert, and the country of its origin. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This dino fossil from the heart of Thar Desert holds not one, but two crowns in the realm of palaeontology. Apart from being the oldest known dicraeosaurid, it is also the most ancient diplodocoid — the broader group including dicraeosaurids and their close sauropod kin — in the world. According to scientists, fossils of dicraeosaurus dinosaurs have been found previously in North and South America, Africa and China, with the latter hosting the site for the oldest-known dicraeosaurus fossil dating back to 166-164 million years. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But now, the first-of-its-kind discovery of this New Indian Sauropod has accorded India the title for harbouring the oldest dicraeosaurus in the world, rewriting evolutionary history one ancient bone at a time.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">——</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">List of all Indian dinosaurs from Google:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EU5sPuS4SqJmtOKO64PYdGlNh8it-_-I4mXDgJIO2Nxj2lZRH6nlU7Cxbse7TwDvjFjbl_kQgGCQAIw51oPD2eKY-BEcPpPo8N2DnEWUDLw3tiOsR-y9krIr9i9l1tAn7QdZuMiqdhvRApzkbt0vEl39_shQyD9qYUAPS_y8HMVKqxxCg97-ivelpg/s1692/Untitled.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="1692" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EU5sPuS4SqJmtOKO64PYdGlNh8it-_-I4mXDgJIO2Nxj2lZRH6nlU7Cxbse7TwDvjFjbl_kQgGCQAIw51oPD2eKY-BEcPpPo8N2DnEWUDLw3tiOsR-y9krIr9i9l1tAn7QdZuMiqdhvRApzkbt0vEl39_shQyD9qYUAPS_y8HMVKqxxCg97-ivelpg/w640-h386/Untitled.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-45212040275053324772023-02-05T17:12:00.011+05:302023-02-05T23:17:25.799+05:30Mario Miranda - Fine Art Cartoons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMy8hvfbNhRd5kZBOMZVwl1F3h2nV-SFXyk_3kO5ow5upVsI_WEaQgholW1pfV6P7iZGghGSXXeN2An4Tu2vQeSy1flEOzqDNMCAZeM_PYSXXxmKqDCCkXg1xhfqNrsNBjQozvDqFZZ92J2liYG2TNi64qNmrnNXlZVCKft4WjAEWLbpgD1P6bm46L5Q/s1200/bar_869403138.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMy8hvfbNhRd5kZBOMZVwl1F3h2nV-SFXyk_3kO5ow5upVsI_WEaQgholW1pfV6P7iZGghGSXXeN2An4Tu2vQeSy1flEOzqDNMCAZeM_PYSXXxmKqDCCkXg1xhfqNrsNBjQozvDqFZZ92J2liYG2TNi64qNmrnNXlZVCKft4WjAEWLbpgD1P6bm46L5Q/w400-h300/bar_869403138.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>This is my favourite Mario Miranda sketch - we bought a print of this from Panjim during our first visit to Goa</i></div><p>Mário João Carlos do Rosário de Brito Miranda or Mario Miranda was one of India's best-known cartoonists and illustrators. At the height of his creativity and popularity in the 1970s and 80s, Mario's work was ubiquitous - appearing in textbooks, calendars, murals and magazines.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga937IQpsf70sSXrnIccRjVUdQjmGEBxYJY2oeGsTEtZW11sCPE4ikvTrbqN6xizR7Jpx90YHxLFOyJNshJpJo12T2CY2n2SGZtzDFUnr1EbTngyekg_OdAX9nz2GzCwNlpwtXKDqdiHk2vdKGZwWYW3PUf3asgLRExop-9wSyz9f9PU2pzSqWx1dDHA/s1900/Mario2.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1900" data-original-width="976" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga937IQpsf70sSXrnIccRjVUdQjmGEBxYJY2oeGsTEtZW11sCPE4ikvTrbqN6xizR7Jpx90YHxLFOyJNshJpJo12T2CY2n2SGZtzDFUnr1EbTngyekg_OdAX9nz2GzCwNlpwtXKDqdiHk2vdKGZwWYW3PUf3asgLRExop-9wSyz9f9PU2pzSqWx1dDHA/s320/Mario2.webp" width="164" /></a></div><b>Goa: </b>Mario's warm-hearted, often comic drawings of local characters and culture helped to popularise his native state of Goa, both across India and overseas. The diaries he maintained from the age of 10, are virtually the rarest of visual chronicles of colonial Portuguese Goa, capturing life in those changing times.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqGZKzu70aLZxx2A7bC2UDDHfl8fn3T8j_Z2RbVd27bA-bnPdgUhriVhN8juHPDRlj7Gb50PuNUF-naiV6C2M8OaDODmduYp806rKX_4iI08MzA4NPzhb9Q1Tb2BeXnQM944t7FP8pSik1833Yx22PZ-eoCLIBtP4jBgRpjElqRrZI4IF97azFF2gOg/s3469/44db09b6-c7ad-4af6-b771-5b152a2cf56a_3469x2752.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2752" data-original-width="3469" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqGZKzu70aLZxx2A7bC2UDDHfl8fn3T8j_Z2RbVd27bA-bnPdgUhriVhN8juHPDRlj7Gb50PuNUF-naiV6C2M8OaDODmduYp806rKX_4iI08MzA4NPzhb9Q1Tb2BeXnQM944t7FP8pSik1833Yx22PZ-eoCLIBtP4jBgRpjElqRrZI4IF97azFF2gOg/s320/44db09b6-c7ad-4af6-b771-5b152a2cf56a_3469x2752.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1867" data-original-width="3000" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFkdFsfMtNEqHjYEn_BgUdViYHVVDMoX3vGkcYsbG-zSzCU1MbxkYj10JNBKr0QaQFBkTT0z-u9QepCP31Tbo1ib2Uh6YZQif20RtArpj8z4bxk6AWRZH-UbxiIUYb3ZJEvfPPNKuefrrmv-pBtoj92smy8yVki195lgzTcme-BHwBESTmxQY3blEpAQ/s320/the-funeral-2_869484178_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZtfqi_F86IitspOr78q0WWG7oyGSVTapD_bi0y-denpAMQH8XpaHNQlN1zZqU_-5loYZQp1ZaGhbfUtTBuk3XLSu1jfuzoucIkCeRScv4bv0amEaWzApTgOtmIMrBU0iYMzLdxG3MJdPEsDdCPYKgBJXu8oaXkZ_n4ywO5jUgom82Oggfx-mgBfOGQw/s2897/the-funeral_869484144_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2235" data-original-width="2897" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZtfqi_F86IitspOr78q0WWG7oyGSVTapD_bi0y-denpAMQH8XpaHNQlN1zZqU_-5loYZQp1ZaGhbfUtTBuk3XLSu1jfuzoucIkCeRScv4bv0amEaWzApTgOtmIMrBU0iYMzLdxG3MJdPEsDdCPYKgBJXu8oaXkZ_n4ywO5jUgom82Oggfx-mgBfOGQw/s320/the-funeral_869484144_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkFzL3V5jAOr8ret6PjuJP3JRhIU6H023XvU8CyxxtbOj0-XCFV0EQQQpF-eJQbrNMpttf56K7Dv7U5Z0lebM0oEDFCkGHwayAYqbpI7qC-thyJgAb5MNzx-LlujA6QlEJLdutUesEWtga2wjLVBoWDwqQ4dDlc6YbBz6pus6zz9m-JhbwRzRA4vHYCg/s3019/village-market_869484286_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2303" data-original-width="3019" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkFzL3V5jAOr8ret6PjuJP3JRhIU6H023XvU8CyxxtbOj0-XCFV0EQQQpF-eJQbrNMpttf56K7Dv7U5Z0lebM0oEDFCkGHwayAYqbpI7qC-thyJgAb5MNzx-LlujA6QlEJLdutUesEWtga2wjLVBoWDwqQ4dDlc6YbBz6pus6zz9m-JhbwRzRA4vHYCg/s320/village-market_869484286_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNyKlfFRIp0hvz-K5y-5MlYCsaswv0YJYixjW1xhzpjDADltlSbilt66ttwVThdwRrygZSopizr4uhYXO7KB2iQT9do_h5yqnxdG7kiJYvROJ2B4sHIgpZjgTPKYtfRNLqUDasShfDXrHgT6UdlReigOqHSOU9htanDxvfva7UyIWDeONYJgQ4Nmk1fw/s976/Mario6.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="976" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNyKlfFRIp0hvz-K5y-5MlYCsaswv0YJYixjW1xhzpjDADltlSbilt66ttwVThdwRrygZSopizr4uhYXO7KB2iQT9do_h5yqnxdG7kiJYvROJ2B4sHIgpZjgTPKYtfRNLqUDasShfDXrHgT6UdlReigOqHSOU9htanDxvfva7UyIWDeONYJgQ4Nmk1fw/s320/Mario6.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEG5Tr8bZhctIl2qV4JtcrPWJ1sUdSHylRSUoJOdF0qD4-ncLDeE0b0iUnMECMMxDZRvTUSQM7E0zNihYAfsAOLGezmw2o-tFCn6kG8WACWqxCzcmafAO2uz_XJas1sDpDQmstHDDzqjMNUVvZT5TmOT9YifcaUu9682iAn9JMQ02zr6O_SzHBmEBFSA/s976/Mario14.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="976" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEG5Tr8bZhctIl2qV4JtcrPWJ1sUdSHylRSUoJOdF0qD4-ncLDeE0b0iUnMECMMxDZRvTUSQM7E0zNihYAfsAOLGezmw2o-tFCn6kG8WACWqxCzcmafAO2uz_XJas1sDpDQmstHDDzqjMNUVvZT5TmOT9YifcaUu9682iAn9JMQ02zr6O_SzHBmEBFSA/s320/Mario14.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>Mumbai: </b>Though born in Goa, Mario, as he was popularly known, spent his youth shuttling between Mumbai and Goa. He worked as a cartoonist in newspapers like the now-defunct Current and later with the Illustrated Weekly of India magazine, besides Midday and later, Economic Times. The Afternoon Dispatch and Courier produced some of his best work on the city. "Mumbai, seen through Mario Miranda's eyes, is at one level cosmopolitan, symbolising the good things in life, and at another level, a nightmare with its acute space crunch and sundry other civic woes" says Gerard da Cunha, curator of the artist's work. In 2005, Mr da Cunha began to work on a book on the artist, and tracked down some 13,000 drawings - just 30% of his work- from myriad sources, including Mario's friends, personal collections, publications, and the Mumbai murals that had survived. I fondly remember the ones at Cafe Mondegar in town (Colaba) where I have had a few beer breakfasts for utara.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5iPQnNlgfNazrCPDAQFCFbWunQn3jCsfYerTa45x_BM1XUS8T1PJopN8leHNWyGA7CX1uXGB7DLkvTNJnq-KYRRvhtusmq60Lhx_6Iv3xiFxT2NkRNY-OOVfOp3CVVlPaGjYhnRKHUVRnXCnETP7l80hDXeR5b8kp2GRkMZQbROyF3Br2TqiH-qtwQ/s1920/mondegars_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5iPQnNlgfNazrCPDAQFCFbWunQn3jCsfYerTa45x_BM1XUS8T1PJopN8leHNWyGA7CX1uXGB7DLkvTNJnq-KYRRvhtusmq60Lhx_6Iv3xiFxT2NkRNY-OOVfOp3CVVlPaGjYhnRKHUVRnXCnETP7l80hDXeR5b8kp2GRkMZQbROyF3Br2TqiH-qtwQ/s320/mondegars_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cafe Mondegar, Colaba</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfMbj46gLzIu25hOhwokWuvhoRnoKUt8qKCkOY2Kwd0OdEQ4XKu9pkAoWJnQuGPuiY2xrw3rfpMEkI0SGgGbzebxcWTtSDnykXrUSKEFJ-IKCByJvuNRR0w8Ls2L8aot4zo1TixZHU2Rsk-2qLgXNtPR51Q1vYJzfErCf6HCGPvQRSBkgXn2bf4gtyTQ/s1020/Mario4.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="976" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfMbj46gLzIu25hOhwokWuvhoRnoKUt8qKCkOY2Kwd0OdEQ4XKu9pkAoWJnQuGPuiY2xrw3rfpMEkI0SGgGbzebxcWTtSDnykXrUSKEFJ-IKCByJvuNRR0w8Ls2L8aot4zo1TixZHU2Rsk-2qLgXNtPR51Q1vYJzfErCf6HCGPvQRSBkgXn2bf4gtyTQ/s320/Mario4.webp" width="306" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJtfTrJjgAL7dx62RDTJopBsgHMZm6H8GM0uTU3vqpB5mShn_Vl9XAOtzOSw3k2TX6RqhRNCrNTLBarD2LarV1oU70Of5yLa5BxrIM2w3iSAp9tbo2AhgJ7jZAloypxLvLPAbb6S8Tu9BPedxEK_jC8yxuwqlrdeo2pC3MeEiQ6uRk6_i0Fvgm36KDAQ/s976/Mario5.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="976" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJtfTrJjgAL7dx62RDTJopBsgHMZm6H8GM0uTU3vqpB5mShn_Vl9XAOtzOSw3k2TX6RqhRNCrNTLBarD2LarV1oU70Of5yLa5BxrIM2w3iSAp9tbo2AhgJ7jZAloypxLvLPAbb6S8Tu9BPedxEK_jC8yxuwqlrdeo2pC3MeEiQ6uRk6_i0Fvgm36KDAQ/s320/Mario5.webp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8nkK6r_CFeBdJOIb_cu5ef06IHyyyoORe-n4UmLrWQZ1_A35vR1aqHToctkfZdCD8NSEu_PSYfgUbL6Ne-PT-F88uA-SXP63rnncRpaVP4xdK9b0eimelfKmxhC_0DjYaJxllGFYzxqGCksAcgmk3hvilFfjR3fuD-JwhCJDE5ofHPf2rXabcF6bmQ/s450/fonseca_nimbupani.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="290" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8nkK6r_CFeBdJOIb_cu5ef06IHyyyoORe-n4UmLrWQZ1_A35vR1aqHToctkfZdCD8NSEu_PSYfgUbL6Ne-PT-F88uA-SXP63rnncRpaVP4xdK9b0eimelfKmxhC_0DjYaJxllGFYzxqGCksAcgmk3hvilFfjR3fuD-JwhCJDE5ofHPf2rXabcF6bmQ/s320/fonseca_nimbupani.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><b>Office series: </b>Mario's unforgettable characters including the Boss and Miss Fonseca still charm us today. Personally I think they are better than Dilbert. They remind me of the Bombay of Amol Palekar's movie 'Choti si baat'</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw5-78u76BhGlrMnWTtkWSxMWdoij9xNRYltSFB4YTNKN_qZN5rD1Pp6i_LeVjnd-YGrMk2NRWZhXZC0DqVVb7XktFAh7J4ouwOWSsPN8SsTwr_G9zPsOAzvNUPpAmixmG07UC1gjpWGrFSYymJ01ZBMoOvuR5XuewS6CIF7UddPBs4Ve4YNeTpJEeAw/s1814/sml_image_2213_buy-mario-miranda-original-works-online-4a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1814" data-original-width="1098" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw5-78u76BhGlrMnWTtkWSxMWdoij9xNRYltSFB4YTNKN_qZN5rD1Pp6i_LeVjnd-YGrMk2NRWZhXZC0DqVVb7XktFAh7J4ouwOWSsPN8SsTwr_G9zPsOAzvNUPpAmixmG07UC1gjpWGrFSYymJ01ZBMoOvuR5XuewS6CIF7UddPBs4Ve4YNeTpJEeAw/s320/sml_image_2213_buy-mario-miranda-original-works-online-4a.jpg" width="194" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULsBDK22roNH8-JAXE65B2VOh65AmWWc6b6hYGmz7MTq6cPuOZz3TQ4zg7kis3JL58hI-DpzQTpXCULoiI6cnHmi_a3uUG86ctdUW1CrECm64lWOJLKGGKZ0urva1UTiFWz0keHRoNjhDt8IQxRLbJHaF0nJuFX_qJNzNXrek8R1jWio0ivZjc2-E-w/s517/sml_image_1824_buy-mario-miranda-original-works-online-18a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULsBDK22roNH8-JAXE65B2VOh65AmWWc6b6hYGmz7MTq6cPuOZz3TQ4zg7kis3JL58hI-DpzQTpXCULoiI6cnHmi_a3uUG86ctdUW1CrECm64lWOJLKGGKZ0urva1UTiFWz0keHRoNjhDt8IQxRLbJHaF0nJuFX_qJNzNXrek8R1jWio0ivZjc2-E-w/s320/sml_image_1824_buy-mario-miranda-original-works-online-18a.jpg" width="192" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPkeGKKIxtzfu6qbQwDz9mo4E1QBT93Q-KaPYa02-LXA4MDhWuy7EE00ZR7_Lly2lfHA_rT9YxSBph8VsPmj4Yab335Ke85N-2UEfGAQOFmC-qoE5WgAs6Q1aH5d9ucYWTvuco-hCXrXJyBOaEUsHgtNf6HrrI0pxWnYtl5IGKRWpJIb4dMvqP4Cdmg/s1794/sml_image_502_buy-mario-miranda-original-works-online-92a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1794" data-original-width="1104" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPkeGKKIxtzfu6qbQwDz9mo4E1QBT93Q-KaPYa02-LXA4MDhWuy7EE00ZR7_Lly2lfHA_rT9YxSBph8VsPmj4Yab335Ke85N-2UEfGAQOFmC-qoE5WgAs6Q1aH5d9ucYWTvuco-hCXrXJyBOaEUsHgtNf6HrrI0pxWnYtl5IGKRWpJIb4dMvqP4Cdmg/s320/sml_image_502_buy-mario-miranda-original-works-online-92a.jpg" width="197" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoirjHm4xnIfJAK9RBXCCZ3sRX6Cl3sMKCowy0-A1rllASCf4jZrM9yF0ZMnWCiEFSyKISWSANQNqLP5CJSlJLfs5dNi7d5hR61EvymmmcafJldEgyW3h74WdBXHtgcLTSwo3mWKTWrRhw8_XmAAiyHfzlP8cgMf8XK73gEIeQwOHcRvXZE2TQ_CR3RA/s1700/Mario3.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p><b>Travels: </b>Mario travelled to 22 countries, where he was invited to visit and sketch. Artwork from his travels are "a treasure trove of situations, cities and characters".</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1N6-98tSRkv5dsFcX6gnD9LnICNMxWxK4hVGub9DB_KZqwlpfe9XFg7CKD-n3g9P6lQmmWO0OXLqdHsaoyvOSnKPYMwHdM5Q2dDoZsFKN9dKpCg-KjBw3hghg_UtCSFISmXZEQr1GyCauE84vZYcABPC9wD40SegZTp4TbbKQoMdRe2LSQbWRUvvAw/s1000/Mario8.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="976" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1N6-98tSRkv5dsFcX6gnD9LnICNMxWxK4hVGub9DB_KZqwlpfe9XFg7CKD-n3g9P6lQmmWO0OXLqdHsaoyvOSnKPYMwHdM5Q2dDoZsFKN9dKpCg-KjBw3hghg_UtCSFISmXZEQr1GyCauE84vZYcABPC9wD40SegZTp4TbbKQoMdRe2LSQbWRUvvAw/s320/Mario8.webp" width="312" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRRANi7HQTCa5zRwzAqyaz3dOjm2hPue528UhlDQ2hTvt0wzZ5qo32N7bFGXWfYOw1nI7VQJjyI5ONZofg1Fgm1GlG3ILR9V-04awCRf3joYfYi0LH64Cia7DPvlHc6DF2HhWGmt38wSt50mK_B3iVK85yQzstGSQNYy69liwAuNIGOZZAyXv3gR8Hg/s976/Mario1.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="976" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRRANi7HQTCa5zRwzAqyaz3dOjm2hPue528UhlDQ2hTvt0wzZ5qo32N7bFGXWfYOw1nI7VQJjyI5ONZofg1Fgm1GlG3ILR9V-04awCRf3joYfYi0LH64Cia7DPvlHc6DF2HhWGmt38wSt50mK_B3iVK85yQzstGSQNYy69liwAuNIGOZZAyXv3gR8Hg/s320/Mario1.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjW_um2LIhCwUenxUS6ppUROYorQzJY2Ty_V-cIcje1EERj0D4PotzheXLP_VTun4-MHPZD8rZ10NzH1BxgqFrhCff_DDKIEDf5kswyA7mTHQkziS6OyXSv4N1qA8WC58zeSgsPWVaa-XUgpIkQiJjytJHZtmxbyoH_wdNkSwIcI0L8G5r68M6piOUA/s1400/Mario7.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="976" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjW_um2LIhCwUenxUS6ppUROYorQzJY2Ty_V-cIcje1EERj0D4PotzheXLP_VTun4-MHPZD8rZ10NzH1BxgqFrhCff_DDKIEDf5kswyA7mTHQkziS6OyXSv4N1qA8WC58zeSgsPWVaa-XUgpIkQiJjytJHZtmxbyoH_wdNkSwIcI0L8G5r68M6piOUA/s320/Mario7.webp" width="223" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLN4CRha0z5n2kLgUXm9LGnsR9hZF369tGiV32J6ykrPaDPHJPoucr4kKNJJWhw8cxBLkq76BqF-Ztz537KdBGdsUeCblX_wSDRB0GQNzVF9Cnp9R6d4tt3Shu8xslbjnVIhdFLzNKznaXaLzcvXDeGTJ0uC4BjkYtdZHhbpH03BrM5U2VF4EQO-yiwA/s976/Mario9.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="976" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLN4CRha0z5n2kLgUXm9LGnsR9hZF369tGiV32J6ykrPaDPHJPoucr4kKNJJWhw8cxBLkq76BqF-Ztz537KdBGdsUeCblX_wSDRB0GQNzVF9Cnp9R6d4tt3Shu8xslbjnVIhdFLzNKznaXaLzcvXDeGTJ0uC4BjkYtdZHhbpH03BrM5U2VF4EQO-yiwA/s320/Mario9.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQc0kTgoFeg2wx2f-wGQOFWoH_JgIDebxFmJTDsz9UH--i2qft9p8cXn89JMyxsvFp948LjYq-9OmkpQabTAPIDNVot6-S7ZARSe7xgE4ev879Rt568qFsCriPGC35Wv3Pt8gtggCif9uLgv8n6HfG4y3_Ntcc3CrWfGTO_zl73KDVBJNhgfQFdV9qdQ/s1000/Mario10.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="976" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQc0kTgoFeg2wx2f-wGQOFWoH_JgIDebxFmJTDsz9UH--i2qft9p8cXn89JMyxsvFp948LjYq-9OmkpQabTAPIDNVot6-S7ZARSe7xgE4ev879Rt568qFsCriPGC35Wv3Pt8gtggCif9uLgv8n6HfG4y3_Ntcc3CrWfGTO_zl73KDVBJNhgfQFdV9qdQ/s320/Mario10.webp" width="312" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf4Q236A1geRQFslvuDIw0cniQsRHmQZXH1TuTyx7BePR1pzcig26yq72tqk63-ihymjRlrOyJG7NHwdRc87DwE2ZZzzrsgoNRAG_lADTJw3ZaxKSZZ5Xdkiy7sI2eYciXDZKT46iGKUPyQukdVvZvJJCcnXB_Yhxg2LWJXDBmk_tbSR_oRqks0Q6d8A/s1300/Mario12.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1300" data-original-width="976" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf4Q236A1geRQFslvuDIw0cniQsRHmQZXH1TuTyx7BePR1pzcig26yq72tqk63-ihymjRlrOyJG7NHwdRc87DwE2ZZzzrsgoNRAG_lADTJw3ZaxKSZZ5Xdkiy7sI2eYciXDZKT46iGKUPyQukdVvZvJJCcnXB_Yhxg2LWJXDBmk_tbSR_oRqks0Q6d8A/s320/Mario12.webp" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCzA3feKPLRyC2J1mY8XqXvsF843v5P3MEwr-TwQANoBfs0WdXczImehSQHo2g2u4V076Uk0nGffPYGy02imNjnR49U5YXN9VSBKxc4zdtj81Q_1xaM51ryMotA0lDJF5-Jp3TIpKHGyNj8V9PNJ1L9FI9nJ8LlSMtUAKl-kLVCEqXSeHlgYhBXGmTg/s976/Mario13.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCzA3feKPLRyC2J1mY8XqXvsF843v5P3MEwr-TwQANoBfs0WdXczImehSQHo2g2u4V076Uk0nGffPYGy02imNjnR49U5YXN9VSBKxc4zdtj81Q_1xaM51ryMotA0lDJF5-Jp3TIpKHGyNj8V9PNJ1L9FI9nJ8LlSMtUAKl-kLVCEqXSeHlgYhBXGmTg/s320/Mario13.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p>Mr da Cunha says Mario was a "versatile" artist. "Though the artists' community did not consider Mario to be one of them, it did not affect his creative urges, which found expressions in colour, pen-and-ink and charcoal. His range of styles, and command over different mediums, made him a bit of an enigma. Ironically, it was the cartoonist/illustrator's tag that stuck, limiting people's appreciation to 'just a few laffs'."</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiov5Ql8M-acdW5EjHsvjnFxRCnaQrbU1ysyT6ROy75D_69kwfttL5-msPcXOCW4VZZnmEHqxBVM9bFLyKfiltrXdFqLJsb8m-e_EhcWmq4efLCqn8iDjHDD-fLkMlhDAWIYMTmpRs-18fbQSQ7UA_807D7aPvm_4pjuZORk9jDdqHeXBAcu0bBSiPiXw/s1806/FlrpsEYaEAIPx0X.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="883" data-original-width="1806" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiov5Ql8M-acdW5EjHsvjnFxRCnaQrbU1ysyT6ROy75D_69kwfttL5-msPcXOCW4VZZnmEHqxBVM9bFLyKfiltrXdFqLJsb8m-e_EhcWmq4efLCqn8iDjHDD-fLkMlhDAWIYMTmpRs-18fbQSQ7UA_807D7aPvm_4pjuZORk9jDdqHeXBAcu0bBSiPiXw/s320/FlrpsEYaEAIPx0X.jpeg" width="320" /></a></p><p>Mario consciously avoided political cartooning, but his role as a social cartoonist is unmistakable, points out Mr da Cunha. Mr da Cunha believes though that though Mario gained huge popularity during his lifetime, his true genius is yet to be recognised.</p><p>Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-36220327</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-81453713554411187162023-01-30T04:13:00.017+05:302023-02-05T23:17:39.552+05:30Ed Hardy - Tattooed Fine Art<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier clothes were all the rage in India the early 2000’s thanks to the macho men of Bollywood - Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt and their ilk. I must admit that since then I have been besotted by these garish / kitschy designs, especially the famous tiger tattoo design. At the time I had no idea who Ed Hardy or Christian Audigier were. I think what attracted me to these designs were the allure of wearing a cool tattoo without the pain and needles. I hate injections… no way I could muster the courage to get a tattoo!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_575h4v5FACN46Y57OC_7bGBqa22pucpG0DiSwavgKDad8AqaIdJ9nHxKUVu7xET1s4Y3PH_x0NqW9ylCK-XJQi3Bjpn_lqkw2sxOwqU-TYF6MvSZBViLE8iJo-tUiaDVPDc6gZejx0rardEDteKfWkENjF-mZIxEVesFe-moO2x66iiU6IyNX2Tbg/s2100/C96E7772-0C66-4F61-8327-345ABC158275.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1746" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_575h4v5FACN46Y57OC_7bGBqa22pucpG0DiSwavgKDad8AqaIdJ9nHxKUVu7xET1s4Y3PH_x0NqW9ylCK-XJQi3Bjpn_lqkw2sxOwqU-TYF6MvSZBViLE8iJo-tUiaDVPDc6gZejx0rardEDteKfWkENjF-mZIxEVesFe-moO2x66iiU6IyNX2Tbg/s320/C96E7772-0C66-4F61-8327-345ABC158275.jpeg" width="266" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The proliferation in the early 2000s of wildly colourful clothing adorned with screaming skulls, tiger heads, hearts, and roses made the name Ed Hardy shorthand for kitsch. However, by the time he licensed his art to brands—most prominently Christian Audigier—Don Ed Hardy had already had an influential career in tattooing which helped elevate the art into American popular culture. Although the rhinestone hats and shirts that mimicked tattoo sleeves were much different from his custom work for decades of clients, their desirability reflected how Hardy had promoted tattooing beyond subculture.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqAGnRACAnCtotK9TcA_r2Qye5dIpxsAA6F6mMuw6XejqGd_MtehiRxAiaV-1n0Xqd7gLHWPaKynWZcja7gIbVPlFuL_WkBakFs3zWuBKIKEJULrpXWzgp93B6y5EIxeHtxDiGFXTLHglpUFTDM8X-axHKOfdQBotTpEztLbLRPcVCIv6WYNxg1g4WA/s750/BFD39D93-0034-4B6D-B6C6-BA74789FF2FD.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="629" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqAGnRACAnCtotK9TcA_r2Qye5dIpxsAA6F6mMuw6XejqGd_MtehiRxAiaV-1n0Xqd7gLHWPaKynWZcja7gIbVPlFuL_WkBakFs3zWuBKIKEJULrpXWzgp93B6y5EIxeHtxDiGFXTLHglpUFTDM8X-axHKOfdQBotTpEztLbLRPcVCIv6WYNxg1g4WA/s320/BFD39D93-0034-4B6D-B6C6-BA74789FF2FD.jpeg" width="268" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Don Ed Hardy</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A Southern California native born in 1945, <b>Don Ed Hardy</b> revived a childhood determination to become a tattoo artist and underwent a tattoo apprenticeship while simultaneously receiving a B.F.A. degree in printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1967. Tattooing professionally since then, he developed the fine art potential of the medium with emphasis on its Asian heritage. In 1973 he lived in Japan, studying with a traditional tattoo master – the first non-Asian to gain access to that world. He resumed these studies in Japan throughout the 1980s. Since 1974 he pioneered the emphasis on unique tattoo commissions at his San Francisco studio.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 1982 he and his wife, Francesca Passalacqua, formed Hardy Marks Publications and have written, edited and published over twenty-five books on alternative art. They moved their primary household to Honolulu in 1987, where Hardy resumed <a href="http://donedhardyart.com/paintings/">painting</a>, drawing, and printmaking. He maintains the studio <a href="http://www.tattoocitysf.com/">Tattoo City</a> in San Francisco, with younger artists continuing to evolve and carry on his unique work format. Hardy’s primary focus is on creating and exhibiting works in more traditional mediums, including porcelain painting. He began developing this body of work in 2006 in a traditional Japanese setting.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="s1"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcAYcI3-W7FpNJUe-1FOVWu8oMWIhKG1RRtqRl_FzO5jS2oqUZDUeFiAW_gnvkl7i7u9UO-r2lvOPrHGGiKX24wzu53Jcstr5r_WoejGXO2S_wqI0etT3VglClgWNIhFik0xFwg8wdh0u1i5KLBe7eVoZ5-nqKcJqyntvzZ10pgnVJW34l1Fgjzjh-yw/s387/2612C76A-F77E-4F27-BA7E-8DC0A15542C9.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcAYcI3-W7FpNJUe-1FOVWu8oMWIhKG1RRtqRl_FzO5jS2oqUZDUeFiAW_gnvkl7i7u9UO-r2lvOPrHGGiKX24wzu53Jcstr5r_WoejGXO2S_wqI0etT3VglClgWNIhFik0xFwg8wdh0u1i5KLBe7eVoZ5-nqKcJqyntvzZ10pgnVJW34l1Fgjzjh-yw/s320/2612C76A-F77E-4F27-BA7E-8DC0A15542C9.jpeg" width="248" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ed Harry’s name has since been reduced to the rhinestone-emblazoned emblem of L.A. excess. For that you can thank marketing shark Christian Audigier, an L.A.-based French entrepreneur who first brought the world Von Dutch trucker hats, then licensed Hardy’s name in 2004. He soon opened a flagship clothing store on Melrose, eventually stamping everything from guitar picks to tanning lotion with Ed Hardy designs. He boosted visibility and sales by dressing his famous friends in the brand; 50 Cent once played his birthday party and, in 2007, Kim Kardashian West appeared on his runway. Audigier sold the line in 2011 for an astonishing $62 million.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.8px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hardy wasn’t a fan of Audigier, once describing him as the “ground zero of everything wrong with contemporary culture,” but the lucrative deal allowed him time off to paint, even as his street cred dwindled—along with, allegedly, his cut of the profits. In 2009, Hardy filed a $100 million lawsuit accusing Audigier of underreporting sales and manipulating his imagery in violation of the terms of their contract. The parties reached a settlement, and Hardy has since partnered with another company to reboot his brand overseas, particularly in Asia.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.8px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite its tarnished legacy, Ed Hardy could once be spotted on the highest echelon of celebrities. A whole plethora of A-list stars matched their fake tans and flared jeans to Hardy's t-shirts, including Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Adrien Brody, and Jessica Alba. These high-profile names no doubt helped lift the Hardy label to iconic status. But what goes up must come down, and now only photos exist to remind us of this skull-studded moment.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Personally I still love the brand - I have a cap with the tiger, a bottle of cologne, an iPad cover and a very questionable pair of jeans with black panthers embroidered on the backside - ha!</span></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are a few of my favourite designs:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Roaring Tiger 🐯 </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRB7yvZR2EUq7kdqmB0h8BO6RRqZLOf2KKRKbvnOE0ZhZ1fbdiHALDZXjK5PwuliY_J6PpPf_hDsinChKmVziNLH5kiYyzWthj2d5fzUz6h86GmRkUSvYN4h8cQM0g8lElLtPm4f3haEFDQAUygXwUkZoE-M3lcyzBnTlRjyBnhSVZd0L12iHnVPt2cA/s362/0AD9CB19-6152-4091-B4F3-B6C36AEDCC3A.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="253" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRB7yvZR2EUq7kdqmB0h8BO6RRqZLOf2KKRKbvnOE0ZhZ1fbdiHALDZXjK5PwuliY_J6PpPf_hDsinChKmVziNLH5kiYyzWthj2d5fzUz6h86GmRkUSvYN4h8cQM0g8lElLtPm4f3haEFDQAUygXwUkZoE-M3lcyzBnTlRjyBnhSVZd0L12iHnVPt2cA/s320/0AD9CB19-6152-4091-B4F3-B6C36AEDCC3A.gif" width="224" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqdVVcmOwTbKrJ8NpO94H-MwZ5QPwZyrP2iC9Lo20JvNRONRKz1w3pImWIwPyWF1C1HTaGF8BRgnhPaIfHSw7hFPNPMBYc6UVwY4Bg4k6eBoujz0wAmfO-mYq0E2MipLLB05hfGhHaL9CjzA2KfzHgpgNpDwSx1CE1iKSIXCdw5q_JE45TGzZbd9vt9g/s960/FFB4A4D3-F5CD-40BD-90EB-26E82FC8B759.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqdVVcmOwTbKrJ8NpO94H-MwZ5QPwZyrP2iC9Lo20JvNRONRKz1w3pImWIwPyWF1C1HTaGF8BRgnhPaIfHSw7hFPNPMBYc6UVwY4Bg4k6eBoujz0wAmfO-mYq0E2MipLLB05hfGhHaL9CjzA2KfzHgpgNpDwSx1CE1iKSIXCdw5q_JE45TGzZbd9vt9g/s320/FFB4A4D3-F5CD-40BD-90EB-26E82FC8B759.jpeg" width="213" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ_DIjrQjiNqhWsU4Ge8PzrOcEiF-vZGdLamU9Q6EfV6OTGMKZeaiHkmV-Z597gBVrn9ILjIBKauNMHM8jqY7NUpYWMV10sUNyjf-_YpkZdD-2Bd4BalOxJCsXsvqVzIoEShQte3jbxmCiP1T2l8qHipoacBB4slCrQXC5QsDPyPyWxf30HnVog8ySww/s1024/6A67003C-8A85-45E5-B3AF-BD2E9CBCF5BD.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ_DIjrQjiNqhWsU4Ge8PzrOcEiF-vZGdLamU9Q6EfV6OTGMKZeaiHkmV-Z597gBVrn9ILjIBKauNMHM8jqY7NUpYWMV10sUNyjf-_YpkZdD-2Bd4BalOxJCsXsvqVzIoEShQte3jbxmCiP1T2l8qHipoacBB4slCrQXC5QsDPyPyWxf30HnVog8ySww/s320/6A67003C-8A85-45E5-B3AF-BD2E9CBCF5BD.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNchYksOf39JHviqVeZadmBvqmTOHHRW_hELL2YTBoQCMw8qVSgpygCpMphQFYWPtSVNmFGQzktmuGOWdrxbhkCcCbhDaU36o-qV5AHSSNLpV2fE0MiJ5rzR7eIqE9XbGWT0zYQENgirDlLAGzMHPYOQQjGFSzA4tP6mIWHlHmOaHEuvxWn2Oe305e2w/s500/3218B82B-913B-4E3B-B5AF-BC1B6FE36291.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhxM-DLNvQy_GrTvjv8pIXMqsicPJtUwu8H6vyjqMcVc9adTvAcRGELZ_wYdvIkKJZhbn6B-NrSiZYfs_7MkJa_-V5l4L4UrKZeBJHek3w4dfHQC-nRqhgRTev-3CNodER8ZI2JgRS1b1HhL-2vTjZCFiGOXISpJvjCyimRFT4QwJyCa931VN5TaSJyA/s400/95F3A3F1-91E3-4E34-B479-8D108D30A99A.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhxM-DLNvQy_GrTvjv8pIXMqsicPJtUwu8H6vyjqMcVc9adTvAcRGELZ_wYdvIkKJZhbn6B-NrSiZYfs_7MkJa_-V5l4L4UrKZeBJHek3w4dfHQC-nRqhgRTev-3CNodER8ZI2JgRS1b1HhL-2vTjZCFiGOXISpJvjCyimRFT4QwJyCa931VN5TaSJyA/s320/95F3A3F1-91E3-4E34-B479-8D108D30A99A.jpeg" width="192" /></span></a></td></tr><tr></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKN9mZjwnYWZgq7kQbV9CXcrymBu1l7cT0J2ftm3ysWUQjSL9RTrRC4EB9_Z4jyRMeerhDAHz1NlgK7wUSzcOSMVtR4o5my87gu39AY8QgRyb0Jv-Lnd8QB_zHpSl6QbGd9NLhkaDZpV9XauWtzDju4usvv__eIVLcJThXvUy7cA4rOJ4c40HTvHbiA/s1024/055D50A1-35C9-47C1-8D3F-6EC6243991A4.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKN9mZjwnYWZgq7kQbV9CXcrymBu1l7cT0J2ftm3ysWUQjSL9RTrRC4EB9_Z4jyRMeerhDAHz1NlgK7wUSzcOSMVtR4o5my87gu39AY8QgRyb0Jv-Lnd8QB_zHpSl6QbGd9NLhkaDZpV9XauWtzDju4usvv__eIVLcJThXvUy7cA4rOJ4c40HTvHbiA/s320/055D50A1-35C9-47C1-8D3F-6EC6243991A4.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6uFKEfu3F5eopBBGHzUDK2KtqMGeZnAAL8imD0woxHoQwdm5-tKPOc2dfLYTdkCiEaTiCx_0mFhv6oPCcUiIfVScXoit7caINk28k8Ou2QGdiv0JOkYI8gvKbTboC2tf1DBLgs2IGSz-2IXMnQqUfSFSA8-iQdnvdEJNmM-5uv4Ft-smNRlq-0RA7A/s2124/C0E0ED97-71D7-42F9-A3A5-4AFA7500DA9F.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2124" data-original-width="1460" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6uFKEfu3F5eopBBGHzUDK2KtqMGeZnAAL8imD0woxHoQwdm5-tKPOc2dfLYTdkCiEaTiCx_0mFhv6oPCcUiIfVScXoit7caINk28k8Ou2QGdiv0JOkYI8gvKbTboC2tf1DBLgs2IGSz-2IXMnQqUfSFSA8-iQdnvdEJNmM-5uv4Ft-smNRlq-0RA7A/s320/C0E0ED97-71D7-42F9-A3A5-4AFA7500DA9F.jpeg" width="220" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***</span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGLEWni-CVBbENhLsEL4DniqQgDQcL7ym9rUCRYcA5E5MmHQzPns7XxPTtklCyK2Pdf7xO6t0HihEEsgGQ4kRqPp2wyIs_AnZhDSQrmx5BLrN6Q--zAFH3dtyofMikbpHFUw_BeqUf6uLbuk2H9xdA3TX9q6NtZ1KbYvW-Q_fI6_B5-9Td3R95T3fjQ/s1024/CF09346D-3431-4786-B875-CCEC3F92498B.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGLEWni-CVBbENhLsEL4DniqQgDQcL7ym9rUCRYcA5E5MmHQzPns7XxPTtklCyK2Pdf7xO6t0HihEEsgGQ4kRqPp2wyIs_AnZhDSQrmx5BLrN6Q--zAFH3dtyofMikbpHFUw_BeqUf6uLbuk2H9xdA3TX9q6NtZ1KbYvW-Q_fI6_B5-9Td3R95T3fjQ/s320/CF09346D-3431-4786-B875-CCEC3F92498B.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjER26LsakurUSzOFmxy5ed8OjgwJVK9Z6Kj8R_AjaNvq466kiEMAoEsKKEgnODaxN6DBAswrZ3bgljsm-WdM71WE0u2gnuvRK8xuksnoVQMWgbvioVeIfNZufu8W0Z8Ajgi9xNyv7ea_55m5rUCSkz7SxoXDEZ2b9LXkOZgprJ-nNWCyxicHVtj2n3Xw/s1281/0AE74E5F-86AF-4C24-943A-84EBD5B813CB.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1281" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjER26LsakurUSzOFmxy5ed8OjgwJVK9Z6Kj8R_AjaNvq466kiEMAoEsKKEgnODaxN6DBAswrZ3bgljsm-WdM71WE0u2gnuvRK8xuksnoVQMWgbvioVeIfNZufu8W0Z8Ajgi9xNyv7ea_55m5rUCSkz7SxoXDEZ2b9LXkOZgprJ-nNWCyxicHVtj2n3Xw/s320/0AE74E5F-86AF-4C24-943A-84EBD5B813CB.jpeg" width="225" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***</span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhH483mWBEHzf3uJ8SiVrRuYIRIKTwp1ZqPLMCyZJTm1KeCG7jN5jwgWL_YKNu5iP4Pso4LpP9mL6pzhL3d8v_uG2hhSE6gyjtW2P0ZBg56A4NrCefP-b1aghYEY3hHZytDHDlGZRkf6Y8eAfPeBimwspzljoAXVoqTFBStOE8nIcLXhgmmOm78oF0_A/s640/E5E9A1AE-A48C-4173-B7CE-1C553752A8B2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhH483mWBEHzf3uJ8SiVrRuYIRIKTwp1ZqPLMCyZJTm1KeCG7jN5jwgWL_YKNu5iP4Pso4LpP9mL6pzhL3d8v_uG2hhSE6gyjtW2P0ZBg56A4NrCefP-b1aghYEY3hHZytDHDlGZRkf6Y8eAfPeBimwspzljoAXVoqTFBStOE8nIcLXhgmmOm78oF0_A/s320/E5E9A1AE-A48C-4173-B7CE-1C553752A8B2.jpeg" width="180" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLhCTpTikrtPbbeEpRkWkCgQemv1OSCkD6laBvFGXZzSxj3cP5yIras2OQOqWJHXGthNm_xx2yikjp5adWnxpLfzAelq6KkyOE-j4k6nMonh8OA1qYVlr1iXCviJ9L4CZaifOFS_VmU4c3DhpX45f0IpsQm50zuUFBLVlf3-bjcN8oLGKwenqTmQHvw/s1500/400B0DAC-F583-4B2F-929B-9FC12E1C49A1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1100" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLhCTpTikrtPbbeEpRkWkCgQemv1OSCkD6laBvFGXZzSxj3cP5yIras2OQOqWJHXGthNm_xx2yikjp5adWnxpLfzAelq6KkyOE-j4k6nMonh8OA1qYVlr1iXCviJ9L4CZaifOFS_VmU4c3DhpX45f0IpsQm50zuUFBLVlf3-bjcN8oLGKwenqTmQHvw/s320/400B0DAC-F583-4B2F-929B-9FC12E1C49A1.jpeg" width="235" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOzCfb2xUpKINq0eEd0glRvCFK4JBbPDWhla1qUOSfMzKoMCRWI7j_9nTyGTHyv5ZDavv7nuOH0nIZLezhxZpiacgp-R7yW4nHZ8QMZq0QH10DO5Y9sPrrwko8HlvSZVIosbf5-aeFc7R-odI7WWzKfi_J7VWlxBSB345t4Y425IXqGti-3Yx0_nYXQ/s1000/726A28C8-3458-42CE-94F0-9ED4048865E5.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOzCfb2xUpKINq0eEd0glRvCFK4JBbPDWhla1qUOSfMzKoMCRWI7j_9nTyGTHyv5ZDavv7nuOH0nIZLezhxZpiacgp-R7yW4nHZ8QMZq0QH10DO5Y9sPrrwko8HlvSZVIosbf5-aeFc7R-odI7WWzKfi_J7VWlxBSB345t4Y425IXqGti-3Yx0_nYXQ/s320/726A28C8-3458-42CE-94F0-9ED4048865E5.jpeg" width="256" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***</span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6fWK4R1PO2obJIzcyW6nRES_cBzSxZk-hS2W8cHBZ9j3ODUSclAXwiE59Zn-OWJhl-0REjJ1w2dnpxSwuCuTxZZ4qbJWYUD1kFIgKSCDAWHwk0BVun2uGuH8I34Zideu5rXgY37kYmTlupMo6rebpztyptMxP4ggT1petVVa3o6c9Igp4tjDonArQrQ/s716/D6E622D3-C32A-4FD0-BCD7-BBD5463F74E7.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6fWK4R1PO2obJIzcyW6nRES_cBzSxZk-hS2W8cHBZ9j3ODUSclAXwiE59Zn-OWJhl-0REjJ1w2dnpxSwuCuTxZZ4qbJWYUD1kFIgKSCDAWHwk0BVun2uGuH8I34Zideu5rXgY37kYmTlupMo6rebpztyptMxP4ggT1petVVa3o6c9Igp4tjDonArQrQ/s320/D6E622D3-C32A-4FD0-BCD7-BBD5463F74E7.jpeg" width="107" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZoVauQmKnco6TCCQ_VWY57Y41QLXyiTcoTrnvaGhb19rVR3BAP5s1veaA-NHHPELLYGmhv7FYhDq_vJDkJI2oLfPm9q9SKEaIM0aLKBsFCshym3YF4vJ40wiUDxL_gu_QPw9wpYMLKp-8IUPMdUuoh0eQRbVxdpli3gFKcYyUkrxZXJqdT0wh3eEFA/s500/954F4350-F38A-42DB-9511-11857FFE178B.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZoVauQmKnco6TCCQ_VWY57Y41QLXyiTcoTrnvaGhb19rVR3BAP5s1veaA-NHHPELLYGmhv7FYhDq_vJDkJI2oLfPm9q9SKEaIM0aLKBsFCshym3YF4vJ40wiUDxL_gu_QPw9wpYMLKp-8IUPMdUuoh0eQRbVxdpli3gFKcYyUkrxZXJqdT0wh3eEFA/s320/954F4350-F38A-42DB-9511-11857FFE178B.jpeg" width="256" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***</span></div></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZwfj6RYaKnHhqdfKslXoWq9ZlOnBe7DLHTKXxPc_8amp_gdqKjR0ByhDfRcxM_FvZu5W0u55g-_fmdhwHjmI32D-cTi5JqxVJd39RSSJP6YOEIaJi3xhIgLDP_4USd-zFW2iU3pfpZbUBjFh2iQw1IgsFWEiXfrj5UfqsyssiFxiA8-q9-DFbBrhSg/s1600/E2993045-8646-4A46-8A44-749989AFB81A.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZwfj6RYaKnHhqdfKslXoWq9ZlOnBe7DLHTKXxPc_8amp_gdqKjR0ByhDfRcxM_FvZu5W0u55g-_fmdhwHjmI32D-cTi5JqxVJd39RSSJP6YOEIaJi3xhIgLDP_4USd-zFW2iU3pfpZbUBjFh2iQw1IgsFWEiXfrj5UfqsyssiFxiA8-q9-DFbBrhSg/s320/E2993045-8646-4A46-8A44-749989AFB81A.jpeg" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZGEhbM1doXhsCQQntjqygSPtPbIYlD6iQ2TcYwVepoNHgNEziI-Ed2Z9V29m3z9DrAiTanBntd05M6tcdr5YLfUZROSjeK63c8-7cu1da-R5Y9G9N2Kfzk8UyYxFYfbJMFJakDQk7FN9bppmVr4ACyJTRbR8pMsmwfp04sUEZvkifUrG9vPBokLABw/s800/F03E14B0-70CE-43BE-AF29-031E8EB492D3.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZGEhbM1doXhsCQQntjqygSPtPbIYlD6iQ2TcYwVepoNHgNEziI-Ed2Z9V29m3z9DrAiTanBntd05M6tcdr5YLfUZROSjeK63c8-7cu1da-R5Y9G9N2Kfzk8UyYxFYfbJMFJakDQk7FN9bppmVr4ACyJTRbR8pMsmwfp04sUEZvkifUrG9vPBokLABw/s320/F03E14B0-70CE-43BE-AF29-031E8EB492D3.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><p></p><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-89933295804315748782023-01-25T13:22:00.028+05:302023-02-05T23:17:55.701+05:30Kanchenjunga: Fine Art<p style="text-align: center;">Kanchenjunga, also spelled Kangchenjunga, is the third highest mountain in the world. <span style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64);">The name Kanchenjunga, meaning 'The Five Treasures of the Great Snow', was always known by its original, local name.</span> It rises with an elevation of 8,586 m (28,169 ft) in a section of the Himalayas called Kangchenjunga Himaldelimited in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak Chu and Jongsang La, and in the east by the Teesta River. It lies between India and Nepal. The peak of Kanchenjunga is a holy place, and by convention those who climb it stop short of desecrating its summit.</p><p style="text-align: center;">For me, it always reminds me of Darjeeling - the place Ma grew up. It is know for its distinctive “sleeping Shiva” silhouette as you can see from the photos from Das Studio below - we used to have one of these photos in our home:</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"></span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBERC0ZncCi9M6A_yjpsk9b-usjl2cmYRUjOTgNnOcXjreaJrgKOKpqvrwsxBdbBZFBSUYxjaSoHl89b8r3FBgyufVRMJnBBO_7sWzfHd8c_HHwGJbo-5MJ7Cfs8mjQpllSpEw6YTaADIKd-fxApE0U9Gyx2gy1lSAIAgwzIi928AIdqwlOjZUtCFWw/s818/10325572_10152300047992202_8287548314555883439_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="818" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBERC0ZncCi9M6A_yjpsk9b-usjl2cmYRUjOTgNnOcXjreaJrgKOKpqvrwsxBdbBZFBSUYxjaSoHl89b8r3FBgyufVRMJnBBO_7sWzfHd8c_HHwGJbo-5MJ7Cfs8mjQpllSpEw6YTaADIKd-fxApE0U9Gyx2gy1lSAIAgwzIi928AIdqwlOjZUtCFWw/s320/10325572_10152300047992202_8287548314555883439_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY-83nxEE4Wjywhs0uCcKxAyEDn6qB2ZplV7Vw83qDxY-wTLgZ5GqCj2vq0IO60qJUYyrS6Xtk7iaa8ZSwaQpTaAKCVUIYnfUeiYQf1O0XQrmnyYdlFKAMf3cSdkK1JF5QM_i5y0w_JqeANUgXHLZja_n6EOQZaRiFvcql7rfMvL6AyNLKaZYjFJ_IAA/s884/11149327_10152637675172202_8204533041249284554_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="884" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY-83nxEE4Wjywhs0uCcKxAyEDn6qB2ZplV7Vw83qDxY-wTLgZ5GqCj2vq0IO60qJUYyrS6Xtk7iaa8ZSwaQpTaAKCVUIYnfUeiYQf1O0XQrmnyYdlFKAMf3cSdkK1JF5QM_i5y0w_JqeANUgXHLZja_n6EOQZaRiFvcql7rfMvL6AyNLKaZYjFJ_IAA/s320/11149327_10152637675172202_8204533041249284554_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWh2RjOq0S4CzIAM5Ug7ifWW0HHcpXya3xk2LtN18oVh0ZEvLjp5Cqt1WfCapBmiFXROOvlgF1j1ly5gquBlwlKP9svRBWKNSLCfVpqXlkIoCMMM-urFFRR_PoOEIzfnzKOO33z-EiSfRdmGwEgfRqqsG9KezLNa9kQYpelTE--62sYjhhXMoovf7Xuw/s925/132842652_10157312423302202_4731252181360578633_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="925" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWh2RjOq0S4CzIAM5Ug7ifWW0HHcpXya3xk2LtN18oVh0ZEvLjp5Cqt1WfCapBmiFXROOvlgF1j1ly5gquBlwlKP9svRBWKNSLCfVpqXlkIoCMMM-urFFRR_PoOEIzfnzKOO33z-EiSfRdmGwEgfRqqsG9KezLNa9kQYpelTE--62sYjhhXMoovf7Xuw/s320/132842652_10157312423302202_4731252181360578633_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">***</div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>These are some of my favourite paintings of the famous mountain</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>J.P. Gangooly</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jamini Prokash Gangooly (1876-1953) belonged to the extended Tagore family in Calcutta. Like many of his class of affluent gentlemen artists, Gangooly didn’t go to art school but was a product of private art training at home, initiated later into art by Abanindranath Tagore. Gangooly painted at the time of rise of new nationalist and modernist art movements. The skills he commanded in illusionist oil painting, realist portraiture and landscapes were all part of the essential training that marked the formation of the new professional artist in colonial India. Over the first decades of the 20th century, Gangooly demonstrated his flair in various genres, ranging from portraiture to neo-classical and mythological paintings. However, landscapes and riverscapes became his chosen genre where he developed his special style of densely mist-laden atmospheric effects of sunrise and sunsets on bathing ghats, river banks and mountain ranges. Gangooly especially surpassed himself in the picturesque views of the Himalayas, and in the village and river scenes of Bengal. He painted nearly a hundred oils of the sun setting on the river Padma, which earned him the sobriquet ‘Painter of Padma’. In 1905, he was elected the joint chairperson of the Bangiya Kala Samsad, Calcutta, and founded the Indian Society of Oriental Art, Calcutta, in 1907. In 1936, he was elected joint director of the Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta. Gangooly became vice-principal of the Government College of Art & Craft, Calcutta, in 1916, a position he held till his retirement in 1928.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBaIHPNLhLRygGjgz-5fzyUet43o6AKOxjHo-RqB7E0MUB8TnkjIhwj2MpOrSm0ItIZA1c_Lg-xfqMyGUDJwHashI-Y7KQZpKzys6VVxLjlFVuDOPXqNskW8OR6g0GQ2RI4fb8CzpueqOsYbrGWoqrHdIHHVEOHc537hmtUe1Pln5ExRD9D2n-obDOzw/s1280/4196D52F-8F51-44CB-9439-913876CD4F79.jpeg" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="1280" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBaIHPNLhLRygGjgz-5fzyUet43o6AKOxjHo-RqB7E0MUB8TnkjIhwj2MpOrSm0ItIZA1c_Lg-xfqMyGUDJwHashI-Y7KQZpKzys6VVxLjlFVuDOPXqNskW8OR6g0GQ2RI4fb8CzpueqOsYbrGWoqrHdIHHVEOHc537hmtUe1Pln5ExRD9D2n-obDOzw/w400-h285/4196D52F-8F51-44CB-9439-913876CD4F79.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Kangchenjunga From Darjeeling" by J.P. Gangooly</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: #222222; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUCoNTDeJvcuq5DhCdJiPxWbmOwvegodQy4YGODhz9LChvjwrg9PbCLv_wTn17flhCM-B6dIlSXRIJ5HHGPmqVuqsyuQ8Cjj8crxi6bueSJeMciQTRT-c531b7rXOC00m_Wb6q9YFrOi2XXGLHgwDbCWw3TTpV6TmywMs0Z2FUPfMiHLl_bKbxJydEWw/s1000/7F520640-63CD-4826-950E-6D6945E75C03.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="1000" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUCoNTDeJvcuq5DhCdJiPxWbmOwvegodQy4YGODhz9LChvjwrg9PbCLv_wTn17flhCM-B6dIlSXRIJ5HHGPmqVuqsyuQ8Cjj8crxi6bueSJeMciQTRT-c531b7rXOC00m_Wb6q9YFrOi2XXGLHgwDbCWw3TTpV6TmywMs0Z2FUPfMiHLl_bKbxJydEWw/w400-h299/7F520640-63CD-4826-950E-6D6945E75C03.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Sunset Kanchenjunga" by J.P. Gangooly</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Oil on panel Signed to the lower left Titled and signed to the back 22 x 29 cm</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXCL8RIFEv33EM2g9_ZbD-daX13luYfdyR5qJrTQJLMTReI2U4p36jZbz-hxwihNSUbqltzhU2Cq3uWubUa_kQK9kunVArznHsOLXAbOJbqMdFJl8CC_ecbTyegtSiAPxf7X4ylH8IrXndxAmalc3Im57p5z8dJQLPnvysk8noaHin0ZcVas9dNAYWQ/s2048/download%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1353" data-original-width="2048" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXCL8RIFEv33EM2g9_ZbD-daX13luYfdyR5qJrTQJLMTReI2U4p36jZbz-hxwihNSUbqltzhU2Cq3uWubUa_kQK9kunVArznHsOLXAbOJbqMdFJl8CC_ecbTyegtSiAPxf7X4ylH8IrXndxAmalc3Im57p5z8dJQLPnvysk8noaHin0ZcVas9dNAYWQ/w400-h264/download%20(1).jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/modern-contemporary-south-asian-art/untitled-himalayan-landscape" target="_blank">Untitled (Himalayan Landscape)</a> - clearly it is the unmistakable silhouette of the Kanchenjunga</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Oil on board, Signed 'J.P. Gangooly' lower left, 11 ⅝ x 17 ¾ in. (29.5 x 45 cm.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinPB5PohO_lf7oFDaTM5Gw4ZYMuFefWX-AQFrMSkyKHwmmcItXR8Iif5MGd6S0w6rMREedIHYGCgJS6flRS2CVxT0XnG1kDn1izHARbYOfsAOKlD1WPj_d-qK8yb96YAESacS_SmdD98su7N4UOkhgz6r9L0vMfxDR-b4OAmmB0Uk-Qy8aJzKilJMAcg/s3200/2016_CKS_11512_0024_000(syed_haider_raza_untitled032601).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="3200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinPB5PohO_lf7oFDaTM5Gw4ZYMuFefWX-AQFrMSkyKHwmmcItXR8Iif5MGd6S0w6rMREedIHYGCgJS6flRS2CVxT0XnG1kDn1izHARbYOfsAOKlD1WPj_d-qK8yb96YAESacS_SmdD98su7N4UOkhgz6r9L0vMfxDR-b4OAmmB0Uk-Qy8aJzKilJMAcg/w400-h320/2016_CKS_11512_0024_000(syed_haider_raza_untitled032601).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5995241">Untitled (Himalayan Landscape)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">signed J. P. Gangooly' (lower left); further signed 'J. P. Gangooly' (on the reverse)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">oil on board, 8 5/8 x 10¾ in. (21.9 x 27.3 cm.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">***</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Atul Bose</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsBhtOtTTIxrJJXcAUo-Za_TZFQtgFI0-SkgOvw0b2Vp5ivbJV0qJ4EmrVzn8SmHC1r6hzmjv06rOEB_INrSO0HEpHZDNAENoc19nIFscdHbaovD8DcOJzC7q8LYFeBxasmPH50kywu4EclYA64Unr-vJg9MIBkuUKy4yuC33-4dH9DSZ0fFU_cL_BQ/s1715/B9605865-C9B0-43FE-B37B-57E30146F360.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1715" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsBhtOtTTIxrJJXcAUo-Za_TZFQtgFI0-SkgOvw0b2Vp5ivbJV0qJ4EmrVzn8SmHC1r6hzmjv06rOEB_INrSO0HEpHZDNAENoc19nIFscdHbaovD8DcOJzC7q8LYFeBxasmPH50kywu4EclYA64Unr-vJg9MIBkuUKy4yuC33-4dH9DSZ0fFU_cL_BQ/w400-h280/B9605865-C9B0-43FE-B37B-57E30146F360.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">“Kanchenjunga at Dawn” by Atul Bose (1936)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">***</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Nicholas Roerich</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Among artists of the twentieth century Nicholas Roerich (1874–1947) stands out in many respects. He must be the only one who was nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize, and whose seven thousand paintings are among his lesser-known accomplishments. He was a polymath who trained first as a lawyer, but is much better-known for his spiritual philosophy and public profile. He painted prolifically throughout his adult life, and is generally accepted as being symbolist for much of that. Roerich was born and raised in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and trained simultaneously in law at the Saint Petersburg University, and at the Imperial Academy of Arts. He had settled in India by the outbreak of the Second World War, and lived its duration in his house in Himachal Pradesh, in the foothills of the Himalaya.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64);">Roerich was clearly fascinated by the mountain Kanchenjunga, painting it nearly forty times over the course of his career, sometimes under the soft light of dawn or dusk, other times during the day. Each of these smaller scenes, however, depicts only limited portions of the Kanchenjunga range. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64);"> The subject of the Himalayan Mountain, which for the artist held a special spiritual significance as the holiest of places in the Eastern world, captivated Roerich throughout his career. While he began to paint various smaller versions of the mountain after his first expedition to the region in the 1920s, the present lot is the most spectacular monumental depiction of the legendary mountain range depicting the entirety of Kanchenjunga. All five sacred peaks of the renowned mountain float above blue clouds; their snow-covered summits juxtaposed against a spectacular magenta-coloured background. It is the culmination of Roerich's life's work on this theme, a true showcase of the artist's technical skill and a testament to his lifelong fascination with the mystery and spiritual significance of Kanchenjunga.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7cd5ppgLWuQHxzVZbK1AVFegNqG15UvGv_KizIzHg7KKa0Ywj2A8JyGnej4-3kfV8BavspTMEeWvJ3Lo1oRhGLriLBY2HihH51Toq2WtHkZ7vkMMHv-vzB-kOI8N8mK5ERkak-sHGmZ9NRr_HoD79jq8hfTr5M0Xa7pBLAovaCFj573s7rcBc5KHGg/s1536/E5C76669-C67B-4A8E-ADDC-9FF4073B2E6C.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="1536" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7cd5ppgLWuQHxzVZbK1AVFegNqG15UvGv_KizIzHg7KKa0Ywj2A8JyGnej4-3kfV8BavspTMEeWvJ3Lo1oRhGLriLBY2HihH51Toq2WtHkZ7vkMMHv-vzB-kOI8N8mK5ERkak-sHGmZ9NRr_HoD79jq8hfTr5M0Xa7pBLAovaCFj573s7rcBc5KHGg/w400-h243/E5C76669-C67B-4A8E-ADDC-9FF4073B2E6C.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Kanchenjunga (1944) by Nicholas Roerich (1874–1947), tempera on canvas, 91.4 x 152 cm, Roerich Museum, Moscow, Russia. Roerich painted this superb view of the distant mountain Kanchenjunga in 1944, when he was living in India. This is the third highest mountain in the world, rising to 8,586 metres (28,169 feet), and wasn’t climbed until 1955. This view may have been painted in Darjeeling, and shows the mountain in the rich light of dusk.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilSlcbFevZCZSPEqWnVOQma8bm8cshzkUA-LPPU4jbEFiVxjxsYxRIvgzyXV11KHUh9Ne-KsgY22W2xt2GLKDu78ECkkVTs2jkosoBpfDX2GGi8-gwtY_3pdMwVlsuMtCNFwW68SIhEn0UqVZ5h1XbtUmbiy42Q_ok9xb_VeLjDT-C_KSuuI-0tnyXXA/s640/41DEC97B-127D-4E77-8171-9DD268C47E27.jpeg" style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="640" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilSlcbFevZCZSPEqWnVOQma8bm8cshzkUA-LPPU4jbEFiVxjxsYxRIvgzyXV11KHUh9Ne-KsgY22W2xt2GLKDu78ECkkVTs2jkosoBpfDX2GGi8-gwtY_3pdMwVlsuMtCNFwW68SIhEn0UqVZ5h1XbtUmbiy42Q_ok9xb_VeLjDT-C_KSuuI-0tnyXXA/w640-h254/41DEC97B-127D-4E77-8171-9DD268C47E27.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64);">Nikolai Roerich's Kanchenjunga, a remarkable painting executed in 1935-1936, is arguably the artist's most significant depiction of the legendary mountain Kanchenjunga ever to appear on the art market. </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64);">In <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21105/lot/23/" target="_blank">this particular version</a>, listed as number '22' in a personal record of his work in 1935-1936, Roerich was able uniquely to showcase Kanchenjunga in its grandiose entirety: the only time he was able to do so in his career as an artist. Kanchenjunga therefore is a remarkable depiction of one of Roerich's favourite subjects, an extraordinary manifestation of the artist's technical virtuosity and his legendary spiritual pursuits.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64);">Kanchenjunga captured the imagination of generations of Western explorers, travellers, mountaineers, and writers (Simon Pierse, Kanchenjunga: Imagining a Himalayan Mountain, University of Wales School of Art Press, 2005). In this monumental work, Roerich has imbued Kanchenjunga with all of the spiritual significance attributed to it by visitors and locals alike over the centuries. The pale peaks of the mountain range appear almost mirage-like, visually separated from their bases by hazy, lavender clouds. The mountain acquires an ethereal quality, existing not within the grounded earthly realm, but rather as an embodiment of an otherworldly, spiritual one. Roerich wrote reverentially of the mountain: "When we see a beautiful snow-covered peak, we are imbued with the spirit of a holiday, because the worship of beauty is the basis of this sublime feeling. The mountain settlers are able to feel the beauty. They experience the true pride of owning a unique snow-capped giant of the world, clouds, and fog monsoons. Is all of this not just a beautiful curtain covering the great mystery on the other side of Kanchenjunga? Many beautiful legends are associated with this mountain" (Nikolai Roerich, Source of Light. Treasures of the snow).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64);"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64);">The name Kanchenjunga, meaning 'The Five Treasures of the Great Snow', was always known by its original, local name (Simon Pierse, op. cit.). For Roerich, the 'sacred mountain' held a particular spiritual significance. Gazing on its vista from his home in the Kulu Valley, the artist, spiritualist and philosopher believed that Kanchenjunga's great peaks held innumerable mystical secrets. It is therefore no coincidence that Roerich sought a home that allowed him to see such magnificent views of Kanchenjunga on a daily basis. Describing his arrival in Sikkim in 1923, he wrote: "We searched for a house...we wanted something further away...where all the Himalayas could be seen." Up until 1852 this five-peak mountain in the Sikkim Himalayas was considered to be the highest point in the world. Kanchenjunga was revered as a sacred space long before Western travellers first glimpsed its snowy peaks. It was believed to be an 'abode of God'; its white peaks, often obscured by clouds and mist, sometimes appeared to exist in a separate celestial realm, contributing to its allure as an otherworldly phenomenon. According to the pre-Buddhist beliefs of the people of Lepcha, the mountain Kanchenjunga was the origin of the people who first settled the Himalayas. Moreover, the mountain itself was sometimes believed to be a 'god' or 'demon', and the Hindu god Vishnu was thought to appear in the mountain in various incarnations (Simon Pierse, ibid.).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64);"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64);">For Roerich, who believed that the Slavic and Indian cultures shared a common origin, Buddhist philosophy held a special spiritual significance. Roerich was particularly interested in the Shambala, which signified a mythical link between heaven and earth and which was thought to be located within a hidden valley deep in the Himalayas (Simon Pierse, ibid.). He wrote of Kanchenjunga, 'There is an entrance to the holy land of Shambala. Through the underground caves amongst astonishing ice caves, only the chosen few in this life reached the sacred place (Н.К.Рерих. Обитель Света. Сокровище снегов). Furthermore, Roerich believed that the sacred mountain was the source of the five spiritual treasures of the world, which would become available to humanity in the most difficult of times. He believed Kanchenjunga would sustain mankind through a spiritual famine, writing: 'He who comes from Kanchenjunga will nourish humanity, not physically, but spiritually' (Ibid, p. 247-248). </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64);"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64); clear: both; font-family: inherit;"><br style="color: #222222;" /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-align: start; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="color: #222222;"><div class="separator" style="caret-color: rgb(61, 62, 64); clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></span></span></div></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-59340968913201916362022-10-08T22:40:00.019+05:302023-02-05T23:18:09.968+05:30Durga Puja in fine art<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP9MdM22yt45A6P6yN7Bzlge61cCTnaxB3wjI4omPcbQCzVV0ZqsvN5thTlan2BFAg6UxqkW5K_L10dbhWcOr7j58f2upMRX_XgvFh7_YOO55cuvvvi458WbYtwXTnjZZsKRO7me1RWelPcnm633vSShnlf-kHFjMK0sq4jR_L7cpcfVr-dff6cuAEMg/s1510/2BA5C234-BDBA-440F-9BCC-CB5F994F1DDB.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1510" data-original-width="1299" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP9MdM22yt45A6P6yN7Bzlge61cCTnaxB3wjI4omPcbQCzVV0ZqsvN5thTlan2BFAg6UxqkW5K_L10dbhWcOr7j58f2upMRX_XgvFh7_YOO55cuvvvi458WbYtwXTnjZZsKRO7me1RWelPcnm633vSShnlf-kHFjMK0sq4jR_L7cpcfVr-dff6cuAEMg/w550-h640/2BA5C234-BDBA-440F-9BCC-CB5F994F1DDB.jpeg" width="550" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Visarjan" by Gaganendranath Tagore, from the Rabindra Bharati Society collection, Victoria Memorial Hall</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">Visarjan</span><span class="s1">, depicting an immersion procession, is said to have been painted between 1915 and 1920. The contrast between darkness and luminescence, characteristic of Gaganendranath’s style during a particular period, is engrossing; the departing goddess is at the centre of an incandescent orb, as it were, while the figures of revellers — men and, possibly, women — remain dimly lit. (The image being circulated on the internet appears to be an embellished version, disturbing this delicate balance between light and dark.)</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">In his essay, “The Painter of Modern Life”, Baudelaire contended that the goal of modern art and its practitioners ought to be to capture all that is at once fleeting — “the passing moment”— and transcendental. </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">Visarjan</span><span class="s1">’s roots, it could be argued, are modern in this sense. For it records a moment in passing: an immersion procession. But what it saves for posterity in the mind’s eye is something sentient that transcends that solitary speck in time: a sense of anxiety evoked by a chaotic — but democratic — phenomenon that remains peculiar to Bengal’s cultural landscape. To segments of the Bengali intelligentsia, the </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">bhashaan</span><span class="s1"> and its paraphernalia — dancing and inebriated excesses — are yet to be fully neutered of genteel terror. They are, in this feverish imagination, the signal of a temporary collapse of entrenched segregation, comparable to Rome’s barbarians-at-the-gates moment. Yet it has also been argued that the Pujas and </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">bhashaan</span><span class="s1"> are representative in nature, offering a transient glimpse </span><span class="s1">of a broader, inclusive fraternity.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span class="s1">Source: </span></span><a href="https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/durga-puja-and-the-myth-of-the-sarbojanin-or-universal/cid/1675967">https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/durga-puja-and-the-myth-of-the-sarbojanin-or-universal/cid/1675967</a></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Another one on the same subject by the same artist:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoN351pFQy2jWoT2jrBjAyqJATV-6ZYoEKT7XcgHL3T-pHNNm-T86R0jftIWRqD61dMHfiVhzh_0aSOBBOK6DPscv8I7dDEwBIFlTfWiaXU_6avC75oKXQ901X2bJziOizBFIuf3INADUw-0tjQdClZyPp3br5vLXkRhfn1u0XcFkFmVegRK2BDkRhAQ/s1280/ADB91866-0239-4388-982C-08F4DDDB8932.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="885" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoN351pFQy2jWoT2jrBjAyqJATV-6ZYoEKT7XcgHL3T-pHNNm-T86R0jftIWRqD61dMHfiVhzh_0aSOBBOK6DPscv8I7dDEwBIFlTfWiaXU_6avC75oKXQ901X2bJziOizBFIuf3INADUw-0tjQdClZyPp3br5vLXkRhfn1u0XcFkFmVegRK2BDkRhAQ/w442-h640/ADB91866-0239-4388-982C-08F4DDDB8932.jpeg" width="442" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div _ngcontent-serverapp-c67="" class="ng-star-inserted" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(33, 37, 41); color: #212529; text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #212121; font-family: inherit;">Durga Pratima Visarjan Series, </span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: inherit;">Watercolour on paper</span><span _ngcontent-serverapp-c67="" class="ng-star-inserted" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #212121; font-family: inherit;">, </span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: inherit;">11.7 x 8.3 in (29.8 x 21.0 cm)</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: inherit;"> (</span><a href="https://www.derivaz-ives.com/home/auctions/highlights/indian-modern-art-013" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">Source</a><span style="color: #212121; font-family: inherit;">)</span></i></div></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrka4deKHiOTRH1cg6BJ7GFlMe1L8W9cJ8Nae4PHY9kuWJLdze8-OHx-hxfkL-Q5C-jS-O2k80kD6V_c2Duvqaoo2kKpUIU-kE0U7FuzgSIU-SwjABVJ8xnGg6ql2jjudwdmxyIxLrd5odduG39_l7zY-gavDvm8wPgfCQqz7_EAWpm2p3B4dQKN-Pg/s3903/4C9A30C8-13A6-4E37-AD56-3C16DF15A8A9.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2313" data-original-width="3903" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrka4deKHiOTRH1cg6BJ7GFlMe1L8W9cJ8Nae4PHY9kuWJLdze8-OHx-hxfkL-Q5C-jS-O2k80kD6V_c2Duvqaoo2kKpUIU-kE0U7FuzgSIU-SwjABVJ8xnGg6ql2jjudwdmxyIxLrd5odduG39_l7zY-gavDvm8wPgfCQqz7_EAWpm2p3B4dQKN-Pg/w640-h380/4C9A30C8-13A6-4E37-AD56-3C16DF15A8A9.jpeg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Durga Puja, a watercolor by Sevak Ram, c.1809. Photo: Public domain</span></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: start;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimYJXQQiUyvOzJWYDafcfKc5bhdWB2MZBPO6vfomWKOEYlDyTA5bZgHkOJCXPAiZITztA1x1L58MDfcHHdqA_ZiKdiudvsJ1e6otyiK1nvX7rAoejqjEepsjQEnlyviYSYqq_mwMtujQOudG8ZDi-iX_BEqT0NwS74DTYx2xeOutrBtBd83z8TRgrRFw/s800/8135F6C1-1ADF-41F7-B3E0-63B78E4C21AF.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="800" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimYJXQQiUyvOzJWYDafcfKc5bhdWB2MZBPO6vfomWKOEYlDyTA5bZgHkOJCXPAiZITztA1x1L58MDfcHHdqA_ZiKdiudvsJ1e6otyiK1nvX7rAoejqjEepsjQEnlyviYSYqq_mwMtujQOudG8ZDi-iX_BEqT0NwS74DTYx2xeOutrBtBd83z8TRgrRFw/w400-h297/8135F6C1-1ADF-41F7-B3E0-63B78E4C21AF.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: start;"><i>Sacrifice at Durga Puja, a watercolor by Sevak Ram</i></span></div><div><br /></div></div></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; text-align: start;"><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">In the first painting above, male dancers and musicians are performing before an image of the goddess Durga installed inside a house. The shrine to Durga depicts her in the moment of triumph over Mahisha. On the left a group of three men are seated on painted stools, one smoking a hookah.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">A prominent Company School* artist, Sewak Ram’s work defined the distinct stylistic elements of the Patna School of Painting. However, little is known about his early or personal life; it is believed that he moved to Patna in the 1790s from Murshidabad to find work as a painter in the bazaar, where he attained popularity.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">By the time Ram began working, the Patna School was well established. Similar to the Murshidabad School, the Patna painters had absorbed European influences such as the use of watercolours and painting subjects such as festivals, which held great appeal for Europeans. Ram’s work introduced a formal style which became characteristic of Patna painting; he painted in a technique known as Kajli Siyahi where pictures were painted directly with a brush, instead of first creating outlines. The human figure was painted with precision, with identifiably sharp noses, thick eyebrows and deep-set eyes. The paintings have a sombre colour palette, influenced by European prints, with either sepia and ochre overtones, while clothing is depicted with dull whites and greys and using light and occasional colour.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Ram was well known for his crowd scenes depicting festivals, processions and interiors which he painted in the Murshidabad model, while also focusing on figure studies in the foreground. By the 1820s, his large-scale paintings of ceremonies and festivities were being collected by governors-general of India such as Lord Minto and Lord Amherst.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1">*</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> The pictures made by Indian artists for the British in India are called Company paintings.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span></span></i></p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; text-align: start;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; text-align: start;"><i>***</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; text-align: start;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WYAEm4XACsLrpL1oduK2iJLbFbshmgA1II0jZGm6n_wZnT8PTw04lhE3X_yWYq6HWt-L195p0crhBP0Qwzixp9pzNZkJfJrnvtDKqWAoA-ZmjP8yQXO-ONtVBfGTXPMNBMRdT9I4R72EZ8kFx27L_2pOSWBG63qkHr9I5zS4ppMOPVkK_ZSS-qU-Pg/s3938/BAE1CFE1-DD1B-4A20-AF47-54490B292244.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2101" data-original-width="3938" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WYAEm4XACsLrpL1oduK2iJLbFbshmgA1II0jZGm6n_wZnT8PTw04lhE3X_yWYq6HWt-L195p0crhBP0Qwzixp9pzNZkJfJrnvtDKqWAoA-ZmjP8yQXO-ONtVBfGTXPMNBMRdT9I4R72EZ8kFx27L_2pOSWBG63qkHr9I5zS4ppMOPVkK_ZSS-qU-Pg/w640-h342/BAE1CFE1-DD1B-4A20-AF47-54490B292244.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span><i>William Prinsep’s painting showing Europeans being entertained by dancers and musicians in a splendid Indian house in Calcutta during Durga Puja. This is assumed to depict a scene between 1830 and 1840. Photo: Public domain</i></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_maqKnqMlkOPSKHpFzJASok53lf-dl0mjnSOUG3DwAn_G9_BKWwmBRpc2ql1hTty_z4kBJ2oI17f6O0VtO-6Td3hlP2KbRzkiCqC-MlY3AK4DKJq0QYOqpP599_w78E-FxhwlQ1zcuxvTYlwh8PYvjuBs_HZWSrrW7ztznv0XpwxfbT9s7OkmDtiQw/s878/34ECE49D-FE9B-43C3-A5B0-B9CBF86063AB.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="878" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_maqKnqMlkOPSKHpFzJASok53lf-dl0mjnSOUG3DwAn_G9_BKWwmBRpc2ql1hTty_z4kBJ2oI17f6O0VtO-6Td3hlP2KbRzkiCqC-MlY3AK4DKJq0QYOqpP599_w78E-FxhwlQ1zcuxvTYlwh8PYvjuBs_HZWSrrW7ztznv0XpwxfbT9s7OkmDtiQw/w400-h164/34ECE49D-FE9B-43C3-A5B0-B9CBF86063AB.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Isherah - Water Procession of the Image of Doorga Previous to Her Immersion at Sunset by William Prinsep</i></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"><span> (Source: </span></span><a href="https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:1804" style="text-align: left;">https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:1804</a>)</span></p><div><br /></div></span></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Preserved in the British Library archives in London, the first painting above by William Prinsep has appeared in numerous publications on life in colonial Calcutta. This undated painting is a prism that reflects the veritable feast that Durga Puja was in the 1830s. No other painting of this period captures the colour and contours of Durga Puja as celebrated in colonial Calcutta. It deserves a closer look.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"><span>William Prinsep (1794-1874) was the</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> younger brother of James Prinsep, the Indophile who deciphered the Brahmi script and hence got immortalised in the pillars of Prinsep Ghat, the piece de résistance of post-colonial Kolkata riverside. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">William Prinsep was a merchant with the Calcutta firm of Palmer & Company, came from a family who had served in India for several generations. Apart from James, four of his brothers were also in the country. But </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">William Prinsep never really made it. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">In those days it was common for a painter trained in Royal Academy to take the next ship heading to India, primarily to earn a living and also to appreciate the richness that the land of opportunities offered. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">A cursory look at his works reveals his interests in street scenes and landscapes. All pen and ink studies and water-colour works. They were collected as Indian souvenirs by small-time East India Company officers when they returned home. Prinsep and his types catered to this clientele.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">The British Library archive note that “ the </span><span>subject matter and treatment is rather unlike Prinsep's normal style, and it is possible that this is based on another artist's compos</span><span>ition, possibly W.F. Hutchisson's”. This</span><span> painting is indeed special, for this painting offers a dissection of Durga Puja festivity in the 1830s when the Baboos, not to be confused with the lower division clerks and their ilk who refuse to abide by any norm or decorum of an efficient office in contemporary Kolkata, left no stones unturned to entertain the British guests at their stately homes during the Durga Puja days. Robert Clive started all this in the autumn of 1757. It went from strength to strength in the decades that followed. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">It is impossible to identify the neo-classical mansion that Prinsep chose to depict in this work. It could be the Sovabazar house of the Debs or the Jorasanko house of the Tagores. Or someone else’s. The Debs are a possibility because the flute-playing Krishna next to the deity hints at a Vaishnab connection. But Prinsep took liberties when he finished it. The ionic pillars with ornate Corinthian capitals may have been inspired by the Elgin marbles that Prinsep might have studied during his apprenticeship days in London. They were hard to come by in Calcutta. The arched entrance </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">thakurdalan</span><span class="s1"> resembles the Roy mansion of Jorasanko, still standing tall at the Ganesh Talkies crossing. The pillars that flank the Puja vista come straight from the Odisha temples that enjoyed some degree of attention from the early generation of Orientalists. The balcony overlooking the urban courtyard has a replica in the Gwalior Monument next to Outram Ghat.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">Forget the architectural liberties for the time being and concentrate on the dramatic scene inside. The worship of the mother goddess, sans the family members, in the deep centrestage looks a mere formality. The worship seems to be over. The priest must have left. Plates full of offering are lying untended in front of the deity. A lonely widow in white is standing all by herself casting a curious look to the drama unfolding at the stage middle. A group of Europeans, </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">sahibs</span><span class="s1"> and </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">memsahibs </span><span class="s1">in formal attire of the day, have settled on chairs laid on a Persian carpet. Their ‘native’ counterparts are sitting behind. The host looks animated in white muslin with a turban on head. Clueless, it seems. It was autumn. So the </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">pankhawallahs</span><span class="s1"> were dispensed with. The </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">darwans</span><span class="s1"> and </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">chaukidars</span><span class="s1"> seem relaxed at the right side of the frame. A </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">khansama</span><span class="s1">, standing alert by the steps leading to the </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">thakurdalan</span><span class="s1">, is ready to serve drinks, while a few other servants are ready to follow suit. Beside them, a couple sits comfortably, the wife looking merry and the husband attending his </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">hookah.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">However, it is the dancer, the </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">nautch girl</span><span class="s1"> in British parlance, is stealing all the thunder. With a flowing skirt held at the hemline and a raised arm that tempts, she looks like a kathak dancer of her time. She is assisted by musicians playing the percussions and a string instrument that looks like a violin. Musically incorrect! Prinsep should have painted a sarenghi instead. It was customary to welcome the British with food and beverage, and music and dance. The last item was the most attractive one. Even Rammohun Roy found it obligatory. So did Radhakanta Deb, the leading Indian intellectual and social leader of the day, whose </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">thakurdalan</span><span class="s1"> stood right in front of the </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">jalsaghar</span><span class="s1"> where the dancers with years of experience in entertaining the patrons in the courts of Nawabs of Awadh and Lucknow performed. The music room no longer stands. But anecdotes about famed dancers like Nicky, Narabux, and Misri have found copious mention in print. 19th century periodicals like </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">Calcutta Gazette</span><span class="s1"> and </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">Samachar Darpan</span><span class="s1"> are full such reports.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"><span>The journals of Fanny Parkes mention one such outing on 13 October 1823. She wrote: </span></span><span>“We went to a nach at the house of a wealthy baboo during the festival of the Doorga Pooja or Dasera, held in honour of the goddess Doorga. The house was a four-sided building, having an area in the middle; on one side of the area was the image of the goddess raised on a throne, and some Brahmins were in attendance on the steps of the platform.” </span><span>She mentioned a ‘handsome supper’ that was ‘laid out in the European style, supplied by Messrs Gunter and Hooper, where ices and French wines were in plenty for the European guests’.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Looking again the Prinsep painting, at the far left side, one will find a sacrificial goat held tightly by a man and overlooked by another as a third man is poised by strike the head off. Is this goat being sacrificed for the entertainment of the European guests? Of course. This gory picture in black and white if often chopped off in glossy magazines that feature this painting. But this opens another vista complete with hutments and country houses. Colonial Calcutta is never complete without them. The non-Bengali, non-Hindu service providers to the rulers and their accomplices did not join this merry picture. Prinsep stole a moment of immortality for those.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"><span>It is on record that the Baboos believed that the presence of European guests would elevate their social standing. The Europeans longed for such invitations in equal measure, often ranking the entertainments they experienced during the Durga Puja days. It did not last long. The signs of decline were noticed in the mid-1830s. In 1840, the Company issued a notice that prohibited all the visits to the Baboo mansions during the festival days. (Source: </span></span><a href="https://thebengalstory.com/english/when-the-sahibs-and-memsahibs-joined-the-durga-puja-festivities/amp/" style="text-align: center;">https://thebengalstory.com/english/when-the-sahibs-and-memsahibs-joined-the-durga-puja-festivities/amp/</a>)</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69PuRRG4RM8oW1AFxZQfwj6If1dqc16p0PCjUATvtgu9iBGlwerxqN80XCn7Wg1ZdOjH0LijCNm2Iqr7BMusEU_NfYqicf_wO2mHyG--XYlVJdmRPQZ85Tz6ITJRkY_2e3eOdT40rd5AszKZXEhE4OIL9jWW6LCyFUYT6LPk7xhAPOYTyeE_vVNNo6A/s720/2A11A570-AD62-4C4D-A235-02D6A4FC4680.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="720" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69PuRRG4RM8oW1AFxZQfwj6If1dqc16p0PCjUATvtgu9iBGlwerxqN80XCn7Wg1ZdOjH0LijCNm2Iqr7BMusEU_NfYqicf_wO2mHyG--XYlVJdmRPQZ85Tz6ITJRkY_2e3eOdT40rd5AszKZXEhE4OIL9jWW6LCyFUYT6LPk7xhAPOYTyeE_vVNNo6A/w640-h450/2A11A570-AD62-4C4D-A235-02D6A4FC4680.jpeg" width="640" /></span></a></div><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: start;">Religious Procession: <span>Durga (</span></span><span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: start;">India, West Bengal, Murshidabad, circa 1800, </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: start;">Opaque watercolor on mica)</span></span></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; text-align: start;"><i>Source: Los Angeles County Museum of Art</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; text-align: start;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; text-align: start;"><i>***<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihl6B3rLoFCx6Lfu3BOnBcBJagjfdZNfC77i4NsbTs1CrKNxUp2DbTMtu1vOlZQQp8_UoIBCTeogisplvIYA1rTr26v8I6hcRbOTCC1mRgAhrte4z2HyKdk9MC8sEZg3CSikfFubui6V7fPXqeQ8Fbq5rteuldYsppBGE-DoYzLjyvDG3uDZxPfvmhHA/s1000/5FF6B519-FED3-48CD-9F7A-45150BEB47D6.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="791" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihl6B3rLoFCx6Lfu3BOnBcBJagjfdZNfC77i4NsbTs1CrKNxUp2DbTMtu1vOlZQQp8_UoIBCTeogisplvIYA1rTr26v8I6hcRbOTCC1mRgAhrte4z2HyKdk9MC8sEZg3CSikfFubui6V7fPXqeQ8Fbq5rteuldYsppBGE-DoYzLjyvDG3uDZxPfvmhHA/w518-h640/5FF6B519-FED3-48CD-9F7A-45150BEB47D6.jpeg" width="518" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: start;">Album of popular prints mounted on cloth pages. Colour lithographs, lettered, inscribed and numbered 25 depicting Durgā, in the form she is worshipped at Durga Puja in Bengal. C.1895 (Source: <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_2003-1022-0-25" target="_blank">British Museum</a>)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: start;"><b>Please click on the photos above to see a full size version of the paintings </b></span></div></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit; text-align: start;"><i><br /></i></span></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-20472174574435720862022-10-05T23:41:00.025+05:302022-10-09T04:33:22.790+05:30Durga Puja at the movies<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">For decades, filmmakers have used Durga Pujo celebrations as motifs or as backdrops for key events in their narratives. Visuals from the festive season have often lent themselves for the creation of dance numbers, memorable scenes and sequences, replete with symbolism.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writer-director of the Bengali film, Mahalaya, Soumik Sen says, “The pujos have been used as motifs in Bengali cinema very often. Utsab, Joi Baba Felunath, Bishorjon (2017), Nayak (1966) and Bela Seshe (2015) are some examples of how differently and beautifully the festival has been merged into the story. In Hindi films, Kahaani and Devdas come to the mind when one thinks of weaving in the celebrations of Durga Pujo into the story. The difference lies in the way the festival has found its place across popular cultures from the West to the East.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Bengali movies</i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>But of course, Bengali movies over the years have underlined the spirit of our main festival Durga Pujas through their stories. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Sayajit Ray's Pather Panchali (1955), Devi (1960) and Joi Baba Felunath (1979) all have Durga Puja as the central theme.</b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaG5sSccY20rZ1imRitMsQmz_b5axqDf--qqD6goHUAacaWe8xPi4EsjMPsKkntj6w7xeHZWk2DGgbCPKRj4_gXXS-VrIo9W9MlUkIcz8LTAn_-KsT1yzs0EAnRzkc572pLhYRDK8kASMh-TSxzMHTEn0rHgzFCI49d_bT0K6keXoW3tXJ1u39uxsyRg/s475/B8C80E32-59F8-4D15-B428-0AF3E66F43E6.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="475" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaG5sSccY20rZ1imRitMsQmz_b5axqDf--qqD6goHUAacaWe8xPi4EsjMPsKkntj6w7xeHZWk2DGgbCPKRj4_gXXS-VrIo9W9MlUkIcz8LTAn_-KsT1yzs0EAnRzkc572pLhYRDK8kASMh-TSxzMHTEn0rHgzFCI49d_bT0K6keXoW3tXJ1u39uxsyRg/s320/B8C80E32-59F8-4D15-B428-0AF3E66F43E6.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Based on the novel by Indian eminent writer Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay, ‘Pather Panchali’ (1955) shows the mundane life of a poverty-stricken village family. Durga</span></span><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;"> is the name of the elder sister of the protagonist of the film. The scene of her running through a “sea of fluffy whiteness” – field of Kaashphool (accharum spontaneum is the scientific name of this flower) is permanently etched in Bengali consciousness as a representation of autumn. Durga Puja celebration in the village gives the duo excuse for merriment before tragedy befalls the family in the form of Durga’s death. P</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">ather Panchali had won India’s National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1955. It also received the Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkuvEgy3SzzHa96KFgG5qDSzgXsYrsgqyyhD6l_48OPhHhB-jbTHwUvoCvo4aq64Utlz72TQO3_TrMXECc9QVV9HgT-Pr8jz4Ua1dTHQddWC92oJCDiwwKrXxVO5dn25V8ssuNTFIGQdDnptZ4KgsS8HxQRJNWZ8jDQEgKB8D7ylz05DDovZ1uh5CrQ/s260/F4174398-9806-47A1-939A-2F22ED2B8A9E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="260" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkuvEgy3SzzHa96KFgG5qDSzgXsYrsgqyyhD6l_48OPhHhB-jbTHwUvoCvo4aq64Utlz72TQO3_TrMXECc9QVV9HgT-Pr8jz4Ua1dTHQddWC92oJCDiwwKrXxVO5dn25V8ssuNTFIGQdDnptZ4KgsS8HxQRJNWZ8jDQEgKB8D7ylz05DDovZ1uh5CrQ/s1600/F4174398-9806-47A1-939A-2F22ED2B8A9E.jpeg" width="260" /></a></span></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"><span>For Feluda fans, ‘Joi Baba Felunath’ (1979) is special for reasons more than one: not only is it set against the backdrop of Durga Puja, it also introduces one of the most iconic villains in Bengali fiction – Maganlal Meghraj. </span></span><span>The story revolves around the affluent Ghoshal family, which is gearing up to celebrate Durga Puja at their ancestral home in Varanasi. A few days before the festivities, a family heirloom goes missing from the house – a precious gold statuette of Ganesha, the Elephant God. Feluda is entrusted with the responsibility of recovering the antique. As the case unravels, Feluda, along with his two constant companions – Topshe and Jatayu (a.k.a Lalmohan Ganguly) encounter a shrewd businessman by the name of Maganlal Meghraj. In order to solve the case of the missing god, Feluda will have to outwit Meghraj, unmask the traitor within the Ghoshal home and restore the heirloom to its rightful place – all before Durga Puja. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7sQKq6dGXzcwq8uYpDyDuim7eaqRi0A3wL9TTU0AXu1v3ci3sFxU13N2KphiW7SfL95zWj5KMw74OxT6JO0B4VEWQWFiBfvwmlEH0Lm-L5odWxq3TUhiFiXQZk8Bm7TXiJ3VCNsrdWG0_oPmZPsZhncGoSmM4oc_maFEDCiU5YHvFRIzdjnh5i_UU1Q/s1200/3F8CB7A3-02C6-4D5E-BF96-21C59B776B7F.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7sQKq6dGXzcwq8uYpDyDuim7eaqRi0A3wL9TTU0AXu1v3ci3sFxU13N2KphiW7SfL95zWj5KMw74OxT6JO0B4VEWQWFiBfvwmlEH0Lm-L5odWxq3TUhiFiXQZk8Bm7TXiJ3VCNsrdWG0_oPmZPsZhncGoSmM4oc_maFEDCiU5YHvFRIzdjnh5i_UU1Q/s320/3F8CB7A3-02C6-4D5E-BF96-21C59B776B7F.jpeg" width="213" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>‘Devi’ (The Goddess) tells the story of a girl Dayamoyee (played by Sharmila Tagore - read her interview <a href="https://scroll.in/reel/983869/satyajit-ray-at-100-why-sharmila-tagore-considers-devi-her-best-collaboration-with-the-master" target="_blank">here</a>) who was forcefully married to Umaprasad (played by Soumitra Chatterjee). Dayamoyee takes care of his father-in-law Kalikinkar Choudhuri who believes Dayamoyee is actually an incarnation of Goddess ‘Kaali’ and she has to be worshipped. The whole village also worships Dayamoyee. Her husband Umaprasad, a school teacher outside the village, can’t convince Dayamoyee because she also starts to believe the ‘incarnation of Goddess’ story. But her so-called belief soon becomes a tragedy.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Rituporno Ghosh also has revisited Durga Puja in three films - Hirer Angti (1992), Utsab (2000) and Antarmahal (2005)</b></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwuobruHMN1THe6gmXeppv6SEuBQKJUk1HJW3c6t59Aht1WkQ-nCImJoMe8H0HEl6-nAfsrPhEumNHw50bYmZGhF67Ut5Rrp45a4ZSwJ3mU2W5omitFimQYaSIHh_teUhSV4DlzCFFUXuC6s2cqUIwtLLtXunTDNGi_aLU3cOjZVpAAHr3uldQLGbDuw/s606/DA0FAE9A-CBED-422B-8C12-1A7649F41532.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="438" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwuobruHMN1THe6gmXeppv6SEuBQKJUk1HJW3c6t59Aht1WkQ-nCImJoMe8H0HEl6-nAfsrPhEumNHw50bYmZGhF67Ut5Rrp45a4ZSwJ3mU2W5omitFimQYaSIHh_teUhSV4DlzCFFUXuC6s2cqUIwtLLtXunTDNGi_aLU3cOjZVpAAHr3uldQLGbDuw/w144-h200/DA0FAE9A-CBED-422B-8C12-1A7649F41532.jpeg" width="144" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rituporno Ghosh’s debut and possibly his least known film ‘Hirer Angti’ (1992) is based on a novel by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay. As the opening credits roll, the voice of Birendra Krishna Bhadra reciting Mahisasuramardini plays in the background. It is the immortalized dawn-radio program that is synonymous with the day of Mahalaya for Bengali people. The craftsman working on Devi Durga’s unfinished idol, the chandelier in the courtyard and the sound of the dhaak – the sights and sounds bring out the festive mood in the house of the protagonist Ratanlal Babu, played by Indian popular actor Basanta Chowdhury. A story about a joint family, an heirloom and dacoits and imposters, a smart kid and a pet dog, the film is reminiscent of Ray’s works for children.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tP4yDHAx69H6CXptFFY9eqFxSDznfQy_mf4T_NsFTAZrN0ddhNuz6W92b0Ny6IecS7OHjLNKU0GBo7WJq7Wh5SaAWsYLncJWDXtaHsKzsiqpGENNpDrK-4fE85UYZsauD3PPIy34QUw_VZPKMUP6FIuXGZ4gyPPEJ_DDjA8Vpvz753xNnv7w0jHEDg/s1280/D3B8054D-8F33-4AC0-91FC-77C5136464E2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tP4yDHAx69H6CXptFFY9eqFxSDznfQy_mf4T_NsFTAZrN0ddhNuz6W92b0Ny6IecS7OHjLNKU0GBo7WJq7Wh5SaAWsYLncJWDXtaHsKzsiqpGENNpDrK-4fE85UYZsauD3PPIy34QUw_VZPKMUP6FIuXGZ4gyPPEJ_DDjA8Vpvz753xNnv7w0jHEDg/s320/D3B8054D-8F33-4AC0-91FC-77C5136464E2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span class="s1">'Utsab' (2000) has been </span>one of the most important films by Rituparno Ghosh which received Golden Lotus Award for Best Director. On the backdrop of Durga Puja, the film is a nice commentary showing many emotional currents passing among a family and relatives. Some of the industry’s big names like Madhabi Mukherjee, Mamta Sankar and Prosenjit Chatterjee played key roles alongside Rituparna Sengupta. The story starts with the Durga Puja celebration in an elderly lady's spacious, ancestral house but the fragmentation of the joint family soon changes the scenario. Rituparno used Durga Puja as the ideal peg on which hangs the film. Read a fantastic article on this movie <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/revisiting-utsab-on-its-20th-anniversary-why-rituparno-ghoshs-film-is-so-important-for-bengali-cinema-8188061.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo6T1iUttJuFGLaV6DDGYbbIRhhtU-l32KSiuhcxUYu-diALV5oGxAoGCzmh1KV4w7euQWXU144TB9oxQ0pCQZm2ypKIepV69Cc0FGpIsSD5Ua4NFBDarhkPqtKjR7eV5dIM7x0Ug2bdEDmIO1fLH-UFpaGA8gea5E1Rv_STeLx6Jt8efFFBtpr-Hkwg/s259/CE6FF8D5-B5C1-47A5-B189-09ED830BECE0.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo6T1iUttJuFGLaV6DDGYbbIRhhtU-l32KSiuhcxUYu-diALV5oGxAoGCzmh1KV4w7euQWXU144TB9oxQ0pCQZm2ypKIepV69Cc0FGpIsSD5Ua4NFBDarhkPqtKjR7eV5dIM7x0Ug2bdEDmIO1fLH-UFpaGA8gea5E1Rv_STeLx6Jt8efFFBtpr-Hkwg/s1600/CE6FF8D5-B5C1-47A5-B189-09ED830BECE0.jpeg" width="259" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Largely based on Tarashankar Bandhopadhyay's popular short story 'Protima', Rituparno Ghosh directed ‘Antarmahal’ (2005) is a poignant tale of misogyny and oppression with religion being a metaphorical aspect. It’s a bold story intertwining the disturbed personal lives of an elderly zamindar (Jackie Shroff), his two wives (Roopa Ganguly and Soha Ali Khan), and a potter (Abhishek Bachchan) assigned to craft the Durga idol in the image of Queen Victoria. But the potter gets attracted to Jashomoti (Soha Ali Khan), and makes a durga idol with Jashomoti's face on instead.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Other films</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6dtmWSzrMCBtGAxQErSR9jri4bIwyW8d1i-wwgpDrrlNETSdaI_jPLGBBasvQ1mUYd7X-_Wf8bX_Mq72o_iDm9KuJfIRkV3Fp_uy1UPizuzL8-bERSvRhUJykgzoKhA4j0jhqVbcnXXb5EtfAksFlSS8b8SGgfJVT82roDD0nGLMydvLPjTsvh32LQ/s1200/5F0A92D5-1FF8-44A8-8B01-2E63E8387C1C.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6dtmWSzrMCBtGAxQErSR9jri4bIwyW8d1i-wwgpDrrlNETSdaI_jPLGBBasvQ1mUYd7X-_Wf8bX_Mq72o_iDm9KuJfIRkV3Fp_uy1UPizuzL8-bERSvRhUJykgzoKhA4j0jhqVbcnXXb5EtfAksFlSS8b8SGgfJVT82roDD0nGLMydvLPjTsvh32LQ/s320/5F0A92D5-1FF8-44A8-8B01-2E63E8387C1C.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">‘Antony Firingee’ (1967) starring the Bengali Superstar actor Uttam Kumar; is based on the life of Hensman Anthony, a Bengali language folk poet of Portuguese origin. In the screenplay, religious fanatics attack the Christian man who dares to organize Durga Puja in his home. His house is burnt down by them. His wife, played by Tanuja (a prominent actress of the Indian Film World), is grievously injured in the fire. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">However, in real life, despite the odds of the society, Anthony and his wife lived happily and died natural deaths - read more <a href="https://thebengalitoday.com/2022/07/firingi-kalibari-kolkata.html" target="_blank">here</a>. (</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jaatishwar, a 2014 adaptation directed by Srijit Mukherji, depicted Anthony’s life in retrospect but with a modern-day context.)</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIHrU3NyJf28nObUKaHMgsj9sjJ4-tl8ql5gVV1LtyXeUgJmHao0DFSF8KFn-X_MjqxJWqlzVFzKRKo8FOvxTHXg8UiNtqnjIjD25W3oXK5lmTQf2DlX0NcasDWtudoguK-Ey9mrknvob_j5R9YSP-fLcclii3XhnPzWUslJM3EaI3tKSr9bdd16S0Q/s381/3AA2709C-5B4F-4558-80B3-19ED9E8692A8.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="262" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIHrU3NyJf28nObUKaHMgsj9sjJ4-tl8ql5gVV1LtyXeUgJmHao0DFSF8KFn-X_MjqxJWqlzVFzKRKo8FOvxTHXg8UiNtqnjIjD25W3oXK5lmTQf2DlX0NcasDWtudoguK-Ey9mrknvob_j5R9YSP-fLcclii3XhnPzWUslJM3EaI3tKSr9bdd16S0Q/s320/3AA2709C-5B4F-4558-80B3-19ED9E8692A8.jpeg" width="220" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">‘Debipaksha’ (2004) directed by Raja Sen, is all about Haimanti (Rituparna Sengupta), a survivor of a brutal sexual assault who courageously decides to stand against her molester when her younger sister's safety is also threatened. Transformed by the violence of the evil moment, Haimanti finally lifts the trident of her priest father's presiding deity, and manages to plunge it into the tormentor. It’s symbolic to Shakti prevailing over evil once more. Decimation of Asura lifts the spirit of Maa Durga also.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguIzWcF71t3B_9d2DJQLQo8hrVkO3ovWeP4v09Ap0c4EFt_GvJBWGV5QyF9ru4_KDNCHjmONLc2LansqeED5ZKbUHk2toVQzL0GafvQDwAAQNMdj7rR5kliKKQRWnoSOTZARlhf9gmJEdwtdWA0hFQi9o-yvf7MeXse8FG4ie2gyntCOFcA00mccFWKA/s635/DB19620F-13A6-4141-B1BD-BE8DE91DF809.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="635" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguIzWcF71t3B_9d2DJQLQo8hrVkO3ovWeP4v09Ap0c4EFt_GvJBWGV5QyF9ru4_KDNCHjmONLc2LansqeED5ZKbUHk2toVQzL0GafvQDwAAQNMdj7rR5kliKKQRWnoSOTZARlhf9gmJEdwtdWA0hFQi9o-yvf7MeXse8FG4ie2gyntCOFcA00mccFWKA/s320/DB19620F-13A6-4141-B1BD-BE8DE91DF809.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The plot of ‘Bodhon’ (2015) revolves around a family crisis that starts on Mahalaya (the very first day of the Puja fortnight) and encapsulates Ishaani's (Arpita Pal) inner dilemma about motherhood and its boundaries. ‘Bodhon’, directed by telecom engineer turned filmmaker Ayananshu Banerjee, is an ideal tribute to all those caring women in our lives. <span style="font-family: inherit;">The title <span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: italic;">Bodhon </span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">refers to the invocation of Goddess Durga which takes place on the sixth day: s</span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: italic;">hahsthi.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVJNxabbs2H39lm8FXrUD4g7WTl5LKq-ZcCmvywrQiE5tgL7r3_3IgM62gwHjHEP2smkzTW2n96Qx3XpWdIcyjnTPQPQEzzN2m7-v853wRKDMzP9cINjrEZ0oaOiHYgLD11GjPnPSBgchIy6kTr3yuiD8p8m_2ZVcCmnyDqP-Updc__DZCH33mbewmg/s1536/DEC4BA9F-7992-45A6-A2E8-4E8F1AC23D1A.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVJNxabbs2H39lm8FXrUD4g7WTl5LKq-ZcCmvywrQiE5tgL7r3_3IgM62gwHjHEP2smkzTW2n96Qx3XpWdIcyjnTPQPQEzzN2m7-v853wRKDMzP9cINjrEZ0oaOiHYgLD11GjPnPSBgchIy6kTr3yuiD8p8m_2ZVcCmnyDqP-Updc__DZCH33mbewmg/s320/DEC4BA9F-7992-45A6-A2E8-4E8F1AC23D1A.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kaushik Ganguly's 2017 hit ‘Bishorjon’ has received several prestigious awards including the National Award for the best Bengali cinema. The audience loved the characters played by Abir Chatterjee, Jaya Ahasan and Kaushik Ganguly. The story of the film revolves around a Muslim man from India and a Hindu widow and it’s a cross-border love story. Ganguly's character Ganesh no doubt adds the cherry on <span style="font-family: inherit;">the cake. The film gained such popularity that it convinced Ganguly to make a sequel titled ‘Bijaya’.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkKJUsLunZxDpb5o998e4G7VIBjZgYpAvGnx_ggfz7IJYTxMxaotPUIpnet26jl8Zdk3yzRmYmv0Io0pgd9r91DlDkWObfzat0E4KNNxfmhnh3hSKUPBX3EZzVC3g9_xY2Crw02nh4AZNy8Y_C_H82knvN2ThWXCGGf4T4ET23TAveqcbBsZ-JksPg3g/s387/D867AD96-F377-4FAB-A029-64578D964DC4.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="258" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkKJUsLunZxDpb5o998e4G7VIBjZgYpAvGnx_ggfz7IJYTxMxaotPUIpnet26jl8Zdk3yzRmYmv0Io0pgd9r91DlDkWObfzat0E4KNNxfmhnh3hSKUPBX3EZzVC3g9_xY2Crw02nh4AZNy8Y_C_H82knvN2ThWXCGGf4T4ET23TAveqcbBsZ-JksPg3g/s320/D867AD96-F377-4FAB-A029-64578D964DC4.jpeg" width="213" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Srijit Mukherjee’s ‘Uma’ (2018) sets the story up in Kolkata (East India); where the city comes together to fabricate a fake Durga Puja, to fulfil the dreams of a young girl, Uma. Uma, by the way, is another name of Goddess Durga. A director with a failed career creates an alternative reality spanning across the city; cleverly showcasing all aspects of the carnival. The frenzied crowds hopping pandals, illuminated streets, roadside snacks and rituals across the five days of the festival, right up to idol immersion. The screenplay is inspired by the incredible story of the people of the town of St. George, Ontario, Canada. They had recreated a false Christmas for a terminally ill seven-year-old boy, Evan Leversage in October 2015. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRweGc25U3HQ7KJHr6SCDbvRXxjdmMBVrc4BGR2F2rxlA-vXZvDyXcdo89G0W0DaRvQXqD1F2i9eLh35Bwk8MORo6Li91nXlh58-0X6snDB4H1_v6CLARJH4w8f_xnqiG5KUBkhaD2JzVgGX_us_gxa6SMuQwB-5mAD6A8oypSAkYwzpRzd58l6wVT-Q/s900/49BC7C7B-9BB9-497F-95AB-A5B355F6BBA3.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="900" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRweGc25U3HQ7KJHr6SCDbvRXxjdmMBVrc4BGR2F2rxlA-vXZvDyXcdo89G0W0DaRvQXqD1F2i9eLh35Bwk8MORo6Li91nXlh58-0X6snDB4H1_v6CLARJH4w8f_xnqiG5KUBkhaD2JzVgGX_us_gxa6SMuQwB-5mAD6A8oypSAkYwzpRzd58l6wVT-Q/s320/49BC7C7B-9BB9-497F-95AB-A5B355F6BBA3.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">Dhrubo Ghosh’s ‘Durgeshgorer Guptodhon’ (2019), features Subarna Sen or Sonada (Abir Chatterjee) with Aabir and Jhinuk embarks on his new adventure, a quest that takes them to the legendary Durgeshgor. The journey reveals that the Debroy family, the erstwhile zamindars in their princely mansion hold the key to a presumed rumor of a treasure connected with Plassey. With an amazing vibrant backdrop of Durga Puja in the princely Debroy mansion where the trio is invited for the occasion, one after the other clues are revealed testing Sonada`s wit and grit one more time leading towards the discovery of one of greatest treasures Bengal has ever witnessed. (</span><span>Incidentally unlike other Bengali detective-adventure films, treasure hunter Subarna Sen or Sonada is not a literary creation. He is a composite of Indiana Jones and fictional sleuths Feluda, Kakababu and Arjun.)</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpMWaOXnvHe0KaW1Pe8ISThjrzJWFKCusz883dZYTq34bDQHJwA8-EHvt0UUZQBdkinjV2slat0EY_mfSQXwK8bkZpSNARhy4-ET7o2qR-OaYnF4Eq_n73-wd-ZFeG085iTefL_EdOOKNzAZqop6yfxbhkdhlEpugvH6zr42pUwW1Leb5aQk5TTsppQ/s1536/800CB732-A0E2-4264-B2E6-2E3EF5E36583.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1086" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpMWaOXnvHe0KaW1Pe8ISThjrzJWFKCusz883dZYTq34bDQHJwA8-EHvt0UUZQBdkinjV2slat0EY_mfSQXwK8bkZpSNARhy4-ET7o2qR-OaYnF4Eq_n73-wd-ZFeG085iTefL_EdOOKNzAZqop6yfxbhkdhlEpugvH6zr42pUwW1Leb5aQk5TTsppQ/s320/800CB732-A0E2-4264-B2E6-2E3EF5E36583.jpeg" width="226" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Written and directed by Pavel Bhattacharjee, ‘Asur’ (2000) is an action-thriller. A tribute to the sculptor Ramkinkar Baij, the film explores the relationship between three friends through the making of the world’s largest Durga idol. The sculptor, who is one of the three friends, fails to understand the importance of relationships while giving his life to his art and his masterpiece.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpD6-QxwP_Z3ksRDxWf3aAOkoay90C0dbkUDOFLg0EMQX11soMCiKTlZZvHqSU35FqeOGf-lYlCTjforDYFUt_R23G1mh6_vEF9RRLreXnjJDWBDUWnaAPZECz_JV6ZAxXvol77xMnptFrfEo4vZVdEh7_2L2_2oH5sP0CCZKYw-tS71jN_tpxzLbsw/s600/23E48966-0D58-41C5-9F4A-7C2CBF088009.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpD6-QxwP_Z3ksRDxWf3aAOkoay90C0dbkUDOFLg0EMQX11soMCiKTlZZvHqSU35FqeOGf-lYlCTjforDYFUt_R23G1mh6_vEF9RRLreXnjJDWBDUWnaAPZECz_JV6ZAxXvol77xMnptFrfEo4vZVdEh7_2L2_2oH5sP0CCZKYw-tS71jN_tpxzLbsw/s320/23E48966-0D58-41C5-9F4A-7C2CBF088009.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Other Bengali films that feature Durga Puja include Tista Ekti Nadir Naam (1973) and Durga Sohay (2017 - photo above) are a couple more</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> films where important parts of the narrative have been woven around the festival. </span>Filmmaker Ramkamal Mukherjee’s short film Season’s Greetings (2018), a homage to filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, uses a motif of children visiting parents for the Durga Puja in his film — something Ghosh’s Utsab also employed. Ramkamal says, “The festival has different meanings and style of celebrations across the country. For Bengalis, it’s about Maa’s homecoming, symbolically depicted as a mother, daughter, wife or a sister in films. I’ve shown this in my film, too, to doff my hat to someone who crafted bold stories and broke all taboos — something that Maa also embodies.”</p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Durga Puja in Hindi Films</span></i></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIl_4xEVWaJy3QPtUp_Co9t1RsYaFhHXSavz1h7gQL8iOWUWnXQK23sDt9CVeEH-PyEQlPsSaGn8nXxwhu96aKCmEM2KlNAPwF_sRwcSFNjmCJNfugIQ7HMi8D1n_mvEoHXHXo-KaGqDMZSJwFB84PlGXAbbHvxrqn5apn8L-rLqXFqAKCpDUfgGBx6A/s960/F3CACE63-0F43-44E3-9799-24033E143068.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIl_4xEVWaJy3QPtUp_Co9t1RsYaFhHXSavz1h7gQL8iOWUWnXQK23sDt9CVeEH-PyEQlPsSaGn8nXxwhu96aKCmEM2KlNAPwF_sRwcSFNjmCJNfugIQ7HMi8D1n_mvEoHXHXo-KaGqDMZSJwFB84PlGXAbbHvxrqn5apn8L-rLqXFqAKCpDUfgGBx6A/s320/F3CACE63-0F43-44E3-9799-24033E143068.jpeg" width="320" /></a></b></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">In Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan and Rakhee’s 1981 <b>Bengali-Hindi bilingual Anushandhan</b>, made in Hindi as<b> Barsaat Ki Ek Raat,</b> used Durga as the metaphor of triumph. As a police officer, Amitabh is seen investigating an evil father-son duo. He is even seen playing drums during Durga pujo and beating Amjad Khan at a competition.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">On the other hand, is Shakti Samanta’s <b>Amar Prem (1972)</b>, featuring Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Mehra and Sharmila Tagore. The film had a brief, but an extremely powerful depiction of Durga pujo, which appears at the end of the film. While Nandu (Vinod) takes Pushpa (Sharmila), his foster mother, home, we see protimas of Maa Durga being taken to pandals, hinting at mahalaya. The symbolic reference to Maa’s homecoming was hard for anyone to miss.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Raj Kapoor's film <b>Ram Teri Ganga Maili</b> too, had a short but immensely pertinent scene that depicted Durga Puja. The beautiful Ganga waiting for her lover to come back to Gangotri, has just given birth to a baby boy and her local guardian, Post-Babu, is elated. He beats a steel plate in order to proclaim his happiness about becoming a grandfather. That faint plate noise is merged with the thunderous music of drums being beaten at a Durga Puja celebration in Kolkata, when Naren (Rajiv Kapoor) is being coerced by his family to forget about Ganga and get married to the shrewd businessman, Bhagwat Chowdhury's daughter. Naren, who can neither speak up against his family, nor express his feelings to anyone, silently stares into the Goddess' eyes and conveys his heartfelt anguish to her, all in a gaze.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidffCXuHt9rfGgTHFOcwV6fwhYUYRIJTvRk62AWdV2KEqcESnKqmoKb4r7w1f9v5oEBDDOcdz2iu6R17phCeD_DqPwmO5Q1N7O7D45fTBZRVq9sX7W3d_dFauWnYczrMFfGzhtZ1oZbxmbtPDe_jAV9Ppy2t2P5Kjsgl1K5TFgcpoU9834_CQ2i8b_RQ/s600/Parineeta-completes-15-years_THUMBNAIL_5ee1f5ce7e891.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidffCXuHt9rfGgTHFOcwV6fwhYUYRIJTvRk62AWdV2KEqcESnKqmoKb4r7w1f9v5oEBDDOcdz2iu6R17phCeD_DqPwmO5Q1N7O7D45fTBZRVq9sX7W3d_dFauWnYczrMFfGzhtZ1oZbxmbtPDe_jAV9Ppy2t2P5Kjsgl1K5TFgcpoU9834_CQ2i8b_RQ/s320/Parineeta-completes-15-years_THUMBNAIL_5ee1f5ce7e891.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">With the emergence of the new generation of Bengali directors, Durga Puja has featured in many hindi movies in the new millennium. Pradeep Sarkar’s<b> Parineeta (2005)</b>, adapted from the eponymous Bengali novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, uses Durga Puja as a backdrop on two crucial occasions — once to show the love and care Lolita (Vidya Balan) has for Shekhar (Saif Ali Khan) and then to show Shekhar’s jealousy towards Lolita’s friendship with Girish (Sanjay Dutt). The film also uses the traditional dhunuchi dance as a tool for the narrative.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The filmmaker shares, “Durga Puja has often been used as a backdrop in films or as a part of the story. It only makes sense to include the festivities when there is some meaning to it. During pujo, you meet people and interact with them, and relationships also blossom. That is how we also used it in the film.”</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6d_KJgW1XZtETMoql4xTe7ci6mn2G-u19hD4t3XJFyyyXJp7b0J2b-MnQgoMqmJM4TtJbYjb4fuO2FkohSEe6TdytYFy4srsd7bHr2kc4zImnVVAeyttYGqnwHBRFkbNv7ySIVwqbmibPB-lW4iTWWfrsIl4NR_1Z_j1GE3Nxmtu4c3HmVdMtCNdyFw/s1600/Kahaani-438014355-large.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6d_KJgW1XZtETMoql4xTe7ci6mn2G-u19hD4t3XJFyyyXJp7b0J2b-MnQgoMqmJM4TtJbYjb4fuO2FkohSEe6TdytYFy4srsd7bHr2kc4zImnVVAeyttYGqnwHBRFkbNv7ySIVwqbmibPB-lW4iTWWfrsIl4NR_1Z_j1GE3Nxmtu4c3HmVdMtCNdyFw/s320/Kahaani-438014355-large.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sujoy Ghosh’s <b>Kahaani (2012)</b> features one of the most well-recalled, and what is considered to be one of the best amalgamations of Durga Puja into a story. The film unfolds in Kolkata, which is gearing up for the pujo, and culminates on dashami (last day of Durga puja), drawing parallels between the festival’s message — the victory of good over evil — and the story, as Bidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan) defeats her husband’s murderer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bring this up and Sujoy says, “The thought behind the sequence was to highlight the strength and will of a mother. I’m a huge fan of Maa Durga, because in this form of hers, she’s always with her children. For Bengalis around the world, she’s a mother — we equate her to a human being. In Kahaani, I wanted to depict that Maa arrives once a year, she listens to you and solves your problems. We threaded in a lot of stuff. The build up-to the story is pretty much like the build-up to Bijoya. The climax blended beautifully with the culmination of the pujos.” </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlsj3SHYXMpbarA6qhIXw8TmUTMvDZZe_lL5knZzVTLq2WQY3-de7V_SCcXO4uRJc71Ma1q1N7-HRbMbxBXYnCvGGsvBOgBqJ6zJz27o9lui8qYSMfIAgeUzpESAZGjM_vPlaVH_H-o-qoT89uIRfUM1PxUodT_27IEYKO9ZcWQawa-3XMkrTNr3Dqag/s640/vicky-donor.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlsj3SHYXMpbarA6qhIXw8TmUTMvDZZe_lL5knZzVTLq2WQY3-de7V_SCcXO4uRJc71Ma1q1N7-HRbMbxBXYnCvGGsvBOgBqJ6zJz27o9lui8qYSMfIAgeUzpESAZGjM_vPlaVH_H-o-qoT89uIRfUM1PxUodT_27IEYKO9ZcWQawa-3XMkrTNr3Dqag/s320/vicky-donor.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Shoojit Sircar’s <b>Vicky Donor (2012)</b> shows a Delhi-Punjabi boy Ayushmann Khurana (Vicky) fall in love with a Bengali girl Yami Gautam (Ashima). The two varying cultures are depicted not just in the way their families are, but Sircar also shows the celebration of Pujo by Delhi's Bengali community, as it briefly takes the audience pandal-hopping during Durga Puja in Delhi, to show the growing proximity between Vicky and Ashima. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7x2AyUlwR0dSXMqiFB4vMPSpNMGCNDkBRakSopOwa2ZoY0JNk6_RRkuoLmZP14PwKdtYG22XCQRCd65HmbgQv4arBS5POcIkRrbbmprs0ybouurqxCR_feR9MK3crP6VDxvrdhA4YQbMSRF5oO0-V_DKb5qMOHRFmCuoA4NFyQQIsVRWhGlQhKSJfzA/s480/gunday.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="480" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7x2AyUlwR0dSXMqiFB4vMPSpNMGCNDkBRakSopOwa2ZoY0JNk6_RRkuoLmZP14PwKdtYG22XCQRCd65HmbgQv4arBS5POcIkRrbbmprs0ybouurqxCR_feR9MK3crP6VDxvrdhA4YQbMSRF5oO0-V_DKb5qMOHRFmCuoA4NFyQQIsVRWhGlQhKSJfzA/s320/gunday.jpg" width="320" /></a> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3LO9wwaOX5MX5f2REjCjQ50-B_gdGBM404puhNDQUS4OrMSAVNpQCumsy6m9reO99Ci71imv4GNtiaYrkY6mCaBBH-jnj9BStoragRTigyrBSVta-mjBkUzqd_yG8Z6MLgtOl4CkKxpIcpf2tDqdorJMexcAqV4C-E8xYzHjXcsljlALRwEDySKdF4w/s900/Piku.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="900" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3LO9wwaOX5MX5f2REjCjQ50-B_gdGBM404puhNDQUS4OrMSAVNpQCumsy6m9reO99Ci71imv4GNtiaYrkY6mCaBBH-jnj9BStoragRTigyrBSVta-mjBkUzqd_yG8Z6MLgtOl4CkKxpIcpf2tDqdorJMexcAqV4C-E8xYzHjXcsljlALRwEDySKdF4w/s320/Piku.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor and Priyankar Chopra-starrer, <b>Gunday (2014) </b>set in the backdrop of Kolkata has a tragic scene set during Durga Puja. As the lady waits for her beloved in the Durga Puja pandal, her lover finally arrives to complete the rituals of the Puja. But the entire sequence ends up on a tragic note with Priyanka getting hit by a bullet. The movie also shows the two actors sway to beats of dhols against the backdrop of Durga puja in the song Jashn-e-Ishqa. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Vikramaditya Motwane’s <b>Lootera (2013)</b> opens in a traditional zamindar’s baadi celebrating Durga Puja. Sonakshi Sinha, as Paakhi, is seen enjoying a jatra with her friend in the house. Here, the celebration is more of a backdrop to show how festivals were seen as symbols of power and prestige in society those days. Elaborating on it, writer Bhavani Iyer, who wrote the screenplay, shares, “I don’t think one really sets out to put a festival into the story. A lot depends on the milieu or the household you set the story in. Maa embodies vengeance and righteous anger, and if that fits into a story, then, Durga Puja could become an ideal motif. We used pujo to define the Bengal of the 1960s when zamindari was breathing its last. The jatra that Sonakshi is watching in the film, depicts her family’s power and stronghold in a fast-changing society. It was metaphoric.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">While not really having a Durga Puja scene, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s screen adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s <b>Devdas (2002) </b>shows Paro (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) and Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit-Nene) meeting and even dancing together. Paro is seen at Chandramukhi’s kotha, asking for mitti of her aangan to make an idol of Maa Durga for her baadi. This marks the beginning of a crucial turn in the story when Paro is forbidden from stepping out of her house. Though in the novel Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit) never meets Paro (Aishwarya Rai), the custom of ‘Punya Maati’ (soil from the lands of prostitutes), for which they meet for the first time, still prevails. Coming back to the film, the breathtaking dance-off, Dola re... between Paro and Chandramukhi is nothing less than a pure visual treat for the audiences.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Other references to Navratri / Dusshera</i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Raveena Tandon played a victim of marital violence in Kalpana Lajmi’s Daman (2001). Her character Durga vanquishes her patriarchal tormentor on dashami, freeing herself from bondage. The story of Akshay Kumar’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) peaks in the thick of Navratri in a village in North India. The film’s climax, which sets off on ashtami, underlining the theme of good winning over evil, shows Vidya Balan as the revengeful dancer Monjulika, who is seeking protishodh (revenge) for her lover’s death. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">In Kurukshetra (2000), Sanjay Dutt, who plays an honest cop, is seen wiping out evil politicians, while Dussehra firecrackers drown out the sound of gun-shots, symbolising the defeat of modern-day Raavans. Ram Leela, which is an integral part of Navratri celebrations, was also used effectively in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Delhi 6 (2009). While depicting the glorious celebrations at Delhi’s Ramleela Maidan, the narrative also delves into frictions within men from the neighbourhood.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades (2004) also featured a Ramleela performance by debutant Gayatri Joshi. Here, it was a philosophical discourse — a conversation between Raavan and Sita that tries to highlight the difference between the evil and good. In a face-off sequence in Rajkumar Santoshi’s Lajja (2001), Madhuri Dixit-Nene, while playing Sita, refuses to go through an agnipariksha to prove her chastity.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">More recently, Akshay Kumar, revealing his upcoming Laxmmi Bomb avatar, put out a picture with the backdrop of Maa Durga, embodying power and anger. Talking about the reducing number of instances of films using the festival as a motif, writer Bhavani Iyer says, “Kahaani was one of those films that integrated the festival so beautifully into the story. Even Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ritualistic semblance of the celebrations in Devdas was a sight. Storytelling, in the last few years, has changed. The pujas are extravagant celebrations as opposed to the lives that we lead today, which are so clinical. We’ve also begun to write our stories in a more realistic manner. That doesn’t always allow us to merge festivals and rituals with the stories.”</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>***</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Sources:</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><a href="https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/features/from-utsab-to-uma-durga-puja-in-10-bengali-films/">https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/features/from-utsab-to-uma-durga-puja-in-10-bengali-films/</a></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><a href="https://travelogueofkuntala.com/essence-of-durga-puja-in-films-indian-diaspora/">https://travelogueofkuntala.com/essence-of-durga-puja-in-films-indian-diaspora/</a></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/how-bollywood-has-infused-the-spirit-of-durga-puja-in-films/articleshow/71479715.cms">https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/how-bollywood-has-infused-the-spirit-of-durga-puja-in-films/articleshow/71479715.cms</a></span></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-52251096865011554642022-09-23T13:28:00.008+05:302022-09-23T15:43:13.172+05:30Pujor Poem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCL60gM1Kffx-emVxK1nhot-FxKNpKuwmKIaLAkZ1zSuRysNGKAo3Vt57zhYM8OYditiprzLcEdi6QvwOrvjoWJFDTPq1VG4FYWh_LRUVdknymenIr6C8ZZu82L_J1fPIO2G8vDDzLqqs41gs9ptpRJdjF8SdWxqpMC3pr4gbY2JNxkf43Qqj9ojByiA/s941/471CF7BA-FE55-4390-AC9A-ADE18A80E457.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="941" data-original-width="769" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCL60gM1Kffx-emVxK1nhot-FxKNpKuwmKIaLAkZ1zSuRysNGKAo3Vt57zhYM8OYditiprzLcEdi6QvwOrvjoWJFDTPq1VG4FYWh_LRUVdknymenIr6C8ZZu82L_J1fPIO2G8vDDzLqqs41gs9ptpRJdjF8SdWxqpMC3pr4gbY2JNxkf43Qqj9ojByiA/s320/471CF7BA-FE55-4390-AC9A-ADE18A80E457.jpeg" width="262" /></a></div><p>O, to be Bangali, now that Pujo is nigh,</p><p>Khabar, Kapod, Kalchar is on its annual high.</p><p><br /></p><p>Hopping all night through random Pujo pandals,</p><p>Is best use of the newly purchased Bata sandals.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mashimas and Kakimas ask `ebar ki notun kinley’?</p><p>Resplendent, their gorgeous sarees in full display.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mehsos and Kakus wearing panjabi and dhuti,</p><p>Crowd around stalls selling chicken rolls and frooti.</p><p><br /></p><p>Durga sits on her pedestal, Bijoli Grill’s orders spike,</p><p>Crowds eye the chicken rolls, it's a surgical strike. </p><p><br /></p><p>Mishti of course is a must, for a Pujo without sweets,</p><p>Is like wishing the troll army would write decent tweets.</p><p><br /></p><p>Eating mangsher chop, luchi, singara and kochuri,</p><p>Girls and boys play chokher looko choori.</p><p><br /></p><p>Evenings are for dhak with dhoonochir natch,</p><p>Nights will be for feasting with shorse diye maachh.</p><p><br /></p><p>Pujo is not Pujo without great cultural programs,</p><p>Natok, Robindro songit et al, `sponsored' by Seagrams.</p><p><br /></p><p>O, to be Bangali, now that Pujo is nigh,</p><p>Go pandal hopping...eat mutton chop and fish fry.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-9617083935371863812022-05-29T16:43:00.008+05:302022-05-29T17:08:09.105+05:30The beauty of Badshah’s brilliant lyrics<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I listen to all types of music. Eclectic. I basically like songs that entertain me. </span>Music and lyrics. It takes two to tango for me. That is one reason I can’t listen to house or rave music. </p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">These days some songs of Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia have caught my fancy (mid life crisis?). You might know him as Badshah.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinizk9DyZDDvboOU8WBmPjaxD6fr11C2wocG-r7z71KeLZqSdE5aSgdGllXsjE1JD8zdZ6FVntFys3bFJlm6_5iTngmVTtR5UYo_BFncsN0MarSMVUeSepSLfKmQIhBsJ8CIzhwqtqX_s9208NNV_axy76i3dqCFuUVHOj-pr4vmnayMjWS_71xVHLmg/s1646/BD8DC656-5566-45F8-9E71-EAB0B176F125.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1201" data-original-width="1646" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinizk9DyZDDvboOU8WBmPjaxD6fr11C2wocG-r7z71KeLZqSdE5aSgdGllXsjE1JD8zdZ6FVntFys3bFJlm6_5iTngmVTtR5UYo_BFncsN0MarSMVUeSepSLfKmQIhBsJ8CIzhwqtqX_s9208NNV_axy76i3dqCFuUVHOj-pr4vmnayMjWS_71xVHLmg/s320/BD8DC656-5566-45F8-9E71-EAB0B176F125.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>The songs have amazing beats but it is the lyrics that fascinates me. His writing prowess lies in making his lyrics both clever and catchy. Sample these - the bits in yellow are my personal favourites:</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Kar gayi chull</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kya nache tu Dilli hile hai London</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matak matak jaise Ravina Tandon</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Aag lagane aayi hai ban than</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Goli chal gayi dhanye</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nakhre vilayati, ego mein rehti</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nakhre vilayati, ego mein rehti</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tashan dikhaati full</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Arre ladki beautiful kar gayi chull</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chull chull chull</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #20124d; font-family: inherit;">Arre daayein baayein</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #20124d; font-family: inherit;">Kaise kamar tu jhulaye</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #20124d; font-family: inherit;">Physics samajh nahin aaye</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #20124d; font-family: inherit;">Arre ladki beautiful kar gayi chull </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iwlUeXLPvf0" width="320" youtube-src-id="iwlUeXLPvf0"></iframe></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">—</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Paani Paani</b></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Nau Acre Mein Farm, Farm Pe Ghodey<br />Ghodey Pe Chadhegi Kya<br /><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #444444;">123, Gaadi Ke Bonnet Se Nikle Pari</span><br />Laundey Aagey Kahin Tikte Nahi<br />Baatein Hain Kaidi Meri, Likh Le Kahin<br />Chal Niklein Kahin</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nFjVlf2r9_Q" width="320" youtube-src-id="nFjVlf2r9_Q"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">—</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Kala chashma </b></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sadko pe chale<br />Jab ladkon ke dilon mein<br />Tu aag laga de baby fire<br />Nakli si nakhre tu karein<br />Jab dekhe humein jhooti liar!</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kala kala chashma jajda hai tere mukhde pe<br />Jaisa kala til jachta hai tere chin pe<br /><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #444444;">Apni adaaon se zyaada nahi toh<br />Dus baare ladke toh<br />Maar hi deti hogi tu din mein</span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="s1"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k4yXQkG2s1E" width="320" youtube-src-id="k4yXQkG2s1E"></iframe></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">—</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Sawan mein</b></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #20124d; font-family: inherit;">Tujhko Dekha Jabda Mera<br />Floor Par Ja Gira<br />Dilli Mein Tune Thumka Lagaya<br />Shake Ho Gaya Agra</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #20124d; font-family: inherit;">Mujhse Jo Tu Milne Aayi<br />Colony Mein Baat Phail Gayi<br />Laal Dress Jo Daal Ke Nikli<br />Gurgawan Tak Aag Phail Gayi</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ek Bhi Launda Na Chorne Ki<br />Tune Kasam Si Kha Rakhi Hai<br />Ladkon Ki Life Pe Poori<br />Pakad Bana Rakhi Hai</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tik-Tok Pe Duniya Tune<br />Peechhe Laga Rakkhi Hai<br />Kasar Na Choddi Tune Koi<br />Basad Macha Rakhi Hai Rani<br />Basad Macha Rakhi Hai</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7iAmXLrLizM" width="320" youtube-src-id="7iAmXLrLizM"></iframe></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 24px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-4903110974387588862021-08-13T23:35:00.006+05:302021-08-15T18:45:57.929+05:30Limericks<p>I love limericks. They can be rude, silly and clever at the same time. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJCtkZ1gbyWAU7XIvma_PNg0vHFOyT9ibNrtgdakcIfOjHm0T8Dm8ckrSZ5jZjx4oc23Nmtuees6yflcbrrTM8lB2IjPzvk6ps-tZZOPszLdrGdfmdI1-yOD9Yx7fHbsc7BcVcjfBtxZL/s620/CC2F16BC-3DB2-4D29-A82D-2A41383D9C76.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="620" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJCtkZ1gbyWAU7XIvma_PNg0vHFOyT9ibNrtgdakcIfOjHm0T8Dm8ckrSZ5jZjx4oc23Nmtuees6yflcbrrTM8lB2IjPzvk6ps-tZZOPszLdrGdfmdI1-yOD9Yx7fHbsc7BcVcjfBtxZL/s320/CC2F16BC-3DB2-4D29-A82D-2A41383D9C76.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2X7jzZjxtQDbJg0c1LBoUIhYlRCYmddX3yn7ZQujHxMlD-R7XlLrWlgYaoXpGaS1CdaJew8spqcEmr_ZFli6PFgMUNll0p28VvVfiyJUXX-pA-1vJnDFgpOn3v8ji8_Mwv2Bo70olCKQe/s700/E3D09A8A-06D5-4731-BF32-08D8B2267869.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="700" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2X7jzZjxtQDbJg0c1LBoUIhYlRCYmddX3yn7ZQujHxMlD-R7XlLrWlgYaoXpGaS1CdaJew8spqcEmr_ZFli6PFgMUNll0p28VvVfiyJUXX-pA-1vJnDFgpOn3v8ji8_Mwv2Bo70olCKQe/s320/E3D09A8A-06D5-4731-BF32-08D8B2267869.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>I’m trying to get my 9 year old to write them. Here are some I wrote for her:</p><p>***</p><p><u>About her</u></p><p>She’s smart, curious and kind</p><p>Always a smile. A beautiful mind.</p><p>Loves her art. Loves her books.</p><p>Loves blackberries and trying to cook.</p><p>Stay forever young, away from this grind.</p><p>***</p><p><u>About her favourite stuffed animal </u></p><p>My panda’s name is Po 🐼 </p><p>But nowhere does he go</p><p>He love bamboo leaves</p><p>But his laziness is my pet peeve</p><p>But I do love him so</p><p>***</p><p><u>She started learning about Orangutans </u></p><p>Orangutans 🦧 are gentle</p><p>Their poachers make me mental</p><p>Beautiful relatives of humans</p><p>Unworthy of you, we have proven</p><p>I wish I could be more influential</p><p>***</p><p><u>Arguing with her about pigeons</u> </p><p>Pigeons, pigeons all the time 🐦 </p><p>What’s going on in this head of mine?</p><p>Why do I ignore other birds in the garden?</p><p>Dearie me, I do beg your pardon!</p><p>Tits, robins and parrots; thy I decline.</p><p>***</p><p><u>About her favourite character</u></p><p>The boy who lived said Dumbeldore 🧙♂️ </p><p>Born to defeat evil Lord Voldemort</p><p>Impulsive, loyal and kind</p><p>He knew fear was all in the mind</p><p>A Hogwarts 🏰 legend forever more.</p><p>***</p><p><u>My son’s fairy tales </u></p><p>Big bad wolf, three little pigs 🐷 </p><p>These are the story baby digs</p><p>Hansel & Gretel, Red Riding Hood</p><p>Gingerbread man, sure all good 👍 </p><p>My playlist on YouTube is so big!</p><p>***</p><p>Speaking of limericks, I was speaking to Ma yesterday and she told me the most fascinating story. My maternal grandmother’s mother (Boju’s mother) apparently was adept at writing limericks in Bangla. She got married at the age of 14. At the time, that was relatively old and hence she was a bit more educated than other girls of the time. The story goes that when she and her husband has gone to see PC Sorcar (senior) i.e. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._C._Sorcar" target="_blank">Protul Chandra Sorcar</a>’s magic show in Calcutta. PC Sorcar had developed a new magic trick where he would ask to be blindfolded, and then ask a member of the audience volunteer to come up on the stage and write something on a blackboard which he would proceed to read out whilst still blindfolded. In this instance, my great grandmother volunteered and wrote a limerick impromptu rhyming ‘<i>protul</i>’ with ‘<i>oprotul</i>’ (unique). The magician was so moved by these five lines of rhyme that he apparently fell at her feet and went on to extol that this is what a <i>Bangali nari </i>should be like. My great grandfather who was typically conservative as Bengali <i>bhadralok</i> of the time were, took great exception to PC Sorcar touching his wife. I’m guessing this must be in the late 1940’s or 1950’s. Sadly her notebooks filled with limericks are lost with time. She has passed on the limerick bug to one of her sons - the late Brigadier Shymal Sen. Again I don’t have any from my great uncle.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-36159966120273351322021-08-09T01:00:00.003+05:302022-05-01T02:12:48.364+05:30Beautiful Bengal <p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My Boju used to say “Ja nei Bharatbarshe, ta nei bhubharatey” which roughly translates into “If you cannot find it in India, you probably won’t find it anywhere else in the world.” </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I daresay, if you don’t find it in West Bengal, you probably won’t find it anywhere in India (with the exception of a desert). My home state of Bengal is perhaps the only Indian state that has the mighty Himalayan mountains in the North and the bountiful Bay of Bengal in the South, and sandwiched between the mountains and the sea is the fertile Gangetic plains in fed by the Hooghly that produces rice and mangoes, the mangroves of Sunderbans - the home of the Royal Bengal tiger, the evergreen forests of the Terrai and Dooars at the Himalayan foothills - the home of the world famous Darjeeling tea, and distinct red soil of Birbhum.</div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaftRhK55zs6oxOfau1RvdUJ1TB1NEMJq-RA1-OTdgPVKlLx99OMkBI6wLZMove4IFq-q3u4j41RGn-P_s5qAVDMlAE9PCI7NRrsufNzy_fszs-3CQUE9pXMT_DDf2EtOxSQ0xpOCoYkL/s1024/DAE943D6-E80D-4326-8BEF-1FF0962FE90E.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="744" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaftRhK55zs6oxOfau1RvdUJ1TB1NEMJq-RA1-OTdgPVKlLx99OMkBI6wLZMove4IFq-q3u4j41RGn-P_s5qAVDMlAE9PCI7NRrsufNzy_fszs-3CQUE9pXMT_DDf2EtOxSQ0xpOCoYkL/w290-h400/DAE943D6-E80D-4326-8BEF-1FF0962FE90E.png" width="290" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihjOESouCI6GPjw-xJWxL7DV82Os45aXuqhvh4vvIjVLh2QcAHpR4IuOW2BnOngQb1pm1iV_-CnKuy_J17Mc48sn2d5C2wlxuepo4XKGemN4irxNX7FTq6z3d1BweT46kjkyaGHkCgZpL/s1440/44687E01-3251-465D-8F6B-0259C4224AB1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihjOESouCI6GPjw-xJWxL7DV82Os45aXuqhvh4vvIjVLh2QcAHpR4IuOW2BnOngQb1pm1iV_-CnKuy_J17Mc48sn2d5C2wlxuepo4XKGemN4irxNX7FTq6z3d1BweT46kjkyaGHkCgZpL/s320/44687E01-3251-465D-8F6B-0259C4224AB1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I must say, if geography was actually taught with such lovely infographics, pupils would perhaps remember the content better.</div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">The amazing districts of Bengal (North to South) are:</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB13ayXYJNSnj16Xq-4TlfSMck-K1JmXZybr2xDGeDRUlJ3sE7SPulowGpOm9ZbJAPKiEvHNibitlNqaN2pE_fqEpa_No4K8KQaVYCzVXVeDAxNBCZd-HP83LI6MSshumrmg3qiwFSkf6i/s1440/A91EEF55-DB8E-49E9-A967-B90FA423BEAD.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB13ayXYJNSnj16Xq-4TlfSMck-K1JmXZybr2xDGeDRUlJ3sE7SPulowGpOm9ZbJAPKiEvHNibitlNqaN2pE_fqEpa_No4K8KQaVYCzVXVeDAxNBCZd-HP83LI6MSshumrmg3qiwFSkf6i/s320/A91EEF55-DB8E-49E9-A967-B90FA423BEAD.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPpYGx-6jSvuF88QnI6W6TkbrU_H2A041Dl3EZaKvdwoNuntxBK8MVuOIfEj1eGVUPmzlLv16Yl7kcarpKecmW7ZNweDKKIlhRZStlP6Mu90AQiRB4V78YVLJTax-4_8YC1n98Fogusss/s1080/3BEBFF2F-BA06-4510-8287-04EFDA3D5A44.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="805" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPpYGx-6jSvuF88QnI6W6TkbrU_H2A041Dl3EZaKvdwoNuntxBK8MVuOIfEj1eGVUPmzlLv16Yl7kcarpKecmW7ZNweDKKIlhRZStlP6Mu90AQiRB4V78YVLJTax-4_8YC1n98Fogusss/s320/3BEBFF2F-BA06-4510-8287-04EFDA3D5A44.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPtlj3mqfZXSarSSwjOSqoLnbK0cltF7-bjDiFegjg2ct_UhLTNPjD0DglW-w9b8RpaDhtFvfXa2Ut4gUTc9ffjWDgV2RfpCcEkVboQO0EUwWtpm3LriiYfo6nVIAhaGZFjBFgpdp4YHtY/s1440/E7412FD6-4310-4A24-84E1-941835E801A0.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPtlj3mqfZXSarSSwjOSqoLnbK0cltF7-bjDiFegjg2ct_UhLTNPjD0DglW-w9b8RpaDhtFvfXa2Ut4gUTc9ffjWDgV2RfpCcEkVboQO0EUwWtpm3LriiYfo6nVIAhaGZFjBFgpdp4YHtY/s320/E7412FD6-4310-4A24-84E1-941835E801A0.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmsx40wbK-Z6hBzBQ4o2x02cA5KdcJbh2-kD_fl2FrKQBxHNefjYzkDUhDLxqzV7hIQnnRtMdG61k84nCfQKefQ901UKvowPfwZyfTxq4zxxZ5OKoNZwb285s1OUQ-Rqf_H3OqRMhk6oPI43NTDYVzhqe2TBHQttgZlyZBiPRw59nBmKiM6Tavn5eNw/s320/442AC41F-32E4-487D-B1E2-0599F8A9FE41.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Source: Facebook (The Babumoshai)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-28508324099842961552021-08-01T15:04:00.031+05:302021-08-03T18:27:15.629+05:30Sherlock Holmes’s Calcutta connection<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-size-adjust: auto;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtESWe9LiFVUnmYeHq1T782YFsjZ4bz3CH9U2BAxI3sy9Ys8XicjmoXmUPhbP8rBldiugdmFTZtWjQ4vNC2qHoC5g7AHmbihj30acwsPM4YR9MRkJD8tf6DM0dn5d8-zyvCjB6h0bQT8Vn/s865/E411CE17-87C5-4DEC-B0A1-BFC3214E7536.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="865" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtESWe9LiFVUnmYeHq1T782YFsjZ4bz3CH9U2BAxI3sy9Ys8XicjmoXmUPhbP8rBldiugdmFTZtWjQ4vNC2qHoC5g7AHmbihj30acwsPM4YR9MRkJD8tf6DM0dn5d8-zyvCjB6h0bQT8Vn/s320/E411CE17-87C5-4DEC-B0A1-BFC3214E7536.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-size-adjust: auto;"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></span></div>Unarguably Sherlock Holmes is literary history’s most popular detective. It is quite unsurprising then that he had a major influence on the Bengali <i>goyenda</i> <i>golpo</i> genre. Many writers, including Satyajit Ray, were fans. In the book ‘London-e Feluda’, Ray acknowledged this when he has Feluda visit Baker Street and say,“<i>Guru, tumi accho boley ami acchi</i> (Guru, I’m there because of you)”. </span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">Hemendra Kumar Roy’s Jayanta-Manik stories were <a href="https://www.nplh.co.uk/uploads/7/3/3/6/7336521/two-bengali-transformations-of-sherlock-holmes.pdf" target="_blank">heavily inspired</a> by the exploits of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, so much so that one of their stories ‘Netajir Choy Murti’ was the desi-fied version of the ‘ The Six Napoleons’. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNB3NWiqfseGgaWnzwPn_8jWh0d-J_9barHrFtsB4wUitiKk1O-3Gj5k0KJN063f79fNnmeLn_baDgiK_ECOplJHcndIZHIuIwPpa7U2wPV1gE9LGR0Ys46ni3nIW5axDS5Hnio3sGAn4/s1683/E9B06C5D-B0DB-4038-B9CA-746FE9074040.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1683" data-original-width="1181" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNB3NWiqfseGgaWnzwPn_8jWh0d-J_9barHrFtsB4wUitiKk1O-3Gj5k0KJN063f79fNnmeLn_baDgiK_ECOplJHcndIZHIuIwPpa7U2wPV1gE9LGR0Ys46ni3nIW5axDS5Hnio3sGAn4/s320/E9B06C5D-B0DB-4038-B9CA-746FE9074040.jpeg" width="225" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-size-adjust: auto;">But not all Bengali <i>goyendas</i> are direct copies of Sherlock - for instance, while Saradindu Bandyopadhyay’s Byomkesh is certainly inspired by Conan Doyle’s classic duo (like</span></span> Sherlock Holmes’s escapades were recorded by Dr. John Watson, Byomkesh’s experiences were recorded by his friend Ajit, a writer)<span style="font-family: inherit;">, he and his stories are distinctive.</span></div><div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Even today, Sherlock Holmes continues to be hugely popular in India, and particularly in Bengal - the Bengali translation of Sherlock Holmes are best sellers in their own right. In fact, a couple of years back a book called “Holmesnama” written Kaushik Mazumdar was launched became very popular as well. It is essentially a complete companion for Sherlock Holmes written in Bengali.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikjS1EGmTU3rQVgC5dlp7W1RN3o1F-Iqvb0h-j2kmlITZAAmCGa2PtiRper2OPoqKH84a7n9Kvcb9IoPNyTCUQkBGoxoYbt6UqCLeLDmyMv7ApgiqPTEfKLae0tNvYXOshQZNlUzLRw7F5/s962/47EB0631-D642-47A7-9DE1-D3E9A4B5DC28.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="962" data-original-width="546" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikjS1EGmTU3rQVgC5dlp7W1RN3o1F-Iqvb0h-j2kmlITZAAmCGa2PtiRper2OPoqKH84a7n9Kvcb9IoPNyTCUQkBGoxoYbt6UqCLeLDmyMv7ApgiqPTEfKLae0tNvYXOshQZNlUzLRw7F5/s320/47EB0631-D642-47A7-9DE1-D3E9A4B5DC28.jpeg" width="182" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Holmes is not really my ‘homie’</span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">I was introduced to Sherlock Holmes through Moby Books abridged illustrated classics. Moby Books were my introduction to the classics and were the usual reward for acing the ‘unit tests’ </span>(i.e. scoring 20/20) that were held on Fridays.During my high school days, we also studied ‘The Hound of the Baskerville’ as prose text book. I must confess that these are the only 4 stories I have actually read. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ctbceH3jazMsGx5olLn_QijY_c0hlrtPWIij6fCFPyNPYVSi_A31afI572u-6Pxpe3JrNK79IhxUWzS9EaEI-FbjoTbu_0xqjdbxtUVgvT45jwTzuOr7C2vCFnBp1XHr9LGOR26P4sMY/s1626/20033B40-FEA2-40B6-BDD6-87C72F4A1580.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1626" data-original-width="1110" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ctbceH3jazMsGx5olLn_QijY_c0hlrtPWIij6fCFPyNPYVSi_A31afI572u-6Pxpe3JrNK79IhxUWzS9EaEI-FbjoTbu_0xqjdbxtUVgvT45jwTzuOr7C2vCFnBp1XHr9LGOR26P4sMY/w273-h400/20033B40-FEA2-40B6-BDD6-87C72F4A1580.jpeg" width="273" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I remember my late Mama had the complete collection, and he and Mami used to be huge fans of the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series, but I never got around to reading the books. However I have recently watched most of the Jeremy Brett adaptations on iTV. It’s a pity Brett couldn’t complete all the stories as he’s very good in the first 6 seasons. Like Soumitra Chatterjee was the personification of Feluda, it is without doubt the the actor who brought Holmes to life on screen was Jeremy Brett. But I do have a gripe about the Victorian era Sherlock Holmes series in general - more about that at the backend of this this post.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have also been a fan of the clever, slick reboot in BBC ‘Sherlock’ starring Benedict Cumberbatch but I couldn’t get through ‘Elementary’ though the premise was interesting (Sherlock Holmes in contemporary New York ably accompanied by Jane Watson players by Lucy Liu) it was just boring. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In terms of audio stories, I find the <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq71IJk8mCV4QdfUSV2KYMRZoLeZnIxHp" target="_blank">Radio Mirchi Sunday Suspense Bengali</a> versions outstanding. It is counter intuitive that a Bengali translation of such a classic English literary character can be gripping, but Radio Mirchi really does up the ante on the thrill quotient with its audio stories. And speaking of audio stories, I really enjoyed the Benedict Cumberbatch voiced “</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="https://youtu.be/TgAFGJ1zasM" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes: The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries and Other Stories</a>” which were written by </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">John Taylor.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">In summary, for me Sherlock Holmes will always be my beloved Feluda’s guru. A relationship twice removed.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVDJhp5ZvNWza3XT22hSk4vwurg0EXbE5JLuJaWBifyLxTjVGglURFy84rYg07D0q8w2E1gxGR3mN0LbMtE7sYuu423mPxjk14GqslykluoMKRC-Pr70rgglR6dnQK0B-8EdbmUbqlsr1S/s1201/D6996C4A-6788-4649-BDE0-5B1CF0BBA904.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="1201" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVDJhp5ZvNWza3XT22hSk4vwurg0EXbE5JLuJaWBifyLxTjVGglURFy84rYg07D0q8w2E1gxGR3mN0LbMtE7sYuu423mPxjk14GqslykluoMKRC-Pr70rgglR6dnQK0B-8EdbmUbqlsr1S/s320/D6996C4A-6788-4649-BDE0-5B1CF0BBA904.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div></blockquote><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">Sherlock’s Indian connections</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It gives me an inexplicable pleasure to spot the Indian elements in the stories by famous foreign authors… perhaps it is a need for a validation of my ‘Indianess’, I’m not sure. More specifically, I like to find a Calcutta connection, if any, in Tintin, Asterix, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, etc. (Click on this <a href="https://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/when-james-bond-tintin-and-other-fiction-legends-brought-the-action-to-india/articleshow/47368531.cms" target="_blank">link</a> that gives a very good overview of the Indian connections.)</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While Sherlock never visited Calcutta in any of the Arthur Conan Doyle adventures, there are several Indian elements in the series. These include:</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;">The doped mutton curry in ‘<b>The Silver Blaze</b>’</span></li><li><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;">In ‘<b>The Adventure of the Three Students</b>’ one suspect is “a quiet, inscrutable fellow; as most of those Indians are”</span></li><li><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;">The novel ‘<b>The Sign of the Four</b>’ has a complex plot involving service in East India Company, the 1857 Uprising, a stolen treasure, and a secret pact among four convicts and two corrupt prison guards at a prison in Andaman islands. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">In ‘<b>The Crooked Man</b>’ in the Indian Uprising (viewed as the Sepoy Mutiny by the British) of 1857 plays a pivotal role and the suspect is a British soldier who is captured by rebels and kept as a slave in Darjeeling. After escaping from their clutches he learns conjuring tricks from Punjabis before returning to Britain as a queer sideshow attraction. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The only Calcutta connection in the Arthur Conan Doyle series is in ‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band’</b> — Doyle’s own favourite plot — the murder weapon turns out to be an extremely deadly Bengali swamp-adder trained to kill. Although quite unscientific (Bengal never exported swamp-adders to be used by Western murderers simply because there are no swamp-adders in India), the corrupting influences of colonialism loomed large: the culprit, if you recall, turns out to be a Calcutta-returned brutish British self-taught snake charmer. </span><span style="text-align: center;">Illustration below from my beloved Moby Books version</span></li></ol><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO8G4wEZELMWek1iDyS_H55WScvMHQi2KsMgZAtlFWMkDf1F_6ud_0TD4ROZEV2zuA6iJWSxC1neOLDlQ7bXhAIkpRGq3-VG71kMYpzI1w-5oOZLGZKdXHSialJSt8X9RFgYhg68ds5aGd/s2048/E22E79A4-5A80-4208-97AE-A83B53536FC8.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO8G4wEZELMWek1iDyS_H55WScvMHQi2KsMgZAtlFWMkDf1F_6ud_0TD4ROZEV2zuA6iJWSxC1neOLDlQ7bXhAIkpRGq3-VG71kMYpzI1w-5oOZLGZKdXHSialJSt8X9RFgYhg68ds5aGd/s320/E22E79A4-5A80-4208-97AE-A83B53536FC8.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;">It is a well-known fact that Doctor Watson, Holmes’ trusted companion and chronicler, had partaken in the Afghan campaigns. But the one remarkable journey that Holmes himself undertook in his fictional life, and which is the most fascinatingly alluring aspect of his myth, is his purported trip to India. I hear your doubts — and yes, there’s no story by Doyle that tells us of his adventures hereabouts. But clues in the compiled Sherlockiana hint at an Indian sojourn. Holmes drowned in the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland as a result of a mortal battle with the Napoleon of crime, Professor Moriarty; this was a ruse Doyle used at a time when he felt that writing detective stories was distracting him from more important work (he was into fairies and spiritualism).</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;">Due to the public outcry at Holmes’ death, Doyle resurrected him a few years later and upon returning to London, the detective shrugs off his absence by casually mentioning that he had disguised himself as a Norwegian who hung out with the Dalai Lama! Says Holmes, “I travelled for two years in Tibet, therefore, and amused myself by visiting Lhassa and spending some days with the head Llama.” He simply faked his own death in order to hoodwink his enemies and went on a spiritual world tour that, apparently, also took him to Mecca — which was probably something of a dream itinerary for the spiritualistic Doyle himself.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">Indian writers of Holmes pastiches bring Sherlock home</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;">Several Indian writers have taken up the challenge to rewrite Holmes’ adventures from an Indian point of view. These include:</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span class="s1">Partha Basu’s </span><span class="s2">‘T</span></b><span class="s2" style="font-weight: bold;">he Curious Case of 221B: The Secret Notebooks of John H Watson, MD’,</span><span class="s1"> looks at Holmes from a subaltern perspective (here Watson provides us with the real facts behind the published cases)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2" style="font-weight: bold;">Vithal Rajan’s <b><span class="s2">‘</span></b>Holmes of the Raj</span><span class="s1">’ spoofs the Orientalist fiction genre. In this pastiche, Holmes is dispatched on a confidential mission to India, where he makes the acquaintance of the virtual who’s who of colonial days, including Motilal Nehru, Tagore, Aurobindo, Kipling, Ronald Ross and Madame Blavatsky</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">The prominent Tibetan freedom fighter </span><span class="s2" style="font-weight: bold;">Jamyang Norbu’s <b><span class="s2">‘</span></b>The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes</span><span class="s1">’, won the Crossword fiction award in 2000. It was the above mentioned Tibetan reference by the detective that inspired Norbu, who grew up in exile in India, to write his novel that contains some very evocative episodes set in Bombay about a hundred years ago. To top it all, Holmes teams up in this novel with a fictional spy from Rudyard Kipling’s novel Kim! Eventually, the clues of the case lead him to travel up to Tibet, filling in that famous gap that Doyle left open in the larger narrative.</span></span></li></ol><p></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2" style="font-weight: bold;">It is through the writing of one such Indian author when Holmes finally visits Calcutta - in Vasudev Murthy’s ‘Sherlock Holmes in Japan: The Missing Years’. </span><span class="s1">Murthy’s novel, like many others, takes advantage of the great hiatus between ‘The Final Problem’ and ‘The Adventure of the Empty House’. The novel has</span> Holmes and Watson arriving in Japan by a circuitous route from Calcutta through Bangkok, Angkor Wat, Hanoi, Hong Kong and Shanghai. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the book written by Murthy under the pseudonym ‘Akira Yamashita’, Holmes with help from Watson exposes Professor Moriarty’s dastardly plan of world domination. Incidentally by happy coincidence, Sebastian Moran, Moriarty’s second in command is formerly of the First Bangalore Pioneers. In Calcutta, Holmes and Watson have dinner at Debnath Chatterjee’s house. “He is modelled on Rabindranath Tagore.”, says Murthy. Dr. Jagdish Chandra Bose also makes a cameo appearance as well. As always Watson is rather stodgy but his love of Bengali sweets makes him endearingly human.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_W4t_m0E5gWs8A6zp9RyszfcEJkt-u3gAoGxGfnAwYnlhMTkPw0eKFozQwBUpES-pXakrF42h7u8lEhBOe2IYFqSRsKpQPuaBbRFLkqUpkVvsGVtDmEBfr8p3Oi1s5SkS3vcY3-h0IMpo/s2048/Desktop.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_W4t_m0E5gWs8A6zp9RyszfcEJkt-u3gAoGxGfnAwYnlhMTkPw0eKFozQwBUpES-pXakrF42h7u8lEhBOe2IYFqSRsKpQPuaBbRFLkqUpkVvsGVtDmEBfr8p3Oi1s5SkS3vcY3-h0IMpo/s320/Desktop.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span>Murthy wrote another book in the series which was set in Timbaktu. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Here</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> story tracks the travels of historic characters like Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo traversing China, India and parts of Arabia and Africa, with Sherlock Holmes thrown into the mix.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; text-align: left;">Doyle’s dodgy views of India dampened my enthusiasm for reading Holmes</span></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">I cannot end this post without discussing the difficult topic of Doyle's portrayal of India. This is one of the reasons I could not get myself to read the original works. I do not know if I am being too sensitive but personally I cannot ignore the racist undertones in Holmes. </span><span class="s1">While sympathists may say it was reflective of the time and readers should see it in the context of society at the time, his portrayal of India and Indians undeniably reflects a sense of racial superiority that marked the colonialists’ relationship with their subjects</span>. There are several clear examples that betray these beliefs and views. For instance, in his second Holmes adventure, ‘The Sign of Four’, Jonathan Small, despite being a criminal and subaltern in Britain, dehumanises his Andamanese accomplice Tonga; Small calls Tonga “hell-hound”, “little devil”, “bloodthirsty imp” and parades him at freak shows as “the black cannibal.” Both are underclass, but the sub-text is that the white-skinned Small has the right to dominate the dark-skinned Tonga. This is classic 19th -century race theory translated into fiction. Dr Watson, too, considered Tonga a mass of black -- “like a Newfoundland dog”. </span>Read this <a href="https://www.academia.edu/12331348/Criminality_and_India_in_Sherlock_Holmes_Adventures" target="_blank">excellent academic paper</a> that delves more into this topic.</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">Vilification of Indians continues with many of his famous criminals having connections to India. Jonathan Small (</span>‘The Sign of the Four’<span class="s1">) lost a leg to a crocodile while swimming the Ganga; he was liberal with the whip and insults at an indigo plantation. Dr Grimesby Roylott (</span><span class="s1">‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band’), who smoked Indian cigars and kept the company of gypsies was a doctor with a large practice in Calcutta; he killed his step-daughter with an adder, which the storyline suggests he was able to do because he had access to “exotic animals”. Sebastian Moran (</span><b>‘</b><span class="s1">The Adventure of the Empty House</span>’<span class="s1">), whom Holmes called the ‘second most dangerous man in London’, was a big game hunter and served in the Second Anglo-Afghan war. </span>In short: like many of his Victorian contemporaries, Doyle seemed to believe that Englishmen who had spent time in the Orient had picked up its savage ways and returned home to civilised England as hardened criminals.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span class="s1"></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">In her essay Crime and the Gothic, professor Catherine Spooner peels off other layers regarding Doyle’s views of India. Referring to </span>‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band’, she says, “Dr Roylott intends to kill Helen by releasing a deadly poisonous swamp adder (the snake appears to be the Indian Cobra but Doyle changed the name), brought back from India, into her room. Following Holmes’ intervention, the snake returns into Roylott’s room and strikes him instead….The snake becomes an instrument of colonial retribution, revisiting on its master not only the violence he intended against his family, but also that perpetrated on the colonial subject, both literal (Roylott beat his Indian butler to death in Calcutta, but escaped being sentenced) and symbolic (the practice of colonialism itself).” That is, colonialism extracts its price one way or the other. But which side Doyle was on is still a question.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Did Doyle redeem himself in real life, though?</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Possibly. Arthur Conan Doyle was drawn to investigate just one real-life crime during his lifetime and it involved a British Indian man wrongly accused of a series of mysterious crimes in an English village in the early 20th century. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The story of that Indian-origin barrister, George Edalji, has now been dug up in detail and brought to life in a new book by London-based historian-author Shrabani Basu, who chanced upon the mystery and pursued it through archival records and letters over the years. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The result is ‘The Mystery of the Parsee Lawyer: Arthur Conan Doyle, George Edalji and the case of the foreigner in the English village’. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The story revolves around several threatening letters and the distressing killing and mutilation of animals. It was one of the most famous cases of miscarriage of justice in Edwardian England which was forgotten over time. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Conan Doyle, whom George Edalji had turned to for help after being jailed in 1903 for crimes he did not commit, encountered a mystery worthy of his fictional detective. The Sherlock Holmes author meticulously pieced clues together to conclude that George had been the victim of racism for being a “Hindoo” – as all Indians were referred to at the time.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrp_8AtwyEB26D2Ti37v0THcDT4NMvBudApxnu5Y-rj7RPwQNt32ElYyK8OGzAUWjV8R6-yG-GlzGojJvaIJWKRUJzpYmBGJO3TpL9C0x_9LURMY1hA4oi_kBspC579KuC443JsS0pEMI/s619/902883-parsee-lawyer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="619" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrp_8AtwyEB26D2Ti37v0THcDT4NMvBudApxnu5Y-rj7RPwQNt32ElYyK8OGzAUWjV8R6-yG-GlzGojJvaIJWKRUJzpYmBGJO3TpL9C0x_9LURMY1hA4oi_kBspC579KuC443JsS0pEMI/s320/902883-parsee-lawyer.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><div><br /></div><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I think Indian readers will find it interesting that in 1907 Arthur Conan Doyle responded to a letter by a young Indian lawyer appealing to him for help to clear his name, and he took up the cause. </span>Even Jawaharlal Nehru, who was an 18-year-old student at the time in Harrow School in London, got fascinated with the case and remarked that George had no doubt been targeted because he was Indian. What fascinated me was the fact that the only true crime that Arthur Conan Doyle investigated personally was to do with an Indian,<span style="font-family: inherit;">" said Basu (pictured above).</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the world continues to be intrigued by the ageless Sherlock Holmes, and Bengalis love for <i>goyenda golpo </i>remains evergreen, I am hoping some talented author will set a full Holmes story in Calcutta. Till then enjoy this pastiche by Snehajit Lahiri I found on Facebook. In this story ‘London-e Londobhondo’, Felu Mittir works with his guru on solving a crime in London. Click on the photo below to read it.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://feludafanfiction.blogspot.com/2018/01/londoney-londobhondo-by-snehajit-lahiri.html?m=0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVjfwzzq79evbryaNjjvIO20FXCobzkS44nnaANx87T3_g9gn3JaEESEQXl0jtDd7AMOOI-Q9P39fr906pwNOQ56S5ZReO0JIOu0fHrUIzKBkwjhG5WgGRRFXoDKW-7aDQSM9tVKysB8Qt/s320/772E2266-5525-4262-934B-91CC3FB9E3FB.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Sources:</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.thehindu.com/books/sherlock-holmes-afterlife-in-india-the-adventure-of-the-drowned-detective/article27330794.ece/amp/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.thehindu.com/books/sherlock-holmes-afterlife-in-india-the-adventure-of-the-drowned-detective/article27330794.ece/amp/</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/a-discovery-of-india-via-conan-doyle/story-FGSyS54gGN1sfGm6o9l8oI.html"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/a-discovery-of-india-via-conan-doyle/story-FGSyS54gGN1sfGm6o9l8oI.html</span></a></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/the-other-me/article5145872.ece">https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/the-other-me/article5145872.ece</a></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.freepressjournal.in/cmcm/sherlock-holmes-was-a-man-of-the-world-interested-in-absolutely-everything-vasudev-murthy">https://www.freepressjournal.in/cmcm/sherlock-holmes-was-a-man-of-the-world-interested-in-absolutely-everything-vasudev-murthy</a></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/new-book-uncovers-indian-mystery-probed-by-sherlock-holmes-author-101614487806557.html" style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/new-book-uncovers-indian-mystery-probed-by-sherlock-holmes-author-101614487806557.ht</a>ml</span></li></ol></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-89998809401354652932021-07-30T19:10:00.053+05:302021-07-31T16:13:52.480+05:30Tintin in India <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibeTxNwTXQ5pwIi7-kMeRdmpvi-mIi5ng3-y6HmF4KSEk0YVh6uzbDwVsmYhUANx57RfWpWd2lgYEImPUleeEPKljYoSwrZTgiRhP9OBU1P5grxSddpn3qQ-x7fod9Zv2kTcl4-U_lYzt8/s1400/IMG_2251.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="1400" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibeTxNwTXQ5pwIi7-kMeRdmpvi-mIi5ng3-y6HmF4KSEk0YVh6uzbDwVsmYhUANx57RfWpWd2lgYEImPUleeEPKljYoSwrZTgiRhP9OBU1P5grxSddpn3qQ-x7fod9Zv2kTcl4-U_lYzt8/w640-h268/IMG_2251.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Author Vikram Seth, in his verse novel, 'The Golden Gate' pays one of the most eloquent tributes to Tintin and his friends, through a witty sonnet. It's not difficult to see why Seth, like countless other Indians including yours truly, has been so captivated by the world's most famous boy reporter with a trademark quiff who set foot in India only twice* in his comic book adventures.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tintin's first trip to India in 1934 is quite a hackneyed depiction reflective of the colonial time warp of Europe at the time. In the otherwise riveting Cigars of the Pharaoh, the intrepid reporter crashes his small plane in the jungles of India. He meets a mad fakir, and escapes from a mental asylum. There is a journey on a train bound for "Sethru-Jamjah". Irate villagers catch Snowy chasing a cow and decide to "slay" him at the "altar of Siva". Cliches galore! There are scenes of a railway station with a neat Indian Railway poster - the only sliver of reality.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8cJnpAEQ5OQZkfZFK15eT51YzNJz-4PwW_9yvJqy7y_A9Oz5yjRrDCWbQThkk1B2fRnAvywCXGXGG5VWL3LOYqY6tWYlnAzcibWtwvG8VnokShjihcFXXq6p9xM1uOljCuE42bO2-qD5/s900/DEBA874B-87B5-469A-A3C0-6985215E0EB9.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8cJnpAEQ5OQZkfZFK15eT51YzNJz-4PwW_9yvJqy7y_A9Oz5yjRrDCWbQThkk1B2fRnAvywCXGXGG5VWL3LOYqY6tWYlnAzcibWtwvG8VnokShjihcFXXq6p9xM1uOljCuE42bO2-qD5/s320/DEBA874B-87B5-469A-A3C0-6985215E0EB9.webp" width="256" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">All this happens in the ridiculously named kingdom of the Maharaja of Gaipajama, which translates literally into the "king of a cow's pyjama"! The India in Cigars of the Pharoah is utterly unreal and stuffed with awful caricatures. An argument with a cow, in fact, lands Snowy, Tintin's faithful companion, on the altar —ready to be sacrificed by angry Hindus, before he is saved by the bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson, who prove useful in this case. The adventure ends happily, with Tintin — nattily dressed in a turban and shervani and accompanied by Snowy — joining his host, the Maharaja of Gaipajama, in a victory procession.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0TMN_JIOFW3mPehmo2RhnvTXS4Ndo_5siNXU06I0XddLpcJ4QeBQBDItAWxaGmZblW5uvHiww9-LwnT9vqhbGIxpEw3HQO-n24M9bpjrNbMNLUbKeGSPyneIJeXUsj91r1_Goh5wtCdRk/s565/D5897101-8242-4389-9FD5-65B939BB8522.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="565" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0TMN_JIOFW3mPehmo2RhnvTXS4Ndo_5siNXU06I0XddLpcJ4QeBQBDItAWxaGmZblW5uvHiww9-LwnT9vqhbGIxpEw3HQO-n24M9bpjrNbMNLUbKeGSPyneIJeXUsj91r1_Goh5wtCdRk/s320/D5897101-8242-4389-9FD5-65B939BB8522.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The second time was in 1958. In Tintin in Tibet, one of Herge's most elegantly drawn albums, the intrepid Belgian scribe arrives at Delhi airport en route to Kathmandu and a new adventure. Herge fares exceedingly well, taking Tintin and his friends to the Qutub Minar and the Red Fort - two Delhi landmarks - that are etched out in fine detail and rich colours as you can see below. They would’ve gone to Jama Masjid too, but they were late for their Air India flight to Kathmandu! </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Michael Farr, a leading British 'Tintinologist', says Herge actually did a "lot of research" for Tintin's Indian journey: he secured catalogues of all the aircraft Air India used and uniforms the cabin crew wore at that time.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw8qlTMKUx49C-xXIVgyg-NbCoWOP5h7BVmDbPrm4M14AcWv8VNFE_bPQgGWP59BHEgi8Sn5uSfH0dzlt9YfnGFK4wfQt_jkUjibpr9-k0-206yUJGDsREj7h6nsz5-A0Tw4EhtBf5tkEC/s1268/Untitled.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1268" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw8qlTMKUx49C-xXIVgyg-NbCoWOP5h7BVmDbPrm4M14AcWv8VNFE_bPQgGWP59BHEgi8Sn5uSfH0dzlt9YfnGFK4wfQt_jkUjibpr9-k0-206yUJGDsREj7h6nsz5-A0Tw4EhtBf5tkEC/w400-h151/Untitled.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Scenes from Tintin in Tibet</span></i></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">To many, Herge's depiction of India may seem too riddled with clichés and stereotypes, reflective of a European colonial mindset fuelled prejudices. But no one can deny the realism and painstaking detail which he brought into his narrative. For instance, when, in Tintin in Tibet, Captain Haddock bumps into a porter who yells at him in Hindi, Herge made sure that each word was correctly spelled out in the Devanagri script and that it was not just a meaningless hieroglyphics. It was this eye for detail that captivated noted film director Satyajit Ray — a self-confessed Tintin addict — who often referred to the stories in his films and books, especially in his famous Feluda detective series.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsk_g-TCKKjtXwMgsKrUAnnM6L8WFAtrCFOrSMc0wluV43Z3HxMPLLk8SEMrTfIDo0bUsWv66G_f4TCwU6vLKtm6sNbOs4rBJbbA2Trf2VLJXCofe9-UZZORybAApnKJHRPJzmAfheR8sJ/s1334/6D0B4455-0256-42DD-984D-CE0DD46E92B3.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="1201" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsk_g-TCKKjtXwMgsKrUAnnM6L8WFAtrCFOrSMc0wluV43Z3HxMPLLk8SEMrTfIDo0bUsWv66G_f4TCwU6vLKtm6sNbOs4rBJbbA2Trf2VLJXCofe9-UZZORybAApnKJHRPJzmAfheR8sJ/s320/6D0B4455-0256-42DD-984D-CE0DD46E92B3.jpeg" width="288" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ray has referred to Tintin in his many Feluda stories and two Feluda films. If you enlarge the photo, you can read his description of Tintin from Kailashe Kelenkari. Read more about <a href="https://21rajanisenroad.blogspot.com/2020/04/fan-art-tintin-x-feluda.html" target="_blank">Tintin and Feluda</a> here</span></i></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">By the 1970s Hergé became interested in eastern philosophy and Tintin took to yoga in Tintin and the Picaros (1976).</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Sj14iTGM9LEl7Vq2qhz0u_GKc1GdLjdkvqbyR1IiYA3pG3TD08GwtJV6kae8Q9OrjMGLBZ62B7P3hPs_E4VV9lz3yWG9G9-AUxTkHIkbYsw6nbnUzg8iIYCYHD8D_VhLGrEa1NghD1fm/s565/23A786AC-9D86-4D68-8B57-F15302F44F2D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="565" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Sj14iTGM9LEl7Vq2qhz0u_GKc1GdLjdkvqbyR1IiYA3pG3TD08GwtJV6kae8Q9OrjMGLBZ62B7P3hPs_E4VV9lz3yWG9G9-AUxTkHIkbYsw6nbnUzg8iIYCYHD8D_VhLGrEa1NghD1fm/s320/23A786AC-9D86-4D68-8B57-F15302F44F2D.png" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Indians still love Tintin like no other comic book. It had been first translated into Bangla in 1976, and ever since Tintin and his dog "Kuttush" have enjoyed <a href="http://arkasircar.blogspot.com/2021/07/banglay-tintin.html?m=1" target="_blank">cult status in Bengal</a> ever since. The comic was translated into Bengali by Nirendranath Chakraborty. Nirendranath Chakraborty is an important literary figure. He is one of those who created a unique poetic language. It is surprising that the Tintin series — which may have been ignored as ‘children’s literature’ — was appealing enough for him to put in so much introspection into the translation. So, it is not entirely unexpected that Chakraborty should use subtle nuances of language to give the characters of Tintin’s world a Bengali flavour while avoiding any blatant provincial element in their behaviour. The language of the translation retains the inherent mood of the original, even when the expressions are changed to fit an audience not acquainted with certain cultural references. What is equally remarkable is the congruity that Chakraborty’s language managed to maintain with Hergé’s drawings. It seems as though the faces drawn by Hergé were meant to speak in Bengali.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps there is something uniquely Bengali in Tintin. And that ‘something’ lies in Captain Haddock’s '<i>Jotto sob gneri-gugli-r jhnak</i>' (billions of blue blistering barnacles), Professor Calculus’s endearing, deafness-induced confusion that is strangely familiar, and of course, Kuttush, the Bengali Snowy. Chakraborty had not only translated Tintin into Bengali, but had also incorporated in the comic a ‘Bengali-ness’ that draws us closer to it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">In fact, the adventures of Tintin have been so popular in the Bengal for years, it had led Herge, the creator of Tintin, to remark, "I receive a lot of mail from India. Here, in my office, are two letters from Calcutta. Now, what can there be in common between a boy in Calcutta and myself ?"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nearly 5 decades later, Tintin finally spoke a second Indian language - the comic books were translated in Hindi in 2010. Tintin animation series had come out in Hindi much earlier and had been released on VCD/DVD in 2005. In the Hindi version, while Tintin remains the same, Snowy has been desi-fied to “Natkhat” and detectives Thomson and Thompson have been renamed “Santu and Bantu”. Captain Haddock’s ‘billions and billions of blue blistering barnacles’ has become ‘<i>karodo karod kasmasate kaale kacchuve’</i> (millions and millions of squirming black turtles) while ‘ten thousand thundering typhoons’ reads as ‘<i>dus hazaar tadtadate toofa</i>n’. Tintin’s catchphrase ‘Great snakes’ has been changed to ‘<i>baal ki khaal</i>’.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhAb5Z6zPC9R2a2fOfG-rvI95NUMa93InQCJLd8dJ1AbPhewmU2AgN4hb86b1nSmLAGfS7GNu87dNkCVEiS3hQwMEh0Bq9JEBXB2P6nyMbTcMD5EkSrB24W2e2CZCB-sCZJvl3jl4z768/s1500/94E9BCF9-1888-43CC-9D4D-EA391547FCBC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1129" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhAb5Z6zPC9R2a2fOfG-rvI95NUMa93InQCJLd8dJ1AbPhewmU2AgN4hb86b1nSmLAGfS7GNu87dNkCVEiS3hQwMEh0Bq9JEBXB2P6nyMbTcMD5EkSrB24W2e2CZCB-sCZJvl3jl4z768/s320/94E9BCF9-1888-43CC-9D4D-EA391547FCBC.jpeg" width="241" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hindi and Bengali covers of the 2 Tintin albums where he’s been to India</span></i></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">In an age of instant gratification and waning attention spans, Tintin albums - in English, and in Bengali and Hindi translations - continue to sell by the thousands. Is it any surprise then that Steven Spielberg's paean to the intrepid reporter, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, released in India six weeks ahead of its the US release? </span>Sony Pictures (India), which is released the film in India said that <span style="font-family: inherit;">their research shows that more than 90% of the audience that watches Hollywood films in India are Tintin fans.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is no wonder that artists across India are spending hours creating fan art of Tintin in various places across India.</span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kolkata</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhehR6qL9UGM8MgLq3-D4p38ClUs3hem3NwPeWXp5zoNPAjo-pRCdWxrv44jNrCOkpn1v3V6B4fmhxp2s5EuxEazHNgo_LTe-GF8JtoDavKCJS8EX7vNthocLsoXqZyXNXTOIa4FqJegRR2/s1080/IMG_2178.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="1080" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhehR6qL9UGM8MgLq3-D4p38ClUs3hem3NwPeWXp5zoNPAjo-pRCdWxrv44jNrCOkpn1v3V6B4fmhxp2s5EuxEazHNgo_LTe-GF8JtoDavKCJS8EX7vNthocLsoXqZyXNXTOIa4FqJegRR2/s320/IMG_2178.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://arkasircar.blogspot.com/2021/07/banglay-tintin.html?m=1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Read my detailed post here</span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Darjeeling</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqNSbWoJguVysMVLhZRh3vFj0JKXQ6KxPV6jBcHfUQXdu4iYJ8JJTfpfnSIUnahmeqZecfF64GYK-f8hhBMQbtcD3Ag7WItvcn5lVzGQFk7inhUgRflqdeFr0VZ1-gHBxQRzS9oSaCs9PX/s759/542CC422-C3FF-41BC-A654-819F73D6F642.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="759" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqNSbWoJguVysMVLhZRh3vFj0JKXQ6KxPV6jBcHfUQXdu4iYJ8JJTfpfnSIUnahmeqZecfF64GYK-f8hhBMQbtcD3Ag7WItvcn5lVzGQFk7inhUgRflqdeFr0VZ1-gHBxQRzS9oSaCs9PX/s320/542CC422-C3FF-41BC-A654-819F73D6F642.webp" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pondicherry </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbiJm7_d_YFhMNtHVO90qgwoo4JihbAIc0fEToHsp-FQVzlE10HMehV4fhGAb_bh_fFjd_R2tNlr8xAZ_R56WC6JUwWav82u1f5yPbrflDwG8q8RPik3AeHObqPtGH3_09h6fadCD3pVeR/s1200/IMG_2253.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbiJm7_d_YFhMNtHVO90qgwoo4JihbAIc0fEToHsp-FQVzlE10HMehV4fhGAb_bh_fFjd_R2tNlr8xAZ_R56WC6JUwWav82u1f5yPbrflDwG8q8RPik3AeHObqPtGH3_09h6fadCD3pVeR/s320/IMG_2253.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqYz56xkpXt87tKyYJzkKfnq8Jv3FUc24ibetkFUwsgrR6KI49jza-4TygH4MHPYZeU_66YgNeFxMtkuD52oHf3Q6DRaVUvbQ2vp-0WiiNZ3-uZA63upL1a1gj6ymtfBxraYt0YwiCYWV/s827/IMG_2252.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="827" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqYz56xkpXt87tKyYJzkKfnq8Jv3FUc24ibetkFUwsgrR6KI49jza-4TygH4MHPYZeU_66YgNeFxMtkuD52oHf3Q6DRaVUvbQ2vp-0WiiNZ3-uZA63upL1a1gj6ymtfBxraYt0YwiCYWV/s320/IMG_2252.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">French artist <a href="https://scroll.in/magazine/868710/tintin-and-captain-haddock-came-to-pondicherry-so-why-didnt-we-know-about-it-earlier" target="_blank">Jacques Beaumelle</a> imagined his favourite childhood hero strolling through Pondicherry.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mumbai</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2KblpFbQxU_lkABWk17ASxFaDOkSpPhyphenhyphenR23gAEcqF6bSfuHO4CmxNCgqWeqP9_Bl0z_QFQVD7FTgQS-LUwY5KuXefu6k9XuMEuvYmm-NLqNPc2ATK9yspomqgwR-APoURgHWRd-i3RkU/s1126/9DFD0B79-C374-4BEB-BF91-D41F33549EAF.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1126" data-original-width="828" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2KblpFbQxU_lkABWk17ASxFaDOkSpPhyphenhyphenR23gAEcqF6bSfuHO4CmxNCgqWeqP9_Bl0z_QFQVD7FTgQS-LUwY5KuXefu6k9XuMEuvYmm-NLqNPc2ATK9yspomqgwR-APoURgHWRd-i3RkU/s320/9DFD0B79-C374-4BEB-BF91-D41F33549EAF.jpeg" width="235" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Delhi</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpmVzR4WQqIx9E9JqxZNrb_lLhsVqnXojb-KOe8w8D5eUSPcveTqdkGJr_lG82-TDfgMwRfzhqvISoq4vfL0JO2hPr5s-1yYFtPwhSsSASd5bsVhMuf0hoW2HQUUKYvxFfXiON8NB5tCm/s1977/IMG_2250.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1977" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpmVzR4WQqIx9E9JqxZNrb_lLhsVqnXojb-KOe8w8D5eUSPcveTqdkGJr_lG82-TDfgMwRfzhqvISoq4vfL0JO2hPr5s-1yYFtPwhSsSASd5bsVhMuf0hoW2HQUUKYvxFfXiON8NB5tCm/s320/IMG_2250.JPG" width="227" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">T<i>his was was drawn to highlight the smog and poor quality of air in the city.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">---</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">* Herge had written a play based in India though. It was called 'Tintin aux Indes: Le Mystère du diamant bleu' ('Tintin in India - the Mystery of the Blue Diamond') and released in April 1941.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoqHE65WsapcMOQseDzuXB-bJ4h7GCBW0UygmJ_vMDjQztPn_AOzKDcecQL3BdWcAylxYWbSsqExSdaqOa6uIqybWTgYsxumNueSJ94gHOhG2J0p3bl-sh4_d0sWukQMEo4JUDNhi9ZRHL/s2048/Blue+Diamond.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoqHE65WsapcMOQseDzuXB-bJ4h7GCBW0UygmJ_vMDjQztPn_AOzKDcecQL3BdWcAylxYWbSsqExSdaqOa6uIqybWTgYsxumNueSJ94gHOhG2J0p3bl-sh4_d0sWukQMEo4JUDNhi9ZRHL/w400-h283/Blue+Diamond.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i>Tintin aux Indes: Le Mystère du diamant bleu</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">'The Mystery of the Blue Diamond' <span style="font-family: inherit;">was a Belgian theatre piece in three acts written in French </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">by Hergé and Jacques Van Melkebeke. It features Hergé's famous character, Tintin, and covers much of the second half of Cigars of the Pharaoh as Tintin attempts to </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">rescue a stolen blue diamond. The events of the story occur within the chronology of Tintin stories, between The Crab with the Golden Claws and The Shooting Star. </span>Plot synopsis:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>Act 1 is set in the palace of Padakhore, India. </i></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Detectives Thompson and Thomson arrive and meet Badapour, the prime minister of Padakhore. He explains their mission, namely to act as bodyguards of the Maharaja.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Tonight", he says, "there's a big celebration at the palace, and tomorrow the Maharaja will leave for Syldavia.". And if anything happens to the </span>Maharaja <span style="font-family: inherit;">, the two detectives will lose their heads!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Maharaja and the guests arrive. These include Doctor and Mrs. Nicholson, Syldavian ambassador Count Koulansky and the almost deaf archeologist Chippendale and his </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">wife.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A telegram announces the arrival of Tintin. Count Koulansky gets over-excited. He explains that after the affair with King Ottokar's scepter, Tintin is considered a </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">hero in Syldavia. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Any Syldavian who achieves something good is called "<i>sprados urkel spodzaviev karamadsov zlazek rosbifkiroska'fa spetchnouk Tintin</i>", which Koulansky reveals means </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"a real Tintin".</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tintin finally arrives with a leashed Snowy. In the evening the celebrities begin, including hypnotizing performances by the fakir Caudebathimouva Thoubva and dancing </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">by The Great Hindou Ballet of Padakhore.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the grand finale, the Maharaja will display his famous Blue Diamond. But disaster strikes - the diamond has disappeared! Tintin concludes that the thief must be one </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">the invited guests.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A search organised by the Thompsons givès nothing. Tintin suggests that the hearings should continue the next day on the trip to Syldavia aboard the"Rampura".</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Act 2 takes place aboard the "Rampura".</b></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tintin interviews all persons present when the diamond disappeared. After ministers Badapour and Dourka, Tintin questions Dr. and Mrs. Nicholson. Mrs. Nicholson finds the </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">whole situation exciting; a mystery in the fabled Orient among tigers, palaces and a Maharaja who is "as beautiful as a God".</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next in line are Koulanski and Mr. Chippendale. Suddenly the distressed Mrs. Chippendale interferes. There is more bad news; the waiter of the Maharaja has disappeared in </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">the sea! Tintin quickly concludes that the waiter has been killed.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Obviously, Tintin says, the thief had an accomplice and the waiter knew too much. Night falls aboard the ship.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A mysterious shadow throws a bomb into the cabin of Tintin! The bomb spreads '<i>ramaganmahal</i>' a powerful poison, but luckily Tintin wasn't in the cabin when it </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">exploded.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tintin decides to send a telegram before the ship arrives at Syldavia.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Act 3 takes place in a medieval hall of a Syldavian castle. </b></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Thompsons are initially involved in a comic scene with knightly armours, trying to disguise themselves as phantoms.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The invited guests of the Maharaja, still assembled, then arrive. Just in time, Tintin receives the telegram he's been waiting for. He hands it around and everybody - </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">except for Chippendale - takes the telegram in the right hand.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And that proves that Chippendale is guilty! Why? Well, Tintin had sent a telegram to James Edwards in Boston, the butler of the real Mr. Chippendale. And in the </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">telegram, Edwards confirms that the real Chippendale is right-handed while the imposter who showed up in India and stole the blue diamond is left-handed. The </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chippendales are arrested and the diamond is found in their luggage. Tintin has solved the mystery of the blue </span>diamond.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Read the excellent comic version by a talented Indonesian artist named Kaka Nami Rai by clicking on the cover below.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oVvu2QI3KrxmPdMstPT_eVkMK7B3HgrK/view" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="633" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSeUN2egOfhO99lg3Xw0NcBg4IR6m1jEODz99c0erTG5QX25gyGwvuMQ_7Im8riNL3vLrkczO9cs0Il8UuFaCy5bf6wHQeHCpPObBKrsgYnmtnJJK8Uu5vI3NXjLlcAeKS2CDV3-vcDfT8/w273-h400/diamant+bleue451-2-633x928.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">***</div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sources:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/15680397"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/15680397</span></a></li><li><a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/tintin-in-india-the-epic-that-wasnt/articleshow/2094744.cms?from=mdr"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/tintin-in-india-the-epic-that-wasnt/articleshow/2094744.cms?from=mdr </span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/in-another-tongue/cid/476580">https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/in-another-tongue/cid/476580 </a></li><li><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.scroll.in/article/827773/captain-haddock-in-calcutta-or-the-story-that-herge-did-not-write-but-history-did"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.scroll.in/article/827773/captain-haddock-in-calcutta-or-the-story-that-herge-did-not-write-</span></a></li><li><a href="https://tintinomania.com/tintin-herge-tintin-aux-indes">https://tintinomania.com/tintin-herge-tintin-aux-indes</a></li><li><a href="http://myowntintin.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_20.html">http://myowntintin.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_20.html</a></li></ul></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-15152567704948358912021-07-29T18:30:00.045+05:302023-03-04T12:22:24.435+05:30Kolkatar Tintin <p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Tintin enjoys cult status in India, especially Bengal, where he features on the reading list of every self-respecting family. </span>Many a Bengali boy has had the daknaam (pet name) 'Tintin' and innumerable pet dogs have been named 'Snowy'.</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Whilst Tintin has never been to Kolkata in any of his adventures (although a certain <a href="https://scroll.in/article/827773/captain-haddock-in-calcutta-or-the-story-that-herge-did-not-write-but-history-did" target="_blank">Captain Haddock</a> is known to have visited The City of Joy), Tintin’s popularity in Bengal shows no signs of waning.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;">BTW, I am not sure how much this is true, but apparently the Maharaja’s place in Cigars of the Pharoh was inspired by the Parasnath Temple in Kolkata. So in a small way, Kolkata May have featured in Tintin stories!</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3FwwzRA0Sx4P1WV6BKbNqsHhVZU9tkv_2MXrWrh5b0qoh-GNKAZ5Q0URNxnjf3cy1qyMfCnkkcIZpxROc-7J7Mfx7m3jvMBLPDSa_1gfUFmzuXJObtBNVc4saObgJ3OpWptbOkFM1xB2q/s1280/33FBD2DB-DE0A-4681-B176-C87DD63AD142.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3FwwzRA0Sx4P1WV6BKbNqsHhVZU9tkv_2MXrWrh5b0qoh-GNKAZ5Q0URNxnjf3cy1qyMfCnkkcIZpxROc-7J7Mfx7m3jvMBLPDSa_1gfUFmzuXJObtBNVc4saObgJ3OpWptbOkFM1xB2q/w200-h200/33FBD2DB-DE0A-4681-B176-C87DD63AD142.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw-WZoufXnLhGY-Ro_UGIkJgCIVnuI-UVik3nE4JY7DcsPgVM_VgXRFdHzyAPVSc7U-DAUDuGu32ufFb1i7EqMdo18NxZeYnC3Ull_6f5C1BmgfwiBA-MXc_hb4xeXM4hpFOXfO2xFACyxa5kDwwTCr5C9uCG9_mPDsIlF4yr2mx_vSPiqZAy8aHuQzQ/s960/9C8872D0-EB85-4D51-92EE-55B5C15C6BF6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="757" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw-WZoufXnLhGY-Ro_UGIkJgCIVnuI-UVik3nE4JY7DcsPgVM_VgXRFdHzyAPVSc7U-DAUDuGu32ufFb1i7EqMdo18NxZeYnC3Ull_6f5C1BmgfwiBA-MXc_hb4xeXM4hpFOXfO2xFACyxa5kDwwTCr5C9uCG9_mPDsIlF4yr2mx_vSPiqZAy8aHuQzQ/s320/9C8872D0-EB85-4D51-92EE-55B5C15C6BF6.jpeg" width="252" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIQzDFrlUDXTF3Lu9twGqgz-JiIlJZX7yqjOXov4szYrwYKXd0nXYY41DvwIffbNN8gcAiz6MVXcj6bUCiPdxKp3LrJl1vN02_ISL4OeNqR7V6Ao2PKeW6G80CAipkrr7uP0RWjB9oOAs70abdhuSWi3xHDvcHcLlrb91gqWvbaAURBy5RlZ2yNsCfcw/s960/91375C04-EDCA-41C6-A0C6-FACAF1585A47.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIQzDFrlUDXTF3Lu9twGqgz-JiIlJZX7yqjOXov4szYrwYKXd0nXYY41DvwIffbNN8gcAiz6MVXcj6bUCiPdxKp3LrJl1vN02_ISL4OeNqR7V6Ao2PKeW6G80CAipkrr7uP0RWjB9oOAs70abdhuSWi3xHDvcHcLlrb91gqWvbaAURBy5RlZ2yNsCfcw/s320/91375C04-EDCA-41C6-A0C6-FACAF1585A47.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloC1O1Jh9YySZRzeQW1mzvEN3lBhziDn-w2FkPMrOST2KoYp2SNbo-12VY7RYZpocJBVHl7vkSX4iqRlS6wmB2_lPGpQS3OpNkg87ePP-E_44nOoJ77f6thuQXaUu9eaA4eOxMsv_bbjRD2omnzEivVACZ_W28d6l5T1uxsjbYHLiIDXG7m2-TUG7Kg/s878/B7AC16DB-CB4A-48C8-836C-46A2486130DD.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="878" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloC1O1Jh9YySZRzeQW1mzvEN3lBhziDn-w2FkPMrOST2KoYp2SNbo-12VY7RYZpocJBVHl7vkSX4iqRlS6wmB2_lPGpQS3OpNkg87ePP-E_44nOoJ77f6thuQXaUu9eaA4eOxMsv_bbjRD2omnzEivVACZ_W28d6l5T1uxsjbYHLiIDXG7m2-TUG7Kg/s320/B7AC16DB-CB4A-48C8-836C-46A2486130DD.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b style="text-align: left;">Banglay Tintin </b></div><div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1">In the 1970s, Bengali was the first Indian language in which Hergé’s works reached the subcontinent. </span>I believe the magazine owner Aveek Sarkar had himself travelled to Brussels in the 1970s to meet Hergé, and successfully received the rights to translate Tintin into Bengali. <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The translator of the adventure series into Bengali was none other than the poet Nirendranath Chakravarty. </span><span class="s1">Serialised in the popular children’s fortnightly magazine Anandamela (see covers above), Tintin and his dog Kuttush soon became a household name. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The Bengali Tintin was an instant hit.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg165J-78ZYwrvk1egXE_QFCh44RsR51dxINEWMcVYsHNqYy7_JQVMacZsMbtP9oGPnKlUiur7nZ4QqD0quR242QL9yYH5fvzuLuO5zMTeCU92B9Ua1PneYIzq6KYbLNjJCoFPD-NDLTrhP/s3072/Anandamela.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="3072" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg165J-78ZYwrvk1egXE_QFCh44RsR51dxINEWMcVYsHNqYy7_JQVMacZsMbtP9oGPnKlUiur7nZ4QqD0quR242QL9yYH5fvzuLuO5zMTeCU92B9Ua1PneYIzq6KYbLNjJCoFPD-NDLTrhP/w640-h214/Anandamela.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">By 2004, Anandamela had finished translating and serialising the 23 comic books. In the mid-1980s a local publisher began printing the comic books. Since then it has reportedly sold around 500,000 copies of each adventure! “Bengali Tintins are a part of every Bengali child's growing up. Our books are everywhere, in all book stores in Bengal,” said the chief of Ananda Publishers.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;">In an interview, Hergé once said, “I receive . . . a lot of mail from India. Here, in the office, are two letters from Calcutta. Now, what can there be in common between a boy in Calcutta and myself?” One such boy was Anindya Basu, an architect by profession, who in 1979 sent a card drawn with Tintin characters to Hergé, saying how much he loved the books. He got a signed Tintin cartoon in 1980 as a reply.</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdYIQn0myqY0LTdyPbuulFQkrkR3rK49_le6JMDrpRXE4wbz26ozRIWETXLDgoWVLFeFZ6ReJg-hWIu9BkAzhpOJaoLbEDoJCN4S-yu9-V0NOcVrCaq7Bn6KUv2yRj5ZUTDiVYaFYTHTVE/s1075/EA7402A5-0882-4529-9876-6EDF537C5A6D.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="759" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdYIQn0myqY0LTdyPbuulFQkrkR3rK49_le6JMDrpRXE4wbz26ozRIWETXLDgoWVLFeFZ6ReJg-hWIu9BkAzhpOJaoLbEDoJCN4S-yu9-V0NOcVrCaq7Bn6KUv2yRj5ZUTDiVYaFYTHTVE/s320/EA7402A5-0882-4529-9876-6EDF537C5A6D.webp" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i>The Tintin sketch by Hergé, which Basu had received in a reply to his letter in 1980.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJUV0Pg6HMFKEuarNCjbN-IFwYkaFBFg4ruUSa00Hq68uCActgKPXGxsLDDyuHoJb_RZxR5XwBEt1uE2JEh4yGn1iANg4q685J4r32plv9IVRmyqyyS8i4iJiFFMEmJSrMtyQi67mYSTXy/s1457/E6C44FCE-9CC5-45DB-A18A-62BB1B8F4185.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1457" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJUV0Pg6HMFKEuarNCjbN-IFwYkaFBFg4ruUSa00Hq68uCActgKPXGxsLDDyuHoJb_RZxR5XwBEt1uE2JEh4yGn1iANg4q685J4r32plv9IVRmyqyyS8i4iJiFFMEmJSrMtyQi67mYSTXy/s320/E6C44FCE-9CC5-45DB-A18A-62BB1B8F4185.jpeg" width="237" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Check out the stamp of “The Black Island”</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;">Second-hand book stores in College Street and Gol Park also see brisk sales - that’s where I got my collection. “People still read, discuss and continue to hoard trivia about Tintin’s adventures,” says Indrani Ganguly, of the Calcutta Bibliophiles book club. “I set one of the hardest quizzes last year to test people’s love for the comics. Questions about even the minute details and hardest tidbits from all the 23 books were answered. The participants were as young as six, and as old as 60,” she says.</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-size: 19px;">Tintin’s Bengal connection remains as strong as ever and is flourishing through “fan art”</b></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">In letters written to fans in the city, Herge had expressed his desire to visit Calcutta and set one of Tintin's adventures there. The city, he said, fascinated him with its comic possibilities. These possibilities are being realised by our homegrown artists.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxYRUw9NX0CsXqiVbka1MbvZgOjtaUXz12BvNjar-iIBHWcuW4VBea9ECYR0n7wjTzHadPERa_vGjBszOloq-6ZCaadD-VQVPT688hVkTZCIm-QiucVNk1azrGwgd6z4gSd32-x6LC_SX/s1778/FEDB7BB7-2A18-455A-9AFC-63F0C9CB6B10.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1778" data-original-width="1433" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxYRUw9NX0CsXqiVbka1MbvZgOjtaUXz12BvNjar-iIBHWcuW4VBea9ECYR0n7wjTzHadPERa_vGjBszOloq-6ZCaadD-VQVPT688hVkTZCIm-QiucVNk1azrGwgd6z4gSd32-x6LC_SX/w517-h640/FEDB7BB7-2A18-455A-9AFC-63F0C9CB6B10.jpeg" width="517" /></a></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1">“For children growing up in the 1980s, a time before the internet, Tintin was a window to the world,” says <b>Mahafuj Ali</b>, 33-year-old landscape architect and self-taught cartoonist. Last year, Ali reimagined Tintin in Bengali clothes, cutting a cake in the backdrop of the iconic Howrah Bridge, an illustration which went viral last year and was even shared by the Embassy of Belgium, New Delhi. This year, Ali took them on a tour to picturesque Darjeeling on a toy train!</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeXok6Yt0CNBpz0z6ISg0wSgIuawGnOeXADEwdxD_gGP4qbtzlwKRX2FVqbjKlensCE-IXKbHqiI5LepQetxPJwZs71gUw4cC8XpZ4_Y7XaAFIp8iTYSMNZ2RmkCBdY-8uE4eKvl99XR6/s1200/507823BF-FF43-4347-A32D-C9B0CC671D75.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeXok6Yt0CNBpz0z6ISg0wSgIuawGnOeXADEwdxD_gGP4qbtzlwKRX2FVqbjKlensCE-IXKbHqiI5LepQetxPJwZs71gUw4cC8XpZ4_Y7XaAFIp8iTYSMNZ2RmkCBdY-8uE4eKvl99XR6/s320/507823BF-FF43-4347-A32D-C9B0CC671D75.webp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheILvLeJ9mdDbFGovzfohvA53WrxapFUmYC903H8iL1wDTNWwq1bsDinDNDbsbrSLb8ERuwyyW4KAXYddzfBq1RIbbP6J29JVjTfNPc-_mVtShiI6hFDiV4wrumLaggCbLyodjmWPFyjEYfP67LyDuE64VZOM3t8jf0us0rV0UZwW57QHw71zjalj59w/s886/601C9E1B-D957-42D4-9273-95391A9F2682.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="886" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheILvLeJ9mdDbFGovzfohvA53WrxapFUmYC903H8iL1wDTNWwq1bsDinDNDbsbrSLb8ERuwyyW4KAXYddzfBq1RIbbP6J29JVjTfNPc-_mVtShiI6hFDiV4wrumLaggCbLyodjmWPFyjEYfP67LyDuE64VZOM3t8jf0us0rV0UZwW57QHw71zjalj59w/s320/601C9E1B-D957-42D4-9273-95391A9F2682.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJucia2f1nUkdqAFdF4K2H6lK2dK5zYXhcHcxgVSD47-rBkZSDEQRLPb-9t6PF6SShIJU3I2tnUn55ZVEFSsOoBFUrKsMiI6R016DwAJyAWHZ0q8Zbyjy1pwlM85IIKN8ADOlQpIt8LoJ/s750/IMG_3128.WEBP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="750" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJucia2f1nUkdqAFdF4K2H6lK2dK5zYXhcHcxgVSD47-rBkZSDEQRLPb-9t6PF6SShIJU3I2tnUn55ZVEFSsOoBFUrKsMiI6R016DwAJyAWHZ0q8Zbyjy1pwlM85IIKN8ADOlQpIt8LoJ/s320/IMG_3128.WEBP" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;">“Growing up in Nidaya, a tiny village in Nadia, and reading Tintin by the light of a kerosene lamp, was like travelling the world. I landed on the moon with him, dived into deep seas and climbed to Tibet. The comics gave me more knowledge than my textbooks,” says Ali.</p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1">He is not the only homegrown artist to reimagine Tintin in Kolkata. <b>Rhiddhiraj Palit</b>, a 22-year-old graphic designer by profession, grew up reading the Tintin comics translated by poet Nirendranath Chakraborty for Anandamela. “I once read that Hergé wanted to visit Kolkata when he knew about his fan following here. He thought of creating a ‘Tintin in Kolkata’ series, but that never happened. So I wondered what it would be like if Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock really arrived here.”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg34B68eTkzAifDVGFEjIwSIvbY3Nr39U8WnBm0sXz2Ip3NA3OQcUc8cYcWB4ymLLRQiViIEiG0WtVbQE1X1-zG0fJtTWa8RozKzTJHCuicY4Ya4d0ofvYbMYkqE4yEpuO6T8SVOTZ8-_sI/s2572/New+folder.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1223" data-original-width="2572" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg34B68eTkzAifDVGFEjIwSIvbY3Nr39U8WnBm0sXz2Ip3NA3OQcUc8cYcWB4ymLLRQiViIEiG0WtVbQE1X1-zG0fJtTWa8RozKzTJHCuicY4Ya4d0ofvYbMYkqE4yEpuO6T8SVOTZ8-_sI/w640-h304/New+folder.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1">In 2016, he sketched the Belgian reporter roaming in Shyambazar. His ‘Tintin in India’ series in 2017 coasted on the internet’s popularity, too. The panels he made last year add more anecdotes. “There is Satyajit Ray on a billboard, Kuttush as a fish-lover and a bangla mowd (country liquor) bottle in the hands of Captain Haddock!” he says. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1">This trend is catching on and Tintin's love affair with Kolkata is thriving through the efforts and skill of many others as well. Here are some images collected from various social media platforms:</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijBsWrNztE4K_h82EuJqIzgN-hlfUqbM83G-fiynYgE3gKbUu-2vfL25SBdlKIZRaAmz9G6ncwZ-YQ7QF430iDjojvldrBdiSTYvbQO5wQjhbBdJJVIqxFfYQH41sVgB_8lmSX3Xy5F6VS/s960/5B7F716E-7E7B-458E-80F4-505669F0AEE0.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="752" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijBsWrNztE4K_h82EuJqIzgN-hlfUqbM83G-fiynYgE3gKbUu-2vfL25SBdlKIZRaAmz9G6ncwZ-YQ7QF430iDjojvldrBdiSTYvbQO5wQjhbBdJJVIqxFfYQH41sVgB_8lmSX3Xy5F6VS/s320/5B7F716E-7E7B-458E-80F4-505669F0AEE0.jpeg" width="251" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is the first Tintin in Kolkata illustration I remember seeing </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQrVvI0GTCE7UFKqaRwaub50b0EOUsMht1j4PcrcineRxJgplUfa3udNoRJZzgVcOrkz3nveJz_4ERLyQNTPK20xKmx3w90s_goFUuryfTIwUObeMMK8zFETPNONGv8hpwR9oHgzdSnZBO/s1307/1372A681-CBA4-42DF-8569-6F074E4757B7.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1307" data-original-width="872" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQrVvI0GTCE7UFKqaRwaub50b0EOUsMht1j4PcrcineRxJgplUfa3udNoRJZzgVcOrkz3nveJz_4ERLyQNTPK20xKmx3w90s_goFUuryfTIwUObeMMK8zFETPNONGv8hpwR9oHgzdSnZBO/s320/1372A681-CBA4-42DF-8569-6F074E4757B7.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My most favourite fan art of all - this one is by my 8 year old made to cheer me up when I was feeling grumpy WFH</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQA5tFlMPbLn7_fZT3dgMurjbqjh_VKOVVj2VVVNt_z1d4-NDId9LBznup00GpTb0FYNGwXFyixK99wTvvTnc4YNZdJr8uTxrM3Oan17fTdQXG3Z2duT1QhQxUhRa89NVccqpeENetB_FtImIsq2OJLgRsODk9L3V_eEOW84HfPcV-8_jDp-utV3jF/s1592/68EF6723-E4A8-4E14-A3E1-29326186F943.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1592" data-original-width="1194" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQA5tFlMPbLn7_fZT3dgMurjbqjh_VKOVVj2VVVNt_z1d4-NDId9LBznup00GpTb0FYNGwXFyixK99wTvvTnc4YNZdJr8uTxrM3Oan17fTdQXG3Z2duT1QhQxUhRa89NVccqpeENetB_FtImIsq2OJLgRsODk9L3V_eEOW84HfPcV-8_jDp-utV3jF/s320/68EF6723-E4A8-4E14-A3E1-29326186F943.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Another more recent iPad art by my daughter </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><b>Tintin sightseeing in Kolkata</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="s1"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DE1IZBUGle6_EqAD37Cd4GyYfZEw48oRztZoFe7iWMLka8pKZxDaXqWKkKpOkWE0RlYZ0N-aMjF3c6s5vovRR7iKHDu7ueriYzp2XjoK163MCq7tAMYa91Bf-vw7E45ejktjY4T_oCKpTzoYzWjGiWmsfr-Px6fC99P8c1ZczsFIkARDLSt5Ir4oQA/s1839/5A4E4BDC-EC63-4770-B814-F81088623F8B.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1839" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DE1IZBUGle6_EqAD37Cd4GyYfZEw48oRztZoFe7iWMLka8pKZxDaXqWKkKpOkWE0RlYZ0N-aMjF3c6s5vovRR7iKHDu7ueriYzp2XjoK163MCq7tAMYa91Bf-vw7E45ejktjY4T_oCKpTzoYzWjGiWmsfr-Px6fC99P8c1ZczsFIkARDLSt5Ir4oQA/s320/5A4E4BDC-EC63-4770-B814-F81088623F8B.jpeg" width="188" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Artist: Sayantan Dasgupta </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1j5w761vb9ux4PfUk_CqJ5WoxNIJYkm4g0xQ1AQWKOnMV2IupBPktnaC_r-2mJ24cRu0rQMv3uVRY2WWxAeqn8X2aOo1SYijJl_4MHUX-pIt9gCx2mFCJlkfS7m4Xb9-orB8Gp0WWB5c/s2048/Saikat+Sarkar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1j5w761vb9ux4PfUk_CqJ5WoxNIJYkm4g0xQ1AQWKOnMV2IupBPktnaC_r-2mJ24cRu0rQMv3uVRY2WWxAeqn8X2aOo1SYijJl_4MHUX-pIt9gCx2mFCJlkfS7m4Xb9-orB8Gp0WWB5c/w400-h400/Saikat+Sarkar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Artist: Saikat Sarkar</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigN0Mf9Cql_hPZ3rv3G8kLEHMLq1z9u9AfYUgAfgwmH8a9T357SdoNoH4hmXpDUDkLGqvLMvT_lvf8SP0pUk_KFUFK_GDeTsG2SXcnB7dJ9EqGdq4KJadDSfRtu1vH2TCaHk2suXnCUG_s/s2048/1C30E358-915A-494A-A6C1-9C2688EE4403.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="2048" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigN0Mf9Cql_hPZ3rv3G8kLEHMLq1z9u9AfYUgAfgwmH8a9T357SdoNoH4hmXpDUDkLGqvLMvT_lvf8SP0pUk_KFUFK_GDeTsG2SXcnB7dJ9EqGdq4KJadDSfRtu1vH2TCaHk2suXnCUG_s/s320/1C30E358-915A-494A-A6C1-9C2688EE4403.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizMZrn45hilOh72UpQ5uVfLrrU7NamVKiQm3fNdieSYtVowjmtOdfqWyfTjWFVjf4AO92uogvRJb8PfYq4meozoJMZG_2TSqrTP7aqHR0f3qfk75aNKP0PnmwXnxtdPtKqJRYMrVvLi-eK/s1758/00526E47-F7D0-43DB-897A-0665B1E9F7DE.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1324" data-original-width="1758" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizMZrn45hilOh72UpQ5uVfLrrU7NamVKiQm3fNdieSYtVowjmtOdfqWyfTjWFVjf4AO92uogvRJb8PfYq4meozoJMZG_2TSqrTP7aqHR0f3qfk75aNKP0PnmwXnxtdPtKqJRYMrVvLi-eK/s320/00526E47-F7D0-43DB-897A-0665B1E9F7DE.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Artist: Pushkar Chatterjee</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoauQ_5YoA19cSdWoeo15IfXemXSvg_Wq_K82Z1zfazfrR8Akf-mHOI1pbT7LXG4cAR560EO42GhbpWFqvvEe-FfGsEZQemQ0YZm-pgubomGo40N4j-rWI1-SKN1ksWwEMwZqEzebWk6HmZrvQuu9S3qjUXVAf_VXREN9H_M_sU1E-nbUJoM_ErnHdQ/s720/604E805A-E010-4B60-9924-9F96F660AF3B.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoauQ_5YoA19cSdWoeo15IfXemXSvg_Wq_K82Z1zfazfrR8Akf-mHOI1pbT7LXG4cAR560EO42GhbpWFqvvEe-FfGsEZQemQ0YZm-pgubomGo40N4j-rWI1-SKN1ksWwEMwZqEzebWk6HmZrvQuu9S3qjUXVAf_VXREN9H_M_sU1E-nbUJoM_ErnHdQ/s320/604E805A-E010-4B60-9924-9F96F660AF3B.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9j8V2dkL_G8VaI7OMUV7KeO3A2UNIYvmsAVYWw2gFtHsSrK1NPRZNiqhXVQYP9KQC4kdPsNWZ16OxpQgQXJy1khyphenhyphenAw8ssj1glRuMkSxyIV9yEq2SABqQniTGwG2DP14ajS2p902weYsuN/s1179/6CA8AB81-88C8-4947-8733-B181A8F390FB.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1179" data-original-width="1179" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9j8V2dkL_G8VaI7OMUV7KeO3A2UNIYvmsAVYWw2gFtHsSrK1NPRZNiqhXVQYP9KQC4kdPsNWZ16OxpQgQXJy1khyphenhyphenAw8ssj1glRuMkSxyIV9yEq2SABqQniTGwG2DP14ajS2p902weYsuN/s320/6CA8AB81-88C8-4947-8733-B181A8F390FB.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Gariahat and South City Spencer’s are my regular haunts in Kolkata</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Tintin celebrating Bengali festivals</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyuBlP33dqcpaf4TxcaQUKPX4KnnJY1Hzqv6qlgllLjouJUocr3IUI_RDQIhsuXxHmcN-4zrre3c_hNznu-e3ZWRSoEyPvVpjZNeu33LXHp-gmIwy0y14kHpW4Z68OoUz0uTkPXq_5hlg/s2048/Tintin+Festivals.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyuBlP33dqcpaf4TxcaQUKPX4KnnJY1Hzqv6qlgllLjouJUocr3IUI_RDQIhsuXxHmcN-4zrre3c_hNznu-e3ZWRSoEyPvVpjZNeu33LXHp-gmIwy0y14kHpW4Z68OoUz0uTkPXq_5hlg/w400-h283/Tintin+Festivals.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Artists: Saikat Sarkar, Krishna, Shamik and Shankha Karbhaumik</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2mdTes6QHEw2Bo_pLNs4Xrm-kLkgvS62WQ3djJ7rw7eR7UQQl7Gjsyu9U6dT4rkJTrKchW8JpiVaGFweArrKzPA_nDvheww-Dwn6eAkm15j405Gx_qLjwa11eT_AAoII399SCPhteome/s720/6ABFB63A-FACA-4275-A656-A9215B725B04.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2mdTes6QHEw2Bo_pLNs4Xrm-kLkgvS62WQ3djJ7rw7eR7UQQl7Gjsyu9U6dT4rkJTrKchW8JpiVaGFweArrKzPA_nDvheww-Dwn6eAkm15j405Gx_qLjwa11eT_AAoII399SCPhteome/s320/6ABFB63A-FACA-4275-A656-A9215B725B04.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>I don’t really like this one as all the characters bar Prof. Calculus are drawn out of proportion.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtV7Dtss4r0eDvlgcbsp1af2AdmgDIIdd_MAe0QiMXqNEjCOnN-cLWwEb78-1NjwqZQrWdMrp0K2ZoQisjMIgGuYU-ObAvxoeDAgPnbcAgTSomYVWTRXUI04tZYkfzV6o_ZE1TMIYWgyTJ/s1124/C0DE33ED-4A2C-4F0A-8E1E-C14BBC5E5125.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="969" data-original-width="1124" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtV7Dtss4r0eDvlgcbsp1af2AdmgDIIdd_MAe0QiMXqNEjCOnN-cLWwEb78-1NjwqZQrWdMrp0K2ZoQisjMIgGuYU-ObAvxoeDAgPnbcAgTSomYVWTRXUI04tZYkfzV6o_ZE1TMIYWgyTJ/s320/C0DE33ED-4A2C-4F0A-8E1E-C14BBC5E5125.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Nabo Barsho in the times of COVID</i> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Tintin enjoying Bengali pastimes </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br style="text-align: left;" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPCsbiMDJ2Pof6gpQftQIAqHwqNNWOry0kUSAwm6pVbNS5DXnESgZYplXwmKxJe4t6TBOz5Xb2moXe2xER4BZUfIsSS4v8Z2X3eD1zWMqVBcBtpH1Hg03imQ6-RY6-SUfpRBLQlW1Evfd3/s842/IMG_4406.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="595" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPCsbiMDJ2Pof6gpQftQIAqHwqNNWOry0kUSAwm6pVbNS5DXnESgZYplXwmKxJe4t6TBOz5Xb2moXe2xER4BZUfIsSS4v8Z2X3eD1zWMqVBcBtpH1Hg03imQ6-RY6-SUfpRBLQlW1Evfd3/s320/IMG_4406.JPG" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7OP_xvN9jU0DMvoJBaVB-eOms7eS1tIJukSm6UKfSP2CJyw_VSqkvf3Hk9w6INkQQq-QUW3d9Au4EMfeV9lSV7KuWNSAEv76mPtge60vXXGWdv5f0ssk4YGS8V4BZcWQA91UzynqFx_Ml/s1024/12ef29a4-876e-449d-8065-d8f509e2e226.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="683" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7OP_xvN9jU0DMvoJBaVB-eOms7eS1tIJukSm6UKfSP2CJyw_VSqkvf3Hk9w6INkQQq-QUW3d9Au4EMfeV9lSV7KuWNSAEv76mPtge60vXXGWdv5f0ssk4YGS8V4BZcWQA91UzynqFx_Ml/s320/12ef29a4-876e-449d-8065-d8f509e2e226.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Eating Phuchka</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik82vTWHdCC5Q7g2e-7tdDBSym1L37MR2GyUtEmg-8U7xN4Y4aevEj30Vs8OFDv-CM4h3NHsFpCDJSiipMywXMkN2kP-Prqj5Qi7M3a-hyOC_sSvhcoS6s3IiuIm8waxHGb7g9CCDNt3Si/s1000/IMG_3534.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik82vTWHdCC5Q7g2e-7tdDBSym1L37MR2GyUtEmg-8U7xN4Y4aevEj30Vs8OFDv-CM4h3NHsFpCDJSiipMywXMkN2kP-Prqj5Qi7M3a-hyOC_sSvhcoS6s3IiuIm8waxHGb7g9CCDNt3Si/s320/IMG_3534.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Being a fan of Lionel Messi</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-O-bZlwlThmTGHvJgq4tE_YqHif5hGTkpJUgacPvd4Q7N_9cgh_6ckV24dqa6gfcj46912NZvhR8wkRNYXEt4_QL1A3uHQFi5UduknXxr1f3bHg5EnXK5tXukp_bkmRfskUEqaKtlRvvj/s1200/IMG_3210.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-O-bZlwlThmTGHvJgq4tE_YqHif5hGTkpJUgacPvd4Q7N_9cgh_6ckV24dqa6gfcj46912NZvhR8wkRNYXEt4_QL1A3uHQFi5UduknXxr1f3bHg5EnXK5tXukp_bkmRfskUEqaKtlRvvj/w400-h210/IMG_3210.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Tintin watching the cricket World Cup</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Celebrating Tintin's Birthday...</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnAuI9TgFdsVCfuAR2edE2elzygr1pSaDRd8PKizC3oVOgEk5P4HId7iRrsO987NVHOvoSgVFczj4pgKbMzXZhGsoL3XrRIGM3agG4rcfd69uP3gcBezAYXALVwc7SUky_Zok_4L8DU-J4/s1440/80404EDF-279B-4BB5-89DF-427C80519EE5.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnAuI9TgFdsVCfuAR2edE2elzygr1pSaDRd8PKizC3oVOgEk5P4HId7iRrsO987NVHOvoSgVFczj4pgKbMzXZhGsoL3XrRIGM3agG4rcfd69uP3gcBezAYXALVwc7SUky_Zok_4L8DU-J4/s320/80404EDF-279B-4BB5-89DF-427C80519EE5.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixfK__A7rOC8D-pMErv67mlDmGiLPnDWZbQOs_5wE9vwSsGaoZsfe5EXcxny06B6B4k8tlVlMOngOSdNsUajhO9VvHKUhXQEVgKkIrWbo-lSJWb2FpYn5BAV1yb4EOAN552Pv3pJ3ROd7G/s720/0DC23A59-9EE2-43FB-9A3E-27627916BBA1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="720" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixfK__A7rOC8D-pMErv67mlDmGiLPnDWZbQOs_5wE9vwSsGaoZsfe5EXcxny06B6B4k8tlVlMOngOSdNsUajhO9VvHKUhXQEVgKkIrWbo-lSJWb2FpYn5BAV1yb4EOAN552Pv3pJ3ROd7G/s320/0DC23A59-9EE2-43FB-9A3E-27627916BBA1.jpeg" width="320" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle and Hergé were born on 22 May</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizznHLbKJe4FTzMVkEC_m-fWRJ28QyVnxHsFSyq9O99PwrYpBlBvXLCZZCS8aImi0pbhCH7MK2Waa-ReVLgBWak5T73NfSfjJOBLjl5zVRHFl2Zb-kL_SRyRvZ4VY3agUNUXMZcOdYFAdS/s1350/IMG_4428.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizznHLbKJe4FTzMVkEC_m-fWRJ28QyVnxHsFSyq9O99PwrYpBlBvXLCZZCS8aImi0pbhCH7MK2Waa-ReVLgBWak5T73NfSfjJOBLjl5zVRHFl2Zb-kL_SRyRvZ4VY3agUNUXMZcOdYFAdS/w320-h400/IMG_4428.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Artist: Ranjan Bhaumik</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Not just Bengal, but Tintin has been visiting our neighbouring countries as well</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NE1J-C9NhyphenhyphenIz4QnDHGbdU3eQiVKID35vWSbLym-jTj1KEFzzjld-9P5581g1uehCewbeKhRlhh5Acpz54-9TNBGpijQoJ1QVl2rCAGC8-19NbipH66lLjA1i3ZpzQqkCRAUlZAj5k95w/s317/IMG_4843.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="188" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NE1J-C9NhyphenhyphenIz4QnDHGbdU3eQiVKID35vWSbLym-jTj1KEFzzjld-9P5581g1uehCewbeKhRlhh5Acpz54-9TNBGpijQoJ1QVl2rCAGC8-19NbipH66lLjA1i3ZpzQqkCRAUlZAj5k95w/s0/IMG_4843.JPG" width="188" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWpPA_MFW4VHXrLhTKmS23-_lzb1bXie5nvFDJDimrFAs6SVQvtuZ3Q5vMgUzQytEumnTq_GJjonsD626WgTe6rzL9fUgBzOYEtzfp6i9NE5DLW41dmi1E4SABz34QbBSHFT47QGRbsb7/s755/D9F8D03A-9B00-4356-AF4C-6C3B1048041E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="755" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWpPA_MFW4VHXrLhTKmS23-_lzb1bXie5nvFDJDimrFAs6SVQvtuZ3Q5vMgUzQytEumnTq_GJjonsD626WgTe6rzL9fUgBzOYEtzfp6i9NE5DLW41dmi1E4SABz34QbBSHFT47QGRbsb7/s320/D9F8D03A-9B00-4356-AF4C-6C3B1048041E.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Opar Bangla - Bangladesh </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikwW-mvmAd0Xty1mnw4pjl0w6amWy1F_mfqUgLaxdCoV9KsPHRGQSqwBGhBjj-nUffSJ9cpTBP1K6WdOP7DU69RYqmWpgH7WjkbP8IM9mS7ZG6_0eaz1l7n7-q5wtqFNKLaMPn2-c94yrb/s1029/cf1c0848-bf37-4a1f-9dff-3786ed1804a8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1029" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikwW-mvmAd0Xty1mnw4pjl0w6amWy1F_mfqUgLaxdCoV9KsPHRGQSqwBGhBjj-nUffSJ9cpTBP1K6WdOP7DU69RYqmWpgH7WjkbP8IM9mS7ZG6_0eaz1l7n7-q5wtqFNKLaMPn2-c94yrb/s320/cf1c0848-bf37-4a1f-9dff-3786ed1804a8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Nepal</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>And, a talented artist Sankha Karbhaumik drew Captain Haddock in Jamini Roy style:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8-9r8HKpT2UaD1KR4n9uh0QTmsp49wcNVOCMDdrvH3DlGR1sjXvUmQeTmhx9Z5BDas_RsRHemErCpfRSYKbucdJTVIBDye8u9_GbqDy_fWRgDS1AcXfDwO9zf3Myq-l9VqUG5BN2_K8a/s720/IMG_4408.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8-9r8HKpT2UaD1KR4n9uh0QTmsp49wcNVOCMDdrvH3DlGR1sjXvUmQeTmhx9Z5BDas_RsRHemErCpfRSYKbucdJTVIBDye8u9_GbqDy_fWRgDS1AcXfDwO9zf3Myq-l9VqUG5BN2_K8a/s320/IMG_4408.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://arkasircar.blogspot.com/2021/07/my-favourite-artists-jamini-roy.html?m=1" target="_blank">Read more about Jamini Roy</a> - one of my favourite artists<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Some talented artists have also been doing crossovers reimagining Tintin with Satyajit Ray's heroes:</b></span></div></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b>Feluda</b></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIK2tsgllJBSZ5efyTpwCXtuIffgkyTXJh6CsmdpLLj11D_S_v7QnDkNayKzfUxf84FGA6AFhPU_2tc6PtLLpvrgWcXMdTq7C54oizoKb6ANCVdmy5SiW_RHj8SW3so0BYZ80f-ORytoCJ/s1024/e27aabbc-b53b-422e-b509-117afea40968.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="683" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIK2tsgllJBSZ5efyTpwCXtuIffgkyTXJh6CsmdpLLj11D_S_v7QnDkNayKzfUxf84FGA6AFhPU_2tc6PtLLpvrgWcXMdTq7C54oizoKb6ANCVdmy5SiW_RHj8SW3so0BYZ80f-ORytoCJ/s320/e27aabbc-b53b-422e-b509-117afea40968.jpg" width="213" /></a></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="https://21rajanisenroad.blogspot.com/2020/04/fan-art-tintin-x-feluda.html" target="_blank">Read my detailed post on Feluda x Tintin </a></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b>Professor Shonku </b></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;">Personally I think they should juxtapose him with Prof. Calculus</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFyYrbvieh9Rf5SoVk3Spxg-LV5-71tQMYlhby_iNrLenFCx-w-BdokDfUnzzNu55HfwEqGbls-12vCWKe912DgQ-OhwSADwpxEdQur3i42NwjpKu1kRMHWnSa1MtW1laepcq4-VI_GCVd/s2048/New+folder-001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFyYrbvieh9Rf5SoVk3Spxg-LV5-71tQMYlhby_iNrLenFCx-w-BdokDfUnzzNu55HfwEqGbls-12vCWKe912DgQ-OhwSADwpxEdQur3i42NwjpKu1kRMHWnSa1MtW1laepcq4-VI_GCVd/w400-h283/New+folder-001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Artist: Saikat Sarkar</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Hirak Rajader Deshe</b></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzntClEDoqhv8DgpxEr3Dit0KAWnamltYlW8mX78WxCHKw6Hr6RBSEuBEmWNR216VjplT5xeQfVTZY8QkYHmwcGfoA9O0i28-ao0DyR3469sm1uibGgV4PwKr-Z9n3R2fiWwXzhhgtDSFm/s1527/IMG_0015.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1527" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzntClEDoqhv8DgpxEr3Dit0KAWnamltYlW8mX78WxCHKw6Hr6RBSEuBEmWNR216VjplT5xeQfVTZY8QkYHmwcGfoA9O0i28-ao0DyR3469sm1uibGgV4PwKr-Z9n3R2fiWwXzhhgtDSFm/s320/IMG_0015.JPG" width="226" /></a></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Tintin’s love affair continues</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;">If you still had any doubts over Kolkata’s cred as Tintin City of India, sample these:</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;">In 2014, a political party used Tintin to canvas for votes as a part of their <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2588354/From-Tintin-Lord-Krishna-Trinamool-Congress-uses-cartoon-characters-appeal-masses.htm" target="_blank">poll campaign</a>.</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjePd7Cjkyx2hr651DmaUY9XFt6pY-kPlebmzIVwANHfYtvMaCeZjw8gxQotF1Kkh4T-YD3hgfg6tvGiKC4s5FhTlI11EfpiPyt7PERL3KI1KLc8jNPXhnIKWqPq31meOUokQZAP4XVVend/s634/69F33C40-55A1-45CE-9F38-0F47A42D38FC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="634" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjePd7Cjkyx2hr651DmaUY9XFt6pY-kPlebmzIVwANHfYtvMaCeZjw8gxQotF1Kkh4T-YD3hgfg6tvGiKC4s5FhTlI11EfpiPyt7PERL3KI1KLc8jNPXhnIKWqPq31meOUokQZAP4XVVend/s320/69F33C40-55A1-45CE-9F38-0F47A42D38FC.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: inherit; text-align: start;">Trinamool Congress leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay draws the character of Tintin with an appeal to vote for Subrata Bakshi, the party's candidate for Kolkata-South seat</i></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">An octogenarian Calcuttan runs an eatery called <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/15680397.amp" target="_blank">Tintin Economic Chinese Restaurant</a>, which serves a Tintin chow mein and fried rice.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSSIiPIushv4VpQ6A42Lxqa7zyjkeCkvT8-R6lFNy5pOlZsMvAty6uc-n6Kpwc_dq5uxDcM-xYuMsLHMLA19Kp9masoSJY4SpOOHu76mEwPamFNA-TlCUFmlloRRzH7SVWkfX0h0RFNIb1/s440/C5FD74FB-D210-4EB2-9B70-EFADE8E59898.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSSIiPIushv4VpQ6A42Lxqa7zyjkeCkvT8-R6lFNy5pOlZsMvAty6uc-n6Kpwc_dq5uxDcM-xYuMsLHMLA19Kp9masoSJY4SpOOHu76mEwPamFNA-TlCUFmlloRRzH7SVWkfX0h0RFNIb1/s320/C5FD74FB-D210-4EB2-9B70-EFADE8E59898.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvvBEbMODcLzJivt0qip0H89JvD4aq16QHKi_NUdyHUn4xarripRuXsWpT8riM6D3axJm6ndktoESUIc9o_LcGFbxaJSeRVbNyUPtOOzPz9EwCanN7W-xjB656vKEQD9nxCpD5GOKScx1RiXbvejH1VAeTEGE7qSieiH4CdVFwdSCBFuJyJtGEG3wsA/s2000/C3D683F3-5E68-4CA3-8A93-947FE39B9DCA.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvvBEbMODcLzJivt0qip0H89JvD4aq16QHKi_NUdyHUn4xarripRuXsWpT8riM6D3axJm6ndktoESUIc9o_LcGFbxaJSeRVbNyUPtOOzPz9EwCanN7W-xjB656vKEQD9nxCpD5GOKScx1RiXbvejH1VAeTEGE7qSieiH4CdVFwdSCBFuJyJtGEG3wsA/s320/C3D683F3-5E68-4CA3-8A93-947FE39B9DCA.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The more hard nosed can </span>head to the Tintin and the Brussels Club, a restaurant that specialises in Belgian cuisine and is inspired by the intrepid reporter. “In 2016, we visited Belgium for the first time and visited the Hergé Museum in Louvain-la-Neuve. As Tintin fans, we were mesmerised. When we decided to open a restaurant in March last year, it had to be centred on Tintin,” says Barnali Sen Sarma Ghosh.</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2cs8usFTUcrZOF0N8OZadQ8SwhhfDJmcqlpYwVlXipuZRIVQsp6RPoQ1BrvXwErDwxYdbNbEw8ZHat8tjmWOBlAmpfmX7hJ0noYd9Df-Xb4OEmwFGmMMZhjp5YnR1L6-ns9L9MP1Eb9r/s759/A4F5F172-7383-4641-90B5-D875D7E21640.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="759" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2cs8usFTUcrZOF0N8OZadQ8SwhhfDJmcqlpYwVlXipuZRIVQsp6RPoQ1BrvXwErDwxYdbNbEw8ZHat8tjmWOBlAmpfmX7hJ0noYd9Df-Xb4OEmwFGmMMZhjp5YnR1L6-ns9L9MP1Eb9r/s320/A4F5F172-7383-4641-90B5-D875D7E21640.webp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1">The restaurant has rooms dedicated to Professor Calculus, Tintin and Captain Haddock, a library stacked with Tintin comics in both English and Bengali, as well as puzzles, posters and figurines collected from the Tintin museum in Belgium. It is also the home for a newly formed Calcutta Tintin Fan Club, where around 30 members plan to meet every couple of months to celebrate their hero. “When I see young children, I try to introduce them to this magical world, maybe not with a book from our library but a Tintin puzzle,” Ghosh says.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYbra8KCHjsUs4npjWCsnv6EE5hjf6Vp3QbevcIISxkgZEKK4asTPbVLzRwAXrtfdhfqPpCKf49kiX2giHEIPFlqJtsPKZ6746NyQ4ertXfGXiSPDew_EK7ehjAl91kXR8a3KEeMcRNg_6/s820/E672414B-F51B-4E68-A118-0F75FF6C81D9.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="820" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYbra8KCHjsUs4npjWCsnv6EE5hjf6Vp3QbevcIISxkgZEKK4asTPbVLzRwAXrtfdhfqPpCKf49kiX2giHEIPFlqJtsPKZ6746NyQ4ertXfGXiSPDew_EK7ehjAl91kXR8a3KEeMcRNg_6/s320/E672414B-F51B-4E68-A118-0F75FF6C81D9.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">In 2018, a Tintin installation was inaugurated on the fourth anniversary of <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.telegraphindia.com/amp/west-bengal/tintin-to-man-mother-s-wax-museum-gate/cid/1676391" target="_blank">Mother’s Wax Museum</a> and it is located not inside but outside the centre. This museum is Kolkata’s answer to Madame Tussauds.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">If you still have a doubt about how popular Tintin continues to be in Kolkata, check out the wedding invitation of this couple:</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxermJS4qoxtWincOpGeY6rFiFJjM0W0M17aGIJcYyb1SGVHla4Uf0RBKU2HyzletAWpdcJQ7xFvFfOmf84qis20i8rO5EuB2I5EED8VbJYARFqE6irDu2nbrealvHi9001XxcxsJIy6Ko/s1280/464B8185-89AE-4E1C-8A45-8D4F6D255E7C.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="719" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxermJS4qoxtWincOpGeY6rFiFJjM0W0M17aGIJcYyb1SGVHla4Uf0RBKU2HyzletAWpdcJQ7xFvFfOmf84qis20i8rO5EuB2I5EED8VbJYARFqE6irDu2nbrealvHi9001XxcxsJIy6Ko/s320/464B8185-89AE-4E1C-8A45-8D4F6D255E7C.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZHWB24suCPKJTRj3f2l_SsJ7Jv6uRHlyd2g0pweHNzJwm86gPVt7D2sa44-tTkdNO3e39Hs8B3GXPSTmpz7EDI8pFEo-0SW19DB3uh2FCrlQgcBBSKApRiewC7iEWPlYHjl51DHzL8Cx/s1280/121E0EBB-9E6C-4885-B5D2-9247DAE2830B.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="718" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZHWB24suCPKJTRj3f2l_SsJ7Jv6uRHlyd2g0pweHNzJwm86gPVt7D2sa44-tTkdNO3e39Hs8B3GXPSTmpz7EDI8pFEo-0SW19DB3uh2FCrlQgcBBSKApRiewC7iEWPlYHjl51DHzL8Cx/s320/121E0EBB-9E6C-4885-B5D2-9247DAE2830B.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Biyer card (Wedding invite)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio5UajuDLgatE15YCV309NPwzFNg2MrSx8F4SAmhoIUZlv9ok0l_rMElBFz7QJwKMaXtti8yOHlzA9fwXFTKqsslkHOEi7qs80LmMxx13glkYNSpMkoFDHGsQcg2SkMe_nGqPNRaZE2_28/s2048/9A85B18A-B4F9-4F6A-93BC-A5FD86EE0C82.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1151" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio5UajuDLgatE15YCV309NPwzFNg2MrSx8F4SAmhoIUZlv9ok0l_rMElBFz7QJwKMaXtti8yOHlzA9fwXFTKqsslkHOEi7qs80LmMxx13glkYNSpMkoFDHGsQcg2SkMe_nGqPNRaZE2_28/s320/9A85B18A-B4F9-4F6A-93BC-A5FD86EE0C82.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPnmt4LuoQ25ZKMbWs27s6Cy7TQbczIBg65qNWc8xM4Wu_7VgkGa_uaOSRQP4cNHzTJHw4XCNBM_X984_qaerfh_0jtdjaS-QBSsbpQbahGn69QqjNoySZ5JFubA24TTx6lQRHav411jQy/s2048/BCFA4FD2-E3E7-497E-B574-7539DA38C932.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1150" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPnmt4LuoQ25ZKMbWs27s6Cy7TQbczIBg65qNWc8xM4Wu_7VgkGa_uaOSRQP4cNHzTJHw4XCNBM_X984_qaerfh_0jtdjaS-QBSsbpQbahGn69QqjNoySZ5JFubA24TTx6lQRHav411jQy/s320/BCFA4FD2-E3E7-497E-B574-7539DA38C932.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Boubhat card (Reception invite)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The detail on the card is insane! If you notice the Thompson and Thomson in the two cards, you will see in the <i>biye</i> they don’t dress appropriately. Then for the <i>boubhat</i> they overcompensate by showing up in traditional clothes that a Bangali <i>bor</i> (groom) wears to the wedding complete with <i>topor</i>!</div><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Post script: </span><span style="text-align: center;">Tintin is not the only cartoon character to be reimagined in Kolkata, so have Asterix and Obelix. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWj9_vn7n9xcGg0PPZcQNhIfpe1mprHdSHTj9W0_M_-Fkcm42KpO3bfSdI0_-l4QQWyq04_av9tNRcCJ_kz6YXW9li9FeV2vv8iZJiF6ghnfLNRawHtGLXs3jwURyOcJrOrc8V9l0YSinN/s2048/New+folder-002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWj9_vn7n9xcGg0PPZcQNhIfpe1mprHdSHTj9W0_M_-Fkcm42KpO3bfSdI0_-l4QQWyq04_av9tNRcCJ_kz6YXW9li9FeV2vv8iZJiF6ghnfLNRawHtGLXs3jwURyOcJrOrc8V9l0YSinN/w400-h283/New+folder-002.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And one artist juxtaposed them in Tintin's trademark costume:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0cLDkP208z8XCQL9u8uKvuqYNWZcMf2k-_JaBvTnubZFYxNL8VZKP2LXIiewGSGxm2e5UCv2g2bX0AT0biZkbAeKTovbBUl-XNMegvJnNVY5igCW1jkt2CeP1NkjgCy3Iis9TGjer_t_/s727/IMG_4424.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0cLDkP208z8XCQL9u8uKvuqYNWZcMf2k-_JaBvTnubZFYxNL8VZKP2LXIiewGSGxm2e5UCv2g2bX0AT0biZkbAeKTovbBUl-XNMegvJnNVY5igCW1jkt2CeP1NkjgCy3Iis9TGjer_t_/s320/IMG_4424.JPG" width="317" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(Personally I find this one quite disturbing and disorienting!)</div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">***</div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1">Sources:</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/yo-ho-ho-and-a-bottle-bangla-5546016/lite/">https://www.indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/yo-ho-ho-and-a-bottle-bangla-5546016/lite/</a></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/15680397.amp">https:///www.bbc.com/news/15680397.amp</a></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-2577327815522740772021-07-26T14:58:00.007+05:302021-07-26T15:06:41.806+05:30Calcutta <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUesTp0vCu_xCYm0S8Tg2QzNkFdFHzwFo8e1z8uZDF61BbTR9rEJq961AqPPG0a8ISaGUNxIBXYJcuyLXR6stI4Vku2qfsY_HpMyVK7KkxXmp7mr-QqD8gu6CqTkWZJFy-6uEzD-KgrvzA/s1024/E9CBC55C-5FBD-4243-ADFC-9FE619110038.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUesTp0vCu_xCYm0S8Tg2QzNkFdFHzwFo8e1z8uZDF61BbTR9rEJq961AqPPG0a8ISaGUNxIBXYJcuyLXR6stI4Vku2qfsY_HpMyVK7KkxXmp7mr-QqD8gu6CqTkWZJFy-6uEzD-KgrvzA/s320/E9CBC55C-5FBD-4243-ADFC-9FE619110038.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijKxP94H8nMqMsVXDYSB_QF9FtE24lrvdoVIySA6Ii9M6e6vlaXkVqQy_QILDhMbpj5X9HSX13Vs75vLqN8VH_bz4JUEUpCj-3Sx7VwPUlZKn8cQnLZ4mJELStqPVkbjtUUbLVWMXljRVf/s1024/0F5DC7D8-6ED1-4C3F-8FC1-05A4B7A926B1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="773" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijKxP94H8nMqMsVXDYSB_QF9FtE24lrvdoVIySA6Ii9M6e6vlaXkVqQy_QILDhMbpj5X9HSX13Vs75vLqN8VH_bz4JUEUpCj-3Sx7VwPUlZKn8cQnLZ4mJELStqPVkbjtUUbLVWMXljRVf/s320/0F5DC7D8-6ED1-4C3F-8FC1-05A4B7A926B1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1eYQlTQnvGtap_JyUCDNy2o7k4FbJ-qX93ECK2ro7HgzFgUfB-HrmX0uPBakO4n0-uRw9p_RP8xTe5CJ7bhiBIIS7n0nTLAVfW3jWd2-4bovCnR8rRrSCkpoacLMA9i1zJokdvA25UeIV/s567/0B5DEB1D-DF2E-4D7F-86FA-FE1F5887B41E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1eYQlTQnvGtap_JyUCDNy2o7k4FbJ-qX93ECK2ro7HgzFgUfB-HrmX0uPBakO4n0-uRw9p_RP8xTe5CJ7bhiBIIS7n0nTLAVfW3jWd2-4bovCnR8rRrSCkpoacLMA9i1zJokdvA25UeIV/s320/0B5DEB1D-DF2E-4D7F-86FA-FE1F5887B41E.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chowringhee Lane</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUSnSr5V9DK412pJGShrcBywMeoAcDOMmWwB7GESWgu017qESc3a596WLY-oXC8kC9ZYEvbyua2ptNVsPCsawsk848ISq2f6NfFfeSId54T-yYto-ot6qVd6PchHuYETQUTladXNqYY6s/s960/1E8C85E8-B76C-4960-B92D-48B11A631B5E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUSnSr5V9DK412pJGShrcBywMeoAcDOMmWwB7GESWgu017qESc3a596WLY-oXC8kC9ZYEvbyua2ptNVsPCsawsk848ISq2f6NfFfeSId54T-yYto-ot6qVd6PchHuYETQUTladXNqYY6s/s320/1E8C85E8-B76C-4960-B92D-48B11A631B5E.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpjm446bA_KbT5rtOgT9njFz_QoiHj-tRfcS7vlgzFoYwXNUtv6sHVI-tpGLwL_TCee4DSY_S6Fr_KG09JMqmNjc-Y3r9mn5BO2JkoVsZVWGV45V9Jdbi5AimeYiKArgvprwlbScVbyzZ/s1004/B64FAD81-D224-484F-BDCF-AC9C0C53C32B.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="1004" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpjm446bA_KbT5rtOgT9njFz_QoiHj-tRfcS7vlgzFoYwXNUtv6sHVI-tpGLwL_TCee4DSY_S6Fr_KG09JMqmNjc-Y3r9mn5BO2JkoVsZVWGV45V9Jdbi5AimeYiKArgvprwlbScVbyzZ/s320/B64FAD81-D224-484F-BDCF-AC9C0C53C32B.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzru0yu0X67LlCj_-PqJyjpTG8TPf5TvnwxRJxCg6XjBd2WJvYPo0AaM-5F4n8r-LJY9-oIpLiXTGdxxBIjoE09cYGNdPjyiBKTvAMjJFp24zvltwggqc2_BsWnmgBbVuwOoMoJoveeuX/s846/A12CCE9E-F1D3-4B5D-AA10-577A0E92AA0E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="846" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzru0yu0X67LlCj_-PqJyjpTG8TPf5TvnwxRJxCg6XjBd2WJvYPo0AaM-5F4n8r-LJY9-oIpLiXTGdxxBIjoE09cYGNdPjyiBKTvAMjJFp24zvltwggqc2_BsWnmgBbVuwOoMoJoveeuX/s320/A12CCE9E-F1D3-4B5D-AA10-577A0E92AA0E.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Park Street </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7x1-Zya3-f-G6nYJ920GU33iiZLCqWfhR-HtGg_IXktr4ubSRWqbY74C7UDepHors5-1kiLkQ2gFoXB6iGiZP2bWPRkWnO6ZvzjC4hyphenhyphenNS_RyVt56Q7XUm3eTzyCzX5xLCkBfEzeDjJ6wd/s960/1BAF0C06-C002-4FD3-BEFC-5337D1B696C1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7x1-Zya3-f-G6nYJ920GU33iiZLCqWfhR-HtGg_IXktr4ubSRWqbY74C7UDepHors5-1kiLkQ2gFoXB6iGiZP2bWPRkWnO6ZvzjC4hyphenhyphenNS_RyVt56Q7XUm3eTzyCzX5xLCkBfEzeDjJ6wd/s320/1BAF0C06-C002-4FD3-BEFC-5337D1B696C1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_EtdmukjaAhzMSsEUA-n1xP4_qkMORj-NRjdXyrlsgxBgE9CKP0DyrILZblK_yTlcpG-WqFbQURzcGR-gXhgu0V3ikTkup0RWCxunG0_PJ2KUgZKI3Z9LuAfLTLunZ-pMUjdRaycTO4IE/s1024/1EC00017-1331-4440-9110-BEFAED3BFBD6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_EtdmukjaAhzMSsEUA-n1xP4_qkMORj-NRjdXyrlsgxBgE9CKP0DyrILZblK_yTlcpG-WqFbQURzcGR-gXhgu0V3ikTkup0RWCxunG0_PJ2KUgZKI3Z9LuAfLTLunZ-pMUjdRaycTO4IE/s320/1EC00017-1331-4440-9110-BEFAED3BFBD6.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDbcY5HrP3vpj5UfmxErIHftCxpYUjG-8_rz1zJlpBpN3BNexIg_V3X3_ga6RalRbNlB2qSbsomQ8hm44oAqrXnFfeoqN6eTj-NytFvB2exq0cuwMcb6v3rRGcsJwHFiukIIvorjJkkENF/s1024/22474652-8783-4C66-A814-D793E5F2367E.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDbcY5HrP3vpj5UfmxErIHftCxpYUjG-8_rz1zJlpBpN3BNexIg_V3X3_ga6RalRbNlB2qSbsomQ8hm44oAqrXnFfeoqN6eTj-NytFvB2exq0cuwMcb6v3rRGcsJwHFiukIIvorjJkkENF/s320/22474652-8783-4C66-A814-D793E5F2367E.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Calcutta Stock Exchange</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpbYYYKuFtr08Kno2Blz4QdmBmJzU4rophA1tcPCZLGk8AM6-xov2w5HCAPmcg1ndpFdUeEAoJvtKZM6I7UmtXv8am0JmVcHCgaxHizbGdWzAfHVMLKqjsKXA2szKPVGRkJrgpv2EsE_X2/s948/CFF435F4-7F1A-45AC-9DCE-D6D3E6242923.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="948" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpbYYYKuFtr08Kno2Blz4QdmBmJzU4rophA1tcPCZLGk8AM6-xov2w5HCAPmcg1ndpFdUeEAoJvtKZM6I7UmtXv8am0JmVcHCgaxHizbGdWzAfHVMLKqjsKXA2szKPVGRkJrgpv2EsE_X2/s320/CFF435F4-7F1A-45AC-9DCE-D6D3E6242923.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Harrison Street Strand Road and Burra Bazaar in Kolkata (Calcutta) in 1945</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4wXHBqEfQMJ2DyLQhtpyQyJkLO50_9I0PuuEIhpJtsRYgpNx7UFPzgLrMMxfEdnkC4zrhpX_rU8JOgV22ISD5u4Qvo2_VrRWPzS_FmHFt9261G2bUhQptEG5gpYWNK-KBJGesFb-m4nS/s887/4FCB8126-CE56-4F4C-84AA-E5E847B4C8E0.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="887" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4wXHBqEfQMJ2DyLQhtpyQyJkLO50_9I0PuuEIhpJtsRYgpNx7UFPzgLrMMxfEdnkC4zrhpX_rU8JOgV22ISD5u4Qvo2_VrRWPzS_FmHFt9261G2bUhQptEG5gpYWNK-KBJGesFb-m4nS/s320/4FCB8126-CE56-4F4C-84AA-E5E847B4C8E0.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWk07hFBY1Gx6D_G9CWdJt9RAz0-Xa98TS3NDc2QY6byj5CuIr7kpgY8qzGV5o0FVJIZf5WTLY-tx14OXfpCF28HDU0l9oRgNHFUmUKoYwGoNmYZFyGtDp32X89aLABUgXQi8Rv3oxPx3/s761/8E2BE8C6-9909-49B3-99D9-2EAF9C5E6266.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwFJ6Y0VaQZ-Dwyo06F-qol2_s3ui8CdbovJUajDDRhykhUtorXQjgvtSVj0hmBKBYz9xMNo-mM2BBxog8lmtX0ApVqTf1X4V5hqhRpTK43bF-nADF19AtCzrXKtLCHx3w41CWHLYtsAz/s320/F8F722FC-6CF2-4C94-981A-8E0A95A5E9A0.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">The Hindustan buildings on Central Avenue once served as the offices of the US Army</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRe7fhQA0578u8eKMXPM-T53KCA9DwG7EeSmbwY1R0GO3oX9ZPVxNWp_4GWrfRx8-ChNr6gCkN4hc5My88Jj0Q2HSuub7J7OFzgZJCLmP6lY8oc7RWTZ9jU7JsfGrVwj51AkYg42kINHM/s600/B986178B-63F1-4189-BD80-1B5B38FFF228.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRe7fhQA0578u8eKMXPM-T53KCA9DwG7EeSmbwY1R0GO3oX9ZPVxNWp_4GWrfRx8-ChNr6gCkN4hc5My88Jj0Q2HSuub7J7OFzgZJCLmP6lY8oc7RWTZ9jU7JsfGrVwj51AkYg42kINHM/s320/B986178B-63F1-4189-BD80-1B5B38FFF228.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSIMnOkuc4zrKvRzQn5Xw3j72hyphenhyphenzxrESaVlgx6XHQyowF_0VmfwYF1pI_BW5RHhbRIjXZaDmHt2iwN2thTnlb8XTFhkGKkgf8mZHdMr-VRB85h3OgrEzWc6yXD3X_JeNQAAt_dfJdCp-ly/s938/36BC987A-87A9-410B-A1B5-F0F4EE06E2FF.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSIMnOkuc4zrKvRzQn5Xw3j72hyphenhyphenzxrESaVlgx6XHQyowF_0VmfwYF1pI_BW5RHhbRIjXZaDmHt2iwN2thTnlb8XTFhkGKkgf8mZHdMr-VRB85h3OgrEzWc6yXD3X_JeNQAAt_dfJdCp-ly/s320/36BC987A-87A9-410B-A1B5-F0F4EE06E2FF.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Fneam-MwbirrFLkPsQ1lu5TXz0sVp5kzQzI7msFer-BYd6lnE_U8ZSwQ2Nc1r9ouSvT_kCLQMs4TpikfUeukxWUJiUhSeY1pL6hDIhx2R1emxTKgx1t6GWMDwL2Dv0wrV9O2LiVO7RGs/s750/1DB18293-EC1B-4FE1-97D8-DFCD7058A107.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Fneam-MwbirrFLkPsQ1lu5TXz0sVp5kzQzI7msFer-BYd6lnE_U8ZSwQ2Nc1r9ouSvT_kCLQMs4TpikfUeukxWUJiUhSeY1pL6hDIhx2R1emxTKgx1t6GWMDwL2Dv0wrV9O2LiVO7RGs/s320/1DB18293-EC1B-4FE1-97D8-DFCD7058A107.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> <p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-46377683310813674962021-07-21T13:20:00.020+05:302021-07-31T12:10:58.292+05:30Kerala - Husain x Tharoor<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; text-size-adjust: auto;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">In 2009-10, MF Husain was invited by the Kerala Tourism Department to visit the state in short stints over the course of three months to capture some of the sights and help promote tourism to the state. On his very first visit, the painter had a love-at-first-sight feeling which he did not care to keep a secret. "I am here to capture the ethereal beauty of 'God's own country," Husain said as he set about with his brush and paint, visiting the beaches, backwaters and hill stations of the lush region. </span><span style="text-align: left;">These paintings were later published as a book titled </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; text-size-adjust: auto;">“<b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kerala-Gods-Country-Shashi-Tharoor/dp/8187478438" target="_blank">Kerala – God’s own country</a></b>” for “The Hindu” with Shashi Tharoor's prose. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; text-size-adjust: auto;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">India Today described the book as: “<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-size-adjust: auto;">This spiffy book demands of its readers much more than just flipping through it joyously and leaving it afterwards on the coffee table.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span>M.F. Husain has brilliantly painted all cliched metaphors of tourism-from Kathakali dancers to ayurveda masseurs. At a time when his art was getting dangerously close to triteness, Kerala helped him redeem his painterly genius-a feat Madhuri Dixit could not accomplish. While Husain's paintings are limited to the depiction of present-day life, Tharoor delves into Kerala's history. His essay makes sense of the identity of Malayalees.”</div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinOTokYti-gChpoxZT6AIs1X_axIT4RtVbAl_KgJbru3n0o75ZjDA0uSjfSwOqwpRJxMevoDCjyY9FckWUO6KSB3XYQlGRv2y_ciO59iYc9aGVi4bzG1xDpcDqZ2DBPo0Vq_jM4YE8TcSZ/s1200/F909ACBE-0161-4ED0-847F-10EB4EDD6FD2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinOTokYti-gChpoxZT6AIs1X_axIT4RtVbAl_KgJbru3n0o75ZjDA0uSjfSwOqwpRJxMevoDCjyY9FckWUO6KSB3XYQlGRv2y_ciO59iYc9aGVi4bzG1xDpcDqZ2DBPo0Vq_jM4YE8TcSZ/s320/F909ACBE-0161-4ED0-847F-10EB4EDD6FD2.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-size-adjust: auto;">Kerala is a land of unsurpassable natural beauty. In its alabaster beaches, sylvan backwaters, misty hill stations, leafy ayurvedic resorts and bountiful wildlife parks lies an immense reservoir of beauty-a beauty heard of only in fables and exotic tales. God's Own Country is an Endeavour to capture the essence of this land extraordinaire by a great artist whose paintings in the book bear his si</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-size-adjust: auto;">gnature in Malayalam, a language he cannot speak, and a writer who traces his roots to Kerala, a homeland he has only visited on his holidays! In a curious collaboration, these two avant-garde visionaries - one who is a veritable "outsider" and the other whose only "insider" claim is his ancestry-come together to salute their common love: Kerala.</span></div><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1">M.F. Husain's paintings are an exquisite evocation of Kerala-its beaches, lagoons, forests, and above all, the startling, many-hued green of the countryside, with its emerald paddy fields and banana groves, and coconut and areca trees. Replacing his trademark horses with elephants, Husain embodies the magic of Kerala through the dazzling fluency of his brush. Similarly, Shashi Tharoor's essay is a nostalgic rendition by a writer who, despite having been city born and bred, seeks inordinate pride in the Malayali cultural heritage, the subtleties of which he wants to showcase to the non-Malayali. In a voyage that is as much self-discovery as storytelling, Tharoor presents a masterly vignette of Kerala's unique ethos and values.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1">For the information-minded, the book has a section, "Essential Kerala", packed with nuggets for the cognoscenti traveller, from premium accommodation to high-end backwater packages to choice ayurvedic resorts. </span>All said, God's Own Country is an act of celebration by one of India's greatest artists and an affirmation by an exemplary Keralite writer who has understood once again why he is proud to be a Malayali.<span style="font-size: 19px;">”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="s1"><span>Here are some of the paintings by Husain from his "Kerala Folklore" series:</span></span></p></span></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmpoHCZEzfmvc-jlm5kM4IeqMMaDDEHwT7w2bMi_i8PqxsMWyXq5JgE9kigfA1PKFWqilzoW2izMO6tzATRfwNtDK-g2_vLZyF-VHINXdjdQLMoVk8yGxf13aWJkW86eb0oMisO9KVzcYb/s1717/C2D1A28B-FF89-400D-9980-EBC259F2AFAC.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1717" data-original-width="850" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmpoHCZEzfmvc-jlm5kM4IeqMMaDDEHwT7w2bMi_i8PqxsMWyXq5JgE9kigfA1PKFWqilzoW2izMO6tzATRfwNtDK-g2_vLZyF-VHINXdjdQLMoVk8yGxf13aWJkW86eb0oMisO9KVzcYb/w198-h400/C2D1A28B-FF89-400D-9980-EBC259F2AFAC.webp" width="198" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Kalyani in Green (2010)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwu71b6j27hCosTD7H5OTBvenXgGymFr9-5U5xYWqDHdZpNxK4ymKgYDYX84aiKC1bwEC8ci-_gXOmHVm9RTbG4Cmom1VcN1VMPbIcdX1L5szi6d_WhFi1FQGyPMr0B0E-61DoqRWOKcqa/s1477/F0C56FBB-15F0-4934-8584-E47FD51C8948.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1477" data-original-width="850" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwu71b6j27hCosTD7H5OTBvenXgGymFr9-5U5xYWqDHdZpNxK4ymKgYDYX84aiKC1bwEC8ci-_gXOmHVm9RTbG4Cmom1VcN1VMPbIcdX1L5szi6d_WhFi1FQGyPMr0B0E-61DoqRWOKcqa/w184-h320/F0C56FBB-15F0-4934-8584-E47FD51C8948.webp" width="184" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Kalyani Kutty </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE8LDIJQySX0WICHpfV8OfWa0O_-5Muijqo9Z99AbMbPfrM2iiKizamYi0IellBdQnOkp0t9xZF8Cehu4vnqF5HjQFHobPLlXTEr6FyxUmY3nrNTfQiGO74kI0rewkFZsgPghvVcVzP9sh/s1328/779E214A-9CAE-4EED-836E-73BC88F7360E.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1328" data-original-width="666" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE8LDIJQySX0WICHpfV8OfWa0O_-5Muijqo9Z99AbMbPfrM2iiKizamYi0IellBdQnOkp0t9xZF8Cehu4vnqF5HjQFHobPLlXTEr6FyxUmY3nrNTfQiGO74kI0rewkFZsgPghvVcVzP9sh/s320/779E214A-9CAE-4EED-836E-73BC88F7360E.webp" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Homage to Raja Ravi Varma</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZmD2CYuFjbCTZFZg5etQLNPhsZvTsQebcYvMUkl8mR-EHG7Hw5yrKHD4MOXiCTqwVu4i1o2iXOzJ71S5ATWF5U-Gce5HU46e4EUhlXzxLZKbL6BcPH8sctnfh2cEBw2dcF1HHWS2WqG5/s1384/230A2A5E-8F11-4F52-88A7-6D0EC6CF36DE.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1384" data-original-width="690" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZmD2CYuFjbCTZFZg5etQLNPhsZvTsQebcYvMUkl8mR-EHG7Hw5yrKHD4MOXiCTqwVu4i1o2iXOzJ71S5ATWF5U-Gce5HU46e4EUhlXzxLZKbL6BcPH8sctnfh2cEBw2dcF1HHWS2WqG5/s320/230A2A5E-8F11-4F52-88A7-6D0EC6CF36DE.jpeg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7AUC1laOMzwuksFUrW1BGQCSEOqK4lg0l5vDRwNXcncEco9oHnKHB74sN-dpnSoR0AZ6MFaMyyyaUlPigQBGTDf3mNIbO9lcvTrQEAryKbg_AU_AEkoD_OlLHIzrKu__5b0BKkUl_G8k/s1387/27B69D0B-E388-400E-9ED8-B520A1905C8D.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1387" data-original-width="690" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7AUC1laOMzwuksFUrW1BGQCSEOqK4lg0l5vDRwNXcncEco9oHnKHB74sN-dpnSoR0AZ6MFaMyyyaUlPigQBGTDf3mNIbO9lcvTrQEAryKbg_AU_AEkoD_OlLHIzrKu__5b0BKkUl_G8k/s320/27B69D0B-E388-400E-9ED8-B520A1905C8D.jpeg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsimHlJJeH3hLFE5oaZOiAx7rUcNfe1h54x3ygmFRAb_XsskiKAnGUVaV_GdApqdLt9qAlzNIaz1V2W9n2x_d4_MP_8bGZkVeiWr-O2e7iD1SeTxH5jcOB4pCpytb8cMfAX_7K8PeTMFoS/s1410/51D2FEDC-9198-4814-BA76-E7C96628E993.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1410" data-original-width="690" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsimHlJJeH3hLFE5oaZOiAx7rUcNfe1h54x3ygmFRAb_XsskiKAnGUVaV_GdApqdLt9qAlzNIaz1V2W9n2x_d4_MP_8bGZkVeiWr-O2e7iD1SeTxH5jcOB4pCpytb8cMfAX_7K8PeTMFoS/s320/51D2FEDC-9198-4814-BA76-E7C96628E993.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaOgSwq4T1xqnBQ4rtVZDDFAvNzE6O3EKY_TAZlRcjxy_nYZQYpSk-HWVIbA4q0_oOevKjLbFugaJh2pfA36YzKGKf913iBd2ZmFwYoUTRGWn0FXmUg4X2Sicoi-tEBhyphenhyphenK9mr_C67g2aSH/s1386/2663A30E-3FB2-4ECF-B8E6-94DC2AB525BA.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1386" data-original-width="690" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaOgSwq4T1xqnBQ4rtVZDDFAvNzE6O3EKY_TAZlRcjxy_nYZQYpSk-HWVIbA4q0_oOevKjLbFugaJh2pfA36YzKGKf913iBd2ZmFwYoUTRGWn0FXmUg4X2Sicoi-tEBhyphenhyphenK9mr_C67g2aSH/s320/2663A30E-3FB2-4ECF-B8E6-94DC2AB525BA.jpeg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6tcngpcfTmx1Sg5EwV44cgGa_QHNA76PZM26EEgi_yFeLhyphenhyphen1XdGR1H6wPfXeD1lUZU3Kh3BEyHOaSroefATTOuTvN9GJfHxjQmktWTrWOPY8nar2UbQxyeaB2uCac8v2lC41QY5Gvzcn/s800/DFA68993-5301-4E0E-A215-B715ECCBB3D8.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;">Thekadi</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR16DLBiWXd015LjKNo9m5jFB1L5lqV_qBpKNh4A5lpsZSRmVgnxyNblyUlagpKVLa_cFKfg3un-ttUlld4mEv7-XjaPLOZCTSAbU6jxC_VS1dK2YfpaQgR6O3XYVWahgFlvtrqSxXAFB1/s850/D18D2F87-374E-41D0-A830-3DFAA0C8658A.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR16DLBiWXd015LjKNo9m5jFB1L5lqV_qBpKNh4A5lpsZSRmVgnxyNblyUlagpKVLa_cFKfg3un-ttUlld4mEv7-XjaPLOZCTSAbU6jxC_VS1dK2YfpaQgR6O3XYVWahgFlvtrqSxXAFB1/s320/D18D2F87-374E-41D0-A830-3DFAA0C8658A.webp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Performance of Fire</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8NsHZFhE04W4iPXMVy6VVosa0w-4yMrcQJYRyJ5dvo5yRWZZXTg1ZFhaNfabPCh7BcqNwFsRH2Olb32cRWkkXvxkeR0DEn3EbZMXjs89umZk3Usv9Vhv5tDiwBGB2W-9dt_3kUWpLd5H/s690/27BAD0E5-9A95-497D-B527-6529F14ADB47.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8NsHZFhE04W4iPXMVy6VVosa0w-4yMrcQJYRyJ5dvo5yRWZZXTg1ZFhaNfabPCh7BcqNwFsRH2Olb32cRWkkXvxkeR0DEn3EbZMXjs89umZk3Usv9Vhv5tDiwBGB2W-9dt_3kUWpLd5H/s320/27BAD0E5-9A95-497D-B527-6529F14ADB47.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wNJEwb_iRxsY-nn3BCG8C7tL2DklrnDJ854Eq_kXFPC-3vWaAHAxoXwTyt6e3mSxsCA1a8oNoc6pyXq_Zw6CRJq1Vcz2d4nt-h6Mb0UsqiXK6_cboq_QsoUHJn8dl9CtDriOmi_-52WO/s1400/B3F1BCCA-8544-4333-A592-45B10E09BD1F.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1118" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wNJEwb_iRxsY-nn3BCG8C7tL2DklrnDJ854Eq_kXFPC-3vWaAHAxoXwTyt6e3mSxsCA1a8oNoc6pyXq_Zw6CRJq1Vcz2d4nt-h6Mb0UsqiXK6_cboq_QsoUHJn8dl9CtDriOmi_-52WO/s320/B3F1BCCA-8544-4333-A592-45B10E09BD1F.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhioZx3ktldzKanRmo1iU9A6BQhjPVtTqGuu7VQIM8CQxVf9lzDczadLsm8FRuZtfRSACxGJhTFne02naU3lM4N2EdYjVAPzYI_GB50HRj450q2Zi4SRwdfLses11VDmjK7e3FHTU0arn8X/s1674/74EAA0AB-22A9-4564-A9E1-2EB93268A295.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1674" data-original-width="1100" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhioZx3ktldzKanRmo1iU9A6BQhjPVtTqGuu7VQIM8CQxVf9lzDczadLsm8FRuZtfRSACxGJhTFne02naU3lM4N2EdYjVAPzYI_GB50HRj450q2Zi4SRwdfLses11VDmjK7e3FHTU0arn8X/s320/74EAA0AB-22A9-4564-A9E1-2EB93268A295.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSjkHnlD8_XYjgeYy6nZffLzNi9arDhIPr3cx8Iu8ibyeq2TIp-KZ3mPjl0RpBu6O_zgM1O_AmzlqwIl44kP18rJE1TaPPD6JXFjAy6kl-Sq4RiOb2VGVNCULZNEtbcKF5nD9VENi9A-c/s1217/7F3B55CD-EF43-4E70-9E8C-B3502EDED46C.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1217" data-original-width="850" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSjkHnlD8_XYjgeYy6nZffLzNi9arDhIPr3cx8Iu8ibyeq2TIp-KZ3mPjl0RpBu6O_zgM1O_AmzlqwIl44kP18rJE1TaPPD6JXFjAy6kl-Sq4RiOb2VGVNCULZNEtbcKF5nD9VENi9A-c/s320/7F3B55CD-EF43-4E70-9E8C-B3502EDED46C.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Arrival of Monsoon </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolGw2a94U9-j7YNmGYaFP90berQquyYGnXFTx3YSMOrgWkj7e9XXHGytaabTOSXUc-c6gKpV_CkFIFx0pwUp9bRI_azlxCPHNglKGF261Ima6Acz7Ip4MEtPeze-GNGvfYScklwrjQ-yk/s850/9D95A1A9-1BEC-4747-9442-9D755A600E7B.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolGw2a94U9-j7YNmGYaFP90berQquyYGnXFTx3YSMOrgWkj7e9XXHGytaabTOSXUc-c6gKpV_CkFIFx0pwUp9bRI_azlxCPHNglKGF261Ima6Acz7Ip4MEtPeze-GNGvfYScklwrjQ-yk/s320/9D95A1A9-1BEC-4747-9442-9D755A600E7B.webp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Fish and Banana </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjara_3Qw7v5sbqiZoVR2zaauKcvh9v10MXnZL_ibdofAvWTulOrg4duuMpGdjaJNVfzaIIlKg5ZRbXHw5ZPBI6mPOvfy36OOsMfjEaWosuUPMfRhRQEWqfmpcRcr_JBGvMjn0DKr1-zKtl/s850/ED34C26C-1C47-47AA-A29F-524AED2A7518.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjara_3Qw7v5sbqiZoVR2zaauKcvh9v10MXnZL_ibdofAvWTulOrg4duuMpGdjaJNVfzaIIlKg5ZRbXHw5ZPBI6mPOvfy36OOsMfjEaWosuUPMfRhRQEWqfmpcRcr_JBGvMjn0DKr1-zKtl/s320/ED34C26C-1C47-47AA-A29F-524AED2A7518.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">100% Literacy </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">---</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EquLP_9vXzw" width="320" youtube-src-id="EquLP_9vXzw"></iframe></div><span style="text-align: left;">A bit more about this series of art</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Husain had earlier drawn a Kathakali scene as a part of his “Indian Civilisation” series that he was working on at the time of his death in 2011. The piece below is titled “Indian Art Form” (right most panel below)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuJNtv0UnqX3hDY4KiyeAOYb3Zc57GsxQ4iruCKahbFqdphsufME8c25EPoUBJqFKWjH73VMJZe8hCQ_m0ygI92smR2vto-YEXR7DLjhpk3vWa1kierbzQYFFLy5k9kvQPDqpxs_SyBGZ/s1038/8F358D93-F671-4AEE-B921-DDC82B14A99A.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1038" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuJNtv0UnqX3hDY4KiyeAOYb3Zc57GsxQ4iruCKahbFqdphsufME8c25EPoUBJqFKWjH73VMJZe8hCQ_m0ygI92smR2vto-YEXR7DLjhpk3vWa1kierbzQYFFLy5k9kvQPDqpxs_SyBGZ/s320/8F358D93-F671-4AEE-B921-DDC82B14A99A.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally, here's an extract from of Shashi Tharoor’s writing in the book: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"THE only time I properly met the incomparable M.F. Husain (discounting, that is, the occasional fleeting handshakes in crowded gatherings) was in New York in 1993, over dinner at the home of the then Indian Ambassador, Hamid Ansari. Sitting before the book-laden coffee table in the Ambassador’s Park Avenue living-room, I recounted to the Master the famous story of what the immortal Pablo Picasso used to say to aspiring artists of the avant-garde. Disregarding their slapdash cubes and squiggles, Picasso would demand: “draw me a horse”. Get the basics right, in other words, before you break free of them. Husain loved the story; he promptly opened the book in front of him, a volume of his own work from Ambassador Ansari’s collection, and proceeded to sketch, with astonishing fluidity, a posse of horses on the frontispiece. I have never forgotten the moment; watching the artist’s long brown fingers glide over the page, the horses’ heads rearing, their manes flying, hooves and tails in the air, as Husain left, in a few bold strokes, the indelible imprint of his genius. So to collaborate on a book with Husain, as I have just done, was an extraordinary privilege. And to do so on the subject of my home state, Kerala, on which Husain has just completed a series of astonishing paintings, made it a special pleasure as well. For horses, in our volume, read elephants. They are everywhere in Husain’s extraordinary evocation of Kerala: crashing through the dense foliage, embracing supple maidens with their trunks, and, in miniature, held aloft by triumphant womanhood. The elephants cavort by the waterside, drink, play, gambol, lurk. They are the animal form of the grandeur and gaiety of “God’s Own Country”. Elephants are indispensable to every Kerala celebration."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">***</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Sources:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.grosvenorgallery.com/viewing-room/6-m.f.-husain-limited-edition-prints-from-a-private-collection-in/">https://www.grosvenorgallery.com/viewing-room/6-m.f.-husain-limited-edition-prints-from-a-private-collection-in/</a> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.mojarto.com/search-all?search=Husain"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.mojarto.com/search-all?search=Husain</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/books/story/20021014-book-review-mf-husain-shashi-tharoor-kerala-god-own-country-794103-2002-10-14"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/books/story/20021014-book-review-mf-husain-shashi-tharoor-kerala-god-own-country-794103-2002-10-14</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://shashitharoor.in/books_details_non_fictions/13">http://shashitharoor.in/books_details_non_fictions/13</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/mfhusain/about-the-exhibition/"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/mfhusain/about-the-exhibition/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-65911225822983614062021-07-19T12:22:00.028+05:302023-02-05T23:16:46.940+05:30My favourite artists: The man who took Bengali folk painting to the world<p>If you have grown up in Calcutta (I dare say Bengal), chances are you would have seen Jamini Roy’s influence in everyday Bengali pop culture. Even if you don’t know his name (which is unlikely), you would definitely know his iconic style of art. For example, this was a random photograph (below) I clicked on a park wall when I had gone to get my photo clicked for my Aadhaar card. Just a random decoration and yet it proved that Jamini Roy achieved what he set out to do. According to the National Galleries of Scotland website, “<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Roy’s intention was to make art which was affordable to everyone and to replace the idea of an artist having solo creative power. This was an aim also shared by Western artists such as Andy Warhol.”. Beautiful, isn’t it?</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik-wxJWcxVIuJhbkr5NjXGgUtafs_T3ECbj1HXPA-EYW_TXP92e5XJUaKGGQvYbJNF_WKyRFXeClGSOEZF-L8vEOYKS_CGqOA2iK6b6DFqw7cHhHVxhLZkHvP_n6cxqXIBFp7n1nqfMy_x/s960/7EFB0547-E15E-4053-ADCB-15FC89B78B49.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik-wxJWcxVIuJhbkr5NjXGgUtafs_T3ECbj1HXPA-EYW_TXP92e5XJUaKGGQvYbJNF_WKyRFXeClGSOEZF-L8vEOYKS_CGqOA2iK6b6DFqw7cHhHVxhLZkHvP_n6cxqXIBFp7n1nqfMy_x/s320/7EFB0547-E15E-4053-ADCB-15FC89B78B49.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Feluda fans (like me) will also remember the painting in Feluda’s drawing room. For the drawing room scene in <i>Sonar Kella</i>, Ray wanted a genuine Jamini Roy painting to be put up on the wall. When he couldn't find one on time, he painted this himself.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaVFYqUpyK5_zjh3rTTFWEtsREXHB0GBhBikCtQ1FHHDDkZ84SBU-dIKzGdzs-vvOPYo_Ac6Jav6qKplsrYIgCtF5Vks5wXYkK1ZMykx4ED4nfDM2STRtanevzLM0R2jIv_WYjNn8o5ts/s876/D58765FD-0D40-4B67-B401-CF2A46221756.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="876" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaVFYqUpyK5_zjh3rTTFWEtsREXHB0GBhBikCtQ1FHHDDkZ84SBU-dIKzGdzs-vvOPYo_Ac6Jav6qKplsrYIgCtF5Vks5wXYkK1ZMykx4ED4nfDM2STRtanevzLM0R2jIv_WYjNn8o5ts/w410-h280/D58765FD-0D40-4B67-B401-CF2A46221756.jpeg" width="410" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>From the sets of Sonar Kella - Satyajit Ray and Soumitra Chatterjee at work</i></div></div><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"></span></p><p>His style of art is ubiquitous in the many street shops of Gariahat selling art prints, terracotta curios and other knickknacks. The only time I think I have actually seen an original work by Jamini Roy, is December 2018 at the Victoria Memorial galleries in Calcutta. It was this artwork below titled “Dancing Girl”:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpboFM8LRQ9nE9o_QQdbdpwK67uOvpTbtcnMRrp56CS5u09wnUW7OYQwB5o08MtdmDhtn5L_8SKIxCI4FZ8LsAOllut3qjcbaoVWIw3soeTF7_g22D6daJyYQTCPoh_DmW80dddJpvkRBB/s2048/A5CCD635-1CD3-468F-BF6B-EB6D128BE975.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpboFM8LRQ9nE9o_QQdbdpwK67uOvpTbtcnMRrp56CS5u09wnUW7OYQwB5o08MtdmDhtn5L_8SKIxCI4FZ8LsAOllut3qjcbaoVWIw3soeTF7_g22D6daJyYQTCPoh_DmW80dddJpvkRBB/s320/A5CCD635-1CD3-468F-BF6B-EB6D128BE975.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmnlZnAAB7EGiI-LIbyqQmw1wbI4pBQyFCPaD8A0vgcHcvv82lFUuQOvBs7TI40aVGt_5Ksh3e4qjazEIxQg-J3m67c5lCSYgCIu6HvlzM416pvj8JtFxWMC9EmE0NsDhznFhvqpche18/s1568/BABF8F76-979E-4A00-8862-0201771F788E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1568" data-original-width="1056" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmnlZnAAB7EGiI-LIbyqQmw1wbI4pBQyFCPaD8A0vgcHcvv82lFUuQOvBs7TI40aVGt_5Ksh3e4qjazEIxQg-J3m67c5lCSYgCIu6HvlzM416pvj8JtFxWMC9EmE0NsDhznFhvqpche18/s320/BABF8F76-979E-4A00-8862-0201771F788E.jpeg" /></a></div><p>Here’s a bit more about the great artist: <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Jamini Roy (1887-1972) is often regarded </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">as the father of modern art in India; his work is unequivocally Indian and modern. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">An iconic artist with a signature style and one of the most famous pupils of Abanindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy is internationally recognised for his endeavours in the world of Bengali folk paintings, that ushered in a new beginning in the history of Indian modern art. Artists today are still inspired by him and copy his techniques. Sample this:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWANrb8-lcUm__pKmOmV1XNslzbees6l-5qUawrz9Q4TOl8NrmDhfJujJ6_9AhOs71Lqne8m4vXZQmTKWYnm8crB2lBmtThbNI2mCG5XmfEHPr97bTc1sdktde33-mVL3ei3m2vHJmt9pE/s2875/A72C5E70-AAED-44D2-A9FA-845A29F638BA.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1094" data-original-width="2875" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWANrb8-lcUm__pKmOmV1XNslzbees6l-5qUawrz9Q4TOl8NrmDhfJujJ6_9AhOs71Lqne8m4vXZQmTKWYnm8crB2lBmtThbNI2mCG5XmfEHPr97bTc1sdktde33-mVL3ei3m2vHJmt9pE/w400-h153/A72C5E70-AAED-44D2-A9FA-845A29F638BA.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">His </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">drawing on the popular and folk traditions of rural Bengal for his inspiration. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Born in Beliatore, West Bengal, Roy studied at the Calcutta College of Art. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">His </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">paintings can be divided into three main themes: the everyday life of rural Bengal, particularly the women of the aboriginal Santhal community, Hindu mythological subjects and Christian imagery.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezyqmjxOupZr_RaHWJlduWCywRlJtOyblMEF6qv6zzc0c-kyd7u59LricLlr28fQ2K9CcQVUEMvyYvpADeia2xH2peIk_vZfcPAx-fEt6jQymWNnStDr8WKtRYuVeYSqspfoyP-ZPzXPq/s585/60F1360B-0D42-4FFE-8A1A-642CDB1125B5.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="585" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezyqmjxOupZr_RaHWJlduWCywRlJtOyblMEF6qv6zzc0c-kyd7u59LricLlr28fQ2K9CcQVUEMvyYvpADeia2xH2peIk_vZfcPAx-fEt6jQymWNnStDr8WKtRYuVeYSqspfoyP-ZPzXPq/s320/60F1360B-0D42-4FFE-8A1A-642CDB1125B5.webp" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">His early works were in a western, academic style, and he was particularly influenced by Post Impressionism. However, from 1925, Roy </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">turned to traditional Bengali art for inspiration, <span style="font-family: inherit;">adopting the style of folk painters or ‘patuas’ who illustrated gods and legends. His later work also features Christian themes (I was surprised to see his version of the Last Supper - see below)</span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYAnLxU8VskS3Y05E85roFqxRGiRjr3L8NBlKbp9-ZGwVGCus70h2X3rWTYBDA5pEGb-5YTAWFWPjPZSxqfeQ69k54c2viowlFFBfFpro9y5tWzjLWbz9d32XCllfAJ6TC-7CNZBcAnap/s600/594F2D2F-2C88-4F1B-AD13-D9B5631E1769.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYAnLxU8VskS3Y05E85roFqxRGiRjr3L8NBlKbp9-ZGwVGCus70h2X3rWTYBDA5pEGb-5YTAWFWPjPZSxqfeQ69k54c2viowlFFBfFpro9y5tWzjLWbz9d32XCllfAJ6TC-7CNZBcAnap/s320/594F2D2F-2C88-4F1B-AD13-D9B5631E1769.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jamini Roy developed his signature style which was characterised by bold lines and flat use of colour. He replaced costly canvas and oil paints with indigenous pigments and other inexpensive materials and mediums. He used indigenous materials, including lamp black for the outline drawing, 7 basic colours (Indian red, yellow ochre, cadmium green, vermilion, grey, blue and white), which he applied with organic tempera, earth and mineral pigments to homemade canvas spun with fabric.</span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvPP1ajI5Lawco6naa8ZoOeLm91jv_4sCsqSTHw5noT3h9v42M7SSvEM4TLr-O5Jc3-367vRTtpYcdtNTBNqWtR58MIYn3dzYPOYICuioEP9X7_yEcAeAtbsgcrBduzNcajpusEle39sa/s647/CF4ADEEF-B630-46C2-90FB-5A18081746ED.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="647" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvPP1ajI5Lawco6naa8ZoOeLm91jv_4sCsqSTHw5noT3h9v42M7SSvEM4TLr-O5Jc3-367vRTtpYcdtNTBNqWtR58MIYn3dzYPOYICuioEP9X7_yEcAeAtbsgcrBduzNcajpusEle39sa/s320/CF4ADEEF-B630-46C2-90FB-5A18081746ED.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Again, another artist I have tried copying but only when you try and mimic his style, you realise how difficult it is to draw clean bold black lines and use a limited palette of colours to convey a story, an emotion in such a captivating manner. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are some of my personal favourites:</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtCa6mhypZ67zMcPIy4fSf5Ug2y7-3JjZILYEBLi7TIg1Av_ob1ynIyLscOCgEQZA9ZUMERbxwH1ISgHGJ9yRv1nWZJEHZJi74gfS1bmx4oMHZqLrB8jpzFQiBoQv9rtoYXlMsqN3AovA/s900/9281B171-92EE-4546-98D5-DAB435694BD7.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtCa6mhypZ67zMcPIy4fSf5Ug2y7-3JjZILYEBLi7TIg1Av_ob1ynIyLscOCgEQZA9ZUMERbxwH1ISgHGJ9yRv1nWZJEHZJi74gfS1bmx4oMHZqLrB8jpzFQiBoQv9rtoYXlMsqN3AovA/s320/9281B171-92EE-4546-98D5-DAB435694BD7.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKiZ-4F9AtlSV86Phj_1GfYayJVjEQ0thlXYDnHObMelOXFpXEEHL5n3uLilMQ-S_s9ISUjbYcFZPErPzgMhxMfGg5cF14egpzI-gLQC5bYTjuRfd2kz9k9yYKxyigppNkB_zwHaGhvGs/s640/90032B0D-B0CC-476D-B382-F1F0B4FDCC46.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKiZ-4F9AtlSV86Phj_1GfYayJVjEQ0thlXYDnHObMelOXFpXEEHL5n3uLilMQ-S_s9ISUjbYcFZPErPzgMhxMfGg5cF14egpzI-gLQC5bYTjuRfd2kz9k9yYKxyigppNkB_zwHaGhvGs/s320/90032B0D-B0CC-476D-B382-F1F0B4FDCC46.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh223PAXXTH-yqhdeWDcgXEb_jKACEjjsLcEIeqIz_e_ZOqWa_eE5et8jWiDA2srfd3_6ZgjKIjfg1GXpYU6yZKQ5wzzgScAowEcvprXNYcpkkcyJxLZKfMGexKugubBg2ceZo85Fr12m4T/s413/76A359FF-5B28-419B-AB75-2EF4FEC7BC55.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh223PAXXTH-yqhdeWDcgXEb_jKACEjjsLcEIeqIz_e_ZOqWa_eE5et8jWiDA2srfd3_6ZgjKIjfg1GXpYU6yZKQ5wzzgScAowEcvprXNYcpkkcyJxLZKfMGexKugubBg2ceZo85Fr12m4T/s320/76A359FF-5B28-419B-AB75-2EF4FEC7BC55.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And of course, Feluda’s painting:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wnfojIybkJCe2Rc_ItI0NWo5Ni9fCg9_6kXmKbs8eOEhbyEXmlRcsKGuUhDMlHaF9YH7zrw6zb2xBKGRCQexDwuNH_7aIHvVFKs4iueoPWZ-komcDKB-To5r_Ky2dvUg6zR2Ipznvjef/s600/3DBE325F-359C-4296-8DC5-0643BA33C281.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wnfojIybkJCe2Rc_ItI0NWo5Ni9fCg9_6kXmKbs8eOEhbyEXmlRcsKGuUhDMlHaF9YH7zrw6zb2xBKGRCQexDwuNH_7aIHvVFKs4iueoPWZ-komcDKB-To5r_Ky2dvUg6zR2Ipznvjef/s320/3DBE325F-359C-4296-8DC5-0643BA33C281.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This article below provides such a unique perspective on his life and times - how he liked to keep his studio neat and organised, why he sold his paintings at a modest price, his unique price by size system, how he would sign in the presence of the buyer, etc.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_eQhEEuSl96dTnpiZ7rgY8EzyQ0_xNdYiIhCiwZTD90JM-sAl85Nm-VfjSw-1iAJxAgmx3uvnu7XeKA5zkFM-xrvQpBC5ZVU75xr-D26fkmkx7PXDs8cbbh3p_3EY9IEiK1wGWuoX4ws8/s1517/808BF4C5-63EF-4800-9071-BD4274F2AC31.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1517" data-original-width="828" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_eQhEEuSl96dTnpiZ7rgY8EzyQ0_xNdYiIhCiwZTD90JM-sAl85Nm-VfjSw-1iAJxAgmx3uvnu7XeKA5zkFM-xrvQpBC5ZVU75xr-D26fkmkx7PXDs8cbbh3p_3EY9IEiK1wGWuoX4ws8/w350-h640/808BF4C5-63EF-4800-9071-BD4274F2AC31.jpeg" width="350" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKzEfJej9VfYhDzH_w0B2jkxSHnRXQgL48ZAN4DMZr1HvzBJqkLK2lQOLnfCBwBQNw_8h9qUz1-bil7m-bQrlmKHSiFDZWgSA9Gw9byeCZScqENj2lD5s0FsdxaJptyFvHo_N0ziNL8xd/s1460/B658CCEA-3A89-40FC-805B-80B6CB97A34F.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1460" data-original-width="828" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKzEfJej9VfYhDzH_w0B2jkxSHnRXQgL48ZAN4DMZr1HvzBJqkLK2lQOLnfCBwBQNw_8h9qUz1-bil7m-bQrlmKHSiFDZWgSA9Gw9byeCZScqENj2lD5s0FsdxaJptyFvHo_N0ziNL8xd/w362-h640/B658CCEA-3A89-40FC-805B-80B6CB97A34F.jpeg" width="362" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ6oFUuGiIbGqIN0sq9rU-xDgg0gJAtzUuQSXdfNDU32YM_RYjerM9ZxkGT_K9h5v6p3pAcP7GgD4f0pgbRZQ2TGkyu-nuGo7EPPOyUDsNzH6Cx7s6fzr62DetPE8ormz60EtDhCLEEuJP/s1384/1DDFC3A2-08EE-4758-89F3-5788EB97BC2F.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1384" data-original-width="828" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ6oFUuGiIbGqIN0sq9rU-xDgg0gJAtzUuQSXdfNDU32YM_RYjerM9ZxkGT_K9h5v6p3pAcP7GgD4f0pgbRZQ2TGkyu-nuGo7EPPOyUDsNzH6Cx7s6fzr62DetPE8ormz60EtDhCLEEuJP/w382-h640/1DDFC3A2-08EE-4758-89F3-5788EB97BC2F.jpeg" width="382" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3CVhQQps7lwrCR7MseDzbzqt2F8y_BWYZoJIRlzsiJ_KvGKGrt_eWNj6klGed3swtBtsG8jITwM_PoR4pQhajJF-BGfUxtNCcS2wD0lnKzoDZM2ZN-GNSvdPTvTpBgGkHrErbSMKwKy2P/s1357/4A297E95-3596-4878-B5CC-9011D8C4A616.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1357" data-original-width="828" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3CVhQQps7lwrCR7MseDzbzqt2F8y_BWYZoJIRlzsiJ_KvGKGrt_eWNj6klGed3swtBtsG8jITwM_PoR4pQhajJF-BGfUxtNCcS2wD0lnKzoDZM2ZN-GNSvdPTvTpBgGkHrErbSMKwKy2P/w390-h640/4A297E95-3596-4878-B5CC-9011D8C4A616.jpeg" width="390" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1hh504xPET8pBEZi2aU_N9x1QCUAZPN3qLP6bkY3w8akk7Tv8u-95C9HmwbTC4mGTFvPW_pq_W-zn3f2XAF8lgl3zBNmAIXjyPaxrya-kaUyPhiBmlahejVfCZUdYuUZNFsAEsGj-lhR/s1432/DAE8B35C-24D8-45E7-A42D-1F3697A4A4CE.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1432" data-original-width="828" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1hh504xPET8pBEZi2aU_N9x1QCUAZPN3qLP6bkY3w8akk7Tv8u-95C9HmwbTC4mGTFvPW_pq_W-zn3f2XAF8lgl3zBNmAIXjyPaxrya-kaUyPhiBmlahejVfCZUdYuUZNFsAEsGj-lhR/w370-h640/DAE8B35C-24D8-45E7-A42D-1F3697A4A4CE.jpeg" width="370" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfagC77oFRsUyxjOJxH9kD2P_wEV4H8MbIlzD1mwc_TBSrAgilw-0tKc1xOUdB1S_FGw7WQjBuOC3izi8Dy1shNuwGIvylfdG15QL2fpHt25fy7Je-JJfNNzQrbrNnLEsehy5LioNR3iT/s1460/F774CB36-467C-481A-B77D-154FD609FEA2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1460" data-original-width="828" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfagC77oFRsUyxjOJxH9kD2P_wEV4H8MbIlzD1mwc_TBSrAgilw-0tKc1xOUdB1S_FGw7WQjBuOC3izi8Dy1shNuwGIvylfdG15QL2fpHt25fy7Je-JJfNNzQrbrNnLEsehy5LioNR3iT/w362-h640/F774CB36-467C-481A-B77D-154FD609FEA2.jpeg" width="362" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1370" data-original-width="828" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_owwSZH6aJOz4lJ-hykp8i3iX-nesKrUvl1-R0nkhZ1s2J8sdkx8x6aVheNfUOJghjkxjW9rv8VA1DAlEeZygwaPi918P0W-De3-_fywmHzwHUT-Em1-6-pn0Hk7aB3FnH-KaoGclVqL/w386-h640/237E0761-1F89-4F47-A2BA-0103DF1C25D5.jpeg" width="386" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">—</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources:</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O134001/the-last-supper-painting-jamini-roy/">https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O134001/the-last-supper-painting-jamini-roy/</a></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/jamini-roy"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/jamini-roy</span></a></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://artist.christies.com/Jamini-Roy-42388-bio.aspx"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://artist.christies.com/Jamini-Roy-42388-bio.aspx</span></a></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://www.artisera.com/collections/jamini-roy"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.artisera.com/collections/jamini-roy</span></a></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG181748"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG181748</span></a></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.3); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-11117309910300382722021-07-18T21:37:00.018+05:302023-02-05T23:16:56.768+05:30My favourite artists: The (in)famous patron of Azad Hind Dhaba<p>There’s something about Maqbool Fida Husain’s style of art that captured my imagination in the early 2000s. Just after I graduated from college. Maybe it was the hype around his Gajagamini movie starring his muse Madhuri Dixit or the protests of the saffron parties that eventually drove him to exile. It was the time when the internet was becoming more accessible and I remember spending hours trying to find his painting online. I had the fortune of seeing a huge red painting on a wall (actually overflowing onto the ceiling) in the residence of Naresh Kumar (former India tennis player) in Middleton Mansions. I believe Hussain used to stay at Mr. Kumar’s residence when he was in Calcutta. I don’t remember why I had dropped into Me. Kumar’s residence - maybe I was with my friend Uday Jhala dropping off something for his mum. Anyway, the passing glimpse of the painting was enough to trigger off an obsessive search for more. The painting I saw was something similar to this one but I can’t be sanguine as it was nearly 2 decades back, and bear in mind I saw it only for a few fleeting moments.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_VrzE2JSjBmPW-td8FudSpP6O6okmkpyrkVgnWo_csNeILbcPOcGSdA7IW-Rn3ECykra_qv2yThml6yEcrf_J93p42KDlwEJW9kDMIYS4fNwPWdSXg6PfybIxYP30lsL7v4dO4uT1LQWv/s674/7C9FD454-7D8A-4C74-AD47-18903BAD1513.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_VrzE2JSjBmPW-td8FudSpP6O6okmkpyrkVgnWo_csNeILbcPOcGSdA7IW-Rn3ECykra_qv2yThml6yEcrf_J93p42KDlwEJW9kDMIYS4fNwPWdSXg6PfybIxYP30lsL7v4dO4uT1LQWv/s320/7C9FD454-7D8A-4C74-AD47-18903BAD1513.jpeg" /></a></div><p>MF Husain had a charismatic, unapologetic personality (he went barefooted all the time(?), he found a muse in Madhuri Dixit) with a distinct, pioneering style of painting. His artwork had simple elegant lines that even a layman like me could appreciate. Sometimes art can be pretentious but Husain’s works were engaging and seemed accessible to the common person not just the highbrow art connoisseur. They looked simple but if you tried copying them, you realised it was quite a challenge. I know, I tried. So I did the next best thing. The Times of India published a Husain painting of Mother India and I got it laminated, it still is in my old bedroom in Kolkata. I think it was similar to this sketch below:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZ1OqK_GpywkGSZAAAxaSmczGRkI0GhbICejiYAiw29bGDHTUGz4DO7nHejXdewpyRaOolYpL-5NXhC26qwfXNsGN8nAlm4XBmJoWz0p1TUy9yQaTfEQAXQi8pzuOuRNqzr-j_riwYBq0/s311/59619C71-2C08-4FA3-9F3A-3FF92B91CC09.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZ1OqK_GpywkGSZAAAxaSmczGRkI0GhbICejiYAiw29bGDHTUGz4DO7nHejXdewpyRaOolYpL-5NXhC26qwfXNsGN8nAlm4XBmJoWz0p1TUy9yQaTfEQAXQi8pzuOuRNqzr-j_riwYBq0/s0/59619C71-2C08-4FA3-9F3A-3FF92B91CC09.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: italic; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">M.F. Husain's sketch titled “Bharat Mata” specially created for The Times of India's special issue for the fiftieth year of Indian independence.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Then a few years later in 2010, I remember seeing the graffiti at Kala Ghoda in Mumbai. And clicked a photograph (below) with my Nokia phone.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFc9g5BKfpqvq70P5-Ws4WEowYVqZ6QNHjQ17O3yNHWeguQ4R0wV5p4R8XmXowkV-9zEDt7wLOpSH4YT9xp4jsV0KXqX2Ke9Cw4ugEPtnSQL4oo9uDuU9p1NPaFaJ1fAdfthkKFOI1dnBJ/s604/1B689BC9-D30A-4D0F-B9AB-83B73320D00F.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFc9g5BKfpqvq70P5-Ws4WEowYVqZ6QNHjQ17O3yNHWeguQ4R0wV5p4R8XmXowkV-9zEDt7wLOpSH4YT9xp4jsV0KXqX2Ke9Cw4ugEPtnSQL4oo9uDuU9p1NPaFaJ1fAdfthkKFOI1dnBJ/s320/1B689BC9-D30A-4D0F-B9AB-83B73320D00F.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>My favourite Hussain story is however about his patronage of Azad Hind Dhaba on Ballygunge Circular Road. I love the Chicken Bharta, Egg Tarka and Rumali Roti from Azad Hind to this day. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5xDpiJQpQm21iUKVQ69_q0A8GNALK_oLAU4x6K0tvQhTavMnZE8oXZDdp_M14KJeWh6NB6Sy-n9OOOPVmviOMre5pS18MNnBgogn9S_IxOFHq0PaCFq1cJlaI6vm2QforpqIK8I8pXdPm/s1519/A36B43CE-9776-4EF5-9F69-420E561C2C50.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1519" data-original-width="1131" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5xDpiJQpQm21iUKVQ69_q0A8GNALK_oLAU4x6K0tvQhTavMnZE8oXZDdp_M14KJeWh6NB6Sy-n9OOOPVmviOMre5pS18MNnBgogn9S_IxOFHq0PaCFq1cJlaI6vm2QforpqIK8I8pXdPm/s320/A36B43CE-9776-4EF5-9F69-420E561C2C50.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Chicken Bharta is heavenly at Azad Hind (bottom left)</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAPmXa7gUScRj6CM63CASdEJO3CgJLVzosWXc6TH0gVrFu2qe58vFcKx9uhGAUm20HXI6t1vrCl7C-bT70JhcVee-7oBmolkuMUVgmFhD3OUMLo3kEccoLpjEJpUCJbU35_ZEOWbizu9WH/s1600/8C636796-A1DD-4CB8-8B49-3707E71D4078.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAPmXa7gUScRj6CM63CASdEJO3CgJLVzosWXc6TH0gVrFu2qe58vFcKx9uhGAUm20HXI6t1vrCl7C-bT70JhcVee-7oBmolkuMUVgmFhD3OUMLo3kEccoLpjEJpUCJbU35_ZEOWbizu9WH/s320/8C636796-A1DD-4CB8-8B49-3707E71D4078.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></span></div><p>I remember walking in this one time on Republic Day 2009, and recognising the painting at the Dhaba. I managed to click a photograph of this sign (above) but I was so busy with collecting my order, that I didn’t stop to ask how a humble Dhaba had a Husain on its wall and this note. </p><p>Internet research revealed the the fascinating back story:</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">The <span style="font-family: inherit;">memory of seeing M.F. Husain colouring one of his sketches back in 1999 is still fresh in the mind of the owners of Azad Hind Dhaba, a popular eatery in south Kolkata.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“<i>He was very close to my father Chamanlal Sharma, ever since he first dropped by for tea some 25-30 years ago</i>,” recollected Dharam Bir Sharma (pictured above) one of the partners of Azad Hind Dhaba</span>. “<i>After that he’d drop by every day when he stayed in Calcutta for a chat with my father. One day, he said a portion of the wall should be cleaned for him to paint on it.</i>”</p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22.7px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">That was in 1996. The wall was cleaned and a black-and-white sketch done by the master in two hours. That was the turning point for the dhaba that grew from a small roadside address to a 40-seater eatery. “<i>Yes, that made a huge difference to the footfall. Dhabas were not as popular back then but people started flocking to see the painting</i>,” recalled Sharma.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The next masterstroke came in 1999 when Husain returned to colour the sketch and modify parts of the painting. He changed “the horse to an elephant” and rubbed out a line from a song he had scribbled to replace it with the words Gaja Gamini.</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The now-famous painting, titled Gaja Gamini (one with a walk like an elephant), depicts a dancing woman, in a bright red background, while a white elephant looks on with its trunk held aloft. Mr. Husain arranged a private show of his film Gaja Gamini at Azad Hind in 1999.</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3hBHK5IlHk0lKxVXBJgiolxkqqQb6pqo48WPmNtngf-Sba85kxjjz-Q2EfR4MUKMaSdk-dpHueblpritIju9YLCrxgMcyNpyG3R8OfAkC5v5QUtEAOYaK3ZGzniXM1RNJY-ruxIyMnat/s500/634AE32E-DAC5-46C6-9C5B-8F4F09930F40.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3hBHK5IlHk0lKxVXBJgiolxkqqQb6pqo48WPmNtngf-Sba85kxjjz-Q2EfR4MUKMaSdk-dpHueblpritIju9YLCrxgMcyNpyG3R8OfAkC5v5QUtEAOYaK3ZGzniXM1RNJY-ruxIyMnat/s320/634AE32E-DAC5-46C6-9C5B-8F4F09930F40.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfsQ5-Wk6FpbC9LuWJPIiyMq75E7YX6YaNjfG2B62gFcGOV62KT923Vt11zPCtQxLBUPF9hPWuq6kmsY12sc92XGXZ8Q3vhql2MQQmRlSiwjgJsdCRVCRo0DddSo5bM9dGqQfyuxL7wCVH/s408/4FF3F92B-ADFE-4A79-B8B3-52A25B219444.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="408" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfsQ5-Wk6FpbC9LuWJPIiyMq75E7YX6YaNjfG2B62gFcGOV62KT923Vt11zPCtQxLBUPF9hPWuq6kmsY12sc92XGXZ8Q3vhql2MQQmRlSiwjgJsdCRVCRo0DddSo5bM9dGqQfyuxL7wCVH/w200-h200/4FF3F92B-ADFE-4A79-B8B3-52A25B219444.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyzfM98FJ0brA18nSt3vsOReu652U2SFGfBsD0TZoxSfyX5O1WSr968d1nWgwTNAhMsHPBJstpPHpqXug9x2we2QSAi_lM4E8KoWejIHdtUDOxaLIZNAmNAQvZelmRaM4OqZ9_baiEYTD3/s513/8219D181-C528-4642-8E6B-89D530E53845.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyzfM98FJ0brA18nSt3vsOReu652U2SFGfBsD0TZoxSfyX5O1WSr968d1nWgwTNAhMsHPBJstpPHpqXug9x2we2QSAi_lM4E8KoWejIHdtUDOxaLIZNAmNAQvZelmRaM4OqZ9_baiEYTD3/s320/8219D181-C528-4642-8E6B-89D530E53845.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"><i>Gaja Gamini of Azad Hind Dhaba</i></span></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Sitting at the cash counter with the painting behind him, Mr. Sharma fondly recalled his memories of the famous artist. He remembers Mr. Husain as a “moody and humble person” who would come to the restaurant and sit quietly in one corner sipping his favourite “kadak chai [strong tea].” </span><span class="s1">A special chai with “less milk and sugar, lots of ginger and a little bit of cardamom in a big </span><span class="s2" style="font-style: italic;">bhaar</span><span class="s1">”, and a tandoori roti with chicken reshmi kebab. </span>That used to be the sip-and-bite preference of Azad Hind Dhaba’s most prized patron.</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“<i>He did not talk much. But sometimes told me what kind of food he wants</i>,” Mr. Sharma said. He was initially apprehensive of talking to an artist of Mr. Husain’s calibre, but eventually they became friends. “<i>Mr. Husain could mingle with adults and children with equal ease. He was totally devoid of arrogance.</i>” Whenever schoolchildren spotted him at the eatery, they flocked to him and asked for autographs. The world-famous painter complied with their demands with a smile and even drew them impromptu sketches.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">On a personal note, Sharma recalled how Husain had designed his wedding card. “<i>It was in 2001, when I called to tell him that I was getting married and he told me he wanted to design my wedding card…. he sent across the design of a groom on horseback.</i>”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Ashok Das, who has been associated with Husain's favourite eatery in Kolkata for about two decades, remembered fondly, “<i>He didn't demand much. He just wanted a copy of an Urdu newspaper and a cup of tea ready. He was very easily satisfied. </i></span><i>He first came and made an impromptu black and white sketch on our wall in 1996. Then during the release of Gajagamini, he made some modifications. A big party was thrown here, it was attended by the likes of Mrinal Sen.</i>”</p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVYaHHpZjBKwgyAED-aY_qGl7HAIjozJ46zuvqu-bR8Uiyvu2q4Lsocm_JiJcdH6l66MRd7Ryz-sRhSCeTcbWqDlOlkdi7uGRV16dAywyX_x2rXyo0hNCO7ujpWjHHYhncFD-0jOUotae/s249/074F3F74-B20D-4702-BD8C-E3CB1C88D18B.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="170" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVYaHHpZjBKwgyAED-aY_qGl7HAIjozJ46zuvqu-bR8Uiyvu2q4Lsocm_JiJcdH6l66MRd7Ryz-sRhSCeTcbWqDlOlkdi7uGRV16dAywyX_x2rXyo0hNCO7ujpWjHHYhncFD-0jOUotae/w137-h200/074F3F74-B20D-4702-BD8C-E3CB1C88D18B.jpeg" width="137" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">The last time Husain made it to the dhaba was in 2006. </span><span class="s1">The man who drove him there was Bhola Singh (pictured above), chauffeur to Naresh and Sunita Kumar, with whom Husain would often stay during his visits. “<i>Around 30 years ago, Husain </i></span><span class="s2"><i>saab</i></span><span class="s1"><i> wanted to have some nice tea and he just couldn’t find the kind he liked. So I took him to Azad Hind Dhaba which was more popular among taxi-drivers back then,</i>” recalled Bhola.<span style="font-size: 19px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Saddened at the news of the artist’s death (2011 in exile in London), the man at the wheel added: “<i>I wish people had not driven him out of the country. He was a good man.</i>”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1"></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s1">The dhaba’s way of saying thank you to perhaps its most famous patron was to add Husain’s Special Chicken to the menu — a boneless chicken dish. </span>A patron who painted his signature mural on the dhaba wall and gave the Ballygunge Circular Road address a pen — or rather paintbrush — name: “MF Husain’s Dhaba”.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Sources:</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.kolkatafirst.in/?p=991">http://www.kolkatafirst.in/?p=991</a></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/dhaba-husain-made-famous-strokes-on-wall-special-on-menu/cid/380679">https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/dhaba-husain-made-famous-strokes-on-wall-special-on-menu/cid/380679</a></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><a href="http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/azad-hind-dhaba-husain-s-favourite-haunt/801672/"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/azad-hind-dhaba-husain-s-favourite-haunt/801672/</span></a></span></p><div><span class="s1"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-51964203228186241742020-08-07T19:05:00.007+05:302020-08-07T19:05:51.831+05:30Common Mallow. Uncommon happiness.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGv7lqRHwudwTlVXjcUiEwn2ueYaP0lw9LaAmrvZdS7kmLziQmgsk-kviqGluHndRSjrGpfIV_pEouTFjuf4y5fdAQFEIhB5PU6D7J7jU1QAIH0dnJwFzHcoGJmkk-9nrD49MuGkqieF0/s1659/6D590622-EB6B-4E1C-AFC2-BE660DF369C9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1659" data-original-width="1007" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGv7lqRHwudwTlVXjcUiEwn2ueYaP0lw9LaAmrvZdS7kmLziQmgsk-kviqGluHndRSjrGpfIV_pEouTFjuf4y5fdAQFEIhB5PU6D7J7jU1QAIH0dnJwFzHcoGJmkk-9nrD49MuGkqieF0/s640/6D590622-EB6B-4E1C-AFC2-BE660DF369C9.jpeg" /></a></div>Common mallow (Malva sylvestris) is one of those plants that are often looked upon as weeds. But growing them in our little balcony has been so satisfying. I didn’t know what I was planting in early June. Today they bloomed and I didn’t know the name. The iNaturalist app from NatGeo is a fantastic way to find out names of plants and flowers - just click a photo and search! That’s how I found out what had bloomed.<p></p><p>The Mallow's kidney-shaped or palmately-lobed leaves are notably creased, typically with dentate margins. In bloom, the Malvaceae family plants produce five large notched petals in each open flower. Common mallow has showy pink petals laced with darker-coloured strokes. In the centre of the flower lies a pollen-loaded column of fused stamens. Mallow is known to freely seed. The round seed pods, known as 'cheeses', soon follow flowering. These were once munched by children on their way to and from school. The pods are held on stalks, close to the flowering stem.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-9111736248846216702020-07-27T02:13:00.007+05:302020-08-13T14:05:42.796+05:30Consultants = Detectives<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left;">Like </span><a href="#" id="https://scroll.in/reel/824470/go-goyenda-a-guide-to-the-bengali-detectives-who-made-it-to-the-screen-and-the-ones-who-need-to" name="https://scroll.in/reel/824470/go-goyenda-a-guide-to-the-bengali-detectives-who-made-it-to-the-screen-and-the-ones-who-need-to" style="text-align: left;">most Bengalis</a><span style="text-align: left;">, I am a self-confessed, unabashed detective fiction buff. Think Satyajit Ray’s </span><i style="text-align: left;">Feluda</i><span style="text-align: left;">, Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s </span><i style="text-align: left;">Byomkesh Bakshi</i><span style="text-align: left;">, Samaresh Basu’s </span><i style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://arkasircar.blogspot.com/2020/05/goyenda-profiles-arjun.html" target="_blank">Arjun</a></i><span style="text-align: left;">, Sukanta Gandopadhyay's </span><i style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://arkasircar.blogspot.com/2020/04/goyenda-profiles-deep-kaku-o-jhinuk.html" target="_blank">Deep Kaku</a></i><span style="text-align: left;"> and Suchitra Bhattacharya’s </span><i style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://arkasircar.blogspot.com/2020/05/goyenda-profiles-mitin-mashi-stories.html" target="_blank">Mitin Mashi</a></i><span style="text-align: left;">. These are my staple non-work reading (or more truthfully actually "listening" thanks to the scores of YouTube content creators). Click on the links to read my posts profiling them. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left;">While consuming their cases, a thought has been meandering in my head for a while now – </span><b style="text-align: left;">are detectives and management consultants, not similar professionals</b><span style="text-align: left;">? Think about it. The great Sherlock Holmes used to call himself a "consulting detective". </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVuiQ-FIuAJZo46FVEKp_7pQ_lkwEr0VqoXZV4Wjz8KpLYRrvPmyJKIoiTjv9SdXbUYnBHlzmK8i2FAVA64khKAPalYl7SHIzmzidJ1CLpU7o_39bQ2Qui450xfEIwrdjp0CmrXkvEcBAl/s320/897582-sherlockr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVuiQ-FIuAJZo46FVEKp_7pQ_lkwEr0VqoXZV4Wjz8KpLYRrvPmyJKIoiTjv9SdXbUYnBHlzmK8i2FAVA64khKAPalYl7SHIzmzidJ1CLpU7o_39bQ2Qui450xfEIwrdjp0CmrXkvEcBAl/s0/897582-sherlockr.jpg" /></span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a management consultant, I thought that I was almost a private investigator of sorts. (Or maybe I was being self indulgent to justify why I was finessing a slide at 2 am in the morning for the 247th time that day!) Anyway, I do think the similarities are striking. Here’s how:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1) <b>Both work on cases</b>: Yes, engagements or ‘studies’ as we called them at McKinsey are called ‘cases’ in some firms! "Case study" rings a bell?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2) <b>The client pays the bill</b>: Both need to be hired by clients. Often solving the problem for one client drives future referral business from the same client or their acquaintances. Therefore the fundamental need to develop top-notch “client leadership”. They also need to be “trusted advisors” and often take their clients’ secrets to their grave. Discretion is a core virtue of both.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3) <b>The methodology employed is hypothesis driven problem solving</b>: Both professionals are <i>Satyanweshis</i> or "Seekers of Truth". Therefore, like all management consultants worth their salt, detectives also employ the same hypothesis driven problem solving approach to solve cases based on threading together facts. This includes doing 5 things well:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">a. <b>Starting with a sharp problem statement</b>: The problems both solve are often nebulous and need the articulation of a sharp upfront problem statement – what are we trying to solve for here. In the case of detectives, that is hypothesising about the motive.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">b. <b>Diligent fact gathering:</b> The magnifying glass cliché aside, both have to rely on extensive factual evidence that is often “unsexy” but necessary to the crack the problem. The gathering of data has to be systematic and efficient.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">c. <b>High quality interviewing skills</b>: A core part of fact gathering is interviewing clients and stakeholders. This is taught to every business analyst and junior associate as a core skill of the consultant toolkit. Same I guess for the rookie detective. The way to get your facts is to ask the right questions in the right way.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Nz0WPjajR3IjV7qyErzIEGMcsO61lqAGQN1HZphIWFdhQfISu_yWdSFGsULhRzaCSRWtbB7q3FIDZ7KF5vH2-EeAEQoJIOVs_iZwHZN4dMIkkYmmKiJIBk-Tz9swu3zSsKPv-_TqnkQu/s768/sFOAJ.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Nz0WPjajR3IjV7qyErzIEGMcsO61lqAGQN1HZphIWFdhQfISu_yWdSFGsULhRzaCSRWtbB7q3FIDZ7KF5vH2-EeAEQoJIOVs_iZwHZN4dMIkkYmmKiJIBk-Tz9swu3zSsKPv-_TqnkQu/w513-h343/sFOAJ.png" width="513" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left;">d. </span><b style="text-align: left;">Ability to thread (pun intended) all the pieces of evidence</b><span style="text-align: left;">: Both need to be able to have the ability to join the dots between the facts and the underlying insights they reveal to solve their respective cases.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">e. <b>Producing a "storyboard"</b>: Solving the problem is incomplete without being able to articulate the story in a precise, simple and logical manner - a "dot-dash" as we called it at McKinsey. Look up pyramid principle.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4) <b>Collaboration is the key to success</b>: Private investigators often need to work with police without upsetting the apple cart. They also need to rely on the police forensics team for help and tap into their broader group of friends to get information about the case they are working one. Stakeholders and experts. This is familiar to all consultants as the need to build a “stakeholder map” and have distinctive “people leadership”. And need to reach out to industry experts once in a while to "get smart" about market facts. $1000 GLG calls. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">BTW, truly successful detectives and consultants also are very influential by virtue of being connected with those in power. Think Sherlock being sought after by the government for sensitive matters. Similarly Byomkesh.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5) <b>Cannot thrive without having excellent communication (and the penchant for drama)</b>: Both need to be great communicators often having to rely on top-down communication to help the clients understand the “so whats”. Think of the final reveal at the end of the mystery novels as the final board meeting to get sign-off on the strategy paper… and the drama that comes along with it. And the alignment meetings in secret that are required to make sure that the final big one goes per plan.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6) <b>Requirement to systematically codify knowledge</b>: Both need to codify cases and learning to ensure that they don’t have the reinvent the wheel each time. They can solve the next case more efficiently leveraging their earlier body of work.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7) <b>Need to stay updated with the latest "thinking" and market trends to aid problem solving:</b> For consultants it may lead to talking about crypto, blockchain and AI at most inopportune times. And of course digital! Ha!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">8) <b>Reliance on publishing “thought leadership” pieces to enhance own brand</b>: The truly great detectives like the great Sherlock Holmes is said to have published many monographs on topics “the use of disguise in crime detection”, “the utilities of dogs in detective work” and the “analysis of tobacco ashes”. Consultants do the same. Just type “COVID 19” and “New Normal” in your Google Search Bar. These thought leadership pieces are essential from establishing their brands as leading lights in their respective fields.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">9) <b>Terrible work-life balance</b>: Burning the midnight oil, downing copious amount of coffee (and other beverages), pull all-nighters on cases are common place for both professions sadly.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What do you think? A case of too much detective fiction?</span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;">BTW, if you think the above is a stretch of imagination, brace yourself for this wonderfully entertaining novel by Sameer Kamat called the "<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21532628-business-doctors" target="_blank">Business Doctors</a>" where "<i>Ivy League educated management consultant, Michael Schneider, gets hired by an unlikely client – a desperate mafia boss who wants to give a makeover to his family business that spans across gambling, drugs and porn. But the client's seductive wife and bumbling goons weren't part of the deal Michael signed up for."</i></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VsLrzBXfR4fiKUfu_kichsCWsejLltto3vWENPwlrt7aDIFGVamVJZovPdYRwelipDV7e_sa4dZMl4FkZ14WaPe3fhpjbB5WEV8dkdJBKWoxYCzVVj8PJubO7zvUvIzUYO1hNmdxluMn/s627/Business+Doctors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="416" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VsLrzBXfR4fiKUfu_kichsCWsejLltto3vWENPwlrt7aDIFGVamVJZovPdYRwelipDV7e_sa4dZMl4FkZ14WaPe3fhpjbB5WEV8dkdJBKWoxYCzVVj8PJubO7zvUvIzUYO1hNmdxluMn/w266-h402/Business+Doctors.jpg" width="266" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-34512466842750206682020-07-06T21:19:00.008+05:302020-08-12T17:03:31.882+05:30Caveman diet / Paleo diet and how is it working for me<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">My wife is keen about nutrition and I am a good husband - I listen to her and to be honest, I need to lose the weight. She’s put us on the Paleo Diet aka the Caveman Diet. This post is about how I am going about it.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgnxghyphenhyphensepiG_QWP4Pqhi_M4jHldmA4uH1V9w_h5yo8Aljo2DE86on50XLRkRL8sGbA9fpZHSoKAIYty4ClXKB6vYL9rRLI_KKwWMl3HbxTZjSak83qLNKv3RYxPbhP4_G2-H9mhGQZEhu/s530/caveman-diet-plan.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgnxghyphenhyphensepiG_QWP4Pqhi_M4jHldmA4uH1V9w_h5yo8Aljo2DE86on50XLRkRL8sGbA9fpZHSoKAIYty4ClXKB6vYL9rRLI_KKwWMl3HbxTZjSak83qLNKv3RYxPbhP4_G2-H9mhGQZEhu/s320/caveman-diet-plan.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><div><b><font size="5">What is the Paleo Diet? </font></b></div><div>This <a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/paleo-diet-meal-plan-and-menu" target="_blank">link</a> explains it well: “<i>The paleo diet is designed to resemble what human hunter-gatherer ancestors ate thousands of years ago. Although it’s impossible to know exactly what human ancestors ate in different parts of the world, researchers believe their diets consisted of whole foods. </i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>By following a whole food-based diet and leading physically active lives, hunter-gatherers presumably had much lower rates of lifestyle diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. In fact, several studies suggest that this diet can lead to significant weight loss (without calorie counting) and major improvements in health</i>.” </div><div><br /></div><div>This has happened to me - I have lost 5kgs in 2 weeks. I also have 2 of 3 aforementioned lifestyle diseases and a bad knee. So losing weight is the need of the hour, especially given the 'work from home' situation due to COVID-19 and the lack of physical activity thereof. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_e5WkAa5xj8SWdNMsPQFWl9AxeIbkAO9ALHbPNsz1ipAbiueAtMMQNvkxHM5DlDfQhkFl5UWDPakA_JZX39VqIoalImtsTHsjQlVf7Dh5PkGjGQKrUO_xKL_WNNorjekKw9i1Zqp9KP6C/s450/thecavemandiet.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_e5WkAa5xj8SWdNMsPQFWl9AxeIbkAO9ALHbPNsz1ipAbiueAtMMQNvkxHM5DlDfQhkFl5UWDPakA_JZX39VqIoalImtsTHsjQlVf7Dh5PkGjGQKrUO_xKL_WNNorjekKw9i1Zqp9KP6C/w625-h625/thecavemandiet.jpg" width="625" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><font size="5">What are my thoughts on it?</font></b></div><div>A few personal reflections:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The secret of a happy marriage is to listen to your wife especially if she's reading the books that you are not!</li><li>The Paleo Diet seems healthier than the Keto Diet that I did for 6 months in 2018. I did lose 15kgs then but the high-fat bit always sounded dubious to me.</li><li>I like the aspect of only eating fresh meats, vegetables, and fruits as a part of the Paleo diet. Also no processed foods. <i>(Except in my case a bit too much of Coke Zero and coffee)</i></li><li>You cannot do this diet if you don’t eat chicken and/or fish.</li><li>I wish you could eat cheese and more nuts. <i>(Anyway I don’t smoke, and I am an occasional drinker which I don’t miss at all when I don’t)</i></li></ol></div><div>All in all, the Paleo Diet looks promising and I hope to continue to lose weight. I am sincerely hoping that means I am getting healthier.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><font size="5">What have I been eating?</font></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some of the things I have been eating:</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Breakfasts are usually simple and consistently no frills</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Breakfast is usually 3 boiled eggs (1 whole, 2 whites) and a fruit with a cup of coffee...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sxhUjEz7VQKaxAexOTfDQhnDE7Mbfwe7bkM6X49G6xYtx7g1pYnqmDHTUID3ay9jeciYlzzlkIApSDM36FtMgEeBnaoSBewgHgXc0jHcXbFLAbA1Hn-idDVBvVZo8vKQ-BUEekhz13Ys/s1600/3783eff0-efd1-4a1c-9116-41fcb954f45a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1158" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sxhUjEz7VQKaxAexOTfDQhnDE7Mbfwe7bkM6X49G6xYtx7g1pYnqmDHTUID3ay9jeciYlzzlkIApSDM36FtMgEeBnaoSBewgHgXc0jHcXbFLAbA1Hn-idDVBvVZo8vKQ-BUEekhz13Ys/s320/3783eff0-efd1-4a1c-9116-41fcb954f45a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">... and when I feel indulgent (and it is a weekend), I make eggs a bit more fancy as you can see below (<a href="http://arkasircar.blogspot.com/2020/07/orkos-recipes-egg-cellent-pizza.html" target="_blank">recipe here)</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHF_Qq0_uXnttUB2AUVPHgCHvCkgo8orzrtvf13ilPkD8J04LbHBK3dKAZjvLb1QGftRazs3-4pdNeI3-U4DUseoGcMQTRHmLXbkrUJTHZUg5jIdJKSFrmUMJIjX37qaa33K5jSDdaO8T/s1270/b9511ae3-a7a1-4468-8bad-2424e6f451ea.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="1012" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHF_Qq0_uXnttUB2AUVPHgCHvCkgo8orzrtvf13ilPkD8J04LbHBK3dKAZjvLb1QGftRazs3-4pdNeI3-U4DUseoGcMQTRHmLXbkrUJTHZUg5jIdJKSFrmUMJIjX37qaa33K5jSDdaO8T/s320/b9511ae3-a7a1-4468-8bad-2424e6f451ea.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Lunch is typically lean proteins and salad. I love playing around with the meat marinade, salad ingredient, and dressing as you can see below.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pan-fried chicken flavoured with Chorizo slices with a side of red pepper, carrot and cucumber salad with light caesar dressing and a hint of Nando's Mango and Lime Sauce</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7aNeXO5nC7HjbSybcaWhTJodir0f5JCDXRliJ8Sc1EF-fh65FbVb7TNLdaIdeTQ1RcjGnSvM8jepIy4KcfysOI31CoKNyEkFhILTbzAIOkO9X0GFSqIxuTp1wzn_cBRg-esjkXbs8f51V/s1600/9a678a4e-8e58-4ae9-95b7-2809d379749b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7aNeXO5nC7HjbSybcaWhTJodir0f5JCDXRliJ8Sc1EF-fh65FbVb7TNLdaIdeTQ1RcjGnSvM8jepIy4KcfysOI31CoKNyEkFhILTbzAIOkO9X0GFSqIxuTp1wzn_cBRg-esjkXbs8f51V/s320/9a678a4e-8e58-4ae9-95b7-2809d379749b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Chicken marinated with mustard with a side of green salad and cherry tomatoes with a balsamic vinegarette dressing. The red sauce drizzled on the top is Encona Hot Sauce.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFtLnXnObOKgEXdCXJopKXJIjAgzboeygkIfmGi6golO0j0vB9uZhPDLMtbg-AwC_l1T2nN0jqXPFhXlielJY_imgw5nwO8CfGBCy51lMTtPKY8IsINve_OT3aMnfQk3OBrlrh1ARHfFZ/s1600/9efae48c-f693-454c-8aa7-b99573de9c84.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1580" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFtLnXnObOKgEXdCXJopKXJIjAgzboeygkIfmGi6golO0j0vB9uZhPDLMtbg-AwC_l1T2nN0jqXPFhXlielJY_imgw5nwO8CfGBCy51lMTtPKY8IsINve_OT3aMnfQk3OBrlrh1ARHfFZ/s320/9efae48c-f693-454c-8aa7-b99573de9c84.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Pan-fried smoked haddock, with fried aubergine/eggplant (aka '<i>begun bhaja</i>') with a green salad with a balsamic vinegarette dressing. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeVQYsbGQMMP37umXBfjRN-DCeHVsz2Q5ZYSzlqFrrb0pcolL9J3CG1WEwpfHPwemdv4gLu33t0u5WLBCxivLw6O_W9U7yVttY1nRQ-Bh40ZeN9l0zPgyoZi6FXW8OH0M4poHbldRJA2gK/s1600/e3e4ed53-d86d-4003-be8c-8f12499deca0.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeVQYsbGQMMP37umXBfjRN-DCeHVsz2Q5ZYSzlqFrrb0pcolL9J3CG1WEwpfHPwemdv4gLu33t0u5WLBCxivLw6O_W9U7yVttY1nRQ-Bh40ZeN9l0zPgyoZi6FXW8OH0M4poHbldRJA2gK/s320/e3e4ed53-d86d-4003-be8c-8f12499deca0.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lemon & herb marinated smoked haddock, pan-fried in butter with a side of bistro salad with walnuts & chilli cheddar drizzled with Sriracha sauce and Caesar dressing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6HqOZGNY6tyPr6ZAKIEbvgB75Z3X9KLWq5gsaC1j0gyfEdRh5V_Ip5TXwhyphenhyphenjZJUEVYS9B7JFVyCI3CDmq43lfpCV9FjWriRBG-MyzLCaYnv50p3ObZMYI5fFUui6WCaXGUbmKFuZ67du6/s2048/159A7760-B3F0-42CF-BE40-9B2A2D30228D.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6HqOZGNY6tyPr6ZAKIEbvgB75Z3X9KLWq5gsaC1j0gyfEdRh5V_Ip5TXwhyphenhyphenjZJUEVYS9B7JFVyCI3CDmq43lfpCV9FjWriRBG-MyzLCaYnv50p3ObZMYI5fFUui6WCaXGUbmKFuZ67du6/s320/159A7760-B3F0-42CF-BE40-9B2A2D30228D.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Tandoori chicken with a side of pressure baked veggies (carrots, cauliflower and beans)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZV-GF3nXlmnwXE7K_XMVOwxVPyJX2K2bxK6CFYk3Ysvz8wxzK31Mbd3JB9_7sl90IFwPSP7sHq10If_ZaPpgm1cBudhhqDKUUAFx2qUlnfPRPYtnAfvdVgb3jq4fwiyufLImefoBIeiH/s1024/2B294483-A6B1-4123-AA9F-ABD25B1B6CB1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZV-GF3nXlmnwXE7K_XMVOwxVPyJX2K2bxK6CFYk3Ysvz8wxzK31Mbd3JB9_7sl90IFwPSP7sHq10If_ZaPpgm1cBudhhqDKUUAFx2qUlnfPRPYtnAfvdVgb3jq4fwiyufLImefoBIeiH/s320/2B294483-A6B1-4123-AA9F-ABD25B1B6CB1.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Rainbow chicken fajita with red, green, yellow and orange bell peppers garnished with red onions juliennes and chive cheddar cheese flakes, and served with a wedge of lime.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinz-FGjR7mDZevHR-DzoqvfGGJZyjLja1o-RP_96-PR0bmXHuJ1nsJk7vs8txNHJzFvr0Xs7Ry7miMFyNgOrFt-Lkm-69o03o0RmT-ofZHGdoRAlJ1xTgO7BAM2SyqTqgMrvFY9DtZVInY/s852/C40272D4-909F-4089-BBB7-84A421AD5747.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="852" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinz-FGjR7mDZevHR-DzoqvfGGJZyjLja1o-RP_96-PR0bmXHuJ1nsJk7vs8txNHJzFvr0Xs7Ry7miMFyNgOrFt-Lkm-69o03o0RmT-ofZHGdoRAlJ1xTgO7BAM2SyqTqgMrvFY9DtZVInY/s320/C40272D4-909F-4089-BBB7-84A421AD5747.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Dinners are usually the same as lunch but with a side of pressure baked veggies (cauliflower, carrots and beans). At times, I have 'cheat meals' that I cook not just for myself but for others in the family who are not on Paleo Diet.</b></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Pan-fried chicken with a side of Mediterranean char grilled veggies & walnuts with a drizzle of Sriracha sauce.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHLQdME91mnV3crAK0s-TRCGtJ2eIRhJErJMSziZnVQzQx2PzZHIYyflfcGCh6rHzsLeLiS6yDt_xpvuWLNL2R4w1e-EdIVMt3FaeFdcC3ltRiy174QLSgEMU18lYZWh7so_4gi2DXpFI/s2048/DD800BAB-999B-4136-A0F1-29E8D87D3669.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1587" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHLQdME91mnV3crAK0s-TRCGtJ2eIRhJErJMSziZnVQzQx2PzZHIYyflfcGCh6rHzsLeLiS6yDt_xpvuWLNL2R4w1e-EdIVMt3FaeFdcC3ltRiy174QLSgEMU18lYZWh7so_4gi2DXpFI/s320/DD800BAB-999B-4136-A0F1-29E8D87D3669.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ultra spicy dan dan prawns </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih45BN2JKLHBj8B32AgyYmHj2dMOu8bMSv-sv1KknF2iTbjLY-pA-Ovt3oPYP0Efovgv030DZMnXPAVDY601xS2sS5nt2utfzj8bxTWXfNPMWzSC7k1-6ccY9vD0uS_iVVWh3zsXH9bK8t/s2048/E61D394B-1F24-49DA-A699-E45D7829F498.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih45BN2JKLHBj8B32AgyYmHj2dMOu8bMSv-sv1KknF2iTbjLY-pA-Ovt3oPYP0Efovgv030DZMnXPAVDY601xS2sS5nt2utfzj8bxTWXfNPMWzSC7k1-6ccY9vD0uS_iVVWh3zsXH9bK8t/s320/E61D394B-1F24-49DA-A699-E45D7829F498.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Zucchini pasta with meatballs in marinara sauce</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNhvvqNzeLDhcTkcfHalhD6Vo0Gb3bHeaQXDMrwtulIl8IwCTF8vowhrvKmz1pwZ3LLg0k2PCoIrgzdL2_typK5L9WmWQkuY8N9FSgU0AmIy_GLzoekCO6Ong5iDLTSmdCf_bl-nx8elH/s2048/B0B4017A-4C3B-424B-AA4D-EF8F767E5F4B.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNhvvqNzeLDhcTkcfHalhD6Vo0Gb3bHeaQXDMrwtulIl8IwCTF8vowhrvKmz1pwZ3LLg0k2PCoIrgzdL2_typK5L9WmWQkuY8N9FSgU0AmIy_GLzoekCO6Ong5iDLTSmdCf_bl-nx8elH/s320/B0B4017A-4C3B-424B-AA4D-EF8F767E5F4B.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pan roasted aubergine with tomato chilli sauces, cheddar cheese and spicy chicken sausages </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhok3JJNnSpsh2Z0Ik9hiL8Y7dAELGxtSvUd4nahc18SjKesQ1j7Ser2P10k8kIPRCSzq6RP3B7avipe89Bm6onvPsDI0JPjoUd8j_haW0eKyBEmSpY-zejwDF90S1KPSGQdpRDfZhWLIM6/s2048/FFD34BE6-DEB6-4AD3-A23C-447CE238B15B.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1447" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhok3JJNnSpsh2Z0Ik9hiL8Y7dAELGxtSvUd4nahc18SjKesQ1j7Ser2P10k8kIPRCSzq6RP3B7avipe89Bm6onvPsDI0JPjoUd8j_haW0eKyBEmSpY-zejwDF90S1KPSGQdpRDfZhWLIM6/s320/FFD34BE6-DEB6-4AD3-A23C-447CE238B15B.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Breaded chicken steak topped with burger sauce with a green salad and orange juice as a dressing.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXt2iQUI2CGVj3qeHAnJigkdnJQ0caREeqR0HfV0Xnly57slP_EXBhRKIV5epTxZ6mpKhF0NyidFw_q23xkblPa-AfAUCSQiLH0ssW4ZbPGam_XALOydD-Rvmp901xBx7iAze5nks8rJIR/s1600/40ff2541-1e45-4808-b510-e0243fc7fc56.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXt2iQUI2CGVj3qeHAnJigkdnJQ0caREeqR0HfV0Xnly57slP_EXBhRKIV5epTxZ6mpKhF0NyidFw_q23xkblPa-AfAUCSQiLH0ssW4ZbPGam_XALOydD-Rvmp901xBx7iAze5nks8rJIR/s320/40ff2541-1e45-4808-b510-e0243fc7fc56.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I also make these chicken kebabs on a weekly basis (<a href="http://arkasircar.blogspot.com/2020/06/arkas-special-pan-grilled-chicken-kebabs.html" target="_blank">recipe here</a>)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6nH-CPeQCwD2faML4t37evJVaIJW91SOYLdnxFx6KAEVSWLSoWjOEuMiVyEJbk6CHj9fKKJs0jodggmaSta12HgT3GuuJjrMTgN9ieGqARI7epG_D0bg7vCnofivCnkAVXEySPa6PUSG/s1030/ad848aee-55c0-4f05-88c3-23cecbad322d.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="938" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6nH-CPeQCwD2faML4t37evJVaIJW91SOYLdnxFx6KAEVSWLSoWjOEuMiVyEJbk6CHj9fKKJs0jodggmaSta12HgT3GuuJjrMTgN9ieGqARI7epG_D0bg7vCnofivCnkAVXEySPa6PUSG/s320/ad848aee-55c0-4f05-88c3-23cecbad322d.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sometimes I add onion paste to the marinade of the chicken kebabs so that it becomes very much like "Chicken Chaap" or "Chicken Kosha" that you get in Kolkata.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipBMXTsfUn4Ug6AIPTJut2XRLu2X0wtkKYT3IiC1WyM53NGuSeeG-6Bo-RYj2ncbfAPkGlj6drKVzfbRsL0cuRQOFZpI2RZi_p7ABz6xrGx9XE4FcSPyATzLzCG1noi2aY8XBOVIgxrvoB/s1600/b2515d31-28b4-43bd-a240-357179ff9419.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipBMXTsfUn4Ug6AIPTJut2XRLu2X0wtkKYT3IiC1WyM53NGuSeeG-6Bo-RYj2ncbfAPkGlj6drKVzfbRsL0cuRQOFZpI2RZi_p7ABz6xrGx9XE4FcSPyATzLzCG1noi2aY8XBOVIgxrvoB/s320/b2515d31-28b4-43bd-a240-357179ff9419.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFg-754XWFJy5F1DmAB26fQoDurHquD3RU1UrDR-UW3zCNkggm9LsGlOZsFDpV2Mr-Zf-igQcb0ZGOjjJNOZfbuGg_owg-PdNCzIejaYEi3T59FUjuP3toUa2XJoELAe9g6mVlXbX-gEZ/s1600/4ee7e8b0-9cc2-4189-9ddc-f39e61d91279.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFg-754XWFJy5F1DmAB26fQoDurHquD3RU1UrDR-UW3zCNkggm9LsGlOZsFDpV2Mr-Zf-igQcb0ZGOjjJNOZfbuGg_owg-PdNCzIejaYEi3T59FUjuP3toUa2XJoELAe9g6mVlXbX-gEZ/s320/4ee7e8b0-9cc2-4189-9ddc-f39e61d91279.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><b>Snacks are usually loads of bananas and a few nuts - walnuts, almonds, cashew nuts, peanuts - but not more than 10-12 pieces a day.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Condiments: The biggest find of Paleo has been hot sauces. I have been able to build quite a global collection as you can see below:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTsXo9NEeWNrspUMCRQPZJFZhPSuJEicoIPg7WLsYBzkfsLxuUw_xgnD6T1e6UcLJnyCVICWmk_FSWK1LCDqhmu8iGhb3gLRWTxxTGx8gnVzvPQ6Wp4eyYhFCRaF4I_JuX93l4nhFPIBX/s1526/A7F7D0DB-C1E4-4B1E-8651-285E77696C6D.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1033" data-original-width="1526" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTsXo9NEeWNrspUMCRQPZJFZhPSuJEicoIPg7WLsYBzkfsLxuUw_xgnD6T1e6UcLJnyCVICWmk_FSWK1LCDqhmu8iGhb3gLRWTxxTGx8gnVzvPQ6Wp4eyYhFCRaF4I_JuX93l4nhFPIBX/w500-h339/A7F7D0DB-C1E4-4B1E-8651-285E77696C6D.jpeg" width="500" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><div>What a hot 🌶 all star global lineup</div><div>—————————————————</div><div>🇿🇦 Nando’s Range - extra hot, hot, lime and mango, lemon and herb</div><div>🇮🇳 Maggi Masala Chilli Sauce</div><div>🇯🇲 Encona Hot and Extra Hot</div><div>🇨🇳 Lee Klum Kee Chiu Chow Chilli oil </div><div>🇨🇳 The ‘imposter’ chilli oil</div><div>🇲🇽 Cholula - regular and chipotle </div><div>🇹🇭 Sriracha</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-64485324983867352372020-07-04T22:54:00.009+05:302023-02-12T14:22:56.123+05:30Feluda comics - Part 2<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><font face="inherit">I had published a <a href="http://arkasircar.blogspot.com/2012/01/feluda-comics.html" target="_blank">post in 2012 about Feluda comics on my blog</a>. I just found out that my post was quoted as a source in a published book titled “<b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Textual-Travels-Theory-Practice-Translation/dp/1138822078" target="_blank">Mapping</a><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ER_ICQAAQBAJ&pg=PA61&lpg=PA61&dq=feluda+comics+tapas&source=bl&ots=2l5diZV8sL&sig=ACfU3U2L23N_Uh9XmZTnc84IARDs7BlE1Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjMjveoj7TqAhXCQkEAHYIRASAQ6AEwD3oECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q=feluda%20comics%20tapas&f=false" target="_blank">Textual Travels</a>: Theory and Practice of Translation in India</span></b><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-weight: bold;">” </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">authored by </span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Mini Chandran and Suchitra Mathur. Thrilled to say the least 😀</span></font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJImM4u3oVIVdTbtoFYlL_asUQoIJOUGcImYXBhRoFODghVtz9b1Qjxnr8vYI1SMmEI5j6yomYT4PaNB54xUwOTx7beuQySRvU3F95Qg8W9zXysMV1f_D-5PSVI95XIxdvE3M8yUzEQoS/s2160/340ECD05-2D0A-4A18-9B43-9F95764614F9.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="inherit"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="1620" height="976" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJImM4u3oVIVdTbtoFYlL_asUQoIJOUGcImYXBhRoFODghVtz9b1Qjxnr8vYI1SMmEI5j6yomYT4PaNB54xUwOTx7beuQySRvU3F95Qg8W9zXysMV1f_D-5PSVI95XIxdvE3M8yUzEQoS/w733-h976/340ECD05-2D0A-4A18-9B43-9F95764614F9.png" width="733" /></font></a></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit"><b>English Feluda Comics:</b> In my post from 2012, I had written about the English Feluda comics that were created by illustrator Tapas Guha and writer Subhadra Sengupta. <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Sengupta has scripted the comic series from the original in Bengali with Tapas Guha illustrating them in almost a Tintin-esque style. </span>There were 6 titles published by Penguin (currently out of print but available on Google books and Kindle).</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwi9m2u-ZsI_QuSI4U2b9XTuB6HU5KqPrAMplx9PQCn21YATJ_1Q9sjs30lW2RtaWSZAHOJdk7Ceaew8iQQUTV1u9E8y47YFHcIEaRh_HUj1cri2Zt8p54kbHlmkkchCwNIPC6ds0UyDK0/s636/DB85A191-3C19-4A58-964A-FB6E77EA1B57.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="inherit"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwi9m2u-ZsI_QuSI4U2b9XTuB6HU5KqPrAMplx9PQCn21YATJ_1Q9sjs30lW2RtaWSZAHOJdk7Ceaew8iQQUTV1u9E8y47YFHcIEaRh_HUj1cri2Zt8p54kbHlmkkchCwNIPC6ds0UyDK0/s320/DB85A191-3C19-4A58-964A-FB6E77EA1B57.png" width="320" /></font></a></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">The same comics were originally published in Telegraph Kolkata weekly supplement for children called TeleKids over the better part of a decade in the early 2000s - the first one was in 2004 I believe. The names were different though - in TeleKids <i>Joto Kando Kathmandu Te</i> was called “Chaos In Kathmandu” whereas the Penguin comic album was called “A Killer In Kathmandu”. The duo of Sengupta and Guha worked on 1 title each year.</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><font face="inherit">“<i>Our aim is to introduce the new generation to the genius of Satyajit Ray by bringing his stories of Feluda, the professional detective with a super-sharp brain, in comic book form. Satyajit Ray's adventures of Feluda have been avidly read by children for years. Now this sleuth with a razor-sharp brain appears in an exciting new comic book series</i>,” said Subhadra Sengupta at the launch of “Murder by the Sea” in 2010.</font></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><font face="inherit"><span class="s1"></span><br /></font></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><font face="inherit">Tapas Guha gave an insight into his illustration process as, “<i>Ray had already illustrated the character of Feluda and other prominent characters in the series, like his cousin Topshe and friend Lalmohan Ganguli. I tried to make illustrations colourful, smart and uncluttered. The style was absolutely mine. The figures were contemporary and I made the detective look young.</i>”</font></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20.3px;"><font face="inherit"><span class="s1"></span><br /></font></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><font face="inherit">Feluda, Topshe and Lalmohan Babu shed their 70s garb and language in the pages of these comic books. Sengupta explained why, “<i>I have given him a contemporary look. His clothes are 21st century and in some of the books - which I am working on - he also uses the cellphone. His nephew, Topesh, speaks like a modern-day teenager and the language is today's. I was inspired by Satyajit Ray's son Sandip Ray's movies which had contemporised Feluda. But I did not touch the plots or the landmarks that he described in the book - though I have changed some locations to make it more visually appealing.</i>”</font></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><font face="inherit"><br /></font></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><font face="inherit">Here’s how the process worked:</font></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><font face="inherit"><br /></font></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0J_Zw7PxH8YJjp0GQVdLyfHsCpUTAM15UrwaefC2MvAlvlYBVTZp2sL3xcmMdyWC3d6C-1lMGYpO1ARIaDpiTzGNAmpnd1zrXht_psTU_kycUBRMG5o1oZfdsXZfK0EKhxFXAxXwlkrzY/s1703/8903C75C-DBA2-4D9F-A22E-D215B3339BCD.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="inherit"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="1242" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0J_Zw7PxH8YJjp0GQVdLyfHsCpUTAM15UrwaefC2MvAlvlYBVTZp2sL3xcmMdyWC3d6C-1lMGYpO1ARIaDpiTzGNAmpnd1zrXht_psTU_kycUBRMG5o1oZfdsXZfK0EKhxFXAxXwlkrzY/w364-h500/8903C75C-DBA2-4D9F-A22E-D215B3339BCD.jpeg" width="364" /></font></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Wo5e6EweC80Iq0BiJwVVMVVnu6O7Fn-U7guYIOn49OIoPITvkOZFQ8CRltNnv7p3UNd6bkBsTOelivRImvpcFFpPO0RNgOAj3yE-N1gawnzAjOdKJ-HtjvprgfHoYJAnzjkLZD040EGA/s1498/850E9876-7FDB-4F7B-B47E-5D1618B00C6E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="inherit"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="978" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Wo5e6EweC80Iq0BiJwVVMVVnu6O7Fn-U7guYIOn49OIoPITvkOZFQ8CRltNnv7p3UNd6bkBsTOelivRImvpcFFpPO0RNgOAj3yE-N1gawnzAjOdKJ-HtjvprgfHoYJAnzjkLZD040EGA/w326-h500/850E9876-7FDB-4F7B-B47E-5D1618B00C6E.jpeg" width="326" /></font></a></div><p></p></div><div><font face="inherit">In TeleKids, there was an additional seventh story called “The Boy Who Knew Too Much” (<i>Noyon Rohossho</i>) that wasn’t published by Penguin - some panes from this comic below:</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqO-35mQ4UA8iSuKz4qmYcsQbWQQpjWukMbzTNLcha8N8X9mdON31rU-rGtnYb5VwPEj4Dn2I87rSJJ-P28WeXiwNoj9GWn2qGs7TiG5K9XANugfzSyua0Jd-kZrd8yAYNnmPmFUPuJzg/s539/6C20CE6E-A09D-497E-B160-207D395981FD.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="inherit"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="470" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqO-35mQ4UA8iSuKz4qmYcsQbWQQpjWukMbzTNLcha8N8X9mdON31rU-rGtnYb5VwPEj4Dn2I87rSJJ-P28WeXiwNoj9GWn2qGs7TiG5K9XANugfzSyua0Jd-kZrd8yAYNnmPmFUPuJzg/s320/6C20CE6E-A09D-497E-B160-207D395981FD.jpeg" /></font></a></div><font face="inherit"><br /></font><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjntQyYurhyphenhyphenWt0yLFqc93pIaSa3KJ29tQzTcLW5H44l8_G8xNt3IRJc5mfvMAjUO_oMICIli0Yiian7Do2_M1eSUdF7sESJch3mDb5gynxfbhdjCBg4e5l6FjdncqsPo25kc3uTmPxeszL8/s537/744039C8-4EF5-4422-BCD4-AF24BAE3620E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="inherit"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="470" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjntQyYurhyphenhyphenWt0yLFqc93pIaSa3KJ29tQzTcLW5H44l8_G8xNt3IRJc5mfvMAjUO_oMICIli0Yiian7Do2_M1eSUdF7sESJch3mDb5gynxfbhdjCBg4e5l6FjdncqsPo25kc3uTmPxeszL8/s320/744039C8-4EF5-4422-BCD4-AF24BAE3620E.jpeg" /></font></a></div><font face="inherit"><br /></font><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkHZ_6qWmAi5YAhxu9mSEja1G1Q4yte_Zuu_IEnmx_MlbyDPhbSC6Vw1INbUsqNLD6yB0K2d0MJXAMnN3cCIFZgKLldxp75tYCPj4wZhvgDurh4xFJH7qT9pnvKnI-JtMEVwIGQ51VbB2/s544/8A6741D5-006D-41D9-8435-78786339F76C.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="inherit"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="470" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkHZ_6qWmAi5YAhxu9mSEja1G1Q4yte_Zuu_IEnmx_MlbyDPhbSC6Vw1INbUsqNLD6yB0K2d0MJXAMnN3cCIFZgKLldxp75tYCPj4wZhvgDurh4xFJH7qT9pnvKnI-JtMEVwIGQ51VbB2/s320/8A6741D5-006D-41D9-8435-78786339F76C.jpeg" /></font></a></div><font face="inherit"><br /></font><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInGtKO6OqNweI_K9D0nd-3NvzlTtio0bTIPsL0pDjUIu87IR-ahPckZjDaDJkXz30-ATKf4AXwLhzPYLTQiayN8CSOG_ILCtesavpWk2sZxA0nJx4V1_7c0wU3y-JJ0c__Zlm74PpBW2V/s542/D310A085-ED8A-4FFA-AA66-CB1E70FAC8D7.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="inherit"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="470" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInGtKO6OqNweI_K9D0nd-3NvzlTtio0bTIPsL0pDjUIu87IR-ahPckZjDaDJkXz30-ATKf4AXwLhzPYLTQiayN8CSOG_ILCtesavpWk2sZxA0nJx4V1_7c0wU3y-JJ0c__Zlm74PpBW2V/s320/D310A085-ED8A-4FFA-AA66-CB1E70FAC8D7.jpeg" /></font></a></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit"><b>Bengali Feluda Comics:</b> I am also a huge fan of the Bengali Feluda comics. These comics are published by Ananda Publishers every year. Half of the stories are now available in this format. The gorgeous watercolour art by Abhijit Chattopadhyay makes them a visual treat. These are typically published in <i>Anandamela Puja Barshiki </i>editions every year and then published as an album in February the subsequent year. </font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjhFsDjE9vyNoXf0WgJUOBFSrInasMni-YX6K5HhdStvf7BHWRwP32rtV824y5Wvh8NVEPEFAoISWHCQsmlxQHCnxd0MkmLAmxsXOmG9SsrYU9tiysUo7bm2D04MGzADRTPRUcUonQA2R/s5120/Feluda-002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="inherit"><img border="0" data-original-height="5120" data-original-width="3621" height="976" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjhFsDjE9vyNoXf0WgJUOBFSrInasMni-YX6K5HhdStvf7BHWRwP32rtV824y5Wvh8NVEPEFAoISWHCQsmlxQHCnxd0MkmLAmxsXOmG9SsrYU9tiysUo7bm2D04MGzADRTPRUcUonQA2R/w693-h976/Feluda-002.jpg" width="693" /></font></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="inherit">However, I wonder if it's just me, but I think Feluda drawn on the cover of <i>Hatyapuri</i> (see photo below) does resemble Bollywood actor Siddharth Malhotra, isn’t it?</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEnveKqdyMydgZnMPTrePXhlwPzZYs8KGRTEwpwHO-JwdhYx5V3JTA7xAeg2eZ5Lhf0efCK0ibef7REagmlwD4Yqy4I2UQ-0d5ck3oz2RTSe4IrHe4BkmQcl2NbdNvxN5ZQqeN0HMYlrFe/s320/3E3DC964-893F-4F56-B074-90A6019F5E80.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="inherit"><img border="0" data-original-height="227" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEnveKqdyMydgZnMPTrePXhlwPzZYs8KGRTEwpwHO-JwdhYx5V3JTA7xAeg2eZ5Lhf0efCK0ibef7REagmlwD4Yqy4I2UQ-0d5ck3oz2RTSe4IrHe4BkmQcl2NbdNvxN5ZQqeN0HMYlrFe/" /></font></a></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><font face="inherit">Apart from Anindya Chattopadhyay, I found someone else who had sketched a few pages of Kailasher Kelankari and posted it on their <a href="http://hermit-comics.blogspot.com/2007/05/blog-post.html" target="_blank">blog</a>. I don't know the person's name but comments on the post seem to suggest it's Anando. What a talent! See below:</font></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGmoWIiGLVVX2ewTSTMfDuULpUuUIgUnM7RXXAz4gJ-qjxFooVNI-cbm-Cog61wtoiRdZyLfjoa8T5Kuj2jUJltmXSWaXex1EdBbqnlJkK7lGQqzbLH2dkC-1CNP_PjLKB5PVyyZ64rTn/s5120/Feluda-003.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="inherit"><img border="0" data-original-height="3620" data-original-width="5120" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGmoWIiGLVVX2ewTSTMfDuULpUuUIgUnM7RXXAz4gJ-qjxFooVNI-cbm-Cog61wtoiRdZyLfjoa8T5Kuj2jUJltmXSWaXex1EdBbqnlJkK7lGQqzbLH2dkC-1CNP_PjLKB5PVyyZ64rTn/w625-h443/Feluda-003.jpg" width="625" /></font></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><font face="inherit">For full size, please visit the artist's <a href="http://hermit-comics.blogspot.com/2007/05/blog-post.html" target="_blank">blog</a></font></b></i></div><div><font face="inherit"><br /></font></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-18518057674093063982020-07-04T19:37:00.004+05:302020-07-04T19:39:28.077+05:30Orko’s recipes: Egg-cellent Pizza<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-Db93RJ_S5RWF_pPUkygz2Tc5LLIGhXjYwrJnRIN3TRFaL7de4i3DYQg0cwqsVMfDS46vWkbufLq-JEmu7v_veyKZhJOm5FAsxWqpDI-lPyeJVkE5eleT7T2wVnr8vHB0ootmAbOlXUj/s1270/FC459C89-35DF-4721-B64C-238AB0EAFCD8.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="1012" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-Db93RJ_S5RWF_pPUkygz2Tc5LLIGhXjYwrJnRIN3TRFaL7de4i3DYQg0cwqsVMfDS46vWkbufLq-JEmu7v_veyKZhJOm5FAsxWqpDI-lPyeJVkE5eleT7T2wVnr8vHB0ootmAbOlXUj/s320/FC459C89-35DF-4721-B64C-238AB0EAFCD8.jpeg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I am on the ‘<i>caveman diet</i>’ (aka Paleo diet) and it’s working for me, but I do crave for pizza from time to time. Decided to make an alternate this morning for breakfast. I was inspired by a <a href="https://youtu.be/dkxgy8CT_5A" target="_blank">fluffy omelette recipe video</a> I saw. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s how I made it:</div><div>1. Take 3 eggs and season with salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese and chilli flakes or paprika </div><div>2. Whisk with a mechanical whisk till airy</div><div>3. Heat oil in a frying pan on high heat</div><div>4. Pour mixture and reduce heat after 1-2 mins</div><div>5. Add cheese bits and chorizo pieces</div><div>6. Cover and cook till no raw egg (about 5-7 mins)</div><div><br /></div><div>Nice crust at the bottom, airy texture, absolutely yummy!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-689932269546141589.post-71897471158673561542020-06-28T16:09:00.002+05:302020-06-28T17:15:43.725+05:30Amio goyenda: “Arka’r Goyendagiri”<div>Everyone who knows me knows that my primary reading (and these days listening to various YouTubers who fill the gap of Boju reading out to me) revolves around adolescent Bengali goyendas - Feluda, Deep Kaku, Mitin Mashi and Arjun. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to see a goyenda kahini featuring my namesake - Arka. The story is called “Arka’r Goyendagiri” by Manjil Sen. Coincidences don’t stop at having a namesake protagonist... the story kicks off near Deshapriya Park (that's c.2 mins from my childhood home in Lake Market). Now back to vacuuming and listening. </div><div><br /></div><div><i><span style="text-align: center;">Click on the photo to </span><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/secret/HHUknjpaaq7Wha" style="text-align: center;">read</a><span style="text-align: center;"> the story or </span>listen to it <a href="https://youtu.be/kPiuJORaHJg" target="_blank">here</a>.</i></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/secret/HHUknjpaaq7Wha" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="1181" height="523" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZ3uygdBjsP4kj4CviOtoFJ4e9Nm_HxMx59thS8eA4o3-omTgElx5TsXCEdCAXx8AuVk61qGWj2_3BBa9LAAmcBD73GhRAO-9LCzszdMjA2BJu2_SC9mO0VJWjJ1MaNlH9oL6OmRtg3fo/w625-h523/B18FE753-DFE1-4CFD-B58E-739E4FE5636E.jpeg" width="625" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><pre style="text-align: left;"><br /></pre><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com