At the service of truth...26 July' 2014

"Long after the controversy will be hushed in silence, long after this turmoil, the agitation will have ceased, long after he is dead and gone, he will be looked upon as the poet of patriotism, as the prophet of nationalism and the lover of humanity. Long after he is dead and gone, his words will be echoed and re-echoed, not only in India but across distant seas and lands. Therefore, I say that the man in his position is not only standing before the bar of this Court, but before the bar of the High Court of History". This the sentence inscribed at the entrance gate of this historic monument. This sentence made by Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das says it all. He had made this in 1909 during the famous Alipore trial in which Shri Aurobindo was also a party; C R Das was the counsel of Shri Aurobindo. If one goes through the life of Shri Aurobindo chronologically, one would find that he was not that famous and established in 1909 but mark the audacity and the confidence of the speaker; as I always say great man can only regard another great man. 

The epitaph at the entrance

This Saturday was the first deviation from the usual Sunday routine. Since I had to leave my mother at the railway station post noon, I thought it better to take a day's leave and pursue my Calcutta-unraveling adventure after the errand. Often one misses out the epitomes close to ones' dwelling; I thought of not making it happen by venturing into a historic monument just stone's throw away from my office, the destination was Aurobindo Bhawan located at 8, Shakespeare Sarani (historically, it was 4 Theatre Road). Here the great saint and revolutionary was born and here we have his ashes also.

The entrance has a library immediately close to the main hall. The hall is adorned with huge portraits of Shri Aurobindo. The wall is also adorned with a lighted photo-frame of the place where the ashes of the great leader has been buried and it has come out as a distinct structure in the premises.

As one proceeds further, one sees a large garden, it is awe-inspiring and has hundreds of flower pots with flower as well as a non-flowering plants potted inside it. In the middle is a tomb containing the ashes. Believe me, the peace in the air cannot be described until felt there itself. The atmosphere has been made so because of serious meditation practitioners who practice meditation every Thursdays and Sunday in the premises.  The touch of the tomb was also enchanting; there was a warm current which passed down the body when touched.

The imposing but serene & silent inside

  

A close-up of the tomb; the bust of him is also visible besides

Note the stylish contours above the tomb

There is a staircase to the first floor which has an impressive banister again made of heavy steel and the stairs being wooden. Infact I have grown sick of describing the staircase with almost the same banister for few of my write-ups. As one reaches up, we have gigantic symbols of Sat-chit-anand (two intersecting triangles) and the lotus petals with their explanation. The former's ascending triangle represents the aspiring answer from matter under form of life, light and love; the descending triangle represents the Sat-chit-Anand and the common i.e. intersection part refers to the perfect manifestation.

Sat-chi-danand

The other symbol is that of a lotus. The four petals refers to the four powers of the Mother as enumerated by Shri Aurobindo namely Maheshwari (calm-wideness and tranquil benignity), Mahakali (splendid strength and irresistible passion), Mahalakshmi (deep secret of beauty, harmony and fine rhythm) and Mahasaraswati (intimate knowledge and flawless work). The twelve virtues are Sincerity, Humility, Gratitude, Perseverance, Aspiration, Receptivity, Progress, Courage, Goodness, Generosity, Equality and Peace; these are the powers of the Mother manifested for Her work.

A small allay leads to an open air space which has the many photographs. Among the important ones were that of Biplabi Jyodranath (Bagha Jatin) during the Alipore trial, Gandhi, Francis Martin Street, Rajah Subodh Mallick’s house (where Aurobindo stayed after his return from England), Khudiram Bose, few pages of Bande Mataram which had Aurobindo as an active contributor, College Square (presently 6, Bankim Chandra Street), Vishnu Bhaskar Lele, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Loreto School of Darjeeling, St. Pauls School of London (Aurobindo studied there) and King’s College at Cambridge.

Another room is attached to this room and this contains pictures related to the Mother. The pictures cover the early years of the Mother, the various Mudras of the Mother (in her own hands), some paintings of her and meeting of her with Nehru and Indira.

Some of the early pictures of The Mother

But I must say, the authorities must arrange for more detailed description of many pictures which have absolutely  no description. I am sure there would be some importance of the pictures because of which they have been preserved. Besides, I must comment ( I beleive I have the capacity to comment because of my visits already to many places much older than this one) that the sock-keeping of teh entire building could have been much better. Some basis cleanliness and sorting exercise can make it more pleasant for visitors.
Besides the lives and the chronological development of the two important individuals which is available on the internet, I came across few interesting aspects of Shri Aurobindo's life here. Rabindranath Tagore had dedicated a full poem Namaskar to him. It was translated to English by Ksitish Chandra Sen. The famous trio of Lal-Bal-Pal had mentioned young Aurobindo as godsend.

The place must be visited to do away from the mundane rigmaroles of everyday. I have heard my father always describing that each person has an aura of himself / herself. Because of the combination of spiritualism and nationalism, this aura is special. It also silently covers the mutual admiration and the extend to which the said aspect can be scaled up to. 
About the topic, please note that these were the last words of Ma about Shri Aurobindo. This is also etched in her handwriting at the entrance of the place. Infact the first and the last pictures of this article are placed centimeters away from each other.

Calcutta synagogue-ed...20-July 2014

The mission of Swain family (let me mention that unlike the previous visits which was by the father-son duo, the latest ones are with the better-half too) started with a degree of apprehension because of the uncertainity about the ways and means of getting inside the historical piece in the city. The object was the David Magen synagogue. This is located at the confluence of the Brabourne Street and Canning Road.

My wife had been there to Nahoum’s restaurant in new Market because some articles on the internet suggested that they were issuing passes for entry into the monument. However, they denied and suggested that we should meet the local caretaker. So off we went with all apprehensions in mind. But all were put to allay because of the caretaker Rubael Khan who also incidentally happened to be from Odisha (specifically from Kakatpur). His father was associated with the synagogue for 65 years and he stays there in the campus premises of the synagogue. 

This structure is older to the Neveh Shalome synagogue which lies adjacent to this structure. Incidentally, this term i.e. Neveh Shalome means the "Oasis of Peace" and finds mention in Isaiah. Coming to our theme i.e. David Magen synagogue, it was built in the honour of David Joseph Ezra by his son Elia David Ezra. The picture below was the best that I could take of the junior Ezra.

I know that it is not a perfect one and the picture could have been better but for my limited photographic skills. If one carefully observes the picture, one would see two pictures. They belong to his family members namely Joseph E D J Ezra and Sir David E D J Ezra. Their portraits are appended below.

About the family, the Ezras made it big in real estate in Calcutta. The famed Ezra street is named after the senior Ezra and the Esplanade mansion has been made by them.
As one enters, one is welcomed by the Star of David. I was waiting how it is represented in architecture. And lo, it stood atop an almost 20 ft door with inscription written all over it in Hebrew.

Star of David on top

The other thing which I was waiting for was Fire; with my limited knowledge about the community, I knew already that they worship fire and a synagogue could not be an exception. So here I was, a fire had been burnt since the last mass i.e. on Friday. There was a wick glowing through a large glass which seemed to have some oil. The caretaker explained that half of the glass was filled with water and oil was over it. This was done to prevent formation of soot on the glass surface and also to prevent the glass from overheating.

The fire which I described

As we entered, a unique design welcomed us on the door pane. There was this structure which seemed like a serpent but I could not make anything out of it. The caretaker could not also help me in asessing the structure. Viewers may go through it and let me know teh significance of the structure at the entrance.

And after we entered, I was amazed by the vastness of the structure, the magnificience of the emptiness and the beautiful creation of the designer frescos, an eerie silence and the smell of vintage. Basically the structure is a simple one in the form of a large hall almost like a Church, excepting for a seated area in the middle.

That was basically the most sacred place of the structure. It was called the Ark and it contained the sacred Torah texts. There are chairs for the scholars to sit. I did some googling and it came out that 3 Rabbis and 7 officers are supposed to be present for every synagogue.

The ornate designs on the walls and the tall wall catches the eye. Chandeliers are leisurely hung and we also have anciently designed ceiling fans (which still run). There are arched walls and there is a first floor which was supposed to be the place for women. There is a sacred place on the front which has a firepot hanging. It was tastefully decorated.

Notice the firepot at the centre

The floors are impeccably clean; I checked out from the caretaker that The trust dedicated for the purpose of maintainance of the synagogue takes care of the cleanliness and maintainance of the arts and artefacts within the synagogue. The frescos are beautifully painted and the original ones are still intact. The vintage has done little to the texture and glow of the paintings.

A narrow corridor leads us to the first floor. The banister has iron structure but the stairs are made of wood. Some of the steps creek of age but it does not matter as visitors are few and so are the dutiful followers who throng to the Temple. The chairs have the original cane binding; only few have been replaced and this is visibly true.

A fresco in the main hall

Majestic sideview

View from the top

Floor tiles

Chandelier perhaps; but majestic

Another fresco

Seating space

Stairs to the first floor; notice the bannister

The women's prayer space on the first floor

In all, this gives one a sense a splendid-ness. Looking forward to a new discovery next week.

Marble Palace...13 July 2014

Today the journey for unravelling something of Kolkata started a bit late; to be specific post noon only. It was planned for something else but because of the delay, it was planned to go out for something with complete address and proper comprehensible directions (by Goggle). Now this trip (unlike the previous sojourns) was unique for two reasons namely there were no photographs (strictly prohibited) and I had an accomplice in the form of ace photographer Dr. Anindya Biswas.

The venue was the Marble Palace located at Muktaram Babu Street (perpendicular to Chittaranjan Avenue, close to M G Road metro station). The palace was built by Rajah Rajendra Mullick in 1835. A live Rath welcomed us as we entered the palatial lawns; it was probably used during the recently concluded Rath and Bahuda Yatra. We were not supposed to enter the premises without an approval from the Tourism Dept. but how we entered is a different story altogether. An imposing all-marble statue of Shri Rajah Rajendro Mullick Bahadur (b. 24-06-1819 and d. 14-04-1887) also welcomes you as one approaches the main house. After completely visiting the house, I realised the original house would have been designed in some way but the items and present status suggests that the owners were very clear in making it a museum from the beginning.

The first room as one enters has 2 large billiards tables (one large and one half) which I am sure would have come much later after the starting of the palace. These tables are surrounded by white marble statues of Venus, Apollo, Faun and Flop. There is an imposing image of Anginous Mercury. It has huge vases from Japan and China made of China clay. It has large elevated vases which used to have live flowers for ensuring a natural flowering smell when the room was used.
The second room that was shown which was adjacent to the room just described carries a huge statue (almost 12-14 ft.) of Queen Victoria made of redwood. Like the previous room, it contains large busts and statues of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. The top of the room is made of redwood.
The third room that was shown was the music room. It was characterised by large number of chandeliers, some of glass and some of marbles. The walls are adorned with huge globules (placed on elevated pedestals) made of glasses covered with mercury. This had a specific purpose I.e. in the days of no electricity, the chandeliers were lighted with candles and these globules used to reflect light, thus making the room brighter. It has 8 large vases made of Chinese clay and adorned with intricate paintings which is intact till date. The architecture on the wall catches the attention of every viewer. The walls are adorned with paintings, notable one happens to be that of Venus with Cupid. In a large glass enclosure we also have a set of instruments, notable amongst them is a sitar which has been gifted by Pt. Late Ravi Shankar.
A princely collection is a tusk of an African mammoth. The curvillinear length of the tusk would be atleast 7 ft.. Another similar casket contains various gifts given by important visitors and some trophies of participation in various sports events. It is noteworthy to mention about a painting of 'Lady of Sorrows' popularly known as Mater Dolorosa (in Latin). I had never seen any sculpture related to seasons, time and occupation. In this room, I found sculpture on Spring, Autumn, Winter, Summer, Dawn, Dusk, Agriculture and Commerce. I could not fathom the relevance of the same; would really be happy if some reader can enlighten me regarding the same.
In a pathway on the first floor, one cannot miss the collection of large number of birds drawn from various corners of the globe. Important species were Macaws, Parakeets, Gray parrots, Albino Ringneck, Gray ringneck and Lutino ringneck.
As one goes to the first floor, we have the meeting room exactly to the left of the staircase. The stairs and the bannister are made of wood; probably that is of the original times. Close to the bannister is a painting of Victoria's family and a bust of Queen Victoria. A unique thing pertaining to the white bust is the impeccable care that has been taken in making the same. The curves of her cloth and the spots on the same are clearly visible. Besides, there is a glaze in her eyes which makes the bust lively. Madonna with her child, a painting of Sassoferrato also catches ones eye. One cannot also miss the Spanish Armada painting. I thought the painting collection was through but more was yet to come.
The meeting room is also exquisite with a huge mirror made of Belgian glass; it catches everyone's attention because of the brass architecture on the borders and whose polish is still intact. It has a clock made of 8 kgs of gold. Rajah Ravi Verma's collection is quiet large. The ones hung on the walls are huge in size say 10 ft. by 5 ft. in size. It has one of Dushyant & Shakuntala and Rajah Harishchandra depicted in a ghat. A painting of Rajah Mullick himself mentioning the famous Parashnath Temple along with few horses also adorned the walls. The ceiling is made of pure brass.
The corridor on the first floor is adorned with sculptures of Venus, Homer, Flora, Mater Delorosa, Baccante, a La Eglais (church) and Cleopatra. The dancing room was next. It has a wooden flooring. Two single large Belgian glass almost synonymous in size with the width of the hall catches the eyes. The intrinsic and ornate design on the border of each is impeccable. It has to be seen to enjoy the same. A painting of last supper catches the eye. It was probably used for modern western dancing as well as eastern dancing by courtesans.
Another corridor that leads to the last room is adorned with small cages with Redbreasted brown conures, Nandia conures, Red Rosella (from Australia), Brown tailed conure, Damon red rosalla, jandia conure, eastern Rosella, sun conure and Quaker conures.
The last room known as paiting room is tastefully decorated with a painting of Jacob Chez Taban, depicting the marriage of Abraham and Hagar. Notable paintings that also adorn the walls are of St. Sebastian and Sappho. It has a grandfather's clock which still works. A painting of Murillo is also seen. The prized painting of the lot is the one by Rubens, yes the famed one. It depicts the "Mystic marriage of St. Catherine". It has paintings of Cleopatra and three separate paintings of damsels which the guide told that was probably of the dancers of the kings' court.
Dr. Biswas also sighed that had photography been allowed we would have got away with some rare pictures for posterity. Summing up, if one thinks of making a palatial bungalow, this palace should be visited to see what all can be kept and rather what must be kept.

06 July 2014; Colonial history peckings...

This Sunday, the Swains were at St. John's, Kolkata. this trip as has been the previous ones was no less exciting and it gave its ample share of historical blows. 1783 or 1784, the two years mentioned in the original plaques does not make any difference when we discuss the vintage of more than 250 years. It is mentioned in few sources that the church is the first ever establishment of the Britishers in India.

 I could not take a better photograph of the frescos on the right hand side of the main altar. To the right is a staircase which leads to the private room where the ceremonies related to birth, death, baptism and weddings are held. I tried capturing that too.

 It remained as only a church for some time and later additional areas were used to build fabulous  memorials. Inside the church, one can see an admirable frontage, the chairs, the chambers, the prayer hall all replete with a tinge of history. There was a different smell in the air too; am sure it was not because of the moisture or anything else (no one else was present while we were inside the same) but it was because of the vintage, the creakiness of the wood, the chemical reaction happening with the marble slates and the fresco. I could not take better pictures of the fresco because of my limited photography skills.

The famous Last Supper painting is by John Zoffany. It was his original painting which was exhibited in the National portrait Gallery, London since 1761. It was presented as an altar-piece to St. John;’s church in 1787 and it has been there since.

One of the key caretakers Shri Sudarshan (from Balia) mentioned that he has been in the service of the church for the past 4 generations. Infact, I also saw his son there. 

While entering itself, we have a small room to the right which also houses many interesting things. There is the chair which was once meant for Warren Hastings; the room is replete with many rare photographs. Important ones are the first Principal of La Martiniere’s School, the artist of famous Last Supper painting, group photographs of the various Bishops of North India Church of 1910, some restored photographs and many more.

Sambhab had a small tryst with history; the below picture is taken of him sitting next to Warren Hasting's chair.  

There was an epitaph which mentioned exactly the following,"The sum of Fifty Thousand Sicca rupees is a gift granted by Major General Claud Martin To the poor of Calcutta; the interest of which is to be daily distributed in perpetuity". Though this is not being done daily, bu the interest comes in every quarter and it now comes at approximately INR 21000.

The caretaker also mentions that below the church, there are secret ways of reaching GPO and Fort William which were built to be used in case of war or an emergency. Interesting to know these things today. 

When one step out of the church, one find the Black Hole Memorial; that is one of the few recorded cases where we have a mass murder of 123 Britishers. This is denied by few Indologists, though. Nevertheless, the names are mentioned with impeccable details, the engravings are still visible and the very fact (which is also mentioned) that it was installed by Curzon adds to the importance to the event and the memorial.

We also have the Rohilla War memorial which also saw the demise of few Britishers. Now, these are silent reminders of the past; the valour long forgotten, the memorials and the epitaphs have lost their sheen (few cracks and blurriness are visible despite maintenance) and we have very (infact very very few) visitors. This is the only one memorial present there which is non-white; though I could not possible place a reason for the same.

The famed Job Charnock’s memorial is no less impressive. It is surrounded by many more burials (including his wife) though none of them have substantial height as his memoir.

At the far end, we have the memorial of Mrs Francis Johnson popularly known as Begum Johnson. Surprisingly each of the monument in the complex has a direction board but not this one. Her epitaphs is the most elaborate one. It talks of her lineage, her 4 marriages, the kids from each of the marriage and it ends with, “The oldest British resident in Bengal; universally beloved, respected and revered.”

Lady Canning (wife of Governor General Canning) has a rather open tomb but at the backyard of the Church’s premises itself. The tomb is visible and it bears a symbol probably similar to that of the British Crown. No other structure have such a mark.

History has got its importance; its time that we start pausing and reflect at it before we become one with it. Off to the next site next Sunday....

29 June: Botanical Gardens

Having decided that Sundays would be great ones at Kolkata, the escapade on the last Sunday of June was to Botanical Gardens. Greenery and solitude (courtsey the less number of interested souls) welcomed the father-son duo. I do not know whether the less number of people was because of the Sunday factor or that the trees could not perform a reality show. There were some serious souls both solo and in groups, some young couples and then there were photographers (some with their 2 ft. long lens) because this den is a delight for every snap-per.

The plants are so dense at places that even sunlight leave aside a torch beam (mobile) cannot see through them. At the first instance itself, I was besotted with the natural beauties around. There are lakes here and there amidst the groves; that adds to the beauty. The stretches being too rather too-too long and we were tired off at times; but there are places to sit under a huge tree. I cannot fathom the way the same would be maintained; appreciate whoesever does the maintainance. The kid was excited in the beginning but the excitement waded off after sometime because of the monotony. I had to bring about a discussion on his science chapter stating the different types of plants; he was then excited to see live creepers, shrubs and herbs. God, he would have realised how less I know about trees and particularly the types of trees. I simply had no answer; poor me how was I suppposed to know the names of the 1000 different types of trees (the total collection is more than 12000) that he asked me to explain and distinguish.

Hats off to this gentleman Robert Kyd who established this as the Company Bagaan in 1787. Stood by his memorial and pondered over a old quote which used to be written on the top of the Class photographs i.e. "Nothing But Memory Remains". Indeed, what a creation and appreciate the concept of the same 230 years ago.

The catch of the gardens is the banyan tree. Trust me, this is an amazing piece of art; yes, art for sure because I have'nt seen anything like that. Sheer providence by nature, any artificial thought pygmies in that aspect. The prop roots are there and the kid besides me had to be explained that these are not different trees but that all of them were interconnected. This infact is a materpiece in the sense that the main trunk has been removed in 1925 but still the tree continues to grow with the same vigour.

The grandeour of the banyan is visible in the above photograph; it looks more of a forest than an individual tree. It must be difficult maintaining the same. The prop roots shall flow down and make the area more unapproachable with time; the authorities are trying to bend the prop roots to fall within the protected periphery. The dimensions captured in my pictures that I captured there am sure shall change in few years. That is probably nature and the magnficience of time. 

Juxtaposed among the trees and the plants were proper sitting places. One could sit there as a dewan of the forest at one's back. Trust me, it felt nice sitting under some tree; beettles (natural ones) in the background, chattering of the kid interspersed with some intelligent (read unanswerable) questions and the mind not wandering anywhere from the place; it was a breath of fresh life.

There was this magnificient tomb of an ex-superitendent Mr. Roxburgh. What attracted me was not the design of the tomb but the inscription written on a stone below which read as follows: "Whoever you may be, if this place soothes the mind with its sweetness or teaches you to think of God with reverence, you must hold in high honour Roxburg".

There were many more stuff but I did not wish to tire off the kid with no water with me (plastic bottles/items are strictly not allowed). The other attraction i.e. the cactus collection was closed for visitors because of Sunday. I have no clue how much the stretch was but sure Kolkata has much in store for me. 

I would have made this just a write-up blog but for my colleague Dr. Biswas who insisted that it should be pictorial too.

Bouquets and bricbats welcome...every Sunday some new thing should come