Sunday, June 12, 2022

LITERARY REVIEW WIDE ANGLE BOOKEND BACK PAGE

Booker International Indigenous people Everybody jumps There is a different
Prize-winning author have always gathered on the pride sensibility when
Jokha Alharthi’s latest, wild plants and bandwagon in June, you write in a
Bitter Orange Tree, is berries. Meet four but meaningful language you have
an uncommon work foragers who help us inclusion is a work grown up with:
of literature p4 ‘eat the wild’ p6 in progress p7 Geetanjali Shree p8

COVER

New
nameplates at
Lutyens’
While the residents change, the
bungalows with their large lawns
remain the way the British wanted
them. But for how long will the
walls stand? | p3

khirk is only one lesser­known
tree in a longer list. *
SANDEEP SAXENA

Another hedge plant is
putranjia (Putranjiva roxburghii),
which can grow into a tall,
handsome tree, but is valued for
its extraordinary ability to
‘coppice’; that is, when you chop
off a leading shoot, it re­directs
growth hormones into side­shoots
to become busily bushy — just the
qualities you want in a good
hedge. And that’s exactly why
putranjia has been planted in the
hedgerows of almost every
bungalow in Lutyens’ Delhi.
Then there’s kamini (Murraya
paniculata), another vigorous
‘coppicer’, and evergreen to boot.
Ditto with jungal jalebi
(Pithecellobium dulce). And
perhaps, least known of them all,
phulahi (Acacia modesta), which
was once touted as the best hedge
plant in the Punjab with tiny,
rounded leaflets and thorns to

Delhi’s forgotten deter a gatecrashing buffalo. But

phulahi has all but disappeared
from view and public memory.

When small is good

hedges
So far as one can tell, none of
these plants was intended to grow
tall and tree­like in the hedges of
government bungalows. Thirty
years ago, the Gymkhana Club
sported a brilliant hedge along
one flank of Safdarjang Road
consisting of an attractive mixture
These neglected leafy barriers in Lutyens’ of equal parts of kamini, putranjia
zone — once ornamental and sites of and jungal jalebi. The desired
effect was an appealing jostle of
biodiversity — are now large trees leaf textures and subtly
contrasting tints. Gone now,
replaced by a high (dull) wall.
What’s happened with the
Pradip Krishen passage of time is that the Central
Public Works Department

I
f you drive down Teen Murti (CPWD), which looks after the
Marg in late January or early bungalows in the Lutyens’ zone,
February, you might notice has completely forgotten that
with some surprise the these trees were intended to be
bright new foliage of a small ‘trimmed down’. They’ve been
tree called khirk (Celtis tetrandra). ‘neglected’ into becoming
It’s a time of dry­season dormancy full­grown trees, which may not
in Delhi when most trees are be a tragic fate but hedgerows
decidedly moth­eaten or make good sites for biodiversity
completely bare. That’s why it can and soften the hard edges of walls.
be a bit of a shock to see such Wouldn’t it have been nice to
eager new foliage so early in the have held on to some of those
calendar year. Khirk is not an hedges? Birds, insects, even small
avenue tree; its new foliage shines mammals and reptiles, are some
out from overgrown hedgerows in of the denizens of hedgerows, not
sarkari bungalows. to speak of jackals, which were
Haven’t heard of khirk? Not once quite common around these
surprising, because you won’t find bungalows.
it in any Delhi nursery today and it Canopies A phulahi tree in I think it’s time we reminded
seems to have gone out of fashion Central Ridge; and (top) a the CPWD about the hedgerows.
as a tree to plant. So what is it basendu tree on Vijay Chowk Though it’s a pity they need to be
doing on Teen Murti Marg? A * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT reminded at all.
relict, perhaps, of some colonial .....................................................................
planting scheme that’s been The writer is an author and
forgotten? The answer is ‘yes’, but ecological restoration practitioner.

CM
YK
 OPEN PAGE
THE HINDU Magazine
02 *

Sunday, June 12, 2022

FEEDBACK
Letters to the Magazine can be e-mailed separately to
[email protected]

Cover story
Lilly Singh’s

ILLUSTRATION: SREEJITH R.KUMAR

journey from
singer to actor and
now a celebrated
author, while
battling the odds
with fortitude and
determination, is
truly inspiring.
(‘Lilly Singh:

*
Embracing her

Unique
Ask any academic how to get rid wards “learning stations” as is done angles’; June 5)
of this age­old, unscientific but con­ in some innovative schools. Are we She is a beacon of
venient method. Almost all of them prepared to accept this shift?  hope for those
would agree that the terminal exam­ Is  it  possible  to  let  the  children who wish to carve
ination system should be scrapped. grow according to their own theories a niche for
But what are the alternatives? Shall of growth and help them flower into themselves with
we try out a system without exams? fully developed dynamic individuals hard work.
If so, how can we “classify” and “ca­ with  a  lot  of  passion  to  do  experi­ M. Jeyaram

individuals
tegorise”  students?  How  can  we ments with life? The answer is a re­
evaluate  their  achievements  in  stu­ sounding “no”. It is so unfortunate ■ Seven months of Minimise conflict
dies? This categorisation is a must to that we put the child in a common social media detox The story of the cow
keep  our  system  operational.  Our category  (read  as  “class”)  to  com­ helped Lilly Singh elephant who
education  system  is  meant  not  to pare  one  with  another  to  give  the rediscover and transformed from 
identify what a student has within, child a feeling that it is either “bet­ rejuvenate herself. a terror to a lone docile
but to know what a student lacks in ter” or “worse”, and either of this is Solitude has many animal in Valparai was
so that we can “exclude” those stu­ equally  dangerous.  Can  we  let  the obvious advantages and touching. (‘The
dents who we think are “not poten­ child to be what he or she “is” with­ is a well­known concept chilled­out giant of
Every child is blessed with something ‘unique’ and ‘relevant’, tially  useful”  and  “include”  those out any comparative analysis by ap­ in India from ancient Valparai’; June 5) Though
who may “fall in the pattern”.  plying different algorithms?  times. Getting addicted it may not be practical 
and the examination system should bring that out The  policymakers  have  to  do to the Internet is a highly or safe to allow elephants
‘Learning stations’ some more soul searching in this re­ prevalent malady in in the backyard, every
S.A. Thameemul Ansari for a pleasant surprise thanks to the There are some important questions gard. There are many innovative mo­ today’s world. effort should be 
power of the “unknown”. But even to  be  addressed  here.  Why  do  we dels in education that are being ex­ M.V. Nagavender Rao made to minimise

T
here  is  nothing  more those with good scores in exams do need  to  examine  the  learning  out­ perimented in various countries and human­elephant conflict.
frightening  for  a  student not always score well in life.  comes  of  the  student  and  how  can it  is  high  time  we  got  ourselves  in­ Subject no bar N. Rama Rao
than  the  Board  exams. Is  there  any  “connection”  bet­ we measure them? In a system whe­ fluenced  by  the  positive  trend.  Un­ No subject is taboo or
No­one  knows  how  the ween performance in exam and life rein all the students are treated as “a less  the  teachers  and  the  parents out of bounds for ■ That a lone elephant is
question paper is going to skills? Life throws different challeng­ basket  of  apples”  presumed  to  be who are at the centre of context in children today, but what a threat is an old myth.
Can we let “test”  knowledge,  and  no­one  has es to different people. All the know­ having  the  same  texture,  taste  and educating the children influence the matters is that the No creature turns
the child to any clue how the answers presented ledge that we acquire through edu­ composition,  there  is  no  hope  to policymakers and the system, things subject is handled with aggressive unless
are going to be read, interpreted and cation  may  not  be  enough  to look forward. We need to encourage will not change for the better.  sensitivity. (‘Bogeyman, provoked. Let us
be what he or
marked by the examiners. Everyone understand  the  complexity  of  life. and put in place a system that treats We  may  need  more  resources, be gone’; June 5) It is nice understand this and live
she ‘is’ hopes that justice will be done. But Success is not always “to succeed”, every child as an individual who is time, patience, courage, competen­ to know that children’s in harmony with other
without any who  knows  what  is  in  store  for and “to let go” certain things in life is blessed  with  something  “unique” cies and wisdom to implement this literature in India is creatures.
comparative whom?  not  always  a  failure.  Our  examina­ and “relevant”, and the system of ex­ plan. But we should strive to move at almost on a par with its R. Santhakumar
analysis by There are students who do well in tion system has failed to address this amination should bring that unique least  one  step  forward  in  our  long foreign counterparts.
their  studies,  but  do  not  perform aspect  of  life.  Hence,  our  children aspect  out  in  order  to  inspire  the journey towards making our exami­ Never too late
applying Ayyasseri Raveendranath
well in the exams. And there are stu­ are under deep stress and the agitat­ confidence  of  the  students.  For nation system humane and sensible.  No award is too late for a
different dents who are sceptical about their ed parents have resorted to seeking which, we need to do away with the ........................................................................ Unexpected twist super talented actress
algorithms? own answers, but are sometimes in divine intervention.  concept of “classroom” and move to­ [email protected] In the manner of like Revathy. (‘Call it your
Bernard Shaw’s The inner demons’; June 5)
Doctor’s Dilemma, G. She conquered the
Sampath has listed all the hearts of movie fans

Love in the time of war

phobias related to quite early in her career

Sartorial politics
medical treatment. (‘Day with her portrayal of a
of the appendix’; June 5) young bride torn
His satirical remarks between the memories
reflect the current status of her dead lover and her
Sarbani Mohapatra An injured Indian Major and a British nurse meet clare  that,  “...no  matter  where  our of the so­called noble stranger husband in
lives take us, I will love you…forever profession. Expect the Mouna Ragam.

D in a hospital ship and the rest is history

uring a casual conversation the other
and always, Norah.”  unexpected. Sandhya Suresh V.
day, a junior from university said
The  war  ended,  both  affirmed S. Chokkappa
humans use clothing as a mark of
Baljit Singh their willingness to serve on and Raj Varied experiences
civilisation and distinction from other animals,
was  put  aboard  a  ship  sailing  for Preserve fossils It’s fascinating to
but they fight over it just as beasts do. This

O
n December 31, 1944, a criti­ Bombay. Not knowing when he will The government should examine how the
indeed is an irony. History is strewn with
cally wounded Army officer, meet  and  propose  to  Norah,  he regulate the existing pandemic has affected
instances of clothes becoming an article of
“young  and  boyishly  hand­ headed for the bar. cement factories in the people of various
contestation, conflict and controversy. The
some”, was transported from the Co­ Strange  are  the  ways  of  destiny Khonmoh region (‘An professions (‘Storytellers
hijab row is the latest addition. 
lambra  Ridge  battlefield  in  Italy  to that Norah would be transferred to ocean in the sky’; June 5) in focus’; June 5), and
In the 19th century, when women took to
the  Surgical  Ward  of  the  69  British the  British  Indian  Army  Hospital, and not permit new ones draw a comparison
pants in the U.S., they faced severe
General Hospital Ship in the Bay of Bombay  and  put  aboard  the  same in order to control between us and them. 
condemnation for causing “moral degeneration
Naples. Just as the nurse on duty set ship. Raj heard feminine voices and pollution.  Pranati R. Narain
in society”. The rib­crushing corsets and
to examine his bandaged skull, a pa­ several women descending the steps N. Rama Rao
leg­binding crinolines posed a health hazard for
tient  from  the  adjoining  bed  spoke near the bar, and he was sure that he ■ The conversation with
women wearing them regularly. Besides, these
up admiringly, “...these Indians are was hallucinating that the slim figure ■ Quarrying in the six celebrity storytellers
compromised their mobility to a considerable
damn brave men. This one decided up front was Norah. He rubbed his Guryul ravine is about their experiences
extent. It is revelatory to think that a logical and
to attack a German tank all by him­ eyes and heard a shriek of joy as No­ worrisome indeed as it is and feelings during
practical demand by women in the interest of
self... I was stationed in India a while rah  spotted  him  and  ran  into  his destroying the evidence COVID­19 was an
their health and ease of movement could trigger
back,  Sister...  these  guys  from  the open arms! Norah completed her te­ of a once rich geological experiment in itself.
such a backlash. And if you have half a mind to
Punjab, fight to the last man...”  nure  in  mid­August  in  1947  and  on age. Government Once complete 
dismiss it as a 19th century shibboleth, be
The new patient struggles to ask August 26, they got married. support should be normalcy is restored, 
reminded of what happened in July 2021, barely
for a glass of water, after consuming Raj  was  assigned  to  the  Grena­ extended to I am sure writers
a year ago. A 17­year­old girl in Deoria district of
which he “felt the joy of life flooding grabbed  an  inflated  rubber  ring, diers, commanded the 3rd Battalion environmentalists who everywhere will have an
Uttar Pradesh was killed and hanged from a
back  into  him”.  When  his  eyes  re­ closed her eyes, held her breath and and  as  Grenadier  Centre  Comman­ are trying to set up a abundance of human
bridge by the men of her family for wearing
gained a semblance of focus, the first leapt into the dark sea”. She reached dant. He superannuated as a Briga­ fossil park there. interest stories to tell us.
jeans. 
image surging his senses was that the a man floating in a pool of blood and dier,  commanding  the  112  Infantry Parimala G. Tadas Atheerath Naineni
What made the
Sister minding him “was beautiful... dragged him to the fuel door of her Brigade  up  in  Sikkim  in  1964,  after
men in both
piercing bright blue eyes...skin deli­ ship where sailors awaited to pull the which they settled down in their fa­
instances fear
cate, with a dewy complexion”. Tele­ survivors  aboard;  by  any  measure, mily cottage at Barlow Ganj.
women in pants?
pathically, the Sister also found her “an act beyond the call of duty”. I was a junior Captain when I met
Were they worried
emotions  hopelessly  aroused  to­ A month  later,  under  Sister  No­ the Brigadier in Sikkim, but two de­ Due to change in printing schedules, all letters
that if women
wards the Major. rah’s  tender  watch,  Raj  bounced cades later, commanded the 112 Bri­ must reach us before Tuesday, 3 p.m., in order to
started wearing the
Shortly, the Luftwaffe, by design back and in the giddiness of youth, gade.  Nearly  six  decades  later,  I be considered. — Editor
garment, they
or  accident,  targeted  the  Hospital persuaded Norah to take a short ho­ chanced upon their engrossing biog­
might take over
Ship St. David. Sister Norah rushed liday together to the Isle of Capri and raphy, Raj & Norah, by their son and
more of the
to the deck, saw the mayhem in the the  Amalfi  beach,  where  they  car­ granddaughter. 
monopolistic
dark sea below of mutilated bodies ried forward their friendship to the .........................................................................
privileges of men? If
afloat.  She  “untied  her  apron, ultimate, logical stage, for Raj to de­ [email protected]
in 19th century
America, the privilege in question was the right
to vote, in the Deoria case, it was the freedom to
decide what to wear. Patriarchy has been
More on the Web
Not a fun trip anymore
giving  us  a  nice  opportunity  to  see thehindu.com/opinion/open-page
reluctant to share both kinds of freedom with
new  places,  train  travel  brought  us
women. While female suffrage may be a reality Happiness in the everyday
new acquaintances, a wealth of un­
today, the right to choose one’s clothes is still
ique  emotions  and  joy  of  sharing We are so absorbed with consuming that we have
denied to many women. 
Humans started wearing clothes to protect
ideas, and helped us learn more of forgotten that real wealth is found within us
themselves from harsh weather. Over time, With all glued to their life beyond the circle of our kith and Shivam Bhamre
kin. 
clothes became much more than protective phones, train travel has Machine learning
covering. They became markers of civilisation,
Zero exchanges
modesty, religious identity, fashion, political lost its diversions Passengers, though strangers to one
Most of our brain and thinking activities are deleg-
expression and dissent. Sportspersons don
another,  would  introduce  them­
ated to computers
symbols on their jerseys to show solidarity with Matthew Adukanil
Venugopala Rao K. selves, talk freely and frankly about
wronged peoples or a cause. 
themselves,  exchange  ideas  and
Climate­conscious people with deep pockets Class pranksters

T
rain journeys now are not what share  emotions,  crack  jokes  and
are going for sustainable clothing as a statement Some backbenchers were not only negligent of their
they were back in the day. That laugh heartily. Those who would be
against fast fashion. Thus, beyond their
practical necessity, clothes have deep political
is what I realised during a re­ poring  over  their  newspapers  and studies but also notorious for wicked deeds.
cent trip to Tirupathi.  magazines  did  not  mind  lending Buddhadev Nandi
ramifications. 
The train arrived at the platform these to their fellow passengers and
During the 19th century, backward caste
at  the  scheduled  time.  We  got  into they would discuss news and views. Finding milk
women in Kerala used to be attacked by upper
our  coach  and  occupied  our  seats. were busy with their smartphones.  Passenger  would  even  share  their
caste men for covering the upper body. Today, It comes in sachets these days, no milkman rings
The compartment was packed with There was no warmth of interac­ home­made food. 
there is a tug of war going on between women
passengers, but an eerie silence per­ tions between the passengers. Nobo­ All  these  camaraderie  and  bon­
the bells announcing delivery
students who want to wear the hijab and Prasanna S. Harihar
vaded  within  half  an  hour  of  the dy made any attempt to strike a con­ homie have simply vanished, as train
educational institutions in Karnataka which ask
journey.  versation. No smiles, no laughs, no journeys  have  become  a  monoto­
them to remove this piece of religious attire that
Wondering at the unusual, unex­ jokes,  I  noticed.  No­one  was  even nous,  tedious  experience  with  the
they say violates the uniform code. It brings to This page consists of reader submissions. Contributions of up to a
pected  quiet,  I  looked  around, reading  newspapers  or  magazines. technological  tyranny  of  smart­ length of 700 words may be e-mailed to [email protected].
the fore yet again the problematic politics of
watching  fellow  passengers.  Every­ There was a total absence of camara­ phones ruling the lives of people. Please provide a postal address and a brief background of the writer.
sartorial choices.  The mail must certify that it is original writing, exclusive to this page.
body  was  gazing  attentively  at  the derie and bonhomie. As Ruskin Bond said, “We are the
We can cover our bodies with clothes, but The Hindu views plagiarism as a serious offence. Given the large
screen of their phones and was lost A few decades ago, train journeys true robots, not those sad mechani­ volume of submissions, we regret that we are unable to acknowledge
can we cover our conscience with them too?
in the world of WhatsApp and Face­ were different from what it is nowa­ cal  creatures  created  in  our  own receipt or entertain queries about submissions. If a piece is not
................................................................................................
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ple  around  them  or  to  watch  the each trip offered us an exciting and .........................................................................
endorsement by The Hindu of the views contained therein.
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CM
YK
 COVER STORY
THE HINDU Magazine
03
*

Sunday, June 12, 2022

Standing tall (Clockwise from right) The bungalow once occupied by former
Presidents A.P.J. Abdul Kamal and Pranab Mukherjee; and other bungalows in
Lutyens’ Zone; some of the erstwhile inhabitants of these residences — Rajiv Bungalows be gone?
Gandhi, Sharad Yadav, Rajyavarshan Rathore and Ram Vilas Paswan; and a view of For several years now, there have been talks of demolishing
the tree-lined Akbar Road where the Congress party’s headquarters is located Lutyens bungalows to make way for newer, more efficient
*
V.V. KRISHNAN, SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA, SUSHANTA PATRONOBISH, PTI & R.V. MOORTHY
living spaces. The first cabinet note was moved during the
Atal Bihari Vajpayee government when BJP Rajya Sabha MP
Alphons Kannanthanam was urban development secretary.
The issue was debated again in 2014 and in 2019, but a
concrete proposal is yet to reach the Union Cabinet for a final
nod. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD), which
maintains these bungalows, often complains about the high
maintenance cost and other structural issues.
However, an official with the urban development ministry
points to the redevelopment of some of the smaller bunga-
lows and flats in the recent past as a sign of things to come. In
2012, amidst much hue and cry, CPWD constructed 22
bungalows by bisecting bigger plots. The facade of these
BUILT HISTORY bungalows mimicked the British ones. As for constructing
multi-storey housing, more bungalows may be razed, but
there is no blanket decision, says the official. For instance, in

New
2019, eight bungalows were demolished to construct 76 flats
for MPs on Dr. B.D. Marg. According to sources in the Ministry
of Housing and Urban Affairs, the bungalows could be next
on the agenda, after the ongoing Central Vista
redevelopment.

Island of power
Interestingly, architect Edwin Lutyens did
nameplates
at Lutyens’
not build the Lutyens Bungalow Zone.
When the construction of the new capital
city began in 1911, bungalows of different
sizes were built for the many staff who
would work in the capital. Edwin Lutyens’
office produced a range of plans
appropriate for different grades of
government officials. These designs
featured two-storeyed houses with a The white-washed bungalows remain, but a second
pitched roof. They looked more like English
houses. chapter is being drafted for Lutyens’ Delhi
Historian Simon Godfrey writes in his book
New Delhi 1930: Power, Personalities and As a non-Indian looking into India, one of the things that I
Architecture in the Twilight of the British identities to become fused with their meets an untimely death. Its vast grounds find most appealing is the extraordinary architecture that
Raj, “The Delhi Planning Committee address. Now, a new chapter for Lutyens’ has an elephant’s grave. Lal Bahadur you find all over the country. But by any international
decided that the building cost of these Delhi is being drafted. The white­washed Shashtri had moved in here in 1964 after standard, there is a radical failure of legislation to protect
designs would be too high and rejected bungalows with large lawns and red he became prime minister, and two years it. Every year, exceptional buildings are lost because there
them, something that Lutyens appeared compound walls remain the way they later he mysteriously died in Tashkent. is no protection for vernacular architecture. The threat to
not to mind suggesting that he should be were built by the British, but the In the last few years, many addresses Lutyens’ bungalows seems to me to be part of a much
relieved from the anguish of designing nameplates have changed in the eight that once changed the fortunes of the rich wider picture of this short-sighted attitude: that you can
jerry-villas.” years of the Narendra Modi regime.  and powerful have found new tenants. just knock down buildings and replace it with concrete.
As a result of this rejection very few Many well­known residents have either Last September, Congress leader Ahmed It’s not fine. Even if it’s history that you are not proud of —
bungalows were actually built following passed on or are no longer in power to Patel’s family vacated 23, Mother Teresa like an understandable dislike of colonial architecture —
designs by Lutyens. But he set the tone of hold on to these houses. There are, Crescent Road. For over two decades until these are still major bits of history that tell the nation’s
construction of these bungalows: others however, a few who have circled back to his death in November 2020, it was here story. Lutyens’ Delhi was the last great construction
copied the design elements that he used in these homes via the Bharatiya Janata that the rise and fall of many Congress project of the British in India. It is not only one of the
the construction for the four principal Party (BJP) headquarters.  leaders was scripted. Today, there is a supreme achievements of British architecture — the
members of the Viceroy’s staff. This is a general decline in the Congress stamp in colonial equivalent of Bath or Dublin — it still ranks as one
justification for the description ‘Lutyens Changes aplenty Lutyens’ Delhi. In April, another senior of the most beautiful urban landscapes in the world.
Bungalow Zone’. Many more changes are in the offing. The leader, A.K. Antony, bid goodbye to Delhi There’s nothing in London as beautiful as this! Rashtrapa-
The majority of bungalows are designed by ti Bhavan, I think, is the best British building in the 20th
BJP, which moved into a palatial office at and will be handing over his 2, Jantar
architect R.T. Russell. There are only a few century.
Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg in 2018, is still Mantar home. 
double-storey bungalows: 20, Akbar Road,
to relinquish its old office at 11, Ashoka The BJP leaders who are no longer WILLIAM DALRYMPLE
designated for the Lok Sabha speaker and
Road. The Union Urban Development eligible have also been read the riot act. writer and historian
10, Rajaji Marg that was the retirement
Minister Hardeep Puri in a press Beginning March, the Directorate of
home of two Presidents, Pranab Mukerjee
conference on June 2 said that the Estates began a drive to remove the
and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
government will be moving out the squatters. The list included many former
Russell’s bungalows incorporated shaded
political parties from these bungalows. ministers: Rajyavardhan Rathore, Rattan
verandas, a grand formal entrance, high
Congress too will have to vacate 24, Akbar Lal Kataria, Ram Shankar Katheria, P.C.
windows close to the ceiling for ventilation
Road which has been the Congress Sarangi and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. 
New India’s real estate
and a flat roof. But since the majority of the
headquarters since 1978. It has sought
British bureaucracy used to shift to Shimla, A.G. Krishna Menon
Sobhana K. Nair & Damini Nath more time. ‘Welcome home’ parties
the summer capital of the Raj, and occupy
Last week, socialist leader Sharad But it’s not just farewells; many are The Lutyens Bungalow Zone (LBZ), 90 years after the
these homes only in the winter months,

D
elhi was not the first new Yadav vacated 7, Tughlaq Road, where he returning home to their Lutyens’ address. colonial government built it as the residential component of
each of these homes had fireplaces. Less
capital city the British had been living for 22 years. He stayed on, Jyotiraditya Scindia, who left the Congress the new capital of India, has acquired different meanings in
than one percent of these fireplaces survive
constructed in one of its even after he was disqualified from the to join the BJP in 2021, will soon be back contemporary society: environmentalists and heritage
today.
colonies. But it outshone Rajya Sabha in 2017 for opposing Bihar at 27, Safdarjung Road, his home since the advocates celebrate the positive attributes of this area, while
The little island of power we today call
every other capital Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to 1980s when his father Madhavrao Scindia politicians, spurred by modern town planners, architects and
Lutyens’ Delhi also had many significant
constructed by them: Ottawa (Canada), return to the BJP­led National Democratic first became a minister. Jyotiraditya won engineers, argue that it is long past its use-by date and
contributions from then Viceroy Lord
Pretoria (South Africa) and Canberra Alliance. He fought it out in the courts to the Guna Parliamentary seat that fell should be redeveloped to symbolise ‘New India’.
Hardinge. As historian Swapna Liddle
(Australia). William Dalrymple writes retain the house. On May 31, Yadav and vacant after his father’s demise and the These colonial era bungalows are falling apart and are not
writes in Connaught Place and the Making
about Rajpath or Kingsway in his book his family removed their nameplate, house was allotted to him. He was forced individually of architectural value. They were poorly built
of New Delhi, “The town plan in terms of
City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi: “It was addressed one last press conference and to vacate it after his defeat in the 2019 compared to the Rashtrapati Bhavan and other monu-
how the roads were laid out was quite
planned as an imperial Champs Elysees drove out for the final time. The house is general elections, after which the house mental buildings. In fact, 90 years later, you could say that
distinctive. A scheme of hexagons and
complete with India Gate its own butter now being prepped for its next occupant, was allotted to Nishank, who was there is a good case to re-evaluate their future both on social
equilateral triangles was adopted, and the
coloured Arc De Triomphe but it was far as per sources, a Supreme Court judge.  education minister between 2019 and and pragmatic grounds. But what is moot is the terms of the
roads consequently radiated from multiple
wider, far greener and far more 2021. The house is being frenetically transformation that should take place. It is currently being
roundabouts.” It was Hardinge’s decision
magnificent than anything comparable in Biggest on the block renovated for Scindia’s return. Workers of held hostage to knee-jerk political hubris and expedient
that one avenue should lead to Purana Qila
Europe…” The idea was to shock and awe, Former cabinet minister Ram Vilas the Central Public Works Department are town planning, architectural or engineering solutions. Any
and another to Jama Masjid.
as the British wanted Delhi to intimidate Paswan’s family did not get the privilege busy undoing some changes introduced transformation of the LBZ must take into account that it is
Kingsway or Rajpath was the most
Indian subjects with its style and of making a respectable exit; they were by Nishank, including the doors and on the Tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and
important road in the city, connecting the
grandeur. evicted on March 30 from 12, Janpath. The windows that were altered to comply to that it has acquired different meanings for our society over
Viceroy’s house to Princess Park (where
The Lutyens bungalows, however, family ignored several eviction notices vaastu.  time.
the houses for Indian Royals were
aren’t exactly breathtaking. While they do sent to them, hoping that the government Scindia’s return to 27 Safdarjung Road The objective in conserving living cities, like London and
constructed). This is bisected by
stand in middle of a large green lawn, would transfer the house in the name of may have drawn a few sniggers in political Rome, is not to preserve old buildings as museum exhibits, or
Queensway or Janpath.
there is something distinctly forlorn and Paswan’s son Chirag who is a two­time circles, but it is nothing unusual. In 2012, to raze them and construct new buildings, but to transform
The distance from the Viceroy’s house
forbidding about them. When the British MP. The house, among the largest in when Pranab Mukherjee became them without loss of its identity. This is the work of the
decided the hierarchy of its occupants. The
constructed sprawling bungalows for their Lutyens’ Delhi, is now being renovated for president he moved into Rashtrapati conservation profession.
houses were also distinguished by size and
design. Currently the bungalows are bureaucracy in the splendid new capital, President Ram Nath Kovind, should he Bhavan, the erstwhile Viceroy House with .............................................................................................
categorised into eight types, where Type they were never meant for permanent not get a second term after his current 300 plus rooms and the largest of them The writer is the former Convenor of the Delhi
VIII are the largest, and reserved for cabinet occupation: these houses were designed tenure that ends in July. all. Yet, he didn’t let go of 13, Talkatora chapter of INTACH.
ministers, Supreme Court justices and for temporary British residents who Each of these bungalows carries Road where he lived 16 years. Not because
heads of the Army, Air Force and Navy. replaced each other like guests in a hotel. stories with it. For instance, 10, Janpath, the house was big or centrally located but
Post­Independence Parliamentarians which is currently the biggest among the because he believed it was lucky for him.
continue with this trend, moving out at 1,200­odd Lutyens Bungalow Zone, was Mukherjee’s office room as a minister in
the end of their terms to make room for once considered unlucky. Former prime Parliament House was also No. 13 and as
the next round of lawmakers. Some, minister Rajiv Gandhi was advised against luck would have it, he went on to become
however, stay on long enough for their moving into the bungalow in 1989 after he the 13th President of India.
lost the general elections. It was believed
that every resident of this bungalow

CM
YK
 Literary Review
THE  HINDU Magazine
04 *

Sunday, June 12, 2022

EXPERIMENTAL FICTION

Daughters of the desert Fearless

The 2019 Man Booker International Prize­winning writer’s latest novel is an Seema Khan as
Ismat (right) in
uncommon work of literature with an exceptional translation to match the play Ismat
Chughtai,
performed at
Latha Anantharaman her friend Suroor and Suroor’s sis­ she raised would refuse to give it to Jashn-e-Darpan
ter, Kuhl. Suroor is bewailing Kuhl’s her. And they do flee from her dy­ in Telangana in

A
novel  in  which  a  young engagement to Imran because he is ing  wails,  feeling  that  she  asks  for May 2022.
woman leaves Oman to from a poorer background. Zuhour too much. That is the source of Zu­ *
SPECIAL
study  in  Britain  while understands her revulsion but can­ hour’s  guilt,  which  she  fragments ARRANGEMENT
her memories and early not  sympathise  with  it.  As  Suroor into little guilts that she can bear to
ties tug at her is likely to cuts ties with Kuhl, Imran takes her think about — neglecting to ask her
WOMEN OF LETTERS
get glib labels — it’s a coming­of­age place  in  the  triangle.  In  fact,  the grandmother about her injured fin­

The badass begum

story or the tale of a woman seeking reader begins to see triangles float­ gernail  or  forgetting  to  buy  her
freedom. But the reader who takes ing  and  falling  everywhere  in  the medicines.
Bitter Orange Jokha Alharthi’s Bitter Orange Tree story,  usually  connecting  two  wo­ Her story and Bint Aamir’s story
Tree neat, undiluted by context, expec­ men and one man. The father who spin together, till hers is hurled into
Jokha Alharthi, tations  and  breathless  New Yorker marries  again  and  sends  out  the a future hope that may or may not
translated by reviews,  will  find  an  uncommon children  of  his  first  wife  to  earn materialise,  and  Bint  Aamir’s  flies Feisty and confident, Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai knew
Marilyn Booth work of literature.  their living. Salman, who is married back to her distant past where she
Simon and It is a compact narrative that en­ to the pious Athurayyaa, while their is the beloved child of a valiant fath­ how to take on her detractors
Schuster India compasses  an  amazing  number  of relative  runs  the  house  and  raises er, a girlhood that may or may not

F
₹699 vividly drawn characters, each with the children. Mansour, who is an af­ have been. ull disclosure: For years, I have been living the girl sees taking place under the Begum’s quilt at
a compelling story. Sumayya, a vi­ fectionate and respectful husband with Ismat Chughtai. Her books are part of night for it is left in that deliciously wicked space of
brant dynamo of a girl, is turned in­ to his second wife but loved his first No awkward phrasings my community of book best friends. There the unsaid. And therein lies Ismat’s cleverness. The
to a silent ghost after her wedding. wife with the passion of youth.  Finally,  a  word  about  the  transla­ is no way I can get away from my Ismat ob­ story earned her the wrath of the conservatives re­
Imran carries the burdensome me­ Zuhour  is  drawn  to  Imran  be­ tion.  Almost  always  that  ‘word session — either as a reader or as a teacher. sulting in the slapping of obscenity charges against
mories of his humble past into his cause of that same “peasant” back­ about the translation’ is a dissatis­ So now that that’s out of the way… her and a trial in Lahore. In court, her lawyer argued
marriage with Kuhl, his fellow stu­ ground that dismays his wife’s fami­ fied, mealy­mouthed acknowledge­ Ismat found her place in the sun. She was a writer successfully that the story could not possibly be a
dent  of  medicine.  A  father  lies ly.  She  does  not  forget  where  she ment  that  someone  has  taken  the who  could  not  be  overlooked.  She  was  feisty  and corrupting influence because the subject would only
awake at night wondering whether came  from.  Above  and  behind  all trouble to make a text available to a whimsical with oodles of confidence. be understood by someone who had
that stranger­man who married his her  memories  and  dreams  stands wider public, albeit with inevitable Everyone  knew  not  to  expect  the had a lesbian experience.
daughter  would  care  if  her  feet Bint Aamir, her virgin grandmoth­ stumbles and losses along the way. predictable of her. Her strength lay
poked  out  of  the  blanket  as  she er. Bint Aamir was tipped out of the But  in  Bitter Orange Tree we  find in  knowing  with  razor­sharp  preci­ Voice of a child
Almost all of slept. A gypsy wearing a necklace of nest as a child, and when she is ta­ that  rare  translation  that  is  seam­ sion just what she was up against — In  her  memoirs,  Ismat  takes  a  far
coloured  beads  is  mysteriously ken  in  by  relatives,  she  earns  her less  without  flattening  the  prose. the overwhelmingly gendered struc­ more  direct  approach,  calling  out
them are
found dead. A new bride finds that keep till the day she dies by cook­ “She was the robust color of early ture  of  society.  And  she  possessed one sacred cow after the other, even
children of she longs to escape her husband’s ing, washing, sewing, and tending youth, she was the brimming fresh­ the  badass  courage  to  fight  it  both the  image  of  ideal  motherhood  as
sullen, devotion  as  much  as  another  wo­ to  the  babies  neglected  by  their ness of dawn breaking, she was the strategically as well as overtly. It was premised on love and sacrifice. Writ­
disappointed man  wants  to  flee  her  husband’s own mothers.  delicate  outline  of  a  half­visible either a gun held straight to the tem­ ing about her own mother, she says:
mothers. Or abuse.  dream.”  That  is  the  longing  of  the ple or an arrow shot from behind a “We  were  so  many  siblings  that
loving, dead Almost all of them are children of Little guilts young  Mansour  gazing  at  the  Be­ bush.  my mother felt nauseated by the very
sullen,  disappointed  mothers.  Or Still,  she  belongs  to  no  one,  and douin girl who has come to gather Whether or not Ismat thought of sight of us. One after another we had
mothers. loving, dead mothers. Jokha Alhar­ nothing belongs to her. She is that dates from his fields. There are no herself  as  feminist  is  besides  the tumbled  to  the  earth,  pummelling
Jokha thi renders the light and the dark of icon  so  beloved  in  every  culture, awkward phrasings or intrusive ex­ point.  She  instinctively  operated  as and  battering  her  womb.  Suffering
Alharthi these lives with equal power.  the woman who gives with the un­ planations  here  —  we  are  swept one. She wore the eyeglasses of a wo­ endlessly from vomiting and labour
renders the derstanding that she deserves noth­ along with Zuhour’s story and her man  immersed  in  the  this­worldly, pains, she looked upon us as objects
light and the Floating triangles ing  in  return,  a  lesson  her  father memories of Oman. possessed a nuanced understanding of her punishment.” 
The narrator and central character and  stepmother  taught  her  well. ....................................................................... of every kind of hypocrisy and wrote Whether or not Ismat She also chronicles the hypocriti­
dark of these of the novel is Zuhour, now living in Perhaps she also knows that when in  her  trademark  begumati zubaan. cal  nature  of  the  relationship  bet­
The reviewer is the author of Three thought of herself as
lives with Britain and engrossed in what she she  comes  to  beg  for  that  last  so­ Seasons: Notes from a Country She  told  her  stories  with  empathy, ween  Hindus  and  Muslims  at  the
equal power describes as a triangle formed with mething  she  needs,  the  children Year. humour and subversive wit.  feminist is besides the time:
point. She instinctively “From a young age we were aware
Secret smile operated as one that there was some distinction bet­
In her memoirs Kaghazi Hai Pairahan ween Hindus and Muslims. Outward
(translated  into  English  by  Asaduddin  as  A Life in profession of brotherhood went hand in hand with
Words: Memoirs), she writes: discreet  caution.  If  a  Hindu  was  visiting,  meat
“Whenever  I  saw  a  magnificent  palace  eaten wouldn’t be mentioned, and even sitting at the same
away by moss sprouting on its walls and grass grow­ table one had to take care not to touch any of their
ing over it pitilessly, in the heart of my hearts I would belongings.”
smile secretly. The power within those insignificant Even her father’s apparent liberalism, she clari­
grasses and weeds would overwhelm me.” fies, was only on principle. In practice, she argues,
Ismat’s writings eat away at social strictures and “girls and boys were equal in the same way as Hin­
absurd  certainties  in  the  exact  same  way  as  moss dus and Muslims were brothers.”
and weed eat away at that palace — in a pitiless, si­ Ismat’s strength lies in her ability to use the voice
lently subversive fashion. Not even her most unsym­ of  a  child,  in  writing  the  world  as  it  is,  unembel­
pathetic  of  readers  can  put  his  finger  on  that  one lished,  naked,  embarrassingly  true.  I  think  of  her
thing which makes him see red. Ismat gets away with writings as lessons in how to occupy space as a wo­
murder each time as she did in writing ‘Lihaaf’. The man,  how  to  be  that  grass,  that  moss
GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK

story describes the intimate nature of the relation­ which — who knows — might one day
ship between Begum Jan (unhappily married to a na­ bring it all crashing down.
wab who has eyes only for young men) and Rabbu,
her maid. K. Srilata is a writer and
This relationship is viewed through the eyes of independent scholar who is
the narrator, a young girl who is not quite sure what currently writing verse that
she is seeing. We cannot be sure either what it is that re-imagines the Mahabharata.
*
.

SHORT STORIES
MIXED COLLECTION

A man for all seasons Tied and tested

Shovon Chowdhury’s writings prove that he never stopped asking questions Keki N. Daruwalla probes the nuances of familial bonds with
his usual dexterity in this collection
Geeta Doctor who  like  to  portray  her  sitting  un­ cancer: Chowdhury calls it “Necrotiz­
clothed  and  hatless  in  a  Renaissance ing Pancreatitis” and assures us in one Vineetha Mokkil this trilogy covers wide swathes a man retreats from the world

“N
amaskaram  Uncle!”  I garden?  For,  only  in  such  a  state  can of  his  asides  that  it’s  as  bad  as  it of  time  and  history.  Political and his family — “all he wanted

A
hope you will forgive me she change the course of history... sounds. cclaimed poet Keki upheavals and personal dramas was  tranquillity,  the  night
for treading on the foot­ In  one  of  his  extended  flights  of This is his trademark style — he re­ N.  Daruwalla  has animate the stories, which fit to­ around him, the chirr of the ci­
steps  of  Shovon  Chowd­ imagination, Chowdhury depicts Mad­ fuses to take anything, including him­ 10 volumes of poe­ gether like pieces of an intricate cada and the croak of the bull­
hury by using one of his most popular huri Dixit as just such a woman as she self and a fatal disease, seriously. Even try  and  several puzzle. I became so heavily in­ frog.”  The  bhikshu longs  to  be
personas,  that  of  the  all­knowing  un­ leaps onto the stage with a gravity­de­ in the worst of times, Chowdhury ‘The short  story  collec­ vested  in  the  characters  that  I free  of  the  past  and  shed  the
cle, who freely distributed wisdom in fying  number.  Did  she  change  the Investigator’  —  the  title  of  one  of  his tions  to  his  credit.  His  latest read the stories at one go. I re­ ties that bind, but the past inev­
his ‘Ask Uncle’ column. course  of  history?  Chowdhury  pon­ columns — is there seeking the truth. collection of short fiction, Go- read them to admire the craft­ itably intrudes. 
“Why are you doing this?” the edi­ dered such questions in the best years Urmila  Chowdhury,  his  wife  of  32 ing: Stories of Kinship, explores smanship  and  dexterity  with In ‘Going’, a granddaughter
tors might ask. of his life, before he succumbed to can­ years and an educationist with a deep the  nuances  of  familial  ties which  Daruwalla  weaves  the comes  face  to  face  with  death Going: Stories
It’s because Chowdhury, with his ir­ cer  in  2021.  It  was  a  virulent  form  of interest in theatre, provides introduc­ and  their  discontents.  Poetry three together to form an exqui­ while  staying  with  her  grand­ of Kinship
reverent wit, inspires frivolity. He was tory windows to the text. seeps  into  Daruwalla’s  prose site whole.  mother. It is hard to let go of a Keki N.
a man who dabbled in many fields — Truth Digger: The While  being  deeply  critical  of  the as naturally as rain seeps into A son’s  disappearance  scars loved one, but she must learn to Daruwalla
while working as an ad man, he contri­ Best of Shovon country’s  headlong  descent  into  the the parched earth. The lyrical his parents in ‘Bird Island’ while make peace with loss. Speaking Tiger
buted  columns  in  The Business Line Chowdhury paranoia of power, Chowdhury never stories of Going are rooted as a beloved  daughter’s  love  life Absences  haunt  the  charac­ ₹499
and  The Hindu,  wrote  novels  and Edited by Urmila stops challenging himself, his primary much to the charged terrain of shocks her father to the core in ters  as  much  as  presences.
blogs. He can be described as a Renais­ Chowdhury and audience.  He  asks  questions.  His the  human  heart  as  to  the ‘Daughter’. Though the foray in­ While  there  are  questions
sance man, the man who wears so ma­ Sandipan Deb answers are like Madhuri Dixit’s feet, physical  place  and  culture to  the  history  of  the  Parsis  in aplenty  about  family  bonds,
ny  hats  that  he  cannot  be  pigeon­ Aleph Book Company lightly tap­dancing on the page. they are set in.  ‘Daughter’  reads  like  a  long­ answers remain elusive, as they
holed. Which makes me wonder about ₹499 ............................................................................ In ‘The Brahmaputra Trilo­ winded lesson, the ageing fath­ do in life. 
the Renaissance woman — does she ex­ The Chennai-based writer is a critic gy’,  a  father’s  callousness er’s sense of uncertainty is poig­ ...............................................................
ist  only  in  the  imagination  of  artists and cultural commentator. stalks his son and makes him nantly expressed.  The writer is the author of A
what he is. Beginning in 1947, In ‘The Night of the Bhikshu’, Happy Place and Other Stories.

BROWSER
Breaking Free The Weird Women’s Club Padma Hitopadesha by Narayana: A New
Vaasanthi, trs N. Kalyan Raman Aruna Nambiar Mala Mahesh English Translation
HarperCollins Speaking Tiger Self-published Shonaleeka Kaul
₹399 ₹499 ₹399 Aleph Book Company
Kasturi and Lakshmi, both born into the This is the story of three gloriously Two women from different time periods ₹599
devadasi clan, are very different from broken women, Hema, Avanti and — Padma in 1900 and Naina in the Most Indian children have come across
each other. While Kasturi finds joy in Jeroo, who are the farthest from the present day — come together as they the stories of Hitopadesha, where
dancing before the deity, Lakshmi ideal of forbearance expected of tackle infertility in a society which ties birds and animals behave like humans
becomes a doctor. Set in the days women. As they stitch their lives back up women’s self-worth with their and illustrate human frailties. This is a
leading to Independence, this is a together, the three realise they cannot reproductive capacities. Padma and new translation of Pandit Narayana’s
thought-provoking novel by one of the fit into any conventional roles. Will they Naina fight conventions with equal classic text by historian and Sanskritist
most renowned Tamil writers. find comfort in one another? gusto. Shonaleeka Kaul.

CM
YK
 Literary Review
THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 12, 2022
*

05

FOCUS

Lessons from
Nazi Germany
How a cosmopolitan Munich Vignettes (Clockwise
became ‘the city of Hitler’ from extreme left)
Aanchal Malhotra and
Shelley Walia her grandmother going
through family archives;

I
n Hitler’s Munich: Jews, the Revolution and the Rise of Na- Margaret Bourke’s
zism, Michael Brenner, the distinguished German Jewish photograph of a
historian, provides important lessons which might help Partition scene; the first
thwart the ongoing collapse of democracies across the hall of Partition
world. In many countries, liberal democracy is evolving Museum, Amritsar
into totalitarianism, and unbridled racism is leading to the * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT, GANDHI

rise of a political elite making way for populist demagogues. SMRITI/ THE HINDU ARCHIVES &

Drawing on previously unknown documents, Brenner puts SHANKAR S./ FLICKR

Munich under the scanner, and reveals how a cosmopolitan
city became, in the words of Thomas Mann, “the city of Hit­
ler.” It is surprising that what took place in Munich and Nazi HISTORY possibility of peace and interviews with children from the
Germany is repeating itself in many cities which deem them­ reconciliation. And, so instead of diaspora who have experienced
selves to be egalitarian.  the oft­repeated stories of blood displacement and are, therefore,

Conversations
and gore, of trains heaped with better placed to understand their
Racism at the centre corpses, of unimaginable horrors ancestors’ dislocation and
It is a known fact of history that the road to Nazism began especially those against girls and migration. But as Malhotra says,
with the protests led by the Jews of Munich, along with minor­ women, there are vignettes here of “No story can be completely
ities and other individuals with left leanings against the rise of humanity and friendship and isolated or distilled into a single

about memories
right­wing  politics.  The  right­wing  responded  by  initiating sacrifice.  emotion. I may broadly be able to
physical attacks on Jews as well as by destroying their syn­ The stories themselves are too say that one story is about loss,
agogues.  many and too layered and nuanced another about grief and a third
The conservative government of Bava­ to be recapitulated for the purpose about hope, but, even so, the story
ria  systematically  identified  Jews  with of a review here. But what emerges about grief can also exemplify loss,
left­wing radicalism and spearheaded ra­ from a close reading is the author’s and the story about loss can also
cist attacks on the basis of religion, there­ The overwhelming message of Aanchal repeated assertion that when reveal hope. There may be
by setting up a fertile breeding ground for writing about Partition, “one needs moments in the book when
the establishment of Nazism and an anti­ Malhotra’s second book on Partition is that if to embrace both sides equally and testimonies contradict one
Semitic ideology. The Jewish revolution­
aries were the reason why Hitler became
people were to listen to each other’s stories, there do justice to the experiences that
occurred on both sides of the
another, but this is the nature of
human experiences, for they are
a national socialist. might be peace and reconciliation border. Thinking, writing, complex, manifold, and cannot
In a stirring account, Brenner shows recreating the days and fully be contained.” 
In Hitler’s how Hitler’s return to the Bavarian capi­ understanding the consequences
Munich: Jews, tal of Munich became an opportunity to of Partition require us not just to Truth and belonging
the Revolution test  Nazism,  facilitated  especially  by  his Rakhshanda Jalil so far back in time that it cannot be borderless in our thoughts and The conversations in the book —
and the Rise of followers  consisting  of  the  fringe  ele­ affect our present, there is the perceptions but also impartial and with Indians, Pakistanis,

I
Nazism
ments  who  terrorised  the  Jews  with  the n her widely acclaimed debut haunting declaration by one of the honest in our research.”  Bangladeshis as also their
full backing of the political leadership, the book Remnants of a interviewees: “...those who say While Punjab became a respective diaspora — are about
Michael Brenner,
law  and  order  machinery  and  the  com­ Separation, Aanchal Malhotra Partition doesn’t affect us are bloodied passage for those fleeing memories: of first hearing the
translated by
pliant public.  told the ‘story’ of Partition similar to the people who say caste to the newly­created countries word ‘Partition’, of then noting
Jeremiah Riemer
Munich thus metamorphosed from a through the objects that doesn’t exist, and that perspective across a newly­demarcated border, how it affected the tellers, of
Princeton
liberal  diverse  society  into  a  city  of  dis­ migrants brought to their new comes from a place of immense the eastern border too witnessed recollecting the gaps in the
University Press
crimination and violence.  homes across the border. There privilege.” Clearly, for as long as large­scale violence and migration. narration and the meaning
£28
After the humiliating defeat of World were the tangible, material objects the consequences of Partition keep If anything, Bengal bore a slow and attributed by later generations to
War I conservative nationalists looked for the enemy within, — jewellery, utensils, clothes, unspooling, there is no way that it prolonged parturition and unlike what was said and what was left
resulting  in  the  targeting  of  Jews  who  ironically  were  the books, diaries, certificates — and can be relegated to history books, the western arm, it was partitioned unsaid. The 24 chapters in the
much­lauded  entrepreneurs.  Interestingly,  they  had  intro­ there were the intangibles such as something to be studied in a not just once but thrice: in 1905, book are “inspired by certain
duced the Lowenbrau beer while their culinary art was wide­ language, habits, ways of living, detached manner and not carried 1947 and again in 1971. Malhotra emotions or actions that appeared
ly relished by the Germans. Sadly, the peaceful atmosphere and yes, memories, all minutely around as a continuing legacy of brings in the diversity of emblematic of the conversations”.
changed overnight. From being integral to the Bavarian eco­ recorded through a series of pain and bewilderment.  experiences from a canvas that Hence you have Beginning,
nomy and culture, Jews became the evil outsiders who need­ detailed, leisurely conversations spreads from Afghanistan in the Belonging, Discovery, Fear,
ed to be ruthlessly put down.  with Partition survivors conducted Friendship and sacrifice west till Burma in the east, taking Identity, Silence, the Other and so
by Malhotra in her distinctive, The underlying impulse behind in localised stories too such as on. 
Tyrannical powers empathetic manner. Away from the this book, as also behind those from Kashmir, Malabar, In the Language of Remembering
The hopes of turning Bavaria into a socialist republic in 1919 over­arching narratives that have Remnants..., is a deeply humane Gujarat as well as from large is a big book (at over 700 pages),
did not gain favour with the right­wing leadership. Many Jew­ revolved around the twin poles of one. If people were to listen to swathes of the Northeast.  and an important and brave one.
ish rebels who stood for liberalism, like Kurt Eisner, the first violence and trauma, these were each other’s stories, there is a There are also numerous When the bitter harvest sown by
ever Jewish Prime Minister of a German state, and his col­ stories of courage, community and decades of hating the ‘other’ is
league,  Gustav  Landauer,  were  executed  in  1919  on  the kinship recorded and told with a standing tall and ripe, when seeds
grounds of being “perfidious” and “back stabbers”.  compassion that seemed all the of hatred are kept at the ready to
The Reich government would soon pass the Enabling Act more precious in so young a be thrown in a soil that has been
of 1933 that gave tyrannical powers to the governing party to writer­chronicler. prepared to hate, rather than love,
bypass parliament. This legislation gave the underlying impe­ In her second book, In the Malhotra’s book comes as a
tus to Nazism thereby buttressing its narrative of challenging Language of Remembering: The harbinger of truth and
a “Jewish­Bolshevik global conspiracy.”  Inheritance of Partition, a natural reconciliation. At a time when
With a Nazi police head in place in the 1920s, anti­Jewish progression from the first, August 14 shall henceforth be
atrocities had already begun before Hitler’s arrival in Munich. Malhotra carries the Partition commemorated as Partition
The horrors of Auschwitz and Bergen­Belsen were around the In the narrative forward by speaking with Horrors Remembrance Day, a book
corner.  Language of the third, sometimes fourth such as this reminds us that
The book is a timely lesson on how it’s imperative to shake Remembering: generation of survivors about remembrance cannot be
up people gullible enough to fall into the trap of manufac­ The conversation within families: about one­sided; for it to heal, it must
tured lies and give their unequivocal allegiance to forces that Inheritance of the ‘relevance’ of the events of include, or at the very least
silently work towards genocidal politics and the weakening of Partition 1947, its lingering after­effect and acknowledge, that others suffered
the fabric of constitutional democracy. As democracies are Aanchal how, and to what extent, it defines similarly. 
imperilled, Brenner’s relevant account of the anti­Semitic dis­ Malhotra those whose grandparents, or even .......................................................................
course that underpinned the early years of Hitler’s quest for HarperCollins great­grandparents, lived through The reviewer is a writer and
power becomes a wake­up call. ₹799 it. To those who think Partition is literary historian.
.........................................................................................................................
The reviewer has taught cultural theory at Panjab University.

SOCIETY

The meaning of non-violence in the time of oppression

Turning the spotlight on the hinterlands of central India where tribal communities entrapped in inter-generational slavery take matters in their own hands
G. Sampath ished  alongside  constitutional  pro­ own quarrying lease. The Kols, now leased after a court rules the death conversations,  she  is  stunned  to whose interests are served by eras­
clamations  of  equality,  nowhere earning  in  cash,  as  opposed  to  the an “accident”. The Kol men return hear a Kol woman speak with pride ing from public memory instances of

D
emocracy  is  not  sup­ more  so  than  in  the  hinterlands  of meagre quantities of grain they were to  Azad  Nagar,  life  continues,  and about killing a landlord — it is a di­ revolutionary  violence  by  the  op­
posed to be compatible central  India  where  tribals  dispos­ being paid earlier, even start sending gets progressively worse. The Kols’ rect  contradiction  of  the  accepted pressed? Could it be that nothing is
with slavery. The form­ sessed of their forest land often end their children to school. But is eman­ quarrying licence is never renewed. narrative,  amplified  by  the  docu­ more terrifying — and therefore, un­
er  institutionalises up as bonded labour ‘owned’ by lo­ cipation sustainable when the struc­ Large  corporations  with  industrial mentary,  of  a  ‘non­violent  revolu­ speakable — to the masters than the
equality  and  non­vio­ cal landlords. tures of oppression remain intact? machinery  strip  the  quarries  bare tion’. Murphy questions the reflexive violence of the slaves?
lent social relations while the latter Murphy describes Azad Nagar as and scoot. They leave behind envi­ redaction  of  violent  acts  of  resis­ Commenting  on  the  perennial
enforces  inequality  with  violence. Story of the Kols “a  small  cluster  of  thatch­roofed ronmental  degradation  that  ruins tance from emancipation narratives threat  of  violence  that  envelops
Yet, according to the Global Slavery In  Azad Nagar: The Story of a 21st homes situated on one of the most the health and livelihoods of the tri­ put  out  for  mainstream  consump­ black bodies in a racist society, Afri­
Index, of the 40 million people who Century Slave Revolt, Laura T. Mur­ desolate tracts of land in the larger bals  —  putting  a  question  mark  on tion.  The  contrast  with  how  the can­American  author  Ta­Nehisi Azadnagar:
are in slavery, nearly 8 million live in phy, an expert in modern slavery, re­ village of Sonbarsa”. For their erst­ the  very  meaning  of  words  like emancipated — in this case, the Kol Coates  asked:  “Why  were  only  our The Story of a
India — more than in any other coun­ tells the story of one such group of while  masters,  the  Patel  landlords, ‘emancipation’  and  ‘revolution’. tribals — view their own struggle is heroes  non­violent?”  Why  indeed. 21st Century
try. Who are these Indian slaves? Has bonded labourers from the Kol tribal even  this  smidgen  of  autonomy  is What  do  they  mean  when  you  are stark,  leading  Murphy  to  meditate What does it mean when, in a socie­ Slave Revolt
no  one  told  them  —  the  slaves  or community  in  Uttar  Pradesh  who unpalatable. They retaliate. But the ‘free’ but deprivation continues? on the politics of non­violence. ty where the dominant elites are in a Laura T. Murphy
their  masters  —  that  India  is  the break out of inter­generational slav­ Kols remain undeterred, and in June Intrigued  by  The Silent Revolu- symbiotic  embrace  with  the  state, HarperCollins
world’s largest democracy? ery and set up their own micro­vil­ 2000, they organise a ‘hullabol’, or tion: Sankalp and the Quarry Slaves Out of memory non­violence is deemed particularly ₹299
Well, antebellum America did de­ lage,  christened  Azad  Nagar.  They protest  meeting,  where  a  landlord (2006), a documentary film made by In  countries  where  oppressor  vio­ essential  to  the  morality  of  the  op­
monstrate  that  slavery  could  get manage to do so with the assistance dies. Several Kols are jailed on charg­ an  NGO  on  the  Azad  Nagar  revolt, lence is everyday news — be it police pressed? These questions inform the
along with democracy. In India, too, of Sankalp, a grassroots NGO, which es of murder.  Murphy travels to India to meet the excesses against Blacks or atrocities context as well as the coda of Mur­
slavery­like  exploitation  has  flour­ helps them raise money to buy their But after some years, they are re­ Kol protagonists. In the course of her visited  on  Dalits  and  Adivasis  — phy’s narrative quest in this book.

Caste and Partition in Bengal: The HBR at 100 Putin Ashramed: From Chaos to Calm
Story of Dalit Refugees, 1946-1961 Michael E. Porter & Others Philip Short Dahlia Sen Oberoi
Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, Anasua Basu Harvard Business Review Penguin Random House Hachette India
Ray Chaudhuri ₹958 ₹999 ₹399
OUP At the magazine’s 100th anniversary, As war continues in Ukraine, this Striving for work-life balance, an
₹ 1,603 (Kindle edition) this volume brings together the most biography analyses the personality intellectual property rights lawyer
In conventional narratives of Partition, influential management ideas. With of Vladimir Putin. Since becoming joined a yoga teacher’s training
the role of the Dalit or the Scheduled an introduction by editor-in-chief Adi President in 2000, he has been course at an ashram for 30 days.
Castes is either completely ignored or Ignatius, it features voices on trying to restore Russia’s status as a Writing about her experience, she
mentioned in passing. The authors innovative topics, including Porter on great power, unbound by western says the key learning was that it is
argue that in Bengal, Dalits were the competitive strategy, C.K. Prahalad on rules. What led him to challenge the important to work on a person’s
worst victims of Partition politics. strategic intent and others. American-led world order? well-being, no matter the path.

CM
YK
06 WIDE ANGLE
THE  HINDU Magazine
*

Sunday, June 12, 2022

*
GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK

Savita Uday
Founder, BuDa Folklore
Come monsoon, in August, you will find crowds of urban school
children in the middle of Angadibail forest in Uttar Kannada
(North Karnataka), taking part in the Mungaru events that
celebrate the rains. Foraging walks will be a big part,
as “the forest at Mungaru has so much to offer”,
explains Uday, who started the organisation in
2006 to conserve the rich biodiversity and folk
tales of the indigenous people of Uttar
Kannada. “For instance, we forage for
kusumale hannu, a wild flower that is used in
making a type of tambooli [a digestif drink]. The
berries taste like apples. There’s also moor dharekai, a wild
fruit, that’s used as an urad dal substitute for dosa.” Uday says
that their monsoon walks mostly consist of collecting tender
leaves and shoots, which are plentiful at this time. “We held a
wild colocasia festival, where we documented more than 10
varieties of colocasia, including one that grows on trees [you can
make the best patrode with these].” budafolklore.in

Bharat Mansata
Co-founder, Vanvadi
FIELD NOTES Vanvadi, a forest collective in the
foothills of the Sahyadris in the
As monsoons lash the land, weeds and wild plants are north Konkan Western Ghats, has
been hosting foraging walks since
thriving. Meet the people who can help identify what 2012. These usually take place over
you can add to your next Sunday lunch menu the last weekend of June or the first
weekend of July — as early monsoon
is when they have the maximum

Walk on the availability of wild, uncultivated

foods. The walks (about two hours
each) are generally conducted by
the elderly adivasi women of the

wild side
region. “During the rains, we gather
shevla (dragon stalk yam), kartula
(spiny gourd), and berries such as
karvanda (black currants),” says
Mansata. vanvadi.org
Anuradha Sengupta
*
SANJIV VALSAN

F
oraging is not a new concept. Indigenous communi­
ties  across  the  world  have  always  gathered  wild Suresh Kumar G Nina Sengupta
plants, berries, and other edibles. In Odisha, for in­
Founder, Sarjapur Curries Ecologist. Hosts Edible Weed Walk
stance, among the Kondh community, a typical meal
would consist of grains, wild onions, mushrooms and greens The College of Art (New Delhi) alumnus Sengupta conducts edible weed walks and runs a
such as gondri saag, all foraged from the surrounding forests. started Sarjapur Curries in 2019 as a YouTube channel, Edible Weed Walk, where she
We aren’t strangers to it either, in cities. I remember pick­ community garden to revive edible offers useful tips on urban foraging. She believes
ing  up  ripe  jamuns that  had  fallen  off  trees  in  Delhi,  and weeds and local greens through that people should not view foraging in isolation.
bunches of kochu pata or colocasia that grow around water workshops and walks. He has also set “People think in such flat terms: is
The bodies in Kolkata. In the last few years, a growing number of up a seed bank that it edible/medicinal, is a
monsoon’s people have embraced urban foraging. You will find foraging preserves around 25 plant/weed useful? These are
flow may be walks in almost every metro city in India.  kinds of edible weeds Shruti Tharayil words of disconnect. I try to
weak this The monsoons are a great time to forage, though what pe­ such as komme akku explain that all of it — edible,
Founder, Forgotten Greens
year, but it is ople eat and gather during this season differs across India. (hogweed) and non­edible — is a community, an
“In Bengal, people avoid eating greens, but in Tamil Nadu, gonakku (purslane). Tharayil started Forgotten Greens in ecosystem.” The monsoon brings
still a great
greens like amaranth or thankuni [with detoxing properties] But the idea is not just to 2018, to generate awareness about wild, with it greens such as amaranth
time to are consumed,” says Nina Sengupta, an ecologist based out of bring back the plants, but also old edible plants that were once part of our diet. Today, she (with cooling properties) and red­pea eggplant
forage edible Auroville. But what all experts agree is that you need time, recipes. With the monsoon season, conducts workshops in places like Udaipur and Chennai. (solanum trilobatum). “The stem and leaves [of
wild plants — patience, and training to do it right — because you could con­ there will be a prevalence of anne Among the plants she has documented is stinging nettles the latter] are thorny, but when you cook the
with plenty fuse something poisonous with one that’s edible. We speak to soppu (water spinach) growing wild, he that sprout after the first rains. “High in protein, minerals, leaves, they melt away. So, it is added to rasams or
four foragers who are helping people ‘eat the wild’. says. “People make a simple stir­fry and vitamins [A and C in particular], the leaves are used made into a bhajji,” she says, explaining that
of new
with it or add it to lentils for a bassaru in patthila [translates to ‘ten leaves’]. The recipe differs people in Tamil Nadu eat greens that are cooling,
growth To read more about the foragers’ journey, head to (a dal and greens dish).” according to the greens available and the knowledge of bitter, and sour during the rains. Like gongura or
everywhere magazine.thehindu.com @sarjapura_curries on Instagram the forager,” she says. @forgottengreens on Instagram roselle, which is available now. 

GREEN HUMOUR BY ROHAN CHAKRAVARTY Invisible threads

Stills from Raat Rani
(left) and Ludo
* SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

lial affection and the seemingly invis­ threatens to become vaguely intrigu­
ible  threads  that  connect  us  to  our ing,  there’s  an  outdated  trope  or  a
ancestors,  our  homelands.  Bottom­ hackneyed  sentimental  note  just
line: these stories and their ambitions around the corner to mess things up.
encompass several genres while also Karthick Naren’s Project Agni, for
engaging with the beats of the tradi­ example,  is  ambitious  and  clearly
tional  romance  in  consistently  sur­ modelled after some of Christopher
prising ways.  Nolan’s  movies  (he’s  name­dropped
more  than  once).  But,  ultimately,  it
Flatter to deceive gets too talky and too wrapped up in
BINGE WATCH For me, the others in this collection the Hindu symbolism of its apocalyp­
just did not work, despite a couple of tic story, delivering an ending people

Chequered love
strong individual performances, like could have seen a mile away — even
Ritwik  Bhowmik’s  in  I Love Thane. though this is a short film.
Baai is shamelessly manipulative and There are exceptions that Modern
clichéd  to  boot.  The  brilliant  Sarika Love can  learn  from,  of  course:  the
looks lost in the underwhelming My Tamil anthology Paava Kadhaigal was
Beautiful Wrinkles,  which  treats  a consistently good. Anurag Basu’s Hin­
May­December romance more like an di film Ludo was more of an intercon­
aesthetic than a complex, multi­facet­ nected­stories  narrative  than  a  the­
Indian OTT anthologies seem to be the in thing ed personal and social scenario.  matic anthology, but the way it built
For me, the inconsistency of Mod- connections  across  its  four  strands
right now, but most of them fall flat  ern Love: Mumbai is in line with the was quite instructive.
problems  plaguing  Indian  OTT  an­ Generally  speaking,  though,  we

I
s Bollywood making interesting the others in this anthology (and in­ thologies in general, and there have seem to keep getting more and more
romances  anymore?  For  me, deed,  most  recent  Bollywood  films been  quite  a  few  of  them  in  recent anthologies  on  the  OTT  platforms
the  last  time  an  onscreen  pair involving  love)  lacked?  First,  these years — Feels Like Ishq, Navarasa, An- and  they  don’t  seem  to  be  getting
crackled right from the word go are the two stories where cultural di­ kahi Kahaniya, Lust Stories, Ghost Sto- much  better,  if  we’re  being  honest.
was  Vidya  Balan  and  Manav versity  was  used  intelligently.  In ries, Pitta Kathalu, Ajeeb Daastaans, Clearly this is a format that executives
Kaul  in  Tumhari Sulu,  and  perhaps Mumbai Dragon, for example, Sui, a Ray and several others. Each one of across  the  board  believe  in,  other­
Ayushmann  Khurrana  and  Radhika third­generation Mumbaikar original­ these  projects  has  featured  one  or wise  they  wouldn’t  have  persisted
Apte  in  Andhadhun.  Indian  web ly from China, prays to a dragon deity two shorts that are genuinely innova­ with  it  despite  the  many  misfires.
shows have scarcely fared better. In to make her son leave his vegetarian tive and well­written while the others Hopefully, in the next one there will
the  recently­released  Modern Love: Gujarati  girlfriend  (vegetarianism  is flatter to deceive.  be a little more forethought and co­
One of the
Mumbai (based  on  The New York just  one  of  her  many  sins,  in  Sui’s hesion in the writing department — as
recurring Times ‘Modern  Love’  column)  on eyes). This is a delicious premise and Despite misfires Modern Love: Mumbai proves, these
themes in these Amazon  Prime  Video,  for  example, set­up, and every character feels well­ One of the recurring themes in these are  just  a  couple  of  things  that  can
failures is style only two out of six stories worked in thought­out and just right for a city failures is style over substance. Look make or break your product. 
over substance. their entirety for me — Vishal Bhard­ like Mumbai.  at  the  Tamil­language  Navarasa, for
waj’s Mumbai Dragon and Raat Rani, Second, while individual romanc­ example. Everything, beginning with
Look at the
directed by Shonali Bose (Margarita es  are  at  the  heart  of  these  stories, its tastefully­shot title sequence fea­ Aditya Mani Jha is a
Tamil-language with a Straw)  and  written  by  Nilesh they really are about other, arguably turing a galaxy of stars (Suriya, Vijay writer and journalist
Navarasa, for Maniyar and John Belanger.  more wide­ranging subjects like free­ Sethupathi, Prakash Raj et al), is hyp­ working on his first book
example What worked for these stories that dom, societal conditioning, ageing, fi­ er­stylised.  But  every  time  a  story of non­fiction.

CM
YK
 BOOKEND
THE  HINDU Magazine
07
*

Sunday, June 12, 2022

A cut above The podcast seeks to struggle  to  find  meaning  indepen­
portray the Windsors as a family dent of his heritage, and expectedly, PRIDE MONTH
— what they are like as people, re­examine  his  exit  from  royal
rather than as public figures
*
GETTY IMAGES
duties.
Of  course,  all  this  is  the  basic
stock­in­trade of society magazines,
Meaningful inclusion
appeared on that balcony alongside the better of which tend to tread a It’s no secret that corporations jump on the
three generations of offspring, want­ fine  line  between  cultural  critique
ing more stories, more detail, even and smartly written gossip. But then pride bandwagon, but inclusion of the
as  we  continued  to  wonder  about that’s what makes it all so legitimate­
the relevance of the monarchy. ly entertaining, I suppose, this sense community is a work in progress 
that one is deliberating on the com­
Going deep plexities of life — in this case, as ex­ Arman Khan country to open its core mining
Perhaps  it’s  no  surprise  then,  that perienced by the rich, famous, and operations to the trans community

A
Vanity  Fair magazine  chose  to powerful. To be fair, the hosts also nondescript bakery in a a few days back. 
launch the first season of its podcast do not completely shy away from the sleepy Juhu lane in General Electric has recently
Dynasty,  just  ahead  of  the  jubilee, messier  aspects  of  imperial  power Mumbai suddenly lit up started a new policy of also
taking  advantage  in  the  pause  bet­ and  politics,  with  an  episode  that with pride lights and participating in job fairs organised
ween  anticipated  new  episodes  of briefly  opens  up  the  distressing flags on June 1, 2019. On by queer groups. In India, Johnson
The Crown and the ending of many questions of colonialism and the mo­ the face of it, this would have been & Johnson has started offering
other dramas that have pandered to narchy’s role in the slave trade. This a harmless gesture that the medical benefits to queer couples
our continuing fascination with the is however not the central thrust of community is accustomed to — if it too, apart from organising
British  aristocracy.  This  debut  sea­ the  podcast’s  narrative,  which  is wasn’t for the way the staffers sensitisation workshops and
son,  hosted  by  the  magazine’s  wri­ much more about the interpersonal made a queer couple feel only two webinars. Razorpay has recently
ters Katie Nicholl and Erin Vander­ and social dynamics of the royal fa­ weeks before.
PEACE IN A POD hoof,  “goes  deep  on  the  modern mily. In the series trailer, Nicholl de­
expanded its health insurance
The said lesbian couple had policy to include queer couples
Windsors,” featuring interviews with scribes  Dynasty as a podcast “dedi­ approached the new bakery with

The royal
and live­in partners — this will also
a range of royal­watchers as well as cated  to  revealing  the  shocking its hip signboard and cool quotes
material from media archives, both behavior, devastating rifts, secret al­ include gender reassignment
for a rainbow­themed cake surgery and infertility treatment.
historical  and  contemporary.  The liances, epic romances and compli­ celebrating their anniversary, only

obsession
hosts  are  in  turn  sympathetic  and cated dynamics that shape the most to be met with a chuckling Be an ally
critical  of  the  institution  and  its influential  families  in  the  world  to­ receptionist and a security guard No organisation is big enough to
members, attempting to understand day.”  who passed a snide remark about evade the tough questions — this is
how  and  why  they  remain  such  a Whether the Windsors have real their colourful clothes. The bakery certainly what we have learned
central part of the British social and influence  in  a  political  sense  is  ar­ was called out on social media and from the Disney saga. While the
cultural imagination, despite all the guable, but they do occupy an inor­ now, three years company introduced queer
bad behaviour of recent years — the dinate amount of our attention, and later, it’s characters on
The first season of Dynasty attempts to “piles of dirt pathologically brushed space  in  popular  culture,  making business as screen, it also
under the rug”.  compelling appearances in fact and
understand how and why the British royals Starting  with  Queen  Elizabeth’s fiction.  If  you’re  one  of  those  who
usual. censored them
in countries
What does
remain such a central part of social  approach to the role, based on her
maxim  “never  complain,  never  ex­
cannot resist a royal story, you will
find  the  podcast  enjoyable.  As  for
meaningful like China, and
inclusion look kept funding
and cultural imagination plain” the podcast seeks to portray me, I’m curious to see which other
like? How can politicians in
the Windsors as a family (never real­ influential families will make the cut. Florida who
corporations

T
he past week, the news cy­ dulgent and voyeuristic, even some­ ly ordinary). How do they function openly
prove their
cle turned for a brief while what unseemly in this age of critical as  parents,  as  spouses,  as  siblings? supported the
allegiances to
away  from  stories  of thought,  where  so  much  of  the What are they like as people, rather divisive Don’t
Usha Raman, the great, grand
gloom and doom to dwell world’s ills can be traced back to the than  as  public  figures?  In  one  epi­ Say Gay bill. 
Hyderabad­based cause of queer
on  the  spectacle  of  the violence  of  colonialism.  Yet,  we sode,  Nicholl  and  Vanderhoof  look writer and academic, is liberation? The Later, Bob
British royals, celebrating the plati­ found ourselves watching, taking in at how Diana, Kate and Meghan “re­ a neatnik fighting a answer is Chapek, CEO
num jubilee of the reign of Elizabeth the  opulence  and  the  pageantry, volutionised”  royal  motherhood, losing battle with the
really not that of Walt Disney
the second. True, it all felt a bit in­ marveling at this nonagenarian who while in another, they trace Harry’s clutter in her head. *
GETTY IMAGES
complicated, Company, had
any queer individual will tell you: to apologise for how he failed to be
spare us the pride flags, the an ally and made clear that the
rainbow pastries and a 20% funding would stop. Gilead, a
GOREN BRIDGE
discount on little cups and bow medical company, kept sponsoring

Hold your tongue  ties.
Let’s talk support
Instead, let’s talk money, use your
the New York pride parade a few
years back while keeping the price
of their HIV­prevention PrEP pill
high and unaffordable for the
North­South vulnerable, South deals  platform to support our business,
vulnerable, low­income queer
financially support the countless
queer rescue shelters running on population that needed it the most.
Bob Jones
in hand, perforce, and led a low dia­ meagre funds across the country So, the biggest roadblock in any

G
ood  players  have mond to dummy’s ace. He success­ and use your resources to fund meaningful inclusion, particularly
learned,  often  the  hard fully ran the queen of spades, led a gender reassignment surgeries, during pride month, remains
way,  to  hold  their  ton­ diamond  to  his  king,  and  ruffed  a sensitive schools and better jobs, last­mile training. How sensitive is
gue  when  they  have  a diamond in dummy. He ruffed a club beyond the clichéd ones. that security guard outside the
stack in the opponents’ and then led an established diamond There are a few encouraging ‘woke’ establishment adorned with
trump  suit.  A  penalty  double  pro­ from  his  hand,  discarding  a  spade signs. This year, the publishing pride flags? Regardless of how
vides  declarer  with  a  warning  that from dummy. East ruffed and led the magnate Condé Nast in India went beautifully written the marketing
there might be some trump trouble king  of  spades,  pinning  dummy’s beyond just rainbow­ing the logos copy is, or how beneficial the
and he can sometimes use this warn­ queen.  South  won  and  ruffed  a the bag, led a club from dummy. He of its publications and organised financial programmes during pride
ing to overcome it in the play of the spade  in  dummy,  leaving  this  end­ could not be prevented from taking an event in Mumbai’s Soho House month are, all it takes is that one
hand.  ing: (Grid 2) two  more  trump  tricks.  Well  done, that supported queer­owned mindless chuckle from the
South won the opening club lead South, with eight tricks already in and thanks to East for the tip­off. businesses. Tata Steel has a robust receptionist to pull everything
programme that solely looks into back to square one.
the funding of gender .......................................................................
reassignment surgeries — it also The writer and editor is based
QUIZ charges by placing a certain animal became the first firm in the in Mumbai.
on the patient’s head. These animals

Easy like Sunday morning 
come from the genus Torpedo — the
name  comes  from  the  Latin  word
‘torpere’, which means to stiffen or
paralyse.  This  happened  when THE SUNDAY CROSSWORD NO. 3206
anyone accidentally stepped on one
Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also of  these  animals.  What  animals,
which are completely made of cartil­
a love of humanity: Hippocrates age, are these?

Berty Ashley
8 The Egyptians have recorded the
symptoms  of  this  highly  preva­

1 On June 12, 2012, researchers from
The University of Nottingham an­
nounced the invention of a new po­
lent disorder on papyrus more than
3,000 years ago. The very first clini­
cal  test  for  this  was  in  India  where
rous material that has unique reten­ ants were used for confirming diag­
tion properties. Called NOTT­202, it nosis.  Even  during  the  later  centu­
has a unique honeycomb­like struc­ ries, European doctors used to taste
tural  arrangement  that  allows  it  to the urine of patients to confirm this
trap a certain gas. This material will Hands-on disorder.  What  problem  is  this,
play  a  huge  part  in  reducing  emis­ Dr. René which is one of the fastest growing
sions  from  fossil  fuel  processes. Laënnec diseases  thanks  to  the  increase  in
What dangerous gas does NOTT­202 auscultating the sedentary lifestyle of humans?
capture selectively? a patient at

2 Many  cultures  and  civilisations

have  known  for  thousands  of
the Necker
Hospital,
Paris
9 René Laënnec was a French doc­
tor who invented an instrument
in  order  to  minimise  physical  con­
years about the properties of salicy­ *
WELLCOME tact  with  patients,  especially  wo­
lates.  For  example,  the  medicinal LIBRARY, men. Until his idea, doctors needed
LONDON
property of white willow, which con­ to  touch  their  patients  in  order  to
tains  derivatives  of  this  substance. carry  out  certain  investigations.
However,  it  was  only  in  the  1800s What did Laënnec invent in 1816 that
that this chemical was first isolated has  now  become  symbolic  of  his
in  a  lab.  Much  later,  the  form  in profession?
which we know it today was patent­
Across 6 Notification on nutrition forswearing
ed. It has also been shown to reduce
the risk of heart attacks. What is the
generic name by which we know this
10 Cannabis  vapours  (with  later
additions  of  aconitum),  opi­
um,  varying  mixtures  of  wine  and
1 He penned hits, some unfinished sadly? (7,8)
9 Everyman starts to get awfully
adipose tissue, primarily? (3-3)
7 Date movie (9)
enormous (4) 8 Study Pietersen’s opening in cricket? (7)
painkiller? herbs and carotid compression were 10 Finally sag — not tall — crumbling (2,4,4) 14 A neurotic trembled, wanting liqueur (9)
all  used  for  a  specific  purpose  that 11 Rushes (runs forward) to find help at a 16 Vacuous tortoise appeared to find

3 While many urban legends claim
that  this  substance  can  be  used
as a substitute for IV­fluid, it is only a
part  that  held  the  wound  closed
would remain there. Once the exter­
nal  incision  was  stitched  up  using
6 Porphyria is a rare genetic disor­
der, which causes extreme sensi­
we immediately associate with sur­
gery  today.  What  end­result  did
these  substances  or  physical  acts
wedding (6)
12 Old males confusedly kept changing
direction (8)
a flower (3,4)
18 Bandage cut, drinking whiskey (7)
19 Putrid conservative penetrating? I’m
tivity to sunlight, leaving abrasions
last resort. This is because the com­ thread,  the  stomach’s  juices  would on the skin. It increases hair growth produce that might have made a sur­ 13 Slays pirates (6,3) not so sure (7)
position  of  the  substance  has  high ensure that the entities holding the while  tightening  and  shrinking  the geon and the patient’s life easier? 15 Starter of frogs: to consume is an act 20 A week in large African country or
potassium  and  low  sodium  levels, wound together slowly dissolved ov­ skin, which makes one look younger. ........................................................................ of daring (4) a small one? (6)
the  opposite  of  the  fluid  in  our er  time,  by  which  time  the  wound When  the  skin  around  the  mouth A molecular biologist from Madurai, 16 A little prat, with an idiot (4) 23 Drink of vodka at openings in Russian ballet
blood. One of the reasons people be­ would have healed. What were these tightens  it  makes  the  canine  teeth our quizmaster enjoys trivia and 17 Clues in meandering letter suggesting company (5)
lieve this can be used is that until its early forms of ‘staples’? music, and is working on a rock insobriety (9)
more prominent. Allyl disulfide is a
container  is  cracked  open  it  is  ste­ ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi 21 Former squeeze: ‘I will give you beef’ (8)
compound  that  makes  it  worse  for Solution No. 3205
22 Bank not originally allowed to give
rile. What is this liquid that may be
an emergency intravenous­fluid but
is  definitely  not  generally  recom­
5 Abu Bakr Al­Razi was a physician
in 9 AD who wrote a treatise on
medicine called the Kitab al­hawi fi’l­
the patient, and it is found in garlic.
Which  mythical  creatures,  popular
is an Emotion’. @bertyashley
10. Anaesthesia
you trinket (6)
24 Inept golfer’s cry — what he’s done —
in  stories  all  around  the  world,  do 9. The Stethoscope what you now are! (10)
mended?  tibb.  This  book  contained  the  first scientists think could have been suf­ 8. Diabetes
25 Celebrity’s retiring? Oh no (4)
detailed description of a deadly dis­ fering from this disease?
7. Electric Rays
26 Secrecy is virtue, working here? (8,7)

4 In ancient India, a specific proce­ ease,  which  tormented  people  for

6. Vampires
5. Small pox Down
dure was used to close incisions
in abdominal surgeries. A certain en­
tity would be used to hold the two
centuries,  before  abruptly  being
wiped out in less than 50 years when
the WHO developed a programme to
7 Doctors in ancient Rome used an
early  form  of  electrotherapy  to
successfully treat neurological con­
4. Ants
3. Coconut Water
2. Aspirin
2 Time to argue for mutiny? (7)
3 Tool that’s rudimentary called out (5)
4 Goes past the Spanish church’s recesses (7)
1. Carbon dioxide
ends of a wound together and then a target  it.  What  disease  was  Al­Razi ditions  such  as  epilepsy  and  mi­ Answers 5 Fluffy ‘sciences’ I cast off, wanting
portion  of  it  would  be  cut  off.  The the first to accurately describe? graines.  They  administered  the independence (4-11)

CM
YK
 BACK PAGE
THE  HINDU Magazine
08
*

Sunday, June 12, 2022

60 MINUTES: WITH GEETANJALI SHREE

Tomb of Sand relates the
story of an 80-year-old Courting
‘Continue to
woman who travels to
Pakistan to confront the
trauma of Partition. Did its
universal emotions make it
easier for the translator?
the world
Daisy Rockwell is confident

ILLUSTRATION: R. RAJESH
L Every work of literature,

write, be honest while being rooted in a specific

culture, speaks a universal
language. That is why we are
able to appreciate literature
from Russia, Norway or Japan.
the Booker win will translate
to greater awareness about
literature in Indian languages

to yourself’
Human sentiments are the

*
same. If you are able to strike
the right chord, then language
ceases to be a barrier. Daisy
understood those sentiments
and did not at any stage opt for
The International Booker winner on exact translation. She brought
in a parallel play. And, as I said,
better appreciation for Indian literature behind this book lies a rich
history of literary traditions
and why writing should never be  in Hindi and other South
Asian languages. Tomb of
for recognition Sand takes it to a wider
readership.
Ziya Us Salam
Is your success more

T
here is an indefinable significant for Indian
charm to Geetanjali literature than, say, the
Shree’s written word. came out in 1991, and Ret different factors — like the book Daisy and I interacted At the recent Booker Prize ceremony in Lon­
L honour bestowed upon
The natural flow of Samadhi itself, which has been coming out at a certain time, regularly on the phone, over don, Daisy Rockwell won many hearts by ad­
Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai
the narrative, the translated as Tomb of Sand, being translated in a certain email, etc. There was no and Aravind Adiga in the ding  a  smattering  of  Hindi  to  her  winner’s
turn of phrases, the came four years ago in 2018. manner and, fortunately, question of leaving the book to past? speech.  As  the  U.S.­based  translator,  writer
self­effacing humour — Tomb of But life did not change much catching the jury’s eye. It does the translator alone. There had L I won’t say it is more
and  painter  smiled  her  way  through  the  ho­
Sand has it all. There is a with Ret Samadhi, and it has not mean there were not good to be constant interaction, a important. It is a different kind nours — giving credit to her 90­year­old fath­
constant sprinkling of wit when not changed a lot after the works earlier. I just hope that it system of give­and­take. The of success. If the books of er,  besides  author  Geetanjali  Shree,  her  pu­
she speaks, too. Equally Booker for Tomb of Sand. As leads to greater understanding dialogue benefited us and Arundhati Roy and Aravind blishers and “match­maker” translator friend
comfortable conversing in she says, self­deprecatingly, and recognition for Indian and helped enrich the book.  Adiga were good, they gained Arunava  Sinha  —  she  acknowledged  her  in­
Hindi and English, the first “There are enough people South Asian literature. We wanted to meet but success. And in their own way laws, saying, “Main sasural saath layi!” (I have
Hindi writer to be awarded the around who don’t care for the unfortunately, due to the helped to focus on writings brought all my in­laws with me). It led to in­
International Booker Prize Booker!” Edited excerpts from pandemic, she could not come from India. If my work is good, stant laughs among those who knew the lan­
It is often said translators
guage. A little later, Rockwell, who has tran­
carries the honour with quiet an interview: retain the body, forget the down from the U.S. But we it too has got recognition. But
modesty. soul. But one certainly arrived at a common ground, obviously it is different in the slated,  among  others,  Upendranath  Ashk’s
She considers the prize a cannot say that for Tomb of and as you said, there was sense that my book is in Hindi Falling Walls and Bhisham Sahni’s Tamas, re­
In your winner’s speech, you
Sand… vealed  her  down­to­earth  ways,  happily  tak­
“special moment” for literature called your award a special recognition of the soul, and not and they write in English. There
from South Asia and believes moment not just for you as L Well, certainly not! Body just a literal understanding of is a different sensibility when ing questions,  answering  her  mobile  phone
that the world is now “more an individual but for South without a soul is lifeless. It is to the text. you write in a language you and  even  replying  to  WhatsApp  messages
likely to appreciate literature in Asian literature. Daisy’s credit that she not only have grown up with. There is a amidst flashing camera lights. Excerpts from
South Asian languages.” Happy L It is a major moment for all understood the nuances of the whole social milieu, a value an interview:
Didn’t you feel
‘Every work to share credit for the win with Indian languages simply Hindi novel, but was also able uncomfortable that Hindi is system, so many
her English translator, Daisy because our sensibilities, to present it to a larger not Daisy’s first language, imponderables. How significant is the Booker win for
of literature, Tomb of Sand likely to be for authors in
Rockwell, Geetanjali didn’t culture and traditions are so international audience keeping and that she may not be able
while being forget to mention her French different and diverse. If you see in mind the sensibilities of the to weave in the warp and Indian languages?
Often, writers in Indian
rooted in a L It’s impossible to say, but we both hope it
translator, Annie Montaut, in Indian kritis [works of art] in readers of another language. weft of our languages? languages complain of lack
specific her acceptance speech in different languages, each has a She is well versed with Hindi, L Not at all. If you read Tomb of of recognition. Any message will open the eyes of publishers in global mar­
London. But she refuses full scent of its own. Now, the world understands the niceties and Sand, you will understand what for them? kets  to  the  richness  of  Indian  literature  in
culture,
credit for the Booker; she is more likely to realise the subtleties of the language. She I mean. As a translator, she is L What can I say? I have no
translation.
speaks a
would like to explain it away as crests and crevices of literature, enjoyed the idiosyncrasies in experienced, and vastly read, magic wand. There is no one
universal How did the translation come about?
a result of a “combination of the nuances from this part of the expressions. She not just in Hindi but other magical way to appeal to all. All
language. If star alignments and other the world. For centuries, we understood the turn of a languages too. She is I can say is, continue to write. L Bengali  translator  Arunava  Sinha  ap­

you are able factors.” have had great writings from phrase. Equally important, she conversant with the Indian Be honest to yourself. If a few proached me on behalf of Deborah Smith, the

founder of Tilted Axis Press.
to strike the What she does not say in as the subcontinent. So it is knew all along that her target ethos. She had a certain people read you, it is good. If
right chord, many words, however, is that certainly not a case of we as a readers may not necessarily be readership in mind, as I said. So many more read you, it is good.
she has had to wait for this nation lacking in outstanding as aware of Indian ethos or there never was any question of As for recognition, nobody What’s next after Tomb of Sand?
then L I have several projects underway. A novella
honour for around 30 years, works by seasoned writers in languages. a literal translation. She knows whether it will come
language putting in countless hours and Indian languages. understood the context of now or later, or if it will come at by Usha Priyamvada, Krishna Sobti’s first no­
ceases to be a silent labour. Her first short As far as my win goes, it is a How involved were you in expressions, and happily asked all. But that should not deter vel, and others.
barrier’ story collection, Anugoonj, combination of so many the translation? when she didn’t. them from writing.  — Ziya Us Salam

few more steps: soaking it in
lemon juice and salt first, and after
a few days, mixing in the masala.
Mango pickle had its distinct set of
rules.
Preserved (Clockwise The green chilli pickle was the
from extreme left) toughest to tackle: each green
Mangoes being dried in chilli had to be slit and carefully
the sun before being de­seeded, rubbed with salt and
pickled; mango pickle; left to cure. Then, separately
gooseberries; and chilli salt­cured ginger would be added
pickle BISWARANJAN ROUT &
* to the mix, and finally, the masala
GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK would be thrown in.

In awe
My favourite part was always the
seasoning, the oggarane. There
was something so captivating
about the way it smoked and
hissed its way into the fiery, red
depths of the pickles, that it felt
like a well­deserved denouement
for both the pickles and their
maker. I longed for this final act,
watching in awe as Amma went
around pouring the sacred
oggarane on her freshly­made
pickles. 
Gooseberries are everywhere
NOSHTALGIA this summer, and I think of Amma
as I wash and dry the fruit. My lips
pucker just at the thought of her

The tang of
Ranjini Rao famous amla pickle — steeped in
Byadagi chilli paste and the juice of

C
ome summer, and several lemons so that it retains the
images of Amma spice and tang for an entire
squatting on her season. I feel almost obliged to
haunches, pickling
baby mangoes, lemons
and gooseberries, return to my
mind. It’s hard to hold on to
memories when the objects and
summers past make a small batch every year as
an ode to all the summers I spent
relishing her pickles, straight out
of the jaadi. 
The jaadi has weathered many
subjects that animated them have Where I come from, women could beat storms along with me, moving
passed on.  back and forth across continents,
Still, I am the proud owner of the march of time by making pickles, and now has a crack, which forbids
the family jaadi or pickle jar, which me from using it for pickles. But I
Pickling has seen the Rao family through which lasted for seasons have devised my own kintsugi for
season several summers. The pickles we it, using it as a vase for fresh
entailed a stored in this olive green jar were would last longer than they would with a mixture of lemon and salt, words. Since there was no water flowers and herbs. It stands as
flurry of healthy and nutritious long before on their own.  followed by the usual routine: involved, and especially given that reminder of the fact that back
activity, fermented food became a hashtag. Pickle­making was Amma’s wash, dry, wipe.  the opportunities for where I come from, the women
Pickling season entailed a flurry favourite kitchen exercise, and her hand­washing were many, I always could beat the march of the
beginning at
of activity, beginning at the crack pickles never turned bad. More Clean and tight marvelled at how she managed to calendar months by making
the crack of of dawn. Amma would be up, than the pickle­making itself, what The pickling masala would be keep things clean and tight. She pickles, which lasted for seasons. 
dawn. turning the kitchen into a bustling she probably found more cathartic made in batches, and once cooled, would have at her disposal at each
Amma laboratory, where different types was the act of prepping for the big transferred into a large canister. pickling station a clean cloth to Find the full recipe for
would be up, of ingredients simmered and day.  Amma would powder the hing, wipe her hands, and several ladles gooseberry pickle on 
bubbled, sat immersed in salt She’d wash a range of glass smoke the oil, squeeze the lemons and spoons, cleaned and wiped magazine.thehindu.com
turning the
baths or rubbed with spice pastes, bottles, stripping them of their (typically by hand) and air out the dry.  ......................................................................
kitchen into waiting to be mixed and Kissan jam or Horlicks labels, and salt on a white cloth.  The lemon pickle was the The writer is a true blue
a bustling transformed into something bigger leave them out in the sun to dry. She worked with an adroitness I easiest to make, gooseberry/amla Bangalorean, lover of all things
laboratory than themselves. Something that Meanwhile, she’d scrub the jaadi cannot adequately describe in was a bit complicated, involving a related to food and culture.

CM
YK