Indian History and Culture | Cultural History of India

Most Indians think of the samosa as a humble street snack but it is much, much more than that. It is an historic symbol as well as delectable evidence that there is nothing new about the process of globalisation. Widely considered a quintessentially Indian delicacy, few people know that the samosa does not have an Indian origin. Yes, you read that right. The deep fried, tightly pack of spicy goodness that we thought belonged to India is actually a delicious and well-travelled immigrant from Central Asia!

Here's the fascinating history of the samosa, a snack that happily settled in India and made the country fall head over heels in love with itself.

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Samosa[/caption]

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The samosa's origins actually lie thousands of miles away in the ancient empires that rose up in the Iranian plateau at the dawn of civilization itself. The gastronomic literature of 10th century Middle Eastern cuisine, especially early medieval Persian texts have many mentions of the sanbosag, an early relative of the samosa and an etymological cousin of the Persian pyramidal pastry, samsa. Other historical accounts also refer to sanbusak, sanbusaq and even sanbusaj as tiny mince-filled triangles, eaten by travelling merchants around campfires and packed in saddlebags as a snack for a long journey. According to these accounts, it was thanks to these travelling merchants that the stuffed triangle travelled from Central Asia to North Africa, East Asia and South Asia. [caption id="attachment_80913" align="aligncenter" width="600"] samsa600px

Persian samsa[/caption]

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In India, it was introduced by the Middle Eastern chefs who migrated for employment during the Delhi Sultanate rule, although some accounts also credit merchants for bringing the fare to this part of the world. Later, having earned the blessings and love of the Indian royalty, the samosa soon became a snack fit for the king. Ibn Batuta, the medieval Moroccan traveller who visited India in the 14th century, has chronicled the glittering banquets at the court of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. According to his accounts, a dish called sambusak — triangular pastry packed with mince, peas, pistachios, almonds and other tasty fillings — was placed on the guests' plates right after the sherbet had been sipped. Other courses followed. [caption id="attachment_80908" align="aligncenter" width="265"] mandusultan_sm

Ghiyath Shahi, Sultan of Mandu, is being offered a dish, possibly of samosas. A cook is frying them over a stove, while another is placing them on a round dish.[/caption]

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Likewise, Sufi scholar, musician and famed poet Amir Khusrau wrote of the samosa being enjoyed by nobles in the royal Indian courts in the year 1300. He famously framed the riddle:

"Samosa kyun na khaya? Joota kyun na pehna? Talaa na tha." [Translation: Why wasn't the samosa eaten? Why wasn't the shoe worn? The samosa wasn't fried (talaa), the shoe didn't have a sole (also called talaa.)]

Earlier still, a 9th century poem by Ishaq ibn Ibrahim-al-Mausili also celebrates the sanbusaj. Indeed, we have it on the authority of Abul Fazl, scholar-statesman extraordinaire, author of Ain-i-Akbari and one of the legendary nine gems of Akbar's court, that the samosa was a dish relished by the Mughal Emperors.

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An interesting note here is the breadth of social classes making and eating the samosa, with the dish recorded in both trade routes and noble houses. The samosa proudly wore both the grand stamp of royal approval as well as the honest humility of being a snack of the streets. Herein lies a hint at the dish's continued, unwavering popularity and success, even hundreds of years into its lifetime – its universality. [caption id="attachment_80910" align="aligncenter" width="700"] samosasindia

Samosa being fried[/caption]

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The Britishers too fell in love with the samosa on their arrival in India and they, along with the Indian diaspora, took the tasty tidbit with them to the far corners of their colonial empire. The samosa settled in the hearts of people everywhere, leading to the evolution of multiple regional versions. In the Middle East, the semicircular version is stuffed with cheese, onions, herbs, spices and minced meat, and in case of Israeli cuisine, mashed chickpeas and pine nuts. Portugal and Brazil have meat-filled chamuças and pastéis; Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan has Uyghur-style samosas with a heavier bread dough and a lamb centre; Africa's eastern Horn reserves sambusa for the local observations of Ramadan, Eid and Mesqel. [caption id="attachment_80905" align="aligncenter" width="800"] 800px-uyghur_samsa

Uyghur style samosas[/caption]

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There are a number of varieties in India itself, all of them served with chutneys. According to samosa aficionados, a samosa is deemed perfect when crispy-crunch of the lightly golden casing contrasts beautifully with soft texture and spicy taste of the filling. The most popular and common filling is made of boiled potatoes, green peas, onions, green chilles, ginger and spices. While the north Indian version of samosa is large, the version called the singhara (popular in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand), is smaller and has trickier folds. Also, the potatoes are cut fine (not boiled but cooked) and at times mixed with peanuts, the occasional raisin or the odd cashew nut. The Hyderabadi luqmi, on the other hand, is strictly meat-filled and far flakier than the regular samosa consumed elsewhere in India. [caption id="attachment_80916" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] untitled-design-13

Bengali singhara (left) and Hyderabadi luqmi (right)[/caption]

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In Karnataka, onion samosas is a big hit, as is keema samosa, made popular by some of the local bakeries. In Delhi, apart from the potato samosa, the one with keema, khova, or even moong dal are quite popular. The Punjabi samosa is dominated by potatoes and peas, with raisins and cashews added in to enhance the flavour, while in Gujarat, the patti samosa with a cabbage filling is quite popular. There is also the samosa chaat, served with spicy chickpeas, sev and chopped onions. Another popular version is the mini cocktail samosa - dainty little things that are the perfect finger food to tuck into before dinner. The adventurous few have even forayed into seafood, pizza and chowmein samosas. Then, there are those who like their samosas sweet. Labong latika (a Bengali sweet) is nothing but a mawa-packed samosa sealed with a clove. And, finally there are the baked samosas for the calorie-conscious. (Note: The baked versions are yummy but one keep yearning for a fried one while eating them!) [caption id="attachment_80917" align="aligncenter" width="542"] img_0022_thumb1

Labong Latika[/caption]

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However it is filled and wherever it is prepared, the ubiquitous samosa embodies the essence of India - adaptable, inventive, tolerant and heterogeneous. Today, after centuries of evolution and adaptation, it has become arguably the most popular, plebian snack available in India. There are few snacks that pair as perfectly with tea as samosa, and the chai-samosa combination is the national favourite when it comes to friendly addas, family gatherings, brainstorming sessions and heated political discussions. Each city has a shop that claims to serve the tastiest samosa in town. Some street-corners and crossroads have become famous merely because a samosa seller's kiosk is located there. For instance, Loknath in Allahabad has built an enviable reputation on the strength of its ghee ke samose dal ki pithi wale. [caption id="attachment_80921" align="aligncenter" width="640"] chai-samosa

Chai and Samosa[/caption]

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From college canteens to railway platforms and yes, airport lounges to food courts too, the samosa is omnipresent. A bunch of IITians have even dished out a social app called Samosa that aims to makes chatting fun. The Samosa app shares punchlines, proverbs, corny love messages, witty responses, funny expressions and song clips from popular movies. Asked what inspired them to choose this name, the founders answered,

"While we were brainstorming to choose a name, someone ordered samosas. We realised everyone eats samosa for chats and breaks and it was perfect as we wanted a name that was common and simple."

The samosa is undoubtedly the brightest star in the constellation of Indian street food. When you bite into a gorgeous, golden samosa, what you taste is the story of India itself - a melting pot of cultures, cuisines and cooking traditions. Now that you know the fascinating history of this delightful dish, don’t forget to try making it at home. Here are the recipes for the best samosas - regular and with a twist. After all, this snack certainly needs no special occasion to be served on to your plates!

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A grand monument of Chhatrapati Shivaji is all set to be built in the Arabian Sea. But in constructing a brand-new memorial, the monuments that the great ruler left behind – the forts of Maharashtra – should not be forgotten. Chhatrapati Shivaji was, without any doubt, the most beloved king of Maharashtra. So it is only natural for several people to support the construction of a monument in his memory. However, logically speaking, one cannot help but wonder if there’s really a requirement for the kind of monument that has been proposed recently! When Shivaji was king, his prime territory lay among the Sahyadri mountain ranges of the Western Ghats. The forts that he conquered, built and developed as strategic locations during his reign still stand tall on the mountain peaks of Sahyadri as well as across the coastline of Maharashtra. A visionary king, he also developed his own navy and secured his kingdom with strong sea forts like Sindhudurg, Vijaydurg and Janjira. The legacy that he has left behind in the form of over 400 forts that are simultaneously historical monuments and architectural marvels is astounding. These forts themselves serve as the biggest tribute to a great king. The argument in the favour of the new monument is that it’s set to become a sensational tourist destination. However, if the existing forts are conserved, restored and maintained, they too could become tourist attractions. Forts like Raigad, Shivneri, Pratapgad, Lohgad, and Purandar, which are well-known, maintained and more accessible, see thousands of visitors through the year. But there are many magnificent forts in the state like Mangalgad, Prachitgad, Kailasgad, Vasota, and Harishchandragad, which are go-to places for avid trekkers, yet unknown to the public. Though the government has roped in funds to develop forts like Shivneri and Raigad, many find their efforts inadequate and feel that there’s scope for much more. There’s no exact record of the number of forts in the state. It wasn’t before 2015 that the State government decided to take up a survey of all forts, which is still underway. Only 82 forts in the state come under the authority of the State and Central archaeological departments, while the rest are managed by the revenue department, or are privately owned. Some are being conserved by NGOs. But this is a mammoth task and it is difficult for small organisations to raise funds for conservation work. With the foundation stone for the new monument laid, this might be an apt time to take a recce of seven little-known forts that are crumbling due to neglect across Maharashtra.

1. Mangalgad or Kangori

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Located at a distance of about 20 km from Mahad, the fort is about 2,400 feet high and can be arrived at only after crossing a tough road winding around the mountain for over two miles, making it an exciting destination. The fort was constructed by the infamous knight of Jawali, Chandrarao More and then conquered by Shivaji. It is located at a strategic point in the valley of Jawali, which made it secure and difficult to attack back in the day. There are several other forts like this one, such as Makarandgad, Chandragad, Kawala Fort, and Pratapgad in the Jawali valley, each one possessing a unique, rough beauty.

2. Harishchandragad

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Taramati Point, Harishchandragad[/caption]

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The 4,665 feet high Harishchandragad fort in the Ahmednagar district is famous for being one of the best and most challenging night-trek locations in the Western Ghats. Situated near the Malshej ghat, it is around 90 km from Kalyan. There are multiple routes to access this fort and one often encounters fellow trekkers on these routes. The most difficult and challenging route is the Nalichi Vaat, which literally means ‘a way through a small tube’. This is a narrow channel requiring an 80-degree climb. Trekkers enjoy the challenge and often carry climbing gear. Many speak of the overnight camp at the top of the fort as an experience of a lifetime.

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3. Alang, Madan and Kulang

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Although these are three different forts, together they are famous for being the toughest hike for enthusiastic hikers. They are situated in the Kalsubai range, where many of the highest peaks of the Sahyadri, such as Kalsubai and Ratangad, lie. The Alang Madan Kulang trek is reputed to be one of the toughest hikes to embark on. This trek allows one to explore a varied landscape by descending into deep valleys and gorges, walking long trails, and climbing steep slopes. Alang terminates in a huge plateau that offers a panoramic view of Kulang, Madan, and Kalsubai. Out of the three, Madan is considered to be the most difficult to climb.

4. Prachitgad

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Prachitgad, also known as Uchitgad or Rangna, is a huge fort that covers an area of over five acres. It is said that Shivaji built Prachitgad and Mahimangad near Kundi so as to go from one end of Sahyadri to the other. The fort served as a checkpoint to keep track of the happenings in western Maharashtra and Konkan. The fort is located in the Chandoli National Park of the Sangli district. It has a strong outer wall that is still intact, but only the ruins of the inner wall are now visible. The fort has a well, a temple and five canons. The well has sweet, drinkable water. Trekkers often follow a four-hour trail from the village Patharpunj to reach Prachitgad. It is advised to have a guide while following this route, since someone unfamiliar to the area is likely to get lost. The Kandhar Doh (Kandhar lake) is a popular pitstop for trekkers.

5. Kailasgad

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Kailasgad is the sort of destination only seasoned trekkers in search of unorthodox hiking grounds are aware of. Blessed with a scenic setting, the fort is surrounded by the backwaters of the Mulshi Dam. Kailasgad was built during the reigns of the Satvahanas, according to experts. There are no known significant historical facts about the fort, except that it was visited by Shivaji once when he was the king. Kailasgad, positioned strategically within the ghat region, was a fort from where soldiers could keep watch on the surrounding regions of the Tamhini ghat. It is an abandoned fort and, consequently, poorly maintained.

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To know more about the forts in Maharashtra, visit the official website of Maharahstra Tourism here. To know about and contribute to the conservation work taken up by the organisation Shri Shiva Durga Samvardhan, visit their official website here or their official Facebook page here.

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"Great nations are not built on borrowed technology." - Vijay Bhatkar, the Father of Indian Supercomputers

In India, the name C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) has become synonymous with supercomputers, a term that denotes any computing environment which makes use of advanced tools, high computational speeds and efficiency to help researchers in different fields such as scientific R & D, weather forecasting, missile simulation, space science, pharmaceutical research and much more. For the uninitiated, what really makes a Supercomputer "super" is a concept called parallel computing. Basically, parallel processing involves the breaking up of tasks into smaller tasks that can be processed in parallel. The end result is obtained by combining outputs from each processor.

Here is the story of how India's first-ever indigenous supercomputer was made, a major milestone in modern India’s technological odyssey.

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The supercomputer effort in India began in the late 1980s, when the US stopped the export of a Cray supercomputer because of continuing technology embargoes. During the 80s, USA and some other European countries had developed super computers, which were critical for developing satellites and nuclear weapons. These countries refused to transfer the knowledge of creating super computers to India, fearing the developing nation might use it to design missiles and warplanes rather than forecast the weather. Faced with a technology-denial regime that denied its scientific community access to supercomputers, India set up Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in March 1988 with the clear mandate to develop an indigenous supercomputer to meet high-speed computational needs in solving scientific and other developmental problems where fast number crunching is a major component. Following a specific recommendation of the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (SAC-PM) to that effect, C-DAC was established as a scientific society of the then Department of Electronics (now the Department of Information Technology (DIT) under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology). 00_big

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To lead the project, PM Rajiv Gandhi turned to a man who hadn't seen a 'super' all his life to build one in double-quick time. But Vijay Pandurang Bhatkar knew all about shortcuts: the country's top number-cruncher had begun school directly in the 4th standard and still made it to the top. When Rajiv Gandhi met Bhatkar, he asked him three questions:

"Can we do it?" Bhatkar answered, "I have not seen a supercomputer as we have no access to supercomputer, I have only seen a picture of the Cray! But, yes, we can." "How long will it take?" Bhatkar promptly replied, "Less than it it will take us in trying to import Cray from US. "How much money it would take? Bhatkar replied, "The whole effort, including building an institution, developing the technology, commissioning and installing India’s first supercomputer will cost less than the cost of Cray.

Pleased, the Prime Minister gave the go-ahead for the project. Based in Pune, C-DAC summoned scientists from all over the country to work on one of India's greatest technology projects. Within three years, the extraordinary happened. With everyone involved working their socks off, C-DAC finally completed its work well within the proposed deadline. With components that could be bought off the shelves, in 1991, C-DAC rolled out India's first indigenous supercomputer: PARAM 8000. dr-vijay-bhatkar

In pic above: Vijay Bhatkar.

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For the first time ever, a developing country had pulled off such a feat in advanced computer development. Needless to say, the world was shocked at this achievement. Many were doubtful about PARAM truly being a supercomputer. That's when Bhatkar decided to take the PARAM prototype to a major international conference and exhibition of supercomputers. Here, it was demonstrated, benchmarked and formally declared a supercomputer. A US Newspapers published the news with headline, "Denied supercomputer, Angry India does it!"

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A multiprocessor machine, PARAM 8000 was benchmarked at 5 Gflops, making it the second fastest supercomputer in the world at that time. It also costed a fraction of what the legendary US machine Cray did and performed just as well. So much so, that the US company which manufactured Cray had to slash prices to woo a nation it spurned just eight years ago! PARAM 8000 also set the platform for a whole series of high-performance parallel computers, called the PARAM series. In 2002, PARAM 20000, or PARAM Padma, broke the teraflop (thousand billion flops) barrier with a peak speed of 1 Tflop. The latest machine in the series are the PARAM Ishan and the PARAM Kanchenjunga. param_computer_20130413

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Installed at IIT Guwahati, PARAM Ishan can be used in the application areas like computational chemistry, computational fluid dynamics, computational electromagnetic, civil engineering structures, nano-block self assemble, climate modeling and seismic data processing. PARAM Kanchenjunga, stationed at NIT Sikkim's Supercomputing Centre, is expected to be used for engineering research conducted by the faculty and students at the institute as well as researchers across the state. Interestingly, Param in Sanskrit means 'supreme'! Based on the Param series of supercomputers, Bhatkar has also built the National Param Supercomputing Facility (NPSF). This has been now made available as a grid computing facility through Garuda grid on the National Knowledge Network (NKN), providing nationwide access to High Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure. He also initiated moves to have supercomputing in Indian languages and succeeded in doing so. In 2015, Bhatkar was honoured with Padma Bhushan for his immense contribution in the field of science and technology in India. president-pranab-mukherjee-presents-padma-bhushan-to-computer-scientist-vijay-bhatkar-14284950974288

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Vijay Bhatkar's and C-DAC's efforts in this strategically and economically important area have thus put India on the supercomputing map of the world along with select developed nations of the world. As of 2016, many PARAM systems have been deployed in the country and abroad. Today, India is designing Petascale supercomputers, next only to USA and Japan. The crowning glory of India's advanced computing and IT capability, once achieved this computer will be a symbol of India's undeniable position as an IT superpower. However, while showing great promise in the field of supercomputing, it's obvious that India needs to do better and it will. The government of India is working towards this and has initiated the Rs. 4,500-crore National Supercomputing Mission. Under the mission, the Government of India empowers an ambitious target of installing more than 70 high-performance computing facilities in the country. These computers will be connected by the National Knowledge Network. The first of these high-computing machines is being built by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and is expected to be ready by August 2017.

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"Neither by service nor fee Come I to mine estate – Mother of Cities to me, But I was born in her gate, Between the palms and the sea, Where the world-end steamers wait," wrote Rudyard Kipling in an ode to the erstwhile Bombay.

Generations of Indians have read and loved The Jungle Book. But not many are aware that the author of this beautifully rendered and visually arresting masterpiece, Rudyard Kipling, shared an intrinsic bond with India, especially Mumbai.

To understand what inspired some of Kipling's greatest works, here's an humble attempt to see India through the eyes of the "Bard of the Empire".

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Rudyard Kipling (right) with his father, John Lockwood Kipling[/caption]

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The most visible link of Kipling to Mumbai is a green-painted wooden bungalow with a tarnished bronze bust on a plinth in its porch. Peering at its plaque, one can just make out the words "Rudyard Kipling, son of Lockwood Kipling, first dean of Sir JJ School of Art, was born here on December 30, 1865." Almost consumed by the spreading trees leaning against its roof, with peeling paint and rotting wooden balconies, this bungalow was the official residence of the JJ School of Art’s dean. Rudyard’s father John Lockwood Kipling served as the first dean of the school and the Kipling family lived on campus. The original house of Kipling's birth was, however, demolished as it crumbled away. The present structure, called the "Kipling House" which came up adjacent to the original bungalow, was constructed in 1882 almost a decade after Kipling had left for England. The structure has bravely stood the test of time as plans for its restoration have fallen through time and again. [caption id="attachment_82593" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Home-Jungle-Book-Rudyard-Kipling-1

Kipling Bungalow[/caption]

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However, while this heritage building may be the most tangible of Kipling's connections to Mumbai, it isn't the only one. The author has also left behind a lasting legacy of words to describe the Bombay as he knew it. Kipling wrote about the "far-going Arab dhows" that he sighted on the shores of Bombay as well as the "gaily dressed Parsees wading out to worship the sunset" Kipling, who later in his life wrote vividly of jungles and jungle life, also described about his morning walks to the Crawford Market and his evening strolls around the Mahim woods. In his autobiography, he also recollected how he once got scared by a Bombay hen (he describes it a "winged monster as big as myself") while on his way to the JJ school workshop!

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Kipling's days in Mumbai were, however, few. He was shipped off to London at the age of six and returned to the city only once. At the age of 17, he stayed in Mumbai for a few days before heading off to Lahore to join the staff of the Civil and Military Gazette (CMG). Although he called his time at the Gazette "hard", it was an ideal literary apprenticeship, as he accumulated deep layers of detail about Indian life.

For several years, as a young newspaper reporter, Kipling covered "the season" in Shimla – or Simla as it was called in the days when the British fled the scorching summer plains and ruled one-fifth of humanity from it for half the year. He spent several summers in Shimla for the Civil and Military Gazette, picking up gossip for his columns and short stories at the aptly named Scandal Point and getting lost in the "crowded rabbit warren" of bazaars that spill down the mountainside below the fashionable Mall.

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For Kipling, this picturesque Himalayan hill station was the place where "every right-minded story should begin". It was here that his character Kim was inducted into the art of spycraft by the mysterious Lurgan Sahib, whose shop was "full of things that smelt like all the temples of all the East". Lurgan Sahib was actually inspired by A M Jacob, a mysterious, almost mystical jewellery and curio dealer. Interestingly, 'Kim' was Jawahar Lal Nehru’s favourite novel.

His time in Shimla also gave him plenty of material for 'Plain Tales from the Hills', his sometimes wry, sometimes tragic, stories about the idiosyncrasies of British India and the uneasy relationship between the rulers and the ruled. This was also when he graduated from journalism to writing fiction.

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Shimla is a far cry from Seoni in Madhya Pradesh. A rocky terrain with little streams passing through the hills, surrounded with swathes of bamboo and deciduous tree, this setting is often cited as the inspiration for the landscapes in Kipling's 'The Jungle Book'. Published in 1894, 'The Jungle Book' proved to be a hit with young and old alike. The series of stories of a human boy named Mowgli, raised by animals in the wild, made for riveting reading. In these tales, the animals proved to be both Mowgli's allies and adversaries. Baloo the bear, Bagheera the panther and Shere Khan the tiger have all become famous characters in children’s literature. They even appeared in Kipling’s sequel, 'The Second Jungle Book', which was released in 1895. The-Jungle-Book-Movie-Cast-2016

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In truth, Kipling never visited this part of India and wrote the stories while he was actually living in Vermont. Kipling had returned to England in 1889, and with his reputation preceding, had quickly become acclaimed as one of the most brilliant prose writers of his time. His fame was redoubled upon the publication in 1892 of the verse collection 'Barrack Room Ballads', which contained such popular poems as 'Mandalay', 'Gunga Din' and 'Danny Deever'. In 1892, he married Caroline Balestier, the sister of an American friend, and the couple moved to Vermont in the United States, where her family lived. The couple named their home Naulakha (which translates to 'jewel beyond price' in Hindi). Their two daughters were born there and it was here Kipling wrote 'The Jungle Book' based his jungle descriptions on other books, photographs and conversations, referring to Seoni's jungle as Seeonee at various instances in his tales. Kipling's startling accuracy in describing a place he never visited is credited it to his reading of Sterndale's Gazetteer. Sterndale was a district officer in the mid-19th century who wrote 'Seeonee or Camp Life on the Satpura Range' (1877), based on his life in Seoni from 1857 to 1864. His book gives an account of Seoni as a wild, tiger-infested country during the First War of Independence. Scholars have also traced back the Mowgli story to incidents related by British official W.H. Sleeman and his pamphlet, 'An Account of Wolves Nurturing Children in Their Dens'. [caption id="attachment_82596" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] seoni-milind-gunaji-365hops

Nestled amidst the Satpura Range, Seoni is home to the Pench National Park[/caption]

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Kipling spent much of the next decade on children's books, producing the jungle tales of Mowgli, as well as such bedtime favorites as 'Rikki-Tikki Tavi' and the glorious 'Just So Stories', which he illustrated himself. Interestingly , other than the adventures of Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera, 'The Jungle Book' series also present quieter, related tales such as 'The Miracle of Purun Bhagat', the life of a kind saint, beloved by animals. He later moved back to London and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907, the first English author to be so honoured. In 1930, he revisited his birthplace before passing away in a London hospital in January 1936 at the age of 70. Although Kipling eventually left India, India never left Kipling: it made the man who would go on to make literary history. On his 82nd death anniversary, we remember the literary giant who captured the flavour of India to a point where it became folklore.

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From the bylanes of Kolkata and the temples of Puri to the power corridors of Rashtrapati Bhawan, Rasgulla remains one of India’s best-loved culinary inventions. The Bengalis stake their claim on it. The Oriyas believe it's their invention. And the world cannot seem to have enough of the sweet, also known as rosogolla, roshogollah or rasbari (depending which Indian state it is being referred in). If there has been one sweet dish that has been a true 'game changer' of the way sweets are perceived and eaten in India, it has to be the luscious rasgulla – or how famous British chef William Harold described it in a journal – "a bowl of sweet, syrupy, soft cheese balls.”

So if you are a die-hard fan of this delicious sweet, take things up a notch and tease your taste buds a little more with the story of what makes rasgulla so extraordinary.

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History reveals some interesting facts about the origins of this celebrated Indian sweet. Many Odias claim that the answer lies in the history of Puri in Odisha, where this 700-year-old sweet dish was part of a ritual. The legend goes that Lord Jagannath offered the sweets to his consort Lakshmi, to pacify her for not being taken along during the Rath Yatra or ritual chariot ride. Known as khira mohana due to its almost white appearance back in the 11th century, it thus became customary to offer this chenna sweet dish to Goddess Mahalakshmi as prasad, especially on the last day of the Rath Yatra, also called Niladri Vijay.

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How did the sweet dish reach out of the temple’s periphery given that temples kept their recipes well guarded is unknown. But folklore has it that it was one of the priests who began teaching people the art of milk curdling and making rasgulla after he saw villagers throwing excess milk. Interestingly, for the villagers of Pahala (a hamlet in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar) this came as a blessing in disguise. This tiny hamlet was in fact home to more cows than humans, and milk was always in excess. With the villagers quickly learning the the method of making chenna (curdled cheese), Pahala soon emerged as Odisha's rasgulla hub. The rasgulla produced here, brownish in colour due to hard baking compared to the white ones prevalent in Kolkata, are sold throughout the state. [caption id="attachment_82695" align="aligncenter" width="632"]

Pahala Rasgulla[/caption] The other variant of rasgulla that Odisha is famous for is the one from Salepur (yet another rasgulla making hamlet in Odisha near Cuttack). Bigger, softer, creamier with a velvety cream like appearance, this variation of khira mohana was developed by a local confectioner, Bikalananda Kar. The technique of steaming the cheese balls and then allowing them to slowly rise in the sugar syrup was a technique that was mastered by him. The Odias believe that this is how the modern-day rasgulla originated.

West Bengal, the state synonymous with the quintessential rasgulla, could hardly have taken this claim lying down. Also, now that we are talking about Bengalis, lets just call it roshogolla! Pronounced 'raw-show-golla', the Bengalis claim that it was developed by Calcutta gentleman Nabin Chandra Das in 1868 and popularised by the following generations of his family.

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Nabin Chandra Das[/caption]

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In Kolkata, Dhiman Das, the great great-grandson of Nabin Chandra Das, often tells the story of how the legendary sweetmaker invented the rasgulla:

"Nabin Chandra Das first established a sweet shop in Jorashanko in 1864. But he went out of business soon and after two years, he opened another establishment in Bagbazar. Determined that he would not peddle run-of-the-mill sweets, he wanted to invent a sweet that would solely be his creation. Das tried to boil chenna balls in sugar syrup, but they would just disintegrate. He finally resolved the problem by using reetha and creating bubbles that would lend a sponginess to the chenna balls. After sustained effort, he was able to master the art of holding the balls together, and thus was born rasgulla. His customers loved it.
In spite of well-wishers advising him to patent his creation, Das then taught the intricacies of the art to various sweetmeat makers because he believed that his creation would become famous only if it was available across the country."

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Das's invention became a huge success among Bengalis. Legend has it that Pashupati Bhattacharya, a famous medical practitioner of Bagbazar, used to carry Das's rasgulla whenever he visited Rabindranath Tagore. Once, the shop had run out of stock when Bhattacharya arrived. As a result, he had to purchase the sweet from a nearby shop. Tagore felt the difference at once and asked the doctor to bring rasgulla from Das's shop only.

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The other popular tale is that the famous Haradhan Moira, sweet-maker of the Pal Chowdhurys of Ranaghat, inventing the rasgulla by accidentally dropping some chenna balls into bubbling syrup. In the late 19th and early 20th century, two confectioneries -the Mullicks of Bhowanipore (this later became Balaram) and Chittaranjan Mistana Bhandar of Sobhabazar -further fine-tuned the delicious sweet. The story goes that Bhagwandas Bagla, a wealthy non-Bengali merchant residing in Kolkata, travelled with sweet across India, resulting in new regional variations. It became rasbari in Rajasthan, rajbhog in UP, rasmalai in Benaras and even the official 'cheese dumplings' treat in the offices of the East India Company. In 1930, the rasgulla was canned and exported to different countries by KC Das and gained popularity across the globe. 798749365546502

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Here is an interesting anecdote about the deep fondness British colonial rulers in India harboured for the rasgulla.

William Harold was a famous British cook who was sent to India to help with the war efforts. His dishes were so delicious that a high ranking officer, who tried one of dishes, ultimately promoted him to be his personal cook. One day, the officer ordered William to fetch the recipe of the rasgulla, a local dish he ate and fell in love with. Back then, written recipes were very few and very between, so William had to physically walk from home to home, knocking on every door, in order to get hold of that recipe. Howevre, in spite of his on-field research, he failed to acquire the recipe of the rasgulla. Every home he visited gave him a different recipe and a different technique to work with. Unable to replicate the result, Harold left the country with 10 boxes of rasgulla and the hope that he would eventually be able to recreate the dish. Whether he ever succeeded in doing so remains a mystery.

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The ubiquitous rasgulla[/caption]

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With so much tradition and history invested in it, Kolkata is unlikely to give up its claim as the iconic sweet's birthplace. Ever since both the governments asking for a Geographical Indication in 2015, the sweet has found itself at the centre of an interesting tug of war. Odia litterateurs say the sweet is mentioned in many works that were written well before 1868. For instance, the ancient Odia dictionary 'Purnachandra Bhasakosha' talks of a cheese sweet in jaggery syrup. Odisha is also citing Pundit Suryanarayan Dash’s Sahitya Akademi award-winning 'Odia Sahitya ra Itihasa', which mentions 'Dandi Ramayan' and its pointers to Odia food including rasgulla. Some Odia enthusiasts have even called for observation of Rasgulla Diwas, coinciding with the Rath Yatra of the three revered deities of Puri's Jagannath Temple. [caption id="attachment_82710" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Making-rasgulla

From chenna to rasgulla[/caption]

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On the other, West Bengal is preparing a detailed dossier on historical evidence compiled in collaboration with K C Das, the sweet chain founded and run by Nabin Chandra Das's descendants. Their key argument, also pointed out by food historian KT Achaya, is that Bengalis learnt how to make chenna from the Portuguese and were the first to experiment with it for their sweets. Elsewhere in India, the separation of the chenna from the milk was thought of as sacrilege since milk was offered to the gods. In short, the jury is still out on who owns the sweet. Maybe it was invented in Bengal and taken to Odisha. Maybe the Odiya cooks of Bengali households bought it to Bengal. Given the lack of records, it is impossible to tell. However, one thing is more certain: given its history, and also the fact that it is now almost a pan-India food, any Geographical Indication claims that either Odisha or West Bengal might make on the rasgulla would be just a little unfair and unnecessary. After all, the best thing to do with a rasgulla is to eat it!

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Many of Kolkata’s heritage buildings are in dire need of renovation. Archaeologist Tathagata Neogi’s new initiative seeks to empower the city’s residents to save and spruce up these remnants of history. Boasting a rich socio-political and cultural history, Kolkata is one of India’s biggest and most intriguing cities. Its people’s love for mishti (sweets) is as legendary as their affinity for literature and the arts, and Victoria Memorial and Howrah Bridge are recognizable at a single glance. Yet, the city — like all metropolises — also has a secret history not everyone is privy to. It lies in its abandoned buildings, old winding streets; nooks and corners that once teemed with life but now lie forgotten. You may stumble upon them once in awhile, but these histories are generally elusive even to the most entrenched city locals.

With his initiative Heritage Walks Calcutta due for launch in February, Tathagata Neogi has taken it upon himself to introduce Kolkata’s obscure histories and encourage conservation among locals.

[caption id="attachment_82925" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Tathagata (extreme right) on a heirtage walk at Park Street Cemetery, Kolkata

Tathagata on a walk at Park Street Cemetery, Kolkata[/caption] “I grew up in Kolkata, and all of this time I wished that there were some opportunities to explore Kolkata’s rich tapestry of cultural heritage,” says Tathagata, a University of Exeter alumnus who has switched from teaching to pursuing this full-time. “The tours on offer were largely targeted at a foreign audience and were expensive beyond the reach of locals. This is when I thought about starting something on my own which — while of course welcoming tourists from across the world — is mainly targeted at the locals.” The primary objective of Heritage Walk Calcutta is to offer well-researched, affordable walking tours and workshops in Kolkata to spread community awareness about the city’s cultural heritage. Tathagata’s archaeological background ensures that the walks and workshops are thoroughly researched and off the beaten track.

These walks will take you to Chitpore Road, recorded to be older than Kolkata itself; or China Town, a quaint, vibrant part of town where Chinese settlers have lived since the 18th century.

[caption id="attachment_82926" align="alignnone" width="1066"]

An old building in China Town, Kolkata[/caption] You could also step back in time and retrace the steps of Lt Col Markwood, who drew the first (and earliest surviving) map of Calcutta’s European settlement in 1784. And there are more to come. “Watch out for the one on murder and mayhem in colonial Calcutta!” he quips.

In designing the walks, HWC emphasises the promotion of community archaeology - organising archaeological and heritage projects with the local community’s participation.

[caption id="attachment_82930" align="alignnone" width="1024"]

A 19th-century British Salt Factory in Howrah[/caption] “Community archaeology creates a way for experts in history, archaeology, heritage conservation, and even museum professionals, to share their knowledge with members of the community – who are then empowered to properly maintain and manage their local cultural heritage,” says Tathagata. “This is important because the people in the community, who live around aspects of local history and interact with it every day, are the ones who can really make significant contributions to how that history is treated and conserved. Therefore, it is essential for experts like us to come out of our comfort-zones, engage with the community and provide them with advanced knowledge and professional training so that they can properly interact with, and preserve various aspects of, cultural heritage in a time of rapid urban development.” The key to imbibing this spirit of conservation lies in facilitating early exposure to archaeology, heritage and conservation. Along with curated walks, HWC aims to partner with educational institutions to offer interactive, practical and age-specific workshops to spread awareness for community participation in the recording, protection and conservation of heritage.

He says, “we also plan to offer these workshops for the community at large, to train people of all ages to record, protect and preserve individual histories, family histories, community histories and local histories. We think that all of these are important for making a collective history of Calcutta, or any other urban or rural space.”

The need for conservation is acute as only a small number of historical structures in Kolkata — and many other urban cities — receive recognition and conservation effort.

[caption id="attachment_82935" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Glimpses of Chitpore Road

Chitpore Road[/caption] There is little information available on these structures, even to locals. Tathagata highlights areas such as Chitpore Road and Bhowanipore that are in dire need of restoration, but also empathises with the government’s manpower and funding limitations. In such circumstances, empowerment and training can ensure that residents eagerly undertake the preservation of the cultural heritage of their own neighbourhoods. “While it is impossible to protect every old building, we can at least work towards recording them before some are destroyed,” he says. In walks curated in preparation for HWC’s formal launch, Tathagata has received a favourable response from locals, especially youngsters. In the preliminary walks, organised in and around Kolkata, only two participants have been foreigners and the rest locals. Tathagata is currently seeking sponsors and collaborators for the walks. “We are also happy to hear from any early career researchers or academics in history, heritage, archaeology or related fields who are willing to lead research-based walking tours,” he says.

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The first year plans for HWC includes adding more walking tours and day tours both inside and outside of Kolkata, and gradually expanding to other, historically important parts of West Bengal with the help of local academics and researchers. “In the next five years, I want to explore different pathways to build heritage awareness and the community capacity in local communities throughout West Bengal,” Tathagata says. Heritage Walk Calcutta launches on February 12, 2017. To participate in walks, collaborate or sponsor an event, email heritagewalkcalcutta@gmail.com or call +919995813775.

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"It does not matter who among us will live to see India free. It is enough that India shall be free and that we shall give our all to make her free." - Subhash Chandra Bose

On January 23, 1897, in Cuttack, a boy was born to advocate Janakinath Bose and his devout wife Prabhavati Devi. At the time, they had no idea that their son would go on to become one of India's greatest and most revered freedom fighters. With the call "Give me your blood and I will give you freedom," he would one day challenge the might of an empire and inspire a nation to join hands to free itself from the shackles of imperialism. This boy was none other than Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, a brave soldier who devoted his entire life to his country, so that his fellow countrymen could breathe the air of freedom, liberty and dignity.

On his 120th birth anniversary, here's the fascinating story of Netaji's epic submarine journey, a unique chapter in the saga of his unflinching loyalty to his motherland.

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Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose[/caption]

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The year was 1941. The day January 16. From 38/2, Elgin Road, at the dead of night, a man quietly slipped out, speeding away in an Audi Wanderer W24 with a dream in his heart and a master plan ticking in his mind. Dressed in a long, brown coat, broad pyjamas and a black fez, Subhash Chandra Bose had just escaped from under the noses of the British police that had kept him under strictly-monitored house arrest. As the British launched a nationwide manhunt for him, Bose quietly boarded a train from Gomo to Peshawar. From there, he made his way to Germany, travelling incognito with the help of his nephew Sisir Bose. In April 1941, India and the world were stunned when Germany's Goebbel's radio service announced: India's most popular leader had arrived in Berlin to ask for Hitler's help to deliver India from British rule. [caption id="attachment_83269" align="aligncenter" width="861"] netaji in jermany2

Bose in Germany[/caption]

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Bose firmly believed that only an armed uprising could free India from the tyranny of the British. World War II seemed to provide an opportune moment. UK was under attack from Japan, Germany and Italy. Guided by his belief "you must battle against iniquity, no matter what the cost may be," his plan was to enlist external aid from these nations to crush British imperialism. Once in Germany, Netaji had two objectives: the first, to set up an Indian government-in-exile, and the second, to create the Azad Hind Fauj, or "Legion Freies Indien", a force of 50,000 Indian troops, mainly from Indian prisoners-of-war captured by Rommel’s Afrika Korps. Netaji wanted them to be trained to the highest standards of the German army, so that they could form an elite fighting force which would enter India from Afghanistan at the head of a combined German-Russian-Italian-Indian army of liberation.

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However, Bose's two-year stay in Berlin was frustrating. Adolf Hitler, the German Chancellor, did not receive him for a whole year after his arrival in Germany. When he did, it was frosty, with Hitler giving no assurance about backing Indian independence. The Nazi leader had written, right there in his book Mein Kampf, that he, "as a German, would far rather see India under British domination than under that of any other nation." [caption id="attachment_83270" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Adolf Hitler - Germany 29 May 1942

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Adolf Hitler - Germany 29 May 1942

Bose meeting Hitler[/caption]

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In the end, a disappointed Bose decided to leave for Japan towards the end of 1942. By then, Imperial Japan had conquered Burma (now Myanmar). In its POW camps tens of thousands of Indian jawans were held captured as the power cut through British colonies of South-East Asia. Those jawans were the army Bose had been looking for, and the reason for his new journey to Japan. This time, his vehicle was not a motor car, an aeroplane or a train. Instead it was a submarine, the Unterseeboot 180 (or U-180), skulking low in the icy water at the mouth of a Baltic fjord by Laboe, at the northern tip of Germany. The U-180 was a long-range sub with its forward torpedo tubes removed to create a hold for extra cargo. Its mission was to deliver diplomatic mail for the German embassy in Tokyo, blueprints of jet engines and other technical material for the Japanese military. [caption id="attachment_83266" align="aligncenter" width="500"] 5623434_f520

The crew of Japanese submarine with Subhash Chandra Bose[/caption]

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On February 9, 1943, its final freight arrived in a motorboat from the beach: two Indian passengers, Subhash Chandra Bose and Abid Hasan Safrani (one of Bose's closest aides). The U-boat crew had been briefed that their passengers were engineers headed for occupied Norway, to help build reinforced submarine docks. As a result, Bose and Safrani were permitted to sit up in the sunlight, in the conning tower, for as long as they were in German waters. The submarine set a course that took it north along the Norwegian coast, then making a turn west towards the Faroe Islands. The sea was rough, and the two Indians were often seasick. However, despite the airless confinement, it was an exhilarating moment for Bose. He was on the move once again, working towards fulfilling his dream of one day arriving in free Delhi. While his aide joked and groused with the crew, Bose spent much of his time reading, writing and planning how to deal with the Japanese. In his memoir, The Men from Imphal, Safrani wrote,

"He worked more than anyone I knew. He hardly retired for the night before two o’clock in the morning and there is no instance to my knowledge when at sunrise he was found in bed. He had so many plans for the struggle in East Asia and they had all to be worked out and, as was his habit, each one in detail."

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Subhash Chandra Bose and Captain Werner Musenberg on the deck of U-180 submarine[/caption]

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At dawn on April 21, 1943, 400 miles southwest of Madagascar, the U-180 rendezvoused with a Japanese submarine and exchanged signals. As mountainous waves struck the German U-Boat under dark and rolling skies, its captain emphatically advised Subhash Chandra Bose against leaving the vessel to board the Japanese submarine.

Bose replied: "I haven't come all this way to go back."

Disregarding the fact that he could not swim, Bose stepped into a raft with Safrani and crossed the stormy seas to board the Japanese vessel I-29, anchored a 100 metres away to prevent the possibility of collision. The crossing was short, and only took minutes but it was a nautical feat without precedent in the war—the only sub-to-sub transfer of civilians in hostile waters. Two Japanese engineers then took their places on the U-180 – along with fifty bars of gold. Then the two submarines dived beneath the waves and set off for home in different directions. After two years spent in Hitler's Reich, Bose was now a guest of Japan's Imperial Navy. [caption id="attachment_83267" align="aligncenter" width="520"] 5623500_f520

Subhash Chandra Bose Meets Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo in Tokyo[/caption]

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Aboard the I-29, the Japanese captain Teraoka gave his own cabin to the Indian guests; it all felt, as Safrani wrote in his memoir, like "something akin to a homecoming". Before they sailed, the Japanese crew shopped for Indian spices in Penang, Malaysia. They served Bose and Hasan a hot curry, to celebrate their crossing, and the birthday of the emperor in whose realm they had just arrived. In the coming days, Bose would continue to Sabang on the tip of Sumatra, before moving to Singapore and finally to Tokyo. Here, he would take command of the Indian National Army, beginning the most admired chapter of his life. While he never fulfilled his dream of returning to a free Delhi, his aim to make it a reality never wavered. After Japan's unconditional surrender in August 1945, Bose disbanded the INA with the words,

"The roads to Delhi are many. And Delhi still remains our goal."

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"R.N. Kao is the most remarkable spy in the history of modern India. If not for his contribution to India's formidable RAW, South Asia's geographic, economic and political landscape would have been markedly different." — Sri Lanka's Rohan Gunaratna, one of the few journalists to interview the former RAW chief.

Rameshwar Nath Kao - "Ramji" to his relatives, friends and colleagues - was the founding father of the Research & Analysis Wing, better known as RAW (India's external intelligence agency). A legendary spymaster, he built up RAW into a professional intelligence organisation that, within three years of its creation, played a formidable role in changing the face of South Asia in 1971.

Here is the little known story of spymaster R. N. Kao and his monumental role in the world of Indian intelligence.

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R N Kao[/caption]

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During the 1962 border war with China, India had been mauled militarily principally because it lacked intelligence on heightened Chinese activities along its northern frontier. Though the Intelligence Bureau had a foreign information-gathering wing, it was inadequate and, after the 1965 war with Pakistan, the need for real-time foreign intelligence had become a strategic necessity. On September 21, 1968, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi bifurcated the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to form Research & Analysis Wing (RAW). Its mandate: monitor the world in general and South Asia in particular. Rameshwar Nath Kao, then a deputy director in the Intelligence Bureau, was appointed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as the first head of RAW. Kao was the natural choice to lead this strategically important organisation. Handpicked by Jawaharlal Nehru himself, with whom he travelled abroad frequently, Kao had made quite a name with his work in the Intelligence Bureau.

In Ghana, the young IPS officer had set up an intelligence agency at the request of President Kwane Nkrumah and had worked closely with the Chinese to merit a letter of recommendation from Chinese Premier Zhou En Lai.

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R N Kao[/caption]

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Born in Benares, north India, in 1918 into a prosperous Kashmiri Brahmin household, Rameshwar Nath Kao studied for an MA in English literature at the nearby Allahabad University and joined the Indian Police in 1939. Shortly before Indian independence in 1947, Kao joined the Directorate of Intelligence Bureau that was formalised by the colonial administration in 1920. During the early years of India's freedom movement, the Bureau had run broadly along the lines of the British Security Service MI5. With the political turmoil that led to the Second World War, the Bureau's responsibilities were increased to include the collection of intelligence along India's borders. Kao was one of the first Indians at the Bureau, working alongside the majority British officers. During the Queen's first visit to independent India in the early 1950s, Kao was assigned to head her security detail. At a reception in Bombay, Kao dived and caught a bouquet he saw being flung at the Queen from the corner of his eye, fearing it might be a bomb. In good humour, the Queen drolly remarked, "Good cricket." [caption id="attachment_85154" align="aligncenter" width="652"] rnkao1_1439813982

R N Kao (left) with a colleague[/caption]

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When Kao took over the reins of RAW in 1968, things had begun heating up in the subcontinent. He raised RAW broadly along a blueprint that he had given the government, with 250 hand-picked operatives and analysts. For years, shadowy RAW operatives were known as "Kaoboys". Interestingly, this trend led to a rare demonstration of Kao's sense of humour - when he heard about his RAW agents being described as "Kaoboys," he promptly commissioned a fibre glass sculpture of a cowboy and installed it in the foyer of the RAW building!

Also Read: The Fascinating Tale of Subhash Chandra Bose’s Secret Submarine Journey from Germany to Japan

The razor-sharp, decisive and often-ruthless Kao was also one of the main architects behind East Pakistan's breaking away to become Bangladesh in 1971. Under Kao, the RAW helped Mukti Bahini, the liberation force of Bangladesh, to fight against political and ethnic domination by the military junta of West Pakistan. This precipitated the third war between the neighbours, which lasted for 17 days in 1971. India emerged victorious and Bangladesh was born. In Kao's assessment, the disappearance of East Pakistan eliminated a grave security threat to India from its eastern flank (along which China, at that time, loomed menacingly). This was the zenith of Kao's success and made him an immediate hero in Delhi's power circles. [caption id="attachment_85156" align="aligncenter" width="652"] rnkao2_1439814000

R N Kao (centre)[/caption]

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Three years later, Kao warned the prime minister of a possible coup in the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim. The Cold War was at its height and the global and regional situation complex and fraught with intrigue, the sort of situation that produced the best from Kao. Learning from experiences of the 1962 Indo-China war, under his guidance, RAW played a major role in the merger of Sikkim into India before the Chinese forces could attempt a hostile takeover. Delhi had publicly acknowledged the good work done by RAW at that point.

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Kao's tenure lasted for nearly a decade and marks the period when an entire generation of Indian intelligence professionals were trained to protect the nation. Well linked in the international intelligence community, Kao's professionalism was well regarded by his colleagues. Count Alexandre de Marenches, erstwhile head of the French external intelligence agency, or SDECE (Service For External Documentation And Counter-Intelligence) as it was then known, named Kao as one of the 'five great intelligence chiefs of the 1970s'. About Mr. Kao, whom he knew well and admired, the Count remarked:

"What a fascinating mix of physical and mental elegance! What accomplishments! What friendships! And, yet so shy of talking about himself, his accomplishments and his friends."

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R N Kao[/caption]

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After Kao retired in 1977, he functioned as Security Advisor to the Cabinet (in effect, the first National Security Advisor), advising the new prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, on intelligence matters and liaising with secret-service chiefs around the world. He played an important role in setting up the Policy and Research Staff as an in-house think tank, the forerunner to today's national Security Council Secretariat. He also gave shape to National Security Guard (NSG), India's elite security force unit. The following note by the Chairman of Joint Intelligence Committee K.N Daruwala sums up the man R.N Kao was –

"His contacts the world over, particularly in Asia—Afghanistan, Iran, China, you name it—were something else. He could move things with just one phone call. He was a team leader who rode out notorious inter-departmental and inter-service rivalries, which is commonplace in India."

A shy and private man who shunned publicity, Kao was rarely seen in public. He didn't pose for photographs even during wedding ceremonies of friends or relatives. Though asked many times, he refused to write his memoirs, he knew too much to make a public statement or write a book. While much has been said about his keen and sharp intellect, few know the fact that India's first intelligence chief was also an accomplished sculptor, who produced some magnificent sculptures of horses in keeping with his passion for wildlife. He was also known for his fine collection of Gandhara paintings. R N Kao passed away in 2002, robbing the country of one whose contribution to building the nation a safe and secure India is immeasurable and yet little known by most Indians. The legendary spymaster laid the foundations of modern intelligence in India, an edifice that protects the nation to this day.

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Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, or Baba Saheb, as he is fondly known, is one of the most widely respected figures for his role in campaigning against discrimination, and for being the principal architect of the Indian Constitution. Unfortunately, his legacy continues to suffer, mired in the middle of India’s ongoing debate about caste and reservations. All modern Constitutions enact a structural separation of government powers and establish individual rights. In India, the former, pressured by executive and judicial imperatives, has often proved fragile. In contrast, among the more robust and transformative elements of the Indian Constitution are those Articles that grant fundamental rights to citizens defined primarily as members of communities rather than as individuals. This range of community rights remains, in its scope, quite unique to India. Rights against discrimination (including, quite specifically, caste discrimination) give the state positive powers to eliminate it. A right to equality of opportunity in public employment has also been affirmed. Ambedkar did more than anyone to embed these principles in the Constitution. But out of them grew politics of reservations, or affirmative action, that was paradoxical in its effects. Initially, the principles were supposed to sanction, for a finite period, the reservation of places, in government employment and educational institutions, for Dalits, tribal groups, and others defined as “economically backward”. (A 10-year jump-start was the initial hope.) But the power to determine eligibility for reservations was given to India’s state legislatures, and a constitutional principle thereby became an electoral expedient. Politicians can promise, in the name of equality, to expand the number of reserved places, and to extend them to include newly defined “backward classes”. Caste groups, even successful ones, compete, and sometimes campaign violently, to be deemed as backward in order to benefit from reservations, which today apply to just under half of all positions in India’s national government institutions. In one state, the figure approaches 70 %. Down is the new up, in terms of social mobility.

It’s one of the profound ironies of India’s democracy—reservations, designed to erode caste identities and fortify individual citizens, have invigorated caste categories now defined by the state.

As a result of his role in creating these rights, all of India’s political parties, including those whose views he opposed, claim Ambedkar today. He’s become a necessary electoral magnet for any politician who wants the votes of the dispossessed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the low-caste leader of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), recently celebrated Ambedkar’s 125th anniversary by applying a tika on the forehead of a statue of the man who spent his entire life fighting Hinduism. How did such a latecomer to nationalism, and opponent of Gandhi, come to have so central a role in modern India? Nehru never fully trusted Ambedkar, and the feeling was mutual. But Ambedkar, vexing as he was to some, had intellectual skills Nehru and the senior Congress leadership required in the blood-dark wake of Partition. Ambedkar wasn’t only a Dalit representing a vulnerable community. He showed himself able to think across a range of issues, and to ask about the consequences, intended and otherwise, that various laws might have for the society as a whole. After the disaster of Partition – a disaster of political judgement as well as policy – avoiding further short-sighted decisions on minorities could not have mattered more. Hence, in 1947, after plans for Partition nullified Ambedkar’s seat in the Constituent Assembly (he was elected from, of all places, eastern Bengal), Nehru and Rajendra Prasad, the leader of the Assembly and later India’s first President, scrambled to keep him involved. “Apart from any other consideration, we have found Dr. Ambedkar’s work, both in the Constituent Assembly and the various committees to which he was appointed, to be of such an order as to require that we should not be deprived of his services,” wrote a worried Prasad as he manoeuvred to rig up another electoral post for Ambedkar.

By August, Ambedkar had been given the Drafting Committee chairmanship.

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Source: See page for author [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]In the end, he would lose battles for many specific provisions to aid minorities. It’s strange, in contemporaneous letters, to find a man with revolutionary impulses regularly credited for negotiating compromises. But what those compromises amounted to was an uncommonly progressive document—both, a synopsis of India’s deep historical conflicts, and an extravagant promissory note for their future reconciliation in a pluralist, federal structure. In addition to enshrining affirmative action, the Constitution formally abolished untouchability. Against the Gandhian ideal of decentralizing power, it created – with Ambedkar’s constant prodding – a state strong enough not to be captured by powerful caste groups in the future. It recognized both individuals and communities as bearers of fundamental rights—an original vision which would leave plenty of opportunity for future conflict and contradiction. Like the reunion achieved by the American Civil War, the Constitution Ambedkar helped to draft marked not the end of a story, but the beginning of a history, involving the pursuit of a still out-of-reach democratic equality. In May 2015, a young man visiting a small town in Maharashtra was beaten to death on receiving a call on his mobile. Other villagers set upon him when they heard his ringtone—a song praising Ambedkar. Thousands of stories of such violence fill the decades between 1950 and the present. It’s worth taking the comparison with America a bit further. In the United States, slavery was a 300-year-old institution. After abolition, it took another century of struggle for equality to secure full civil rights for black Americans. A half-century later, the struggle is hardly over. In India, caste has, over several millennia, woven itself into the fabric of society, infusing itself as a climate of mind.

Was it ever conceivable that one remarkable individual, a bracing, brave Constitution, and a few dozen free elections would blow it away?

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Source: See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]Ambedkar lived only six years beyond the promulgation of the Constitution in January 1950. He was under no illusion that Indian equality was closing in. He took no great satisfaction in having helped to forge the Constitution, or in its final form. It had to be worked by men, through politics, in a society shaped by power. His own experience of that kept him restless. Nehru had made him the Minister of Law in India’s first cabinet, an “empty soapbox”, he said. In 1951, he resigned in protest at the failure of a bill, in his view the “greatest social reform measure ever undertaken by the legislature of the country”, to reform Hindu marriage laws to give women rights, including those of inheritance and divorce. It was defeated by conservative Hindus.

He said in parting, “To leave inequality between class and class, between sex and sex, which is the soul of society, untouched, and to go on passing legislation relating to economic problems, is to make a farce of our Constitution, and to build a palace on a dung heap.”

In his final year, he created another political party – the Republican Party – and converted to Buddhism with his followers, in a last effort to conceive of individuals apart from caste. But it wouldn’t have escaped his sense of irony that reservations, and the politics around it, have entrenched the very thing that he wanted to annihilate. “We are going to enter into a life of contradictions,” Ambedkar famously said, closing the debates of the Constituent Assembly in December 1949. “How can people divided into several thousands of castes be a nation?” Alone of all India’s Founders, he recognized the importance of fraternity – the ability to treat each other with dignity – as fundamental to the creation of a political community. Without fraternity, Ambedkar reminded his fellow Indians, “equality and liberty will be no deeper than coats of paint.” (Excerpted from Incarnations: A History Of India in 50 Lives by Sunil Khilnani. Buy your copy here.) Incarnations.indd

Organisations like the Dalit Foundation continue to work towards removing caste barriers, and establishing a truly equal and fair society for all. Embodying the principles Dr. Ambedkar strove to enshrine through the Articles of the Constitution, these organisations continue his dream of a society with fraternity—a society and nation that treats all citizens with dignity. Find out how you can inspire social change by supporting the Dalit Foundation here.

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Spanning a legacy of 5,000 years, the jewellery of India is a striking expression of the country’s aesthetic and cultural history. The small number of jewels that have survived from different periods and different parts of the country, references in literature, texts on gemology, myths, legends and chronicles provide evidence of a tradition without parallel in the world.

The history of jewellery in India is, to a large extent, the history of the country itself.

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Antique jewellery of India[/caption]

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For more than 2,000 years, India was the sole supplier of gemstones to the world. Golconda diamonds, sapphires from Kashmir and pearls from the Gulf of Mannar were coveted and drew merchants across land and sea to India. For the rulers, jewels were a statement of power, prosperity and prestige. But for Indian women, jewellery was, and is, in many parts considered a social and economic security, the value of which will almost always appreciate, never depreciate.

The story of India’s fascination with jewellery begins 5,000 years ago in the Indus Valley.

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Ornaments excavated from Indus Valley Civilisation sites[/caption]

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At that time, India was the largest manufacturer and exporter of beads to the world. India was also home to the diamond and invented the diamond drill, which was then taught to the Romans.The craftsmen of the Indus Valley Civilisation used semi-precious material like carnelian, agate, turquoise, faience, steatite and feldspar, fashioning them into tubular or barrel shapes, decorating them with carvings, bands, dots and patterns, or setting them minutely with gold. Going by the jewellery they made and wore, the ancient people of the Indus Valley Civilisation were an extremely sophisticated lot with a finely developed aesthetic sense, backed by intricate engineering skills. Take for instance the necklace excavated from Mohenjodaro now on display at the jewellery gallery of the National Museum in Delhi.

The necklace, dating back nearly 5,000 years, is lined with pendants of banded agate and jade beads suspended by a thick gold wire that passes through a perfectly drilled hole in each bead.

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Jewellery from Indus Valley Civilisation[/caption]

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But it's not just technological prowess that one marvels at. What's also remarkable is the continuity of design. The sheet gold forehead ornament, for instance, is of a shape that you will find women still wearing in different parts of India. The Rajasthani borla is a close approximation, as is the ornament that Didarganj Yakshi, one of the finest examples of ancient Indian sculpture, wears prominently in the middle of her forehead.

Yet despite the relative simplicity of these early pieces, Indian jewellery was about to become much more complex in its style and workmanship. In the 2,000 years after the decline of Mohenjodaro, the Indian craftsman had polished his skills immensely. So there's delicate filigree work on gold, embossing work and detailed micro-granulations on the pendants of a pair of large earrings that date back to this period.

Also Read: 16 Fascinating Facts about Mohenjodaro and Indus Valley, a Civilisation Far Ahead of its Time

The sculptures at Bharhut, Sanchi and Amaravati and the paintings at Ajanta depict a wide range of jewellery worn by man and woman, by king and commoner.While Silappadikaram, an ancient Tamil classic of the Sangam era, talks of a society dealing in gold, pearls and precious stones, the chronicles of Paes, a Portuguese traveller, describes the dazzling jewellery worn by the people of the Vijayanagar empire.

The temples of south India, central India, Bengal and Odisha too were home to a veritable cornucopia of the jeweller's art.

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Temple jewellery[/caption]

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Initially, these intricate pieces were crafted solely with the purpose of adorning the idol. However, with the passage of time, dancers who regaled audiences at the temple with their renditions of devotional pieces began to wear imitations of the jewellery style adopted for the idols. Along with the spread of Bharatnatyam, temple jewellery became an accessible style and soon made its way into the world of trousseau and heirloom pieces. Temple jewellery is generally large and chunky, with figures of various gods and goddesses in gold fused to or forming the pendant on pearl string necklaces. Shiny rubies and emeralds are set in these pieces in attractive patterns that catch the eye while some pendants also resemble the ‘gopuram' or temple entrance towers in design. Representative pieces of this sort signified the wearer's special relationship with gods and the mythic universe.

This supernatural potency ascribed to jewelry is exemplified by the navaratna, an amulet or necklace set with nine types of precious stones, which together symbolize the nine gods of the Hindu universe.

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A navaratna necklace[/caption]

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The advent of Mughal rule further embellished the world of Indian jewellery. The fusion of Indian and Central Asian styles and patterns resulted in a great outburst of ornamentation, elegant and exquisite, and of a lush extravagance never seen before. Although traces of enamelling in jewellery (the reverse side of each jewel is covered with intricate enamel work) have been found at the ancient town of Taxila, this technique reached its zenith only under the Mughals.

In fact, Mughal patronage provided the platform for the development of existing traditions in jewellery making, as well as the creation of innovative techniques.

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This intricate pendant was created in the late 16th century for the Mughals.[/caption]

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Ancient Indian designs were gently modified to incorporate various geometrical, floral and nature-inspired designs. The combination of crescent and stem - earrings had a small stem at the top of a crescent from which a fish was suspended, and further led to a bunch of pearls - became a regular feature of Mughal jewellery. The kundan method of setting stones in pure gold was also perfected by artisans in the Mughal period. Here, the gold used for jewellery was fused at room temperature. Another technique that was developed by the Mughals was the inlaying of stones with gold.

Precious metals with hammered relief decoration and enamelling, the incrustation of jade with patterns, with stem-work of gold and leaves and flowers in stones, were techniques that produced a treasure of designs.

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The Mughals loved spectacular pieces such as this rigid collar-necklaces which is studded with gems and is designed to cascade down the neck.[/caption]

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The repetitive colour palette of green, red and white in Mughal designs corresponds to the intensive use of emeralds, rubies and diamonds. As much as these gems were a symbol of the opulence and dignity of the empire, they were also treasured as protective talismans. Emeralds were enormously popular with the Mughal Court, whose emperors referred to them as "Tears of the Moon."

One of the most treasured jewels in Indian history, the Taj Mahal Emerald, is an exquisite hexagonal emerald intricately carved with stylised flowers that mirror the decor of the Taj Mahal.

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The Taj Mahal Emerald[/caption]

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The Jadau technique is believed to have been brought to India by the Mughals but Indian artisans of Rajasthan and Gujarat perfected the craft and added their unique touches to make it their own. The process of Jadau-making involves beating or heating pure gold until it is pliable, creating a frame and motif, filling lac in the hollow frame and setting precious stones in the appropriate spaces. Once the stones are set, using only heated gold and no other adhesive, the jeweller proceeds with the meenakari work, patiently working on the piece one colour at a time. This time-consuming process results in a stunning piece of jewellery that was, and still is, fit for kings. The much-loved Karanphool Jhumka also evolved during this period, with each region having its own special embellishment added to the basic flower-shaped ear ornament. The Asaf Jahi Nizams of Hyderabad were also famed for their legendary jewels. The last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan (once called the richest man in the world by the TIME magazine), had an unbelievable collection of jewels.

He gifted the stunning Nizam of Hyderabad diamond necklace to Queen Elizabeth II when she married Prince Philip.

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The Nizam of Hyderabad necklace[/caption]

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The Rockefeller Sapphire, a Burmese blue sapphire of 62.02 carats, also belonged to the Nizam of Hyderabad before it was acquired by John D. Rockefeller in 1934. Then there is the Jacob Diamond, the enormous diamond that was apparently used as a paperweight by Mir Osman Ali Khan after he found it inside his father's slipper. Also among the Nizams' jewels are fabulous head decorations, known as aigrette or sarpech, from the word sar for head and pech for screw. Veritably dripping with fine gemstone drops, the sarpech was worn by the Nizams as a turban ornament. Just one of these contained more gemstones than most people could afford to acquire in an entire lifetime. [caption id="attachment_86210" align="aligncenter" width="736"] 25695a340ca220f72687db024344cf2c

Nizam's sarpech[/caption]

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Other remarkable pieces in the Nizams' collection include a seven-strand pearl necklace, known as satlada (meaning seven strings), which contains approximately 465 Basra pearls. The pearls are from the city of Basra, in modern-day Iraq. Pearls from this region have been treasured for hundreds of years, for their perfectly spherical shape, silvery-white color and beautiful iridescence. There is also the paizeb, anklets made from hinged gold panels studded with gemstones that were worn by the women of the royal court of the Nizams.

You May Like: 14 Fascinating and Perplexing Unsolved Mysteries of Indian History

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Indian jewellery design began to absorb influences from the country's colonial rulers. Design evolved and the cultural narrative became yet more complex, as renowned European jewellers like Cartier began to create pieces for the maharajahs, setting Indian stones in India-influenced pieces made in Paris.

Cross-cultural influence worked the other way too: Cartier's famous "tutti frutti" style was based on the floral motifs of South Indian jewellery, complete with sapphires, emeralds and rubies.

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Cartier's 'tutti frutti' bracelet.[/caption]

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The story of Indian jewellery is incomplete without a mention of two of the most famous gems in the world - the Kohinoor and the Hope Diamond. Entrenched in history, having been passed down by some of the greatest rulers of massive empires in the Indian subcontinent, the Kohinoor is a priceless diamond the size of a ping pong ball. According to legends, in the 13th century, the diamond was found in Guntur, in Andhra Pradesh. Currently housed in the Tower of London in the United Kingdom, the diamond's ownership has been much disputed by four countries - India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Britain. Read more about its journey here.

One of the most spectacular gems in the world, the Hope Diamond is a lustrous blue gem weighing 45.52 carats. The largest blue diamond in the world, the gem is rumoured to be a cursed stone that brings ill luck to its owner. The stone was discovered in India and is believed to have been plucked from a sculpted statue of a goddess in a temple. In 1668, King Louis XIV of France bought it from a french traveller before re-cutting it several times to the gem that today adorns a chain of 45 white diamonds, surrounded by 16 alternating pear-shaped and cushion-cut white diamonds.

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Hope Diamond (left) and Kohinoor (right)[/caption]

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To know more about Indian jewels and the fascinating stories behind them, visit the Alamkara gallery of the National Museum in Delhi. It has the most extensive collection of jewellery in India. From the beautifully tumbled agate bead necklaces of Mohenjodaro and Harappa to the fabulous jewels adorned with images of gods and goddesses to the magnificent items that once reposed in the treasuries of the Mughal emperors and the maharajas, the collection spans all the important periods in Indian history.

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Outside a nondescript government building on Delhi's Sansad Marg road, netas swagger in in white suits and spotless Ambassadors flash red beacons as they hurry in and out of the city’s bureaucratic complex. But a few floors away from this cacophony of state affairs lies a rich treasure trove that not many know of, and even fewer have access to. Here, the air is thick with echoes from the past.

Guarded by tightly wound red tape, rich notes of melody flow within these walls, living on in vinyl record, spool tapes, CDs and computer bytes. Arguably the largest library of music recordings in the country, All India Radio's sound archives contain a rare and invaluable collection of spoken word recordings.

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AIR's archives is a treasure trove of rare sound recordings from the 1930s to the present.[/caption]

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The AIR archives boast of interviews with eminent personalities, ranging from Pearl S Buck to George Harrison. It is also home to recordings of rousing speeches made by freedom fighters like Subhash Chandra Bose, or public addresses delivered by stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Dr B. R. Ambedkar, Sardar Patel, Sarojini Naidu and many others.

In many ways, AIR has been a chronicler and preserver of Indian history. On World Radio Day, here are some of the most historic broadcasts aired by AIR.

1. Excerpts from the speech of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose during days of the freedom struggle in 1943.

[embedvideo id="zLoUTrXd_CU" website="youtube"] "Give me blood and I will give you freedom." These words became the anthem for the youth during India's struggle for independence. One of India's most loved freedom fighters, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose gave many memorable speeches during his lifetime. And of all the speeches he made on AIR, none is more famous than this broadcast that played a big role inspiring freedom fighters across the country.

2. Mahatma Gandhi’s speech at Sodepur Ashram

[embedvideo id="MfJT-30yg7Q" website="youtube"] Mahatma Gandhi visited Sodepur Asram near Kolkata — which he, in fact, called his second home — a number of times between 1938 and 1947, the most turbulent and decisive phase of the independence movement. In 1939, the ashram was witness to a historic meeting between Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose, after the March session of the Tripuri Congress. While the AIR Archives Library preserves a separate collection of Mahatma Gandhi’s speeches, his speech from Sodepur on May 11, 1947, is unique as it is his first recorded prayer speech.

3. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's speech on AIR

[embedvideo id="n72A1VUYkF4" website="youtube"] Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed Azad was a freedom fighter, a scholar and a senior political leader of the Indian independence movement. Following India's independence, he also became the country's first minister of education. Profoundly wise as he was, Azad wanted to translate his idealism into action and this is reflected in his inspiring speech on the All India Radio.

4. Jawaharlal Nehru's speech on Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination

[embedvideo id="DH68tmqNhBE" website="youtube"] Jawaharlal Nehru's extempore broadcast on All India Radio announcing the news of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination on January 30, 1948: “The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere,” is justifiably famous and well-known. As the country mourned the death of their beloved leader, India's first Prime Minister came out to address the huge crowd that had surrounded Birla House (where Gandhi's body had been kept). He broke down with grief more than once when he gave this deeply moving speech on AIR.

5. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's speech on AIR

[embedvideo id="QLAbNqKKxY0&t=2s" website="youtube"] A political and social leader who played a major role in India's struggle for independence, Sardar Patel subsequently guided the integration of nearly 550 princely states into a united, independent nation. Rightly called the Iron Man of India, the tenacious leader worked tirelessly throughout his life to build a strong and united India that would transcend the narrow divisions of caste and creed. The first home minister of India beautifully articulates this vision in his AIR speech.

6. Dr. Rajendra Prasad's speech on AIR

[embedvideo id="sJX8MakCrRI" website="youtube"] Independent India's first President, Dr Rajendra Prasad was a lawyer-turned-journalist who left his law practice to join India's freedom struggle along with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Known for his deep devotion to his nation and balanced judgement, Prasad was a true Gandhian, a brilliant scholar, and a great statesman who epitomized "simple living and high thinking".

7. Lal Bahadur Shastri's speech on AIR

[embedvideo id="69vxQAr1jow" website="youtube"] Having succeeded Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister of India in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri played a pivotal role in shaping India's future in external affairs. A leader whose enduring popularity cuts through all divides, he also introduced the iconic slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan." The simple and soft-spoken leader surprised everybody by unleashing a slew of bold reforms that transformed the nation during his tenure as the Prime Minister. This courage and conviction is reflected in his inspiring speech on AIR.

8. Vadya Vrinda with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, 1952

[embedvideo id="fqSOYgVnJDA" website="youtube"] In 1952, a special Vadya Vrinda Unit was started in Delhi with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar as its first director. According to the All India Radio website, "The Vadya Vrinda units had a number of artistes playing on different instruments which not only was an effort towards keeping alive and showcasing many rare instruments for posterity but also to provide job opportunities to many artistes." This is the broadcast of the first rendition of India's national song, Vande Mataram by AIR's first Vadya Vrinda unit.

Here's some interesting trivia about All India Radio:

A subsection of the AIR’s archive consists of three- to four-hour-long interviews of eminent Indians from all walks of life. After being recorded, these lengthy interviews are put away for the interviewee’s lifetime, and only aired posthumously Also, not many know that all AIR stations in the country sell rare recordings of luminaries who have graced the AIR studios, including greats like Bhimsen Joshi, MS Subbulakshmi, DV Paluskar and Begum Akhtar. Many of the CDs on sale contain performances that you'll be hard-pressed to find in a music store.

Also Read: The First Social Network: A Glimpse into the Fascinating World of India’s Ham Radio Operators

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Before TV and FM radio made a high-decibel entry into our lives, All India Radio (AIR) was what people tuned in to for their daily dose of entertainment and information. For decades, its most recognisable sound was the iconic jingle that announced an upcoming broadcast. Listening to Akashwani's signature score at the break of the dawn is a memory, ranging from vivid to vague, most Indians have and treasure. radio

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However, while the nostalgic value of AIR's signature jingle remains undisputed, few Indians know that it was composed by a Czech man: Walter Kaufmann. The director of music at AIR, Walter was one of the many Jewish refugees who found a haven in India after fleeing Europe to escape the Nazi onslaught. Born in 1907 in Karlsbad in the former Czechoslovakia, Walter graduated from the Staatlich Hochschule für Musik in Berlin in 1930. He the pursued a PhD in musicology at German University in Prague, though he refused to pick up his degree when he found out that one of his teachers, Gustav Becking, was the leader of the Nazi youth group. From 1927 to 1933, he conducted summer seasons of opera in Berlin, Karlsbad, and Eger. [caption id="attachment_86832" align="aligncenter" width="446"] HIGH-PRIORITY-mehli-verga-and-mario-the-melody-trio

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At the performance pictured here, Walter Kaufmann is at the piano, Edigio Verga is on cello and Mehli Mehta is playing the violin.[/caption]

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In 1934, worsening war conditions and Hitler's fascist rule forced Walter, originally from Austria-Hungary, to move to Bombay. On his maiden trip to India, the 27-year-old German musician arrived with a return ticket in hand - he had clearly not anticipated that he would end up spending the next 12 years in the country! Within a few months of landing in Mumbai, Walter founded the Bombay Chamber Music Society, which performed every Thursday at the Willingdon Gymkhana. Thanks to his mastery over Western music, he also managed to get the job of the Director of Western Music at the AIR. During this period, he stayed at Rewa House, a two-storeyed bungalow off Warden Road (now Bhulabhai Desai Road) in Bombay. By May 1937, the Society had given 136 performances of works by old masters and modern composers. Membership of the Society was open to all music lovers, with full membership costing Rs 15 a month, and a discounted rate of Rs 5 a month for students, working women and missionaries. [caption id="attachment_86841" align="aligncenter" width="640"] VictoriaTerminus1950

Bombay in the 1930s[/caption]

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Around that time, the shift from silent movies to talkies helped Walter establish himself as a musician in the Hindi film industry. He composed the background score for several films - Mazdoor (1934), Jagran (1935) and Prem Nagar (1935) - by Mohan Bhavnani whom he had met in Berlin. He also lectured at Sophia College. Walter's reason for coming to India was simple: "I could easily get a visa," he explains in one of his letters (quoted by Agata Schindler in her essay in the book, Jewish Exile in India: 1933-1945). In the same letter, he describes how he initially found Indian music "alien and incomprehensible." But the musician in him wasn’t willing to give up.

"As I knew that this music was created by people with heart and intellect, one could assume that many, in fact, millions would be appreciating or loving this music…I concluded that the fault was all mine and the right way would be to undertake a study tour to the place of its origin," he wrote.

To this end, he embarked on a study of Indian classical music, which took him across the country. His intense research in the field resulted in well-detailed books such as The Ragas of North India, The Ragas of South India : A Catalogue of Scalar Material and Musical Notations of the Orient: Notational Systems of Continental, East, South and Central Asia.

Walter's stint at AIR from 1937 to 1946 also gave him the opportunity to learn from some of India's greatest classical musicians while allowing him to observe some of their quirks.

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All India Radio and its legendary speakers.[/caption]

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In another one of his letters, quoted in Schindler's essay, he describes:

"Most of the older artists refused to accept their remunerations in the form of cheques. They insisted upon receiving bare coin. It was interesting to note that some of these great and wonderful musicians would bring along with them a young boy, a son or a nephew, who was able to count the rupee coins reliably. The old artist and his young helper would settle on the floor outside the studio and carefully count the money received which had come in a little cloth bag."

Other than his books, Walter's interactions with the world of Indian music resulted in a series of operas, ballets, chamber music works, film scores and most importantly, one of the most iconic tunes that rules Indian airwaves to date — All India Radio's (AIR) signature jingle.

He centred the composition around the raga Shivaranjini, played on a single violin by Mehli Mehta (noted violinist Zubin Mehta’s father) over a tanpura's harmonic drone.

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Walter's other famous compositions from the period included Ten String Quartets, Three Piano Trios, Indian Piano Concerto, Six Indian Miniatures and Navaratnam, several of which were performed by the Bombay Chamber Music Society. In addition to his job at AIR, Walter also directed India's first radio opera, Anasuya, which made its debut in 1939. The plot drew from the ancient European legend of King Cophetua, an African ruler who falls in love with a young beggar, but the story was transposed to a mythical Maratha state. In Walter's version, the African ruler became Maharaja Asok (played by Leo D’Souza) and the young beggar Penelophon became the eponymous Anasuya (played by Eva Manes). Anasuya was well received by critics who hailed Walter for marvelously blending Western technique with Eastern mood. Like many of his other works, Anasuya too was a product of the musician's affinity for experimental music. He often defended the genre enthusiastically by lamenting the fact that people generally tended to criticise modern music without giving it a proper hearing. A few years later, in 1946, Walter left India for England. His engagement with Indian culture influenced his life and work even after he left the country. After spending some years in England and Canada, he moved to the US in 1957, where he joined the School of Music faculty at Indiana University in Bloomington. Here, he continued to write extensively about Indian music before passing away in 1984. On July 23, 1927, the then-Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin, said the following words at the inauguration of the Bombay Station of Indian Broadcasting Company.

"In India's remote villages there are many who, after the day's work is done, find time hanging heavily...and there must be many officials whose duties carry them into out-of-way places, where they crave company of friends and solace of human companionship. To all these and many more broadcasting will be a blessing and boon of real value."

His words still hold true to a large extent. From broadcasting crop updates for farmers to soothing jingles to tide over the morning blues and live traffic alerts for the hassled commuter, the radio has been an inseparable friend for many. Even today, people in the remotest parts of India find peace in the company of a transistor playing All India Radio, with Walter's mellow jingle signalling the arrival of news and entertainment.

Also Read: Retro Radio: 8 Iconic Broadcasts From AIR’s Golden Era You Shouldn’t Miss!

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"Great nations are not built on borrowed technology." - Vijay Bhatkar, the Father of Indian Supercomputers

Here is the story of how India's first-ever indigenous supercomputer was made, a major milestone in modern India’s technological odyssey.

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"Can we do it?" Bhatkar answered, "I have not seen a supercomputer as we have no access to supercomputer, I have only seen a picture of the Cray! But, yes, we can." "How long will it take?" Bhatkar promptly replied, "Less than it it will take us in trying to import Cray from US. "How much money it would take? Bhatkar replied, "The whole effort, including building an institution, developing the technology, commissioning and installing India’s first supercomputer will cost less than the cost of Cray.

In pic above: Vijay Bhatkar.

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Also Read: India’s Talented Scientists Are Making a Mark in These Six Global Mega Science Projects

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Also Read: The Fascinating Story of India's First Rocket launch

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As Rabindranath Tagore once wrote in his essay Tapovan, Indian civilisation grew from the forest and learnt its principles of democracy and diversity from it. Enshrined in folklore, documented in historical texts and reflected in the daily lives of people is a multitude of evidence that supports the fact that coexistence with nature has been an integral part of Indian culture since time immemorial.

In ancient India, environment was not an isolated entity, independent of mankind.

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An ancient Banyan tree in India[/caption]

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The relationship between people and the environment in ancient India was one of harmony, coexistence, mutual care and concern – the two supporting and complementing each other in their own way. For instance, some of the fundamental principles of ecology - the interrelationship and interdependence of all life - are reflected in the ancient scriptural text, the Isopanishad. It says:

"Each individual life-form must learn to enjoy its benefits by forming a part of the system in close relation with other species. Let not anyone species encroach upon the other's rights."

The concept of participatory forest management was also prevalent in ancient India as illustrated by the examples of village committees overseeing the maintenance of panchavatis (a cluster of five types of trees) in the ancient Indian forest texts or Aranyakas. Vedic-era traditions also affirm that every village will be complete only when certain categories of forests are protected i.e mahavan (the natural forest), shrivan (the forest of prosperity) and tapovan (the forest of religion). The post-vedic period saw the evolution of various ethno-forestry practices and cultural landscapes for conservation as agriculture emerged as the dominant economic activity. The most prominent ruler in ancient India who focused on clean environment and wildlife conservation was Emperor Ashoka. [caption id="attachment_87281" align="aligncenter" width="800"]

Ashoka’s rule is the foremost example of ecologically responsible statehood in India’s ancient history[/caption]

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Under him, the Mauryan state maintained the empire’s forests, along with fruit groves, botanical pharmacies and herbal gardens that had been established for the cultivation of medicinal herbs. Hunting certain species of wild animals was banned, forest and wildlife reserves were established and cruelty to domestic and wild animals was prohibited. In one of his minor edicts, Ashoka states:

"Wherever medical herbs suitable for humans or animals are not available, I have had them imported and grown. I have planted mango groves, and I have had ponds dug up and shelters erected along the roads at every eight kilometers. I have had banyan trees planted on the roads to give shade to man and beast."

One of the finest examples of tree conservation practices that arose in ancient India has been the maintenance of certain patches of land or forests as "sacred groves" dedicated to a village deity. Protected and worshiped, these sacred groves are found all over India, especially along the Western Ghats.

In Kerala, there are hundreds of small jungles called sarpakavus dedicated to snakes.

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A sacred grove in Kerala[/caption]

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In Kodagu district in Karnataka, the Kodava tribe has maintained over a thousand Devakadu groves dedicated to Aiyappa, the forest god. Along river Tamraparani in Tamil Nadu, there are 150-odd temples, each with a sacred grove called nandavanam that provides a window into an ecosystem’s past. Devrais in Maharashtra, kovilkadus in Tamil Nadu and pavitraskhetralu in Andhra Pradesh are other examples of sacred groves in south India. The Gujjars of Rajasthan have a unique practice of planting neem trees and worshiping the groves as the abode of their deity, Devnarayan. Interestingly, Mangar Bani, the last surviving natural forest of Delhi, is also protected by Gujjars of the nearby area. [caption id="attachment_87285" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]

Mangar Bani[/caption]

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Among the largest sacred groves in north India are the ones in Hariyali, near Ganchar in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, and the Deodar grove in Shipin near Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. There are several other sacred groves as well called deobhumis in Himachal, beeds in Haryana, sarnas in Jharkhand, jaheras in Odisha and harithans in West Bengal. Northeast India too has a well-documented culture of sacred groves. The most famous of these are the law kyntangs of Meghalaya - two large groves being in Mawphlang and Mausmai - that are associated with every village to appease the forest spirit. The thans of Assam, mauhaks of Manipur and gumpa forests of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh too act as reservoirs of rare fauna, and more often rare flora, amid rural and even urban settings. [caption id="attachment_87286" align="aligncenter" width="800"]

Sacred groves of Meghalaya[/caption]

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Handed down through the ages, this love and respect for nature pervaded community life across India and saw expressions from across the land. The legendary Tamil philosopher, Thiruvalluvar, talks of nature as man's fortress. If he destroys her, he remains without protection. However, nowhere is this deep ecological consciousness better exemplified than in the supreme sacrifice of the Bishnois in Khejarli a village in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. The name of the town is derived from Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) trees, which were in abundance in the village. [caption id="attachment_87288" align="aligncenter" width="2150"]

Painting of the Khejarli massacre displayed inside a local temple[/caption]

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In 1730 AD, the then-ruler of Jodhpur, Maharaja Abhay Singh, had ordered the felling of the village's khejri trees in order to bake lime for the construction of his new fort. A royal party led by Giridhar Bhandari, a minister of Jodhpur, arrived at the village with the intention of cutting trees for the said purpose. A local woman called Amrita Devi was the first one to refuse to acceded to this demand. She famously said,

"Sar sāntey rūkh rahe to bhī sasto jān (If a tree is saved even at the cost of one’s head, it is worth it)."

Having said this, Amrita Devi and her three young daughters hugged the trees to protect them from being felled and were axed along with the trees. The news spread like wildfire, sparking off a strong collective protest from the local Bishnoi community. Nearly 363 Bishnoi men and women, young and old, placed their heads against the trees to prevent them being cut and were axed along with the trees. When the Maharaja heard about their sacrifice, he was so moved that he immediately apologized for the mistake committed by his officials and issued a royal decree that prohibited the cutting of green trees and hunting of animals in and around Bishnoi villages.

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At a time when the world had scarcely become aware of ecological consequences of deforestation, the Bishnois laid down their lives to protect their beloved trees in probably the first and most fierce environment protection movement in the history of the country. In 1970s, this sacrifice became the inspiration behind the famous Chipko Movement. Chipko - "to stick" in Hindi - was a people's movement against mindless deforestation. Poor village women in the hills of northern India determinedly hugged trees to prevent them from being cut down by the very axes of forest contractors that also threatened their lives. [caption id="attachment_87290" align="aligncenter" width="800"]

Chipko Movement[/caption]

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Chipko's first battle took place in early 1973 in Chamoli district, when the villagers of Mandal, led by Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Sunder Lal Bahuguna and the Dasholi Gram Swarajya Mandal (DGSM), prevented an Allahabad-based sports goods company from felling 14 ash trees. The movement quickly spread across the villages in the region, with simple yet effective action eventually saving 12,000 sq.km. of a sensitive water catchment area from deforestation. The Chipko protests in Uttar Pradesh achieved a major victory in 1980 with a 15-year ban on green tree felling in the Himalayan forests of that state. The success of Chipko movement gave rise to many similar resistance groups in India, including Appiko in Karnataka, as well as laws that restored some control over forests to the people living in and around them. Started by Pandurang Hegde in September 1983 at Salkani, the Appiko movement had a ripple effect not only in Karnataka but also in parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The next major milestone in the history of tree conservation movements in India was the Save Silent Valley protest, a remarkable people’s movement that saved a pristine evergreen forest in Kerala's Palakkad District from being destroyed by a hydroelectric project.

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Silent Valley's pristine rainforests[/caption]

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When nature-loving citizens and conservationists learned that the proposed hydroelectric dam would submerge a part of the forest, they campaigned for more than a decade to prevent it from happening. Although the campaign did not have any centralized planning, it was highly effective.

Also Read: One Man Helped Create One of India’s Most Famous National Parks 32 Years Ago. This Is His Story.

The sustained pressure exerted on the government by citizens using every possible means available at the time – letters to the editors of newspapers, seminars, widespread awareness programmes, petitions in court and finally direct appeals to the Prime Minister – proved ultimately successful. In 1986, Silent Valley was declared a National Park, a striking testimony to the power of peoples' action. Another iconic tree conservation movement was Jungle Bachao Andolan, which took shape in the early 1980s. When the government proposed to replace the natural sal forest of Singhbhum district in Bihar with commercial teak plantations, the local tribals rose up in protest. The movement, which spread to nearby states, highlighted the gap between the aims of the Forest Department and the local communities.

The story of tree conservation in India would be incomplete without the mention of two truly inspiring green crusaders - Saalumarada Thimmakka and Jadav "Molai" Payeng.

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Saalumarada Thimmakka (left) and Jadav "Molai" Payeng.[/caption]

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Now 105, Thimmakka earned the prefix Saalumarada, meaning a 'row of trees' in Kannada, for planting and tending to 400-odd banyan trees along a 4 km stretch between Hulikar and Kudur. The centenarian has said she and her husband began planting and taking care of the banyan saplings after relatives and neighbours ostracized her for being unable to bear a child. Assam's Jadav Payeng has single-handedly grown a sprawling forest on a 550-hectare sandbar in the middle of the Brahmaputra. It now has many endangered animals, including at least five tigers, one of which bore two cubs recently. It was in the summer of 1978 when Payeng, then a teenager of the Mishing tribe, decided to grow a forest on a barren sandbar to help the animals of the area. Read more about him here. Today, conservation movements throughout the country have moved beyond just protecting trees: they integrate waste management, preservation of wildlife, cleaning of water bodies and more. Nonetheless, there is an urgent need to refocus on conserving the fast-eroding green cover in urban landscapes.

And that’s precisely why in Bengaluru, a group of concerned citizens have come together to honour trees through a unique festival called Neralu.

The third edition of this citizen-driven urban tree festival will be held on February 18 and 19 at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and other venues across the city. Naturalists, ecologists, artists, authors, photographers and homemakers have been meeting every Sunday at Cubbon Park to plan the two-day event which is crowd-funded; there's no entry fee. Know more here.

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Can you believe that Bengaluru was a rocky, barren plateau just 250 years ago? Since then, thanks to the efforts of first the Tigers of Mysore, and then botanists and horticulture authorities, Bengaluru has managed to become home to one of the greatest collection of trees from around the world. This is the story Vijay Thiruvady, a Koramangala-resident and Trustee at the Bangalore Environment Trust (BET), tells in his beautiful book, Heritage Trees: In and around Bangalore. An engineer-turned-naturalist, Thiruvady has become better known in recent years for leading the Lal Bagh Green Heritage Walks. To say that he is a walking encyclopedia on trees in and around Bengaluru would definitely not be far from the truth! [caption id="attachment_87576" align="aligncenter" width="1600"]

Vijay Thiruvady (in cap) has become better known in recent years for leading the Lal Bagh Green Heritage Walks.[/caption]

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A local historian as much as he is a passionate naturalist, Thiruvady has often touched upon the origins of Bengaluru's rich horticultural diversity. The city, which till almost 250 years ago had been a barren plateau, owes much of its flora to Hyder Ali and the British rule. Old works by British painters that date back to the 1800s show the city and its environs as a 'naked and barren land'. In fact, the Nandi Hills was a totally bald granite rock, devoid of any trees, and the city was a barren stretch of land along a ridge on the Deccan Plateau. [caption id="attachment_87595" align="aligncenter" width="932"]

The barren Bangalore plateau represented by this woodcut of Nandidurg/Nandi Hills in the 1800s[/caption]

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The only notable patch of greenery was a 40 acre 'rose and cypress garden' set up in 1760 by Haider Ali. Inspired by the legendary gardens of Persia, the 18th century rulers of Mysore, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, laid the foundation for this layered garden which was later named Lal Bagh. Plants came in to Lal Bagh from all over the world. While Hyder Ali got plants from existing Islamic gardens in Lahore, Multan, Delhi and Arcot, his son Tipu got plants from Africa, South America, Central Asia, East Asia, Australia and Canary Islands. The father-son duo also pioneered the concept of organised tree planting in and around Bengaluru and Mysuru. [caption id="attachment_87578" align="aligncenter" width="976"]

A painting of Hyder Ali's Rose and Cypress Garden[/caption]

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Prior to them, tree clusters existed in devarakadus (sacred groves) and gundutopus (village wood lots) that were deeply revered by the communities that lived in their vicinity. These communities nurtured them for their spiritual and medicinal value. Rest for weary travellers, grazing ground for cattle, honey from bee hives and a home for a multitude of birds came as additional benefits. The earliest such sacred groves in Bengaluru were planted around the Arkavati river and the old lakes in the region. As such, these were largely located near habitations around Bengaluru rather than in the main city itself. For instance, at Nallur Amaroy Topu near Devanahalli, there is a sacred grove that goes back a thousand years! This gundotopu survives today as a 45-acre monoculture of 500- to 800-year-old tamarind trees, an area that has been held for centuries by dynasties like the Gangas, Cholas, Hoysalas and Wodiyars of Mysore. There is another excellent example of a gundotopu at Shivagange, where in an area of about 20 acres is one of the finest collection of ippe or mahua trees. [caption id="attachment_87580" align="aligncenter" width="960"]

A devarakadu or sacred grove[/caption]

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Interestingly, while sacred groves are found all over Karnataka, the state's Kodagu district is special because it has a devarakadu in every village. Even today, in areas in Kodagu where patches of forest stand out among coffee plantations and paddy fields, ancients shrines comprising solitary stones, terracotta totems and miniature tridents can be found under canarium or garcinia trees. However, it was only after the British annexation of Bengaluru in 1799 that a considerable number of trees were planted. By this time, Lal Bagh had become one of the most lavish and beautiful gardens in the world, so much so that it was one of the major reasons for colonial interest in the region. The colonial administration saw a series of horticulturists descending upon Bengaluru. Major Waugh, Nathaniel Wallich, Sir Mark Cubbon, High Cleghorn, William New, A. Black and John Cameron introduced a wide variety of exotic trees from around the world. [caption id="attachment_87582" align="aligncenter" width="1800"]

Lalbagh's iconic glass house[/caption]

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Parks and gardens in Bengaluru were populated with exotic trees such as Araucaria cookii (commonly called Christmas Trees) from New Caledonia, silver oak from Australia, bougainvillea and frangipani from South America and gulmohur from Madagascar. These plants were often initially planted in London's famed Kew Gardens and then found their way to the major botanical gardens in India, but mainly into Lal Bagh. Apart from Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park, trees were planted on the roadside to provide shade to travellers. This later resulted in Bengaluru having avenues of tabebuias, mahogany, and rain trees, among other serially flowering trees. Thanks to this, the city has always had some or the other flowering canopy adorning its streets from December till the arrival of monsoons in June. [caption id="attachment_87583" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]

Cubbon Park[/caption]

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These botanists also enriched the horticultural wealth of the city immensely by bringing new varieties of seeds, plants and saplings from Kew Gardens. 'Chow-chow', or what has come to be known as Bangalore Brinjal, was brought from South America and it became an iconic vegetable for the city. The first authenticated horticultural exhibition was held in Lal Bagh in 1838 when it was under the care of William Munroe, Secretary of the Agri-Horticultural Society of Bangalore. In 1857, Lal Bagh was declared as the Government Botanical Garden on the recommendation of Hugh Cleghorn.

Also Read: How a 2 Hectare Forest in Bangalore’s Heart Has Lowered Temperatures and Raised Its Water Table

Celebrated horticulturist and landscape architect Gustav Hermann Krumbeigel took over in 1908 and imparted the Lal Bagh the most aesthetic touch. He meticulously designed each of the Lal Bagh’s pathways, glades, fountains, urns, balustrades, staircases, and all that lends it the current shape. [caption id="attachment_87585" align="aligncenter" width="600"]

Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel, the man behind Lal Bagh's stunning aesthetics[/caption]

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A noteworthy fact is that till the 1960s there were over 300 acres under apple orchard cultivation in Bengaluru that have now disappeared without a trace. Glen Hickey, a British traveller, wrote in 1929: "Locally grown apples are sold in Bangalore in heaps". According to studies, introduction of the railways brought in apples from Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh which were cheaper and ruined the prospects of the local growers. After independence, a number of exotic and indigenous trees were planted by the Forest Department in the new extensions of the city such as Indiranagar and Koramangala, with considerable care taken in the selection of tree species. Cultivation of urban forests in defence cantonments, schools, Palace Grounds and IISc also played a major part in greening the city. [caption id="attachment_87589" align="aligncenter" width="640"]

IISc's avenues are lined by gulmohars, large, raintree-shaded bowers, and colourful bursts of laburnum, jacaranda, and tabebuia.[/caption] A large number of water bodies, along with its verdant green cover, gave Bengaluru a unique character and a salubrious climate. The 1980s marked the peak of Bengaluru's greening as well as the beginning of change in the sylvan setting. Stately old trees were felled to make room for new roads, flyovers, high-rise buildings, offices, shops and markets. Over the years, Bengaluru's famous green cover has eroded quickly, a price the city has paid for its rapid 'development'. And that’s precisely why in Bengaluru, a group of concerned citizens have come together to honour trees through a unique festival called Neralu. The third edition of this citizen-driven urban tree festival will be held on February 18 and 19 at Cubbon Park, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and other venues across the city. Naturalists, ecologists, artists, authors, photographers and homemakers have come together to plan the two-day event which is crowd-funded; there’s no entry fee. Know more here. Let's acquaint ourselves with Bengaluru's trees and stand up for them so the city does not go back to becoming a 'naked and barren land' again.

You May Like: Barking Up The Right Tree: The Fascinating History of Tree Conservation Movements in India

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In December 2000, a US magazine carried a report which said that India would never be able to fly its own Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) due to the complexity of the technology needed and the US sanctions. On January 4, 2001, a determined team headed by Dr. Kota Harinarayana successfully tested the first flight of their LCA Technology Demonstrator. The then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee named the aircraft 'Tejas' which translates to radiance in Sanskrit.

This is the the story of how an aerospace engineer from Odisha developed India's first homegrown LCA against heavy odds.

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Dr. Kota Harinarayan[/caption]

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In the early 80s, the country’s political leadership realised the need of an indigenous aircraft to replace the ageing MiG fleet. The 'Long Term Re-Equipment Plan 1981' cited that by the mid-1990s, these aircraft would reach "the end of their service lives". This, in turn, would lead to a 40 per cent shortfall of such combat jets in the Indian Air Force.

In this light, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme was launched in the 1980s. It had two primary purposes: one was the replacement of the MiG-21s, and the other was to boost the advancement of India's domestic aviation capabilities. Back then, no single organisation had the capability to develop such an aircraft by itself. The makers of the last indigenous fighter jet, the HF 24 in 1961, had shut shop. Hence, the only way for the LCA programme to succeed was to start from scratch.

In 1984, the government appointed the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to handle the LCA programme along with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and other institutions. At that time, V.S. Arunachalam was the scientific adviser to the defence minister. A former scientist at Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), he in turn chose a young design engineer from Odisha as the director of India's fledgling indigenous aircraft programme. [caption id="attachment_87726" align="aligncenter" width="500"]

Dr Kota Harinarayana[/caption]

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Born at Badabazar in Berhampur district of Odisha in 1943, Kota Harinarayan completed his school education from City High School before cracking both engineering and medical entrance exams. He chose to pursue engineering and obtained a degree in mechanical engineering from Banaras Hindu University.

Attracted towards a career in aerospace from a young age, he followed this by joining the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru for a course in aerospace engineering. Later, he joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bangalore, India's largest plane-maker, as a design engineer.

Also Read: A 40-year-old Pilot Assembled This Aircraft all By Himself – on the Terrace of His House

In 1982, Harinarayan was working as the chief designer at HAL's Nasik division when he was selected by Arunachalam as the Director of DRDO's Aeronautical Development Agency. At that time, there simply wasn't enough aeronautical talent in DRDO. True, HAL had built a fighter aircraft called the Marut in 1961 but it was designed by a German team (it remained in service till 1990). So, his first step was to bring together the country's best talent in the field of aerospace engineering. For this purpose, he recruited engineers, scientists and professionals from twenty educational institutions like the IITs and forty Research and Development (R&D) laboratories like HAL and CSIR. In a year, ADA had a team of about 400 engineers and scientists. [caption id="attachment_87723" align="aligncenter" width="647"]

ADA's talented team[/caption]

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Now the team was in place but another problem cropped up — it did not have the right computer for designing. So Rajiv Gandhi, then prime minister, stepped in. During his visit to the United States soon after, he convinced President Ronald Reagan to give the IBM 390 computer for the design work of the Tejas. ADA next bought CATIA (computer-aided three-dimensional interactive application), the computer-aided design software developed by Dassault, in the early '90s. However, when ADA started its work, it had tough time buying electronic components since several embargoes and sanctions had been imposed on India by Western nations in reaction to the Pokhran tests. This, however, made the team more determined to accomplish their difficult task of designing each element of the design, each raw material for the plane, from scratch. [caption id="attachment_87721" align="aligncenter" width="470"]

Tejas in progress[/caption]

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Since the Tejas was meant to be a light aircraft, the designers had to use carbon composite materials which were still under development. Not having the software for designing and analysing composite materials, ADA developed one for itself, which it later marketed extensively — Airbus was a customer, buying it for the A380 and other aircrafts!

[caption id="attachment_87828" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]

A model of Tejas at Aero Show India 2017[/caption] The next step was to identify companies that could produce the components. Furth India, a small Nagpur company, produced the steel while another small outfit in Kanpur made rubber seals used to close the fuel tank. Gradually, ADA developed all the electrical components that were earlier imported and helped local companies manufacture them. To make the production commercially viable, the rights to the intellectual property were handed over to the companies. For the design, the team chose a compound tail-less delta wing configuration, different from other aircrafts of this class. Advanced features like Relaxed Static Stability were added to enhance manoeuvrability. Cutting-edge digital technology was used to design the cockpit's system, the utility system and the weapon management system. All these core technologies were designed, developed and built in India itself. [caption id="attachment_87719" align="aligncenter" width="759"]

Tejas[/caption]

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The Tejas project also became a cementing force between industry and research institutes. For example, instead of importing the multi-functional display for the cockpit, ADA approached Bharat Electronics to manufacture it. Though BEL was interested, it did not have adequate knowledge about the liquid crystal display (LCD) used in the product. So ADA asked the Raman Research Institute, one of the pioneers in liquid crystals, to help out.

In January 2001, the small tail-less delta wing prototype was finally completed and ready for testing. Wing commander Rajiv Kothiyal successfully flew the first flight of the prototype named Technology Demonstrator TD-1. It was a historic day - Indian skies were seeing an indigenous aircraft after almost 40 years.

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Dr. Kota Harinarayan was honoured with a Padma Shri in 2002.[/caption]

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From 2001 to 2009, Tejas improved itself gradually in its speed and target accuracy. It went through a lot of changes and updates both in technology and weapon systems. After several tests and multiple prototype vehicles making successful flights, the Tejas received its certification for release to service in 2011, 28 long years after its conception. On January 10, 2011, it was certified and cleared for combat service. On January 21, 2016, Tejas participated for the first time in an International Air Show in Bahrain. Here, it won the admiration of aviation experts and visiting Air Force teams from across the world. By this time, it had flown 3061 sorties adding 1,954 flight hours without a single accident. A rare global achievement, this is a testament to the quality of the aircraft design and development. [caption id="attachment_87829" align="aligncenter" width="496"]

Dr Kota Harinarayana at Aero Show India 2017[/caption] On July 1, 2016, after waiting in the wing for over 15 years since its first flight, two Tejas fighters were finally inducted into IAF's No. 45 Squadron, better known as Flying Daggers. Signalling the beginning of a new era in country’s military aviation, the squadron has been fine-tuning all aspects of flying, ground-handling and repair of their new fighter plane at their base in Bengaluru.

For the man who had seen the Tejas take flight from the drawing board into the skies, it was a moment of immense joy and pride. Kota Harinarayan's dream of seeing the LCA being inducted into IAF had finally been fulfilled.

Also Read: The Little Known Story of How India’s First Indigenous Supercomputer Amazed the World in 1991

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The sound of moving water—be it the waves of a sea hitting the shore, or the gentle flow of a river—has always enthralled the best of us. To commemorate the essence of life, Nazariya brings you Jalatarangam, a percussion instrument that is tuned with water, not strings! Jalatarangam is an Indian melodic percussion instrument that involves numerous ceramic or metal bowls filled with different levels of water, aligned in unique patterns. When the edges of the bowl are stroked, they produce water waves that produce a sound so melodious that one would never really want it to come to a halt. The emergence of Jalatarangam is found in Vātsyāyana’s Kamasutra as playing on musical glasses filled with water. However, today, this instrument has tumbled into anonymity, despite its historical prominence. Being the most traditional Indian classical music, some scholars think that in the ancient period, these were in routine practice around the eastern border of India. The medieval musical treatise of Sangeet Parijaat has classified this instrument under Ghan-Vadya, i.e. an idiophonic instrument in which sound is produced by striking a surface, also called “concussion idiophones”. The Sangeet Saar (manuscript on classical Indian music and dance) considered one with 22 cups to be the complete Jalatarangam, and one with 15 cups to be of mediocre status.

The cups are of varying sizes, made of either bronze or porcelain.

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The bowls used in Jalatarangam.[/caption] Today, artists generally prefer china bowls, numbering around 16 in normal use. The number of cups depends on the melody. In order to play this instrument, the player arranges the cups in a half-circle in front of him/her to be able to reach them all easily. He/she pours water into the cups, and changes the pitch by adjusting the volume of water in the cup. The player then softly hits the cups with a wooden stick on the border to get the sound. However, playing this instrument is not at all easy. It requires a lot of skill to produce music leading to trance.

Sangeet Saar also mentions that if the player can rotate the water through a quick touch of the stick, he/she can achieve nuances and finer variations of the note.

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Jalatarangam, the instrument.[/caption] Poets of the Krishna cult have mentioned the wonders of Jalatarangam in their literature work. Many contemporary players of Carnatic music do attempt to produce Gamak (a fast meend or spanning 2-3 notes, normally deliberately forceful and vigorous, and repeating in an oscillatory manner), often in the face of skewed sounds and lack of required control. George Harrison played the Jalatarangam on the title track of his 1982 album ‘Gone Troppo’. In India, Seethalakshmi Doraiswamy, Shashikala Dani, and Nemani Somayajulu are noteworthy Jalatarangam players. Also, one of the major Jalatarangam pros is artist Kottayam TS Ajith Kumar, hailing from Kerala. His appealing passion towards this instrument led to his creativity in incorporating both melody and laya (the tempo or speed of a piece), thus opening a new style of playing the instrument.

Today, he performs in concerts worldwide and promotes the music of Jalatarangam, which people have forgotten today with the emergence of extensive varieties of music.

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Kottayam TS Ajith Kumar performing in a show[/caption] Jalatarangam is a unique type of music, and the most soothing one as well. We must highlight and promote it to release it from obscurity, and once again leave its audience with ecstasy. The idea of water waves, when laid together with proper techniques, releasing sound that is so alluring, is truly transcendental. This article originally appeared on Nazariya. If you know any artists Nazariya can work with, please send in the details on email.

Featured Image Source: By Sugnandani (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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When you look at the swirling mist rising from the cascading waters of River Cauvery at the Shivanasamudra in Karnataka, you may not immediately think of electricity. However, this breathtakingly beautiful spot does have a significant historical connection to the advent of electricity in the state. Shivanasamudra is where Asia's first major hydroelectric power plant began operations from on September 26, 1908. The then-king of Mysore, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, ushered the electrical era in style by switching on the power from his throne room in Jagan Mohana Palace.

He then turned to commend K. Sheshadri Iyer, the Dewan of Mysore, whose vision and tireless efforts had resulted in the state harnessing power from the flow of river at Shivanasamudra. This is just one of the many achievements of the man regarded by most at the 'Maker of Modern Bangalore.'

Seshadri Iyer

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Born to Ananthakrishna Iyer and his second wife Venkatalakshamma on June 1, 1845, Seshadri Iyer spent his early childhood in Palghat in the Malabar district (now in Kerala) of Madras Presidency. His great-grandfather Gowri Seshan Pattu had migrated to Palghat from Tanjore district in Tamil Nadu at the turn of the 19th century. After completing his early education in Calicut and Trivandrum, Seshadri Iyer graduated in arts from Presidency College in Madras in 1868. He was appointed Judicial Secretary in the Ashtagram division of the Mysore kingdom and obtained his B. L. degree from the University of Madras in 1874. From 1881 to 1883, he served as an officer in the services of the kingdom of Mysore, first as a district magistrate and later as personal secretary to the first Dewan of Mysore, Rangacharlu. When Rangacharlu died in 1883, Sheshadri Iyer succeeded him. The previous dewan had been a brilliant, courageous and highly respected administrator, and Sheshadri Iyer was determined to be the same. He began by commissioning the Shivanasamudra hydroelectric project and focusing on the mining operations at Kolar Gold Fields (KGF). Once the hydroelectric project commenced operations, he drew a voltage line from Shivanasamudra to KGF, revolutionising mining operations at the gold field.

The gold fields were 147 km away from the waterfalls, making the transmission line the longest in the world at the time.

The hydroelectric plant at Shivanasamudra, called the Sir Sheshadri Hydel Station, also supplied power for the construction of the Mettur dam in Tamil Nadu in the 1930s, In May 2006, it was made a National Heritage Centre.

Sri Seshadri Hydel Station at Shivanasamudra

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Next, Sheshadri Iyer worked to improve the transport, irrigation and health sectors in the kingdom. He extended the railway lines in the kingdom by 270 km and took a voltage line from Shivanasamudra all the way to Bangalore. He constructed the famous Glass House at Lalbagh in 1889 and the Victoria Hospital at Bangalore in the year 1900. Other than starting insurance schemes for government employees, he also started agricultural banks to help poor farmers and land owners who had to depend on loans from private parties at higher interest rates. He also codified the revenue lands in the state and undertook the cleaning and desilting of reservoirs to improve irrigation and water storage.

K. Sheshadri Iyer

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In 1898, a devastating plague in Bangalore wiped out most of the city's population. In the aftermath of the disaster, Sheshadri Iyer took many steps to help the people of the city and improve their living conditions. Streets were decongested, trees were planted, roads were widened and sanitation was improved. Many new commercial and industrial units were established to increase employment opportunities for the people of the city. Other than beginning the extension of residential areas in Basavanagudi and Malleswaram, Seshadri Iyer started the Chamarajendra Water Works to supply water to the city from Hesaraghatta Lake in 1894. With the help of a brick aqueduct and steam engines, water was pumped up to a reservoir from where it flowed to Malleswaram and then to the rest of the city. This simple yet effective design worked brilliantly between 1894 and 1935, serving as a substantial source of water for about 45 years.

Once brimming with water, the Hesarghatta lake now wears a parched look.

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Sheshadri Iyer also gave due importance to the education of women and started special scholarships for talented students to help them go abroad for higher studies. He was the one who made the construction of Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore possible. One of India's leading figures, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata was convinced that the future progress of the country depended crucially on research in science and envisaged an institution that would encourage the same. In 1898, he was on the lookout for a suitable place for such an institution when he met and discussed his idea with Sheshadri Iyer. Agreeing with Tata on the fact that a better quality education would serve the country well, he convinced the then-ruler of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, to donate roughly 372 acres of free land in the heart of Bangalore and provide other necessary facilities. This educational institution later became the Tata Institute of Science, renamed the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) in 1911. [caption id="attachment_88283" align="aligncenter" width="1064"]

An old photo of IISc[/caption]

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From modest beginnings with two departments and 21 students in 1911, today IISc has 39 departments, 3,500 students, about 500 academic staff, and 600 administrative personnel, a telling statement on the longevity of India’s best-known research institution. An ardent follower of the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, Sheshadri Iyer also took a keen interest in the workings of the Indian National Congress. When the Theosophical Society found its way to Bombay, he invited Founder-President Col. Olcott to Bangalore. Thanks to Seshadri Iyer's initiative, the King of Mysore gave 1.27 acres of land to the Theosophical Society. The foundation for its first branch, the Bangalore City Lodge, was laid by the very illustrious founder president of the Theosophical Society. The foundation stone for the second building, Cantonment Lodge, was laid by Annie Besant, the second president of the society and the founder of the Home Rule League. Having administered the kingdom of Mysore for a span of 18 years, Sheshadri Iyer remains the longest-serving Dewan of the princely state. A disciplined life, dedication to duty, and practical imagination were the hallmarks of this exceptional statesman. In his book 'Gold, Sport and Coffee Planting in Mysore,' Robert H.Elliot says:

"I may pause here to remark that what I saw and heard at the Assembly, combined with what I previously knew of the Mysore Government, satisfied me that a more perfect form of government does not exist in the world.....While I have heard much in favour of the Dewan, I have never heard a single deprecatory remark made concerning his administration of the province, either by natives or Europeans. Mysore is indeed extremely fortunate in having such a man as Mr. Seshadri Iyer, since made Sir K. Seshadri Iyer, at the head of affairs."

In present-day Bengaluru, Seshadripuram (a city extension created in 1892), Seshadri Road, Seshadri Memorial Library, and his statue in the Cubbon Park remind citizens of this legendary administrator's valuable contributions. His stately home in Kumara Krupa Road, now a government guesthouse, has housed guests such as Mahatma Gandhi, M. Visvesvaraya and Indira Gandhi, and is among the most graceful creations in the city's architectural heritage.

Also Read: How Bengaluru Went From Being a Barren Plateau to a Verdant Garden City in 250 Years

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During the late 1930s, the world was reeling under the ripples of the upcoming war, and fictional rescue rangers, superheroes in particular, provided the public an escape into a fantasy world where all the ills of the world were righted by these larger-than-life heroes. The names of the caped crusaders who emerged in this era -- Superman (debuted in 1938), Batman (debuted in 1939), and Wonder Woman (debuted in 1941) -- have become legends and are still with us today.

It was at this time in India that a woman burst onto the screen, first as a princess, then as a masked vigilante, juggling whips, swords, guns, and even pummelling villains with her bare hands.

The year was 1935 and the woman was India's original stunt queen, Fearless Nadia.

Fearless Nadia

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A blonde, blue-eyed beauty, Nadia was a hit with the audience from her first film and reigned Bollywood throughout the 1940s. Largely ignored by cinema historians as she performed mainly in the stunt genre, the story of this swashbuckling heroine is something few Indians know. Born on January 8, 1908, as Mary Ann Evans to a Scottish father and a Greek mother in Perth in Australia, Nadia came to India as a little girl. Her father, Herbert Evans was a volunteer with the British Army and little Mary grew up in India's North-West Frontier Province. From a young age, she wanted to be a singer and dancer and learned Scottish dances from her father and Greek songs from her mother. She went on to sing in church choirs in school but even as a young girl, she was different. While her classmates played with fluffy soft toys, she spent most of her time with a pony that became her best friend. She also spent time learning fishing, hunting, horse riding and everything normally considered audacious for girls of her age at the time. When her father passed away during World War I, Mary moved back with her mother to Bombay. Here, she joined a ballet dance school run by Madame Astrova, a Russian dancer, who recognised the young girl's innate talent, and selected her to be part of her travelling troupe.

During her days with the troupe, Mary met an Armenian fortune teller who suggested that she change her name to one beginning with the letter N. She chose Nadia because she like the “exotic sound” of it!

Nadia was originally born Mary Ann Evans

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Other than dancing with the travelling troupe, Nadia also tried her hand at several other jobs. From working in a secretarial position, travelling as a theatre artist to performing as a trapeze artist at a circus, she did it all. She also worked hard to train herself as a gymnast and her graceful cartwheels, daredevil stunts and charming presence soon won her a lot of fans. Eventually, Nadia left her job at the Zarco Circus and returned to full-time dancing, this time performing to Bollywood songs. Eruch Kanga, a cinema owner from Lahore, spotted her in a performance and suggested her name to J. B. H. Wadia and Homi Wadia, the brothers who owned a major production house called Wadia Movietone. A meeting was set, and impressed by her striking looks and fearless attitude, the Wadias decided to put Nadia to test. She was asked to learn Hindi and given a small role in two of their upcoming movies, Desh Deepak and Noor-e-Yaman. Her cameos as a slave girl in the former and as a princess in the latter were well-liked by the audience.

Then came the most important moment in Nadia's career. In 1935, the Wadias decided to launch Nadia as a lead heroine in Hunterwali.

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A cracker of a film, this movie was the first one to showcase Nadia’s fearlessness, her athletic prowess, and her affinity for the stunt genre. The audience loved her - perhaps the fact that as a European, she was fighting on the right side was doubly appealing at a time when India's freedom struggle was foremost in the minds of most Indians. Over the next decade, Nadia went on to star in over 50 films, performing her own stunts in every single one of them. From swinging from the chandelier and jumping off cliffs to fighting atop a speeding train and befriending lions, she did it all with an ease even men found difficult to achieve. Her fierce yell at wild animals, bandits, and bad boys in general, as she cycled down the road on her way to new adventures, became her signature. She also risked her life in the line of duty a number of times. Once, while shooting for a fight scene, she fell flat on her face from a great height and another time, she almost got swept away in powerful currents of Bhandardara Falls in Maharashtra.

A champion of truth and justice in almost all her roles, most of Nadia's films were runaway hits, with the Indian audience revelling in her daring stunts and exotic costumes.

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She went on to achieve great stardom and became one of the highest paid actresses in the Indian film industry during this period. Such was the adulation she received from public that her moniker 'Hunterwali’ was affixed by many brands of belts, bags, shoes and clothes in the country. At a time when Indian women were slowly warming up to the idea of acting as a profession, Nadia also emerged a feminist icon, challenging male dominance with rousing lines such as: "Don't be under the assumption that you can lord over today’s women. If the nation is to be free, women have to be freed first."

In 1961, Nadia married Homi Wadia (he gave her the name Fearless Nadia after she sportingly jumped off the roof of a studio set during a shoot) but Indian cinema hadn’t seen the last of her.

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In 1968, at the age of 60, the fiery actress made a final comeback as a sassy secret agent in Homi Wadia’s movie, Khiladi. As time passed, her legacy was gradually forgotten, only to be rediscovered in the 1993 documentary Fearless: The Hunterwali Story. Made by JBH Wadia’s grandson and Roy Wadia’s brother, Riyad, the documentary was screened at various international film festivals, bringing her to the attention of India and the world, including Australia, the country where she was born. In a review by Radio Adelaide just after the release of the documentary, Australian journalist Michelle Smith said that Nadia's films bear "a 1930s-esque innocence, juxtaposed with incredible stunts and spiels about women's rights." Today, while her legacy is little-remembered by the Indian film industry, Nadia's works are being studied by cinema experts in many countries, including at UK's School of Oriental and African Studies.

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