Tumult of mighty harmonies

Like the most popular boy of class, Puri has always enjoyed the limelight, but then, the perks of being a wallflower are always there, for, at the end of the day, he outshines everybody else and comes out with flying colours. The colour of Gopalpur-on-sea is serene blue, it is foamy white and it is pitch black, reflecting the sunlight and that of the moon, leaving you mesmerized in the awe of its beauty, strength and vastness. It is infinite.

The perpetually incessant roar of the waves deafens you, taking you away from all the clamour, and putting your soul at peace like never before. As the azure sky meets the like sea, and you fail to distinguish the horizon,you realise that your eyes have ostensibly become stubborn, refusing to turn away without unfolding the mysteries beyond the blue curtain.

Unlike the blue Mediterranean "lulled by the coil of his crystalline streams", the growls of the sea at Gopalpur reverberate in your ears, annihilating all your agonies and afflictions. The sea takes it all. The sea is oxymoronic.

As the sun drowns into the waters, an all-embracing black engulfs everything in its vicinity. All that the eyes can discern are infinitesimal men in white, emerging out of nowhere, impending like an army attacking its adversary on the battlefield. The sea, at night, will petrify you out of your wits- prodding the most miniscule of the vices that you might have ever possessed.

At a time when nothing can be heard, but the howling sea, one experiences, what may be called the 'tumult of mighty harmonies.'

And after a combat - physical and mental- with the sea, you crash the bed as a changed individual, for you will have attained the pleasures of what saints have called salvation.

 

Tryst with reality

Sometimes called the city of joy and on other occasions the city of palaces, Kolkata has had several names. During the final days before the British left India, it also altered into the city of the dead. Sujata Massey’s book, The City of Palaces, is a tale of a young girl in search of her identity. Opening in the 1930s the novel continues in a linear fashion, as the girl searches for her family in a precarious world, wondering if she will be able to transcend caste after she’s orphaned and adrift to build a new life by herself.

Young Pom’s life changes forever when her family is wiped out in a devastating flood. She becomes a maidservant in a British boarding school where she discovers her gift for languages. Amidst the drudgery of her duties, she finds unexpected friendship and experiences the stirrings of first love. However, tragedy soon strikes, and she is forced into hiding. Alone and desperate, she makes a dangerous journey from the secretive, decadent world of an exclusive brothel to the grand metropolis of Calcutta. Swept into the rising tide of Indian freedom struggle, she creates a new life for herself, until her past returns to haunt her. Massey has written several stories set in Japan and United States since 1997, but her place of origin always called out to her. And certainly nothing could have been a better backdrop than India’s struggle for freedom for her latest novel. “I have always wanted to write about India but I couldn’t  until I had a specific story in mind. For years I kept trying different stories about Indian-Americans in the United States but they weren’t very inspiring,” she said.

Drawing parallels between India’s rutted ride to Independence and the setbacks in Kamala’s struggle for dignity, she said, “I researched what was happening in India each year and realised I could not possibly leave it out of the story. The 1930s were the turbulent end years of British rule. Some of the big events Kamala would have known about were Gandhi’s salt march, the hunger strikes undertaken by political prisoners in the Andaman Islands, the rise and fall of Subhas Chandra Bose and the Bengal famine. The biggest event of all was the World War II because Indians really had to struggle to decide whether they wanted to back Britain in the fight or consider a new world order with Japan.” A collection of books from British colonial India and the National library in Kolkata were the chief sources of research for Massey’s book.

Kolkata is the city that reeks of  elegant history acquired by India but as it strives hard to keep pace with the surrounding economics and development, the architectural treasures stamping the city’s elegant character are being gradually lost. “I wrote this book to help preserve my own memories of a landscape I love. If I’d waited any longer to write, I fear that I might not have had any of these charming old streets to walk through and would have struggled to paint any sort of picture of the late colonial period,” Massey said.

One of the unique things that you will come across as you read on is that the author has religiously incorporated epigraphs before beginning every chapter. The author said that these epigraphs were an attempt to bring the reader closer to Kamala — what she read and how she felt. “These epigraphs are not crucial to understanding the novel but are a way of reading along with Kamala. One can zip past them or dwell on their connection to the emotions or action within the chapter. Perhaps a reader might be intrigued enough by the quotation to seek out the entire original source,” she said.

While a lot of these epigraphs include meanings of words from the dictionary and lines from Tagore’s works, one of the epigraphs which deserves a mention is the one that is present before the novel begins. Fragment of a letter found by the Arjun Cleaning Agency was created by the author to “give an immediate indication of forthcoming suspense and also hint that the little girl whose voice narrates the first chapter, will grow into a woman of some controversy. Readers will find this letter mentioned within the story’s text, so its sender and recipient will ultimately be revealed,” she added.     (Published in The Pioneer)

Traces of the yore

As the dark frail bodies took a dive, the splashing water drew a wide smile across their faces. Not caring much about the filth, the little ones would take a leap into the water and emerge out of the adjacent well with beaming faces.It is probably the grandeur of Qutub Minar which stands magnificently at Mehrauli, that Gandhak ki Baoli and Adam Khan’s tomb, situated just at the rear of the tower, are not known by many. The only visitors are these little kids from the nearby areas. Interestingly, even the auto drivers are not familiar with the baoli’s name and often confuse it with Rajon ki baoli.The largest step well in Delhi, Gandhak ki baoli, was built by Emperor Iltutmish, the founder of the slave dynasty. It was built for Khwaja Sayed Muhammad Qutb-ud-din Bakhtiar Kaki, a renowned sufi saint whose dargah is not more than a minute’s walk from the baoli. It is believed that the emperor was a religious follower of the saint.
The dargah witnesses the Phoolwaron ki Sair (Festival of flower sellers) every autumn. Aiming to bridge the gap between Hinduism and Islam, people offer sheets of flowers at the dargah and the close by Yogmaya temple.Enclosed in an area no larger than one of the little parks in your localities, Gandhak’s baoli is likely to escape your eyes, but the tales that the people around have to tell are worth a share.The baoli has a circular well at its south, and the water in the baoli is believed to come through this well.  While one might conspicuously feel that it is the municipal corporation that fills up this well with water regularly, people believe it is “magic”.  “There have been times when the baoli remained dry for years, but nobody knows where the water comes from,” said Raju who was perched upon the highest wall of the six tiered step-well, with his friend Ghalib, watching the kids bathe in water.“Two years back the baoli was filled with water only till the second storey, and before that even lower.  This year the water has risen an extra storey,” said Ghalib. Adding to this list of fables, he said, “The water dries out when somebody drowns in the baoli.”“When the water dries up, people go to the Rajon ki baoli to bathe. It is said that the two baolis have never had water together,” he added. Dismissing the repelling filthy water and vindicating its name, the water in this baoli is believed to have sulphur and therefore healing properties. Ignorant of this fact, Raju fascinatingly informed, “People often develop the skin rashes other ailments during summers, but a single dip in the water cures all of them. Nobody knows how, but this really happens.” Believed to have witnessed a lot of diving and swimming competitions in the past, this historical structure stands neglected amidst a dilapidated neighbourhood. Apart from the Pahalwan dhaba, located infront of the baoli, there is absolutely nothing to attract visitors.  About 100 meters from the baoli, stands another unattended evidence of Indian history, Adam Khan’s tomb, which is locally known as Bhool Bhulaiyan. It is often talked about as the tomb from where Qutab Minar can be seen clearly, but the intricate art work on the ceiling has been seldom appreciated. Poor maintenance, however, is likely to make it invisible to the eyes very soon.On a summer afternoon, one is likely to find several people within the tomb which is erected opposite the Mehrauli Bus Terminus, but none of them, to your surprise, is likely to be a visitor. “Most of them come inside the tomb for shade, as they wait for their buses,” said Sudhir Kumar, security in charge of the tomb.  Although he said that young people do visit the tomb in the evenings, it is hard to believe with the structure standing like an abandoned pile of rocks and nothing more.    (Published in The Pioneer)