India Perspectives by Indian Diplomacy

Vol 24 No. 5/2010

ISSN 0970 5074

VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

India Perspectives

The Buddha, Ladakh. Photograph: Sandeep Silas.

Editor

Navdeep Suri Assistant Editor

Neelu Rohra India Perspectives is published in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Pashto, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Sinhala, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish and Urdu. Views expressed in the articles are those of the contributors and not necessarily of India Perspectives. All original articles, other than reprints published in India Perspectives, may be freely reproduced with acknowledgement. Editorial contributions and letters should be addressed to the Editor, India Perspectives, 140 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Wing, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-110001. Telephones: +91-11-23389471, 23388873, Fax: +91-11-23385549 E-mail: jspd@mea.gov.in, Website: http://indiandiplomacy.in/indiaperspectives.aspx For obtaining a copy of India Perspectives, please contact the Indian Diplomatic Mission in your country. This edition is published for the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi by Navdeep Suri, Joint Secretary, Public Diplomacy Division. Designed and printed by Ajanta Offset & Packagings Ltd., New Delhi.

Connecting Indian and American aspirations Manish Chand

Editorial The three-day visit of President Obama to India in November was remarkable for the way it captured our nation’s attention. His stirring address to a Joint Session of India’s Parliament, his recognition of India’s growing stature on the international arena, his support for India’s aspiration to permanent membership of a reformed United Nations Security Council, his outspoken condemnation of the perpetrators of violent acts of terrorism against India, and the evident enjoyment that he and Mrs. Michelle Obama displayed during their interactions with everyone ranging from school children to the glitterati – each of these became objects of animated conversation amongst the media, the political classes and the man on the street.

Ladakh Sandeep Silas

A walk in history Satish Jacob

The lotus in Indian art

Growing hub of publishing Madhusree Chatterjee

Subhashini Aryan

It is worth looking at the broader context of President Obama’s visit. It was preceded by Prime Minister Cameron from UK and followed, within weeks, by President Sarkozy from France. Premier Wen Jiabao from China and President Medvedev from Russia are also expected before the end of 2010. In addition to hosting the leaders of the five permanent members of the Security Council in the space of as many months, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has also travelled to Japan for an annual bilateral summit, to Vietnam for the India-ASEAN and East Asia summits, to South Korea for the G-20 summit, to Berlin for a bilateral visit and to Brussels for an India-European Union summit. And this is in addition to India’s on-going interaction with the rest of the world.

First views of India Pran Nevile

Ship of the desert A camel safari in Rajasthan Kishore Singh

Arvind Padmanabhan

26 Classical dance mesmerises the world Utpal K Banerjee

Sculpting Sand Dilip Banerjee

The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi Anjali Ojha

Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Shubhra Mazumdar

Film Review

Book Review

Mapping the Indian genomic landscape Navdeep Suri

Dream run for entertainment industry

It is a level of diplomatic activity that is quite unprecedented. The economy, meanwhile, is returning to the pre-recession annual growth rate of 9%. It is now the fourth largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), having recently overtaken Germany. This is not to underplay the serious challenges of poverty and socio-economic development that India will continue to face for several more years. Yet, the diplomatic momentum over the last few months could perhaps be the harbinger for a new, diff different era.

Richa Sharma

Cover: The Qutub Minar, Delhi. Photograph: Deepak Mudgal.

Ladakh Text & Photographs: SANDEEP SILAS

Ladakh has many faces – sun-baked mountains in summer; layers and layers of snow in winter; treeless terrain; strong winds; pristine lakes nestling like jewels in distant valleys; winding roads leading to cold high passes and then an equally memorable descent; faces and frescoes drawn on mountain façades; rivulets streaming down; dark flowing clouds on moonlit nights; Buddhist meditation music; and ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ written on almost any possible surface. Rainbow over Pangong Lake

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With the excitement of discovering new places, we embarked on this adventuresome journey out of the surprisingly green Indus – happy town of Leh. The cloudbursts had cast a shadow on everything except the human spirit. Parts of Leh town had been destroyed but not the spirits. The enthusiasm of the people, noticeable in ‘Jule’, the Ladakhi greeting, had not diminished. It was always very encouraging to wish passersby ‘Jule’ and see them smile. Our destination for the day was

the valley of Nubra. Higher altitudes sometimes can cause breathlessness and fatigue. Having rested on the day of arrival we were still careful and confident. The road to Khardung La Pass 18,380 ft. (5,602 m) was something to test all the gears of a vehicle and the body too. It is the highest motorable road in the world. Brooks appeared like silver lines erratically etched on the valley bed. White and brown skinny cows grazed on whatever grass that had courage

Moonlit sky in the environs of Leh

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to sprout from a rocky mountain surface. The bearded goats, short and stout, always in a flock, had the most sought-after Pashmina wool growing at their necks. This is shaved to make one of the finest and warmest shawls in the world. Occasionally, yaks could be spotted with long black thick hairy bodies. We were told that yak meat is very good. A red flag and we stopped. We were to cross a patch of forever – falling mountain. We did. Then came a blast of chill and promptly the window-panes

went up. Khardung La, the highest pass in the world was in sight. It was like negotiating across the hump of a huge camel and once on top, we jumped down to feel the place with our feet. The moment we did so, down came snowfall. For us, it was like our feet had pressed some button on the ground to trigger the falling of snowflakes. The sight and feel of snow was good but it also brought a chill. Prayer flags, and prayer flag strings gave an unusually coloured look to the place. Did I say I felt crowded by the flags? Chang La Pass

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On each was written a prayer or mantra and we realized that people in such places live in awe of Nature. The wind was cold and in the picture someone took of us, we can be seen to be shivering. One mountain had a razor sharp edge running down from its summit to Khardung La Pass. The sun was reflected strongly in its unparalleled majesty. Discovering faces in the snow, frescoes in the mountain facades, we reached Diskit Monastery past iron bridges strung across precariously over the River Indus.

Monastery in the cliffs (above) and Tara Devi (saviour goddess) at Hemis Monastery (right). Facing page: Maitreya Buddha at Diskit, Nubra Valley (above) Bodhisattva fresco in Hemis Monastery (below).

A huge statue of the seated Buddha dominated the landscape. You could see it from everywhere. Diskit Monastery was peaceful, had several frescoes, and inside, it felt mysterious. Mahakaal, the protector of the monks, had his INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

face covered, to be opened once every year for seven days. The Tara (saviour goddess) amongst the Bodhisattvaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s has been much celebrated in the Buddhist Pantheon. She is believed to be born out of the eye of Bodhisattva Avalokiteswara as his tears of compassion; white Tara from his left eye and green Tara from his right eye. Tara represents righteous and enlightened action. She brings longevity, protects earthly travel and guards her followers. Artists have excelled in depicting her as green Tara, white Tara, red Tara and in other

colours. White Tara represents the day and green Tara the night. It is believed that white Tara stands for serenity and grace and green Tara embodies virtuous activity. I found this very beautiful devotional hymn about the green Tara, written by the First Dalai Lama (1391-1474 A.D.). Statues with 1,000 hands was the way of their scriptures to reveal the all powerful, all possibility driven force of a deity. This monastery looks like it is sewn on the rugged cliffs. A deep gorge beside Diskit Monastery

gurgled with water. One could feel the strangeness of the place, also the clarity that resided in paintings and sculpture, and the awe of something you couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t understand. A wild camel with two humps made us stop after Diskit and over its hump became visible the sand dunes. It was such an unexpected surprise to see sand dunes ahead of Diskit. Fine sand, blown from mountains and breeze marks on sand dunes at such an altitude was simply awe inspiring. The place was called Hunder. A large herd of camels sat, walked and INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

munched near a stream. They had been purchased from across the border. Visitors got a camel ride in this mountain desert. We noticed that one she-camel had an earring and definitely conscious of her ornament she was acting coy. A plantation of Sea-bakhtun (Leh Berry) attracted us. This is very rich in vitamin ‘C’ and the orange berry is plucked from its thorny home of branches for making juice. Night rest was at a village camp where Swiss cottages had become tourist rooms. Sunflowers and vegetables, a noisy wood-sawing machine in the background and the clear night sky made the atmosphere unique.

The idea of visiting Pangong Lake had been hovering in our minds. We set out next morning. Another high mountain pass, the Chang La 17,586 ft (5,360 m) made us aware of the wonder of travelling in the Himalayas. Once they are snow bound no one can cross these ‘Passes’. During the severe snowfalls the territory beyond any ‘Pass’ is cut-off. When they are open, they open up to life and adventure. Motor-bike riders go across these Himalayan roads for fun. However, we noticed a spare parts van following them. The first sight of Pangong Lake 14,000 ft (4,267 m) was thrilling. Once there, we were

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A dog tried to make friends. It also entered our tents one by one. The others that barked in the night filled the place with so much noise that sleep was not easy. There was another lake – Tso Moriri 15,000 ft (4,572 m). This journey was long, about ten and half hours. No one came to know when it started and when it was over. The mountain road was so captivating! The unexpectedly sharp contrast in the colour and texture of mountains was mindboggling. They came in browns and whites, metallic shades and yellow sand, changing colour at their free will. The River Indus flowed alongside. It was

face to face with the glory of Nature. Everything was so beautiful and striking. “Look a rainbow”, my friend said. We had sighted a rare phenomenon and were quick to capture it with our camera lens. The night brought a heavenly sight. Moonlit sky, and thick black clouds running across the firmament. My friend experimented with the camera. Who moved and who was captured was the game, we played like children, with the moon, the clouds and shutter speed. A Ladakhi girl at the Leh Festival (right) and pristine life, village Ayu, Leh (below). Facing page: Himalayan Magpie (left) and camels at Hunder, Nubra Valley.

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flooded, so much so that electric poles were one third submerged in the water. Yet, the electricity flowed; another current above the river’s own! Huge boulders in the river bed, harsh looking crags, sometimes so near, sometimes far; the promise of Tso Moriri and we were happy. This is a lake with a legend. Tso was a woman who owned a yak called Moriri. Together they began to cross a pond. As the yak reached the middle of the pond, the water started rising and the yak began drowning. Tso kept on

calling after it “Moriri, Moriri…”, but the pond became a lake and the lake grew so big that the yak became a part of the water. Hence, the name Tso Moriri! Otherwise the place is called Karzok. The mountain mongooses that live in burrows near this lake are very intelligent. Sensing any danger, or even a slight disturbance they quickly jump into the deep holes in the ground. And that they did, as soon as we flashed our cameras to capture them with our lens.

Temple entrance at Hemis Monastery (below) and ancient fresco in Shey Monastery (facing page)

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Tso Moriri lake (left) and river Indus (above)

Tso Moriri is a treatise in the study of reflections. You can go on soaking it. Since the clouds are always changing their shape over the lake, getting replaced by another set of another hue, they keep on weaving strange patterns in the sky and in the water. Tso Moriri is always the same and yet never the same. Such is the wonder of being in Ladakh that you can never forget it. It touches you deep inside. You feel it like the joy of a child speaking its first ‘word’. Ladakh changes you. It makes you humble. It gives you wisdom – that you, a tiny speck of life, should know your place in this universe. ◆ The author is a senior civil servant and travel writer.

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A walk in history Text: SATISH JACOB Photographs: DEEPAK MUDGAL

arim serves a great breakfast offering paye (trotters) and piping hot tandoori roti and it has been my practice to enjoy this breakfast whenever I visit Jama Masjid in the historic walled city of Shahjehanabad which is commonly known as the old city. My problem is that I hate to eat my breakfast alone in the old city so I called my childhood friend, Naseem, to join me. Naseem lives in the area and the two of us ate our breakfast and reminisced about the happy days of our childhood in the walled city. We would travel in the tongas to the ruins of Mehrauli on the southern outskirts 12 miles from the old city for a picnic. It was a custom with the people living in the old city to hold picnics in the monsoon season and eat mangoes by the dozen. In the old days there were no buses or cars, only tongas for families to go to Mehrauli and the Qutub Minar from the old city. And in the monsoon season sometimes the road would be full of tongas racing each other to Mehrauli. Jama Masjid (facing page); Karim hotel (below) and the Red Fort (following page)

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hunt in this area and even erected a mosque known as Kali Masjid. The Masjid is close to Bazar Sitaram where Kamla Nehru lived and where Pandit Nehru came with his barat to marry her. The haveli where Kamla Nehru’s family lived still exists. In fact, Bazar Sitaram is named after an enterprising Kashmiri Brahmin who rose to a high position in the Mughal Darbar during the reign of Shah Alam. Bazar Sitaram gradually became a colony of influential Kashmiri families who found gainful employment during the period of later Mughal kings. Gali

Satish Jacob

Sitaram and Gali Prem Narain or via Mohalla Kabristan and Chitli Qabar. Let me tell you that all the places I have mentioned have an interesting history. Turkman Gate is remembered historically because a great Sufi Saint Shah Bayabani used to live in this area during the reign of Razia Sultan in the 12th Century. Razia’s grave is situated just half a kilometer away north of Turkman Gate. The Gate was constructed much later when the Mughal Emperor Shahjehan built Old Delhi as his capital in 1638 A D. During Razia’s reign this area was a thick jungle and was a favourite hunting ground of the royal families of that era. The Tughlaks also continued to

Typical views of shops around Chandni Chowk

Satish Jacob

I told Naseem that I was going to see Masroor in Ballimaran where the great Urdu poet Ghalib lived in the 19th century. Masroor is the grandson of Hakim Ajmal Khan whose ancestral home Aftab Manzil used to be the hub of activities of nationalist leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru (India’s first prime minister) during the freedom struggle. Masroor has inherited his grandfather’s library on India’s Mughal History. I wanted to borrow a rare English Hindustani dictionary compiled by Duncan Forbes in 1867. When I go to Shahjehanabad or Old Delhi, I park my car near Turkman Gate and walk to Jama Masjid. Sometimes I go via Bazar

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Prem Narain in Bazar Sitaram was famous for grand havelis of Kashmiri nobles. Some of these old havelis still exist here. The River Yamuna once flowed through Ballimaran and Turkman Gate areas long before the Mughals chose Old Delhi as their capital. When Shahjehan came to live in the Red Fort in Delhi the Yamuna had changed its course and was on the eastern side of the royal palace. It has now further receded to the east. There are a number of historical places for which Delhi is famous such as the Qutub complex, the Hauz Khas, the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin

and, of course, New Delhi. But Old Delhi in spite of it being crowded, with noisy dirty narrow lanes has an old world charm. It has colour and a unique character of its own. I once took a walk from the India International Centre to Connaught Place. I enjoyed the tree lined avenues and the pavements on Janpath but apart from bungalows and beautiful roundabouts, there was little else to savour. The only buildings worth a mention on the way were Jinnah’s former home, the National Museum and India Gate. In contrast just take a walk from Barakhamba Road to

Town Hall at Chandni Chowk

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Turkman Gate, a distance of only a kilometer and a half and you will come across several historical sites – Gurudwara Mata Sundari, the Sixth Guru Harkrishan Singh and his mother Mata Sundari founded this famous Gurudwara. The grave of Maulana Waliullah is close by just behind Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Medical College. There are a number of other prominent leaders buried in this famous graveyard and almost adjacent to it is the site where the first modern jail was set up before the first war of independence in 1857. Avadh Behari and two of his associates were hanged there for staging a bomb attack

against Lord Hardinge. A number of prominent Muslim elites who were convicted for their participation in the first war of independence were also executed in the old jail. The jail was shifted to Tihar after India became independent in 1947. Then there is a site where there is a grave of the famous Urdu poet Mir Dard. The maidan (ground) in front of Turkman Gate is known for political rallies but it has been a site for Ram Lila for more than a hundred years. The maidan used to be famous during Ghalib’s time for wrestling matches and there used to be a huge talab or a water body. Mahatma Gandhi used to

Turkman Gate

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hold prayer meetings here before Independence in which thousands of people used to take part. From Turkman Gate to Jama Masjid you can see not only historical sites such as the Kalan Masjid or even Kamla Nehru’s haveli but also a great many ruins of old mansions. The area surrounding Jama Masjid was home to great Urdu poets such as Ghalib. He lived in Ballimaran. Ustad Dagh, Mir Taqi Mir, Zauq and Momin also resided in the lanes and by lanes of Chandni Chowk and Chawri Bazar. The Chawri Bazar was the street where the courtesans used to entertain the elite in the Mughal period.

Chandni Chowk today is a bustling wholesale market for spices, jewellery, textiles and electrical goods. But according to François Bernier it was a bazaar where rich merchants and travellers came to buy and sell rare pieces of jewellery. Bernier in his book ‘Travels through the Moghul Empire’ describes Chandni Chowk as an elegant place where beautiful coffee houses and sarais attracted members of the royal families and nobles who would come in all sorts of exotic means of transport such as horse carriages and bullock carts. Rich and influential people either rode an elephant or a horse. The mile long

Gurudwara Mata Sundari Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin (above) and Qutub Minar (left)

street was adorned by a canal which ran in the middle and the merchants attired in white muslin and wearing turbans would sit cross-legged leaning against bolsters in their elegant low ceilinged thatched roof shops. A few of the homes of famous merchants are still standing. The most famous of the merchant families were the Chhuna Mals and Lala Jugal Kishore. Today some of the other popular destinations are the spice market in Khari Baoli, where one can obtain not just spices but dry fruits as well as pickles and high quality rice and silver leaf. Kinari Bazar also known as the ‘Wedding Street’, is by far the most colourful shopping centre. Here one can find beautiful embroidered saris – zaridar borders and all other items used INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

in decorating homes. Chandni Chowk is a huge market for cameras, electrical goods and textiles. Chandni Chowk is also famous for traditional cuisine and sweet shops. Some of the sweet shops such as Dariba’s Jalebiwala, Ghantewala, Chaina Ram, Kanwarjee and Haldiram are more than a hundred years old. The Chaat Corner near Central Bank is now a great landmark of Chandni Chowk. Rumour has it that the man who owns the Chaat Corner owns half a dozen Mercedes cars and lives in a mansion in Model Town. Chandni Chowk is steeped in history. It was here at Kotwali that Aurangzeb had the Ninth Guru of the Sikhs Guru Tegh Bahadur executed. Today a Gurudwara INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

stands on the site of the Kotwali and thousands of pilgrims visit the Gurudwara every day. Adjacent to the Sikh temple is a mosque called ‘Sunehri Masjid’ or the golden mosque. It was here in 1739 that the Persian King Nadir Shah ordered the massacre of the citizens of the city because some people had attacked and killed his soldiers in the bazaar. Nadir got thousands killed including women and children. He later departed carrying the famous Peacock Throne. Chandni Chowk was also the scene of a bloodbath when Aurangzeb staged a coup against his father Shahjehan and had his three brothers Dara Shikoh, Murad and Shuja publicly executed. Dara who was the

heir apparent and a favourite of Shahjehan was brought in chains to Chandni Chowk and publicly beheaded. It was a shocking sight to the citizens of Delhi because Dara was extremely popular. Dara’s library today houses a polytechnic. After the first war of independence in 1857, the library had become the residence of the British Resident, William Fraser who later shifted to Bara Hindu Rao and where he was later assassinated. The Nawab of Loharu was charged with the murder and he was hanged following a trial just outside Kashmere Gate. Though it is called Chandni Chowk or the moon street, it has had a gory past. Between the period following the death

of Aurangzeb and the war of 1857 spanning nearly a hundred years, Shahjehanabad had been ransacked and looted by a succession of raiders. One Mughal Emperor Shah Alam suffered the indignity of getting his eyes gouged by a dagger by a Pathan chieftain inside the palace. He not only blinded the king with his own hands, but manhandled the old king and tortured his children and the women in the harem. The sights and sounds of the old walled city brought back nostalgic memories and Naseem and I parted after having travelled down memory lane together. ◆ The author was the India Correspondent for BBC.

Connaught Place (below) and the India Gate (facing page)

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Ship of the desert A camel safari in Rajasthan Text: KISHORE SINGH Photographs: PRAKASH ISRANI

t’s unlikely they’ll ever win a beauty contest, assembled with what looks like leftover limbs and body parts from when the world was first created. Even Charles Darwin could hardly have given their gangly limbs and comical ears, their horsy mouths and protruding eyes, their slim girth and oddly piled-up humps a high chance of survival

in a world which values beauty above all. They walk in ungainly fashion, aren’t fastidious when it comes to hygiene or manners, and are likely to bite a chunk off your derriere if irritated. Given a choice between a ride on an elephant or a camel, children will plumb for the former. No wonder they look unhappy – but with the sort of dignity that the abandoned

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seem to wear around them like a cloak, appearing stand-offish, even snobbish. They may not be social but camels are useful – they pull carts, lug stuff, are used for farm work – and with a little effort on your part you could even begin to view them with affection. They don’t need too much caring, aren’t fastidious about their diet, and can store enough water in their humps to save you the trouble of taking them to the trough every few hours, or even days. All this, though, was far from our minds when, as children, we would head ‘home’ on our summer vacations – right into the heart of the desert in the

cruelest hot season. Roads would disappear mysteriously and we’d be forced to abandon the family car, changing instead to the ‘unthgaada’ or camel cart that had been deployed to ferry us across the dunes to the village haveli where we would make our residence for the next month or two. The cart would have a dhurrie over which would be spread embroidered cloths and masands for support, though with the baggage piled high, it was on suitcases and holdalls that we would find ourselves perched as the camel loped ahead, snaking its long neck to scrounge for leaves in the almost-bare trees along the rough path that ran alongside the fields.

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for safaris deep into the heart of the desert. Tour operators who operate these safaris create an Arabian Nights-like fantasy, complete with satin and velvet coverings, well-groomed camels, carts on which you could ride forever, as they are so comfortable. As for the camps, you could be charmed into extending your vacation; they are so enchanting, with entertainment and all. Of course, it took a while to get to this stage. The early travellers who came with requests for camel safaris were bravehearts, and they must have suffered those bucolic rides almost as much as we did as youngsters. They balked when scampering on to the beastly hides of these ships

of the desert; they became almost ill as the camels sallied fort into the horizon of sand, now up, now down, now up, now down… the rhythm unsettling, especially on a full stomach; and with the strong sun beating down on them, even in the winter months, they would soon be sunburnt. Villagers flocked to look at these strange people who abandoned their imported cars to ride camels instead. They were met with rousing receptions. The village balladeers came to sing for them. The dancing girls put up impromptu performances. Village heads invited them home to dine. Women peeped shyly at them from behind their veils. A fair-like atmosphere greeted them

whenever the horizon seemed to end at some semi-abandoned village. Really, it did seem like a fairytale come to life.

Amit Pasricha

“Here”, my uncle would call, “come and walk beside me”, but it was not an option – our citybread, shoe-shod feet would sink into the sand, making walking difficult (no wonder the camel loped!), and thorns would cling to our socks, tiny and irritating. “Want a ride on the camel?” – a cousin might taunt us, but much though we enjoyed these camel rides, they were less than happy experiences. Burr-like thorns clung to their coats and their gait would soon make us seasick. The saddle would be draped with blankets made of camel wool, rough and bristling to the touch. This gangly animal has grown immensely popular with foreign tourists wanting to hire camels

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In time, what seemed to be an aberration became part of the routine that camel safari operators offered as part of their standard itineraries and attractions. Those opting for safaris might be a couple looking for privacy, or adventure; or there might be a large group, even up to a few score people, wanting to go out together, as though in an ancient caravan coursing its way along some ancient trade route. Were Indian tour operators up to the challenge? They were, and more. Safaris became better packaged, more comfortable, even luxurious. Some tourists wanted nothing more than an extended ride stretching a few hours, a ride,

really, no more, followed perhaps by lunch or dinner. They might choose to ride a camel, or opt for the less strenuous option of lounging on the accompanying carts, like some Badshah of yore. Others insisted on spending a night in the desert, still others prevailed and chose longer trips up to a week, travelling large distances, camping by night, getting up early to get a headstart on the scorching days. It was all really rather a lot of fun. The most popular safaris are, naturally, in Jaisalmer, where the sands stretch mysteriously and disappear into oblivion. Jaisalmer itself appears unreal,

a city of golden sandstone that arises out of nowhere – a mirage, perhaps? Here, you could sign up for a short ride into the sunset, or one all the way to Jodhpur, or Barmer, or Bikaner, all places that offer alternatives as safari destinations. It is in Bikaner that you will find the Camelman, as Vijai Singh Rathore is better known – in cyberspace, and in that mysterious world that camel safari enthusiasts hang out. The Camelman became so nicknamed because he was able to conjure up camels wherever and whenever a traveller to these parts expressed the desire to ride a camel. He’d

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take them off on jaunts, crossing the desert guided by stars, camping under the moonlight, accompanied by cooks who went ahead to set up tented camps, who offered a choice of millet rotis or toast for breakfast, lavish feasts for lunch and dinner, even ice when you least expected it. It was all rather royal, and rather jolly, for the Camelman is also a raconteur to boot, spinning out tales so fantastic you don’t know whether they’re real or an elaborate mix of fact and fiction! Visitors now come from all over the world to take these camel safaris. They speak in myriads

of languages. They love the experience, and in the wake of the success of the camel-drawn safari, success has attributed a kindly mien to the camel itself. “They’re so beautiful”, I heard a tourist sigh, on my last visit to Rajasthan. Beautiful? “They’re so cute, I could hug them all the time”, said another. Cute? Huggable? I looked at their comic features and their aloof dignity and said – for it was true, after all – “You know, we used to go on these safaris all the- time as kids…” ◆ The author is a noted writer.

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The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

t’s a dream destination for aspiring technocrats and as it prepares to turn fifty in 2011, the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, popularly known as IIT-D, joins six others – and eight more in the pipeline – as a centre of educational excellence to promote not just science, but science geared to benefit society. With a unique balance between industry-oriented and societyoriented research, the IITs are at the fore of India’s development story with the best of the country’s budding technological talent under their roof. However, the most significant feature that makes IIT-D different from other engineering colleges is its deeply imbibed culture of linking education with research, as well as industry. Interestingly, neither the research nor the subjects offered by the institute are restricted to branches of engineering. The inter-disciplinary approach at

the institute connects branches ranging from life sciences to physical sciences and even reaching out to the social science streams. A fixed number of credits in social sciences are, in fact, necessary for every undergraduate student, with the aim of promoting ‘science for society’. “We even have research on poetry and literature going on at IIT-D. Our vision is to have a highly inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary system and students can opt for credits from other streams as well”, IIT-D’s Deputy Director (Administration), Prof. S.M. Ishtiaque, said. The gamut of research at IIT-D covers a wide range of fields starting from atmospheric sciences, environmental science and engineering and rural industrialisation and ranging up to bio-informatics, nanotechnology, bio-catalysts, photo-thermal energy conversion and artificial

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Janyta

ANJALI OJHA

intelligence and robotics. The most recent initiative of IIT-D is a School of Biosciences to conduct research in communicable and noncommunicable diseases. Another of its unique ventures on the other end of the spectrum is research on non-silicon devices and technologies sanctioned by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. While a project for research on nanotechnology and nanosciences, including low power nano-scale devices and system design has been sponsored by the Human Resource Development Ministry, the Ministry of Urban Development is sponsoring a project on urban transportation.

An Indo-German Max Planck Center for Computer Sciences has also been established with a vision to conduct top quality basic research in computer sciences between India and Germany. The center also hopes to bring together top talent from within the country and globally, and enhance the quality of computer science research. These research projects are being carried out in collaboration with a number of government departments and agencies and the private sector and with international collaboration as well. One such innovative programme for engaging in ‘high impact’ research has been launched under which proposals INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

are invited from faculty across the institute for inter-disciplinary research. “The idea is identify the research programmes which can make a real difference to society”, Professor G.S Visweswaran of the Electrical Engineering Department said. “An institute can’t survive for long without research. Simply teaching is not going to help, there has to be a combination of research and education”, Visweswaran explained. The research projects at IIT-D are highly focused towards the future needs of India and the rest of the world. Among these are a project on hydrogen-fuelled engines for

bring them at par with the rest of the students”, Deputy Director Ishtiaque pointed out. The number of such students admitted in the programmes varies each year depending on the admissions. It includes ‘zero-level’, or basic courses in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and English. On successful completion of this course, the candidates are admitted into the B.Tech programme against these vacant seats. The other significant feature of IIT-D is its close collaboration with the industry. The Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer set up by the institute in 1992 is meant to build and maintain an enhanced interface with the industry, engaging itself in creating partnerships and linkages with business and the community to enable innovation and knowledge transfer. For instance, between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010, 32 technology development and transfer projects worth Rs.100 million ($2.2 million) have been contracted. This direct access helps the institute in understanding the research and development needs of the industry and making the research available for direct usage. Besides, two special outreach programmes for the professionals, allowing then to attend any of the 450 regular courses offered every semester are also proving very popular. All this will make it abundantly clear that clearing the JEE and getting admitted to an IIT can be a pretty tall order. More than

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provisions for students from the less privileged sections of the society. Such students are exempted from paying tuition fee and given additional exemptions like free mess services and a monthly pocket allowance. A one-year preparatory course is also run for such students who are unable to get qualifying marks in the country-wide Joint Engineering Examination (JEE) through which admissions to the IITs are decided, but are above a second cut off. “When the seats reserved for these students are not filled, we take a certain number for a one-year preparatory course to

IIT-Delhi

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vehicles in collaboration with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Department of Science and Technology sponsored projects on hardware design for wireless systems, fabrication of organic solar cells and an ultra-filtration membrane for arsenic, chromium, and nitrate rejection to ensure safe drinking water. Then, there is a project on Language, Emotion and Culture, giving a human touch to science and promoting science for society. Reflecting India’s goal of inclusive development, the institute has set an example in social inclusion with special

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training the students in diverse fields and making them allrounders is the main aim. “We don’t stress on book-based learning only. A whole gamut of extra curricular activities is available for students and in fact, while selecting the students for our international exchange programmes, all-round performance including cocurricular activities are taken into account”, Ishtiaque pointed out. IIT-D has exchange programmes with a number of European countries including France, Switzerland and Germany, as also with the United States and Canada. IIT-D currently has 94

Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with foreign institutions and organisations, and 49 MoUs with Indian institutes and organisations. These are essentially for student’s exchange, joint research and fellowship, training and joint research programmes. In terms of numbers, IIT-D has 2,970 under-graduate students and 2,161 at the post-graduate level, with 295 studying for an MBA and 1,416 students pursuing doctoral studies. Sixteen percent of the students are women. A total of 138 doctorates were awarded this year alone, while nearly 1,609 research articles from faculty members and researchers from the institute were published in international journals. Apart from IIT-D the other institutes are located at Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Guwahati (Assam), Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Kharagpur (West Bengal), Powai (Mumbai, Maharashtra) and Roorkee (Uttarakhand). Eight more are coming up at Bhubaneshwar (Orissa), Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), Patna (Bihar) and Ropar (Punjab) and at a yet to be decided location in Rajasthan.

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470,000 students appeared for the exam in 2010 for roughly 8,000 under-graduate engineering seats in the 15 IITs. Qualifying in the JEE has become the benchmark of identifying talent and bringing the best minds to the campus. At IIT-D, these bright minds are trained to build a solid foundation of scientific and technical knowledge and to prepare competent and motivated engineers and scientists. The aim here is to create an environment of freedom of thought, cultivate vision, encourage growth, along with overall personality development. For the faculty,

IIT-Delhi

◆ The author is a journalist.

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Mapping the Indian genomic landscape RICHA SHARMA

he international human genome project, comprising scientists from US, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and China, successfully completed in 2003, after 13 years and an investment of $3.5 billion, heralded an era of human genomics. The hope and promise of this mega project was to develop predictive and personalized medicine where in an individual’s predisposition, responsiveness to drugs, suitability of a life style or dietary regime could be predicted from his or her genetic make-up. India could not be a part of this large initiative at the time due to resource constraints. In the last decade scientists

at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) under the leadership of Samir K. Brahmachari, (now Director General, CSIR) have been successful in putting India on the global genomics map through developing its own innovative genomic solutions for affordable health care. IGIB is engaged in research of national importance, in the areas of genomics, molecular medicine, bioinformatics, proteomics and environmental biotechnology. India has the strategic advantage of a large diverse population which is a melting pot of human diversity and any solutions developed in the country would be relevant

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globally. Taking advantage of this and also the availability of enormous computational skills, IGIB has positioned itself strategically in the genomics space in the country. IGIB has also under the leadership of Prof Brahmachari spearheaded an Indian Genome Variation consortium involving nearly 150 participants from six CSIR laboratories and provided the first comprehensive genetic landscape of the people of India. The gene structure of nearly 2,000 people from different ethnic and linguistic groups was studied to divide them in 4-5 broad genome groups. “We have done genetic mapping of the Indian population and how they are related to each other. We chose people from 55 different populations speaking four different languages from six broad geographical regions for the study,’’ said Mitali

Mukerji, convener of the project. Mukerji received the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award conferred by the CSIR from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for her contribution to the project in October 2010. The study has important implications, especially in understanding human migration and for the study of genetics and diseases. The institute also participated in the study by the Pan-Asian Consortium of the Human Genome Organisation’s (HUGO) which recently analysed human genetic diversity in 73 South East Asian and East Asian populations. Besides IGIB scientists, the consortium of 90 scientists had participants from Singapore, China, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Indonesia. The study showed that genetic ancestry was

Composite images of Zebrafish under bright field and florescent filters

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highly correlated with ethnic and linguistic groups. There was a clear increase in genetic diversity from the northern to southern latitudes. The study also suggested that there was one major inflow of human migration into Asia arising from South East Asia, rather than multiple inflows from both southern and northern routes as proposed before. This indicates that South East Asia was the major geographic source of East Asian and North Asian populations. This study further highlights the need for genetic stratification when conducting genetic and pharmacogenomic studies in this continent.

Dr. Mitali Mukerji along with her colleagues has also initiated the novel field of Ayurgenomics, where principles of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of predictive and personalized medicine, are being integrated with genomics to accelerate predictive marker discovery. They have provided the first study in this regard where they have mapped variations that predict an individual’s susceptibility to high altitude adaptation and diseases. This is the first time in the world it has been successfully demonstrated that the ancient system of traditional medicine

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh giving away S.S. Bhatnagar Prize to Dr. Mitali Mukerji

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can guide modern genetic studies in the area of predictive medicine. Scientists at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) have also successfully sequenced the human genome of a 52-yearold healthy male. Dr. Samir Brahmachari said “Now that we have bridged the gap of technology and joined the elite club, this will open up new areas of human biology. The sequencing of the first Human Genome in India in conjunction with the Indian Genome variation programme opens newer vistas for low cost affordable healthcare and predictive medicine in future for the masses. This also opens up newer possibilities in disease diagnostics, treatment and sustaining low-cost drugs in the market. This achievement will help develop predictive medicine and keep healthcare a low-cost affair for the common man. Persons with genetic profiling will get an indication of diseases that may develop. It is significant because the ability to assemble the genome shows our capability to study the variations in genes and, thus, will revolutionize future disease predictions and treatment methodologies.” Minister For Science and Technology Mr. Prithviraj Chavan said “This is a unique achievement in the field of science. The US, UK, China, Canada and South Korea are the other countries who have

• Human genome is a list of instructions, encoded in DNA needed to make a human. • The four letters in the DNA alphabet – A, C, G & T – are used to carry instructions to make an organism. • It is like reading the meaning of a ‘word’. • Each set of 3 letters corresponds to a single amino acid, the building block. • Human DNA is 98 percent identical to chimpanzees.

achieved this before us. This genome sequencing sets the stage for India’s entry to an elite club.” Earlier, CSIR scientist Dr. Sridhar Sivasubbu and Dr. Vinod Scaria at the IGIB had sequenced the genome of a zebrafish, having about 1.8 billion base pairs as against that of the human genome that comprised around 3.1 billion base pairs. The zebrafish genome was considered a significant step as it was the popular organism for modelling human diseases. India was the first country to sequence the wild type strain of the zebrafish. Dwaipayan Bharadwaj, another scientist from IGIB along with a collaborator from CCMB (Centre INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

for Cellular and Molecular Biology) have also carried out the largest Genome study in diabetes involving over 5000 subjects in the country and have identified the involvement of a large number of genes. His group has also identified the novel susceptibility gene for obesity and type 2 diabetes in the North Indian populations and have also been able to demonstrate how the etiology of this disease which is increasingly on the rise could also have a different etiology in India. These studies have stressed the need and importance for these national initiatives for addressing health care issues in complex diseases. Genomic research in the public-private sector is also shaping up in the country. The Centre for Genomic Applications (TCGA) in Delhi is the first such partnership that maintains a multipurpose national facility that provides gene-based research services. A collaboration between IGIB and Institute of Molecular Medicine, the TCGA excels in the area of gene sequencing, genotyping, gene expression and proteomics or the large-scale study of the structures and functions of proteins. ◆ The author is a journalist.

Photographs: Courtesy IGIB

Connecting Indian and American aspirations MANISH CHAND

hree days of business, diplomacy and charm during the visit of US President Barack Obama, blitzed virtually 24x7 by dozens of TV channels, enthralled Indians with a heady narrative of the growing relationship between the world’s unrivalled power and an emerging power. If there were still any critics, it took one simple sentence to silence them. The President of United States of America Mr. Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama being welcomed by the Indian Ambassador to United States of America, Mrs. Meera Shankar on their arrival at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai on November 6, 2010. The Minister for Corporate & Minority Affairs Shri Salman Khurshid is also seen in the picture.

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“In the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member”, President Obama said in the high-domed Central Hall of the Indian Parliament amid ringing applause from 790 Indian Members of Parliament. “We welcome India as it prepares to take a seat at the United Nations Security Council”, said President Obama in his address, while fervently backing India’s emergence as a global power. “And as two global leaders, the United States and India can partner for global security – especially as India serves on the Security Council over the next two years”, he said in a reference to India beginning its two-year stint January 1, 2011 in the UNSC as a non-permanent member. “Indeed, the just and sustainable international order that America seeks includes a United Nations that is efficient, effective, credible and legitimate”, he said. That long-awaited announcement was easily the crowning moment of President Obama’s maiden four-day visit to India and capped a slew of declarations and pacts that not only launched the India-US relations

Visiting the Gandhi Sangrahalaya at Mani Bhavan in Mumbai

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onto a new trajectory, but contained the seeds of an emerging new world order. On that day November 8, 2010, President Obama, with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his side, announced the US decision to ease high-tech exports to India. He also backed New Delhi’s full membership of premier nuclear clubs like the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Australian Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement, which control global trade in sensitive dual-use technologies. “The US will remove Indian organizations from the so-called Entities List” the US President said, adding that the two sides will implement their nuclear deal by beginning commercial nuclear transactions. The twin announcements, taken together, marked the culmination of the revolutionary process sparked by the landmark 2005 India-US civil nuclear deal that has transformed the once estranged democracies into engaged democracies that are forging what President Obama has evocatively described as the “defining and indispensable partnership of the 21st century.”

President Obama addressing a meeting of the Indo-US Business delegation groups at Mumbai Signing the visitor’s book after paying tribute at the memorial for victims of 26/11 terrorist attack at Hotel Taj Mahal in Mumbai

The announcement that signalled the end of the remaining technology-denial regimes targeted against India since the 1998 nuclear tests, was a welcome development for the Government, which had worked on the landmark nuclear deal in 2005 along with then US President George Bush, ending the three-decade long atomic embargo against India. “We welcome the decision by the US to lift controls on export of high technology items and technologies to India and support of India’s membership in multilateral export control regimes such as the Nuclear Suppliers Group”, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, adding that it was “a manifestation of the growing trust and confidence in each other.” The wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Obama, who share a special chemistry and are not afraid to voice their open admiration for each other, also marked a significant advance on dealing with the volatile Afghanistan-Pakistan equation. Echoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s warning to Pakistan “to stop the terror machinery that is as active as before”, President Obama made it clear to Pakistan that the “safe havens for terrorists” are ‘unacceptable’ and pressured Islamabad to bring the 26/11 terrorists to justice. This was an important move as President Obama pinpointed the source of terror in Pakistan, which his predecessors only mentioned obliquely. In what came as a change, the US President also ruled out INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

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the US’ mediation while urging both India and Pakistan to resolve bilateral issues by themselves. In a big leg-up to India’s ongoing battle against cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistani soil, the India-US joint statement issued at the end of President Obama’s visit singled out the Lashkar-e-Toiba, the Pakistan-based militant outfit suspected to be behind the November 26, 2008 Mumbai carnage that claimed 166 lives and injured many more. “Condemning terrorism in all its forms, the two sides agreed that all terrorist networks, including Lashkar-e-Toiba, must be defeated and called for Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks”, said the joint statement. The mention of LeT in the joint statement is significant as the US was earlier prone to see this virulent militant outfit nurtured by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) as primarily an Indiafocused terror group, but has now come to see the LeT as part of the Al-Qaeda-led jihad against America and the West.

The two sides also decided to deepen counter-terror cooperation and announced a new dialogue between the Department of Homeland Security and India’s Home Ministry officials. This strategic connect on regional issues was significant specially when Obama lauded India’s investment in a wide array of reconstruction activities in Afghanistan and unveiled joint programmes in the violence-torn country. Allaying New Delhi’s anxieties in the aftermath of a proposed power-sharing deal with the Taliban, Obama stressed that the “US will not abandon the people of Afghanistan – or the region – to the violent extremists that threaten us all.” “In addition to their own independent assistance programs in Afghanistan, the two sides resolved to pursue joint development projects with the Afghan Government in capacity building, agriculture and women’s empowerment”, said the joint statement. The bonhomie and spontaneous goodwill, that marks blooming relations between India and the US, home to a 3-million strong Indian American community, was on display wherever President Obama and

Interacting with the students of different colleges at St. Xavier College in Mumbai

Mr. Barack Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama with school children of Holy Name High School to celebrate the Diwali festival in Mumbai

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First Lady Michelle Obama went, lending a popular touch to what was seen by some skeptics as a business-centric visit aimed at tapping the growing Indian middle class market to prime up the American economy reeling under record unemployment. Unveiling mega business deals worth $10-15 billion on the opening day of his visit, President Obama was candid enough to admit at his interaction with corporate honchos in Mumbai that these deals will create over 50,000 jobs in the US. But it was his firm belief in ‘India Indispensable’ that led both sides to skirt differences over outsourcing to articulate a new language of win-win economic engagement based on lowering of trade and investment barriers between two of the world’s largest economies. Reacting to a question about India’s IT outsourcing industry against this backdrop, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserted that “Indians

The President of India, Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil shaking hands with the President of United States of America, Mr. Barack Obama at the ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on November 8, 2010. The First Lady Mrs. Michelle Obama, the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, Mrs. Gursharan Kaur and Dr. Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat are also seen in the picture.

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are not in the business of stealing jobs” and President Obama called for renewed partnership with India in a host of areas ranging from clean energy to farming and crop forecasting to food processing. “The United States remains and will remain the most open market in the world. Together we can prevent protectionism that stifles growth. By opening its markets and reducing barriers to foreign investment, India can realise its true economic potential as well”, the US President told the Indian Parliamentarians. Among the largest business deals announced during President Obama’s visit is one worth $4.1 billion under which the Indian Air Force has reached a preliminary agreement to purchase 10 C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft made by the Boeing Company. Other deals include a $2.3 billion order placed by Indian budget carrier SpiceJet for buying 30 Boeing 737-800 commercial aircraft, and another on General Electric to supply

President Obama inspecting the guard of honour during the ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi

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414 engines worth $822 million to power India’s indigenous light combat aircraft. The other deals cover areas including infrastructure, telecom, instrumentation, homeland security, aircraft, choppers and dredging equipment. Above all, the November 6-9, 2010 visit of President Obama, a self-confessed admirer of Mahatma Gandhi and Indian daal, will go down in history not so much for his charming India – paying homage to 26/11 victims, the First Lady Michelle Obama dancing with school children, his interacting with students at St. Xavier’s in Mumbai, talking to business honchos or flooring Indian MPs with his eloquence – but for the sheer audacity of hope that is built into his narrative of the post-nuclear deal India-US relationship. Before President Obama came, cynics and journalists complained about the lack of a ‘Big Idea’ like the nuclear deal that framed India-US relationship in the Bush presidency. In a stirring 35-minute speech, replete with references to Indian icons ranging from Gandhi and Tagore to Ambedkar and The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and the US President, Mr. Barack Obama at the delegation level talks in New Delhi on November 8, 2010.

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Swami Vivekananda, President Obama has spelt out a soaring vision of how the partnership between India and the US was ‘indispensable’ to addressing key global challenges from nuclear proliferation and global terrorism to climate change and to fashioning the 21st century world order. In doing so, he has not only de-hyphenated India-US relations from the Pakistan obsession, but has placed it in an entirely different orbit by seeking to rope in India in evolving an open and inclusive Asian architecture and in jointly collaborating in helping Africa in various areas. The two sides also concluded a slew of pacts ranging from clean energy to health and collaborating in agriculture and food security to spark an ‘Evergreen Revolution’. Significantly, President Obama has pitched for a bigger Indian role in the economically dynamic East Asia region. “Like your neighbours in Southeast Asia, we want India to not only Look East, we want India to Engage East – because it will increase the security and prosperity of all Indians.”

Mr. Barack Obama addressing the Members of both the Houses of Parliament in New Delhi on November 8, 2010

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Above: The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and the President of United States of America, Mr. Barack Obama at the Joint Press Conference, in New Delhi on November 8, 2010. Facing page: The Chairperson, National Advisory Council, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi (top) and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj (below) meeting with the President of United States of America, Mr. Barack Obama in New Delhi.

While India’s ambition of getting a permanent UN seat could take many years to realize, the US’ support is set to impart a fresh momentum to the sluggish process of the UN reforms. However, the US support for India’s quest for the UNSC seat is underpinned by a broader and more appealing narrative of not a rising India, but ‘a risen India’ that is going to find an increasing resonance among world’s leading and emerging powers in days to come. “For in Asia and around the world, India is not simply emerging; India has already emerged. And it is my firm belief that the relationship between the US and India will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century”, the 49-year-old American President told the Indian Parliamentarians, a shade prophetically, drawing the world’s attention to ‘incredible energy and optimism’ of ‘an ancient civilization of science and innovation’ that is now a rising power. ◆ The author is a journalist and these are his personal views.

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GROWING HUB OF PUBLISHING MADHUSREE CHATTERJEE

ot very long ago, the books that lined the bookshelves of Indian homes bore foreign imprints like Oxford University Press, Macmillan, Orient Longman, Little Brown, Viking, Bantam, Picador, HarperCollins and Penguin, to name just a few. The tide has since turned. In the last two decades, the best of international and indigenous publishing houses operating in India led by government-run facilities like the National Book Trust, the Children’s Book Trust and the several hundred big and small private publishers that

make up the country’s nearly ` 200 billion publishing industry – in both English and vernacular languages – is securing a steady toehold in the export market with a formidable cache of Made-inIndia books. A rough estimate shows that the country has more than 150,000 printing presses and together with the publishing industry employs a work force of 10 million. “Presently, around $2.3 billion worth of books and printed material are exported from India, while the global market comprises $47 billion. As the literacy rate is increasing, India

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has started growing up fast now and, for sure, it is going to be rather competitive. The better English language skills of Indians bring another added advantage to our print export industry”, says Arvind Mehta, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce. The export of Indian books can be broadly classified into two categories: exports to developed nations and those to developing nations. Broadly speaking, books on ideology, religion, philosophy, culture, body, mind, soul and academic research are exported to the developed world. “The Bhagavad Gita, Ramcharitmanas and the Bhakt Charit are our three popular export titles for Indians living abroad”, says Lalmani Tiwari, Production Manager of the Gita Press, the country’s oldest vernacular press. The Gita Press boasts of a print run of 80 million for the Bhagavad Gita. All kinds of Indian books sell

abroad. Books on Islam have a ready market in the Muslim world while those on high-end lifestyle, corporate manuals and IndoAnglian fiction are sought after in countries with an educated Indian diaspora and even among the non-Indian literati. Perhaps the single most important factor that has helped book exports grow in recent INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

decades are international book fairs like the London Book Fair, Frankfurt Book Fair and even the World Book Fair and International Book Fair in New Delhi that draw publishers and industry stakeholders from across the world in the form of large foreign trade delegations. In 2010, the World Book Fair in New Delhi saw brisk international trade in reference, education and non-fiction books published in India. Orders clinched in the capital resulted in the shipment of huge consignments of Indian books abroad later. Says Bipin Chandra, the Chairman of the National Book Trust that organized the World Book Fair in the capital in 2010: “The volume of international trade with 35 stalls from more than 15 countries was much more than in the previous years.” Nuzhat Hassan, the Director of the fair, said: “Individual Indian publishers bagged orders worth

$200,000 on a single day. Given the trend, export trade of books is booming.” The communication system – especially e-mails and the Internet – provides better global connectivity to publishers to push their wares in international markets. The active participation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in globalising the market has been a shot in the arm for the export trade. Figures furnished by Capexil, an export promotion cell set up by the Ministry of Commerce which facilitates and strengthens India’s publishing and printing industry, show that India exported books, publications and other printed material worth ` 105.7 billion in

2008-09, substantially more than the ` 78.7 billion in the previous year which witnessed a slump in export because of the global economic meltdown. In 2006-07, the country exported books to the tune of ` 112.5 billion. The export of Indian books has grown exponentially since the 1980s when the figure stood at a meager ` 807.6 million. That was the time when the Indian publishing industry was beginning to spread its wings nearly 20 years ago, when the industry felt confident enough to look overseas after a boom in the domestic sector. “India has a rich literary heritage dating back to many centuries. It was created by our authors, philosophers and

thinkers. It is continuously being added to and developed by our authors who write in various regional languages as well as in English. It is through books more than anything else that we can work for international understanding and world peace” are the memorable words of the late O.P. Ghai, the FounderChairman of the Institute of Book Publishing, New Delhi. “ I am a great, fantastic accident of being the right person at the right place at the right time. That is the description of my success...

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“A book is not simply an export commodity but a tool that can educate and change the minds of people in the country and abroad. When we export a book, we do not think only of a few hundred grams of paper, board, ink and glue. We think of export country’s culture.” The Indian publishing industry is taking advantage of the transformational shifts in the new digital age by enriching content for distribution across diverse

”

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markets. One such example is the creation of e-books that has brought radical shifts in the book export trade. Books are not a burden any more – sellers can hawk books online across continents and tie up with e-book makers worldwide to push indigenous publications at minimum cost. The fledgling electronic reader manufacturing industry has spawned a new breed of readers – who can afford to read books on their portable laptops and CD players. Rising per capita disposable income and the burgeoning tribe of young readers – the corporate jet-setters – are helping Indian publishers push the envelope further to tap new segments of global readers who are wired to the digital loop. Explaining the practicalities about selling rights for books in the international marketplace, Urvashi Butalia of Zubaan observed: “Selling rights can be an important part of your

income, apart from helping in keeping authors happy, receiving additional revenues and fame, while making your book list known at the international level.” “Much rights selling is built on personal contact; so, once you have a list ready, start making contacts, meeting people, telling them about your work, showing interest and so on. This is very important because if someone is persuaded that you are a serious publisher, they will take all your books seriously. Publishers from countries like Turkey and Croatia can also be good markets for selling rights”, she said at a recent seminar on Exporting Indian Books: How to Start, Survive and Flourish in the International Market in New Delhi. Says Shobit Arya, the publisher of Wisdom Tree who was present at the Frankfurt Book Fair: “More in keeping with the ‘New India’ concept of STM, known so as they represent the INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

fields of Science, Technology and Management, they accounted for the largest representation from India this year. Eighteen such publishers, such as Jaypee Brothers and NCBA Exports were in the special hall assigned to the STM publishers from across the world. So from children’s publishers like Navneet to specialised publishers on Islamic books like Goodword Books;

from the legendary UBS Exports to printers like Gopsons; and from education publishers like Vikas Publishing to the Central Reference Library of Kolkata, the Indian representation at the Frankfurt Book Fair seemed to be as diverse as the country itself.” According to Capexil, the overall publishing outsourcing industry in India is estimated INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

at $250 million annually and is growing at 40 percent each year. India has the potential to capture at least 20-25 percent of the global market and 20 percent of other services like animation and design. “Publishers from around the world reap substantial cost advantage when working in India”, said S.K. Ghai, Chairman, Capexil. Capexil has a multi-pronged mission to aid export. It aims to promote the publishing and printing industry as a strong contributor in the world market. It seeks to develop the industry to set global standards. It also advocates measures to streamline the industry and builds capacity to effectively respond to the global trade environment which is growing fast. ◆ The author is a journalist.

ARVIND PADMANABHAN

ndia’s $13-billion media and entertainment industry – a vibrant reflection of the country’s growing soft power, fiercely-free press and globally-acclaimed cinema – is set to grow 13 percent annually to log revenues of $24.25 billion by 2014, says a new study. Conducted jointly by leading industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and global consultancy KPMG, the study says the recovery staged by this industry since the last quarter of 2009, after a year of major slowdown, will now continue in the future.

A still from ‘Three Idiots’

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SMM Ausaja

Dream run for entertainment industry

And this growth, the study adds, will be driven by a host of factors such as favourable demographics, high economic growth, strong fundamentals, expected rise in advertising revenue and increasing penetration. “The media and entertainment industry represents the face of consumers in India”, says FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra. “Media and entertainment is a part of our daily life and touches the maximum number of people. So despite the challenge of last year, I’m excited by the potential of the industry to even grow beyond 13 percent per annum over the next few years.” The findings are not surprising for a country that has been producing some 1,000 movies a year, has allowed 512 domestic and overseas TV channels to broadcast programmes, licensed six direct-to-home operators, approved 423 FM radio channels and registered 69,323 newspapers. “We are at the threshold of a huge burst on the entertainment arena in India”, says Shah Rukh Khan, a movie superstar with fan following not only in India, but in many countries that have a concentration of Indian diaspora who number 25 million in 130 countries. He says with India’s fast paced economic growth fulfilling the basic three needs of the people, namely food, clothing and shelter, the desire is to go for the next level of satisfaction.

“There is now a fourth desire and that is entertainment. Movies are a popular source of this fourth requirement”, says Khan. Last year also saw Indian cinema reach glory when “Slumdog Millionaire”, a rags-to-riches story of a young shantytown dweller in Mumbai, went on to win eight of the INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

ten Academy Awards it was nominated for. Then, Big Pictures, a part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group that has a market capitalisation of $81 billion, forayed into Hollywood to make films with celebrated director Steven Spielberg with an initial funding of $825 million. Similarly, the diversified Sahara Group has confirmed its bid to rescue the debt-laden MGM, the fabled Hollywood studio behind classics such as ‘James Bond’ and ‘Gone With The Wind’. The company is in talks to acquire MGM for around $2 billion. This apart, Hollywood’s Warner Brothers continued its tryst with Bollywood by producing another blockbuster film ‘Chandni Chowk to China’, starring leading actor Akshay Kumar, with plans for more such films this year. “The time has come for having a symbiotic relationship where Bollywood and Hollywood can both feed off their knowledge instead of just movies. The economics will follow. Then, together we can have a global audience watching our movies”, says Khan. “The big investment we look for from Hollywood is for training to run machines for visual effects. We need to develop people who can make us our own cheaper, better and faster software for filmmaking and have a special branch of trained visual effects teams and talent.”

Given the potential for Indian cinema, distributors are now increasingly aiming for a wider reach for their films. For instance, ‘Three Idiots’ was simultaneously released overseas with nearly 400 prints worldwide – 210 in the US alone. Looking forward, the study says several factors augur well for this industry, notably the growing reach of media, digitisation, convergence, better consumer understanding, innovation and enhanced penetration of regional markets. “The media industry is experiential. Companies need to enhance overall customer

experience. This includes engaging content and better infrastructure to attract and retain customers”, says Amit Khanna, Chairman of Reliance Entertainment. Given these factors, the study projects the growth for films from $1.98 billion to $3.09 billion, for print media from $3.88 billion to $5.97 billion and for radio from $173 million to $364 million. The study projects revenues for TV companies to jump from $5.71 billion to $11.58 billion by 2014. As of now, over 500 channels are beamed into Indian homes out of which close to 150 are pay channels, thanks

A still from eight Academy Awards winner ‘Slumdog Millionaire’

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A scene from a popular TV serial

to increasing Direct-To-Home (DTH) penetration. DTH proved to be a very successful medium and helped in increasing the pay TV subscriber base in India despite the global economic meltdown. The DTH industry is estimated to have grown from 1.5 million homes in 2005 to 23 million in the country. By 2012, the number is expected to double, making India the world’s largest DTH market. Gaming, the report says, will be the fastest growing segment, given the country’s base of 600 million telecom subscribers. This segment grew 22 percent in 2009 and is expected to expand by 32 percent per annum to reach $711 million by 2014. With the coming of 3G, entertainment will also be available on mobiles. The telecom industry is estimated to be spending around $2.5 billion to $3 billion to ensure a smooth 3G network rollout.

Ever widening world of FM Radio

The FICCI-KPMG study has also identified 10 key drivers of growth:

• Consumer research will ensure consumer oriented media products and delivery

• Digitization will help in

• Players are using multiple modes of connecting with consumers.

spreading the reach and impact

• Regionalisation will aid in inclusion of untapped markets • Convergence and impact of new media will benefit media players • Consolidation is leading to emergence of players with superior capabilities • Competition is expanding the operating market • Talent development and management are becoming key to business success • Innovation is sweeping across products, process, marketing and business models • Growing importance of pay markets in media business models INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

“Media spend in India as a percent of gross domestic product is 0.41 percent now. This ratio is almost half of the world’s average of 0.80 percent and is much lower compared to developed countries like US and Japan”, says the study. “This indicates the potential for growth in spends as the industry in India matures. As we move towards a more brandconscious society, this is likely to get reflected in the future growth rates.” ◆ The author is Executive Editor, IANS.

Ramli Ibrahim and his disciple January Low performing at the ICCR’s three-day classical dance festival in New Delhi.

Classical dance mesmerises the world

The ICCR’s recent three-day festival showcased international artistes from seven countries, performing Indian classical dances. The common message that emerged was quite heartwarming. Ramli Ibrahim in Malaysia has over 200 students of Odissi in his institution ‘Sutra’, learning the Debaprasad Das Gharana. Irina Strakhovenko collaborates with Moscow’s Indian Embassy School where there are 350 students of dance – admittedly interested in hip-hop and Bollywood – but some in classical styles as well. Nhlanhla Vincent Zwane from South Africa vouches for literally hundreds of female Bharatanatyam dancers,

with indigenous South Africans joining in alongside immigrant Indians. The best of the lot were the dancer-duo: Ramli Ibrahim and January Low. Sutra’s groundswell of Odissi, since 1983, was evident in the performance of 25-year-old January – already completing 17-years of grooming – with picture-perfect Tribhangis, Charis and Bhramaris. Together, they presented Mangalacharan, Saveri Pallavi, Nava Rasa and Ardha-Narishwara. The use of choreographic excellence in executing circles and arcs, linear and diagonal movements was superb. An equally striking dancer was the South African

The grand finale showcased international artistes from seven countries performing different forms of Indian classical dances in a single choreography (below & facing page).

UTPAL K BANERJEE

utside India, it has been a different story. It was mainly the Indian migrants, who always carried a little India with them and not only merely invited Indian dancers to perform and train, but also opened school after school, catering for their progeny to learn Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Kathak, in that order. Outside the diaspora, it is primarily the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), which has been carrying the bastion among the global populace for well over 50 years. Their programmes have touched 90 countries

already, with a special niche for Afghanistan. For instance, about 2300 scholarships are awarded to foreigners every year and, at the moment, there are over 3500 students from abroad, out of which 1650 are Afghans. This is not surprising, considering that the landmass across the Hindukush Mountains shared Gandhara culture with India for millennia. ICCR’s encouragement to foreign learners is comprehensive covering language-classes, study-tours, attachments to dance institutions and participation in annual India festivals.

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Nhlanhla, with his profound regard for guru Japsperi Moopan, a third-generation South African who had learnt from Kalakshetra, Chennai, for five years. The Kalakshetra lineage was visible in Nhlanhla’s two Bharatanatyam items, especially Tillana, but his best came out in the Ancestral Bhava where he freely improvised. From Russia came Irina with her offering of Kuchipudi: with Jayadeva’s Ashtapadi and Ananda Tandava based on Adi Shankara. Her entry, as Krishna in frozen posture, was striking, in contrast to the usual speed with which other danseuses storm onto the stage. The guru’s authentic stamp was unmistakable. For Aila El-Edross, her upbringing in the Birju Maharaj Gharana – whose son Deepak Maharaj played Pakhawaj and daughter Mamta articulated Padhants – was equally evident. Her Abhinaya with an Urdu Ghazal was enjoyable. Originally, she danced Legong classical style from Bali, which had clear-cut gestures. That helped her in Kathak. Anne Dietrich from Germany – who performed Mohiniyattam – too, had a good background in contemporary dance since she was six. Her presentation included Ganesa Vandana, Jayadeva’s Ashtapadi and a graceful Tillana in raga Bhimpalasi. Regarding her interest in fusion, she had experimented, in Germany, with Spirit, to visualise how spirituality Another sequence by Ramli Ibrahim and January Low. INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

Photo Feature

Sculpting Sand Text & Photographs: DILIP BANERJEE

Sculpting sand is a unique art developed in Puri, Orissa, which later became very popular all over the country. Sand art can be in any size, shape or form – human, animal, plant or just a fantasy. For carving a sand sculpture, the artist uses the clean and fine grained sand mixed with water and often even coloured sand. With the magic of his deft fingers, the artist gives vent to his imagination to evolve highly aesthetic sculptures. Here we present to you a glimpse of the myriad sculptures created by different artists on the expansive beach of Puri. is seen in a mingling of Kathak, Mohiniyattam and contemporary dance. Isa Jacobi was the other dancer from Germany, as the only Kathakali dancer there, revealing a rare prowess as Hanuman. The episode devolved around Bhima trying to remove the old Hanuman from his path and later recognising the Rama-devotee as his elder brother. Kuchipudi by Dayashree Pentiah-Appadoo from Mauritius offered two rather elaborate items: Saraswati Vandana and the thali-based Tarangam. There’s no other Kuchipudi dancer in Mauritius. Zhang Jinghui from China presented Kathak that was supine and statuesque, belying her professed two-year learning spell. The grand finale was a joint presentation of the dancers under the competent baton of

Saswati Sen. Based on Tagore’s Gitanjali song: I know not how thou singst, my master…, with the Bengali original and the Poet’s own translation, the selected seven used considerable improvisation in their own styles and yet remained within the skilled parameters of the brilliant choreography. The dancers were left to imagine the ‘Master’ as guru, or the cosmic nature, or the Supreme divinity, to celebrate both Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary. How very befitting! A tribute from an international band of artists to an artist extraordinary from the last century whose legacy is still very much alive all over the globe! ◆ The author is a noted writer on arts and Padma Shri Awardee. Photographs: Courtesy ICCR

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Rising from the depths of water and expanding its petals and leaves on the surface, through its appearance, it gives proof of the life-supporting power of the all nourishing abyss. This is the reason why a lotus flower in full bloom is used as the pedestal or throne support of all the deities – Hindu, Buddhist and Jain. Invariably, they are shown seated or standing on a fully open lotus flower (padma pitha) or on a double petalled lotus (mahambuja). This has symbolic connotations: the deities are represented in their transcendental, subtle forms, i.e. the spiritual body which is weightless. If seated with one Painted ceiling from a cave temple at Ajanta enclosing lotus flowers within concentric rings of the circular mandala, 5th century CE.

leg dangling down, then also the deity’s foot rests upon the lotus pedestal or cushion. Numerous Hindu deities are shown holding a lotus flower, for example, Vishnu who preserves the universe, is invariably holding the padma (lotus) in one of his four hands. Vishnu’s spouse Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, Shiva’s consort Parvati, Surya the Sun god, the Bodhisattva Padmapani – all these deities hold a lotus flower in their hands. In fact, even the personified sacred river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna always hold a long stemmed lotus, characterised by a long stalk, the undulations of which match the contours of their

Wooden lantern ceiling relieved with lotus flowers and an immense lotus rosette in the centre, from the mandapa ceiling of Chamunda Devi temple, Chamba (Himachal Pradesh), 17th century CE.

The lotus in Indian art Text & Photographs: SUBHASHINI ARYAN

n the vast repertoire of Indian ornamental motifs, among the symbols and devices that recur in traditional art and architecture, the lotus occupies pride of place. Unlike western art, in which great emphasis is laid on photographic realism and the naturalistic treatment of human and animal forms, the main concerns in Indian art are profoundly spiritual and religious. Each and every object portrayed in Indian art has a religio-spiritual and symbolic significance. Among the flowers, the lotus is the most preferred symbol, not because of its beautiful form, but because of its profound symbolism. We all know that this flower grows in muddy waters, but remains unaffected by it. Whether white, blue (nilotpala), rose pink or white and pink, its petals evoke the sentiments of purity in everybody’s mind. According to Hindu philosophy, human beings ought to live like a lotus flower in this wily, unscrupulous world, completely detached and pure hearted, untouched by evil forces. INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

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An immense lotus rosette carved on the mandapa ceiling of Markula Devi temple, Udaipur, Lahul (Himachal Pradesh) 11th century CE. (above) and a lotus volute decorating the stone jambs of a Hindu temple, 11th century CE (right). Facing fage: Painted ceiling from a cave temple at Ajanta featuring exquisite delicately worked lotus flowers, 5th century CE.

elegantly standing ‘S’-shaped bodies. In Indian paintings, whether miniature ones or frescoes, the flowing waters of the river or a pond are always indicated by lotus flowers and their broad leaves floating on their surfaces. This tradition has persisted from ancient times. In the world renowned Ajanta caves frescoes, the lotus pond is an alluring part of the landscape, and continued to be so in subsequent centuries till the dawn of the 20th century. All the schools of miniature painting that flourished in the royal courts all over India, more especially in Rajasthan and western Himalayas INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

– the latter popularly known as the Pahari school – feature the river front as well as the lotus pond in this manner. Lord Krishna and his exploits (lila) were the most popular themes painted with great verve on account of his romantic escapades. In Pahari miniature schools, not only Krishna but all the Hindu deities are featured as sporting pinnacled crowns surmounted by lotus buds. From the period of the Ajanta frescoes (2nd century BCE to approximately 7th century CE) onwards, the ceilings are painted with concentric circles enclosing a variety of motifs, the lotus flowers, buds and petals have

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been painted in mind baffling diversity; each one is different from the other, far more delicate and impressive. The tradition of chiselling a large lotus rosette in full bloom carved in bold relief, with broad petals, spread out or at times curling in with great delicacy and finesse, is also very ancient. Such ceilings have survived in the rock-cut cave shrines at Ellora, in the 7th century CE timber and monolithic temples in Himachal Pradesh, in Bharmaur and Chhatrarhi in Chamba, at Masrur in Kangra district. This tradition was not, however, confined to these regions alone, but existed all over India. The central component of the mandapa ceiling in the famed marble Jain temple at Mount Abu in Rajasthan, erected by Vimala Shah in the 11th century CE is a great masterpiece of artistic talent and ingenuity displayed by the local sculptors who produced an exquisitely carved pendulous, filigree-like lotus rosette, that haunts one long after oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visit to these marvellous shrines. This tradition persisted all through the centuries down the ages. Diverse architectural components in the stone temples have been relieved with lotus rosettes in a variety of ways. In both the timber and lithic temples, almost all over India, lotus rosettes apart, there are bands of exquisitely carved lotus petals running through the external and interior walls, as also ceilings, separating panels relieved with diverse episodes from the legends pertaining to

Wooden pillar ornately decorated with lotus petals, lotus volutes and pot-and-foliage capital, Lakshna Devi temple, Bharmaur (Himachal Pradesh), 7th century CE.

the deities. The doors display an immense lotus rosette chiselled all over their surfaces. The undulating lotus volutes as well as broad lotus petals contribute to the rich effect of the door frames, the stone and brass uprights of INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

the flaming, effulgent aureoles (prabhavalis) surrounding the icons of worship installed in the inner sanctums of the temples. The heads of all the deities are also surrounded by a circular halo relieved with eight lotus

A series of lotus rosettes form the long garlands of Lord Vishnu and his companion figure â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the personified weapon Sudarshan Chakra; Harirai temple image of worship, Chamba (Himachal Pradesh).

petals, the numeral eight having a mystical connotation and significance. The undulating, meandering creepers formed by the long drawn out lotus stalk lend elegance and delicacy to many a temple doorway from

Kashmir in the north to the tip of south India, from Gujarat in the east to Orissa in the west. The tradition of carving immense lotus medallions or roundels enclosing bird and animal motifs harks back to INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

the pre-Christian era when the famous Buddhist stupas were erected at Bharhut and Sanchi. This tradition is not confined to religious architecture alone. It enriches the residential houses of the ordinary natives as well, apart from their depiction on the walls of the royal palaces and forts. When the muslim and Mughal rulers got their palaces erected, the native craftsmen continued to use the same motifs to great advantage. In the twin red forts of Agra and Delhi, large lotus rosettes made of marble are embedded on the floors, from the centre of which the fountains spouted forth water to keep the palaces cool during the hot, sultry summers of north India. This motif was not confined to architecture, religious or nonreligious, alone; it was profusely used in all forms of crafts. Most embroidered fabrics feature the lotus mandalas in the centre, around which are sprinkled numerous motifs and figures. In woven and printed textiles as well, in stone and wood carvings, in ornaments worn by women, the lotus rosettes are used with immense innovativeness and imagination. The multi-petalled lotus rosette offered the craftsmen working in all mediums plenty of scope to display their amazing talent, skill and ingenuity. This motif is found ubiquitously in its many splendoured form in all forms of crafts all over India. â&#x2014;&#x2020; The author is a noted art historian.

First views of India Text & Photographs: PRAN NEVILE

here is no visual record of the Indian scene until the end of the 18th century when British professional artists began coming to India in search of fame and fortune. Portrait painters were the first to arrive lured by the prospects of patronage from the British ruling elite and Indian nawabs and princes. Then followed other artists interested in recording the Indian panorama with its bewildering

diversity of people and its varied landscape with mighty mountains, majestic rivers and magnificent architecture. Of all these British artists William Hodges was undoubtedly the pioneer in the field of landscape painting and also one of the most sensitive and poetic whose writings are as unique as his paintings. Born in London in 1744, Hodges came from a humble background. While

Chinsura from the river Hooghly (Bengal)

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serving as an errand boy he came to be noticed by well-known British artist Richard Wilson, the father of British landscape, who was so impressed with the young boy’s artistic talent that he decided to take him on as his pupil. Hodges came to India in 1780 and received generous patronage from the then Governor General Warren Hastings who not only gave him a large number of private commissions but also got him a subsidy from the East India Company. Hastings was deeply impressed by his work and he acquired as many as 36 oil paintings of Indian views by Hodges. Hastings also had a good

A protrait of William Hodges by George Dance

collection of his pencil or ink drawings of Indian scenes, which now form part of the collection at the Yale Center for British art in the US. A part view of the ruins of the city of Agra

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Hodges travelled extensively in India both by road and by boat up and down the Ganges. He was thus able to see the country’s imposing and colourful landscape and novel architecture that greatly impressed him. He visited and recorded some of the great Mughal monuments at Delhi and Agra. He was struck by the extraordinary beauty of the Taj Mahal; he wrote, “the effect is such as, I confess I never experienced from any work of art. The fine materials, the beautiful forms and the symmetry of the whole with the judicious choice of situation, far surpasses anything I ever beheld.” Hodges

A view of the tomb of Emperor Akbar at Secundra (above) and a Hindustani woman (right).

was particularly fascinated by the light and atmosphere around the country. He wrote “The clear blue cloudless sky, the polished white buildings, the bright sandy beach, the dark green sea, present a combination totally new to the eye of the Englishman.” He added “the more brilliant the sunshine the more I love to see the image – I have frequently stood transported at the wonderful brilliance of the image portrayed on the screen, at the beautiful touches of sunlight amongst the trees and the fine masses of broad light and shadow everywhere

pervading the picture.” Hodges experimented with placing local figures primarily village women INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

in the foreground of his landscape paintings. He returned to England at the end of 1783 and his famous series of aquatints titled Select Views of India was published in 12 parts between 1785 and 1788 with a description of each scene in English and French. The plates based on his drawings made between 1781-83 were engraved in aquatint and etched by Hodges himself. The aquatint technique was still in its infancy but Hodges used it with exceptional skill and succeeded in preserving the atmospheric qualities of his original sketches made on the spot. The series was dedicated to the East India Company,

A view of Benaras (above) and a sepoy (right)

which bought a sizeable number of sets of the 48 plates bound in 2 volumes. It was an unprecedented work, for people in the west had never before seen such a vivid array of Indian monuments and scenery from sketches made on the spot. Hodges was particularly charmed by the winsome manners and polished behaviour of the Indian people, which he considered the hallmark of the most highly civilised state of society. Unassuming and endowed with great personal charm, he made himself at home even in remote villages, never visited

by any European before him. He admired the simple country folk and mixed freely with them, INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

enjoying their hospitality with curries and ‘pillaw’. Hodges’ journal of his travels in India (1780-83) published in 1793 is a remarkable document with some of his observations verging on the poetic and others highly illuminating as well as amusing and romantic. Struck by the awe-inspiring grandeur of the mighty Ganges he was equally captivated by the “simplicity and primitive appearance of the people”. Admiring the river, he wrote, “The rivers I have seen in Europe, even the Rhine appear as rivulets in comparison with this enormous mass of water. The meandering of the river Ganges through the flat country, and

glittering through the immense plain, highly cultivated, as far as the extent of the horizon where the eye is almost at a loss to discriminate the termination of the sky and land”. Watching a group of Muslim women visiting tombs at night, he wrote “it is both affecting and curious to see them proceeding in groups, carrying lamps in their hands which they place at the head of the tomb: the effect considered in a picturesque light, is highly beautiful; with that of sentiment, it is delightful”. Just as the British concept of the picturesque influenced their

landscape painting, the western concept of beauty had its impact on their portrayal of the native people. Hodges openly admitted that his portraits of Indians, particularly of women, were based on the ideas of classical beauty. He watched the women at Benaras Ghats and wrote: “to a painter’s mind, the fine artistic figures present themselves, for example when he observed a beautiful female form ascending the steps from the river with a wet drapery, and with vases on their heads, carrying water to the temples.” Hodges enjoyed travelling by

A view of an isolated rock in the Ganges at Jangirah

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palanquins instead of taking the river route. He could afford that since he received a substantial salary from the East India Company through Hastings. He gives a vivid description of the facilities for travellers including wells and shady banyan trees, and makes a special mention of Sher Shah Suri for his “most humane attention to the comforts and accommodations of his people”. He was delighted to meet a variety of travellers on the road and under the shade of banyan trees by the side of wells or tanks. As he saw men, women and native soldiers there, he drew

their sketches on the spot. He witnessed and recorded a sati scene where a Hindu woman was being led to the funeral pyre of her dead husband. Hodges exhibited his Indian views to an appreciative audience in London and was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1789 and was hailed as a very intelligent and ingenious artist. He retired in 1795 and opened a bank at Dartmouth, which failed and brought him financial ruin. Faced with failing health and harassed by financial troubles, he committed suicide in 1797. A reappraisal of his work and his

A view of the fort at Allahabad

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light filled paintings by some art historians reveals him as an artist who was ahead of his time. For Indians of course William Hodges was the first artist to portray a true to life picture of the Indian scene. In fact Hodges was the founding father of the great illustrated and coloured albums of India in the late 18th and early 19th century and inspired so many other British artists who came later and produced many great works on India. ◆ The author is a noted writer on arts.

Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Text: SHUBHRA MAZUMDAR Photographs: AVINASH PASRICHA

stad Amjad Ali Khan is a leading performer of Indian classical music on the sarod. He belongs to the Senia Bangash School of music and was trained by his father the late Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan. In his own career the maestro has created several new ragas and has also developed a unique style of playing. Tributes and honours have been bestowed on this great master musician both at home and abroad. In India, he has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan, (the country’s highest civilian award), the Sangeet Natak Akademi and Tansen Awards. Internationally, he has been conferred the UNESCO Award, the National Ambassadorship of UNICEF, and the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award.

His recognition by the world began with his collaboration with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in the number ‘Tribute to Hong Kong’. In 2010, he was nominated for the Grammy Award in the best Traditional World Music category for his album ‘Ancient Sound’. In 2007, he performed a sarod concerto with conductor David Murphy and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Today he performs at major concert destinations across the world. He has also been a visiting Professor of Music at the Universities of Yorkshire, Washington, North Eastern and New Mexico and has been given honorary doctorates by several universities worldwide. He is also the recipient of the honorary citizenship of the states of Texas, Massachusetts, and Tennessee and Atlanta city. Despite this amazing record of achievements, the Ustad consistently states “I want to communicate with the listener who finds Indian classical music remote.” He has two talented sons – Ayaan and Amaan – following in his footsteps. Here Amaan Ali speaks about his father. Has Ustadji written his autobiography? Well, not yet. But on Ustadji there are three publications. The first one was written by Gautam Haldar, well known in Kolkata’s literary circles. The next book was written by Gopi Gajwani, best known for his graphic art. So

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the book which he produced on Ustadji is very poetically done. The third book on him has been written by my brother Ayaan and I. We regard ‘Abba’ as we call him, God’s greatest gift to us and hence the book that we penned has more of him as our parent. Another reason for his not penning an autobiography just yet, in my opinion, is that he might feel it is too early in his life to get down to writing his personal memoirs. Has the style of playing the sarod over the performance years of Ustadji undergone a change since your grandfather’s time? My father has been a very cosmopolitan musician. Of course he is a gharanedar sarod player, undoubtedly, but that does not rule out the privilege of bringing in innovations within the formatted space of the gharana. In my grandfather’s INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

time, broadcasts were from All India Radio and the technical equipment of that time was not very advanced. This required that the style of strumming had to be loud and that set in as a habit of playing for sarod players of that era. It is this visible change of an aural nature that can be seen in my father’s playing. Another thing about this art is that music is a reflection of a journey through life and gets coloured by the individual’s life’s experiences. So when my father heard the greats, in the prime of their performance years, I am inclined to believe that these diverse influences must have rubbed off on his music too, not as direct lifts of playing styles but as an unconscious absorption of stylistic nuggets imbibed by a keen listener. Though Ustadji’s childhood years were spent in a typical Indian musician’s home, his schooling was taking place in an environment that was far removed from his home atmosphere. How did the two different worlds of music and public school life impact on the boyhood years of Ustadji? My grandfather had moved to Delhi when my father was just three. So he had his schooling in Delhi’s Modern School on Barakhamba Road. The late Mr. Kapoor, Principal, Modern School, was a revolutionary visionary and he admitted Abba without the least hesitation. My grandfather came from a rich musical gharana so each day after

school Abba would have to sit down to his riyaaz along with the school home work. And though he shared a very affectionate relationship with his mother and sisters, the sibling relationship at that time was very formal. With these many pressures on the little boy, in short, Abba was miserable and under quite a lot of pressure. What impact did the school years have upon his personality in the later years? My father continues to be a loner even to this day. He is happy doing his own thing. I suppose this is a common trait found in all achievers, because they live exactly by what they believe in and my father has certainly chosen to live by his beliefs. In the bargain it has made him a more humble person, very tolerant

of others and because of that struggle that he has had to face in his early years, he has become a much more compassionate human being. On the other hand he has certain rigorous principles too. He does not accept adulation or affection from people who are not working hard themselves. In life, he says, there is no room for those who don’t work hard. Such people have no potential. He tells youngsters in turn that they should either aim to be the best in their chosen field or quit altogether. He believed in making his parents proud through his sincere efforts and hard work. How did the professional climate differ from the time of your grandfather to that of your father?

Amjad Ali Khan in a concert with his sons – Ayaan and Amaan

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Grandfather was working as a court musician in the court of the Gwalior Maharaja. This position gave him immense status. Thus the music that grandfather played was patronizing, and pleasing to the Maharaja. On the other hand, my father was never answerable for his music to anybody. As far as music is concerned he feels “We live for music, but do not live on music.” It made him strive harder with his music and the struggle to produce the best he is capable of gave his musicality that raw edge to his playing. What have you learnt of the family’s social interactions with the musician community of that time? My grandfather was a formal man and my father did not enjoy a very free relationship with him. He was not free to show his affection for his parents in a public way, even though my grandfather was a liberal man for his time. He was dedicated to his music and we can pay back what he has done for us by accepting the fact that he’s done so much for us. A devout Muslim himself, he must have gone to dargahs and offered water to people during Ramzan, but was never dogmatic in his approach. And by the way, he was scared of flying. So he lost out on a whole lot of concert tours held abroad as he could not take the trip. It affected his music too, as other musicians had begun to earn fame with their schedules overseas by that time.

What have you learnt of your parents’ relationship to one another? My father’s marriage to my mother was his second marriage. I was told about this fact when we brothers were around eleven or so, because my parents did not want us to learn of it from other people. As for their relationship, as my father was and still is, a very good looking man, in his younger days he was understandably very attractive. But my mother was very confident and she trusted my father fully. The social factor that binds this union is that they both come from backgrounds where good food matters. My mother comes from a well-to-do Assamese plantation owning family and food is an integral part of life. Father’s Muslim background is also a food loving family. Then again both enjoy music. Both had a strong belief in each other’s capabilities. What I love about their relationship is the love they share, the respect they have for each other, the space they give one another and to me they seem to belong to that lost generation of real people who feel so much for one another. As a much respected Ustad your father has had several shishyas whom he has groomed. What has he done to take them forward in their music? First of all, father has been a very modern-age guru. After they have INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

been sufficiently groomed he has helped them get a professional grading as artists through the AIR categorization system. He has helped others in securing jobs in schools. Of late Ustadji has taken to teaching at universities abroad. Is this a purely commercial venture? I feel that it’s nice that he has taken to teaching students abroad about our music. For fifty years he has been grooming disciples in our country; now he’s doing that elsewhere. He has taught at the universities of Yorkshire, Chicago, Stonybrooke and many others, as a World Music Professor. What in your opinion is the biggest contribution to the world of music from Ustadji? A lot of new ragas for Indian classical music. His outstanding achievement has been the way he has handled the instrument. His style of playing has given the instrument a rare dignity. At one time people considered the sarod to be a follow-up of the rabab essentially a medieval accompanying instrument that has never been given the status of a concert instrument. Today, thanks to my father and his unique playing technique, the sarod is at par with the sitar as a concert instrument. ◆ The author is a noted writer on arts.

Film Review

Urdu and Modern India

Clockwise from left top: starting young; Urdu is taught in numerous schools and universities; modern day Urdu daily newspapers and website of Siyasat daily.

UDAY CHANDRA SINGH

undreds of dialects, numerous cultures and several religions – India is, and has always had, a multidimensional, pluralistic identity. And this pluralism thrives on a common ground. Urdu is that common ground. It’s not just a language, but a syncretic culture nurtured over centuries. Urdu is a grand language that lives in the hearts of Indians. Evolving, adapting and enduring, the story of Urdu in modern times is the story of modern India, the story of a language with a unique distinction of going way beyond its script, beyond all boundaries, this is the ground that this documentary by Kamna Prasad explores.

“This language mirrors our pluralistic, rich heritage, is born of it and thrives in it. This film captures the journey of Urdu as it evolves with the times and links the vibrant present with its rich past”, says Urdu activist Kamna Prasad and adds that this beautiful language has always responded to the needs of the times and fulfilled numerous roles – as a people’s language – as the language of love, of protest, of high literature and popular culture. Above all, Urdu is the language in which India communicates. It’s India’s identity, its India’s way of life. The documentary ‘Urdu and Modern India’, directed by Aparna Srivastava Reddy and rendered in a very modern

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style, looks at the journey of the language in the realms of communication, popular culture, high literature and the mass media alike. Interestingly, the film opens to a modern soundscape of Urdu and rounds up towards the end with a visual montage to show where those sounds were placed, the wide panorama of people speaking the language in several accents, from an economic cross-section and a wide range of places and milieus. Replete with many surprise elements that point to many places, where we use Urdu but are hardly aware of doing so, the film takes us to M.F. Husain’s studio in London, where the eminent artist lovingly uses Urdu lines form the

Bollywood film ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ as calligraphy on a painting of Hindustan, to express his love for his homeland. It challenges the common myth that Urdu is a dying language and establishes that it is being spoken by more people than ever before in India and all over the world – from new, popular phrases like ‘dard-e-disco’, popular film songs or the idiom of the youth, which is proof that it is alive and thriving. It juxtaposes classical Urdu compositions being sung by doyens with the same songs being rendered with a modern flourish by the youth brigade. Interestingly, the well researched documentary explores the impact of the resurrection of the Ghazal as a sign of INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

sophisticated culture in the ’80s and shows that this revived an interest in Urdu even while its script was largely disappearing from the mainstream. The film then goes on to show how widespread computerization in the ’90s enabled Urdu to join the info-tech super highway. It says there is a new feeling of responsibility towards this beautiful language. It expanded as a medium to express every modern thought, for learning all disciplines, from the sciences to the arts and matched any other language for ensuring success in the top echelons in India. It showcases young people who chose to write India’s top competitive examinations in Urdu and made it to the ‘A’ list of bureaucracy. It quotes leading academics who say that more and more people want to study Urdu which, sometimes, surprises them too, and talks to many children and young people, who understand that Urdu is another name for India’s composite culture. The half hour documentary ably traces the genesis, evolution and spread of Urdu as a language born in India and how it can now be heard across the globe. ◆ The author is a journalist.

Book Review

Raja Ravi Varma

Painter of colonial India

f there was ever a painter who could claim to have completely changed the way popular Indian imagination pictured its gods, goddesses, myths and legends, then it was that charismatic native from Kerala who went by the enigmatic name of Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906). Till Raja Ravi Varma arrived on the scene, Indian art was wondrous, metaphoric, symbolic, abstract, geometric and much more, but never directly representational of the retinal reality. Most importantly, Hindu gods were not perceived to be made in the image of man. They were variously and colloquially imaged by the depiction of their attributes – so Shiva, for example, was represented by the phallic lingam – in hundreds of different styles and manners. But the setting up of the Ravi Varma Press in 1894 in Bombay changed all that. Soon, from Shimla to Trivandrum and from Calcutta to Bombay, every middle-class Hindu home in the 20th century (and largely even today) was (and is) decorated with highly affordable prints of Ravi Varma’s ‘natural and realistic’ human form renderings of Lakshmi, Saraswati, Rama, Sita and Hanuman, to name just a few. Moreover, Ravi Varma’s penchant for the dramatic pageant influenced popular theatre and films, thereby increasing the impact of his artifice exponentially. INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 5/2010

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In the latter half of the 19th century, the medium of oil on-canvas itself was new to India and Ravi Varma’s chosen style of painting – European realism (though outmoded in Europe by then) – was still unfamiliar and novel here. But once Ravi Varma had mastered both his technique and his style around the 1870s, there was no stopping him. His familial links with the Travancore ruling family ensured a network of connections that led to a spate of commissions ranging from tiny states like Pudukottai, Aundh and Bhavnagar to big ones like Mysore, Baroda and Hyderabad. He was much sought after not only for his portraits but also for his ‘thematic’ paintings depicting pivotal scenes from Hindu myths and Sanskrit literature. Paradoxically, in contrast to his immense mass appeal and popular influence as India’s first painter of iconic images, the life and legacy of Ravi Varma had never been seriously studied till now. Coming armed with awe-inspiring research and studded with gem-like details, Raja Ravi Varma: Painter of Colonial India is surely a long overdue opus. Yet, Rupika Chawla’s lavishly produced book, published by Mapin is not a heavy academic tome.

In style and substance, it is hugely engaging, carrying its scholarship with a remarkable lightness of grace. Chawla’s chronicling of Ravi Varma’s life and works is detailed with a host of original archival material in the form of personal notes and letters, newspaper clippings, period photographs, court records, et al. Add to this rich array many illuminating anecdotes and contexts from secondary sources such as accounts of his patrons, colleagues and friends, the most important among these being the diaries kept by his beloved brother C. Raja Raja Varma, who was his pupil and partner in virtually all of the commissions and enterprises that Ravi Varma undertook. The book brings alive the times and travails of this highly

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driven Indian artist, who was the first to displace the monopoly of the itinerant (and minor) European painters who came here to paint coronation scenes and portraits of the native princes and the newly emerging Indian elite, comprising of Indian civil servants and a few westernised businessmen. However, this book is not merely a biography of the celebrated painter. There have been a few of those already. What makes this endeavour significantly different is that it encompasses in its wide sweep swathes of social, cultural and political life in colonial India – especially that of the native princes – and its attempts to underline the newly emerging dynamics between technology and a colonised society bound by moribund feudal values that was aspiring to modernity, freedom and democracy. So the “shortening of time and distances” by the coming of the railways, the place of art “in the time of mechanical reproduction” and the doubleedged politics of cultural nationalism all come into focus in this absorbing narrative. ◆ Courtesy: India Today. Images reproduced with permission from Mapin Publishing.