Kolkata - Taxis and Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore is the shining literary and artistic son of Kolkata. A Nobel Laureate for his poems (Gitanjali:Song Offerings, 1913), prolific writer of short stories, composer of many songs (called Rabindra Sangeet) as well as the Indian national anthem, an outspoken political activist (he renounced his British knighthood in 1919 after the Amritsar massacre of 400 Indian demonstrators by British troops), and Tagore was also a visual artist of many mediums.
Last night Julian, Bijay, Raja and I went to the house of some friends of Raja's to record a few of these Rabindra Sangeet as sung by one of Raja's friends. It is actually a house we had visited a few nights before to simply have drinks and meet these people, but Muni, as she is known to her friends, was convinced to sing a few songs and so then Julian was determined to come back with recording gear and capture some of these. The background noise of the street was a bit much, but if after contemplation he finds them suitable (say, overlain against the recording of the boatmens' oars slapping in time to the water), he may have them re-recorded in a studio.
A visit to the Indian Museum, which is basically a natural history museum, was disappointing for its crumbling, dirty displays, scruffy-looking stuffed wildlife specimens, and a minerals section that really just looked like a mine tailings pile under dirty glass. The only saving grace of this museum was the paintings section, which was markedly different in its layout, which featured a clean, well-lit room with a hardwood floor and carefully curated prints and paintings in good frames then sealed in glass and wood cabinets. Many of these paintings and etchings featured works by Rabindranath Tagore as well as many others by the Tagore family. Rabindranath came from an extremely talented lineage and their works, both artistic and literary, are very appreciable as well. One of my other favorites were the works by Nandalal Bose, another Indian artist.
Tagore, Tagore, Tagore. He is everywhere in Kolkata and I have given in and am currently enjoying one of his collections of short stories.
Also ever-present in Kolkata is the yellow taxi cab. It is ubiquitous, and all are of the same make and almost the same model, the illustrious Ambassador.
(This photo is not mine and is actually a Tom Allwood's, whose website is here)
So, I have been touring the city's museums, memorials and parks, transcribing the details of my journal regarding the river trip, and trying like anything to get my own pictures scanned so I don't have to borrow other artists' efforts (apologies and thanks to Tom Allwood).
We leave for Sagar Island and the Ganga Sagar mela on Wednesday, the 12th. The coast of the Bay of Bengal is about 50 kilometers south of us and then the island a boat ride away. We had to obtain all manners of special permissions to get the Scorpio and ourselves to the island. In the process I seem to have become an "Assistant Engineer." Very well, I'll add that to the resume.
What is the "Ganga Sagar mela" that we are to be covering? Well, as with many things I have seen so far, I can give you a sketch of what I think it is, but until I go and experience it, the exact details are not well known to me.
The Ganga Sagar mela is a yearly event where a quarter to a half a million people converge on this island to take a "holy dip" in the purifying waters of the Ganga as it flows around the island, preferentially at the auspicious hour of right after midnight, January 14. I will remind you all that this water is not truly the Ganga per se, but rather water diverted by the Farakka Barrage into the Bhagarhati that becomes the Hooghly river, but this detail seems unimportant to these pilgrims. I'm sure there is more to it than this, and so I will fill you in after I can taqlk to people there. Already pilgrims have gathered in special structures errected for them here in Kolkata, however not as many as in years past. It seems that the tsunami has scared many away. It did not affect West Bengal in any appreciable way, but people are still worried. You can not rationlize fear.
Well, I have errands to do (I bought a lot of tea and clothing that needs to be shipped) as well as check in with Julian to see if his "Assistant Engineer" is needed for any tasks. I will give you all one more post from Kolkata and hopefully put some pictures up in the river trip log if I can arrange the scanning of the images soon!
Last night Julian, Bijay, Raja and I went to the house of some friends of Raja's to record a few of these Rabindra Sangeet as sung by one of Raja's friends. It is actually a house we had visited a few nights before to simply have drinks and meet these people, but Muni, as she is known to her friends, was convinced to sing a few songs and so then Julian was determined to come back with recording gear and capture some of these. The background noise of the street was a bit much, but if after contemplation he finds them suitable (say, overlain against the recording of the boatmens' oars slapping in time to the water), he may have them re-recorded in a studio.
A visit to the Indian Museum, which is basically a natural history museum, was disappointing for its crumbling, dirty displays, scruffy-looking stuffed wildlife specimens, and a minerals section that really just looked like a mine tailings pile under dirty glass. The only saving grace of this museum was the paintings section, which was markedly different in its layout, which featured a clean, well-lit room with a hardwood floor and carefully curated prints and paintings in good frames then sealed in glass and wood cabinets. Many of these paintings and etchings featured works by Rabindranath Tagore as well as many others by the Tagore family. Rabindranath came from an extremely talented lineage and their works, both artistic and literary, are very appreciable as well. One of my other favorites were the works by Nandalal Bose, another Indian artist.
Tagore, Tagore, Tagore. He is everywhere in Kolkata and I have given in and am currently enjoying one of his collections of short stories.
Also ever-present in Kolkata is the yellow taxi cab. It is ubiquitous, and all are of the same make and almost the same model, the illustrious Ambassador.
(This photo is not mine and is actually a Tom Allwood's, whose website is here)
So, I have been touring the city's museums, memorials and parks, transcribing the details of my journal regarding the river trip, and trying like anything to get my own pictures scanned so I don't have to borrow other artists' efforts (apologies and thanks to Tom Allwood).
We leave for Sagar Island and the Ganga Sagar mela on Wednesday, the 12th. The coast of the Bay of Bengal is about 50 kilometers south of us and then the island a boat ride away. We had to obtain all manners of special permissions to get the Scorpio and ourselves to the island. In the process I seem to have become an "Assistant Engineer." Very well, I'll add that to the resume.
What is the "Ganga Sagar mela" that we are to be covering? Well, as with many things I have seen so far, I can give you a sketch of what I think it is, but until I go and experience it, the exact details are not well known to me.
The Ganga Sagar mela is a yearly event where a quarter to a half a million people converge on this island to take a "holy dip" in the purifying waters of the Ganga as it flows around the island, preferentially at the auspicious hour of right after midnight, January 14. I will remind you all that this water is not truly the Ganga per se, but rather water diverted by the Farakka Barrage into the Bhagarhati that becomes the Hooghly river, but this detail seems unimportant to these pilgrims. I'm sure there is more to it than this, and so I will fill you in after I can taqlk to people there. Already pilgrims have gathered in special structures errected for them here in Kolkata, however not as many as in years past. It seems that the tsunami has scared many away. It did not affect West Bengal in any appreciable way, but people are still worried. You can not rationlize fear.
Well, I have errands to do (I bought a lot of tea and clothing that needs to be shipped) as well as check in with Julian to see if his "Assistant Engineer" is needed for any tasks. I will give you all one more post from Kolkata and hopefully put some pictures up in the river trip log if I can arrange the scanning of the images soon!
posted by JAshby at 10:21 PM
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