Category: Mamata Pandya

The Black-eared One: Caracal

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It is arguably the least-known cat-species of India. Its popular vernacular name based on the Persian words is syah (black)and gosh (ear). This is the caracal—the black-eared one. Caracals inhabit dry, arid regions and moist woodlands, living in small herds. They mark territory by clawing trees and releasing scent from glands on their faces and between their toes. They communicate with meows, hisses and spits.

A medium-sized cat (about the size of a jackal) with fur in varying shades from reddish-fawn to dull sandy, the caracal is distinguished by its ears. The ears are longer than in most felines and are pointed at the tips that end in an erect tuft of hair. The ears have almost 20 different muscles that control independently the motion of each ear and aid in their wide range of movements, which they use for a variety of communication. The ear tufts act as sensitive antennae, with the ability to detect even minute vibrations.

Strongly muscled with tall rear limbs the caracal is the athlete of the cat world. It can run at a top speed of 80 km an hour and can change direction in mid-air. It can launch its whole body as high as 10 feet above the ground in one jump, and can even catch birds in flight. This litheness enables it to be an effective predator; its diet includes rodents, rabbits and birds, it is known to subdue prey much larger than itself.

It is this ability that that made the caracal a favoured hunting or coursing animal in medieval India. The caracal was a favourite pet among royalty, dating back to the time of the Mughal emperors and on to the Maharajas in the British times. Caracals were tamed and trained to hunt game, especially birds. They used to be transported to hunting grounds hooded and leashed on a bullock cart, from where they were set after prey. Using its speed and agility, the cat would swiftly bring down large game birds like cranes, hares, antelopes and even foxes. However once it had successfully hunted the caracal would ferociously hang on to it, making it difficult to retrieve the kill. 

Caracals feature commonly in literature from the Mughal through to the British rule period, indicating that they were fairly common, and considered significant. In later years these cats began to disappear from the landscape and literature. As a result the caracal remains one of the least studied species of Indian felines. Their shy and elusive nature makes them difficult to spot in the wild; they are rarer to spot than a tiger.

Conservation biologist Dharmendra Khandal who has spent many years looking for studying this elusive creature has spotted the cat only five times in twenty years compared to the hundreds of times he has seen tigers. Today he is one of the few caracal experts in India. Research on this elusive nocturnal cat is incredibly difficult  because there are no captive caracals in the country.

Once found all across Central Asia and the Indo-Gangetic plains, today these cats are rarely, if ever, sighted in these parts. While the cheetah got hunted to extinction, the reasons for the vanishing of the caracal in India are not clear. While they may face a variety of threats. Increasing area under irrigated agriculture in the arid and semi –arid region that the caracal inhabits has led to habitat modification and loss. This has also affected its diet which earlier consisted largely of birds, but now includes rodents. Human intrusion due to increasing population, and increased activity such as large scale mining and setting up wind factories in the already fragile landscape has driven these cats to near extinction.

And indeed they have vanished. A 2015 study threw up the grave concern that only two populations of the cat remain in India. It estimated that only some 28 caracal individuals were believed to be in the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, and around 20 in Kutch in Gujarat. Scientists fear that after the Asiatic cheetah, that was declared extinct in 1952, the caracal will be the second cat species to be wiped out from the country.

While the species is listed under “least concern” under the IUCN Red List globally, it has been listed as “near threatened” by the Conservation Assessment and Management Plan and IUCN Red List assessment in India. The species is included in the Schedule-I category of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, offering it the highest possible protection.

Currently, three Protected Areas, namely, Ranthambore National Park and Kailadevi Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan and Narayan Sarovar Wildlife Sanctuary in Kachchh, Gujarat are the only known strongholds of Caracals in India. Viable populations outside these protected areas remain either unknown or poorly monitored. 

In 2021, the National Board for Wildlife and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change announced a Species Recovery Plan for the conservation and population revival of 22 species in India, including the caracal.

A ray of hope comes in the form of the recent news that the royal family of erstwhile princely state of Kachchh has transferred the ownership of Chadva Rakhal, part of their ancestral property to the state government of Gujarat for conservation of biodiversity.  The Government has transferred the 4,900-hectare woodlot to the Forest Department to support conservation efforts. The area will also include a caracal conservation breeding centre which will focus on the protection and breeding of the rare and critically endangered Caracal.

 A heartening gesture indeed. 

–Mamata

Food Historian: KT Achaya

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Several years ago, a dear friend gifted me a book on food. Not because I am a great foodie myself, but because I love probing into the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of things, and this book did the same. Whenever I write a piece about food, I invariably dip into this trusty resource. This is a book called A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food   by KT Achaya. 

The painstaking and well-researched book traces the origins and pathways of food, and food ingredients that are so much a part of our cuisines. KT Achaya was a scientist with deep interest in the humanities as well the fine arts. He was also fluent in a number of Indian languages which gave him access to diverse original sources. From ancient Sanskrit manuscripts, archaeological evidence, to a wide range of scientific as well as historical documents, KT Achaya compiled facts about countless ingredients as well as dishes that threw up fascinating nuggets of information, and sometimes also ruffled feathers (e.g. idlis did not originate in India!)

Recently I read another book which talked about Achaya the man himself. That was an interesting story in itself, and gave life to the name that I had only associated with my food dictionary. I discovered that Achaya spent his entire professional life as highly respected scientist working with compounds and formulae, before his avatar as a food historian.

KT Achaya was born on 6 October 1923 at Kollegal in Karnataka. His father was a sericulturist who managed a silk farm run by the government of India. Achaya graduated from Madras University with chemistry honours. He also got his MSc degree from the same after pursuing his research at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. A government scholarship took him to the University of Liverpool for his doctoral studies. His research focused on the chemistry of cow and buffalo ghee, and was academically well received. In 1948 he published his first book, Indian Dairy Products co-authored with K. S. Rangappa. This is still considered one of the most important books in the field.

Achaya returned to India in 1949. In 1950 he was selected to help establish an institute under the auspices of the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Originally named Regional Research Laboratory, this is now the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad. Achaya went on to spend 22 years at the Institute, engaged in ground-breaking research and publishing academic papers that garnered international recognition.

In 1971, Achaya became the executive director of the Protein Foods and Nutrition Development Association of India in Mumbai. Here he hoped to develop products that were high in nutrition, easy to consume, and inexpensive. The project did not succeed commercially, but the book on nutrition that he wrote during this period, Your Food and You, became popular and was translated into several Indian languages. Subsequently Achaya moved to Mysore to be close to Coorg where his origins lay.

He retired in 1983. It is during this period that Achaya began to write articles on the history of Indian food for the Science Age journal. It is these that grew in scope and range, ultimately being published as books, the first of which was Indian Food: A Historical Companion described as an ‘incomparable classic on Indian food’. He went on to publish several other books including A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food and The Food Industries of British India.

Achaya described himself as a “cowboy” because he had worked so long in the chemistry of dairy products and milk production. His later research later turned to oils and oil production, nutrition, and food technology. In fact Achaya was much more–a Renaissance man in an age of specialisation. He was not only interested in, but knowledgeable about western and Indian classical music, photography, art, cinema, books, sports, and of course food. He was an innovative cook himself; experimenting with different kinds of cuisine, and equally interested in understanding more about the ingredients he used for the different dishes, and leading him on the trails to track their origins and history.  

First published in 1994, Indian Food: A Historical Companion marked a new phase in food writing in English in India. There were, at the time, books on food in Indian languages. S. Meenakshi Ammal’s Samaithu Paar in Tamil (the English translation of which was also gifted to me by the same friend!) was a classic that was passed down through generations. The early English language books were by people like Tarla Dalal. But these were simply ‘recipe’ books. Achaya’s was a totally different genre. These were the first compendiums of their kind. They were scholarly, encyclopaedic, and often not relieved by photographs, and even, recipes. 

The years that followed saw a spurt in interest in food history. Today there are many books which trace the history of food in different ways. Many of these document traditional family recipes and place these in a social, historical and geographical context. Some of these combine history, anecdotes and photographs, along with interesting layouts and illustrations. Then came the internet where recipes from the local to the global, from the simplest to the gourmet are available at ones fingertips.

Be that as it may, for a pre-internet generation there is something special about browsing through a recipe book. I myself have a kitchen shelf with a variety of recipe books, collected over the years; some of which I dip into to refresh a memory, or to explore a change in the regular menu. Achaya’s books evoke not only a sense of exploration and discovery, but also a deep respect for the scholarship and passion of a single man.

–Mamata

Measuring Mount Everest: Radhanath Sikdar

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Recently there was news that the world’s tallest mountain, Mount Everest is growing taller! While the rate of growth (0.2-0.5 mm per year) may not be significant given the total height of the mountain, it is a subject of study and research. The process behind this growth is called isostatic rebound, where land rises when heavy material like rock or ice is removed. In this case this is happening as a nearby river is eroding and causing the land under Mount Everest to push up, thereby increasing its height.

The height of Mount Everest has always been in the news, from the time that its height was measured for the first time, providing proof that it was the tallest peak on earth. Thereby hangs a long tale.

In 1802 the East India Company who were then ruling India instituted an ambitious project to scientifically survey the entire Indian subcontinent. The survey, originally started in Scotland, was brought to India as a geographical survey of the conquered territory after the British defeated Tipu Sultan.

The Great Trigonometrical Survey (GTS), as it was called, was expected to take five years. It ended up taking seventy years!

From 1923 the Survey was being supervised by Sir George Everest. In 1927 Andrew Scott Waugh, who had joined the Bengal Engineers, a regiment of the East India Company army, was appointed as a cadet in the Company, and he was assigned to the Great Trigonometrical Survey in 1832. By the late 1830s, when the Great Trigonometrical Survey reached the Himalayan region, Andrew Waugh had become Superintendent of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. The surveying of Everest was carried out under his supervision.

In 1831, George Everest, who had become the Surveyor General of India, was looking for a mathematician who had specialised in Spherical Trigonometry, to be a part of the GTS. A professor at what was then Hindu College (now Presidency College) suggested the name of his 19-year old student Radhanath Sikdar.

Radhanath had been a student at what was then the Hindu School of Calcutta for seven years. He had supported himself on scholarships, and his mathematical abilities did not go unnoticed. George Everest appointed the young Radhanath as a ‘computer’ in the newly established computing office. This was an era when a computer did not refer to a machine, but to the people who did complex calculations. Radhanath’s skills in this were far superior to those of his colleagues. He did not just use the established methods but invented his own formulas and applications to accurately measure different factors. He was described as a ‘hardy, energetic young man, ready to undergo any fatigue, and acquire a practical knowledge of all parts of his profession’. The young Radhanath became a favourite of George Everest.

Radhanath was sent to Mussourie where the main office of GTS was based, and it is here that he spent the next 15 years. His regular job began in 1832 as a sub-assistant. His salary was Rs 107 per month, comprising a pay of Rs 50, tent allowance of Rs 40 and horse allowance of Rs 17. In 1838, when his monthly salary was Rs 173, Sikdar expressed a wish to leave GTS for a profitable post as ‘teacher to a public institution’. Everest made a strong plea to the government to grant Radhanath Sikdar a substantial increase as an inducement to stay. As a result he was given an increment of Rs 100.

Everest retired in 1843 and was succeeded by Colonel Andrew Scott Waugh. Eight years later, in 1851, Radhanath was promoted to the position of Chief Computer and transferred to Calcutta.

This is when Radhanath started measuring the snow-capped mountains in Darjeeling. Foreigners were not allowed in Nepal so observations were taken from the Terai on the Indian side. Till then, Kanchenjunga was believed to be the highest mountain in the world. But during this survey the team noted that a mountain, then called Peak B, appeared to be higher. As calculations continued, the mountain was renamed Peak XV. The mountain had local names, it was known as Chomolungma in Tibet, Chomolangma by the Sherpas of Nepal and Qomolangma in China. But it had not yet featured on the international scene.

In 1852, the chief computer Radhanath Sikdar, through a series of calculations was able to establish that this peak was indeed higher than Kanchenjunga, making it the highest mountain in the world. He gave proof of this to his boss Andrew Scott Waugh who had succeeded George Everest as both Surveyor General of India, and Superintendent of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. Waugh waited four years to confirm and reconfirm the information. This was officially announced in March 1856. He also proposed that the highest peak be named after his mentor Sir George Mallory. And thus what could have been Mount Sikdar became Mount Everest!

Radhanath Sikdar’s many years of path breaking ‘computing’ and his tallest discovery were eclipsed by the ruling powers of the day. However, Radhanath continued his passion and pursuit of mathematics, even after he retired from the Survey in 1862. He joined as mathematics teacher at what later became the Scottish Church College. He, along with a friend, also founded Masik Patrika, a Bengali journal aimed at promoting education and women’s empowerment. Radhanath Sikdar passed away in May 1870.

On 27 June 2004 the Department of Posts issued a commemorative stamp featuring Radhanath Sikdar and Nain Singh Rawat a legendary the Indian explorer who surveyed the vast unexplored expanses of Tibet in the late 19th century.

–Mamata

Celebrating Dragonflies

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As the festive season begins, the next few months will see a variety of celebrations. Among the dazzle and din that marks the festivities, there is a quieter celebration going on in several parts of the country. This is the Dragonfly Festival.

Why celebrate dragonflies?

Dragonflies are believed to have been around for more than 300 million years, predating even the dinosaurs. Some of the ancient ones had a wingspan of over two feet! Today we can see only the miniature version of what may have been spectacular creatures, but they are no less charismatic.

Dragonflies are flying insects; members of the order Odonata. As do most insects, they have six legs, a head, thorax and abdomen which is divided into ten segments. They have four wings, and compound eyes which are made up of thousands of tiny units (ommatidia). Most dragonflies are beautifully coloured with shades of greens, reds, yellows and blues.

Within the order of Odonata, there are two suborders — dragonflies and damselflies. Although both are commonly called dragonflies, the two are distinct, with the most important difference being the position of the wings when at rest. A dragonfly’s wings will be held separately down at their side while a damselfly will hold its wings together over their back. Damselflies are slender while dragonflies have thicker bodies; and damselflies have two distinct eyes while the eyes of dragonflies typically almost meet in the middle of their head.

The dragonfly life cycle is uneven. The insects lay their eggs on the surface of the water, and the larva that emerges from the eggs is a grayish-brown creature that feeds on aquatic plants and larva of small insects. It remains in the larval stage for most part of its life, shedding the outer layers at regular intervals. For the final shedding it comes out of the water, climbs on a blade of grass, and emerges in its adult form with beautiful wings that make it a swift and graceful flier. It is this magical metamorphosis that has given the dragonfly spiritual associations in some cultures, where it symbolizes transformation and renewal. https://millennialmatriarchs.com/2019/09/24/dragonflies/

Dragonflies are remarkable flyers. When moving forwards they can attain a speed of almost 55 km per hour. They can hover in mid-flight for almost one minute and rotate 360 degrees in place. They can even fly backwards with similar alacrity. Their flying skills and sharp vision aid their hunting technique; they capture prey insects in flight. This has given them the name of Hawks of the Insect World. Adult dragonflies are mainly insect eaters but the nymphs also consume freshwater invertebrates, tadpoles, and even small fish. Being predators both at larval and adult stages, they play a significant role in the wetland food chain. Adult odonates feed on mosquitoes, blackflies and other blood-sucking flies and act as an important biocontrol agent for these harmful insects. They play important ecological roles not only as predators, but also as prey of birds, frogs and other aquatic creatures. 

Healthy aquatic ecosystems with strong food chains are critical for dragonflies to survive and thrive. When food sources for dragonflies are affected by the impact of insecticides, this leads to a disruption in the food chain. Which in turn indicates a threat to the larger ecosystem of which those food chains are a part. Thus dragonflies are important environmental indicators; a decrease in dragonfly populations signals that all is not well with the water quality, and in turn the aquatic ecosystem that it supports. 

Today, there are more than 5,000 different species of dragonflies and they can be found on every continent except Antarctica. But these are threatened as a result of threats to their habitats. Dragonflies are very sensitive to changes in the environment so change in dragonfly numbers could be an early warning signal of changes in wetlands. There is now increasing consciousness about the vital role of dragonflies, especially with the rapid degradation of wetlands across the world, due to a range of factors including spread of urbanisation, pollution, agricultural practices, and climate change. Conserving dragonflies and their habitat is being highlighted as a priority because they are valuable environmental indicators, including water quality and biodiversity.

The first step to conservation is a greater awareness and better understanding of dragonflies. This can begin with observing these in the context of their habitats, and recording odonate population trends.

India has over 500 species of odonata, with the greatest diversity in the Western Ghats and Northeast India. 196 species in 14 families and 83 genera are known from the Western Ghats. Of this, 175 species are reported from Kerala. Even though India is rich in Odonates, the general public has little awareness of this, nor its significance. Concerned about this, Society for Odonate Studies (SOS), a non-profit organization was formed to impart knowledge to the public about dragonflies and damselflies, and to conduct scientific studies with the objective of conservation of the species and their habitats. The Society created a surge of interest among young naturalists and wildlife enthusiasts in Kerala. SOS joined hands with WWF-India to launch a wider initiative which grew into the Dragonfly Festival.

The Dragonfly Festival started in 2018 to connect citizens with these fascinating creatures, demystify Dragonflies and Damselflies, and celebrate their importance. This is a unique Citizen Science campaign conducted across India which seeks to spotlight the significance and status of dragonflies and damselflies as indicators of healthy ecosystems, and support their conservation. The festival is a collaboration between international, national and local partners which include Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Indian Dragonfly Society (IDS) and NBA UNEP, UNDP, Indian Dragonfly Society (IDS) and NBA UNEP, UNDP, and IUCN-CEC. Over the years the initiative has engaged thousands of individuals across several states. In addition to on-ground observation and identification, the festival includes expert sessions, nature walks, competitions, and workshops. This year WWF-India had called for volunteers to conduct regular surveys at a number of wetland locations, and monitor the species over a three-month period. The tasks will include photo documentation, observation and identification. The data will be uploaded on the India Biodiversity Portal. 

So many reasons to celebrate dragonflies! And, as India also celebrates Wildlife Week in the first week of October, a reminder that dragonflies and damselflies can be as charismatic as tigers and lions!

–Mamata

River as a Living Entity

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World Rivers Day is marked across the world on the fourth Saturday of September every year. In times when rivers in every country in the world face an array of threats, this day is an opportunity to highlight the integral role of rivers in the environment and lives of all living beings, and to encourage the improved stewardship of all rivers.

The proposal for a global event to celebrate rivers was led by Mark Angelo an internationally-renowned river advocate. The proposal was accepted by the United Nations which had launched the Water for Life Decade in 2005 to help create greater awareness of the need to better care for the world’s water resources. The World Rivers Day was observed for the first time in 2005. Since even as people are reminded of the critical role of rivers as indicators of a healthy ecosystem, rivers across the globe are being sapped of their vital lifeblood.

Whanganui River

The ancient civilizations and peoples not only understood this role of rivers, but also revered it. Perhaps the most telling example of this reverence is the link between the indigenous Maori community in New Zealand, and their deep connection with the Whanganui River. The Whanganui tribes have for centuries lived along the river from which they get their name, and fished in it for food and livelihood. But for them the river is equally central to their spiritual practices; it is sacred. It defines their self-identity; as their proverb indicates: I am the river. The river is me.

The large-scale advent of European settlers to New Zealand in the 1840s changed the situation. Increasing trade and riverboat traffic began to take a toll on the river ecosystem. While Maori chieftains and the British Crown signed a treaty to guarantee the Maori the continuation of their rights and privileges, the situation on the ground was very different. Over time, the different resources of the river–water, aquatic life, riverbed gravel, the waterways that supported trade and transport, and the land along the river bank were each exploited separately for their utility to the settlers called Pākehā by the local people, and parcelled out to individual ownership, even as the indigenous inhabitants were being pushed to the brink. This was completely against the traditional belief that the river was a single and indivisible entity, and not something to be owned. The tribes believed that rivers resources could be used but only the people who contributed to the community had the right to benefit. Under Māori belief, all things have mauri – a life force and personality. When the river’s water quality was degraded, the mauri of the river wasn’t respected, in turn affecting the mauri of the local people, who relied on the river to sustain them. The local people protested, and even initated legal action to claim an independent identity and right for the Whanganui River. The earliest of such petitions date back to 1873.

The case went on through the century and into the next. Tribunals were set up and hearings were conducted. In 1999 the Tribunal agreed that the river was a treasure, but that the local people did not have legal rights over the river. Once again, the litigation stalled. It took another two decades to gain legal recognition for the river itself. The local people, many who were descendants of the original litigants, continued their fight. The case went on to become one of New Zealand’s longest-running court cases.

Finally on March 15, 2017, after over 160 years of negotiation, Whanganui gained “legal status as a person.” The river henceforth will be considered as a living entity. This means that polluting or damaging the river is now legally equivalent to harming a human. Two representatives from the Māori tribes can speak on the river’s behalf, and it can be represented in court cases in an arrangement similar to a legal trust.

The Whanganui River became the world’s first natural resource to be granted its own legal identity, with the rights, duties, and liabilities of a legal person. Having the river recognised as a legal person means that harming it is the same as harming the tribe. If there is any kind of abuse or threat to its waters, such as pollution or unauthorised activities, the river can sue. It also means it can own property, enter contracts and be sued itself.

The legal identity reinforces the deep and inalienable connection that the Māori have to the river, which they consider to be an ancestor, and acknowledges their inherent role in maintaining its well-being. The river continues to be the font of their spiritual sustenance and renewal. It is a caregiver, a guardian, and a totemic symbol of unity.

This case is also indicative of a growing movement called Rights of Nature. This initiative which was launched in 2010 is a broad alliance of civil society organizations in partnership with governments, Indigenous Peoples, members of the scientific community, and future generations delegations.

The Rights of Nature model seeks to recognize Nature and her elements as rights holders, providing them with a voice through representation, and reorienting western law around principles of relationship, interconnection, reciprocity, responsibility, and the recognition that all Earth’s beings, ecosystems, and components have fundamental rights to exist, thrive, and evolve.

The movement is committed to advocating, accelerating, and escalating the global adoption and implementation into legal systems of the Rights of Water Ecosystems (e.g. rivers, mangroves, ocean, and others) and in general, the Rights of Nature.

The Whanganui River which became the first waterway in the world to be granted legal personhood, provided a boost to the movement which is today active in several parts of the world. It seeks to repositioning people and Nature as members of a collective whole working together towards a shared vision of a healthy and livable planet, promotes holistic water management approaches.

–Mamata

Agatha Christie: Archaeologist

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Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890. 135 years later she continues to be popular around the world as Agatha Christie, the Queen of Murder Mystery. Even as the very English settings of most of her stories and the lifestyle of the characters in her books have seen a century of change, what makes these stories endure is her deft portrayal of human character, with all its foibles, frailties, and hidden depths.

While much has been written about Agatha Christie’s life (including her autobiography), a lot of it describes her life as a writer. From the first short story she wrote (to stave off boredom when she was in bed with the flu) to early days of exploring the ‘murder-mystery’ genre (a detective novel written after a bet with her sister), to creating the memorable detective Hercule Poirot (while she was working as a nurse and hospital dispensary assistant during World War I).

Along the way Agatha became engaged, but then met and married someone else, and became Mrs Agatha Christie. At some point writing became a necessary means of income, rather than an exciting and creative vocation. There were periods when she wished for anonymity, and a yearning to get away from the pressure and spotlight. As her wartime marriage with Archie Christie was falling apart, Agatha began to make brief forays towards breaking free; impulsively travelling alone on the Orient Express to Baghdad 1928. As she wrote in her autobiography …one must do things by oneself, mustn’t one? …I thought ‘it’s now or never. Either I cling to everything that’s safe and that I know, or else I develop more initiative, do things on my own’. And so it was that five days later I started for Baghdad.

Cover of first UK edition, 1946 https://en.wikipedia.org/

From Damascus she travelled overland to Baghdad, and from there on to an archaeological excavation at the ancient site of Ur, where she met eminent archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his wife Katherine who became good friends. At their invitation, she returned to Ur in 1930 where an archaeologist-in-training Max Mallowan escorted her around the historic sites, the two often travelling ‘rough’ over difficult terrains and situations. The bond between Agatha (already a well-known author) and the much-younger Max grew, and ended in marriage in 1930. Agatha Christie Mallowan discovered the world of archaeology.

Agatha began to accompany Max on some of his excavation sites, and spend the digging season from October to March with him and his team. Here she pitched in, helping to clean, catalogue and photograph the finds. Agatha slept in a tent like the other members of the team, but there was a room set aside for her to write, when she was not engaged in archaeological tasks. This was the only time and place where she was not to be disturbed.

An archaeological dig is like a mystery novel. While the slow and painstaking process of carefully uncovering centuries of accumulated earth in the hope of discovering fragments of past history is far from being a ‘page turner’, the actual discovery of even a fragment of shard is when the mystery really begins. It is from these tiny clues that an entire jigsaw begins to be meticulously pieced together. Where did this piece come from? What was it a part of? Who used this and for what purpose? A single object may lead to the remains of a dwelling, which in turn could have been part of a settlement. And thus the ambit widens. The different clues may provide answers to the key questions of a whodunit: What, where, why, how?

So while Agatha spent much of her time helping the team discover and decipher these tiny clues, she spent some of her time also putting together a different set of clues and characters who would make up a murder mystery novel. Some of these novels were set in the region where she herself was based for part of the year.

Simultaneously she was also noting her observations about the people and their culture, the landscape and its wildlife, the architecture and the archaeological discoveries. These remained notes and memories until the Second World War when Max had been posted to Egypt and Agatha Christie was alone in London, where she worked part time as a volunteer in a hospital dispensary (as she had done in World War I).

In the years when she used to accompany Max on his excavations, Agatha had often been asked by her friends what it was like on an archaeological site. She had started writing about this before the War, but had put it aside. Now missing her husband and nostalgic about their days on the ‘digs’ she returned to those notes and began to chronicle her time there. Drawing upon these and her memories and experiences she wrote about life on an archaeological dig, the different personalities that made up the team (a combination of nationalities, temperaments and dispositions), and the everyday doings and happening that resulted from their interactions. These vignettes, recounted with humour and detail, vividly brought to life the human side of the enterprise. She put these in the context of the political situation in the Middle East in the 1930s.

Agatha Christie finished the book in June 1945, soon after she was reunited with her husband. It was published in 1946 under the title Come, Tell Me How You Live.

For the enthusiasts of detective fiction, who eagerly awaited the new exploits of Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple, the new Christie was a bit of a shock. Where was the plot, the suspense, the investigation and the unmasking of the villain? And yet, in their own way, all these elements were indeed present, this time not as fiction but as facts. The subtitle of the book An Archaeological Memoir, was the first clue to the difference.

But the best-selling author did not intend to ‘cheat’ her faithful readers. The book was published under her married name Agatha Christie Mallowan. It was her tribute to a geographical region and field of study that had given her a lot of happiness. As she wrote in the Epilogue to the book: “Writing this simple record has not been a task, but a labour of love. Not an escape to something that was, but bringing into the hard work and sorrow of today of something imperishable that one not only had, but has”.

–Mamata

An Olympic Feat: The Boys in the Boat

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The Paris Summer Olympics 2024 have recently concluded. The spectacular performances, the breaking of records, the exultation of the winners and the heartbreak of the losers, all these are just the more visible symbols of the gigantic efforts that culminated here. The 2024 Para Olympics are currently underway, also in France. These demonstrate the incredible grit and perseverance of another set of sportspeople who have conquered their own physical challenges as they aim to conquer new heights. And behind every winner, individual or team, there is an incredible tale.

While the more prominent sports made the headlines during the recent Olympics, there are several sports that were perhaps not as widely covered. Among these were the rowing events. Rowing became a part of the Summer Olympics in 1900, but it was a men-only event. It was only in the 1976 Montreal Olympics that women’s events became a part of the Games. The Paris Olympics had 14 different rowing events (equal number for men and women), all of which involved racing over a 2000- metre river course. 

This time, I was curious about these rowing events, and interested to know which team won the Men’s Eight gold (it was Great Britain or Team GB). This was because I had recently read a fascinating account of a team that had won the gold at the 1936 Munich Olympics. A tale of literally fighting all odds.

The Boys in the Boat is the true story of the team the represented the United States for the event. How they got there is a moving, inspiring, and often a ‘hold your breath’ account of how a group of young men from working class backgrounds reached, and won, the Olympics. 

These student athletes represented the University of Washington, in Seattle. The story traces how from among the aspiring candidates, eight young men, many of them growing up in the Depression era in poor towns, made it to the team after showing their mettle through some of the most challenging situations including the foulest of weather, almost inhuman demands on the bodies, and the toughest mental trials and tribulations. Following their selection, the story follows how these were shaped into a rowing team (varsity eight) by the coach Ulbrickson, and rowing boat- shell builder and rowing sage George Pocock.

Under the unrelenting regimen set by these men, the motley crew of rookie rowers began their journey to the top. They had to start closer to home, first by defeating the reigning champions on the west coast, the University of California, then competing against the Ivy League teams from the East coast of the United States which had always dominated the sport. These triumphs came after periods of mind-numbing exhaustion, copious sweat and tears. Thus these ‘dark horses’ as they were then, made their way to Princeton for the crucial trials that would qualify them as the official USA team for the Munich Olympics. The destination was in sight, the departure a week away, but not yet a reality.

The next challenge came in the form of the news from the American Olympic Committee that the team had to pay their own expenses for the trip. In the days before “sponsorships” that funded everything from training to outfits, this was a harsh blow for the always cash-strapped University of Washington team. The news spread through the local Seattle newspapers and the community stepped in with donations ranging from 5 cents to several hundred dollars, rapidly collecting enough to give the ‘local heroes’ and their boat The Husky Clipper a rousing send off. An early instance of “crowd-sourcing”!

The team arrived in Germany and even as they acclimatized to the new conditions, climate, and food, they immediately started practising rigorously. They won the qualifying heat, setting world records. But in the final race on the Langer See they had a choppy start.

On that freezing, blustery evening, the men from Washington found themselves in last place. It wasn’t just that they got off to a slow start. Though they’d won their qualifying heat two days earlier–setting world and Olympic records in the process–they had been placed in the last lane, exposed to the brunt of the biting wind much of the course, while Germany and Italy had been awarded the two most protected lanes. The team were trailing badly, until by superhuman will and effort they painfully gained ground, still trailing behind the Germans and Italians, and finally, surging forward to win the race, by just about 10 feet. The boys in the boat had won the Olympic Gold!

The story of how this little known and unlikely team reached to this legendary finish is brought alive in the book by Daniel James Brown. It is told through the memories of Joe Ranz, one of the boys in the boat. The author met Joe Ranz when he was at the end of his life in a hospice. When he started recalling his life, Brown felt that his story needed to be shared widely. Joe agreed, with the caveat that the story should be not just about him but about all the boys and the boat.

The book sensitively captures not just individual histories but also deftly places these within a wider canvas of what was happening simultaneously in Hitler’s Germany. This was the beginning of what was to grow into the devastating persecution of Jews, even as grand stadia were being erected to present a façade to the world.

Above all the book is about the human spirit, its endeavour for excellence, and the innate strength that emerges when least expected. It is about each member having a specific assigned role but which needed to be melded into a seamless team effort. As the wise Pocock put it It isn’t enough for the muscles of a crew to work in unison; their hearts and minds must also work as one.  The story is about the ruthless spirit of competition but equally about team work and cooperation. It is about the vital role of trust even when there may not be complete harmony among the team mates. As coach tells Joe: When you really start trusting these other boys, you will feel a power at work within you that is far beyond anything you’ve ever imagined.

The Boys in the Boat has also been made into a movie. But this does not capture the nuances in the book that make each of the boys in the boat come alive as unique individuals who gelled into an unbeatable team.

In this season of the Olympics, as new stories emerge, these are still stories to remember and celebrate.

–Mamata

A Woman’s Voice: Saeeda Bano

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Last week I wrote about All India Radio, the voice of the nation after India gained Independence.  I also wrote about some of the newsreaders who literally gave voice to the news. The early decades were remembered by names that became synonymous with different programmes broadcast by AIR, including some well-loved women voices. Before them all, was Saeeda Bano, who was the first woman to read the news on AIR. A woman ahead of her times in more ways than one.

Photo source:https://www.knocksense.com/hindi/

Saeeda Bano was born in Bhopal in 1913. It was the period of British rule in India but local rulers still held sway in the numerous feudal kingdoms that made up India. Bhopal was unique in that it was a city that had been ruled by women (Nawab Begums) for four generations as there had been no male heirs to the throne. It was an unusually liberal environment where women’s education was encouraged and the hold of patriarchy was not as strong. When Saeeda was born, the last of the four Nawab Begums, Begum Sultan Jahan, a great reformer, was ruling Bhopal. She was very keen that women be educated and thereby be able to come out of the darkness of ignorance.

Saeeda’s father was supportive of the idea that girls should get as best a formal education as was possible at that time. Saeeda was sent to boarding school in Lucknow in 1925, and went on to do her graduation from Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow. But that was as far as her family would allow. In spite of her fervent pleas, she was married off, still in her teens, to a highly-respected judge in Lucknow who was many years older. The plunge into a highly-confining world, shackled by social expectations and dos and don’ts was stifling to the lively young girl who was at all times expected to play the role of a dutiful wife, and adhere to repressive norms. However she stuck it out for almost 20 years, playing the role of wife and then mother to two sons, even as the stirrings of rebellion built up. In 1938 when a radio station was set up in Lucknow, Saeeda started participating in shows for women and children. As her domestic life became more turbulent, Saeeda began looking for a way out. She sent her application to what was then still BBC in Delhi for the post of newsreader. The application was accepted. This was the impetus that propelled her to leave her husband’s house and her husband, and move to Delhi. She put her older son in boarding school and arrived in Delhi with her younger son. She was alone, in a new city, about to make a new life for herself.

Saeeda and her son arrived in Delhi on 10 August 1947, and stayed with some family friends. She reported to All India Radio the next day, met the Director of news, and spent the entire day getting familiar with the premises and the world of broadcasting. The following day when she reported for work at the radio station, a weekly roster of her duties and timings had been prepared and was handed over to her. She was to reach AIR on the 13th of August 1947 by 6 am and read the news bulletin in Urdu at 8 o’clock thereby becoming the ‘first female voice, news anchor of All India Radio’s Urdu news bulletins’.

As she recalled in her memoir: I was the first woman AIR considered good enough to read radio news. Prior to this, no woman had been employed by either the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) or AIR Delhi to work as a news broadcaster. Of course they had to train me and I was taught how to first introduce myself on air with my name and then start reading the bulletin.

Thus Saeeda Bano became the first woman newsreader on All India Radio, two days before India gained Independence. She was proud to be a member of the AIR team that broadcast, live, to the nation, the momentous transition of power.

While she broke barriers in broadcasting, Saeeda continued to face challenges as a single woman in a big city. She looked for accommodation, and moved to YMCA, after a struggle to obtain special permission to keep her son with her.  Saeeda Bano grew with her job and went on to research and anchor other programmes also. But it was not all smooth sailing.

The dawn of Independence also unleashed the fury of violence in the aftermath of Partition. As a Muslim woman whose voice was becoming heard and known, she was the target of hate mail and threats. She was forced into taking refuge with other Muslim personalities of the time, and was witness to many distressing situations. 

Perhaps the most distressing event that left a deep impression on her was the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Saeeda Bano had in fact been to Birla House to listen to Gandhiji in person, on the very day that he was killed. She later wrote how she had felt a note of despair in his voice. The shock of his death was so great that she was unable to read the news that day, and the news director had to hurriedly change the shifts.

Saeeda Bano’s in-built reliance and ability to face challenges remained with her through her life. She retired as news reader from AIR in 1965, and was appointed as producer for AIR’s Urdu Service and continued till the 1970s. She passed away in 2001. 

Saeeda Bano’s achievements are much greater than her ‘first’ as a newsreader. In 1994 she wrote her memoir Dagar Se Hat Kar in Urdu where she described the ups and downs of her life, candidly and without bitterness nor self-praise. She simply described herself as one of those people who “chose a road less travelled“. The  book was translated into English by her granddaughter Shahana Raza and published in 2020 as Off the Beaten Track: The Story of my Unconventional Life.

Remembering her grandmother, Shahana described how Saeeda Bano or Bibi as she was affectionately called, was a woman who lived life on her own terms. She lived independently, and didn’t seek support from anyone, even in the lowest phases of her life. Her sheer determination always stood out, as she never looked back and regretted any of her decisions.

Today as so many women confidently anchor news and other shows, especially on the numerous television channels, they face their own challenges and new glass ceilings to break. But it is always humbling to remember and celebrate those who took the first steps in clearing untrodden paths.

–Mamata

“This is All India Radio”

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“This is All India Radio, and here is the news read by Melville de Mello.” Nine p.m. and the family is gathered around the radio, as the deep baritone voice begins to read the news of the day–news from home and abroad; the only news that the nation absorbed and digested before retiring for the night. The radio was the meeting point for all generations, and the source of connection to national and international events. And indeed, it was All India Radio that defined this coming together.

Radio broadcasting services started in India during the British rule in 1922-23 under the initiative of the Bombay Presidency Radio Club.  In 1927, the Indian Broadcasting Company (IBC) was set up as a private entity and was granted permission to operate two radio stations. On 23 July 1927 the IBC made the first ever radio broadcast in the country from the Bombay Station.This event marked the start of organised radio broadcasting in India. The Calcutta Radio Club came into existence five months later. IBC dissolved its operations on 1 March 1930; thereafter the Imperial Government took over the broadcasting operations. The Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) was started on 1 April 1930 on an experimental basis for two years, and then permanently from May 1932. Eventually on 8 June 1936, it became what came to be known as All India Radio. It was also in 1936 that the first daily news bulletin was introduced.

All India Radio’s signature tune was synonymous with the name AIR. It was composed in 1936 by Walter Kaufmann, a Czech Jew who was one of the many Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution in Europe who sought refuge in India. Kaufmann became the director of music at AIR. Kuaffman was a serious western music scholar and performer, but the tune he composed for AIR was based on the Indian raga Shivranjani. It remained the identity of AIR, and was the ‘pied piper’ tune that drew the millions of listeners to the radio as the broadcasts began.

During World War II radio was being used for Nazi propaganda and there was a strong need to counter it. Hence, the practice of broadcasting all news bulletins from one central newsroom started. Around 27 bulletins were being broadcasted every day during the war years. In a time when the press was supressed, and news censored, radio broadcasts from underground radio stations played a significant role. The radio was used by nationalists to share news about the real situation on the ground, spread the message of Swadeshi, and rally the people in the non-violent struggle against British rule. These radio broadcasts had an immense impact in rousing Indians and to step up the demands of Indian freedom in the pre-independence era.  One such story on https://millennialmatriarchs.com/2021/10/07/gandhis-women-warriors-usha-mehta/

When India attained Independence on 15 August 1947, there were six radio stations: Delhi, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Tiruchirapalli, and Lucknow. In 1956 AIR formally adopted the name Akashvani. The word Akashvani which means ‘voice from the sky’ was derived from the title of Rabindranath Tagore’s poem written in 1938 for the inauguration of Calcutta All India radio’s shortwave transmission service. AIR and Akashvani were used interchangeably until 3 May 2023 when Akashvani became the exclusive name.

After Independence, AIR’s offerings began to expand beyond news and important announcements to a wide range of programmes—music, drama, live commentaries, and more. It was the primary source of news as well as entertainment. Radio continued to be the favourite companion of old and young, initially as the focal point of a household. With the advent of transistors, it became a trusty companion which accompanied wherever one went. It was the provider of songs, weather bulletins and live cricket scores. AIR’s simple listener-friendly format, its ABC of Authenticity, Brevity and Clarity became its USP. The news readers became household names, and the ultimate examples of proper diction and high quality commentary—from the Republic Day parade to cricket matches. The anchors of music programmes (today’s RJs) were popular idols with big fan clubs. Radio became a quintessential way of life for Indians.

This role is beautifully summed by Santosh Desai who grew up in the golden age of AIR: ‘All India Radio had many moods and played different kinds of roles in our lives. It was the official voice of state, the keeper of cultural standards, the chronicler of the times, the certifier of reality, the breathless commentator of the current, the receptacle of small desires of its viewers and an entertainer allowing escape into an imagined world.’

88 years after its first broadcast, AIR remains steadfast, with a widely expanded canvas. It is one of the largest broadcasting organisations in the world in terms of the number of languages of broadcast and the spectrum of socio-economic and cultural diversity it serves. AIR’s home service comprises of 591 broadcasting centres located across the country, covering nearly 90% of the country’s area and 98% of the total population. Terrestrially, AIR originates programming in 23 languages and 179 dialects.

Today as we once more salute the national flag to mark 77 years as an independent nation, it is a good time to remember that it was on AIR that the nation heard Jawaharlal Nehru’s emotional Tryst With Destiny speech, live at midnight of 14th August 1947. And when, for the first time when Nehru hoisted the Indian flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi, it was the minute-to-minute narration that the proud nation followed on AIR.

Happy Independence Day!

–Mamata

Reviving Crafts: Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay

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As the country gears up to celebrate India’s 77th Independence Day, memories are revived of the significant events and persons in the unique movement that led India to her ‘tryst with destiny’ to become a free nation on 15 August 1947.

Photo: https://garlandmag.com/

Among the innumerable individuals who contributed in different ways to reaching this  momentous moment, is a name of a woman whose contributions were not limited to a single area, but spanned a wide range of fields, all of which coalesced into the empowerment and enrichment of the newly-independent nation. She was Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay—freedom fighter, actor, social activist, art connoisseur, and driving force behind the renaissance of Indian handlooms and handicrafts.

Kamaladevi’s interest in the area of crafts was nurtured in her childhood when she had participated in the creation of objects for the innumerable rituals, which were part of the daily life in many homes. She was drawn to the simplicity as well beauty in these everyday objects. But it was after she met Gandhiji that she understood this deep relationship between these objects and our daily lives. As she wrote: “How beneficial it was for us to live with them and make them an integral part of our daily existence”. She quoted Gandhiji: “Association is the essence of relationship which endears articles of everyday use to the user. This endearment finds a way of enhancing the aesthetic values in these articles, just as we love to dress up our loved ones, so we love to embellish our homes. Here, the Craftsman employs his ingenuity through creative imagination. We are mostly carried away by a finished product, may be excited by watching the process, but remain unmindful of the deep chords within us that are stimulated when we create something with our own hands. Therefore, in the Indian tradition, creation does not mean making novel and exotic articles to please one’s fancy, but endowing everything we use in our daily life with beauty. Therefore, nothing is created without a purpose”. Thus there was an inextricable link between form and function.

Khadi was more than a political symbol for Gandhiji; by making spinning an essential part of the process, he brought in respect for working with hands, and the act of creation, as well as a form of meditation and unification. Gandhiji also made the regeneration of crafts an integral part of the freedom movement. According to him, freedom was not to be defined in political and military terms only, but also in the social patterns that would lead to building inner personality, the spiritual content of the nation.

Kamaladevi was deeply moved by this philosophy. At the time, the long tradition of indigenous crafts was threatened by the rise of factory-made goods and mass production; many crafts were rapidly disappearing. For her, crafts revival and independence from British rule were interlinked agendas. Kamaladevi made it her mission to champion the cause of handicrafts and handlooms. She saw crafts not in isolation, but as a part of the rich fabric of our life involving all the creative expressions of people interwoven in their daily lives.  She began at the grassroots, travelling to the remotest villages, getting to know the crafts people and understanding their issues. She formed crafts communities, involved the crafts people in training programmes, and opened up their work for a wider audience through exhibitions and exports of handicrafts. Thus she also supported the notion that crafts could have contemporary significance. Craftsmanship need not, however, be bound up wholly with tradition. While it continues to draw strength from the past, it has also to be tuned to the present, evolve a new relationship with the current flow of life.            

Kamaladevi perceived that cottage industries had an important socio-economic and political role as these led to the decentralization of social and economic power, as well as providing employment and economic security to rural communities. Her efforts towards a crafts renaissance in India were multi-pronged. She made great efforts to rehabilitate women with craft-based livelihoods, in the refugee camps following Partition. She helped establish institutions and systems to empower artisans and to sustain their crafts: The Cottage Industries Board (CIB), the Indian Cooperative Union (ICU), the All India Handicrafts & Handloom Board, the Cottage Industries Emporium, Regional Design Centres, the Crafts Council of India (CCI), and the Crafts Museum, among others. She was appointed the chairperson of the All India Handicrafts Board in 1952.

For Kamaladevi, crafts were not only a way of recognising the significance of one’s own culture but also, of developing a sense of appreciation of other world cultures as well. It was her inspiration that created the World Crafts Council in affiliation with UNESCO. The Crafts Councils became an instrument of the different governments across the world to reach to the masters of their traditions.

Besides her seminal contribution to the revival of handlooms and handicrafts Kamaladevi was instrumental in the creation of several other initiatives and institutions in the field of the performing arts, music, and fine arts, as well as the All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) a national organization of repute that worked for legislative reforms and women’s empowerment. She is remembered not just for espousing the cause of craftspeople, but as a person whose vision was that every human being should live a life of dignity; and one who wanted to enrich the lives of people irrespective of caste, creed or nationhood.

Among the many awards that she was bestowed, the most fitting was the Charles Eames’ Award which honoured her as the one individual, who had contributed to the Quality of Life in India in this era.

Almost a century after Kamaladevi sparked the renaissance in Indian handicrafts and handlooms the country continues to celebrate their creators. 7 August is marked as National Handloom Day to remind us of their contribution to the cultural and economic landscape of the country. The date also commemorates the launch of the Swadeshi Movement in 1905, which emphasized self-reliance and indigenous craftsmanship.  

–Mamata

More on Kamaladevi:  https://millennialmatriarchs.com/2021/03/30/multi-faceted-nation-builder-remembering-kamaladevi-chattopadhyay