There are definite reasons why Satyajit Ray's Gorosthane Sabdhan is my most favorite Felu-da story. It not only revolves around the intricacies of a family tree but also the background is old Calcutta. I am a very big fan of the history of Calcutta and I am, still now, the second person in our family to have (and maintain) an extensive family tree spanning seven generations.
Arnab and I spent many an evening discussing about old Calcutta, so yesterday we trudged along to the museum inside Victoria Memorial Hall. If you want to know Calcutta, that is the first lesson. Other than the Regal history of our city, life size statues of Dalhousie, Hastings, Wellesly and the rest, Victoria's piano on which she took lessons as a little girl, cannons from the Battle of Plassey (the landmark battle from which British rule started in India) and swords of different famous rulers, including the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, there is the history of our city... the city that Job built.
It gives me a pleasant kind of goose bumps to think how Job Charnock, on one sultry afternoon in August on looking over the swampy grounds next to the river Hooghly, all of a sudden decided that he'll build a city there. It was as abrupt as that. "The mid-day halt of Charnock" that laid the foundation of this throbbing metropolis of today.
Walking along the displays of that section in Victoria Memorial Hall called Calcutta Chronicles, I could actually see for myself how the city grew. Just like a human being, to evolve intellectually, you first need education and a lot of exposure to the outside world. That would enable you to see where you are standing. From there comes political, social and spiritual consciousness. Then would you actually grow.
Calcutta went through the same phases. In the initial days, there was just a Kali temple and three swampy villages named Gobindopur, Sutanuti and Kolikata. After half a century, the British on being chased by the nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-daullah built a fort next to the river Hooghly called Fort William (it is now the base of the Eastern Command of our army). When Siraj was finally defeated in the Battle of Plassey and the British East India Company transformed the merchant's weighing scale to the staff of the ruler overnight, the British started investing in Calcutta. Then grew the "white town" and the "bazaar Kolkata", roads were built and the city started expanding. Zamindars (land lords) from rural Bengal started settling in here. Calcutta still did not have the intelligentsia. Slowly and steadily the education system started growing. The University of Calcutta, Bengal Engineering College, Presidency College, along with a host of different schools all started in the 19th century. Education opened the eyes of the new generation. They saw where the society is... what utter non sense is there in the slimy rituals of a malpracticed religion. From there started the Renaissance, rebirth of Calcutta. I wonder how it was possible for so many brilliant people to be born at around the same time. Is that why we are living in a vacuum now? There was a new burst of life in every possible field we can think of. From socio-political to religious, there came a time when breaking of old laws and bringing in a breath of new life was seen in the society as a whole. Major social events were legalizing widow remarriage and introducing girls to education. In science and technology, in the field of literature and arts, everywhere there was first a consciousness and then a realization of what kind of life we are leading. Then came the urge to change and grow....to liberate India. To change to a better country.
Whatever I am today, the way I look around myself, think and behave has been possible because of all these people. The way they molded the generations that were yet to come is truly incredible. The power of Vivekananda, the patriotism of Netaji and the philosophy of Rabindranath are enough for me to understand and follow to become what I call a human being. And I am so glad that I can be proud of my roots.
It gives me a pleasant kind of goose bumps to think how Job Charnock, on one sultry afternoon in August on looking over the swampy grounds next to the river Hooghly, all of a sudden decided that he'll build a city there. It was as abrupt as that. "The mid-day halt of Charnock" that laid the foundation of this throbbing metropolis of today.
Walking along the displays of that section in Victoria Memorial Hall called Calcutta Chronicles, I could actually see for myself how the city grew. Just like a human being, to evolve intellectually, you first need education and a lot of exposure to the outside world. That would enable you to see where you are standing. From there comes political, social and spiritual consciousness. Then would you actually grow.
Calcutta went through the same phases. In the initial days, there was just a Kali temple and three swampy villages named Gobindopur, Sutanuti and Kolikata. After half a century, the British on being chased by the nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-daullah built a fort next to the river Hooghly called Fort William (it is now the base of the Eastern Command of our army). When Siraj was finally defeated in the Battle of Plassey and the British East India Company transformed the merchant's weighing scale to the staff of the ruler overnight, the British started investing in Calcutta. Then grew the "white town" and the "bazaar Kolkata", roads were built and the city started expanding. Zamindars (land lords) from rural Bengal started settling in here. Calcutta still did not have the intelligentsia. Slowly and steadily the education system started growing. The University of Calcutta, Bengal Engineering College, Presidency College, along with a host of different schools all started in the 19th century. Education opened the eyes of the new generation. They saw where the society is... what utter non sense is there in the slimy rituals of a malpracticed religion. From there started the Renaissance, rebirth of Calcutta. I wonder how it was possible for so many brilliant people to be born at around the same time. Is that why we are living in a vacuum now? There was a new burst of life in every possible field we can think of. From socio-political to religious, there came a time when breaking of old laws and bringing in a breath of new life was seen in the society as a whole. Major social events were legalizing widow remarriage and introducing girls to education. In science and technology, in the field of literature and arts, everywhere there was first a consciousness and then a realization of what kind of life we are leading. Then came the urge to change and grow....to liberate India. To change to a better country.
Whatever I am today, the way I look around myself, think and behave has been possible because of all these people. The way they molded the generations that were yet to come is truly incredible. The power of Vivekananda, the patriotism of Netaji and the philosophy of Rabindranath are enough for me to understand and follow to become what I call a human being. And I am so glad that I can be proud of my roots.
