Tag: 1960s

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Communist turns and Kashmir twists

“The idea of an independent Kashmir was originated by the Communists. For “it reflects the innermost desire of the Kashmiri people” (Cross Road, May 20, 1949). The same paper, the official organ of the party, on January 6, 1950, called on the people of Kashmir to “concentrate on mass struggle for the realization of freedom, democracy and peace, for the end of monarchy, for a people’s democratic state, and for friendly relations with the Soviet Union, the People’s republic of China and other neighbouring countries.” Again on July 27, 1952, the paper regretted that the Kashmir delegation was being forced to accept the Indian government’s terms on Kashmir’s constitutional position in the Union, agreed upon in the Delhi agreement.

By the time the leaders of Kashmir started shifting toward independence, the Communists had, ironically, developed their own doubts about it. They were upset by Adlai Stevenson’s cordial talks with Abdullah during his visit to Kashmir in May 1953 and reported U.S. support for Kashmir’s independence. Moreover, by now post-Stalin Russia was coming to terms with India, necessitating a more nationalist orientation on Kashmir policy from the CPI. Accordingly, on August 2, Cross Road published the text of the party resolution which “viewed with grave concern reports from Kashmir that some leading personalities of the Sheikh Abdullah group and its supporters had made public declarations that the state of Kashmir should be independent of India.”
[…]
“The shift in the Kashmir policy of the Communist party of India, in response to its international requirements, had handicapped the Communists within Kashmir. Having once encouraged agressive trends in Kashmiri nationalism, it had now become a champion of Indian nationalism. The party, which had called accession to India treacherous in 1950, pleased for a “de jure recognition of the present frontiers in Kashmir” in 1956, and by 1957 demanded abandonment of Pakistani aggression. Likewise, the communists first favoured full independence, then later supported limited accession, and finally advocated full integration into Union.
[…]
When the DNC [Democratic National Conference], taking the Communist position, demanded in the State Assembly the extension of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the Union Election Commission to the state, Bakshi condemned it as a pro-merger party trying to “sell Kashmir to India.” In fact, the DNC stand helped him to appear a champion of Kashmir’s autonomy. In Jammu the DNC group, in its effort to outbid the Praja Parishad, championed Dogra chauvinism and demanded a greater share for Jammu in services and in developmental expenditure. This further isolated the party in the Valley and led the National Conference to spread the rumor that the DNC was an agent of Hindus conspiring to get the state merged with the neighbouring Hindu majority state of Himachal Pradesh. The DNC was further weakened by fundamental ideological divisions within the organisation. The Jammu group, led by Ram Piara Saraf, was categorically committed to the discipline of the CPI and the principles of Communism, while the Sadiq group of Kashmir had a broader based and was nationalistic and less doctrinaire. On issues like the Tibet and Sino-India disputes, the divergence between the two groups became very marked. “
[…]
“India’s tough international line on Kashmir also had a demoralising effect on the secessionists. Krishna Menon declared in the Security Council debates in 1957 that Kashmir was as irrevocable a part of India as Madras and the Punjab. Pakistan’s international prestige was at a low ebb. The merger of several linguistic states in West Pakistan into a single province and the imposition of martial law were not inspiring events for the Kashmiris. Sham Lal Yachu, publicity secretary of the Political Conference, the only professedly pro-Pakistan party of Kashmir, declared in a lengthy statement that serious rethinking had started in his camp. He spoke of the advantages of Kashmir’s willingly becoming a part of India. Yachu was not disowned by his party. Similarly, Prem Nath Bazaz, the first vocal exponent of Pakistan’s case in Kashmir, expressed his disillusionment with Pakistan. In Abdullah’s camp, too, pressure for a settlement with India was growing, and possible solution for Kashmir within the Indian framework were discussed.”

Balraj Puri (Editor, Kashmir Affairs, this piece was first published in his magazine in 1960 ) on Jammu and Kashmir in “State Politics in India” (1968) Ed. Myron Weiner, published by Princeton, which was the go-to place for C.I.A for “scenario evaluation” back then for ops like Iran coup of 1953. While pre-1960s and post-1990 writings of this circle are widely available freely and shared by “experts”… this evaluations from 60s when pro-Pakistan lobby was on a back-foot would cost you around Rs.7000.

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Ferdinand Stoliczka’s Memorial



Guest post by Man Mohan Munshi Ji 



Ferdinand Stoliczka ( Czech, 1838-1874) was a palaeontologist who worked in Indian Palaeontology, Geology and various aspects of Zoology including ornithology and herpetology. Stoliczka studied Geology and Palaeontology at Prague and Vienna graduated with a P.H.D. in 1861. He joined the Geological Survey of India under the British Govt. under Thomas Oldham. He along with W.Thomas Blandford documented the cretaceous fossils of South India. He studied the geology of Western Himalayas, Ladakh and Tibet. He also made two trips to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He also worked in the Rann of Kutch from where he reported Hunting leopards and Stoliczka’s Bushchat. His third and last expedition to central Asia i.e. 2nd Missions to Yarkand with T.D. Forysth. They set out from Rawalpindi to Leh Shahidulla and finally reached Yarkand in December 1873 and began their return journey in March 1874 and after crossing the Karakorum, he suffered from severe headache from which he could not recover and died at Moorghi village in Ladakh on 16 th June 1874 probably due to acute mountain sickness pulmonary or cerebral oedema. The British Government of India erected a grand memorial as a mark of respect for the service he rendered to the 2nd Yardkand mission.

Memorial of Ferdinand Stoliczka at Leh

Officers of Geological survey of India paying their homage to Stoliczka in 1960s

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Ram Joo’s Lament for Sheep

Puj Waan
Kani Kadal
Srinagar
2008

As told by a grandaunt.

Ram Joo made his living in an odd way. He worked for municipality. He job was to visit slaughterhouses and stamp the dead animals with seals of approval in ink, declaring them fit or unfit for human consumption. A sensitive man, it is said the violence of his job eventually drove him mad. While stamping the dead sheep he took to singing to them, asking them:

Kata Kha’sh Kya’zi Kor’voy
Hai K’yah Gh’oom
Kata Mash Kosho’ya
Hai K’yah Gh’oomKata Kalas chuya doon
Hai K’yah Gh’oom
Sheep, why did they slay you?
Oh, what it did to me!
Sheep, have they sheared you?
Oh, what it did to me!
Sheep, is your head aching?
Oh, what it did to me!

The neighbourhood kids took to teasing him with the same lines. A sensitive man, it is said the experience eventually made him a saint. Around Habba Kadal area, he came to be known as Ram Joo Tabardar – Ram Joo the Woodcutter.

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A note on an interesting word and a phenomena. Picked from an Uncle.

Slaughterhouses and the areas around them tend to have a peculiar smell that may offend most people visiting. But the people living in the area never notice it. In Srinagar, slaughter houses were around Chotta Bazaar area. The people living in that area never noticed the smell. They had developed a gaenz’nas – meaning their nose had got numb to the stink.

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Aside: Earlier this year caught one of the most famous documentaries on the subject of animal slaughter, considered a milestone in the history of realistic documentary film making, ‘Le Sang des Bêtes’ by Georges Franju (Blood of the Beasts, French, 1949). [link, avoid if you are too sensitive]. A film that isn’t completely repulsive because it wasn’t made in color. It is not known if any saints were born in France after the film came out.

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Complete song added by Narinder Safaya, Ram Joo’s grandson. He adds [via FB]:

He [Ram Joo] had joined Srinagar Municipality around 1920. He was happily married, sired 4 children , three sons and one daughter. He worked as sanitary inspector for fifteen years. He was a spiritual person. He abandoned the job for reason stated by you. For this he was also teased as Ram Joo Maskas. He abandoned his family. His wife probably died of tuberculosis the same year when Kamla Nehru succumbed to T B in Switzerland [1936]. It said in our family she died of “HeH”. His children were taken care of his younger brother.Pt Shyam Lal Safaya (Taberdar) . We are from Chinkral Mohalla are known as Taberdars. My great great great grandfather Pt. Ganesh Dass Safaya got the nickname Taberdar as he had a partner who was Taberdar and he had been taken by him as partner in supply of fire wood business to the city dwellers through river by boats known as Bahech [Cargo boats]. In 1960 or 61 when I was 8/9 years old I remember Ram Joo came one day,  took tea and left. For five years we could not trace him. Ultimately my father traced him living in Rock Temple Tiruchirapalli.

1.Four days before Nirwana 2.During his eight years stay at Rock Temple, Tricinapali, T.N.

After return from Tricy.TN.

The house at Chinkral Mohalla

Story of the house by Narinder Safaya:

Taberdar house at Chinkral Mohalla. It is about 200 years old. One Pandit Sukh Ram Safaya was a minister with one of the Afghan Rulers. He had a sister who was married to son of a big landlord in Marraz (now district Anant nag). The woman was very beautifully. From this marriage she had a son. The local Afghan governor of the area had an eye on her.  For protection, she was sent in the dark of night by her husband to her brother’s house. Her husband was killed by the said local governor. As Sukh Ram Safaya was very influential revenue collector, nothing bad happened to him. The woman stayed with the brother after being widowed. The child, Nank Chand, grew up under the protection of his maternal uncle and as such came to be known as Nank Chand Safaya. His uncle gave this house to him. Nank chand’s son was Pandit.Ganesh Dass Safaya Taberdar, grand father of Swami Ram Joo Taberdar. In the last decade of nineteenth century, the upper storey got gutted and was rebuild by Pandit.Ganesh Dass. We added a floor to it in 1970 and changed the roof to tin from birch and soil. From our kani we could see ring of mountains which cover the entire valley.

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A Beautiful Chain of Borrowed Beautiful Images

Last year, I came across an interesting photograph in a book published in 1961 called ‘India, by Joe David Brown and the editors of Life’ that intrigued me. It was accompanying an essay on India and relation of its people to the Gandhian thoughts. That confused me all the more. Although the book didn’t offer any clues about the place where it was taken. But I saw something familiar in it. Something that made the photograph out of place. Even ironic. The quest to confirm its place of origin led me to some wonderful discoveries. The first clue: It was taken by famous photographer Brian Brake, best known in India for ‘The Monsoon Girl’.

The little girl at the back in green dress with white headgear in this photographs told me that she is portraying in Kashmiri Pandit woman. That told me that there was a good chance that it was shot in Kashmir. Told me that the great photographer must have been to Kashmir. What beauty he must have captured!

A quick search lead me to site Museum of New Zealand where most of Brian Brake’s awesome 22 years of work is showcased. Here I found his extensive work on Kashmir done in late 1950s and early 1960s.

I have been going over and over these photographs for months now. And every time I look, the beauty of them drowns me in a weird feeling that the Kashmir we see now is just like navel lint. It’s just something.

But, I don’t want to write about. I have not time for ugliness. Too much of that abound.  Instead I am going to write about beauty, about the photographs, the photographer who took them, a legendary photographer who inspired some of them and a living photography genius who was probably inspired by it.   And about beautiful things that are now gone, only remaining in these photographs.

The story starts in 1957 with Henri Cartier-Bresson suggesting Kashmir as a subject to young Brian Brake. Among the photographs he shot in Kashmir we see some shot which as an obvious tribute to his mentor Bresson. Also, it is here that we see Brake try out his technique of ‘Set-up’ to get the perfect shot. The technique that mimics the unparalleled moment capturing abilities of Bresson by deliberately putting the subjects in a staged, controlled environment and setting the camera to get the right moment. It was this technique that much later gave us beauty of ‘The Monsoon Girl’ when he shot Aparna Das Gupta (later Aparna Sen) in fake rain in 1960. But there is a certain rawness to the ‘set-ups’ he shot in Kashmir, or possibly the viewer now gets that feeling because he can see all these photographs together, a viewer can almost see the various stages of a ‘set-up’. Back then, when a single photograph was published in magazine, a viewer could only see the final best product and form an opinion about the moment and beauty of it based on that. Some people done appreciate this ‘set-up’ approach to photography. But in the end, I guess it doesn’t actually matter much.

“A photograph is only a fragment, and with the passage of time its moorings come unstuck. It drifts away into a soft abstract pastness, open to any kind of reading.” – Susan Sontag, On Photography.

What is interesting is that in some photographs Brian Brake can be seen directly trying to recreate some images that were shot by Henri Cartier-Bresson a decade ago in Kashmir in 1947. That he was able to do it tells us about the pace of life back then in Kashmir.

Look at these:

Kashmiri boatwoman by Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1947. via: Magnumphotos.com

And now look at this:

Kashmiri boat people by Brian Brake, 1957. The two photographs could have been from the same set and by the same photographer. Even the woman in two look the same. And even the place looks the same. It is almost like he sought out the same place where Bresson had been and in this was possible helped by Bresson.

Brian Brake even tried to recreate one of the most famous shot by Bresson.

Kashmiri women praying on Hari Parbat near Ziarat of Makhdoom Sahib. By Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1947. via: Magnumphotos.com

Now see Brian Brake’s one of the interesting obvious ‘set-up’ re-creation. (He actually did more than one version of it):

Kashmiri men on a Hill, Brian Brake, 1957.

B&W photographs, because of their obvious lack of more color, have this strange power of transporting their subjects to a realm where the viewer instantly knows he is probably looking into past. But that past for the viewer overtime becomes monotoned. The viewers stops thinking that the scene he is looking at was once alive, and actually had color. That it had life. That an apple back then too was red.It is colors that cast a more powerful spell over the viewer. The viewer instantly realizes that the past was once alive too and that the past and present have something in common, a shared color spectrum. The same sun. The same colors. And yet somehow, or rather due to the expertise of the photographer, those past colors look more appealing. See see colors you thought never existed.

Update: Now, also see an image predating both these images:

From the book ‘The Charm of Kashmir’ (1920) by V.C. Scott O’connor. Photographer: probably R.E. Shorter.

Look at ‘boatwoman’ in color  by Brian Brake. It’s almost like both Bresson and Brake were at the same spot looking at the same woman.

Color photography was taking off arrive in a big way back then. Quite a few people were starting to experiment with it. And the colors of Kashmir were proving to be one of the palette. Something about its summer sun made Kashmir just perfect for color photography. The charm of Kashmir was again at work and now people could see it in all its colors.

Brian Brake’s work in National Geographic vol.144 no.5, November 1958. Notice that Bresson re-enactment.

Brian Brake’s color work in Kashmir was going to inspire another great photographer. Steve McCurry acknowledges Brake as one of the photographers who’s work inspired him a lot as a kid. He was eleven when ‘Monsoon Girl’ was published. Much later he went on to chase that feeling.

Sometimes images just provide a name or a setting of a subject.

Let’s take a look at one of the most famous Kashmir photograph by McCurry:

Flower seller, Srinagar, Dal Lake, 1996.

Now let’s one of the earliest color images of Kashmiri flower sellers. Shot in 1957 by Brian Brake.

Now look at this photograph by McCurry.

And then this beauty captured by Brian Brake in 1957.

And that’s how images live on. And so do memories.

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Some other photographers inspired by  Henri Cartier-Bresson

Vogue fashion shoot in 1969.
Photographer was David Bailey. Who at the age of 16 was inspired by Carier-Bresson’s famous photograph of Kashmir

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Kashmir, 1955. By Sam Tata,  a Parsi photographer mentored by Cartier in late 1940s.

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Next, I am going to post some of my favorite works of Brian Brake in Kashmir.

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Listing of posts based on Brain Brake collection:

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Roohafza and Flit, 1960

A couple of photographs I came across in the book ‘Asia’ by Dorothy W. Furman (1960).

Roohafza and Flit!
Michel Serraillier – Rapho Guillumette

Roohafza is still Roohafza. But Flit. My father still calls an insect killer, of any brand as ‘Flit’. It must have been quite effective at getting rid of those lovely T’chars, Khars and Kan’hepins.

Dal Lake
Ewing Krainin – Monkmeyer.

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Best of Subhana the Worst,1960

“Ghulam the Singer,” said Subhana, “one of the lyrical Persian poets, in the court of the Emperor Jahangir, though himself a Kashmiri, knew of this rare wool and mentions it in his love poem entitled Love,’ which I consider one of his finest pieces:”
“O Bulbul, sing of my Beloved, my love,
So pure a being, so far above
The thoughts of men and poets; so fair
Her equal is not anywhere!
Her voice a golden temple bell,
Her walk like that of a gazelle,
Her eyes a shadowed mountain pool,
Her cheeks as soft as ibex wool.”
“The poem,” added Subhana, “narrates the story of the princess, for she was a princess, being sent by her father, the ruler of Badackshan, because of jealousy in the court, to be raised by a hermit in the eastern hills. But a spirit of evil, in form a vulture, or griffin, steals her and carries her off to his infamous nest or castle on the highest peak. The griffin’s domain is guarded by the nagas, or snake people. The hero of the poem, a shepherd of goats, who turns out to be the son of the Shah of Ghazni, is determined to rescue the imprisoned princess. He obtains the help of the Hindu god Hanumon, lord of the monkey people. In this way the poem skillfully merges the myths of the Persians and the Hindus in one of the most touching love stories of all times and all countries.”

~ An extract from THE WORST by Arthur A. Baer for The Chicago Literary Club. April 18, 1960. [Read the complete piece here].

It’s about the art of Kashmmiri salesmanship as practiced by one of its greatest practitioners. Talks on history, poetry, religion and politics while dealing in old rugs. All inside the store of Subhana the Worst that first opened in 1840 just as tourists started coming into the valley.

There’s a video too (but no sound).

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Subhana the Worst, 1957

And here’s an old international news report (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Oct 20, 1965) about the store run by M. Subhana Kachroo, the fifth generation of the original Subhana who started the store.

Kashmir’s ‘Worst’ Store Actually Vey Successful

By JOE A. McGOWAN JR. The Associated Press

SRINAGAR, Kashmlr – Bouncing along in a horse-drawn tonga, the visitor nortes the signs on the tiny stalls—Abdul Aziz the Carpet Seller; Samad Shah the house-boat Agent; Ramsana Dubloo, Sightseeing and Hunting Trips.

Then, a clearing and a three-story building emblazoned with a sign which momentarily stuns the tourist.  It says”Subhana the Worst, Departmental Store.”

It’s a trap and you know it, but it works. At the front door stand three men. Is it your imagination or are they really rubbing their hands with gusto? Instinctively you give your wallet a comforting pat.

One member of the three-man welcoming committee identifies himself as M.Subhana Kachroo, five generations descended from the Subhana who started the store in 1840.

“Welcome,” says Subhana. “We advertise ourselves as ‘the worst’ but before you leave here today, you will agree that we are ‘the best.”’

He kicks off his shoes and ducks under a curtain across the front door, pulling you with him. He leads you across a red carpet to an overstuffed couch.

“You will join me for tea, won’t you?” he pleads. While you wait, Subhana explains:
“Throughout the years, Kashmir Valley had been a quiet Summer retreat for a limited number of vacationers.Then during World War II, many soldiers, mostly Americans, came to Kashmir.They had plenty of money. They liked Kashmiri handiwork.

“Soon everybody wanted to become an art merchant, carpet merchant, wood-carving merchant or what have you. Even peddlers and boatmen opened shops. They were all ‘the best.’ An English friend of my father then suggested to him that he should become ‘the worst.’ Subhana (the fifth) said his father’s experiment worked. Today, Subhana employs 460, most of whom work in small factories or in their homes, doing embroidery work, woodwork, weaving, wood carving and furniture making. During the long Winter when Srinagar is isolated by heavy snow, Subhana’s workers build up stock for the next season.

The tea and cookies are out of the way and now it is time for business.Subhana squats on the floor in front of his customer. Barefoot clerks spread a large sheet on the carpet. At Subhana’s command they begin bringing articles from the floor-to-ceiling shelves and the showcases which ring the room.
There is a woman’s wool evening jacket.
“This took one person nine months to embroider,” Subhana says. The price: 450 rupees ($94).Then a shawl called shahtoos. Subhana says it is woven from the soft breast of a mountain sheep. This is light as a feather but one of the warmest materials made, Subhana says. Furthermore it hasbeen impossible to obtainsince the Communist Chinese overran the Tibetan mountains where the sheep live. The price of the shawl-7,OOO rupees ($1,470)’.
A clerk brings an exquisitely embroidered tablecloth which costs 1,500 rupees ($315). Subhana says it took 2 years to make. The embroidery work is so fine that a worker can sew for no more than an hour at a time without giving his eyes a rest.
Most of Subhana’s ware are by no means so expensive. He has walnut carvings ranging from $2 upward, copper and brassware at a wide range of prices, and for $2.50 a silver bracelet with such typical Srinagar charms as a houseboat, boatman’s paddle and hooka. (water pipe).

But a tour of a maze of tiny rooms on the upper floors is necessary to see the thousands of items.

“Many of my customers spend two or three days here,” Subhana says proudly.Whether Subhana is “the worst” or “the best” could be argued, but Subhana is unquestionably “the most.”

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