Thassu Saheb thinking out loud, 1947

Cross-posted at my other Blog.
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From  Baburao Patel’s Q/A section in FilmIndia, August 1947 issue. ( via a collection shared with me by Memsaab Greta)

Lot of thinking going on there (what’s that thing about J.P ji ) but I am amazed by question posed by O.N. Thassu of Srinagar, whose progenies probably now live in Bombay and would probably readily buy the answer from Baburao Patel of Bombay (we know who else bought that answer only a year later endorsing it in a Court trail about a murder). Baburao Patel was known not only for his biting wit  but ‘let’s bite some, any heads’ attitude towards what he considered blackheads on Bhart Mata’s beautiful face. He voiced opinions what would probably now be considered concerns of pragmatic-Hindu-middle-class. And he often did it in a very pragmatic Indian way, this particular (and many around that that) issue was in fact full of eulogies in praise of Gandhi. A pragmatic: He had Muslim friends, a fairly large readership (at least in the beginning) consisting of Muslims, naturally he was an expert at defining difference between ‘good nationalist Muslim’ and ‘bad Muslim’, he was a good Hindu, naturally he knew a thing or two about similarity between ‘good nationalist Hindu’ and ‘good Hindu’, he liked-dis-liked Nehru, liked-dis-liked Gandhi, liked, thought highly of Sardar Patel, liked Bose (as he believed ‘dead don’t disappoint’). One could say that naturally qualifies him for the modern ‘thinking Hindu’ type of our mundane times. But to his credit he was also open to criticism, and would often allow this criticism on his own platform. That certainly is not a modern trait. Still, it does not surprise that he was one of the first journalists to join politics and get elected to Lok Sabha on a ticket from Bhartiya Jan Sangh, the old avatar of ‘Bhartiya Janata Party’ – the platform, in its best form, advertised as a place for sensible Hindus with a burning love for the burning country.
Knowing Kashmiri attitude towards written word, and knowing the writings of Baburao, it should not surprise anyone that in early 50s, maybe to the much annoyance of Thassu Saheb, FilmIndia was banned in Kashmir. And it should not equally surprise anyone that the he actually thought of Kashmirs as lazy buggers, back-stabbers and that India would be lot better without Kashmir, and that his ‘Indian Muslim Brother’ would have (pose?) no problem. Now where have we heard that pragmatic solution and views before in recent times.

Time a quite a thing.

From being the pioneer of film journalism, by 1970s Baburao Patel, his FilmIndia run-over by Filmfare, was running a publication called ‘Mother India’ (a copy of which I have managed to get my hands on) and in it selling slogans like ‘Hindus of the world arise’, ‘Stop it mod-women’  and in between these slogans he was selling all kind of ayurvedic churans for every known human disease.

All said and done, I would not have been surprised if on any other day, in any other situation, to any other question, Baburao Patel would have simply told Thassu Saheb of Srinagar, ‘My friend, it is well-known advise, never take the advise of a man who at the end of the day is selling you a magic Churan of his own make.’

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Kashmir in 19th century British Newspapers

The following interesting stuff from archives of old British Newspapers was sent in by Tony who has a nice info. site about Indian wines. While researching for Kashmir entry for that, trying to dig up the past of wine from that region, he came upon my post about ‘Wine in Kashmir‘. He sent me some interesting queries about names and places in Kashmir where its wineries and vineyards were located  (check the comments), and while I am still working on those queries, much to my delight, he graciously sent me these:

‘The Famine in Kashmir’ 
 Daily News. 25th January, 1879. 
Famous missionary educationist Tyndale Biscoe in his writings mades an interesting observation about Kashmiri people. In times of natural calamity, famines and pandemics and earthquake, he found Kashmiris mourning silently, without any public display of grief.     
‘The Viceroy’s tour in Kashmir – The procession of boats with his excellency nearing the Sumbul Bridge (Sumbal in Baramulla district) on the way to Srinagar’
-The Graphic. 18th December, 1891. 
Lord Lansdowne (1888 – 1894) was the viceroy at the time and setting up of Durand Commission for defining boundary of British India and Afghanistan was one of the high-points of his career.

The Earthquake in Kashmir
The Graphic. 22th August, 1885. 
One of the most terrible earthquakes ever to hit Kashmir ( an intensity III ).
“The earthquake of 1885 commenced on May 30 and shocks more or less violent were felt up to August 16. Houses were destroyed and there was general panic, people sleeping for many days out of doors. It is said that 3,500 persons were killed , and the number of cattle, ponies and other domestic animals crushed by falling buildings was enormous. Baramula and Patan seem to have suffered the most, and large earth fissures were caused, from which it is reported that sulphur fumes and inflammable gasses were emitted. Many old water springs disappeared and landslips occurred, one of which at Lari Dura in the Krihun Tahsil, revealed fossil Singhara nuts at an elevation of about 1500 feet above the level of the Wular Lake. It has been suggested that the style of architecture in Kashmir is not calculated to withstand the shocks of an earthquake , but the inhabitants claim that the apparently frail structures escape when heavier and more massive buildings would succumb, and it must be remembered that the temples of Patan and the Palace of Srinigar suffered in 1885. Even now I have noticed in the courtyards of many villagers houses a temporary wigwam, which is always kept in readiness for shelter in times of shocks, and the dread of another earthquake is always present.” –Walter R. Lawrence in his book The Valley of Kashmir (1895) 

‘The little war in Kashmir: a chat about Gilgit’
The Graphic. 19 December, 1891. Interesting peek into the politics of the region in those day. Durand was right in the middle of it all. 

World’s Highest Rail Bridge in Jammu!

The railway bridge being constructed at Kauri, a hamlet in Jammu’s Reasi district, will stand 359 m above the Chenab River. The bridge is supposed to complete by December 2009. Once completed it will dethrone the Millau Viaduct of France (343 metres) as the the World’s highest bridge deck. Built at a cost of more than 600 Cr Rupees, the bridge will be 1315 metres long.
Here’s a NDTV new report from year 2007.

Patent Pashmina

Famous Pashmina of Kashmir finally gets patent under the Geographical Indications (GI) Act. A GI patent gives exclusive rights over a label to a specified product produced in a specified geographical region.

According to a report in The Hindu:

The patent came after an agreement among Kashmir Handmade Pashmina Promotion Trust (KHPPT), Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Crafts Development Institute (CDI) and the Tahafuz, a society of diverse Kashmiri handicraft artisans – on September 12 actively brokered by the Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh.

In a longer run, in addition to checking the sale of fake Pashmina, this is a step towards giving Pashmina from the valley an international edge over the Pashmina from POK.

Pakistan wants to share GI on Pashmina with India. But Kashmiri traders want them first to give proof of quality as Pashmina from valley is widely believed to be the finest. These traders from Kashmir do not want brand Pashmina to suffer in long run by sharing the GI with pakistan.

Further links and read:

More on Pashmina Wars going on between Pakistan and India.

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