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It’s 1955. First Kashmiri opera Bombur ta Yambarzal (The Narcissus and the Bumble Bee) by Dina Nath Nadim, that has already had a few re-runs, is again put up at Nedou’s Hotel for special guest – military leader and Marshal of the Soviet Union Nikolai Bulganin who is accompanied by First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party’s Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev. By the end of 1956 Uzbek communist leader Sharaf Rashidov brings out his interpretation of the story in a novella titled ‘Kashmir Qoshighi’ ( also known as Song of Kashmir/Kashmir Song/Kashmirskaya song) acknowledging Nadim’s work. Almost a decade later, in 1965 , the year of second Kashmir war between India and Pakistan, USSR’s famous Soyuzmultfilm studio produces an animated film called Наргис based on Rashidov’s Song of Kashmir. Interesting the film retained the original Kashmiri names of all the characters sketched originally by Dina Nath Nadim, all the names except Yambarzal who is given the popular name Nargis, the name of this film.

[More details at a post from 2011: ‘Bombur ta Yambarzal’. From Russia. With Love.1965.]

A group photograph of the artists who gave performances in honour of the visit of Soviet leaders at Srinagar.

Image from Photo division India.
[Date of event via a Russian archive at visualrian: 05/11/1955]

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Within an hour of posting this photograph to Facebook page of the blog, I started getting comments identifying the people in the photograph, words along the way painting a beautiful picture of connections and relations:

Archana Kaul That is my mom( Nancy Kaul now Nancy Dhar) when she was in college, and is seated first from the left!!
5 hours ago
Puneet Dhar I wonder if Zia Durrani is also here? Bindu check with Ma? Is that her next to Ma?
5 hours ago
Indira Rao Archana, your mom looks absolutely lovely! I still fondly remember her teaching us music. One of the ghazals she taught us (hum apne gham ka fasana) continues to be one of my favorite
4 hours ago
Zia Durrani I am the one standing all the way to the right!! My cousin Farkhanda is the fifth standing from the left. She died last year. Gargi is the second standing from the left. I recognise some other faces, but can’t remember their names.
4 hours ago
Sudha Koul Principal Mahmuda ( Govt. College for Women, Srinagar.), the tall one standing in the middle, so young and striking! Thanks Bindu!
26 minutes ago

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Comment in July, 2018

Roshan Dass Raj Dulari the one sitting in the middle of front row must be around 77 now. she is a bundle of talent

Man Mohan Munshi Ji shares some scans from his copy of Sven Hedin’s Trans-Himalaya : discoveries and adventures in Tibet (1909). On way to Tibet, Sven was in Kashmir in mid of 1906. Among the scans are two old photographs of famous Nedou Hotel of Srinagar. I add some recent photographs of the hotel sent in by another friend.

Sven Hedin who entered Tibet even after having been denied official permission to enter; The British Government allowed him to proceed via Jammu & Kashmir on his way to Eastern Turkistan from where he crossed into WesternTibet and carried explorations in areas never visited till than by any white man. His publication “Trans Himalaya” published in two volumes in 1909 is a master piece [in fact he later brought out a third volume covering mostly his visit to the source of Indus. Read the books here via archive.org: V1 (covering start of his journey from Kashmir), V2, V3]. He made his preparations for his journey in Kashmir initially. He is profuse in his thanks to a Kashmiri gentlemen Pandit Daya Kishan Koul Diwan Sahib who arranged everything from supplies, equipment, mules ponies and four soldiers as body guards. He has also acknowledged the services rendered by about thirty six Asians mostly Ladakhis who accompanied him to Tibet where when discovered by local authorities they did face trouble. Besides others, he also thanks Sir Francis Younghusband, the then British Resident at Srinagar who had explored Muztag and other passes of Karakorum Range between Eastern Turkistan and Jammu and Kashmir and also led the British Expedition to Lhasa in 1905-6.

title cover

Portrait of the then Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir [Pratap Singh]

view of the then Srinagar Palace now old Secretariat

view of Fateh Kadal, 3rd bridge of Srinagar. The building on the left with the flag is the C.M.S School, Srinagar. On the right the minaret of Shah Hamdan’s Ziarat is visible with North Kashmir or Sogput Range in the distant background

Sven Hedin in front of the Nedou’s hotel Srinagar with his baggage

Some of the mules being loaded at Nedou Hotel

Four body guards for Sven Hedin arranged by Pandit Daya Kishan. Sitting: Ganpat Singh, Khairullah from Peshawar. Standing: Bikom Singh and Basgul from Kabul. Both Singhs are Dogra Rajputs

starting off from Ganderbal

The Road to Baltal.

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Some recent photographs (June 2013) of Nedou Hotel that was last year vacated by CRPF. And is now under renovation with possible plans of reopening. Shared with me by cartoonist Sumit Kumar of Kashmir Ki Kahani.

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Previously:
Sven Hedin in Kashmir [From Pole to Pole: A book for young people by Sven Hedin]

Tag: old hotels

Kashmiri Opera Performers, tracing 1955/2013

Kashmir in Sven Hedin’s Trans-Himalaya, 1906