No Commitment to Anyone

The suicide of Rohith Vemula came as a rude shock to the nation. A 27-year old handsome Ph.D scholar committed suicide in the University of Hyderabad campus in response to his suspension and consequent ouster from the university hostel. It was also alleged that the authorities had stopped paying him his stipend of Rs. 25,000 per month in last July. This much is enough to evoke cries of victimization from the hypersensitive media, but compounded on these sordid facts was the realization that Vemula belonged to a Dalit community. The lid of the kettle of allegations was immediately blown and everybody blamed the authorities for causing the death of an earnest scholar who wanted to pursue astrophysics, or that was what he mentioned in his suicide note. Charges for abetting the suicide of a Dalit boy was charged against the Vice Chancellor of the University and also against Mr. B. Dattatreya, who is the local MP.

But, what exactly was the sequence of events that ended up in Vemula’s death? Is he such an innocent victim as the others make him out to be? If we look back just seven months to July 2015, we see a 53-year old chartered accountant named Yakub Memon hanged in Nagpur jail after he was condemned to death eight years ago. His crime was to take part in India’s largest terrorist bloodbath in 1993 in Mumbai. The Memon brothers and their accomplices planted lethal explosives in Mumbai’s suburban trains and set them to explode at just after office hours when the rush will be at the maximum. The targeted victims were the lower and middle classes who use the railway system and in order to maximize the death toll. The operation was staged perfectly and 277 people perished. In an instance of the most shameful form of minority appeasement, the government was reluctant to hang Memon in fear of antagonizing the Muslim votes. When the Modi government assumed power in 2014, Memon’s day were numbered and he was hanged on July 30, 2015.

Unfortunately, fringe groups organized against the killing of Memon, even though all judicial processes were complied with and his clemency pleas turned down by the President of India. Rohith Vemula and his friends were the sponsors of the protests in UoH campus, under the guise of Ambedkar Students Association. This organization is now present in many campuses in India and is the student voice of the anti-establishment movement you’d expect in any university. This organization of Dalits is a militant outfit that wants to avenge the wrongs and ill treatment heaped on Dalits over the ages. Dalits were once at the lowest rung of societal hierarchy in India that existed prior to the establishment of the Constitution of India, which forbade all discrimination on the basis of caste, birth or language. Dalits were treated as sub-human almost everywhere In India hardly a century ago, and going by press reports, the cruel discrimination has still not run its course in some parts of the country as seen in the brutal atrocities committed against them in some isolated pockets of the backward states.

But Dalit organizations including the ASA, takes this as a license to vent their ire against others in India’s civil society and against the state as well. They want to take the other castes and the Indian state itself, up in a bid to obtain compensation for historical wrongs. And this tirade is with totally forgetting the scores of legislation and slew of economic measures targeted at the uplift of Dalits. India’s constituent assembly, which framed its constitution, granted them reservation in all legislative forums and government jobs in proportion to their share in population. This magnanimous act was carried through the assembly in which Dalits constituted only a tenth of the membership. Severe penalties were introduced to prevent atrocities against them, which are in fact misused widely. The Dalits’ continued bickering in the face of all these benevolent measures is an indicator of the pampering they have obtained at the hands of political parties who are conscious of vote banks. Our society is surprised at the anti-national remarks of ASA which is all the more outrageous because of the ingratitude, if nothing else. Most of them will not even be crossing the threshold of the prestigious institutions if not for the reservation kindly bestowed on them by India’s constitution.

So, what makes a few of the otherwise gentle individuals turn arrogant when they form groups and assume the Dalit identity? In the case of Hyderabad, ABVP activists interrupted the meeting commemorating Yakub Memon and naturally, an altercation arose between the organizers and protestors. As a sequel to this ruckus, a group of students belonging to ASA barged into the room of ABVP’s leader in the hostel. It is said that Vemula was also part of the gang. The ABVP guy was manhandled and forced to recant his opposition. This led to widespread protests and the Vice Chancellor suspended a few leaders of the team including Rohith Vemula that made the assault, pending an enquiry. Naturally, the local MP and Union Minister of State, Bandaru Dattatreya also urged the authorities to ensure justice to the thrashed ABVP leader.

Now, events made an ugly turn. Rohith Vemula committed suicide rather than facing the enquiry and prove his innocence. It is evident that he was a coward who feigned courage when being a part of the group. Coming from a very humble background, it should have been his paramount duty to complete his studies and find a job. After all, he was 27 and most of India’s working men would have found a job by then – however small – and thinking about settling down. Vemula had no compunction about letting his family down and go organizing spurious protests and thus forfeiting his stipend.       He was totally uncommitted to anybody and his sympathies lay not with his aging parents, but with terrorists who killed hundreds of people and tried to wreck the Indian state. Even leaving aside all these, what kind of a leader was he, who was afraid to face an enquiry which is an ‘occupational hazard’ of campus politics? If you didn’t have balls to stand up to allegations and accusations, what right do you have, to lead others? Unfortunately Vemula realized it rather too late, and to his ruin.

What is incomprehensible is the magnitude of outcry his death generated. Leftist organizations are like crickets – they make noise disproportionate to their size. Even making allowance for this factor, a section of the students wanted the Vice Chancellor and Union Minister to be charged for abetting the suicide of Vemula. A case was registered against them making a mockery of the process to ensure discipline not only in higher educational institutions, but anywhere. If an executive who initiates disciplinary action against a subordinate stands to face prosecution if the disciplined official commits suicide, the entire fabric of society will be unwoven in no time.

Such is the background of the renewed unrest in Hyderabad University campus when the Vice Chancellor who was on leave, rejoined duty a few days back. The students demand his removal, as if they have the power to hire and fire their teachers! Such irresponsible movements must be dealt with an iron hand to make a model for other delinquents, like what we saw in the Film and TV Institute in Pune.

A Visit to Sree Chitra Art Gallery

Raja Ravi Varma (self portrait)

It was in September 2013 that I came across a book in the biography section of the Cochin University Central Library. Titled ‘The Painter – A Life of Ravi Varma’, it was written by Deepanjana Pal. The book detailed the life of Raja Ravi Varma (1848 – 1906), the most eminent painter ever to have arisen in Kerala. The epithet ‘Raja’ in his name should not be confused with rulership of any kingdom, but is to be understood as the ceremonial title attributed to aristocratic families related by blood ties to the royal house. His oil paintings ushered in a new era in the art of painting in Kerala and for many Malayalis even today, his name is synonymous with the quintessential artist.

The book provided good priming in exploring the life of Ravi Varma. He sparred with the reigning king Vishakham Tirunal, and had to leave Travancore to Vadodara in search of livelihood. All the time, prodigious pictures that portrayed life in its infinite diversity and painstaking detail continued to astonish connoisseurs of painting and art. Right when I was reading the book, a desire suddenly caught hold of me to see all of Ravi Varma’s paintings in original.

Of course, this is an impossible task. Many, if not most, of his works are in private collections and having no mantle of authority of any kind to grease my way, there is no hope to have a peep into the private collections. What about art galleries in the public domain? The largest collection is said to be in the Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum in Vadodara, where the royal family employed him as the court painter. A hall is dedicated to him at the Sri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery in Mysore and some paintings are kept at National Art Gallery in Chennai. Ravi Varma proved his mettle in Vadodara, but his native Kerala also have a few paintings in its collection at the Sree Chitra Art Gallery in Thiruvananthapuram. I haven’t visited any of them yet, so I decided to begin with the local one first.

Taking some time off from an official program, I reached the museum complex in Thiruvananthapuram at 2 pm on February 10, 2016. It was extremely hot, but a lot of people, mostly young couples, occupied the park benches in cool shades. A sense of unhurried charm filled the atmosphere. I walked straight to the impressive building at the centre of the complex, which is in fact the Napier Museum that is shown erroneously as the art gallery in many web sites. The Sree Chitra Art Gallery is where Ravi Varma’s paintings are kept, and it is inside the zoological garden complex nearby. There are separate ticket counters for the zoo and art gallery.

 

Shakuntala

It was a fulfilling experience to view all those pictures so up close! 43 paintings of Ravi Varma is displayed here, including very famous ones like ‘Shakuntala’, ‘Damayanti and the Swan’, ‘Draupadi at the Court of Virata’, ‘Milk Maid’ and ‘Ravana Carrying Sita’. The paintings are placed so close to the visitors that they can touch it if they extend their hands in full, but of course, that is forbidden. Standing in front of Shakuntala, one is instantly mesmerized by her furtive sideways glance at the receding figure of King Dushyanta (who is not in the frame), while bending her knee as if to remove a prick from the heel. The hermitage suddenly comes alive around you with the sound of crickets and the gentle flapping of leaves in the mild breeze until you are brought back to your senses by the loud gossiping of the female attendants in the gallery.

I spent almost an hour and a half at the gallery, which is actually very small in area. As I said earlier, the available space is crammed with pictures. There was only one police officer in the complex and so it is likely that the original pictures are locked away in safe vaults. During the entire period I was in the building, I couldn’t drive away the thought of how the authorities would prevent anyone intent on vandalizing the precious frames? The LED lighting system was not at all pleasing as it threw annoying glare on the uneven canvas surface of the paintings.

'Sweet Remembrance of One So Dear'

The gallery houses the works of Raja Varma, the noted painter’s younger brother. Judging from the painting displayed, it may safely be assumed that he was a worthy brother to Ravi Varma. He died of tumour in the intestines a few years before Ravi Varma himself succumbed to diabetes at the age of 58. The sensuous depiction of a flower gathering girl titled ‘Flower Gatherer’ is simply superb. Rama Varma, who was the son of Ravi Varma, was also a true upholder of his father’s legacy. His ‘Sweet Remembrance of One So Dear’ is an enchanting one as in the dexterity of the interplay of light and shade on the face of a pretty girl wearing a white shawl over her head in profile. This so fascinated me that I decided to procure a reproduction very soon.

It was a memorable time that I had at the gallery. I have decided to visit the others in Chennai, Mysore and Vadodara as well. Web sites say that the Sree Chitra possesses 70 Ravi Varmas, but only 43 are in show. It was maddening to think that the other 27 may be stacked somewhere in its dark storerooms.

The entry ticket costs Rs. 20. The timings are 10.00 am to 4.45 pm except on Mondays and Wednesdays. Monday is a holiday and on Wednesdays, it functions from 1.00 pm to 4.45 pm.

The full list of the 43 paintings by Ravi Varma kept at the Sree Chitra Art Gallery is as follows.

1.    Draupadi and Simhika    1898
2.    Gypsies of South India    1893
3.    Sakuntala    1892
4.    Horses
5.    Judith
6.    Draupadi at the Court of Virata    1897
7.    Swordsman
8.    Milkmaid    1901
9.    Mohini Rugmangada    1899
10.    Mysore Khedda Camp
11.    Jagan Mandir Palace, Udaipur    1901
12.    Raja Raja Varma   
13.    Mr. Ramanatha Rao    1896
14.    Dadabhai Naoroji
15.    Hamsa and Damayanti    1899
16.    G T McKenzie   
17.    Mysore Stables    1904
18.    Mysore Khedda 1
19.    Mysore Khedda 2
20.    H B Grig, Esq
21.    Portrait Study
22.    Dance Pose 1
23.    Rajput Soldier    1901
24.    Brahmin Woman
25.    Rai Pannalal Mehta    1901
26.    Rana Pratap    1901
27.    Danse Pose 2
28.    A Student
29.    Reading the Newspaper    1904
30.    Mrs. Ramanatha Rao    1891
31.    Head peon
32.    Mohini and Rugmangada
33.    Udaipur Palace    1901
34.    Rest
35.    Ravana Carrying Sita    1895
36.    Johar
37.    Rama Breaks the Bow   
38.    Bhil Woman
39.    Lady in Prison
40.    Col. W D Brodie Ketchen    1890
41.    Amma Thampuran of Mavelikkara   
42.    Kerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran   
43.    Maharani Lakshmi Bai    1883   

Google's Top Spot

Sapientia Semita is my book review blog running as a companion to this one. I have posted many reviews here, not in anticipation of getting someone to read them. For me, writing a review of a book I have just read is a good opportunity to recap the events narrated in the book and also to refer to it in future. My memory power is rather limited. Being an amateur, I can't and don't expect people to flock to my blog to read the posts. But sometimes, a post becomes a hit and many netizens visit it regularly. I had one such piece of luck in the form of the review of a book titled 'India by al-Biruni', a journal written by the 11th century Muslim theologian named al-Biruni. In fact, it is now in Google's top spot if you search Google with the words 'al biruni India review'. See the screenshot below.

Himachal Pradesh 2015

The snow capped peaks of the Himalayas always stood as the sentinel of India in the north. It demarcated Indian culture and way of life as sharp as a divider. Himalayas had been a profound source of inspiration for poets, artists, devotees, statesmen and thinkers alike. I always dreamed about it, the moment I could catch a glimpse of a snow-capped Himalayan mountain peak with my own eyes. The opportunity presented itself only now, in the form of a trip to Shimla, Kullu and Manali

Day 1 (Oct 18, 2015)

Our Indigo Airlines flight to Delhi took off at the right time at 7.05 am from Kochi Airport. After an eventless travel of three hours, it touched down at Terminal 1 of IGI Airport at Delhi. Our Tempo Traveler was ready at the airport. Without wasting much time, we proceeded straight to Shimla at 12 pm. The travel to Chandigarh is through the prestigious six-lane NH-1, but our driver was a very uncooperative person who continued to move very slowly through the highway. Had lunch near Karnal on ‘Haveli’ on the roadside. We lost the beauty of the ghat roads ascending to Shimla as it was already very dark when we reached the foot hills. At last, we reached the hotel at 9.50 pm, just in time when the restaurant was about to close. We had a peaceful sleep at night – the hotel is so calm and quiet.

Day 2 (Oct 19, 2015)

At about 9.30 am, we went to Kufri. The roads in Shimla are very narrow and extremely congested. At the slightest hitch, long lines of vehicles pile up on either side of the road. The moment the vehicle reached Kufri, horse trainers and photographers gathered around us with solicitations of horses and photo opportunities. Rs. 380 was offered for horse ride to the top and for sightseeing. We accepted and the rough 15-minute ride to somewhere that looked like a fair ground felt like an hour. It is very risky to ride on the horse, as the road is very narrow and when two or more horses come abreast, they try to bite each other. This causes a commotion and sometimes it so happen that the animal may be walking very near to the edge of a small ravine. The horse trainers seem to be enjoying the sadistic pleasure in making the horses prance or canter unnecessarily, just to tease the hapless riders. At last, we reached the top where nothing except a view point having a telescope welcomed us. The operators offered a rate of Rs. 150 per person just to have a glance through the telescope which was claimed to be able to peer at the border hills of China. We thought better of it and declined the offer. Tibetan yaks are also positioned there, and it is a good idea to have a photo taken sitting on them.

Every tourist spot in India is riddled with cheats and petty thieves. We fell to the tricks of such a man named Sanjay Sharma. This man approached us totting a camera and introduced himself as a professional photographer who is a member of the local photographers’ group. He offered Rs. 60 per piece and even though very much on the higher side, we accepted the offer. He came along with us and took many snaps in various poses, sitting on the Tibetan yak, donning Himachali costumes and a gesture of stepping for a folk dance. After taking 47 photos, he very kindly offered a discount and demanded Rs. 2500 up front. We protested at the full amount to be paid as advance, but he earned our confidence with such tricky acting that we paid him the money. He told that he will deliver the package at our hotel between 7 and 9 pm. When nobody was seen, we contacted him. He kept telling that a person has started from his place and would reach the hotel within half an hour. Our wait was in vain. It became clear to me then that this rascal had cheated me. Travelers beware of crooks of such type. (Also see postscript to this post).

We drove straight to a local restaurant on the wayside for lunch and then moved to Mall Road. There is a lift operated by Himachal Tourism at street level for carrying tourists to Mall Road at a fee of Rs. 10 per person. Normally, vehicles are not allowed on Mall Road. This street is ideal for shopping freaks as you can see a wide array of merchandise put on display. We went to Christ Church at The Ridge, which is the oldest church built by the British in Shimla. We had a quiet walk on the road till Kali Bari Temple. The abandoned Bantony Castle on the wayside loomed like a ghost house. At about 5.30 pm, we returned to the hotel, but due to a heavy traffic snarl, we reached only by 7.30 pm and settled for a peaceful night.

Day 3 (Oct 20, 2015)

Since this day included a long journey to Manali, we took off at 8 am. Had lunch at Mandi. The ghat road with river Beas on the right side begins after Mandi and is quite an experience. The hills on the left looked so fragile, with granite boulders showing a striated pattern. Somehow, it appeared weak, familiar as we were with the hardness of Deccan rocks. The Aut Tunnel having a length of 3.5 km gave an eerie feeling when we fled past the moist interior covered with smoke and dust. Just after Kullu town, we had the first glimpse of the snow-clad Himalayas. We reached the hotel by about 7 pm and retired for the night.

Day 4 (Oct 21, 2015)

Our driver, Mr. Parvesh Kumar from Delhi was an imbecile. We dropped the journey to Manikaran, which is about 80 km away, as that useless fellow might take an entire day for the trip. So we decided to sample the local attractions. We drove to Vasisht, which houses a hot water source inside the temple. The water is scalding hot, but a few people were bathing in it. The street to Vasisht is full of merchants dealing textiles and souvenirs. At about 11.30 am, we returned to Manali town and had lunch in a government-owned restaurant at Mall Road.

Manali is very picturesque from the banks of River Beas

Our next point of call was Hadimba temple. This is an isolated shrine decorated with trophies of wild animals along its outer wall. In all probability, this might have been the place of tribal worship. It stands in the middle of a clutch of dense and tall deodar trees. We spent almost one hour there. Locals throng the path to the temple with offers of taking photos with their rabbits that looked like large white bags of fleece. We returned to the hotel when it was quite dark.

Day 5 (Oct 22, 2015)

This was the memorable day of Rohtang Pass. Vehicles from outside Himachal will not generally be allowed to the pass without taking a permit. The most practical option is to hire a local vehicle which charges a hefty fare. In our case, it took Rs. 8500 for a tempo traveler with 12 seats. The driver was young but very bold. He was rather reckless by using mobile phone even while negotiating difficult, narrow curves on the hill roads. The cold was just bearable for us, but warm cloths can be obtained on rent from the wayside at Marhi. We wore these dresses high on the hills for Rs. 250 apiece, whereas these may be obtained for Rs. 200 in Manali. Rohtang Pass is situated at a height of 13,000 feet – Manali is at 4,000 feet. Oxygen deficiency was not experienced at that altitude, though two among us appeared rather deflated at the top of the pass. The small hill on top of the pass covered in snow was a memorable experience for us who had never felt the touch of snow. By about noon, we descended back to Manali and had lunch. Nothing was planned for the afternoon, so we went back to the hotel and rested for the day.

Breath-taking Rohtang Pass

Day 6 (Oct 23, 2015)

We started from Manali at 6 am. It was a very long drive of 560 km back to Delhi. Apart from time lost on traffic jam connected with a Dussehra procession and with a flat tyre of the vehicle, the drive was tiresome but smooth. The driver was clueless about the location of the hotel, so we had to spend nearly an hour looking for it. By about 11 pm in the night we were back in bed.

Day 7 (Oct 24, 2015)

We left at 3 am from the hotel to the airport. The Air India flight took off at 5.35 am and landed at 8.45 am in Kochi.

Tour Operator

We booked the tour package at Intersight Tours and Travels, Kochi. The hotels arranged by them were very good, except the one at Delhi. But on the vehicle and driver, they disappointed us. Even though they had promised an English-speaking driver, the allotted one could not understand even a word of it. If that was the only problem, we wouldn’t have minded. He was arrogant and vengeful. If he felt that he was slighted in any way, from that point onwards he drove very slowly as if to upset our schedules. We had to cancel many places like Manikiran just because such an imbecile was allotted to us as our driver. We notified the agency about this after our journey, but apart from a cursory call of apology, nothing was observed from Intersight. The rate was Rs. 13,500 per person for 6 nights and 6 days including accommodation and breakfast-dinners.

Accommodation

In Shimla, we stayed at Hotel Sukh Sagar Regency at Taradevi, which is a good 8 km from the city centre. The place is very calm and quiet, but travel to the city is a torture due to narrow roads and heavy traffic. The rooms, hospitality and food were very good. We had breakfast and dinner as part of the MAPI plan.

In Manali, we stayed at Sun Park Resort on the left bank of the river. This hotel has some excellent mountain-facing rooms, from which we had a breath-taking view of the snow-capped Himalayas that was unforgettable. The rooms, hospitality and food were excellent. We had breakfast and dinner as part of the MAPI plan.

In Delhi, we were put up at Hotel Metro View, Karol Bagh. This has very modern amenities like door locks with smart card keys, but the hospitality was mediocre. The guy at the Reception was glad to know that we would check out in four hours’ time. Presumably, in order to get rid of room cleaning after our exit, he told that dinner will not be served in rooms and we have to be present in the restaurant on the ground floor.

Mode of Travel

We took Indigo flight to Delhi and Air India on the return flight to Kochi. A 12-seater temp traveler was used for travel between Delhi, Shimla and Manali. Another 12-seater tempo traveler was hired at Manali for the trip to Rohtang Pass.

Postscript

I had written about the crook who swindled us Rs. 2500 by promising to given prints of photographs. When we returned, I sent a complaint by post to the District Superintendent of Police, Shimla, detailing all the points. Fortunately, unbeknown to him, one of our team had taken a photograph of that person. His mobile number was already with me. So, in the written complaint, I included all these details. Himachal Police responded with astonishing speed and effectiveness. Hardly a week later, Sanjay Sharma contacted me on my mobile and apologized. He readily sent the photos and CD via speed post to me. Sincere thanks and appreciation to Himachal Police!