Lotuses at the Chhatarpur Flower Market, Delhi

We went to the Chhatarpur flower market early in the morning, where Gaurav photographed these beautiful lotuses.

It reminded me of the many lovely associations of the lotus from my childhood; especially this painting of the Goddess Lakshmi by Raja Ravi Varma, which hung on the wall in our family's prayer area. She is holding lotuses in both arms; she stands on a lotus; and there are lotuses in the pool, with swans. Her saree is also lotus-pink.

I always thought the lotuses in these paintings were exaggerated depictions of the flower. But that was before I actually saw a lotus close up. The beauty of this flower is breath-taking. Look at all the layers inside! I can actually imagine a tiny Lakshmi standing on top of this flower :)

At the National Museum in Delhi, there is a rather unusual miniature painting of Vishnu, Lakshmi's consort, holding lotuses in all his arms. He is seated on a lotus. A garland of lotuses is being offered to him; his head is crowned with lotuses; and even the fly-bearer's crown is similarly studded with lotuses. This is a Pahari miniature from the 1750s, from the Mankot-Basohli school. One of the chief characteristics of the Basohli paintings is the use of lotuses as a "must-have". It is a rare Baohli painting where you will not find lotuses. The Basohli school initiated Pahari art by illustrating scenes from literary classics, such as Rasa-Manjari, Ramayana and Gita Govinda (this one below must be from Gita Govinda; see how the painting depicts the Gaudiya tradition of Vaishnavite body marks).

Even more unusual is this phoolsajya painting, again from Basohli, where Radha and Krishna are clad entirely in lotuses. Again, this is likely from the Gita Govinda, which sings of the yearning of Radha for Krishna. The song is interpreted as the yearning of the human to merge with the divine. In the Gita Govinda, Radha first enjoys the bliss of being with Krishna; then when he departs, she is filled with anguished longing. The painting below depicts the bliss of the union of Radha-Krishna using the lotus as the motif. Like the lotus, this union is beautiful, divine, tender and pure.

Even in this depiction of the fearsome Bhadrakali, the Basohli artists found a way to incorprate lotuses: look carefully and you will find them.

Lotuses are everywhere in India. In Sanskrit, there are many words denoting lotuses - for example, padma, kinjala, mrinala, pushkara. We see lotuses in the names of many Indian people, both male and female. Padma, Padmavati, Padam Singh, and so on. It is also the name of the famous pilgrimage town of Pushkar. The legend says that Lord Brahma struck the asura Vajranabha with a lotus (which is Brahma's weapon). A petal of the lotus fell here at Pushkar, and a sacred lake was created.

Oh and also, I got a real kick out of knowing that in the Star Wars series, Padme Amidala is named after the lotus too :) :)

Karva Chauth in Delhi

Mehendi at Hanuman Mandir

In preparation for Karva Chauth today, Hindu women in Delhi have been getting mehendi on their hands; they have cooked delicacies and sweets for dinner, and done much bangle shopping in the bazaars. 

Today they are fasting from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands. In the evening, they will offer prayers after sighting the moon; and they will break the day long fast.

Karva Chauth and several similar festivals in other parts of India are a throwback to an era where Hindu women were defined by their marital status; and life was impossibly difficult for widows.

Bangle shop, Kinari Bazaar

Fortunately, a series of reforms by the leaders of independent India have helped change things for the better. In 1955-56, four Hindu code bills were passed: the Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, and Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act. These acts addressed many injustices that were routinely taking place and brought better representation for women's rights. 

The major changes as a result of this act were:

- Widows and daughters were awarded the same share of property as the son

- Women were allowed to divorce a cruel or negligent husband

- Husbands were prohibited from taking a second wife

- A man and woman of different castes could be married under Hindu law

- A Hindu couple could adopt a child of a different caste

The reforms were blocked by right-wing Hindu organisations and many kooky religious leaders, but were eventually pushed through due to the leadership of Nehru, Ambedkar, and many other visionaries. Unfortunately many of the original propositions had to be watered down to ensure the bills were passed.

These reforms have granted many rights to the majority of Indian women (since Hindus form 80% of India), but they continue to be controversial to the present day. Chief among the complaints is that these reforms exclude Muslims.

Anyway - since I am Hindu, and I am very much the beneficiary of the Hindu reform bills, on Karva Chauth, let me send my eternal thanks to Jawaharlal Nehru and Ambedkar. Without them, I'd be sitting here hoping and praying the male members of my family would be nice to me. 

The Delhi Durbar, 1911

In the winter of 1911, the grand Delhi Durbar was held to commemorate the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary as Emperor and Empress of India. A massive tent city was created north of the areas of Paharganj and Sadar Bazaar, and royalty from all over India came to stay in these tents. Every princely state was in attendance.

The decor of each tent reflected the culture and crafts of each kingdom - if you've been to Culture Gully at Kingdom of Dreams you'll know what I mean. The Jaipur tent had an Italian garden outside it. There was even a tent where the poles were covered in beaten silver :)

A massive coronation event was organised, and the King and Queen were seated on a dias in a temporary shamiana. Parades, music, salaams by 'loyal' local princes, presentations of awards - the whole event went on for a week.

I thought the shamiana's dome looked familiar - and when I looked closely it seemed almost a replica of the Jama Masjid dome. I can only assume that some political point was being proven. Or that the organisers were looking for something exotic and un-British-like and chanced upon the nearest inspiration.

On returning from the Delhi Durbar, King George gave a speech to the English Parliament in 1912. "All of India", he declared grandly, had commemorated his coronation. The event and indeed the entire visit, he said, had provided him with "overwhelming proof of the devotion of the Princes, Nobles, and Peoples of My Indian Empire to Ourselves and of their loyalty to My rule".

Remind me not to take kings and leaders too seriously :) Because, of course, the statement was quite far from the truth. The Partition of Bengal by Curzon in 1905 had already led to massive unrest. At the Congress session at Calcutta in 1906, presided by Dadabhai Naoroji, Indians were already asking for  'Swaraj' (self-government). The Swadeshi movement had been launched by Lokmanya Tilak; and Tilak had been sent to jail in 1908 for sedition. The British were trying to drive further wedges into Hindus and Muslims through the unpopular Morley-Minto "reforms" of 1909.

No wonder they felt that an appearance by a member of the royal family in 'flesh and blood' might help their cause and rally the 'native princes' to their side. The King and Queen even gave 'darshan' to the public from Red Fort, a la Shahjahan and other Mughal kings.

In concrete terms, I don't think the durbar achieved much to improve British standing in India. But King George V made two important announcements in Delhi: firstly, the partition of Bengal was annulled and, secondly, it was announced that the capital of India was to be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi. These two events make the 1911 Delhi Durbar an imporant event in the history of India.

Jawahar Vyapar Bhavan

If you drive past Janpath, you'll come across this building with its easily recognizable design of cubes and L-shapes.

It's called Jawahar Vyapar Bhavan, and it houses the offices of the State Trading Corporation of India (STC). Whenever I see the blue logo of STC (it's at the top of the building, can you see it?), I am reminded of the early years of independent India.

The STC was setup in 1956, when India had no strong manufacturing base of its own, and depended majorly on imports. We imported literally everything; including food, metals, machinery, fertilizers, etc. But we were broke. There were not enough foreign exchange reserves, so a system of rationing had to be put in place. 

India was keen to promote trade with Eastern Europe at this time - since Nehru's leanings were in that direction, and he espoused the idea of a planned economy.  The state was to play a major role in development.

So the STC was set up as the primary government arm dealing with imports and exports. It was tasked with conserving precious foreign exchange. If a businessman wanted to import something, he had to chase the babus at STC. The import had to be justified, and a license to import obtained. It was a long and torturous process; and was part of a system that went on to become infamous as the "License-Raj".

After economic liberalisation in 1991, the STC found itself redundant in many ways, and it had to reinvent itself. Today it is the chief importer for the government i.e. it imports edible oil, fertilizers, pulses, gold, metals etc based on government demand. It also imports scientific equipment and machinery for use by government laboratories and manufacturing units. The STC also helps private companies import things; by charging a fee for their expertise / service. But they no longer have a monopoly on import/export as they used to.

The STC building is located in a prime corner on Janpath, and well known to tourists because the ground floor houses the government-run handicrafts shop CCIE.

The huge Indian National Flag at Connaught Place

With Independence Day around the corner, I thought I would post this photo. This is the largest flag flying in India. It is 60 feet wide, 90 feet long, and weighs a huge 35 kilograms. 

This flag is a new addition to Delhi's skyline. It was hosted in March this year by the Flag Foundation of India.

Unlike other flags, it is not lowered at sunset, because it is adequately illuminated. This is as per the policy announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2009, that the National Flag could fly day-and-night on a pole of a height of 100 ft. and above with proper illumination.

Wall art in Shahpur Jat, Delhi

Last week I photographed this piece of wall art in Shahpur Jat Village. It's a techno-fitted goose with a metallic beak and armour; and there's a sort of Alibaba-esque girl in a cape riding it. Maybe it's a boy. I can't tell for sure. It's by Aerosol Assasins, and they call it Samsam.

The Samsam goose wall is very close to my office, where we have been witnessing the neighbourhood change for the past 4 years. From a rustic village with buffaloes, Shahpur Jat has morphed into a new hip location with boutiques and cafes. This wall art is part of the new hipness. Here's another one, by Mattia Lullini, an Italian artist (photo from his website):

Interesting huh? Certainly spices up what is otherwise a very sorry-looking collection of badly maintained residences. There's lots more stuff like this, all over the village. You can see it here. http://st-artdelhi.org/ The artwork on walls has been done by visiting artists, both Indian and international.

Whenever an outsider decides to go into a neighbourhood and spruce it up, we immediately run into the issue of agency. To me the important question in wall art is always - Whose wall is it? Whose choices are these? What power issues are at play? Agency is everything.

I can't help thinking that the locals (i.e. the original residents of the village) probably prefer art that is more in keeping with their own traditions. We see great wall art all over Rajasthan, UP, etc. Here's the most photographed elephant wall art in Udaipur:

I also really loved this representation of Hanuman in Jaisalmer, outside the Hanuman Temple. I wonder which artist did this.

I've spotted some incredible wall art all over India; plastered on humble mud-huts sometimes; and sometimes decorating havelis and temples. This one is from one of the alleys at Varanasi:

My personal opinion is that traditional stuff like this would have probably worked better for the local residents of Shahpur Jat and made them feel this was a real "beautification of the neighbourhood" (which is what St. Art calls this project). Not to mention, it would have kept some traditional artists employed.

But this project was not commissioned by locals. They didn't pay for it. That immediately changes things, doesn't it? They were asked to lend their walls for a free beautification project. Maybe the goose with the metallic beak is something that the flat-owner didn't really want. Maybe he just figured he was getting something for free; and decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe he hates it now; then again, maybe he loves it now.

Actually nothing about art is straightforward. What is "modern art", anyway? Art is not static. It's not as if we can draw a line between "modern" and "traditional" Indian art. That Hanuman painting on the wall of Jaisalmer temple is pretty funky / modern if you ask me. I know that probably *everyone* in Shahpur Jat loves this one of  'Fearless Nadia' by Ranjit Dahiya:

All art is a commentary about the world we see around us; interpreted through our individual lenses. The techno-goose is one such commentary; so is the gorgeous Nadia, and so are Lullini's weird snakes. The new generation in Shahpur Jat probably doesn't think the same way as their parents; maybe they like looking at art that rebels, or art that provokes. We should not be rejecting contemporary expressions of aesthetics; or we'll just stagnate.

Next batch of Delhi by Metro guides!

Some of our 2014 batch of Delhi by Metro guides! Training begins next week. Photo taken at the Manzil centre at Sujan Singh Park.

This programme is done in partnership with Manzil, a non-profit that works in empowement and upskilling of young people. You can read more about it here: http://delhimagic.blogspot.in/2011/07/delhi-by-metro-tourgood-things.html

The Bharany Collection - at the National Museum, Delhi

I went to see the Bharany collection on display at the National Museum. The show is called the Passionate Eye, and it represents a small selection from the vast collections of R. K. Bharany, whose son donated this collection to the museum.

Even the loveliest of gems needs a sensitive setting, and I was delighted at the aesthetics of the exhibition. The dark matte background, and the subtle lighting ensured that the objects drew the eye, and you were led through a progression of themed items. 

The Bharany collection is actually very varied; so making sense of it and ensuring that the layout has a natural physical progression without confusing and repeating themes is important. It's like story-telling. Every museum exhibition is a piece of story-telling. 

I was looking around, wondering who the story-tellers were; the magic guys who had highlighted and brought this set of art objects alive. I was lucky to bump into Siddhartha Chatterjee, who designed the exhibition display and the graphics. He was kind enough to explain some parts of the process. I realised, very quickly, the enormous work and thought that has gone into A Passionate Eye. I could only understand a tiny part of the thought process in our ten minutes together, but it was a valuable insight. I would have liked to spend more time, just talking about the project, but you know how it is - the day has just so many hours, and I had multiple meetings lined up. 

In the photo above you can see one of the many highlights of the exhibition; a Rajasthani pichwai, with a Vishnu bronze from Kerala in the foreground. Siddhartha explained to me that in designing this section, they decided to go with a primarily Vaishnavite theme; but also that hidden in one corner were two interesting exceptions :) If you visit the exhibition, see if you can spot them!

A Passionate Eye is on view at the National Museum until 14 August, from 10am -5pm, all days of the week except Mondays.